Florida 4 Peace

Protesters Disrupt Obama in St. Pete

2008-08-02T19:53:00.000-04:00

Obama, interrupted
Posted: Friday, August 01, 2008 11:21 AM by Mark Murray

From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli and NBC's Lauren Appelbaum
ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- About seven minutes into his remarks here, Obama was interrupted by a handful of African-American demonstrators, who stood up in the last row of a section of bleachers behind him and held up a sign that said: "What about the black community, Obama." It had a link to a Web sitewhich calls itself the "Online Voice of the International African Revolution."

Obama eventually stopped speaking, turned around, and said, "Excuse me, young men. This is going to be a question-and-answer session, so you can ask a question later. Let me make my statement. Why don't you all sit down? Then you can ask your question. That's why we're having a town hall meeting. Sit down. You'll have a chance to answer your question. But you don't want to disrupt the whole meeting. Just be courteous. That's all. All you got to do is be courteous. That's all. Just be courteous and you'll have a chance to make your statement."

The men eventually sat down and their sign was taken away by those sitting nearby, and eventually a campaign staffer took it away.
*** UPDATE *** Per NBC's Lauren Appelbaum, Obama eventually took a question from one of these protestors. Here's the exchange:

Obama: I'm going to call on these young men. Just one of you. All right? And remember, I made a promise to you. But also I want you to give your mike back after you ask your question or make your comment.

Protestor: So my question is: In the face of the numerous attacks that are made against the African community or the black community, by the same US government that you aspire to lead -- and we are talking about attacks like the subprime mortgage that you spoke of -- it wasn't just a general ambiguous kind of phenomena, a phenomena that targeted the African community and Latino community, attacks like the killing of Sean Bell by the New York police department and right here in St. Petersburg by the St. Petersburg police, and Jena 6 and Hurricane Katrina, and the list goes on. In the face of all these attacks that are clearly being made on the African community, why is it that you have not had the ability to not one time speak to the interests and even speak on the behalf of the oppressed and exploited African community or black community in this country?

Obama: Well, I, ah, I guess, I... Hold on a second, everybody. I want everybody to be respectful. That's why we are having a town hall meeting. That's democracy at work. And he asked a legitimate question, so I want to give him an answer.

I think you are misinformed about when you say not one time. Every issue you've spoken about, I actually did speak out about. I'm going to go through the various specific examples. I've been talking about predatory lending for the last two years in the United States Senate and worked to pass legislation to prevent it when I wan in the state legislature. And I have repeatedly said that many of the predatory loans that were made in the mortgage system did target African American and Latino communities. I've said that repeatedly.

Number two, Jena Six -- I was the first candidate to get out there and say this is wrong, that there's an injustice that's been done and we need to change it. That's number two.

When Sean Bell got shot, I put out a statement immediately saying this is a problem. (Protestors yell out something inaudible.) I'm sorry, wait, wait, wait, don't start, hold on, don't start, you know shouting back, I'm just answering your question. On each of these issues, I've spoken out. Now, I may not have spoken out the way you would have wanted me to speak out, which is fine.

More from Obama: Here's what I'm suggesting. What I'm suggesting is that on each of these issues that you mentioned, I have spoken out and I have spoken out forcefully. I was a civil-rights lawyer. I have passed, I passed -- hold on a second -- I passed the first racial profiling legislation in Illinois. I passed, I passed some of the toughest death penalty reform legislation in Illinois. So, these are issues I've worked on for decades. Now, that doesn't mean I'm always going to satisfy the way you guys want these issues framed. I understand that, which gives you the option of voting for somebody else. It gives you the option of running for office yourself. Those are all options. But the one thing that I think is important, the one thing that I think is important is that we're respectful towards each other. And what is true is I believe that the only way we're going to solve our problems in this country... The only way were going to solve our problems in this country is if all of us come together -- black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, young, old, disabled, gay, straight. That I think has got to be our agenda.

Here's the statement from Uhuru:

Breaking News Update:

Covered on CNN, Fox, ABC, as well as on the front cover of today's New York Times newspaper: The Uhuru Movement led a demonstration and protest at Obama's town hall meeting, demanding he address the concerns and conditions of the African community! Held at Gibbs High School, former school of 17-year-old Javon Dawson who was murdered by police June 7th, Obama was campaigning on his platform for "change" when Uhuru Movement members stood up and unfurled the banner reading "What about the Black community, Obama?" Diop Olugbala, international organizer for the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, challenged Obama to take a stand about:

- The subprime mortgage crisis that targeted the African community and Latino community

- Attacks like the killing of Sean Bell by the New York police department and Javon Dawson right here in St. Petersburg by the St. Petersburg police

- The Jena 6

- Hurricane Katrina, and the list goes on!

This was a strategic political struggle to thrust the issues of the African working class community into the national political debate. Uhuru Solidarity Movement is making a call for white people to take a stand and support this struggle! It's not a debate about McCain being the better candidate, it is a struggle around Obama who is basing his campaign on hope and change, garnering support from people who want to see a change in the world. But if you really look at what Obama represents, it is more of the status quo: he supports the continuation of the war abroad, he supports the death penalty, his financial advisor Penny Pritzker was the architect of the subprime mortgage targeting the African community, and the list goes on! Obama and McCain are the same! Real change, real peace can not happen without social justice.

The Uhuru Movement is demanding that the devastating conditions in the African community must be addressed! African people must have control over their own resources, lives and futures! Go to www.UhuruNews.com for more!

If we want real peace, we have to support an end to the terror enforced on the African community. Be part of an organization that is changing the world! Join Uhuru Solidarity Movement!

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW:

- Demonstration TONIGHT!

Justice for Javon Dawson demonstration at Tropicana Dome - meet at the Uhuru House at 5:00 pm, 1245 18th Avenue South, we'll caravan to the demonstration!

- Speak out!

Blog and make comments on the national news sites that are running coverage on this protest. They want to characterize the Uhuru Movement as "hecklers", but it was a protest making serious demands that Obama address the conditions in the African community!

- Attend the Community Meeting!

Sunday, August 3rd at 4:00 pm at the Uhuru House (1245 18th Avenue South) - attend this community meeting - hear from the protesters - learn about updates - open yourself up to understanding these issues from the perspective of the working class African community! Everyone is welcome - learn more about how you can participate!

- Attend Event: "The Problems Obama Will Not Solve"

Saturday, September 6th at 2:00 pm, St. Petersburg Main Library, 3745 9th Avenue North, St. Petersburg

For more information - contact USM Chair, Stephanie at 727-510-4360.

Check out these links to see national media coverage, hear Diop address Obama and learn more!

www.UhuruNews.com

firstread.msnbc.msn.com

blogs.tampabay.com

myfoxtampabay.com

tampabays10.com

elections.foxnews.com

politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com (scroll down)

Help Wexler Impeach Cheney

2007-12-20T19:55:00.000-05:00

Go to www.WexlerWantsHearings.com and join Congressman Wexler's call for Cheney Impeachment Hearings

Sign the petition here.

Initially this op-ed was censored (refused) for publication by major newspapers across the country...

A CASE FOR HEARINGS

By Representatives and Members of the Judiciary Committee:
Robert Wexler (D-FL), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)

On November 7, the House of Representatives voted to send a resolution of impeachment of Vice President Cheney to the Judiciary Committee. As Members of the House Judiciary Committee, we strongly believe these important hearings should begin.

The issues at hand are too serious to ignore, including credible allegations of abuse of power that if proven may well constitute high crimes and misdemeanors under our constitution. The charges against Vice President Cheney relate to his deceptive actions leading up to the Iraq war, the revelation of the identity of a covert agent for political retaliation, and the illegal wiretapping of American citizens...

Now that former White House press secretary Scott McClellan has indicated that the Vice President and his staff purposefully gave him false information about the outing of Valerie Plame Wilson as a covert agent to report to the American people, it is even more important for Congress to investigate what may have been an intentional obstruction of justice. Congress should call Mr. McClellan to testify about what he described as being asked to “unknowingly [pass] along false information.” In addition, recent revelations have shown that the Administration including Vice President Cheney may have again manipulated and exaggerated evidence about weapons of mass destruction -- this time about Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Some of us were in Congress during the impeachment hearings of President Clinton. We spent a year and a half listening to testimony about President Clinton’s personal relations. This must not be the model for impeachment inquires. A Democratic Congress can show that it takes its constitutional authority seriously and hold a sober investigation, which will stand in stark contrast to the kangaroo court convened by Republicans for President Clinton. In fact, the worst legacy of the Clinton impeachment – where the GOP pursued trumped up and insignificant allegations - would be that it discourages future Congresses from examining credible and significant allegations of a constitutional nature when they arise.

The charges against Vice President Cheney are not personal. They go to the core of the actions of this Administration, and deserve consideration in a way the Clinton scandal never did. The American people understand this, and a majority support hearings according to a November 13 poll by the American Research Group. In fact, 70% of voters say that Vice President Cheney has abused his powers and 43% say that he should be removed from office right now. The American people understand the magnitude of what has been done and what is at stake if we fail to act. It is time for Congress to catch up.

Some people argue that the Judiciary Committee can not proceed with impeachment hearings because it would distract Congress from passing important legislative initiatives. We disagree. First, hearings need not tie up Congress for a year and shut down the nation. Second, hearings will not prevent Congress from completing its other business. These hearings involve the possible impeachment of the Vice President – not our commander in chief – and the resulting impact on the nation’s business and attention would be significantly less than the Clinton Presidential impeachment hearings. Also, despite the fact that President Bush has thwarted moderate Democratic policies that are supported by a vast majority of Americans -- including children’s health care, stem cell research, and bringing our troops home from Iraq -- the Democratic Congress has already managed to deliver a minimum wage hike, an energy bill to address the climate crisis and bring us closer to energy independence, assistance for college tuition, and other legislative successes. We can continue to deliver on more of our agenda in the coming year while simultaneously fulfilling our constitutional duty by investigating and publicly revealing whether or not Vice President Cheney has committed high crimes and misdemeanors.

Holding hearings would put the evidence on the table, and the evidence – not politics – should determine the outcome. Even if the hearings do not lead to removal from office, putting these grievous abuses on the record is important for the sake of history. For an Administration that has consistently skirted the constitution and asserted that it is above the law, it is imperative for Congress to make clear that we do not accept this dangerous precedent. Our Founding Fathers provided Congress the power of impeachment for just this reason, and we must now at least consider using it.

