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TOP 10 REASONS TO PROTEST DURING THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION 2004-08-27, 10:08 p.m.
The day before the Republican National Convention opens in New York City, the eyes of the world will be on us as we march in opposition to the Bush administration's policies of war, greed, hate and lies. Our message of peace and justice will be a resounding cry: WE SAY NO TO THE BUSH AGENDA. Here are ten...actually 11... great reasons why you should be with us on Sunday, August 29: 1. THE WAR AGAINST IRAQ. It was an illegal and immoral war waged on false pretext, and it is still costing people�s lives every day. 10,000 innocent Iraqis and more than 900 U.S. soldiers are dead so far, while no weapons of mass destruction or Iraq/Al Qaeda connections were ever discovered. How many more lives must be lost before we hold the Bush administration accountable for this disastrous policy and all of the lies? March on August 29 to say no to the war and demand that the troops come home now! 2. THE MILLIONS SPENT ON WAR AND GIVEN AWAY AS TAX CUTS INSTEAD OF BEING USED FOR BASIC HUMAN NEEDS. The Iraq war has already cost us some $160 billion. At the same time, Bush�s tax cuts will cost us more than $3 trillion by 2010, with the majority of the benefits going to the wealthiest five percent of Americans. That�s money that should have been spent to hire new teachers for our schools, fund HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs, keep public libraries open, make sure health care is available to all, and send working-class kids to college. March to demand new priorities that put people�s human needs ahead of the war machine and Bush�s wealthy friends. 3. OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD. The Bush Administration has "unsigned" the International Criminal Court Treaty, discarded the Kyoto Protocol, and undermined virtually every important arms control treaty the U.S. (however reluctantly) has ever signed. And the war on Iraq alienated our allies and enraged people all over the world. We must reject the Bush policies of permanent war, regime change and pre-emptive strikes. March to send a message to people around the globe � we stand with them and we want our government to cooperate with them, not dominate them. 4. THE PATRIOT ACT. The Bush administration used the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks as a pretext to let the police and FBI loose on innocent, law-abiding citizens. The PATRIOT Act lets the government "sneak and peek" into your computer and secure information without you ever knowing it; access your medical, school and library records; tap your cell phone without permission from a judge if your home or office phone is already bugged; monitor and take pictures of you at demonstrations, rallies or community meetings; and detain you for up to seven days without probable cause that you have committed a crime! March on August 29th to say this is 2004 � NOT 1984! 5. RACIAL INJUSTICE, IN ALL OF ITS FORMS. People of color and immigrants are bearing the brunt of the war on terrorism�s domestic side. From secret detentions and deportations of immigrants, to increased racial profiling, to cuts in social programs alongside massive increases in military spending, the Bush administration�s policies have expanded the scope and depth of racial injustice and violence within the U.S. And Bush�s strategy for winning popular support for his war policies relies upon portraying people of color within the U.S., Iraq, and elsewhere as security threats, and their lives and rights as less valuable than that of others. March to say NO to racism and immigrant scapegoating! 6. THE ATTACK ON WOMEN�S RIGHTS AND SEXUAL FREEDOM. Despite majority support for a woman�s right to choose, the Bush administration and its rabid right-wing Christian supporters are working with determination to return women to the times when abortion was illegal. The attack on Lesbian/Gay/BiSexual/Transgender people has become a centerpiece of the agenda of the far right. Lifetime judicial seats are being appointed to ultra-conservative judges, sometimes under the radar screen via recess appointments. Much-needed money is being shifted from safe sex and effective family planning programs to ineffective abstinence-only education programs. Meanwhile, women and LGBT people all over the world suffer from the impact of the Bush administration�s policies of militarism, aggression, and Christian fundamentalism. March for our lives! 7. HALLIBURTON. You can bet that Halliburton won't be seen during the Republican National Convention. But they will be well represented by Vice President Dick Cheney, who never actually stopped working for the company. Halliburton represents everything that�s wrong with the Bush administration: war profiteering and corporate favoritism to the extreme. March to demand that our government rescind Halliburton�s Iraq reconstruction contracts and that Congress stop Halliburton from ripping off both Iraqis and U.S. taxpayers. 8. THE ASSAULT ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS AND THE THREAT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS From �Clear Skies� to �Healthy Forests� Bush�s environmental initiatives relax the rules for polluting corporations while leaving community health, public lands and wildlife at risk. Across the board Bush has slashed funding for enforcement of environmental laws and appointed his corporate cronies to environmental posts in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies. And Bush�s support for new �usable� nuclear weapons and backsliding on global nuclear disarmament puts the world in danger of the ultimate environmental threat � nuclear disaster. March for a clean, safe, and healthy world for all. 9. THE FAILED ATTEMPT TO OVERTURN MEDIA OWNERSHIP REGULATIONS. Remember when Federal Communications Commission Chair Michael Powell (Colin Powell�s son) tried to scrap the few media regulations that are still on the books in an effort to give yet more TV and radio stations to companies like Clear Channel and Rupert Murdoch�s NewsCorp? We raised hell and stopped it from happening, but we still need to fight for a media system that supports our democratic process and encourages discussion and debate about the most important issues of our times. March to insist that the Bush FCC protect the people�s airwaves, which are vital to our democracy! 10. EVERYTHING ELSE. On every issue � from rolling back veterans health insurance and over-time pay to obstructing hard-won workers� rights, civil rights and human rights to smaller things like the attempt to put Henry Kissinger in charge of the Sept. 11 Commission - the Bush agenda has meant unprecedented and destructive changes in U.S. foreign and domestic policy. March to say NO to this whole horrible agenda! 11. BECAUSE IT�S A POWERFUL, INSPIRING, STRONG WAY TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! Bring signs, bring chants, bring all of your friends and family. We�re going to make a serious political point, but we�re also going to have fun! Whatever your reasons to protest the Bush agenda, don�t miss this opportunity to make history. March on August 29th! ============================================
Anyone? - 2008-01-24
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