George,

Our country is in shambles. Our rights and many of our civil liberties are gone. Our Constitution is in tatters.

I think the saying is “all politics is local.” Most of our politicians begin their careers at the local level.

On June 18 at the Charlottesville City Council meeting the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice presented to the council, for consideration and support, a resolution to impeach President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Several of the councilors supported it; most did not.

I was really taken aback that this Democratic council would not endorse - or even vote on - this resolution.

It was said that it wasn’t a local city council’s job to get behind this. Excuse me?

Plenty of Virginians have died in this war of lies. Each of us has a $60,000 debt now because of this war. But it is not just about the war. It is also about the corruption, the secrecy, the lies, the death of our reputation in the world, the economy, the loss of jobs, the arrogance of this administration in general.

I’m not sure this country can survive another year and a half with these clowns in charge. Our senators and representatives need to hear from all of their constituencies - city councils, boards of supervisors, our state politicians, our governor. Everyone needs to tell this Congress we want these guys gone. Now.

Mayor David Brown was quoted in The Daily Progress article that council had “to be careful not to take action on an issue that could deeply offend a segment of our citizenry.” He needs to remember he will offend the very people who elected him if he refuses to vote for this resolution and send it to Washington.

Supporters of the resolution also were told to not to interrupt presentations on the issue with clapping. It’s our right to clap if we want. And so we did.

Jan Cornell (Electronic mail, June 27, 2007)

Also published in The Daily Progress June 27, 2007