August 27th is approaching.
"Sean Penn, Val Kilmer, Tom Morello, Cindy Sheehan at Nader/Gonzalez Super Rally in Denver" (Team Nader):
Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 12:00:00 AM
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For Immediate Release
Contact: (Washington) Chris Driscoll, 202-360-3273, chris@votenader.org;
(Denver) Rob Socket, 267-974-6097, rob@votenader.org
SEAN PENN, VAL KILMER, TOM MORELLO, CINDY SHEEHAN AT NADER/GONZALEZ SUPER RALLY IN DENVER
Ralph Nader, Matt Gonzalez, Val Kilmer, Sean Penn, Cindy Sheehan, Tom Morello, Jello Biafra, Nellie McKay, and Ike Reilly will all appear at the Nader/Gonzalez "Open the Debates" Super Rally August 27 at 6 p.m. at the University of Denver Magness Arena in Denver, Colorado.
"Our focus at the Denver Super Rally will be to expand the debates beyond just two parties," said Nader. "It's an issue of central concern to many Americans and extends far beyond any one candidate. It is a first amendment matter of speech, petition and assembly during a Presidential election for both the candidates and the voters."
The Denver Super Rally is being held to coincide with the Democratic National Convention. A second Super Rally is planned for Minneapolis on September 4th at Orchestra Hall during the week of the Republican National Convention.Nader/Gonzalez is on track to be on the ballot in 45 states -- the campaign was on only 34 in 2004 -- and the Nader/Gonzalez ticket is at 6 percent in the latest CNN poll.
The Super Rallies will be part of an outpouring of protest in Denver and Minneapolis against the two corporate controlled parties and their policies of perpetual militarism and war, at the expense of the necessities here at home. In recent months, Nader/Gonzalez has been campaigning across the country to open up the Presidential debates."If tens of millions of Americans could hear the Nader/Gonzalez message through the Presidential debates, it would be a three-way race," Nader said.
During his 2000 campaign, Ralph Nader drew sellout crowds to Super Rallies in arenas from Portland's Memorial Coliseum to New York's Madison Square Garden. After the election, PBS NewsHour's Mark Shields called the Nader Super Rallies "the most exciting political development of the campaign year."
"My apology to Ralph Nader for not demanding that he be included in the debates," Shields said.
At the Denver rally, actor and activist Sean Penn will offer his own comments on the state of the debates. "I met with Sean Penn, and we talked at length," Nader said. "He was very clear that he is not currently planning to endorse any candidate in the general election, but that he has serious concerns about the state of Presidential debates. He did support Kucinich in the primaries and saw how Dennis was excluded from MSNBC debates."
Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez will be available for advance media interviews this week and will be in Denver for one on one interviews during the Democratic Convention on Wednesday, August 27 and Thursday, August 28.
Tickets to the Nader/Gonzalez Open the Debates Super Rally are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Go to www.votenader.org/denver for more event details.
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Tonight, we're supposed to blog on an 80s song and I can't reduce it to one so I'll go with two.
Both are by Cyndi Lauper. Cyndi Lauper was Madonna with talent for any who don't know the name. In 1983, she stormed onto the scene with "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." The song was a cover and was about how women just wanted to have "fun" on a guy down there. Cyndi altered it to turn it into a song of female empowerment. "Time After Time" stands, for me, as the best video of the 80s.
But my two favorite songs on the CD are "Money Changes Everything" and "When You Were Mine."
"Money Changes Everything" was probably the hardest driving song on the CD. It was so good that the backing band (The Hooters) ended up with a recording contract.
She said I'm sorry baby I'm leaving you tonight
I found someone else he's waiting in the car outside
Ah honey how could you do it
We swore each other everlasting love
She said well yeah I know we did but when
We did there was one thing we weren't
Really thinking of and that's money --
Money changes everything.
It was like the Human League's "Don't You Want Me" but with a pulse.
I've got to add another song, "She Bop." Cyndi put masturbation on the charts in the 80s. Prince's "Darling Nikki" didn't chart but "She Bop" did. "When You Were Mine" is, in fact, a Prince song. I enjoy his version but I really love Cyndi's version. In January 1984, she performed it on the American Music Awards and wowed the crowd. If you've never heard it, you may wonder how she pulled that off.
There are many great artists that made music which stands up from that time period. There's one that Kat is going to be reviewing in her next three reviews so I didn't include ___. I could have also included the amazing Tina Turner. But I really don't feel Cyndi Lauper has ever gotten the credit she deserves.
She's So Unusual would make my picks for the top ten albums of the 80s. It is still an album that holds up and I love the Rolling Stones but Cyndi's album holds up and none of the Stones' 80s albums, in my opinion, hold up. They have a few strong tracks, but they didn't make a great album in the eighties.
Cyndi's still a popular vocalist but I don't think she gets the credit she's earned.
In real time, Madonna came along at the same point. Her self-titled 1983 album was quickly followed with 1984's Like a Virgin and that may be part of the reason Madonna got a lead but there's no denying that long before America got tired of Madonna exposing herself, a number of writers were acting as if Madonna had gifts based solely on her sexual tease act.
Madonna wasn't a musical artist. I'm not among those who will include her as an artist on the basis of her visuals or body of work. Cyndi had real talent. The two were usually pitted against each other in the press. Cyndi's follow up was True Colors and the title tune became a classic. But she never really got the credit for that or anything else. The press was entralled by Madonna's exhibitionist streak. So when True Blue sucked, it really didn't matter, she was Madonna.
Yes, but Cyndia was the artist. Another reason I love Cyndi is she's not tried to alter her speaking voice. Both she and Madonna had 'unusual' speaking voices when they started out. By 1985, Madonna's was gone. (Somewhere in the 90s she picked up a fake British accent.) Cyndi's just Cyndi and that's always been "Good Enough" (her hit single from The Goonies) for me.
"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Wednesday, August 20, 2008. Choas and violence continue, another US service member is dead, Richard A. Oppel Jr.'s reporting has the UN and US in damage control, Bully Boy lies to the VFW, lies surround yesterday's assaults in Diyala Province, and more.
Starting with war resistance. US war resister Tim Richard could not take part in the illegal war in Iraq for legal and ethical reasons so he went to Canada. At the London War Resisters Support Campaign, he notes J.M. Branum's response to the ridiculous Rondi Adams. James Branum, a member of the National Lawyers Guild and co-chair of their Military Law Task Force, is representing US war resister Robin Long expected to face a court-martial shortly after being extradited from Canada last month.
Courage to Resist offers the followings to support Robin:
1. Donate to Robin's legal defense
Online: http://couragetoresist.org/robinlong
By mail: Make checks out to "Courage to Resist / IHC" and note "Robin Long" in the memo field. Mail to:
Courage to Resist 484 Lake Park Ave #41 Oakland CA 94610
Courage to Resist is committed to covering Robin's legal and related defense expenses. Thank you for helping make that possible.
Also: You are also welcome to contribute directly to Robin's legal expenses via his civilian lawyer James Branum. Visit girightslawyer.com, select "Pay Online via PayPal" (lower left), and in the comments field note "Robin Long". Note that this type of donation is not tax-deductible.
2. Send letters of support to Robin
Robin Long, CJC
2739 East Las Vegas
Colorado Springs, CO 80906
Robin's pre-trial confinement has been outsourced by Fort Carson military authorities to the local county jail.
Robin is allowed to receive hand-written or typed letters only. Do NOT include postage stamps, drawings, stickers, copied photos or print articles. Robin cannot receive packages of any type (with the book exception as described below).
3. Send Robin a money order for commissary items
Anything Robin gets (postage stamps, toothbrush, shirts, paper, snacks, supplements, etc.) must be ordered through the commissary. Each inmate has an account to which friends may make deposits. To do so, a money order in U.S. funds must be sent to the address above made out to "Robin Long, EPSO". The sender's name must be written on the money order.
4. Send Robin a book
Robin is allowed to receive books which are ordered online and sent directly to him at the county jail from Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble. These two companies know the procedure to follow for delivering books for inmates.
Robin Long was extradited. It was done under the cloak of deportation because Judge Anne Mactavish knew that if she openly instituted extradition proceedings, there would be higher checks on her actions which could have prevented Robin from being forced out of Canada. It is not a minor point and it's one that's all the important as US war resister Jeremy Hinzman has been informed he has until September 23rd to leave Canada. In Robin's case, Mactavish was willing to ignore the law as well as guidelines covering refugees and immigrants (most obvious in her decision to extradite Robin and break up a family -- Robin is the father of a Canadian child) and willing to oversee the handover of Robin Long to US authorities (that's what makes it extradition and not deportation). Hopefully, Jeremy's expulsion from Canada will be stopped. But people need to pay attention to what happens if it is not. Robin was locked away for weeks and kept from contact with those who could have advised and offered support. He went from a Canadian jail to being handed over to US authorities. Judge Mactavish argued that Robin had to be imprisoned because he was a "flight risk." A "flight risk"? If someone you are debating expelling is a "flight risk," you don't lock them away. You hope they decide to leave on their own to avoid your government paying the costs of a hearing. Mactavish got a way with a lot. If Jeremy is expelled, all eyes should be watching to ensure that laws are not broken. Jeremy is being highly pro-active and has already taped a video, which you can find at the War Resisters Support Campaign, where he speaks directly to Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada:
Jeremy Hinzman: Hello, Mr. Harper. This is my family Nga, Liam and Meghan. We've been in Canada for the last four and a 1/2 years. I was a specialist in the 82nd Air borne division of the United States Army and served honorably in Afghanistan. In 2004, my family and I came to Canada because we would not participate in the Iraqi War, a war which Canada also refused to participate in because it was condemned by the international community. One of your predecessors, Pierre Trudeau, once said that Canada should be have from militarism and we took him at this word. On June 3, 2008, the Canadian Parliament passed a motion saying that United States war resisters should be able to remain in Canada. We're asking you to abide by this motion and allow us to stay in Canada. Thank you.
Title Card: On September 23rd, the Harper government plans to deport the Hinzman family back to the United States.
Title Card: Hinzman faces a court martial and up to 5 years in military prison for opposing the Iraq war and coming to Canada.
Title Card: War Resisters Support Campaign (Canada): http://www.resisters.ca/
Courage to Resist alerts, "Supporters are calling on Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, to intervene. Phone 613.996.4974 or email finley.d@parl.gc.ca,"Iraq Veterans Against the War also encourages people to take action, "To support Jeremy, call or email Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and ask her to intervene in this case. Phone: 613.996.4974 email: finley.d@parl.gc.ca." In addition to that, Canada's War Resisters Support Campaign is staging an emergency meeting this week (August 20th, Wednesday, 7:00 pm, Steelworkers Hall at 25 Cecil St.) and planning a day of action (September 13th) where
"[a]ctions, demonstrations and pickets will take place in cities and towns all across Canada."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Yovany Rivero, William Shearer, Michael Thurman, Andrei Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, 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, Jose Vasquez, 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, Daniel Baker, 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, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, 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. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
Turning to Iraq where Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) reports, "A key pillar of the U.S. strategy to pacify Iraq is in danger of collapsing" and she's referring to the counter-insurgency 'strategy' of putting thugs on the US payroll so that they will, as US Ambassador to Iraq outlined to Congress repeatedly in April, stop attacking Americans (the 'strategy' is: Fork over your lunch money and you'll be safe on the playground). Call them "Awakening" Council or "Sons of Iraq" or whatever, they're thugs paid to play nice. Fadel notes that the Shi'ite dominated government of puppet Nouri al-Maliki refuses to bring these Sunni militias into the government and quotes "one senior Iraqi commander in Baghdad" explaining, "We cannot stand them, and we detained many of them recently." That part is no surprise. The next part of the quote? "Many of them were part of al Qaida despite the fact that many of them are helping us to fight al Qaida" can be seen as the cover explanation that will be offered (and has been offered) for not bringing them in. One group of thugs in power doesn't want to share with another. The US installed one group and then, "counter-insurgency" (brought to Iraq by such 'great' minds as Sarah Sewall and Monty McFate) decided paying off the other dominant (in the population) group of thugs was just the thing to . . . throw the whole country off balance. Which it has. Let's hear it for the quackery of Sidewalk Social Scientists. Fadel quotes one thug leader of the "Awakening" Council, Mullah Shahab al Aafi, declaring, "If they disband us now, I will tell you that history will show we will go bacck to zero. I will not give up my weapons. I will never give them up, and I will carry my weapon again. If it is useless to talk to the government, I will be forced to carry my weapons and my pistol."
As Fadel notes the White House has repeatedly sold the "Awakening" Councils as a success story. So let's drop back to April for some basics. From April 8th, when US Amassador Crocker and US General David Petraeus brought their variety show to Congress:
How much lunch money is the US forking over? Members of the "Awakening" Council are paid, by the US, a minimum of $300 a month (US dollars). By Petraeus' figures that mean the US is paying $27,300,000 a month. $27 million a month is going to the "Awakening" Councils who, Petraeus brags, have led to "savings in vehicles not lost". Again, in this morning's hearings, the top commander in Iraq explained that the US strategy is forking over the lunch money to school yard bullies. [. . .] Crocker's entire testimony can be boiled down to a statement he made in his opening statements, "What has been achieved is substantial, but it is also reversible." Which would translate in the real world as nothing has really changed. During questioning from Senator Jack Reed, Crocker would rush to shore up the "Awakening" Council members as well. He would say there were about 90,000 of them and, pay attention, the transitioning of them is delayed due to "illliteracy and physical disabilities."
That afternon, the Senate Foreign Affairs committe chair would outline the three reasons violence was "down" (but had not ceased), Joe Biden: "First, the Sunni Awakening, which preceded the surge. Second, the Sadr cease-fire. Third, sectarian cleansing that left much of Baghdad segregated, with fewer targets to shoot or bomb. These tactical gains are relative. Violence is now where it was in 2005 and spiking up again. Iraq is still incredibly dangerous and, despite what the President says, very far from normal. And these gains are fragile. Awakening members frustrated at the government's refusal to integrate them into the national security forces could turn their guns back on us." What if the "Awakening" Council members turned their guns? It's not pie-in-the-sky, it's a question that should have been answered back in April. The frustrations are boiling over as al-Maliki continues to refuse to fold them into the government forces. Back to that snapshot and focusing on Senator Barbara Boxer's time:
She then turned to the issue of monies and the militias, "You are asking us for millions more to pay off the militias and, by the way, I have an article here that says Maliki recently told a London paper that he was concerned about half of them" and wouldn't put them into the forces because he doubts their loyalty. She noted that $182 million a year was being paid, $18 million a month, to these "Awakening" Council members and "why don't you ask the Iraqis to pay the entire cost of that progam" because as Senator Lugar pointed out, "It could be an opportunity" for the Iraqi government "to turn it into something more long term." This is a point, she declared, that she intends to bring up when it's time to vote on the next spending supplamental. Crocker tried to split hairs.
Boxer: I asked you why they couldn't pay for it. . . . I don't want to argue a point. . . I'm just asking you why we would object to asking them to pay for that entire program giving all that we are giving them in blood and everything else?
