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From the radio newsmagazine
Between The Lines
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Between the Lines Q
A weekly column featuring progressive viewpoints
on national and international issues
under-reported in mainstream media
for release Aug. 9, 2004
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Anti-war Message Banned at Democratic National Convention
Interview with Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Global Exchange and Code Pink Women for Peace, conducted by Scott Harris
Listen to this interview by:
The Democrats who gathered in Boston for their presidential convention were subjected to one of the most highly-scripted
and controlled events in the recent history of U.S. politics. Every speech given and every sign held by delegates was
subject to approval by presidential candidate John Kerry's staff. Outside the FleetCenter convention site, Boston police
attempted to corral protesters into a cage-like area compared by many to an internment camp.
But despite all their efforts to control the image of the Democratic party, as seen by Americans in very limited
broadcast television coverage, John Kerry received little or no post-convention bounce in his public standing, according
to opinion polls. And while many of the thousands of Democratic delegates went home from Boston energized and optimistic
about their chances for victory in November, others have lingering doubts about John Kerry's vague strategy for ending
the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
Medea Benjamin, the co-founder of Global Exchange and an activist with the group Code Pink Women For Peace, was in
Boston for the Democratic convention. As Teresa Heinz Kerry spoke at the podium in support of women's rights and free
speech on the second night of the convention, Benjamin -- who ran as the Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate from
California in 2000, unfurled a banner which read, "End the Occupation of Iraq." Immediately, she was set upon by
security guards and forcibly removed from the convention center.
Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Medea Benjamin about her experience in Boston and her views about strategic
voting in the upcoming presidential election.
Medea Benjamin: First, I was in the hallway walking along with a banner that said, "End the Occupation in Iraq" and was
approached by a security guard who said, "That's not allowed, you could only have pre-approved signs and this is not
pre-approved." And we started arguing with them and more security guards came. There were a number of us in Code Pink
that started arguing, and as we were there arguing, somebody from the press who was really appalled by the Democrats'
position on this handed me their press pass, and said, "Why don't you take it on to the floor?" And so, while they were
arguing, I just kind of snuck away and went right on to the floor and that was at the time that Theresa Heinz was
speaking.
And it was quite amazing, because first I was just standing there with the sign and was immediately pounced upon by
police, by Democratic security people themselves, and I'm hearing in the background Theresa Heinz's speech, which is
saying things like, "we must listen to the voices of women, true patriots are the ones who speak truth to power, my
husband wouldn't send troops to fight a war on the basis of a lie and I'm thinking, well wait, you know, I got to speak
truth to power here, while they're trying to pull me out just for holding the sign, and that's when I started saying,
but "Theresa, will John bring the troops home? Will he oppose the occupation of Iraq?" and at that time was already
being pulled out of the room. I was held for about 30 minutes, they brought in the Secret Service, the Boston Police,
there were quite a large number of people who were interrogating me, and then they brought in somebody from the
Democratic National Committee's leadership and asked them if they wanted to press charges. They went out and huddled for
awhile, came back in and said, no.
I also should say Scott, that I was so appalled by their treatment of somebody who was literally just holding up a sign,
that we decided to go back the next day and the next day. Not only to the convention itself but to the caucus meetings
and got in tussles with the Democrat security people all along the way. They really wanted to vet not only signs, but
bandanas people were wearing that said Delegates for Peace that the Kucinich people were wearing. They wanted to vet the
speeches that anybody was making. Anybody who actually managed to sneak through a slogan like "Bring the Troops Home,"
as Jesse Jackson did, happened because it was not pre-approved and they went beyond the speeches that they had handed
in.
Between The Lines: What do you make of this convention where it was so highly-scripted, so highly-controlled, squashing
dissent at every opportunity? What does that say about the Democrats and what does it say about the image they're trying
to project to the American people?
Medea Benjamin: Well, there's an incredible disconnect, Scott, between the delegates of the party who are the real
activists, the ones that put their life and soul into the party, the membership of the Democratic party, and the
leadership of the party. You can't really have an exciting campaign, when you have 95 percent of the delegates --
according to surveys that were done by both the New York Times and the Boston Globe -- saying that they thought the war
in Iraq was a mistake and the position of the leadership that said something totally different. People were very upset
and wanted to in some ways overlook Kerry's position because they were so determined to support Kerry and get Bush out
of office. But you really saw people struggling to align their positions around Iraq, which are very near and dear to
many of the people in the Democratic base, with what Kerry said in his speech.
Between The Lines: Medea, I wanted to ask you about an open letter which you and a few other activists have signed,
titled, "An open letter to Progressives: Vote Kerry and Cobb," meaning David Cobb, the Green Party presidential
candidate this year. The letter was signed by yourself, Daniel Ellsberg, Peter Coyote, the actor, and Tom Hayden. Why
don't you tell us a little about what this letter says regarding the strategic choices voters should make this year.
Medea Benjamin: Well, a number of us came together and thought it was important to put our thoughts on paper and to
jointly sign a statement saying we thought it was so important that we acted in concert with the large number of people
in this country that are so anxious to get rid of Bush -- but that we not forget that Kerry did vote for this war. That
the Democratic party leadership has not provided us with alternatives, and that it's important to support the Green
Party, after making a decision at its national convention that Ralph Nader would not be the standard bearer of the party
during this election. The majority of delegates to the Green Party convention recognized that the most important thing
we could do in this election was to focus on the local races and get local Green candidates elected to office and that
was indeed the priority of David Cobb, the Green Party nominee. So, we signed this joint letter calling on people to
vote for David Cobb if they are in a "safe" state, but if people do live in swing states, they should recognize the
importance of getting Bush out of office and vote for Kerry.
Contact Global Exchange by calling 1-(800) 497-1994 or visit their website at http://www.globalexchange.org. Visit Code Pink's website at http://www.codepinkalert.org
Visit our website for related links at
" An Open Letter to Progressives: Vote Kerry and Cobb"
"Why No Bounce?"
"At a Big Party, Missing the Big Picture"
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Scott Harris is executive producer of Between The Lines. This interview excerpt was featured on the award-winning,
syndicated weekly radio newsmagazine, Between The Lines ( http://www.btlonline.org), for the week ending Aug. 13, 2004. This Between The Lines Q was compiled by Anna Manzo.
PRINT INFORMATION: For reprint permission, please email betweenthelines@snet.net.