good points

Mary -

We're going to learn a lot about the Blue Oregon audience and principle posters through this, and it may not all be pretty. I've found it extremely significant that Kari and the rest have not seen fit to comment on this story. I forwarded to Blue Oregon an item from Raw Story for the "in the news" threads of Blue Oregon and nary a peep was published.

Please keep us informed. I've called my electeds several times to about it to voice my views and offer my thanks when there is an inkling in the press they have performed admirably, as well as to given them the chance to express their views and the values of their boss. Unfortunately, I have to say that as a Democratic constituent, I was most disgusted by Wyden's office but not at all suprised given his generally dull-witted performance as an elected over the years. If you know any different about what electeds for which we should be gaining respect for their handling of this situation, it would be valuable to hear that.

Askfirst: This is a sensitive story for many folks, so I'm not surprised that I haven't gotten more reaction - though I got more the first time around since it was new. But I have to admit it was Kari who brought the update to my attention, so he's not shying away from it. To the contrary, it's in my ballpark to stay aware of as the Blue O person from the area. I'm glad you're interested and that you stay in touch with your elected officials. It's important to let them know how we feel.

I'm a little swamped right now, but I'm always game to have worthy stories pointed out to me. I just can't promise to always be timely with my response. Thanks for your interest and for being an engaged Dem, even if we don't always agree. That's part of the process, ain't it?

Kari -

Thanks for passing on the story idea. The purpose of sending you the story (and I have absolutely no connection to AfterDowningStreet.org or rawstory.org where I read it)

Support Suzanne Swift http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/12690

was not to receive any personal response, but instead to make sure an important story got disseminated. And to also to accomplish the task in any conversation of also connecting folks with other sources of information as a starting point for them to do whatever additional personal exploration of the issue they may want to. Since you could verify the validity of the story yourself, there was no "source credibility" issue. Nor, I think, much a need to do anything more than add a sentence explaining it and running it as an "In the news" item to start a conversation. Bear in mind, the Swift/Rich family has been quite open about trying to get their story out, so I'm not sure how much more is required frother than to help them tell their story. In doing so, the military, the press, and our electeds will understand that there is growing popular awareness and disapproval of how they might have hoped to handle this case, and the war in general.

That said, it is great that Mary, apparently with your support, took a personal interest and wrote a followup to the first item on Blue Oregon that you cited and I previously read. But I think this is starting to hint at what was really meant by my comment about learning something about Blue Oregon, and blogging as a political medium, as this conversation and your apparent reaction to the specific comment "what Kari and the rest" has started to illustrate: Blogs are personal diaries and personal conversations made public, and speaking frankly with no value judgement intended, most of the thread-starting posts aren't much more than drawing attention to other news stories rather than true journalism. Perhaps the foremost challenge bloggers face in "coming of age" as mature political force will be the almost structural characteristic of grassroots media that bloggers conflate their personal and blog-identity building efforts with disseminating the underlying story, and how that impedes effective political action in many cases. This is not an observation directed at any individual, but about blogs as media.

Here is an update on Suzanne. Take some time and read some of the comments made on the petition. It breaks my heart daily.

Things continue to move forward for Suzanne. The Army has not yet disclosed the results of the commander-directed investigations. The investigator took statements from witnesses, including Suzanne, and forwarded his report to the command. The command now has to decide whether Suzanne's allegations require the Army to take action, and whether they have any bearing on Suzanne's own case. We expect to learn the results of the investigation any day now.

Suzanne's military psych evaluation came back. She was told she does not have a personality disorder, and that she has symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder but not enough to diagnose her with PTSD. No mention of military sexual trauma. So, she sits in limbo, restricted to base and assigned to "weeds and seeds" details, not knowing what her future holds.

Whatever the Army decides to do, we have total confidence in Suzanne's attorneys, Keith Scherer and Greg Gagne. They were trial attorneys in the JAG and know their way around military law. They are aggressive and very thorough. Their website is: HYPERLINK "http://gslattorneys.com/indexaspx" \t "_new" http://gslattorneys.com/indexaspx They were recommended to us by people from Military Families Speak out as being very good at protecting their clients and advocating for families.

We are still doing fundraising to pay Suzanne's legal costs, which are substantial. There is now a link on Suzanne's website to make direct donation. Check out Suzanne's website for updates, new pictures, articles and action alerts. Suzanneswift.org. Huge thank you to Robin Bernardi for all her hard work on the website. She is a patient genius and we owe her so much.

How is Suzanne? She is OK. She is bored and tired most of them time. The stress of not knowing what the Army is going to do with her case has been hard on her. She is pretty isolated and the work she is assigned to do is mundane. She is so amazed at how much support she has received from around the world. I have been trying to see her every week or so to just hug her and give her encouragement. Her moods fluctuate from sad to angry and then just exhaustion. I tell her to hang on and we are doing all we can do to get her home. She is hopeful that the Army will do the right thing. As I mentioned in earlier updates her new unit captain is a very steady and kind man and we appreciate his thoughtful responsiveness to making Suzanne feel better.

We continue to be amazed by the activity on the petition. We are moving slowly towards 5,000 signatures. Let's get this done ASAP!!! The comments being made are powerful and significant. Remember we have Suzanne wear available on cafe press. I wear my shirt frequently and just saw my dad at a rally yesterday wearing his own, "Free Suzanne" shirt.

The family is hanging on. We want her home. I have joined CODEPINK'S Bring Them Home Fast and am not eating every other day for peace. I have been speaking out and communicating with many people all over the world. Something that has come up is that we need to create a resource list or how to list for women that are experiencing "command rape" and "military sexual trauma" right now. So, that is something we are working on. We owe a huge amount of thanks to so many people. It is just amazing. First, all of the thousands of people that have been organizing for Suzanne around the world and the many groups that have signed on to help Suzanne and end military sexual violence. We are continually humbled by you. Amy Goodman is one of my new heros. Democracy Now is a world wide wonder. Thanks to her and the many journalists and media people who have told Suzanne's story with the light of truth. Elaine, Aria, David, Stacy, Michael, Sharon, Ann, Robin, Lori, Melissa, Dorothy, Susan, Amy, Elizabeth, Betsy, BJ, Carolyn, Ehren, Bob, Gillette, Michelle, Lisa, Larissa, Carole....and the list goes on and on.... Not to mention my sweetie, John, and all of our kids, Suzanne's siblings, whose needs have been put on serious hold while I focus on helping their sister, Sonja, Brandy, John Jr and Jake. And of course my mom and dad, Nan Rich and Jim Rich and step mom, Kayla Starr. Love you all. That's it for now. Remind all the people around you to DO something every day to help create peace in the world. Peace~

Sara Rich, M.S.W