A Touch Of Pink At The Plame Hearing
Congressional hearings are usually sartorially conservative –a sea of black and gray suits worn both men and women, with the occasional red or yellow tie. But in the past few months an antiwar group has been inserting a splash of color into selected hearings-- the color pink. The group is called Codepink, and its members –- most of them women -- have been attending hearings over the past few months in an effort to bring attention to the group's antiwar message. There are usually a handful of them, wearing bright pink t-shirts, occasionally with slogans, and pink bows or hats. They usually sit or stand in the back row, with the occasional outburst, such as "Impeach Bush." Codepink inserted a touch of pink at today's high-profile House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing, at which ex-CIA covert agent Valerie Plame Wilson testified.
Codepink spokesperson Dana Balicki said that the group has been attending "every key hearing, from veterans issues to war funding for months now." Although there have been few arrests, she said that one of the group's members was arrested yesterday outside an appropriations hearing and is still being detained. Dana said, "We've been working with the Capitol Police to let them know what we're doing so we don't cause a huge disturbance. Generally how it has worked is that you go into a hearing and it's at the discretion of the chair. There have been hearings where people have stood up with something written on their t-shirt, or holding a peace sign. They're usually allowed to stand there for quite a long time. Sometimes they are escorted out, but usually you can get up in any of the hearings and give your opinion, although quickly. A lot of times they are gaveled and asked to sit down or escorted out."
I talked to Midge Potts, the most flamboyant of today's three Codepink hearing attendees, with shoulder length blonde hair streaked with pink dye, a t-shirt reading "Impeach Bush," and a matching pink cloche. Midge, who has attended a few dozen hearings in the past month, said, "In our American government, all power is derived from the people and it seems our representatives aren't paying attention to the voices of the people… Today I wear the "Impeach Bush" shirt because funding (for the Iraq war) goes through the house, and it seems the only way to stop the war is to impeach Bush and Cheney." Midge said that wearing pink and attending the hearings "gets people's attention and maybe puts forward the idea that – for other people – it's OK for them to speak up about how they feel. I believe a majority of Americans would like Bush to be impeached and be gone… he led the country down the wrong path."
At the end of Valerie Plame Wilson's testimony today, while she was being escorted out of the hearing room the three protesters chanted, "Impeach Now," about seven or eight times before Chairman Henry Waxman admonished them, telling them that while he respected their point of view, "It is not appropriate to have a demonstration in a committee room." He then called a recess.