Please come to DC on September 24th. On that day, tens of thousands of Americans will gather in their nation's capitol. Their demand - To end the war against Iraq. To bring our troops home now - safe and alive. To change our nation's priorities - away from spending trillions on war, death and destruction.
If Hurricane Kristina did nothing else, it illuminated in the most dramatic fashion the existence of two Americas in a way that dry statistics on poverty could never do. The misleaders of our government - the Bush Administration - that collection of illegitimate, un-elected, parasitical, oil-coated billionaires - fiddled while a great and historic American city burned and sank. The people of New Orleans were the tragic victims of the vitriolic neo-con hatred of government, a bunch of right-wing idealogues who, for years, have been the sworn enemies of the notion that government exists to serve the people. And so, when government was most needed, Bush played his guitar and avoided getting his feet wet as people slowly died. As he said the week before, when asked why he was avoiding Gold Star mom, Cindy Sheehan - "I have to get on with my life." Pathetic, no?
While Kristina was one of the biggest disasters to hit our country, there is one that has been even bigger and more dangerous and destructive ... and that is the Bush Administration, itself. The germ-ridden and poison-filled waters that have drowned the great city of New Orleans will recede in the days and weeks ahead. But the filthy stench of racism and contempt for poor and working people that emanates from the Bush White House and the Republican-controlled Congress grows day by day and hangs heavily over our country and people as the ominous threat to our collective well-being that it is.
The media finally gets it right!
I have been out on the streets of my neighborhood with friends, setting up a table and handing out flyers. My goal? - to promote the national day of protest - a grand peace march that is scheduled for Saturday, September 24th in Washington DC. This is certainly not the time to give in to feelings of disillusionment or despair. The majority of our people now oppose this war and want our troops to begin coming home. Despite the despicable silence of the Democratic party, we, the people, dare not remain quiet or inactive. As they say: "If the people lead, then the leaders will follow." The peace movement can and must move beyond the hundreds of thousands into the millions and become a massive movment of all the American people to still the hand of Bush and his oily minions.
My friend Bob at the peace table at Flatbush Avenue and Sterling Place.
Buttons, flyers, bus tickets and lots of contributions from neighborhood peple.
Busses leave from all over the country. Here, in New York, round trip tickets are available from United For Peace And Justice (www.unitedforpeace.org). In Brooklyn, from Brooklyn Parents For Peace (www.brooklynpeace.org). If you've never been on a peace march or if it's been a long time -- this is the time to get active again.
Don't sit home and be an observer. Be part of history! Get your tickets now. See you in Washington on September 24.
