PDHblog
This is a place for members of Progressive Democrats of Hawai‘i to express their thoughts
and exasperations about political happenings. The opinions and views are not necessarily
those of PDH's steering committee or membership as a whole.

The Progressive Democrats of Hawaii (PDH) Impeachment Action Committee, which is also the Hawaii Congressional District 01 Impeachment Committee of AfterDowningStreet.org, met on Sunday, December 10, Human Rights Day, at 2 PM at the Dillingham Sizzler Restaurant. Six people attended, half from CD01, and half from CD02.

We discussed honoring our friends who disagree with pressing forward with impeachment too quickly because while they might agree that impeachment is morally right, they also fear that it is tactically wrong and might jeopardize the prospects for maintaining Democratic majorities in the House and Senate in 2008. Some of those present had this concern, but we mostly agreed that if impeachment is morally right, then it will help Democrats, rather than hurt them, in 2008.

We also discussed the fact that there is ‘room’ for an impeachment committee for CD-02 if people from the neighbor islands such as Maui want to put one together. However, those from CD-02 who were at the meeting had no interest in setting such a committe up themselves. Rather, they will continue to work with us.

Next, we discussed the petition that ImpeachforChange coalition is suggesting, which offers 10 reasons for impeachment. However, the printed Petition form they provide offers only a 4-point, 4 word rationale that our group found inadequate. There was interest in developing an intermediate type of petition that offers perhaps 4 reasons in less cryptic form, and it was agreed to work on one.

One reason for the interest in the petition was the upcoming talk by Ann Wright on Tuesday, December 19 (with an appearance by Lt. Ehren Watada) at Church of the Crossroads, 7pm. We decided to “table” at that event (Pat Blair & Shannon Wood), and wanted the revised petition as well as other “literature” for that event.

We also talked about holding a large “town hall meeting” about impeachment, with some well-known speakers such as Ann Wright, who is a member of the Citizens Impeachment Commission, aiming at public education about the process of impeachment. There is plenty of recent history that is very relevant– not just the impeachment of Bill Clinton, which was voted down by the Senate, but also the near-impeachment of Richard Nixon during the Watergate hearings that led to his resignation before he could be impeached, and the Iran-Contra investigations, which led to a number of indictments leading into Ronald Reagan’s White House.

We plan to meet next on January 13, 2 PM, at the Dillingham Sizzler’s, to work on the plans for this town hall meeting.

Bob Schacht