A memoir from the front lines of the rowdy, raucous and stunningly successful Kentucky Iraq Summer Campaign, the most memorable anti-war effort in Kentucky history.
Shall I Compare Thee to an Iraq Summer’s Day?
"...Summer’s lease has all too short a date"
-William Shakespeare, Sonnet #18
At 12:01 A.M. on January 4, 2008, the most memorable anti-war campaign in Kentucky’s history came to the end of its extended run in the Commonwealth. The Iraq Summer Campaign, borne out of the national outrage surrounding the pResident’s decision to "surge" 30,000 additional U.S. troops into the maw of the religious civil war in Iraq, began as a national effort of 40 teams around the U.S. Each team targeted a single GOP legislator whose rhetoric and votes were promoting and prolonging the war in Iraq. The strategy combined grass-roots activism with 21st century netroots to create a formidable, vocal and aggressive anti-war juggernaut.
The Kentucky Iraq Summer Campaign had the task of targeting the white whale of all GOP law-makers, Senate B-team Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Malebolge). Mitch is the self-proclaimed "biggest supporter of pResident Bush’s war on Iraq". He is unapologetic about his tactics of obstructionism and deception which continue the destruction of our military from the ground up. And he refuses, absolutely refuses, to meet with any constituents who disagree with him on the war. This made for an exciting summer of bird-dogging, stakeouts, canvassing and rallies which pursued and harassed the Senator from the hot tent of Fancy Farm to the hotbed of Kentucky conservatism in NKY.
The Kentucky Iraq Summer Campaign cast of characters consisted of an All-Star Team of young, grass-roots Kentucky activists whose talents and opposition to the reckless, endless war in Iraq combined and catalyzed to create a spectacle which exceeded all expectations. Led by Kentucky Field Director Aniello "Godfather" Alioto, the team of field operatives consisted of Daniel "The Message" Richie, Sara "Miss Daisy" Choate, Shawn "GQ" Reilly and Brandt "Brandt" McCool. The team hit the ground running in June, 2007 and immediately formed an alliance with local veterans, military personnel and their families. The most important alliance was created with the feisty coalition of Kentucky anti-war activists in Louisville, Lexington and Northern KY who had been championing the cause since before the beginning of the war in Iraq. Together, this disparate and dedicated band of Kentucky citizens wreaked havoc on Mitch McConnell’s summer vacation.
Cry "Havoc," and let slip the dogs of (anti-) war!!
-W.S., Julius Caesar
Aniello and Daniel spent the first month or so headquartered in a local coffee shop, fingers glued to their laptops and cell phones pressed to their ears. As the operation grew in scale and personnel they commandeered office space, and from there ruled their empire. Sara was recruited from a short stint of burrito-slinging and brought a welcome perspective of estrogen to the office. Shawn arrived soon after. Together they fanned out across the Commonwealth. Bright red "Support the Troops, End the War" yard signs popped up like fire ant hills across Kentucky, Louisville and especially in the Highlands neighborhood of Senator Mitchell McConnell. The first campaign road-trip "Destination: Fancy Farm" was a resounding success. The picnickers snatched up anti-war signs and bumper stickers like they were pulled-pork sandwiches. Easily 75% of the crowd expressed their support for the cause. When Mitch McConnell finally took the stage, sweating and anxious at the prospect of defending his indefensible position on the war, he was assaulted by the wave of signs thrown up in the crowd. His supporters, a ragtag mix of young republicans and senate staffers, gamely responded with signs that read "I (heart) Mitch" and (literally and hilariously) "Hang in There Mitch". The din of opposition was so great that Mitch bailed from the podium in mid-sentence. The highlight of the day was the sight of Aniello confronting Mitch face-to-face with a graphic banner showing the pResident with his hand up a McConnell puppet’s butt. As McConnell scurried away into the safety of his SUV, he told a reporter that the war in Iraq would not be a defining factor in voter’s minds in 2008.
Another memorable event began as a simple canvassing effort in McConnell’s Highlands neighborhood. Volunteers went door-to-door handing out yard signs and collecting signatures from Mitch’s neighbors. 87% of his neighbors planted yard signs that day. It was interesting to learn that most people had no idea that their senior Senator of 23 years lived right down the street. It was obvious that Mitch was at home during this time, as his cadre of taxpayer-funded security guards was out in full force, protecting the Senator from the very sight of his constituents. A grievous tactical error was made when one of these guards approached Aniello and asked him when they planned on leaving because, "The Senator is not leaving while you are still here." Game on. Aniello called in the reserves and the media and a full-fledged stakeout was born. The Senator was subjected to Manuel Noriega-style psychological warfare. Passing traffic, from mini-vans to BMWs to pickup trucks to TARC buses began honking their support of the protesters on the sidewalk. People pulled over to grab signs and sign statements proclaiming their support of the anti-war movement. Again, people were shocked to learn that Mitch McConnell lived in their neighborhood. The stakeout continued until the wee hours of the morning, while the second most powerful man in the republican party huddled in his bunker.
The event that defined the Iraq Summer Campaign, and which many have described as the beginning of the end of Mitch McConnell’s political career, was the Take a Stand Rally held at Bellarmine University in Louisville on August 28, 2007. To describe this rally as a particular event on a particular day is to ignore the amount of blood, sweat and tears that went into the planning and execution. In the six weeks leading up to the event, campaign staffers worked 75- hour weeks and traveled the length and breadth of the Commonwealth to promote the event, recruit volunteers and cajole previously politically inactive Kentucky citizens to commit to a display of anti-war activism. They canvassed outside church picnics and art fairs, on street corners and in bars. And they continued pressuring Senator McConnell. An enormous bouquet of 62 white gladioli, each tagged with the name of a Kentucky soldier, sailor, airman or marine killed in action, was personally delivered to his NKY office by a group of veterans and military family members. McConnell was formally invited to the Take a Stand event by Aniello, who, in ripped jeans and t-shirt, shamed the senator’s senior staff into a refusal on behalf of their benefactor.
