EVEN THE MORMONS

By Horst Schafer

[This article published in: Ossietzsky, 4/29/2007 is translated from the German on the World Wide Web, www.linksnet.de/artikel.php.]

In the past, the president of the US and his vice could rely on one thing. In large parts of the Mormon state of Utah, little was heard about opinion polls where a convinced majority of US citizens reject the war policy of the White House and demand withdrawal from Iraq, about the Congressional election last November when George Bush and Dick Cheney’s republican party were repudiated, when hundreds of thousands took to the streets against the Iraq war and a threatened Iran invasion and demanded a large share of the US arms budget *at an inconceivable $630 billion) be better spent for development assistance, conservation, social benefits and reconstruction of New Orleans destroyed by hurricane Katrina in August 2005. The Mormon Orrin Hatch who has represented Utah for more than 30 years comes from here. Here the republicans won almost every election since Nixon. In 2004 Bush and Cheney gained 72 percent of the votes – more than any other state. This is the “friendliest territory” for Bush and Cheney, “Bush-land.” Every appearance is a home game.

That was the thinking in the White House. Then just before Easter vice-president Cheney was to speak at the end of April in Provo (86 percent Bush voters) near Salt Lake City at the annual commencement of the private Mormon Brigham Young University. The White House had invited itself, the media reported. In any case, the administration of the university that sought the president for last year’s commencement extended the official invitation to Dick Cheney.

Now the Mormons are no longer unanimously behind the war policy of their government in view of more than 3200 dead US soldiers and over 24,000 wounded. Referring to Cheney’s role as “war-mongerer,” students with their professors after the announcement of Cheney’s appearance gathered in a protest action with signs “Cheney kills our soldiers” and “Cheney is the teacher of our worst president ever.” A sign with a picture of Cheney and the president of the Mormon Church Gordon B. Hinckley was confiscated by the university’s security force. Within two weeks, 3600 current and former students and teachers signed a resolution demanding the retraction of the Vice-president’s invitation. While this is a minority of the 30,000 students, a US newspaper said the turning away of Mormons from President Bush was like the refusal of the Swiss Guard to show allegiance to the pope. Professor Warner Woodworth, one of the organizers of the action, reported he received many protest letters from students, parents and lecturers and declared: “We here are an institution of peace but he (Cheney) represents an institution of war, deception and absolute lies.”

Previously the mayor of Salt Lake City, Rocky Anderson, turned away from the Mormons and then from the US government. He reproached Bush for “serious crimes,” “incredible misuse of power,” “his role in atrocious violations of human rights” and breach of international treaties, the US constitution and US laws. As though that were not enough, he crowned his statements on CNN with the demand for an impeachment process for Bush. “If an impeachment process was ever justified, it is certainly justified in this case,” he said and was immediately branded by the media and conservative politicians as a polluter of the nest who damaged the reputation of Salt Lake City and of the president.

Even more trouble exists for opponents of the mayor and followers of the US president. The call for an impeachment process against the president has become louder all over the country, not only in Salt Lake City. Large actions suing Bush for crimes in office will occur on April 28, Impeachment Day, in all 50 states with the support of a growing group of senators and congressional representatives. If the Democratic Party with its majority in congress joined in, George Bush would not be in the White House any more. However the democrats have not followed the will of the majority of US citizens both on the Iraq war and the impeachment process connected with that war. According to Gallup polls, 60 percent of US citizens are against the war.

The warning voices should be heard… The vice-president should be included in the impeachment process. Thus the demand of demonstrators on April 28 and two days before at Cheney’s planned appearance at the Mormon university in Utah reverberated: “Impeach Bush and Cheney.”