Citizens speak out against Nancy Pelosi
By Cindy Piester 08/21/2008
Ventura residents were on hand to greet House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on her recent stop at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles for her Know your Power book tour, now referred to by the New York Times as the “Why haven’t you impeached the president?” tour. Dozens of disgruntled citizens lined the route with signs calling not only for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney but for her own. On arrival, Pelosi and her entourage scrambled out of the police-escorted limo and into the building, to shouts of “Traitor!” and “Sheehan in, Pelosi out!” While not the welcome Pelosi would have liked, it is the welcome she is becoming accustomed to.
Once inside, she faced an even more daunting challenge. As Pelosi spoke from the stage, audience members held up copies of her new book to reveal what they had written on the back inside cover: “Use your Power, Torture?” “You Knew?” and “Uphold the Constitution.”
As Pelosi began praising members of Congress, attorney Peter Thottam left his seat to stand beneath the stage and confront her on her failure to uphold the Constitution. Before he was dragged out, this is the essence of what he said to her:
“I am going to vomit. Who gave you the right to destroy the Constitution and take Impeachment off the table? Our first, second, fourth, fifth and eight Constitutional amendments are being annihilated. One million Iraqis are dead,… 5,000 Americans, including Cindy Sheehan’s son. We’ve spent over 1 trillion taxpayer dollars on a war that should never have been started. Our constitution is being destroyed, Nancy. Bring back our Constitution ….”
Pelosi continued her talk, but as she began to insist that she was supporting the Constitution, Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans stood to say, “No, you aren’t!”
Evans, who has observed at Guantanamo and been to Iraq both before and after the invasion, held up copies of Vincent Bugliosi’s best seller The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, and Ron Suskind’s The Way of the World. She offered these to Pelosi as well as a copy of Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s 35 articles of impeachment. Evans was also removed from the room as she tried to speak.
Evans explained later that she was offering this information in response to Pelosi’s remarks on a recent national television showing of The View. Pelosi had said, “I thought impeachment would be divisive for the country …. If someone had a crime the President had committed, that would be a different story.”
Others in the audience spoke out as well and the event was disrupted. Even the book-signing afterwards was not completely free of embarrassment for Pelosi and at least one more person was escorted out.
Pelosi signaled her support for the already unpopular Bush agenda her first day in office, when she publicly stated that impeachment was off the table. Under her failed leadership, Congress has a dismal 9 percent approval rating. By refusing to use the impeachment tool given us by our founding fathers for just such occasions as the abuse of power which we now endure, Pelosi is allowing for dangerous precedents to be established. The rule of law is, itself, in jeopardy.
Thottam was arrested and sent to jail for his outburst, but has no regrets and says he would do it all again.
There are those who feel Pelosi should have been treated more graciously. Tell that to the families who are left to grieve for those who have died in a war we all know, or should all know, was based on lies.
About Citizens for Impeachment
Citizens for Impeachment, V.C., now a part of the National Impeachment Network, is asking for contributions to help pay for a number of full page Impeachment Ads which will appear in the Washington Post as Congress comes back to session in September. The group can be reached at 805-641-9033 or work4peacenow@gmail.com
Cindy Piester, a Ventura resident, was born the day the United States bombed Hiroshima and was strongly impacted by that event as well as by the Holocaust. The daughter of a decorated WW II Guadalcanal Marine, she vowed at an early age to pay attention to world affairs and do all she could to help. After working to stop the war in Iraq since before it began, she founded Citizens for Impeachment, V.C. more than a year ago.
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Comments
Peter Thottam is truly a nut.
He has everyone believing he left his job to fight for the good of the people. He fails to mention that he was fired from his jobs, has a criminal record, was suspended from the california state bar and no one would ever employ a nut like him.
I live in Venice and was recently going to donate to various candidates and started to research them. I discovered all of this and more about this guy.
Did you know he has been in Jail multiple times for theft [Mexico and California].
His work history is horrible [fired from at least three jobs each for less than a year] and I know a coworker of his that claimed Mr. Thottam was terminated for all sorts of issues.
More sites indicate that he is also anti-semetic [has anyone else heard this?]
I feel sad when good causes are embroiled with hypocrit criminals like Peter Thottam [can we say Tiger? Spitzer?]
Except in this case its the opposite, here is a criminal trying to make himself look like a white knight and not the other way around.
Whoa to the sorry sap that votes this schiester.
AV
Why don't you post your email address? I can let you know more about his information.