Late Report on Out of Iraqnam Town Hall Forum in Sacramento: 01-07-06We had an Out of Iraq Town Hall Forum here in Sacramento today, January 7th, 2006 from 1 - 3 PM held in conjunction with the Town Hall Forums held nationally by After Downing Street, a coalition working to expose the lies that launched the Iraqnam war and to hold accountable its architects, including through censure and impeachment.
Website Source: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/
On the local level, it was sponsored by The Sacramento Coalition to End the War in collaboration with Sacramento for Democracy, Progressive Democrats of America and Peace in the Precincts. Plus, other groups were there with materials, including Chicano Consortium, Code Pink and others.
I first heard about it via Email on the Oct 29th List and to my Email by Brother Daniel Bacher danielbacher@hotmail.com
To: oct29@deliberate.com, sacranative@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 30 Dec 2005 09:52:04 -0800
Subject: Announcement for Town Hall Forum on January 7:
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The intial details were as follows:
Town Hall Forum – Out of Iraq
Date: January 7th, 2006
Time: 1pm – 3pm
Where: SEIU-UHW Hall, Downtown Sacramento
1911 F Street (between 19th and 20th Streets)
Speakers:
· David Dionisi, author of “American Hiroshima”
http://www.americanhiroshima.info/ and
· Charlie Brown, anti-Iraq War vet and Democratic Party candidate against Congressman Doolittle in the 4th Congressional District.
Discussion:
· Recent elections in Iraq and what the results may mean for Iraq and the United States
· Critical commentary on legislation currently before Congress regarding withdrawal of our troops, permanent military bases, reconstruction, etc.
· Arguments for the immediate withdrawal of our troops from Iraq
Audience Participation: Question-and-answer session
Moderator: Dr. Bill Durston, President of the Sacramento Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility
Tune into 1240 AM and 1320 AM radio stations to hear the Town Hall media announcements
ease go to http://afterdowningstreet.org/
* click on “Out of Iraq Events” in the top right hand corner
* click on “Search for an Event Near You,”
* type in your zip code (or zip code 95814)
Contacts:
Cathlyn Daly - dalywood@comcast.net
Karen Bernal - nekochan99@hotmail.com
Ruth Hollbrook – ruthgeo@aol.com
Later I heard that Cindy Sheehan would be a speaker, then, that today it was a pleasant surprise to see Actor Sean Penn.
Plus, Author Norman Solomon with Common Dreams was present who had good input.
Norman Solomon is the author of the new book: "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death." For information, go to http://www.WarMadeEasy.com
Norman Solomon is the author of the new book:
Norman Solomon Home Page
http://www.normansolomon.com/
Email: mediabeat@igc.org
Axis of Fanatics -- Netanyahu and Ahmadinejad: by Norman Solomon
Published on Friday, January 6, 2006 by CommonDreams.org
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0106-31.htm
Posted to AfterDowningStreet. Org:
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Late Report on Out of Iraqnam Town Hall Forum in Sacramento: 01-07-06
Note: I refer to the insanity in Iraq and Amerika’s perverted participation in it as Iraqnam; defining insanity as doing the same things over and over expecting different results. There are differences, yet more similarities, including parallels in US fascist mass propaganda falsehoods and the occupation-occupied dialectic.
I got to the Out of Iraqnam Forum before 12 Noon and it was pretty well organized and pretty packed. I talked to a couple of old friends Grantland Johnson with the Labor Council and Efren Gutierrez with Chicano Consortium. Plus, I saw Sister Gail Ryall in the audience. The people in attendance seemed to be nice concerned community-minded citizens and a spirit of serious excited hope was in the air, though, as usual, I wish there would have been more Blacks and Latinos. I had a Reserved Seat, was on the Sign-UP List and it got underway about 1 PM.
Brother-Dr. Bill Durston was a good moderator and commentator. For me, the most informed educational speaker about ‘over there’ was Author David Dionisi. He had a great historical, current and technical command of the ‘issues in question‘.
I believe Charlie Brown will make a good courageous Congressman as the Democratic Candidate in the 4th Congressional District against the man who lives up to his name when it comes to helping people: Congressman Doolittle.
Sister Cindy Sheehan was naturally lovable with a hard-core common sense approach and strong advocate for the Peace Movement. I could feel her humane love and sincere compassion. She should have been chosen as Person of the Year for 2005, especially because of her influence and imprint over the whole of last year. Sean Penn was honest, relaxed and the best kernel of truth I got from him was that salt is salt and truth is truth. You had to be there to appreciate it all.
