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At a June 2003 anti-America, anti-George W. Bush demonstration in California, Global Exchange co-founder Kevin Danaher (husband of antiwar activist and Global Exchange co-founder Medea Benjamin) distinguished himself as the event's angriest speaker, and thus drew the loudest cheers from the crowd. Danaher opened by claiming that President Bush had "stole[n] Florida," and "isn't the constitutional President of the United States - there is a coup d'etat in this story." He then stressed the need for the protestors to become recruiters for the campaign to oust Bush from the presidency, to mobilize en masse and approach others they encounter on buses, at work, and in other locations.
Danaher implied that the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, which killed 124 on the ground and 64 on American Airlines flight 77, was not a terrorist attack, but a U.S. government-organized conspiracy. The crowd cheered.
In addition to Global Exchange, this rally was backed by the San Francisco branch of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee; the California branch of the National Organization for Women; the San Francisco branch of Al-Awda (the Palestinian Right of Return coalition); the Peninsula Peace & Justice Center (a Palo Alto-centered anti-war group); the South Bay Mobilization (a San Jose-centered anti-war group); the Children's Defense Fund; and the Revolutionary Communist Party-controlled Not In Our Name Project. Among Danaher's fellow guest speakers were members of the National Lawyers Guild, Code Pink for Peace, and Veterans For Peace. Also in attendance were two of the Communist Workers World Party's (WWP's) most prominent members, Richard Becker and Gloria La Riva.
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