Conyers hearing on signing statements took place today

Here is the story from the Contra Costa Times. Let's hope and pray that this issue is not swept under the carpet by the mainstream media. This could very well lead to the impeachment of the President of the United States, if it is shown that he knowingly and willfully broke the law.

Here's Congressman Conyers' opening statement on the matter.

John Conyers to hold hearing on signing statements

This is it, gang! Looks like our activism has paid off. Congressman John Conyers, new heard of the House Judiciary Committee, has scheduled a hearing for next Wednesday on the issue of President Bush's signing statements. Brad Blog has the scoop on this one.

Now's the time to call Mr. Conyers and the other members of the House Judiciary Committee and demand that they get to the bottom of this warantless opening of mail situation.

Toll-free number for Congress: 1-800-862-5530

Direct line for Conyers: (202)225-5126, Email: John.Conyers@mail.house.gov

Radio Outreach

Hey gang, this week I managed to get on the Thom Hartmann Show, the Ed Schultz Show, and Equal Time, with Frank Blair and Audrey Chase. Check out all these great programs, and feel free to call in yourself and talk about the issue. If we don't raise the ruckus early and often, this issue WILL be forgotten.

JANUARY 16TH UPDATE:

I got onto Bobby Kennedy's Ring of Fire today! They tape the show during the week for playback on the weekends, so hopefully they play my clip this Saturday. In the Seattle area, Ring of Fire plays from 2 to 4 PM Saturday and Sunday. Sadly, KPTK preempts half the show with Cougar Sports from time to time, but I guess that's why God invented podcasting.

Follow my lead! Call those shows and get this issue back into the news!

For talking points, check out the News Links page.

What can I do?

That's the question you may be asking yourself, now that you know what the President has decided to do. Opening our mail without a warrant? How can we possibly stop that from happening?

Here are a few ideas that I've tried and you may want to also try:

Call in to your favorite radio show
Write a letter to the editor of your local paper/s or union newsletter on the subject
Bring up the issue as a point of discussion or as a resolution against at your union meeting or AFL-CIO meeting
Call your members of Congress
Stage a demonstration - pick a catchy slogan, make t-shirts, round up a gaggle of radicals to storm your congressmember's local district office, whatever
Tell your friends and family
Tell your coworkers

For talking points on the issue, check out some of the links we've listed on our News Links page. There you'll find plenty of articles as well as a few opinion pieces on the issue.

If you come up with something that isn't on this list, or you'd like to tell us about it and even get your letter printed here, send all correspondence to tahomaactivist@yahoo.com

Tell us what you are doing to reverse this awful decision

We want to know what sort of reactions you get from your members of Congress, or if you get letters to the editor printed in the newspaper, or anything else you can tell us about how you're dealing with this issue.

Today I got on the Thom Hartmann Show, and tomorrow I plan to raise the issue on Ed Schultz. I figure that if we seize on this quickly and demand action soon, we can make the President look even worse than he already does and push back on the issue of Awesome Executive Power, aka "The Unitary Executive" Theory.

Send us your reports, and we will print them!

What is Tyranny?

Tyranny is the subversion of democracy by the powerful against the weak. This President, George W. Bush, has clearly shown himself to be a tyrant through his abuse of the military, his abuse of the powers of law enforcement, and his total disregard for the mandates of Congress, as evidenced by his so-called "signing statements". His latest "signing statement" is the worst yet, asserting that he and his agents have the right to open our mail at any time, without a warrant.

This is a crime.

These so-called "signing statements" are a direct challenge to the power of the United States Congress to make and pass law. By claiming in these statements that provisions of the laws passed by Congress will not be enforced, or will be contradicted by agents of his administration, George Bush is spitting in the faces of every elected official in Congress, and by extension, he is spitting in the faces of every voter in America who elected those individuals to represent their interests.

This kind of tyranny is the exact opposite of what we should be living under in this country. America was designed by our founding fathers to have checks and balances, so that no President could ever have so much power that they could terrorize their own people.

By allowing this President to create these signing statements, and to enforce them with his enforcement apparatus, we are essentially giving him license to trash the Constitution and violate his oath of office. We would be fools to continue to allow this to go on.

