There may be some in the nation who have forgotten the Bush years, explaining his recent bump in a recent Washington Post approval poll, but groups like CODEPINK, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Veterans for Peace and others were on hand at the opening ceremony of the G.W. Bush Library in Dallas on Thursday morning to remind everyone of those 8 years of hell.

Via:

"During the opening dedication ceremony of the George W. Bush Library & Policy Center in Dallas, Texas, Dennis Trainor Jr. of Acronym TV and Gary Egelston of Iraq Veterans Against the War wearing Bush and Cheney papermache impressions, were brutally arrested for walking off the curb. The Bush and Cheney characters were in the custody of CODEPINK Co-founder Medea Benjamin, dressed as a pink police, who was forced back to the sidewalk while the Dallas police dragged Trainor and Egelston to the ground. "It was an appalling use of brutal force immediately. What happened to a warning or a request 'Sir, hands behind your back'?" said Medea Benjamin, who is still recovering from the whiplash of the event."

"Photographer Bill Perry of Veterans for Peace followed the action into the street and was also arrested. He is just recovering from an illness so fellow Veterans were pleading with the police to release him, but to no avail."

"Gary Egelston is a resident of Dallas/Ft Worth area and has served 2 tours of duty in Iraq."

"CODEPINK activists and allies have been using the opportunity of the opening of the new George W. Bush Library & Policy Center in Dallas to bring attention to the injustices committed by former president George W. Bush and his administration, particularly the invasion and destruction of Iraq and the use of torture directed from his office."

Other protesters included ex-talk show host Phil Donahue, who was executive producer of the anti-war documentary Body of War.

Dozens of others wore signs listing the names of those who died in wars launched by the Bush administration.

"We refuse to allow the Bush Library to be a Bush Lie Bury. If anything, it is a monument to folly and should be filled with the biographies of the lives ended, ruined or injured, the principles abandoned, the resources wasted, and the time lost" says Bill Moyer, executive director of The Backbone Campaign.

All three of the arrested protesters were charged with misdemeanors and released after 13 hours in custody.

Burn Wall Street is a large scale, outdoor art installation that is sprouting powerful conversations countrywide. By bringing individuals from the Occupy and Tea Party movements together, this project asks participants to put their political identities aside in order to talk about common principles and goals for financial reform.

Forged from the financial unrest and injustice that has incensed the American public, Burn Wall Street’s core intention is built on participation, one of the Ten Principles of Burning Man. The art project is being prefabricated in Reno, Nevada, following an initial phase that began in Oakland, California.

Oakland-based artist Otto Von Danger, a performance artist who gained notoriety for blowing up a city facade at the festival two years ago, spent two months and an estimated $100,000 constructing the massive Wall Street model, which consisted of five interactive buildings and a replica of Zuccotti Park, SF Weekly reports.

Burn Wall Street was installed as an honorarium art piece at Burning Man 2012 in the Black Rock Desert, and was sponsored by Veterans for Peace, a 501c3 non-profit.

Retired Navy Commander Leah Bolger to plead guilty to interrupting the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to tell the truth about the only things needed to fix the federal budget, "Tax the rich, end the wars!"

Bolger spent 20 years on active duty in the U.S. Navy and retired in 2000 at the rank of Commander. She is currently a full-time peace activist and serves as the President of Veterans For Peace. She was also a member of Occupy D.C. at Freedom Plaza. Bolger was arrested on October 26, 2011 for an act of civil disobedience, and will plead guilty at her hearing on these charges, which is scheduled for April 12, 2012.

A press conference will be held at 8:30 am, Thursday April 12th in front of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, 500 Indiana Ave NW, Washington DC. Those scheduled to speak and/or answer questions include:

Leah Bolger, defendant, President of Veterans For Peace (VFP)

Mark Goldstone, attorney for the defendant

Art Brennan, NH Retired Superior Court Associate Justice, member of VFP

Kevin Zeese, Co-director, Its Our Economy, organizer of Occupy Washington, DC

David Swanson, author, activist, radio host, member of VFP

Ask and you shall receive? Difficult to believe it was so easy. Recently obtained internal emails between Oakland City Hall and police through a public records request that give a look into the mindset of Oakland officials during the violent police raids of Occupy Oakland that began last October.

During that same confrontation, Scott Olsen, an Iraq War veteran with Veterans for Peace, was injured in the head, and images of his wounded body being dragged off and of officers tossing a gas grenade into a crowd of people helping him made him into a symbol of the Occupy protest.

Via:

In one message written Oct. 13, a sergeant said he'd been confronted by protesters camping at Frank Ogawa Plaza and that one implied they would remove officers by force if they entered the camp without permission.

Five days later, Deputy Chief Jeffrey Israel told Chief Howard Jordan,"We can either wait for a riot, or order them to cease their night time occupation."

Soon after, images of the protest began making national and international news.

A Washington, D.C., crisis manager recommended that Oakland apologize, but the mayor's team disagreed and re-crafted the message instead.
...
When Jordan received an update that crime was actually down 19 percent in the last week of October, he wrote an email to one of Mayor Jean Quan's advisers.

"Not sure how you want to share this good news," he wrote. "It may be counter to our statement that the Occupy movement is negatively impacting crime in Oakland."

Making no mention of the hell the Occupy Oakland protesters have suffered at the hands of the Oakland Police, KTVU does mention "just how stressful of a situation it was for leaders."

Not one email was written by Mayor Jean Quan in all of the over a thousand communications received. Face-to-face communication - her preference, says her office - leaves no evidence that could be used in a court of law. The emails sent out by police, the crisis manager, followed by their actions on Occupy Oakland protesters seem to indicate just what the Mayor's orders were.

A petition for the recall of Quan was certified just last month when she failed to heed calls for her resignation in the aftermath of the Occupy Oakland raids.