“We can absorb a terrorist attack. We’ll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever . . . we absorbed it and we are stronger.”
Barack Obama in Obama’s Wars by Bob Woodward
Again, the arrogance of U.S. Robber Class politicians is astonishing!
I know I just have a modest internet talk show and a blog that only reaches thousands, but I am going to put in a request to interview Barack Obama, because I doubt, with the resignation of the only tough-ish person in the White House Press Corps, Helen Thomas, that any other so-called journalist has the guts to go against the Emperor and ask just one simple question—“Mr. President, who or what do you mean by ‘us’?” Is it another case of: “It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is.” (Bill Clinton).
Maybe Obama was suffering from the delusion of, “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger,” but looking from the perspective of someone who was greatly weakened in so many ways by the attacks of 9/11, and from all of my other experiences since then, I can say what and who has not been made “stronger.”
Many families here in the US have had members killed, maimed or emotionally wounded starting on 9/11 and continuing every day since then. By this past week, 2010 was the deadliest year for our military in Afghanistan, already. It is just September, and 2010 has been only surpassed in carnage by the other year in the Obama regime—2009. And the other “crazy” thing is, troops keep dying in Iraq, even though that “war” is “over.”
I can also say that the millions of people who have been killed, maimed or displaced in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan (which Obama thinks is the “real threat”) have not been strengthened in the short-term or long-term—but, hey—they don’t really count, now, do they?
Since 9/11, I have been arrested many times for just exercising my civil rights to free speech and freedom of expression, and I am just one of thousands—I don’t think our civil liberties are “stronger” since 9/11. In fact, just today, antiwar and social justice activists had their homes raided in all parts of this country by the FBI. I resent having to, for all intents and purposes, walk nude throughout airport security and I resent the entire police state mentality of airport personnel who, but for the “grace” of 9/11 could just as likely be saying: “would you like that super-sized,” as “I’m going to have to search you.” Even their lives aren’t better being wage slaves for the Police State.
Speaking of that, everyone I know in my wide circle of concern is either unemployed or underemployed. For example, my son, a new father, is working three jobs just to provide for his small family and hasn’t worked in his trade as a land surveyor for a year and a half. Andy’s story is not an unusual or special one. The job market has certainly not been made "stronger." The housing market has not been made "stronger" and OUR economy is as weak as my newborn grandson. It has no muscle tone or control and can only whine and scream because that’s the only way it can express itself now. At least my grandbaby is adorable.
I can name a few institutions that have been made “stronger” since 9/11: The Police State and all its apparatus; the Military Industrial Complex and its tentacles: the Pentagon, the State Department, war profiteers, corporate media; Wall Street; the surviving banks; and especially the government. The rich are literally getting richer, and the poor are growing poorer. The income gap is wider than it ever has been since 1929!
Whether Osama bin Laden perpetrated 9/11 from a cave in northern Afghanistan--or Dick Cheney planned it from his cave in Mordor--OBL’s stated goal of total destruction of the U.S. Empire is proceeding apace and I can’t fully comprehend what another “terrorist” attack would do to this nation—the institutions, people, and societal norms that were weakened by 9/11 will be furthered weakened and the ones that were made “stronger” will be further strengthened. I can foresee only a bleak future under Obama’s Absorption Theory—complete tyranny in the U.S because of complete economic breakdown that will probably lead to isolated incidences of internal rebellion that will be violently suppressed in the name of “National Security and Stability.”
I have read some Obamapologists saying that he was “correct;” that our nation was made “stronger.” This line of thinking goes: We were afraid at first, but eventually when WE were not attacked (by the terr’ists) again—we went about our daily lives as if nothing ever happened. Well, I say: that’s exactly what is wrong with this nation. Three-thousand Americans were killed that day, which wasn’t bad enough—but almost 6000 (official count) Americans have been killed in the Middle East/Asia since then. And as the mother of one of those, I can attest to the fact that not many people feel as connected to this tragic figure as they are to the ones murdered on 9/11. Our soldiers have been misused in this phony war of terror began by Bush and perpetuated by Obama.
After 9/11, instead of becoming self-reflective, we mostly allowed our government to steal our flesh and blood, kill and torture millions of others and descend into this Police State that is protected from accountability, because we the people are still afraid of our own shadows. We (as a whole) haven’t “absorbed” crap—we have deflected it as far away from us as possible. Most of us are still afraid, but most of those that are still afraid are fearful of the wrong things. The real terrorists reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and other posh residences in the beltway.
We are speedily careening to November 2nd, when many of us will be going to the polls to vote for the “Party of No.” Do you think I mean the Republicans? No, I mean the other “Party of No,” the Democrats.
One thing the Obama regime has shown me is that the Democrats are also the Party of No: NO peace, No justice, NO relevant healthcare reform, NO improvement in education, NO civil liberties, NO economic justice, NO environmental sustainability, NO jobs, NO anything that is positive for we that were made weaker after 9/11.
Yes, it’s been a feast for the vampires of economic disaster and the pigs of war since 9/11 and I don’t foresee any change coming at the ballot box. The ravenous feasters want your food, too—and they want you to believe that voting will hamper, or at least slow, their access to your measly crumbs. It obviously won’t.
Go ahead and go vote for the Party of No (D or R) on November 2nd—but know that’s what you are getting. Your vote for the Party of No (D or R) only strengthens the apparatus of control and oppression (I am going to go vote in California: Yes on 19!) and you get nothing in return.
