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Indybay Feature

Cindy Sheehan Opens New Campaign Headquarters in San Francisco

by Robert B. Livingston (gruaudemais [at] yahoo.com)
Virtually ignored by the establishment media, the famous antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan opened her new campaign headquarters yesterday in San Francisco.

The date of her headquarters opening coincided with the date John Lennon was assassinated in New York 27 years ago. Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, hoped his passing would be remembered by people everywhere imagining a world of Peace and Love.
speech.png
San Francisco
December 9, 2007

Except for a short factual broadcast by Don Knapp of local television station KPIX Channel 5, Cindy Sheehan's official opening of her new campaign headquarters in San Francisco yesterday was virtually ignored by the establishment media. There was no coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle. If one searches "Cindy Sheehan" from Google's news page and glances over the search offerings, one might even get the impression that Cindy had given up her activism. But it isn't so. Far from it.

Especially since yesterday afternoon-- when many friends and supporters met Cindy and her surviving children (her son, Casey, was killed in Iraq) at 1260 Mission Street in San Francisco. There, Cindy addressed the issues that spurred her to directly challenge California District 8 Congressional incumbent Nancy Pelosi, considered by many as the third most powerful person in America today behind George W. Bush and Richard Cheney.

Pelosi has famously vowed to "keep impeachment off the table," and has disappointed most of her constituents and many people around the nation for not helping bring an end to America's involvement in Iraq. The Washington Post reported yesterday that under Pelosi's "leadership" Democrats will have for the third time since they took control of Congress failed to force Bush to change course in Iraq. Tomorrow, they plan to give Bush a half-trillion-dollar spending package that will include billions of dollars for the war in Iraq without timelines for the withdrawal of combat forces. http://tinyurl.com/2jj7y5

During Cindy Sheehan's Campaign Headquarters Open House, Cindy expressed her contempt for such measures which suggest that the Democrats are colluding with the Bush administration and not presenting a true opposition that reflects the will of the people-- particularly in San Francisco where Cindy is now running as an independent. She also expressed her desire to implement healthy changes which will begin by bringing American troops home from a war that is universally known today as having been founded on lies.
chronicle_coverage.png
This is a screenshot I took about 9 am this morning to show what a search of the San Francisco Chronicle's web portal archive turns up when one searches for news about Cindy Sheehan.
§Cindy Sheehan and volunteers about a month ago
by Robert B. Livingston
before.png
About a month ago, Cindy Sheehan and volunteers take stock of the dismal interior of 1260 Mission (once a seedy adult night club in a run-down neighborhood), where she will have her campaign headquarters.
§Only days ago volunteers make final touches for Cindy's Open House
by Robert B. Livingston
during.png
While awaiting the delivery of office furniture, a local artist works on making hand-crafted t-shirts for yesterday's event. Cindy's headquarters had been freshly renovated: repaired, cleaned, carpeted, and painted.
§Matt Gonzalez attended yesterday's event
by Robert B. Livingston
matt_gonzalez_listens_to_filmmaker.png
At yesterday's event, Matt Gonzalez listens to filmmaker James Lesley. Lesley recently posted a hot video at Youtube of Cindy reading a letter requesting Nancy Pelosi to impeach Bush and Cheney. http://tinyurl.com/3y3ztv

A leading attorney and Green Party leader, Matt narrowly lost to Pelosi relation and corporate darling mayor Gavin Newsom in the 2003 San Francisco mayoral election.
§A somber moment amidst yesterday's cheerful celebration
by Robert B. Livingston
poem.png
Cindy Sheehan chokes back emotion as her daughter Carly reads her poem "A Nation Rocked to Sleep". http://tinyurl.com/5xq5r
tears.png
The Green Party activist and working person's advocate is running for Congress in California's 12th District. Hermanson's efforts helped make San Francisco's minimum wage one of the highest in the nation.
http://www.barryhermanson.org/
§Having reached a new milestone, Cindy Sheehan beams with pride
by Robert B. Livingston
after.png
Looking at her transformed headquarters crowded with devoted volunteers, family, and friends, Cindy Sheehan reflects on how much has been accomplished in such a short time... and how feasible and productive her independent campaign has already become.
§War Is Over!
by Robert B. Livingston
if_we_want_it.png
Cindy Sheehan's successful campaign headquarters opening shows that imagining a world of Peace and Love can be practically translated into making a real world of Peace and Love.

What was once in a previous incarnation a dingy nondescript "clip joint" that preyed on people's weaknesses has been transformed into a lovely office devoted to implementing productive and practical political change.

Now, if only people can imagine what Cindy can do if she is elected, and support her with real efforts, maybe the "clip joint" that is modern day Washington D.C. can be transformed as quickly.

In rememberance of John Lennon, here is Yoko Ono's website:
http://www.imaginepeace.com/
Add Your Comments

Comments (Hide Comments)
by Idriss Stelley Foundation (iolmisha [at] cs.com)

Thanks for awesome photos of Cindy's Power House !

OK. so the corporate press, not a surprise, (except for Ch.5) was not at the rendez-vous...
But the (only) "alternative" press was !

Willlie Ratcliff, publisher of the SF Bayview National Newspaper
Luke Thomas of the FogCityJournal
H Brown of SFBULLDOG.com
Aline Di of French American TV

So were Congress Candidates, Green Barry Hermanson and Libertarian Phil Berg, in good sportmanship !

