FISA Was Different

Glenn Greenwald points out that the Republicans may be dropping FISA as an imperative issue for the remainder of the legislative session. He makes the case that the reason this happened was the strong principles shown by Democrats:

This is the first time in a long time that right-wing fear-mongering on Terrorism hasn’t succeeded. Given that virtually everyone (including me) assumed that the Congress would ultimately enact the new FISA bill demanded by Bush, it demonstrates that smart strategies combined with intense citizen activism can succeed, even when the Establishment — its lobbyists, Congressional representatives and pundits — lines up in bipartisan fashion behind their latest measure. And it removes the Democrats’ principal excuse that they cannot resist Bush’s Terrorism demands without suffering politically.

I think this is exactly right. It can be tied back to the strong grassroots pressure from blogs, the leadership by Chris Dodd, and the involvement of advocacy groups like the ACLU, EFF, and MoveOn.  Together we created the political will to defend the rule of law and stand up to the Bush administration. As a result, Democrats have possibly secured a critical victory. They just need to stick by their guns and refuse to allow a bad bill to move forward. Beyond that, they should remember the recipe that lead to their success and their support so they can continue to do the right thing legislatively and electorally in the future.

Video of Labrang Monk Protests

This is video of monks in Labrang protesting during a dog and pony show put on for foreign and Chinese journalists by the Chinese government. You can hear them shouting “Bhod Gyalo,” which means victory for Tibet and is a common cry among supporters of Tibet’s independence. You can also see them carrying a large Tibetan flag – which is banned in Tibet and the  possession of which alone is likely to send them to jail.  This protest is yet another unequivocal statement of Tibetans commitment to freedom.

Protesting the Torchwashing of China’s Atrocities

Kirk James Murphy M.D. has a great post at FireDogLake about the San Francisco torch relay and the protests surrounding it.

As the whole watching world knows, today China’s attempt to torchwash nearly sixty years of brutal imperialism in Tibet, the massacres of Tienanmen Square, and the genocide that is Darfur failed on the streets of San Francisco. The fearful overlords of China – and the US – whittled an already condensed “relay” down to a three mile “hide and seek” that started in midtown SF, and crammed multiple runners on each short leg. Even then, one brave torch holder from the South Bronx used her spirit to whip out a Tibetan flag. Today, our freedoms doused China’s Great Torch March Forward. And last night, the ancient values to Tibet doused our rage and anger at China’s crimes. Both Tibet and the US shared their freedoms – one spiritual, one political – with their sadly impoverished comrades on the other side of the world.

Today in SF I saw thousands come out to celebrate the freedoms our sad Boi Mayor tried to deny us – and extend those freedoms around the globe to peoples they’d never met. Save for a few adolescent exceptions, we were joyous and courteous – much like the PRC supporters wearing pre-printed, mass produced slogans praising China’s freedoms. My organizer friends and I counted only three arrests (two of them anticipated from “lock-downs”) among a real “people’s army” of thousands who reclaimed our Constitution from the mewling “leaders” – local, State, and Federal – who thought they could defy our best traditions and offshore our greatest treasure to the PRC.

And who were our allies when Mayor Hair Gel hid the march route from the people – but apparently let Beijing’s servants in on the “secret”? Public servants in uniform – disgusted by the ruse and the Boi Mayor’s supine choice to let Beijing’s secret police on our streets.

The MSM I’ve too often reviled — best surveillance force we’ve ever had. And hundreds of regular folk who phoned the torch’s location: on all three miles of the route through SF.

By 3:30, the whole farce was over – the Blood Olympics Torch and the secret police minders took the buses where they’d spent much of the day off to the airport. The gala “closing ceremony” in SF was canceled – replaced by some tawdry little sham at SFO.

And the night before – the fight was already over. We’d won before the whole desecration ever started. And we in SF had been given a great gift…a gift we used today.

