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We can put this in the category of getting your message across on several levels at once. From Corrente, Sherry Wolfe speaks for herself:
Hi, I’m Sherry Wolfe, the protestor who wore the t-shirt to a Bush event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania,Oct. 3, 2007....The imperative was to hand deliver a letter from a good friend whose son Brent Adams died under mysterious circumstances in Ramadi Iraq, Dec.1, 2005. The family has had no co-operation from the military, and wants and DESERVES answers, and some measure of closure. Not only was the letter given to Bush, the White House called the Adams family 3 hours after the meeting, saying the president had read the letter,and is ordering an investigation into the death of Brent. (We will keep the pressure on to make sure he keeps his promise.)
As Lambert pointed out in an earlier post, the fact that any person made it into a "public" forum (read: scrutinized, sanitized, and heavily screened ticket-holders only, and most of those swearing loyalty oaths or some such nonsense just to get in the ticket in the first place) was news in and of itself. Dan Froomkin had a great rundown on the Bush WH "Advance Manual" for all public events a while back that is worth a read as a refresher in how this sort of thing is usually treated. And we only know about the "rally squads" and other nonsense set up to insulate the President from anyone with a dissenting point of view because of the folks in Denver who were ejected from one such public meeting and the efforts of the ACLU on their behalf.
But back to Lancaster, PA, which probably isn't on the list of safe places for Presidential non-protested visits any longer. (See here, here and here for more on why. H/T to Froomkin.) Via Baltimore Sun:
Staffers in the Bush White House and on the president's campaigns know this president especially doesn't want to spot protesters at his events, no more than he wants to hear a reporter's cell phone ring at a presidential press conference....
Wolfe wore a white t-shirt with the stark message on its front: "GEORGE BUSH, YOUR WAR KILLED MY FRIEND'S SON." The back said: "BRENT ADAMS KILLED DEC. 1, 2005, RAMADI IRAQ."
I certainly hope that Brent Adams' family gets some well-deserved answers. That it took this level of protest action to even get an investigation started (or so they say, guess we'll see...) is shameful enough.
The real shame? The President of the United States having his opinions challenged on any subject is such a rarity that when it happens, we're all shocked. Now that is downright appalling. He's just a man, we shouldn't be treating his thoughts, scant though they may be, with kid gloves -- this is America, where we make a habit of challenging each other's opinions daily. We were founded on this very sort of challenge, for hell's sakes. The man is not a baby, and it is well past time we allowed his handlers to treat him like one. More like this, please.
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Christy!
Great post!
Sunshine all around!
Excellent, Christy!
Superb, Christy.
Good morning Christy!
At some event, the event marshals tried confine one of my friends to a “free-speech zone.” He told the marshals: “This is the United States of America. The whole fucking country is a free-speech zone.”
we shouldn’t be treating his thoughts, scant though they may be, with kid gloves…
I’m thinking that tweezers might be more appropriate.
The more I think about this the more appalling it is. The President is too cowardly and insecure to even see a protester, much less hear a dissenting view. I know we’ve known this for a long time now, but it explains why all The Decider’s decisions have been so disastrous.
Good Morning Christy!
So goes Lancaster, so goes the nation?
nah, I’ll change that:
So goes Lancaster, so goes the nation!
Hi, Christy.
I loved when Colbert ripped George a half-dozen new ones to his face at that press correspondent’s dinner.
Elizabeth Bumiller of the NYT, who covered the event, only wrote about the inane Bush imitator act — left out the REAL news. I no longer read her (unless it’s unintentional).
dov,
It might have been Bumiller’s editor who removed a section from her article.
Vets, family and friends pricking the Bush administrations bubble.
nice bit of reading, made my day
typo alert;
I believe that “t” should be an “s”?
[Mod: Fixed. Thanks, perris]
jayt @ 7
well I certainly don’t want to use bare hands to touch those thoughts …
selise @ 119
David W. Bartoo @ 100
Laura, the other evening you mentioned that were those who meet at the lake to ‘work together’ there might be other things that we could accomplish. I believe that to be very important and was frustrated that no one seemed willing to discuss just what else we might do. I hope we may revisit that notion some time. There never seems to be any time for anything but reactive ‘dialog’. What do you think?
happy to discuss the topic.. but am hoping/expecting that you will start the discussion instead of expecting someone else to do it.
what ideas to you have for us to work on?
