Impeachment Watch XVIIThe town of
Brookline, Massachusetts votes to impeach the president. While the Boston Globe claims this is evidence of Bush's declining popularity, there is little evidence that he had any popularity in Brookline to begin with:
The vote is the latest reflection of Bush's declining popularity and of growing unease about the war, in which there have been more than 2,400 US deaths since it started in 2003.
While Brookline doesn't have the same ultraliberal reputation as places such as Cambridge, Bush has drawn less support there than in the state as a whole. In 2000, he won 17 percent of the vote in the town, compared to 32 percent statewide. In 2004, Bush won 19 percent, compared to 37 percent statewide.Of course, some may wonder what a town is doing voting on impeachment. Not to worry, the man who brought the resolution has pondered that very carefully:
Margolis said he was motivated to draft the resolution and gather the 10 signatures required to get it before Town Meeting by reports late last year of the administration's domestic spying program.
Although he once struggled with the notion of whether the town should address national issues, he eventually decided that such advisory resolutions are appropriate.
``I finally decided that if Congress can express the feelings of Americans on issues around the world, like fighting AIDS or the slaughter in Darfur, or, years ago, the genocide in Bosnia, then why shouldn't Brookline's legislature, which is what Town Meeting is, do this?" he said.You know how it is, when you wrestle with your conscience and your conscience loses, we've gotta wonder how hard a fight your conscience put up.
