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Appalachian for Impeachment? |
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Tuesday, 30 January 2007 |
by ERICA DURHAM
Intern News Reporter
A full-page advertisement in the Jan. 12 edition of The New York Times featured a picture of President George W. Bush with the heading “Impeach Now!”
The organization ImpeachBush.org has placed many similar ads in other papers such as USA Today, The Boston Globe and The San Francisco Chronicle.
Dr.
Matthew Robinson, criminologist and associative professor in the
political science and criminal justice department, has also openly
called for Bush’s impeachment.
“I support his impeachment for many carefully thought out reasons … my
main rationale is committing United States troops to a war for reasons
other than those stated publicly … Impeachment is an extreme measure
and is only for extreme cases,” Robinson said.
ImpeachBush.org is placing a call to arms to get Bush impeached along
with some of his right-hand men, including Vice President Dick Cheney,
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales.
The reasons given by ImpeachBush.org to impeach the president, vice
president and civil officials include such things as, “Seizing power to
wage wars, lying to the people and providing false and deceptive
rationales for war, and acting to strip United States citizens of their
constitutional rights.”
However not everyone at Appalachian thinks impeachment is the answer.
“Impeachment as it is outlined in the Constitution is something that
Congress can do, but the constitution says that it is for high crimes
and misdemeanors,” Dr. Andrew Koch, political science and criminal
justice professor, said.
“There is no provision in the Constitution for impeaching someone for
incompetence. That makes it difficult to impeach under the
constitution. He would have to be convicted of some crime which at this
point in time I don’t know of any crime that he has committed,” Koch
said.
However, Koch said he still does not support Bush’s actions in the
Middle East, especially regarding his recent policies regarding.
“It’s like banging on a hornet’s nest and wondering why the hornets
come out to sting you. I believe he will go down in history as one of
our worst presidents,” he said.
ImpeachBush.org also asks for donations to raise money through the
selling of anti-Bush products from bumper stickers to sweatshirts.
Also on its Web site is a place to vote for a referendum to impeach President Bush.
Impeachbush.org calls people to join a demonstration March 17, which is
the fourth anniversary of the start of the Iraqi War and the 40th
anniversary of the march on the Pentagon – a turning point in the
opposition to the Vietnam War.
The demonstration will assemble at noon at the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial.
Robinson said these impeachment movements are important to show the government that the public cares about their policies.
“It certainly can play a part in terms of maintaining public opinion
against the war,” he said. “That kind of mobilization can show policy
makers that people have problems with the war. Small groups have made
big differences but generally the larger the better, but really the
groups that have made the difference have been small. The small groups
become the large groups.”
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