Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, his father, Bernard Kilpatrick, and City Council President Monica Conyers are the major figures cited in a sludge-hauling executive’s account of greed and bribery in the Synagro scandal, sources confirmed Tuesday to the Free Press. The three have not been charged with wrongdoing in the case.

Their names — and others — emerged with additional details about the government’s investigation into city corruption.

The Free Press has learned that James Rosendall, the former Synagro Technologies vice president who pleaded guilty to bribery Monday, has been questioned about his contacts with other executives at Houston-based Synagro.

FBI agents recorded one Synagro official on a phone call with Rosendall discussing Rosendall’s efforts to win the $1.2-billion contract in Detroit, one source said, adding that executive has since been suspended by Synagro.

Rosendall, 44, of Grand Rapids is the government’s star witness in the Synagro probe and has provided the FBI with little, if any, direct evidence that cash was funneled to Kwame Kilpatrick, according to sources familiar with the case.

(link)

And more on the feds upping pressure on Detroit corruptocrats:

Documents filed in the Rosendall case show former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his father, business consultant Bernard N. Kilpatrick, are among those under investigation in connection with a contract that pays Synagro about $47 million a year to haul and treat the city’s sewage sludge.

Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers also is under investigation in connection with the sludge contract, people familiar with the investigation said.

Appearances before a federal grand jury in Detroit that has been investigating City Hall corruption are scheduled well into February, people familiar with the investigation said.

The long-running and wide-ranging investigation involves the Synagro deal and contracts at Cobo Center and other city departments.

It’s likely indictments are still weeks away, Henning said.

The Detroit City Council approved the contract by a 5-4 vote in the fall of 2007.

***

Flashback: Monica Conyers, unhinged…

The nutroots roasted Nancy Pelosi for refusing the join the Bush impeachment bandwagon last summer. She argued it would be “divisive” and a “distraction” from the liberal Democrat legislative agenda — incensing the Joy Behar wing of the party. Remember?

Well, now that we’re in dire economic straights and Obama is about to ascend the throne, Pelosi has apparently decided that the timing is right for the division and distraction she condemned six months ago.

Bill Sammon at FNC reports:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is receptive to the idea of prosecuting some Bush administration officials, while letting others who are accused of misdeeds leave office without prosecution, she told Chris Wallace in an interview on “FOX News Sunday.”

“I think you look at each item and see what is a violation of the law and do we even have a right to ignore it,” the California Democrat said. “And other things that are maybe time that is spent better looking to the future rather than to the past.”

Rep. John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, announced Friday he wants to set up a commission to look into whether the Bush administration broke the law by taking the nation to war against Iraq and instituting aggressive anti-terror initiatives. The Michigan Democrat called for an “independent criminal probe into whether any laws were broken in connection with these activities.”

President-elect Barack Obama has not closed off the possibility of prosecutions, but hinted he does not favor them.

“I don’t believe that anybody is above the law,” he told ABC News a week ago. “On the other hand, I also have a belief that we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards.”

We’ll see how long that lasts.

I occasionally get hate mail written in the teeniest, tiniest scrawl that will go on and on for pages. I’m always fascinated by the painstaking script — and the amount of time that must have gone into working out whatever strange pathologies gripped the writer.

I was reminded of those bizarre letters when I took a look at the Bush Derangement Syndrome-decorated Christmas ornament that a Seattle artist created this season.

Check it out (full photo at the site):

When Deborah Lawrence got the invitation from the White House, the Seattle-based artist decided to make a lefty political statement.

But she never expected it would hang on the official Christmas tree.

Laura Bush asked members of Congress to pick local painters to decorate ornaments for this year’s 20-foot Fraser fir in the Blue Room. The globes (to be unveiled by the first lady tomorrow) are supposed to showcase something special about each congressional district. Washington state’s Rep. Jim McDermott contacted a local arts organization, which asked Lawrence, a collage artist, to create the local entry.

“I was at first nauseated, then realized it was an opportunity,” said Lawrence, 55, who frequently combines politics and satire in her work and saw this as the perfect way “to highlight Jim McDermott because he’s a hero of mine.”

The nine-inch ball is covered with swirly red and white stripes — and, in tiny glued-on text, salutes the Democratic congressman’s support for a resolution to impeach President Bush. (Also showcased: Washington state’s 1919 labor strike, its suffrage movement and the violent anti-World Trade Organization riots of 1999.) Lawrence sent it off to D.C. in September and was very surprised it was accepted for the tree — and that she was invited to this afternoon’s White House reception for the artists, which she flew to D.C. to attend.

