“Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.” ~William Saroyan
We have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men.
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They could be made to accept the most flagrant violations of reality, because they never fully grasped the enormity of what was demanded of them, and were not sufficiently interested in public events to notice what was happening.
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Political language. . . is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.
~George Orwell
**FILE PHOTO** James Thomas, who was released after spending eight years in jail on a murder charge without being tried, stands outside his mother’s house, April 19, 2005, in Baton Rouge, La. A judge ordered the release of Thomas and his brother Percy Dyer after an appeal court’s ruling that prosecutors had waited too long to try them in a 1996 killing. (AP Photo/Bill Feig)
————-
A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.
-Albert Einstein
———————
Lord, remember not only the men of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all the suffering they have inflicted upon us. Remember rather the fruits we have brought, thanks to this suffering: our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, the courage, the generosity, the greatness of heart that has grown out of this. And when they come to judgment, let all the fruits we have bourne be their forgiveness.
(Source: Found on a scrap of paper at the liberation of Ravensbruck Concentration Camp in Germany)
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Prayer to Give Aid
May I become at all times, both now and forever
A protector for those without protection
A guide for those who have lost their way
A ship for those with oceans to cross
A bridge for those with rivers to cross
A sanctuary for those in danger
A lamp for those without light
A place of refuge for those who lack shelter
And a servant to all in need.
(-Buddhist)
————–
Let us know peace.
For as long as the moon shall rise,
For as long as the rivers shall flow,
For as long as the sun will shine,
For as long as the grass shall grow,
Let us know peace.
(-Native American)
———————
Dear Lord, in these troubled times make your presence known to all the peoples around the world so that they may see peace as the only way to salvation. Replace the anger and violence in our hearts with joy and tranquility and help us to seek the good in everyone. Thank you for hearing and answering our prayers. Amen.
(-Nondenominational Christian)
—————-
We pray for all of humanity to one day feel the pulse of the Mother Earth in their feet as they tread. We pray for peace, acceptance, and tolerance for all who express their love for the higher power (whatever that name may be). Most of all, we pray for an end to the violence and depravity that darkens many souls. Peace be with us all.
(-Pagan)
———–
Military Prayer
God of compassion,
we pray for military personnel,
offered for the sake of others,
and separated from family and loved ones.
Care for them; meet their needs.
Grant them courage, compassion, strength,
and all they need for the living of these days.
Sustain them through their every trial.
Remind them of the humanity they share
even with those who are called “the enemy”. Amen.
—————–
Unhappy, let alone angry, religious people provide more persuasive arguments for atheism and secularism than do all the arguments of atheists.
-Dennis Prager
———————–
Love is stronger than death.
So, I must be content to know that
love is not affected by death-
it doesn’t end, it doesn’t diminish,
it doesn’t change.
Instead, love is immortalized
and eternalized through death.
And the possibility of that love ever
being damaged or broken
is eliminated forever.
I’ll put my trust in love.
(-Multifaith)
A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side.
-Aristotle
———–
If I were going to convert to any religion I would probably choose Catholicism because it at least has female saints and the Virgin Mary.
-Margaret Atwood
————
The problem with writing about religion is that you run the risk of offending sincerely religious people, and then they come after you with machetes.
-Dave Barry
—————-
Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.
Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.
-Napoleon Bonaparte
————–
Existentialism is about being a saint without God; being your own hero, without all the sanction and support of religion or society.
-Anita Brookner
————
Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns.
-Charlotte Bronte
“That’s not really a number I’m terribly interested in.” ~General Colin Powell, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, on being asked his assessment of Iraqi military and civilian casualties, April 1991
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In the eyes of empire builders men are not men but instruments. ~Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor (1769-1821)
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No government which governs by the use of force can survive except by force. There is no going back because force begets force and the perpetrators of crimes live in fear that they might become victims in their turn.” ~Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo - Reconciliation Speech of 24/2/99 at St Mary’s Cathedral Hall, Sydney, NSW
Ohio Music Festival Returns With Focus on Peace and Environmental Awareness
Ryan Bussey, or “Buzz” as he’s known in the local music circles, started Camp Buzz, as the legend goes, with a hay wagon for a stage and some guy’s farm for a venue. In 2002, Bussey hosted Camp Buzz 9, the biggest endeavor yet, going so far as to run animated TV spots during South Park and bringing together 20 bands, local, regional, and national.
For the last few years, Buzz campers haven’t heard from the man they call “Buzz” since. Until now.
On September 16 & 17th, 2005, Camp Buzz returns to Camp America in College Corner, Ohio, just 25 miles north of Cincinnati. But Camp Buzz 2005 is unlike previous festivals. This time around Camp Buzz will tie into the “global dance for peace” event, Earthdance.org as well as benefit RockTheEarth.net.
Camp Buzz will donate 50% of proceeds to RocktheEarth.net to support the EarthDance mission, which is explained as, “To promote peace by joining participants worldwide in a synchronized prayer for peace and to support humanitarian causes through the global language of music and dance.” Rock the Earth is an environmental advocacy group working to ensure the existence of a sustainable and healthy environment for all. The new focus on consciousness reflects the interests of Buzz and his partners in the festival production. “We want to get people involved and interested in two issues that are so important to our future on this planet…peace and our environment,” said Ryan “Buzz” Bussey.
Take one look at the featured acts and just try and slate this event as just another hippie-fest.
Hogscraper (Cincinnati) — Called by one Cincinnati reporter, “Punk/Glam/Metal attitude…twisted with a B-horror movie sensibility that manifested itself in the group’s demented, maniacally entertaining live shows and extensive character back-stories…and one of the most original (and perversely entertaining) bands in Cincinnati music history.”
The Animal Crackers (Cincinnati) — 2004 Cincy Magazine’s Best of the City winners and hip-hop hip-hop supergroup have to have the staged mopped before the next act can go on.
Groovatron (Indiana), a veritable funk force, is sure to please, while alt-rockers seepeopleS (Boston) float over the lineup with their breathy, lush songs, and Starrunner (Chicago), jams the night away.
This time around, Buzz is putting emphasis on having a multitude of genres, as well as spotlighting the rich music scene of Cincinnati while helping those in need and saving the planet. Delusions of grandeur? Never. But a good time for all sits on the horizon, or rather, September 16-17th, 2005, rain or shine. The full lineup of bands is available on the Camp Buzz website. Tickets can also be purchased at www.jambasetickets.com or by calling 513.921.9500 with a credit card.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Dan Heimbrock, danh@jambase.com 513.328.5617
* 50 Years After the Murder of Emmett Till, the Investigation Continues *
Emmett Till was beaten and shot near Money, Mississippi after he allegedly whistled at a white female store clerk. Democracy Now! speaks with filmmaker Keith Beauchamp who produced “The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till” and University of Missouri-Columbia professor Clenora Hudson-Weems.
Also this came out today: Autopsy positively identifies Emmett Till.
(Beautiful young Emmett pictured here above the horribly mutilated face of his body in the open casket his mother demanded. These were seen on the cover of Jet magazine at the time.)
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Mr. G in Crawford
It is Friday morning, the 26th, as I write this, but
basically what happened is this: Mr. G got up
Thursday morning and decided he didn’t couldn’t wait
until our next planned trip on Sunday. So, soon as I
left for work he hopped in his vehicle and headed for
Crawford.
He arrived at the Peace House, hung around there for
awhile visiting, and then took the shuttle to Camp
Casey II. On the shuttle ride he met a young
reporter from Brazil who told fellow passengers that
90% of Brazilians are against the Iraq war. Not much
was happening at CCII; they were setting up for a 2:30
press conference, but most of the preparations seemed
aimed at getting ready for the weekend. Cindy was
somewhere around, having arrived back in Texas on
Wednesday, but he did not see her.
Mr. G really likes the people who hang out at Camp
Casey I (and besides, it’s a little more primitive
than the newer site), so he took the shuttle back over
there to see what was going on. The first thing he
noticed was that the counterprotest seemed to be
growing. Heretofore the most we had seen at any one
time was about 15; on Thursday he saw about two
dozen. On Tuesday they had two thin canopies; now
there are four or five, and—glory be—they actually
rented a port-a-potty of their own instead of using
the facilities at Camp Casey I.
On the counterprotest side of the road directly
opposite the white crosses, there are now staggered
factory-made Bush/Cheney and “We Support the Troops”
signs. Heretofore just about all the signage on both
sides had been home made. Mr. G observed that the
counterprotest tone was much more militant than last
week. For example, they set up a chant demanding
“take down the crosses, take down the crosses.” Only
last week some of those same people had helped put the
crosses back after the vandalism. Some of our people
started to answer back, and the leaders of the camp
promptly shushed them. One fellow has decided that
Cindy ought to debate him, and he carries a home made
sign with the demand, “Cindy, talk to Parrish.”
(Mr. G wasn’t sure about the spelling of the man’s
name; this is my best guess). Cindy, of course, did
not come there to talk to Parrish but to the
president, and as far as she is concerned there is
nothing to debate about. She just wants some
questions answered, and Parrish doesn’t have the
answers.
On top of this, there was a fellow dragging a large
wooden cross (with a little wheel on the bottom side
for ease of movement). He gave the impression that he
had dragged it out there all the way from town and
intended to go on out the road with it to Camp Casey
II. Some of the homemade signage seemed to conflate
American nationalism with Christianity—a bewildering
discourse indeed. For example, Mr. G saw a sign
that read, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached to all nations.” Puzzling over what that
sign might have been trying to say, he came home and
looked up the scripture reference, which he found in
Matthew 24:14 (KJV): “And this gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto
all nations; and then shall the end come.” Well, I
must say that if “gospel” means “good news” and this
war is the best news that people of faith have to
offer, then this world has had about all the good news
it can stand. Reading the whole verse in context, I
wonder if maybe that is the point—the more mayhem we
turn loose on the world, the quicker Jesus will come
back and incinerate all the evildoers?? Hmmm! Too
bad they missed that other verse in Matthew: “Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the
children of God” (Matthew 5:9, KJV). Now I’ll stop
preaching before I get into trouble with Fr. Greg.
If you recall, Mr. G was photographed on Tuesday by
the woman who wanted to show her grandchildren what a
liberal looked like (fortunately, our own
grandchildren don’t have to depend on photographs!).
Well, on Thursday his face and his tidy little straw
hat were all over Danish television; he was just
sitting there in camp minding his own business when
the Danish news crew zoomed in on him. He was
cheerful and cooperative, as he most generally is.
The final weekend of camp is coming up very fast, and
Saturday is expected to be the big day. The Peace
House put out a call for Saturday van drivers. In
addition, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, they are asking for
anyone who has had non-violence training to come and
help maintain the peace, especially at Camp Casey I
and II and also the RV park nearby where a lot of
weekend visitors—supporters and opponents alike– will
be staying. I cannot tell you how important this is;
if you have this training and can get to Crawford on
Saturday, please get in touch with the Peace House
right away! (Just Google the Crawford Peace House;
all the contact information is there).
Mr. G and I have both observed over the course of
this past week that the protest has been largely
non-partisan and focused on ending the war. The
counterprotest, in contrast, is highly partisan,
although by no means does it speak for all
Republicans. Up until Thursday the 25th, everyone on
both sides respected the memorial crosses (and stars
of David and crescents) and the lost lives they
represent. Even the poor messed-up Vietnam veteran
and PTSD sufferer who drove over them the night of
August 15 has expressed regret. Up to this point, a
common respect for life and sacrifice transcended
differences of opinion about the war itself. This
nonsense about taking the crosses down is something
new.
I said all that to say this: if any violence happens
this weekend it will not be started by the
Cindy-supporters, and I doubt that any of the local
counterprotesters would instigate it either. People
who have been in peace work for a long time can tell
story after story about agents provocateurs, people
who come to peaceful demonstrations purposefully to
disrupt the proceedings and incite violence. One of
our courageous lady bloggers got wind of just such a
group organizing to come in on Saturday and sent word
to the Peace House folks.
We can’t return until Sunday because of family needs
and obligations. If you are able to go to Crawford,
remember what the Psalmist says, “A soft answer
turneth away wrath.” Plug into that soul force and
stay in that energy. I repeat: if you have
nonviolence training and you can get to Crawford,
especially on Saturday, please contact the Peace House
right away (just Google them for contact info).
Peace and love to all.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Mr. G and Momma G Back in Crawford—One Week after First
Visit.
Today was his 4th visit and her 3rd, and gas (as we
all know) is not cheap, so it was wonderful to have a
good friend join us and provide the transportation to
boot. This whole 3-location complex is starting to
feel homey to us now; we have friends there, we bring
friends with us, and we meet old and new friends from
everywhere.
