[Dialogue] Symbolic Impeachment

[Mary D'Souza]

Jann,
I find this very interesting.

Thank you for sending it.
Mary in Pune


On 2/14/07, LAURELCG at aol.com <LAURELCG at aol.com> wrote:
>
> I am forwarding this from a man with whom I studied at the University of
> Creation Spirituality.  His subject line was, "taking back my power."  I
> was
> honored that he called me Sunday night to consult about whether or not I
> felt it
> would be ethical to put this out on the internet.  I thought it was very
> powerful, and I also said that I hadn't been very supportive of the
> impeachment
> movement because it is such a destructive, polarizing process (though not
> to the
> extent the war and other crimes he enumerates, as I reflect on
> it.)  Anyway, it
> strikes me as a powerful form of prayer, more powerful as I read it than
> when
> he was telling me about it on the phone.  If anyone wants to reply, I'll
> send
> it on to him, since he requests anonymity at the internet level.
>
> Blessings,
> Jann McGuire
>
> Hello Friends,
>
>
> I got to thinking this morning how our government derives its power from
> "We
> the People", and in a simple minded way I thought, "How can we take our
> power
> back from the people who are misusing it?"
>
>
> I was thinking, "It's a kind of mystical thing, the way we give our power.
> Sure,
>
> elections are familiar to us now, but really the way we aggregate and
> delegate executive,
>
> legislative and justice functions is a highly sophisticated act of
> collective
> belief.
>
>
> "What is belief? It's a way of crystallizing a set of thoughts that seem
> true
> to us, and
>
> allowing them to guide our thoughts and actions. Belief is a foundation
> for
> consciousness
>
> to build on. Maybe if enough of us simply withdrew our consciousness and
> our
> agreement to uphold that construction in consciousness which gives power
> of
> this regime, their outward power would gradually wither away and the
> healthy
> parts of our system would adjust, restoring a sense of balance and harmony
> to
> what we are told is a government BY the people, FOR the people."
>
>
> I thought this idea had merit (though an article I read by Bill Moyers has
> a
> lot more to
>
> say about this subject. He quotes Woodrow Wilson who said something that
> could be equally true for us today, "What we have to determine now, as
> Wilson said
> in his day, "is whether we are big enough…whether we are free enough, to
> take possession again of the government which is our own. We haven't had
> free
> access to it, our minds have not touched it by way of guidance, in half a
> generation, and now we are engaged in nothing less than the recovery of
> what was made
> with our own hands, and acts only by our delegated authority."
>
>
> As we face that challenge even today, a story about Helen Keller is worth
> remembering.
>
> Toward the end of her career, as she was speaking at a Midwestern college,
> a
> student
>
> asked: "Miss Keller, is there anything that could have been worse than
> losing
> your
>
> sight?" Helen Keller replied: "Yes, I could have lost my vision."" I
> encourage you to
>
> read Bill Moyers' article, "Discovering What Democracy Means":
>
> http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0212-31.htm)
>
>
> Any way, here's what I did. (Somewhat edited with the benefit of
> hindsight.)
>
>
> I said my morning prayers at my altar. I lit a special candle. I
> downloaded a
> picture of
>
> Bush and Cheney (a nice one too I might add - see below) and one of Nancy
> Pelosi (she's
>
> in red, with the word "power" behind her!)
>
>
> I put the Picture of Bush and Cheney on my altar and said, "I note that
> the
> power to
>
> remove a President and Vice President is set out in the Constitution for
> high
> crimes and
>
> misdemeanors. In so far as you have been given power by "We the People",
> under the
>
> constitution of the United States of America, and in so far as you have
> abused that power by acts and negligence, in so far as you have acted in
> bad faith,
> in so far as you have illegally authorized killings, torture, detention
> without trial, rendition for the
>
> purpose of torture, in so far as your efforts to increase the power of the
> Presidency has usurped and corrupted our constitutional government and the
> rule
> of law, and in so far as your policies have made this country less safe,
> more
> hated, and more indebted
>
> internationally, you have in my opinion, disqualified yourselves from
> holding
> your
>
> elected office and I therefore withdraw my agreement to you holding any
> power
> to hold the offices of President and Vice President."
>
>
> "I remove this power symbolically now by extinguishing this candle and
> folding your
>
> photograph on itself. You now have power over yourselves only. You are now
> subject to the laws of this nation, and international laws that we have
> ratified. You are now answerable to those laws."
>
>
> I picked up their photo and folded it over, so that they faced each other
> and
> the blank
>
> side of the paper was facing out. This represents to me their power turned
> on
> themselves, and a fresh start for the rest of us.
>
>
> I continued, "Your time in office is now over, and I ask for your
> resignation. I call on
>
> Congress to impeach you immediately if you do not resign. I call on your
> Cabinet and
>
> political appointees at all levels of government to resign also."
>
>
> I then placed Nancy Pelosi's photo on the altar in front of the candle and
> lit the candle
>
> again, this time using the light from a special candle on the altar rather
> than a match.
>
>
> "Nancy Pelosi, since you have been elected Speaker of the House of
> Representatives, you are the next in line of succession to the Presidency.
> Thus, with
> the removal of power from both the President and the Vice President,
> executive
> power devolves to you. In accordance  with the Constitution of the United
> States, I now give you my power to
>
> execute the laws of the United States, to command our military forces, and
> to
> act as the representative of all the people--in other words to become the
> President of the United States.
>
>
> "I do this trusting you will do so honestly, effectively and in good
> faith,
> so that all
>
> may be at peace and justice may prevail."
>
>
> Her photo continues to be on my altar.
>
>
> The intention here is entirely peaceful and on the level of consciousness.
> It
> is intended
>
> for peaceful purposes only.
>
>
> I share this thinking that there may be others who want to duplicate it or
> develop this
>
> action. Feel free to share it, but if you do pass on this email, I request
> you to remove
>
> my name and email address so that it is anonymous. Thank you.
>
>
> I would be interested to hear any feedback.
>
> PS. If anyone wishes to see / use the photos I used, here they are:
>
>
> http://www.apfn.org/apfn/bush_cheney.jpg
>
>
>
> http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:zSi90quLWmiCGM:http://radfilms.com/NAR%2
> 520Pelosi.jpeg
>
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