Fundraising alert from Washington for Kucinich
Received by email from Washington for Kucinich:
FUNDRAISING / FUN-RAISING ALERT
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December 04, 2003
Father Bichsel (of Tacoma Catholic Worker) will lead a Prayer for America at a fundraising and endorsement rally for Dennis Kucinich at the ILWU Labor Hall at 1306 Alexander Avenue in Fife, WA on Friday, Dec. 5th. The rally, which starts with a two-dollar-a-plate spaghetti dinner, begins at 6:30 PM and is co-sponsored by Tacoma Catholic Worker and the ILWU Local 23.
Bichsel, a Jesuit priest, has been compared to Catholic activists Daniel and Philip Berrigan. In the late 1990s he spent 19 months in a Federal Penitentiary for writing "Assassins" across a sign at the U.S. Army's School of the Americas in Fort Benning, GA. The then 69-year-old priest said his actions were acts of civil disobedience, not destruction of property. Kucinich has vowed to close the School of the Americas, citing evidence that it has trained more 60,000 Latin American soldiers to wage war against their own people, against union organizers, against religious workers, teachers and student leaders.
Bichsel and Tacoma Catholic Worker have announced their endorsement of Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich for President. This is the first time in its 14-year history that this affiliate of the 70-year-old Catholic Worker movement has endorsed a political candidate.
"Normally we don't endorse candidates at all," says The Rev. William Bichsel, head of Tacoma Catholic Worker. "However Dennis Kucinich has spoken out about 100 percent healthcare, leaving Iraq and working through the United Nations and the international community for peace, repealing the Taft Hartley Act, standing by labor, making education a priority, making full employment possible, rescinding Bush's giveaway tax cuts to the wealthy, and establishing a department of peace. we decided we needed to stand by him."
Vance Lelli of ILWU Local 23 says that they're cooking for 200 people: Let's make them drain those spaghetti pots!
Contact Vance Lelli for more information: 253.370.7678
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