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Top News- Vermont Towns Debate Impeaching Bush - AOL News
Updated:2007-03-07 11:29:20
Vermont Towns Debate Impeaching Bush
AOL Wire Services
CALAIS, Vt. (March 7) - Packed into their 140-year-old Town Hall on a clear, frigid morning, the people of Calais -- population 1,552 -- took care of business Tuesday.
From the Blog: A Bad Week for the White House
Text of Impeachment Resolution: 'Misled the Nation'
Talk About It: Post Thoughts
They elected Gus Seelig moderator for the annual Town Meeting. They talked about fire department contracts and the town highway fund, appropriated $2,500 for a town swimming program and boosted the property tax exemption for disabled veterans, all without much debate - and no rancor.
But when Article 23 came up, the mood changed. That was the one calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney .
Peering over the eyeglasses perched on the end of his nose, Seelig - anticipating an emotional debate - asked the crowd of about 125 people to keep it civil.
"We are not here to criticize each other," he said. "We're not going to attack our neighbors. They're still going to be our neighbors when we're done here today."
With that, the debate began. In a scene played out at Town Meetings across Vermont, supporters of the measure said Bush and Cheney misled America about the threat posed by Iraq , condoned prisoner torture and approved illegal eavesdropping of citizens, while critics defended them, calling impeachment inappropriate.
Town Meeting is a colonial-era tradition in which voters gather in town halls and gymnasiums to debate issues big and small.
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At Least Two Winning Tickets for $370 Million LotteryBitter Cold, Blowing Snow Hit NortheastTwo American Women Poisoned in MoscowVermont Towns Vote on Impeaching BushBefore Fatal Plane Crash, Mom Heard Girl's Plea for HelpAt least 29 towns approved calls for impeachment investigations, according to the Rutland Herald and Times Argus and Dan DeWalt, a Newfane select board member who organized the impeachment resolution drive. Dorset and Stamford rejected the resolution, and moderators in some other towns blocked it from being considered, according to DeWalt, who barnstormed across Vermont with anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan last weekend to drum up support for the measures.
At least 16 towns also approved a companion measure calling on Washington to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. It was unclear how many towns had put the resolutions to a vote, and the results of all the Town Meetings in the state of about 609,000 people may not be known for days.
In Middlebury, Gov. Jim Douglas is the Town Meeting moderator. He at first tried to block a vote on the two resolutions, reasoning that they were brought up under new business, meaning no vote could be held, according to the Rutland Herald and Times Argus.
He changed his mind when voters made clear they wanted to weigh in on the resolutions, both of which opposed by wide margins.
"It became clear that no one was going home until they had the chance to discuss the resolutions and vote on them," said David Rosenberg, a political science professor at Middlebury College who attended the meeting. "And being a good politician, he allowed the vote to happen."
In Calais, Marion Gray, 60, the stepmother of a service member killed in Iraq, called it "treasonous" to spend taxpayer money on impeachment proceedings, and said the United States had more to lose by pulling out.
"If we don't finish the job there, it's going to be finished here," she said. "They will follow our troops home."
Moments later, Cynthia Johnson, 51, who had petitioned for the resolution, stood up from her pew near the back, her voice breaking. "I did not do it to offend anybody," she said, asking Seelig for a paper ballot vote instead of a floor vote because of the emotional tenor of the dialogue. "It is our responsibility here, at Town Meeting, in this forum, to question the things that are happening."
"I think that if we keep going the way we are, it's aiding and abetting the enemy," said Tim Celley, 43, who opposed the measure. "If we keep going like we are, we're going to lose."
So it went, back and forth.
Even critics of the war were torn.
Chuck Storrow, a 49-year-old attorney, said the stated reasons for impeachment were all present in 2004, when Bush and Cheney were re-elected. "If we're going to have an impeachment every time something happens at the national level that we don't agree with, we'll be doing it all the time," said Storrow, who said he thinks Bush is a "disaster" but opposed the resolution.
Ray Lemay, 66, whose son is a U.S. Navy officer, said the polling place was where such grievances should be addressed. His voice halting, he looked toward Gray, who was across the room. "I'd hate to see my son in the same boat as Mrs. Gray's. But if it happens, it happens. It was a good cause."
Several speakers said they objected to the notion that war opponents don't support the troops.
"It is not treason to question our government," said Tom Treece, 40. "This has nothing to do with the troops. It's about what the administration is doing. We all support the troops, but they're being used."
