The Dimocrats are deliberately being stupid:

a. so that a few 'left-wing' Dims can earn their 'anti-war' credentials for re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-election and continue their absolute and complete uselessness.

b. to avoid any of the responsibility for this insanity which they caused.

Congress continues to ignore the nefarious Public Law 107-40, which is their fault and their responsibility.

It is the fault of the American citizen for allowing them to do so.

Calling on the Commander-in-Chief to 'Withdraw' from Afghanistan or anywhere else is a stupid idea, just like when MoveOn tried it and when CodePink tried it.

We must stop the only war, the DAFT war, which Congress ignores and Americans don't see because they are misled by our misleaders.

Congress declared war against enemies to be named later.
Bush named al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Obama: "Our war is against al-Qaeda".

The way to peace is by bringing Public Law 107-40 to light, and showing America that it is DAFT.
Every country deals with future terrorism but only America declared war against it.

The way to peace does not involve 'withdrawing' from the enemy.

"This is all a war of perceptions," Gen. McChrystal said.

This war can be won by Progressives, but not if they meekly accept futile Dimocratic gestures and Dimocratic amnesia over the cause of our troubles.

Hoorah! Kucinich, we love you. Even though this won't lead to an end to another stupid war, it will help draw the line between the voices of reason in the House (that distinct minority) and the war puppets.

"Were you there?" should be our clarion call to the House of Representatives as this war drags on.

More cheap political theater from Kucinich, not worth the price of admission.

Nothing will come out of it, the US will stay in Afghanistan for decades, and Kucinich knows it. It's dishonest of him to keep the base fooled.

Don't trust what Democrats say, watch what they do. Debates are words, not action.

"Just days after 9/11, Congress authorized the use of force against al Qaeda and those who harbored them -- an authorization that continues to this day" (the President's speech, 12/01/09).

Why doesn't Congress take that authorization away? Why don't they ever talk about it?*
America can deal with future terrorism the way the rest of the world does, sanely, or America can continue to wage war against future terrorists and go more insane and more Fascist with every escalation overseas and terror alert in the Homeland, with every surrender of our Rights.

* rhetorical questions. You don't expect the people who got us into this catastrophe to accept responsibility for it, do you? Or risk their political futures by doing something that doesn't immediately profit them?

End the DAFT war. Not the GWOT, the WOT, the Long War, the Afghanistan War.
The only war, the DAFT war that will end us if we don't end it.

" By the end of the year if it is determined that trying to do so in a month is too dangerous ". I can predict that is what will happen. I can guarantee you 100% it will be determined too dangerous to withdraw in 30 days so the polemic and obfuscation will be a delay until 2011, but wait! There is more! Thus this gives the MIC the opportunity to stall it and by the end of next year you will hear another mendacious, excuse that it is still too dangerous to leave Afghanistan. I believe Dennis Kucinich is a man of integrity and would like to end the war in Afghanistan, but he is up against the MIC and its corrupt quilslings in Congress.

A Dimocrat walks into a war store.

Storekeeper: Good morning, Mr. K.
Mr. K: Good morning. I'd like to return this war.
Storekeeper: Oh, that's too bad. What's wrong with it?
Mr. K: I still got terrorists.
Storekeeper: Are you using it the right way?
Mr. K: We only use things the Right way.
Storekeeper: There is no guarantee for wars.
Mr. K: But it costs so much.
Storekeeper: You don't pay for it.
Mr. K: No, but my peeps are angry. and unemployed.
Storekeeper: You bought it, you deal with it.
Mr. K: It's Obama's fault, really.
Storekeeper: It's your name on the order.
Mr. K: uh, I'm leaving now, but I REALLY tried to return the war! (this sentence was not a paid advertisement by the 'elect this useless sort for a seventh time and see what you get' committee).

locust is brought to you today by CISIC (Crummy Idiots still in Charge), which is represented by the lawn firm of Soddem Butt Goode, which is also our battle cry.

My best to Mr Kucinich and his brave 16, but Congress reminds me of the many battles we fought in city and county governments against various cockamamie plans.

There would a hundred or more jammed into the chambers and the chairman would open the meeting for public discussion. One by one, people would come up to the mike and state their concerns and objections. Some of them were often experts in their fields, with statistics and plans that illustrated the problems.

The council or supervisors would sit with eyes glazed, playing with their pencils or doodling on their notebooks. Finally, the chairman would gavel the "end of public discussion."

