First Hearing Friday 2/9/07 on NM Impeachment Bill: What You Can Do

UPDATE: The February 9th Senate Rules Committee hearing on this bill has been POSTPONED! The hearing has been reset for Friday, February 16th. Click here for more information.

From Desi Brown and State Sen. Ortiz y Pino’s office:
As many of you know, the first hearing on New Mexico’s attempt to call for the impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney will be this Friday, February 9th at 9 AM in the Senate Rules Committee, Room 321. I volunteer for Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino and have been asked to write a summary of what we would like for local activists and interested parties to do in the coming days both before and after this hearing.

-- This is our chance to legitimately affect national policy, and it could hinge on as little as a couple of votes in a couple of committees. Every individual, group, organization, etc who is in support of this bill needs to work their tail off doing the below listed things for the next few weeks. NOW is the time, this is YOUR chance!

-- Help us make this bill a reality! Think of it this way – we could be the heroes of several BILLION people from around the world if we are successful!

First – It is important to understand that a large number of well respected elected officials are really laying their careers on the line in supporting this resolution, therefore it is the least that we can do as activists to support them in a way that will reflect favorably on them and for passage of this bill. This means that our actions in public will be viewed as an extension of people such as Senators Ortiz y Pino or Grubesic. Please be respectful, don’t use rhetoric, and present yourselves as respectable citizens when discussing this issue with other legislators, the media, and the public.

Prior to the first hearing: There are a small handful of Senators who need to be targeted. These include:

• Senator Ben Altamirano (Rules Committee)
• Senators Mary K. Papen & David Ulibarri (Public Affairs Committee)
• Senators Richard Martinez, Lidio Rainaldi, & Michael Sanchez (Judiciary Committee)

E-mail them, stop by their offices, call them, talk to them and their staff. They are all uncommitted to supporting this bill as of now.  All other Democrats in these committees have signaled their intention to support the resolution. PLEASE BE POLITE AND TO THE POINT.

At the first hearing (and others): We will try to have information and possibly a meeting room available prior to the start of this meeting in order to make sure everyone is on the same page and sending a unified message to the committee. It is very important for us to have a significant physical presence for this bill – the more the merrier – and we want you to stand and speak if given the opportunity. If you do speak, keep it short, succinct, articulate and on topic. Pick a couple of points at most from those listed below. Remember, the less you talk, the more additional people have a chance to voice their opinion as well.

CAUTIONARY NOTE: It is also important that we all honor the legislative process and stay focused on the wording of the bill (SJR 05 – Available on the NM Legislature website ) and the reasons why these senators are discussing this bill. If members of the crowd are unruly, stray from the message of the resolution, or are in some other way distracting from the message of the bill – it may NOT pass!

As much as we all (myself included!) would like to wear inflammatory t-shirts, shout slogans, and talk about the atrocities that have occurred as a result of these two people’s actions – we must not do that in the Roundhouse. Tentative support that we may gain from the above uncommitted Senators can be lost as a result of just one person’s failure to adhere to these requests!

However, there is still a lot you can do:

• Read the resolution (SJR05). Really learn what it says, repeat this info to everyone you know.
• Memorize and practice the main issues that we have listed out below. 
• Also, there are a number of websites with info regarding impeachment. We encourage you to stay away from the ones with a lot of conspiracy/etc info. It seems that the ones with the most relevant (to us) information are:

1. www.impeachbush.tv – great talking points for our bill! (see links below)
2. www.impeachpac.org
3. www.impeachforpeace.org

• Write letters to the editor (for ALL of the papers, all over the state) all this coming week (and next week, and the week after, and the week after that!).
• Call in to radio shows (KUNM, KKOB, others and show your support). I especially encourage you to call in to KKOB – it is the most listened to station in the state, and despite its conservative leanings – you can still voice your opinion!(Please follow the same advice as that listed above for committee hearings!)
• Encourage the local TV stations to cover the issue on their newscasts.
• Organize your own local town-hall style meetings, invite qualified speakers to talk about the issue of impeachment – Invite the media!
• Contact additional legislators both in the NM State House and Senate (Republicans too!). Engage their hired help and volunteers in good conversations, this is often a great way to influence decisions.
• Spread information outside of your regular group of friends – We need support from all over the state, not just Albuquerque & Santa Fe.

What to talk or write about:

• The issue of impeachment has become a state’s problem due to a lack of action on the part of our federal government in investigating allegations that have been made against our president and vice president.
• California, Illinois, Minnesota, and Vermont all considered similar impeachment resolutions in 2006.  New Mexico is the first of several states to introduce legislation this year.
• The US Constitution and Sect. 603 of the House Rules allow for any state to ask for impeachment proceedings.
• This is about requesting the federal government to look into impeachable offences; this is not about putting them on ‘trial’ here in NM.
• The NM Democratic Party voted to call for the impeachment of George Bush on March 18th, 2006 at their annual convention. Out of 1,200 delegates, an estimated 80% voted for this resolution to be added to the state party platform.
• It only takes one US Congressman or Senator to bring this resolution to the forefront of Congress.  We believe there are potentially dozens of them who may be willing to do this (in 2006, over 30 US Congressmen signed a petition calling for impeachment).  Also, Republican Congressman Ron Paul has called for impeachment as well. As soon as we can confirm a name, we will let you know.
• Additional Talking Points and Rebuttals for arguments against impeachment can be found at:

1. Points city - (Substitute the word ‘state’ for ‘city’)
2. Points poliitical issues - Political Issues
3. Points general - Impeachable Offenses

These are all handy to have when talking to others! Copy them and use them, they are well written!

If any of you have additional ideas or comments regarding trying to get the activist community more involved in this issue, please contact me directly or contact Senator Ortiz y Pino’s office at (505) 986-4380.

Thanks for your interest and support!
Desi Brown, (505)256-0668
desibrown@comcast.net