A symptom of political bigotry

The citizen groups in America need to wake up to the political bigotry in this nation that has gotten us least worst candidates in the presidential elections for now two straight elections (three or four depending on how progressive you want to be).

Citizen groups are pouring money into programs that are going nowhere. Eventually, the creek's going to run dry. The people will not be able to support these programs. Lack of hindsight will cause these philanthropic and activist organizations to fold. Had they challenged Obama and Clinton and perhaps supported independent and third party candidates like Nader and McKinney, they would have seen a groundswell of opposition to the Bush regime and the Democratic-controlled Congress' complicity that would have resulted in superb success for these citizen groups.

It's going to take unconventional action, challenging the two corporate war parties, and creativity if we the people are going to take on a nation that has become a nation of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations. 

Do these citizen groups like TrueMajority want to achieve their goals? Or are they just engaging in theatrical actions to calm the angry American populace? Are they just merely helping politicians who are sick of running into "bitter" Americans at campaign events?

by Kevin Gosztola (193 articles, 103 quicklinks, 63 diaries, 776 comments) on Sunday, April 20, 2008 at 2:07:15 PM
 

How long will these Candidates Wait

How long will these Candidates wait after taking office to begin massive bombings of Israel to end its illegal invasion and continuing occupation of Palestine.

by Anton Grambihler (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 263 comments) on Sunday, April 20, 2008 at 7:58:09 PM
 

no to bombings

While I find the "entangled alliance" deeply concerning, I certainly don't favor bombing of any country and I hope more people will rise up against the war-invoking rhetoric that is coming from all the presidential wannabees. They each claim to want a peaceful Middle East, but the constant threats of warfare make that vision impossible. They first need to get over their crippling fear of acknowledging the rights of Palestinians.

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Regarding TrueMajority's NotAnotherWar campaign, despite my criticism I do believe they have a creative and compelling action going. I just hope they realize the danger of stopping short of directing that action towards all politicians regardless of their stripes.

by Cheryl Biren-Wright (17 articles, 16 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 323 comments) on Sunday, April 20, 2008 at 8:52:53 PM
 

Treat all People in the Middle East the same

Everyone must be treated the same under International Law, National Laws, and Local Laws, NO EXCEPTIONS!When Iraq invaded Kuwait, the United States put together a coalition to force Iraq out of Kuwait.When Iran complains about the illegal Israeli invasion and illegal occupation of Palestine, the United States talks about illegally invading Iran, instead of putting together a coalition to force Israel out of Palestine.

by Anton Grambihler (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 263 comments) on Monday, April 21, 2008 at 12:07:33 PM
 

Options on the table

the voice of President George W. Bush cut through the dueling chants for Clinton and Obama, "This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table."

I think George W Bush is telling the truth on this point.

I don't think Bush and the neocons are stupid enough to think they can win  an open war with Iran when they would look like the aggressors and such a thing would force the rest of an already increasingly hostile to the United States world to become rapidly increasingly so.  

This is in one sense almost a pity. Its a pity because an open war with Iran would have the effect of flushing the crap out of the stables and forcing ordinary Americans to engage with the issues of the times. And also because the global media would have to deal with it it would force the other people of the world to have to engage with the issue of the times (the rule of law) as well.

With the United States having broken the UN treaty with the invasion of Iraq the world cannot go back to being like it was. Trust has gone.  Madness in great ones must not unwatched go. And America is mad. If Bush is impeached the UN Charter need not be a farce but without it anyone intelligent of any country or any creed will treat it as a farce. And the result of having farcical rule of law globally is that we effectively have none. And the result of that is that we have no human rights. And no governing law over "free" trade - so capitalism can become naked buccaneering and western cultures, especially that of the United States place massive incentives on firms to make profits to the maximum extent politically possible so that the shareholders can get the benefit. 

With impeachment off the table, terrorism is on the table. Remove the legal avenues of redress from people who are greivously wronged and those people will take the law (jungle law) into their own hands. 

If Bush and Cheney go quietly into the good night of public affairs they may not be regarded well by history but nor will they be dragged naked and dead like Mussolini through the streets.  The harm they will have done will be devastating but subtle. They will have cracked the infrustructure of the rule of law without being seen by the many dopes in democracy as having done so because the cracks will not be apparent. 

If Bush and Cheney did attack Iran (and that will not happen because too many Americans in the military chain of command are not crazy enough) they the cracks in the infrustructure of the rule of law would be so blatant that even the idiot citizens of democracies would not be able to overlook the link between action and consequence.  

Not attacking Iran allows the idiot electorate to tell itself that things are normal and it allows political candidates like McCain and Clinton and Obama to play dress up and grown up to a country full of foolish children.  There is zero possibility that Clinton or Obama can manage the aftermath of invading Iraq and not impeaching Bush because the rest of the world will not trust any American President.  So Clinton or Obama will be mere figureheads. This does not mean that real power will be concentrated in the hands of some shaddowy skull and bones, capitalist figures. Capitalists are not fraternal.

The truth will be that there will not be a single cogent view of the world that is sensible.  And this was not inevitable. It was and is possible to have genuine representative democracy in which the person really in charge is the person who is elected President (even as a President of the world).  It is not possible to have people who are not President really be in charge when the Constitution puts so much power into the hands of the President.  

Truth is on planet earth and in America at present no one is in charge.  And no one is willing to accept responsibility. 

Impeach Bush and America can be a hub, a seed crystal, and the world can see representative democracy work. Other states might be added to the union. Fail to impeach Bush and the world sees America as it is. As just a chaotic and unstable sack of special interests that has no common view of itself and that cannot and should not stand against better, juster possibilities of organising humans to promote merit and ensure the best chance of quality of life for humans. 

Bush said "all options are on the table". But Pelosi took the most important one off the table. And that means that the rest of the world must now put jungle law and the possibility of doing barbaric things to barbarians back onto the table. If America will not stop Americans from torturing and aggressively invading then lesser groups and individuals will facter that fact in. The failure to impeach Bush puts terrorism on the table against Americans as a legitimate option.  

If the political discourse within a group of people is biased because that group of people doesn't represent a wide enough group then outsiders that are treated as outlaws will feel free to act as outlaws. American citizens are treating the rest of the world as outlaws, as unpeople, and the rest of the world is entitled to show American citizens the logical consequence of that way of thinking and so to influence the discourse.

If Bush isn't impeached terrorism against the United States may be the only way to have discourse with the American people that aims at getting a truly representative democracy. It may be the only way to get rid of the outlaw and unperson.  Terrorism may be forced upon global progressives by parochial American regressives.

by Brett Paatsch (0 articles, 2 quicklinks, 21 diaries, 961 comments) on Sunday, April 20, 2008 at 9:11:30 PM
 

no argument on impeachment / disagree on bush and iran

you will get no argument from me, brett, on the impeachment issue. i have written, organized and addressed groups extensively on the importance of impeaching bush and cheney. not engaging in the impeachment process will be the single most damaging non-event to our democracy in our lifetime.

regarding bush and attacking iran, i disagree. his behavior strongly suggests he will continue to test drive various channels to make a U.S. attack on Iran a reality until one of them sticks.

 e.g. Strait of Hormuz, weapons flowing from iran into iraq, fragments with "iranian markings," ignoring the findings of the NIE, and just last week he declared that the "problem" in iraq is no longer al qaeda, but iran.

by Cheryl Biren-Wright (17 articles, 16 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 323 comments) on Sunday, April 20, 2008 at 9:45:16 PM
 

Here is my opinion

regarding bush and attacking iran, i disagree. his behavior strongly suggests he will continue to test drive various channels to make a U.S. attack on Iran a reality until one of them sticks.

Internationally the Bush administration has all the foreign policy credibility of a vegetarian shark. I don't doubt that the frat boy idiots that were behind the Project For the New American Century which gave the Bush administration its foreign policy, lets lead the world, core would still quite like the spectacle and theatre in their lifetime of war with Iran. I don't doubt that the neocons like to see themselves on television and in the media and to think they are players in their time. But Iran could attack itself right now and much of the western world (if not the United States citizen) would blame the United States. 9-11 Truthers are merely the symptoms, like domestic anti-bodies of distrust. If the broader western world was represented in the US system then I think that Bush would be impeached.

Outside of the United States people don't care about the United States being divided into Republicans and Democrats they just care that the United States doesn't keep its promises.

I don't have good polling data at my fingertips so I might be wrong but I suspect most westerners would prefer that Bush was held to account through impeachment than that he not be. But that question will not be polled and reported because no one in political power wants to know the answer.  Europeans and Australians would in my opinion happily see Bush impeached and failing that America punished. They won't go out of their way to make it happen but I think they'd (on average) prefer it.

by Brett Paatsch (0 articles, 2 quicklinks, 21 diaries, 961 comments) on Sunday, April 20, 2008 at 11:11:09 PM
 

here's the rub

regarding what the rest of the world thinks of the U.S. and of the bush administration (and i agree with you on that), the problem is that when faced with the reality of how the u.s. is perceived, bush and cheney's reply is and always will be: "So."

trust me, brett, we here in the states are acutely aware of how our country is perceived.

whether an attack on iran occurs before his term ends is not for me to say, what i am saying is that i believe he wants it and will continue to seek ways to justify it. for what it's worth, i was vacationing near phoenix recently and attended a talk by former cia analyst, ray mcgovern. he observed that the chances of a u.s. attack on iran is about 50/50.

finally, this discussion you and i are having is one of the main problems that i write about. people are ignoring the role of a democratic congress and its unwillingness to "chain the dogs of war" and just as importantly the many progressive groups who don't feel a need to pressure the Democrats on this issue.

thanks for your insights, brett.

by Cheryl Biren-Wright (17 articles, 16 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 323 comments) on Sunday, April 20, 2008 at 11:34:19 PM
 

I believe Cheney said "So?" not "So".

Which is what a criminal says when he or she is caught in the act.

The question the criminal is asking is "so what are you going to do about it?"

The next move is the other parties and "so?" concisely captures that recognition. It asks the other party what they dare do?  

The world produces villains from time to time that do more than talk they take action. Cheney and Bush have been actors not talkers. They both know they are going to die anyway and they don't care that they are not universally loved.

When a criminal says So? The answer is prosecution. With the law if there is a law and with some extra-lawful action when there is none.

In American western culture when a bandit looked a citizen in the eye and said so after stealing his horse or raping his wife he wanted to see what the citizen was going to do about it, not what they were going to say about it.  

9-11 can be considered a partial answer to the American question of "So?".

I do trust that you and many others that post here and are activists do know how the United States is perceived Cheryl. But I am not sure that you and those that post here are typical. Actually I am pretty sure that you are not.

There is not enough prosecutor in the united states citizen. And so the answer to "so?" will eventually be acts not words by vigilantees.

I think the impeachment movement will be ignored politically by the Conyers, Pelosi's, Clintons and Obama's until there are actions that make those sort of people read and listen to the arguments that are written in the books about impeachment and which, as you have pointed out, Conyers has substantially written himself.

There is not enough stick to the impeachment movement and the impeachment activists can't compete with corporations in the offering of carrots to politicians that are taking only the short and opportunistic view.

by Brett Paatsch (0 articles, 2 quicklinks, 21 diaries, 961 comments) on Monday, April 21, 2008 at 12:10:59 AM
 

Re: TrueMajority Drops a Bomb, ball on the Philly Debate

Very nice article and photographs Cheryl.

If I could just note that it isn't Bush per say that seeking such a heinous attack on Iran. It is his handlers i.e. Cheney, and his handlers the corporate elite who are now in control of our United States government. It is no longer about "We the People." Anyone who believes otherwise is delusional. As brilliant author Naomi Wolf has written "The End of America." It is quite sad that a credulous and greedy America has allowed this to occur. It's far beyond Bush who is merely a usurping cardboard cowboy, a truculent puppet who's strings are now entwined by this contrived and maniacal web of deceit, the wrath they've wrought upon an America now in dire straits.

For years they groomed this psychotic little man, knowing full-well that if they were to have him run their abhorrent agenda, they would first need to fix the election process. That mission's already been accomplished, we're now witnessing the tragic outcome. Sadly, this plan has been in the works for many, many years. It is your New World Order whether we like it or not. Illegal oil wars, death, destruction and Middle East hegemony.  

Has anyone yet listened to this astounding video?   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbV8duHcXX0 

Barack Obama, yeah, right!    

by Munich (0 articles, 53 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 737 comments) on Monday, April 21, 2008 at 12:29:14 PM
 

For those who want to avoid war with Iran, get involved in

For those who want to avoid war with Iran, get involved in the WEEK OF TRUTH CAMPAIGN - April 16 to 22nd.

www.WeekofTruth.org

by Bill Douglas (68 articles, 2 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 434 comments) on Monday, April 21, 2008 at 1:30:25 AM
 

To Impeach before Nov 4, Do Something Different, Quickly!

I get the impression from listening to all of you that you believe that if we could achieve the impeachment of Cheney or Bush that it would improve our standing in the international community tremendously. We agree and also do not think we will ever begin to control the war mongers in either party unless we cause one to be impeached very soon, before the November election.

And why haven't we caused impeachment?

We've marched, protested, fasted, are holding strikes, vigils, sit-ins, die-ins and god knows what else to no avail whatsoever as long as Congress ignores us. The media, wanting access and good treatment from Congress, will also ignore us as long as Congress does.

What can we do that is different and radical enough to get action by Congress?

Perhaps realizing that Congress itself is the current clear and present danger to the Constitution will help. If Congress takes an oath to defend the Constitution and does not, it is the enemy of both the Constitution and the people. I am not proposing rebellion, but how are we to get their attention?

