[Peace-discuss] Patently false article

[C. G. Estabrook]

[The crass ignorance of left-coasters is once again on display.  This 
article appeared in the Oroville Mercury-Register [sic] at 
<http://www.orovillemr.com/news/bayarea/ci_3990270> and has been 
circulated on the web.  We should write an account of our local 
referenda and supply it to those websites.  --CGE]

Article Launched: 6/28/2006 12:00 PM
Berkeley votes to impeach Bush
By Kristin Bender, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area
BERKELEY - The People's Republic of Berkeley has done it again.

The liberal, left-leaning city has become the first city in the nation 
to put a referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot to impeach President George W. 
Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan and Daniel Ellsberg, a Vietnam whistle-blower 
who in 1971 released the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times, both 
spoke in favor of the resolution at Tuesday's City Council meeting.

``Berkeley is a place where things begin,'' said Mayor Tom Bates. ``It 
was the first place in the nation that called for divestment from South 
Africa, it was the first city in the nation to have curb cuts for 
disabled people, we were the first city in the nation to have dog parks 
and the first city in the nation to really protest the Vietnam War,'' 
Bates said.

Let's not forget banning Styrofoam take-out containers in restaurants.

``What happens in Berkeley people need to pay attention to because it 
travels, it has legs... what happens in Berkeley today is conventional 
wisdom in the rest of the country tomorrow,'' Bates said.

Although the referendum is largely symbolic because only the United 
States Congress can impeach a president, city leaders don't see it that way.

``I don't see it as just symbolic, I see it as educational,'' said 
Councilmember Kriss Worthington.

Dozens of cities, including San Francisco and Oakland, have already 
approved resolutions calling for impeachment, but Berkeley is the first 
American city that will ask voters to decide.

It will cost the city roughly $10,000 to add the item to the November 
general election ballot.

Tuesday's resolution also had widespread support from a group called 
Constitution Summer, which originated on several university campuses, 
including UC Berkeley. Constitution Summer represents a coalition of 
students and young people dedicated to defending the constitution by 
launching a campaign to impeach the president.

It also had the support of the city's Peace and Justice Commission, 
which drafted language for a referendum. Specifically, supporters say 
the effort is being made based on Bush's handling of the Iraq war, 
federal wiretapping and other issues.

``We hope this is going to raise a national debate on the issues of the 
Bush administration shredding the U.S. Constitution, trampling on it,'' 
Bates said. ``We hope that this will be a debate about what the Bush 
Administration has done to our civil liberties and rights.''

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