Posts Tagged ‘IVAW’

I wonder who gives the cops their orders at political gatherings around the country.  The police in Denver were none too tender with various groups in the street, and the police at the GOP convention staged preemptive strikes on people expected to protest.

Recently, at a debate site for Obama and McCain, the police again were very “pro-active” about protesters—this time against uniformed veterans who wanted to present a list of questions to the candidates.  So, today’s post is from a letter of the IVAW (Iraq Veterans Against War).  They are asking for contributions for the legal fund, as they were arrested, and some had injuries from being ridden down by horse-mounted police.

Why does it make me think of Cossacks and pogroms in old Russia?  Maybe the idea of armed men on horses riding against unarmed men on the ground?

From the IVAW:

One hour before the final presidential debate of the 2008 campaign, fourteen members of IVAW marched in formation to Hofstra University to present questions for the candidates concerning the occupation of Iraq and the treatment of returning veterans. IVAW had requested permission from debate moderator Bob Schieffer to ask their questions during the debate but got no response.

The contingent of veterans in dress uniforms and combat uniforms attempted to enter the building where the debate was to be held in order to ask their questions but were turned back by police. The ten IVAW members at the front of the formation were immediately arrested, and others were pushed back into the crowd by police on horseback. Several members were injured, including former Army Sergeant Nick Morgan who suffered a broken cheekbone when he was trampled by police horses before being arrested.

(And the questions)    1.  The invasion and occupation of Iraq is illegal based on criteria in our own Constitution, as well as international law and the Geneva Conventions.  Sen. Obama, is it not the right of service members to refuse deployment and participation in the occupation of Iraq?  As President, will you support the rights of service men and women who refuse participation in this criminal war?

2. Sen. McCain, we currently have thousands of veterans returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them with severe injuries.  The rate of suicide attempts among veterans is at the shocking rate of up to 1,000 per month.  Sen. McCain, you have consistently voted against an increase in VA funding and other legislation that would take care of veterans.  As President, will you be prepared to fully fund and staff the VA system and how will you address your poor voting record on veteran’s issues?

I like asking McCain why he has sold out the veterans of every war.  I think the first question defies military custom.  Illegal war or not, soldiers do not get to pick and choose.  Voters, alas, SHOULD have more to do with that…to guard the precious lives OF the military members.  Wake up, voters!

I am tired of certain emails.  And certain snail mails, and phone calls.  You all know the ones, the ones beginning with “Thank you for your long and generous support, but now…”

Please.  I gave your organization $20 five years ago.  Go away,now. Buh-bye.

I really AM a big proponent of putting one’s money where one’s mouth is; we DO budget a painful amount each month to the causes that matter to us.  But there are limits to a single income family with a lot of debt and responsibility and no savings, no investments (not a bad thing just now), and no way of increasing the intake of cash.

So, I am tired of emails asking for political contributions to candidates in states across the nation from me, people I have never even heard of, or heard speak.  I am so going with the “act locally” command here.  I contribute to Obama when I can, but this month, I have to pay for brake jobs on our two vehicles…and before winter hits.  But a host of female candidates in places on the (to my Western sensibilities) wrong side of the Mississippi River?  Don’t you think it is sexist of you fund-raisers to consider I should give just because they are women?  Palin is female, too, and I wouldn’t piss down her throat if her heart was on fire.  Fuck off.  Motivate voters closer to home.

And NARAL called, even though they fill my roadside rural mailbox weekly.  When I told them I don’t like phone calls, they apologetically said they weren’t in charge of removing names from the list.  Really?  Way to piss off someone who sends what she can when she can, folks.  Are all fund-raisers this stupid?  You been taking lessons from Wall Street or something?

I am not only hitting cash prostration and cause exhaustion, but a getting-angry level of “just who do you think I am, Bill Gates’ second cousin or someone?”   E-fucking-nough.

My personal year ‘ends’ at the end of this month.  It is a bit like the fiscal year of the federal government; I will now select the charities that WILL be on my monthly ’send a check’ list.  NARAL and a dozen political action committees are not on that list.  And being stupid, badgering, annoying fools is one reason why.  Other folks, like the Environmental Defense Fund are on the list on my pledge….but only for one year.  They pissed me off with “bill tactics” that are scrungy.  They send the contribution form, dated “due” the month BEFORE I even made my pledge.  Big mistake.

