CODEPINK Impeachment Day Actions and Next Steps

CODEPINK Impeachment Day Actions and Next Steps

It's ironic that Nancy Pelosi says "Impeachment is off the table" for Congress, when in her home district of San Francisco, 59% of the voters passed Proposition J last year demanding that Cheney and Bush be impeached, and in March '06 the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed Resolution 109-06 demanding impeachment of Cheney and Bush. This year, because Congress has been ignoring the will of the people, large crowds of Pelosi's constituents have come out twice to say it with their bodies, on Jan. 6 and most recently on Saturday, April 28.

Nancy, are you listening?

Saturday, April 28, was National Impeachment Day, and San Francisco had several events highlighting the City's demand that Cheney and Bush be impeached. CodePink Women for Peace went to the Beach Impeach Event in great numbers and collaborated with World Can't Wait, Impeach Bush-Cheney, Veterans for Peace, Green Party, and other groups to hold two CodePink actions.

The day started with approximately 1500 people at Ocean Beach lying down to spell "IMPEACH NOW !" in 100-foot high letters in the sand. CodePink members splashed the letter "C" predominantly pink, while World Can't Wait emboldened the exclamation mark orange to remember the tortured and imprisoned. The weather was gorgeous, the music from marimba group Sadza playing Zimbabwean music was joyful, and spirits ran high as the helicopters soared overhead to film the crowd below. Chants of "What Do We Want?" "IMPEACHMENT!" "When Do We Want It?" "Now!" erupted from the crowd, and loud cheers went up when people who had been the letters "I" and "M" ran down the beach to the letter "O" to form "PEACE NOW!" with the "O" becoming a peace symbol.

The BEACH IMPEACH was followed by a 5.7 mile march and caravan to Camp Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi's house in Pacific Heights. Leading the march were a giant Gandhi puppet pulled by a pinkfully decorated electric car, Camp Pelosi Director Toby Blome and fellow campers Leslie Angeline and Jes Richardson. Jes, who rented the electric car, and Leslie said, "We love being a part of CodePink because it's such an effective, peaceful, and fun-loving organization! Nancy, you can't ignore our pleas any longer. Hold Bush and Cheney accountable for the war crimes they've committed and prevent them from attacking Iran. Put impeachment back on the table."

The Impeachment march was an enormous success, winding through Golden Gate Park and the streets of San Francisco, and getting support from motorists, picnickers, and pedestrians along the way with tons of thumbs up and smiles. Memorable moments include furniture movers, a gardener, drivers, and pedestrians chanting "Impeachment" along with us as we passed them by. The San Francisco police were very supportive and quickly gave up trying to maintain us on the sidewalk. Judging by the smiles on their faces, many of them enjoyed being a part of our action. One officer gladly accepted a "little splash of pink" ribbon to be tied around his motorcycle. It was very evident from the response to the marchers, that Bay Area citizens desire impeachment.

The Peace and Impeach Bus caravaned along the route, picking up weary marchers along the way, and a determined 37 marchers made it the entire 5.7 miles to Pelosi's house. Nancy Pelosi said recently, "As a mother I will exhaust every remedy for peace". In response, CodePink activist, Toby Blome, says, "Speaker Pelosi, as a mother I am outraged that so many remedies go untouched. It is your congressional responsibility to impeach the war criminals running our country. Impeachment is the way to peace. You must stop funding Bush's illegal war and support Barbara Lee's amendment to the Supplemental Appropriations bill that will bring the troops home promptly and safely."

At Camp Pelosi a spirited Rally continued the impeachment activities. Speakers included Retired Colonel Ann Wright, who served 29 years in the military and 16 years as a U.S. Diplomat, and who asks everyone to speak up and call for impeachment; Lew Brown, co-ordinator of the national shopping boycott "We're Not Buying It"; Dr. Peter Phillips, co-editor of the book "Impeach the President", and local impeachment activists from CodePink Women for Peace, World Can't Wait: Drive Out the Bush Regime, MoveOn, Impeach Bush-Cheney, and more. There was a "scrabble game" to spell out IMPEACH and other words relating to Cheney and Bush's high crimes and misdemeanors, the marimba music filled the air, and passersby honked in agreement as San Francisco once again sent Nancy Pelosi the message: "Impeachment IS on the Table; WE set the table."

The San Francisco Impeachment action day continued into the night, with two protesters holding a candlelight vigil and sleeping the night at Camp Pelosi. To urge the House Speaker to truly exhaust all remedies possible, they left behind impeachment and anti-war messages in colorful chalk all over the public sidewalk in front of her house. One message said it succinctly: "You don't support the troops when you support the lies that kill them. And more simply: "Speaker Pelosi, San Francisco wants Impeachment."

Data shows that constituents of San Francisco and the majority of Americans want Cheney and Bush impeached, and it is they who decide such matters, not the Speaker of the House, who is ignoring her own constituents and the country. Party politics should never take precedence over safeguarding our Constitutional democracy. If there is evidence that the Vice President and President have committed crimes, then impeachment must go forward, investigations must be carried out, and hearings must be held to find out the truth. This process is the way citizens can hold officials accountable and it should have nothing to do with partisanship.

CodePink is discussing next steps to push impeachment front and center on the table. Among these are a huge Bay-Area-Wide event calling for representatives to support Kucinich's Resolution 333 for impeachment of Dick Cheney, occupying local representatives' offices, and lobbying progressive organization MoveOn, with its 3 million members, to support impeachment.