War Protesters Flock to Sen. Byrd at Hearing

Thanks Pink!

I think it's brilliant. Make the D.C. cops look like thugs to be arresting unarmed young woman just because they are showing a little compassion toward our poor poor boys dying in uniform.

These arresting scum that work in D.C. "just doing their jobs" should be ashamed of themselves! They are pawns for the most morally bankrupt senators and representatives the world has ever known. Murder for profit aye? That's what you congressmen are doing. Two-bit petty criminals, all! You are all unfit to enter the halls of congress! You are unfit to address this body!

We will never forget this sinister mob in the dark annals of history!

pacplyer

How ironic that a former Klansman looks heroic by comparison to most of the other Democrats on Capitol Hill.

Or is it just a sign of how far the others have sunk..?

Don't let Pace deflect your attention. The gays-in-the-military issue is a red herring; more lesser outrages to distract us and drain our energies from the truly dirty business the government is doing (such as preparing to nuke Iran, and letting the ice caps melt to get oil).

Nevertheless, The Bush people have allowed our military to become a center for fundamentalist religious indoctrination, and Pace is certainly one of those generals-in-preacher's clothing. If you haven't already, read James Carroll's excellent analysis:

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/17/3896/

Having lived in WV the last 31 years, here's the Word on Byrd--he's been one of the best on both civil liberties and the war and often makes me proud. But he's a coal whore, like every other WV politician. Our other senator, Rockefeller, just voted for the Lieberman-Kyl amendment essentially autorizing an attack on Iran, and voted for the Military Commissions Act essentially making the Bill of Rights null and void. I will vote for anything that runs against him, primary or general.
On the question of whether ridiculous theater gets media attention or makes it easier for the media to ridicule the antiwar movement, the answer is probably both.
We need to be talking about root causes. WHY are the overwhelming majority of "our" representatives contemptible, criminally irresponsible whores? WHY does the media regularly lie to protect the rich and powerful? It's not because there just happen to be a bunch of lazy, stupid journalists right now, or a bunch of useless vermin in Congress that we could replace with a better lot! We have to look at the sytems that guarantee that such people, and only such people, get into positions of power and influence.
Media is at the heart of the corruption in Congress as well as within itself.

I never questioned the rightness of the Cause of the Code Pink ladies....I just am aware of what 'libertas fugit' made a point of in his “Stanford Physicians Against the War” demonstration....the media is looking for those who are the most freakish looking so they can cast all of us in a ridiculous light. I apologize to anyone who thought I was disparaging their dedication to Peace! We all need to remember what binds us together in our quest to take our nation back from the "Death Culture"!!!

You missed my point, Ken. I don't care if they all walk in juggling! I'm talking about being taken seriously by the assholes in charge and by "Bubba Beer Boy" sitting on his recliner thinking it's just another "reality" (?) t.v. show.
When apperance becomes the focus of ridicule--then the statement is missed. THAT was my point.

anyhow, when i look at the picture, the expression on the face of the two ladies suggest vastly more wisdom than normally occupies capital hill.

Peace,
Ken Hausle

celebrity -- who cares what they look like. many many many poor decisions are based on looks and appearances...

In my opinion, what matters is their message and what they are trying to do.

Peace,
Ken Hausle

"Street theater"
"Merry Pranksters"
"Laughable"
WTF -???????
As if reasoned words from well-dressed conformists ever made a difference!!

Hail Discordia!!

Imagine usa, The million patriot march. Your Constituion, the very foundation of America is under siege. If your going to wear pink, do it while marching up the white house steps with a million other patriots!

Is it just me or does anyone else think Code Pink and other protestors might be better effective and taken more seriously if they didn't show up looking like "The Merry Pranksters"?

On the third Friday of every month we all should wear pink.

Medea is a true hero and patriot and may all the best of the best guardian angels be with her, she has class and compassion not to mention lots of courage, god blesses the peacemakers. she is a saint and driven pacer of peace.

Onward Christian Soliers
March Others Off to War
While Senators Hang 'round Washington
Peeking Through Men's Room Doors

Leviticus says "kill the gays"
Jesus "turn the other cheek"
God told Moses "thou shalt not kill"
confused religious freaks.

"I'm Not Gay" says Larry Craig
"I Hate Gays" says Pace
But they both love shooting,
Iraqis in the face.

During the Vietnam war, there was a massive demonstration across the country. We were in San Francisco for the march to Kezar Stadium. I dropped my wife off on the Embarcadero with our daughter and the stroller. Then I drove the several miles out to Kezar and parked. Then I followed the parade route backwards, keeping an eye out for my wife.

The march was up Market street, then Oak, then a zigzag to Kezar. I found my wife about half way along at Oak and Franklin. People were entering the stadium while people were still coming off Market. Oak was packed from curb to curb with marchers. People in the homes and apartments were bringing out water and letting people use their toilets.

One group marching was "Stanford Physicians Against the War." Their banner stretched across the street. We were marching close to them. A way behind them there was a hippy jug band on a flat bed. As we went up one hill, there was a station video team crouched at the side of the road. As the Stanford Physicians approached, he crouched there with his lens cap on. I said, "Why aren't you filming this?"

He just shook his head and ignored us. I watched him. When the jug band approached, he started filming extensively.

We got to Kezar and you couldn't have packed any more people into the stadium with a shoe horn. A huge crowd was listening from the parking lots. There were probably close to a hundred thousand people involved in the march. We were tired, so drove home directly.

When we watched the coverage on TV, we were appalled. The photos of Kezar were at the end of the rally when it was nearly empty. The news reported that perhaps a thousand people had showed up for the rally, there was no footage of the Stanford Physicians, but there was a long sequence of the Hippy jug band.

In Washington, the whole area was solid people, but it said a few thousand had participated. That was when I learned how trustworthy the press was.

When you've been there, then watched the news, you know.

Lies, damned lies and the Fourth Estate!

Thank you to all the women, and men, of Code Pink. the fact that they wear bright pink all the time and stand out in any crowd is one of the many things which makes them effective. I find it fascinating that people decide that you have to dress a certain way in order to be taken seriously. Heard the same thing about protesting GWBush when he appeared in Bellevue WA recently. Bellevue is a very upscale sort of place and people were outraged that all the protesters weren't dressed in suits and ties or suits/dresses and high heels...after all that's how the important people dress. Get real, folks, it is the ideas which are important and not the attire. We all need to get out of our little boxes and speak out loudly before it is too late.

Unfortunately to get to any position in the government one has to play dirty....are we all so naive to think that any of them got their by being fine upstanding moral human beings....can any of us say that our slates are clean and inked. That we haven't made trade offs for our needs and gains?
So the KKK thing....that! I know about because I lived in West Virginia for more than 12 years. I was not born or raised their so my impressions were made from a completely different perspective.
When the Hills were settled by the immigrants the terrain was very different from where they were used to farming in Scotland, Ireland, Germany. The farms were isolated. The law and justice were few and far between. And still are in some cases. My place was 6 miles from a small town with one officer....only! Things happen and people mess up, then as now.
The KKK started as the community law. Here one has to disconnect from what you understand as society and look at the social structure in remote areas. The local men would dispense the law according to their values. The values in these areas were extensions of their religious understanding, and their ethnic interpretations. It was not started as an organization specifically designed to intimidate and destroy blacks. In some areas of the south it became that. Our news has always been tainted. Hello< “ Citizen Cane” anyone?
Rather than tell you what I think I know I would like to share what I know as fact.
A farmer was getting drunk regularly and worked his boy's like machines on his farm. He beat his wife and the boys and finally put one in the hospital. Nearly killed the child. The local members of the KKK assembled. Now remember in the HILL's most of these folks are related. The limited population over generations means that sooner or later if you go back far enough it's family!
Extended families, in the hills have protocols that go back to farming villages in Europe. The town sets the moral codes. The visit was swift, he was given the beating of his life and told by his peers that if he put hands on his wife or children again they would make another visit and it would be their last. He took their advice.
Another man that lived out a remote hollow took a horse over a rail road bridge. Mare fell thru the ties. In the hills there is another phenomenon. They know when there is trouble and they come. This is a survival bonding. Even an enemy will help. They all haled the mare out, in the dead of night. She was bruised and scared but she made it and foaled that spring. He also got a visit. He took what they told him seriously, joined AA and never rode drunk again.
My point is that you know only what you are told by others...So did I. Before I moved to the hills of West Virginia KKK was a dirty word. That is what was sold and that is what I bought. The elephant can be many things when described by the blind.
Now, what to do? When no one can be trusted and we are run like buffalo over cliffs with our own fear? Think! No organization can help we are being pressed to be individuals.
What do they feed on? These capitalist monstrosities. They feed on blame and division. Set one fool against another and wait for the tired winner to emerge and dispose of them. Hate, feed all sides hatred, make it noble, make it gods will, make it profitable, what could be easier? Fear, tell them they will loose their lives, health, freedoms, food, water, lifestyle, and take control of all of those things. Money, print a lie on paper and pass it off as exchange, then bet it on someone else's future, play a shell game with distractions as you get the lot dancing like fools around a bunch of chairs and stop the music! As they gobble the world for their personal pleasures? ...What do we do!? We Stop Buying What They Sell. We need to take back ourselves from the system that feeds on us! Not revolution, evolution! Stop buying what they sell.

