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Vermont Votes to Impeach Bush/Cheney
Yahoo ^ | 3/7/07

Posted on 03/07/2007 5:32:56 AM PST by Mr. Brightside

Vermont Votes to Impeach Bush/Cheney

John Nichols

Wed Mar 7, 12:36 AM ET

The Nation -- 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.

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

By an overwhelming voice vote, Middlebury called for impeachment.

So it has gone this week at town meetings across Vermont, most of which were held Tuesday.

Late Tuesday night, there were confirmed reports that 35 towns had backed impeachment resolutions, and the number was expected to rise.

In one town, Putney, the vote for impeachment was unanimous.

In addition to Governor Douglas's Middlebury, the town of Hartland, which is home to Congressman Peter Welch (news, bio, voting record), backed impeachment. So, too, did Jericho, the home of Gaye Symington, the speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives.

Organizers of the grassroots drive to get town meetings to back impeachment resolutions hope that the overwhelming support the initiative has received will convince Welch to introduce articles of impeachment against Bush and Cheney. That's something the Democratic congressman is resisting, even though his predecessor, Bernie Sanders, signed on last year to a proposal by Michigan Congressman John Conyers (news, bio, voting record) to set up a House committee to look into impeachment.

Vermont activists also want their legislature to approve articles of impeachment and forward them to Congress. But Symington, also a Democrat, has discouraged the initiative, despite the fact that more than 20 representatives have cosponsored an impeachment resolution.

"It's going to be hard for Peter Welch and Gaye Symington to say there's no sentiment for impeachment, now that their own towns have voted for it," says Dan DeWalt, a Newfane, Vermont, town selectman who started the impeachment initiative last year in his town, and who now plans to launch a campaign to pressure Welch and Symington to respect and reflect the will of the people.

It is going to be even harder for Governor Douglas, who just this month spent two nights at the Bush White House, to face his president.

After all, Douglas now lives in a town that is on record in support of Bush's impeachment and trial for high crimes and misdemeanors.

For the record, Middlebury says:

We the people have the power -- and the responsibility -- to remove executives who transgress not just the law, but the rule of law.

The oaths that the President and Vice President take binds them to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." The failure to do so forms a sound basis for articles of impeachment.

The President and Vice President have failed to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution" in the following ways:

1. They have manipulated intelligence and misled the country to justify an immoral, unjust, and unnecessary preemptive war in Iraq.

2. They have directed the government to engage in domestic spying without warrants, in direct contravention of U.S. law.

3. They have conspired to commit the torture of prisoners, in violation of the Federal Torture Act and the Geneva Convention.

4. They have ordered the indefinite detention without legal counsel, without charges and without the opportunity to appear before a civil judicial officer to challenge the detention -- all in violation of U.S. law and the Bill of Rights.

When strong evidence exists of the most serious crimes, we must use impeachment -- or lose the ability of the legislative branch to compel the executive branch to obey the law.

George Bush has led our country to a constitutional crisis, and it is our responsibility to remove him from office.


TOPICS: Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; US: Vermont
KEYWORDS: hatebushcrowd; impeachment; liberals; moonbats; vermont
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1 posted on 03/07/2007 5:32:58 AM PST by Mr. Brightside
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To: Mr. Brightside

Now let them enforce it. LOL


2 posted on 03/07/2007 5:36:04 AM PST by cripplecreek (Peace without victory is a temporary illusion.)
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To: Mr. Brightside

Who cares. They'd vote for anything.


3 posted on 03/07/2007 5:36:12 AM PST by Dallas59 (AL GORE STALKED ME ON 2/25/2007!)
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To: Mr. Brightside

Bomb them into submission. /half sarcasm


4 posted on 03/07/2007 5:36:28 AM PST by kinoxi
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To: Mr. Brightside
Jesus. Wouldn't it be nice if our politicians spend as much time on actual government business as they did on useless symbolic crap? (And I'm saying that just as a taxpayer).
5 posted on 03/07/2007 5:36:47 AM PST by NurdlyPeon (Wearing My 'Jammies Proudly)
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To: Mr. Brightside

Not one of these charges is true.


6 posted on 03/07/2007 5:37:06 AM PST by Edgerunner (Better RED state than DEAD state)
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To: Mr. Brightside
Vermont Votes to Impeach Bush/Cheney

Vermont Votes for Eternal Irrelevance

Actually they did that already by electing Bernie Sanders and their sole Representative.

7 posted on 03/07/2007 5:37:32 AM PST by facedown (Armed in the Heartland)
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To: Mr. Brightside
to justify an immoral, unjust, and unnecessary preemptive war in Iraq

Iraq breaking 18 resolutions....justfied after ONE.

8 posted on 03/07/2007 5:37:34 AM PST by Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I shall defend to your death my right to say it)
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To: Mr. Brightside

US votes to impeach Vermont.


9 posted on 03/07/2007 5:37:43 AM PST by dforest (Liberals love crisis, create crisis and then dwell on them.)
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To: facedown

I vote to impeach Vermont.


10 posted on 03/07/2007 5:38:09 AM PST by juliej (vote gop)
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To: Mr. Brightside
We all know exactly what this is all about:

"You did it to our guy so we're going to do it to yours."


Plain and simple.

11 posted on 03/07/2007 5:38:47 AM PST by Tokra (I think I'll retire to Bedlam.)
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To: indylindy

works for me
can we do a "spin off" to Quebec?


12 posted on 03/07/2007 5:38:59 AM PST by nascarnation
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To: Mr. Brightside

I vote that we kick them out of the Union. They have never given us anything, only RINOs.


13 posted on 03/07/2007 5:39:09 AM PST by TommyDale (What will Rudy do in the War on Terror? Implement gun control on insurgents and Al Qaeda?)
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To: nascarnation

They are just known for cheesy teddy bears, sap and liberals. heh heh


14 posted on 03/07/2007 5:42:31 AM PST by dforest (Liberals love crisis, create crisis and then dwell on them.)
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To: Mr. Brightside

LOL! The libs took over Vermont years ago. A beautiful State, too bad it's infested with aging hippies.


15 posted on 03/07/2007 5:43:41 AM PST by alice_in_bubbaland (As for me, I will remain neutral...for the time being.)
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To: Mr. Brightside
Awwww, they forgot to add Katrina. Don't forget to impeach them for their hatred of black people too....</sarcasm>
16 posted on 03/07/2007 5:44:03 AM PST by Abathar (Proudly catching hell for posting without reading the article since 2004)
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To: Mr. Brightside

Now that this important piece of business has been addressed, maybe they can get on to other affairs, such as prosecuting all the child molesters running around up there.


17 posted on 03/07/2007 5:44:17 AM PST by spower
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To: Mr. Brightside

Sell 'em to Canada for one thin dime. :)


18 posted on 03/07/2007 5:45:12 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: cripplecreek

(I thought by now that someone would be criticizing me for not putting "Barf Alert" in the title.)


19 posted on 03/07/2007 5:46:45 AM PST by Mr. Brightside
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To: alice_in_bubbaland
too bad it's infested with aging hippies.

I thought all the aging hippies are here in Austin.

20 posted on 03/07/2007 5:46:56 AM PST by Arrowhead1952 (This tag line has no carbon credit offsets for sale.)
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