MONTPELIER,VERMONT--This is also very-big news. Other states are following-suit on this symbolic drive for the unseating of the Bush administration in toto. It's not about achieving it now, but about accelerating the process of investigations and oversight, as well as adding to the embattling of a rogue administration. This is about checks-and-balances that were established and upheld until the 2000 elections were stolen. Leave it the public to have the genuine commitment to democracy (with a "little-d"), not the politicians. This underscores the issues of class-loyalty.The non-binding resolution was approved 16-9 without debate — all six Republicans in the chamber at the time and three Democrats voted against it. The resolution says Bush and Cheney's actions in the U.S. and abroad, including in Iraq, "raise serious questions of constitutionality, statutory legality, and abuse of the public trust." (AP, 04.20.2007)
It's meant as more of a political-statement, which is appropriate in the current constitutional crisis that is currently unresolved. We all know that hundreds-of-laws have been violated by the Bush administration--the president has admitted this on several-occasions. What we also know is that Vice President Cheney acts as a co-president, a fact which has no precedent. Groucho Marx, top that. The Reuters piece has a different take, and is more informative. It contends that the bill also prods Vermont's representatives in Congress to introduce measures for impeachment into the agenda of the House Judiciary Committee. Reuters:
The resolution, passed by a 16 to 9 vote, urges Vermont's representatives in Washington to introduce a resolution in Congress requiring the U.S. House Judiciary Committee to start impeachment proceedings against Bush and Cheney. Vermont's congressional delegation has shown no serious interest in the idea, and the new Democratic-controlled Congress has also steered clear of the subject. (Reuters, 04.20.2007)
Bernie Sanders (an independent Socialist in the Senate) has already made some gestures in-this-regard, but nothing solid yet. Democrats are waiting for when the Bush administration is at their most vulnerable, but there are several others within their ranks who simply want to preserve the power of the Executive to keep getting-away with what we've seen during the last six years. They want to preserve the power of the presidency as a legal neutral zone where law-and-order scarcely exist. This is to expedite the demands of power in what elites consider a timely-manner, with little of the meddling from the public, and virtually no accountability. Follow the money.
What's missing from all of this coverage is the perspective of the average voter in Vermont--you know, the people who wanted this done. Regardless of the population of Vermont (only over 600,000), an American state government has voted for impeachment. If you want to find things out, you go to the source:
More than 125 Vermonters from 56 communities congregated at the Statehouse Tuesday and sought to pressure legislators from both chambers and of all political persuasions to act on a resolution calling for President Bush's impeachment this session.The demonstration culminated with a testy and antagonistic 30-minute exchange with the state's top two Democrats whom impeachment supporters say are blocking the resolution from moving forward."You are breaking down a cornerstone of democracy," said one woman to Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, and House Speaker Gaye Symington, D-Jericho."If the Democratic Party won't listen to us, maybe we should just leave the party," yelled one man during the meeting. (Times Argus, 04.18.2007)
Indeed--do what we want, or we're going to vote you out. Say what you want about New England, but they know their democratic traditions better than the majority of Americans. Over 40 American city councils have also done so, and it's only going to continue growing as the occupation of Iraq crumbles from attrition and no majority-support here at home. Further revelations of corruption and cronyism will also aid in the ending of what has been six years of profound criminality in Washington. An inevitable-collapse of the Bush administration is looming large, and it appears to be coming well-before they exit the White House in January of 2009. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
Mainstream Democrats like Hillary Clinton would never back this, and never will (unless they have no choice), for the aforementioned reasons. One expects the Republicans to do this since they're the obvious-target, but the Democrats aren't. Or are they? This calls their commitment to democratic principles into-question, but should be unsurprising to even the most casual observer.
Vermont's Times Argus, 04.18.2007: http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070418/NEWS01/704180359/1002/NEWS01
AP Today: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070420/ap_on_re_us/presidential_impeachment
Reuters Today: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070420/pl_nm/bush_vermont_impeach_dc_1;_ylt=ApcDD2nVFqzGogUW.qmICfNH2ocA
No comments:
Post a Comment