Bill BRG

I am in strong support of your comment...my hat is off to ya

Wage Peace
Joe From Texas (Vietnam Veteran)

Peace Czar September 27th, 2007 9:36 pm

The wicked laughter that defies decency:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3gQfz8GC0o&mode=related&search=

WATCH THIS FOR CLARITY

[Hilliary should be dancing around a witches hat]

For all those that are engaging in controversy regarding Code Pink:

We wear pink in order to be highly visible. You see us in the media about 3% of how often we are actually out engaging in anti-war actions. The skewed media prefers not to recognize us most of the time, and we want both our fellow Americans and Congress to recognize the will of the people that is not being fairly represented by the media. I have participated in many events that the big news channels filmed, important anti-war events, and then did not air. Instead, twenty or thirty minutes is spent interviewing the least informed people on the street about topics as inconsequential as the SPF factors in suntan oil.
This is the ONLY way to break through the media to reach the public. Most of us have been arrested in our efforts to make the desires of the American people known to a group of folks (the administration) in charge of the future of our children that prefer to isolate themselves from such knowledge. We make them a little uncomfortable, and they should not be comfortable while this travesty continues. There is so much innocent blood on their hands.
For that matter, AMerica itself should be very uncomfortable, but they have this sense of entitlement to a painless life while others suffer that makes my heart sick, for I love Americans; but their mindless selfish inaction and their refusal to inform themselves hurts me deeply. Inform themselves from real news outlets, that is, not our government mouth-organs, I mean 'news' channels.
Fundamentalist Islam is an idea. You cannot destroy it by killing people. IN addition to the fact that neither Iraq nor Iran had anything to do with the 9-11 catastrophe, we are driving those that were moderately angry at the USA (with good reason, if you read up on the history of the actions of the money/power motivated elitists in charge of our government towards Iraq) further from us into the arms of extremism with torture, rape, the death of a million Iraqis,( 95% of which it is well known are innocent civilians, 2/3 of which are women and children), the destruction of an ancient culture, and the displacement of their people to camps with little or no water or electricity, food or medicine.If they didn't hate us before, they surely do now. This effect will COMPOUND, not diminish with further warfare.
And now, Feinstein and Clinton, along with many others, passed a bill yesterday that is opening the door to bunker-bombing Iran. With depleted Uranium because it is heavy. Which will poison the environment for ten thousand years. No leader has the right to do this to the world for any reason ever. How much future death and torment is that? Hitler had nothing on Bush. Nazi America is what we have become.
Our Code PInk antics may appear silly to you, but we are dead serious.Practically all of us have been jailed many times, and in Washington they treat you badly. 16-20 hours with no food or water. Left in plastic handcuffs in trucks.All this in an attempt to wake you inactive people up, who refuse to join us because you are too busy with your selfish lives and your nauseatingly long conversations about nothing, because you are not the ones suffering. You america. You. Wake up and join us before your children have no future, and in torment are dying before your eyes. Mistakes can be irrevocable. Inaction is a choice. YOu are as responsible. And laughing or reviling Code PInk is done because obviously you just don't get it.

The thing about Senator Byrd is that he was one of the few against bushes power grabbing search warrents etc.

