Anti-War
Protest and Occupy Philly
15 Oct 2011
We started off modestly, with just the anti-war people and just those
who chose to wait for the Occupy Philadelphia people to arrive from
where they were encamped at City Hall. We had
a very good program starting with yoga, going onto two bands and
then a group of speakers interspersed with more music.
We were set up in the same block with the Liberty Bell. That's
Independence Hall in the background.
Video of singing (M4V)
There's actually good
news to report on the Iraq War. There was some talk about US troops
remaining in Iraq past their scheduled withdrawal date of the end of
this year. The Obama Administration has settled for keeping a small
contingent in Iraq to guard the Baghdad embassy and to not keep anyone
else there past the previously-agreed-upon deadline.
The Occupy Philly crowd approaches!
More singing
In July, firedoglake
assessed the impact of the Wikileaks revelations a year after the
cables that they had obtained were released. A real fear was that
pro-US informants who identities had been revealed by Wikileaks would
be killed, but as of one year afterwards, no informants were known to
have been killed. Unfortunately, President Obama seemed and still seems
determined to keep the war in Afghanistan going.
NOW we had a decent-sized crowd!
With Occupy
Wall
Street being one month old and going stronger than ever, some
bank customers are trying to close their accounts with some of the
financial offenders, banks that helped bring on the Great Recession,
and meeting
stiff
resistance from those same banks (Here's a lengthier
version of the same video that MSNBC's Chris Hayes showed).
As per the sign showing here, we'd like to keep Social Security,
Medicare and Medicaid completely off the table and out of the
discussion when America discusses the Federal Budget. Unfortunately,
we've got Cat Food Commission II, otherwise known as the Super
Committee, where a group of Senators and Congresspeople are trying to
impoverish the American people and to see to it that we consider cat
food to be a rare treat. Actually, I give the Democrats more credit
this time than during the last Cat Food Commission. They're
fighting
harder
this time to see to it that new taxes are being
discussed.
Videos of Celeste Zappala, the MFSO speaker part 1 / part 2
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) was asked for what
his
solution
to America's economic problems would look like and
replied that he wanted:
...tax cuts, a balanced budget
amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the total elimination of the
Affordable Care Act, the total elimination of Wall Street reform
safeguards, the end of EPA enforcement of clean air measures, and a tax
repatriation holiday for international corporations.
In other words, McCain wants the Federal Budget shrunk down to darn
near nothing and to do absolutely nothing to create jobs or to assist
non-millionaires in any way, shape or form. Those who are making less
than $200,000 a year can just take a hike.
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