Conyers at 87,000 Signatures - now wants 250,000!

[Vyan]

On Randi Rhodes today, Randi read a letter from the office of Rep John Conyers which said that they've reached 87,000 signatures in just a few days on their latest push concerning the Downing Street Minutes -- and are now raising the goal to 250,000 just to help bring the point totally home.

He said - "We're getting 4000-8000 signatures a day, it's unheard of for a Congressional Website".

Conyers Letter on Downing Street: Give one signature and pass it on!

Vyan

[seemslikeadream]

1. 4000-8000 signatures a day!!

DO IT!!!!

[joefree1]

11. Can't ... get ... on

Wow. I'll try later.


Seating now available in the Smoking Section:
Politics, humor, death and the Devil - http://www.eDiablo.com

[KansDem]

2. Damn, this is exciting!

We're getting 4000-8000 signatures a day

Just think of how many he'd be getting if the American "Whoreth Estate" actually covered this story!

[Nothing Without Hope]

19. Check this CNN VIDEO posted May 13 - BEFORE the suppresson, there was

coverage and it was full of outrage at the lies proven by the DS Minutes in this case. Not to be missed, another dzika gem. Here is what the coverage SHOULD be like, only more of it. This short clilp - only two minutes - in in Real Media format:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Here's the screen shot dzika used in that thread:

[JRob]

68. Was watching... Just about fell out of my chair. Actually today, Begala...

hit on several current hot issues... hummm

[Nothing Without Hope]

83. he's good! An actual reporter instead of a mouthpiece. I will never

forget his obviously genuine fury and outrage over the DSM in that brief 2 min clip. THIS is what the reaction should be.

[Coexist]

3. Go John, go!!!!!!

[aden_nak]

4. Yarrrrr, he needs more bandwidth.

[sarahlee]

39. He needs some contributions!

He said last week he needs some money to keep this going.

Money for servers and bandwidth... for traveling to speak...

[HereSince1628]

5. I was _in_ last weekend someone else please sign

This is a terrific opportunity to make a statement.

[Kurovski]

6. your link is not functional.

I signed last niight.

try this link: http://www.johnconyers.campaignoffice.com /

send it out to your email list.

EDIT: They must be overloaded at the present. Try later, y'all!

[Vyan]

8. I fixed it already - nt

[Kurovski]

9. It wasn't your link after all,

it's a problem at Conyer's site.

The link on the page leading to the petition also does not work.

[sarahlee]

40. Freepers probably trying to shut it down.

and he needs some cash for more servers and bandwidth.

[Vyan]

10. Actually I beginning to think...

Randi just might have caused the site to crash, the page is getting an error!

An error occurred on the server when processing the URL. Please contact the system administrator.

We are just TOO BAD!!

Vyan
http://vyan.blogspot.com

[Kurovski]

16. Super Bad!

[berni_mccoy]

7. YEEEEEHAAAAAAAAWWWW!!!

Now We're SMOKIN!

Let's go for 1/2 a million!!!!

[Hissyspit]

12. Conyers!

As, I said, he needs his own action/adventure TV show. Cool 70s-funk-inspired theme song. Hot congressional aide sidekick. Cool car. Bringing down the bad guys in the Beltway.

When I emailed the conyers link to friends to get them to sign, I told them they would feel good about signing it; not just some online petition, but a real citizens' action.

[sarahlee]

41. We should hammer

Jon Stewart to get him on.

[nittygritty]

70. that's an EXCELLENT idea!

just emailed them:

[e-mail]

[Hissyspit]

85. I agree: Great idea. nt

[Vyan]

13. Conyers just posted on dailykos..

Avnet, my internet service provider, just advised me of a major outage. They assure me they will work all night if need be to fix it.

My friend Randi Rhodes read the name of the website eight times on the air and I suspect that, in combination with this diary, created a crush on the site.

Please do not give up. Please keep trying.

Will do, Sir - Will do.

Vyan
http://vyan.blogspot.com

[Occulus]

67. "my FRIEND Randi Rhodes"

That says something, doesn't it?

[Nothing Without Hope]

84. Yes it does. He's also called Brad Friedman of BradBlog "crusading"

Which is term which has lost its innocent sense of a fighter-for-justice lately because of the horrors of conflicts with nations who have very good reasons to hate that word and its history -- but of course Rep. Conyers meant it in its older, praising sense. (It was in his blog, which he must write at full speed in between his many ongoing projects - does the man EVER sleep?)

I think Rep. Conyers' openness to the online community is a sign both of his flexibility and insight as well as his realization of what the corporate media have become.

