Thanks for Your Support

Dear Friends,

Thanks so much for your support this campaign season. Thanks to your efforts I was able to gather 9,067 votes for peace in the US Senate race. When I began in October of 2007 I did not realize how many friends I would make on the trail and how many people in Tennessee are in support of peace and real human priorities for Tennessee.

It has been a tremendous honor to travel this beautiful state. My campaign began last year in Jonesborough, Tennessee where hundreds of us gathered to call for an end to the production of depleted uranium weapons at the Aerojet facility in Irwin. We learned about the role that Aerojet plays in the production of depleted uranium and how it has caused long- term health problems for our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Since then I have been to all corners of this state - to Oak Ridge for the Stop the Bombs annual action to call for an end to the remanufacturing of nuclear bombs. We were also in Oak Ridge this year for the Department of Energy Hearings and spoke out in support of putting hundreds of people to work cleaning up the toxic legacy of sixty years of DOE activity in the area. Many of us closed out the year at a conference sponsored by S.E.A.C. at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro where we learned about the interconnectedness of the nuclear issues in this state, where foreign countries ship waste into Tennessee to incinerate, landfill and put into permanent temporary storage facilities.

Thanks also to the support I received this year from Democracy for East Tennessee and the Knoxville Greens as well as students at Heritage High School in Maryville, Tennessee and Kevin Rowland for his efforts. I would also like to recognize the work that so many people are doing in East Tennessee to promote peace and support a progressive agenda, especially members of the GLBT community.

There are so many wonderful people to thank who have offered their support and encouragement for the past thirteen months. I would like to thank the NAACP for hosting the only US Senate debate this season at Austin Peay State University, the Green Party of Middle Tennessee, the Green Party of Tennessee, the Chattanooga Area Greens, Democracy for Tennessee, Scott Banbury for personally securing a visit of Cynthia McKinney to Tennessee to submit her nominations to be on the ballot in as our presidential candidate. I would like to thank John Miglietta who ran a fantastic campaign as the Green Party candidate for the 5th District US House seat and was my constant companion in middle Tennessee as we traveled to neighborhood meetings, festivals, fairs, public events and campaign meetings.

I would like to thank my partner, Nini Thomas, who traveled with me across the state from Memphis to Chattanooga to Jonesborough and all points in between. Nini listened to my speeches, proofread my letters, designed my buttons and brochures and was a constant source of encouragement. I would like to thank the peace activists in Memphis at the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center and the Gandhi-King conference, especially Allison Glass and Jacob Flowers for promoting peace through a fantastic conference that brought together hundreds of peace activists from around the world to talk to each other and hear Amy Goodman.

I would like to thank the Nashville Peace and Justice Center for all the good work they do to promote peace and offer a center for community groups to gather and hosting numerous events this year all while fighting a lawsuit and undergoing an audit. I would like to thank the Nashville Movement for letting me flyer at their events this summer to seek justice for taxicab workers, HUD houses for the homeless and a living wage for everyone. These groups did not endorse me and they did not take a position on any candidate because of their non-profit status, but their work for social justice has made Tennessee stronger and I believe in what they are doing.

I would like to thank the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, whose path I crossed many times this campaign season including in Nashville where Sherri Honkala helped lead an occupation of an abandoned HUD house with the Nashville Homeless Power Project, and again at the Republican National Convention protests in St. Paul where I marched with Sherri Honkala and the Green Party of Minnesota and hundreds of protesters demanding economic human rights, and then again in Chattanooga this fall when Sherri came in October and we marched to the doors of the city council with demands to address the needs of the working poor and homeless in Chattanooga.

Thanks also to the folks at Clarksville Online and the activists in the Clarksville area where almost ten percent of all troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan are stationed or shipped through, and their long struggle and transformation from Clarksville Freethinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties into their work with Clarksville Online and the Unitarian Church and their collective struggles for peace in the heart of a military town.

I would also like to recognize the work that the Cumberland County Center for Peace and Justice are doing with communities in the plateau region around Monteagle, Sewanee, Tracy City and points beyond as well as the Farm in Summertown, Tennessee. I am so impressed with the efforts of the Peace Roots Alliance and their work, especially Liz Barger and Alan Graf and Judy Meeker and Albert Bates and so many others at the Farm, which has held its space for the past thirty years as a home for peaceful, community seeking individuals. This campaign season I crossed paths with so many different people all of who had a collective vision of peace, social justice, the environment, a living wage, economic justice, the need to address the deep wounds of racism, disarmament, education, alternative energy and more.

I have seen a shift in Tennessee. In 2006 I think that there was much less tolerance for the message of peace and the environment. People seem to be more tolerant and more interested in the message. I think that perhaps this is the beginning of a real shift. I think it will be a long time coming, and perhaps it won't come at all, but I definitely noticed a change. Everyone in Tennessee seemed to be more open minded, more willing to hear differing perspectives this year, more willing to consider alternatives.

Thanks to the Tennessee Alliance for Progress for all the work they are doing to promote a common message in Tennessee and Radio Free Nashville for promoting democracy on the airwaves. Thanks to Middle Tennessee Students for a Democratic Society for all their fantastic work at MTSU and thanks to the folks in Dyersberg, Lexington, Lebanon, Jackson, Hohenwald, Shelbyville, Cookeville, Crossville and other places in rural Tennessee who expressed support this campaign season, especially to Howard & Katey for all the work they do for the Green Party of Tennessee and Catherine Austin Fitts for all the work she does to reclaim our democracy and thanks to the Reverend Larry Fagre of Vetsburg for all his work to support housing for homeless veterans.

Thanks to Cathy Danielson and to Kathi Gregory for her blog Streetalker and Dan and Beverly Sweeton for all their support this year, especially at the Wilson County Fair. I would be remiss if I didn’t also say thanks to my parents for their support as well as Marylin and Ray Williams, Eric Schecter, Glenn Christman, Sandy Hepler, Courtney Meeker, Richard Aberdeen, Ricky Nickolson, Beth Dachowski, Ken and Fle Frasure, Martin Holsinger, Bill Humble, Free Land, Gigi Gaskin, Rhonda Fergus, Joe Shedlock and Sizwe Herring for all of his fantastic work at the Carver Food Park and being an anchor of the community in so many ways.

But I would especially like to thank the Nashville Peace Coalition for all of their support and fantastic work for peace this year, especially organizing the fifth anniversary peace rally and the alternative presidential debate. It was so exciting meeting eight presidential candidates this year and having six of them attend our alternative debate. I can't believe how much work everyone I have met across the state of Tennessee is doing on peace, the environment and other areas of social justice.

I would also like to thank my opponents, the Libertarians, for their spirit of cooperation on many issues including tolerating my many posts on their message boards and for the cooperative work they did with the Greens this year on the ballot access lawsuit as well as coming out for protests against the war, against FISA and turning out for the alternative debate. Daniel Lewis is a man of integrity and it was a pleasure to run against him for the US Senate seat. I would also like to thank the Democrats for their support this campaign season.

Many progressive Democrats were supportive of my running and I wanted to personally thank them, even if I didn’t receive their vote - especially the folks at the L-Club and Democracy for Tennessee who have been so nice and respectful all this campaign season. I would also like to congratulate Bob Tuke on a good run. I was always impressed with his professional approach and happy to see his support on environmental issues in Tennessee.

I don't think I have mentioned all of the people I wanted to thank for their support this campaign season nor all of the national contacts that we have made. If I have omitted someone please forgive me. I just wanted to thank everyone who was supportive this campaign season. The reason that I ran is because it is my hope that we can build a progressive majority in Tennessee

I think the most important thing we need to do is talk to each other. As a candidate I have had an opportunity to meet a lot of communities, and I think one of the principal needs we still have is to get together and network more and let each other know what we are doing. The other need I really see is for us all to come together under one big tent on issues we can all agree on. I think this is possible in Tennessee, but we need to talk more. Really I think more than anything we need to talk to each other and learn who we all are. There are actually a lot of progressive in Tennessee and if we get to know each other then I think we can build a strong movement in this state..

To end I would like to leave you with a letter for your consideration, written by Tom Hayden of Progressive Democrats for America and co-founder of Students for a Democratic Society in the 1960's. I met Tom this summer at the Democratic National Convention protests in Denver, and he talked about pushing the Democrats from within.

Now is the time to push the incoming administration to bring the troops home and it is the time to push hard. Maybe they will give us what we have been working for six years to end, or maybe they won't. The jury is out. But I will leave you with this letter to consider for our President Elect.