“(Propaganda) proceeds by psychological manipulations, character modifications, by creation of stereotypes useful when the time comes - The two great routes that this sub-propaganda takes are the conditioned reflex and the myth” Jacques Ellul
I can’t tell this story enough—and it fits into this piece:
On July 4th 2006, I, and dozens of other antiwar activists began what we called: “Troops Home Fast.” It was supposed to be a fast until the troops were coming home from Iraq (Note: After 39 days, I ended up in the hospital with another condition and I had to have two emergency surgeries and 2 blood transfusions, so I had to stop). So a few days after the fast began, I was invited to go on MSNBCs Hardball, and I was told I was invited so I could talk about our fast.
Well, instead of appearing with the juicy Chris Matthews, the guest host that day was neocon, Norah O’Donnell. She introduced me as the “woman who met with ‘communist dictator,’ Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.” We went to a phony break (because the show is taped) and I said: “You know, Norah, Chavez is neither a communist—he’s a socialist, nor a dictator. He’s been democratically elected several times and survived a coup attempt orchestrated and paid for by our own government.”
I will never, ever forget her answer: “We know, but we had a meeting and we decided to call him a ‘communist dictator’ anyway.” This is on MSNBC, the supposedly “liberal” cable news network. Recently, on MSNBC, we saw establishment critic (oops, only when a Republican is in office), Keith Olbermann call Karl Marx a “lousy thinker,” when even the most anti-Marxist in the world would have to concede that Marx was one of the most brilliant thinkers and political/social philosophers in modern history—anyway, that’s a little off the subject.
Currently, I am making a documentary film about Venezuela and President Chavez and the people’s revolution there called, the Bolivarian Revolution—and what happened on September 17th, is one of the reasons I am doing so. Of course, in making this film, I am obsessed with all things Venezuelan and all the news from and about the country and its charismatic president and that’s how this “news” item crossed my path—the headline:
Well, we know in the past decade, that if the U.S. Military junta wants to invade a country, they start a demonization campaign that should have the requisite “nuclear component” in it—Iraq (WMD, “mushroom cloud”) and Iran are perfect current examples of nuclear-fear bullcrap.
Now look at that bold headline that appeared on CNN online on September 17th via the U.K. Guardian—if you were the average, casual consumer of the “news” and you had already had the stuffing propagandized out of you that Chavez is a “communist dictator” that "supports terrorism," what would you automatically think? You would think exactly what the headline wants you to think—that Venezuela is in the market to make nuclear weapons by purchasing secrets from the undisputed champion of the manufacture and usage of nuclear weaponry: the USA. (We're number one!)
If you had the perseverance and time, you would have to go to the final paragraph of the “news” piece to read this little tidbit: “The justice department statement was at pains to spell out that Venezuela was not involved: "The indictment does not allege that the government of Venezuela or anyone acting on its behalf sought or was passed any classified information, nor does it charge any Venezuelan government officials or anyone acting on their behalf with wrongdoing."
Jacques Ellul (French sociologist and philosopher in the 20th C) also said: “The goal of modern propaganda is no longer to transform opinion, but to arouse an active and mythical belief.”
Not only is the global media junta having a great success in demonizing all things Venezuelan, this targeted propaganda campaign is being partnered with an active “Plan Venezuela” to not just isolate Venezuela in public opinion, but to isolate it militarily from its allies and neighbors. Being extremely frightened by what Noam Chomsky calls: “The threat of a good example,” the U.S. has staffed seven military bases in Colombia while spreading the lie that Chavez supports the FARC there. While rejoicing in the propaganda that Chavez is a “drug dealer,” the U.S. has placed 7,000 Marines in Costa Rica to ostensibly fight the phony War on Drugs—and only the U.S. Military junta knows why it reactivated the 4th Naval Fleet in the Bush years to send to the Caribbean.
The ultimate goal of our documentary about Venezuela called, Revolution, A Love Story is to show people in my own country of birth that a grassroots revolution to overthrow the entrenched, diseased U.S. system is possible because illiterate peasants in Venezuela were empowered by education and the “threat of a good example” to overthrow the U.S. corporate neo-liberalism that kept them impoverished and uneducated under colonialism (even if it eventually was “liberated,” either the Spanish or U.S. controlled it) for centuries. Reject the relentless propaganda—my story illustrates how the media not only lies to us, but also holds meetings to figure out the best ways to propagandize us.
Many people here today just woke up (whether abruptly or gradually) to the fact that the US Empire is a criminal construct capable of murdering, oppressing, impoverishing, and enslaving its own citizenry for the sake of power and profit.
Just because we awoke that day, doesn’t mean that the Bush regime was the first to perpetrate these crimes.
Speaking of awakenings, on the morning of 9/11/2001, right before I awakened from my sleep on the West Coast—I had a dream. I dreamt that I was putting a large, delicate crystal vase on the back of my toilet and it slipped out of my hands and crashed into the bowl and broke into a million pieces, some of them getting into my eyes and imbedding them into my face—my thought in my dream was: “Great, now I have to go to the ER and wait to have these splinters removed from my eyes.” The very next scene in my dream, a fire fighter was escorting me out of my office and we were both covered in soot and grime. When I awoke from this nightmare, my daughter told me of the real life horror that was unfolding at the World Trade Center.
My dream was precognitive about what was in the planning to ruin my life and this world for the neocon agenda. My life has been profoundly changed since 9/11 with the loss of my son and with personal and public struggles to make meaning of these losses and sense out of what is so senseless.
However, as tragic and awful as 9/11 was and still is, we can’t ignore the fact that this nation was never “noble” and the founders were just men, slaveholding men, that excluded women from participating in civil society—they were not gods to be idolized or paragons of virtue to want to “return to.” Our Constitution may as well have been written in the blood of our native population and nailed to every slave-whipping post in the South.