And we ARE all his friends. We support him in many ways and have made a lot of what he has been doing since the election possible. He couldn't have gotten nearly so far without broad, deep support from caring progressives organizing, researching, and sharing information online.

And what would WE have been able to do without HIM to lead and focus and pressure from within the government? I don't want to think about it.

[jhain]

14. YES!!

I signed the very first day and have sent the link to hundreds of people.

Thinking of the Jefferson quote Elizabeth Edwards shared with us last November:
A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt. If the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake.

and then this one stood out:

If there is one principle more deeply rooted in the mind of every American, it is that we should have nothing to do with conquest.
Thomas Jefferson

[katty]

15. Signed and forwarded email to friends and assoc

[msrbly]

17. Site back up and running

[ClassWarrior]

18. We CAN do it.

Never. Give. Up.

[Vyan]

23. Never Surrender?

Why do I have a vision of Tim Allen in a jumpsuit in my head?

LOL (hint - Galaxy Quest)

Vyan

[RAF]

20. 2 thumbs up!

[Rainscents]

36. RAF... Big Welcome to DU!!!

[Nothing Without Hope]

21. With all the BAD things he has to deal with, nice that he got this GOOD

surprise - that so many people want to support him and believe in what he is doing. That is bound to give his energy and spirits a lift.

[longship]

22. Sir Winston spoke of this

Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty. Never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

Winston S. Churchill at the Harrow School, 29 October 1941

[Catchawave]

24. Signed and passed along....! n/t

[Rainscents]

25. This is great news!!! Go John Go!!!

We Love You, John!!!

[Gregory1230]

26. Signed!

Hello to DU! I have signed for that memo.

By the way, I am Dem since 1996, voted for Clinton; in 2000, voted for Gore; and in 2004, voted for Kerry. I live in Florida which is I live in red county (Marion).

Wanted let you know hello and signed for that memo.

[Rainscents]

28. Hello, Gregory1230!!! Welcome to DU!!!

Stay with us for awhile... This is a great place for all the informations you need and also the place where you can rant too!

[stevedeshazer]

35. Welcome and thanks

Good job

[tavalon]

55. Welcome Gregory1230 !

I once lived in your very county. I lived just on the south edge of it - Summerfield. When I lived there, all of the Southern Baptists (my grandparents who raised me as a teen were SBs) were Yellow Dog Dems. I bet with the co-opting of the religions, that has changed.

Anyway, welcome aboard the fine ship DU!

[deadparrot]

27. Done, and proudly.

[whistle]

29. I just signed up...any idea how many signatures have been...

...added since Randi Rhodes began discussing the petition on her show today?

[Singular73]

32. She didn't start today...

I thought I heard her talk about it over the last few days...

Go Rhandi!

[sojourner]

30. One of the 87,000 signatories, but

just got two more signatures from family.

Kick! Everybody get two more signatures...we'll top 250,000 in no time at all.

[quaoar]

31. I just signed it

[Roland99]

33. Wish I could sign it twice!

I've emailed this to many people!

[sarahlee]

52. If you have a blog....

Be sure and join the Big Brass Alliance

The Big Brass Alliance was formed in May 2005 as a collective of progressive bloggers who support After Downing Street, a coalition of veterans' groups, peace groups, and political activist groups formed to urge that the U.S. Congress launch a formal investigation into whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war. The campaign focuses on evidence that recently emerged in a British memo containing minutes of a secret July 2002 meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top national security officials.

http://www.bigbrassblog.com/2005/05/big-brass-alliance....

[Roland99]

60. Thanks!

[thecai]

34. Signed, Sealed, Delivered.... n/t

[bullwinkle428]

37. SIGNED!!!

I'd love to see it go past 100,000 by tomorrow morning!

[Joey Liberal]

38. Conyers is a great man! n/t

[bornagainhuman]

42. I signed it and am as proud as anything i have done for this country

in the military or other wise. i tell you i am probably going to get sent to DRB (disciplinary review board) for dissent but i cant sit quietly i have been talking to others on my ship and i have turned a lot of heads but I'm sure it will catch up to me soon. O well as far as i am concerned i am just fulfilling my oath of enlistment by supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States of America....... NEVER STOP FIGHTING

[tavalon]

56. Welcome bornagainhuman

You are correct that you are fulfilling your oath by supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States of America! You are a true patriot and I thank you for your service in every way you serve. Bless you.

Edited to add: By the way, may I buy you a star? You'll get much more functionality from your account and we'll be supporting DU and our fellow patriots as well.

