[Peace-discuss] Re: The War on Dissent Gets Creepy

[Phil Stinard]

Hey Mike,

Thanks for writing back!  I didn't realize from the article that you knew 
that spraypainting the bridges was illegal.  The fines are hefty.  I'm sorry 
that they won't let you off with just the clean-up.  I oppose the war too.  
I thought that focusing on the spraypainting aspect was a distraction, but I 
know that wasn't your intention.  And yes, you are getting attention for the 
cause.  Take care, and God bless you!

--Phil


>From: "Mike Ferner" <mike.ferner at sbcglobal.net>
>To: "Phil Stinard" <pstinard at hotmail.com>
>Subject: Re: The War on Dissent Gets Creepy
>Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 13:49:25 -0500
>
>phil,
>you write below that i should have stated something like:
>"I know that spraying my message on the
>overpass is against the law, not because of my message, but because of my
>method.  But, I feel so strongly about the war that I felt I had to do it.
>I will pay the consequences for my actions."
>
>i've admitted that i did the painting and that i knew it was illegal.  i'll 
>be going to court (again) soon for it and the fines/restitution is pretty 
>steep.  so it's not like i'm getting off free after committing this heinous 
>act.
>on the positive side, it's caused a considerable amount of discussion about 
>the war and what our roles as citizens should be in opposing it.
>
>thanks for writing and be well.
>
>mike ferner
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Phil Stinard" <pstinard at hotmail.com>
>To: <mike.ferner at sbcglobal.net>
>Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 11:41 AM
>Subject: RE: The War on Dissent Gets Creepy
>
>
>I think it's creepy that someone thinks they can deface (spraypaint) public
>property and not have to clean it up.  Vandalism isn't appropriate 
>behavior.
>Civil disobedience is about taking a moral stand AND paying the 
>consequences
>for your actions.  That's why it's disobedience--it's against the law, and
>there are consequences to be paid.  If one is not willing to pay the
>consequences, I would question their sincerity.  Mr. Ferner defended 
>himself
>by writing:
>
> >The most important mistake I made on New Year's Day was not that I 
>painted
> >"Troops Out Now" on overpasses, it was choosing a form of civil
> >disobedience
> >not many people are comfortable adopting.
>
>I would reply to Mr. Ferner by saying that his biggest mistake is not
>understanding the meaning of civil disobedience.  Instead of focusing on
>opposition to the war, his actions have focused attention on the legality 
>of
>graffiti and his efforts to beat fines and jail time.  How much nobler he
>would have been had he said,
>--Phil
>
>
> >Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 08:02:17 -0600
> >From: "Lisa Chason" <chason at shout.net>
> >Subject: [Peace-discuss] The War on Dissent Gets Creepy
> >To: <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
> >Message-ID: <000001c62025$9ee19320$6600a8c0 at yourm5d4u9r2uv>
> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >The War on Dissent Gets Creepy
> >
> >
> >by Mike Ferner <mailto:mike.ferner at sbcglobal.net>
> >by Mike Ferner
> >
> >  <http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/ferner5.html#>   On New Year's Day, I
> >decided to start 2006 out with a public protest against the war. Little 
>did
> >I know how public it would become.
> >
> >My younger brother and I (he was only the wheelman, led astray) tagged
> >three
> >highway overpasses near Toledo with "TROOPS OUT NOW!" (see photo, below).
> >Suburban cops with too much time on their hands and citizens with cell
> >phones being what they were, we were soon pulled over by five (no 
>kidding)
> >patrol cars and arrested on no fewer than five felonies each. For those 
>of
> >you who haven't been paying attention to how state legislatures protect 
>us
> >from crime, in the late 90's in Ohio it became a felony to spraypaint a
> >public building (called "getting tough on gangs") AND a felony to possess 
>a
> >can of spraypaint in the commission of that crime ("possession of 
>criminal
> >tools" says the Ohio Revised Code).
> >
> >We spent that night in jail and the next day appeared, shackled together,
> >before a judge who set bond at (this is all for real, pals) $3,000 each, 
>no
> >10% business.
> >
> >Earlier this week we went to one suburban court, plead to misdemeanors, 
>and
> >found out how much the Ohio Dept. of Transportation (ODOT) charges for 
>the
> >"preliminary" repair of each overpass (grey paint) - $600 - with the 
>final
> >repair bill due at our sentencing next month. Technically, that includes 
>up
> >to 90 days in jail.
> >
> >Today we went to the second suburban court and my brother plead to
> >misdemeanors. I, on the other hand decided that if I'm going to pay that
> >kind of money and face time in the cooler, I'm at least going to have a
> >trial and speak my mind about the war. I've now been "bound over to the
> >grand jury" (which may mean something to those of you who watch cop 
>shows)
> >for a trial in county common pleas court on the remaining felony charges.
> >
> >Finally - our local paper, the Toledo Blade, ran an editorial last week
> >titled "Defacing
> ><http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20060106&Category=OPI
> >NION02&ArtNo=601060314&SectionCat=OPINION&Template=printart> a 
>reputation,"
> >referring to my time on city council and what it considered acceptable 
>war
> >protests, opining that I went too far with the spraypaint. Below is my
> >response to the paper and our fellow citizens.
> >
> >Response:
> >
> >The Blade was gracious enough to list me in the company of some civilly
> >disobedient heroes, indicating my behavior fell woefully short of those
> >honorable standards. Spray paint wasn't invented in Gandhi's day, but 
>might
> >he at some point have scrawled "Brits Out Now" with whitewash and a 
>brush?
> >One might think so.
> >
> >"But why break the law," people ask? "What about this war troubles you
> >enough to break the law?"
> >
> >In one word: images.
> >
> >Images that never leave me.
> >
> >Images of young soldiers and marines lying in row upon row of hospital
> >beds.
> >Images of picking shrapnel out of Mike Ramsack's backside.dressing Bob
> >Butikofer's wounds every day and trying not to make him scream.changing
