BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- NEW YORK.
"I FEEL ABOUT AS WANTED AS MAXWELL TAYLOR," GENERAL PETER PACE WHINED TO THESE REPORTERS YESTERDAY EVENING.
GENERAL PACE WAS REFERRING TO THE VERY "PUBLIC DISSING" AND "PUBLIC ASS WHOOPING" HE HAD JUST RECEIVED AS IT WAS ANNOUNCED THAT HE WOULD NOT BE RENOMINATED TO SERVE AS JOINT CHIEF OF STAFFS.
"ONLY TAYLOR SERVED LESS TIME THAN I DID!" PACE WHINED.
THESE REPORTERS POINTED OUT THAT THIS WAS ONLY TRUE IF THE SENATE DIDN'T GET AROUND TO CONFIRMING ADMIRAL MICHAEL MULLEN BEFORE JULY 1ST. IF HE WAS CONFIRMED BEFORE JULY 1ST, PACE WOULD HOLD THE RECORD FOR LEAST TIME SERVED AS JOINT CHIEF OF STAFF (EXCEPTING DAVID E. JERMIAH WHO WAS NEVER CONFIRMED AND ONLY FILLING IN AFTER COLLIE POWELL HAD HIS SNIT FIT AND STORMED OFF WHEN BILL CLINTON ATTEMPTED TO ALLOW GAYS AND LESBIANS TO SERVE OPENLY IN THE MILITARY).
"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT'S LIKE TO STAND THERE WITH YOUR PANTS AROUND YOUR KNEES SAYING 'THANK YOU, SECRETARY GATES, MAY I HAVE ANOTHER?'," PACE DECLARED FINISHING UP HIS THIRD BEER.
"AN ADMIRAL," HE SNORTED. "THEY'RE REPLACING ME WITH AN ADMIRAL. WELL, I GUESS WE WILL BE GOING TO WAR WITH IRAN AFTER ALL."
TIME AND AGAIN, GENERAL PACE REPEATEDLY RETURNED TO THE ILLUSTRATION OF HIMSELF WITH HIS PANTS AROUND HIS ANKLES AND SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT GATES STANDING BEHIND HIM. SO OFTEN, IN FACT, THAT THESE REPORTERS WERE COMPELLED TO ASK HIM IF HE HAD NOTICED THAT AND WHAT IT MEANT.
GULPING, GENERAL PACE WINKED US, LAUGHED "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL," MUMBLED SOMETHING ABOUT SOMETHING BEING "INSIDE OF EVERY MAN BUT IF YOU FIGHT IT HARD ENOUGH AND WORK REALLY HARD, YOU CAN KEEP IT DOWN," AND HURRIED OUT OF THE BAR LEAVING THESE REPORTERS TO WONDER WTF?
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Yesterday, in Boston, Liam Madden spoke on the steps in front of the Massachusetts State House wearing a black Iraq Veterans Against the War t-shirt and jeans about the efforts of the US miltary to, as with Adam Kokesh and Cloy Richards, silence him. Madden sees the "hearing and this investigation to be a vindicative waste of tax payer dollars to silence free speech and to assault the First Amendment rights of our veterans." Madden was honorably discharged from active duty status (with the rank of Sgt.) in January only to be notified May 14 that he "was being recommnded for an other than honorable discharge from the IRR [Inactive Ready Reserves]." He is being investigated for two things. First, for "wearing a partial uniform at a protest" which he translated as "a camaflage utility top, unbuttoned with jeans and t-shirt" and noted that Vietnam veterans, during that illegal war, participated in demonstrations, rallies, etc. in their uniforms with no such punishment. He is also accused of making "disloyal" statements while speaking last February. Before taking questions, he concluded with, "I stand by what I said." If you stand with Liam Madden, you can demonstrate that by signing a petition in support of Madden.
In the question and answers that followed, he was asked of Adam Kokesh and responded,
"Adam's case is different than mine he was charged with wearing a uniform during a political street theater and also with making disrespectful comments to a superior commissioned officer. So his charges are different and the board will be different. And that is just one grounds that Adam has to appeal his case." Notice how well, and briefly, Madden can sum up the issues at stake in Kokesh's case. Much better than you can find it done in the media. Take Marilou Johanek (Toledo Blade) whose column should be entitled "Call Me a Dumb Ass" when she makes fact-free statements such as this: "As long as a reservist is still obligated to the Marine Corps and can be reactivated at any time, he must play by the rules." The rules everyone must "play by" are the rules governing our nation so, pay attention Johanek, when the Supreme Court rules in Schacht v. United States (1970) that the US military has no right to dictate theater productions -- when Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black specifically notes that street theater is theater -- that's it, it's over. Prior to Schacht v. United States, the US military thought they had the right to allow some productions (pro-military) and disallow others (anti-military). They thought they had the right to determine whether their uniforms could be worn or not based on what they thought of the performance. Daniel Jay Schecht participated (with two others) in street theater (not at all different from Operation First Casualty that Kokesh did) in front of a recruiting center in 1967. The case made it to the Supreme Court and the Court found that the US military had no say in theaterical productions. Let's quote Justice Hugo Black one more time since it's so difficult for some to grasp:
The Government's argument in this case seems to imply that somehow what these amateur actors did in Houston should not be treated as a "theatrical production" within the meaning of 772 (f). We are unable to follow such a suggestion. Certainly theatrical productions need not always be performed in buildings or even on a defined area such as a conventional stage. Nor need they be performed by professional actors or be heavily financed or elaborately produced. Since time immemorial, outdoor theatrical performances, often performed by amateurs, have played an important part in the entertainment and the education of the people of the world. Here, the record shows without dispute the preparation and repeated presentation by amateur actors of a short play designed to create in the audience an understanding of and opposition to our participation in the Vietnam war. Supra, at 60 and this page. It may be that the performances were crude and [398 U.S. 58, 62] amateurish and perhaps unappealing, but the same thing can be said about many theatrical performances. We cannot believe that when Congress wrote out a special exception for theatrical productions it intended to protect only a narrow and limited category of professionally produced plays. 3 Of course, we need not decide here all the questions concerning what is and what is not within the scope of 772 (f). We need only find, as we emphatically do, that the street skit in which Schacht participated was a "theatrical production" within the meaning of that section.
This brings us to petitioner's complaint that giving force and effect to the last clause of 772 (f) would impose an unconstitutional restraint on his right of free speech. We agree. This clause on its face simply restricts 772 (f)'s authorization to those dramatic portrayals that do not "tend to discredit" the military, but, when this restriction is read together with 18 U.S.C. 702, it becomes clear that Congress has in effect made it a crime for an actor wearing a military uniform to say things during his performance critical of the conduct or [398 U.S. 58,63] policies of the Armed Forces. An actor, like everyone else in our country, enjoys a constitutional right to freedom of speech, including the right openly to criticize the Government during a dramatic performance. The last clause of 772 (f) denies this constitutional right to an actor who is wearing a military uniform by making it a crime for him to say things that tend to bring the military into discredit and disrepute. In the present case Schacht was free to participate in any skit at the demonstration that praised the Army, but under the final clause of 772 (f) he could be convicted of a federal offense if his portrayal attacked the Army instead of praising it. In light of our earlier finding that the skit in which Schacht participated was a "theatrical production" within the meaning of 772 (f), it follows that his conviction can be sustained only if he can be punished for speaking out against the role of our Army and our country in Vietnam. Clearly punishment for this reason would be an unconstitutional abridgment of freedom of speech. The final clause of 772 (f), which leaves Americans free to praise the war in Vietnam but can send persons like Schacht to prison for opposing it, cannot survive in a country which has the First Amendment. To preserve the constitutionality of 772 (f) that final clause must be stricken from the section.
To repeat: the US military has no say regarding theater (street or otherwise). To repeat, and you have to go to Iraq Veterans Against the War to find this out because idiots like Heather Hollingsworth left it out of the reports, "the Marine Corps panel, as well as the prosecution's key witness, Major Whyte, agreed that the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) does not apply to members of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR)." UCMJ does not apply to IRR? That only leaves the Supreme Court verdict.
Mark Rainer (World Socialist Web Site) notes that Kokesh's military appeal was denied Wednesday and the panel's finding "must now be approved by Brig. Gen. Darrell Moore, commander of the Marine Corps Mobilization Command in Kansas City, Missouri. A decision is expected within a week. According to Kokesh's attorney Mike Lebowitz, who is also an Iraq veteran, Moore cannot increase Kokesh's punishment by issuing an other-than-honorable discharge, but can only accept the board's general discharge recommendation, or reinstate the honorable discharge." If the other-than-honorable discharge stands, Tom A. Peter (Christian Science Monitor) reports, it "probably won't affect his veterans' benefits. But two other marines in the IRR [Liam Madden and Cloy Richards] face similar charges and risk losing their veterans' benefits, such as healthcare and money for education."
Turning to other news of war resistance, earlier this week Geoff Ziezuleicz (Stars and Stripes) reported that US war resister Aguayo will recieve an award from AnStifter, "According to an interpreted release put out last week by Connection e.V., another German anti-war group, the prize will be awarded to Aguayo on Dec. 1 during a ceremony in Stuttgart."
The movement of resistance within the US military grows and includes Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Care and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
In Iraq, oil workers went on strike and the puppet government's response? As Great Britain's Socialist Worker noted Wednesday, the response was to order "the arrest of four leaders of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, including Hassan Jumaa Awad, for 'sabotaging the Iraqi economy' by ordering a strike." The puppet government believes the most important 'freedom' is the 'freedom to arrest' whomever they want for whatever they want. Ben Lando (UPI via AfterDowningStreet) reports US House Rep Lynn Woolsey has stated, "If they're working for a true democracy, working rights have to be front and center". Ben Lando (UPI) reports today: "With an arrest warrant looming, an Iraqi union leader warned during a U.S. visit failed negotiations will escalate a standoff in Basra's oil sector. Faleh Abood Umara, general secretary of the Iraq Federation of Oil Unions, said a five-day colling off/negotiation period, which began Wednesday, is crucial to keep Iraq's oil sector pumping and 1.6 million barrels per day flowing to the global oil market." Also under attack are Christians in Baghdad. Hannah Allam and Lelia Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) report that a group suspected ties of al-Qaeda have issued an edict to Christians living in Baghdad: "Convert to Islam, marry your daughters to our fighters, pay an Islamic tax or leave with only the clothes on your back." That would be the city of the fabled 'crackdown,' ongoing for over a year now, repeatedly beefed up, with no results to show for it. Unless you see 'success' in CNN's report that the first week of June saw 199 corpses discovered in Baghdad alone. "Actually alarming" is the phrase China's Xinhua reports Iraq's Sunni vice-president Tareq al-Hsahimi used to describe his country while visiting Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak Wednesday.
[. . .]
KPFA will broadcast a special tomorrow (Saturday, June 9th) beginning at 11:00 am.
Sunday, June 10th marks four decades of Israel's illegal military occupation of Palestine, against a backdrop of nearly sixty years of ethnic transfer and displacement.
On this national Pacifica special, producers from around the country investigate the cause and effect of Israel's continuous military occupation policies toward the Palestinians, which permeates every aspect of life - from the suffocating checkpoints and land theft inside the West Bank to the violence and chaos inside a hermetically-sealed Gaza strip; to the issues of identity and culture in a widening diaspora.
As international witnesses to an ongoing crisis in occupied Palestine, this special will also address America's role of responsibility toward the intractable Palestinian-Israeli crisis and offer avenues of involvement in peace, justice and solidarity movements.
Hear Palestinian voices from the older generation and today's youth movements, from refugee camps and the Palestinian diaspora.
This is a Pacifica Radio special so it will likely be broadcast on other stations as well. Houston's KPFT will broadcast it Sunday, June 10th at 6:00 pm. Flashpoints Radio's Nora Barrows-Friedman will be the host or one of the hosts.
In other media news, as independent media continues to be under attack, News Dissector Danny Schechter's "Special Blog: Can Our Media Channel Survive?" announces the potential fate of Mediachannel.org which may shut down: "If we can get 1500 of our readers (that means you) to give $25, we can keep going for another quarter. [PLEASE CLICK HERE TO MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION ONLINE]"
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Other Items"
"199 killed in Baghdad during the first week of June"
"And the war drags on . . ."
"Truly, what a mess"
"Red skin potato salad in the Kitchen"
"aimee mann, ari hest, turkey, iraq, etc."
"media channel, randi rhodes"
"Music, Stevie Nicks, etc."
"Jeffrey St. Clair, Martin Sieff"
"John Pilger, Dave Lindorff"
"Liam Madden, Law & Disorder, Joel Kovel"
"Obama and Clinton get their clocks cleaned "
"THIS JUST IN! BULLY BOY TALKING POINTS NOT GOING TO FLY IN 2008!"
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Obama and Clinton get their clocks cleaned
BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- NEW YORK.
IT WAS SO EASY IN TO BE THE DEMOCRATIC FRONT RUNNER IN THE 2004 PRIMARY: YOU JUST GRABBED WHAT BULLY BOY WAS SAYING, PUT IN PROPER ENGLISH (WITH SUBJECT AND VERB AGREEMENT) AND THE CROWDS CHEERED.
THINGS ARE SHAPING DIFFERENTLY IN 2007. U.S. SENATOR BARACK OBAMA CALLED OUT JOHN EDWARDS IN THE DEBATE SUNDAY SAYING, BASICALLY, "OH, YOU TALK GOOD NOW BUT YOU ARE FOUR YEARS TOO LATE." TO WHICH AN AWAKE NATION COULD HAVE EASILY REPLIED, "BARACK, I KNOW YOU USED TO SPEAK AGAINST THE ILLEGAL WAR BEFORE THE SUMMER OF 2004, BUT WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR US LATELY? OOOOH-OOOOH-OOOOH-YEAH."
WHILE SENATOR OBAMA WALKS AROUND NOT REALIZING HE HAS EGG ON HIS FACE, U.S. SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON THOUGHT SHE COULD COAST THROUGH THE SUNDAY DEBATE PARROTING THE BULLY BOY. SHE TOO LEARNS IT AIN'T THAT EASY.
SUNDAY, SHE DECLARED IN THE DEBATE, "I BELIEVE WE ARE SAFER THAN WE WERE. WE ARE NOT YET SAFE ENOUGH". THE LAUGHABLE CLAIM STRUCK MANY AS OVERLY FAMILIAR BECAUSE THEY ECHO THE BULLY BOY'S RIDICULOUS FALL 2006 CLAIM THAT THE COUNTRY WAS "SAFER BUT NOT SAFE."
SENATOR CLINTON WAS ATTEMPTING TO DISPLAY HER MACHO SIDE AND TO SCORE POINTS AGAINST JOHN EDWARDS BUT SHE ONLY ENDED UP MAKING HERSELF LOOK RIDICULOUS AS THOUGH SHE WANDERED INTO TO THE WRONG DEBATE AND HAD BEEN INTENDING TO PARTICIPATE WITH OTHER MEMBERS OF THE G.O.P.
JOHN EDWARDS, SPEAKING IN NEW YORK TODAY, DECLARED, "TODAY AS A RESULT OF WHAT GEORGE BUSH HAS DONE, WE HAVE MORE TERRORISTS AND FEWER ALLIES. THERE WAS NO GROUP CALLED AL-QAIDA IN IRAQ BEFORE THIS PRESIDENT'S WAR IN IRAQ."
THOUGH HILLARY CLINTON'S CAMP REFUSED TO COMMENT, ONE INSIDER IN THE BARACK OBAMA CAMPAIGN DID.
"WHAT'S THAT MEAN?" ASKED THE INSIDER. "ALL I KNOW IS I LOVE BARACK. HE IS SO COOL AND SO BEAUTIFUL AND SO SEXY. I AM HAVING SO MUCH MORE FUN HERE THAN I EVER DID FETCHING COFFEE FOR KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL!"
WE DO NOT FIND THAT HARD TO BELIEVE.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
The 3500 mark for US service members who have died in the Iraq war was passed yesterday but it takes AP (and others) a little longer to count. ICCC lists the current total as 3504. Don't expect to hear much about it or for it to lead to many pieces (or air time) exploring Iraq -- it's summer so it's time for All Things Media Big and Small to begin their summer breaks.
As with last summer -- or the 'coverage' of the 3,000 mark -- don't expect a great deal. There's an election! A cruise! A summer rental! And about fifty other 'fun' topics that will yet again grab all the attention.
As media tries to covering their mouths while yawning, the illegal war drags on and it's up to the people to stop it. Adam Kokesh did and is doing his part and maybe someday someone in little media other than Matthew Rothschild can provide some serious coverage? That is it, for the record. The Nation -- when you've got a cruise to pack for, you've got a cruise to pack for! They can't do everything! They can't even do one damn thing. But Adam Kokesh has been standing up. On Monday, he faced a hearing for engaging in street theater with other members of Iraq Veterans Against the War while he wore fatigues. The recommendation was to recommend he be issued a general discharge. Yesterday, his attorney Michael Lebowitz attempted to file an appeal but KMBC reports that the appeal was denied by Brig. Gen. and shrinking violet Darrell L. Moore who also has the "power" to decide whether the recommendation of general discharge goes forward or not. Dave Helling (Kansas City Star) notes that "Moore can't increase Kokesh's punishment by issuing an other-than-honorable discharge." Writing to Editor & Publisher, Tom Wieliczka points out that while Kokesh is punished for street theater, General Petey Pace is able to write a letter of support for convicted liar Scooter Libby and no one questions that "the hypocrisy of the military when it comes to the 'grunts' vs the 'generals' when both of them use their first amendment rights."
