I'm talking to you Birthers, Deathers, Teabaggers, conservatives, republicans, moderates, independents, blue doghograts and DINO's. What are you really mad about? h/t pamslistserve via MagginKat via ZJ via a British friend in email
WHY ARE THEY REALLY MAD??????
You didn't get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and Appointed a President.
You didn't get mad when VP Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate energy Policy.
You didn't get mad when a covert CIA Operative was revealed.
You didn't get mad when the Patriot Act was passed.
You didn't get mad when we illegally invaded a Country looking for WMD'S(Weapons of Mass Destruction).
You didn't get mad when we spent over 600 Billion dollars(and counting) on Iraq War.
You didn't get mad when over 10 billion dollars just disappeared in Iraq.
You didn't get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans at home and work.
You didn't get mad when we didn't catch Bin Laden.
You didn't get mad when you saw the horrible Conditions at Walter Reed.
You didn't get mad when we let New Orleans drown.
You didn't get mad when the deficit hit the trillion dollar mark.
You finally got mad when---- The government decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick.
Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, are all ok with you, but helping other Americans that is another story.
Seven presidents have tried to pass a Health Care Plan of some sort and have failed. None have had the "hate filled" opposition of this president.
Have they shown us who they really are yet? The latest right wing republiklan, media enabled, so called controversy is President Obama's back to school messeage to public school students. Yes I said "so called right wing republiklan, media enabled controversy". If they hadn't defined themselves and shown what they really are before with the birthers, the deathers, the socialist, the monkey references and other assorted and sundry inferences, they have certainly shown their Donkey's (pun intended) with this lastest show of mean spirited bigotry.
It's okay for pResident George W-ar Bush to sit in a class room and read My Pet Goat to school children while the country was under attack on 911. But let President Barack Hussein Obama try and tell children to stay in school and get an education.
It's okay for President Ronald Reagan to talk to school children about taxes, but let President Barack Obama ask kids to write an essay on how they can help the President. I wonder what part of helping the President they have a problem with? Or could it just be helping THIS President?
It's okay for President Obama to lecture black folks on "personal responsibility" at the NAACP convention and other venues, but it's not ok for him to tell ALL children they should stay in school and get an education. Only black folks need to be told to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and not expect the government to take care of them?
Hi all!
Postings and comments will be light for the next couple of days due to a lack of internet (bummer)and cable TeeVee access. Remember the good old days when it didn't take weeks to change your service from one location to another? Remember when there was competition instead of a monoply regarding cable access (countrycat)?Did you know some areas of the county don't access to broadband? But I digress.
"Conservative ACTIVIST vow to keep up the fight against President Obama's healthcare reform bill"! Say's MSNBC blond bimbo talking tevee pundit head Alex Twit. She needs to look in the mirror so she can see just how stoopid she sounds. It's not "President Obama's healthcare reform bill" Alex, It's the American people's healthcare reform bill. It's what the MAJORITY of the American people mandated on November 8, 2008.
WTF is this "Conservative ACTIVIST" bull crap? Where were these so called "conservative ACTIVIST" when Bush and Dick sent our sons and daughters to Iraq to look for WMD that was NOT THERE and without an exit plan? Where were these "conservative activist" when Bush and Dick raided the surplus to give their rich cronies a tax break? Where were these "conservative activist" when Bush and Dick outted an undercover CIA agent? Why weren't they yelling "we want our country back" when Bush and Dick were spying on Americans without a warrant and passing the Patriot act?
I'll tell you where the "conservatist activist" were. They were protesting against the war protestors and calling those that didn't agree with the war or Bush and Dicks' policies dirty, commo, pinky, fags, girley men, birkenstok wearing, volvo driving, long haired, peaceniks, latte drinking, arugla eating, traitors who didn't support the troops or love our country who should leave and go live in France and take anti American George Sorors with them. They were waiving their rights while waving their flags and slapping yellow support our troops magnets made in China on their SUV's.
