John Nurenberg, who has spent the last forty days and
nights walking south on Route 1 from Boston to
Washington D.C., has reached the outskirts of his
goal, Nancy Pelosi's office. And rather than the last
stumbling steps of exhaustion, or steps glad to be
finishing up and moving on, the final leg of John's
journey is rather more a river of energy that has been
fed by the response that he has received along his
route.
During his trek, John has been invited (and thrown
out of) high schools and bolstered by vigils and
events in Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, New York City, Jersey City, Philadelphia,
and now Washington. His web site www.marchinmyname.org
tells the tales of many a spirit touched, moved and
even changed by learning about John and his dedication
to actively protecting the Constitution.
And John hasn't been the only one active on this
topic in the last weeks. Congressman Henry Wexler,
along with a growing number of his colleagues has been
increasing pressure on Chairman John Conyers of the
House Judiciary committee to open hearings on the
impeachable charges that have been introduced by
Dennis Kucinich. A couple of weeks ago, Wexler and two
other members of the committee wrote a compelling
op-ed detailing why they want to start hearings. After
it was refused publication by several major
newspapers, Wexler was forced to publish it on the
web, along with an online petition for people to sign
on to his demand. The number of signers is approaching
a quarter million and the op-ed has now been published
in at least two major newspapers.
Former Senator George McGovern just published an
op-ed in the Washington Post calling for impeachment,
the first such call to appear on those pages. (This is
the same Washington Post that wouldn't publish the
Wexler op-ed a week earlier.)
During the presidential debates, before the power
structure shut out Dennis Kucinich, and so the topic
of impeachment, his calls for impeachment often
received notable outbursts of audience approval. In
spite of time almost certainly running out, in spite
of an election upon which so many are pinning so much
hope, in spite of a rising level of hysteria among
liberal Democrats who are frantic that something may
upset their apple cart and are begging when not
shrilling that the I word not be mentioned, in spite
of all this, more and more Americans are deciding that
the cost to our nation is too great if we fail to
uphold the Constitution and the principles that it
embodies. American citizens are united in the belief
that the President is not above the law. But a
majority in Congress has decided to acquiesce to Mr.
Bush's lawbreaking.
Although the establishment media and power elite
refuse to acknowledge it, we are in a Constitutional
turmoil, and much of the mess we are now in at home
and overseas has happened because Congress has allowed
the Executive branch to unconstitutionally expand its
power to a dangerous degree. We are engaging daily in
a deadly, brutal, illegal, counterproductive and
expensive occupation in Iraq, but we are dished out a
fluff news diet of celebrity misadventures, fears
about $4.00 gas, the horserace to be the next
Corporate Representative in Chief, the success of the
"surge" or Bush's legacy. Many Americans are wondering
if they are the only ones feeling distress and
outrage. Many feel the utter hopelessness of being a
single small voice against the monolith of power and
money that seems to decide how things get done.
John Nirenberg's walk turned one man's outrage into a
vehicle for thousands to help him take his message to
Speaker Pelosi. His time in Washington will make a
difference, but it must be followed up by other
actions from other quarters. Citizen actions are
already starting to have an impact on congress
members. Democrats feeling the heat from constituents
have started to break ranks from the leadership with
recent votes against further war funding and for
supporting Kucinich's call for his impeachment bill to
be brought to the floor of the House. South Florida
activists have been shining a merciless spotlight on
anti-progressive actions by their "representatives".
Now is the time to turn up the pressure. Let's follow
Mr. Nirenberg's lead as he goes into Washington. Let's
all take the first steps to reclaiming our Republic,
to demand accountability, and to finally end the foul
occupation of Iraq that, along with torture, has cast
us all in such a shamed and grim light.