Crocker declared that he'd take that point back to Iraq when he returned.
Now we're flipping over to the April 10th snapshot and bringing in the topic of the treaties:
Senator Joe Biden: We will hear today about the two agreements that the Administration is negotiating with Iraq which were anticipated in the November Declaration. On Tuesday, Ambassador Crocker told us that these agreements would set forth the "vision" -- his phrase -- of our bilateral relationship with Iraq. One agreement is a "strategic framework agreement" that will include the economic, political and security issues outlined in the Declaration of Principles. The document might be better titled "What the United States will do for Iraq," because it consists mostly of a series of promises that flow in one direction -- promises by the United States to a sectarian government that has thus far failed to reach the political compromises necessary to have a stable country. We're told that the reason why we're not continuing under the UN umbrella is because the Iraqis say they have a sovereign country. But they don't want a Status of Forces Agreement because that flows two ways. The Administration tells us it's not binding, but the Iraqi parliament is going to think it is. The second agreement is what Administration officials call a "standard" Status of Forces Agreement, which will govern the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq, including their entry into the country and the immunities to be granted to them under Iraqi law. Unlike most SOFAs, however, it would permit U.S. forces -- for the purposes of Iraqi law -- to engage in combat operations and detain insurgents. In other words, to detain people that we think are bad guys. I don't know any of the other nearly 90 Status of Forces Agreements that would allow a U.S. commander to arrest anyone he believes is a bad guy.
The treaties are back in the news but before we get to them, April 10th, Biden was calling out the "internal threat" aspect and explaining that it required the US "to support the Iraqi government in its battle with all 'outlaw groups' -- that's a pretty expansive commitment," and one that requires the US "to take sides in Iraq's civil war" when "there is no Iraqi government that we know of that will be in place a year from now -- half the government has walked out. . . . We want to normalize a government that really doesn't exist." Senator Russ Feingold would add, "Given the fact that the Maliki government doesn't represent a true coalition, won't this agreement [make it appear] we are taking sides in the civil war especially when most Iraqi Parliamentarians have called for a withdrawal of troops?" All of the issues raised in today's news cycle were not only known some time ago, they were raised by the US Congress repeatedly in April (and brushed aside by those sent before them to offer talking points). AP reports that US sources are saying the treaties (both of them) have been worked out and will soon be formalized. Yesterday, US White House spokesperson Gordon Johndroe confirmed that the White House had been sent a draft.
On December 31st of this year, the United Nations authorization for the occupation of Iraq (there was never any authorization for the illegal war itself) expires. Nouri al-Maliki has already angered the Iraqi Parliament by twice ignoring it and renewing the mandate. But nothing is preventing the UN from offering a stop-gap measure of some form to briefly cover the occupation while the US presidency switches hand (Bully Boy has had his two terms and on his way out the door). Even better, no extension -- even a brief one -- would end the illegal war because foreign forces would have to leave Iraq. Instated, the White House is pushing long-term treaties that they attempt to call by other names to avoid the US Constitutional requirement that requires Senate authorization of all treaties. (al-Maliki has stated that, on Iraq's ends, the Iraqi Parliament will follow their own Constitution to some degree and the Parliament will have some form of approval.)
The United Nations raised Iraq yesterday in their daily press briefing where a spokesperson (Farhan Haq) spoke for Ban Ki-moon and asserted "that, over the past five years, the United Nations has continued to help the people of Iraq -- and others throughout the world -- who suffer from violence, disease and want." It is the fourth anniversary of the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad (22 UN staffers died) and the spokesperson declared, "This work is often dangerous, but it must go on. Those who died on August 18th, 2003 would have it no other way." When you're arguing for continued actions on the backs of the dead, you're arguing from a position of weakness and "position of weakness" describes the UN's role throughout the Iraq War. Naturally Bloody War Hawk Samantha Power (taking time out from praising counter-insurgency) took to the New York Times yesterday to satisfy her blood lust with a column. Despite providing a cloak for the ongoing illegal war, the anniversary of the UN bombing yesterday resulted in no 'shout out' from the White House with Gordon Johndroe not even acknowledging it in his press briefing.
Today in Florida, the Bully Boy of the United States addressed the VFW. Gordon Johndroe had explained in yesterday's White House press briefing that the speech would be "a look-back on significant moments in the war on terror," and indeed Bully Boy attempted to use the 'war on terror' to justify everything but daughter Jenna's wedding expenses. If he could fold it into the so-called war on terror, he obviously would have. On Iraq he referenced Saddam Hussein as "a brutal dictator who murdered his own people" leaving out the fact that he was installed by the US and took most of his actions with US approval. "Because we acted, the dicator is gone," he declared striving really hard to sound like a munchkin in The Wizard of Oz, "and 25 million Iraqis are free." Bully Boy is wrong, approximately 2 million Iraqis are 'free' -- the external refugees who face new tragedies in other countries. No one in Iraq is 'free.' Not checking out the news cycle, Bully Boy complained that Iraq's suitation was once criticized and that some "were willing to give up on the mission." Bully Boy made clear he would never apologize for the illegal war he started. He did make time to lie about "political and economic progress . . . taking place". Lying is all the rage in front of the VFW this month. Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama lied this week. He hailed presumptive Republican candidate John McCain's ("served this nation honorably") and then used his speech to attack McCain claiming that he (Barack) had always been consistent in his opposition to the illegal war. A lie. Another was hailing Nouri al-Maliki as "democratically-elected." al-Maliki wasn't even the first choice of the US in the spring of 2006 (nor was he the first choice of the Iraqi parliament). al-Maliki was installed. It's that kind of lie -- one that comes so easily to Barack -- which goes a long, long way towards explaining how he's not vested in ending the illegal war. Attempting to dispell his 'stranger' quality to the VFW, he ignored speaking of his father and his many wives and instead emphasized the American side of his family. He also claimed wife Michelle had been speaking to veterans knowing no one would check into that (she's not sought out veterans) and knowing few would dare point out that Barack's refused a request for debate by, yes, veterans. He repeatedly went nasty on McCain (including on the GI Rights Bill) knowing that as the darling of the press corps he can continue to attack and only McCain's attacks on him will ever be noted. The only improvement for Barack is that someone has tutored him enough that he now no longer speaks of "the bomb" dropped on Pearl Harbor and appears aware that it was multiple bombs. Yes, he truly is that stupid.
Yesterday's snapshot noted Richard A. Oppel Jr.'s "Kurdish Control of City Creates Political Powderkeg in North Iraq" (New York Times) on what Kurds are boasting as their takeover of oil-rich Kirkuk. Missy Ryan (Reuters) reports today that US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker is insisting that Iraqi MPs must not be "bitter" over events in Kirkuk and that It's important that the elections law focus on elections, not on attempting to use this legislation to solve a difficult and much more complicated problem." Had the US government wanted to stop it, Kirkuk's fate would not appear sealed today. Crocker sanctimonously added, "It is important to remember what brings you together, not only the differences." Economically, one difference is that Kirkuk is oil-rich and it's not as simple as Crocker wants to portray it. Peter Graff (Reuters) reports that the UN's Staffan de Mistura declared at a press conference today that the UN was working on a "grand deal" to be revealed in September or October that would hopefully "resolve a looming row without fresh bloodshed" and, regarding Kirkuk, the UN would not advocate a referendrum but would instead attempt "to negotiate a broad political deal which could then be put to a 'confirmatory referendum', backed by all sides."
Yesterday, Iraqi security forces raided Sunni politicians, killed and arrested. Nicholas Spangler and Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) report four police officers were wounded in the Diyala actions, the governor's secretary was shot dead, Hussein al Zubaidi ("provincial council member and head of security committee") was arrested, computers were seized and "Taha Dria, a Shiite lawmaker from Diyala who was not in the government compound during the raid, said the armed forces were from Iraq's Emergency Response Unit, an American-trained unit similar to U.S. Special Forces" quoting him explaining that, "They were wearing khaki. Their weapons were American. The Humvees they used looked American. They didn't have any ranks on their shoulders. They didn't talk." They also report eye witnesses saw two US helicopters and that the helicopters fired on the Iraqi people. The US military issued a denial on accusations yesterday and maintained that one helicopter was in the area but for other reasons and it was not involved in actions. Ned Parker and Usama Redha (Los Angeles Times) note the US military's denial and also explain that "a prominet Sunni university dean" was also arrested, that the Iraqi forces involved "reports to Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's counter-terrorism office" but al-Maliki claims he was unaware and his office insists, "These special forces work with the Americans. They are not associated with the Ministry of Defense. They have goals, and they didn't inform anyone else." Nichoals Spangler (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that the US continues to deny any involvement in yesterday's lawless activities with US Big Gen James Boozer insisting, "It was what appears to be a rogue operations." If true, it would reflect poorly on Bully Boy's declarations today, wouldn't it? Spangler notes, "Both men arrested are Sunni Muslims, and the Iraqi Islamic Party, the largest Sunni party in the country, immediately condemned the raids as part of a sectarian campaign by the largely Shiite Muslim security forces." So busy spinning, M-NF apparently was too busy to announce a death which is how the death toll for the month thus far reached 18 US service members with no one noticing (4145 since the start of the illegal war). Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing that left two people wounded. Reuters notes four were wounded in that bombing
Shootings?
Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports two Iraqi soldiers were wounded in a Baghdad shooting and a Nozad Sirwan ("engineer") was shot dead in Kirkuk. Reuters notes 1 person shot dead and two more wounded in Tuzkhurmato, 1 person shot dead by the US military in Abu Alapa, .
Corpses?
Reuters notes 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad and 2 corpses were discovered in Hilla.
Turning to the US presidential race. Cynthia McKinney, Green Party presidential nominee, continues her campaign stops in Tennessee. Tomorrow she starts the day in Dickson and moves on to Nashville where she will hold a press converence at Legislative Plaza (11:00 a.m., open to the public) and then and she has upcoming appearances this week (tomorrow and Thursday) followed by a public Q&A.
Indpendent presidential candidate Ralph Nader continues his campaign for ballot access. Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez' independent presidential bid has set the goal of appearing on 45 states' ballots and Ryan J. Foley (AP) reports that the Nader campaign in Wisconsin is 100 signatures away from the required number of signatures to gain access to the state's ballot and that they expect to more than exceed the required number by the September 2nd deadline. In other news, Team Nader notes:
As late as yesterday, we didn't think we had a chance.
For the first time in this campaign, we were at serious risk of missing a self-imposed financial goal.
Then, yesterday, you came through.
And now, we're back in it.
Now, we're just shy of $42,000.
And we have a chance to hit our goal of $50,000 by 11:59 pm tonight.
But we're going to have to bust a gut to get there.All out.
All day.
All night.
So, we are calling on 900 of you -- our most loyal supporters -- to donate $10 each now to push us over the top.(900 times $10 equals $9,000, right?)
And for every $10 contribution you donate today, we will give free admission to a needy student who wants to come to hear Ralph Nader at our Open the Debates Super Rally at the University of Denver's Magness Arena. ($10 in advance, $12 at the door.)
Ralph will be joined by his running mate Matt Gonzalez.
And -- breaking news -- a star studded line-up will join Ralph and Matt in a call to open up the Presidential debates.Featuring -- Val Kilmer, Cindy Sheehan and Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello, Jello Biafra, Nellie McKay, and Ike Reilly.
So, please -- give a student a chance to attend this historic event.
Donate $10 now -- or whatever you can afford -- and send a student to raise the banner in Denver -- Open the Presidential Debates, More Voices, More Choices.
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Onward.
iraq
tim richard
jeremy hinzman
robin long
jim branum
leila fadellaith hammoudinicholas spanglerusama redhathe los angeles timesned parkersaif hameed
the new york timesrichard a. oppel jr.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Perceptions
"Bye Bye Barry" (Joel S. Hirschhorn, Power Line):
The final results are in on this historic November day. Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars he raised, Barack Obama has lost the 2008 presidential election. American voters have boldly spoken truth to arrogance. Turned out that all those pre-election opinion polls that showed Obama’s inability to get over 50 percent support were prescient. Much of the public was never comfortable with Obama, though he clearly was so comfortable acting like he already was president.
Hillary and Bill Clinton are probably drinking champagne and having the sweetest time since Bill won his first presidential election. Hillary must now bite her lip repeatedly and resist saying publicly that "I told you so!" Hillary in 2012 will reveal that she learned her lessons well.
All that Obama audacity of arrogance from the smiling, glib politician finally died the death it so richly deserved. Too many pundits will blame his loss on his blackness and racist voters. But the larger truth is that sufficient voters saw through the many lies and deceptions. Obama always had a hard time giving a simple, short straight answer to tough questions. He was always mentally calculating exactly how to game his answers so that he would achieve all the benefits he had his eyes on. He was simply too damn presumptuous and too smart for his own good. In the end, Americans do not want the smartest person in the presidency or endless nuancing. They want someone they can easily understand and trust, despite their skepticism. There were many reasons not to trust the calculating Obama to do anything he promised to do or, for some people, to fear he might.
And now the bloviating pundits will also blame third party presidential candidates for siphoning votes from Obama, as if Americans have no right to exercise their political freedom and vote for someone they honestly think has the best policy positions and would most help restore American democracy.
"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Tuesday, August 19, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces another death, Iraqi forces raid the office of the governor of Diyala Province and shoot dead his secretary but no one knows how?, the issue of the oil-rich Kirkuk may have already been 'settled,' and more.
Starting with war resistance. US war resister Jeremy Hinzman has been told he has until September 23rd to leave Canada. John Mackay (WSWS) explains, "Hinzman joined the US Army in early 2001, partly out of a sense of patriotism and adventure. However, he was primarily attracted by the promise of financial support for a university education. He says that more than a year after joining, he realized that he could not become a killer. He felt he could not dehumanize the people he was supposed to shoot. He applied for conscientious objector (CO) status in August 2002, but his command threw his application away. Hinzman subsequently reapplied while serving in Afghanistan, only to have his application turned down. In Afghanistan, while his CO application was being processed, Hinzman played a non-combatant role as an assistant to Haliburton employees serving meals to soldiers. Upon denial of his application for CO status, Hinzman was ordered to return to active duty. When his unit returned to the US with the understanding that they would soon be sent to Iraq, Hinzman deserted, crossing the Canadian border in January 2004 with his wife and young son and claiming refugee status." Nga Nguyen, Jeremy's wife, just gave birth to a daughter (Meghan) in July. We'll note again that the four are in a video at the War Resisters Support Campaign where Jeremy speaks to Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada:
Jeremy Hinzman: Hello, Mr. Harper. This is my family Nga, Liam and Meghan. We've been in Canada for the last four and a 1/2 years. I was a specialist in the 82nd Air borne division of the United States Army and served honorably in Afghanistan. In 2004, my family and I came to Canada because we would not participate in the Iraqi War, a war which Canada also refused to participate in because it was condemned by the international community. One of your predecessors, Pierre Trudeau, once said that Canada should be have from militarism and we took him at this word. On June 3, 2008, the Canadian Parliament passed a motion saying that United States war resisters should be able to remain in Canada. We're asking you to abide by this motion and allow us to stay in Canada. Thank you.
