BELFAST, Maine — Liberal activists take note: the co-founder of CodePink is coming to town, and some Belfast denizens are planning to hold a major party — complete with a peace singalong and political theater.
Social justice activist Medea Benjamin will wend her way up the Maine coast during a tour for her new book, “Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control,” starting with a July 11 event in Portland and ending with a July 17 event in Ellsworth.
“I see her as an iconic figure in our culture right now,” Jennifer Hill, organizer of the July 14 stop in Belfast, said Monday. “Medea doesn’t back off. She just looks for another approach.”
Benjamin is a former economist and nutritionist with the United Nations and World Health Organization, according to the website for CodePink, and has been an advocate for social justice for more than 30 years.
CodePink began in November 2002, when Benjamin and other women activists started a four-month-long vigil in front of the White House to support peace. During the vigil’s final week, more than 10,000 people participated in activities including rallies and a march to encircle the White House in pink. On the last day, a group of 25 women, including Benjamin and writer Alice Walker, were arrested after taking the protest to the gate of the White House.
In 2010, Benjamin received the Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Prize from the Fellowship of Reconciliation.
Hill said that in her youth during the 1960s, activism seemed more serious. She likes that Benjamin uses street theater, art and often humor to make her own serious points. She cited one Congressional hearing during which officials had been told not to let women wearing hot pink inside. So the women left and covered the pink with black sweatshirts.
“They got in, then pulled their sweatshirts off,” Hill said.
When she learned that Benjamin’s book tour would bring her to Belfast, Hill said she was thrilled, and wanted to put on a great show.
“This woman is out there on the front lines in such a major way,” she said. “I know she’s getting a hard time from people. One of the things I love about Belfast is that people here are feisty. You run into people who speak truth to power all the time. I wanted us to open our collective arms and embrace this woman.”
So far, Hill said that she has been “astounded” by the depth of interest from Mainers in Benjamin’s visit. People have stepped forward to say they will pay for the Shrine Club, where the event will take place, and provide refreshments. They’ve also joined in the rehearsals for the political theater portion of the event, which will be directed by Larraine Brown.
“This community is so fabulous, and there’s a deep desire here, I think, for speaking truth to power. For stopping these crazy wars,” Hill said. “We want to show her we understand who she is and what she’s doing. We support her.”
Benjamin’s tour will make stops at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 11, at the University of Southern Maine Bookstore in Portland; at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 12, at Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick; at 2:30 p.m. Friday, July 13, at Camden Public Library; at 4 p.m. Saturday, July 14, at the Shrine Club in Belfast; at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 17, at Ellsworth City Hall. For more information, please visit benjamininbelfast.weebly.com.
She’ll receive a warm welcome in the m00nbat capital of Maine.
Like icing on a cake.
Where is the hew and cry that public facilities are being used for a leftist event? I remeber a few weeks back the feigned uproar over a private conservative group’s event at Fort Knox. Where are those critics now…hear the chirping of crickets?
Ahhh Yes.
Just to clarify, the Waldo County Shrine Club is not a publicly-owned facility but a privately-owned facility that is available to rent for functions such as weddings or private events. The rental income is used to support the Waldo County Shrine Club, which donates funds to Shrine hospitals and other charities.
Ahhh and the public libraries are Shriner clubs too?
For the sake of balance, did you interview anyone who was opposed to her appearances at the public libraries and the Ellsworth City Hall? I seem to remember that a good portion of the article about the event at Fort Knox was dedicated to those who spoke in opposition.
You didn’t expect balance did you?
Silly me. I suppose journalistic integrity is a mite old-fashioned…
Very good point.
To top it off, those who attend this Saturday’s event at Fort Knox will be contributing to the upkeep up of the fort. Those who attend Ms. Benjamin’s appearances will be contributing to ummmmm….Ms. Benjamin.
NO no no you got it all wrong. Liberal leaders do not CONTRIBUTE to the causes they preach they want to use OUR tax money to do that. There money is for them everybody else who has money has the duty to surrender it to the masses.
” for speaking truth to power.”
When people say that it makes my leg tingle.
Why, are you wetting yourself?
She has a following that is making her very, very rich. I call it the algorians effect. Making millons on the passion of the people.. kool-aid anyone…
Are you talking about peace or porn?
Who knew she and Rush had so much in common.
That lady has more class in her little pinky than all your empty heads combined. When is working for peace a liberal cause?
Exactly. Even George Bush was/is working for peace. However, I don’t think Code Pink is working for peace necessarily. They are working for unilateral disarmament. There is a big difference. Plus, I am sure they somehow blame Bush for the illegal drone attack program of Obama.
The bigger problem is when did fiscal responsibility become a right-wing cause?
She has something under her fingers, thats for sure…
When it’s spearheaded by “girls.”
Well all the conservatives that suddenly are against drones because Obama uses them will likely join the Code Pink activists, right?
We are only against drones when they are used to assassinate US citizens without any due process.
Well, thank you for the clarification. I stand corrected. I’m sure all the conservatives who suddenly care about due process now that Obama is President will be joining the Code Pink activisits.
There is a difference between asking for surrender (code pink) and the unlawful assassination of an American citizen.
I always thought it was the left that championed due process. With Obama as president the left is all of a sudden willing to give up due process. The imbeciles in the WH wanted to have trials for terrorists in Manhattan and all you on the left were in favor of treating these terrorists with the same rights accorded any American. Now suddenly, the left finds it acceptable to abandon due process for political expediency even when American citizens are killed.
Conservatives are generally law abiding and believe due process is there to protect all innocents not just when convenientWhat changed was the wimp in the WH needed to look like a warrior.
God, the BDN is just hopeless, aren’t they?
Yes.
Why are conservative so afraid of peace? Why do they love war and guns so much? Why are they the same ones that speak of God and Jesus yet speak the opposite of Their words? Fear and hate. You hear it 24/7 on Fox. Putting down someone who preaches peace. It’s the same thing they did to Christ. Try a little self reflection before you make such obvious fools of yourselves.
Why are liberals sooo friggen blind, tuned-out, brainwashed or just not educated enough to see that much of the world is coming apart, governments falling, mass executions of those that dare to tell their governments no…
Get an education, the 2nd Amendment is one of the “Rights” we have incase our government suddenly wants to start to mandate things— oops to late..!
The phrase “divided we fall” actually means something and was written by a lot more notable historic figures than Obama, Eric Holder, or you.!!!!
Typical con response. Rather than addressing any of my questions you change the subject
Then ask a specific question…!
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Ok, what is the question…?
====
Like I said sparky, What Question…?
*Why are conservative so afraid of peace?
Who said they are…?
*Why do they love war and guns so much?
War…? Go back to school for a history lesson fool- look back at the political party that was in charge when wars were started- FYI Truman was the one that melted more than 300,000 innocent women & children…! & as far as defending gun rights- then yes, gladly guilty..!
*Why are they the same ones that speak of God and Jesus yet speak the opposite of Their words? One could say about liberals- they would love to murder a baby with medieval weapons, but cringe at the thought of capital punishment with lethal injection.
The religion hating liberal loons, mock Christian values, but dont have the stones to say that to Muslims.
These same lying sac’s who rip on the church, never accept the “FACT” that churches dont ask if you are gay, Democrat or just some lying liberal.
*Fear the Hate…? WtF is he/she asking, and the rest of dribble isnt even a question.
So I hope I answered “the question”
Higher levels of education tend to correlate with liberalism….
More years of brainwashing by liberal educators.
Gosh, I guess if being a “liberal” means respecting the planet, rights of others, living in peace with one another and having a conscious, then… call me a liberal.
No it doesn’t. If you fall for for that ruze than you got snookered.
??
You yourself may have these values and you are to be commended for that. Believe it or not many independents and Conservatives also share some or all of those same values, they just may have a different though process to get to the same place which is what can create a lot of the division. Where a lot of liberals can be led down a road they had no intention of going down is all the radical special interest groups and certain factions of the Democratic Party that have very different intentions than your own and many other unsuspecting people. The Republican party has similar issues and is certainly not devoid of radical factions. It’s all these radical factions that are going to get our country into trouble if it isn’t already, and us regular people were just watching on the sidelines. Call me a paranoid, but its out there and its real. Code Pink happens to be one of those organizations that appear as one thing, but have very different intention from what their face value appears to be. Sorry for the rant.
