Grim though the evening news may be these days, perhaps we are turning a corner. Perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel. Not in Iraq or the federal budget or the trade deficit, but in the streets.
On March 25, Los Angeles played host to the “Gran Marcha,” the largest street protest in California’s history. Hundreds of thousands of people marched for decent treatment of those who come to America seeking a better life. These marches have been peaceful and courageous – many of the people marching are illegal immigrants, who could be seized and deported at any time. Marches and rallies are planned Monday for cities across the country.
In Paris, street protests, not as peaceful as L.A.’s, have brought the government of Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to the verge of collapse. Whether you agree with the government or the protesters on France’s labor laws, you must admit the people are forcing the leaders to listen.
Here in Vermont, Jeff Taylor was browsing through Jefferson’s Manual as part of his winter reading. Jefferson’s Manual, written in 1801 by then-Vice President Thomas Jefferson, is a book of parliamentary rules and procedures, which is part of the official rules of the House of Representatives. Mr. Taylor’s eyes lit on section 603:
In the House there are various methods of setting an impeachment in motion: by charges made on the floor on the responsibility of a Member or Delegate; . . . by a resolution dropped in the hopper by a Member and referred to a committee; by a message from the President; by charges transmitted from the legislature of a State or territory or from a grand jury.
Yes, it’s true; a state legislature can request the impeachment of the president of the United States. Mr. Taylor brought this information to the Rutland County Democratic Committee and on the 28th of February, the committee voted to request that the Vermont General Assembly begin the process of impeaching George W. Bush.
County Democratic committees across the state soon passed similar resolutions and Saturday, the state Democratic Committee meets to decide whether to formally ask the state legislature – both houses are controlled by Democrats – to take up impeachment.
To little surprise, the state’s political leaders have gone wobbly. Gaye Symington, the notoriously weak-kneed speaker of the House was quoted by Vermont’s political columnist doing an impersonation of Jell-O salad.
Ms. Symington said Mr. Bush is “a terrible president and I think he’s done a real disservice to Vermonters and to the country. But I’m not going to jump into concluding he should be impeached without making sure there is some kind of investigation first. There’s a cost in terms of time. There’s a cost in terms of the partisan edginess of the [state legislature] building, which I’m already trying to tone down. I think we want to be careful to the extent that we stand up and get into a debate that ends up being clearly partisan.”
Apparently, Ms. Symington took an oath to defend her personal comfort level.
Self-described “socialist,” Congressman Bernie Sanders (I), was no better. He advised unhappy citizens to direct their effort toward electing more Democrats in November. Besides, he said, impeaching Mr. Bush will make Dick Cheney president.
This is the problem in America. The bad guys are bad guys; the good guys don’t get it. The Rutland Resolution is the average Vermonter’s way of asking our legislators and then our Congressional representatives to give us a yes or no answer to a simple question: Do you support what George Bush has done to America?
As Republicans are fond of saying, the question deserves an up-or-down vote. Politicians should let us know where they stand; then, in November, we can let them know where we stand.
Update: Last week I reported that Vermont’s Democratic Committee was to meet to decide whether to ask the Democratically-controlled state legislature to request that Congress impeach George W. Bush. Unfortunately, Democrats not only control the legislature, they also control the Democratic Committee. The committee voted to ask Congress to impeach Mr. Bush, but declined to send the proposal through the state legislature, which means the gesture symbolic and ineffectual, much like Vermont Democratic leaders themselves.
The Rutland Resolution
Grim though the evening news may be these days, perhaps we are turning a corner. Perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel. Not in Iraq or the federal budget or the trade deficit, but in the streets.
On March 25, Los Angeles played host to the “Gran Marcha,” the largest street protest in California’s history. Hundreds of thousands of people marched for decent treatment of those who come to America seeking a better life. These marches have been peaceful and courageous – many of the people marching are illegal immigrants, who could be seized and deported at any time. Marches and rallies are planned Monday for cities across the country.
In Paris, street protests, not as peaceful as L.A.’s, have brought the government of Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to the verge of collapse. Whether you agree with the government or the protesters on France’s labor laws, you must admit the people are forcing the leaders to listen.
Here in Vermont, Jeff Taylor was browsing through Jefferson’s Manual as part of his winter reading. Jefferson’s Manual, written in 1801 by then-Vice President Thomas Jefferson, is a book of parliamentary rules and procedures, which is part of the official rules of the House of Representatives. Mr. Taylor’s eyes lit on section 603:
In the House there are various methods of setting an impeachment in motion: by charges made on the floor on the responsibility of a Member or Delegate; . . . by a resolution dropped in the hopper by a Member and referred to a committee; by a message from the President; by charges transmitted from the legislature of a State or territory or from a grand jury.
Yes, it’s true; a state legislature can request the impeachment of the president of the United States. Mr. Taylor brought this information to the Rutland County Democratic Committee and on the 28th of February, the committee voted to request that the Vermont General Assembly begin the process of impeaching George W. Bush.
County Democratic committees across the state soon passed similar resolutions and Saturday, the state Democratic Committee meets to decide whether to formally ask the state legislature – both houses are controlled by Democrats – to take up impeachment.
To little surprise, the state’s political leaders have gone wobbly. Gaye Symington, the notoriously weak-kneed speaker of the House was quoted by Vermont’s political columnist doing an impersonation of Jell-O salad.
Ms. Symington said Mr. Bush is “a terrible president and I think he’s done a real disservice to Vermonters and to the country. But I’m not going to jump into concluding he should be impeached without making sure there is some kind of investigation first. There’s a cost in terms of time. There’s a cost in terms of the partisan edginess of the [state legislature] building, which I’m already trying to tone down. I think we want to be careful to the extent that we stand up and get into a debate that ends up being clearly partisan.”
Apparently, Ms. Symington took an oath to defend her personal comfort level.
Self-described “socialist,” Congressman Bernie Sanders (I), was no better. He advised unhappy citizens to direct their effort toward electing more Democrats in November. Besides, he said, impeaching Mr. Bush will make Dick Cheney president.
This is the problem in America. The bad guys are bad guys; the good guys don’t get it. The Rutland Resolution is the average Vermonter’s way of asking our legislators and then our Congressional representatives to give us a yes or no answer to a simple question: Do you support what George Bush has done to America?
As Republicans are fond of saying, the question deserves an up-or-down vote. Politicians should let us know where they stand; then, in November, we can let them know where we stand.
© Mark Floegel, 2006
Update: Last week I reported that Vermont’s Democratic Committee was to meet to decide whether to ask the Democratically-controlled state legislature to request that Congress impeach George W. Bush. Unfortunately, Democrats not only control the legislature, they also control the Democratic Committee. The committee voted to ask Congress to impeach Mr. Bush, but declined to send the proposal through the state legislature, which means the gesture symbolic and ineffectual, much like Vermont Democratic leaders themselves.