Exciting Signers Support Lisa Savage For US Senate

Social distancing banner held by Charlie Backus & Palma Ryan - Portland May, 2020

Thanks to Bruce Gagnon for his work on gathering a list of supporters for our US Senate campaign!

Dear Friends,

We, the undersigned, are writing to you in support of Lisa Savage’s US Senate campaign in Maine against Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).  The November election in Maine for that seat will be a Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) race.  There will be no ‘spoiler effect’ this time.

Lisa is running as an Independent Green. In her long-time peace and climate change activism, she has specialized in linking the Pentagon’s carbon footprint and our climate crisis. She founded the Maine Natural Guard to do just that important work. As an educator, Lisa has experience as a public school teacher and former union negotiator.

In Maine, Lisa has also led efforts to convert the Bath Iron Works shipyard away from constructing lethal Naval Destroyers and toward creating sustainable technologies that help us deal with climate crisis.  Lisa advocates converting to commuter rail, tidal power and other much needed systems. Studies show that such a transformation would create more jobs for people in Maine.  Imagine having a national voice in the U.S. Senate calling for the entire military industrial complex to be converted – unless we do so quickly we will not succeed in dealing with our greatest threat, the threat of what we’re doing to our own environment.

Of course Lisa also strongly supports Medicare4All, erasing student debt, a $15 minimum wage and many other issues that are vital to the survival of working and poor people across the country. She’s lately spoken out against the recent massive bailouts for Wall Street under the guise of virus relief while many people have yet to receive their promised $1,200 check.

Speaking about the recent murder of George Floyd by police in Minnesota, Lisa said, “People are fed up with unaccountable policing that targets Black men, women, and children and deals out injury, death, humiliation, and destruction of lives without meaningful consequences. Hundreds of thousands have rightly taken to the streets in all 50 states, including here throughout Maine. We have seen countless examples of militarized police forces instigating violence as these crowds of frustrated and angry citizens seek to peacefully assemble and express themselves, as is protected in the very first amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

We hope you will join us in doing what you can to help support Lisa’s important campaign. Rarely do we see such a vital opportunity to impact the national debate as Maine’s Senate race will be one of the most watched in the nation.

You can learn more about Lisa at her web site https://www.lisaformaine.org/.  Many of us have donated to her campaign.  We hope you will share this letter widely across your community so that others who share our deep concerns may learn more about Lisa. Twitter: @LisaforMaine  Facebook: LisaforMaine

We are at a crucial moment in world history.  We must work in every possible way to bring these issues to the public.  We are grateful for Lisa and her team for their good work on all our behalf.

For people, planet and peace,

(Organizations listed for identification purposes only)

• Dawn Neptune Adams (Penobscot activist) Bangor, Maine
• Peggy Akers (Nurse practitioner, VFP Maine) Portland, Maine
• Nathan Albright (Writer, Maryhouse Catholic Worker) New York, New York
• Doug Allen (Professor, peace and justice scholar, and activist) Orono, Maine
• Jim Allen (Alabama Veteran for Peace) Lanett, Alabama
• Nancy Allen (Activist, Green Party member) Brooksville, Maine
• Ashley Bahlkow (Currently nurturing family, working on land access & food justice initiatives and sharing garden space) North Yarmouth, Maine
• Ajamu Baraka (National Organizer, Black Alliance for Peace) New York, New York
• Ellen Barfield (Phil Berrigan Memorial VFP chapter) Baltimore, Maryland
• Elizabeth Barger (Freedom Press publisher, artist, poet, CODEPINK activist) Summertown, Tennessee 
• Medea Benjamin (Author and codirector of CODEPINK) Washington DC
• Frida Berrigan (2019 Green Party Mayoral Candidate & author of ‘It Runs In The Family: On Being Raised By Radicals and Growing Into Rebellious Motherhood’) New London, Connecticut
• Justin Beth (Green Party of the U.S. Co-Chair, MGIP SC Member, PGIC Co-Chair) Portland, Maine
• Toby Blome (Drone resistance organizer) El Cerrito, California
• Commander (Ret) Leah Bolger (President World BEYOND War, past president Veterans For Peace) Corvallis, Oregon
• Francis A. Boyle (Professor of international law at the University of Illinois, College of Law) Champaign, Illinois
• Meredith Bruskin (FNP, Peace & Justice Group of Waldo County) Swanville, Maine
• Chris Buchanan (Owner, CBC Carpentry) Searsport, Maine
• Dr. Helen Caldicott (Anti-nuclear advocate) New South Wales, Australia
• Jonathan Carter (Director, Forest Ecology Network) Lexington Twp, Maine
• Ralph Chapman (Retired Applied Physicist & recent member of Maine's Legislature, the only Green Independent party member during his last term) Brooksville, Maine
• Judy Collins (Peace-justice advocate/singer/songwriter, Vine & Fig Tree Community) Lanett, Alabama
• Gerry Condon (Veterans For Peace) Clearlake, California
• Priti Gulati Cox (Artist, activist) Salina, Kansas
• Stan Cox (Scientist, writer) Salina, Kansas
• Bob Dale (VFP Maine, PeaceWorks) Brunswick, Maine
• Barry Dana (Native educator, past chief Penobscot Nation) Solon, Maine
• Ellen Davidson (Activist & photojournalist) New York, New York
• Joseph de Rivera (Senior Research Scholar, Clark University) Brunswick, Maine
• Christine A. DeTroy (PeaceWorks) Brunswick, Maine
• Jacqui Deveneau (Chair of the Maine Green Women's Caucus) Portland, Maine
• Denise Dreher (Catholic Peace & Justice activist) Biddeford, Maine
• Reginald A. Dunton (Grassroots activist) Freeport, Maine
• Leonard Eiger (Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action) North Bend, Washington
• Pat Elder (Military Poisons Project) St. Mary’s City, Maryland
• Daniel Ellsberg (Pentagon papers, Senior Fellow PERI, UMass Amherst) Kensington, California
• Catherine Erdman (Peace activist) Temple, Maine
• Jodie Evans (Co-founder, CodePink) Venice, California
• Margaret Flowers (Co-director Popular Resistance) Baltimore, Maryland
• Bruce K. Gagnon (Peace & justice activist) Brunswick, Maine
• Manuel Garcia, Jr. (Climate blogger & retired physics professor) Berkeley, California
• Ann Garrison (Independent Journalist) Oakland, California
• Betsy Garrold (Retired Nurse Midwife, former Maine Green Independent Party Co-Chair, President of Food for Maine’s Future, homesteader, lobbyist, Mother) Knox, Maine
• Carol Gilbert, OP (ICAN) Washington, DC
• Starr C. Gilmartin (Licensed Clinical Social worker) Trenton, Maine
• Holly Graham (Singer/songwriter, activist) Olympia, Washington
• Chris Hedges (Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and author) Princeton, New Jersey
• Susan Hellewell (Artist and retired science teacher) Bingham, Maine
• Dud Hendrick (VFP Maine) Deer Isle, Maine
• Eric Herter (Filmmaker, VFP Maine) Brunswick, Maine
• Matthew Hoh (Marine Corps Iraq war veteran, 100% disabled veteran, Senior Fellow at Center for International Policy) Raleigh, North Carolina
• Fred Horch (Green Independent Candidate for Representative to the Legislature) Brunswick, Maine
• Tamara Hunt (Family & Child Welfare Advocate, Public Policy USM Graduate Student) Portland, Maine
• Connie Jenkins (Catholic peace and justice activist) East Blue Hill, Maine
• Ken Jones (Retired USM educator) Swannanoa, North Carolina
• Kyle Kajihiro (Board Member, Hawaiʻi Peace and Justice) Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
• Tarak Kauff (Editor in Chief of Peace & Planet News) Woodstock, New York
• Kathy Kelly (Co-coordinator, Voices for Creative Nonviolence) Chicago, Illinois
• Lynn Kelly (Retired physician) Mankato, Minnesota
• Ed Kinane (Upstate Drone Action, anti-militarism activist) Syracuse, New York
• Thomas Kircher (Interfaith Chaplain) Biddeford, Maine
• John Kiriakou (Former CIA Counterterrorism Officer & Former Senior Investigator, US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations) Washington DC
• Pat LaMarche (Former Maine gubernatorial candidate & 2004 candidate for V-P) Carlisle, Pennsylvania
• Nydia Leaf (Granny Peace Brigade) New York, New York
• Debbie Leighton (PeaceWorks) West Bath, Maine
• Richard Brown Lethem (Artist, VFP) Brunswick, Maine
• Sass Linneken (Community organizer) Bangor, Maine
• Stan Lofchie (VFP Maine) Brunswick, Maine
• Alfred L. Marder (US Peace Council) New Haven, Connecticut
• Betsy Marsano (Working to overthrow the duopoly for over 30 years) Belfast, Maine
• Kenneth E. Mayers (Major USMCR ret’d, VFP) Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Natasha Mayers (Editor in chief of Maine Arts Journal: UMVA Quarterly, Union of Maine Visual Artists) Whitefield, Maine
• Kelly Merrill (Activist, journalist, organizer) Portland, Maine
• Karl Meyer (Coordinator Greenlands Catholic Worker community) Nashville, Tennessee
• Peter S. Morgan Jr. (VFP Maine) Raymond, Maine
• John Morris (Retired teacher, VFP Maine) New Gloucester, Maine
• Chris Nelson (Chico Peace Endeavor) Chico, California
• Tom Neilson (Singer, songwriter) Greenfield, Massachusetts
• K. J. Noh (Scholar, Journalist, Peace Activist) San Francisco, California
• Jon Olsen (Former co-chair MGIP) Jefferson, Maine
• Koohan Paik-Mander (Coordinator, Just Transition Hawaii Coalition) Hanokaa, Hawaii 
• Mike Michalski (Former Marine opposed to war) South Portland, Maine
• Rosalie Paul (Peaceworks) Brunswick, Maine
• Ilze Petersons (Peace & justice organizer and activist) Orono, Maine
• Sam Pfeifle (Vice-Chair, MSAD 15 School Board) Gray, Maine
• Cecile Pineda (Author) Berkeley, California
• Ron Placone (Comedian & YouTube host) Pasadena, California
• Ardeth Platte, OP (ICAN) Washington, DC
• Doug Rawlings (President of VFP Maine chapter) Chesterville, Maine
• John Rensenbrink (Professor of Government Emeritus, Bowdoin College, co-founder Maine Green Independent Party & US Green Party) Topsham, Maine
• Richard Rhames (Family farmer, Public access TV activist) Biddeford, Maine
• Kim Rich (Water District Trustee) Portland, Maine
• Judy Robbins (Let Cuba Live), Sedgwick, Maine
• Coleen Rowley (Retired FBI Agent, former Minneapolis Division Legal Counsel and Whistleblower) Apple Valley, Minnesota
• Robert Schaible (Chairperson, Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights) Portland, Maine
• Gladys Schmitz, SSND (Retired RN and Retired teacher) Mankato, Minnesota
• Ginny Schneider (Maine WTR Resource Center) South Portland, Maine
• John & Carrie Schuchardt (House of Peace, Ch. 45 Veterans for Peace) Ipswich, Massachusetts
• Alice Slater (Board, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space) New York, New York
• Ursula L. Slavick (Deering High teacher, former Portland Teachers’ Association president, Haiti School fundraiser), Portland, Maine
• William H. Slavick (Professor, retired Pax Christi Maine coordinator; 2006 Senate candidate; social justice, Palestinian rights activist), Portland, Maine
• Gar Smith (Author, editor, and cofounder of Environmentalists Against War) Berkeley, California
• Robert Shetterly (Americans Who Tell the Truth) Brooksville, Maine
• Dr. Jill Stein (Two-time Green Party presidential candidate) Lexington, Massachusetts
• Herschel Sternlieb (Peace activist) Washington DC
• Mary Beth Sullivan (Social worker) Brunswick, Maine
• David Swanson (Author & peace activist) Charlottesville, Virginia
• Pat Taub (Blogger, writer, teacher, peace & justice worker) Portland, Maine
• Ann Tiffany (Upstate Drone Action, anti-militarism activist) Syracuse, New York
• Dwayne Tomah (Passamoquoddy language keeper) Perry, Maine
• Jesse Ventura (Former Independent governor of Minnesota) Dellwood, Minnesota
• Karen Wainberg (PeaceWorks) Brunswick, Maine
• Morgana Warner-Evans (Workers' rights advocate & mental health professional) Portland, Maine
• Janet Weil (Activist, climate & militarism) Portland, Oregon
• Steven Welzer (Co-editor, Green Horizon Magazine) East Windsor, New Jersey
• Barbara West (Women's International League for Peace & Freedom) Bath, Maine
• Tom Whitney (Let Cuba Live) South Paris, Maine
• Russell Wray (Citizens Opposing Active Sonar Threats - COAST) Hancock, Maine
• Colonel (Ret) Ann Wright (Former US diplomat) Honolulu, Hawaii
• Kevin Zeese (Co-director Popular Resistance) Baltimore, Maryland   
• Violet Rose Zitola (former National Co-Chair, Green Party of the US) Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Johnny Zokovitch (Catholic peace and justice activist) St. Louis, Missouri

