Politics Archives | Page 28 of 28

Let the Inspections Work

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:February 22, 2003
Post category:Uncategorized
Post comments:0 Comments

Please join me NOW in registering for a Virtual March on Washington for February 26th. We are asking Congress to stop the Bush administration’s rush to war, and to Let the Inspections Work. Time is running out.

With your help, on February 26th, every Senate office will receive a call EVERY MINUTE from a constituent, as they receive a simultaneous crush of faxes and email. I will be calling Senator Charles Schumer @ 1:43pm, Senator Hilary Clinton @ 1:48pm and The White House @ 1:53pm with the following statement: “As a native-New Yorker, I am offended that the tragedy of 9/11 is being used an excuse for even more senseless violence instead of an opportunity for necessary reform. As an honorably discharged member of the US Army, I am wholeheartedly against this push towards war that ignores the wishes of a growing number of Americans and unacceptably jeopardizes each and every one of our lives.”

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Cynical Choir Clarification

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:February 13, 2003
Post category:Media
Post comments:0 Comments

Ask and ye shall be told. I checked with a colleague of mine at Refuse and Resist about what was up with the Lincoln Center event and here's the deal: "The sponsoring group for the event is Not In Our Name Statement of Conscience (you can see it at www.nion.us), and any money raised will go towards printing the statement in publications around the country. it has already appeared in 45 newspapers or magazines here and internationally, some of which have been paid ads, paid for by donations from people who have seen earlier ads. No one is being paid…

Charging the choir for a sermon

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:February 13, 2003
Post category:Media Personal
Post comments:0 Comments

Call me cynical – you wouldn’t be the first! – but I’ve got some issues with this Lincoln Center Anti-War reading next Monday. And no, it’s got nothing to do with it being ON a Monday. I’ve encouraged people to check it out and even sent it out to our mailing list. It was actually a response to that mailing from a friend in Seattle that got me thinking, though.

The CONCEPT is wonderful. A bunch of poets covering the spectrum from establishment to street coming together to speak out against the war is a good thing. A VERY good thing. But what’s with the $10-100 ticket charge? I’ve looked around the Not in Our Name and Lincoln Center web sites and read through the promotional emails I’ve been sent and there’s no mention of this being a fundraiser. Who’s this money going to?

My wife – former event planner that she is – says Lincoln Center is an expensive place to hold an event. I don’t doubt it and that’s what confuses me even more. It makes no sense to me that you’d hold an event like THIS somewhere that isn’t donating the space, much less an expensive one. Who are they trying to reach out to? Why isn’t this a free event held somewhere that could ensure maximum exposure? Even @ $10/ticket, it’s a POETRY show, and all you’re doing is preaching to the choir if that’s your audience.

Don’t accuse me of pulling a post-9/11 O’Reilly on a good cause, either. Seriously. If it’s a fundraiser, it should say that SOMEWHERE. If it’s not, then it’s nothing more than capitalistic opportunism. If the poets themselves are being paid for reading at this thing, shame on them. There’s several names on the lineup that I know personally, some of whom I respect greatly. There’s at least one whose politics have proven rather convenient over the years, aka if there’s cameras, he’ll be there.

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