University Crowd Cheers Sheehan

The fruit of one's karma or labors, as it were, is the impetus to change to another point of view (consciousness).

No one can speak for another's experience, although I do grant you the "reality" record really is rapidly approaching a disastrous fall from grace.

Although we do agree that "Thought precedes action", I also believe that BE'ingness precedes both, at least it is possible to create an unprecedented FUTURE context out of nothing ( and then move in to the yet finished castle in the sky ). One of my heros in Luke_walk_on_the_sky (notice they did have a sky city, too ).

I'm not yet sure how much room my sky castle is going to have in it, but I can reserve a room for you, if you're ever in the neighborhood.

REAL POWER is the stuff used to make galaxies, and little cherub babies, too

Namaste: Thought precedes action. The heart (the center of emotions) can go in either direction-positive or negative, depending on the level of personal development and motive of the individual. Some call it "free will."

We have read each other's comments on CD for quite some time and you probably are tired of me repeating my mantra every so often, but I'll repeat it.
"When the vast majority let a small minority do the thinking for them, the tyrants take over."

Whether it's the Bush/Cheney Republican Crime Family and the Democrats who collaborate with them, or the imperial wizard of psychopathic behavior, Adolph Hitler, responsible for the death of possibly 6,000,000 Germans, who he "supposedly" glorified. (For all of you Jewish readers, let me make myself clear. One execution was one too many!) Plus the Poles, Russians, oh, even his own people who opposed nazi doctrine and everyone else the self-hating Reichsfuher destroyed. All for what?

Mystics say REAL POWER is power over yourself, and not in controlling others by mental manipulation or from the barrel of a gun. When a nation relinquishes the innate action of discernment, and prefers others to decide for them, trouble manifests. I say no more, Namaste. I yield the floor to you or others. Thanks again.

Peaceman -- Thank you for your thoughtful answers.

In a way the first question was unanswerable, as ineffable is literally w/o form or description, as it is the un-manifest destiny, that the other emerges from.
Please do consider discounting the apparent heart
(really the _M I N D_ )

from the innate HEART, for that is confusing the expression of _T H I N K ' i n g from that of our profoundness and underlying _B E I N G_

I appreciate your taking of Americana's pulse, but again caution you that what you probed was perhaps merely the thoughts - and not the heart - as that s where we ALL hold dearly our closest and fondest loves and hopes.

I believe that American's DO NOT discriminate from their HEARTs, but from their superficial thinking and programed propaganda, as we are far better than that (as per the 3rd question).

Please do consider that the sickest "heartless" psychopaths are TOTALLY needing to be isolated from society, for their THINKING is intrinsically twisted and possibly never recoverable -- but regardless, deep deep down there still is humanness (suppressed by heavy layers of violent abuse and shame, and patterns of becoming abusers, … ).

( follow hyper link above left ) N a m a s t e __ m e a n s _ that I stand in glowing acknowledgement of that LIGHT of God that lives and emanates within and w/o you - as you do the same for me.

It is far more "personal" than a mere handshake, as the "touch" is to one's (inner) BEING'ness,

as contrasted by to one's body parts (and … THINKING, hey I don't have weapon in this hand [ and I'm not so sinister (meaning left-handed) to hide a weapon ] ).Namaste
… … … … … Mahatma Gandhi … & … ML King … … Inspiration … … … … …
« We must be the change we wish to see in the world »
« There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed »
« We adopt the means of nonviolence because our end is a community at peace with itself » — MLK

Namaste: You pose three questions which are hard for me to answer.

#1) How do we measure the ineffably silent heart of America?

Could it be possible that by being silent,( except for a small minority among the 300,000,000 people in the US), our collective spirit goes along with whatever the trend-setters in government, commerce, entertainment, and religion decides for us, we give them the green light and accept their doctrine and practice it as part of our way of life.

#2) Does Americana torture & terrorize the world, or is it just a few dead-headed psychopaths?

After the brief shock of the Abu Gahrib sexual sadism abuse scandals by our military personnel, and tacitly approved by higher ups in the chain of command (as its being revealed) and Congressional (both Repubs and Dems) apathy toward torture, which is now acceptable and part of the "new American psyche," my answer is yes. It is more than a "few dead-hearted psychopaths." How many American people really care about torture, rape, mutilation, and sexual perversion against folks we classify as enemy combatants? The Congressional outcry by the opposition party (the Democrats) was hardly a whimper. Since then, in my travels, I have talked to maybe a thousand fellow citizens about this practice and most shrug their shoulders or nod their heads. To busy to get involved in human rights violations. Let somebody else worry about it. Extraordinary rendition? That's a new one, huh? Did we learn "ER" from the "superman" when they hoarded hundreds of thousands (some say millions) of enemy combatants into boxcars destined for slave labor camps or execution chambers? Who cares, Americana says. They're just a bunch of ragheads! By not getting involved, we are complicit in nefarious activities by the ruling elite. And most religious leaders are some of the biggest tricksters in the Sunday silence of it all. Some moral guidance, eh?

#3) Is not humankind innately good?

I don't have THE ANSWER to this question, Namaste. There's the old saying about babies being born innocent and as they grow into adulthood, the innate character develops from external influences as well as from subjective perceptions of things and conditions in ones life and affairs. Some have a positive, uplifting, and constructive attitude throughout their life while others have a negative, deleterious and destructive nature within, and are a menace to society. The former is "innately good" but the latter is "innately bad," and why and how two members of the human race have "innate" differences in the path they choose is beyond my expertise. I would have to give you a metaphysical explanation which would be far too long for this post.

Peace and Harmony

Wonder if that's ~BRAMSCHER~ who posted that last post under his name. Maybe it's actually ~RIVERMAN~, he's not a sophist, he's crazy and whoever wrote that sensless bullshit is crazy.

Check Cindy's website and read her positions ~BRAMSCHER~. Have you ever read any of her speeches?

I'm an independent thinker also. I don't need evidence to prove to me anything about another blogger. Personally I would never write to all here on this site and post an insultng remark and imply that someone would allow someone else to use their real name and post comments. ___ Now in your last post, you're implying that Cindy Sheehan is a secular GOD. What a obnoxios, sophistic person you are and you sure don't mind displaying it.

I would never do what you have done and attempt to do to Cindy Sheehan. ___ But that's me. ___ You're you. Rave on PAUL. The problem with sophists is, they don't know they're sophists. Unlike people who are insane and who realize they are.

Kem,

"BTW, those posts by Cindy Sheehan are by Cindy Sheehan. Who are you to cast any doubts and imply she is a deciever and would ever allow someone else to use her real name?"