In Colorado we have done over 110 impeachment events in 14 months, all of which have been ignored by our Colorado Congressmen. We have tried to learn from that and come up with a plan that could cause our Congressmen to pay attention.

Our conclusion was that we need to find the Democratic Congressmen who are running for re-election or for the Senate and are in tight races and campaign against them primarily on the point that they are a traitor to their oath when they do not rise to the defense of the Constitution and call for Impeachment Hearings. If they won't defend the Constitution they probably won't do a good job of defending the rights of the voters. You get the idea. We are campaigning against Rep. Udall using harsh language. We also say he is betraying and diminishing the power of Congress itself if he does not defend it against the executive branch.

Our Colorado Congressman Udall is running for the Senate. According to a recent poll there is 2.6 % between him and his Republican opponent. We need only move the public's perception of him by 1.31 percent to get his attention. We believe that it will take a lot less money, people and effort to do that effectively than trying to persuade Congressman from "safe districts" to impeach. We believe that with enough pressure either Udall or one of the "safe seat" Congressmen will change their mind on impeachment.

A prominent local member of the peace and justice community asked me recently why we are going after Udall saying that surely we don't want the Republican to win the Senate seat.

I replied No, we don't want Schaffer over Udall, but if pressuring Udall within a hair of losing the election will get one or more of our Colorado Congressmen to come out for impeachment, we'll take the risk."

Getting the US House to hold impeachment hearings would go a long way to putting some steel in their collective spine for our other goals and would help restore much needed influence of the peace and justice/anti-war community. We think it is worth the risk of losing one or two Democratic Congressmen across the country.

We think that the Democrats will add to their majorities in the House and Senate no matter what pressure we activists put on them. It is more a matter of affecting the extent of that increased majority. No Congressman wants to be the one to lose by a few votes and that could happen to Udall. And more importantly, no senior Congressman wants to lose a Chairmanship they have enjoyed for the first time in 10 years, or if they are anticipating gaining a Chair, having it snatched away at the last minute by rabid protesters. We think it is possible to build on all Congressmen's fear of losing by attacking the weaker candidates. It is not just about one candidate's race but about the percentage of Democrats in Congress. We can worry all of them by challenging that percentage.   

The Colorado plan is to pressure the weaker Democratic Congressional candidates, the ones in tight races for either House or Senate. We think that will put pressure on both the "tight race: Democratic Candidates themselves and the "safe seat" Dems as well to support impeachment hearings. It is to Rep. DeGette's advantage to have a higher number of House seats held by Democrats, it affects Committee assignments and senority, and her power and influence.

We have been protesting at our Congressman Udall's state campaign headquarters, at public appearances, at even Repuiblican events where we can get our point about Udall noticed. We even protest against Udall at the offices of other Colorado Democratic Congessmen like Rep. DeGette.

Since we have started down this path the honking at our impeach protests has easily quadrupled. We think the voters are aware that the problem really is our Democratic Congressmen and they are glad that we are doing something about it. We recently had feedback from the Udall campaign via a well known local Democratic blogger and rabid Udall supporter asking us to back off. The plan is working here.

We are asking all activists across the Country to consider changing your emphasis from the anti-war path to that of challenging the fitness for re-election of all Democratic Candidates for the House or Senate based on their not protecting the Constitution and Separation Of Powers. Sticking to this one point will help us teach the public about the necessity for protecting the Constitution by Impeachment and for doing it now. 

Stopping the illegal Iraq War requires that UFPJ and other anti-war activists shift their emphasis for a few months to impeachment.  An organization that can field over 1,000 protests on the Anniversary of the Iraq War should do no less for impeachment, as impeachment may be the only way to stop the war soon.

Contact us at "protestinthestreet@yahoo.com" 

John H Kennedy, Denver CO

Impeach Colorado Coalition http://ImpeachCO.com

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by John H Kennedy (6 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 95 comments) on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at 11:01:56 AM
 

i'm with you john

in fact, think we've been on some of the same national impeach conference calls. we're working on the congressional issue as well in new jersey's district 1. we do struggle with the majority of our citizenry who are too afraid of ending up with a republican, but we keep at it. impeachment has pretty much consumed me for the last two years - as i said in an earlier post not impeaching will be the biggest blow to our democracy we've ever known.

regarding the war(s) and potential for one in Iran, we must keep up the pressure. remember. . . silence is betrayal. that said, some of us who have full-time jobs, kids, and are committed to impeachment are also putting energy into the war issue as well. the result? very fragmented sleep, dirty dishes, but a clear conscience.

by Cheryl Biren-Wright (17 articles, 16 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 323 comments) on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at 12:23:11 PM