Bob McDonnell,Attorney General of Virginia
Office of the Attorney General
900 East Main Street
Richmond, VA 23219
(804) 786-2071 mail@oag.state.va.us
Just to alert you to a potential glitch (we hope) in ANSWER's plan for the Pentagon end of the demonstration. If any of you know how to active a ping list for Virginia (or even a "DC chapter ping", I'd appreciate it.
Of course ANSWER are a bunch of a$$clowns, but I tend to take the attitude, "LET them have their stupid protest," although certainly with proper bonding/insurance safeguards. "LET ordinary, sane people peek into Bedlam, and let's see just how many people ANSWER recruits vs. how many they alienate."
We are mounting a large scale legal and political effort to secure our rights.
To h3ll with the rights of the other 2,999,900 citizens of the USA.
We have the best constitutional rights attorneys assisting us
Threatening lawsuits has always worked. Here is hoping the good guys don't cave for once.
Now THAT's almost funnier than CodePink not renewing their Walter Reed permit before Freepers secured the spot.
Not like they won't march that short stretch without a permit.
Sorry, I may disagree with the reason they are protesting, but they have all the right in the world to protest. I I spent 12 years of my life in the service defending their right to protest what ever they wish, no matter how much I disagree with it.
You won't be getting my support on this issue.
Social Justice isn't free.
Treason Should Not Be Tax Deductable.
Thanks. Done.
Every time ANSWER protests, support for the war increases, because people start hating the anti-war protesters more than the war iteslf. These communists, radicals and Islamists do what we cannot do.
I'll bet ANSWER doesn't get this permit. And there will be scads of arrests if they try to march over Memorial Bridge without a permit.
I saw McDonnell just last night, I wish I had known about this then I would have thanked him and encouraged him to keep up the good work.
They even lie to their own supporters. The Pentagon is a mile away from the Virginia end of the Memorial Bridge. Whose jurisdiction is this road under if not Virginia's? Some kind of legalese that makes it Federal Property or something?
Let 'em march. It's a free country (or at least it used to be).
I am writing to you about a critical issue facing the antiwar movement. Next month's March on the Pentagon is on the verge of becoming one of the most powerful actions of the contemporary anti-war struggle. And predictably there are forces who are trying to stop the march. We can and will succeed but we need the help of you and thousands of other people of conscience. We want to thank all of those who have helped the March on the Pentagon with urgently needed contributions.
The Pentagon march is developing as a free speech showdown. Here is the background to the unfolding struggle:
The anti-war movement is taking off. Thousands of family members of soldiers, veterans and active duty soldiers will be among the huge outpouring at the Pentagon on March 17. The Bush administration and the Pentagon high command know that this is a swelling tide.
More than 150 cities and towns, and a growing number of college campuses and high schools are organizing buses to come to Washington D.C. The number of transportation centers bringing buses has nearly doubled in just this past week alone and the number of cities will continue to grow rapidly in the coming days.
The March on the Pentagon, coming as it does on the 40th anniversary of the historic 1967 March on the Pentagon, has been a monumental effort. Government agencies and especially the Bush Administration don’t want this demonstration to succeed. We have waged a five month-long battle just to win the permits to carry out this free speech activity.
That fight is not over. Now the State of Virginia is trying to impose onerous financial fees on the ANSWER Coalition. They are threatening that we will have to pay tens of thousands of dollars to “reimburse” the State of Virginia and other government entities just to march on the streets and to rally at the Pentagon. That is ludicrous on its face. Attempting to charge demonstrators a large fee for the right to walk on the streets of Virginia on the way to the Pentagon is a violation of the First Amendment. It is also part of the process of delay aimed at making our logistical preparations both complicated and more expensive.
This financial obstacle that is now thrown up by the government, in an effort to thwart the March on the Pentagon, is not the first but rather the latest in a string of measures aimed at dissuading ANSWER and tens of thousands of people from marching on the Pentagon. We started organizing for this march last October. With three weeks left to go we are hindered from signing contracts with vendors for setting up the stage, sound and other logistical needs of the day. So the cost of signing these contracts goes up with each passing day. Having every permit in hand is a requirement for signing many contracts.
Based on a protracted political and legal struggle we forced the Pentagon to grant a permit. This was a big victory. People told us beforehand that we would not succeed. But we did succeed.
Now fresh hurdles are placed before us with the expectation that we will consider them too daunting. This has happened before. When ANSWER insisted on the absolute right of the people to demonstrate directly along Bush‘s Inaugural Parade route in January 2005 we were confronted with every possible legal, logistical and financial obstacle. The government, in effect, said “you can demonstrate anywhere you want but not on the Inaugural Parade route.” With the help of people like you, however, we successfully overcame the government’s effort and achieved a Free Speech victory that was unprecedented in Inaugural history. Now we are in a similar struggle.
Hundreds of volunteers and organizers have been working round the clock throughout the country. This a rare story of a purely grassroots movement sprouting up because of the desire, commitment and self-sacrifice of people who are trying through their own efforts to create change.
Self-sacrifice is a hallmark of every genuine grassroots movement for change. Thousands of people working together, finding time to volunteer before and after work and school is what makes the difference.
But we cannot possibly succeed without shared sacrifice when it comes to raising the hundreds of thousands of dollars the movement needs. The cost of the stage, sound, and day-of set-up for two sites, one at the Pentagon and the other at Constitution Gardens is $80,000. Delaying our ability to sign contracts with vendors forces the costs to rise astronomically. The government wants us to give up and throw in the towel. Bush desperately wants to avoid having a massive march on the Pentagon, on the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Pentagon protest. The imagery and comparison with Vietnam is something the White House dreads.
Bush and the Pentagon are determined to prevent the march but we will prevail. Free Speech and the right of the people to Redress Grievances is not a gift from politicians. It is a cherished achievement of earlier generations. It cannot exist on paper and be denied in reality. We can and will defend this right.
Will you help today with a generous donation? We need to raise $100,000 in the next three weeks. We have no foundation or corporate support. It is the generosity and commitment of individual donors who will make this happen.
In addition to making a contribution yourself please ask family members and friends to make a donation as well. We will update you in the days ahead as the struggle unfolds. We will see you at the Pentagon on March 17. We will organize today and every day until this criminal war is ended. As in Vietnam, it will be the people themselves, organized and in the streets, who will make the difference.
Thank you for your support,
Brian Becker
National Coordinator, ANSWER Coalition
I just called and told them to STOP THEM!
The person who answered sounded like she got a few people like me already and was happy to hear it! :)
I also told her that if they cant stop them, then to make them pay a billion dollars in fees. The person who answered agreed.
:)
Yes, let's stop them from getting their stinkin' permit and prove their Nazi caricatures of us absolutely true.
Actually, blocking the permit may be a bad idea. It would cause the antiwar marchers to march through Arlington National Cemetery to get to the Pentagon.