ADAPT protest for patients' rights

365: Protesters block off the road just off Conn. Ave., in front of the Hilton. ADAPT was advocating passage of the Community Choice Act, which would give more rights to disabled patients in choosing where and how they're cared for.




See more of my protest photos.

M.I.A.'s "Born Free"

M.I.A.'s amazing video "Born Free" has been pulled from YouTube for its either too graphic or too "controversial" material. M.I.A.'s website then directed viewers to Vimeo. The violent Romain Gavras-directed work is nine razor-sharp minutes long. The narrative quite sinisterly weaves America's War on Terror/Gitmo and immigration policy and suspicion of the "other." It's allegory. And it's powerful.

M.I.A, Born Free from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

Cheney (and Politico) could give a shit, apparently

All that can be said about Dick Cheney's despicable interview with Politico has been said already today. This is a sad, bitter, frightened man scrambling to preserve some shred of a legacy that doesn't put him at the center of preemptive war, torture, lies upon lies to the American people and a genuine disregard for humanity.

And Politico, as a so-called "news organization," sunk to new depths seeking (or being called by) Cheney to comment on the day Obama is ADDING troops (The irony here is stunning and, frankly, a bit confusing.). I have enough disdain already for Politico's vapid, sloppy, "win-the-day" bullshit journalism. But giving Cheney an open forum to say whatever he wants without, seemingly, follow-ups to his egregious answers is embarrassing at best, a gross malfeasance to the already sorry state of modern mainstream journalism at worst.

But back to Lord Death, from the interview:

In a 90-minute interview at his suburban Washington house, Cheney said the president’s “agonizing” about Afghanistan strategy “has consequences for your forces in the field.”

“I begin to get nervous when I see the commander in chief making decisions apparently for what I would describe as small ‘p’ political reasons, where he’s trying to balance off different competing groups in society,” Cheney said.

“Every time he delays, defers, debates, changes his position, it begins to raise questions: Is the commander in chief really behind what they’ve been asked to do?”

[...]

Cheney was asked if he thinks the Bush administration bears any responsibility for the disintegration of Afghanistan because of the attention and resources that were diverted to Iraq. “I basically don’t,” he replied without elaborating.

[...]

“Here’s a guy without much experience, who campaigned against much of what we put in place ... and who now travels around the world apologizing,” Cheney said. “I think our adversaries — especially when that’s preceded by a deep bow ... — see that as a sign of weakness.”

Read the whole thing for a complete picture of this insidious, pathetic man.

But the disappointment goes beyond Cheney. We expect bile from him. Today, Barack Obama is just another George W. Bush. This is now his war. He's the pseudo-tough guy that will "win this war once and for all." He will leave the White House at 5:30 tonight, heading to West Point for his speech where he will outline a troop escalation of around 30,000, more troops than Bush's Iraq surge. Exit strategy optional. I'll be there in front of the White House with fellow protesters to see him off. I fear this is a colossal mistake, a cherry on top of a multi-faceted mess in America. Something has to give.

Terrorized by the FBI

365 Photo: Terrorized by the FBI

Protest of the day

(Photo: 365 Project, Day Forty-six, 10/21/09 - In front of the Supreme Court building. I saw the woman on the left walk up, set her bag at her feet and stand at attention, all with very little communication between her and the guy next to her. It looked as if they all were praying by themselves. Make your own inferences as to why people pray in front of the Supreme Court building. But they all had their own way of praying and/or meditating, whether bowing or swaying or raised arms or stillness. It was lunch hour.)