Brattleboro to Vote on Arresting Bush, Cheney (If They Enter Vermont)

[Hissyspit]

Source: Rutland Herald (VT)

Brattleboro to vote on arresting Bush, Cheney

January 26, 2008

By Susan Smallheer Herald Staff

BRATTLEBORO — Brattleboro residents will vote at town meeting on whether President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney should be indicted and arrested for war crimes, perjury or obstruction of justice if they ever step foot in Vermont.

The Brattleboro Select Board voted 3-2 Friday to put the controversial item on the Town Meeting Day warning. According to Town Clerk Annette Cappy, organizers of the Bush-Cheney issue gathered enough signatures, and it was up to the Select Board whether Brattleboro voters would consider the issue in March. Cappy said residents will get to vote on the matter by paper balloting March 4.

- snip -

Daims said the names submitted to the town clerk's office were the second wave of signatures the petition drive had to collect, because he had to rewrite the wording of the petition. He said he gathered nearly 500 signatures in about three weeks, and he said most people he encountered were eager to sign it. He started the petition drive about three months ago. "Everybody I talked to wanted Bush to go," he said, noting that even members of the local police department supported the drive.

- snip -

He said the idea is spreading: Activists in Louisville, Ky., are spearheading a similar drive, and he said activists were also working in Montague, Mass., a Berkshires town.

Read more: http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080126/NEWS04/801260359/1003/NEWS02

[truthisfreedom]

1. No greater infamy while in office... for any other president in history.

bush, you take the cake.

[deacon]

2. An easy kick :) n/t

[calimary]

81. A No-SHIT Kick!!!

No frickin' SHIT!

We gotta get that one going all over the place!

If our asshole invertebrates in Congress won't do it, maybe we need to do it ourselves.

Wouldn't it be cool not just to have bush/cheney unable to visit other countries, but also unable to visit some of the states in their own country? By then, of course, bush will probably have transfered operations to Paraguay, and cheney will have run off to hide in Dubai.

This is COOL! Props to Brattleboro!!!

[rambler_american]

3. Vermont in general and Bratleboro in particular

ROCK!
You GO Brattleboro!
:yourock: :bounce:

Disclaimer: I used to live there

[glowing]

10. I was born there.. but lived in W. Halifax... Didn't care too much for

Brattleboro... Then again diff. highschools make diff. rivalries.

[bicentennial_baby]

43. GO B.U.H.S.!!

:P

[glowing]

55. That would be it... to be fair.. we never squared agaisnt them.. school

too small, but everyone always thinks their h.s. is the bomb.

[bicentennial_baby]

65. I'm from Greenfield, MA, south of there...

I had friends in Bratt though :)

[glowing]

69. hmm.. every week my parents took us grocery shopping in greenfield

and sometimes for a treat, we'd get to go to the HoJo's to eat.

[rambler_american]

4. To the greatest page!!!

:kick:

[NMMNG]

5. Hoo-boy

:applause:

[caseycoon]

6. OMG! I love Vermont!

I've never been there but this is just too good!
GO VERMONT!!
:applause:

[Hissyspit]

8. It's very pretty. n/t

[ixion]

7. if only more towns would do this...it seems to be the last check and balance left

go Brattleboro! :woohoo: :applause:

[RuleOfNah]

9. And if three towns did it...

:kick:

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

11. Then three towns would be stupid instead of one?

I'm sorry, but the idea of allowing the general public to vote on whether or not to prosecute someone is just fucking retarded. There is a reason we have the judiciary.

[fasttense]

14. Yeah, we have the judiciary to keep the criminals out of jail.

You know those dancing supremes would never let their master be held accountable under the law.

[Frank Cannon]

15. "We" have the judiciary? What do you mean "we", kimosabe?

Have you been reading the news for the last seven years? Do the names Alberto Gonzalez or Antonin Scalia ring a bell?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

16. So the solution is to replace this with voting for who gets arrested?

I'm sorry, but I think that it's a terrible idea, regardless of how much Bush deserves to be in jail.

[harun]

20. The judiciary and the department of justice have been corrupted (n/t)

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

27. I'm probably more pissed off at Bush about the problems at DOJ...

...than I am about any other issue except the war. But that doesn't mean I want every podunk town in the country to have the power to arrest people who haven't been charged with anything, let alone vote on whether or not to arrest them.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

52. People are ejected from small towns every day.

You've never heard the stories of cops driving vagrants to the county line then telling them to keep walking? You've never heard of hospital dumps, where they herd indigent patients onto buses and drive them into another part of town then kick them all off the bus? Such injustice is a way of life in our country, and if you don't believe it it's time you grew up a bit.

This isn't merely a misplaced non-justice thang- it's a genuine WE THE PEOPLE movement, and the momentum of it is spreading like wildfire. Of course it won't be enforceable, but who cares? The fact that a group of citizens are banding together to declare *bush persona non grata is the highest form of civil disobedience, and civil disobedience is an honored tradition in times such as we're going through.

WE THE PEOPLE. Damn, I like the sound of that!

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

56. I would have preferred it if us the people...

...hadn't re-elected his sorry ass in the first place.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

62. Such is life.

Now that it's done you have the choice of either standing with us in protest or crawling under the floorboards and hiding until everyone else makes OUR stand and gets the job done for you.

:shrug:

[zonmoy]

67. what makes you think we did.

what makes you think that the elections in which he got elected weren't rigged.

[pokercat999]

112. They DIDN'T re-elect his sorry ass and I'd wish we would

all remember that fact!

It would be proper to say I wish he hadn't stolden two "elections".

[gateley]

77. I agree - it's a statement. And a strong statement by THE PEOPLE. nt

[Fed_Up_Grammy]

79. I'm with you. Looks like the Brattleboro folks don't have enough to do.

Can you imagine the chaos if this went on in towns and cities all over the country?

[Hissyspit]

103. Oh, no! Chaos. That would be terrible.

/facetiousness

I'm sure Brattleboro folks have plenty to do, but have MADE THE TIME to care about the future of their country.

[SacredCow]

22. I'll don the flame retardant suit and agree with you....

As much as bushco deserves to be held in Gitmo and waterboarded/tasered for all eternity, this concept is virtually a "mob justice" mentality and could just as easily be flipped to anybody. How about a vote to put all gay people in jail? Or all Democrats? Why don't we just go back to chasing off undesirables with pitchforks and torches?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

25. Exactly.

So don't be surprised if every podunk town in the country decides to vote to arrest Hillary for the murder of Vince Foster. Of course this is basically meaningless because it's totally unenforceable. Usually I refrain from commenting on symbolic votes like this, because I don't particularly care one way or the other, but this one actually sets an extremely dubious standard for law enforcement.

[cali]

30. Oh, for pity's sake. this is purely symbolic. And believe me

the residents of Brattleboro know it. It's simply a way of expressing displeasure and disgust. And by the way your ignorance is appalling. Whatever else Brattleboro is, it's hardly a "podunk" town. And that's such an insulting and brainless appellation. Just because someplace is rural, it doesn't mean it's stupid or unsophisticated. In fact, Vermont is close to the top- if not number 1- on one measure after another, from health to education.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

41. The fact that it's symbolic does not make it any less of a bad idea.

It just makes it less dangerous. It is a bad idea, and I'm appalled by the number of people who seem to think that everybody should get to vote for who gets arrested, as if the legal system should be modeled on Survivor. That's troubling to me, because I think the clusterfuck that Bush has wrought in the judiciary and at DOJ is awful, and I'm disappointed to see people here advocating something even more awful.