That gift is the gift of freedom. Thousands of people came to the streets of San Francisco this week to protest for Tibetan freedom and human rights in China. Despite underhanded efforts by SF Mayor Gavin Newsom to suppress protest before and during the torch relay, protests took place that continued to demonstrate the global opposition to the Beijing Olympics and the torchwashing of China’s brutal occupation of Tibet. Murphy’s post goes on to discuss how the political dynamics of Newsom’s aspirations for greater affinity with the Chinese and IOC bigwigs corrupted his ability to exercise the freedoms that he too enjoys and, as Mayor, is responsible for protecting.

I’ve long said that one of the fundamental reasons that I work for Tibetan independence is because I have meaningful rights as an American that Tibetans do not. I can write what I want on this blog. I can assemble with others in public and call for freedom in Tibet while waiving a Tibetan flag and walking alongside a monk who carries a picture of the Dalai Lama. I can do these things and not fear detention, torture, imprisonment, or violence. These are all rights and protections that Tibetans lack. While we enjoy these rights and while Tibetans seek freedom without them, I see a moral responsibility to act in solidarity with them. Murphy’s post gets at this and recognizes that people in San Francisco, Paris, and London have made a stark contrast between their real freedoms and the repression that exists in China. In so doing, the free global community has helped stop China’s use of the Olympic Games as a political tool to whitewash their atrocities in Tibet.

Update:

Calitics has some great photos of yesterday’s protests in San Francisco, courtesy of Bob Brigham.

A Disrupted Relay

This is a map of the torch route and the sorts of protests, crowds, and events that took place along the way – as well as alterations to the route.

google_earth

I was getting updates on my cell phone from the SMS feed going out on Twitter; this succeeded in conveying the true chaotic nature of the chess match between protesters and the relay organizers. I haven’t seen pictures yet, but there were at least two banner hangs done along the route. The torch was hidden on buses and vans, it was put on a boat and floated away from demonstrators, and the torch relay was eventually cut short and the closing ceremony canceled.

Additionally one torch bearer, Majora Carter, pulled out a Tibetan flag and was promptly roughed up by Chinese security forces – the infamous People’s Armed Police.

“The Chinese security and cops were on me like white on rice, it was no joke,” Majora Carter told the AP. “They pulled me out of the race, and then San Francisco police officers pushed me back into the crowd on the side of the street.”

There were other reports of PAP physically harassing protesters, an offense to American sensibilities and sovereignty, courtesy of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. But what would have happened to Carter and other protesters if this had been part of the Olympic torch relay in Tibet? They’d be beaten or killed, according to the TAR’s governor.

In China, government officials warned against disruption of the relay as the torch reaches Tibet. “If someone dares to sabotage the torch relay in Tibet and its scaling of Mount Everest, we will seriously punish him and will not be soft handed,” said Qiangba Puncog, governor of the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

It’s hard to imagine a more disgusting response to peaceful protest. But the message is clear, China will murder Tibetans who mar their torch relay with dissent. While they weren’t allowed to do it San Francisco, there will be no restrictions back in Tibet.

EU Boycott Resolution Expected Today

CBC News reports:

The European Union is expected to pass a motion Wednesday urging European countries to boycott the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Beijing unless Chinese authorities begin talks with the Dalai Lama.

The motion, which is non-binding, stems from China’s crackdown in Tibet after violent protests against Chinese rule broke out last month.

“There is this growing momentum to send some sort of signal to China,” CBC’s David Common said.

The resolution by the 27-member union obtained by Reuters says:

“The European Parliament calls on the EU presidency in office to strive to find a common EU position with regard to attendance at the Olympic Games opening ceremony with the option of non-attendance in the event if there is no resumption of dialogue between the Chinese authorities and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”

Common said the motion is expected to pass.

This is great news. The EU continues to be a moral leader on Tibet and the Olympics. Now we need individual member states to take action to give this resolution real weight. I’d hope that the nations voting to pass this resolution do go through and boycott the opening ceremonies. Moreover, I hope they extend their involvement in this issue to include calling on the IOC to cancel the portion of the Torch Relay that runs through Tibet. Non-binding resolutions are better than press releases or doing nothing, but continual pressure on the IOC and China is better than a resolution.