[Peace-discuss] great stories of success for peace

[Danielle Chynoweth]

>>Dear MoveOn member,
>>
>>Thank you.  This week exceeded our wildest dreams.
>>
>>Our plan was to launch an anti-war television ad campaign, hold 12
>>local press conferences, grow our "Let the Inspections Work" petition,
>>and have meetings in Congressional offices around the country.  We knew
>>it would be big.  But we never thought it would be this big.
>>
>>That we were able to reach so far and do so much is because of you.
>>
>>You made it all possible.
>>
>>We didn't expect, frankly, to have 100,000 new members join our
>>organization this week.  We didn't expect to be able to deliver a
>>petition with over 310,000 American signers -- the largest since
>>MoveOn's inception. (We're told that when Senator Diane Feinstein's
>>aide saw the petition, his eyes opened wide.  He said that this was
>>the biggest petition he recalled them receiving.  Feinstein's
>>segment was over 8,000 pages long.)
>>
>>We never thought that our ad -- carrying the "Let the Inspections
>>Work" message -- would be aired on virtually every major TV news show.
>>We never thought George Stephanopoulos would show it to Secretary of
>>Defense Donald Rumsfeld and grill him on the dangers of war.  We never
>>imagined it would be broadcast and discussed on news programs in
>>Australia, Pakistan, Russia, and Japan.
>>
>>We didn't anticipate that a new national poll, taken on the very days
>>our story was playing everywhere, would show public support for war
>>plummeting, or that this poll would be the top story in today's
>>Washington Post.
>>
>>We didn't anticipate that local press conferences, staffed by MoveOn
>>members in 12 cities, would generate front-page stories on the new
>>breadth and tactics of the anti-war movement.
>>
>>And then there are the Congressional meetings.
>>
>>We had high hopes for the meetings that occurred yesterday in
>>Congressional districts across the country.  After all, 9,000 folks
>>had signed up to participate, and we had an incredible team of over
>>800 local volunteers and 12 tireless volunteer regional coordinators
>>who were working to set everything up.  But, after a week of continual
>>surprises, our expectations yesterday were once again exceeded.
>>
>>One comment sums up the experience of many:
>>
>>"It was fantastic! Probably the best meeting I've ever been at - ever.
>>18 regular people who came together as strangers, were in agreement
>>with one another, speaking eloquently, passionately, respectfully and
>>from the heart."  The member went on to say, "As a former Congressional
>>staff person, I know this was truly impactful and meaningful."
>>
>>The impact was pretty clear.  Yesterday alone, over 30 members of
>>Congress signed onto a Dear Colleague letter to the President, asking
>>him to let the inspectors do their jobs and abide by the UN process.
>>It's pretty remarkable -- Congress is taking up our petition.  And
>>more signers keep coming in.  In one of our most exciting moments, a
>>pro-war-resolution Representative took a look at the letter, listened
>>to our members, and then signed on the spot.  Now that's democracy in
>>action!
>>
>>The Dear Colleague letter is just the beginning.  One Representative
>>from Maryland is taking our petition to the floor of the House of
>>Representatives.  Another offered us space in his offices to do more
>>anti-war organizing.  One enthusiastic Representative is even going to
>>join MoveOn.
>>
>> >From Maine to Florida to Arkansas to Washington State, from Grand
>>Rapids, MI to Huntington, AL, diverse, articulate groups of MoveOn
>>members got together to talk to the offices of their Senators and
>>Representatives.  Local newspapers, TV and radio stations covered the
>>events, from the Denver Post to Pacifica Radio.
>>
>>The meetings themselves were simply incredible.  But you don't need to
>>take our word for it.  Here are a few short samples from the hundreds
>>of reports that have been pouring in:
>>
>>"The voices of several veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars, of a
>>VA doctor, a pediatrician, other doctors, nurses, retirees, teachers,
>>grandparents, a law student, one after another, built a strong case
>>for encouraging Kolbe to urge Bush to give stronger support for the
>>Inspections Process. It was a bit uncanny. Not practiced, nor planned,
>>but one by one, each person integrated his/her contributions into what
>>had been said before. This was a very intelligent, well-informed,
>>professionally-diverse, group of people, speaking in one voice for
>>winning the peace, without war."
>>--Martha Warner, Congressman Kolbe meeting, AZ
>>
>>"I was so proud to be associated with the group that showed up to
>>Congressman Tancredo's office! They were an eclectic group of
>>housewives with children, high-powered businessmen, grandmas, artists,
>>executives, PhD's -- and each spoke with such grace and eloquence. It
>>was just amazing."
>>--Carol Grant, Congressman Tancredo meeting, CO
>>
>>"An interesting and exciting outcome of the event is that the
>>Congressman agreed to lead a rally on Feb. 17th of many different
>>coalitions. His feeling is that it's up to the public to voice their
>>opposition--that's the only thing that will make legislators oppose
>>the President. I/we will be working with him to make this next event a
>>success."
>>--Sheryl Barajas, Congressman Davis meeting, IL
>>
>>"I was glad I made the drive, it was quite an honor to join with these
>>good folks. A varied group--three women, four guys...a retired Quaker
>>(though Quakers never retire thank god), a Methodist minister & active
>>lay person, a retired fighter pilot who is a Republican, a social
>>scientist, a person who had lived in Kuwait and an anthraxed postal
>>worker. We were together for just an hour but it was a good gathering
>>to share & express our concerns."
