In
Julius Caesar, Shakespeare's dramatization of the political turmoil in the world's capital as the republic gave way to empire, Brutus, tragic hero of the piece, at a low ebb, urges on his faction, saying:
"There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune,
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures
Julius Caesar, Act 4, Scene III
In
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, first published in 1962, Thomas Kuhn argues that paradigm shifts occur, not when people change their minds, but when a new cohort of people, with different ideas, come to the fore.
The insights of both Shakespeare and Kuhn can help us understand what is taking place this week, as young, courageous state legislators in Washington State, New Mexico, and Vermont take up legal arms against the sea of troubles stirred up by George W. Bush's usurpation of the U.S. Constitution he twice swore to defend.
Eric Oemig, a Washington State Senator; Gerald Ortiz y Pino, a New Mexico State Senator; and Daryl Pillsbury, a member of the Vermont House of Representatives, are all acting decisively this week in their respective state legislatures to initiate impeachment proceedings against George W. Bush, for a variety of high crimes and misdemeanors against the people and the Constitution.
You can read the specifics of what they're each doing in these three
Impeachment Channel articles and interviews from
Etopia News:
1-29-07: New Mexico State Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino discusses New Mexico State Senate Joint Resolution 5, which calls for the impeachment of George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney (Impeachment Channel #2)
2-10-07: Vermont State Representative Daryl Pillsbury is not optimistic about the fate of his impeachment bill; urges impeachment supporters to express their views to key Vermont legislative leaders (Impeachment Channel #6)
2-12-07: Washington State Senator Eric Oemig will introduce impeachment resolution in Olympia on Wednesday, February 14, 2007, and answer questions about it at a news conference (Impeachment Channel #8)
Following up this 1-2-3 punch in state capitals around the country, an ecumenical gathering of anti-impeachment groups on Saturday in New York City will consider how the anti-impeachment movement can better organize itself for the next stages of its effort to remove George W. Bush from office, as discussed in this
Impeachment Channel interview with World Can't Wait national director Debra Sweet:
2-9-07: World Can't Wait national co-ordinator Debra Sweet makes the case for driving out the Bush regime; previews "Emergency Conference to Impeach Bush for War Crimes" in New York City, February 17-18, 2007 (Impeachment Channel #5).
To use yet another Roman reference, we can see that while the Democratic Congressional leadership in Washington, D.C., continues to fiddle with non-binding resolutions chastising George W. Bush, and Iraq burns, these next-generation state-based activist/legislators are acting decisively to invoke the spirit of another young firebrand and agitator against tyranny, Thomas Jefferson, who presciently provided, in his Parliamentary Rules for the House of Representatives, a provision,
Rule 603, allowing for the initiation of impeachments proceedings against a sitting President on the strength of a resolution calling for the same from any state legislature.
Daryl Pillsbury, member of the Vermont State House of Representatives, following the passage today of
House Resolution 11, a measure "Calling for Orderly Withdrawal of Military Forces from Iraq,".told the
Impeachment Channel:
.
"In my state of Vermont, the people have spoken loud and clear about their stance on this President. If Congress does not want to act, I feel it is my duty to speak for the people of Vermont. We can't wait around all day for Congress to do something. We hope this will light a fire under them to get them moving. If enough state legislatures do this they will, in my opinion, react to it. If Congress refuses to listen to the will of the people, it's my job to get them to listen."
