Houston delegates protest at the Democratic State Convention : Houston Indymedia

State Rep. Lon Burnham: confronting pro-war democrats. Part 1
Rahul Mahajan: failure of the democratic anti-war movement. Part 2
Crawford Peace House: upcoming protests. Part 3

PART ONE of three reports from the Peace In Iraq caucus.

Fort Worth Representative Lon Burnham hosted the Peace in Iraq caucus at the Democratic State Convention to encourage democratic peace activists to hold elected leaders accountable for invading Iraq and for the occupation aftermath. His three part strategy of accountability consisted of:
1. Find out how your representative voted on peace issues.
2. Contact your elected representatives and candidates running for office. Tell them they will no longer have your vote if they do not adopt a clear pro-peace platform
3. Take it to the streets.

Copies of the 2005 Peace Action Congressional Voting record were handed out to each caucus delegate. The Peace Action Congressional Voting Record keeps track of how representatives voted on issues pertaining to peace such as preemptive attack, government backed torture and nuclear proliferation.

Representative Burnham said Texas democrats representing districts south of I10 have a poor record on peace issues. Burnham found it ironic that most of these representatives are hispanic. Low income hispanic youth are being targeted by military recruiters. Burnham said hispanic democratic leaders are taking a stand on immigration while allowing their youth to be recruited for cannon fodder. It is this lack of moral courage concerning issues of peace that Burnham wants democratic leaders to address or be held accountable.

Texas has no democratic State senators. Here are the Peace Action scores for Texas democratic representatives on issues of peace:

Al Green District 9 scored 92% grade A
Rubén E. Hinojosa District 15 scored 50% grade F
Silvestre Reyes District 16 scored 42% grade F
Thomas 'Chet' Edwards District 17 scored 42% grade F
Sheila Jackson Lee District 18 scored 100% grade A
Charles A. 'Charlie' Gonzalez District 20 scored 42% grade F
Lloyd A. Doggett District 25 scored 83% grade B
Solomon P. Ortiz District 27 scored 42% grade F
Henry Cuellar District 28 scored 17% grade F
Raymond Eugene 'Gene' Green District 29 scored 50% grade F
Eddie Bernice Johnson District 30 scored 67% grade D
See link below for both republican and democratic voting records on peace issues.

TAKING IT TO THE STREETS
Representative Burnham said that three times the office of republican senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson threatened him with arrest for trying to deliver petitions related to peace issues. Both republican senators Kay Bailey Hutchinson and John Cornyn refuse to hear any alternatives other than the Bush Administration's pro-war stance. Burnham said the only way to reach uniformed voters and closed minded politicians it to keep taking it to the street. While Hadi Jawad and Rahul Mahajan spoke, delegates blew up beach balls for the: Got Balls? End the War protest to be held outside the convention center. Dallas and Ft. Worth peace activists worn pairs of balls around their necks and tossed beach balls around in the 99 degree heat while delegates attended all day caucuses inside the convention. As caucuses ended protesters where joined by delegates.

Texas democrats as a whole are not being represented by their elected leaders. In precinct and senate district conventions, democrats have overwhelmingly passed resolutions calling for impeachment of both Bush and Cheney, and withdrawal from Iraq. Democratic leaders have refused to support these demands. Lon Burnham's message to delegates was simple, a war-mongering
democrat is no better than a war-mongering republican. Neither deserve your support.

Ft. Worth state rep. Lon Burnham holds a beach ball for peace during the Peace In Iraq caucus at the Democratic State Convention in Ft. Worth TX on 06/09/06. Approx. 80 delegates attended the caucus. Burnham encouraged continued protest of pro-war democrats.

Once senate district caucusing was over, delegates relieved Dallas/Ft. Worth peace activists outside the convention center

Peace activist and candidate for vice chair of the Texas Democratic Party hands out balls to fellow delegates.