I wish I could be with my friends. Survival in today's society doesn't allow me that option. I hope many show up, hold up signs and tell the King his days are numbered.
May PEACE be inside ALL of us,
Cindy
Turn up the Heat Campaign
George Bush can't hide from anti-war protests
Secret Service tries to run interference for Bush
New London, CT - Wed, May 23 - Be at Tampa & Mohegan Ave. by 9:00 am!
Momentum is building for the Wednesday, May 23 Protest Bush Rally at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, where President Bush is the commencement speaker. People will be gathering at 9:00 am at the main gate at Tampa and Mohegan Ave.
Contingents are coming from Hartford, New Haven, New York City, Willimantic, Mystic, Boston, Cape Cod, New Paltz, NY, Portland, ME, and many other cities and towns. Iraq war veterans, military & family members, other veterans, the Arab American & Muslim community, students & youth, and many others will be speaking at the rally (see below for a partial speakers list).
Today (Monday), the ImpeachBush.org movement led by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark ran an ad in the Hartford Courant announcing that the impeachment and anti-war movements have joined forces for the May 23 Protest Bush Rally. The Courant is read by more than 200,000 people throughout Connecticut and New England.
This has been a tremendous mobilization. We couldn't have done it without your help. If you cannot attend but can help by making a financial contribution, click this link to make a tax-deductible donation or learn how to send a check.
Knowing full well that opposition to the war is increasing and that many organizations and communities are coming to New London, Connecticut on May 23, the Bush administration is hoping to sanitize the area so that anti-Bush, anti-war and pro-impeachment signs are not visible. The Secret Service is functioning as the private political security for the Bush administration and using "national security" as the pretext once again to attempt to banish dissent from the USCGA.
We have seen the Bush administration use this tactic before. During the 2004 election campaign, security was used as a pretext to evict anyone with anti-Bush buttons, t-shirts or signs from campaign rallies. At the Republican National Convention in August 2004, the government attempted to banish mass protest from midtown Manhattan. And then at the inauguration in January 2005, the Bush administration tried to keep dissent off of the inaugural route.
But on all of these occasions we challenged violations of our First Amendment rights, and we succeeded. Protests were held along the campaign trail, right outside of the RNC and on the inaugural route. In every instance, "security" is used to cover the reality: Bush is afraid of the political embarrassment of anti-war protesters being everywhere that he is because he knows that opposition to the war only continues to grow.
Now, the government is attempting to use national security as a pretext to avoid the political embarrassment of large numbers of people holding up antiwar signs and banners directly in front of the Coast Guard Academy grounds. On Friday, the Secret Service decided that the area that has a direct view of the USCGA would be off limits to anti-war demonstrators. They also announced that roads throughout the area - including the I-95 Gold Star bridge used to travel into New London from the north and the I-95 north route over the bridge - will be shut down mid-morning, thus trying to limit people's ability to access the other permitted area by car and possibly by foot.
The government would happily give people a permit to be anywhere other than right outside of the USCGA. We must not be diverted. We can defeat their attempt to banish visible dissent because we know their tactic well.
The best way to do that is to be at Tampa and Mohegan Ave. at 9:00 am with your friends, family, co-workers and fellow students. We have a permit for this area. This is where the local, national and international media will be. This is where anti-war activists from throughout Connecticut, New England and the Mid-Atlantic will be. If you come directly to the main gate of the USCGA by 9:00 am you will be able to access it before roads are closed.
This week, we will be waging a challenge that asserts the right of the people to rally in all of the areas in front of the USCGA. The street in front of the Coast Guard Academy is not the exclusive, private property of Bush administration or government officials.
We want to make it clear to everyone that we have obtained permitted space on the side of the USCGA along Mohegan Ave. between Tampa and Williams. You have the lawful right to come to Coast Guard Academy to make your views known, seen and heard. We will continue to fight restrictions on the other permitted areas - and work to ensure that everyone can access the areas for which we definitely have permits.
Please make sure you spread the message far and wide that anyone who wants to protest Bush and show the world that the people of the U.S. are against this war should come right to the USCGA by 9:00 am on Wednesday to ensure that you don't miss this important event and that you are right there when he gives his commencement address.
Speakers at the 9:00 am rally at the main gate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (Tampa and Mohegan Ave.) will include military families who have lost children in Iraq, veterans, anti-war and student movement leaders and more.
Speakers will include:
- Carlos and Melida Arredondo, whose son, a U.S. marine, was killed in Iraq in 2004
- Elliot Adams, President of Veterans for Peace
- Ted Goodnight, US Army veteran of the Afghanistan war who served in 2003 and 2004
- The College Faculty, organizer of a large contingent of Connecticut college faculty mobilizing for the protest
- Representatives of Veterans for Peace chapters from throughout the region
- Brian Becker, National Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition
- Eugene Puryear, National Organizer of Youth and Student ANSWER
- Connecticut Student Movement leaders
- Statements from Iraq Veterans Against the War and active duty soldiers organizing for withdrawal of American forces and bases from Iraq.
New London, CT - Wed, May 23
Be at Tampa & Mohegan Ave. by 9:00 am!Logistical information: maps, directions & more.
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