Call to Action: National Mall + Attack on Rights

The following was sent out by Ramsey Clark and the ImpeachBush.org camp. The Washington Post story it references is posted in the previous blog.

Don't let the Bush administration take away the National Mall! Defend free speech rights -- take action today!
See major Washington Post article below

There is a fast-developing free speech battle between the Bush Administration and those who seek to preserve the National Mall in its current status as a treasured location for mass assembly protest. Every day that Bush stays in office we can anticipate a new assault on civil liberties and the Bill of Rights. It is incumbent upon us all to take action. If Bush gets his way, by the day he leaves office, cherished civil liberties will be eviscerated for decades to come.

Please make a donation This is a critically important free speech battle. Please make a donation right now by clicking this link.

The National Park Service (NPS) is undertaking an initiative similar to that launched to exclude protests from New York City's Great Lawn. It will be used to further restrict or ban protest on the National Mall. This is a component of a nationwide campaign of corporate-sponsored organizations working in partnership with government entities that claim that protests, rallies and demonstrations harm grass or "green space" or "natural resources" and must therefore be restricted or banned or shunted off to designated protest pits.

As many ImpeachBush/VotetoImpeach members know, the movement to Impeach Bush was launched by Ramsey Clark on the National Mall on January 18, 2003 at the largest anti-war demonstration since the end of the Vietnam War, numbering 500,000.

At a public meeting called by the National Park Service ten days ago, on Saturday, January 12 in Washington, D.C., representatives from ImpeachBush.org, the Partnership for Civil Justice, ANSWER Coalition, Nicaragua Network, Grassroots America and others demanded that there be no new restrictions placed on the right of the people to access the National Mall for free speech activities.

Take Action Today

Right now, you can email the National Park Service demanding that there be no restrictions on the right of the people to assemble. We have set up an easy to use mechanism that will allow your message to be sent to the National Park Service by clicking this link.

It is urgent that people around the country take action to stop the plan of the Bush Administration's Interior Department to obstruct free speech rights for mass assembly protest in Washington, D.C. The Bush White House plans to complete this process and deliver a knockout punch to free speech rights by January, 2009, the very last month that Bush will remain in office.

The NPS has set up a "public-private" partnership that allows business interests and real estate developers -- in coordination with the government -- to determine the future of the National Mall. The Jan. 12 public meeting was intended to have low attendance to allow the government to claim public involvement while simultaneously excluding it. When confronted with the fact that they had done no legitimate outreach about the public meeting to the hundreds of thousands of people who have actually used the National Mall, the President of the Trust for the National Mall responded that she had sent notice to the Board of Trade! The NPS issues 3,000 permits a year for the use of the National Mall, but there has been no effort to notify any of those organizations about the proposed changes. Their attempt to exclude people from this process could not be more clear.

At the hearing the officials tried to quiet the outraged voices of the people, to change the topic of discussion, and to dismiss their concerns. They did, however, keep saying, just send us a message on-line. That is what we are asking everyone to do today.

The government is trying to end the public "comment" period by February 15, 2008. ImpeachBush demanded at the hearing that the sham process of the NPS be halted. We demanded that a moratorium be declared so that the people of this country can be able and informed to weigh in with their opinion. The National Mall belongs to the people. Click this link to send your message to the National Park Service.