“Apparently, they didn’t read it — or Laura Bush is more progressive than I believed,” Lawrence told us.

No, just more compassionate towards those in need of therapy.

***

P.S. I’m sure Ms. Lawrence will be a shoo-in for an Obama NEA grant and a MacArthur Genius Award.

***

Update: Looks like the impeachment ornament won’t have a place on the White House Christmas tree. Aw.

Just received his latest e-mail to his cult:

Impeachment on the House floor TODAY

Dear Friends,

Congressman Dennis Kucinich will present a single Article of Impeachment to the House of Representatives sometime between 3:30 pm and 4:00 pm (EDT) today, Thursday, July 10th.

A press conference will be held today at the Cannon HOB Terrace at 2pm (EDT)

Sessions of the House of Representatives are broadcast live on C-SPAN (check your local cable listings for channel) and streamed live via the Internet (www.cspan.org).

The article of Impeachment will deal directly with President Bush fraudulently obtaining support for an attack on Iraq by creating a false case for war. Full details of the Article of Impeachment will be available after they are read on the floor of the House by Congressman Kucinich.

Please spread the word and continue to circulate the online petition that Congressman Kucinich will personally present to members of Congress.

Media contact
Andy Juniewicz – 216 409 8992

Thank you.
Re-Elect Congressman Kucinich Committee

Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi backpedals on her pledge to keep impeachment “off the table.” Promises, schmomises.

Via USAT, hat tip – Will Amos:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters this morning that the Judiciary Committee may hold hearings on an impeachment resolution that Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, is pushing against President Bush.

“This is a Judiciary Committee matter, and I believe we will see some attention being paid to it by the Judiciary Committee,” Pelosi says, according to The Politico. “Not necessarily taking up the articles of impeachment because that would have to be approved on the floor, but to have some hearings on the subject.”

“My expectation is that there will be some review of that in the committee,” she adds.

In case you’ve been missing impeachment mob theater, the lead actor is back. Rep. Dennis Kucinich was back on the House floor tonight introducing a 35-count resolution to impeach President Bush. Kucinich delayed introducing the impeachment resolution after speaking with House Judiciary Committee members in January. Guess he got a green light. You’ll recall that five months ago, he promised to bring articles of impeachment against President Bush to the House floor on the day of the State of the Union address–and was forced to withdraw BDS remarks declaring the State of the Union a “lie.”

(See WaPo editorial page editor Fred Hiatt’s demolition of the “Bush lied” mantra here.)

The Cleveland Plain Dealer blog reports:

Cleveland Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich took to the House of Representatives floor on Monday evening to introduce a 35-count resolution to impeach President George W. Bush.

Kucinich claimed Bush “fraudulently” justified the war on Iraq and misled “the American people and members of Congress to believe Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction so as to manufacture a false case for war.”

“President George W. Bush, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office,” Kucinich said.

Kucinich said in January that he planned to launch an impeachment effort against Bush, but delayed his effort after meeting with members of the House Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Commitee hasn’t acted on a bid Kucinich launched last year to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney.

Update 9:25pm Eastern. He’s still on the House floor reading his resolution. Currently whining about Gitmo and the crackdown on illegal aliens from the Middle East.

Meanwhile, I’m on impeachment co-ringleader Rep. Robert Wexler’s e-mail list. He sent out this message tonight:

Our campaign for accountability for the Bush administration is making legitimate progress.

I am pleased to announce to you that the House Judiciary Committee has met my public call for Scott McClellan’s immediate testimony with action:

Today, Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers officially invited Mr. McClellan to testify under oath on Friday, June 20th at 10AM.

After all of our hard work pushing for impeachment hearings for Vice President Cheney – the McClellan hearing provides our cause with a legitimate opportunity to showcase the crimes and violations of this Administration for the American people, the mainstream media, reluctant members of the Democratic party, and sensible Republicans. This hearing provides us our first genuine opportunity to enter the public consciousness and change the dynamics that have prevented true accountability for Bush and Cheney.

Mr. McClellan was a major figure in the Valerie Plame/CIA scandal, as well as a leading propagandist for the Bush White House’s deliberate attempts to hide the true costs of this war from the American public. As such, Mr. McClellan will testify under oath (and be subject to perjury charges should he lie) and be asked about the following matters:

What role did President Bush, Vice President Cheney , and key administration officials take in the effort to reveal the identity of covert CIA agent Valeria Plame Wilson – thus destroying her network and putting lives in jeopardy?

What role did President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and key administration officials take regarding the firing of U.S. Attorneys or political reasons?

What role did President Bush, Vice President Cheney, key administration officials take in conspiring to blatantly break U.S. and International laws prohibiting the use of torture?

I call on Mr. McClell[a]n to immediately accept this invitation and testify under oath as he previously agreed to while being interviewed on national television.

During the hearing I will have roughly five short minutes to question Mr. McClellan and undercover the illegalities committed by this Administration – which is why it is critically important that every representative on the Judiciary Committee hears your voice. Please let them know that you demand answers to these questions.

Nor should it stop there: Karl Rove has thumbed his nose to the Judiciary Committee’s subpoena – joining Harriet Miers, Joshua Bolten and Vice President Cheney’s Chief of Staff David Addington as the only Administration officials in history to claim Congress has no power to even bring them before a committee to be questioned.

I have called for Karl Rove to be held in inherent contempt and for the other renegade officials to appear as required by their subpoenas, or be forced to do so by the House Sergeant of Arms.

What the Judiciary’s request of McClellan proves is that if we stay vigilant – if we call loudly and repeatedly for accountability – that we become very difficult to ignore.

Please stay tuned. I hope for more developments soon.

Anything to distract from the Dem leadership’s field of broken promises…

***

AP reports on Kucinich’s new drama here.

Will Pelosi’s pledge to keep impeachment “off the table” hold?

At a gathering of liberal activists in Washington on Tuesday, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) was asked if he would commit to holding the Bush administration accountable once a Democrat is in the White House and illegal acts have been pinned on President Bush.

“Yes, you have my word on that,” Conyers replied. He then shook the questioner’s hand as a sign of his commitment.

Conyers, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, told an audience at the liberal Take Back America Conference that he is wrestling with the idea of beginning impeachment proceedings against President Bush and Vice President Cheney, but he believes that such an effort might hamper Sen. Barack Obama’s chance of winning the presidency.

However, Conyers guaranteed his liberal audience that he will pursue legal action against Bush after the November elections.

…When Cybercast News Service asked Conyers to clarify the statement, he said, “I am afraid they would raise it in the campaign, and that they will use it against us, and that we would end up getting McCain. I would regret that for the rest of my life,” he said. “That’s the only reason. That would be my fear.”

But Conyers told Cybercast News Service this does not mean the Bush administration will not be held accountable. “We can win this election and go get these guys afterwards. But we just don’t want to jeopardize November 4th,” he said.

Well, they’ll always have Brattleboro.

Voters in two Vermont towns approved measures Tuesday calling for the indictment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for what they consider violations of the Constitution.

More symbolic than anything, the items sought to have police arrest Bush and Cheney if they ever visit Brattleboro or nearby Marlboro or to extradite them for prosecution elsewhere—if they’re not impeached first.

In Brattleboro, the vote was 2,012-1,795. In Marlboro, which held a town meeting on the issue, it was 43-25 with three abstentions.

“It really carries no weight,” said Brattleboro Town Clerk Annette Cappy. “Our town attorney has no legal authority to draw up any papers to allow our police officers to do so, but the gentleman who initiated the petition, got the signatures, wanted it on the ballot to make a statement.”

The measure in Marlboro isn’t binding because it didn’t appear on the warning for the meeting, according to Nora Wilson.

“It was emotional. There were heartfelt speeches on both sides,” Wilson said.

The question put to voters in Brattleboro referred to “crimes against our Constitution” but did not specify the allegations.

In Brattleboro, a steady stream of voters paraded into the Union High School gym to cast their ballots on a day when school board elections and Vermont’s presidential primary were also on the slate.

Voters interviewed after casting ballots said they saw the article as an opportunity to express their frustration over the war in Iraq and Bush’s tenure in general.

Break out the Chavista berets!

***

Update 8:34pm Eastern. Stephen Spruiell reports from Hillary campaign HQ…

Here in Columbus, Ohio, Hillary Clinton will meet her public tonight after what looks to be a successful day in Ohio. The campaign is broadcasting CNN on a giant projector screen for the crowd of several hundred, which just cheered after seeing a graphic that showed Clinton with a large lead (so far) over Obama in Ohio. The next headline CNN displayed was “Citizens of Brattleboro, Vermont pass resolution to arrest Bush, Cheney.” The crowd went really wild at that.

