| Progressive Calendar 10.11.06 | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: David Shove (shove001 tc.umn.edu)
|
|
| Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 04:20:13 -0700 (PDT) | |
O P R O G R E S S I V E C A L E N D A R 10.11.06 1. Police chief concerns 10.11 8am 2. Pentel/forum 10.11 9am 3. Truth/peace/ethics 10.11-12 9am 4. Middle East 10.11 12noon 5. Save Habeas Corpus 10.11-12 12noon 6. Taxi dereg/compensate 10.11 1pm 7. GP lit drop 10.11 5pm 8. Sustain/MN/oil/Cuba 10.11 6:30pm 9. LWV Ramsey Co forum 10.11 7pm 10. Iraq/film 10.11 7pm 11. Stadium/TACSR 10.11 7pm 12. Finney/Fletcher fora 10.11 8pm 13. Gov debate/Pentel/TV 10.11 9pm 14. Walker rummage sale 10.11 15. Rhoda Gilman - Greens endorse candidate for Soil and Water Commission 16. Cindy Sheehan - A nation still at war 17. Chris Hedges - Bush's nuclear apocalypse --------1 of 17-------- Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 21:53:28 -0500 From: Dave Bicking <dave [at] colorstudy.com> Subject: Police chief concerns 10.11 8am In the midst of this crazy election season, when many of us are stretched to the limit, other issues still come up that are too important to ignore. In Minneapolis, the selection of a new police chief is one of those issues. The mayor's choice for police chief, Tim Dolan, is being considered at tomorrow morning's Executive Committee meeting. We need to be there in force to oppose this nomination. Communities United Against Police Brutality is organizing with other community groups for a presence at City Hall starting at 8am tomorrow morning. *** Wednesday, October 11, we gather at 8am, Executive Committee meeting starts at 9:30am. Gather inside Mpls City Hall on the third floor - at the Council chambers, Room 317, or at the Mayor's office nearby. Our purpose will be to meet with the mayor, with his representatives, or with members of the Executive Committee before their meeting. They must see our opposition and our anger. The Executive Committee is voting tomorrow morning on whether to nominate Tim Dolan for consideration by the City Council. The five people on the Executive Committee have this authority - as I understand it, an authority similar to the President's authority to choose a nominee for the Supreme Court, for example. It is NOT the duty of the Executive Committee to simply pass on any nomination recommended by the mayor. Whoever the Executive Committee nominates should be the best candidate for the position, in their judgement. Their nominee is then voted up or down by the Public Safety Committee, and then the full Council. If they nominate Tim Dolan, then that is the only person that the Council is able to consider, unless they vote against him, which would then mean the process starts over and a new nominee would have to be chosen. So tomorrow's vote is a substantive decision, and a very important one. It may well be the best chance to defeat Dolan: there is the possibility that a majority of the Executive Committee will vote against him. If the nomination goes to the City Council, it is expected to pass. Cam Gordon's vote is key. The Executive Committee has five members. The mayor and Barb Johnson are guaranteed votes for Dolan. If Cam votes for Dolan, his nomination passes. It is possible, though by no means assured, that the two remaining members - Lilligren and Benson may vote against. We need to gather tomorrow morning to show opposition to Dolan as permanent police chief. He has been the acting chief since the departure of McManus. A vote for Dolan is a vote for the status quo. It is said by some that Dolan is as good as we can get, or that there are no alternatives. Given the status quo in our police department, I would say that that is not good enough - it is simply NOT ACCEPTABLE. Cam, you are on this list. I ask you PLEASE to vote against Dolan. As I listened to people speak at the rally today, as I listened to the stories, it struck me that this is a LIFE AND DEATH DECISION. It really is no less than that. Innocent people are being killed by our police force, and it will continue until we have a police chief who brings discipline to the force, and to the officers involved. How many more will die before the end of your first term? Is that OK? Also, crime victims are being killed in this city, and the same discipline needs to be brought to the police force to make them more effective in the job they are supposed to do. With the current leadership, effective community policing, working with the community, is impossible. Those proven methods simply do not work when the police do not respect the people, and the people fear the police. I strongly support the sentiments expressed by Michelle Gross on this list. Cam, please listen to the people with the most experience and knowledge on this issue. The various groups that work on police brutality do not always agree; sometimes they work against each other. But it appears that they ALL agree on this: that Tim Dolan is unfit to be police chief. To all the rest of you - please come down to City Hall tomorrow morning and stay as long as you can. Sorry for the short notice. We tried to meet with the mayor this afternoon, but he wouldn't show. His representative said we needed to make an appointment. Sounds fair. So we tried to make an appointment and were told he couldn't meet at any time before October 25th! So much for making an appointment. Tomorrow morning is OUR appointment downtown whether they like it or not. Please join us!!! --- Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 21:28:36 -0500 From: Michelle Gross <mgresist [at] minn.net> SUCCESSFUL ACTION DESPITE GETTING THE BIG F*CK-YOU FROM RYBAK--WE NEED YOU TOMORROW! CUAPB, members of the Community Unity team of the PCRC and others were downtown today for a show of force in our determination to stop the appointment of Tim Dolan as chief of police from going forward. Members of Dominic Felder's family were on hand in a powerful statement undermining the Dolan candidacy. After a rousing rally outside of city hall the crowd marched, chanting into the city council office and presented a letter demanding a meeting with the Executive Committee BEFORE their vote tomorrow morning on the Dolan nomination. While the rest of the city council members hid behind closed doors, Ralph Remington came out to acknowledge the group and Cam Gordon came out to accept our letter, though he would not give us any reassurance of a meeting tomorrow or any role for the community in the selection process other than coming to the public hearing on October 18th--way too late to do any good. We let it be known that we will be back in the morning and will not be satisfied unless we meet with the executive committee. From there, we moved down to the mayor's office. The crowd jam packed into the outer office, chanting, and demanded a meeting with the mayor. RT had other plans, however, and in a real "f*ck you" to the community, he hid away while sending "yes man" Sherman Patterson out to deal with us. He kept running the same line over and over--we should have called for an appointment. We replied that we pay the mayor and he does need to answer to us. When we continued to demand an immediate meeting with RT, Patterson went out of the room and then came back with an appointment for October 25th--well after the police chief would be appointed. What a crock! We left with the promise that we will be back in the morning. I know it's late and people have to work but we really need you tomorrow morning, 8:00 a.m. at City Hall. Meet at the Father of the Waters statue (4th Street entrance). We will be insisting on a meeting with the Executive Committee before their vote tomorrow. BE THERE! -- Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 00:46:23 -0500 From: Dave Bicking <dave [at] colorstudy.com> Comment from another: > Aside from citing Dolan's history, the message from Lydia and CUAPB > contains a lot more heat than light. When did the council vote occur? > Cam had scheduled a community input meeting on the appointment for > Monday night (10/9) - did the meeting happen? What was its result? > Does CUAPB have an alternative candidate(s) in mind for Police Chief? > If so, who? If not, why not? > > Can we get a little more info and a little less rant? I'll agree that more information would be a good thing. Michelle Gross has supplied a lot of detailed information in her writings, but not all of those are forwarded to this listserve. I HIGHLY recommend for everyone to subscribe to the Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB) email newsletter. Go to http://www.cuapb.org and click on the "Join Our Mailing List" at the bottom of the left column. It won't get you a lot of emails (I wish they were more frequent). The writing is excellent - possibly the best and most informative that I receive from any group. I hope the Green Party will become more active and more informed on this issue. It is very important to people's lives, particularly in the inner city. It is a critical part of the struggle against racism - disproportionate arrest and imprisonment is a key factor leading to discrimination in housing and employment. It's the "right thing to do". It is also important to the diversity that we often lament our lack of. If we wish to be a less white and middle-class movement, we certainly need to "reach out." But I have always felt that the most important thing to do is to work on the issues of particular concern to poor people and people of color: police brutality and harrassment, homelessness, minimum wage, renter's rights, etc. These are issues that we should be working on anyway. If we are committed to, and effective on, these issues, "diverse" people will come to us. I want to bring a little more "light" to this issue. But first, let me speak in favor of "heat" also. Sometimes the Green Party suffers from a lack of heat - the kind that comes from day-to-day experiences of oppression, the daily indignities suffered by the poor. Anger is a legitimate and important motivator of our activism. My favorite bumper sticker: "If you are not outraged, you are not paying attention." The last questions first: No, to my knowledge, the CUAPB does not have an alternate candidate in mind. How could they really? The secretive and devious process that has resulted in Dolan's nomination has been designed to virtually eliminate any alternatives that we could consider. The obvious presumption that Dolan would be the mayor's choice (we all pretty much knew that, didn't we?) certainly suppressed interest and applications from other qualified candidates. Why should they put themselves forward when they already suspect that they would not have much of a chance? Even given that problem, the process could have been more open. I have heard that data practices regulations prohibit the publication of names, qualifications, and applications of applicants for a position like this until the field is narrowed to three candidates. It is only after the field has narrowed, and the names have been released, that the public, or even most public officials, can investigate and comment on the qualifications of one candidate relative to the others. It has been known for over 6 months that McManus was leaving. Yet out of those 6 months, just days were allowed between the time the three finalists were known, and the time that the final selection was made. I searched for those dates: The StarTribune article announcing the three finalists was published on Friday, Sept. 8th. (http://www.startribune.com/462/story/665806.html ) The article on the City website announcing the selection of Dolan was published the next Monday, Sept 11th. That's just three days later, and two of those are weekend days. How much more blatant can you get?! For CUAPB to propose an alternate choice for chief, they would have to know who is available and actually wants the job. How could they possibly know that? That is why cities do searches, often hiring firms that specialize in that. So all we or CUAPB can call for is Dolan's rejection, followed by a new search for appropriate candidates. I did not go to the 10/9 meeting that Cam held for community input - only because I had a conflict that I could not reschedule. I appreciate Cam's willingness to hold such a meeting. Even though I agree with much of Michelle Gross's critique of Cam on this issue, let's remember that he is, on most issues, way better than any of the other City Council members. The Mpls City Council is much worse than I had imagined when I first started my own City Council campaign. I can't find any written account of Cam's meeting. When I talked to Michelle Gross this afternoon, she certainly didn't seem pleased with the outcome or with Cam's understanding of the issue. I would be interested in anyone's report on the meeting.... Briefly, here is the process for Dolan's confirmation. The Executive Committee of the Mpls City Council two weeks ago filed Dolan's name for consideration. Cam and others say this was a mere formality - a notice to the public that he was being considered for nomination. Others feel that there was no need to even take this step. Council member Robert Lilligren did abstain from that vote because he did not want to be seen as approving of Dolan. (Members of the Executive Committee: Mayor Rybak, Council members Lilligren, Gordon, Scott Benson, and Barb Johnson) Tomorrow morning (October 11, 9:30am) is the next meeting of the Executive Committee. At this meeting they will vote whether to actually nominate Dolan for consideration by the Council. At this point, he is simply the mayor's choice, based upon a long (but essentially meaningless) search process. When Dolan is nominated, he is considered by the Council, which can only vote yes or no - they have no other names to consider as alternatives. I and the CUAPB are appealing to Cam to vote NO tomorrow morning!!! If he is nominated, he will be considered first by the Public Safety & Regulatory Committee of the Council on Wednesday, October 18th. (Cam is also on that committee.) There will be a public hearing, I believe that morning at 9:30am, rather than the normal meeting time of 1:30pm. We really need people to come out and testify!!! If he is approved by the Committee on the 18th, he goes on to a vote of the full City Council on Friday morning, October 27. The mayor's signature is the final step. I believe that gives him a three- year contract, to be reviewed again at the end of 2009. This is a very important issue. It is truly a life and death issue. Innocent people are being killed by our police force, and it will continue until we have a police chief who brings discipline to the force, and to the officers involved. How many more will die before the end of Cam Gordon's first term? Is that OK? The Green Party will be judged by Cam's actions on this. He has taken strong principled stands on other issues. I truly hope he will take a strong principled stand against Dolan's nomination. --- Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 04:11:15 -0500 From: Jordan Kushner <kushn002 [at] umn.edu> This is definitely a pivotal vote for an elected official to maintain a claim to be a grassroots movement progressive. For Cam, it will be a test of whether he is accountable to social change forces or has been coopted into the system. As for Rybak, this demonstrates how his commitment to police reform which he emphasized so much when courting activists including the Green Party when he first campaigned in 2001 is totally phony. Cam now needs to step forward and demonstrate that he is not a phony Rybak progressive. Thanks Dave [Bicking] for doing the organizing and bringing this issue to people's attention. Can't make it to City Hall but keep the information out there. --------2 of 17-------- From: Ken Pentel <kenpentel [at] yahoo.com> Subject: Pentel/forum 10.11 9am WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11TH - Senior Federation State Conventions Candidate Forum Location: Maple Grove Community Center, 12951 Weaver Lake Road. Time: 9am Elderly meeting in St. Paul 1830 University at 4:30pm --------3 of 17-------- From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com> Subject: Truth/peace/ethics 10.11-12 9am 10/11 and 10/12, starting 9 am, free (optional $10 lunch) 2-day symposium "Truth, Peace, and Ethics" concerning the peace movement and public citizenship, philosophy and medical ethics, at Cowles Auditorium at the Humphrey Institute, 301 - 19th Ave S, Mpls and Great Hall of Coffman Union, 300 Washington Ave, Mpls. www.phrm.umn.edu or Kirk Allison at U of M, 612-626-6559. --------4 of 17-------- From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com> Subject: Middle East 10.11 12noon Wednesday, 10/11, noon to 1:15, Institute for Global Studies sponsors Macalester prof Mohammed Bamyeh and U of M prof Timothy Brennan speak on "Toward a New Middle East: Beyond Empire and Force," Blegen 235, 269 - 19th Ave S, West Bank U of M, Mpls. Reception follows in 246 Social Science, 267 - 19th Ave S, Mpls. http://igs.cla.umn.edu --------5 of 17-------- From: MADELINE SIMON <madeline-mpls [at] msn.com> Subject: Save Habeas Corpus 10.11-12 12noon 10/11 & 10/12: Save Habeas Corpus--Be part of a delegation to the offices of Coleman, Ramstad, Sabo and Dayton to express outrage about the recent passage of Bush's Military-trials Bill (S 3930) which removes the right of Habeas Corpus, the impact of which is that even a US citizen could be imprisoned without its' legal Constitutional protection. We will deliver copies of Kendyl Gibbons' scathing sermon on the topic (tape and printed) (She said: "Why aren't we screaming!") and an excerpt from the Nuremburg trials opening statement. Wednesday, 10/11: (Voice our Outrage for their votes) 12:00 noon, meet at Sen. Norm Coleman's office, 2550 University Ave. W., St. Paul, MN (then drive together and...) 1:00 pm, meet at Rep. Jim Ramstad's office, 1809 Plymouth Road (Ste 300), Minnetonka Directions from Coleman's office to Ramstad's office: Turn right (SE) onto University from the office, to first right on Eustis, merge onto 280 S, and then merge on 94 W, follow 94W to 394 W (exit 231A), take 394 West 7.8 miles to exit 1B (Plymouth Road). Turn left onto Plymouth Road only 1/10 mile to the office (you'll have to do a u-turn at Ridgedale Dr since office is on the other side of Plymouth). Thursday, 10/12 (Thank them for their vote) 12:00 noon, meet at Rep. Martin Sabo's office, 250 Second Ave. S., Minneapolis 1:00 pm, meet at Sen. Mark Dayton's office, Federal Building, Suite 298, Federal Drive, Fort Snelling, St. Paul. Directions from Sabo's office to Dayton's office: Easiest: Take the Light Rail! Direct, 20 minutes, $1.50 fare ($.50 for seniors). By Car: turn right onto Washington Ave (SE), to right on 4th Ave. S., to left onto 8th Street (headed East), merge onto Hiawatha (55) South, follow all the way to Fort Snelling. You'll cross over or under 62/55, and end up on Minnehaha in Fort Snelling area. Turn right on Federal Drive. If you have any questions please call either of the Madeline/Madalyn team! We're going to leave the carpooling up to you. Call a couple friends and bring them along with you! Madalyn Cioci: 612-926-5249 Madeline Simon: 952-854-2976 FOR FURTHER ACTIONS TO SAVE HABEAS CORPUS SEE: http://map.actionsoptions.org/actions/details/?id=20<http://map.actionsoptions.org/actions/details/?id=20> --------6 of 17-------- From: Tamir Nolley <ochibaba2 [at] yahoo.com> Subject: Taxi dereg/compensation 10.11 1pm For all of those interested, there will be a demonstration at City Hall at 1:00pm tomorrow urging the Mayor to veto the ill conceived changes to the Minneapolis taxi ordinance. The attempted action lifts the license cap, and in the process reduces the value of the taxi license to nothing. Many owner operators have taken out second mortgages and are still paying off loans for these licenses. Attempts to have a task force study the issues, including compensation to current license holder, and have all new licenses be for fuel efficient or wheelchair access vans were voted down. The task force will be restricted to customer service and disability issues. Please support our cab drivers. 1:00pm Wednesday, October 11 --------7 of 17-------- From: Krisrose02 [at] aol.com Subject: GP lit drop 10.11 5pm GP Volunteers! Coordinated Lit Dropping, coffee, and fun!! 10.11.06 Meet us at the Riverview Cafe on Wednesday, Oct 11 at 5:00 pm. As Election Day gets nearer, we must get out the message and the vote! Our GP candidates are counting on our energy and passion to help them, help us, reach our campaign goals this year!! The Riverview Cafe is at 3745 42nd Ave S. in Minneapolis. See you there! FMI Kristen Olson 651-210-0789 --------8 of 17-------- From: Lisa Boyd <tigerlily64 [at] peoplepc.com> Subject: Sustain/MN/oil/Cuba 10.11 6:30pm "How Do We Build a Sustainable Minnesota?" Wednesday, October 11th, 6:30 pm Rondo Community Outreach Library (Dale St. and University Ave., St. Paul) Hear: a Report on Gardens of Eagan's victory over Big Oil! Watch: an inspirational documentary, "The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil." Discuss: ideas and strategies for building a more sustainable Minnesota. This will be a great opportunity to gather inspiration from what others have achieved, and brainstorm ways to move together towards a more sustainable future! Join Us! Sponsored by MN Metro WILPF, Corporations v. Democracy Committee FFI: Karen at 651-283-3495 or vegan14ever [at] riseup.net --------9 of 17-------- From: Diane J. Peterson <birch7 [at] comcast.net> Subject: LWV Ramsey Co forum 10.11 7pm The League of Women Voters is putting on a forum for candidates for Ramsey County Sheriff (Bill Finney and Bob Fletcher) Second District Court Seat 28 (Elena Ostby and Jay Benanav), and candidates for Soil and Water Conservation District 1 on Wednesday, October 11, starting at 7 p.m. Roseville Area High School 1240 County Rd. B2 West Roseville --------10 of 17-------- From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com> Subject: Iraq/film 10.11 7pm Wednesday, 10/11, 7 pm, film "Iraq for Sale" at Roseville Library 2180 N Hamline Ave, Roseville. 651-628-6803. (Others at www.dfalink.com/search_iraqforsale.php) --------11 of 17-------- From: Ron Holch <rrholch [at] attg.net> Subject: Stadium/TACSR 10.11 7pm Taxpayers For an Anoka County Stadium Referendum Wednesday October 11, at 7:00 PM Centennial High School Red Building - Room 104 4704 North Road Circle Pines, MN The red building is on the east end of the high school complex, and is set back furthest from North Road. Enter on the East side of the building. The largest parking lots are near this building. No matter where you live in Minnesota, if you haven't already done so please write your representatives and tell them we do not need to waste more money on stadium giveaways to Billionaires. Please continue to tell them we want a vote as required by state law for any tax increase to pay for a stadium. Write letters to your local paper too. If you have done these things once already do it again. The time is now. AGENDA ITEMS INCLUDE: November Elections Website Lawn Signs for sale! What happens after the Elections? Any Questions, comments contact me at: Ron Holch rrholch [at] attg.net <mailto:rrholch [at] attg.net> --------12 of 17-------- From: Renee Jenson <faarjenson [at] qwest.net> Subject: Finney/Fletcher forum 10.11 8pm On Wednesday, October 11 @ 8 PM - 9 PM the League of Women Voters will be hosting a Ramsey County Sheriff Debate at Roseville Senior High School, 1240 County Road B2. This should be lots of fun because we all remember what happened the last time Sheriff Fletcher was at a LOWV debate. I hope this one is televised. I'm speaking at NAMI that night so I will miss it. I'll have to TIVO it I guess. I hope all the participants have learned something from the last fiasco. The next day Thursday, October 12 from 7 PM - 8:30 PM the Citizens Advisory Committee of Ramsey County will have a forum for all the citizens of Ramsey County at the Northeast Metro Area Learning Center Auditorium, 70 W. County Road B2. Now I have heard rumors that one of the Sheriff candidates, who shall remain nameless, doesn't want to come and talk to the citizen's in Ramsey County. I don't blame him. We have tough questions. We're a tough audience. Ask Chief Harrington. He came and talked to us. He did a GREAT job. You know, if you can't talk to the citizen's about their concerns, well... the person doesn't deserve to be Sheriff of Ramsey County. It's my hope both candidates will show up to the forum on the 12th and make a real effort to answer the concerns of the people in the county honestly. Both of these guys are big tough guys. They should be able to handle a few questions. If not, then something is wrong. In this case, I guess the absence of a candidate will speak volumes. --------13 of 17-------- From: Tori Johnston <tori_j [at] msn.com> Subject: Gov debate/Pentel/CTV 10.11 9pm [M5DGP] Gubernatorial Debate on tv with Ken Wed Oct 11th Please forward to friends. Sorry for cross posts. This will include Ken Pentel and may or may not include Hatch and Pawlenty. Channel 23 (Cable channel 8) Wednesday Oct 11th 9-10 pm Humorous Star and Tribune article although the link doesn't always work. http://www.startribune.com/587/story/727368.html<http://www.startribune.com/587/story/727368.html> Thank you, Tori Johnston Campaign Manager Ken Pentel for Governor www.kenpentel.org<http://www.kenpentel.org/> --------14 of 17-------- From: "Anne Tiller" <amtsunflower984 [at] hotmail.com> Subject: Walker rummage sale 10.11 LAST MINUTE DONATIONS NEEDED! As per the request of Kristine and Wayne, donations are needed for the annual autumn Walker Community Methodist Church Rummage Sale which starts Thursday evening Oct. 12 and ends Sunday, October 15. All Items are being accepted ESPECIALLY WINTER CLOTHES of all sizes, men and women, children and babies. Shoes, coats, jewlery, sheets, anything you have that is cluttering up your closets and weighing you down. Clean it out now and here's your chance to get rid of it and help support a great community effort. You can even request a receipt for tax deductions. Please bring your items over to the Walker Church side door and down to the basement of the church by Wednesday evening or LATEST Thursday before noon....SO they can be priced and put out for the sale. Address of the Walker Church is 3104 16th Ave. S., Minneapolis Contact Kristine at 612-220-5212 or 612-285-8187 --------15 of 17-------- From: Rhoda Gilman <rhodagilman [at] earthlink.net> Subject: Greens endorse candidate for Soil and Water Commission Green Party endorses candidate for Ramsey County Soil and Water Commission. Contact: Rhoda Gilman, GPSP spokesperson, (651) 224-6383 John Loban, (651) 225-3928 The Green Party of St. Paul voted unanimously on October 7 to endorse John Loban in his run for soil and water commissioner from District 4. The district, which includes all of St. Paul west of Rice Street on the north and Robert Street on the south, is now represented by MaryJane (Rachner) Reagan. Loban, a realtor and former school teacher, has a long record of volunteer service on community boards and planning groups. He is also known for his activity in house restoration and historic preservation. In 1993 he was a candidate for the St. Paul city council. Green Party members believe that his civic experience and dedication to conservation will give needed leadership to the commission in its function of protecting Ramsey County's urban/suburban environment. "Green Party issues could provide insight and alternatives to help achieve a consensus on controversial issues," said Loban in seeking the endorsement. He agrees that although the powers of the soil and water commission are limited, its influence could be far wider if members spoke out on vital environmental questions, like the proposed airport flood wall. The five soil and water commissioners must reside in the district they represent, but they are elected by voters throughout the county. Members from districts 1 and 4 are up for election this year. The other three commissioners will be chosen in 2008. Holders of the office meet once a month and receive no salary. --------16 of 17-------- A Nation Still at War by Cindy Sheehan Saturday, October 7, 2006 CommonDreams.org While Democrats are jumping for joy and Republicans are scrambling like Keystone Kops and falling all over each other to cover their asses, 25 of our brave young children have been killed in Iraq. While Democrats are busy counting their un-hatched chickens and Republicans are getting muscle cramps from pointing fingers at everyone, including the pages that Foley hunted down, but themselves, Congress was busy erasing from common law and our constitution our centuries old rights to habeas corpus. (If anyone thinks that this abomination will only extend to "terrorists", I say: "how do you like living in fantasyland?") The Foleygate scandal may be the thing that finally brings the corrupt party of gloat and bloat down, but it should be Iraq. It should be suspending habeas corpus. It should be the lies and subsequent cover-ups of the lies that led to now 2738 of our young people coming home to 2738 families in flag-draped coffins; not the scandal and subsequent cover-up of Foley and his corruption. The war, which was never a popular news story, has fallen far behind Foley in coverage. However, the most important and potentially damaging story of all: Congress voting, once again, to consolidate power in the executive branch, by giving BushCo power to imprison us without our due process, is not in the public awareness at all. I guess I should also be jumping for joy that something is bringing the party of the corporations and hypocrites down, but I feel molested and by the entire Congress. We the people who do feel violated by Congress and by this out of control administration know that Congress has been busy invalidating themselves during the past six years and it may be very hard to regain any power, because by George, George has already exonerated himself from the crimes against humanity he and the rest of the ne.er do well neocons have committed. I read an article about a mother whose son was deployed to Iraq and he was to be home in December. He is one of the soldiers who has been killed this month. The poor mom was at home when her door bell rang, and she reports that she immediately knew (we all know) who was at her door and she started "screaming". I have, unfortunately, been there and done that. I know what that mom has been going through since her son flew off to this misguided and evil occupation of Iraq. She has spent many sleepless nights and had many panic attacks and "unexplained" crying jags. She has been waiting for the other shoe to drop for almost a year. She started to relax just a little and she was planning for a joyous Christmas with her son finally home to rejoin the family. She knew that there would be some adjustment and awkwardness, but she knew that plenty of good food and motherly love would pull her son through the re-adjustment period. Well, that awful other shoe dropped and now her life is changed forever. She was looking forward to her son's happy homecoming now all she can look forward to is a life of pain and longing. 25 families this month. 2000 since Casey was killed. 2600 since George declared "mission accomplished" on May 01, 2003. 