>>>><<<<
Facts are facts if you are willing to look beyond the obvious. So yes I’d say your correct. I’m paranoid. I also may be right.
Ok, if you say so, but here’s a bit of trivia, more hunters and sportsmen do more for the game they hunt (feed, monitor their growth patterns, and provide specs for the next years bag limits) than all of the touchy-feely liberals combined..!
I don’t think anyone is afraid of peace or in love with guns and war. Should we have gone off and messed around in places like Vietnam or the Middle East? Probably not. Probably should have left well enough alone. I don’t think anyone wants to see our young men and women dying.
The problem is that wearing a pink sweatshirt, protesting and getting yourself arrested may draw attention to a cause, but they don’t really help it. If you break the law and get yourself arrested, you discredit yourself and your organization.
Frankly, this article incredibly vague about what these people stand for. I’m guessing “world peace.” There isn’t much in the way of reporting on them. This tells me that either the reporter couldn’t be bothered to find out any more info or that the organization in question is just a bunch of loud mouths wanting to be seen and heard. Maybe a combination of the two?
Also, 10,000 people showed up to this thing at one point? Do they have jobs?
They aren’t afraid of peace. They are afraid of the agenda behind “social justice” and code pink. Just follow the dots for a while and you’ll get it. It goes way beyond peace.http://www.targetofopportunity.com/codepink.htm
I think your mistaken. We LOVE peace and wish for it everyday. We love our firearms because it is tradition and there well KEWL.. Also we are realists we pray for peace but we are ready for war just in case.
I do not put down peace. I do tend to laugh at those who think peace should be maintained and no war should ever be fought.
The world is full of evil people who will do anything to be in power and once there anything to keep it. We must be ready to stand for freedom and help those who can not help themselves.
As the son and grandson of retired Navy vets I assure you I have never meet a military person who wished for war. They all want peace. They are of course ready and willing to fight when needed.
Collecting donations for Fallujah while it was still in the hands of an insurgency wasn’t very peaceful. There never has been proof of exactly where the money went that Code Pink collected. Medea has never met a dictator she didn’t like.
Well there you go.
Hopefully she dosen’t come into town riding a motorcycle…..
Code Pink has not met a Republican that they cannot help from hating and publicly heckling. Code Pink has not met a Shariah-obedient slave they do not love. One wonders how Saddam Hussein, the Taliban and the new ‘president’ of Egypt would greet these pinkoes who are mindlessly addicted to PEACE AT ANY PRICE: even the price of our American liberty and freedom to protest. Code Pink is the ultimate oxymoron. Mainers would better spend their efforts in warmly greeting Cher, Jane Fonda or the Octomom.
I think the pinkers and the petas should get together
and eat marshmellows and watch reruns of the Longest Day
and have mayor doomberg serve one piece of popcorn and
a 1 oz thimble full of diet pepsi.
best post ever man
So I expect to see a whole bunch of “Impeach Obama” signs during this event. Maybe some people dressed up as playing cards like the ones Obama uses to decide who to killwith a drone next? I was in town a few years ago on a Sunday morning and the sidewalk was filled with Bush haters and Pro Palestine supporters. They should have a really nice time with this Pink bunch.
Belfast. A good place to avoid.
“One need only look at the biography of 54-year-old Medea Benjamin. Born Susie Benjamin to a wealthy family, she changed her first name to that of the enraged woman in the Greek tragedy who seeks revenge against her husband by murdering her children. Benjamin’s own vengeance against America has led her to support murderous dictators across the globe. She is an ardent pro-Castro advocate, having once lived in Cuba and married a pro-Castro Cuban. For years she led guided tours to Cuba. After returning from her first trip to Cuba in the early 1980’s, Benjamin told the San Francisco Chronicle that Cuban life ‘made it seem like I died and went to heaven….
Code Pink is selective in its criticism. The group condemns only American institutions, particularly the military. Rather than condemn war in moral terms, as pacifists do, Code Pink has a calculated anti-U. S. message. It is vocal and unceasing in condemning America’s alleged sexism, racism, poverty, political and corporate corruption, and environmental degradation, and it asserts that these failings are championed by the American elite.”
http://www.humanevents.com/2007/01/29/code-pink-undermines-war-on-terror/
Why are conservative so afraid of peace? Why do they love war and guns
so much? Why are they the same ones that speak of God and Jesus yet
speak the opposite of Their words?
