March in the MLK Parade Jan. 19/sign on to Sarbanes letter Jan. 21/come to Red Emma's on January 30 for a talk on ISIS

Friends,

We are not having a Pledge/FOC meeting on January 19, as the next meeting is on January 26 at 7:30 PM at Max’s residence. But we are marching in the MLK Parade on January 19. Be at Eutaw Street and MLK Boulevard at noon, and we will march with Veterans for Peace. Note the change in guidelines:

You will need to wear VFP placards which will be provided so all are recognizable as the same group. Volunteers are needed to carry VFP flags. For some unconstitutional reason, leafleting is banned.

Can you sign the letter to Representative John Sarbanes? Can you help deliver it at 4:30 PM on January 21? Call 410-366-1637 or email mobuszewski at verizon.net.

Please come and promote the talk by Deb and Jim Fine at Red Emma’s at 7:30 PM on January 30. They have recently returned from Erbil, Iraq, and have many years of experience in the Middle East.

Kagiso, Max

Rep. John Sarbanes
600 Baltimore Ave.
Suite 303
Towson, MD 21204

January 21, 2015
Dear Representative Sarbanes:

Members of the Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore are voters and supporters of Progressive Democrats of America. We welcome you to the new 114th Congress and ask you to join with us celebrating the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday by honoring his values and our nation’s founding principles: That political rights are reserved for We The People—human beings, not corporations. That all human beings have full and equal civil rights, and that we must protect their rights. And that we must favor diplomacy over confrontation and war.

January 21st marks the 5th Anniversary of the infamous Citizens United decision that opened the floodgates for money to corrupt our political process. We urge you to cosponsor and support resolutions to enact one or more constitutional amendments to overturn the wrongly interpreted doctrines that equate money with speech and corporations with human beings.

We also urge you to oppose and vote against “Fast Track” and any other procedures that short-circuit the Congressional oversight process for the Trans-Pacific Partnership and any other multilateral commercial deals. Also, oppose and vote against these deals because they place special interests over the needs of American families. Good deals aren’t hidden from public and congressional view, and don’t need gimmicks like “Fast Track” to gain passage.

We further urge you to support diplomacy and oppose any new sanctions on Iran. We cannot afford another war. Diplomacy with Iran offers the opportunity to achieve our national security objectives without firing a shot. We urge you to give these negotiations a chance to succeed.

Lastly, we urge you to extend full constitutional rights to women and to the residents of D.C. by: Cosponsoring and supporting a resolution to remove the time limit from the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA); and by cosponsoring and supporting the New Columbia Admissions Act (HR 317), legislation to facilitate the creation of the state of New Columbia, including representation in the House of Representatives and two Senators. Please contact Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s D.C. office at (202) 225-8050 to cosponsor HR 317.

Finally, we are seeking an end to the use of killer drone strikes, which we believe to be illegal and unconstitutional. We ask you to speak out against this assassination program, which ignores any veneer of due process. Consider as well a request for the full, unclassified release of information surrounding the administration’s drone policy.

We look forward to your response. And when you are ready, we would like to meet with you, preferably in Baltimore. But if necessary, we will travel to your D.C. office. We thank you for your consideration regarding these critically important issues, and look forward to ongoing discussion and engagement with you in the coming months.

Peace,

Max Obuszewski, on behalf of Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore/Fund Our Communities
Apt. 206, 431 Notre Dame Lane, Baltimore 21212

Why the U.S. will have difficulty
“Degrading & Defeating ISIS”

Red Emma’s
30 W. NORTH AVE.

Deborah and Jim Fine discuss their five years working with the Mennonite Central Committee in Iraq and their experience with the refugees fleeing the Islamic state.

PLEDGE OF RESISTANCE
410 366 1637

January 30, 2015 7:30 p.m.