Posted on 08/21/2005 10:39:30 AM PDT by Callahan
On Saturday the 20th, members of the International Socialist Orgnization (ISO) were thrown out of the new Camp Casey site by Crawford law enforcement personnel at the request of protest organizers...
Here's the deal from a DU eyewitness. The ISO set up a table under the new "Camp Two" tent (which is huge) and loaded it with copies of Socialist Worker and Howard Zinn books. They then started peddling their stuff and handing out flyers to advertise the socialist-leaning anti-war protest in DC on September 24. They were eager, if perhaps a little too aggressive in sales, and I was indeed considering buying one of the Zinn books anyway.
Before I could head back to the booth to actually puchase anything, one of the ISO volunteers jumped on a table and announced to everyone that they were being arrested. Sure enough, there were two or three policemen at the ISO table, and some organizers from Veterans for Peace had joined the growing fracas, with someone from ISO claiming that they were being expelled and/or arrested just for being socialists.
According to Veterans for Peace spokesmen, the folks from International Socialist Union had indeed gained an interview with Cindy Sheehan and permission to put her statements in Socialist Worker magazine, but Sheehan and the organizers asked the ISO not to set up a banner tent or engage in fundraising at Camp Casey. From what I gathered from the spokesmen, organizations such as CODEPINK and Intelligence Failure that do sell T-shirts and other products at Camp Casey have reached an agreement with Sheehan and the other primary organizers to contribute their profits to the overall effort, which encompasses Crawford Peace House, Gold Star Families for Peace, Veterans for Peace, etc. ISO, on the other hand, had reached no such agreement with the organizers, which meant that all of the money they raised from product sales would go straight into ISO's coffers.
The overall impression I got was that almost all free speech was allowed at Camp Casey, but with the growth of the protest movement at Crawford, there was an increasing need for organization and some need to focus the overall energy of the protest to keep Camp Casey from imploding during Cindy's absence. Camp Casey is not a democratically-run site out of sheer necessity; there has to be some control of the overall message coming out of Crawford. This means that you can wear whatever shirts you want (PETA, CODEPINK, Socialist Worker, Green Party, Amendment II Democrats, etc.) and even informally share your initiatives and platforms with other folks at the rally. But, as Cindy herself has learned, the mainstream news media is extremely sensitive to any message that comes out of Camp Casey, and as Cindy refocuses her plea to meet with Bush and explain the need to invade Iraq, so too the organizers see the need to prevent the message from diffusing under the weight of the special-interest cornucopia and turn Camp Casey into yet another exercise in herding cats. Apparently, the ISO tested the fences once too often, and for that they had to be thrown out.
I don't think anyone was arrested, but the situation had grown somewhat tense for a bit. Does anyone have any other updates or clarification on this incident?
You are judged by the company you keep. And this is a company of freaks!
Apparently at Camp Casey (or, more to the point, Camp Socialist Cindy), some are more equal than others.
A coalition of far-Left organizations that includes avowed revolutionary communists, Islamists, marriage-abolitionists, and cop-killer advocates has launched a crusade against the U.S. military... The organizations represent a veritable Whos Who of the Unholy Alliance. A partial list includes:
Al-Awda (San Francisco) A Palestinian organization dedicated to the right of return, that Israel will absorb some five million Arabs into its midst. Its members endorse the Hamas statement, Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.
American Friends Service Committee A putatively Quaker organization with a long history of support for Communist causes, foreign and domestic, its membership often overlapped with that of the Communist Party USA. AFSC refrained from criticizing the Soviet Union and called reports of Pol Pots killing fields a misinformation campaign. More recently, the Soros-funded organization encouraged city councils to oppose the Patriot Act and joined with other leftist radicals to oppose the liberation of Iraq.
International ANSWER (Bay Area) A front for the Workers World Partys International Action Center headed by former Attorney General Ramsey Clark (who recently volunteered to serve as Saddams lawyer), International ANSWER has supported such madmen as Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevic, and Kim Jong-il. ANSWER was also the prime sponsor of the large antiwar rallies before Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Code Pink A far-Left group of faux housewives established by omnipresent pro-Castro activist Medea Benjamin, the founders met while agitating on behalf of Nicaraguas communist Sandanista government. Benjamin, with Communist Party USA member Leslie Cagan, founded the International Occupation Watch in Baghdad, an organization dedicated to getting U.S. GIs to declare themselves conscientious objectors and get themselves sent home. Code Pink spokesperson Sand Brim flew a surgeon into El Salvador to operate on Marxist guerrilla leader Nidia Diazs hand shortly after guerrillas under her command murdered American troops. Co-founder Jodie Evans is a Democratic Party fundraiser with ties to eco-terrorists. Late last year, the group traveled to Iraq to donate $600,000 in cash and supplies to the terrorist stronghold of Fallujah. They made headlines this year by bursting into John Boltons confirmation hearings. Furthering the Lefts incestuous relationship, Medea Benjamins Code Pink is also a member of Leslie Cagans United for Peace and Justice, which became the mainstream voice of the anti-American Left opposed to the War on Terror.
