We knew we were entering Washington DC lore when the front page of the Washington Post announced after the Alberto Gonzales hearing: "The Senate Judiciary Committee goes CODEPINK on Gonzales"! Going CODEPINK now means exposing the wrongdoings of the powerful, giving them a public dressing down, holding them accountable.
This is precisely what CODEPINK has been doing in DC. We not only bring a flash of hot pink to the sea of drab gray and black Congressional suits, but we are busting through the inside-the-beltway politics with a refreshing dash of people power.
The surge in the CODEPINK DC presence came in March, after the 4-year anniversary of the war in Iraq, when we decided to rent a 5-bedroom house near Capitol Hill to be our base for daily actions in Congress. Every week, women—and men—have been streaming in from around the country to join us in action. The CODEPINK House has become a hub for brainstorming, networking, prop-making and song-writing. After late night strategy meetings, we wake up early to and head off to Congress to attend a hearing, sit-in at an office, hang a banner in the atrium, sing anti-war songs in the cafeteria or crash a press conference. At the end of exhausting days, we head home to blog, download photos, edit videos for YouTube, and write alerts to our 180,000 mailing list.
Our priority is trying to stop the war in Iraq, but we also focus on preventing war with Iran, defending civil liberties, opposing torture and supporting social programs that should be paid for with the billions we spend on war.
With the Democrats in power, there are hearings on these issues every week. CODEPINK has transformed these hearings from solemn gatherings attended by subdued staff aides, K Street lobbyists and a few curious tourists into truly public, participatory events. You might have spotted us holding up "LIAR" signs behind Condoleezza Rice, giving rabbit ears to General Pace or showing off an Impeach Bush T-shirt during Valerie Plame's testimony.
While some members of Congress have us arrested, others intervene on our behalf. Once, when I was being held by the police for holding up a sign at a hearing on FBI wiretapping, we saw Congressman Murtha walking down the hall and pleaded for his help. Furious that our rights were being violated, he called the Sergeant at Arms and demanded my release. "These ladies come to my hearings all the time and I don't restrict them," he barked at the Sergeant. "We don't live in a police state." That time, I was let go.
During the lead up to the recent war supplemental vote, we organized sit-ins at offices ranging from John McCain to Hillary Clinton. At Hillary Clinton's office, we wove a pink web of ribbon and yarn through her office furniture, representing the web of lies underlying the war in Iraq, and asked that the Senator cut the web and cut the war funding. Instead, Clinton's staff cut us out of the office and had 5 CODEPINK women arrested. But we continue to bird-dog her at fundraisers, campaign appearances and press conference, pushing her to take an anti-war stand (see our website www.listenhillary.org).
For the conservative Blue Dog Democrats, we delivered dog bones wrapped in pink ribbons and sang them a song (to the tune of "Give a Dog a Bone") about how they could reduce the federal deficit by defunding the war. Disarmed and charmed, staffers laughed, clapped and joined us in impromptu discussions about the war.
This Fall, our exciting Don't Buy Bush's War Campaign will help create a turning point in the war in Iraq. We will face yet another Congressional vote on $142 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with mass protests meeting new heights.
So join us in DC anytime this Fall as we breathe new life into our democratic process, as we "Go CODEPINK" on those who lied us into this war and those who stand in the way of peace!
ACT NOW!
Visit the CODEPINK DC house, for more information
www.codepink4peace.org/article.php?id=1854 Stay Updated on Don't Buy Bush's War Fall actions,
www.dontbuybushswar.org
