The Take A Stand rally is TODAY in the Pioneer Room (third floor) of the Memorial Union. We will be telling Grassley to Take a Stand against the Iraq War! There will be liveblogging on this blog and others, which I will link to later. Photos will be here.
5:54 PM: I just was offered Ben & Jerry’s. If you are not here, get here.
6:13 PM: Sue Dinsdale introduced Kevin Arritt from the Ames High Progressive Club.
6:18 PM: Terri Jones, mother of a soldier who returned from Iraq and then committed suicide, spoke. Even now, the government isn’t giving awards…the soldiers need to buy them from the PX when they get them. Disgusting. The military doesn’t keep track of the suicides, so they can have a sort-of copout. The website is http://jason-cooper.memory-of.com/
6:22 PM: Sen. Harkin staffer Deb Priepke (not sure of spelling) spoke. Harkin is anti-war, and she had a long list of things he’s done against the war and Guantanamo Bay.
6:28 PM: Greg Bonett presented Time for Peace and spoke against the war in general. Sue noted in his intro that Greg is of the age where he can be drafted. I remember that feeling from the *first* Gulf War.
BTW, other bloggers are here from the Iowa Independent. Also, the room is packed!
Greg is saying we need students, every week, in front of Parks Library, protesting elsewhere, and writing letters to the editor so that our Reps and Senators will always hear “End This War!”
6:32 PM: Dinsdale: “The Petraeus Report is a lie.” She says this will just be another White House PR.
6:36 PM: Jeffrey Weiss from the AFSC speaking on American military bases worldwide, and in the Mideast in particular. We are looking for an Iraqi government to get some bases in the area. Long talk, but very informative. Good history of the situation starting with the first Gulf War, the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Osama Bin Laden, and why he hates both us and Saddam.
6:44 PM: Iowa State Sen. Herman Quirmbach. Notes that the Republicans wanted a voice vote on Iowa’s resolution on Iraq. No record. Nice. Noting that we have nothing to show for this war, kinda like Vietnam (my words, not his).
I will post video to Youtube later.
Iraq veterans that Quirmbach knows were pulled out just 5 days prior to being able to receive full veteran’s benefits.
6:49 PM: We all hate the “Freedom’s Watch” commercials, and our IA State Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell is speaking to this and veteran’s health services. She spoke with people who deal with the wounded soldiers. He says that supplies are woefully inadequate. Each meal costs US taxpayers $35.00 (from Halliburton).
6:56 PM: Jim Jorgenson, Vietnam vet against the Iraq War. He read his letter from…Latham, I think. Thanks for your views, feel free to contact me with additional concerns, etc. but of course this won’t change him. There will also be a “Hot Seat” packet delivery tomorrow to Mr. Latham’s office.
7:02 PM: Sue spoke of her son, Jesse. He served in the war, and lead other troops. He is now speaking against the war.
7:03 PM: Mario Banifacio (spelling?) speaks. He is an Iraq war vet. He was in college during 9/11, and it moved him to sign up. He spoke of how the Iraqis wanted us out of Iraq, and the Iraq Army leaders were confused as to why we thought there were WMDs.
7:08 PM: Sue mentioned how Iowans were so passionate about opposing the war. There are cards for questions and comments for Latham and Grassley, so we will make sure these get delivered. “Stand with the people of Iowa, and bring the troops home, or stand with Bush…”
7:11 PM: Tom Harrington, local activist, speaks. Mentions the lawnmower ad for Grassley from 2004, and his “aw, shucks” image. He’s arrogant, not the common person like he wants us to think he is. Grassley gets *pissed* when you probe about Iraq. Tom relates about how Grassley blamed Iraq on Clinton, and he got mad when the audience laughed at him. “Chuck Grassley doesn’t believe what he’s saying, and neither should we.” Also brings up the “empty suit” prop for Tom Latham. This is DC-speak for someone who shows up and just votes party-line and is not at all well informed. Makes Latham sound like the PHB of the House. Latham believes that the UN and foreign intelligence mislead us, not Bush. Tom H. confronted him with the fact that over 50% of Iowa Repubs. oppose the war, Latham said he’d rather lose the election than have his children under Sharia law. I’m going to say that Latham needs to lose the next election. Tom H. says that we need to keep up the pressure and if we can end this even one day sooner, we will save so much money, and 3 or so of our soldiers. Freedom Watch thugs (Tom’s word, not mine) egged John Ryan’s house in Fort Dodge, and tore up his signs. Also, lies have been told about Sue Dinsdale in the WaPo.
Tom Harrington says to stay involved. Our Wed. Night Peace Vigils got plugged! We need to be writing letters, lots of short and to-the-point letters. BE OUTSPOKEN!
7:23 PM: Call these numbers:
Grassley in DC: 202 224-3744
Grassley in DSM: 515 288-1145
Latham in DC: 202 225-5476
Latham in Ames: 515 573-2738
There were more, but this covers central Iowa. That’s all for the liveblogging. There may be a few spelling edits later.