for your efforts on behalf of all of us, even those of us who disagree with your message.  Even those benefit from your actions in ways that they cannot comprehend. 

As Eugene V. Debs said, when charged with sedition due to his opposition to World War I:

...while there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.

Thomas Paine said:

He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.

Some people don't understand that you do this for all our sakes. But I do and I thank you.

by Paula Sayles (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 204 comments [78 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Jan 7, 2009 at 2:59:37 PM

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I am proud of you David, you and all who were there standing up for truth and justice.

As you probably know, the actual Unlawfull Assembly is everytime that Congress meets, every time the Supreme Court holds session, or any other "official" action--because all is done under COLOR OF AUTHORITY.

The so called "Federal Government" is illegitimate and is a criminal syndicate that has ignored and invalidated the very charter that provides their authority.

Thank you for your actions and your reporting.

by William Whitten (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 4880 comments [1686 recommended, 28 rejected]) on Wednesday, Jan 7, 2009 at 3:59:09 PM

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David, thanks for your activism. It shames me, I am afraid.

Also, Paula and William voiced cogent points better than I could have and thanks for reminding me to think of them. 

I shouldn’t wonder that, if the issue of peaceful assembly were to reach the Supreme Court … the court would argue in favor of the powers and therefore violate the Constitution. Yet again. Thus, the SCOTUS is as illegitimate an edifice to corporatism as the rest of the federal government.  

by richard (0 articles, 5 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 1359 comments [400 recommended, 8 rejected]) on Wednesday, Jan 7, 2009 at 7:09:37 PM

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Clips Your Honor, the old woman who stands before you was arrested for reading the Declaration of Independence in America's Capitol Building. I did not raise my voice to do so and I blocked no hall. The First Amendment to the Constitution, Your Honor, says that Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances, so I cannot imagine what legitimate law I could have broken. We peaceably assembled there, Your Honor, careful to not offend the rights of any other citizen nor interrupt the peaceful enjoyment of their day. The people we met were supportive of what we were saying and I think they--especially the children--were shocked that we would be arrested for such a thoroughly wholesome American activity as respectfully voicing our opinion in our own hall. Any American standing there would have been shocked. For we were a most peaceable assembly, until Trent Lott's and Mitch McConnell's police came in with their bullhorns and their shackles to arrest us. .. I am glad we were only reading from the Declaration of Independence --I shudder to think what might have happened had we read from the Bill of Rights. ...I was reading these very words when my hands were pulled behind me and bound: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." Your Honor, we would never seek to abolish our dear United States. But alter it? Yes. it is our constant intention that it should be a government of, by and for the people, not the special interests, so that people may use this government in service to each other's needs and to protect the condition of our earth. Your Honor, it is now your turn to be a part of this arrest. If your concern is that we might have interfered with the visitor's right to a meaningful tour of their Capitol, I tell you that we helped them have a more meaningful one. If your concern is that we might have been blocking the halls of our government, let me assure you that we stood to one side of the Rotunda where we would not be in anyone's way. But I inform you that the halls are indeed blocked over there. They are blocked by the shameless sale of public policy to campaign contributors, which bars the doors and the halls to the people's legitimate needs and the flow of proper representation. We Americans must put an end to it in any peaceful way that we can. Yes, we can speak when we vote, and we do. But we must also give our best effort to encourage the repair of a very broken system. We must do both. In my 90 years, this is the first time I have been arrested. I risk my good name --for I do indeed care what my neighbors think about me. But, Your Honor, some of us do not have much power, except to put our bodies in the way of an injustice--to picket, to walk, or to just stand in the way. It will not change the world overnight, but it is all we can do. So I am here today while others block the halls with their corruption. Twenty-five million dollars are changing hands this very evening at a fund raiser down the street. It is the corrupt sale of public policy, and everyone knows it. I would refer those officials and those lobbyists, Your Honor, to Mr. Bob Dylan's advice when he wrote: "Come senators, congressmen, Please heed the call. Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall." ...But the earth itself can no longer afford them. We owe this change to our children and our grandchildren and our great grandchildren. We need have no fear that a self-governing people can creatively and effectively address their needs as a nation and a world if the corrupt and greedy are out of their way, and ethical leadership is given the helm. Your Honor, to the business at hand: the old woman who stands before you was arrested for reading the Declaration of Independence in America's Capitol Building. I did not raise my voice to do so and I blocked no hall. But if it is a crime to read the Declaration of Independence in our great hall, then I am guilty. Thank you very much. statement in the District of Columbia court, 5/24/00 http://www.grannyd.com/speeches.php?id=56&action=list Judge Hamilton sentenced them to time served and released them. === What would she have said if she had been with you? [By the way, her 100th birthday is near...]