Thanks for your support and best wishes.

Sincerely,

Chris Lugo

9 Music Sq So #164

Nashville, TN 37203

615-593-0304

chris4senate@gmail.com

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Dear President-Elect Obama,

We are deeply moved to address you as our nation’s first African-American president and, we proudly note, the first president whose campaign began with a pledge to an anti-war rally. Your courageous speech in October 2002, provided the rationale momentum that led to victory in Iowa and other Democratic primaries, and we still applaud you for that stand.

We write amidst this exciting week to urge your immediate attention and opposition to the so-called Status of Forces Agreement on Iraq being prepared in secret negotiations by the outgoing Bush Administration. The current United Nations authorization ends December 31st, making it imperative that you take leadership even before being sworn in.

The proposed agreement is a transparent attempt to circumvent Congress and formally bind your Administration to a war and occupation that far exceeds your stated commitment to a 16 month withdrawal of our combat troops. As your own website specifically states, any agreement should include a commitment to begin withdrawing our troops and avoiding any permanent bases. We also believe that thousands of Iraqi detainees should be treated according to human rights norms, or released in the absence of charges or evidence. You also have committed to a role for Congress in affirming any agreement.

Already the Bush administration and Pentagon are threatening “consequences” if the Iraqi parliament fails to endorse this pact.

We believe instead that you should signal your intention to abide by your pledge and work with the Congress immediately to formulate an agreement consistent with your pledge to end this war as rapidly as possible. We propose that you include the withdrawal of all American forces, including trainers and advisers caught in a sectarian crossfire, as recommended by all peace and justice organizations as well as such Washington think tanks as the Center for American Progress.

In place of this counterinsurgency war. we recommend an immediate diplomatic surge, including talks with Iran, as the only alternative to the continuing quagmire in Iraq which now costs our taxpayers some ten billion dollars per month, puts lives needlessly at risk, and stains our national honor.

We realize you will be hearing from all sorts of advocates for prolonging the occupation by one means or another. We urge you to keep the faith with the voices of those who put you on the road to the presidency, by implementing your pledge to end the war in 2009.

Tom Hayden, Progressive Democrats for America

In Support of a Negotiated Peace

The United States has been at war with Afghanistan for six years. The original intention of the war with Afghanistan was to find and capture Osama Bin Laden. In the years since the original occupation of Afghanistan, the war with Iraq has eclipsed both national and international attention, leaving Afghanistan as America's forgotten war. Much like Korea was in the 1950's, the United States is engaged in a war it cannot win against an enemy it cannot defeat. Recently, rhetoric by both the Democratic and Republican Presidential campaigns has been actively calling for a troop surge in Afghanistan. In addition to costing the United States more money that we cannot afford to pay, this foreign policy decision ignores the obvious repercussions of an extended and increased war with Afghanistan.

These factors, which seem obvious to the average resident of Afghanistan, a country that has been bombed into the stone age, seems to escape the leaders of the free world, the policy wonks at the pentagon, and most of the corporate media. The simple equation goes something like this, more bombs and more military equals more resistance and hence more enemies to be defeated. In this case the enemy is the Taliban, a right wing fundamentalist reaction to Soviet occupation and failed US foreign policy. Here in the United States of America, the Taliban has been labeled public enemy number one, and for the past six years we have been pouring tens of billions of dollars annually into defeating an enemy that was created out of our own failed international policy under the Reagan administration.

Today the Taliban numbers in the thousands or perhaps tens of thousands and is perceived as a real threat to both the United States and the occupying administration in Afghanistan. Although the US death toll remains relatively low in relationship to the war in Iraq, the death toll could mount significantly if US forces are redirected to that area or even brought in from further depletion of US reserves based stateside or in other parts of the world. In addition, the people of Afghanistan are tired of US occupation. They have been occupied continuously by one or another occupying foreign power since 1979. Afghanistan is a country that has not known peace in almost two generations.

The specter of fear and nationalism lives on in the long tried US war on the Taliban. It is now 2008 and the United States still hasn't caught Osama Bin Laden, but we have managed to an entire country. The international community is calling on the United States leadership to step back from its rhetoric about increasing the troops in Afghanistan. They are calling for a negotiated peace, led by the United Nations, between the United States and the powers that be in Afghanistan. For every day that we stay in Afghanistan, for every bomb we drop, for every gun we fire, for every civilian we torture and for every innocent villager we accidentally kill we create yet another recruit for the Taliban and make the resistance to US occupation that much stronger.



