Letters of Support to Brattleboro, Vermont

[ please forward to media outlets ]

"Shall the Selectboard instruct the Town Attorney to draft indictments against President Bush and Vice President Cheney for crimes against our Constitution, and publish said indictment for consideration by other municipalities? And shall it be the law of the Town of Brattleboro that the Brattleboro Police, pursuant to the above-mentioned indictments, arrest and detain George Bush and Richard Cheney in Brattleboro if they are not duly impeached, and extradite them to other authorities that may reasonably contend to prosecute them."

LETTERS OF SUPPORT:
http://www.brattleboro.com/letters.html

Some people are curious about the process that allows people to petition their local government. Actually, this form of local government is run by a democratic process, and it works great for small towns in states like VERMONT.

Here is how it works; people get to elect their state and local representatives, and people even elect their town Selectboard members, listers and other officials. We also get to vote and wrangle over things like school budgets and town related expenses. We do this on town meeting day.

In addition, we the people can petition to have articles added to our town meeting day. These articles allow us to have some input over the content and topic of what happens on town meeting day. In this case residents of Brattleboro successfully petitioned the Selectboard for this vote.

I do not even live in Brattleboro, yet I know first hand the pleasure of being involved in the democratic process. It is your American right and I hope you can one day forgive this group of people for exercising their democratic right to petition for a vote.

While several people pointed out that we Americans do not live in a Democracy, we still enjoy the democratic process of making decisions. The laws governing how decisions are made are very straight forward.

There are specific reasons why the Selectboard voted 3-2 Friday to put the controversial item on the Town Meeting Day warning; First of all, that is the protocol for a Selectboard and second was the correct thing to do; allowing people to vote on this issue is very democratic (no matter what you believe). When 500 people submit their signatures on a petition, the Selectboard is bound by law to act. This was not an endorsement, just a motion to put something on the ballot. While over 500 towns people signed a petition - the final vote may turn out differently. The Selectboard voted to allow Brattleboro residents to vote at town meeting on whether President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney should be indicted and arrested for war crimes, perjury or obstruction of justice if they ever step foot in Vermont.

Below is the full text of the article;

"Shall the Selectboard instruct the Town Attorney to draft indictments against President Bush and Vice President Cheney for crimes against our Constitution, and publish said indictment for consideration by other municipalities? And shall it be the law of the Town of Brattleboro that the Brattleboro Police, pursuant to the above-mentioned indictments, arrest and detain George Bush and Richard Cheney in Brattleboro if they are not duly impeached, and extradite them to other authorities that may reasonably contend to prosecute them."

Since Bush has never visited our fair state, and it is unlikely that he ever will, this really is a symbolic vote.

You all should know that the web masters here (and on other town sites) are getting about three to five times as many positive comments about the Selectboard motion as negative mail, even though web masters everywhere have nothing to do with this decision, or the up-coming vote. It was noted in a different post that the Brattleboro Chamber has only been getting the negative mail, please send them some encouraging mail. I have a hard time believing that no one has sent the chamber any positive comments.

If you do have a problem with the article, please remember that any other town in any other city (like yours) could easily pass a resolution to award Bush the keys to the city. This is a free country last time we checked. So if you hate to hear about a town exercising free will and voting symbolically to hold elected officials accountable, then start your own petition in your own town.

It is unfortunate that people think sending negative mail will make any difference, perhaps they just need to vent; life is pretty frustrating all around. However there is a way to make a difference, Rock the VOTE. Get involved with your town government, you can make change happen!

BTW all the great and encouraging mail really is a pleasure to read. If you're going to disagree with the events of the day, at least have the courage to list good reasons, and a make reasonable argument. I like a good read and a well thought out letter, I may even post a reply.

Here is a great article from the BRATTLEBORO REFORMER telling it like it is.

Here is a link to the Rutland Herald about the Selectboard's decision, and the resulting storm of letters and phone calls both for and against the issue.

Here is another link to 60 reasons to not admire our president.

And one more link to the Advocate's Imperium Watch. Remember it is not just Bush / Cheney but the entire legacy they have created!

Daniel Hoviss- Webmaster Brattleboro.com

http://www.brattleboro.com/blog.html

Informant: John Calvert