(no subject)
It's up to the women.
This November, the direction of our country is at stake and America's women will prove the key to deciding that direction.
Will we continue with the same failed policies of George W. Bush? Or will we chart a new course for progress with John Kerry? It is our choice.
From health care to the economy to education to the security of our nation, the future is in our hands.
Since 1993, the Women's Leadership Forum of the Democratic National Committee has made sure that women have a seat at the table. We want to see you in one of those seats. But we're going to need your help.
The Women's Leadership Forum and Women for Kerry are working together to reach an ambitious goal of raising $2 million from women by mid June. Your donation will fund an aggressive women's outreach program both at the DNC and the John Kerry campaign.
If every woman reading this email contributed the cost of dinner and a movie -- or even just a babysitter -- we would beat our goal many times over. Wouldn't you give up just one night out to beat George Bush and the Republicans?
I know I would.
To make a contribution online, please visit our website:
https://www.democrats.org/support/wlf.html
Thanks! We're counting on you!
Susan W. Turnbull
DNC Deputy Chair
WLF National Chair
P.S. Do you have questions about the Women's Leadership Forum? Let us hear from you. Write us at wlf@dnc.org.
Tell the U.N. Security Council to Fix Flawed Iraq Resolution
It has become clear to all but a few that a military occupation of Iraq cannot be sustained, and the Bush administration is hard at work seeking to show progress before the November election. With very few exceptions, President Bush and his advisors have made all the wrong choices concerning Iraq, and there is little hope that this will change.
Click here to take action!
It is good news that a caretaker Iraqi government has been formed, but the terms under which it governs are critical. Both the U.S. and Great Britain desperately want a new U.N. mandate for transferring partial sovereignty while maintaining the military occupation after June 30th. This gives the U.N. Security Council enormous leverage in getting the next phase of our Iraqi misadventure on the right track.
Click here to take action!
The current version of the draft resolution on Iraq is deeply flawed and must be improved before passage. Already, under international pressure, the draft resolution has been changed to provide for Iraqi control of Iraqi military forces (but not foreign forces) and to set a date in early 2006 for withdrawal of foreign forces. This progress should be acknowledged, and pressure for further changes should be intensified.
Urge the U.N. Security Council to vote “no” on the current U.S./U.K. Iraq proposal unless crucial changes are made to the flawed proposal.
Click here to take action!
Please forward this newsletter to your friends and help spread the word about this important campaign!
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Dump Rush Limbaugh from American Forces Radio
Nearly a million American soldiers and Department of Defense staff are able to hear Rush Limbaugh due to the generosity of the American taxpayer and partisan decision making by the Pentagon. Salon.com reports that Rush Limbaugh spews his blatantly partisan views (he has repeatedly equated Democrats with terrorists and has said that Democrats "hate this country," among other tidbits) daily on American Forces Radio (AFR). This airing of such extreme and hateful partisan content must stop immediately.
Click here to take action!
The first hour of Limbaugh's daily radio show is aired at taxpayer expense to provide "a touch of home" to our soldiers. Limbaugh's show, on which he recently compared the torture of Iraqi prisoners to fraternity pranks and called the abuse a "brilliant maneuver," is the only hour-long partisan political talk show to be broadcast daily to U.S. troops.
When asked, Melvin Russell, the director of AFR, claims that Limbaugh's show is broadcast because of its popularity in the U.S. However, if that's the case, why isn't Howard Stern's radio show, which has nearly 8 million listeners a week, also included in the line-up? Russell claims that Stern's show is not appropriate. This type of cherry-picking rationale smacks of censorship, which is expressly prohibited by the network's charter.
It seems as though the AFR is using Fox News' definition of "fair and balanced" rather than Webster's. Unless another hour-long show on the other side of the political fence is added to the line-up, the current coverage is lopsided, unfair and inappropriate at best, and an example of censorship at worst.
Click here to take action!
Dear Amy,
Because you understand the power of the media and the importance of equal rights for all Americans, the Human Rights Campaign invites you visit IDOIn30seconds.org, a groundbreaking new project of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) designed to move America closer to the dream of marriage equality for LGBT people.
IDOIn30seconds.org is a vibrant online community built around GLAAD's I DO contest - a national competition to create the best 30-second television spot that supports the right of same sex couples to marry. The entries are created by ordinary people and the online community is designed for people like you who believe that we can change America - one story at a time. We encourage you to create and submit your own 30-second ad. The celebrity judges very well may think yours is the best!