For more info on this campaign go to www.WexlerWantsHearings.com.

Robert Wexler Calls for Cheney Impeachment

2007-12-12T13:21:00.000-05:00

Robert Wexler Calls for Cheney Impeachment at a local forum in S. FL.

St. Petersburg GOP Debate Protests

2007-12-01T21:19:00.000-05:00

Coverage of the march from the rally at Pioneer Park to the Mahaffy theater

HOMELESS IN ST. PETE from Davis Fleetwood, videography- GLENN P. WARMUTH...

Outside, Before the St. Petersburg GOP Debate

cross-posted from TNJP...

Hecklers Dog Gonzales at UF Protest

2007-11-20T18:10:00.000-05:00

Hecklers dog Gonzales By JACK STRIPLING Nov 20, 2007
Hounded by hecklers and protesters, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales defended an admittedly imperfect record before a raucous University of Florida audience Monday night.

Gonzales devoted much of his speech to encouraging students to enter public service, despite the criticism that public officials like himself endure.

The fervency of that criticism was readily apparent as several protesters stood with their backs turned toward Gonzales throughout his speech, frequently interrupted him with calls of “liar” and “treason” and, in some cases, stormed the stage...

Two UF students, wearing black hoods over their heads and orange suits that resembled those worn by prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, hopped onto the stage next to Gonzales before they were arrested by UF Police. As the men were removed from the auditorium, Gonzales said, “Our young men and women fight overseas to preserve this kind of freedom of speech.”

In an audience of about 1,500 people at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Gonzales had several dozen supporters who gave him standing ovations. But the former attorney general, who recently resigned from his post under a cloud of controversy, was challenged at times to even complete a sentence because of the disruption from his opponents... (Full story)

Protesters Arrested at Gonzales UF Speech

2007-11-20T18:07:00.000-05:00

As far as I'm concerned those arrested weren't committing any crime. As citizens we have the obligation under international law to resist the criminal actions of our government. Especially torture-mongers the likes of Alberto Gonzales... The real crime is the University of Florida payin' war criminal Gonzales $40,000 for showing up to be abused!
Protesters arrested at Gonzales speech By DEVIN CULCLASURE, Alligator Writer
In his first appearance at a university since resigning in August, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was met at UF on Monday with a mixture of cheers, boos and scattered interruptions by protesters, two of whom were arrested.

Gonzales, who resigned from his position after a controversial tenure, spoke to more than 800 people at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

During his prepared speech, Gonzales largely avoided discussing the controversies he faced in office, including his dismissal of nine U.S. attorneys.

Instead, he focused on encouraging students to consider a career in public service while describing his own experiences in that field.

About 15 minutes into his speech, two UF students, Richard Gutierrez and Kevin Hachey, climbed onto the stage wearing orange jumpsuits and black hoods on their heads...

University Police Department officers scrambled onto the stage to remove them.

Matthew Cox, an employee of the Phillips Center, wrestled with one protester on the far side of stage, grabbing his legs and pulling him down.

The other stood directly next to Gonzales, who calmly avoided looking in his direction.

As police took the protester away, Gonzales glanced in his direction before attempting to continue his speech while he waited for the raucous crowd to settle down after a few minutes.

A few more protesters climbed onto the stage.

Meanwhile, even more protesters stood up, removed shirts or jackets revealing yellow T-shirts that read "SHAME," and stood with their backs toward Gonzales.

They remained standing in their positions for the rest of the event.

Eventually, Gonzales continued his speech and then sat across from Henry Wihnyk, a UF law professor, for a question-and-answer session.

Wihnyk read students' questions, which had been written on index cards before and during Gonzales' speech.

During Gonzales' address, the self-described "son of a Mexican immigrant and cotton picker" said his life was evidence of the American dream.

"I love America for all that she has done for me," he said. "We are not perfect. Sometimes we stumble, but we always get up."

Gonzales said he was proud of his record and defended his work with President Bush, though there were missteps, he said.

Later, he ignored scattered jeers from the crowd to answer questions about his dismissal of the attorneys, the Geneva Convention and torture.

Afterward, UPD Lt. Stacey Ettel said Gutierrez and Hachey were arrested for disrupting a public event.

Ettel said UPD expected most of the protester's actions because they received information about some of the plans prior to the event. However, UPD did not anticipate what Gutierrez and Hachey did, he said.

Still, Ettel said he believed most of the protesters' behavior was acceptable.

"I felt like they were able to express their feelings and voice their concerns from a visual viewpoint," he said.

Steve Orlando, UF spokesman, said the usual number of four security officers was present. He added that he also thought most of the protesters expressed their views reasonably.

"A few crossed the line, but I think it went pretty well," Orlando said.

"I think Mr. Gonzales saw a whole lot of First Amendment tonight," he added with a laugh. "As he said, that's what this place is about."

Video of students protesting Gonzales speech

Veterans Day Die-In In St. Augustine Florida

2007-11-12T15:15:00.000-05:00

We had our Veterans Day die-in protest today at 11am (11-11-11). It was a powerful experience with 16 people "dying" 10 minutes at a time... 2 different locations on busy touristy St. George St. In St. Augustine, FL). We had some wonderful support and encouragement but way too much of an angry response. Still, people were yelling.."We got rid of Saddam"," We are fighting for freedom" and a cop overheard calling us "idiots".

However, I know we made an impact, we made people uncomfortable and reminded them that people actually do die in a war. Here are pictures on Webshot and also here is an article written for our Independent paper, The Collective Press.
Enjoy...
Marilyn/PPJ/St. Augustine (member of www.solidarityandpeace.org)

Why, Mommy?
By Mary Lawrence
Why indeed. I died on Veterans Day 11/11/07 at 11 a.m in St Augustine as one of 3860 US soldiers, 141 journalists and 1,100,000 Iraqis. Lying on the hard ground, seeing nothing and hearing footsteps and muffled conversations, throughout it all, one child's plaintive voice broke through: "Why, Mommy?"

"Because they're tired, honey."

Twenty people, dressed in black, solemnly and silently marched the entire length of St George Street to the dirge-like beat of a drum. Signs around their necks noted numbers of dead US soldiers, dead Iraqis, dead children and dead journalists. At predetermined places, the twenty laid down dead on the ground for ten minutes while peacekeepers passed out flyers, outlined bodies with chalk and protected them from any potential injury, intentional or otherwise. The police dutifully showed up to tell the group to move on after their second die-in attempt. They were "blocking the flow of foot traffic".

Tired, hell yes. While this small group protested the Iraq "war", others were celebrating sacrifices made there and in other wars. Care was taken to make sure the demonstration was respectful and peaceful but incredibly, there are still those who equate Iraq with the 9/11 attacks, still those who say "You people disgust me" and even worse, still those who will not meet your eyes, take your flyers or rouse themselves from their apathy and despair to take a stand.

Tired, hell yes. While this small group protested the war, draft dodger Dick Cheney was at Arlington Cemetery giving a ten minute speech honoring Iraq veterans while co-draft dodger George Bush was addressing troops at an Army depot in Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania. Clearly wars are fought by the little people, bravely and selflessly, while the power elite sit home safely, making speeches and suppressing dissenters. These two criminal draft dodgers have no business and no right to say anything about those who have sacrificed and died in war yet there is no outrage about this?

Tired, hell yes. While twenty people in the streets is a decent turnout in St Augustine, while countless people thanked us for what we were doing, while many others sadly honored their war dead, why aren't there more of us in the streets? Demonstrators today included members from Veterans for Peace, St Augustine People for Peace and Justice, Grandparents for Peace and Citizens in Action. Where is the general population? Are you dead too? Thank yous are great but actions speak louder than words.

We're all tired but the outrage is building. Many anti-war activists are becoming more radicalized. Orlando's protest on 10/27 was a first in unity with nationwide demonstrations that day. Activists from the sixties are showing young activists how it's done and young activists are adding their own creativity. Status quo government is worried and suppression of dissent and First Amendment rights is growing. Something's got to give.

St Augustine's first "Die In" ended at noon, auspiciously with the church bells pealing loud and long on a beautiful sunny day. Could it be the beginning of the revolution? Could it be the beginning of the truthful answer to the question "Why, Mommy?"

’Die-In’... St. Augustine

Fort Myers Peace Fair Report

2007-11-11T13:10:00.000-05:00

The first ever Peace Fair in Ft Myers was held yesterday. Overall we had a good turn out. Our CODEPINK and Florida For Peace Booth was the busiest and most poupular there and we sold lots of t-shirts and CP stuff, handed out flyers, got petitions and Florida for Peace/Focus on Nelson post cards signed and talked with lots of folks during the day, many of whom never heard of CP.

Quite a few folks signed up to be on our mailing list and we handed out lots of printed material about CP and how to get involved etc. CP activist Faith Fippenger was a keynote speaker and had the whole crowd in tears when she spoke about the women in Iran. We will follow up soon with a CP get together.

I will post photos soon. Because the schedule ran late I got bumped from speaking and also missed the opportunity to be interviewed. But one of our young activists, Dana, did get interviewed by the Naples News. I wish a stronger message was spoken about the war in Iraq and stopping the next war in Iran, but at least we got some press.

Our own News Press did cover the event but did not mention CODEPINK at all.
Peaceful Pink,
Holley

Here is the copy from The Naples Daily News.

Peace was a fair topic at rally in south Lee County
By Elizabeth Wright Saturday, November 10, 2007

Row after row of weathered, white crosses lie flat on the grass at a Lee County park, filling the space between the goal posts of a football field.

Each one was hand-lettered with the name and age of a soldier who died in Iraq.

The man behind the display, Naples resident John Riccio, said his collection of about 800 crosses has long since stopped keeping pace with the death count.

This is the same set of markers he will set out on the beach near the Naples Pier on Sunday.

He’s anticipating some won’t be too happy to see the crosses there on Veterans Day.

But Saturday, at a Peace Fair at Rutenberg Community Park in South Fort Myers, he only heard appreciation for the sprawling anti-war statement he usually keeps housed in borrowed trailers and sheds. It was his chance to encourage other peace activists -- a group that at Saturday’s fair included volunteers from a varied collection of environmental, political and religious groups.

“It’s to let them know they’re not alone in their thinking,” Riccio said.

