Common Defense

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Common Defense

Common Defense is a leftist veterans organization founded to organize against President Donald Trump. They have gained support from Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. On their website, they claim to have been "heavily involved in Impeaching Trump."

According to their website, "Common Defense is the country’s largest veteran-led grassroots organization committed to engaging, organizing, training and mobilizing veterans to elect accountable leaders and promote progressive values in 2020 and beyond."

Veterans Organizing Institute is the 501 (c)(3) education arm of Common Defense.

About

Jose Vasquez addressed Poor People's Campaign's Moral March on Washington June 18, 2022
Common Defense marches at Poor People's Campaign's Moral March on Washington June 18, 2022

Verbatim from the Common Defense website:[1]

Who We Are
We empower veterans to stand up for our communities against the rising tide of racism, hate, and violence, to organize against the entrenched power of greedy billionaires who have rigged our economy, and to champion an equitable and representative democracy, where “liberty and justice” truly is for all.
We achieve this through:
Training veterans as grassroots organizers
Growing, organizing, and mobilizing the progressive veteran community
Advocating for progressive legislation at the local, state, and federal level
Mobilizing our 200,000 members to support candidates who share our values
Common Defense is the country’s largest veteran-led grassroots organization committed to engaging, organizing, training and mobilizing veterans to elect accountable leaders and promote progressive values in 2020 and beyond.

History

Verbatim from the Common Defense website:[2]

Common Defense "was first founded in 2016 as a grassroots effort led by veterans who opposed Trump’s corrupt agenda of hate. During that time veterans were not well organized to grapple with our frustration with the status quo. Since then, we have led the “Vets Against Trump” movement, helping win impeachment and speaking out daily against his crimes.
Bernie Sanders poses with Common Defense after signing their pledge.
We officially incorporated as a structured organization in March 2019.
Ending the Forever War was and continues to be central in our work. Veterans are tired of war, so we got to work building consensus in the Democratic Party to end the forever war. Seven presidential candidates signed our pledge, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren leading. Currently, it has been added to the official Democratic Party Platform making clear that 'Democrats will deliver on this overdue commitment to end the forever war.' Presidential candidate Joe Biden has also made his commitment to end the forever war clear and we plan to hold him to it once he is in office.
"We were heavily involved in Impeaching Trump. Common Defense Veterans know that accountability for Trump and his cronies’ crimes will only happen if we build a grassroots movement of people to demand justice. That’s why we were on the forefront demanding impeachment, standing with allies like Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.


Veterans for Harris/Walz

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Sylvia Gonzalez Andersh, Naveed Shah, Dr. Geoffrey Grammer, Lene MdT, Danitza James, Dylan Cooke, Jacob Thomas, Oscar Arbulu, Jim, Lakiesha, Britni Cuington, Heidi.

Support Ruben Gallego

From the Common Defense website:[3]

Congressman Ruben Gallego represents the 7th District of Arizona, including parts of Phoenix, Glendale, and Tolleson, in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was first elected in 2014. Representative Gallego believes in improving the health and welfare of veterans by first working to prevent unnecessary wars. When the fighting starts, he believes in providing them with the equipment and training to win. After combat, he believes in supporting veterans and their families to treat acute and chronic health issues, continue their education, and continue to serve as private citizens.

Poor People's Campaign

Common Defense was named as a "mobilizng partner" for the Poor People's Campaign's Moral March on Washington June 18, 2022.[4] Jose Vasquez addressed the crowd.[5]

Socialist ties

According to Griffin Mahon, Common Defense has endorsed democratic socialist candidates such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Kaniela Ing, and runs an organizing program called the Veterans Organizing Institute, which some members of DSA's VWG have attended. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have both signed Common Defense’s pledge to “end the Forever War.”[6]

Our Revolution

Ruben Gallego

From an Our Revolution mass email dated 22 Oct 2022:

At the Phoenix rally [Oct 20, 2022], our featured speaker was Rep. Ruben Gallego, who stood up to insurrectionists and protected others on Jan. 6th at the Capitol, and now he’s helping Arizona activists lead the fight to defend democracy!"

The rally included Common Defense, Public Citizen, Kai Newkirk and others.

Also on Twitter:[7]

"Tonight in Phoenix, AZ, #OurFreedomsOurVote with @RubenGallego, @commondefense, @Public_Citizen, @kai_newkirk and others. The congressman stood up to insurrectionists and protected others on J6 at the Capitol and Arizona activists are leading the fight to defend democracy!"

Board Members

From the Common Defense website as of July 30, 2023:[8]

From the Common Defense website as of January 23, 2023:[9]

Our Team

From the Common Defense website as of January 23, 2023:[10]

Some changes were made by February 2023.

"End the Forever War"

END THE FOREVER WAR PLEDGE

The United States has been in a state of continuous, global, open-ended military conflict since 2001. Over 2.5 million troops have fought in this “Forever War” in over a dozen countries – including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Jordan, Niger, Somalia, and Thailand. I pledge to the people of the United States of America, and to our military community in particular, that I will (1) fight to reclaim Congress’s constitutional authority to conduct oversight of U.S. foreign policy and independently debate whether to authorize each new use of military force, and (2) act to bring the Forever War to a responsible and expedient conclusion.

2020 signatories of the Common Defense pledge.

Presidential Candidates

Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Julian Castro, John Hickenlooper, Beto O'Rourke, Mike Gravel, Andrew Yang.

Federal Elected Officials

Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders, Jon Tester, Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey, Joaquin Castro, Adriano Espaillat, Ruben Gallego, Barbara Lee, Jim McGovern, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Donald Payne, Jr., Mark Pocan, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, Susan Wild.

Non-Incumbent Federal Candidates

John Hickenlooper, Adrian Perkins, Dani Brzozowski, Moe Davis, Wendy Davis, Kara Eastman, Kristy Gnibus, Joan Greene, Jon Hoadley, Donna Imam, Sara Jacobs, Mondaire Jones, Ike McCorkle, Hillary Mueri, Michael Muscato, Marie Newman, Julie Oliver, Roger Polack, Qasim Rashid, Mike Siegel, Candace Valenzuela.[12]

References

  1. ↑ About (January 23, 2023)
  2. ↑ History (January 23, 2023)
  3. ↑ Ruben Gallego (accessed January 23, 2023)
  4. ↑ June 18, 2022 (January 23, 2023)
  5. ↑ Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival (January 23, 2023)
  6. ↑ [1]
  7. ↑ Our Revolution Twitter dated Oct 20, 2022 (January 23, 2023)
  8. ↑ Our Board (January 23, 2023)
  9. ↑ Our Board (January 23, 2023)
  10. ↑ Our Team (January 23, 2023)
  11. ↑ Our Team (January 23, 2023)
  12. ↑ [2]
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