George and the Giant Impeach

There's still time to shave Bush's term, say locals with World Can't Wait.

by Sam Tremble

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Published: Jun 27, 2007

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2008 IS TOO LATE. What harm can Bush do before his term is up? He can bomb Iran. He can appoint another Supreme Court justice. He can continue with impunity the war crime of torture in an unjust war. And more?

So begins the full-page ad taken out in last Friday's edition of The New York Times by World Can't Wait (WCW), a national organization, founded in the summer of 2005, focused on impeaching President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and reversing their agenda.

This summer they have planned a series of "town hall meetings" in which speakers talk about impeachment. The town hall meeting in Philadelphia will feature John Nichols, author of The Genius of Impeachment and political writer for The Nation; Debra Sweet, national coordinator of WCW; the Rev. Lennox Yearwood, president of the Hip Hop Caucus; and Dave Lindorff, an investigative journalist and co-author of The Case for Impeachment.

But it's already summer 2007. Does this organization have the time and the clout to accomplish its goal?

"I think making the discussion of impeachment a part of daily life gets us to the right place," says Nichols. "A discussion of impeachment is in many cases more important than impeachment itself. Remember, Richard Nixon was not impeached. He was the subject of articles of impeachment approved by the House Judiciary Committee, but he resigned before those issues went to the floor of the House."

Removing Bush from office, even on the day before his term ends, would keep his overextended executive power from setting a precedent. This should make impeachment attractive to citizens across the political spectrum � conservatives probably wouldn't be happy handing Hillary Clinton the powers Bush will leave as his legacy.

At a town hall planning meeting at the Friends Center on June 20, Koyuki Yip, an organizer for WCW in Philadelphia, assumes that once printed locally, the same ad that ran in the NYT will attract people to the town hall meeting here on July 5. But the ad will only run one day, so Yip's distributed thousands of yellow fliers designed by artist Heather Gargon.

Gargon's father, Mark Gargon, a blue-collar construction worker who might just be the platonic disgruntled average Joe, was in no mood for joking. He wanted answers. "Exactly how do you impeach a president?" he demanded. "You don't just hand out fliers."

 

His frustration is a common one, and one WCW thus far hasn't seemed to address. For example, one fundraising campaign, "Declare Yourself," in which orange bandannas emblazoned with "DRIVE OUT THE BUSH REGIME!" are sold for $5, seems inspired by a high school spirit week.

"We're also asking people to wear orange anything � orange T-shirts, orange ribbons, orange hats, shoes, jewelry," explains the national WCW's Sweet. "[Orange] is going to start representing that 'I am taking a stand that the Bush regime has to go.'"

There are also the concerns of the Afri-can-American community, who it can be argued have felt the effects of President Bush's administration most profoundly, with prime examples including voter disenfranchisement in Florida during the 2000 election and the horrors of Hurricane Katrina.

"I am hoping that in Philadelphia we will begin to see more people of color," says town hall speaker Yearwood. "Down in New Orleans, people of color are calling for impeachment. I think everybody's calling for it � but we just all have to come together and call for it."

(s_tremble@citypaper.net)

Town Hall Meeting on Impeachment, Thu., July 5, 6:30-9 p.m., free, First Unitarian Church, 22nd and Chestnut sts., 267-408-6286, philly@worldcantwait.org, www.worldcantwait.org.

 

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