The movement of resistance within the US military grows and includes Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Care and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
Turning to the issue of Turkey? Did they or didn't they? Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Khalid W. Hassan (New York Times) obeserved that the Turkish military was reported to state yesterday that "thousands of soldiers crossed the border [into Iraq] in pursuit of members of the Kurdistan Worker's Party, or P.K.K." but that "American and Turkish officials quickly denied those reports". Patrick Cockburn (Independent of London) reports that Turkish troops did enter "northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish guerrillas" causing the US concern "that its entanglement in Iraq is about to become even more complicated if American troops and aircraf are asked to counter even a limited Turkish assault." China's Xinhua reports US State Department's flack Sean McCormak declaring, "Bottom line it for you, (I) don't think there's any substance to it. Our ambassador in Ankara, Ross Wilson, went in and talked to the Turkish General Staff, they said the reports weren't accurate." Turkish Daily News states the PKK killed 7 Turkish soldiers on Monday and wounded 6 yesterday. The Turkish Daily News also notes that the country's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Levent Bilman, declared yesterday that "the Turkish Republic is ready for anything any time." Lebanon's Daily Star reports that the border crossing happened, quotes a Turkish military official characterizing it as "a hot pursuit, not an incursion," and quotes their third Turkish official stating that "600 commandos entered Iraq and were backed up by several thousand troops along the border. He said the commandos raided Iraqi territory across from the Turkish border town of Cukurca before dawn after rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party [PKK] opened fire from Iraqi soil on Turkish patrols." Audio on this topic can be found on Thursday's Flashpoints (KPFA) where Robert Knight covered it in his "Knight Report" at the start of the program noting that Jabar Yawir declared, "This afternoon ten Turkish helicopters landed in a village in Mazouri, which is 2 miles inside the Iraqi border. They landed with around 150 Turkish special forces." Scott Peterson (Christian Sciene Monitor) notes the "hot pursuit" reports as well as: "Analysts say news of the raid is a warning to both the US and Iraqi Kurds, nominally in control in northern Iraq, to clamp down on the PKK, which has waged a fight for a homeland in southeast Turkey since 1984. Peterson also notes that ill will is building and cites Metehan Demi ("Ankara bureau chief of Turkey's Sabah newspaper and a military speciailist") noting, "The Americans are not doing things deliberately. But the Americans are not acting as much as they can [to control the PKK in northern Iraq], according to Turkey. . . . When any Turkish soldier dies, immediate focus [lands] on the US -- this is the public view, that the US is not acting sincerely for Turkey as an ally." Patrick Seale (Agence Global via Pacific Free Press) maintains, "Turkey is dangerously close to launching a full-scale war across its eastern border into northern Iraq. The aim would be to wipe out the bases of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), destroy once and for all the party's separatist ambitions, and put an end to cross-border terrorist attacks and hit-and-run raids by the PKK, which have inflamed nationalist opinion in Turkey." The BBC notes the establishment of "temporary security zones" by Turkey "near its border with Iraq, where it has already deployed extra forces." Vincent Boland (Financial Times of London via MSNBC) notes that troop build up will result in "special security measures in three provinces close to the border with Iraq" and that the approximately "100,000 Turkish troops" have led to "intense speculation that they are preparing for a large-scale incursion." Suzan Fraser (AP) observes that "temporary security zones" has not been clarified; however, it may mean that "the areas would be off limits to civilian flights. Others said the zones meant that additional security would be implemented, and entry into the regions would be restricted and tightly controlled" presumably through September 9th which the Turkish military has announced as the projected end date. As the details are discussed and debated, only Patrick Cockburn (Independent of London) notes the upcoming "referendrum . . . to be held on the future of the oil province of Kirkuk before the end of this year."
Meanwhile, tensions rise in Iraq as the BBC reports that Iraqi's Islamic Party (Sunni) states that two Sunni Baghdad mosques were attacked by Shi'ite "militiamen, backed by commando troops, [who] raised their banners over the Rahman and Fataah Basha mosques."
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Adam Kokesh""NYT: Ponders Turkey in or not in Iraq"
""Money grubbing contractors""
"3500 mark passed"
"alberto's cesspool needs draining (start with jr.)"
"Iraq Oil Workers, Guns & Butter"
"Hieu Nguyen, etc."
"Socialist Worker, Johann Hari, Dennis Bernstein"
"THIS JUST IN! JUNIOR'S GOT A MAN CRUSH!"
"Defending (and Loving) Alberto"
IT WAS SO EASY IN TO BE THE DEMOCRATIC FRONT RUNNER IN THE 2004 PRIMARY: YOU JUST GRABBED WHAT BULLY BOY WAS SAYING, PUT IN PROPER ENGLISH (WITH SUBJECT AND VERB AGREEMENT) AND THE CROWDS CHEERED.
THINGS ARE SHAPING DIFFERENTLY IN 2007. U.S. SENATOR BARACK OBAMA CALLED OUT JOHN EDWARDS IN THE DEBATE SUNDAY SAYING, BASICALLY, "OH, YOU TALK GOOD NOW BUT YOU ARE FOUR YEARS TOO LATE." TO WHICH AN AWAKE NATION COULD HAVE EASILY REPLIED, "BARACK, I KNOW YOU USED TO SPEAK AGAINST THE ILLEGAL WAR BEFORE THE SUMMER OF 2004, BUT WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR US LATELY? OOOOH-OOOOH-OOOOH-YEAH."
WHILE SENATOR OBAMA WALKS AROUND NOT REALIZING HE HAS EGG ON HIS FACE, U.S. SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON THOUGHT SHE COULD COAST THROUGH THE SUNDAY DEBATE PARROTING THE BULLY BOY. SHE TOO LEARNS IT AIN'T THAT EASY.
SUNDAY, SHE DECLARED IN THE DEBATE, "I BELIEVE WE ARE SAFER THAN WE WERE. WE ARE NOT YET SAFE ENOUGH". THE LAUGHABLE CLAIM STRUCK MANY AS OVERLY FAMILIAR BECAUSE THEY ECHO THE BULLY BOY'S RIDICULOUS FALL 2006 CLAIM THAT THE COUNTRY WAS "SAFER BUT NOT SAFE."
SENATOR CLINTON WAS ATTEMPTING TO DISPLAY HER MACHO SIDE AND TO SCORE POINTS AGAINST JOHN EDWARDS BUT SHE ONLY ENDED UP MAKING HERSELF LOOK RIDICULOUS AS THOUGH SHE WANDERED INTO TO THE WRONG DEBATE AND HAD BEEN INTENDING TO PARTICIPATE WITH OTHER MEMBERS OF THE G.O.P.
JOHN EDWARDS, SPEAKING IN NEW YORK TODAY, DECLARED, "TODAY AS A RESULT OF WHAT GEORGE BUSH HAS DONE, WE HAVE MORE TERRORISTS AND FEWER ALLIES. THERE WAS NO GROUP CALLED AL-QAIDA IN IRAQ BEFORE THIS PRESIDENT'S WAR IN IRAQ."
THOUGH HILLARY CLINTON'S CAMP REFUSED TO COMMENT, ONE INSIDER IN THE BARACK OBAMA CAMPAIGN DID.
"WHAT'S THAT MEAN?" ASKED THE INSIDER. "ALL I KNOW IS I LOVE BARACK. HE IS SO COOL AND SO BEAUTIFUL AND SO SEXY. I AM HAVING SO MUCH MORE FUN HERE THAN I EVER DID FETCHING COFFEE FOR KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL!"
WE DO NOT FIND THAT HARD TO BELIEVE.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
The 3500 mark for US service members who have died in the Iraq war was passed yesterday but it takes AP (and others) a little longer to count. ICCC lists the current total as 3504. Don't expect to hear much about it or for it to lead to many pieces (or air time) exploring Iraq -- it's summer so it's time for All Things Media Big and Small to begin their summer breaks.
As with last summer -- or the 'coverage' of the 3,000 mark -- don't expect a great deal. There's an election! A cruise! A summer rental! And about fifty other 'fun' topics that will yet again grab all the attention.
As media tries to covering their mouths while yawning, the illegal war drags on and it's up to the people to stop it. Adam Kokesh did and is doing his part and maybe someday someone in little media other than Matthew Rothschild can provide some serious coverage? That is it, for the record. The Nation -- when you've got a cruise to pack for, you've got a cruise to pack for! They can't do everything! They can't even do one damn thing. But Adam Kokesh has been standing up. On Monday, he faced a hearing for engaging in street theater with other members of Iraq Veterans Against the War while he wore fatigues. The recommendation was to recommend he be issued a general discharge. Yesterday, his attorney Michael Lebowitz attempted to file an appeal but KMBC reports that the appeal was denied by Brig. Gen. and shrinking violet Darrell L. Moore who also has the "power" to decide whether the recommendation of general discharge goes forward or not. Dave Helling (Kansas City Star) notes that "Moore can't increase Kokesh's punishment by issuing an other-than-honorable discharge." Writing to Editor & Publisher, Tom Wieliczka points out that while Kokesh is punished for street theater, General Petey Pace is able to write a letter of support for convicted liar Scooter Libby and no one questions that "the hypocrisy of the military when it comes to the 'grunts' vs the 'generals' when both of them use their first amendment rights."
The movement of resistance within the US military grows and includes Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Care and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
Turning to the issue of Turkey? Did they or didn't they? Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Khalid W. Hassan (New York Times) obeserved that the Turkish military was reported to state yesterday that "thousands of soldiers crossed the border [into Iraq] in pursuit of members of the Kurdistan Worker's Party, or P.K.K." but that "American and Turkish officials quickly denied those reports". Patrick Cockburn (Independent of London) reports that Turkish troops did enter "northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish guerrillas" causing the US concern "that its entanglement in Iraq is about to become even more complicated if American troops and aircraf are asked to counter even a limited Turkish assault." China's Xinhua reports US State Department's flack Sean McCormak declaring, "Bottom line it for you, (I) don't think there's any substance to it. Our ambassador in Ankara, Ross Wilson, went in and talked to the Turkish General Staff, they said the reports weren't accurate." Turkish Daily News states the PKK killed 7 Turkish soldiers on Monday and wounded 6 yesterday. The Turkish Daily News also notes that the country's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Levent Bilman, declared yesterday that "the Turkish Republic is ready for anything any time." Lebanon's Daily Star reports that the border crossing happened, quotes a Turkish military official characterizing it as "a hot pursuit, not an incursion," and quotes their third Turkish official stating that "600 commandos entered Iraq and were backed up by several thousand troops along the border. He said the commandos raided Iraqi territory across from the Turkish border town of Cukurca before dawn after rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party [PKK] opened fire from Iraqi soil on Turkish patrols." Audio on this topic can be found on Thursday's Flashpoints (KPFA) where Robert Knight covered it in his "Knight Report" at the start of the program noting that Jabar Yawir declared, "This afternoon ten Turkish helicopters landed in a village in Mazouri, which is 2 miles inside the Iraqi border. They landed with around 150 Turkish special forces." Scott Peterson (Christian Sciene Monitor) notes the "hot pursuit" reports as well as: "Analysts say news of the raid is a warning to both the US and Iraqi Kurds, nominally in control in northern Iraq, to clamp down on the PKK, which has waged a fight for a homeland in southeast Turkey since 1984. Peterson also notes that ill will is building and cites Metehan Demi ("Ankara bureau chief of Turkey's Sabah newspaper and a military speciailist") noting, "The Americans are not doing things deliberately. But the Americans are not acting as much as they can [to control the PKK in northern Iraq], according to Turkey. . . . When any Turkish soldier dies, immediate focus [lands] on the US -- this is the public view, that the US is not acting sincerely for Turkey as an ally." Patrick Seale (Agence Global via Pacific Free Press) maintains, "Turkey is dangerously close to launching a full-scale war across its eastern border into northern Iraq. The aim would be to wipe out the bases of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), destroy once and for all the party's separatist ambitions, and put an end to cross-border terrorist attacks and hit-and-run raids by the PKK, which have inflamed nationalist opinion in Turkey." The BBC notes the establishment of "temporary security zones" by Turkey "near its border with Iraq, where it has already deployed extra forces." Vincent Boland (Financial Times of London via MSNBC) notes that troop build up will result in "special security measures in three provinces close to the border with Iraq" and that the approximately "100,000 Turkish troops" have led to "intense speculation that they are preparing for a large-scale incursion." Suzan Fraser (AP) observes that "temporary security zones" has not been clarified; however, it may mean that "the areas would be off limits to civilian flights. Others said the zones meant that additional security would be implemented, and entry into the regions would be restricted and tightly controlled" presumably through September 9th which the Turkish military has announced as the projected end date. As the details are discussed and debated, only Patrick Cockburn (Independent of London) notes the upcoming "referendrum . . . to be held on the future of the oil province of Kirkuk before the end of this year."
Meanwhile, tensions rise in Iraq as the BBC reports that Iraqi's Islamic Party (Sunni) states that two Sunni Baghdad mosques were attacked by Shi'ite "militiamen, backed by commando troops, [who] raised their banners over the Rahman and Fataah Basha mosques."
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Adam Kokesh""NYT: Ponders Turkey in or not in Iraq"
""Money grubbing contractors""
"3500 mark passed"
"alberto's cesspool needs draining (start with jr.)"
"Iraq Oil Workers, Guns & Butter"
"Hieu Nguyen, etc."
"Socialist Worker, Johann Hari, Dennis Bernstein"
"THIS JUST IN! JUNIOR'S GOT A MAN CRUSH!"
"Defending (and Loving) Alberto"
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Defending (and Loving) Alberto
BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- SAN DIEGO.
COLUMNIST AND ADMINISTRATION SCHILL RUBEN NAVARRETTE JUNIOR WROTE ANOTHER LOVE LETTER OR, AS HE CALLED IT, "DEFENDING DADDY" COLUMN.
WHAT COULD MAKE JUNIOR SO HOT TO JUMP IN ALBERTO'S LAP? JUNIOR EXPLAINED IT WAS PROBABLY ALL THOSE YEARS AT THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS WHICH REMAINS CONSERVATIVE ALL THESE YEARS LATER. JUNIOR TOLD US ALL ABOUT THE FABLED HISTORY OF THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS WHICH INCLUDES RUNNING A FULL PAGE AD, BORDERED IN BLACK, ATTACKING JFK THAT DAY IN 1963 WHEN HE VISITED DALLAS . . . AND WAS ASSASSINATED. JUNIOR LAUGHED AS HE RECALLED HOW PUBLISHER TED DEALY RESPONDED TO QUESTIONS OF "HOW COULD YOU?" BY SAYING HE READ THE AD AND APPROVED IT, HOW IT REFLECTED THE PAPER'S POSITION.
JUNIOR TOOK US THROUGH ALL THE LOWEST OF LOWS INCLUDING THE JANUARY 26, 1998 INCIDENT WHERE THE PAPER PUBLISHED A FALSE STORY CLAIMING A SECRET SERVICE AGENT HAD SEEN THEN PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON AND MONICAL LEWINSKY IN "A COMPROMISING POSITION." JUNIOR LAUGHED AS HE NOTED HOW THE PAPER WAITED UNTIL IT WAS PICKED UP BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, LARRY KING ON CNN AND TED KOPPEL ON NIGHTLINE TO RETRACT THEIR STORY.
"REPORTING IS LYING," JUNIOR EXPLAINED. "AND I AM HAPPY TO LIE FOR BIG DADDY ALBERTO. I LOVE HIM. I LOVES HIM. I LOOOOVE, LOOOVE, LOOOOVE HIM! MMMM! BIG DADDY! SPANK ME, I BEEN NAUGHTY!"
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with Adam Kokesh who has made a decision regarding the 'finding' of a military panel Monday. Kokesh, along with other members of Iraq Veterans Against the War, has been taking part in street theater (Operation First Casualty) and, on Monday, the US military attempted to punish him for that. Nicole Colson (Socialist Worker) rightly points out that the participants/players wear fatigues and conduct "a mock patrol that he and other veterans participated in to show their opposition to the website." Colson also notes that Kokesh, Liam Madden and Cloy Richards are in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) where you "aren't paid, don't participate in military exercises or drills, have no chain of command, and are almost never recalled to active duty." Elaine Brower (OpEdNews) observes that, with only "2 weeks left in the Individual REady Reserves (IRR)," the US marine corps decides that a "military discplinary panel" is just the thing for Kokesh. Appearing last week on CNN's Paula Zahn Now, Kokesh noted of arguments that he's restricted from wearing a uniform at certain types of gatherings (theater isn't listed and couldn't be, we'll get back to that) and Kokesh replied, "Well, actually, it's specifically stated in the -- in the UCMJ that -- the Uniform Code of Military Justice -- that it does not apply to members of the Individual Ready Reserve. And, so -- that was my understanding." That was also the military panel's understanding on Monday, they noted IRR wasn't covered by UCMJ. So what are we talking about?