Then he would call for a vote, which was aye, the project approved and the meeting adjourned. It was obvious that the whole process was to give We the People the impression that our opinions mattered and that we were allowed our input. Once that charade was out of the way, they went ahead and did what they intended from the first.

Congress and the Senate do exactly the same things. Their masters and their hired guns (lobbyists) tell them what to do. They give the impression of democracy by poorly attended hearings and committee meetings, but then do what they are told. Their masters never tell them to do something to benefit We the People, except an occasional peanut to pacify the masses.

The most obviously productive thing Kucinich could do is to call for a binding public referendum on this issue. Why are people afraid of direct democracy when it has proved to bring the most public benefit? http://www.ni4d.us/fossedal

The reason why all this Imperial-MIC bullsh** will never stop is because in order to make the case, a president or a congressperson would have to apologize to the people of Iraq and Af-Pak, and admit that the US made huge mistakes, something that would draw withering counter-fire on any politician who did it. They would have to acknowledge to the world that the US has acted like a psychopathic bully, and that the people who initiated these wars need to be put on trial for what they have done. Aint gonna happen. Tell me, does Cheney look like someone who is scared justice is going to catch up with him anytime soon?

Actually, stopping all this Imperial-MIC bullsh** would probably also need to entail calling into question and pretty much repudiating the validity of, all of American foreign policy since the dropping of a Weapon of Mass Destruction on the civilian population of Hiroshima, which was done as a warning to Russia.

Then again, there probably wouldnt have been a WW2 if the corporate plutocracy hadnt maneuvered and propogandized the US into WW1. And so it goes.

The US population needs to be educated to the fact that this country has been run by ruling elites who have killed and robbed with impunity for a very long time. Americans would have to acknowledge that the people who do what our elites did in Vietnam and are doing in Iraq and Af-Pak today - not to mention all the things documented in Blum's book, "Killing Hope", are psychopaths.

Stop and think about that. We are ruled by sick, sick people, and yet...it is considered foul to point this out.

What needs to be done as a fundamental of change is to absolutely de-legitimize the right of the ruling elite to even exist because they are unfit not only to govern, but moreover, to even be given the status of sane adult!

For those who would like to contact their reps on this:

Peace Action is sponsoring a call-in to representatives to support Kucinich action. Load in your zip and the number for your rep comes up.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/161/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2449

WaPo is, among other things, perpetuating a cynical Beltway falsehood here, i.e., "funding the troops", against which legislators are "loath" to vote.

There is no such thing as "funding the troops". There is only funding the wars. The Pentagon submits a budget, with line items for material, soldiers, contractors and overhead. Congress can approve or deny the budget but not re-write it. Neither has Congress any oversight on field level command. If Congress cut the war budget in half tomorrow, it would be up to the generals to determine how to spend it and how to ensure proper "force protection". i.e., protect soldiers from unecessary risks. In other words, there is no way a Congressional war budget vote can affect the personal safety or security of a "troop" or "the troops". Only the generals and ultimately the President can do that.

It's a completely bogus story line, foisted on us by Democrats without the stones to oppose what they know to be futile and wasteful wars and perpetuated by the hack press, like the WaPo. Nancy Pelosi declared in 2007 that the Dems would not be "swift-boated" and this was their way to do it - pretend that they opposed the war but not the troops, by always voting to approve the war budget.

If any of these corporate errand boys and greasy minions gave a rat's ass about the safety of "the troops" they'd do something to bring the poor bastards home before even one more of them gets shot.

"Liberals in the House, ... will get a chance this week to vent about one of their biggest concerns: the war in Afghanistan."
_______________________________________

"Vent", here, in the sense of #11 in the Dictionary.com listing: "to relieve by giving expression to something: He vented his disappointment by criticizing his successor".

This exercise takes a political form, but it's not so much political as therapeutic.

CHORUS: Evolution is uneven. Congress is a prime reflection of this. Always, the wise and decent are in the minority. The majority are captives of the military establishment, whose investments make imperative the justification of warfare. Well upwards of half a trillion this year. They are not about peace, and the politicians that perpetuate this investment see their office as an end, not a means. It's too bad.

sierra7
One of my grandsons (12 yrs old) had the opportunity to visit Arlington the past month. He sent me a postcard telling me about his visit to the Vietnam Wall.
I then wrote him a short letter stating that closer to home there is the Golden Gate National Cemetery.
His is a good kid, but has been exposed to the gun-toting video games of the recent past and present.

