report on west suburban peace march

[stevebreeze]

I posted this this morning on LBN but I decided to post it here for the rest of my IL friends.


A peace march I had a part in got great coverage in the not so liberal media. Besides this Chicago Trib article we were on WGN local Fox news, and local ABC news.The march started in Henry Hyde's 4th congressional district and ended in Denny Hastert's 14th.


So far only one story had the typical "balance" used by the media. A person who "watch the protesters" was offended by our use of coffins.



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At a preceding service attended by more than 300 at Second Baptist Church in Wheaton, Vogel and other peace activists spoke against the war. The names of more than 1,100 soldiers killed in Iraq were chanted.

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After the service, the marchers went on a 13-mile route that took them through West Chicago and Winfield. It concluded with a rally at the old Kane County Courthouse in Geneva.

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Many participants said they were motivated to join the march three days before the election because of their opposition to the re-election of President Bush. "As we approach the election, it's really important to me that Bush not be elected," said Barry Miller, 63, of Downers Grove. "I just have to do something. This is the one thing I can do."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-04...


Chicago Sun-Times --------

But this was no funeral. It was a 13-mile peace march called by the West Suburban Faith Based Peace Coalition as a stark statement about what's at stake in Tuesday's presidential election, protesters said.

About 200 men, women and children of Catholic, Protestant and Muslim faith wound their way through the streets of the typically conservative DuPage and Kane counties, carrying anti-war posters and banners, pictures of loved ones serving in Iraq and cardboard replica coffins draped in black or the United States flag.



"These may be conservative, smug, white Republican towns, but there are a lot of people out here who are horrified by this war and enraged by all the lies and deceptions with which it was justified," said Mary Shesgreen of Fox Valley Citizens for Peace and Justice, an organizer of the demonstration. "We're a nonpartisan group. We're not all Kerry supporters. But everyone who has come out today believes the Iraq war is perhaps the single most important issue in this election."

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-peace31.htm...

[xray s]

1. thanks for posting, Steve

I went to the memorial / protest in Barrington last month, they had about 1,000 there.

I think we will need to have these protests for a while, unfortunately.

[stevebreeze]

2. I am afraid you are right.

Our work will change into keeping Kerry's feet to the fire on this. Still there is reason to be optimistic as under the current administration there is not any hope of changing minds.

[mopinko]

3. good work people

Mary Shesgreen was one of my teachers in college. glad she is still out there causing trouble.
i think the thugs are gonna wake up shaking their heads wed.

[barb162]

4. I watched the coverage of this on some station and it was

more positive than not. They did show one man who was against the march, saying his son was killed in Afghanistan and he felt this march hurt his son's memory. I didn't understand how it hurt his son's memory and he didn't explain his statement. Other than that, they showed the coffins and the people being very respectful and I think it showed the marchers in a very psoitive light.