FRAMESHOP:FRAMESHOP: CITIZENS STAND UP

Small Town America Passing Resolutions to Impeach President Bush, Citizens Reclaim America

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The rising tide of impeachment continues to sweep across America.  Today, all eyes were on the Board of Selectmen in the New England town of Newfane, Vermont, which endorsed a resolution to impeach President Bush.  The resolution will be forwarded immediately to independent Rep. Bernie Sanders, Vermont's only House Representative.

Whether we are for or against impeachment, the actions of this small town are a perfect example of Americans waking up to their own power to reclaim America.

The actual article of impeachment was very brief and included in a long list of articles to be considered at the annual meeting of the Newfane Board of Selectmen:

ARTICLE 29: We the voters of Newfane would like Town Meeting, March 2006, to consider the following resolution:

Whereas George W. Bush has:

1. Misled the nation about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction;
2. Misled the nation about ties between Iraq and Al Quaeda;
3. Used these falsehoods to lead our nation into war unsupported by international law;
4. Not told the truth about American policy with respect to the use of torture; and
5. Has directed the government to engage in domestic spying, in direct contravention of U.S. law.

Therefore, the voters of the town of Newfane ask that our representative to the U.S. House of Representatives file articles of impeachment to remove him from office.

(the entire list of articles can be read here)

The resolution was approved by paper ballot and passed 121-29.  So this was not a rubber stamp action.  It involved debate and conflict in between Selectmen.  But was more than just political debate.  The Newfane resolution was a conscious effort by citizens in a small town to exercise their power to influence the direction of the nation.

The following Associated Press story includes a great set of quotes about what the impeachment means to the people of Newfane:

March 7, 2006 - In a white-clapboard town hall, circa 1832, voters gathered Tuesday to conduct their community's business and to call for the impeachment of President Bush.

"In the U.S. presently there are only a few places where citizens can act in this fashion and have a say in our nation," said select board member Dan DeWalt, who drafted the impeachment article that was placed on the warning - or official agenda - for the annual town meeting, a proud Yankee tradition in New England.

"It absolutely affects us locally," Dewalt said. "It's our sons and daughters, our mothers and fathers, who are dying" in the war in Iraq.

The article, approved 121-29 in balloting by paper, calls on Vermont's lone member of the House, independent Rep. Bernie Sanders, to file articles of impeachment against the president, alleging that Bush misled the nation into the Iraq war and engaged in illegal domestic spying.

The impeachment item came at the end of a roughly four-hour meeting that was devoted mostly to the local affairs of the town of 1,600. Among the other items discussed was whether the town should fix some of the 100-year-old sidewalks in the village.

The impeachment discussion took up almost half an hour, reflecting the intense interest in the topic and something of a division over whether the town meeting was the appropriate place to debate it.

Ann Landenberger argued that it was appropriate. "As a teacher I can't say to my kids that what happens on the national level doesn't affect us at the local level," she said. "Would that we could all be in a cocoon, but that is not the case."

Greg Record, a justice of the peace, said in an interview after the meeting that the town is made up of people from the "far-left," and he criticized the amount of time and attention such advisory votes get.

"We spend more time on these things than on a million-dollar budget item," he complained.

The president did have his supporters during the debate.

Lenore Salzbrun defended Bush, saying she had close friends who died in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "I am so grateful that our president didn't just put his head in the sand ... and did go out and fight," she said.

Sanders issued a statement saying that although the Bush administration "has been a disaster for our country, and a number of actions that he has taken may very well not have been legal," given the reality that the Republicans control the House and the Senate, "it would be impractical to talk about impeachment."

(this AP article can be read here )

The vote on the resolution indicates widespread belief that the time has come to act locally to send a message to the House of Representatives. 

As discussed by House Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) in a recent Harper's Magazine forum called "Is There a Case For Impeachment" (CSPAN has the video), if there is going to be an actual impeachment of President Bush, it will only come if Americans across the country push for the start of this process at a local level.  Sage advice from a senior member of the Congress. 

The larger picture is likely that these resolutions will put pressure on Republicans who feel that there may be mass revolt brewing amongst their constituents as we head into the 2006 elections.  That fear alone may force Republicans to panic and to break ranks, giving Democrats the advantage--even if Democrats are not yet ready with a unified message or strategy.

We may not know exactly what will happen for a few weeks, but in the meantime it looks like ordinary citizens are waking up to thought of not waiting until 2008 to throw out a President whose actions concern, dismay and outrage them.  The concerns of a few who reject this idea--however thoughtful and reasonable those concerns are--may not be enough to stop the water from spilling over the dam.

©  2006 Jeffrey Feldman