Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Where Have all the Peaceniks Gone? by Cindy Sheehan
I believe it is human nature to want to be right (as in “correct” not “conservative). I like to be right. I also like to research my facts because being wrong to me is embarrassing. The one time I would have loved to be in error, though, was in a conviction that began over two years ago. I was convinced that Barack Obama was not the progressive-peace-savior that many of my friends and colleagues were making him out to be.
But, I was right about that, and I think the facts have borne me out: the Overseas Contingency Operation (formerly known as George’s War OF Terror) has become even more of a quagmire under the new regime; healthcare was not so much reformed or overhauled as it was a handout to the health insurance companies; the oppressive police state is increasing; no accountability for war criminals (few people will prosecute themselves); torture continues; financial industry reform looks like it is guaranteed for further rich v. poor conquest; and this administration has proven to be as good a friend to Big Oil as the last one.
To some of us, the problem is not so much that Obama has proven to be a dismal failure—because we know that he has been a huge success to the ruling class and corporations--but that partisan politics always overshadows common sense and true peace. We lost a lot of time giving Obama a “chance,” and thousands have lost their lives and their ways of life.
I was outraged when, after three days in office, Obama authorized a drone strike into Northern Pakistan that killed dozens of civilians, but I was excoriated for being outraged. I was devastated when he announced an increase in troops (3 times so far) to Afghanistan, and attacked for not caring about Afghan women (the ones our Empire are “protecting” by killing them and their children). I was laughed out of town when I was infuriated that Obama had declared himself “Judge, jury and executioner” of American citizens. People who formerly supported me told me to “shut up and go away, you have had your 15 minutes of fame.”
I was deeply hurt and lonely when everyone from celebrities to my friends in the peace-trenches abandoned me for someone who did not even have a principled campaign platform. However, I could not abandon my principles to support someone who did not conform to them.
Today, my friend, Rob Kall of OpEd News wrote a scathing article about the financial aid “reform” bill after he spent significant time researching it. Rob is someone that I debated with during the campaign and to see him write that he will do everything in his power to make sure that Obama is a “one-term president” was a very, dare I say, “hopeful” sign to me. I knew Rob would come around because he is insightful and compassionate.
It is very, very difficult to admit to making a mistake. I had to admit to making one of the most personally tragic errors possible—I failed my son and he is dead—killed by this Empire.
If you were an Obama supporter, I get that, but it’s time to pull your head out of the clouds and realize that you got fooled again. It’s hard to resist multi-million dollar marketing campaigns that give one the urge to rush out to buy the “new and improved, lemony-minty fresh” product, but it also usually doesn’t take one long to figure out it was only the same old garbage in a new package.
The clock is ticking and until we all figure out that it’s “The Empire, Stupid” (to borrow a ruling class phrase), nothing will change for the better.
We are trying to build a movement that is resistant to changing winds and that will stand strong on its principles to fight the tyrannical violence of this Empire with all of our strength, energy, and resources no matter who is in office.
I can also understand the urge to “have it both ways.” However, you can’t be intellectually honest with yourself, or your own heart and support the Democratic Party. It is simply too incongruous. The only way to show that you are for peace and against racism, tyranny, and the destruction of the environment, is to not bend to, or bend over for, the War Party.
Please join and support Peace of the Action (heavy emphasis on Action).
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Offically FUBAR by Cindy Sheehan
Officially FUBAR!
"If Americans pulled back and started paying attention to this war, it would become even less popular," a senior adviser to head of NATO ops in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal (via Rolling Stone)
FUBAR: Military slang for: Fu#ked Up Beyond All/Any Repair/Recognition. FUBAR also has a close military acronym: SNAFU: Situation Normal All Fu#ked Up.
FUBAR and SNAFU can be traced back to WWII—you know that war. That’s the war (the last constitutionally declared by Congress) that, along with the US Civil War, is the war that is held up as the shining example of the goodness, nay GREATNESS of the United States of America. The war where we freed the entire planet of fascism, Nazi-ism, imperialism and made the world safe for FREEDOM (and freedom’s Siamese Twin: DEMOCRACY)!
So, if the people who were actually in the trenches were recognizing the war, even the GREAT ONE was FUBAR—then we have only gone rapidly downhill from there. Even Marine Major General Smedley Butler (War is a Racket) pointed out that the “War to end all Wars” (WWI) just led to WWII and after he passed away in 1940: Korea, Vietnam, the Balkans, the First Gulf War and now our stains in the Middle East. As a matter of fact, since WWII, we have NEVER been at peace.
The SNAFU over the Rolling Stone article where Stanley is openly and disrespectfully critical of Obama, Biden, Ambassador Eikenberry and others is indicative of a few things to me:
First of all, there is a little known aspect of this developing story: McChrystal was given final approval over the version of the story that appeared in the Rolling Stone—a person that achieves the elevated status in the elite world of McChrystal’s rarely rises to the top without knowing the rules and without knowing how to play the game. And trust me, this is a “game.” Does anyone believe that this story was a surprise to anyone in the Obama regime, or to McChrystal? No, obviously it wasn’t—so why now?
Secondly—with a cataclysm off of our very shores that is further proof that our Military-Corporate Complex is not equipped to handle catastrophes—this SNAFU proves that the Military-Corporate Complex is not even equipped to handle wars. The Empire is crumbling, and it’s crumbling even faster than I would imagine than I predicted—so I have to celebrate the news that just demonstrates how FUBAR things are in Afghanistan. Of course, the stats of civilian deaths (yeah, right—we are protecting civilians) and NATO and US troop deaths are there. There can be no disputing facts. No matter how much one wants to think that Obama is “better than Bush” or is “better than McCain” really has to look no farther than these hard-core facts.
All of this posturing and speechifying is nothing but a distraction from the fact that our economy is FUBAR, the Gulf of Mexico is FUBAR, the wars are FUBAR and Wikileaks is set to come out soon with another video of a bombing incident that killed over 100 civilians in Afghanistan and was covered up. When Obama appointed McChrystal to this job, he knew that he had already covered up the murder of Spc. Pat Tillman.
Also, on the heels of the Marjah Offensive (“bleeding ulcer” according to McChrystal), the Kandahar offensive is approaching and with June already being a deadly month, things will only get worse.
Thirdly, of course McChrystal is offering himself up as the sacrificial lamb of the FUBAR Empire. Already, I am getting Democrats emailing me and telling me that it is “wonderful” that McChrystal is resigning because he “made Obama send more troops to Afghanistan.” Again—are you serious? Obama made gave top billing to the fact that he was going to send more troops to Afghanistan, as a campaign promise. When the “leak” came out that McChrystal wanted more troops near the end of 2009, all that did was give Obama the political space to do what he promised to do all along. “See, I didn’t really want to send more troops to a mission that was FUBAR from the beginning, but my top-ranking General in the field made me!”
“As the Iraq war winds down, Obama said, he wants to see troops redirected to Afghanistan. He said the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda was a war ‘we have to win’ and repeated his call for two more combat brigades in Afghanistan to counteract "deteriorating" conditions.” (LA Times July 16, 2008).
The problem is—and has been for decades—the Military-Corporate Complex. However, if we want valid change, we also have to look deeper.
Five months shy of two years ago, many of you went to the polls and voted for Obama because you were from mildly disappointed to wildly angry at the Bush administration. I get that emotion—I do. But even I realized that Bush was not THE problem, but only A problem. The real problem is the system that keeps killing our children and the children of other nations and cultures. It has been doing it from the beginning of our time and it will be doing it until our end if we don’t recognize that an Empire exists to feed on others to enrich, empower and give itself health. We cannot be a healthy society when we live in an Empire—no matter who sits on the throne.
The wars are FUBAR—the Empire is FUBAR. Even in the beginning it was a system for the elite. Now, we are not only the down trodden, but the trodden on. Trampled on, but not defeated yet.
Peace of the Action is calling you to come to Washington DC to confront the bleeding ulcers in the Gulf and in the Middle East and Asia. We also have to confront and come to terms with the fact that we are an Empire and it will be good in the long-term if it crumbles—and we are already feeling the gross-effects of the collapse in our homes and communities—conditions in the economy and ecology will undoubtedly get far worse before they get better, but if we deal with these issues as a caring community—not as a class at war with itself—we can, and shall overcome.
Peace of the Action is also calling on all troops of good conscience to refuse to participate in these international war crimes against humanity—please don’t allow yourself to be used as a token in this elitist game of destruction and death for profit! It’s far better to pay consequences for being a conscientious objector, than to be dead at a very young age—or to kill innocent people.
If you can’t make it to DC—please donate to keep us going!
Breaking news: As I was writing this, Obama announced that he accepted McChrystal’s resignation and that General David Petraeus would be taking over. Swell—another insider of the Military-Corporate Complex. Of course, in Obama’s speech, he never even hinted that the mission was FUBAR—or that it will be re-evaluated—the Empire rolls on, just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. There is nothing “salvageable” about this disaster.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
"Let Them Eat Oil" by Cindy Sheehan
I am now on an airplane heading home (for two days) after my very profound and moving experience in the Gulf Region.
Monday, June 21st, a few dozen activists, scientists, environmentalists and concerned citizens gathered in front of the Deepwater Horizon Response Unified Command Center to present our list of demands to the office that houses BP and 14 Federal Agencies (the FBI also has offices in the building).
We pulled this protest together in two days and I was gratified at the turnout (one woman, Cyndie, came up from Florida) and especially with the turnout from the media. Usually the corporate media presents some hostility, but not today. After my interviews, many of them said words to this affect: “Thank you for being here to help us call attention to this disaster.” Wow! Even the jaded press realizes what an enormous tragedy this is!
After we held an improvised mini-rally, we moved in towards the building to present our list of demands. Of course we were accosted by building security, but about
10 of us made it up to the 14th floor of the Eni Petroleum building, where we were accosted by even more security.
Debra Sweet, the National Director of World Can’t Wait kept telling people that we weren’t destroying any property or killing anyone (like BP and the US war machine) and that we were coming in peace to present our demands. A slimy representative of BP came out into the entryway and told us he would take our demands, but we insisted on reading them.
He finally said: “If you don’t get out of our space, we will have to call NOPD.” How dare he!? His company has caused the biggest (and for want of a $500,000 acoustic blowout preventer—needless) environmental disaster in the history of this nation and he tells us to get out of “his space!” First of all, with 14 Federal Agencies being housed there, I think it is “our space,” and all the people on this planet who will be affected by their crimes have the absolute right to be not only heard, but listened to.
People, we ALL will be adversely affected by this Oil-Cano and the under-reaction of Corporate-Federal government to it. 300 (plus or minus) million of us have to be involved in the Emergency Response to it. If you can’t make it to the Gulf to clean, there are things you can do from your home.
GO HERE FOR SOME SUGGESTIONS
Email from Atlanta resident, Mary Ellen Sheehan (no relation), about her trip from NOLA back to Atlanta yesterday:
Greetings Wonderful People
I had to head back to Atlanta but I did stop at Dauphin Island, Alabama. When I tried to go to the western end of the island, I was stopped by security and told that the beach was closed and only residents and contractors could pass through. I went to a nearby beach toward the middle of the island and it was shocking. The smell of oil was very strong and my skin and the roof of my mouth began to feel “coated” (I had the same experience in Grand Isle—Cindy).
Contracted workers were walking up and down the beach picking up peaces of oil. There were tented stations at regular intervals where more contractors were gathered. It was a dead zone. I saw one bird.
My best,
Mary Ellen
Dauphin Island seems to be getting slammed right now and there won’t be any let up soon.
When we were on Grand Isle yesterday, it was unbelievably hot and just walking from Point A to Point B required a lot of exertion. While Tony Balogna was yachting and Barack Obama was Bushing (oops—I mean golfing); workers were dropping like flies from the heat and a literal way of life was dying.
To Tony and Barack: Stop the damn gusher and get the damn oil out of the Gulf—treat this Environmental Holocaust with the seriousness and immediacy it deserves. Quit fiddling aournd while Rome is burning for gods' sake.
