Sunday, November 25, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Interview with Naomi Wolf
I had to post this, hopefully my doing so will help spread this important message.
If you are getting this message in an email, click the above link to get to my actual blog and watch the video.
Peace
If you are getting this message in an email, click the above link to get to my actual blog and watch the video.
Peace
Monday, October 29, 2007
Big Fires and Little Fires
One of the things I have to deal with whenever disaster strikes is a feeling of futility. When 9/11 happened, I went into a funk that lasted over a month, and some of those feelings continued for almost a year. Most things that I dealt with seemed insignificant, and I felt like my job, my service work, the TV shows I liked, the books I was reading, all these things seemed to shrink into unworthiness, when compared to the tragedy that the nation was facing.
I live in San Diego county, and my community from time to time has to deal with wildfires. In 2003, the Crest Fire burned down the home of one of my best friends. This week, San Diego was hit by the worst firestorm in recent history. In this fire, the same person was evacuated, and while he didn't lose his home again, while he and his family were still under evacuation orders, his father passed away in the hospital from an unrelated illness. I got through the crisis myself just fine, other than some minor inconvenience and drama, but when I see people all around me whose lives are so affected, I have to stop and think.
click the map above for an interactive version
The firefighters themselves were absolutely impressive. The dedication and commitment of professional firefighters amazes me every time I hear about them. I have nothing negative whatsoever to say about the men and women who met these fires head on. Who else runs toward danger, rather than away from it?
The government's handling of the situation, and the bureaucratic bungling of the resources needed to fight the fires are another matter. Supposedly the fires are in their "last throes" as I write this, and there are several things about this series of events that are starting to spark a bit of anger.
The first thing that pisses me off relates to the administrative mismanagement of the firefighting effort. There are some press reports stating that there were not enough aircraft to fight the fires, at least initially, and that bureaucracy hampered the efforts. Scharzenegger denies it, but those reports are backed up by a statement by the Fire Chief in Orange County, Chip Prather: “It is an absolute fact: Had we had more air resources, we would have been able to control this fire." Bureacracy slowed the utilization of these resources, and this put a huge obstacle in the way of getting these fires under control.
San Diego investigative reporter Michael Turko, from KUSI local news,
interviews Ruben Grijalva, Cal Fires Chief (click above for video link)
There is an ongoing but (at least as far as my research has uncovered) unsubstatiated rumor in San Diego that during Bush's visit, the aircraft fighting the fire were grounded while Bush was in town. This rumor has been aired on local talk radio but only when brought up by people who call in. There was apparently an interview with a firefighter about this on KUSI, but I am unable to find a transcript. There are hearsay reports on blogs that mention this, but no person who has first-hand knowledge of aircraft being grounded has come forward, and no media report can be found online that mentions this at all. Even if the rumors are true, this comes as no surprise.
One thing that is verifiable is that Bush's visit caused a major traffic jam, stopping evacuees from returning to their homes.
My own congressman, Duncan Hunter, has repeatedly jumped into the limelight, trying to use the fires to fuel his limping Presidential campaign. On FOX news, he tries to portray Democrats as using the fires for political purposes, while using that appearance and others (click here) (and click here) to keep his face in front of the cameras.
I find it interesting that the proposed Blackwater West Mercenary Encampment, an new training facility project under review by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, is located in Portrero near the source of the Harris Fire. I would have thought it likely that Blackwater USA might have had a motive for causing this kind of local disruption, but since the fire affected their construction site, it is within the realm of possiblity that they are as much a victim of the fire as the rest of the county.
Facility currently at the proposed site for Blackwater West
Firefighters onsite at proposed Blackwater West area
Graded road built on property for proposed Blackwater facility
(do they have a road grading & building permit?)
(thanks to Ray Lutz for these photos, they were taken by him while he was working as a cameraman for a New York Times reporter covering the fires)
What is certain is that the residents of Portrero have suffered, and that the proposed Blackwater project would increase the long-term risk of fire.
Meanwhile, back in the city of San Diego, donations of food, necessaries, blankets and clothing stacked up at Qualcomm Stadium, and evacuees at Chicano Park in San Diego went without. Many hispanic immigrants (most of them legal residents) who were evacuated to Qualcomm and other evacuation centers were given short shrift on supplies by non-hispanic officials.
I do know that regardless of the chest thumping and attaboys by Schwarzenegger and Sanders, there were significant problems with the evacuees. Something that has been basically unnoticed by most of the mainstream media is that while Qualcomm was used successfully during the week as an evacuation center, the San Diego Chargers kicked about 500 people out of their parking lot on Friday.
All this drives home to me, especially as a resident of San Diego County, that the lessons learned at Katrina were most assuredly applied here. The rich white people evacuated from million-dollar homes were well taken care of and paraded in front of the cameras, while the poor brown people were hungry and cold, and kept away from the media. Relief efforts to the remote community of Portrero were hampered by San Diego County Sheriffs despite the urgent need of residents, FEMA gave a press conference that was carefully prepared to portray them in the best light, and as usual, the national mainstream media failed to cover the real stories, and the Bush administration succeeded in distracting attention from itself.
Peace
I live in San Diego county, and my community from time to time has to deal with wildfires. In 2003, the Crest Fire burned down the home of one of my best friends. This week, San Diego was hit by the worst firestorm in recent history. In this fire, the same person was evacuated, and while he didn't lose his home again, while he and his family were still under evacuation orders, his father passed away in the hospital from an unrelated illness. I got through the crisis myself just fine, other than some minor inconvenience and drama, but when I see people all around me whose lives are so affected, I have to stop and think.
click the map above for an interactive version
The firefighters themselves were absolutely impressive. The dedication and commitment of professional firefighters amazes me every time I hear about them. I have nothing negative whatsoever to say about the men and women who met these fires head on. Who else runs toward danger, rather than away from it?
The government's handling of the situation, and the bureaucratic bungling of the resources needed to fight the fires are another matter. Supposedly the fires are in their "last throes" as I write this, and there are several things about this series of events that are starting to spark a bit of anger.
The first thing that pisses me off relates to the administrative mismanagement of the firefighting effort. There are some press reports stating that there were not enough aircraft to fight the fires, at least initially, and that bureaucracy hampered the efforts. Scharzenegger denies it, but those reports are backed up by a statement by the Fire Chief in Orange County, Chip Prather: “It is an absolute fact: Had we had more air resources, we would have been able to control this fire." Bureacracy slowed the utilization of these resources, and this put a huge obstacle in the way of getting these fires under control.
San Diego investigative reporter Michael Turko, from KUSI local news,
interviews Ruben Grijalva, Cal Fires Chief (click above for video link)
There is an ongoing but (at least as far as my research has uncovered) unsubstatiated rumor in San Diego that during Bush's visit, the aircraft fighting the fire were grounded while Bush was in town. This rumor has been aired on local talk radio but only when brought up by people who call in. There was apparently an interview with a firefighter about this on KUSI, but I am unable to find a transcript. There are hearsay reports on blogs that mention this, but no person who has first-hand knowledge of aircraft being grounded has come forward, and no media report can be found online that mentions this at all. Even if the rumors are true, this comes as no surprise.
One thing that is verifiable is that Bush's visit caused a major traffic jam, stopping evacuees from returning to their homes.
My own congressman, Duncan Hunter, has repeatedly jumped into the limelight, trying to use the fires to fuel his limping Presidential campaign. On FOX news, he tries to portray Democrats as using the fires for political purposes, while using that appearance and others (click here) (and click here) to keep his face in front of the cameras.
I find it interesting that the proposed Blackwater West Mercenary Encampment, an new training facility project under review by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, is located in Portrero near the source of the Harris Fire. I would have thought it likely that Blackwater USA might have had a motive for causing this kind of local disruption, but since the fire affected their construction site, it is within the realm of possiblity that they are as much a victim of the fire as the rest of the county.
Facility currently at the proposed site for Blackwater West
Firefighters onsite at proposed Blackwater West area
Graded road built on property for proposed Blackwater facility
(do they have a road grading & building permit?)
(thanks to Ray Lutz for these photos, they were taken by him while he was working as a cameraman for a New York Times reporter covering the fires)
What is certain is that the residents of Portrero have suffered, and that the proposed Blackwater project would increase the long-term risk of fire.
