Dems Could Do Far More to End Iraq War
The vast majority of Democrats in Congress are powerfully clear about what they think about the war in Iraq. It is the greatest strategic blunder of a generation.
It is a lost cause. Above all, it is immoral - with more men and women dying each day for a war that many Democrats concluded years ago was a terrible mistake.
But clarity gives way to muddle when you pose a simple question to Democrats: After eight months in power on Capitol Hill, why have you not done more to end the war?
Most answers come down to some version of “There’s nothing we can do.”
“If you don’t have the votes, you don’t have the votes,” Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) said in an interview. He was citing all the familiar arithmetic.
It takes 60 votes to end debate in the Senate, two-thirds of both chambers to override a presidential veto.
These answers are correct - and misleading almost to the point of deception.
We’re not in the business of giving politicians advice.
But it’s a simple truth, whether you support the war or not: There is a lot more Democrats could do to change, or at least challenge, the politics of the war in Washington, even if they do not have the numbers to impose new policies on President Bush.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) could force a vote a day over Iraq. She could keep the House in session all night, over weekends and through planned vacations.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) could let filibusters run from now till Christmas rather than yield to pro-war Republicans.
Such tactics might or might not be politically sensible, but in their absence, anti-war lawmakers can hardly say they have done everything possible to challenge the war and bring attention to their cause.
Lawmakers over the past generation have threatened and sometimes carried out such extreme parliamentary maneuvers over less consequential matters than dying soldiers.
Republican leaders a few years ago warned they would pursue the “nuclear option” and rewrite Senate rules if Democrats tried to block Bush’s judicial nominees.
In the 1980s, some Republicans contemplated chaining themselves to pillars of the Capitol to protest a disputed congressional election in Indiana.
Democrats, in on-the-record and on-background interviews, said they do not do these things because they would be bad politics. Democrats in the House and Senate would splinter over such extremist measures.
In closed-door caucus meetings, members say, Democratic leaders like Reps. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) and Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) have carried the day by warning that there is no appetite for such tactics in the districts of vulnerable Democrats, upon whom the party’s new majority status depends.
Many of these districts are in red states with rural regions filled with military families.
Above all, Democrats do not wish to open themselves to a charge they believe is demagogic, but effective - that they are turning their backs on troops in the field.
“People have made the intellectual distinction between the war and the warrior,” one House Democratic leader told us. “Bush has hidden behind the kids and held us hostage.”
Fair enough. But this calculation does not erase the gaping chasm between the visceral urgency claimed by congressional war opponents and the conventionality of their political strategy in trying to end it.
This is why Democratic activists are growing increasingly agitated.
Galling as it may be to Democrats, Bush still can claim to be acting with more clarity and courage than the congressional majority.
He believes the Iraq war is right and has thrown away things most politicians crave - approval ratings, and potentially his reputation in history - to get what he wants.
Democratic leaders believe the war is wrong but have pursued their beliefs with a series of ginger calculations that so far have achieved no substantive changes in policy.
They are acting with the same defensive-mindedness that led many Democrats to swallow deep misgivings and vote five years ago to authorize the war in the first place.
Many Democrats on Capitol Hill are in no mood just now to be lectured by MoveOn, the group whose ad denouncing “General Betray Us” was widely perceived to have backfired badly.
Whatever one’s view on the merits of the war, however, MoveOn Executive Director Eli Pariser is right that his ostensible Democratic allies have defined themselves by caution.
“Our view is that they are very strong, they have the public’s support at their backs, and they need to use that strength,” he said. “I think the efforts thus far have been good, but not good enough to put the Republicans on the spot about blocking an end to the war.”
Specifically, he supports forcing Senate Republicans who are trying to block measures to force Bush’s hand on troop withdrawals to back up their filibuster threats in a dramatic showdown on the Senate floor.
“Republicans are effectively filibustering, but no one knows it,” he said. “One way to demonstrate what’s going on is to make them stand there and read the phone book.”
Or go on a hunger strike. Or send the entire Democratic leadership to protest in the backyards of wavering lawmakers.
“I would rather use my energy to work intellectually to see if we can find common ground that all Democrats” want, to bring home the troops before Bush leaves office, said Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.).
“It is not my job to go to members’ districts and have sit-ins.”
© 2007 Capitol News Company, LLC
They could put impeachment back on the table for starters.
They could stop funding it. The authors forgot that one.
They could stop backing War Candidates:
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10297
What a bunch of sad-sacks the Dems are—Did you catch Pelosi being cornered by (idiot that he is) Wolf Blitzer? “So you can do nothing then,” he says, and she answers with a self-praising schpiel about all they have done. What? In fact, Pelosi danced very uneasily around the obvious facts: A) The DNC sold out years ago to quasi-right-wing funding sources, and B) The Dems could simply bring Congress to a true halt and refuse to process ANY business until they bring Bush toward reality, all the while making a media blitz to be clear that no harm will come to soldiers in the field because of it….HOW HARD IS THAT? And what do you get for whoring yourself to the other side? We already know: If it’s a choice between GOP and GOP-Light, Americans go GOP every time….So compare what there is to lose vs. what they’d stand to gain by some real courage! All I know is that I’m writing all my reps—”If you don’t get off your timid ass NOW, you are TOAST in the next election”
this is from a recent Chomsky talk with students at the university of sussex:
“because it’s considered appropriate to fabricate in support of state policy. that’s a very important principle that has to be preserved. we have to have the right to lie in support of state crimes.
“which tell us something about our own intellectual culture, about our universities for example, where the intellectual culture is formed and developed. there’s a principle which says it’s appropriate in fact even noble to lie in support of state crimes it’s criminal to tell the truth that would reveal the nature of state crimes. I’m purposefully exaggerating but not too much this is a clear example of it.”
and what country, and I can think of a blatantly obvious example aside from the US of A, is going to give up occupied territories? land and resources which our supposed country has conquered and built on, and set up it’s own puppet government?
do any of us believer that this congress, this senate, this government, will actually consider this option? Is it worth even writing about it anymore and wishing that it would be otherwise?
All appropriation bills must originate in the House. House Dems can simply refuse to move a military appropriation bill until the Pres agrees to strict and binding time limits for bringing the troops home. It will take some guts to do this and the dems will complain that they will be seen as undermining the troops. The answer is that it is the administration that is endangering the troops by refusing to agree to any sort of deadline. The pres., by refusing to agree to an appropriation that is limited to insuring a safe and orderly withdrawal, is the one undermining their well-being.
If, despite this, the House passes a full appropriation, the Senate Dems can kill it by simply not moving it in that house. If the Republicans offer an appropriation bill in the Senate, the Dems, if united, have sufficient votes to defeat it by their own filibuster. They and 2 Republicans can even defeat it on a straight up or down floor vote.
All it takes is some courage and the knowledge that the vast majority of the American public is with them.
Where’s the fallacy to this reasoning and why haven’t these options been discussed?
Gravel broke all this down last night during the debate but he was laughed at like he was some old fool. He knows of what he speaks, he fillibustered for over 50 days with a colostomy bag inserted to stop the draft! This method is the quickest method to stop this madness.
