Mar. 7 Impeachment News: 30 Vermont town pass resolutions to impeach

[L. Coyote]

Testing an idea, a daily (or weekly) Impeachment News thread. Trying this forum today.
This will happen only if quite a few people jump in and contribute.
I cannot commit to this daily.

This is a big headline, and a first in American history, right?

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Vermont towns seek to impeach Bush
Wed Mar 7, 2007 7:18AM EST
By Jason Szep http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USN0644242420070307

BOSTON (Reuters) - More than 30 Vermont towns passed resolutions on Tuesday seeking to impeach President Bush, while at least 16 towns in the tiny New England state called on Washington to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq......

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Everyone add what you find, including links to DU threads.

[L. Coyote]

1. investigate whether to impeach President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney

Vermonters speak
Politics turns global as towns debate Iraq, impeachment

By John Donnelly, Globe Staff | March 7, 2007
http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2007/03/07/vermonters_speak/

ROXBURY, Vt. -- In a white clapboard building surrounded by snowbanks as high as 12 feet, residents at the annual Town Meeting debated yesterday how to handle beaver problems, library expansion, and a troubling rise in the price of gravel.

And then a hush descended on the room. Moderator Lucinda Sullivan asked for civility.

It was a moment of utmost seriousness for this tiny central Vermont town, 536 miles north of the White House: Now they would discuss motions calling for the return of US troops from Iraq and asking the US House of Representatives to investigate whether to impeach President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

........

[L. Coyote]

3. Ellen McKay... proposed the impeachment of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney

Vermont Votes to Impeach Bush/Cheney
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=172344

When Vermont Governor Jim Douglas, a Republican with reasonably close ties to President Bush, asked if there was any additional business to be considered at the town meeting he was running in Middlebury, Ellen McKay popped up and proposed the impeachment of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

The governor was not amused. As moderator of the annual meeting, he tried to suggest that the proposal to impeach -- along with another proposal to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq -- could not be voted on.

But McKay, a program coordinator at Middlebury College, pressed her case. And it soon became evident that the crowd at the annual meeting shared her desire to hold the president to account.

So Douglas backed down.

........

[BonnieJW]

2. What next?

I'm sure the Vermont State Legislature won't pass this and it won't go any further.

[L. Coyote]

4. Sanders still isn't jumping on the impeachment bandwagon

Delegation stays quiet on impeachment

March 6, 2007
By David Gram Associated Press
http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/NEWS02/703060310/1003/NEWS02

MONTPELIER — At Town Meeting Day last year, then-Rep. Bernie Sanders cautioned against a drive to impeach President Bush, saying that with Republican control of both houses of Congress the effort would be "impractical."

..... Sanders is now a U.S. senator. And Democrats control both houses of Congress. Sanders still isn't jumping on the impeachment bandwagon, and he's not alone.

...... "Senator Sanders believes that President Bush will be remembered as one of the worst presidents in the history of our nation," said his spokeswoman, Erin Campbell.

"The good news is that, with the change in leadership in this congress, we are now able to hold hearings and investigations that will shed light on the actions of this Administration and begin to undo the severe damage it has caused," she added.

.......

[L. Coyote]

5. Bush impeachment gains state support around Vt.

Bush impeachment gains state support around Vt.
March 7, 2007
By DANIEL BARLOW Vermont Press Bureau
http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070307/NEWS04/703070403/-1/HSSPORTS

Nearly 30 Vermont towns called during town meeting for the impeachment of President George W. Bush for a number of alleged misdeeds including misleading the country into war with Iraq.

The town meeting resolution calling on congressional leaders to begin impeachment hearings against Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney passed in at least 29 communities Monday and Tuesday, according to unofficial results.

From the southeastern town of Newfane, where the state's grassroots impeachment movement began last year, to the college community of Middlebury, where the Republican governor acts as moderator, thousands of residents declared that Bush's actions during the past six years warrant his early removal from office.

James Leas, a Burlington lawyer who worked on the impeachment resolution language, said late Tuesday night the vote shows Vermonters want the Democratic-controlled Congress to do more to stop the war.

"Nonbinding resolutions against the war are not enough," he said of the vote last month in the U.S. House of Representatives. "These town meeting votes are the start of building the grassroots effort to force Congress to do the right thing."

........

[L. Coyote]

6. Impeachment chorus gains 10 new voices

Impeachment chorus gains 10 new voices
By SABINA HASKELL, Reformer Staff
Wednesday, March 7
http://www.reformer.com/ci_5373687

BRATTLEBORO -- Ten more Windham County towns have joined the chorus for impeachment, bringing the number of Vermont towns to nearly 40 since Dan DeWalt started his quixotic quest last year.

The Newfane selectman can now add Jamaica, Townshend, Grafton, Marlboro, Wilmington, Putney, Guilford, Westminster and Dummerston to the list of towns that voted to send a nonbinding resolution to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the clerk of the U.S. House and Rep. John Conyers, a member of the House Judiciary Committee.

And, yes, count Newfane again because the town on Tuesday also voted to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney.

"It's just awesome. It's come from all parts of the state," DeWalt said Tuesday. "It's like we've taken a lid off this bubbling, frothing mess and people are saying, 'what's next?'"

