I've been asked to present the Middletown residents' petition for peace to the Common Council this evening. During public comment, Wesleyan students will present their petition, and I will deliver the public petition.
The petitions ask the Common Council to consider a resolution condemning the war in Iraq, and to bring our troops home. If Middletown were to pass such a resolution, it would not be the first town in the country to do so. Hundreds have already passed such a resolution.
You might ask why a symbolic gesture like passing a town resolution, with no real power to directly affect the course of the war, is worth considering.
First, it sends a message. It allows the public to address and debate the war in public. If it is passed, it demonstrates to all who hear about it that our citizens are against a war which was sold with a lie, and which has caused so much damage to our country. And in the case of Middletown, it lets at least one of our representatives, Senator Creepy Joe Lieberman, understand that when he advocates this war, he is not representing his constituents, he is standing alone, or nearly alone.
I encourage all Middletown residents, on both sides of the argument, but especially those advocating peace, to attend the meeting tonight, Monday December 3, 7 pm in Common Council chambers.
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