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I hope you like it (i hope THEY like it). Tell me what you think....
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Hello, SCPCers,
I wanted to take a little time today to thank each and every one of you. Over the course of about 4 months, you stood up for what you believed in. You spoke out against what you thought was wrong. You took abuse from many people in this community and this country, but you kept coming back....because you believed in what you were doing.
Thank you.
If you've been avoiding the news lately, here's what you have missed.
- The alleged Iraqi attempt to buy uranium from Africa has been debunked, and the President and his administration are still taking heat over what they knew was a lie.
- The supposed "aluminum tubes" that were for use in enriching uranium have been proven to have no such capability.
- There are no ties between Iraq and al Qaeda, and Iraq had no ties to 9/11.
- No weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq. None. Zero. Nada.
This is only the beginning. As days turn into weeks, more and more lies will be exposed in this administrations' thirst for war. So again, I thank you for being there with me every week, protesting the war on Iraq.
Thank you for your chants and your signs that read "No Blood For Oil". It is obvious that Bush knew Iraq had no Weapons Of Mass Destruction, and the only reasons left to go to war were for oil and to distract us from the economy.
Thank you for showing up in 10 degree weather on a February afternoon. Your presence that day gave birth to the Stark County Peace Coalition. We thought that 10-25 people might show up. When 210 of you marched with us that day, I felt like I was going to cry.
Thank you for bringing biblical and spiritual verses on your signs. Despite repeated attempts to proclaim that God wanted us to invade Iraq, those of us who understand our Gods and Goddesses and their true essence knew that death and war were NOT the answer.
When my family and I got death threats, we considered giving up. Thank you for not letting us do that.
When, in the spirit of activism, I made the wrong decisions, you corrected me and kept me on the right path. Thank you. I know that we were not the perfect group, but we tried our best and we let our voices be heard. Thank you for your help in running this group. I wish I could have done a better job, but I know it would have been a LOT worse had it not have been for your guidance and suggestions. Thank you.
When the Secret Service felt it best to put us in the same zone as pro-Bush people, you showed yourselves to be the adults. While pro-Bushies ran around screaming at us and using words like "sand-niggers" to describe Iraqi children, you stood your ground and won the battle that day. Thank you.
Did you know that two of our members that day were talking about how bad Bush is when older women in front of them told them they weren't ALLOWED to talk like that and tried to have them removed? The two members refused to move and argued that their discussion was not against any law. They stood their ground against a pack of whiny Bushies. Thank you for that.
At the end of the Bush event, you cleaned up the trash in the field we stood in for hours. I think it shocked the Bushies when we did that. Yet another point for moral high-ground. Thank you for that.
Every single person who spoke at our rallies did a tremendous job. You showed great bravery and conviction in doing so, and I thank you for your words and your actions.
One member went on a 48-hour hunger strike, and then managed to find the strength to speak the following day at a rally downtown. I couldn't have done that even when I was at my peak physical level. Thank you for that tremendous level of dedication.
Two weeks ago, when Dick Cheney came out of his bunker for a fundraiser in Akron, we outnumbered the supporters. Thank you. (we also had much better chants...how many times can you say "GOP" over and over again and still not think you're a zombie?)
When we marched from the library top Cleveland Avenue, you wanted to continue around the block and you just kept going. We all had tired legs that day, but you pressed on (and hey, I wanted to turn back). Thank you. I knew what strength we had when you did that.
Some of you brought American flags to the rallies. Bringing those flags showed the community that we were NOT anti-American, despite the verbal attacks being laid upon us day after day after day. Thank you.
9 of us went to the route of the pro-war march an hour before it began and put up flyers that showed the horrible images of death and pain taking place as our bombs were killing civilians and children. We took a great risk doing that, but you should have seen the faces of the pro-war marchers (all 50 of them). Thank you for that, too.
A large man came out of Berean's Bookstore and charged at us as if he was going to attack. He tried to jump in front of women, screaming and pointing at the American Flag on his XXXXL t-shirt. You walked right past him and kept chanting as if he weren't even there. Thank you.
When people yelled at you from their cars, you flashed the peace sign (sometimes, I forgot to use two fingers). You chanted "USA" with people, confusing the heck out of them. You chanted "Shalommmmmmmmmmm" at angry motorists outside Belden Village. Thank you.
Despite extreme desires to do so, none of us ever got arrested for our activism. Thank you.
To this day, members of the SCPC are still writing letters to the editor, and not a day goes by that one of our members does not post an online comment at CantonRep.com. Thank you.
You made signs, you screamed for peace, you brought cookies and coffee for others, you marched through snow and rain, you laughed with your fellow activists, you took the abuse that this community tried to pile on you, and you came back again and again and again.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
We used to wonder if we'd have to do it all over again in one year. After recent events, the Bush administration has found themselves desperately trying to justify a war based on lies and intentionally misleading evidence. It's my belief that after the embarrassing discoveries of this war, there is no way this country could invade another country. Nobody would ever trust any evidence that may come forth. They've been forced into a corner, trying hard to prove that a lie is not a lie. There's no way they'll ever get away with it again.
That's because of you. Had there not have been people questioning this war from the start, these lies might never have come to the surface. Had we not held a light up their 'evidence' and forced the country to look at it, we might very well be getting ready to protest a war in Iran or Syria. Although this administration is brazen enough to try another war, I doubt they'll do it. In March, we all were pretty sure that they wouldn't stop with just Iraq. we knew they'd try to go further. I really don't think that's going to happen now.
We may not have stopped the war in Iraq....but we may have stopped the next war from ever taking place.
Thank you. You have served this country and this world by standing up for peace, and perhaps stopping a war machine from continuing.
Thank you.
Sincerely, and with the utmost respect for all of you,
Jeff Seemann
Proud President, Stark County Peace Coalition
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