Saturday, March 20, 2010

Protesting the illegal wars

Iraqi Mohammed Thabit tells Rebecca Santana (AP), "Failure is the word that should be linked with the US war. The Americans brought people to power, but those people are specialized in reprisals, blackmail, inflaming sectarianism, and robbing." Meanwhile, in the US, protests against the continued war took place. Cuba's Periodico reports:

In Washington, a rally was held at Lafayette Park on the north side of the White House. The rally was followed by a march that made stops at Halliburton, the Washington Post, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, the National Endowment for Democracy and the Veterans Administration.
Organizers said it was the largest demonstration to date opposing the Barack Obama administration’s decision to expand the war in Afghanistan with tens of thousands more U.S. occupation troops.

AP quotes Peace Mom Cindy Sheehan spoke, wondering if "the honeymoon was over with that war criminal in the White House," while Ralph Nader felt the only difference demonstrated between Bush and Barack was "Obama's speeches are better." Narayan Lakshman (The Hindu) adds, "While the protest drew a smaller crowd than the tens of thousands who marched during the final years of the Bush administration, the ANSWER coalition, the main organiser, said momentum was building due to disenchantment with President Obama's troop surge decision for Afghanistan. Other participating groups included Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak Out and the National Council of Arab Americans and activists such as Ralph Nader and Cindy Sheehan." Russia Today offers video of the DC protests. David Rosenberg (The KPFA Evening News) reported, "At least eight people, including activist Cindy Sheehan, were arrested by US Park Police at the end of the march after laying coffins at the fence outside the White House." Yesterday this press release was issued:

CAMP OUT NOW TO TAKE LEGAL STAND ON 7TH ANNIVERSARY OF ILLEGAL WAR IN IRAQ

CONTACTS:


Joshua Smith: 817 751 5890 (National Operation’s Director, Peace of the Action)

Or

Cindy Sheehan: 707 301 6177

March 20th, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On Monday, March 15th, Camp OUT NOW, a Peace Camp erected by US Citizens on the lawn of the Washington Monument, was denied by the National Park Service its legal rights (based on National Park Service regulation 7.96) to erect temporary tents.

According to case law, tents are able to be erected as long as there is no sleeping—the Park Service forced the campers to take down the tents Monday afternoon immediately after they were set-up.

“On the 7th anniversary of an illegal war that has killed over a million people and in the shadow of the government that commits crimes on a daily basis, we will claim our legal rights to establishment an anti-war camp, and we expect to do so unmolested by law enforcement,” said Cindy Sheehan, National Director of Peace of the Action.

Peace of the Action is inviting all concerned citizens to join us at Camp this evening to help us fight the arbitrary enforcement of national law.


The action will take place Saturday night, March 20th beginning at 8pm.

CINDY SHEEHAN IS THE MOTHER OF SPC. CASEY SHEEHAN WHO WAS KILLED IN IRAQ ON 04 APRIL 2004. SHE IS THE NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF PEACE OF THE ACTION AND THE AUTHOR OF FIVE BOOKS AND HOST OF HER OWN RADIO SHOW: CINDY SHEEHAN'S SOAPBOX.

www.CindySheehansSoapbox.com

www.PeaceoftheAction.org


In San Francisco, the protest I attended, you could follow the pink road, follow the pink road. I'm referring to a large ground banner which was pink and asked: "Where is our change? Where is our hope?" People began gathering for the rally a little before 11:30 in the morning (you could tell it was about to start as about 20 visible police officers were joined by 16 additional visible police officers just arriving) and, approximately an hour later, the march began ending a little after two o'clock. Chants included "Hey, hey, hey, ho/ The occupation has got to go!" and "Money for jobs and education! Not for wars and occupations!" Signs called out the occupations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine and drew links to where the US money went and where it didn't. I saw no signs regarding Columbia but I probably missed them. A speaker, Cristina Gutierrez, spoke on the issue and "even under the so-called liberal Obama administration, they still call our freedom fighters 'terrorists' regardless of whether they are in Columbia or Palestine." She gave a powerful speech on how change has not come, with a wide range of supporting evidence including that it is Barack's administration that continues to imprison Lynne Stewart and has "taken over 7 of the 12 military bases in Columbia."

Cristina Gutierrez: We are hear to ask you to stop your government from destroying the aspirations of the people of the world for justice and freedom. We are hear not to ask you not to raise money for us not to commit solidarity with our people but we are here to ask you stop the military budget, to stop the wars and to demand that the money be spent on education, creating jobs, housing and health care of all in this country.

It was a large group -- especially considering that there were demonstrations all over California (Los Angeles and San Diego being only two others). The people were diverse -- in terms of race and ethnicity, economic classification and age. Among the speakers were Daniel Ellsberg.

Daniel Ellsberg: . . . 40 years ago, 41 years ago, in 1969, there was a group and a movement called the moratorium. And they called it the moratorium rather than call it a "general strike" because that seemed too inflamatory. But what it was was, like today, demonstrations all over the country being counted not just in one city. There was 75,000 in indeed in San Francisco, 100,000 in New York. But here were ten here, twenty there, a thousand there, all over the country adding up to 2 million. And the difference was that it was on a weekday. They took off for the day for this so it really was a general strike. They thought it had no effect. They were wrong, the people who ran that and the people who took part in it. Nixon had threatened the North, through Russia and China, that he was going to escalate on November 3, 1969. He was threatening and planning to use nuclear weapons. And, also, as well, to invade Laos and Cambodia, North Vietnam, hit the dikes, hit Hai Phong, All the things that he did do later in the invasion of North Vietnam.

Ellsberg called for more actions like the ones today across the US and a general strike to send the message to DC that we can't "afford one or two trillion dollars away from our infrastructure, our education and our health to kill people".


KPFA's Evening News' report features some of A.N.S.W.E.R.'s Richard Becker's speech. Some of it may be included in the Monday snapshot but, for the above, I thought it was better to offer things that were not covered by their broadcast.

Violence continued in Iraq today. Reuters notes a Baghdad minibus bombing left five people injured, a Mosul roadside bombing injured five Iraqi soliders, a second Mosul roadside bombing injured two Iraqi soldiers and a Mosul grenade attack injured one police officer.

Intifada Palestine is back up and Dr. Alan Saborsky has just concluded a multi-part series there. And we'll close with this from Ludwig Watzal's "Destroying World Order"(Australia.to):

The so-called "war on terror" in Afghanistan and the controversial invasion of Iraq under international law for the Americans brought a surprising result: the world sees the U.S. as one of the greatest threats to world peace, as the EU and the BBC polls . demonstrate The intervention of the United States has brought the region of the Near and Middle East has been no peace, only chaos, misery and instability. Iraq was a playground for international terrorism. But what seems more serious, is the questioning of established international law and destabilize the international system as a whole. Despite the platitude that since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 "has changed everything," said Francis A. Boyle, Professor of Law at the University of Illinois in Champaign, that the imperialist orientation of U.S. foreign policy since the founding of the United States has remained the same.
After reading the book, one wonders whether the list of "rogue states" do not need to be supplemented. For the author, the U.S. is the "rogue elephant of International Relations." Boyle argued in the nine chapters of the book entirely legalistic, in the tradition of his country, is ranked in the "Rule of Law" on a par with "God, motherhood and apple pie." His arguments against the various U.S. administrations are legally convincing, although there are many counter-arguments to all his assertions. The author vigorously defends all minorities and their human rights. He served on the board of Amnesty International and others was legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiating delegation, Haidar Abdel-Shafi in 1991 to 1993 in Washington. His commitment to the rights of the Palestinians is particularly pronounced, which has significantly contributed to his "outsider" within the scientific community in the U.S.. However, this is understood not as a flaw, but as a distinction.
The intention of the author is to demonstrate that violate the U.S. government under Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George WH Bush Sr., Bill Clinton and especially George W. Bush Jr., the law and human rights of smaller states at will. So the U.S. had interpreted their "right to self defense" always very excessive. The Reagan administration tried to "Caroline Case" of 1837 to justify their retaliation in the Gulf region, Lebanon, Libya, and against international terrorism. At that time, Secretary of State Daniel Webster argued that the self-defense measures should be applied only in extreme emergencies when no other means were available to more and no possibility of negotiating more be given. This definition was also the War Crimes Tribunal in Nuremberg in 1945 net as it passes judgment Nazi criminals.

