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

Mon Jan 23 16:12:10 CST 2006

Hello Phil.

Don't forget that grafitti is an art form, its latest
manifestation originating in NY and Philly 1968-76.
To me, commercial billboards like the Abercrummy and Snitch
pornography on Green Street are a greater public nuissance.

Paz, BD  

---- Original message ----
>Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 10:11:46 -0600
>From: "Phil Stinard" <pstinard at hotmail.com>  
>Subject: [Peace-discuss] RE: The War on Dissent Gets Creepy  
>To: peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>
>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, "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."
>
>--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
>>
>>-------------- next part --------------
>>An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
>>URL: 
>>http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/private/peace-discuss/attachments/20060123/28004763/attachment.html
>>
>>------------------------------
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>Peace-discuss mailing list
>>Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>>http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss
>>
>>
>>End of Peace-discuss Digest, Vol 24, Issue 48
>>*********************************************
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Peace-discuss mailing list
>Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss