December 12, 2007

John Nirenberg

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It's a blustery winter in the Northeast, the time when most people seek the warmth of heated homes or buildings. But not for John Nirenberg, 60.

"On his own," a BuzzFlash reader writes, "with no party affiliation or financial backing, one man and one cell phone, John Nirenberg is walking from Boston, Massachusetts to Nancy Pelosi's office in Washington, DC. He is calling for the impeachment of George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney for high crimes and misdemeanors, gathering signatures and small contributions as he walks, 15 miles a day."

On his Web site, where you can follow his walk, Nirenberg tells us simply this:

I am not an activist. The defense of the Constitution isn't ideological. I march because it is essential to stand up to this shame. I march also because I am fortunate enough to do so. I march for everyone uncomfortable with movements, organizers and radicals, but who understand the dire straights (sic) we're in. This is about saving our Constitution. This is about restoring the promise of America. This is about doing what I can as a citizen. This is about shaking the Congressional leadership out of their complacency so that they, too, see the urgency and the importance of their action to right a host of perilous wrongs perpetrated by Bush and Cheney.

Finally, I need to walk because as a citizen, it is all I can think to do that demonstrates how important this is to me. I can't sit back any longer satisfied with my outrage. It isn't enough. So I am doing this for me and, I hope, for you.
As we learn that top Democratic leaders sat quietly as they were told about the administration's plans for torture, America is in need of heroes. Nirenberg isn't seeking such status, but he fits the bill. Braving snowstorms, freezing weather, and car slush on behalf of the Bill of Rights is much, much more than we get from our elected officials in D.C.

Nirenberg reminds us of the stuff that true patriots are made of. He told the Providence Journal as he walked through that city, "The decision to walk from Faneuil Hall in Boston to Pelosi's office in Washington shows, he says, 'a citizen awakened from complacency.'"

Citizens such as Nirenberg serve to remind us of what a determined soul can do on behalf of freedom. For that, John Nirenberg more than deserves this week's BuzzFlash Wings of Justice Award.

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Nominated by Wendy Newton of Northampton, MA.


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