Meanwhile, back in the city of San Diego, donations of food, necessaries, blankets and clothing stacked up at Qualcomm Stadium, and evacuees at Chicano Park in San Diego went without. Many hispanic immigrants (most of them legal residents) who were evacuated to Qualcomm and other evacuation centers were given short shrift on supplies by non-hispanic officials.
I do know that regardless of the chest thumping and attaboys by Schwarzenegger and Sanders, there were significant problems with the evacuees. Something that has been basically unnoticed by most of the mainstream media is that while Qualcomm was used successfully during the week as an evacuation center, the San Diego Chargers kicked about 500 people out of their parking lot on Friday.
All this drives home to me, especially as a resident of San Diego County, that the lessons learned at Katrina were most assuredly applied here. The rich white people evacuated from million-dollar homes were well taken care of and paraded in front of the cameras, while the poor brown people were hungry and cold, and kept away from the media. Relief efforts to the remote community of Portrero were hampered by San Diego County Sheriffs despite the urgent need of residents, FEMA gave a press conference that was carefully prepared to portray them in the best light, and as usual, the national mainstream media failed to cover the real stories, and the Bush administration succeeded in distracting attention from itself.
Peace
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Charger Day Freeway Blog
The last week has been rough in some ways. My office was closed for the week because of the wildfires ravaging San Diego County. The fires have really affected everyone, and though I was fortunate enough that no members of my immediate family were evacuated or lost their homes, I do know several people who were evacuees. I work for a large company, and I'm sure that when I get back to work on Monday, there will be some bad news regarding co-workers, I know that many people I work with live in Encinitas, or Campo, or Poway.
The time off has given me time to reflect, and to make signs. My good friend Kate the Freeway blogger (see San Diego's Newest Freeway Blogger) and I spent a lot of time this week hanging out, and Friday I brought over a big pile of my signs, and Kate and I combined efforts to complete both mine and the ones she had made (mine are the ones in Jester Font). She has a great system of putting gromets near the corners and edges of the signs, and using zip-ties for attaching them to chainlink fences. This works much better than bungies (though we still use bungies for salvaged signs and to reinforce if there is wind). The signs with gromets are harder to take down without tools, but it still doesn't damage fences.
Sunday seemed perfect for blogging. The Chargers and the city of San Diego evicted the evacuees from Qualcomm Stadium so that the all-important football game could be played on schedule. This happened sort of low-key after most of the TV cameras had left, and I'm sure that Mayor Sanders and the Governator were careful to take credit for the good job that they didn't do with keeping evacuees safe and warm. Our friend Barb suggested that we go out on game-day morning to make sure that all the fans driving to the Q would have the benefit of our hard work.
Sunday morning at 5:15 we met at a parking lot somewhere in San Diego County, and set out. The first sign we set up was a large "Arrest Bush sign on a berm overlooking Highway 8. The previous week we had set up a similar sign, but it either blew over or was taken down by someone. We staked the new one into the ground, and later, after the sun came up, got a couple of good shots of it from across the freeway.
Barb brought some big chalk pieces, and she (and we) had fun with those as well.
After that we headed to one of our favorite pedestrian walkways, and hung another sign. It was still pretty dark so some of the shots came out hard to see, but we came back later and got some good ones.
Throughout the rest of the morning we hit all the best spots, some in old territory and some in new as Barb says (she absolutely knows most of the best blogging spots all through the greater San Diego metropolitan area).
We even did a bit of train-blogging.
One set of signs was still up from two weeks ago, we will keep track of those moving forward - week 3 and counting!
We had some trouble with a few of the signs.
A few signs were torn down (probably by some neo-con football fans), and we came back, repaired the damage, and hung them right back up. The first sign from early in the morning on the berm overlooking Hwy 8 had been staked into the ground. Someone pulled up the stakes, and used one of them to stab into the sign several times. One stake was thrown about 30 feet away, and the sign was tossed down the embankment (does someone need anger management classes?).
We salvaged the sign, and took it across the freeway, and hung it up facing the other way. This picture was taken while I stood at the place the sign originally stood. The holes that were stabbed into the sign actually made it easier to hang.
We had salvaged the sign we put up from 2 weeks ago at the berm that had come down, and this weekend we put it up on the College Avenue overpass, which is right on Hwy 8, on the way to the Stadium from east county. It came down after only a few hours, but with the traffic on game day - easily several tens of thousands of people saw it.
After that we drove around getting a few better pictures of our signs, then Barb dropped Kate & I off by my car. We went to breakfast (coffee and eggs always taste better after a morning of freeway blogging). We talked about the day, and then just had to go back and get (just a few) more pictures of the day's work.
All for now,
Peace,
Dave
P.S. Our friend Jeff missed hooking up with us this morning, but posted this sign by himself. I just got the info, here's the pic:
Now that's really it...
Peace,
D
The time off has given me time to reflect, and to make signs. My good friend Kate the Freeway blogger (see San Diego's Newest Freeway Blogger) and I spent a lot of time this week hanging out, and Friday I brought over a big pile of my signs, and Kate and I combined efforts to complete both mine and the ones she had made (mine are the ones in Jester Font). She has a great system of putting gromets near the corners and edges of the signs, and using zip-ties for attaching them to chainlink fences. This works much better than bungies (though we still use bungies for salvaged signs and to reinforce if there is wind). The signs with gromets are harder to take down without tools, but it still doesn't damage fences.
Sunday seemed perfect for blogging. The Chargers and the city of San Diego evicted the evacuees from Qualcomm Stadium so that the all-important football game could be played on schedule. This happened sort of low-key after most of the TV cameras had left, and I'm sure that Mayor Sanders and the Governator were careful to take credit for the good job that they didn't do with keeping evacuees safe and warm. Our friend Barb suggested that we go out on game-day morning to make sure that all the fans driving to the Q would have the benefit of our hard work.
Sunday morning at 5:15 we met at a parking lot somewhere in San Diego County, and set out. The first sign we set up was a large "Arrest Bush sign on a berm overlooking Highway 8. The previous week we had set up a similar sign, but it either blew over or was taken down by someone. We staked the new one into the ground, and later, after the sun came up, got a couple of good shots of it from across the freeway.
Barb brought some big chalk pieces, and she (and we) had fun with those as well.
After that we headed to one of our favorite pedestrian walkways, and hung another sign. It was still pretty dark so some of the shots came out hard to see, but we came back later and got some good ones.
Throughout the rest of the morning we hit all the best spots, some in old territory and some in new as Barb says (she absolutely knows most of the best blogging spots all through the greater San Diego metropolitan area).
We even did a bit of train-blogging.
One set of signs was still up from two weeks ago, we will keep track of those moving forward - week 3 and counting!
We had some trouble with a few of the signs.
A few signs were torn down (probably by some neo-con football fans), and we came back, repaired the damage, and hung them right back up. The first sign from early in the morning on the berm overlooking Hwy 8 had been staked into the ground. Someone pulled up the stakes, and used one of them to stab into the sign several times. One stake was thrown about 30 feet away, and the sign was tossed down the embankment (does someone need anger management classes?).
We salvaged the sign, and took it across the freeway, and hung it up facing the other way. This picture was taken while I stood at the place the sign originally stood. The holes that were stabbed into the sign actually made it easier to hang.
We had salvaged the sign we put up from 2 weeks ago at the berm that had come down, and this weekend we put it up on the College Avenue overpass, which is right on Hwy 8, on the way to the Stadium from east county. It came down after only a few hours, but with the traffic on game day - easily several tens of thousands of people saw it.
After that we drove around getting a few better pictures of our signs, then Barb dropped Kate & I off by my car. We went to breakfast (coffee and eggs always taste better after a morning of freeway blogging). We talked about the day, and then just had to go back and get (just a few) more pictures of the day's work.
All for now,
Peace,
Dave
P.S. Our friend Jeff missed hooking up with us this morning, but posted this sign by himself. I just got the info, here's the pic:
Now that's really it...
Peace,
D
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Perjury Boy
Ironic, isn't it?
Considering how pissed off certain neo-conservatives and ultra right-wing pundits were when Bill Clinton lied about his knobber in the oval office leading up to his impeachment, it seems odd how silent many of them are today.