There was a revolution in France when the elite repeatedly and callously overstepped boundaries and Marie Antoinette was infamous for saying: “Let them eat cake.” This is the current attitude of the global elite of this world—seems like they need an attitude adjustment.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
A Day in the Gulf by Cindy Sheehan
The man in charge of the government that both permitted and abetted the heinous corporate crime (“Drill, baby, drill!”) should, by all rights, be in terminal disgrace. Instead, much of Obama’s “base” behaves as if the First Black President is an innocent party – a victim of circumstances – rather than a facilitator of the corporate enterprise that has spawned the Mother of all Pollutions.
Glenn Ford of Black Agenda Report
I am in New Orleans at a People’s Emergency Response to the cataclysm in the Gulf. It would be nice if the elitists in the world felt like this was an EMERGENCY, but it’s obvious that the crisis plays into the hands of the globalists and the devastation does not bother them at all except for how this will affect them politically.
World Can’t Wait organized the event in combo with activists in the New Orleans area. We have people from all over the country in attendance. Some people recognize that this is a global catastrophe—not a problem localized to a few shrimpers, fishers and oil workers.
Today, I got an email from James Carville who is from this area and who has been a kind of critic of the Obama administration over the whole “Oil-Cano” incident in the Gulf, and it has a picture of Sarah Palin with “Drill, baby, drill,” superimposed on it. This email is supposed to make us think that the fault of this cataclysm is totally confined to the Republican Party, and more specifically to the right-wing idiot faction of the RP.
What are we supposed to do with this information? Are we supposed to react to this email from the DCCC with horror and be profoundly grateful that McCain/Palin didn’t win? If the Republican ticket got into the White House, there might have been an enormous explosion from a drilling in the Gulf of Mexico that is spewing tens of thousands of barrels of oil into the ocean, threatening life on this planet as we know it?
Oh, that did happen and the administration is Democratic.
We are supposed to forget that the Obama regime granted BP the license to drill where it was in February of 2009.
We are supposed to forget that the Secretary of the Interior, Ben Salazar is a great friend of the oil companies/offshore drilling.
We are supposed to forget that about three weeks before the spill, Obama and Salazar announced a comprehensive offshore drilling plan at Andrew’s Air Force Base with much patriotic hullaballoo.
We are supposed to forget that Obama received more money from BP than any other candidate in the 2008 race.
We are supposed to forget that the US does not have a comprehensive energy program that does not include the use of fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) or the promotion of clean, sustainable and renewable sources of energy.
Like the unnecessary devastation after Katrina, this newest cataclysm began way before the well blew. The years of neglect of the levees and the poor communities surrounding them led to the biggest problems in New Orleans after the hurricane and our decades of devotion to the oil companies that are raping and pillaging our planet led to the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe.
This is truly not a Democrat or Republican problem and conversely the solution won’t come from there either.
I went down to Grand Isle with a contingent from the People’s Gulf Emergency Response Conference and there’s not a whole lot to report. The stench and the taste of the chemicals in the air was pretty bad—except that the locals say that the really bad smell and oil come in the morning and then it’s cleaned up pretty quickly, because that’s the “photo-op” locality. There were also orange booms along the shoreline about 20 feet from the ocean and we were told by security and sheriffs several times that if we crossed those barriers we would have to be “de-conned” and that it “wouldn’t be pleasant.” We heard that the media had moved on to Venice, LA where the slow creep of Armageddon was appearing next.
On the 2 ½ hour trip back and forth to Grand Isle from New Orleans, it was glaringly apparent that fishing and oil are the life of the Gulf—unfortunately, the most destructive one will probably survive without even a pause, and the one that has sustained the region and evolved from generations will die.
Along the main road in Grand Isle, a resident constructed a “graveyard” in front of his home with crosses that had names of things that have been killed by the cronyism between the government and BP.
Some of the Gulf traditions that are dead or dying that were represented by the crosses were: “Stargazing;” “Picnics,” “Frogs Croaking,” “Cajun Music,” “Family Time.”
