As I wrote in my first post, one of the things that attracted me to getting involved in the Hunger Chain is that there are, in my opinion, such clear statements American citizens can make here. Mark wrote an update about the human rights investigations called for by the US government, and there is such a small amount of information needed, again in my opinion, to be able to take a (loud?) position on the issue.
This current situation--do we sell arms ($53 million of them) to a government that is almost certainly killing its own people--can be found in so many other pockets of the globe. Just change out Bahrain for country X, arms for good X, and human rights investigation for condition X. I don't mean to take an apolitical stance here, but I do mean to point out that the story is not always as complicated as it can seem.
So it was fun for me to call my senators--which I did in both NJ and FL, two locations where I have zip codes--and express the above view. And it was also fun to connect with another American--a lovely staff member at my local grocery store (where I was buying apples to make juice, not food ;)) who I chat with whenever I see her--about my thoughts on the arms sale. I told her where Bahrain is--having just learned myself a month ago!--and explained in a few sentences the situation as I see it.
And she decided to call her senators too! So, Senators Lautenberg and Mendez, please listen to the voicemails we left you today.
Talking politics in the grocery store--how wonderful!
Looking forward to the video tonight!
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