(Thanks Dayna!)

[It’s NOT too late. He needs to keep getting them, so send yours TODAY!]

There is a positive history of this protest! In the 1950s, Fellowship of Reconciliation began a similar protest, which is credited with influencing President Eisenhower against attacking China. Read on: “In the mid-1950s, the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation, learning of famine in the Chinese mainland, launched a ‘Feed Thine Enemy’ campaign. Members and friends mailed thousands of little bags of rice to the White House with a tag quoting the Bible, “If thine enemy hunger, feed him.” As far as anyone knew for more than ten years, the campaign was an abject failure. The President did not acknowledge receipt of the bags publicly; certainly, no rice was ever sent to China. “What nonviolent activists only learned a decade later was that the campaign played a significant, perhaps even determining role in preventing nuclear war. Twice while the campaign was on, President Eisenhower met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff to consider U.S. options in the conflict with China over two islands, Quemoy and Matsu. The generals twice recommended the use of nuclear weapons. President Eisenhower each time turned to his aide and asked how many little bags of rice had come in. When told they numbered in the tens of thousands, Eisenhower told the generals that as long as so many Americans were expressing active interest in having the U.S. feed the Chinese, he certainly wasn’t going to consider using nuclear weapons against them.”

Bush did a pretty good job and *almost* made the case for war with Iraq. He failed to mention the idea of going to Congress first *or* working *with* a coalition. (He said “lead a coalition”. Georgie, we’re not the only nation in the world that thinks Iraq is a problem. Let’s learn to play on a team.) He talked about the need for new energy sources that are cleaner. He avoided using the O-word though (oil) — he talked about liberating ourselves from foreign energy sources. Ummm… name one foreign energy source that we export in large amounts other than oil. He talked about environmental regulations, yet he has rolled back quite a few of them. (To fight this, go to the NPCA website, click on “Take Action” and then click on “Action Alerts”. Do it now.)

Gary Locke, the governor of Washington state, was the Democratic rebuttal (so to speak) and he won as far as selling me on the Dem’s plans. The tax cuts aren’t as deep as Bush proposed but they reach *everyone* and not just the ultra-wealthy. He actually talked about liberation from foreign oil (which is pretty much the only reason we care about *anything* in the Middle East) and he has a decent track record on the environment. I have a serious amount of respect for him because he’s done some good things in Washington, is a second generation Chinese-American, attended Yale on scholarship (i.e. not an entitled person), is an Eagle scout, is the governor of a wastern state (which means that he understood the angst of the West when Bush told us to quit whining and conserve energy during the power crisis), and is really where I am on a lot of issues. Pity that he isn’t running for President…

My mother-in-law told me about this game. Pity that all I can find is commentary.

For those into Middle East politics, there is the PLO-Israel News Drinking Game.

Me da emailed this to me. I think we need some new protest songs for the time… or at least we need to revive the old ones!

(Sung to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands”)
If we cannot find Osama, bomb Iraq.
If the markets hurt your Mama, bomb Iraq.
If the terrorists are Saudi
And the bank takes back your Audi
And the TV shows are bawdy,
Bomb Iraq.

Cha, cha, cha!