The Backlash! - November 1996

Organization News - Men's Defense Association (The Liberator)
17854 Lyons Street, Forest Lake, MN 55025-8854

We each deserve a purple heart award, a medal of honor, for our resilience in the face of sexist treatment and socioeconomic abuse by the courts and government.

On Saturday, Nov. 23, we will each recieve a purple heart award which we can proudly wear from this day on, as can show to our children as proof of our courage in fighting the system. We will demonstrate at courthouses around the world in our fight to stop collectivization of the family, and the destruction of our roles as responsible husbands, wives, and citizens.

Issues

Weekly overview - Nov. 16-23

The plan is to get attention of the major media with the first blitz, which will act as prepublicity for the national event on November 23. We should get a solid week of good publicity for fathers issues out of this.

Christopher owns a beautiful home in Hollywood, once owned by Cary Grant. He has painted purple hearts all over the home, and is well known in Hollywood as a vocal teacher. He has agreed to kick off the event, and spend his last monies to seed a national event for the movement.

On Saturday, Nov. 16th, Christopher's home and street will turn into a media fiasco. He has already had numerous inquiries from the media about what is going on there, but he is holding them off until Nov. 16th, when Mrs. Doubtfire will make an appearance and give a speech, along with Stuart Miller, Dianna Thompson, and Dave Usher. We are presently negotiating with Goldie Hawn, Ted Nugent, and Dr. Laura to also make appearances at the event. If there are any other leaders of the movement who would like to speak at this event, please contact David Usher.

Mrs. Doubtfire will give out purple heart awards to all in the audience after her speech, whereupon hundreds of purple helium balloons bearing notes to Christopher Robin will be released in swarm.

Christopher has hired musicians to record our national demonstration theme song, written by Dave Usher, titled "Friend to the Family Man". This is a rousing song, (taken from an old union song with a motto-style chorus. If played on a boombox at a local demonstration, you are guaranteed to wake up the deadest of media types. This recording will be professionally produced, and copies of the tape sent out to all those who participate in the national event on November 23. This tape will probably also contain other proven demonstration songs by Dave Usher, such as "Lose Your Job, Go to Jail, Thats the Law".

After our speeches and singing, everyone will process 1.5 blocks to the parking lot at the Hollywood Bowl, to jump into a police escorted parade of 40-50 cars laden with signs and purple hearts, and many hundreds of helium balloons with the strings pinched in the electric windows. Mrs. Doubtfire will be in the lead convertible, standing to wave as the parade goes for about 1/2 hour to the LA county courthouse, where hundreds of demonstrators will already be at work with signs and purple balloons. As the parade passes the courthouse, the cars will release hundreds of purple balloons bearing notes from fathers to their lost children, as the crowd chants the chorus of "Friend to the Family Man".

There are many other things going on, so you have just the basic framework here.

Mailing #1: to be mailed on or about November 4:

1. Preprinted artwork for making poster blowups, including Mrs. Doubtfire graphics, Uncle Sam graphics, with great slogans. All you have to do is get them blown up to 24" by 30" (about $3 each at Kinko's) and staple them on to your card stock from the last demonstration.

2. Preprinted press releases and sound bites.

3. As many purple heart awards needed for your group (in multiples of 10 as requested by RSVP email.

4. Graphics and WP files will be available by email to everyone who prefers to have things in electronic format, available from David Usher.

Mailing #2: to be mailed on Monday, Nov. 18:

1. A videotape of Mrs Doubtfire, and also of Christopher Robin performing with his son when they were together. Clips from the LA event will probably be included.

2. A professionally produced demonstration audiocassette for you to use in your local demonstrations (both now and in the future), including the song "Friend to the Family Man".

This is not a dumb thing to do. This will make the local media go wild to see a bunch of folks demonstrating and chanting. The most memorable events in civil rights history were wrapped up in unforgettable songs like "We Shall Overcome". Now, we have our own song, and we will unveil it nationally on November 23.

I recommend that you also cut purple hearts out of construction paper and stick them on the signs, as well as on your homes for the week. This will draw attention from the media, and when used in conjunction with early press releases, will get you home interviews between Nov 18 and 22.

The Plan

Pick a strategic "parade route" that will take your procession of cars through the most interesting areas on the way to the courthouse. Try to keep it just a few miles on streets where you can go slowly so you dont frap your balloons.

For this, you will need about 10 - 20 purple helium balloons on each car, with the strings pinched in the electric windows so you can release them simultaneously as you cruise by the courthouse. Of course, the cars will have Mrs. Doubtfire posters all over them.

I would suggest arranging a police escort (like a funeral), with your local police department. All the blinky lights will make it much more "official" looking and draw more attention. This should not be difficult, because most police are our friends and will help us if we ask them nicely.

Pick a block or public parking area where you can park legally, at 10:30 A.M . on Saturday, Nov. 23 to gather and install your balloons and posters on the cars. If you have a lot of balloons, you might need to have someone bring them in a Van or two.

