Cap Times, Jan 14, 2009
Dear Editor: As Congress began its 111th session on Jan. 6, activists in Madison participated in the March of the Dead in solidarity with similar marches in Washington, New Orleans, and other places around the country.
As we watch the carnage unfolding in Gaza, as we continue to hear about innocent people dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are painfully reminded of the necessity of citizen action, of the need to speak out against our government’s policies.
Participants, wearing black clothing and white masks, solemnly and mournfully marched around the Capitol with the names of victims of the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Gaza. We stopped at the offices of Sen. Herb Kohl and Rep. Tammy Baldwin, then drove to Sen. Russ Feingold’s office in Middleton.
At each stop, we delivered a letter asking our representatives to follow the will of the people. This letter was signed by citizens from all over the state.
As the suffering of war continues throughout the world, we must not be silent. As Congress begins a new session we must demand an end to the terror of war. We must condemn the brutal destruction of Palestine. We must demand that we get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and that we stay out of Iran, Pakistan, Syria and Colombia.
This action was organized by Madison Pledge of Resistance and Madison-Rafah Sister City Project. Madison Pledge of Resistance is a member group of the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, following the principles and practices of Gandhi and Martin Luther King in the struggle for peace and justice.
As we hope for change with a new administration, we must continue our cry for peace and justice in the world.
Joy First, Monona
Where is outrage over attack on Gaza?
Dear Editor: This is not an intellectualized, statistics-filled, name-dropping, honed-for-affect attempt to get my name in lights. This letter has been written with the sole intent of conveying my outrage at your total failure to cover and offer poignant commentary and reportage on Israel’s war on Gaza.
For this reader, every lousy article calling for ethical change in government, all of the posturing and pretense of your purported progressivism is now revealed as a sham. For some reason this paper was opposed to the Iraq war. Why? You seem to have no problem whatsoever with our 51st state’s campaign to rid itself of its little problem, no matter – oh, what’s the use.
John Costello, Madison