A few notes on this blurb:
I knew that John Kerry was going to win Illinois by a good margin. While I respected his work in Veitnam Veterans Against the War, since he became a Senator, I felt he moved to the right, and his vote for the Iraq war was a direct stand against his previous peace activism. I knew that people were going to be asking me who I voted for, so I decided to use the opportunity to educate people. I wrote in Leonard Peltier's name for President, because I wanted to educate people about who he was and how unjust his imprisonment is. I did an absentee ballot a month before the election, and had several people ask me who I was voting for before the election, and I told them all about Pelteir, and how he was a Native American of Oglala Souix background who is a political prisoner in the US because of his involvement in the American Indian Movement, a 1960's era group like the Black Panthers.
The day after the election, I was with DePaul Students Against the War in the DePaul student center, handing out fliers, trying to get people to come out the anti-war rally that night. There was going to be a rally no matter who won, but the Bush victory brought out more people. That's when the reporter from the Tribune came up to me and asked me a few questions. The full quote by the way is "No matter who won, U.S. troops are still going to be killing people in Fallujah." Also the black t-shirt I was wearing was a gift from my mom that reads "I hate the government."
I eventually sent a copy of the article to Leonard Peltier. I think my goal of educating some people about his imprisonment was realized.
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