A Circus of Murder and Mayhem: The War Profiteers

Last Saturday we (Liz, Tighe, Samantha, and I) arrived at the Washington D.C. Convention Center to set up and work the CODEPINK booth at the Greenfest where we couldn't avoid the 50 ft Army Expo banner suspended from the roof advertising the makers of murder and mayhem taking place Monday through Wednesday. Leslie and Jess arrived too to experience the Greenfest and later to stake out the Army Expo site with us.

How ironic! As we "greenies", so nicknamed by one of the military types setting up, vacated the convention center, the military war-machine took over.

(To see a complete list of the "exhibitors" visit the following link
http://www.ausa.org/webpub/DeptIndustry.nsf/byid/JRAY-6XXRVV)

The next day, Sunday, October 7th, Blackwater, Alcoa, KBR, and hundreds of other corporate criminals put the finishing touches on their glitzy booths.

Giant slideshows flashed larger-than-life tanks, trucks, guns, and gear. Images of soldiers on a 10 x 20 screen sans sound effect flashed guys so bulked up in gear to make them seemingly IED proof zipping across Iraqi or Afghan deserts. Les, Jess & Arash posed in front of the screen wearing their NO WAR ON IRAN! t-shirts.

Tighe posed giving a peace sign and holding the sunflower given to him by our friend and Greenfest participant, Sierra, who heard about how he had a large softdrink tossed on him by one of the military staffers.

Sunday night , back at the CODEPINK house, we worked on a banner targeting those benefiting from this tragedy and catastrophe in Iraq. Using black fabric and pink letters we wrote out, "War Profiteers: Making a Killing." The word killing dripped with fake blood. We cut out the corporate logos from the expo's catalog and scattered them around the slogan.

So early Monday morning we, Les, Jess, Liz, Tighe and I, took the X2 bus up H street, the sun just rising as we neared Chinatown. Hopping out with our banner, "real faces of war" photos, a bullhorn and tons of energy despite waking up to our cellphone alarm clocks ringing in the dark, we readied to face the recipients of half of our nations GNP, the real grim reapers, the MERCHANTS OF DEATH!

As the morning progressed, Gael, Ariel, Kathleen and Rick the Poet joined us. We had chosen to attend the event on Tuesday since Congressional staffers were invited to a breakfast that morning.

"Hurry! Hurry! War Profiteers, Hurry! Hurry! Get that billion dollar contract. Hurry! Hurry!
Get your piece of the GNP!! I called out to the "circus of murder and mayhem". Entered the merchants of death and destruction, mostly all white middle-aged men. There a few women wheeling in huge posters of guns and weaponry. Soldiers in camouflage. Blackwater hired guns arrived and waved and smiled, recognizing us from the Oversight hearings of last week.

Taxis dropped off the international marketers and army agents from France, Japan, Germany and the Phillipines. Whole busloads of fresh-faced JROTC kids arrived proudly marching into the convention center.

Liz and Gael have stories to share of this event. To be continued...

The Senator from MO & "Silly Ass Ideas"

Sunday morning talk shows are part of our weekly schedule here at the CP house. Notwithstanding that I'm home alone, when I heard Wolf Blitzer say that Bushie Senator Kit Bond was in the CNN studio I jumped to my feet. Shit! I can't believe this...in the studio?? I grabbed my cellphone to call Midge, he's her senator, and ask her if I had time to make it and she encouraged me to go since it's only a 10 minute walk.



Well, that's all I needed, a little encouragement and a lot of adrenaline and I was up the stairs to get my running shoes and then out the door with only my cellphone and giant photo of Iraqi victims.




I got my exercise today. I ran a block, sped walked til I caught my breath and then ran the next block. As soon as I got there I noticed no limos nor reporters in sight. "Dammit", I thought, "I missed him!". So I called Midge again to see if she could check if he was still in the studio. Alas! Her mom was watching something else.

I thanked her, ended the call and started pacing from the "secret" exit driveway to the cobblestoned main entryway. Suddenly my phone rang. It was Midge, somehow she convinced her mom to change the channel ever so briefly, "He's just finishing up. Tell him I said hi!" "Thanks, Sweetie!" I replied excitedly.

