Last week, Annalee and I were wandering down those gorgeous Lyon St. steps in Pacific Heights, with their gorgeous view of the water. We spotted a handful of nice-looking women perched on a terrace halfway down the staircase. They had signs saying things like, “HUNGRY 4 PEACE.” It turned out the incredibly nice mansion they were camped in front of was Dianne Feinstein’s house. They were on a hunger strike  until DiFi agreed to meet with them to talk about ending the war in Iraq. A similar starving group was camped in front of Nancy Pelosi’s house. (Both lawmakers are home in SF for the August  Congressional recess.) Despite the fact that they were stuck outdoors on a boiling hot day with no food, they seemed amazingly polite and friendly.
Since then, I’ve been getting press releases from the Code Pink group, Medea Benjamin’s organization which organized the hunger strikes. The upshot: Feinstein finally met with the protestors, and they discontinued their hunger strike. But Pelosi has called them “nuts” and refused to meet with them — even though she flew to Arizona for a surprise visit to a Democrats and Donuts coffee klatch.

So now the hunger strikers plan to block the entrance to the federal building at 1 PM tomorrow. They’re risking arrest, but considering how many people die in Iraq every day, it seems a small price to pay. You can join them, or find out how else to get involved, by clicking here.