Debra Sweet, National Coordinator of World Can’t Wait Drive Out the Bush Regime
Speech to Chapters and Organizers
The future is on the line and you are in the right place. The world urgently needs us to drive out the Bush regime. To this end, the world needs powerful protest by the American people – nation-wide on Tuesday, January 31st to drown out and denounce Bush’s State of the Union, declaring BUSH STEP DOWN because we are in a state of emergency, and then the following Saturday bringing this demand right to the seat of government, to the seat of power, in Washington DC: BUSH STEP DOWN AND TAKE YOUR PROGRAM WITH YOU.
As scandals break and crimes of this Bush regime are revealed before millions, the possibility of driving this regime from power becomes ever more real, but also ever more urgent, with exponentially increasing stakes. It is not every day that major newspapers run editorials accusing the President of impeachable offenses ( and as this is happening, it must be seized upon. Millions of people want this President gone from office, and we must reach out very broadly, uniting with many, many diverse sections of people, and ensure that this moment of political vulnerability for the regime does not pass. We need to get to the people who don’t see how this can happen, who don’t see any other way, and let them know there is a vehicle.
It is bad when the president spies on millions. And when he does secretly and above the law. And when he lies about it. But when he is caught ( and he neither apologizes or even attempts to deny it, but instead throws back threats against those who expose this, and brags that he has secretly sanctioned this spying over 30 times ( that regime is illegal and must be driven from power. And it can ( if we unleash the very broad and spreading outrage and sense of betrayal in powerful protest that demands that Bush Step Down.
If not ( this unrestrained power of the executive, in the service of fascist police state ( gets ratified. It gets legitimized. And it gets used to further silence and break any opposition.
It is unspeakable when people are tortured. Even worse when it is done systematically to large swaths of people including known innocents. But when all of this comes to the light of day ( and the president and his legal advisors don’t even bother with perfunctory punishment ( but instead set about changing the legal definitions of torture to sanction these acts ( this regime is morally bankrupt and must be driven from power. And it can be ( if all those who don’t want to be a nation of torturers politically confront this regime when Bush speaks at the end of the month.
If not ( this torture becomes condoned by the American people. It becomes our sinister gift to the children of every country that is cast under the cold shadow of the U.S. empire in its pursuit of endless war.
It is bad when abortion doctors are killed. When clinics are bombed and women are harassed and shamed for making basic and fundamental decisions about our lives and whether to bear children. It is bad when gay people, like Matthew Shepard, are dehumanized and killed and when all others are gruesomely reminded that they are reviled.
But when this hatred and bigotry, and the gruesome horrors of the Bible taken literally become the basis of law in the country, from the highest offices and court in the land ( the regime must be forced out. And it can ( if we tap the will of the majority against all this concretely demanding that Bush Step Down and take his program with him on Tuesday, January 31st across the country and on Saturday, February 4th in Washington, DC.
If not ( the whole, historically new and still very fragile, concept of treating women and gays like human beings, like full and equal participants could be defeated and we’ll see a return to the most ignorant and brutal nightmares which millions struggled to ensure would never happen again.
It is bad when, in 2006, racism still so deeply stalks the lives of Black people and other oppressed nationalities, that police brutality is rampant, and nearly 2 million mainly Black and Latino people are warehoused in prisons, and daily racist humiliations are unrelenting. But when hundreds of thousands are left to die and then permanently dispossessed and displaced and this is seen as an act of God and an opportunity for development by the man now leading the ‘redevelopment’ ( this is the stuff of genocide. As is the program of ‘Abstinence Only’ being pushed Bush’s modern day Christian Ayatollahs who refuse condoms to those most stricken by the AIDS pandemic ( throughout the U.S. and Africa and around the world.
A regime that does these things must be stopped! And it can be, if we move now while people still remember their shock and anger and direct this towards truly massive protests against Bush’s lies and bring this right to the capital.
I could keep going ( talk about the round-ups of tens of thousands of immigrants, talk about Guantanamo, talk about the attacks on science, on critical thought, on evolution, on tolerance, on academia, on non-fundamentalist churches, and the dangers of global warming ( like the predictions of storms the size of 50 Katrina’s to hit Bangladesh in the next decade due to the melting ice caps ( all of which this regime is hastening.
But the point is, as it says in our Call for The World Can’t Wait, ‘The Bush regime is setting out to remake the world, very quickly, in a fascist way, and for generations to come.’ This is a comprehensive program ( and it demands a comprehensive answer. The whole regime is illegitimate. It is immoral. And it is indictably criminal. We must drive it out.
They are not going to just go away. And there is no one who is in a position to indict or impeach these murderous criminals who is both willing and strong enough to do so successfully. This is the reality.
Everybody knows this. Clinton got impeached over a blow job under the desk in the Oval Office. Bush lies, spies, breaks the law, lets thousands die, received huge disapproval ratings and just keeps going.
