I received an e-mail this morning about the rally on Saturday in D.C., where I'll be joining thousands of my closest DFH friends.
Check out who's speaking at the rally, below the fold ...
Here's the e-mail in pertinent part:
On Saturday, September 15, tens of thousands of people will gather at 12:00 noon on the north side of the White House, in and around Lafayette Park. Following the rally at the White House, participants will march to the Capitol Building. When the march arrives at Congress, thousands of people will participate in a Die-In/Funeral to dramatically represent the thousands of U.S. and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives lost in Iraq. Those not in the Die-In can participate in a legally permitted rally.
Speakers at the White House rally will include:
- Ralph Nader
- Malik Rahim, Founder, Common Ground Collective, New Orleans
- Cindy Sheehan, Co-Founder, Gold Star Families for Peace
- Ramsey Clark, former U.S. attorney general
- Adam Kokesh, Iraq Veterans Against the War
- Tina Richards, CEO, Grassroots America
- Mahdi Bray, Executive Director, Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
- Mounzer Sleiman, Vice-Chair, National Council of Arab Americans
- Etan Thomas, Washington Wizards Basketball Player
& many other veterans, family members, anti-war, student and community leaders!
Hang on a second ... did you say Ralph Nader?? The man whose colossal ego and unwillingness to accept logic and reality in large part (though, admittedly, not singlehandedly) led to the mess we're in to begin with?
I find this appalling ... doesn't anyone pay attention to history? Sure, he may be a fine advocate for peace, but mostly he's a fine advocate for himself. And those of us who are coming to Washington to demand change have to put up with this asshat?
Spare me the starry-eyed rhetoric. I know Ralph thought he was doing the right thing. But he knew that his candidacy in 2000 would pull votes from Al Gore, and no matter how you want to argue the point, the final Florida tally (Katherine Harris-approved, I know, but it's in the books) says that Nader drew almost 100,000 votes, which in a margin of 537 for Drunky McStagger literally made all the difference.
Forgive me if I don't applaud Nader on Saturday. I don't know if I'll boo or turn my back or what, but I'll make my feelings known. Your mileage may vary, but I'm going to express myself. Deal with it.
(Cross-posted at Blast Off!)