Which Side Are You On In The Struggle Against Corporate Government? #Aegis9

Three of the Aegis 9 (me, Mark Roman and Russell Wray) outside West Bath District Court yesterday.
Not pictured: Jessica Stewart, Natasha Mayers, Jason Rawn, Bob Dale, Bruce Gagnon and Mike Tork.

Yesterday's disposition hearing for the Aegis 9 was interesting. I am among the group arrested April 1, 2017 and charged with criminal trespass at General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works shipyard. An Aegis "destroyer" battleship was being "christened" that day and the general public was invited inside. We were not.

At the hearing yesterday the prosecutor was a young man who had been assisting the prosecutor at the Zumwalt 12 trial earlier this year. One of the Zumwalt 12, Veterans for Peace member Dud Hendrick, recognized him and engaged him in conversation as we waited for the judge.

Bob Dale, Dud Hendrick and Bruce Gagnon outside the courtroom.

Asked if he had gone through with his plan to enlist, the young prosecutor told Dud that he had, indeed, transitioned to becoming an officer in JAG, the U.S. Army's legal department. He reported that he was satisfied with this decision as he used to have to salute a lot of people as an enlisted soldier but now people had to salute him. Also, the pay was much better.

I have often thought that perhaps the military and wars exist primarily so that men can feel more smart and powerful than they may in fact actually be. This exchange tended to confirm my suspicion.

Logan E. Perkins, Perkins Law Office, logan@belfastcriminallaw.com

On our side was attorney Logan Perkins of Belfast who specializes in criminal law and has a particular interest in defending those involved in nonviolent civil disobedience. She is representing me and two other Aegis 9 defendants, and advising the group as a whole (six will go pro se i.e. will represent themselves.)

Logan has just completed a transition of her own, from practicing in a firm to private practice. This gives her the freedom to become more involved in civil disobedience cases.

As a group we were impressed with her understanding of the matter and the process, and her strong representation of our rights at yesterday's disposition hearing. For instance, she engaged the judge around the issue of voire dire, the preliminary questioning of jurors. Most states allow attorneys to do this but in Maine the practice has been that only the judge may convey a defendant's or counsel's questions to jurors. As Logan rightly pointed out, there is no law preventing Maine from adjusting its practice in this regard.

Professional norms dictated that Logan and the prosecutor with the buzz cut who now gets saluted be cordial and respectful to one another, and indeed they were. But make no mistake -- there are two sides in this case, and I know which one I want to be on.

Aegis 9 defendant Natasha Mayers of ARRT! and supporter

Peter Woodruff, who retired from Bath Iron Works with work-related health issues.

A side note: two other attorneys who were waiting around for their dispo hearings chatted with Logan and ended up offering their pro bono services to any other members of the Aegis 9 who might opt for representation.

Zumwalt 12 members on hand yesterday either as members of or supporters of the Aegis 9.

Left to right: Jason Rawn, Dud Hendrick, Bruce Gagnon, John Peck, Joan Peck and Russell Wray.

Back at home my husband and I reflected on how grateful we are to be part of such a remarkable team. We spent hours on hard benches yesterday in the company of some of the most intelligent, compassionate and dedicated people we've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Our group is also being advised by seasoned attorneys Lynne Williams and Phil Worden who offer valuable perspective and insight on defending against charges arising from nonviolent civil disobedience. And we were supported in the courtroom yesterday by two additional members of the Zumwalt 12, Joan and John Peck.

The prosecutor offered all of the Aegis 9 a plea bargain. Mine would have been a $250 fine while the three of us who were also members of the Zumwalt 12 -- Bruce Gagnon, Jason Rawn, and Russell Wray -- were offered three days in jail. All of us declined these offers.

It looks as if we will find out at a docket call on August 29 whether our trial will be in September or November.

I'm confident that lots of supporters will join us for the actual trial in Sagadahoc County Court, which looks like it will take 2 or 3 days. Our trial by a jury of our peers will take place in downtown Bath within blocks of General Dynamics and its highly profitable weapons of mass destruction plant. 

Also this week four young people in Des Moines, Iowa were arrested for nonviolent civil disobedience, cleverly constructing devices to block a military base where weaponized drones are operated to kill civilians overseas. Stay tuned.

Corporate Government Breeds Perpetual War, And What To Do About It

I'm preparing this morning to tape an interview with friend and fellow activist Bruce Gagnon. His This Issue television show appears on community access channels around Maine, and I've been his guest on a few occasions. But today the table will be turned and I'll be interviewing him.

Bruce spends a lot of time gathering information from varied sources and has been paying attention to the U.S. war machine for decades now. Recently he returned from a United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) conference where he was a panelist on missile "defense," and he wrote some interesting blog posts reporting back on what was shared there. I know he learned a lot from others in attendance, too. Here's a playlist on YouTube of the many interesting plenaries, workshops and planning sessions.

