Grassroots Impeachment Campaign Launches Drive to Remove Bush and Cheney from Office

Interview with Tim Carpenter, director of Progressive Democrats of America, conducted by Scott Harris

A coalition of groups advocating the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney came together on Nov. 11 in Philadelphia, the birthplace of the U.S. Constitution, to launch their grassroots national movement. Groups participating in this first gathering included Gold Star Families for Peace, Democrats.com, Veterans for Peace, Code Pink, Progressive Democrats of America, NOW and the After Downing Street Coalition. The new group, Impeach for Change, set two primary goals: gathering 1 million petition signatures in support of impeachment and forming impeachment committees in all 435 congressional districts to lobby their representatives.

The mobilization of citizens working to remove Bush and Cheney from office comes despite statements from incoming Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and soon-to-be chairman of the House Judiciary Committee John Conyers, that impeachment was "off the table." A pre-election Newsweek poll released on Oct. 21, confirmed what several other surveys have found, that a majority of citizens support the impeachment of the president. As her final defiant act in Congress, outgoing Georgia Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney introduced impeachment legislation, which her party's leadership declared was dead on arrival.

In their first nationwide action, the impeachment coalition organized 75 events across the U.S. on Human Rights Day, Dec. 10. Their activities included meetings, vigils, teach-ins and mock funerals for the Constitution. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Tim Carpenter, national director of Progressive Democrats of America, who describes the objectives of this grassroots impeachment campaign.

For more information on the work of the impeachment coalition, visit the www.afterdowningstreet.org.

"Election Ends One-Party State: How Will Democrats Use Their New Power to Investigate?" Between The Lines Week Ending Nov. 17, 2006, interview with James Ridgeway, investigative journalist, conducted by Scott Harris

Authors of "The Case for Impeachment"- David Lindorff and Barbara Olshansky's website: www.thiscantbehappening.net

"The Impeachment of George W. Bush," by Elizabeth Holtzman, The Nation, Jan. 30, 2006

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