Nancy Pelosi, Henry Waxman, Charles Rangle, Barney Frank, and President Obama are resident evil and the devil incarnate! They took us to war based on dead wrong intellingence. They raided the surplus. They created debt as far as the eye can see. Over 4000 American soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq because of them. They appointed Heck of a job Brownie to head FEMA whose incompetence led to suffering and dying after Katrina. They outsourced jobs overseas and left our boarder unprotected. They spied on the American people without a warrant. They outted an under cover CIA agent. They are just plain evil I tell you. The nerve of them wanting to provide evil healthcare to the unisured. It's just evil to want Americans to have jobs so they can provide for their families. And how evil is it to want children to have access to a quality education? They are the root of all evil and they must be stopped before they pull the country out of the ditch!
Thank goodness we have elected officials like Bobby "not so" Bright, Wayne Parker Griffith and the rest of the Blue DOGS to fight them at every turn! They'll see to it we don't have no stinking access to healthcare. And who needs a stupid job anyway? Children don't need to learn how to read, write and do arithmatic to be successful, ask Bush.
republicans can't handle the truth, they would RATHER believe a lie.
The question is why? Why are they pandering to the party that is WRONG about everything, and has been wrong about everything from the Civil Rights Acts and Medicare to the Iraq War and the Economy?
Seriously, what has the present day gop ever been right (pun intended) about? Why are they constantly being rewarded for bad behavior? Why do democratic candidates pander to the wrong at the expense of what's right, and against Progressives/ liberals/democrats who btw are right (pun intended) on the issues?
Why are we treated like the no family values, culture of cronyism and corruption?
Why is Alabama a "majority republican state"?
Why do Alabama voters consistantly vote against their self interest?
Whatever happened to "a vote against the Supplemental is a vote to withhold vital support from our troops in the field?" Apparently Alabama Republicans no longer care about funding for troops in the field since they all voted against the $80 billion in emergency war spending this week.
Alabama's congressional delegation voted along party lines when the House narrowly approved an emergency war-spending bill that provides $80 billion to maintain defense and intelligence activities in Iraq and Afghanistan for the rest of the year.
...
In the Alabama delegation, Democrats Rep. Artur Davis of Birmingham, Bobby Bright of Montgomery and Parker Griffith of Huntsville voted for the emergency spending bill. Votine "no" were Republicans Spencer Bachus of Birmingham, Robert Aderholt of Haleyville, Jo Bonner of Mobile and Mike Rogers of Saks.
This just proves once again that you can't spell hypocrisy without G-O-P. Trust me, the "G" is hiding in there somewhere. From The Hill:
For years, Republicans portrayed the bills funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as matters of national security and accused Democrats who voted against them of voting against the troops.
In 2005, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) went so far as to say sending troops into battle and not paying for it would be an “immoral thing to do.” And just last year, more House Republicans voted for the war supplemental bill than did Democrats, who opposed the legislation because it did little to wind down the military effort in Iraq.
So Alabama Republicans are now doing immoral things -- or things that were immoral just a couple of years ago. Why am I not surprised? It's all about political expediency.
On this day, Veteran's Day, we would like to express to the American public why we, veterans of the Global War on Terror, have chosen to refuse orders to reactivate into military service. We are direct witnesses to the horrors of this war, having experienced its atrocities at their source, and we have decided that we can no longer carry out these illegal and immoral policies.
Did they die so that wounded veterans of that war could come home to a lot of "Welcome Home" greetings and a lot of "Support Our Troops" bumper stickers, but facing the same fight that America's veterans have always faced when they try to get treatment and benefits from our Army and our Veterans Administration?
Did they die so that an administration full of draft dodgers and draft avoiders and almost bereft of anyone who ever wore a uniform or heard a shot fired in anger could prance around presenting themselves as wartime leaders?
Did they die so that 10,000 craven politicians could stand on bandstands and make speeches full of empty praise for those who protect and defend this country and make empty promises of how they guarantee that our wounded, our new veterans, will be treated better than their fathers and grandfathers were when they came home from their wars?
Nevertheless, no matter how you slice it, the voters who swept Obama into office -- ethnically, geographically, ideologically, gender and age-wise -- are those who have been least represented by the U.S. government over the past eight years. And if the Obama administration were to remotely look like the population that swept him into office, it will need to be very different than anything in the history of American politics, from the Cabinet, to the Supreme Court, from the White House staff, to the thousands of key positions through out the government agencies. Millions of people have their focus on Obama, their expectations high, their desire for change palpable, and their hope for a new era sitting in the hands of the new president. Time will tell what paths he takes, and what he builds for the future.