One wonders how a majority of Repugs can push things through (even with a Dim President) yet a majority of Dims feel helpless. The answer is that they represent the same class interests as the Repugs but also the Dims are crippled by their own opportunism where the Repugs are guided by principles (albeit bad ones). Principle will always succeed over opportunism. If we want strong principled leadership, we will have to create it outside of the corporate owned parties.
I have an alternate strategy.
How about an dose of reality for everyone in the country? Congress should institute pay-as-you-go war funding. Sharply raising taxes NOW to fund all war spending would make Georgie-boy’s little game of Risk in the Middle East a much harder sell to the magnetic ribbon set.
Better yet, raise taxes AND re-institute the draft. Bet the numbers of vocal war protesters across the political spectrum would increase exponentially.
all it takes to end the war is to stop signing the checks. Congress still has power of the purse. No money, no guns, no war.
And the Democrats have failed miserably in that.
Even for those who believe a summary retreat would be catastrophic, the threat of the loss of the cash pipeline could force planning for an orderly end.
The Democrats have failed miserably in that, too.
Neither party deserves our commitment, cash, votes, or support.
We progressives are a nascient force but for us to be effective we need organize. If we can successfully call a big DC march, we can just as well organize a convention at which we pick candidates from among our leading activists and then rally behind them to take back the country.
Democrats? Republicans? There is no difference…
Both parties are bought and paid for by corporate interests. Telecom, construction, ‘defence’, OIL. Those are the masters they serve. Not the people.
Government of, by, and for the people was never in the cards. It’s all for the wealthy, to become even more obscenely wealthy. Your kids are left drooling ‘Merican Idol’ voting idiots without proper healthcare or jobs, with prospects of either a dead-end ‘McJob’ or joining the military meatgrinder.
I have very dear lady who lives in Michigan. She has a son. She is getting the hell out of your psycho inbred hill-billy run counrty, before her son is turned into one of the military’s soul-less, raping, murdering scum.
H. Clinton voted to condemn Iran. B. Obama proved he is an Oreo chickenshit by abstaining. Both will have the blood of innocent Iranian men, women and children on their hands when Bush starts bombing, as he already said MONTHS ago thay any hint of Iranian involvement in US servicemen’s deaths would be a tantamount declaration of war.
Sick does not begin to describe your county. Evil is too mild a term.
Your mess. You clean it up.
Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda!
Congressional Democrats who strongly oppose the war could do more to push for an end to the war, but they might not be able to muster enough votes from among the “blue dogs” to pass their antiwar measures, and there would be a political cost and the risk of losing ground or even losing the Dem majority in the next election.
Don’t get me wrong, I think they should do more, even if they can’t muster enough votes to force an end, and even if they lose the majority. Better to raise the pitch of the issue, to have a real debate in this country.
Ordinary Americans could also do much more to push for an end to the war, pushing Congress, the media, the administration and the military. Just blaming “the Democrats” is a cop-out encouraged by people who want to recruit into the make-believe politics of the Green Party, ISO, Nader and so on. The political professionals need to hear from the people, need to see support for those who courageously oppose the war and anger at those who don’t, need to see that the country is boiling over and the time is right to act; otherwise they will go on making their calculations and hedging their bets.
Democrats = choosing the lesser of two evils. Still choosing evil.
You bet! Dems COULD DO MORE, and for that matter what
remains of any good republicans. They can uphold The US
Constitution!
Congress seems to be forget who trashed:
The US Constitution
The Bill Of Rights
The Geneva Convention and
Started an illegal war on lies
thus far destroying a country, and causing the deaths
of far more than Saddam Hussein.
Talk about betrayal. It certainly isn’t MoveOnOrg.
So what are Congressional Dems, Republicans, and Republicrats
afraid of? Are they being threatened; afraid of being sent to GT or
worse?
Polosi continues to say Impeachment for the Deciding Duo is off
the table; but she and other would-be ‘do nothing’ ‘deciders’ best realize
that many voters will regard them as off the table at the next election.
Everybody I know and have met these last few years, including
many Republicans, share the view that the administration must be
held accountable for their crimes . . . NOW!
I don’t know what game Congress and the Administration
are playing, but every second is another death, and a
threat to International Security.
What would the founders of our country do with these
liars and game players?
You said it!
I’m convinced that the public will never rise up and put enough pressure on Congress to end the war as long as it’s an abstraction for them. It’s time to make it personal and make it real by forcing the President to ask us to pay for it NOW, with our own money and our own children, instead of pushing it off on other families and other generations.
If the Dems were smart, they’d figure this out and trump the Repugs. If they were really smart, they’d lay it all at the feet of the President and the Repugs, and put them on the defensive for once.
Want to bluster and cry about supporting the troops? Want money for endless war? Go to your constituents and tell them that they are going to have to pay for it and exactly what it’s going to cost them in their own money and their own blood.
Support the troops. Mail them personalised bodybags.
“Make-believe politics” of the Greens?
Let’s see. Non-violence, sustainable living, social justice and non-corporate democracy. Those are the 4 pillars of Green politics. Wow, that is make believe. It’s much better to keep electing corporate-backed Democrats and then complaining that the war continues.
Geoff29 is right. Do you really think that the Democrats are going to abandon Iraq? After building the enormous bases, installing the puppet government and working on gaining access to the second largest oil reserves in the world?
Who’s into make believe?
or the democrats could collectively commit suicide and stop obstructing the antiwar movement.
since that ain’t gonna happen it’s up to us to organize and bring down the democrats. they are worse than useless–they are the greatest obstacle to building a *genuine* progressive movement.
Perhaps we should beat plowshares over the heads of Democrats?
h buchman ” They could uphold the US Constitution.”
They could but are not, they are, in fact, idly standing aside as the Constitution becomes historic parchment.
It’s time to re-awaken the essential doctrine of this nation, that being;
The Declaration of Independence.
This current Congress and administration do not in any way represent me. I’m done with them. But that doesn’t mean I leave for Canada or New Zealand. It means I continue to try to educate those who are hooked on MSM and don’t get what is really happening in the US. As Chomsky has said one of the most difficult things is to get people to realize that they are being suppressed.
The time is now to galvanize an opposition to the status quo, shuffle the deck and start a new game.
As most already know here on this C-D site, the real power in the world resides with the multinational corporations. Congress is bought, they are useless, except as corporate puppets. Attacking them is like attacking the marionettes dangling from the strings while the puppeteers snicker at our gullibility.
And to the Canadians and others, you are not exempt from corporate domination, nor are your leaders.
Come on, we have all posted, sent e-mails, letters and marched. For what? Nothing is going to change until “we the people” stop talking and start walking aggressively. How? The NOT so peacefull million patiot march. Its time folks, our Constitution is under attack from within. Not Iraq!
imagineusa, sadly, I think you are correct. Until the people of this country pull their heads out of their collective asses and take to the streets, nothing will change and the war with Iran will go off as scheduled. Personally the time to arm oneself, stockpile non perishable food and resources, and prepare for a depression and World War is here…
And what are the military, who swear to defend the US ‘from all enemies, foriegn AND DOMESTIC’ doing?
Putting out ‘bait’ so their coward sniper buddies have some Iraqis to shoot at. Raping and murdering entire families. Bombing entire cities into rubble. Committing acts of torture and making YouTube videos.
And the Dems do nothing to investigate or condemn any of these actions.
Last night Hillary, Barack, and others were knocked in a post-debate pundit critique for admitting it’s going to take some time to unwind our past actions in Iraq.
And this is very unfortunate, unless, of course, you like Washington and statehouses everywhere to be full of Republicans and corporate lobbyists. The top-tier candidates are getting serious, and we need to support them, not ridicule them.
Honest Democrats must realize that we can not only lose the financial costs so far of what the Republicans started in Iraq, we can also lose both Congress and The White House in 2008, and very easily, by acting as though we don’t have to be mature and responsible with the war and security issues in general. The Mid-east is not Vietnam, and just “get out now” is not going to fly next year when election time comes.
There is no reason to lose an entire progressive ideology on health care, education, Social Security,
taxes, the next Supreme Court, and the retaking of control from corporations in this country, by under-playing the seriousness of terrorism and our obligations in foreign affairs. The Republicans are running again on “security” and Democrats can’t laugh it off and get anywhere. Let’s not be silly-mouth losers.
I agree that the Dems haven’t done all they can. And it is true thay can’t break a filibuster. We need to elect enough, probably 9 and 10 for sure next election. And for sure a Dem Prez no matter who. The Supreme court is on the verge and one more conservative on it can undo everything that is still intact. And that will last for another 20 years. I don’t contend this is more important than lives being lost isn’t the most pressing issue, but it is important to realize that one more conservative there will overturn not just Roe v. Wade, but Social security, medicare, most large social programs. Remember Social Security only survived by a 5 to 4 vote in the 30s despite a court at that time was liberal. Think of the damage that could be done, millions of seniors in poverty, no healthcare for the. Medicaid, Schip. If you don’t think That the right wingers won’t push for all of this as they become more and more emboldened, you are wrong. If you listen to right wing talk, their over all objective is to totally overturn the new deal of FDR,the new society of the 60s and 70s of the war on poverty, medicare, etc.
The electorate in the last 7 years has made the Dems extremely gun shy and the constant lies from prez and repugnets do echo across the land and it is unfortunate that this still resonates in the red states. I live in Georgia and hear the wingnuts exicited that this can occur in our lifetime; just one more wingnut Supreme court judge and we can begin. Justice breyer, liberal is 87, Ginsberg, Stevens,and Souter in their 70s DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas, just licking their chops for one more wingnut We must support the Dems and nurse them along no matter what!!! Don’t vote for any 3rd party candidates, don’t sign any petitions to get other candidates on the ballot in any state. This coming election is that important.
Jaded Prole –
I especially agree with this –
QUOTE: Jaded Prole September 27th, 2007 12:13 pm
We progressives are a nascient force but for us to be effective we need organize. If we can successfully call a big DC march, we can just as well organize a convention at which we pick candidates from among our leading activists and then rally behind them to take back the country.UNQUOTE
We are one year and more from the elections and we have these self-selected “Dems” — Not that I find much of a problem with Edwards or Kucinich — however, I do think we’d be better off selecting our own candidates and moving them into the Democratic Party. ONLY to be financed by public dollars — exclude corporations from ANY participation in elections. We have to get our elections back in the hands of the League of Women Voters.
This article puts another triangulating spin on the Democrats and their DLC leadership.
“vast majority of Democrats… powerfully clear”??
What planet are these writers on? Did they powerfully whisper this statement to the writers only? Where is the vote to back up that statement?
The writers say that “Such tactics might or might not be politically sensible…” because the newly minted Democratic reps would lose support from their military constituents. WTF. Those districts switched to Democrat specifically because they want out of Iraq. Bush lost the political support of the military servicemen for the Iraq War a while back. Wall Street Republicans are still cheering for Bush. Mainstreet Repubs are waivering and need a real choice.
The article suggests it a choice either for Dems to hold on to power or to provide a real anti-war stance. They provide no polling data to support this assertion. I’ve seen polling data suggesting the opposite is true. This is not an either-or choice. Dems provide a real anti-war stance AND therefore hold on to and expand their power.
As Captmard so clearly put it, the Democratic majority in both Houses of Congress can utilize its Article I control over appropriations to end the war in Iraq at any time it chooses to do so. Those of us who oppose this war — and the impending war against Iran that essentially all Democratic “leaders” are joining the Bush Administration in promoting — need to expose Reid and Pelosi as the liars that they are. They have the power to stop and/or prevent aggressive war(s) in the Middle East; and if they “do not have the votes,” it is only because they and their Democratic colleagues in Congress do not choose to vote against war. Pelosi’s recent admission on CNN that the Democrats’ strategy on the Iraq war is to do nothing and let Republicans “own the war” — so that the Democrats’ political position will be enhanced in the 2008 elections — is surely one of the most soulless, cynical, despicable statements any American politician has ever made. Ego drives these political animals, and public humiliation will affect their behavior. We need to target their most vulnerable place, self-esteem, and cease attempting to appeal to a conscience they obviously do not have.
The assumption of the writers here is that there actually is a party called the Democratic Party, and that it has the best interests of the people at heart. They seem to suggest that all our problems could be solved if only this mythical party would act clearly and intelligently. Too bad. Even if it did exist, it wouldn’t.
The assumption of the writers here is that the party called the Democratic Party has the best interests of the people at heart. They seem to suggest that all our problems could be solved if only this mythical party would act clearly and intelligently. Too bad. Even if it did exist, it wouldn’t.
I will attempt to be serious for a change. The comments posted here so far are most appropriate.
Last night, the Democrat candidates debated, and when asked if they would pull our troops out of Iraq, they mostly stated, “Yes, but not now”. They and the majority of Congress believe the bull-shit spin from the Pentagon, that it will take several years to safely pull our troops out of Iraq. Which of course is so, if we don’t intend to desert our huge embassy complex in Baghdad and leave “our” oil fields and pipe lines unprotected.
On 24 Jun, 1948, the Berlin airlift began operations. We hauled __ 100% __ of the supplies needed by the citizens of Berlin for the next 320 days. In May of 1949 alone, we transported 3.5 million TONS of necesities, including coal for their heating stoves, food, medical supplies, etc. We also brought out the city’s exports. That was accomplished with antiquated cargo airpower alone. It worked, the blockade was finally lifted by the Soviets.
The type of cargo aircraft the military operate now are so far superior to the models we had in 1948-9, there is no reasonable comparrison. We could evacuate the support troops, civilians, the press personnel, embassy staff, everyone,__ OUT of Iraq in two days tops, and our mechanized troops could motor right back to Kuwait where they first came from in less time. The troops could be well protected by their hi-tech choppers, AC-130 gunships and A-10 aircraft the entire 400 or so miles.
Would some troops be fired upon, would some be wounded or even killed during the embarrassing retreat? Probably, of course we now lose on average, three killed every day. Of course the troops could fire back if fired upon and kill another few thousand Iraqi’s at the same time. We’d likely wound or kill some kids, and or their parents with the resulting collateral damage. War is hell, ___ especially this disasterous one Bush started.
The point is, when Obama, Edwards, Hillary, Nancy Pelosi, etc, ___ with a serious straight face, state that it will take several years to pull our troops out of Iraq, they don’t have a clue of what they are spewing out of their mis-informed mouths. If however, they agree we need a huge embassy staff in Baghdad, then they are just going along with Bush and the Neo-con plans. Why in hell do we need an embassy in Iraq? Did we have one there six years ago? If we did, what in hell did they accomplish?
Finally, the war in Iraq is costing us $720 million __ every-single-day, including holidays. It must stop and we sure as hell cannot afford to allow it to continue for another ten years. We should abandon every single thing we have built in Iraq, give it all to the people of Iraq and toss in $750 million every day for three or four years, so they can at least repair their electrical grids and water treatment plants. Fix up the mess we created. At the very least, buy some head stones for the tens of thousands of those innocent Iraqi civilians now buried side by side in unmarked graves.
Clean up the deadly poisonous DU we scattered all over their land? ____ Uhhhh Sorry! There are limits. Cleaning up that disaster is not possible. “You’ll all just all have to hold your breath on that one”. As Rummy would say, __ “Sorry, stuff happens”.
The consistently hilarious ‘Nader2000′ writes (12:13 pm) “Ordinary Americans could also do much more to push for an end to the war, pushing Congress, the media, the administration and the military. Just blaming “the Democrats” is a cop-out encouraged by people who want to recruit into the make-believe politics of the Green Party, ISO, Nader and so on. The political professionals need to hear from the people….”
It would be difficult to misunderstand more completely the essential nature of the mentioned institutions, or to exhibit a more risible ignorance of their histories & modes of operation. None of the named institutions — the Congress, the media, the administration, or the military — is the slightest bit susceptible to being pushed by “ordinary Americans.” They are all well aware that “ordinary Americans” want to change how they function, & one may rest assured that they’ve taken all necessary precautions to ensure that such a thing never happens.
It’s not the case that those institutions have accidentally “forgotten” to take into account the interests & opinions of ordinary citizens. Rather, it’s that their own institutional interests conflict with those of ordinary citizens, as do the class interests of their members. There is thus no possibility whatever of “pushing” those institutions to change — they will continue to act on behalf of their own class & institutional interests. Being reminded of the displeasure of ordinary citizens means no more to them than the hunger & misery of French citizens did to Marie Antoinette.
‘Nader2000′ castigates as “make-believe politics” any attempts at creating a political movement outside the boundaries of the conventional 2-party framework. Thus, he’s simply advocating the manifestly failed “work-within-the-system” concept, which has A) led us to our present sorry pass, & B) ignores the fact that “the system” was not set up (& did not evolve) with the interests of ordinary Americans in mind, but rather has always been a device for serving elite interests behind a rhetorical smokescreen of pseudo-democracy. The idea has always been to serve the elites, while paying mere lip-service to the needs & opinions of everyone else.
In fact, what’s truly most “make-believe” about American politics is the fantasy that, all evidence to the contrary, any of the above-named institutions could possibly be influenced by “ordinary Americans.” To complain to Congress about, for example, the war, or torture, or habeas corpus, Blackwater, etc, is precisely the same as writing letters to Halliburton management, criticizing them for war profiteering. The best you can hope for is a form letter, shedding perhaps a few crocodile tears.
After reading this thread of well intentioned, yet disjunctive views [you know; dimocrat$ this, the repug$ that, non violent protests, take to the streets with share plows, join the greens and piss in the wind]; I get a truly SICK feeling that Bu$hCo are sniggering and smirking at all the confusion and incendiary internecine destruction they’ve caused and are about to cause. By the time Americans have awakened from their deep sleep the Iran Blood Bath will be underway….
Hence, America’s destiny will be BLOW BACK of horrific proportions….
Simonhhh: Imagine this as you blowback… no oil. NONE of it’s derivatives. No pesticides,no fertilizers,no pharmaceuticals, no plastics, no fuel.
All gone. Or so outrageously priced people will kill for the latest shrink wrapped CD. Or a bottle of aspirin.
Like that image, that future? It is a freight train bearing down on the world at hundred miles an hour… and we’re in a narrow tunnel with little room to dodge.
And all because of one petty…sick…violent little psychopath in a suit who cheated his way into high office.
This would make a good article/headline on Common Dreams…
Don’t miss the high spirited talks from the last couple of days at the UN General Assembly in NY this week, where the monstrous empire of greed and violence, is enthusiastically denounced!
Nicaragua- Daniel Ortega
Iran - Ahmadinejad -
Cuba -
Bolivia - Evo Morales
Equador-
http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/
——————
Statements and Webcast
http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/62/
Hi Galen, there is one thing about Bush in a suit, ____ he wears $6,000 suits. For an oil field cow-poke with a spread in Texas, that’s still pretty impressive. Give the idiot credit where credit is due.
Galen, it is absolutely NOT “because of one petty…sick…violent little psychopath in a suit who cheated his way into high office. Bush himself is just the (admittedly very well-chosen) front-man for the entire way that US society is structured. From top to bottom, virtually everything in this profoundly sick society is determined by the profit needs of large corporations. We invade other countries in pursuit of those profits; jobs are out-sourced because of them; Supreme Courts are stacked because of them; elections are stolen because of them. The media is the propaganda arm of the state, because of them.
It’s not a matter of just one little sociopath. If he were gunned down, there are thousands more just like him, ready to take his place.
MoveOn is criticized because they actually spoke out. MoveOn DID SOMETHING. This Congress does nothing because anyone that speaks out or resists this adminstration gets slammed. That’s why Iran is such a threat now. They’re resisting the empire. How dare they!
Well, the Demos sure did put on a good show. Republicans rule!
Hey Galen
I’ve been reading your posts and like this one you are consistently insightful….If you combine the devastating affects of Bu$hCo’s OIL WARS with the imminent Environmental Catastrophe unfolding caused by the Crude Rude Bushites and Cronies… I don’t want to sound dramatic but a combination of ‘Apocalypse Now’ and ‘Mad Max’ etal any way; you said it well “freight train bearing down on the world at hundred miles an hour… and we’re in a narrow tunnel with little room to dodge.”
We could start up a new program for Bu$h, Cheney and other Nutjobs of similar psychiatric disposition:…..PSYCHOPATHS ANONYMOUS……
Here’s our dilemma. The Democrats have proves themselves the junior partners and lapdogs of the Republicans. They share the Republicans’ determination to keep our troops in Iraq no matter what the Iraqi or American people want. But any third party effort is doomed. “Brand” loyalty is way, way too strong in this country. Activist liberals are only a small minority of the party electorate, so most voters will refuse to switch to a third party. And they will probably vote for Hillary in the ‘08 primaries because she’s a familiar face. They may eventually conclude the activitists were right, but it will be too late. Hillary (or Obama or Edwards) may pull some troops out to quiet us activists for a while but will continue the occupation. After a few years of the Democrats running the Iraq occupation the Republicans will get another chance. The Washington establishment seems more united than it was during Vietnam, and the people won’t go to the [long overdue] extreme of overturning it. I fear this idiotic war will go on and on until another catastrophic event, like a Chinese capture of Taiwan or something, forces the establishment to change its priorities.
Hey Kem Patrick
Did you read my post at the end of
“Revealed: Script for Bush’s Mangled Words”
by David Usborne???
RichM: Agreed
Also follow the money. After spending several trillion dollars on the war and on the troops and on setting up puppet governments and building huge “diplomatic” complexes, neither democrat nor republican is going to be willing to leave Iraq any time in the foreseeable future. Would you give your house away that you purchased when times were good??
Galen, it would of course be great to leave this place in many respects, but this is the situation we have and so we have to deal with it in the here and now.
It appears to me, that we, and I speak here of the commondreams commoners, have for the moment been completely and effectively marginalized, and muffled. No one in government cares what we say. If we join protests wearing clown suits, they are going to take us less seriously. The only thing that would influence these people is a bigger weapon held to their head than the one that they are holding to ours and they are holding some fairly substantial weapons?
Additionally, we are too well educated all of us at this point in time to fight violence with violence, though that is all that would move this ruling class. We have before us the example of the prophets, of Gandhi, of Dr. King. We know far too much and too well.
Nevertheless, there is usually a flaw in every misguided plan, and we have but to wait for the moment to act, and then I am sure that every poster here will be out on the street. This is of course what this government fears most of all and has done all they can to prevent and have done a damn good job about it too!!
So Galen, you come to this country and help us with the battle here! We are one world now, in that bush and his group are right. Just not the world that they foresee.
(transcript from the first “Democrats Anonymous” meeting)
“Hello. My name is Ramsay and I’m a Democrat.”
“Hi Ramsay! Welcome to Democrats Anonymous. Since this is your first time here, why don’t you tell everyone, why you chose to quit being a Democrat?”
“Well, I didn’t just quit being a Democrat. I’ve been a recovering Democrat for a few years now. But I’ve been trying to deal with my addiction by myself, and now with a presidential election coming up, I feel a great temptation to go back to the party. That’s why I’m here.”
“Ramsay, we understand, the temptation is always there, and in this political season, it can be very strong indeed. We’re here to support you in recovery.”
“It’s just that they say all the right things, they seem like they really care, I know I’m just fooling myself, but I want to believe…know what I mean?”
“We do, Ramsay, we do. Why don’t you tell us why you chose to be a Democrat? Because, you know being a Democrat is a choice. Right?”
“Yes, I know. You see, it all started with the election, between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Regan. I thought that….”
Ramsay
p.s. “Please pass me the kleenex box would you?”
It appears that the Democrats have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
However, in their minds, the Dems have won.
1) They almost all voted to authorize this madness in the first place, and yesterday voted to support invasion of IRAN
2) Despite them being voted in by anti-war support, most have NEVER come out against the war, except cheap lip service for votes.
3) They are all still receiving big bucks from the war industry.
Maybe they HAVE won what they wanted? They have conned the anti-war crowd in believing they are their ANTI-WAR standard bearers, and have conned the military Industrial complex into funding them as their PRO WAR standard bearers.
Its a good business.
reminds me of the mafia..
“Sorry, there is nothing I an do about my associates burning down your business….maybe a small token of your appreciation would deter them, perferabley cash…”
The Dems could do more, but they won’t. They seem immobilized between their desire to keep their seats in congress tomorrow and the fear of losing their “tactical” war for votes today. If there were any real conviction in their so-called mandate to end the war in Iraq, they would introduce and submit to a vote legislation to end it. The excuse of not having enough votes to either end a filibuster or over-ride a veto is sad. If they truly believed in the rightness of ending the war, they would act and force other members of congress to make their positions official by casting their yeas or nays. If they truly believed, they would force Bush to veto bills and then force the other members of congress to make their positions official by failing to override it. It is simply asking them to stand up and be counted. The sniveling excuse of “we can’t…” is the excuse not to even try.
Geoff29: I have to chuckle. Being from the Great White North, I have no illusions that I am better than the average American. Just less worse. I would certainly enjoy coming to your fair land again. There are some few places I would still like to see and visit. The Grand Canyon, the Anasazi pueblos, and that funky little creekbed in Texas the fundies claim proves men and dinos walked side by side.
But given that one of my felow Canadians, Maher Arar, was abducted by your CIA while changing planes in New York and ‘rendered’ back to Syria for two years of torture, I admit some trepadition about doing more for the moment than being a quiet observer.
I will cheerfuly encourage all people of good concsience to come to our country, as it seems America is rapidly becoming a totalitarian police state. That is one of the reasons I am doing my best to get my lady in Michigan to move north.
I have now, thank you kindly SIMONHHH. You made my month.
It is refreshing to realize we can be goofy at times of duress and take a break now and then to smell the flowers. In fact, I’m going to take a month off here next week and go fishing and scuba diving, might even go to Disneyland. Of course it’s probably polluted with DU now too. Anyway we’re going and I’m not taking the laptop, or read any newspapers, or watch any television for at least three weeks. Ex Evelyn’s cat is staying home too. So you guys and gals can have fun here without me. Hope the depression doesn’t hit untul we get back, gotta finish dressing up our cave and re-load some shells.
Obviously, they need GOP advice on what to do to force the issue.
A few years ago, the GOP House passed Medicare Part D — which provided RX drug and managed care companies with a Tsunami of profits — at 3:00 a.m after an unprecedented 3 hours voting time.
If they can pull off the extraordinary feat of passing legislation prohibiting price negotiations with drug companies … perhaps they should advise the Dems on how to inspire Bush to change course.
The Democrats have not done all they can and neither have we. Why are we not protesting and bringing up the issue of voter suppression.
After all it is the disgarding,vote challenging, so called fraud eliminating tactics of the GOP that has caused such a disastrous presidency.
We need to start dealing with the causes of things. Voter suppression is dangerous because is uses tools of the government to deny the rights of not only people of color but of a majority of voters in choosing our president.
I am totally shocked that the democrats have failed to bring a bill making it a criminal act to the table. Choosing which votes you will accept and which you throw away is akin to a prosecutor deciding who will and who won’t sit on a jury.
We may never have went to war if all the votes were counted properly
Voter suppression takes away all of our rights. There is no such thing as a black, brown, or yellow issue when it comes life, liberty, and prosperity.
My fellow bloggers, activists, 9 to 5ers, and people of all hues. If we allow them to divide us. Then money rules.
The only thing that pure capitalism cares about is making more money. Not the lives of soldiers, not foreigners, not the poor, sick, elderly, disabled, children, nor the environment.
We only get what we fight together for. I thought this would be a nice protest chant. ” What do we won’t in the next session, no voter repression.”
Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.
-Martin Luther King-
“Don’t miss the high spirited talks from the last couple of days at the UN General Assembly in NY this week, where the monstrous empire of greed and violence, is enthusiastically denounced!”
I saw President Ortega’s address but not the others.
Fortunately, last night the Murdering Sycopanthic Media candidates made it clear that they are pro-war candidates.
Dennis Kucinich is the peace candidate, and any vote for anyone else is a vote for continuing the occupation of Iraq and a vote for war with Iran.
The Democrats’ political caution has become both moral and political cowardice.
Momentary caution by post-2006 Dems in congress might’ve been acceptable, if they’d immediately begun to implement a pro-active strategy that used their majority in both houses to let them become politically braver in a hurry.
But the Dem majority didn’t do this. Depsite most of them knowing that thousands of innocent Iraqi’s and US/’coalition’ soldiers were and are still dying for nothing more than Bush and Congressional neocon’s blatant lies/unconstitutional actions, there is no hurry.
Post-2006 Democrats simply raised their oppositional PR rhetoric a tad, and tried a few meaningless proceedural challenges for public consumption. But, to date, they continue to vote for Neocon Programs, foreign and domestic.
