Moms holding the line

     Two years ago, my 61-year-old mom, Myrna, and six other trained activists walked quickly and quietly into the lobby of the Anchorage IRS center. They sat down and one-by-one told confused clerks, an excited security guard, and dumbfounded taxpayers that they were not leaving until they were arrested for paying, through their taxes, for an illegal war. The police came and was happy to do their bidding.

     Now, every year, my mom and her equally youthful friends Jean and Iris organize a protest in front of the midtown tax office. This year, two TV stations, a radio station and an Anchorage Daily News reporter showed up with a photographer. I went to the protest site for the evening shift, holding a sign that read: “Where’s the exit strategy?”

     “Did you hear about our new idea for ‘National Security Reform?’” asked protester Geoff Kennedy. “It’s like Social Security reform. That’s where you can invest money the government way or the private way in the stock market. Well, ‘National Security Reform’ works the same way. You can spend it either on bombing Iraq or on the stock market.”

     Sibu Joseph was driving by, pulled in, introduced himself, and grabbed a sign. Sibu said  he found out about Alaskans for Peace and Justice at the Dahr Jamail lecture (Dahr needs no introduction by now, man-oh-man).

     “What bothered me the most about what Dahr said is how corporations benefit and how they could have helped orchestrate the whole thing.”

     Even though I caught one guy in a new, white Ford pick-up truck thrust a middle finger at me, Sibu said he didn’t catch much negative reaction to the Tax Day Protest. “I had people smiling at me, waving, and honking. It was positive feedback, so I’m really excited about that.”

     By 6:30 p.m., my mom began loading signs into her mini-van. She tells me how she complains about the Iraq war, and the public’s apathy toward the whole imbroglio.

     “But being out here changes everything,” she said.

     That night, my 80,000 Anchorage viewers watched my mom remind them they’re tax money is flowing to military contracts at the price of young soldiers and an impoverished country.

     See mom at: http://www.ktuu.com/CMS/anmviewer.asp?a=12923