If I had the opportunity to make a cross, I would have written: “My Grandchildren’s Future.”
We stopped at a Grand Isle diner for lunch and our server was very sweet. She told us that the “berms” that were constructed suit her just fine because she doesn’t want to see the problem or think too hard about her very way of life being destroyed. She looked at us with very weary-teary eyes and simply said: “Thank you for caring.”
ACTIVIST CINDY SHEEHAN TO LEAD PROTEST AGAINST DEEPWATER HORIZON UNIFED COMMAND CENTER IN NEW ORLEANS
CONTACT INFO: Call Cindy Sheehan, National Director of Peace of the Action: 707-301-6177
As one of the People’s responses to a historic meeting of activists from all over the country, there will be a protest at the: Deepwater Horizon Unified Response Command Center in New Orleans, LA, on Monday, June 21st from 12pm to 2pm.
“Obviously, the government and British Petroleum are not as invested in this planet as the people are,” said Sheehan from New Orleans. “As usual, we the people need to force the corporatists to meet our needs.”
The Command Center is located at 1250 Poydras Avenue in the Eni Petroleum building.
“Acts of Civil Resistance are definitely possible,” added Sheehan. “BP and our government are obviously committing terrible crimes and criminal negligence in the Gulf of Mexico—it’s time for us to stand up.”
The new Emergency People’s Coalition will deliver this group of demands to the Command Center:
1) Stop oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Full compensation, retraining and new employment, including public works, for all affected
2) The government and entire oil industry must allocate all necessary resources to stop and clean up the spill, prevent oil from hitting shore, protect wildlife, treat injured wildlife, and repair all devastation. Full support, including by compensation, must be given to peoples’ efforts on all these fronts and to save the Gulf.
3) No punishment to those taking independent initiative; no gag orders on people hired, contracted, or who volunteer; those responsible for this crime against the environment and the people should be prosecuted.
4) Full mobilization of scientists and engineers. Release scientific and technical data to the public; no more lying and covering up. Immediately end use of dispersants; full, open scientific evaluation of nature and impact of dispersants. Fund all necessary scientific and medical research.
5) Full compensation for all losing livelihood and income from the disaster.
6) Provide necessary medical services to those suffering health effects of the spill. Protect the health of and provide necessary equipment for everyone involved in clean up operations. Full disclosure of medical and scientific studies about the effects of the oil disaster.
--
Saturday, June 19, 2010
EMERGENCY PROTEST AGAINST BP AND THE US GOVERNEMENT
Protest the crimes of British Petroleum and the painfully slow and woefully inadequate response by both BP and the US Government..
From the People's Gulf Emergency Summit today in New Orleans, we found out that the
Deepwater Horizon Unified Response Command Center
has moved to New Orleans, near the infamous Superdome where many poor and black people were forced to evacuate to after Hurricane Katrina.
If you are in the area, come out to show your opposition to the collaboration of the destruction of the Gulf.
When: Monday, June 21
Time: Noon to two
Where: 1250 Poydras St (Eni Petroleum)
Bring: your signs, bullhorns, and energy.
(There may be opportunity for Civil Resistance)
for more info email Cindy Sheehan:
Cindy@PeaceoftheAction.org
EVERYONE CAN DO SOMETHING:
Collect and send towels! Laundry CEO Organizes Towel-Collection Drive for Gulf Spill Clean-Up 16 Jun 2010 David Gross, CEO of Gulf Coast Laundry Services in Gulfport, Miss., is coordinating an effort to get much-needed towels to wildlife agencies racing to save birds, turtles, dolphins and other animals affected by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Gross is still reaching out to laundries to gather whatever they can, but the most emergent need is still towels. Gross is also asking laundries to pay for shipping costs of the materials they send.To make a donation or for more information on what or where to send supplies, contact Christie Allen at 288-896-4405 or e-mail christiea@gclaundry.com .
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Oil-Cano by Cindy Sheehan
Leaking is something that plumbing or snotty noses do and there’s “No use crying over spilt oil.” Right? Wrong!
