Occupy Los Angeles joined Occupy San Fernando today, thanks to Facebook, to protest Rep. Howered Berman(D) of California’s 28th district. He serves as a congressman who is supposed to represent the people. He, along with most of the other members of congress, voted to pass the NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT of 2012.
In case you missed it, The National Defense Authorization Act is a bill passed by our congress and signed into law that funds our Military. This is how we fund the bullets and band aides that our troops need to fight the wars we are in. On average, other than the fact that we are funding immoral wars that hurt America rather than make us safe, the NDAA isn’t that controversial. The problem is this current NDAA bill has language in it that gives the military way more power then it’s supposed to have, according to the U.S Constitution. The current bill allows the United States Military to apprehend and detain, indefinitely, American citizens on American soil.
Yes, you read it right, gives the Military the right to apprehend Americans without due process until “hostilities” cease. According to the time frame, according to President Obama himself, the detention could last as long as 10 years. 10 years without charges, without a lawyer, without a phone call, for American citizens in America.
He was part of a group who tried to get the wording out. He was in a coalition of other House members along with 38 Senators that tried to get the verbiage out of the bill. After they failed to get the verbiage out he voted for the bill anyways. His reasoning for voting for a bill that violates our Bill of Rights is that it was coupled with the rest of the bill that funded the bullets and band aides that our troops need. The fact is that our military isn’t running out of stuff and bullets at all. Our military has an overabundance of ammo and artillery, which has been left in Iraq. Congressman Berman’s two aids came out to address our crowed. They made a statement on behalf of Congressman Berman.
You be the judge whether it answers any questions what’s so ever!
We stayed for a bit after to make our point that we aren’t satisfied. It sounded as if they said a lot about nothing. Again they try to play both sides of the fence. If the 38 Senators had stuck to their guns and not voted for NDAA 2012 they could have killed it before it even went up for a vote the first time, 93-38=57. Not to mention, only 93 senators voted, the Senators who did vote for it did not have the votes to override a filibuster. The filibuster could have gotten rid of the bill altogether. If the other 7 had voted, at least we would know where they stand. The bill is on President Obama’s desk right now awaiting his signature, which is going to come.
Tomorrow’s action is going to be as Congressman Sherman’s office. For more information on further actions protesting the Congressman around LA that voted for the bill please check out Occupy San Fernando’s Facebook at,
https://www.facebook.com/OccupySanFernandoValley?ref=ts&sk=wall
By Joshua Taylor
www.AmericanEthics.org
1 Comment
Excellent sustained action by Occupy San Fernando Valley
Submitted by steveNoHo on
This is the way to go. Every Occupy org should check the schedule of Occupy SFV as a model to consider for planning daily actions at local politicians offices. In this case the visits alternate between two local congressmen, Berman and Sherman, who represent that section of the valley.
As a long time grassroots activist in the valley (Neighbors for Peace and Justice, SFV - the Studio City Peace Vigil people) I know sustained actions are the best. We do weekly peace vigils, but in the past have been part of delegations to these guys offices. What we didn't do, as Occupy SFV is now doing, is turn the office visits into a sustained action. So, it would be interesting to see if that proves more persuasive. I bet it does. Single meetings with guys like Berman and Sherman or their staffers go nowhere; that, I know. Here are three suggestions, based on some of what I observed in the above video, and on past experience when I learned it the hard way:
1) Never agree to a meeting outside the office, as happened on Monday. You have a right to expect a sit down with staff aids in the office even if the rep is out of town. Of course, if you show up unannounced, then you are very polite about it, but remain firm that you have a right, as constituents to at least move upstairs to the office to discuss your concerns. In the past, if a group that I was with was unable to get a formal meeting, then we just went straight up there anyway and filled all the chairs in Berman's waiting room. That was four years ago: we were occupiers but didn't know it. Anyway, this should come natural to an Occupy group. So, once again, NEVER agree to meet the nice aid downstairs for a chat on the stoop.
2) When meeting with Berman or most other pols, or their aids, GO IN PREPARED. Meet beforehand and decide who will present the 1 - 3 absolutely critical points. You will discover at some point in the meeting that the staffer or even the congressman or senator KNOWS LESS ABOUT THE ISSUE THAN YOU DO, or pretends to know less. You see this happening in the video above: the staffer is unaware of the sub-committee her boss is on, and she is fuzzy about other issues. (This sets up a situation I'll get to in #3 below.) Also during pre-visit planning, decide who among your group will have the job of being the time-keeper and reminder, because a) you do want to get in all the critical points, and b) the conversation is bound to stray at times during the meeting. Keep bringing it back to the topic(s) that brought you there. Do not let them turn the session into a feely session. Don't be rude, but don't let them charm you into thinking they're on your side, either. They aren't on your side. They are simply doing their job meeting with constituents, but from their point of view, this is a pain in the ass; you are taking them away from the really important stuff they have to do in the office. Final pre-visit planning, encourage everyone in your 'delegation' to speak during the meeting, but only if you have something well thought or particularly sharp and passionate to drop in that is on point. Because:
3) The people you are dealing with have years of experience dealing with people like you: constituents hot about a particular issue who have never dealt with an elected official before. That's okay. You are going to learn quickly. By repeatedly visiting they will not be able to wiggle free quite so easily the next time. The number one technique Berman's office uses is to promise to get back to you about all those details they profess ignorance about. YOU WILL NOT HEAR BACK UNLESS YOU ARE RELENTLESS ABOUT REMINDING THEM. You can sign in, but if they say it is to email you with the congressman's response to issues X, Y, or Z, then don't bother: HE WON'T! They just want your info for their office files. Again, this is why the strategy of SUSTAINED VISITS is the way to go: they won't be able to get away with that.
I'm not going into goals: what you want to accomplish, expect to accomplish, and will refuse to accept if you meet with opposition. Threatening to make sure someone is run out of office if you don't like what you're hearing (which happens in the above video) should not be said unless you are prepared to back it up. Do you have an org in place to mount a recall compaign or to run your own candidate? No. Not yet. Then say I'M NOT VOTING FOR YOU AND I KNOW A LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE WHO WON'T VOTE FOR YOU EITHER IF YOU REFUSE TO . . . fill in the blank.
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