Once again, a solitary citizen has acted on his conscience and taken an action that should inspire us all to step up and pitch in.
John Nirenberg, a 60 year old retired academic, a man who had never considered himself an activist, realized that he could no longer abide the general state of depression and shame that he felt as an American being "represented" by the Bush administration's policies of torture, aggressive war and trampling on civil liberties.
Realizing that impeachment is the only way that this cabal can be stopped, and understanding that the Constitution requires impeachment in such times, Nirenberg has embarked on a walk from Boston to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's office in Washington D.C., where he will tell the Speaker to put impeachment back on the table.
In fact, Pelosi has abused her office by thinking that she had the prerogative to take it off of the table in the first place. While she and her Democratic cohorts have proven themselves submissive and subservient to Bush/Cheney, whom they were elected to oppose, they have shown themselves remarkably cavalier about ignoring the Constitution, to which they took an oath of office to uphold and defend.
John decided to take this walk entirely on his own, with no organization or infrastructure supporting the journey or helping to publicize it. But within days, activists, citizens and organizations came on board and have helped him to connect with a network of Americans who will be joining him in their towns when he comes through.
And this is where you can help out. Go to John's website www.marchinmyname.org and add your name to the thousands calling for impeachment that he hopes to dump on Pelosi's desk when he arrives in early January. In addition to your name, John wants photos and testimonials that he can deliver items that can't be discarded with the touch of a delete button. You can mail them to PO Box 17, South Newfane VT 05351, and I will get them to him before he reaches D.C.
John is walking along U.S. highway 1 following the coast until he heads inland to D.C. Check out his itinerary and spread the word to anyone you know who lives along the east coast. If people can shake off some of their lethargy and hopelessness, we could make this into a major peoples' march that our sniveling and cowardly politicians won't be able to ignore.
Reactions posted on his website show that, although the vast majority of Americans who know about this are excited and appreciative, there are those who see him as a traitor and would like to see his project come to a bad end. We must mobilize ourselves to stand with John, and show him that those who have the courage to oppose illegal and immoral government will enjoy the support and assistance of the American people. Only if we pitch in and add our voices, will John be able to realize his goal of making a difference in changing the course of this failing democracy.