IMPEACHMENT BREAKTHROUGH

Since we told you Tuesday night about Congressman Conyers' new bills to hold Bush and Cheney accountable for their war lies, 26,000 people have visited the action alert page, and 17,000 have Emailed their Congress Members. You can add to those numbers here:
http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=8329176

Already there are seven cosponsors of a bill to create an investigation and make recommendations on impeachment, four cosponsors on a bill to censure Bush, and five cosponsors on a bill to censure Cheney.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/5768

This work, combined with our polling on impeachment, and the news that Bush authorized illegal spying on Americans, has pushed impeachment into the media.

For many months the media wouldn't cover and Congress wouldn't talk about the public's demand for impeachment of Bush and Cheney because the pollsters wouldn't poll on it, and the pollsters wouldn't poll on it because it wasn't in the media and wasn't in Congress. Remember Gallup's excuse for not polling?
http://www.democrats.com/gallup-drop-dead

The week before Christmas, things changed. Look at the spike in instances of the I word in recent media punditry.
http://www.impeachpac.org/?q=impeachment-news

And Congress Members and Senators are talking about impeachment. Rep. John Lewis says he favors it. Rep. John Conyers has introduced a bill to create an investigation into grounds for it, and seven other Congress Members have immediately signed on. Senator Barbara Boxer announced that she is asking legal scholars for advice on it. Senator Kerry said there are grounds for impeachment; then he flip-flopped -- but it wouldn't be Kerry without that.

No longer can pollsters honestly claim that they are refusing to ask the public about impeachment because it's not a topic in the news or the halls of Congress. But that doesn't mean they won't keep doing so dishonestly, unless we let them know how many of us are watching, unless we use the internet and the radio the way we did to force the Downing Street Minutes into the news.

ASK THE POLLSTERS TO POLL ON IMPEACHMENT:
http://www.democrats.com/bush-impeachment-polls

ASK THE MEDIA TO COVER THE ISSUE:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/1084

Here's info on the few polls that have been done:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/polling

Here's an analysis of the pollsters' inconsistency:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200512200006

NATIONAL DAY OF TOWN HALL FORUMS ON ENDING THE WAR

Organize public meetings or smaller gatherings on Saturday, January 7, on the topic of ending the war!
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/event

There are 60 events already planned around the country. Many Congress Members have been invited to attend by their constituents. Some have already commited to doing so, including: Bobby Scott, Diane Watson, Jim McDermott, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Adam Smith, and Dave Reichert.

One focus of some of these events will be Congressman John Conyers' new resolutions to censure Bush and Cheney and to create a select committee to investigate and make recommendations on impeachment. Rep. Conyers, and many other Congress Members, are likely to participate.

Also already confirmed to take part are several congressional and senatorial candidates, various local elected officials, and leaders of the peace movement, including Gold Star Families for Peace founder Cindy Sheehan.

We are joining with Backbone Campaign, Progressive Democrats of America, After Downing Street, Democracy Cell Project, Cities for Peace, MilitaryFreeZone.Org, Operation Ceasefire, United for Peace and Justice, U.S. Tour of Duty, Hip Hop Caucus, Democracy Rising, World Can't Wait, Gold Star Families for Peace, PeaceMajority Report, Global Exchange, Bring Them Home Campaign, UP (United Progressives) for Democracy, 20 20 Vision, Impeach Bush Coalition, and Peace Action, in asking you to sign up and attend one of these events, or – if there is not one scheduled near you – help organize one and post it on the website for others to attend.

The war is costing us dearly in lives, in security, and in resources. We need this national day to make our demand heard and bring the war to an end. (Events can also be held on days other than the 7th, to fit the schedules of those involved.)

SIGN UP FOR AN EXISTING EVENT OR CREATE A NEW ONE HERE:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/event