Across the field, standing near a “Women for Peace” sign, Fort Myers resident Dana Foglesong, 25, who supports anti-war efforts but is still discovering her place in the movement, was among those who surveyed the display.

To her, it was a powerful sight.

“I’m not sure what it proves. But it shows we have responsibilities for what has happened and what is happening,” she said.

As an activist with the Fort Myers chapter of Code Pink, a national group that agitates to end the war in Iraq, Foglesong hasn’t hesitated to say what she thinks those responsibilities are: She’s the woman who held a flaming pink peace sign at a protest along U.S. 41 in Fort Myers two months ago.

She said she kept standing there as a driver suggested her kind ought to just move to Iraq.

Yet Foglesong still described herself as an unlikely activist. Or at least, as she put it, she’s not the “good hippy” the way some others appear to her. She has eaten chicken, and she has bought jeans that may or may not have been made in a sweatshop. She gladly voted for Bush in the 2000 elections.

And while she may understand why, across the park, other groups at the peace fair were talking about the link between environmental sustainability and peace, oil and war -- selling T-shirts that blended the arrows of a recycling symbol with a peace sign -- that’s not her passion.

More often, she’s talking about war in the context of conversations she has with friends in the military and their families, talking about their sense of duty, talking about her views on Iraq, and still trying not to offend.

“People think that people who are pro-peace are anti-soldier, but we’re not,” she said.

Those are conversations that don’t easily reduce to the lettering on a piece of poster board.

Looking over the signs Riccio had set up alongside his display, some seemed over-the-top to her, but she agreed with most of them.

“Save lives,” she said. “Yes.”

“Bring them home. ... Yes.”

“Our troops are sitting ducks. ... Hmm. Yeah, probably.”

She plans to continue attending peace events. She said she worries about the cost of the war, about the day-to-day conditions for Iraqi citizens, and she worries about the lives lost. She wonders if people have forgotten to want peace, and instead view it as “something that’s not pertinent anymore.”

But her goal isn’t necessarily to convince others she’s right that it’s time to pack up and leave Iraq -- or even that war ought to be avoided.

Her activism is more about persuading others to at least take notice of her anti-war views.

“There’s a difference between convincing someone of your beliefs and convincing someone to do something about your beliefs,” she said.

Mukasey Confirmed 53-40 - Nelson votes NAY

2007-11-09T14:01:00.000-05:00

Senate confirms Mukasey as attorney general
Bush nominee wins backing for post despite waterboarding flap
updated 12:56 a.m. ET, Fri., Nov. 9, 2007
WASHINGTON - The Senate confirmed retired judge Michael Mukasey as attorney general Thursday night to replace Alberto Gonzales, who was forced from office in a scandal over his handling of the Justice Department.

Mukasey was confirmed as the nation’s 81st attorney general after a sharp debate over his refusal to say whether the waterboarding interrogation technique is torture.

President Bush thanked the Senate, even though the margin had been whittled down from nearly unanimous by a sharp debate over Mukasey’s refusal to say whether the waterboarding interrogation technique is torture.....

Roll Call Vote...

I guess this means no waterboarding simulations in front of Bill Nelson's offices!

Perhaps calls of support on this one vote are in order?

Washington, D.C.
United States Senate
716 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-5274
Fax: 202-228-2183

Orlando
Landmark Two
225 East Robinson Street, Ste 410
Orlando, Florida 32801
Phone: 407-872-7161
Toll Free in Florida: 1-888-671-4091
Fax: 407-872-7165

Miami-Dade
2925 Salzedo Street
Coral Gables, FL 33134
Phone: 305-536-5999 Telephone
Fax: 305-536-5991

Tampa
Sam Gibbons Federal Court House
801 N. Florida Ave., 4th Floor
Tampa, Florida 33602
Phone: 813-225-7040
Fax: 813-225-7050

West Palm Beach
500 Australian Avenue Suite 125
West Palm Beach, Florida 33401
Phone: 561-514-0189
Fax: 561-514-4078

Tallahassee
US Court House Annex
111 North Adams Street
Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Phone: 850-942-8415
Fax: 850-942-8450

Jacksonville
1301 Riverplace Blvd, Suite 2218
Jacksonville, Florida 32207
Phone: 904-346-4500
Fax: 904-346-4506

Broward
3416 South University Drive
Davie, FL 33328
Phone: 954-693-4851
Fax: 954-693-4862

Fort Myers
Justice Center Annex Building
2000 Main Street, Suite 801
Fort Myers, FL 33901
Phone: 239-334-7760
Fax: 239-334-7710

My Encounter With Senator Bill Nelson

2007-11-01T19:26:00.000-04:00

My encounter with Senator Bill Nelson Wednesday, October 31 2007 by Samm Simpson
Last Saturday I happened to see Senator Bill Nelson in the hallway at the Democratic convention in Orlando. The Saturday night dinner - which I didn't attend - had been in progress for fifteen minutes and Senator Nelson was in a side hallway, looking for an open door. Here's the exchange - to the best of my memory.

The Senator is pulling on a locked side door. I begin to speak.

"Senator Nelson, you know our occupation in Iraq has led to the death of over one million Iraqis. What are you going to do about this? We are controlled by what General Eisenhower told us about, the Military Industrial Complex. . . . it's here!"

The Senator says, "Yes it is." He walks away from the door. I follow.

"What are you going to do about it, and what about nuclear weapons in space? We have criminals running our country, Senator Nelson, they should be impeached!

The Senator smiles, begins to walk down the hall and replies, "We can't impeach the President, look who'd we get."

"I'm not talking about impeaching the President, Dennis Kucinich has a bill, H.R. 333 that will impeach Vice President Cheney. Why won't you support that?

The Senator chuckles. He does not stand still for one moment during this discourse.

I say, "Why are you laughing, this nation is in trouble!"

He dismisses my concern, does a 180 in the opposite direction and while walking away, remarks, "We're on the same side."

He speeds away, still looking for a back door entrance into the Democratic party dinner. I raised my voice as he leaves the area.

"We are not on the same side, you signed the Military Commissions Act last October, you took away the writ of habeas corpus!

The senior Florida Senator disappears. I'm assuming he found an open door leading to the Saturday night dinner at the Democratic State Convention. I'll bet they praised his presence.

Meanwhile, Baghdad burns. The Constitution lies forgotten.

"We the People" are discounted.

Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.

CodePINK Florida Sings at the Oct27 Orlando Protest

2007-11-01T17:50:00.000-04:00

Please turn the SOUND DOWN before you check out this video - the microphone on the camera gets saturated at several points.... Tallahassee's Lydia Vickers leads the CodePINK Florida women in song at the Oct27th protest on Orlando.

Corproate Media Censors October 27th Protests

2007-10-31T11:28:00.000-04:00

War Protests: Why No Coverage?
By Jerry Lanson Christian Science Monitor Tuesday 30 October 2007

Newspapers have a duty to inform citizens about such democratic events.

Boston - Coordinated antiwar protests in at least 11 American cities this weekend raised anew an interesting question about the nature of news coverage: Are the media ignoring rallies against the Iraq war because of their low turnout or is the turnout dampened by the lack of news coverage?

I find it unsettling that I even have to consider the question.

That most Americans oppose the war in Iraq is well established. The latest CBS News poll, in mid-October, found 26 percent of those polled approved of the way the president is handling the war and 67 percent disapproved. It found that 45 percent said they'd only be willing to keep large numbers of US troops in Iraq "for less than a year." And an ABC News-Washington Post poll in late September found that 55 percent felt Democrats in Congress had not gone far enough in opposing the war.

Granted, neither poll asked specifically about what this weekend's marchers wanted: An end to congressional funding for the war. Still, poll after poll has found substantial discontent with a war that ranks as the preeminent issue in the presidential campaign.

Given that context, it seems remarkable to me that in some of the 11 cities in which protests were held - Boston and New York, for example - major news outlets treated this "National Day of Action" as though it did not exist. As far as I can tell, neither The New York Times nor The Boston Globe had so much as a news brief about the march in the days leading up to it. The day after, The Times, at least in its national edition, totally ignored the thousands who marched in New York and the tens of thousands who marched nationwide. The Globe relegated the news of 10,000 spirited citizens (including me) marching through Boston's rain-dampened streets to a short piece deep inside its metro section. A single sentence noted the event's national context.

As a former newspaper editor, I was most taken aback by the silence beforehand. Surely any march of widespread interest warrants a brief news item to let people know that the event is taking place and that they can participate. It's called "advancing the news," and it has a time-honored place in American newsrooms.

With prescient irony, Frank Rich wrote in his Oct. 14 Times column, "We can continue to blame the Bush administration for the horrors of Iraq.... But we must also examine our own responsibility." And, he goes on to suggest, we must examine our own silence.

So why would Mr. Rich's news colleagues deprive people of information needed to take exactly that responsibility?

I'm not suggesting here that the Times or any news organization should be in collusion with a movement - pro-war or antiwar, pro-choice or pro-life, pro-government or pro-privatization.

I am suggesting that news organizations cover the news - that they inform the public about any widespread effort to give voice to those who share a widely held view about any major national issue.

If it had been a pro-war group that had organized a series of support marches this weekend, I'd have felt the same way. Like the National Day of Action, their efforts would have been news - news of how people can participate in a democracy overrun with campaign platitudes and big-plate fundraisers, news that keeps democracy vibrant, news that keeps it healthy.

Joseph Pulitzer, the editor and publisher for whom the highest honor in journalism is named, understood this well. In May 1904, he wrote: "Our Republic and its press rise or fall together. An able, disinterested, public-spirited press ... can preserve that public virtue without which popular government is a sham and a mockery.... The power to mould the future of the Republic will be in the hands of the journalists of future generations."

It's time for the current generation of journalists - at times seemingly obsessed with Martha Stewart, O.J. Simpson, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and the like - to use that power more vigilantly, and more firmly, with the public interest in mind.

--------
Jerry Lanson is a professor of journalism at Emerson College in Boston.

h/t T O via MFSO-FL...

Fascism in Fantasyland - John Russell Booted From FL Dem Convention

2007-10-30T19:37:00.000-04:00

On October 27, 2007, John Russell went to the Peace Rally in Orlando, then he went to the annual Florida Democratic Party Convention. John ... all » walked in the door carrying John Edwards signs and said hello to the people at Clint Curtis' table. The two women at the next table said that they were also Edwards supporters, that they were covering up their table, and that he could put some signs there. John introduced himself to them, and one immediately took off to get Mitch Kates.

