News and welcome to new members

Written by: Tom Lesh on Apr 28, 2006 1:35 PM EDT

First of all, welcome to any new members of this group, I think ten in the last month, which is a bit of a surprise since we have suspended meetings for the last five months or so. In any case, I was wondering if there was any interest in reviving the group in the coming months and in perhaps moving the location. Goose Island is rather near several prospering groups. I was thinking of the Lakeview area, which used to host two large groups, Black Rock and Sidetracks, but now has none.

Anyone with thoughts on this subject, as well as possible venues, please e-mail me, and also if you want to co-host or help organize this group, please respond.

Sandra Verthein, the host of the Edgewater group, asked me to pass along the note below, which gives details about the Bush impeachment iniative that has been introduced in the Illinois legislature and things we can do to help that process. It is definitely something we can all get behind.

Tom Lesh

The text of that message is below.

There has been an exciting development -- Illinois State Rep. Karen A.
Yarbrough (D-7) has just introduced a bill, HJR0125, to the Illinois
General Assembly, calling for impeachment proceedings against the
President of the United States, with charges including illegal spying,
torture, detentions without charge or trial, manipulation of pre-war
intelligence, and the leaking of classified information. The bill
cites as its foundation a little-know provision by Thomas Jefferson
that allows federal impeachment proceedings to be initiated by joint
resolution of a state legislature.

It is now up to us, as Illinois citizens, to lobby our representatives
to support this bill. And remember, impeachment is not just about
removing someone from office, it is first and foremost an
*investigation* into the charges brought against that person. We NEED
a full and fair accounting of what has been going on in our
names for the last six years, including our complete disregard of
decades-old international treaties and agreements (how is that
legal???). The nation, and the world, are counting on us. We must
support Rep. Yarbrogh's courageous action.

Three state reps have already become co-sponsors: Sara Feigenholtz
(D-12), Eddie Washington (D-60), and Cynthia Soto (D-4), but we need
more. Here is how you can help:

1. Contact everyone you know and ask them to write, call, email or fax
their representatives TODAY about becoming a co-sponsor. The Illinois
General Assembly could adjourn at any minute - we need to contact as
many legislators as possible before the session ends. If you search by
zip code for your representative's name and contact information at:

www.vote-smart.org....

2. Get your DFA group (or other group) to write letters as part of
your May meeting. Five DFA groups representing over 300 Illinois
DFAers have already pledged to do this. Can we add your group to the
list? DFAer Mo Cahill is drafting sample letters, you will need to be
prepared with stationery, stamps, addresses for your legislators, and
a map for those who need to look up their district. You can
legislative district maps at:

www.illinoisatlas.com/illinois/p...

3. Post your updates to the Democracy for Illinois blog at DFA Link.
This will help us keep track of what is being done and what progress
has been made. Is your DFA group going to write letters at your next
meeting? Post it to the blog! Have you gotten a response from your
state rep? Post it to the blog! Did you write a letter to the editor
in support of the impeachment bill? Post it to the blog! Link is
here:

www.dfalink.com/blog_post.php?id...

4. Write letters to the editor in support of this bill. There has
already been some press, including an article in the Sun-Times quoting
a Hastert spokesman calling it "absolutely ridiculous." Go here for
the full article:

www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst...

The full text of the bill is at the end of this email, but you can go
here to get it straight from the source, and get updates on new
co-sponsors:

www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillSta...

We need to learn the truth about what has been done in our name. Lets
work together on this and move this forward!

Sincerely,
Sandra Verthein
Co-Host of the Edgewater/Rogers Park DFA
www.dfalink.com/illinois

--------------------------

Text of HJR0125:

WHEREAS, Section 603 of Jefferson's Manual of the Rules of the United
States House of Representatives allows federal impeachment proceedings
to be initiated by joint resolution of a state legislature; and

WHEREAS, President Bush has publicly admitted to ordering the National
Security Agency to violate provisions of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act, a felony, specifically authorizing the Agency to spy
on American citizens without warrant; and

WHEREAS, Evidence suggests that President Bush authorized violation of
the Torture Convention of the Geneva Conventions, a treaty regarded a
supreme law by the United States Constitution; and

WHEREAS, The Bush Administration has held American citizens and
citizens of other nations as prisoners of war without charge or trial;
and

WHEREAS, Evidence suggests that the Bush Administration has
manipulated intelligence for the purpose of initiating a war against
the sovereign nation of Iraq, resulting in the deaths of large numbers
of Iraqi civilians and causing the United States to incur loss of
life, diminished security and billions of dollars in unnecessary
expenses; and

WHEREAS, The Bush Administration leaked classified national secrets to
further a political agenda, exposing an unknown number of covert U. S.
intelligence agents to potential harm and retribution while
simultaneously refusing to investigate the matter; and

WHEREAS, the Republican-controlled Congress has decline to fully
investigate these charges to date; therefore be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that
the General Assembly of the State of Illinois has good cause to submit
charges to the U. S. House of Representatives under Section 603 that
the President of the United States has willfully violated his Oath of
Office to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United
States; and be it further

RESOLVED, That George W. Bush, if found guilty of the charges
contained herein, should be removed from office and disqualified to
hold any other office in the United States.


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Location: Chicago, IL 60606