> >colostomy bags on guys hoping they won't defecate out the hole in their
> >guts
> >caused by a gunshot wound to the abdomen.trying to give a brain scan to a
> >young soldier missing his entire left temporal lobe.Images of eating in 
>the
> >chow hall as dozens of patients in wheelchairs, on crutches, missing arms
> >and legs and eyes line up for dinner.Images of a young man sitting silent
> >and broken in a corner of the psych ward.
> >
> >And there are other, more recent images from my trips to Iraq that I 
>cannot
> >forget. Images of the kids I met on the streets of Baghdad, and the ones 
>in
> >Abu Siffa who shared their chicken and rice dinner with an American
> >journalist two days after a cruise missile blew their orange grove to 
>bits.
> >Images of Fatima in the Sa'adoon St. copy shop who told me how beautiful
> >she
> >thought her country was and how she hoped there would be no war. Images 
>of
> >the young U.S. Army sergeant from West Virginia I accompanied on patrol 
>one
> >night near Balad, who answered my question, "why are you in Iraq?" with a
> >tired shrug saying, "I really don't know." And his partner from North
> >Dakota, just as bone-tired, who answered simply, "oil."
> >
> >I see these images every day. And I know that the young men in that Navy
> >hospital 35 years ago, just like the ones I met last year in Iraq, are
> >getting killed and maimed for a preposterous lie. As my blood boils I 
>tell
> >my government to "BRING THEM HOME NOW!" by writing letters, signing
> >petitions, speaking, and yes, painting highway overpasses.
> >
> >Our government is not only causing great suffering by this war, it is 
>also
> >violating dozens of international and domestic laws. See the Veterans For
> >Peace "Case for
> ><http://www.veteransforpeace.org/impeachment/impeachment.htm> 
>Impeachment"
> >for a partial list. As citizens we are complicit in these crimes and
> >suffering. That is why historian Howard Zinn's words make more sense to 
>me
> >each day this war continues:
> >
> >"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. 
>Our
> >problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of the
> >leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been
> >killed because of this obedience...Our problem is that people are 
>obedient
> >all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, 
>and
> >war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails
> >are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are 
>running
> >the country. That's our problem."
> >
> >The most important mistake I made on New Year's Day was not that I 
>painted
> >"Troops Out Now" on overpasses, it was choosing a form of civil
> >disobedience
> >not many people are comfortable adopting. If you believe we must end this
> >war, what kind of civil disobedience would you choose? Refuse to pay part
> >of
> >your taxes this April? Sit in at a Congressional office? Organize a 
>strike?
> >Or will we be content to speak quietly, watching the petty criminals go 
>to
> >jail while the grand criminals continue the slaughter in our name?
> >
> >January 21, 2006
> >
> >Mike Ferner [send him mail <mailto:mike.ferner at sbcglobal.net> ] served as 
>a
> >Navy Corpsman from 1969 to 73, was discharged as a conscientious 
>objector,
> >and is a member of Veterans For Peace <http://www.veteransforpeace.org/> 
>.
> >He would like to add that any contributions to his legal defense fund 
>above
> >$5 will be returned.
> >
> >----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >--------------------------------
> >
> >The convention which framed the Constitution of the United States was
> >composed of fifty-five members.  A majority were lawyers-not one farmer,
> >mechanic or laborer.  Forty owned Revolutionary Scrip.  Fourteen were 
>land
> >speculators.  Twenty-four were money-lenders.  Eleven were merchants.
> >Fifteen were slave-holders.  They made a Constitution to protect the 
>rights
> >of property and not the rights of man,: Senator Richard Pettigrew -
> >Triumphant Plutocracy (1922)
> >
> >=
> >" I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and 
>causes
> >me to tremble for the safety of my country.  As a result of war,
> >corporations have been enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places
> >will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong
> >its
> >reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all the wealth 
>is
> >aggregated in a few hands and the republic is destroyed.  I feel, at this
> >moment, more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even 
>in
> >the midst of war.  God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless."
> >Lincoln in a letter to Col. William F. Elkins on November 21, 1864 :
> >
> >=
> >This great and powerful force-the accumulated wealth of the United
> >States-has taken over all the functions of Government, Congress, the 
>issue
> >of money, and banking and the army and navy in order to have a band of
> >mercenaries to do their bidding and protect their stolen property.
> >Senator Richard Pettigrew - Triumphant Plutocracy  - Published, January 
>1,
> >1922.
> >
> >=
> >I grieve for France ;  although it cannot be denied that by the 
>afflictions
> >with which she wantonly and wickedly overwhelmed other nations, she has
> >merited severe reprisals.  For it is no excuse to lay the enormities to 
>the
> >wretch who led to them, and who has been the author of more misery and
> >suffering to the world, than any being who ever lived before him.
> >
> >After destroying the liberties of his country, he has exhausted all its
> >resources, physical and moral, to indulge his own maniac ambition, his 
>own
> >tyrannical and overbearing spirit.  His sufferings cannot be too great.
> >But
> >theirs I sincerely deplore, and what is to be their term ?
> >
> >The will of the allies ?  There is no more moderation, forbearance, or 
>even
> >honesty in theirs, than in that of Bonaparte.  They have proved that 
>their
> >object, like his, is plunder.  They, like him, are shuffliing nations
> >together, or into their own hands, as if all were right which they feel a
> >power to do:
> >
> >Thomas Jefferson - To Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin
> >-Monticello,
> >October 16, 1815
> >
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