We drove straight to Camp Casey II since we figured it
would be a light traffic day and parking would not be
as difficult as usual. It’s a GOOD thing we got
there early, because the very limited space started
filling up quickly. I picked up trash around the camp
while Mr. G sat in on a veterans’ meeting. Ran
into a lovely lady with whom I had taken the
Cultivating a Culture of Peace Facilitator training
last November (sponsored by Episcopal Peace Fellowship
and the Fellowship of Reconciliation). She had been
there for a couple of days but was going to have to go
home to Houston and check on her cats. She said she
would be back as soon as she could. Also met an
itinerant poet who can recite line after line of
original antiwar poetry from memory—and it’s quite
good stuff. He managed to book several gigs during
his stay in Crawford and may be able to get a few more
before camp breaks up next week. This place has a way
of growing on people who come here; you think you’ll
stay for a few hours or one day but then end up
extending your stay or coming back again and again.
Joan Baez was still there, and I shared with her my
observation that while the men are very present in
this endeavor the women, especially the wives and
mothers of people in Iraq, are definitely in the
driver’s seat. She told a delightful story that
beautifully illustrates this principle. This morning
she got up very early and walked over to the police
barricade at the road leading down to the Bush ranch.
She and one of the troopers stationed there made a
little small talk—lovely sunrise, that sort of
thing—and then Joan remarked that this must be a very
different kind of job for the trooper. “We just go
where he goes,” the trooper replied and Joan, taken
somewhat aback at that reply, responded, “He? Who is
‘he’?” The trooper looked at her strangely and
answered, “The president.” A little embarrassed for
having overlooked the obvious, Joan explained, “I’m
sorry. I really wasn’t trying to be cute. It’s just
that since I’ve been here I’ve been surrounded by
women and I just sort of forgot about him.” The
trooper, a woman, seemed to suppress a giggle. Ms.
Baez graciously gave permission to share this little
story.
Her experience with the trooper indicates something
even more central to the point than the clarity of the
women’s voices and leadership. The energy of the
camps and the Peace House is what Gandhi called
satyagraha, or soul force. It’s not about being
against Bush per se; it’s about being for peace. If
Bush gets in the way of peace then he’s a problem, but
it’s really not about him. I’ll bet he just can’t
stand that!
Meanwhile, there was trash to be picked up down along
the rows of crosses at Camp Casey I, and while there I
spent some time looking at the photographs of the dead
and wounded. One of the wives of a soldier just
deployed stood crying and crying. Joan Baez, who must
have come from Camp Casey II over to CC I just before
we arrived, came over to her and held her and
comforted her as best she could. The lady said she
knew she should not be looking at those pictures, but
she couldn’t keep away from them. She kept going over
in her mind how she might cope if her loved one came
back with wounds like that, and no one could tell her
that her fears were irrational. The truth was well
known to all standing there. Finally she was able to
go back to her post directing shuttle traffic there at
the camp, and that seemed to take her mind off of her
troubles for awhile.
The counterprotesters were slightly more numerous
today at Camp Casey I, and definitely louder and more
obnoxious. One particularly nasty woman pulled her
car up next to the old blue school bus at the
crossroads and demanded to photograph a group of us so
that she could “show my grandchildren what liberals
look like.” The group, which included Mr. G,
smiled and posed for her. She and one of her
“associates” then proceeded to pull their cars into
the little grassy “island” where the two roads meet,
which the sheriff had declared off limits for parking
or camping. One of our guys started to go explain the
rules to them, but one of the women leaders (a
soldier’s wife who has been there since Day One)
stopped him and told him she was on it. She was
calling the sheriff’s office on her cell phone as this
was happening. The two drivers got the message from
their own folks and moved their cars. We left for the
Peace House shortly thereafter, so we don’t know if
the sheriff actually came or not. This illustrates,
however, that as the number of protesters increases,
and as more protest sites spring up and follow Bush
around the country (this week alone in Utah,
California, and Idaho), the counterprotesters are
taking a decidedly different tone.
We went back to the Peace House and had a bite of
lunch before heading home. Our friend needed to be
home early in the afternoon, so it was a pretty short
day.
by Jim Wallis
Pat Robertson is an embarrassment to the church and a danger to American politics.
Robertson is known for his completely irresponsible statements - that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were due to American feminists and liberals, that true Christians could vote only for George W. Bush, that the federal judiciary is a greater threat to America than those who flew the planes into the World Trade Center Towers, and the list goes on. Robertson even took credit once for diverting a hurricane. But his latest outburst may take the cake.
On Monday, Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Robertson is worried about Chavez’s critiques of American power and behavior in the world, especially because Venezuela is sitting on all that oil. We simply can’t have an anti-American political leader who could raise the price of gas. So let’s just kill him, the famous television preacher seriously suggested. After all, having some of our “covert operatives” take out the troublesome Venezuelan leader would be cheaper than another $200 billion war, he said.
It’s clear Robertson must not have first asked himself “What would Jesus do?” But the teachings of Jesus have never been very popular with Robertson. He gets his religion elsewhere, from the twisted ideologies of an American brand of right-wing fundamentalism that has always been more nationalist than Christian. Apparently, Robertson didn’t even remember what the Ten Commandments say, though he has championed their display on the walls of every American courthouse. That irritating one about “Thou shalt not kill” seems to rule out the killing of foreign leaders. But this week, simply putting biblical ethics aside, Robertson virtually issued an American religious fatwah for the murder of a foreign leader - on national television no less. That may be a first.
Yesterday Robertson “apologized.” First he denied saying what he had said, but it was on the videotape (it’s tough when they record you breaking the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus). Then he said that “taking out” Chavez might not require killing him, and perhaps kidnapping a duly elected leader would do. But Robertson does now say that using the word “assassination” was wrong and that he had been frustrated by Chavez - the old “my frustration made me say that somebody should be killed” argument. But the worst thing about Robertson’s apology was that he compared himself to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German church leader and martyr who ultimately joined in a plot to assassinate Adolph Hitler.
Robertson’s political and theological reasoning is simply unbelievable. Chavez, a democratically elected leader in no less than three internationally certified votes, has been an irritant to the Bush administration, but has yet to commit any holocausts. Nor does his human rights record even approach that of the Latin American dictators who have been responsible for massive violations of human rights and the deaths of tens of thousands of people (think of the military regimes of Chile, Argentina, El Salvador, and Guatemala). Robertson never criticized them, perhaps because many of them were supported by U.S. military aid and training.
This incident reveals that Robertson does not believe in democracy; he believes in theocracy. And he would like governments, including our own, to implement his theological agenda, perhaps legislate Leviticus, and “take out” those who disagree.
Robertson’s American fundamentalist ideology gives a lot of good people a bad name. World evangelical leaders have already responded with alarm and disbelief. Robertson’s words will taint and smear other evangelical Christians and put some in actual jeopardy, such as Venezuelan evangelicals. Most conservative evangelical Christians are appalled by Robertson’s hateful and literally murderous words, and it’s time for them to say so. To their credit, the World Evangelical Alliance and the National Association of Evangelicals have already denounced Robertson’s words. When will we hear from some of the groups from the “Religious Right,” such as the Family Research Council, Southern Baptists, and other leaders like James Dobson, Tony Perkins, and Chuck Colson?
Robertson’s words fuel both anti-Christian and anti-American sentiments around the world. It’s difficult for an American government that has historically plotted against leaders in Cuba, Chile, the Congo, South Vietnam, and elsewhere to be easily believed when it disavows Robertson’s call to assassinate Chavez. But George Bush must do so anyway, in the strongest terms possible.
It’s time to name Robertson for what he is: an American fundamentalist whose theocratic views are not much different from the “Muslim extremists” he continually assails. It’s time for conservative evangelical Christians in America, who are not like Islamic fundamentalists or Robertson, to distance themselves from his embarrassing and dangerous religion.
And it’s time for Christian leaders of all stripes to call on Robertson not just to apologize, but to retire.
“As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war. God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless.” ~U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864 - (letter to Col. William F. Elkins) - Ref: The Lincoln Encyclopedia, Archer H. Shaw (Macmillan, 1950, NY)
When someone is driven by love in any way, he or she is driven by Christ. Whoever has love, has the love of God, even if he or she does not confess Christ in words. There is a hidden Christ; he is much too great to be confined by human thought. ~Eberhard Arnold
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Momma and Mr. G in Crawford again.
We arrived at the Crawford Peace House about 12:30 and
the first thing we noticed as we pulled up was that
the parking was better organized and cars were parked
in neat rows on vacant strips of land next to the
railroad tracks. My first thought was, “Wow, they’ve
been doing some strategizing and learning how to
manage these crowds.” There was a HUGE U-Haul truck
with a sign on the side: “One Mother’s Grief,
America’s Pain.” In the front yard, Pax Christi was
taking care of the guest book and offering tee shirts
for sale. Looks like a lot of on-the-job learning
has taken place in the last five days. It’s even more
evident at Camp Casey II, the new encampment set up on
the land loaned by good neighbor Fred Mattlage.
There in the Peace House yard some volunteers were
making more crosses; there’s more room for them out at
Camp Casey II, and every soldier now will have one
eventually. While there, we heard one of the
volunteers tell an alternative newspaper that the man
who ran over the crosses on Monday night has expressed
deep remorse. She said that the man is a Vietnam
veteran with PTSD and all of this just creeped him out
and he lost it and now regrets it. By the way, do you
know that 30% of our returning Iraq veterans are being
diagnosed with PTSD?
Drove our car on out to the original Camp Casey, now
called Camp Casey I. Saw about 50 people still
encamped there. None of the original tents have been
moved, and Camp Casey II (corner of Prairie Chapel &
Canaan Church Rd. in the middle of nowhere!) is a
totally new tent city. But more on that in a minute.
I counted about 15 counterprotesters across the road
(and believe this — they sent the sheriff over to ask
if they could use the Camp Casey I port-a-potties, and
of course the kind folks consented). The memorial
crosses are now decorated with the roses that started
coming to Cindy last Tuesday after the news got out
about the vandalism.
Mr. G and I checked out the US map again to see
where everyone was coming from. It was a LOT more
filled in that it was five days ago when I last saw it
(I hope Mr. G’s pictures come out—we just had a
cheap little disposable camera with us). The
volunteers there said that every single state in the
Union was accounted for—all 50 of them. Moreover,
there were signatures from London; Toronto & Quebec,
Canada; Glasgow, Scotland; Karachi, Pakistan;
Istanbul, Turkey; Bogota, Colombia; Poland, Austria,
Japan, Brazil, Mexico, and Paraguay—and probably
others that I missed. Just today we saw license
plates from Texas, Ohio, West Virginia, Louisiana,
Kansas, Indiana, Florida, and California—and of
course, we didn’t see them all.
Took the shuttle from there out to Camp Casey II and
my, oh, my! Out in the middle of the prairie there’s
a HUGE party tent equipped with tables & chairs,
lights & sound, and a modern camp kitchen serving food
and drinks 24/7 (no alcohol allowed!). There’s a
field of crosses and flags there too and some of the
military families who are supporting Cindy are camped
all around the perimeter in small tents; others
remained encamped at Camp Casey I. Both camps are
immaculate—not a scrap of trash is left lying around,
ever!
This is a very fluid crowd with people coming and
going all the time, but my best guess is between 50
and 60 at Camp Casey I at any given time and between
200 and 300 at Camp Casey II with room for a lot more.
That big tent was nowhere near full! Those news
reports that are talking about “dozens” of protesters
are just silly; a more accurate representation would
be “hundreds.” I saw old people—way older than me
and Mr. G—and tiny children. One mother was there
nursing her baby and I thought about that poor woman
in Iraq who could not hold her newborn baby to nurse
because her arms were blown away by the war. There
were lots of dogs there too; one looked like Jen’s
Lewis. We made phone contact with Fr. Greg’s friend,
the Rev. Bacon, who is rector of All Saints
Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California, but we never
did find each other. We were in shuttles going
opposite directions when we hooked up, and then my
phone quit working—no service on the prairie.
Think this is going away any time soon? Not according
to Mimi Evans of “Military Families Speak Out.”
According to her, from this point on wherever GWB goes
there will be a military family camped out on his
doorstep until he answers their questions—the Capital,
Utah, Minnesota, Maine—wherever, they’re ready to go.
I had heard whispers of following him to Washington DC
as early as last Tuesday, but this is the first I
heard it announced in public. I hope they stick to
it!
And as early as last Tuesday I had also heard whispers
that Joan Baez “might” appear. Well, dear hearts, she
is in Crawford at this minute. We couldn’t stay to
hear her—we had to come back home and tend to our
elderly and frail dog who had been alone all day—but
we heard that she had arrived at the Peace House (our
shuttle driver had a cell phone that worked) and we
went back there to see if we could get a glimpse of
her before heading for home. Well, Mr. G turned his
back at just the wrong moment and missed a GREAT
picture. I was walking in the front door of the Peace
House at the very moment she was walking out and we
surprised each other. (She is very petite, beautiful
skin, and her once-black hair is now short and
streaked with gray on the top and sides—just
gorgeous!). For lack of anything better to say I
said, “Oh! It really is you,” and added hastily, “God
bless you for being here.” She smiled, squeezed my
hand, and said, “Ditto.” And then she got into a van
and headed out to Camp Casey II to sing for those
military families and their supporters.
Heard very hopeful news on Cindy’s mom. She’s
beginning to get some gripping power back in her hand,
and while she still can’t speak she is able to laugh
and respond appropriately. This suggests that speech
is likely to return with proper therapy. Cindy is
expected back in camp on Wednesday.
Our next planned visit is Tuesday, so we’ll miss her
by one day. We may just have to miss church next
Sunday if we’re to get back out there before camp
breaks up here and moves to Washington DC. Peace
and love to all.
MommaG
[reproduced with permission from MommaG]
Thursday, August 18, 2005
On this day I had to go to my office and prepare for
the upcoming semester, so Mr. G returned to Crawford
alone. He drove his truck so that he could carry more
tools and materials “just in case.”
Before I tell you more of what he saw on Thursday, I
want to backtrack to Tuesday the 16th for just one
moment. Some detractors have been muttering on the
blogs and elsewhere that the Gold Star families’
protest in Crawford is being coordinated by big name
celebrities or national political organizations.
From what we saw together on Tuesday and Mr. G saw
on Thursday, we doubt that this is the case. Rather,
the movement that Cindy Sheehan began when she arrived
in Crawford on August 6 seems to have sprung up out of
the ground overnight like mushrooms. The atmosphere
at the Crawford Peace House and at Camp Casey is
spontaneous, ad hoc, flying by the seat of the pants.
This thing began with a handful of people and grew so
big so fast that the folks are having a hard time
establishing control over personnel and other
resources.
Let me give you an example of what I mean. Before we
went up on Tuesday morning we had read about the
memorial crosses (and stars of David and crescents)
being mowed down overnight by the guy in the pickup.
We called the Peace House, said we were bringing
tools, and asked if they needed anything else. The
woman I talked to mentioned battery powered
spotlights, but she was unable to tell me size or
wattage and her description was altogether vague.
When we got there, the scene was happy and friendly
and welcoming, but complete chaos; the few people who
seemed to be trying to maintain order were overwhelmed
on every side. We again tried to find out about the
spotlights. We told at least three people that we had
a Lowe’s charge card with a credit balance in excess
of $500 and were prepared to use it if we only knew
what to get. We were thanked profusely and
repeatedly, but no one seemed to know what to do with
us or our charge card.
We never did find out what kind of spotlights they
needed, but someone at the Peace House was certain
that Mr. G’s carpentry skills and tools would be
useful at Camp Casey. When we got out there,
however, the memorial cross repairs were almost
finished. Clearly there was no reliable communication
between the Peace House and the camp about labor and
materials needed. The Peace House itself could have
used several repairs that Mr. G could easily have
performed, but nobody seemed able to make a decision
or provide directions even if there had been space to
work (which there was not—the tiny house was bulging
with people).
Now folks, you know that if this had been a
professionally run event, there would have been an
overall event coordinator, several communications
specialists, a volunteer coordinator, and somebody in
charge of gifts and donations. NO WAY would we have
gotten off the grounds until every last penny of
credit on that charge card had been spent. I say this
not to detract from the wonderful work being done
under very arduous conditions. Rather, I offer this
experience as evidence that the protest in Crawford is
an authentic grass-roots phenomenon and not some slick
political snow job made up to look like the real
thing.
Now, back to Mr. G’s Thursday in Crawford. He was
greeted at the Peace House by Barbara, the same lovely
San Diego lady who had greeted us on Tuesday—she was
still at her post managing shuttle traffic out to Camp
Casey. He had driven his truck with even more tools
and supplies, and still nobody knew what to do with
him, although as before he was profusely thanked and
told how desperately he was needed. (According to the
Crawford Peace House community blog a meeting was
scheduled on Thursday night to try to figure out how
to coordinate volunteer resources, although I don’t
know what came of it).
My assistant had written a prayer that she
asked Mr. G to deliver to Cindy if he could. He
took the envelope with him and when he got to Camp
Casey, sure enough, at one rare moment when she was
not surrounded by people asking her questions he
walked up to her, handed her the envelope and told her
it was from one of his wife’s co-workers. She
thanked him and hugged him; it seemed to mean a lot to
her.
While at Camp Casey Mr. G also met a woman named
Faith who had originally gone into Iraq before the war
as a “human shield.” When that effort failed to stop
the war, she stayed on and worked in an Iraqi
hospital. She told the story of a young Iraqi woman
who showed up at the hospital full-term pregnant. One
of her arms was gone and the other badly damaged. She
gave birth very soon thereafter, and the one arm she
had left could not be saved. The young woman looked
into Faith’s eyes with utter grief and said, “I can’t
hold my baby.”
There was a Code Pink volunteer who came all the way
from Australia to be at Camp Casey, and Mr. G met
her but didn’t get to visit with her for very long.
She and Faith seemed to know each other well. People
are coming to Crawford from everywhere: the Midwest,
the East and West coasts—even Honolulu—and several
foreign countries. Next time I go back I’ll look more
carefully at that cloth map.
Mr. G did spend time with a young man, an American,
who volunteered for the Army and was sent to Iraq.
When he got there and saw the reality of combat (as
opposed to training drills) he realized that there was
no way he was going to be able to use deadly force
against another human being. He turned in his rifle,
told whoever was in charge that he could not and would
not fight, and applied for conscientious objector
status. Eventually he did get it and was shipped
home. Mr. G didn’t think to ask him what kind of
discharge he received, if he did any time in the brig,
or other details. This same young man was also
present on Tuesday, but we didn’t get to talk much
with him then.
Mr. G had left Crawford and was on his way home when
the news came that Cindy’s mother had become ill and
she would have to leave camp. He didn’t know about
that until he got to church that night for our Peace &
Justice Affinity Group meeting. His impression, and
mine, is that Cindy will be missed for however long
she’s gone (and of course everyone wishes her mother a
fast and full recovery), but this quest for truth that
she began will not be deterred. If the Masters of War
think that the movement is going to dry up and blow
away, they had better think again.
That’s it for the report of Mr. G’s day on August
18. It’s actually Sunday the 21st as I write this,
and we wanted to get this out before heading back out
again this morning so that the stories of Thursday and
today don’t get muddled together. We’ll have more to
say later. Love and peace to all.
Momma G
[reproduced with permission from MommaG]
Hi, all.
Went to Crawford on Tuesday as planned; sorry to be so
late getting back with information. There’s no way I
can begin to put what we experienced into language,
but here are a few highlights:
We arrived at 11:30 on Tuesday just as FedEx arrived
with 35 dozen roses from all over the country, all for
Cindy in apparent sympathy for the destruction of the
memorial crosses the previous night. We helped unload
them.
Hung out for awhile at the Crawford Peace House
meeting people. For those of a spiritual turn of
mind, you’ll be interested to know there’s a labyrinth
in the side yard.
I was wearing my Kent State tee-shirt– huge blue
letters on yellow background. Soon as I stepped onto
the yard at the Peace House a camera zoomed in on it.
Folks there are very aware of Kent State and what
happened on May 4, 1970. There are a lot of
comparisons between this war and Vietnam being made
among that certain generation of activists.
Since Mr. G brought tools they sent us on out the
road to Camp Casey thinking they might need help
rebuilding the crosses. When we got there, we found
that those magnificent people had worked all night
and, with the help of a local carpenter from Crawford,
put the whole thing back together. Amazing!
Three shuttles are running between the Peace House and
Camp Casey. One is a van rented by Randi Rhodes (of
Air America) and provided to the Peace House for the
purpose. The other two are private vehicles– the
vans that people drove into town with.
Cindy looked exhausted on Tuesday; it had been a long
tense night. The folks are camped literally in the
ditch by the roadside, and the fact that the fool in
the pickup could as easily have taken out a row of
tents with people in them as he did the crosses was
lost on nobody.
A local rancher offered them the use of his land on
Tuesday afternoon. At first they were going to move
for sure; now, after weighing the shade problem and
the difficulty of moving all those tents, the plan is
to move only if forced to do so. This generous
rancher is a distant cousin of the man who fired the
shots a few nights back and a veteran. I wish they
would move, I think it would be safer for them, but
for now they are staying put.
While we were there, we saw a few counterprotesters.
Two when we got there– a maximum of 7 later in the
day. Some of the Peace House people went over and
talked to them, offered them water, etc. (They had
absolutely no shade except their own umbrellas). Some
of the counterprotesters helped put back the crosses,
crying while they did it. Everyone was peaceful.
We met brave young veterans of Iraq who are protesting
because they feel it’s the best way to honor their
dead buddies and keep others from suffering what they
went through; we met a decorated Vietnam veteran who
drove all the way from Indiana because, as he said, “I
hate this f***ing war.” He has a son over there.
Another woman has a child about to be deployed to Iraq
from Germany; she brought Cindy and the other parents
of dead children a message from that young solder. It
was: “Dont let anybody tell you any different; we (the
soldiers) are behind you and we’re counting on you to
put an end to all of this.” We talked a long time
with Bill Mitchell, a broken-hearted father whose son
was killed the same day as Casey Sheehan. He wanted
everyone he met to see the pictures of his son– to
know that Mike was a real person, not just another cog
in the war machine. These people have lost the
dearest thing in the world to them– there’s nothing
left to lose. Their bravery comes from the
fearlessness of knowing that they have survived the
absolute worst that can happen; all they want to do is
keep it from happening to anybody else.
If you want to help the cause and can’t get to
Crawford yourself, the best thing to do is send money.
Even a little bit helps (lots of little-bits addup to
a lot). The Peace House is small and Camp Casey is,
well, a camp– and all you former Boy Scouts know that
there’s no extra storage space on a camp site. They
have more supplies than they can store right now–
people around here have been so generous– but money
enables them to buy what they need when they need it
and there’s no storage problem. Just Google the
Crawford Peace House and all the information you need
is there.
Thanks for listening to this long narrative. Mr. G
is going back up tomorrow and probably Friday too (I
have to be at school). Friends, keep an eye on this.
History is being made in Crawford, Texas this August
of 2005.
Peace and blessings to all,
Momma G
[reproduced with permission from MommaG]
It was on this day in 1862 that the newly formed National Labor Union called upon Congress for the first time to establish the eight-hour work day. The United States had been a country mostly of farmers until the early 1800’s, and farmers based their working hours on the season, and the number of hours of sunlight they had each day. It was only after American workers began moving to the cities to take factory jobs that they began to demand more regulated working schedules. Many workers were forced to work between ten and sixteen hours a day, six days a week, with no paid holidays or vacations.
The slogan for the movement to get an 8-hour workday was “8 Hours Labor, 8 Hours Recreation, 8 Hours Rest.” There were huge demonstrations and labor strikes throughout the 1870s and the 1880s in support of the eight hour workday. 100,000 workers went on strike in New York City to get the eight hour workday in 1872. In 1886, 80,000 people marched down Michigan Avenue in support of the eight hour workday in Chicago. That same year, 350,000 workers went on strike nationwide in support of the same cause. But after a strike led to violence at the McCormick Reaper Manufacturing Company, and the subsequent Haymarket Square Riot, the government chose to suppress labor activism, rounding up labor leaders and arresting them.
It wasn’t a labor leader who helped bring the eight-hour work day into the mainstream. It was Henry Ford. When most other factory owners had their employees working more than fifty hours a week, Henry Ford mandated that his employees work only five eight-hour days a week, because he believed that employees with a little time on their hands would be better consumers, and therefore better for business.
The eight-hour workday didn’t become federal law until 1933, when Congress enacted the National Industrial Recovery Act, which provided for the establishment of maximum hours, minimum wages, and the right to collective bargaining. Then, with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, American workers were guaranteed overtime pay for hours worked above 40 per week.
At the time those laws were passed, most sociologists predicted that Americans would work steadily fewer and fewer hours. But in fact, the opposite has happened. Today, more than 25 million Americans work more than 49 hours each week. And 11 million spend 60 hours or more at work each week. Americans also take fewer vacation days than employees in any other industrialized nation.
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The pioneers of a warless world are the youth that refuse military service. ~Albert Einstein
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Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
Unfortunately, in seeing ourselves as we truly are, not all that we see is beautiful and attractive. This is undoubtedly part of the reason we flee silence. We do not want to be confronted with our hypocrisy, our phoniness. We see how false and fragile is the false self we project. We have to go through this painful experience to come to our true self.
It is a harrowing journey, a death to self—the false self—and no one wants to die. But it is the only path to life, to freedom, to peace, to true love. And it begins with silence. We cannot give ourselves in love if we do not know and possess ourselves. This is the great value of silence. It is the pathway to all we truly want.
~M. Basil Pennington
by Sgt. John Bruhns
[Following is a letter by Army Sgt. John Bruhns, excerpts of which were read on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) on July 19, 2005.]
I am a concerned veteran of the Iraq war. I am not an expert on the vast and wide range of issues throughout the political spectrum, but I can offer some firsthand experience of the war in Iraq through the eyes of a soldier. My view of the situation in Iraq will differ from what the American people are being told by the Bush administration. The purpose of this message is to voice my concern that we were misled into war and continue to be misled about the situation in Iraq every day. My opinions on this matter come from what I witnessed in Iraq personally.
George Bush and his political advisors have been successful in presenting a false image to the American people, that Saddam Hussein was an “imminent” threat to the security of the United States. We were told that there was overwhelming evidence that Saddam Hussein possessed a massive WMD program, and some members of the Bush administration even hinted that Saddam may have been involved in the 9/11 attacks.
We now know most of the information given to us by the current administration concerning Iraq, if not all the information, was false. This was information given to the American people to justify a war. The information about weapons of mass destruction and a link to Osama bin Laden scared the American people into supporting the war in Iraq. They presented an atmosphere of intimidation that suggested if we did not act immediately there was the possibility of another attack. Bush said himself that we do not want the proof or the smoking gun to come in the form of a “mushroom cloud.” Donald Rumsfeld said, “We know where the weapons are.”
After 9/11, comments like these proved to be a successful scare tactic to use on the American people to rally support for the invasion. Members of the Bush administration created an image of “wine and roses” in terms of the aftermath of the war. Vice President Dick Cheney said American troops would be greeted as “liberators.” And there was a false perception created that we would go into Iraq and implement a democratic government and it would be over sooner rather than later. The White House also expressed confidence that the alleged WMD program would be found once we invaded.
I participated in the invasion, stayed in Iraq for a year afterward, and what I witnessed was the total opposite of what President Bush and his administration stated to the American people.
The invasion was very confusing, and so was the period of time I spent in Iraq afterward. At first it did seem as if some of the Iraqi people were happy to be rid of Saddam Hussein. But that was only for a short period of time. Shortly after Saddam’s regime fell, the Shiite Muslims in Iraq conducted a pilgrimage to Karbala, a pilgrimage prohibited by Saddam while he was in power. As I witnessed the Shiite pilgrimage, which was a new freedom that we provided to them, they used the pilgrimage to protest our presence in their country. I watched as they beat themselves over the head with sticks until they bled, and screamed at us in anger to leave their country. Some even carried signs that stated, “No Saddam, No America.” These were people that Saddam oppressed; they were his enemies. To me, it seemed they hated us more than him.
At that moment I knew it was going to be a very long deployment. I realized that I was not being greeted as a liberator. I became overwhelmed with fear because I felt I never would be viewed that way by the Iraqi people. As a soldier this concerned me. Because if they did not view me as a liberator, then what did they view me as? I felt that they viewed me as foreign occupier of their land. That led me to believe very early on that I was going to have a fight on my hands.
During my year in Iraq I had many altercations with the so-called insurgency. I found the insurgency I saw to be quite different from the insurgency described to the American people by the Bush administration, the media, and other supporters of the war. There is no doubt in my mind there are foreigners from other surrounding countries in Iraq. Anyone in the Middle East who hates America now has the opportunity to kill Americans because there are roughly 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. But the bulk of the insurgency I faced was from the people of Iraq, who were attacking us as a reaction to what they felt was an occupation of their country.
I was engaged actively in urban combat in the Abu Ghraib area, west of Baghdad. Many of the people who were attacking me were the poor people of Iraq. They were definitely not members of al-Qaeda or leftover Ba’ath Party members, and they were not former members of Saddam’s regime. They were just your average Iraqi civilians who wanted us out of their country.
On Oct. 31, 2003, the people of the Abu Ghraib area organized a large uprising against us. They launched a massive assault on our compound in the area. We were attacked with AK-47 machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars. Thousands of people took to the streets to attack us. As the riot unfolded before my eyes, I realized these were just the people who lived there. There were men, women and children participating. Some of the Iraqi protesters were even carrying pictures of Saddam Hussein. My battalion fought back with everything we had and eventually shut down the uprising.
So while President Bush speaks of freedom and liberation of the Iraqi people, I find that his statements are not credible after witnessing events such as these. During the violence that day I felt so much fear throughout my entire body. I remember going home that night and praying to God, thanking him that I was still alive. A few months earlier President Bush made the statement “Bring it on” when referring to the attacks on Americans by the insurgency. To me, that felt like a personal invitation to the insurgents to attack me and my friends who desperately wanted to make it home alive.
I did my job well in Iraq. During the deployment, my superiors promoted me to the rank of sergeant. I was made a rifle team leader and was put in charge of other soldiers when we carried out missions.
My time as a team leader in Iraq was temporarily interrupted when I was sent to the “green zone” in Baghdad to train the Iraqi army. I was more than happy to do it because we were being told that in order for us to get out of Iraq completely the Iraqi military would have to be able to take over all security operations. The training of the Iraqi army became a huge concern of mine. During the time I trained them, their basic training was only one week long. We showed them some basic drill and ceremony such as marching and saluting. When it came time for weapons training, we gave each Iraqi recruit an AK-47 and just let them shoot it. They did not even have to qualify by hitting a target. All they had to do was pull the trigger. I was instructed by my superiors to stand directly behind them with caution while they were shooting just in case they tried to turn the weapon on us so we could stop them.
Once they graduated from basic training, the Iraqi soldiers, in a way, became part of our battalion, and we would take them on missions with us. But we never let them know where we were going, because we were afraid some of them might tip off the insurgency that we were coming and we would walk directly into an ambush. When they would get into formation prior to the missions we made them a part of, they would cover their faces so the people of their communities did not identify them as being affiliated with the American troops.
Not that long ago President Bush made a statement at Fort Bragg when he addressed the nation about the war in Iraq. He said we would “stand down” when the Iraqi military is ready to “stand up.” My experience with the new Iraqi military tells me we won’t be coming home for a long time if that’s the case.
I left Iraq on Feb. 27, 2004, and I acknowledge a lot may have changed since then, but I find it hard to believe the Iraqi people are any happier now than they were when I was there. I remember the day I left there were hundreds of Iraqis in the streets outside the compound that I lived in. They watched as we moved out to the Baghdad Airport to finally go home. The Iraqis cheered, clapped and shouted with joy as we were leaving. As a soldier, that hurt me inside because I thought I was supposed to be fighting for their freedom. I saw many people die for that cause, but that is not how the Iraqi people looked at it. They viewed me as a foreign occupier and many of the people of Iraq may have even preferred Saddam to the American soldiers. I feel this way because of the consistent attacks on me and my fellow soldiers by the Iraqi people, who felt they were fighting for their homeland. To us the mission turned into a quest for survival.
