Sherry@pdamerica.org
I get an "F" in blogging but an "A" in networking and giving
interviews. I've given over 30 interviews in the last 48 hours --
every television station in Phoenix is clamoring for interviews. One
station is sending a reporter to Camp Casey tomorrow to get an
interview. I'm doing daily updates on Phoenix radio and TV stations
and am told I've become the local "whipping boy" for conservative talk
radio in the Phoenix Valley. The local newspapers are calling daily.
In my many years of doing this work, I've never seen this kind of
response or outcry.
I've also done several radio interviews with progressive talk radio
shows across the country -- too many to remember. Most of these really
wanted to talk with Cindy but she can't possibly do all of the
interviews she's being asked to do. I need an assistant to keep a log
and to blog for me!
This is an incredible experience and a great privilege to watch the
birthing of a movement and that’s just what’s happening here in
Crawford – the anti-war movement is truly finding its voice.
Medea arrived yesterday. Tom Hayden is coming today. Maxene Waters is
coming tomorrow. We're told that buses and caravans are coming from
across the country and from foreign countries.
My plan is to leave on Sunday but I'm beginning to question that.
We'll see..... It's hard to leave history in the making.
I'm sending this to random people. Please share it with anyone else
who needs it. I'm rushing to go do another radio interview.
more later
peace
Sherry
Saturday, August 13, 2005
From Sherry through Caryn
Pink People,
I just got off the phone with Sherry. Bush is going to drive down the road past Camp Casey today. 72 cars managed to get on the road before the road was closed down. There are now about 20 police cars and a couple of convoys have passed. Anyway, she thinks there are about 300 people lining the road right now holding white crosses. One woman has been trying to collect signatures of the people at Camp Casey since Saturday. She has around 700 signatures. The rumor is that hundreds more people (busloads, even) will be converging on Crawford tomorrow since it's a weekend.
The Peace Movement is finally getting attention. So many of us have been working so long on this (and I'm a relative newbie) without being able to actually get the message out. I'm hoping this is the pivotal moment when the Bush administration realizes it can't ignore the will of the majority of citizens any long.
On the down side, Sherry and Rebecca were getting absolutely blasted on KTAR this morning. I thought about calling in, but I decided that I wouldn't actually succeed in teaching any of those particular listeners about the peace movement and it would just get me upset. So, I turned on 1010 (Air America)!
I'll see you at noon!
Tickled Pink,
Caryn
I just got off the phone with Sherry. Bush is going to drive down the road past Camp Casey today. 72 cars managed to get on the road before the road was closed down. There are now about 20 police cars and a couple of convoys have passed. Anyway, she thinks there are about 300 people lining the road right now holding white crosses. One woman has been trying to collect signatures of the people at Camp Casey since Saturday. She has around 700 signatures. The rumor is that hundreds more people (busloads, even) will be converging on Crawford tomorrow since it's a weekend.
The Peace Movement is finally getting attention. So many of us have been working so long on this (and I'm a relative newbie) without being able to actually get the message out. I'm hoping this is the pivotal moment when the Bush administration realizes it can't ignore the will of the majority of citizens any long.
On the down side, Sherry and Rebecca were getting absolutely blasted on KTAR this morning. I thought about calling in, but I decided that I wouldn't actually succeed in teaching any of those particular listeners about the peace movement and it would just get me upset. So, I turned on 1010 (Air America)!
I'll see you at noon!
Tickled Pink,
Caryn
Friday, August 12, 2005
Text on Violence
I'm spending this evening with Myrdene Anderson and she doesn't have wireless so I can't really blog easily. But I will put up a link to her work that certainly pertains to building peace.
Cultural Shaping of Violence
is a work with which anyone who wants to understand the pattern of violence as a cultural cycle should become familiar. We can't build peace until we know how to prevent, circumvent, and defuse violence.
Myrdene is a mensch, mentor, and marvel. Read her -- she is one of the besst minds on the planet -- at the moment.
May not be able to blog tomorrow. Will be in Chicago and flying home.
Cultural Shaping of Violence
is a work with which anyone who wants to understand the pattern of violence as a cultural cycle should become familiar. We can't build peace until we know how to prevent, circumvent, and defuse violence. Myrdene is a mensch, mentor, and marvel. Read her -- she is one of the besst minds on the planet -- at the moment.
May not be able to blog tomorrow. Will be in Chicago and flying home.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Update on The Raging Grannies.
While it is not official, the rumor on the street (and within emails between folks involved) is that charges are being dropped against the women of the Raging Grannies who attempted to enlist in the Army on July 13 and were arrested because of it. (See my July blogs for reports of how that transpired.) Supposedly this will mean that the journalists and documentary photographers will also have charges dropped against them.
Will keep you all up to date on this as I find out more. But now I'm headed out on the road to drive across Indiana to West Lafayette and Purdue University where I'll be until I headd to Chicago on Saturday.
Peace!
Will keep you all up to date on this as I find out more. But now I'm headed out on the road to drive across Indiana to West Lafayette and Purdue University where I'll be until I headd to Chicago on Saturday.
Peace!
Sherry, Rebecca, and Paula are Busy in Crawford, Tx
Sherry called this morning to brief us on what has been happening since the Arizona Trio arrived yesterday afternoon.
Sherry reports that about 150 people were there yesterday at Camp Casey to meet and greet when they arrived. She reports that the Peace House in Crawford is bursting at the seams but providing a very needed place for taking showers and doing laundry. Shuttles run between Camp Casey and the Peace House.
People from all walks of life and from all over the country are there with more streaming in at regular intervals. Off the top of her head she mentioned people she had met from Illinois, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Florida, Indiana, and Texas who are associated with Gold Star Families, Military Families, CODEPINK, Progressive Democrats of America.
She still feels that the Rosa Parks analogy for Cindy Sheehan is an appropriate one but now she also says there is a definite Field of Dreams quality to Camp Casey. "If you build it they will come." Cindy built it and they are arriving.
Sherry sounded upbeat and is quite encouraged that this action by Cindy and supported by Gold Star Families for Peace and Military Familes Against the War is "playing well in Peoria." I can confirm that. I'm in a small town in a conservative county in a long time Republican state. My mother, age 91 and a registered Democrat, reports that she is beginning to hear Bush criticized in private conversations by some long time conservative, republican, Christian friends.
Sherry also stated that she was looking forward to the press conference scheduled to happen at 10:30 this a.m. and that she had been interviewed by several members of the press corps including international journalists. Of course Will Pitt is blogging from there.
The rumor is that the authorities have finally figured out that it might not be good p.r. to arrest these folks, so far the police have been quite nice, and most of the locals are at least cordial, although a few locals in 4x4 trucks have swerved toward them more to run 'em over than once.
Arlington West -- an assemblage of crosses for those soldiers who have died in Iraq -- is being put up in Crawford. Some of the local landowners are not happy with the women camped out along the road. The roadside is muddy and they have put down tarps and placed their chairs on them to keep out of the mud and stop the chairs from sinking into the ground.
Rebecca is doing fine. Paula was away doing legal observer training.
I told Sherry that Medea had emailed me and would be arriving on Friday. She was quite happy to hear that Medea was planning on being there too.
The mood was definitely upbeat from knowing that the message of these mothers about the sacrifice of their children was finally being heard and that message to "Bring the Troops Home Now!" is ringing like a freedom bell across our nation.
These women are true patriots.
Sherry reports that about 150 people were there yesterday at Camp Casey to meet and greet when they arrived. She reports that the Peace House in Crawford is bursting at the seams but providing a very needed place for taking showers and doing laundry. Shuttles run between Camp Casey and the Peace House.
People from all walks of life and from all over the country are there with more streaming in at regular intervals. Off the top of her head she mentioned people she had met from Illinois, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Florida, Indiana, and Texas who are associated with Gold Star Families, Military Families, CODEPINK, Progressive Democrats of America.
She still feels that the Rosa Parks analogy for Cindy Sheehan is an appropriate one but now she also says there is a definite Field of Dreams quality to Camp Casey. "If you build it they will come." Cindy built it and they are arriving.
Sherry sounded upbeat and is quite encouraged that this action by Cindy and supported by Gold Star Families for Peace and Military Familes Against the War is "playing well in Peoria." I can confirm that. I'm in a small town in a conservative county in a long time Republican state. My mother, age 91 and a registered Democrat, reports that she is beginning to hear Bush criticized in private conversations by some long time conservative, republican, Christian friends.
Sherry also stated that she was looking forward to the press conference scheduled to happen at 10:30 this a.m. and that she had been interviewed by several members of the press corps including international journalists. Of course Will Pitt is blogging from there.
The rumor is that the authorities have finally figured out that it might not be good p.r. to arrest these folks, so far the police have been quite nice, and most of the locals are at least cordial, although a few locals in 4x4 trucks have swerved toward them more to run 'em over than once.
Arlington West -- an assemblage of crosses for those soldiers who have died in Iraq -- is being put up in Crawford. Some of the local landowners are not happy with the women camped out along the road. The roadside is muddy and they have put down tarps and placed their chairs on them to keep out of the mud and stop the chairs from sinking into the ground.
Rebecca is doing fine. Paula was away doing legal observer training.
I told Sherry that Medea had emailed me and would be arriving on Friday. She was quite happy to hear that Medea was planning on being there too.
The mood was definitely upbeat from knowing that the message of these mothers about the sacrifice of their children was finally being heard and that message to "Bring the Troops Home Now!" is ringing like a freedom bell across our nation.
These women are true patriots.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
What YOU can do to help support Cindy to demand the troops be brought home now
just got word that at least one woman, Caryn, in Phoenix is fasting in solidarity with the folks outside the Bush ranch in Crawford. more are joining from there too.
more on that soon, i hope
----
want to send a message to bush that you are insolidarity with the mothers and others? here are a few ways:
This is from Move On:
Air America Updates:
Tune into Air America's Morning Sedition for Cindy Sheehan updates every morning at 8:10 AM Eastern. Visit AirAmericaRadio.com to listen live or check for a local station.
Support the actual vigil in Crawford with a contribution to Crawford Peace House
CODEPINK:
Join Diane in her hunger strike as she stands with Cindy at Camp Casey
Gather some friends and go to your busiest intersection with a banner that reads, "GEORGE MEET WITH CINDY!". Brainstorm creative ways to pressure Bush to come out of his coward's lair and talk with her. Tell us your ideas.
more on that soon, i hope
----
want to send a message to bush that you are insolidarity with the mothers and others? here are a few ways:
This is from Move On:
We're taking out an ad in President Bush's local newspaper in support of Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq. Cindy is camped outside Bush's ranch in Texas, asking for a meeting with the president. We'll publish the number of signers and the best comments in a full two-page spread in the Sunday newspaper nearest to Crawford. Can you sign and spread the word before the 3:00 PM Friday print deadline?
Air America Updates:
Tune into Air America's Morning Sedition for Cindy Sheehan updates every morning at 8:10 AM Eastern. Visit AirAmericaRadio.com to listen live or check for a local station.
Support the actual vigil in Crawford with a contribution to Crawford Peace House
CODEPINK:
Join Diane in her hunger strike as she stands with Cindy at Camp Casey
Gather some friends and go to your busiest intersection with a banner that reads, "GEORGE MEET WITH CINDY!". Brainstorm creative ways to pressure Bush to come out of his coward's lair and talk with her. Tell us your ideas.
personal reflections: from khe sahn to crawford texas
i think this will be a more personal post than some, so no caps, no real concern with grammar and correctness of any kind. political or other. just stream of conscience blogging...
why am i blogging about peace, women, and crawford texas? because of an 11 year old girl who still lives inside of me. that child of the earth detests the imbalance that picked up her brother from a mixed crop subsistence level farm in Indiana and set him down smack dab in the middle of south vietnam in 1968. there are so many elements of this i could write about, the economic/poverty draft, the exploitation of people by elite robber baron families currently embodied as transnational corporations, the massive global die-off (extinction) in which we are living and the role women must play to restore balanced information flow through some of the most extensive networks within the human system. but this week i am trying to build peace by framing of what is happening in Crawford ,Texas with my perspective and by, perhaps, returning a bit to the situation with the Raging Grannies arrest (did you catch them on the Today Show this past Monday?)in Tucson when they attempted to enlist in the Army.
our society doesn't like young women who see through the games and know about the unpleasant side of life. The hardness and consciousness with which these girls, such as myself, met others' gazes was most often misinterpreted and for that we were punished, one-way or another, for not being innocent or feigning innocence. the vietnam war stole my innocence.
that is the price I paid for becoming truly aware when I was 11 when I saw my brother on the six o'clock news from Hue, Vietnam and later that year when the pale skeletal shadow of my brother came home after six months of repair and restoration (a different kind of R&R) at Great Lakes Naval. He took a grenade in his back up under his flack jacker at Khe Sahn.
Blessedly many of my classmates did not have that kind of jolt into a more mature level of consciousness until several years after I effectively began seeing the world through jaded, if not adult, eyes. I still clearly see the image of the recruiter's car pull into my parents' drive way, not once but twice. (First time he was only shot in the leg (missed the femoral artery, thank heavens.) Living through the three minutes of hell before they get to the door when you are praying your loved one has "only" been wounded and isn't dead while watching your mother's face contort in dread and her eyes cloud with tears is not an experience I want any other human being to ever have to live through.
my brother survived; recovered as much as could be expected to, but now that he is older, his mobility is becoming problematic. i actually spent much of today with him as i flew to the midwest last week to take care of some family business and attend a high school class reunion. being here where those first impressions of war were formed while my friends are venturing to crawford has put me in touch with many original feelings about war and injustice that i hadn't experienced so strongly in decades.
i guess i am effectively a member of military families for peace. once a member of a military family always a military family.
why am i blogging about peace, women, and crawford texas? because of an 11 year old girl who still lives inside of me. that child of the earth detests the imbalance that picked up her brother from a mixed crop subsistence level farm in Indiana and set him down smack dab in the middle of south vietnam in 1968. there are so many elements of this i could write about, the economic/poverty draft, the exploitation of people by elite robber baron families currently embodied as transnational corporations, the massive global die-off (extinction) in which we are living and the role women must play to restore balanced information flow through some of the most extensive networks within the human system. but this week i am trying to build peace by framing of what is happening in Crawford ,Texas with my perspective and by, perhaps, returning a bit to the situation with the Raging Grannies arrest (did you catch them on the Today Show this past Monday?)in Tucson when they attempted to enlist in the Army.
our society doesn't like young women who see through the games and know about the unpleasant side of life. The hardness and consciousness with which these girls, such as myself, met others' gazes was most often misinterpreted and for that we were punished, one-way or another, for not being innocent or feigning innocence. the vietnam war stole my innocence.
that is the price I paid for becoming truly aware when I was 11 when I saw my brother on the six o'clock news from Hue, Vietnam and later that year when the pale skeletal shadow of my brother came home after six months of repair and restoration (a different kind of R&R) at Great Lakes Naval. He took a grenade in his back up under his flack jacker at Khe Sahn.
Blessedly many of my classmates did not have that kind of jolt into a more mature level of consciousness until several years after I effectively began seeing the world through jaded, if not adult, eyes. I still clearly see the image of the recruiter's car pull into my parents' drive way, not once but twice. (First time he was only shot in the leg (missed the femoral artery, thank heavens.) Living through the three minutes of hell before they get to the door when you are praying your loved one has "only" been wounded and isn't dead while watching your mother's face contort in dread and her eyes cloud with tears is not an experience I want any other human being to ever have to live through.
my brother survived; recovered as much as could be expected to, but now that he is older, his mobility is becoming problematic. i actually spent much of today with him as i flew to the midwest last week to take care of some family business and attend a high school class reunion. being here where those first impressions of war were formed while my friends are venturing to crawford has put me in touch with many original feelings about war and injustice that i hadn't experienced so strongly in decades.
i guess i am effectively a member of military families for peace. once a member of a military family always a military family.
More coverage on AZ Moms of Active Duty Soldiers
From KTAR Arizona NewsRadio website
Ariz. Moms Head to Bush's Texas Ranch to Protest War
by Kevin Christopher/KTAR
They support the soldiers, but not the war. Two Valley women whose children have served in Iraq are headed to the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas.
Sherry Bohlen says it's to protest the war and to support Cindy Sheehan. Sheehan is the woman camped out in Texas, demanding to meet with the president to find out why her son died in Iraq.
"I see this event and what Cindy's done as a real pivotal moment. And we're going to look back and equate Cindy to Rosa Parks," says Bohlen thinks Sheehan's actions will spark an anti-war movement across the country.
Sheehan said she decided to go to Crawford days after a recent Bush speech in which he said that fallen U.S. troops had died for a noble cause and that the mission must be completed.
"I want to ask the president, `Why did you kill my son? What did my son die for?" she said, her voice cracking with emotion. "Last week, you said my son died for a noble cause' and I want to ask him what that noble cause is?"
White House spokesman Trent Duffy said response that Bush also wants the troops to return home safely.
"Many of the hundreds of families the president has met with know their loved one died for a noble cause and that the best way to honor their sacrifice is to complete the mission," Duffy said.
Military Families to Join Cindy Sheehan in Crawford; Gold Star and Military Families from Across Country on Their Way to Texas
This from US Newswire gives a good explanation about what is building in Crawford TX right now.
------
CRAWFORD, Texas, Aug. 9 /U.S. Newswire/ -- More members of Gold Star Families for Peace (GSFP) and Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) are traveling to Texas to join the protest outside of President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he is vacationing for the month of August.
Starting today, Gold Star families from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Arkansas and other states whose loved ones have died as a result of the war in Iraq will be joining one of their members, Cindy Sheehan, at the protest. Ms. Sheehan, whose son Army Specialist Casey Sheehan was killed in Sadr City, Iraq on April 4, 2004, has been in Crawford since August 5th, demanding a meeting with the President. These families will be joined by military families with loved ones currently serving in Iraq or about to deploy or redeploy to Iraq. All of these families are coming to Crawford, Texas to share their stories about the personal costs of the war in Iraq and add their voices to the call for a meeting with President Bush.
On August 3, 2005 President Bush, speaking about the dreadful loss of life in Iraq in early August, said "We have to honor the sacrifices of the fallen by completing the mission... The families of the fallen can be assured that they died for a noble cause." Gold Star and military families coming to Crawford know that the cause was not noble; that their loved ones died, or are currently in harm's way, serving in a war based on lies.
In the first 8 days of August, 36 service members died in Iraq; countless Iraq children, women and men are dying each day. All of the families traveling to Crawford will carry the message to the vacationing President: Honor our fallen and honor our loved ones' service by ending the occupation, bringing the troops home now and taking care of them when they get here.
President Bush has consistently tried to hide, and to hide from, the cost of the war in Iraq. This August, these costs are being brought right to his doorstep.
Members of Gold Star Families for Peace and Military Families Speak Out who are traveling to Crawford will be available for interview beginning on Tuesday afternoon August 9th.
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
For More Information:
-- Military Families Speak Out: http://www.mfso.org
-- Gold Star Families for Peace http://www.gsfp.org
------
CRAWFORD, Texas, Aug. 9 /U.S. Newswire/ -- More members of Gold Star Families for Peace (GSFP) and Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) are traveling to Texas to join the protest outside of President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he is vacationing for the month of August.
Starting today, Gold Star families from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Arkansas and other states whose loved ones have died as a result of the war in Iraq will be joining one of their members, Cindy Sheehan, at the protest. Ms. Sheehan, whose son Army Specialist Casey Sheehan was killed in Sadr City, Iraq on April 4, 2004, has been in Crawford since August 5th, demanding a meeting with the President. These families will be joined by military families with loved ones currently serving in Iraq or about to deploy or redeploy to Iraq. All of these families are coming to Crawford, Texas to share their stories about the personal costs of the war in Iraq and add their voices to the call for a meeting with President Bush.
On August 3, 2005 President Bush, speaking about the dreadful loss of life in Iraq in early August, said "We have to honor the sacrifices of the fallen by completing the mission... The families of the fallen can be assured that they died for a noble cause." Gold Star and military families coming to Crawford know that the cause was not noble; that their loved ones died, or are currently in harm's way, serving in a war based on lies.
In the first 8 days of August, 36 service members died in Iraq; countless Iraq children, women and men are dying each day. All of the families traveling to Crawford will carry the message to the vacationing President: Honor our fallen and honor our loved ones' service by ending the occupation, bringing the troops home now and taking care of them when they get here.
President Bush has consistently tried to hide, and to hide from, the cost of the war in Iraq. This August, these costs are being brought right to his doorstep.
Members of Gold Star Families for Peace and Military Families Speak Out who are traveling to Crawford will be available for interview beginning on Tuesday afternoon August 9th.
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
For More Information:
-- Military Families Speak Out: http://www.mfso.org
-- Gold Star Families for Peace http://www.gsfp.org
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
"The Guy James Show" will originate from Crawford Texas Saturday
Subject: Link for live broadcast @ Crawford
"The Guy James Show" will originate from Crawford Texas Saturday
They are going to cover the show live to talk to Cindy and the whole gang if possible. They need YOUR help. We need some serious publicity for this. We need you to tell everyone you know to tune in from 6 to 9pm eastern time Saturday and call in to the show. 888-602-7500-7501-7502-7503-7504
Guy James and crew will be flying from Ft. Myers to Dallas and on to Crawford Saturday morning.
Please help get the word out.
"The Guy James Show" will originate from Crawford Texas Saturday
They are going to cover the show live to talk to Cindy and the whole gang if possible. They need YOUR help. We need some serious publicity for this. We need you to tell everyone you know to tune in from 6 to 9pm eastern time Saturday and call in to the show. 888-602-7500-7501-7502-7503-7504
Guy James and crew will be flying from Ft. Myers to Dallas and on to Crawford Saturday morning.
Please help get the word out.
Sherry Bohlen: I'm going to Texas to stand in support of Cindy Sheehan
I'm leaving this morning for Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas to stand in support of Cindy Sheehan whose son, Casey, was killed in Iraq last year. People from across the country are championing Cindy's cause. Many are coming to stand with her.
We'll be sleeping in a tent in the ditch along the roadside (the only place that the authorities will allow us to be). I spoke with Cindy by phone again yesterday. She said that local authorities have told her that if we're still there by Thursday we'll be arrested as "national security risks".
Watch for Cindy's story on the news. She could well be the Rosa Parks of the movement against the Iraq War. Just as Rosa refused to leave the bus, Cindy is refusing to leave the roadside. She's the spark that is igniting the anti-war movement.
She's an incredibly courageous woman. Here's her story as told by our friend, Will Pitt.....
Say a prayer for us all. I have wireless internet and, if I can get a signal, I'll send on-the-ground updates.
in peace and solidarity
Sherry Bohlen
National Field Director
Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)
www.pdamerica.org
Sherry@pdamerica.org
We'll be sleeping in a tent in the ditch along the roadside (the only place that the authorities will allow us to be). I spoke with Cindy by phone again yesterday. She said that local authorities have told her that if we're still there by Thursday we'll be arrested as "national security risks".
Watch for Cindy's story on the news. She could well be the Rosa Parks of the movement against the Iraq War. Just as Rosa refused to leave the bus, Cindy is refusing to leave the roadside. She's the spark that is igniting the anti-war movement.
She's an incredibly courageous woman. Here's her story as told by our friend, Will Pitt.....
Every Mother's Son
By William Rivers Pitt, TruthOut.org
Posted on August 9, 2005, Printed on August 9, 2005
http://www.alternet.org/story/23951/
George W. Bush hauled stakes for Texas and a vacation a few days ago. Cindy Sheehan followed. She got off a bus Saturday afternoon and started walking to the Crawford ranch. She wanted some answers and was going to get them.
Sheehan had met Mr. Bush once before. On April 4, 2004, just shy of a year after Bush stood on an aircraft carrier beneath a banner that read "Mission Accomplished," Cindy Sheehan's son, Army Specialist Casey A. Sheehan, was killed in Iraq when his unit was attacked by rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire. He was 24 years old.
After Casey's death, Cindy Sheehan was invited to the White House for a visit with Mr. Bush in June of 2004. Her first memory of Bush's appearance that day was when he walked into the room and said in a loud, bluff voice, "Who we'all honorin' today?"
"His mouth kept moving," Sheehan later recalled of her meeting with Bush, "but there was nothing in his eyes or anything else about him that showed me he really cared or had any real compassion at all. This is a human being totally disconnected from humanity and reality. His eyes were empty, hollow shells." Bush called her "Ma" or "Mom" throughout the whole meeting, and never got around to learning her name.
"The whole meeting was simply bizarre and disgusting," Sheehan said later. "Designed to intimidate instead of providing compassion. He didn't even know our names. I just couldn't believe this was happening. It was so surreal and bizarre. Later I met with some of the other fifteen or sixteen families who were at the White House the same day and, sure enough, they all felt the same way I did."
That was it. Cindy Sheehan, who had never been politically active in her life, became an activist. She traveled the country to speak to whomever would listen, she told the story of Casey's life and death, and she threw fire at George W. Bush with the passionate anguish of a mother who was forced to bury her son.
"Casey was told that he would be welcomed to Iraq as a liberator with chocolates and rose petals strewn in front of his unarmored Humvee," Sheehan wrote in February. "He was in Iraq for two short weeks when the Shi'ite rebel 'welcome wagon' welcomed him to Baghdad with bullets and RPG's, which took his young and beautiful life. Casey was killed after George Bush proclaimed 'Mission Accomplished' on May 1, 2003. Hundreds of our young people and thousands of Iraqis have been needlessly and senselessly murdered since George Bush triumphantly announced an end to 'major combat' almost 2 years ago now. All of the above events have been heralded by this administration as 'turning points' in the 'war on terror' — or as wonderful events in the 'march of democracy.'"
In June of 2005, Cindy Sheehan testified at a hearing in Washington DC about the Downing Street Minutes, the recently leaked British intelligence documents which exposed the fact that Bush intended to invade Iraq almost from the beginning of his first term, and that "Intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy" of invasion.
"I believed before our leaders invaded Iraq in March, 2003," said Sheehan in her testimony, "and I am even more convinced now, that this aggression on Iraq was based on a lie of historic proportions and was blatantly unnecessary. The so-called Downing Street Memo dated 23 July, 2003, only confirms what I already suspected: the leadership of this country rushed us into an illegal invasion of another sovereign country on prefabricated and cherry picked intelligence. It appears that my boy Casey was given a death sentence even before he joined the Army in May of 2000."
And so it came to pass that George W. Bush hauled stakes for Texas and a vacation a few days ago, and Cindy Sheehan followed. She got off a bus Saturday afternoon and started walking to the Crawford ranch. She wanted some answers and was going to get them. She got as far as a police checkpoint, and has gotten no further. She is still there, waiting to speak to Mr. Bush so she can get an answer to her question. Why did her son die?
The folks on the Crawford ranch sent out some important people to speak to her. They sent Stephen Hadley, the national security adviser. They sent Joe Hagin, a deputy White House chief of staff. Cindy Sheehan sent them both packing.
By Sunday, a media frenzy had erupted around her. On Sunday night, the New York Times published a story about Sheehan's Texas standoff. "Her success in drawing so much attention to her message — and leaving the White House in a face-off with an opponent who had to be treated very gently even as she aggressively attacked the president and his policies -- seemed to stem from the confluence of several forces," wrote the Times. "The deaths last week of 20 Marines from a single battalion has focused public attention on the unremitting pace of casualties in Iraq, providing her an opening to deliver her message that no more lives should be given to the war."
"At the same time," continued the article, "polls that show falling approval for Mr. Bush's handling of the war have left him open to challenge in a way that he was not when the nation appeared to be more strongly behind him. It did not hurt her cause that she staged her protest, which she said was more or less spontaneous, at the doorstep of the White House press corps, which spends each August in Crawford with little to do, minimal access to Mr. Bush and his aides, and an eagerness for any new story."
Casey Sheehan was every mother's son. Cindy Sheehan is every son's mother. She loved him with every cell in her body and every breath in her soul, and mourns his absence in every second of every day, and will have some answers for her pain and loss, or will know the reason why. She is down in Crawford, right now, waiting for George W. Bush to stop sending lackeys to placate her. She wants to speak to the man who sent her son to die. She is waiting.
William Rivers Pitt is the author of "War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know" and "The Greatest Sedition Is Silence."
Say a prayer for us all. I have wireless internet and, if I can get a signal, I'll send on-the-ground updates.
in peace and solidarity
Sherry Bohlen
National Field Director
Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)
www.pdamerica.org
Sherry@pdamerica.org
Sacred Icons: Mothers and Such
I'm writing these entries on the road and 2000 miles from the Arizona starting point where my friends are leaving today to set out for Crawford, Texas. I keep asking myself, "What can this blog bring to the info stream that is not already there, especially when the national media has leapt on Cindy Sheehan and her vigil outside the Bush compound in Crawford like white on rice. I just feel it is important and women so rarely get there stories out as news and opinion. We need to do this.
Gold Star Families, CODEPINK, Raging Grannies -- these are the folks spied upon in California by National Guard Troops. Cindy foundeed Gold Star Families. CODEPINK women from all over the Country are headed to stand in solidarity with Cindy because of a call put out by CODEPINK a couple days ago. Grannies were arrested in Tucson a couple weeks ago. If events follow one logical path of progression then hundreds of folks will arrive from all over the country to be with Cindy just in time to be arrested on Thursday when Camp Casey (Casey was the name of Cindy's son killed in Iraq 16 months ago) is set to become a national security threat. So how does a woman asking the hard questions that any grieving mother would ask about her son's death go from solitary figure along a dusty roadside in Texas become defined as the most dangerous of concerns to our nation and do so at a prescribed time in the future?
Where to begin to bisect or trisect this issue? The icons are rife - There is the mother, the long dusty road, the isolated leader removed from the people. And then there is the planned transformation of this nurturing icon into a dangerous and threatening one. They may not be able to spin this one.
I wonder if the spin meisters understand that information can be spun but manipulation of cultural icons cannot be so easily controlled. When I spoke with Sherry Bohlen a few minutes ago she said that a mental image of Rosa Parks keeps coming to her when she thinks of Cindy Sheehan. Rosa was tired and fed up and just wanted to sit down. Cindy is grieving and fed up and just wants an explanation.
I can't help but think of my time, short though it was--only a few weeks, when I lived with the monkeys on Cayo Santiago off the coast of Puerto Rico; spats and scrapes were no big deal and common occurrences among the males, and brief slaps and shrieks were commonly exchanged between females in the same group or family. But when the females all begin to be upset and involved in real group to group discord, you knew to get your back up against a tree and protect your neck and head because all hell was going to break loose, there were going to be injuries, and after the battle ended that there would be a new social order.
The cultural composition of those voicing their opposition to this war has been very different from any protest we have seen in recent times. Women for peace and Military Families Against the War were there from the inception with Iraqi Veterans Against the War joining as soon as any troops returned from there to U.S. soil.
Our women are converging on Crawford. They will not be violent, they will not instigate violence. They are not national security threats today and they will not be so on Thursday. If on Thursday authorities try to transform Cindy from grieving mother to dangerous crone as society has done so often in the past when women drew lines around issues saying, "here but no further" -- well, we can hope it will just fizzle out and everyone will be released with no harm done. But if the authorities push it, we may find that women's sentiments and networks make up the fabric of culture and all hell will break loose when this administration finally discovers that parts of our society exist beyond the realm of political reach. One of two things can happen as I see it when someone tugs at the very warp of societal fabric, hell will break loose as our culture, which reflects the deepest beliefs about our sovereign state, consumes the threat to that fabric rips out the last few rows of weaving and continues the original pattern, again -- or after this skirmish we may find that the fabric of our society has taken on a wholly new pattern.
We may almost be at the point where we are noticing that the threat to our most sacred institutions isn't women protesting but rather the administration who would destroy our institutions to further their own agenda. It sure seems that way to me as the coverage of this issue of women against the war is taking hold. The Grannies story swept over the world like wildfire. And it certainly seems like Cindy's lone vigil is becoming a larger phenomenon. Sherry just told me that three local TV stations and one radio station are coming to film or report when she and Rebecca take off from Phoenix. And people from Military Families Speak Out called her to tell her that CNN was trying to get a crew there to cover their departure.
I'm by no means certain what all this means, but I do know there has been a sea change. We've been doing "this kind of stuff" for years, and have found it impossible to get any media coverage. Now they are beating on doors wanting to film and interview -- and the Arizona Ladies (as they are picking up Paula in Tucson and truly representing the state and not just one metropolitan area) are just a side story. There seems to be fresh air coming in on a new breeze. But we will have to wait and see what Thursday brings. I will post again later today when I get an on the road update from Sherry.
Gold Star Families, CODEPINK, Raging Grannies -- these are the folks spied upon in California by National Guard Troops. Cindy foundeed Gold Star Families. CODEPINK women from all over the Country are headed to stand in solidarity with Cindy because of a call put out by CODEPINK a couple days ago. Grannies were arrested in Tucson a couple weeks ago. If events follow one logical path of progression then hundreds of folks will arrive from all over the country to be with Cindy just in time to be arrested on Thursday when Camp Casey (Casey was the name of Cindy's son killed in Iraq 16 months ago) is set to become a national security threat. So how does a woman asking the hard questions that any grieving mother would ask about her son's death go from solitary figure along a dusty roadside in Texas become defined as the most dangerous of concerns to our nation and do so at a prescribed time in the future?
