Yesterday morning we woke up early, determined to speak some truth to power. We arrived at ABC News a little after 8, and almost immediately Senator Lugar arrived. He was cordial but obviously in a hurry to get inside.
Fasters Join in the Media Moment
A little later George Stephanopoulos came outside and was quite supportive and sweet to us. He said he would stop by Lafayette Park. He understood why we are doing this action. Lots of good eye contact.
We waited around for Sen. Lugar to come out and engaged in discussions with the cameramen and a few security and police who came by to question us. One guy told us we were blocking the sidewalk (we had left an aisle for folks to walk) and we pointed out that the CAMERAS and MICROPHONES were actually blocking the sidewalk. But in all cases, when we said that we were people who had not eaten in six days, opposition and confrontation melted. People tend to look down, to think, and to become very different. It touches people in a very personal and ethical place to see others deliberately choosing not to eat for a cause.
Dick Gregory told us that a fast is spiritual and I think that is what he meant.
Sen. Lugar came out eventually (we could see him sitting inside and we held up a sign saying "We just want to talk to you").
Toby Blome, who had actually run into and met briefly with Sen. Lugar spoke with him at some length. He was telling her he would not change his position and would not meet with us, but what she was saying did seem to affect him. We followed him to his car after he gave his statement to the press and it did appear he could not look at us at all.
Toby Blome and Sen. Lugar discuss the war
We headed over to CBS to see if Sen. McCain and Sen. Dodd were available. Sen. McCain did his protion by remote, but Sen. Dodd came out and gave a very strong sound bite against the war. He called Iraq "a mess" and said the troops need to come home very soon.
He approached me immediately afterwards and we had a warm and useful discussion. He said "Bless you" about our fast, and agreed to meet with us. I gave him some information.
And then we headed back to Lafayette Park for another day of spirit and longing.
Sen. Dodd seems to have been fasting too. He feels for me.
I am giving him a press release that's about the U.S. testing missiles and sending them from Vandenburg AFB in CA towards Korea. I am asking him to look into this and to encourage the Senate to do so with him.
ANNOUNCEMENT: I will be suspending my fast for a few days while I head to NYC to begin rehearsals for FEAR UP: Stories From Baghdad and Guantanamo. I will resume it while I am in DC. Suz Krueger has offered to fast in my stead, and she will be doing so in her hometown. Suz is the only person, right now, committed to fasting in her town and she plans to take it public. She will need a lot of support, as it is much harder to do this alone. Suz, I send you lots of love and the support of all fasting here in Washington DC.