SC Prog Blog

From Media Matters:

During the September 26 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh called service members who advocate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq “phony soldiers.” He made the comment while discussing with a caller a conversation he had with a previous caller, “Mike from Chicago,” who said he “used to be military,” and “believe[s] that we should pull out of Iraq.”

Limbaugh told the second caller, whom he identified as “Mike, this one from Olympia, Washington,” that “[t]here’s a lot” that people who favor U.S. withdrawal “don’t understand” and that when asked why the United States should pull out, their only answer is, ” ‘Well, we just gotta bring the troops home.’ … ‘Save the — keeps the troops safe’ or whatever,” adding, “[I]t’s not possible, intellectually, to follow these people.”

“Mike” from Olympia replied, “No, it’s not, and what’s really funny is, they never talk to real soldiers. They like to pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and talk to the media.”

Limbaugh interjected, “The phony soldiers.” The caller, who had earlier said, “I am a serving American military, in the Army,” agreed, replying, “The phony soldiers.”

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Bush smirks on TV
nu-CU-lar, he keeps saying
while the world cringes

Becci Robbins

At the Pride march on Saturday, a woman stepped out of the parade to offer me a handout, which I stuffed into my back pocket without reading. Doing laundry yesterday, I found the handout and took a better look. It read:

What is Fagbug?

On the 11th annual National Day of Silence (April 18, 2007), Erin Davies was faced with an unfortunate tragedy. She was victim to a hate crime. Because of sporting a rainbow sticker on her VW Beetle, her car was vandalized in red spray paint with the words “fAg” and “u r gay” placed all over the hood and driver side of her car. Despite immediate shock and embarassment, she decided to embrace what happened and keep driving her car as it is in order to increase public awareness about the blatant homophobia that exists in our society.

Mission:

Erin’s mission is to drive her fagbug on a cross country trip and take it to as many diverse communities as possible. She will be gathering feedback for her fagbug documentary, which will shed light on the intolerance that exists in our society. Erin’s goal is to get at least one million people to add fagbug rainbow stickers to their cars so that no one else is targeted like she was. Until that happens, her car will stay as it is!

Check out her web site, get a free sticker for your car, make a donation and read her blog (including a blurb about her time in Columbia).

Big 3 Dems’ Health Insurance Unfriendly to Women
By Susan Feiner, WeNews commentator

So who’s got the most women-friendly health care plan?

Is it Hillary, Obama or Edwards?

Answer: none of the above.

Only Dennis Kucinich offers what women really need: single-payer, universal health care.

To the others I have one question: Why are you ignoring over 50 years of experience in our peer nations, which show that the public provision of health care delivers far better results at far lower costs?

The national disparities in women’s deaths between the United States and countries such as Canada, France and Germany are horrendous.

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Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney

Sept. 24, 2007

The ten million members of the AFL-CIO stand one hundred percent in solidarity with the 73,000 men and women of the UAW who went on strike at General Motors today.

GM workers and the UAW are on the front lines of working people’s efforts to make corporations accountable, demanding that one of the world’s largest corporations honor its workers’ contributions and listen to their reasonable concerns.

Its workers are among GM’s greatest assets - they have improved product quality and productivity, boosting strong gains in critical areas. The UAW membership has approached corporate restructuring and other top issues in a spirit of partnership and flexibility.  

We stand ready to assist the members of the UAW in any way necessary in order to hold GM accountable for reasonably addressing the key issues that are so important to these working families’ futures.

Wade Fulmer, a veteran and anti-war activist who lives in Columbia, forwarded these thoughts about a group calling itself Gathering of Eagles:

I think this group might also be called Gathering of (swiftboat) Eagles. We will not be intimidated but WILL continue to voice our message to take care of the troops, to end the war of lies. In that Charlotte peaceful people vigils have also have been swooped down upon by these creatures, I expect we’ll see them here too soon. Be Safe, Be True, coordinate as needed and call law enforcement when their threatening “gatherings” occur. I found it not unexpected to find them in DC doing their dirty work, but a new low in their attacks on soldier care advocates at Walter Reed during a vigil on Friday night, Sept., 14. And, along the march route to the Capitol on Saturday. We shall continue our Peace and Care good works for our soldiers and families.

“The work of righteousness is peace… ”Isaiah 32:16. 

