Five Congress Members Get Arrested For Protesting Outside Of Sudanese Embassy.

Source: AP via Yahoo News

Five Congress members allowed themselves to be arrested after spending time protesting about the Darfur genetic cleansing outside of the Sudanese Embassy in Washington. The five members were Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif; also a Holocaust survivor), Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), James McGovern (D-Mass), John Olver (D-Mass), and Jim Moran (D-Virginia). Eleven other protestors were arrested, as well.

"We must hold the Sudanese government accountable for the attacks they have supported on their own citizens in Darfur," Olver said.

Dozens of demonstrators carried signs, some reading "Stop the slaughter" and "Women of Darfur suffer multiple gang rapes," in front of the embassy Friday morning.

The protesters cheered as the Congress members and others were cuffed, hands behind their backs, with plastic ties and quietly led to a white police van by U.S. Secret Service uniformed officers.

The arrests were expected. Lantos' office issued a news release about them in advance.

The protesters called on the Sudanese government to accept a U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur and allow humanitarian relief organizations full access to victims. The three-year-old conflict between rebels and government-backed militias has left at least 180,000 people dead, mostly from war-related hunger and disease, and some 2 million homeless.

The real gem of the day comes from Bush, once again.

President Bush on Friday renewed his call for a stronger international presence in Darfur.

"The message to the Sudanese government is: We're very serious about getting this problem solved," Bush said at the White House. "We don't like it when we see women raped and brutalized. And we expect there to be a full effort by the government to protect human life and human condition."

That's right! Just as long as the woman isn't a prostitute, and she doesn't get raped by rich, white boys from Duke. Other than that, we don't like our women raped and brutalized here in America!

If you aren't sure what the Darfur thing is, or if you want to learn more about it, you can go to this Wiki article about it here.

Tags: [Tom Lantos], [Sheila Jackson Lee], [James McGovern], [John Olver], [Jim Moran], [Congress members allow themselves to be arrested], [protesting outside Sudanese embassy in Washington], [Darfur], [Darfur conflict], [genetic cleansing], [Sudan], [Bush], [Bush doesn't like when women are raped and brutalized], [unless they are prostitutes...who cares then]