[cali]

49. LOL! You're actually appalled over this? Too silly

I've already explained what this is; it should be obvious. There's nothing even remotely dangerous about this. You are overreacting in a major way. It's really quite funny. Oh, and drop the bullshit condescension about rural America, and learn a little about Vermont and town meeting here.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

51. Look,

The only thing that bothers me are the posts in this thread specifically endorsing the idea of allowing people to vote for who gets arrested or indicted. If you read through all of the responses, you will find more than one that suggest that allowing people to vote on who gets arrested is appropriate. As I said in another post upthread, I usually don't comment on symbolic votes because they are meaningless. I have no particular problem with the vote itself beyond thinking that it's dumb because, again, it's meaningless. I do however have a problem with the attitude I've described above. I don't think I am overreacting when it comes to that attitude. Quite frankly, I am surprised (ok, maybe appalled was too strong a word) by the number of people who believe that we should vote on arrests and indictments the same way we vote for Senators or Presidents.

As for your insinuation that I am somehow disrespecting Vermont, I intended nothing of the sort and I'm sorry if it has offended you in any way.

[glowing]

57. I think its a bit diff. when we are talking about Bush.. the fact is he is a

criminal.. If he was anyone other than the President, he'd be in handcuffs... Voting to enforce the laws of this land is actually appalling.. It should have been done already.

[Oak2004]

37. The difference is that all gays, democrats, etc, have not openly committed crimes

If a citizenry directs its officers to make an arrest for a known preexisting crime, that's one thing. Officers and prosecutors have some discretion in making arrests, and I can see where citizens might need to direct reluctant law officers to make arrests for crimes in other instances -- say, to insist upon the arrest of a corrupt small town mayor whose brother in law is in charge of the police and is refusing to arrest despite the crime being committed so openly that an ordinary citizen would have direct knowledge of the evidence.

It would be another thing altogether if such a vote were to create a particular crime for a particular individual. That would be a bill of attainder, and I'd hope it would be found unconstitutional.

[SacredCow]

117. I see where you're coming from...

but it's not entirely true... I'm a gay man, and it's an absolute fact that "crimes against nature" and sodomy are illegal in my state. So without getting too personal, the expression of my love for my partner is against the law, and they would have no need to create any crimes if someone wanted me in jail. Theoretically, I could be arrested. Of course, the biggest reason these laws are still on the books is to prosecute prostitution, but they're still there and could be used. Maybe one day I'll move to a city largely populated by bible-thumpers. Perhaps they find out that I'm gay and decide at the church pancake supper to have me arrested, and the majority vote for it....

Again, I don't have a big problem with this vote being who it's aimed against. But I don't like the precedent that it sets. Yes, the wheels of justice are likely to miss bushco and that's a freakin' travesty. But the solution isn't to throw out hundreds of years of development to the judiciary system, when it's painfully obvious that it could come back to bite you in the ass.

[TheMadMonk]

94. Why not? You vote on who decided who gets arrested.

Just as you vote on who decides whether on not said arrests are justified.

Small town justice in certain parts of the United States is notorious for being as one sided as a mobius loop.

[harmonicon]

17. hahahaha!! yeah, we have to judiciary to stop prosecutors from putting Republicans and their..

... financiers in prison. Do you still have any faith in the Bush controlled judiciary? I don't.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

24. Yes, I love Bush.

I think he's just dandy, and I want to have his children.

Or... maybe the fact that Bush sucks doesn't magically turn stupid ideas into good ones.

[RoccoR5955]

26. WE THE PEOPLE....

are often called into service as jurors, to serve as the Judiciary. Therefore, if enough people want to prosecute someone, anyone, than it should be pursued. After all this is a government, of, for, and by the PEOPLE. WE THE PEOPLE are the last stand against any form of tyranny that should come.

Vermonters have the right idea. If the judiciary does not work, WE THE PEOPLE, become the judiciary. It's all about how this nation was formed. To think otherwise, is to not understand the history of the US.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

28. Yes, let's just throw out the Constitution and eight hundred plus years...

...of development of the western legal system and replace it with something that is so inherently prone to manipulation as to make any concept of a standard of justice irrelevant. There is a name for what you are suggesting - mob justice. Which is really not justice at all. But it does make some people feel good.