3000 Iraqi families are devastated by we Americans every month. When will it end? I wish I could say that I have confidence in our electoral process and in our Congress, but I don't. I am naively hoping that the Democrats will take Congress back and George and his crime family will be held accountable, but given the fact that the Democrats haven't really done anything for us in the past 6 years, I am not holding my breath. Friend - it is going to take us (me and you) to effect any changes in this country. From the anti-slavery movement to the Civil Rights movement, to every good movement in between, it has been we the people demanding these changes and not resting until we got them. Good comes from the bottom up - crap rolls down hill. I am tired of getting crapped on by our government - when will it be enough for you? We are covered with crap and our leaders aren't going to clean it up - we have to. Gold Star Families for Peace is planning on convening on the White House on election day and the day after. We hope that there are enough Americans who are willing to stand up and be counted with us to demonstrate to BushCo and Congress, Inc. that we are tired of having our rights taken away from us faster than our bombs destroyed Babylon. We are tired of having our young people die and kill innocent people to enhance corporate America's bottom line. We are tired of the constant drip, drip, drip of the wearing away of everything that we hold dear. I withdrew my consent to be governed by maniacs long ago. I withdraw my consent to be hauled off to Guantanamo and be stashed away for matriotically dissenting from this crime-ridden regime. Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired of the corruption and heartache? Show your discontent with us. There hasn't been a constitutionally declared war since WWII - further evidence that Congress is invalid. George Bush is the dictator he always wanted to be - thanks to our representatives who we elect to protect our rights - not give them to someone who has proven to be irresponsible. Cindy Sheehan is the mother of Specialist Casey Austin Sheehan who was KIA by BushCo on 04/04/04. She is the founder of Gold Star Families for Peace and the author of three books, including: Peace Mom, A Mother.s Journey from Heartache to Activism. --------17 of 17--------- Bush's Nuclear Apocalypse by Chris Hedges Monday, October 9, 2006 truthdig<http://www.truthdig.com/> The aircraft carrier Eisenhower, accompanied by the guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio, guided-missile destroyer USS Ramage, guided-missile destroyer USS Mason and the fast-attack submarine USS Newport News, is, as I write, making its way to the Straits of Hormuz off Iran. The ships will be in place to strike Iran by the end of the month. It may be a bluff. It may be a feint. It may be a simple show of American power. But I doubt it. War with IranĄ˝a war that would unleash an apocalyptic scenario in the Middle EastĄ˝is probable by the end of the Bush administration. It could begin in as little as three weeks. This administration, claiming to be anointed by a Christian God to reshape the world, and especially the Middle East, defined three states at the start of its reign as "the Axis of Evil." They were Iraq, now occupied; North Korea, which, because it has nuclear weapons, is untouchable; and Iran. Those who do not take this apocalyptic rhetoric seriously have ignored the twisted pathology of men like Elliott Abrams, who helped orchestrate the disastrous and illegal contra war in Nicaragua, and who now handles the Middle East for the National Security Council. He knew nothing about Central America. He knows nothing about the Middle East. He sees the world through the childish, binary lens of good and evil, us and them, the forces of darkness and the forces of light. And it is this strange, twilight mentality that now grips most of the civilian planners who are barreling us towards a crisis of epic proportions. These men advocate a doctrine of permanent war, a doctrine which, as William R. Polk points out, is a slight corruption of Leon Trotsky's doctrine of permanent revolution. These two revolutionary doctrines serve the same function, to intimidate and destroy all those classified as foreign opponents, to create permanent instability and fear and to silence domestic critics who challenge leaders in a time of national crisis. It works. The citizens of the United States, slowly being stripped of their civil liberties, are being herded sheep-like, once again, over a cliff. But this war will be different. It will be catastrophic. It will usher in the apocalyptic nightmares spun out in the dark, fantastic visions of the Christian right. And there are those around the president who see this vision as preordained by God; indeed, the president himself may hold such a vision. The hypocrisy of this vaunted moral crusade is not lost on those in the Middle East. Iran actually signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It has violated a codicil of that treaty written by European foreign ministers, but this codicil was never ratified by the Iranian parliament. I do not dispute Iran's intentions to acquire nuclear weapons nor do I minimize the danger should it acquire them in the estimated five to 10 years. But contrast Iran with Pakistan, India and Israel. These three countries refused to sign the treaty and developed nuclear weapons programs in secret. Israel now has an estimated 400 to 600 nuclear weapons. The word "Dimona," the name of the city where the nuclear