Take Care out there people.
- Wade 

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Anti-Anti-War Protesters: Gathering of Eagles Feather Their Nest With Padded Numbers at Anti-War March

Despite the massive crowd of as many as 100,000 protesters from as far away as Peru and the 175 arrests for civil disobedience, the mainstream media, including CBS TV news and Yahoo Internet news, reports of the on the Sept. 15 Anti-war march focused strangely on the anti-anti-war protest group, A Gathering of Eagles. Both Yahoo and CBS‚ on-site reporters (though we have no confirmation that the version of the story that ran was the one being taped, or on which station the report was to be broadcast) cast the flock of rabid pro-war hecklers as a group of over a 1000 dedicated vets and other concerned “patriots” who showed up to out-shout the rally of anti-war rally of thousands of concerned individuals attracted to Washington by dozens of organizations and disorganizations, such as A.N.S.W.E.R., Code Pink, the World Can’t Wait and Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Rumored to be funded by wealthy GOP donors and right-wingers, The Gathering of Eagles did indeed field a healthy contingent of veterans in various semblances of patriotic/militarist garb and biker outfits. At one point the Eagles gathered along the sidewalk areas of three very long blocks behind barricades and heavy police security, though at no point did they appear to be more than one deep along the fence. At another highly visible area nearer the Capitol, they stood stretched turkey-neck thin tormenting the crowd gathered near the Code Pink bus on the final approach to the Capitol building.

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Columbia College students get proud.

This year’s Pride march stepped off at noon from Finlay Park in Columbia, and wound up Main, down Gervais in front of the State House and up Gadsden back to the park - a fair jaunt. Folks on foot and on floats did their best to keep up with the motorcycles setting the pace, a feat made even more challenging by the blistering heat. Sweaty but spirited, the marchers finally emptied into the park, where the stage was set, music was thumping and vendors readied their wares.

Our crew turned out in a big way. Besides GLPM, which organized the event, other Network members staffing tables were the SC Equality Coalition, Alliance for Full Acceptance, Carolina Peace Resource Center, Garden of Grace United Church of Christ, SC NOW, PALSS and P-FLAG. Network Co-chair Rev. Bennie Colclough was invited to speak. He was among the few in the African American church to support the gay community in fighting the marriage amendment last year, and has continued to work on their behalf. He fired up the crowd using skills honed as a preacher and a union organizer.

GLPM began the program by recognizing Mayor Bob Coble, calling him one of the city’s longest serving and most popular mayors. Under his leadership, Columbia was the first city in the state of South Carolina to include sexual orientation in the city’s non-discrimination policy for municipal employees. In 2006, when Charlotte NC Mayor Patrick McCrory refused to offer a welcome at the annual Human Rights Campaign dinner in Charlotte, Mayor Bob showed up to offer a welcome instead. Classy guy.

The headline speaker was Jonathan Jackson, a USC graduate and five-year Army veteran who was deployed to Baghdad for a year. During the campaign against the amendment, he interned for SCEC and the Fairness for All Families campaign. You can see the full line-up here.

The party lasted until five, just in time to pack it in before the skies opened up and let loose some blessedly needed rain on the Midlands.

It was a great turn-out, great vibe, great time. Congratulations to our friends Bruce Converse and Rev. Candace Chellew-Hodge, who deftly emceed, and to all the organizers at GLPM for a job well done.

AFFA marches past the State House.

For more Pride 2007 photos, click here.

On Wednesday evening, as hundreds of Columbians travelled to Louisiana to join in a national protest, hundreds more gathered at the State House in a show of solidarity for the “Jena Six.” They sang. They prayed. They listened to speakers and spoken word artists. They joined hands and promised to stand united against racial injustice.

It was moving to see that sort of unity, which grew organically from a shared sense of outrage. It was the first rally I can remember that wasn’t organized by one group or anyone with an agenda. No political grandstanding. No pre-printed signs. Just people who came together on short notice to add their voices to the chorus saying, “Enough!”

While it was gratifying to see such a large and hopeful crowd, it was disappointing that there was no effort to take the next step. With all that energy, there was no talk about where to direct it. What now? Nobody knows. And with the local media pretty much ignoring the event, it was a missed opportunity all the way around. (Does a rally happening in a void make a sound?)

To see more photos from the rally, click here.

Health Reform Failure

By Steffie Woolhandler and David U. Himmelstein
Boston Globe Sept. 17, 2007

In 1966 - just before Medicare and Medicaid were launched - 47 million Americans were uninsured. By 1975, the United States had reached an all time low of 21 million without coverage. Now, according to the Census Bureau’s latest figures, we’re back where we started, with 47 million uninsured in 2006 - up 2.2 million since 2005. But this time, most of the uninsured are neither poor nor elderly.

