From Seattle writer and consultant Matt Rosenberg...

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Arcata City Council Calls For Bush Impeachment - Again

January 09, 2006

When we last checked in, the city council of Fruitbatvale - er, Arcata - California, had been holding a public hearing on whether to deport a statue of fearsome imperialist William McKinley. More recently, the council - which last year passed a resolution against the Iraq War, and also mulled a measure offering refuge for U.S. military refuseniks and deserters, has again approved an advisory measure calling for the impeachment of President Bush. More from the San Francisco Chronicle.

The resolution lists allegedly impeachable offenses, such as misleading the American people and Congress into waging war in Iraq, failing to respond adequately to the Hurricane Katrina disaster, torturing human beings in violation of the Geneva Convention and ordering the secret surveillance of American citizens. All elected officials are sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution, said Councilman Dave Meserve, co-sponsor of the resolution. "This obligates us to act when the president violates the Constitution," he said.

White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said Bush understands that there are people who oppose his policies, but "recognizes he has a responsibility and the constitutional authority to protect our country and that's what he will continue to do." Arcata's leaders passed a similar resolution in 2004. The year before that, the council stopped short of calling for Bush's ouster, instead voting to ask for an investigation of the president.

The Green Party of California got so excited about the Arcata resolution, they issued a press release about it, and included the full text. But Arcata Mayor Michael Machi, on the short side of the 3-2 council vote to pass the advisory measure, told the Eureka Reporter:

"I’m hoping not to give it too much credibility or play because I don’t think it’s the responsibility of the City Council to call for the impeachment of the president.”

The paper reported:

The City Council’s resolution requests that U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Napa), with help from other representatives of Congress, introduce articles of impeachment against Bush and Cheney, according to a press release sent out on Thursday by Meserve. “The Constitution states it’s solely in the hands of the House of Representatives,” Machi said. “I believe that Mike Thompson is perfectly capable of doing his job with regard to any concerns of impeachment.” According to Thompson’s press secretary Matt Gerien, Thompson had seen Arcata’s resolution and has no intention of introducing articles of impeachment at this time.

More from Machi:

“It hurts the city of Arcata by ruining our credibility. Nobody will want to come to shop here because crazies are in charge.”

You could say that. Meanwhile, Arcata's festering homeless population of Trustafarian vagrants remains a sore point.

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Posted by Matt Rosenberg at January 9, 2006 04:15 PM

Comments:

During the impeachment effort against President Clinton, his defenders argued that a trial, particularly if it resulted in removal, would lead to increasingly frivolous and partisan uses of the impeachment weapon.

I was inclined to dismiss the argument, at the time, because this was exactly the argument used by those who disapproved the impeachment of Andrew Johnson; and the Johnson impeachment, so far from encouraging repetition, produced a revulsion to its use for more than 100 years.

But the Clinton defenders may have been right, after all. We do seem to have entered a more poisonous atmosphere, in which easy resort to the impeachment weapon seems reasonable.

The Arcata sillies are mildly amusing. But does anyone doubt that if the Democrats take possession of Congress in 2006 there will be a serious effort to impeach Bush? It will be partly a matter of revenge, of course, but also partly a matter of how we now engage in politics.

Posted by: Tom Rekdal at January 9, 2006 05:02 PM

fruitbatvale....classic! fortunately for me i live about 30 miles away from nut-ville. but occasionally i have to go through eur-tweaka [eureka] and into arcata....home of more nuts than a bag of peanuts.and they are really really nuts there.
the up side? it can be very amusing when shopping in arcata for several reasons. first of all it is impossible for anyone with an IQ over room temperature to take anything anyone says there seriously....secondly they say some pretty funny things.
the vegan working at the "grocery" store behind the meat counter that lifts his lip as if he is in pain when you order meat....and then asks in a horrified whisper if that will be all?
so, of course it isn't. i always order more meat. it's just too funny to watch his whole schtick.
the dredlocked smelly "hippie" that buttonholes you in the parking lot for "some bread, man" the first time i handed him a loaf of bread and laughed all the way to the car.
check out "harmony groves" [and if that isn't a made up name i don't know what is.........] she is the queen of the loons here.......

Posted by: christmasghost at January 9, 2006 08:39 PM

Another Neanderthal rant form Pussytown...er, Seattle. Stayed for a week at the Fairmant recently and met nothing but pansy-assed idiots wrapped in fleece and sucking down $5 lattes like abandoned babies trying to fill the emptiness in their soul. Unless Van Cliburn plays there again I'll never go back. College towns may be colorful but at least they have a sense of right and wrong. I find Arcata mildly amusing at worst. Most people I've met there had an above average IQ.
I din't hear any complaining from your cave in Assbackwardsville...er Seattle...when the right-wing crazies went on their insane witch hunt to skewer Clinton for having his lolly licked. Now it's some sort of petty partisan tactic when someone suggests Bush and his cronies should be charged with serious offenses? How many dead Iraqi's will it take to convince you that they never attacked us? Another 30,000?
Face it, Rosenberg, you voted to put a REAL criminal in office and no amount of rationalizing will change that historical fact or assuage your guilt. You're either stupid or ignorant...or both.

Oh yeah, no one gives a flying funk what you eat, christmasghost. You're deusional if you think otherwise. See a psychiatrist to get some meds for your psychosis.

Posted by: gary at January 10, 2006 10:05 AM

hah hah hah gary......
well, matt, do you think you have a real "arcatian" or what?
vitriolic, childish and ranting.
YUP....you have a live one.
and i'll bet he moved here from terra haute[ the real one...not seattle] and now is really really "in the know" about EVERYTHING.
god...too funny.
but, the best part about humboldt county is that [unlike poor old seattle] the nuts are confined to two areas [ eureka and arcata] and are pretty few in number. they are just really loud.

Posted by: christmasghost at January 10, 2006 12:28 PM

AND......i should have added that they will never run this state the way the nuts in seattle run washington.they are merely tolerated...and even that is running low for the fruit bats.

Posted by: christmasghost at January 10, 2006 02:43 PM

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