(Vermont is a US city)

This article is meant to give some understanding of the anti-war anger that is seething in the US.
On March 6 at least 38 Vermont communities at their annual town meetings passed resolutions calling for the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. The Bush impeachment measure passed in Middlebury accuses the president and vice president of violating their oath of office to “‘preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” The resolution asserts that Bush and Cheney “manipulated intelligence and misled the country to justify an immoral, unjust, and unnecessary preemptive war in Iraq”; that they directed the government to engage in domestic spying without warrants; that they have “conspired to commit the torture of prisoners, in violation of the Federal Torture Act and the Geneva Convention”; that they have ordered the indefinite detention of prisoners “without legal counsel, without charges and without the opportunity to appear before a civil judicial officer to challenge the detention—all in violation of US law and the Bill of Rights.”
In Calais, Vermont, where the anti-Bush resolution passed 94-22, Cynthia Johnson, 51, responded to defenders of the war, according to the Associated Press, by explaining, “I did not do it to offend anybody. It is our responsibility here, at Town Meeting, in this forum, to question the things that are happening.” "This has nothing to do with the troops. It’s about what the administration is doing. We all support the troops, but they are being used.”One of the organizers of the impeachment campaign, Newfane Selectboard Member Dan DeWalt, argued in a recent article: “As the criminality and unconstitutional actions of this administration went unchecked by the Republican Congress, we despaired thinking that resistance was fruitless. When the Democrats took control on the strength of our overwhelming antiwar vote, our hopes were raised that perhaps there would be accountability. Now, as Congress fails us, we’ve looked to each other, discovered that we are many, and We’re mad as hell.”

For the full article:
http://wsws.org/articles/2007/mar2007/verm-m09.shtml

I'm not sure if this is wishful thinking or not John. I can't see the American system taking much note of one state taking a stand on principle. If others followed suit, it would cause a snowball effect and the problem would end up undeniable.

He has just over a year to leave office anyway. The principle of impeachment would make more of a difference than empeachment itself. The timing for this to happen could replace him with yet another Republican who can wash his hands from all the blood, and make them look credible. Empeachment could be the best thing that happened to the Republicans as they can appear to make a fresh start.

It is the initial expression of wide concerns of the population - 20 communities point to that. I see a collision course being set from a determined political body that has lost its head

In my response, I did not express myself very clearly. What I meant was that the Bush administration is criminal, reckless, incompetent, with defiant disregard for wide layers in society. For instance, masses recently voted against the war, so in response, Bush escalates the war with an additional 21,500 troops and significant increase in funding. Massive dollar amounts are going to military contractors, the war industry and giving tax breaks to the super rich. (the super rich need breaks?) Bush and the entire US political structure see bombing as far more relevant and practical for US plans to dominate the globe (global hegemony) than developing a decent medicare system. Putting that into context, lets say a on a scale of one to twenty bombing is 20 - whereas medical, schooling or culture is a one if it rates.

There has been surprisingly little response to this thread Johncee, given the apparent depth of feeling in Australia about the Iraq war and the huge fallacy that led to it (weapons of mass destruction).

I agree that the president and vice president have violated their oath of office to;

“preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

“The resolution asserts that Bush and Cheney ‘manipulated intelligence and misled the country to justify an immoral, unjust, and unnecessary preemptive war in Iraq’; that they directed the government to engage in domestic spying without warrants; that they have ‘conspired to commit the torture of prisoners, in violation of the Federal Torture Act and the Geneva Convention’; that they have ordered the indefinite detention of prisoners ‘without legal counsel, without charges and without the opportunity to appear before a civil judicial officer to challenge the detention—all in violation of US law and the Bill of Rights.’ “

I don’t doubt that Bush and Cheney did these things with good intentions – basically with the purpose of showing that America won’t be terrorized, bullied or cowered and that it is willing to do whatever it takes to bring terrorism down. But to deliberately step outside of the intent of their constitution, the Geneva Convention and other hard-won agreements and principles, is just unforgiveable.

They should have been demonstrating to the world that democracy, the very thing that they are fighting for (as well as an end to terrorism), is dependent on the adherence to one’s constitution, conventions and basic principles. Instead they have demonstrated that they (and thus in the eyes of millions around the world, the USA and its allies) are no more principled or less barbaric than those that they are fighting…. and indeed are far less principled and more barbaric.

The end result has been an escalation in terrorism and opposition to the USA and its allies… and worse; a global galvanization of the schism between Islam and the West.