In a split vote on Super Tuesday, during the regular meeting of the Cannon Beach City Council, a resolution was passed to impeach President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

The call for impeachment began with the last wishes of Cannon Beach resident Gainor Minott, who asked Rex and Diane Amos to pursue an impeachment of the president and the vice president. The Amoses collected 227 signatures from residents of Cannon Beach to present to the council in support of a call for impeachment. Minott died in September.

The council heard comments from 16 people on the matter: eight people asking for an approval and eight people urging the council to drop the matter.

Rex Amos was one of those who spoke to the council, and during his presentation, he asked members to pass the resolution unanimously in the spirit of Minott and to honor her name. The resolution passed 3-2; council president Jay Raskin, council member Jerome Arnold and council member Sam Steidel voted to pass the resolution while Mayor John Williams and council member Nancy Giasson voted against.

“I really appreciate our council for doing this,” said Rex Amos. “It was a real study in democracy. That’s the way it should be, done with passion and civility on both sides.”

The resolution marks an unusual step by a city council, and it is believed that Cannon Beach is the first city in the state of Oregon to call for the impeachment of the United States government’s leader and second in command.

Wonder how many of them were wearing Chavista berets?

“Resident Kurt Daims, who submitted the petition, said late Tuesday he was chagrined that the town and its employees were subject to ridicule.”

Anyone who wears a Chavista beret on any day other than Halloween deserves all the ridicule they get:

***

Meantime, what’s up with Denny K? He vowed to introduce his impeachment articles on the night of the State of the Union. To the nutroots’ dismay, he didn’t deliver. Who got to him? The Plain Dealer has news of his postponement:

After promising to mark President Bush’s final State of the Union speech by introducing articles of impeachment against Bush, Cleveland Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich postponed the effort.

Kucinich said Monday that he met with members of the House Judiciary Committee after making last week’s impeachment pledge. He said he came away “hopeful there will be an inquiry by the Judiciary Committee.”

“I will give them the opportunity to proceed before introducing articles of impeachment,” he said in a statement. The committee’s spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment…

…. Kucinich told The Plain Dealer editorial board last week that nine of the Judiciary Committee’s 40 members favor his bid to impeach Cheney.

“I do not believe that there will be an impeachment this year — I don’t think that will happen — but I do think that the questions relating to an inquiry of both the president and the vice president are important so that our nation has a real understanding of the effort that was made, a consistent effort, to mislead the people into supporting a war,” he said.

Democrat Dennis Kucinich is abandoning his second, long-shot bid for the White House as he faces a tough fight to hold onto his other job—U.S. congressman.

In an interview with Cleveland’s Plain Dealer, the six-term House member said he was quitting the race and would make a formal announcement on Friday.

“I will be announcing that I’m transiting out of the presidential campaign,” Kucinich said. “I’m making that announcement tomorrow about a new direction.”

The “new direction?”

I reported it here yesterday: On Monday, before the State of the Union, he’ll be swinging the impeachment noose high.

The BDS bandwagon rolls on.

Railed Kucinich: “The president and vice president lied and a million innocent Iraqis died…We already know the State of the Union. It’s a lie.” Kucinich says he will introduce articles of impeachment on the day of the State of Union address.

Full transcript of Kucinich’s floor statement:

The Center for Public Integrity, in a report, released today has found “The Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003.” In short, the president and vice president lied and four thousand of our soldiers died. The president and vice president lied and a million innocent Iraqis died in a war that will cost us 2 trillion dollars while people here in the states are losing their jobs, their health care, their homes, their dignity. Lies are weapons of mass destruction. Lies are also an impeachable offense.

Monday Jan. 28 is the State of the Union. We already know the State of the Union. It’s a lie. We must reestablish truth as the State of our Union. So on that day I will introduce articles of impeachment concering our president.

If impeachment is off the table, truth is off the table. If truth is off the table then this house is living a lie.

The Bible says “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” Let us once again be the Land of the Free by beginning the process that the founders understood will set us free and keep us free.

IMPEACHMENT!

After objections to his BDS diatribe from Republicans, Kucinich withdrew the remarks. Here’s the vid:

Weasel.

Think this is a coincidence coming on the day that the Soros operatives released their “BUSH LIED” propaganda–which Kucinich quoted? No, it’s no coincidence.

The impeachment bandwagon rolls on.

***

The NYT somehow missed Denny K’s withdrawal of his BUSH LIED smear.