Free Palestine Alliance A leftist Palestinian organization demanding an immediate end to all U.S. aid to Israel, it seems to exist only as a member of International ANSWERs steering committee. (Its contact information is the same as the IAC.)
Global Exchange Another organization founded by Medea Benjamin, which takes credulous left-wingers on trips to Potemkin villages around the world, to demonstrate the glories of socialism (in places like Cuba) or the evils of U.S. foreign policy (in locales such as Iraq and Afghanistan).
Green Party Ralph Naders political vehicle in 2000, this Red-Green alliance supports radicalization of the U.S. economy under the guise of preserving the environment. Meanwhile, its foreign policy would have kept Saddam Hussein in power and catered to Kim Jong-il. Their candidate in 2000 for Californias U.S. Senate seat was none other than the ubiquitous Medea Benjamin.
Gray Panthers This group of gray Reds denounced the 2004 vote as the second Presidential election in a row which failed to be free and fair, implied that America deposed Haitian Marxist Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and fear-mongered last March that President Bush might reinstate the draft (five months after the Republican-controlled Congress defeated a bill to do just that, introduced by leftist Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-NY).
International Socialist Organization Despite supporting Trotskyite Communism, the ISO supports (or supported) the USSR, Communist China, Cuba, and North Korea (Stalinist or Maoist nations all), because of those nations united opposition to the worlds real enemies: the United States and capitalism. Also a member of UFPJ.
Lesbian And GAy Insurrection, (LAGAI) A quite muddled political program seems to revolve around the Communist goal of abolishing the institution of marriage. LAGAI declares, we feel that the queer liberation position is to oppose marriage as the central institution of patriarchy, not to try to get married ourselves. Assimilation is not Liberation! their flyer shouts.
Louisiana Activist Network A radical antiwar organization that reproduces a quotation from revolutionary Emma Goldman on its frontpage and links to Lyndon LaRouches political organization on its friends page.
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement A radical black liberation organization demanding the release of political prisoners like Sundiata Acoli, Robert Seth Hayes, Jalil Muntaquin, Herman Bell and Russell Maroon Shoats and commemorating those who died for the cause (in prison, of natural causes): Teddy "Jah" Heath, Albert "Nuh" Washington. All except Heath were Black Panthers convicted of murdering policemen, and all are justified or excused by MXGM. For instance: In 1970, along with 5 others, Maroon was accused of attacking a police station, which resulted in an officer being killed. This attack was said to have been carried out in response to the rampant police brutality in the Black community. The website decries Heaths racist conviction on multiple charges, including kidnapping, because, The kidnapping ended peacefully and without injury to anyone. (And they still imprisoned him?) The MXGM opposes U.S. Army recruiting but favors the domestic terrorism of the Black Liberation Army.
National Lawyers Guild (SF/Bay Area) Once described by Congress as the legal bulwark of the Communist Party, the most violent disagreements within the NLG broke out between Maoists and Stalinists. The NLG has recently whitewashed North Koreas brutal human rights violations. Convicted terror-enabler Lynne Stewart gave the keynote speech at the NLGs 2003 national convention, in which she hailed modern heroes like Ho and Mao and Lenin, Fidel and Nelson Mandela [and] Che Guevara. Upon her conviction in passing on messages from Blind Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman to Egyptian terrorists, the NLG called for a national day of outrage. NLG is also active in UFPJ and is a vital part of the Open Borders Lobby.
Not in Our Name (NION) Founded by Maoiost radical C. Clark Kissinger of the Revolutionary Communist Party an organization considered extremist and violent even by fellow Maoists this antiwar coalition produced a Statement of Conscience, signed by thousands of leftists, condemning Americas openly imperial policy towards the world. NION showed its patriotic spirit this year in a Fourth of July rally for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center, at which it distributed an American flag emblazoned with the phrase, Torture is immoral and unpatriotic! (Also present were former detainees, their lawyers, Code Pink, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and feminist idols Gloria Steinem and Eve Ensler.) After Bushs re-election, NION issued a statement accusing the Bush administration of seeking unquestioned world supremacy and laboring to impose a narrow, intolerant, and political form of Christian fundamentalism as government policy. It has also supported Sgt. Kevin Benderman, who refused to return to Iraq and stands accused of desertion and larceny, and calls convicted Iraq deserter Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia a prisoner of conscience. NION is a member of UFPJ.
Peace and Freedom Party A California-based feminist and socialist political party that nominated Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver for president in 1968, Benjamin Spock in 1972, and convicted cop-killer Leonard Peltier in 2004.