Newfane has become the epicenter of the impeachment movement with DeWalt last year authoring the first resolution to impeach the president that passed in six county towns.

Since then DeWalt rewrote it to include Cheney and also lent his name to another resolution asking Congress to bring the troops home, .......

[L. Coyote]

7. The Next Mission: Removing a Tyrant

The Next Mission: Removing a Tyrant
COMMENTS (74)
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=171827

RUTLAND, Vt. -- Over the weekend, I traveled Vermont with three of the most remarkable defenders of democracy I have met in a long time: former Army Sgt. Drew Cameron, former Marine Cpl. Matt Howard and former Army Sgt. Adrienne Kinne.

We were on a mission: A mission to end an unjust and horrific war, and a mission to hold to account the men who launched that war.

What made the experience of appearing in close to a dozen communities with the local Iraq Veterans Against the War campaigners was not that these courageous young vets had chosen to speak so openly and so directly about the reasons why they favor ending the U.S. occupation of Iraq. ....Drew Cameron ... spoke: "Democracy is not taught through the end of a gun."

.... these veterans had come to the same conclusion as that reached by a growing number of honest critics of the war: If we are determined to bring the troops home, we have to get serious about addressing the lawlessness of those who brought this war on and who now seek to expand it.

......

[L. Coyote]

8. "as a country we deserve to have the truth"

Jericho joins impeachment "chorus"
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
By Sam Hemingway - Free Press Staff Writer
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070307/NEWS02/703070305/1007

"I had tears in my eyes as I heard it read," she said into the microphone. "I have fear there is truth to it. ... I think as a country we deserve to have the truth, I'm not sure we've been having it."

Moments later, Jericho voters decided to cut off further discussion on the resolution and get the vote over with, deciding 82-66 to support the impeachment resolution.

"It's not an impeachable offense to go to war," fumed David Villeneuve as he sat on the gymnasium stage after hearing what his town had done. "These people are missing the point. The terrorists aren't going to stop until they take over the United States."

......

[L. Coyote]

9. "passed by an overwhelming margin, 123-27."

East Montpelier passes impeachment; selectboard candidates tie
March 7, 2007
By Daphne Larkin Times Argus Staff
http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070307/NEWS02/703070386/1003/NEWS02


EAST MONTPELIER – Several articles prompted discussion here but none was as emotional as the last-minute introduction of the resolution calling for the impeachment of both the president and vice president. It eventually passed by an overwhelming margin, 123-27.

......

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http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070307/NEWS01/703070392/1002/NEWS01

AP
Text of impeachment resolution
March 7, 2007

"Whereas George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney have:

1. deliberately misled the nation about the threat from Iraq in order to justify a war,

2. condoned the torture of prisoners in violation of the Geneva Convention and U.S. law,

3. approved illegal electronic surveillance of American citizens without a warrant, and,

WHEREAS these actions have undermined our Constitutional system of government, damaged the reputation of America, and threatened our national security,

Therefore, the voters of the town of ——————————————————— call upon the U.S. House of Representatives to investigate these charges and if the investigation supports the charges, vote to impeach George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney as provided in the Constitution of the United States of America. This resolution shall be signed by the Town Clerk and forwarded to both the Speaker and the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives and Representative John Conyers of the House Judiciary Committee."

[L. Coyote]

10. "The impeachment resolution passed on a voice vote without any noticeable nays"

Douglas tries to stop impeachment discussion
March 7, 2007
By Daniel Barlow Vermont Press Bureau
http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070307/NEWS02/703070304/1003/NEWS02

Gov. James Douglas, acting as Middlebury's town moderator, tried to stop a vote on a resolution calling for President Bush's impeachment and withdrawal of troops from Iraq at the town's annual meeting Monday night, according to several residents.

Douglas argued that the two resolutions, which were brought up under the "new business" portion of Middlebury's town meeting, were not warned and therefore only a discussion — but not a vote — could occur, according to witnesses.

But the Republican governor, who has been the town's moderator for two decades, later allowed the votes to go forward.

"It became clear that no one was going home until they had the chance to discuss the resolutions and vote on them," said David Rosenberg, a political science professor at Middlebury College who attended the meeting. "And being a good politician, he allowed the vote to happen."

The impeachment resolution passed on a voice vote without any noticeable nays, according to several residents, while the resolution calling for an end to the war in Iraq also passed by a very large majority. ........

[L. Coyote]

11. "Pelosi's statement may have also been guilty of constitutional insensitivity."

Huffington Post
Byron Williams Blog
03.06.2007

Remind me, why is Impeachment off the Table? (48 comments )
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/byron-williams/remind-me-why-is-impeach_b_42818.html

Back in November, immediately following the Democrats retaining control of Congress, soon-to-be House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi stated: "Impeachment was off the table," as it related to the president.

Impeachment of a president is serious business that has sent shockwaves through the republic whenever it has been implemented. It is never a high moment for the nation when a president has been impeached.

As a result, I have been leery of those who call for the president's impeachment. Without due process such calls are premature and callous. But Pelosi's statement may have also been guilty of constitutional insensitivity.

If impeachment is not an option available to Congress what can be done to restrain a presidential administration that with each passing day ventures closer to irrevocable recklessness?

.......