Thankfully, postal workers are not fools. And we will not sit by and watch this President trash our hard-won freedoms, despite what the right-wing pundits may say. This is not about catching terrorists. If it were, the President could get warrants to search our mail, just like he has to to tap our phones or to read our email. This President has all the tools he needs to catch terrorists. This is about scaring people into going along with his policies. If they are afraid he will read their mail, they'll be less likely to think "dangerous" thoughts and to organize against him. In this way, his tyranny grows.

If we are smart we will stop this activity now, before it grows so much that we can't stop it. If we stand up to Bush on this now, we might have a chance at making it end. But we have to act now,. and call our members of Congress, and demand that they do something to end this practice of spitting in the face of our collective will. The Congress belongs to us, just like the office of the President belongs to us, and no man, no matter how seemingly righteous, should ever be allowed to take from us our freedom to speak and exchange information.

The time has come to stand firm in defense of our democracy. As patriotic American workers, it's the least we can do.

Let's make the founding fathers proud, and end this violation of our American values. Let's speak on behalf of all those who should speak out, but haven't yet, for fear that they would be targeted by this insane and illegitimate President.

The time has come.

The Solidarity Charter

To join Postal Workers United, or to lend your support as an organization, all you have to do is sign the Solidarity Charter, tell us how we can contact you, and go forward into the world with renewed vigor and commitment to the Constitution.

Below you'll find it in its entirety. Cut and paste it into your email, sign it, and send it to us with "Solidarity Charter" in the subject line, and you'll be a part of the team!

Solidarity Charter for Postal Workers United Against Tyranny

We, the undersigned postal workers and postal unions of the United States, hereby agree to the following points:

One, that the President has overstepped his constitutional authority to execute the laws passed by Congress, through his recent signing statement attached to the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006, in which he states that the Executive Branch may open mail without a warrant in "exigent circumstances";

Two, that the President has admitted publicly that he's used an earlier signing statement to justify unconstitutional searches of Americans without warrant;

Three, that we strongly disagree with this interpretation of the Constitution, and will work to pressure Congress to investigate this statement to determine whether or not the President has actually acted in violation of the law as written;

and Four, that we will also work to encourage the public that the privacy of their communications are secure, as long as the workforce of the Postal Service continues to be well-trained, highly ethical, and accountable to the laws and the Constitution of the United States.

Contact your member of Congress

Your representative in Congress needs to know that you oppose the President's unlawful use of these so-called "signing statements" to directly contradict provisions of law.

This website has a great interface for finding and contact your representatives in Congress. The best way I've found to communicate with them is by contacting the district office closest to your home. Sending letters and phone calls there is much faster and more effective than dealing with their people in Washington, unless of course the issue is so urgent that you have to reach their staff right away.

This issue needs to be publicized, so MAKE THOSE CALLS NOW!

Join the Club

Are you a postal worker? Do you have strong feelings about this latest violation of our God-given freedoms by the illegitimate, insane President of the United States, George W. Bush?

Then today is your lucky day. To join Postal Workers United, all we need is some basic information about you (all information will be kept secret by me and the other members of our board and will not be shared with government agents or anyone else for any reason, unless you agree to it ahead of time):

1. Name
2. Where you Live
3. Where you Work (City and/or Station)
4. Craft (Clerk, Carrier, Mailhandler, etc.)
5. How you heard about us
6. When you first decided Bush was a tyrant, and why
7. Any voluntary associations you might have that could help this effort (Labor Council, Sierra Club, etc.)
8. Best way to contact you (phone, email, etc.)

Send this information to me here at tahomaactivist@yahoo.com or call me at 253-227-6884 to get an address to send it to.

Thanks for your interest, and have a great day!

The War at Home

Greetings, fellow workers:

Before I get into the meat of this article, I'd like to thank everyone who voted in last month's election, everyone who donated toys to our toy drive, and everyone who saw it in their heart to donate time and money to the less fortunate this Holiday season. Our commitments to our community, and to your union, are two of the most important obligations we have.

Usually in this space, I write about the activities of the Central Labor Council and the broader Labor Movement. Today I am writing directly to you, the rank-and-file union member, about an issue that affects ALL of us:

President Bush wants to open your mail without a warrant.

That's right. The President of the United States has asserted, in contradiction of two centuries of American law and in violation of the fourth amendment to the US Constitution, that he has the right to open your mail without a warrant.

This is an outrage.

As postal workers, we are held to the highest standards of integrity and respect, representing for our customers the most honorable face of government. With the President's unconstitutional interpretation of this important Postal reform bill, he has put our time-honored reputations in danger. Imagine what your customers will think of you when they think you might be reading their mail.

