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Marching against the School of the Americas and singing to Obama

Check out the recent demos in DC against the School of the Americas, whose involvement in human rights abuses across latin america continues to go unpunished. For more info on the School, renamed the catchier WHINSEC (much like Blackwater’s seismic change to Xe), check out these comics.

And speaking of creative action, kudos to the protestors who heckled Obama at a recent fundraiser in here in San Fran, urging him to reconsider the Pentagon’s harsh treatment of wikileaks whistleblower Bradley Manning, who has done 9 months of solitary in the brig (subject to regular sleep deprivation techniques and often forced to sleep naked) while Julian Assange continues on his PR blitz as the white Martin Luther King. Lyrics below. Admittedly, an expensive strategy (a table at the event reportedly cost $105,000 according to the Guardian UK), although how often is the President forced to stand mute and listen to dissenting (albeit not so tuneful) voices?

Dear Mr President we honour you today,
Each of us brought you $5,000
It takes a lot of Benjamins* to run a campaign
I paid my dues, where’s our change?

We’ll vote for you in 2012, yes that’s true,
Look at the Republicans – what else can we do?
Even though we don’t know if we’ll retain our liberties,
In what you seem content to call a free society.

Yes it’s true that Terry Jones is legally free,
To burn a people’s holy book in shameful effigy.
But at another location in this country,
Alone in a six by 12 cell sits Bradley.

Twenty-three hours a day and night,
The fifth and eighth amendments say,
This kind of thing ain’t right.
We paid our dues, where’s our change?