Medea Benjamin Dragged off DNC floor in Handcuffs for Unfurling "End..."

[tedzbear]

Published on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 by Democracy Now!

Medea Benjamin Dragged Off DNC Floor in Handcuffs For Unfurling "End the Occupation of Iraq" Banner


As Teresa Heinz Kerry spoke last night, on the floor of the convention, Medea Benjamin from Global Exchange and CodePink unfurled a pink colored banner that read "End the Occupation of Iraq." That apparently was not one of the DNC-approved messages of the night because within moments of the banner being unfurled, police were called in to remove Medea Benjamin.

Benjamin was dragged off the convention floor and thrown out of the FleetCenter. She said that the DNC was asked whether they wanted her arrested and that they decided that would not look good.

[Moderator]

1. Do you have a link?

[tedzbear]

3. Here it is.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/07/28/1327236

[papau]

28. Green party member, Dem hater Medea Benjamin violates media rules and is

removed - and this is supposed to upset folks?

Granted "Dem hater" may be over the top for a Green party person that was just trying for election in 2000, but where did she get the idea she could run a demonstration against a party platform plank on the floor of the Democratic Party convention?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

35. Did the Dems disrupt the Green convention with carte blanche?

[papau]

37. Good Point.

:-)

[fla nocount]

82. End the occupation of Irag. n/t

[dolstein]

84. What if a Republican snuck onto the floor and was holding up a BC04 sign?

Would people around here be defending THAT person? After all, "free speech" belongs to everyone, right?

[belle]

74. Oh, dear. I'd thought she was one of the smart ones.

[David__77]

2. I'm pleased she was not arrested.

Medea Benjamin does have a more correct view of Iraq than does Feinstein, her 2000 opponent.

[aquart]

4. Sometimes I just get tired.

So glad Medea got her position aired. She accomplished WHAT????

Who was she preaching to? The choir is already converted. Did she think one banner alone would influence a candidate? A senator? A representative? A delegate? A voter? Did she think it would change the platform?

But she really enhances her own credentials with her own crowd. Thanks, Medea.

We are walking on EGGS over Iraq. It's a mess and we can't do a damn thing unless WE GET ELECTED.

Thanks again, Medea. You made your point. What was it?

[Pastiche423]

6. Her point was simple

We need to get the fuck out of Iraq.

No other "democrat" is saying squat about Iraq.

A :toast: to Medea!

[PatGund]

24. Nice idea....

But we *can't* do it. Thanks to chimpboy, we've massively screwed the pooch in Iraq. If we pull out now, we've made a horrible situation far worse.

Besides which, we're now honor-bound to the Iraqi people to help fix what we broke. And the only way we're going to do this is to toss Chimpy and his neocon junta out on his unelected ass, and get Kerry and some other grown-ups in there who can work with the international community to help us repair the damage we did to both Iraq and the US's standing in the world.

Which is not to say I wouldn't object to Chimp, Crashcart, Rummy, and the rest of that band of thugs standing along side their old friend Saddam in the docket at the Hague on war crime charges.

[UpInArms]

26. and can we please cancel all those crappy no-bid

Hell's a Burnin' contracts?

This is freakin' ridiculous.

[leesa]

48. BS. We have no credibility in Iraq. We can't fix anything there

She was perfectly right to protest the DNC plan to keep an illegal invasion going. Good for her!

[Bo]

65. I agree,Iraq was lost from the get go

Get us out now, Kerry is an idiot for wanting to stay there and do what? Fix things? DREAMING.

[porkrind]

72. Wrong, We should pull out of Iraq.

You're right that we have a responsibility to the Iraqis, but we have also proved that we are incapable of fulfilling this responsibility. We have shown the Iraqis and the world that we are war criminals, torturers, thieves, and murderers. Face it, we are thugs and mobsters. We need to pull out and let the UN or someone else do the job. They would be better off going it alone than having us there.

We just can't do it. We are the bad guys.