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The Capons of NYC

They demonstrated yet again how useless they are, how inept and how laughable. Hopefully the whole country caught it. A friend, longtime peace activist (took part in the Los Angeles protest today) bet me mid-week that NYC's 'peace' 'demonstration' would have a laughable turnout. Though no fan of the 'left' 'leaders' in NYC, I doubted it would be as bad as he was predicting. So we bet. If I was wrong, I would write here about "the capons of NYC." And I was wrong, my friend was right, I lost the bet.

AP and NBC New York write that the Manhattan protest against the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars today only generated "a few dozen people." And, to be clear, I'm not mocking the participants, that's not the point of this entry. But I will note that the Raging Grannies participated and it is strange that they didn't issue a press release since they generally do.

But the capons are the 'leaders.' A capon, for any who doesn't know, is a rooster that's been castrated. If you think that's harsh to NYC left and 'left' women, you haven't encountered many of them. The bulk of them are so damn eager to disapprove their womanhood. They'll never support feminism but they will go out of their way to slam other women -- especially any woman who tries to take a stand. They exist (think of Katha) to hiss at other women who decide to run for public office. They exist (think of Amy Goodman) to promote the owners of skin flicks. They don't exist to advance women's rights but, in a pinch, they'll push the rights of women somewhere in the world, far, far from these shores. They exist as the left or 'left' equivalent of Kate Smith -- meant to drone away so loudly that they drown out the objections of all women.

I think they wish they were men -- they certainly act as if that's the case. And they do anything to fit in with NYC's straight and bi- male 'leaders'. (No openly gay man is in NYC leadership outside of the LGBT movement. The capons aren't too fond of gay rights -- for those who fail to read NY Review of Books or catch the NYC-based Pacifica programs -- they're really not fond of gay rights at all.)

The NYC capons surprisingly manage to reproduce leading to ever more women who act like stereotypes of men and men who do their best to try to act like stereotypes of men. That's in part why rape has never been a big issue for the left and 'left' in NYC (I'm referring to the left leadership -- not the small groupings of feminists or LGBT activists). The capons think of rape as just a way to establish that they're straight. I can think of one male for instance whom "NO!" meant nothing to, beating him with my fists meant nothing, but check his left ear lobe and you still find my teeth marks where I drew blood and finally got him off me. He's still in the publishing business and still considers himself 'left' and is still praised by his fellow capons. In the Capon Set of NYC, 'bad form' is mentioning his attempted rapes and his rapes. That's 'bad form.' 'Good manners' -- among that set -- is giving him awards -- like the George Polk award.

So he circles the NYC capon nest and rarely ventures out of that safety since he knows full well he'll be attacked all over the West Coast left set where, whatever else our faults, we don't tolerate rape or rapists.

It's why the term "tea b**ger" took off, they're homophobic. It's why so much disgusting sexism (aimed at Hillary, aimed at whomever) is never called out by the capon set. It's why Katha Pollitt -- idiot that she is -- reveals at The Nation in 2008 that she's refusing to call out sexism, that's she promised herself she'll stop doing that, so that Barack can be elected. They have no values, they have no ethics. They would sell their own mother into sexual slavery in the blink of an eye. And should said mother be discovered beat up, battered, on the streets, they would work overtime to ignore that fact. That is the NYC capon set.

The NYC capon set tolerates rape, they cover for rapists, they make excuses for pedophiles (Scott Ritter being only one example) and they never accomplish anything. They do manage to dance The Clampdown very well. On any issue. Example, Cindy Sheehan wants to run for Congress? ATTACK!!!! They used more energy attacking Cindy Sheehan's decision to run for Congress than they ever used to attack Barack's extension of the Patriot Act.


The capons take to flight when things get tough out of fear that they might mess up their manicures. So they hop from issue and 'issue' to issue and 'issue.' Like mockingbirds, flittering and fluttering here, there and everywhere but never quite landing.

The NYC capon set is nothing but the house pets of the Democratic Party (though not all are Democrats, they all pretend to be for public consumption). And they'll let a few in on the lower rungs -- no where near leadership -- if they're easily controlled. Easily controlled? Check The Nation where you'll read the 'writings' of 'writers' (I'm thinking of one in particular) that aren't worthy of being published in a small high school newspaper. A Glen Ford, a Bruce Dixon, a Margaret Kimberely, none of them would be hired by The Nation. The house pets seek out 'writers' even dimmer than they themselves are. That, you understand, is how they 'shine.'

The Nation? Peter Rothberg has sent out how many e-mail 'alerts' on NYC actions and 'actions' (Katrina vanden Heuvel's appearance on basic cable programs are neither news nor actions, someone inform Katty) regarding Iraq but not a peep from him on the Manhattan action.

WBAI didn't promote the event. Nor are they promoting this NYC event tomorrow.

Public Hearing
March 21, 2010 4 - 8pm
The Riverside Church
490 Riverside Dr. New York, NY 10027

Visit the official website to learn more and watch the trailer: http://www.conscienceinwar.org/index.php

IVAW members Joshua Casteel, Logan Laituri, and Camilo Mejia are featured in the documentary Soldiers of Conscience and will be testifying at the Truth Commission.

Executive Director Jose Vasquez will serve as a commissioner.

Public Event Details, March 21, 4 - 8 pm

* Screening of excerpts from the Emmy-nominated PBS documentary, Soldiers of Conscience, which follows the stories of eight US soldiers in war facing the life-changing moral decisions facing them in combat.
* Testimonies of veterans of current and previous wars
* Reports from expert witnesses from the fields of law, ethics, psychology, and journalism
* Reception at 8 pm.


Click here for more IVAW Updates


Why? Do you really think you hear criticism of this administration on WBAI? Do you really?

I'm going to repeat one more time, I'm not criticizing the people who participated or average New Yorkers. I'm talking about leadership and 'leadership. ' I don't slam the people. I'll slam leaders, including a government, but no American opposed to the illegal war should ever make the mistake of assuming that leaders and 'leaders' represent the people.

They're the ones who either just shrugged this week or rushed to suddenly, for a paragraph of column, rushed to 'remember' the Iraq War. Leaving the NYC capon nest, you can also laugh at Bryan Cones (US Catholic) who wrote Friday about how important it is to pay attention and . . . as proof . . . offered a link to . . . US Catholic's coverage . . . from March 2008. Does it get any worse than this:

Beyond our own servicemembers, there are also parents, refugees such as my friend, and activists with stories to tell, which they did in the March 2008 issue of U.S. Catholic magazine. Perhaps their witness will help us heed the prophet Isaiah's call to "study war no more."

Two years ago, Bryan Cones wants you to be brave and drop back two years ago. No time for it in 2009 or 2010 but two years ago . . .


Far from the New York capons, in the real world, Spc Robert Rieckoff's family mourns. Reickoff died Thursday while serving in Iraq. Bill Glauber (Journal Sentinel) reports his survivors include his children Katrina and Tyler, his sisters Sheila Sartorius and Kaszaray Reickhoff, Jolene Garwood and Cathy Garwood and his brothers Roland Garwood III and Bobby Garwood and he quotes his grandmother Judith Nelson remembering, "I'd be cooking supper and he would be getting into cupboards. He'd play with all my canned goods. He could never do wrong in my eyes."

In Iraq, the election results are still being tabulated. One of the political parties competing for votes is the Ahrar Party and they issued the following on Friday:

Iraq election results being fixed - call for election recount

The leader of the Ahrar Freedom Party in Iraq today called for a nationwide recount of the results in the recent General Election held on 7 March.

Ayad Jamal Aldin said, "We have sound evidence of nationwide corruption in the election results presently being declared across Iraq. A large number of smaller parties are being deliberately squeezed out of the election result. Thousands of votes are being stolen and transferred to the larger parties, within the Malaki, Allawi and Hakim camps.

"Our Ahrar Party was polling fourth in a large number of governorates and regions across Iraq and we have evidence that our, and other parties', votes are being excluded and not declared in the results so far.

"We have no confidence in the fairness and honesty of the election counting process. We call for international observers, including the United Nations and US Vice President Joe Biden to intervene and support an independently monitored recount of all the votes cast on 7th March. The people of Iraq are being cheated out of a fair election result. No one has anything to fear from a fairly conducted recount but if the present election results are allowed to go unchallenged, Iraq will descend again into conflict rather than benefiting from a free and fair electoral process."

For further information, contact:

Ahrar Media Bureau
Tel: +964 (0)790 157 4478 / +964 (0)790 157 4479 / +964 (0)771 275 2942
press@ahrarparty.com

About Ayad Jamal Aldin:

Ayad Jamal Aldin is a cleric, best known for his consistent campaigning for a new, secular Iraq. He first rose to prominence at the Nasiriyah conference in March 2003, shortly before the fall of Saddam, where he called for a state free of religion, the turban and other theological symbols. In 2005, he was elected as one of the 25 MPs on the Iraqi National List, but withdrew in 2009 after becoming disenchanted with Iyad Allawi's overtures to Iran. He wants complete independence from Iranian interference in Iraq. He now leads the Ahrar party for the 2010 election to the Council of Representatives, to clean up corruption and create a strong, secure and liberated Iraq for the future.


The next entry will cover the other protests and I'll note the one I attended.

The following community sites updated last night:



Note to this entry. I know some NYC capons are immediately going to pimp the lie they usually try which is "They were on a date!" No, we weren't. I would never date that sleeze. He's neither intellectually swift enough nor physically attractive enough to turn me on. I attended a party and excused myself to step outside and get some air. He followed me outside and tried to rape me there. I'm also not Rhoda (see "Today I Am a Ma'am" of The Mary Tyler Moore Show) -- meaning, I would not have gone to any part with "a date" that include a man and his wife. The sleeze's wife was inside while he was attempting his rape, promising it would be "a quickie." Typical of Panhandle Media's Beggars, after he got off an attended to his ear, as I was rushing back into the party, he called out asking if I'd donate to his latest failed venture.

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thomas friedman is a great man






oh boy it never ends

Friday, March 19, 2010

Iraq snapshot

Friday, March 19, 2010.  Chaos and violence continue, the ballot counting continues, protests take place against the wars and others gear up, Lt Dan Choi stands strong (as usual), we revisit yesterday's Don't Ask Don't Tell hearing because, among other reasons, Crazy Ass Joe Sheehan got some press attention no one called him out for calling a well known woman a man (just breezed right by, did it?) and more.
 
Let's start with NPR's  The Diane Rehm Show  where Iraq had a cameo appearance.
 
Diane Rehm: Let's talk about the Iraq election results.  We still have no final tally on these votes, Abderrahim?
 
Abderrahim Foukara: Yes, the counting is still going on and there are obviously conflicting reports coming out of -- or at least conflicting interpretations of what's going on in Iraq. One interpreteation is that no matter what the security challenges are, Iraq has definitely crossed a security threshold. You now have Iraqis actually going to the polls to fight the rather than fight it out on the streets. But the other interpretation is that given the results that are coming out so far the signs are not encouraging that sectarianism is over and done with in Iraq. The, uhm, tension between Ayad Allawi, the former prime minister, and Nouri al-Maliki the current present prime minister.  Nouri Maliki representing the Shi'ites. Ayad Allawi, although he is a Shi'ite, he's actually representing the Sunnis in this election. It has come down to sec -- political sectarianism strife in this election.
 
Elise Labott: Well they're neck and neck. And who ever's party receives the greatest number of votes is goign to have a chance to try and form a coalition and that's when the real horse racing begins: The post-election jockeying to build a coalition and this could cause some tensions.  I was just speaking to some US officials in Iraq, this morning and, you know, some might call it sectarianism others might just call it politics.  These are politicians that are trying to jockey for position and influence and I heard everybody's up going to visit the Kurds and the question remains: What is going to happen when you have a winning party?  Who is going to be -- is that person going to accept the results? Allawi might accept the results but if Maliki loses by a few votes, he has a big constistuenty in the country. Is he going to stand down? And that's when we might start to see some
problems.
 
Elise Labott just outlined some very serious issues but if you think that prompted a discussion, you didn't hear the show.  It's a pity when Diane's 'experts' were calling the election for Nouri al-Maliki and speaking of Ayad Allawi's party as "lagging behind" that Diane wasn't able to interrupt a guest (Elise above) with a 'late breaking' announcement regarding Barack and an Israeli leader having a meeting.  Wow!  Amazing.  A US president meets with the Israelis.  The wall's really coming down, right?  They opened the show with that story or 'story' and gas bagged forever and a day without saying much of anything. And just when listeners are getting some grasp on the Iraqi elections, it's time to return to the tired topic of how low will the US go for Israel.  Even though they'd easily spent ten minutes on that at the start of the program (AT LEAST TEN MINUTES). And even though this is what? 
 
"A woman started crying as she read the names of the people killed during the first seven years of the Iraq war," reports Paul Deaton (Blog for Iowa).  "Today marks the beginning of the eighth year of US participation in this military action and it is hard not to be affected by reading the names of those who died. A bell ran after each name was read. It is especially disheartening when we realize that in addition to 43 Iowans, uncounted Iraqi men, women and children lost their lives during the Iraq war."
 
Could someone ask The Diane Rehm Show if today was some sort of annivesary for Israel since they were so quick to cut off Elise and change the subject back to a topic they'd already gas bagged on?  On PRI's The Takeaway today . . .
 
John Hockenberry: Seven years ago today, we began to hear sounds like this.
 
[Gunfire and explosions.]
 
John Hockenberry: The invasion of Iraq was beginning. Of course, the people in Baghdad were hearing those sounds first hand.  The irony today is that even though this war which dominated the headlines for years after 2003, it's because of a lack of news that today we are permitted really to look back at the seventh anniversary of a war that's now, in a very real sense, faded from the headlines but is very much a part of the US experience. Here's George W. Bush speaking to the American people on March 20, 2003.
 
War Criminal and High Ranking Liar George W. Bush: My fellow citizens. At this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free it's people and to defend the world from grave danger.
 
John Hockenberry: Well what the military and the coalition forces discovered in Iraq quickly was that there was no "grave danger," that the disarming of Iraq had already been begun by Saddam Hussein himself and that the freeing of Iraqi people is something that political forces in Iraq are still grappling with even today.
 
I don't care for Michael Iskoff and that may be the only time his name has appeared properly at this site (as opposed to the many pet names I give that dog).  Nor do we link to him.  But PRI's The Takeaway remembered Iraq on the eve of the seventh anniversary of the illegal war while others just wanted to gas bag about Israel today.  So The Takeaway segment gets a link and I even mention that man's name accurately.  Do not expect that it will ever happen again.  Also on The Takeaway today, John Hockenberry spoke with Iraq War veterans Matt Gallagher (author of Kaboom: Embracking the Suck in a Savage Little War) and and Mike Scotti (Severe Clear) neither of whom expect the Iraq War to end any time soon.  John Hockenberry offered, "Where was Stanley McChrystal seven years ago?  The commander of forces in Aghanistan? He was actually running the briefings at the Pentagon. He was assigned to run the Iraq briefings at the Pentagon seven years ago.  Now, of course, he's commanding forces in Afghanistan."
 
As bad as starting an illegal war is continuing one.  At the tent meetings of the Cult of St. Barack throughout America in early 2008, Barack was fond of screaming into his mike,       "We want to end the war now!"  Of course Samantha Power, while still his chief foreign policy advisor, told the BBC News that Barack didn't know what he was going to do about Iraq and wouldn't make a decision until after he was in the White House. That didn't stop Barry O from letting the people think he was Mr. Peace and Mr. End The War Now!
 
War Criminal Barack Obama speaking in Santa Barbara in early 2008: And most of all the American people are tired of this disastorous war in Iraq that should have never been authorized and should have never been waged. A war that has cost us half-a-trillion dollars and thousands of lives and has not made us more safe but has diminished our standing in the world. They want an end to that! And they want an end now!
 
The White House changed parties and that's about all the change America or Iraq saw.  Blood brothers Bush and Barack are so alike that, after winning the election, Barry O suddenly loved the SOFA -- the same Status Of Forces Agreement he termed "unConstitutional" when he was running for office.  The same SOFA he protested.  Li Laifang (Xinhua) reports that Iraq today still has no security, still lags (too mild a term for it) in reconstruction.  That's on Barack.  He's the one who wanted to be president.  There have been so surprises since he was sworn in.  The economic problems were known starting in the fall of 2008.  The Iraq War and the Afghanistan War were known.  He came in under the rhubric of 'change' and he's done nothing except repeatedly sing, "Oh come let us adore me." 
 
Protests will take place tomorrow against the Iraq War and Afghanistan War. Actions are scheduled across the country and the best known are the ones to be held in DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Michael E. Ruane (Washington Post) reports, "The protest, against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, will begin with a noon rally in Lafayette Park across the street from the White House. The march will follow." Ruane's article also has a video of people speaking out.

Cindy Sheehan: You know some people have abandoned -- in the anti-war movement -- have abandoned peace since Obama's been president. But we need to recreate a movement. And that's what we're trying to do here at this march. We're trying to not just build a camp, but build a movement.           

Military Families Speak Out's Maggie Pondolfino: I feel like I have a heightened responsibility as a military family to lend my voice to the antiwar movement because these wars have gone on too long and they continue to kill our loved ones. My son is currently deployed in Kandahar Province in Afghanistan and he also did a tour in Iraq.

Cindy Sheehan is briefly on Democracy Now! today (blink and you'll miss her.) Fight Back! interviews Jess Sundin (Freedom Road Socialist Organization) about tomorrow's actions.

Fight Back!: What's going on with the U.S. occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan?

Sundin: After all these years, Iraq and Afghanistan are each occupied by more than 100,000 U.S. troops, plus the soldiers of U.S. allies. The U.S. runs prisons in both countries, operates checkpoints along roadways and controls government affairs.
In Iraq, over a million people have been killed by occupying forces - every family has lost someone. Nearly 6 million Iraqis are refugees, having fled their homes and, in some cases, the country. The infrastructure is in a shambles, where most Iraqis have limited access to electricity, adequate housing, drinking water and sanitation services. Unemployment and underemployment are over 40% and there is no sign that any of this will improve.
The people of Afghanistan are being hammered hard by Obama's policy of bringing in more troops - there are more than twice as many American soldiers there now than there was under Bush. And more are on their way. Top commanders promise this will be a brutal year - we have regular reports of civilian casualties. The troops plan to lay siege to more cities, as they did to Marjah last month, promising to make a whole country of ghost towns.
There is no chance of victory for the U.S. - the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan will continue to resist the occupations and fight to control their own countries and futures.


World Can't Wait and A.N.S.W.E.R. are among the organizations sponsoring the DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles actions tomorrow and you can refer to those websites for more information. Local actions are taking place around the country and we'll provide links on two.  Karen Kucher (San Diego Union-Tribune) reports the details of Saturday's actions in San Diego. In New York, there will be an action in Nanuet. Jane Lerner (Lower Hudson Valley Journal News) reports on the details of that action.
 
There is plenty of outrage on the left for Americans on the left to demand that the Congress and the White House be responsive.  It's ignored mainly because so many people have decided Barry O is King and they're loyal subjects.  Not buying into that is Ian Wilder. From his "Is Kucinich just herding sheep to slaughter?" (On The Wilder Side):

IW: While faux progressive sites like Daily Kos and MoveOn have threatened Kucinich for not voting for the toothless health insurance bill, independent media site like Black Agenda Report and Democracy Now! have lobbed softballs his way. Even Nader refused to directly criticize Kucinich in his roll in mollifying a potential break away of progressives from the Democratic party over the Afghanistan/Iraq Wars and Health Care Reform. We need leaders who not afraid to speak truth to power, even when it's their friends. We need a political party that is willing to stand up for the best interests of the voter, not defense contractors and insurance companies. And where is a real voice that is not afraid to speak truth to power like Cynthia McKinney? Is leaving her out part of Democracy Now's continual policy of marginalizing the Green Party?     
 
Protests against the wars took place today but the true example of protest could be found yesterday in DC.  "You have been told that the President has a plan! But Congressman Barney Frank confirmed to us this week that the President still is not fully committed to repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell this year. And if we don't seize this moment it may not happen for a very long time."  Brian Montopoli (CBS News) reports that Iraq War veteran Lt Dan Choi made those remarks outside the White House where he and Capt Jim Piertrangelo were arrested for their activism. Theola Labbe-DeBose (Washington Post) explains, "Shortly before 2 p.m., Park Police came upon two men who had chained themselves to a section of the iron fence on the north side, said David Schlosser, a police spokeman. Officers told the men they did not have a permit for their demonstration and gave them three warnings about the violation."  Queerty offers their analysis and we'll excerpt this section:

They hijacked HRC's rally. Normally we wouldn't commend a group for taking over another organization's event. That's just rude, and it's like, plan your own shindig, jerks. But HRC wastes millions of its donors' dollars every year, so if anyone is going to make a HRC rally effective, it'll be a third party. [. . .] Like Get Equal. From this HRC statement, it appears Choi wasn't even supposed to speak at all, and instead, through a relationship with Solmonese, secured a chance to take the mic at the last minute: "There's been some confusion about Lt. Dan Choi's role in the rally. As Joe Solmonese was walking to the stage, Lt. Choi asked Joe if he could have a speaking role. Joe explained that it wasn't his sole decision to make on the spot given that there was already an established program that included Kathy Griffin, other organization and veterans. After Choi then spoke with Kathy Griffin, she agreed to bring him up on stage and speak to the crowd during her remarks. Lt. Choi in his speech called on the crowd to march on the White House. Joe Solmonese along with Eric Alva and others felt it was important to stay and engage those at the rally in ways they can continue building the pressure needed for repeal. This does nothing to diminish the actions taken by Lt. Choi and others. This is the nature of social change and everyone has a role to play." (Robin McGehee reportedly asked Joe Solmonese if she could take part in the rally, but was rebuffed; it was Kathy and Bravo's rally, she was supposedly told.) But what was supposed to be a camera op for HRC and Bravo became the mere launching pad for Choi's stunt. Nobody will remember the HRC rally for anything other than Choi taking it over. They got Kanye'd.
Yusef Najafi (Metro Weekly) reports that Choi and Pietrangelo entered not guilty pleas this morning in court and are taking their cases to trial.  In addition, they've posted video of Dan Choi speaking outside the courthouse.
 
Dan Choi: There are other people who are oppressed that have the chains on them in their hearts. There were many times when people would say when you go and get arrested, it's difficult because your hands are restrained and the movement is a little bit stymied or halted on the physical level. But it is my hope that the larger movement, even with the chains on it, will do nothing but grow to the point where it cannot be controlled by anything but that freeing and that dignified expression of getting arrested for what you know is absolutely morally right. There was no freer moment than being in that prison. It was freeing for me and I thought of all the other people that were still trapped, that were still handcuffed and fettered in their hearts and we might have been caged up physically but the message was very clear to all of the people who think that equality can be purchased with a donation or with a cocktail party or with tokens that are serving in a public role. We are worth more than tokens. We have absolute value. And when the person who is oppressed by his own country wants to find out how to get his dignity back, being chained up and being arrested, that's how you get your dignity conferred back on you. So I think that my actions, my call, is to every leader -- not just gay leaders, I'm talking any leader who believes in America, that the promises of America can be manifest. We're going to do it again. And we're going to keep doing it until the promises are manifest  and we will not stop.  This is a very clear message to President Obama and any other leader who supposes to talk for the American promise and the American people, we will not go away .
 
From Dan's heroic actions and stance to Congress. Yesterday's snapshot included moments from the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Don't Ask Don't Tell. Carl Levin is the Comittee Chair.  Appearing before the senators were Lt Jr Grade Jenny Kopfstein, Maj Michael Almy and Gen John Sheehan -- the first two were drummed out of the military for their sexuality, the third was rewarded with a lengthy career (possibly in part due his homophobia).
 
Senator Kay Hagan: Mr. Almy and Ms. Kopfstein -- Kopfstein.  Although the policy is referred to as Don't Ask, Don't Tell, as the law is currently written members of the armed forces are involuntarily separated regardless how their sexual orientation is disclosed. And under existing law, the quality of your service does not serve as the criteria for retention due to a presumed disruption to unit cohesion and discipline. During your discharge proceedings, what impact did the recommendations from your leadership within your chain of command have on the decision to involuntarily seperate you from your service? And I think, Mr. Almy, you were speaking about that.

Maj Michael D. Almy: Thank you, Senator. To my knowledge it made absolutely no effect on the Air Force's decision not to retain me. I had commanders I had survived with, I had superiors, peers and subordinates all who knew my records, who knew my achievements as an officer and supported me. And even though they knew the full story, still wanted me retained in the Air Force and still wanted me back as their leader. And, to my knowledge, that had zero effect on the Air Force's decision whether or not to retain me.
 
Senator Kay Hagan: Ma'am?
 
Lt Jr Grade Jenny L. Kopfstein: Senator, in my case, I was honored and lucky that both of my commanding offers came to my discharge board. They were not required to do so. They took time out of their busy schedules to come and testify on my behalf.   The board -- under Don't Ask, Don't Tell -- its hands were basically tied. I had made an admission and despite the vocifierous recommendations of both of my commanding officers, 206s, the board's hands were tied and they had to vote to discharge me.
 
Senator Kay Hagan: Mr. Almy, in your earlier discussion, I think you were talking about almost a general feeling of acceptance more from the younger generation than the older generation for homosexuals in the military. Do you -- can you elaborate on that? And ma'am too?
 
Maj Michael D. Almy: Senator I think that -- I think you probably hit the nail  on the head there, I think in my mind, in my personal experience this is a generational issue. I have great respect for General Sheehan for his leadership and his sacrifice to our nation. From what I've seen a lot of senior officers, senior military leaders from that generation are the ones who are holding on to maintaining Don't Ask, Don't Tell. With notable exceptions. Adm [Mike] Mullen [Joint Chiefs of Staff], General [Colin the Blot] Powell, General [John] Shalikashvili. In my experience and that of my peers, the young men and women coming into the military today, the 20-somethings and most of the 30-somethings, which is the largest demographic in the military, for that group of people this is largely a non-issue. There are -- obviously, there are some xecptions but, as I stated earlier, that generation of men and women are far more comfortable with gays and lesbians because, chances are, that they know one.
 
Senator Kay Hagan: General Sheehan, do you have any feelings on the generational attitudes?
 
Gen John Sheehan: I absolutely admit that I am old.
 
Senator Kay Hagan: (Laughing with Sheehan) We all are.
 
And let's end the exchange there so Sheehan is able to tell at least one truth. And we won't have to note him using "totalitary" when he meant "totality."
 
Senator Kay Hagan: Ma'am?
 
Lt Jr Grade Jenny L. Kopfstein: Senator, I agree with Major Almy, the younger generation definitly has a diferent view on this issue. I'll give you a personal story. And I certainly don't have the general's experience  but on September 11, 2001 my ship was in port in Seal Beach, California when this -- when we were attacked. And I was standing in the wardroom watching the television, watching events unfold. And one of the young Petty Officers that worked for me ran into the wardroom and said, "Ma'am, ma'am, request permission to load the guns."  I was the Ordnance Officer so I was responsible for our anti-aircraft and self-defense weapons, so I turned to the Captain and I said, "Sir, request permission to load the guns." And he said, "Permission granted." And we did. And I can tell you for a fact, in that moment, neither my captain nor the Petty Officer that worked for me, cared one whit about my sexuality.
 
Senator Kay Hagan: Thank you. The phrase Don't Ask, Don't Tell implies a mutual agreement where the services would not inquire about the sexual preferences of our members and the military personnel would not publicly articulate your sexual oreintation. However, under Don't Ask, Don't Tell, we still have instances of very capable service members being involuntarily separated due to investigations initiated on tips provided by third parties. And this, Mr. Almy, in your situation, do you believe that private correspondence via e-mail while deployed constitutes a breech of the existing policy or do you believe that your case serves an illustration of how the policy is flawed?
 
Maj Michael D. Almy: Senator, I think it's probably a little of both.  I didn't tell. The Air Force asked.  And I refused to answer the question. So I think, while it's true I never made a personal -- or a public statement to the military, I was still thrown out. I think that illustrates a flawed  implementation of the current law and my understanding of what Secretary [of Defense Robert] Gates has called for a review as far as the so-called third party outings would have had a direct  bearing on my case and in all likelihood I would still be on active duty.  Beyond that, I think it also illustrates that this law is making our nation and our military weaker by discharging qualified men and women who are patriotic and whose only crime is that the may or may not be gay and lesbian. All the while, we're actively recruiting people who aren't qualified to fill some of those vacancies.
 
And now we'll move over to Roland Burris.  The senator has been a leader on this issue publicly since the spring of 2009.  He and his office have made public statements on this issue, he has participated in events in his home state (Illinois) to show his support for the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. We're going into it and Burris does an amazing job but Sheehan?  I'm starring two things.  The first, a term I will not have appear here.  That is not the term for Americans in the service, in the government, in any job.  We don't use that word as a country and we haven't in many years.  The second is another 'either he's an idiot or he's insulting' moment.
 
Senator Roland Burris: General, I'll challenge you on age. I'm pretty much your age. If you've served 35-years in, I think --
 
Gen John Sheehan: Sir, I'll conceed to you.
 
Senator Roland Burris: I'm sorry?
 
Gen John Sheehan: I will conceed age to you.
 
Senator Roland Burris: Thank you. And I can remember, General, when I was Attorney General of my state, how difficult it was for me to make a change But on my staff there was a young lesbian lady who would sit down with me each day and explain to me the problems of persons who were lesbian or gay that never ocurred to me because I grew up in a different era. We talked about them, we laughed about them, it was something -- yib-yib-yib, you know, it was all these derogatory terms that we used to use. And, General, it also deals with the racial question. Do you know a fellow named Jackie Robinson? You ever heard of him? [Gen Sheehan nods.] You talk about the bright and the best. We don't know if we've got the bright and the best serving in our military service until we let everyone serve with their best distinction, best ability. The bright and the best may not be Ever hear of a couple of tennis players named the Williams sisters? You ever hear of the young man who had a little personal problem called Tiger Woods? We didn't know how golf really could be until a Black person got into the competition.  They were all eliminated from the game of golf. All eliminated from the game of baseball, General. Eliminated from type of sports which were for Whites only. Now we're saying the military is for straights only. General, I think we need to put a moratorium on this situation right now. Don't let anyone be discharged from the military because of their orientation until we can change this law -- which I'm currently supporting a co-sponsoring of Senator [Joe] Lieberman's bill to change this law. General, could you just give me a little insight into your background?  Did you ever command Black soldiers under your command?
 
Gen John Sheehan: Sir, the American military has been in-in-integrated since President . . . Truman was the president.
 
Senator Roland Burris: 1947.
 
Gen John Sheehan: Yes.
 
Senator Roland Burris: By executive order, sir.
 
Gen John Sheehan: I have never commanded a unit that there were not Hispanics, Blacks, Whites . . . and Ori**tals.* At one time, during the Vietnam War, as both Senator Lieberman and the Chairman will remember, 65% of my rifle companies were Black. They sustained 40% of the casualties in Vietnam soldiers. They understand what it means to be in harm's way.  So race in the military is not an issue.  This institution
 
Senator Roland Burris: Pardon me, General --
 
Gen John Sheehan: -- that I represent has the finest --
 
Senator Roland Burris: -- I have to interrupt you
 
Gen John Sheehan: -- of integration of any instutiton in this country of ours.
 
Senator Roland Burris: Absolutely. How long did it take that to take place?  What happened in WWII with my uncles and my uncles-in-law when they were discriminated against? Prisoners were being brought back from Germany and the Black soldiers that were guarding them couldn't even ride in the cars, they were put in the back cars because of the color of their skin. That's how far America has come. For you to now command those men and they're fighting and dying for us and at one time because of this [taps fingers to hand], the color of their skin, they could not serve this country. And they fought and they clawed to have an opportunity to serve.  These are the same things with the gay and lesbian people. They want to serve. That's all they're asking. Continue, General, I'm sorry.
 
 
Gen John Sheehan: Well, Senator, I think that . . . if you go back to the 1993 discussions and hearings on Don't Ask, Don't Tell, there's a very rich history of a discussion with [Lt Gen] Cal[vin]  Waller, Colin Powell and the Committee about this very issue when Congressman* Pat Schroeder was trying to equate this to a racial issue. Both Cal Waller and Colin Powell objected strenously to the analogy. And many of the Black leaders and Black Marines I was with at the time objected to the concept that their Civil Rights Movement was being hijacked by gays and lesbians. I'm not an expert on this issue. But I would only defer to Cal Waller and Colin Powell [C.I. note, Calvin Waller died in 1996. Colin Powell has changed his 90s position on the issue.] and refer the good Senator to their testimony back in 92 and 93.
 
We're going to stop it there due to space limitations.  As usual, Senator Burris did an outstanding job. Pat Schroeder, for those who don't know, was not a Congress MAN.  Pat is short for "Patricia." Schroeder was the first woman Colorado ever elected to the US Congress (that was in the November, 1972 elections).  You can click here for her profile at Women in Congress. Did he mean to be rude?  He may have.  Or he may have not known what he was talking about (a repeat problem during his testimony).  His "social engineering" remarks should have gotten attention -- and did yesterday.  His yelling at Senator Burris -- on two separate occassions above (such as "this institution").  The man's unstable.  A witness who  appears before Congress of their own volition and can't control their self-presentation has some serious issues.  Burris ended his allotted time by calling for a stop-order on Don't Ask, Don't Tell discharges from the military until the law can be repealed.  Senator Jim Webb corrected General Crazy Ass on his 'statistics' -- "African-Americans were about 13% of the age group, about 12% of the people in military, about 12% of the casualities and about 10% killed in action."  Webb noted that "people" (the press) were "walking out of the room" (to file their stories) and he wanted that to be clear because it's an issue he's studied for years, written of, etc.  He was very clear that he was correcting the numbers and not attempting to take anything away from anyone for their service or sacrifice.  General Crazy then allowed that he wasn't really talking about all the service during Vietnam, he was talking about one program.
 
Yesterday's snapshot contained some coverage of the hearing and other community coverage of the hearing are:  Kat's "McCain can't shut up long enough to get an answer" covers what stood out to her the most,  Wally also emphasized McCain in "McCain wants his recognition -- just his" at Rebecca's site and Ava's wrote about it at  Trina's site in "What happened in that fox hole, General Sheehan?"  In addition, Marcia and I discussed the hearing in her "Carl Levin's historic Senate moment."
 
In Iraq, the ballot counting continues. Pakistan's Daily Times reports, "Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and main rival Iyad Allawi were locked in a close election race on Thursday, as updated results showed their blocs running neck-and-neck for seats in parliament." Alsumaria TV adds, "State of Law Coalition led by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki is slightly ahead of other coalitions, according to preliminary results of Iraqi Parliamentary elections."  Mohammed al Dulaimy and Hannah Allam (McClatchy's Miami Herald) report that approximately 92% of the vote has now been counted and they observe:
 
For all the focus on the extremely tight race between Iraq's top two vote-getters - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the former interim premier Ayad Allawi - election tallies released this week reveal several smaller dramas unfolding outside the capital. Sunni Arabs have weakened Kurdish leaders in diverse northern provinces, militant Shiites have overtaken their Iranian-backed allies for the religious vote, and many prominent figures will be cast into the political wilderness, according to the near-complete results issued by the Independent High Electoral Commission:
The election for the 325-seat parliament remains too close to call, with results still to come from out-of-country voting and early rounds for security forces and others such as hospital patients who needed special accommodation.
 
Bombings?

 
Reuters reports a Mosul roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 Iraqi soldier with three more injured and a Baghdad roadside bombing claimed 2 lives and left seven people injured.
 
Shootings?
 
 Reuters reports  1 person was injured in a Mosul shooting and a Baghdad home invasion resulted in the death of a police officer (and it was his home) while, last night, Iraqi and US forces "killed an alleged" suspect in Mosul.
 
Corpses?
 
 Reuters reports  2 corpses were discovered in Mosul yesterday.
 
 
TV notes. NOW on PBS begins airing Friday on most PBS stations (check local listings):

There are places in the world where the success of a soap opera is measured not just in TV ratings, but in human lives. On March 19 at 8:30 pm (check local listings), NOW travels to Kenya, where ambitious producers and actors hope one such TV show, "The Team", can help foster peace amongst the country's 42 official tribes.

During presidential elections two years ago, tribalism-influenced protests in Kenya left almost 1,500 dead and nearly 300,000 displaced. Tensions continue today over issues including extreme poverty and widespread corruption.

In "The Team", soccer players from different tribes work together to overcome historic rivalries and form a common bond. The hope is that commonalities portrayed in fiction can inspire harmony in the real world. Early reaction to the show's inaugural season is promising.

"I was very surprised to see how Kenyans want change, how they want to live in peace and the way the responded to us," Milly Mugadi, one of the show's stars, noted during a local screening. "There were people from different tribes talking about peace and how to reconcile with each other... they opened up their hearts."

John Marks, whose organization Common Ground produces versions of "The Team" in 12 different countries, is cautiously hopeful. "You don't watch one of our television shows and drop your submachine gun," explains Marks, who says he was inspired by the influence of "All in the Family" on American culture. "But you can change the environment so it becomes more and more difficult to be in violent conflict."

Can this soap opera for social change really make a difference in stopping violence? Next on NOW.



Staying with TV notes, Washington Week begins airing on many PBS stations tonight (and throughout the weekend, check local listings) and joining Gwen around the table this week are Peter Baker (New York Times), Jeanne Cummings (Politico) and Karen Tumulty (Time magazine). Remember that the show podcasts in video and audio format -- and a number of people sign up for each (audio is thought to be so popular due to the fact that it downloads so much quicker). If you podcast the show, remember there is the Web Extra where Gwen and the guests weigh in on topics viewers e-mail about. And also remember that usually by Monday afternoon you can go to the show's website and stream it there (including Web Extra) as well as read the transcripts and more. They're beefing up their online presence and that includes highlighting archived shows and Gwen's weekly column which, this week, is entitled "Deadlines, Schmedlines . . ." Meanwhile Bonnie Erbe will sit down with Melinda Henneberger, Avis Jones-DeWeever, Tara Setmayer and Genevieve Wood on the latest broadcast of PBS' To The Contrary to discuss the week's events. And at the website each week, For the broadcast program, check local listings, on many stations, it begins airing tonight. And turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes:

Chief of Staff
The man in the middle of all things presidential - especially the health care reform legislation in Congress right now - is President Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Katie Couric talks to Obama's right-hand man about his tough job and his even tougher reputation.

The Lost Children of Haiti
Scott Pelley reports on the most vulnerable victims of Haiti's earthquake, children who not only face hunger, disease and sexual assault, but a form of slavery that is legal in the Caribbean country.

Tennis Twins
Pro tennis' leading doubles champions are identical twins who are so coordinated on the court that their opponents actually suspect they have twin telepathy. Lesley Stahl reports. |
Watch Video

60 Minutes, Sunday, March 21, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
 
 
We'll wind down with this from David Bacon's "Californians March into the Heartland" (The Nation):

Shafter, CA - As the March for California's Future left Bakersfield, marchers trudged past almond trees just breaking into their spring blooms. From Shafter and Wasco across dozens of miles to the west, white and pink petals have turned the ground rosy, while branches overhead are dusted with the delicate green of new leaves.
The San Joaquin Valley's width--over seventy-five miles at its widest point--is even more impressive than its length, as it stretches several hundred miles from the Tehachapi Mountains in the south overlooking Bakersfield to the delta of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers in the north. In the heart of that delta lies Sacramento, the state's capital and the marchers' goal.         
This immense space is filled with almond orchards, grape vineyards, dairies, and alfalfa and cotton fields. A myriad of crops, grown on a huge industrial scale, make obvious the historical source of the state's wealth. For almost two centuries, that wealth has located California's political center here. The conservatism of the valley's political and economic establishment has been the main obstacle to the growth of progressive politics, which long ago shaped the coastal metropolises of San Francisco and Los Angeles. For decades growers succeeded in preventing rural industrialization, for fear it would bring unions and higher wages. Even mass housing was discouraged, until the corporations that own the land realized that the profits of development rivaled those of grapes and pears.  


David Bacon's latest book is Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants (Beacon Press) which won the CLR James Award. Bacon can be heard on KPFA's The Morning Show (over the airwaves in the Bay Area, streaming online) each Wednesday morning (begins airing at 7:00 am PST).
 


Dan Choi stands up kicking off days of protests

Shortly before 2 p.m., Park Police came upon two men who had chained themselves to a section of the iron fence on the north side, said Sgt. David Schlosser, a police spokesman. Officers told the men they did not have a permit for their demonstration and gave them three warnings about the violation, Schlosser said. The men refused to leave, so officers arrested them on the charge of "failure to obey a lawful order."

The above is from Theola Labbe-DeBose's "Two gay men arrested in White House protest" (Washington Post) on the brave activism of Lt Dan Choi and Capt James Pietrangelo. Last night, we noted Brian Montopoli's "Lt. Dan Choi Arrested at White House During Gay Rights Rally" (CBS News) which remains one of the stronger articles. Queerty offers their analysis and we'll excerpt this section:

They hijacked HRC's rally. Normally we wouldn't commend a group for taking over another organization's event. That's just rude, and it's like, plan your own shindig, jerks. But HRC wastes millions of its donors' dollars every year, so if anyone is going to make a HRC rally effective, it'll be a third party. [. . .] Like Get Equal. From this HRC statement, it appears Choi wasn't even supposed to speak at all, and instead, through a relationship with Solmonese, secured a chance to take the mic at the last minute: "There's been some confusion about Lt. Dan Choi's role in the rally. As Joe Solmonese was walking to the stage, Lt. Choi asked Joe if he could have a speaking role. Joe explained that it wasn't his sole decision to make on the spot given that there was already an established program that included Kathy Griffin, other organization and veterans. After Choi then spoke with Kathy Griffin, she agreed to bring him up on stage and speak to the crowd during her remarks. Lt. Choi in his speech called on the crowd to march on the White House. Joe Solmonese along with Eric Alva and others felt it was important to stay and engage those at the rally in ways they can continue building the pressure needed for repeal. This does nothing to diminish the actions taken by Lt. Choi and others. This is the nature of social change and everyone has a role to play." (Robin McGehee reportedly asked Joe Solmonese if she could take part in the rally, but was rebuffed; it was Kathy and Bravo's rally, she was supposedly told.) But what was supposed to be a camera op for HRC and Bravo became the mere launching pad for Choi's stunt. Nobody will remember the HRC rally for anything other than Choi taking it over. They got Kanye'd.

Rob Smith (The Huffington Post) struggles with what the activism means (sample, "This is either bold gay activism, the likes of which we haven't seen since the days of ACT UP, or it is a deafening cry for attention that just damaged the brand and credibility of one of the few real gay leaders the community has right now."). Eve Conant (Newsweek) offers a video report on the rally and the protest. FYI, I have no struggle with Dan Choi's actions. He took a brave stand. It deserves applause.

Protests will take place tomorrow against the Iraq War and Afghanistan War. Actions are scheduled across the country and the best known are the ones to be held in DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Michael E. Ruane (Washington Post) reports, "The protest, against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, will begin with a noon rally in Lafayette Park across the street from the White House. The march will follow." Ruane's article also has a video of people speaking out.

Cindy Sheehan: You know some people have abandoned -- in the anti-war movement -- have abandoned peace since Obama's been president. But we need to recreate a movement. And that's what we're trying to do here at this march. We're trying to not just build a camp, but build a movement.

Military Families Speak Out's Maggie Pondolfino: I feel like I have a heightened responsibility as a military family to lend my voice to the antiwar movement because these wars have gone on too long and they continue to kill our loved ones. My son is currently deployed in Kandahar Province in Afghanistan and he also did a tour in Iraq.

Cindy Sheehan is briefly on Democracy Now! today (blink and you'll miss her.) Fight Back! interviews Jess Sundin (Freedom Road Socialist Organization) about tomorrow's actions.

Fight Back!: What’s going on with the U.S. occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan?

