40 Years On, a New Call to Resist?
Forty years ago, a handful of smart Americans had an idea how to end a war. They published a call for moral, political and financial support for those refusing to serve. Initially signed by Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Grace Paley, Dr. Benjamin Spock, Marcus Raskin, and the Reverend William Sloane Coffin among others, eventually, 20,000 signed on and the indispensable RESIST foundation was formed.
Listening as it was read aloud at a 40th anniversary party this weekend, “Resist: A Call to Resist Illegitimate Authority” seems as relevant as ever. How about a second Call?
The Call:
1. An ever growing number of young American men are finding that the American war in Vietnam so outrages their deepest moral and religious sense that they cannot contribute to it in any way. We share their moral outrage.
2. We further believe that the war is unconstitutional and illegal. Congress has not declared a war as required by the Constitution. Moreover, under the Constitution, treaties signed by the President and ratified by the Senate have the same force as the Constitution itself. The Charter of the United Nations is such a treaty. The Charter specifically obligates the United States to refrain from force or the threat of force in international relations. It requires member states to exhaust every peaceful means of settling disputes and to submit disputes which cannot be settled peacefully to the Security Council. The United States has systematically violated all of these Charter provisions for thirteen years.
3. Moreover, this war violates international agreements, treaties and principles of law which the United States Government has solemnly endorsed. The combat role of the United States troops in Vietnam violates the Geneva Accords of 1954 which our government pledged to support but has since subverted. The destruction of rice, crops and livestock; the burning and bulldozing of entire villages consisting exclusively of civilian structures; the interning of civilian non-combatants in concentration camps; the summary executions of civilians in captured villages who could not produce satisfactory evidence of their loyalties or did not wish to be removed to concentration camps; the slaughter of peasants who dared to stand up in their fields and shake their fists at American helicopters; - these are all actions of the kind which the United States and the other victorious powers of World War II declared to be crimes against humanity for which individuals were to be held personally responsible even when acting under the orders of their governments and for which Germans were sentenced at Nuremberg to long prison terms and death The prohibition of such acts as war crimes was incorporated in treaty law by the Geneva Conventions of 1949, ratified by the United States. These are commitments to other countries and to Mankind, and they would claim our allegiance even if Congress should declare war.
4. We also believe it is an unconstitutional denial of religious liberty and equal protection of the laws to withhold draft exemption from men whose religious or profound philosophical beliefs are opposed to what in the Western religious tradition have be en long known as unjust wars.
5. Therefore, we believe on all these grounds that every free man has a legal right and a moral duty to exert every effort to end this war, to avoid collusion with it, and to encourage others to do the same. Young men in the armed forces or threatened wit h the draft face the most excruciating choices. For them various forms of resistance risk separation from their families and their country, destruction of their careers, loss of their freedom and loss of their lives. Each must choose the course of resistance dictated by his conscience and circumstances. Among those already in the armed forces some are refusing to obey specific illegal and immoral orders, some are attempting to educate their fellow servicemen on the murderous and barbarous nature of the wa r some are absenting themselves without official leave. Among those not in the armed forces some are applying for status as conscientious objectors to American aggression in Vietnam, some are refusing to be inducted. Among both groups some are resisting o penly and paying a heavy penalty, some are organizing more resistance within the United States and some have sought sanctuary in other countries.
6. We believe that each of these forms of resistance against illegitimate authority is courageous and justified. Many of us believe that open resistance to the war and the draft is the course of action most likely to strengthen the moral resolve with whic h all of us can oppose the war and most likely to bring an end to the war.
7. We will continue to lend our support to those who undertake resistance to this war. We will raise funds to organize draft resistance unions, to supply legal defense and bail, to support families and otherwise aid resistance to the war in whatever ways may seem appropriate.
8. We firmly believe that our statement is the sort of speech that under the First Amendment must be free, and that the actions we will undertake are as legal as is the war resistance of the young men themselves. But we recognize that the courts may find otherwise, and that if so we might all be liable to prosecution and severe punishment. In any case, we feel that we cannot shrink from fulfilling our responsibilities to the youth whom many of us teach, to the country whose freedom we cherish, and to the ancient traditions of religion and philosophy which we strive to preserve in this generation.
