OMNI
INDEPENDENCE DAY NEWSLETTER #5, JULY 4, 2019.
Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology
CONTENTS: INDEPENDENCE DAY NEWSLETTER #5, July 4, 2019
Independence Day, Great Britain 18th Century, US 21st Century
Independence Day, Protest US Imperial Aggression v. Iran This
Saturday--Abel
Saturday--Abel
Independence Day, ADG Reports President Trump’s Independence
Day Preparations--Dick
Day Preparations--Dick
Independence Day, Anti-Militarist Reflections on July 4—War
Resisters League
Resisters League
Independence Day and Slavery
Ban Slavery in Arkansas—Roots Action
Independence Day, Great Britain, Slavery—Heather Gray
Independence Day and Freedom
Independence Day, Fulfilling the Promise of—Bernie
Independence Day, Refugee Bail Bonds—Rashida
“Independence Day” in Quotation Marks—Veterans for Peace
Previous July 4 Newsletters
INDEPENDENCE DAY AND IMPERIALISM
PROTEST AGGRESSION AGAINST IRAN
Dear Friends,
Last month, we held three consecutive No Iran War Peace Protests, and received a large number of supportive Honks for Peace from passing cars each time. We'll continue protesting the war on Iran during the next four Saturdays in July at 11 A.M. to noon in front of the Washington County Courthouse in Fayetteville.
We'll also expand the protests by highlighting the economic warfare of Iran sanctions, and the hidden context of U.S. imperialism. We must help our fellow citizens recognize the Iran war as yet another imperialist war, as well as all the harmful consequences of empire, like causing millions of refugees from the Middle East to Latin America.
We'll also expand the protests by highlighting the economic warfare of Iran sanctions, and the hidden context of U.S. imperialism. We must help our fellow citizens recognize the Iran war as yet another imperialist war, as well as all the harmful consequences of empire, like causing millions of refugees from the Middle East to Latin America.
We must remember Mark Twain and the Anti-Imperialist League that arose in response to the American annexation of the Philippines in 1898, which killed over 200,000 civilians.
Our protest effort will include a short speech at the beginning of the protest, as well as relevant printed handouts. Additional signs will be created, and participants are encouraged to make their own too.
We want to increase the advertising, including a newspaper ad. Please consider making a donation.
Thank you,
Abel Tomlinson
Arkansas Nonviolence Alliance
60 W. Smith St., Fayetteville, 72703
OMNI Peace Action Committee
3274 Lee Ave., Fayetteville, 72703
ADG REPORTS President Trump’s Independence Day
ADG Staff. “Fourth Festivities in D. C. Take on Military Mantle.” NADG (July 4, 2019).
“The military hardware is moving into place. . .Under White House direction, the Pentagon was arranging for an Air force B-2 stealth bomber and other warplanes to condunct flyovers ….Navy –F35 and F-18 fighter jets, the Navy Blue Angels aerial acrobatic team, Army and Coast Guard helicopters and Marine V-22 Ospreys.” No overall cost estimate, but a B-2 bomber costs $122,311 an hour to fly, and a F-22 fighter $65,128. Two Bradley fighting vehicles are in place where Trump will deliver a speech, and two 60-ton Army Abrams battle tanks have been sent by rail. And that’s not all; e.g., many military officials will attend. Trump tweeted that military leaders are “thrilled” by the display of US military power. But privately some said it politicized the armed forces, and the cost of a million dollars was a waste.
And protesters will be there too: “an inflatable version of the president that depicts him as a baby in a diaper,” though not allowed to fly. Trump tweeted: “It will be the show of a lifetime!”
And at the end of the newspaper report the authors directly criticized the Trumpian bias of his upcoming speech, and reminded readers of the military’s role of defending the Constitution, not the elected leader.
Anti-Militarist Reflections on July 4th, 2019
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INDEPENDENCE DAY AND SLAVERY
Why hasn't Arkansas banned slavery? 7-4-19
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INDEPENDENCE DAY, KING THEN, KINGS TODAY
embedded in the very DNA of our founding is a profoundly human longing for freedom from tyranny
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Today is the day that we commemorate our American Revolution — the time that we became sick and tired of living under the rule of an unaccountable king and fought to win our freedom.
In modern America, we once again live under the authority of a set of rulers who, instead of representing our interests, write our laws to the benefit of the most economically and politically powerful corporations in the world.
This isn’t just rhetoric; it’s been proven by a Princeton University study which concluded that the opinions of non-wealthy Americans about potential laws have been “statistically insignificant” to bills that passed in Congress over the last 30 years.
The consequences of selling our government to the highest bidder are all around us: expensive and inadequate health care, soaring higher education costs, innocent children in private prisons, rising economic inequality, and a business community willing to invest in a president who uses racism and hate speech for political gain because he gave them a massive tax cut.
That’s why Our Revolution is building a grassroots movement powerful enough to force politicians to fulfill the promise of our founding and act in the best interest of the American people.
For all of our country’s flaws and sins, one thing we have going for us is that embedded in the very DNA of our founding is a profoundly human longing for freedom from tyranny. Over this election cycle, and throughout President Sanders’ terms, our mission is to turn the perception of America taught in schools, that we are a democracy of, for, and by the people, into a reality. To make that possible we need your help.
In Solidarity,
In modern America, we once again live under the authority of a set of rulers who, instead of representing our interests, write our laws to the benefit of the most economically and politically powerful corporations in the world.
This isn’t just rhetoric; it’s been proven by a Princeton University study which concluded that the opinions of non-wealthy Americans about potential laws have been “statistically insignificant” to bills that passed in Congress over the last 30 years.
