Arrest Bush & Cheney

Brattleboro, Vt., or at least some of its residents, raised the spirits of tens of millions of people in the United States and hundreds of millions around the world by putting the following proposition on the ballot, to be decided by vote on March 4:

“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 indictments for consideration by other authorities and shall it be the law of the Town of Brattleboro that the Brattleboro Police, pursuant to the above-mentioned indictments, arrest and detain George Bush and Richard Cheney in Brattleboro if they are not duly impeached, and prosecute or extradite them to other authorities that may reasonably contend to prosecute them?”

There is no existing legal mechanism for Brattleboro’s putting these two war criminals behind bars where they belong. Still, any opponent of the criminal Bush administration can only be cheered by contemplating the vision of these two top gangsters handcuffed by the Brattleboro authorities and a crowd of righteous Vermonters.

Beyond the mood lift to anti-war and other progressive forces that this initiative supplies, there is a deeper lesson.

Brattleboro officials complained of hate calls. Yet one—admittedly unscientific—Internet polling link showed that of 1,836 voters, 60 percent polled said they would vote YES to arrest the two top U.S. executives. This is a popular initiative.

The Bush government lied its way into two criminal wars. It imposed repressive rulings on the entire population, with special police-state actions against Muslims, Middle Eastern and South Asian people, immigrants in general, and people of color of the United States. It imposed a culture of torture on the world. And it presided over a decline in the standard of living of the entire working class at home. Among other things.

Tens of millions voted for the Democratic Party to redress these crimes. But the Democrats have done nothing to take down the Bush regime. They have completely avoided moving to impeach. They have continued to fund the Iraq war. The Democrats have even made a deal on an “stimulus” package for the economic crisis that left out aid for unemployed and very poor people.

The Brattleboro initiative is a sign that many people are fed up with the normal functioning of the capitalist elections and are taking their own steps to get rid of the Bush regime. This is a sign of coming struggle.

For the sake of this struggle, may the Brattleboro proposition win on March 4.