Impeachment Coalition of Dane County WI Releases Proposed County and City Impeachment Resolutions; Stages Torture Street Theatre

The Impeachment Coalition of Dane County announces a street theatre production, “Real Americans Don’t Torture,” to be staged Tuesday July 24th and Wednesday, July 25th, 11AM to 1 PM, at the UW-Madison Library Mall, 728 State St. Madison, WI.

• We don’t condone torture & neither should Tammy Baldwin!
• Conyers says if 3 more House members sign Resolution to Impeach Cheney he will start impeachment investigation in House Judiciary Committee. We DEMAND Tammy Baldwin SIGNS on!
• 54% of public says impeachment investigation should start against Cheney
• Madison City Council & Dane Co. Bd. must pass impeachment resolutions in Aug.

The People Of Madison Refuse To Be Bystanders To Torture. We Must Impeach!

President Bush and Vice President Cheney have been critized for authorizing the torture of prisoners in Iraq, Guantanamo and other U.S run prisons and camps. “Real Americans don’t torture. Bush and Cheney do. They should be impeached for their crimes. Torture is outlawed by the Geneva Conventions, our Constitution and the US Code of Military Justice,” said Buzz Davis of Stoughton. Davis, a member of the Impeachment Coalition of Dane County, is a former U.S. Army officer.

The Coalition and the Impeachforpeace.org of WI are staging street theatre focusing on torture and impeachment on the UW-Madison Library Mall Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week from 11 AM to 1 PM. Theater organizer Natalie Morrison said, “We will make a powerful visual statement that will bring home the heinous acts of torture inflicted on thousands of human beings in our name. We intend to raise the specter of torture in the minds of hundreds of Madisonians walking through campus during the lunch hour through images they cannot forget.”

Dressed in the Guantanamo standard of orange jumpsuits, black hoods and chains, prisoners will be guarded by “soldiers” in fatigues. Morrison stated, “Prisoners will be calling for basic human rights, the rights of habeas corpus, the protections of the Geneva Conventions and calling out in pain and fear. We seek to provoke action to stop these crimes and hold the perpetrators accountable.”

Local Green party elected officials, Madison alder Marsha Rummel and County Board Supervisors Barbara Vedder and Ashok Kumar introduced impeachment resolutions last month. The Madison city council and the Dane County board of supervisors will vote on the resolutions in August.

The resolutions call for the U.S. House to commence impeachment investigations for an illegal war of aggression in Iraq, illegal torture of prisoners and illegal wiretapping of citizens. Eighty or more cities have passed such resolutions across the nation.

An October 2006 Newsweek poll revealed 51% of the Americans felt impeachment is a priority. The July 2007 American Research Group national poll revealed 54% of the public favors starting impeachment investigations against Cheney.

U.S. Rep. John Conyers said Friday that if three more House members sign on to Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s House Resolution 333 calling for impeachment investigations against Cheney, he will start an impeachment investigation in the House judiciary committee. At this time 14 House members have cosponsored.

“Baldwin cosponsored the 2006 resolution to impeach Bush. That effort died in a Republican controlled House. Democrats are in control now. The state Democratic Party passed 6 different impeachment resolutions in late June. Eleven state parties have called for impeachment. Baldwin must cosponsor HR 333 to support and defend the Constitution. She took an oath of office to do just that. The Constitution is being shredded before our eyes. Baldwin must act to restore the rule of law and representative government in America,” explained Davis.

Morrison said, “Our goal this week is to get as many petition signatures as possible calling for the City Council and the Dane County Board to pass the impeachment resolutions. We want to pressure Representative Baldwin to sign HR 333. We want to show the city council and county board the public supports them calling for the U.S House to start impeachment investigations.”

“Every elected official that does not honor their oath “to support and/or defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic” will be publicized and held accountable. If they wish to be complicit in these crimes, we do not want them to work for us,” explained Davis.

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Below is the Dane County WI resolution. The city resolution has slightly different resolved clauses dealing with the city.

RES. ___, 2007-08
URGING CONGRESS TO BEGIN IMPEACHMENT INVESTIGATIONS
AGAINST PRESIDENT BUSH AND VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY

The Constitution provides for impeachment of high government officials for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." Conduct that undermines the integrity of a public office or is in disregard of constitutional duties or involves abuse of power is generally regarded as grounds for impeachment.

President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney conspired with others to defraud the United States of America by intentionally misleading Congress and the public regarding the threat from Iraq in order to justify a war in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 371.

President George W. Bush violated the United Nation’s Charter and the United States Constitution by launching an illegal "War of Aggression" against Iraq without cause in violation of U.N. General Assembly Resolution 3314, Article VI, paragraph 2 of the US Constitution and U.S. Federal Law 18 U.S.C. § 2441 (War Crimes Act of 1996).

President Bush has admitted to ordering the National Security Agency to conduct electronic surveillance of American civilians without seeking warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Court of Review, duly constituted by Congress in 1978, in violation of Title 50 United States Code, Section 1805.

President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney conspired to commit the torture of prisoners in violation of the “Federal Torture Act” Title 18 United States Code, Section 113C, the UN Torture Convention and the Geneva Convention, which under Article VI of the Constitution are part of “the supreme Law of the Land”.

In all of this, President Bush and Vice President Cheney have acted in a manner contrary to their trust as President and Vice President, subversive of constitutional government to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of Dane County and the United States of America.

The cost of war is enormous in both the loss of lives and in dollars. Thus far the number of Wisconsin troop deaths is 74 and 486 wounded for a total of 560 persons. Dane County’s portion of the cost of the war is over $1.8 billion and the estimated cost for Wisconsin is approximately $6.863 billion.

The Constitution specifies that "the House of Representatives...shall have the sole power of impeachment" while the “the Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments.” To begin the impeachment process, the House of Representatives would refer the investigation to its Judiciary Committee, which reviews the evidence and may conduct hearings. It determines whether an official impeachment inquiry is warranted and, if so, asks the House for permission to proceed. An official investigation follows, with the Committee deciding whether to offer articles of impeachment to the full House. The House then votes separately on each of the articles, with a simple majority needed to impeach the official. Articles of impeachment approved by the House are then presented to the Secretary of the U.S. Senate for trial.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, warrant impeachment investigations and trial.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Dane County Clerk be, and is hereby, instructed to certify to the Speaker of the House of Representatives a copy of this resolution and its adoption by Dane County, as a petition, and request that this petition be delivered to the Office of the Clerk and entered into the United States Congressional Journal.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Dane County Board of Supervisors urges the United States House of Representatives to begin the impeachment process by referring the investigation to the Judiciary Committee.

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and Senators Herb Kohl and Russell Feingold.

Below is the Oath of Office for City of Madison alders. County board supervisors take a similar oath.

State of Wisconsin) County of Dane) SS. City of Madison) I, do solemnly affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin, and the Charter of the City of Madison, and will perform the duties of in and for the City-at-Large City of Madison, to the best of my ability. Subscribed and sworn to before me this day of ___ SIGNATURE __________