SNOOPING ON AMERICANS

Amazingly, on the weekend before the election, Vermont's premier newspaper, Burlington Free Press is playing catch-up on a story that's been around for quite a while. It has a front page story about Adrienne Kinne.

If a definitive history is ever written of the challenges to Americans’ civil liberties in the tumultuous aftermath of Sept. 11, Sharon resident Adrienne Kinne might well be one of the sources.

Kinne is more than a footnote in a new book on National Security Agency eavesdropping, and her allegations — widely reported over the past year — have prompted calls for a full investigation by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. and ranking member Arlen Specter, R-Pa.

After she was called to active duty as a sergeant in the Army Reserve after Sept. 11, Kinne said in a recent phone interview, she was assigned to eavesdrop on satellite phone communications over a broad territorial expanse that included Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia. The intercepts included calls to and from aid workers and journalists, among them Americans and citizens of U.S. allies. The intercepts began several months after Sept. 11 and continued through the invasion of Iraq until she was demobilized in August 2003, she said.

There are several comments in the Free Press denouncing her (showing a vitriolic, vomituous Vermont you rarely read about).

Ms Kinne has also been featured since last spring on Democracy Now!: look here, here, here, here and here.

I met Ms Kinne when we participated in a sit-in at Leahy's office in spring of 2007. She's also an active member with other Vermonters of Iraq Veterans against the War.

ACTS OF WAR

Local activist Jimmy Leas sent me an email with an attached article by Scott Ritter who [Truthdig] provides important information about current military acts against Iran, the weak pretexts used for the massive attack planned, and the sham "diplomacy" being conducted in the lead up, all with strong bipartisan support and facilitated by the corporate media.

A major culprit in this entire sordid affair is the mainstream media. Displaying an almost uncanny inability to connect the dots, the editors who run America’s largest newspapers, and the producers who put together America’s biggest television news programs, have collectively facilitated the most simplistic, inane and factually unfounded story lines coming out of the Bush White House. The most recent fairy tale was one of “diplomacy,” on the part of one William Burns, the No. 3 diplomat in the State Department.
---
Sending a relatively obscure official like Burns to “observe” a meeting between the European Union and Iran, with instructions not to interact, not to initiate, not to discuss, cannot under any circumstances be construed as diplomacy. Any student of diplomatic history could tell you this. And yet the esteemed editors and news producers used the term diplomacy, without challenge or clarification, to describe Burns’ mission to Geneva on July 19. The decision to send him there was hailed as a “significant concession” on the part of the Bush administration, a step away from war and an indication of a new desire within the White House to resolve the Iranian impasse through diplomacy. How this was going to happen with a diplomat hobbled and muzzled to the degree Burns was apparently skipped the attention of these writers and their bosses. Diplomacy, America was told, was the new policy option of choice for the Bush administration.

Jimmy wrote: Though not explicitly mentioned in the article, the reader comes away with an understanding of the real reason the Congressional leadership opposes impeachment. Representatives may say it has to do with politics or the elections. (They do not seem to mind being accused of putting politics ahead of their oaths of office). The congressional leadership actually keeps impeachment off the table because they support the Bush/Cheney wars of aggression and all the unfortunate violations that go with them, including setting up the apparatus to dissuade dissent at home, such as spying on Americans, detention without trial, and cruel and unusual punishment. The congressional leadership has demonstrated its support by funding the wars. They want impeachment off the table because they don't want to stop the impeachable offenses. And they are united in wanting to do it all again in Iran. They are just waiting for a way to persuade the American people that Iran is to blame before moving forward. They put impeachment off the table because the wars of aggression and the rest of the impeachable offenses are a bipartisan policy.

'IF YOU MUST IMPEACH, PLEASE DO IT POLITELY'

1. GO: Listen to the House Judiciary Committee hearing this morning on Vermont's own WGDR, either on the radio or by going to its website and clicking on one of the links on the left for high speed or dial up.

2. "If You Must Impeach, Please Do It Politely" - CQ Politics

3. "Conyers blasted on Bush probe" Detroit News

PELOSIAN THEORY OF LEADERSHIP...

