EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE SOAPBOX: WE'RE MOVING TO THE PACIFICA NETWORK IN MARCH!

February 10, 2010

EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE SOAPBOX!

Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox will be uploading a new 30-minute version of her bold radio show to the Pacific Networks affiliates’ server.

The first show Cindy will upload on March 8^th will be her in-person and in-depth interview with Venezuelan Populist President, Hugo Chavez.

Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox will have a new 30-minute show uploaded to the affiliate server every Monday after that.

Cindy is moving to Washington DC in the middle of March to direct Peace of the Action.

Cindy’s archived shows can be accessed at:

www.CindySheehansSoapbox.com

For more information, please email Cindy at:
Cindy@CindySheehansSoapbox.com

CINDY IN VENTURA AND NEWBURY PARK THIS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY

VENTURA, CALIFORNIA
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH

UUCV
5654 Ralston St Ventura 93003 @ Ventura .
7:00 PM

NEWBURY PARK, CALIFORNIA
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12TH

Newbury Park this Friday evening, starting at 7:30pm. The location is Conejo Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. The address is 3327 Old Conejo Road. She has advised us that she will talk about the peace movement and her latest book, "Myth America: 20 Greatest Myths of the Robber Class and the Case for Revolution."

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I GO, HUGO, WE ALL GO: FOLLOW OUR ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AMERICA

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, Cindy and Film Crew have raised half the money to travel to South America to interview Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The U.S. is placing troops on bases in Columbia ostensibly to fight "drugs." U.S. drones and other aircraft have been spotted flying over Venezuelan airspace and the demonization of Chavez and Venezuela is escalating. There are always "two sides" to a story and our corporately controlled mainstream propaganda media rarely even reports one side accurately.

Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox has been a courageous voice for truth and peace since its inception in January of 2009, but this will be a sharp increase in the influence and credibility of the Soapbox...

...Other great news--Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox is in negotiations to be placed on the Pacifica Network's affiliates and the Chavez show will be the premier event.

Please support our trip to Venezuela and the Soapbox's evolution by ordering your advance copy of the DVD/Documentary of our trip by clicking on the Cover (image below):

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Each $20/month subscription to Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox entitles you delivery of each show to your email box as soon as it is completed on Saturday AND Cindy's articles will be emailed to your inbox at regular intervals.
Cindy is now a weekly columnist for Correo del Orinoco in Venezuela.

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Postcards from the Empire: The United Police States of America

I don’t want this column to be seen as bashing the US. However, there is much to validly criticize about the current model in the US and much to dissent from, also.

There is little that comes from above that I agree with here in my accidental country of birth—I didn’t agree with it when Bush was president—and I still oppose the policies with all my might now that there is a new Emperor.

During the Nuremberg trials, the chief prosecutor for the US, Supreme Court Justice, Robert H. Jackson, made the distinction between the actions of the Third Reich and the German people. While “just following orders” could not be used as a defense, merely living in a country that was committing atrocities could not be turned against a “regular” German citizen in a court of law.

Now, while I agree with the legality of that stance, I do not agree with the morality of this position. How can one just turn a blind eye and ones back to atrocities that their country is committing? Here in the US, we have a term for people who just “go along to get along;” We call them “Good Germans.”

I read a story from a citizen of Germany during the rise of the Third Reich and he said that the changes to his nation were incrementally small, but before he realized it, Germans were gassing dissidents, Jews, gypsies, Christians and other “enemies of the state.”

We see the same thing occurring here in the US—the assaults on our freedoms had been incremental, especially during the Cold War, but since September 11^th, the outright, full-frontal assault here has escalated dramatically.

The First Amendment to the US Constitution is unambiguous:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

However, the USA PATRIOT ACT and the Bill of Rights cannot co-exist in the legal system here. It’s just not possible and many laws have been passed limiting our freedom of expression. US court rulings have consistently stated positions on what are called “Free Speech Zones” (sometimes cages where US citizens are forced—mostly far away from what we are protesting), that the state cannot put limits on what US citizens say, but can limit the “time and place.” Believing that every inch of this planet should be open to the basic human right of expression, I refuse to be herded into these cages like an animal.

Perhaps one of the noisiest cities in the world, NYC, now has laws that prohibit the use of bullhorns to express our message. How can we be heard above the propaganda of the Ruling Class?

While exerting my First Amendment rights here in the US, I have been chased and roughed up by cops, tear-gassed, shot at with rubber bullets and targeted by what is called a Long Range Acoustical Device. I have been arrested over a dozen times for PEACEFULLY protesting.

Since 9-11, dissent has been steadily and more violently oppressed by the state, but we must courageously protest, unless we be counted among the “Good Germans” that were complicit with our government by our apathy and/or silence.

Torture, wars of aggression, environmental degradation and economic oppression are the business of the US Empire—and we imperial subjects are the ones that have to strongly resist the crimes.

The world lost a leading voice for peace, justice and truth this past week when Howard Zinn passed away at aged 87.

Howard was a wonderful historian, but also profoundly supported grass-roots movements to improve conditions in the poor and working classes. He will be deeply missed, but we must be inspired by his work and dedicate our efforts to his memory.

This column appeared in the Spanish version of Correo del Orinico in VZ in the 3 February edition.

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S-C-O-R-E for the SOAPBOX!

We are going to Venezuela!

Our request to interview President Hugo Chavez of VZ has finally been granted.

Cindy and a film crew will be heading down to VZ on February 25th not only to interview Chavez (which will also air on the audio and video Soapbox), but to film in communities and interview Venezuelans about the state of affairs there and to be witness to what a grassroots revolution looks like.

This entire trip will be captured on film and edited into a documentary about the populist (anti-Empire) uprising in South America to help foster a pan-Americanism that is needed for Peace on our continent.

The Soapbox is selling pre-orders for the short documentary tentatively entitled: We are all Americans: Todos Somos Americanos to help fund our trip. The DVD will include the full-unedited interview with President Chavez and pictures from the trip.

To pre-order your copy for $20 (plus $3 shipping), please click BUY NOW:

Or send a check/money for $23 to:

Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox, LLC

PO BOX 6264

VACAVILLE, CA 95696

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READ CINDY'S FIRST COLUMN IN CORREO DEL ORINOCO:

Last Rites for the USA

Cindy Sheehan

FRIDAY | January 29, 2010 | NO. 00 | BS. 0 | CARACAS

Correo del Orinoco - English Edition

A U.S. Supreme Court case decision from 1886, The County of Santa Clara v. the Southern Pacific Railroad (SPRR), is the reason today that the U.S. is a corporate empire.

Many people mistakenly believe that corporations were given the same rights (not just privileges) as persons in this Supreme Court decision, but nothing could be farther from the truth - the reason my nation is such a dysfunctional system now is not because of a Supreme Court decision, nor a law passed by Congress, nor by a referendum of the people: it's because of a single statement, one sentence, spoken by a Supreme Court Chief Justice before the hearing even began.

The founders of the U.S. did not like corporations and for the first few decades of the existence of this nation, corporations were only given limited "privileges" and not "rights," but after the 14th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1868 - which extended equal protection under the law to all male citizens of the U.S regardless of race - attorneys for the corporations recognized the opportunity that had been gifted to them and started to scheme for corporate personhood.

After many assaults against common law, finally a perfect test case came up before the Supreme Court, the previously referenced case. The case was brought before the Supremes because the SPRR (the Halliburton of the 19th Century) objected to the fact the state of California would not allow it to deduct mortgage costs on its vast holdings from its before tax income as could private citizens.

The Supreme Court did not even try that case to grant corporate personhood - the reason corporations now have 14^th Amendment protections is because of a statement made by Chief Justice Waite: "The court does not wish to hear argument on the question whether the provision in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which forbids a State to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, applies to these corporations. We are all of the opinion that it does."

This one sentence changed the frame of North American politics in a very corrupt way. 1886 is when the "noble experiment" of representative republicanism died. Despite some populist stabs at "anti-trust" laws and labor unionism, today we find that the U.S. system of government is "by and for" the corporations.

On Thursday, January 21, 2010 - a (little noticed) U.S. Supreme Court decision took our critically ill republic that has been on life support and effectively murdered it.

Our elections have been compromised and the presidential candidates have been chosen for us by the tyranny of the oligarchy for many decades, and we the people of the U.S. are allowed to cast our votes to give us the appearance that we have a voice in our nation, but now with the decision in the recent United Citizens v. The Federal Elections Commission even any appearance of representation for the people has been overturned.

In this decision, the Supreme Court removed limits from corporate campaign expenditures stating that even limiting these contributions in the first place put restrictions on a corporations' 1^st Amendment rights to free speech.

Corporations have long held sway over our government and the soft fascism of corporate control has been running things behind the scenes.

However, the decision in United Citizens v. The Federal Elections Commission that expanded a mouth-less and mindless corporation's freedom of speech has effectively gagged 300 million more of us that don't have billions of dollars to buy the votes of our politicians who are just extensions of such crime cartels as Goldman Sachs, anyway.

I believe that United Citizens v. The FEC will go down in the history books as one of the most important, and most destructive Supreme Court decisions in U.S. history and we should just drop all pretense at democracy and call our leaders President Goldman and VP Sachs.

Cindy Sheehan - Cindy Sheehan is a US peace activist and founder of Peace of the Action, an anti-war organization that promotes profound structural change in the US.

http://centrodealerta.org/documentos_desclasificados/correo_del_orinoco_internat_2.pdf

Infomercial for the Empire

Infomercial for The Empire

Cindy Sheehan

Twenty-Ten is a midterm election year, the Dems are hurting very badly—Obama needed to pull some propaganda out of his bag of tricks and he needed to be able to pronounce every word correctly so he base can say: “At least he’s articulate.”

I can just envision the weeks leading up to this: “Joe, you wear the blue-striped tie—Barry, you wear the red-striped tie—and Nancy, you get a botox shot, but make sure you can move your face a little before the speech.”

Of course it was not a state of the union address: It was a giant infomercial for The Empire—at one point he even said: “I won't accept second place for the United States of America.”

Well, the USA is number one in killing people—biggest terrorist state in decades—we have no peers in this aspect. We are even higher than number one here, if that’s possible—we are the SUPER-COUNTRY and killing is our SUPER POWER!

The USA spends more on defense than the next ten lower countries combined. We’re number one!

The USA incarcerates more people per capita than any other country. We’re number one!

The USA is the number one polluter and user of natural resources than any other country: we’re number one!

The USA has more bases on foreign soil than any other country. We’re number one!

The USA IS NOT number one in quality, affordable and easy accessible heath care: We’re number 37!

The USA IS NOT number one in literacy. We’re in a five-way tie for Number 11!

The USA IS NOT number one for life expectancy. We’re number 37! (Cuba is number 38)

The USA IS NOT number one for infant mortality rates. We’re number 33!

The USA IS NOT number one for quality of life. We’re number 13!

The USA IS NOT number one for university graduates. China is number one and graduates TWICE as many than the USA.

Our homeless population is scandalous and the fact that one million children go to bed hungry every night in the USA is also a national shame.

Obama also said: “I will never quit.” That doesn’t fill me with hopium because the only thing he has done over the past years is make everything from foreign to domestic issues worse. Please “quit” Obama—for the sake of everyone—QUIT!

Peace of the Action won’t quit and we are moving across the street from Obama’s house to start shutting down the heart of the Empire until Peace is a reality—not just a slogan to mollify a base eager for crumbs from the Emperor’s table.

Today was a bad day as we lost a truly wonderful human being who did more for us than Obama will ever do if he lives to be 87: Howard Zinn.

In Howard’s memory, we must never give up.

POSTCARDS FROM THE EMPIRE: CINDY SHEEHAN'S NEW COLUMN IN CORREO DEL ORINOCO

Somos americanos

I was born in the U.S. in 1957.

I was born a subject of the world’s most lethal Empire.

When did the U.S. become an Empire? Ask our indigenous people that question.

