An open letter to Philly politicians

Dear Philadelphia politicians,

We cordially invite you to attend the criminal trial of Philadelphia’s premier civic leaders, today at 10:00 AM at the Criminal Justice Center, 13th & Filbert Streets.

We are thirteen of Philadelphia’s most honorable citizens – including two ministers, five teachers and professors, several grandparents and one great grandparent, a union organizer, and several entrepreneurs – who stood up to protect our community from the pernicious affects of the slots parlors that you are foisting on our great city.

• Without public input or regard, you legalized gambling in Pennsylvania in a hurried late-night legislative session.
• Instead of allowing Philadelphians to develop a riverfront that is family-friendly and pays homage to the historic character of our city, you are creating a blight on the banks of the Delaware with acres of surface parking above a four hundred year old Native American settlement.
• You lied to us about stopping casinos from being banks and are allowing them to offer unregulated lines of credit to patrons.
• With flagrant indifference towards the prosperity of Philadelphians, you are trying to suck hard-earned money out of our pockets with which to line your wallets.

And while you are busy doing all of this, we – in the true spirit of brotherly and sisterly love with which this city was founded – put our bodies on the line to show our infallible commitment to stopping predatory gambling from destroying the city and the community we love.

In the irrefutable words of Henry David Thoreau, which you underscored when you had us arrested on Sept. 29, 2009, “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.”

To bear witness to thirteen just men and women, we encourage you to attend our trial at 10:00 AM today, Feb. 16, 2010, at the Criminal Justice Center at 1301 Filbert Street.

Sincerely,

Lily Cavanagh

P.S. A video invitation: