Activism

[Your Logo/Name With Contact Info.]

For Immediate Release: [Date], 2005

Public Forum With [NAME ANY BIG NAME PARTICIPANTS] on Ending the War

[NAME OF CITY] Event to Be One of Many Across Country

WHAT: An Out of Iraq Public Forum
[DESCRIBE WHAT WILL OCCUR, LIST NOTABLE PARTICIPANTS]

WHEN: [List start time and ending time], Jan. 7, 2006.

WHERE: [Give location, address, nearest intersection, and detailed directions.]

BACKGROUND:

[DESCRIBE YOUR ORGANIZATION]

AfterDowningStreet.org is a rapidly growing coalition of veterans' groups, peace groups, and political activist groups, which launched on May 26, 2005, a campaign to urge the U.S. Congress to begin a formal investigation into whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war. Together with Congressman John Conyers, AfterDowningStreet.org organized hearings in the U.S. Capitol and a rally in front of the White House on June 16, and town-hall forums around the country on July 23rd.

[Your Letterhead With Contact Info.]

[Name and Address of Congress Member or Senator]

[Date], 2005

Dear [Title and Name],

We would like to invite you to host a public town hall meeting on the topic of the Iraq war. Our organization is prepared to assist with promoting this event as part of a national day of similar events all over the country, coordinated by the AfterDowningStreet.org coalition. The events are being planned for January 7th, but we can also hold one on another day if it fits your schedule better.

Working with After Downing Street and other organizations, we can assist with logistics, promotion, media, guest speakers, and materials for the event. We can do as much or as little as you find helpful.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 27, 2005

WHAT: PICKET LINE AND DEMONSTRATION
WHEN: 5:00 PM, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29
WHERE: 1150 15TH ST., NW, WASHINGTON, DC

Members of a growing list of organizations concerned about the continued failure by the Washington Post, in particular, and much of the mainstream media, in general, to adequately cover the eight "Downing Street Papers", will conduct a peaceful protest in front of the Washington, D. C. offices of the Washington Post from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM on Wednesday, June 29.

The demonstration has already been endorsed by the Progressive Democrats of America, Code Pink, AfterDowningStreet.org, Democrats.com, Northern Virginians United for Peace and Justice, with more groups signing on every day. Members of the DC Anti-War Network (DAWN), Gold Star Families for Peace, and other organizations will also participate in the demonstration.

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Add more songs at bottom of page.

Another good collection here.

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Song for Bradley Manning

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Christians at War

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Machobama Man

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Lock Em Up, By Pat Scanlon.

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The Day Hank Paulson Lied

Plan peaceful nonviolent protests:

Monday, June 27, 2005
BUSH in Washington DC: The President will welcome German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to the White House for a meeting and working lunch on June 27, 2005. Germany is a strong ally and partner of the United States, working with us to advance freedom and reform, promote prosperity and development, and counter terrorism and proliferation around the world. Germany has played a leading role in the international effort to assist the Afghan people with security, developing the police, and reconstructing their nation. [White House Press Briefing, 5/20/05]

By Michigan Peaceworks

Peace organizations to march in Ann Arbor parade with "Fahrenheit 9/11" military mom Lila Lipscomb, place advertisements in 8 newspapers throughout the state.

Ann Arbor, MI, July 4th, 2005: Nationwide, the anti-war movement is experiencing a resurgence in the wake of the revelatory "Downing Street memos."* Michigan, a state from which 52 soldiers have been killed in the Iraq War, serves as a prime example of this renewed activity. Activists from around the state are ushering in Independence Day with a declaration of peace and new national priorities.

In Ann Arbor, site of historic anti-war demonstrations, post-9/11 peace advocacy organization Michigan Peaceworks will give Fourth of July celebrations an alternative spin. Activists from Ann Arbor and other parts the state will display a "peace float" and march by the dozens in the Independence Day parade. The peace float and marching unit features a rock band playing peace anthems, a drum corps, a giant dove puppet, peace signs on tall sticks, and distribution of chocolate "Earth" balls. Click here for photos of the 2004 Independence Day peace float. The parade begins downtown at William and Maynard streets. It travels east on William St., north on State St., west on Liberty St., south on Main St., and east on William St. to Maynard St.

The Baltimore Sun
Jules Witcover

WASHINGTON - As the war in Iraq drags on, the daily violence mocks the "Mission Accomplished" banner that was a backdrop to President Bush's 2003 post-invasion flight to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

With the death toll of Americans surpassing 1,700, the most visible reminders to the nation of that cost are the periodic displays of photos of the dead in newspapers and on television.

The president's support, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, has plunged from 45 percent of those surveyed in February to only 37 percent. And a majority now say that invading Iraq was a mistake that has not, as Mr. Bush keeps insisting, made Americans safer.

University Wire
By Daniel Sherman, Iowa State Daily
AMES, Iowa

Consider the following questions.

Is honesty not truthfulness? Is truthfulness not a part of justice? Are justice and the law not bound together? Is the rule of law not used to sustain the social order and structure among people? In a democracy, is it not the people, bounded by the law of the land and protected within its body, who elect their leaders? And are these leaders not expected to be honest and just?

If our leaders do not value honesty but defer to deception, how are we to know whether the information they offer is the truth or not? If we are told our country is at war and the war is just, how are we to judge whether it is so? If our leaders do not value honesty, then why should we trust them?

This campaign is being driven by the generosity and creativity of volunteers.

Dave Stengel has created a new brochure:
http://www.macplanet.net/brochure.pdf

And he's willing to mail to you for free a supply to distribute. Do not ask for more than you can make good use of. Hand them out at events, or go door to door. Please don't stick them on windshields, which is annoying, where it isn't illegal.

To get a supply, send an Email with the subject "Downing Street Handouts" to dave@macplanet.net

And donate the money you save to AfterDowningStreet.org

Contact WarIsACrime.org.

Members of Media: Contact WarIsACrime.org.

Spokespeople available for interviews.

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IF YOUR ORGANIZATION WANTS TO JOIN THE COALITION

There are no dues, but we do ask you to do a few things.

Please send us all of your relevant information: your organization name, your main contact person, your website if you have one, and anything else we should know about you.

By joining, you are supporting a campaign to urge the U.S. Congress to begin a formal investigation into whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war.

Newsday
BY INDIA AUTRY
WASHINGTON BUREAU
June 23, 2005

WASHINGTON - An online movement of bloggers and political activist groups is trying to keep the Downing Street memos in the public eye and stoking support for a congressional investigation.

The memos, sent among top British foreign intelligence officials, state that President George W. Bush was predisposed to going to war with Iraq and "intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."

The After Downing Street movement wants Congress to examine whether Bush's path to war is grounds for impeachment.

The movement began three weeks ago, about one month after the first of eight memos was leaked to the British press. Within the first three days, the AfterDowningStreet.org site received a million hits from 10,000 different people.

People's Weekly World Newspaper, 06/22/05 18:23
Author: Tim Wheeler

BALTIMORE – Members of Baltimore Pledge of Resistance went to the district office of Rep. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) June 17 to demand that he speak out against the Iraq war. The group met for several hours with Cardin’s chief administrative aide Chris Lynch.

Cindy Farquhar told Lynch she was "disappointed" that Cardin did not sign on to the Woolsey Amendment, named for Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) requiring President George W. Bush to announce an "exit strategy" to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq.

"We’re long past the idea that providing a better helmet is 'supporting the troops,'" she said. "We are also asking him to join in pursuing the investigation of the Downing Street Memo. There are 120 House members who have signed Conyers’ letter to Bush on that memo."

Meetings to focus on Bush impeachment
The Capital Times, WI
By Steven Elbow
June 22, 2005

The Madison chapter of Veterans for Peace is planning a series of town hall meetings to discuss the impeachment of President Bush.

Retired UW Professor Bob Kimbrough hopes the meetings will spark a serious discussion on impeachment.

"It's pretty much in the air now, thank goodness," he said.

The state Democratic Party has called for the impeachment of Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and some Democrats in Congress have broached the subject.

This is a test event. Please ignore

TakeBacktheMedia will have ready by tomorrow a 2-DVD set with all the footage of the June 16, 2005, hearing on the Downing Street Minutes held in the U.S. Capitol and hosted by Congressman John Conyers, plus the delivery of Conyers' letter and 560,000 signatures to the White House, plus the rally in Lafayette Square Park, plus interviews of those involved. To get your DVDs, just go here, and make a donation of at least $20.

To get a taste of what you'll be buying, watch this clip.

I wrote some criticism of the Washington Post's "reporting" yesterday:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/407

Today one of the member organizations of our coalition, Democrats.com, announced a boycott of the Washington Post:
http://www.democrats.com/boycott-wp

I would like to see the Post transform itself into a democratic media outlet and succeed. The Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, on whose executive council I serve, represents Post workers to the best of its ability, in the face of extreme hostility to workplace rights and discriminatory practices in the newsroom. There are workers at the Post who try hard and mean well, but who work for editors and publishers whose primary interests do not include quality journalism. We cannot shake up those editors and publishers without putting our money where our mouths are.

The U.S. corporate media has rolled over, yawned, stretched, cleared its throat, and rubbed its eyes. All that's needed now, after all the noise we've been making, is an ice cold bucket of water in the face.

Here's How to Deliver It:

Go to the AfterDowningStreet.org site, and find the Take Action box on the right.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org

After writing to your Congress Member, click also on
"Contact Local Media Outlets,"
"Contact TV Networks,"and on

By Grace Reid
June 21, 2005

Dear AfterDowningStreet.org,
I need your help with US media tracking on some very important issues:
1. RAF Bombing to Goad Saddam Into War.
This was first reported to dKos by Welshman on the 29th of May. That was Michael Smith.
Today we have another article on the same subject by Norton Taylor RAF bombing raids on Iraq no-fly zone defied Foreign Office legal advice, say Lib Dems
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,1510847,00.html.
It has been 30 days and this story has NEVER been reported in the US media. (I do mean mainstream, and not blogs, and not alternative news like Alternet, Common Dreams, or Iraq Occupation Watch.