I was also born in a Myth-ocracy, where we are propagandized from Day One about how we live in the “Greatest Nation in History” and that our neighbors in Latin America are lucky to have the U.S. so close in proximity so we can “save” the people from their “dictators.” Also, here in The Empire, many people believe that the “commons” that exist in Latin America are not really for the people in that region, but for the U.S.—and we will be happy to “liberate” the resources and land from our poorer and less intelligent Latin brothers and sisters. These myths need to be dispelled—and very quickly.

If you asked me even five years ago what I thought I would be doing today, one of those things would not have been writing a weekly column for a newspaper in Venezuela!

Of course, after Casey was killed and after I started to school myself on the true nature of the U.S.—Venezuela and her outspoken leader started to enter my circle of concern.

Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela is universally known for his justified criticism of former (p)resident George W. Bush. However, now under the new U.S. regime, it appears to me that The Empire is trying hard to provoke Venezuela into a war.

Venezuela does have a large reserve of oil and the Venezuelan people have an “un-American” mis-perception that their oil belongs to them and not Exxon or the Rockefellers. The Obama regime has signed a new pact with Colombia to put bases (ostensibly to fight the drug war and left-wing opposition groups—yeah, right—The Empire is a drug lord) there and recently, drones and fighter jets have been spotted flying over Venezuelan air space. The Empire never outright rejected the coup in Honduras and, in fact, probably supported it.

In response to the deadly earthquake in Haiti, the Obama administration sent thousands of troops, ships and secured the airport—look on a map and check out how close Haiti is to Venezuela.

I have spent a considerable amount of time trying to educate my fellow USAians about the true nature of the Bolivaran Revolution in Venezuela and its implications for the Americas and the world. Don’t form an opinion before you learn the truth—and trust me—the U.S. “news” media DOES NOT give you a non-biased reporting of events on any issue, really.

Obviously, Venezuela’s continuing successes in empowering the poor are spreading to the rest of Central and South America. U.S. corporations and the crimes of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are being regularly rejected, populist leaders are being elected, and the grass-roots struggle is very inspiring to those of us trying to stimulate a popular uprising here in The Empire.

The U.S. must stop meddling in South American affairs and must stop treating that region like it is our pathetic neighbor and start treating it with respect and fairness.

Unfortunately, one day I was on the Sean Hannity show on Fox News and Sean told me that President Chavez was “anti-American.” I said, "but Sean, he is an American"—Hannity was non-plussed and looked like he may have a hemorrhagic event--But, Venezuela is populated with our American brothers and sisters and understanding each other is the key imperative to guarantee peace between our nations.

I hope my new column Postcards from The Empire will help build a pan-Americanism that recognizes and celebrates our differences and our similarities and will help foster tolerance and respect for each other.

My column will appear weekly in: Correo del Orinoco International (English language) and Correo del Orinoco (Spanish language).

Click here to download the PDF of this week's edition.

My column is on Page 7.

CLICK HERE FOR INFO ON CINDY’S LATEST BOOK

Cindy Sheehan is the mother of Casey Sheehan who was killed in Iraq on 4 April 2004. She is the author of five books, the host of her radio show: Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox and weekly columnist for Correo del Orinoco. Cindy is the Executive Director of Peace of the Action. Her favorite role is being the Gigi of Jonah and Jovie—and making the world a better place for all the children.

A LOST CAUSE IS THE ONLY CAUSE WORTH FIGHTING FOR---

MR SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON

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MYTH AMERICA II: MAKING SANITY THE NEW NORMAL

Myth America II: 20 Greatest Myths of the Robber Class and the Case for Revolution

Brother Can You Spare a Dime?

Since Myth America: 10 Greatest Myths of the Robber Class and the Case for Revolution was published, our situation has not improved. In Myth America II, I detail these fresh assaults on Peace, Justice and the Environment and (even more importantly) give fresh solutions on what we can and must to do survive the crimes of the Robber Class!

If you pre-ordered Myth America II online or at an event, you should have the book in your inbox today--if you don't, check your spam filter, and if you still didn't receive it, please email me at: CindysSoapbox@gmail.com--we are on the honor system here, so I will take your word for it!

Myth America II has been professionally edited and formatted to include illustrations and most of the bugs from Myth America I have been worked out. Michele (editor), Josh (formatter) and I are very proud of the finished product.It may not be perfect, but it is quirkily adorable and on the target with a laser-beam!

Without going into endless detail--which I could--things seem to be deteriorating at an alarming rate and people like me who are calling for an end to all war--all killing (yes, even the brown people of the world)--all economic depravity--and a return to common sense--are being demonized as much as ever, if not more! It's time to make striving for Peace, Justice, Economic Equality and Environmental sustainability the New Normal and Myth America II will show us the way there!

BE THE FIRST ON YOUR BLOCK!

(THIS IS HOW CINDY PAYS HER BILLS AND EATS)

To order your PDF copy of Myth America II: 20 Greatest Myths of the Robber Class and the Case for Revolution, please

make a minimum $15 contribution to: Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox

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Send a minimum $15 contribution by check or money order to:

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*************************************

PRAISE FOR MYTH AMERICA I and Cindy Sheehan:

"Myth America: 10 Greatest Myths of the Robber Class and the Case for Revolution places Sheehan firmly in the pantheon of progressive heroes." Bob Fitrakis in the The Free Press

"Cindy is not just a grieving mother. She's a grieving mother who feels betrayed, is mad as hell, is uncorrupted by money, power, or party, would rather die than censor her statements, and gets straight to the heart of a question faster than anyone else I know."

David Swanson, After Downing Street Coalition

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BOOK TOUR

On the Myth America I tour, Cindy Sheehan went to over 40 communities in her quest for Sanity as the New Normal in this nation--and even though she will be erecting her Peace Camp in DC on March 13th--she would love to come to your community, as well (planes and trains leave from DC, too).

Cindy spoke to large crowds and small crowds; in living-rooms to lecture halls; we protested at Congressional offices, or chilled with a glass of wine on the porch and always began the slow process of re-awakening to the fact that WE are the ones that are in this together and WE are the only ones that can fix things.

If you would like Cindy to come to your community to speak about Myth America or Peace of the Action, or both--please contact her at: CindysSoapbox@gmail.com.

*************************************

Read the final words of the new edition as a preview:

Buy-Buy Myth American Pie

The roses in the window box
Have tilted to one side
Everything about this house
Was born to grow and die

Funeral for a Friend (Love Lies Bleeding)
Elton John

"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations which dare already to challenge our government in a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country."

Thomas Jefferson

I find is super-ironic that I am writing the very last words to Myth America II on the day that any semblance of the US being "by and for the people" died.

The publication of this book has been delayed by so many urgent events-Obama goes on a $50,000/week vacation to Martha's Vineyard while war rages on-Obama escalates troop presence in Afghanistan, not once, not twice, but THREE times-Obama approves expanding military and CIA unmanned aerial vehicle bombings-the Crotch Bomber-bombing Yemen-Obama is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize-Kennedy dies and the Dems lose big time in Mass! I know I am leaving out so many things-like the Obama regime covering up the murder of three detainees in Gitmo and protecting the Bush Admin or fomenting war with Venezuela. Then after the Haitians suffer a devastating earthquake, Obama appoints Bush to lead US relief efforts. He has had quite a busy, busy year that wasn't so much about CHANGE as it was about tying a cement block around HOPE and drowning it in the Potomac River.

I have had a busy year, too-because as Obama climbed to new lows of thuggery-I met him there to challenge him (and you). As one of the only people, who from the beginning, criticized the Dalai Bama, I have been shunned, scorned, but also welcomed many places where truth, peace, and justice are still valuable commodities.

Anyway, today was also quite a landmark day in US history-and even though this book is finished-WE MUST add an addendum about this.

No matter what happens tomorrow: If the Bra Bomber finally materializes, or Obama gets caught in a compromising position with Tiger Woods, or if Michelle is caught growing weed in her organic garden: THIS BOOK IS FINISHED-and so might be my country.

