Tom Vilsack goes out with a bang.

by: Kagro X

Thu Jan 11, 2007 at 12:50:38 PM EST

Departing Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack used his final Condition of the State speech Tuesday to condemn the Bush administration's plan to send as many as 20,000 additional troops to Iraq.

"Now the president and the Congress are poised to make a big mistake even bigger," the Democrat seeking the 2008 presidential nomination told a joint session of the Iowa Legislature. "Understand that escalation will come at the expense of families and communities here in Iowa and across the nation."

Vilsack also urged the Legislature, with new Democratic majorities in both houses, to pass resolutions condemning Bush's plan.

An interesting approach, don't you think? And it reminds me of a little something we saw up in Vermont last year:

A formal resolution introduced late Tuesday in the state Legislature calling on Congress to draft articles of impeachment against Pres. George W. Bush has been sent to the House Judiciary Committee for review.

Rep. Dave Zuckerman, P-Burlington, the lead sponsor of the measure, was joined by 23 of his colleagues, all Progressives and Democrats except for one independent.

There were, of course, all kinds of gripes about that. It came too late in the session. The legislature was too busy with health care. It was a federal issue, not a state one.

Of course, anyone who remembers the Vermont legislature's action on the USA PATRIOT Act knows that the last one's simply a canard.

But even better, we now have a very moderate, Mid-western presidential candidate calling for yet more state legislative involvement in federal policy. It's not just for Crazy Hippies(TM) anymore!

And what's more, Vilsack validates even more of the Vermont agenda:

Vilsack called on communities across America to pass a resolution opposing the troop increase. Bush's plan, he said, "will make his big Iraq mistake even bigger."

As we all know, Dan DeWalt made headlines literally around the world last year with his resolution at the Newfane Town Meeting. This year, he's leading the charge again. And he's bringing back-up:

DeWalt, a member of the Newfane Selectboard, kicked off a statewide chain reaction last March when he successfully urged passage of a town meeting resolution supporting Bush's impeachment on the claim he mislead the country into war.

Inspired by Newfane's lead, five other Vermont towns followed suit the same day. And now up to 40 towns in the state will likely face a similar question at town meeting in 2007 if a grassroots effort organized by DeWalt is successful.

Are you collecting signatures? Are you facing resistance? Are you being told that your town "has no business" meddling in federal affairs?

Point the doubters to Tom Vilsack. And send them to his presidential campaign's web site, where he's got an online toolkit for people to take his issue to their local governments, all across America.

If he can do it, why can't you?