Interfaith, Impeachment, and Culture-Building!

Good afternoon, friend!

My current operating goal for the Ojai Peace Coalition email alerts is to put one out every other Tuesday (predictable for you and me both!), unless there’s something hot that needs to be known!

Well, now is one of those times:

TONIGHT: OJAI INTERFAITH ALLIANCE MTG:
At Glen Muse, 815 Libbey Ave at 7pm
If you’re connecting your own spirituality with a healthy value of the diversity of other spiritual traditions with Peace and activism, come check it out! Topics for discussion will include:
- Organizational name and status
- Jerusalem Women coming next week.
- Next year's Living Peace
- Other activities and initiatives we might want consider in the future

NOW: IMPEACHMENT!
This past Tuesday, Rep. Dennis Kucinich introduced via personal privilege H.Res.333 charging Vice President Richard Cheney with high crimes and misdemeanors and calling for his impeachment. A motion was made to table (kill) the resolution, for which Dennis required a full electronic vote. It lasted over an hour, and included two key exclamation points:
!: the vast majority of House Democrats voted to kill the resolution, preventing further debate.
!: House Republicans’ strategy was to vote AGAINST tabling, which they did en masse at the end of the voting period.

At the end of that vote, more Republicans had voted in favor of keeping the resolution alive than had Democrats...shocking and dismaying! A motion was then made to refer the resolution to the Judiciary Committee, where it is speculated that the Republicans hope it will die. The Judiciary Committee is lead by Democrat John Conyers and has a majority of Democrats, but they had just shown that they don’t want to talk about impeachment despite support of the American people.

At any rate, the resolution – H.Res.799 – is in the Judiciary Committee. Many actions are being suggested in this Open Thread on the Ojai Post.

I’ll copy some here:
• Actions from democrats.com
• Which include emailing the entire Judiciary Committee (make sure to include a personal comment!)
• Find out who’s on the Judiciary Committee
• Hint: Elton Gallegly’s ON the Committee! Email him!
• Call Elton’s office and request that the Committee begin hearings and that he support impeachment: 1-202-225-5811
• Email Dennis Kucinich and let him know you support impeachment of Dick Cheney. DK will compile all the messages and deliver them to the Judiciary.

Why impeachment? For me, it’s about justice, accountability, and upholding the Constitution. As Dennis said during a call to C-SPAN during the voting, it’s not about him or his campaign for President, and it’s not even so much about Dick Cheney. It’s about whether anyone’s going to stand up for and with the American people and our Constitution. It matters not to me how much more time they have in office....crimes have been committed, and our founding documents give us the power and responsibility to pursue accountability. There is no timetable for justice.

SUNDAY NOV 11: BUILDING A CULTURE OF PEACE
The Buddhist association, Soka Gakkai International (Society for the Creation of Value), is a grassroots movement promoting a Cultural, Educational, and Humanistic Network pursuing nonviolence & dialogue. They will be hosting a free community event entitled “Creating a Culture of Peace” this coming Sunday the 11th from 1-3pm at the Ojai Retreat (160 Besant Road, Meiner’s Oaks), and I’LL BE SPEAKING as part of a panel that also includes OPC-member Peggy LaCerra! I’m thrilled to have been invited to share my thoughts on Peace and Culture, and invite you to join us for music, food, entertainment, and discussion!

Peace!
-evan