A Beautiful Day for Democracy

When I got to the Statehouse Wednesday morning, the cafeteria was already packed with 200-plus people with name tags around their necks who'd come from all over the state to personally put their bodies on the line for two things:
1. Democracy
2. The impeachment of  President George "WMD" Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

A House Democratic rep who was following the issue closely and keeping a vote count had an ashen look in his face. On Monday, the word was impeachment supporters only had about 25 votes in the 150-seat House. On Tuesday the estimate rose slightly to 30.

But at 10:30 Wednesday morning, our Democrat vote-counter told us he would have predicted impeachment would get no more that 40 votes max....that is until he saw the size of the intelligent, well-behaved grassroots crowd that had showed up. And people were still pouring into the building.

All bets were off.

Who are these people?

Folks like Bill Cobleigh, 60, of Wallingford.
"I’m here because I’m angry. I represent thousands of others who couldn’t be here today because they have other obligations," he said.

"I have two children in the United States Military (one Coast Guard one an Army nurse), Bill told us. "I support our troops because they’re my children, but I’m angry."

And Cobleigh confided to us it was the first protest he'd ever participated in in his life!

Also among the crowd that grew to 400 plus was 87-year old Bonney Simons of St. Johnsbury.

Why was she there?

"Because they are ignoring the Constitution and in order to get this war stopped we have to get them out of office."

And what was retired school teacher Jim Waters of Milton doing at the Statehouse?

"I’m here because this administration has set about systematically dismantling and destroying the Constitution of the United States.

"Secondly I’m hear because this administration has perpetrated a fraud on the American people and it has used that fraud to send more than 3000 American young people to their death, to say nothing of more than 500,000 innocent Iraqi civilians."

In my 20-plus years of covering the goings-on under the golden dome in Montpeculiar, I have never witnessed the powers that be - the political leaders who run both House and Senate - completely reverse their dug-in public positions in the face of a grassroots outpouring of political opinion,  passion and and determination.

Let me tell ya, it's been beautiful to watch.

Ten days ago, Senate Boss Peter Shumlin, Ol' Pistol Pete from Putney, told his hometown Brattleboro Reformer:

...impeachment proponents should feel free to travel to Montpelier, but his mind is made up. "I welcome them on Tuesday. I welcome them any day. But we're not doing impeachment this year," he said.

As everyone knows, Shumlin pulled a 180-degree switcheroo last week. Shummy took advantage of Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie's absence to slip the "Impeach Bush & Cheney Resolution"  onto the "orders of the day" and it was adopted within 10 minutes on a roll-call vote 16-9.

Four hours later at her Friday "Brown-Bagger" with the press, Democratic House Speaker Gaye Symington was still insisting the House would not take it up - more important things to do.

"What I would like to do," said Simple Symington, "is be able to focus on what matters most to Vermonters, and the work that I was elected to do as Speaker of the House."

Whatever you say, Madame Speaker, you're the boss!

Speaker Gaye had her "impeachment conversion," or rather, "democracy conversion" sometime Monday. "Political" minds finally impressed upon the Tuxedo Park, New York native, and consensus-building policy-wonk, the importance in a democracy of actually listening to actual people, ordinary people, people incensed by the high crimes of the most corrupt regime to ever control our government.

On Tuesday the word officially got out that Speaker Symington would allow the resolution to be debated on the House floor Wednesday afternoon and brought to a vote.

Of course, Symington also knew that the common folk from every corner of Vermont were planning to rally at the Statehouse Wednesday to do just that - urge her to allow the House to debate it.

Even though they knew the prospects of winning a House vote were slim - since Symington, herself, strongly opposed it and would bring many Democrats with her - the ordinary folks had the strange notion that having the House address it was, in and of itself, a significant victory for democracy.

And they were right.

The Impeachment Resolution Progressive Rep. David Zuckerman [left] introduced with two dozen co-sponsors was defeated 87-60. But it's worth noting that Democratic Speaker Symington lost the Democratic vote 52-39. The Dems who voted "no" were for the most part Symington recruits which means they're middle-of-the-road to conservative Democrats.

More significant is the fact that the House Speaker lost her own House leadership team!

