"Move to impeach Bush gets local push"

Robert Jamieson in the Seattle P-I:

Ginny Smith hasn't felt this pumped about political activism since Vietnam.

Credit goes to Bush, George W.

What separates the retired Child Protective Services caseworker from others flummoxed by this administration is what she plans to do -- plant seeds for a grass-roots movement to impeach Bush.

Yeah, she seems a bit nuts -- and, well, maybe not so nuts, come to think of it.

The idea that a 63-year-old grandmother of five can fuel a local push to hold the president accountable for the war in Iraq and the erosion of civil liberties seems so pie-in-the-sky.

After all, the U.S. House of Representatives -- not a coffeehouse in Olympia -- is the place where impeachment proceedings typically take root. On top of that, new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she isn't interested in going down that road.

But honestly, folks, the "I-word" must have crossed your mind. People -- such as several I came across at an anti-war rally in Seattle the other day -- wonder how the government could impeach Bill Clinton for fibbing about an affair with an intern but lets Bush off for "truthiness" that has fueled a bloody debacle in Iraq.

Smith was feeling angry and helpless about this situation when she went to her neighborhood coffee shop not long ago and watched a 2006 documentary -- "How to Impeach a President" -- sponsored by the Center for Constitutional Rights.

The film talks about how the impeachment process can begin outside of D.C.

City councils could pass resolutions for impeachment that could fuel resolutions in state legislatures that could compel Congress to deal with a public outcry.

Inspired, Smith and her husband, Jerry, a retired forester, started meetings in Olympia. Their core group of about a dozen now includes an ex-lawyer, former veterans, a respected retired political journalist and a nurse from Seattle, who passes fliers around town.

In recent months, they've given time, money and energy to create something big: a public town hall meeting Feb. 20 to feature national speakers talking about impeaching Bush.

Across the country, people have this topic on the brain.

In an unscientific online poll by MSNBC, 87 percent of about 400,000 respondents believe Bush's actions justify impeachment.

In a February article in The Nation, Elizabeth Holtzman makes a case for it.

The former congresswoman says the president has "committed high crimes and misdemeanors."

"Failure to impeach Bush would condone his actions," she writes.

Sanford Levinson, a professor of law at the University of Texas, launched a counterpoint in the same publication.

The Constitution's impeachment clause works for criminals, he argues, not the grossly incompetent. Levinson says the framers of the Constitution shied away from making "maladministration" an impeachable offense for fear it would give Congress too much power.

He adds that most citizens would perceive impeachment as a "dangerous distraction."

He's got a point: It could be hard to find Bush guilty of criminal wrongdoing. The energy of the nation might be better spent trying to prevent more U.S. troops from going to the slaughterhouse in Iraq.

Undeterred, Smith and her fellow activists point to four grounds for impeachment:

# The president used fraudulent information to persuade Congress and the public to support a war in Iraq;

# The administration dismissed civil liberties and due process, and tortured prisoners;

# Government officials illegally spied on citizens without a warrant;

# Bush gets around laws by using "signing statements" that he doesn't have to heed particular provisions of laws.

Smith says she hasn't felt so energized since the '60s.

"Look at the changes people at the grass roots have made," she says. "The people helped end the war in Vietnam."

As she talks, it hits me -- she might be onto something important, the very hallmark of democracy.

The power of the people.

That's what fueled the civil rights push.

And public pressure recently put the war in Iraq in a more critical light, leading to the "blue wave" that swept Republicans from power.

"This has possibility in it," Smith says of her impeachment push. "I hope probability."

She may be way out there on the vanguard of a regional impeachment movement, but her heart and indignation are well-placed.

YOU CAN GO

The Citizens Movement to Impeach Bush/Cheney is sponsoring "Constitution in Crisis: A Town Hall Meeting" on Feb. 20 at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. S.E. in Olympia. The event begins at 7 p.m. and is free to the public. For more information, call George Hartwell at 360-459-1079, or e-mail him at impeachbush@riseup.net.