The model of a representative republic was probably not the worst model for a fledgling government, but we the people have never been represented and the plutocracy has always ruled this country. We the people have only gained mild concessions from the plutocracy and only out of decades of struggle and sacrifice.
Slaves should never have been kidnapped from their homes and brought here to suffer for the profit of the Southern Aristocracy.
Women should not have been imprisoned and beaten because they claimed the right to vote with men.
Black people should never have had to be lynched, or had dogs and fire hoses set on them so they could have equal rights with whites.
Children should never have been chained to machines and made to be virtual slaves for Northern industrialists.
Many people had to give their lives to claim rights inherent for all humanity at birth—not just rich, white, Christian Americans. And that’s just not right.
Some of you who recognize that the rulers of the US didn’t just wake up on 9/11/2001 and have an “origins of evil” moment, want to say that 1963 (assassination of Kennedy) or 1913 (creation of the Federal Reserve) were the turning points to steer this nation down the wrong path—I just want to call “bullshit” and say that those events were evil, but Andrew Jackson fought bankers and if this nation didn’t become an Empire in 1492, it did in 1823 when the Monroe Doctrine was proclaimed making the US a written in stone, dyed in the wool, no holds barred, hemispheric Empire.
We stole Mexico because of a false-flag op.
We stole Cuba and the Philippines because of a false-flag op and we said we were “liberating” the peoples from colonial Spanish oppression, to put in place an even harsher rule.
Hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens were murdered by firebombing, or nuclear bombing during WWII; millions of Vietnamese were murdered and we want to “get back to our roots?” Well, I say our roots are diseased and we need to create something new from the ashes of this Evil Empire.
This 9/11, all I can say is, they will keep coming as long as we fail to recognize that 9/11/2001 was not an isolated event and that for centuries the US has murdered people and stolen their lands and maybe, just maybe, nine years ago, the chickens did come home to roost—with the help and encouragement of the foxes.
I submit that nothing structurally changed about US Imperialism on that day, except the crimes and police state oppression of the Empire became more overt—and we the people have mostly stood down for this, because of fear.
Three thousand people were murdered on 9/11 by either the Empire or in response to the crimes of the Empire, but probably it was a combination of both. And the only thing some people find shocking is that they were Americans this time.
“As we do, (turn the “page” in Iraq) I am mindful that the Iraq War has been a contentious issue at home. Here, too, it is time to turn the page. This afternoon, I spoke to former President George W. Bush. It’s well known that he and I disagreed about the war from its outset. Yet no one could doubt President Bush’s support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security. As I have said, there were patriots who supported this war, and patriots who opposed it. And all of us are united in appreciation for our servicemen and women, and our hope for Iraq’s future.”
Barack Obama, Speech August 31, 2010
I feel like I have written this article about 10 times now since I became an antiwar activist. Please believe me—I don’t like being “negative.” I am inherently a very optimistic and cheerful person, but in this Empire that is heading Back to the Future of Orwell’s 1984, there is little to cheer or be hopeful about.
The above quote is, of course, from Barack Obama’s August 31st speech declaring an “end to combat operations” in Iraq.
What, no ticker-tape parades? No iconic images of recently liberated troops kissing innocent passersby in Times Square? Nope, it’s almost as if even the most ardent war propagandist knows this incoherent and poorly delivered speech is merely a monumental hoax.
Even though there is much to comment about in the entire speech—like when Obama said that the US commitment (numbers still hovering over 150,000) in Iraq is to help the Iraqis build a government that is “accountable to the people of Iraq,” my first thought was that it would be great if we had a government that was accountable to USAians.
The president was also schizophrenic over just who are our “enemies” in Afghanistan: al Qaeda (less than 100 there), or the Taliban.
In his little chat, Obama clearly said that our military was being used to expand “new markets for our goods” (Imperialism) and that we should “honor” this Imperial Guard by “coming together” and “turning a page” on the war in Iraq. If we do all these wonderful and hopeful things, then we will stay the “Leader of the Free World.” A Shining City on a Hill where “Americans ‘give’ (have stolen) their lives for the ‘values’ (conquest for profit and murder for murder’s sake) ‘we’ (the elite oligarchy) have believed in for two centuries.” I never thought I could watch a speech that would make me more physically ill than a Bush speech, but Obama succeeded where a lesser person may have failed.
The section that bowled me over, and not in a good way, was the part where Obama said that George Bush “loves” America and he was “concerned” for our security. The one passage that I quote above clearly demonstrates that Obama is just another member of the elite class that has existed in and pummeled our nation since, well, forever.
In the horrific Oval Office speech, (frankly, I was more interested in analyzing the homey family pictures sitting on the credenza behind him) Obama continued his policy of exonerating and ignoring the crimes of the Bush regime so his regime can commit the same crimes with impunity.
“Turning the Page” to Obama means: “let’s forget what has happened before so I can go forward and destroy any country that gets in the way of the profits and power of the elite class.”
Our lives and our way of life mean less to them than which fork to use or what gown to wear at their fancy and exclusive functions.
This country was erected on an extremely shaky foundation, but the pace of decay seems to have accelerated since WE dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan after “softening” the population up with a campaign of intense firebombing.
Arguably every U.S. president has been a war criminal, but definitely the ones of the 20th-21st centuries and the Dalai Bama is no exception.
Was Bush the main criminal from the 2001-2008 years? No, he was only the figurehead criminal just as Obama is, but I will NEVER give up my quest to hold BushCo responsible for the deaths of over one million people—for the torture of thousands—for the destruction of infrastructure (at home and abroad)—for the abuse of power—for lying—and for committing “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Justice has to begin somewhere, and it might as well begin with George Bush.
I will NEVER stop trying to hold ObamaCo accountable for its crimes, either—nor the next U.S. administration.
There cannot be healing without justice—there is only this stubborn amnesia that We the American people impose on ourselves that allows the Mis-Rulers to keep committing their unrepentant and unpunished crimes.
It doesn’t matter if I turn the page—all the pages in the future have my dead son written all over them—I can skip to the last page, and if I can’t read anything else, Casey’s needless and untimely death will always be carved into the millions of pieces of my broken heart.
And Casey and I are just two of millions.
And by the way, Barack—I am not “turning the page” on my opposition to the continued occupation of Iraq, nor the escalating violence in Afghanistan until every last one of our troops/contractors/war profiteers are back on U.S. soil.
Speaking from the Far-Western White House, President Sarah Palin today declared that combat operations “are over” in Iraq.
“I want to thank the American troops and their families for the heroic roll they have played in freeing Iraq from a violent dictator and in protecting American interests in the Middle East,” President Palin continued. “The troops that are not redeployed in Af-Pak, Korea or Yemen or Columbia, and remain in Iraq will now and forever be known as ‘Enablers’ and Operation New Dawn will now be known as Operation High Noon,” the jubilant President, mother of eight, and grandmother of 12, finished.
“The Palin administration feels confident that this will be one of the final times that ‘end to combat operations' in Iraq will be declared, and this will be a robust withdrawal” a release from the White House press office stated.
Is the above scenario far-fetched? I don’t think so—I have spent all week thinking that the rhetoric around the “end” to the combat mission in Iraq has to be satire from The Onion. I feel that nothing could be so bizarre.
Barack Obama called Iraq the “dumb war” in 2003—as is: “I am not against all wars, I am just against dumb wars,” and from that tiny, lukewarm, and essentially hostile statement, he was called “anti-war.” Indeed, when I found out that Obama had been awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 2009—I accused the Swede (I was in Sweden at the time), who gave me the odd news, of lying, or reading another satire from The Onion.
My son, Casey and at least 4000 more troops have been killed in Iraq since George Bush’s famous Captain Codpiece moment when he flew onto the deck of the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier near San Diego and declared an “end to major combat” in Iraq. At that point, my son’s division, the First Cavalry’s, imminent deployment to Iraq was canceled (but later rescheduled). I remember the day that happened on May 1st, 2003 Casey called me from Ft. Hood and we I discussed the fact that the war was over.
Dozens of Iraqis were killed this past week and I think that they didn’t get the memo about the war being over, either. People are still going to die—soldiers will still be killed because the Iraqis have always seen them as oppressors and occupiers, not saviors.
If the troops aren’t combat troops any more, then let’s take away their guns, tanks, drones, airplanes, helicopters, humvees, bases, body armor, etc and have them live in apartments in Baghdad—and speaking of that, why don’t we de-fortify the Green Zone (that was also just rebranded to “International Zone) if everything is so hunky-dory. Also, the 3rd Armored Cav that is leaving for Iraq from Ft. Hood soon should refuse to go since the war is over!
The 4th Stryker Brigade from Ft. Lewis, Washington returned home a few days ago and they yelled: “We won,” as they left the country. The US has won nothing in Iraq and what we have done to the Iraqi people (and are going to do to them) should be our infinite national shame.
Even when/if the US troop count ever truly equals zero in Iraq—the so-called war will never end for millions of people. Iraq is a hot zone of depleted uranium contamination as Vietnam is still a hot zone for Agent Orange. Empire is the curse that never stops defiling.
Even though this past week has been Bizzarro World, I know what I am going to do. I am going to pretend like the wars are still relevant and the people who are in danger have precious lives that are worth saving.
I only believed the “Mission Accomplished” BS on May 1, 2003 because I so desperately needed to.
Not this time.
Not ever again.
We'll leave Iraq when the last drop of oil and the last nickel is squeezed out of that most unfortunate of countries with some of the richest natural resources--not a second sooner.
Cindy Sheehan Interviews MESHA IRIZARRY AND TOMMY CHONG
Transcript:
Cindy Sheehan: Welcome back to Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox. I'm your host, Cindy Sheehan. Today is a super duper edition of Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox as we explore the topic of marijuana rights with two activists. One is one of the most famous pot activists of all time, Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong fame. Tommy will be on in a few minutes, but our first guests is Mesha Irizarry, who has done local work for pot rights on the San Francisco Marijuana Offenses Oversight Committee, MOOC. Mesha also lost her son, Idriss Stelley, to blue-on-brown cop violence several years ago.
Mesha, welcome to Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox.
Mesha Irizarry: Thank you so much, Cindy.
Cindy Sheehan: It's great to finally have you on. As I was telling my listeners, you do a lot of work for justice and social justice in San Francisco, my old town. When I ran against Nancy Pelosi in 2008, you were also a supporter of my campaign and we were really grateful for that.
Mesha Izirarry: ________ It's a great honor and privilege to be on your show today. Yeah, I'm on the Marijuana Offenses Over You Committee in San Francisco since September '08 that enforces and money to the lowest priority ordinance for SFPD because ever since June '07, the police here in San Francisco is not supposed to arrest, detain, admonish or send to incarceration people who are smoking marijuana, whether or not they are medical patients. Just for marijuana as a first offense. Actually, you know, this is one of the most secret, most hidden law, in the city.
