Alarm in the Night

The shrill ringing of an alarm clock disrupts the night. It is 1 a.m. Bob pulls back the covers and staggers out of bed, flashlight in hand. I can hear him lift the plate off the woodstove, and the thump of wood as he refills the firebox. The outside temperature at bedtime stood at a frigid 3-degrees Fahrenheit. The fire has to be kept going. Half asleep as I am, thoughts go round and round in my head about fire bells in the night, and these dark times in my country. I think about the courageous few that have heeded the alarm and are trying to save the Constitution from the corruption and abuse of power by the Bush/Cheney administration.

John Nirenberg, March in my Name, 24 Jan 2008, after a meeting with an assistant to Congresswoman Pelosi:

Impeachment is divisive they say; there is only one year left, they say; the hearings are getting at the underlying causes, they say. Hoping for a return to the Constitution is just that, hope. And that’s all they have - except for fear - which is so pervasive in the Democratic play book that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will go down in history as the American Chamberlain, ceding to the Republican bullies their abuses, their violations of the Constitution, their lies, corruption and war crimes.

Through the continued silence on impeachment, when they know impeachable crimes have been committed, the Congress is complicit. Not just Democrats but all Republicans, too. They are witness to the silent alteration of the Constitution; they are witness to the corruption and unethical behavior and in their silence give consent. Even if the votes aren’t there they must force each and every Representative to declare for their constituents and history just how they stood when the facts are brought to light. It isn’t a partisan move, it’s an historic moment of truth.

The Washington State Legislature Bill SJM 8016 has passed committee. It calls on Congress to initiate impeachment hearings for the President and Vice President. One of the sponsors, Senator Eric Oemig, (D-Kirkland) posted this statement on his website:

My constituents have spoken. At this crossroad, they want action. They want us to exercise all means to honor our oaths and protect the Constitution. The means provided to a state legislature is a joint memorial. This joint memorial exhorts Congress to invoke the means that the Constitution provided to them to preserve the Republic.

My great fear is that if we fail to pass this memorial, we will tell the citizens of Washington State that we are as unwilling as Congress to draw a line and take a stand.

It is never too late to do right. But some opportunities can be lost. When this President leaves office, a window closes, and his stain will bleed deeper into the pages of our history.

Remember, we are not trying to get rid of a president. That will happen naturally. We are defending the Constitution. And, defending the Constitution will become monumentally harder if we do not impeach.

Congresswoman Pelosi says that impeachment is off the table; that it is counter-productive; it would be a distraction from the “important” work to be done by Congress. Others think it is too late, that this administration only has another year in office, and they can’t do much in that time. Think again.

The United States has blocked the release of a landmark assessment of oil and gas activity in the Arctic. Scientists at the release of the censored report in Norway said there was “huge frustration” that the US had derailed a science-based effort to manage the race for the vast energy reserves of the Arctic. Earlier this month, the Bush administration drew widespread criticism when it said it would auction off 30 million acres on 6 February, of the remote Chukchi Sea, one of the last intact habitats of the polar bear. The sale to oil and gas companies has been rushed through before Congress can complete efforts to protect the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act, a move that would complicate efforts to sell its habitat to major oil companies. Kassie Siegel, the climate director at the US-based Centre for Biological Diversity said the censoring of the Arctic report was typical of the actions of the White House. “It fits a pattern of downplaying, denying, and suppressing climate science at every turn. It’s all part of the Bush-Cheney strategy of handing out as many fossil fuel entitlements as quickly as they can in their final months in office.”

Bob resets the alarm clock for 3:30 a.m. and climbs back into bed. He knows his vigilance is necessary. Once the fire goes out, it takes a lot of time and effort to rebuild. So he listens for the alarm and tends the fire throughout the night. As I drift off to sleep, I think about what a high school history teacher once said…”The Constitution of the United States is the heart and soul of our country.” The alarm bells are ringing. We are in danger of losing our nation’s heart and soul, and once gone, we may never get it back.
... P. L. Morningstar