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Mother's Day
Many of you know that I continually encourage us to act publicly. There are a number of reasons for this, despite the occasional feeling that it is a lonely chest-beating dance:
It makes those who act feel like we are doing SOMETHING, no matter how small, as Howard Zinn continually reminds us.
It encourages others who merely watch and lets them know they are not alone.
It emboldens some to act in even smaller ways but it begins a journey for them.
It sends a message to the powers-that-be that people are not really asleep and we are paying attention.
Also, that we are armed with the truth.
So it is with renewed hope that I share the following announcement from Code Pink:
Dear CODEPINK Activist,
Mother's Day is often seen as if through a soft-focus lens -- a sentimental day of cards and flowers and frills. It has a surprisingly radical history, however. Just as International Women’s Day, March 8, started as a day for women to rise up for peace and justice, so did Mother’s Day in the US begin with Julia Ward Howe’s inspirational 1870 Proclamation against the carnage of the Civil War:
Arise then...women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts!… Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, For caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, the women of one country, Will be too tender of those of another country To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs." From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
Julia goes on to exhort women to leave their homes and gather for an “earnest day of counsel” to figure out how “the great human family can live in peace.” It’s time to take Julia’s words to heart and bring them to fruition in the world. Bouquets of spring flowers may be lovely, but lasting peace is the greatest way to honor all mothers -- past, present and future. Read the rest of Julia's Proclamation here.
Join us this Mother's Day weekend, May 13-14, in Washington DC as we gather for a 24-hour vigil outside the White House. Bring your mother, your children, your grandmother, your friends, your loved ones. Come for the whole vigil (4pm Saturday to 4pm Sunday) or for a few hours! We’ll sing, dance, drum, bond, laugh, cry and hug. We’ll write letters to Laura Bush to appeal to her own mother-heart, and read them aloud. We’ll discuss new ideas for ending the war and building peace. In the final two hours, from 2-4pm on Sunday, we’ll be joined by some amazing celebrity actresses, singers, writers--and moms. For more information and a schedule of events to help you plan your trip, check out the Mothers' Day page on the CODEPINK website. If you can’t join us, you can create or join a Mother's Day activity in your own community. For ideas to help you plan an action check out the resources section of the Mother's Day page.
And whether you’re in the US or overseas, please consider writing a letter to Laura Bush to ask her how she, as a mother, can continue to support a war that is leaving scores of American and Iraqi mothers bereft. Send your letters to laurabush@codepinkalert.org, we’ll deliver them en masse; we'll also take the most compelling letters and turn them into a book, “Letters to Laura.”
Let’s make this Mother’s Day, May 14, one where we heed Julia Ward Howe’s original call to action. Let’s come together to build the world we want for our children --and our mothers.
******
Of course, men and those who are NOT mothers can consider participating in these actions -- we all HAD mothers. Think about 5 million PARTICIPANTS in this 24-hour project. Think about doing whatever you can do to deliver your personal point of view to the White House.
It's a democracy, as long as we say it is, and as long as we ACT within it.
Karen,
I'm glad to see they are trying to hold a vigil which to me is so representative of how a mom holds vigil for her children with her heart and soul.
I'm also glad to see that anyone who participates will be able to do so from home or to go to DC. There should be no reason why we can't do something.
Letters to Laura from Moms.... What a great idea.
We're moms, or we have moms, or we know a mom. No matter how you look at it, we have something in common. This is a building point to form unity and eliminate the partison bickering that comes with issues.
What would a mom do?
That is a great idea!
Just talked to my own mother on the phone and told her about it. She though it was wonderful too. She had just seen Laura Bush on Larry King last night, said it was "pre-taped..in something called the Situation Room." She was not impressed & saw it for the PR stunt it was (along with the recent pkg of dressing up the the wars to look like "progress").
Totally OT, but media-propaganda-related....
I'm still fighting a flu-thing, so was laying down, but not asleep, flipping through channels. ABC first had something that looked like a military infomercial. I watched a Julia Child promotion on PBS (they're doing fundraising still). Then between shows, I did some channel surfing again. ABC has a Dubai World Cup showing right now (horse racing). I switched back to PBS which is currently showing a Harry Chapin show I've seen before, so I'm going to select a movie from my own library to watch....
But I thought it was "interesting" that Disney (which owns ABC) would do an infomercial for the military - some of which featured a person filming elections in Afghanistan - and then show a Dubai World Cup with horse racing. Last night I was channel surfing during news. BBC on PBS had the info about Russians passing info to Saddam and said the info contained in the reports was mostly false; ABC had the same story, but said the Russian info passed to Saddam was all accurate for info about the US military. How much more propagandistic can ABC get??? Seems to me like ABC is going the way of Faux....