Clear evidence of criminal acts by Attorney General Gonzales are now available and reported in the mainstream media.
Keith Olbermann Tuesday 7/24/07
Click here for a link to a video from todays show:
Keith Olbermann Wednesday 7/25/07
TruthOut interview with David Iglesias 5/30/07
So let's get on with it already. Full-on prosecution of Gonzales, following an impeachment. Impeachment proceedings against Cheney & Bush, then install Pelosi for a few months leading up to Kucinich's swearing-in ceremony.
(I can dream, can't I?)
Peace
Considering how pissed off certain neo-conservatives and ultra right-wing pundits were when Bill Clinton lied about his knobber in the oval office leading up to his impeachment, it seems odd how silent many of them are today.
Clear evidence of criminal acts by Attorney General Gonzales are now available and reported in the mainstream media.
Keith Olbermann Tuesday 7/24/07
Click here for a link to a video from todays show:
Keith Olbermann Wednesday 7/25/07
TruthOut interview with David Iglesias 5/30/07
So let's get on with it already. Full-on prosecution of Gonzales, following an impeachment. Impeachment proceedings against Cheney & Bush, then install Pelosi for a few months leading up to Kucinich's swearing-in ceremony.
(I can dream, can't I?)
Peace
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Blue Blues
I've been thinking a lot recently. One of the things that has started to irritate me more and more as time goes on is how badly the Democratic Party has been representing my positions on issues.
My irritation level continues to grow, especially when the Democrats bluster and threaten, but still continue to fund the war. They go round and round on healthcare, civil liberties, and election fraud, but refuse to take any direct action. When obstructed by the Republicans, they give up, and point across the aisle, and ineffectively attempt to blame the other side, instead of sticking to their guns and presenting the issue again until public opinion forces the other side to change. They angrily denounce the President, Vice-President, Attorney General and others in the administration, but even when confronted with direct evidence of crimes, still refuse to even consider impeachment. This may be starting to change, I read something today that John Conyers said that gave me hope.
Happy Harry Potter Day, everyone...
Peace
My irritation level continues to grow, especially when the Democrats bluster and threaten, but still continue to fund the war. They go round and round on healthcare, civil liberties, and election fraud, but refuse to take any direct action. When obstructed by the Republicans, they give up, and point across the aisle, and ineffectively attempt to blame the other side, instead of sticking to their guns and presenting the issue again until public opinion forces the other side to change. They angrily denounce the President, Vice-President, Attorney General and others in the administration, but even when confronted with direct evidence of crimes, still refuse to even consider impeachment. This may be starting to change, I read something today that John Conyers said that gave me hope.
Happy Harry Potter Day, everyone...
Peace
Monday, May 28, 2007
Memorial Day 2007
So it's been a while since I posted anything.
I've been in a processing stage, and have been suffering from a sort of writer's block because my thoughts and feelings, and political positions, have undergone a radical change. Basically a paradigm shattered, and it has taken me a while to pick up the pieces and construct a new one.
I've been a peace activist for a little over a year, and have become quite active in participating in protest actions, lobbying congress, and generally trying to help make the public more aware of the cost of this awful war, and the cost of our losing many of the basic rights guaranteed us in the constitution.
The last several months have been a whirlwind, and it's been difficult to keep up and stay focused, both at work and in my activism, while I've been trying to adjust to a completely new worldview. The thing that's changed is that I no longer believe in violence. It's taken me a while to completely accept that position. For most of my life I have accepted the partial truth (as I see it now) that most war is bad, and that only rarely do situations occur that require the use of national force. I now believe that all violence is inherently wrong, on every level, and that there is no such thing as a justifiable war.
I've been doing a lot of reading. The first thing I learned is that nonviolence is not passive, and that it does not mean submission. Nonviolent action is often aggressive, and should be considered, in many cases, a form of conflict. True personal and political nonviolence is courageous, and is not only an effective alternative to violence in resolving conflicts, but is potentially more effective, especially in its effects.
My writing has been stalled because it has taken me almost five months to completely wrap my head and my heart around not only nonviolent political action, but also around a personal commitment to nonviolence. I hereby make a personal commitment to nonviolence in my personal life, and in my political actions.
Still eluding me is a complete understanding of the strategic aspects of nonviolent political actions, but I am learning. My long-term interest in strategy and tactics is helping me with this. Curiously, my background in market research may also be useful, but more about that in later posts.
Today was a good day. Arlington West went very successfully, with a very positive reaction from the public, and from the local press. Several local news stations were represented, and local Fox channel 6 apparently is doing a retrospective with past Arlington West memorials, comparing them to today's event, including the difference in the public reaction and support of the memorial and the change in attitudes towards the war.
This video was recommended by Sally, a Vets For Peace member from Texas, that I know only online from the VFP National Recruitment committee. I include it because it is Memorial Day, and it expresses sentiments about the current administration that I share.
I've made some decisions recently, and having made those decisions, I feel more at ease with myself about a great many things. My writing now will resume, though my take on things will be a bit different perhaps. I am not a Satyagrahi. Yet.
Peace
I've been in a processing stage, and have been suffering from a sort of writer's block because my thoughts and feelings, and political positions, have undergone a radical change. Basically a paradigm shattered, and it has taken me a while to pick up the pieces and construct a new one.
I've been a peace activist for a little over a year, and have become quite active in participating in protest actions, lobbying congress, and generally trying to help make the public more aware of the cost of this awful war, and the cost of our losing many of the basic rights guaranteed us in the constitution.
The last several months have been a whirlwind, and it's been difficult to keep up and stay focused, both at work and in my activism, while I've been trying to adjust to a completely new worldview. The thing that's changed is that I no longer believe in violence. It's taken me a while to completely accept that position. For most of my life I have accepted the partial truth (as I see it now) that most war is bad, and that only rarely do situations occur that require the use of national force. I now believe that all violence is inherently wrong, on every level, and that there is no such thing as a justifiable war.
I've been doing a lot of reading. The first thing I learned is that nonviolence is not passive, and that it does not mean submission. Nonviolent action is often aggressive, and should be considered, in many cases, a form of conflict. True personal and political nonviolence is courageous, and is not only an effective alternative to violence in resolving conflicts, but is potentially more effective, especially in its effects.
My writing has been stalled because it has taken me almost five months to completely wrap my head and my heart around not only nonviolent political action, but also around a personal commitment to nonviolence. I hereby make a personal commitment to nonviolence in my personal life, and in my political actions.
Still eluding me is a complete understanding of the strategic aspects of nonviolent political actions, but I am learning. My long-term interest in strategy and tactics is helping me with this. Curiously, my background in market research may also be useful, but more about that in later posts.
Today was a good day. Arlington West went very successfully, with a very positive reaction from the public, and from the local press. Several local news stations were represented, and local Fox channel 6 apparently is doing a retrospective with past Arlington West memorials, comparing them to today's event, including the difference in the public reaction and support of the memorial and the change in attitudes towards the war.
This video was recommended by Sally, a Vets For Peace member from Texas, that I know only online from the VFP National Recruitment committee. I include it because it is Memorial Day, and it expresses sentiments about the current administration that I share.
I've made some decisions recently, and having made those decisions, I feel more at ease with myself about a great many things. My writing now will resume, though my take on things will be a bit different perhaps. I am not a Satyagrahi. Yet.
Peace
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Look at the Birdie
Thanks to Doug, for giving me the idea for this piece
The tragic injury of the heroic Barbaro, winner of the 2006 Kentucky Derby, moved many people, and the circumstances of his death after his latest surgery occupied much of the media's time. I love animals, and the death of an animal like Barbaro, who was a champion, might have attracted my interest, and might even have taken up some part of my thoughts, if I hadn't realized that the media coverage of his death was at least partly an attempt to distract me from more important events.
The media started talking about Barbaro on about January 16th,coincidentally as the planning for the large national peace protest in Washington DC on January 27th was nearing its final stages.
Larger View Left
Larger View Right
The furor over Barbaro continued, through the attendance of over 500,000 people at the march on that Saturday, until he was put down on January 29th, the same day that many of the people involved in the protest march in Washington were lobbying congress to get them to vote to end the funding for the war. Well over 90% of all of the members of Congress, both House and Senate, or their staff, received a delegation from peace activists. There was a somewhat dramatic arrest made, of some of those activists, in the Rayburn House office building due to an overreaction by the Capitol Police.
Somehow, those events never made it into the mainstream press, but a horse being put down took up hours of the news during that time.
Anna Nicole Smith, similarly, has been portrayed in the media as a tragic figure. Her son's death in her hospital room a few months ago, and her "heroic" fight all the way to the Supreme Court for her inheritance rights has been played repeatedly over the airwaves. Her recent death in a hotel room of unknown causes caused MSNBC to ask the question that is apparently on all of our minds: Did Anna Nicole choke on her own vomit?
There is no question that Smith led a tragic life. She was a sad and compulsive woman, who seemed only to feel alive when the world was watching. Pandering to her compulsion, even after her death, is simply bad taste.
The events in the world at large continue to play out. A large-scale confrontation between the United States and Iran looms in our immediate future, unless someone changes course rapidly. This could drag us into a long and difficult war with a formidable enemy, at the very time when our military is exhausted and demoralized.
Headlines of Anna Nicole compete with the latest claims of "evidence" of intelligence showing that Iran provided weapons for attacks on U.S. troops.
O.J.'s latest public villainy distracts us from less publicized reports of the attempt of some Senate Democrats to fix that part of the Patriot Act that has allowed Gonzalez's latest attempt to limit prosecutions on political allies of the president.
What has happened to the media in this country? Why do important stories go unreported while frivolous tabloid crap gets shoved down our throats? Why do stories that are so big that they have to be reported get drowned out by provocative scandal? The simple answer is that the news is "ratings driven" and that people watch what they want to see, and the networks are just providing that. Bull. The networks put stuff on that they know will be distracting, and they do it on behalf of corporate interests.
A recent serious article rated the news content of the Jon Stewart Show as being "as substantive" as network news. This indicates to me not so much that the Jon Stewart show should be considered as an important source of news, but more that the content of serious network news programs has been dumbed down so much that the news content is no better than an admittedly good comedy show.
Similarly, the Republicans are refusing even to debate the war or the escalation on its merits. On C-Span over the last few days, during the House debates on the non-binding resolution, the Republicans have hammered on talking points over and over trying to frame the debate on the "Global War on Terror". They have characterized retreat from Iraq as defeat by the terrorists, as if the war in Iraq, and victory there, has anything to do with defeating Terrorism.
It seemed odd, that they are so much on the same page, until my friend Barbara pointed out on a local talk radio program this morning that they are literally reading from the same page. A memo from John Shadegg(R-AZ) and Pete Hoekstra(R-MI) to the Republican caucus was leaked and is posted on Steny Hoyer's Majority Leader web page, showing the talking points they were spoon fed. If the previous link breaks at some point, I have uploaded another copy of it here.
This also is a program of distraction. There are three levels of deception here.
First, within the framework of the "Global War on Terror" argument, the Republicans wave the flag, and talk about defeating Islamic Extremists. They state that radical Islamists pose a threat to Americans (true). They then state that the extreme views of terrorists help fuel the war in Iraq (also true). Their final premise is that the threat from terrorists is global in nature (true, and well supported by statistics in their memo). The Republicans then leap to two conclusions. Withdrawal from Iraq would cause an escalation of the violence, and Americans would be endangered at home. The argument is logically flawed. For those familiar with logic, it is a clear example of a fallacious argument. The facts presented in the premises are true, but they don't prove the conclusion.
Second, the framework of the argument itself is not valid. The Iraq war has never been about fighting terror, this is about oil. Iraq itself had nothing to do with terrorism until we invaded the country. The problem with global terrorism, exacerbated by our invasion in Iraq, is independent of any "success" or "failure" in that country.
Third, the debate isn't about withdrawing from Iraq at all, this is supposed to be a debate about whether or not to support the escalation. They are refusing to address the issue of escalating the war, or the mistakes made in Iraq, at all. They are, as Shadegg & Hoekstra state in the memo, afraid to debate the Democrats on the substance of the issue at all, because they know they will lose. It says in the memo, specifically:
The debate should not be about the surge or its details. This debate should not even be about the Iraq war to date, mistakes that have been made, or whether we can, or cannot, win militarily. If we let Democrats force us into a debate on the surge or the current situation in Iraq, we lose.
When we do leave, whenever that happens, two things will happen immediately. The insurgents will no longer be attacking Americans, and with us gone, they will be less likely to consider the Iraqi Military and Police forces as collaborators. There is sectarian violence, and there are terrorist attacks, but these are harder to stop because of cover in the form of attacks by insurgents on American forces and Iraqi security forces.
Nobody knows exactly what will happen when we leave. It is certainly a real, and even likely possibility that the violence in Iraq would dramatically increase immediately following our withdrawal. Would that be sustained? That is hard to say. It certainly is true however, that withdrawal of American troops would remove some of the motivation for violence. As I have said before, leaving will be difficult whether we leave now, or later. It is not a question of whether we will leave, but when. Our presence in Iraq is untenable, and cannot last.
The administration quietly moves corporate interests, American soldiers, and money around like pieces on a game board, while dangling salacious video of Anna Nicole to keep the public sedated. While hundreds of thousands of people march on the nations capitol, the numbers are under-reported, and the death of a horse is trumpeted to the people. For those of us that are paying attention, Republicans in Congress indulge in scripted misdirection on C-Span in an attempt to distract us from what is really going on.
This misdirection in the media is frightening. As Edward R. Murrow said of television in his speech at the RTNDA convention in Chicago, October 15, 1958:
"This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box."
Control of the media is the first step in controlling people. Mussolini knew that.
"Propaganda is neutrally defined as a systematic form of purposeful persuasion that attempts to influence the emotions, attitudes, opinions, and actions of specified target audiences for ideological, political or commercial purposes through the controlled transmission of one-sided messages (which may or may not be factual) via mass and direct media channels. A propaganda organization employs propagandists who engage in propagandism—the applied creation and distribution of such forms of persuasion."
—R.A. Nelson, A Chronology and Glossary of Propaganda in the United States, 1996
Germany had Joseph Goebbels. America has Karl Rove.
Our story is not being told. The story of the Iraq war is not being told. Who will tell it? Bill Moyers said it best, in his remarks at the National Conference for Media Reform, in Memphis on January 12th of this year:
"This is the moment freedom begins. The moment you realize someone else has been writing your story, and it's time you took the pen from his hand and started writing it yourself."
It is not too late to take back what is ours, before we slip into despotism. It is not too late to take back our freedom, to take back the soul of America. It is not up to politicians to decide our fates, but rather it is we ourselves.
Pick up a protest sign. Pick up a bullhorn. Pick up a pen. We have to win.
Peace
The tragic injury of the heroic Barbaro, winner of the 2006 Kentucky Derby, moved many people, and the circumstances of his death after his latest surgery occupied much of the media's time. I love animals, and the death of an animal like Barbaro, who was a champion, might have attracted my interest, and might even have taken up some part of my thoughts, if I hadn't realized that the media coverage of his death was at least partly an attempt to distract me from more important events.
The media started talking about Barbaro on about January 16th,coincidentally as the planning for the large national peace protest in Washington DC on January 27th was nearing its final stages.
Larger View Left
Larger View Right
The furor over Barbaro continued, through the attendance of over 500,000 people at the march on that Saturday, until he was put down on January 29th, the same day that many of the people involved in the protest march in Washington were lobbying congress to get them to vote to end the funding for the war. Well over 90% of all of the members of Congress, both House and Senate, or their staff, received a delegation from peace activists. There was a somewhat dramatic arrest made, of some of those activists, in the Rayburn House office building due to an overreaction by the Capitol Police.
Somehow, those events never made it into the mainstream press, but a horse being put down took up hours of the news during that time.
Anna Nicole Smith, similarly, has been portrayed in the media as a tragic figure. Her son's death in her hospital room a few months ago, and her "heroic" fight all the way to the Supreme Court for her inheritance rights has been played repeatedly over the airwaves. Her recent death in a hotel room of unknown causes caused MSNBC to ask the question that is apparently on all of our minds: Did Anna Nicole choke on her own vomit?
There is no question that Smith led a tragic life. She was a sad and compulsive woman, who seemed only to feel alive when the world was watching. Pandering to her compulsion, even after her death, is simply bad taste.
The events in the world at large continue to play out. A large-scale confrontation between the United States and Iran looms in our immediate future, unless someone changes course rapidly. This could drag us into a long and difficult war with a formidable enemy, at the very time when our military is exhausted and demoralized.
Headlines of Anna Nicole compete with the latest claims of "evidence" of intelligence showing that Iran provided weapons for attacks on U.S. troops.
O.J.'s latest public villainy distracts us from less publicized reports of the attempt of some Senate Democrats to fix that part of the Patriot Act that has allowed Gonzalez's latest attempt to limit prosecutions on political allies of the president.
What has happened to the media in this country? Why do important stories go unreported while frivolous tabloid crap gets shoved down our throats? Why do stories that are so big that they have to be reported get drowned out by provocative scandal? The simple answer is that the news is "ratings driven" and that people watch what they want to see, and the networks are just providing that. Bull. The networks put stuff on that they know will be distracting, and they do it on behalf of corporate interests.
A recent serious article rated the news content of the Jon Stewart Show as being "as substantive" as network news. This indicates to me not so much that the Jon Stewart show should be considered as an important source of news, but more that the content of serious network news programs has been dumbed down so much that the news content is no better than an admittedly good comedy show.
Similarly, the Republicans are refusing even to debate the war or the escalation on its merits. On C-Span over the last few days, during the House debates on the non-binding resolution, the Republicans have hammered on talking points over and over trying to frame the debate on the "Global War on Terror". They have characterized retreat from Iraq as defeat by the terrorists, as if the war in Iraq, and victory there, has anything to do with defeating Terrorism.
It seemed odd, that they are so much on the same page, until my friend Barbara pointed out on a local talk radio program this morning that they are literally reading from the same page. A memo from John Shadegg(R-AZ) and Pete Hoekstra(R-MI) to the Republican caucus was leaked and is posted on Steny Hoyer's Majority Leader web page, showing the talking points they were spoon fed. If the previous link breaks at some point, I have uploaded another copy of it here.
This also is a program of distraction. There are three levels of deception here.
First, within the framework of the "Global War on Terror" argument, the Republicans wave the flag, and talk about defeating Islamic Extremists. They state that radical Islamists pose a threat to Americans (true). They then state that the extreme views of terrorists help fuel the war in Iraq (also true). Their final premise is that the threat from terrorists is global in nature (true, and well supported by statistics in their memo). The Republicans then leap to two conclusions. Withdrawal from Iraq would cause an escalation of the violence, and Americans would be endangered at home. The argument is logically flawed. For those familiar with logic, it is a clear example of a fallacious argument. The facts presented in the premises are true, but they don't prove the conclusion.
Second, the framework of the argument itself is not valid. The Iraq war has never been about fighting terror, this is about oil. Iraq itself had nothing to do with terrorism until we invaded the country. The problem with global terrorism, exacerbated by our invasion in Iraq, is independent of any "success" or "failure" in that country.
Third, the debate isn't about withdrawing from Iraq at all, this is supposed to be a debate about whether or not to support the escalation. They are refusing to address the issue of escalating the war, or the mistakes made in Iraq, at all. They are, as Shadegg & Hoekstra state in the memo, afraid to debate the Democrats on the substance of the issue at all, because they know they will lose. It says in the memo, specifically:
The debate should not be about the surge or its details. This debate should not even be about the Iraq war to date, mistakes that have been made, or whether we can, or cannot, win militarily. If we let Democrats force us into a debate on the surge or the current situation in Iraq, we lose.
When we do leave, whenever that happens, two things will happen immediately. The insurgents will no longer be attacking Americans, and with us gone, they will be less likely to consider the Iraqi Military and Police forces as collaborators. There is sectarian violence, and there are terrorist attacks, but these are harder to stop because of cover in the form of attacks by insurgents on American forces and Iraqi security forces.
Nobody knows exactly what will happen when we leave. It is certainly a real, and even likely possibility that the violence in Iraq would dramatically increase immediately following our withdrawal. Would that be sustained? That is hard to say. It certainly is true however, that withdrawal of American troops would remove some of the motivation for violence. As I have said before, leaving will be difficult whether we leave now, or later. It is not a question of whether we will leave, but when. Our presence in Iraq is untenable, and cannot last.
The administration quietly moves corporate interests, American soldiers, and money around like pieces on a game board, while dangling salacious video of Anna Nicole to keep the public sedated. While hundreds of thousands of people march on the nations capitol, the numbers are under-reported, and the death of a horse is trumpeted to the people. For those of us that are paying attention, Republicans in Congress indulge in scripted misdirection on C-Span in an attempt to distract us from what is really going on.
This misdirection in the media is frightening. As Edward R. Murrow said of television in his speech at the RTNDA convention in Chicago, October 15, 1958:
"This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box."
Control of the media is the first step in controlling people. Mussolini knew that.
"Propaganda is neutrally defined as a systematic form of purposeful persuasion that attempts to influence the emotions, attitudes, opinions, and actions of specified target audiences for ideological, political or commercial purposes through the controlled transmission of one-sided messages (which may or may not be factual) via mass and direct media channels. A propaganda organization employs propagandists who engage in propagandism—the applied creation and distribution of such forms of persuasion."
—R.A. Nelson, A Chronology and Glossary of Propaganda in the United States, 1996
Germany had Joseph Goebbels. America has Karl Rove.
Our story is not being told. The story of the Iraq war is not being told. Who will tell it? Bill Moyers said it best, in his remarks at the National Conference for Media Reform, in Memphis on January 12th of this year:
"This is the moment freedom begins. The moment you realize someone else has been writing your story, and it's time you took the pen from his hand and started writing it yourself."
It is not too late to take back what is ours, before we slip into despotism. It is not too late to take back our freedom, to take back the soul of America. It is not up to politicians to decide our fates, but rather it is we ourselves.
Pick up a protest sign. Pick up a bullhorn. Pick up a pen. We have to win.
Peace
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Ripples in the Pond
First thanks to all those who provided photos & other resources for this blog. I will be creating a webshots album tomorrow (well, later today) with all the photos, create a link to it here on the blog page and email everyone on the short list a link. Too many pictures and links were sent to include everything here. I have tried my best to document accurately. If anyone has comments or feels that I left something out, please feel free to email me.
If you are looking for the video records of the events in Washington, please see my Peace Resource Page.
We have reached a new threshold in the struggle for peace. The events of the past few days were significant in many ways, and across the U.S., there were over 60 protests against the war in Iraq. In San Diego, over 2,000 participated in the event in Balboa Park. In other cities, apart from the nation's capitol, numbers at those events ranged from 200 in San Jose to over 3,000 in Los Angeles.
In Washington DC, the event was somewhat larger.
Most mainstream media outlets estimated the crowd at "tens of thousands" which was reported early, and most press outlets just seemed to run with that. There was no attempt at a credible estimate of the numbers. Event organizers, however, estimate the march as having over 500,000 people participating.
I am fortunate enough to have a family member that lives in Washington, and so with discount plane fare, was able to afford the trip. I arrived in Washington on the evening of Wednesday January 24th. Once I got settled, I called a few people that I knew were going to be in town, and made arrangements to meet a few people the next day.
Thursday morning I took the Metro (subway) downtown, and met with some members of Veterans for Peace (VFP) at their hotel. The four of us (Bruce, Will, Elliott, and myself) had a leisurely bite and coffee, and discussed a variety of things as well as plans for the next few days. For them it was old home week, with reminiscences of past marches and other protest events, while for me it was a learning experience. I am relatively new to activism, and am trying to emulate a sponge when I am around people with knowledge and experience.
Later that day a Veterans For Peace event "Support and Defend the Constitution" was planned at 2:00pm. The event basically was veterans and others affirming or re-affirming our oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. There was also readings from VFP's case for impeachment, and statements by several VFP members, including Colonel Ann Wright, who resigned her position in the U.S. Department of State when the United States invaded Iraq, and has been active in the peace movement ever since.
