Whitehouse to Code Pink: Could you tell your supporters to stop sending so many emails?

[arcadian]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Thank-the-President-for-Wa-by-Jodie-Evans-091204-257.html

By Jodie Evans

snip

I picked up the phone, and discovered it was Jayne in the President's Office of Public Engagement. "How did you feel about the President's speech?" she asked thoughtfully.


I told her I was feeling horrible, that I disagreed with almost everything he said. I said he didn't have the courage to be in his own body as he delivered the words that would cause the deaths of so many and that if he was willing to couch his position in so many untruths then I couldn't believe anything he said--even about why we were there. Really, we are going to send 100,000 troops, over 100,000 contractors and 100 billion dollars to deal with 100 Al Qaeda in Afghanistan? It reminds me of an Afghan woman's tirade to me when I was there, "You want me to believe that the most powerful nation in the world is being held hostage by those skinny, lice covered, illiterate, dirty men in those craggy hills of this broken country?"

Jayne said, "I totally hear what you are saying." She indicated that the President has told them to stay open to all opinions and she understood I might feel that way. And then she came to the purpose of her call. "I want to keep our lines of communication open, but I can't do it if I can't work. I have an email from your list hitting my box every second and can't get any work done. Can you do something about that so our communication can be more productive? Can you send out another alert with a better address?"

[baldguy]

1. Bad move.

They'll just send more.

[ClassWarrior]

8. What's the address? I wanna start sending.

Power to the peeps.

NGU.

[LoZoccolo]

80. Can I have your email address? n/t

[NYC_SKP]

2. Sometimes Code Pink is just ridiculous, and they lose credibility...

Protesting around the children visiting the White House. Really, Code Pink?

[realitythink]

3. You could look at it differently

Did you ever think they're trying to save those children from the meat grinder they will eventually get put into? With this endless war strategy we seem to be in it those kids could be on the front lines 10-15 years from now. I suppose if this happened 2 years ago you'd have a different opinion.

[Divine Discontent]

15. I doubt the person referenced would. sometimes facing atrocities takes brave people. there's

NOTHING wrong with their costumes - it was halloween. Those people got their point across. Of course, some say, 'how horrible! around the CHILDREN!' puh-lease....

[tsuki]

62. I am 62 years old, and I cannot remember when we were not in

some kind of overseas venture. It's time to stop. I agree with you. I don't care who the President is.

[Hello_Kitty]

4. When a Code Pink member ruined Valerie Plame's testimony that was it for me.

Code Pink idiot in a tiara mugging for the camera in the background the whole time Plame was speaking. Guess what the late night talk shows focused on that evening?

:grr:

[mkultra]

6. they are just knuckle draggers

with good intentions

[arcadian]

40. Knuckle draggers? Please elaborate.

They are women for peace. You equate that with knuckle dragging? You are lost. Seriously. When have you ever stood up for a cause, keyboard commander?

[mkultra]

61. lol. I manage to stand up for every cause i believe in

without taking part in activities that debase my perspective or my allies. Knuckle draggers don't care and neither do they. The "by any means" crowd has never been a group i stand with.

[EFerrari]

46. Thanks!

[ClassWarrior]

9. That's what they said about the Satyagrahis when...

...Gandhi led them to shut down the prisons.

NGU.

[NYC_SKP]

14. Code Pink Does Not Behave as the Satyagrahi did... look at rules 1,2,6,7, & 8:

Rules for satyagraha campaigns:

Gandhi proposed a series of rules for satyagrahis to follow in a resistance campaign:<7>

1. Harbor no anger
2. Suffer the anger of the opponent
3. Never retaliate to assaults or punishment; but do not submit, out of fear of punishment or assault, to an order given in anger
4. Voluntarily submit to arrest or confiscation of your own property
5. If you are a trustee of property, defend that property (non-violently) from confiscation with your life
6. Do not curse or swear
7. Do not insult the opponent
8. Neither salute nor insult the flag of your opponent or your opponent’s leaders
9. If anyone attempts to insult or assault your opponent, defend your opponent (non-violently) with your life
10. As a prisoner, behave courteously and obey prison regulations (except any that are contrary to self-respect)
11. As a prisoner, do not ask for special favorable treatment
12. As a prisoner, do not fast in an attempt to gain conveniences whose deprivation does not involve any injury to your self-respect
13. Joyfully obey the orders of the leaders of the civil disobedience action
14. Do not pick and choose amongst the orders you obey; if you find the action as a whole improper or immoral, sever your connection with the action entirely
15. Do not make your participation conditional on your comrades taking care of your dependents while you are engaging in the campaign or are in prison; do not expect them to provide such support
16. Do not become a cause of communal quarrels
17. Do not take sides in such quarrels, but assist only that party which is demonstrably in the right; in the case of inter-religious conflict, give your life to protect (non-violently) those in danger on either side
18. Avoid occasions that may give rise to communal quarrels
19. Do not take part in processions that would wound the religious sensibilities of any community

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Satyagraha#Rules_for_satyagraha_campaigns

:patriot:

[ClassWarrior]

16. Did I say they did? Or did I say that their critics said the same things? Pay attention, boy.

:eyes:

NGU.

[NYC_SKP]

22. Ha. It doesn't matter, why even bring it up when the two groups are like night and day?

It's about as useful to the discussion as saying, "That's what they said about the Ku Klux Klan".

Never mind that 80 years and 13,000 miles, and language, religions, and cultures separate the two.

:shrug:

[ClassWarrior]

23. It was simply a observation about the similarity of the response by critics...

...to a civil disobedience group's effective shutting down of a government function.

Sorry, next time I'll avoid nuance so as not to confuse you again.

:eyes:

NGU.

[PBS Poll-435]

25. Not to sub-thread hijack, but the very fact that Code Pink has an open line to the White House

Speaks volumes.

[ClassWarrior]

27. Not to beat the analogy to death, but Gandhi had many open lines to the British Government too.

Let's not forget that he was an influential attorney in the Indian community before he went down the path of Satyagraha.

:shrug:

NGU.

[PBS Poll-435]

28. The analogy was DOA. nt

[NYC_SKP]

29. Yes it was. I got another one: "That what they said about Pee Wee Herman."

Or the KKK...

:eyes:

[PBS Poll-435]

30. Or Crystal Pepsi

:eyes:

[ClassWarrior]

41. So when did a soft drink ever shut down a government function?

(I know, I know, I'm setting myself up for a realllly snarky answer...)

NGU.

[PBS Poll-435]

42. Coke II

And, again, the fact that Code Pink has a direct voice to the Federal Government represents a massive shift or "change".

[ClassWarrior]

44. Who said it doesn't? The question is...

...is that access a result of the emails or despite them? I believe that any administration would tend to ignore Code Pink under ordinary circumstances. Witness the perception of them on this thread. I'm sure that same sentiment exists in the WH, as well.

I do, however, appreciate and agree with your point that our side has much more access in this Administration than we did in the previous one.

NGU.

[ClassWarrior]

31. Ahhh. More your speed.

NGU.

[proud2BlibKansan]

69. +1

[verges]

67. It's also what they say about the Three Stooges. nt

[katkat]

34. Gandhi

That sounds a lot like the criticisms of the Palestinians by Israel. "We shot the Palestinians and beat them and trashed their farms, homes and businesses, and are steadily doing ethnic cleansing on Jerusalem, and those evil terrorists hate us. That shows how horrible they are. You can't make peace with haters like them."

[mkultra]

65. apples and oranges

comparison are meaningless. Sometimes opinions are right, sometimes they are not.

[ClassWarrior]

72. Let's see if you can follow...

Group shuts down a government function while standing up for peace and justice. Gets ridiculed for "looking ridiculous." Just an observation.

:shrug:

But thanks for helping keep the thread kicked.

NGU.

[LoZoccolo]

81. Can I have your email address? n/t

[PBS Poll-435]

11. ...

:nodinagreement:

[asdjrocky]

32. Sometimes they get attention.

That's what matters when the cause is truly noble. Understand that the peace movement does not have Faux Noise, CNN or any other major media outlet. We have to get people to pay attention or no one will ever know we are there.

That's the reason.

[QC]

39. Yeah, but they were supposed to shut up and go away last Jan. 20 at noon Eastern.

Pity no one informed them of that.

[asdjrocky]

54. Principals are a bitch ain't they?

[NYC_SKP]

58. They're Asshats. They're Disruptors. And They're Disrupting Poorly.

Media coverage is edited to just show the silly disruptiveness and bury the message.

And they turn off more people than they convince.

[NYC_SKP]

57. Except that they look silly and the attention they get is the wrong kind.

Media coverage is edited to just show the silly disruptiveness and bury the message.

And they turn off more people than they convince.

[Techn0Girl]

70. Code Pink are heros....

Unlike "keyboard commandos" .

And this thread just motivated me to look them up in my local area and network with them.

Thank you O.P. :)

[NYC_SKP]

73. Good, maybe you can talk some sense into them.

They're on the right side, but sometimes use poor judgment in how they communicate the good message.

Odd that people take offense at attempts to offer constructive criticism.

ah well, have fun with them.

[Techn0Girl]

76. My apologies for my tone... but "poor judgement" is a relative matter....

In this case it gets a dialog going. It's gets into the public consciousness. Heaven knows that Hearst Corporation newspapers (let alone Rupert Mollock's rags) aren't otherwise doing this.


So imho, it's not poor judgment if it gets the issue in front of public eyes.
I suspect that is the goal.

[NYC_SKP]

78. Thank you. Agreed that the attention getting part is good, it's what they do, after all.

But like any other action, sometimes, let's just say, some fine tuning might help.

On Halloween, for example, I just feel that there might have been a more subtle way, or they might have thought not to do it because it might make parents angry, and that can't be good.

Enjoy the rest of the day!

:toast:

[Mz Pip]

77. Sending emails

every second is being done by "keyboard commandos."

[QC]

43. The children!

[NYC_SKP]

59. Yep, I'm thinking anyone on the fence sees them, then thinks fuck those assholes. nt

Not all attention brought to a subject is helpful attention.

[arcadian]

48. Yeah, heaven forbid the little darlings know what freedom of speech stands for.

It might ruin all the poisonous loot they got from Hershey, Nestle and Mars.

[NYC_SKP]

60. Insult don't help, here or in front of the kids. They are often just assholes.

[EFerrari]

51. Oh, my. We're not stately enough to protest.

We should be wearing three piece suits and carrying a wad of cash like all the other lobbyists.

Good point.

[lapfog_1]

5. The other alternative (which is the most likely at this point)

Is that the folks from Code Pink (who now are at least getting their message READ by someone in the White House) will soon find all of their email "spam filtered" into the bit bucket.

If I were them, I'd find a better way to communicate their displeasure with the President's policy, like a Code Pink email petition. Then, when Jayne calls Jodie, they can discuss why 100,000 (or however many they get) people feel that escalation is a absolutely wrong path.

[ClassWarrior]

10. You really think Jayne is just going to call Jodie in absence of a situation like this?

Of course, Jodie could use the opportunity to push for a regular hearing and call off the emailers upon agreement from Jayne -- with the understanding that the emailing will resume if Jayne reneges.

NGU.

[lapfog_1]

36. Yes, I think she might.

But then, I'm not as cynical about this President as I have been about many others.

I think if Code Pink sent their petition in with thousands of signatures, Jodie would still get a call, and perhaps even a regular touch base communication.

It's a lot more than the rest of us get.

I won't fly under the Code Pink banner because I think some of their tactics and antics are over the top, and while they do get airtime on the TeeVee, the rest of the country doesn't take them seriously (The Teabaggers of the Commie-Left is the view portrayed by the MSM).

[ClassWarrior]

49. Okay, that's fair. Our side is certainly getting more access from this WH...

...than we did from the previous one. But this is still a center-left Administration, and I'm not so sure that strong left groups aren't still held at some distance.

I hope you're right. But even during the election, when I was working to help get Obama into office, I knew that he was moderate, and that Progressives would still have to work to do after the election.

NGU.

[Skidmore]

7. It was a reasonable request and not a shut down.

Code Pink should consider more productive ways of communicating.

[PBS Poll-435]

12. Yep

Just the fact that there is a line of communication between the two parties represents how much different this administration is versus the former.

[ClassWarrior]

13. I've read that the requests of the British colonial government...

...to end the civil disobedience were "reasonable" as well. Gandhi himself stated as much in his writings. Hmmm... maybe the Satyagrahis should have considered "more productive ways of communicating."

:eyes:

NGU.

[PBS Poll-435]

17. The White House went totally Tienanmen Square on Code Pink

I read it on DU!

[ClassWarrior]

18. Did I say that? If so, please quote me the passage where I did.

:eyes:

NGU.

[PBS Poll-435]

19. ...

:rofl:

[ClassWarrior]

20. Okay, since you can't, how about explaining how what I said even comes close to that?

:popcorn:

NGU.

[PBS Poll-435]

21. What makes you think I was directly responding to you?

(Other than directly responding to your post)

:-)

[Orsino]

56. They should dial down their e-mail barrage...

...perhaps to approximately one message per body shipped back home.

[Turborama]

24. So, they were just Bull Shitting when they said this in October during their visit to Afghanistan...

Originally posted back in October http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8689609&mesg_id=8689609">here.

'Code Pink' rethinks its call for Afghanistan pullout

In Afghanistan, the US women's activist group finds that their Afghan counterparts want US troop presence – as well as more reconstruction.

By Aunohita Mojumdar | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
from the October 6, 2009 edition

=snip=

Though Afghans have their grievances against the international troops' presence, chief among them civilian casualties, many fear an abrupt departure would create a dangerous security vacuum to be filled by predatory and rapacious militias. Many women, primary victims of such groups in the past, are adamant that international troops stay until a sufficient number of local forces are trained and the rule of law established. (Read more about Afghan women's concerns In Afghanistan, http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1218/p07s03-wogn.html">here)

During their weeklong visit here, in which they met with government officials, politicians, ministers, women activists, and civil society groups, the small team of Code Pink members had hoped to gather evidence to bolster their call for US troop withdrawal within two years, and capitalize on growing anxiety back home about the war.

