A Lawyers Network for WORLD CAN’T WAIT!
DRIVE OUT THE BUSH REGIME!
When
the Patriot Act was passed, among those sounding the loudest alarm were lawyers
who saw the unprecedented and repressive police state powers being hammered
into place.
When
the US
government dragooned people from Afghanistan
and locked them away
on an island thousands of miles from their home, lawyers braved death threats
to speak out for and fight for them, to document the use of torture and
violations of the Geneva convention, to keep this outrage before the public
eye, and to litigate and work for their release from detention.
When
the authorities decided they could lock people up for years, simply on the declaration enemy
combatants and without due process,
among the first people to jump into the fray were lawyers.
The
outrages keep mounting with revelations of Bush secretly and unlawfully
authorizing wiretaps on millions, the Congressional overturning of habeas corpus
relief for detainees at Guantanamo, and the almost certain confirmation of
Samuel Alito who would ban abortion, deny basic rights to the people and wipe
out the separation of church and state.
WE ARE IN A STATE OF EMERGENCY!
‘The Bush regime is setting out to radically remake society very
quickly, in a fascist way, and for generations to come.’
As lawyers many of you have warned that the
ominous changes being made in the judicial system and in society as a whole are
being cemented into place and will not be easily dislodged. You are right. The future is on the line and
the people must act! What is needed is
massive political resistance against the entire program, galvanizing a determined society-wide
movement that will not quit until the Bush regime is driven from office. And
lawyers have a crucial role to play in this movement, joining your voices with
hundreds of thousands of others to denounce the whole Bush program and
defending all who step out to oppose it.
The
next huge step which this movement will take is powerful political protests to
denounce Bush’s State of the Union. On the evening of Tuesday, January 31, in
cities across the country, thousands will gather to bring the noise and drown
out Bush=s State of
the Union address, making ‘Drive out the
Bush Regime’ the political message of the day.
On the following Saturday, February 4th, many thousands will
protest at the White House, bringing our demand right to the seat of power in Washington
DC: “BUSH STEP DOWN AND TAKE
YOUR PROGRAM WITH YOU!”
‘If we speak the truth, they will try to
silence us. If we act, they will try to
stop us. But we speak for the majority,
here and around the world…’
* In the 60’s and in decades since, those who
opposed and resisted government
oppression found themselves in turn the target of that same government, through
arrests, harassment and slander, both official and unofficial. And the same thing is happening today. Every day more of this is revealed in the
news.
* When high school and college students
stepped out on November 2 some faced expulsion and criminal charges and World
Can’t Wait activists are continuing to be harassed. Lawyers are needed to defend all who are
daring to take responsibility for the future.
* When the call for ABUSH STEP DOWN@
was published as a full-page ad in the New York Times, Bill O’Reilly on his Fox
TV program ‘The O’Reilly Factor,’ joined by right-wing pointman David Horowitz,
went on the attack –falsely claiming that World Can=t Wait is urging Americans to disrupt the
State of the Union address. Lies and
misrepresentations about World Can’t Wait can only pave the way for repression
and persecution and need to be refuted.
The legal front can be an important component of turning around these
kinds of attacks.
JOIN WITH THIS MOVEMENT! HELP DEVELOP A LAWYERS NETWORK FOR WORLD
CAN’T WAIT!
There
are many ways you can get involved:
* Sign
the Call and spread the word ( E-mail the Call to your colleagues and friends.
* Tell
everyone you know to visit www.worldcantwait.org.
* Get
word out to bar associations and law schools about plans for the January 31st
nation-wide protests during the State of the Union address and to organize
people to go to Washington D.C.
on Saturday, February 4th .
* Volunteer to help with permit fights and
other legal battles for the movement.
* Volunteer
to defend this movement and those who dare to help launch and lead it. Serious
harassment or persecution of leaders and organizers and those walking out of
school or work, demonstrating, and rallying, should not go unanswered.
* Speak out!
Write an op ed or informational piece for the website and for legal
journals and newsletters.
* Volunteer
to help document cases of harassment and repression of activists.
* Become
a legal observer at the January 31st and February 4th
demonstrations and rallies and organize others.
* Develop Aknow
your rights@ materials
and lawyer contact information for activists which could be posted on the
website.
* DONATE FUNDS TO SUPPORT WORLD CAN’T WAIT
“THE
FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN. WHICH ONE WE GET IS
UP TO US.”
BE
PART OF MAKING HISTORY
Contact
us at info@worldcantwait.org or call 1-866-973-4463.