The Take a Stand Rally was preceded by a 48-hour stakeout outside Mitch’s condominium. Volunteers camped on his sidewalk around the clock for two straight days and nights, much to the displeasure of the condo board president, and much to the delight of his many anti-Mitch neighbors who provided food, drink and information on his comings and goings. Mitch’s security guards had to develop elaborate ruses and deceptions in order to sneak the Senator past the gathering hordes. The final morning of the stakeout, August 28, 2007 coincided with a rare total lunar eclipse. Peaking at 4 A.M., a blood-red moon rose directly over the Senator’s condo. It was chilling and portentous, and set the tone for the rest of the day.
How lesser enmities may give way to greater,
Were’t not that we stand up against them all.
-W.S., Antony and Cleopatra
Stand, ho!
-W.S., Julius Caesar
The Take a Stand event was the culmination of the Iraq Summer Campaign. Concurrent rallies were held in Lexington and Northern Kentucky by the campaign’s local coalition partners. A standing room only crowd of 800 Kentucky citizens packed Bellarmine University’s Frasier Hall in Louisville. For many, this was the first anti-war event they had ever attended. Conspicuously absent was Senator Mitch McConnell, who had been invited specifically to address his constituent’s concerns about the war in Iraq. Mitch had instead opted to attend a Lexington fundraiser for soon-to-be-politically-extinct KY Governor Ernie "Pardon Me" Felcher. Rep. John Yarmuth made an appearance and opened the event with a rousing call to action. The keynote speaker was retired Marine Lt. Col. Andrew Horne. Drawing on his personal experience in Iraq, Andrew offered a direct challenge to Mitch to use his influence to end the war and bring the troops home. He also provided the crowd with a chant which will haunt Mitch’s memory as he is updating his resume this November: "Hey Mitch, can you hear us? We are the People!"
Immediately following the rally, over 200 people marched the mile from Bellarmine to Mitch’s condo at "Protest Point." MoveOn.org had organized a gathering at Mitch’s, and this time there was company. A sorry group of about two dozen bikers (motorcycle, not Schwinn) and a handful of young republicans were waiting at the site. It was a blatant and ineffective attempt at intimidation. Bob Moser, a writer for The Nation, who was in Kentucky to write about the progressive movement in the South, put it this way in his article Kentucky at War:
"It's impossible not to notice the irony: how much more "mainstream" the war protesters, a mostly middle-class khakis-and-polo-shirt crowd, look than the ragtag defenders of Corporate America's favorite member of Congress."
After about an hour of being shouted down by the growing horde of ecstatic protesters, Mitch’s supporters cut and ran, having failed in their attempts to scare off a group of citizens exercising their Constitutional right to yell at their senator. In a national conference call after the event, Tom Mattzie, Washington Director of MoveOn.org, who chose to attend the Louisville rally out of the 40 events taking place that night, praised Aniello and his team of "merry pranksters."
Following Take a Stand, the national organization behind the Iraq Summer Campaign, Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, began rolling up the mats on most of the teams. However, the Kentucky team, due to their tremendous success and national attention, had their mission extended twice. In that time the team had many more successful events. When the Louisville Olmsted Conservancy decided to honor McConnell for his "conservation" efforts at a Halloween dress-up party, the team joined with LPAC to create a raucous spectacle outside the event, complete with costumes and pickle-bucket drums. When a local businessman held a fundraiser for Mitch at his Cherokee Park home, McConnell was cornered by a group of protesters and had to slink away under his guard’s coattails.
So now we come to the end of this chapter of the anti-war movement in Kentucky. We can hear the gloating coming from Mitch and his staff of future K Street lobbyists:
"I thought you were going to end the war!"
"We ran them out of town!"
"Cut and runners!"
"How are we going to spin McConnell’s dismissal from the military without hinting at the truth?"
Nobody went into this campaign believing that the war would end if we just protested hard enough. Nobody believed Mitch would actually show up to an event that would force him to face his constituents honestly and in a non-fundraising capacity. Nobody believed this pResident and his Vice, after lying us into this reckless, endless war, would see the truth and withdraw. We did believe, however, that the citizens of Kentucky are fed up with a war that has cost the lives of 4,000 American soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians. We did believe that when given the opportunity, good people from around the Commonwealth would take a stand and shout "No more!" We did believe that when presented with the facts, good people can decide if they wish to be represented by men who dodged their own military responsibilities only to grow up and send others to die. Make no mistake; Mitch McConnell has assumed co-ownership of this war and its consequences. Mitch McConnell has refused to listen to his constituents and remains out of touch with the majority of Kentuckians. Mitch McConnell would rather carry Bush’s water on Iraq while others carry rifles in Iraq. And Mitch McConnell will one day answer the question "Hey Mitch, can you hear us? We are the people!"
Do we wish we could have done more? Absolutely. Could we have done more? Probably not. What the Iraq Summer Campaign proved once again was that a small group of people, dedicated, devoted and mad as hell, can make a huge difference in people’s lives and indeed alter the course of history. So I would like to thank Aniello, Daniel, Sara, Shawn and Brandt. You are as fine a group of warriors this veteran has ever had the pleasure of serving with.
To mourn a mischief that is past and gone
Is the next way to draw new mischief on.
-William Shakespeare, Othello