Title Card: On September 23rd, the Harper government plans to deport the Hinzman family back to the United States.
Title Card: Hinzman faces a court martial and up to 5 years in military prison for opposing the Iraq war and coming to Canada.
Title Card: War Resisters Support Campaign (Canada): http://www.resisters.ca/
Courage to Resist alerts, "Supporters are calling on Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, to intervene. Phone 613.996.4974 or email finley.d@parl.gc.ca,"Iraq Veterans Against the War also encourages people to take action, "To support Jeremy, call or email Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and ask her to intervene in this case. Phone: 613.996.4974 email: finley.d@parl.gc.ca." In addition to that, Canada's War Resisters Support Campaign is staging an emergency meeting this week (August 20th, Wednesday, 7:00 pm, Steelworkers Hall at 25 Cecil St.) and planning a day of action (September 13th) where
"[a]ctions, demonstrations and pickets will take place in cities and towns all across Canada."
A new documentary, The Path of Most Resistance, addresses war resistance. Directed by Gareth Keogh, the film traces two US service members attempts to receive CO status. One receives it, one doesn't. Susannah Tarbush (Saudi Gazette) reports on the film noting that Daniel Baker and Robert Weiss are the two CO applicants. Anyone paying attention knows who was successful and who wasn't:
Daniel Baker joined the US Navy in 2004, but soon after being deployed in Qatar as a communications officer in 2006 he made a successful application for CO status. He now works for the Catholic Peace Fellowship, one of the organizations that advise CO applicants. In contrast, soldier Robert Weiss's application for CO status was turned down in December 2007. He said: "I feel that at this point I have no legal avenue for pursuing recognition of my beliefs, so therefore I have no choice but to leave the military rather than do something I feel is immoral." On December 22 he was due to fly back to Iraq, but saw no alternative but to go absent without leave (AWOL) for 30 days, the minimum time necessary to be classified as a deserter. He would then turn himself in and face the inevitable court martial and imprisonment. During his period of being AWOL, he was given refuge by a family with pacifist sympathies. In February he turned himself in, and on May 13 was court martialled. He is serving a seven-month sentence in a military prison in Mannheim, Germany.
.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Yovany Rivero, William Shearer, Michael Thurman, Andrei Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, 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, Jose Vasquez, 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, Daniel Baker, 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, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, 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. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
Turning to Iraq, Richard A. Oppel Jr. (New York Times) sketches out how oil-rich Kirkuk's fate already appears determined and how that took place because the central government (puppet) in Baghdad didn't do anything to mediate between Arabs, Kurds and Turkomans. Oppel writes, "Kurdish authority is visible everywhere in the city. In addition to the provincial government and command of the police, the Kurds control the Asaish, the feared undercover security service that works with the American military and, according to Asaish commanders, United States intelligence agencies." Oppel doesn't pursue that aspect which is a shame because the puppet government was controlled by the White House so the stand-down on Kirkuk was no acident. And US Col David Paschal can brag about how he made the call last month (as Turkmen and Kurds battled) not to send in the Iraqi forces but that call came from higher up. Mohammed Khalil ("leader of the Arab bloc on the provincial council") explains, "There is much fear. The Asaish are saying they will annex Kirkuk by force and that is terrifying people." For more realities on Kirkuk, see Stephen Farrell's "As Iraqis Vie for Kirkuk's Oil, Refugee Kurds Becomes Pawns" (December 9, 2007). Meanwhile the United Nation's IRIN advises today of how volatile the situation in Kirkuk remains and sites Baghdad University's Amer Hassan al-Fayadh explaining, "I do believe the best solution for Kirkk is that it be run as a separate region -- after resolving all pending issues between its segments, conducting a census and then letting its population determine its fate through a referendum, instead of one party imposing a solution." IRIN notes that the Iraqi Parliament attempts to impose a solution (in regular session last July and in special session early this month) have resulted "in daily demonstrations in favour of, or against, the new legislation."
Meanwhile the Associated Press has an article all over the place today (here at Los Angeles Times, here at Washington Post, etc.) that is just rah-rah-rah about the US taking in Iraqi refugees and how the State Dept might meet their announced quota ("for the first time" is left unstated by Samantha Henry). But at Inside Iraq (McClatchy Newspapers) Sahar Issa explains, "For the second time now in one month Iraqi newspapers have published articles stating the U.S will not accept any more Iraqi refugees." And before some idiot says, "Well it's the 2008 quota and it's been met!" Fiscal year. Which ends September 30th. Meaning October 1st starts the next (fiscal) year. Zaineb Naji (Baghdad Life, Wall St. Journal) examines the changing policies on Iraqi refugees for surrounding countries:
Last year, Syria announced new rules for Iraqis coming to Syria and for the first time, required us to get visas. But only academics, merchants, and taxi and truck drivers would qualify for visas. You can also get permission to travel to Syria if you are going there for medical treatment.
[. . .]
This time as we went through customs, two Iraqi soldiers came up to us and used a scanning device to check us. Then American soldiers took our biometrics information, including an eye scan. The people who passed got an "OK" written on their right hand with a black marker.
"Just like sheep" a young woman said to the American soldier when she got the "OK" mark on her hand. The soldier said "sorry" several times and explained that this was the procedure.
Two hours later, we were on the Syrian side of the border and again we had to line up to get our passports checked. In the arrival hall, people were shouting and pushing each other to reach the immigration desk. I was told to step aside by one of the customs officers, who said I was blocking his view of the television set.
In the hall, there was an extra "fee" for each kind of visa. Merchants were asked to pay $10, while for the sick, the price was $5. For our transit visas, the fee was $4 each. Everyone got a stamp that allowed them to stay in Syria for one month and then we were on the bus again.
At the end of the trip, I realized that Iraqis are always suffering, whether it's inside their country or outside of it.
Bombings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Nineveh Province car bombing that left five people wounded.
Shootings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad attack in which 1 police officer was shot dead and three were left wounded and, in Kirkuk, a police shooting is under examination as a result of the deaths of a man and his father. Reuters notes a raid conducted by "Iraqi security forces" in Baquba on "the office of the governor of Diyala province" which resulted in the death of "his secetary". Reuters notes the name of the dead is Abbas Ali Hmoud and that Raad Rasheed Mulla Jawad (the governor of the province) has stated, "The body of the martyr [Abbas Ali Hmoud] will stay in the building until the iillers are captured." Though the US military admits at least 1 US helicopter was present they deny that the US military had any knowledge or participation in the raid. Maybe they were just jumping the gun on the August 22nd National Airborne Day? Also playing dumb is the puppet government in Baghdad which is ordering an investigation. AFP reports that Nouri al-Maliki, puppet of the occupation, "ordered the formation of a committee to find out how Iraqi forces came to fight each other in Baquba" and notes that, in addition to the secretary being murdered, a bodyguard was also shot dead. CNN notes, "Hussein al-Zubaidi, a provincial council member, and Nazar al-Khafaji, the Diyala University dean, were arrested during the raid, the official said."
Corpses?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 20 corpses were discovered in Diyala Province.
Today the US military announced: "A Multi-National Division - Center Soldier was killed as a result of a rocket attack on a forward operating base near Amarah Aug. 19." ICCC's count is 4144 for the total number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war and 17 for the month.
Turning to the US presidential race. The Democratic Party holds its convention in Denver shortly. AP notes, "Independent Ralph Nader planned to attend a rally at Denver University on Aug. 27, the night before Obama accepts his party's nomination. And Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney was scheduled to address supporters after an anti-war march through downtown Denver on Sunday, the day before the convention opens." Christopher Keating (Hartford Courant) notes that independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader's campaign was set to turn in petitions today in New York and Alabama making them the 31st and 32nd states the Ralph Nader - Matt Gonzalez ticket will be on the ballots of. Foon Rhee (Boston Globe) adds that the Nader campaign is set to submit their signatures to be on the Massachusetts ballot. The Nader campaign states it has around 17,000 signatures gathered, that Massachusetts would be the 34th state they'd be on the ballot of and that "Michael Richardson, Massachusetts Nader/Gonzalez 2008 Coordinator, will hold a Weds. Aug. 20, 10 a.m. news conference at the Elections Division office, McCormack Bulding, Room 1705, One Ashburton Place, Boston, Mass. 02108"..
From Ralph's Daily Audio, this is "The Difference Between The Two Parties:"
This is Ralph Nader. Just how different are the two major parties? Well I've often said that the towering similarities between the two parties are far greater than the dwindling differences they're really willing to fight over. It's clear that the Democrats are better than Republicans on Social Security, civil justice, the right to go to court if you're wrongfully injured, civil rights and a number of other issues. But consider the similarities. As I've said when it comes to the overriding issue of the corporate takeover of our federal government department by department, agency by agency, the two parties differ in the velocity with which their knees hit the floor when corporations pound on their door.
The two parties are pretty similar on foreign and military policy. In recent weeks the leading foreign affairs reporters for the Washington Post and the New York Times said that Obama would be similar in his foreign and military policy to the second term of George W. Bush. They're both pushing for more military budget. They haven't singled out a single weapons system that they think is obsolete, redundant or not needed.
They both are not doing anything about cracking down on corporate crimes commensurate with the violations of health and safety laws by the corporations in the looting and draining of trillions of dollars of mutual fund savings and pension funds they both are furthering the perforation of the tax code corporate loopholes and offshore havens. They both have put the regulatory agencies under anesthesia. They both are in a race to get more and more private special interest money into elections corrupting our election process. You ever hear them mention in any specifics what they're going to do about consumer protection or what they're going to do about repealing anti-worker, anti-union laws like Taft-Hartley? No way. Similarly silent.
The Democrats took over the Congress in January 2007, they haven't rolled back any of the legislation or even made a major college try to roll back the bad legislation that Bush and his Congressional Republicans have passed So we can go and on but just think about it, how necessary it is to have somewhere else on the ballot line to cast your vote. Nader-Gonzalez. Thank you.
Team Nader notes:
We are in a sprint to the finish line.That would be November 4.
And we're not about to let up.
But for the first time since we started this campaign, we are in danger of not meeting one of our financial goals.
We set a goal of $50,000 by tomorrow night 11:59 p.m.
As of now, we are just under $30,000.
So, we need to ramp it up.
Big time.
And now.
We need 2,000 of you -- our loyal supporters -- to drop $10 each.
That simple.
So hit that there contribute button.
And drop a ten spot on Nader/Gonzalez.
Time to get it done.
By the way, did you hear some of the big names that are coming to our Super Rallies in Denver and Minneapolis?
Not just our own caped crusader.
But also --
Batman?
Huey Long?
The Anti-Pelosi?
Stay tuned.
Here's one person who will be there for sure.
Ashley Sanders.
Ashley who?
Ashley Sanders.
Ashley gave one of the most eloquent and thought provoking endorsements of the Nader/Gonzalez candidacy this year.
Check out Ashley here -- introducing Ralph in Utah last month.
But first things first.
Let's not miss this deadline.
Kick it in so we can push it over the top.
Onward to November.
Cynthia McKinney is the Green Party presidential nominee and she has upcoming appearances this week (tomorrow and Thursday):Wednesday, August 20th McKinney will make 3 stops in Memphis. That evening she will be in Jackson, Tennessee for a fundraiser hosted by the Madison County Green Party.Thursday, August 21st McKinney's first stop is in Dickson to meet with representatives of the community who have been affected by the dumping of toxic waste in their community. Then to Nashville for an 11:00 AM Press Conference in Room 31, Legislative Plaza speaking to the press about her campaign. This event is open to the public. Following the press conference Ms McKinney will speak directly to the public and take questions. This will also be in Legislative Plaza, Room 31.That morning Greens will turn in their nominating petitions to secure her position on the general election ballot in Tennessee. "Due to Tennessee's oppressive election access laws Ms McKinney will be listed on the ballot as an independent candidate which we can achieve with 275 valid signatures. It would take over 45,000 valid signatures to get her listed with the "Green" affiliation. The Green Party is currently a litigant against the state seeking ballot access laws that are fair", said John Miglietta a delegate to the Green Party of the US and a Green Candidate for US House District 5.Following the Press Conference she is scheduled to visit Tennessee State University, Fisk University and Carver Food Park where Sizwe Herring of EarthMatters Tennessee teaches children and community members about the value of composting and principles of ecology.
Those appearances start tomorrow and the Geen Party website still has nothing up.
iraqjeremy hinzmanjohn mackaydaniel bakerrobert weisssusannah tarbushchristopher keating
the new york timesrichard a. oppel jr.stephen farrellleila fadelmcclatchy newspapers
The final results are in on this historic November day. Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars he raised, Barack Obama has lost the 2008 presidential election. American voters have boldly spoken truth to arrogance. Turned out that all those pre-election opinion polls that showed Obama’s inability to get over 50 percent support were prescient. Much of the public was never comfortable with Obama, though he clearly was so comfortable acting like he already was president.
Hillary and Bill Clinton are probably drinking champagne and having the sweetest time since Bill won his first presidential election. Hillary must now bite her lip repeatedly and resist saying publicly that "I told you so!" Hillary in 2012 will reveal that she learned her lessons well.
All that Obama audacity of arrogance from the smiling, glib politician finally died the death it so richly deserved. Too many pundits will blame his loss on his blackness and racist voters. But the larger truth is that sufficient voters saw through the many lies and deceptions. Obama always had a hard time giving a simple, short straight answer to tough questions. He was always mentally calculating exactly how to game his answers so that he would achieve all the benefits he had his eyes on. He was simply too damn presumptuous and too smart for his own good. In the end, Americans do not want the smartest person in the presidency or endless nuancing. They want someone they can easily understand and trust, despite their skepticism. There were many reasons not to trust the calculating Obama to do anything he promised to do or, for some people, to fear he might.
And now the bloviating pundits will also blame third party presidential candidates for siphoning votes from Obama, as if Americans have no right to exercise their political freedom and vote for someone they honestly think has the best policy positions and would most help restore American democracy.
Yes, I think it is very likely that Barack will lose in November (if he gets the nomination). He never got a comfortable lead -- even with fawning press. Even with the fawning press acting like giddy school children with Barack's "It's All Me" trip to Europe. Barack's not liked. It has nothing to do with his race (he is bi-racial). It has everything to do with the fact that when someone comes out of nowhere, people are suspicious. When the person seems to have everything handed to him (e.g. the giddy press, the party 'leaders,' etc.), you only get more suspicious.
It's as though the house on the block's for sale and someone, anyone, moves in. Suddenly the whole neighborhood treats him or her like a hero and you're saying, "I never saw any heroics."
When that's ignored, when that's shoved aside, it only makes people more suspicious.
America doesn't really do cults. The closest in my lifetime was the giddy-high some had over the current administration following 9-11. In 2008, Democratic 'leaders' seemed to think they could replicate that. Bully Boy stoked fear and used a tragedy and even then he couldn't keep up the illusion for long with most Americans. There's no way some still-hasn't-finished-their-first-term US Senator could do the same.
There's also the fact that you do have to earn your way. If you're running for public office, you do have to earn your way. Michelle Obama knows that which is why she continually cast those criticism as "racism." If she turned it into racism, then who would raise the issue?
You can't do that. It doesn't work. C.I. noted it wouldn't work when Jeremiah Wright (sexist pig and much more) was 'okay' -- or at least the press kept telling us that. Then you had the Idiots (especially include a large number of Green Party members) who kept insisting Wright was right and it was racist to say he wasn't.
I'm not a flag waver. I've never worn one, I don't display them. I don't go for people using the flag or patriotism for their own personal gain. I also don't support someone, in his position as the head of a church, damning a country, any country.
But the press tried to tell the country nothing was wrong. They also tried to toss in racism if you found something wrong. There's nothing racist in rejecting a preacher asking a higher power to damn a country. When any of the right-wing crazies does that, the left rightly objects. But we were all supposed to pretend like it was okay when Wright did it?
C.I. is on the road every week and knows a great deal about perceptions period. So C.I. rightly said this was a big deal. Not surprisingly, it has been a big deal. It has never gone away. It is one of the biggest reasons that people do not trust Barack and do not feel like he is like them.
He belonged to a church where the head of it could stand before it and damn a country. He didn't reject that church. Let's try something here, pretend I'm a female rabbi at the head of Temple: "Jehovah, damn Palestine!" Maybe those words will bother the left? (I am not damning any country, that's used as an example.) We would be outraged. Or, you would be. I would be the rabbi who uttered those words. So I would be the object of your disgust.
There is no justification for any head of a church or religious organization to damn any country. Countries are made of people. Around the world, we are all the same. Some of us you'd like to talk to; some of us you'd prefer to ignore. Our governments differ, our leaders differ, but on basic levels, we the people are basically the same around the world with the same hopes and dreams. We make up countries, we are the populations. It is outrageous for anyone to damn a country.
Barack only made it worse because he eventually publicly rejected Wright but that was after Wright insulted him. That sent the message that what mattered to Barack was Barack. I'm not saying these are facts, I'm saying these are perceptions. The message isn't something you can always control. The message is now out there.
It's not about racism. It's not about Hillary. It's not about John Edwards or any other candidate. It's about Barack. His image is all he made it in the last few months and it's not an image that reassures a majority of Americans which is why he either is barely ahead of John McCain or else trails him in most polls. It's very unlikely there will be an improvement. We are talking about perceptions that Barack shaped and allowed to take hold.
"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Tuesday, August 19, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces another death, Iraqi forces raid the office of the governor of Diyala Province and shoot dead his secretary but no one knows how?, the issue of the oil-rich Kirkuk may have already been 'settled,' and more.
Starting with war resistance. US war resister Jeremy Hinzman has been told he has until September 23rd to leave Canada. John Mackay (WSWS) explains, "Hinzman joined the US Army in early 2001, partly out of a sense of patriotism and adventure. However, he was primarily attracted by the promise of financial support for a university education. He says that more than a year after joining, he realized that he could not become a killer. He felt he could not dehumanize the people he was supposed to shoot. He applied for conscientious objector (CO) status in August 2002, but his command threw his application away. Hinzman subsequently reapplied while serving in Afghanistan, only to have his application turned down. In Afghanistan, while his CO application was being processed, Hinzman played a non-combatant role as an assistant to Haliburton employees serving meals to soldiers. Upon denial of his application for CO status, Hinzman was ordered to return to active duty. When his unit returned to the US with the understanding that they would soon be sent to Iraq, Hinzman deserted, crossing the Canadian border in January 2004 with his wife and young son and claiming refugee status." Nga Nguyen, Jeremy's wife, just gave birth to a daughter (Meghan) in July. We'll note again that the four are in a video at the War Resisters Support Campaign where Jeremy speaks to Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada:
Jeremy Hinzman: Hello, Mr. Harper. This is my family Nga, Liam and Meghan. We've been in Canada for the last four and a 1/2 years. I was a specialist in the 82nd Air borne division of the United States Army and served honorably in Afghanistan. In 2004, my family and I came to Canada because we would not participate in the Iraqi War, a war which Canada also refused to participate in because it was condemned by the international community. One of your predecessors, Pierre Trudeau, once said that Canada should be have from militarism and we took him at this word. On June 3, 2008, the Canadian Parliament passed a motion saying that United States war resisters should be able to remain in Canada. We're asking you to abide by this motion and allow us to stay in Canada. Thank you.
Title Card: On September 23rd, the Harper government plans to deport the Hinzman family back to the United States.
Title Card: Hinzman faces a court martial and up to 5 years in military prison for opposing the Iraq war and coming to Canada.
Title Card: War Resisters Support Campaign (Canada): http://www.resisters.ca/
Courage to Resist alerts, "Supporters are calling on Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, to intervene. Phone 613.996.4974 or email finley.d@parl.gc.ca,"Iraq Veterans Against the War also encourages people to take action, "To support Jeremy, call or email Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and ask her to intervene in this case. Phone: 613.996.4974 email: finley.d@parl.gc.ca." In addition to that, Canada's War Resisters Support Campaign is staging an emergency meeting this week (August 20th, Wednesday, 7:00 pm, Steelworkers Hall at 25 Cecil St.) and planning a day of action (September 13th) where
"[a]ctions, demonstrations and pickets will take place in cities and towns all across Canada."
A new documentary, The Path of Most Resistance, addresses war resistance. Directed by Gareth Keogh, the film traces two US service members attempts to receive CO status. One receives it, one doesn't. Susannah Tarbush (Saudi Gazette) reports on the film noting that Daniel Baker and Robert Weiss are the two CO applicants. Anyone paying attention knows who was successful and who wasn't:
Daniel Baker joined the US Navy in 2004, but soon after being deployed in Qatar as a communications officer in 2006 he made a successful application for CO status. He now works for the Catholic Peace Fellowship, one of the organizations that advise CO applicants. In contrast, soldier Robert Weiss's application for CO status was turned down in December 2007. He said: "I feel that at this point I have no legal avenue for pursuing recognition of my beliefs, so therefore I have no choice but to leave the military rather than do something I feel is immoral." On December 22 he was due to fly back to Iraq, but saw no alternative but to go absent without leave (AWOL) for 30 days, the minimum time necessary to be classified as a deserter. He would then turn himself in and face the inevitable court martial and imprisonment. During his period of being AWOL, he was given refuge by a family with pacifist sympathies. In February he turned himself in, and on May 13 was court martialled. He is serving a seven-month sentence in a military prison in Mannheim, Germany.
.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Yovany Rivero, William Shearer, Michael Thurman, Andrei Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, 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, Jose Vasquez, 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, Daniel Baker, 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, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, 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. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
Turning to Iraq, Richard A. Oppel Jr. (New York Times) sketches out how oil-rich Kirkuk's fate already appears determined and how that took place because the central government (puppet) in Baghdad didn't do anything to mediate between Arabs, Kurds and Turkomans. Oppel writes, "Kurdish authority is visible everywhere in the city. In addition to the provincial government and command of the police, the Kurds control the Asaish, the feared undercover security service that works with the American military and, according to Asaish commanders, United States intelligence agencies." Oppel doesn't pursue that aspect which is a shame because the puppet government was controlled by the White House so the stand-down on Kirkuk was no acident. And US Col David Paschal can brag about how he made the call last month (as Turkmen and Kurds battled) not to send in the Iraqi forces but that call came from higher up. Mohammed Khalil ("leader of the Arab bloc on the provincial council") explains, "There is much fear. The Asaish are saying they will annex Kirkuk by force and that is terrifying people." For more realities on Kirkuk, see Stephen Farrell's "As Iraqis Vie for Kirkuk's Oil, Refugee Kurds Becomes Pawns" (December 9, 2007). Meanwhile the United Nation's IRIN advises today of how volatile the situation in Kirkuk remains and sites Baghdad University's Amer Hassan al-Fayadh explaining, "I do believe the best solution for Kirkk is that it be run as a separate region -- after resolving all pending issues between its segments, conducting a census and then letting its population determine its fate through a referendum, instead of one party imposing a solution." IRIN notes that the Iraqi Parliament attempts to impose a solution (in regular session last July and in special session early this month) have resulted "in daily demonstrations in favour of, or against, the new legislation."
Meanwhile the Associated Press has an article all over the place today (here at Los Angeles Times, here at Washington Post, etc.) that is just rah-rah-rah about the US taking in Iraqi refugees and how the State Dept might meet their announced quota ("for the first time" is left unstated by Samantha Henry). But at Inside Iraq (McClatchy Newspapers) Sahar Issa explains, "For the second time now in one month Iraqi newspapers have published articles stating the U.S will not accept any more Iraqi refugees." And before some idiot says, "Well it's the 2008 quota and it's been met!" Fiscal year. Which ends September 30th. Meaning October 1st starts the next (fiscal) year. Zaineb Naji (Baghdad Life, Wall St. Journal) examines the changing policies on Iraqi refugees for surrounding countries:
Last year, Syria announced new rules for Iraqis coming to Syria and for the first time, required us to get visas. But only academics, merchants, and taxi and truck drivers would qualify for visas. You can also get permission to travel to Syria if you are going there for medical treatment.
[. . .]
This time as we went through customs, two Iraqi soldiers came up to us and used a scanning device to check us. Then American soldiers took our biometrics information, including an eye scan. The people who passed got an "OK" written on their right hand with a black marker.
"Just like sheep" a young woman said to the American soldier when she got the "OK" mark on her hand. The soldier said "sorry" several times and explained that this was the procedure.
Two hours later, we were on the Syrian side of the border and again we had to line up to get our passports checked. In the arrival hall, people were shouting and pushing each other to reach the immigration desk. I was told to step aside by one of the customs officers, who said I was blocking his view of the television set.
In the hall, there was an extra "fee" for each kind of visa. Merchants were asked to pay $10, while for the sick, the price was $5. For our transit visas, the fee was $4 each. Everyone got a stamp that allowed them to stay in Syria for one month and then we were on the bus again.
At the end of the trip, I realized that Iraqis are always suffering, whether it's inside their country or outside of it.
Bombings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Nineveh Province car bombing that left five people wounded.
Shootings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad attack in which 1 police officer was shot dead and three were left wounded and, in Kirkuk, a police shooting is under examination as a result of the deaths of a man and his father. Reuters notes a raid conducted by "Iraqi security forces" in Baquba on "the office of the governor of Diyala province" which resulted in the death of "his secetary". Reuters notes the name of the dead is Abbas Ali Hmoud and that Raad Rasheed Mulla Jawad (the governor of the province) has stated, "The body of the martyr [Abbas Ali Hmoud] will stay in the building until the iillers are captured." Though the US military admits at least 1 US helicopter was present they deny that the US military had any knowledge or participation in the raid. Maybe they were just jumping the gun on the August 22nd National Airborne Day? Also playing dumb is the puppet government in Baghdad which is ordering an investigation. AFP reports that Nouri al-Maliki, puppet of the occupation, "ordered the formation of a committee to find out how Iraqi forces came to fight each other in Baquba" and notes that, in addition to the secretary being murdered, a bodyguard was also shot dead. CNN notes, "Hussein al-Zubaidi, a provincial council member, and Nazar al-Khafaji, the Diyala University dean, were arrested during the raid, the official said."
Corpses?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 20 corpses were discovered in Diyala Province.
Today the US military announced: "A Multi-National Division - Center Soldier was killed as a result of a rocket attack on a forward operating base near Amarah Aug. 19." ICCC's count is 4144 for the total number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war and 17 for the month.
Turning to the US presidential race. The Democratic Party holds its convention in Denver shortly. AP notes, "Independent Ralph Nader planned to attend a rally at Denver University on Aug. 27, the night before Obama accepts his party's nomination. And Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney was scheduled to address supporters after an anti-war march through downtown Denver on Sunday, the day before the convention opens." Christopher Keating (Hartford Courant) notes that independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader's campaign was set to turn in petitions today in New York and Alabama making them the 31st and 32nd states the Ralph Nader - Matt Gonzalez ticket will be on the ballots of. Foon Rhee (Boston Globe) adds that the Nader campaign is set to submit their signatures to be on the Massachusetts ballot. The Nader campaign states it has around 17,000 signatures gathered, that Massachusetts would be the 34th state they'd be on the ballot of and that "Michael Richardson, Massachusetts Nader/Gonzalez 2008 Coordinator, will hold a Weds. Aug. 20, 10 a.m. news conference at the Elections Division office, McCormack Bulding, Room 1705, One Ashburton Place, Boston, Mass. 02108"..
From Ralph's Daily Audio, this is "The Difference Between The Two Parties:"
This is Ralph Nader. Just how different are the two major parties? Well I've often said that the towering similarities between the two parties are far greater than the dwindling differences they're really willing to fight over. It's clear that the Democrats are better than Republicans on Social Security, civil justice, the right to go to court if you're wrongfully injured, civil rights and a number of other issues. But consider the similarities. As I've said when it comes to the overriding issue of the corporate takeover of our federal government department by department, agency by agency, the two parties differ in the velocity with which their knees hit the floor when corporations pound on their door.
The two parties are pretty similar on foreign and military policy. In recent weeks the leading foreign affairs reporters for the Washington Post and the New York Times said that Obama would be similar in his foreign and military policy to the second term of George W. Bush. They're both pushing for more military budget. They haven't singled out a single weapons system that they think is obsolete, redundant or not needed.
They both are not doing anything about cracking down on corporate crimes commensurate with the violations of health and safety laws by the corporations in the looting and draining of trillions of dollars of mutual fund savings and pension funds they both are furthering the perforation of the tax code corporate loopholes and offshore havens. They both have put the regulatory agencies under anesthesia. They both are in a race to get more and more private special interest money into elections corrupting our election process. You ever hear them mention in any specifics what they're going to do about consumer protection or what they're going to do about repealing anti-worker, anti-union laws like Taft-Hartley? No way. Similarly silent.
The Democrats took over the Congress in January 2007, they haven't rolled back any of the legislation or even made a major college try to roll back the bad legislation that Bush and his Congressional Republicans have passed So we can go and on but just think about it, how necessary it is to have somewhere else on the ballot line to cast your vote. Nader-Gonzalez. Thank you.
Team Nader notes:
We are in a sprint to the finish line.That would be November 4.
And we're not about to let up.
But for the first time since we started this campaign, we are in danger of not meeting one of our financial goals.
We set a goal of $50,000 by tomorrow night 11:59 p.m.
As of now, we are just under $30,000.
So, we need to ramp it up.
Big time.
And now.
We need 2,000 of you -- our loyal supporters -- to drop $10 each.
That simple.
So hit that there contribute button.
And drop a ten spot on Nader/Gonzalez.
Time to get it done.
By the way, did you hear some of the big names that are coming to our Super Rallies in Denver and Minneapolis?
Not just our own caped crusader.
But also --
Batman?
Huey Long?
The Anti-Pelosi?
Stay tuned.
Here's one person who will be there for sure.
Ashley Sanders.
Ashley who?
Ashley Sanders.
Ashley gave one of the most eloquent and thought provoking endorsements of the Nader/Gonzalez candidacy this year.
Check out Ashley here -- introducing Ralph in Utah last month.
But first things first.
Let's not miss this deadline.
Kick it in so we can push it over the top.
Onward to November.
Cynthia McKinney is the Green Party presidential nominee and she has upcoming appearances this week (tomorrow and Thursday):Wednesday, August 20th McKinney will make 3 stops in Memphis. That evening she will be in Jackson, Tennessee for a fundraiser hosted by the Madison County Green Party.Thursday, August 21st McKinney's first stop is in Dickson to meet with representatives of the community who have been affected by the dumping of toxic waste in their community. Then to Nashville for an 11:00 AM Press Conference in Room 31, Legislative Plaza speaking to the press about her campaign. This event is open to the public. Following the press conference Ms McKinney will speak directly to the public and take questions. This will also be in Legislative Plaza, Room 31.That morning Greens will turn in their nominating petitions to secure her position on the general election ballot in Tennessee. "Due to Tennessee's oppressive election access laws Ms McKinney will be listed on the ballot as an independent candidate which we can achieve with 275 valid signatures. It would take over 45,000 valid signatures to get her listed with the "Green" affiliation. The Green Party is currently a litigant against the state seeking ballot access laws that are fair", said John Miglietta a delegate to the Green Party of the US and a Green Candidate for US House District 5.Following the Press Conference she is scheduled to visit Tennessee State University, Fisk University and Carver Food Park where Sizwe Herring of EarthMatters Tennessee teaches children and community members about the value of composting and principles of ecology.
Those appearances start tomorrow and the Geen Party website still has nothing up.
iraqjeremy hinzmanjohn mackaydaniel bakerrobert weisssusannah tarbushchristopher keating
the new york timesrichard a. oppel jr.stephen farrellleila fadelmcclatchy newspapers
Monday, August 18, 2008
Nader and the self-destructing Dems
"Ralph Nader, Independent Presidential Candidate, Statement on Cancellation of The Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall Debate" (Nader-Gonzalez):
Friday, August 15, 2008 at 12:00:00 AM
ShareThis
News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Chris Driscoll, 202-360-3273, chris@votenader.org
RALPH NADER, INDEPENDENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, STATEMENT ON CANCELLATION OF THE FORT HOOD PRESIDENTIAL TOWN HALL DEBATE
WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2008---Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader today released the following statement on the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall calling on Sen. Barack Obama to listen to veterans and military groups and participate:
Over 4,600 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan combined and hundreds of thousands more have been severely injured. Thousands of our soldiers have been ripped off by pay-day loan rackets and auto dealer scams that operate on military bases, poisoned by dirty drinking water provided by Halliburton subsidiaries, and killed or injured due to inadequate body armor for years. Many of our wounded soldiers, especially those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome and brain trauma as a result of the high incidence of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), have been neglected or saddled with a morass of paper work, bureaucracy and neglect on their return. This moral travesty goes on with no end in sight, while the Halliburtons, KBRs and Blackwaters waste billions of dollars.
This past Monday, the major Presidential Candidates were supposed to discuss the well-being of our soldiers and veterans as part of a forum hosted by the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall Consortium, composed of dozens of military and veterans' groups across the country.
It is my understanding that Senator McCain confirmed his willingness to participate. CBS News confirmed and agreed to cover the forum live from Fort Hood on national TV from 9-11 p.m. EDT. But, as reported by the New York Times, Senator Obama declined to participate on this date, or to offer any alternative date.
Senator Obama's brand marketing campaign is so tightly scripted that he is reluctant to come out in the open to give the American people the chance to hear his views in an open forum.
Senator Obama's explanation that there is not enough time to fit this or any other presidential forum outside the three narrowly scripted debates organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates is just not credible. Between January 5, 2008 and February 26, 2008, Senator Obama participated in seven Democratic Party Presidential Primary debates over a 50-day period. Now, he says he will likely only have time to do three debates over the next 75 days. Both Senator McCain and a major network have stepped forward to join this bold initiative organized by some of the nation's most respected veterans groups. What is Senator Obama afraid of?
I challenge Senator Obama to reconsider and take the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall up on their invitation to host a forum anytime before November to discuss the increasingly complex issues facing America's military and veteran communities.
References:
[Here for New York Times, here for Dallas Morning News.]
About Ralph Nader
Celebrated attorney, author and consumer advocate Ralph Nader has been named by Time Magazine one of the "100 Most Influential Americans in the 20th Century". For more than four decades he has exposed problems and organized millions of citizens into more than 100 public interest groups advocating solutions. He led the movement to establish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and enact the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and countless other pieces of important consumer legislation. Because of Ralph Nader we drive safer cars, eat healthier food, breathe better air, drink cleaner water, and work in safer environments. Nader graduated from Princeton University and received an LL.B from the Harvard Law School.
About Matt Gonzalez
Matt Gonzalez was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2000 representing San Francisco's fifth council district. From 2003 to 2005 he served as Board of Supervisors President. A former public defender, Gonzalez is managing partner of Gonzalez & Leigh, a 7-attorney practice in San Francisco that represents individuals and organizations in mediation, arbitration, and administrative proceedings before state and federal regulatory bodies. Gonzalez graduated from Columbia University and received a JD from Stanford Law School.
About the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign
According to a CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted from July 27-29, Ralph Nader is at 6 percent nationally, higher than his highest major poll numbers during the same time period in 2000 and approaching the 10 percent threshold required for eligibility to participate in "America's Presidential Debate in New Orleans", Google-sponsored event scheduled for September 18. In the key swing state of Michigan -- whose voters were partially disenfranchised by the Democratic National Committee -- an EPIC-MRA poll found Nader at 8-10 percent.
For more information on the Nader/Gonzalez campaign, visit: votenader.org.
I had one hour of sleep last night so do not expect much. As soon as I'm done, I'm going straight to bed. Ralph is exactly right, Barack's behavior is shameful. You don't even have to add in that Barack blew off veterans. That's shameful but so is his entire running scared from debates. Does he think he's going to magically lose his "uh-uh-uh-uh" delivery? No.
He needs the practice. But he won't take it because his entire appeal is based on illusion which is why when John McCain came out so far ahead of him in Saturday's forum, the natural response for Barack was to whine someone must have cheated.
No, Barack's just not all the hype his handlers have shoveled and pushed.
Each month it becomes more and more obvious that Barack isn't the candidate Democrats thought he was. If the Democrats had any sense, they'd give the nomination to Hillary at the convention.
You keep hearing that this is the Democrats year and that the Democrats are better on the economy (as seen by voters). Yet . . . Barack's still doing poorly int he polls. So the question should be: Is the problem the Democrats or is it Barack?
Were Hillary the nominee, we know she knows how to talk about the economy. We know she knows how to connect with voters.
Barack can't. Even with the press filing fan club bellitns throughout the primaries, Barack couldn't close the deal. At the end of the primaries, Hillary had more votes. Had Florida's delegates been recognized and even if they'd given Barack all the 'undeclared' delegates from Michigan and all the delegates for Kucinich, Dodd and Gravel. Just giving Hillary what she won in Florida and in Michigan would have put her ahead of Barack in the pledged delegates.
But Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean didn't want Hillary. They loathe Hillary. So they rigged it to give Democrats the flavour of the month but that was February's flavour and it's now August.
If Hillary was the nominee, we'd see a huge lead in the polls, her over McCain.
Instead, the Dems want to lose again and are going to go with Barack Obama who may or may not hold citizenship in other countries. (Two Super Delegates are looking into that.) But what is known is that America's not impressed. He's not making it to 50%. He's not able to pull that lead that the Democratic nominee should have. Of course that nominee is "generic." Any Democrat would poll high . . . except Barack. It's not that people don't know him, it's that they don't like him.
It has nothing to do with him being "Black," because he is bi-racial. It has everything to do with him not having a record. It has everything to do with the slash and burn campaign he ran and is running. It has everything to do with his inablity to relate to average voters.
If he gets the nomination (if) and he loses in November, heads need to roll. First up, Howard Dean needs to be sent packing. Second, Donna Brazile needs to be shown the exit. I would say Nancy Pelosi needs to lose her House Speakeriship but I know that's already taken care of. If Barack gets the nomination and loses the election, we will have a male Speaker of the House (or, worst case, a House Minority Leader). He is already geared to challenge her and, poor Nancy, he's got the votes. Pelosi has led the Democrats in Congress to an all time low in polling numbers. Why anyone would still want to listen to her -- let alone listen to her about a national nominee (she's not even a statewide candidate in California) is beyond me. But there will be hell to pay.
The good news is that those steps are already taken. I can't say who the new Speaker (or Minority Leader if Barack drags the entire ticket down as some Democratic polls are suggesting) but I will note that C.I.'s worked most of the summer shoring up votes for the man who will be challenging Pelosi. Pelosi, the one-term House Speaker. She won't fair well in history if that happens. She had two years. Democrats were hugely popular -- that's how they took back Congress -- but under her tenure as Speaker of the House, Congress reached its lowest approval levels. That alone should explain why no one in the party leadership should be listening to her.
Howard Dean? He's a governor who didn't do much. Then he ran for the Dem presidential nominee and lost that. Somehow people thought that qualified him as a party leader? Well, hell, why didn't they make Dukakis the DNC chair years ago?
"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Monday, August 18, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, Jeffry House still doesn't grasp what Justice Robert Barnes wrote in his ruling, Blackwater mercenaries are made to sweat, Ralph Nader fights for democracy and open debates and Cynthia McKinney makes it clear that she will not be intimidated by some 'supporters' who wanted her to cancel an appearance.
Starting with war resistance. Last Wednesday, US war resister Jeremy Hinzman was informed he had to leave Canada by September 32rd. He and his family (wife Nga Nguyen, son Liam and daughter Meghan) have taped a video at the War Resisters Support Campaign where Jeremy speaks to Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada:
Jeremy Hinzman: Hello, Mr. Harper. This is my family Nga, Liam and Meghan. We've been in Canada for the last four and a 1/2 years. I was a specialist in the 82nd Air borne division of the United States Army and served honorably in Afghanistan. In 2004, my family and I came to Canada because we would not participate in the Iraqi War, a war which Canada also refused to participate in because it was condemned by the international community. One of your predecessors, Pierre Trudeau, once said that Canada should be have from militarism and we took him at this word. On June 3, 2008, the Canadian Parliament passed a motion saying that United States war resisters should be able to remain in Canada. We're asking you to abide by this motion and allow us to stay in Canada. Thank you.
Title Card: On September 23rd, the Harper government plans to deport the Hinzman family back to the United States.
Title Card: Hinzman faces a court martial and up to 5 years in military prison for opposing the Iraq war and coming to Canada.
Title Card: War Resisters Support Campaign (Canada): http://www.resisters.ca/
In These Times has an article by Peter Kavanagh and I'm going to take huge exception with a viewpoint offered by Jeffry House who really needs to start getting to know the facts. Facts are your friend, Jeffry. House represents Joshua Key (and many others) and maybe he thinks making ridiculous statements about the Barnes decision is to Josh's benefit? I don't know. But he was wrong when the decision was released and he's STILL wrong. He tells Kavanagh, "The Key decision is of use to soldiers who have their boots on the ground and are ordered to commit acts [that] violate their consciences, and also violate international norms." House is wrong. Alyssa makes similar statements and I let it slide. I cringe but let it slide. She didn't live through the time period, House did. Judge Barnes, PAY ATTENTION, found the Board to be in error by proclaiming "that refugee protection for military deserters and evaders is only available where the conduct objected to amounts to a war crime, a crime against peace or a crime against humanity."
Let me explain what NOT noting that is akin to: Finding out that your dream house has a closet painted the wrong color and saying, "Oh, forget it." That sentence -- which escapes Allyson, shouldn't escape House. Key words: MILITARY DESERTERS AND EVADERS. Same words from Vietnam. Barnes is using those terms today. Who's what? Deserters are those who served in Iraq and then checked out. Evaders would be those ordered to go to Iraq who checked out before deploying. Barnes knows his terminology and he knows his history. His decision is a very carefully constructed finding. By mentioning the category of military evaders he means who? Jeremy Hinzman, Brandon Hughey and all others who checked out instead of deploying to Iraq. Kyle Snyder, Joshua Key, Patrick Hart, etc would qualify as military deserters in the eyes of the court.
This isn't the first time Jeffry House has made public statements that have missed the boat (and, worse, damaged the cases of others). I'm not going to sit here and smile and pretend it didn't just happen again. He is WRONG. Justice Robert Barnes' decision is a long one. House was commenting on it without even reading it earlier. It was obvious from the press that he hadn't even bothered to read it. He may have read a summary but he didn't read the 23 pages. Barnes is careful, considered and meticulous in his ruling. He is specifically addressing Joshua Key's case but what he ruled provides openings for many war resisters -- regardless of whether they fall into the category of "military deserter" or "military evader." The latter term, during Vietnam, was used to described those who were evading the draft. The "evader" has always been the one who has not been on the battlefield. Barnes is using that term today and Jeffry House should have caught that and should have understood its significance. It's been over a month since that ruling was issued. There's no longer an excuse for not being familiar with it. We'll try to note Kavanagh's article again later in the week -- really note it -- but this is exactly the nonsense (House's -- I'm not referring to Kavanagh) that keeps hurting war resistance. It is exactly why Mactavish was able to dismiss concerns as "speculation." (And, hello, we pointed the dangers of that 'strategy' out here at the start of July. Long before Mactavish offered that ruling. And noted it would be dismissed as "speculation." As it was.) I'm sure House and others are overworked but there are too many basic points of law that are repeatedly being missed. The ruling is 23 pages long. All representing war resisters in Canada need to read over the ruling (read it again if they already have). Don't take House's summary as gospel because this is the second time he's spoken of it publicly and been wrong. Not only do you need to read it for what it says (such as "military deserters and evaders"), you need to read it while thinking how it directly effects your client's case and how YOU CAN TRY TO EXPAND IT to do so. That is building on the ruling. And, one more thing, Barnes mentions Jeremy Hinzman in his ruling. He didn't have to. The fact that Hinzman is mentioned in the ruling makes the ruling especially significant to Jeremy's case. More so than any other war resister except Josh. Equally true, Barnes' statement that, "Officially condoned military misconduct falling well short of a war crime may a support a claim to refugee protection" is a statement that applies to all, not just those who had their boots on the ground. If only those whose boots were on the ground could make that assessment, Barnes couldn't make it himself. He's dependent upon testimony and findings (including the International Red Cross). The same testimony and findings he depended upon to make his ruling may have had impact on the decision of a US war resister currently in Canada who did not go to Iraq.
Irwin Loy (24 Hours Vancouver) reported over the weekend on Michael Beyers who is running for the Canadian Parliament and declared, "I believe in a Canada that grants asylum to principled young Americans that said no to an illegal war." Byers is an NDP candidate and the NDP has a long history of supporting war resisters. Just as Oliva Chow is among those leading the charge today, NDP-ers like Ed Broadbent led it during Vietnam. Back then, Broadbent was regularly pointing out Canada's long history as a place for sanctuary such as when he noted, "Our tradition of welcoming those who are essentially political refugees goes back to the United Empire Loyalists." Broadbent would go on to take the NDP to new heights in the immediate post-Vietnam period. There is no political fallout for Canadian office holders on this issue. [Click here for CBC coverage of Broadbent.] This is the press release issued by Oliva Chow's office on the decision to deport Jeremy:
The August 13 decision by Harper's Conservative government to deport war resister Jeremy Hinzman is mean-spirited and anti-democratic.
"Harper's mean-spirited decision to allow this deportation is sad," said NDP Citizenship and Immigration Critic MP Olivia Chow. "Jeremy has called Canada his home for the past five years and has just recently celebrated the birth of his second child. If there was ever a case to grant refugee status on compassionate and humanitarian grounds, this is it."
With today's negative ruling on Jeremy Hinzman's Pre-removal Risk Assessment and Humanitarian and Compassionate consideration, there is an urgent need for the people of Canada to express their outrage against the Conservative government's refusal to act on the will of Parliament.
On June 3rd, Olivia Chow saw her motion to halt all deporations against US Iraq war resisters passed by Parliament by a vote of 137-110.
"Ordinary Canadians have already said 'yes' to Jeremy Hinzman and to his family," said Chow. "They have spoken through their Parliament, they want to let Mr. Hinzman and other U.S. Iraq War Resisters stay in Canada."
Jeremy Hinzman is schedule to be deported on Tuesday, September 23. Hinzman is the first war resister who filed a refugee claim to stay in Canada.
Courage to Resist alerts, "Supporters are calling on Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, to intervene. Phone 613.996.4974 or email finley.d@parl.gc.ca,"Iraq Veterans Against the War also encourages people to take action, "To support Jeremy, call or email Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and ask her to intervene in this case. Phone: 613.996.4974 email: finley.d@parl.gc.ca." In addition to that, Canada's War Resisters Support Campaign is staging an emergency meeting this week (August 20th, Wednesday, 7:00 pm, Steelworkers Hall at 25 Cecil St.) and planning a day of action (September 13th) where "[a]ctions, demonstrations and pickets will take place in cities and towns all across Canada."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Yovany Rivero, William Shearer, Michael Thurman, Andrei Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, 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, Jose Vasquez, 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, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, 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. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
Turning to Iraq where Shi'ite pilgrims became the focus of attacks last week and it continued over the weekend. AFP reports that from Thursday through Saturday "at least 36" lost their lives (and notes that Thursday's Iskandariyah attack claimed 22 lives with seventy-three injured). Sunday, Stephen Farrell (New York Times) reported on the 6 deaths of pilgrims in a bombing and that, "Three hours after the early-morning blast, shopkeepers, residents and survivors were still pulling charred goods and debris from damaged roadside stores, and sweeping ashes and wreckage into the gutter." [Friday's bombing attack on pilgrims claimed 9 lives.] Yesterday Hussein Kadhim (McCatchy Newspapers) reports a Sunday Baghdad bomber on bicylce that claimed his/her own life as well as 5 other people (thirteen wounded). As the death toll increased, Sudarsan Raghavan (Washington Post) reported that 7 were dead from the "suicide bomber on a bicycle" with thirteen injured. Erica Goode and Ali Hameed (New York Times) report the bombing took place "in front of Baghdad's famous Abu Hanifa mosque," claimed 15 lives (twenty-nine injured) and: "Witnesses said that the bomber, a man, may have been riding a motorcycle that was parked about 65 feet from a traffic light on the street." Ned Parker and Saif Hameed (Los Angeles Times) explain, "There were contradictory accounts of the incident. One police officer said the bomber was disguised as a woman and arrived on foot; another said the attacker was not disguised and arrived on a bike." The US military maintains it was a man and that he walked up to "an SOI control check point near the Abu Hamifa Mosque wearing a personal borne improvised-explosive device and self-detonated." "SOI" is "Sons of Iraq" aka "Awakening" Councils (or Sahwa). AP disagrees on the gender of the bomber (they say it was a woman) but do agree that 6 "bodyguards of Farooq al-Obeidi, deputy leader of the 'awakening council' in Baghdad's Azamiyah district, also died in the blast, which occurred as they were seated on chairs near a checkpoint near the Abu Hanifa mosque".
Sunday Del Quentin Wilber and Karen DeYoung (Washington Post) reported that six mercenaries working for Blackwater who had been in Iraq "working as security contractors for the State Department, assigned to protect U.S. diplomats and other non-military officials in Iraq" that they are targets in a criminal investigation. If it seems familiar you may be remembering the real-time article by Sabrina Tavernise and James Glanz ("Security Firm Faces Criminal Charges in Iraq," New York Times). Dropping back to the September 17th snapshot:
Turning to the issue of violence, Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reported Sunday [Sept. 16th] that a Baghdad shooting (by private contractors) killed 9 Iraqi civilians and left fifteen more wounded. Later on Sunday, CNN reported, "In the Baghdad gun battle, which was between security forces and unidentified gunmen, eight people were killed and 14 wounded, most of them civilians, an Interior Ministry official said. Details were sketchy, but the official said witnesses told police that the security forces involved appeared to be Westerners driving sport utility vehicles, which are usually used by Western companies. The clash occurred near Nisoor square, in western Baghdad. CBS and AP report that Abdul-Karim Khalaf, spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, announced "it was pulling the license of an American security firm allegedly involved in the fatal shooting of civilians during an attack on a U.S. State Department motorcade in Baghdad," that "it would prosecute any foreign contractors found to have used excessive force" in the slaughter (eight dead, 13 wounded) and they "have canceled the liscense of Blcakwater and prevented them from working all over Iraqi territory."
The number killed continued to mount. James Bone (Times of London) notes today that 17 Iraqi civilians were slaughtered in that incident and reminds that, "In negotiations on a new bilateral security agreement, the Iraqi government has pressed for all foreign personnel to be subject to Iraqi law." Meanwhile, the US military has good news yesterday! "Attacks down except roadside bombs, rigged houses"! So attacks are down . . . if you eliminate some of the attacks. The opening sentence: "The numbers of houses rigged with explosives and roadside bombs have increased since the beginning of the Iraqi offensive in Diyala, while other attack trends have been decreasing." Guess this wave of Operation Happy Talk should be dubbed "win some, lose some." M-NF also announced 37 women "attended the first day of a four-week course at the Kirkuk Police Academy outside of Kirkuk city" Saturday. Reuters reported the Turkish military says they bombed northern Iraq on Sunday ("no details of casualties"). And that "police fired on demonstrators" Sunday in Arbil killing one.
In news of today's reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing that left five people wounded, while another Baghdad roadside bombing left three people wounded and a Baghdad IED bombing left nine people wounded. Reuters notes a Ramadi car bombing that claimed the lives of 5 police officers dead (seven wounded) and a Mosul roadside bombing that resulted in three being injured.
Shootings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that Faris Jabir Thair ("a member in Shaheed al Mihrab organization") was shot dead (machine gunned while in his car) in a Baghdad attack that left his wife wounded, while 2 people were shot dead in Basra ("director of an election center and his deputy") with another wounded and "Awakening" Council leader Raheem Thyab al Bayati was shot dead in Kirkuk. On the Basra shooting of election officials, Reuters notes Ma'ath Wahab was the name of the director who was shot dead (the other killed and the one wounded are not named).
Turning to the US presidential race. Last Monday, independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader was in Toronto. Hentry Martinuk (Rabble News) reports today that Ralph attracted a crowd of 200 and: "There are several other issues where Nader differs from Obama and McCain: impeachment of Bush and Cheney; withdrawal from Iraq; restoring civil liberties; repealing anti-union laws; supporting industrial hemp; and cutting the wasteful military budget. According to Nader, Obama and McCain 'never met a weapons system they didn't like'." Third Party Watch notes, "Zogby International reports that more than half of likely voters nationwide -- 55% -- want Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr to participate in the presidential debates this fall, while nearly half -- 46% -- also said they think Ralph Nader should be allowed into the debates." Which is a good time to note, from Ralph's Daily Audio, "Join Our Super Rallies for Open Debates:"
Good morning, this is Ralph Nader. As you know, Nader/Gonzalez is being blocked from the presidential debates. The corporate controlled so-called Commission on Presidential Debates will not let any independent candidate in unless they show 15% in a series of polls in September. That's no surprise. What is surprising is the failure of other debates to fill the vacuum. Part of this is due to Senator Obama's reluctance to engage his opponents. On May 4th, Obama told Tim Russert on Meet The Press that he was willing to debate with "any of my opponents about what this country means, what makes it great." But earlier this month, Obama's campaign manager backed off, saying that Obama would debate only Senator McCain and only in the three rigged debates that's sponsored by the two parties and paid for by corporations. Senator Obama's also refused to participate in a number of other debates including the Google debate in New Orleans, the Texas Ft. Hood debate that is being organized by veterans groups and the series of ten townhall meetings proposed by Senator McCain. Senator Obama's refusal to participate is a mistake and is costing him in the polls. Just yesterday, the Gallup tracking polls put McCain and Obama tied at 44% each. If Obama doesn't agree to more debates he could end up at the end of a sentence that starts out "Mondale, Dukakis, Gore and Kerry. With only McCain and Obama on the stage , there will be no debate of key issues and redirections important to the American people . Just go down the partial list. Single-payer Medicare for all healthcare, supported by the majority of the American people, the majority of doctors and nurses, and just recently, unanimously, by the US conference of mayors? Obama says "no," McCain says "no." Reversing US policy in the Middle East? Obama says "no," McCain says "no." Cut the bloated, wasteful, redundant military budget? Obama says "no," McCain says "no." They want a bigger military budget. Empty the prisons of drug possessors and fill 'em up with corporate criminals? Obama says "no," McCain says "no." Nader-Gonzalez says "yes" to each. The only way to change this systemic exclusion is for millions of Americans to become engaged now. If you can, please join with us at our two Super Rallies-- on August 27th in Denver at the University of Denver Magness Arena or September 4th in Minneapolis at Orchestra Hall. And help us raise the banner for all to see: "OPEN THE DEBATES." If you are not able to attend, please go to VoteNader.org and donate now whatever you can up to the legal maximum of $4,600 to help fund our Open The Debates Campaign. Our goal is to raise $50,000 by Wednesday night. Last night, we were close to $14,000 in less than three days, but we have a ways to go. So join with us in Denver and Minneapolis if you can. We're planning to have some prominent activists and musicians with us. Stay tuned for more information on that. And we have some surprise, giant, inflatable visuals that should be a lot of fun, that will travel with us as we move from Denver to Minneapolis and then, hopefully, will bring attention to our Super Rallies from the press. Thank you for your ongoing and considered support to our campaign. Together we are making a difference. Onward to November. I'm Ralph Nader.
Chuck Baldwin, Bob Barr, Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader are presidential candidates. There is no need for "presumptive" to be used as a preface. They are presidential candidates. They get very little coverage. The debates need to be opened and click here for Third addressing that yesterday and this was left out in the rush to type (Jim added it this morning -- thank you to community member Lynda), wo we'll include that section in full here:
The campaign is keeping issues on the table. Thursday, Jess spoke with Junue Millan at the newly opened Nader-Gonzalez Denver Headquarters. The headquarters intends to be open not just business hours Monday through Friday, but from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. That's due to the fact that not only are they a campaign headquarters with all that entails, they're also gearing up for the Denver Super Rally August 27th. They are expecting between 5,000 and 7,000 people at the University of Denver's Magness Arena. And they need volunteers. If you're in the Denver area and interested in helping, you can e-mail Junue Millan at junue@votenader.org as well as call the office (303) 832-2509 or walk in. The Denver Super Rally will feature Ralph and running mate Matt Gonzalez as well as many guest speakers such as artist, activist and rocker Jello Biafra. Junue Millan described the mood to Jess as very up and noted that five outlets (including Univision) had sent reporters Thursday to cover the opening of the Denver headquarters. Millan was able to quickly -- without pausing -- tick off the issues that the Nader-Gonzalez campaign were raising and intended to keep on the table. None of that, "Check Saint Barack's website for issues, I am just here to talk about how groovy Barack is and how, when he cries, the heavens rain. I first came to Barack . . . a street junkie who had run away from home and was turning tricks on the side, selling a little blow and scamming this old lady at the homeless shelter, but Saint Barack has changed my life and cured my irritable bowel syndrome. Praise be, St. Barack." Instead, Millan was informed and a total pro which says a great deal the Nader-Gonzalez campaign.
Steven Argue (Dissident Voice) reports that Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney (and running mate Rosa Clemente) will be participating in Recreate '68 in Denver in spite of the fact that "the Green Party of Colorado has issued false statements to the press and all over the internet claiming that Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia MiKinney will not be participating in the Recreate '68 events." We don't have room in the snapshot for Cynthia's statement in full (it'll go in one of tomorrow's morning entries) but here is the opening (and for space, paragraphs are going to run together):
As the United States activated Navy ships and the Air Force to begin an airlift of non-specified goods into the former Soviet state of Georgia, and military exercises began in the Persian Gulf near Iran, I received communications from certain individuals among the Colorado Greens who were organizing campaign support events there, suggesting that I not participate in an anti-war program being organized by other individuals in Colorado. Perplexed, I began to do my research to understand the nature of the fissure that I seemed to be placing myself in the middle of. The communications to me about not participating in one of the scheduled events became more and more shrill. The events ran through August 26th. When the lineup of speakers, including Rosa and me, was announced for the events in question, I received multiple communications stating in various ways that the sender from the Green Party of Colorado, was on the verge of desperation over the latter.
At this point Cynthia states that some Colorado Greens threatened her with stopping the ballot access efforts in Wyoming if she didn't agree not to appear and she was told, basically, 'We supported Elaine Brown and not you anyway, nah-nah-nah.' She then lists some of the people participating who have stood up regularly for what was needed before concluding:
Rosa and I have not been given any rational, ideological, or strategically-acceptable reason by the Green Party of Colorado to dissociate ourselves from the movement that this country so desperately needs and that these individuals and organizations participating represent, as we all attempt to hold the Democratic Party accountable for its complicity in all of the crimes of the Bush Administration. Therefore Rosa and I will keep our appointments in Denver and we hope that the members of the Green Party of Colorado will attend our sessions and listen to what we have to say. I have faith that by taking principled stands against war and occupation, human rights abuse, the prison-industrial complex, and in support of freedom for political prisoners, the Green Party will emerge stronger.
Finally, from Ralph's Daily Audio, here's today's "The Bloated Defense Budget:"
This is Ralph Nader. Remember reading or hearing the farewell address of President Dwight Eisenhower? 1960, when he warned Americans about what he called "the military industrial complex." Well, just a few words about where we are in the military budget. It's now 1/2 of the entire federal government's operating expenditures. It's way over $700 billion and that's not counting the money for helping our veterans. Both Obama and McCain want to increase the military budget. The Government Accountability Office yearly describes the gigantic Pentagon contracting budget unaduitable. Just imagine, half of what the federal government spends in operating expenditures can't even be audited. For example, people inside the Defense Department think that the F-22 should never have been contract for, built wasn't necessary. The Osprey helicopter -- defective, killed quite a few marines in test flights, shouldn't have been built in their judgment. Hundreds of billions of dollars are in the pipeline for weapons systems that were designed for the Soviet Union-era of hostility. They no longer have any strategic value and many of them are redundant. We've got to cut the waste out of the huge military budget and put that money back into repairing America's public works and cities, towns and rural areas all over the country. If we cut out the expenditures of keeping our soldiers out of Japan and Western Europe -- 60-plus years after WWII -- a portion of that money could give free education to all students in public universities in the United States. Think about it. Think about who stands for a lean defense -- not a wasteful defense; who stands for respecting your tax payer dollar and returning it to you to improve the public facilities, schools and clinics, libraries, drinking water systems, sewage stream and plant upgrades among some of the deferred maintenance that's reducing the facilities that are necessary for a thriving community.
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Friday, August 15, 2008 at 12:00:00 AM
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News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Chris Driscoll, 202-360-3273, chris@votenader.org
RALPH NADER, INDEPENDENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, STATEMENT ON CANCELLATION OF THE FORT HOOD PRESIDENTIAL TOWN HALL DEBATE
WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2008---Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader today released the following statement on the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall calling on Sen. Barack Obama to listen to veterans and military groups and participate:
Over 4,600 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan combined and hundreds of thousands more have been severely injured. Thousands of our soldiers have been ripped off by pay-day loan rackets and auto dealer scams that operate on military bases, poisoned by dirty drinking water provided by Halliburton subsidiaries, and killed or injured due to inadequate body armor for years. Many of our wounded soldiers, especially those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome and brain trauma as a result of the high incidence of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), have been neglected or saddled with a morass of paper work, bureaucracy and neglect on their return. This moral travesty goes on with no end in sight, while the Halliburtons, KBRs and Blackwaters waste billions of dollars.
This past Monday, the major Presidential Candidates were supposed to discuss the well-being of our soldiers and veterans as part of a forum hosted by the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall Consortium, composed of dozens of military and veterans' groups across the country.
It is my understanding that Senator McCain confirmed his willingness to participate. CBS News confirmed and agreed to cover the forum live from Fort Hood on national TV from 9-11 p.m. EDT. But, as reported by the New York Times, Senator Obama declined to participate on this date, or to offer any alternative date.
Senator Obama's brand marketing campaign is so tightly scripted that he is reluctant to come out in the open to give the American people the chance to hear his views in an open forum.
Senator Obama's explanation that there is not enough time to fit this or any other presidential forum outside the three narrowly scripted debates organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates is just not credible. Between January 5, 2008 and February 26, 2008, Senator Obama participated in seven Democratic Party Presidential Primary debates over a 50-day period. Now, he says he will likely only have time to do three debates over the next 75 days. Both Senator McCain and a major network have stepped forward to join this bold initiative organized by some of the nation's most respected veterans groups. What is Senator Obama afraid of?
I challenge Senator Obama to reconsider and take the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall up on their invitation to host a forum anytime before November to discuss the increasingly complex issues facing America's military and veteran communities.
References:
[Here for New York Times, here for Dallas Morning News.]
About Ralph Nader
Celebrated attorney, author and consumer advocate Ralph Nader has been named by Time Magazine one of the "100 Most Influential Americans in the 20th Century". For more than four decades he has exposed problems and organized millions of citizens into more than 100 public interest groups advocating solutions. He led the movement to establish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and enact the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and countless other pieces of important consumer legislation. Because of Ralph Nader we drive safer cars, eat healthier food, breathe better air, drink cleaner water, and work in safer environments. Nader graduated from Princeton University and received an LL.B from the Harvard Law School.
About Matt Gonzalez
Matt Gonzalez was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2000 representing San Francisco's fifth council district. From 2003 to 2005 he served as Board of Supervisors President. A former public defender, Gonzalez is managing partner of Gonzalez & Leigh, a 7-attorney practice in San Francisco that represents individuals and organizations in mediation, arbitration, and administrative proceedings before state and federal regulatory bodies. Gonzalez graduated from Columbia University and received a JD from Stanford Law School.
About the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign
According to a CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted from July 27-29, Ralph Nader is at 6 percent nationally, higher than his highest major poll numbers during the same time period in 2000 and approaching the 10 percent threshold required for eligibility to participate in "America's Presidential Debate in New Orleans", Google-sponsored event scheduled for September 18. In the key swing state of Michigan -- whose voters were partially disenfranchised by the Democratic National Committee -- an EPIC-MRA poll found Nader at 8-10 percent.
For more information on the Nader/Gonzalez campaign, visit: votenader.org.
I had one hour of sleep last night so do not expect much. As soon as I'm done, I'm going straight to bed. Ralph is exactly right, Barack's behavior is shameful. You don't even have to add in that Barack blew off veterans. That's shameful but so is his entire running scared from debates. Does he think he's going to magically lose his "uh-uh-uh-uh" delivery? No.
He needs the practice. But he won't take it because his entire appeal is based on illusion which is why when John McCain came out so far ahead of him in Saturday's forum, the natural response for Barack was to whine someone must have cheated.
No, Barack's just not all the hype his handlers have shoveled and pushed.
Each month it becomes more and more obvious that Barack isn't the candidate Democrats thought he was. If the Democrats had any sense, they'd give the nomination to Hillary at the convention.
You keep hearing that this is the Democrats year and that the Democrats are better on the economy (as seen by voters). Yet . . . Barack's still doing poorly int he polls. So the question should be: Is the problem the Democrats or is it Barack?
Were Hillary the nominee, we know she knows how to talk about the economy. We know she knows how to connect with voters.
Barack can't. Even with the press filing fan club bellitns throughout the primaries, Barack couldn't close the deal. At the end of the primaries, Hillary had more votes. Had Florida's delegates been recognized and even if they'd given Barack all the 'undeclared' delegates from Michigan and all the delegates for Kucinich, Dodd and Gravel. Just giving Hillary what she won in Florida and in Michigan would have put her ahead of Barack in the pledged delegates.
But Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean didn't want Hillary. They loathe Hillary. So they rigged it to give Democrats the flavour of the month but that was February's flavour and it's now August.
If Hillary was the nominee, we'd see a huge lead in the polls, her over McCain.
Instead, the Dems want to lose again and are going to go with Barack Obama who may or may not hold citizenship in other countries. (Two Super Delegates are looking into that.) But what is known is that America's not impressed. He's not making it to 50%. He's not able to pull that lead that the Democratic nominee should have. Of course that nominee is "generic." Any Democrat would poll high . . . except Barack. It's not that people don't know him, it's that they don't like him.
It has nothing to do with him being "Black," because he is bi-racial. It has everything to do with him not having a record. It has everything to do with the slash and burn campaign he ran and is running. It has everything to do with his inablity to relate to average voters.
If he gets the nomination (if) and he loses in November, heads need to roll. First up, Howard Dean needs to be sent packing. Second, Donna Brazile needs to be shown the exit. I would say Nancy Pelosi needs to lose her House Speakeriship but I know that's already taken care of. If Barack gets the nomination and loses the election, we will have a male Speaker of the House (or, worst case, a House Minority Leader). He is already geared to challenge her and, poor Nancy, he's got the votes. Pelosi has led the Democrats in Congress to an all time low in polling numbers. Why anyone would still want to listen to her -- let alone listen to her about a national nominee (she's not even a statewide candidate in California) is beyond me. But there will be hell to pay.
The good news is that those steps are already taken. I can't say who the new Speaker (or Minority Leader if Barack drags the entire ticket down as some Democratic polls are suggesting) but I will note that C.I.'s worked most of the summer shoring up votes for the man who will be challenging Pelosi. Pelosi, the one-term House Speaker. She won't fair well in history if that happens. She had two years. Democrats were hugely popular -- that's how they took back Congress -- but under her tenure as Speaker of the House, Congress reached its lowest approval levels. That alone should explain why no one in the party leadership should be listening to her.
Howard Dean? He's a governor who didn't do much. Then he ran for the Dem presidential nominee and lost that. Somehow people thought that qualified him as a party leader? Well, hell, why didn't they make Dukakis the DNC chair years ago?
"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Monday, August 18, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, Jeffry House still doesn't grasp what Justice Robert Barnes wrote in his ruling, Blackwater mercenaries are made to sweat, Ralph Nader fights for democracy and open debates and Cynthia McKinney makes it clear that she will not be intimidated by some 'supporters' who wanted her to cancel an appearance.
Starting with war resistance. Last Wednesday, US war resister Jeremy Hinzman was informed he had to leave Canada by September 32rd. He and his family (wife Nga Nguyen, son Liam and daughter Meghan) have taped a video at the War Resisters Support Campaign where Jeremy speaks to Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada:
Jeremy Hinzman: Hello, Mr. Harper. This is my family Nga, Liam and Meghan. We've been in Canada for the last four and a 1/2 years. I was a specialist in the 82nd Air borne division of the United States Army and served honorably in Afghanistan. In 2004, my family and I came to Canada because we would not participate in the Iraqi War, a war which Canada also refused to participate in because it was condemned by the international community. One of your predecessors, Pierre Trudeau, once said that Canada should be have from militarism and we took him at this word. On June 3, 2008, the Canadian Parliament passed a motion saying that United States war resisters should be able to remain in Canada. We're asking you to abide by this motion and allow us to stay in Canada. Thank you.
Title Card: On September 23rd, the Harper government plans to deport the Hinzman family back to the United States.
Title Card: Hinzman faces a court martial and up to 5 years in military prison for opposing the Iraq war and coming to Canada.
Title Card: War Resisters Support Campaign (Canada): http://www.resisters.ca/
In These Times has an article by Peter Kavanagh and I'm going to take huge exception with a viewpoint offered by Jeffry House who really needs to start getting to know the facts. Facts are your friend, Jeffry. House represents Joshua Key (and many others) and maybe he thinks making ridiculous statements about the Barnes decision is to Josh's benefit? I don't know. But he was wrong when the decision was released and he's STILL wrong. He tells Kavanagh, "The Key decision is of use to soldiers who have their boots on the ground and are ordered to commit acts [that] violate their consciences, and also violate international norms." House is wrong. Alyssa makes similar statements and I let it slide. I cringe but let it slide. She didn't live through the time period, House did. Judge Barnes, PAY ATTENTION, found the Board to be in error by proclaiming "that refugee protection for military deserters and evaders is only available where the conduct objected to amounts to a war crime, a crime against peace or a crime against humanity."
Let me explain what NOT noting that is akin to: Finding out that your dream house has a closet painted the wrong color and saying, "Oh, forget it." That sentence -- which escapes Allyson, shouldn't escape House. Key words: MILITARY DESERTERS AND EVADERS. Same words from Vietnam. Barnes is using those terms today. Who's what? Deserters are those who served in Iraq and then checked out. Evaders would be those ordered to go to Iraq who checked out before deploying. Barnes knows his terminology and he knows his history. His decision is a very carefully constructed finding. By mentioning the category of military evaders he means who? Jeremy Hinzman, Brandon Hughey and all others who checked out instead of deploying to Iraq. Kyle Snyder, Joshua Key, Patrick Hart, etc would qualify as military deserters in the eyes of the court.
This isn't the first time Jeffry House has made public statements that have missed the boat (and, worse, damaged the cases of others). I'm not going to sit here and smile and pretend it didn't just happen again. He is WRONG. Justice Robert Barnes' decision is a long one. House was commenting on it without even reading it earlier. It was obvious from the press that he hadn't even bothered to read it. He may have read a summary but he didn't read the 23 pages. Barnes is careful, considered and meticulous in his ruling. He is specifically addressing Joshua Key's case but what he ruled provides openings for many war resisters -- regardless of whether they fall into the category of "military deserter" or "military evader." The latter term, during Vietnam, was used to described those who were evading the draft. The "evader" has always been the one who has not been on the battlefield. Barnes is using that term today and Jeffry House should have caught that and should have understood its significance. It's been over a month since that ruling was issued. There's no longer an excuse for not being familiar with it. We'll try to note Kavanagh's article again later in the week -- really note it -- but this is exactly the nonsense (House's -- I'm not referring to Kavanagh) that keeps hurting war resistance. It is exactly why Mactavish was able to dismiss concerns as "speculation." (And, hello, we pointed the dangers of that 'strategy' out here at the start of July. Long before Mactavish offered that ruling. And noted it would be dismissed as "speculation." As it was.) I'm sure House and others are overworked but there are too many basic points of law that are repeatedly being missed. The ruling is 23 pages long. All representing war resisters in Canada need to read over the ruling (read it again if they already have). Don't take House's summary as gospel because this is the second time he's spoken of it publicly and been wrong. Not only do you need to read it for what it says (such as "military deserters and evaders"), you need to read it while thinking how it directly effects your client's case and how YOU CAN TRY TO EXPAND IT to do so. That is building on the ruling. And, one more thing, Barnes mentions Jeremy Hinzman in his ruling. He didn't have to. The fact that Hinzman is mentioned in the ruling makes the ruling especially significant to Jeremy's case. More so than any other war resister except Josh. Equally true, Barnes' statement that, "Officially condoned military misconduct falling well short of a war crime may a support a claim to refugee protection" is a statement that applies to all, not just those who had their boots on the ground. If only those whose boots were on the ground could make that assessment, Barnes couldn't make it himself. He's dependent upon testimony and findings (including the International Red Cross). The same testimony and findings he depended upon to make his ruling may have had impact on the decision of a US war resister currently in Canada who did not go to Iraq.
Irwin Loy (24 Hours Vancouver) reported over the weekend on Michael Beyers who is running for the Canadian Parliament and declared, "I believe in a Canada that grants asylum to principled young Americans that said no to an illegal war." Byers is an NDP candidate and the NDP has a long history of supporting war resisters. Just as Oliva Chow is among those leading the charge today, NDP-ers like Ed Broadbent led it during Vietnam. Back then, Broadbent was regularly pointing out Canada's long history as a place for sanctuary such as when he noted, "Our tradition of welcoming those who are essentially political refugees goes back to the United Empire Loyalists." Broadbent would go on to take the NDP to new heights in the immediate post-Vietnam period. There is no political fallout for Canadian office holders on this issue. [Click here for CBC coverage of Broadbent.] This is the press release issued by Oliva Chow's office on the decision to deport Jeremy:
The August 13 decision by Harper's Conservative government to deport war resister Jeremy Hinzman is mean-spirited and anti-democratic.
"Harper's mean-spirited decision to allow this deportation is sad," said NDP Citizenship and Immigration Critic MP Olivia Chow. "Jeremy has called Canada his home for the past five years and has just recently celebrated the birth of his second child. If there was ever a case to grant refugee status on compassionate and humanitarian grounds, this is it."
With today's negative ruling on Jeremy Hinzman's Pre-removal Risk Assessment and Humanitarian and Compassionate consideration, there is an urgent need for the people of Canada to express their outrage against the Conservative government's refusal to act on the will of Parliament.
