VIDEO Banner Drop Uses ARRT! Work To Tell @SenatorCollins NO #TPP

I have been called many things in my activist life, but last night was a first. We were called "unprofessional" repeatedly by the security guy at the Civic Center in Augusta, Maine. He also told me we had "no class." The extent to which US citizens are cowed by fear of hurting their standing in the community would be surprising -- if I weren't a student of history, that is.

Thanks to videographer Martha Spiess for her swift work getting out this great video of our unprofessional antics last night. Martha is the kind of professional I want to be! And huge gratitude to the Artists Rapid Response Team of the Union of Maine Visual Artists for their amazing banner. Nothing says classy like fine art!

OUTSPOKEN: Two women from the protest group Code Pink stand on chairs Friday at The Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce awards ceremony in Augusta, interrupting it briefly by chanting and hoisting a sign as U.S. Sen. Susan Collins is introduced. Ridgely Fuller, of Belfast, and Lisa Savage, of Solon, said they were opposed to the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal. Both women were escorted out of the auditorium when they finished chanting.

Staff photo by Scott Monroe

And here is some great coverage by the Kennebec Journal (see full article here), a corporate sponsor of the event and the paper of record in Maine's capital city Augusta.

The paper is owned by the husband of Rep. Chellie Pingree, who has come out publicly against the TPP. So has Maine's other representative, Mike Michaud, who is currently running for governor.

Sen. Angus King and Sen. Susan Collins have yet to say where they stand on the TPP.

Maine is estimated to have lost 30,000 jobs, mostly in manufacturing, since Bill Clinton pushed through NAFTA.

If signed, the TPP will make NAFTA look like small potatoes. Because under TPP, local entities will not be able to preference local potatoes and other foodstuffs without risking a lawsuit by a giant multi-national corporation. Or control their own water supply. These cases will be decidd by a special international court with judges who are recycled corporate CEOs.

Contact your own reps and senators today to oppose fast tracking TPP approval through Congress: 202-224-3121.