We have talked about the scandal of corporate personhood and how one sentence of Supreme Court Chief Justice Waite, before the oral arguments were even heard in 1886 in the case of The City and County of Santa Clara v. The Southern Pacific Railroad, changed our history forever:

"The court does not wish to hear argument on the question whether the provision in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which forbids a State to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, applies to these corporations. We are all of the opinion that it does."

No law was passed giving corporations rights, not just privileges-no Supreme Court decision gave Goldman Sachs literally millions more votes than me (or you)-it was a freaking statement before the hearing ever began! We are losing everything because some old dead white guy flapped his jaws and, voila, the 14^th Amendment applied to corporations.

Today, in Citizens United v. the Federal Election's Commission the Supreme Court ruled that any cap put on corporations and, presumably unions and other organizations, to spend on campaign ads and other campaign expenses (paid canvassers, etc) violates a corporation's "Freedom of Speech" which has been legally protected for 134 years.

Like I pointed out in the Myth that Elections Matter-our system is already rigged in favor of the Robber Class-corporations have NO MOUTHS, how can they have free speech?

This expansion of "Free Speech" to corporations effectively kills our "Free Speech" when it comes to elections.

Money is what buys influence with our government-that's all, nothing else. We ain't got no money-so we ain't got no influence.

The only tool we have left to us is Revolution as JFK said: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable."

I closed Myth I with Revolution by the Beatles, I close Myth II with a song from Muse: The Uprising.

The paranoia is in bloom, the PR
The transmissions will resume
They'll try to push drugs
Keep us all dumbed down and hope that
We will never see the truth around
(So come on!)

Another promise, another scene, another
A package not to keep us trapped in greed
With all the green belts wrapped around our minds
And endless red tape to keep the truth confined
(So come on!)

Chorus
They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious

Interchanging mind control
Come let the revolution take its toll if you could
Flick the switch and open your third eye, you'd see that
We should never be afraid to die
(So come on!)

Rise up and take the power back, it's time that
The fat cats had a heart attack, you know that
Their time is coming to an end
We have to unify and watch our flag ascend

Chorus
They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious

Hey .. hey … hey .. hey!
(repeat)

Chorus
They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious

Hey .. hey … hey .. hey!
(repeat)

Peace, Resistance and Revolution!

Cindy in NYC

January 21, 2010

Let the Sunshine

Let the Sunshine

Cindy Sheehan

We starve-look
At one another
Short of breath
Walking proudly in our winter coats
Wearing smells from laboratories
Facing a dying nation
Of moving paper fantasy
Listening for the new told lies
With supreme visions of lonely tunes

Hair: The Flesh Failures

I went to a performance of the musical, Hair, last night in New York City. I wonder how I would have reacted to the show before Casey was killed—before the insanity of war became my “new normal?”

The original production of Hair debuted in 1967 when the Vietnam War was increasing in carnage and the counter-culture opposing it was also growing. I was 10.

I remember hearing The Age of Aquarius covered by the 5th Dimension for the first time and not even knowing my Zodiac sign—I quickly discovered that I am a Cancer and everything that meant. The Beatles had already mainstreamed long hair, so when the Cowsills sang the main song from the musical, it appeared cute and funny and only because some of the more provocative lyrics were left out.

Probably my favorite song at the time was Three Dog Night’s cover of Easy to be Hard. As a 10 year old girl living in a predominantly working class, but white suburb of L.A., I never could have imagined how significant these lyrics would become in my own life 40 years later: “Especially people who care about strangers, who care about evil and social injustice; do you only care about the bleeding crowd; how about a needing friend, I need a friend.”

Like I said, I was 10. I was interested in The Beatles, The Monkees, softball and my elementary school crush, Tommy Enders. I sympathized with the anti-war movement at the time without really understanding it, but I knew it was seriously cool. The hype about Hair was the open drug use, open love and full-frontal nudity.

But 42 years later, I went to the program last night knowing that Hair was also about the counter-culture that rejected the establishment and war. I knew that a main character gets killed in Vietnam at the end. I was fully prepared for that. Almost six years after Casey was needlessly murdered in Iraq by his country’s corrupt foreign policy, I can sometimes get through entire days without crying, even though the pain of his loss is constantly with me.