On June 3rd, Olivia Chow saw her motion to halt all deporations against US Iraq war resisters passed by Parliament by a vote of 137-110.
"Ordinary Canadians have already said 'yes' to Jeremy Hinzman and to his family," said Chow. "They have spoken through their Parliament, they want to let Mr. Hinzman and other U.S. Iraq War Resisters stay in Canada."
Jeremy Hinzman is schedule to be deported on Tuesday, September 23. Hinzman is the first war resister who filed a refugee claim to stay in Canada.
Courage to Resist alerts, "Supporters are calling on Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, to intervene. Phone 613.996.4974 or email finley.d@parl.gc.ca,"Iraq Veterans Against the War also encourages people to take action, "To support Jeremy, call or email Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and ask her to intervene in this case. Phone: 613.996.4974 email: finley.d@parl.gc.ca." In addition to that, Canada's War Resisters Support Campaign is staging an emergency meeting this week (August 20th, Wednesday, 7:00 pm, Steelworkers Hall at 25 Cecil St.) and planning a day of action (September 13th) where "[a]ctions, demonstrations and pickets will take place in cities and towns all across Canada."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Yovany Rivero, William Shearer, Michael Thurman, Andrei Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, 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, Jose Vasquez, 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, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, 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. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
Turning to Iraq where Shi'ite pilgrims became the focus of attacks last week and it continued over the weekend. AFP reports that from Thursday through Saturday "at least 36" lost their lives (and notes that Thursday's Iskandariyah attack claimed 22 lives with seventy-three injured). Sunday, Stephen Farrell (New York Times) reported on the 6 deaths of pilgrims in a bombing and that, "Three hours after the early-morning blast, shopkeepers, residents and survivors were still pulling charred goods and debris from damaged roadside stores, and sweeping ashes and wreckage into the gutter." [Friday's bombing attack on pilgrims claimed 9 lives.] Yesterday Hussein Kadhim (McCatchy Newspapers) reports a Sunday Baghdad bomber on bicylce that claimed his/her own life as well as 5 other people (thirteen wounded). As the death toll increased, Sudarsan Raghavan (Washington Post) reported that 7 were dead from the "suicide bomber on a bicycle" with thirteen injured. Erica Goode and Ali Hameed (New York Times) report the bombing took place "in front of Baghdad's famous Abu Hanifa mosque," claimed 15 lives (twenty-nine injured) and: "Witnesses said that the bomber, a man, may have been riding a motorcycle that was parked about 65 feet from a traffic light on the street." Ned Parker and Saif Hameed (Los Angeles Times) explain, "There were contradictory accounts of the incident. One police officer said the bomber was disguised as a woman and arrived on foot; another said the attacker was not disguised and arrived on a bike." The US military maintains it was a man and that he walked up to "an SOI control check point near the Abu Hamifa Mosque wearing a personal borne improvised-explosive device and self-detonated." "SOI" is "Sons of Iraq" aka "Awakening" Councils (or Sahwa). AP disagrees on the gender of the bomber (they say it was a woman) but do agree that 6 "bodyguards of Farooq al-Obeidi, deputy leader of the 'awakening council' in Baghdad's Azamiyah district, also died in the blast, which occurred as they were seated on chairs near a checkpoint near the Abu Hanifa mosque".
Sunday Del Quentin Wilber and Karen DeYoung (Washington Post) reported that six mercenaries working for Blackwater who had been in Iraq "working as security contractors for the State Department, assigned to protect U.S. diplomats and other non-military officials in Iraq" that they are targets in a criminal investigation. If it seems familiar you may be remembering the real-time article by Sabrina Tavernise and James Glanz ("Security Firm Faces Criminal Charges in Iraq," New York Times). Dropping back to the September 17th snapshot:
Turning to the issue of violence, Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reported Sunday [Sept. 16th] that a Baghdad shooting (by private contractors) killed 9 Iraqi civilians and left fifteen more wounded. Later on Sunday, CNN reported, "In the Baghdad gun battle, which was between security forces and unidentified gunmen, eight people were killed and 14 wounded, most of them civilians, an Interior Ministry official said. Details were sketchy, but the official said witnesses told police that the security forces involved appeared to be Westerners driving sport utility vehicles, which are usually used by Western companies. The clash occurred near Nisoor square, in western Baghdad. CBS and AP report that Abdul-Karim Khalaf, spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, announced "it was pulling the license of an American security firm allegedly involved in the fatal shooting of civilians during an attack on a U.S. State Department motorcade in Baghdad," that "it would prosecute any foreign contractors found to have used excessive force" in the slaughter (eight dead, 13 wounded) and they "have canceled the liscense of Blcakwater and prevented them from working all over Iraqi territory."
The number killed continued to mount. James Bone (Times of London) notes today that 17 Iraqi civilians were slaughtered in that incident and reminds that, "In negotiations on a new bilateral security agreement, the Iraqi government has pressed for all foreign personnel to be subject to Iraqi law." Meanwhile, the US military has good news yesterday! "Attacks down except roadside bombs, rigged houses"! So attacks are down . . . if you eliminate some of the attacks. The opening sentence: "The numbers of houses rigged with explosives and roadside bombs have increased since the beginning of the Iraqi offensive in Diyala, while other attack trends have been decreasing." Guess this wave of Operation Happy Talk should be dubbed "win some, lose some." M-NF also announced 37 women "attended the first day of a four-week course at the Kirkuk Police Academy outside of Kirkuk city" Saturday. Reuters reported the Turkish military says they bombed northern Iraq on Sunday ("no details of casualties"). And that "police fired on demonstrators" Sunday in Arbil killing one.
In news of today's reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing that left five people wounded, while another Baghdad roadside bombing left three people wounded and a Baghdad IED bombing left nine people wounded. Reuters notes a Ramadi car bombing that claimed the lives of 5 police officers dead (seven wounded) and a Mosul roadside bombing that resulted in three being injured.
Shootings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that Faris Jabir Thair ("a member in Shaheed al Mihrab organization") was shot dead (machine gunned while in his car) in a Baghdad attack that left his wife wounded, while 2 people were shot dead in Basra ("director of an election center and his deputy") with another wounded and "Awakening" Council leader Raheem Thyab al Bayati was shot dead in Kirkuk. On the Basra shooting of election officials, Reuters notes Ma'ath Wahab was the name of the director who was shot dead (the other killed and the one wounded are not named).
Turning to the US presidential race. Last Monday, independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader was in Toronto. Hentry Martinuk (Rabble News) reports today that Ralph attracted a crowd of 200 and: "There are several other issues where Nader differs from Obama and McCain: impeachment of Bush and Cheney; withdrawal from Iraq; restoring civil liberties; repealing anti-union laws; supporting industrial hemp; and cutting the wasteful military budget. According to Nader, Obama and McCain 'never met a weapons system they didn't like'." Third Party Watch notes, "Zogby International reports that more than half of likely voters nationwide -- 55% -- want Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr to participate in the presidential debates this fall, while nearly half -- 46% -- also said they think Ralph Nader should be allowed into the debates." Which is a good time to note, from Ralph's Daily Audio, "Join Our Super Rallies for Open Debates:"
Good morning, this is Ralph Nader. As you know, Nader/Gonzalez is being blocked from the presidential debates. The corporate controlled so-called Commission on Presidential Debates will not let any independent candidate in unless they show 15% in a series of polls in September. That's no surprise. What is surprising is the failure of other debates to fill the vacuum. Part of this is due to Senator Obama's reluctance to engage his opponents. On May 4th, Obama told Tim Russert on Meet The Press that he was willing to debate with "any of my opponents about what this country means, what makes it great." But earlier this month, Obama's campaign manager backed off, saying that Obama would debate only Senator McCain and only in the three rigged debates that's sponsored by the two parties and paid for by corporations. Senator Obama's also refused to participate in a number of other debates including the Google debate in New Orleans, the Texas Ft. Hood debate that is being organized by veterans groups and the series of ten townhall meetings proposed by Senator McCain. Senator Obama's refusal to participate is a mistake and is costing him in the polls. Just yesterday, the Gallup tracking polls put McCain and Obama tied at 44% each. If Obama doesn't agree to more debates he could end up at the end of a sentence that starts out "Mondale, Dukakis, Gore and Kerry. With only McCain and Obama on the stage , there will be no debate of key issues and redirections important to the American people . Just go down the partial list. Single-payer Medicare for all healthcare, supported by the majority of the American people, the majority of doctors and nurses, and just recently, unanimously, by the US conference of mayors? Obama says "no," McCain says "no." Reversing US policy in the Middle East? Obama says "no," McCain says "no." Cut the bloated, wasteful, redundant military budget? Obama says "no," McCain says "no." They want a bigger military budget. Empty the prisons of drug possessors and fill 'em up with corporate criminals? Obama says "no," McCain says "no." Nader-Gonzalez says "yes" to each. The only way to change this systemic exclusion is for millions of Americans to become engaged now. If you can, please join with us at our two Super Rallies-- on August 27th in Denver at the University of Denver Magness Arena or September 4th in Minneapolis at Orchestra Hall. And help us raise the banner for all to see: "OPEN THE DEBATES." If you are not able to attend, please go to VoteNader.org and donate now whatever you can up to the legal maximum of $4,600 to help fund our Open The Debates Campaign. Our goal is to raise $50,000 by Wednesday night. Last night, we were close to $14,000 in less than three days, but we have a ways to go. So join with us in Denver and Minneapolis if you can. We're planning to have some prominent activists and musicians with us. Stay tuned for more information on that. And we have some surprise, giant, inflatable visuals that should be a lot of fun, that will travel with us as we move from Denver to Minneapolis and then, hopefully, will bring attention to our Super Rallies from the press. Thank you for your ongoing and considered support to our campaign. Together we are making a difference. Onward to November. I'm Ralph Nader.
Chuck Baldwin, Bob Barr, Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader are presidential candidates. There is no need for "presumptive" to be used as a preface. They are presidential candidates. They get very little coverage. The debates need to be opened and click here for Third addressing that yesterday and this was left out in the rush to type (Jim added it this morning -- thank you to community member Lynda), wo we'll include that section in full here:
The campaign is keeping issues on the table. Thursday, Jess spoke with Junue Millan at the newly opened Nader-Gonzalez Denver Headquarters. The headquarters intends to be open not just business hours Monday through Friday, but from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. That's due to the fact that not only are they a campaign headquarters with all that entails, they're also gearing up for the Denver Super Rally August 27th. They are expecting between 5,000 and 7,000 people at the University of Denver's Magness Arena. And they need volunteers. If you're in the Denver area and interested in helping, you can e-mail Junue Millan at junue@votenader.org as well as call the office (303) 832-2509 or walk in. The Denver Super Rally will feature Ralph and running mate Matt Gonzalez as well as many guest speakers such as artist, activist and rocker Jello Biafra. Junue Millan described the mood to Jess as very up and noted that five outlets (including Univision) had sent reporters Thursday to cover the opening of the Denver headquarters. Millan was able to quickly -- without pausing -- tick off the issues that the Nader-Gonzalez campaign were raising and intended to keep on the table. None of that, "Check Saint Barack's website for issues, I am just here to talk about how groovy Barack is and how, when he cries, the heavens rain. I first came to Barack . . . a street junkie who had run away from home and was turning tricks on the side, selling a little blow and scamming this old lady at the homeless shelter, but Saint Barack has changed my life and cured my irritable bowel syndrome. Praise be, St. Barack." Instead, Millan was informed and a total pro which says a great deal the Nader-Gonzalez campaign.
Steven Argue (Dissident Voice) reports that Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney (and running mate Rosa Clemente) will be participating in Recreate '68 in Denver in spite of the fact that "the Green Party of Colorado has issued false statements to the press and all over the internet claiming that Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia MiKinney will not be participating in the Recreate '68 events." We don't have room in the snapshot for Cynthia's statement in full (it'll go in one of tomorrow's morning entries) but here is the opening (and for space, paragraphs are going to run together):
As the United States activated Navy ships and the Air Force to begin an airlift of non-specified goods into the former Soviet state of Georgia, and military exercises began in the Persian Gulf near Iran, I received communications from certain individuals among the Colorado Greens who were organizing campaign support events there, suggesting that I not participate in an anti-war program being organized by other individuals in Colorado. Perplexed, I began to do my research to understand the nature of the fissure that I seemed to be placing myself in the middle of. The communications to me about not participating in one of the scheduled events became more and more shrill. The events ran through August 26th. When the lineup of speakers, including Rosa and me, was announced for the events in question, I received multiple communications stating in various ways that the sender from the Green Party of Colorado, was on the verge of desperation over the latter.
At this point Cynthia states that some Colorado Greens threatened her with stopping the ballot access efforts in Wyoming if she didn't agree not to appear and she was told, basically, 'We supported Elaine Brown and not you anyway, nah-nah-nah.' She then lists some of the people participating who have stood up regularly for what was needed before concluding:
Rosa and I have not been given any rational, ideological, or strategically-acceptable reason by the Green Party of Colorado to dissociate ourselves from the movement that this country so desperately needs and that these individuals and organizations participating represent, as we all attempt to hold the Democratic Party accountable for its complicity in all of the crimes of the Bush Administration. Therefore Rosa and I will keep our appointments in Denver and we hope that the members of the Green Party of Colorado will attend our sessions and listen to what we have to say. I have faith that by taking principled stands against war and occupation, human rights abuse, the prison-industrial complex, and in support of freedom for political prisoners, the Green Party will emerge stronger.
Finally, from Ralph's Daily Audio, here's today's "The Bloated Defense Budget:"
This is Ralph Nader. Remember reading or hearing the farewell address of President Dwight Eisenhower? 1960, when he warned Americans about what he called "the military industrial complex." Well, just a few words about where we are in the military budget. It's now 1/2 of the entire federal government's operating expenditures. It's way over $700 billion and that's not counting the money for helping our veterans. Both Obama and McCain want to increase the military budget. The Government Accountability Office yearly describes the gigantic Pentagon contracting budget unaduitable. Just imagine, half of what the federal government spends in operating expenditures can't even be audited. For example, people inside the Defense Department think that the F-22 should never have been contract for, built wasn't necessary. The Osprey helicopter -- defective, killed quite a few marines in test flights, shouldn't have been built in their judgment. Hundreds of billions of dollars are in the pipeline for weapons systems that were designed for the Soviet Union-era of hostility. They no longer have any strategic value and many of them are redundant. We've got to cut the waste out of the huge military budget and put that money back into repairing America's public works and cities, towns and rural areas all over the country. If we cut out the expenditures of keeping our soldiers out of Japan and Western Europe -- 60-plus years after WWII -- a portion of that money could give free education to all students in public universities in the United States. Think about it. Think about who stands for a lean defense -- not a wasteful defense; who stands for respecting your tax payer dollar and returning it to you to improve the public facilities, schools and clinics, libraries, drinking water systems, sewage stream and plant upgrades among some of the deferred maintenance that's reducing the facilities that are necessary for a thriving community.
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