July 18-21: Republican National Convention — Cleveland July 24-28: Democratic National Convention — Philadelphia
You're outraged at the bigotry, hatred and murder that is being whipped up against black people, the LGBTQ community, women, immigrants, and Muslims. You see how politics-as-usual fuels a brutal, bloody war on the world, dashing possibility for positive change in a world that desperately needs it. You recognize the need for a vehicle to resist a culture of greed and ignorance. The change we need is not on the ballot. Neither candidate seeking to be Commander in Chief in 2016 will:
- stop targeted killing by the U.S. military;
- shut down or even trim the 1,100+ U.S. bases around the world;
- apologize or pay reparations to those countries destroyed by the so-called 'war on terror'
It's a system problem, not just a politician problem. We reject the "choices" of this system: A presidential candidate who plans to build a wall & deport 11 million... or the candidate of the party whose "Deporter in Chief" already deported 2 million people. A party which suppresses action to stop and even the science to study the destruction of the global environment... or one which relies on the corporations burning the planet with fossil fuels to "stop themselves." Two parties largely responsible for ISIS: one by launching a war of aggression & occupation, and now threatening "carpet bombing;" the other by expanding endless US aggressive war on 7 countries. A party whose Commander in Chief won't close the torture camp at Guantanamo after 8 years of promises to do it… or one who plans to "lock more up" in Guantanamo, and torture and waterboard prisoners. A candidate who pledges to "cut the head off ISIS" by killing women and children of the "fighters" in other countries and banning the Muslim refugees fleeing these wars, or the other candidate who met with the president to discuss targeted killing of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, and pushed for the disastrous attack on Libya. No one seeking the position of Commander in Chief will stop the war on terror or end the culture of violence, bigotry and hatred that this has given rise to. So the choice is on on those of us, the millions of us, who care about people, the future of humanity and the planet — to act together to stop this whole direction. People around the world will be watching the conventions. Will they see that there are people living in this country who represent another way, giving them heart, courage and common cause? Silence and paralysis are not acceptable. That which you do not resist, you will learn — or be forced — to accept. The future is unwritten. Which one we get is up to us. Join us in the streets of Cleveland and Philadelphia. Everyone who cares about the future is invited.
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