Cindy Sheehan: Right.
Mesha Izirarry: That everybody actually can smoke weed on the streets as long as they are 20 feet away from a public building, and people can have on them up to 1/8 of an ounce of dry weed as long as it's not packaged individually for sale. And people can grow up to 25 plants, in separate pots so that they don't germinate with each other, at home for their own consumption. I don't even smoke the stuff, Cindy.
Cindy Sheehan: Right.
Mesha Izirarry: It's just that I believe in defending people's rights.
Cindy Sheehan: Even if you have a card or a prescription, if you don't have a card or a prescription you can smoke...
Mesha Izirarry: That's right. I mean that law, the lowest priority ordinance, is in place not only for medical prescriptions, but what we used to call recreational uses, or adult uses as we call them now.
Cindy Sheehan: Well that explains a lot to me with some people I know that have said, "Wow, a cop walked right by me or a cop drove right by me when I was smoking weed and they didn't do anything.
Mesha Izirarry: Exactly. Exactly, Cindy.
Cindy Sheehan: I know San Francisco is a very friendly city. I mean, my office was right next to a dispensary. But we still do have federal agents raiding our dispensaries, don't we?
Mesha Izirarry: Then hopefully this is setting, you know, is a pilot project that is setting up the model for the country. But the police have been cooperating with the lowest priority ordinance up to a point. Ever since Gascon became the Chief of Police in San Francisco – my own belief is that Gascon is a federal, was imposed by the feds, because they just raided Dennis Peron. Dennis Peron is a marijuana activist in San Francisco.
Cindy Sheehan: Right.
Mesha Izirarry: So, you know, we collect citizen complaints, or residents' complaints, about violations of the lowest priority ordinance perpetrated by the San Francisco Police Department, and we help people get ________ attorneys to win their case.
Cindy Sheehan: So you're like a go-between between the community and the police department?
Mesha Izirarry: Right.
Cindy Sheehan: Right. How can people get ________
Mesha Izirarry: You also know Greg Ledbetter, who is a part of Axis of Love with Shona Gochenaur, and we are both co-chairs of the Black and Brown Just Drug Policy, which is a cannabis justice entity, and ________ cannabis that's addressing the racial disparity between white people and poor people of color when it comes to drug enforcement. And I must say that LEAP – I don't know if you would have believed this, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Jack Cole is the national director. They have been challenging that disparity for the longest time. So we do have ________ within law enforcement to challenge how racist and how classist the war on drug is.
Cindy Sheehan: Right. Well, I mean, that's -- the whole law enforcement community, as you well know, is very biased against black and brown people, unfortunately. Tell my listeners what you think about Proposition 19 in California.
Mesha Izirarry: Yes. Well, that is being pushed by Tom Ammiano, and I think that it's definitely going to pass.
Cindy Sheehan: You think it's really going to pass?
Mesha Izirarry: And I'm also in favor of seeing taxation of marijuana, taxation of the growers, and encouraging them to start cooperatives to provide the dispensaries with medical marijuana and to be taxed. Oakland took the lead on this. All the cooperatives in Oakland have accepted to be taxable. And we need to follow their lead.
Cindy Sheehan: And of course it will, I think it will help the community. And my next guest, Tommy Chong, you know, we're going to talk about hemp too and about how hemp can save the world.
Mesha Izirarry: Yes.Yes.
Cindy Sheehan: So we're all ________ about it on Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox.
Mesha Izirarry: It is enough already with the mad reefer, you know, mythology. We all know that people who smoke weed do not commit violent crimes, okay?
Cindy Sheehan: Right.
Mesha Izirarry: The violent crimes that are drug-related usually link people to cocaine, to methamphetamine, but not to weed. So enough of that already. If alcohol is legal, and that is doing way more relative than weed, it is time already to not only decriminalize but legalize weed. We have a formidable ally in San Francisco in James Keys, who I don't know if you met James, Cindy, who has been supportive of Axis of Love and legalization of marijuana for the longest time. He is the chair of the Board of Mental Health in San Francisco and he's running for District 6 as a candidate Supervisor. And he's right along with us pushing for legalization.
Cindy Sheehan: And I saw that Chris Daly, who's coming out, actually just endorsed James Keys to take the lead.
Mesha Izirarry: Yes, he just endorsed it. He's just endorsed him yesterday. He well be I tell you the first black male elected, not appointed, but elected at the Board of Supervisors in the history of San Francisco, so you know we have a powerful ally with them.
Cindy Sheehan: Wow. So Mesha, we're unfortunately out of time.
Mesha Izirarry: Okay, bye-bye Cindy.
Cindy Sheehan: Okay, bye-bye Mesha.
That was our guest, Mesha Irizarry. Stay tuned. Our next guest is Tommy Chong.
PEDRO: Hey man. Am I driving okay?
MAN STONER: I think we're parked, man.
Cindy Sheehan: Of course that clip was from Cheech and Chong's seminal stoner movie, Up in Smoke. Tommy Chong is not just a brilliant comedian, musician and actor, he has spent a lifetime advocating for pot rights. He did nine months in federal private prison for illegal persecution from the Bush administration. His legal problems are detailed in a great documentary called AKA Tommy Chong.
Welcome to Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox.
Tommy Chong: Well, thank you, Cindy, and it's nice being here.
Cindy Sheehan: I'm sure you hear this a thousand times a day, but I just want to let you know how much you've meant in my life for a long, long time. You know, from making us laugh to showing us what an example of integrity and bravery that you showed when you were persecuted by the U.S. government.
Tommy Chong: Well, it was the least I could do, you know, for all the joy I had from the money we made, you know, making fun of them. [laughs] It was no problem.
Cindy Sheehan: [laughs] Well, that's one thing. You know, I am taking a principled stand against paying my income taxes because I don't want to pay for what, you know, the U.S. is doing around the world. I don't want to pay for the war machine. I paid for it my whole life and, you know, I feel like I contributed to the death of my son and so many other people in the world, so I've just stopped paying. You know, make a principled stand against what our government does. So you know, that – the same thing that happened to you could happen to me in the future. And I saw your movie, AKA Tommy Chong, and you really handled in really a very amazing way. Can you tell my listeners who might not know what happened to you – I'm sure all my listeners do – but explain what happened to you when you were persecuted by the – really the Bush administration persecuted you.
Tommy Chong: Yeah, well, what happened, the Bush people were in the beginning stages of getting support for their attack on Iraq.
Cindy Sheehan: Right.
Tommy Chong: And they needed two things. They needed to quiet, do a preemptive strike against the antiwar protestors, which they anticipated would be, you know, coming out full force against their policies in Iraq and in the Middle East, period.
Cindy Sheehan: Right.
Tommy Chong: And so, in the meantime, you know, I'm a pot activist, or a pot comedian to begin with, and Cheech and Chong, you know, we've been around for since – we started in 1971 with our records, and so our views on the ridiculous nature of the drug laws were well known, well documented, and ignored for the most part by the government. But when Bush started his warmongering, they needed to deflect, you know, the public's attention. And so what they did, they came up with this Operation Pipe Dreams, which was a preemptive attack on the glass water pipe industry, which was growing huge. It was getting very big.
Cindy Sheehan: And you were involved in a company with your son.
Tommy Chong: Yeah. Yeah, well, what I did, what – you know, making a long story even longer, I, my son – no, when we were on the road, my wife and I were doing comedy, and we were finding that people were bootlegging, you know, bongs made with my name on it, you know, Chong Bongs.
Cindy Sheehan: [laughs]
Tommy Chong: And so my wife and decided, well, you know, hey, this would be a good business for my son to get into. He was looking for something. And so he started a bong business using my name. And it was legal. You know, everything totally legal, above-board.You know we had licenses, you know, from the city, from the state, you know, to operate our glass business. But when the Bush people came in, they found a loophole in the law which was a paraphernalia law, which was really designed for crack pipe users, for people using methamphetamine. Which, by the way, that was a little way of getting around, you know, public sentiment, you know, because everybody's against, you know, heroin.
Cindy Sheehan: Right.Right.
Tommy Chong: They're against amphetamine. But marijuana, because it's a, you know, it's a medicine, you know, and proven to be an effective medicine, you know the Bush and everybody else like to lump everything together so they can use a methamphetamine law to come after the marijuana users, which they did. And that's what they did with me.
Cindy Sheehan: What an ironic name for a president that's going after marijuana advocates, right?
[laughter]
Tommy Chong: Yeah, well, you know, I mean, Bush himself, you know, he really was a recovered addict.
Cindy Sheehan: Yep, yep.
Tommy Chong: You know, a recovered alcoholic, and in his case pot really was a gateway drug, you know?
Cindy Sheehan: Right.
Tommy Chong: Whether he used it or not, you know? But he was more of a coke head. But, more than anything, what the Bush people did, you know, by coming after me the way they did – because, what they found out is that they had no legal recourse with me. I had not broken any law. In fact, all I did was, you know, exercise my free speech right and my second amendm– not my second but my free speech, you know, right to free speech and expression. And because I didn't, you know, physically own anything. I didn't own the bong company. You know, I didn't make the glass. I just represented them. And so what they did, they came after my son and my wife, because my wife had signed the check for the business, and so that implicated her, and then my son, you know the business was in his name, which implicated him. And so they threatened both my son and my wife with significant jail time if I didn't plead guilty and perjure myself. And so I did. I pled guilty. I perjured myself, you know, because I had to swear in front of a judge, a federal judge, which is very ironic, because most federal convictions now are for lying to federal officials.
Cindy Sheehan: Amazing.
Tommy Chong: I mean here's a representative of the court forcing me to perjure myself, forcing me to lie. Because when he said, he said I had to – you know, they listed off a series of charges and I had to plead guilty to them.
Cindy Sheehan: Right.
Tommy Chong: And when they said that, you know, "You are the owner, the sole owner –" This is what they said: "You are the sole owner of the enterprise Nice Dreams." And I automatically said, "No, that's not true." And so they had to stop the proceedings, and then they had a little meeting, and then my lawyer sit up and says, "Your honor, yes, he changes that line to that yes, he is the sole owner of this establishment." And it was the weirdest thing. And then they promised me that I wouldn't get any jail time. And they lied. [laughs]
Cindy Sheehan: Well, yeah, because you spent – how long did you spend there in prison?
Tommy Chong: They sentenced me to nine months in the federal lockup.
Cindy Sheehan: And if – I'd just like to really recommend the movie about this, a documentary called AKA Tommy Chong, because it really goes into a lot more depth about your story, and that's where I found my inspiration was watching that movie, because you did, you really made the best out of a bad situation, and that is ________.
Tommy Chong: What I did, what I did – well, you know, I just retreated when I found myself facing the inevitable, which was jail time, because what happens, you know, the lawyers always give you hope. You know, they always give you this – by the way, defense lawyers, their main job is to give you an excuse of why you shouldn't be in there. That's about it.
