Something strange: The Right fears the anti-torture pro-peace crowd

[katinmn]

I know you guys are hurting today all across the country just as we are here in Minnesota following the disastrous display of treason yesterday in Washington D.C.

If nothing else, we as individuals have tried -- and we will keep trying -- to restore justice and transparency in our government.

But something happened here yesterday that I find quite strange. We peace activists who abhor torture are feared by the Right.

Please check out this account by "Lakeville Dad" following our protests at Coleman's and Rep. Kline's offices yesterday morning. Kline was a co-sponsor of the House Torture Bill.

It was Lakeville Dad's first protest. The account is funny and sad at the same time.
http://lakevilledad.blogspot.com/

"You keep a knockin'
but you can't come in"

Okay, I promised something lighter sometime this week and here it is. Please finish this story before clicking on the link to the Abu Grhaib photos, as that will spoil the mood.

I should have known we wouldn't be welcome when a police car was waiting for us when we arrived at the parking lot of Congressman Kline's office at 7 am. Someone had obviously called him, as we'd just rolled in and nobody had yet pulled a sign out of their car or anything.

The policeman told us that if we parked in the building's parking lot, the Congressman's office could have our cars towed, as it was private property. I asked him if they would have to ask us to leave first, and he allowed as how the lot wasn't posted, they would have to. Since the lot was nearly empty, we took our chances.

This was the first protest I'd ever been at -- thought I better do it now while it's still legal -- couple more elections and who knows?! I had imagined it would be a big group of riled up people -- but it was a very small group of old-time peaceniks -- they told me this was pretty typical, always only a handful of them. Kinda felt like they were just showing up for work, letting people know that there is another way. Several of them made mention of how as Christians it was their duty to speak out on issues such as this. They weren't overly concerned with the upcoming election, they were there for the issue.

We eventually grew to a small, polite group of seven -- a Veteran, a folksinger, a female pastor, a children's book writer (me!) and three other women -- who stood out in the cold for two hours this morning holding signs to the delighted honking and thumbs up to the people who agreed with us and rolled-down windows and "F*** you" and "Get a life" from the ones that didn't. We smiled and waved politely to either reaction. The positives were about 10 to one over the negatives, although the vast majority just drove by. That wasn't so strange, but I was pleasantly suprised at how many people were happy to see us. And they ranged from burly men in huge trucks to soccer moms with vans full of kids.

I hadn't even brought a sign, as I was just there to film what went on to cover it for the blog, but so few people were there that I soon abandoned my camera and held a sign that said Tell Kline to say NO to torture." Had some nice chats with kids on their way to school, an older woman who was walking to a friends house and a businessman walking to work.

Here's the issue we were out to raise awareness of:

Rep. Kline co-sponsored a bill, passed by the House yesterday, that retroactively makes all the torture done in places like Abu Ghrab and elsewhere just okey-dokey:

"The legislation that will re-interpret Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions includes a provision making the rewritten law retroactive to 9/11/01. Why? It’s been decided by the Supreme Court that the practices of the Bush administration are illegal. Abu Ghraib, Guantanomo, secret CIA prisons, and extraordinary rendition may be punishable as war crimes."

If you have a strong stomach, you can click here to see photo of Iraquis that were abused by U.S. personnel. But after the rest of the story, please.

We were holding our signs on the street corners nearest Kline's District Office. At about 9:10 am we left our signs in the parking lot and walked in and knocked on the door of the congressional office.

The door was locked. One of our group stooped down and looked in the mail slot and could see the legs of a woman who was standing off to the side. We knocked several more times, called through the closed door and the mail slot that we were constituents from Burnsville, Apple Valley and Lakeville who only wanted to drop off a letter and talk to a staff member about the issue.


The building's leasing manager came and told us it was private property and to leave. By this point it was really funny as we knew people were in there, but they were pretending they weren't there. I think it was the Veteran that mused something about the bravery of the "big, tough marine's staff."

There is more than a bit of irony in the "locked door" of the Congressman with a locked mind. With a 98 percent partisan voting record, I guess there really is no reason for his office to be open -- he's not going to listen to anyone other than the "Commander-in-Chief" anyway. If you go to his campaign Web site, there's not a lick there about any issues -- the less he talks about what he actually does in Washington, the more likely he is to be re-elected.

Half of our group left, but three of us went downstairs to the Kline campaign office where we had a brief discussion with staffers Marcus Esmay and Donna Bratlie -- who both recognized me by sight even though I'd never laid eyes on either of them before. They said they had no connection or information on the Congressional office, and if they locked us out that "is their business." It was a polite but non-productive chat -- the situation was now so amusing that we couldn't have been mad if we'd wanted to be.

HERE'S THE PAYOFF FOR READING THIS STORY

So the three of us remaining decided to check the Congressional office one more time before leaving the building, and so we climbed back up the flight of stairs. The door was still locked, but this time a piece of cardboard had been taped over the mail slot from the inside.

[MissMarple]

1. That is just too sad,these folks are far more pathetic than we thought

This almost falls into the "ignore the man behind the curtain" category.

[fasttense]

2. Rep. Kline knows he has done wrong and is afraid to face the music. n/t

[RaleighNCDUer]

3. Why am I reminded of whatshername, Schmidt?,

Hiding in the bushes.

[katinmn]

4. Bachmann of the bushes?

http://dumpbachmann.blogspot.com/

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. That's it.

Schmidt was the one who called Marine Murtha a 'cut and runner'.

[niyad]

5. time to remind these bastards that they work for US, NOT the

other way around. a congressional rep who refuses to see constituents? private property? LIKE HELL when WE are paying THEIR salaries, paying THEIR rent, paying THEIR staffs, etc.

would find out who that complicit building owner is, and picket all his other properties as well-- "this person collaborates in torture, protecting representative from his lawful employers" or something along those lines.

[tbyg52]

6. And it's a temp job, at that.

Quote from _Dave_