IDOIn30seconds.org showcases the latest contest entries and allows you to easily donate to put the winning ad on television. It also features inspirational stories from the entrants themselves, and an up-to-date blog with insightful commentary on the marriage equality movement. It is really simple for you to join the discussion, and we hope you will.
As opponents of equality continue to raise and spend millions of dollars to attack our families with hurtful and defamatory rhetoric, the Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD encourage you to Take A Vow for Equality and say I DO at IDOIn30seconds.org.
As an organization committed to equality, the Human Rights Campaign is pleased to be one of GLAAD's partners in this exciting opportunity. Your strong support and dedication to equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people is more critical than ever.
The deadline for entering the I DO contest is July 1, 2004. For more information, please visit IDOIn30seconds.org.
Get Engaged!
Dear Amy,
On May 22, more than 40,000 people in all 50 states gathered at nearly 2,000 house parties for John Kerry. Not only did people at these parties get to participate in an exclusive conference call with John Kerry, they also raised over $1 million in just one day, and brought thousands of new donors and volunteers on board our campaign.
These house parties came on the heels of a successful "$10 million in 10 days" grassroots fundraising effort. Our supporters have already built an incredibly powerful grassroots organization, and we've only just begun.
Help us take the next step by hosting an event at your house. This month, House Party Day is June 26th, and we've got a tool kit that will make hosting a successful event fun and easy. Just like last time, if you have more than 10 guests coming to your party, you will be able to participate in an exclusive conference call with John Kerry.
Start planning your party by signing up here:
http://www.johnkerry.com/parties
On June 26, we'll be doing more than just fundraising. We're also asking people to step forward and pledge to be a volunteer for our campaign between now and Election Day -- even if only for a few hours. We need to start getting feet on the ground to bring people out to vote and win this election. That's why we are calling this month's house party, "From your House to the White House."
The Kerry campaign has been working hard, but George Bush had an $85 million head start in fundraising, and 4 years to build a nationwide field organization. We have begun to close this gap, but we are still depending on the strength and determination of our supporters to accomplish our mission on November 2nd. Host a "Your House to the White House" party and help us increase the size of our grassroots field team and raise the money we need to beat George Bush.
Our website has step-by-step instructions and the tools you need to host a successful party, even if you've never done it before. Hosting an event at your home is one of the best ways you can help win back the White House and have fun doing it.
For more information visit:
http://www.johnkerry.com/parties
Thank you,
Nancy Eiring
National Director of Grassroots Fundraising
Dear MoveOn member,
We all remember the election of 2000. Because of faulty and mismanaged election systems, George W. Bush won Florida's electoral votes and the presidency. And now look at the mess we're in.
People demanded improvements, and now states are spending millions to buy new voting machines. So far, so good. But many key states, including Florida, Ohio and other battlegrounds, are installing "black box" voting machines -- computer voting terminals that don't produce a paper ballot.
Without a paper ballot, there's no way to know if our votes are counted correctly. Also, computers are vulnerable to malfunction -- how often does yours freeze up?
It's time to take action to protect our votes. Join our call for Voter-Verified Paper Ballots, at:
http://www.moveon.org/protectourvotes/
If ATMs and gas pumps can print receipts, then voting terminals can print paper ballots. Every voter should be able to make sure that his or her vote will count as it was cast, by verifying a paper ballot that can be audited and re-counted. And wherever electronic voting terminals are used, backup paper ballots should also be available, so no voters will be turned away from the polling place if the terminals aren't working.
Over the past few weeks, MoveOn members have been calling legislators and officials in many states to demand Voter-Verified Paper Ballots. And along with other citizen's groups, large and small, we have won important victories.
A month ago, our side won its biggest victory yet. California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley decertified 14,000 black box voting terminals made by Diebold Inc., and said that this November, every California voter will be able to vote on a paper ballot.
Every voter in every state should have the same right -- to verify that his or her vote was recorded correctly, with full confidence that it will be counted correctly. We shouldn't have to hand our elections over to manufacturers like Diebold and blindly trust them with the results.
This is not about partisan politics. It's about the foundation of our democracy: our votes. There's no reason Americans should have anything less than the most accessible, secure and reliable voting system possible.
Join our campaign by clicking this link:
http://www.moveon.org/protectourvotes/
Thank you, for everything you do.
Sincerely,
--Carrie, Joan, Noah, Peter, and Wes
The MoveOn.org Team
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2004
P.S.: See our website for helpful background information on this issue.
Memorial Day Edition. On Memorial Day 2004, we express appreciation for all those serving in our nation's military today, and the veterans who served in the past. Their dedication has made it possible for us to enjoy the freedoms so important to our lives: Thank you!
George W. Bush likes to express appreciation to veterans too -- at photo ops. But the cost of his top heavy tax cuts has squeezed the budget for veterans and military families:
The White House and their congressional allies continue to deny the child tax credit to lower ranking military families, even while they expand it to upper incomes.
George W. Bush's budget for the Veterans Administration will exclude approximately 500,000 veterans from the VA healthcare system by 2005. And it would increase health care fees and co-payments, which will drive an additional million veterans from the system.
Military retirees now face a "disability tax", because every dollar in VA disability compensation is deducted from their military retirement pay. The Bush White House opposes Democratic efforts to enable veterans to receive both military retired pay and disability compensation.
"Today, our veterans come home to VA waiting lists, closed hospitals and rising health care costs that are making it harder and harder to pay the bills" said John Kerry. "We're going to prove that the first definition of patriotism is keeping faith with those who wear the uniform of this country."
For more information about John Kerry's pledge to our nation's veterans, click here.
Planning A Holiday Cookout? We don't want to spoil your appetite, but we got more bad news this week about how the Bush administration is undermining food safety:
We learned that the Agriculture Department has been allowing imports of ground and other "processed" beef from Canada, just weeks after it publicly reaffirmed its ban on importing those products because mad cow disease had been found in Canadian cattle. In other words, the Bush administration told us they were protecting the beef supply -- and secretly were not! The Department only stopped issuing import permits to meatpackers after a federal judge intervened.
And the Los Angeles Times reported this week that the Agriculture Department is actually stopping ranchers who want to test all their cattle for Mad Cow disease. According to a 1913 law, the Department has sole authority to license diagnostic tests -- and they have licensed the mad cow diagnostic test only to itself. When a Kansas rancher seeking to sell beef to Japan asked to conduct its own tests of all their cattle, they were turned down; and now another company trying to sell beef to Japan has also been refused. It seems the large beef trade association opposes general testing, because they are afraid it would become the new standard.
"I fail to understand why we would prevent our farmers and ranchers from using the best practices to protect people from the dreadful results of mad cow disease," said Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA).
Maybe it's because, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Bush administration chose as decision makers at the Department of Agriculture mostly former lobbyists and spokespeople from the very agri-business they are supposed to be regulating. "From key policymakers to midlevel administrators, the Department...is staffed with former executives of the meat and poultry industry, now in charge of regulating their former employers."
Yuck.
Misstatements. Misleading. Lies. Again. The Bush-Cheney campaign has spent more than $70 million in negative ads against John Kerry, and the polls suggest it isn't working. So this week, the campaign started airing another negative ad -- and it's even more deceitful than the previous ones.
The latest Bush ad claims John Kerry opposes use of law enforcement tools against terrorists. In fact, John Kerry supports wiretaps, subpoena powers and surveillance against terrorists. He will strengthen the tools of the Patriot Act to go after terrorists and end money laundering -- and he will modify the Act to prevent abuses.
But don't take our word for it: Newspaper ad watches and fact checking organizations have spoken up to criticize this latest Bush misstatement. Here's what the Annenberg Centre of the University of Pennsylvania's Fact Check has to say:
"The wording of the ad could leave some viewers with the impression that Kerry opposes wiretapping suspected terrorists at all, which is false...Kerry's position on those matters is spelled out in some detail on his website, and it simply does not support what the Bush ad claims."
Democrats Taking The LeadJohn Kerry Will Build An Energy Independent America. While George Bush's administration ignores skyrocketing gas prices, John Kerry promises to make energy more affordable -- and make America energy independent.
John Kerry will move our country to energy independence by investing in new technologies and alternate fuels, and offering tax incentives to promote energy conservation. He will engage the OPEC countries directly to get oil prices down, and manage the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to ensure price stability.
This is an issue of national security, Kerry said: "For too long, America has lost its voice when talking about the policies and practices of some governments in the Persian Gulf...If we are serious about energy independence, then we can finally be serious about confronting the role of Saudi Arabia in financing and providing ideological support of al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
"A stronger America, at home and in the world, is an America that is free and independent of Mideast oil."
And Kerry Affirms Our Dreams. About a week ago, Dear Abby received a letter from a troubled 13-year-old girl. The girl told her Health and Human Services class that ever since the fifth grade, she wanted to become the president of the United States. But her teacher and other students laughed, ridiculing her ambition.
Abby received responses from all over the country -- including one from Senator John Kerry.
"I was touched by your letter to Dear Abby, and I want you to know that you can become the president of the United States because of who you are, not in spite of it...remember, doubters never made America a better place. It is people like you -- people who dream big and are filled with hope -- who make a difference in this world."
Here's to a leader who affirms our dreams -- and is committed to making them a reality!
Speak Up -- Contribute To The Democratic Platform! Last week, the Platform Committee for the 2004 Democratic National Convention held its hearing in Portland, Oregon. The next stop is in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on June 5. If you are interested in attending, please call ahead for credentials at 202-479-5134. You can also submit a statement via the internet about issues you would like to see addressed in the Democratic Party platform. Email us today!
You can send in your own statement about issues important to you and people via email. You can also request an opportunity to testify at any of the drafting committee hearings.
Below is a schedule of events:
June 5 - Baton Rouge, LA - "Protecting America's National Security"
June 11 - Columbus, OH - "Achieving Economic Strength"
June 18 - Santa Fe, NM - "Progress for All"
The Full Platform Committee will meet July 9-10 in Miami, FL.
It's Up To The Women! WIR is happy to feature the Women's Rights Committee of the Fairfax County (Virginia) Democratic Committee. The committee held its second annual fundraiser this week, entitled "Women Celebrating Women", dedicated to raising money for Democratic women candidates for local and state office.
WVC Chair Ann Lewis addressed the luncheon, speaking of the importance of electing more Democratic women to office -- and of electing John Kerry and a Democratic Congress this year.
Kudos to the Women's Rights Committee of Fairfax and their good work!
Quotes Of The Week
"At a minimum true dereliction, negligence and irresponsibility; at worst, lying, incompetence and corruption." - Tom Clancy and General Tony Zinni, writing on the Iraq War
"In this country, as citizen soldiers, we need to make the commitment to each other that we will never leave our veterans behind." - Senator John Kerry
http://www.oddcast.com/vhost/bush/
June 2, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Beatriz da Costa, media@caedefensefund.org
ARTISTS SUBPOENAED IN USA PATRIOT ACT CASE
Feds STILL unable to distinguish art from bioterrorism
Grand jury to convene June 15
HELP URGENTLY NEEDED - SEE BELOW
Three artists have been served subpoenas to appear before a federal
grand jury that will consider bioterrorism charges against a
university professor whose art involves the use of simple biology
equipment.
The subpoenas are the latest installment in a bizarre investigation
in which members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force have mistaken an
art project for a biological weapons laboratory (see end for
background). While most observers have assumed that the Task Force
would realize the absurd error of its initial investigation of Steve
Kurtz, the subpoenas indicate that the feds have instead chosen to
press their "case" against the baffled professor.
Two of the subpoenaed artists--Beatriz da Costa and Steve Barnes--are,
like Kurtz, members of the internationally-acclaimed Critical Art
Ensemble (CAE), an artists' collective that produces artwork to
educate the public about the politics of biotechnology. They were
served the subpoenas by federal agents who tailed them to an art show
at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. The third artist,
Paul Vanouse, is, like Kurtz, an art professor at the University at
Buffalo. He has worked with CAE in the past.
The artists involved are at a loss to explain the increasingly bizarre
case. "I have no idea why they're continuing (to investigate)," said
Beatriz da Costa, one of those subpoenaed. "It was shocking that this
investigation was ever launched. That it is continuing is positively
frightening, and shows how vulnerable the PATRIOT Act has made freedom
of speech in this country." Da Costa is an art professor at the
University of California at Irvine.
According to the subpoenas, the FBI is seeking charges under Section
175 of the US Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, which has
been expanded by the USA PATRIOT Act. As expanded, this law prohibits
the possession of "any biological agent, toxin, or delivery system"
without the justification of "prophylactic, protective, bona fide
research, or other peaceful purpose." (See
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/175.html for the 1989 law and
http://www.ehrs.upenn.edu/protocols/patriot/sec817.html for its USA
PATRIOT Act expansion.)
Even under the expanded powers of the USA PATRIOT Act, it is difficult
to understand how anyone could view CAE's art as anything other than a
"peaceful purpose." The equipment seized by the FBI consisted mainly of
CAE's most recent project, a mobile DNA extraction laboratory to test
store-bought food for possible contamination by genetically modified
grains and organisms; such equipment can be found in any university's
basic biology lab and even in many high schools (see "Lab Tour" at
http://www.critical-art.net/biotech/free/ for more details).
The grand jury in the case is scheduled to convene June 15 in Buffalo,
New York. Here, the jury will decide whether or not to indict Steve
Kurtz on the charges brought by the FBI. A protest is being planned at
9 a.m. on June 15 outside the courthouse at 138 Delaware Ave. in
Buffalo.
HELP NEEDED
Financial donations:
The CAE Defense Fund has so far received over 200 donations in amounts
ranging from $5 to $400. This is a wonderful outpouring of sympathy,
but a drop in the bucket compared to the potential costs of the case.
To make a donation, please visit http://www.caedefensefund.org/
Letters of support:
Letters and petitions of support from biologists, artists, and others,
especially those in positions of responsibility at prominent
institutions or companies, could be very useful. See
http://www.caedefensefund.org/ for a sample letter of support.
Legal offers and letters of support:
If you are a lawyer, offers of pro bono support or offers to write
amicus briefs would be very helpful.
BACKGROUND
Early morning of May 11, Steve Kurtz awoke to find his wife, Hope,
dead of a cardiac arrest. Kurtz called 911. The police arrived and,
after stumbling across test tubes and petri dishes Kurtz was using
in a current artwork, called in the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Soon agents from the Task Force and FBI detained Kurtz, cordoned off
the entire block around his house, and later impounded Kurtz's
computers, manuscripts, books, equipment, and even his wife's body for
further analysis. The Buffalo Health Department condemned the house as
a health risk.
Only after the Commissioner of Public Health for New York State had
tested samples from the home and announced there was no public safety
threat was Kurtz able to return home and recover his wife's body. Yet
the FBI would not release the impounded materials, which included
artwork for an upcoming exhibition at the Massachusetts Museum of
Contemporary Art.
While most observers assumed the Task Force would realize that its
initial investigation of Steve Kurtz was a terrible mistake, the
subpoenas indicate that the feds have instead chosen to press their
"case" against Kurtz and possibly others.
To donate to the CAE Defense Fund, and for up-to-date information on
the case, please visit http://www.caedefensefund.org/
For more information on the Critical Art Ensemble, please visit
http://www.critical-art.net/
To join a list about the case, please visit
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CAE_Defense
Articles and television stories about the case:
http://www.appliedautonomy.com/cae/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8278-2004Jun1.html
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--materialsremoved0601jun01,0,3
539235.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20040602/1048042.asp
On advice of counsel, Steve Kurtz is unable to answer questions
regarding his case. Please direct questions or comments to
media@caedefensefund.org.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/060304K.shtml
America's Forgotten POW
by Michael I. Niman
ArtVoice, 6/3/04
http://mediastudy.com/articles/av6-3-04.html
The torture, rape and murder of POWs in Iraq and Afghanistan by their
American captors has put America's relationship with its war prisoners on
the front pages of newspapers in virtually every country in the world.
Where we were once known for our humane treatment of captives, we are now
both loathed and feared. Where "enemy" soldiers once quickly surrendered to
their American opponents, they now fight to the death, taking many Americans
with them. The horrors of Abu Ghraib have made the world much more
dangerous - for everyone.
Not Since Stalin and Mao.
With the Bush wars, all of the rules have changed. Or more accurately,
they're being abandoned. Amnesty International (AI) reported last week that
the "War on Terror" has produced the most sustained attack on human rights
in 50 years. This would be since Stalin's Russia and China's Cultural
Revolution. AI put it bluntly, declaring, "Violating rights at home, turning
a blind eye to abuses abroad, and using pre-emptive military force where and
when it chooses have damaged justice and freedom, and made the world a more
dangerous place."
The situation for Prisoners of War is particularly ambiguous. First, there
is no measure for who is a POW and who sort of just disappeared into a dark
abyss. Second, there is no way of knowing when this so-called war is, would
be, or could be, over - as in, the POW's get to go home. George W. Bush
declared the Iraq front won last year - but the prisoners didn't get to go
home. To the contrary - the sadists were just hitting their stride. And no
one seemed to get the word out that the killing should stop and that it was
time to join hands and sing Kumbaya in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In all fairness, there are aspects of indefinite detention that George W.
Bush - or more precisely, his spooky handlers - didn't invent. Wars come
and go, but some prisoners just rot away, war or no war. Hence, with the
world's focus suddenly directed at America's newest POWs, let's not forget
our other POWs.
Leonard Peltier
America's single best recognized POW is Leonard Peltier - taken captive
during the last violent clash between Native Americans and the US Federal
Government at Wounded Knee, Lakota Territory, in 1975.
The conflict was chronicled in the 1992 documentary, "Incident at Oglala,"
narrated by Robert Redford, as well as in a host of articles and books.
Peltier's legal problems had their roots in the 1973 military style assault
launched by the FBI against an American Indian Movement (AIM) "occupation"
of the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre, which claimed the lives of
300 Lakota people. AIM occupied the site to protest what they termed as US
government treaty violations.
During the two years following the assault, life became increasingly more
dangerous for AIM activists on the Lakota reservation, with the US federal
government supporting a subservient "Indian government" to act in opposition
to the AIM supported traditional Lakota government. During what the Lakota
termed the "Reign of Terror," 64 AIM supporters were murdered.
On June 26, 1975 two FBI agents, supposedly in pursuit of an unknown young
Indian, entered a private Lakota ranch where AIM leaders were holed up. The
agents and the man they were pursuing engaged in a gun battle, trapping a
Lakota family in the middle. Mistaking the firefight for another "Wounded
Knee" style assault, AIM members returned fire. The two FBI agents were
first shot, then gruesomely assassinated at point blank range. The US
Attorney is to this day uncertain who shot the agents. A young AIM Native
American man was also shot dead by an FBI sniper.
Amnesty International Won't Forget Peltier
Leonard Peltier, one of the highest ranking AIM leader present at the time,
was charged and convicted under US law with the murder of the two FBI
agents. Though there were jurisdictional issues involved between the US and
the Lakota Nation, Peltier's conviction seemed routine. The problem,
however, is that there is no evidence or witnesses connecting Peltier to the
crime. To the contrary, ballistic information, which the FBI withheld from
the defense at the time, show that the bullets in the dead agents did not
come from Peltier's gun. In 2002 the US government released, under the
Freedom of Information Act, an additional 30,000 documents pertaining to the
Peltier case, many of which should have been released in 1975.
Peltier, who escaped capture on the day of the shootout, was later
extradited from Canada based on eyewitness testimony, which subsequently
proved to be entirely false and coerced by FBI agents. Likewise, two other
Native Americans who were also tried for the killing were both acquitted,
after the US government's main witness admitted under oath that he was
threatened by the FBI, and hence, was lying. When Leonard Peltier came to
trial, the US Attorney's were desperate for a conviction by any means
necessary - whether or not they had the right man.
In the years since Peltier's conviction, organizations such as Amnesty
International, The Southern Leadership Conference, the National Congress of
American Indians and the Robert F. Kennedy Center have all examined the
evidence and concluded that Peltier is not a murder - he's a "political
prisoner." Amnesty International in 1999 said it considers Peltier "to be a
political prisoner whose avenues of redress have long been exhausted" and
who "should be immediately and unconditionally released." After 29 years in
jail, he's become America's best known political prisoner, with
international dignitaries such as South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu
calling for Peltier's "immediate release." Tutu referred to the case as "a
blot on the [American] judicial system.
Comic Relief from the CIA
Peltier is not only one the highest profile surviving prisoner from
America's Indian Wars - he's also one of the last prisoners of the Cold War.
A 1986 CIA document released last year to Peltier's legal team reports on
the 1985 and 1986 appearances of Peltier's wife, Stephanie Autumn-Peltier,
to plead her husband's case before the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights in Geneva.
According to the CIA, Autumn-Peltier was hosted by the [International]
Indian Treaty Council (IITC), whose "main purpose," they report, "is to
criticize the US." By their own definition, the IITC "is an organization of
Indigenous Peoples from North, Central, South America and the Pacific
working for the Sovereignty and Self-Determination of Indigenous Peoples and
the recognition and protection of Indigenous Rights, Traditional Cultures
and Sacred Lands." It was never myopically focused on "criticizing the US"
as the CIA intelligence reported.
Almost 30 years after the end of the McCarthy era, the 1986 CIA report
described Autumn-Peltier as "someone who makes preposterous speeches to the
delight of the Soviet [sic.], Cubans and other assorted Commies [sic.]."
The report also pointed out that "The Soviet world is hailing [Leonard
Peltier] as a martyr. A decade after the shooting, it was no longer about
guilt, innocence or the death of two FBI agents. Peltier's cell itself
became one of the last battlefronts in the cold war.
Papa Bush and Marlon Brando
The first Bush administration took the case so seriously that when Russian
school children wrote to the White House to inquire about Peltier's case,
they got a response from the president himself - who simply and accurately
stated the fact that Peltier was convicted of murder, without addressing how
that conviction took place.
Two sets FBI documents released recently to Peltier's defense team show a US
federal government in the 1970s obsessed with AIM and hell bent on
convicting someone for something. Both the Chicago and Rapid City FBI
offices infiltrated AIM's leadership with agents, but documents released
from both offices show no indication these informants knew about each other.
Hence, they reported on each other's activities as if they were spying on
real AIM leaders.
In this comic environment, the FBI's hype machine went amok, running out of
control. Among the imminent AIM projects, according to the FBI's 1975
reports, was an assassination of South Dakota's Attorney General and an
immediate plan for the burning of Catholic churches and missions on Indian
Reservations. The Chicago document also reports on Marlon Brando, who was
present at a Lakota religious ceremony infiltrated by the FBI. This 1975
report, issued before Brando starred in "Apocalypse Now," labeled the actor
as "former actor Marlon Brando" who agents reported looked "like a bum."
Hiding Documents to Frame an Innocent Man
Comic as some of these documents seem to be, they are pertinent to Peltier's
case and should have been released to his defense team 29 years ago. The
only problem was, at time, the federal government denied they existed. And
no, the files weren't simply lost or misplaced. A 1975 FBI memorandum,
recently released to Peltier's defense team, documents that the Rapid City
FBI office instructed "All Offices Via Washington" to hide files pertaining
to the "Wounded Knee Investigation," a.k.a. the Peltier case. That memo
explained that "every effort is being made to keep administrative and
informant material in separate sub files in order to keep this material from
being available on a general discovery order.
The material is now finally becoming available nearly three decades after
the fact, with the federal government recently admitting to finding another
140,000 pages of formerly suppressed documents pertaining to the Peltier
case. And it provides evidence that Peltier's trial was anything but fair.
Most disturbing is a recently released document that indicates an FBI
informant infiltrated, or was in the process of infiltrating, Peltier's
legal defense team. With the prosecutors potentially having access to or
influence over the defense team - and with defense attorneys having no
access to evidence that could have exonerated Peltier, he never had a chance
for a fair trial.
Perhaps this is why the Eighth Circuit Federal Appeals Judge, John Heaney,
who initially denied Peltier a new trial, has since changed his mind,
bravely declaring that the FBI used improper tactics to convict Peltier. and
that the FBI and AIM were both equally responsible for the 1975 shootout. In
1991, Heaney called for then President Bill Clinton to offer Peltier
clemency, writing it was time for "a healing process" to begin.
We Haven't Forgotten You
Today. 13 years later, Leonard Peltier continues to linger in captivity as a
POW from a forgotten war and a bygone era - targeted by a ruthless FBI at
the end of its notorious COINTELPRO era of domestic political spying and
political disruption. Peltier is still locked away in the Leavenworth
Federal Penitentiary in Kansas - where an arbitrary ruling limits his
visitors to people who he knew before 1975, and to select journalists and
lawyers. Last week, through his attorney, Peltier sent a message to readers
of this column. He asked that we not forget about him. In an era when our
media environment is saturated with the daily outrages of the outlaw Bush
administration, it's sometimes hard to keep track of cases like Peltier's -
but me must.
For more information about Leonard Peltier, see www.freepeltier.org or
www.leonardpeltier.org. If you would like to support the Peltier Defense
team, please call (716)822-7645 or attend a fundraiser tonight (June 3rd) at
the Tudor Lounge (335 Franklin St. in Buffalo) from 5-8 PM. Michael I.
Niman's previous ArtVoice columns are archived at www.mediastudy.com.