Following that, three of our original group (minus Elliott, he had to go do some more organizing - he's a busy guy) went tramping around DC with protest signs. I was mostly a tag-along, without an actual sign until later in the trip. We made a special trip to the White House, and posed with a large banner. The Secret Service (uniform division) made a special point of getting our names, though they were happy to get just our first names. When they asked if we planned any civil disobedience today, Will cheerfully told them "not today".
After that, we walked through the cold (by that time it was snowing) back to their hotel, and after checking my email and hanging out for a bit, I headed back.
Thursday night I found out through the grapevine (thanks Barbara!) that Elliott needed help with security at the stage area on the east end of the Mall, toward the Capitol. I volunteered to do a shift from 3:00am to 6:00am Friday morning. Though it was cold, it was something that needed to be done, though that pretty much wrecked me for anything else during the day on Friday.
Friday evening I went to a candlelight vigil, again in front of the White House, focusing on the torture issue. After that event, we went as a group to the Harrington Hotel, and met in a conference room arranged by Barbara. We started the evening as an eclectic group of activists from all over the U.S. (plus one Aussie and an American woman living in Rome).
There were a lot of different people there, Vets for Peace people, Camp Casey Alumni, various San Diego activists, Code Pink people, a variety of Freeway Bloggers, and a few progressively minded people we swept up off the street. The thing all of us had in common was the experience of working with, hanging with, or experiencing the consequences of knowing the amazing Barbara Cummings. We agreed to call ourselves "Friends of Barbara", and to join a yahoo group, which Barbara will set up. I will post a link to it once it's established.
Friends of Barbara
Colonel Ann Wright
Crowd shot
Friday night (or technically, Saturday morning) I again did security watch at the stage structure from 12:00 to 3:00. I managed to get a few hours sleep both before and after, however, and so was ready for the march the next day.
This was really one of the most amazing days, well, ever. The Metro was choked with activists, and a bunch of us got off at the Judiciary Square stop, and since we shared a tourists knowledge of DC, managed to direct ourselves to the Mall.
I arrived early, close to 9:00am. The excitement started to build early, and a sea of protest signs soon cut off the view of the crowd. At the rally nobody on the ground really had any idea of how big it was. The plan was for Veterans and Families to lead off, so Vets For Peace, Iraq Vets Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, and Vietnam Vets Against the War were all supposed to gather at the front and march behind the celebrities. I heard only some of the speakers because we moved to the staging area partway through the rally, and things didn't go according to plan, mostly because of the size of the crowd.
The number of people was really amazing. I was actually happy to be back in the main pack of the marchers, and we went slower than most because we were negotiating our banner, which tended to get caught up on people and things. The whole thing was electrifying. The number of marchers were so great that they blew through the police barriers (without incident) and past the original parade route. The streets were choked sidewalk to sidewalk with people, and when the first of us finished the march, the last of us were starting. We completely surrounded the capitol, possibly for the first time since the sixties.
Will & Bruce (Vets For Peace)
Peace March Security Marshalls
These should give some idea of the actual size of the crowd:
San Diego Veterans For Peace
Part way up the first side of the street, on the way up the hill, there was a pitifully small group of counter-protesters, at most 75 in number. Their slogans were ignorant, and possibly racist. One guy was wearing a gas mask and holding a sign that said "Hippies Stink". There were three or four people carrying signs with a picture of Saddam in the noose, with the caption "Sic Semper Tyrranis". Since this quotes John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln's assassin, they were either completely ignorant of history with no idea of the implications of the quote, or were aware of the underlying meaning and meant to imply something else. There was no incident, and they were not a significant influence on the march.
The exuberance and good spirit of the march is what made the most impact on me. There was no confrontation that I saw, save for a few words exchanged with the counter-protesters, and everyone that I talked to had a feeling of hopefulness. The police were relaxed, though watchful, and seemed a bit bemused that there were so many marchers. The other thing that struck me was the number of young people in the march. A significant percentage of the demonstrators were in their twenties or younger. This is hopeful for the future of the peace movement.
No words necessary
Several of our local San Diego VFP members went out for dinner afterwards, then we went our separate ways.
On Sunday I attended a series of seminars hosted by Progressive Democrats of America, United for Peace and Justice, and others, on how best to lobby your congressman. There were a variety of seminars offered in the morning, and I went to a lecture on the history of Iraq since the war, and an analysis of the current political situation in Iraq. The three presenters were Rusty Eisenberg, a peace protester and former history professor; Aaron Gilante, a journalist who has been to Iraq three times during the war, the last time in 2005; and Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi National living in Washington and working as a lobbyist trying to educate government officials about Iraq. It was really an amazing amount of information, and an excellent analysis that has answered a lot of my questions about the complex mess that is otherwise known as the occupation of Iraq.
The afternoon was spent with a series of speakers advising us about a number of ways of staying on message, and making sure the congress heard what it was we were saying. In other words: De-fund the war, bring our troops home, take care of them once they are home, no war with Iran, and investigate the shit out of the Bush Administration. After we heard the speakers, we broke up by state, and got some basic information about California, then actually broke up by district. The San Diego people all got together and we decided to go to all five of our congressmen together. The appointments were sequential, and we were able to attend all of them.
First, at 9:00am, we met in the cafeteria of the Rayburn building for breakfast, and to plan the day. I got there a bit early, and got some strange looks from the congressional staffers and lobbyists having their coffee, but it was sort of fun to watch them get more and more surprised as the cafeteria began to fill up with peace activists. There were probably over a hundred of us, scattered amongst the suits.
At 11:00am we went to the office of Duncan Hunter (R-CA, 52nd District).
I was a point person for this one, since I am one of his constituents, and had gone through something of an obstacle course, along with a few others, trying to get a meeting scheduled. I ended up getting the meeting arranged with his office. Hunter himself was out of town, campaigning for President in New Hampshire. Our meeting was with Vicki Middleton, his Chief of Staff. The meeting lasted about thirty-five minutes, and mostly Ms. Middleton just took notes and nodded. She did clarify some positions, but was somewhat evasive about his positions on pretty much everything. I myself know where he stands on most things, based on our recent correspondence. I think we did make an impact on her when I presented her with a pair of baby shoes with the name of Akea Hmza Mushad Alhgebr, who was an Iraqi child killed in the war at the age of 11 months.
On the way out of Hunter's office, there was a camera crew filming some kind of award being given to Congresswoman Woolsey for, as Jeeni Criscenzo put it, "Having a spine". Jeeni got interviewed, and then handed me the mike, and the camera started rolling and I did the best I could.
Our next meeting was not until 1:00pm, so we had decided as a group to attend a memorial service event. Several dozen people were in the courtyard of the Rayburn building near the reflecting pool. It was their intent to follow in spirit the example of the group known as the White Rose Society, a group of students that said "We will not be silent" and protested the Nazi atrocities during World War II. This event was to be specificially in remembrance of those that have died, and in protest of the atrocities of the Bush administration. Those gathered threw white roses into the reflecting pool in the courtyard of the Rayburn House office building, and said the name of one who has fallen.
The Capitol Police decided that the event was a threat. They blocked all the doors leading to the courtyard, and refused to let anyone else in to participate in this quiet and artistic protest. They repeatedly demanded that everyone leave. In the course of this, they threatened members of the media with arrest if they continued to take pictures. Those of us blocked from entering tried to explain the circumstances of the protest, and were ordered to clear the area.
We gathered on the steps overlooking the foyer leading to the courtyard and watched. Someone started to sing Give Peace a Chance, and we all just joined in. Then we sang We Shall Overcome. There were nine brave people
who chose to stay, including an associate member of Veterans for Peace, and as they were led off in handcuffs, all of us chanted "The whole world is watching" over and over.
There is a short article in the Washington Post, that got several pertinent facts wrong, but at least there was some media coverage of it.
Those of our group that remained went on, and we next went to see Susan Davis's assistant in her office at 1:00pm (D-CA, 53rd District).
There we were well received, and were assured that Congresswoman Davis was on our side. Her assistant seemed knowledgable about the issues, and about the specifice resolutions and bills we were concerned with, and with our concerns about investigation. There was however, no real commitment to vote any particular way on any specific measure.
Then at 2:00pm we met with Brian Bilbray (R-CA, 50th District).
