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"Study War No More," The other Faneuil Hall speeches today

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TayTay Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-22-06 07:57 PM
Original message
"Study War No More," The other Faneuil Hall speeches today
Edited on Sat Apr-22-06 08:00 PM by TayTay
There have already been a number of recaps of what Sen. Kerry said today at Faneuil Hall. I wanted to point out who else spoke there today and a little of the flavor of what they said.

The invocation was given by Rev. Borders from nearby Morningstar Baptist Church. His insightful, spiritual and emotional blessing was tuned to the message from the Bible that says, "they shall beat their swords into plowshares," and that at some point we shall, "study war no more." The Reverend's powerful statement set the stage for the speeches that followed. We have all heard Repubs use the Bible to justify their goals and ambitions; they regularly use Sacred Text to beat Democrats over the head and accuse them of having no values. Reverend Borders used his invocation to bring another moral argument to the forefront, that it is morally right and in line with the great religious traditions represented in the Bible that you speak truth to power. God's dissenters have also tried to 'speak truth to power' and in doing so have honored God's values that hold life to be sacred and war to be profane.

Captain Powers also spoke. I really, really hope he is on the C-Span broadcast tomorrow night. He served in Iraq. At one point in the speech he said that military command officers told him they weren't going to give him a Bronze Star, as they would afraid he would fling it over the White House fence. Powers said, he just might have done that. It was this young Captain, only 27 years old, the same age as Kerry was when he gave his famous testimony before the Senate Committee in 1971, who said the line, "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake." That line, said in front of the man who so famously said it so long ago, yet so apt for today was given a standing and prolonged ovation by the crowd. That was a very poignant moment. The young Captain gave it new life, new urgency and a new sense of relevancy. Because it's true, if this war is a mistake, and if it is indeed time for it to end, then who will be that last man to die?

more ...
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demdiva Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-22-06 08:03 PM
Response to Original message
1. Thanks for the first hand account
And the insightful post as usual.

And I think it's nice to hear that the church AND the military stood in agreement with Kerry.
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Sydnie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-22-06 08:17 PM
Response to Original message
2. Where's the MORE?
I want more!

Great accounting so far Tay Tay.
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TayTay Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-22-06 09:29 PM
Response to Reply #2
3. Judith Droz Keyes, Wow!
Senator Kerry has known this woman for a long, long time. She was married to a Lt. Don Droz that was also the skipper of a Swift Boat in Vietnam. Don Droz died about two months after Kerry left that country and that war to come home. There is an independent film that chronicles some of what happened to Don Droz in Vietnam, how the daughter he barely met has coped with that death and with her mother's grief over the years. http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/begoodsmilepretty/film.html

I saw Judy Droz Keyes several times during the last Presidential campaign. She has recounted her story before. Each time she does so, it seems to freshly hurt again. She talked today about how her husband had seen first-hand that Vietnam was not going to be 'won' by the US. Judith talked about how, after her husband's death in mid 1969, she took up his cause and protested that war to help fulfill her husband wish that the war end.

It still hurt. This woman whose husband had died in that pointless war, was called a 'commie', spat on and told that if she didn't like this country, she could leave. Droz Keyes, left to raise a daughter on her own because of the war, was wounded again because of the people who believed that dissent was somehow wrong and unpatriotic. And it still hurt. I have no idea how many times she has told her story since 2003, but, dammit, it still hurt. She got a hitch in her voice when she spoke of the death, another one when she spoke of the injustice of beng told she was not a 'good American' when she voiced her dissent. She also spoke of her pride when she heard her husband's friend, John Kerry. testify to that Senate Committee and give the perspective that seemed so in line with what her own husband had confided in her shortly before her death.

It still hurt. Gawd in heaven, it still hurt. There's still a sense of loss, of grief, and feelings of abandonment from those who didn't know her loss and who thought she was 'hurting the troops' by trying to end the war with protests. 37 or so years later the loss of her husband still hurt, 35 years later and the loss of good faith in her fellow countrymen still hurt.

Damn, no wonder Senator Kerry asked her to speak today. She was really brilliant.
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ProSense Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-22-06 09:35 PM
Response to Reply #3
4. Thanks for sharing this story and the link.
Heart-wrenching story that makes me want to...arrrrrrrgh!
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_dynamicdems Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-22-06 10:50 PM
Response to Reply #3
12. She is also the president of The Patriot Project
"The Patriot Project is a non-profit organization of men and women, and the families of men and women, who served in the Armed Forces of the United States of America. The Patriot Project is dedicated to defending and supporting the right of these Americans to question the policies and actions of their government, particularly with regard to armed conflict."

http://www.patriotproject.com

And her daughter, "Tracy Droz Tragos, produced and directed the 2004 Emmy-award winning documentary film Be Good, Smile Pretty, about her father and his death in Vietnam and the journey of his daughter to know him and to understand that war and that time."

If I'm not mistaken, I believe she interviewed Kerry for the documentary and he has a small part in the film. Anyone see this?


Also interesting: David Thorne is the treasurer of the Patriot Project.
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beachmom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-22-06 09:52 PM
Response to Original message
5. The way you describe it just gave me chills
What must have John Kerry felt seeing someone just like him put in the same exact place in yet another war?

On the C-SPAN schedule, Kerry's speech was allotted 1 hour. I'm not sure if that would include the others' speeches, which really would be just a shame.

It's at 10 AM in case nobody has mentioned that.
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Sydnie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-22-06 10:10 PM
Response to Reply #5
6. Here is a pic of him just as Powers was introducing him
Edited on Sat Apr-22-06 10:14 PM by Sydnie


You could see on his face that he realized how powerful a sentence it is and how grateful the crowd was that it was being said by THIS generation too!


edit - wrong pic
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TayTay Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-22-06 10:10 PM
Response to Reply #5
7. This was a complete program
It needs to be seen as a complete program. Each speaker was eloquent in their own way. Each speaker evoked moral themes and the necessity of speaking truth to power and of the necessity for patriotic dissent for people who love their country but hate the path it is on.

Really, see all the speeches. Each one was a gem. It was an honor and a privilege to see that event at Faneuil Hall today. It was extremely well done.
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Sydnie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-22-06 10:13 PM
Response to Reply #7
8. It was longer than an hour though
Don't know how they can cut any of those speeches and do any of them justice.
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TayTay Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-22-06 10:23 PM
Response to Reply #8
9. Not really.
It started just after 11:00 and was all over by right around 12:10 or so. I think they can fit it all in.

I really hope so. All those speakers were excellent. They need to be heard.
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Sydnie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-22-06 10:28 PM
Response to Reply #9
10. I agree that they were all excellent
I didn't keep track of the time down to the minute. I felt like John was rushing the applause sometimes because he knows there is a time limit for the cameras. Probably a time crunch to make the airport too.

I wish for a time when he held a town meeting in that type of forum (small and intimate) and allowed for questions and dialogue on the issues.


Time just never seems to be on my side when these things happen though.
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beachmom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-22-06 10:34 PM
Response to Reply #9
11. Oh good, because I would like to see the whole thing
It said on the schedule 1:01. I hope that that figures in the whole event.
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