2011 has certainly been a splashy pink year in exposing the truth about policy makers, decision makers and elected officials who have publicly failed, sometimes miserably, in the struggle for equality, civil liberties, accountability, peace and social justice. Below are some highlights from a memorable year. Almost everything was caught on camera!

Activists across the country, including CODEPINK spent the year confronting Bush, John Yoo, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Karl Rove, John Bolton, Henry Kissinger and others for war crimes. Meanwhile up north in Canada, a Senate Page, Brigette DePape, silently stood up on the floor of the Senate chamber with a “Stop Harper” sign. Stephen Harper is the current Prime Minister of Canada and the leader of the Conservative Party. Harper has been leading Canada with a conservative agenda since 2006. Activists oppose Harper’s administration because of its “alienation of university students, expanding prisons, cutting art funds and then redirecting it to military spending.”

As President Obama spoke at the Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California, CODEPINK activists created a Facebook campaign telling the president to ‘Update Your War Status’ referring to the U.S. military intervention in Libya and the continued military spending in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Barack Obama, during his campaign, promised to close Guantanamo and end torture. American voters have recognized the costs of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Libya–lives lost, international cooperation thwarted, and tax dollars squandered. The Obama administration has authorized unmanned drone attacks in Pakistan, in direct contravention of international law, and an attack in Afghanistan that resulted in the deaths of many civilians. Watch the CODEPINK intervention team engage President Obama outside the White House.

Former Minnesota Governor and GOP Presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty visited San Francisco where he was “glittered” by CODEPINK activists. If elected, the former presidential candidate said he would reinstate Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (the ban on openly-gay service). As Governor of Minnesota he vetoed a bill that would have allowed surviving partners of same-sex couples the right to decide what to do with their loved one’s deceased body, because he believes in “traditional marriage”.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney’s book “In My Time” hit the shelves at local bookstores earlier this year. At the kick off of Cheney’s media book tour, CODEPINK cofounder Medea Benjamin inspired activists to take action in moving Cheney’s book to the Crime section in bookstores in her 10 reasons to move Cheney’s book.

 CODEPINK Co-Founder Jodie Evans Disrupts War Criminal Dick Cheney

Using social media to its full advantage to protest Cheney’s new book, activists had created a Twitter handle (@fakecheney) and hashtag #InMyTime, joined a Facebook group, taken pictures of moving books for a Flicker slideshow, filmed a YouTube video and downloaded, printed and inserted “Doin Time” bookmarks. Even actor Alec Baldwin got in on the action and tweeted how he felt about Cheney’s new book. If anything, Cheney’s resurrection has inspired creative action and opened old wounds.

Dick Cheney managed to stay in the news for most of the year defending torture and insisting the intelligence to invade Iraq was correct. His visit to left-leaning San Francisco didn’t go unnoticed. Activists with CODEPINK, World Can’t Wait, National Accountability Network, PDA and OccupySF held a protest inside and outside the Palace Hotel where Cheney was addressing a luncheon full of investors. Read more about Cynthia Papermaster confronting Dick Cheney inside the investor’s conference.

There’s been a wave of political disruptions taking the 1% by storm! Well-known figures such as Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice and former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson had to take refuge and others like Karl Rove simply “lost his mind”. The 99% has moved its persistency against social and economic inequality and greed from outside the urban camps to inside convention rooms and university auditoriums, flexing their new voices for real change and using the people’s microphone: “Mic Check!”.

After years of CODEPINK disruptions, it’s refreshing to see the Occupy Wall Street Movement take the reins of a tactic that requires nerves of steel to address those who should not be feted in a country with high unemployment, high foreclosures, expensive health insurance, bloated military budget, expensive tuition and skyrocketing homeless communities. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2012!

Condoleezza Rice’s new memoir, ‘No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington‘, hit the shelves of bookstores across the country on Nov. 1st. The former Secretary who brought us images of mushroom clouds claims to be setting the record straight. We think it’s time to set the record straight, too. Condi’s book belongs in the Crime section and CODEPINK activists (hopefully including YOU!) will be moving it to where we think it belongs in our local bookstores…Fiction, Fantasy, Crime, you decide! Join the Facebook group to move Condi’s book. Be sure to leave a ‘No Higher Honor’ bookmark inside a few copies of the book, too! Just download, print, cut and go!

CODEPINK Dallas continues to confront war criminals in the belly of the beast. Local CODEPINK coordinator Leslie Harris told torture memo author John Yoo ‘turn yourself in’.

The Occupy movement has been holding former Bush officials accountable. Outside the Goldman Sachs headquarters in New York City, the 99% demonstrators attempted a citizen’s arrest of former President George W. Bush.