Who am I? A genuinely independent thinking person who needs evidence. I wonder about things.

1) Like why "general str1ke" is a censor word here on CD, why there's been no explanation from the editors. It's unusual on any online discussion system to virtually never see the site maintainers enter into threads now and again.
2) I wonder what Sheehan's stances are on issues unrelated to war.
3) I wonder why there's a meme that we are to hang our hopes on singular tough-to-beat races like this -- rather than forging a cohesive grassroots movement, galvanizing all sorts of issues, and pushing 100+ progressives into office. We need to start at the easier-to-beat races, and go for sheer numbers, in order to make any real difference.

I recall my undergraduate days as a liberal arts major, and how the University creates these secular "gods" in the various fields -- history, anthropology, psychology, etc. We don't need any gods in the peace movement to fawn over. If the person is genuine, they should certainly run for office. But we need a block of probably least 100+ new legislators to make any real difference, and 25 new senators. Even at these levels, progressives would only have about 25% of Congress.

Cindy, in my mind, you are a true American hero. I wrote Pelosi a few months back strenuously arguing for impeachment, and told her if she didn't put impeachment "back on the table" I'd do whatever I could do to make sure she doesn't return to Congress. I'll be visiting your campaign site to make a donation. Hopefully you'll get many supporters from around the country to help offset Pelosi's blood-stained money.

One thing is for certain, a few less lawyers in Congress will be movement in the right direction. The framers of the Constitution, and certainly Jefferson, had a vision of a government that that really was representative of the people they claimed to represent. I think part of the reason Congress gets such low favorability ratings is due to the large number of lawyers and other assorted bottom-feeders that are contentedly sucking from the military-industrial-complex tit. Until that changes, it will be business as usual. Many more kids will die needlessly in what Chalmers Johnson has called the "Sorrows of Empire."

Good luck in your campaign, and thank you for being an inspiration to me and everyone who is doing what they can do to make this country a better place.

Look voting doesn't matter much but sometimes it can send a message. Let's send some money to Cindy and see what she can do. We have to defeat the liberals. What we really need is a revolution. How can we achieve that?

Cheers, applause, … we want more

( I mean better, … ( I mean good for all, … ( or for all that are good, … ( oh WTF do I want ? … ) ) ) )

G-wiz...all Americans have to do is change thier collective minds. Think and act according to thier professed ideals, how hard is that. Sort of what if somebody gave a war and nobody went. There is everything to win and only a cultural barbarism to lose. Gun powder was invented centurys before anyone thought about using to kill anyone. It was for entertainment. Start with social justice at home, try a living wage and health care for everyone. That is right all sick people get medical care...see that wasn't so hard.

Denny & Peaceman -- ¿ Perhaps the _B E_' i n g n e s s_ of America is the hidden iceberg's _M A S S_, which we all to easily _M I S S_ , while seeing the merely shinny superficial surface of greed & materialism ?

¿ How do we measure the ineffably silent HEART of Americana ?

¿ Does Americana torture & terrorize the world, or a is it just few dead-hearted psychopaths ?

¿ Is not _H U M A N K I ND_ innately _G O O D_ ? Namaste

denny: Hate to say it but you may be right.

the war machine did their job just right as you can see with these posts, that's all Americans will do is post on boards and put bumper stickers on their cars .. Americans are afraid of their own shadow's when it comes to the gov't and the war machine can prove it .. look you don't see too much pro active people other than a few going out and rallying peace, Americans are sheep and they are afraid of their own shadow's if otherwise they wouldn't be so eager to get behind 1 woman like she's mother Teresa.

Everyone has to please the outside world with their things, their cars, electronics, possessions, etc... keep putting up a sprawl mall on every corner usa with your favorite shops...borders,best buy, ross, walmart, home depot, and costco, or do u prefer targets, barnes and noble, marshalls, quizano's with a cute applebee's?? or does that 80 acre land that could have been used for sane housing prices been sold to BJ's, IKEA, or Sam's Club. You pic sheep, you possession hungry losers.. You all need to show everyone how much better you are than everyone else, your arrogance and self centeredness is your demise...

~RED RAIDER~, Cindy Sheehan is not by any means a ONE issue candidate. ___ Check it out.

"Here" was okay Cindy.

The sharks need to swim to stay alive

Namaste

KEM PATRICK: " WORLD NEWS" is a new one. I thought CD stuck with "your comment is awaiting moderation." I'll have to use my famous two words again and see what happens. I've been blogging less but reading comments on some of the articles, I notice a lot of new names, with the reactionary agenda in their posts. We are certainly living in interesting times.

Hi Kem,

That is awful. I think as you and others mentioned before, we ought to have a CD conference or forum or some sort of gathering so we all can meet in person and have fun. It would be nice to meet up with some of the old time bloggers. It is a shame that this stuff is happening. Leave it to the Rovian trolls to screw everything up, like their domestic and foreign policy. It is nice to know that there still are familiar people like you, Namaste, Kathyodat, and others posting. Have a good night and thanks again for your support. I gladly will reciprocate for you and other regular posters anytime.

Best regards,
Claudius

Hi~Claudius~ There are so many Rove influenced types who attempt to disrupt this site it boggles the mind. They often work out of the same office in teams and have several computers, they change their names now and then and come back with a new one. They hack into our computers whenever possible and try to screw it up.

Two days ago I was suddenly kicked off the Common Dreams site just when I hit "submit comment" to post a blog and a screen came on that was from "WORLD NEWS". It stated that I either used the wrong name, or the wrong password and I could not get back onto the Common Dreams site. Every time I tried I'd get the World News screen. I had to re-boot and erase all the cookies.

Finally got back on, wrote a blog, hit submit and the same thing happened. After an hour of fighting it, I got back but it wasn't easy, it was as if C/D had banned me. A similar thing happened to Namaste. We are missing a lot of the old time good bloggers now. It happened to Kathyodat and she had to change her name andpassword by using a different compter which was not connected to her phone line.

How indeed do we define the "noble cause" beyond impeachment and the pointing out of the human frailties of others?

From the town hall meeting I attended today in the 12th District of Michigan, the number one fear Representatives have in confronting Bush/Cheney is not divisiveness or lacking 60 votes, but one of looking like they are "soft on terrorism".

Whether one agrees with the fear or not, when communication and comprehension are concerned, nothing can be learned or acted upon until the fear is removed. Thus, how best to remove this fear? How best to show the Nation that the fear of terrorism is not nearly as great as Bush/Cheney continue to lie it to be?

