For the past decade, the standard procedure for big coalition rallies and marches in Washington D.C. has been to gather together organizations representing labor, the environment, women's rights, anti-racism, anti-bigotry of all sorts, and a wide array of liberal causes, including demands to fund this, that, and the other, and to halt the concentration of wealth.

At that point, some of us in the peace movement will generally begin lobbying the PEP (progressive except for peace) organizers to notice that the military is swallowing up enough money every month to fund all their wishes 100 times over for a year, that the biggest destroyer of the natural environment is the military, that war fuels and is fueled by racism while stripping our rights and militarizing our police and creating refugees.

When we give up on trying to explain the relevance of our society's biggest project to the work of reforming our society, we generally point out that peace is popular, that it adds a mere 5 characters to a thousand-word laundry list of causes, and that we can mobilize peace groups to take part if peace is included.

osa Maria Ortega, 37, came to the United States as an infant. She has a sixth grade education. When she was about eleven, her mother was arrested and deported. Her two younger brothers, born in the US, became citizens. She became a permanent resident, with a green card. She is a mother of four children, ages 12-16, who are all citizens, and engaged to marry Oscar Sherman, a citizen.

When Iran's democracy was overthrown by the CIA in 1953, many Iranians had what they still have: affection for the people of the United States, as distinct from the U.S. government.

If -- even with Michael Flynn out -- the U.S. government/military manages to stir up a war on Iran, and the Iranian government responds with less than perfect nonviolent wisdom, it will be the job of U.S. citizens to distinguish the wonderful Iranian people from their government.

This ought to help matters. Iranians, in response to Trump's travel ban, are abandoning the tradition of burning U.S. flags, choosing instead to thank all the U.S. people who have been protesting the Muslim Ban. This gratitude for protests is a good illustration of the importance of protesting injustice by the U.S. government, even when the protests don't immediately reverse the policies. It's important for the other 96% of humanity to know we disapprove.

The thank yous have become expressions of love in both directions, with the hashtag #LoveBeyondFlags. Is this beautiful or what?

Saturday, February 18 at 2 PM
Battelle Riverfront Park, 25 North Marconi Blvd, downtown Columbus, by the river

Milwaukee, WI. FEBRUARY 14, 2017 –  Peter Peckarsky’s campaign for Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) received confirmation from the DNC that his name will appear on the ballot for the position of Chair at the DNC Officer Elections on Saturday, February 25, 2017 in Atlanta, GA.

Peckarsky’s campaign is based on providing election and voting protection. He states, “Our country has a Constitution which provides certain rights. One of these rights is the right to vote. My objective is to restore confidence in the voting process.” This, coupled with his vision for an inclusive Party built on a solid grassroots foundation, will enable the Party to move forward in an empowered and engaged fashion in cooperation with State and Local Party organizations.

He went on to emphasize, “A substantial number of our fellow citizens were unconstitutionally denied the right to vote in the November 8, 2016, election because of the color of their skin or other obstacles to fair voting recently erected.”