Mitch came right back, shoved John, and said, "Why are you here. You weren't invited. You have to leave." John asked why, and then the women said that he was putting stuff on their table without their permission. John immediately removed the signs.

Mitch’s physical attack would likely have continued, but Mitch realized that John had supporters with him and that he was on camera. So, Mitch took his overly aggressive behavior down a couple of notches. Obviously, the FDP leadership had planned to exclude John if he showed up at the convention as John did not do anything to cause any disturbance. In fact, he was relatively calm after being pushed hard enough that many people would have struck back.

The FDP leadership knew that others were going to try to remove Karen Thurman as chair. Apparently, Thurman and her supporters did not want John there also calling for her removal. Rather than debate the merits of her leadership, or lack thereof, force was used to silence Russell, one of Thurman’s critics. No wonder Thurman also voted for the infamous “Patriot” Act and the authorization for Bush to use force to start the unconstitutional wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. After all, Thurman also takes money directed to her from Republican lobbyists. Once again, it’s time for a change in the leadership of the Florida Democratic Party, unless you want more of the same.

The full version of the Fascism in Fantasyland video can be seen here.

For more information see:

The video of John Russell asking Karen Thurman about the Miami Herald article.

Michael Collins’ article on Scoop - Florida Citizens Versus Party Insiders

Mike Gravel at the Oct. 27th Orlando Protest

2007-10-30T13:11:00.000-04:00

Mike Gravel at the Oct. 27th Orlando Protest - Some videos of his radio interview and a partial transcript of his comments at the protest rally...
On the Iraq War and Oil

On the National Initiative...

partial transcript of speech at the protest, big H/t to Eileen Fleming for Gravel's comments (and ADS for pointing the way)...

"You bet I am angry! If you have a heart you would be angry too!...It boggles the mind how one human being can kill and dismember another's body and Congress sits in their air conditioned office and says it's just Foreign Policy [when] its murder!

"Our education system is in the toilet, our tax system is corrupt and our infrastructure is tumbling and we consume more energy than anybody else! The U.S.A., the great free country has imprisoned six times per capita more than Hitler had in prison in 1938!

"I don't have any power now; I don't know if there was a conspiracy in 9/11, but if I am elected president I will use subpoena powers and have a Commission [to investigate] and will put their butts in jail for perjury! Bush, Cheney and all down the line- we should be impeaching them right now! We made a mistake when I was young by not putting Nixon in jail!

"Do you know that the Minutemen were insurgents? Insurgents are those that fight for their country! 80% of Iraqis want us to leave! I offered a proposal to Congress-a way to get out of Iraq; all we need is leadership! Hillary Clinton is Bush light and is bought lock stock and barrel by the Industrial Military Complex!"

Mike Gravel really is the Rocky of the 2008 race, t'aint he?

Thousands Expected In Orlando For Oct27th Protest

2007-10-24T21:35:00.000-04:00

Thousands Expected As Orlando Joins 10 U.S. Cities Mobilizing to End the War in Iraq

WHEN: Saturday, October 27, 2007 12:30 pm – 4:00 pm

WHERE: Rally at Lake Eola (NE corner). 3 mile march from Robinson to Parramore to Church St to Orange Ave to Central and returning to Eola Drive & Robinson.

On October 27, thousands of people from all walks of life will take to the streets in Orlando and 10 other cities as they host regional marches and rallies to end the War in Iraq and prevent new wars. The event in Orlando is expected to be the largest peace rally ever held in Florida. Local organizers from a variety of groups are working together to host the October 27 march, which is welcoming participants from throughout Florida and the greater Southeast.

Speakers Include:
Michael Albert - activist, author of "From SDS to Life After Capitalism" & founder of Z-Magazine
Lucas Benitez - Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Debra Booth - AFL-CIO & Central Florida Labor Council
Scott Camil - Veteran for Peace
Michael Canney - Green Party of Florida, Co-Chair
maTT De Vlieger - SDS @ UCF (M.C. of the day)
Denise Diaz - Central Florida Jobs with Justice
Sen. Mike Gravel - Anti-war Candidate for President '08
Clifton Hicks - Iraq veteran against the war (IVAW)
Jesse Kern - Veterans for Peace (Korean War Veteran)
?Congressman Dennis Kucinich - Presidential Candidate for Peace '08
Omar Masri - Speaker from UFPJ Steering Committee
Peg McIntire (97yo) - Grandparents for Peace, St. Augustine
David Rucker - Metropolitan Democratic Black Caucus & former President of the Orange County NAACP
Bruce Wright - St. Pete for Peace
Lydia Vickers - CodePink

What you need to know: Rally starts at 12:30 and the march will begin nearly an hour later. Our main speakers will address us before and after the march. There will be water distributed before and during the march. There are bathrooms at the rally site and businesses along the way. Please help distribute flyers until the day of the event. You can find them and all the other resources you'll need below. Please consider holding a streetside solidarity protest in your community before the OCT27 rally in Orlando, to stir up interest and invite people who may not otherwise know. Leafletting to pedestrians and drivers has been very successful for us in Orlando. We plan to hold our next streetside protest soon. You should begin organizing yours.

Important Resources for Oct 27:

For a copy of the press release, click here:

For a map of parking arrangements, click here:

For a map of the march route, click here:

For full page and ¼ page flyers, click here:

For ½ page flyers in Spanish, click here:

For a list of endorsers, click here:

To retrieve a letter to endorse officially, click here:

To add your group as an endorser on the website, click here:

To post an offer or request for housing, click here:

To post an offer or request for a ride, click here:

To volunteer. click here:

For information on Lake Eola Park, click here:

See you soon!!
--
Be Well,
maTT de vlieger
actlikematt@gmail.com
954.536.7461

Where will you march on Saturday?

2007-10-24T21:11:00.000-04:00

Saturday, October 27th
Energy Building for National Day of Action
END THE WAR IN IRAQ, NOW!

Dear Friend of United for Peace and Justice,

With just three days before the 11 massive regional demonstrations and other actions around the country, the energy is growing and momentum is building. The people of this country know this war is wrong and it must stop. On Saturday, from many cities but in one voice, we will send a clear and unified message: end this war, bring the troops home, fund our communities!

You can get the most up-to-date information about the plans for the protest in the city nearest you by going to www2.oct27.org. There you can find details about the day's activities, leaflets to download and copy so you can help spread the word, information about transportation to the regional action near you and much more.

It is not too late to make your plans to get to one of these mobilizations. And it is not too late to help us make sure everyone knows what's happening on Saturday, and that they are encouraged to participate.

Here are some things you can to do to help build October 27th:

* Send a copy of this message to everyone you know, to every email address you have.

* Share the video generously produced by Robert Greenwald and Brave New Foundation in support of the mobilization with others, and encourage them to sign the October 27th pledge. http://www2.oct27.org/brave_new_video

* Ask any group or organization you are part of to help get the word out. They can organize a phone-banking evening and send out email messages.

* Print out a copy of the leaflet for the demonstration nearest you from www2.oct27.org and make copies to give out at work, in your neighborhood, at school or anywhere else you'll be seeing people.

* Call into a radio talk show and explain why you'll be marching on Saturday. Be sure to let people know how they can get more information. http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/

* Post an October 27th web button on your website, blog or MySpace and/or Facebook profile. http://www2.oct27.org/web_buttons

* It's not too late to organize group transportation from your area to the closest regional mobilization. First, check the website to see what might be available, but if nothing is close by, then pull folks together for vans and car pools. You might even still be able to rent a bus.

Let's all do what we can to build the October 27th National Day of Action. Let's come together to send the strongest, loudest, clearest message we can: The people of this country oppose this war, and we want it to end now! We want all the troops and contractors to come home, now! We want our tax dollars to be used to meet our needs right here at home and to rebuild our communities, not on death and destruction! And we do not want a new war in Iran, or anywhere else!

Please help us with the largest financial contribution you can make: http://www2.oct27.org/donate.html?q=donate

Peace,

The staff of United for Peace and Justice:

Leslie Cagan
Sue Udry
Susan Chenelle
Nia Wiltshire
Judith LeBlanc
Dick Buchanan

Get involved!
Saturday, October 27th
National Mobilization Against the Iraq War!
11 Massive Demonstrations for Peace!
http://www.oct27.org

Neocons Surge Against Antiwar Movement

2007-10-23T04:58:00.000-04:00

Forwarned is for-armed...

Neocons Surge Against Antiwar Movement by Tom Hayden October 22, 2007
As thousands of Americans take to the streets this week, they will face a rising right-wing offensive to discredit and derail the antiwar movement. The cry of "troops home now" will echo in 11 cities as an intense year-long battle begins to sharpen. Not since 2002 will the antiwar movement – and dovish Democrats – face as virulent and lavishly funded a backlash as this one.

Consider the gathering storm:

A powerful and persistent faction of hawks, centered in Vice President Cheney's office, is pushing for a military strike against Iran in the coming year.

The orchestrated campaign for continuing the "surge" in Iraq, led by Gen. Petraeus, succeeded in restoring the nerve of the Republican Party and defeating the Democratic strategy of seeking Republican defections.

The well-coordinated attacks on MoveOn.org were designed to destroy the group's proven ability to raise millions of dollars for antiwar messages and, in general, Democratic candidates. Seventy-five senators, including the likes of Barbara Boxer, rushed to denounce MoveOn, thus helping the effort to de-legitimize the organization.

Ari Fleischer, the former Bush spokesman who warned Americans to "watch what you say," now heads an organization that spent $15 million to promote the war as patriotic.

Pro-Israel and Christian Right groups are attempting to raise $200 million for a campaign calling for war with Iran.

Rudy Giuliani, currently the Republican front-runner, has selected neocon godfather Norman Podhoretz as his national security adviser.

David Horowitz is spending millions of dollars to demonize pro-peace professors and organize on campuses against what the neocons call "Islamofascism."

The neocons and hawks of all stripes are fighting back. They already have succeeded in gaining political traction for the escalation in Baghdad, counter-punching the Democratic critics into a corner, planting major stories of "success" in the media, and gaining top positions in Giuliani's presidential campaign. Their campaign for war in Iran (Podhoretz says he "prays" for it everyday, an apparent message to the Christian Right) is on track.

