Vermont remains "the only state President Bush has neglected to visit during his seven years in office" (see article, below).
I don't think it's 'neglect,' really. Here's a recent article from the Brattleboro Reformer to ensure the record stands until the end of President Bush's term:
By Paul H. Heintz, Reformer Staff
Saturday, December 29
BRATTLEBORO -- When then Vice President George H. W. Bush visited Brattleboro 23 years ago, he was greeted by protesters who booed and heckled him.
But if his son ever comes to town, some residents hope to present the sitting president with an even less friendly reception: a pair of handcuffs and a jail cell.
"We're planning to arrest, detain and extradite him," said Kurt Daims of Brattleboro, an activist who has sought to impeach President George W. Bush and is now trying to up the ante. "There's a fundamental question here. If Congress doesn't do this, shouldn't it be done anyway?"
Daims hopes to gather the 440 signatures necessary to place an article on the Town Meeting warning that would call for the Brattleboro Police Department to arrest Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and cart them off to unspecified foreign entities.
"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?" Daims' proposed article reads.
"And shall it be the law of the Town of Brattleboro that the Brattleboro Police, pursuant to the above-mentioned indictment, arrest and detain George Bush and Richard Cheney in Brattleboro and extradite them to other authorities that may reasonably contend to prosecute them."
Daims joined a group of eight like-minded activists Friday afternoon for their weekly impeachment march through town. Beating homemade drums and waving signs calling for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney, the protesters walked from the Brattleboro Food Co-op to the Municipal Building and dropped off a copy of the proposed article at the Town Clerk's office.
Daims recognizes the myriad legal barriers between his goal and its coming to fruition, but pointing to the Declaration of Independence as his inspiration, he contends that sometimes the laws of the land take second seat to "a higher jurisdiction."
"There was no legal standing to the document that was written in 1776. It was just people saying 'we've got to get rid of this guy,'" Daims said. "We can't let him get away just because we don't have the proper forms and paperwork."
Vermont remains the only state President Bush has neglected to visit during his seven years in office, and Daims' proposed article is not likely to hasten a presidential trip to the Green Mountain state.
"I don't know if Mr. Bush or Mr. Cheney are scheduled to visit Brattleboro any time in the near future," said acting Police Chief Eugene Wrinn, whose force would presumably be charged with making an arrest. "We will wait and see if it passes and then we will check with the town of Brattleboro's legal counsel to check out what our legal obligations would be."
My amigo HomeyM in Jamaica reminds me this AM that Romney warned against those "intent on establishing a new religion in America -- the religion of secularism." Romney went on to assert that "freedom requires religion, just as religion requires freedom."
I've got a simple credo I live by: Freedom OF religion means freedom FROM religion.
We're free to practice, or not practice, religion in this country.
Welcome to America, Mitt.
Have a simmering Sunday, amigos!
Labels: Mitt Romney, President Bush, Vermont, Vice President Cheney