At the end of the musical, Claude Bukowsky dies and the cast sings, “Let the Sunshine,” with anger and sorrow on their faces—not the joy that such a happy sounding song would seem to elicit. The cast leaves the stage singing, Claude is lying on the stage in his dress uniform, and I heard a few sniffles in the audience, although tears were streaming down my face. Then, in true American fashion, the cast comes back—cut to happiness—Claude is alive and dancing—and we are all supposed to go on the stage and dance and pretend like everything is okay.

I was sad up to that point, but in a poignant way. The performance truly captured how fucked-up war really is—but when the cast and audience started dancing with joyful abandon, I began to panic and had to leave the theater. I shocked myself in the lobby when I stopped to look in a mirror to put my hat and scarf on—and staring back at me was a “normal” Cindy—there was not one hint on my face of my shock and horror and that’s when I burst out sobbing. How can it be possible to be so broken inside and look so calm on the outside?

One thing we have learned since 1967—wait a second—there is NOT ONE THING we have learned since 1967.

War is still the most fucked-up, mentally deficient and morally bankrupt activity that was ever developed by mankind, and most Americans don’t even think about that fact for even a few seconds everyday. And if they do, don’t worry—dancing is right around the corner.

In the 42 years since Hair debuted, the Sunshine is growing dimmer and We the People must take some responsibility for allowing the War Machine and its War Parties to pull black hoods over our heads and accept, as normal, activities that are so fundamentally disordered they make Napoleon look sane.

Hair is also about a "Tribe." Websters Dictionary defines "tribe" as: a group of persons having a common character, occupation, or interest.

To survive as the Tribe of the Human Race, our common interest must be peace and the collective rejection of the establishment's wars. Is this a futile endeavor, or do we have a real chance this time?

But first, we must recognize the fact that we are all in the same Tribe.

I give the production, cast, message and performances an “A+,” I give our nation an “F-.”

For more information about the show, go here:

http://www.hairbroadway.com/about

DRONES KILL KIDS AND OTHER SOAPBOX NEWS---

DRONES KILL KIDS

Cindy Sheehan

I have become increasingly distressed about the expanded use of drones in the USA’s War OF Terror—as I oppose “manned aerial vehicles” that target and kill civilians--I find “unmanned aerial vehicles” particularly morally reprehensible.

This past Saturday, about 175 people joined us at CIA HQ in Langley, VA for a protest against the CIA’s usage of this deadly drone technology in North-West Pakistan that has been responsible for killing over 100 times more civilians than “suspected” al Qaeda or Taliban militants. After a story came out from the Associated Press that said we were out there protesting the fact that CIA drones targeted the “al Qaeda and Taliban,” (AP printed a "clarification) I have received dozens of emails attacking me for supporting "terrorists" over the lives of our military.

First of all, we DO protest the fact that the CIA is involved in, not "para-military" missions, but full-on military missions in Pakistan. Violating sovereign territory and assassinating whomever the CIA (in collaboration with the Pakistani government and the ISI) feels it should murder, is wrong no matter how false US patriots want to spin it. Barack Obama has green-lighted the expanded CIA program but wasn’t there an outcry from the faux-gressives when we learned that Cheney wanted to used the CIA as his own death squad?

We know that there has always existed at least two systems of justice in the United States, but since 9-11, what many of us believed was a semi-transparent system of laws that offered at least some bare protection to the accused has now been replaced with an arbitrary code of behaviors that has tacit approval of most Americans, because "they" are keeping us “safe.”

Overt, extra-judicial and extra-legal killings by the Central Intelligence Agency are NOT okay. My inbox piled up with hate mail telling me that I am a “moron” (among the nicer things) because the CIA Drone Program “saves the lives of American troops." Really? Because American troops are now invading and occupying the Swat Valley of Pakistan? When did that happen? No, the CIA Drone Program is just a more expeditious way for the assassins to murder people. This program has saved not one American troop, yet I am sure the terror it spreads and the revenge factor flying drones over people's heads and dropping Hellfire missiles on them foments have been major impetus for widespread hatred of the US.