Pathetic how Nancy Pelosi leads the lemming Democrats to CAVE IN on FISA, war with Iran, and impeachment.

'HISTORY WILL NOT JUDGE THEM KINDLY'

From It still matters | Brattleboro Reformer Editorial, 17 June 2008

"This is not about vindictiveness and partisan politics. The acts committed by the Bush administration rise to the level of "high crimes and misdemeanors" that our founders said justifies the impeachment of public officials. And if the Democrats refuse to act upon the articles of impeachment, they are no better than the administration in upholding their oaths of office. They are co-conspirators, and history will not judge them kindly for putting politics above the Constitution."

DENNIS KUCINICH INTRODUCES ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT AGAINST BUSH

"President George W. Bush, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office." -- Dennis Kucinich on the floor of the US House of Representatives, 9 June 2008



THE PUBLIC RECORD

Ohio Congressman and former Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush Monday evening, stating the commander-in-chief is guilty of numerous crimes, including launching a war on false pretenses, and spying on American citizens, and should be removed from office.

"The House is not in order," Kucinich said to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat who has said impeachment "is off the table."

Pelosi pounded her gavel. Kucinich then began to read the impeachment articles.

DENNIS THE MENACE is on his own on this one. This story will probably only be a one-day story on the MSM wires, as Eli at Left I writes.

One interesting thing about the speech was that, although this was nominally "Articles of Impeachment," it was actually "Articles of Impeachment" plus all the evidence needed to back up the charges within, with citations from speeches by Bush and Cheney and Rice and Powell all the way to citations from books by George Tenet and articles by Scott Ritter and Seymour Hersh. Hearings shouldn't be necessary, just a vote!

Actually the question isn't how quickly the Democrats will bury this; that's pretty much a given. The question is how quickly the media will bury the fact it even happened. There are articles up on the web now from various sources (AP, Reuters, etc.), so it will be reported, but the thing with American media (and the American public) is that a one-day story, even a one-day front-page story (which I doubt this will be), means nothing. Only the stories which get hammered on repeatedly, and talked about by all the talk shows and written about by the columnists make any kind of dent. And the chances that that will happen with this story are pretty much nil.

OBAMA ON IMPEACHMENT

Via Left I

Barack Obama has this to say about impeachment [emphasis added]:

"I often get questions about impeachment at town hall meetings and I've said that is not something I think would be fruitful to pursue because I think that impeachment is something that should be reserved for exceptional circumstances."

Nothing "exceptional" going on here, not to worry. Just the wholesale shredding of the Constitution, and the wholesale destruction of people's lives around the world.

The Vermont Democratic primary on Town Meeting day last month was a blowout for Obama. At town meetings in March '07, 31 towns in the state voted for impeachment of Bush and Cheney. Such is the craziness of 'progressive' Vermont politics that I daresay most of the impeachment, anti-war crowd from last year ended up backing Obama this year. And they'll probably give Peter Welch and Patrick Leahy a nod in September's state primary, too. Ya think?

POLL SHOWS VERMONTERS IN FAVOUR OF IMPEACHMENT

WCAX

Poll Shows Vermonters In Favor of Impeachment
Burlington, Vermont - October 31, 2007

This year's Town Meeting Day addressed an issue far broader than the local school budget -- should Vermonters call for the impeachment of the president and vice president? Thirty-seven towns voted yes.

A poll conducted for Channel 3 News posed the same question to 400 likely voters. 61 percent said they would be in favor of Congress beginning impeachment proceedings against President Bush. Thirty-three percent opposed it, and six percent were not sure.

The numbers for Vice President Cheney were slightly different. Sixty-four percent favor impeachment, while 31 percent oppose it.

"I'm really overjoyed by this," said Jimmy Leas, a South Burlington lawyer who has been a vocal advocate of impeachment. "Your poll really shows that here in Vermont, nearly two-thirds of the public understand we have a serious problem, and the way to address this is to remove the officials who are usurping power."

