JOIN THE MONSTERS OF REPRESSION 2003 AMERICAN TOUR

BECAUSE:

We don’t want government agents entering our homes when we’re out without telling us

BECAUSE:

We don’t want the government monitoring our Internet use, reading our emails, and examining our online purchases

BECAUSE:

We don’t want to be detained without access to a lawyer, without being charged with a crime

BECAUSE:

We don’t want the FBI’s nose in our political and religious activities

BECAUSE:

Freedom is the right to shout “Theater!” in a crowded fire

AND:

We don’t want the PATRIOT Act (which makes all of the above legal) extended; we don’t want the “war on terror” to be attached to the “war on drugs;” and we don’t trust John Ashcroft, a rabid religious-right extremist who lost an election to a dead guy, to be a fair and reasonable arbiter of justice—

We invite you to the MONSTERS OF REPRESSION 2003 AMERICAN TOUR!

Congress, state and local governments, and civil libertarians on both the left and right have been standing up to the repressive PATRIOT Act and it’s even-worse sequel, the VICTORY Act. As their answer to this, the Bush Administration is sending Attorney General John Ashcroft on a tour around the country to shill for them.

WHY DO THEY THINK A CREEPY ZOMBIE VAMPIRE LIKE ASHCROFT WILL CONVINCE ANYBODY?

We don’t know. But what we do know is this: sending him around the USA gives us an opportunity to exercise our constitutional rights before they’re removed entirely. JOIN THE TOUR!

-If Ashcroft is showing up at your city: write your editor, hold a teach-in, organize a protest! To hook up with a nationally coordinated (and considerably less goofy) campaign, visit the Friends Committee on National Legislation website at http://www.fcnl.org. Protests may or may not utilize a 1980s hair-metal theme.

-Pass this message on! Let the Bushes know we’re not afraid of them. It’s still a free country!

TOUR DATES:

Philadelphia; Wednesday, Aug. 20, 9:20 a.m.; at Kirby Auditorium of the National Constitution Center, 525 Arch Street, Independence Mall. (SOLD OUT!!)

Cleveland; Wednesday, Aug. 20, 11:30 a.m.; in the Gold Room of the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel (24 Public Square). (SOLD OUT!!)

Detroit; Thursday, Aug. 21, 9:15 a.m.; in Room W 1-55 of the COBO Conference Center, One Washington Blvd. (SOLD OUT!!)

Des Moines; Aug. 21, 11:40 a.m.; in the Main Ballroom of the Holiday Inn Airport, 6111 Fleur Drive. (SOLD OUT!!)

This schedule was posted Tuesday morning, Aug. 19, on the Department of Justice website. Additions and alternations will presumably be made on that same site: (www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2003/August/03_ag_463.htm).

Missing from this list, perhaps to be added later, are three other cities originally slated to be part of the itinerary: Boston, New York, and Salt Lake City.

***

Ten Ways to Create a Patriot Act Free Zone in Your Own Community

FIND OUT if Municipal, Local and State Resolutions exist (New York City's is Resolution 909) which defend Civil Liberties and call for the repeal of The Patriot Act. SUPPORT them if they do, DEMAND them if they don't yet exist in your community.

DISPLAY an anti-patriot act poster (downloadable at http://www.rncnotwelcome.org/downloads.html) in your window, your car, your office.

BE righteous in airing your opinions. DON'T be afraid.

WRITE a letter or essay or op-ed piece with your thoughts to your local newspapers. SEND IT. You don't have to be a brilliant speaker or writer to express your opinions in a public forum.

INITIATE a discussion with your friends, ask them what they think freedom means. REMIND people that National Security does NOT justify abuses of the Constitution.

SEND letters of support and/or money to those fighting for political freedom

across the country, like the ACLU, People for the American Way, or the Friends Committee on National Legislation.

CALL your state and local representatives and ask them if they will vow to be Civil Liberties watchdogs and guarantee the repeal clause of the Patriot Act in 2005. TELL them your vote depends on it.

DEFEND each other whenever you see someone’s patriotism or livelihood being

threatened because they speak out. RESPOND. Every action requires a reaction.

SPEAK with 2 people about the Patriot Act’s attack on constitutionally protected freedoms including:

*1st Amendment Rights to Freedom of Speech, Association, and Government

Information

*4th Amendment Rights to be protected from Unreasonable Search and

Seizure

*5th Amendment Rights to Due Process & Freedom from Being Held without

Charge

*6th Amendment Right to Legal Representation and a Speedy Trial

REMEMBER: The freedoms and protections guaranteed by the US Constitution

are not treats to be granted or revoked at the government's will, they are

yours. PERIOD. The government works for you.

SMILE, because politics is fun. And you know you are right.