Anne Kass: My Take on Friday's NM Impeachment Hearing in Senate Rules

This is a post by our sometimes guest blogger, Anne Kass:
The room was packed by 8:30 AM even though the Resolution was not scheduled to be heard until 9:00.  Not only was the hearing room packed, SRO, but the hall outside was as well.  A second sign-up sheet for those who wanted to make public comments was circulated in the hall.  Shortly after 9:30 Senator McSorley noted that Senator Altamirano would need to leave at 10 to chair the Senate as a whole, which would make the committee lose its quorum so the comments were stopped to allow the Committee Members make remarks and vote. 

Senator Altamirano spoke first, and he spoke the longest--more than 10 minutes even though the citizens had been asked to keep their comments to 2 minutes or less.  Most of what he had to say was about how he had been wrongly accused, "by a man who is active in many beneficial civic matters" of giving the Resolution three committee assignments with the intent to defeat it, when he had not done so.  He mentioned phone calls to his office, and he also noted that he had been informed of a plan to picket his house.  He suggested that some people needed to take Lobbying 101 (perhaps to learn how to behave in a more sycophantic manner?) and how all this untoward behavior directed at him had nearly persuaded him to vote against the Resolution, BUT because he has consistently opposed what President Bush has done, he voted in favor of the Resolution. 

The rest of the Committee Members spoke eloquently about the Resolution itself.  Senator McSorley noted that when John Adams was President, early 1800s, there were people in Congress, I think, who wanted to go to war with France.  That was stopped by actions that started in the States.  Senator McSorley noted that this century it was up to us to stop a war.  Senators Lopez and Feldman were equally compelling and eloquent in their support of the Resolution and their appreciation to Senators Ortiz y Pino and Grubesic for having the courage to initiate this action. 

After the vote in favor of the Resolution of 5-0, Senator Altamirano left, but the rest of the Committee stayed to take additional public comments until 10:30, when they were summoned to the Senate as a whole. There were still people present who had come to go on the record to impeach Bush and Cheney. In all, 2 to 3 dozen citizens spoke, each with a variation on the theme.   

There were, of course, many more present who did not speak. Some brought children so they could see that grown-ups cared. A couple of teenagers spoke saying this public participation gave them hope.  One man spoke whose son is shipping out to Iraq tomorrow. Veterans from WWII, Korea, Viet Nam and Gulf I spoke. A naturalized citizen who had been born and lived in Nazi occupied Denmark spoke about how she had been warned to be careful about speaking out at this hearing, which took her back to another time and place. A man spoke noting that he was from Republican Carlsbad, I think it was. 

People spoke with passion. One thing was made clear. This was not a "publicity stunt" by Senators Ortiz y Pino and Grubesic. There were lots of press present. No one signed up to speak in opposition, and no one requested to speak from the audience in opposition, perhaps because the opposition all boycotted the hearing, rather like sticking their fingers in their ears, covering their eyes and mumbling la, la, la, la, as most of us must have done before we grew up.

All in all, it was an exhilarating experience to see so many citizens who said that they considered it to be their responsibility to speak out, unlike--as one speaker noted--the "good Germans" who, after the war, wrung their hands and whined "what were we to do?"

So, now it's on to hearings in Senate Public Affairs and Senate Judiciary...when exactly remains TBA. --Guest Blogger Anne Kass

Editor's Notes: You can read the statement Anne gave at the hearing towards the end of our earlier post.

Here's an Impeachment Channel audio interview with Desi Brown, legislative aide to Sen. Ortiz y Pino, on what happened at Friday's Senate Rules Committee hearing on SJR 5, and what comes next.

You can also listen to a podcast of Eric Griego of the radio show Insight New Mexico interviewing Sen. Ortiz y Pino on a recent broadcast.

If you'd like to submit a post for consideration as a DFNM guest blog, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link on the upper left-hand corner of our main page.