No one knows for sure how much oil the Oil-Cano is spewing in the gulf, but it is millions and millions of gallons (the last estimate I heard was 60,000 barrels per day). In our quest for cheap fuel and due to our tawdry love affairs with our single-person automobiles, life on this planet will be severely compromised for a very long time.
Not only is our dependence on oil one of the reasons for the spew—it’s also partly responsible for our resource wars in the Middle East and Asia. BP is also the number one supplier of jet fuel to the US Air Force.
We rightfully rail at BP and at this government, but things only change if and when the people use our power to make these changes.
July 4th (is it already almost July 4th?) Peace of the Action will be kicking off our Sizzlin’ Summer Protests with a protest in Lafayette Park in DC called: Declare YOUR Independence from Oil!
We realize that this revolution in grass-roots energy independence won’t happen over night, but each of us can make incremental changes and reduce our relationship with oil.
On July 4th, we will be gathering in Lafayette Park at 1pm with banners, fliers and signs to reach out to the thousands of people who will be gathering in DC on that day.
If you can’t come to DC, consider having a protest in front of your local BP/Arco AMPM in solidarity with our protests that day.
The flier we will be passing out can be downloaded and used that day here.
If you are going to have a protest, please let me know at:
Cindy@PeaceoftheAction.org, so we can help you get the word out about your action.
For more information go to;
www.PeaceoftheAction.org
To donate to help us defray the cost of the two-week long protest event go to:
http://peaceoftheaction.org/give/
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Shenanigans
On the 7th anniversary of the illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq, eight people were arrested in front of the White House protesting the continuing crimes—you know that place! It’s a big White House—as a matter of fact it’s a HUGE White House in the middle of a park-like estate where heavily armed thugs protecting war criminals roam. It’s okay to stop and gawk and take pictures if you are decked out in Hawaiian shirts or sundresses, but exercising fundamental rights to free speech or to peaceably assemble is not.
On March 20th, about 8000 people attended a permitted and almost lethargically tame protest in Lafayette Park, which is next to the HUGE White House. Then there was a march around in circles that landed the protest right back in front of the White House. Four people decided to lie down on the sidewalk in protest (four out of 8000), and four of us decided to cross the police line (a metal barrier on the sidewalk between the street and the high iron-barred, sniper guarded fence that surrounds the HUGE White House), to try and join the measly four that were lying there begging people to join them.
I was one of the ones arrested for crossing the police line. I did not push the barrier down, but when it fell, I crossed—I was immediately body slammed and arrested. That was at approximately 2:44pm. An amended police report misleadingly lied and said that I was given three warnings to leave—I was not and subsequent evidence shows that the warnings to disperse over the bullhorn didn’t even begin until after I had been arrested. Once anyone in authority is caught in a lie—from president to the police—everything that is claimed from thereafter is immediately open for suspicion.
So, after our arrests for infractions, we were processed at the Park Police Station in Anacostia, and six of us were transferred to lock-up where we spent the next approximately 45 hours (we already spent about eight hours at Anacostia). Why were six of us held and two released? The police said because the two that were released “lived in DC” and us out-of-towners couldn’t leave until we saw a judge.
WE WERE ARRESTED FOR INFRACTIONS! Why isn’t the DC lockup constantly filled to bursting with out-of-towners who commit infractions: jaywalking, running a stop sign, speeding, littering, etc? Because as one officer "kindly" pointed out to me a few years back when I was protesting in front of the Lincoln Memorial one night: I am not "normal" because I am a "protester." It's a sad commentary that "protesters" are not considered "normal" in a society that was built on the foundation of a Bill of Rights.
We “Peace Criminals” were to be back in DC tomorrow, June 10th (two from Pennsylvania; one from DC; three from NY State, and me from California), at great inconvenience, and sometimes at great expense, for our trial. When we were arraigned on Monday, March 22nd, the prosecution gave all of my co-defendants the opportunity to “pay and forfeit” with “time served.” Except me—I was forced to return to DC for trial, even though one of the other detainees, Elaine Brower, has far more arrests in DC than I do. All of the other defendants rejected that offer in order to stand up for our rights and for what IS right.