I returned from the driveway to the entryway and even from curbside I recognized his askew head of gray hair. I approached ever so gingerly near the large posts hidden by the nearby foliage. As I practically crept up to the CNN lobby, Senator Bond, his back to me, faced bright TV camera lights and three reporters with pads and pens in hand. He was holding a briefing. Yippee!!

With photo in hand and a pounding heart I walked right in to the foyer, as the outer door was ajar. (Imagine my glee!) I rushed the Senator on camera shouting, "Senator Kit Bond! You are an accomplice to war crimes! I am here representing the American people. You are committing war crimes in the name of our nation's security. We are not safer. We are less safe! You are creating more terrorists!..."

By this time, the security guard gently ushers me out the door and a smiling janitor goes after me to each and every door to check that they are now indeed secure. I start the CODEPINK chant, "We are CODEPINK, we are proud! We are sisters we are loud! We are many, we'll be more. And we'll end this bloody war!"

No more than thirty seconds later, the Senator, who seemed to be discussing his options looked a little disconcerted...Hmm, one 51 year-old children's librarian with a bloody photo was something to be reckoned with, I guess. He came out the door with a lackey on either side.

I continued, "The American people cannot, will not tolerate any more bloodshed! You send our troops to die for lies! War crimes are being committed in Iraq, Senator and you are an accomplice. You still support these failed policies of invasion and occupation (I borrowed Liz' line) in the name of making the world safer and fighting terrorism. Stop trying to sell us your 'silly ass ideas' The same B.S.! The Iraqis had nothing to do with 9/11. Not one Iraqi!! " He looked like he wanted to slap me. (Every time Liz & I see Kit Bond in the tunnels of the Russell building he says his son is in Iraq so we can have our "silly ass ideas!")





By this time we are curbside but his lackey can't get the door to the car to open so they keep walking (I wonder where to? A taxi?)

At this point, I've redialed Midge so someone could "witness" some of this albeit via cellphone. I'm going on and on and Bond doesn't reply (His aide seems to shush him) all the while we're walking towards Union Station and away from CNN. "Shame on you for sending your son to that hellhole so the war profiteers can fill their bank accounts. You should be ashamed of yourself. The blood is on your hands, Senator."

As I try to get near to show him the photo. His goon, turns rapidly around and lunges at me! "Back up, buddy!"I say "I'm on a public sidewalk. Last time I checked my constitution I still had 1st amendment rights!" He quickly decided against touching me, probably saw the cellphone and thought better of it.

"See you September 4th, Senator! Oh yeah, Midge says hi!"

Where is Their Memorial, Senator?

Desiree Fairooz

As the 4th of July approaches we wistfully remember how our country struggled to become free from the reign of King George III. Today, suffering a similar monarchy, we must again struggle from the shackles of the new King George and his lackeys. One of those lackeys, Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Bushistas from Texas, is my senator.

On her website, Kay Bailey regurgitates Bush rhetoric as if it were the proclamation made by the town crier of old:

Our brave servicemen and women are fighting terrorism in Iraq, in Afghanistan and around the world so the terrorists will not be able to export their heinous crimes to America.

As we celebrate this Fourth of July, we send our special thoughts and earnest prayers to those American men and women who fight to defend our way of life. Our founding fathers pledged everything they had to secure our freedom. Today, we honor the men and women who follow in their footsteps to preserve it, and carry on our legacy of liberty.

"Kay Bailey", I would ask, "if you are so gung ho about this war and so proud of the men and women who fight to defend, as YOU say, our way of life, why is it that you do not have at least a photo memorial for those same men and women?"

I encountered my senator 5 times this week and each time she avoided ME, her constituent. Knowing very well that she does not care to think about the welfare of others, I hoped she would squirm as she attempted to answer that question. Trapped all alone at the entrance to CNN studios by our CODEPINK mobile memorial, Kay Bailey lied and said that she DID have one. (I wondered where. In her nightmares?)

In the tunnel of the Russell building she ignored me. Slipping behind the giant "Miss Freedom" and zipping past the Capitol Police to the trolley.

