Petition drive calls for Bush trial
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By Patrick McArdle Rutland Herald - Published: December 31, 2008
BRATTLEBORO — Voters are likely to see a resolution on Town Meeting Day asking President-elect Barack Obama to pardon President George Bush after he is convicted of violating his oath of office, one year after voters approved a measure indicting Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Kurt Daims, of Brattleboro, said he is calling this resolution "Truth and Reconciliation." It calls for Obama to issue what Daims calls a "Revelation Proclamation" to pardon Bush but only after he is tried for war crimes.
"If there is no accountability, millions will lose all faith in our nation. And millions more know Bush wasn't the only wrong-doer, but they will be embittered for decades if he is punished. The country is divided either way. The compromise is to let Bush be safe, and have the truth out," Daims wrote in a release explaining the resolution.
The resolution anticipates that "George W. Bush may issue fraudulent decrees called pardons in order to conceal crimes in which he himself has conspired."
Under the resolution, which has already gotten about 300 signatures for placement on Bratttleboro's town meeting ballot, Obama would be asked to cancel what Daims calls the "fraudulent pardons."
"This would allow for accountability for war crimes but Mr. Obama would be asked to consider a pardon, a real pardon, for Mr. Bush. This would not only be to show mercy to Mr. Bush but to show what a real pardon is," he said.
The resolution suggests that "George W. Bush may be a witless pawn, enabled by a weak and complicit Congress, and manipulated into treason, graft, and genocide by powerful special interests who profit from these crimes."
Vermont Republican Chairman Robert Roper dismissed the resolution.
"I'm confident President-elect Obama will not take this seriously. I sympathize with the difficult decisions our next president will have to make to protect the citizens of the United States in a dangerous world. Mr. Obama seems smart enough to not make the job more difficult for himself by creating a precedent for prosecution as a war criminal based on how those decisions register in opinion polls at any given time after he makes them," Roper said.
Daims said he believes he needs about 450 signatures to get the resolution on the ballot. He said it was possible those signatures would be available by Friday or shortly after.
The reason for the resolution is to get the emphasis off of a divisive president, Daims said.
"When I was working on the (2008) resolution, I was meticulous in keeping records. When I talked to people who opposed the resolution, one of the reasons I heard time and again was that people believed Mr. Bush didn't act alone. They believed it was the system. Whether people hated Mr. Bush or supported him, they didn't want him to be the only one prosecuted," he said.
Under the resolution, Bush could be tried for war crimes. Daims said he believes that would expose many of the forces behind the scenes.
However, there would be no risk that Bush would serve in prison, regardless of the outcome, because of the request for a pardon.
At town meeting in 2008, voters in Brattleboro and Marlboro passed resolutions calling for town officials to indict Bush and Cheney and in 2007, Brattleboro voters supported an advisory resolution calling for the impeachment of the president and vice president.
Daims said the new resolution doesn't mention Cheney.
"We want to get the focus off of Mr. Bush. He's a figurehead. He's in the middle of this division which is affecting the whole country. Mr. Cheney is certainly very powerful but I don't think he's a figurehead," he said.
The "Truth and Reconciliation" resolution was partially inspired by the election of Obama.
"Mr. Obama's mystique is about reconciliation and inclusion," he said.
On Dec. 24, the Associated Press reported that Obama planned to be sworn in on Jan. 20 with the same Bible used at the inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln.
"Nothing could be more strongly symbolic than for Mr. Obama to emulate the hero who issued the emancipation proclamation ending slavery. Nothing could be more inspiring than for our African-American president to emancipate the truth," Daims said.
Daims predicted the resolution would enjoy more support than the 2008 resolution to indict Bush and Cheney, which passed in Brattleboro by a vote of 2,012-1,795.
"One of the big deterrents was the terrible backlash of threats. There were lots of nasty, intimidating e-mails sent to the town and myself which insinuated that if the proposal was passed the economic health of the town would be ruined. … Clearly, that backlash has not materialized," he said.
Newfane Select Board member Dan DeWalt, who is considered the founder of the impeachment movement in Vermont, said he was skeptical that the resolution would encourage Bush to take the witness stand.
"In a sense, I support it because it's citizens saying, 'We have to take this situation into our own hands,' because our politicians have absolutely failed to hold these guys accountable. I'm just not sure about the efficacy of it," he said.
Daims said he had his own misgivings.
"It's not really my nature to let Mr. Bush go so easily. … People would think, 'Here's Brattleboro that passed this resolution last year and now they're talking pardon.' … They would think it's a bit of a turn, and it is, but this doesn't hide anything. We're looking for ways to reconcile people," he said.
According to Daims, the resolution may spread nationally. On Tuesday, he is scheduled to be part of a conference call with the Progressive Democrats of America and Daims will be inviting other national pro-impeachment groups to consider the "Revelation Proclamation."
The petition is available to be signed at 143 Main St. and 16 Washington St. in Brattleboro, according to Daims.
Contact Patrick McArdle at patrick.mcardle@rutlandherald.com.
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