While it is encouraging that any Senator would so unequivocally oppose the continuation of the war and funding, ya'll need to get to know the old gentleman a little bit. Former member of the KKK. A past-master at the art of pork-barrelling, and one of two Senators from a state that embraces mountaintop mining. Can you name the other casper milktoast Senator from that State? (hint: he's a descendent of one of the wealthiest families in the country.)

The old gentleman was carrying on the other day about safety abuses in deep mine operations. What a dilapidated and depressing circus our country has become.

Byrd uses language,folks. Remember Star Trek’s Bones” I’m just a simple country doctor, Jim.” It’s speaking in the vernacular, using folksy for an honest reasons unlike Bush in his work shirts. If you don’t get out of your insular coffee house radicalism, you’ll have bed sores on your butt.

Senator Byrd has been one of the strongest voices against the Bush never-ending war on the world. You don’t think Code Pink’s tactics are the right ones? Do something with others yourself. Does that make either saints? No. Both Senator Byrd and Codepink understand that fundamentally the actions of the Bush “administration” (it’s much more of a regime) actions are dangerous, undemocratic and gravely harmful to our country and its people, to say nothing of the havoc, death, destruction and terror it has spread across the globe.

I just saw Naomi Klein talk about The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. It’s valuable because she discusses the complexity of what’s going on with enough nonjargon so that people can integrate her base of knowledge with what they’ve seen and experienced.

If we want to see the changes this country needs desperately, we’d better speak with, not at, people. It’s education, not preaching.

Just taking a taxi the other day, the cabbie said he had a ride where the woman was very upset. She found out that a person dear to her had committed suicide rather than go to Iraq again. We have to talk about the gravity of the way things are. We also have to give people the space and support their own courage to change things and the way they are seeing things. We have to get people to seriously question "the you're in danger- you must trust us" line that's been the bread and butter of this gang of criminals.

Wage Peace!

Just war is an oxymoron.

The photo of the Code Pink ladies with this article justifies what I said about them looking as though they think it's just more street theatre. I'm a veteran of Vietnam anti-war marches all over the country, so I can look back and see how we were dismissed, not so much by the media, but by the parents of the kids who were dying in that other senseless war, when some of our members made a mockery of our cause by showing disregard for those families sense of propriety. We needed them to stand with us more than anybody else, and when we lost their support, it served to lengthen that war.

I agree, there needs to be a principled stance to put an end to this mad sickness that we can all see every day in ever more stark clarity.....at one time i had hopes in Byrd, but now it seems too late for him to do anything...the solution will not come out of DC nor unfortunately from his generation or so it seems to me...could it possibly?

As pastor says: we need to speak out an not be silenced and of course, sometimes, it is imperative do to more than just speak. I'm not advocating any violence, but "walking the talk" is so much more than just "talking the talk". Thank goodness for the Code Pinkers. They have courage and conviction....

Peace,
Ken Hausle

People who speak calmly and rationally about the standards of Just War and how we ought not to injudiciously go to war are dismissed as crazy peaceniks, so I will not tell Code Pinkers to calm down and behave like those people. It just plain does not matter. What is important is that we speak out and not be silenced.

Folks like Medea Benjamin and Code Pink are laughable. It doesn't matter if they are right because nobody pays attention to their message.

Hey,easy,I like kangaroos.

Senator Byrd is one voice in a do-nothing, worthless kangaroo congress. Beware because he could very easily jump sides and shove a knife in your back the moment that it's turned as so many before him have done.
General Pace is clearly unfit for his office. When a General, especially one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, starts talking about God's law he has no business near the battlefield or in any field commanding troops. I'm sure the military forces have a thing called equal opportunity and any religious opinion is inappropriate to that discussion. General Pace needs to keep his religion in his pants and shut his mouth.

Great celebrity.

Peace,
Ken Hausle

All this protest, yet I'll bet Bush will get his money for his dirty little oil war.

The DLC doesn't pay attention to true democrats like Senator Byrd.

and guess what they've been working against an attack on iran by mobilizing members to contact congress, meeting with security council member countries on march 8th to push them to ask more questions of the us and british administrations. one member went to iran and went on a hunger strike until she had a chance with other code pink members for a meeting with leiberman the chicken hawk pushing for war.