---

Read about the Right-Wing "Master Plan": http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/sam/sam-contents.html

Have you read "War is a Racket"?: http://lexrex.com/enlightened/articles/warisaracket.htm

Read George Orwell's classic "1984" free online here: http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/1984

[MsUSA]

57. Dennis Kucinich is saying get out of Iraq......

[govegan]

59. Last time I looked, DK was still a Democrat

Panel Fires Up Peace Movement
Volume III - Wednesday, July 28, 2004

http://www.kucinich.us/insideout/072804/panel.php

Kucinich has long been against neofascist warmongering. The Green Party does not have exclusive rights to nonviolence and constructive dialogue. No, no more than the Republicans have exclusive rights to fascism and weapons of mass deception, although Nader seems to find them as acceptable bedfellows.

[belle]

75. I agree, but she just reduced herself to adolescent WTO protester status.

I mean, look: either you take the "candidate" route, which i thought she *had* been, with the Greens; or you take the "rebel" route. One's "in the system," and one is "outside the box." But both at once is kind of difficult to pull off. Especially if you're trying to get your party to be taken more seriously in the mainstream. Dumb move, no matter how well meant.

[kiahzero]

92. Where were you when we were looking for plans to do that?

Pitt posted a thread on the issue... not one realistic plan was offered, other than "Fuck the Iraqis and bring everybody home. They're big boys, they can handle it."

Do you think that our foreign policy should be guided by morality? If so, does that sound moral to you?

[Pachamama]

97. I'm torn- I know Medea, I'm a member of CodePink, I think we need to get

the hell out of Iraq, but I'm not sure this was the right place to unfurl the banner...The right wing media is having a field day with this one...I personally, would rather have seen her unfurl it at the RNC in NYC....

I respect Medea and Jodie Evans and the whole gang, especially when they protested Donald Rumsfeld in the hearings over Prisoner Torture...

This stunt - if I had known about it and someone asked me, I would have voted against it....

[Swamp Rat]

100. She's right though...

We must leave Iraq yesterday.

:hi:

[Pachamama]

112. Hi Swamp'r....yeah, I know she is right....but I have mixed feelings about

the unfurling of the banner there at the convention....its kinda like when you go to a wedding...you might know that there are issues that you are concerned about the marriage, but do you get up and scream it out in the middle of the ceremony? Especially when the bride is your sister? Maybe a more effective thing would have been to speak to your sister (the bride) before the wedding and if you disagreed, not attend....

I don't know the answer....I think very highly of Medea, saw her about a month+ ago at an event and spoke to her about events going on and I think she is a great lady, but if she had asked me about doing this "stunt" - I would have reccommended against it (or told her to do it at the other wedding in NYC)....her actions on Tuesday only has become fodder for the real crashers of the wedding, namely all the Repukes that CNN and the networks have commentating on the convention. To use my "wedding" analogy - the commentators and coverage of the Democratic convention has been as if they invited all the ex-girlfriends of the groom and jilted ex-lovers of the bride and they are busy saying what whores, sluts, small peckered jerks the Dems are....Medea just gave them more stuff to grit their teeth into and chomp away at....I wish she had gotten the memo about this being a marriage where family feuds are being put aside for peace in the future....

:hi:

Congrats on reaching your 1000th post Swamp'r.... :toast:

[Swamp Rat]

114. Thanks!

I feel the same way you do - torn between my agreement with her and my concern about her choice of doing it there on the convention floor. I would NOT have done it... even though I have the tendency to do things like that myself. Perhaps, I would have unfurled a sign that said, "don't vote for Bush! He's an alien lizard."

:hi:

[Dhalgren]

7. "Walking on eggs"?!!!

WTF! The Iraqis are dying! American soldiers are dying! We're walking on fucking eggs?! Give me a goddamned break! I'm sorry if this is an over reaction, but to hell with sitting down and shutting up! We have to pretend to be as blood-thirsty and murderous as the Repiblicans? Is that it? Is the American public so brutal and venal that the only way to get them to vote for a Democrat is for the Democrat to give lip-service to the crimes against humanity that are going on and have been for more than a year? I wonder why Zell Miller isn't a speaker at the convention!

[saigon68]

36. LIMPMAN--- the DINO Senator from Conn was on Imus this AM

He said that Kerry would continue the WAR and that he---LIMPMAN thought the loss of lives in Iraq was worth it now AND INTO THE future.

