Archive for "Aug 31 2008"

Joan Baez, the original peacenik

One of the icons of the civil rights movement and the protest against the Vietnam War was Joan Baez. When I was in my early teens, I listened to her records and strummed along with my guitar, prompting my Republican parents to go nuts. I saw her in concert a few times and interviewed her in the early ’90s

“Phony Joanie,” as cartoonist Al Capp foolishly called her, is back in the spotlight because of a new album. The London Times Online printed an interview with her a few days ago. Among the observations:

“After 9/11 nobody wanted to hear anything bad about America,” says Baez, growing animated as she enters into political territory. “Nobody loves a war better than the President, and a few years ago it got to the point where if I said anything I truly believed about the Iraq war or global warming during a concert, people would get up and leave. That’s fine with me. Actually, it’s a badge of honour.”…

“Little by little it became clear that Bush was bizarre — and dangerous,” she says. “I would do concerts where I would see people in the audience sitting with their arms crossed, looking angry as I said: ‘I was right 40 years ago and I am right now!’ and throw my fist in the air. Now they’re listening. Bush’s great trick is to suggest that to go against him is to be unpatriotic. Slowly people realised that.”

Read the entire interview here.

(Image of Joan Baez and Bob Dylan from here.)

1968 all over again?

UPDATE BELOW

As soon as the Iraq invasion occurred, those of us who were around to protest the Vietnam War felt like we were reliving history. We were quickly derided as unpatriotic (just as we were back then) for suggesting that America was about to rush into a quagmire it could not win.

Meanwhile, our leaders in the White House and Congress used 9/11 and the phony Iraq terrorism narrative as excuses to expand government surveillance powers (through FISA). That reminded us, too, of J. Edgar Hoover’s habit of spying on peace groups during the ’60s and early ’70s. Hoover’s practices prompted Congress to institute new rules to limit spying on American citizens. Say bye-bye to those limits.

Once again, just as feared, the government is using its expanded powers of surveillance to spy on people for obvious political reasons. Glenn Greenwald (of Salon) and Jane Hamsher (of FireDogLake) have been reporting on mind-boggling raids conducted by the FBI and local police in Minneapolis against likely protesters at the Republican National Convention. These are young, college-age men and women.

Just as shocking as the occurrence of these clearly illegal actions against citizens is the failure of the media to report anything about the raids as of today, Aug. 31.

To read Glenn Greenwald’s commentary and reporting and to see videos, click here. You’ll find a follow-up post here. For continual updating on the police actions against protesters, visit FireDogLake here and scroll through posts.

I find it absolutely astonishing that the media have so far ignored this story.

(Image of 1968 Democratic National Convention from the LA Times.)

UPDATE

This is truly Orwellian. The police broke through the back door of one of the houses they raided. The city inspectors in turn have threatened to board up the home because of “code violations” — specifically the missing back door. Meanwhile, a crack house a few doors away exhibits obvious code violations that have been ignored despite repeated complaints by neighbors.

No, you really can’t make this stuff up. Read about it here.