Impeach for Peace, a Minnesota
chapter of the national World Can’t Wait organization, researched a method for impeaching the president
using a little known and rarely used part of the Rules of the House of
Representatives (“Jefferson’s Manual”). This document actually
empowers individual citizens to initiate the impeachment process themselves.
“Jefferson’s Manual” is an interpretive guide to
parliamentary procedure, and is included (along with the Constitution) in the
bound volumes of the Rules of the House of Representatives. The section
covering impeachment lists the acceptable vehicles for bringing impeachment
motions to the floor of the House.
Before the House
Judiciary Committee can put together the Articles of Impeachment, someone must
initiate the impeachment procedure. Most often, this occurs when members of the
House pass a resolution. Another method outlined in the manual, however, is for
individual citizens to submit a memorial for impeachment.
After learning this
information, Minnesotan and Impeach for Peace member Jodin Morey looked for
precedent and discovered an 1826 memorial by Luke Edward Lawless which had been
successful in initiating the impeachment of Federal Judge James H. Peck.
Impeach for Peace then used this as a template for their “Do-It-Yourself
Impeachment.” Now any citizen can download the DIY Impeachment Memorial
and submit it, making it possible for Americans to do what our representatives
have been unwilling to do. The idea is for so many people to submit the
Memorial that it cannot be ignored.
Impeach for Peace
is now certain that it has a legal document that U.S. House Speaker Dennis
Hastert must recognize. The main organizer for the group, Mikael Rudolph,
explains: “He might still toss them all in the trash, but with House
Minority Leader John Conyers also receiving copies, Hastert can be held
accountable by Conyers as well as by the national press, should they awaken
from their deep slumber. Imagine if this gets picked up by the national media
and dozens of extra trucks are called into service to deliver tons of mail to
Speaker Hastert and Congressman Conyers in mid to late October.’ The DIY
Impeachment process has already been listed on several national websites,
including WorldCantWait.net, in the short time it’s been available.
The timing for
delivering these memorials is strategic, designed so that a mammoth influx of
DIY Impeachment memorials will be sent in around elections as an “October
surprise.” Impeach for Peace also researched the delay caused by the
radiating of mail used to detect anthrax, and concluded that the mail should be
delivered to our representatives by the end of October. Rudolph quips,
“Once this is big enough to threaten Bush, I won’t be surprised if Rove
sees to it that the letters are investigated for anthrax.”
In less than a
month since the memorial became available at ImpeachforPeace.org, over 17,000
memorials have been downloaded, and this trend continues at a rate of
1,000/day. Because one download can be printed any number of times, it’s hard
to estimate how many memorials will be sent. Portland’s World Can’t Wait chapter, for
instance, has picked up the ball by making 500 copies, and will make more when
they run out.
Rudolph reasons,
“America’s
victory will be a ‘death of a thousand cuts.’ This ‘cut’ could be one of the
most effective. It’s like a legal method for voting outside of the scheduled
polling dates. It is incredibly empowering and awakening for individuals to
learn that they can do this.” Impeach for Peace has been getting exuberant
reactions as people learn that this is the constitutionally mandated procedure
by which any federal official is ousted by the people themselves. The
Impeachment Memorial is an opportunity to help wake up the populace, get the
attention of the media, and perhaps even scare our public officials into the
realization that they too may be held accountable once up for election.
According to Rudolph,
“Impeachment would lead to the ouster of Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld and many
others, as they are all equally guilty of war crimes. In an open impeachment
trial, the evidence would come out. It isn’t the only way we’ll succeed in
impeaching Bush and restoring democracy, but it is an important avenue. Let’s
get it done.”