Congressman Bilbray was arrogant, rude, condescending, and dismissive. The meeting in his office was a long thirty minutes. Once his constituents made the basic points, the rest of us spoke up on several issues. At one point, I did get a bit heated with Mr. Bilbray when he was cross-examining me about alternatives to the American occupation of Iraq. When we left his office, everyone was a bit tense. No, everyone was really pissed off.
At 4:30pm we met with Darrell Issa (R-CA, 49th District).
He, in something of a nice contrast to Bilbray, was charming. He does have a soul, and was moved by the gift of childrens shoes. These shoes represent a specific Iraqi child, orphaned in the war. Sadly, due to the loss of his parents, nobody, including the child, knows his real name. Issa did not budge in his positions, but did acknowledge mistakes made by the Bush administration. If things continue to worsen, though he did not say it, he may change his position.
At 5:30pm we were welcomed by Bob Filner (D-CA, 51st District) into our last meeting.
Rumor has it that he changed his flight to an earlier one so that he could meet with us, and he certainly pushed it timewise to the limit, leaving right at (or a little after) 6:30, probably being a bit late for a vote. He was attentive, serious, and paid attention to everything that was said. He was already co-sponsoring all the important pieces of legislation that we were concerned about so there was perhaps no overriding reason for our visit, but for us it was a necessary and welcome change from each of the other visits. He was himself a Freedom Rider in the sixties, which is something I didn't know until another San Diegan told me after our meeting.
His suggestions were for me some of the most important things I heard that day. To paraphrase him, he said that we should engage the middle. By that I mean that even though 70% of Americans believe that we should get out of Iraq, that doesn't mean that 70% of Americans are doing something about that. Engaging those people who know something is wrong but are pretending that nothing is wrong, may be the most important work we do.
Good places to engage these folks are places like the Rotary Club, the Lions Club, Elks lodges and other places where average Americans get together. These are the places that all the politicians visit, and that all the politicians get asked questions. If Issa, Davis, and Bilbray were questioned about getting out of Iraq in these places, they might reconsider their positions more than if peace activists or liberal talk radio ask about it.
I think his point is well taken. All in all the protest and the follow up with Congress was highly effective. It was a turning point for me. I have been dedicated to the peace movement for some time now, but I see a way to effective protest. Non-violence and education are the keys to this, and there are a number of ways we can step up the pressure and let Congress know that we are watching. The question is, how do we turn that middle into people concerned enough to get involved, even in small ways. How do we enlarge our base of support and affect the opinions of the people of the United States enough to get them to see that their way of life is threatened.
Jeeni Criscenzo's blog made a good point, in that civil disobedience actions may become more important as time goes on. I have learned a great deal about people, about motivations, about fear, and about courage over the last seven days. I know that it will take a great deal of courage to stand up and force this government of ours to recognize change, and after witnessing the overreaction of the Capitol Police against a few people throwing roses in a pond, I know that many of us must take heart. I have long said that I cannot afford to be arrested, since it would affect my employment, and I don't have the financial wherewithal to just pull up stakes, but sometimes risks must be taken, where appropriate. I don't know what I will do the next time people of good conscience are being led away in handcuffs. I do know in my heart, that it was those I saw standing up for their principles and being arrested that were courageous, and it was the police who were acting out of fear.
Peace
If you are looking for the video records of the events in Washington, please see my Peace Resource Page.
We have reached a new threshold in the struggle for peace. The events of the past few days were significant in many ways, and across the U.S., there were over 60 protests against the war in Iraq. In San Diego, over 2,000 participated in the event in Balboa Park. In other cities, apart from the nation's capitol, numbers at those events ranged from 200 in San Jose to over 3,000 in Los Angeles.
In Washington DC, the event was somewhat larger.
Most mainstream media outlets estimated the crowd at "tens of thousands" which was reported early, and most press outlets just seemed to run with that. There was no attempt at a credible estimate of the numbers. Event organizers, however, estimate the march as having over 500,000 people participating.
I am fortunate enough to have a family member that lives in Washington, and so with discount plane fare, was able to afford the trip. I arrived in Washington on the evening of Wednesday January 24th. Once I got settled, I called a few people that I knew were going to be in town, and made arrangements to meet a few people the next day.
Thursday morning I took the Metro (subway) downtown, and met with some members of Veterans for Peace (VFP) at their hotel. The four of us (Bruce, Will, Elliott, and myself) had a leisurely bite and coffee, and discussed a variety of things as well as plans for the next few days. For them it was old home week, with reminiscences of past marches and other protest events, while for me it was a learning experience. I am relatively new to activism, and am trying to emulate a sponge when I am around people with knowledge and experience.
Later that day a Veterans For Peace event "Support and Defend the Constitution" was planned at 2:00pm. The event basically was veterans and others affirming or re-affirming our oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. There was also readings from VFP's case for impeachment, and statements by several VFP members, including Colonel Ann Wright, who resigned her position in the U.S. Department of State when the United States invaded Iraq, and has been active in the peace movement ever since.
Following that, three of our original group (minus Elliott, he had to go do some more organizing - he's a busy guy) went tramping around DC with protest signs. I was mostly a tag-along, without an actual sign until later in the trip. We made a special trip to the White House, and posed with a large banner. The Secret Service (uniform division) made a special point of getting our names, though they were happy to get just our first names. When they asked if we planned any civil disobedience today, Will cheerfully told them "not today".
After that, we walked through the cold (by that time it was snowing) back to their hotel, and after checking my email and hanging out for a bit, I headed back.
Thursday night I found out through the grapevine (thanks Barbara!) that Elliott needed help with security at the stage area on the east end of the Mall, toward the Capitol. I volunteered to do a shift from 3:00am to 6:00am Friday morning. Though it was cold, it was something that needed to be done, though that pretty much wrecked me for anything else during the day on Friday.
Friday evening I went to a candlelight vigil, again in front of the White House, focusing on the torture issue. After that event, we went as a group to the Harrington Hotel, and met in a conference room arranged by Barbara. We started the evening as an eclectic group of activists from all over the U.S. (plus one Aussie and an American woman living in Rome).
There were a lot of different people there, Vets for Peace people, Camp Casey Alumni, various San Diego activists, Code Pink people, a variety of Freeway Bloggers, and a few progressively minded people we swept up off the street. The thing all of us had in common was the experience of working with, hanging with, or experiencing the consequences of knowing the amazing Barbara Cummings. We agreed to call ourselves "Friends of Barbara", and to join a yahoo group, which Barbara will set up. I will post a link to it once it's established.
Friends of Barbara
Colonel Ann Wright
Crowd shot
Friday night (or technically, Saturday morning) I again did security watch at the stage structure from 12:00 to 3:00. I managed to get a few hours sleep both before and after, however, and so was ready for the march the next day.
This was really one of the most amazing days, well, ever. The Metro was choked with activists, and a bunch of us got off at the Judiciary Square stop, and since we shared a tourists knowledge of DC, managed to direct ourselves to the Mall.
I arrived early, close to 9:00am. The excitement started to build early, and a sea of protest signs soon cut off the view of the crowd. At the rally nobody on the ground really had any idea of how big it was. The plan was for Veterans and Families to lead off, so Vets For Peace, Iraq Vets Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, and Vietnam Vets Against the War were all supposed to gather at the front and march behind the celebrities. I heard only some of the speakers because we moved to the staging area partway through the rally, and things didn't go according to plan, mostly because of the size of the crowd.
The number of people was really amazing. I was actually happy to be back in the main pack of the marchers, and we went slower than most because we were negotiating our banner, which tended to get caught up on people and things. The whole thing was electrifying. The number of marchers were so great that they blew through the police barriers (without incident) and past the original parade route. The streets were choked sidewalk to sidewalk with people, and when the first of us finished the march, the last of us were starting. We completely surrounded the capitol, possibly for the first time since the sixties.
Will & Bruce (Vets For Peace)
Peace March Security Marshalls
These should give some idea of the actual size of the crowd:
San Diego Veterans For Peace
Part way up the first side of the street, on the way up the hill, there was a pitifully small group of counter-protesters, at most 75 in number. Their slogans were ignorant, and possibly racist. One guy was wearing a gas mask and holding a sign that said "Hippies Stink". There were three or four people carrying signs with a picture of Saddam in the noose, with the caption "Sic Semper Tyrranis". Since this quotes John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln's assassin, they were either completely ignorant of history with no idea of the implications of the quote, or were aware of the underlying meaning and meant to imply something else. There was no incident, and they were not a significant influence on the march.