While the group hasn't dropped its call for a pullout, the visit convinced them that setting a deadline isn't in Afghanistan's interests, say Ms. Benjamin and fellow cofounder Jodie Evans.

"We would leave with the same parameters of an exit strategy but we might perhaps be more flexible about a timeline," says Benjamin. "That's where we have opened ourselves, being here, to some other possibilities. We have been feeling a sense of fear of the people of the return of the Taliban. So many people are saying that, 'If the US troops left the country, would collapse. We'd go into civil war.' A palpable sense of fear that is making us start to reconsider that."

Code Pink says it will continue to oppose sending more troops to Afghanistan – a move facing heated debate in Washington – and advocate for more funding for aid and humanitarian projects instead.

Full article: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1006/p06s10-wosc.html

Has anyone got details of CP advocating for "funding for aid and humanitarian projects" since they said this?


And has she conveniently forgotten this woman's "tirade"...?

"In the current situation of terrorism, we cannot say troops should be withdrawn," Shinkai Karokhail, an Afghan member of Parliament and woman activist, told them. "International troop presence here is a guarantee for my safety."

Here's another article that covers their temporary epiphany in Afghanistan in which they mention a "two-year withdrawal timeline" : http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insightb/articles/eav100709.shtml

[pengillian101]

66. Good memory bringing that up. n/t

[Number23]

75. Really good catch. Thanks for posting that.

[polichick]

26. Yeah, to hell with what the supporters think - long as the right wing is happy...

What twisted priorities!

[LWolf]

33. Good for Code Pink.

Keep those emails coming.

I'll send off a few myself.

[ima_sinnic]

35. aww, people that don't buy the latest BS from the adminstration are flooding the e-mail

would you guys just stop it, already? sheesh, just shut up and let the murder, mayhem, and carnage go on the way it should. why should you even care, ferchrisake? they're illiterate peasants living in a moonscape on the other side of the world. just go about your business and let us attend to this business of terrorizing and murder without having someone following us around "protesting," okay?

[Phx_Dem]

37. Code Pink lost all credibility when they started acting like

assholes during congressional hearings. You don't have to agree with what's happening during hearings -- and I usually don't -- but acting like a disruptive asshole is never the answer.

[EFerrari]

47. Heaven forfend that we should disrupt C-SPAN Theater!

:)

[Techn0Girl]

71. Yeah It's not like acting like Disruptive Asshiles ever stopped the Vietnam War or anything....

Oh wait.

[NYC_SKP]

74. Exactly. Now watch yourself get bombarded by people who think you've shit on diamonds.

A little constructive criticism of a group on the right side of issues, but that needs to think about how shenanigans can backfire, and suddenly you're a freeper or some shit.

I think their behavior is often counterproductive.

I'm with you.

[Name removed]

38. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[EFerrari]

45. LOL. Time to email the White House.

You GO my Code Pink sistahs!

[bvar22]

50. Time to send E-Mails....

...and a donation to MoveOn.
If I can donate to Code Pink, I will.



Help end the Wars for Corporate Profits!
Donate to MoveOn.

http://www.moveon.org /

[EFerrari]

52. I don't do MoveOn because they are unresponsive.

But, I'm always happy to see them move. :)

[bvar22]

53. I had stopped donations to MoveOn....

...while they were participating in the White House "Message Discipline" Program, but I celebrate their very public break with the White House over the WAR, and wish to encourage this behavior.


The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

[and-justice-for-all]

55. Hell NO!!

THOSE FUCKING SPECIAL INTEREST ASSHOLES GET PRIVILEGE TO THE HILL, WHERE AS THE COMMON FOLKS DO NOT, SO YOU TALK OUR EMAILS AND YOU LIKE IT!!

[noamnety]

63. Jayne in the Office of "Public Engagement" is incompetent

if she can't

a) figure out how to filter her emails, and
b) "get any work done" while emails are incoming.

[Liberation Angel]

64. I LOVE Code Pink! K&R!!!

I spent time in their camp in Denver during the 2008 Democratic Convention and they are ornery and wonderful and committed pacifists who are female wrriors for peace!

Code Pink Rocks and speaks truth to power in ways that I wish more DUers had the courage to do.

[proud2BlibKansan]

68. Good job, Code Pink!!

Way to get their attention. Kudos!!

:applause:

[LoZoccolo]

79. Can I have your email address? n/t