http://www.vermontguardian.com/local/042007/ImpeachmentMeeting.shtmlImpeachment meeting turns stormy, Shumlin walks out
By Mary Elizabeth Fratini | Special to the Vermont Guardian
Posted April 17, 2007
MONTPELIER — An impromptu, and at times contentious, 40-minute meeting between Speaker of the House Gaye Symington, D-Jericho, Senate Pres. Pro-Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, and more than 100 people in support of an impeachment resolution this afternoon ended abruptly when Shumlin walked out of the room.
“The reason we are here is because we don’t want to be good Germans, and we don’t want you to be good Germans either,” said Fletcher Dean of Calais, to wild applause from the packed room. The exchange drew enough bystanders, including legislators and media, to render the scheduled press conference unnecessary.
On Town Meeting Day, 38 towns passed resolutions calling for Congress to introduce articles of impeachment against Pres. George W. Bush and Vice Pres. Dick Cheney. Since then, supporters have been urging state lawmakers to pass a similar measure.
“Vermont has so often been the moral compass of the nation. Huge swaths of Americans have hope in this resolution, and huge swaths of Vermonters support this critical issue, and you know that you are standing in the way of that,” said Barry Aleshnick of Guilford.
Last week, the popular comic strip Doonesbury profiled Vermont’s impeachment efforts during a six-day run.
Symington reiterated her steadfast belief that a resolution supporting impeachment was not the solution when asked what could change her mind. “I don’t disagree with your goals, but I don’t believe that this is the way to achieve them,” she said.
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