I’ve been chronicling the growing impeachment mob over the past few months. It’s reaching a crescendo. Joining McGovern, Denny K, Rep. Bob Wexler, the After Downing Street bunch, several city councils, Vermont activists, and the impeachment playwrights are ACLU chapters in Florida and Southern California:

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida has followed the lead of the ACLU of Central Florida, the ACLU of Monroe County Florida, and the ACLU of the Treasure Coast (Florida), all of which followed the lead of the ACLU of Southern California in backing impeachment and calling for the National ACLU to do the same.

The ACLU was a prominent supporter of Richard Nixon’s impeachment. In 2006 an ACLU panel argued for impeachment. In recent years, the national ACLU has lobbied against numerous offenses that appear quintessentially impeachable, but refused , despite intense lobbying by its members and others, to back impeachment. The national ACLU recently announced a new motto that many impeachment advocates view as a wish for the impossible (a reference to the current presidential administration): “One More Year, No More Damage.”

Richard W. Spisak Jr. of the ACLU of Florida reported that the state chapter met in Fort Myers at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and passed a motion in support of impeachment hearings for George Bush and Richard Cheney. The motion calls on the National ACLU to urge hearings in the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. Florida Congressman Robert Wexler, a member of that committee, has recently been leading a push for hearings to begin. Florida citizens have been pushing for impeachment for a long time.

Also on board: Lord of the Rings star and Kucinich booster Viggo Mortensen!

An Impeachment Town Hall Meeting sponsored by Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) will be held in Manchester New Hampshire this evening with Lord of the Rings Star Viggo Mortensen present. A discussion afterwards will feature panelists that will participate in a Forum on the Separation and Balance of Powers with Congressman and Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich, AfterDowningStreet, Democrats.com, PDA, ImpeachCheney.org activist David Swanson, John Nichols from The Nation magazine, and Mortensen. Online participants can watch the panelists and email questions at http://www.kucinichtv.com from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m ET

Acclaimed actor Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises, Lord of the Rings, Hidalgo) already a staunch supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, will be campaigning with the candidate today in New Hampshire. Mortensen will be present for a $50 fundraiser dinner for Kucinich this evening at Piccola Italia located at 815 Elm Street in Manchester, New Hampshire 03101, Phone 603-606-5100 from 5:30 – 7:00pm.

Retiring Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson made impeachment his swan song this weekend:

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson used his last full day in office to submit a letter that calls on the House Judiciary Committee to investigate the Bush administration for abuses of power.

The letter was signed by 18 political and cultural figures. It asks House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers of Michigan to hold hearings on alleged violations of the law under President Bush.

The letter says those violations include kidnapping and torture, warrantless wiretapping, a war of aggression against Iraq and disseminating false propaganda to deceive the American people.

Mayor Anderson has called for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney at protests in Utah’s capital and the nation’s capital.

The nutroots will be putting pressure on leading Dems–and Democrat candidates–to join them in swinging the impeachment noose.

Watch Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama squirm.

There could be some discord during the Tournament of Roses Parade as demonstrators promise to raise issues during the holiday spectacle that has been going on for more than a century. Human rights advocates plan to protest a float honoring the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and anti-war activists, including “Peace Mom” Cindy Sheehan, intend to rally for peace…

…Sheehan, the outspoken San Francisco Bay area activist whose son was killed in Iraq, is campaigning for Congress against Rep. Nancy Pelosi and calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. She will join other pro-impeachment and anti-war groups at the parade, according to her sister, Dede Miller.

As many as 1,000 supporters are expected to rally before and after the parade and distribute 20,000 pamphlets while flying 300 banners along the parade route, said Peter Thottam, executive director of the Los Angeles National Impeachment Center.

Police said they were prepared for the protesters and the hundreds of thousands of spectators.

Will we see muffin top again?

Shudder…

***

Expect to see “9/11 was an inside job signs.” At the impeachment parade crashers’ site, the disruption is billed as the “Citizen’s Anti-War, Impeachment and 9/11Truth Convergence.”

I’m not kidding.

Maybe Rosie O’Donnell will show up.

***
Here’s a preview of the parade crashers’ campaign. They call themselves the “White Rose Coalition:”

One of the BDS sufferers held up an “IMPEACH” sign at last year’s Rose Bowl Parade:

President Bush may soon have a new reason to avoid left-leaning Vermont: In one town, activists want him subject to arrest for war crimes.

A group in Brattleboro is petitioning to put an item on a town meeting agenda in March that would make Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney subject to arrest and indictment if they visit the southeastern Vermont community.