"The impeachment results are somewhat surprising, frankly, to me," political scientist Eric Davis said. "Even though their terms are ending in a little bit more than a year, a majority of Vermonters don't want to even see them remaining in office until January 20, 2009."

Vermont's legislature took up the impeachment issue last spring. The Senate passed a resolution calling for the president's impeachment, but a similar effort failed in the House.

Constitutionally, only Congress can impeach an executive. Congressman Peter Welch has said he does not support the impeachment of Bush or Cheney. He spoke at a town hall meeting on the issue in May, and argued impeachment would be a distraction and hamper Congress's efforts to end the war.

Leas said the effort isn't over.

"The founding fathers decided we could have a Congress that's just as corrupt as the president and it's up to the people to get involved and take action," he said. "And this poll shows the people understand this. They don't like the direction this country is going."

Some historical perspective on just how rare impeachment is: Congress has impeached only two presidents in the country's 231-year history - Andrew Johnson in 1868, and Bill Clinton in 1998. Both were acquitted by the Senate. Richard Nixon resigned from office before he could be impeached.

More Evidence on Bush Impeachable Offenses

Juan Cole details it here.

What about a Green challenge to Welch??

This was originally posted on 7/11/07, but now I'm bumping it up to further discussion (and make it easier to locate). Happy to see the Vermont Green Party is using the graphic (I borrowed it from Snarky Boy.)What better way to the show Greens as the alternative to the Demflack beholden to corporate crooks, loan sharks, union busters, environmental destroyers, and monopolists! Besides, as the post directly below shows, it's been a Green weekend.


Snarky Boy writes a lot about Peter Welch. He's even suggested that the sweet talkin' guy may be a one term guy.

The "liberal/progressive" Common Dreams is awash with comments about a possible Sheehan vs Pelosi knockabout. But in Vermont the word is out about a challenge to Peter Welch. But that's coming from the mainstream impeachment crowd, who tend to be a bunch of disaffected Dems or Progs. The Greens, in contrast, offer an alternative - the only anti-war party, and Greens have called for impeachment. Greens champion public services, human rights, social justice and environmental protection - all important platforms that would garner wide support for a Green candidate among Vermonters. Any serious, sane Vermont Green up for it?

Check out the Vermont Green Party!

Bill Moyers: Tough Talk on Impeachment

Sunday afternoon UPDATE: Follow the discussion atTalkLeft here.

You can watch Bill Moyers Journal: Tough Talk on Impeachment here.

All Saints/Pasadena Rector Calls for Investigation into Impeachment of the Vice President

It is significant that a rector of one of the largest Episcopal parishes in the US - Ed Bacon at All Saints - has called for the Justice Department to investigate impeachment of the vice president in a sermon last Sunday.

I'm pleased to see that mainstream - even liberal/progressive - churches are waking up --



No siree, he doesn't soft-soap it at all. I'm no expert on Anglican homiletics, but the build up or lead up (what ever they'd call it at GTS) to the call for impeachment is a brill exposition by a person of deep faith - calling us to "look at what is at stake," to be "stewards of the fragile dream of democracy." Click here to read it or follow along as you watch the vid. Pretty damn good stuff, IMHO.

But here's Ed Bacon -

ON THE CALL FOR IMPEACHMENT

What I am about to say has been long in coming. But I want to invite you into a conversation about it. I have been deeply troubled by the state of our nation and its flaws. I have been deeply troubled by how the behavior of the current Vice-President of the United States has expressed the erosion of democracy and has exposed the flaws in our country’s life.

Vice-president Cheney publicly embraced the violation of the Geneva Conventions when, on a talk radio program, he said he was not troubled by our forces using “waterboarding” — the simulated drowning of detainees to force them to talk. He has ordered the destruction of the visitor logs to his residence. These are presidential records the law requires him to preserve and protect. He has held secret meetings with energy executives to craft an energy policy that does not alleviate oil dependence. I believe he has been the motor leading our country through fabricated intelligence into this disastrous, illegal, immoral, and unjust war based on lies. He has expanded Executive powers at the expense of our system of checks and balances under the “unitary executive theory”. And now he is using and abusing his power to make secret what is the rightful knowledge of U. S. taxpaying citizens. He has refused to provide his office’s documents to the National Archives and Records Administration as provided by law. He then made the insane claim that the Vice-President is not “an entity within the executive branch.”
So I have come to believe that for the sake of the soul of America and its addiction to the mentality of collateral damage – both of people who get in our way and the collateral damage of the Constitution when it gets in our way – that the United States Congress should authorize and direct the Judiciary Committee to investigate whether sufficient grounds exist for the impeachment of the Vice-President.

As a teenager I learned from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr that all human beings are interconnected, interwoven, and interdependent. We really are not free until all are free for that which unjustly incarcerates another incarcerates me. Whatever oppresses someone else oppresses me. When I do violence to another through perpetuating poverty, bigotry, occupation or war or genocide, that corrupts me and my soul. It corrupts the soul of a nation.

Thanks to Susan Russell and Bill Carroll for the heads-up.

Impeachment: Let's look at the numbers

In the past twenty-four hours, two more Reps have signed onto the Kucinich bill to impeach Cheney-- Reps. Barbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey. These are key people because they are the two leaders of the CPC (Congressional Progressive Caucus) which has about 70 members, including Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch. Lee and Woolsey join Reps. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL and chief deputy whip of the House), William Lacy Clay (D-IL) and Albert Wynn (D-MD) as co-sponsors of H. Res. 333. With leaders in the House signing on, will more follow?

Conyers' Internal Battle

David Swanson/Let's Try Democracy - For about a year now there have been two Congressmen Conyers, the defender of our Constitution and the follower of Nancy Pelosi in her ban on impeachment. Citizens in Detroit organized a town hall forum on impeachment and invited the Congressman. Both John Conyerses came on Tuesday, and they both left partway through the event. But, judging by the Associated Press story, Conyers the impeachment advocate was winning the internal battle.

Why Bush Hasn't Been Impeached

VermontImpeach.com - By Gary Kamiya of Salon.com - Why Bush Hasn't Been Impeached: Congress, The Media and Most of The American People Have Yet To Turn Decisively Against Bush because To Do So Would Be To Turn Against Some Part of Themselves.

More Impeachment News

On Wednesday Detroit became the largest city whose City Council passed an impeachment resolution, with Pro-Tem Monica Conyers presiding (she is the wife of Judiciary Commitee Chair, John Conyers) - New Momentum for Putting Impeachment on the Table

From last Saturday's meeting with Peter Welch in White River -



Some people are calling the testimony of James Comey, regarding the Dept. of Justice's pressuring former US Attorney General Ashcroft to approve illegal surveillance is being called 'the smoking gun' necessary for impeachment.

'Teeming Left' and Proud of It

Brattleboro Reformer Editorial - 'Teeming Left' and Proud of It

Wednesday, May 16

John McClaughry, Vermont's most prominent conservative commentator, unleashed another one of his attacks on Windham County and its "hyperactive Impeachment Left," as he called us, in Saturday's Wall Street Journal.
He praised "conscientious" Democrats in the Vermont House who rejected a resolution calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

"The Vermont Impeachment Carnival of 2007 is over," declared McClaughry.

Except that it's not. On the same day that his piece hit the newsstands, more than 200 people gathered at Hartford High School to grill Congressman Peter Welch in an emotional two-hour meeting.

To Welch's credit, he praised the people who have worked for more than a year on the impeachment issue, and thanked them for calling attention to the Bush administration's many failures at home and abroad.

However, Welch still believes that impeachment would prolong the war in Iraq.

Few left the school feeling satisfied, save for the hope that Welch might hold another meeting on impeachment -- schedule permitting -- sometime in the future. But Welch got a firsthand look at the deep passion and commitment of the many Vermonters who want to see Bush and Cheney removed from office as soon as possible.

In between sniping at Windham County's "teeming left" and our support for "gay marriage, socialized medicine and shutting down the state's only nuclear power plant," McClaughry did manage to let the rest of America know one important thing about Vermont -- something that is lacking in the other 49 states.

"Vermonters have an abiding belief, nurtured in two centuries of town meetings, that every Vermonter deserves to be heard and every cause deserves an open vote," wrote McClaughry.

This is what has driven the impeachment movement, and every other political movement in Vermont. It took a lot of time for Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin and House Speaker Gaye Symington to come around, but eventually they gave the impeachment movement what it wanted -- a fair hearing of its concerns and a up-or-down vote.

Now it's Welch's turn. He gave Vermonters a fair chance to make their concerns heard, something that other congressmen around the nation probably wouldn't do on a Saturday afternoon. He has made it clear that he opposes impeachment, but Symington and Shumlin did also until the public pressure was unavoidable.

That's why McClaughry is wrong in saying the "impeachment carnival" is over. It's only just begun, and Vermont will continue to lead the way.

The war in Iraq won't end until the Bush administration is removed from power. Democrats think it's safer to let the electoral process run its course and win back the White House in 2008. This assumes that the 2008 election will be free of the vote-stealing and other assorted chicanery we saw in 2000 and 2004. It also assumes that there will be no "October Surprise" in the fall of 2008 that could shift support to the Republicans.

While the current Republican candidates for president are a motley and uninspiring lot, the Democrats shouldn't count on an easy victory in 2008. If they will not impeach Bush and Cheney, they must pick up the pace, investigate and put on the public records the extent of the incompetence, lies and corruption of the past six years. If their investigations follow through to their logical conclusion, it will become impossible not to impeach them.

Peter Welch's Conscience Has Fallen Off the Deep End

Brattleboro Reformer - Welch takes impeachment movement to House floor

Welch's full speech & Dan DeWalt's response is below it -

May 15, 2007

"M. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks
and that my full statement be submitted for the record. I rise to
report on an effort in Vermont that honors the tradition of
Vermonters speaking out on issues of conscience.

"Vermonters take public service, political integrity, and citizen
involvement extremely seriously. This is a tradition that dates back
to our earliest days when Vermont became the first state to ban slavery.

"With rising alarm, Vermonters have watched abuse of power and a
disregard for checks and balances in Washington over the past six
years. Vermonters have such extraordinary concern, particularly with
the prosecution of the war in Iraq, that many are now calling for the
President and Vice President to be impeached.

"Impeachment is an extreme position, but it reflects the collective
judgment of many Vermonters that believe it is necessary to alleviate
extreme circumstances. M. Speaker, I don't believe impeachment is the
answer, but I endorse the indictment of the policies of the current
Administration.

"What this nation has experienced over the past six years is staggering:

• A war in it's fifth year that was justified based on false
intelligence;
• The politicization of our nation's top law enforcement agency;
• The cavalier disregard for civil liberties and constitutional
protections;
• No bid war contracts to well-connected friends;
• The use of signing statements to disregard the law; and,
• The denial of habeas corpus for those in U.S. custody.

"The list could go on and on. These and other transgressions have
caused some Vermonters to rise up and promote the use of impeachment
to restore accountability and curb the abuse of power.

"This impeachment movement started last year in the town of Newfane,
with a population of just 1,700, by Dan DeWalt, a selectman on the
town board. After voting for their town clerk and tax collector, and
voting whether to fund a village sidewalk project and the local
school, the town then voted on a resolution for Congress to initiate
impeachment of the President.

"The initiative that started in this one small southern Vermont town
spread to 40 towns this past March voting to pass measures urging
impeachment. My own hometown of Hartland joined this call. And I've
spoken with my neighbors — farmers, teachers, doctors, and store
owners- about their vote. What they share is an outrage about the
conduct of this Administration and its prosecution of this
unconscionable war.

"Last month, the Vermont General Assembly took up the issue. On April
20, the Vermont State Senate voted 16-9 in favor of Congress
launching impeachment. While the Vermont House of Representatives
defeated the resolution on April 25, it received 60 supportive votes.
Nearly 400 Vermonters representing 102 of Vermont's 251 towns came to
the State House that day to voice their views.

