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mindfully.org note: The count was double what the Tribune article states. 3,000 peaceful people shared their gratitude for what Congressperson Barbara Lee did for us. The San Francisco Chronicle buried the story well behind the front page. On the next day ran a front-page article about 100 or so UC Berkeley students supporting the war. Congressperson Barbara Lee is the only voice of sanity in the whole of Congress. Rather than the scorn she's had piled on her, she deserves praise from all. Even though the mainstream media is spineless in their portrayal of the news, her lone voice for reason has been heard by all and is noted. Also noted is the cowardly way the rest of the Congress acted. These people are but whores to money and cameras, nothing more than imposters leading the people of the US over a cliff like a herd of lemmings. This was not the "hip event" that the Tribune makes it out to be. It was extremely moving to be in the company of such a principled individual. The speakers paying tribute to her were also honorable people.
Alice
Walker, The Honorable Barbara Lee,
Ishmael
Reed left no stone unturned in his presentation.
A few of the thousands thanking Barbara Lee |
OAKLAND -- They were the probably the most electrified group of peaceniks ever assembled.
About 1,500 [mindfully.org note: actually 3,000] people flocked to the amphitheater in front of City Hall at Frank Ogawa Plaza Sunday afternoon to express thanks loudly to their Congresswoman who voted unlike any of her co-workers last month.
Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, received standing ovations from the crowd, which event organizers admitted was even bigger than they expected. And Lee was among the unexpected.
Constituents held signs reading "Thank you for your courage Barbara Lee," "Dissent is Patriotic," "America, use your brains, not your bombs," and "Barbara Lee for Prez."
Some waved small American flags while others waved their own version of Old Glory, be it with a peace symbol in the union area or the gay pride rainbow instead of the 13 stripes.
Lee, wearing a red jacket, white necklace, blue sweater and slacks, wasn't expected to show at the event Sunday afternoon, even though she was in Oakland to fulfill a handful of previous engagements.
"I just want to start by saying one thing," Lee told the boisterous crowd. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."
The already whipped up crowd erupted into a "thank you" chant of their own back to Lee.
She called the crowd "great patriots" and "great Americans" because of their "insistence that democracy and civil rights were preserved. during our time of heightened security."
Among the guests speaking in support of Lee were actor Danny Glover, author Alice Walker, and Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson, while radio personality Davey D and Oakland City Councilmember Nancy Nadel shared hosting duties.
Oakland resident Kelly Campbell lost her brother-in-law, Craig Amundson -- a specialist in the United States Army -- in the attack on the Pentagon.
In an open letter to national leaders, Amundson's family said the soldier would not have wanted a violent response to avenge his death.
"Violence will not bring Craig back, it will not make America safe from terrorist attacks, and will not make for a safer world," Campbell said. "I want to say thank you Barbara for being the voice of reason during these days of tragedy."
The Congresswoman has been widely criticized for her 'No' vote, the only such cast by the 421 members of Congress, against using armed forces in retaliation for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 5,000 Americans.
The resolution empowered President Bush to "use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organization or persons" who were behind the attacks.
Lee has since received threats against her life and was accompanied by a handful of bodyguards. For security reasons, children were cleared from the tree behind the plaza.
Last week, Piedmont Democrat Audie Bock, former 16th District Assembly woman, announced her candidacy for Lee's seat, condemning her for voting "against country and President."
Oakland -- Barbara Lee was out of character when she cast the lone dissenting vote that denied President Bush unanimous support to wage war against the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks on America.
While the vote reflected her political beliefs, stepping out front to become a national symbol is far from the typical behind-the-scenes style of the East Bay congresswoman.
In the five weeks since her historic vote on Sept. 14, Lee has quietly gone back to work, appearing briefly in her district last week to stump for hiring federal workers to handle airport security.
She has shunned the klieg lights and one-on-one interviews with national TV anchors. She has returned to a social justice agenda and is working with her constituents to galvanize support in her district.
Never mind her would-be challengers in next year's election -- a former Green Party assemblywoman and a homegrown black Republican.
Lee is as popular as ever, maybe even more popular, in the Democratic stronghold. A crowd of some 3,000 supporters showed their approval of her vote at a rally yesterday in downtown Oakland.
So she's had her 15 minutes of fame, thank you. She can do without the national spotlight.
"She never expected to be the lone person out there," said a source familiar with the events surrounding her vote. "The response was so overwhelming, and people were saying she was unpatriotic and Communist and all sorts of horrible things.
"It made her want to retreat a little bit."
Her "no" vote last month prompted a flood of letters and e-mails -- 50,000 to date -- from around the nation. Thousands of communiqués, many praising her, others expressing outrage, were sent to her offices in Washington and Oakland, so many that a plainclothes officer in Washington was assigned to protect her.
Then came a wave of calls for interviews, from all the networks and national newspapers. She chose to talk to Bay Area media, a move expected by any politician trying to quell dissatisfaction in the home district.
But Lee appeared only once on national TV, on ABC's "Oprah Winfrey Show" as part of a panel of distinguished women discussing the future of the nation's children. Famed poet Maya Angelou was also a guest.
"That was the only national show I did because it was a respectful show," Lee told me last week.
It gave her an opportunity to address a national audience and explain her vote -- without challenges from reporters eager to advance the controversy.
Lee and her staff were also worried about the appearance of self-promotion at a time of national crisis.
"She was so saddened and angered by the attacks that for her to talk about the vote could almost look like she was trying to take advantage of the situation," said one staffer, speaking anonymously.
Taking advantage of the situation is exactly what at least one East Bay political hopeful is trying to do.
Proclaiming that it's "OK to love America," former state Assemblywoman Audie Bock has announced plans to challenge Lee in the March Democratic primary for the 9th Congressional District race.
Bock is hoping to pull off an upset like the one she engineered in 1999 as a member of the Green Party, defeating former Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris in a special election.
Supporters of Shannon Reeves, a Republican and the president of the Oakland chapter of the NAACP, are weighing his chances as a candidate against Lee.
But Reeves, and no other Republican, could win in the district, which includes Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville and Albany.
"This Oakland-based district is one of the safest Democratic seats in the nation," wrote Charlie Cook, author of the Almanac of American Politics, a manual on Capitol Hill politics.
"Lee will hold this seat for as long as she wants it," he wrote.
Bock, a longtime East Bay resident, should know better. Most political observers believe Lee, elected to Congress in 1998, will not pay at the polls for her vote on the war.
In fact, she'll probably be honored like her predecessor and mentor, former Congressman Ron Dellums, a peacenik who served for 27 years and chaired the House Armed Services Committee.
She is also following in the footsteps of Jeanette Rankin, a Montana congresswoman who voted against resolutions to enter two wars -- World Wars I and II.
The vote cost Rankin her job both times, but she is viewed as a hero in Missoula, Mont., a liberal university town where a peace center was built to honor her work.
"The whole city was moved by Barbara Lee's vote," said Anita Doyle, chief organizer at the Jeanette Rankin Peace Center on the University of Montana campus.
"Rankin is a highly respected person in this town, so there was a lot of resonance for Barbara's courageous act and a concerted effort to make sure she heard from us," Doyle added.
Rankin got a statue in the Capitol and a peace center in her hometown for her stands.
Maybe Lee will get re-elected and the next government building in Berkeley named after her.
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