Elaine here with you until Labor Day as Rebecca finishes her vacation. Mike and I are doing the same three items from Democracy Now! again tonight so be sure to get his take on it by visiting his site Mikey Likes It!
And thanks to C.I. for mentioning that we'd been doing that the last two nights at The Common Ills. Mike warned me on the phone that he was wiped out from the heat and not to expect much. I think we can all relate to that. That's usually how each session started today, with a patient commenting on the heat before anything else.
Amb. Joe Wilson Defends Sheehan (Democracy Now!)
With the stage set for a possible show down in Crawford this weekend, more prominent figures are lending their support to Sheehan. In recent days, musicians Joan Baez and Steve Earle have performed at Camp Casey. Veteran civil rights activists and many veterans of the Iraq war are camped out there. On Wednesday, former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson issued a statement saying "The Bush White House and its right-wing allies are responding to Cindy Sheehan and the military families' vigil in central Texas in the same way that they always respond to bad news -- by unleashing personal attacks and smears against her."
Bully Boy is a bully. C.I. thought of a very apt nickname for Bully Boy Bush. These attacks are a pattern of abuse. It abuses our democracy and it abuses our intelligence. We've seen it over and over to the point that we now realize what's going on. This administration has played the country once too often on that and is about as trust worthy as a spouse abuser.
On Democracy Now! today (as Jess noted), they had a live clip of Joan Baez performing at Camp Casey. Mike was so excited he got a CD of Joan Baez's today. (And, I believe, he also purchased a Steve Earle CD as well.) He really wanted me to listen to some Joan while composing tonight's post. I took a pass because my right ear has been popping most of the day. (As soon as I finish this post, I'll be flushing it with peroxide. I must have had water in my ear from this morning's shower because I haven't been in a pool since June and yet I have swimmer's ear tonight.) But you should listen or watch Democracy Now! for the information in each show which is always news that actually matters; however, if you've never checked it out before (and are able to -- you might only be able to read the text, which is fine) the performance from Joan Baez is pretty incredible so consider checking out today's show for that if you need an additional reason. (And remember, as Kat noted: "If you missed it this afternoon at The Common Ills, Joan Baez has a live album due out. It's called Bowery Songs and it comes out on September 6th.")
White House Denies Bush on Vacation (Democracy Now!)
Meanwhile, the White House is denying that President Bush is on vacation. Administration spokesperson David Almacy said the reason that Bush is in Crawford, Texas, is due to the renovation of the West Wing of the White House. Almacy said "He's operating on a full schedule; he's just doing it from the ranch instead of from the White House." He continued, "The only week he had officially off was this last week.'
The lies, after this long, stop making your mouth drop open and just leave you laughing at them.
"It's a vacation," we are told and then we are told, "It isn't a vacation." It is a vacation. He's described it as such and spoken of his "need" for him to take care of himself. While the nation's waging two wars, it doesn't look good for him to be on yet another five week vacation -- hence the lie. Will anyone fall for it? Probably that small group that believes every word he says. The bulk of the nation, however, has already caught on.
MSNBC Journalist Calls Crawford Protesters 'Anti-war Extremists' (Democracy Now!)
As the American Legion declares war on peace activists, President Bush and his allies continue to find support among some in the media for what many see as a smear campaign against Cindy Sheehan and other antiwar military families. On Monday's edition of MSNBC's Hardball, White House correspondent Norah O'Donnell labeled anti-war demonstrators at Bush's property in Crawford "anti-war extremists." The comments came in an exchange with FBI whistleblower turned Congressional candidate Colleen Rowley:
MSNBC's Hardball:
O'DONNELL: You're a Democrat running for Congress. It was reported that Republican leaders in your state were just thrilled that you had decided to align yourself with anti-war extremists. Do you think that this could affect your race for Congress?
ROWLEY: Well, I will quickly correct the record that they are not anti-war extremists. The majority of the people I saw down in Crawford were actually veterans groups. There were military families and --
O'DONNELL: But, Colleen, they do oppose the war in Iraq, do they not?
ROWLEY: Yes, they do. But that does not make, I guess the term extremists. They're really, I think, reflective of mainstream America in many ways."
FBI whistleblower Colleen Rowley responding to MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell. Thanks to MediaMatters.org for posting that clip.
What a nasty thing that Norah O'Donnell is. C.I. and I have a mutual friend at NBC news so we've both heard a number of horror stories about O'Donnell. As a result, the item above comes as no surprise. What does surprise me (and it surprised C.I. as well) was that media critics are just now catching on. Having heard about what happens before, after and during her live feeds, we may have noticed reality in 2002 as a result. But I honestly don't think I wouldn't have noticed her tone and how she uses it even if we hadn't been tipped off.
Did they miss that Cheney's former assistant threw Norah a welcome to D.C. party when NBC made her beat D.C.? Did they think that was just a random act with no explanation behind it, the party?
Back then, we both used to wonder why Media Whores Online never took on Norah O'Donnell?
For whatever reason, everyone's been ignorant of what's she's been up to for some time. Hopefully, they will now pay attention because she is a lousy reporter who slants her stories.
The smear tactics on the peace activists needs to stop and I have no patience for anyone on the left who can't stand up for them. This is America and we need to stop letting cowards turn on us the way they regularly do. "Look at me!" the scream. "I'm reasonable! I'm not one of those peace extremists!"
Extremists? Well if you want to define the choices that way, then the other side of the coin is a war extremists. Therefore, mark me down as a peace extremist.
The attacks are an effort to make people turn away from supporting the peace activists and you can see who's smart enough to refuse to play along and who's cowardly enough to play, yet again, save-my-own-ass. If you hear or read anyone saying or writing, "They are off message!" then you need to stop listening to or reading that person because they're not going to be able to inform you. If they honestly think they can play it "reasonable" and that they can fight a tidal wave, they have serious issues with judgement.
The country is against the war. People who chose cowardice over bravery at this point and time or sealing their own fate and begging people to see them as lacking in trust.
Rebecca will soon be back from vacation. Before that happens, I hope to note a chapter from a book that I've found inspirational. Some of you will probably guess right away what book I'm talking about and, yes, C.I. has noted it often at The Common Ills. Until then, I'll just the most recent entry C.I.'s done on the book.
"CODEPINK's Stop The Next War Now (excerpt from Kit Gage's "Protect Your Right To Dissent")" (The Common Ills)
We'll never be able to stop war if we don't have the right to speak freely, organize demonstrations, and meet without government interference. Since 9/11, with the passage of the USA Patriot Act and other regulatory changes, we have lost many of our basic freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights.
Remember, we will retain our rights only if we demand them.
The above is from Kit Gage's "Protect Your Right To Dissent" from CODEPINK'S Stop The Next War Now. Continue reading by purchasing the book or checking it out of your library (if you're library doesn't have it, they can use interlibrary loan to obtain it) to find Gage's recommendations for retaining your rights.
Gage "is the president and founder of that National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom." August is almost over and we haven't done an entry on Stop The Next War Now since the first week of July. My apologies. (What happened? O'Connor retired and free time went out the window as I joined others in putting in -- and continue to -- time to help make sure Roe v. Wade remains protected.)
We will continue to note this book. Various voices speak their own truth and the book remains important.
Gage's excerpt above speaks to the need for us to participate in democracy and we've seen that really take root this summer. Hopefully, the September 24-26th events will see a huge turnout. Elaine posted the info on that yesterday at Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude:"
September Mobilization" (United for Peace & Justice)
Saturday, September 24
Massive March, Rally & Anti-war Festival
Gather 11 AM at the Washington Monument
March steps off at 12:30 PM
Sat., Sept. 24 - Operation Ceasefire Concert
Sun., Sept. 25 - Interfaith Service, Grassroots Training
Mon., Sept. 26 - Congressional Education Day and Mass Nonviolent Direct Action and Civil Disobedience Linking Anti-war and Global Justice Protests
END THE WAR ON IRAQ
BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
Leave no military bases behind
End the looting of Iraq
Stop the torture
Stop bankrupting our communities
No military recruitment in our schools
But we are seeing renewed activism. Laura Flanders, on her show The Laura Flander Show, has spoken of the need to do more than e-mails to representatives. That's "more than." That's not stop doing that. That's not stop contacting your reps or stop visiting their offices. But in the last few years, we've rediscovered our voices. I have a friend who lives in an "artists area" and she tells the story of how at the end of June, 2002, she was walking through her neighborhood, past her independent bookstore where a young woman had set up a table and was drawing a poster for peace. My friend did stop and talk to her but resisted adding to the drawing, the woman set up the table where she did because she was attempting to get people to add to her drawing with their own drawings and messages. My friend wanted to add to it but with various things (the climate in the country, the Patriot Act, et al), she decided against it.I don't think that story is all that unusual. And though not the most outspoken activist, my friend does get involved. But the climate was intimidating for a lot of people. Online petitions and e-mails are great. But they're one step down the road, they aren't the road itself.
We're seeing people speak out and start participating. As Gage notes in the excerpt above, if we don't use our voices and our rights, we're allowing our government to do whatever it wants to in our name and we're abdicating our responsibilities.
Stop The Next War Now is about owning your responsibilities. It's about not taking marching orders from D.C. and about thinking outside the tiny box we've allowed the Bully Boy to put us in. With the numerous voices contained in this book, I'm guessing community members will find someone who can speak to them. Barbara e-mailed asking what is "interlibrary loan." Interlibrary loan (and intra from within a library's own system) is a service most public libraries provide. (I would assume all but I'll say "most.") If you go to your local library and on the shelves you don't find a book (any book) and it's not in the library catalogue (card or online), you can speak to a librarian to request that they borrow the book from a library that does have it. (In some areas, there is a charge for this service.) So if you hear about a book on the radio, on TV, online, where ever, and you're local library doesn't have a copy of it, that doesn't mean you can't obtain a copy. (For members who are college students, your colleges -- junior colleges and universities -- also provide this service. And if there's a college in your area, "most" offer a program where, for an annual fee, you can check out books from the college library, so you can also check into that.) So there's not a lot of excuses for anyone not to pick up this book and check it out if you're interested in it. But if you have an excuse, hopefully the excerpts we're providing here give you some sense of the book.
For those keeping track, we've now excerpted from Mary Ann Wright's "Essential Dissent," Cindy Sheehan's "From Cindy to George," Nancy Lessin's "Breaking The Code Of Silence," Camilo Mejia's "Regaining My Humanity," Arundhati Roy's "Introduction," Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans preface, and Alice Walker's foreword. Mike (Mikey Likes It!) covered one section of the book and the link for that is: "Mike on Marti Hiken's 'Understanding The U.S. Military' from CODEPINK'S Stop The Next War Now." In addition, Dallas has provided a list of all the contributors to CODEPINK's Stop The Next War Now.
On May 4th we noted this:
Code Pink has a book out entitled Stop the Next War Now. For more information, see Code Pink or BuzzFlash. The book contains contributions from a number of women this community has noted and highlighted. Among the contributors: Medea Benjamin, Amy Goodman, Barbara Lee, Naomi Klein, Eve Ensler, and Arianna Huffington.
If you haven't already, please, pick up the book and see if it has something to say you.
"Peace Quotes" (Peace Center)
The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.
Jane Addams
