10 Good Things About a Bad Year by Medea Benjamin

Subject: Subject: A little new years cheer

Dear Friends,
This piece will go out on Alternet today, but it would be great if you
could circulate it for a little new years cheer�which I�m sure we all
need.
Best to all and hopes for a MUCH better 2004,
Medea

10 Good Things About a Bad Year
by Medea Benjamin

No two ways about it, 2003 was a demoralizing year for those of us
working for peace and justice. With George Bush in the White House,
Arnold Schwarzenegger in the California State House, and Paul Bremer
ruling Iraq, it was a chore just to get out of bed each morning.
But get out of bed we did, and we spent our days educating,
strategizing, organizing and mobilizing. As we greet the new year, let�s

remember and celebrate some of our hard-fought victories in a time of
adversity.

1. We organized the most massive, global protests against war the world
has ever seen. On February 15 alone, over12 million people came
out on the streets in over 700 cities in 60countries and on every
continent. So impressive was this outpouring of anti-war sentiment that
the
New York Times, not known for hyperbole, claimed there were now two
superpowers: the US and global public opinion.

2. Over the last few months, mainstream Americans have been buying
progressive books�by the millions. Authors such as Michael
Moore, Al Franken, Molly Ivins, Paul Krugman and David Corn have seen
their books soar to the New York Times bestsellers list. With
humor and biting exposes of the Bush administration, these authors
helped our movement gain legions of new converts. No more
preaching to the choir this year!

3. When the World Trade Organization met in Cancun in September to
promote global rules that give even greater power to transnational
corporations, they were met by well-coordinated opposition from
countries in the global south, hundreds of non-governmental
organizations, and thousands of activists. When our movement�s
sophisticated inside-outside strategy forced the talks to collapse,
there was
�gloom in the suites and dancing in the streets.� And as a counter to
these corporate-dominated global institutions, the fair trade movement
had a stellar year.

4. The poorest country in South America, Bolivia, proved that people
power is alive and well. Sparked bythe Bolivian president�s plan to
privatize and export the nation�s natural gas, an astounding grassroots
movement of peasants, miners, workers, and indigenous people
poured into the streets to demand his resignation. After five weeks of
intense protests and a government crackdown that left 70dead,
Sanchez de Lozada was forced to resign. Now that�s regime change!

5. The silver lining in the budget crisis affecting the states
throughout this nation is that from Louisiana to Texas to Michigan�and
even
in Arnold Schwarzenegger�s California�state governments are cutting
prison budgets by releasing non-violent drugoffenders. The year
has been marked by a steady move toward treatment instead of
incarceration and a greater understanding that drug abuse should be
handled
in the doctors� office, not the prison cell.

6. For so long, celebrities have put their careers above their beliefs.
This year witnessed a �coming out� of allt ypes of celebrities on all
manner of progressive issues. Jay-Z and Mariah Carey railed against the
racist Rockefeller drug laws, Bono and Beyonce Knowles called
for the world to fight AIDS, and a host of celebs such as Sean Penn,
Susan Saradon and Laurence Fishbourne courageously took a stand
against the invasion of Iraq.

7. Progressives now have a powerful new tool for organizing: the
internet. E-activism through venues such as MoveOn, Working Assets,
and Meetup.com have allowed ordinary people to challenge big money and
powerful institutions. We raised millions of dollars to run ads,
we�ve confronted corporate-dominated institutions like the Federal
Communications Commission, and e-activism has allowed an anti-war
candidate, Howard Dean, to become a frontrunner in the 2004 elections.

8. In an unprecedented outpouring of local opposition to the assault on
our civil liberties, over 200 cities, towns, counties, and states across

the country have passed resolutions against the Patriot Act. In fact,
the outcry has been so profound that plans for a successor act, dubbed
Patriot Act II, that would further broaden federal investigatory powers,
have been scuttled.

9. While eclipsed by the war in Iraq, the corporate scandals that topped
the headlines in 2002 continued in 2003,with indefatigable New
York State Attorney-General Eliot Spitzer exposing the trading abuses in
the mutual funds industry. The Enron, WorldCom and
accounting scandals produced some positive legislation against corporate
crime and forced institutional investors like pension funds to
become more active. And anti-corporate crusaders joined with peace
activists to expose the obscene war profiteering of Halliburton and
Bechtel�with more exposes to come in 2004!

10. Despite the conservative takeover of the courts, this year produced
several landmark rulings we can be proud of. The Supreme Court
upheld affirmative action, giving a sweeping victory to the University
of Michigan and colleges all over the country. It struck down
sodomy laws criminalizing gay sex, affirming the constitutional right to
privacy. The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that gays should
be able to marry. The Appeals Court ruled that the US military could not
detain American citizen Jose Padilla as an �enemy combatant�,
and in an even more significant decision, found that all 600 detainees
at Guantanamo Bay should be granted access to lawyers.

There are many more�the immigrants� freedom march that crisscrossed the
nation to counter the anti-immigrant backlash, the amazing
youth movement that is bringing new culture and vibrancy to organizing,
the renewed women�s activism through groups like Code Pink,
the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to an Iranian women Shirin Ebadi.
And each one of us could add to the list.

So while we lament the present state of the world and the present
occupant in the White House, just remember that even in the gloomiest
days of 2003, we kept slugging away�and sometimes even winning. Now
let�s move on to score the BIG victory in 2004 by sending
George Bush back to Crawford.

Medea Benjamin is co-founder of Global Exchange and CodePink: Women for
Peace.

