More from Sept 29 in NY (Rebecca Rotzler)

Speaking for the Green Party was Rebecca Rotzler, former Deputy Mayor of New Paltz and member of the Green Party National Peace Action Committee.
I do not speak from script, but will give the
sentiments of what I said at the rally. First, the march went by a building
that houses the Homeless Veterans Program, homeless and veterans should
never be in the same sentence. Why do we have a building that s home to a
homeless veterans program and not a building that is home to veterans? I
was speaking on behalf of the Green Party, the only party that has Peace in
it’s platform, and was asked to bring a message to the veterans. The Green
Party stands behind our veterans, we stand behind Iraq Veterans Against the
War (IVAW) and we stand behind our enlisted men and women who RESIST. When
in office I took the same oath to uphold The Constitution as members of IVAW
did, and they are upholding that oath by not agreeing to fight in a illegal
war based on lies. Last November many people came out and voted for
Democrats believing that they were voting against the War but less than a
year later they have done nothing to get us out of Iraq and all they have
done is put more money into the war. Why? The Democrats are funded by the
same corporations that the Republicans are, oil corporations and weapons
manufacturers, the Green Party does not accept corporate donations.

All right, it is hard to bring back stuff that I was screaming, vote peace
in ’07 and ’08, but I did also point out that when I was in office the local
VFW would come to our board to ask permission to hold the Memorial Day
parade on May 30, the traditional day and not the random Monday where
businesses can advertise Memorial Day sales, it may seem like a small
gesture, but now in New Paltz May 30 is recognized as the official Memorial
Day through legislation that I enacted. I know it means a lot to our local
veterans.

Rebecca Rotzler, NY

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