Marshall’s Blog | Crazy Mormon Lib

Like most people today, I was fascinated by the news that Barack Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize. I spent the rest of the day wading through criticism of the action from the right and from the left. The argument from the left is legitimate in my mind. It does seem strange to give the peace prize to somebody who is waist deep in escalating a war. Still, if the prize is being used as a motivator to encourage Obama to make the right decisions, then I think it’s perfectly apropos.

The right’s argument is bizarre. I’m still not sure what their problem is with it beyond the fact that they don’t like Obama and the prize comes from foreigners.

Anyhow, I took my video camera to the weekly peace vigil I attend and asked everybody there what they thought. They bring up some good points. I think you’ll find their reactions much more logical and reasonable then almost anything you’ll find in the main stream media right now. That, if nothing else, gives me hope. Enjoy.

Obama Nobel Peace Prize Reaction 1

Obama Nobel Peace Prize Reaction 2

Obama Nobel Peace Prize Reaction 3

Obama Nobel Peace Prize Reaction 4

Obama Nobel Peace Prize Reaction 5

I’ve been busy lately working on a new project called Flactivists. It’s a group of public relations and marketing professionals that will do pro bono work for grassroots environmental and social justice movements. (It’s a portmanteau of “flack” and “activists,” get it?)

The idea is that a lot of great protests and acts of conscience fall by the wayside because they don’t get enough media attention they deserve. So why not get the people who make a living getting media attention to lend a hand? If you need some PR help, or if you want to help out, contact me on the new site http://www.flactivists.com.

I’m starting what I think will be the first online protest against the war in Iraq on Twitter and Facebook. It coincides with the 6^th anniversary of the war. It’s going to be simple and easy, but hopefully very impactful.

On March 20, at 3 p.m. EST, tweet: End the Iraq War. Then go to your Facebook account and update your status to say: protesting the Iraq War.

Please spread the word. Thanks,

Marshall

Twitter: @marshallt

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=689429154&ref=profile

I read this hilarious story in Salon about a Washington State-based artist who was commissioned to make an ornament for the White House Christmas tree. Like a significant number of her fellow Americans, Deborah Lawrence, thinks Congress should impeach President Bush.

Her ornament, pictured here, reflected that sentiment. Hilarity ensued. Laura Bush, the mastermind of the White House Christmas tree, didn’t notice that the main motif of Lawrence’s ornament came from the words to one of the impeachment bills until Monday, a day before the tree’s unveiling. Long story short, Laura decided to use a different ornament.

I feel bad for President Bush, especially on Christmas. Some people think he was evil incarnate. I maintain, however, that he was just really, really dumb. So why do you want to pick on the poor dumb kid during the holidays? Because it has to happen.

Just because I feel bad for Bush, doesn’t mean that he should be above justice. I would feel just as bad if a common criminal – a regular Joe six-pack, if you will – broke the law and was arrested just before Christmas. Still, if he broke the law, he needs to pay the consequences. The same holds true for Bush.

Personally, I feel like I’ve been able to forgive him. Our society, however, needs to enforce the rule of law, particularly when it regards the office of the Chief Executive. W have to learn from our mistakes.

With the war in Iraq, President Bush often makes a comparison to the war in Vietnam. To Bush, the problem with Vietnam was that we left it too soon, and therefore the problem with Iraq was we weren’t staying long enough.

Poor dumb kid. Nobody ever told him that the Vietnam War was ill conceived from the beginning and the problem with it was it never should have happened in the first place. The reason why Bush, and a few other dimwits, don’t understand the situation is no political leader was ever charged with a crime.

Please forgive while I mention JFK here. He started an illegal, immoral war and he should have been prosecuted. That is not to disparage his legacy of civil rights, which is significant. Still, if not JFK, then LBJ. If not LBJ, then Nixon. No congress or war crimes tribunal ever held one of those men responsible for the tragedy in Vietnam. And so, George Bush grows up thinking we should have killed more people, that’s why we “lost” the war.

Fast forward to 2003, and we’re repeating the same big picture mistakes that Bush witnessed his predecessors make with impunity. The details of how we get into each war are important, but so are the general philosophies that lead us down that dark path. That is why President Bush needs to be impeached, or charged with war crimes.

We can’t afford to do this again.

I was thinking today, in a general sense, about how good most people are. Turns out, I like almost everybody I’ve ever met, with a few exceptions. But the kind of people I like the most – the kind of people I love – are the kind of people who give a damn.

For instance, my sister Katey, a part-time librarian in southern Utah, noticed that scores of boxes of slightly used textbooks were headed for the dump, or worse. (Somebody had mentioned a bonfire at one point.) In her situation, I think I may have been tempted to think, That’s a shame, and then shrug and continue sorting out filing cards, or whatever it is a part-time librarian does.

Not Katey. She gives a damn.

Even though her life will be in no way demonstrably better if the books were put to good use instead of wasted or burned, she rebelled against the illogical system. Now, she’s formed a service club at the high school to help send the books and school supplies over to needy students in Ghana, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. Those countries have a shortage of English texts to learn from, and apparently, we have a surplus, so it’s a good match.

Since we’ve started working on this with our nonprofit group, The Sparrow Alliance, I’ve discovered that most school districts in Utah, and probably around the country are in the same boat. Every year, they have to decide how and when to dispose of outdated books. And every year, people like me shrug and think, That’s a shame. But not Katey. She gives a damn.

I get worried about sending free things overseas because they can sometimes create unfair competition with local stores. For instance, maybe you run a small store in Zimbabwe and you sell all sorts of things, including school supplies. Suddenly, a shipment arrives from America and gives out, for free, the same things you are trying to sell to make ends meet. It’s a concern.

However, with Zimbabwe currently having a major supply problem on even basic essentials, I don’t think this will disrupt anything. The rest of the school supplies will go to Tanzania, which is nearly as depressed right now. All the textbooks will go to Ghana, where I don’t think there is much of a market for locally produced English textbooks anyway. Still, we’re going to be careful and pay close attention as the goods are distributed.

On Thursday, we’re having a benefit concert to raise money to send the books over. If anybody is in Logan on Thursday evening, stop by the Bullen Center on Main Street from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. We’re going to have two great musical acts, Libbie Linton and Leaping Lulu. The alliteration was completely accidental. We’re also going to have some great food and a silent auction. The event is free, but we suggest giving a donation at the door.

I’m interested to see how giving people are in the current economic times. How important is it to people in Cache Valley that books don’t go to waste and that needy students in Africa have texts with which to guide their learning? In short, how many people give a damn? We will see on Thursday. 

Tomorrow I’m going down to Salt Lake City to begin filming for a television pilot that my company is working on. I will probably write more about that project later. After that, I’m going directly to the Red Rock Film Festival in Springdale, Utah for a screening of our documentary A Soldier’s Peace. It’s going to be a great weekend.

The most exciting part, however, is I will get another chance to see Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Black Mormons. It’s a documentary that will be showing with ours at the Red Rock and it is powerful to say the least. I can gush on and on about this, but I don’t want to ruin anything for you. Just understand that if you ever get a chance to watch or buy this movie, do it.