9. We call upon all men of good will to join us in this confrontation with immoral authority. Especially we call upon the universities to fulfill their mission of enlightenment and religious organizations to honor their heritage of brotherhood. Now is the time to resist.
Laura Flanders is the host of RadioNation and the author of Blue Grit: True Democrats Take Back Politics from the Politicians.
Copyright © 2007 The Nation
TRUE RESISTANCE BEGNS WITH A PLAN TO GET OUT OF IRAQ
The plan I am sending you has been approved by many prominent thinkers and
activists in the field. Which includes: Benjamin Ferencz, Chief Prosecutor
at the Nuremburg Trials, Ken Livingstone-Mayor of London,
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit, Tom Hayden, Richard Falk, Matthew Rothschild, Anthony Arnove, Danny Schecter, Tony Benn- Former Member of the British parliament ,Reggie Rivers,Frida Berrigan,
Robert Jensen, Andrew Bard Schmookler, Burhan Al-Chalabi and others.
I formulated this plan in September 2004, based on a comprehensive
study of the issues. For my plan to be successful it must be implemented
with all seven points beginning to happen within a very short period of
time.
I have run up against a wall of doubt about my plan due to it’s
rational nature ,and due to it’s adherence to placing the blame on the
invaders, and then trying to formulate a process of extrication which would
put all entities in this conflict face to face, to begin to finally solve
the dilemmas that exist.
If you read my plan you will see that it is guided by a reasonable
and practical compromise that could end this war and alleviate the
internecine civil violence that is confronting Iraq at this juncture in it’s
history.
I am making a plea for my plan to be put into action on a wide-scale.
I need you to circulate it and use all the persuasion you have to bring it
to the attention of those in power.
Just reading my plan and sending off an e-mail to me that you received
it will not be enough.
This war must end-we who oppose it can do this by using my plan.
We must fight the power and end the killing.
If you would like to view some comments and criticism about my plan
I direct you to my blog: sevenpointman
Thank you my dear friend,
Howard Roberts
A Seven-point plan for an Exit Strategy in Iraq
1) A timetable for the complete withdrawal of American and British forces
must be announced.
I envision the following procedure, but suitable fine-tuning can be
applied by all the people involved.
A) A ceasefire should be offered by the Occupying side to
representatives of the Sunni insurgency and the Shiite and Kurdish communities. These
representatives would be guaranteed safe passage, to any meetings. The
individual insurgency groups and communities would designate who would attend.
At this meeting a written document declaring a one-month ceasefire,
witnessed by a United Nations authority, will be fashioned and eventually
signed. This document will be released in full, to all Iraqi newspapers, the
foreign press, and the Internet.
( The inclusion of Kurdish communities in this sub-section was added in early September 2006-
as an attempt to define the goals of parity and fairness and to avoid any sectarian splitting
of Iraq.)
B) US and British command will make public its withdrawal, within
sixth-months of 80 % of their troops.
C) Every month, a team of United Nations observers will verify the
effectiveness of the ceasefire.
All incidences on both sides will be reported.
D) Combined representative armed forces of both the Occupying
nations and the insurgency organizations and major community factions. that agreed to the cease fire will
protect the Iraqi people from actions by terrorist cells.
E) Combined representative armed forces from both the Occupying
nations and the insurgency organizations/community factions will begin creating a new military
and police force. Those who served, without extenuating circumstances, in
the previous Iraqi military or police, will be given the first option to
serve.
F) After the second month of the ceasefire, and thereafter, in
increments of 10-20% ,a total of 80% will be withdrawn, to enclaves in Qatar
and Bahrain. The governments of these countries will work out a temporary
land-lease housing arrangement for these troops. During the time the troops
will be in these countries they will not stand down, and can be re-activated
in the theater, if the chain of the command still in Iraq, the newly
formed Iraqi military, the leaders of the insurgency/community factions, and two international
ombudsman (one from the Arab League, one from the United Nations), as a
majority, deem it necessary.
G) One-half of those troops in enclaves will leave three-months after they
arrive, for the United States or other locations, not including Iraq.
H) The other half of the troops in enclaves will leave after
six-months.
I) The remaining 20 % of the Occupying troops will, during this six
month interval, be used as peace-keepers, and will work with all the
designated organizations, to aid in reconstruction and nation-building.
J) After four months they will be moved to enclaves in the above
mentioned countries.
They will remain, still active, for two month, until their return to
the States, Britain and the other involved nations.
2) At the beginning of this period the United States will file a letter with
the Secretary General of the Security Council of the United Nations, making
null and void all written and proscribed orders by the CPA, under R. Paul
Bremer. This will be announced and duly noted.
3) At the beginning of this period all contracts signed by foreign countries
will be considered in abeyance until a system of fair bidding, by both
Iraqi and foreign countries, will be implemented ,by an interim Productivity
and Investment Board, chosen from pertinent sectors of the Iraqi economy.
Local representatives of the 18 provinces of Iraq will put this board
together, in local elections.
4) At the beginning of this period, the United Nations will declare that
Iraq is a sovereign state again, and will be forming a Union of 18
autonomous regions. Each region will, with the help of international
experts, and local bureaucrats, do a census as a first step toward the
creation of a municipal government for all 18 provinces. After the census, a
voting roll will be completed. Any group that gets a list of 15% of the
names on this census will be able to nominate a slate of representatives.
When all the parties have chosen their slates, a period of one-month will be
allowed for campaigning.
Then in a popular election the group with the most votes will represent that
province.
When the voters choose a slate, they will also be asked to choose five
individual members of any of the slates.
The individuals who have the five highest vote counts will represent a
National government.
This whole process, in every province, will be watched by international
observers as well as the local bureaucrats.
During this process of local elections, a central governing board, made up
of United Nations, election governing experts, insurgency organizations, US
and British peacekeepers, and Arab league representatives, will assume the
temporary duties of administering Baghdad, and the central duties of
governing.
When the ninety representatives are elected they will assume the legislative
duties of Iraq for two years.
Within three months the parties that have at least 15% of the
representatives will nominate candidates for President and Prime Minister.
A national wide election for these offices will be held within three months
from their nomination.
The President and the Vice President and the Prime Minister will choose
their cabinet, after the election.
5) All debts accrued by Iraq will be rescheduled to begin payment, on the
principal after one year, and on the interest after two years. If Iraq is
able to handle another loan during this period she should be given a grace
period of two years, from the taking of the loan, to comply with any
structural adjustments.
6) The United States and the United Kingdom shall pay Iraq reparations for
its invasion in the total of 120 billion dollars over a period of twenty
years for damages to its infrastructure. This money can be defrayed as
investment, if the return does not exceed 6.5 %.
7) During the interim period all those accused of crimes against the Iraqi people,
or against international law will be given access to a fair trial.
The extent of the implications of the international nature of the crime, and the
security standards which exist in Iraq will dictate the place of the trial, and it’s subsequent procedures.
All defendants will have the right to present any evidence they want, and to
choose freely their own lawyers.
If they are found guilty they will be given all necessary appeals provided for by the jurisdiction
of their trials, and will be sentenced in Iraq, after all these appeals are exhausted.
If they are found not guilty they will be released and given protection under international law,
with the strict adherence to these laws by the judicial organs of a sovereign Iraq.
There was nothing wrong with a resistance movement 40 years ago against a war many people were DRAFTED to serve in. A resistance movement against the current wars that many have volunteered to serve in, and that has involved no draftees, is somewhat different.
All that has been needed to curb our military excess is tax increases to pay for it in real time. Anyone notice yet that Republicans don’t go for that? Anyone notice yet that third parties don’t get elected?
Support your Democrats, all of them. It is the best chance any voter has to help end the war, and even with Democrats, the wind-down will be slower than you like.
With Democrats it will be more of the same… no change.
Daniel David’s braindead commercial for the pro-war Democratic Party (3:20 pm) brought to you by the Democratic National Committee.
Democrats are murderers. I don’t vote for murderers anymore.
Dear RichM and 5280,
While I am no fan of the DNC and their love of Republican lights I on the other hand think a lot of people need a reality check.
There WILL NOT be a third party candidate in the oval office in our life-time. Kucinich and Gravel will not win the Democratic nomination or even get enough votes to get matching funds. The Democratic nominee will be Obama or Clinton. I say this with pain as I will vote for kucinich in the primaries but I will vote for who ever the Democrats run in the Presidential election. One of the major reasons the U.S. is so f**ked-up is because of the Supreme Court. I realize that the Democrats were complicit in allowing the Supreme Court to be loaded with right-wing crazies but the next President may have the chance to start reversing that composition. If he or she doesn’t we are no worse off that we are now but if they do then there might be some hope.
“A resistance movement against the current wars that many have volunteered to serve in, and that has involved no draftees, is somewhat different.”
That is, if we ignore the backdoor draft of the stop-loss sleight-of-hand, or the de facto draft of those living in near-Depression conditions throughout the US.
With “volunteers” now being given $20K bonuses for shipping out quickly with little training — one volunteer told Jeff Farias, the afternoon host on NovaM in Phoenix, that he’d signed for a $30K bonus, not 20 — and with felons, gang members, and non-high school grads getting in on the action, ‘volunteer’ is a meaningless term.
So far in 9 months the Democrats have managed to uh, wait a sec, they’ve, uh,
oh, now I’ve thought of their achievements. It took me a minute.
They’ve rebuked a fellow Democrat.
They’ve brought us closer to another undeclared war that just might end civilization.
They’ve antagonized a fellow NATO member and long-time ally.
They’ve done nothing to stop the hemorrhaging of the runaway national debt.
Elect more Democrats and we’ll get even more! (of nothing)
Are you Opposed to U. S. occupation of Iraq? The Democrats’ Party House Officials aren’t-see this proof from truthout.org
According to Democratic candidates who ran for House of Representative seats in 2006, Rahm Emanuel, then head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, took sides during the Democratic primary elections, favoring conservative candidates, including former Republicans, and sidelining candidates who were running in favor of withdrawal from Iraq. . .
According to his critics, Emanuel played kingmaker by financially supporting his favored candidates during primary contests with other Democrats. His critics say that this interference was in direct contradiction of a DCCC policy to “remain neutral” in party primaries. . .
Many of the candidates that Emanuel helped elect have joined with a group of self-styled conservative Blue Dog Democrats and have cast key votes with Republicans and stymied Democratic efforts to end the occupation of Iraq and the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program.
Thirteen of the Democratic members of the House elected in 2006 joined The Blue Dog Coalition; a group that, according to its spokesperson, has no official stance on withdrawal from Iraq or the president’s warrantless wiretapping program. However, 30 out of 47 of the Blue Dog members broke with the majority of Democrats and cast votes in favor of the recent Protect America Act, a bill that greatly expanded the power of the executive branch to spy on Americans. The caucus also broke with the majority of Democrats when 40 of the Blue Dog members voted to continue funding the occupation of Iraq without a timetable for withdrawal.
In an interview shortly after his election, freshman Blue Dog member Tim Mahoney told the Charlotte Sun, a local paper from his district, that he attended a meeting with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and told her “The president should be free to maintain troops in Iraq, if the purpose is to thwart terrorism.”
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/090607J.shtml
Thaddeus, it was also Emanuel who extorted the apology from Pete Stark, threatening that he and the Blue Dogs would vote for censure unless he issued the apology.
I often learn as much from the posters as from the actual articles and I appreciate the input from so many persons. The one thing I do not understand or appreciate is the fact that several posters wait until there are several comments and then rather than comment on the article, they don’t appear to have a comment other than ripping up the other posters. It is bad taste, it is a rude message to the author,it is embarrassing and it doesn’t accomplish anything excepted wasted space. It is deliberate or is it just bordom on the part of the nothing-to-say posters? Just curious. Common Dreams is one of my lifelines to real news and access to what others know and are thinking. It is a rare treasure these days. A little respect please.
I’m sure Ralph can solve this problem too! (not the posters, the war)
Resistance is the natural outcome of having real alternative economic system that is modern in every sense, engendered on democratic principles. From the local on out to the international we can fashion an equitable responsive free market system of economics. Resistance is what healthy people do against oppression.