The only way this Bush regime will be stopped, the only way all of the seething anger and pent up aspirations for a better world are going to make a difference is if we urgently mobilize it and unleash all this in truly massive, determined, unrelenting protest with the concrete demand that BUSH STEP DOWN and take his program with him.
Our chance to do this in the most powerful, comprehensive, effective and visible way is when Bush will deliver his State of the Union address and the following Saturday in DC.
We cannot confine ourselves to the terms being articulated by those in positions of power. We have to bring forward many thousands of people to step out into the streets to change the whole conversation, and change the whole direction. To put the demand that BUSH STEP DOWN before all of society and make this THE demand that every force in society is forced to answer to.
Never has this been more necessary, more urgent, or more palpably possible.
All three of those go together. Because things are coming to a head: It is even more absolutely necessary, even more critically urgent, and even more really and truly possible to drive out this regime.
It’s important to understand that we are not setting the pace of the events shaping society ( but they are being decided. Nearly every aspect of the Bush program ( and more importantly, the program as a whole ( is being dragged out before society and debated and largely decided through this month of January. We are living through a history shaping moment. Two very different futures are colliding ( that of Bush and his whole program and that of the will and the fundamental interests of the vast majority of people in this country and the world. What we do ( how we live, who we mobilize, who finds their courage, their voice, their resolve, and how many do ( will decide which future will win out.
Tomorrow a bunch of very powerful religious fascists are holding Justice Sunday
On Monday, January 9th, the hearings over Samuel Alito begin. He has advocated even more unrestrained executive power, has made a mission of ending abortion, and opposes anti-discrimination measures, the rights of the accused, the separation of church and state and more.
A couple days ago our DC volunteers crashed a press conference of the fascist Concerned Women for America, who were claiming to show that women support Alito. Our volunteers got in front of their podium, dressed in bloody hospital gowns with coat-hangers and World Can’t Wait signs, and yelled, ‘Bush and Alito are going to outlaw abortion and women are going to DIE!’ They got on C-Span and got written about in the Washington Post.
We are calling this Monday ‘Bloody Monday’ and chapters and others everywhere should follow suit. Get down to the local courthouses dressed in bloody gowns, bring coat-hangers and banners which read: ‘No Alito! Bush Step Down! Protest the State of the Union! Worldcantwait.org.’ We will have a press release available to use for this. Also we are calling on people everywhere to pin red cloth on them in symbolic protest.
Then, Friday, January 13 the Supreme Court will be hearing the case of Jose Padilla. We are calling for people to get to the court-houses again, dressed in the orange jumpsuits of the detainees and those denied any legal rights. And again, big signs ( Bush Step Down! Protest the State of the Union!!!
January 22 is the anniversary of Roe V. Wade. This year there will be thousands of anti-choice protesters in DC orgasming over their near victory in forcing women into reproductive slavery. This must be countered by outpourings that grow the word of our plans to demand that Bush Step Down during the State of the Union.
Throughout the month there will be debate over the deepening problems in Iraq, over the rolling devastation of Katrina, over the fascist Patriot Act, and the NSA spying.
We must respond to all these events as they break ( but mainly we must see them as a staging ground for the resounding, comprehensive denunciation and answer to the whole Bush program during Bush’s state of the Union. From our Call: ‘We need more than fighting Bush’s outrages one at a time, constantly losing ground to the whole onslaught. We can and must aim to create a political situation in which the whole Bush program is repudiated, where Bush himself is forced to step down, and where the whole direction he is taking society is reversed. We, in our millions, must take responsibility to change the course of history.’We should realize that choosing inaction is ratifying this direction to be set in law and precedent, backed up by armed force, for a very long time to come. There can be no accommodation. Again from our Call: “silence and paralysis are NOT acceptable. That which you will not resist and mobilize to stop, you will learn ( or be forced ( to accept.”
The politics of our Call, the demand that Bush step down, the timing of our planned protests, the vehicle of our organization and the leaps we are planning to make right through this meeting are what millions need in order to step forward and impact the way history is unfolding.
We confront a couple of key challenges though:
First, most of them do not yet know about this vehicle, this demand, this movement, and these protests.
Second, we must be organized on a much higher level to be able to harness and bring to bear the energies, resources, and determination of the millions who don’t want to live in the world-according-to-Bush.
In order to get into how we meet these challenges, it is important to grasp what we are standing on.
We launched a real, if beginning, movement on November 2nd in more than 70 cities, establishing ourselves as a national force with the ability to deeply connect with and unleash the fury and hopes of the youth from more than 200 high schools and to bring forward voices who millions trust and look to, the conscience of society who spoke out and said ( indeed the world cannot wait, we must drive out the Bush regime ( people like Harold Pinter, Gore Vidal, Jane Fonda, Cornel West, Ed Asner, Studs Terkel, Russel Banks, Tom Morello, Michael Eric Dyson. There was a breadth that is uncommon ( and historic ( that we began to manifest.