This is a crime against democracy. This is a crime no President should be allowed to get away with. The President, in his unconstitutional "signing statements", has asserted rights prohibited by the Constitution, and now we're the ones in the line of fire.

We must stand against this President's insane refusal to obey the rule of law. We must resist, as a union, as the sacred defenders of the first amendment to the Constitution. We must speak out with all the breath we have inside us, and we must not rest until our victory is won.

I've set up a website where you can find several ways to fight back on this issue: writing letters to the newspaper, contacting members of Congress, etc.

www.postalworkersunited.blogspot.com

Come to the site and sign our petition compelling Congress to register their rejection of this illegal and unconstitutional violation of our God-given rights.

We must unite against this tyranny before we have no democracy left. We have no choice. The time has come to defend our American principles before everything we've ever believed in is gone.

In Solidarity,

Jeff Richardson
Delegate, Pierce County Central Labor Council

Presidents seeks to spy on our mail without a warrant

I just discovered that the President of the United States added another of his famous "signing statements" to the recently passed Postal Reform Bill. In this statement, he asserts the right to open our mail for any reason, without any judicial review.

Opening our mail without a warrant? What's next? Inspecting our private parts without a medical degree?

This time the President has gone too far. Speaking as a letter carrier and as an employee of the United States Postal Service, I want to tell this insane and illegitimate President that I will never, under any circumstances, surrender anyone's mail to anyone for any reason, without a court order, signed by a judge. The security of our mail is one of our most important freedoms, and without it, freedom of speech simply cannot survive.

Claiming that he has the power to open our mail without a warrant, in direct violation of the law just passed by Congress, is a direct challenge to the Constitution of the United States, and will undoubtedly provoke a serious reaction from postal workers, and postal customers, nationwide.

This is one postal worker that refuses to submit quietly to tyranny. Hopefully I am not the only one. I would encourage every other postal worker who reads this to speak out, and loudly, until this statement is retracted.

As far as why the President feels the need to inspect our mail without a warrant, ask yourself why would he do that? Could it be that he doesn't want a judge knowing who he's spying on?

Maybe he wants to be able to open John Conyer's mail without a judge knowing about it. Considering all the investigations the Democrats will soon be conducting, should we really let the President get away with snooping on our mail, above everything else he's already gotten away with?

Jeff Richardson
Delegate to the AFL-CIO
National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 130
Tacoma, WA

Letters to the Editor

Here you can find all the letters our members have written to their newspapers and union newsletters.

For some details, check out these newslinks on the subject.

Newspapers

Postal workers should oppose Bush's treason, by Jeff Richardson
President seeks to spy on our mail without a warrant, by Jeff Richardson

Union Newsletters

The War at Home, by Jeff Richardson

Postal workers should oppose Bush's treason

Here's the latest letter I've sent to the News Tribune on this issue:

I'm a letter carrier here in Tacoma. Recently, President Bush's signing statement authorizing the opening of citizens' mail without a warrant has me extremely concerned.

Today I had the opportunity to confront the new Postmaster of Tacoma during work. I asked her directly whether this signing statement truly allowed the President to do this.

She said no. She said that the President misspoke, and that the media had blown this into a bigger deal than it really is.

Why don't I believe her? Could it be because the President has already been caught admitting that he's spied on Americans without warrants?

This is one postal worker who won't take it lying down.

Labor Council tonight!

I plan to get a resolution passed tonight at Pierce County Central Labor Council in solidarity with our cause. I would encourage you all to do the same at any body that you are a part of.


Resolution to Oppose Presidential Signing Statements Authorizing Warrantless Searches and Seizures

Whereas, the President of the United States has asserted the right to search our citizens' mail without a warrant,

And Whereas, the Congress, in passing the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006, has specifically forbidden such searches without a court order;

And Whereas, the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution requires that no search be warranted except on “probable cause”;

And Whereas, allowing the President to engage in warrantless searches and seizures threatens the ability of our workers and organizers to engage in the independent political activities required for their success in expanding the power and effectiveness of the nation’s Labor Movement;

Therefore Be it Resolved that the Pierce County Central Labor Council declares this an unjust and unconstitutional violation of law;

And Be it Further Resolved that we will oppose any attempts by this President to interpret the law in this way;

And Be it Finally Resolved that all workers and representatives of the people must be encouraged to do all they can to oppose this subversion of our democracy and the theft of our natural-born rights as the free people of this republic.