Guilt tripping the well-intentioned is a bad move.  So, Fisher House, IAVA, IVAW, RAM, Habitat, and Heifer Project will continue as our mainstays of financial action to change our world.  You other ghoul-acting pains in my ass can take a hike.   And yes, kiss my duteous, charitable ass!

Ok, I’m not a rich woman by American standards.  We barely make old fashioned middle class….we have no savings, no stocks & bonds, no real estate save the home we live in and it isn’t paid off.  We are pretty average.  We are not Christian, yet I believe whole-heartedly in charity.  I believe if you are blessed with a good job and a secure bed and sufficient food, it is just common sense that you should help those things be part of other people’s lives, too.  So each month, I write checks to several charities that I usually select at the end of each October.

October or early November is when my “ritual” year ends, so I plan the next years financial efforts then, too.  I give money to Habitat International, to Heifer International, to the Iraq Veterans Against the Way, to Fisher House, and now to Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America, too.  I also contribute to Amnesty International, ACLU, and the Environmental Defense Fund.

I get phone calls every day; and I admit I am quite snappish with some of them, especially the falsely hearty same-old-joke hired fund raisers who want to raise money for police and firemen’s widows and other assorted stuff like that.  It isn’t that I am anti-widow, it is that when I checked these charities out I found the fundraising company gets about 80% of the money.  But not every charity is a con game.  Many are quite legitimate and doing necessary work, providing various sorts of safety nets as the government finds it can’t even repair bridges.  So, I am often quite sorry to tell the phone crews “I am sorry, my charities are selected for the year, I cannot afford more.”

But when does it end?  Food banks need more money and food now, and more and more families end up on the streets and there are not enough shelters.  It is going to get worse.   I quit working my part time job out of injury, but then didn’t go back when I was better—because my ‘fill-in’ was a woman who cleans house for a living.  I am pretty sure she needs the money from MY former job, because with all the money crunch, fewer folks hire house-keepers.

To give more to the charities that solicit daily, I would have to find some horrible job at a fast food place, because my budget is stretched to it’s limit.  But other people need that job, don’t they?  My son is employed now, thank all the Gods, so we don’t have to support him completely and my step-mother no longer needs my financial aid since she has a financially secure boyfriend who insists on caring for her.  My pet population of rescued animals is down to a manageable number, so that money goes into the Environmental Defense fund now.

I know a lot of folks who don’t believe in giving to ANY charity.  Sure, sometimes big disasters like the tsunami shake the checkbook loose for the Red Cross, but there is no regular thought of it.  And many are quite resentful about churches that demand a tithe of 5 to 10%.  Is that really so bad, though?  Sure, perhaps you don’t care for how a church might allot your money, but is it so bad to think of a percentage of your income as giving to others in dire need.

You see, it isn’t just the big newsworthy tsunami out there…..there are big emergencies in smaller lives EVERY day.  I don’t fool myself that I can fix it all, and this isn’t a Lady Bountiful “because I can” will to power Neitzchean thing either.  It is, although I am not Christian, truly a “there but for the grace of others, go I” thing.  For all I know, the only reason my life is relatively secure (yes, yes, a mere three months from disaster and the streets), is so I CAN help someone else?

My husband accuses me of having “Franciscan moments” and maybe he is right to so tease me.  I don’t own a brown woolen robe…..I can’t afford one.  Consider just one charity, just one small check a month.  You see, charities don’t really get most of their money from the rich—it is the middle class and below that usually cares enough to give.  It is many small amounts that fill those coffers of hope!

So, on my “Franciscan” pagan knees again, I am asking you—-pick just one thing you care about, not even necessarily from my list, although I think all of my causes are excellent.  If the environment speaks to you, cries in pain—consider the Environmental Protection folks, or Sierra Club; if the suffering of your fellow man haunts you, Doctors Without Borders or Heifer International work tirelessly to succor that need.   If the plight of returning veterans makes you clench your jaw when you see them on street corners, consider Fisher House or IAVA, please.  Just think of writing ONE check a month for $15, please?  That is less than a family of four spends going to a fast food joint for lunch.  That is less than the price of two movie tickets.

Compassion is more than an emotion…..it is an action.