At one congressional session during the year, an Indian prelate was offering up the opening prayer only to be drowned out by a few of ‘the faithful' in the gallery proclaiming that Christ was the only true God. These are not the cries of the righteous, and we need to be careful as a nation not to embrace one faith over another in our political discourse, lest we destroy that inclusive form of government our founders intended and upon which our ideals depend.
The religious nutcases are now split, with some going to Obama and most still preferring Republicans but willing to sit the election out if someone who's not sufficiently evangelical gets nominated. Granted, there are still plenty of racists, and they probably (if possible) like the Republicans a little more than they used to, but probably think of them as weak little sissies if they cooperate on Obama with anything.
So most of what's left for Republicans are useful idiots. And the great thing about useful idiots is that they're stupid enough to start chasing each other around with baseball bats rather than us. So when big business starts blaming religious nutcases and religious nutcases start blaming warmongers and warmongers start blaming libertarians who, in turn, blame everybody, well, hijinx ensue.
To me, this is going to be sort of like "Glengarry Glen Ross" crossed with a Keystone Cops movie.
Grab your popcorn, folks. This is going to be fun.
"I'm committed to having the FCC review what our current policies are in terms of media diversification."
On Minority Ownership
"Minority owned and operated newspapers and radio stations play a critical role in the African American and Latino communities and bring minority issues to the forefront of our national discussion. However, the [Federal Communications Commission] has failed to further the goals of diversity in the media and promote localism, and as a result, it is in no position to justify allowing for increased consolidation of the market. Moreover, 30 days of public review of a specific proposed change is insufficient to assess the effect that change would have on the media marketplace or the rationale on which any such proposal is based.... It is time to put together an independent panel, as Commissioner Adelstein has recommended, to issue a specific proposal for furthering the goal of diversity in media ownership.
On Net Neutrality
“I will take a backseat to no one in my commitment to network neutrality. The Internet is the most open network in history. We have to keep it that way. I will prevent network providers from discriminating in ways that limit the freedom of expression on the Internet.
How many times have you heard GOP congress people end their remarks on the House floor with this refrain? How many times have you heard the media heap praises on George Bush for "how he handled 911"? How many times have you heard John Mc$ame and Sarah Quaylin say "they are the only ones able to protect the country" because "John McCain is the only one that has served this country"? How many times have the GOP and the media played the 911 card in order terrorize the American people into voting for them?
As I viewed the movie W. by Oliver Stone, it was a stark reminder that George W. Bush was the President on 911 and how his mis-administration (enabled by the media) used our grief over 911 as an excuse to go to war in Iraq.
The media narrative of Bush's' "handling of 911" doesn't square with the facts(as usual). Check out this reminder from my inbox:
I wanted to invite your attention to a short (six minute) film put together by a two highly respected film makers in Santa Fe. It reviews in poignant images the 9/11 attack and the response of the president in the school. While we all have heard the My Pet Goat story, it is here contrasted with events as they unfold contemporaneously in New York. I think that everybody ought to be reminded that this is the party that John McCain represents before they step in the voting booth. Thank you for your time.
Young peace activist and Alabama native, Ava Lowery has produced another video. This one juxtaposes Bush and McCain sound bites on the Iraq War and inevitably questions whether we want four more years of the same.
From Lowery:
John McCain has made it clear that if elected, he plans to continue the Bush Administration's "legacy", specifically when it comes to the war in Iraq. Over 4,000 American troops have been killed in the war, and it is estimated that at least 1,000,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the war. We've already had 5 years of a disastrous war. Do we really need four more?
Southerners are disproportionately affected by the war. 67 members of the U.S. military from Alabama have lost their lives in the Iraq war. I can't find the number of injured Alabamans, but based on 30,333 American wounded to 4116 deaths so far, it's probably close to 500. Given those facts, I think folks in Alabama will disagree with McCain when he says the question of when we will bring them home is "not too important."
DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney:
From Day One, Senator McCain was wrong on Iraq. First he was part of the Bush propaganda machine that misled us into a war that has made us less safe and emboldened our enemies. Now he still cannot say when he would bring our brave troops home. In just the last six months, McCain has said he'd be fine keeping our troops there for 100 years, said he'd bring them home by 2013, and claimed the question itself 'not too important.'
I'm very relieved that the Alabama Army National Guard 1203rd Engineer Battalion is coming home from Iraq. In fact, I'm relieved every single time I hear that members of our military are returning home safe and sound. The substance of this WSFA story doesn't give me heartburn, but the headline sure does.
Alabama Guardsmen Set to Return Home from the War on Terror
These Guardsmen and women are returning from Iraq, which may well be terrifying, but it isn't "terror." WSFA should be able to tell the difference. Clue: Iraq can be found on a map.
Even John McCain admits the war over there is about oil, not terror -- he said that in another townhall meeting, where he really shines. The phrase "War on Terror" is a Republican talking point cooked up by George W. Bush, Karl Rove and probably Dick Cheney to scare the bejesus out of people so the folks in charge can do whatever they please, Constitution and Congress be damned.
John Edwards said War on Terror is a bumper sticker (video below the fold). "The war on terror is a slogan designed only for politics, not a strategy to make America safe. It's a bumper sticker, not a plan. It has damaged our alliances and weakened our standing in the world." He was right.
Meriam-Webster defines "terror" as a state of intense fear. To have a war on terror, then, is to have a war against a state of intense fear. Only a master of language on the level of George W. Bush could be comfortable with such an absurdity, one would think.
We should be so lucky. Bush has been scaring the country for the past seven years with terror alerts, fake accusations, dire warnings and war mongering. Whatever "war on terror" exists is nothing more than a marketing campaign.
Media Matters weighs in on the War on Terror talking point (emphasis mine):
Linking Iraq to the larger "war on terror," and claiming that Iraq is a "central front" in that war, is an oft-repeated talking point used by Republicans to justify the continued U.S. military presence in Iraq. This, despite the fact that the 9-11 Commission and the Senate Intelligence Committee determined that Al Qaeda and Iraq did not have an operational or formal relationship prior to the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion -- contrary to the White House's rhetoric at the time. And, if Iraq is now to be considered the "central front," that designation is due, in large part, to the invasion itself, according the CIA and the State Department.
Why on earth is WSFA associating these returning members of the 1203rd with a political slogan, and a failed one at that? That's no way to show how much we respect their service.
WSFA's headline should have been:
Alabama Guardsmen Set to Return Home from the War in Iraq
or even
Alabama Guardsmen Set to Return Home from Iraq
It's sad to see our local media buying in to the Republican marketing campaign, but it looks like that's exactly what they've done.
There is a growing anti-war sentiment in Alabama. Yesterday the American Friends Society and a group of Auburn students displayed shoes representing Alabama soldiers who have been killed in Iraq. The students were members of the Auburn Student Action Network (SAN).
The display includes 68 pairs of combat boots which represent US troops from Alabama killed in Iraq since the beginning of the conflict. Also arranged in stark lines, interspersed between the combat boots were 200 pairs of everyday shoes — from baby size sneakers to tennis shoes — representing the number of civilians killed in Iraq for every one US soldier. Each pair of combat boots bears a tag stating the name, rank, and age of the deceased soldier, while the civilian shoes are tagged with Iraqi names and ages.
SAN member and graduate student in soils science Mike Mulvaney said his organization was “hoping to fill a niche on campus ... to meet an unfulfilled need by addressing the war and its effects on our nation.”
Mulvaney said the goal of the demonstration today was to “raise awareness, get people dicussing government policy, and so somehow to arrive at a rational concensus regarding the postion of our nation and the war.”
The Auburn Student Action Network has had a hard row to hoe -- College Republicans opposed them and the SGA only granted them provisional status last month:
This week, on May 1, members of the Longshoreman's union, the ILWU, are also taking action. They are calling for a shut down of all ports on the West Coast – and they are calling for us to support and join them:
At the start of the Iraq War in 2003, many working people were opposed to the invasion. Now the overwhelming majority want to end the war and withdraw troops. Yet, both major political parties continue to fund the war.