I'm interested to hear his response to the questions I've prepared:

• Much has been made of alleged ties between the new administration in Washington DC and Russia. Can you discuss why the Democratic Party and its media outlets have made such a big deal of this, and what you think the underlying truth is?

• The demagogue with bad hair has continued Obama's pivot to Asia, threatening North Korea and stationing THAAD missile "defense" plus warships like the Zumwalts built in Bath right on China's borders. What is to be gained from using our military to provoke China?

• The bloodbath in Syria, and the historic refugee crisis it has caused, seems to be escalating with no resolution in sight. Is this a civil war? Proxy war? What is the U.S./NATO role in this disaster?

• The U.S. has drawn closer to Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, with a state visit that had the U.S. president photographed dancing around with swords and communing with a glowing orb surrounded by Saudi princes. What is really going on -- more of the same in U.S. foreign policy, or a significant shift?

• This year marks the 50th anniversary of the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza by Israel, with construction of settlements on those stolen lands galloping ahead. Under any president the U.S. continues to support and fund the violent occupation of Palestine by Israel, and the apartheid state Israel has become. Why?

• How do you understand the proliferation of terrorist attacks in Europe recently? Who do you think is behind them, and what is their purpose?

• Will the U.S. always be at war in Afghanistan? Why has this occupation lasted so long, and produced so little in tangible progress for the U.S. and NATO? Why are we sending more troops there?

• What advice do you have for our audience to counter the downhill slide of our domestic economy based on building and exporting "security" and weapons? What can a concerned person do to make a difference?

There are so many other subjects I wish I had time to discuss with him: the Saudi war on Yemen and the U.S. role in torture there. The lies being told by corporate media about the real situation in Ukraine, where the U.S. is supporting the neo-Nazis. Also the recent suicide attacks in Teheran and what they portend. And what is really going on with the coordinated economic and diplomatic attacks on Qatar lately?

My guess is that I will not have to ask Bruce a direct question about the urgency of converting the military-industrial complex to building something useful and sustainable for humankind.

This is a theme that he and his partner Mary Beth Sullivan have returned to many times in their writing, speaking and direct actions. They live in an intentional community in the neighborhood where the corporation General Dynamics builds warships at nearby Bath Iron Works. Their house is named Adams-Melman in part because the late Seymour Melman was an early promoter of conversion as the path forward out of the wilderness we find ourselves lost in.

I also probably won't have time to ask him his views on the environmental degradation attendant on endless wars and massive investments in carbon belching war machines. Bruce has already signed the Maine Natural Guard pledge to connect the dots between climate chaos and the immense carbon bootprint of the U.S. military and its contractors. He is well aware that talking about reducing greenhouse gas in the atmosphere without talking about the Pentagon is foolish.

Bruce and I were arrested along with seven others on April 1 at Bath Iron Works for criminal trespass; basically, we refused to move from an area in front of their fence when ordered to do so. Jason Rawn was arrested along with us and had a recent letter to the editor published in the Portland Press Herald explaining his objections to a government infested by corporate investment. (Jason and I had dressed as our senators from Maine, Angus King and Susan Collins, respectively, with logos on our clothing indicating our corporate sponsors). 

The #Aegis9 have a disposition hearing tomorrow in West Bath District Court at 8:30am if you're in the area and would care to show up and support us.

I was struck by how many of the comments on Jason's letter online, "Angus King does not represent ordinary Americans" accepted the current system of rule by wealthy corporate servants as inevitable.

I'm old enough to remember when people in the U.S. thought that elected officials ought to represent the people, not General Dynamics. Bruce is old enough to remember, too, and he published his Sunday poem on that theme (reprinted here from his blog Organzing Notes):

Get Up Off Your Knees

We are talking
serfs
vassals
slaves
here

the return
of feudalism
21st century
corporate style

Mental slaves
all around us
go any place
where people meet
the joint
is crawling
with them

Whining about Trump
dreaming
of the good old days
when Obama
'respected'
the rule of law
ran a 'clean' government
only got us into
7 wars
Drone executions
Expanding NATO
Health care
was a corporate subsidy
but allowed
for pre-existing
conditions
yeah the glory days

Saw an invite
from a liberal group
'Join the resistance'
was the headline
the fine print
told the real story
come learn how to lobby

Resistance redefined
as accommodation
and horse trading
from a position
of weakness
and servitude

Putin
is on the west's
shit list
because he won't
submit
won't get on his knees
like vassals

resists being
another Yeltsin
won't bow
to the banksters
dares talk of
sovereignty

The fightback
is half-stepping
reading the
Post and Times
falling for the lies
another 'shock and awe'
Syria
Iran is next

Folks know better
but running scared
don't want
to get
outside their
comfort zones

Liberals
demonizing
Russia
trying
to change
the script
off their
big loss
to the 'Donald'
gotta blame
the evil bear

There's
no fight
in the bones

Speak out
get accused
of being violent
or too radical
blacklisted

Liberals
run and hide
wait for next election

Been determined
by some
that
on your knees
is the safest
position
to face
coming
high tide

Bruce