I’m not trying to pick a fight but nearly every con I’ve asked these questions either attacks me or some other boogie man “liberal”.
So here are 3 questions. Go for it.
….
Do you think that the people who murdered Daniel Pearl would have listened to the code pink peace bunch? I am not afraid of peace but war did free us from England, end slavery, and stopped the Germans and Japan from taking over the world.
In some cases war is the only recourse if we want to maintain our freedom. But our wars have become seemingly endless. War should always be a last resort. Danial Pearl would most likely still be alive if not for the bogus war in Iraq.
1. We are not afraid of peace. Unfortunately not all rulers and or governments cherish peace and would love to take it away from us or our allies.
2.When a tyrannical leader or government oppresses it’s own people or others and commits war crimes (Syria) this often results in some act of aggression or war if it impinges on our country’s foreign policy, (yes even Obama has a foreign policy) and guns are the implement to carry out our country’s foreign policy.
3. Conservatives may or may not have deep religious beliefs, it’s hard to pin this stereotype on anyone today, but it seems the left like to think all conservatives are god fearing people. That just isn’t the case in a general sense. Any conservative I know which are quite a few generally hold high moral values for their family, there communities, and their country regardless of their religious background. We are typically well oriented toward a strong foreign policy that will guarantee this countries freedoms based on what our founding fathers gave us.
I hope I answered your questions in a most sincere way even though the question wasn’t directed to me.
Thank you Jay. I understand where you are coming from but to attack someone because they promote peace seems mindless. I believe we should have a strong military and we should defend ourselves should we be attacked. But the Iraq war was based on misleading and cooked information and it was unnecessary and morally wrong to attack Iraq even though Saddam was a threat to Israel. That war cost at least a trillion $ and thousands of lives. The cons will never admit this even though the WMDs were never found.
I’m just saying try peace first and avoid war unless absolutely
necessary. That fact is that the war did create big profits for
Halibuton (Cheney) so one can’t help but wonder as to the true motive.
And remember neither Bush, Cheney nor Rumsfeld ever fought in a war.
Cons often cite the Bible as they condemn same sex marriage. There is nothing in the Bible that supports their claim. A famous football coach helped to cover up the very real sin of a man raping young boys. I believe that is what the Bible refers to, not two adults in a loving relationship wanting the same rights as the rest of us.
A strong foreign policy doesn’t always mean rushing to war over the least little threat. Obama’s policy on Iran, despite Israel’s objections, is working to a point and is one reason for dropping gas prices.
John Stuart Mill wrote the following in 1862 in an effort to garner support for the Union side in the Civil War. It may help in giving you another perspective:
“But war, in a good cause, is not the greatest evil which a nation can suffer. War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse.
When a people are used as mere human instruments for firing cannon or thrusting bayonets, in the service and for the selfish purposes of a master, such war degrades a people. A war to protect other human beings against tyrannical injustice – a war to give victory to their own ideas of right and good, and which is their own war, carried on for an honest purpose by their free choice – is often the means of their regeneration. A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
As long as justice and injustice have not terminated their ever-renewing fight for ascendancy in the affairs of mankind, human beings must be willing, when need is, to do battle for the one against the other.”
Remember also that the United States entered both WWI and WWII under Democrat Presidents.
Activist… wonder if she’s ever served her country?? before she preaches she should walk in our warriors shoes!!!!! NO PINK!!!! WEAR CAMO!!!!!
Making millions being a greedy professional protester. Take them for every penny they got Benjamin. Moonbats would just give their money to some other worthless cause, you may as well clean them out!
Did your mommy tell you that
God bless the whole world!
Was Code Pink pro-War during the illegal Obama War against Libyians ?
Communist sympathizing organization. Nothing good can come from these people. Like a lot of other far left liberal organizations, there are a lot of smoke and mirrors.
Go Home is what I say end of story
Just what you need a Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro lover preaching to your mush heads. Some old radical women need to give it a break and grow Hemp and Soy Beans back on the commune. The mush heads are already indoctrinated well enough to join the Taliban and do the Sharia thing to women…