Marches and demonstrations have not been able to stop the war. The Longshore Union (ILWU) will stop work for 8 hours in every port on the West Coast on May 1st. This action shows that working people have the power to stop the war.
Don't work on May 1st — MAKE MAYDAY A "NO PEACE, NO WORK HOLIDAY"!
*Stop the war! *Withdraw the troops now! *No scapegoating immigrant workers for the economic crisis! *Health care for all! *Funding for schools and housing! *Defend civil liberties and workers' rights!
MAKE MAYDAY A "NO PEACE, NO WORK HOLIDAY"!
If you’re not in a position to refuse to work without getting fired, and you can’t call in sick, here is something simple you can do: Don’t spend any money on May 1 and encourage everyone you know to do the same.
Sometimes silence is more powerful than words. If I were an influential full-time blogger, instead of a little-known part-time blogger, I would be suggesting that people post this graphic late Wednesday night and forgo blogging on Thursday. If you think this is a good idea, maybe you should consider making the suggestion to some of the many progressive blogs that are scattered throughout our 50 states, to the Out of Iraq Bloggers Caucus, to organizations in your area that might be interested, or to some really big bloggers.
If we want stronger unions, we have to support them. And if we want to end this war, we have to show the people in charge that there are going to be consequences for them if they continue to ignore us as they have for the past five years. So please spread the word about what the ILWU is doing and try to do some outside-the-box thinking between now and Thursday about how we can show solidarity with them.
Via Pale Rider, CBS is reporting that the veterans administration is hiding a massive epidemic of suicide among veterans.
In the past, Katz has repeatedly insisted while the risk of suicide among veterans is serious, it's not outside the norm.
"There is no epidemic in suicide in VA," Katz told Keteyian in November, but in this e-mail to his top media advisor, written two months ago, Katz appears to be saying something very different, stating: "Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans we see in our metical facilities."
Katz's e-mail was written shortly after the VA provided CBS News data showing there were only 790 attempted suicides in all 2007 - a fraction of Katz's estimate.
"This 12,000 attempted suicides per year shows clearly, without a doubt, that there is an epidemic of suicide among veterans," said Paul Sullivan of Veterans for Common Sense.
And it appears that Katz went out of his way to conceal these numbers.
First, he titled his e-mail: "Not for the CBS News Interview Request."
He opened it with "Shh!" - as in keep it quiet - before ending with "Is this something we should (carefully) address … before someone stumbles on it?"
No doubt somebody in the McCain campaign thought it was a no-brainer to send their candidate to speak at the VFW meeting in Kansas City. After all, he's a veteran -- how could it go wrong? Well, being a veteran didn't hurt McCain with the VFW, but being a hypocrite should, and his hypocrisy was showing in a big way.
A few days ago I wrote about the New GI Bill, urging y'all to contact Senators Shelby and Sessions to get them to support our troops with something meaningful, like educational benefits when they get home. McCain doesn't support the New GI Bill either, even though he says the nation owes veterans “a debt that we can never fully repay.” Based on McCain's record, I'd say he has no intention to even start repaying that debt. The hypocrisy did not escape the folks at Think Progress:
He also said that veterans should have access to “the highest quality health…care in the world” upon returning:
As President, I will do everything in my power to ensure that those who serve today and those who have served in the past have access to the highest quality health, mental health and rehabilitative care in the world. The disgrace of Walter Reed must not be forgotten. … Whatever our commitments to veterans cost, we will keep them, as you have kept every commitment to us. The honor of a great nation is at stake.
(Working together, making things happen - promoted by mooncat)
Several people Hattiesburg, MS, my hometown, worked together on an online forum last week to bring attention to the case of a war protester who was arrested the first week of March. Their efforts were successful.
Another protest was held April 2. The police did not interfere. Attendance for the monthly event quadrupled. Left-Handed Leftist has a YouTube of a local news segment on the event. I have a story about the protest and some lessons I learned about using new media to get people into the streets, along some pics, at Pine Belt Progressive.
Approximately 20 people attended the protest. That doesn’t seem like a large number until you consider that this event has been going on once a month for more than two years, and for most of that time only two or three people have shown up.
