stephanie
03-13-2007, 01:37 PM
Hummmmmmm..
By JESSE McKINLEY
The New York Times
SAN FRANCISCO (March 13) -- San Francisco, meet Crawford, Tex.
Using a tactic usually trained on the home turf of President Bush , a group of protesters from Code Pink, a women's antiwar group, have camped in front of the home of Speaker Nancy Pelosi here, bringing their message -- and mattresses -- to the doorstep of the nation’s highest-ranking Democrat .
The protest, which began Sunday afternoon with dozens of demonstrators, is just Code Pink's latest effort to engage Ms. Pelosi, who the group feels has not gone far enough or fast enough to get the troops home from Iraq .
"The point is to keep showing our dissatisfaction," said Toby Blome, 51, a protest organizer who sported a frilly pink apron and pink skirt. "It's hard to do on our own, but I know I speak for millions of people."
By Monday afternoon, however, Ms. Blome was speaking for exactly three people: herself and two other tired-looking protesters. One of those was Leslie Angeline, 50, who said she had slept till about 4 a.m. outside Ms. Pelosi's three-story red-brick home.
"It was O.K.," Ms. Angeline said, "till the sprinkler system went off."
Code Pink organizers said that reinforcements were on the way and that protesters would maintain "Camp Pelosi" until a coming Congressional vote on supplemental financing for the Iraq war. Similar camp-outs, used during previous antiwar protests near the president's Crawford ranch, are planned for Ms. Pelosi;s Washington home and office, the organizers said.
Ms. Pelosi, in her 11th term as a congresswoman from San Francisco, mostly ignored her hometown protesters, brushing past them early Monday morning on her way to the airport to return to Washington.
"Every time we say, 'Will you speak with us,' she says, 'Not at my home,'" Ms. Blome said.
In a statement, Ms. Pelosi said she shared "the concerns of the protesters about the disastrous war in Iraq" and had put the House on the course of "a new direction for the American people."
The protest brought out more than a few curiosity seekers to the upscale neighborhood of Pacific Heights, which features multimillion-dollar Victorian homes and sweeping views of San Francisco Bay.
Several people dropped by to offer support -- and water -- for the Code Pinkers, while another brought a giant papier-mâché statue of Gandhi.
Not everyone was thrilled, of course. Sandra Wilder, one of Ms. Pelosi’s neighbors, said the protesters had gone too far. "To be sleeping on the sidewalk, camping out, littering," Ms. Wilder said as she drove by in a black sedan. "I'm just fed up. It's just aggravating the neighbors."
Ms. Blome said she understood that the protest might be an invasion of privacy but believed it was the only way to make herself heard. Her group has also paid several unannounced visits to Ms. Pelosi's office here, with similar results.
"It's uncomfortable for us to take this action in some ways," she said, just steps from a thin mattress that served as her bed. "But she won't give us her time, so here we are."
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/at-home-pelosi-gets-the-crawford/20070313093909990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
By JESSE McKINLEY
The New York Times
SAN FRANCISCO (March 13) -- San Francisco, meet Crawford, Tex.
Using a tactic usually trained on the home turf of President Bush , a group of protesters from Code Pink, a women's antiwar group, have camped in front of the home of Speaker Nancy Pelosi here, bringing their message -- and mattresses -- to the doorstep of the nation’s highest-ranking Democrat .
The protest, which began Sunday afternoon with dozens of demonstrators, is just Code Pink's latest effort to engage Ms. Pelosi, who the group feels has not gone far enough or fast enough to get the troops home from Iraq .
"The point is to keep showing our dissatisfaction," said Toby Blome, 51, a protest organizer who sported a frilly pink apron and pink skirt. "It's hard to do on our own, but I know I speak for millions of people."
By Monday afternoon, however, Ms. Blome was speaking for exactly three people: herself and two other tired-looking protesters. One of those was Leslie Angeline, 50, who said she had slept till about 4 a.m. outside Ms. Pelosi's three-story red-brick home.
"It was O.K.," Ms. Angeline said, "till the sprinkler system went off."
Code Pink organizers said that reinforcements were on the way and that protesters would maintain "Camp Pelosi" until a coming Congressional vote on supplemental financing for the Iraq war. Similar camp-outs, used during previous antiwar protests near the president's Crawford ranch, are planned for Ms. Pelosi;s Washington home and office, the organizers said.
Ms. Pelosi, in her 11th term as a congresswoman from San Francisco, mostly ignored her hometown protesters, brushing past them early Monday morning on her way to the airport to return to Washington.
"Every time we say, 'Will you speak with us,' she says, 'Not at my home,'" Ms. Blome said.
In a statement, Ms. Pelosi said she shared "the concerns of the protesters about the disastrous war in Iraq" and had put the House on the course of "a new direction for the American people."
The protest brought out more than a few curiosity seekers to the upscale neighborhood of Pacific Heights, which features multimillion-dollar Victorian homes and sweeping views of San Francisco Bay.
Several people dropped by to offer support -- and water -- for the Code Pinkers, while another brought a giant papier-mâché statue of Gandhi.
Not everyone was thrilled, of course. Sandra Wilder, one of Ms. Pelosi’s neighbors, said the protesters had gone too far. "To be sleeping on the sidewalk, camping out, littering," Ms. Wilder said as she drove by in a black sedan. "I'm just fed up. It's just aggravating the neighbors."
Ms. Blome said she understood that the protest might be an invasion of privacy but believed it was the only way to make herself heard. Her group has also paid several unannounced visits to Ms. Pelosi's office here, with similar results.
"It's uncomfortable for us to take this action in some ways," she said, just steps from a thin mattress that served as her bed. "But she won't give us her time, so here we are."
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/at-home-pelosi-gets-the-crawford/20070313093909990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001