The consequences of selling our government to the highest bidder are all around us: expensive and inadequate health care, soaring higher education costs, innocent children in private prisons, rising economic inequality, and a business community willing to invest in a president who uses racism and hate speech for political gain because he gave them a massive tax cut.
That’s why Our Revolution is building a grassroots movement powerful enough to force politicians to fulfill the promise of our founding and act in the best interest of the American people.
For all of our country’s flaws and sins, one thing we have going for us is that embedded in the very DNA of our founding is a profoundly human longing for freedom from tyranny. Over this election cycle, and throughout President Sanders’ terms, our mission is to turn the perception of America taught in schools, that we are a democracy of, for, and by the people, into a reality. To make that possible we need your help.
In Solidarity,
Joseph Geevarghese [Our Revolution]
Dick, FROM RASHIDA A few days ago, I went with a Group of my fellow members of Congress down to Texas to visit some of the Trump administration’s horrific migrant detention centers. Today, July 4th, our country celebrates freedom and liberation. But how can we do that when we’re caging innocent people in torture camps along our southern border?  Our congressional delegation went to Texas to be the eyes for the American people, to tell the truth about what is happening at the border. What we saw was devastating. The look in one father's eyes broke me.I met with people who’ve come here because they want a better future for their children, like my parents did. And what is our country doing to human beings who come here without other options, seeking a better life? Dehumanizing them and treating them with deliberate cruelty, to discourage more people from coming. As my colleagues and I entered each facility, we felt a heavy tension. It was clear as we spoke to mothers and grandmothers, that the culture from within the facilities was rooted in anti-immigrant hate. It’s hard to describe the deep devastation from being trapped in these conditions. When I touched an expectant mother’s hand or hugged the grandmother —treated them like humans—they teared up. The dehumanization is leading to trauma. I wasn’t prepared for that. I’m still shaken to my core. I don’t know how we can ever make up for the deeply rooted demonization of a whole generation of people. It will have to start with us. Immigrant bond funds have a long backlog of requests from detainees who are eligible for bail but can’t afford it. And now that a federal judge finally ruled in favor of asylum-seekers on Wednesday, by requiring that they be allowed to seek release from detention through bond hearings, more and more people will be eligible for bail. Despite CBP instructing us not to talk with people on our tour, my brave colleague AOC made her way into a cell and started speaking with women in Spanish, who immediately began sobbing, as she said, “out of fear of being punished [for talking with us], out of sickness, out of desperation, lack of sleep, trauma, despair.” They were only allowed one shower every 15 days, though the CBP allowed them to start bathing—and gave them sleeping bags—once we announced we were coming to visit. People are dying in these despicable, inhumane conditions, including at least 7 children over the past year—after a decade with no child deaths. We are traumatizing an entire generation of children and their loved ones. Why? All because of the color of their skin and where they were born. All because we have a White House that delights in cruelty and racism. MOERE RASHIDAM9 of 62,537
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Contents: OMNI Independence Day Newsletter 2015 #4
Critiques and Alternatives
Emily Kaitz, A Pacifist’s Fourth of July
AFSC, US Under the Influence of/the People Seeking Independencefrom the
Complex (see OMNI newsletters on the Military-Corporate....Complex)
Complex (see OMNI newsletters on the Military-Corporate....Complex)
Rabbi Lerner, It Should be Interdependence Day and Reading the UN’s UDHR
Code Pink Praises the Mayor’s Statement
William Blum on Patriotism
Remembering a Declaration and Constitution Not at First for All
Frank Rich on the Declaration of Independence and Slavery
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz on Genocide of Native Americans
Contents July 4, 2014, Independence Day and Declaration of Independence #3
Money, Money, Money
Independence Day Protests in Hawaii and Vermont Against
Concentrated Economic Power
Concentrated Economic Power
Public Citizen vs. Citizens United: US To Be a Nation Ruled Not
by the Wealthiest Few, But by and for ALL of We the People
Dick: The Declaration of Independence, Roosevelt’s 1932
Economic New Deal, and New Deal Today
by the Wealthiest Few, But by and for ALL of We the People
Dick: The Declaration of Independence, Roosevelt’s 1932
Economic New Deal, and New Deal Today
The Struggle Continues: Raising Minimum Wage in Arkansas
Permanent War
David Swanson, War No More
Warming
Alan Weisman, Countdown
Contents July 4, 2013 Independence Day #2
Patriotism
Dick, Patriotism and the Golden Rule
Dick, Banish “Defense”
World-wide Definitions and Comments on Patriotism
Cindy Sheehan, Matriotism
Nathanson, Analysis of Patriotism
Parenti, Superpatriotism
Blum, US “Exceptionalism” the Great Myth of Patriotism
Pfaff, “Manifest Destiny” More Fuel for Patriotism
Woehrle, Patriotism and the Peace Movement
Recent OMNI Newsletters Related to Patriotism
Independence Day, the Movie
Contents OMNI July 4, 2012 Independence Day Newsletter #1
Dick, OMNI NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL DAYS PROJECT
Rabbi Lerner, Interdependence Day
Zinn, Independence from Nationalism
Shalom Center: Independence from Corporate Domination
Independence from Dirty Energy
Independence from US Post-9-11 Global Torture System
Independence of Slaves Via British Offer of Liberty
Dick, Independence from Patriotic Newspaper Effusions
IVAW, Afghan Independence from US Occupation
Independence for Palestinian Territories
END OMNI JULY 4, 2019 INDEPENDENCE DAY NEWSLETTER