Where to begin to bisect or trisect this issue? The icons are rife - There is the mother, the long dusty road, the isolated leader removed from the people. And then there is the planned transformation of this nurturing icon into a dangerous and threatening one. They may not be able to spin this one.
I wonder if the spin meisters understand that information can be spun but manipulation of cultural icons cannot be so easily controlled. When I spoke with Sherry Bohlen a few minutes ago she said that a mental image of Rosa Parks keeps coming to her when she thinks of Cindy Sheehan. Rosa was tired and fed up and just wanted to sit down. Cindy is grieving and fed up and just wants an explanation.
I can't help but think of my time, short though it was--only a few weeks, when I lived with the monkeys on Cayo Santiago off the coast of Puerto Rico; spats and scrapes were no big deal and common occurrences among the males, and brief slaps and shrieks were commonly exchanged between females in the same group or family. But when the females all begin to be upset and involved in real group to group discord, you knew to get your back up against a tree and protect your neck and head because all hell was going to break loose, there were going to be injuries, and after the battle ended that there would be a new social order.
The cultural composition of those voicing their opposition to this war has been very different from any protest we have seen in recent times. Women for peace and Military Families Against the War were there from the inception with Iraqi Veterans Against the War joining as soon as any troops returned from there to U.S. soil.
Our women are converging on Crawford. They will not be violent, they will not instigate violence. They are not national security threats today and they will not be so on Thursday. If on Thursday authorities try to transform Cindy from grieving mother to dangerous crone as society has done so often in the past when women drew lines around issues saying, "here but no further" -- well, we can hope it will just fizzle out and everyone will be released with no harm done. But if the authorities push it, we may find that women's sentiments and networks make up the fabric of culture and all hell will break loose when this administration finally discovers that parts of our society exist beyond the realm of political reach. One of two things can happen as I see it when someone tugs at the very warp of societal fabric, hell will break loose as our culture, which reflects the deepest beliefs about our sovereign state, consumes the threat to that fabric rips out the last few rows of weaving and continues the original pattern, again -- or after this skirmish we may find that the fabric of our society has taken on a wholly new pattern.
We may almost be at the point where we are noticing that the threat to our most sacred institutions isn't women protesting but rather the administration who would destroy our institutions to further their own agenda. It sure seems that way to me as the coverage of this issue of women against the war is taking hold. The Grannies story swept over the world like wildfire. And it certainly seems like Cindy's lone vigil is becoming a larger phenomenon. Sherry just told me that three local TV stations and one radio station are coming to film or report when she and Rebecca take off from Phoenix. And people from Military Families Speak Out called her to tell her that CNN was trying to get a crew there to cover their departure.
I'm by no means certain what all this means, but I do know there has been a sea change. We've been doing "this kind of stuff" for years, and have found it impossible to get any media coverage. Now they are beating on doors wanting to film and interview -- and the Arizona Ladies (as they are picking up Paula in Tucson and truly representing the state and not just one metropolitan area) are just a side story. There seems to be fresh air coming in on a new breeze. But we will have to wait and see what Thursday brings. I will post again later today when I get an on the road update from Sherry.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Mothers and Others -- Gold, Pink & Pissed Off Head to Crawford Texas
I didn't know how synchronicity was going to kick in when Amanda from KXCI sent the following email last evening:
By the way, KXCI streams audio – and as one of the few community (non-corporate) radio stations in the U.S., it just might be something you want to tune in at other times too for a refreshing taste of free thought and speech broadcasting.
But speaking of Medea Benjamin, the book she and Jodie Evans edited Stop the Next War Now features an essay by Cindy Sheehan. Cindy is the righteously determined woman doing vigil outside Bush’s fortress in Crawford, TX until Bush agrees to talk to her and she can ask, “Why did you kill my son? What did my son die for?“
CODEPINK, the women initiated and lead peace group that opposes the waging of this unjust and immoral War on Iraq, sent out a call (of which the following is a part) for women, mothers and activists to head to Crawford to support Cindy. That was just a bit over 24 hours ago.
Women can organize quickly. And they are doing just that and coming from all over the country heading there to support Cindy – in fact, three of my friends from CODEPINK Phoenix, Sherry, Rebecca and Arizona Lizzzeee are shipping out tomorrow. This morning on the Charles Goyette Show on Air America Phoenix Carolyn of CODEPINK Phoenix called in and spoke eloquently about the reasons that this group women are headed to Crawford. They hope to arrive in Crawford by Thursday a.m. after a 16-hour drive from Tucson. I tried to get Anabelle Valencia in touch with these folks as she is a mother with similar concerns. In fact you can read about her trip to Iraq to visit her daughter and her son who were both stationed in Iraq. Many, many mothers are and have been against this war from day one and beforel.
I spoke with Sherry this morning – she is psyched for going but also very aware that this is “serious business” that should not be confused with “wearing costumes” to get media coverage. We want our children home now!
I know exactly what she means when she says “serious.” We all flash on scenes from Iron Jawed Angels every time we head out the door to an action. We hope this dread is just residual detritus that is sticking to us from blanket of fear the Bushites are trying to smother us in. We will not be intimidated or deterred. This is our country. Our very flesh and blood is the commodity in which the Bushites are trading and we will put an end to this wholesale slaughter that benefits no human person only corporate entities. We will build a peace.
Sherry will be sending updates about the action that I will upload here as soon as they are received. Sherry has a son in Iraq presently, and Rebecca’s daughter just came off of a tour of duty in Iraq and could be reassigned there again. We will just have to see how Bush treats the mothers of America.
We know how recruiters are apparently instructed to treat grandmothers, we’ll just have to see how mothers are treated. Bookmark this site or pick up our RSS/Atom feed to get updates as this story develops.
I am so proud of the actions of these courageous women who as mothers are as brave as their children who are now or have served in Iraq.
For some reason I’m reminded of Annie Lennox singing, “Sistahs are doing it for themselves” – well this time mothers are doing it for themselves...and their kids...and their grandkids...
Women are going to have to be the ones to stop this war.
-------------------
The Press release for the Phoenix Pinkers headed to Texas follows:
“Well, if the good lord is willin' and the creeks don't rise, I will be broadcasting excerpts of Medea Benjamin’s talk given at Reader's Oasis Book Store this past May. I tried to fit in as much as I could into a half hour program. The program will air on Sunday, August 14th at 2:30, 91.3 on the Tucson dial.”
By the way, KXCI streams audio – and as one of the few community (non-corporate) radio stations in the U.S., it just might be something you want to tune in at other times too for a refreshing taste of free thought and speech broadcasting.
But speaking of Medea Benjamin, the book she and Jodie Evans edited Stop the Next War Now features an essay by Cindy Sheehan. Cindy is the righteously determined woman doing vigil outside Bush’s fortress in Crawford, TX until Bush agrees to talk to her and she can ask, “Why did you kill my son? What did my son die for?“
CODEPINK, the women initiated and lead peace group that opposes the waging of this unjust and immoral War on Iraq, sent out a call (of which the following is a part) for women, mothers and activists to head to Crawford to support Cindy. That was just a bit over 24 hours ago.
On Saturday, as Cindy marched towards the ranch where Bush is vacationing for 33 days, she and her supporters, including CODEPINK cofounder Diane Wilson, were stopped by local sheriffs, who pushed them into a ditch with fire ants in 100 degree heat. Cindy was undeterred: “I am not leaving until I meet with George Bush and he answers my questions about the death of my son. This is the beginning of the end of the war in Iraq,” she said, (read more).
Inspired by the power of Cindy’s determination Diane pledged that CODEPINK would join her in solidarity by staging a hunger strike. Diane has already begun her fast and many of us are making our way to Crawford to join her, including Ann Wright, former US Army colonel and senior diplomat who resigned after 35 years of service because of the Iraq war (Cindy, Diane and Ann all have powerful essays in our book Stop The Next War Now).
Knowing that every day lives are being lost in the war on Iraq, Cindy, Diane and Ann have taken an uncompromising position. This is a powerful moment in our struggle that cannot be overlooked by any of us who care deeply about the lives that are being wasted in this immoral war. When we are given the opportunity to witness someone else’s courage in the face of struggle, it is a gift. An even greater gift comes when we are presented with the possibility of joining boldly in that struggle.
Here are ways you can stand with them):
• Come to Crawford or donate money or miles so others can come
• Fast in solidarity from home
• Spread the word by contacting the press
This vigil and fast follows in the footsteps of all those throughout history who have taken extreme action, putting their own needs aside to save our humanity. We are reminded of another great soul, Robin Cooke, former British Foreign Secretary who, in 2003, resigned from Blair’s cabinet in protest of the invasion of Iraq. Cooke died on Saturday, but his courageous example lives on for all of us to follow until the last foreign soldier leaves Iraq.
Women can organize quickly. And they are doing just that and coming from all over the country heading there to support Cindy – in fact, three of my friends from CODEPINK Phoenix, Sherry, Rebecca and Arizona Lizzzeee are shipping out tomorrow. This morning on the Charles Goyette Show on Air America Phoenix Carolyn of CODEPINK Phoenix called in and spoke eloquently about the reasons that this group women are headed to Crawford. They hope to arrive in Crawford by Thursday a.m. after a 16-hour drive from Tucson. I tried to get Anabelle Valencia in touch with these folks as she is a mother with similar concerns. In fact you can read about her trip to Iraq to visit her daughter and her son who were both stationed in Iraq. Many, many mothers are and have been against this war from day one and beforel.
I spoke with Sherry this morning – she is psyched for going but also very aware that this is “serious business” that should not be confused with “wearing costumes” to get media coverage. We want our children home now!
I know exactly what she means when she says “serious.” We all flash on scenes from Iron Jawed Angels every time we head out the door to an action. We hope this dread is just residual detritus that is sticking to us from blanket of fear the Bushites are trying to smother us in. We will not be intimidated or deterred. This is our country. Our very flesh and blood is the commodity in which the Bushites are trading and we will put an end to this wholesale slaughter that benefits no human person only corporate entities. We will build a peace.
Sherry will be sending updates about the action that I will upload here as soon as they are received. Sherry has a son in Iraq presently, and Rebecca’s daughter just came off of a tour of duty in Iraq and could be reassigned there again. We will just have to see how Bush treats the mothers of America.
We know how recruiters are apparently instructed to treat grandmothers, we’ll just have to see how mothers are treated. Bookmark this site or pick up our RSS/Atom feed to get updates as this story develops.
I am so proud of the actions of these courageous women who as mothers are as brave as their children who are now or have served in Iraq.
For some reason I’m reminded of Annie Lennox singing, “Sistahs are doing it for themselves” – well this time mothers are doing it for themselves...and their kids...and their grandkids...
Women are going to have to be the ones to stop this war.