We're talking about street theater and whether or not anyone wears military drag, clown garb, or nothing, isn't something the US military has a say in. The Supreme Court made that decision in 1970 (see Schacht v. United States -- we covered it Tuesday, we covered it Monday, and it was covered Sunday at The Third Estate Sunday Review). If you're late too the party, cake's all gone but the Court was quite clear that the US military had no say over theater (stage, street, what have you) and whether or not their uniforms (in part or total) were worn -- nor did it matter whether the production was pro or anti-military. None of it mattered, the Court was very clear that the US military had no authority over productions.
With the panel agreeing that UCMJ didn't cover Kokesh (or anyone in IRR) the only ruling is the Supreme Court verdict and any reading of it supports Kokesh. Despite this, the panel wanted to issue Kokesh a "general discharge." Dave Helling (Kansas City Star) reports that Michael Lebowitz, one of Kokesh's two attorneys, filed papers to move for a new hearing because the panel/board contained a member/judge who "wasn't a commissioned officer" and "Marine rules require all such board members to be commissioned officers." Imagine that, the same group that thought they could ignore the Supreme Court also hoped they could get away with ignoring the marines' own rules regarding these panels.
Meanwhile, Randy Furst (Minneapolis Star Tribune) report (noted here yesterday, Monday and Sunday) on Luke, Leo and Leif Kamunen -- the three brothers who decided to self-check out of the US military during Christmas break -- has resulted in the paper running three letters. Paul Rozycki writes in to express agreement with the brothers ("I guess they wanted to serve their country, and then changed their minds when they found they were really to be serving as hostages to the president") while David Kaercher wants to relive his own boot camp days and Laurie Franklin can't understand why anyone would break "a contract." Laurie's baffled, she's confused. Why, why, why? "A contract," she whines. Suprisingly, she's not troubled that the Bully Boy lied a nation into an illegal war -- crimes of the administration don't concern her, but a contract . . . now that's serious! So serious that she's offended by the paper putting the article on the front page. But understand, she's "not a hawk" and she thinks Bully Boy is "inept" but she's apparently so tired from all her work to end the war -- judging by the letter that's the effort it took to "display several antiwar bumper stickers" -- because honking always ends the war! -- that her big beef is with three young people who said no to an illegal war.
Honking a horn doesn't end the war. Affixing a bumper sticker doesn't end the war. And, as we've seen, Dems in Congress aren't going to end the war. So it's up to the people and the Kamunen brothers did their part which took a lot more energy and drive than slapping on a bumper sticker. Those resisting within the military who go public can always count on cranks like Laurie and David. But they still demonstrate the Courage to Resist and that will help end the illegal war.
The movement of resistance within the US military grows and includes Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Care and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
While the war drags on, Tania Branigan and Rosie Lavan (Guardian of London via Common Dreams) report that Christopher Meyer, former British ambassador to the US, declared to the Iraq Commission in London, "I personally believe that the presence of American and British and coalition forces is making things worse, not only inside Iraq but the wider region around Iraq." This as Kirk Semple (New York Times) speaks with Hasan Nassar who tries to run an art gallery in Iraq but now "says he is ready to gather all of his art history archives -- articles, books, reviews, photographs, slides and paintings -- and burn them" because "I feel now that all humanity is against Iraq and against the Iraqi people and against Iraqi history and against Iraqi culture. We entered an endless dark tunnel."
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot""Adam Kokesh""MSM shows little to no interest in Iraq"
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"KPFA, you're getting on my last nerve"
"alberto's cesspool"
"Shameless"
"THIS JUST IN! BARACK SCARES UP VOTERS!"
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Shameless
TODAY, SENATOR AND 2008 PRESIDENTIAL WANNA-BE BARACK OBAMA ATTEMPTED TO 'SCARE' UP SOME VOTES IN WHAT'S BEING CALLED THE "1/2 WILLIE HORTON." SPEAKING IN HAMPTON, VA, OBAMA DECLARED THAT THERE IS A "QUIET RIOT" OUT THERE AND HE DIDN'T MEAN THE HEAVY METAL BAND.
THE "QUIET RIOT" IS AFRICAN-AMERICANS WHO MIGHT "ERUPT" AND TOUCH OFF RIOTS. APPARENTLY ONLY THE BI-RACIAL SENATOR CAN STOP IT.
THE RACIST COMMENTS FROM THE BI-RACIAL SENATOR CAUSED A FEW ALARMS BUT THE SENATOR ASSURED US HE WAS "JUST GETTING IN TOUCH WITH MY RIGHT SIDE. MY WHITE SIDE! MY RIGHT SIDE! WAIT . . . ."
WE LEFT HIM FUMBLING FOR THE RIGHT ANSWER AND CURSING THE FACT THAT THERE WAS NO ACTRESS ON THE HORIZON HE COULD TAR AND FEATHER TO TRY TO WIN THE RACE AS HE HAD DONE IN 2004.
Starting with Adam Kokesh and let's go over a few basics. If you're reporting (even just reading from the AP wire), you have no excuse to fail to note that, in the hearing, Adam Kokesh was questioned as to whether or not he voted in the 2004 presidential election or whether or not he could be considered "a card carrying member" of Iraq Veterans Against the War. Carey Gillam (Reuters) could note that, others played dumb. Neither was pertinent to the hearing nor acceptable questions for the US military to note and the "are you a card carrying member" of any organization or group has historical antecedents in this country so don't even call yourself a member of the press if you stuck to reading the AP wire. (Yes, I've read the e-mails, I'm aware there's a long list of posers.)
Iraq Veterans Against the War notes the following:
- Iraq Veterans Against the War scored a victory for free speech today in Kansas City, MO. A panel of three Marine Corps officers recommended today that Adam Kokesh receive a general discharge under honorable conditions. Adam and his attorney will, however, appeal this finding on the grounds that Adam is entitled to his full honorable discharge. In a seemingly hypocritical contradiction, the Marine Corps panel, as well as the prosecution's key witness, Major Whyte, agreed that the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) does not apply to members of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). Regardless of this, several other honorably discharged IVAW members are facing a similar hearing based on their stance against the war. IVAW members will continue to tell the truth about our experiences in Iraq and in the military and fight to bring our brothers and sisters home from Iraq now.
- Adam, Liam Madden and Cloy Richards appeared on Good Morning America on Sunday, June 3rd. Click to watch the video and other video coverage.
- More updates will follow. To donate to the IVAW legal defense fund, click here (check "Legal Defense Fund" in the Current Special Project section).
- For the latest on Adam's hearing, click here.
Okay, let's speak slowly because there is confusion thanks to bad reporting (or 'reporting'): the panel and Cry Baby Whyte both admitted that the UCMJ did not "apply to members of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR)." If you can absorb that, then you know only real issue remains.
David Montgomery (Washington Post) (the only reporter other than Gillam who doesn't embarrass themselves) reports that Kokesh "protested the war while wearing parts of his uniform during a theatrical demonstration in Washington in March." It was street theater and though Heather Hollingsworth apparently never heard of the Supreme Court, that's no excuse. With UCMJ not covering Kokesh, there's nothing to resolve, the Supreme Court ruled on this in 1970. As we explained Sunday at The Third Estate Sunday Review, Schacht v. United States addressed this. UCMJ does not cover Kokesh, that was admitted in the hearing. That immediately means the issues were resolved in Schacht v. United States. Kokesh is not classified active duty. He participated in street theater. The US military may not have liked Kokesh's actions but the Supreme Court's already informed them that no one really gives a damn what they think of theatrical productions. Justice Huge Black writing for the majority of the Court: "The street skit in which Schacht wore the army uniform as a constume was designed, in his view, to expose the evil presence in Vietnam and was part of a larger, peaceful antiwar demonstrations at the induction center that morning." The skit? Three people (including Schact) -- two in military drag, the third dressed in Viet Cong drag. Water pistols loaded with a red liqud, fired when one of them said, "Be an Able American." The victim would fall to the ground, one of the actors would shout, "My God, this is a pregnant woman." The Court of Appeals noted, "Without noticeable variation this skit was reenacted several times during the morning of the demonstration." This is quoted in Justice Hugo's opinion. In fact, let's move to the conclusions. First, remember the military hearing thought they could reject that Kokesh was involved in street theater. The military thought the same before and the Court set them straight:
The Government's argument in this case seems to imply that somehow what these amateur actors did in Houston should not be treated as a "theatrical production" within the meaning of 772 (f). We are unable to follow such a suggestion. Certainly theatrical productions need not always be performed in buildings or even on a defined area such as a conventional stage. Nor need they be performed by professional actors or be heavily financed or elaborately produced. Since time immemorial, outdoor theatrical performances, often performed by amateurs, have played an important part in the entertainment and the education of the people of the world. Here, the record shows without dispute the preparation and repeated presentation by amateur actors of a short play designed to create in the audience an understanding of and opposition to our participation in the Vietnam war. Supra, at 60 and this page. It may be that the performances were crude and [398 U.S. 58, 62] amateurish and perhaps unappealing, but the same thing can be said about many theatrical performances. We cannot believe that when Congress wrote out a special exception for theatrical productions it intended to protect only a narrow and limited category of professionally produced plays. 3 Of course, we need not decide here all the questions concerning what is and what is not within the scope of 772 (f). We need only find, as we emphatically do, that the street skit in which Schacht participated was a "theatrical production" within the meaning of that section.