I told him to go to Golden Gate National Cemetery, walk to wherever he thought the center is...stand for a few moments, gaze at the seemingly endless white stones, realizing that under each one is a dead soldier, and repeat the mantra:

"This is what war is all about"

OK, so the War Powers Act of 1973 gives additional congressional power to get out. Then, to recount we have 1) Only Congress is suppose to declare war, however, 2) War Powers Act of 1969 enabled the Pres. to Unconstitutionally enter into a war, IF there was declared an 'imminent threat.' then 3) Another 'War Powers' Act to somewhat re-give the primary Constitutional powers already granted to Congress. (*-p .

So, Cheney etal got us into an illegal war since he and Rummie were careful never to say there was an 'immiment threat.' - even by 1969 War Powers Act 'legality.' - since they could never prove any 'imminent threat,' and they knew it, try as they may.

So we have here a TWICE unconstitutional illegal occupation, being fully expanded by Pres. O. About time SOMEBODY at least pulled the plug, though we should haul our 'leaders' who are acting criminally off to a corner to think about the damage they are doing - by occupying the Middle East and to our 'Democracy.'

Of course the MIC (Miliatry Industrial Complex) is what drives all this, with additional 14 some bases in the Middle East since the Iraq invasion (for oil of course).

War is Wrong Everytime! Dennis and 16 other brave Reps understand this. About 2-12 % of the human population are psychopaths (control freaks, abusers and killers), why do they always get to be the ones who tell us what to do? When is the 98-82 % majority, who are peaceful people, going to stand up to these bullies and tell them "NO", this is not the way the world is going to be run anymore! We will cooperate and live in egalitarian peace. This is not just a fantasy, if enough people begin to believe this it will be so.

off topic: a new version of OHIO on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aST8Q6xmy4M

Three hours and I bet no one is present cause all those people have to waste their time with lobbyists for the corpoRATs of the MIC. Dennis needs to leave the Dimwits.

50 years after the Korean War and we're still in Korea!
50 years from now we will still be in Iraq and Afghanistan and Pakistan.

This has as much chance as a bill making war industries revenue-neutral for the duration of hostilities.

If it's so critical to the national interest that the nation be at war, risking its soldiers' lives, all profits should be plowed back into the treasury to make US stronger for the war effort.

All corporate executives should pay their salaries in excess of the President's salary back to support the war effort...until it's over, over there.

GO DENNIS! We should have elected Dennis Kucinich for president. At least he would have the balls to do what is needed.

Have you seen that the Democratic party mainstream is now trying to force him to cave in and support this pathetic Senate health care bill?

DJK is right on the mark and doing what he can. This isn't the UK nor a real democracy, thus any reference to George Galloway don't have any application.

AD

Why not invade China? It is a Communist dictatorship and it has weapons of mass destruction. Maybe it is because that war would be anything except profitable to the gun runners and oters who sacrafice "volunteers" in wars against third world countries which are quite profitable for some.

From the volume of the responses to this article so far, it would appear that the mood of the U.S. electorate is beginning to feel the futility of war and a war economy(except that is, for the MIC and that 2 1/2% of our populace). If that is happening, then it is time also to begin to think of a revolution! BUT - - not in conventional terms, for that would be playing right into the hands of the very people that need to be ousted - - those who look to war and violence to advance their own quest for power. Dare I say that we need to plan a non-violent revolution a la Jesus of Nazareth, Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., the Dalai Lama and others. The powers within "The Beltway", "C" Street, The Family, "K" Street and their ilk have entrenched themselves so well, that the only way to dislodge them (except for the likes of Kucinich, Bernie Sanders the the other 15 Reps, is to organize and implement a national sit-down strike, operate strictly by a barter economy and boycott as much as possible the fossil fuel industry. Impossible? Difficult to do, but the more people who hop on the band-wagon, the better the chances of success!

Now its the time to pull out forces from Afghanistan .Afghan masses should be left free to decide their future . The forces from muslim countries should be placed to establish peace and conduct the elction. The new elcted government be asked to behave as resonsible rulers. Long duration and increase in forces in Afghanistan will prove extera burden on already depleting American Economy. western and American think tanks should know that India is getting benefits at the cost of Aemrican and its allies ecnomies. she is using this territory for fomenting militancy in Pakistan.

consider this Reaction from Visiting Pakistani groups - invited BY the USA state department to showcase "alliance"....

they REFUSED to submit to US "homeland security" scans in airports == in washington dc - and instead prefered to go home...

what about "merikans?"

oh -- no they SUBMIT for fear of being "attacked" by those terrorists --- like maybe, Pakistanis....

and so they submit to their own Fascism lest they be taken away by their own government....