-------------------
The Press release for the Phoenix Pinkers headed to Texas follows:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Information:
Sherry Bohlen
14021 E. Becker Lane
Scottsdale, AZ 85259
Phone: 480-545-5136
Mobile: 480-529-2131
sherry@pdamerica.org
Local Phoenix mothers of active duty soldiers driving to Crawford, Texas in support of Cindy Sheehan
Phoenix, AZ -- August 8, 2005 -- Concerned mothers of active-duty soldiers are heading for Crawford, Tx. on Tuesday to stand in solidarity with Cindy Sheehan of Gold Star Families for Peace despite threats of arrest.
This fearless group includes representatives of the local chapter of Code Pink, Women for Peace. One, in particular, is Rebecca Bahr, mother of a Marine Corps daughter currently serving stateside. Mrs. Bahr is also a member of Military Families Speak Out. She is concerned that this administration be worthy of the trust that our troops place in them as their leaders.
Sherry Bohlen -- another mother who's son, Thor, was posted to Iraq on June 10th -- is also going. Sherry is the National Field Director of Progressive Democrats of America.
Others in the group are going because they believe it's the right thing to do. They plan to be in Crawford, Texas by Thursday to coincide with a visit to President Bush's Crawford "ranch" by Condoleezza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld. The group's trip will be blogged by Nancy Hill, head of the Tucson chapter of Code Pink, at buildpeace.blogspot.com -- Charles Goyette of KXXT radio is also planning on keeping in touch with them along the way.
Cindy Sheehan has reportedly been told by authorities that as of Thursday her group will be considered a "national security risk" and subject to arrest. That should make for some interesting headlines but is not enough to deter her growing number of vocal supporters. This gutsy mom is determined to ask President Bush just what "noble cause" he claims our 1800 soldiers, including her son Casey, have died for in Iraq.
There is widespread interest in our local military families. Please give this story due diligence as your broadcast license would require. Thank you.
For more information:
http://www.codepink4peace.org/index.php
www.pdamerica.org
www.mfso.org
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
FBI Surveillance of Progressive Activist Groups
I just got this in the email from D.C. Indy Media. I thought it most worth redistribution with complete attribution.
Between the Lines Q&A
A weekly column featuring progressive viewpoints
on national and international issues
under-reported in mainstream media
for release Aug. 2, 2005
http://www.btlonline.org/btl080505.html
Distributed by Squeaky Wheel Productions
http://www.squeakywheel.net
===================================
FBI Surveillance of Progressive Activist Groups
Will Chill Free Speech, Critics Charge
Interview with Barbara Olshansky,
attorney with the
Center for Constitutional Rights,
conducted by Scott Harris
Listen in RealAudio:
http://www.btlonline.org/olshansky080505.ram
(Needs RealOne player or RealPlayer)
Under the guise of fighting terrorism, the FBI has monitored the activities of U.S. civil liberties, antiwar and environmental organizations. A lawsuit brought by activist groups charging that the FBI has targeted critics of the Bush administration forced the Justice Department to reveal that the FBI has amassed more than 3,500 pages of documents on progressive American advocacy organizations.
Thus far, the FBI has identified 1,173 pages related to the American Civil Liberties Union and 2,383 pages detailing surveillance of the environmental group Greenpeace. Other documents provide evidence of the bureau's monitoring of peace groups such as the national anti-Iraq war coalition United for Peace and Justice that had organized a series of large protests at last August's Republican National Convention in New York City.
The FBI denies that its investigation of groups critical of President Bush are designed to quell free speech, but rather to prevent disruptive or criminal behavior. However, representatives of the groups targeted charge that the FBI's monitoring of their legal and constitutionally protected activities amounts to an abuse of power. Between the Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Barbara Olshansky, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, who takes a critical look at the FBI's surveillance of dissidents and what she believes is the resulting chilling effect on free speech.
BARBARA OLSHANSKY: This is a very interesting and I think relatively new event in the United States, where straight first amendment groups that are really on free speech rights grounds and anchored in the Constitution are being targeted for infiltration and surveillance on the notion that all of these groups are, or could become terrorist organizations given the tactics that certain groups use. In other words, the government has started thinking that everyone that opposes its policies in any way is likely to become a sort of bomb-throwing anarchist. And that is how the Justice Department and other people from the administration are talking about these straight-forward free speech groups that have long records of being in the public discourse here in the United States.
BETWEEN THE LINES: What can you tell us about how the FBI has collected these documents? Are they surveilling them through electronics? Are they infiltrating the organization's membership or leadership? Do we know anything about what's happening?
BARBARA OLSHANSKY: It's very hard to say how these things are collected. The government has actually stated openly, the anti-terrorism task force has stated this as well as the FBI, that they are now regularly infiltrating organizations because they feel like the only way to truly know what's going on is if they have somebody inside.
And so this is clearly one way they are doing this, but there is a whole host of other ways that they're doing it. And lest people think that it's only through the "sneak and peak" warrants, or roving wiretaps under the USA Patriot Act, there's a lot of other means that are available to the government to collect this information. And it's coming from a wide range of sources, some of which the United States is
regularly now purchasing from commercial entities -- from commercial organizations. They'll find out about what your membership is in a particular organization. Then they'll be able to collect that data, collect it on surveys and all different means. Then they aggregate data from public sources. Then they're also of course issuing all kinds of requests for information from all kinds of organizations. Very frequently, we now know, that they don't actually invoke the provision of any particular law, they make an informal request and occasionally organizations have voluntarily provided this information.
BETWEEN THE LINES: Barbara, the groups targeted by the FBI certainly believe they are under political surveillance for their activities. But the FBI has said they're not monitoring the political activities of activist groups -- and that any intelligence-gathering activities related to political protests are intended to prevent disruptive or criminal activity at demonstrations, not to quell free speech. How do you assess that statement by the FBI?
BARBARA OLSHANSKY: Well, you know it's ridiculous because -- of course -- there's all these underlining assumptions, which is that all of these groups are groups which have a predisposition toward violence and destructive activities, which is not true. And that every group that engages in any free speech activity is going to have that same proclivity, that same tendency to do violence.
To think that the presence and surveillance by all these law enforcement organizations is not going to have a chilling effect, has just been proven wrong by history. And so, it just doesn't really make and sense from what we know about how the first amendment has operated in this country and how attempts to circumscribe free speech has affected people.
When we know that they're listening to what we're saying and that they're looking at what we're reading, at some point people start to internalize that notion and second guess themselves. "Do I want to take this book out (to) learn about Osama bin Laden, because someone might get hold of that record?" And then you say, "No, I don't really need to read it anyway."
And of course, we also internalize all of that stuff whether it's at a conscious level or more deeply buried. It's something that we know happens, and that's been proven to happen. So it's just not honest to say that these surveillance activities don't have a chilling effect on what people are going to say and do.
Contact the Center for Constitutional Rights by calling (212) 614-6464 or visit the group's website at http://www.ccr-ny.org.
Related links:
* American Civil Liberties Union, www.aclu.org
Scott Harris is executive producer of Between The Lines, which can be
heard on more than 35 radio stations and in RealAudio and MP3 on our website at http://www.btlonline.org. This interview excerpt was featured on the award-winning, syndicated weekly radio newsmagazine, Between The Lines for the week ending Aug. 5, 2005. This Between The Lines Q&A was compiled by Scott Harris and Anna Manzo.
spinning...gears turning...teeth gnashing
In this blog you will notice two type of entries if you look closely. Capital letter entries are more "journalistic" in their intent. lower case entries are more opinion or personal entry pieces.
i am relatively certain i will make it through this next week, but I'm not sure what state I will be in when it is over. i have a couple more days left of family vacation slouching around the house then i head back to the conservative little town in a conservative state in the conservative heartland bible belt to attend a high school class reunion. i would very much like to take a calm and confident nature and appearance with me and maintain it throughut my visit. perhaps i will be able to do it. i actually have to rent a room rather than stay with family or friends so i can get away and decompress by myself when necessary. my mother loves conflict and either sets up crises or spins negativity with her viperous tongue. building and maintaining inner peace is at times difficult when i am there. the dominant culture there is a narrowly defined white, and purportedly christian one. not everyone supports that culture by any means, but it is difficult to even access other viewpoints there. information flow is the problem. but that is changing. there is a wifi equipped coffee shop near the downtown. i have listed this business in a hotspot directory so that its existance is known. this trip i plan to leave cards - notes - etc. in various places with information about how to access alternative media through streaming newscasts via the net as well as sites. that will be fun. i'm trying to figure out how to unfurl a banner from a tall building --- and not get caught --- should be easier than most places as there are no cameras.... however blue-haired (and i don't mean punked out electric blue) old ladies are rampant in that area.) i am thinking i might be able to enlist a couple of partners in "alternative publishing." hehehe. wonder where the recruiting station is there?
seriously though, I don't think most folks understand how difficult it is to access alternative media and information that does not support the status quo in many places in the U.S. the people are by no means closed minded by nature, but there are significant forces that attempt to make these areas effective closed systems. closed systems do not exist. we can increase information flow by encouraging thru-put.
living systems cannot survive indefinitely or even for any great length of time without the flow of energy and information through them.
the link/reference from above is cited because it is understandable. few explanations really condense some of the most complex thoughts in recent history in ways that make sense. this one does. the christian fundamentalist right leaning are closed system advocates whether they understand that or not. this is most unfortunate as true spiritual insight as lived by our guides such as the buddha and christ very much spoke in open system terms. the extreme left -- any extreme is leaning toward a closed system view.
open and closed. that is the terminology for the week. open and closed governance. open and closed worship. i will use these terms for a while.
i am relatively certain i will make it through this next week, but I'm not sure what state I will be in when it is over. i have a couple more days left of family vacation slouching around the house then i head back to the conservative little town in a conservative state in the conservative heartland bible belt to attend a high school class reunion. i would very much like to take a calm and confident nature and appearance with me and maintain it throughut my visit. perhaps i will be able to do it. i actually have to rent a room rather than stay with family or friends so i can get away and decompress by myself when necessary. my mother loves conflict and either sets up crises or spins negativity with her viperous tongue. building and maintaining inner peace is at times difficult when i am there. the dominant culture there is a narrowly defined white, and purportedly christian one. not everyone supports that culture by any means, but it is difficult to even access other viewpoints there. information flow is the problem. but that is changing. there is a wifi equipped coffee shop near the downtown. i have listed this business in a hotspot directory so that its existance is known. this trip i plan to leave cards - notes - etc. in various places with information about how to access alternative media through streaming newscasts via the net as well as sites. that will be fun. i'm trying to figure out how to unfurl a banner from a tall building --- and not get caught --- should be easier than most places as there are no cameras.... however blue-haired (and i don't mean punked out electric blue) old ladies are rampant in that area.) i am thinking i might be able to enlist a couple of partners in "alternative publishing." hehehe. wonder where the recruiting station is there?
seriously though, I don't think most folks understand how difficult it is to access alternative media and information that does not support the status quo in many places in the U.S. the people are by no means closed minded by nature, but there are significant forces that attempt to make these areas effective closed systems. closed systems do not exist. we can increase information flow by encouraging thru-put.
living systems cannot survive indefinitely or even for any great length of time without the flow of energy and information through them.