Are we clear? I know Heather Hollingsworth (AP) isn't but is everyone else clear? Operation First Casualty is street theater and it has been performed repeatedly (in NYC on Memorial Day). Now let's move to the issue of the fatigues. Remember, Kokesh is not active duty, remember UCMJ -- by the hearing itself -- does not apply to him. Justice Black, writing for the Court:
This brings us to petitioner's complaint that giving force and effect to the last clause of 772 (f) would impose an unconstitutional restraint on his right of free speech. We agree. This clause on its face simply restricts 772 (f)'s authorization to those dramatic portrayals that do not "tend to discredit" the military, but, when this restriction is read together with 18 U.S.C. 702, it becomes clear that Congress has in effect made it a crime for an actor wearing a military uniform to say things during his performance critical of the conduct or [398 U.S. 58,63] policies of the Armed Forces. An actor, like everyone else in our country, enjoys a constitutional right to freedom of speech, including the right openly to criticize the Government during a dramatic performance. The last clause of 772 (f) denies this constitutional right to an actor who is wearing a military uniform by making it a crime for him to say things that tend to bring the military into discredit and disrepute. In the present case Schacht was free to participate in any skit at the demonstration that praised the Army, but under the final clause of 772 (f) he could be convicted of a federal offense if his portrayal attacked the Army instead of praising it. In light of our earlier finding that the skit in which Schacht participated was a "theatrical production" within the meaning of 772 (f), it follows that his conviction can be sustained only if he can be punished for speaking out against the role of our Army and our country in Vietnam. Clearly punishment for this reason would be an unconstitutional abridgment of freedom of speech. The final clause of 772 (f), which leaves Americans free to praise the war in Vietnam but can send persons like Schacht to prison for opposing it, cannot survive in a country which has the First Amendment. To preserve the constitutionality of 772 (f) that final clause must be stricken from the section.
Is anyone confused still? The US military was told (STRONGLY) by the Court that they had no say over theater productions, they were told theater productions included street productions. The only reason there's any doubt about this is because DUMB ASS 'reporters' and 'news readers' didn't learn their damn history, don't know their Constitution and apparently will dumb down American without anyone ever calling them out on it. This issue was addressed by the Supreme Court in 1970. The hearing yesterday made it very clear that UCMJ did not apply to IRR. The minute that was made clear, there was no longer any question about it, Schacht v. US was the only ruling that mattered.
David Montgomery (Washington Post) notes Kokesh may appeal and that, following the next step (marine corps has to endorse the recomendation) his attorney Mike Lebowitz states they may appeal (civilian court) because "There's still a First Amendment issue involved. We have a lot to go on if we take it to federal court." Indeed they do and bad reporting serves no one. If you're last name is Montgomery or Gillam, chances are you did the people a disservice by failing to inform them of what was at stake which, while very personal to Adam Kokesh, effects all Americans. As Rebecca (rightly) notes the US military's actions need to be called out and when the US military thinks it does not have to obey the Supreme Court, the US press should be up in arms.
Turning to news of war resistance, AP reports on brothers Leif, Leo and Luke Kamunen who self-checked out while on Christmas break [we noted Randy Furst (Minneapolis Star Tribune) report on the brothers yesterday], that the three had signed up for the National Guard and that Chris Beron (recruiter) denis Luke Kamunen's statements that Beron told him he wouldn't be going to Iraq. Apparently, AP's never heard the many reported stories of When Recruiters Lie (which predate the current illegal war). The brothers reveal that they hadn't even discussed the decision with each other -- Luke: "We saw each other a couple days later and we're saying, 'What, you didn't go back either?" To restate from yesterday, Luke is discharged now, Leo and Leif plan to turn themselves in at some point in the future.
Meanwhile, Common Ground reports on an upcoming event in Canada, Our Way Home Peace Event and Reunion. The multi-day event will be held from July 4th through 8th at the Brilliant Cultural Center in the community of Brilliant, part of the city of Castlegear, British Columbia, Canada. "We invited you to participate in the second annual Our Way Home Peace Event and Reunion weekend, which honours the courage and contribution of US war resisters who came to Canada during the Vietnam War as well as the courageous US war resisters who sought safe haven in Canada after resisting the war in Iraq. The event also honours the thousands of Canadians who helped them resettle in this country, both then and now. US war resisters who came to Canada during the Vietnam War offer our world an important model of non-violence, as do those US war resisters arriving in Canada today during the US War in Iraq." Who'll be there? US war resister Kyle Snyder will speak, Daniel Ellsberg will be the keynote speaker, Leonard I. Weinglass will take part, Tom Hayden, Michelle Mason (director, Breaking Ranks, which will be shown at the multi-day festival), David Zeiger (Sir! No Sir!) and many more.
The movement of resistance within the US military grows and includes Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
"Adam Kokesh"
"Claims that the 2 missing US soldiers were killed"
"adam kokesh, the u.s. military attacks the supreme court & more"
"Give it up for Amy Goodman"
"Thing get rough for the Modern Day Carrie Nations"
"Monday"
"Third Estate Sunday Review"
"AlterPunk Busted!"
"THIS JUST IN! THE PRIVATE PARTY RESISTER!"
Monday, June 04, 2007
AlterPunk Busted!
BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- NEW HAMPSHIRE.
THESE REPORTERS MISSED MOST OF THE DEBATE LAST NIGHT BECAUSE WE WERE CAUGHT UP IN THE WIMPY DRAMA OUTSIDE THE AUDITORIUM.
NATION WRITER AND PROFESSIONAL LISPER ALTERPUNK GOT BUSTED.
THESE REPORTERS OBSERVED ALTERPUNKY ATTEMPT TO MAKE AN ENTRANCE ONLY TO BE TOLD HE WAS NOT WELCOME IN THE AUDITORIUM. SENSING A STORY OR AT LEAST SOME HILARIOUS TALES TO SHARE IN THE LOCKEROOM, WE HEADED AFTER ALTERPUNK WHO HAD BEEN EXILED TO AN EMPTY GYM. HE WAS TOLD THAT WAS WHERE HE COULD BE AND THAT WAS WHERE HE SHOULD STAY.
HOWEVER, THE CINDY BRADY OF THE FAUX LEFT WASN'T HAVING ANY OF THAT. SEEING A PARTY ON A BALCONY, ALTERPUNK IGNORED WHERE HE HAD BEEN TOLD TO GO AND ATTEMPTED TO CRASH.
IN A HUMILITATING THROW BACK TO TOO MANY LOCKER ROOM NIGHTMARES, ALTERPUNK WAS INFORMED HE WAS NOT WELCOME AND SHOULD LEAVE.
INSTEAD OF LEAVING, ALTERPUNK BEGAN PESTERING THE MAN WHO TOLD HIM TO LEAVE AND FOLLOWING HIM AROUND. WHEN THE MAN NO LONGER FELT SORRY FOR THE PATHETIC BUT LOUD ALTERPUNK, HE GOT A COP.
ALTERPUNK WAS TOLD TO LEAVE IMMEDIATELY.
HIS LOWER LIP TREMBLED, THE CROTCH OF HIS PANTS BECAME DAMP AND THEN SOAKED, AND ALTERPUNK HAD A NONSTOP TANTRUM.
ARGUING WITH THE COP AND SINGING (OFF KEY) "AND I AM TELLING YOU I'M NOT GOING" ALTERPUNK STARTED ASKING FOR "YOUR BOSS.' WHEN THE COP TOOK ALTERPUNK OVER TO HIS SUPERVISOR, ALTERPUNK BECAME LOUDER AND RUDER. IT WAS LIKE WATCHING ZZA ZZA HAVE A HISSY FIT.
HAVING ENOUGH OF IT, THE COP CUFFED ALTERPUNK WHO IMMEDIATELY BEGAN WHINING, "I AM TOO PRETTY FOR PRISON!" (HE'S NOT.)
AS ALL ASSEMBLED LAUGHED AT THE WHINY, SOBBING PUNK WHO HAD WET HIS PANTS, ALTERPUNK SWORE HE'D GET BACK AT EVERYONE OF US!