[pattmarty]

31. What the fuck do you think we have had for the past 7 yrs?

It's symbolic and just that. Jesus Christ, the right wing fuckheads have successively demonized Bill Clinton (disclaimer: I don't care that much for him) for the last 16 yrs. So it's a little tongue in cheek satire on their part. You can bet that the Vermont state police ain't gonna be out setting up Cheney/Bush roadblocks.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

38. I am well aware that it is a symbolic vote.

The poster I was responding to, however, appears to believe that this is a good model for a system of justice. THAT is what worries me, not the vote itself.

[TooBigaTent]

101. Who's screwing who aside - do you believe "the mob" (the public) is more

"prone to manipulation" than a single individual (a juror or judge)?

That just does not make sense.

[femrap]

40. Are you typing from under a rock???

Helloooooooooo. The fascists are in charge....the democracy and Constitution are gone. Judiciary? We don't need no f*cking judiciary.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

42. And yet another vote for mob rule as an alternative to Bush!

I am happier and happier every day that I had the opportunity to get the hell out of the United States.

[HERVEPA]

44. Me too! (Happy that you got a chance to move out of U.S.)

[RC]

61. Bye and don't let the door hit ya in the butt. on the way out.

What you do not understand is this is the way Vermont runs its government. The people participate. They have a real say in how things are done. Unlike the other 49 States.

[Vickers]

93. Voting is mob rule?

Who knew.

:rofl:

[femrap]

95. If you are not in the US, then

STFU! COWARD and ignored. buh bye, asshole.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

110. Right.

The fact that I've chosen to leave the country (for a JOB, no less) makes me bad. Maybe I should have my voting rights revoked. Would that make you happy?

[frog92969]

96. Well that explains alot, we have to live under this tyrant.

Our system is more broken than our military and martial law creeps closer by the day.

This is called desperation.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

113. I understand that.

But I also like to think that it can be fixed, which is why I still participate on DU.

[texastoast]

105. I wish I could feel good about leaving

but I can't. The battle for the soul of freedom and liberty is here. We could use help.

Especially where I'm from.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

111. I do what I can.

I donate to Democrats that I like. I'll probably come back to volunteer in PA for whoever our nominee happens to be. However, from my safe vantage point, I have to say that it looks to me like the Bush administration has psychologically fucked many many people on both sides of the aisle.

[shawn703]

63. Isn't this the same as a Citizen's Arrest?

That's allowed in many jurisdictions. They're not voting on whether they'll take him to the gallows or not - that's the decision that would be left to the judiciary. They are deciding whether or not he committed a crime that he should be tried for.

[miles 2 go]

72. What's retarded is that we are left with only solutions

like this because all of our checks and balances have been thrown out the window and we have been taken over by the mf'ers that are holding power right now.

It's fuckin sad that America has fallen so low.

[beezlebum]

85. selfdelete

[RuleOfNah]

114. We had a judiciary.

I understand your point, that trial by game show (call now!) is not a healthy trend to pursue. I agree.

However, when writing praise for hundreds of years of legal tradition, please remember how frequently regime crayons wander beyond polite boundaries.

[Vinca]

12. DU beat me to the local paper. I'm in Brattleboro almost daily.

For the past couple of weeks, right in the heart of town, a guy has rented a parking space on Main Street and put up a large sign that said "Impeachment Parking" to make it easier for people to sign the petition. I was disappointed, as a resident of New Hampshire, I couldn't sign it. Town meeting should be interesting this year since there is a small faction of diehard Bushbots around.

[pleah]

13. K&R I love these people!

[MissDeeds]

18. That's it, I'm moving to Vermont

Sad isn't it that citizens feel they have to act to bring these thugs to justice when our elected "leadership" does nothing?

[harmonicon]

19. democracy in action - fantastic - nt.

[Amonester]

21. GO PATRIOTS!!

(in both senses) :woohoo:

[IronLionZion]

23. How's the hunting in Vermont?

It might be a good time for Bush and Dick to go on a hunting trip together in Vermont. It will help them bond and get away from Washington for a while.

:rofl:

[Frisbee]

47. Bush might be stupid (OK, he IS stupid), but...

Do you really think he'd go anywhere near DICK Cheney with a gun?