WHAT A SHILL

[0007]

70. Fuck Limpman and the goddam horse he rode in on!

[saigon68]

111. I agree

Screw that ass-hole, he above all is an example of a man who never had a back bone.

[wackywill]

102. well said

are we (Democratic leadership) pretending? If so I summit they have no standing as Leaders. If they think this "war" is an abonination then they should say so and be done with it.

I've got to take them at their word. They believe this war was "OK" just not carried out correctly. There stated problem is not with the "WAR" just the way Bush and Co is conducting it. Bullshit!

Can't lead if they don't get elected? Bullshit, taking a position that you don't believe in is just to get elected is decpicable and in my opinion is one of the major problems with politics.

Now is the time. Say what you mean; mean what you say. That is what a lot of the Americian people thought the repugs were doing the last few election cycles. That's why they hold the House and Senate and it's how they got close enough to steal the Presidency.

The American people want and will vote for a "leader" that will be straight forward....get some spine fellow Democrats and we'll win. Hide your real convictions and lose AGAIN!

[Zidane]

29. In case you didn't notice

"Who was she preaching to? The choir is already converted"

the convention was broadcast on TV. You are telling me everyone watching at home is converted?

[redqueen]

30. Well said.

I don't know what her point is, but this seems to be furthering a goal the tool Nader is after with his pimps in the GOP -- dividing the left.

[Dhalgren]

40. When the "left" is told to shut up and sit down

by the Democrats, it is the deomcrats who are "dividing the left". I guess all those people in the streets in Chicago in '68 were just "dividing the left". When they were told to shut up and sit down, they did neither.

[redqueen]

45. And that worked well, you think?

Were any goals furthered by that incident?

[Dhalgren]

55. People stood up for what they believed.

They put their lives on the line for it. That is "something", don't you think? "The whole world WAS watching", it changed the whole debate on Vietnam. It empowered politicians (including John Kerry) to stand up and say that we must withdraw from Vietnam. It exposed to the whole world that the level of the anti-war movement in this country was much higher and more willing than it was believed to have been. If in order not to have a "lost cause" you change your cause to whatever will win, what exactly have you won?

[redqueen]

60. Did it really?

I did not know that the riot was the pivotal moment for the changing of opinions with respect to Vietnam.

[Sterling]

76. Well now you do.

That is a large part of it's legacy.

[Green Lantern]

87. '68 convention

was an amazing catalyst in turning students and blue collar workers out into the streets against the war. I was in Boston as a student at the time and the change in intensity was electrifying. People saw that not all the forces of reaction were repug, and that other means were needed in order to have voices heard.

[tinanator]

110. We are gonna have to buy you some books

In regards to your similar statements in other threads, I seriously recommend looking at and understanding the recent history of the Pacifica Network which was assaulted and nearly toppled by Clinton administration appointees. I begin to understand your POV once I catch that you are missing some relevant info. 68 was pivotal and critical. We are in the same boat today because some people dont remember history, and doom us to these horrific reruns. You cant wish unity unto victims and victimizers.

[Proud2BAmurkin]

5. Good. eom

.

[Melodybe]

10. I actually disagree, if we just pull out now we hand Iraq over to the

fundi muslims. I have no desire to see women and the Kurds opressed. Yes going into Iraq was a huge mistake, but we put our hands into this bee hive and now we have responsibilities. I am glad that once Kerry gets elected he will make true all of the lies that Bush sold to the American people.

I am glad that Kerry truly wants to turn Iraq into a real democracy, and after hearing Teresa I have no doubt that is what he will do.

I feel sorry for those that can't see that.

[Dhalgren]

13. I feel sorry for anyone

who thinks that they can force a way of life on a whole nation at the point of a gun. We have ways to influence other nations and other peoples do go along the way we would perfer, but we have no right to bomb them into accepting our way. If you think that armed force is the way, then why not vote for Bush?

[truthspeaker]

18. That's not the point. The point is the Democratic party shouldn't suppress

dissent.

[jdj]

73. I think I know when this happened.

There was a point in Teraysa's speech where they panned in on Hillary and she and everyone around her were suddently looked up to the left like something big was going on.

[Throckmorton]

25. Oh, so we can kill a bunch more people, and then hand it over.

to the fundie muslims.