Party for Socialism and Liberation A party that proudly proclaims, we aim for revolution in the United States. The most recent issue of their magazine hails the Iraqi terrorists determination and ability to resist. And they explicitly wish to play a role in our defeat in the region: The experience of the Vietnam War proved that the anti-war movement in the United States can gain confidence from the resistance of the oppressed peoples standing up to and defeating the largest military power in the world.
Peter Camejo Ralph Naders Green Party running mate in 2004. As a member of the Young Socialist Alliance, California Governor Ronald Reagan named him one of the ten most dangerous revolutionaries in the state. Like Reagan, Camejo ran for president in 1976, Camejo running on the Socialist Workers Party ticket. Camejo is, next to George Soros, perhaps the most prominent far-Left agitator ever to become a professional stock broker.
Queers Undermining Israeli Terror (QUIT) A homosexual organization opposed to Israel, as though their fate would be better in an Islamic society. QUIT took part in the attempted 2004 sabotage of the Oakland Port, which ships military material to the Iraqi front.
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) (Local 790) The largest union in the AFL-CIO, SEIU President Andrew Stern was a New Leftist protégé of avowed socialist Michael Harrington who studied union organization under former members of the radical Students for a Democratic Society.
Socialist Action A Trotskyite group of revolutionary socialists committed to the emancipation of working and oppressed people everywhere! that believes in permanent revolution.
Socialist Organizer Another Trotskyite organization and member of the Fourth International and founder of The Labor Party, SO dedicates a webpage to the writings of such distinguished intellectuals as V.I. Lenin, Karl Marx, John Reed, Eugene V. Debs, and, naturally, Leon Trotsky.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (SF Chapter) The ADC is a veteran campaigner at the state and local ordinances, having spearheaded the movement to pass city resolutions condemning the Patriot Act or vowing a citys non-compliance. The ADC also condemned the detention of terrorist detainees and the use of military tribunals, referring to American actions as disappearances. A member of UFPJ.
Another prominent resident to endorse the measure is Cindy Sheehan, the founder of Gold Star Families for Peace who demands an immediate withdrawal of American and Coalition Forces from Iraq. GFSP, an affiliate of Military Families Speak Out, works with UFPJ, September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, and Veterans for Peace.
ARTHUR: I am your king!
WOMAN: Well, I didn't vote for you.
ARTHUR: You don't vote for kings.
WOMAN: Well, 'ow did you become king then?
ARTHUR: The Lady of the Lake, [angels sing] her arm clad in the
purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of
the water signifying by Divine Providence that I, Arthur, was to
carry Excalibur. [singing stops] That is why I am your king!
DENNIS: Listen -- strange women lying in ponds distributing
swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive
power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some
farcical aquatic ceremony.
ARTHUR: Be quiet!
DENNIS: Well you can't expect to wield supreme executive power
just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!
ARTHUR: Shut up!
DENNIS: I mean, if I went around sayin' I was an emperor just
because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me they'd
put me away!
ARTHUR: Shut up! Will you shut up!
DENNIS: Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system.
ARTHUR: Shut up!
DENNIS: Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system!
HELP! HELP! I'm being repressed!
ARTHUR: Bloody peasant!
DENNIS: Oh, what a give away. Did you hear that, did you hear
that, eh? That's what I'm on about -- did you see him repressing
me, you saw it didn't you?
Just checked out that link (and promptly washed up). Is there one post that doesn't contain the phrase "herding cats" with, of course, various spellings? jeez
Here's a novel piece of advice to that young genius pictured carrying a sign that says "We will not be your cannon fodder": Then don't join up!! Good grief these people are stoopit.
The moderator had to step in a lock the the thread because the various lefist factions were eating each other alive.
At Cindy Sheehan's freakshow DU is considered too mainstream?
Break out the popcorn. This could turn out to be a fun event to watch implode and disintegrate.
Excellent!!
Sounds like a Dave Barry-type suggestion for the name of a rock band. lol!
Nice picture -- did you take it?
Better Dead When Red!
No, I got it in an email ~ I've not made it down to Crawford yet.......soon though, I hope!
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Just sent a morning e-mail to our local C&W station news reader. The reporter read an AP story about Joan Baez joining the protests, but nothing about pro-Bush, pro-troops, pro-mission supporters. I quickly found an AP story that mentioned the latter, referenced it, and sent the link. I respectfully requested that there news reflect more of a balance "so that it does not appear that our troops and efforts in Iraq lack support here at home." I'll let you know what her response to me is.
I think it was Rush saying on a recent program that Cindy doesn't like all the moonbats coming in and stealing HER show. She would like to have been there alone doing her thing but the moonbats have come in and ruined that. Don't know how true that is but it is an interesting thought.
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