[pattmarty]

29. Fucking priceless!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, and go Bernie Sanders!!!!!!!!

[madame defarge]

32. What a great state!

M. defarge & I are planning to retire in Burlington -- and a huge part of my decision is based on VT's politics.

[Red Zelda]

33. The Rutland Herald is Earth's finest newspaper

[Joey Liberal]

34. Thank you Brattleboro!

I think I should move to Brattleboro:).............

[onehandle]

35. a why not kick. nt

[donsu]

36. thank you Vermonters!

nt

[femrap]

39. K and R....Too cool! nt

[JeanGrey]

45. This is without a doubt the stupidest thing I've ever read.

Maybe this is why we have so many problems.............do you REALLY THINK a state would get by with arresting the President. Good God help me.

[Janice325]

46. It's definitely not the stupidest thing I've ever read,but I guess I must

read a lot of stupid things, especially since dubya's "reign."
k&r

[Hissyspit]

48. No, nobody thinks they'd get away with it. Nobody thinks Bush/Cheney would show up. It's symbolic.

If that's the stupidest thing you've ever read, then you haven't paid ANY attention the past seven years.

[JeanGrey]

107. Look, no one would like to see Bush and Cheney with chains

around their ankles than me!! I'd love to see them at the end of a pitchfork. But to make empty symbolic gestures that only make us look stupid like this make me furious. IMPEACH for god's sake for real!

[cali]

50. for fuck's sake. One more time: Everyone is making a big deal out of nothing

Brattleborians are simply expressing their outrage at the excesses of bush/cheney and for most of them it's just a joking way of doing it. And they're hardly stupid.

[JeanGrey]

108. Of course, but people read this stuff and sorry but it makes

liberals and progressives look plain stupid when they make useless declarations like this when we should be impeaching BOTH OF THEIR butts!

[beezlebum]

86. i never thought

americans would let people like bushco "get by" with the many atrocities it has committed (iraq war, i.e. sending our soldiers to die for lies, not to mention the scores of innocents killed, military commissions act, indoctrinated torture, patriot act, letting children go without healthcare, etc).

[liberal hypnotist]

53. Vermonters are strange and interesting people.

Down here in Florida Bush and Cheney are still riding on a lot of bumpers. Poor sad bastards. Congrats to Brattleboro. The problem is there wouldn't be enough hotel space and court room space to handle the spectators for such a great event.

[ClayZ]

54. Bravo, Brattleboro Vermont! K and R

[zanne]

58. Good old Brattleboro! nt

[rucognizant]

59. Too bad..........

Bush & Cheney wouldn't be caught dead in Vermont. Not their kind of people! I doubt that W would set foot in Maine either if his ancestors hadn't established a vacation home there!

[Laelth]

60. Enough of this kind of dissent and Congress will have to act.

Impeach!

:patriot:

-Laelth

[FATCATs]

64. Go get'm Barney HA ha

[Cleita]

66. We should do this nationwide. n/t

[LiberalLovinLug]

71. Exactly!

Who cares if it is just symbolic. It would be the only way to keep a spotlight on the facts of criminality of this administration for the years ahead, what with the courts being bought and paid for, and the Corporations ordering the Democratic Leadership Council not to dare to hold the traitors responsible in their upcoming term.

And its not some kind of slippery slope where Americans would be voting to arrest all gay people. There must be a crime committed with evidence. And there is plenty of that - IF EVIDENCE WAS ALLOWED THE LIGHT OF DAY.

I would love to see this go nationwide. With all kinds of "off-limits" pockets for these bastards all over the US for the rest of their sad sorry existence. Not that any arrest would actually happen but because every time one of them does pass through one of these "forbidden zones", the press would pick it up and it would give publicity to their previous crimes. Add to that various countries and cities around the world that have already done so.

So even though their buddies in the Supreme Court would give these mass-murderers a free pass, the court of public opinion would haunt them to the end of their days. Its the most we can expect, but at least its something.

