Give it up, George. Berkeley doesn't like you.
Berkeley considers Bush impeachment
By John Simerman
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
BERKELEY - To some in the nation's most notorious anti-war city, Election Day can't come soon enough.
The Berkeley City Council tonight will consider a resolution urging an impeachment investigation into allegations that President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney deceived the public, Congress and the international community to justify an unprovoked war.
If it passes, Berkeley would follow similar actions taken in the liberal bastions of Arcata and Santa Cruz. The resolution also would follow a tradition of symbolic measures by the left-tilting council. From the serious to the surreal, its votes have ranged from opposition to the USA Patriot Act to solidarity with Tinky Winky, the purple Teletubby that the Rev. Jerry Falwell "outed" as gay.
The resolution, forwarded to the council by the city's Peace and Justice Commission, would ask Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, to submit a resolution to the House Judiciary Committee requesting an investigation into possible "impeachable offenses." The U.S. Constitution defines those as "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."
Lee, the most vocal anti-war voice in Congress, is cool to the idea.
"She believes that the November election should be the referendum on George Bush," said spokesman Jeffrey Thomas. "That's our opportunity."
Barbara Sykes of The National Coalition to Impeach Bush/Cheney, said there's no use waiting.
"There's a very unusual fear floating around that we must soft-pedal Bush," she said. "We will not be thrown into that big old atmosphere that says you have to hold back."
Mayor Tom Bates called the resolution "a non-starter," saying, "I can certainly sympathize with the thinking behind it, but it's just not timely. It's not going anyplace."
More likely, the mayor said, is a resolution backing a campaign by liberal activist group MoveOn.org, calling on Congress to formally censure Bush for "betraying the nation's trust."
Councilman Kriss Worthington, who introduced the censure resolution, said he hasn't decided on the impeachment issue.
"We need to evaluate the exact details of what are the high crimes and misdemeanors," he said. "Because policies are wrong and damaging doesn't mean they're impeachable."
The resolution cites the president's prewar claims that Iraq held weapons of mass destruction, allegations that the Bush administration has violated the human rights of detainees, and others.
Stanford history professor Jack Rakove said the Clinton impeachment "made anything legitimate" when it comes to defining impeachable offenses.
"Not that it's going to see the light of day, but as an abstract academic question -- if true, would these be impeachable offenses? -- it's a no-brainer," said Rakove.
Opposition to the president is political terra firma in Berkeley, where Gore outpolled Bush 10-1 in the 2000 election. Bush wound up third, 3,000 votes behind Green Party candidate Ralph Nader.
contracostatimes.com |
