President Obama signed the EO to close GITMO ... the gop (and some democrats) in the House told him "No." ... Just like they are now.

- even though I don't like the code pink approach,
the cause is just.

- and I don't like everything the President does
but perceive him to be an honest man with
an active conscience.

To remain honest in a world so full of cheat deceit
and brilliant, powerful liars is not an easy task.
He makes mistakes and gets fooled. Regardless
I have a lot of faith in his integrity, always have.

What I loved: he finally stopped trying
to be heard -- and listened. Even if it's not
appropriate for anybody to interrupt the Pres
like that, according to all good manners and
whatnots -- still he had the good sense and the
humility to be quiet, let this citizen speak.

I do not doubt he has since revisited her words
and continues to do so. Or in case he hasn't
I hope he will. There are details in there he
needs to think about.

Not sure if there have been many moments
like this in recorded history?

He didn't have to be quiet and listen. He could
have ignored or silenced her in many ways.
Instead he became quiet, and listened (or tried),
& let her be heard. (and she is brave...)

An inconvenient fact for all the "Blame Obama" greenbaggers.

Fuck #StandWithRand.

Sid

in the House and Senate for the first two years of his tenure.

The system is now a dysfunctional, irrevocably broken epic fail, and we need to dismantle it and send it to the junkyard of history.

President Obama enjoy?

There you go with confusing FDR with PBO, again.

but as a reply not an OP. Some of us feel she brought attention to important issues AND he handled it well and used it to further arguments for better policy.

Not everything is bagger v POTUS.

is wrong? Protesting is wrong? In a democracy, OUR elected representatives do the will of the people. The drone program and the unConstitutional extra-judicial murder of US citizens and so-called kill lists which OUR representative will not even discuss, were never voted on by the people of this country. Ever. Not one tiny bit. Medea is voicing this concern and it's wrong? This is a Democracy, and that literally means "the voice of the people".

that "Bringing the will of the people before our representative who has made such illegal (HR347)" was merely a publicity stunt ... right?

was indeed very gracious.

Would that many an intemperate, ignorant asshole were as gracious to him as he is to others.

countries with whom we are not even at war? This is Unacceptable and we the people of this country have every right to demand it be ended immediately. You forget that he also signed HR347 to isolate himself from protest (George Bush as well, for the rest of their lives). We now have to break the law to address OUR REPRESENTATIVE.

In case it's not obvious, it's not democracy when OUR representatives make it illegal for us to address them. How is making addressing OUR representative illegal "gracious"? Medea is on the right side of history. I suggest you join her.

Sid

we'd get a lot done that way, so effective

or maybe just me, because my issues are more important than anyone else's.

They are universal, and closing down Gitmo is just as important as anything else the president and Congress are dealing with.

Human rights are NEVER a luxury.

I demand MY turn ALSO! There are PLENTY of issues out there, so let's ALL get yelling!

because social change and justice just happens on its own

get to work and do concrete things about our problems.

yelling makes the news and is so ego-boasting ... for both the yeller and for those that agree with the yeller, but are doing nothing more than listening and "Yepping" ... and of course posting angrily to internet bulletin boards.

I am frequently humbled by the old-timers I run into who have been in the trenches for decades WORKING every day to change things, humbled and impressed by how fundamentally different their agenda is from that of the yellers.

yelling does have a place ... it just has no affect on the person/people you are yelling at.

and start yelling.

When are you going to start, I want to be there when you express your thoughts.

There's NO OTHER WAY to raise these things than to do what Medea does. Would you rather she do something useless and meaningless, like writing letters no Congressmember will ever read or have read to them? Something that CAN'T work?

And they aren't her issues. This isn't about Medea's ego, for Christ sake.

The president works for US. He should have to listen to us once in awhile. And the president didn't MIND her doing this, so why are YOU being childish about it.

Any act of act of nonviolent resistance should be given respect, because all forms of resistance are difficult.

Nothing else would work.

Lobbying legislators doesn't work. And they'd never let her testify to Congress anyway.

So, basically, her choices are to do things like this or just give up. There really aren't any other options.

Polite persuasion is impossible in D.C. today.

she has hardened me against anything she wants to do with that rude, self-centered stupid display

I'm her target market and she's alienated me. SHE IS AN IDIOT. not an advocate.

or about stopping the war.

If you did, you'd realize that playing nice and being polite and deferential doesn't work in trying to end things like that. Politeness is just dismissed and deference is simply taken as weakness.

And there's no such thing as a persuadable member of Congress these days anyway, so why bother? Nobody there has changed their mind on anything important in years.

Shoulda known.

I'm starting to believe that we are to the edge of total detachment from reality, when people actually believe that interrupting a press conference is anything other than an ego event, let alone an effective exercise of Democracy.

We are becoming what we (Liberals) once loathed.

The president, in a democracy, has the responsibility to listen to the people.

exactly, was shouting at a President, who - btw - was saying what you are shouting, holding a public servant accountable?

A testy note to the prez?

want to do something of value ...

RUN FOR OFFICE.

that is saying pretty much what you are shouting about is of value. I find Jon Stewart and Steve Colbert's work far more valuable.

But I was talking about YOU voting for the candidate that supports your views ... and since I'm pretty certain there are none, then YOU run for office.

I'm gleefully retired. Nor, have I ever wanted to be anyone's boss.

"History has tried to teach us that we can't have good government under politicians.   Now, to go and stick one at the very head of government couldn't be wise." Mark Twain

The root of the word Democracy is "the voice of the people". This is our country. Politicians are our representatives. WE are the leaders. They do what WE say.

At least so the theory goes.

We are now a corporatocracy with increasingly vanishing rights for the people and increasingly vast rights for the rich. Obama himself signed HR347 which makes it a federal crime to protest where the secret service are active (and then he gave himself and war criminal Bush life-time secret service protection). Occupy New England mic checked him and then the law came down. Chilling effect upon protest. It's not democracy if our representatives won't listen to us. THEY should be happy to be GIVEN the chance to speak, when WE are done. WE are the leaders. It is OUR country.

I will not give away my power to "leaders" and their corporate masters. For several months in late 2011 and early 2012 the people of this country took back the narrative and it felt like we could do anything at all. It was our voice, our unity, our decision what to do and to build. "They" stole back the narrative with pre-planned, bullshit banking problems to remind us WHY WE NEED THEM, to paraphrase the film. They continue to do this and it will only get worse ala' the tea party/Koch "emergency manager" scheme now playing out in Michigan. Expect the purposefully-created Bush war debt to be ponied out when they want to force "austerity" down our throats (but continue bailing themselves out). Expect "terrorism" to become worse to justify the permanent war budget and highly profitable surveillance state, much of which Obama himself signed into law, including the ruled unConstitutional section 1021 of the 2012 NDAA.

Shit's fucked up and bullshit.

"People should not be afraid of their government. Government should be afraid of their people." I do stand with Medea. She should have been the only one speaking that day.

now dislike Code Pink since they began challenging the illegal drone program and unConstitutional execution of US citizens by this administration.

clownish circus actions they bring sometimes which totally detracts or minimizes their message and the fact that they apparently have no concern about stepping on ontheir own tails. It is hard for those who disagree with them to take them seriously enough to listen. Sometimes you need to speak with modulation to force the shouters to stop and listen. Otherwise you end up being part of the babble. MLK spoke with clarity and with a cohesive message. He held the people's attention without making his movement look foolish.

were pretty agnostic regarding CP; thinking (saying) great point, poor execution.

those of us who were here remember it well.

This was well received:



But let's be honest. Most of those DUers have been tombstoned early in the Obama administration or left because because of rightward drift/less genuine activism here.

When was the last time the DU Activist Corps was activated? Oh yeah, when there wasn't a Democrat in office. :/

I bet she speaks for pretty much everyone of the millions who gathered throughout the WORLD on the eve of the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe, if the people had a shred of power against the MIC, we could still have civil discourse. But, it's not the people's fault we are ignored. Madea Still Speaks. Good for her.

I was a volunteer for Obama in 2012. I love the man. But I was also protesting these gruesome and obscene wars before they even started! Obama said she should be heard. Christ, even Eisenhower warned about the evil of the Military-industrial complex. Obama and Medea - I love them both for all they have done.

She is beyond redemption on Guantanamo - clearly, Obama tried and is trying very hard to close it. His speech was perfect and the only thing in the way of shutting down Guantanamo is Congress. Great speech, Guantanamo is as unamerican as it gets. Clearly +boldly expressing that "it should never have been opened".

OTOH Medea is spot on about Drones and had every right to act like an ass in the way she did - if it was right to do so under Bush, it is right to do so now because this admin has only escalated this angle of the GWOT.

One thing that Medea would do well to remember is that pulling such a number on Bush or Cheney would have gotten her tazered, manhandled and harassed, while O reacted as gracious and patient as the Dalai Lama. Whatever differences one has with his policies (I have many of those, obviously) - he handled himself great and very presidential in the best way of the word. Medea could and should have stopped after that first round of shouting. And, if she really felt that she had to cause a scene, it would have been better to do so exclusively over Drones, and not Gitmo.

eom

Last edited Sat May 25, 2013, 02:04 PM - Edit history (1)

eta: looks like the trolls are showing up to express their agreement.

I am glad that the rest of the World gets to see that we are not all sheep,
blindly following our leaders on issues that are an insult to Human Rights
and Peace in the World.

Code Pink speaks for me.
They are Heroes to our democracy!

President Obama handled the Social Awkwardness well,
but has NOT handled the issue of the BOGUS War on a Word, The burgeoning extra-constitutional powers of the Unitary Executive, or the growing USPolice State well.

"The voice of that woman is worth paying attention to." sincerely, President Barrack H. Obama

Code Pink gave the subject some attention. Now if we can get past Code Pink being the subject and onto the actual subject...

The point remains...only outburst and disruption can work at all. Politeness has now permanently failed.

They're even claiming the incident was staged "to make the President look good under fire"!

I stand with Medea Benjamin's protest....... and I applaud the way President Obama responded.

Obama is the President, not King. He is the employee of each and every American. As his employer, Medea chose her means of communication. As his employee, I have chosen many means of communication, including faxes, letters, voice mails, and protests. If I ever had the chance to see him in person, I have no doubt I would consider many means of expression, including my voice.

But I have no problem with Medea speaking her mind. I loved it when she called out Bush and I'll accept it when she calls out Obama. Fair is fair.

I have always supported and admired Code Pink. In this particular instance, the president showed respect to Medea by stopping and listening to her and supporting her right to speak out.

Unfortunately Medea abused that respect by continuing to interrupt which was tantamount to verbally harassing the president. He showed her respect and got none in return.

It's pretty clear upon reading this thread that some here that 'stand with Medea' are really supportive of the disrespect she showed the president.

I admire Code pink, also. The President was wonderful in the way he handled the situation. Medea's methods are extreme sometimes and she may regret her actions - I don't know. But this is a woman who works constantly and tirelessly for peace. She has my respect.