***

Dear Friends,
This piece will go out on Alternet today, but it would be great if you
could circulate it for a little new years cheer�which I�m sure we all
need.
Best to all and hopes for a MUCH better 2004,
Medea

10 Good Things About a Bad Year
by Medea Benjamin

No two ways about it, 2003 was a demoralizing year for those of us
working for peace and justice. With George Bush in the White House,
Arnold Schwarzenegger in the California State House, and Paul Bremer
ruling Iraq, it was a chore just to get out of bed each morning.
But get out of bed we did, and we spent our days educating,
strategizing, organizing and mobilizing. As we greet the new year, let�s

remember and celebrate some of our hard-fought victories in a time of
adversity.

1. We organized the most massive, global protests against war the world
has ever seen. On February 15 alone, over12 million people came
out on the streets in over 700 cities in 60countries and on every
continent. So impressive was this outpouring of anti-war sentiment that
the
New York Times, not known for hyperbole, claimed there were now two
superpowers: the US and global public opinion.

2. Over the last few months, mainstream Americans have been buying
progressive books�by the millions. Authors such as Michael
Moore, Al Franken, Molly Ivins, Paul Krugman and David Corn have seen
their books soar to the New York Times bestsellers list. With
humor and biting exposes of the Bush administration, these authors
helped our movement gain legions of new converts. No more
preaching to the choir this year!

3. When the World Trade Organization met in Cancun in September to
promote global rules that give even greater power to transnational
corporations, they were met by well-coordinated opposition from
countries in the global south, hundreds of non-governmental
organizations, and thousands of activists. When our movement�s
sophisticated inside-outside strategy forced the talks to collapse,
there was
�gloom in the suites and dancing in the streets.� And as a counter to
these corporate-dominated global institutions, the fair trade movement
had a stellar year.

4. The poorest country in South America, Bolivia, proved that people
power is alive and well. Sparked bythe Bolivian president�s plan to
privatize and export the nation�s natural gas, an astounding grassroots
movement of peasants, miners, workers, and indigenous people
poured into the streets to demand his resignation. After five weeks of
intense protests and a government crackdown that left 70dead,
Sanchez de Lozada was forced to resign. Now that�s regime change!

5. The silver lining in the budget crisis affecting the states
throughout this nation is that from Louisiana to Texas to Michigan�and
even
in Arnold Schwarzenegger�s California�state governments are cutting
prison budgets by releasing non-violent drugoffenders. The year
has been marked by a steady move toward treatment instead of
incarceration and a greater understanding that drug abuse should be
handled
in the doctors� office, not the prison cell.

6. For so long, celebrities have put their careers above their beliefs.
This year witnessed a �coming out� of allt ypes of celebrities on all
manner of progressive issues. Jay-Z and Mariah Carey railed against the
racist Rockefeller drug laws, Bono and Beyonce Knowles called
for the world to fight AIDS, and a host of celebs such as Sean Penn,
Susan Saradon and Laurence Fishbourne courageously took a stand
against the invasion of Iraq.

7. Progressives now have a powerful new tool for organizing: the
internet. E-activism through venues such as MoveOn, Working Assets,
and Meetup.com have allowed ordinary people to challenge big money and
powerful institutions. We raised millions of dollars to run ads,
we�ve confronted corporate-dominated institutions like the Federal
Communications Commission, and e-activism has allowed an anti-war
candidate, Howard Dean, to become a frontrunner in the 2004 elections.

8. In an unprecedented outpouring of local opposition to the assault on
our civil liberties, over 200 cities, towns, counties, and states across

the country have passed resolutions against the Patriot Act. In fact,
the outcry has been so profound that plans for a successor act, dubbed
Patriot Act II, that would further broaden federal investigatory powers,
have been scuttled.

9. While eclipsed by the war in Iraq, the corporate scandals that topped
the headlines in 2002 continued in 2003,with indefatigable New
York State Attorney-General Eliot Spitzer exposing the trading abuses in
the mutual funds industry. The Enron, WorldCom and
accounting scandals produced some positive legislation against corporate
crime and forced institutional investors like pension funds to
become more active. And anti-corporate crusaders joined with peace
activists to expose the obscene war profiteering of Halliburton and
Bechtel�with more exposes to come in 2004!

10. Despite the conservative takeover of the courts, this year produced
several landmark rulings we can be proud of. The Supreme Court
upheld affirmative action, giving a sweeping victory to the University
of Michigan and colleges all over the country. It struck down
sodomy laws criminalizing gay sex, affirming the constitutional right to
privacy. The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that gays should
be able to marry. The Appeals Court ruled that the US military could not
detain American citizen Jose Padilla as an �enemy combatant�,
and in an even more significant decision, found that all 600 detainees
at Guantanamo Bay should be granted access to lawyers.

There are many more�the immigrants� freedom march that crisscrossed the
nation to counter the anti-immigrant backlash, the amazing
youth movement that is bringing new culture and vibrancy to organizing,
the renewed women�s activism through groups like Code Pink,
the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to an Iranian women Shirin Ebadi.
And each one of us could add to the list.

So while we lament the present state of the world and the present
occupant in the White House, just remember that even in the gloomiest
days of 2003, we kept slugging away�and sometimes even winning. Now
let�s move on to score the BIG victory in 2004 by sending
George Bush back to Crawford.

Medea Benjamin is co-founder of Global Exchange and CodePink: Women for
Peace.

***
-- -Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island
http://www.anaphoria.com
The Wandering Medicine Show
KXLU 88.9 FM WED 8-9PM PST

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> 10 Good Things About a Bad Year
> by Medea Benjamin
>
>

Very inspiring, Kraig, and a much-needed boost. Thanks for putting it up.

Cheers,

Kyle