Thom's Word...: Gloom for Blum

Earl Blumenauer stands up for impeachment!

Just kidding...
[See also: Blumenauer peace vigil Week 9 / Week 10]

While Oregon congressman Earl Blumenauer's aides waited outside for the Hollywood Theater to open its doors for their boss's forum on "Peace and Accountability," impeachment supporters were already gathering, hoping for their long awaited opportunity to finally address their representative and encourage him to support the impeachment process.

Although a previous supporter (and fair to say "fan") of Blumenauer, he lost me when he stopped telling the truth. This "forum" was promised a month ago and confirmed to many. Blumenauer thought he could renege and nobody would care. (I mean who else are you going to vote for in May, and then the General?) It wasn't until Blumenauer's aides were confronted at his closed door conference with Pelosi that a September date was set.

The "Peace" part of the forum came in the form of an oversize petition declaring peace in Iraq which the congressman eagerly signed. Not known was if George W. Bush was waiting in the wings with an oversize veto pen.

The "Accountability" part of the forum was a piece of fiction bigger than Blumenauer's fake form. There was no dialog at this event. Our Representative was simply goaded into an hour or so of listening to most of the constituents who signed up to speak their 2-minutes worth of mind. The overwhelming majority of comments supported pushing forward with impeachment.

One community member who addressed the crowd was Portland attorney John Bradach Sr. whose nephew Travis Bradach-Nall was killed in Iraq after the toppling of the Saddam regime. Travis, a 21 year old Marine Corps corporal. He volunteered to stay in Iraq an extra three months to help clear mines. Looking on were John's brother James, a Portland longshoreman and their sister Lynn, Travis's mom.

At the end of the forum, Blumenauer responded by saying we all should look for good news soon regarding the lawless military contractors and the Iraqi refugee crisis. When he rose without saying ANYTHING about impeachment, the crowd became raucous. He then blurted something about his previous statements, blah, blah.

I had asked him about his statement earlier this month on KPOJ.

And one of the things that concerned me was the notion that it wasn't quote "on the table" at this moment. Somebody at some point said the phrase quote "off the table" - I wanted to clarify it...

I called him out for pretending not to know who started the "rumor" that impeachment's off the table. I reminded him of this story (from the Washington Post):

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told her caucus members during their weekly closed meeting Wednesday "that impeachment is off the table; she is not interested in pursuing it," spokesman Brendan Daly said. [Friday, May 12, 2006]

Blumenauer isn't telling us the truth on impeachment. His recent statements that impeachment should now be on the table (coordinated after the August break with other chastised congressmen) along with his hollow call for "investigations" is just a stalling tactic. He has promised Pelosi he won't support impeachment. In exchange he's already gotten a new office with a splendid view of the Capitol dome. He's not running for the Senate because he's holding out for that long awaited Committee chairmanship.

Make me a liar, Earl. Do your duty and hold Bush, Cheney & Co. accountable.