Sacramento ‘Counter Coronation’ Blasts  Bush’s Illegal War

Sacramento ‘Counter Coronation’ Blasts  Bush’s Illegal War

by Dan Bacher


Over 400 activists from Sacramento’s progressive community on Thursday afternoon joined with thousands in Washington D.C and throughout the nation to protest the inauguration of G.W. Bush,

In the afternoon “counter coronation” event, a diverse group carrying mock coffins and colorful signs marched from Cesar Chavez Park in downtown Sacramento to the federal building to protest the illegitimacy of Bush’s foreign and domestic policies. The Anti-War Working Group, a broad coalition of community groups including Veterans For Peace, the Chicano Consortium, Sacramento Area Peace Action, the Central America Action Committee, the Zapatista Solidarity Committee and other peace and social justice organizations, organized the event.

The march was preceded in the morning by another “counter coronation” organized by Christine Craft, talk show host, and 1240 AM, Air America’s Sacramento affiliate. Bill Camp, executive director of the Sacramento Labor Council, and Grantland Johnson, former Sacramento County Board of Supervisor, spoke at the rally at the State Capitol’s north steps after a march from Cesar Chavez Park. An estimated 400 activists also attended this event.

During the afternoon rally at the federal building, George Main, president of the Sacramento chapter of Veterans for Peace, emphasized that the American people “must defend their right to vote.”

“Let’s take back our country – it’s ours,” Main said. “We have to get out of Iraq. I urge people to not vote for any politicians who can’t tell us when the troops are coming home.”

In a similar vein, Dr. Fadhill Al-Kazily, an Iraqi American, urged people to keep up the fight against the Bush administration’s Iraq quagmire.

“We must bring our troops back home,” he said. “The Iraqis should have no reason to fight Americans. All the Iraqi people want is to be left in peace.”

Olga Treviso, a member of the Tigua Indian Tribe from El Paso, Texas now living in Roseville, pointed out how Latinos, Native Americans and people of color are recruited into the military in disproportionate numbers because of the lack of job opportunities in the U.S.

“It’s mostly minorities and the sons and daughters of the working poor that are dying in this war,” she said. “The military is promising Latinos citizenship if they join the Armed Forces.”

She also pointed out the ironic example of her father, who fought in World War II, but was not allowed to vote and had to struggle to receive VA benefits.

Maggie Counter of Sacramento Area Peace Action said people should pressure Senator Barbara Boxer to join the 16 Democrats in Congress who signed a letter asking Bush to pull out of Iraq now. “Boxer should support a similar letter in the Senate,” Coulter stated. She also exhorted activists to demand an inquiry to what really happened in the U.S. assault on Falluja.

For more information on future events of the Anti-War Working Group, contact progressivesacramento [at] yahoo.com, 916-501-7001.