"This letter's postmarked, Vietnam"

[demoman123]

47. Non sequitur: "It was a mistake to go in there, but now we have to stay."

If it was a mistake to go in there, then now we have to LEAVE. If there is an Islamic Republic or if the Baathists come back, that's none of our business. That's the business of the Iraqi people. We do owe reparations. We do not owe control.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

85. We do not owe control.

Yes... we owe control of the oil fields and the lucrative businesses in Iraq to our corporate buds... I mean... that is what I have seen happening... soooooo.... that is what I believe this is about.

[kiahzero]

93. Fuck the consequences, eh?

Oh, who cares if it turns into a failed state and therefore a breeding ground for terrorism?

The same people who cared when Afghanistan turned into a failed state and a breeding ground for terrorism... the children of the people who fucked up in the first place.

[demoman123]

101. We are doing that now.

We are presently fucking the consequences. We are presently creating a breeding ground for terrorism. We should stop doing it.

And don't talk about Afghanistan. We CREATED the Taliban as a weapon to fight the Soviets. Here too, we fucked the consequences.

[kiahzero]

113. Yes, we trained the mujahideen

Our biggest mistake in Afghanistan, however, was not helping the nation rebuild its government after the Soviets left. Had we done so, it probably would not have become a failed state, and such a breeding ground for terrorism.

You are correct that we should prevent this from happening, but one of the most critical things we need to do with that goal in mind is ensure that Iraq gets a government that has control over all of its territory. A situation like we are seeing now in Afghanistan is a perfect example of what NOT to do: a weak government unable to maintain law and order gives terrorists a perfect place to conduct their business.

[leesa]

51. Oh Please. We cannot possibly make anything better in Iraq.

Kerry has no interest in Democracy in Iraq, any more than Bush did. This is an oil war and the DNC wants it as much as the RNC wants it.

[Bo]

67. Dreaming....

Iraq is lost, get over it.

[eridani]

83. If Teresa says that John can be trusted--

--to put the toothpaste back in the tube, does that mean he is actually going to do it?

Conflicted on the Benjamin stunt. On the one hand, it doesn't seem to mean much. On the other, the fact that 95% of the delegates think that the war was a bad idea, and 80% are in favor of withdrawal by some method or another is just not being represented.

[sampsonblk]

8. She reflects the majority view of our party

Its a shame that majority view isn't recognized by the few who run this thing. Doesn't seem very democratic.

[demoman123]

50. But not of the leadership.

Then where is the "democratic" in "Democratic Party"?

[donco6]

9. Good riddance

Idiot.

[Dhalgren]

12. Go Zell!!!

[HuckleB]

19. (Clears throat.)

Come on. The "Good riddance" post was truly crap, but let's not devolve into name calling like that, please.

Here, you can borrow my soapbox for your reply.

[Dhalgren]

49. I wasn't name calling.

I was joining in the "you can't tell a Democrat from a Republican" chorus. The Democratic party is saying, "we approve of the war in Iraq, just not how it is being conducted; we approve of the Great President's tax cuts, just not exactly how they were distributed; we agree with the Great President's stand on no gay marriage, we just want them to be able to sit in the back of the bus, if that is ok; we pretty much agree with everything the Great President has done, just that he hasn't done all those things as well as our next Great President will." It's sickening and I don't care what kind of political whoring is necessary to "win". Yuck!

[donco6]

56. If you can't tell a Democrat from a Republican . . .

go ahead and vote for Bush. By your own logic it won't make any difference, right?

I'm objecting to the attempt by a non-Dem to hijack a convention that is particularly critical to us all. Sure, I'd love to see all of those things you mentioned - gay marriage, removal from Iraq, etc. etc. But there is no magic wand that can be waved to make it happen. If we run a candidate on those things he/she would never be elected. Ask Howard Dean. He couldn't even win the primary. And what good does an unelected candidate do, exactly?

So, I reiterate my original statement, and say, Good for them. She should have been removed. And I do think she's an idiot.

[HuckleB]

58. Whatever you say.

What was it that you did with that post then?

Also, I don't find your description of the platform very accurate.