COMPARED TO THAT, THE DEBATE ITSELF WAS A YAWN-FEST.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with Adam Kokesh who was in Kansas City, MO today at the Marine Mobilization Command for a hearing to determine the status of his discharge. With Kokesh were his attorneys Eric Seitz and Mike Lebowitz as well as many supporters. The AP reports that the Yellow Rose of Texas, the bus carrying Kokesh and supporters from DC to Kansas City, had slogans on it: "Bring Them Home Now," "What Noble Cause?," and "Not One More!"
Kokesh was discharged from active duty (honorably) in November. At issue is the street theater he and other members of Iraq Veterans Against the War participated in on March 19, 2007 in DC as part of Operation First Casualty -- an attempt to provide Americans with some idea of life in Iraq. Kokesh (and others) wore fatigues -- not dress uniforms.
On The KPFA Evening News Sunday, Ruthanne Shpiner observed, "At stake is the right of freedom of speech for the hundreds of thousands of members of the US military." Kokesh explained to Shpiner, "So if I were to show up to a formation in what I was wearing to that demonstration an NCO would say first thing, right away, 'Hey Devil Dog, you're out of uniform.' So technically, yes, I was definitely out of uniform that day. By the regulations. However, what's really important here is that the Uniform Code of Military Justice should not be applied to the Inactive Reserve and it's being abused as such for political ends."
The hearing today is not expected to reach an immediate finding/decision. It is thought that they cannot issue a dishonorable discharge because that normally requires an Article 32 hearing. Normally? What is happening is so rare that there is no clear outcome -- happens when the military steps away from official guidelines to silence critics of the illegal war. The finding/decision is expected to come within two weeks.
Kokesh discussed what is considered likely with Shpiner, "Well there's two schools of thought about this and the first one is that if it were to be an other than honorable discharge and it would have effect of being my last official discharge from the military and it would have effect in determining benefits. I would lose all my rights to VA health care for the two years from the point of my discharge, I would lose the lifetime care for my two service related injuries namely my elbow . . . which I may need an operation on soon and my hypertension and I may have to pay back the educational benefits I received as a reservist going to college full time. But then there's another theory and this is untested because the case is so new and unprecedented that a discharge from the Inactive Reserve would have no effect on my benefits whatsoever."
When Kokesh speaks of losing educational benefits, this would include future as well as repayment for classes he took before serving in Iraq and after -- and courses he took while in Iraq, stationed in Falluja. Halliburton's not asked to return of the money they fleeced from tax payers, but the US government has no problem trying to pull money back from veterans.
Heather Hollingsworth (AP) reports that Kokesh has (rightly) called the hearing a "disgusting waste of government resources" and declared on a break in today's hearing, "More importantly, it's a case of fraud, waste and abuse and a disgusting waste of government resources. While Marines are dying every day in Iraq, they are spending time investigating members of the individual ready reserves for political activity."
Kokesh is not the only one the US military has gone after. Liam Madden and Cloy Richards have also faced threats. In a video posted at David Swanson's AfterDowningStreet, Cloy Richards mother speaks of what her son has been through. Tina Richards explains that when the threats started coming in from the US military, Cloy -- who has served two tours in Iraq -- just didn't feel he had another fight in him after he and his mother had spent months and months fighting the VA so that Richards could receive treatment he needed and had earned. Tina Richards shared with Kris Welch on KPFA's Living Room May 24th that shortly after her son learned he was being deployed to Iraq for a third time, she found him with a shotgun, the barrel in his mouth. This is the type of person the US military would rather screw around with than help. Unless, of course, they see this nonsense as helpful.
Richards was speaking at last Friday's press conference. In a video posted on YouTube from the same press conference, Kokesh explains, "When I participated in Operation First Casualty I was not intending to represent the government, the Department of Defense, the army, the marine corps or any other part of the government. I was representing myself as a veteran and Iraq Veterans Against the War. The voices of the recently honorably discharged veterans of this conflict are the most relevant in the most pressing debate before the nation today. The fact that the marine corps is being used to intimidate those people is what offends me more than anything. As someone who loves the marine corps, has loved the marine corps, I'm particularly offended to see it used for political ends. Clearly, this administration has a case of selective prosecution. But I have to ask, to those proponents of the current administration's policies: If the cause in Iraq is so just and so righteous, why are you so afraid of the truth? Why is it necessary to silence the voice of veterans? To remove them of their credibility? To prevent them from wearing their uniforms while expressing their freedom of speech?"
Operation First Casualty was street theater and many, including the US military and the press, seem to forget that this has already been addressed by the Supreme Court. As we explained Sunday at The Third Estate Sunday Review, Schacht v. United States addressed this. In 1967, Daniel Jay Schacht and two other people participated in a dramatization against the then current illegal war outside a military recruiting center. In the production (unscripted), they used toy guns and squirted out a paint (red) meant to symbolize blood. Schacht was arrested for wearing military drags. (Schact was never in the military, that doesn't matter and didn't to the Court.) The US military maintained that it had the right to decide who wore their uniforms and who did not. The case made it to the Supreme Court which found that since the US military would allow uniforms and drag to be worn in "pro-war" plays, they had no right to say no to "anti-war" plays because, having allowed one group, it was now a free speech issue. To the cry that street theater was not "theater," Justice Hugo Black wrote, "Certainly theatrical productions need not always be performed in buildings or even on a defined area such as a conventional stage. Nor need they be performed by professional actors or be heavily financed or elaborately produced. Since time immemorial, outdoor theatrical performances, often performed by amateurs, have played an important part in the entertainment and the education of the people of the world."
Heather Hollingsworth (AP) notes that the US "military considered it a political event" and not street theater. The reality is the Supreme Court found the US military not fit to determine what was or wasn't a theater production. The reality is that in a more informed country, big media (including AP) would know what the hell was going on and that the Supreme Court ruled on this 37 years ago.
Turning to more war resistance, Randy Furst (Minneapolis Star Tribune) reports on the Kamunen brothers. They are? Three brothers who decided to self-check out last Christmas. Luke Kamunen is now discharged from the military, his brothers Leif and Leo "plan to turn themselves in soon" and the three are among the 3,301 the US army admits self-checked out in 2006.
The movement of resistance within the US military continues to grow. It includes Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
Joshua Partlow (Washington Post) reported today on the 17 US service members who have been announced dead in "the first three days of June." Currently, ICCC's count of the total number of US service members who have died from the Iraq war since the start of the illegal war is 3496.
Attempting to remember them is an anonymous Iraq veteran who has now been marching in California for over a week. On The KPFA Evening News Saturday, David Rosenberg noted Friday marked the veteran's "1200 loop around the State Capitol Building in Sacramento on Friday night the effort which began on Memorial Day is continuing this weekend with scores of supporters also walking laps for Americans killed in Iraq. The anonymous veteran talked about why he decided to take the action he did."
Iraq Veteran: I'm doing this as a way to focus on what we're doing and to focus on the soldiers that we're trying to remember. So right now, I'm representing Sgt. Travis M. Arndt who was 23 at the time of death. He died of a result of vehicle accident during a convoy operation in Kirkuk, Iraq on September 21, 2005. So that's my identity right now. I'm just doing this for the soldiers in a way to bring attention to the fact that we need to stop the war and stop killing and stop sending our soldiers over their to die and stop the innocent death of Iraqis as well. . . . Our group started by doing all the California . . . casualties and then we kind of spread it out to the community and allowed them to carry a soldier so that more people would get exposed to these individual soldiers and it's been a really touching experience for everyone. We've had a few people just break down and start crying, and saying 'I never realized, you know, like I read about this in the paper but it was just, 'seven soldiers were killed in this' but I never realized how much of a difference it is when you hold a specific soldier in your hand and read a little about him and then read about how tragically he was taken out of this world at the age of like 19 or 18, you know, in a lot of cases, or as the soldier I'm holding right now 23 years-old.
David Rosenberg noted, "The anonymous veteran says the group of anti-war activists will probably be at the state capitol through most of next week. The activist who are inviting people to join them usually start off about six in the morning and go to a little after ten at night."
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Nicky K's Desperate Hours"
Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Bully Boy's Immigration Plan"
"Kat's Korner: Those Jones girls"
"Other Items"
"17 US service members killed in Iraq since start of June"
"And the war drags on . . ."
"NYT: Cave on bridge bombing, PvZ on Pendleton"
"NYT: Provides a look at reporting in Iraq"
"Community note"
"Truest statement of the week"
"A Note to Our Readers"
"Editorial: The missing coverage"
"TV: The really long pilots"
"US military goes after veterans"
"Our Modern Day Carrie Nations"
"Uncle Dick Wants You"
"Operation Iraqi (Oil) Liberation"
"Sgt. Pepper's turns 40"
"DVD Pick: Grace of My Heart"
"Highlights" "Fred Thompson dishes"
"THIS JUST IN! FRED THOMPSON RANKS THE COMPETITION!..."