In the hallway at her Texas tea, surrounded by families of ignorant, yet loyal Texans for their photo op, her jaw dropped and her eyes widened as I slid past her Barbie & Ken doll aides and posed the question again. But no answer was forthcoming. I almost felt sorry for her. She is not used to reproach. She surrounds herself in a bubble of young assistants who lamely deflect negative attention.

But then again, I am reminded of Daniel Torres, Russell Nahvi and Christian Schultz, beautiful young Texans no longer with us. I am reminded of the container of pictures in the basement of the CODEPINK house, a huge container full of photos of the 331 some other Texans. I am reminded of the 3,000 + other Americans and the lives of at least a million innocent Iraqis. How many containers would their pictures fill, I wonder.

As our most patriotic of all holidays nears, I beseech all true Texans to join us here in the nation's capital with all true patriots to once again unite and overthrow the reign of King George IV and his lackeys. May the Texas Tyrant (yes I know he's really from Lieberman's state) and his loyalists go.

Because It's Their Future Part Deux

Desiree Fairooz

Whew! It was a scorcher today but that did not deter the kids from Cesar Chavez Charter School for Public Policy. They showed up as planned with their teachers excited about seeing CODEPINK in action. Our "action tour" began at the Hart building Room 216 where we sat in on the Armed Services Committee hearing on the confirmation of Texan Pete Geren for Secretary of the Army.

Liz had been waiting for us at the entrance to the hearing room (same room where about six weeks ago Midge held up the banner above Alberto Gonzales' head that said "I have nothing to hide but the truth"). There happened to be a table outside the anteroom where we spread out the armbands we had made for the "scholars", as their teacher, Laura Kravis, prefers to call them. The armbands said "ANOTHER STUDENT FOR PEACE". Some of them wore them as armbands others as belts or lanyards. (Leave it to the next generation to see things outside the box!) The two teachers seemed to beam as they both put on their CODEPINK buttons.

Liz and I led the students to a row of empty seats (same seats used by Adam Kokesh, Geoff Millard and Cindy Sheehan when they protested Gonzales' "I don't recall"s). Liz and I sat at the inner edge of the aisle, as good CODEPINKERS do for easy access and visibility.

It just so happened that the man being nominated for the Secretary of the Army position is a Texan and that both my Texas senators were in the room. Kay Bailey Hutchison testified that Geren is a good man with a history of service to his country as a congressman, etc, etc, and so forth. She was seated next to him at the witness table. I guess this meant he is worthy of confirmation. (Do you feel my pain?)

As Senator Hutchison rose to leave the room, it dawned on me that I would have the rare opportunity to speak with her. I jumped out of my seat, practically losing my slip-on shoe in the process to sidle up to her. Sticking my hand out for a quick hand shake, which she took, I accompanied her as she exited the room behind her aid. (I don't think he realized that I or anyone had any intentions or else he would have surely blocked my access.) Senator Hutchison seemed quite taken aback by my proximity and remained speechless as I introduced myself and explained why I had come all the way from Texas to gain her ear. We were nearing the hallway when her aid stepped back to tell me that that was enough, or something to that effect. I returned to the room where the students were patiently paying attention to Carl Levin chair the confirmation hearing.

My other senator, Senator John Cornyn, another Republican Bushite, spoke from his seat at the dais regurgitating what Kay Bailey said. No sooner had he finished his spiel, he rose followed by an aid to exit the room, also in my direction! Yippee! A two-fer, I thought. I did the exact same thing by catching up to Cornyn at the rear door of the hearing room but he had an answer prepared for me, "Have you forgotten about 9/11?" I replied as calmly as I could muster, walking fast to keep up, "Everyone knows, Senator that the hijackers were Saudi and Egyptian NOT Iraqi. Don't try to use that on me. Do you really think all Americans are THAT ignorant?!" He turned away from me out the foyer into the hallway with nothing more to say.

While I had been out of the room, the infamous Senator Joe Lieberman had entered the room. I did not notice him until I had sat down next to Ms. Kravis to see how the kids were doing. Upon realizing that the Senator responsible for insulting the nation of Iran and sending CODEPINKERS shivers up our spines at the thought of more military strikes was in the room I told Ms. Kravis that I needed to make a sign. I moved near Liz and we both proceeded to write on our hot pink paper, DONT IRAQ IRAN in huge bold letters. When Lieberman finally gave me eye contact, I waved my sign at him. He actually gave me a brief smile. (So wierd! I guess he still thinks of us as his CODEPINK friends.)

Soon after, Ms. Kravis indicated that her students wanted to move on to the next hearing. We, Liz, I and Mabel, who had joined us proceeded down the hall to the stairwell connecting us to the Dirkesen building. Mary Tyler Moore and a former NBA basketball player who's name escapes me testified about the need for government assistance for juvenile diabetes. We ran into Carl Levin who, hunched over as he was, still managed to speed walk between hearings.

This room, a huge one, was packed with observers, press and many children wearing t-shirts with the logo of the organization sponsoring the witnesses. We did not stay long due to the students tight schedule and their desire to get into Senator Barack Obama's office.

After returning to the Hart building we took the elevator up to the 7th floor. Coincidentally, the Senator was on TV as we entered room 713. His staff looked on curiously as we led the students and their teachers into the already busy office. Ms Kravis mentioned with pride that she was from Illinois, the state the senator represented.

It appeared that staffers were coming and going. A young African-American man approaching the desk from behind closed doors seemed genuinely interested in the group so after telling him about us, I asked him to introduce himself to the class and share with us what he did for the senator. He explained that he was a summer intern, only 20 years old and that his job was to handle phones and other communications and that he would return to college in August. He smiled and answered a few questions and promised to share the comments that students Reina Guzman and others had for the senator.

From here we proceeded on to the tunnels below the senate offices so as to stay out of the suffocating heat and reach Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's office without breaking a sweat. We were received equally inquisitively there and waited about ten minutes to speak with Joshua Williams her Legislative Aid on Foreign Affairs, who seemed, by the way, not much older than the kids from Chavez. Nor did he seem at all bothered by the fact that he spent about 30 minutes speaking with CODEPINKERS the day before.

Aditya Nepali, a young man who mentioned to Liz that he would be visiting his grandmother in Nepal this summer, spoke quite eloquently about how they had been studying the facts on Iraq and that there were differing opinions amongst the group. Darryl Robinson suggested that each religious faction, the Kurds, the Shias and the Sunni should each have their own country in order to stop the sectarian violence. Mr. Williams replied that this is an opinion that has been spoken by senators also. Several of the students seemed reluctant to talk to this man who was not much older than they so we asked to take a picture with him which he gladly did. Too bad Senator Clinton is not as warm as her aid. I asked if he would tell the Senator that we stopped by and reminded him that these were students for peace. He assured us that our visit would be communicated. With a smile and warm handshakes we said goodbye.
Our morning was flying by, so after a quick granola bar gift from Ms. Kravis, we hiked in the heat and glare of the summer sun over to the House side of Capitol Hill. There we arrived a tad bit late to the Hip Hop Caucus press briefing on torture. Reverend Yearwood nodded in approval as we entered and quietly took two rows of seats at the rear of room 2237, (I think!) while the ex-military chaplain implored us to rise up against Jim Crow, Jr. Esq. just as both blacks and whites did in the Civil Rights movement. He then introduced our heroine, Barbara Lee, who after recognizing the various social justice groups represented in the room, reminded us all that in a not too distant past, she lived the struggle of the Civil Rights movement. Both Rev. Yearwood and Congresswoman Lee spoke to upholding the Constitution, the need to restore Habeas Corpus and the closure of Guantanamo. (Ms. Kravis sent around to her students a sheet of paper on which she had written an explanation of the situation in Guantanamo.) During the applause for the Congresswoman, we filed out of the hearing room into the hall. Seconds later, Ms. Lee appeared walking briskly with her aid. Liz greeted her excitedly so that she agreed to pose with the kids. "We love you!" We shouted as she waved back after the picture.

Exuberant with hungry teens in tow, we practically skipped to the cafeteria for lunch and banter before heading home, each group on to it's next appointment, Liz and I with the Dallas Morning News photographer and Cesar Chavez Charter School for Public Policy students with a soldier recently returned from Iraq.