facilities are located in Israel, is shorthand in the Muslim world for the deadly Israeli threat to Muslims' existence. What lessons did the Iranians learn from our Israeli, Pakistani and Indian allies? Given that we are actively engaged in an effort to destabilize the Iranian regime by recruiting tribal groups and ethnic minorities inside Iran to rebel, given that we use apocalyptic rhetoric to describe what must be done to the Iranian regime, given that other countries in the Middle East such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia are making noises about developing a nuclear capacity, and given that, with the touch of a button Israel could obliterate Iran, what do we expect from the Iranians? On top of this, the Iranian regime grasps that the doctrine of permanent war entails making "preemptive" and unprovoked strikes. Those in Washington who advocate this war, knowing as little about the limitations and chaos of war as they do about the Middle East, believe they can hit about 1,000 sites inside Iran to wipe out nuclear production and cripple the 850,000-man Iranian army. The disaster in southern Lebanon, where the Israeli air campaign not only failed to break Hezbollah but united most Lebanese behind the militant group, is dismissed. These ideologues, after all, do not live in a reality-based universe. The massive Israeli bombing of Lebanon failed to pacify 4 million Lebanese. What will happen when we begin to pound a country of 70 million people? As retired General Wesley K. Clark and others have pointed out, once you begin an air campaign it is only a matter of time before you have to put troops on the ground or accept defeat, as the Israelis had to do in Lebanon. And if we begin dropping bunker busters, cruise missiles and iron fragmentation bombs on Iran this is the choice that must be facedĄ˝either sending American forces into Iran to fight a protracted and futile guerrilla war or walking away in humiliation. "As a people we are enormously forgetful," Dr. Polk, one of the country's leading scholars on the Middle East, told an Oct. 13 gathering of the Foreign Policy Association in New York. "We should have learned from history that foreign powers can't win guerrilla wars. The British learned this from our ancestors in the American Revolution and re-learned it in Ireland. Napoleon learned it in Spain. The Germans learned it in Yugoslavia. We should have learned it in Vietnam and the Russians learned it in Afghanistan and are learning it all over again in Chechnya and we are learning it, of course, in Iraq. Guerrilla wars are almost unwinnable. As a people we are also very vain. Our way of life is the only way. We should have learned that the rich and powerful can't always succeed against the poor and less powerful." An attack on Iran will ignite the Middle East. The loss of Iranian oil, coupled with Silkworm missile attacks by Iran on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, could send oil soaring to well over $110 a barrel. The effect on the domestic and world economy will be devastating, very possibly triggering a huge, global depression. The 2 million Shiites in Saudi Arabia, the Shiite majority in Iraq and the Shiite communities in Bahrain, Pakistan and Turkey will turn in rage on us and our dwindling allies. We will see a combination of increased terrorist attacks, including on American soil, and the widespread sabotage of oil production in the Gulf. Iraq, as bad as it looks now, will become a death pit for American troops as Shiites and Sunnis, for the first time, unite against their foreign occupiers. The country, however, that will pay the biggest price will be Israel. And the sad irony is that those planning this war think of themselves as allies of the Jewish state. A conflagration of this magnitude could see Israel drawn back in Lebanon and sucked into a regional war, one that would over time spell the final chapter in the Zionist experiment in the Middle East. The Israelis aptly call their nuclear program "the Samson option." The Biblical Samson ripped down the pillars of the temple and killed everyone around him, along with himself. If you are sure you will be raptured into heaven, your clothes left behind with the nonbelievers, then this news should cheer you up. If you are rational, however, these may be some of the last few weeks or months in which to enjoy what is left of our beleaguered, dying republic and way of life. Chris Hedges is the author of the bestselling and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning<http://www.amazon.com/dp/1400034639?tag=commondreams-20/ref=nosim>and What Every Person Should Know about War<http://www.amazon.com/dp/0743255127?tag=commondreams-20/ref=nosim>. His newest book, Losing Moses on the Freeway<http://www.amazon.com/dp/0743255135?tag=commondreams-20/ref=nosim>will be published in June 2005 by Free Press. Copyright (c) 2006 Truthdig, L.L.C. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- - David Shove shove001 [at] tc.umn.edu rhymes with clove Progressive Calendar over 2225 subscribers as of 12.19.02 please send all messages in plain text no attachments To GO DIRECTLY to an item, eg --------8 of x-------- do a find on --8
- (no other messages in thread)
Results generated by Tiger Technologies Web hosting using MHonArc.