"And this past Saturday, I held a town hall meeting in Hartford to
hear from 250 impeachment advocates for over two hours.

"I applaud these citizen activists who have acted in the Vermont
tradition of taking a principled stand on issues of conscience. They
raise valid concerns about the actions of this Administration and
actions allowed to go unchecked by the previous Congress. They are
right. The concerns they have are well founded.

"However, let me be clear: opinion is divided in Vermont about
whether impeachment is the right remedy... And whether it is the
right tactic. But what motivated this effort reflects a commonly
shared view that this Administration has abused its power and pursued
horribly misguided policies.

"M. Speaker, while I disagree impeachment is the remedy, I completely
share the goal, which is to restore honest and just leadership to our
government.

• Our oversight investigations have exposed the egregiously
substandard care for recovering soldiers at Walter Reed. We heard
about soldiers, still recovering from brain surgery, forced to wander
the grounds of Walter Reed to find the outpatient care they needed.

• Congressional oversight has documented unacceptable accounts of
political interference by the Bush Administration over sound global
warming science. As we face the greatest global environmental,
economic, and security challenge this world as ever faced, political
appointees with no scientific background were editing scientific
research with partisan pens.

• Our probes are uncovering waste, fraud, and abuse associated with
the war in Iraq on an unimaginable scale, including pallets of cash-
$12 billion in $100 bills- flown from the United States to Iraq and
distributed on the back of pick-up trucks.

• And through our oversight and subpoenas, we are vigorously seeking
to expose and investigate the peddling of faulty intelligence the
Administration presented in their case for war. We must demand to
know whether the Administration's active dissemination of bad
intelligence was premeditated with the intention of deceiving the
American people, or was it reckless and cavalier, done to justify a
decision to go to war that had already been made?

"At every corner, step by step, Congress is methodically peeling back
the layers of deception and deceit, holding this Administration
accountable. We must get the facts and follow the facts. And that is
exactly what is being done.

"M. Speaker, this pursuit of impeachment has consequences to real
lives and real people.

I measure every decision I make here in Congress based on whether it
will hasten or delay an end to this war. Nothing illustrates this
urgency more than a phone call I received before a recent trip to
Iraq. The call was from a mother in the town of Brattleboro who lost
her son in this terrible war. She so desired closure over her son's
death, that she asked to accompany me to Iraq so she could see where
her son had died. It was a stark reminder that there is no greater
challenge we face than ending this war.

"I also submit for the record a letter that was read at the Hartland
town meeting from Lisa Johnson of Essex Jct. about the death in Iraq
of her son Captain Pierre Piche'.

"I am proud of the Vermonters pushing for facts, prodding for
accountability, and demanding oversight.

"As I travel around the state, meeting with Vermonters, I also hear a
sense of optimism: it is the optimism that comes from Congress
restoring the checks and balances that had for too long been lost and
an optimism from seeing a Congress finally getting down to making
progress with new priorities and a new direction for this country.

"Thank you M. Speaker."

Dan DeWalt's response:

Welch's Citizen Appeasement Speech

Peter Welch spoke on the floor of the U.S. House today explaining to the Congress why Vermonters in ever greater numbers are calling for impeachment. While it is good for members of Congress and for those who watch C-Span to hear about our sentiments, a speech is a miserable substitute for action.

Congressman Welch wants to end this war yesterday he says, but he has thus far only voted to further fund it. Impeachment will divide the Congress and only prolong the war he says, but he cannot point to a single action of Congress that has taken one step to even slow the pace of the occupation.

Welch thanks impeachment activists and says that while he opposes impeachment, he supports the indictment that we make against the Bush administration. He can’t have it both ways. The prosecutor doesn’t thank the grand jury for their hard work, agree with their call for indictment, and then toss it in the trash on his way out of the courthouse. But that is exactly what Peter Welch is doing and some people will try to tell us that we should be grateful to him for doing it.

Impeachment is the only Constitutional tool that we have left in the toolbox that could actually block
this administration from furthering their reckless military stance. Impeachment is the only workable
remedy that could help to redeem us in the eyes of the rest of the world.

This Democratic Congress has betrayed us. They pull at some dried skin of a reeking onion, but
they refuse to investigate the rot that is spreading from its core. “Look, “ they say, “we snipped those brown edges of the skin, it’s a fine onion again. Aren’t we good cooks?” A mere 40 Senators could prevent any further funding of this war, providing only a way to pay for withdrawal, but there are not yet 40 Senators who are brave or principled enough to do so.

While Welch waits for the Republicans to magically join the Democratic war (non) strategy and then convince this President to change his mind, a handful of his colleagues have already called for impeachment investigations against Dick Cheney. It is sad that our Congressman is content with so little. It is as whimsical for him to think that he’s taking steps to end this war as it is for the President to think that he’s winning it.

Our Congressman is not yet convinced that we represent the views of an overwhelming number of
Vermonters. He will be disabused of this notion in the coming days and weeks. There will be petition and post card drives that will give notice of just how many we are.

We are fed up with vacuous leadership. We are fed up with excuses. We are above all fed up with mediocre rhetoric masquerading as substance. This is a call for civil obedience to the Constitution by those who have sworn to defend it. It may well be the last call before massive civil disobedience is seen as the only way left to get our government to become once again “for the people”.

Saturday's Impeachment Confab with Welch

I didn't make it but Peter Freyne did.

The Roll Call: Vermont House Vote on Impeachment

Vermonters: Remember who voted yes and thank them. Remember who voted no and remind them continually of their abrogation of the Constitution.

Vermont State Reps listed by district.

Burlington voters: That Republican Wright voted no is not surprising. But note that Democrat Keogh was the only Burlington Democratic representative to vote no. Don't let him forget his shameful action. For this vote alone, he should be given the boot at the next election. The man has thrown his moral compass into the lake. Keogh is just another chickenhawk Dem who swallows the Leahy/Sanders/Welch/Symington kool-aid. He also "represents" my Ward on the Burlington City Council. (In an earlier vote by City Council, Keogh sided with the Republicans to choose Wright as council president.) Kick him off the Council, too!

Burlington Free Press - IMPEACHMENT ROLL CALL VOTING

NO: Joe Acinapura, R-Brandon; Steve Adams, R-Hartland; David Ainsworth, R-Royalton; George Allard, D-St. Albans Town; Margaret Andrews, D-Rutland City; Kenneth Atkins, D-Winooski; Albert Audette, D-South Burlington; Joseph Baker, R-West Rutland; Clement Bissonnette, D-Winooski; Bill Botzow, D-Pownal; Carolyn Whitney Branagan, R-Georgia; Christopher Bray, D-New Haven; Patrick Brennan, R-Colchester; Cynthia Browning, D-Arlington; William Canfield, R-Fair Haven; Harry Chen, D-Mendon; David Clark, R-St. Johnsbury; Gregory Clark, R-Vergennes; Alison Clarkson, D-Woodstock; John Clerkin, R-Hartford; Jim Condon, D-Colchester; Michel Consejo, D-Sheldon; Timothy Corcoran, D-Bennington; Gale Courcelle, D-Rutland City; David Deen, D-Westminster; Dennis Devereux, R-Mount Holly; Andrew Donaghy, R-Poultney; Anne Donahue, R-Northfield; Joyce Errecart, R-Shelburne; James Fitzgerald, D-St. Albans City; Margaret Flory, R-Pittsford; William Frank, D-Underhill; Avis Gervais, D-Enosburg; Gary Gilbert, D-Fairfax; Reginald Godin, D-Milton; Martha Heath, D-Westford; Steven Howard, D-Rutland City; Richard Howrigan, D-Fairfield; Richard Hube, R-Londonderry; Cola Hudson, R-Lyndon; Peter Hunt, D-Essex; Tim Jerman, D-Essex; William Johnson, R-Canaan; Kathleen Keenan, D-St. Albans City; Bill Keogh, D-Burlington; Duncan Kilmartin, R-Newport City; Thomas Koch, R-Barre Town; Patti Komline, R-Dorset; Joseph Krawczyk, R-Bennington; Michele Kupersmith, D-South Burlington; Leigh Larocque, R-Barnet; Steve Larrabee, R-Danville; Kathy LaBelle LaVoie, R-Swanton; Richard Lawrence, R-Lyndon; Judith Livingston, R-Manchester; John Malcolm, D-Pawlet; Ann Manwaring, D-Wilmington; Michael Marcotte, R-Coventry; Norman McAllister, R-Highgate; Virginia McCormack, D-Rutland City; Patricia McDonald, R-Berlin; Francis McFaun, R-Barre Town; Harry Monti, D-Barre City; Anne Mook, D-Bennington; John Morley, R-Barton; Mary Morrissey, R-Bennington; Linda Myers, R-Essex; Pat O'Donnell, R-Vernon; Harvey Otterman, R-Topsham; Kitty Oxholm, R-Vergennes; Janice Peaslee, R-Guildhall; Kathy Pellett, D-Chester; Albert Perry, D-Richford; Mary Peterson, D-Williston; Dave Potter, D-Clarendon; Heidi Scheuermann, R-Stowe; Ernest Shand, D-Weathersfield; Loren Shaw, R-Derby; Shap Smith, D-Morristown; Will Stevens, I-Shoreham; David Sunderland, R-Rutland Town; Donald Turner, R-Milton; Leo Valliere, R-Barre City; Richard Westman, R-Cambridge; Scott Wheeler, R-Derby; Philip Winters, R-Williamstown; Kurt Wright, R-Burlington

