I love the Bay Area!: Berkeley considers impeachment ballot measure...

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Berkeley Considers First Ballot Initiative to Call for Presidential Impeachment
Submitted by davidswanson on Mon, 2006-06-26 04:10. Impeachment
Constitution Summer www.constitutionsummer.org

June 26, 2006, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.
CONTACT: Abraham Kneisley, 510.816.0563, [e-mail]

Can ‘We The People’ Impeach?
Berkeley Considers First Ballot Initiative to Call for Presidential Impeachment

BERKELEY, CA – The Berkeley City Council will vote tomorrow on whether to include an initiative advocating the impeachment of George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney on the Berkeley municipal ballot in November. If passed, the initiative will be the first of its kind and will allow Berkeley’s 74,836 registered voters to decide if there is sufficient cause for the impeachment and removal of President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

Several resolutions calling for impeachment have passed in cities around the country, but a ballot initiative allowing voters to weigh in on the issue would be unique. Constitution Summer, a coalition of student activists from more than a dozen universities, believes that Congress’ reluctance to investigate the merits of impeachment justifies taking the question to the people. True to the roots of the Free Speech Movement that still informs the culture of Berkeley, the group feels it is simply exercising its constitutional right to redress of grievances under the First Amendment.

Geoffrey King, a Democrat and President of Constitution Summer, sees impeachment as a non-partisan concern. According to King, it is not a question of whether the President should be impeached, but why he hasn’t been. “President Bush has arrogated unto himself powers that in some cases went out of fashion in 1215, and in any event, in 1776. He has shown a wish and a willingness to corrupt our representative system of government by tracking the calls of and wiretapping Americans despite a federal statute that makes doing so a felony; by normalizing torture; and by revoking the right of Americans not to be disappeared and held indefinitely without charge or trial. These abuses fit perfectly with what the Framers intended the impeachment power to address. It is time to use it.”

The entire article is at: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/12374