FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 20, 2010 Louisville, KY – Iraq War veteran Lt. Dan Choi, the symbolic leader of the movement to rescind the ban against openly gay soldiers in the U.S. military, and Dave Donnelly, campaign manager for the Campaign for Fair Elections, will speak at the Coffee Party National Convention this weekend, possibly on the heels of major legislative victories.
"We Can Get Money Out of Politics!" presentation by David Donnelly w/ Monica Youn, Frances Moore Lappé, Lawrence Lessig, Mark McKinnon, & Coffee Party Austin
Friday Sept. 24 at 6 pm
Following opening remarks by Annabel Park and Zephyr Teachout
“Do Ask, Do Tell” speech by Lt. Dan Choi
Saturday Sept. 25 at 6:30 PM
Following remarks by Eric Byler
Galt House Hotel, Main Ball Room • 140 North Fourth St. Louisville, KY 40202
To register, click here
Full schedule here
Choi, forced out of U.S. Army after coming out on The Rachel Maddow Show, will arrive in Louisville on Friday. UPDATE: On Tuesday a successful filibuster in the U.S. Senate prevented a vote on the Defense Authorization Bill, which includes language to repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell." This means that for th
Also this week, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Administration will vote on the Fair Elections Now Act, a top priority for the Coffee Party since its kick-off in March. In addition to Donnelly’s speech, the Coffee Party Convention will include a panel discussion featuring a “who’s who” of Fair Elections Now advocates, with Lawrence Lessig, founder of Fix Congress First, Monica Yun of the Brennan Center’s Campaign Finance Reform project, Zephyr Teachout, co-Director of A New Way Forward, and author Frances Moore Lappé.
Coffee Party founders Annabel Park and Eric Byler, who are in Louisville this week to prepare for the convention, have scheduled a “Equal Justice, Fair Elections” party on Friday night at 11 PM (following "Coffee Party Music Jam," both free and open to the public) at the Galt House "Al J's" bar to celebrate the expected progress. “It’s a fortunate coincidence, but not a total surprise,” Park said. “Coffee Party members around the U.S. have worked very hard behind-the-scenes to pass Fair Elections and campaign finance reform.”
The Coffee Party Convention will close with a Watch Party for MTV Networks' world television premiere of "9500 Liberty," Park and Byler's documentary film about a Northern Virginia culture war over the precursor to Arizona's S.B. 1070. MTV VP of Public Affairs Jason Rzepka will join the filmmakers for the live webcast beginning at 7:30 PM Sept. 26, followed by a Q & A live-streamed at www.CoffeePartyUSA.com and http://www.democracymeetup.com.
The Defense Authorization Bill also includes the DREAM Act, which will grant conditional legal status to people illegally brought into the country as children if they attend college or join the U.S. military. “The DREAM Act is a personal passion for Annabel and I both,” Byler said. “Our country really needs a practical and patriotic approach to immigration policy that supersedes the politicization of cultural resentment.”
The Coffee Party National Convention is being held September 24th through 26th in Louisville, Kentucky. For more information, including scheduled events, area information and sign-up. Please visit http://www.democracymeetup.com
CONTACT: Jenny Wilburn, jenny@triplejmediaconsulting.com
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