Anti-Bush Petition Stirs Vitriol in Vt.
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
BRATTLEBORO, Vt. — A town petition making President Bush and Vice President Cheney subject to arrest for crimes against the Constitution has triggered a barrage of criticism from people who say residents are “wackjobs” and “nuts.”
In e-mail messages, voicemail messages and telephone calls, outraged people are calling the measure the equivalent of treason and vowing never to visit Vermont.
The petition — with more than 436 signatures, or at least the 5% of voters necessary to be considered — was submitted Thursday, and the town Select Board voted 3–2 Friday to put it on the ballot. It goes to a town-wide vote March 4. It reads: “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?”
Mr. Bush has not visited Vermont during his presidency; Mr. Cheney visited Burlington in 2002 but has not been to Brattleboro.