Many of my hate mails (in direct response to the AP story) also tell me that the use of drones could have saved my son’s life. Let’s dissect this argument. Firstly, what could have saved Casey’s life would have been if the US never invaded and occupied Iraq in the first place. After years of manned bombings where not one US troop was killed, but thousands of Iraqis were, the country was decimated and devastated. George Bush and his administration thought a new invasion, one that went right up to Saddam’s doorstep would be a “cakewalk.” Bush estimated that not one American life would be lost and Rummy estimated that the misadventure would cost “$50 billion” paid for by the very people we were slaughtering by pillaging their oil fields. Now after a few trillion dollars and over a million US and Iraqi dead, do we really think that our government uses drones to “minimize” the loss of life? Life is cheap to the US War Machine and I would like to know exactly the point in time when our government became “pro-life.”

Even though we do oppose the CIA using drones on anyone—or anything—the overwhelming reason we went out to CIA HQ was the mere fact that innocent people get caught between the CIA’s drug/war lords and its goals of destabilization and democracy destruction.

For about every 20 misspelled, angry emails I get from false US patriots, I get one heartfelt email from a Pakistani thanking us for caring about them. It's about time someone did.

View videos of the event here

View Slide Show here

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DRONES KILL KIDS

General Atomics builds the Predator series of drones and profits off of the innocent blood and terrorization of millions. The company also sponsors a drone exhibit at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in DC—Peace of the Action sponsored its own field trip there on this past Sunday.

View videos of our field trip here

PEACE OF THE ACTION ANNOUNCES THE NEW WEBSITE.

CHECK IT OUT!

www.PeaceoftheAction.org

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www.CindySheehansSoapbox.com

Listen to this week’s edition of the Soapbox, which came out on Sunday the 17th, as Cindy chats with Matt Gonzales (former president of the SF Board of Supes and VP Candidate); and Brother Larry Pinkney of the Black Commentator in an evaluation of the State of the Union after Obama’s first year as president.

SLIDE SHOW FOR CIA PROTEST AND BANNER DROP AT SMITHSONIAN

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikehear/sets/72157623231999762/show/

DRONES KILL KIDS: PEACE OF THE ACTION BANNER DROP

Today (January 17th) some members of Peace of the Action
hung this banner near the killer-drone exhibit at the Air and Space Museum
in Washington, DC.

Robby Diesu (DC Coordinator) and Cindy Sheehan hung the banner while
Joshua Smith (Media coordinator/co-organizer) and Mike Hearington (VFP liaison)
took pics and video and singer/songwriter, David Rovics kept watch.

We hung the banner and hung around and watched people watch it for about 5 minutes before it got taken down--then we left.

Many families there with children--taking in the Military hardware and mostly not thinking that others are suffering so badly!

PEACE OF THE ACTION DEMANDS A RETRACTION FROM THE AP

January 14, 2010

To: Associated Press

CC: Jessica Gresko

RE: Misleading article about the January 16^th protest at CIA Headquarters

From: Cindy Sheehan representing Peace of the

Action.

Yesterday, Peace of the Action Coalition organized a protest in front of CIA Headquarters in Langley, Va.

Ms. Gresko, from the AP was out there for the entire time. She interviewed myself, all of the other speakers and some of those in attendance.

We feel that all of the speakers at the event and the stated reason for the protest were very clear—we were there protesting the cowardly and immoral use of drones by the CIA that actually kill about one-hundred times more innocent civilians than “suspected terrorists.”

Since Ms. Gresko’s story came out falsely declaring that we were there to protest the use of drones on “al Qaeda and Taliban,” I have received dozens of hate mails, one of which even called my dead son Casey a “queer” and a “faggot.”

After all the time Ms. Gresko spent there listening to us it seems like this story was filed with the intent to cloud our issue and undermine the absolute moral authority our protest had in denouncing the loss of innocent life.

We at Peace of the Action Coalition demand that the AP file a new story clarifying the seemingly deliberate obscuring of the facts in the first article and print a retraction in every news outlet that the article dated January 16^th appeared in.

Signed:
Cindy Sheehan representing Peace of the Action Coalition.

REFERENCED ARTICLE