The salient characteristics of an open system is a self-maintenance based on a process of resources from the environment and interaction with the environment. Katz and Kahn summarize the essential characteristics of an open systems as follows: " The open-system approach begins by identifying and mapping the repeated cycles of inputs, transformation, output and renewed inputs which comprise the organizational patterns. Organizations as a special class of open systems have properties of their own, but they share other properties in common with all open systems. These include the importation of energy from the environment, the through-put or transformation of the imported energy into some product form... the exporting of that product into the environment, and the re-energizing of the system from sources in the environment." "Open systems also share the characteristics of negative entropy, feedback, homeostasis, differentiation, and equifinality. The law of negative entropy states that systems survive and maintain their characteristic internal order only so long as they import from the environment more energy than they expend in the process of transformation and exportation." A system is a functional whole composed of set of subsystems and components, when coupled together, generate a level of organization that is fundamentally different from the level of each individual subsystem. General systems theorists believe that, in spite of the obvious differences among the many kinds of living and nonliving systems, they share very general characteristics and that it is important to discover what these are. The study of systems is by definition concerned with change.
the link/reference from above is cited because it is understandable. few explanations really condense some of the most complex thoughts in recent history in ways that make sense. this one does. the christian fundamentalist right leaning are closed system advocates whether they understand that or not. this is most unfortunate as true spiritual insight as lived by our guides such as the buddha and christ very much spoke in open system terms. the extreme left -- any extreme is leaning toward a closed system view.
open and closed. that is the terminology for the week. open and closed governance. open and closed worship. i will use these terms for a while.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Recruiters on the Run from Raging Grannies
Just another beautiful day in Tucson. Woke up, showered, dressed in pink, went to Bentley’s for a single short in the dark (all they serve coffeewise is Fair Trade Coffee), made a few signs and zipped off to the protest. I got to the weekly protest on the sidewalk in front of the Recruiting Center on Speedway Blvd. at about five before the hour -- 7:55 a.m. There were already 20 or so people there plus the Grannies and the news crews.
Grannies.... you know those womderful Tucson Raging Grannies who were arrested for criminal trespass (punishable by up to 39 days in jail and a $500 fine (cripes that is probably more than their Social Security...)when they attempted to enlist in the U.S. Army but the recruiters refused to listen to their prepared statement about why they wanted to enlist.
Army Recruiting in any form was conspicuously absent. One non-protester I spoke with (who shall remain anonymous) told me the Army recruiters closed today "because of you guys." Hmmmmm. I guess the recruiters just were not up to facing national media asking them why they they had a bunch of little old ladies and journalists arrested as a first recourse when those ladies and journalists vacated their office within a minute of being asked to leave two weeks ago.
Not all recruiters are as plain old hostile as the ones here in Tucson. I don’t know what kind of bug they have where, but simple courtesy could have diffused the situation even before it became a situation. And now they are running from the protesters, news folks, and Raging Grannies. That strikes me as simply yellow running scared. I will try to get some pics up of the event but I was too busy talking to cops, who had far more officers there than the situation called for, and holding signs and talking to like minded folks to take pics today. I can't protest and do journalist documentation at the same time. I keep those roles quite separate.
This last fact about the overabundance of police disturbs me. Tucson is a large city in the state with the highest crime rate in the nation. We’ve had several murders here within the city limits within the past week. I confess I didn’t do a careful count but there were at least 4 bicycle cops, a couple regular cops, and one women officer who I could not determine what capacity she was there in and two motorcycle cops showed up to drive by shortly after 8 a.m. All this unnecessary show of force does is convince me that the current administration in the White House has diverted a totally unjustified amount of resources into instilling fear in the populace to the detriment of real safety and security in our communities. This extends all the way from the horrific cost of war that is paid internationally in human lives to the City Goverment level where the climate of fear suddenly calls for massive police presence at protests that have been going on peaceably for the last three years. That is criminal.
While I was holding a banner with a CODEPINK friend and colleague I had opportunity to speak with a well spoken bike officer. (The sign, by the way, read “ Send Rove to Iraq to Fight, NOT our families and friends.”) I was telling my friend the story Medea Benjamin tells in
How To Stop The Next War Now about how South American police officers were present at demonstrations to protect the rights of the protestors – because it is a democracy. The officer and I began speaking after this, and by the end of the conversation he had told at least one passerby that they were “there to protect the protesters.”
I don’t know if he believed that, I can’t read minds, but it is good to hear those words coming the mouths of police officers. It is sort of like smiling when you feel sad. The smiling actually helps you feel better. (That old physio-chemical interaction thing.) Same with those words, if we can get enough of our law enforcement officers saying that they are there to protect our right to peaceably assemble and exercise free speech, we have made significant inroads against the opposition’s attempts to divide us into warring factions here at home.
We are all Americans who love our country and are trying to protect it as best we know how. Now if we can just reach those folks like the young man whose face was filled with hatred and rage as he drove by today and flipped the bird at us, we will have turned the tide.
The Grannies are certainly doing their part. They were beautiful this morning. These are caring and fun loving women who educate through song. They are great people. I can’t wait to see what the national morning show (Today Show) does with the film from the demonstration and from the Raging Granny practice (they are a chorus and they do have regular practices) at which the crew was to film immediately after the protest. This practice, by the way, was being held at the local WILPF president’s house --- she is 93.
These women are effectively our council of elders, our grandmothers’ council – akin to the Iroquois Grandmothers’ Council whose role was to have the final say as to whether war was necessary when the warriors brought the request to them. We need these women. We need to hear what their collective centuries of wisdom have to teach us. They may be tough ol’ broads, but they know how to enjoy life. Anger destroys; humor builds and informs.
Our military should not be afraid of our own grandmothers nor of their wisdom or songs.
----
Just as an endnote.... a CODEPINK representative came down from CODEPINK Phoenix to show support for our Tucson Raging Grannies. That’s a two-hour drive for a one-hour protest. That is belief in and support of these ladies. Four hours of driving in thermometer busing temperatures. That is how passionately we believe in our Grannies! Fortunately we did have some time to chat over coffee and chai after the event...as I wanted to drop off some printed copies of the Downing Street Memo so people can read it so she didn't have to drive back immediately. The one thing we decided over coffee -- Kyl and McCain may come from Arizona, but they do not represent us. I personally believe that Congressman Raul Grijalva is the only Representative from Arizona who truly represents the people and not corporate interests. Geesh, when are we going to get busy passing laws that distinguish people from corporate entities? It makes no sense to say that Corporations have a right to free speech. People have rights. Corporations should just be given privileges which can be revoked if they engage in actions harmful to people. But that is better left for another blog entry....
Grannies.... you know those womderful Tucson Raging Grannies who were arrested for criminal trespass (punishable by up to 39 days in jail and a $500 fine (cripes that is probably more than their Social Security...)when they attempted to enlist in the U.S. Army but the recruiters refused to listen to their prepared statement about why they wanted to enlist.
Army Recruiting in any form was conspicuously absent. One non-protester I spoke with (who shall remain anonymous) told me the Army recruiters closed today "because of you guys." Hmmmmm. I guess the recruiters just were not up to facing national media asking them why they they had a bunch of little old ladies and journalists arrested as a first recourse when those ladies and journalists vacated their office within a minute of being asked to leave two weeks ago.
Not all recruiters are as plain old hostile as the ones here in Tucson. I don’t know what kind of bug they have where, but simple courtesy could have diffused the situation even before it became a situation. And now they are running from the protesters, news folks, and Raging Grannies. That strikes me as simply yellow running scared. I will try to get some pics up of the event but I was too busy talking to cops, who had far more officers there than the situation called for, and holding signs and talking to like minded folks to take pics today. I can't protest and do journalist documentation at the same time. I keep those roles quite separate.
This last fact about the overabundance of police disturbs me. Tucson is a large city in the state with the highest crime rate in the nation. We’ve had several murders here within the city limits within the past week. I confess I didn’t do a careful count but there were at least 4 bicycle cops, a couple regular cops, and one women officer who I could not determine what capacity she was there in and two motorcycle cops showed up to drive by shortly after 8 a.m. All this unnecessary show of force does is convince me that the current administration in the White House has diverted a totally unjustified amount of resources into instilling fear in the populace to the detriment of real safety and security in our communities. This extends all the way from the horrific cost of war that is paid internationally in human lives to the City Goverment level where the climate of fear suddenly calls for massive police presence at protests that have been going on peaceably for the last three years. That is criminal.
While I was holding a banner with a CODEPINK friend and colleague I had opportunity to speak with a well spoken bike officer. (The sign, by the way, read “ Send Rove to Iraq to Fight, NOT our families and friends.”) I was telling my friend the story Medea Benjamin tells in
How To Stop The Next War Now
about how South American police officers were present at demonstrations to protect the rights of the protestors – because it is a democracy. The officer and I began speaking after this, and by the end of the conversation he had told at least one passerby that they were “there to protect the protesters.” I don’t know if he believed that, I can’t read minds, but it is good to hear those words coming the mouths of police officers. It is sort of like smiling when you feel sad. The smiling actually helps you feel better. (That old physio-chemical interaction thing.) Same with those words, if we can get enough of our law enforcement officers saying that they are there to protect our right to peaceably assemble and exercise free speech, we have made significant inroads against the opposition’s attempts to divide us into warring factions here at home.
We are all Americans who love our country and are trying to protect it as best we know how. Now if we can just reach those folks like the young man whose face was filled with hatred and rage as he drove by today and flipped the bird at us, we will have turned the tide.
The Grannies are certainly doing their part. They were beautiful this morning. These are caring and fun loving women who educate through song. They are great people. I can’t wait to see what the national morning show (Today Show) does with the film from the demonstration and from the Raging Granny practice (they are a chorus and they do have regular practices) at which the crew was to film immediately after the protest. This practice, by the way, was being held at the local WILPF president’s house --- she is 93.
These women are effectively our council of elders, our grandmothers’ council – akin to the Iroquois Grandmothers’ Council whose role was to have the final say as to whether war was necessary when the warriors brought the request to them. We need these women. We need to hear what their collective centuries of wisdom have to teach us. They may be tough ol’ broads, but they know how to enjoy life. Anger destroys; humor builds and informs.
Our military should not be afraid of our own grandmothers nor of their wisdom or songs.
----
Just as an endnote.... a CODEPINK representative came down from CODEPINK Phoenix to show support for our Tucson Raging Grannies. That’s a two-hour drive for a one-hour protest. That is belief in and support of these ladies. Four hours of driving in thermometer busing temperatures. That is how passionately we believe in our Grannies! Fortunately we did have some time to chat over coffee and chai after the event...as I wanted to drop off some printed copies of the Downing Street Memo so people can read it so she didn't have to drive back immediately. The one thing we decided over coffee -- Kyl and McCain may come from Arizona, but they do not represent us. I personally believe that Congressman Raul Grijalva is the only Representative from Arizona who truly represents the people and not corporate interests. Geesh, when are we going to get busy passing laws that distinguish people from corporate entities? It makes no sense to say that Corporations have a right to free speech. People have rights. Corporations should just be given privileges which can be revoked if they engage in actions harmful to people. But that is better left for another blog entry....
Monday, July 25, 2005
Raging Grannies Given Court Date
The Tucson Citizen covered this morning's arraignment of the Raging Grannies for criminal trespass who attempted to enlist in the Army on July 13th. If found guilty the Grannies could face 39 days in jail and a $500.
