Calls for Impeachment Raised to Orange Level
photo by Amy Lyons
Actor Rene Auberjonois (left) reads a statement by “World Can’t Wait”, flanked by
hooded actors who symbolize prisoners in Guantanamo Bay.
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BY AMY LYONS
Beverly Press
August 2, 2007
Orange was the
color of the day at a July 27 press conference held in West Hollywood to kick
off the “Declare It Now – Wear Orange!” campaign, an effort to call for the
impeachment of President George Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney.
Volunteers at The Los Angeles.
National Impeachment Center (LANIC) distributed orange ribbons and bandanas to
attendees.
Orange was chosen because it is the color of prison garb. It was one of several gatherings
throughout the country. Chicago and Atlanta also held campaign kick-off
gatherings.
Spearheaded by World Can’t Wait, a grassroots campaign formed to call for the impeachment of
Bush and Cheney, the inaugural “Orange Friday” event drew the support of a
number of activists and local leaders, including West Hollywood Mayor John
Duran, actor Rene Auberjonois, and Dennis Loo, coeditor of “Impeach The
President: The Case Against Bush and Cheney”. Auberjonois, who plays Paul
Lewiston on the television courtroom drama “Boston Legal”, supplied the
narration for a dramatic reading of a World Can’t Wait statement backing the
impeachment movement. Flanked by three shackled, hooded, orange-clad actors —
whose jumpsuits echoed the garb of detainees at Guantanamo Bay and whose hoods
resembled those of tortured POWs — Auberjonois supplied an impassioned message.
“Your government, on the basis of outrageous lies, is waging a murderous and utterly
illegitimate war in Iraq,” Auberjonois said. “Your government is openly
torturing people and justifying it.”
Auberjonois went on to quote the World Can’t Wait statement, saying the Bush administration
suppresses science that does not fit into its agenda, denies women rights to
birth control and abortion, and resembles a fascist regime.
“We must act now, the future is in the balance,” Auberjonois said. “There is not going to be
some magical pendulum swing…some savior from the Democratic Party…silence and
paralysis are not acceptable.”
Dennis Loo Photo
photo by Amy Lyons
Dennis Loo, co-editor of “Impeach The President: The Case Against Bush and Cheney”, raised
questions about the current administration.
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When Loo took the podium, he said America cannot afford to ignore what he called “the crimes
and malfeasances committed.”
Loo, a member of the national steering committee for World Can’t Wait, repeatedly used the word
“regime” in reference to the Bush/Cheney administration.
“Bush and Cheney are not only guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors, they are war criminals,
torturers and tyrants,” Loo said. “If they are not impeached for their crimes,
then nothing is impeachable and we should strike the impeachment provisions
from the Constitution and declare ourselves a monarchy.”
Loo went on to say that if America waits until 2008 for Bush to be out of office without
having had impeachment proceedings, crimes such as torture and wiretapping will
have been justified.
Duran approached the topic of impeachment on a more simple, straightforward level.
“I haven’t written a book, but to me this is a very simple, commonsense issue that I
probably could have a discussion with a fourth grader about this,” Duran said.
“What the founders meant when they declared independence from King George [was]
they were tired of the king coming in and searching people without a warrant,
they were tired of the king accusing people of crimes and placing them into
jail without telling them what they were accused of, that they were tired of
King.
George denying people council, denying them court proceedings…a fourth grader would understand
that.”
Duran went on to point out that Tacoma Park, Maryland, recently became the 81st city to pass an
impeachment resolution.
“I imagine sitting in Maryland with the founding fathers and mothers and telling them, ‘I
hate to tell you, but 227 years after you came up with these great ideas, we
ended up with an executive who, in a time of what he called war, decided to suspend
habeas corpus, decided not to tell people what they were accused of, decided to
search people without warrants…”
For more information about the “Declare It Now – Wear Orange!” campaign, visit the
website at www.worldcantwait.net.
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