Their top priority is to isolate the antiwar movement and its Democratic allies as "too extreme." In 2002, when most of the American people were frozen by the 9/11 experience, it was a matter of trying to prevent the development of antiwar sentiment. In 2007, however, the neocons face a more daunting challenge: how to undermine the American majority favoring rapid withdrawal from Iraq?

As Podhoretz, Horowitz, and writers like Dinesh D'Souza constantly emphasize, the real war is at home, with the leftists and liberals who they believe to be the modern equivalents of "fellow travelers" during the Cold War era.

Their major target is MoveOn, with its vast resources and credibility. But ever in search of potential demons, they lately have been smearing and attacking Code Pink. The Canadian neocon ally Premier Stephen Harper ordered Medea Benjamin and Ann Wright stopped at the border last week.

The tactical purpose is clear, to make certain antiwar groups radioactive, or too hot to handle, thus damaging their efforts to push the mainstream along, forcing them from offense to defense. If they succeed in their plans for Iran, they believe Republican presidential chances may be enhanced in 2008.

All this suggests that antiwar activists face the challenge of being equally strategic. Impressive turnouts will be needed Oct. 27. Coalition-building will be a priority (already, many busloads of black congregations will be joining the Chicago event, Katrina victims will be turning out by the thousands in New Orleans, and protesters in Tennessee will be converging on the nation's major depleted uranium facility – welcomed by the mayor). Unsettled, however, are to key questions needing broad consensus among the diverse multitudes of marchers:

What is the most effective public message for the antiwar movement in the run-up to the bombing of Iran, and what should the movement be doing in the hours, days, and weeks after such an attack?

What is the most effective approach to the 2008 election if the choice is between a Republican extremist and a moderate Democratic hawk?

The marchers on Oct. 27, in twos and threes and larger workshops, will be considering the future of a movement at a crossroads.

Statement of Purpose & Goals

2007-10-10T05:03:00.000-04:00

Florida for Peace is a coalition of peace and social justice activists networking statewide to communicate with Florida's Congressional delegation to promote Peace and Justice related legislation through lobbying, education, vote tracking, information sharing, and coordinated political action.

Florida4Peace Yahoo Group
Central FL Vets For Peace	CodePINK South Florida
CodePink SW Florida	Environmental Peace & Education Ctr
MFSO - Florida	Peace Now Citrus County
CODEPINK Orlando	Tallahassee Network for Justice & Peace
CodePINK Tallahassee	CodePink's Focus on Nelson page

Goals:
1. To promote an end to war.
2. To educate and inform Florida citizens
3. To organize and promote citizen meetings with Florida's Congressional leadership
4. To support and participate in statewide actions

Florida For Peace Endorses Oct 27th - Orlando

2007-10-02T21:46:00.000-04:00

We've agreed to lend our endorsement and participation in UFPJ's Oct 27th national action to end the Occupation of Iraq taking place in eleven cities around the country.

See you in Orlando!

www.oct27.org/orlando

New Banner

2007-10-02T21:28:00.000-04:00

OK, peacemakers! We've come to consensus and now have our new logo (top of page). Our conference calls are yielding group decisions as to our focus and future direction.

Much more to come...

Focus on Nelson Update

2007-09-25T07:11:00.000-04:00

Why did Senator Bill Nelson join 22 other Senate "Democrats" to "vote in favor of denouncing MoveOn.Org for its advertisement questioning the credibility of General (Betrayus) Petreaus"?

Senator Nelson Votes to Denounce MoveOn Ad

2007-09-23T06:52:00.000-04:00

Florida's Joe Leiberman, aka Senator Bill Nelson, joined with twenty-two other candy-assed Democrats to condemn MoveOn.org's ad. Check the roll call vote here....

Senate Approves Resolution Denouncing MoveOn.org Ad
By David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 — The Senate approved a resolution on Thursday denouncing the liberal antiwar group MoveOn.org over an advertisement that questioned the credibility of Gen. David H. Petraeus, the American commander in Iraq.

MoveOn.org, with 3.2 million members, has become a powerful force in Democratic politics and the advertisement it paid for, which appeared in The New York Times, has come under sharp attack from Congressional Republicans and others as unpatriotic and impugning the integrity of General Petraeus.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, both Democratic candidates for president, voted against the resolution, which passed 72 to 25.

But curiously absent from the vote was Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, also a Democratic candidate for president, who had canceled a campaign appearance in South Carolina so he could be in Washington for votes.

Mr. Obama issued a statement calling the resolution, put forward by Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, “a stunt.” Mr. Obama said, “By not casting a vote, I registered my protest against these empty politics.”

Mr. Obama had voted minutes earlier in favor of an extremely similar resolution proposed by Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California.

Ms. Boxer’s proposal, which failed, called for the Senate to “strongly condemn all attacks on the honor, integrity and patriotism” of anyone in the United States armed forces. It did not mention the MoveOn.org ad. Mr. Dodd and Mrs. Clinton also voted in favor of Ms. Boxer’s proposal.

Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination, was in Iowa and did not vote.

At a White House news conference, President Bush called the advertisement disgusting and said it was an attack not only on General Petraeus but also on the entire American military.

“And I was disappointed that not more leaders in the Democrat Party spoke out strongly against that kind of ad,” Mr. Bush said. “And that leads me to come to this conclusion: that most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like MoveOn.org — or more afraid of irritating them than they are of irritating the United States military.”

Representative Thomas M. Davis III, Republican of Virginia, has urged the House to hold hearings on the MoveOn.org ad and to investigate whether The Times gave the group an improper discount. A New York Times Company spokeswoman has said that the group paid a standard “standby” rate.

MoveOn.org lashed out at Mr. Bush’s comments and pledged to double its spending on ads criticizing Republican lawmakers for blocking efforts by Democrats to change the war strategy. Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org Political Action, said, “What’s disgusting is that the president has more interest in political attacks than developing an exit strategy to get our troops out of Iraq and end this awful war.”

Nelson Votes Don't Add Up

2007-09-20T06:50:00.000-04:00

After having voted for the Webb Amendment to reduce deployment periods and to resore Habeus Corpus, Senator Bill Nelson then voted against the Feingold Amendment to re-dploy troops out of Iraq.

Bill Nelson's Rreason for Voting to Invade Iraq

2007-09-06T19:16:00.000-04:00

Dig this Nelson quote about his reason for voting to invade Iraq - "...Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., told Kay last week that he voted for a resolution authorizing force against Iraq precisely because of the administration's UAV evidence.

"I was told not only that (Saddam had weapons of mass destruction) and that he had the means to deliver them through unmanned aerial vehicles, but that he had the capability of transporting those UAVs outside of Iraq and threatening the homeland here in America, specifically by putting them on ships off the eastern seaboard," Nelson said.

Kay responded that the UAV program was active, but the Iraqis did not have "the existing deployment capability at that point for any sort of systematic military attack..."

Snagged from a Google cache of an old February 01, 2004 WaPo/ Seattle Times piece.

Remember, these were the balsa wood and duck tape specials of the Iraqi AF.....

As the CIA ISG report generously put it -

"Iraq’s small UAV programs had demonstrated some success, including an autonomous 500-km flight, and given time most likely would have produced larger UAVs with greater payload capabilities. The evidence uncovered by ISG suggests that the UAV programs active at the onset of OIF were intended for reconnaissance or electronic warfare." - from the CIA Inspector General's Report "Iraq WMD 2004"

Bill Nelson Campaign Finance/Money Contributions

2007-09-06T18:16:00.000-04:00

Bill Nelson: Campaign Finance/Money - Contributions - Senate 2006

2001-2006 Total Receipts: $18,031,681
2001-2006 Total Spent: $16,718,881
Cash on Hand: $1,316,224
Debts: $0
Date of last report: December 31, 2006
First elected: 2000
Next election: 2006

No info since 12/06, but a good page for future reference....

Senator Bill Nelson's Staff Blocking Access to the Senator

2007-08-29T06:40:00.000-04:00

FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY TO THE SENATOR'S DESK

August 28, 2007

FAX TO: Senator Bill Nelson
All District Offices and
Washington, D. C.

FAX FROM: Lydia Vickers, CODEPINK
Florida For Peace/Focus on Nelson
Phone: 850-385-5322

Dear Senator Nelson,

Thank you again for welcoming Pat, Mary and I to your Lafayette County town halls August 22nd.. We met some very nice people, lots of true "Nelson" supporters. Unfortunately it wasn't easy finding where you would be.

Senator Nelson, we believe that it's important for you to hear what Floridians are thinking and talking about regarding the war in Iraq. Staff in 3 of your district offices refused to give Florida For Peace members any information about where you were going to be and told us to call your Washington, D.C. office. The D.C. office was completely surprised and we were told that we should, indeed, be getting the
local meeting schedules from the district offices.

I felt we should have been informed about the lasagna dinner at the Spirit of the Suwannee. We were embarrassed to have eaten before we arrived when such a nice meal had been prepared. I spoke with Lynn Bannister just one day earlier and she made the decision not to tell me anything about the meal.

This is such a disservice to you senator. I say this because I feel sure that you would never tell your staff to dodge a constituent's questions. I feel sure you would never allow your staff to stand between you and a constituent.

I say that "this is a disservice to you" for three reasons:

1. Surely your sense of what is happening with this war today, and your feelings on what should be done tomorrow, needs to be expressed to your constituents.

2. Your answers to Iraq war questions show compassion and concern for our troops and your constituents need to hear that too.

3. You will never know how Floridians really feel about the war if no one brings the subject up. The war in Iraq is the gorilla in the room. No good can come of your isolation from Floridians' passions and opinions regarding Iraq.

I'll say here that Florida For Peace members don't agree one bit with pulling out SOME of the troops and leaving others there, for any reason. We want those military bases closed. We don't want our soldiers losing there lives in Iraq to protect Haliburton and Black Water employees. And, if the Iraqi army can't stand on their own now, well, they may never stand on their own. Our troops have given their all, and that is more than enough. The majority of Florida Democrats and Independents want the troops home now.

I am encouraged to hear you begin talking about taking the first steps to end this war. I disagree with a plan to leave Americans on the ground in Iraq. What is more important, we are both talking about bring our troops home. Senator Nelson, the finest part of democracy in action, to me, is when we are talking.