Cindy Sheehan: Right.
Tommy Chong: You know, to give you an excuse of what to say while you're incarcerated, you know? And so what I did, I immediately – well I looked at it like I'm a writer, I'm being embedded with the troops.
Cindy Sheehan: Right.
Tommy Chong: And that's what I call my– because I am a writer. I wrote a book, I wrote two books while I was in there, and, you know, we did the film. But what I did, you know what I did, Cindy, that was – I really, I got into the I Ching, you know, the Book of Changes.
Cindy Sheehan: Right.
Tommy Chong: And I started reading all sorts of relig– or spiritual books, and Buddhism. I studied all the religions. And I really connected with my, you know, my real self. And so I used it as a retreat, like a religious retreat. You know, I just even told myself that I'm here, you know, and now I've got a chance to really, to really just get into myself, you know, not worry about anybody else. I just had to get, you know, get into where I was and, you know, to really ask myself a lot of questions about what I was doing and what, you know, what's going on in the world. And it really helped me. It really helped me. And it – and I helped other people that I was there with.
Cindy Sheehan: Right. That's for sure.
Tommy Chong: That's just what was really good about it.
Cindy Sheehan: Well, I've just spent, you know, I've been arrested about 14 or 15 times now. The longest I've ever spent in jail is 52 hours, and I even counted the hours, and it was miserable. But you do also connect with people who have been persecuted and oppressed for so long here that, you know, in the world, in this nation, it makes you have an appreciation for what, you know, the oppressed classes have been going through for so long.
Tommy Chong: Yeah. Yeah. You really understand it. You know the first thing you do, when you're driving – you know, if you haven't been to prison, you avoid, I notice people avoid people that have, you know, fallen on hard times, you know. Like when you're driving by and you see the prisoners out working on the road with the orange jumpsuit, you know, I found myself looking away.
Cindy Sheehan: Right.
Tommy Chong: Like I don't want to be painted with the same brush.
Cindy Sheehan: Right.
Tommy Chong: You know, that was before. And then when you go to prisons, or when you drive by prisons, you tend to look at the uniform. You don't tend to look at the face or to see the person behind, you know, in that uniform, or in that, you know, that costume. And so what happens, when you do end up behind bars, you change. And you become one of them. And then you really see how little you count. You know, and that's what they do. They dehumanize you. That's what the government wants to do with their opponents. You know, because that's what they're doing. You know, they're not jailing criminals.
Cindy Sheehan: No, absolutely not.
Tommy Chong: They're just jailing their opponents. It's all a political hustle for these guys.
Cindy Sheehan: Well we know that the prison industrial complex is almost comparable to the military industrial complex and very connected in this country, and most of the people who are in, you know, populating our prisons, are in there for marijuana convictions. And the government spent 12 million dollars on this project to –
Tommy Chong: Twelve million, yeah. Twelve million. I mean and that's just a drop in the bucket...
Cindy Sheehan: Right, oh, absolutely!
Tommy Chong: ...compared to what they spend. And the thing is, you know what people don't realize is that the prison I was in was privately owned.
Cindy Sheehan: Oh, so it was –
Tommy Chong: Privately owned. There's a security company called Wackenhut.
Cindy Sheehan: Oh yes. I'm familiar.
Tommy Chong: It's owned, I think the headquarters is in Denmark or Germany. And then the jail I was in, it was once owned by Wackenhut, and then they changed the name I think twice when I was in there. It was called Geo now, G-E-O. And the reason they do that is to avoid lawsuits. So you've got no recourse. And once you get in the system, you're not even, you're not – the federal government pays these guys to run their prisons for them.
Cindy Sheehan: Right.
Tommy Chong: And so you're not even in a federal – you're not even being watched by, like, your government. You think you are, but you're not. It's a privately owned business that saves money if they feed you inferior food, that saves money if they don't give the prisoners proper medical or, you know, education. So it, it's such a scam, you know.
Cindy Sheehan: Well, and profit is the motive, and in California at least we used to have where, you know, rehabilitation was the goal, but now it's punitive. It's strictly punitive.
Tommy Chong: Yep.
Cindy Sheehan: And so there's a high rate of reciv– how do you say that, recidivism?
Tommy Chong: Yeah. Yeah.
Cindy Sheehan: In our prison system. But let's talk about, speaking of California – you know, I'm a Californian, and we do have a proposition coming up on November's ballot, Prop 19, to legalize marijuana, but actually to give local governments power of taxation and regulation and things like that. What are your views on Proposition 19?
Tommy Chong: Well, I, you know, personally, you know, the more laws you can get rid of, you know, the better.
Cindy Sheehan: Right.
Tommy Chong: And the thing is, you know, the government will try to, you know, tax it or whatever. But, you know, you got to remember that marijuana is a weed. It grows anywhere for anybody under any circumstances. And so once they legalize it and take away the criminal penalties for possession and cultivation, then we're going to see an industry blossom that's going to save the world. So I really like the fact that we're getting it legalized.
Cindy Sheehan: Well, we have a situation here in California too that we do have laws on the books that it's legal to use for compassionate uses and it is medicine, like you said, but many people who get their prescriptions are still persecuted by the federal government. Doctors, dispensaries.
Tommy Chong: Yeah, because on one hand they say it's legal statewide, but then the federal says it's still a Schedule One narcotic which has no medical value whatsoever. And it also allows – you see, it's a worldwide epidemic that the government has got themselves into. You know, wars have been created -- and by the way, it's the oil companies that's behind all of this.