Updated:2007-03-07 11:29:20
Vermont Towns Debate Impeaching Bush
AOL Wire Services
CALAIS, Vt. (March 7) - Packed into their 140-year-old Town Hall on a clear, frigid morning, the people of Calais -- population 1,552 -- took care of business Tuesday.
From the Blog: A Bad Week for the White House
Text of Impeachment Resolution: 'Misled the Nation'
Talk About It: Post Thoughts
They elected Gus Seelig moderator for the annual Town Meeting. They talked about fire department contracts and the town highway fund, appropriated $2,500 for a town swimming program and boosted the property tax exemption for disabled veterans, all without much debate - and no rancor.
But when Article 23 came up, the mood changed. That was the one calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney .
Peering over the eyeglasses perched on the end of his nose, Seelig - anticipating an emotional debate - asked the crowd of about 125 people to keep it civil.
"We are not here to criticize each other," he said. "We're not going to attack our neighbors. They're still going to be our neighbors when we're done here today."
With that, the debate began. In a scene played out at Town Meetings across Vermont, supporters of the measure said Bush and Cheney misled America about the threat posed by Iraq , condoned prisoner torture and approved illegal eavesdropping of citizens, while critics defended them, calling impeachment inappropriate.
Town Meeting is a colonial-era tradition in which voters gather in town halls and gymnasiums to debate issues big and small.
Most Popular - Last 24 Hours
At Least Two Winning Tickets for $370 Million LotteryBitter Cold, Blowing Snow Hit NortheastTwo American Women Poisoned in MoscowVermont Towns Vote on Impeaching BushBefore Fatal Plane Crash, Mom Heard Girl's Plea for HelpAt least 29 towns approved calls for impeachment investigations, according to the Rutland Herald and Times Argus and Dan DeWalt, a Newfane select board member who organized the impeachment resolution drive. Dorset and Stamford rejected the resolution, and moderators in some other towns blocked it from being considered, according to DeWalt, who barnstormed across Vermont with anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan last weekend to drum up support for the measures.
At least 16 towns also approved a companion measure calling on Washington to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. It was unclear how many towns had put the resolutions to a vote, and the results of all the Town Meetings in the state of about 609,000 people may not be known for days.
In Middlebury, Gov. Jim Douglas is the Town Meeting moderator. He at first tried to block a vote on the two resolutions, reasoning that they were brought up under new business, meaning no vote could be held, according to the Rutland Herald and Times Argus.
He changed his mind when voters made clear they wanted to weigh in on the resolutions, both of which opposed by wide margins.
"It became clear that no one was going home until they had the chance to discuss the resolutions and vote on them," said David Rosenberg, a political science professor at Middlebury College who attended the meeting. "And being a good politician, he allowed the vote to happen."
In Calais, Marion Gray, 60, the stepmother of a service member killed in Iraq, called it "treasonous" to spend taxpayer money on impeachment proceedings, and said the United States had more to lose by pulling out.
"If we don't finish the job there, it's going to be finished here," she said. "They will follow our troops home."
Moments later, Cynthia Johnson, 51, who had petitioned for the resolution, stood up from her pew near the back, her voice breaking. "I did not do it to offend anybody," she said, asking Seelig for a paper ballot vote instead of a floor vote because of the emotional tenor of the dialogue. "It is our responsibility here, at Town Meeting, in this forum, to question the things that are happening."
"I think that if we keep going the way we are, it's aiding and abetting the enemy," said Tim Celley, 43, who opposed the measure. "If we keep going like we are, we're going to lose."
So it went, back and forth.
Even critics of the war were torn.
Chuck Storrow, a 49-year-old attorney, said the stated reasons for impeachment were all present in 2004, when Bush and Cheney were re-elected. "If we're going to have an impeachment every time something happens at the national level that we don't agree with, we'll be doing it all the time," said Storrow, who said he thinks Bush is a "disaster" but opposed the resolution.
Ray Lemay, 66, whose son is a U.S. Navy officer, said the polling place was where such grievances should be addressed. His voice halting, he looked toward Gray, who was across the room. "I'd hate to see my son in the same boat as Mrs. Gray's. But if it happens, it happens. It was a good cause."
Several speakers said they objected to the notion that war opponents don't support the troops.
"It is not treason to question our government," said Tom Treece, 40. "This has nothing to do with the troops. It's about what the administration is doing. We all support the troops, but they're being used."