One thing I have pushed for here at the Lake a while back is a group effort to get Christy, Marcy and Jane on the Diane Rehm show. I know this is possible because a group of us and individually I have been successful at convincing the producers and Diane to get certain people on her program. Talk of the Nation as well, I was able to convince Neil Conan to put a dear friend Peggy Gish (been in Iraq 4 years, going back soon) on his program (even though Neil Conan and I have disagreed on many issues, Neil, Scott Simon and others at NPR will actually take the time to call you back when you leave messages, I am not kidding you.
How about a group effort to get the Women of the Lake on Diane Rehm or Talk of the Nations show?
Contact for Diane
http://wamu.org/programs/dr/contact_us.php
Talk of the Nation
http://www.npr.org/contact/
Let’s give it a FDL group effort
I will post Neil Conans direct number (I do not have it on me)
petedownunder @ 8
it’s not just bush or even the republicans. please don’t forget what the dems (with some notable exceptions) did in boston during the DNC in 2004. (article and pic here)
OT - I truly can’t believe that Obama is taking hits, that there is now a faux scandal, about *not* wearing a flag lapel pin. Makes him “unpatriotic”, don’t ya know.
The mind reels. On the other hand, if this is the best they’ve got…
(my suggestion - Obama volunteers should be dispatched immediately to be sure that every Repub member of Congress has the standard-issue, patriotism-proving yellow ribbon bumper sticker on their limo’s and huge SUV’s)
Shrub is just a waste of time. He will never never change. He doesn’t care he doesn’t want to. But Republicans as a group ..they are going to get a big wake up call.
This fall there are state and local elections and the goopers are having a hard time. Spend some time making it worse.
selise @ 16
I had forgotten that, but you’re right. I think the dems may still remember 1968 (I know I do). We need to remind them that the First Amendment includes peaceable assembly for the redress of grievances.
jayt @ 17
we should all wear our flag pins upside down
we should not abandon the symbols of country to the sleazy right
It just blows me away that the Republican Party has been able to capture the ‘military vote’. The GOP has beeen successful as presenting itself as the soldier’s friend.
egregious @ 11
Good point.
Great quote, but I have one quibble:
I have seen much evidence to the contrary, but the only evidence I’ve seen supporting your view is purely circumstantial.
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…
Well, on second though, it’s really not fair to impugn the maturity of most babies. I’m sorry to have made that comparison.
Two things- first, these coverups are more of a norm than aberation- Media Reveal Disturbing New Twists in Death of Soldier in Afghanistan
AND, something that I’ve been really upset hasn’t gotten more coverage (in reply to oklahoma kiddo at 21) A sharp increase in contributions from the military to Democrats suggests the Republican commander-in-chief and his party are losing the troops’ support.
Sufi at 23 — Just because he acts like a baby, doesn’t mean we ought to enable that conduct, now does it? I have a four year old — and I know how to administer corrective measures. *g*
War is the engine that drives our economy. God forbid… peace ever breaks out. $12,000,000,000 per month. For what?
dov12348 @ 22
At the Libby trial I was very impressed by the journalists in the media room who with a couple of glaring exceptions wanted to get the deeper story. They answered my questions with questions of their own to try to get at my points precisely.
They can write the best story possible and then have an editor take out the good stuff. Marcy has some specific examples where this happened.
So I wouldn’t blame the working press. Look to who is putting pressure on the editors.
Thanks for the post Christy. I have shared this story before on FDL, I’ll share it again. While working at the UN in Geneva, back in 1986, I constantly heard from diplomats and diplomatic staffs of other countries, “The true example of freedom in a democracy is the openess of the society to allow the people to be both critical and supportive of their leadership -but most importantly critical. You are blessed to be a part of such a democracy”
Lets continue our example of hope to others in oppressed systems. And if we cannot, then we have a problem which would reflect oaths of office have been violated and we the people should hold those oaths accountable with legal action. Sounds trite, but we have the right and the responsibility.
The Republican Party needs eight years of time out-outs. Starting about a year from now. But of course Iran is coming up before that.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 21
When will the lawful, dutiful and “used,” realize they are being abused and misused?
egregious @ 27
Chris Matthews would say it is Chee-knee. Guess he must be doing the production work over at MSNBC today with their Alex Witt-RW blondoid facing the “unpatriotic” flag story hour by hour despite Chuck Todd totally debunking it in her first hour. MSNBC–today’s WPITW.
At least we have this to look forward to in ‘08: Rudy v. Hillary.
Look to who is putting pressure on the editors.
