By Staff
Progressive Democrats of Beaufort County to hold first meeting Wednesday night
By NIKIE MAYO, News Editor
Two grandmothers who regularly protest the Iraq war during peace vigils on the Washington waterfront have decided to plunge a bit deeper into the political process.
Pat Seibert and Emily Keel, two of the faces behind Grandmothers for Peace, have started a new political group, Progressive Democrats of Beaufort County. The group will have its first meeting Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Beaufort County Courthouse.
During Wednesday’s meeting, the group plans to show the film “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.” The documentary details “how the uncritical news media have presented the prowar government propaganda from (Presidents) Johnson to Bush,” according to a prepared release.
The new group is a county chapter of Progressive Democrats of America, Seibert said. The national group’s goals include seeing an end to the war in Iraq, working for clean and fair elections, implementing health care for all and developing clean, renewable energy sources.
Seibert, who is active in the Beaufort County Democratic Party and is chairwoman of the Blounts Creek precinct, said she will continue to work within the county party.
Keel, in a prepared statement, said she helped organize the group because she believes “government should serve public — not private — interests.”
Beaufort County Democratic Party Chairman Surry Everett said Saturday he’s “in favor of any group that’s willing to get out there and do something.”