[Downtown Hound]

11. Sorry, can't agree with the negatives here

Kerry has my wholehearted support but that doesn't mean we should shut up about what we believe. Most of the Kerry voters are against the Iraq war, I have no problem if she reminds them of that.

[G_j]

14. I see it as a healthy Democratic tradition

non-conformity and dissent should be cherished virtues.

[Zorra]

15. If the banner said "Support the Occupation Of Iraq", would

they have dragged her away?

Are there other types of banners at the convention?

Was she dragged away because of what the banner said, or because they do not allow banners?

[tedzbear]

16. Does it matter?

Both motives accomplish the same purpose. Censorship!

[Zorra]

44. Yes, it matters. If she displayed a banner that said "Support Occupation

Of Iraq", and she was not dragged away, then the reason she is being dragged away is because of the message on her banner (her opposition to the war) and not because of general restrictions.

It would indicate that signs showing support for the war were appropriate at the convention, while signs opposing the war were not.

And that would suck.

[HuckleB]

21. Alas, we're following the GOP example of how to "win."

And we've chosen to limit free speech within the convention hall by deeming what is and is not acceptable on banners. Certainly, anyone displaying a banner saying "Support the Occupation..." would also be led out the door.

[Zorra]

33. But is there a general restriction on signs and banners for the purposes

of making sure that people do not have their view of the podium blocked?

That would be a reasonable restriction, IMO, and protective of the rights of others.

However, if Medea was hauled off because of the message on her banner, then this is censorship and is wrong.

[HuckleB]

34. I would think so.

This is a speech issue, however, not a view issue, as far as I understand it.

[Doosh]

17. this is not the place for troublemakers

[leesa]

53. Right. We've got our war on and we want to keep it that way!

[Jim Sagle]

20. Medusa SUXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[HuckleB]

23. Is the Lounge? What's your point?

[truthspeaker]

22. The DNC owes Benjamin a public apology

If this is true, I'm furious with the DNC. Not suprised, but furious.

[malachi]

27. Gee, "End the Occupation of Iraq," what a novel idea!

Truly original! No one I know was even thinking of such a brilliant idea! Not the time or place for this momo to pull this stupid stunt. What a phuckin' dope.

[leesa]

54. Umm...the DNC wants to keep it going for four more years. I guess

THEY are the ones who never thought of it.

[malachi]

66. Every person with 1/2 a brain (automatically excludes all repugs)

has thought about ending the occupation, even the DNC.What this confused individual did served absolutely NO purpose whatsoever.

[CBHagman]

31. I'm not sure what good the confrontations actually do.

It's the same when any group shouts out a slogan during a speech or a hearing. The person or persons in question get taken away, and I seriously doubt they draw people to their cause.

I'm not QUESTIONING the mssage, and I'm not saying suppress dissent. I just have a problem with the technique.

And I've met more than a few Code Pink souls on my journey, too, and have a lot of sympathy for them. I'm just wondering if they are sometimes their own worst enemy, sort of the way Ralph Nader is his own worst enemy (or ours, depending on your view).

[Caution]

32. so the DNC removed someone from a private, invite only affair

who was attempting to use that as a platform for her own personal views which were divisive would only serve to harm the goal of bringing in the swing votes to the Democratic Party.

Gee. How awful. Stop the Presses because free speech must be dead. Oh wait. That's right. The first amendment does not protect one's right to free speech in a private forum. I forgot all about that!

Is our goal to win the election and have a shot at affecting change? Or is the goal to scream out in a forum when that screaming only damages the chances of achieving that goal?

But let's all get all pissed off and say "screw this I'm voting for anyone but Bush OR Kerry...I'll show them!" And when you are sitting home watching Bush declare that our troop deployment in Iraq is permanent and that Iran is next, followed by Syria, followed by North Korea and he drafts minorities and the poor and sends them off to die while inflaming world opinion against us, you can say "well Kerry shouldn't have had that woman thrown off the floor for disobeying the rules laid out by those running the convention."

Thanks.

[Zidane]

38. Courts have ruled

conventions are a PUBLIC affair that carry out the business of the state/country.

Before it was argued that conventions were private (as you argue now) to keep african americans out. The courts said nope - they carry out the business of the state and are as such a public matter under the laws of the united states.

