I tell you what, I'm so moved by this sacrifice I'm going to write my Congressman to demand an end to the war right now!

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/07/03/060703223431.le4pgg36.html

Quote :

"US stars align in anti-Iraq war hunger strike Jul 03 6:34 PM US/Eastern Star Hollywood actor-activists including Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon and anti-war campaigners led by bereaved mother Cindy Sheehan plan to launch a hunger strike, demanding the immediate return of US troops from Iraq. As Americans get set to fire up barbeques in patriotic celebration of US Independence Day on July 4, anti-war protestors planned to savour a last meal outside the White House, before embarking on a 'Troops Home Fast' at midnight. "We've marched, held vigils, lobbied Congress, camped out at Bush's ranch, we've even gone to jail, now it's time to do more," said Sheehan, who emerged as an anti-war icon after losing her 24-year-old son Casey in Iraq. The hunger strike was the latest bid by the US anti-war movement to grab hold of American public opinion, after numerous marches, vigils and political campaigns. Despite polls which show the Iraq war is unpopular and many Americans are skeptical of President George W. Bush's wartime leadership, peace protests have not hit the opinion-swaying critical mass seen during Vietnam War. "We have been continually sheltered from the actual cost of war from the beginning," said Meredith Dearborn, of human rights group Global Exchange, explaining how anti-Iraq war protests have stuttered. While 2,526 US soldiers have died since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures, the impact of the deaths has rarely dominated headlines. While it is not unusual to see an Iraq-war veteran or amputee in an airport for instance, or newspaper features on horrific injuries inflicted by roadside bombs in Iraq, the United States hardly feels like a nation at war. Some protestors and experts in public opinion put that down to the absence of the Vietnam War style conscription draft, which means only professional soldiers or reservists can be sent off to war. "We have done everything we could think of to end this war, we have protested, held marches, vigils ... lobbied, written letters to Congress," said Dearborn. "Now it is time to bring the pain and suffering of war home. We are putting our bodies on the line for peace." Perhaps the only time the anti-Iraq war movement captured lasting coverage was in August 2005, when Sheehan and supporters pitched camp outside Bush's Texas ranch, where the president habitually stays in high summer. Even then, the fiercely partisan debate unleashed may have harmed Sheehan, who faced fierce fire from conservative groups and radio talk show hosts, as much as it hurt the Bush administration's image over Iraq. The hunger strike will see at least four activists, Sheehan, veteran comedian and peace campaigner Dick Gregory, former army colonel Ann Wright and environmental campaigner Diane Wilson launch serious, long-term fasts. "I don't know how long I can fast, but I am making this open-ended," said Wilson. Other supporters, including Penn, Sarandon, novelist Alice Walker and actor Danny Glover will join a 'rolling" fast, a relay in which 2,700 activists pledge to refuse food for at least 24 hours, and then hand over to a comrade. Though the anti-war movement is trying hard to puncture public perceptions, some experts believe such protests have little impact on how Americans view foreign wars. Ohio State University professor John Mueller for example, argued in the Foreign Affairs journal in December, that only rising US casualties could be proven to erode public support for a conflict. Anti-war movements during the Korean and Iraq wars have been comparitively invisible, but public support had eroded in a similar way to the Vietnam conflict, in which the peace movement played a dominant role, he wrote. Recent polls reveal public scepticism over Iraq, and damage to Bush's personal ratings. In a poll in Time magazine published Friday, only 33 percent of respondents approved of Bush's leadership on Iraq while 64 percent said they disapproved his handling of the campaign. A Pew Research Center poll released on June 20, found that only 35 percent of Americans approved of Bush's handling of the Iraqi conflict -- though that was up five percent from a similar poll in February."

7/4/2006 9:28:30 AM

No pain for Gain.

Kinda reminiscent of how Congress rearranged things so you can have a filibuster and everybody still gets to go home at night.

7/4/2006 10:05:33 AM

ITS A NEW DIET FAD!

7/4/2006 11:41:18 AM

This is so fucking stupid.

7/4/2006 11:46:24 AM

This must have been thought up by the same people that came up with the "don't buy gas for a day" thing.

7/4/2006 11:54:14 AM

They should, instead, donate their time and money to finding a Democratic party leader who has more intelligence than a shoe box.

7/4/2006 12:18:08 PM

this will never stand in obese amurica

7/4/2006 12:43:12 PM

wow i hate people so much

7/4/2006 12:45:40 PM

I don't know what's funnier. This fast, or the fact that the Iraq War doesn't even need successsful protests for public support to line the septic tank...