When Florida For Peace members attend your town halls they can open the door for questions on Iraq. Our members know that not every Floridian wants to leave Iraq. Fortunately, a majority of Floridians do want to leave Iraq and soon. We also know that you are not hearing much from those who do want our troops to leave Iraq. We are trying to get this message to you. You aren't hearing our voices because you aren't visiting the groups who want to talk about this issue.

Florida For Peace members had to drive hundreds of miles to meet you in Kissimmee on August 7th. Many of us had to take a day off from our jobs. If you are in our area and your staff refuses to let us know where you are the door to a conversation may stay closed and YOU are left in the dark.

Your staff should be ashamed of themselves trying to distract and mislead anyone from Florida who wants to meet with you. They might not agree with my description of their actions but they should know there is no doubt in our minds that we were being put off. If you truly want to stay in touch with your constituents you simply must be able to talk to them. I personally wonder if it is even legal for your staff to refuse to give out information about public meetings?

Senator Nelson, Florida For Peace members will continue to try and meet with you. We will continue to drop in on meetings and town halls. Many of us will be in Washington, D. C. during the month of September. We will stop by your offices and will be sitting in on many of your meetings and activities. Please, open your doors to us. Don't allow your staff to isolate you.

The November election was a "Mandate for Peace" from the American people, and it was all about Iraq. Florida For Peace is dedicated to meeting with every single Florida representative and to meeting with you, often. Thank you again for your time in Lafayette last week. I look forward to seeing you in Washington next month.

Peace,

Lydia Vickers
Florida For Peace, Co Founder
CODEPINK Tallahassee
CODEPINK Florida

Florida For Peace Meets Senator Bill Nelson

2007-08-13T06:32:00.002-04:00

Florida For Peace Meets Senator Bill Nelson
Boasts, Prevarications, and a Rattlesnake

On Tuesday August 7th ten members of Florida For Peace traveled to Kissimmee, FL to meet with Senator Bill Nelson at the public library. They represented over fifty groups from from all parts of Florida.

When the group arrived a staff member directed us to a conference room where the senator was waiting. A local news crew had a camera set up. After shaking hands and sitting down, Senator Nelson mentioned how he was having town meetings, three just yesterday in Jefferson, Pinellas and Pasco counties.

Lydia Vickers - CODEPINK Tallahassee, Co-Founder/Florida For Peace - began by stating she had traveled to all eight of his offices around the state and had meetings with his staff and thanking the Senator for meeting with us.

Senator Nelson began by thanking us for coming from all over the state to see him. He then talked about what he termed as townhall meetings, two of which he had the previous day in the Tampa Bay area. He said that 150 people had attended one meeting and 130 had attended the other one and that no one had brought up the issue of the Iraq War.

Lydia Vickers then had the group introduce ourselves and briefly say who we represented.

Lydia then talked to the senator about his voting record in the Senate and how this group, which represents maybe 7000 people on email lists, were disappointed with his vote on the FISA bill (S1927). She then brought up a speech he had made in 2002 on this subject in which he had said that it was important not to adopt the total information awareness program. She went on saying "although he had supported the no confidence vote on the Attorney General, he had then voted for the FISA bill."

Nelson responded saying "that's not what it says", that they (the Democrats) had changed the bill, an approval process has to be gone through, the Director of Intelligence and the Attorney General must sign off. Nelson went on by saying that he was ONE senator out of 100 who was on all THREE National Security committees and that no one was privy to more of the nation's classified information than he. He also mentioned his trust for the Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell.

He continued, "that the White House wanted a permanent solution where this was only for 6 months and that it doesn't effect citizens domestically." Adding it was important that they (gov't spies) don't have to go to the FISA court as technology had changed. It used to be mainly by phone but now with the internet, some foreign communications is coming through the United States. With the old law intelligence agencies had to go to FISA for a court order, now when a foreign terrorist was targeted, some may be going through a person in the USA, he continued... At this point the local news camera crew packed up and left the room.

Senator Nelson said as the door shut, "I wouldn't trust the Attorney General", (looking over his shoulder, asking if the media was gone) "anymore than I would trust a rattlesnake."

He continued on about how they would set up a process for FISA and was interrupted by Cactus Pat, Tallahassee Network for Justice and Peace (TNJP) saying, "Senator Nelson, yesterday morning the big news on the blogs said Mr. Bush had signed the FISA bill, the Protect America Act, with a signing statement demanding immunity for '...those who are alleged to have assisted our Nation following the attacks of September 11, 2001', in other words demanding immunity for his own six years of criminality".

Nelson responded that signing statements from the President has huge problems, as well as the President misleading us and the FISA bill didn't cover what Bush wants i.e.: 6 years of illegal wire tapping protected. He then said he was elected to exercise his best judgment.

Lydia pointed out that Republicans didn't vote for him and that we as Democrats were the ones who voted for him and he should represent our interests, adding that former Senator Graham had voted no on the Authorization to go to war.

Nelson replied that "in his position he had to exercise his best judgment, that he represents sixteen million Floridians, and that he has to represent everyone, Republicans and everybody else".

Deidra Lynch - CODEPINK Orlando, Food Not Bombs, Orlando Progressive Alliance, Florida For Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Artists for Peace - then interjected, "Senator, we're here to say how we feel while we have you eye to eye with us."

Nelson replied "I want to straighten this out" then said that Graham had voted no because he thought AUMF did not go far enough.

Deidra then began by thanking the Senator for voting for monies for education and protecting the Everglades. She went on saying she hoped he would listen to our concerns about stopping the war, continuing with "I'm sure we can agree that this debt has got to stop".

Nelson added that childcare and healthcare was losing out with the cost for war.

Deirdre pointed out that cost estimates for the war had been in the hundreds of billions and the cost estimate as of now was $1.27 trillion, with the total cost to the state of Florida approaching $25,000,000,000, according to the National Priorities Project. She also spoke of the additional cost to our soldiers being trained in violence and sent home with no shut off valve, which affects military families with many women suffering rape and abuse. She then passed paperwork to Nelson to provide him the statistics.

Next Hillary Keyes - CODEPINK South Florida, Florida For Peace, Boca Peace Corner, Palm Beach County Peace & Justice Coalition - brought up the worsening conditions for the people of Iraq. Saying that that's it's gotten so bad that the US has stopped issuing Baghdad electricity reports because there is only one to two hrs. of electricity per day and 130 degrees and no water. She said we need to try to help the Iraqi people, bringing up how Post Traumatic Stress was affecting children in Iraq and that according to Center for Disease Control (from John Hopkins study) 650,000 Iraqis had been killed as of a year ago, and that 70% of Iraqi children suffer from symptoms of PTSD. She then talked about how CodePINK had brought 5 Iraqi women to the USA, showed him pictures and read part of a personal statement from the Faiza Alaraji. She then passed the Senator the women's pictures and bios.

Mary - CODEPINK Tallahassee, Tallahassee Network for Justice and Peace, Florida For Peace said as she had written her statements in a letter and as time was short, she would just pass him the letter.

Cactus Pat - Tallahassee Network for Justice and Peace, Florida For Peace - then talked about the fourteen permanent military bases in Iraq and how Congress has repeatedly passed legislation banning such bases and how it has been ignored. He said he believed Congress had the authority to enforce the legislation banning permanent bases in Iraq and demanded that Congress do so. He then talked about how US Foreign Policy needs to be shifted from one of military domination and use of the military for diplomacy to one of Peace and cooperation.

Carol Stachurski - CODEPINK Tallahassee, Veterans for Peace, Florida For Peace, Progressive Democrats of America - talked about how she felt his job was to represent us pointing out that polls in Florida were saying the majority wanted the war to end.

Nelson responded saying his position on the Iraq war was "evolving", and that she should look at his Senate speech on the Levin-Reed amendment, which he claimed was on his website. (NOT found, only this statement on Iraq on his website). That it was the most important speech he had ever given.

Scott Camil - Gainesville Veterans for Peace, GI Rights Hotline, Veterans for Peace - next talked about 32,000 calls the GI Rights Hotline had received from active duty FL soldiers and veterans with their concerns. He also had a written statement and documents which were passed to Senator Nelson.

Nelson said "I'm a veteran", he again brought up Levin-Reed Amendment and his speech.

Leslie - CODEPINK Orlando, Florida For Peace, Orlando Progressive Alliance, Seminole Democrats - talked about torture, saying how we know it's wrong and how it lowers morale. "We used to be the good guys and we know it's wrong."

Holly Rauen - CODEPINK South West Florida, Florida For Peace, Fort Myers Social Action Committee, EPEC/Board Member - talked about how war undermined our safety and the preservation of our civil rights and how our National Guard was not here to aid the public in times of disaster. She continued by talking about how our Bill of Rights had been negated by executive order. Adding her personal experience by telling the senator how she had been shot with rubber bullets by Miami police at the FTAA protest, how the police had surrounded a group of citizens and fired on them. She also spoke of how her ex-husband had been run over by a military train shipping arms to Vietnam and lost both his legs. She said what's going on now reminded her of Kent State and how the government was chipping away our rights and we were becoming like Hitler Germany.

Nelson responded saying we had a system of checks and balances.

Tom Guelcher - President, Environmental & Peace Education Center of SW Florida, Florida For Peace - talked about terrorism and how there is no military solution to it and how our actions in Iraq are causing more terrorism and how the only way to defeat it was by respecting other people and allowing them to make their own decisions about what is best for them.

Beverley Wiskow - State Coordinator/Military Families Speak Out, Peace NOW Citrus County, Florida For Peace - began by telling the senator how she had a son-in-law fighting in Iraq under terrible conditions, how Iraqis had no air conditioning or water and how we could learn by spending time in our Florida heat with no a/c or water. She went on about how this group before him had probably taken 50,000 hours of labor to bring him this information. Adding that we needed 67 senators. On a personal note she implored him to be "Our Hero" and spoke of meeting him last year in Ocala when she urged him to be a leader and if he would do the right thing the grassroots would rise up to support him. But if he continued to allow the war to continue, we would replace him. She then directly asked him if he would vote for the Levin-Reed amendment.

Nelson replied it would be the first issue in September and how the Democrats all supported the amendment with the exception of Lieberman (the irony of Florida's Lieberman saying this elicited subdued laughter and chuckles all around the table) and there were a few Republicans supporting as well. He said 53 senators had already voted for the amendment and they needed 7 more.

Deidra asked him as he got up to leave, "who we can work on?"

