http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770810088Impeachment drive is dead serious and mountingby Leslie Armstrong
published August 12, 2007 12:15 am
I’m not a political junkie and, yes, I do have a life. So, why did I leave the mountains and spend my limited financial resources to travel to Washington recently to endure oppressive heat and risk arrest? I did so because my concerns about the Bush administration grew beyond my disagreement with its policies and I began to worry about its assault on our Constitution. After reading about the growing impeachment movement and doing my own research, I concluded that President Bush’s and Vice President Cheney’s actions do warrant impeachment. They lied in order to invade Iraq, authorized the torture of captives, detained individuals without due process, conducted surveillance without warrants, exposed a covert CIA operative, pardoned a colleague to protect themselves and seek to expand presidential powers with signing statements and executive orders.
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Hope turned to disappointment when Conyers refused our request. Not yet defeated, many of us chose to utilize the strategy of civil disobedience and staged a peaceful sit-in outside his office. Instead of being swayed by our efforts, Conyers alerted the police, who handcuffed and carted us off in paddy wagons. I’m slightly claustrophobic and struggled with having my hands cuffed behind my back, especially when strapped into the wagon. However, I stayed calm by reminding myself that my discomfort was nothing compared to the people (many of whom are innocent) held at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.
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While our paperwork was processed, we were held in strictly-controlled conditions. When I used the restroom, a female officer watched me closely. I had a mug shot taken and was fingerprinted. Six hours later, I was released — hot, tired, hungry, with a permanent arrest record and an overwhelming sense of empowerment.
Opponents of impeachment claim such proceedings would instigate a constitutional crisis. To the contrary, impeachment hearings would cure the crisis this country already faces. Impeachment is the mechanism the Founding Fathers gave us to sanction high-ranking officials without starting a revolution and allows the republic to continue while wrongdoing is addressed and solutions applied. Impeachment hearings are about providing accountability, educating the public, having a dialogue, exercising checks and balances, and reining in officials. I don’t think this is too much to ask for and will continue to put pressure on my representative, Heath Shuler, to support impeachment. I hope others will do the same. As U.S. citizens, we have — not just a right — but a responsibility to demand that our leaders remain true to the democratic principles on which this country was founded.
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