July 25, 2005
`Raging Grannies' given court date for contesting trespass charges
The Associated Press
TUCSON, Ariz. - Five older women known as the "Tucson Raging Grannies" pleaded innocent Monday to misdemeanor trespassing charges lodged when they tried to enlist at a military recruitment center.
A City Court judge set an Aug. 19 pretrial hearing for the women, who range from 55 to 81 years old - decades older than the maximum age for recruits.
The women are "pretty thoroughly antiwar; we're concerned about the environment and what's happening to civil liberties," said Patricia Birnie, a spokeswoman who was with the women who entered a recruiting center on July 13. She was not cited.
Birnie said two recruiters told the group not to enter, but the women said they had come to enlist, read a statement and sang two protest songs. By the time they returned to the sidewalk outside, police had arrived, she said, and one of the men inside "pointed to those of us who should be cited."
The Tucson Raging Grannies have protested outside the recruitment center on Wednesdays for the past three years, and contend that recruits have been lied to, Birnie said.
The women were serious about enlisting, she added. "We feel that our lives are pretty well used up and that the young people so many times are killed in battle or come home traumatized," she said.
July 25, 2005
`Raging Grannies' given court date for contesting trespass charges
The Associated Press
TUCSON, Ariz. - Five older women known as the "Tucson Raging Grannies" pleaded innocent Monday to misdemeanor trespassing charges lodged when they tried to enlist at a military recruitment center.
A City Court judge set an Aug. 19 pretrial hearing for the women, who range from 55 to 81 years old - decades older than the maximum age for recruits.
The women are "pretty thoroughly antiwar; we're concerned about the environment and what's happening to civil liberties," said Patricia Birnie, a spokeswoman who was with the women who entered a recruiting center on July 13. She was not cited.
Birnie said two recruiters told the group not to enter, but the women said they had come to enlist, read a statement and sang two protest songs. By the time they returned to the sidewalk outside, police had arrived, she said, and one of the men inside "pointed to those of us who should be cited."
The Tucson Raging Grannies have protested outside the recruitment center on Wednesdays for the past three years, and contend that recruits have been lied to, Birnie said.
The women were serious about enlisting, she added. "We feel that our lives are pretty well used up and that the young people so many times are killed in battle or come home traumatized," she said.
Cool Tucson Raging Grannies are Hot Item Flashing Over The Net, Page, TV and Radio News
There is much to write and so little time to write it. Just heard from one of the Raging Grannies. (And what media coverage of their arrest for attempting to enlist. 10 days after the July 13th event.... but the issue was hot over the weekend! More on that in a bit.)
According to a message left on my phone by a "Granny" at 9:30 a.m., there was a good turn out for the press conference they held in front of the Tucson City Court at 8 a.m. today. I wanted to cover the event, but my attorney asked me not to show up at the court as we asked for a continuance. According to this source, arraignment went quickly and smoothly. Their court date is set for August 19th. I haven't heard how the arraignment of the cited journalists turned out. And, I have not heard when my new arraignment date will be.
The Grannies emerged from their court appearance into the bright Tucson day to gather together to sing a couple of the classic Raging Granny songs. At the end of these songs one Granny raised her fist and shouted, "Power to the Peaceful!" The folks gathered around them cheered in approval.
I don't have the specific song lyrics of the songs they performed today, but here are some of the lyrics to a couple of my favorite songs of theirs.
--------
One of the most interesting aspects of this whole escalating story is that these wonderfully sassy women were not doing civil disobedience the day they were arrested. They were trying to enlist. The statement they read at the Enlistment office was a statement of why they wanted to enlist. (I will try to get a copy of the statement and post it here.) It was not a protest. Yes, they have protested in front of the recruitment center once a week (Wednesday mornings) for the past three years. Did they think they would be granted an age exemption? I can't say. I'm not a Granny.
These are idealistic, sincere women. For those of you who don't know... The Raging Grannies are a "project" within the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. I've admired the ability of WILPF to frame issues of the day in compelling and salient ways ever since their "It will be a great day when teachers have all the money they need and the military has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber" poster that I first saw in the mid-1970s. WILPF has been around for 90 years. Peace is a "women's issue."
--------
The most disturbing component of this evolving Granny is the vehement hatred, hostility and murderous rage purported patriots direct at people who oppose the war. The vile threats made in the comments section of the Arizona Indy Media article are truly disturbing and show a very dark side of "patriotism." While the true nature of the U.S. may now have more to do with the evolution of corporate rights based in the commerce clause, most Americans feel is the essence of America is contained within our liberty to think, speak, and gather together without fear of repression or punishment by the by the government. But people want to silence us and punish us for attempting to insure that the essence of America remains uncorrupted even in the face of adversity such as the expansion of terror attacks onto U.S. soil.
I am saddened by the inability of so many Americans to see that attacks on people are used by entities who do not want to, or cannot, defend the issues and events. The "attack the person rather than the message" mentality perpetrated by Linbaugh, Rove, and Cheney/Bush harms our nation. Lies must be exposed for they can live on as history. Liars are less important as they will eventually be exposed or die.
It is unfortunate that folks such as The Grannies have to employ the methodology of the "cult of the person" in order to even be heard. In this 21st Century issues and arguments cannot play out on TV in 15 second spots. Only images and icons can convey meaning to the masses (Geesh... just like the images and icons used used by The Church in the dark ages to convey meaning to the illiterate masses! I think I may be on to something here.) So "Bush Good = War Good" messages of the government can only be countered by equally simplistic methodologies employed by "singing grandmother in a funny old hat and shawl" or "women in pink lingerie unfurling a pink banner" calling for peace.
I personally think it is good that peaceful, people oriented folks are now able to counter the messages of prowar, corporate entites in a way that does provide counterpoint that is noticed by the media and the masses. But even these small steps do not bring any balance of representation back into the U.S. government. And should that balance be restored.... we still would not have returned to a culture of ideas backed up by reason and illustrated through artful, informative argument built around facts. This is the true enemy we must disempower -- ignorance.
I may just be a cock-eyed (no comments from the peanut gallery please) optimist, but compassion and justice will only arise when education and information are given more respect and attention than power and money.
We have to build a different society. We can do it.
Power to the peaceful!
--------
Known media coverage of Raging Grannies Attempted Enlistment on July 13
(as of 7-24-05)
Television:
Tucson TV Channel 13, July 13
Tucson TV Channel 9, July 13
Davenport, Iowa July 22, 2005 (Fox Channel)
CNN Headline News July 23, 2005
Radio:
CNN radio interview in Atlanta
KNST radio Tucson
BBC radio interview (live) Saturday evening 7/23/06
Afrenta KRBZ radio, Kansas City
D.J. (“Dave”) Singer CBS News, Los Angeles
KXCI Slightly Off Ceter, Tucson, 7/24/05
German equivalent of NPR (taped 7/24/05)
Print:
Green Valley News, July 15, 2005
Arizona Daily Star, Friday July 22, 2005 (This article morphed into the CNN coverage
CNN.
Sweden (Afton Bladet) 7-22-05
Britain (BBC) http://news.bbc.co.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifuk/2/hi/middle_east/4711121.stm
Germany (Der Spiegel) July 22, 2005
Russia (Pravda) (Grannies want to Iraq) or at http://newsfromrussia.com/usa/2005/07/23/60657.html
Internet:
AZ Indymedia
Michael Moore's Web Site
This site a.k.a. Peace Builder
democraticunderground
I suspect there are a great many more references as the newswires picked it up this past weekend.
According to a message left on my phone by a "Granny" at 9:30 a.m., there was a good turn out for the press conference they held in front of the Tucson City Court at 8 a.m. today. I wanted to cover the event, but my attorney asked me not to show up at the court as we asked for a continuance. According to this source, arraignment went quickly and smoothly. Their court date is set for August 19th. I haven't heard how the arraignment of the cited journalists turned out. And, I have not heard when my new arraignment date will be.
The Grannies emerged from their court appearance into the bright Tucson day to gather together to sing a couple of the classic Raging Granny songs. At the end of these songs one Granny raised her fist and shouted, "Power to the Peaceful!" The folks gathered around them cheered in approval.
I don't have the specific song lyrics of the songs they performed today, but here are some of the lyrics to a couple of my favorite songs of theirs.
NO BUSINESS LIKE WAR BUSINESS
There’s no business like war business
The worst business we know
Never mind the homeless and the hungry,
Never mind the people without jobs
Nowhere can you get that special feeling
Than when you’re – piling up the bombs.
There’s no business like war business
The best business we know
Multinational profits going through the sky
They multiply while children die
The same amount buys food and clothes
For everyone all over the world.
RIGHT TO BE HEARD
(tune: Puff the Magic Dragon)
Without the right to protest
Where would we be?
There’d be no votes for women yet
And no democracy.
Blacks still segregated
The poor would have no schools
Small tots still working in the mines
While rich folk set the rules.
Now we’re going backward
The Patriot Act is in
Detaining people without cause
Should be a cardinal sin
Good people, see what’s going on
Find power in the word.
The right to speak for what is right
Your right to be heard.
Now there’s silent searches
They’re taking all our rights
Protesters are called terrorists
Who dare to rage and fight
Good people, see what’s going on
Find power in the word.
The right to speak for what is right
Your right is to be heard
--------
One of the most interesting aspects of this whole escalating story is that these wonderfully sassy women were not doing civil disobedience the day they were arrested. They were trying to enlist. The statement they read at the Enlistment office was a statement of why they wanted to enlist. (I will try to get a copy of the statement and post it here.) It was not a protest. Yes, they have protested in front of the recruitment center once a week (Wednesday mornings) for the past three years. Did they think they would be granted an age exemption? I can't say. I'm not a Granny.
These are idealistic, sincere women. For those of you who don't know... The Raging Grannies are a "project" within the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. I've admired the ability of WILPF to frame issues of the day in compelling and salient ways ever since their "It will be a great day when teachers have all the money they need and the military has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber" poster that I first saw in the mid-1970s. WILPF has been around for 90 years. Peace is a "women's issue."--------
The most disturbing component of this evolving Granny is the vehement hatred, hostility and murderous rage purported patriots direct at people who oppose the war. The vile threats made in the comments section of the Arizona Indy Media article are truly disturbing and show a very dark side of "patriotism." While the true nature of the U.S. may now have more to do with the evolution of corporate rights based in the commerce clause, most Americans feel is the essence of America is contained within our liberty to think, speak, and gather together without fear of repression or punishment by the by the government. But people want to silence us and punish us for attempting to insure that the essence of America remains uncorrupted even in the face of adversity such as the expansion of terror attacks onto U.S. soil.
I am saddened by the inability of so many Americans to see that attacks on people are used by entities who do not want to, or cannot, defend the issues and events. The "attack the person rather than the message" mentality perpetrated by Linbaugh, Rove, and Cheney/Bush harms our nation. Lies must be exposed for they can live on as history. Liars are less important as they will eventually be exposed or die.
It is unfortunate that folks such as The Grannies have to employ the methodology of the "cult of the person" in order to even be heard. In this 21st Century issues and arguments cannot play out on TV in 15 second spots. Only images and icons can convey meaning to the masses (Geesh... just like the images and icons used used by The Church in the dark ages to convey meaning to the illiterate masses! I think I may be on to something here.) So "Bush Good = War Good" messages of the government can only be countered by equally simplistic methodologies employed by "singing grandmother in a funny old hat and shawl" or "women in pink lingerie unfurling a pink banner" calling for peace.
