A Camp for Democracy in our Nation’s Capital
By Ann Wright
How about having a camp in the middle of our nation’s capital in beautiful autumn weather? Having been a part of the
four Camp Casey’s during the past year and coming directly from hot, hot central Texas and ole Crawford, Texas, opening
a camp here in “cool” Washington sounded right to me.
Since we were in Bush’s backyard in Crawford, why not bring our concerns on the direction of America and the need to use
and preserve our democracy, to the backyard (or frontyard) of Bush in the White House and to other government officials
and lawmakers?
Well, that’s what Camp Democracy is doing right now. Every day concerned Americans are coming to Camp Democracy to
think, listen, and act on important concerns.
Camp Democracy is on an extraordinary site on the mall between the Washington monument and the US Capitol, on 14th and
Constitution-you can’t find a better location for walking four blocks to the White House or hiking 14 blocks to the
Capitol (or take the metro) to express your concerns to President Bush, Vice-President Cheney and the Congress in
person.
You can fire up your information and enthusiasm by talking with excellent writers and speakers like Antonia Juhasz “The
Bush Agenda, Invading The World, One Economy at a Time” (September 6 and 9), Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith “In the
Name of Democracy: American War Crimes in Iraq and Beyond” (September 8 and 9), ARun Gandhi “Legacy of Love: My
Education in the Path of Nonviolence” (September 11), Dave Lindorff “The Case for Impeachment: The Legal Argument for
Removing President George W. Bush from Office ; This Can't Be Happening!: Resisting the Disintegration of American
Democracy ; Killing Time,’
Elizabeth Holzman “The Impeachment of George W. Bush: A Practical Guide for Concerned Citizens “ (September 18 ), Ray
McGovern “NeoCONNED and NeoCONNED II (September 13 and 18), Marcus Raskin “The Four Freedoms under Siege: The Clear and
Present Danger from Our National Security State, (September 18), Scott Ritter “Target Iran: The Truth About the White
House's Plans for Regime Change ; Iraq Confidential: The Untold Story of the Intelligence Conspiracy to Undermine the UN
and Overthrow Saddam Hussein ; Frontier Justice: Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Bushwhacking of America” (September
19) and Howard Zinn (September 20) and many others.
Each day tremendous singers and poets tell about their vision for America in verse and song. Each night you can watch
new documentaries and movies on the need to end the war, environmental and social justice issues and talk with the
filmmakers and many of the persons portrayed in the films.
Camp Democracy is inspirational and we hope you will come to Washington and be inspired to take our country back! Come
join us soon!
See the entire schedule of Camp Democracy on www.campdemocracy.org with a complete list of speakers, singers, artists and movies.
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Ann Wright - Retired US Army Reserve Colonel and US diplomat who resigned in March, 2003 in opposition to the Iraq war