In Wichita, Kansas the Occupy movement held a loud, energetic, Mic check! demonstration against George W. Bush.

George W. Bush isn’t the only war criminal who has gotten away from the movement. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was greeted by CODEPINK, ETAN, World Can’t Wait and Occupy Wall Street outside the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney’s visit to left-leaning San Francisco didn’t go unnoticed. Activists with CODEPINK, World Can’t Wait, National Accountability Network, PDA and OccupySF held a protest inside and outside the Palace Hotel where Cheney was addressing a luncheon full of investors.

Read more about Cynthia Papermaster confronting Dick Cheney inside the investor’s conference. Watch the video of Nancy Mancias speaking out against him.

In her latest piece ‘Guantanamo: the most expensive prison on earth’, Miami Herald reporter Carol Rosenberg describes the cost U.S. taxpayers pay to keep the prison open, the cost to house a detainee and the combat pay the guards receive like troops in Afghanistan.

Barack Obama blazed a path to the White House on a platform that promised a complete break with the George W Bush presidency. On Guantanamo Bay, rendition, corporate accountability, finance reform, habeas corpus, illegal wiretapping, domestic spying, whistleblowers, Afghanistan – and a host of other issues – the current president promised change. In reality, however, he only offered continuity and in some cases, such as the prosecution of whistle blowers and the assassination of US citizens overseas, he outstripped his predecessor’s zeal.

Sign up to join the day of action against Guantanamo taking place at Lafayette Square on January 11, 2012.

By Cynthia Papermaster

I’m still buzzing with adrenaline after telling Dick Cheney to his face today that he’s a mass murderer, torturer and war profiteer and he should be in prison. I never thought I would see him in the flesh, and was so nervous. After all these years of working to get him impeached and now prosecuted, this was like a dream come true– to confront him face to face with his crimes. It feels so good to have done this. As my friend Joe said “You did it for everyone. Thank you.”

Thanks to the expert skills of Nancy Mancias, she and I were able to get into the a private and exclusive investor conference at the aptly-named Palace Hotel in San Francisco, where Cheney was giving a keynote address to about 200 attendees. There he was, mere yards away from me, the Dick himself. I was oddly calm, and just working up the courage to speak out. First Cheney showed the audience his heart pump contraption, then he launched into a history lesson about 9/11 and how the Bush Administration had to adopt new tactics to fight terror. Nancy stood up and called Cheney out for maybe 30 seconds. I took some pictures as she was escorted out of the room. (Unfortunately, our video person was not able to get inside the event). Then Cheney started to talk about Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [who as we know was water boarded 183 times] so I stood up and loudly said, “Dick Cheney, you ordered waterboarding of KSM, a form of torture. You should be in prison for ordering American torture and inhumane treatment leading to at least 100 detainee deaths, including children. You lied to the nation about Iraq and sent thousands of troops to their deaths. You made money from the war for Halliburton and your oil industry cronies– you’re a war profiteer.” Oddly, security didn’t grab me immediately. The MC kept asking me to leave, and some in the audience were telling me to leave and shut up; finally a security person came over and showed me a convenient way out. I was escorted through the hotel to the elegant front entrance where a large group of people were marching, singing, and holding banners and posters saying “Arrest Cheney”. There was Joe, dressed in a black and white jail outfit wearing a Cheney mask. There were young folks from Occupy SF who all wanted to hug me. World Can’t Wait had a microphone and I was asked to give a report about what happened inside. Some San Francisco police were on hand, so I showed them the letter I had sent to the Chief of Police, Sheriff, and District Attorney asking them to arrest Cheney today. I told them that they had the jurisdiction and responsibility to do so, but sadly, the police declined to arrest him. Great day, great action, great pink presence.

Thanks to everyone who came out and participated, and especially to Nancy and Sanaa, who made my dream come true.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney manages to stay in the news defending torture and insisting the intelligence to invade Iraq was correct. He has praised President Obama’s use of targeted assassination and felt the White House should apologize to former Bush administration officials for criticizing enhanced interrogation. President Obama has increased drone attacks, killing supposed enemies without trial or due process. In these attacks innocent civilians including women and children have perished. The drone industry continues to receive a surplus of funds from the government to continue to operate while much needed programs in the country are being cut. CODEPINK cofounders Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans speak out against manufacturer General Atomics, maker of the killer Predator and Reaper drones.

Donald Rumsfeld continues on the speaking circuit across the globe. He received a real patriotic welcoming from members of Veterans for Peace and CODEPINK while in Boston. Rumsfeld helped craft the invasion of Iraq and lied the country into war.

Rumsfeld found himself going toe-to-toe with Al-Jazeera news. If you recall, while working as cameraman with Al-Jazeera news, Sami al-Hajj was detained in Pakistan and wrongfully held for six years at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo.

Former President George W. Bush is expected to receive an un-welcoming from the city of Surrey in Canada later in the month. Amnesty International and other human right groups are urging the government of Canada to arrest the former president when he enters the country. Even though there has been a public outcry against Bush traveling to Canada, former Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg has been denied entry into the maple leaf country. Begg who has traveled throughout Europe, Northern Africa, Middle East and Central Asia speaking out against his wrongful detainment, flew into Montreal and was taken into custody and denied entry.

Karl Rove was the latest politician to get “glitter-bombed” by gay rights advocates in Minneapolis. Rove and former President Bush are opposed to same-sex marriage. Rove does not regret his or Bush’s stance on this issue.

The controversial media-mogul Rupert Murdoch whose company News of the World faced allegations of hacking the phone numbers of private citizens was speaking at an education conference in San Francisco. In true San Francisco spirit, Morduch was greeted by demonstrators from Occupy Sesame Street and US Uncut, an organization holding corporations accountable through creative actions.

Lawyers and activists across the country including CODEPINK continue to hold former and current elected officials accountable for leading the country, and world, down a path of war and violence.

While former Vice President Dick Cheney continues to speak and sell his new book, he and his book continue to receive un-welcoming receptions. In Chicago, the Illinois Coalition Against Torture and World Can’t Wait held a peaceful presence outside of his event, yet for those attending Cheney’s event in Vancouver, BC, they were meet with protesters locking arms, pushing and shoving matches with police, and arrests. A Canadian immigration representative stated Cheney should not be allowed into the country because he admits to authorizing torture including against a Canadian citizen.  CODEPINK activists continue to re-shelve Cheney’s new book inside local bookstores.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is on the book speaking circuit too. In Boston, members of CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace and others tried to make a citizen’s arrest to hold him accountable for torture and lying the country into the war with Iraq.

Activists in Minnesota greeted former President George W. Bush as he spoke in the suburban town of St. Louis Park.

Lawyers with the Center for Constitutional Rights drafted an indictment for torture against Bush for the Attorney General in Canada. Bush is scheduled to speak in Surrey, Canada later this month.

President Obama’s motorcade came through the San Francisco Bay Area. Women from World Can’t Wait and CODEPINK agitated and held banners outside the gates of Moffett Air Field. His motorcade took him right past signs, chants, and an activist dressed in a “Guantanamo prisoner” jumpsuit.

Photo courtesy of Singtao

In her White House press pool report, Carol Lee with the Wall Street Journal describes the demonstration.  “Some people were outside along the route from the airport to the highway, waving and snapping photos. There were also some anti-war protesters who held signs like, “Stop the wars,” “The war in Afghanistan is still wrong,” “Endless War” and “Afghanistan 10 years of war crimes.”

While Congress and the White House cannot come to an agreement on the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detainees are languishing away in a political limbo or as in the case of former detainee Saad Iqbal Madni who after 6 1/2 years of being held at the detention facility is faced with having to start over.

Madni was tortured day and night and attempted suicide while at Guantanamo. In 2008, he was released and sent back to his home country of Pakistan where he is under suspicion and harassed by local law enforcement. Madni is an Islamic scholar who was picked up in Indonesia, transferred to Egypt where he was interrogated by local officials, moved to Bagram prison in Afghanistan and spent the remainder of his detainment at Guantanamo. Even though the White House is still pursuing the closure of Guantanamo, the longer it remains open the U.S. Justice system weakens and transition for former detainees into community is hindered.

The man who authored the infamous ‘Torture Memos’ John Yoo was debating the ACLU President in Washington DC, an event hosted by the Heritage Foundation. Yoo’s appearance didn’t go unnoticed by CODEPINK DC. CODEPINK cofounder Gael Murphy made her way into the debate and shouted “Shame on you, Mr. Yoo!” According to the Daily Caller, Yoo joked that the protest made him feel at home – Berkeley. Activists including CODEPINK have been protesting John Yoo inside and outside the classroom where he teaches law at the University of California, Berkeley.

CODEPINK activists in Dallas decided to have a vibrant presence at a George W. Bush speaking event, dropping a banner in the hotel atrium where the conference was taking place. The fierce women were eventually questioned and confronted by local law enforcement and Secret Service.

George W. Bush was scheduled to speak at a Christian university in Toronto, Canada, but had to cancel because students and faculty launched a petition drive against his appearance. Even though this event was cancelled, Bush still has a full itinerary of public engagements throughout the U.S., and St. Louis Park, Minnesota is next on his stop. Former FBI Whistleblower Coleen Rowley writes ‘Bush Kept Out of Canada, Can We Keep Him Out of Minnesota Too?’