[Peace-discuss] Final Response re: Johnson

[C. G. Estabrook]

I think you should acknowledge the politics of the people you're playing 
with.  Dissident movements (like the Vietnam anti-war movement) are 
always subject to co-option by establishment groups who recognize the 
threat they pose.

It would be much more valuable for you actually and effectively to 
oppose the war.  --CGE


"...the issue of peace and people dying for no reason is not a matter of 
'right or left' but 'right and wrong' ... I believe that partisan 
politics should be left to the wayside when hundreds of thousands of 
people are dying for a war, based on lies, that is supported by 
Democrats and Republicans alike ... if we don’t find alternatives to 
this corrupt 'two' party system our Representative Republic will die and 
be replaced with what we are rapidly descending into with nary a check 
or balance: a fascist corporate wasteland." --Cindy Sheehan, 28 May 2007


Jen Tayabji wrote:
> I most definitely disagree with you, but we are all entitled to our own
> opinions.
> 
> In terms of IDF, we have not nor do we support any particular candidate or
> party. We are a social justice organization that works on a variety of
> ISSUES.
> 
> In terms of this event, if you want to come, then come. If you don't want to
> or don't feel comfortable, don't. It was simply an invitation.
> 
> This will be my last email to the list regarding this topic (IDF's
> involvement, and also future AAEI events).
> 
> Please direct future questions or concerns to MY email (tayabji at shout.net)
> and NOT to the list as a whole because I think that is more appropriate in
> this matter.
> 
> Thanks,
> Jen
> 
> On 7/4/07 10:32 AM, "C. G. Estabrook" <galliher at uiuc.edu> wrote:
> 
>> I'm afraid IDF is being co-opted by a Democratic party front group, with
>> literally millions of dollars.  The name of the "campaign" is a conscious and
>> vulgar rip-off of a brave civil rights activity of more than 40 years ago
>> (which most of the real directors of AAEI -- unlike its local organizers --
>> are old enough to remember).
>>
>> And if "the goal of this campaign is to specifically target certain districts
>> where congress-people have voted for using more troops," what do you make of
>> the fact that Tim Johnson was one of only 17 Republicans who voted *against*
>> the "surge"?
>>
>> And how about the fact that only Republican supporters of the war are being
>> "targeted" -- no Democrats?
>>
>> The goal of the campaign is specifically not to get Johnson and other
>> representatives to vote against funding for the war.  It's to get them to vote
>> for a Democratic bill that funds the war.
>>
>> At your press conference tomorrow, you might say that the demand is that
>> Johnson vote against *all* war funding.  That will make the AAEI people
>> uncomfortable.
>>
>> Regards, CGE
>>
>>
>>
>> Jen Tayabji wrote: Carl, Bob, et al:
>>
>>> Thank you for your question!
>>>
>>> IDF is participating in the summer campaign of Americans Against the
>>> Escalation in Iraq. We are not leading or organizing this campaign, but
>>> helping with the local efforts.
>>>
>>> As I understand it, the goal of this campaign is to specifically target
>>> certain districts where congress-people have voted for using more troops,
>>> etc. This campaign specifically is calling to end any future legislation for
>>> escalation and to bring the troops home.
>>>
>>> As for IDF, this is one aspect of the anti-war work and approaches we are
>>> taking.
>>>
>>> Speaking personally, I agree that Bob's listed approaches should be part of a
>>> comprehensive, multi-tactical plan to end the war.
>>>
>>> As I understand it, this press conference, which is kicking off the summer
>>> campaign, is more narrowly focused on the **issue of recent escalation of
>>> troops, preventing future escalation, and bringing the troops home safely and
>>> responsibly.**
>>>
>>> Americans Against the Escalation in Iraq has a fairly detailed website at:
>>> http://www.noiraqescalation.org
>>>
>>> In solidarity, Jen
>>>
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jen
> Tayabji Executive Director and Campus Minister Illinois Disciples Foundation
> (IDF) W: (217) 352-8721 | C: (217) 840-8248 http://www.prairienet.org/idf
> 
> "My life is my message." --Mahatma Gandhi
> 
> "If we remember those times and places‹and there are so many‹where people
> have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least
> the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different
> direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait
> for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of
> presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance
> of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory." --Howard Zinn
>