Impeaching The President In Vermont

Last month, on the 7th of March, Vermonters in 37 towns across the state backed resolutions to impeach President George W. Bush. The resolution was brought up on the annual town meeting day, and Vermont firmly staked its position at the head of a nationwide grassroots movement to impeach Bush over his handling of the war in Iraq.

Most of us do nothing because we feel it will be unheard. That is exactly the paralyzing attitude that dismantles democracy. In Vermont, we are lucky because we still have town meeting. This pure form of democracy happens here the first Tuesday of March, year after year. We gather in gyms and and town halls and everyone who wants to speak can have the floor. On March 7th, I stood up at the end of the meeting, just as everyone's stomach started growling for lunch. I stated my name and read the resolution with a shaky voice:

Impeachment Resolution:

Whereas George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney have:

1. deliberately misled the nation about the threat from Iraq in order to justify a war, 2. condoned the torture of prisoners in violation of the Geneva Convention and US law, 3. approved illegal electronic surveillance of American citizens without a warrant, and, whereas these actions have undermined our Constitutional system of government, damaged the reputation of America, and threatened our national security, therefore, the voters of the town of Richmond, Vermont, call upon the U.S. House of Representatives to investigate these charges, and if the investigation supports the charges, vote to impeach George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney as provided in the Constitution of the United States of America.

Someone seconded my motion, which seemed to surprise the moderator a bit. But that second of my motion was all we needed to open the floor for discussion. People looked shocked; both pleasantly surprised I was bringing it up, and also upset and tense. Everyone had predicted a very quiet, non-contentious town meeting this year. I had only in the past few days been moved to bring it up (after going on a barnstorming bus tour through Vermont with peace activist Cindy Sheehan). I was nervous about alienating myself from neighbors and long-time family friends. While I love them dearly for who they are, we do not necessarily see eye to eye on politics.

But town meetings have a long tradition of face-to-face, cordial debate: what better place to talk about difficult issues? We had just approved the school budget, so I began by expressing my appreciation for the good public education I received in Richmond's schools in American history, and commenting on the importance of the constitution. I mentioned that fifteen years ago, at the other end of the school, I vividly remember having taken part in a half-day reenactment of the Continental Congress in Mr. Cichoski's 6th grade social studies class.

Mr. and Mrs. Cichoski happened to be sitting in the row behind me. I said I would be talking to them about some of the same things as I did in sixth grade as a "delegate" upset about a king abusing his power. Many people nodded their heads in support, especially when I spoke about the need to send a message to the rest of the world against what Bush has done. A small cluster of people rolled their eyes during my talk and groaned when I mentioned Cindy Sheehan's name.

Several people had things to say when I sat down. They all thanked me for speaking. Two Vietnam vets and the son of a WWII vet said we needed to support the troops. The first one said it was a disgrace to bring this up. I wanted to point out that the resolution said nothing about bringing the troops home and focused solely on the constitution. But the rules of town meeting only let you make a second comment after everyone gets to make their first. So the conversation spiraled in slightly the wrong direction, with two people supporting me because we need to end this war for this, that, and the other reason. I think it is good to get people discussing the war, but it was not the specific call of the resolution.

However, someone eventually asked for the moderator to read the resolution again to everyone. One man stood and said he supported my resolution, pointing out that I was not calling for impeachment itself, rather for investigation as seems merited by a substantial amount of evidence. The moderator called for a paper ballot rather than the normal hand or voice vote, as the issue seemed divisive. While we waited for the votes to be cast and counted many people came up to thank me for bringing up the issue. And my 6th grade teacher, Mr. Cichoski, seemed proud of me!

A couple of those who were opposed came to talk to me, and they respectfully disagreed with what I had said. One man said I needed to be really careful about where I got my information and how I formed my opinions. I agreed with him that it is in fact very important to be careful where your information comes from - that was part of the call for investigations! Where did Bush and Cheney get their false information? I said that most of the information for the resolution came from the constitution. It was all very polite and I was very happy about that.

We all waited in the gym for a bit longer and then they announced that the resolution had been passed, 90-something to 40-something. People clapped and town meeting was adjourned and people came up to me, excited and happily surprised that it had passed and by such a large margin.

While our occupation of Iraq is supposedly to create democracy, that same idea of democracy is rapidly eroding here in the United States. Cheney and Bush do not listen to the people or to Congress. Congress does not listen to the people, and the constitution is being ignored. A recent Gallup poll showed only 18% of Americans think escalation of the war in Iraq is a good idea. A Newsweek poll in January found that 67% of Americans feel Congress is not standing up enough to George Bush. Sounds like it is time for we, the people, to act.

One of the primary authors of the constitution, George Mason, said that the power of impeachment was the most important part of the entire constitution. If the American people did not have the power to impeach the President of the United States, Mason said that the rest of the constitution was rendered irrelevant. Though the constitution does not mention God once, nor campaigns, nor political parties, it does refer to impeachment six times. Our forefathers did not take it lightly, nor should we.

Now is the time to bring impeachment investigations to the table to show all future presidents that they too will be held accountable for their actions. We must show the American people and the world that no American is above the constitution, even in a time of war. We must show our children that if you make an oath, then you must suffer the consequences if you break it. We must show the world that the American people do not stand for torture, for aggression, for lies.

Thomas Jefferson said that he and the founding fathers had created a "near perfect union." "But will they keep it?" he asked. He was talking about us. You and me. We, the people. He imagined the potential for a day when a president would be elected who turned out to be corrupt, and perhaps it would coincide with a weak Congress, at a time when the press was no longer a free press. In this state of affairs, they rested all their hope with the people. They, better than anyone, knew what it was like to live under the rule of a tyrant king named George.

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Story produced by Avi Silberstein