. Many resources are available at this site, including "worst banks," organizations to support, video, artwork, and much more.
WHY A BOYCOTT?
On January 27 2007, 500,000 people marched on Washington D.C. to call for
an end to the war and the impeachment of the president and vice-president. Those
calls were ignored. This boycott comes on the heels of millions of letters and
phone calls, dozens of books, scores of speakers and action after action since
the first charges were levied against the administration.
President Clinton faced impeachment on the grounds of lying about having sex
with an intern. In short order, millions of dollars were spent investigating
these allegations. If Clinton's sexal misconduct warranted impeachment preceedings,
then surely this administration's Constitutional misconduct requires scrutiny.Yet,
none of the public pressure so far has been enough to even spark a word of indignation
against this administration.
If the speeches are not heard, the marches are not witnessed, the votes are
not counted and the voice of the people is not loud enough to get the attention
of lawmakers then we must do something else. We must show our strength not only
in political terms but also in economic terms.
The marches, books, movies, lectures and petitions all speak directly to the
politicians...and they aren't listening. So let's put pressure on the people
they do listen to 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The boycott provides us with
a way to send a wake-up call to the corporate backers of our political leaders.
America, holding back on our spending for even one week will show the corporate
powers that the people are serious, we are determined and "We're not buying
it anymore."
By uniting the work of so many millions of people into a single week of protest
in which we make sure that the money talks loud and clear, we can give fair
warning to our representatives that the time for truth has come, justice is
demanded and a full accounting is expected from Washington and Wall Street.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS & COMMON PERSPECTIVES
QUESTION: WHY IMPEACHMENT?
If you saw somebody break into a neighbor’s house, kill their family
with machine guns, take their possessions and then boldly walk away, would you
call the police? If the police then said, “The DA says it’s not
politically convenient to press charges at this time.” Would you question
the DA's motivations? Would you wonder, "Who's next?"
What would you be willing to do in the pursuit of justice.
This is the situation. Serious charges have been levied against not only the
president and vice-president, but against virtually the entire administration.
These charges carry the weight of not just one crime, but hundreds of crimes.They
affect not just a few lives, but hundreds of thousands of lives. These charges
strike at the very foundations of our nation's principles.
Ignoring the charges, refusing to investigate and allowing the executive branch
the leeway to attack the Constitution and the Bill of Rights through expanded
executive power amounts to aiding and abetting. Arguments for political convenience
or a 'spirit of bi-partisanship' are nothing more than an abandonment of the
principles of justice that form the bedrock of our way of life.
PERSPECTIVE: IT WON'T ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING.
The impeachment process begins with an investigation. The surest cure for corruption
is transparency, shining the light on the backroom deals and secret meetings
that have been the hallmarks of this administration. This act may reveal just
how endemic corruption is in our government. The only way the American people
can restore faith in their government is to cut out corruption without regard
for party, Democrat or Republican, to confront the truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth and to deal with what is revealed in a swift and sure
manner.
DANGER
The danger of ignoring this administration's roll back of our Constitutional
rights, through establishing a national security state and through engaging
in horrifying bloodshed on the pretense of lies and deceit, is that it establishes
a dangerous precedent. If America is to continue as a free nation, a democracy
of citizens all with an equal voice in government, then the balance of powers
must be restored, must be strengthened by new legislation. Without impeachment
and a rolling back of the legislation that has weakened all of our protections
from abuse at the hands of government, we stand the risk of becoming not the
masters of our government, but its slaves. We must not allow politicians of
any stripe to stand by the wayside and condone the actions of the executive
branch. To do so is to sound a death toll for democracy.
OUR MISSION
It is the purpose of this group of committed volunteers to seek out justice
and to protect the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign
and domestic. We do not deny that the American people have enemies abroad, more
now than ever before. But we also do not deny that great damage has been done
to our democracy by those who have acted as enemies within.
It is our mission to hold accountable those who through fraud and malfeasance
have sought to promote an agenda of constant warfare, endemic corruption and
heartless disregard for the lives and well-being of the poorest and most defenseless
among us.
We will promote and help to organize at the local level in every Congressional
district in America citizens who demand that their voices be heard and that
justice be done. On April 15th, we will begin a one week shopping boycott. At
the same time, we will help to provide coordination with other legal forms of
civil disobedience that endorsing organizations may want to engage in.
By building a communications network of citizens who all agree that
there is something so rotten in Washington that we absolutely MUST do something
and do it now, we will help to set the stage for bringing together all of us
who, in our hearts, believe in an America that truly stands for Freedom, Liberty,
Truth and Justice for all. Because we all know that if we don't stand together,
then we will fall apart. (emphasis added)
Origins
One of the leading researchers into the agenda and actions of the Bush Administration,
Dr. Peter Phillips, the Director of Project Censored at Sonoma State University,
proposed a new tactic in the ongoing campaign to hold the administration, their
neo-conservative backers, spin doctors, consultants and henchmen accountable.
It is the belief of the organizers that this Administration must be held to
task for the host of charges that have been levied against them. Dr.Phillips,
a professor of Sociology, has spent his professional career investigating the
origins and purposes of the "Power Elite" in general, and neo-conservatives
in particular. (See, for instance,
Phillips struck upon the use of a boycott as a means to draw together all of
those who oppose this administration and their policies. We can not simply rely
on the work of progressive activists. We must bring together all citizens who
feel strongly that crimes have been committed and an accounting is due.
A boycott is simply a form of non-violent resistance. By simuntaneously withdrawing
our support from the economy, millions of people can have a dramatic impact
on the policies of individual corporations and even national governments. In
1990, ACT-UP staged a boycott of Phillip Morris that resulted in providing millions
of dollars for AIDS` research.
In 1994, a boycott waged against Shell Oil, Kellog's and Coca Cola, helped
to increase the momentum of the anti-apartheid movement. In 1995, the International
Peace Bureau called for a boycott of all French products in oppositioon to nuclear
testing.
The French wine industry was especially hard hit and the threat of "economic
disruption" spurred President Chirac to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty. National polls now show that well over half of ALL Americans believe
that this administration should be impeached. A much higher percentage want
to see this war end and virtually everyone wants to know the truth behind the
events of the last 7 years.
What the people want, and what they get, can be two entirely different things
if left up to the consideration of career politicians.
The marches, books, movies, lectures and petitions all speak directly to the
politicians...and they aren't listening. So let's put pressure on the people
they do listen to 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The boycott provides us with a way to send a wake-up call to the corporate backers
of our political leaders. America, holding back on our spending for even one
week will show the corporate powers that the people are serious, we are determined
and "We're not buying it anymore." To that end, we are building a
network of individuals and organizations from coast to coast and around the
world to support this action.
By uniting the work of so many millions of people into a single week of protest
in which we make sure that the money talks loud and clear, we can give fair
warning to our representatives that the time for truth has come, justice is
demanded and a full accounting is expected from Washington and Wall Street.