Delegates are ELECTED by their senate district/state conventions to go to higher conventions. For delegates it is NOT "invite only". They are voted to go by citizens in their state. These delegates are EXPECTED to REPRESENT the candidate they are pledged to and the values of that candidate when they are elected to go. I don't know if this is a Kucinich/Dean delegate, but if so she was doing what she was supposed to do - representing the candidate she was pledged to and sent to the convention to represent.

"who was attempting to use that as a platform for her own personal views "

Congratulations - you've just figured out the point of a convention. Ever wonder why delegates submit resolutions and vote on the platform? Gee, you think that might be the POINT OF BEING A DELEGATE? Gosh, who would have thought that might entail a delegate using the convention to share personal views.

The idea is that ALL views will be heard, and a platform will be generated reflecting whatever the majority of delegates believe. No delegate is supposed to be silenced simply because they have a minority opinion. (and rather or not this is a minority opinion is questionable)

[Caution]

46. I stand corrected

In that case she is simply politically naive, but the DNC was clearly in the wrong to have her removed. Too bad she felt it necessary to be divisive in this context. But where speech is protected she has the right. For the record I agree with her position but I disagree with her choice of venue to voice it.

[belle]

79. Yeah. It just seems impotent and...young. Especially for...

a senior and key figure within the Green Party. Trying to wangle some airtime for herself to say a few words...*somehow*...would've been smarter. Even writing an article for the printed media. As it stands, no one at home saw the sign, which she *must* have known was going to happen; and all that people there are going to remember of her is the chick who was led out in handcuffs. I just keep thinking: she's too old for this shit. It makes me take the whole Green party that much less seriously, and they've already fallen way far in my estimation. I mean, stick to your principles, but try to look like an adult while you're doing it, you know? At least try some methods that the rest of the country isn't completely inured to after forty+ years of this sort of thing. Or ask yourself: are you more interested in making your agenda happen, or in acting out against authority because of some personal psychodrama?

[kiahzero]

94. Really? It's public?

I can walk into the convention and say whatever the fuck I want? That's cool... wish I had known that a month ago, when my summer program was cancelled because we couldn't get credentials.

I should have just told my professors that we didn't need them, because conventions aren't private.

[truthspeaker]

39. She was invited.

Besides, we're the DEMOCRATIC party, not the Fascist party.

[paulk]

62. was she?

Was she a delegate? I'm curious - I haven't been able to find out what her role at the convention was.

I know she ran as a Green in the 2000 CA Senate race - did she switch parties since then?

[truthspeaker]

71. You can't get in without an invitation

I don't think she's a delegate, but she is supporting Dem candidates.

[Green Lantern]

89. Medea

Last I saw the other day on a Green site, she no longer lists herself as a Green.

[pschoeb]

42. I'll wait, when Medea does the same thing to Repugs at their convention

I bet all of DU will be cheering her on.

[0rganism]

64. You can bet she will, if she can get in the door

Medea has a brilliant habit of turning up where she's not expected

[pschoeb]

68. Yeah I know she will definatly be there

I just read my post and realized, it sounded like I was saying, I'll only support Medea if she does the same to Repugs.

What I really meant was there is no doubt she is going to be protesting at the RNC even harder, and all the naysayers here will be cheering her on, hypocritically.

There will probably be huge office building anti-war/anti-bush banner drops in NYC for the RNC, activists will risk jail sentences and fines to do it. Yet Democrats are upset by a small anti-war banner that doesn't even bash the Democratic Party.

[belle]

80. I don't know that I would be, cheering her on, I mean.

Anyway after pulling that stunt I can't imagine they'd let her in the door.

[mojowork_n]

52. Methinks your logic is a little bit circumlocuitous, sad to say

Sure, we don't want Bush to "declare our troop deployment in Iraq is permanent and that Iran is next, followed by Syria..."

Because 95% of us, in one form or another, are AGAINST THE WAR, just like Medea Benjamen. So we're supposed to keep it a secret, until after the election?

We're just not even going to mention the war as a campaign issue, or hold up any banners, or put anything about it in the party platform. Never mind the incredible number of signatures in the Kucinich petition. Hell, better to not even let the most effective and intelligent speaker from the primary debates, Al Sharpton, even get near the podium at this convention.

