April 24 TOWN HALL: "ARE PEACE AND IMPEACHMENT POSSIBLE?", GRAND LAKE THEATER, OAKLAND

CodePink presented a Town Hall the Peoples' Email Network called "The Biggest Progressive Event of the Year." Are peace and impeachment possible? The answer is "yes, no doubt about it". The goal was to mobilize the audience, mainly anti-war activists, to work for immediate impeachment of Cheney first! The beautiful art-deco Grand Lake Theater was filled with 400 people who listened to peace and impeachment leaders call for impeaching Cheney for war crimes, threatening war on Iran, violations of the Constitution, economic crimes and more. The program included serious discussion and entertainment, opening with Wil b and Sean Moore, the "Political Power of Hip- Hop". David Swanson gave a riveting speech, followed by a panel discussion with Daniel Ellsberg, Cindy Sheehan, and Phil Burk, an expert on impeachment procedure. Cindy is running against Nancy Pelosi in the November election so San Francisco voters will have a Representative with real "San Francisco values". SF voters and the SF Board of Supervisors voted to impeach Bush and Cheney in 2006, the last year Pelosi held a Town Hall. That's right-- she hasn't met with constituents since 2006! Cynthia Papermaster of CodePink is organizing a California Impeachment Coalition to connect impeachment activists all over California. Over 100 members of the audience signed up. Norman Solomon showed a clip from "War Made Easy", based on his book, with Oakland Congresswoman Barbara Lee's stirring speech arguing against war on Afghanistan. She cast the only "no" vote in the House. Shirley Golub, who wants to impeach, is "On the Table" to defeat Pelosi in the June Democratic Primary. She's producing the play "I", co-written by conservative impeachment advocate Bruce Fein. "The Prosecutor" did the soliloquy from the play. Medea Benjamin brought a CodePink chorus on stage to sing "The Pink Police" to the tune of "Someone's in the Kitchen With Dinah" substituting "someone's in the White House with George, cooking up another war. impeach them." ILWU leader Clarence Thomas urged everyone to support the statewide dock workers' work stoppage on May 1 to protest the Iraq War. Max Anderson represented the Berkeley City Council, voting in 2006 to impeach Bush and Cheney. Local impeachment leaders were honored for their tireless work. We've heard it was a fantastic evening.