A few posters above have identified the differences between the Vietnam conflict (I won’t call it a WAR because it was never declared) and our current situation in Iraq. There’s NO DRAFT now, so most of our youth aren’t really affected.
The rest of us aren’t really affected, either, because it’s all being charged on the equivalent of an American Express card and no one has sent us a bill…yet. Plus, less than 4,000 American lives have been lost so far. In Viet Nam, we lost about 58,000. See the differences?
That is a powerfull statement! If we could all internalize this message and speak truth to it in everything we do I think could figure this out. Obviously, we did not learn or pass-on all the lessons from Viet Nam. War stays with some people longer than others, it is time to let the light back in. As Arlo Guthrie use to say, “If you want to end war you have to sing loud”.
If we truly want to end this war in Iraq and the upcoming one in Iran - our only choice is to put an end to our illegitimate government in Washington.
I’m convinced that Hillary has already bought and paid for the 2008 election with her complicity in the current war and her warmongering statements regarding Iran.
So take heart Democrats you’ve won! Unfortunately, you’ve also lost. You’ve lost your minds if you believe a democrat in the White House will make a real difference in our imperial foreign policy.
The problem goes much deeper than the two sides of the same coin that controls U.S. corporate-imperial fascism. I believe there are those in congress with good hearts and good ideas. Dennis Kucinich would be my choice but we should all realize by now that good hearts and good ideas are no match for $$$$$. We no longer have elections we have auctions and if you don’t have the cash you’re not invited to bid.
People need to look inside themselves and take a stand. If you work in the defense industry, if you are a journalist with a conscience, if you’re a farmer who has been forced into the industrial food chain by debt, if you are a banker or investor who supports corporations that violate your personal ethics or morals, if you’re a soldier who’s fed up with killing to support multi-national corporate interests and greed, no matter what station you may have in this complex fabric of our society you must recognize that this government can no longer be changed from within. We’ve run out of time.
We must all come together to resist. We must raise our voices. We must STOP making decisions out of fear of losing our jobs or positions. We must stop acting as individuals looking out for ourselves and start acting with the good of our fellow beings in mind.
The answers are difficult to imagine but I believe it starts from within each one of us. We need the kind of solidarity not seen since the early labor movement. We must dethrone the “personhood” status of corporations. We must look at our own occupations and refuse to do the work that perpetuates violence, damages the environment, defies human rights, takes advantage of others, and in general diminishes our humanity.
The movement must start from the ground up and begin to throw wrenches into the cogs of our runaway government until we either bring it around or bring it down.
I know not being supportive of our military may be an unpopular stand, but I don’t need our armed services to defend my freedom. What freedom hasn’t already been lost thanks to their complicity I’ll take the responsibility to defend myself. I can only hope for mass mutiny at this point. I hope they will all come to the conclusion that Schmedly Butler once did. War is a racket and our goverment is just another criminal enterprise that sacrifices the lives of those either foolish enough, misinformed enough or unlucky enough to be caught up in it to enrich those who have set themselves up to profit from it.
May we all have the courage, fortitude and good sense to take the actions necessary to resist and build a better future for all the world’s children.
buminfl October 27th, 2007 11:19 pm
“A few posters above have identified the differences between the Vietnam conflict (I won’t call it a WAR because it was never declared) and our current situation in Iraq. There’s NO DRAFT now, so most of our youth aren’t really affected.
The rest of us aren’t really affected, either, because it’s all being charged on the equivalent of an American Express card and no one has sent us a bill…yet. Plus, less than 4,000 American lives have been lost so far. In Viet Nam, we lost about 58,000. See the differences?”
Actually some of the differences aren’t as really different as they seem at first glance. First, the general public was not asked to sacrifice financially in the Viet Nam conflict just as they are not now. Second, the 58,000 fatality figure for Viet Nam was spread over a longer period of time than the current 4,000 figure for the Iraqi war. Third, improvements in battlefield medicine and quicker evacuation to treatment have saved the lives of many that would have died in either Korea or Viet Nam. The ratio of wounded to dead is much higher.