“This petition is as radical as the Declaration of Independence, and it draws on that tradition in claiming a universal jurisdiction when governments fail to do what they’re supposed to do,” said Kurt Daims, 54, a retired machinist leading the drive.

As president, Bush has visited every state except Vermont.

The town meeting, an annual exercise in which residents gather to vote on everything from fire department budgets to municipal policy, requires about 1,000 signatures to place a binding item on the agenda.

The measure asks: “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 indictment for consideration by other municipalities?”

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday. The press office did not immediately respond to an e-mail.

The state Senate in Vermont earlier this year approved an impeachment resolution. Guess there’s nothing else to worry about in the Green Mountain State.

Oh: Check out the Che Guevara beanie on Brattleboro BDS leader Kurt Daims.

FYI, Daims is looking for an “impeachment driver:”

This is a terrific chance to contribute to the impeachment movement. You could even make history. John Nirenberg has marched 300 miles from Boston. He is approaching Philadelphia and will be presenting petitions and letters for impeachment from all over New England to Nancy Pelosi in Washington D.C. John needs a new support driver for the first week or two of January.

The impeachment mob has quite the little racket going on. Earlier this week, Daims was hyped by a Huffington Post blogger Dan DeWalt, who likened the Brattleboro movement to the founding fathers forging the Declaration of Independence. DeWalt’s bio on HuffPo says he “authored the Newfane impeachment resolution passed in 7 Vermont towns in 2006.” (More here.)

HuffPo failed to disclose that Daims attempted to get the Brattleboro council to pass a measure that would:

…”for the sake of our nation and world, issue bonds and notes of $190,000 to hire two advocates who would attempt to impeach the president, and…
… that $30,000 to be awarded to Dan DeWalt of Newfane for his services….”

These people aren’t going away. As I’ve continued to report in my Impeachment Watch series, there’s a groundswell that will hit Washington after the New Year. It’s going to cause the Democrat leadership considerable heartache and headache. Many pundits are focusing on the supposed conservative crack-up. But keep your eye on the fissures spreading between the Dems and the extreme BDS left over this impeachment business.

Fireworks guaranteed.

***

What Nancy Pelosi has to look forward to via the Village Voice:

John Nirenberg would walk 500 miles. And it sounds like he would walk 500 more. But unlike the persistent pop tune by The Proclaimers, he refuses to be the man who falls down at Nancy Pelosi’s door.

Nirenberg, a hearty New York City native and current resident of Brattelboro, Vermont, intends to be standing when he reaches Washington, D.C. around January 10, at the conclusion of a scheduled 40-day walk that began in Boston on December 1. This fall, the 60-year-old professor of organizational behavior and Air Force veteran decided to traverse Route 1 on foot to implore House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to begin impeachment proceedings against President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

“It was about a whole collection of issues around the Constitution and the behavior of this administration,” explains Nirenberg, who finds that his sense of outrage and jogging background help him complete 15 miles per day. “Especially the torture issue, the spying, and an illegal war. All of this, at some point, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I decided that I needed to do something different.”

In order to channel his frustration, Nirenberg founded the non-profit organization, March in My Name, where his trek can be followed on the Web site, www.marchinmyname.org

He hopes also that by collecting photos, testimonials and petition signatures, he can show Speaker Pelosi that popular support exists for her, at the very least, to allow the House Judiciary Committee to open a hearing into the behavior of the Bush administration.

The prime backer of a state resolution urging Congress to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney plans to return to the state Capitol in January with a slightly revised proposal.

Meanwhile, a South Sound group calling itself Citizens Movement to Impeach Bush/Cheney is gearing up for an “impeachment party” Friday in Olympia.

State Sen. Eric Oemig, D-Kirkland, said Wednesday he is amending his Senate Joint Memorial 8016 to make its intent clearer.

Democratic Sen. Darlene Fairley, who chairs the Senate committee that will hear the bill, expects to give it a hearing and bring it up for a vote in the legislative session that begins Jan. 14.

Oemig, who got a hearing but nothing more on a similar measure this year, is in Olympia on Friday to speak briefly at the party sponsored by Thurston County activists committed to the impeachment effort. The event runs from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Woman’s Club of Olympia, 1002 Washington Ave. S.E., co-organizer Glen Anderson said. It offers food, music and games, such as an “impeachment haiku” contest.

No rest for the Bush-haters.

Anyone up for a BDS haiku contest?

Have at it!

Here’s mine:

Upside-down ribbon
Swinging like a noose for Bush
Impeach Cheney first