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Posted: 1:54 PM- OLYMPIA, Wash. - Dubbing himself a "proud patriot," Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson took his by now well-known and well-honed Bush-bashing rhetoric to the other Washington - as in state - Thursday, accusing the president of undermining the Constitution, violating international law and leading an "outrageous, tragic war of aggression."
Anderson - who made headlines previously with fiery protest speeches against the commander in chief in the nation's and Utah's capital - was a featured speaker twice at an "impeach-Bush" rally at the Washington State Capitol in Olympia.
"As mayor of the capital city of the reddest state in the nation," said Anderson in prepared remarks released before his rally speech, "I am proud to join with millions of good, patriotic Americans who are standing up and willing to raise their voices against this madness."
Anderson went to the Northwest to testify in support of a Washington state resolution urging Congress to investigate and, possibly, impeach President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney - a monumental step the Salt Lake City mayor argues Congress must take. Anderson's appearance before the state Senate was set to take place later Thursday afternoon.
The resolution is seen as a long shot. Even so, Anderson tore into the Bush administration at the rally, which drew about 50 people, with all the gusto of a street preacher.
"We proudly say 'no' - we proudly shout 'no' - to the outrageous abuses of power, the violations of law and the heinous violations of human rights committed by George Bush and his administration." The mayor then invited his fellow demonstrators to shout "no" as he rattled off a litany of alleged abuses by the president, Congress, even the news media.
"Do we support the torture of fellow human beings?" he asked.
"Do we support an imperial president whose repeated, blatant, arrogant disregard for U.S. and international law has transformed our country into a pariah state among the community of nations? ...
"Do we support a complacent, complicit Congress so far unwilling to hold this president to account for his outrages?" Anderson asked.
"Do we stand for a centralized, corporate media that behave as if our newspapers and Fox News are no more than bulletin boards for unquestioned government propaganda?"
In his prepared remarks, Anderson then urged his listeners to say yes to "peace, the truth and accountability." Utah Republican leaders criticized the mayor's latest anti-Bush foray.
State GOP Chairwoman Enid Greene has called his allegations "embarrassing," arguing that they fall well short of the legal standard for impeachment.
Instead, Greene accused the Democratic Salt Lake City mayor of simply trying to "burnish" his liberal credentials.