I personally think it is good that peaceful, people oriented folks are now able to counter the messages of prowar, corporate entites in a way that does provide counterpoint that is noticed by the media and the masses. But even these small steps do not bring any balance of representation back into the U.S. government. And should that balance be restored.... we still would not have returned to a culture of ideas backed up by reason and illustrated through artful, informative argument built around facts. This is the true enemy we must disempower -- ignorance.
I may just be a cock-eyed (no comments from the peanut gallery please) optimist, but compassion and justice will only arise when education and information are given more respect and attention than power and money.
We have to build a different society. We can do it.Power to the peaceful!
--------
Known media coverage of Raging Grannies Attempted Enlistment on July 13
(as of 7-24-05)
Television:
Tucson TV Channel 13, July 13
Tucson TV Channel 9, July 13
Davenport, Iowa July 22, 2005 (Fox Channel)
CNN Headline News July 23, 2005
Radio:
CNN radio interview in Atlanta
KNST radio Tucson
BBC radio interview (live) Saturday evening 7/23/06
Afrenta KRBZ radio, Kansas City
D.J. (“Dave”) Singer CBS News, Los Angeles
KXCI Slightly Off Ceter, Tucson, 7/24/05
German equivalent of NPR (taped 7/24/05)
Print:
Green Valley News, July 15, 2005
Arizona Daily Star, Friday July 22, 2005 (This article morphed into the CNN coverage
CNN.
Sweden (Afton Bladet) 7-22-05
Britain (BBC) http://news.bbc.co.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifuk/2/hi/middle_east/4711121.stm
Germany (Der Spiegel) July 22, 2005
Russia (Pravda) (Grannies want to Iraq) or at http://newsfromrussia.com/usa/2005/07/23/60657.html
Internet:
AZ Indymedia
Michael Moore's Web Site
This site a.k.a. Peace Builder
democraticunderground
I suspect there are a great many more references as the newswires picked it up this past weekend.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
As national neo-con zeitgeist waivers, local authoritarian trends escalate.
Yesterday in Tucson criminal trespass charges were filed against a group of women whose youngest members were generously estimated to be above retirement age and members of The Raging Grannies, a project within WILPF. Targeted members of the press and a writer doing photodocumentation of the event were also given criminal trespass citations. The Grannies were attempting to enlist in the Army so that they might take the place of some of America's precious youth who they believe are serving in an unjust war entered into under false pretenses. They had hoped that their enlistment might grant them access to Iraqi grandmothers and that by working together that these elder wise women of the two societies might begin a process of diplomatic resolution to a horrifically tragic war.
Instead, recruiters ignored the presence and words of the women who, ironically and iconically, are the very essence of who and what American Troops supposedly protect.
But the recruiters noticed enough to call the police to remove the Grannies. Reason, if employed by the recruiters, would have dictated that the women would have left shortly anyway after finishing the reading their statement about why they wanted to enlist because some of the courageous women were truly elderly. At least one of the more fragile and elderly of the women was overheard to say, when queried about whether she wanted to join a protest taking place outside the center after the Grannies had left the Army Recruiting Center, "No, I really can't stand up much longer." This was the condition of the "criminal trespassers" that the recruiters felt they had to file charges against. Shameful. No wonder the Army had to stand down in May to retrain recruiters in ethics. Perhaps they need another stand down day.Another aspect of the behavior of the Army Recruiters that is worthy of scrutiny is the decision of Sgt. Richardson to point out a writer/anthropologist taking pictures of the event who was not associated with the Grannies, as well as an Independent Media Reporter wearing a Press badge, for criminal trespass citation. Initial reason given by the police for which individuals were being cited was, "Well, he (pointing to Sgt. Richardson) pointed them out." This prompted protest from the woman doing documentary that she was not part of the Grannies and was acting in a function similar to that of the press. After a few minutes the police then gave the reason for citing non-Granny observers and documentors as"the reporters were not inside the office." (This is interesting to note as the parking lot is also private property and effectively no different from the office.) Several people then informed the officer that this also was not the case and that reporters were, indeed, in the office with the Grannies, and also then asked the officers, "Would you (the police) like to see photos and film showing that?" TPD officer S. Morken then conferred with rhe recruiter Sgt. Richardson.
When further questioned about the selective ticketing of people, they said no people inside the office could identify individual members of the press as being inside the office. A woman reporter dressed in pink and the cameraman for Channel 13 were then pointed out by some of the people already cited. At that time selective ticketing of reporters then began again. Some people present noted that police slowed processing at this point giving some reporters the opportunity to leave without being cited.
So did Sgt Richardson decide to point out people in addition to the Grannies based on something other than the current situation? It seems likely. The non-Granny photograper had been inside the office a few months ago to try to get information on how to opt out of the Army "lists" when her 15 year old daughter began receiving information from the Army and an unpleasant exchange between the two ensued. It was likely that he recognized her from that encounter. The woman also helps organize CODEPINK actions, but she was not acting in that capacity, had no protest signs, was not wearing pink, and stayed with the reporters during the Granny action so as not to become involved. Acts such as these by recruiters smack of retribution and show just how desperate recruiters are being made by the pressure to find recruits to fight an unjustified war with dubious tactics. This is disturbing at many levels, but for me the most significant aspect is that honorable and brave men and women willing to risk their lives for their country are being backed into corners as a consequence of political deceit and manipulation. These recruiters have been conditioned by a climate of the end justifies the means to act to squelch the very freedoms and liberties which they are to defend and which at one time motivated the creation of a just state the entire world respected.
Another disturbing aspect of this is that the Tucson Police Department is seemingly being used as a goon squad to help intimidate the populace. I'm sadly reminded of a counter example of an incident in which Medea Benjamin recounts her amazement at a gathering in a South American country where protestors were drowning out a speaker and when she questioned why the distruptive hecklers were not removed, she was told, "But this is a democracy. The police were here to protect them and their right to protest." At best our country has forgotten this, at worst some in our own country are consciously working to destroy our democracy.
It isn't surprising that some of these battles are being waged in Tucson. Many local southern Arizona issues are truly national and international in scope. One event illustrating such issues is the arrest this past weekend of two humanitarian workers who were providing medical transport to severly dehydrated migrants found in the desert to where they could receive care so that they didn't join the 167 people already found dead in the deserts around Tucson this year.
My cynical side says we in Tucson are a test case for significant forays into conscious attempts to restrict and repress participatory democracy. Why Tucson? I mean how many local political fundraisers does Karl Rove fly in to attend? Rove was recently here for just that reason. For the same reason the Prop 200 legislation, that denies basic government services to anyone who does not produce papers proving their U.S.citizenship, in AZ was initiated and funded by out of state interests. National and international corporate interests are meddling in local matters for many reasons. We are on the border that may well be targeted by our enemies as a point of entry with significant targets within 200 miles of that border area. DM Airforce Base, here in Tucson, trains not just our Air Force but the world's Air Forces how to pilot the planes we sell them. Raytheon, also here in Tucson, makes missiles fired by these fighters. We have unique ecosystems with vanishing species whose presence impedes corporate agricultural interests, and other corporate development interests.
Tucson is an activist mecca rivaled only by Austin and large coastsl cities. The Peace Fair in Tucson earlier this year had over 90 booths representing local groups. And this very large number of activist groups is with a good number of local activists abstaining from participation because of the purported "extreme leftist views" of the organizing groups. The fact that Tucson is a liberal enclave does not sit well with those corporate interests that feel their interests would be far better served if Tucson were significantly party-line Republican like Phoenix. We are such a progressive community in a decidedly libertarian state that we are a target for Neocon corporate backed interference in local and regional actions such as GOP redistricting so as to turn a slighter greater number of registered Republicans into a significant outnumbering of Republican dominated districts over Democratic areas. Tucson has little chance of having influence state and local races. Politically motivated voting shenanigans are currently being investigated in Tucson. If they can squelch dissent in Tucson, manipulate votes, and disarm the issues that play out here with double-speak and attacking the messenger rather than the message they are well on their way to usurping democracy everywhere. But the Tucson progressive community is not likely to be intimidated and will continue to be the media, fight the fights, and build the peace here and across the nation because they are true patriots defending the ideas and constructs that made these United States great.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Army Recruiters Frightened by Grannies.
My, what an interesting morning. I was driving down Speedway Blvd. toward Ike's Coffee and Tea at about 8:45 a.m. when I saw the weekly recruiting protest and decided to stop and document the Raging Grannies attempting to enlist. Yesterday I had heard that they might do this and I seriously thought of joining them, but I’m single parenting this week and decided I couldn’t afford a brush with the law. I had my camera with me and wasn’t in my pink attire so I thought I would put on my writer anthropologist hat and document the event. Other press and journalists were there, so I figured if I stayed with them I could figure out what the limits of documentation of an event like this are.
So I parked just past the event and walked back toward it taking photos from across the street, in the median, down the block and then when the Grannies went toward the recruiting station, I followed. I stuck next to the guy from Indy media and didn’t enter to take photos until the people from Channel 13, KOLD, entered. I documented the event with about 80 photos. Pat Birnie of the Raging Grannies reading a prepared statement from the Grannies, a group within WILPF (the women’s international league for peace and freedom). I left when asked and just continued the documentation from outside.
When the police arrived after several minutes and everyone was back on the sidewalk the head recruiter pointed out people he wanted arrested. I was among them. I was shocked. But I cooperated and was cited. I asked lots of questions about why there had been selective pointing out of people. At first and for about 15 minutes no press were being cited. But finally the cops figured out that they had to cite the press too if they were going to site me. So supposedly they did.
All I can make of this is that if you are identifiable as a parent who has come in trying to figure out how to get a daughter’s name off recruiting lists and been refused that information, you are fair game for harassment. Until that point I had never participated in any recruiting protest. I support the soldiers wholeheartedly. I don’t support the war, the administration, or recruitment tactics. After that I went to one other protest on the sidewalk there when a CODEPINK colleague from another state went on to the property to hang signs not knowing how hostile these folks are. When the police came that time they wanted to talk to the ladies in pink. I had been trying to stay off their private property. I walked up to ask the cops to ask a question, and even though I’d done nothing on that property, I was questioned and had my name taken down by officers. Later hat day they came to my house too when I wasn’t there and harassed my daughter frightening her by telling her that they could arrest her mother if anyone pressed charges. For what I have no idea. I’m getting tired of being harassed by these recruiters who are also using the local cops as there goon squad – and both of these groups are paid by my tax money. What happened to protecting the rights of people?
I just end up having more and more questions. The army is publicly funded. Why are the members of the public selectively not allowed on the grounds of recruiting stations when there are no restraining orders in place? I also wonder about having press and documentary workers cited for criminal trespass for being in an office whose functions are paid for by the government. I wonder if I can sue the recruiter for harassment. I also need to figure out how to officially note that the police were not going to cite media until 15 to 20 minutes in to the citation process when it became clear that the charges were trumped up and selectively being issued on a personal basis having nothing to do with the protest.
And I thought I was just going out for coffee. What a morning!
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