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McCain classmate demonstrates against torture at USNA class reunion
McCain classmate and Maryland activists display anti-torture messages to his and McCain's Naval Academy 50th class reunion
A classmate of John McCain's--both graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1958--took a message for McCain to their 50-year class reunion in Annapolis, Maryland, this past weekend. "Johnny: We did not learn torture in '58. How about '08?" read Jim Brewer's banner.
Joined by a handful of Maryland activists, Brewer displayed his banner Friday outside the gates of the Naval Academy as his class reunion got under way inside the gates and again on Saturday, at the football stadium as McCain arrived there. Brewer, of Los Angeles, was a casual friend of McCain's, primarily in flight training after graduation.
"We didn't have a course in ethics when I went here," says Brewer, "and we didn't torture. Now we teach ethics, and we do torture."
Roughly a dozen years after the Naval Academy instituted its Leadership, Ethics, and Law Department--which it did in the wake of the Tailhook scandal and several years after West Point started a similar department in the wake of My Lai--"The second in command (one of a few with that status) told me that waterboarding is not torture 'because it is not life-threatening,' " says Brewer, adding, "It's in the eyes of the torturer that it's not life-threatening."
On Friday afternoon Brewer and others displayed his banner outside the Naval Academy's gate 3 as alumni and others entered to watch the
homecoming parade.
And on Saturday the protesters, displaying Brewer's banner and handmade signs, joined the crowd greeting McCain as he arrived at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for their class's pregame tailgate party. After police ushered them off the stadium grounds the protesters stood across the street from the stadium entrance. After a homeowner complained to
police because they were standing on the edge of his yard, which had no sidewalk, they moved up the street and continued to display their messages to traffic arriving for the game until shortly after the game began.
In addition to Brewer's banner the group displayed a sign that read "Free countries do not torture." and one that bore the word "torture" with the international symbol for "no" (a circle around it and a slash through it). And one protester wore a shirt reading "Shut Down Guantanamo" on the front and "Witnesstorture.org" on the back.
Joined by a handful of Maryland activists, Brewer displayed his banner Friday outside the gates of the Naval Academy as his class reunion got under way inside the gates and again on Saturday, at the football stadium as McCain arrived there. Brewer, of Los Angeles, was a casual friend of McCain's, primarily in flight training after graduation.
"We didn't have a course in ethics when I went here," says Brewer, "and we didn't torture. Now we teach ethics, and we do torture."
Roughly a dozen years after the Naval Academy instituted its Leadership, Ethics, and Law Department--which it did in the wake of the Tailhook scandal and several years after West Point started a similar department in the wake of My Lai--"The second in command (one of a few with that status) told me that waterboarding is not torture 'because it is not life-threatening,' " says Brewer, adding, "It's in the eyes of the torturer that it's not life-threatening."
On Friday afternoon Brewer and others displayed his banner outside the Naval Academy's gate 3 as alumni and others entered to watch the
homecoming parade.
Click on image for a larger version
Click on image for a larger version
Baltimore's Larry Egbert of Physicians for Social Responsibility and his wife, Ellen Barfield of Veterans for Peace, join Jim Brewer, USNA class of 1958, from Los Angeles, outside the U.S. Naval Academy's gate 3 in Annapolis, Maryland, as Brewer's--and John McCain's--50th class reunion gets under way the afternoon of September 19.
And on Saturday the protesters, displaying Brewer's banner and handmade signs, joined the crowd greeting McCain as he arrived at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for their class's pregame tailgate party. After police ushered them off the stadium grounds the protesters stood across the street from the stadium entrance. After a homeowner complained to
police because they were standing on the edge of his yard, which had no sidewalk, they moved up the street and continued to display their messages to traffic arriving for the game until shortly after the game began.
Click on image for a larger version
Annapolis, Maryland, antiwar activist Dick Vanden Heuvel; Jim Brewer,
USNA class of 1958, from Los Angeles; and Baltimore activists Ellen Barfield of Veterans for Peace and Maria Allwine, Co-Chair, MD Green Party--both members of the Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore--stand across the street from Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis shortly after Brewer's classmate John McCain arrived Saturday, September 20, for their 50-year class reunion tailgate party and football game.
USNA class of 1958, from Los Angeles; and Baltimore activists Ellen Barfield of Veterans for Peace and Maria Allwine, Co-Chair, MD Green Party--both members of the Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore--stand across the street from Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis shortly after Brewer's classmate John McCain arrived Saturday, September 20, for their 50-year class reunion tailgate party and football game.
In addition to Brewer's banner the group displayed a sign that read "Free countries do not torture." and one that bore the word "torture" with the international symbol for "no" (a circle around it and a slash through it). And one protester wore a shirt reading "Shut Down Guantanamo" on the front and "Witnesstorture.org" on the back.
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