The questions and answers were interesting, but Sister Cindy was the main celebrity personality there and it was great to see this well-known Peace Warrior.
Brother Norman Soloman was there and had good input, though, I wish he would of presented more of an actual speech or presentation. I suspect one can learn a lot from him and he has a lot he can teach.
It was over about 3 PM and I left to beat the crowd out. It was well attended and pretty mellow to me, then, I know the area and was a local hell-raiser back in the day in the streets. As soon as I walked out Sister-Warrior Jeanie Keltner was by the front door and I got a couple of copies of the new Because People Matter January/February 2006.
I appreciated my first attendance at a Town Hall Forum, it was in a good location for me and I am looking forward to the next one. With enough advanced notice I can help bring more people from my circles to check them out. Community education is the key equalizer for bringing the people together in solidarity to help save humanity.
Link to Sacra Bee Article:
Sean Penn, Cindy Sheehan highlight Sacramento peace forum
http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/14047084p-14878412c.html
Combat Amerikan Fascism!
Peter S. Lopez {aka Peta} ~ Coordinator
Sacramento, California, USA
Yahoo Email~ sacranative@yahoo.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Humane-Rights-Agenda/
http://humane-rights-agenda.blogspot.com/
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Related Sacra Bee Article:
Sean Penn, Cindy Sheehan highlight Sacramento peace forum
http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/14047084p-14878412c.html
By DON THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer
Last Updated 6:18 pm PST Saturday, January 7, 2006
SACRAMENTO (AP) - Peace activist Cindy Sheehan said Saturday that America will get out of Iraq when millions of citizens take the simple step she did outside President Bush's vacation home last summer.
She sat down.
With Academy Award-winning actor Sean Penn in the front row, Sheehan told a Sacramento peace rally that critics of the war need to do more than listen to speeches like hers.
"You have to wash the blood off your hands and get off your apathetic butts and do something," she told several hundred people crowding a union hall to overflowing. "These people, they're not going to change unless they see us out in the streets."
The two-hour town hall-style forum was one of what organizers said were 200 such events across the nation Saturday.
Sheehan, who recently moved from Vacaville to Berkeley, became known as the "Peace Mom" after she attracted hundreds of anti-war protesters to a makeshift camp near Bush's ranch. She was protesting the death in Iraq of her 24-year-old son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, and seeking to meet with Bush.
"Anybody could do what we did in Crawford, Texas. We just went down and sat down," Sheehan said. "We have to get so freakin' fed up with what's going on that we all go and sit down."
Penn said he is buoyed by recent efforts in Congress to rein in the president's powers and bring troops home, and by the outraged response to disclosures the government is listening to citizens' private communications without obtaining warrants.
"When we said, 'Listen to us' - they're doing it through covert surveillance," Penn joked. He read his brief remarks from a single crumpled piece of paper he said "probably looks like the administration's war plan."
Penn was an early opponent of the war, and visited Iraq in late November 2003 shortly before Saddam Hussein was captured.
Deborah Johns of nearby Roseville, who heads Northern California Marine Moms and led a counter-demonstration outside Bush's ranch last summer, said most people support the troops in Iraq, though she said the president and news media have both done a poor job showing the progress they are making.
Johns led Sheehan opponents on a 21-state caravan to Bush's ranch last fall.
"I saw thousands of people who came out to thank our men and women," Johns said in a phone interview Saturday. "I don't think that sort of grass-roots effort is out there that Cindy Sheehan would like people to believe. It's a fantasy."
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Sheehan, Penn Headline Sacramento Anti-War Rally
http://www.news10.net/storyfull2.aspx?storyid=15209
Written for the web by Jason Kobely, Internet News Producer
Peace activist Cindy Sheehan and actor Sean Penn spoke to anti-war supporters at a Sacramento rally Sunday aimed at urging the Bush administration to remove American troops from Iraq.
The rally organized by area anti-war groups drew approximately 200 people to the SEIU-UHW Hall in downtown Sacramento as speakers called on attendees to apply political pressure on President Bush to end the U.S. military prescence in the Middle East.
"We have to keep pressing, pressing, pressing," Sheehan said. "We can't give up."
Penn said he felt more and more Americans had become disillusioned by the U.S.-led war in Iraq and a removal of troops is coming soon.
"America is starting to listen to itself," Penn said. "[Americans] are beginning to listen to us and hear us, whether they like it or not."
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