Antiwar protesters bring message to Kennedy's Pawtucket office

[babylonsister]

:applause: :applause: :applause: This could be one of the only ways to get the Dems' attention!

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9245

February 21st, 2007 3:14 am
Antiwar protesters bring message to Kennedy's Pawtucket office

By Tom Mooney / Providence Journal

PAWTUCKET — Jacque Amoureux, whose brother served with the Marines in Iraq, and Stephany Kern of Westerly, whose son died there, were among 20 war protesters who converged on the Pawtucket office of U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy yesterday demanding that he publicly support withholding money for the war effort.

While Kennedy’s opposition to escalating the war has been appreciated, said Amoureux, a 30-year-old graduate student at Brown University, “we’re particularly perplexed why Kennedy isn’t more strongly supporting defunding the war.

“We have to apply some pressure on him to be straighter with us about what he thinks.”

Amoureux and Kern are members of the Rhode Island chapter of Military Families Speak Out, who say they will be making the same demand on U.S. Rep. James Langevin this week.

As Democrats, who now hold the majority in Congress, look to prod President Bush toward shifting direction in Iraq, one emerging target coming into play is the president’s request for a special $99.6-billion spending bill to cover the cost of fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the rest of this fiscal year.

The war protesters say voting against the supplemental appropriations bill would be the most effective and courageous way for Congress to step in and end the war and bring the troops home.

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[demnan]

1. That sounds like a very effective thing to do

Even if your Congressman is a Republican, we have to try. And Patrick Kennedy should be all for it.

[Adelante]

2. Speaking of war

Please help

http://www.stopiranwar.com/


Sorry for the interruption, babylonsister :hi:

[babylonsister]

5. Done! nt

[stellanoir]

3. Here's a link to a heartfelt article Steph wrote last week. . .

http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0213-30.htm

It was posted here and on MM's site as well.

[babylonsister]

4. Thanks for that, stellanoir! nt

[The Magistrate]

6. Useless And Destructive, Ma'am

Doubtless there are some Republicans available to harrass, and they should direct their energies to doing so.

[babylonsister]

7. I think these people, who have lost so much, deserve to protest

however and to whomever they choose. I don't know why you think this is destructive. I'm also of the mindset that Dems need to stop the cash flow to stop this war, regardless of the voices, usually rethug, to the contrary.

[The Magistrate]

8. Bad Aim, Ma'am, Is Execrable, No Matter What The Background

The proper target for protests of the war consists in Republicans, as these conceived, planned, and executed the enterprise, and bear the sole responsibility for it.

Attacks on Democrats over it serve no purpose whatever, and amount to little more than attempts to muddy the issue. The only saving graces of this kind of nonesense are that, first, the people of the country have better sense and know who is to blame for the war, and second, things like this do establish for a number of persons in the middle of the political spectrum that voting for Democrats is not aligning oneself with the "protest crowd", who they consider profoundly anti-patriotic, and want nothing to do with even as they want the war in Iraq brought to a quick end.

[babylonsister]

9. I don't know, The Magistrate. There are plenty of Dems who

can't seem to get off their fat fannies to get anything done. I think they are as deserving of criticism as the rethugs are. While we know the rethugs are responsible for this war for the most part, we also know if we don't poke and prod them they will let it continue on, bowing to their corporate and political masters.
And I'm proud to be a part of the 'protest crowd'; anyone with half a brain would not deem me unpatriotic for being so. And if they do, there's not much I can do about that.

[The Magistrate]

10. Either We Operate As A Popular Front, Ma'am, Or We Do Not

If we are, then we attack the enemy, and not one another.

If we are not, then we do damage to ourselves and assist the enemy, who remains united, to recoup his position and maintain some grip on national power.

"We must hang together, or assuredly we will hang seperately."

[stellanoir]

11. We in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. . .

the dinkiest state with the longest name who are deeply blue, only have Democratic representative in Congress and now the Senate.

They have every right to express their opinions to their representatives. Don't ya think.

They weren't attacking Kennedy. Just encourage him to ixney the funding further.