The Honorable Sam Farr
1221 Longworth H.O.B.
Washington, DC 20515

April 5th, 2004


Dear Sam:

I have been wanting to write to you for awhile now about the most recent letter you sent regarding the possible impeachment of President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and some of their advisors. You know that I greatly value the good work that we have done together in the past, and have always appreciated your integrity, your hard work, and your very good heart!

Let me first say that I always believed impeachment was a long shot, a VERY long shot given this Congress. I still believe that making the case and the call for impeachment was, and is, incredibly important - because it builds strength, understanding, courage, and resolve about the absolute necessity of removing this administration from power, and why.

After the Santa Cruz City Council voted to ask the House Judiciary Committee for an investigation of the Bush crimes, with impeachment proceedings beginning immediately if warranted, the response from all over the country was incredible. For well over a week, the council office was flooded with calls, faster than they could be answered, from people across this nation. Yes, there were a few negative ones, but the great majority were an outpouring of gratitude, congratulations, relief, enthusiastic thank yous and thumbs up, and requests for information and help toward similar ends. Those of us who organized the effort at the grassroots level received similar acclaim and appreciation!

Until that action, there had been an amazing chill in this country, as though we were in a massive state of denial. Here in Santa Cruz, we "broke the ice", as Councilmember Tim Fitzmaurice said. We opened a door that desperately needed to be opened, and gave the common people throughout this nation permission to say what they were really feeling and thinking. In a frightening atmosphere of retribution and witch hunting, we created an opening for people to step forward and speak truth to power. We did, I believe, a great service, and contributed in an immeasurable and very important way to the hopeful downfall of this administration.

Having said all of that, I still believe the first and central assertion of the impeachment movement - that Bush, Cheney and their top cabinet officials have committed by far the most blatant and serious violations in our history, many of which are deserving of impeachment. Your recent letter said that "there is about as much evidence to impeach President Bush as there was to go to war in Iraq," and that the HJC and John Conyers have found nothing that rises to the level of impeachability.




As a lawyer, I know you understand the supremacy clause of the Constitution. Under that clause, which defines as supreme any international treaties or agreements that the Congress has ratified, all of the following are impeachable offenses: the preemptive strike doctrine itself, the invasion of Iraq and of Afghanistan, the use of depleted uranium in both theaters, the treatment of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and probably in Afghanistan, Iraq, and all the other detention centers that have been set up around the world, the arrest and detention of "suspects" here in this country, and the development and deployment of new nuclear weapons - all of these actions violate existing international treaties and agreements that we are signatory to.

The intentional lying and deception that the administration engaged in to get us into Iraq are impeachable offenses as well. I am including a copy of an article by John Bonifaz that refers to this particular issue, plus some research he has done about the intention of the framers of the Constitution. It is also my understanding that case law supports the premise that, when behavior is egregious enough that in most peoples' minds it rises to the level of a crime, it then meets the criteria of a "high crime." Such is the case with the lies of the Bush people!

I am sending, as well, a copy of a little book, the Nonviolent Action Handbook, and hope you can take a moment to read pages 84 - 93. This is a discussion of the supremacy clause of the Constitution, and the particular treaties that we have violated, with good excerpts from each of those treaties. I am in a nonviolence training class right now and this is our text book. It has a very simple, clear presentation of the legal issues surrounding the actions of this administration. Of course, all of this in some ways points the finger at Congress as well, in the ways that it has been complicit in these violations.

Last, but not least, is the Patriot Act. The President and others, first and foremost, took an oath of office to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States. They have, instead, shredded it.

So, though I understand, and have always understood, that not calling for impeachment might be a strategic or a tactical decision, I really do not think it is a legal or a moral one. What "no impeachment" says is that the President and many other national officials are above the law, are beyond consequence, whatever the costs of their actions, which have been, as we all know only too well, quite severe - thousands of lives lost, untold thousands of injured and maimed, countries devastated, world respect shattered, and the Constitution in tatters. Of course, under their leadership, the economy is in shambles as well, but that is probably not an impeachable offense per se!

If the whole country operated under similar rules, we would have an unbelievable free for all. I wonder what our young people are thinking. In California people can spend their whole lives in jail for being convicted of three nonviolent crimes, but the highest leaders of our country can kill and maim thousands, based on lies and deceit, and go about their agenda not only unfettered, but continuing to do more of the same.

Of course, it is this last concern that has driven the impeachment movement. From the very outset, we said that they needed to be removed before they could do more harm and destruction, or create more victims, and that the elections were too far away, nor could we count on the outcome of those. Since the time when we started the effort to impeach, they have: moved forward the development of new nuclear weapons, violated the identity of Valerie Plame, engineered the illegal overthrow of the democratically elected government of Haiti, and threatened the sovereignty of other countries like Syria, Cuba, and Iran. As well, the obvious fact of their intentional deception has become much more widely recognized and understood as completely unacceptable! From the point of view of folks around the world who live under the constant threat of what this administration might do, we cannot act quickly enough to remove them from power. Countless people all over the globe wonder how we, the people of this country and our officials, could have let this go on for so long.

There is one more thing I must mention! I know, Sam, that you have been a great defender of meeting the needs and rights of veterans. I too have worked very closely with veterans for many years now. Isn't it hard to believe that this administration shows so little real concern or respect for the people now serving in the military, and continues to slash benefits and pay for them, as well as for the veterans of other wars? Again, this is not an impeachable offense, but it certainly is an exercise in outrageous callousness and doublespeak.

So, with all due respect, I do disagree with the assertions in your letter. It is absolutely true that they should be subject to impeachment for all that they have done. Many would like to see them go to jail for a long time. Whether or not they will be removed by election is hard to say, and a great risk! I believe they will do whatever they need to, and can get away with, to stay in power.

The soul of our nation is surely being tested right now - what the outcome will be is hard to say. Even if we do succeed in removing them from power, we have so much more work to do as a nation to bring ourselves into alignment with Peace, and Justice, and Equality on this planet. If we want to stop terrorism, we must stop the root causes - oppression, domination, greed, ecological devastation, and the incredible inequity in the distribution of goods and resources that keeps so many in grinding poverty.

I do want to say that I believe that most people act in ways they think are right and good, and that this may well be true of the Bush folks - but I think they are dangerously wrong, at an exponential level of possible destruction and violation from what we have ever seen before. The most frightening and horrific agenda the world has known, again and again, has been the one done "in the name of God", by those believing they are on a "mission".

We are all called to speak truth to power. I believe those of you elected to represent us would do well to do so by publicly calling for the impeachment of this administration.

Thanks again for all your thoughtful and hard work. I am sure we will meet again on the good cause trail!

peace


Sherry Conable

cc: the Honorable John Conyers the House Judiciary Committee
the Honorable Dianne Feinstein the Honorable Barbara Lee
the Honorable Barbara Boxer the Santa Cruz City Council
and the many brave folks and organizations calling for IMPEACHMENT NOW!