Senator Sets Hearing on Censure of Bush
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032506X.shtml
The Senate Judiciary Committee has set a hearing for next Friday on the call by Senator Russell D. Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, to censure President Bush for his approval of a program to allow electronic eavesdropping without warrants.
{Two stories on this one link. I don't get why some Dems hesitate about either censure or impeachment. I think the Dem legislators who hesitate probably need some prompting from their constitutents that WE know The Cretin and his Criminal Cabal have lied, repeatedly, and broken the law, repeatedly, even if some legislators don't seem to have a clue... must be from living in the Beltway Bubble and apparently not talking with any people they represent, or being bought off by corporations and PACs....}
Justice Department Allows Monitoring of Lawyers' Calls
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032506Y.shtml
The National Security Agency could have legally monitored ordinarily confidential communications between doctors and patients or attorneys and their clients, the Justice Department said Friday of Bush's controversial warrantless surveillance program.
{Not broached: the fact that legislators from an opposing political party could have their communications monitored, too....}
One Country
by Midnight Oil
Who’d like to change the world, who wants to shoot the curl
Who gets to work for bread, who wants to get ahead
Who hands out equal rights, who starts and ends that fight
And not rant and rave, or end up a slave
Who can make hard won gains, fall like the summer rain
Now every man must be, what his life can be
So don’t call, me, the tune, I will walk away
Who want’s to please everyone, who says it all can be done
Still sit up on that fence, no one I’ve heard of yet
Don’t call me baby, don’t talk in maybes
Don’t talk like has-beens, sing it like it should be
Who laughs at the nagging doubt, lying on a neon shroud
Just gotta touch someone, I want to be
So don’t...
(one country one, country one country)
Who wants to sit around, turn it up turn it down
Only a man can be, what his life can be
One vision, one people, one landmass, we are defenceless, we have a lifeline
One ocean, one policy, seabed lies, one passion, one movement, one instant
One difference, one lifetime, one understanding
Transgression, redemption, one island, our placemat, one firmament
One element, one moment, one fusion, yes and one time
We will loose the war in Iraq...
http://www.mediamouse.org/features/032306stan_.php
National Catholic Reporter...
http://nationalcatholicreporter.org/fwis/
No one’s laughing at this deja vu all over again
A long list containing a great summation of Dumbo ills.
Posted by: battlebob at March 25, 2006 06:27 PM
I agree with Goff, and found these quotes pertinent:
"Goff went on to make an effective argument for the immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, an argument enhanced by his experiences in fighting insurgencies in the military and his activism in the national Bring them Home Now coalition. He dismissed supporters of the occupation and critics who argue that it is “too hard” to leave Iraq, stating that the reality of leaving is quite simple—an executive order could be issued and the United States military could be gone within a month. He said that there is no need for an “exit strategy” and that the continued presence of the United States is doing nothing to improve the mess that we created."
"For Goff, the ongoing occupation of Iraq demands resistance and he outlined three efforts that could be undertaken by those organizing against the war—pressuring Congress, doing counter-recruitment work, and focusing on getting Democrats to turn against the war."
"He also outlined a third and potentially “dangerous” strategy of working against Democrats running for office by threatening to withhold votes for them if they did not take a stand against the ongoing occupation of Iraq. Throughout his talk Goff placed little faith in Democrats who he said signed onto the war en masse and are every bit as committed to maintaining US power in the world as Republicans."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060325/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
U.S. Losing Patience, Senators Tell Iraqis
Excerpts (more on link):
BAGHDAD, Iraq - As a gunbattle raged south of Baghdad, Sens. John McCain and Russell Feingold told Iraqi leaders Saturday that American patience was growing thin and they needed to urgently overcome their stalemate and form a national unity government.
~~~~~
Feingold, of Wisconsin and the ranking Democrat in the U.S. delegation joined McCain in pressing for the quick formation of a government, but he spoke bluntly of his concern that the continued presence of American forces was prolonging the conflict.
"It's the reality of a situation like this that when you have a large troop presence that it has the tendency to fuel the insurgency because they can make the incorrect and unfair claim that somehow the United States is here to occupy this country, which of course is not true," Feingold said.
~~~~~
{{{In-state ABC-affiliate "news" featured the fact that MN gov (Pawlenty) was with McCain. They didn't mention Feingold was on the junket. In-state "snooze anchors" focused on speculation about maybe Pawlenty being considered to run with McCain in '08, and didn't discuss the story much beyond that. How trivial could they be??? BTW, Pawlenty isn't worth considering; he panders to Bu$hCo, just like Coleman, and his lips are surgically attached to the other backside cheek not already occupied by Coleman.}}}
Thanks for posting Stan Goff.
Check out his book "Full Spectrum Disorder: The Military in the New American Century." He's former military too. He's the first person I heard speak after 9/11/01 terror attack. Heavy.
What is really nice is Goff spoke in Grand Rapids, of all places...