Impeachment; Our Right, Our Duty

The Bay Area New Democrats tipped me to an impeachment event in Houston this week. It wasn’t much to look at, a lot of the same crowd you’d find at a Democratic Party or labor union gathering, a lot of old hippies. I told my daughter that the crowd looked old to me and she looked at me and laughed. Indeed.

Some of these folks really have been working for peace since the 1960’s. Well, it’s too bad that more of us didn’t keep it up. Look what’s happened. Now we’ve got to learn how all over again, and we’ve got to teach the young people, too. They were under-represented at this gathering, but I suppose the next military draft will concentrate their minds.

Sissy Farenthold, an anti-war activist first elected to Austin in 1968, and contemporary of Ann Richards and Molly Ivans, spoke of how Bush is only the latest president to expand war powers under the National Security act of 1947. She spoke of our more than 700 overseas military bases, the Chief Executive’s secret army, and directed us to the Institute for Policy Studies site to learn of our “participating partnerships” opening up for foreign private oil companies. She said that impeachment or indictment will not start in the congress; that it has to start with us.

University of Texas Journalism Professor Robert Jensen spoke of High Crimes, and said that Bush is not the only president to violate international law with acts of aggression, citing four examples from Clinton’s terms in office. Jensen points out that we all are culpable as material beneficiaries of post WWII empire building, living “in a world inconsistent with our own stated principles.” You may remember Jensen, whose answer to the post 9/11 question “why do they hate us?” became fodder for right- wing talk show hosts and wing-nut letters to the editor calling for his firing and worse.

The final speaker was Cindy Sheehan, making her fourth visit to Houston. She knew many in the crowd, some who had visited Camp Casey, others activists with whom she’d been arrested.

She had praise for Dennis Kucinich, the only presidential candidate that voted against the Iraq war.

She disagreed with Texas Rep. Lon Burnam, who said that he more impressed than he expected to be with Nancy Pelosi, saying that the congress is full of corporate whores, and called Pelosi “Speaker of the Whores.”

When somebody in the crowd decried Fox News she replied that “there’s no difference between Fox and CNN.”

She reminded us of Jefferson’s call for a revolution every ten years, calling for “massive non-violent civil disobedience.”

She quoted Jeanette Rankin on the eve of her sole vote against entering WWI, saying “this is no time to be polite.”

“The constitution doesn’t say God anywhere, but it says impeach six times.”

“I don’t pay my taxes. I’m ashamed that I funded all those wars; that I didn’t tell Casey that he was going to war to make corporations rich.”

Cindy Sheehan challenged us to “put it all on the line.” She sure has, her oldest child is dead, her marriage ended, she’s given up her home, friends, and financial security. Instead, this little old lady has taken on the White House, the neocons, and their “New American Century.” I found her articulate, and inspiring.