SIGN Edwards Petition to END the Iraq War!

[Triana]

Congress has reached a fork in the road on the war in Iraq and they urgently need your help to choose the right path.

One direction leads straight to more war with no end in sight. It's a road paved with symbolic "deauthorization" bills, hoping for veto-overrides that never come, and so-called temporary extensions that give Bush all the money he needs without ever actually bringing a single troop home.

But in the other direction lies real action—using Congress' funding power right now to pass another binding plan to force George Bush to actually end this war.

Only massive, direct public pressure will get Congress to choose the right path. Congress took the right first step by passing their last funding bill. But following Bush's veto the resolve in Washington has started to fade. If we want to end this war, we've got to speak up now.

So this week we're gathering 100,000 voices calling on Congress to stand firm and send back a binding plan to end the war. We're at nearly 70,000 signatures now, and we need your help to get over the top. Please sign our emergency petition right away.

www.johnedwards.com/standfirm

After you've signed yourself, please ask at least one person you know to do the same. Getting to 100,000 will take all of us.

The latest news from Washington is that Congress is considering abandoning their binding plan to end the war and instead give Bush another extension—probably until September. This is completely irresponsible. When September rolls around, we'll be right back in the same place and Bush will push for another extension, just like he's been doing for years.

This has to stop now. It's already clear that the escalation has failed. Bush has no authority to use American troops to police a civil war, but that's what he's doing. There is no military solution to the sectarian violence in Iraq.

Enough is enough. It's time to end the war. And that means no more extensions, no more delays, no more non-binding anything.

If Congress is going to find the courage to end the war, they're going to need to get it from you. This is the moment of choice. The road our nation embarks down this week will have massive consequences for our troops, their families, and our country. And as citizens who know this war needs to end, we must raise our voice today.

We're aiming to deliver 100,000 signatures this week to show Congress that the American people are counting on them to end this war. Please help make that happen by adding your name today, and finding as many people as you can to join our call.

www.johnedwards.com/standfirm

Thank you,

--John Edwards
Tuesday, May 08, 2007

[rosesaylavee]

1. Thanks for the reminder...

done did it this am.

[bdamomma]

2. done and thanks

[waiting for hope]

3. Already done!

Thanks for posting.

[MethuenProgressive]

4. Internet petitions are just "slackivism" according to Snopes.

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/internet.asp

Claim: Signing and circulating Internet petitions is an effective way of remedying important issues.
Status: FALSE

[frazzled]

5. While I'm not sure I'd put it in those terms ...

I will say that a petition never stopped a war (and never will). It never probably even effected any national legislation. It's a an effective way for high-school students convince the principal to change the dress code.

Petitions are a way for candidates or organizations to (a) update their e-mail lists and/or (b) make their constituents feel they are doing something from their armchairs. It's like a pep rally. That's pretty cynical, I admit, but a petition this broad seems pretty meaningless to me. I never sign such things as a rule of thumb, even if I agree wholeheartedly. I would sign a local petition on an issue that could influence my alderman, but I'd do it on paper, in writing.

If the Congress and the White House doesn't understand yet that the American people want this war to wind up, an internet petition isn't going to influence their thinking.