Larrick says honor troops, bring them home

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By DON WALTON / Lincoln Journal Star

The best way to honor and support U.S. troops on Veterans Day is to bring them home from Iraq, Senate candidate Steve Larrick told a small gathering Sunday.

“Honor the warrior but not the war,” Larrick said.

“I want to end this war.”

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Steve Larrick, candidate for U.S. Senate. (Jill Peitzmeier)

With neither major political party acting to stop a war that has “no end in sight,” Larrick said, he’ll offer Nebraska voters an opportunity to oppose continuation of the war through his Green Party candidacy.

Larrick said he would work to reorder the nation’s priorities to address global warming, other environmental concerns, greater social justice and a more peaceful world.

With the State Capitol towering behind him, Larrick formally opened his campaign with a speech delivered from the north steps where a statue of William Jennings Bryan once stood.

A couple dozen spectators  showed up for the event. Two brought their dogs. A number of supporters carried green flags and anti-war signs.

One placard proclaimed: “Don’t Bomb Iran.”

“This is what democracy looks like,” Larrick said. 

Larrick’s campaign is designed to force a discussion about the Iraq war and environmental concerns  during the 2008 Senate race.

Next spring, Larrick said, he’ll ride out from the Wyoming border on a statewide bicycle tour of Nebraska, engaging people in discussions in cafes and bars and shops.

Invoking Bryan’s populist movement, Larrick said: “Let the people rule.”

Republican and Democratic Party candidates are tied to campaign resources and bound to contributors, Larrick said, when campaigns should be based on issues and needs.

“Government should serve the people,” he said.

Larrick, who has been engaged in a long list of community improvement and neighborhood activities, said government resources ought to be devoted to helping people rather than spent on a deceitfully launched war.

Environmental issues are high on his list of concerns.

Global warming eventually could make the dust bowl days of the 1930s described in the book, “The Worst Hard Time,” look like a picnic, Larrick said.

The United States must become less dependent on coal and foreign oil resources while developing alternative forms of energy, he said.

Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.