Special Reports

Here's a list of reports from members and friendly organizations.

Bill of Rights Defense Committee - 1/07/07

Newslinks

Here are some links to articles about Bush's signing statement and why it's such a huge problem. [If you have some good info you don't see here, please put the link in the comments below]:

Full text of Bush's statement (source: White House)
About.com
CNN.com
San Diego Union-Tribune
ACLU Press Release
Boston Globe
St. Petersburg Times
LA Times (opinion)
Op Ed News (opinion)
Media Matters for America (media critique)

Message from the Bill of Rights Defense Committee

Here's a report we just received from the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, a group committed to defending what's left of the Constitution from the president and his lackeys in Congress:

Hi Jeff,
Thanks for letting us know about your effort to raise public awareness through your blog! Great that you're focusing on this issue of the President stretching the law to suit his own purposes. We've been in touch with some legal experts on Capitol Hill who tell us that though President Bush might easily have written something about how there are already laws in place to enable the opening of mail in an emergency -- but that would have to happen via a warrant (either before or after the opening of the mail). Bush is clearly stating that he doesn't see a warrant as a necessary tool.

BORDC is now creating a page on our website to deal specifically with the President's signing statements, including this latest one that asserts his authority to open our mail, and will definitely link to your blog on that page. Here's the link to our upcoming signing statements page: http://bordc.org/involved/signingstatements.php

Also, I work as the west region organizer for the Bill of Rights Defense Committee from my home in Eugene, OR. So, I'm not too far down the road from you. There is an active Bill of Rights Defense Committee group in Tacoma, in fact. Mostly they are involved in work involving the detention facility, and asserting basic rights for those who are detained. They work with a coalition of groups to bring public attention to the escalating detention of individuals. If you're interested in learning more about the local work, please let me know and I'll put you in touch with Tim Smith, who's my contact up in Tacoma.

Thanks so much for letting us know about your blog! Let's stay in touch!

Hope

Hope Marston
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Western Region Organizer
PO Box 51434
Eugene, OR 97405
541 683-1604
hmarston@bordc.org
http://bordc.org

Union Resolution

Resolution to Oppose Presidential Signing Statements Authorizing Warrantless Searches and Seizures

Whereas, the President of the United States has asserted the right to search our citizens' mail without a warrant,

And Whereas, the Congress, in passing the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006, has specifically forbidden such searches without a court order;

And Whereas, the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution requires that no search be warranted except on “probable cause”;

And Whereas, allowing the President to engage in warrantless searches and seizures threatens the ability of our workers and organizers to engage in the independent political activities required for their success in expanding the power and effectiveness of the nation’s Labor Movement;

and Whereas, the high esteem of America's postal workers could be endangered if our customers are afraid that we could be opening their mail;

Therefore Be it Resolved that the [insert name of union here] declares this an unjust and unconstitutional violation of law;

And Be it Further Resolved that we will oppose any attempts by this President to interpret the law in this way;

And Be it Finally Resolved that all workers and representatives of the people must be encouraged to do all they can to oppose this subversion of our democracy and the theft of our natural-born rights as the free people of this republic.

About Us

Postal Workers United Against Tyranny is a grassroots organization of workers committed to defending our jobs and our freedoms against the relentless assaults of the Bush administration.

We are not affiliated with any union or branch local of any union. We are wholly responsible for our views and our actions, and are not under the guidance of any outside entity.

Now that we've got the legal stuff out of the way, PWU is you and me. We have to get organized, we have to get the resolutions passed, we have to write the letters to the editor and get on radio shows and raise hell. We're the ones who have to make this movement happen.

Check out our What We I Do? page to get involved. Also, if you'd like to join our mailing list, send us an email here.

If you aren't quite clear on what tyranny is, or why we should care, check out my post "What is Tyranny?"

Pass this Resolution

Here's a link to the resolution I put forward at Labor Council. We should also write one for union members to take to their unions.

Labor Council Resolution

Union Resolution (make sure to put in your union's name before you take it in)

Contact Us!

Please send us an email at tahomaactivist@yahoo.com - anything you send us might be put up on the site, so let us know if that is NOT okay. We won't share your private details with anybody, so don't worry about that.

Keep up the great work!