by abacus (2 articles, 2 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 73 comments [3 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Jan 7, 2009 at 8:06:33 PM

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There is nothing I can add.

by William Whitten (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 4880 comments [1686 recommended, 28 rejected]) on Wednesday, Jan 7, 2009 at 9:35:10 PM

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And right to my heart.  What a touching and important story you have shared with us.  Thank you for that.

by Jade P. (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 36 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Jan 8, 2009 at 12:44:43 AM

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What makes all these attacks on the First Amendment similar is that they have been done, with the aid and/or silent complicity of ALL of our elected officials. Not just the "evil" Republicans.

by Michael Cavlan (15 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 538 comments [131 recommended, 2 rejected]) on Wednesday, Jan 7, 2009 at 10:36:33 PM

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I had a very similar experience in the early 1990's. We were peacefully protesting the chemical dumping into the French Broad River by North Carolina Paper Mills. The chemicals were seeping into the drinking water and causing an extremely high rate of birth defects. We too were arrested for "Unlawful Assembly". We kept it up though, month after month, until they finally took notice. We eventually achieved what we set out to do. It was not easy, but it was worth it.

Your protest is deserving of every human being on this planet's respect and support. I hope your message brings more citizens to the next protest.

“The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.”

Thucydides quotes Ancient Greek historians

by Jade P. (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 36 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Jan 8, 2009 at 12:14:14 AM

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http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=12126

"Expands terrorism laws to include 'domestic terrorism' which could subject political organizations to surveillance, wiretapping, harassment, and criminal action for political advocacy". www.aclu.org/FilesPDFs/patriot%20act%20flyer.pdf

 And you should see how long the ACLU's client list is, and who is on it (note that most of them are activist entities, also the ACLU itself and the National Lawyers Guild, all of whom were spied on and criminalized by the FBI, due to the Patriot Act): www.aclu.org/safefree/resources/18706res20041202.html

You also should see how loudly the Center for Constitutional Rights echoes the ACLU's analysis of the Patriot act's chilling effect on free speech, to the extent of interfering with first amendment rights. Check it out.

by Kathryn Smith (110 articles, 2 quicklinks, 43 diaries, 542 comments [23 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Jan 8, 2009 at 1:37:55 AM

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 I was moved by the articl and sent in a message to include a letter to the editor of my local newspaper.  The letter is as follows: 

The Unwarranted, Unconstitutional Voilations of the Capital Police in arresting and illegally searching a group who nonviolently protested the policies and legislative acts of the previous Congress is a Shamefull Act.  It demonstrates an Arrogance in Washington D.C. that "We The People" will not tolerate.

It is Our House.  It is Our Government.  We are guarenteed the right to peaceably assemble and to Protest our Government.  These actions violate the very oath that the 111th Congress will take.  That is what they were elected to do, Protect and Defend The Constitution of The United States of America against ALL Enemies both Foreign and DOMESTIC.

There have been countless unlawful Acts by the past administration and Congress, but there was no Unlawful Assembly in Washington DC that Day only unlawful acts by the Capital Police when they Arrested The March of The Dead.

by Sleeper (1 articles, 1 quicklinks, 14 diaries, 312 comments [6 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Jan 8, 2009 at 4:45:40 AM

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for all the helpful comments

by David Swanson (947 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 27 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Jan 8, 2009 at 8:53:17 AM

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I to feel shame for doing so little. You are a man among men David and I honor you.

by virginius "gin" arnold (18 articles, 7 quicklinks, 47 diaries, 516 comments [22 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Jan 8, 2009 at 9:35:14 AM

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    Quietly we stand.

    In your honor.

    peace my brother. thank you...

by mikel paul (14 articles, 1 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 570 comments [13 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Jan 8, 2009 at 12:57:23 PM

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