Activism

Graphic by Melinda Hoehn

PDF.

Get a kit to make a sign like this one:

By Mike Hersh

ClearChannel loves to pick on people, especially women. Remember they attacked the Dixie Chicks? They even tried to get me to remove an article from my website about their efforts to backlist the Dixie Chicks by sending me an email threatening a lawsuit. Anyway, this is the latest I have on it:

On 8/10/2005 3:52:38 PM, sanjoselady@aol.com wrote:
Clear Channel will be hosting a "Pro Bush/Anti-Sheehan barbecue this
weekend, they have invited the soldiers from Ft. Hood show up and tell
Cindy how she should be ashamed:

There is a diary on this whole thing on DailyKos:

DEMAND THAT BUSH MEET WITH CINDY!

Cindy Sheehan of Gold Star Families for Peace, is waiting for George Bush to come out of his Crawford,Texas vacation home to explain what is the "noble cause" her son died for! She has been holding a vigil outside the Bush ranch since Saturday, August 6,to demand an explanation now and to insist that the only way to honor the sacrifices of the veterans is to bring the troops home NOW!

Please join the Hip Hop Caucus, partnering with Clergy and Laity Concerned about Iraq, Code Pink, Progressive Democrats of America, United for Peace and Justice, UP (United Progressives) for Democracy, and other allies:

Institute for Public Accuracy

President Bush is currently on vacation in Crawford, Texas. Cindy Sheehan, co-founder of the group Gold Star Families for Peace, is the mother of Casey Sheehan, a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq. She is currently in Dallas and will be going to Crawford on Saturday morning (expected to arrive there at 11 a.m. Saturday local time). She will be joined by others, including veterans of the war in Iraq.

CINDY SHEEHAN, scindy121@aol.com
http://www.gsfp.org
Sheehan said today: "George Bush recently said, speaking about the dreadful loss of life in Iraq in August: 'We have to honor the sacrifices of the fallen by completing the mission,' and 'The families of the fallen can be assured that they died for a noble cause.' We want our loved ones' sacrifices to be honored by bringing our nation's sons and daughters home from the travesty that is the Iraq war immediately, since this war is based on horrendous lies and deceptions. Just because our children are dead, why would we want any more families to suffer the same pain and devastation that we are. ... We are determined to stay until we get answers from George Bush. We deserve and expect him to welcome us with answers as to why our loved ones are dead."

Can you spare a half an hour to meet with your congress member, together with some of your friends and allies, and ask him or her to co-sponsor the Resolution of Inquiry? Democracy for America has set up this events system to help you do so.

CODE PINK

Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq, is holding vigil in Crawford, Texas until she gets a meeting with George Bush. She has some simple questions to ask him: “Why did you kill my son? What did my son die for? If the cause is so noble, why don’t you send your twins?

Kevin Spidel, Political Director of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), reports from the Young Democrats of America convention in San Francisco that, at the urging of PDA, the Young Democrats have passed a resolution supporting H R 375, the Resolution of Inquiry into Bush Administration communications about Iraq in 2002, as well as passing a resolution calling for an end to the occupation of Iraq.

Link to original

Mother Takes Protest to Bush's Ranch

By RICHARD W. STEVENSON
Published: August 7, 2005

CRAWFORD, Texas, Aug. 6 - The mother of an American soldier killed in Iraq led a protest march on President Bush's ranch here on Saturday, prompting the White House to send two senior officials to meet her after she was blocked by the authorities from approaching Mr. Bush's home.
Skip to next paragraph

The mother, Cindy Sheehan, who has made regular public appearances in opposition to the war, was accompanied by several dozen chanting antiwar activists, including other parents who had lost children to the war, as she walked down a country road toward Mr. Bush's ranch. About five miles from the ranch, they were met by the local police, who barred them from getting any closer. Ms. Sheehan said she would remain as close as possible until Mr. Bush agreed to see her.

The protests in Crawford, Texas led by Cindy Sheehan are currently the top U.S. story on Google News:

...and on AOL:

Cindy Sheehan called After Downing Street moments ago at 10 p.m. ET to report that the Secret Service is trying to intimidate her and members of Gold Star Families for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Veterans for Peace into leaving their protest near President Bush's Crawford, Texas ranch.

This morning Cindy led dozens of protesters as close as they could get to the ranch; they were stopped by local police about five miles away. Cindy and others plan to stay there throughout Bush's five-week August vacation until he agrees to meet with her and other family members of soldiers killed in Iraq and answer their questions about the war.

NY Bri of Daily Kos on Gold Star Families Protest

Link to original

Letter from Celeste Zappala RE: Cindy

by NYBri
Sat Aug 6th, 2005 at 14:42:27 PDT

I have received the following email from Celeste Zappala, co-founder of Gold Star Families for Peace. She asked that I post it on Dailykos and to thank everyone for their support.

I have just spoken to Cindy Sheehan at 5:05 pm. Her message:

"Today is the begining of the end of the occupation of Iraq." She is feeling strong, people have been bringing her food and water. The police have been polite. She has decided to stay on the Prairie Chapel Road, which is one mile from the Ranch, until George Bush meets with her and tells the truth. She invites anyone who can to join her during the month of August for as long as they can. She urges them to bring camping gear. Also, there are two caravans coming in from Louisiana and from Dayton, Ohio now.