Forget that letter from Danny Glover and Susan Sarandon.

I know, I have to agree with whoever said "we can't just leave, now, and hand over the whole country to the terrorists", up there in the previous postings, but we all have to know that we can't be staying there forever, either. So why not just admit it, up front?

Mike

P.S. It includes links to some of the worst peckerwood/cracker Southron Libertarians but I sometimes go to this website for their excellent assortment of world news article links. Today the banner editorial, in the intended contrarian way, also helped me to second-guess this whole "unity" strategy.. There is something vaguely creepy about this enforced silence, ignoring the elephant in the tent, in the name of party discipline. Who are we frontin' for? The three or four percent 'undecided' late-decision-makers who always wait for someone else to make up their minds for them?

http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=3199

[kiahzero]

95. Straw man

Against war != against occupation. You see, some of us can recognize that consequences happen. While I was against the Iraq War, I don't have the same kind of magical thinking that some have: it seems that some believe that if we just pull out now, it'll be like it never happened.

[Dhalgren]

105. That's the "straw man", right there.

No one has said that "just pull out now, it'll be like it never happened". What some of us has said is that we should pull out because that would be the right thing to do now. We should pay reparations and help the Iraqis and the international community rebuild what we have destroyed - we just do not need to be over there holding a whole nation at gun point for our own agenda. Evry day that we stay in Iraq is making it worse and harder to eventually resolve. Some people think that we are the saviors of the world - well the opposite is closer to the truth.

[Freddie Stubbs]

41. Same tactics that the LaRouche supporters used

Throw a fit and disrupt things when they don't get their way.

[Barrett808]

43. Who can condemn her for civil disobedience?

If, indeed, it was civil disobedience?

To my mind, anything that keeps the fire lit under the Dems, reminding them of their own complicity in the illegal invasion, is all to the good.

The occupation policy is a catastrophe, and Dems should be held responsible just as much as Republicans. I try not to be alarmed that Kerry seems all too sanguine about extending the occupation when he's elected.

Did DUers complain loudly when Code Pink unfurled their "War criminals" banner as Rumsfeld made his statements on Abu Ghraib?

[Ramsey]

61. I saw her right after Obama

Stanidng in the hallway. She wasn't carrying a banner at that time though. She was of course wearing her pink slip.

[0rganism]

63. Medea bashers, just remember who got *invited* to spew at the Dems

Sean Hannity is at the Democratic convention

Larry Elders is at the Democratic convention

Bill Oh'Really is at the Democratic convention

Brent Bozell is at the Democratic convention

FOX FUCKING NEWS is covering the Democratic convention in that special way only they can

CNN brought their pet rightwing whores Hemmer and Crowley to cover the Democratic convention in an attempt to compete with FOX

And oh so many more.

Yet you guys are flipping shit at Medea Benjamin for displaying a banner saying what many of us here and a significant bloc within the Democratic party have been saying for the past year? WHY? Because she's with an activist group instead of on contract with FOX or CNN or Clearchannel? Get some perspective, PLEASE. Lavish your resentiment on the people who actually deserve it.

[Dhalgren]

90. I agree 100%!

This woman is on OUR SIDE! Jesus, who the hell are we anyway?!

[gatlingforme]

69. Gee TED, was it clear that security might have had a hand in this

and that there are certain guidlines to go by as will be in the Republican Party when they have there convention.? HMMMMM let me see yeah I THINK THERE IS>

[John_H]

77. Green Party Member. Wants to beat Dems. At Dem Convention.

What's so hard to understand? If a pro-choice rethug disrupted the convention would the one percenters still be whining? Just because you agree with the message, you think it's Ok for opposing parties to disrupt each other's conventions right?

[Dhalgren]

91. So it is the official Democratic position

that Pro-lifers are in the same catagory (to the Party) as anti-war activists? So the Democratic Party is offically pro-war? I guess, all in all, that makes sense...

[kiahzero]

96. False dichtomies are logical fallacies.

I'm sure you knew that, though. :eyes:

Not being anti-occupation does not make you pro-war... Not being for the immediate withdrawl of troops does not mean that you supported the war in the first place.

If someone went into the convention with a banner which read: "End the genocide of the unborn!," would you be as upset when said person was escorted out?

[flaminbats]

99. only if they were a delegate or allowed in because of sloppiness..

then it wouldn't be right to interfere with the individual's freedom of speech. The appropriate thing would be to revoke the pass if visiting or arrest them if they were trespassing. Every delegate should be allowed to bring what they can into the convention center, as long as it is not a danger to other delegates' security.

[Dhalgren]

106. But what you are saying is that

two of the positions that the party holds, is pro-choice and pro-occupation. If the Democratic Party is pro-occupation of Iraq, it should make that statement very clearly and up front. Being in favor of continuing Caligula Bush's occupation of Iraq is a major deal with a lot of us. And all of you Democrats who are touting the Kerry "stay the course" line had better gear up for when this becomes Mr. Kerry's war. When Mr. Kerry asks you to go and serve as an occupier in Iraq, will you go? Will you volunteer your children to go and serve as occupying troops in Mr. Kerry's war? I wonder?

[chascarrillo]

98. I'd eject someone working to defeat Kerry, too

Really, it's very simple. If someone from another party crashes the convention, they get escorted out. I'd expect nothing less.

[latebloomer]

78. Free speech zones, stifling of dissent

I'm just lovin that Democratic big tent!!

[bvar22]

81. Thanks, Medea!

You spoke MY message to the World at the Convention. Many, many Democrats want to end the bloody, murderous Privatization of Iraq!

Vote for Kerry/Edwards. It's an important start.

[evworldeditor]

88. So, What's the Plan to Get Out?

I just heard that a very good friend of mine and work colleague, a captain in the Army Reserve here in Nebraska, has just been told he's to be deployed to Iraq within the next few months for 18 months... apparently to Baghdad!

I am just heart sick because I know he's torn by his sense of duty and patriotism and his realization that Iraq is a "mess"... and that's his word, not mine.

I told him sometime back that if he is deployed, I'd personally buy him a flak jacket, if he isn't issued one. That's promise I would rather not have to keep, but am willing to fulfill.

What concerns me is the contention that the powers-that-be have no intention of leaving Iraq and as proof they point to the construction or occupation of 14 large military bases scattered across the country.

That's what I want John Kerry to address. What's the plan and when do we pull them out? When can my friend come home?

[medeak]

86. thanks!

I've always admired her politics....she took Sean Penn to Iraq remember?

Besides..she's the only other human being on face of earth that had to grow up with this name..

[JSJ]

103. reminds one of the chi convention of '68

...when Boss Daley's thugs started beating on anyone with a press badge or sporting long hair.

[hippywife]

104. Good for Medea!

Everyone has been complaining about the pens set up for protest and how they should be addressed. Medea found a way to get the message through and around these atrocities known as "free speeech zones." All of America is a free speech zone.

This is no better than the anti-Bush activists being hauled away from a campaign stop for the t-shirts they were wearing.

The DNC didn't want her arrested but managed to have her removed from their "well scripted" event. Both parties seek to stifle dissent. The RNC to retain power and the DNC out of abject fear.

Anyone who thinks that she was an idiot or it was the wrong place to take the message is still living in the abject fear this administration is peddling.

Dissent can be messy and thank goodness there are people like Medea out there who are willing to do what it takes. Polite conversation got the Dems really far in 2002, don't you think? Everyone advocated for them to grow a spine and stand up against the Republicans...one small woman with a powerful message is showing them up!

[Dhalgren]

107. Hear! Hear!

Well said!

[Snivi Yllom]

108. I would have loved to have seen this covered

but that would be asking too much from the media whores

[Gingersnapsback]

109. Did anyone see Bush Cheney signs behind Chris Mathews

on Tuesday night? They should have been arrested since you know they were planted by Mathews. I had to take an extra blood pressure pill because the coverage was so biased. I will audit their coverage, but never believe another word they utter again.

[sandboxface]

115. This is exactly why I am reluctant to support the Democratic Party

People want the war ended. The Dems seem to be keeping a low profile on the issue. I want a president who will END the war!!!