After Downing Street & The Big Brass Alliance

(Sounds like a wonky fairy tale.) In case you missed the hoopla last week over the Downing Street memo: this is some serious shit, and while the administration has been doing its usual misdirection dance, some liberal organizations have coalesced out of determination not to let this one slide. Hence, the recent formation of After Downing Street, a Coalition of veterans' groups, peace groups, and political activist groups, which on May 26, 2005, launched a campaign to urge the U.S. Congress to begin a formal investigation into whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war. The name is a reference to the Downing Street Memo (pdf), a British memo recently made public in the London Times, which contained the minutes of a secret July 2002 meeting between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top national security officials. After Downing Street reports:

[In response to the release of the memo], "John Bonifaz, a Boston attorney specializing in constitutional litigation, sent a memo to Congressman John Conyers of Michigan, the Ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, urging him to introduce a Resolution of Inquiry directing the House Judiciary Committee to launch a formal investigation into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House to impeach President Bush. Bonifaz's memo, made available today at www.AfterDowningStreet.org, begins: 'The recent release of the Downing Street Memo provides new and compelling evidence that the President of the United States has been actively engaged in a conspiracy to deceive and mislead the United States Congress and the American people about the basis for going to war against Iraq. If true, such conduct constitutes a High Crime under Article II, Section 4 of the United States Constitution.'"

Congressman Conyers is now seeking 100,000 signatures to sign a letter on the Downing Street Inquiry. You can sign the letter here; write to your congressperson here.

Ah, but what about the bloggers, you ask? (C'mon, you know you were wondering!) Well, Shakespeare's Sister and several of her like-minded colleagues - including this hyeah blog - have formed the Big Brass Alliance to provide some blog-swarming power around the issues being raised by the fine folks at After Downing Street. More information on the BBA is over on the left sidebar; click on the logo. In cooperation with the Alliance, we'll be featuring regular updates on the Downing Street Memo and the call for investigation. There's strength in numbers!