Mom of Slain Soldier Stages Bush Protest

Saturday August 6, 2005 8:31 PM
By DEB RIECHMANN
Associated Press Writer

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - The angry mother of a fallen U.S. soldier staged a protest near President Bush's ranch on Saturday, demanding an accounting from the president of how he has conducted the war in Iraq.

Supported by more than 50 shouting demonstrators, Cindy Sheehan, 48, told reporters, "I want to ask George Bush: Why did my son die?"

Sheehan arrived in Crawford aboard a bus painted red, white and blue and emblazoned with the words, "Impeachment Tour."

Her son, Casey, 24, was killed in Sadr City, Iraq, on April 4, 2004. He was an Army specialist, a Humvee mechanic.

Cindy Sheehan, Co-Founder of Gold Star Families for Peace, and mother of a soldier killed in action in Iraq, plans to confront President Bush with questions at his Crawford ranch on Saturday morning, August 6, 11 a.m. CT. Accompanying Sheehan will be members of Veteran's for Peace (VFP), Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), CODE PINK, and Crawford Peace House, all members or allies of the AfterDowningStreet.org Coalition.

SEE FULL RELEASE

CONTACT THE MEDIA
They all have reporters already in Crawford with very little to do. Ask them politely to cover this story.

Cindy Sheehan, Co-Founder of Gold Star Families for Peace, and mother of a soldier killed in action in Iraq, plans to confront President Bush with questions at his Crawford ranch on Saturday morning, August 6, 11 a.m. CT. Accompanying Sheehan will be members of Veteran's for Peace (VFP), Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), CODE PINK, and Crawford Peace House, all members or allies of the AfterDowningStreet.org Coalition.

On Wednesday, Bush said (speaking about the dreadful loss of life in Iraq in August): "We have to honor the sacrifices of the fallen by completing the mission." and "The families of the fallen can be assured that they died for a noble cause."

Remember When Network Anchors Used to Report Stories on Location?
Ask these new models to go to Crawford:

Click Them!

Send a letter to the editor about Cindy Sheehan here or here.

Please ask these media outlets to cover military families and veterans seeking to ask Bush for answers in Crawford:

Institute for Public Accuracy

President Bush is currently on vacation in Crawford, Texas. Cindy Sheehan, co-founder of the group Gold Star Families for Peace, is the mother of Casey Sheehan, a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq. She is currently in Dallas and will be going to Crawford on Saturday morning (expected to arrive there at 11 a.m. Saturday local time). She will be joined by others, including veterans of the war in Iraq.

CINDY SHEEHAN, scindy121@aol.com
http://www.gsfp.org
Sheehan said today: "George Bush recently said, speaking about the dreadful loss of life in Iraq in August: 'We have to honor the sacrifices of the fallen by completing the mission,' and 'The families of the fallen can be assured that they died for a noble cause.' We want our loved ones' sacrifices to be honored by bringing our nation's sons and daughters home from the travesty that is the Iraq war immediately, since this war is based on horrendous lies and deceptions. Just because our children are dead, why would we want any more families to suffer the same pain and devastation that we are. ... We are determined to stay until we get answers from George Bush. We deserve and expect him to welcome us with answers as to why our loved ones are dead."

Get a button like this one from Brian H. Mack, who designed this image and who is sending a portion of the profits to AfterDowningStreet.org.

By Steve Cobble
Huffington Post

Ms. Heinz, let me be blunt. It's time for justice.

I'm going to suggest an idea that Bush/Cheney/Rove will hate. That alone should make this post worth reading, shouldn't it?

One year ago tomorrow, August 5th, the sleazy Swift Boat crowd ran their first attack ad on your husband.

Without benefit of fact or first-hand knowledge, and despite the protests of the men who actually served on John Kerry's boat, these sleazeballs took one of the proudest moments of your husband's life and turned it into a smear, a negative, a lie.

That, of course, was their goal. They were running point for the White House, the lead blockers, the mudslingers hoping that if they threw enough pond scum around, something would stick. It worked.

George Bush said speaking about the dreadful loss of life in Iraq in August: (08/03/05): "We have to honor the sacrifices of the fallen by completing the mission." "The families of the fallen can be assured that they died for a noble cause."

In reaction to these two assinine and hurtful statements, members of Gold Star Families for Peace (GSFP) are going to George's vacation home in Crawford, Tx this Saturday, August 6th at 11:00 am to confront him on these two statements.

1) We want our loved ones sacrifices to be honored by bringing our nation's sons and daughters home from the travesty that is Iraq IMMEDIATELY, since this war is based on horrendous lies and deceptions. Just because our children are dead, why would we want any more families to suffer the same pain and devastation that we are.

DFA (Democracy for America) Meetups all over the country tonight helped organize meetings with Congress Members in their districts during August to ask them to Co-Sponsor H. Res. 375.