Lobo Gris
Apparently the lessons of Vietnam were completely lost on Georgie boy and his crowd of idiots who still think we could have won that war if only we allowed the boots on the ground to do their job.
Perhaps if Bush did not use his daddy’s influence to avoid going to Vietnam he might have had a different take on that disastrous adventure.
But in essence these psychopathic maniacs are not phased by poll numbers or peace demonstrations, these are just minor distractions to their overall goal of amassing power, dismantling the government agencies that help people and privatize everything including the armed forces.
Eight more years of republican control and I think they will achieve their goal of perpetual war and full employment for the Munitions Industry.
At the risk of alienating some of the posters on this website who I generally admire I must come to the defense of “Daniel David” and his pro Democratic Party stance.
Just a slight reminder to his detractors, it was not the Democratic Party that launched a no-win deceitful war against Iraq it was the republicans.
Granted the democrats need to be taken to task for not waging a more aggressive campaign to stop the bloodthirsty republicans, but their lack of success in ending this war must not be confused with who actually started this catastrophe.
Once again many so-called liberal posters seem to be making a strong effort to get a republican re-elected by saying they will vote for a non-electable third party candidate if Kucinich does not get the nomination.
And once again I must remind my friends that it was the republicans that committed a heinous crime against humanity not the democrats.
If anything the democrats are guilty of not being able to stop Bush The Ripper from killing again and again.
The Democratic Party haters are confusing the situation, they are blaming the police who have not been unable to capture or stop Bush The Ripper with the crimes of Killer himself.
Remember the dems have taken vote after vote to re-deploy the troops but Mitch McConnell and his gang of accomplices keeps pulling the filibuster out of his hat.
I know you dem haters posses at least a modicum of intelligence otherwise you would not be reading Common Dreams.
So why is that you are unable to figure out that voting for a liberal third party candidate who cannot win, will help put another republican in the white house?
As Spock might say it is not logical.
Fine vote with your heart and vote for the candidate who most agrees with your philosophy but in doing so please vote with your brain and do not abandon reason.
If you just want to throw your vote away and you do not care about the end result fine vote for the Dalai Lama if it makes you happy.
But if you care about the direction of this country for the next 8 years you should be looking at which one of the two people who will actually get elected is closest to my philosophy and which one will continue war as a solution, policy?
Please stop blaming the cops who cannot stop the killing when you should be concentrating on the killers.
If you guys want Rudy and his advisor (bomb the hell outer them) Poderetz to take office in 2009 you just have to keep lying about the dems record and promote the egotistical Nader. Who I used to greatly admire.
Lobo Gris makes some good points and the thought occurred to me that a good way to counter the willing enlistments of volunteers would be to attack the two implicit assumptions they all make when signing up:
1. They will not die or be seriously injured before they are discharged.
2. They will have a pile of money for college, new car, fishin’ and huntin’ gear, etc.
There needs to be a video showing what it is like to die unexpectedly, or be permanently disabled by military action. It should show the anger and hurt of relatives and lovers as they contemplate the fact their loved ones died or had their lives permanently ruined for lies and not for defending the U.S., freedom, or any such thing.
Another section should focus on interviews with the injured and maimed (both physically and psychologically) and the totally inadaquate care given them by either the military (Walter Reed Hospital etc) or the VA once they return. Interviews with family and lovers revealing how changed and permanently ruined their loved ones were made by the
“military experience” should also be featured.
Finally, a section on the lies and omissions of recruiters
would reveal the misleading ommissions and distortions of the military when trying to seduce young people into thier service (stop-loss orders, inadaquate protective equipment, etc).
Those (such as the fine group in the Washington DC general area) resisting recruitment efforts of the military at schools could and should use such videos as a long term strategy for cutting off the potential for military action at its source–the recruitment of otherwise naieve or hopeless, or desperate youth who feel they have “nothing to lose” by signing up.
Okay, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Sean Penn, MIchael Moore, Susan Sarandon, Etan Thomas, Carlos Delgado, Dixie Chicks–is anybody on board for this updated approach to the mercinary military imperialism of the U.S. in 2007?
There is little comparrison of this occupation in Iraq and the war in Vietnam. If any think Vietnam wasn’t a war, they weren’t over there. The major comparrison is, we have no business being there in the first place.
SEQUOIABISON (10:33 am) - Let’s examine the arguments of another Tory trying to convince people to remain loyal to the Democratic Party.
He writes, “Once again many so-called liberal posters seem to be making a strong effort to get a republican re-elected by saying they will vote for a non-electable third party candidate ….”
- This is typical Dem Party fear mongering which misses the larger truth, which is that Republicans are Republicans, while Democrats are merely Republican collaborators in sheep’s clothing. Both parties are dominated by corporatists, imperialists, & militarists. The only difference is that Democrats talk out of both sides of their mouth, while Republicans talk mainly out of only one side. They agree on all major aspects of policy. Hillary is as close to AIPAC as Giuliani, and AIPAC wants to attack Iran.
“The Democratic Party haters are confusing the situation, they are blaming the police who have not been unable to capture or stop Bush ….”
- It’s not that the Dems have been “unable” to stop Bush. It’s that they haven’t even tried, and moreover, are actively ON HIS SIDE. That’s why they protect him from impeachment. That’s why they condemn their own, like Pete Stark and MoveOn, while refusing to condemn Bush. (Sen. Russ Feingold tried last year merely to CENSURE Bush, not even to impeach him — and he couldn’t get more than 2 or 3 other Democrats to support his meek little initiative.)
- Incidently, about the term “Democratic Party haters” — that’s exactly right. Anyone who cares about this country should be a “hater” of this disgusting two-faced party of traitors, & should be proud to “hate” them. If you’ve ever talked with a Bush supporter, they use the same argument that you do — they call Bush’s opponents “haters.”
If you guys want Rudy and his advisor (bomb the hell outer them) Poderetz to take office in 2009 you just have to keep lying about the dems record and promote the egotistical Nader…”
- “Lying about the Dems’ record?” I’m at least as familiar with the Dem’s pathetic record as you are. If you’d like to debate it here openly, I dare you to try. I guarantee that I’ll make you look very, very foolish. There is nothing you can say to defend them, because the facts are not on your side. On every issue, from complicity in the war to complicity in the FISA bill, the Democrats have been the allies of Bush, and traitors to the Constitution. They haven’t stood up to him on a single major issue.
- Incidentally, only fools and ignoramuses (which includes all Dem Party loyalists) try to play on hostility towards Nader. Nader didn’t make the Democrats into the traitorous worms that they are; he merely (but vainly) hoped he could pressure them to the left, by providing them with a challenge on matters of substance. As far as he goes, Nader is entirely admirable.
I think there is a way to end this war. Remember, Congress isn’t the only ones with the power of funding. It’s simple:
We all call our Congress people, regardless of their party, and tell them simply that as of this moment, they get no more funds from us for their campaigns until they stop the war and bring the troops home.
Then find an alternative candidate, say a libertarian or progressive, and start promoting them. Then in the next real election, we vote out all Dems and Repubs who refused to end the war.
Yea, we may vote in a candidate that may be less than stellar, but it makes everyone realize that the power of money and votes still remain with us,
we the people.
Leckey, What percentage of the monies sent to the lice in Washington comes from indivduals; and, how much from the lobbyists and corporate donors?
They dance for the ones that pay the most for their music.
Leckey,
It is nice of you to offer a “solution,” however, Spike is absolutely right. Corporations have way more influence over politicans than we do, and as a result who always ends up getting neglected (I think you can figure that one out)? There are two ways to really make change. 1.) stop buying merchandise from corporations. Stop shopping at WalMart, Target, Macy’s, etc. If you must have a car, try to carpool with people and figure out the quickest route so that you do not have to purchase too much gas. Grow your own food. In many cities there are community gardens with plots of land that are very affordable. 2.) Tell all of your friends not to vote for incumbents in Washington D.C. Tell them to tell their friends. One of the things that badly is missing in this country is intellectual debate (and politics is a great subject). People cannot be afraid of asking the tough questions i.e. is it more patriotic to support this illegal occupation with endless funding at taxpayers’ expense and leave the troops in the middle of civil war, or bring them home, admit defeat (this will never happen), and let Iraq heal on its own (I know this is painful). Tell your friends and family members not to purchase newspapers or watch news television programs (if you need to, get rid of your television set - I have lived without a television set for 7 years and I have gotten more accomplished in my life than at any other time). The only way we will begin to have any impact on politics is to cripple the corporations.
