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PDA has been following the progress of Vermont resident John Nirenberg, who finished his 500 mile march from Faneuil Hall in Boston to Washington D.C. yesterday, January 12, 2008. PDA members were on hand to greet him. The following is excerpted from John's blog entry found on marchinmyname.org:
Starting the last leg of the journey.
by John Nirenburg
We gathered at the National Arboretum under a blue cloudless sky with temperatures in the 50s. I like writing that. The weather was freezing at the start, snowy into Massachusetts and Connecticut and cloudy and rainy from New York southward but let up for today, our last day of the March and of this phase of the journey.
After having taken three days off schedule for a family emergency and for personal business, it took exactly 40 days and 40 nights to make it from Faneuil Hall in Boston to the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
There were about 20 people at the outset and the numbers grew at Union Station and, again at the final rally point across the street from the Archives. About 50 people turned out. I was surprised at the number of states represented. At least one person came from: New Mexico, California, Ohio, Maine, Vermont, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, plus D.C.
Sue Serpa, the coordinator of the Northeast Impeachment Coalition brought the Preamble to the Constitution, written on a canvas sheet that must have been 20 feet by 40 feet, that has been signed by hundreds if not thousands of people. Everyone added their mark before we headed off. It was very generous of Sue to arrange it for us. And it was most fitting since after the rally we would see the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights.
Thinking about the meaning of those documents and what it took for 13 small colonies, and then states to agree to write and defend them, was again to be reminded that we were the first intentional country. Each of those documents was a testament to the unacceptable abuse of power by a monarch, or other tyrant, but also to the wisdom of the founder's efforts to prevent such abuses from developing in the new nation. Each document was also a testament of the extraordinary faith the founders had in widespread participation in the decision making process: the House of Representatives is the first and foremost voice of the people.
We reached Union Station exactly on time and were met by the Bush and Cheney criminals being pursued by the pink police.
Onward to the last stop--the National Archives for a rally and visit to the foundation documents.
There as no chance for a rally outside the Archives. We learned that on arrival and should have suspected as much. The police were decent, though, and we managed to do what we needed to do across the street. In some ways it gave us more perspective because of the view. So we gathered. We said thanks. We talked about the Constitutional power of impeachment. David Swanson of AfterDowningStreet.org spoke about the reasons for impeachment and that we all need to bring attention to this issue, “We're nation of laws and the archives needs to be the number one choice for tourists to see the documents that outline our principles.” Ray McGovern, a former high ranking CIA intelligence analyst also said a few words about the war criminals convicted at Nuremberg for the supreme crime--the accumulation of so many devastating crimes that it amounts to an evil force. All of it began with manufactured intelligence that served the Bush/Cheney purposes without any basis in fact.
And then the rally was over. The march came to an end. We headed back across the street as regular tourists but as soon as we entered the building, those of us wearing any caps, t-shirts or ponchos with the message to impeach Bush/Cheney were sopped and ordered to remove the articles or leave.
Small matter, right? Just do it, right. Why get into a hassle?
Well, here we were attempting to see our Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence. All of these documents spelled out just why we engaged in a revolutionary war and what values we cherished and rights we guaranteed one another. In this very hall, was the document that proclaimed in the first amendment, “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Again, the irony was of no interest to the guards who ver jest vollowving oardurs. We made no move to organize ourselves, speak to others or create a scene of any kind. We were simply wearing clothing that had a message. Our signs were left outside.
No go.
Some took off their hats, like me, and absentmindedly put them back on. There in the rotunda of the great hall, with a copy of the actual Constitution proclaiming my rights as an American, a guard came over to me and said “Either remove your hat or you will be immediately escorted from the building.”
I removed my hat and asked him if he thought that it might be odd that in the presence of the Constitution he was asking me to remove my hat because of the message written on it. He simply said he was following orders and needed his job.
[My partner} Allyson, was somewhat less interested in dealing with this further evidence of the Bush/Cheney effort to order the elimination of dissent wherever possible. When she met the first set of guards with her poncho on, they told her she couldn't go in wearing it. And while they tried to explain that as a federal building no one could criticize the President, (a false statement), she decided that indeed she would not enter the building. As she explained later, “If I have lost my freedom of speech, why should I bother seeing the document that supposedly grants that freedom?”
Sue was wearing an impeachment t-shirt. They didn't notice until she was in the rotunda. A guard there noticed her and told her that she had to leave or cover up her shirt. She asked, “What about my first amendment rights, she asked.
The guard replied, “Shhh. Keep your voice down.” Since she couldn't borrow a jacket, out she went.
This was a remarkable experience because it was so obvious bias based on politics not public safety, decorum, or other need. While all dissenting messages are removed from Presidential appearances, (that no longer makes the news, either), this passive expression of opinion, common on the streets throughout the land, is now censored in public buildings of our nation's Capitol in the very room dedicated to honoring our right to free expression.
Onward to a restaurant-finally--a Greek Taverna where we had our last supper. There, we talked of other things. Erin came in from Baltimore but she and her husband got held up in traffic, missed the whole event, but managed to arrive in time to share the fun at the Archives before joining us in the restaurant. Deborah Vollmer was also with us to the end. She is a candidate for Congress in Maryland's 8th District in a contest with Chris Van Hollen. She stands on an immediate end to the war and is an impeachment supporter. Sounds good to me.
The organizers:
Lisa Moscatiello, Anita Burkam, Thomas Nephew, Bev Stanton and Michelle Bailey--thanks, guys. This was an amazing conclusion to phase one of my journey. Now that I am in D.C., the adventure continues with my pursuit of an appointment with Speaker Pelosi.
But there is more! I have an interview with the senior staff of the Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I will be hosted in the Cannon House Office Building in D.C. My Congressman, Peter Welch, made that a possibility. For that I thank him. Even though he doesn't (yet) support impeachment, he has been a gentleman and we have been able to disagree with mutual respect.
Holy moly. No more 12-15 miles a day. No more congested, polluted, near death experiences dodging trucks along U.S. Route 1. Now the tough work begins.
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