Since then, we have raised tens of thousands of dollars, placed an extremely successful ad in the New York Times which opened up many more doors ( getting us featured and attacked by Bill O’Reilly, debated by right wing columnists, and also prompting more prominent individuals to meeting with us and add their names to our Call. This New York Times ad raised back the $50,000 it cost and attracted letters of gratitude that we are speaking starkly and accurately to the stakes of this moment.
We have begun forming a very impressive Advisory Board ( with State Representative Mark Leno serving as a member and writing a powerful editorial commending the extraordinary leadership which World Can’t Wait is providing in a moment when politics as usual will not cut it. This includes Warren Hern, a heroic abortion provider from Colorado who has been stalked and threatened for decades and has gone on radio representing for World Can’t Wait. We have Gore Vidal who appeared on New York’s NPR talking about World Can’t Wait. We have Mark Crispin Miller, an NYU professor who has written three books about Bush and one about the rigging of the 2004 election. We have attorney Lynne Stewart, who has stood strong in the face of Patriot Act charges for defending individuals accused of terrorism. Rosemary Candelario is a long-time pro-choice activist who has been writing for our website. Boots Riley of The Coup has recorded
We have a core of volunteers in DC working nearly around the clock to strategize and mobilize for the two State of Emergency protests.
Mark Crispin Miller and Sunsara Taylor just recorded ads about the State of the Union protests which will start airing on Air America this Monday!!! We aim to record more with other voices in the coming weeks. Later this week we will submit a new ad to the New York Times, increasing our momentum and the perception that we are serious about our demand.
This should give you some sense of where we are at ( the real beginning strength and organization that we have forged through struggle over the last few months. It gives a sense of what we are standing on. But, again, we are not the ones setting the time-table here. A lot about the future of the world is being decided in the next few weeks, and what we do to pull out all the stops to make January 31st and February 4th a rejection of the Bush regime and Bush program so powerful it gives heart and hope to people around the planet and starts a dynamic going that leads to the unseating of the president and the reversal of this whole direction ( will make all the difference.
So, along with this talk, we are including a Checklist for Chapters, which we want to go over now. The content of this talk we have just given and the checklist which follows is what chapters should take up discussing and making concrete plans around today, right at this meeting.
Checklist points:1. Locations and concrete plans for the January 31st protests nation-wide to Drown Out Bush’s Lies and Drive Out the Bush Regime should be set by now. If not, they must be set immediately. The plan is for gatherings to begin one hour before Bush’s State of the Union, this means gathering at 8:00 Eastern Standard Time, 7:00 Central Standard Time, 6:00 Mountain Standard Time, and 5:00 Pacific Standard Time. Speakers who include the breadth of the movement we are aiming for, prominent artists, politicians, youth, religious leaders, academics, and World Can’t Wait speakers, will go for one hour. Then, at
3. Massive saturation of each area must begin that includes the times and places for both of these historic protests. Posters are being printed nationally and sticker and flyer designs are available to be supplemented with local information and mass produced. We have bright green window signs, and lawn signs. Hundreds of thousands of these need to be getting out all around each area ( through congregations, organizations, door to door, stacks in stores, in high visibility places. An atmosphere must be created where millions know about this and see it not just once, but again and again so that each time they are further compelled that these are events they cannot sit out. They must have the feel of something happening on a scale that could really make a difference.
4. FUNDS, FUNDS, FUNDS ( There are millions of people who hate this regime and what it is doing who need to find out that their financial support can make a huge difference in the chances of driving this regime out. We urgently need money to pay for more ads to break into the media and reach the homes and hearts of millions across the country who are looking for a way to act, to support our volunteers working full-time in our National Office and in DC, to supply millions of pieces of materials and much more. We have raised tens of thousands and learned that in many cases people are willing to donate very generously ( but we must reach them, ask them, and let them know why this matters so much. We need to continue our movement of house parties which raise money and spread organization. And every area needs to be approaching individuals who can make large donations.5. We need to be responding to the developments and nodal points throughout the month of January when the direction of the future is going to be repeatedly debated and decided ( we listed some of these above and plans should be made to respond to these in a way that builds the word about and momentum and organization towards the State of Emergency plans on January 31st and February 4th.
I want to conclude by reminding us all about the responsibility that all of us have. It is not every day that people live through the types of events around which history pivots ( events that are celebrated or grieved in the history books, legends and songs.
If ever there was a time for people to pour into the streets, if ever there was a moment that demanded the uncompromised resolve of many thousands soon swelling to millions, if ever there was a moment ripe for regime change ( we are living through it.We are planning the only response that measures up to the demands of this moment. We are aiming to lead many thousands to step right into the heart of this whole storm ( and politically confront this regime head on. In the Ukraine, in Argentina ( and now here in the U.S., regime change means going to the capital. After nation-wide protests while the eyes of the world are on George Bush during his State of the Union, this is where we are bringing many thousands on February 4th. Right to the capital. Right to the seat of government. Right where we have to be to decide the way the future is going to unfold.
Once again, from our Call: ‘The future is unwritten. WHICH ONE WE GET IS UP TO US.‘