Community member Marcia has started her own website and I strongly recommend that you visit it. I have added it and Joan Wile's site to my blogroll. Wile is a member of Grandmothers Against the War, a songwriter and just about everything else so if you have not had time to visit her site, consider making a trip.
While looking for things to highlight tonight, I found a piece by Paul Dean. Go to Dissident Voice if you want to read it. I am not linking to it. Tom Petty will be performing at the half-time show during the Superbowl. Dean wants Tom Petty to bow out due to abuses by Bridgestone Tires.
It's nonsense. Not the issue of abuse. But corporate sponsorship of the Superbowl is nothing new and acting a scheduled act to drop out at the last minute is insane. Tom Petty walks, he's not getting booked. This isn't a taped show that they can find someone else. This is a live performance that's been announced. At this point in time, the Superbowl half-time show is the biggest audience a music artist will get from a single appearance. Anyone who choses to walk -- Mr. Dean's post went up today -- at this late date would not be booked for live television again.
Is there a reason to walk? There are many reasons to walk at any point in time. However, the issue of the abuse raised by Mr. Dean goes to the corporate sponsorship and a better move would, my opinion, focused elsewhere.
Nora Dunn walked off SNL for one week's broadcast in the late 80s or early 90s when they booked a misogynist comedian. There are many reasons to take a stand.
Maybe Dean will find out on Sunday (I don't watch any part of the Superbowl) that Petty followed his advice. I doubt it and think it comes far too late. Petty's going to have to weigh the no-TV-bookings result as well as anger from fans since this appearance has been announced for some time. Friday's a bit late to be asking someone to cancel a Sunday performance.
Possibly Dean's not sincerely asking that but is attempting to raise awareness on an issue? If so, he may reach some with his column. However, I'm just shaking my head here that anyone would ask that someone pull out of an announced live performance two days from now due to the corporate sponsors. Is there a corporate sponsor whose hands are clean? I don't believe so. None that can sponsor the Superbowl. I've also seen the same list most people have in their daily papers of the commercials that will be broadcast throughout and there are many that have me shaking my head in disbelief. But that is how it is.
Maybe if I watched the Superbowl I'd give a damn? I love Prince but even he wasn't enough to have me tuning in last year. Considering the way the players are abused by management and ownership (in terms of dollars, in terms of their injuries), I'd argue the whole event is built on abuse.
Before anyone accuses me of being a Tom Petty loyalist, I haven't purchased any album since Pack Up The Plantation Live! and only purchased that due to the fact that two songs included Stevie Nicks. I'm not a greatest hits type. That was my first and only Petty album. I lived with a guy who had to play Damn the Torpedoes (I believe that was the title) full blast at least once a week decades ago. I felt Tom Petty could make it for about three songs. (His track record may have improved.) I've never been a huge Petty fan.
So when you combine the Superbowl with Tom Petty, you have written about two things that do not interest me. In fairness to Petty, I should note that his committment is ridiculed by at least one person leaving comments to Dean's article. I saw him live as part of Farm Aid back in the 80s. I would assume he still participates in that and my one-time boyfriend used to argue that Tom Petty fought to hold the album prices down (which he did). Hard Promises may have been the title of the album. I honestly don't remember. I believe the cover had a pink background behind Petty. Again, I've never been a huge fan and, if Stevie Nicks isn't on the track, I'm usually not interested in listening -- not even to "The Waiting." I wasn't a big fan of the Byrds either. (The group Petty & the Heartbreakers have always reminded me of the most.)
So that I don't also wait until the last minute, let me know that in England next month there will be a major demonstration (probably many, but here's one).
This article should be read after: » US airstrikes on Iraq rise 500 percent
15 March - next stop for the anti-war movement
by Esme Choonara
The Stop the War Coalition, along with CND and the British Muslim Initiative, has called a national anti-war demonstration in London on Saturday 15 March.
This is part of an international day of action to mark the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
Stop the War groups across Britain are organising meetings and events to build for the demonstration.
Transport is already booked from many towns and cities. A World Against War tour has been organised to bring key speakers from the global movement to audiences across Britain.
Many groups say the demonstration has given a new focus to their activities and is pulling in a new layer of campaigners.
Organised
In Stoke-on-Trent activists organised their first Stop the War meeting for many years. Simon Halstead, one of the organisers, told Socialist Worker, “Around 25 people came to our meeting – a mixture of new students and longer standing activists.
“Most people at the meeting left contact details to get involved in activity. There are lots of things that we can do to raise awareness and spread the message.
"Whatever else we do, the focus in the next few weeks will be filling a coach to get people to the demonstration on 15 March."
Stop the War is calling on groups to use 15 February -- the anniversary of the largest demonstration ever seen in Britain, when two million marched in London against the war -- to hold local protests, vigils, film
showings and banner drops. These can help to build for the national demonstration.
In London Tony Benn will be among a group of campaigners who marched in 2003 -- and will be marching against the war again this year -- who are taking a letter to Downing Street to hand in to Gordon Brown, demanding that he bring the troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
In Manchester both the city and student groups have plans for events on 15 February. Manchester university student Sundara Jerome told Socialist Worker, "Lots of students remember the huge demonstrations of 15 February 2003.
Inspired
"Many of us were on that demonstration. There are also lots of people who wished they were there or who were inspired by the march to get involved in the movement. They can see that we are still on the streets five years on and are joining us.
"We are planning to mark 15 February by organising a mock funeral into the city centre. We are trying to make it visual and eye-catching.
"We are going to use this to publicise the demo on 15 March and sell tickets for the coaches."
Stop the War in Scotland has also called a demonstration on 15 March in Glasgow.
Students in Glasgow have planned a calendar of events to build up to the demonstration, including turning 15 February into a day of anti-war activities on the theme of Make Love Not War.
They are also holding a student dayschool at Strathclyde university on 16 February and organising a fundraising event Words Against War on 17 February with writers Tom Leonard, Liz Lochead, Alistair Gray and others.
Students are also supporting civil rights lawyer Aamer Anwar as an anti-war candidate for rector of Glasgow university.
The following should be read alongside this article: » US airstrikes on Iraq rise 500 percent» Iraq occupation leads to health crisis» Pakistan spirals out of control» Division over Afghanistan exposes lies» World Against War events
For details of transport and meetings go to » www.stopwar.org.uk
That is from the Socialist Worker. Which reminds me, C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" Thursday included a link to an article I wanted to highlight.
"Solidarity, struggle and resistance" (Judith Orr, Socialist Review):
Iraqi-born writer and activist Haifa Zangana talks to Judith Orr about the struggle of Iraqi women still fighting for the liberation of their country.
Your new book, City of Widows[: An Iraqi Woman's Account of War and Resistance], looks at the history of Iraq and in particular the role of women, which is often hidden in official histories.
During the period of Islam and the emergence of Islam and the building of the Islamic empire, there were always women leaders, poets -- quite influential women in society.
Prominent women are more common at times of expansion, and when there have been struggles for national liberation women have been there, and have been quite powerful. So it varies from one period to another historically.
When you were a student, a politically active communist under Saddam Hussein's regime, you were arrested and imprisoned. It was your mother's courage and determination that ensured your survival.
If it wasn't for her I might have been like the rest of my group. Four of us were arrested; three young men and myself. The three men were executed while I survived. At that time, in the 1970s, the execution of women was rare. I was put with women who had been sentenced to execution much earlier but had been pardoned. But if it wasn't for my mother making all the noises possible to protest at my arrest and to find out if I was still alive, I would have been forgotten altogether.
Outside the ministry of defence they had a little corner, the information service, where people used to go -- though not many people would dare go there because they were intimidated and terrorised. She sat there day after day in the sun with my little sister, until someone took pity on her and asked her who she was looking for. When the official took a box for me she realised I was still alive.
I'm only now reading Zangana's book and I think it's wonderful. It's a really rich portrait and she is a columnist so, obviously, she can write. But there's a power to it that goes to author and not columnist. I'm not trying to insult anyone here but her book reads more like great literature than what we're probably used to expecting from columnists. If you want a book that you'll enjoy and not want to rush through, something you can read carefully and absorb, I would strongly recommend this one to you.
"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Friday, February 1, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, a lesson should be used about tossing around the term "suicide bombers," the administration attempts to push back on two topics getting coverage and more.
Starting with war resistance. Bethany Skyler James self-checked out of the US military and went to Canada. Julia Johnson (The Charlatan) reports on James decision to go to Canada and writes, "James says she has official refugee status but because of the Nov. 15 Supreme Court decision not to hear an appeal from resisters Brandon Hughey and Jeremy Hinzman, currently no other resisters are allowed to gain refugee status." The difference between Skyler and Hinzman and/or Hughey is that she is gay and was targeted with bullying and threats while serving and that may have factored into her case when she applied for refugee status. She tells Johnson, "I was being treated inhumanely for being a lesbian. [It was] the worst of the worst of the worst of gay bashing. I have been sent hate letters. People threatened to kill me." When she and a friend made it to Canada, she contacted the War Resisters Support Campaign and she nows lives in Ottawa.
You can make your voice heard by the Canadian parliament which has the ability to pass legislation to grant war resisters the right to remain in Canada. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
Meanwhile IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:
In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan
March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'." As part of their fundraising efforts for the event, they are holding houseparties and a recent one in Boston featured both IVAW's Liam Madden and the incomprable Howard Zinn as speakers.
"Baghdad's fragile peace was shattered today when two women loaded with explosives blew up in crowded pet markets, killing at least 60 people and wounding scores more," reports Martin Fletcher (Times of London). Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) reports: "Both markets are surrounded by concrete barriers to bar cars from entering, but with no one to search women at the entrance and exit checkpoints, the female bombers were able to slip in with explosive vests hidden under flowing coats, police said. By Friday afternoon, U.S. and Iraqi military had surrounded the markets and were questioning witnesses, as people cleaned pools of blood from the pavement and swept up dead birds and destroyed pet carriers." CNN maintains the female bombers were "mentally disabled" and "they were blown up by remote control" according to Iraqi Gen. Qasim Atta and places the death toll thus far at 98 with over two-hundred injured. AFP observes, "The apparently coordinated attacks 20 minutes apart ended a relative lull in violence in the Iraqi capital and were the most lethal since August 1, when three car bombs killed more than 80 people." Paul Tait and Aws Qusay (Reuters) quote eye witness to the Ghazil pet market bombing, Abu Haider, explaining, "I was right there at the scene when the blast happened. It knocked me over. When I managed to get up, I saw dozens had been killed and wounded." On that second bombing, Stephen Farrell and Graham Bowley (New York Times) report that "army units sealed off the area and set up checkpoints following the exposion. Bloodstained feathers mixed with melting sleet." AFP describes scene of the pet market: "Some bodies were packed into bags and put in the back of police pick-up trucks. Emergency workers sifted through the bomb-blackened garbage-strewn site in search of a wallet, a watch, a piece of paper -- anything that could help identify the unrecognisable corpses. Bloodied identity cards, watches and sets of prayer beads were placed one after the other into a plastic box. A mobile phone lay amid the wreckage, ringing incessantly; perhaps a relative trying desperately to reach a loved one caught up in the explosion."
Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) offers this background, "It was the fifth attack since June 2006 on the Ghazel pet market, and the second since November. Both it and the bird bazaar are popular places for Iraqis to visit on Fridays, the Muslim day off." Camilla Hall (Bloomberg) provides this, "Baghdad's Al-Ghazal market was targeted previously on Nov. 23, when 13 people were killed and more than 22 wounded in an attack that also took place at the weekend. On Aug. 1, three car bombings in Baghdad killed more than 80 people." Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) offers concrete details about the pet market bomber "a woman wearing an explosive belt under an all covering, floor length coat". AP reports US Secretary of State Condi Rice is calling the above "brutal" yet notice what she's not saying in any of her remarks including this: "It certainly underscores and affirms the decision of the Iraqi people that there is no political program here that is acceptable to a civilized society and that this is the most brutal and the most bankrupt of movements that would do this kind of thing."
What do the bombings "certainly underscore"? That people need to stop using "suicide bombers" repeatedly. In some cases, cars have been rigged but despite the fact that the press picked up upon that sometime ago, the term "suicide bomber" continues to be applied without any indication that any thought went into the 'reporting.' We have said, and will continue to say, "a bomber" unless we're quoting. Condi's trying to sell the illegal war, the press should take away a real lesson from the above: Everyone who explodes because of a bombing on their person, in their vehicle, etc. is not a "sucide bomber." Despite the reality that the women were mentally challenged some reports are including Rice's remarks while still referring to the two women as "sucide bombers." You can't have it both ways. If they are mentally challenged -- and they appear to have been (one was known as the "crazy lady" in her area) -- then they were not "sucide bombers."
In other State Department news, they've announced a press briefing on the topic of Iraqi refugees for Monday featuring James Folely, Stewart Baker and Tony Edson. Presumably to explain why the United States has still done so damn little (or maybe to explain why the few let over are being told "Get a job in six months or get lost") and since Baker is with the Homeland Security Dept, no doubt we'll have a 'security risk' assessment.
It's the first day of the month and a few will do their monthly reports even though the US military often waits a bit before nothing all the military fatalities. Nancy A. Youssef (McClatchy Newspapers) reports, "The U.S. death toll in Iraq increased in January, ending a four-month drop in casualties, and most of the deaths occurred outside Baghdad or the once-restive Anbar province, according to military statistics. In all, 38 American service members had been reported killed in January by Thursday evening, compared with 23 in December. Of those, 33 died from hostile action, but only nine of them in Baghdad or Anbar.A total of 3,942 American service members have been killed in Iraq as of Thursday, according to icasualties.org, an independent Web site that tracks the statistics." After Youssef filed, the number would be 39. At the Pentagon today "chief of staff or Multinational Corps-Iraq" Brig Gen Joseph Anderson spun wildly to the press, via videolink from Baghdad, in an attempt to stamp a happy face on the illegal war. He wrongly claimed that there were only 170 "civilian casualities" in Baghdad for the month. They like to define "civilian casualities" by not defining the term. It is what they say it is. He also 'bragged', "The
security situation today is about the same as we experienced statistically in early 2005."
That's 'success' in their book -- cooking the numbers and then claiming that the levels are now what they were in 2005 -- as if 2005 was a year of peace or anything to pat one's own back over.
In other news for the month, Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) reports an update on the thugs of the Iraqi government who decided that female police officers shouldn't be allowed to carry guns (the next step would be: no female police officers), "Iraqi police officials have dropped plans to disarm policewomen and give their guns to male officers after an outcry from critics, who said the move was a sign of religious zealots' rising influence in Iraq." However, despite that claim some are less than convinced and Susman quotes US General David Phillips declaring, "Even with the revocation order, we will have to watch very closely the actions taken in regards to the remaining female Iraqi police" which is backed up by a Najaf female police officer Hanan Jaafer who says "none of the roughly two dozen female officers posted at the shrine had guns or uniforms, even though they searched women and children entering the complex and faced threats from the increased use of female suicide bombers." Increased use of female suicide bombers? Today demonstrates more than ever the need for trained female police officers with as much authority as their male counterparts.
