Laughing all the way

CODEPINK activist and Veterans for Peace member Lori Perdue being arrested in front of the White House Dec. 16.

Lori reports she was smiling in response to the cheers of the crowd of supporters watching 130+ people get arrested.

Here's a picture of Will Hopkins, another Vet for Peace, getting arrested, laughing despite being down on the icy sidewalk after 4 1/2 hours standing in the snow. I love how the cop seems to be laughing also.

Photo linked from P.A.inT. blog post "My friends were the ones in jail...

These faces in action are the reason that our government puts so very much effort into dividing us. Why do you think Bradley Manning has been in solitary confinement for 209 days?

Do you notice how legislation is so convoluted that it's nearly impossible to decide which is the right side to be on? Or to comprehend what your rep or senator's yes vote or no vote even means? This also serves to divide us. The failed DREAM act is a perfect example. The poison pill of enlistment as a path to citizenship peeled off a lot of early DREAM supporters who just couldn't swallow it. This in turn caused bitterness on the part of the masses of young undocumented immigrants who can't get college loans or other services to get on with their lives.

Or take the historic repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" which passed even in these reactionary times because it will help with military recruitment. Don't get me wrong -- I've lobbied on behalf of DADT repeal, called my congressional reps, written letters, etc. because I believe in equal rights for all. At a holiday party last weekend, we drank a toast to the repeal of DADT and wondered aloud if Bradley Manning knew it had happened. Medea just wrote a great piece titled: "To the LGBT Community: Now that you can join the military, please don't!"

Last June Rep. Chellie Pingree told us in Freeport that she had voted "ought to pass" to send the FY11 "Defense" Authorization bill out of the House Armed Services Committee to the floor because at that time it contained DADT repeal as an amendment and, "I will still have plenty of time to vote 'no' on the bill itself." In the event, DADT was repealed separately, and Chellie did vote no as she said she would. But the vast majority of Congress voted to authorize the largest military spending bill in recorded history. If she and others had killed it in committee, that would have been that. So, do we thank her or spank her?

And while you were trying to keep your eye on that ball, NATO began invading a country with nuclear weapons and a lot of bad feelings toward the U.S. of A. Ok, maybe it was inevitable since we've been bombing them now for months, but I thought Obama said he was against stupid wars? The current and informative Afghanistan War Weekly is up on the United for Peace & Justice website -- highly recommended.

Stick together, and keep laughing. This might help: