By SOLVEJ SCHOU, Associated Press Saturday, December 29, 2007
PASADENA, Calif. -- There could be some discord during the Tournament of Roses Parade as demonstrators promise to raise issues during the holiday spectacle that has been going on for more than a century. Human rights advocates plan to protest a float honoring the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and anti-war activists, including "Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan, intend to rally for peace.
The theme of this year's New Year's Day parade is "Passport to the World's Celebrations." It will feature 46 floats, 21 marching bands and 18 equestrian units. Volunteers have busy in Pasadena and nearby areas this past week decorating the floats with buckets of flowers and seeds. "It's such a great feeling, to see the float on TV and have people say 'You worked on that float, that was so cool, that was so neat.' It makes all the hassle and everything we go through worthwhile," said Moreno Valley resident Linda Priest, 49, assistant crew chief on Honda's "Passport to the Future" float. The National Weather Service forecast no rain for Tuesday's parade, with highs in the low 70s and not much wind. This won't be the first Rose parade touched by protest -- in 1992, American Indians complained about the naming of a descendant of Christopher Columbus as grand marshal -- but most problems have been mechanical. "Honestly, in the past years, it's really been more about floats breaking down, delaying the parade, than other things, than protests," said Tournament of Roses President CL Keedy. Yet some fear the protests could develop into an annual pattern that could tarnish the parade's shiny image. "If controversy like this diminishes the positive impact of the Rose Parade, it would be of concern," Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard said. Chinese Americans who claim they were victims of political or religious persecution in China are criticizing the $400,000 Beijing Olympics float. Bogaard said the city cited security considerations in turning down the group's proposal for a demonstration along the parade route involving a large band and several vehicles. "The tournament views the float as I do, as a celebration of the Olympic Games, not as a subject of criticism of the Chinese," Bogaard said. "It is my hope that as China emerges more and more into the world community it will be inclined to respect all human and civil rights." Protest organizer John Li, a member of Caltech's chapter of Falun Gong, the spiritual movement outlawed by the Chinese government in 1999, promised his group would be seen if not heard. "We are going to ask the audience on the road to turn their back when the Asian float arrives, and show banners. We have to send a strong message to say no to human rights abuses in China," Li said. The float is sanctioned by the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee but is sponsored by the Roundtable of Southern California Chinese-American Organizations and Pasadena-based label maker Avery Dennison Corp. It will feature the upcoming Olympics' five official mascots rotating on a base and decorated with a combination of flowers, including carnations and daisy petals. Sheehan, the outspoken San Francisco Bay area activist whose son was killed in Iraq, is campaigning for Congress against Rep. Nancy Pelosi and calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. She will join other pro-impeachment and anti-war groups at the parade, according to her sister, Dede Miller. As many as 1,000 supporters are expected to rally before and after the parade and distribute 20,000 pamphlets while flying 300 banners along the parade route, said Peter Thottam, executive director of the Los Angeles National Impeachment Center. Police said they were prepared for the protesters and the hundreds of thousands of spectators. As usual, about 1,200 officers from a number of agencies are set to be on hand. "We've had to ramp up our resources, police personnel, but nothing out of the ordinary," police Commander Paul Gales said.
Friday, April 11, 2008 Cindy Sheehan brings message of peace to Capital Region Updated: 04/11/2008 By: Britt Godshalk
ALBANY, N.Y. -- She was camped out near President Bush's ranch in Texas. She was thrown out of the State of the Union address for wearing a T-shirt in protest. And now Gold Star Mom for Peace Cindy Sheehan brings her message against the War in Iraq to our backyard.
President Bush has announced troop withdrawals will cease come July. General David Patraeus warned the Senate that the progress made in Iraq is reversible.
"The bottom line is we can't believe anything that they say," Sheehan said.
Sheehan brings message of peace to Capital Region You first heard her name when she made national headlines after demanding a meeting with President Bush to convince him to pull troops out of Iraq. And now, as our Britt Godshalk reports, a mom of a soldier killed in the war brings her story to the Capital Region.
Sheehan's visit comes just weeks after the death toll reached 4,000 American soldiers killed in Iraq as we marked five years in the war. But as a mother, this is a particularly hard time of year, remembering her son Casey who died in Iraq in 2004.
"This would be the week, four years ago, that we waited between hearing the news and burying him," she said.
After an exhausting anti-war effort, she said last year that she was done waging a public fight.
"We've worked so hard, we've had millions, we've signed petitions, we've lobbied Congress, and it seems like things have just gotten worse." Sheehan said. "Congress has even a lower approval rating than George Bush."
So she is now back in the spotlight - speaking at Union College and running as an independent candidate for Congress against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She supports third party candidates for the presidential race.
"I know it's not going to be them, I know it's going to be a Republican or a Democrat, but that just means we have to be as energized as possible to hold them accountable," said Sheehan.
Those who live here and are against the war say there is no better time to listen to Sheehan's message.
"I think there are people that have died in this area, that are dying in this area in the war that are over there, there are families that are concerned every single day, and we want to bring those kids home," said Joe Lombardo, a member of Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace.
Sheehan recommends that those voting locally in the 21st Congressional race this fall find a candidate to get behind, and get involved.
"It's not just voting, but making sure our votes count," she said.
Sheehan will be the keynote speaker at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany tonight as part of the Peace and Sustainability Conference being held this weekend by the North East Peace & Justice Action Coalition.
SCHENECTADY Activist Cindy Sheehan urges change in nation BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
When Cindy Sheehan made a detour to Crawford, Texas, in 2005, she only intended to ask President George W. Bush to explain the “noble cause,” the term he used to describe the objective her son Casey and scores of other soldiers died for in Iraq. Though the grieving mother never received an answer from the president in her month camped outside his ranch, she inadvertently vaulted herself into the forefront of the international peace movement. And in some sense, she found her own noble cause. “If you think the country is off track, then you should do everything in your power to get it back on track,” she told a group of more than 100 students and area activists gathered in the auditorium at Union College’s Reamer Campus Center. “My mission is to make America that place they said my son died for.” Sheehan, an independent candidate for Congress and prominent among the founders of Gold Star Families for Peace — families who have lost a member to war — urged the crowd to become involved in the political process in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election. But more important, she asked them to stay active and true to their beliefs, long after the election cycle has run its course. “True democracy happens between the election,” she said, Sheehan visited the Capital Region this week as part of the Peace and Sustainability Conference this weekend in Albany. She was invited to Union by Campus Action, an organization that aims to support the growth of social change at the school and within society. Casey Sheehan joined the Army in 2000 as a way to pay for college, his mother said. Though recruiters told him his job as a Humvee mechanic would keep him out of combat, Sheehan said he ended up fighting within his first week in Iraq. The soldier’s convoy was ambushed by a Shiite militia on April 4, 2004. Sheehan, 24, was among eight soldiers who died after their vehicle was hit with rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire. The following summer, Sheehan was attending a Veterans For Peace rally in Dallas when she decided to visit the Bush ranch outside of Crawford. Her initial group of six activists captured the attention of the media and grew to eventually incorporate more than 15,000 anti-war activists. But Sheehan said the momentum that grew out of her movement wasn’t organized effectively and didn’t last as long as she had hoped. She said the dissipation of the movement’s strength at that point in time was disappointing. “Everybody was just relying on one voice instead of being their own voice,” she said. Sheehan announced she would cease her activities with the anti-war movement in May 2007, but didn’t stay out of the spotlight for long. On her 50th birthday in July, she announced she would run against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, a Democrat she faulted for perpetuating the failed policies that led to the war in Iraq. “This is a historic race because we’re running against the speaker of the House,” she said. “We’re running against everything that is the status quo in this country.” Sophomore Hyma Kavuri, the president of Campus Action, said Sheehan’s visit was intended to motivate Union students into becoming more organized and involved with the world around them. She said Sheehan’s experiences in activism might give pause for others to reflect upon their own reasons for speaking out against the war. “A lot of us can say we’re against the war, but some of us don’t know why,” she said.
Cindy Sheehan does disservice to her war hero son’s memory
Re April 12 article, “Activist Cindy Sheehan urges change in nation”: Cindy Sheehan could be the champion of the oppressed if her son was a boy who was torn from her by the draft. U.S. Army Specialist Casey Sheehan was a 20-year-old man who volunteered for military service. He re-enlisted after the United States invaded Iraq, knowing that his unit was headed for the war. Casey gave his life for his fellow soldiers. He was killed in action after volunteering to be part of a Quick Reaction Force to rescue American troops. Unfortunately, nobody knows that. Thanks to his misguided mom, Casey will forever by remembered as a victim, not the hero he was. For those who forgot, Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi army attacked the Iraqi police stations in Sadr City and the U.S. Army units that came to help. Specialist Sheehan joined the force to rescue the besieged troops and made the supreme sacrifice in the battle which ensued. Casey Sheehan was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star with “V” for valor and a Purple Heart. Instead of Casey being recalled as representative of the spirit of dedication, honor and responsibility to repay this nation for the freedoms that he and the legion of other men and women in arms enjoy, Cindy Sheehan is still shamelessly using her son’s casket as stage from which to defile her boy’s memory, remain a national embarrassment and run for national offi ce. The clear message is that if Cindy Sheehan got Casey’s death that wrong, she has no business making laws or any other important decisions. True democracy depends upon the whole truth, Cindy, not just the parts that get you funded. RICK OTTO Berne
Cindy Sheehan Leads Protest at CIA, Dick Cheney's Home
Saturday , January 16, 2010
LANGLEY, Virginia —
A group led by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan has protested near the CIA's headquarters and former Vice President Dick Cheney's home in northern Virginia. They were protesting the use of unmanned drone aircraft to attack al-Qaida and Taliban targets.
The group of about 70 people rallied alongside a highway near the CIA compound Saturday. About half then marched to Cheney's nearby street and stayed for 20 minutes. Police kept them from going down his street.
Sheehan's 21-year-old son Casey was killed in Iraq in April 2004. She staged a prolonged demonstration outside former President George W. Bush's ranch near Crawford, Texas, in 2005.
She says using drones is "cowardly" and "immoral."
Gee I think that Cindy is a little confused as Dick Cheney isn't the VP anymore so why doesn't she protest Congress and Obama who has ordered more drone strikes in order to save the lives of soldiers, there's no cure for stupid.
She says using drones is "cowardly" and "immoral."
So is forcing children to plant IED's under the ground and shielding weapon sites with civilians and women and children, but I don't see her picketing/protesting terrorists.
If you don't stand behind our soldiers, feel free to stand in front of them Cindy.
Gee I think that Cindy is a little confused as Dick Cheney isn't the VP anymore so why doesn't she protest Congress and Obama who has ordered more drone strikes in order to save the lives of soldiers, there's no cure for stupid.
EXACTLY!!! Although I can not imagine the pain and heartache a parent feels when they lose a child, it appears that she hasn't gotten a handle on her grief yet. Sadly, these actions will NOT bring her son back and will NOT stop present or future wars!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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