Nelson mentioned John Warner of VA, John Sununu of NH, Martinez of FL, Susan Collins of Maine, John Voinovich of OH, and Norm Coleman of MN.

Senator Nelson then rushed off to a meeting with 25 local Seminole County officials.

The Florida For Peace group then held a brief after-action meeting to discuss the events and concluded with a photo-op while the local TV media conducted interviews outside with various members.

Consensus was reached on finding out who contributes money to Nelson by checking www.opensecrets.org and www.fec.gov before exiting for more photos outside.

For more info see -
FFP Florida For Peace Yahoo Group and
TNJP coverage of the Focus on Nelson campaign

Senator Nelson’s PR spin on “Town Hall” meetings

2007-08-13T06:30:00.000-04:00

Senator Nelson’s PR spin on “Town Hall” meetings
by Deidra Lynch -- Orlando, FL August 10, 2007 -- Florida’s Senator Bill Nelson's office is falsely reporting that he is touring the state doing "Town Hall" meetings yet his meetings are not being announced publicly until just hours before he arrives and most of them have only been with city and county officials, not the public. These "invitation-only" audiences with selected press only are costing Florida taxpayers and lulling them into believing the he is concerned about public sentiment. His office has refused to even announce his travel schedule or place any requested alternative press members on the pre-notification list. This is open government? NO, this is a PR spin!...

Senator Nelson, who is on vacation from Congress was pressured in June by leaders in the Peace communities across the state to hold true "Town Hall" meetings in August to meet with his constitutents about the 25 billion dollars of the Iraq debt that Florida now owns. Enough is enough, it’s time to come up with a plan to get us out of this endless war and the only way that's going to happen is to stop the funding. Florida For Peace members said they feel like Senator Nelson has been supporting the war sine the beginning and they want him to be one of 67 senators to override a presidential veto and bring the troops home now.

After occupying all eight of his offices with representatives of over 50 different peace organizations including Vets for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Grannies for Peace and CODEPINK to name a few, Senator Nelson finally agreed to meet with Florida for Peace, "We were ecstatic about the opportunity to speak with him and discuss the costs of war, the needs of Floridians, the treatment of our returning veterans and the horrendous rate of female soldiers returning as victims of sexual and physical assault by their own comrades which is 20% to 2/3 depending on the source" said Lydia Vickers of Florida for Peace. We had hoped for true “Town Hall” meetings in August but apparently Senator Nelson doesn’t understand the true meaning of the term.

Originating in New England when everybody in town showed up to speak their piece and then vote on an issue, today's "Town Hall" meetings are now held so people can influence elected officials in their decision-making process, often in large conference centers where people from every part of the community attend to express their opinions. No point of view is excluded or censored which is the very “Essence of Democracy” in action.

When Governor Schwarzenegger made this mistake, he was called on the carpet in "Governor corrupts 'town hall'" by Dennis M. Clausen:

"In his classic essay, "Politics and the English Language," George Orwell warns us that such abuses of language involve more than just semantic differences. "If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought," Orwell writes. "A bad usage can spread by tradition and imitation even among people who should and do know better."

According to Orwell, politicians corrupt language, and then a corrupted language corrupts the culture ---- which in turn makes it easier for politicians to further corrupt the language. The vicious cycle feeds off itself like a hurricane gathering strength over warm tropical waters.

When we reverse the meanings of certain bedrock democratic institutions and traditions like town hall meetings, and these corruptions of language go unchallenged, we are well on our way to a total corruption of our political culture."

I know it's hurricane season and we face this with half of our disaster equipment still in Iraq with many of our national guard but Senator Nelson's corruption of the "Town Hall" meeting strikes deeply into the center of my heart and raises my radar even more. This week’s PR spin by Nelson gives me even more to worry about then what’s brewing over our very warm waters right now.

*Dennis M. Clausen is a professor of American literature at the University of San Diego. dclausen(at)SanDiego.edu

Florida For Peace Push Nelson For End To Iraq War

2007-08-10T06:29:00.000-04:00

Florida Groups Push For End To War POSTED: 3:03 pm EDT August 7, 2007
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Florida For Peace pushed for a meeting with Sen. Bill Nelson at the Kissimmee library on Tuesday.

Members said they want Nelson to stand against President George W. Bush and end the war in Iraq.

Many groups congregated at the library to meet with Nelson, including Code Pink: Women For Peace.

Members said they feel Nelson has been supporting the war and want him to be one of 67 senators to override a presidential veto and bring troops home.

"I think he needs to realize he's hurting these troops more by not saying, 'Enough is enough' it's time to come home, and let's come up with a plan,' so the only way that's going to happen is to stop funding," Deidra Lynch of Florida For Peace said.

"We need to start phasing down, but keeping troops there to train the Iraqi army, to go after al Qaida and to provide protection for our troops there, but start removing our troops," Nelson said.

Nelson will meet with Osceola County leaders next, one of more than a dozen town hall meetings being held in Central Florida in the coming days.

To comment on this story, send an e-mail to Kendra Oestreich.

For more info see the
FFP Florida For Peace Yahoo Group and TNJP coverage of the Focus on Nelson campaign

Florida For Peace Representatives Scheduled to Meet With Senator Bill Nelson

2007-08-01T05:53:00.000-04:00

August 1, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Lydia Vickers
850-241-3191 or 850-385-5322

Deidra Lynch
codepinkorlando@gmail.com

FLORIDA FOR PEACE MEMBER GROUPS Scheduled to meet with Florida’s Senior Senator

11:00AM – August 7, 2007 – Kissimmee, Florida

A coalition of Florida peace and social action groups joined forces in May, 2007 to begin a state-wide campaign. Their goal was to ask for meetings with Senator Bill Nelson, Florida’s senior senator, in every district where he has an office.

Senator Nelson has agreed to meet with 10 Florida For Peace members in Kissimmee, Florida at 11:00AM on August 7, 2007. Request for meetings in additional Florida locations will be made at this meeting. “We feel that it is his responsibility to meet with us rather than having his constituents drive all over the state to meet him” said Florida For Peace co-founder Deidra Lynch. Request for Town Hall meeting dates around the state will also be requested.

Florida For Peace member groups include: CODEPINK, Military Families Speak Out/Florida, Veterans for Peace, Vietnam Veterans for Peace, Environmental and Peace Education Center, Tallahassee Network for Justice and Peace, Food Not Bombs, Democracy For America and others.

“I met peace activists all over the state of Florida in June when I traveled from one district office to another, eight offices in seven days.

Florida For Peace has almost 50 member groups. We joined forces and went to every office, in person, in numbers, to request that Senator Nelson meet with us to discuss his voting record on:

the war in Iraq,

a June, 2007 vote that would allow the President and the CIA to disregard the Army Field Manual regarding torture, and

his continued support of the Republican agenda on the war in Iraq.

The November, 2006 election was a “Mandate for Peace” from the American People. Florida For Peace is committed to helping remind Senator Nelson that he is a Democrat, with a capital “D” and that he must vote the way we’ve asked him to vote. In our minds Senator Nelson had become Florida’s Joe Lieberman,” said Florida for Peace co-founder Lydia Vickers.

“I am delighted that Senator Nelson is meeting with us after just three months of actions around the state of Florida. This group is determined to help get 67 senators (2/3rds of the Senate is needed to override a presidential veto) to stand strong against the Bush administration and end the war in Iraq. Senator Nelson simply must be one of those 67 senators,” continued Florida For Peace co-founder Vickers.

Phase I of the Florida For Peace - FocusOn Nelson Campaign involved letter writing, e-mails and Faxes.

Phase II of the Focus On Nelson Campaign involved traveling the state and meeting with other Florida For Peace members in their districts. These groups met with Senator Nelson’s staff and expressed their concerns. Activists from all over the state called into the offices during these meetings to support the people who could attend.

During Phase III, which has been extended until August 31, 2007, the groups worked together through conference calls, e-mails and meetings to plan what to do if the senator would not meet with us. Activists continued to telephone and Fax his Washington D.C. office and his district offices in Florida.

“Most of us have at least one of his offices on speed dial” said Deidra Lynch. Deidra also helped create an awesome, “postcard” campaign that was launched with the help of Dana Balcki, CODEPINK NYC.

The national CODEPINK offices have helped Florida For Peace organize and strategize from the beginning including allowing time on national, weekly conference calls to discuss what we are doing and to offer suggestions and support. The Focus On Nelson Campaign can be found at www.codepinkalert.org, and is also heavily supported by Florida Action at www.flaction.org and Tallahassee Network for Justice and Peace at www.tnjp.org. CODEPINK women at the CODEPINK House in Washington, D. C. make a point to check on Senator Nelson’s activities regularly.

“Meeting with my representative is the highest form of democracy in action” said Ms. Vickers. I know this meeting will be informed, passionate and empowering for all of the groups and especially for Senator Nelson.

Focus on Nelson postcards

2007-06-27T06:24:00.000-04:00

Focus on Nelson postcards

Save and Print!

Please DISTRIBUTE WIDELY to all Florida residents! It's imperative that we let Senator Nelson know right now that we want this war stopped!

Front

Back

FOCUS on NELSON down loadable postcards:

Black & White Postcard or Color for printing at your home

Black & White Postcard OR Color Postcard to send to a KINKOS-type printer (with print/bleed marks). Print a bunch of these and pass them out to your friends & community!

WARNING! It has come to our attention that it is taking 2 months or more for mail to get through the postal systems in DC to Congress due to Anthrax check points. We are having constituents put their return address and comments on the card, then return the card to us.

Focus on Nelson Postcards
c/o
4630 South Kirkman Road #723
Orlando, LF 32811-2802

We will then mail the cards in one package to the CODEPINK house in DC to have them hand delivered to Senator Nelson's office. Please consider doing this in your own local area.

Florida For Peace & CODEPINK Florida

FOCUS ON NELSON - Turn the HEAT UP on NELSON

2007-06-08T06:17:00.000-04:00

FOCUS ON NELSON - Let's turn up the HEAT

DATES: 6-11-2007 through 6-19-2007

DESCRIPTION: Announcing the first of 8 meetings at Senator Nelson's offices in Florida. Help us put the HEAT on NELSON this summer. He needs to explain to us WHY he is voting for continued funding for illegal torture. We want to know WHY Senator Nelson gave Bush billions more to fund the war we told him to STOP in November! Visits are scheduled at Nelson's offices beginning Monday, June 11th and continuing through Tuesday, June 19th. If you can't meet at the office, can you commit to calling the office for 2 hours during the visit? Tell the Senator's aides that Lydia and the other people visiting represent YOU!

The schedule is as follows:

Date of Visit Office Location Times Telephone #'s
Mon, June 11, 2007 Tampa 2:00-4:00pm 813-225-7040
Tues, June 12, 2007 Fort Myers 2:00-4:00pm 239-334-7760
Wed, June 13, 2007 Coral Gables 9:00-11:00am 305-536-5999
Wed, June 13, 2007 Davie 2:00-4:00pm 954-693-4851
Thurs, June 14, 2007 West Palm Bch 2:00-4:00pm 561-514-0189
Fri, June 15, 2007 Orlando 2:00-4:00pm 407-872-7161
Mon, June 18, 2007 Jacksonville 2:00-4:00pm 904-346-4506
Tues, June 19, 2007 Tallahassee - this meeting is scheduled with an aide in Senator Nelson's office. To join this meeting contact codepinktally(at)yahoo.com

Please Distribute This Widely!

For more information about the plan to "Focus on Nelson" go to:
www.groups.yahoo.com/group/FloridaForPeace and sign on to join the effort.

Lydia Vickers, CodePINK Tallahassee
codepinktally(at)yahoo.com

CodePINK Tallahassee joins Florida For Peace Focus on Nelson

2007-06-06T06:12:00.000-04:00

Update 04-06: Join the state wide conference call on Wednesday, June 6th at 8:30 PM. Dial 1-712-945-0210 then dial 26337465# (codepink#) to enter the call. You can press 6 to "mute" and just listen, if you'd like. There are no additional charges for this call. Just the cost of a long distance call. Please join us. We NEED everyone on this!

Dear Peace Makers,
Please join a new, state wide action in Florida. Senator Nelson has missed two recent opportunities to vote to bring our troops home from Iraq. This action will focus on educating Senator Nelson and Florida constituents about the true costs of war to our State. The goal is to change Senator Nelson's mind and his votes.

Phase I begins today, June 1, 2007. Please join any Phase at any time. This phase involves writing a letter and sending an e-mail to each of Senator Nelson's offices, every day, for 10 days. The purpose of the letter is to: 1) express your misgivings about his recent votes to continue funding the war and 2) to ask for an appointment. Many of us will use the same letter over and over. Senator Nelson's office addresses and phone/FAX numbers can be found at http://billnelson.senate.gov

Phase II is from June 11th - June 20th. During this period we will visit each of Senator Nelson's Florida office locations and his office in Washington, D.C. We hope to have people from many dirrerent peace groups innvolved in these visits. The purpose of these visits is to personally request an appointment time. We will be assisted during these visits by CodePINK Central and a call in campaign that will happen exactly at the time we are in each office.

Phase III is from June 21st - July 1st. During this phase we will ramp up our letters and FAXes to Senator Nelson's offices and include daily phone calls to every office as many times a day as one can call. At the CodePINK House in D.C. we put our representatives' numbers on speed dial - makes it that much easier.

During Phase III the group will work together through conference calls, e-mails and the Florida For Peace Yahoo Group to organize street actions.

To join Florida For Peace please go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FloridaForPeace

Street actions will begin after the July 4th holiday week.

The last part of Phase III is from July 9th - July 20th. This portion involves loud street actions, props and banners, Home for the Holidays balloting boxes and phone-a-thons outside of every office.

I am willing to come to your town/city to help with office visits and actions. I can bring props and ideas. It only takes 2 or 3 people to do a great action. And, of course, the more the merrier.

A crucial vote comes to Congress right before the August break. The August break begins August 4th. The action hopes to focus intense pressure on Senator Nelson to start voting us out of Iraq. It is quite probable that he wants the troops home as soon as possible and we will show him that we are here to support him should he agree to step out on a limb and end the war.

The final Phase of this action is to camp out at Senator Nelson's house and bring as much media to the issue as we can. Polls show that Floridans want to end the war and bring the troops home.

To join this action go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FloridaForPeace

We will have another conference call on Wednesday June 6th. More information about the next conference call will be posted at the yahoo group site.

Thank you for all that you do.

Peace, Always Lydia Vickers

Senator Bill Nelson Votes for Torture

2007-06-03T06:02:00.000-04:00

Senator Bill Nelson Votes for Torture by Cenk Uygur Posted June 1, 2007
Bill Nelson sold us out. So much for the Democratic majority. It doesn't mean much when you have "conservative" Democrats who are consistently willing to make deals with the Bush administration to allow them to continue their hideous practices.

The Democrats are in the majority in the Senate Intelligence Committee and all they needed was all of their party members on the committee to vote the right way to end torture by the US government. But Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) wouldn't have it. He likes torture too much. I'm sorry, let me use the Orwellian language they use - he found value in the enhanced interrogation techniques used against detainees in the war on terror...

As conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan pointed out recently, "enhanced interrogation" is literally what the Gestapo called torture in 1937 Germany. But even they didn't approve of waterboarding. I'm not kidding. They thought it was too cruel. But Senator Bill Nelson thought it was just a-okay. To be fair to Senator Nelson, the Gestapo later changed their mind and agreed that further torture was necessary.

Since "Democratic" Senator Bill Nelson wouldn't agree to cut off funding for torture, the committee had to approve a watered down version of the report instead (waterboarding pun not intended, but enjoyed once realized).

Let me pause here to say that the original proposal co-sponsored by Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said that funding would be cut off if the US government didn't abide by the Army field manual on detainee treatment. Not a human rights manual. Not a hippie, tree-hugger manual. The Army field manual!

Apparently, the Army field manual is not tough enough for Senator Bill Nelson and all of the Republicans on the committee. Not enough torture in there. But to go out of their way, the original Democratic proposal even had a provision that allowed the president to authorize torture under "dire emergencies." I think that's absolutely ridiculous, but even that wasn't good enough for Nelson. He had to have torture, all of it. Not just in emergencies, but at all times. One can't have enough torture.

Now, let me give credit to the other Democrats on the committee. This issue would have never even brought up under a Republican reign in Congress. How do I know? They had five years and they didn't bring it up at all. Case closed. But in case we were confused on where they stood on the issue, the Republicans made it clearer by all voting for torture in this instance as well (the famous maverick Chuck Hagel (R-NE) is on the Intelligence Committee and once again, for the two hundreth time in a row, voted with the administration here and allowed torture to continue).

I have been critical of Senator Feinstein in the past because she seems to lean a little too close to the Bush administration on some "defense" issues, but credit where credit is due, she came through here by co-sponsoring this proposal.

And Sheldon Whitehouse is a walking testament to why you have to throw all of the so-called moderate Republicans out of Congress. Some people made the case that it was better to have Lincoln Chafee challenging the Republican Party from the inside instead of another Democrat in the Senate. Ridiculous. Senator Whitehouse has been a smart, effective and moral leader in the Senate since he took office and he has blocked the Republicans from rubberstamping all of the administrations hideous programs with their majority in the Senate.

Look at what so-called moderate Republicans do, they always vote to cover for Bush. Always! Even for horrific programs like torture that sully the good name of the United States of America.

We fight against torture because we love America, we believe in America. These senators betray our faith with their callous political calculations and their gross moral indifference.

Some make the argument that it is better to have people like Senator Bill Nelson in office serving as a Democrat then to have a Republican in there instead. So, we have to put up with their occasional votes for torture and senseless wars against countries that didn't attack us.

Senator Nelson won his re-election campaign by 22 points. If we had run a real moderate with moral convictions instead of the conservative Democrat Nelson what would have happened? We would have beat Katherine Harris by only 12 points?

Senators like Bill Nelson are not a necessary evil. They need to be challenged in primaries. If they have no concern about a challenge from the left or the center, they will only appease the right more. If they think they only have to worry about a challenge from the right, they will only lean in that direction to guard against that challenge. At the very least, challenges from the left help to balance these representatives and make them actually represent the interest of the majority of their electorate.

In the end, what we got instead in this case was a report that says Congress will evaluate whether the benefits of torture (the CIA claims they stopped terrorist plots by torturing people, they have never shown any proof of this and I don't believe it for a second) outweigh the negative consequences. Great, evaluate away.

By the way, three Republicans even voted against evaluating the program. They don't even want to know what we do with our prisoners. See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil. As long as we don't know what horrible things our government is doing, then we're okay. That's real responsible. Remember when the Republican Party claimed to be the party of personal responsibility?

So, this final proposal that the Democrats pushed through is definitely slightly better than what the Republicans would have done. But I'm so tired of slightly better than these Republicans. Slightly better than the guys who support Dick Cheney lock-step.

Frankly, I don't care about the Democrats. The fact that someone who calls himself a Democrat wins is of no consequence to me. I care about results. I care about policy. If they lead us away from the disaster of the Bush administration, I am ecstatic. If they move to appease them, mollify them and meet them halfway or often times let them get their way completely, then I am not interested.

You don't have to waste your breath telling me about the consequences of opposing Democrats who do terrible things. What if the Republicans win instead?! I know how bad they are and I know that democracy is often a choice between the lesser of two evils. But it doesn't always have to be. That's why there are primaries.

Conservative challengers to Republicans in Congress are usually slightly to the right of Atilla the Hun. Progressive challengers to Democrats in Congress these days are the most reasonable people I have ever met. I used to be a Republican and the average Democratic incumbent is way to the right of me. This country has tilted so far to the right we have no idea where the center is anymore.

In the short term, it is imperative to remove all of these rubberstamping, pro-torture, pro-war Republicans. In the long term, the Democrats have to clear their own house.

The fact that Senator Bill Nelson calls himself a Democrat is useless if he doesn't vote that way. A vote for torture is a dark stain that should mark the legislative career of any politician who ever casts it. I hope it haunts Senator Nelson for the rest of his career. If he is going to smear the name of our country by endorsing torture, then at least his name should be smeared, too.

Watch The Young Turks - www.theyoungturks.com

Contact Senator Bill Nelson

Welcome to Florida For Peace

2007-06-01T16:18:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Florida For Peace!

Our main goal is to pressure Senator Bill Nelson (D) of Florida to take effective steps in the Senate to bring an end to the military occupation of Iraq.

We are spearheading that initiative through our Florida For Peace Yahoo group

also see TNJP's coverage of our Focus on Nelson.

More to come....