Sundin: After all these years, Iraq and Afghanistan are each occupied by more than 100,000 U.S. troops, plus the soldiers of U.S. allies. The U.S. runs prisons in both countries, operates checkpoints along roadways and controls government affairs.
In Iraq, over a million people have been killed by occupying forces - every family has lost someone. Nearly 6 million Iraqis are refugees, having fled their homes and, in some cases, the country. The infrastructure is in a shambles, where most Iraqis have limited access to electricity, adequate housing, drinking water and sanitation services. Unemployment and underemployment are over 40% and there is no sign that any of this will improve.
The people of Afghanistan are being hammered hard by Obama’s policy of bringing in more troops - there are more than twice as many American soldiers there now than there was under Bush. And more are on their way. Top commanders promise this will be a brutal year - we have regular reports of civilian casualties. The troops plan to lay siege to more cities, as they did to Marjah last month, promising to make a whole country of ghost towns.
There is no chance of victory for the U.S. - the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan will continue to resist the occupations and fight to control their own countries and futures.

Jobert Poblete (San Francisco Bay Guardian) speaks with A.N.S.W.E.R.'s Chris Banks:

“There is a finite amount of resources in our society,” Banks said. “And if those resources are used on wars and to bail out banks, then we can't use them for schools, health care, and public transit. The wall between foreign policy and domestic policy is a fictitious wall.”
This year's protest will focus on the economic crisis and on “bailing out people instead of banks.” Students who helped organize the recent March 4 Day of Action are part of the coalition mobilizing for the Saturday protest and students and teachers will be among the speakers at the rally at Civic Center. Protest endorsers include the United Educators of San Francisco, a union that represents more than 6,000 public school employees. Dennis Kelly, president of UESF, told us that the protest “ties directly in with our concerns about the California state budget, that the priorities being set are the wrong priorities.”
The rally will be followed by a march that will pass by the Hilton and the Four Seasons, two hotels where members of Unite Here Local 2 are without a contract because of a negotiating impasse with management. The biggest point of contention between the hotels and union is over health care. (Union members currently pay $10 a month for family coverage but the hotels want to increase that to $200 a month.)

Karen Kucher (San Diego Union-Tribune) reports the details of Saturday's actions in San Diego. In New York, there will be an action in Nanuet. Jane Lerner (Lower Hudson Valley Journal News) reports on the details of that action.

A.N.S.W.E.R.

World Can't Wait and A.N.S.W.E.R. are among the organizations sponsoring the DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles actions tomorrow and you can refer to those websites for more information.

In Iraq, the ballot counting continues. Pakistan's Daily Times reports, "Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and main rival Iyad Allawi were locked in a close election race on Thursday, as updated results showed their blocs running neck-and-neck for seats in parliament." Alsumaria TV adds, "State of Law Coalition led by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki is slightly ahead of other coalitions, according to preliminary results of Iraqi Parliamentary elections." Along with the ballot counting, the violence also continues. Reuters reports a Mosul roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 Iraqi soilder with three more injured, a Baghdad roadside bombing claimed 2 lives and left seven people injured, 1 person was injured in a Mosul shooting, a Baghdad home invasion resulted in the death of a police officer (and it was his home) and, dropping back to yesterday, 2 corpses were discovered in Mosul.

In England, Gordon Brown's latest error just isn't washing away in the news cycle. Tom Newton Dunn (Daily Sun) reports, "THREE out of five Britons think Gordon Brown LIED about forces' funding to the Iraq Inquiry and MPs. Sixty-one per cent told a Sun/YouGov poll they thought the PM knew the truth but tried to get away with twisting it." Gordon's statements were made to the Iraq Inquiry March 5th. Al Kamen (Washington Post) reports that Bush administration officials are said to be 'cool' to offers to provide testimony to the Inquiry:

But we're hearing that the response from Bush administration folks has been decidedly cool, even though the panel apparently is willing to do the interviews in private, specify the subject areas in advance and accept statements on background, without naming names.
Unclear how many officials got the panel's invites, e-mailed about three weeks ago. It would seem likely the list would include some of the usual top-tier suspects -- George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Stephen Hadley, Donald Rumsfeld, and their deputies and senior assistants. Word is about 10 officials, most of them involved in the post-invasion period, have agreed to talk this spring. Unclear whether those in on the pre-invasion "mushroom cloud" campaign are going to participate.

Of the names above, the most mentioned are Bush and Rice (in that order). Rumsfeld comes in a distant third. "Most mentioned" refers to in witness testimony. Mentioned far more often than Rumsfeld is Tommy Franks and the most cited by witnesses in their testimony (cited by name) is Paul Bremer.

TV notes. NOW on PBS begins airing Friday on most PBS stations (check local listings):

There are places in the world where the success of a soap opera is measured not just in TV ratings, but in human lives. On March 19 at 8:30 pm (check local listings), NOW travels to Kenya, where ambitious producers and actors hope one such TV show, "The Team", can help foster peace amongst the country's 42 official tribes.

During presidential elections two years ago, tribalism-influenced protests in Kenya left almost 1,500 dead and nearly 300,000 displaced. Tensions continue today over issues including extreme poverty and widespread corruption.

In "The Team", soccer players from different tribes work together to overcome historic rivalries and form a common bond. The hope is that commonalities portrayed in fiction can inspire harmony in the real world. Early reaction to the show's inaugural season is promising.

"I was very surprised to see how Kenyans want change, how they want to live in peace and the way the responded to us," Milly Mugadi, one of the show's stars, noted during a local screening. "There were people from different tribes talking about peace and how to reconcile with each other... they opened up their hearts."

John Marks, whose organization Common Ground produces versions of "The Team" in 12 different countries, is cautiously hopeful. "You don't watch one of our television shows and drop your submachine gun," explains Marks, who says he was inspired by the influence of "All in the Family" on American culture. "But you can change the environment so it becomes more and more difficult to be in violent conflict."

Can this soap opera for social change really make a difference in stopping violence? Next on NOW.



Staying with TV notes, Washington Week begins airing on many PBS stations tonight (and throughout the weekend, check local listings) and joining Gwen around the table this week are Peter Baker (New York Times), Jeanne Cummings (Politico) and Karen Tumulty (Time magazine). Remember that the show podcasts in video and audio format -- and a number of people sign up for each (audio is thought to be so popular due to the fact that it downloads so much quicker). If you podcast the show, remember there is the Web Extra where Gwen and the guests weigh in on topics viewers e-mail about. And also remember that usually by Monday afternoon you can go to the show's website and stream it there (including Web Extra) as well as read the transcripts and more. They're beefing up their online presence and that includes highlighting archived shows and Gwen's weekly column which, this week, is entitled "Deadlines, Schmedlines . . ." Meanwhile Bonnie Erbe will sit down with Melinda Henneberger, Avis Jones-DeWeever, Tara Setmayer and Genevieve Wood on the latest broadcast of PBS' To The Contrary to discuss the week's events. And at the website each week, For the broadcast program, check local listings, on many stations, it begins airing tonight. And turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes:

Chief of Staff
The man in the middle of all things presidential - especially the health care reform legislation in Congress right now - is President Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Katie Couric talks to Obama's right-hand man about his tough job and his even tougher reputation.


The Lost Children of Haiti
Scott Pelley reports on the most vulnerable victims of Haiti's earthquake, children who not only face hunger, disease and sexual assault, but a form of slavery that is legal in the Caribbean country.


Tennis Twins
Pro tennis' leading doubles champions are identical twins who are so coordinated on the court that their opponents actually suspect they have twin telepathy. Lesley Stahl reports. | Watch Video


60 Minutes, Sunday, March 21, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

Radio. Today on The Diane Rehm Show (airs on most NPR stations and streams live online beginning at 10:00 am EST), Diane is joined the first hour (domestic news roundup) by Chris Cillizza (Washington Post), Karen Tumulty (Time) and Juan Williams (NPR and Fox News). For the second hour (international news roundup), Diane is joined by Yochi Dreazen (Wall St. Journal), Abderrahim Foukara (Al Jazeera) and Elise Labott (CNN).

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