VOTING YES Janet Ancel, D-Calais; Jon Anderson, D-Montpelier; William Aswad, D-Burlington; Denise Barnard, D-Richmond; Margaret Cheney, D-Norwich; Sarah Copeland-Hanzas, D-Bradford; Susan Davis, D-Washington; Johannah Donovan, D-Burlington; Robert Dostis, D-Waterbury; Sarah Edwards, P-Brattleboro; Alice Emmons, D-Springfield; Debbie Evans, D-Essex; Gail Fallar, D-Tinmouth; Michael Fisher, D-Lincoln; Patsy French, D-Randolph; Maxine Jo Grad, D-Moretown; Sandy Haas, P-Rochester; Helen Head, D-South Burlington; Carol Hosford, D-Waitsfield; Jim Hutchinson, D-Randolph; Willem Jewett, D-Ripton; Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero; Warren Kitzmiller, D-Montpelier; Tony Klein, D-East Montpelier; Mark Larson, D-Burlington; Joan Lenes, D-Shelburne; Lucy Leriche, D-Hardwick; William Lippert, D-Hinesburg; Jason Lorber, D-Burlington; Steven Maier, D-Middlebury; Richard Marek, D-Newfane; Cynthia Martin, D-Springfield; Linda Martin, D-Wolcott; Jim Masland, D-Thetford; Jim McCullough, D-Williston; Virginia Milkey, D-Brattleboro; Alice Miller, D-Shaftsbury; Sue Minter, D-Waterbury; Mark B. Mitchell, D-Barnard; John Moran, D-Wardsboro; Michael Mrowicki, D-Putney; Floyd Nease, D-Johnson; Betty Nuovo, D-Middlebury; Michael Obuchowski, D-Rockingham; Hilde Ojibway, D-Hartford; Scott Orr, D-Charlotte; Carolyn Partridge, D-Windham; Christopher Pearson, P-Burlington; Peter Peltz, D-Woodbury; Daryl Pillsbury, I-Brattleboro; Ann Pugh, D-South Burlington; Dexter Randall, P-Troy; John Rodgers, D-Glover; David Sharpe, D-Bristol; Kristy Spengler, D-Colchester; Donna Sweaney, D-Windsor; Ira Trombley, D-Grand Isle; Rachel Weston, D-Burlington; John Zenie, D-Colchester; David Zuckerman, P-Burlington

NOT VOTING Donald Bostic, R-St. Johnsbury; Robert Helm, R-Castleton