The office was jampacked with activists eager to End the atrocity of the US war on the Poor, Black & Brown, too many to list here, among them:

Ahimsa Sumchai, former Mayoral candidate
Annie Garrison, Noe Valley
Bill Simpich, Civil Right Attorney, War Moratorium
Brother Miles and SF Nation of Islam representatives
Carl Stokes Jr. , Mission
Kaye Griffith, freelance reporter and activist
Fernando Venceramos, SF_Village_Voice Community Radio
Libertarian Starchild, former supervisor candidate
Lynn Brown, Bayview
mesha Monge-Irizarry, Education Not Incarceration SF Chapter
Nancy Macias, Global Exchange and Code Pink
Patrick Monk, Noe Valley
Reverend Haygood, national law enforcement accountability activist
Tera Paillet, Oakland
Terry Baum, playwriter and former Green candidate for Congress
Vicki Leidner, Code Pink and her husband John, Juvenile Probation Department,

Watch out California, Peace on its way !

In Unity & Respect
mesha
CINDY SPEAKS FOR ME !

Cindy Sheehan for Congress is proudly endorsed by:

* Idriss Stelley Foundation
* Education Not Incarceration SF Chapter
* SF_Village_Voice Community Radio.



by Teddy Diaz
Despite the fact that every union in San Francisco is on record opposing the war , even the traditionally more conservative Building Trades and Firefighters Unions , no one major Union leader was present . Clarence Thomas of IlWU #10 did attend but sadly he doesn't represent the top union leadership of ILWU . They have made clear that they will stand by multi-millionaire '' Nancy ''. So has Sal Rosseli , head of the California United Heath Workers/SEIU . HRE/Unite #2 is also deep in bed with the Democrats .
I think that many rank and file leaders like myself (Shop steward ) will back the Sheehan campaign . i will do what i can for this anti war electoral effort . But alas i live in Vallejo so i'm a bit limited .
But it's disgraceful that this blind , unrecipocated , loyality to the dems still dominates .
by Jeanette Doney
It's interesting that the Ron Paul rEVOLution is also outside main stream media, but has built a huge coalation on Meetup and bloggs online which is breaking fundraising records. Twice, Ron Paul has recieved more support from troops, according to the Federal Elections Commission, than any candidate. Ron Paul is the peace candidate. Many grassroots pro-peace activists are on the Ron Paul bus, and the fact Cindy is not is because Cindy puts other issues besides the war first. Casey would be supporting Ron Paul. Many of us in the Ron Paul camp talk about Cindy Sheehan, and while there are some like myself, who would appreciate the unity against the war, there are others who say, "Look at her, she says she's for peace, and yet she works for the UN which is ultimately behind the war because Bush went to the UN to get permission to go to war, which is why it's not a declared war by the USA, but a new world order war by the UN".
by Joshua Frank (excerpt and link)
December 12, 2007

An Open Letter to the Antiwar Left
Ron Paul's Campaign Deserves Our Attention

By Joshua Frank

The left wing of the antiwar movement has some very serious problems, mainly our inability to recognize that the antiwar sentiment in the United States is resonating far beyond the confines of the so-called "left."

We cannot step back and effectively analyze the failures of the antiwar movement without peering under the hood of John Kerry's campaign in 2004. In essence, I think the majority of the left made a huge mistake on this issue by not opposing the Democrats; the movement supported a pro-war position by not opposing Sen. Kerry, who promised to continue the occupation of Iraq. There was no pressure on Kerry to alter his position on the war. No bird-dogging protests along the campaign trail. No outrage over his flip-flopping-let's-send-more-troops-into-battle rhetoric. Silence during election season is complicity. So let's be loud.

Despite his good intentions, Dennis Kucinich also failed us four years ago as well by abandoning his antiwar platform in favor of Kerry's pro-war candidacy. There is little reason to believe ol' Dennis won't do the same thing again this year if Hillary is the nominee. It was party politics before issues. Kucinich, unfortunately, wasn't an activist but a pawn in the Democrat's game. And the antiwar movement, or at least those who supported his bid, felt the damaging tremors for months afterward. Kucinich has been running in Iowa for almost nine years and is barely pulling in 1% of the vote. So what's the point?

The backlash to the Iraq war in this country is much larger than Kucinich's fan club, yet there is no real visible "moving" movement on the ground to end it. In many ways this is our fault as we are not willing to reach out to antiwar folks across the lines. A movement will never move forward with archaic sectarian factions or unyielding adherence to entrenched political philosophies. We must overcome our unwillingness to collaborate and collectively organize.

Case in point being the most visible and enthusiastic antiwar candidate in the country, which we consistently ignore: Rep. Ron Paul. Whether we agree or disagree with Paul's libertarian solution to every problem, we cannot disregard that his campaign is exploding owing to a broad coalition of people who oppose the war on terror. Paul has built a viable campaign, one that must move beyond the Republican primaries and into the general election. We can't let Paul become Kucinich of '04. The more independent antiwar voices we have running against the war machine the better we'll all be. And Paul has millions in his coffers to push an antiwar agenda.

This is not about Rep. Paul as an individual per se, but about his grassroots following.

READ THE REST:
by Link to James Lesley Video

Here is a video of Cindy Sheehan reading a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and of Cindy's daughter, Carly, reading her poem ""A Nation Rocked to Sleep".
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