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New Mexico Lawmakers call for Bush impeachment
By DEBORAH BAKER, Associated Press
SANTA FE -- Two New Mexico lawmakers have introduced a measure calling on Congress to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney.
State Sens. John Grubesic of Santa Fe and Gerald Ortiz y Pino of Albuquerque, both Democrats, said the resolution is a serious effort to try to trigger impeachment proceedings.
New Mexico, where lawmakers are meeting until March 17, would be the first state to pass the resolution, they said.
The measure alleges that Bush and Cheney conspired with others to intentionally mislead Congress and the public about the threat posed by Iraq in order to justify the war.
It also cites the administration's warrantless wiretapping program and alleges the torture of prisoners and the denial of constitutional rights to enemy combatants.
"This is not a publicity stunt," Ortiz y Pino told a cheering crowd at a rally at the Capitol on Tuesday. "This is action that we can take, and it's an opening for the citizens to act."
Ortiz y Pino said lawmakers in their 60-day session are grappling with the effects of resources at the national level being diverted from human needs and used instead for warfare and oppression.
"We simply cannot carry out the business of the Legislature with that shadow, that pall, hanging over us," he said.
Grubesic told the crowd that by introducing the resolution, "we created a ripple. Your voice is going to turn it into a tidal wave, hopefully."
The state Democratic Party, at a meeting in March, adopted a call for Bush's impeachment as part of its platform. Party chairman John Wertheim said at the time it stemmed from "perceived abuses of power and corruption in the Bush administration."
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Dear Mayor Blum and City Councilmembers,
Erika and me are off again to DC to protest the war. Erika returned from Iraq, but we are going to speak out for the Military Families who were not so fortunate, and the ones who are sitting on pins and needles hoping that the democratic congress will pull the reins in on this President, so their sons and daughters don't have to die for lies and greed in Iraq.
All it takes is one state legislature to present a petition to Congress to Impeach. Santa Barbara, by adding it's voice will also be an important voice. I have no crystal ball, don't know what the future holds for our country, but I remember watching "The Untouchables" and was amazed at how much Al Capone got away with for so long, and the charge that ended up bringing him to justice was "tax evasion" - who would have ever thought that would happen. We need to keep pushing on this corrupt administration until something gives, we cannot just sit back and say well, why should we go through the trouble of an impeachment resolution if it may not happen? The saddest part of this whole thing is that while everyone is discussing how to deal with this war that Bush started with no plan B, more soldiers are dying every day. Every cross at Arlington West represents a soldier who died, but every soldier who died has a family who is grieving. Even if Bush and Cheney are not impeached, the ACT of holding them accountable will be an intervention on our broken democracy. A family member of mine had a bad drinking/drug problem, the therapist who did the intervention on him told us that there is no such thing as an unsuccessful intervention, because even if the alcoholic/addict decides to not seek treatment, it has a healing effect on the family members, who now know they did EVERYTHING they could for the person and can detach and have closure. Let's do everything we can to heal this country, let's add our voices to the impeachment movement.
Thank you all so much for your public service.
Sincerely,
Dinah Mason