[bornagainhuman]

69. absolutely

i would greatly appreciate that i would do so myself however i am just trying to recover from a move. Thank you

[tavalon]

72. Done

You should get your star tomorrow or Monday. Welcome again to DU.

[tex-wyo-dem]

74. Thanks, bornagainhuman!

You are truely a patriot for doing this and for serving our country!

Be safe and God speed...

[oxbow]

43. I talked this up at the take back America conference today

asked if PFAW would please throw their weight behind it, among other groups. Many said they might be interested. PFAW alone has an email list of 750,000 people, if I remember correctly. So keep your fingers crossed y'all.

[sarahlee]

46. Great Idea!

I've been searching around the net too for blogs and forums and websites that look like they might be agreeable - even if they are not really political sites - then contacting the owner to ask if they would be willing to post a note about it.

I've already used up my address book twice! Everyone is writing back telling me they signed allready!

I signed up for a bunch of the Care2 Groups so I could post on them.
http://www.care2.com

There are tons of them, but I couldn't afford the time to sign up for more.

[oxbow]

44. Where's Moveon.org?

I thought somebody posted that they were going to get involved.

[sarahlee]

45. You can read his letter

here and see the list of the other Reps who have signed on. It has grown considerably in the past five days.

[oxbow]

48. That link don't work

how many rep's are we up to now anyway?

[sarahlee]

51. Sorry

I think I put in too many http: somehow... can't edit it now.

http://www.kucinich.us/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=12349#123...

LIST OF CONGRESSIONAL COSIGNERS

Neil Abercrombie
Brian Baird
Tammy Baldwin
Xavier Becerra
Shelley Berkley
Eddie Bernice Johnson
Sanford Bishop
Earl Blumenauer
Corrine Brown
Sherrod Brown
G.K. Butterfield
Emanuel Cleaver
James Clyburn
John Conyers
Jim Cooper
Elijah Cummings
Danny Davis
Susan Davis
Peter DeFazio
Diana DeGette
Bill Delahunt
Rosa DeLauro
Lloyd Doggett
Sam Farr
Bob Filner
Harold Ford, Jr.
Barney Frank
Al Green
Raul Grijalva
Louis Gutierrez
Alcee Hastings
Maurice Hinchey
Rush Holt
Jay Inslee
Sheila Jackson Lee
Jessie Jackson Jr.
William Jefferson
Marcy Kaptur
Patrick Kennedy
Dale Kildee
Carolyn Kilpatrick
Dennis Kucinich
William Lacy Clay
Barbara Lee
John Lewis
Zoe Lofgren
Donna M. Christensen
Carolyn Maloney
Ed Markey
Carolyn McCarthy
Jim McDermott
James McGovern
Cynthia McKinney
Martin Meehan
Kendrick Meek
Gregory Meeks
Michael Michaud
Juanita Millender-McDonald
George Miller
Gwen S. Moore
James Moran
Jerrold Nadler
Grace Napolitano
James Oberstar
John Olver
Major Owens
Frank Pallone
Donald Payne
Charles Rangel
Bobby Rush
Bernie Sanders
Linda Sanchez
Jan Schakowsky
Jose Serrano
Ike Skelton
Louise Slaughter
Hilda Solis
Pete Stark
Ellen Tauscher
Bennie Thompson
Mike Thompson
Edolphus Towns
Stephanie Tubbs Jones
Tom Udall
Chris Van Hollen
Nydia Velazquez
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Maxine Waters
Diane Watson
Melvin Watt
Robert Wexler
Lynn Woolsey
David Wu
Albert R. Wynn

[Maestro]

57. WooHoo I see some Texas Dems in that list!

I already signed by the way, but I am sending this out to many more people.

[oxbow]

47. The progressive Blogger's Union just joined up

This was in my inbox:

TOPIC: BUSH LIES

ON-GOING TOPIC UNTIL BUSH IS IMPEACHED

Please post as often as possible on this subject in the weeks ahead.
Even if you can only manage the time to reference a news article, every little bit helps to rally and waken the American public into action.
It's time to get the word out!! I will be printing flyers to distribute around town. Not everyone has a computer.

"After Downing Street" will help you sign petitions, email others, print flyers...






This is a wildfire now! Keep feeding it. Don't think. Just do it DU!!!

[Gold Metal Flake]

49. FLOOR IT!!

Lets see what this buggy can do!

[Mortos]

50. Just signed and will forward to my family and friends

God, I hate this administration and those who allow it to carry on.

[infoferret]

53. I signed and forwarded

Sooner or later we'll get through the propaganda smokescreen coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

[tavalon]

58. You're already half way there

by joining up with us. Welcome to DU infoferret and btw, I love your user name.

