Walking for Justice
This story has already garnered a lot of national attention, while here in New England it has become a source of pride for many...
By JOHN CURRAN
AP, Dec. 1, 2007
BRATTLEBORO, Vt. - John Nirenberg has waterproof sneakers, a bright yellow poncho and a plan. He also has outrage in his heart and much of his retirement savings tied up in his cause.
The 60-year-old author and academic plans to walk from Boston to Washington, D.C., to confront House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in hopes of persuading Congress to take up the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney....
He plans to hit the road Sunday, leaving from Faneuil Hall and walking 15 miles a day until he gets to Capitol Hill, stopping at the Statue of Liberty, Independence Hall and other symbolic locations as he makes his way to the U.S. Capitol.
Wearing a "Save the Constitution, Impeach Bush and Cheney," sandwich-board style sign, Nirenberg hopes to rally support for an issue Pelosi has said is no longer on the table.
"This is about satisfying my conscience. I just don't want to be the guy who says in five years that I regret not having stood up and said something.
"With a name like Nirenberg, you're very sensitive to that kind of environment," he said, referring to the post-World War II Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals.
Nirenberg, a New York native who was a member of the Civil Air Patrol as youth and later served in the U.S. Air Force, was a social studies teacher, college professor and organizational consultant. A former dean at the School for International Training, in Brattleboro, he has also written three books.
Wearing a "Save the Constitution, Impeach Bush and Cheney," sandwich-board style sign, Nirenberg hopes to rally support for an issue Pelosi has said is no longer on the table.
"This is about satisfying my conscience. I just don't want to be the guy who says in five years that I regret not having stood up and said something.
"With a name like Nirenberg, you're very sensitive to that kind of environment," he said, referring to the post-World War II Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals.
Nirenberg, a New York native who was a member of the Civil Air Patrol as youth and later served in the U.S. Air Force, was a social studies teacher, college professor and organizational consultant. A former dean at the School for International Training, in Brattleboro, he has also written three books.
In October, frustrated by what he sees as constitutional abuses by the Bush administration, Nirenberg decided to "activate my citizenship" and do something about it.
He settled on marching, set up a Web site and made cards, pencils and literature in support of his plan. He has accepted donations and plans to wear the names of his supporters on yellow 6-by-24-inch panels hanging off his body as traverses U.S. 1 through eight states and into the District of Columbia, walking six hours a day.
With one supporter riding along in a car and another occasionally walking with him, Nirenberg plans to stop for events with anti-war and impeachment advocates along the way.
Among them is Stuart Hutchison, 49, an actor and producer from Wayne, N.J., who is trying to organize a Statue of Liberty event with Nirenberg while he treks south.
"People like him are the real heroes," said Hutchison, an impeachment activist. "These are the people who are going to save this country...."
He settled on marching, set up a Web site and made cards, pencils and literature in support of his plan. He has accepted donations and plans to wear the names of his supporters on yellow 6-by-24-inch panels hanging off his body as traverses U.S. 1 through eight states and into the District of Columbia, walking six hours a day.
With one supporter riding along in a car and another occasionally walking with him, Nirenberg plans to stop for events with anti-war and impeachment advocates along the way.
Among them is Stuart Hutchison, 49, an actor and producer from Wayne, N.J., who is trying to organize a Statue of Liberty event with Nirenberg while he treks south.
"People like him are the real heroes," said Hutchison, an impeachment activist. "These are the people who are going to save this country...."
Stuart Hutchison is absolutely right on the money. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things, putting principles over their own private comfort. That was the spirit in which this country's democracy was founded, and that is the spirit in which it may be restored.
To learn more about John Nirenberg's journey visit his website: http://www.marchinmyname.org/
1 comment:
Thanks for bringing attention to John's historic walk! We're all rooting for him up here in Maine!!
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