Some of the people who attended the event attended it more to make a statement about civil liberties than about the war, but they held anti-war signs, too. That puts me in mind of a conversation we were having a while ago about civic action. On that comment thread, Redeye suggested inviting activists on a large number of issues to a civil rights rally by showing them how everything from the war to the elections is related to civil rights. I thought that was a good idea, and I think we can see the benefit of approaching other issues that way.
It would have to happen on Easter Sunday, wouldn't it, that the 4,000th American soldier would die in Iraq. Play me that crazy preacher again, will you, about how maybe God, in all his infinite wisdom, may not exactly be blessing America these days. Is anyone surprised?
4,000 dead. Unofficial estimates are that there may be up to 100,000 wounded, injured, or mentally ruined by this war. And there could be up to a million Iraqi dead. We will pay the consequences of this for a long, long time. God will keep blessing America.
And where is Darth Vader in all this? A reporter from ABC News this week told Dick Cheney, in regards to Iraq, "two-thirds of Americans say it's not worth fighting." Cheney cut her off with a one word answer: "So?"
On the Fifth anniversary of the Iraq War PBS will present Bush's War tonight and tomorrow night at 9 PM EST.
Now, on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, the full saga unfolds in the two-part FRONTLINE special Bush's War, airing Monday, March 24, from 9 to 11:30 P.M. and Tuesday, March 25, 2008, from 9 to 11 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings). Veteran producer Michael Kirk (The Torture Question, The Dark Side) draws on one of the richest archives in broadcast journalism -- more than 40 FRONTLINE reports on the war on terror. Combined with fresh reporting and new interviews, Bush's War will be the definitive documentary analysis of one of the most challenging periods in the nation's history.
The Montgomery Advertiser actually covered Cheryl Sabel's endorsement of the Responsible Plan to end the Iraq war -- as far as I can tell they are the only traditional media outlet in Alabama who could be bothered with something trivial like that. Reporter Jill Nolan even included the web address in her story:
According to Sabel, some of the key points of the plan are to end the presence in Iraq of U.S. troops; address the humanitarian crisis in Iraq; fund veterans' care and benefits; restore habeas corpus; end torture; restore our independent media; create a clean energy economy; and that use of U.S. military force should be a last resort.
The Iraq war has cost the lives of 3987 (and counting) American soldiers and is estimated to cost the United States at least $3 trillion. Two-thirds of Americans oppose the war, 61% think the next president should get our troops out early next year. In this election year the war is the elephant in the room but the Alabama press still does their darndest to ignore it, printing the latest messages from Osama bin Laden (why the heck is he still out there recording messages?) and assurances from Bush that that victory is near -- not to mention Cheney's contention that it simply doesn't matter what the public thinks. Guys like Cheney are getting rich off the war while the American people foot the bill and someone else's kids are shipped to the desert to fight and die.
But I digress. My point is that the Democratic congressional candidates from across the country are endorsing a plan to do what two-thirds of Americans want to do -- get our of Iraq in a careful, responsible fashion -- and one of those candidates is right here in Alabama. This is not a pie in the sky proposal, but a well considered plan. Go read it for yourself -- it's only 34 pages but it covers a lot of ground and has the support of military figures such as:
Major General Paul Eaton (US Army ret.), the general in charge of training the Iraqi military immediately after the invasion in 2003 and 2004.
Brigadier General John Johns (US Army ret), a specialist in counterinsurgency and nation-building
Captain Larry Seaquest (US Navy, ret) former commander of the USS Iowa and a former Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense.
After you read it, take another look at Cheryl Sabel and thank her for stepping up to say what ordinary Americans have been thinking for a long time -- it's time to get out of Iraq as soon as we responsibly can.
Bonus: Here is General Eaton, Petraeus's predecessor, discussing the plan.
Second District candidate Cheryl Sabel's website is up and it looks good. Sabel also issued a press release today confirming that she has endorsed the Responsible Plan to end the war in Iraq and restore our Constitution:
Today, I am pleased to announce that I am joining other progressive candidates for the U.S. Congress in endorsing “A Responsible Plan To End The War In Iraq.” The plan may be downloaded in its entirety at www.responsibleplan.com .
Important tenets of the plan:
End the presence in Iraq of U.S. troops
Address the humanitarian crisis in Iraq
Fund veterans’ care and benefits
Restore habeas corpus
End torture
Clarify that the President does not have Constitutional authority to unilaterally alter legislation through signing statement
Clarify that the Fourth Amendment requires probably cause and a warrant for the government to spy on Americans
Restore our independent media
Create a clean energy economy
Use of U.S. military force should be a last resort
I like this plan a lot and I wish all our Congressional candidates would talk about upholding the Constitution. That's pretty basic. Tell us that you support the entire Constitution and will uphold and defend it from all threats, even (especially?) those that originate here at home -- like Dick and George.
Kudos to Cheryl Sabel for being the first candidate in Alabama with the guts to endorse this plan. You can send her a thank you here. Like she says, no amount is too small.
Goldy at HorsesAss reports that AL-02 candidate Cheryl Sabel has signed onto the Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq. You can download the entire plan at that link, but this is from the Executive Summary:
There are two strategic questions raised by our current dilemma:
How do we bring American military engagement in Iraq to a responsible end?
There is no military solution to the problems faced in Iraq: the real progress that can be made requires diplomatic, political, and economic means. We must stop counter-productive military operations by U.S. occupation forces and end our military presence in Iraq.
How do we prevent a repeat of the mistakes we've made?
The breakdown of checks and balances in our government led to bad decision-making which damaged America's national security. Ending this war and preventing future situations like it requires that we restore these Constitutional checks and balances and fix the ways in which our governmental, military, and civil institutions have failed us.
Discussions of Iraq in the media have focused almost entirely on military operations and issues, but any real solution will require us to look at a broader set of problems. Beyond redeploying our troops, we must place equal importance on applying the full arsenal of non-military tools at our disposal. The American public must also re-engage in the discussions and decision-making about how to proceed.
What follows is a series of objectives that, taken together, refocus our current military involvement in the region while repairing damage to the U.S. to prevent a repeat of our mistakes. We have included some sample legislation currently in Congress to show that these objectives have been identified and can be addressed given sufficient political will. We have also included recommendations that the Baker-Hamilton Commission published in the Iraq Study Group Report. In some cases, no existing legislation or clear recommendations exist and new authorizing legislation plus careful planning would be required.
Supporters of this document have committed to these objectives.
Finding a diplomatic, political or economic solution that gets our troops out of Iraq, stabilizing the region, restoring our Constitution, repairing our military, phasing out private militias, delivering on healthcare promises for veterans, rolling back media consolidation and ending our dependence on foreign oil are policy positions that should find broad support in Alabama. I'm glad Ms. Sabel picked this day, the 5th Anniversary of the start of this ill-conceived foreign war, to embrace the Responsible Plan. More power to her and may other candidates rally around her.
Reward good behavior. Cheryl Sabel has an ActBlue page. Add .01 to your donation so they know it comes from the netroots.
Today marks the anniversary of the devastating and tragic arrogance of George W. Bush. This country and most others will never be the same. We often hear of the monetary losses involved in this crime but it is the immeasurable state of America's status in the world that very well may never be recovered. And even more critical and irreplaceable is the obscene number of dead, wounded and displaced Iraqis. Too many of us sat idly by while our rights were chipped away at and our country was stolen. Complacency is the primary enemy and we all must work actively to defeat it and bring an end to the criminal activities the U.S. is involved in, not just in Iraq and Afghanistan, but throughout the world. Start today by joining in the (http://march19-blogswarm.blogspot.com/) blogswarm effort to bring the war to the forefront in the media, public dialog and the Internet.
Here is the price of war.
Welcomed as liberators?
What will this child remember about the Americans? Liberation or a living nightmare.
We are fueling the resentment that produced the terrorist attacks on 911.
What is the lives of these children worth? We know there was no connection between Saddam and AQ and there were no WMD's. These children and babies are suffering and dieing to increase the coffers of American corporations. They are being sacrificed on the altar of capitalism.
Join the blogswarm and do everything in your power to end America's continuing crime against humanity.
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