Dems claim they’re still too politically vulnerable, in too many red/blue marginal home districts, to take on the neocons — especially on something like the war. They claim they have to wait till 2008.
But congressional Dems are not doing anything meaningful in the meantime to challenge neocon lies about the war (let alone neocon domestic policy), in their own home districts/states.
They have even failed to even try to use their post-2006 power to (for example) reform FCC TV license regs; to allow average citizens editorial time on local news broadcasts — whence many more still silent people might begin to realize that their doubts and outrages at government policies are shared by their neighbors, too!.
(It needs noting that both Reid and Pelosi refused to discuss, with numerous public interest organizations, even the advisability of allowing any such media reform legislation, despite likely public support for such, and willingness by several ‘radical’ democrats to carry such bills.)
Instead, congressional Dems have wrung and continue wring their hands about their lack of a veto-proof majority; absurdly assuming that their public declarations of political impotence will gain them (by voter Pity?) the final strength by which they can be brave and honest, tomorrow.
We all know this disease as we rationalize in our personal lives. Tt’s even more destructive disease in an elected lawmaker’s life.
And if this disease were to be given a semi-poetic name, it could rightly be called, something like:
My Caution Dost Become My Courage —- Only On The Morrow - or — maybe the day after tomorrow, come to think of it…..
My two cents’.
I believe it boils down to simply this.
The Democrats (with some few exceptions like Kucinich, Gravel and Richardson) feel they have a lock on the 2008 elections and want to do nothing to change the odds.
If they vote to not fund the war, they feel the Republicans might have a shot at making them look bad–i. e. that they’re “not supporting the troops.” They’re cowering, taking no chances.
It’s all about getting elected now–and about the money, power, privilege, and prestige they gain with election. Who cares about the dying and maiming of our military men and women, or of the Iraqis?
Fact is, we have never-ending electioneering nowadays; and as Sen. Murtha said last week, with the primaries coming up in a few months, and then the elections, there’s just no time to get anything significant done . . .
. . . except for castigating moveon.org for exercising free speech; except for condemning the Iran Republican Army and helping pave the way toward bombing Iran; except for passing a resolution for partitioning the sovereign state of Iraq. . . .
Madness.
If Congress and the American people don’t snap awake soon and rediscover a spine, the Bush administration may sense weakness in us enough to feel free to go ahead and bomb Iran, assuming they want badly enough to do so.
I hold that massive nationwide nonviolent occupation of congressional and other government offices and buildings is perhaps the most viable way to force Congress into representing the interests of the majority of our citizens. Or a national strike.
But I haven’t seen enough of us ready, willing, or apparently able to undertake those missions (though 14 Des Moines high school students recently occupied Senator Grassley’s office on behalf of peace and were arrested–brave souls and good examples for their peers and elders!).
Perhaps the national demonstrations planned for late October will have a beneficial effect. That seems a long time from today, though, with a crucial vote coming up and Bush’s finger ever so close to that briefcase always near his person–the one with the button in it.
“Dems claim they’re still too politically vulnerable, in too many red/blue marginal home districts, to take on the neocons — especially on something like the war. They claim they have to wait till 2008.”
The thing that kept the criminals in charge the last seven years is that they understood one basic imperative — when vulnerable, go on the offensive. Defensive reactions are always the prelude to defeat.
“But I haven’t seen enough of us ready, willing, or apparently able to undertake those missions (though 14 Des Moines high school students recently occupied Senator Grassley’s office on behalf of peace and were arrested–brave souls and good examples for their peers and elders!).”
In 2004 and 2006, many people still had trust that electoral means would work — and then watched stunned as the presidency was re-stolen in 2004, and Kerry folded after having been pushed to victory by people who never wanted him in the first place; and it’s only EIGHT MONTHS since the Dead Dog Democrats were seated in the 110th Congress, and many who hoped that THEY would act again were stunned when they remained insensible to the cries of the people.
We are already divided between the people who know that only direct action will be effective and the fantasists who believe that just another election or more non-militant marches will create some sort of peaceable vibration. I’m not sure how to win those who object to revolution in the name of conscience; they recall my favorite french aphorism, “A bit more patience and a bit more lubricant and an elephant can screw an ant in the ass.”
Suppose the Democrats threw a party and nobody showed up.
In about 20 minutes I’m going to tune into the PBS Tavis Smiley Republican “debate” regarding the concerns of African Americans and Latinos. Seems the majority of Republicans have said “F-You” to Tavis Smiley. The few remaining Republican candidates who are running for President will be attending….such as Ron Paul.
Should be quite a show. Especially when you consider there will be about a thousand in attendance with many empty podiums glaring at the cameras. Ha!!! Don’t ya just love it??
In the mean time, I happened to catch the following documentary today and would like to share it with my fellow Commondreamers. It left me in tears and I believe it speaks the absolute truth of U.S. history and where we are today:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3739500579629840148&hl=en
Democrats? Wassat?
VOTE ALL INCUMBANTS OUT OF OFFICE. THE DISEASE HAS INFECTED THEM ALL!
Neil Uecke: And replace them with… more of the same? The problem isn’t the process, it’s the product.
There is no functional difference between theRepublicans or the Democrats. Both are beholden to the corporate interests that pay for their election and re-election campaigns.
Hillary Clinton (for example), supposedly a Democrat, has voted in favor of every single warmongering measure thus far presented.
And I am sure that the majority of posters here would agree that the electoral process in the US is fatally flawed, as you are voting not for a candidate, but for a member of the electoral colledge, which in turn ballots for THEIR choice of presidential candidate. THEIR choice. NOT YOURS!
Electoral reform, including the complete abandonment of the paper trail deficient computerised voting system as provided by corporations sympathetic to supporting a dictatorial goverenment, is VITAL.
Kristina40, Why don’t you pull your head out of your collective ass?
Hey KEM
Have a good holiday, but I can see you now finding some Internet Cafe and having a look at CD to see whats going on at some point, just in case you miss something….Be careful exevelyn’s cat doesn’t hook you up…Ha Ha Ha
Rethuglicrats vs Dumocklicans:
I’ve been reading the “comments” people are appending to articles like this one from Common Dreams, also Info Clearing House, Dissident Voice & similar sources. They’re getting much more interesting than earlier: lots & lots of folks have had it with the Democrats & are looking for ways to really impact the balance of decision-making power.
Most still harbor some illusions, such as that the Dems failure to Stopthewar is due to “cowardice”, “ignorance” etc. But there are other “Posteers” who immed. challenge such takes on it. So there’s a real ferment going on out there. How to connect with it: that is the $64 Q.
& how to keep the Ziodems & the Demogreens from steering it all back into Okeydoke Land again, as in 2004.
RichM has a solid take on the problem; I’d be most interested to read his thoughts re the way forward. I wonder if Commondreams provides a mechanism for the exchange of email addresses between individuals without getting exposed to all the trolls & spammers who show up on these “comment” threads?
Thanks,
dan elliott
sactomato CA
Don’t support the troops except for the ones who have turned against Master Bush.
They are enablers, after all. If they
hadn’t joined up we wouldn’t have Americans over there unwanted by the place itself and the world.
Rep. Lynn Woolsey is wrong. It is her job to do everything possible, and yes, even extreme, to carry out the mandate of the voters. That is, to bring this insanity of the Bush Administration, from the immoral war to the No Child Left Behind fiasco, and more, to an end! The day of the “Celebrity Official” is over. What is needed in Washington, and in the state legislatures are servants for the people. To do any less is to fail us all. The people of this country are watching, and we will not forget, that the Congress majority wanted to sacrifice nothing, while our sons and daughters sacrificed everything!
“In 1964 Barry Goldwater declared: ‘Elect me president, and I will bomb the cities of Vietnam, defoliate the jungles, herd the population into concentration camps and turn the country into a wasteland.’ But Lyndon Johnson said: ‘No! No! No! Don’t you dare do that. Let ME do it.’”
Characterization (paraphrased) of the 1964 Goldwater/Johnson presidential race by Professor Irwin Corey, “The World’s Foremost Authority.”
“The people of this country are watching, and we will not forget, that the Congress majority wanted to sacrifice nothing, while our sons and daughters sacrificed everything!”
“The people of this country are watching,” that is exactly the problem. Passive participants in the slaughter of civilians; passive participants in the American Police State; passive participants in racist injustice; passive participants in economic injustice; passive participants in crime against humanity.
So..Kristina40, Did the colostomy bag inserted stop the draft?
some advice. Get used to being in Iraq. Iraq=South Korea of the 21st century. We have a permanent imperial presence there.
Indeed. How far we’ve come from colonial revolutionaries to imperialists ourselves. Looks like either our Constitution or our government is in need of a house-cleaning.
The choice will be ours. I predict no more than 10-25 years.
The writers are stoned. The dems don’t want to get out of Iraq.
“some advice. Get used to being in Iraq. Iraq=South Korea of the 21st century. We have a permanent imperial presence there.”
This statement above is the kind of pigheaded ignorance that got the US of A into Iraq in the first place.
Democratic organized non-violent civil disobedience is a basis for effective change in your neighborhood. Organize five people you know and create actions that force the neighborhood to face “the music and dance.” Embrace the fact that those that oppose you are prisoners in their lives and in their beliefs. Make it possible for them to identify with you as human beings. Have the confidence that your cause is just.
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all”
The human cost of war alone makes it self-evident that we must renounce war.
Movement for the Renunciation of War.
I renounce war, and I will never support or sanction another war.
Signed: _____________________
Dated: __________
Even these guys don’t get it. Unbelievable.
Gentlemen: 41 votes to filibuster any war spending bill ends this war.
checksandbalances, what is your problem with kristna40? please explain yourself, your comments seem unncecessaily provocative.
REBELNOW, You beat me to it. But I wouldn’t have used the word ‘please’.
Kristina is one of the best teachers we have here at Common Dreams. We don’t have to always agree with her or anyone else, but she’s A-OK and she don’t deserve that type of shit.
As ferency said, these authors missed the obvious: THEY CAN STOP FUNDING THE WAR. In Vietnam, 26,000 more US soldiers and who knows how many innocent Vietnamese had to die AFTER the Congress knew the war was “lost” — as in this case. Plus, there is enough money in the pipeline to get the troops out safely.
My personal resolve for 2008, however, assuming the status quo drags on, is to register as a dem for the primary and VOTE KUCINICH. Who the hell cares what you think of yourself as partywise politically or whether you care two whits about parties? This is not about you or me anymore. It’s about something bigger than all of us.
Infiltrate the dem primary and then OVERRIDE every single freaking corporate dollar Hillary and Obama are snorting up their noses, and every single droplet of bullshit that comes out of people like Chris Matthews by voting for that little gremlin for peace. I don’t work for him, but it seems as good a strategy as any at this point. Use REASON to override CORPORATE MONEY AND PERSUASION. It’s like breaking a trance.
We know the truth. WE have the facts via this lovely internet. Screw your green or independent registrations. Register dem and vote Kucinich in the primary. (Most Americans agree with his positions anyway.)
Never voted for a Republican in my life.
Stopped voting for Democrats in 2000.
It’s a great feeling.
You should try it.
A simple message to the Democrats:
“WHERE THERE’S A WILL, - THERE’S A *WAY*!”
Repeat this to them fifty times a day.
If they STILL then refuse to do a single thing to end state-sponsored murder, they’ve proved for all time who’s pocket they live in…
…and deserve their rightful place in history’s trash can.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[footnote] :::
Could we imagine the likes of Ghandi, or Martin Luther King, or Henry Thoreau lamely / blithely sitting on their hands like the Dems are doing, whilst countries burn, and many thousands are killed and decimated by those insane warlords in the Grey House?
~ Nope.
Kem and Rebel thanks for the vote of confidence, it’s been a long night at work with the inbreds.
checksandbalances, yes, it did work and Gravel is also the one that read the Pentagon Papers aloud on the Senate floor. You obviously have a computer and internet access so it’s not that hard to google something and get the answer.
Kristina40,
“it’s been a long night at work with the inbreds.”
Better just to step over them; when a drop of passion or eloquence such as yours falls on their heads, it burns them & they simply excrete more onto the screen.
people tend to blame the american people for their apathy. would someone please explain to me, WHO IN THE HELL DO THEY TURN TO? 90% of your elected officials are dirty up to their armpits. there needs to be some kind of major shakeup to your system. until that happens, it is business as usual. this empire bullshit, will go the way of all the others. and it will all come down in blood. think, foreign policy, honesty, humility, respect, and humanity. it is only my humble opinion. a canadian.
Kristina40, who said anything bad about Gravel? It was the comment “colostomy bag inserted to stop the draft”. — I didn’t know colostomy bags could stop the draft.
If you are so ignorant to not understand what Kristina meant; why not just drop it? You were and are being an obnoxious and distracting jerk.
checksandbalances, I didn’t say you said anything bad about him…sigh…lack of sleep is not helping right now. He had the colostomy bag inserted so he could continue the fillibuster un-interrupted. He’s an interesting guy and a true Patriot. I don’t have any bizarre ideas that he could actually win the election but for the other candidates (like Hillary) to snear and laugh at him is disgusting! He knows if they forced a closure vote every day eventually the greedy lazy assholes would pass a resolution to stop this war. Instead they whine about 60 votes yet do nothing to get them. Do you think those Senators would give up their vacations and weekends for very long if forced to vote EVERY DAY? It worked back in Nixon’s administration and would work now, the point I was making is they DON’T REALLY WANT TO STOP THE WAR!
Here’s an article that explains what he did better than I can in my sleep deprived, not enough caffeine state…
For Gravel, opposing a foolish war is nothing unusual. He cosponsored a resolution in the Senate to cut off funding of the Vietnam War. And on June 29, 1971, even as he was hooked up with a colostomy bag and was hauling two large, black-leather valises, he entered the Senate on a new mission against that war.
“I went onto the floor with the flight bags and put them next to my chair,” says Gravel. “Muskie comes over to me and asks, ‘What the hell have you got there? The Pentagon Papers?’”
Maine Senator Ed Muskie was on target. Daniel Ellsberg had given Gravel the top-secret Pentagon study detailing government deception in the Vietnam War, which had been published a few days earlier in The New York Times. But the Nixon Justice Department had then shut down further publication with a prior restraint order.