7/4/2006 12:47:39 PM

I am thinking that this stupidity will actually increase support for the war

i mean...support couldnt really get much lower soo...

7/4/2006 1:28:59 PM

If they're going to have a fast, they should do it right - each one should individually refuse food until the war is ended. Hopefully they would all starve to death, but at least it would be a real sacrifice.

7/4/2006 1:31:26 PM

You mean some hippies might starve to death? This might just make me want to go to war more often.

7/4/2006 3:28:40 PM

7/4/2006 6:34:27 PM

This would be more impressive if Michael Moore were participating

7/4/2006 6:47:31 PM

he could probably go until the end of the century

7/4/2006 6:53:04 PM

so the millionaire celebs are gonna stop eating their 5 star meals for 24 hours, big fuckin sacrafice

7/4/2006 6:59:37 PM

its funny how much this story enrages you people

7/4/2006 7:06:11 PM

maybe we should do the same thing for them as we did for those held at Gitmo Bay

7/4/2006 7:37:07 PM

I bet they don't count Iced Mochas as meals.

7/4/2006 9:37:25 PM

So about four people will actually starve themselves, and the rest will skip eating for a single day.

What's up with the halfassed protest movements?

7/4/2006 9:47:08 PM

Quote :

"Josh8315: its funny how much this story enrages you people"

don't confuse rage with bemusement

7/4/2006 11:11:20 PM

Remember, you are only a patriotic American if you like stupid, unwinnable wars

7/4/2006 11:27:41 PM

^for example, the war on poverty.

7/5/2006 12:32:40 AM

^It depends on what side you think we're on.

Somewhere, well probably India, Gandhi is rolling in his grave over this fast. This may be the worst idea for a protest that I have ever heard, yet I can't stop laughing.

7/5/2006 1:32:47 AM

7/5/2006 1:33:32 AM

Sheehan, good to see she's stopped attention whoring, isn't it?

7/5/2006 7:20:43 AM

you know whats funnier then the hunger strike?

...











....

HER SON WAS KILLED IN IRAQ

AHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHHHAHHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAH

breath

AHHAHAHAHAHAHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAH

[Edited on July 5, 2006 at 9:13 AM. Reason : AHHAHAHAHAHAHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAH]

7/5/2006 9:13:06 AM

Quote :

"This would be more impressive if Michael Moore were participating"

he will join them in a seperate fast, refusing to eat for 5 minutes every day, for the next 10 years.

7/5/2006 10:37:03 AM

Quote :

"What's up with the halfassed protest movements?"

To quote Bob Dylan: "I used to care, but times have changed."

7/5/2006 11:29:31 AM

Fuck you guys, I'm joining in on the fast. From 1pm, immediately after I have my lunch, to 7pm tonight, I will participate in my portion of this rolling fast protest.

7/5/2006 11:37:36 AM

Quote :

"Somewhere, well probably India, Gandhi is rolling in his grave over this fast."

A pile of ashes can't turn over.

7/5/2006 11:50:27 AM

^^I think the idea of a 24 hour rolling fast isn't passing the torch after 6 hours to give someone else a shift until a 24 hour period has been covered. I thought the idea was fasting for 24 hours and passing the torch off to someone else that fasts for 24 hours - such that at any given time someone, somewhere is fasting. Meh, I'm probably wrong.

Good for them though.

7/5/2006 12:01:49 PM

7/5/2006 12:12:47 PM

^^that was very obviously sarcasm

the point is a "rolling" fast is fucking stupid; 24 hours is hardly a fast at all and it doesn't mean anything if people are collectively starving

7/5/2006 2:30:57 PM

Quote :

"A pile of ashes can't turn over."

Haha, you know what I meant.

7/5/2006 2:50:45 PM

Quote :

"A pile of ashes can't turn over."

I'm really tired this afternoon, so excuse this question, but what exactly does this refer to? Was Ghandi not shot?


[Edited on July 5, 2006 at 2:59 PM. Reason : .]

7/5/2006 2:56:01 PM

cremation

7/5/2006 3:10:46 PM

Ah. I saw the burning monk photo and thought they were mistakenly referring to that.


[Edited on July 5, 2006 at 3:16 PM. Reason : .]

7/5/2006 3:15:13 PM

No, I just put that up to remind people of what makes a good protest.

7/5/2006 3:22:04 PM

24 hours is actually a pretty long time to go without eating anything.

Is water allowed?

7/5/2006 9:44:15 PM

^
since when?

7/5/2006 10:35:33 PM

Quote :

"for example, the war on poverty. "

*sigh* compassionate conservatism...

7/6/2006 12:10:37 PM