While the US installed thugs of al-Maliki's government (especially the Interior Ministry) do their damage, Alissa J. Rubin (New York Times) reports the Kurds aren't feeling the US love they used to and that their "leverage appears to be declining". Rubin offers a number of reasons including forcing a vote on Kirkuk (she misses her own paper's earlier report about how the Kurds are forcing Kurds into Kirkuck), the arming of Sunnis for hire (which also threatens the US installed Shi'ite thugs) but the clear irritant is buried in paragraph 19: Turkey. The US has long declared the PKK a terrorist group and the fact that they haven't changed that designation and that Turkey has made incursions into the Kurdish region of Iraq (by land and air) has not played well with the Kurdish provisional government in northern Iraq.
Meanwhile the US is in damage control mode on the heals of two stories. First up, Bully Boy and the end of the illegal war. Michael Abramowitz (Washington Post) reports that Bully Boy bragged yesterday that "he would not be pressured into making further troop cuts in Iraq beyond the five combat brigades already scheduled to come home by the middle of the summer" which, Abramowitz notes are the latest in a round of remarks where the Whie House has signaled "that it may keep the number of troops in Iraq at roughly the same level they were before last year's buildup of U.S. forces, possibly through the end of Bush's presidency. Under existing plans, the levels are gradually falling about 5,000 troops a month, from roughly 160,000 to 130,000 by July -- or approximately where they stood before Bush sent reinforcements to Iraq seeking to curtail spiraling sectarian violence." James Gerstenzang (Los Angeles Times) reports that Bully Boy gave the speech to a right-wing non-think tank on Thursday in Nevada and declared he wasn't worried about the "political right thing" to do -- or about international law. Now comes the spin. Andrew Gray (Reuters) notes that the chair of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff made a big show of pointing today to an interview General Davey Petraues gave to CNN Sunday and stating that neither Davey or US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker "have made any specific recommendations about future force levels in Iraq" and that Davey's "given no indication to anybody in the chain of command that" he's wanting to pause the drawdown of troops to nearly the level they were at before the escalation. The second news was about Moqtada al-Sadr. Michael Howard (Guardian of London) offers that al-Sadr is saying the cease-fire is over unless puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki prevents attacks on his followers, that the freeze was only for six months and that Jalal Talbani, Iraq's President, has expressed concerns, to General Davey, "asking him to recognise Sadr's initiative and urging American troops to halt their attacks on Sadr's supporters. In reply, Petraeus praised the anti-US Shia cleric, but said the troops would continue to target those who were apparently not obeying the cleric's orders." So at the Pentagon today, via video link, Brig Gen Joseph Anderson was questioned about al-Sadr by NPR's Guy Ruz who asked about whether "the continued reduction in violence over the coming months depend on Sadr's movement recommitting to its cease-fire pledge?" [On NPR's Morning Edition today, before the press conference, Guy Ruz reported on the topic of drawdown and escalation noting that General Davey intends to speak in April -- possibly April Fool's Day and possibly dependent upon whether or not he doesn't earlier see his own shadow.] Anderson judged the freeze "clearly a help" and that the US military was in talks with al-Sadr regarding the continuing the freeze. Pinned down about the lack of legislative advances (the whole point of the escalation was to create a 'zone' for the Iraqi government to act in), Anderson praised the 2007 provincial budgets -- because he can't praise the central government in Baghdad which still hasn't passed the 2008 budget -- and the de-de-Baathifcation bill which is not a "law" though he called it that. In reality, the bill isn't moving and, as noted yesterday, Tareq al-Hashemi, Iraq's Sunni Vice President (they also have a Shi'ite Vice President) declared it "unlikely" that the bill would become a law -- despite the fact that it is a White House designated "benchmark" and despite the fact that Anderson referenced it today and wrongly called it a "law."
Turning to some of the violence besides today's twin bombings . . .
Shootings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a police officer wounded by gunfire in Samarra. Reuters notes two police officers shot dead and four other people wounded by unknown assailants storming a bus in Kut and an Iraqi soldier shot dead in Samarra.
Corpses?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered today in Baghdad.
Closing with US politics, Dolores Huerta -- longtime and pioneering activist for justice -- appeared on Democracy Now! today:
DOLORES HUERTA: Well, I believe that she's a person who has the experience that we need. I believe she has the courage, because she has, you know, taken risks like coming out for national healthcare when nobody else was doing that. She was also--just the fact that shes running for the presidency of the United States. So you've got the combination that we need for a president that can take, you know, as she has said often, to lead on the first day she gets inaugurated, because she's got the intelligence and the experience and the courage and the capability of running the country.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And, Dolores, as I'm sure you're aware, Ted Kennedy, I guess the icon of the Democratic Party in the Senate, this week came out in support of Barack Obama, and he immediately went to try to campaign among Latinos in California, I guess evoking especially the memory of Bobby Kennedy, who marched with Cesar and you and many of the farm workers in the 1960s. Your response to this effort by Ted Kennedy to convince Latinos to back Obama?
DOLORES HUERTA: Well, on the other hand, we have the endorsement of Bobby Kennedy, actually, Robert Kennedy's son. Bobby Kennedy, as you know, has been very active on the environment, and he had a beautiful piece at the--he, Kerry Kennedy, the head of the Robert Kennedy Foundation, Kathleen Kennedy, former lieutenant governor of Maryland--all of these are Robert's children. And I want to refer you to an LA Times editorial that they wrote of why they were supporting Hillary. And in that article, Bobby says he has worked with Hillary on the environment for fifteen years, and Kathleen has worked with Hillary for twenty-five years. One of the things that, you know, they keep talking about, the progressive candidates, you know, Hillary Clinton voted against the nuclear waste dumping in Yucca Mountain in Nevada, while on the other hand Barack Obama actually took money from the company that was creating the nuclear waste and wanted to dump it in Nevada. So, you know, I think that that pretty much offsets Ted Kennedy's endorsement, because you've got Robert Kennedy's children--of course, the farm workers' union, we were much more closer to Robert, and these are the activists. These are the ones that are out there doing community work, and that they know what Hillary has done in terms of her long history in civil rights, in working for children, working for education. You know, so they know that she's the one that they feel is the best person to run for president.
[. . .]
DOLORES HUERTA: Yeah. There was a big issue, if you will recall, where we had a woman who--in Chicago, Elvira Arellano, who refused to be deported, and she was undocumented. She was in sanctuary for twelve months, for an entire year, right there in Chicago, where Obama lives. The people who did that campaign, these were the same ones that organized the big marches in Chicago, went to see Obama to get some support for Elvira Arellano. He not only refused to help them, but he didn't even bother to go see Elvira. I went from California four times to be there with her. We had a large delegation from Mexico from all the political parties that went to see Elvira. Five ambassadors, they all flew to Washington, D.C. to plead on her behalf. Obama never, never lifted a finger to help her, as he never did when we had two Latinos that had been unjustly incarcerated for a murder that they did not commit. Again, a big campaign to free these two young men from prison. They were ultimately freed. But when they went to see Senator Obama, he refused to help them. I have been a civil rights activist like this all of my life, and I have been to Chicago many times for many different campaigns that the community there--the Latino community was there. I have, to this day, to meet Mr. Obama. I have never encountered him in any of these big campaigns that we have done in Chicago on different issues. And, as I say, I have never yet to meet the man. And so, I don't know about his--
AMY GOODMAN: Did Senator Clinton weigh in--Dolores Huerta, did Senator Clinton weigh in in either of those cases?
DOLORES HUERTA: Well, let me--yeah, let me just say this, that this is a--we're talking about Chicago. We're talking about the third largest Latino area outside of Mexico City, right?
FEDERICO PENA: Can I--
DOLORES HUERTA: But Hillary doesn't live in Chicago. These people here actually went to see Obama, Senator Obama. So I don't believe that he has that kind of courage and that kind of judgment. Or let's say, is it judgment or is it wisdom or whatever? But he chose not to be associated with one of the biggest causes that we have in our community, the cause of Elvira Arellano, the cause of these two young men, where he could have stepped in. They were ultimately freed, by the way, but not with his help. So, I mean, I don't know--
While it was wonderful to see Huerta on the show, with Edwards out of the race, it was a given that Democracy Now! would have to start inviting on Clinton supporters. See Ava and my "TV: Democracy Sometimes?" and Mike and Marcia will be blogging about this topic tonight at their sites.
In other programming news tonight (Friday) on PBS, Bill Moyers Journal will interview US House Rep Henry Waxman who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as part of an investigation by the program into government waste and abuse. There is a promotional video for it posted at YouTube. And that's Friday nights in most PBS markets but some may air it (or reair it) over the weekend at different times. Online, Bill Moyers Journal streams video and audio and provides text -- accessible for all. Also, NOW on PBS (which airs on Friday in most markets) has created "Adventures in Democracy Online" which is intended to be "a counter to traditional, ubiquitous election-themed programming centered around candidates, debates, polls, and punditry." It will focus on "Burning Questions," "Democracy Tookit" and "Election 2008 'Toon In."
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Friday, February 01, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Frauds passing themselves off as 'helpful'
The Los Angeles Times attempted to take out the trash but Common Dreams was cruising by and decided to dig through the garbage which is how Robert Scheer's latest bit of mental instability got posted today. Scheer's never liked women and he's never had a brain. This is among his lates piece of garbage:
Clinton's apologists include Gloria Steinem and too many other feminists, who should know better than to betray the women's movement's commitment to peace in favor of simplistic gender politics. It is disturbing, not because they conclude that Clinton is the best candidate, but because they refuse to challenge their candidate to be better.
Robert Scheer, shut up.
No one thinks your trashy work -- like the Playboy 'writing' -- rose to the level of journalism. You have been a centrist Democrat throughout your old age and you only fool the kiddies today.
The two-faced, no-standards Scheer wants to whine (for his long decaying manhood?) that Clinton's supporters "refuse to challenge their candidate to be better." But Scheer has no problem with the homophobia used by Bambi and hasn't even bothered to write about that. He's never "challegend" his candidate on that. Gay rights aren't an issue to close minded Little Bobby who was a joke at Ramparts and remains one today. Yeah, I'll go back there, I'll go way back and talk about what a pompous blowhard he was even then. He wrote badly then as well.
But he tempered his politics (then still a little to the left of the Democratic Party and to the left of electoral politics) and repeatedly watered them down to stay on at the Los Angeles Times for years and years. Now he cheers a war hawk (Bambi) and trashes another (Clinton) and wants to lecture Gloria Steinem? Steinem's lived up to her stated purposes.
Scheer's just one more of the hidden machinery behind the Bambi campaign. The little-bit faction that hopes they can toss some crumbs to the masses as a distraction to get what they really want which is not about helping the people. Again, the thing to do with Bambi -- who is more damaging than Clinton -- is look to where the support really comes from. Not the idiots like Scheer (who need money -- really need money, he's just a beggar these days). Not the people donating to their campaigns. The people behind the scenes. Bambi is the same nonsense that got Jimmy Carter elected.
Young people may think that's a good thing. It's not. Carter's presidency was horrible. He's done a nice job out of office. But he was a horrible president in every way. The same institutions that line up behind Bambi lined up behind Carter.
Like Bambi, Carter was an alleged outsider. Neither were outsiders. They are the choice of a faction of the controlling interests in this country. Bambi's supposed to calm the system (that's what his real supporters argue). Some idiots like Laura Flanders don't catch on because they are really idiots. But that is the reality.
Carter was brought in as an illegal war and abuses in the executive branches had convinced Americans that the entire system was rotten to the core. Voting had been something like 65% in the 1960s. It would drop about 10%. Ford was not the choice against Carter because it was thought Carter would restore 'faith' in the system.
That's why Carter became president. That's why the same factions (who can only succeed when people don't grasp they're being lied to) want Bambi in. He's supposed to convince Americans that the system isn't rotten and, while in office, continue the same policies more or less -- the way Jimmy Carter did.
Vote for who ever you want but don't buy into the lie that beggers are pimping. Beggers need money. They're whores actually. That may be rude of me to say since I have never lacked for money. But they're whores on the make. The ones who control the monies tell them when to dance and how -- which is what they do. That is why independent media has lined up against Hillary and sold pleasing lies about Bambi.
They're little dancing monkeys who don't want upset their pimps or johns. So they whore themselves out a little bit more each day, disgracing themselves and lying to people.
The factions pushing Bambi (the ones with money and power, the ones whose names don't get repeated often in the 'coverage') also push him because of the cushy life he has led. Working class voters do not identify with him. Hillary Clinton was middle class. Real middle class, not the lie Americans are told where they think, "I have a roof over my head and food on the table, I'm middle class!" No, in most cases you are the working poor. You are victims of a gamed system that exists to feed you pleasing lies, not unlike the pleasing lies Robert Scheer, Laura Flanders, Amy Goodman, et al feed you about Bambi.
Hillary isn't 'exotic' and the middle class roots stick out. That offends the sensibilities of some.
Vote for who you want but do yourself a favor and start holding the alleged "independent" media accountable. I'm seeing that happen and it's a great thing. Expose the liars. Let them know they can't sell you out, the ones they depend on, just to advance themselves.
Vote for who you want. Vote Clinton, vote Bambi, vote Green, vote Nader, don't vote. But don't buy into the garbage you're being fed. Bambi exists to 'save' the system. That's why the likes of Katrina support him. They really aren't interested in fixing the problems facing Americans. That's why, as a friend of C.I.'s who wrote for the magazine for years, notes that they refuse to cover the daily scandals coming out of DC. Not sex scandals but the very real scandals that destroy the lives of so many. That's not just war in Iraq, that's war on the working class.
Do yourself a favor and never read whores like Robert Scheer again. Submerge yourself in Howard Zinn. If you're a Democrat, start reading socialist publications. Broaden your horizons and step outside the two-party narrative even for a moment to grasp how ugly the current system is. Bambi's not a reformer. He is a pill that will put America to sleep and, by the end of his first term, will be considered a failure (at which point we'll have a Republican just like him in office). He's intended to be a failure. That's how the system works.
Every now and then you get a reformer in one of the two parties (not a reformer in every aspect, but they reform a tiny bit and are hailed as 'legends') and that's the best we can ever hope for until we wake up to reality as a country. It's why, year after year, we get further and further from the Constitution.
Want to understand presidential elections? See the comedy Trading Places. It tells more reality than a full season of Aaron Sorkin's bad writing. Sorry that I can't fake a lie and cheer a system that is falling apart. Sorry that I can applaud Puppet 2008. That's all Bambi is just as that was all Bully Boy was. Both campaign on The Unbearable Lightness of Nothing because they have no fixes to offer that will help people. They are pushed because they will game the system.
Robert Kennedy Jr. is a reformer. His endorsement should clue you in to what you should have already grasped, Hillary is one as well. How much of one? I have no idea. But if you're set on voting for Bambi or her, you need to grasp that there are liars who talk 'dreams' that turn into the American nightmare -- such as No Child Left Behind which was pushed by Bully Boy and Ted Kennedy -- and then there are reformers. How much impact they will have is dependent upon the people. They will never alter the system itself. They are reformers, not saviors.
They will do something that -- in the long term -- is not life altering but will improve the lives of the average American somewhat. That's what Teddy Roosevelt did to cite a Republican. There is not a great deal of difference in the two parties historically or presently.