Without a quorum, Gravel was forced into a basement conference room for an emergency session of his Building and Grounds Committee. Gravel read from the Papers until just after midnight on June 30, when he broke down in tears, emotionally distraught over what his country was doing in Vietnam. He de facto declassified more than 4,000 pages. Later that day, the Supreme Court reversed the prior restraint against all publishers but indicated that they would be at risk if they continued to publish.
Gravel not only released the Pentagon Papers and filibustered an end to the draft, he also spearheaded the opposition in the Senate to nuclear weapons testing in Alaska, an issue that led to the creation of Greenpeace. His iconoclastic stands against the draft, government secrecy, American adventurism, and corporate dominance and for public financing of elections, national government by popular ballot initiative, a universal single-payer health care voucher plan, and a national sales tax were essentially laid out while he was still in the Senate. But he believes current times have resurrected those positions and refurbished his relevance
This person, “dkitching” is posting the same text about supporting democrats in a lot of different articles here at common dreams. I am relatively sure he is affiliated with someone or some organization. This feels like insidious propaganda carried out on the behalf of some organization supporting the dems.
While i hate to say this, but maybe the mods aught to ban his account from posting and remove all the previous posts by ‘dkitching’ …
Zimmerman wrote: “I renounce war, and I will never support or sanction another war.”
How about: I renounce politicans that support war and occupation, and I will never support the candidacy of such a person or political party.
Date________
Signed___________________
By the way: If such a proposition where followed that would disqualify the three stooges, Clinton, Edwards, and Obama. All three have asserted that troops would REMAIN in Iraq for years to come…
Three candidates assert otherwise: Kucinich, Nader, Richardson.
Kristina40, I know what you were saying, but thanks for the extended explanation, anyway.
I was being an annoying pest and I apologize for that. Really I was being a wise ass.
I also support Gravel for all he is doing and has done.
Windhorse, you forgot Gravel, as does everybody else. He said he could have them out in a couple months.
hashfunction, all opinions should be freely posted.
Kristina,
Thanks for the correction. Yes Mighty Mike. I love the guy but thought he dropped out. I dont own a TV and have not seen his name mentioned lately.
checksandbalances, cool, I don’t have a problem. Gravel is one of the few reasons I even bother to watch the debates. He’s refreshing and eccentric and he really, really pisses off the mainstream candidates, especially Hillary. That evil laugh of hers the other night after he chastised her really spoke volumes. At this point I’m afraid I’d take any in that field other than Hillary and that’s sad because as a woman I’d love to see a female President someday. I’m afraid she will get the nod anyway.
Windhorse, he put on quite a display at the debate Wednesday night. Check his website out, they have video clips of him calling Hillary on her bullshit, priceless…
kristina, if the media, and the corporate pigs who pay their freight, want war, there will be war. all the good candidates don’t have a chance, without their support. sick.
Kristina40, I didn’t see the debate but I can just hear Hillary’s evil laugh. God help us if she’s the next president. Then again, God help us anyway. We’re in such deep shit now, I doubt that even a million front end loaders could shovel us out of it.
Does anyone have a link to the debate, if there is one on the intarweb? I would like to see it.
There are only three presidential candidates that the American people can vote for and that WILL bring the troops home; Kucinich, Paul and Gravel. If you vote for anyone else and you want the war ended you just wasted your vote.
Why is it that the writer and the majority of those posting on this forum still believe that we have a Representative government? There is no difference between the (vast majority of) Democrats and the Republicans and it does not matter which party is in power neither of them will disobey their orders and bring the troops home. Iraq is our OIL STATE. America has to protect its Capitilist economy and running out of oil (or even low on it) will destroy that economic model. You could have 78% of the House and Senate under Democratic control and we still would never leave Iraq (at least not until all the oil is gone). Just listen to Hillary, Obama and Edwards and their answers to pulling the troops out; they know they can’t do that and they wouldn’t even try because they are all on board this American policy of stealing other nations resources and wealth.
Watch the movies Zeitgeist, America: Freedom to Fascism and A Crude Awakening if you want to get an idea of what the top circle of leaders in this country are thinking.
.
chriss cillizza, washington post. gravel was a big loser last night, because people don’t like angry candidates.????? hillary was the big winner. there you have it.
Kristina, thanks for the referrence. Looks like Hillary is heading us into another war in Iran. No doubt the Jewish lobby is handling her campaign to insure more of the same.
here’s a snippet of the debate where Gravel lets her have it and she goes into her maniacal laughing fit…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3gQfz8GC0o
let’s play with congresses’ ‘base’ numbers. whether you are republican or democrat, go to your local registration office and register as an ‘independent’. that will now ’skew’ their numbers. then we threaten to vote all present members of congress ‘out’. in this day and age, there really isn’t much difference between the candidates for each seat. let the voters demonstrate ‘term limits’ to congress! if they don’t want to do the ‘peoples’ business’, then go find other employment! maybe this way we can stop spending too much time crying over the poor job of representation that congress is providing and spend some energy finding a viable third party, full of candidates wanting to represent ‘the people’. a sort of peaceful revolution. god only knows that we need some sort of revolution to take back our government and country! peace to all!
i’m done with the democrats, pure and simple. except for a few good ones, there’s not any difference between them or the repubs.
godlessrant, There hasn’t been since the early 20th century.
Who voted against the war from the start?
Who has had the plan HR 1234 to get us out of Iraq for YEARS?
Who introduced Articles of Impeachment against Cheney last April …HR 333?
Who if elected would have us out of Iraq in 3 months vs not even after 4 years for the rest of the candidates, save Gravel?
Send the man some money, he doesn’t take any from corporations etc.
We need him.
The rest of the Dems know we want out of Iraq but they do nothing…because..what else can it be?…..they want us there for their own interests.
Kucinich 2008, 2012.
“As Arthur Silber has noted, Hillary Clinton is prominent among those “former supporters of the war [who] blame the Iraqis for the Americans’ failure.” As Arthur puts it:
Consider the unforgivable inhumanity of Hillary Clinton proclaiming:
‘Our troops did the job they were asked to do. They got rid of Saddam Hussein. They conducted the search for weapons of mass destruction. They gave the Iraqi people a chance for elections and to have a government. It is the Iraqis who have failed to take advantage of that opportunity.’ [My comment: What a Bitch!!!]
Inhumanity indeed. This astonishing statement bespeaks a depraved and dangerous mind, addled by long exposure to imperial power and privilege. Read the stories that Rosen tells of ordinary people being chewed to pieces by the engine that Clinton helped set in motion, then see if you too, like the honorable senator from New York, believe they are just ungrateful wretches “who have failed to take advantage” of the wonderful opportunity Bush and Clinton have given them.”
From: http://www.chris-floyd.com/
If you wanted to vote for Ron Paul in New York or New Hampshire, you only have until 10/12/2007 to register as a Republican to vote for him.
http://www.primarilypaul.com/ron-paul-in-the-primaries
I believe the biggest threat to Americans right now, is not terrorists, but the Patriot Act.
Please listen to Judge Andrew Napolitano - “Nation of Sheep” on the David Allen Show.
http://www.thedavidallenshow.com/website/podcasts/Entries/2007/9/20_Judge_Andrew_Napolitano_-_%22Nation_of_Sheep%22_and_Ron_Paul_for_President.html