Is this YOUR America?
Okay, now that I depressed you with my previous post, I felt I should write something to cheer you up. So I'm going to encourage you to attend one of five town hall meetings we're holding across the state on the abuse of executive power issue. We'll talk about how torture, kidnapping, and illegal spying are NOT what this country is supposed to be about. It's a great chance to 1) get even more outraged, 2) meet your fellow civil libertarians who are also pissed off, and 3)get some ideas for fighting back.
Here's the schedule:
July 11 - Harrisburg - Speakers: Lisa Graves, Senior Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office; Spero T. Lappas, Esq., Civil rights and criminal defense attorney; & Kathleen Lucas, human rights organizer
July 12 - Philadelphia - Speakers: Caroline Frederickson, Legislative Director, ACLU Washington Legislative Office; Michael Coard, Esq., Host of "The Radio Courtroom" on WHAT 1340 AM; Bal Pinguel, Coordinator, Peacebuilding & Demilitarization Program, AFSC; Signe Wilkinson, Editorial Cartoonist, Daily News.
July 13 - Allentown - Speakers: Matt Bowles, Field Organizer, ACLU Washington Legislative Office; Malcolm J. Gross, Esq., Gross, McGinley, LaBarre & Eaton, LLP.
July 19 - Erie - Speakers: Matt Bowles, Field Organizer, ACLU Washington Legislative Office; Jim Fisher, Dept. of Political Science and Criminal Justice, Edinboro University; Bob Rhodes, Dept. of Political Science (Emeritus), Edinboro University.
July 20 - Pittsburgh - Speakers: Greg Nojeim, Associate Director and Chief Legislative Council, ACLU Washington Legislative Office; Doug Shields, Pittsburgh City Councilman, Co-sponsor of anti-PATRIOT Act Resolution.
Check out our website page for more information about times and locations for each town hall.
Hope you come, and bring people. Because frankly, my friends, this is a damn scary time in this country.
Labels: extraordinary rendition, PATRIOT Act, torture, warrantless surveillance
posted by ACLU of Pennsylvania at 6/28/2006 03:47:00 PM
2 Comments:
This hasn't been my America for a long, long time.
I dare say that unfortunately, this IS my America. Sad but true. Many of us have been struggling to reconcile the conflict between America's rhetoric and America's actions for so long - - just to survive - - that we don't find this administration's behavior shocking at all. Not one little bit. Where's the outrage, they ask? Well, it got buried decades ago under a feeling that the US is full of BS and that's just the way it is. This is certainly the America I'm used to and always knew I was living in. But it's not the America I want.
Somebody once said that justice doesn't come because you're right, it comes because you fight. The outrage will return when people feel they have a fighting chance. That's why townhalls like these are a good start to encouraging and empowering the folks who see both America's reality and its potential.
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