[proReality]

68. I love Vermont! n/t

[Heywood J]

70. I hope to God that Maine does this. That would mean more than just about anyone else.

Imagine Shrub not being able to run back to the safety of Kennebunkport, or Babs and Poppy... His own family compound would be off-limits to him.

[Brrrp]

73. This is cute. That's all.

Nobody gives a flying f**k what these little towns do.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

74. Andy and Barney better lay in some extra heat

I don't think the Perp-in-Chief or his faithful sidekick travel alone. The good local lawman will have to deal with a lot of firepower to slap handcuffs on those felons.

Best of luck.

[Wizard777]

92. Their Secret Service protection expires in 2019. It's just a waiting game. n/t

[Voltaire99]

75. With Dems rolling over for Bush, it falls to towns to make symbolic gestures like this.

Alas, while fun for a yuk or two, symbolism doesn't change shit.

Thanks, Pelosi-Reid-Hillary et al. Your surrender to Bush has left us where we are.

[lovuian]

76. I think we are looking at a citizens arrest

since the Justice Department and Congress and the Military can't do it

[lisainmilo]

Go Brattleboro!

:applause:

[lisainmilo]

78. Go Brattleboro!

:applause:

[jeff30997]

80. "by paper balloting "

It's a good thing because if they used Diebold the result would be:

Build a pyramid for our great leader.

[annm4peace]

82. The people of Central CA, thank Brattleboro !!!!!

In 2000 the people started suffering with the corporate made energy crisis. People died of heat stroke. electric bills jumped from 100 to 500 in one month. It was in the 110 degrees for weeks.
We had to go without electricy for 2-3 days on a zip code rotation.
Business that relied on electricy went under.

So thank you Brattleboro. You have more courage, wisdome than the people of the central valley

[Broadslidin]

84. Rep. Palosi pleads: "If you don't Stop harassing Our Leader Bush, the corporations....

will stop cutting dem campaign :patriot: checks."

[7 of 11]

83. Nothing is going to happen to Chimpy the Imbecile

He'll molest little girls and practice genocide but the charges will simply bounce right off...oh no not fucking W; At gun point he'll declare the White House his own personal property but please lay off the Texan monkey after all he's W; He'll sell our national treasures to the highest bidder and pocket the money but nothing will ever happen to George mother fucken W Bush!!!

WHY?

Because enough democrats in congress are either too chicken shit of him or not chicken enough of us who are fuming and want this mistake on the world rectified. No-no not W he'll just get away with it all because Jesus told him it was okay to cheat and lie and kill and what not. No-no W will get away with it all.

Face it people the man needs to be impeached and we need to send a perfectly clear message to ALL of congress even if it means huge mass protests in the streets and national strikes to shut down the country. But that asshole has got to go-- and Uncle Dick the penis-head too.

[LWolf]

87. Good for Brattleboro.

It's good to know that, if Washington is too corrupt to uphold the Constitution, we still have some local governments that are not.

[Redstone]

88. That's just fucking stupid. I really like Brattleboro, but the people there can be

real nitwits sometimes.

And before you all start ripping strips of skin off me for saying that, just be realistic for a second: Would YOU want to be the Brattleboro cop who put his hands on bushyboy or cheney and tried to cuff him? You think the Secret Service guys would just let you do that?

Redstone

[ileus]

89. now we know where the virus of '08 will be released first.

[ToughLuck]

90. Arrest Bush/Cheney

FANTASTIC PEOPLE with lots more courage than Pelosi and Reid have shown!!

[yoyossarian]

91. Hi Hissy!

You always post such wonderful threads, and this is really a heartwarming one...
it brings to life such lovely images in my mind's eye...



This is a wonderful little idea of thinking and acting locally; I hope it will spread to lots of other burgs, and quickly...

Thanks again!

T-shirts, mugs, buttons n' cards at http://cafepress.com/laughcity">Laugh City

http://steponnopets.com/peo">President Evil Online has risen from the grave!

