[nader-colo-students] Wednesday's Protest, Nader to debate commission, Madison Square Gardens

["Damon Haley " <dhaley@greens.org>]

Hey Nader people,

If you are near Denver.  Please come to our 2nd Debate protest at the 
Denver Networks.  We're calling it:

       "DEMOCRACY ON DEATH ROW"
Wednesday, October 11th 6:30 P.M.
at KCNC at 1044 Lincoln (the local CBS affiliate)
followed by protests at FOX and ABC affiliates

We'll be morning the loss of our Democracy and the silencing of 
candidates with a voice to save it.  Please wear black or drab
clothes 
and bring props relating to a funeral.  We'll have a "Democracy" 
casket that will be carried by people wearing Gore and Bush masks.  
Please be creative and come down to show the networks that people are 
pissed about Ralph not being in the debates.

We'll be making signs for the protest the night before at the Denver 
Nader office at 5 P.M.  2785 N. Speer Blvd., Suite 305 Denver, CO 
303-964-8226.

Please read the press release below that we sent out to all the 
Denver/Boulder media.  Please send it to more people if you can.

Anyone have copies of letters to the editor or op-eds in support of 
the Nader/LaDuke candidacy?  If so, could you please send them?  We're
trying to put these on the national student webpage.  I know Regis
has 
written one, so I'd like to recieve that one and any others.

Thanks and please send me reports from your campus.  Also let me know 
if you need more materials because we have tons here in Denver.

Damon Haley
dhaley@greens.org
www.coloradonader2000.com
------------------------------------------------------------------

Please send any debate petitions your campuses have collected to:

Nader 2000
attn. Corey Eastwood
P.O. Box 9380
Washington, DC 20005

Thank you!
------------------------------------------------------------------
Ralph Nader will appear at Madison Square Garden this Friday, October
13.  Super Rally Special Guests include Eddie Vedder, Ani DiFranco, 
Bill Murray, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Ben Harper, Phil Donahue, 
Michael Moore, and more.

The Madison Square Garden rally is the sixth in a series of
volunteer-coordinated rallies that have drawn huge crowds across the
country, demonstrating a groundswell of grassroots support for 
Nader/LaDuke.

Crowds of 10-12,000 have turned out to rallies in Portland, 
Minneapolis, Seattle, and Boston, demanding Nader's participation in 
the presidential debates.
-------------------------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   October 9, 2000
For more information, contact:
        Nancy Harvey, Colorado Campaign Coordinator
        (303) 964-8226
        coloradonader@totalspeed.net


    NADER SUPPORTERS TO PROTEST AT DENVER TELEVISION STATIONS OCT. 11

   Denver area supporters of the Ralph Nader presidential campaign 
will rally at local television stations on Wednesday, October 11th. 
The first protest will begin at 6:30 p.m. at KCNC at 1044 Lincoln
(the 
local CBS affiliate), followed by actions at the local Fox TV and ABC 
affiliate stations.

  In addition to protesting Nader's exclusion from the debate series
sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates, the rallies will 
call upon television networks to fulfill their obligations to the 
public interest (as specified in the 1934 Communications Act) by 
airing new debates that include the Green Party presidential nominee.

  Nader was barred from attending the first debate in Boston October 
3rd by three uniformed police, who refused to admit him to a
televised 
viewing room separate from the presidential debate auditorium -- even 
though Nader had a ticket to the event and was invited by the media. 
He called the action "the beginning of the end of the Commission on 
Presidential Debates."

  More than 100,000 signatures have been recorded on an online 
petition calling for Nader's inclusion in the debates. See:

http://green.votenader.org/cgi-bin/petition-sigs.cgi

  A recent poll conducted for Reuters/MSNBC by pollster John Zogby
released October 5 showed a "surge" of support for Nader with 7 
percent.  It also showed Al Gore and George W. Bush running neck and 
neck, 46 to 40 percent, following the first debate. 
-------------------------------------------------------------
   Nader's Letter...

   Mr. Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr.
   Mr. Paul G. Kirk, Jr.
   Co-Chairmen Commission on Presidential Debates

   Dear Mssrs. Fahrenkopf and Kirk:

   On Tuesday night October 3, 2000, I attempted to view the
   first presidential debate hosted by the Commission on
   Presidential Debates (CPD) at the University of
   Massachusetts. Though I have been excluded from
   participating in the debates by the arbitrary and unfair
   standards set by your private, bi-partisan company, I was
   given a transferable ticket by a university student to
   observe the debates in a separate auditorium reserved apart
   from the corporate-sponsored audience in attendance for the
   two-party show. I planned to view the debates so that I
   could appear as a guest to comment on the debates later that
   evening on a live broadcast by Fox News Channel from a
   trailer occupied by them, at the debate site, with the full
   permission of the CPD.

   En route to the event, ticket in hand, and members of the
   press present and recording everything at my side, I was met
   by a security consultant, Mr. John Vezeris, who was flanked
   by three uniformed state troopers. The security consultant,
   while declining to present any credentials, told me that he
   was "instructed by the Commission" to advise me that "it's
   already been decided that, whether or not you have a ticket,
   you are not invited." One of the police officers told me
   that I would face arrest if I continued to remain on the
   premises. The security consultant repeatedly refused to
   divulge who from the CPD ordered this action and subsequent
   attempts by my campaign to establish who ordered this
   coercive expulsion with the aid of police officers have not
   resulted in any names. I was stopped a second time by the
   same police when I attempted to visit the news trailer for a
   broadcast I was formally invited to do by Fox News Chief
   Executive Roger Ailes and which had been arranged from the
   premises. According to today's media reports, Mr. Kirk
   claims I was excluded as a "point man for the protests,"
   when I took no part in those protests and when
   demonstrations by pro-Gore supporters did not result in
   similar exclusionary treatment for Vice-President Gore. As
   the Green Party candidate for the office of President, I am
   not used to being barred by police officers from attending
   public events for which I hold a ticket. Nor am I accustomed
   to being physically prevented from attending approved
   on-site newscasts and reaching national audiences from
   venues where I am invited to appear. Indeed, the
   Commission's decision to deploy public officers at a public
   university to bar me from viewing the presidential debates
   and participating at a subsequent onsite newscast because of
   my political viewpoints and affiliation with the Green Party
   violates both Massachusetts State and federal civil rights
   laws.

   Accordingly, in the spirit of a proposed settlement offer
   for this outrageous and unlawful behavior, I am seeking the
   following by 10 a.m.  Tuesday morning October 10th:

   1) An official, written apology from both of you, on behalf
   of Governor George W. Bush and Vice President Albert Gore, Jr.

   2) A contribution of $25,000 to the nonprofit The Appleseed
   Center for Electoral Reform at Harvard Law School.

   3) An assurance that I will not be barred from attending any
   other CPD presidential debate venues for which I have an
   invitation from the press or a ticket.

   Should you not respond by Tuesday morning to these three
   requests, the Nader 2000 Campaign will pursue its legal
   remedies on Tuesday, October 10th.

   Sincerely yours,
   Ralph Nader

   Cc:
   Ms. Janet H. Brown, Executive Director
   Vice-President Albert Gore, Jr.
   Governor George W. Bush




To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
nader-colo-students-unsubscribe@egroups.com