9-02-06, 9:02 am
Most of the activists were students from Decatur High School, and said they were with an informal student organization called SPAC, The Student Political Activism Club. Other participants included members of the International Action Center, World Can't Wait, and the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition.
SPAC has about 20 student members and its meetings are held in a social studies classroom after school, organizer Juan Cardoza-Oquendo, 16, a Junior at Decatur High School, told Atlanta Progressive News.
Many motorists passing by engaged in honking horns in support.
'It's exciting. Sometimes you forget behind all those cars are people drving them. It's symbolic,' Cardoza-Oquendo said.
Some nonsupportive motorists shouted homophobic slurs as well as 'Get a Job.'
'I have a job,' Kirstin Williams, 17, a Senior at Decatur High School, said. 'And if they're in their car driving by, then they're obviously not at work right now either.'
'I don't support the war. Their social policy is repugnant, cutting taxes when they shouldn't. To get votes. When there are so many problems at home, like levees in New Orleans, they're spending so much on risky and negative war,' Maggie Breen, 16, a Junior at Decatur High School, said.
'I thought this was a good way to confront people to get them to think about issues on their commute to and from work,' Breen said.
'It'd be difficult to get Bush impeached given the current Republican domination in the House and I'm not so sure Bush is going to do much more given his current approval ratings. It's the GOP as a whole that's the issue,' Breen said. . 'We started out two years ago. We organize activities in school and plug into activities happening all around Atlanta and Decatur,' Cardoza-Oquendo said.
'I think it's unique that high school students want to get involved. We don't find that everywhere. Since 2005, the 2nd anniversary of the Iraq war, we passed out black arm bands,' Cardoza-Oquendo said.
Impeachment 'is important because Bush has lied multiple times and he breached the rights of Americans with wiretapping. We're here to support the idea of change in the government,' Olivia Sedlack, 17, a Senior at Decatur High School, said.
'More and more young people are beginning to understand the extremity of what's going on. It's increasing in number. They're seeing their future go down the drain. Two years ago you wouldn't see as many young people out here,' Sedlack said.
Sedlack also added SPAC has in the past listed the dead American soldiers and their ages on a megaphone before school in the school parking lot.
Local activist David Humphrey circulated petitions from impeachforpeace.org and impeachpac.org, and has recently been asking people to directly petition members of Congress, particularly Reps. Conyers (D-MI) and Sensenbrenner (R-WI), to consider the impeachment of Bush.
'I think there's definitely a good case for impeachment. It's definitely the best way to go. It's peaceful. It's legal. It's constitutional. It should work. If it doesn't work, then we're really in trouble,' Humphrey said.
As reported previously in Atlanta Progressive News, US Rep. John Conyers has sponsored H. Res 635, with 36 co-sponsors. The bill would create a Select Committee to look into the grounds of impeaching Bush and would make recommendations accordingly.
Currently, the California Assembly is considering a vote to begin the process of forcing the consideration of Articles of Impeachment in the US House. Impeachment resolutions have been passed in many US cities.
From Atlanta Progressive News
--About the author: Matthew Cardinale is the News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News. He may be reached at