[Stranded]

97. And then what...

As much as I love the idea of arresting Bush and Cheney (and essentially everyone else in the administration that is just as guilty of war crimes), we would have to ask ourselves, "Then what?" Do we send everyone off to the Hague to be tried? Certainly, authorities would not allow their extradition. Do we try them in an American courtroom? It would never happen.

Nothing could ever happen. America protects its war criminals, no matter how unpopular.

In reality Brattleboro is making a statement. They are simply saying stating that they do not Bush and Cheney stepping into their community. I think this is an effective way to tell the administration that they are hated. Kudos to Brattleboro and every community across America that follows its lead.

[RainDog]

118. Actually, they are doing what Congress should do

as noted before, Vermont has town meetings and caucuses/votes on issues. This is called democracy. The situation at hand is this: do the citizens of this town think the current prez and v.p. have committed crimes. if so, do these crimes warrant some action.

this is what Congress should do. Pelosi, etc. has already indicated the dems don't care about the rule of law. The next vote in Bratt should be if Congress should be declared in contempt for failing to do their duty to protect and defend the constitution.

The founders recognized that democracy could be perverted and another revolution might be necessary. How do you think these sorts of actions occur? By citizens who want the govt. to do its job, and when it doesn't to call attention to this fact and seek other remedies.

AND

in nations in Europe that are signatory to war crimes investigations and trials, the people of those nations VOTED for reps that made this happen. As a signatory, these nations are REQUIRED to detain and investigate someone who is on their soil who is charged with war crimes. Americans have gone to both Germany and France for just this reason. Rumsfeld was the target then. Both of these nations referred the case back to the U.S., basically telling our govt to DO SOMETHING about the criminals in the exec. branch.

so, if national pols won't do it, it seems people at the state level have to demand accountability. at least they are trying to pursue such actions. maybe when the European nations see that the fed. govt of the U.S. will never hold the Bush League accountable, then the case can be made that these charges cannot be referred back to this country and, if Bush, Cheney, Rummy, Wolfie, Perle (with his villa in Southern France) etc. step foot in any country who complies with international human rights laws, these people must be arrested.

It's not an embarrassment. many cities voted against the war in iraq and mine is one of them. I'm so glad they did because at least they had the courage to say what only Russ Feingold was willing to say at the time.

It is NOT mob rule to vote, as towns in Vermont do, on whether the town should do something when the feds will not.

Congress should be ashamed of itself. How on earth could they put themselves in a position in which they are both identified with Bush and held in such low esteem because of their failure to represent the will of the people who voted them in office IN ORDER TO STOP BUSH???

Where does justice come from, when govt is unwilling to do its job? Or when we have kangaroo courts, and state AGs who are political hacks? or when the JD won't hire an independent prosecutor?

how fascist do they have to act before they are fascists? I suppose such a symbolic gesture would have been embarrassing for any town in Germany, too. But that town would have been able to note that they were willing to defend their nation when the nat'l govt would not.

[LaStrega]

98. *packs bags* *moves to Brattleboro* k+r n/t

[Stinky The Clown]

99. Oh how fucking stupid .....

.... of all of us to not have thought of this years ago!

Kudos to Brattleboroeans!

(Brattleborons?, Brattlebros? Brattlebrittles? ........ )

[GoddessOfGuinness]

100. Oh please,

Oh please!
:bounce:

[New Dawn]

102. Go Vermont!

[CanyonWren]

104. I love Vermont

I really, really love Vermont. It was the first state to allow women to vote, the first state to abolish slavery, the first to allow civil unions, the first state to initiate impeachment on the ballot for Bush and Cheney, and now this. Smart, savvy people in Vermont.

[bjobotts]

106. How about arresting Pelosi for dereliction of duty and obstruction?

[AndyTiedye]

109. Send Them to the Hague

[Eurobabe]

115. I've always loved Vermont!!

Lived about 30 minutes away as a teenager. Vermont is an awesome state. :grouphug:

[fadedrose]

116. Books for Vermont lovers - Archer Mayer, author

Have read almost all the Archer Mayor books about a cop, Joe Gunther, in Brattltboro VT. Pretty good fiction, with lots of background on Vermont and the people there.