Effort to impeach Bush backfires on Newfane (pop 1,680)

[T_i_B]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/09/wvermont09.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/09/ixworld.html

After approving funds for pavement repairs and discussing new property tax assessments, the burghers of the New England community of Newfane (population 1,680) turned their attention to weightier political matters. Among the usual community affairs on the agenda at the annual town meeting was a motion of impeachment. And the target was not locally elected officials, but George W Bush, the President of the United States.

As befits the traditionally liberal state of Vermont, the motion passed comfortably. Without any apparent concern that issues of such constitutional importance might be beyond their purview, five other nearby towns have backed similar motions in what has accordingly been dubbed America's "impeachment belt".

But, ironically, it is Mr Bush's aides whose spirits have been lifted by what Vermonters see as their plucky stand. By contrast, most Democrats - torn between their desperation to appear tough on national security and a desire to lambast the President - seem to wish Vermont would pipe down.

Senior Republicans believe that they have found an unlikely and unwitting ally in Newfane's Dan DeWalt, 49, a pony-tailed musician and antiques restorer. A fierce Bush critic who maintains a running death tally from Iraq on a board by the driveway to his house, he drafted the first impeachment motion.

[rzemanfl]

1. Gotta watch out for those pony-tailed musician antique restorers.

BushCo likes short-haired gun-toting antique destroyers.

[T_i_B]

2. Well round this neck of the woods......

......Conservatives actually quite like antiques!

(Mind you, I'm sure someone here will point out that many conservatives are antiques anyway.)

[cali]

3. What a nasty tone this article has.

The headline is also misleading. It doesn't spell out any of the purported backlash against the town. Newfane will be just fine. it's a tiny village, a resort destination, and quite well off.

[liberaliraqvet26]

4. If it wasn't so cold id move up there

Vermont rox!!!

[Jeffersons Ghost]

5. what would happen if every town in America did the same thing?

go Vermont!

[Vinca]

6. DeWalt is in my neck of the woods and apparently Fox sent a

car to pick him up in Newfane and take him to a studio in Burlington, Vermont, for interviews with Scarborough and Hannity. I don't watch Fox, so I don't know if they've been aired yet. DeWalt said he had a great time fending off the conservative bullies and challenged Hannity to a full hour of one-on-one debate. A DeWalt quote from the newspaper article reads: "I discovered that the people who view Fox, and believe it, are ignorant, rude and prone to making nasty, personal attacks." Bingo! We have a winner here. Bush aides should cool their jets. DeWalt isn't easily intimidated. Spineless Democrats are another matter and DeWalt is only one item on a long list of complaints I've got with them.