[sarahlee]

54. Campaign Launched to Demand Resolution of Inquiry

If you have signed and done all you can think to do to get others to sign Congressman Conyers'letter, then join the . . .

Campaign to Demand Resolution of Inquiry
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/modules.php?op=modloa...

If you have a blog, join the Big Brass Alliance
http://www.bigbrassblog.com/2005/05/big-brass-alliance....

[sarahlee]

59. When you have gotten all the sigs you can for Conyers

Take a moment and read this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

There is a deadline for comments tomorrow, June 3 and if the FEC rules the wrong way on Internet political activities, our citizen voices could be squashed and the Corporattions will take back what we gained in the 2004 races.

From the lawyer who is writing the comments for Markos, Atrios and BOPNews:

If bloggers are not considered under the media exemption, then everything they say can be considered an "in-kind contribution" to political campaigns, subject to reporting requirements, disclosure requirements and limits. Group blogs would become "political action committees" that would need to file. A blogger who incorporates would violate the law with the first word he said supporting a federal candidate. And more.

Let me give one example of a detail in the proposed regulations that you might be concerned with: under current regulations (11 CFR 114.9), employees and stockholders of a corporation, as well as officials, members, and employees of a labor organization, are allowed to use corporate or labor organization "facilities" for individual volunteer activities in connection with a Federal election, only if that use is "occasional, isolated, or incidental."

To be "occasional, isolated, or incidental", it cannot prevent the individual from carrying out her normal duties or interfere with the
corporation or labor organization carrying out its normal activities. As a "safe harbor", you're automatically fine if it does not exceed one hour per week or four hours per month.

They'd like to extend this to your use of computers and email as well -- and, mind you, if you're doing this from your private college's computers or network, your school may well be legally incorporated.

So, is 1hr/week, 4hr/month enough time for you to read blogs and participate from work?

[Pallas180]

61. Signed, sealed, and delivered ! John Conyers -

just keeps plugging and plugging away, trying to get impeachment going and he deserves all the help he can get and we can give him.

What we need is a deepthroat in the dumbot's admin

[Spiffarino]

62. Done

[laugle]

63. signed.....me and hubby....gooooooo conyers!!

[thecai]

64. kick n/t

[FredStembottom]

65. Did I screw up?

I signed on the first day - whenever that was. But as I hit "send" I saw that I had typed my required email address wrongly. Will this invalidate my signature do you think? This is still bugging me. I want my name on the list for all history.

[JRob]

66. Signed a couple of days back... KICK ! ! ! !

[Pushed To The Left]

71. Signed it! n/t

[Janice325]

73. I just signed.

Kick!!!

[thecai]

75. Good Post, Vyan

Welcome to DU!

Keep this thread kicked, all!

[mermaid]

76. I signed

and happy to sign, too. I want that son of a bitch Bush held accountable, for once on something, dammit!

This bastard has gotten away with absolutely everything, and the media has been complacent in this, and it is driving me insane!!

[baron j]

77. signed

conyers is my hero!

[rambler_american]

78. Signed and sent.

This is awesome!

[Robworld]

79. Just signed, and will pass on to everyone I know

The Downing Street Minutes needs to stay relevant.
This has impeachment written all over it.
Don't let the Republicans and the corporate run media make this disappear.

http://www.dumdumgoestothecircus.com/

[kissmygrits]

80. Signed it and my SO signed also.

[sleepyhead]

81. Signed and forwarded

Did it yesterday and have already gotten calls from friends thanking me for bringing it to their attention. Seems like we have spent a lot of time signing letters but this time there is hope that we will really accomplish something with our signatures. John Conyers is a hero!

[Al-CIAda]

82. .

[DanCa]

86. I just signed

and passed it on to everyone on my friends list. I cant promise they'll sign it but I did my part. Sorry it took so long guys.

[DanCa]

87. My sister just signed it (nt)

[Ian David]

88. Done and kicked

[janetle]

89. I just signed--I couldn't get on yesterday

[digitalhippie]

90. message to my rep

I not only signed, I sent out an email to my rep and senator, here it is:

