Sullivan Peace & Justice group supports impeachment

Wayne group to present petition

By FRITZ MAYER

UPPER DELAWARE REGION — As in the rest of the country, impeachment is gradually gaining support in the Upper Delaware Valley region.

After the monthly anti-war demonstration on Main Street in Liberty on August 4, members of Sullivan Peace and Justice (SPJ) gathered to watch a movie at the Liberty Free Theater. The movie featured John Nichols, a reporter for The Nation, a weekly news magazine, and the author of the book “The Genius of Impeachment; the Founder’s Cure for Royalism.” The purpose of the showing was to open a discussion on the subject.

Before the showing, SPJ, the anti-war group based in Sullivan County, had not taken a position on the possible impeachment of President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Some members, however, feel impeachment is critical at this time.

Kathy Aberman of Liberty said she thought some people are afraid that impeachment would be disruptive and provoke a backlash against Democratic candidates in the 2008 elections. Aberman, who strongly supports an impeachment effort, believes otherwise. She said the public would likely support an impeachment effort. She cited the support SPJ received from the crowd when they marched in the Fourth of July parade last month as evidence that public sentiment had turned against the war and the Bush Administration.

Dr. Herman Goldfarb of Monticello, NY, who had earlier in the day been at a demonstration about reservoir access at The Chapin Estate, disagreed. He said from a political point of view, impeachment would be impossible to achieve, and the effort might actually detract from the anti-war movement.

However, after viewing the movie and engaging in a lively discussion, the members voted to endorse impeachment.

Across the river in Pennsylvania, the group Wayne Peace took a pro-impeachment stance some time ago. Members have been collecting petition signatures that they intend to give to Congressman Chris Carney in support of impeachment.

Kathy Dodge, of Lake Ariel, PA, has presided over three impeachment “teach-ins”-such as the one in Liberty-in three Pennsylvania counties, including Wayne, since April. In an atmosphere where polls show a growing support for impeachment, Dodge said some were needlessly concerned about a backlash. She said historically, a party that brings impeachment proceedings fares well in the election that follows.

A survey by the nonpartisan American Research Group, which was released July 8, found that 45 percent of respondents were in favor on bringing impeachment proceedings against President Bush, while 46 percent were opposed. On the question of impeaching Cheney, 54 percent were in favor and 40 percent opposed.

A local issue?

Although Dodge will give the petition to Carney, she said she will not try to convince lawmakers at the county level to take a position on impeachment because she said it would be largely futile.

In Sullivan County, NY during the build-up to the war in 2003, county lawmakers were asked to take a position on the war, but several said the war was not an issue that should concern county lawmakers, and they took no action on the matter. Presently, there is reportedly no call from county residents for lawmakers to take a position on impeachment.

However, elsewhere, local politicians have passed resolutions regarding impeachment or the war itself.

In June, the common council of Middletown, NY passed a resolution urging the House of Representatives in Washington to begin the impeachment process and investigate Bush and Cheney for intentionally misleading the country about the need for the war in Iraq.

The common council was sharply criticized in a column in the Times Herald Record for wasting time on the resolution when there were issues such as a rising crime rate facing the council. However, those who defend local governments for weighing in on the issue say that the war is a local issue because money going for the war can’t be spent on needed local programs.

The war to date has cost nearly $500 billion dollars. According to the web site www.nationalpriorities.org, Orange County residents’ share of the cost of war since it began in 2003 is about $871 million. By comparison, the total Orange County budget for 2007 is about $670 million.

According to the Institute for Policy Studies, a total of 300 towns, cities, and states, representing about 50 percent of the population of the United States, have passed resolutions expressing opposition to the continued occupation of Iraq.

(The text of the petition sent to lawmakers by Wayne Peace appears on page 7.)