PROGRESSIVE e-alert: anti-Muslim Poster in California National Guard HQ

[cloudythescribbler]

Progressive Magazine in its weekly e-alert, 11am EDT July 19 reports that CodePink and Raging Grannies reported seeing brazenly racist and anti Muslim propaganda posted at the Headquarters of the California National Guard.

This discovery followed a controversy that erupted over surveillance of a Mothers' Day Protest by a special unit of the Guard. First, State Sen. Dunn, chair of the subcommittee in the CA State Senate that oversees the Guard budget reported never having heard of the unit, and then there was a controversy over securing reliable files about the unit from the Guard to Dunn -- and Sen. Dunn is still considering an obstruction of justice investigation.

Earlier in July, in a meeting to smooth over relations between the sponsors of the protest -- Raging Grannies and CodePink -- and the Guard, a meeting was held at the Headquarters of the CA National Guard. At that meeting, which reportedly went otherwise uneventfully, some activists noticed a poster on the wall which described in favorable terms General Pershing executing Muslims with bullets dipped in pig's blood, as a religious desecration. In light of the degradation of Islamic Culture and abuses already extant, the issue is thus raised of a widespread ONGOING encouragement of such behavior.

This report compounds the recently discussed attack on a Moslem Community Center in Bloomington IN.

It is strongly urged that any and all reports of hate crimes or other actions against Moslems, especially reports since July 7, be reported to the DU scrolls. It is important, including for at least some in the DUAC (DU Activist Corps) to have as good as possible a catalogue of information on such incidents available.
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HERE IS THE LINK TO THE PROGRESSIVE MAGAZINE E-ALERT
http://progressive.org/?q=mag_mc070905

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SOURCE:
Subj: Progressive Weekly e-Alert | July 19, 2005
Date: 07/19/2005 10:59:26 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From: [e-mail]
Reply-to: <snip> {has my email address}
To: <snip>
Sent from the Internet (Details)

Dear Friend,

Here are some of our fresh, new offerings on our website:
<snip>

Plus, we've posted a nasty piece of racist, anti-Muslim material that was hanging in the California National Guard headquarters.

I hope you appreciate what we're doing on the web.

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In the original, the phrase "California National Guard headquarters" contained the link to the URL address above.

[wtmusic]

1. WADR

this appears to be a tempest in a teapot. That Pershing story has been debunked countless times:

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/pershing.htm

and it sounds like there is a racist at California National Guard headquarters who put up a racist poster in a non-public area. Though it's despicable there are many other things I'll get my panties twisted over before that.

[cloudythescribbler]

4. first, the debunking of the Pershing story is besides the point

And what do you mean 'in a nonpublic area'? The point is that the whole institution is public and this sort of promotion of abuse should not be occurring in National Guardsmen, who are then to go over and follow these cues in Iraq. I am amazed that anyone would fail to see that this is hardly a trivial issue.

It is amazing that when one person posts something at DU as a tentative question, and is answered, that is suitable for RW hollering that finds its way to the NY Times op-ed page, while the blatant encouragement of abuse of Moslems in the National Guard, who are being drafted in huge numbers to go to Iraq, in light of all that has been going down on this issue, is somehow too trivial to even mention, as a supposed tempest (WHAT TEMPEST?) in a teapot.

When the national media carried on for three months of columns about students squeaking balloons during a speech by Jeanne Kirkpatrick at UC Berkeley in 1983 -- columns in the Wash Post, Newsweek, The New York Times etc etc. THAT was a real TEMPEST in a real TEAPOT.
This is a minimal level of protest about something of significance -- involving issues like torture and its promotion.

If the emperor's soup isn't PIPING hot, it's a national catastrophe. If the peasants starve to death, well, c'est la vie -- n'est-ce pas? And isn't that just common sense that that's the way things OUGHT to be?

I understand well the principles of 'reality' as well as their US version (indignant denial of same).

[happyslug]

2. This is at least the THIRD time this has been reported:

See the following for some of the other threads on this item:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1619727

[cloudythescribbler]

3. How can I check something like that ?

I am sorry, you are right -- the issue was clearly reported earlier. But I had just received the e-alert a few seconds ago and was unaware that it had already been widely reported. Is there some way to do a search of the site, going back more than 12 hours, so I can be sure (since there were many points that could define 'starting line' of time on this story.) If it was just reported that something happened weeks ago, the recent report is news ....

At any rate, I would be interested in any guidance on this. Last time, however, I posted something that was unique on an antiMoslem attack in Bloomington IN, which had just happened and been discovered that morning, it was also taken down. They should make a policy of emailing or rapid messaging someone any time they censor a comment or take down a posting and explain why.

[happyslug]

5. What I do is type in Key words using the Search Feature

In this case National Guard Islam and came up with the last of the reports (Which I referenced to). I could not find the earlier reports but I know of at least two others. A simple search would have reveled them, but Latest Breaking News only goes back 12 hours so unless someone made a comment within the previous 12 hours on the item the thread gets achieved.

I suggest just do a quick search and if nothing comes up post it, if it is a duplicate someone will point it out (as I did in this case). There is NOTHING WRONG WITH DUPLICATE POSTING, as long as you made an effort to make an attempt to see if it had been posted. In a forum like this you will have duplicates, it is the nature of the beast. All that can be expected of people is to make an effort to search first and than post.