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Add your name as a supporter of our campaign to elect a senator for people, planet, and peace!

A White Supremacist Nation Is Not And Cannot Ever Be Great

Portland, Maine May 31, 2020 photo credit: Kelly F. Merrill

A white supremacist country is not and can never be great.

Our tax dollars are spent on vast amounts of weaponry and violent crowd control technology and equipment every year; this year we learned what weak investments were made to provide for a public health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the disease began to spread in the US, mass shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) have resulted in health care providers working for months now with inadequate protection, and a mere fraction of the population being tested due to shortages of items as basic as nasal swabs.

People are fed up with unaccountable policing that targets Black men, women, and children and deals out injury and death without meaningful consequences. Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets in all 50 states in cities including but not limited to Minneapolis, New York City, Portland (both Oregon and Maine), Louisville, Austin, Dallas, and Flint. Mostly peaceful protests have been plagued by agents provocateurs committing acts of property damage, and marred by police employing tanks, drones, and shooting at residents on their own front porches. Journalists have particularly been targeted -- shot at and arrested -- while attempting to do their jobs.

Portland, Maine May 31, 2020 photo credit: Kelly F. Merrill

Meanwhile, the President who failed to contain the pandemic is tweeting inflammatory messages intended as stochastic violence. That is, cueing his white supremacist followers to attack protesters and escalate nonviolent protests to violent ones.

It is possible to imagine that a President facing an election he seems destined to lose would see fomenting civil war as a way out of the necessity of holding elections in November.

It is clear that community control of police is imperative if the US is to heal and move forward. 

It is unclear what National Guard soldiers think they are doing when they follow orders to attack Americans at their own homes. The Posse Comitatus Act made it illegal to use the US military against the American people. It is clear that the President is often confused about the provisions of the Constitution he swore to uphold. Recently he accused the private company Twitter of violating the 1st amendment which guarantees the right to protected political speech among other rights, exhibiting a misunderstanding of the Bill of Rights' function to protect our rights from encroachment by government.

A white supremacist nation is not and cannot ever be great.

Portland Maine May 31, 2020 photo credit: Kelly F. Merrill

I am calling on Congress to either return to Washington DC or begin working remotely, immediately, to address the vacuum of leadership during these dangerous times.

I am calling on the legislature in my state to invest in anti-racist education preK-12 to be delivered remotely starting as soon as possible. This urgent need cannot wait until regular school programming begins in the fall. Only education can address the racist assumptions and misconceptions at the heart of rampant police violence against people of color.

I am calling on the governor in my state to include an indigenous (non-immigrant) Black person, that is, someone descended from African slaves kidnapped and brought to America, in every decision making body under her jurisdiction. This includes committees charged with recommending policies for economic recovery, education, policing, housing, food production and distribution and, especially, health care policy.

The disproportionate number of Black people who are arrested, tried, and incarcerated in Maine as compared with their presence in the population speaks for itself -- the problem is here, it is us. The disproportionate rate of infection and death among Black people from the COVID-19 disease here in Maine is further evidence of a racist economy, and a racist health care system.

Portland, Maine  May 31, 2020  photo credit: Kelly F. Merrill

Our budget priorities are racist, our criminal justice system is racist, our education system is racist, and our health care system is racist.

A white supremacist state is not and cannot ever be great.