Chris Matthews says it’s - Chee-nee.
http://www.examiner.com/blogs/.....-my-bosses
Was the photo at the top from the event the President was at (and explained that he has a decision-making job which means he makes decisions. Honest to God.)? I notice Ms. Wolfe is standing next to several black people? How did THEY ever get in. Bad job by the WH goons. A person with an anti-war t-shit? Black people? My goodness. I’ll bet a few gay people even snuck in. Lancater, PA has definitely seen the last of anybody from this administration. Jeez, Santorum loses and the whole state just goes to heck.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 29
Back the coiled snake into a corner, he must strike, but first needs a diversion, just before he strikes!!!
beerfart at 34 — Yes, it is from the event. And, if you click through the link to Corrente, from Ms. Wolfe’s full post, you’ll get her description of the audience there.
There are LOTS of “I’m not gay” people in the gooper party- and they must attend Bush speeches.
egregious @ 27
Yes, makes sense. I e-mailed Bumiller about it — a pretty critical e-mail. Never heard back.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 26
I don’t know if that was tongue and cheek but war does NOT drive our economy, it puts middle class dolars into the pockets of the wealthy
war HARMS our economy it doesn’t drive it, there is a peace dividend, there is no war dividend
wigwam @ 6
Hell yes.
Our govt. protects us from having someone say “LIAR” in a crowded theatre.
perris @ 39
‘Economics’. The dismal and perhaps soft science. ;0)
Reggie Walton on C-Span 1 now.
thanks, Christy.
I thought maybe that was from outside afterwards.
o/t but, Fitz was at my high school last night for a visit. I couldn’t make it. Damn.
Seachange!!! Check out these letters to the editor at the New York Times today (I stole the link from a Kos diary, that mainly just cited the link):
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10.....ref=slogin
beerfart liberal @ 34
.
Ah, but word is Santorum wants to run for Governor.
FYI, today on All Things Considered on NPR they are going to talk about the soldier case I ref’d earlier-
Deficits expand the economy and war and tax cuts create deficits- but once you approach full employment- what was once great medicing becomes a toxic poison and you get inflation and other economic ills.
The prez has a gas pedal and a brake- but he only uses the gas.
jayt @ 33
Cheney picked a fight with the wrong guy. CM’s disgust for what is taking place has been building daily. Geez, cheney’s been quiet of late……
thank you, Christy
Matthews seems to have a large sized bug up his ass. Bout time!
rwcole @ 50
He’s still a moron but now he’s our moron!
tald about aprapos, check this out from raw story;
from raw story
I blame a lot of this on TV. As McLuhan pointed out it is a cool medium. Hot just doesn’t play well on TV.
Knowing that the medium is the message, politicos have cooled down and antiseptically cleaned virtually all political events so they are acceptable TV viewing.
The classic example of this is the political convention. Since the advent of TV, these formerly raucous, substantive and entertaining events have become nothing more than boring photo-ops.
Travel and speeches by the President are simply more of the same. Michael Deaver, Reagan’s media person, admitted this when he told the networks that all he care about were the pictures.
Of course, bushco, as with most things, has taken this into the twilight zone.
jayt @ 43
Thanks for the ‘heads up’!
Walton is a thoughtful articulate human being.
I miiss that.
David W. Bartoo @ 55
Is this the conference that emptywheel went to?
Elliott @ 56
well, yes it is
Paddy @ 24
That’s good news. ;0)
raven @ 52
surprised nobody posted a snuppet, tons of fun reading so must give bait;
He’s still a moron but now he’s our moron!
For example, at the end of the article, Matthews was steadfast in his belief that the debate left (Jon) Stewart crestfallen, and Matthews victorious.
Moronity and shilliness - takes a while to make the full come-back.
Meanwhile,
ON the surface, it seemed to resemble one of those infamous “Left Coast” incidents from the Vietnam era when the Bay Area was equated with the rejection and spurning of U.S. troops returning from an unpopular war.
Indications are, however, that the incident at Oakland International Airport on Sept. 27 involving a charter plane of 200 Marines returning from Iraq, who were confined to a remote location and not allowed into the main terminals, was more a misjudgment or faux pas — a case of bad or nonexistent communication — than malice or meanness.
But, as often happens in this age of instantaneous communication and news coverage, the incident was blown out of proportion by some pundits who dressed it up as a case of the war-weary Bay Area shunning members of our nation’s military.
Fox News commentator Josh Gibson told those who partake of his postings that Oakland is “not far from San Francisco,” said the Marines were “quarantined from civilians,” and that “this smacks of the bad old days in the Bay Area when returning Vietnam vets were spat upon.”
Oklahoma kiddo @ 58
Elliott @ 56
The guy talking now (David Sellers), says that Marcy is going to testify shortly…
Whew…just heard from our vet. We had to take PJ in for emergency care yesterday. She has what we think is a tooth abcess. They had to delay surgery this morning a little bit to drain out some infection, but it looks like they’ll be able to operate in an hour or so, and that I’ll get to bring her home this afternoon, if all goes well. Any spare thoughts for a tiny dachshund would be much appreciated…
Christy Hardin Smith @ 64
Aw, white light to the precious weiner dog!
ok, so here is the new thing for democrats to do, go right in the face of the republican brand
straight up, say;
“so who do we beleive, this adminsitration?…or our military>”
and of course referance things like think progress has documented here;
the administration doesn’t trust our military one bit, they hire criminals and they circumvent success
(((((Christy and her doxie)))))
Christy Hardin Smith @ 64
oh no!
((((PJ!))))
Christy Hardin Smith @ 64
Sending healing energy to PJ….mmmmmmmm……..mmmmmmm….
{{{PJ}}}
We lost our 13 year old shepherd/chou mix a month ago to kidney failure. Our doggies are precious.
Get well soon, PJ.
perris @ 59
Your absolutely kidding yourself if you think this is a recent development for Matthews. He has been hammering Cheney and the Bush administration and the radicals that lied this nation into an unnecessary war.
I know folks here at FDL love to poke fun at Matthews and there are lots of things that I disagree with Matthews on, but there is no way to get around that he has been hammering on the war liars for five years now. He was the first MSMer to go into Walter Reed and focus on returning soldiers.
I always have thoughts for a tiny dachshund. Does yours resist housebreaking? Mine does and others with this breed have told me the same.
But anyway, what this lady did in PA was great and yeah, I don’t get how people can be so aghast when anyone dares express a contrary view to this guy. Isn’t he the “bring it on” clown? And he has to be shielded so?
raven @ 65
I’ll second that. Be well PJ
jayt @ 17
Lots of ribbon magnets! Make it solid ribbons on the outside!
(Get enough of them on, and the vehicle might go sideways and stick to the guardrail, or the bridge girders.)
I think Obama made clear his reasons for not wearing a flag pin. Those who are making the fuss need to be asked which is more patriotic: wearing a flag pin (made in China) or trying to get the troops home.
Kathleen @ 71
I happen to agree with you, I think he’s been pretty fair handed for quite a while
Awww…poor PJ and poor Christy!
Healing vibes from me and my critters!!
raven @ 52
Beg to differ……….he will always be “tweety” at this end of the toobz and he will never be my moron! Just because he has a “good” day once in a blue moon doesn’t mean the man doesn’t have some wires seriously crossed in his brain. When he stays consistent from day to day instead of sucking up to whichever side he happens to be talking to for at least one FU, maybe then I’ll reconsider. ;-)
Christy -
Hugs and best wishes to both you and the small furry child.
I know folks here at FDL love to poke fun at Matthews and there are lots of things that I disagree with Matthews on, but there is no way to get around that he has been hammering on the war liars for five years now.
I disagree. He’s been openly hostile to Cheney for some time now - the extension of his rage to include GWB is a fairly recent occurrence.
GWB is a fairly recent occurrence
after all it was Tweety who gave Shrub his porn star name Sonny Nobility
Tweety is a moron and to depend on him for anything is fool hardy.
Well the right must be very proud of Larry Craig he is wearing his Amerikan flag pin in his mug shot
raven @ 52
He’s just trying to sell books. The left reads a lot more than the right, they just watch TV.
jayt @ 78
I watch at least three times a week for years now. I completely disagree, he has been hammering on Bush also. The whole administration, along with congress.
Larry’s not a homosexual. Larry is bisexual.
That should relieve the Republicans…right?? ;)
Christy, from a fellow daschschund owner, all my best wishes for a speedy weiner-dog recovery.
Quote from The Brave Little Toaster:
“If we were all weiner dogs, our problems would be solved!”
Sometimes I suspect that’s true.
Kathleen @ 71
Yea and he had John O Neil, Swiftboat asshole on over and over and over again during the last campaign.
((((PJ))))
“this is America, where we make a habit of challenging each other’s opinions daily.”
having moved here six years ago, I (regretfully) don’t agree with this. The level of discussions in the media (blogs excepted) and awareness of the average citizen is much lower than many other countries. Scandals like the war,SCHIP veto,torture memos,Gonzo etc. should have had a much bigger impact. Most people’s hearts are in the right place but I think that they just want all these problems to just go away.
kdh22 @ 82
you know, with the sick minds in the republican party, craig being bi sexual would actually give truth to the claim;
“I am not homosexual, I have never been homosexual”
cause of course he’s bi sexual NOT homo sexual
Best wishes to PJ, hoping for a speedy recovery.
perris @ 87
That was kinda my point, perris. :)
Where is Larry Craig on Hugh’s list, number 400?
