The 12-member group marching for democracy from Los Angeles to Sacramento arrived in front of Fresno City Hall on Friday evening, June 6. On the 21st day of the 37-day march they had walked 22 miles in 100-degree heat, but if they were exhausted, they didn't complain.
Here are the marchers with the people who greeted them at City Hall:
And their mascot, Leo, who usually rides in the car accompanying the group.
The leader, Kai Newkirk, said they were walking the 480 miles from LA to Sacramento hoping to encourage others to join the fight against corruption of the political process by Big Money. Then everyone in the group eloquently explained why they had joined the march.
Kai said when they get to Sacramento, they will demand that the California legislature rein in "the corrupting influence of Big Money on our democracy" with these three actions:
1) issuing a formal call for a federal Constitutional Convention to propose an Amendment outlawing big money corruption by passing Assembly Joint Resolution 1;
2) giving California's voters the chance to formally instruct the US Congress to propose such an Amendment and the California legislature to ratify it by passing Senate Bill 1272;
3) reducing the influence of unlimited, anonymous big money in elections by passing the DISCLOSE Act, SB 52, which requires that top donors to be prominently revealed in every political ad they fund.
On Saturday night, the group hosted a two-hour town hall attended by about 50 people who shared their views of what needs to be done locally and statewide to counter the influence of money in the political process. The group invited local people to join them on the march even for just a mile when they set out Sunday at 9 a.m.
As the group left downtown Fresno they made a video, with Kai stating their purpose. In an email, he wrote:
300 Down. 180 to go. We have pushed through the most difficult part of our journey and are headed towards Sacramento with growing momentum. Help us build on our strong start by watching this video recorded on the march Sunday, then sharing it with your friends. https://www.youtube.com/...
Here is the itinerary:
More information about the March: http://www.marchfordemocracy.org/
Pictures from the march: https://www.flickr.com/...
UPDATE: In response to a commenter suggesting this is just "a trip" but not a serious effort to bring about change, I said http://www.dailykos.com/... : "When they get to Sacramento the group plans some serious lobbying efforts on the bills they're supporting. Some of the people they've met along the way will join them. The need to mobilize for a constitutional amendment is obvious, as President Obama is reported to have told some big donors:
“The Supreme Court made a constitutional ruling that was absolutely wrong, and that I said was wrong in a State of the Union speech. In front of the Supreme Court justices,” he said, smiling slyly, as he recalled chastising the justices on live television a week after Citizens United.... “Because it’s a constitutional ruling—a ruling on the First Amendment—we can’t overturn it legislatively, and there are limits to what we can do administratively. There are some things that probably would comport with the ruling in terms of requiring disclosure [but] the disclosure is not a sufficient deterrent for a lot of these folks who are writing checks.” No, Obama continued, “the only way we’re going to do it effectively, I think, is with a constitutional amendment.... Now, I taught constitutional law,” Obama continued to Gates et alia. “I don’t tinker with the Constitution lightly. But I think this is important enough that citizens have to get mobilized around this issue, and this will probably be a multiyear effort.....” http://atlasleft.org/...