Up North Green Party
A Local of the Green Party of Michigan
Speech given by Bob Hamil at the
Petoskey 1/18/03 Rally against War
committing yourselves to this brave and necessary action.
Brave, because of the insults to our constitution by John Ashcroft.
Necessary, because of the impatience of Paul Wolfowitz and
Donald Rumsfeld to attack a devastated nation that probably
poses no threat to us what so ever.
You are all heroes for standing up and saying ENOUGH ALREADY!!!
It's a brave thing to come here and risk being called unpatriotic by
the biggest political bigots to hold power in my life time. The men
of this presidential administration who slink away from the true
duties of war, dodging the draft with silver spooned tactics,
have the gall to judge the patriotism of others!!
Judging people like you, who care for the life
and humanity of the poorest among us.
To come here and speak voice to the preservation of life and
liberty is the pinnacle of patriotism, spoken of and admired by the
framers of our constitution. The very constitution disregarded and
trampled upon by the likes of George Bush, John Ashcroft, Dick
Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and the worst snake
of them all, Karl Rove, who's job it is to take every event in the
world and every move the Bush administration is considering
and twist them to the political benefit of the Republican Party.
These men are the complete opposite of patriotism, tearing it
down in the self-centered lust for total power, un-constrained by
the checks and balances intended by the fathers of our
democracy. Our forefathers, with the terrible taste of a maniacal
British monarchy fresh in their throats, sought a way by which we
never again would face the power hungry grab for wealth, seen
these past two years by all of us, as George Bush and his
corporate cronies steal pensions, stock market dollars and tax
funding to line their own pockets. These men are fossils like the
British Empire.
To accept their bluff about patriotism, is to let them snuff out the
dream every person has for a better way of life. These men
would like nothing more than for all of us to remain silent.
But, we will not be silent!!!
No, we will not be silent, for silence is complicity in our own
destruction and the destruction of the poorest nations of the
world!!
But also, they are not totally to blame for the situation today.
I want to ask a little survey here,
How many of you rode here today in a vehicle that gets better
than 20 miles per gallon???
How many people came here today in a car that had most of the seats filled with passengers???
Better yet,
How many people walked here or got here in some other way that wasn't burning fossil fuels???
Hey, everybody, Give these people and hand!!!
I think you are the particular heroes here today!
How many of you took some form of mass transit to get here today???
And why not?... Of course because we hardly have any!!!
The last act of the out going governor Engler, was to veto a proposal
for a mass transit system in south east Michigan. He said we
didn't have the money to afford it. Where do you suppose that
money is being spent??? How about on Airline bailouts, big oil
subsidies, illegal, immoral wars...
And following up on that,
How many of you have contacted a legislator to urge them to
increase fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks, or to press
them to change this pattern in our nation of giving corporate
welfare to big oil and the airlines, rather than funding EFFICIENT
forms of transportation, or efforts to develop alternative,
sustainable, energy sources???
We cannot remain silent on these matters!!!! WE MUST SPEAK
OUT everyday, in every way!!!!
Press your local & state governments to pass resolutions
opposing this war! And press local & state police not to follow
U.S. Patriot Act directives!!
Most importantly, pray for peace & justice. It doesn’t matter your
religion, just visualize the kind of world you want, as often as you
can.
Fossil fuels fuel fossils like George W. & the rest of his ilk, who
have never seen the horrors of war themselves, but rather sit in
their wealthy comfort, dictating the life and death of people
they wish never to see.
Think of the burden this places on the civilians of Iraq - having to
worry about life in yet another war - on top of more than a decade
of harsh, unreasonable sanctions, and the terrible destruction
wrought by George Senior. Then there's the burden of worry this
places on the young people of our own country - stressed by the
potential of being drafted into an illegal, unjust war, that only lines
the pockets of George and his greedy corporate cohorts.
Alright, changing direction a little on this survey,
How many people here know someone who has family living in
Iraq???
How many people here know someone who’s been sent to the
Persian Gulf region to fight in a war against Iraq???
Well, what we’re here for today, is to keep these people I just
asked you about, or their loved ones, from being killed in a war
whose only purpose is to satisfy the testosterone urges of an
illegitimate administration, and to make a few corporations rich!!!
Who are patriots today??? All of you are !!!
This week George spoke out against affirmative action programs
at the colleges and universities of this land. I suggest the issue is
not about who deserves the limited slots available in schools, but
rather how do we create affordable higher education for everyone
who wants it. There are thousands of other items and issues in
this nation being eroded by the lack of funding and attention.
These goals are a drop in the bucket, compared to this
outrageous expense in saber rattling.
How can anyone not see this, other than if he is blinded by his own greed for power and authority.
I'll be gracious, and just say, "Maybe George just needs glasses".
Think what he'd look like with that impudent scowl of his, and
some Henry Kissinger horn rims!!
One would have to be missing one's glasses not to see the
Un-patriotism of the so called "U.S. Patriot Act"!! This piece of
atrocious legislation, forced through congress in the fury after the
attacks on New York and Washington, gives more civil liberties
away in one fell swoop, than any other act in the history of this
democracy!!
It's probably better called the "U.S. Patrician Act"!! Who is it good
for?? - George Bush or whatever other fascist dictator might come
after him.
And think about this "Enemy Combatant" business. According to
what has happened to Jose Padilla, any one of us can be locked
up without access to an attorney, or even the right, for ourselves
or anyone else to be told what we are accused of doing. I know
Jose Padilla is no angel, but we have a constitution that forbids
this treatment under any circumstances!!
More so, if the evidence against a person is weak to non-existent.
But John Ashcroft is too embarrassed to admit there’s no
evidence.
I could become an Enemy Combatant under these terms!! Each
of you could become an Enemy Combatant, just for being here today!!
I'm a strong believer in "if your given lemons, make lemonade".
Where we all may have been able to be complacent without all
these affronts from the Bush Whitehouse, now we are motivated.
Where before we may have let him slink into a second term, now
we have the fury to throw that bum out!!! Personally, I think there
is at least as much moral ground for impeachment of George
Bush as there was for Bill Clinton. Lets make lemonade out of
that sourpuss!!!
So we go out marching today, and we’ll be speaking up in the
days after this, and we’ll be demanding mainstream media
attention to the facts at hand here.
There is no justifiable reason for war at this moment,
and even if there was, there are far better solutions than those
being pursued now.
Speak up and make America a friendlier
place for it's own citizens, and a helping hand to the oppressed of
the world.
I salute all of you as patriots marching today to stop this tyrannical
theft of democracy, and slandering of the name of TRUE patriotism!!
Today we speak loudly and say, "Not In Our Name, George Bush,
NOT IN OUR NAME!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you!!