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Coalition Plans to Protest Bush in Charlottesville
Submitted by davidswanson on Thu, 2008-07-03 07:15.
Impeachment
NOTE: THIS COALITION DOES NOT INCLUDE CCPJ
Update: RVA for Peace, a group from Richmond, is part of this effort.
A growing coalition of groups and individuals plans to protest President George W. Bush's Fourth of July visit to Charlottesville on Friday. Participating organizations include the Augusta Center for Peace and Justice, CODE PINK Women for Peace both National and Charlottesville, AfterDowningStreet, Democrats.com, and Charlottesville MoveOn.org. Many other people expected to participate are not members of any of these groups.
The protest will take place at Route 20, outside and a ways removed from the grounds of Monticello. Participants will gather at 7 a.m. at Quarry Park, the entrance to which is on the west side of Rt. 20 just north of Interstate 64.
Organizers of the protest are drawing a connection between the charges found in the Declaration of Independence and the abuses of power in which the current president has engaged.
CoFounder of CODE PINK nationally, and Virginia resident Gael Murphy remarked, "The only spirit George W. Bush can evoke on Independence Day at Monticello is that of King George, III."
Allen Layman, President of the UE 160-Virginia Public Service Workers Union and member of the Augusta Coalition for Peace and Justice, said "If anything is apparent over the last 7 years of this President and his administration, it is their arrogance and utter disregard for the Constitutional rights of every American and their disrespect of other nations."
Organizers made clear they are not protesting the naturalization of new citizens at Monticello, but rather the policies, crimes, and impeachable offenses of the guest speaker.
Local Charlottesville MoveOn.Org member Marianne Votaw wondered, "Why would Bush even WANT to speak at a naturalization ceremony, since he is outspokenly against immigration anyway?"
Sarah Lanzman, a local concerned citizen added her personal perspective: "My parents are naturalized citizens, and therefore I feel a responsibility to speak out against a criminal president and know that my parents would be proud."
David Swanson, CoFounder of AfterDowningStreet and Washington Director of Democrats.com said, "It is important for future presidents to know that a president who routinely violates the law and our basic rights is not welcome in our towns and cities. It is important for the world to see that the American people do not approve of the war crimes committed by this president."
Linda Lisanti of Charlottesville CODE PINK said, "Sister Unite to Give Bush the Pink Slip!"
Naturalizatio Ceremony
Submitted by javaguy on Fri, 2008-07-04 16:26.
I wanted to thank Code Pink and company for ruining my families morning at Monticello. Obviously your right to free speech supersedes my right to listen to a speech. I spent over two hours waiting to get tickets to the ceremony. Myself and my family spent another three hours waiting for the event to begin, only to have it ruined by your rude interruptions. Your self-serving protests did nothing to change anyones mind and served to make your so called peace movement(more of a hate Bush Movement) look foolish. You accomplished nothing and only succeeded in ruining everyone else's morning. But again the only rights that you are concerned with are yours, the hell with anyone else's. By the way the "person" yelling that we live in a police state has no clue. No protesters were even arrested.
My opinion FWIW
Submitted by davidswanson on Mon, 2008-07-07 10:22.
is not that someone's right to speak at that event outweighed someone's desire that nobody speak at that event
my contention is that the right of Iraqis and US troops not to be killed outweighs that desire
while we shocked and disappointed, we gave nobody PTSD, cut off no limbs, packed nobody in a box
My rights
Submitted by javaguy on Mon, 2008-07-07 19:01.
were still violated by the protesters. My next question is how many lives did you save? How much sooner will the troops come home? Did your protests accomplish anything besides self satisfaction? I dare say not. Nobody's minds were changed, the only thing you accomplished was to piss people off and make it harder for them to see your side.
I thought that the group of protesters down on Rt. 20 was sufficient to get your point across. That was a group I had respect for, if not agreement with.
The world heard as much about them
Submitted by davidswanson on Mon, 2008-07-07 20:42.
as about the protest of Cheney in Boston
What protest of Cheney in Boston?
Exactly
Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice