“I believe it is imperative that we never lose our voice of dissent, regardless of political pressure. As Martin Luther King, Jr said: ‘there comes a time when silence is betrayal’…However, it is unforgivable that Congress has been unwilling to examine these matters or take action to prevent these circumstances [executive branch crimes] from occurring again.”
-Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) Introduction to Constitution in Crisis, 2006
Pigs of War come in both political colors of red and blue. We are all unfortunately very familiar with the red pigs. The pigs of war who manipulated, cherry-picked, stove-piped and manufactured intelligence to suggest to the world that Saddam had mushroom cloud producing WMD and something to do with the tragic events of 9-11 that occurred six years ago now.
Many blue politicians are pigs of war and they willingly went along with the deceptions and even parroted red pig talking points whenever they got a chance but now claim that the “fiendishly clever” George fooled them into believing the nearly unbelievable. I don’t know about you, but I take small comfort in that excuse. When we have a system of government where our supposed public servants can profit off of war along with the corporations that pad their bank accounts both blue and red pigs benefit and young people needlessly lose their lives sometimes killing other humans in the process.
Our troops and the people of Iraq are the ones getting trapped between our pusillanimous politicians. These dear human beings become ciphers in purely political calculations from Congress and only an exercise in abstraction from pundits, poets, publishers and the majority of the average American who has not been personally touched by this excremental occupation. In Iraq, every citizen has been personally touched and the American occupation is a living, fire-breathing, palpable entity that has intruded its imperialistic self into every aspect of their daily lives.
How do I know that Congress is playing politics with human hearts? All one has to do is observe the lack of action on the part of the red and blue pigs to come to this sad but inevitable conclusion. Apparently, MAJORITY Leader, Harry Reid (D-NV) has spent more time over his summer recess trying to convince red pigs to go against George’s war plan than he spent trying to coalesce his blue caucus into something that would not resemble the red pigs so closely that the blur becomes purple. He and Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) have already decided that they do not have enough votes to end the occupation just as they decided that impeachment was “off the table” even before they were elected! So they will happily hand over to George more of your tax money and China’s money to continue the killing fields in Iraq. Why are they so miserly with democracy, but generous with our treasury and with our dear human treasure?I got two very overt answers to this question one day in Congress this past spring when I was on the Hill. In one of my meetings with Congressman Conyers, he told me that it was more important to put a Democrat back in the White House in ‘08 than it was to “end the war.” After I recovered from my shock, I knew it was confirmed that partisan politics is exactly what is killing our children and the innocent civilians in Iraq. My next stop was in a Congresswoman’s office who has always been 100% correct about the war. She is a lovely woman with a lovely heart and does not in anyway qualify (and there are a few dozen others who do not) as a blue pig. She had tears in her eyes when she told me: “Cindy, when I go to Speaker’s meetings and we talk about the war, all the talk is about politics and not one of them mentions the heartbreak that will occur if we don’t pull our troops out, now.” People are dying for two diverse but equally deadly political agendas. The red pigs want to keep the war going because they feed out of the trough of carnage and the blue pigs want to keep it going for votes! Either way is reprehensible.
There is a lot of chatter about the “Petraeus” (written and produced by the White House ) report. Will the general recommend drawing down troops—even if he does, three-five thousand doesn’t even bring the number down to pre-surge levels—and the report says, in direct contradiction to the GAO report on the surge, that sectarian violence in Iraq is down 75%, without saying that the red pigs have re-defined the term “sectarian violence.” All I know is that the report will paint a rosier picture than what really exists on the ground in Iraq and like Ron Paul said the other day in the Fox News “Leader of the Red Pigs Wannabe” debate: “How can anyone believe anything they say?”
The blue pigs won’t believe the report, but they will expediently go along with the red pig request to further fund the disaster because they believe that it will mean political victory in ‘08.
It is up to we the people to care more about humanity and democracy than either the reds or the blues and it is mandatory that we mount campaigns to defeat the pigs and their masters: the war machine.
Twenty-one families here in America and dozens more in Iraq have felt the sting of the lethal politics of war just since the beginning of September, and the beat goes on.
What if instead of pigs of war in our government, we had elected officials who put humanity before politics and people before profits? Maybe the horrible twin tragedies of the Bush Regime and 9-11 would have never occurred within our borders and the rest of the world could look up to the USA with respect as a true leader in world peace instead of glaring at our shocking and awful quest for empire off the backs of the many who benefit the pocketbooks of the few? It’s not to late, but we are getting there.
Silence is betrayal and the silence of a host of blue pigs is the biggest betrayal of all.
Cindy Sheehan is the mother of Spc. Casey Austin Sheehan who was KIA in Iraq on 04/04/04. She is a co-founder and President of Gold Star Families for Peace and the author of two books: Not One More Mother’s Child and Dear President Bush.
Damn straight. This war will be ended in *spite* of the Democrats, not because of them.
Hey you White House,
ha ha, charade you are
You house proud town mouse,
ha ha, charade you are
You’re trying to keep our feelings off the street
You’re nearly a real treat
All tight lips and cold feet
And do you feel abused?
You gotta stem the evil tide
And keep it all on the inside
Mary you’re nearly a treat
Mary you’re nearly a treat
But you’re really a cry.
~ Pink Floyd (Animals, 1977)
(OK, I know its actually “Mary Whitehouse” Roger Waters is referring to, but heh, its applicable nevertheless)
Time for roast pig.
In their styes with all their backing
They don’t care what goes on around
In their eyes there’s something lacking
What they need is a damn good whacking.
The Beatles (Piggies, 1968)
September 6, 2002. The Director of the CIA, George Tenet in the Oval Office, gave President Bush a top secret briefing. “Saddam Hussein had NO WMDs, ‘NONE’. In anger, Bush told Tenet to trash the report and not mention it to anyone again. Tenet obeyed the order. Years later, two CIA operatives leaked it to the press and the press buried it.
A month after the Tenet briefing to Bush, Congress was given the National Intellilgence Estimates ___ that top secret memo that had been trashed was not included in the briefing to Congress. The NIE briefing ‘instead’ stated, Saddam DID have WMDs. No one in Congress was aware of the initial top secret report.
A month after Congress had the false NIE report, they voted to allow Bush to invade Iraq, (with the stipulation it would ONLY be as a last resort and that Saddam had refused to give up the WMDs.) Of course that wasn’t possible, he didn’t have any to give up.
Within days of having Congresional approval, Bush forced the weapons inspectors to leave Iraq and the rest is history. ____ Very sad history. ___What is so troubling now is, Congress is aware of that purposeful lie by Bush and they refuse to impeach him.
Cindy, ___ get em!
Cindy, you are the best of the best. Don’t let the bastards get you down, girlfriend!
Way to tell it as it is cindy. i have lots of respect for you and hope you can keep building the momentum to upset Pelosi. It`s time for new leadership on all levels. Time for the truth to come out and for people to wake up and see what`s really going on.
Cindy refers to “…this excremental occupation.”
It would be wonderful to have in Congress someone who simply tells the truth…without spin, without focus groups, without opinion polls and, most importantly, without FEAR.
The numerous posts here on CD and elsewhere from Democrat apparatchiks and enablers have one thing in common: Vote for the Dems or else we’ll get the big, bad Republicans.
In other words, Fear.
The Republicans have used fear since 911 to further their warped objectives and the Dems use fear to further their re-elections…ie.” we’re not them.” A president once stood up in a very perilous time and said “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” The Dems have apparently forgotten the words of FDR.
It’s time to embrace the future for what it could be, not to fear it for what it might be!
Cindy Sheehan for Congress
Go Cindy!
Cindy, what would you say to incorporating We the People into a private, for profit corporation to give us a level playing field against the warmongering financial institutions and corporations of the oligarchy?
We could charge broadcasters a realistic fee for the use of our public airwaves, charge the oil companies for the use of our public lands and a fair percentage from the oil extracted (like Chavez does), charge the mining industry for a percentage of our minerals extracted, and on and on.
If we had equal, non-transferable shares in our trillions of dollars worth of the public’s resources, then these would truly belong to the public. The dividends each of us received from their leases would lift many Americans out of poverty.
As a for profit corporation, We the People could have an administration that works for us, not for other corporations. And we could vote to hire and fire them at stockholders meetings according to their performance. We the People incorporated would make decisions, not the oligarchy’s politicians.
As a corporation, We the People could decide to do business only with ethical corporations that will not pollute our air, water and land. That would not sacrifice our young for war profiteering and give us world peace. That would carry out the democratic will of We the People, not of the corporations and financial institutions of the oligarchy.
We could pay our corporate administrators fair salaries from the dividends we accrue and decide how much we want to spend on defense. We could buy out many industries to the point that We the People would be the largest corporation, working for our collective benefit.
We mostly dislike or even hate corporations for good reason, yet we continue to buy their cars, gas, shop at their mega-stores, watch their tv programs, etc.. Corporations as faceless machines that produce money often work against We the People. Their efficiency and economies of scale guarantee that they will stay on their mindless money-making paths until they destroy the planet.
We can complain loudly and constantly, but as individuals, we are fairly powerless against corporations. That is unless we turn things on their head and organize by incorporating ourselves.
By becoming a corporation, We the People will be the largest, richest and most powerful corporation, against which all others will be forced to compete.
The only thing wrong with this article is that it’s an unjustified slander against pigs, to refer to either Democrats or Republicans as belonging to this “species.” Members of either party would have to undergo intensive enlightenment therapy, to rise to the level of pigs.
Agree with the last comment. Comparing human beings to pigs is an insult to pigs. Will stupid humans ever learn?
Humans really need to get their heads out of their asses in self adulation and get some humility.
The Democrats should match every dollar of war funding to immediate rollbacks of the tax cuts for the richest Americans. I know they won’t do it (because it makes sense and it might actually end the war) but I would at least like to hear what excuses they’d give.
Said it all,
nickhart September 10th, 2007 12:23 pm
Damn straight. This war will be ended in *spite* of the Democrats, not because of them.
And let’s not omit:
Everywhere there’s lots of piggies, living piggy lives
You can see them out for dinner with their piggy wives
Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon.
_________________________________________________
And perhaps Aaron Neville’s “Tell It Like It Is” for an encore.
Cindy, to reply with another animal metaphor: you were the proverbial canary in the Democratic coal mine, and it’s a good thing that you had enough sense to fly away before you keeled over completely! You left behind a bunch of progressive partisans (pardon my oxymoron) who are still scratching their heads and gnashing their teeth at you.
Sadly, they can’t seem to grasp that an ordinary canary like you can fly so far over their heads. And to the extent that they recognize that you’re indeed an extraordinary canary, they’d prefer you to stay in a gilded cage– and get stuffed.
Keep on truckin’.
Cindy speaks to the heart of our increasingly dysfunctional relationship between americans and our own government. She speaks of the human cost that is shed so that many could plunder vast wealth. Now they stall for an election and she shouts a warning about the banality of evil? Prolonging this war of occupation for such banal reasons is an evil.
But that is the way of it. The politicians don’t see the blood only the elections. Americans consitently poll low approval numbers for both Congress and the Administration. Our government in effect. We don’t like the people we got.
We need to elect as many new people into congress as we can in 08. Till then we need people like Cindy to bring us back to focus on the real cost of this war. It is not in winning or losing a seat in Congress. She says that wars cost is people and refuses to let the politicians forget that. They don’t see this war like they should. They see election advantages and loses, political reelection images, go along to get along with the powereful old guard seniority system in Congress.
The choice should be crystal clear to the voters of California. Cindy Sheehan will wipe the floor with Nancy Pelosi. She speaks the truth that this whole country needs to hear.
I think the dems and repubs are afraid to break ranks actually.
