



This past Friday, several dozen Angelenos, organized by the Los Angeles National Impeachment Center (LANIC) under the leadership of LANIC Executive Director Peter Thottam, appeared before the Los Angeles City Council to demand that Los Angeles become the 82nd city in the nation to draft a resolution to impeach George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

Supporting these un-elected everyday patriots in their quest to save their nation was Progressive Democratic Councilmember, Bill Rosendahl, who promises to introduce an impeachment resolution in the Council as soon as ONE of his fellow Councilmembers agrees to be a co-sponsor.

Now how pathetic is that!

Considering the damage George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have done to the United States with their egregious violations of the Constitution, it is unfathomable that patriotic Councilman Rosendahl doesn't have unanimous Council approval RIGHT NOW to impeach George Bush and Dick Cheney. One would think any elected official who honors the Constitution would proudly join Councilman Rosendahl to hold the Executive Branch of this nation accountable for its blatant abuse of power.

Unfortunately, the cowardice and abrogation of responsibility at the national level in Washington, DC, as demonstrated by Congress' failure to execute articles of impeachment against George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, has set a precedent for dereliction that seeps down through the ranks of government to contaminate state, city and local officials as well.

Spinelessness at the top inspires spinelessness at the bottom.

At the federal level, Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi displays disdain for the Constitution by publicly disavowing it. Mrs. Pelosi declines to honor Article 1 Section 2 of the Constitution which authorizes the House to initiate articles of impeachment against any President believed to have committed high crimes and misdemeanors. According to attorney and former New York Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman, co-author of "The Impeachment of George W. Bush," high crimes and misdemeanors are interpreted as abuses of power.

Recognizing how George W. Bush and Dick Cheney abused their power by illegally wiretapping American citizens, imprisoning American citizens and denying them access to legal representation, lying our nation into war, authorizing torture, and myriad other abuses, it is astonishing to anyone who has ever read the Constitution that every elected government official isn't rushing to hold Bush and Cheney accountable for their crimes. Any elected official who is not voting to impeach George W. Bush and Dick Cheney is either unfamiliar with the Constitution or purposely forsaking it. Either situation, be it willful ignorance or willful defiance, renders them unsuitable for office.

Time and again un-elected patriots march and rally across America and visit the offices of federal, state, city and local legislators to implore them to protect this nation from the clear and present danger of the unitary executive. Time and again the un-elected patriots of this nation display a love of country and a commitment to its laws above and beyond those who have lied their way into office.

And yes, they HAVE lied!

At every level of government the oath of elected office is the same: allegiance to the Constitution and a commitment to protect this nation from all enemies both foreign and domestic. The Constitution is NEVER off the table. The Constitution is NEVER overruled, and it is ALWAYS the law of the land - including Article I Section 2.

What is clear from this youtube video of the citizens' pleas to the Los Angeles City Council, is how much more these un-elected ordinary citizens care for their nation's welfare than the elected officials before them. The more the American people demonstrate their strength at every level, the more rapidly representative democracy will take place. The more the American people realize their own strength, the more substantive leaders they are certain to produce - like Peter Thottam and Marcy Winograd who work tirelessly to build representative democracy in LA.

The more substantial candidates we are able to produce, the more derelict officials we are able to replace.

Let's build!

(To see the full presentation to the LA City Council, please view the Part 2 youtube video.)

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About author Linda Milazzo is a Los Angeles based writer, educator and activist. Since 1974, she has divided her time between the entertainment industry, government organizations & community development projects, and educational programs. Linda began her writing career over 30 years ago, starting out in advertising and promotions. From 1976 to 1989, she operated an independent public relations service providing specialty writing for individual and corporate clients. For the past six years, Linda has focused on political writing. Her essays, letters and commentaries have appeared in domestic and international journals, newspapers, magazines and on dozens of respected news and opinion websites. She's an educator and creator of a writers' program she's taught privately and in public schools. She currently facilitates an advocacy writing workshop and is developing an advocacy writing program to be implemented in public and private educational institutions and in community based organizations. A political and social activist since the Vietnam War, Linda attributes her revitalized-fully-engaged-intense-head-on-non-stop-political activism to the UNFORTUNATE EXISTENCE OF GEORGE W. BUSH and her disgust with greed-ridden American imperialism, environmental atrocities, egregious war, nuclear proliferation, lying leaders, and global tyranny!