"un-neocon September 27th, 2007 12:43 pm
While I agree with Code Pink’s anger at the continuing war, I wish they would realize that they are making a joke of an extremely serious subject. This gives people another reason to dismiss anti-war Americans!! Please re-think your actions!!! We are running out of time to derail the rush to attack Iran!!!"

codepink members are not only angry they are acting and they are NOT making a joke of this. the only joke is taking congress too seriously but these amazing women and men are using their own resources to draw attention since the onset of this misbegotten war. i applaud them and will join them in any way i can. we should not be scared to join groups like them for fear of being branded because they are in the right and those that are branding them are on the wrong side of history.

as edmund burke once said "the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men (and women) to do nothing" it is time we all should act!

The term "free speech zone" is itself a damning statement of our society. Why would zoning for free speech be needed in a free and democratic country? It's preposterous.

On a more uplifting note, check out this demonstration in Brussels:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KaixrURYk7s

Galen, "The time for peaceful, non-violent resolution of this situation may be drawing rapidly to a close. Armed resistance by the populace may become the last resort of the citizens of the US."

Right on!

jpbreeze, you are right, apologies to the author.

Galen, "Why mock the people from the hills?"
I wasn't mocking people from the hills if that's what you meant. Actually, I am from the hills.

Un-neocon: What to you suggest? Perhaps a 'Von Stauffenberg' special?

Peace marches are routinely dismissed by the media. 'Free Speech' zones are cordoned off far from the sight of the people who should see them. And police now routinely infiltrate and attempt to incite violence at previously mentioned peace marches. Thats when they are not tear gassing, tasering, or truncheoning those who exercise their rights to freedom of speech and assembly.

The time for peaceful, non-violent resolution of this situation may be drawing rapidly to a close. Armed resistance by the populace may become the last resort of the citizens of the US.

But we can see right now what the Bush junta's response will be . Watch the news from Burma/Myanmar for an example. But as well as US troops and police, they will also use the hired thugs of Blackwater.

A joke? I think members of code pink are aware of the severity of this "subject."

checksandbalances

Read what is said before you make assertions the Author never made. The Author was quoting Senator Byrd, not commenting on him. It is Sen. Byrd who said "yeah, this man from the hill country". If anyone is mocking people from the hills, it's Senator Byrd!

While I agree with Code Pink's anger at the continuing war, I wish they would realize that they are making a joke of an extremely serious subject. This gives people another reason to dismiss anti-war Americans!! Please re-think your actions!!! We are running out of time to derail the rush to attack Iran!!!

There is NO NEED for a "thorough evaluation of this war".
Just ask the question: Should the US taxpayer continue paying for the extortion of oil from Iraq and other Asian nations when those taxpayers will have no entitlement to that oil as it will be given to the oil barons who will sell it to the highest bidder, and use the profits to fund more campaigns of US politicians who will assure that the US taxpayers continue to pay for more oil wars...the cycle will never end.

Anybody who is not profiting from the occupation or from oil can see that the answer is: End the US occupation of Iraq immediately.

The Bush Regime and its successors will keep fabricating endless stories why more funding is needed and why the US needs to be in Iraq and beyond. The latest story is that fleets of million dollar per copy, explosion-proof jeeps are needed to protect US personnel from road side bombs. Once the insurgents figure out how to work around that fix, more of US taxpayers' money will be needed for ever more expensive fixes. It will never end.

Why mock the people from the hills? They often live far closer to the land, know it's ways and seasons. Urban folk know stocks and bonds, McJobs and mortgages.

Senator Byrd is one of the very damned few US politicians I could almost admire for his principles.

I don't know about you, but given the US governments recent behavior, heading -for- the hills is lookin damn good...

Code Pink members were the ones who were unceremoniously ejected from the Petraeus hearings when they exercised their right of free speech. I applaud them. They are the TRUE vioce of concsience in the US.

H. Clinton should grovel, on her belly in shame before them for the way she has sold her soul to warmongering corporate interests.

"In the fifth year of this terrible, misguided conflict, this senator — yeah, this man from the hill country — believes that it is time for a thorough evaluation of the Bush war in Iraq,” he said."

I guess coming from the 'hill country' is somehow inferior to coming from the city. How surprising that the author would consider it a surprise that someone from the hills could be against the Iraq War.