The exuberance and good spirit of the march is what made the most impact on me. There was no confrontation that I saw, save for a few words exchanged with the counter-protesters, and everyone that I talked to had a feeling of hopefulness. The police were relaxed, though watchful, and seemed a bit bemused that there were so many marchers. The other thing that struck me was the number of young people in the march. A significant percentage of the demonstrators were in their twenties or younger. This is hopeful for the future of the peace movement.
No words necessary
Several of our local San Diego VFP members went out for dinner afterwards, then we went our separate ways.
On Sunday I attended a series of seminars hosted by Progressive Democrats of America, United for Peace and Justice, and others, on how best to lobby your congressman. There were a variety of seminars offered in the morning, and I went to a lecture on the history of Iraq since the war, and an analysis of the current political situation in Iraq. The three presenters were Rusty Eisenberg, a peace protester and former history professor; Aaron Gilante, a journalist who has been to Iraq three times during the war, the last time in 2005; and Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi National living in Washington and working as a lobbyist trying to educate government officials about Iraq. It was really an amazing amount of information, and an excellent analysis that has answered a lot of my questions about the complex mess that is otherwise known as the occupation of Iraq.
The afternoon was spent with a series of speakers advising us about a number of ways of staying on message, and making sure the congress heard what it was we were saying. In other words: De-fund the war, bring our troops home, take care of them once they are home, no war with Iran, and investigate the shit out of the Bush Administration. After we heard the speakers, we broke up by state, and got some basic information about California, then actually broke up by district. The San Diego people all got together and we decided to go to all five of our congressmen together. The appointments were sequential, and we were able to attend all of them.
First, at 9:00am, we met in the cafeteria of the Rayburn building for breakfast, and to plan the day. I got there a bit early, and got some strange looks from the congressional staffers and lobbyists having their coffee, but it was sort of fun to watch them get more and more surprised as the cafeteria began to fill up with peace activists. There were probably over a hundred of us, scattered amongst the suits.
At 11:00am we went to the office of Duncan Hunter (R-CA, 52nd District).
I was a point person for this one, since I am one of his constituents, and had gone through something of an obstacle course, along with a few others, trying to get a meeting scheduled. I ended up getting the meeting arranged with his office. Hunter himself was out of town, campaigning for President in New Hampshire. Our meeting was with Vicki Middleton, his Chief of Staff. The meeting lasted about thirty-five minutes, and mostly Ms. Middleton just took notes and nodded. She did clarify some positions, but was somewhat evasive about his positions on pretty much everything. I myself know where he stands on most things, based on our recent correspondence. I think we did make an impact on her when I presented her with a pair of baby shoes with the name of Akea Hmza Mushad Alhgebr, who was an Iraqi child killed in the war at the age of 11 months.
On the way out of Hunter's office, there was a camera crew filming some kind of award being given to Congresswoman Woolsey for, as Jeeni Criscenzo put it, "Having a spine". Jeeni got interviewed, and then handed me the mike, and the camera started rolling and I did the best I could.
Our next meeting was not until 1:00pm, so we had decided as a group to attend a memorial service event. Several dozen people were in the courtyard of the Rayburn building near the reflecting pool. It was their intent to follow in spirit the example of the group known as the White Rose Society, a group of students that said "We will not be silent" and protested the Nazi atrocities during World War II. This event was to be specificially in remembrance of those that have died, and in protest of the atrocities of the Bush administration. Those gathered threw white roses into the reflecting pool in the courtyard of the Rayburn House office building, and said the name of one who has fallen.
The Capitol Police decided that the event was a threat. They blocked all the doors leading to the courtyard, and refused to let anyone else in to participate in this quiet and artistic protest. They repeatedly demanded that everyone leave. In the course of this, they threatened members of the media with arrest if they continued to take pictures. Those of us blocked from entering tried to explain the circumstances of the protest, and were ordered to clear the area.
We gathered on the steps overlooking the foyer leading to the courtyard and watched. Someone started to sing Give Peace a Chance, and we all just joined in. Then we sang We Shall Overcome. There were nine brave people
who chose to stay, including an associate member of Veterans for Peace, and as they were led off in handcuffs, all of us chanted "The whole world is watching" over and over.
There is a short article in the Washington Post, that got several pertinent facts wrong, but at least there was some media coverage of it.
Those of our group that remained went on, and we next went to see Susan Davis's assistant in her office at 1:00pm (D-CA, 53rd District).
There we were well received, and were assured that Congresswoman Davis was on our side. Her assistant seemed knowledgable about the issues, and about the specifice resolutions and bills we were concerned with, and with our concerns about investigation. There was however, no real commitment to vote any particular way on any specific measure.
Then at 2:00pm we met with Brian Bilbray (R-CA, 50th District).
Congressman Bilbray was arrogant, rude, condescending, and dismissive. The meeting in his office was a long thirty minutes. Once his constituents made the basic points, the rest of us spoke up on several issues. At one point, I did get a bit heated with Mr. Bilbray when he was cross-examining me about alternatives to the American occupation of Iraq. When we left his office, everyone was a bit tense. No, everyone was really pissed off.
At 4:30pm we met with Darrell Issa (R-CA, 49th District).
He, in something of a nice contrast to Bilbray, was charming. He does have a soul, and was moved by the gift of childrens shoes. These shoes represent a specific Iraqi child, orphaned in the war. Sadly, due to the loss of his parents, nobody, including the child, knows his real name. Issa did not budge in his positions, but did acknowledge mistakes made by the Bush administration. If things continue to worsen, though he did not say it, he may change his position.
At 5:30pm we were welcomed by Bob Filner (D-CA, 51st District) into our last meeting.
Rumor has it that he changed his flight to an earlier one so that he could meet with us, and he certainly pushed it timewise to the limit, leaving right at (or a little after) 6:30, probably being a bit late for a vote. He was attentive, serious, and paid attention to everything that was said. He was already co-sponsoring all the important pieces of legislation that we were concerned about so there was perhaps no overriding reason for our visit, but for us it was a necessary and welcome change from each of the other visits. He was himself a Freedom Rider in the sixties, which is something I didn't know until another San Diegan told me after our meeting.
His suggestions were for me some of the most important things I heard that day. To paraphrase him, he said that we should engage the middle. By that I mean that even though 70% of Americans believe that we should get out of Iraq, that doesn't mean that 70% of Americans are doing something about that. Engaging those people who know something is wrong but are pretending that nothing is wrong, may be the most important work we do.
Good places to engage these folks are places like the Rotary Club, the Lions Club, Elks lodges and other places where average Americans get together. These are the places that all the politicians visit, and that all the politicians get asked questions. If Issa, Davis, and Bilbray were questioned about getting out of Iraq in these places, they might reconsider their positions more than if peace activists or liberal talk radio ask about it.
I think his point is well taken. All in all the protest and the follow up with Congress was highly effective. It was a turning point for me. I have been dedicated to the peace movement for some time now, but I see a way to effective protest. Non-violence and education are the keys to this, and there are a number of ways we can step up the pressure and let Congress know that we are watching. The question is, how do we turn that middle into people concerned enough to get involved, even in small ways. How do we enlarge our base of support and affect the opinions of the people of the United States enough to get them to see that their way of life is threatened.
Jeeni Criscenzo's blog made a good point, in that civil disobedience actions may become more important as time goes on. I have learned a great deal about people, about motivations, about fear, and about courage over the last seven days. I know that it will take a great deal of courage to stand up and force this government of ours to recognize change, and after witnessing the overreaction of the Capitol Police against a few people throwing roses in a pond, I know that many of us must take heart. I have long said that I cannot afford to be arrested, since it would affect my employment, and I don't have the financial wherewithal to just pull up stakes, but sometimes risks must be taken, where appropriate. I don't know what I will do the next time people of good conscience are being led away in handcuffs. I do know in my heart, that it was those I saw standing up for their principles and being arrested that were courageous, and it was the police who were acting out of fear.
Peace
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