Montpelier representative Warren Kitzmiller sends out regular reports on his work at the State House. The report he sent out yesterday covers his vote on the impeachment resolution, and he told me I could publish it here.

IMPEACHMENT; a special report:

4/25/07  1:30pm

I’m sitting in the House, awaiting the coming discussion of the impeachment resolution. The House is packed. Not only is virtually every Representative here today, but so are nearly 200 visitors, people wearing large nametags urging us to support the resolution.

I will be voting in favor of the resolution, though I am very conflicted as to the wisdom of this vote. With this vote, I will be representing the wishes of my constituents as evidenced by the nearly 200 messages and conversations I’ve had with so many of you. Every single message I have received, with no exception, has  asked me for my support.

As your Representative, I see my job in several different ways. On the one hand, I know that I am being sent here in your place, to study the issues presented, to learn the merits of them and to use my best judgment on your behalf. On the other hand, there are times when I feel I am here to use my vote as you have asked me to do.

On this issue of impeachment, I feel that every one of you understands what is going on. You know the serious nature of impeachment and there is no need or ability on my part to try to learn MORE than what you already know.

Though I greatly fear that impeachment will serve to re-divide a nation that is just beginning to heal from the damage done by the Bush presidency, and though I am afraid that impeachment might become “a convenient substitute for elections”, I am agreement with you that this President needs to be held accountable for the damage he has done to our Constitution, to our economy, to our reputation in the world.

While I have my own personal reservations, I am very proud to cast this vote for you.

AFTER THE VOTE:

8:15pm

Well, I’m sorry to say the impeachment resolution failed, on a vote of 60 “Yes” and 87 “No”.  It was a long and emotional day. Many representatives, regardless of whether they voted one way or the other, spoke eloquently about their disagreement with Bush and the damage he has done to our country.  I explained my vote by saying that I had been contacted by more people on this issue than any other issue, and that every single contact, with no exception, had asked me to support the resolution. My people knew exactly what they wanted me to do, and they knew WHY. In spite of my personal reservations, I was proud to represent my district with my “Yes” vote.

Several people spoke to me about how disappointed they were with Speaker Symington’s opposition to this resolution. I want to tell you, in the strongest possible terms, that I honor and respect her reasoned, carefully-considered and principled stand. Please understand that if I had only been voting my own conscience, I believe I would have voted as she wanted me to. Her position is NOT wrong, just different than many of yours.

If you expect ANY person to “bat 1,000”, to be on your side of every single issue, you will never find that person (unless you run yourself, and even that is not a sure bet). It’s an impossible standard to meet.  Some have said to me that “this was such an important issue, though”. Of course it was!  But it was only ONE issue. I do not, ever, want to be or to expect others to be “one issue voters”, no matter how important the issue. Even the most important issue is less important than the sum of all other issues.

Gaye Symington is one of the finest people I know. Her positions are always based in reason; they are carefully considered. They are not always the same as mine, but they have always gained my respect. I feel honored to serve with her, and she is doing a superb job. I hope you will all accept that honest differences can and do arise . . . especially among friends.

Today was a long and difficult day; a wonderful day for democracy in Vermont. I am so very proud to represent Montpelier!

Sincerely,
Warren F. Kitzmiller
State Representative, Montpelier

I had to meet a friend for lunch to day in Montpelier, and then sauntered over to the Statehouse to catch the impeachment proceedings in the House. It was defeated, 87-60. I’d like to offer a big thanks to those who stood up for accountability and voted for the resolution. Odum has the roll call here.

Yes, as others have noted, it was inspiring, and it truly was a case of democracy in action. But I left rather angry. And disappointed.

The VT blogosphere was on hand… from who I could see, Norsehorse, Snarky Boy, GMD, Carpetbagger Report and yours truly were all there to report on the carnival. The house was packed, as you can see from the photo I took.

There were people of all kinds in the crowd on hand (over 300) to do that ‘democracy’ thing that seems to be in short supply lately.  The Republican speeches were pretty pathetic, ranging from Tom Koch (Barre Town) keeping consistent and speaking out against it on procedural grounds, partisanship and everything but the kitchen sink. Not surprising, because that guy, when not trying to pass laws forbidding driving-while-flute-playing pretty much opposes anything good that ever gets presented, regardless of the issue. Another Repub whose name I didn’t catch acted as though the various misdeeds of Bushco were somehow still in doubt, then rehashed a bunch of statements from prominent Dems from almost ten years ago. Others just looked annoyed.

But the one that got me pissed more than anything was from a Democrat (once again, I didn’t get a name-if someone has these names please put something in the comments and I’ll revise) who gave the tired excuse of how the legislature had many other areas of important business to address, and didn’t have time for this. Wrong on two accounts…first off, the only ‘time’ taken was already in progress. Second, this has been one of the least productive legislatures that I can remember in recent memory. Other than avoiding confrontation with Douglas on issue after issue, I’m hard pressed to think of anything substantial to come out of the Statehouse this year, short of the resolution to end the war. Nothing substantial involving healthcare that I’m aware of. A meager proposal on property taxes. What are they spending so much time on? The bill to help small farmers process meat on site so they can sell at markets and restaurants is a great bill, but is it a real time-stealer?

Although I was a bit disappointed, I didn’t think this was going to pass. House Speaker Gaye Symington, one of the more spineless speakers in recent memory (someone quipped ‘bad as he was, at least Walter Freed (R) got some things passed, fer Crissake’) has shown an astounding lack of leadership on the issue, as with most issues. She finally caved on this one, and some of you find that commendable. This is the only explanation that makes sense, because it’s not like these people were going to face some harsh electoral consequences back home for supporting it. It’s not an election-buster like civil unions were. And I suspect they’re not going to face anything harsh for not supporting it either.  Real leadership would have enabled it to happen beyond just the traditional lefty Dems, same with the “Death With Dignity” bill.

Admittedly, although I support it wholeheartedly, I’m not as impassioned as some are in regards to the impeachment thing, probably because I know better than to hope that Congressman Welch is going to ride in on his white horse and actually do something about it. Perhaps he’s too preoccupied with making friends in Washington and not making waves with Pelosi.

The larger issue here for me is the astounding lack of leadership from the Democrats in the Statehouse. They have the numbers to go on the offensive against Douglas, and don’t. Instead, we hear Ann Cummings talk about “sending the governor something he can sign.” Perhaps I wouldn’t be so astounded if they had a supermajority for 20 years and were just getting complacent and lazy. But that’s not the case. There is a serious leadership vaccuum in the  Statehouse right now. it’s my humble opinion that Symington needs to go. The question is, who in the Dem party machine is going to be courageous enough to take that step and point it out?

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