We need to make 2008 more than a transfer of power from one branch of elites to another. Why? Because I can’t remember a time when the majority of people were more out-of-sync with the elites. The majority says: “change course, stop what you are doing”. The elites say: “give us more time” or “we don’t have the votes”.
The political system is broken. It cannot deliver the desired results (those desired by most people). It’s time to ask what could be done about that larger problem and not just the war, which is only a manifestation of it. The time for thinking about expedient and “pragmatic” responses is gone because they are repeatedly failing.
Has anyone considered who is going to provide ongoing protection for this administration’s most hated group of individuals (in the world) after they leave office? Will it be the Blackwater Corp. with 60,000 “independent contractor” mercenaries, who only answer to Bush/Cheyney and paid for with billions of US tax dollars annually?
I’m with you, Cindy.
Cindy Sheehan—Truly inspiring. And without fear. Tells it like it is. Defeat Pelosi.
DeLACrews: I hear the Bushes are building a big compound in Paraguay. I suppose they’ll be able to hide out there along with the rest of their Nazi friends.
Great column, Cindy!!!
Show that phony b*tch what is and is not “on the table”!
http://www.sheehanforcongress.us
“I think the dems and repubs are afraid to break ranks actually.”
Their plaint “We don’t have the votes” is very revealing — they only look at their colleagues in DC as “votes”, while the citizens are only there to send them to Congress & remain silent while the rulers deliberate.
Add to this the fact that their staffers & PR & media people are all in bed, not even metaphorically, with each other; those are the ones who write the narrative which the congressmen & women, with very few exceptions, recite.
Can the people actually gain power through mechanisms that were originally designed to repel their attempts to wield it? Can truth, spoken from the heart of fire, overturn the leaden words of the dead priesthood of the American religion of Mammon?
We have to join Cindy, not only in her campaign, but everywhere.
“I’ll be all around in the dark. I’ll be everywhere. Wherever you can look, wherever there’s a fight, so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever there’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there. I’ll be in the way guys yell when they’re mad. I’ll be in the way kids laugh when they’re hungry and they know supper’s ready, and when people are eatin’ the stuff they raise and livin’ in the houses they build, I’ll be there, too.”
Cindy Sheehan is an awesome writer, gets to the core of reality, and speaks from the heart. Thanks, Cindy, for not giving up and leaving us without your leadership and inspiring words and actions.
I live in Nancy Pelosi’s district, and my impression is that she is a nice lady with good intentions who bows to pressure regularly. Her appearance in photos shows that she has a lot of fear and self-doubt in standing up to the Bush Evil. Ms Pelosi was elected to be a caring public servant to attend to the needs of people in everyday situations, and these evil war games created by the Bushes and their ilk may be out of Ms Pelosi’s realm of awareness and experience…. she may not know how to deal with such beings behaving below the dignity of pigs.
Our country is in a situation so similar to that before Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt came to power, and they both were strong and knew how to stand up against and take charge over the most lowly political criminals, and that sort of true statesperson is perhaps rare. The Roosevelts were truer to the highest American values and principles than anyone since them, and for that reason they are of course slandered by the Republicans for making them look so bad by comparison.
I don’t believe that Ms Pelosi has malicious intentions, but she is in over her head when it comes to having to fight real evil head-on.
America has been taken over by Religious Mammonists, babbling religious dogma while wallowing in their own lust for money and abuse of other people’s lives and resources… they get away with much of what they do because they spit out religious platitudes while defying the very core principles of the religion they claim to practice - they often in fact practice the very Evil they condemn rhetorically. And they use religious dogma to manipulate Democractic legislators to the point of human shame.
Cindy seems to see through all of this and speak to the realities at hand. Thanks again, Cindy. Millions of Americans appreciate the bold risks you have taken and the obviously genuine love you have for your country and its people.
Hello Vangelaras,
Yes, I basically support these ideas. I think that working with or through the electoral process is not the best use of energies. Only a massive movement to organize people outside of the parties and elections will have the desired effect on the existing institutions.
Sincerely,
Madlib
We NEED change in Washington other than the SPINELESS followers. The COUNTRY doesn’t want war but George is doing his best to convince everyone that we are winning and that we need it!
I liked ‘ezflyer’s’ comments: these blokes need to be HELD ACCONTABLE. They aren’t listening to WE THE PEOPLE!
WE THE PEOPLE should mandate that our ‘representatives’ (HA!)….get PAID FOR WHAT THEY’VE DONE TO HELP THE U.S. -and- THE WORLD…. not how much they’ve advanced their own interests!
No more tacking on these little snippets to bills and sneaking garbage in on bills.
Time FOR A CHANGE !!!!
Time FOR A CHANGE !!!!
Kucinich/Sheehan
A guaranteed 16 years of sane and peaceful leadership?
I heard that Cindy and some members of Code Pink were arrested outside the Congressional hearing with Petraeus and Crocker today. When I heard the beautiful Code Pinkers shrieking against the war, and then struggling with security before being thrown out of the hearing room, tears came to my eyes. Thank God for those voices (they were like a blade of truth cutting through the usual rhetorical morass), and thank God for Cindy’s. She is a patriot, a hero, and one day will be seen as our next Rosa Parks or Tom Paine.
Thanks Cindy..after trying to watch the stupidity and posturing of your aptly named blue and red pigs today at the Patreaus so called Report hearings, I’m done. It’s time to admit that there is no lawful way to remove these people and take our country back. Violent Revolution, is always the ONLY way to tear down an aristocracy. We simply can’t stop them through civilized means. They are stupid. Stupid truly is worse than evil..there’s no way to deal with it other than brutality.We need our own Castro.I’m over counting on the cowards and dunderheads in DC and in the press. Thanks Cindy~stay safe…you have to wonder how many would come to your rescue once the criminals decide they’ve had enough of you. Jewish New Year Recess…they may as well just stay home. I won’t vote for a war monger.I won’t.
There are many things that can be done and much that will be done.
However, some basics must be accomplished first.
Separation of religion from government….
Separation of business from government..
.
The removal of those who have committed TREASON against the People of the United States.
The arrest and trial of those involved in manipulative practices that have resulted in WAR CRIMES against the peoples of the world
The reestablishment of the Free democratic process as it was outlined in the original Declaration.
We the people, owe this to the world and to ourselves. This would be our apology for our neglect. We have not kept our beasts in proper cages and they have raped the planet.
We are supporting with our taxes, our apathy and our fears, those who use us for profit, abuse us as if we were cattle and have nothing but contempt for us. (I refer to a government that smugly informs us that we are too stupid and ill equipped to know the truth or deal with life without them!)
Lady Mac Pelosi
Like Lady Macbeth “she begins a slow slide into madness.” Will she be “reduced to sleepwalking through” the congress and will she be “desperately trying to wash away an invisible bloodstain.” It seems though that Lady Mac Pelosi unlike Lady Macbeth will however be able to cope and she will allow her madness to maintain the bloodshed for years to come.
Outside the hearing room today, the police appeared to assault Rev. Yearwood without provocation. Yearwood was with Cindy when she was kicked out of the office of Conyers when urging him to impeach.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiradcejA6o
Democrats or Republicans, it’s all the same. They are RICH and we are not. It is just so damn odd that it is really the poor who would LIKE to be rich that get the buggers elected.
John:I read a lot of these comments from various people, people with good hearts and all. but not many see it the way you do, and i have felt like you I think, even before this war. This war is just another excuse for the privileged to get richer. If it weren’t this war it would be another some place else.It is only when this economic model is viewed for what it is and its ultimate collapse will the possibility of change be possible. most poor and working class people are to busy trying to put food on the table to be activist against the war.
very good. i had one problem though, pusillanimous (i had to look it up):
lacking in courage and manly strength and resolution; contemptibly fearful
red pigs and blue pigs, very good analysis. too true.
Generals gathered in their masses,
just like witches at black masses.
Evil minds that plot destruction,
sorcerers of death’s construction.
In the fields the bodies burning,
as the war machine keeps turning.
Death and hatred to mankind,
poisoning their brainwashed minds.
Oh lord, yeah!
Politicians hide themselves away.
They only started the war.
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor, yeah.
Time will tell on their power minds,
making war just for fun.
Treating people just like pawns in chess,
wait till their judgement day comes, yeah.
Now in darkness world stops turning,
ashes where the bodies burning.
No more War Pigs have the power,
Hand of God has struck the hour.
Day of judgement, God is calling,
on their knees the war pigs crawling.
Begging mercies for their sins,
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings.
Oh lord, yeah!
–Black Sabbath, War Pigs
Hold on there, McDee,
Not ALL the Dems are pigs. Kucinich has been very clear with regard to his position on the Iraqi invasion and massacre. Even Cindy knows this. We must be careful not to throw the baby out with the bath water. When Edwards challenged all the other Dems to stop accepting bribes from lobbyists, it was Kucinich that went one step further and challenged Edwards to stop accepting hedge funds as well. Know what I mean?
But in the end at the Democratic Convention 2004, Dennis gave in and supported Kerry and the Democratic Party, and he’ll do the same next year. Whose election will he be supporting then? One of the blue pigs?
Congratulations, Cindy, for telling it like it is and pulling no punches. We need people like you that stick with their convictions___good luck in the race with Pelosi! It may be almost impossible to change the way this country is headed, though, because money and power are controlling everything and those benefiting are not about to give it up, whether red or blue. History shows us that a change is usually only accomplished by revolution, and that always requires more killing and chaos, which we are so sick of presently. There seems to be no easy answer to regain the nation we once were proud of, but we should never lose hope as the world is full of surprises. Go Cindy and Kucinich and show us some action!
Dear Cindy,… You better than most now know the danger of silence. Of not TEACHING our young that you MUST NOT set aside what you KNOW is right to embrace what you KNOW is wrong. There were enough fools in this country to allow a stolen election and get a draft-dodging, lying coward into the white house. Then, like you, they offered up their young to a bastard who has one god, money. So now, you’ve learned and, obviously have grown courageous. You no longer believe the swine in power, red or blue. You see them slowly crush us to enrich themselves. and not for a pitance to survive, no, for even MORE billions to buy that 5th home in Dubai, the world elite’s safe haven in case the drones see their lies and go after them with blood in their hearts. You don’t slap a car-ass sign reading “support our troops” on if you KNOW what they do is wrong!! you SPEAK OUT and stop it. STOP DEIFYING THEM! educate them so they don’t end up as Cindy’s son did. As George Carlin said during his act, “They don’t care about you,…they don’t care about you,…they don’t care about you…..”
Nope, no vote for a warmonger and Hillary is at the top of that list. She of all in Congress should have known the truth about Iraq after her time in the WH.
So truth be told they want to wait out GWB in order to win politically in “08.
Fine, then spend at least 30 or more hours per week at Walter Reed helping the maimed your war machine has created from this day forward, or send YOUR OWN KIDS to be cannon fodder, you hypocrits!!!
By becoming a corporation, We the People will be the largest, richest and most powerful corporation, against which all others will be forced to compete.”
Sounds like a plan to me! Cindy, why don’t you run on such a platform?
Why is it necessary to hit again on the poor pigs, who get it even worse than poor Iraqis, while deserving it even less.
Iraqis have oil and the piggies are tasty–and so it’s only human nature to be abusive to both even as we steal their treasures. But if we want to represent an alternative, perhaps we could set a better example.
“Excremental occupation” doesn’t do much for me either. The other day I suffered some “shitty” treatment from a friend…but my friend certainly didn’t break into my house, blow up my family, and steal my oil. “Excremental” (whatever it actually means) is hardly an effective adjective for pure evil.
Millions of people share Sheehan’s anger and disgust and are desperately hoping that her word gets out there. I don’t want her to tone it down. May she could just tone it up.
Cindy,
Thank you for your inspiring speech making at Fighting Bob Fest in Baraboo, WI over the weekend.
Beat Pelosi!!!!!!!!!!
Dear peaceweaver,
He ended his long-shot presidential bid and endorsed a blue pig over a red pig. He didn’t support Kerry’s platform. He ended what had been a long fight to the finish. People were not rallying to his calls for reform much the way Nader wasn’t being heeded. He was getting less press than he is now. How long do you shout at people before you decide they’re not listening? If you were to run for president, I wonder how long you’d last. He stayed in for a surprising amount of time I believe on principle.
Cindy, Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed with the scope of the Democratic betrayal. I’m swearing at them whenever I hear the leaders talk on the radio or TV. I can’t stand the current crop of candidates (except Kucinich and Edwards). Your words have inspired me to get active again. God bless your spunk girlfriend!
Sing it!!!!!!!
War…huh…yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Uh ha haa ha
War…huh…yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutley nothing…say it again y’all
War..huh…look out…
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing…listen to me ohhhhh
WAR! I despise,
‘cos it means destruction of innocent lives,
War means tears to thousands of mother’s eyes,
When their sons gone to fight and lose their lives.
WAR! It ain’t nothing but a heartbreaker,
War. Friend only to the undertaker.
Ohhh! War is an enemy to all mankind,
The thought of war blows my mind.
War has caused unrest within the younger generation
Induction then destruction…who wants to die? Ohhh
War has shattered many a young man’s dream,
Made him disabled, bitter and mean,
Life is much too short and precious to spend fighting wars these days.
War can’t give life, it can only take it away!
War! It ain’t nothing but a heartbreaker,
War. Friend only to the undertaker…woo
Peace lovin’ understand then tell me,
Is there no place for them today?
They say we must fight to keep our freedom,
But Lord knows there’s got to be a better way.
- Edwin Starr - “WAR”
The other classic great Vietnam era anti war song besides Black Sabbath “War Pigs”. Check out the DOA version too!!!
ruthru, you are right about Kucinich. He IS the best of the bunch.However, what I object to is what I perceive his role to be.
Wittingly or unwittingly DK’s job is to keep Progressives from wandering off or dropping out. He is the example that well meaning people point to as to what the Dems could be.
I have come to the conclusion that he would never be PERMITTED to win the nomination, much less the presidency. The powers that be wouldn’t stand for it.
In the meantime the REAL Democratic Party, the Clintons, Emanuel, Pelosi, Reid, etc are compromised, corrupt or both.
The question I pose is this: Since we only have so much energy, media savvy, money and organizational skill, wouldn’t we best be served by building a new movement/party instead of trying to “reform” or “take over” the Dems?
I believe the answer is Yes!
Cindy Sheehan for Congress!!!!!
Hi Cindy,
I know you read this and also know you may be terribly busy, so no expectations, just the slim chance there may be an answer as you have in the past.
Points of agreement:
Bush lied us into war….
No argument. Needs more than impeachment IMO, needs imprisonment.
Anyone in Congress who didn’t resist is complicit (loose quote)….
No brainer. Saying there were WMD with WMD inspectors in the country and then kicking out the inspectors before sending them to these supposed WMDs that we knew exactly where they were is obviously fishy to the point of ridiculous.
Our presence in Iraq is not helping.
Again agreed on the basis of the obvious.
But here’s where most of the “bring em home now” crowd are very quiet.
What if the sectarian blood bath is a reality after a full pull out, along the lines of Kosovo or so.
What moral obligation do we have to the country we have brought to this state?
I have good friends who are Iraqi and own my wife and my favorite restaurant. They are catholic Iraqi and have family there still (parents, brothers, sisters). They are the most wonderful people. They always come and sit and talk with us. Frequently giving us free appetizers, chai teas and moccas. The wife’s sister’s boyfriend was recently shot on the way to work and the gunmen told the driver to tell his family they should leave this country because they are not Muslim(or not Shiite, Sunni, whatever faction the gunmen was) .
They and other Iraqi customers, we have asked what they thought would happen if the US left, and all said everyone would pick up a gun and start shooting at someone else.
I don’t believe the US militarily should be there, but I do believe that there should be some peace keeping force with high accountability to neutrality needs to be in place, and that the coalition of the willing countries should fit the bill for the damage they have caused (i.e. should fund such a peacekeeping effort), and no longer be allowed to participate on the ground, or in matters of policy. I also believe the US should apologize for the disaster and declare it so for the rationale of handing it over to a more benign institution.
…. But what is your opinion beyond withdrawal in these regards?
I admire Cindy for her courage amid the war trumpets. She is a 21st century Joan D’Arc. She is far more courageous than anyone else on our national scene. She risked her all for her belief. However, I am distressed by the reference to pigs. Pigs are friendly creatures that give their all to the the appetites of mankind, womankind. I cringed each time the word pig was used to describe the voracious killing, consciousless appetite of the purveyors and supporters of our destruction of an innocent country. This enormous project of destruction, as outline in the PNAC doctrine espoused by the architects of the destruction, will go down as worse than the havoc wrought by Alexander the Great.
The problem, folks, is no longer the Republicans. It’s the Democrats and the idiots who are still planning to vote for them in 2008.
A Third Party is the only solution and the sooner we wipe Democrats off the electoral map, the better.
GO CINDY!
If someone hasn’t done it already: I formally present my deepest and most humble apologies to all the pigs who may have been offended by the comparison to this segment of humanity.
personally i dont trust democrats anymore than republicans anymore, its all self-serving.as a republican myself, i have my own convictions about Iraq, and our leaders, but i can honestly say, no party has shown me any reason to even vote for the presidential elections. if i had a choice on voting for anything, it would be for term limits for senators, and congressmen. two terms is enough , if you cant get the job done that you were elected for, move over and let fresh blood in.
I strongly object to Cindy’s equating or implying that Congress members are like pigs. I consider this as a grave insult to pigs. They are nice, harmless, and useful animals, and we should appreciate them the next time we order bacon and eggs.
I have a… well, I guess you could call it a very high posthumous respect for all things porcine.
But I think the pigs have broad enough shoulders to take a joke. I believe the pigs are good-humored enough to as cheerfully slop around at the trough of metaphor as they do at the genuine article. There is so much precedent, not excluding “Animal Farm”.
Would it have been any more acceptable had Cindy used hungry, hungry hippos?
Well, Cindy just got arrested along with Medea at General Petraeus’ briefing. She is a hardworking woman. I am a codepink member and behind
her 100 percent. It is thrilling to see all of you people that feel the same way as I do. Thank you all for your bravery to look at hard facts and stand up for the truth. It isn’t easy.
And any fool knows a dog needs a home
A shelter
From Pigs on the wing…..
TWO Unpiggish Things You Can Do:
1. Support Cindy’s campaign against Pelosi
2. Switch your voter registration NOW to antiwar, pro-impeachment GREEN to send a message to Congress they cannot ignore. Read why & how: "http://switch2green.org">http://Switch2Green.org.
[Note: you can always switch back for primaries if you wish, but that registration now says what you want, and is evidence of a growing antiwar, pro-impeachment majority, and as such, it helps ALL progressive candidates to make their case, and pushes the envelope for the others. A large registration change in the near future is far more political leverage than just letters & calls to Congress.]
I am totally behind Cindy Sheehan because she is following in the footsteps of MLK, Eugene Debs, Emma Goldman, William Lloyd Garrison,Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Tom Paine and all the great real Americans that made our country truly free. The pigs of war are everywhere and they feed at the corporation trough. The Democratic Party has sold out its base. They are so fearful that they make stupid decisions. it would only take 41% of the votes in Congress to stop this Occupation Madness. “There is nothing to fear except fear itself”.
McDee,
Kucinich is the only Dem I’m voting for in 2008. He’s the only one that has categorically satisfied me on all the talking points. I would like to see him get himself arrested once in awhile on principle as Cindy is even now willing to do. I think a prerequisite for elected officials is how many demonstrations they’ve attended and the number of times they’ve put their asses on the line for the good of the environment and civil rights (not necessarily in that order).