Cindy Sheehan: Right. Right.
Tommy Chong: You know, starting with the DuPont Petrol Industry that wanted the hemp rope and the hemp fabric off the market so that they could have a clear market, you know, to manufacture and sell their plastic products.
Cindy Sheehan: Right.
Tommy Chong: And so that really was the genesis to get pot illegal to begin with. You know, to get the hemp plant, which is the marijuana plant.
Cindy Sheehan: Right, right.
Tommy Chong: And then the side thing, you know, for the government was the fact that people like to be intoxicated, you know? [laughs] You know, like they like to drink their beer. They like to, you know – Prohibition didn't work, and then the marijuana. Then they demonized marijuana, you know, which was hemp or cannabis, and they call it marijuana so they could demonize it and make it a racial issue, which they did. And which they still do. And that's the problem with the law the way it is. So, getting back to the original question, because I know there are people, you know, pro-pot people that don't want it legal. They don't want it legal. You know, they're trying to say that the government or the big businesses will take over. Well, good! You know, at least they'll be selling something that's helping the public, you know, instead of poisoning the public.
Cindy Sheehan: But I live in Oakland.
Tommy Chong: You know what the greatest thing about pot is, Cindy? Is that you don't have to smoke it.
Cindy Sheehan: Right!
Tommy Chong: You don't have to take it. If you don't want it, if you don't like it, for any reason, you don't have to take it. Where it's cigarettes, you get addicted. Alcohol, you get addicted. Painkillers, you get addicted. You know, anything, opium-based medicine, you get addicted. Marijuana, nonaddicting.
Cindy Sheehan: Well, I'm all for either, you know, decriminalization, legalization. Like you said, hemp can save the world. It can be an energy. You know, we can use it for clean energy instead of the fossil fuels that are destroying ________
Tommy Chong: Some times, some times, 7 to 1, the ratio, is – you know, it produces seven times for every energy, you get seven times back. Corn, you get four times, it's 4 to 1. Yeah, marijuana or hemp, 7 to 1.
Cindy Sheehan: Corn is not a good fuel. It's not a good replacement for fuel, because it's food. People need to eat it. They don't need to be putting it in their gas tanks.
Tommy Chong: Yeah. Yeah. And burning things. But the thing is, what we're going to do, what we're looking at now is electricity. You know, plug-in cars are going to take over the world.
Cindy Sheehan: Right.
Tommy Chong: And so hemp, hemp has to take over where the plastics failed. Because the plastic plants, they got huge plastic plants all over the country that's killing people.
Cindy Sheehan: Exactly.
Tommy Chong: You know, polluting the environment and killing people. For a substance to wrap your food in. I mean, it's ridiculous. You know, the amount of energy that they spend producing plastic, which kills people! And use the same energy, less energy, to produce hemp, and you're saving people. But there's a Biblical saying...
Cindy Sheehan: Well, we know that but – there's a what?
Tommy Chong: ...Cindy, that you have to remember. There's a Biblical saying that's coming true, it says "The meek shall inherit the earth."
Cindy Sheehan: Well, I hope – it's about time. Because the robber class has been running it for way too long now.
Tommy Chong: Yep. Yeah. And the thing is, it's like Hitler's regime. You know, Hitler only lasted, what, ten years? If that, you know. And the last few years, he was on the run, you know. So the Bush and all the rest of those people, you know, they're history. I mean, you can see it right now, you know. I mean, their big guns are Sarah Palin. You know?
Cindy Sheehan: Well, unfortunately the policies still continue, so we still have to keep our work going to have a sustainable future for our children and our grandchildren that we were talking about before we started this show. But unfortunately we're out of time, Tommy.
Tommy Chong: Okay, babe.
Cindy Sheehan: And I'm very honored that you came on the show, and I want to encourage my listeners to check out the film, AKA Tommy Chong. Is there something else that they can go to to get more information about what we've been talking about?
Tommy Chong: Cheechandchong.com is up, and my own profile, Tommy Chong. So any of the Chongs, you get us.
Cindy Sheehan: Oh, well thank you so much for your lifelong work and for keeping at it, and really for your dignity in the face of such adversity. We really appreciate it.
Tommy Chong: And call me any time if you need something, babe.
Cindy Sheehan: Oh! Awesome! Well, we'll work on these things together.
Tommy Chong: Take care.
Cindy Sheehan: We'll talk to you soon, Tommy.
That was our very special guest, Tommy Chong. I hope you enjoyed this week's show. I know I did. As always, I'd like to thank my engineer, Scott Petty, my webmaster Rich Bowser, my producer Mikey, my guests, and you for listening.
HOWARD BEALE: I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. A dollar buys a nickel's worth. Banks are going bust. Shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat. We sit watching our TVs while some local newscaster tells us that today we had 15 homicides and 63 violent crimes. But is that's the way it's supposed to be? We know things are bad, worse than bad. They're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we're living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, "Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms, let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone. Just leave us alone." Well I'm not going to leave you alone. I want you to get mad. I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot. I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you've got to get mad! You've got to say, "I'm a human being, God damn it! My life has value!" I want you to get up now. I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell, "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!" Just get up from your chairs, right now. Go stick your head out and yell and keep yelling, "I'm as mad as hell! I'm not going to take this anymore!" Just get up from your chairs.
[voices]
There's yelling in that room.
[shouting]
I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!
I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!
I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!
I'm mad as hell! I'm not going to take it anymore!
I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!
I'm not going to take it anymore!
I'm mad as hell!
I'm mad as hell!
I'm not going to take this anymore!
I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!
