Grassroots Effort Under Way to Force Impeachment of Bush and Cheney

by Rachel Ganong

BRUNSWICK, Maine — Organizers of a grassroots effort to impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney before their terms end in 2009 hope that the "As Maine goes, so goes the nation" adage holds true for their plans. About 80 people gathered from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday at Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick as part a petition drive to gather 10,000 residents' signatures in March to launch a congressional impeachment investigation, according to Brunswick resident and meeting organizer Stan Lofchie. Petition organizers say they hope that number of signatures will motivate the Maine Legislature to vote on an impeachment investigation resolution, to be conveyed to U.S. House of Representatives and implemented by the House Judiciary Committee. About 2,500 residents have signed the petition, led by the Maine Campaign to Impeach, according to the campaign's Web site. Lofchie said people from Farmington, Portland, Brunswick and a variety of Mid-coast towns filled the library's Morrell Meeting Room Thursday for an impeachment strategy session sponsored locally by Peace Works. They came to hear Debra Sweet, a speaker from New York City-based The World Can't Wait, an organization attempting to oust the Bush administration. Sweet told attendees that newspaper advertisements and a petition drive would help foster a political climate for impeachment, the justification for which spans from Bush's comments on American involvement in Iran to his allegedly blurring the lines between state and religious institutions. Her organization's Web site, posting stronger language, holds the government under Bush culpable for edging the country toward a theocracy, suppressing science and condoning torture. Sweet has been traveling the country — speaking at meetings like Thursday's — for a year and a half, arguing that future leaders will continue alleged abuses of power if the current administration isn't removed from office or otherwise rebuked by citizens. As to whether her organization can achieve its goal of the president's impeachment or resignation in the next year and a half, Sweet says it's possible. "Probably, if you talk to lead Democrats, it's not realistic at all, but leading Democrats in 1973 also weren't willing to consider impeaching Nixon, given he had just won by a landslide victory," she said, referencing the 1972 Watergate scandal that ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon before impeachment proceedings. Sweet, on a three-day visit to Maine, also spoke at meetings in Rockland and Belfast. She said her interest in impeaching Bush comes from her generation's involvement in the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War. The 82 audience members listening to Sweet in Brunswick passed a bucket to collect nearly $3,000 for an advertising campaign in local newspapers, which aims to spread the word about the petition and draw more donations. Lofchie said he hopes the advertisement campaign will start this week. According to the state Office of Legislative Information, none of the more than 1,000 bills and resolutions to be considered during Maine's current legislative session contemplate impeachment investigations or censure of the Bush administration. © 2007 Times Record ###