Posted on 03/05/2003 6:35:57 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Texans plan peace rallies today
But recent poll finds strong support for Bush, Iraq stance
03/05/2003
War protesters throughout Texas are planning another round of peace rallies Wednesday as part of Books Not Bombs, a nationwide effort focusing on students.
Last month, Texas protests attracted thousands. Local organizers hope to have a similar turnout Wednesday.
"We made history trying to stop this unjust war on Feb. 15," said Sherry Bollenbacher, a Dallas anti-war organizer. "We must continue to act on our conscience. We must stop this war."
However, the rallies will draw responses from those who support President Bush's Iraq position, just as they did Feb. 15.
The Texas anti-war rallies planned for Wednesday include a five-hour festival at Flagpole Hill near White Rock Lake.
Students from about 300 high schools and colleges nationwide are planning to walk off campus. Adults are being asked to skip work.
At the University of Texas at Austin, students are planning a campus rally to support the national effort.
"We won't have a walkout," student activist Lisa Krebs said. "But we're going to support the national effort with a rally."
At Texas A&M University, the Young Conservatives of Texas plan to counter a faculty teach-in.
"They need to support President Bush and not Saddam Hussein," said Matthew Maddox, chairman of the Young Conservatives of Texas A&M.
Though war protests have attracted large crowds in Texas and nationwide, a new Texas poll shows strong support for the administration.
According to the survey, 58 percent of Texans say they favor the United States going to war with Iraq, and 63 percent believe that Mr. Bush has provided enough evidence to justify military action.
A third say they oppose the war, and the rest are neutral or don't know, according to the Scripps Howard Texas Poll, which interviewed 1,000 Texans by phone Feb. 6-28.
Nearly three of four war supporters in Texas - 71 percent - say the United States should strike Iraq when the Bush administration decides, instead of waiting for a United Nations vote authorizing military action. Twenty-five percent support waiting for a U.N. vote, and the rest either don't know or are neutral.
Also, 68 percent of those surveyed approve of the job Mr. Bush is doing as president. Although pollsters consider that high, it is the lowest rating the president has received in his home state since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
That support for military intervention in Iraq has also been reflected in rallies that attract large crowds.
Two days before the Feb. 15 protest, a pro-war rally in Bedford drew 3,000 supporters.
The group sponsoring the event calls itself Texas United, and organizers plan to also attend events Wednesday.
"I'm not a warmonger, but I support America. I'm not a warmonger," said Ralph Goin of Frisco. "We'll be there Wednesday with a counterprotest."
Poll and counterprotests haven't deterred the peace crowd, however, and they note that the anti-war movement is unlike any in recent times.
"This movement is broad, and it is deep," said Julie Ryan, an organizer for the North Texas Coalition for a Just Peace. "It shows that many people, even in George Bush's home state, don't want this war."
On Feb. 15, peace rallies attracted about 3,000 people in Dallas, 10,000 in Austin and 3,000 in Houston.
The rallies drew protest groups from various peace backgrounds, including churches, activists who oppose sanctions against Iraq and others who have protested other U.S. military engagements.
He's a regular "Poster Boy" for the War Wooses ...
At Texas A&M University, the Young Conservatives of Texas plan to counter a faculty teach-in.
"They need to support President Bush and not Saddam Hussein," said Matthew Maddox, chairman of the Young Conservatives of Texas A&M.
If you're gonna turn the clock back & re-live the "good ol' days" ya gotta look the part.
He's a traitor. His citizenship has been permanently revoked, but he still has asylum in Austin.
Sigh . . .
Most Texans support President Bush. Blather tries to tear him down, the dirty 'RAT . . .
Just joshin' ya!
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