Give Bush The Pink Slip

Code Pink: Women For Peace has made quite an impression here in New York. They are immediately recognizable at most protest events by the pink slips they wear, as they call for America to give Bush the pink slip and send him packing. Code Pink, the name of the overarching organization, is a riff on the color-coded terror alerts the administration uses to, well, warn us about potential terrorist danger, or whatever, and they can be found online at www.codepinkalert.com. They were founded as an anti-war group intending to make protest more palatable to the mainstream and especially to urge women to get more involved. But they are active in many ways on many issues.

The pink slip project, found at www.pinkslipbush.org, is the most conspicuous. They were there at the Unemployment Line that stretched from Wall St. to Madison Square Garden Wednesday morning, a line of people that gathered to recognize those who have lost their jobs and their ability to support themselves and their family. From literature they handed out:

8.1 million: total number of Americans currently unemployed.
2.4 mmillion: number of people who have become unemployed since 2001
1.2 million: net jobs lost from the economy since 2001
56.9%: percentage of re-employed workers who had to take lower-paying jobs
2,142,000: number of new jobs projected by Bush administration, June 03-Jan 04
296,000: actual number of new jobs created during that period
135,000: average number of jobs created monthly under every president since Truman
-79,189: average number of jobs created monthly under Bush

They were also present at the labor rally and I spoke with one of them who told me that their activism for economic justice is a direct extension of their pro-peace activism. In addition, one of them successfully infiltrated the convention last night. From National Journal's Convention Alert:

Danger, Danger, Code Pink
The police on Wednesday night detained a female anti-war protester after she tried to interrupt Vice President Cheney's acceptance speech. The Secret Service said she was in New York Police Department custody and was being questioned. A spokeswoman for Code Pink Women For Peace, an anti-war group, identified the protester as Gael Murphy, 50, of Washington, D.C. Murphy held up a sign that said "Cheney and Halliburton, Making a Killing in Iraq." Code Pink spokeswoman Ilyse Hogue said Murphy had been to Iraq several times before and after the war.