President Obama will give his first State of the Union address on Wednesday night at 9 p.m. Eastern. Brave New Foundation's Rethink Afghanistan campaign wants to make sure this isn't just a time to sit and watch, but a time to get together with our friends and push back against the expanding Afghanistan war.
20,000 and Counting
On Friday, we asked our supporters to sign a simple petition to President Obama:
In your State of the Union address on January 27, 2010, I want you to provide a concrete exit strategy for our troops in Afghanistan that begins no later than July 2011 and which completes a withdrawal of combat troops no later than July 1, 2012.
More than 20,000 people signed it. Instead of just handing it to someone at the White House, petition signers are getting their message and the list of signers to the White House by posting it on the White House Facebook fan page. If you haven't signed the petition, please do so.
No Applause, Please
Our friends over at TrueMajority are pushing their Members of Congress to refrain from applauding when the president talks about Afghanistan. The media and people at home notice when an applause line falls flat during the State of the Union, and we want our representatives to represent us by refusing to cheer for more wasted spending on a deadly war that doesn't make us safer.
Rethink the State of the Union
Why watch the speech alone on TV when you can hang out with more than 11,000 people like you who want the Afghanistan war to end? Join the other fans of Rethink Afghanistan and watch the speech on our Facebook fan page.
- Rethink Afghanistan's fan page will have a live stream of a part of Rethink Afghanistan (The Cost of War) prior to the speech at 8:15 p.m. Eastern.
- Then, we'll carry a live stream of the State of the Union address.
- Brave New Foundation's Robert Greenwald will be there for the conversation, and I'll provide commentary and links to Afghanistan-related information.
- After the speech, our whole mob will head over to the White House's Facebook page to share our thoughts on his Afghanistan comments.
We hope you'll join us tomorrow night starting at 8:15 p.m. Eastern as our community gathers to rethink the State of the Union.