It is time for the United States to remove its forces from Afghanistan and bring the troops home now from the Middle East. The failure of US leadership for the past eight years has been obvious to the entire international community. We are behaving as an occupying power and have not succeeded in our missions. We never found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and we never found Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan and yet somehow US foreign policy continues to occupy these two zones, taking hundreds of billions of dollars from our national budget at a time of looming economic recession when Americans need jobs at home and investment in America. Now is the time for a negotiated peace and an immediate withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.

LaOnf - The Iraqi Nonviolence Movement

There is a growing movement of resistance in Iraq, a movement of nonviolence, and I believe that this approach of non-violent resistance is the solution to the dilemma of how to win in Iraq. I learned about LaOnf (pronounced La-oonf) recently at the Gandhi-King nonviolence conference in Memphis, Tennessee. The conference is an annual gathering of activists and non-violence advocates who present papers and network on the subject of non-violence on an international level. The conference is held annually in Memphis, Tennessee on the campus of Christian Brothers University because this was where Arun Gandhi chose to call home. The conference is also held in Memphis in honor of the Revered Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who was murdered in Memphis while working to organize sanitation workers in 1968.

LaOnf is translated as non-violence in Arabic and is reflective of a growing ideological framework in Iraq that is neither pro-occupation nor pro-militia but rather is pro-peace and anti-violence. This movement is composed of organizations and individuals with different ideological and political backgrounds, gathering around the idea that non-violence is the most effective way to struggle for an independent, democratic and peaceful Iraq. This movement is not a political party nor is it an organization. It is a free gathering of people and any Iraqi who shares the same ideology is welcome to join it.

Nonviolence is a relatively old concept in international relations and world history whose roots go deep into human history. The most prominent movements for non-violence in recent history include the liberation of India from the British through non-violence led by Gandhi and the desegregation of the American South through the leadership of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Iraq is ripe for a practical non-violence movement. It is clear that American leadership in Iraq has failed and that Iraqis want the United States out of Iraq. The United States is the visible symbol of occupation in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. As the global purveyors of imperialism and militarism, the United States is not in a position to provide leadership in the formation of a new Iraqi state. LaOnf recognizes the need for resistance to occupation but provides a unique avenue to democratic self-determination through the rejection of violence.

LaOnf is a growing movement in Iraq. This movement believes that the correct solution to Iraqi self-determination is non-violent struggle, which is made real through supporting a peaceful movement of activists from throughout the nation with the support of the international community. LaOnf rejects occupation and war as a means of building democracy. As a peaceful movement of non-violent resistance, LaOnf celebrates the historical culture of non-violence in human history with a special focus on non-violence as a traditional movement within the Islamic world and the Middle East. LaOnf looks forward to becoming a major focal point in Iraq to defend the right of citizens to use non-violence as a means to struggle for democracy, equality and respect for human rights. LaOnf works to promote the widespread culture of non violence as an effective means of resistance to the occupation of Iraq.

In the waning years of the US occupation and with a new administration on the horizon in Washington D.C. it is critical at this point in history for Americans to become aware of the non-violent movement within Iraq. The current administration presses for continued US leadership in Iraq. This leadership has failed and the Iraqi experiment in democratic leadership has failed under US guidance. It is not even clear whether there is widespread support within Iraq for the current representative government. The next administration has a unique opportunity to support an indigenous movement that has the best intention for the Iraqi people at the heart of its organization. By supporting LaOnf while at the same time withdrawing US military forces from Iraq, the United States could show that it supports in principle the idea of Iraqi self-determination. By making amends and providing economic aid for reconstruction and infrastructure development, the United States could once again show that it has the best intentions of the global community at heart. LaOnf is an idea whose time has come. Non-violence and peaceful resistance to warfare and occupation is the solution to the social and humanitarian dilemma that has become the nightmare that is Iraq, and by supporting this movement the United States has an opportunity to redeem itself in the eyes of the international community.

For more information on LaOnf and the growing community of non-violent peace activists within Iraq who reject both US Occupation and Militia Rule please visit: www.laonf.net

Greens Hold Fund Raiser in Nashville

Enjoy live Jazz with Bill Humble and Dave Trevins; and a special appearance by Ken Frasure.