Dear Sir,
With the release of the Downing Street Minutes and the neglect to those minutes by the mainstream media, I believe it is time for our elected officials to take a closer look at this and any other related documents. I supported our President in the lead up to Iraq, I felt that if Saddam Husssein did have WMD capabilites he needed to be dealt with. I did feel that we could have given the UN inspectors more time, but I trusted our President to make the right decision based on information he was privy to. I now feel that the current administration has led us into a war that we did not need to embark upon. I think that over the last 2 years many things have come to light that place doubt on what the motivation to go to war really was. I feel cheated as a former soldier. Afte 9-11, The US pulled together, and the world did not pity us, they were amazed by our resialliance and out ability to pull together in a time of crisis. I felt like we had the rest of the world behind us in a quest to root out terrorism and make America the shining beacon it had previously been. Now I look at reports from around the world, and Amreica is one of the most despised nations on the planet, all due to the handling of the war in Iraq and how we treat prisoners related to this war. I feel like I have been lied to and cheated out of the opportunity to be a proud American. I feel that the current Administration has led us astray and squandered the good will we received post 9-11. I do not take my duties as citizen lightly. I voluntarily joined the military and served my country honorably for 4 years. If the day comes when my country needs me to defend her from foreign or domestic enemies, I will gladly do so, as long as I belive the cause is just and the motives clear! For now, I ask you to do your duty as my elected official and join Congressman Conyers in his quest to find out the truth about why we are at war with a country that may have not posed an imminent danger to the USA. This goes beyond partisan politics at this point in my mind, please take a courageous stand and help start the investigation. If in the end you conclude that nothing wrong was done, that is fine by me, but I would like you to seek out the truth, whatever it may be, and share it with your constituents. Thank you for your time.

[seshers]

91. How many signatures so far

[DrFunkenstein]

92. Signed, Sealed and So Forth

Not that accountability means anything, but I did it on a lark.

[Algorem]

93. he was on radio today-

Conyers-"Good morning!,,,(Question-"We've spent a lot of time talking about the Downing Street Memo and the revelation of that crucial phrase about the intelligence being fixed to shape a reason to go to war in Iraq.Tell me what your reaction is to what's happening out there now in the American public,the reaction to this memo and the feeling on the part of many that the administration lied to the American people.")

Well,there's an unusual thing happening in two respects.One,is that,excluding you and a few others,there's a great reluctance on the media to want to inquire to inquire into a matter as serious as this.

This abuse can be a constitutional one that could have grave ramifications.But,among the American people,and our polls show it,nationally and in my state of Michigan,most people would like us to resolve this war as quickly as possible and get the folks out,our folks out.

And this question revealing that there may have been secret plans for a war while the president and his cabinet were assuring us that they were looking for every other means to get into war,rather,than to get out of war,is pretty serious if it's accurate and there's no desire to want to go there,and I think it's very important.

It reminds me of the Vietnam episode of how citizen power finally forced our government to leave Vietnam.Reminds me of how things built up around the impeachment of President Nixon which was considered out of the question in view of the fact that he had been reelected by a far more substantial margin than one state.

And so what we're trying to figure out is why is there is such a lack of opposition among those who feel that this should go further.And on the other side of it ,Dianne, is the very serious problem of a president who refuses to honestly communicate with not just one member of Congress;a lot of us have sent letters to get people in the White House to respond.

And then we have in addition 89 members of Congress,and you get these reactions-"Uh,this is old stuff."Well it isn't old stuff,we never had a declassified British intelligence memo before the the Sunday London Times released it.

We knew that former Secretary of Treasury O'Neil and security officers and weapons inspectors have all said that there was a war being planned much earlier than the president received Congressional support for increased military action.But it's slow coming and I think it tells us a not very happy part of our political process in here in this country.

(Question-"Have you and your colleagues asked the White House for information specifically about this Downing Street Memo and have you received specific answers?")

Yes we have asked for a meeting and a response and we've been brushed off,we don't have anything yet.

(Question-"How serious do you believe this information to be?")

Well the first thing is that by them not responding to it and dismissing it gives it ,to me, a credibility that nobody can give it but president Bush and the White House itself.And so I think the fact that there may have been and likely was,as many have written before but we couldn't do this with O'Neil or weapons inspectors or security people in the United States.

Here was declassified notes with the prime minister who is here in Washington today to meet with the president and both of them are together and you would think that somebody would say "Well let's just tell them what happened."

That's all we're looking for.And I can't put the fullest weight on this matter until I finnd out what it is they tell me."

Host-"Congressman John Conyers,Democrat of Michigan,thank you so much for joining us sir and good luck to you."

Conyers-"And thank you so much for dealing with this difficult subject."

Host-"Thank you so much,Martin Walker,last word,quickly."

Walker-"Congressman Conyers on his website has got a ,the chance to sign up to a petition saying you want to join him in this concern,so far the last count,over 90,000 signatures.That's the kind of pressure that might be needed now."(end)

http://www.wamu.org/programs/dr/05/06/06.php