I’m so tired of the MSM. Of course W et al have suppressed them, mostly thru self-censorship for fear of losing access. Is it really brave for someone to put the obvious into words of one syllable, or is the rarity with which that happens indicative of how sick the media are?
I always cut Tweety a certain amount of slack in recognition of him repeatedly putting Amy Goodman on the air.
That is a political act in and of itself.
kdh22 @ 89
I at times have a very thick brain
a good point on your behalf, I think that point should go viral, will do my best to facilitate
Col. Ann Wright (one of two peace supporters not allowed into Canada) on Dem Now.
perris @ 93
Excellent, my friend. Oh, and by the way, I don’t find you thick brained at all. I like your comments and perspective.
Good Morning Christy, FDL.
I’ve been lurking. Will there be a thread on Burma today? Interesting things have happened and are happening. The pressure is getting to the regime. Their greatest fears are becoming realities - fear of loss of bank account of all that stolen money from the Burmese people. Also, several monks left the monastery and are joining resistant forces on the outer fringes of Burma. Pressure on them is world wide from every direction. The spotlight hurts.
Dear PJ - You are in good hands. Tender thoughts heading your way. The greatest healer is love and you are surrounded by it.
hey, remember when waxman was told if he went to Iraq to investigate blackwater it would be blackwater protecting him?
I know that is now reversed, but isn’t saying that a threat?
it’s pretty sure a threat as far as I am concerned
Christy,
Best wishes to you, the Peanut, Mr. Reddhedd and prayers for your oldest “child”. Am visiting in NC with my only niece - an 11 yr.old miniature…..dachshunds are a special breed.
Molly “runs” this house — she’s simply irresistible. Know you must feel the same about your PJ.
Please keep us updated when you have spare moments (not that I’ll ever understand how you do all you do *g*).
OT:
I like it when the GOP start eating their own:
GOP Group Targets Romney
Can you say implosion?
Picture a GI witnessing contractors engaged in embezzling money provided by U.S. taxpayers.
Say this GI starts raising the issue through the chain-of-command and threatens to call the DOD Hotline.
How hard would it be for a contractor to call one of his Blackwater buddies and arrange for a hit on the GI raising questions?
If one or more Blackwater employees did kill a GI as part of covering up contractors stealing money, who would have jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute the crime?
Would Blackwater employees provide security to the investigators?
Uh-oh. The Prince lied.
“BAGHDAD, Oct. 4 — U.S. military reports from the scene of the Sept. 16 shooting incident involving the security firm Blackwater USA indicate that its guards opened fire without provocation and used excessive force against Iraqi civilians, according to a senior U.S. military official.
The reports came to light as an Interior Ministry official and five eyewitnesses described a second deadly shooting minutes after the incident in Nisoor Square. The same Blackwater security guards, after driving about 150 yards away from the square, fired into a crush of cars, killing one person and injuring two, the Iraqi official said.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....id=topnews
More Action.
Petition for Archbishop TuTu
http://www.muzzlewatch.com/?p=257
Muzzle watch is a terrific website, many articles and ways to take action. Often issues that are not in the MSM or blogosphere.
Rumors have been circulating for some time that Archbishop Desmond Tutu was banned by the University of St Thomas in Minnesota because of statements he made that some consider anti-Semitic. Now it’s official: winning the Nobel Peace Prize doesn’t protect you from charges of anti-Semitism if you criticize Israeli human rights violations. Neither, apparently, does being one of the most compelling voices for social justice in the world today, or even getting an honorary degree from and giving the commencement address at Brandeis.
A conference on the I/P issue coming up at the end of October. Archbishop TuTu is the quest speaker…plus more
http://www.fosna.org/BostonConferenceOct2007.htm
“The Apartheid Paradigm in Palestine-Israel:
Issues of Justice and Equality”
October 26 – 27, 2007
Old South Church, 645 Boylston St., Boston
Friday—2:30 PM—10:00 PM
Saturday—8:00 AM—4:30 PM
Keynote Address: Archbishop Desmond Tutu
RonD @ 92
You can tell he really respects Amy. He has had Katrina from the Nation on, but she seems to get under his skin. Too smart I think
Christy,
I, along with Rambo (Standard long-haired daschschund) and Roxie (mini long haired daschschunds), send our thoughts and best wishes to you and PJ for a speedy recovery!