Downing Street Update

Congressman Conyers is on fire. (Yes, it’s relative, population percentage-wise, but small things don’t always stay that way—just ask Richard Nixon.) He’s now got 86,000 signatures on his letter to President Bush, asking for answers to five questions raised by the Downing Street Memo, and he’s upped his target to 250,000 signatures.

Perhaps even more importantly, the number of Congress Critters signing onto the letter has also increased:

He also updates on the original letter signed by 89 members of Congress and sent to Bush -- which has so far failed to receive even the courtesy of a reply. There are now a total of 94 members signed on to that letter, and Conyers is recirculating it at the request of still more who have expressed an interest in signing on.

This is what we must remember: members of Congress are moved by pressure. They will act if we keep the pressure on them. Similarly, members of the media are responsive to their constituency’s demands. The way to keep this momentum moving in the direction we’d like is to continue to contact our elected representatives and members of the media. Email your Senator and Representatives. Email the media. Tell them you care about this story.

Conyers also reiterates why this is so important:

The most serious matter for the Congress and the President is the decision to go to war. It is the sole constitutional responsibility of Congress to decide whether to declare war. The President has a constitutional responsibility to be straightforward and candid with the Congress in providing it with the information it needs to evaluate the case for war. If that decision is skewed or corrupted by false or misleading information, it raises the most serious Constitutional questions and substantial issues about abuse of power…

If, as the Downing Street Minutes appear to clearly indicate, the falsehoods that led us into war were deliberate manipulations of the public and Congress, we deserve to know and we deserve answers. More importantly, we need to hold this President accountable for a very grave abuse of power.

President Bush has forgotten, if he ever acknowledged it in the first place, that he is an employee of the American people. We need to remind him. This is the time to call him onto the carpet. He’s shirked his responsibilities to us long enough.