All together with the judge, defendants, prosecutor, and defense lawyer, we picked the date of June 10th. We didn't just pull that rabbit out of a hat--EVERYONE agreed on that date. We arranged a legal team; and I raised money for my travel expenses and legal fees for the Peace of the Action defendants (three of us). As of Monday of this week, our lawyer had been in touch with the judge and everything was hunky-dory and the trial was on.
I had an early flight out of Sacramento this morning and on my way to the airport at 6am, I got a message from one of our lawyers that the trial was going to be continued because a judge couldn’t be found due to some “judge’s conference.” So, from Monday to Wednesday, a Judge Convention (golf games?) arose which necessitated the postponement of our trial? I would like to believe that’s true, but with all of the other harassment and outright lies put together, I logically doubt the integrity of the court system. Not to mention, the officer at the Park Police station who practically admitted that I was being singled out for harassment when he said, "If you would stop protesting this stuff would stop happening to you."
Not only all of the above, but I am calling for more protests in DC from July 4th to July 17th and I have a “stay away order” from the perimeter of the White House which includes the sidewalk in Lafayette Park that borders Pennsylvania Avenue. The order is in place until our trial—whenever that is going to be. This stay away order will seriously hamper and limit my right to free speech.
I call “Shenanigans” on the entire episode—the system knows that we are correct about the wars and they know that our civil rights have been violated. The system should be on trial—not we anti-war activists.
A nation built on lies seldom, if ever, wants to hear the truth.
UPDATE: THE "LEGAL" SYSTEM IN DC IS SAYING THAT WE PROBABLY CAN'T RESCHEDULE THE TRIAL (FOR AN INFRACTION) UNTIL AUGUST, SEPTEMBER OR OCTOBER. THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE FINANCIALLY AND CONSTITUTIONALLY. SINCE I HAVE ALREADY LOST HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS ON AIR-FARE AND DAYS OUT OF MY LIFE THAT I WILL NEVER GET BACK, ETC FOR THIS TRIAL, I AM DEMANDING MY SIXTH AMENDMENT RIGHT TO A SPEEDY TRIAL TO BE HELD WHEN I AM IN DC FOR SIZZLIN' SUMMER PROTESTS IN JULY.
THEY WANT TO BREAK ME, BUT I WASN'T BROKEN WHEN THEY KILLED MY SON--WHAT DO THEY THINK THEY CAN DO TO ME NOW?
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
An Evening With Cindy Sheehan and Bill Ayers
Evanston Public Library, 1703 Orrington Avenue
What does it say about a society when ideas such as moral commitment, ethical action, and stopping War Party Politics are deemed “too dangerous” for people to hear, discuss and debate? Cindy Sheehan and Bill Ayers have recently faced having talks on these topics canceled. Instead of silently acquiescing to the chilling ice sheet moving over this county trying to freeze out radical and progressive voices and alternatives to the deadly status quo, they refused to accept cancellation and instead succeeded in reversing their 'disinvitations.' Come hear why they didn't just shut up and go away, why it matters for all of us, and what people of conscience can do to stand up and oppose the suppression of discussing these ideas.
This is a free event with Q&A following the presentations.
Please RSVP at adhoc4reason@gmail.com or call 847 674-0321
to let us know about how many people in your party will be attending.
This event is organized by the Committee for Reason, an ad hoc group formed to respond to the violent and unjustified arrest of Gregory Koger, a videographer who was filming Sunsara Taylor, a nationally known speaker, making an informal announcement at the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago just prior to a lecture event from which she had been suddenly disinvited. Sunsara will also be "present" at the June 15 event via video statement. Gregory now faces trial on June 29. For more information on this case and what you can do to support him, please visit www.dropthecharges.net and write us at adhoc4reason@gmail.com.
Cosponsors include: Chicago Women's Caucus for the Arts, Neighbors for Peace, Northshore Coalition for Peace and Justice, and World Can't Wait - Evanston and Chicago chapters. (To add your name to this list, contact adhoc4reason@gmail.com or call 847-674-0321.)
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