In this photo, Ven Neralla, Legislative Director for Congresswoman Barbara Lee, explains the Resolution of Inquiry to a MeetUp in Washington, D.C.

Neralla also announced that there are now 42 supporters of the Resolution, Lee plus 41 co-sponsors. The latest addition, thanks to the lobbying of our coalition members out in Washington state, is Congressman Adam Smith.

DFA activists in Washington, D.C., who HAVE NO VOTING REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS, will be setting up a meeting with non-voting representative Delegate Eleanor Holmes-Norton, to ask her to co-sponsor.

Learn more.

Cindy Sheehan, Co-Founder of Gold Star Families for Peace, is continuing to press with passion the cause of holding accountable the man who sent her son to die in Iraq for a lie. Cindy sent a note to friends this evening saying "We can relax now. From the war zone of Crawford, Texas, George said that we families of loved ones that have been killed in Iraq can: 'rest assured that your loved ones died for a noble cause.'"

Cindy went on to say that she plans to be in Dallas this coming weekend for the Veterans For Peace convention, and that she is going to go to the Crawford ranch, "and I don't care how far Crawford is from Dallas....I will not leave until he explains to me exactly what the noble cause is....It has to stop. The time is now. I mean it."

Lone Star Iconoclast
By Nathan Diebenow, Associate Editor

AUSTIN — The former ambassador to Afghanistan, Ann Wright, called on U.S. federal employees to leak more secret memos on the lead-up to the war in Iraq like Downing Street memos uncovered by the British press this last May.

“It seems like the British government is leaking like a sieve. We need to get our own U.S. government colleagues to be leaking like a sieve,

"Authorized by a presidential finding signed by President Bush in February or March 2002, the Scorpions were part of a policy of "regime change" in Iraq. The covert members, many of whom were exiles recruited by the Kurds, were trained in target identification, explosives and small arms at two secret bases in Jordan, according to one U.S. government official."

Why does this line up with Blair's visit to the ranch and agreement to help attack Iraq?
Why does this line up with Cheney's beginning to lie about nuclear weapons programs in Iraq?
...with the military telling Sen. Graham that troops were being moved to Iraq for a war?

During the 2004 Presidential Race, John Kerry was called naive. I started to notice this in the emails sent over his mailing list since the election. The most glaring example has been his Fire Rove campaign. Clearly Kerry has lost his focus on the big picture, because Rove shouldn't be the only one fired. It should be Bush, Cheney, and all of their top advisers.

In 2003 Bush called for war on Iraq because Saddam Hussein was supposedly developing and/or possessed weapons of mass destruction. After toppling Saddam zero weapons of mass destruction were found, which matched up with what the United Nations' inspectors had said prior to the invasion.

FROM: Marilyn Katz, Chicagoans Against War and Injustice, 312-822-0505, mkatz@mkcpr.com

RESOLUTION TO WITHDRAW FROM IRAQ INTRODUCED TO CHICAGO CITY COUNCIL
Over 40 of 50 Alderman Already Supportive

Citing the failure of the Bush Administration to substantiate their basis for going to war and the rising cost of the war in Iraq in terms of both lives and dollars, Chicago Aldermen Helen Shiller, Freddrena Lyle and Gene Schulter today introduced a resolution into the ChicagoCity Council calling on the 'United States government to immediately commence an orderly and rapid withdrawal of United States military personnel from Iraq to prevent further casualties, both American and Iraqi, resulting from a misguided and unjustified war.'

By Cindy Sheehan

One very positive aspect of my public anti-war, pro-peace stance is that it has put me in contact with so many people all over the world. I believe that my willingness to share my heart and tragic story (and in the process, tell the truth) helps people open up to me in ways that they cannot do with another. In the past few days, I have been bombarded with horror stories about what our government is doing to innocent Americans.

I was driving from one event to another the other day, and I got a call from an Iranian woman who is now a citizen of the United States, and who has been in the US for 30 years, is married to an American, has a 5 year old son, and a brother who has been in prison for 9 months for wanting to serve America.

Here's a Guide to Visiting Your Congress Member

MEET WITH CONGRESSMEMBERS THIS MONTH
The Resolution of Inquiry, H. Res. 375, now has 40 co-sponsors, and we have the month of August in which to raise that total. If passed, the Resolution will require the White House and the State Department to turn over all information related to communication with officials of the UK between January and October of 2002, the period of the Downing Street documents.

Both progressives and moderates are among the 40 already co-sponsoring. Many more congress members will co-sponsor if a group of their constituents schedules a meeting with them at their district office, while they're home for the month of August, and asks them. All the information you need to do so is here.

ATTEND AUGUST 3rd MEETUPS TO PLAN
Democracy for America (DFA) has organized its members to schedule at least 67 meetings with congress members during August in at least 26 states (AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, IA, IL, KS, MA, MD, MI, MO, MS, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TX, VT, WI). These meetings will focus on requesting hearings on the Downing Street Memos and whether the President misled us into war. One particular request will be that each congress member co-sponsor H. Res. 375.

To get involved with one of these or to organize an additional meeting in your congressional district, attend your local DFA Meetup tomorrow evening, Wednesday, August 3.