>>--Mike DeGregory, Congressman Smith, NJ
>>
>>"This was my first time ever taking any initiative in political
>>action, and although it was a little scary, I'm really glad I did it,
>>as I received nothing but positive feedback and support from everyone.
>>People really wanted to come out and do this."
>>--Rachel Smith, Congressman Neal meeting, MA
>>
>>"Rep. Cummings pledged to sign the Dear Colleague letter and also said
>>he would speak about the MoveOn statement and visit on the house
>>floor. He also said he would read comments from the summary of our
>>petition. "
>>--Kimberly Nolan, Congressman Cummings meeting, MD
>>
>>"[Congressman Holt] quoted Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's address at
>>Riverside Church: We are building a political myth and shoring it up
>>with new violence. (Dr. King's reference to Vietnam still rings true
>>today.)"
>>-- Mara Isaacs, Congressman Holt meeting, NJ
>>
>>"[Congresswoman] Stephanie Tubbs Jones made a last- minute decision to
>>meet with us personally, and proceeded to sit and speak for an hour. .
>>. She was very pleased to receive a copy of the petition with names
>>and address . . . and VERY excited to hear that ours was one of many
>>coordinated events nationwide."
>>--John Sinclair, Congresswoman Jones meeting, OH
>>
>>"[Rep. Bartlett's aide Mr.] Otis was clearly impressed by the number
>>of signatories from the Congressman's District, and promised that he
>>would see the petition and the "Dear Colleague letter." He also
>>commented "You have represented your cause very well." "
>>--Gladys Cojocari, Congressman Bartlett meeting, MD
>>
>>We hope to have a full report on the media coverage for the last week
>>and these lobbying visits up on our website soon.  We'll let you know
>>when it's there.
>>
>>WHAT'S NEXT?
>>
>>As you can see, we are a force to be reckoned with.  So what are our
>>next steps?
>>
>>Over the next few weeks, we'll be offering you all sorts of ways to
>>continue to engage on this issue.  One way to plug in is coming up
>>pretty soon.  Win Without War, the coalition of mainstream civic
>>organizations against the war that we helped to found, is calling for
>>a day of local action on January 29th.  Members of the coalition
>>include American Friends Service Commitee, Business Leaders for
>>Sensible Priorities, Conference of Major Superiors of Men, Global
>>Exchange, Greenpeace, Leadership Conference of Women Religious,
>>NAACP, National Council of Churches, National Organization for Women,
>>NETWORK, New England Health Care Employees Union (part of SEIU),
>>Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sierra Club, Sojourners, Tikkun
>>Community, TrueMajority, United Methodist Church General Board of
>>Church & Society, Us Foundation, Veterans for Common Sense, Women's
>>Action for New Directions, and Working Assets.  Look for events
>>organized by some of these groups in your community on the 29th.
>>You may find local events listed at http://www.unitedforpeace.org .
>>
>>THANK YOU
>>
>>The national meetings project and our work for the last week was made
>>possible by the exceedingly hard work of hundreds of volunteers and
>>scores of local and national organizations.  We deeply appreciate the
>>assistance that we have received -- we couldn't have pulled this off
>>without help.
>>
>>Very special thanks goes to the tireless team of volunteer regional
>>coordinators, who worked around the clock to make the meetings happen.
>>They are: Caitlin Fitzgerald, Judy Froman, Diane Jones, June Muller,
>>Jennifer Oatfield, Jesse Rhodes, Henry Snow, and Hedy Trevino.
>>
>>Thanks also to:
>>Sarah Allen, Ira Arlook, Parker Blackman, Sarah Buecher, David
>>Cortright, Lynn Erskine, Philip Fryers, David Fenton, Trevor
>>Fitzgibbon, Patrick Kane, Elinore Klein, Kalee Kreider, Dwight Langham,
>>Pacy Markman, Brendan McCarthy, Segundo Mercado-Llorens, Christy
>>Meiring, Alistair Millar, Nathan Naylor, Lindsay Reinhardt, Dora Rose,
>>Noah T. Winer, and Bill Zimmerman.
>>
>>It's usually our practice to credit by name the local leaders whose
>>incredibly hard work made this all possible.  But in this case, the
>>list of leaders would double the length of this email.  All the folks
>>who helped put together local meetings and press conferences have our
>>gratitude and appreciation -- they're heroes and true patriots.
>>
>>We also appreciate support for the meetings project from the following
>>organizations: Friends Committee on National Legislation, the American
>>Friends Service Committee, the National Council of Churches, TrueMajority,
>>Peace Action, and Women's Action for New Directions.
>>
>>The last thank you goes to every one of MoveOn's members.  It is an
>>honor and an incredible privilege to work with such an amazing group
>>of people -- a group that is changing the face of this country and
>>turning the tide against a war.  The Washington Post poll released
>>today showed support for the war plummeting.  That's because of our
>>work.
>>
>>The stakes are high, folks.  This war is a menace to our country and
>>our world.  But the last week has shown that an enormous group of
>>Americans are going to do everything in their power to ensure that a
>>peaceful resolution is reached.  So we really mean this: Thank you.
>>
>>Sincerely,
>>--Carrie, Eli, Joan, Peter, Randall, Wes, and Zack
>>   The MoveOn Team
>>   January 22, 2002
>>
>>P.S. MoveOn does all this with only four full-time staff members (Wes
>>and Joan volunteer).  If you'd like to support our work, you can give
>>online at:
>>
>>    http://www.moveon.org/support.html
>>
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