For the general public I believe the impeachment process will do the deed once the facts are presented to the world on television and internet, but how to remove the fear in current Representatives?

Hey PAUL there were two things you wrote in your post that struck me as appropriate and very revealing. Where you started two paragraphs with saying you don't UNDERSTAND.___ Actually, that is quite obvious.

Most by far of the people who post here DO NOT approve of what Pelosi has and has not done while in Congress this term and Cindy is running against her for that congressional seat. She has a very tough row to hoe and fighting a very rich woman who has a great deal of influence and power, but you constantly berate her for being an anti-war activist and at the same time agree things in DC are a disaster.

I happen to admire Cindy for her courage and willingness to fight city hall. What's your probem? I don't UNDERSTAND.

BTW, those posts by Cindy Sheehan are by Cindy Sheehan. Who are you to cast any doubts and imply she is a deciever and would ever allow someone else to use her real name? I don't UNDERSTAND why you try to undermine that fine woman. The only criticism I'd ever offer her or anyone else who is runing for public office, is to dress for the job so they're not percieved by the press and the public to be just another crackpot.

If one wants the votes of the majority to be hired for a job, they have to dress for the interviews. That old saying, "The clothes make the man" works just as well for the gals. It should not be a true fact, but the perception that it is, ___ is very important.

Hey Kem,

Have you seen Coopera post anywhere before? His/her/its comment seems similar to that of another poster months ago whose nom de plume was YankeeDoodles.

I don't understand the Sheehan phenomena, and have no evidence that the person(s) posting here under that name are actually her, but there's alot about California that I never quite understood. There's an awful lot of naivety running amok, and I recall the strange article that appeared a few months ago about Sheehan making a trip to Egypt to defend the Islamic brotherhood or somesuch. Whole episode struck me as quite strange. Certainly we need humanitarian organizations monitoring humans rights conditions everywhere, regardless of ethnic/religious background -- everyone deserves to be treated with basic human dignity. But for an anti-war activist and would-be candidate to do such a thing, I'm led to conclude it was a wedge-creating event. Intentional or not, boneheaded stunts like that split apart middle america, soldiers, etc. from the peace movement.

And I still don't quite understand how things like that are arranged. Is there a 1-800 number I can call to meet some Islamic prisoners in a military regime like Egypt, will they wire me a few thousand dollars to fly over there, arrange for translators and security? Take me to restricted areas? And -- of course -- why the hell would I?

I agree with the earlier poster about Pelosi. The Speaker of the House is chosen by general floor vote. The problem with Pelosi isn't Pelosi -- she's the collective political "average" of the House. Beating Pelosi, even if successful, would merely be a symbollic victory. Now why the hell would we want to hang all of our hopes on a (hopeless) symbollic victory? The only real hope we have is for a progressive candidacy movement to gain real traction, and it should run at least 100+ serious/strong candidates in races across the country, simultaneously.

Kem Patrick:I was kinda suprised to have so many people disagree with me when I was posting. I don't think I explained myself well. I believe in the same goal in Iraq a complete US withdrawal, I just have a different opinion about what way would be best to get there. I didn't think this made me a neo-con :)

I would also like to restate that I'm not anti-Cindy Sheehan. I agree with her overall stance on Iraq, I just don't believe she would be a good congresswoman, but thats just my opinion. I don't like one issue canidates, also she wasn't thrust into the political spot light because of her years of dedication to liberal causes, or her understanding of policy, she was thrust into politics because her son paid the ultimate price for Bush's folly. In her defense I must say she is a very skillful writer and speaker, and if she had put her mind to it before her son died she would have probably been effective without having to suffer the tragedy. (she'd probably be better than my current congressman though, Dave Hobson hes gone soon though, but it looks like another Republican, who has been in the Ohio house for a long time might hop in and take his spot).

Yep, I sure can say the same thing about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Except there is one MAJOR difference. We aren't occupying those countires and spending our children's money there fighting a war or enforcing an occupation. An illegal war we lost the day we invaded Iraq. We gotta get out of there, tuck our tails in and leave.

That's good enough for me RED RAIDER. I understand where you are coming from now. And again thank you for a cordial, reasonable reply and for clarification. I too am misunderstood here at times, especially if I get to sarcastic about an issue.

So, it sounds as if you MIGHT be a Cindy supporter after all, with the opinions you just posted. You're on the same page as she is anyway in case you didn't realize it.

~KEM PATRICK~

"The far different factions and varied ethnic and religious beliefs of the peoples of Iraq, prevent any serious and lasting diplomatic discussions with Americans and especilly so when American troops are occupng their country. That's a sad fact of life."
_______________________________________________

You could say the exact same thing about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but I'm certainly not hearing anyone here doomsaying *those* peace talks.

I'm not saying we should put our president in a room with Osama and let them try to work things out. I'm certain the UN, the Associated Press, or some other international organization would be willing to facilitate dialouges of some sort.

As has been pointed out before, this is not Vietnam. In Iraq, we succeeded in the ultimate goal. Much of the past five years has simply been spent futilely trying to pick up the pieces. Every person involved in this war wants something, and I do not see trying to facilitate those wants as an impossible task.

However, if no one is willing to take the initative, then yes, let's leave. We've left our soldiers there long enough.

Kem Patrick: I would like to clarify that when I said that the US has identified the Middle East as vital to national interest, I was refering to US policy elites (people who make policy), and foreign policy realists of which neo-cons seem to agree with alot. This is why they feel the need to build the bases. I should have clarified that a little, it was meant to be somewhat tongue in cheek, but reading it now later, it didn't come off that way.

I think you also missed the part about my not wanting a massive US embassy or any permanent basing in Iraq (possible because of the crappy paragraphs, didn't realize how bad they were till I looked back at post.) I personally believe that US interests as defined by the aggregrate interests of the US citizenry would be best served without the US playing an active role in the politics of other nations.

Just because I point out a the reasons behind certain policy choices of the administration doesn't mean I believe them to be sound. You asked about why we needed such a big embassy and I explained the rational. The rational was not sound however, and thats why later I made it clear I opposed the Embassy and all permanent basing in Iraq. Read the second paragraph of my last post a little closer.

The far different factions and varied ethnic and religious beliefs of the peoples of Iraq, prevent any serious and lasting diplomatic discussions with Americans and especilly so when American troops are occupng their country. That's a sad fact of life ~KOSHTHETHIRD~

The only options are to leave and leave now, or kill all of the Iraqis. We can stay there for 200 years and the anarchy and killing would never cease.

Funny about this Iraq thing.

You'd think by now people would realize that this isn't a matter of stay in or leave. Right now, we are only considering those two options. Has one single person tried to solve this conflict, not with guns, but with words?

I saw an allusion to Jimmy Carter's work with Hamas somewhere, but even the person who posted it did not offer a way to apply similar tactics to this conflicct.

I think it's time that both parties learned the lesson that there are always three sides to an issue: your side, your opponent's side, and the right side.

Obviously the troops need to come out. We've got to establish a timetable as soon as possible and stop the ongoing war crimes. But even more importantly, we need to open up a dialog with all the players in this situation.

Send a brave reporter to talk with George Bush, Osama Bin Laden, Muquata al Sadr, and everyone else involved. There is still a chance to work this out. Contrary to popular belief, these people are human too!

Also, go Cindy Sheehan! The Democrats really need to get going!

And although I support impeachment, Bush is now the ultimate lame duck, and it would probably be more trouble than it's worth. I say slap on the handcuffs, take him down to Guantanamo, and give him a taste of his own medicine! ;-)

Oh, and back off Red Raider. See previous comment about the three sides to an argument.

As the real Kosh would say (for any Babylon 5 fans out there!) "understanding is a three-edged sword."

Love, peace, and prosperity to everyone.

Obama 08!

Can't wait to see if RED replies ~Namaste~. He might be checking to see how Rush Limbow would fire back before he bothers. Now I'm off to the aluminum debate.

KEM -- There you go again, you're getting too open minded again, don't you realize how serious all of this IS ?

I have had assurances that my vital interests to kick butt and take names, and to "bring it on" are being supported on a galactic scale, never before seen in this sector of the milky weepy way.

And I have long legs, so I do appreciate having 5 square miles of stretching out room, after a long hard day blowing up civilians, what could be wrong with this?

Thank you for the cordial reply ~RED RAIDER~. BTW, if you'd break up your longer paragraphs into two or more paragraphs with some spaces, they'd be easier to read and absorb. Just a suggestion, which could apply to some others and myself also.

I have a plan for withdrawl from Iraq ~RED RAIDER~ and if I had the power to enforce it, I'd have every American out of Iraq within five to seven days with a goal of four days. Without going into all of the gory details, I'd use the same military and logistical plans we employed to sucessfully preform the Berlin Airlift, combined with tactics utilized with the Marine's withdrawl from North Korea.

As for your Cheney like assertion that WE Americans have a "vital interest" in the Mid-East region and therfore need a massive embassy complex, or in your teminology, a centralized base of operations in Iraq, I'd ask you a question that perhaps you could answer without using a Cheney attitude and mind set.

I'm certain that other nations have a "vital interest" with America, for after all, we Americans use the majority of the world's natural resources and do most of the pollution of our atmosphere. Based upon that fact, how would you take it, if say China, Russia, India, Mongolia or Tibet, etc, came here to America and built huge embassy complexes, or central bases of operation so they could protect THEIR vital interests?

I mean after all, what we have here and what we Americans do which seriously effects all other nations, both good and bad, is of a vital concern to them, is it not? Then we must admit, we do have some WMDs and have shown a tendency to use them on occasion. Now you can be assured, I would have a lot of trouble with any other nation coming here and dictating the rules to us.

I wonder if you may have ever thought about the fact, that the citizens of Iraq may have a problem with us building military bases and a huge, plush embassy complex, or a central base of operatins, in their ancient city of Baghdad? You ever take that thought into consideration RED? We do that to them, after we had first utterly destroyed their country, their infastructures, their hospitals and schools, their farms, their economy and have contaminated their precious soil and water FOREVER with atomic waste.

Butttttt, it's "OUR" vital interests that matter, It's us Americans who matter, not the average poor people of Iraq, whom we have "liberated", people who don't know or understand what in hell happened to them during the past seven long and dreadful years, and there is no end in sight for them.

For many of those humans in Iraq, Blakwater rules and most live daily in fear, with little hope for their children's futures.

That ~RED RAIDER~ is the bottom line and it's why I'd support Cindy Sheehan, because Cindy agrees that we don't belong in Iraq and she doesn't just sit on her ass typing blogs, she puts her life on the line and fights the powerful and corrupt system we Americans have allowed to develop.

rebel conservative,

Aren't your Reagan/Thatcher/Ayn Rand attitudes a bit dated?

Over here in the US, we've put in place all your proposals for the past 27 years. We privatized everything and abolished "the dole" as you limeys quaintly call it. We are on the verge of even abolishing "socialistic" public education, we have a privatized tough-luck-buddy medical system. Only rich people with connections can afford to go to a university. No freeloaders, no dole-bludgers (or is that just an Australian expression?)

So, 27 years into this experiment, people with MBA's earn about $90.00 per hour, everyone else, $8.00 an hour. Poverty is widespread and increasing. Drug dealing and violent gangs, run by people who are very hardworking and ambitious - but cannort afford an MBA, are epidemic. all social progress has been thrown back more than 100 years.

Time to go back to the things that worked...

andie g-
John Edwards? blue-collar?
hardly...

Three Cheers Cindy: Stick with it! Everybody out there send Cindy whatever you can, $5 or $50!One thing you have that Nancy doesn't is Time!!

I donated, worked for, volunteered, and donated some more to Democratic Candidates! When "we" finally won the Majority (against the odds) in Both Houses; what did they do: Nancy takes Impeachment off the table!Harry Reid refuses to make the Repugs. ACTUALLY filibuster, each and every time!

Now he's allowed votes on (Bad)Judges to get the highway bill passed, so HIS State will get their funding! & to Hell with the Country!

I quit the Democratic Party, when John Edwards the ONLY Blue-Collar Progressive candidate, suspended his canpaign.

Nancy, check out the Green Party, they have a Real Party Platform, in Writting! Every candidate runs on it! No Corporate Money, or Lobbists! They have 85 elected members, and 1000 running, meetings in every state, and a Convention in July!

A Party that's truely run By and For the People!
**Country Before Party**Go Green (Party)**Votesmart.org

Hang in there, Cindy. It may be great fun for Pelosi to be sitting on her hands; but, she swore to uphold the Constitution.

All of Iraq, and everything that is in it, is not worth one American life. Let the monied leeches that weaken our Nation spend their money on alternative enery and quit murdering people for oil revenues.

What can I do to help you carry your principles into government? You are sorely needed as an example.

Regards, Spike

A little tweaking of Cindy's message. The background of the accompanying picture with this article asks: For What Noble Cause?