Hillary's fixes may be small. I personally believe they'd be more along the lines of social issues -- e.g. gay rights and reproductive rights.
But she's not going to save the country and Bambi's not going to. Bambi, however, is not a reformer. He is more of a war hawk than Hillary and he will lull the American people into sleep -- as Carter did -- and within three years of being in office the country -- even Democrats -- will be outraged by his policies and actions.
I've already stated, unless Mike Gravel drops out before my state's primary, I'm voting for him. I know he's not going to win. But he stood up when others wouldn't during Vietnam and he's stood up today. He's told enough truths to frighten people which is why he's shut out of the debates. Kucinich didn't frighten anyone. He was the UFO ha-ha guy.
Ralph Nader is exploring a run. Whether you want to vote for him or not, you should make an effort to find out what he stands for. That's not go read the Nader haters and decide based on that. Cynthia McKinney is also running and you should follow her race as well.
Laura Flanders is playing the pied piper of "power to the people" but it is a pose. I've seen others advance themselves with that nonsense before. She's revealed she's a fraud and fake with her fawning pieces over the homophobic Obama campaign.
Change will not come at the top. If you want to save the country, consider voting a Green in at least one race even if you're not a Green. If you're a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, consider voting for a Green in a state or local race. That's where the change will come from and building up a real third party (I'm not sure, honestly, that nationally the Greens want to be a third-party, they seemed content, in 2004, to be a kid-brother to the Democratic Party).
Laura Flanders talks a good talk until the pressure's on. The pressure's on now and you see the real Laura Flanders. C.I. had a huge rip-apart of her in the snapshot. It'll probably be carried over to Third. But Laura Flanders has turned her back on her own statements and I honestly think, as she hits the road to promote the soft cover version of her book, people should take the hard cover versions they already bought, show up at events and toss it at her. Not to injure her but to let her know that the jig is up and her little song & dance of the last four years has been revealed -- by herself -- to be nothing but an act. If you're a community member, you read Marcia's column Tuesday in Hilda's Mix. Marcia nailed one aspect of it completely.
C.I. doesn't run the newsletters. C.I. was as surprised by the column as all members except Hilda and Marcia herself were. But when that newsletter went out and C.I. read it, C.I. immediately pulled the links to Flanders.
I'm not going to steal Marcia's argument. I am going to say she is 100% right. On my end, I will add, again, that Flanders has demonstrated she is a fraud. C.I. pulled her from The Common Ills and Third and called Sunny (I was in a session) to ask her to check with me to see if I linked to her? I didn't. But if I had, just reading Marcia's wonderful column, I would have delinked from Laura Flanders' sorry ass.
This is really a great gift we're receiving. We're seeing what frauds make up 'independent media.' I grasped that at the tail end of Vietnam. That's why I never give them money. They are liars. They can't get work in the real press so they bill themselves as 'alternative.' They preach standards but when the rubber hits the road (as with Bambi now), they toss aside the standards. I'm not surprised because I saw it happen with the Carter cheerleaders. (Carter wasn't the most liberal choice the Dems had to offer in 1976 by any means.)
Your change is going to have to come with you. If you see the ballot box as a means of change, the best gift you can give to democracy is to vote -- in at least one race -- a third party. Again, make it a local race if you're a dyed-in-the-wool Dem. But find one way to vote for genuine change and not the sop that's being tossed out.
(Some in MSM and some in independent media are worth following. I'm speaking of the fact that you have a huge number of liars in both.)
In terms of education, pick up some socialist periodicals and get a real critique of the candidates, not the faux critiques that are offered in 'independent' media. Educate yourself by picking up some Howard Zinn. Go back a little further and read Charles Beard (and his work with Mary Ritter Beard). The Joe Kleins of the world (even when they're called "Robert Scheer" or "Katrina vanden Heuvel") aren't going to educate you. That's not why they exist. They exist to paint pretty word pictures that lull you into conformity. It's why Flanders can promote a book and write a column in complete opposition to it.
"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Wednesday, January 30, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, Ralph Nader gears up to run for the presidency while John Edwards drops out, Little Media stomps its tiny feet over the Florida Democratic primary, Bully Boy says "Can too!" to permanent bases in Iraq, attacks on the press, educators and officials continue, and more.
Starting with war resistance. Brad McCall self-checkout of the US military and went to Canada. His first attempt to get into Canada last fall found him stopped at the border, questioned about being in the military and then detained. On his second attempt, he made it into the country. He is now attempting to receive safe harbor. Earlier this month, at his website, he addressed those making threatening comments:
First off, to address these threats, I openly invite you to make an attempt at hogtying me and dumping me at the US border, for you will, my dear friend, not succeed in this attempt.
Nextly, in defense of myself: I am a deserter. I willingly admit this. I am fighting for my beliefs. I will not back down. You ask why I do not just serve my time in Ft. Leavenworth? Well, friends, I know, as well as you do that if I subjected myself to that punishment, I would be completely ineffective in fighting for the cause of the anti-war movement. So, I will fight going to prison as long as I can. I have a voice, and I will be heard.
You can make your voice heard by the Canadian parliament which has the ability to pass legislation to grant war resisters the right to remain in Canada. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
Meanwhile IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:
In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan
March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'."
Staying in the US, Charlie Savage (Boston Globe) reports, "President Bush this week declared that he has the power to bypass four laws, including a prohibition against using federal funds to establish permanent US military bases in Iraq, that Congress passed as part of a new defense bill. Bush made the assertion in a signing statement that he issued late Monday after signing the National Defense Authorization Act for 2008. In the signing statement, Bush asserted that four sections of the bill unconstitutionally infringe on his powers, and so the executive branch is not bound to obey them." Elana Schor (Guardian of London) notes, "Bush's attempt this week to sidestep the permanent bases law, which aims to stop him from creating an indefinite US military presence in Iraq, may become as controversial as the signing statement sidestepping the torture ban. Such bases are broadly unpopular with Iraqis, who have voiced fears of an ongoing US occupation, and Bush's political opponents are suspicious of the administration's intentions along similar lines. Defence secretary Robert Gates this week continued the Bush administration's serial denials of any plans to build permanent bases." As Dan Froomkin (Washington Post) observes, "The overall message to Congress was clear: I'm not bound by your laws." The New York Times editorial board notes that Bully Boy's rejected a commission authorized by Congress to determine waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as this, "It's glaringly obvious why Mr. Bush rejected the fourth provision, which states that none of the money authorized for military purposes may be used to establish permanent military bases in Iraq. It is more evidence, as if any were needed, that Mr. Bush never intended to end this war, and that he still views is as the prelude to an unceasing American military presence in Iraq."
Moving to England. In the September 14, 2007 snapshot, noted the UK's Opinion Research Business' study of Iraqi deaths which found that "the 1.2 million figure was reasonable." Today the ORB announces that they've gone over the "earlier work" and that over one million Iraqis have died since the start of the illegal war and, allowing for the margin of error, note "the estimated range is between 946,000 and 1,120,000." In a press release, they note, "Detailed analysis (which is available on our website) indicates that over two-fifths of households in Baghdad have lost a family member, higher than in any other area of the country. Meanwhile among those willing to declare their doctrine (and for quite obvious reasons about half those interviewed prefer to simply describe themselves as Muslims) those from Sunni households (33%) were significantly more likely to say the conflict had claimed a household member. The respective figure for Shias being half that figure (16%)."
Leila Fadel and Hassan al Jubouri (McClatchy Newspapers) report on the discovery of nine headless corpses yesterday, "The nine, including three women, had been targeted because they were suspected of being part of a local awakening council, or concerned local citizens group, that was working with U.S. troops to fight al Qaida in Iraq, said a police officer involved in the investigation. The officer said the nine headless bodies were found with two DVDs showing one of the dead men confessing that he was a member of an awakening council and another man refusing to confess." The 'Awakening' Council are thugs put on the US dime to become collaborators and whose 'loyalities' can not be bought. The arming of the Sunni thugs has alarmed many but especially the Shi'ite thugs the US previously put in charge. Actual Iraqis will not be allowed to rule their country as long as the US continues the illegal war and occupation. In Baghdad, Amit R. Paley (Washington Post) reports, the US military intends to "increase the number of garrisons in the city from 75 to 99 by June".
Meanwhile, Reuters reports today that Aala Abdul-Kareem was shot dead outside of Balad last night and that the journalists working for al-Furat TV (Shi'ite TV channel) was 29-years-old and the father of two children. CBS and AP add that a "female correspondent and camera assistant were wounded from the roadside bombing." Reporters Without Borders identifies Fatima Al-Hassina as the correspondent and Haidar Kadhem as the assistant while also noting "two Dajla TV crews were roughed up by police yesterday in Diyala province, northeast of the capital" -- "Reporter Khaled Saleh and cameraen Laith Hamid of the Egypt-based satellite TV station Dala were physically attacked yesterday by a senior police officer in Baquba, the capital of Diayla province . . . while covering a conference on national reconciliation at the prefecture's headquarters. The police officer did not want them to attend. The Journlistic Freedoms Observatory reported that another Dajla crew, cameraman Adnan Khader and reporter Sawssan Al-Dulaymi, were beaten and briefly detained by police officers in Baladruz . . . for filming police trying to get fuel from a service station without waiting in line."
Bombings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing that claimed the life 1 police officer and left four more wounded, two people wounded by another Baghdad bombing, five security members injured by two bombings "underneath Ghadeer bridge," a Baghdad mortar attack wounded three people and, dropping back to yesterday, an Anbar car bombing that claimed the life of 1 member of an "Awakening" Council and left three more wounded.
Shootings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports, in the continued targeting of academics, Dr. Khaleel Ibraheem ("head of Sharia in the college of the Islamic sciences in Mosul University") was shot dead along with "one of his students" in Mosul and a home invasion in Diyala Province that resulted in the death of one man and wounded his daughter and two sons. In the continued attacks on officials, KUNA reports, "A district governor was wounded Wednesday in an armed attack in southern Kirkuk, at a time when authorities worked out a security plan to prevent the influx of armed groups from neighboring Mosul. A police source told KUNA that armed men opened fire at the convoy of Taleb Mohammad Mustafa, the governor of Salman Bek district, southern Kirkuk, seriously wounding him and his driver."
Kidnappings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 people were kidnapped in Diyala Province today.
Corpses?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad. Reuters notes, "The beheaded bodies of two brothers were found in the town of Tuz Khurmato . . . They had been kidnapped by gunmen a week ago." KUNA reports 2 "human heads" found in Kirkuk today.
Turning to US politics and the coverage of them. As Mike predicted last night, Amy Goodman would get creative with Florida's Democratic Party. She did so today. "Uncontested," crowed Obama supporter Amy Goodman of the primary yesterday. Others rushed to add more spin. Florida voters spoke. For those who have forgotten it, post-2000 elections, well into 2004, Little Media couldn't shut up about the popular vote in the 2000 presidential election. Then, you understand, people mattered. Their voices mattered. But today? They don't matter. Today all Little Media's railing against the electoral college and pretending to give a damn about the direct vote, the voice of the people is revealed as ONE BIG FRAUD. Liars. That is the word. John Nichols lied yesterday -- as Rebecca pointed out at last night -- and his lie that appeared at The Nation yesterday is all over today including at TPM Cafe "wwjb" embarrasses him or her self by citing Nichols' false claim: "On Sunday, she flew to Florida, violating the pledge all the major Democratic contenders has made to avoid campainging in the state that scheduled its primary earlier than was allowed by the Democratic National Convention." In fairness to "wwjb," prior to this election, Nichols was someone you could take on face value. However, like so many in allegedly 'independent' media, he's disgraced himself and the stain on his name will endured long after the Democratic primary and long after the 2008 elections. You can't just lie and get away with it. If follows you forever and a journalist -- even a columnist -- is not allowed to do that. Reality noted by CNN yesterday, "Clinton attended permitted fund-raisers in Florida on Sunday and planned to appear with supporters there after polls closed." In addition, Obama ran commercials in Florida (he claims it being a "national buy" allows him an exception but the DNC has said no). Nichols leaves out that, he leaves out the Clinton was a fundraiser which is allowed and he left out the fact that Bambi's been in and out of Florida for fundraiser and, in fact, broke a rule in September while in Florida. Via TaylorMarsh.com, William March and Elaine Silverstrini (The Tampa Tribune) reported that following a Tampa fundraiser, Obama met with the press to take questions: "The pledge covers anything referred to in Democratic National Committee rules as 'campaigning,' and those include 'holding news conferences.' Obama seemed unaware the pledge he signed prohibits news conferences. Asked whether he was violating it, he said, 'I was just doing you guys a favor." The same article notes that Obama pledged at the fundraiser -- regarding the delegates the DNC is threatening to strip Florida of -- to "do what's right by Florida voters."
To recap, Clinton attended a permitted fundraiser as Bambi has done. Unlike Bambi, Clinton did not hold a press briefing.
Another lie being tossed around is that Hillary won Florida on her name. As if Bambi hasn't been dubbed a 'rock star' for how many years now? As if the people in Florida don't have TVs or newspapers. Florida's actually more of an indication than any other primary thus far. Most states do not get endless face time with the candidates. (Which is why Michigan and Florida moved up their primary dates. They were tired of it. They should be tired of it. There's no reason in the world that each presidential election cycle must revolve around what Iowa and New Hampshire want.) Senator and failed 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry was too busy to step into most states. In Texas, he dispatched Teresa Heinz Kerry to represent the campaign's attempt to reach the 'common' voter -- and at a hundred dollars a plate for the Dallas lunch, what could be more 'common'? (I'm speaking of the primary. In the general election, Heinz-Kerry was dispatched to other areas of Texas and was a stronger candidate than her husband.) We could go state by state but community members in Texas and Hawaii are the most vocal (and have been from the start) about the nonsense of a primary system that always relegates them as unimportant. Most primary voters will be deciding on factors that do not include hearing the candidate speak or endless face time.
Democratic voters in Florida made their decision and it was Hillary Clinton. It is a huge disservice to them to imply that they do not matter. Of course they matter. People turned out in huge numbers to vote. They voted their choice and the fact that 'independent' media doesn't like the choice shouldn't result in the dismissal of what happened: Hillary won Florida because the people there picked her. CNN notes, "Clinton led strongly among women, who made up nearly 60 percent of turnout. . . . Clinton also led among men in general, but by a much narrower margin -- 43 percent to 38 percent for Obama. She's also led strongly among Latino voters, who made up 12 percent of Tuesday's voters." We're seeing the same petulance we usually see from Bambi -- he's dismissed it as a "beauty contest" -- which would make him the "ugly girl"? It's certainly "ugly" for Obama to dismiss the people of Florida and their choice in that manner. It's flat out rude. Florida Democrats issued this statement: "Florida Democrats today surpassed the total combined vote in the first four 'early states', topped the total population of New Hampshire, shattered the previous state record for turnout in a Democratic Presidential Primary, and even broke the previous record for turnout in ANY Democratic primay in Florida. Incredibly, Democratic turnout has exceeded 1,708,489 voters with 97% of precints reporting -- only 195,074 less than Florida Republicans whose turnout was relatively dismal, considering five multi-million dollar GOP presidential campaigns were working the state for months. Republicans appear to have even failed to meet their own expected turnout, which was rumored to be between 2.2 and 2.5 million." Florida's Democratic Party Chair Karen L. Thurman is quoted stating, "Florida Demorats have spoken, and they are being heard loud and clear. More than one and a half million Democratic voters went to the polls and made a powerful collective statement. The nation's largest battleground state proved today that America wants change. Democrats clearly have the momentum in Florida and across this country. No matter the challenges we face, Florida Democrats will deliver for this country in November just like they did today. This is an incredible night for the people of Florida!"
Indeed it is. Little Media talks a bunch of crap -- they're demonstrated it's just crap -- about how people matter. They gas bagged about the electoral college after the 2000 elections. Reality appears to be they don't give a damn about the public. They don't care that Florida set a new record for turnout in a Democratic primary. They don't care that more people voted in the Democratic primary yesterday than took part in the Democratic primaries or caucuses in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina combined. All four put together did not even meet the turnout in Florida. Over 500,000 more Democrats in Florida voted yesterday than in all the four states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina) combined. Don't dismiss this, don't dismiss this many people.
It's not politically smart to do so. For one thing, Florida has too many electoral votes. But forget 'strategy,' it's just not fair. And Little Media needs to get their act together and accept the fact that the candidate they've stroked and fondeled and attempted to cram down everyone's throats isn't that well received and may -- The Nation shudders! -- not get the nomination. Too damn bad. Get over it. You're allegedly "journalists" and you're supposedly concerned with the "people." But not one of you did one damn thing to stand up for Michigan or Florida. Diane Rehm did. (In this communtiy, all sites supported those voters.) The DNC said no -- the national committee -- and tried to bully the states. You who preach of bottom-up power didn't rush to defend the people. You've disgraced yourselves -- all of you. Amy Goodman, John Nichols, Katrina vanden Heuvel, go down the list. People needed you (in this country -- maybe that's why you didn't give a damn?) and you ignored them. Don't pretend otherwise. You refused to buck the system. You embarrassed yourselves and you exposed yourselves.
Now your candidate of choice didn't win and it's time to act like Florida didn't matter. 1,708,489 people matter. They damn well matter. They're more important than a single candidate and they are damn well more important than independent media which stamps it's feet like the White House upset over Hamas' victory and the MSM that echoed that anger. If I go further, Jim will hit the roof because we're addressing the slams and slurs of the people -- of we the people -- by 'independent' media over and over during this campaign.
This is a big issue and it's always a been a HUGE issue to this community. Long before a book was written exploding myths (that the author repeated in a bad column about Montana), we addressed this topic in November 2004 (click here, here, here and here). This isn't a new issue to the community and no one mistakes it for being "about Hillary." It's about the people and independent media makes it clear that they don't care about the people -- especially when the people don't take their marching orders from independent media. They've had a non-stop hissy fit. Now they want to turn on the Democrats of Florida -- the ones they couldn't support when they needed support. We don't play that game here. But all independent media has offered is a bunch of games. Take Mitch Perry -- allegedly reporting for Free Speech Radio News yesterday -- providing a quote from the Bambi campaign but none from the Hillary campaign. Liar Patrick Cannon whines, "Since Barack did not campaign here in Florida he is at an extreme disadvantage." What a lie. He held a press conference -- in violation of the rules -- in Tampa in September and he read ads. That's a campaign. He's the only candidate who did that. Not only does 'reporter' Perry allow that lie to get repeated, Perry couldn't be bothered with the Clinton or Edwards camp. When your goal is not reporting or free speech or people power, you LIE and then you LIE some more. And 'independent' media has truly shown its ass. Ron Fournier (AP) tried explaining reality in October of last year noting, "The truth is that while Obama showed foreign policy savvy and an ability to keenly analyze both sides of an issue in his October 2202 warnings on Iraq, the political upside of his position rivaled any risk. And, once elected to the U.S. Senate two years later, Obama waited months to show national leadership on iraq. Even now, as he hopes to ride his anti-war credentials to the White House, Obama's views on how to end the conflict differ little from those of Democratic rivals who voted in the fall of 2002 to give President Bush authority to wage war." But reality is to be attacked by Little Media -- attacked, ignored and distorted -- because they don't appear to practice journalism.
Mike Gravel remains in the Democratic race though some pretend otherwise. John Edwards dropped out today (here for CBS and AP story which is text and video). Neither Hillary or Bambi could pledge to end the illegal war by 2013 if elected president (nor did Edwards agree to make that pledge). That's reality. If Hillary gets the nomination, having slimed her so, it would be a lot harder for 'independent' media to abandon the illegal war as they did in 2004 to pimp a Democratic presidential campaign. It's getting harder and harder for the Bambi groupies to promote Barack as a candidate who will end the illegal war (hence the need for all those attacks on Hillary by 'independent' media) and, as Chris Fusco and Tim Novak (Chicago Sun Times) point out, Bambi announced last night he was giving away $72,650 to make up for the equivalent of donations from federally indicted Tony Rezko. That brings the current total of monies connected to Rezko that Bambi's 'given away' to $157,385. "Given away"? Obama already ran on that money many times over.
July tenth through thirteenth is when the Green Party will be holding their National Nominating Convention in Chicago. Click here for the Green Party News Center, here for a database of Green candidates, here for video of the Green presidential candidates and of course, if it's Green news, Kimberly Wilder (On The Wilder Side) is probably posting about it. The Green Party has scheduled another presidential candidate forum for February 2nd at Busboys & Poets in DC (14th and V Streets) at ten in the morning -- Jesse Johnson and Kent Mesplay are confirmed to appear others may or may not. More info click here. Yesterday on KPFK's Uprising Radio, Sonali Kolhatkar spoke with Daniel Brezenoff of the Green Party about the Green Party's press statement regarding those selling out the illegal war and offering a strong critique of the Democratic candidates. "I think people, American voters, want to get out of Iraq. We've been trained to have very little faith and to kind of settle for these people in their suits and ties who are going to continue things as they are."
This as Kimberly Wilder (On the Wilder Side) reports, "Ralph Nader in. Ralph Nader announced his presidential exploratory committee." At the site, Peter Miguel Camejo, Matt Gonzalez, Theresa Amato, Jason Kafoury, Sally Soriano, Matthew Zawisky, Nate Coppernoll, Julie Coyle and Carl Mayer have posted a statement: "Maybe the Democrats and Republicans who will nominate Presidential candidates this year who will stand up against the war profiteers, the nuclear industry, the credit card industry, the corporate criminals, big oil, and the drug and health insurance industries. We doubt it. But hope springs eternal. In the meantime, take a few minutes and explore with us an idea. The idea is this -- 1,000 citizens in every Congressional district. Each and every one committed to challenging the corporate powers that have a hammerlock on our political and economic systems. Organized citizen power facing off against corporate power. In this election year -- 2008. Instead of spending this election year sitting back and watching the corporate candidates spin their vapid mantras -- hope, experience, change. Instead of spending the year complaining about inertia, exhaustion, and apathy. Let us instead weigh the possibility of pulling together half a million dedicated citizens collectively rising up off our couches and organizing a ground force in every Congressional district in the country. A ground force of citizens who are informed, committed, tenacious advocates for a just future." Rick Klein (ABC News) reports that Nader says "that he will launch another presidential bid if he's convinced he can raise enough money to appear on the vast majority of state ballots this fall. Nader, who ran as an independent candidate in each of the past three presidential elections, told ABCNews.com that he will run in 2008 if he is convinced over the next month that he would be able to raise $10 million over the course of the campaign -- and attract enough lawyers willing to work free of charge to get his name on state ballots. Nader said he filed papers with the Federal Election Commission and launched a Web sites after Dennis Kucinich, a liberal Ohio congressman, announced his decision to withdraw from the presidential race last week." CNN quotes him stating, "John Edwards, the banner of Democratic Party populism, is dropping out, and Dennis Kucinich dropped out earlier, so in terms of voters who are at least interested in having major areas of injustice, depravations, and solutions discussed in a presidential campaign, they might be interested in my exploratory effort."
Cynthia McKinney declared her intent to run for the Green Party presidential nomination last year. Rob Redding Jr. (The Washington Continent) observes, "She is sharp on the issues and brings Greens a candidate with a proven policy track record, based on the fact she has served in Congress. Because of her congressional record and unique issue selection -- one of her favorite subjects is COINTELPRO -- she just may be able to pull many blacks of the Democratic party plantation." Author, poet, activist and Death Row prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal has endorsed McKinney (audio link).
iraq
brad mccall
iraq veterans against the war
kpfkuprising radiosonali kolhatkar
the washington postamit r. paley
leila fadelmcclatchy newspapers
kimberly wilder
charlie savage
the new york times
npr
sex and politics and screeds and attitude
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Clinton's apologists include Gloria Steinem and too many other feminists, who should know better than to betray the women's movement's commitment to peace in favor of simplistic gender politics. It is disturbing, not because they conclude that Clinton is the best candidate, but because they refuse to challenge their candidate to be better.
Robert Scheer, shut up.
No one thinks your trashy work -- like the Playboy 'writing' -- rose to the level of journalism. You have been a centrist Democrat throughout your old age and you only fool the kiddies today.
The two-faced, no-standards Scheer wants to whine (for his long decaying manhood?) that Clinton's supporters "refuse to challenge their candidate to be better." But Scheer has no problem with the homophobia used by Bambi and hasn't even bothered to write about that. He's never "challegend" his candidate on that. Gay rights aren't an issue to close minded Little Bobby who was a joke at Ramparts and remains one today. Yeah, I'll go back there, I'll go way back and talk about what a pompous blowhard he was even then. He wrote badly then as well.
But he tempered his politics (then still a little to the left of the Democratic Party and to the left of electoral politics) and repeatedly watered them down to stay on at the Los Angeles Times for years and years. Now he cheers a war hawk (Bambi) and trashes another (Clinton) and wants to lecture Gloria Steinem? Steinem's lived up to her stated purposes.
Scheer's just one more of the hidden machinery behind the Bambi campaign. The little-bit faction that hopes they can toss some crumbs to the masses as a distraction to get what they really want which is not about helping the people. Again, the thing to do with Bambi -- who is more damaging than Clinton -- is look to where the support really comes from. Not the idiots like Scheer (who need money -- really need money, he's just a beggar these days). Not the people donating to their campaigns. The people behind the scenes. Bambi is the same nonsense that got Jimmy Carter elected.
Young people may think that's a good thing. It's not. Carter's presidency was horrible. He's done a nice job out of office. But he was a horrible president in every way. The same institutions that line up behind Bambi lined up behind Carter.
Like Bambi, Carter was an alleged outsider. Neither were outsiders. They are the choice of a faction of the controlling interests in this country. Bambi's supposed to calm the system (that's what his real supporters argue). Some idiots like Laura Flanders don't catch on because they are really idiots. But that is the reality.
Carter was brought in as an illegal war and abuses in the executive branches had convinced Americans that the entire system was rotten to the core. Voting had been something like 65% in the 1960s. It would drop about 10%. Ford was not the choice against Carter because it was thought Carter would restore 'faith' in the system.
That's why Carter became president. That's why the same factions (who can only succeed when people don't grasp they're being lied to) want Bambi in. He's supposed to convince Americans that the system isn't rotten and, while in office, continue the same policies more or less -- the way Jimmy Carter did.
Vote for who ever you want but don't buy into the lie that beggers are pimping. Beggers need money. They're whores actually. That may be rude of me to say since I have never lacked for money. But they're whores on the make. The ones who control the monies tell them when to dance and how -- which is what they do. That is why independent media has lined up against Hillary and sold pleasing lies about Bambi.
They're little dancing monkeys who don't want upset their pimps or johns. So they whore themselves out a little bit more each day, disgracing themselves and lying to people.
The factions pushing Bambi (the ones with money and power, the ones whose names don't get repeated often in the 'coverage') also push him because of the cushy life he has led. Working class voters do not identify with him. Hillary Clinton was middle class. Real middle class, not the lie Americans are told where they think, "I have a roof over my head and food on the table, I'm middle class!" No, in most cases you are the working poor. You are victims of a gamed system that exists to feed you pleasing lies, not unlike the pleasing lies Robert Scheer, Laura Flanders, Amy Goodman, et al feed you about Bambi.
Hillary isn't 'exotic' and the middle class roots stick out. That offends the sensibilities of some.
Vote for who you want but do yourself a favor and start holding the alleged "independent" media accountable. I'm seeing that happen and it's a great thing. Expose the liars. Let them know they can't sell you out, the ones they depend on, just to advance themselves.
Vote for who you want. Vote Clinton, vote Bambi, vote Green, vote Nader, don't vote. But don't buy into the garbage you're being fed. Bambi exists to 'save' the system. That's why the likes of Katrina support him. They really aren't interested in fixing the problems facing Americans. That's why, as a friend of C.I.'s who wrote for the magazine for years, notes that they refuse to cover the daily scandals coming out of DC. Not sex scandals but the very real scandals that destroy the lives of so many. That's not just war in Iraq, that's war on the working class.
Do yourself a favor and never read whores like Robert Scheer again. Submerge yourself in Howard Zinn. If you're a Democrat, start reading socialist publications. Broaden your horizons and step outside the two-party narrative even for a moment to grasp how ugly the current system is. Bambi's not a reformer. He is a pill that will put America to sleep and, by the end of his first term, will be considered a failure (at which point we'll have a Republican just like him in office). He's intended to be a failure. That's how the system works.
Every now and then you get a reformer in one of the two parties (not a reformer in every aspect, but they reform a tiny bit and are hailed as 'legends') and that's the best we can ever hope for until we wake up to reality as a country. It's why, year after year, we get further and further from the Constitution.
Want to understand presidential elections? See the comedy Trading Places. It tells more reality than a full season of Aaron Sorkin's bad writing. Sorry that I can't fake a lie and cheer a system that is falling apart. Sorry that I can applaud Puppet 2008. That's all Bambi is just as that was all Bully Boy was. Both campaign on The Unbearable Lightness of Nothing because they have no fixes to offer that will help people. They are pushed because they will game the system.
Robert Kennedy Jr. is a reformer. His endorsement should clue you in to what you should have already grasped, Hillary is one as well. How much of one? I have no idea. But if you're set on voting for Bambi or her, you need to grasp that there are liars who talk 'dreams' that turn into the American nightmare -- such as No Child Left Behind which was pushed by Bully Boy and Ted Kennedy -- and then there are reformers. How much impact they will have is dependent upon the people. They will never alter the system itself. They are reformers, not saviors.
They will do something that -- in the long term -- is not life altering but will improve the lives of the average American somewhat. That's what Teddy Roosevelt did to cite a Republican. There is not a great deal of difference in the two parties historically or presently.
Hillary's fixes may be small. I personally believe they'd be more along the lines of social issues -- e.g. gay rights and reproductive rights.
But she's not going to save the country and Bambi's not going to. Bambi, however, is not a reformer. He is more of a war hawk than Hillary and he will lull the American people into sleep -- as Carter did -- and within three years of being in office the country -- even Democrats -- will be outraged by his policies and actions.
I've already stated, unless Mike Gravel drops out before my state's primary, I'm voting for him. I know he's not going to win. But he stood up when others wouldn't during Vietnam and he's stood up today. He's told enough truths to frighten people which is why he's shut out of the debates. Kucinich didn't frighten anyone. He was the UFO ha-ha guy.
Ralph Nader is exploring a run. Whether you want to vote for him or not, you should make an effort to find out what he stands for. That's not go read the Nader haters and decide based on that. Cynthia McKinney is also running and you should follow her race as well.
Laura Flanders is playing the pied piper of "power to the people" but it is a pose. I've seen others advance themselves with that nonsense before. She's revealed she's a fraud and fake with her fawning pieces over the homophobic Obama campaign.
Change will not come at the top. If you want to save the country, consider voting a Green in at least one race even if you're not a Green. If you're a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, consider voting for a Green in a state or local race. That's where the change will come from and building up a real third party (I'm not sure, honestly, that nationally the Greens want to be a third-party, they seemed content, in 2004, to be a kid-brother to the Democratic Party).
Laura Flanders talks a good talk until the pressure's on. The pressure's on now and you see the real Laura Flanders. C.I. had a huge rip-apart of her in the snapshot. It'll probably be carried over to Third. But Laura Flanders has turned her back on her own statements and I honestly think, as she hits the road to promote the soft cover version of her book, people should take the hard cover versions they already bought, show up at events and toss it at her. Not to injure her but to let her know that the jig is up and her little song & dance of the last four years has been revealed -- by herself -- to be nothing but an act. If you're a community member, you read Marcia's column Tuesday in Hilda's Mix. Marcia nailed one aspect of it completely.
C.I. doesn't run the newsletters. C.I. was as surprised by the column as all members except Hilda and Marcia herself were. But when that newsletter went out and C.I. read it, C.I. immediately pulled the links to Flanders.
I'm not going to steal Marcia's argument. I am going to say she is 100% right. On my end, I will add, again, that Flanders has demonstrated she is a fraud. C.I. pulled her from The Common Ills and Third and called Sunny (I was in a session) to ask her to check with me to see if I linked to her? I didn't. But if I had, just reading Marcia's wonderful column, I would have delinked from Laura Flanders' sorry ass.
This is really a great gift we're receiving. We're seeing what frauds make up 'independent media.' I grasped that at the tail end of Vietnam. That's why I never give them money. They are liars. They can't get work in the real press so they bill themselves as 'alternative.' They preach standards but when the rubber hits the road (as with Bambi now), they toss aside the standards. I'm not surprised because I saw it happen with the Carter cheerleaders. (Carter wasn't the most liberal choice the Dems had to offer in 1976 by any means.)
Your change is going to have to come with you. If you see the ballot box as a means of change, the best gift you can give to democracy is to vote -- in at least one race -- a third party. Again, make it a local race if you're a dyed-in-the-wool Dem. But find one way to vote for genuine change and not the sop that's being tossed out.
(Some in MSM and some in independent media are worth following. I'm speaking of the fact that you have a huge number of liars in both.)
In terms of education, pick up some socialist periodicals and get a real critique of the candidates, not the faux critiques that are offered in 'independent' media. Educate yourself by picking up some Howard Zinn. Go back a little further and read Charles Beard (and his work with Mary Ritter Beard). The Joe Kleins of the world (even when they're called "Robert Scheer" or "Katrina vanden Heuvel") aren't going to educate you. That's not why they exist. They exist to paint pretty word pictures that lull you into conformity. It's why Flanders can promote a book and write a column in complete opposition to it.
"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Wednesday, January 30, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, Ralph Nader gears up to run for the presidency while John Edwards drops out, Little Media stomps its tiny feet over the Florida Democratic primary, Bully Boy says "Can too!" to permanent bases in Iraq, attacks on the press, educators and officials continue, and more.
Starting with war resistance. Brad McCall self-checkout of the US military and went to Canada. His first attempt to get into Canada last fall found him stopped at the border, questioned about being in the military and then detained. On his second attempt, he made it into the country. He is now attempting to receive safe harbor. Earlier this month, at his website, he addressed those making threatening comments:
First off, to address these threats, I openly invite you to make an attempt at hogtying me and dumping me at the US border, for you will, my dear friend, not succeed in this attempt.
Nextly, in defense of myself: I am a deserter. I willingly admit this. I am fighting for my beliefs. I will not back down. You ask why I do not just serve my time in Ft. Leavenworth? Well, friends, I know, as well as you do that if I subjected myself to that punishment, I would be completely ineffective in fighting for the cause of the anti-war movement. So, I will fight going to prison as long as I can. I have a voice, and I will be heard.
You can make your voice heard by the Canadian parliament which has the ability to pass legislation to grant war resisters the right to remain in Canada. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
Meanwhile IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:
In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan
March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'."
Staying in the US, Charlie Savage (Boston Globe) reports, "President Bush this week declared that he has the power to bypass four laws, including a prohibition against using federal funds to establish permanent US military bases in Iraq, that Congress passed as part of a new defense bill. Bush made the assertion in a signing statement that he issued late Monday after signing the National Defense Authorization Act for 2008. In the signing statement, Bush asserted that four sections of the bill unconstitutionally infringe on his powers, and so the executive branch is not bound to obey them." Elana Schor (Guardian of London) notes, "Bush's attempt this week to sidestep the permanent bases law, which aims to stop him from creating an indefinite US military presence in Iraq, may become as controversial as the signing statement sidestepping the torture ban. Such bases are broadly unpopular with Iraqis, who have voiced fears of an ongoing US occupation, and Bush's political opponents are suspicious of the administration's intentions along similar lines. Defence secretary Robert Gates this week continued the Bush administration's serial denials of any plans to build permanent bases." As Dan Froomkin (Washington Post) observes, "The overall message to Congress was clear: I'm not bound by your laws." The New York Times editorial board notes that Bully Boy's rejected a commission authorized by Congress to determine waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as this, "It's glaringly obvious why Mr. Bush rejected the fourth provision, which states that none of the money authorized for military purposes may be used to establish permanent military bases in Iraq. It is more evidence, as if any were needed, that Mr. Bush never intended to end this war, and that he still views is as the prelude to an unceasing American military presence in Iraq."
Moving to England. In the September 14, 2007 snapshot, noted the UK's Opinion Research Business' study of Iraqi deaths which found that "the 1.2 million figure was reasonable." Today the ORB announces that they've gone over the "earlier work" and that over one million Iraqis have died since the start of the illegal war and, allowing for the margin of error, note "the estimated range is between 946,000 and 1,120,000." In a press release, they note, "Detailed analysis (which is available on our website) indicates that over two-fifths of households in Baghdad have lost a family member, higher than in any other area of the country. Meanwhile among those willing to declare their doctrine (and for quite obvious reasons about half those interviewed prefer to simply describe themselves as Muslims) those from Sunni households (33%) were significantly more likely to say the conflict had claimed a household member. The respective figure for Shias being half that figure (16%)."
Leila Fadel and Hassan al Jubouri (McClatchy Newspapers) report on the discovery of nine headless corpses yesterday, "The nine, including three women, had been targeted because they were suspected of being part of a local awakening council, or concerned local citizens group, that was working with U.S. troops to fight al Qaida in Iraq, said a police officer involved in the investigation. The officer said the nine headless bodies were found with two DVDs showing one of the dead men confessing that he was a member of an awakening council and another man refusing to confess." The 'Awakening' Council are thugs put on the US dime to become collaborators and whose 'loyalities' can not be bought. The arming of the Sunni thugs has alarmed many but especially the Shi'ite thugs the US previously put in charge. Actual Iraqis will not be allowed to rule their country as long as the US continues the illegal war and occupation. In Baghdad, Amit R. Paley (Washington Post) reports, the US military intends to "increase the number of garrisons in the city from 75 to 99 by June".
Meanwhile, Reuters reports today that Aala Abdul-Kareem was shot dead outside of Balad last night and that the journalists working for al-Furat TV (Shi'ite TV channel) was 29-years-old and the father of two children. CBS and AP add that a "female correspondent and camera assistant were wounded from the roadside bombing." Reporters Without Borders identifies Fatima Al-Hassina as the correspondent and Haidar Kadhem as the assistant while also noting "two Dajla TV crews were roughed up by police yesterday in Diyala province, northeast of the capital" -- "Reporter Khaled Saleh and cameraen Laith Hamid of the Egypt-based satellite TV station Dala were physically attacked yesterday by a senior police officer in Baquba, the capital of Diayla province . . . while covering a conference on national reconciliation at the prefecture's headquarters. The police officer did not want them to attend. The Journlistic Freedoms Observatory reported that another Dajla crew, cameraman Adnan Khader and reporter Sawssan Al-Dulaymi, were beaten and briefly detained by police officers in Baladruz . . . for filming police trying to get fuel from a service station without waiting in line."
Bombings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing that claimed the life 1 police officer and left four more wounded, two people wounded by another Baghdad bombing, five security members injured by two bombings "underneath Ghadeer bridge," a Baghdad mortar attack wounded three people and, dropping back to yesterday, an Anbar car bombing that claimed the life of 1 member of an "Awakening" Council and left three more wounded.
Shootings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports, in the continued targeting of academics, Dr. Khaleel Ibraheem ("head of Sharia in the college of the Islamic sciences in Mosul University") was shot dead along with "one of his students" in Mosul and a home invasion in Diyala Province that resulted in the death of one man and wounded his daughter and two sons. In the continued attacks on officials, KUNA reports, "A district governor was wounded Wednesday in an armed attack in southern Kirkuk, at a time when authorities worked out a security plan to prevent the influx of armed groups from neighboring Mosul. A police source told KUNA that armed men opened fire at the convoy of Taleb Mohammad Mustafa, the governor of Salman Bek district, southern Kirkuk, seriously wounding him and his driver."
Kidnappings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 people were kidnapped in Diyala Province today.
Corpses?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad. Reuters notes, "The beheaded bodies of two brothers were found in the town of Tuz Khurmato . . . They had been kidnapped by gunmen a week ago." KUNA reports 2 "human heads" found in Kirkuk today.
Turning to US politics and the coverage of them. As Mike predicted last night, Amy Goodman would get creative with Florida's Democratic Party. She did so today. "Uncontested," crowed Obama supporter Amy Goodman of the primary yesterday. Others rushed to add more spin. Florida voters spoke. For those who have forgotten it, post-2000 elections, well into 2004, Little Media couldn't shut up about the popular vote in the 2000 presidential election. Then, you understand, people mattered. Their voices mattered. But today? They don't matter. Today all Little Media's railing against the electoral college and pretending to give a damn about the direct vote, the voice of the people is revealed as ONE BIG FRAUD. Liars. That is the word. John Nichols lied yesterday -- as Rebecca pointed out at last night -- and his lie that appeared at The Nation yesterday is all over today including at TPM Cafe "wwjb" embarrasses him or her self by citing Nichols' false claim: "On Sunday, she flew to Florida, violating the pledge all the major Democratic contenders has made to avoid campainging in the state that scheduled its primary earlier than was allowed by the Democratic National Convention." In fairness to "wwjb," prior to this election, Nichols was someone you could take on face value. However, like so many in allegedly 'independent' media, he's disgraced himself and the stain on his name will endured long after the Democratic primary and long after the 2008 elections. You can't just lie and get away with it. If follows you forever and a journalist -- even a columnist -- is not allowed to do that. Reality noted by CNN yesterday, "Clinton attended permitted fund-raisers in Florida on Sunday and planned to appear with supporters there after polls closed." In addition, Obama ran commercials in Florida (he claims it being a "national buy" allows him an exception but the DNC has said no). Nichols leaves out that, he leaves out the Clinton was a fundraiser which is allowed and he left out the fact that Bambi's been in and out of Florida for fundraiser and, in fact, broke a rule in September while in Florida. Via TaylorMarsh.com, William March and Elaine Silverstrini (The Tampa Tribune) reported that following a Tampa fundraiser, Obama met with the press to take questions: "The pledge covers anything referred to in Democratic National Committee rules as 'campaigning,' and those include 'holding news conferences.' Obama seemed unaware the pledge he signed prohibits news conferences. Asked whether he was violating it, he said, 'I was just doing you guys a favor." The same article notes that Obama pledged at the fundraiser -- regarding the delegates the DNC is threatening to strip Florida of -- to "do what's right by Florida voters."
To recap, Clinton attended a permitted fundraiser as Bambi has done. Unlike Bambi, Clinton did not hold a press briefing.
Another lie being tossed around is that Hillary won Florida on her name. As if Bambi hasn't been dubbed a 'rock star' for how many years now? As if the people in Florida don't have TVs or newspapers. Florida's actually more of an indication than any other primary thus far. Most states do not get endless face time with the candidates. (Which is why Michigan and Florida moved up their primary dates. They were tired of it. They should be tired of it. There's no reason in the world that each presidential election cycle must revolve around what Iowa and New Hampshire want.) Senator and failed 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry was too busy to step into most states. In Texas, he dispatched Teresa Heinz Kerry to represent the campaign's attempt to reach the 'common' voter -- and at a hundred dollars a plate for the Dallas lunch, what could be more 'common'? (I'm speaking of the primary. In the general election, Heinz-Kerry was dispatched to other areas of Texas and was a stronger candidate than her husband.) We could go state by state but community members in Texas and Hawaii are the most vocal (and have been from the start) about the nonsense of a primary system that always relegates them as unimportant. Most primary voters will be deciding on factors that do not include hearing the candidate speak or endless face time.
Democratic voters in Florida made their decision and it was Hillary Clinton. It is a huge disservice to them to imply that they do not matter. Of course they matter. People turned out in huge numbers to vote. They voted their choice and the fact that 'independent' media doesn't like the choice shouldn't result in the dismissal of what happened: Hillary won Florida because the people there picked her. CNN notes, "Clinton led strongly among women, who made up nearly 60 percent of turnout. . . . Clinton also led among men in general, but by a much narrower margin -- 43 percent to 38 percent for Obama. She's also led strongly among Latino voters, who made up 12 percent of Tuesday's voters." We're seeing the same petulance we usually see from Bambi -- he's dismissed it as a "beauty contest" -- which would make him the "ugly girl"? It's certainly "ugly" for Obama to dismiss the people of Florida and their choice in that manner. It's flat out rude. Florida Democrats issued this statement: "Florida Democrats today surpassed the total combined vote in the first four 'early states', topped the total population of New Hampshire, shattered the previous state record for turnout in a Democratic Presidential Primary, and even broke the previous record for turnout in ANY Democratic primay in Florida. Incredibly, Democratic turnout has exceeded 1,708,489 voters with 97% of precints reporting -- only 195,074 less than Florida Republicans whose turnout was relatively dismal, considering five multi-million dollar GOP presidential campaigns were working the state for months. Republicans appear to have even failed to meet their own expected turnout, which was rumored to be between 2.2 and 2.5 million." Florida's Democratic Party Chair Karen L. Thurman is quoted stating, "Florida Demorats have spoken, and they are being heard loud and clear. More than one and a half million Democratic voters went to the polls and made a powerful collective statement. The nation's largest battleground state proved today that America wants change. Democrats clearly have the momentum in Florida and across this country. No matter the challenges we face, Florida Democrats will deliver for this country in November just like they did today. This is an incredible night for the people of Florida!"
Indeed it is. Little Media talks a bunch of crap -- they're demonstrated it's just crap -- about how people matter. They gas bagged about the electoral college after the 2000 elections. Reality appears to be they don't give a damn about the public. They don't care that Florida set a new record for turnout in a Democratic primary. They don't care that more people voted in the Democratic primary yesterday than took part in the Democratic primaries or caucuses in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina combined. All four put together did not even meet the turnout in Florida. Over 500,000 more Democrats in Florida voted yesterday than in all the four states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina) combined. Don't dismiss this, don't dismiss this many people.
It's not politically smart to do so. For one thing, Florida has too many electoral votes. But forget 'strategy,' it's just not fair. And Little Media needs to get their act together and accept the fact that the candidate they've stroked and fondeled and attempted to cram down everyone's throats isn't that well received and may -- The Nation shudders! -- not get the nomination. Too damn bad. Get over it. You're allegedly "journalists" and you're supposedly concerned with the "people." But not one of you did one damn thing to stand up for Michigan or Florida. Diane Rehm did. (In this communtiy, all sites supported those voters.) The DNC said no -- the national committee -- and tried to bully the states. You who preach of bottom-up power didn't rush to defend the people. You've disgraced yourselves -- all of you. Amy Goodman, John Nichols, Katrina vanden Heuvel, go down the list. People needed you (in this country -- maybe that's why you didn't give a damn?) and you ignored them. Don't pretend otherwise. You refused to buck the system. You embarrassed yourselves and you exposed yourselves.
Now your candidate of choice didn't win and it's time to act like Florida didn't matter. 1,708,489 people matter. They damn well matter. They're more important than a single candidate and they are damn well more important than independent media which stamps it's feet like the White House upset over Hamas' victory and the MSM that echoed that anger. If I go further, Jim will hit the roof because we're addressing the slams and slurs of the people -- of we the people -- by 'independent' media over and over during this campaign.
This is a big issue and it's always a been a HUGE issue to this community. Long before a book was written exploding myths (that the author repeated in a bad column about Montana), we addressed this topic in November 2004 (click here, here, here and here). This isn't a new issue to the community and no one mistakes it for being "about Hillary." It's about the people and independent media makes it clear that they don't care about the people -- especially when the people don't take their marching orders from independent media. They've had a non-stop hissy fit. Now they want to turn on the Democrats of Florida -- the ones they couldn't support when they needed support. We don't play that game here. But all independent media has offered is a bunch of games. Take Mitch Perry -- allegedly reporting for Free Speech Radio News yesterday -- providing a quote from the Bambi campaign but none from the Hillary campaign. Liar Patrick Cannon whines, "Since Barack did not campaign here in Florida he is at an extreme disadvantage." What a lie. He held a press conference -- in violation of the rules -- in Tampa in September and he read ads. That's a campaign. He's the only candidate who did that. Not only does 'reporter' Perry allow that lie to get repeated, Perry couldn't be bothered with the Clinton or Edwards camp. When your goal is not reporting or free speech or people power, you LIE and then you LIE some more. And 'independent' media has truly shown its ass. Ron Fournier (AP) tried explaining reality in October of last year noting, "The truth is that while Obama showed foreign policy savvy and an ability to keenly analyze both sides of an issue in his October 2202 warnings on Iraq, the political upside of his position rivaled any risk. And, once elected to the U.S. Senate two years later, Obama waited months to show national leadership on iraq. Even now, as he hopes to ride his anti-war credentials to the White House, Obama's views on how to end the conflict differ little from those of Democratic rivals who voted in the fall of 2002 to give President Bush authority to wage war." But reality is to be attacked by Little Media -- attacked, ignored and distorted -- because they don't appear to practice journalism.
Mike Gravel remains in the Democratic race though some pretend otherwise. John Edwards dropped out today (here for CBS and AP story which is text and video). Neither Hillary or Bambi could pledge to end the illegal war by 2013 if elected president (nor did Edwards agree to make that pledge). That's reality. If Hillary gets the nomination, having slimed her so, it would be a lot harder for 'independent' media to abandon the illegal war as they did in 2004 to pimp a Democratic presidential campaign. It's getting harder and harder for the Bambi groupies to promote Barack as a candidate who will end the illegal war (hence the need for all those attacks on Hillary by 'independent' media) and, as Chris Fusco and Tim Novak (Chicago Sun Times) point out, Bambi announced last night he was giving away $72,650 to make up for the equivalent of donations from federally indicted Tony Rezko. That brings the current total of monies connected to Rezko that Bambi's 'given away' to $157,385. "Given away"? Obama already ran on that money many times over.
July tenth through thirteenth is when the Green Party will be holding their National Nominating Convention in Chicago. Click here for the Green Party News Center, here for a database of Green candidates, here for video of the Green presidential candidates and of course, if it's Green news, Kimberly Wilder (On The Wilder Side) is probably posting about it. The Green Party has scheduled another presidential candidate forum for February 2nd at Busboys & Poets in DC (14th and V Streets) at ten in the morning -- Jesse Johnson and Kent Mesplay are confirmed to appear others may or may not. More info click here. Yesterday on KPFK's Uprising Radio, Sonali Kolhatkar spoke with Daniel Brezenoff of the Green Party about the Green Party's press statement regarding those selling out the illegal war and offering a strong critique of the Democratic candidates. "I think people, American voters, want to get out of Iraq. We've been trained to have very little faith and to kind of settle for these people in their suits and ties who are going to continue things as they are."
This as Kimberly Wilder (On the Wilder Side) reports, "Ralph Nader in. Ralph Nader announced his presidential exploratory committee." At the site, Peter Miguel Camejo, Matt Gonzalez, Theresa Amato, Jason Kafoury, Sally Soriano, Matthew Zawisky, Nate Coppernoll, Julie Coyle and Carl Mayer have posted a statement: "Maybe the Democrats and Republicans who will nominate Presidential candidates this year who will stand up against the war profiteers, the nuclear industry, the credit card industry, the corporate criminals, big oil, and the drug and health insurance industries. We doubt it. But hope springs eternal. In the meantime, take a few minutes and explore with us an idea. The idea is this -- 1,000 citizens in every Congressional district. Each and every one committed to challenging the corporate powers that have a hammerlock on our political and economic systems. Organized citizen power facing off against corporate power. In this election year -- 2008. Instead of spending this election year sitting back and watching the corporate candidates spin their vapid mantras -- hope, experience, change. Instead of spending the year complaining about inertia, exhaustion, and apathy. Let us instead weigh the possibility of pulling together half a million dedicated citizens collectively rising up off our couches and organizing a ground force in every Congressional district in the country. A ground force of citizens who are informed, committed, tenacious advocates for a just future." Rick Klein (ABC News) reports that Nader says "that he will launch another presidential bid if he's convinced he can raise enough money to appear on the vast majority of state ballots this fall. Nader, who ran as an independent candidate in each of the past three presidential elections, told ABCNews.com that he will run in 2008 if he is convinced over the next month that he would be able to raise $10 million over the course of the campaign -- and attract enough lawyers willing to work free of charge to get his name on state ballots. Nader said he filed papers with the Federal Election Commission and launched a Web sites after Dennis Kucinich, a liberal Ohio congressman, announced his decision to withdraw from the presidential race last week." CNN quotes him stating, "John Edwards, the banner of Democratic Party populism, is dropping out, and Dennis Kucinich dropped out earlier, so in terms of voters who are at least interested in having major areas of injustice, depravations, and solutions discussed in a presidential campaign, they might be interested in my exploratory effort."
Cynthia McKinney declared her intent to run for the Green Party presidential nomination last year. Rob Redding Jr. (The Washington Continent) observes, "She is sharp on the issues and brings Greens a candidate with a proven policy track record, based on the fact she has served in Congress. Because of her congressional record and unique issue selection -- one of her favorite subjects is COINTELPRO -- she just may be able to pull many blacks of the Democratic party plantation." Author, poet, activist and Death Row prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal has endorsed McKinney (audio link).
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Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Talking post
"Rezko Locked Up Until Trial Starts Feb. 25" (Brian Ross and Sara Kenigsberg, ABC News):
Accused Illinois political fixer Antoin "Tony" Rezko will be kept behind bars until his trial starts Feb. 25, a federal judge in Chicago ruled today.
Rezko's case has gained national prominence because of his close ties with Sen. Barack Obama and his role in helping to raise campaign money for the candidate. Obama is not considered a subject of the FBI investigation.
Rezko was arrested Monday after FBI agents learned Rezko had secretly received more than $3.5 million in a wire transfer from Beirut, Lebanon, a violation of his bail terms, according to prosecutors who said Rezko may have been preparing to flee the country prior to the trial.
It will certainly be interesting if Bambi's longterm friendship bites him in the butt. (Though I understand there's a non-Rezko issue that worries more people.) There was a lot of feedback on yesterday's post. Thank you for all of it.
Karen e-mailed to say she always loved Bobby Kennedy and hopes I would highlight the following.
"Kennedys for Clinton: She stands for Democrats and for the nation, these family members say" (Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kerry Kennedy, Los Angeles Times):
This is a wonderful year for Democrats. Our party is blessed with the most impressive array of primary candidates in modern history. All would make superb presidents.
By now you may have read or heard that our cousin, Caroline Kennedy, and our uncle, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, have come out in favor of Sen. Barack Obama. We, however, are supporting Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton because we believe that she is the strongest candidate for our party and our country.
While talk of unity and compromise are inspiring to a nation wary of divisiveness, America stands at a historic crossroads where real issues divide our political landscapes. Democrats believe that America should not be torturing people, eavesdropping on our citizens or imprisoning them without habeas corpus or other constitutional rights. We should not be an imperial power. We need healthcare for all and a clean, safe environment.
The loftiest poetry will not solve these issues. We need a president willing to engage in a fistfight to safeguard and restore our national virtues.
Karen, I was shocked when RFK was assassinated. I thought he was genuine. Karen was afraid that wouldn't be the case. I don't generally talk about him because I remember him touring in his campaign and I know many, many people -- especially student journalists then -- who were repeatedly hasseled by the Secret Service. For instance, a woman in California attempting to take a photo from the roof. Even after it was determined that it was a camera, she was still hasseled. My point there is that the Secret Service was very active and then they weren't. I've always felt RFK was allowed to be shot. Again, I know far too many people who were students then and had nothing but hassles attempting to photograph RFK. I don't know what to think about JFK's death. I haven't really explored it. But hearing this -- in real time -- over and over and then suddenly the Secret Service is just caught by surprise? It could have been an accident on their part. There's a fifty-fifty chance. I firmly believe that's not the case.
I confined my remarks to Caroline and Joe Kennedy yesterday and all but one sentence was Caroline. I did not call out John Jr. I really didn't know him. When he was starting up the magazine, I spoke to him once or twice while accompanying C.I. (George was the magazine.) I remember saying, when he shared some thoughts, "Your sister would hit the roof." He agreed. Maybe he was in a care free mood or maybe that's just how he was. But with Caroline, she had rules and regulations for the most minor brunch. She hasn't changed. (I also avoided discussing Maria Shriver -- I don't have anything bad to say about her but I know her through C.I.) My comments were about Caroline and Joe.
I think RFK would have been the best president the United States had ever had. In terms of his son, like John Jr., he's not just the 'son.' He's gone out and made his own life that includes monumental public service. He's not a 'keeper of the flame' who is known for only that reason. I've met Kathleen several times and I will say that one of the best things about that generation of Kennedys is that the women are a lot stronger. I don't believe I've ever met Kerry. But with both women, you're talking about adults who give. If anyone saw my comments as anti-Kennedy, let me correct that. I have met Ted Kennedy and casually been around him many times. Ted endorsed Obama as well. I did not feel the need to write about Ted.
My point with Caroline is that, for those of us who know her, she has imposed a long list of cannot-be-discussed-cannot-be-raised. Yet she gladly talks about the same topics -- publicly -- when she wants to talk about others. (She's also an extreme gossip.)
Outside the Kennedy clan, I could tell tales out of school about who's on board with Bambi for reasons that go back to the 70s, the post-Vietnam period. I'm really amazed no journalist has elected to write about that but then Bambi has gotten a pass repeatedly from the press. Bambi's got a very unsavory crowd around him. His undefined "change" will not be good for the United States and only fools haven't drawn the connections between X and X and X and X . . . These are the people who fought against the so-called "post-Vietnam syndrome." I'm not talking Sammy Power, I'm talking people with money who were on the outs during the Clinton era because they didn't come from that group. That's what a lot of the sniping really is about. It's why Katrina vanden Heuvel, for instance, supports Bambi.
"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Tuesday, January 29, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, Bully Boy bores the nation with more lies, Dems blow the chance to respond, Blackwater cries 'malpractice!' and more.
Starting with war resistance. Camilo Mejia is the first Iraq veteran to resist the illegal war. Yesterday, an interview with him was rebroadcast on KPFK. The station did have broadcasting problems yesterday and over the weekend. However, you can go to the KPFK archives or to Uprising Radio to hear the archived broadcast of Sonali Kolhatkar's interview with Mejia.
Camilo Mejia: Military justice is an oxymoron to me. I don't think the two words combine very well. The conviction rate in the military court room is 98 to 99%. So it's just basically a means for the military to enforce discipline and to punish dissent and disobedeince -- regardless of whether that disobedience is justified or not. And disobedience in the military is actually a duty when it's in response to an unlawful order which is the case of the entire war in Iraq which is illegitamate by international law standards. In the particular case of my trial we were basically denied basic guarantees, you know, that the law is supposed to afford a defendent. The vast majority of our witnesses were not allowed to testify. My reasons for not wanting to go back to Iraq were not allowed to reach the jury. My claims of war crimes were not allowed to reach the jury. My conscientious objector form was not allowed to reach the jury during the deliberations or the actual trial. And there was a lot of prejudice against me. I remember that the first day of the trial they had barricaded the entire block that the courthouse was in and they had working dogs sniffing around the courthouse and they had both military and civilian police officers patrolling the area. So the atmosphere was of them trying this incredibly dangerous, evil person.
Sonali Kolhatkar: Even though you turned yourself in.
Camilo Mejia: Even though I turned myself in and the basis of my defense was conscitious objection and non-violence. But the response on their part was to treat me as if I was some kind of like maximum security evil monster. So there was a lot of prejudice and a lot of violations of the law. Eventually, I think the military tried me politically, not legally, and they just sort of made a statement with my case that they would not tolerate dissent in the ranks and that they would not allow conscientious objection as a way out of this illegal war.
Sonali Kolhatkar: What is your current immigration status as well as your current military status? And, also, how much time did you serve in prison?
Camilo Mejia: Well my immigration status hasn't changed. I'm still a resident and that has been effected at all by
Sonali Kolhatkar: You never applied for citizenship?
Camilo Mejia: No, I never applied for citizenship. And my status with the military is that I'm on appellate leave because we are appealing the conviction. So I'm not really, for all practical purposes, I'm really not in the military anymore. I'm not wearing a uniform or training or reporting to any officers. And I was given a sentence of twelve months but I only served about nine -- a little bit less than nine -- because of good conduct, because I didn't get into any major problems in jail so I got out three months earlier.
Sonali Kolhatkar: And were you basically discharged with -- dishonorably discharged?
Camilo Mejia: No. My sentence was twelve months of incarciration in army jail, demotion to private from staff sergeant and a bad conduct discharge plus forfieture of my pay. . . . But the bad conduct discharge is not final until appeals are over. So we're appealing that and that means that I'm still in the military, I still have an i.d. I mean I don't get paid or anything but I'm still in the system.
Sonali Kolhatkar: Now is it important for you to be honorably discharged?
Camilo Mejia: It's important to set a precedent for people to have the right to apply as conscientious objectors and to bring to military courts the reasons why they don't want to participate in a war that they perceive as illegal and immoral. And I think that if war crimes are being committed we need to prosecute those who are committing those crimes beginning at the very top. Because of that I do think that it's important to get that honorable discharge -- not because I think there is honor in the actual discharge but I think it's a fight worth fighting.
Mejia reads from his book Road from Ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia during the interview.
Some war resisters attempt to seek asylum in Canada. Kathy Rumleski (London Free Press) reported on 20-year-old Josh Randall on Sunday who served in Iraq and elected to self-checkout and go to Canada. Like Brandon Hughey and Kimberly Rivera (two other war resisters in Canada), Josh Randall hails from Texas and was a medic. In Iraq, Randall's experiences included raiding a house where a young girl was left wounded "from explosive splinters" (from the US bombing the front door) and he was told he couldn't treat her, that she'd be fine at the local hospital. Similar incidents repeated and then came a US soldier who asked Randall "Why?" as he was dying. That was the final in a series of incidents that led Randall to decide to leave the military and go to Canada. He spoke with war resister Linjamin Mull on Saturday as part of the actions to lobby the Canadian Parliament to grant safe haven to war resisters.
You can still make your voice heard and three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
Meanwhile IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:
In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan
March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'."
Starting with the United States. Last night Bully Boy gave his State of the Union speech. Prior to the speech, the Pentagon noted that they needed $70 billion more dollars. With Dick Cheney and Nancy Pelosi behind him, Bully Boy delivered a lot of nonsense. Sadly, many Congressional members (from both parties) applauded or chuckled. It's not funny, it's not cute. And Nancy and Dick's smiles and whispers to one another may have demonstrated more than anything else why there has been no impeachment of the Bully Boy. Maura Reynolds and James Gerstenzang (Los Angeles Times) observe this of the Iraq section, "He offered no new details about plans for troop withdrawals. The administration is awaiting a new assessment from Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, scheduled for March. Bush also did not mention what has been widely cited as the major failure of the surge: the failure of the Iraqi government to take major steps toward national reconciliation." After he finished his blah-blah-blah the Democratic Party proved that nothing is as a weak as Democrat trying to be a Republican. See Kat's "Cowardly Kathleen Sebelius throws in the towel" and Rebecca's "kathleen sebelius is a dumb ass" a and note that, unlike Katrina vanden Heuvel, they didn't repeat any media myths to make their point. As KvH repeatedly makes the same mistake over and over, you have to wonder whether the magazine's editor (and publisher) bothers to read the magazine's own editorials? Ava and I will tackle that nonsense this weekend at The Third Estate Sunday Review. Today press secretary for the Pentagon, Geoff Morrell, noted Bully Boy's speech -- lied that Bully Boy was asking "Congress to fully fund our troops" (the bulk of the money goes to military contractors to waste on weapons research) and declared, "We are still $102 billion short of the money requested and necessary". Well quit begging, cut out some of the pork in your budget. He also gave lip service to the wounded. People would be better served ignoring that nonsense and listening to the second hour of today's The Diane Rehm Show where guests Dr. Barbara Romberg, journalist Kristin Henderson, Dr. Stephen Xenakis, columnist and author Tanya Biank and Karie Darga of Military Spouse Legacy Association.
Diane Rehm: I just have to say how outrageous that we send these young men and women into harms way and then, when they come back emotionally or physically injured, somehow we can't find the money to heal them. It's outrageous, just outrageous.
While the Democratic Party wasted their chance at a response last night (on that KvH was right), John Edwards, who is still in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, issued the following statement after Bully Boy's nonsense:
"The president tonight renewed his call for an economic recovery plan. But the plan he and Congress have offered leaves out tens of millions of Americans who need help the most. This plan would take months to have any impact, and the people I meet everyday on the campaign trail do not have months to wait. These people are hurting now and need this help now. Over the past seven years, typical workers' paychecks have failed to keep up with inflation, millions of families are facing the loss of their homes to foreclosures, health insurance premiums have doubled, and families are spending $1,000 more a year on gasoline. The State of the Union may be interesting political theater, but until we find bold solutions to the challenges facing the country, we will be stuck with the same old small, Washington answers."And in the chamber of the House of Representatives where the president speaks, even though this Congress stopped listening to him a while ago, they will still applaud and cheer him. The truth is that Washington is out of touch with what's happening across the country. Between now and January of 2009, Democrats must stand up to this president, stand up for what's right, so he does not continue to forget about the middle class in this country."
Turning to Iraq, Ned Parker and Saif Hameed (Los Angeles Times) report that yesterday the Iraqi Parliament met but they still haven't approved the 2008 budget and, in fact, "postponed a vote on" it. Still no vote. January 2008 is almost over. Possibly in 2010, a 2008 budget will be passed and Bully Boy can claim 'victory'? In other news, Reuters notes that over "600 people demonstrated in Abu Ghraib district on Baghdad's western outskirts against detentions by the Iraqi army in the area, police said." Meanwhile Andrew Gray (Reuters) reports an ongoing investigation into "allegations of misconduct against [US] soldiers over the deaths of several detainees in Baghdad last year" citing Paul Boyce (military spokesperson) who states the time frame is the "spring or summer of 2007 in the southern Rashid district of the Iraqi capital". This comes as the US military continues to attempt to sell the belief of 'detainees' (they're prisoners) and 'justice.' On Sunday, Rear Admiral Greg Smith gave a briefing that looked back on last week and included this, "On Thursday, many who had failed to live up to the rule of law were given a nce chance. In a ceremony at a coalition detention facility in Baghdad, 100 men . . . Sunni and Shi'a . . . were reintegrated back into their neighborhoods. After passing through a rigorous review board examination, determinations were made that these Iraqis were ready to become contributing citizens. Each of their cases was individually considered. Each of them made a pledge before an Iraqi judge . . . swearing to live peacefully from that day forward." From that day foward? Translation, the prisons are overcrowded and even sitting up 'tent cities' doesn't allow the US the space needed to continue to imprison people forever so we're thinning the ranks a little. Just a little. Smith bragged that 785 had been released for all of January. Last week, Omar Al-Faris (Canada's Jihad Unspun) reported "the US intends to build the giant prison in Anbar province that will facilitate thousands of Iraqi prisoners currently behind held in Camp Bucca in Basra, at Saddam International Airport in Baghdad, and at Susa in Sulaymaniya in northern Iraq. . . . International human rights organizations have estimated that there are about 35,000 Iraqi prisoners in US jails in Iraq, most of them at Camp Bucca near Basra but all the major US-run detention facilities in the country are said to be nearing capacity as the US continues to hold Muslims illegally and without recourse." Gulf Daily News noted "thousands of detainees" at the end of last month and that "More than 26,000 detainees are held in two US prisons and thousands more in Iraqi-run detention centres." That number would include the 220 children IRIN noted in October -- the ones they are denied permission to meet with. Last month the Committee for Women's and Children's Affairs in the Iraqi Parliament issued a call for the release of female prisoners. A recent report from the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (PDF format warning) entitled "Human Rights Report" covered the time period of April 1st through June 30th of this year expressed grave concerns about "continuing expansion of the detainee population," "absence of timely processing of detainees' cases" and, among other things, to remind: "There is no separation between human rights and international humanitarian law in Security Council Resolutions adopted under Chapter VII. In fact, the leading resolutions on Iraq, such as Resolution 1546 of June 2004, cite in the preamble: 'Affirming the importance of the rule of law, national reconciliation, respect for human rights including the rights of women, fundamental freedoms, and democracy'. This arguably applies to all forces operating in Iraq. The letter from the Government of Iraq attached to SC res. 1723 also states that 'The forces that make up MNF will remain committed to acting consistently with their obligations and rights under international law, including the law of armed conflict.' International law includes human rights law." Constructing prisons has been the 'answer' non-stop. It was the answer in 2004, in 2005 and on through today. How many prisons does one country need? IRIN noted in October of last year that "child prisoners between 13 and 17 are being accused of supporting insurgent and militias." But the 'answer' is always construct more prisons.
Construction is the topic James Glanz (New York Times) again explores via the report issued yesterday by Stuart W. Bowen Jr.'s office, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, which has "examined nearly 200 Parsons construction projects contained in 11 major 'job orders' paid for in a huge rebuilding contract. There were also three other nonconstruction orders. The total cost of the work to the United States was $365 million. The new report finds that 8 of 11 rebuilding orders were terminated by the United States before they were completed, for reasons including weak contract oversight, unrealistic schedules, a failure to report problems in a timely fashion and poor supervision by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which managed the contracts." James Glanz has owned this story throughout the illegal war and possibly the finest piece he's written on the subject of reconstruction in Iraq that also focuses on Parsons appeared in September of 2006 and is entitled "Congress Is Told of Failures of Rebuilding Work in Iraq." (Today's story is not given enough the space needed to tell the story as it needs to be told.)
Turning to some of the violence reported today . . .
Bombings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing wounded six civilians and four Iraqi soldiers, another Baghdad bombing left three police officers and five civilians wounded, while a third Baghdad bombing left three people wounded and a Baghdad mortar attack wounded two people. Dropping back to yesterday, Reuters notes that the attacks on officials continue with a "tribal leader" Abbas Jassim al-Dulaimi being targeted (and killed) via a bomb planted in his car.
Shootings?
Reuters notes a man was shot dead in Iskandariya, 2 police officers were shot dead in Mosul (with two more injured) and, in continued attacks on officials, there was an armed attack on "a local governor" in Sulaiman Pek today.
Corpses?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Mqudadiyah was the location for a discovery of "9 unidentified bodies by the road and also found 10 mutilated bodies some way away at noon today." Paul Tait (Reuters) adds, " Police said some of the nine complete bodies were partially decomposed while others had been killed more recently. The bodies were all handcuffed and blindfolded and had bullet wounds, police and hospital officials said.
The 10 heads found nearby were all also blindfolded, some with bullet wounds, said Ahmed Fouad, the chief of the morgue in Baquba hospital. Baquba is the provincial capital of ethnically and religiously mixed Diyala."
Turning to the topic of the mercenary corportation Blackwater, Jeremy Scahill (at Common Dreams) reports on the latest:
Last week in Currituck County, N.C., Superior Court Judge Russell Duke presided over the final step in securing the first criminal conviction stemming from the deadly actions of Blackwater Worldwide, the Bush administration's favorite mercenary company. Lest you think you missed some earth-shifting, breaking news, hold on a moment. The "criminals" in question were not the armed thugs who gunned down 17 Iraqi civilians and wounded more than 20 others in Baghdad's Nisour Square last September. They were seven nonviolent activists who had the audacity to stage a demonstration at the gates of Blackwater's 7,000-acre private military base in North Carolina to protest the actions of mercenaries acting with impunity -- and apparent immunity -- in their names and those of every American.
Meanwhile Robert O'Harrow Jr. (Washington Post) reports that Blackwater's latest attempt to avoid answering the families of the four Blackwater employees killed in Falluja in 2004 is to file charges against Wiley Rein -- Blackwater's own counsel -- claiming that they (Blackwater) are the victims of legal malpractice.
iraq
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iraq veterans against the war
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the diane rehm show
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mcclatchy newspapers
ned parkerthe los angeles times
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the washington post
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Accused Illinois political fixer Antoin "Tony" Rezko will be kept behind bars until his trial starts Feb. 25, a federal judge in Chicago ruled today.
Rezko's case has gained national prominence because of his close ties with Sen. Barack Obama and his role in helping to raise campaign money for the candidate. Obama is not considered a subject of the FBI investigation.
Rezko was arrested Monday after FBI agents learned Rezko had secretly received more than $3.5 million in a wire transfer from Beirut, Lebanon, a violation of his bail terms, according to prosecutors who said Rezko may have been preparing to flee the country prior to the trial.
It will certainly be interesting if Bambi's longterm friendship bites him in the butt. (Though I understand there's a non-Rezko issue that worries more people.) There was a lot of feedback on yesterday's post. Thank you for all of it.
Karen e-mailed to say she always loved Bobby Kennedy and hopes I would highlight the following.
"Kennedys for Clinton: She stands for Democrats and for the nation, these family members say" (Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kerry Kennedy, Los Angeles Times):
This is a wonderful year for Democrats. Our party is blessed with the most impressive array of primary candidates in modern history. All would make superb presidents.
By now you may have read or heard that our cousin, Caroline Kennedy, and our uncle, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, have come out in favor of Sen. Barack Obama. We, however, are supporting Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton because we believe that she is the strongest candidate for our party and our country.
While talk of unity and compromise are inspiring to a nation wary of divisiveness, America stands at a historic crossroads where real issues divide our political landscapes. Democrats believe that America should not be torturing people, eavesdropping on our citizens or imprisoning them without habeas corpus or other constitutional rights. We should not be an imperial power. We need healthcare for all and a clean, safe environment.
The loftiest poetry will not solve these issues. We need a president willing to engage in a fistfight to safeguard and restore our national virtues.
Karen, I was shocked when RFK was assassinated. I thought he was genuine. Karen was afraid that wouldn't be the case. I don't generally talk about him because I remember him touring in his campaign and I know many, many people -- especially student journalists then -- who were repeatedly hasseled by the Secret Service. For instance, a woman in California attempting to take a photo from the roof. Even after it was determined that it was a camera, she was still hasseled. My point there is that the Secret Service was very active and then they weren't. I've always felt RFK was allowed to be shot. Again, I know far too many people who were students then and had nothing but hassles attempting to photograph RFK. I don't know what to think about JFK's death. I haven't really explored it. But hearing this -- in real time -- over and over and then suddenly the Secret Service is just caught by surprise? It could have been an accident on their part. There's a fifty-fifty chance. I firmly believe that's not the case.
I confined my remarks to Caroline and Joe Kennedy yesterday and all but one sentence was Caroline. I did not call out John Jr. I really didn't know him. When he was starting up the magazine, I spoke to him once or twice while accompanying C.I. (George was the magazine.) I remember saying, when he shared some thoughts, "Your sister would hit the roof." He agreed. Maybe he was in a care free mood or maybe that's just how he was. But with Caroline, she had rules and regulations for the most minor brunch. She hasn't changed. (I also avoided discussing Maria Shriver -- I don't have anything bad to say about her but I know her through C.I.) My comments were about Caroline and Joe.
I think RFK would have been the best president the United States had ever had. In terms of his son, like John Jr., he's not just the 'son.' He's gone out and made his own life that includes monumental public service. He's not a 'keeper of the flame' who is known for only that reason. I've met Kathleen several times and I will say that one of the best things about that generation of Kennedys is that the women are a lot stronger. I don't believe I've ever met Kerry. But with both women, you're talking about adults who give. If anyone saw my comments as anti-Kennedy, let me correct that. I have met Ted Kennedy and casually been around him many times. Ted endorsed Obama as well. I did not feel the need to write about Ted.
My point with Caroline is that, for those of us who know her, she has imposed a long list of cannot-be-discussed-cannot-be-raised. Yet she gladly talks about the same topics -- publicly -- when she wants to talk about others. (She's also an extreme gossip.)
Outside the Kennedy clan, I could tell tales out of school about who's on board with Bambi for reasons that go back to the 70s, the post-Vietnam period. I'm really amazed no journalist has elected to write about that but then Bambi has gotten a pass repeatedly from the press. Bambi's got a very unsavory crowd around him. His undefined "change" will not be good for the United States and only fools haven't drawn the connections between X and X and X and X . . . These are the people who fought against the so-called "post-Vietnam syndrome." I'm not talking Sammy Power, I'm talking people with money who were on the outs during the Clinton era because they didn't come from that group. That's what a lot of the sniping really is about. It's why Katrina vanden Heuvel, for instance, supports Bambi.
"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Tuesday, January 29, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, Bully Boy bores the nation with more lies, Dems blow the chance to respond, Blackwater cries 'malpractice!' and more.
Starting with war resistance. Camilo Mejia is the first Iraq veteran to resist the illegal war. Yesterday, an interview with him was rebroadcast on KPFK. The station did have broadcasting problems yesterday and over the weekend. However, you can go to the KPFK archives or to Uprising Radio to hear the archived broadcast of Sonali Kolhatkar's interview with Mejia.
Camilo Mejia: Military justice is an oxymoron to me. I don't think the two words combine very well. The conviction rate in the military court room is 98 to 99%. So it's just basically a means for the military to enforce discipline and to punish dissent and disobedeince -- regardless of whether that disobedience is justified or not. And disobedience in the military is actually a duty when it's in response to an unlawful order which is the case of the entire war in Iraq which is illegitamate by international law standards. In the particular case of my trial we were basically denied basic guarantees, you know, that the law is supposed to afford a defendent. The vast majority of our witnesses were not allowed to testify. My reasons for not wanting to go back to Iraq were not allowed to reach the jury. My claims of war crimes were not allowed to reach the jury. My conscientious objector form was not allowed to reach the jury during the deliberations or the actual trial. And there was a lot of prejudice against me. I remember that the first day of the trial they had barricaded the entire block that the courthouse was in and they had working dogs sniffing around the courthouse and they had both military and civilian police officers patrolling the area. So the atmosphere was of them trying this incredibly dangerous, evil person.
Sonali Kolhatkar: Even though you turned yourself in.
Camilo Mejia: Even though I turned myself in and the basis of my defense was conscitious objection and non-violence. But the response on their part was to treat me as if I was some kind of like maximum security evil monster. So there was a lot of prejudice and a lot of violations of the law. Eventually, I think the military tried me politically, not legally, and they just sort of made a statement with my case that they would not tolerate dissent in the ranks and that they would not allow conscientious objection as a way out of this illegal war.
Sonali Kolhatkar: What is your current immigration status as well as your current military status? And, also, how much time did you serve in prison?
Camilo Mejia: Well my immigration status hasn't changed. I'm still a resident and that has been effected at all by
Sonali Kolhatkar: You never applied for citizenship?
Camilo Mejia: No, I never applied for citizenship. And my status with the military is that I'm on appellate leave because we are appealing the conviction. So I'm not really, for all practical purposes, I'm really not in the military anymore. I'm not wearing a uniform or training or reporting to any officers. And I was given a sentence of twelve months but I only served about nine -- a little bit less than nine -- because of good conduct, because I didn't get into any major problems in jail so I got out three months earlier.
Sonali Kolhatkar: And were you basically discharged with -- dishonorably discharged?
Camilo Mejia: No. My sentence was twelve months of incarciration in army jail, demotion to private from staff sergeant and a bad conduct discharge plus forfieture of my pay. . . . But the bad conduct discharge is not final until appeals are over. So we're appealing that and that means that I'm still in the military, I still have an i.d. I mean I don't get paid or anything but I'm still in the system.
Sonali Kolhatkar: Now is it important for you to be honorably discharged?
Camilo Mejia: It's important to set a precedent for people to have the right to apply as conscientious objectors and to bring to military courts the reasons why they don't want to participate in a war that they perceive as illegal and immoral. And I think that if war crimes are being committed we need to prosecute those who are committing those crimes beginning at the very top. Because of that I do think that it's important to get that honorable discharge -- not because I think there is honor in the actual discharge but I think it's a fight worth fighting.
Mejia reads from his book Road from Ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia during the interview.
Some war resisters attempt to seek asylum in Canada. Kathy Rumleski (London Free Press) reported on 20-year-old Josh Randall on Sunday who served in Iraq and elected to self-checkout and go to Canada. Like Brandon Hughey and Kimberly Rivera (two other war resisters in Canada), Josh Randall hails from Texas and was a medic. In Iraq, Randall's experiences included raiding a house where a young girl was left wounded "from explosive splinters" (from the US bombing the front door) and he was told he couldn't treat her, that she'd be fine at the local hospital. Similar incidents repeated and then came a US soldier who asked Randall "Why?" as he was dying. That was the final in a series of incidents that led Randall to decide to leave the military and go to Canada. He spoke with war resister Linjamin Mull on Saturday as part of the actions to lobby the Canadian Parliament to grant safe haven to war resisters.
You can still make your voice heard and three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
Meanwhile IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:
In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan
March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'."
Starting with the United States. Last night Bully Boy gave his State of the Union speech. Prior to the speech, the Pentagon noted that they needed $70 billion more dollars. With Dick Cheney and Nancy Pelosi behind him, Bully Boy delivered a lot of nonsense. Sadly, many Congressional members (from both parties) applauded or chuckled. It's not funny, it's not cute. And Nancy and Dick's smiles and whispers to one another may have demonstrated more than anything else why there has been no impeachment of the Bully Boy. Maura Reynolds and James Gerstenzang (Los Angeles Times) observe this of the Iraq section, "He offered no new details about plans for troop withdrawals. The administration is awaiting a new assessment from Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, scheduled for March. Bush also did not mention what has been widely cited as the major failure of the surge: the failure of the Iraqi government to take major steps toward national reconciliation." After he finished his blah-blah-blah the Democratic Party proved that nothing is as a weak as Democrat trying to be a Republican. See Kat's "Cowardly Kathleen Sebelius throws in the towel" and Rebecca's "kathleen sebelius is a dumb ass" a and note that, unlike Katrina vanden Heuvel, they didn't repeat any media myths to make their point. As KvH repeatedly makes the same mistake over and over, you have to wonder whether the magazine's editor (and publisher) bothers to read the magazine's own editorials? Ava and I will tackle that nonsense this weekend at The Third Estate Sunday Review. Today press secretary for the Pentagon, Geoff Morrell, noted Bully Boy's speech -- lied that Bully Boy was asking "Congress to fully fund our troops" (the bulk of the money goes to military contractors to waste on weapons research) and declared, "We are still $102 billion short of the money requested and necessary". Well quit begging, cut out some of the pork in your budget. He also gave lip service to the wounded. People would be better served ignoring that nonsense and listening to the second hour of today's The Diane Rehm Show where guests Dr. Barbara Romberg, journalist Kristin Henderson, Dr. Stephen Xenakis, columnist and author Tanya Biank and Karie Darga of Military Spouse Legacy Association.
Diane Rehm: I just have to say how outrageous that we send these young men and women into harms way and then, when they come back emotionally or physically injured, somehow we can't find the money to heal them. It's outrageous, just outrageous.
While the Democratic Party wasted their chance at a response last night (on that KvH was right), John Edwards, who is still in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, issued the following statement after Bully Boy's nonsense:
"The president tonight renewed his call for an economic recovery plan. But the plan he and Congress have offered leaves out tens of millions of Americans who need help the most. This plan would take months to have any impact, and the people I meet everyday on the campaign trail do not have months to wait. These people are hurting now and need this help now. Over the past seven years, typical workers' paychecks have failed to keep up with inflation, millions of families are facing the loss of their homes to foreclosures, health insurance premiums have doubled, and families are spending $1,000 more a year on gasoline. The State of the Union may be interesting political theater, but until we find bold solutions to the challenges facing the country, we will be stuck with the same old small, Washington answers."And in the chamber of the House of Representatives where the president speaks, even though this Congress stopped listening to him a while ago, they will still applaud and cheer him. The truth is that Washington is out of touch with what's happening across the country. Between now and January of 2009, Democrats must stand up to this president, stand up for what's right, so he does not continue to forget about the middle class in this country."
Turning to Iraq, Ned Parker and Saif Hameed (Los Angeles Times) report that yesterday the Iraqi Parliament met but they still haven't approved the 2008 budget and, in fact, "postponed a vote on" it. Still no vote. January 2008 is almost over. Possibly in 2010, a 2008 budget will be passed and Bully Boy can claim 'victory'? In other news, Reuters notes that over "600 people demonstrated in Abu Ghraib district on Baghdad's western outskirts against detentions by the Iraqi army in the area, police said." Meanwhile Andrew Gray (Reuters) reports an ongoing investigation into "allegations of misconduct against [US] soldiers over the deaths of several detainees in Baghdad last year" citing Paul Boyce (military spokesperson) who states the time frame is the "spring or summer of 2007 in the southern Rashid district of the Iraqi capital". This comes as the US military continues to attempt to sell the belief of 'detainees' (they're prisoners) and 'justice.' On Sunday, Rear Admiral Greg Smith gave a briefing that looked back on last week and included this, "On Thursday, many who had failed to live up to the rule of law were given a nce chance. In a ceremony at a coalition detention facility in Baghdad, 100 men . . . Sunni and Shi'a . . . were reintegrated back into their neighborhoods. After passing through a rigorous review board examination, determinations were made that these Iraqis were ready to become contributing citizens. Each of their cases was individually considered. Each of them made a pledge before an Iraqi judge . . . swearing to live peacefully from that day forward." From that day foward? Translation, the prisons are overcrowded and even sitting up 'tent cities' doesn't allow the US the space needed to continue to imprison people forever so we're thinning the ranks a little. Just a little. Smith bragged that 785 had been released for all of January. Last week, Omar Al-Faris (Canada's Jihad Unspun) reported "the US intends to build the giant prison in Anbar province that will facilitate thousands of Iraqi prisoners currently behind held in Camp Bucca in Basra, at Saddam International Airport in Baghdad, and at Susa in Sulaymaniya in northern Iraq. . . . International human rights organizations have estimated that there are about 35,000 Iraqi prisoners in US jails in Iraq, most of them at Camp Bucca near Basra but all the major US-run detention facilities in the country are said to be nearing capacity as the US continues to hold Muslims illegally and without recourse." Gulf Daily News noted "thousands of detainees" at the end of last month and that "More than 26,000 detainees are held in two US prisons and thousands more in Iraqi-run detention centres." That number would include the 220 children IRIN noted in October -- the ones they are denied permission to meet with. Last month the Committee for Women's and Children's Affairs in the Iraqi Parliament issued a call for the release of female prisoners. A recent report from the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (PDF format warning) entitled "Human Rights Report" covered the time period of April 1st through June 30th of this year expressed grave concerns about "continuing expansion of the detainee population," "absence of timely processing of detainees' cases" and, among other things, to remind: "There is no separation between human rights and international humanitarian law in Security Council Resolutions adopted under Chapter VII. In fact, the leading resolutions on Iraq, such as Resolution 1546 of June 2004, cite in the preamble: 'Affirming the importance of the rule of law, national reconciliation, respect for human rights including the rights of women, fundamental freedoms, and democracy'. This arguably applies to all forces operating in Iraq. The letter from the Government of Iraq attached to SC res. 1723 also states that 'The forces that make up MNF will remain committed to acting consistently with their obligations and rights under international law, including the law of armed conflict.' International law includes human rights law." Constructing prisons has been the 'answer' non-stop. It was the answer in 2004, in 2005 and on through today. How many prisons does one country need? IRIN noted in October of last year that "child prisoners between 13 and 17 are being accused of supporting insurgent and militias." But the 'answer' is always construct more prisons.
Construction is the topic James Glanz (New York Times) again explores via the report issued yesterday by Stuart W. Bowen Jr.'s office, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, which has "examined nearly 200 Parsons construction projects contained in 11 major 'job orders' paid for in a huge rebuilding contract. There were also three other nonconstruction orders. The total cost of the work to the United States was $365 million. The new report finds that 8 of 11 rebuilding orders were terminated by the United States before they were completed, for reasons including weak contract oversight, unrealistic schedules, a failure to report problems in a timely fashion and poor supervision by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which managed the contracts." James Glanz has owned this story throughout the illegal war and possibly the finest piece he's written on the subject of reconstruction in Iraq that also focuses on Parsons appeared in September of 2006 and is entitled "Congress Is Told of Failures of Rebuilding Work in Iraq." (Today's story is not given enough the space needed to tell the story as it needs to be told.)
Turning to some of the violence reported today . . .
Bombings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing wounded six civilians and four Iraqi soldiers, another Baghdad bombing left three police officers and five civilians wounded, while a third Baghdad bombing left three people wounded and a Baghdad mortar attack wounded two people. Dropping back to yesterday, Reuters notes that the attacks on officials continue with a "tribal leader" Abbas Jassim al-Dulaimi being targeted (and killed) via a bomb planted in his car.
Shootings?
Reuters notes a man was shot dead in Iskandariya, 2 police officers were shot dead in Mosul (with two more injured) and, in continued attacks on officials, there was an armed attack on "a local governor" in Sulaiman Pek today.
Corpses?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Mqudadiyah was the location for a discovery of "9 unidentified bodies by the road and also found 10 mutilated bodies some way away at noon today." Paul Tait (Reuters) adds, " Police said some of the nine complete bodies were partially decomposed while others had been killed more recently. The bodies were all handcuffed and blindfolded and had bullet wounds, police and hospital officials said.
The 10 heads found nearby were all also blindfolded, some with bullet wounds, said Ahmed Fouad, the chief of the morgue in Baquba hospital. Baquba is the provincial capital of ethnically and religiously mixed Diyala."
Turning to the topic of the mercenary corportation Blackwater, Jeremy Scahill (at Common Dreams) reports on the latest:
Last week in Currituck County, N.C., Superior Court Judge Russell Duke presided over the final step in securing the first criminal conviction stemming from the deadly actions of Blackwater Worldwide, the Bush administration's favorite mercenary company. Lest you think you missed some earth-shifting, breaking news, hold on a moment. The "criminals" in question were not the armed thugs who gunned down 17 Iraqi civilians and wounded more than 20 others in Baghdad's Nisour Square last September. They were seven nonviolent activists who had the audacity to stage a demonstration at the gates of Blackwater's 7,000-acre private military base in North Carolina to protest the actions of mercenaries acting with impunity -- and apparent immunity -- in their names and those of every American.
Meanwhile Robert O'Harrow Jr. (Washington Post) reports that Blackwater's latest attempt to avoid answering the families of the four Blackwater employees killed in Falluja in 2004 is to file charges against Wiley Rein -- Blackwater's own counsel -- claiming that they (Blackwater) are the victims of legal malpractice.
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