Calling President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney "domestic enemies," Pentagon Papers icon Daniel Ellsberg headlined a rally in Concord last night calling for their impeachment.
The rally, which drew more than 200 people to the Capitol Center for the Arts, was aimed at the New Hampshire House, which is considering a resolution that would call on Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against Bush and Cheney. The resolution may come to a vote on the House floor tomorrow.
A pre-rally reception for the House members who will vote on the resolution drew a couple of dozen, among them a few who said they were on the fence about the resolution. Rep. Betty Hall, the 87-year-old Brookline Democrat who is the measure's lone sponsor, was bullish, pumping her arms at a press conference and saying: "I think it's gonna pass."
Hall's resolution claims that Bush and Cheney violated binding treaties "by invading Iraq without just cause or provocation" and that they misled lawmakers to make their case. It says that the federal government's warrantless wiretapping, detentions of "enemy combatants" at Guantanamo and use of torture on terrorism suspects are just causes for impeachment.
Ellsberg, who gained fame as the leak of secret documents about the Vietnam War, argued that a major breach occurred when the National Security Agency turned its powers to domestic spying through warrantless wiretapping, which he said violates the Fourth Amendment. Americans must find out the current extent of the federal government's reach, he said.
"We need a lot of testimony, we need it fast, and we need it now, when we have a clearly impeachable president," Ellsberg said at a press conference. Future presidents will not be inclined to trim back their own power, he said.
Others argued that the message of impeachment is important as a caution to future holders of the Oval Office.
"By going ahead with impeachment, we are saying to any future president that if he becomes a dictator . . . that we're not going to let him just retire to a ranch in Paraguay. We're going to take him down," said retired Lt. Col. Robert Bowman.
The event drew a variety of entertainment.
An Ethan Allen impersonator from Vermont kicked off the show by proclaiming Cheney and Bush "vain, arrogant, corrupt, unelected and impeachable."
Next up came a music video featuring images of Cheney in a devil suit and Bush as a vampire looming over the neck of the Statue of Liberty and a song with the line: "You lied, you lied, you lied - and because of you thousands of people have died."
Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary fame played acoustic guitar and led the crowd in a sing-along of "Blowin' in the Wind" (before accompanying Rebecca McCall in a rendition of her song "Impeach the Bastards" - "Put 'em both on trial / Let's tell the U.S. Congress to play grown-ups for a while").
A traveling band of pro-impeachment activists from Vermont, Maine and New Jersey gave speeches, and regrets were read from left-wing academics Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky.
New Hampshire has a unique opportunity, said Dan DeWalt, a Vermont activist who penned pro-impeachment resolutions on some town meeting ballots in his state.
"Vermont's pretty easy to ignore. New Hampshire is a different deal," DeWalt said. "New Hampshire means something different to the rest of the country."
The impeachment resolution has drawn fire from the Republican leadership in the House. Deputy Minority Leader David Hess panned the bill at a hearing in February, saying: "I have never seen a document more vitriolic and more inflammatory."
2 comments:
Bushite government is a perfect example of taxation without representation...
As the spending continues without question one can only wonder when Americans will stand up or will they just keep paying. Our tax dollars are even used by polygamist groups to fund their acts. We see money laundering to terrorist groups. The VP gets Katrina Victims money. Hand outs to GOP friends and other crime members. We even give Iraq money as Iraq pumps millions of barrels of oil a day and sale it. Yes Cheney get's his profits. When the truth really comes out Americans will see just how much of the tax dollars were stolen. I say why pay tax when you get nothing for it to help Americans who pay. Big Business doesn't pay taxes but benefits.
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