9/21 St Louis Park, MN: Protest visit from War Criminal George Bush, & candlelight Vigil for Victims

[annm4peace]

(it is a busy week)


Please JOIN US! Please SHARE WIDELY!!


Anti-Torture Candlelight Vigil dedicated to detainees and victims of torture authorized by George Bush!

Wednesday, September 21, 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Beth El Synagogue, public sidewalk area along parking lot,

5224 West 26th Street , St. Louis Park .

(This is the same synagogue that hosted Condi Rice a couple years ago and we hope to protest in approximately the same area.)

Has Beth El Synagogue sold out?
I’m referring of course, to their 250 tickets ranging from silver to platinum level ($1200 to $3600) that Synagogue leaders predicted
would sell out quickly for their “intimate evening” with George Bush.

In any event, while the Synagogue’s “silver to platinum level” ticket holders go inside to enjoy their hors d’oeuvres and photo-ops with George Bush, we will be outside yelling “SHAME!”

Of more interest to the press and general public, might be the question of why Bush was forced to abruptly cancel
his Toronto appearance at Tyndale University College and Seminary, an appearance set for September 20th, the day before Bush’s trip to the St. Louis Park Synagogue.

Apparently news of Bush’s visit to Tyndale generated strident student and faculty dissent (see articles and petition below) so naturally much curiosity now exists as to whether Bush’s war crimes might finally be catching up with him. When will Bush be “”Pinocheted” (as other commentators have put it)?


So join us… we need you at our candlelight vigil to protest the fundraising appearance of the former president who ordered torture: George W. Bush.

Is it proper to honor this war criminal who launched pre-emptive, unjustified wars of aggression and “shock and awe” that led to hundreds of thousands of people killed, mostly civilian “collateral damage” and widespread destruction in the Middle East ?

Join others to stand up against those who torture, who order torture, and who attempt to “legalize” torture. While it’s light, we’ll display “wanted poster” signs, banners, and we have extra orange Gitmo jumpsuits for some street theatre with dramatic readings of detainee descriptions and actual statements of Bush’s torture victims who were held without a right to habeas corpus or to due process.

An author of a book on Bush’s torture, lawyer James Roth , will speak as will Phil Freshman, a Beth El congregant who also protested against Beth El’s invitation to Condi Rice.

When it gets dark, we’ll hold a candlelight vigil (we have candles available but you can also bring your own).

Quite likely there will be some songs and music as well!

Sponsored by WAMM Tackling Torture at the Top (T3) Committee. FFI: Call WAMM, 612-827-5364.


Please come help us hold Bush “Wanted Posters” on Sept 21 outside Beth El Synagogue!

********************

A Toronto appearance by former U.S. president George W. Bush, seen here on April 12, 2011, has been cancelled. (AP / Tony Gutierrez)
ctvtoronto.ca Date: Thursday Sep. 15, 2011 11:17 AM ET
An appearance by George W. Bush at an evangelical university in Toronto was abruptly cancelled on Wednesday amid backlash from several students who questioned the former U.S. president's values.
Bush had been scheduled to appear at a breakfast hosted by Tyndale University College and Seminary next Tuesday. The event was invitation-only and had not been widely publicized.
According to a brief note posted on the university's website, the Sept. 20 breakfast was cancelled due to a "scheduling change."
The cancellation came on the same day that a group of Tyndale students launched a petition against Bush's appearance, claiming the practices of the Bush administration were not in line with the university's Christian standards.
Bush, who served as the 43rd President of the United States , has made several appearances in Canada since he left office in 2009. His appearances often raise the attention of demonstrators who oppose his stance on the war on terror.

[annm4peace]

1. If you are in MN please join us.

and please call in to talk radio shows and NPR and let others know of his visit and our "education".

[Scruffy1]

2. Thanks, see ya there. n/t

[MNmom]

3. I'll be there!

[annm4peace]

4. posters and flyers you can print off of Bush War Criminal

http://warcriminalswatch.org/index.php/downloadable-materials/173-posters-a-leaflets

[annm4peace]

5. a run in with US Attorney Todd Jones

Two friends went to the Federal Building to leaflet today. It was a very short, one-third page leaflet:

Former President George W. Bush is coming to town this Wednesday, September 21.

He has admitted to acts the Attorney General of the United States says are torture.

But neither the Attorney General nor our local United States Attorney, B. Todd Jones, is doing anything about it. They refuse to open an investigation or to bring Mr. Bush in for questioning, let alone arrest him and charge him with violating the Federal Torture Statute, 18 U.S.C. Secs. 2340-2340A.

Call them and ask why they refuse to enforce the law. U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones: 612-664-5600 ([e-mail]); Attorney General Eric Holder: 202-514-2001 or 202-353-1555 ([e-mail]).

We distributed about 100 of them in about an hour and a half. I'd say 80% of the people took them. Several people who worked in the building, as well as some who did not, welcomed us back. One fellow said he admired our consistency and courage being out there all winter. (We weren't there last winter, so he was remembering quite a ways back.)

U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones took a leaflet and stopped to chat. He said he had received a couple of emails today about this. So that means he reads his emails. Please write him.

He also said prosecuting Bush is very complicated. I asked, "Legally complicated, or politically complicated." He said, "Legally complicated." He asked if we were part of the group that met with John Marti (his top Assistant U.S. Attorney). I think he assumed Marti had actually responded to us. He said that Marti heads up the National Security Team and they had discussed it. I'm not sure if the "they" he referred to were people in the local office or people in the Justice Department.

He said it's complicated because there are all sorts of legal defenses Bush would have, but he only mentioned the "advice of counsel" issue. When I suggested that Bush's statement to Matt Lauer that he would do it again makes it questionable that he was relying on advice of counsel at the time, he said that that's what Bush says today. He said it would be nothing more than a "show trial," and I responded that even a failed prosecution, the mere charging -- although I know they don't like to prosecute if they don't think they can convict -- would enhance national security.

We asked him how many hours he was putting in now, and he said "About 80." (He's the interim Director of ATF and the U.S. Attorney.) We asked if the permanent director would get confirmed, and he said "No," and talked about how the NRA was the problem.

Near the end of our conversation, he said something like "They've handed us a shit sandwich." I'm not sure about the beginning of that quote, but he definitely used those last two words.