For those not tuning out the president’s State of the Union speech this Tuesday night in favor of, say, the Knicks/Lakers game, there are myriad protests, panels and parties planned nationwide to mark Bush’s address to the nation.
The World Can’t Wait coalition is planning to bring the noise nationwide with a cacophony of sound at 9:00pm EST–when the president is scheduled to start speaking. Click here to see what events are planned near you. Meanwhile, the antiwar coalition United for Peace and Justice is encouraging people to throw houseparties and turn the SOTU into an organizing opportunity. Check out UFPJ’s “Parties for Peace Toolkit” for more info.
CodePink will sponsor “People’s State of the Union” events across the country. The centerpiece rally, featuring Cindy Sheehan, Ann Wright, Malik Rahim, and many others, will take place at 3:00pm in Washington, DC, at the Mott House, 122 Maryland Avenue, NE.
If you’re in Washington, DC on the morning of Tuesday, January 31, you can also see Nation editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel and members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus in a series of discussions laying out an alternative state of the union featuring innovative progressive policy proposals published in a recent special issue of The Nation. The panels will take place on Tuesday from 9:00 to 11:30am at Democratic National Committee Headquarters, Wasserman Conference Room, 430 S. Capitol Street, SE, Washington, DC. Click here for directions and more information.
And that night in DC, join the Center for American Progress Action Fund and Air America’s The Majority Report to celebrate the book release of Get This Party Started: How Progressives Can Fight Back and Win. AA’s Majority Report will broadcast a live panel before Bush’s SOTU and there’ll be running riffs during the speech, Mystery Science Theater style. Free food comes out at 7:30! It’s happening at the Center for American Progress Action Fund at 1333 H Street NW, 10th Floor, Washington, DC. Click here to RSVP or call 202-741-6246.
In New York City, people will gather at Times Square at 7:45 for a rally and march being MCed by the Rev. Al Sharpton. In Los Angeles, Bianca Jagger and Gore Vidal will lead the noise making at the intersection of Hollywood and Highland, starting at 6:00pm pacific time.
Whatever you do on Tuesday night, remember that friends don’t let friends watch George Bush alone.
