Westport News - February 28, 2007
By Will Rowlands
About a 100 people gathered Saturday afternoon at the Unitarian Church in Westport to discuss ways to take action against the war in Iraq.
The town meeting was sponsored by Connecticut Opposes the War (CTcow), MoveOn.org and CT Citizen Action Group, among others. Rev. Frank Hall of the Unitarian Church welcomed the group and said the meeting was part of an important and necessary process.
The featured speaker at the event was Ned Lamont, the Democratic Party candidate for U.S. Senator in the last election.
One highlight of the event was a conference call with presidential candidate Christopher Dodd and Rep. John Larson that was to be heard at more than 20 similar meetings around the state. The call did not go as well as planned as there were some technical difficulties. However, Sen. Dodd, Lamont and Rep. Larson all spoke.
Lamont regaled the Westport crowd with a short but fiery speech. He said that Sen. Dodd has been loud and clear on the war and wants a binding resolution. "He's [Dodd] a leader. We'd be better off with his hand on the wheel." Lamont got a rise out of the crowd when he said he wished Connecticut's senior senator [Dodd] had more influence on Connecticut's junior senator [Joseph Lieberman].
"Whose judgment has been more flawed since the beginning than Dick Cheney?" asked Lamont. "We're creating a dependency in Iraq."
During the conference call, Larson said U.S. troops have become target practice in a civil war. He feels we're adding to the chaos and, at the same time, depleting our treasury.
After the conference call, the crowd broke into groups of four or five and were charged with thinking of ways to take action. Suggestions included writing personal letters or e-mails to newspapers and elected representatives.
John Hartwell of Westport, with the bipartisan group Democracy for America, acted as the informal emcee. Hartwell was Lamont's campaign treasurer. "What we need to do is take the country back," he said.
A few people rose and said it was time for the same type of nonviolent civil disobedience that accompanied the Vietnam War. It was noted that there were sit-ins in downtown Westport in that era and that a local group gathers every Saturday from 10 to 11 a.m. on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Memorial Bridge in Westport to protest U.S. involvement in Iraq.
There was a general feeling that Democrats have been too polite and need to take the rhetoric from the Republicans and turn it back on them. One attendee wore a T-shirt proclaiming, "I'm a mean Democrat."
Lamont, when asked about the rumor that has been circulating about him running against U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4, said he's not thinking about running for anything right now. He said he's teaching a political science class and trying to help solve Connecticut's problems in any way he can.
CTcow is in the process of organizing a demonstration in Hartford on Saturday, March 17, at the Old State House at 800 Main St. from 3 to 4:30 p.m.
For more information visit www.CTcow.org or call Kim Hynes at 979-4676.