October 25, 7-10PM

Revive Cafe
1707 Church Street
Nashville

Fundraiser for:

John Miglietta candidate for US Congress
Chris Lugo candidate for US Senate

Just Say No to Corporate Bailouts

The world financial markets were rocked to their foundation this week by the news of the collapse of one of the oldest Wall Street Investment firms in American history, preceded by two of the largest bailouts in American history. If that was not news enough, the market was then knocked around again in round two when American Insurance Group (AIG) was given a 24 hours notice to raise $85 billion dollars to cover debt tied to the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Once again the federal treasury decided to bail out another corporation in the name of the American people and the stability of the marketplace. Then the mother of all bailouts was announced just before the close of business Thursday when Secretary of the Treasury announced a $700 billion dollar bailout of all remaining investment firms, banks and insurance groups. President Bush proudly proclaimed that the American people had been saved by the quick thinking and decisive actions of the US Treasury and anticipated quick passage of the trillion-dollar bailout by the House and Senate this week.

The reality of the situation is that the American taxpayers are being held responsible for the irresponsible investment decisions and speculative actions of private corporations and private investors. When the economy was booming and Wall Street was raking in record profits on fraudulent business dealings taxpayers saw none of the benefits, but when it is time to save those same corporations and their investors from the brink of irrelevance then the taxpayers are expected to foot the bill. The end result is that the investors reap all of the profits when times are good but when times are bad the American taxpayers pay the bills. This time the price tag is too high. In addition to the $650 billion dollars the federal treasury is paying annually for the defense budget plus the costs of the war in Iraq, the general public is now expected to foot a trillion dollar bill based on speculation.

Americans do not understand what the cost of the proposed bailout is in real terms, and many Americans do not realize the amount of debt that the federal government has already accrued, which is a burden to be passed on to our future generations. In real dollars, the proposal by the treasury department will cost the average taxpayer five thousand dollars and ten thousands dollars for a household of four. That is ten thousand dollars of debt that President Bush and his cabinet will leave as a legacy to compete with the shared cost of the war in Iraq, which will cost the average household nearly an additional ten thousand dollars in debt. That is a total of twenty thousand dollars in debt per household multiplied by millions of Americans equals nearly two trillion dollars that we are deeper in debt as a result of the war in Iraq and the recent proposed bailout which will in all likelihood sail through Congress this week.

It is time to say no to more corporate bailouts. The United States is already almost nine trillion dollars in debt as a result of decades of over spending on the US military combined with twenty-five years of Reagan era tax cuts for the wealthy and private corporations. Now is the time to invest in real priorities for the future by fully funding health care and education. By saying no to corporate bailouts for Wall Street we will ensure real economic opportunity for Main Street. As a candidate for federal office I oppose further corporate bailouts and I support strict regulation of Wall Street and a federal investigation into fraud and abuse of the trading system, which led to the current financial crisis. The results of decades deregulation and tax cuts for the wealthy and privileged has led to the decimation of the middle class and brought us to the edge of ruin for future generations.

There is hope for the future, and it involves electing candidates who will look out for the interest of working people and the middle class, rather than selling out every federal office to the highest bidder. By supporting campaign finance reform, progressive taxation, universal health care, a drastically reduced military budget and by placing the highest priority on funding education we can begin to move this country in the right direction. Through strict regulation of markets and a tough but conservative approach to finance and investment we can begin to regain the trust of both investors and the general public. By withdrawing our troops from the Middle East and reducing the military budget we will gain the trust and good faith of people around the world. It is time for us to invest in the people and we must begin by saying to to any further bailouts for private corporations and Wall Street and insure that our tax dollars go to real human needs and domestic priorities that benefit everyone

Chris Lugo for US Senate
9 Music Sq So #164

Nashville, TN 37203
615-593-0304
chris4senate@gmail.com
www.voteforpeace.info


Upcoming Events:

Meet the Candidates at Vanderbilt University Sept 25th Olin Lawn
US Senate Candidate's Debate September 26th Austin Peay State University
Presidential Candidates Alternative Debate: October 6th - Nashville, Tennessee
Yard Signs Available - Please send an email to chris4senate@gmail.com for a yard sign