The middle class is being priced out of healthcare. Virtually all of this year’s increase was among families with incomes above $50,000; in fact, two- thirds of the newly uncovered were in the above-$75,000 group. And full-time workers accounted for 56 percent of the increase, with their children making up much of the rest.

The new Census numbers are particularly disheartening for anyone hoping for a Massachusetts miracle. In the Commonwealth, 651,000 residents are uninsured, 65 percent more than the figure used by state leaders in planning for health reform. Their numbers came from a telephone survey done in English and Spanish. But that misses people who lack a land-line phone - 43.9 percent of phoneless adults are uninsured, according to other studies.

It also skips over the 523,000 non-English speakers in Massachusetts whose native language isn’t Spanish (e.g. Portuguese, Chinese, or Haitian-Creole), another group with a high uninsurance rate. In contrast, the Census Bureau goes door-to-door for its survey and has translators for almost every language. It gets a more complete picture.

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Columbia Christians for Life sent this email today with a link to a story in USC’s campus newspaper. Pride Week is shaping up to be crazy. Literally.

Columbia Christians for Life: The Students at Sodomy and Fornication-infested, taxpayer-subsidized, South Carolina state government-controlled, university in Columbia, SC react to strong Biblical preaching on sin and hell. See front page story and photo at: The Gamecock.

They also sent this.

Mayor Coble officially welcomes Sodomite Parade to City of Columbia, SC in Letter of Support on behalf of the Mayor and the Columbia City Council

Bible-believing Christians:   

Please come to the Columbia City Council meeting on Wednesday, September 19, to sign up on the public speaking list to register your opposition to the Mayor of Columbia, Bob Coble’s endorsement of sin, and criminal behavior (SC Code of Laws 16-15-120, “Buggery” / Sodomy); and thereby undermining the morals, safety, security, and health of the greater Columbia area, and the State of South Carolina.

Title 16 - Crimes and Offenses

Chapter 15.
Offenses Against Morality and Decency
www.scstatehouse.net/code/t16c015.htm

SECTION 16-15-120. Buggery.
Whoever shall commit the abominable crime of buggery, whether with mankind or with beast, shall, on conviction, be guilty of felony and shall be imprisoned in the Penitentiary for five years or shall pay a fine of not less than five hundred dollars, or both, at the discretion of the court.

The founding fathers of America knew that only a moral and virtuous people were capable of liberty, and worthy of economic and political prosperity.

Sodomy is a Crime:
Against the Laws of God
Against the Laws of Nature
Against the Laws of South Carolina

Bob Coble’s endorsement of those who commit the abominable crime, and immoral acts, of buggery/sodomy, is a threat to the security, safety, health, and prosperity of Columbia and the State of South Carolina.

Genesis 19:24,25 - “Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.”

We have been very active in Charleston and North Charleston in opposing the proposed expansion of Kinder Morgan’s dry bulk importing terminal at Shipyard Creek. KM has a history of non-compliance with DHEC and EPA regulations at this facility, and they have recently resorted to harassment of an individual through use of Homeland Security. I have posted a number of articles at Charleston Peace.

We are trying to get as much coverage on these issues as possible, hoping that continued exposure will convince Kinder Morgan to work with us to clean up their existing facility. I hope you will be willing to help spread the word!

Thanks,
Kristen French

Greetings All,

–abe

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HATRED IN OUR MIDST
a message from Ron Keine

Sometimes I am amazed by some of the things I have heard come out of the mouths of my brother and sister abolitionists.

It was a wonderful but stressful morning. I had given a short welcome speech to the general assembly at UCLA. The subject of the speech was how happy I was to see so many concerned people in attendance joining together to stop government killing. Later I poured my heart out telling my story of how I was wrongfully convicted and sent to Death Row. As many of my fellow exonorees can tell you, this is not easy–especially for a then fledgling speaker like me. After the speech, you are both physically and emotionally drained. The question-and-answer period was pure torture as the audience touched on some of the very subjects I did not want to talk about. Some of the aspects of my ordeal are still very sensitive to me. Still I complied.

As I walked outside to the patio for lunch, I saw many large tables full of people. One group beaconed to me the availability of an open seat.