June 21, 2005
By Ernest Partridge, The Crisis Papers
http://www.democraticunderground.com/crisis/05/016_ep.html

A Shel Silverstein cartoon of a few decades past depicts two prisoners, shackled to the wall of an ancient dungeon. One says to the other, "Now here is my plan."

One must admire the prisoner's indomitable will, however unrealistic. Fortunately, the present political situation in the United States is not hopeless, though one might think so to read some of the e-mail responses to our essays:

"The fact of the matter is, the new Republican Party is in power, and it will take more than a majority of voters to dislodge them in 2006. If you own the system, you can rig it to give you the results you want."

Investigative reporter and essayist Russ Baker (www.russbaker.com) is a longtime contributor to TomPaine.com. He is currently involved with launching a nonprofit organization dedicated to revitalizing investigative journalism. He can be reached at russ@russbaker.com.

The Downing Street memos have brought into focus an essential question: on what basis did President George W. Bush decide to invade Iraq? The memos are a government-level confirmation of what has been long believed by so many: that the administration was hell-bent on invading Iraq and was simply looking for justification, valid or not.

June 2005: Phase II of the Anti-War Movement
Mon, 20 Jun 2005 09:24:53 -0700
Rep. Conyers leads the way
By Medea Benjamin

A turning point, as more Americans question future of Iraq conflict
For the history books, mark down June 2005 as the moment the U.S. movement against the occupation of Iraq got its second wind. In June, the U.S. public became solidly anti-war, Bush’s approval rating took a nosedive, and a significant number of Congresspeople started to call for an exit strategy. This marks a seismic shift from just one month ago, when Congress overwhelmingly passed another $82 billion for war-with only 44 members of the House and not one Senator dissenting.

The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington)
June 19, 2005, Sunday
SECTION: SOUTH SOUND; Pg. A02
LENGTH: 645 words
HEADLINE: Downing Street memos don't tell us anything new
BYLINE: David Zeeck, The News Tribune

BODY:
Perhaps you've heard of the Downing Street memo.

The Times of London first published it in May, shortly before Prime Minister Tony Blair's re-election. The memo consists of minutes from a July 2002 meeting between Blair and his national security team, eight months before the war began in Iraq.

At the meeting, British officials who had just returned from Washington reported the Bush administration believed war was inevitable and that Bush would use intelligence about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and sketchy ties to al-Qaida to justify an invasion. ". . . Intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy," said the minutes.

By Robert Millman

Individuals or groups should E-mail a radio station, asking to put this issue ad on the radio. The E-mail should be CCed to newspapers in the same area. The E-mail should include:

1. A clear request to pay for air time
2. Text of the ad script
3. The mp3 audio file to review and put on the air
4. An offer to revise the ad if the content is considered unsuitable to the station for any reason.

If the radio station refuses, it might become a news story.

Ad fees can run anywhere from $10 a spot to $600 a spot. It all depends on the radio station. But anyone can place an issue ad on the radio.

SPEECH OUTSIDE WHITE HOUSE – JUNE 16, 2005
BY REG KEYS

I have journeyed here today from England to offer a hand across the water. A hand of friendship and support to form a bond of unity with America, like ours a proud nation.

For as well as great pride in our countries we have deep concern over the conduct of our country’s leaders. Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George W. Bush have both acted dishonorably and brought the integrity of our proud nations into disrepute. Taking us to war on a falsehood.

They have both knowingly mislead Parliament and Congress, our people, and worst of all our brave troops who have put their lives at risk, many returning home in coffins, the result of this unnecessary war with Iraq. We have been thrown into conflicts on the basis of fabricated intelligence reports and deceit over Iraq’s WMD capability.

Keeping the Downing Street Drums Beating.

By Anthony Wade

June 18, 2005

www.OpEdNews.com

“You can’t just say the President is lying.

We're working on the next steps but there's so much all of you can do to help. Please call your member of Congress, and urge them to support a Resolution of Inquiry. Call your local media and the national media and demand full, fair coverage of the Downing Street Minutes.

This is the forum to discuss events, meetings and other activism re: the Downing Street Minutes and the After Downing Street Coalition. Please limit discussion to this topic, and discuss other topics under the other forums - Congress, Evidence, Media, or General.

Visit the After Downing Street Store:

One-page flyer on polls on impeachment: PDF.

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Email Everyone You Know!

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Post This Flyer Everywhere You Can

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Organizations interested in joining the AfterDowningStreet.org coalition should write to Jon Schwartz at jonrschwartz[at]yahoo[dot]com.

Members of the media with inquiries should write to David Swanson at david[at]davidswanson[dot]org and Jon Schwartz at jonrschwartz[at]yahoo[dot]com; for urgent inquiries, phone David Swanson at 202-329-7847 or Jon Schwartz at 301-928-7579.

To request an interview with Constitutional Atto