From marching in the streets to forming human walls of protection around protesters, veterans are playing a quiet but important role in demanding racial justice.
Tag Archives: Veterans for Peace
“The present is a moving target.”
I wrote that years ago when I was first drafting the book’s final chapter, as the “Bradley Manning” story became the complex reality that is Chelsea Manning, as new dissent appeared daily and what had seemed pretty black and white under George W. Bush moulted into a sinister purple glow under Obama. Now, this second,Continue reading ““The present is a moving target.””
Happy 45th Anniversary, Daniel Ellsberg — or why he belongs in my book
today, almost exactly 45 years after a Marine Corps vet finally rocked the world, here it is. Now you know why I tried, and why my fantastic ex-colleague Judith Ehrlich followed her landmark CO movie with one about Ellsberg.
In the news today
Ward Reilly’s so much of a firecracker now, I can only imagine when he was an infantryman stirring up trouble in 1974.
Why Bradley Manning belongs here
I’m already getting assailed for including in my title Bradley Manning, who so many have already branded a traitor — even some vets who are themselves in the book draw the line at what he’s done. But as mesmerized as I am by the case, I’m even more mesmerized by the way it’s galvanized soContinue reading “Why Bradley Manning belongs here”
Status report
For those who might be wondering why this whole project is so overdue.and/or why you DIDN’T see it on the fall catalog for UCPress. When I started working on this book, its subtitle was Soldiers Who Dissent: From George Washington to John Murtha, the latter name because back then, in 2006, it wasn’t that longContinue reading “Status report”
Unstuck in time again, in a good way
It’s been forever, I know. I should have at least updated my other shop’s cheers as Sotomayor became a Justice, especially the soulful essay about how she, a wise Latina herself, felt during that confirmation ceremony. But given the demands of that other shop (go look! Make comments!) and that I’ve been writing the lastContinue reading “Unstuck in time again, in a good way”
why I went to New York this week: video
Just a brief note to annotate the video above. Filmmaker David Eric Allen, who I met there, did a good job of conveying the event I was there to witness – the arraignment of 15 young veterans and their supporters — and even intermixed footage of Monday’s events with that of the moment onContinue reading “why I went to New York this week: video”
"the illusion that they have rights"
Many people I know, especially veterans (even antiwar vets), have mixed feelings about Lieutenant Ehren Watada, whose trial was blocked today by a federal judge. Some vets saw it as a betrayal of those under his command, others that the war was best resisted from within, For other, including myself, the ambivalence stems from theContinue reading “"the illusion that they have rights"”
I Ain't Marching Anymore 