==========

March 9, 2010
Upset by U.S. Security, Pakistanis Return as Heroes
By JANE PERLEZ

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A tour of the United States arranged by the State Department to improve ties to Pakistani legislators ended in a public relations fiasco when the members of the group refused to submit to extra airport screening in Washington, and they are now being hailed as heroes on their return home.

“People should be thankful, you made them so proud,” said Hamid Mir, the host of a popular national talk show, during an interview in his studio on Tuesday with four of the six politicians, who railed against the security precautions at Ronald Reagan National Airport.

Meetings with the Obama administration’s top policy makers on Pakistan, including the president’s special representative, Richard C. Holbrooke, and visits to the Pentagon and the National Security Council, did not allay the anger the politicians said they felt at being asked to submit to a secondary screening on Sunday before boarding a flight to New Orleans. They declined to be screened and did not board the flight.

Pakistan is one of 14 mostly Muslim countries whose citizens must go through increased checks before they fly into the United States, a procedure mandated by the Obama administration in the wake of the failed attempt by a Nigerian man to blow up an airliner flying from the Netherlands to Detroit on Dec. 25.

The inclusion of Pakistan on the list was broadly criticized as an insult to a country that the United States calls an ally.

The leader of the parliamentary group, Senator Abbas Khan Afridi, said in an interview on Tuesday that before they were to board the flight for New Orleans, he and his colleagues were selected from a crowd of passengers at the airport and asked to stand aside.

They were then asked to accept a full-body scan by a machine, he said. Such body-scanning units are in use at 19 airports across the United States, and more are being installed.

One of Mr. Afridi’s colleagues, Akhunzada Chitan, told Mr. Mir on his “Capital Talk” program, “Going through a body scan makes you naked, and in making you naked, they make the whole country naked.”

=========

for the rest go to New York times.

The question on the table is...how can we espouse to support the downtrodden and those who live under our boot, when we support the National Security State which is conducting these activities? How, for one minute, can we support Obama, when he has expanded the Wars we say we hate?

What kind of cognitive dissonance and MADNESS is this causing in people...the political schizophrenia is observable, and appalling to me.

Supporting Obama and the National Security State in Foreign Wars, while they tighten Homeland Security and the Patriot Act here....not good. Using V2/drones, expanding wars...never leaving Iraq, putting 30K more troops into Afghanistan whilst acknowledging that there are less than 100 Al Quaeda there..using instability WE caused in Pakistan as an excuse.

We have a SYSTEM, not a President. Obama is a two year Junior Senator from Illinois...Zbigniew calls the shots on our foreign policy, as a co-founder of the Trilateral Commission with David Rockefeller.

In the midst of a Depression, with a Democratic President, our Military Budget is increased, and Homeland Security's budget remains untouched. The Patriot Act was just renewed for another year, by voice vote, in the middle of the night. How many indignities must be endured before we say "Enough."

The US Chamber of Commerce is targeting 22 states for congressional change...and no one can oppose that. That is Bald Corporatism.

We are promised a closing of Guantanamo, the removal of our troops nine months ago, relief for the foreclosed....none of that has happened.

It was Henry Kissinger who went to China in secret...from the Council on Foreign Relations. Everyone thinks opening up China was great. No, it was not. That screwed Tibet, and opened up China for our manufacturing...which destroyed our Middle Class.

Presidents are transitory, and pre-selected. The National Security State is paramount. JFK discovered that, unto his doom.

Ross Perot was forced out of the Presidential Race because his daughter's life was threatened. Mort Sahl, who worked for Perot, verified this for me.

This is not a Democracy, nor a Republic...it is a Thuggery. Thugs attack other countries for their resources..as we are continuing to do under Obama. KNOW that we are building up bases in Southern Colombia to stage actions against Bolivie, Venezuela, et al.

I call upon Progressives and Democrats to realize the above....and say: No More!!!!

Compromise with Evil is....Evil.
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Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, or by justifying or rationalizing them.[2] It is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology.
Dissonance occurs when a person perceives a logical inconsistency in his beliefs, when one idea implies the opposite of another