Spirits were soaring on Monday morning, despite the cold rain that fell as a large tent for CAMP OUT NOW, the prelude to Peace of the Action, was erected on the grounds of the Washington Monument.
People are here from California, Louisiana, New York and many other places, plus more are arriving daily. The elderly, middle aged, and young are represented, all sharing common goals of bringing our troops home, no more contractors, ending US Empire, closing foreign military bases, fully funding the VA system, saying no to robotic warfare, closing torture and detention facilities as well as paying reparations to those who live in war-torn regions.
Additionally, we hope to bring awareness to Americans about the cost of US Empire. The wars devastate those who live in the lands we invade and they impact us morally and financially here at home.
On Monday evening, renowned peace and social justice leader Cindy Sheehan took the microphone on a stage under the tent and introduced Kevin Zeese, co-founder of Voters for Peace. Zeese spoke about the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and the grotesquely obese US military budget. The statistics he presented were staggering.
Then, Zeese introduced Dr. Margaret Flowers, the Congressional Fellow with Physicians for National Health Program. She recently challenged President Obama with a solution -- a single-payer health system -- to our healthcare crisis. Dr. Flowers talked about healthcare as a human right, from birth to end of life, and tied the profits pocketed by the Medical Industrial Complex to the inequities of corporate health insurance policies. Stressing the failure of employer-based health insurance, especially during an economic downturn when jobs are jeopardized and people are desperate, Dr. Flowers said that loss of or inadequate healthcare often leads to bankruptcy, home foreclosures, and even death.
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