extreme circumstances merit extreme actions. consider voting for an ‘outsider’ even tho’ you may in effect be voting for a republican. both sides are a mess, tho’ my repr’ - mike thompson of ca - is doing pretty good on iraq.
Just got home from a 6,000 mile fishing trip, we caught a lot of fish, sting rays, crabs and starfish, but the big signs along the beaches tell us to not eat more than one flounder or fluke a year.
Now, almost every state on the east coast requires a fishing license to fish in the ocean or tidal waters and charge up to $28 a night to park in the state parks. Thank you Bush and associates for insuring the cost of everything else besides gasoline has gone way up.
We truly had a great time and didn’t read newspapers or watch TV once. Just like all of the swell people we met, there are no problems, not one ever heard of Common Dreams or FEMA prisons, or use of DU, or Kicinich etc. ____We scared a lot of people.
Hey Kem Patrick,
It is good to see you back! I am glad to hear you had a great time and educated some people.
Hi CLAUUDIUS, thank you for the welcome home, it’s always good to be home, but I do miss the fishing. Now that I’ve read most of the Common Dreams articles, it’s time to fire up my paranoia.
Wonder how long it will take for Bush to declare a National Emergency and enact his Presidential Directives? With the arson fires in California and now in Hawaii, it might do the trick. No use having all of those FEMA prisons with no inmates to feed and supply ice to. ___ Actually, that is not at all funny.
Calm down “R. Milhouse” I am just as frustrated with the process as you are.
Although “me thinks the gentleman doth protest too much” you sound remarkably similar to a republican cheerleader, your drama and your incomprehensible reasoning leads me to conjecture about your political allegiance.
I would love to debate the record of the democrats verses the republicans but I suspect it would be an exercise in futility comparing the voting records of Pelosi and Murtha with those of Hastert and Delay or Russ Feingolds record with that of Trent Lott.
But debating with someone who repeatedly makes wild inaccurate statements about the democrats the same way Nader did so irresponsibly throughout his campaign is like debating with Norman Poderetz, I am never going to to change his mind about anything. So why waste the time and energy trying.
Vote for who ever you please, obviously we liberal democrats cannot win every heart and mind.
Kucinich in the primaries and any democrat in the general.
Enough with the illogical refusal to accept the poll numbers.
If every major poll in the country says that Nader will get just 1 or 2 percent of the vote why are you not acting upon that info.
But in the matter of war and peace you are withholding your vote from the least likely candidate that would go to war, thereby indirectly supporting the candidate who will most likely go to war.
Kem Patrick,
Maybe if FEMA imprisons us, they will hold another mock news conference. Lol!
SequoiaBison:
I have never heard Nader make ANY statements about the Democratic [sic] Party which were inaccurate.
Please specifically list these inaccuracies (with references) or keep your uninformed demagoguery to yourself.
locust: “So far in 9 months the Democrats have managed to uh, wait a sec, they’ve, uh,
oh, now I’ve thought of their achievements. It took me a minute.
They’ve rebuked a fellow Democrat.
They’ve brought us closer to another undeclared war that just might end civilization.
They’ve antagonized a fellow NATO member and long-time ally.
They’ve done nothing to stop the hemorrhaging of the runaway national debt.
Elect more Democrats and we’ll get even more! (of nothing)”
You forgot to mention that they have stonewalled an impeachment that might have gained traction. I voted Democrat, straight ticket, last fall to (a) clean house, and (b) end the war. The first thing I heard after the election was Ms. Pelosi’s quote “Impeachment is off the table.”
“Progressive Democrat” has become an oxymoron. I will only vote Third Party from now on–unless Ron Paul somehow manages to capture the GOP nomination.