At 11:30, begin your parade to the courthouse, winding your way through the most public places you can think of.

You arrive at the courthouse at about Noon, releasing your balloons as you drive by, then park and immediately proceed to grab your posters off the cars and demonstrate in front of the courthouse for about an hour, singing the "Friend to the Family Man" song, until the media has all gone away.

Preparation

1. Research the fax numbers of your local media and put them in your computer or fax machine so you can blast out press releases.

2. Start cutting out purple hearts to put on your homes. These go up on November 16. You can stick them on with a glue stick available at any office products store.

3. Get your group together, and line them up for November 23. Network, Network, Network!!

4. If you know other fathers orgs in your state who are not online, fax this information to them. If they drop me an RSVP note to Dave Usher, 118 Oakwood, Webster Groves, MO 63119, they will get a complete packet by mail.

The goal

We have over 450 fathers groups in America, so 50 demonstrations is not really even a goal.

As we found with FWC, there is enough media to go around for all of us. In big cities where there are many fathers groups and several courthouses, each of you do a different courthouse and a separate parade if you like. If you don't really hate each other, join forces to make a bigger impact.

This is history in the making - we are organized, we are working together, and we will make sexism and big government a real bad word. We must get government out of the family and put fathers back in it.

NOW Resolutions - 911

The below "factoids" are absolute lies. We have complete studies and reports to prove it. There is nothing to support any of their lies. We have engaged the liars, and we will win on fact and truth.

NOW Action Alert on "fathers' rights"

WHEREAS organizations advocating "fathers' rights," whose members consist of non-custodial parents, their attorneys and their allies, are a growing force in our country; and

(Lie: attorneys who represent dads are not the ones in big rich law offices)

WHEREAS the objectives of these groups are to increase restrictions and limits on custodial parents' rights and to decrease child support obligations of non-custodial parents by using the abuse of power in order to control in the same fashion as do batterers; and

(Lie: We are here to get big government out of the family and to disentitle the massive feminist bureaucracy, and to put fathers and husbands back in their homes.)

WHEREAS these groups are fulfilling their objectives by forming political alliances with conservative Republican legislators and others and by working for the adoption of legislation such as presumption of joint custody, penalties for "false reporting" of domestic and child abuse and mediation instead of court hearings; and

WHEREAS the success of these groups will be harmful to all women but especially harmful to battered and abused women and children; and

(LIE: Father Absence is the primary predictor of poverty for women and children, and of domestic conflict as well.)

WHEREAS the efforts of well-financed "fathers' rights" groups are expanding from a few states into many more, sharing research and tactics state by state; and

(LIE: There is not one fathers organization that is on the government dole, or entitled in any way.)

WHEREAS many judges and attorneys are still biased against women and fathers are awarded custody 70% of the time when they seek it per the Association of Child Enforcement Support (ACES);

(LIE: Women recieve sole custody of children in at least 75% of divorces nationwide, and at least 90% in cases of illegitimacy.)

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the National Organization for Women (NOW) begin a national alert to inform members about these "fathers' rights" groups and their objectives through articles in the National Now Times (NNT); and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, as a part of this alert, NOW establish a clearinghouse for related information by sharing with NOW state and local Chapters the available means to challenge such groups, including the current research on custody and support, sample legislation, expert witnesses, and work done by NOW and other groups in states where "fathers' rights" groups have been active; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that NOW encourage state and local Chapters to conduct and coordinate divorce/custody court watch projects to facilitate removal of biased judges; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that NOW report to the 1997 National Conference on the status and result of this national alert whereupon its continuation or expansion will be considered.

Strategy

1. Do not overreact. Stay calm. They are trying to scare us into doing something stupid. They are trying to scare public officials with their clout. Let them hang themselves on their own idiocy.

2. Go after their political power base in your area presenting the facts in a friendly way, and showing how outrageous their positions are. The object is to destroy their power base from the inside out, using their lies. You want these people to desire to avoid NOW like the plague, and to be your friend.

3. Focus on friendly letters to courts, to let judges know you are hip to it and that you will stand by them if they change sides.

4. No matter what talk show you are on, or what article you write, drag the lie about custody outcomes into your discussion to prove that NOW is a pack of liars. You can count on folks from women's abuse centers hitting the talk shows now ... be sure to call in and nail them on their lies in public. Try to get talk show time for yourself.

5. Remember that their power base rests in entitlement politics (big- government as substitute husband), the bar association, and the courts. These are the things you want to go after. Dont go after women, go after things.

6. We need to get out there right away and get our message out first to innoculate the media. Use your continuing media interest from the FWC thing to bring this pack of lies into play ... it certainly relates to FWC.

David Usher, Secretary, National Congress for Fathers and Children; FWC Demonstration Coordinator; FFI: (314)-961-5875

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