The nobility of the Warrior can in no way be tarnished by the actions of any King, Leader or Representative. It is the actions and causes of the likes of these that are measured against the nobility of the Warrior.

Thus, pictures of the likes of Casey Sheehan and Pat Tillman against the lies of WMD, the lies of Regime change, the lies of Iraqi freedom...instead of insinuating a wasted cause their nobility can be amplified into the greatest collective discourse in the history of human kind: the impeachment hearings for George W.Bush and Richard B. Cheney.

Join the Independent movement for impeachment.

Be a candidate, run a candidate: gather 2,000 signatures in your Congressional District by July 17 and help put the Constitution of the United States of America back on the table.

Support the Independent campaign for impeachment.

Evansdadop@aol.com

rebel_conservative said: "History shows that when tax rates fall, revenue increases."

Got a link, or is that just wishful thinking? We just cut taxes. I dont recall revenues increasing. I recall them dropping dramatically. Then, 4 years later, when they started edging back up again, conservatives all said: SEE!!! I TOLD YA SO!!! Lets pay down the national debt that Bush just doubled with his tax cuts, THEN talk about the niceties of how tax cuts actually make that possible.

siouxrose-
Please don't think I am some rich kid, nothing could be further from the truth. I come from one of the poorest areas in the UK, I was born and raised in absolute (not relative) poverty. My mum was 17, my dad was 19 when I was born. He finished his degree and got the first job he could, which was hard at the time with 3 million unemployed. He and my mum got a council flat and married, he was earning a pittance, and would have been financially better off leaving me and my mum and signing on the dole (welfare). But he didn't, he worked hard and stayed in school, then carried on educating himself, getting his DMS and then MBA. They are now very comfortable and live 10 mins drive from where I grew up, albeit in a middle-class suburb. I had to live at home and work min wage jobs to pay for my university, and my MA. After I got my MA I moved away and I teach in a primary school in one of the most deprived areas of the country. I live in the community, 3 minutes walk from the school. This area is totally blighted by low expectations and a government welfare system that has trapped generations and created peverse disincentives for people, decimating the traditional family unit. So please don't tell me to get a heart, I have a heart, mine is just not bleeding ;) if you truly want to help the poorest in society, encouraging work, family and discouraging welfare dependency would be good start.

Why isn't she running against a Republican?

Change in DC is effected by numbers, just bald numbers. If Democrats can't take control of both Congress and the White House, leadership out of our current Republican-gifted morass will be impeded dramatically.

I understand her rage, but Republicans must be laughing in their golf-carts to see Democrats reduced to knock-down, drag-outs that wont change the NUMBERS in any significant way.

"Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said that Pelosi, too, is frustrated with the ongoing war in Iraq but believes that impeachment would be divisive and distract Congress from improving the lives of working families."

It seems from her excuse that Pelosi is not a bit frustrated with the fact that Bush has vetoed any laws of congress that would help the lives of working families and that the war is the reason there is no help.

She sure still has a lot of faith in Bush.

Redraider,

An immediate pullout certainly IS sound policy - it is the policy that an overwhelming Iraqis and Arabs in general support.

All "they'll descend into sectarian chaos" is utter nonsense. The sectarian divisions exist ONLY to the extent that Shia are perceived as being traitorous collaborators with the occupation. No occupation, no more collaborators; no collaborators; no more sectarian conflict. Or, at most, a few final settling of scores, then peace.

Fortunately, with Sadr FINALLY starting to join the fight, this perception is thankfully starting to change.

It helps to get one's information from sources than the Washington Post or NY Times. But some things can be simply figured out by simply putting yourself in another person's shoes. Imagine if we were under a brutal occupier, and curiously, all the people installed the puppet government were curiously, Catholics. Iraq is in this situation.

COOPERA,

My political views have not changed. My intent in engaging REDRAIDER was to have an intelligent discussion without appearing threatening. REDRAIDER does bring up valid points. I disagree with some of them, but you are overreacting thinking I am Brutus at the Ides. That simply is not true.

SIOUXROSE: Thank you. I am familiar with the works you recommended and perhaps should have referenced them in my post.

KEM PATRICK: Thanks for your support. And I too appreciate your posts. They are humanistic and realistic in nature, and at times enjoyable humorous.

cygnusx1isahole April 18th, 2008 1:15 pm
Cindy, I know you read this website often.

Cindy, you must ask the question over and over…Why did Nancy Pelosi not raise objections when she was briefed that the Bush administration was engaged in TORTURE? (waterboarding).

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Pelosi_did_not_object_to_waterboarding_120...

"Ask this question over and over in very concise language so the media cannot take it out of context.

Did Nancy Pelosi take impeachment off the table because the administration was threatening to make her complicity in this war crime known? I wonder?"

That's a possibility which was later eliminated by the bi-partisan passing of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 which rescued Congress and White House from any liability for engaging in war crimes. This "Act" was one of many which high-jacked the United States Constitution, further eroding the rights of the people and transferring more power into the hands of the Federal Government.

Cindy Sheehan......THANK YOU!

Kem Patrick, yes I am a US citizen, but I do not live in the Pelosi district. I probably wouldn't vote for Pelosi either, I probably wouldn't vote in the Democratic primary. As far as the main election goes, I would most likely vote for whoever the democrat was. I wouldn't go out of my way to help the democrat win though, but if I already had a ballot I might as well vote for them. I have disdain for Pelosi also, and all house democrats for that matter (except Kucinich, one of my favorite politicians of all time). Democratic timidness is what got us to a point where we have to have a debate about withdraw strategies, if they had governed well in the minority we might have been able to avoid the point we are at now.

As far as the Iraq issue goes I doubt we would have much disagreement except over the rate of withdraw. The reason the Iraq embassy is so large is not because we need that much diplomatic contact with Iraq, it is because the embassy is a base. CIA, State, Defense Intel, and all these other groups want a base that is closer to the action in the Middle East. The US identified the Middle East as being vital to our national interest decades ago, and this is just another further step to ensure we keep out tentacles in it more efficiently. The problem is keeping our tentacles in the Middle East doesn't really help the average American and is very costly in treasure, lives, and prestige. Building a monstrosity of an embassy in a country we were supposedly just going into to find some WMDs and free them from oppression, makes it pretty clear we had other intentions when we invaded Iraq. Also when we do disengage, besides trimming the embassy down to appropriate size for that diplomatic mission, we must remove all permanent basing, we already have 700+ bases on foreign soil we don't need more, especially when their mere presence will build more anger towards us.

As for the withdrawal plan, I don't have an exact plan per se, and no one on this board does to be honest. It is impossible that anyone on this board has access to all the appropriate information to make a concrete judgement. I do believe that conservative ala the Bush administration favor a no-withdraw approach, we might remove all combat units, but if we keep the embassy and permanent bases that means we will never withdraw. Also if we succeed in dictating terms of the new Iraqi governments laws, to give favored status to US companies, then we also never really leave. Some on the left on the other hand believe the get the hell out as fast as possible regardless of anything. I agree more with the sentiments of the people on the left, because we share a common endpoint, a true complete disengagement from Iraq. I just disagree with the speed they wish to do it. I should rephrase that, I would love to see the withdraw happen at the pace these people envision, I just don't see it as being viable. So basically my plan is to withdraw the troops/everything that goes with them, as fast as possible, but not without regards to situtation.

I must also note that since my endpoint is the same as the people who want it now, if it continues to seem like the US is dragging its feet, and if our next president doesn't have a well formulated withdraw strategy, I will have to change my support to getting the troops out as fast as possible and praying for the best. I still think at this time however, we can make a withdraw plan and get out without just pulling out troops as fast as humanly possible. Hell, if I saw a good arguement for the rapid withdraw I might support it tommorow, I just haven't, the more phased type withdraws seem to be a better option.

Everybody, please take care of Cindy Sheehan. Winning (or not winning) one seat out of 436 is not as important as having a good connection between our candidates and us.

Bravo, Cindy Sheehan,

Actually, though, we kinda do have a two party system -- it's the rich and the poor, both growing and growing.

Marie

KEM PATRICK: An excellent and detailed reply to RED RAIDER. Very well stated!

SIOUXROSE: You never waste words and I second your comment to REBEL CONSERVATIVE. We have all heard the same stale lines too many times from these upright "conservatives". "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to see the kingdom of heaven," or so it goes, is as relevent today and the meaning should, by now, be understood. This nation of ours is being destroyed from within. Part of the master plan is bringing back feudalism and indentured servitude. Grover Norquist and his kind have done more damage to this country with their agenda than the "omnipotent" Osama Bin Laden could ever dream of.

CINDY SHEEHAN: I'm going to try setting you up for a speaking engagement/fundraiser down in Monterey County over the next few months. When I go to "The City," I talk to many people and many are upset with Nancy's leadership and will vote for you. My Best to You, Dear Cindy.

Daer Cindy: I don't live in your district, but if I did, I would vote for you. You continue to fight the good fight, yet establishment Democrats betray you every step of the way. I know sometimes it may feel lonely, but I just want you to know Cindy that you are not alone.

I just want to say what a great job Cindy Sheehan has done and is doing, fighting the good fight and taking a stand against the Bush-Cheney fascists. If only more Americans were as proactive and involved like Cindy Sheehan is we could really get somewhere, and take our government back from the corporate war criminals.

CLAUDIUS/RED RAIDER: As KEM pointed out, discussions about when to leave Iraq are moot given the FACT that a huge set of bases are being built there. The best info on this subject (which certainly places major DOUBT regarding any objective or strategy of pulling out U.S. forces) has been provided by the thorough research of Tom Engelhardt of TomDispatch.

KEM: Thank you for mentioning this salient point.

REBEL CONSERVATIVE: As one teacher to another, I think you could safely put the ph.D ambition aside and walk through poor neighborhoods. Like Ebineezer Scrooge, you require a different education and it's based on regaining a HUMAN heart. The math won't mean shit to a tree when you meet you maker.

CINDY SHEEHAN: Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! Just as Martin Luther King abandoned his own security and comfort zone to risk his life for larger ideals and in the process of surmounting racism, recognized the triplicate horrors that bring a (our) nation down: militarism, racism & materialism... I believe that you, too, Cindy are expanding to broaden your own sense of justice and in the process driving a lot of people to a larger vision.

I would add in a perfect world Cindy and Nancy could sit down together and work on ways to best represent the people who place the public trust in thier hands. Until then we need more people like Cindy.

Welfare, unless you are talking about corporate welfare is base on a poverty level to meet basic needs. Single payer health care is based on health care needs that are not being addressed under the current for profit system of corporate care. Pacifism is based on conscience. I would add in order to lead you have to have a following, I would try the yellow brick road.

redraider-
I fail to see how conservative policies are any more emotional than liberal policies. All policies, no matter how much we try to rationalise them, are at heart based on our emotions, feelings and worldview.

Isn't single-payer healthcare based on an emotional response?
Isn't pacifism based on emotions?
Are welfare handouts not based on emotions?

The biggest difference between liberalism and conservatism is that in political science terms, liberalism is a 'rational' ideology as it believes in social engineering, that we can rationally create a better world, whereas conservatism is 'irrational' i.e. it does not believe in social engineering. (This is why neo-conservatism is a confusing aberration, it is 'rational' yet right-wing.)

There is no more logic or rationality behind conservatism or liberalism, it all depends on one's worldview. We start with our emotions and view of the world and then rationalise our beliefs accordingly.

For instance, there is also little logic in the reasoning behind raising taxes, as history shows that when tax rates fall, revenue increases. It is counter-intuitive, but it has happened time and again. Liberals continue to support tax rises because at heart, they believe that the government should be in the business of redistributing the national wealth from the rich to the poor. Which is exactly why Clinton said that people who oppose tax rises are selfish.

If you actually look at the figures, progressive taxation does not benefit the majority of people. The rich simply avoid paying the tax through the myriad of loopholes that their high-priced accountants find for them. The poor don't pay tax... so the bill is picked up by the middle-income bracket. The rich pay a high % at the moment, but would pay much more under the Fair Tax system and the poor would be unaffected, but liberals oppose this based on emotion. It is much easier to rally people to support taxing the rich than in truly examining the impact of the current tax system.

There is a self-righteous pseudo-intellectual arrogance surrounding liberalism, many liberals seem to think that by holding certain views, they are more "enlightened" than conservatives - the kind of bitter people who cling to guns, G-d and gays... ;)

Just as there is a self-righteous pseudo-moral arrogance surrounding American conservatism, many conservatives think that by holding right-wing opinions, they are more moral than liberals.

I really don't know why so many seemingly intelligent people hold reflexively politically correct liberal views. Perhaps it is because there is very little balance in academia (this is especially true in the social sciences). Kids go to uni at eighteen, and are repeatedly told that Left-wing views are revolutionary, intelligent and enlightend, and conservative views are unacceptable, stupid and unenlightened. Perhaps their insecurity in their own intelligence makes them cling to an ideology that reassures them that they are smarter than everyone else just so long as they say the right things? I really don't know.