The table chat was friendly until a man said that he had read a news article about me and wanted to know if I was indeed the past Chairman of my local Republican party. “Yes” I proudly replied. “Are you still a Republican?” he queried, to which I again said, “Indeed.”

The woman sitting next to me blurted out loudly that she hated Republicans. I politely thanked her for that information.

She again reiterated her statement but louder this time.

She went on to say that she couldn‚t believe that she was even sitting at the table with Republican scum. She looked at me with a face that blared of hate and anger. This woman was not only a lawyer but also the wife of a prominent doctor who had authored books speaking out against the death penalty.

I was floored. I said, ” Ma’am, I come from Michigan, and in Michigan it is the Republicans that keep the death penalty off the law books.”

She then said that she couldn‚t eat any more with a Republican at the table. In fact she might be getting sick if she stayed any longer. I said “No problem,” and I left the table. This is not the way an honored guest and exonoree should be treated.

As I stood by the building, finishing my lunch, I felt devastated. I had come all the way to California, with no pay, to help fight the death penalty. We are all here for a common cause–a cause I have dedicated my life to. I had received a standing ovation for my speech. Now I just wanted to go somewhere and hide.

I then spotted my fellow exonoree, Shujaa Graham, and went over to talk to him. I told him what had happened. Those of you who know Shujaa know that it didn’t take long for him to talk me into a lighter mood.

Another time I was in Chicago at a North Western Wrongful Conviction seminar. Sitting at the breakfast table I witnessed a lady bad mouthing Catholics as the Catholics at the table sat flabbergasted. This woman is a devout Christian but hates Catholics. I couldn’t help wonder, “What kind of religion is this that teaches her to hate other Christians?” She went on to say that Catholics worship plaster idols which finally got a verbal war going at the table.

These are all abolitionists. They are all there for a noble cause: a humanitarian effort to rid our land of its worst atrocity. Where does all this hate come from?

At that same meeting in Chicago, I and several of our exonorees gave a speech in a standing room only auditorium. The last speaker was Jesse Jackson Jr. I was totally horrified at what he said. He talked about many troubles in the world today and blamed them all on Republicans and white people. It was supposed to be a speech against capital punishment (which he did mention), but it was a campaign speech instead.

I followed him off stage. As I approached him, in anger, his security thugs stepped up to make sure I didn‚t violate him. As I looked around, it reminded me of what comedian Ron White said. “I didn’t know how many of these bouncers it would take to kick my ass but I could see how many they were going to use.”

Being careful not to transgress the line, I stood two feet in front of the Reverend and told him that I have never, in my life, heard such racism, bigotry and hate spewing from the mouth of a man of the cloth, especially a congressman with a master’s in Theology. “You were supposed to be here to help our cause. Instead, you set us back.”

He just looked at me. He was speechless. He turned and walked away with his entourage in tow.

While lobbying in New Mexico I was able to talk to several Republican house legislators whose votes were crucial. They refused to even listen to coalition people because they were “fuzzy headed liberals.” We won that vote, but the bill was shot down in the senate committee.

One woman recently published a letter proclaiming her distaste for rich people. Rich people give a lot of money to our anti-death-penalty coalitions.

I was at the fast and vigil at the U.S. Supreme Court last year. Among our own peace-loving, understanding and humanitarian anti-death-penalty activists there was all too much of this bigotry going around. When I gave a private speech to this group I dumped my planned oration to address this problem. I might have hurt a few feelings, but most agreed with me. Not wanting to let this simple letter become a tome, I’ll cut to the chase.

I have seen so many instances of this bigotry, racism, bias and hate among our own abolitionists that it makes me sick. Democrats hating Republicans, Republicans hating Democrats. People hating other people because of their religious or political preference, ethnic origin, race, and human status in life.

This kind of behavior does not belong in our midst. This may be the status quo to many groups of people in this world. This may be commonplace to the pro-death penalty vultures, but it should NOT be evident in our abolitionist movement. We are a unique people. We are all working to better this world and end the killing of our citizens. Why can’t we all just get along? Why can’t we accept that other people may have differing opinions without hating them for it? Remember that WE are supposed to be the good guys. We can expect this kind of treatment from our foes, but when it comes from within our own midst, it is truly shocking.

What we must remember is that whatever we do, however we act, reflects directly on our fellow abolitionists and the groups or coalitions we represent. We must stand out as an example of what is right. We cannot let a few bad apples tarnish our image and circumvent our credibility

– Ron Keine