I wish I could provide an answer to this mess. I wish I knew of a realistic way to get our troops home. But we are very limited in our options in my opinion. If we pull out immediately, it’s likely the Iraqi security forces will not be able to provide stability on their own. In that event, the new Iraqi government could possibly be overthrown. The other option would be to reduce our troop numbers and have a gradual pullout. That is very risky because it seems that even with the current number of troops the violence still continues. With a significant troop reduction, there is a strong possibility the violence and attacks on U.S. and coalition forces could escalate and get even worse. In my opinion, that is more of a certainty.
And then there is the option that President Bush brings to the table, which is to “stay the course.” That means more years of bloodshed and a lot more lives to be lost. Also, it will aggravate the growing opposition to the U.S. presence in Iraq throughout the region, and that could very well recruit more extremists to join terror organizations that will infiltrate Iraq and kill more U.S. troops.
So it does not seem to me we have a realistic solution, and that frightens me. It has become very obvious that we have a serious dilemma that needs to be resolved as soon as possible to end the ongoing violence in Iraq. But how do we end it, is the question.
We must always support the troops. If there were a situation in which the United States is attacked again by a legitimate enemy, they are the people who are going to risk their lives to protect us and our freedom. In my opinion, the best way to support them now is to bring them home with the honor and respect they deserve.
In closing, I ask that we never forget why this war started. The Bush administration cried weapons of mass destruction and a link to al-Qaeda We know that this was false, and the Bush administration concedes it as well. As a soldier who fought in that war, I feel misled. I feel that I was sent off to fight for a cause that never existed. When I joined the military, I did so to defend the United States of America, not to be sent off to a part of the world to fight people who never attacked me or my country. Many have died as a result of this. The people who started this war need to start being honest with the American people and take responsibility for their actions. More than anything, they need to stop saying everything is rosy and create a solution to this problem they created.
Thank you for hearing me out. God bless our great nation, the United States of America.
It is never too late to give up our fears and prejudices. No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof. What everybody echoes or in silence passes by as true today may turn out to be falsehood tomorrow, mere smoke of opinion, which some had trusted for a cloud that would sprinkle rain on their fields. What other people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can. Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new.
~Henry David Thoreau
To live with the conscious knowledge of the shadow of uncertainty, with the knowledge that disaster or tragedy could strike at any time; to be afraid and to know and acknowledge your fear, and still to live creatively and with unstinting love: that is to live with grace.
~Peter Abrahams
What We Need by David Budbill
The Emperor,
his bullies
and henchmen
terrorize the world
every day,
which is why
every day
we need
a little poem
of kindness,
a small song
of peace
a brief moment
of joy.
Write on my gravestone: “Infidel, Traitor.” –infidel to every church that compromises with wrong; traitor to every government that oppresses the people. ~Wendell Phillips
Annihilation itself is no death to evil. Only good where evil was, is evil dead. An evil thing must live with its evil until it chooses to be good. That alone is the slaying of evil.
~George Macdonald
Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.
~Robert A. Heinlein
“Find out just what people will quietly submit to, and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.” ~Frederick Douglass, African-American slave, and later abolitionist.
“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact, non-Westerners never do.” ~Samuel P. Huntington
Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. ~George Washington
All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it. ~Alexis de Tocqueville
Our real enemies are the people who make us feel so good that we are slowly, but inexorably, pulled down into the quicksand of smugness and self-satisfaction. ~Sydney Harris
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Mourn not the dead that in the cool earth lie, but rather mourn the apathetic, throng the coward and the meek who see the world’s great anguish and its wrong, and dare not speak. ~Ralph Chaplin
Peace is more important than all justice; and was not made for the sake of justice, but justice for the sake of peace. ~Martin Luther
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People have not been horrified by war to a sufficient extent … War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige as the warrior does today. ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy
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I was a bombardier in WW 2. When you are up 30,000 feet you do not hear the screams or smell the blood or see those without limbs or eyes. It was not til I read Hersey’s Hiroshima that I realized what bomber pilots do. ~Howard Zinn
From the American Civil Liberties Union.
This Saturday marks the 40th Anniversary of Congress passing the most successful piece of civil rights legislation in history: the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965. Unfortunately, unless Congress votes to renew several key sections of the law, they will expire by 2007.
Congress could begin considering renewal legislation as early as this fall, so we need your help now to make sure that all of the expiring provisions are renewed and restored and to prevent opponents of the VRA from sabotaging the reauthorization.
Today you can help ensure a return to fairness not just for immigrants, but for everybody, by urging Congress to support the Civil Liberties Restoration Act of 2005. These are not just “immigration” issues; current policies are a fundamental threat to the guarantee of due process for all people—as expressly required by the Constitution—and they endanger all of our rights.
Calling the VRA the most successful civil rights bill ever really isn’t an exaggeration. By the end of 1965, more than a quarter million blacks had registered to vote. In the past forty years, the number of African-American elected officials has risen from 300 to close to 10,000. After nearly a century under the “Jim Crow” system, which denied African-Americans the right to vote, the Voting Rights Act finally made clear that the Constitution’s guarantee of equality under the law means what it says.
The expiring provisions include a section that requires voting districts with a history of discrimination to pre-approve or “pre-clear” changes to voting laws with the Justice Department or a federal court in Washington; a provision that gives the attorney general the authority to appoint poll watchers and election monitors; and a crucial provision that guarantees language assistance to voters with limited English proficiency.
These sections must be renewed if we are to ensure the continued success of the Voting Rights Act.
In addition, the legislation must also restore the spirit of the VRA by clarifying the kinds of circumstances that result in a retrenchment of voting rights for minority citizens. These important clarifications are needed because of recent Supreme Court decisions that have substantially weakened the effectiveness of the Act.
Although the law ended poll taxes and literacy tests that were expressly designed to disfranchise minorities, discrimination still occurs in subtler, yet no less harmful, forms. For instance, just last year, a federal court determined that the state of South Dakota was officially conspiring to disfranchise American Indians. And, the state of Louisiana has never had a proposed change to its electoral law approved by the Justice Department.
(I’m a card carrying member of the ACLU. Are you? Become one.)
donkey o.d. feed
© 2007 donkey o.d.