Of course it had the opposite effect on me... ;) I have an MA in Politics and Mass Media and am considering doing my Phd ( I will do my part to redress the balance in academia ;) )

http://rebelconservative.blogspot.com

~COOPERA~ perhaps you could offer more specific details of what ~Claudius~ wrote that made you attack him and state that he's less than a fool? Perhaps you were spaced out when you wrote that? Perhaps not? Gotta be somethng like that, or are you crazy and don't need a reason? Be mildly interesting to know.

Hey Cindy, How ya doin? ___ Stay loose babe and have fun too whenever possible.

~RED RAIDER~ You say you would not vote for Cindy if you were able to vote for her. If you did live in that area, would you vote for Pelosi, or just not vote for that Congressional seat? It's none of my businees of course who you vote for or if you even vote, except you raised the issue, so I asked. Oh, are you an American citizen?

If you could and did vote and voted for Pelosi, perhaps you could tell us why you would prefer to choose her over Cindy? Would it be experience in Congress and Pelosi would be better qualified, or do you trust Pelosi more for one or more reasons? The reason I ask you, is I'd like to be informed when I vote and like to hear all I can about candidates and thought you may have more wisdom on the subject than I do.

On the Iraq issue? I wonder if you could give me some advice on that also. You see, we are building a diplomatic embassy there in Baghdad, which has so far cost us about 70 to 80 billion dollars and it's a city within a city. We pay the civilian contractor guards there something like $700 a day on up to protect the embassy complex.

I'm highly impressed to see the greatest nation on Earth build such a complex in a foreign country, for it dispays our power for one thing and shows the people of the entire world, just how big and mighty we are. Where I need help with those thoughts, is our largest trading partner is Canada. Our embassy in Canada I understnd, is just one building and that is not overly impressive.

Since Iraq is not one of our major trading partners and likely never will be, I wonder why we need an embassy there at all, since we never had one there that I'm aware of, unless perhaps Saddam allowed it and kept it as secret as his enormous stockpile of WMDs.

Finally, do you believe we should maintian a military force in Iraq until everythig there has fully quieted down and the new Iraqi government has full control of the situation and no longer needs us to maintain a military presense? I beleive if we keep killing the Iraqis at the rate we have to date, We will be able to leave in 22 to 24 years, because we will have killed all of them by that time.

When that happens, do you think we will need to staff our Iraqi embassy any longer? I Wonder if we just pulled out of that country we have literally destroyed right now and just left the Blackwater troops there to protect the embassy we don't need anyway, if things would quiet down in a few weeks? What ya think about that there ~Red Raider~? You must have some opinion about it. What's your plan? Is it the same as Cheney's, or different?

Now!!! LIVE and in dying color, the Vietnam War...updated, upgraded, revisited, and shhhhhhh don't give away the finish, but I'll give a hint by reminding you of the outcome of THAT one. "It's always the old who lead us off to war.....ALWAYS the young to die."

IMPEACH BUSH AND CHANEY

Claudius (as in "et tu Brutus" I don't suffer fools nor their ramblings, and I doubt that you would make the scale of even a fool. I'll volunteer to flush the first comment so as not to polute the atmosphere.

Ronald White: You said it all! No more cannon fodder for the thieves in high places.

Pledge now to give your Bush "tax rebate" to candidates like Cindy and Kucinich and thumb your nose at BushCo.

Peace, economic and social justice, and human rights.
www.carolmillercongress.com

It's time to elect many Independent women to congress.

After reading many articles on CD over the years I have noticed a trend. After reading an article where an author complains about some issue, many posters will point out that the author did not provide a solution. Others will say that we should get away from our computers and take action. Cindy has done just that. She has taken action by running for a congressional seat, while at the same time has publicly stated her solutions to the problems that face this society. She should be commended for her courage and foresight. For those who have been regular visitors to CD, Cindy has made many posts on a variety of topics, not just about the war. I am saddened that some think a person needs to have some mysterious qualifications to be an effective congressperson. All that is needed is to live up to the oath of protecting the constitution (something Pelosi and her spokesperson should be made aware of ). Everything else will follow from that. We have too many lawyers and professional politicians in Congress the way it is. It would be great to have someone grounded in the principles of peace serving our country.

Last fall, I had the pleasure of enjoying a beer with Cindy at the Fighting Bob Fest in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Everyone there wanted to give her a hug and express the best we could at how sorry we felt for the loss of her son. She graciously accepted everyone's warm thoughts and wishes. If someone requested to have their picture taken with her, she always willingly complied, even though she was tired from so much traveling. Cindy, if you ever make it back to Fighting BobFest, it would be an honor to throw back a few of Wisconsin's finest with you. Good luck in your travels and your campaign.

_ G O __ C i n d y _We _ L O V E _ Your _ C o u r a g e _

Pelosi ... believes that impeachment would ... distract Congress from improving the lives of working families.

Cindy Sheehan will provide San Francisco an opportunity in November to show the American people which side it's on, the side of Pelosi's mega-lies or the side of Cindy Sheehan's truth/justice. What's it going to be, San Francisco?

Go Cindy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RedRaider,

Some of the points you make are valid, especially acknowledging that invading Iraq was a mistake. However, there is another aspect to it that you are not including in your argument. That is diplomatic negotiation. The Bush Administration lacks anyone with real skills in diplomacy. Their attitude is "if you are not with us, we consider you an enemy and do not want to talk to you." In other words, what needs to happen is exactly what President Jimmy Carter is doing. He is trying to establish a dialogue to (hopefully) begin to pave the path to peaceful accord among all parties in Israel and Palestine. That is what needs to happen in Iraq. The current situation in Iraq is a complete mess regardless of whether the "surge" worked or not. The other problem is the Bush Administration lacks a comprehensive plan. Whenever our occupation of Iraq ends, we still have to be concerned about reconstruction. And then how do you restore political stability in the Middle East? Essentially, there is an extraordinary level of work to be done within the context of nationbuilding, regardless of when we begin to pull out our troops. Now how does this relate to Cindy Sheehan.

Cindy understands this and realizes that the time is right for change. Our country virtually is bankrupt (China finances much of our debt), many Americans are not only bitter but downright outraged with President Bush and the Congress, and people want change. Nancy Pelosi has done virtually nothing to bring about change, and in fact, has been going along with the status quo. The fact is she will not do anything, and her words are as phony as her botox injections. Cindy has vision, motivation, and the intelligence to competently execute the position of Speaker of the House.

I of course applaud Cindy Sheehan - she is a very brave and outspoken woman. I also think it is very encouraging that as an antiwar activist she has taken her antiwar message to San Diego, a city that is known for its militarist traditions, with a huge naval base stationed in its harbour.

"Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said that Pelosi, too, is frustrated with the ongoing war in Iraq but believes that impeachment would be divisive and distract Congress from improving the lives of working families"
********************************************
Pelosi has relied on those words from the beginning. Her frustration fed this war! EVEN when we showed them, by overwhelming votes, we were behind the Democrats for Impeachment in the very beginning because we needed change. We got rid of Delay and several other boobs who were tying up the House and Senate. Shame on Pelosi! We needed her and Reid to get the Congress primed for Impeachment and she failed us misserably AND the worst part Doesn't Get it! This war is costing us trillions and I see her and her control a big part of that!
GO Cindy.
You Have my vote!

"Pelosi ... is frustrated with the ongoing war in Iraq but believes that impeachment would be divisive and distract Congress from improving the lives of working families"

BY WORKING FAMILIES SHE MUST MEAN THE FAMILIES OF CONGRESSMEN...

Corrupt Systems
Cindy Sheehan

(Pelosi), too, is frustrated with the ongoing war in Iraq but believes that impeachment would be divisive and distract Congress from improving the lives of working families.
Spokesperson for Nancy Pelosi: Drew Hammill

The above quote from House Speaker, and my opponent, Nancy Pelosi's spokesperson would be hilarious if it were not so damn tragic. The quote was in an article about my recent visit and speech to students, faculty and the community members at CSU San Marcos. I wonder how long Drew stayed awake to think up this quote and II wonder if Drew and Speaker Pelosi think that we, the American people, are too stupid to realize that our lives have been "improved."

After five years of warfare on the people of Iraq; almost eight years of warfare on the American public and about 15 months of the reign of the Democrats in Congress, working class families of America have paid the heaviest price.

The human cannon fodder that BushCo believes is so expendable and that Pelosi funds, come mostly from the working class. Over 4000 American soldiers are dead and not one of them has been named Pelosi, Bush, Cheney, or Hoyer. Not one has been plucked out of the boardrooms of mortgage bankers or war profiteers. When I was on the campus in San Marcos, I met many Iraq vets (the campus is close to Camp Pendleton) and young women whose husbands are currently in Iraq. One young woman, Ashley, told me that her husband had a torn ACL and the military would not let him come home from Iraq. He is 22 and the continued stress will probably leave him permanently disabled and he is doing a job he was not trained for. I wonder how Ashley feels now that Pelosi is considering giving BushCo more money to continue the occupation than he has even asked for to "support the troops." When in reality, many members of Congress are invested in, or receive tens of thousands of dollars for their re-election campaigns from companies that do quite well during times of war.

Gas is over 4.00 a gallon and the price of food and other essentials are sky rocketing, accordingly. A frightening number of homes are heading into foreclosure and jobs (that don't involve asking "Would you like that super-sized?") are being lost or sent overseas. I am sure that many Americans can really use their $300-$600 or $1200 dollar "gifts" from Uncle Sam to fill up their tanks or buy groceries while George and Nancy's friends in the investment banking industry will be able to recoup their losses via our federal tax dollars. Do you feel like your life has improved, yet?

Drew Hammill saying that impeaching the war criminals would be a "distraction" is like George's spokesperson, Dana Perino saying that George was going to tell the Pope that we have "responsibilities to care for our brothers and sisters in need at home and across the world." I guess the people of Iraq and Afghanistan are excluded from the "generosity and compassion" of the Bush regime.

At the end of my talk at the University, I was handed a 3 by 5 index card with this question: "We have a two-party system here in American…you may not like it, but that's the way it is. You should just get used to it." Firstly, with "opposition" parties like the Democrats led by Bush-buddy, Nancy Pelosi, is it a fact that we do have a "two" party system? Do we, as people of conscious and true compassion need to "get over" things that are inherently and profoundly harmful and wrong?

I would hate to see how badly off we would be if everyone thought as that questioner does? What dangerous and stinkin' thinkin'! We must allow our political system to degrade even further because it is the system we have?

We had the system of slavery.
We had the system of all white-male/property owning suffrage.
We had the system of child labor.
We had the system of "separate but equal."

Thank God for people like Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Henry David Thoreau, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr; who all courageously rejected the corrupt systems that they existed under and refused to get "used to" violence and oppression.

We need to boldly face up to Nancy Pelosi and her ilk who don't want to be "distracted" from impeachment because the legislators are too busy trying to figure out how they can rape their constituents more fully to fatten the already bloated, fat-cats.

I urge you to reject the Republican-Democratic stranglehold the distinct criminal class of Congress has on our democracy and our very lives!

Cindy Sheehan
Mother of Casey Sheehan, KIA in Iraq on 04/04/04
and Candidate for Congress

Got more rant-

"an immediate withdraw from Iraq now is not in anyones best interest,"

This statement is almost entirely backwards. It is in almost everyone's interest that the USA withdraw from Iraq ASAP. Yesterday would have been better, the day before better still.
The longer the USA stays, the more the USA bleeds its treasure and blood into the quicksand of imperial idiocy. Things will not get better-they haven't in 5 years and there's no reason they will anytime in the future.
Either the USA leaves or it stays forever and bankrupts itself economically, morally, spiritually.

The thousands who will die, the tens of thousands who will be injured, the women who will be raped by armed men paid for by our taxes, the children blown apart, and so on ad nauseum - continued military occupation and aggression is not in their best interest.

The people whose interest it is to stay in Iraq are the opportunists, the war-mongers, the zealots, the killers.

"an immediate withdraw from Iraq now is not in anyones best interest,"

How about the interest of the thousands who will die after today because the US is still militarily occupying Iraq?
This generalization is ridiculous. Also, how can anyone read the future, and say with such absolute belief that immediate withdrawal is worse than staying there for years, decades, forever?

One sane voice added to Congress probably won't bring about withdrawal from Iraq anytime soon. But another sane voice will help.

What Cindy Sheehan says about the San Marcos area (we call it North County) is absolutely correct (sorry, Cindy, I was unable to attend last night-you got a good write-up today in the local newsrag 'North County Times'). My daughter graduates from CSU San Marcos next month.

The remaining support for Bush? A lot of it is around here. The haves and the military.

I commend Cindy Sheehan for her bravery and commitment. If we were all like her, we might actually accomplish something worthwhile.

Hi Cindy : Good work . Now when are you going to start encouraging the troops to desert ?