Rep. Raum Emanuel and Sen. Chuck Schumer ran the House and Senate congressional campaigns and recruited hawkish Democrats -- especially people supportive of war on Iran. Some of their candidates lost because of their relatively pro-war positions..
On January 3, 2006 the two held a press conference at the Capitol building claiming the election was a victory for their strategy -- and not one for the U.S. out of Iraq movement. Cindy Sheehan and dozens of her friends showed up and heckled them. The two officials ran off, leaving an empty mike - which Cindy quickly usurped to give an anti-war speech. Cindy's son Casey, an American soldier killed in 2004 during the U.S. illegal occupation of Iraq, must be really proud of his feisty mother.
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See my video of Cindy's full January 4, 2006 speech next door to the Capitol. See William Hughes video of a speech she gave that evening for an indoor rally.
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Cindy Sheehan is a hardworking activist who is constantly on the phone giving interviews to reporters and radio stations all over the country. She's motivated by the need to vindicate her son's death -- and maybe by just a touch of the hell raiser in her own personality. Unlike many progressive, peaceniks and libertarians -- including myself -- she's not afraid to make friends with the media and tell her compelling story. And they've made her famous for it.
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Well there are lots of us who have compelling stories of our own about lives diminished and destroyed by some combination of cultural dominance (patriarchy, sexism, racism, etc.) and statist restrictions on the freedom to actualize our potential to love and to learn, to grow in consciousness and to create and join communities of our choice.
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We're not allowed to fully actualize our need to love or explore consciousness. To marry who we may want to - be it our same-sex boyfriend, or two members of the opposite sex or even, for the 20% of "bisexuals" among us, one girlfriend and one boyfriend!
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We certainly are not allowed to explore various modes of consciousness using a variety of perfectly safe psycho-active drugs. Nor are we allowed to develop such drugs. New religions attempting to do so are quickly squashed. The rest are merely ignored or mocked by a centralized media eager to main orthodoxies.
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Our spirits are crushed by special interest-manipulated economies. Most of us struggle to pay basic bills and are increasingly in debt, stuck in an economic system controlled for and by special interests that get wealthier every day. Most people work one day to pay for their automobiles; one day to pay for past, current and future wars; and one day to pay for social security they may never see, plus the rest of their federal, state, and local taxes! That is a condition called SLAVERY. And, rather like slaves on a plantation, we are forced into sterile government regulated towns and cities designed to benefit corporations and bureaucrats not people.
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For a truly inspiring story of citizens in Portland, Oregon reclaiming their neighborhoods through creative use and decoration of space see the CityRepair.Org website and their YouTube video. Now that's a story to tell!.
We all can't be famous Cindy Sheehans. And the monopolized media may only allow there to be one or two well known peace activists -- just so they can complain how there is no one they can interview or put on television.
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Of course, lots of activists prefer to remain relatively anonymous. After all, if fame does NOT pay a salary through an activist job, book contracts or speaking engagements, it usually makes it difficult to find employment. I wonder how many of those temporary agencies that never called me back googled me. Me and all my radical activism comes right up on top!
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So if you know anyone who wants to pay a few grand for Cindy to speak, send her an email through the Gold Star Families for Peace web site. And feel free to help me pay off this month's credit card minimum by buying buttons and t-shirt at my sites linked to the right of the page!
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