Cross posted at Street Prophets
Hey folks!
Like some on here, I wage a daily battle against right-wing apologists on my blogs and Facebook account (I have over 3,300 "friends" on there, with more than a few right-wingers and Palinistas). To give everyone a place where they can put up or shut up, I've decided to create something where those of us who wish to make our feeling public can do so, simply and easily.
Full text after the jump:
It's something I call The Campaign to End Violent Political Rhetoric,, and it takes the form of an online petition we can sign and pass around to signal our seriousness about this issue. It's also a handy way of testing just how serious our Republican friends are about disowning the politics of hate and fear.
Here's the text:
To: Political Parties and Candidates
We, the undersigned, deplore the continued erosion of civility that has too often characterized politics in the 21st century. We call upon all politicians and political leaders, regardless of party, to cease and desist in the use of violent imagery and rhetoric in the domestic political sphere.
We hereby call upon political office-holders and candidates to refrain from the following practices: using guns, "wanted"-style posters, firearm imagery (including but not limited to gun sights, targets, bullet holes, etc), or inferring that violence is an acceptable solution to domestic political differences or problems. We call for a halt in the use of imagery or language that could, in any way, be interpreted as physically intimidating or threatening in political ads and campaign materials. We also call upon office holders, candidates for office, and those working for them or in support of them to refrain from comparing their opponents to Nazis, fascists, communists, "red coats", or other historical wartime adversaries of the American people.
To show just how strongly we feel about these things, we pledge to with-hold our support from any politician who fails to hold to these principles, no matter how much we may agree with them on any individual issue. We also call upon our political leaders to sign on to this pledge, and to not waiver from it.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
Feel free to pass this one around.
As a side note, I know I've been silent on here as of late. Well, we're getting closer to having a final cut of my film "Dark of Moon" (a dialogue-driven comedy in the tradition of Kevin Smith and Woody Allen) every day now. Oh, and it looks like my first non-fiction book on Wicca is going to be published near the end of the year! So I've been busy...I just had to pop my head up and share this petition with y'all!
Blessed be,
Taliesin