Both House Democratic Majority Leader Carolyn Partridge, and House Democratic Whip Floyd Nease voted "yes."

So did 11 of the 14 committee chairs Symington appointed, including former House Speaker Michael Obuchowski (Ways & Means). Only three House committee chairs, one of whom is Republican,  voted "no."

Dare we suggest that a House Speaker who can only hold three of the 14 committee chairmen she appointed, is a House Speaker who ought to be thinking of a career change?

*****************************************

Did you catch Bill Moyers' chilling return to PBS last night with a 90-minute documentary pointing out in specific detail how the major mainstream press - The New York Times and Washington Post along with CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and Fox - collaborated with the Bush Administration in spreading, unchallenged, the lies used to lead us to war in Iraq?

"Buying the War" is a must see. This horror could not have happened without the help of the corporate-controlled major media.

Shocking and shameful!

Even The New York Times and Washington Post.

Finally, the truth is coming out, mes amis. And the truth will set us free.

Comments

[Addisongirl]

I caught a lot of the Bill Moyers piece last night and agree it's a must see--if you have a strong stomach. It makes me sick to death and also very sad to think all of what Bush, Cheney, Rove et. al. have gotten away with time and again. It's despicable, and something has to happen. Having him touted as the worst president in the history books isn't enough, IMO.

Why aren't people more upset about this?

On another note, Peter, your column in this week's 7 Days was very touching and personal. I became quite ill a few years ago, and in hindsight, realized there were some things in my life that needed addressing. Sometimes keeping things inside rears its ugly head in other ways. I wish you all the best...
Addisongirl

[John Shaplin]

My vote is for the medical experts in white coats who don't pretend to be able to solve the mystery of why I, Peter, or anyone else got cancer. Leave that nonsense to mad statisticians, detectives and the usual line of hack journalists. In fact, if detectives and journalists and the PhD's spent a little less time prognosticating, more time diagnosing and treating they'd be doing a better job too!

Not watching the nightly news a sign of giving up hope!? More like a sign that finally, after decades facing into Plato's proverbial cave, Peter almost started to turn his face to the light! It's just too bad the turnabout didn't come in time save him his present agonies!

If Peter is feeling better these days its probably because he finally gave up the booze, or at least cut back. Unfortunately, this hasn't helped him become a better journalist, so far.

[peter Buknatski]

trapped on the Pequod, Bush as Ahab:

The Symphony, 2007

come Democrat, stand
close to me and let me
look into a human eye

why hast ye given thought
to seek impeachment of our fated
solitary quest together?

ye are bound to me, Democrat,
as the deep shroud of the sea
is bound to stay our course

for six-six-six years have I
given chase to and made war upon
the horrors of the green lands

I durst not so much as dare
to stop this arm I lift in madness,
frenzy, veto, and boiling blood

we have before us now a mild mild wind,
and a mild looking sky,
such a sweetness for damnation

nay Democrat, we shall lower us away
together again to conjure more monsters
of mass destruction for hate's own sake

behold, I shall push and crowd and jam
to beckon both black and white,
good and evil to go down accursed

down down forever down forever,
swallowed whole by a nameless
inscrutable unearthly command

where do murderers go, Democrat?
so ye shall go with me in hell's heart,
tied and towed, bowed and humped

[ncm]

David Halberstam's death earlier this week reminded me of another time when a young group of journalists were not afraid to challenge the White House's assessment of a distant war. Moyer is right in his assessment of the press and Iraq. Which leads me to some words of another well known journalist who said: "To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in a stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion. On the off chance that military and political analyists are right, in the next few months we must test the enemy's intentions, in case this is indeed his last big gasp before negotiations. But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could." The words are not new. They were written in February 1868 by Walter Cronkite. He was right then, and his words are applicable today. It's time to get out of Iraq.

[Nortlander]

Excellent post ncm. I didnt realize just how old Cronkite really is...... interesting!

[JayV]

Bill Keogh (Chittenden 3-5/wards 5&6) 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.

[newell]

I believe that the crew decided to allow the Senate to vote yes on Impeachment and then Gaye "listened" to us so that we would feel appeased, happy with a functional democracy, withering away into the hills after the ultimate No vote by the House on Impeachment. Basically, brilliant "yes' tactics.