THESE REPORTERS MISSED MOST OF THE DEBATE LAST NIGHT BECAUSE WE WERE CAUGHT UP IN THE WIMPY DRAMA OUTSIDE THE AUDITORIUM.
NATION WRITER AND PROFESSIONAL LISPER ALTERPUNK GOT BUSTED.
THESE REPORTERS OBSERVED ALTERPUNKY ATTEMPT TO MAKE AN ENTRANCE ONLY TO BE TOLD HE WAS NOT WELCOME IN THE AUDITORIUM. SENSING A STORY OR AT LEAST SOME HILARIOUS TALES TO SHARE IN THE LOCKEROOM, WE HEADED AFTER ALTERPUNK WHO HAD BEEN EXILED TO AN EMPTY GYM. HE WAS TOLD THAT WAS WHERE HE COULD BE AND THAT WAS WHERE HE SHOULD STAY.
HOWEVER, THE CINDY BRADY OF THE FAUX LEFT WASN'T HAVING ANY OF THAT. SEEING A PARTY ON A BALCONY, ALTERPUNK IGNORED WHERE HE HAD BEEN TOLD TO GO AND ATTEMPTED TO CRASH.
IN A HUMILITATING THROW BACK TO TOO MANY LOCKER ROOM NIGHTMARES, ALTERPUNK WAS INFORMED HE WAS NOT WELCOME AND SHOULD LEAVE.
INSTEAD OF LEAVING, ALTERPUNK BEGAN PESTERING THE MAN WHO TOLD HIM TO LEAVE AND FOLLOWING HIM AROUND. WHEN THE MAN NO LONGER FELT SORRY FOR THE PATHETIC BUT LOUD ALTERPUNK, HE GOT A COP.
ALTERPUNK WAS TOLD TO LEAVE IMMEDIATELY.
HIS LOWER LIP TREMBLED, THE CROTCH OF HIS PANTS BECAME DAMP AND THEN SOAKED, AND ALTERPUNK HAD A NONSTOP TANTRUM.
ARGUING WITH THE COP AND SINGING (OFF KEY) "AND I AM TELLING YOU I'M NOT GOING" ALTERPUNK STARTED ASKING FOR "YOUR BOSS.' WHEN THE COP TOOK ALTERPUNK OVER TO HIS SUPERVISOR, ALTERPUNK BECAME LOUDER AND RUDER. IT WAS LIKE WATCHING ZZA ZZA HAVE A HISSY FIT.
HAVING ENOUGH OF IT, THE COP CUFFED ALTERPUNK WHO IMMEDIATELY BEGAN WHINING, "I AM TOO PRETTY FOR PRISON!" (HE'S NOT.)
AS ALL ASSEMBLED LAUGHED AT THE WHINY, SOBBING PUNK WHO HAD WET HIS PANTS, ALTERPUNK SWORE HE'D GET BACK AT EVERYONE OF US!
COMPARED TO THAT, THE DEBATE ITSELF WAS A YAWN-FEST.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with Adam Kokesh who was in Kansas City, MO today at the Marine Mobilization Command for a hearing to determine the status of his discharge. With Kokesh were his attorneys Eric Seitz and Mike Lebowitz as well as many supporters. The AP reports that the Yellow Rose of Texas, the bus carrying Kokesh and supporters from DC to Kansas City, had slogans on it: "Bring Them Home Now," "What Noble Cause?," and "Not One More!"
Kokesh was discharged from active duty (honorably) in November. At issue is the street theater he and other members of Iraq Veterans Against the War participated in on March 19, 2007 in DC as part of Operation First Casualty -- an attempt to provide Americans with some idea of life in Iraq. Kokesh (and others) wore fatigues -- not dress uniforms.
On The KPFA Evening News Sunday, Ruthanne Shpiner observed, "At stake is the right of freedom of speech for the hundreds of thousands of members of the US military." Kokesh explained to Shpiner, "So if I were to show up to a formation in what I was wearing to that demonstration an NCO would say first thing, right away, 'Hey Devil Dog, you're out of uniform.' So technically, yes, I was definitely out of uniform that day. By the regulations. However, what's really important here is that the Uniform Code of Military Justice should not be applied to the Inactive Reserve and it's being abused as such for political ends."
The hearing today is not expected to reach an immediate finding/decision. It is thought that they cannot issue a dishonorable discharge because that normally requires an Article 32 hearing. Normally? What is happening is so rare that there is no clear outcome -- happens when the military steps away from official guidelines to silence critics of the illegal war. The finding/decision is expected to come within two weeks.
Kokesh discussed what is considered likely with Shpiner, "Well there's two schools of thought about this and the first one is that if it were to be an other than honorable discharge and it would have effect of being my last official discharge from the military and it would have effect in determining benefits. I would lose all my rights to VA health care for the two years from the point of my discharge, I would lose the lifetime care for my two service related injuries namely my elbow . . . which I may need an operation on soon and my hypertension and I may have to pay back the educational benefits I received as a reservist going to college full time. But then there's another theory and this is untested because the case is so new and unprecedented that a discharge from the Inactive Reserve would have no effect on my benefits whatsoever."
When Kokesh speaks of losing educational benefits, this would include future as well as repayment for classes he took before serving in Iraq and after -- and courses he took while in Iraq, stationed in Falluja. Halliburton's not asked to return of the money they fleeced from tax payers, but the US government has no problem trying to pull money back from veterans.
Heather Hollingsworth (AP) reports that Kokesh has (rightly) called the hearing a "disgusting waste of government resources" and declared on a break in today's hearing, "More importantly, it's a case of fraud, waste and abuse and a disgusting waste of government resources. While Marines are dying every day in Iraq, they are spending time investigating members of the individual ready reserves for political activity."
Kokesh is not the only one the US military has gone after. Liam Madden and Cloy Richards have also faced threats. In a video posted at David Swanson's AfterDowningStreet, Cloy Richards mother speaks of what her son has been through. Tina Richards explains that when the threats started coming in from the US military, Cloy -- who has served two tours in Iraq -- just didn't feel he had another fight in him after he and his mother had spent months and months fighting the VA so that Richards could receive treatment he needed and had earned. Tina Richards shared with Kris Welch on KPFA's Living Room May 24th that shortly after her son learned he was being deployed to Iraq for a third time, she found him with a shotgun, the barrel in his mouth. This is the type of person the US military would rather screw around with than help. Unless, of course, they see this nonsense as helpful.
Richards was speaking at last Friday's press conference. In a video posted on YouTube from the same press conference, Kokesh explains, "When I participated in Operation First Casualty I was not intending to represent the government, the Department of Defense, the army, the marine corps or any other part of the government. I was representing myself as a veteran and Iraq Veterans Against the War. The voices of the recently honorably discharged veterans of this conflict are the most relevant in the most pressing debate before the nation today. The fact that the marine corps is being used to intimidate those people is what offends me more than anything. As someone who loves the marine corps, has loved the marine corps, I'm particularly offended to see it used for political ends. Clearly, this administration has a case of selective prosecution. But I have to ask, to those proponents of the current administration's policies: If the cause in Iraq is so just and so righteous, why are you so afraid of the truth? Why is it necessary to silence the voice of veterans? To remove them of their credibility? To prevent them from wearing their uniforms while expressing their freedom of speech?"
Operation First Casualty was street theater and many, including the US military and the press, seem to forget that this has already been addressed by the Supreme Court. As we explained Sunday at The Third Estate Sunday Review, Schacht v. United States addressed this. In 1967, Daniel Jay Schacht and two other people participated in a dramatization against the then current illegal war outside a military recruiting center. In the production (unscripted), they used toy guns and squirted out a paint (red) meant to symbolize blood. Schacht was arrested for wearing military drags. (Schact was never in the military, that doesn't matter and didn't to the Court.) The US military maintained that it had the right to decide who wore their uniforms and who did not. The case made it to the Supreme Court which found that since the US military would allow uniforms and drag to be worn in "pro-war" plays, they had no right to say no to "anti-war" plays because, having allowed one group, it was now a free speech issue. To the cry that street theater was not "theater," Justice Hugo Black wrote, "Certainly theatrical productions need not always be performed in buildings or even on a defined area such as a conventional stage. Nor need they be performed by professional actors or be heavily financed or elaborately produced. Since time immemorial, outdoor theatrical performances, often performed by amateurs, have played an important part in the entertainment and the education of the people of the world."
Heather Hollingsworth (AP) notes that the US "military considered it a political event" and not street theater. The reality is the Supreme Court found the US military not fit to determine what was or wasn't a theater production. The reality is that in a more informed country, big media (including AP) would know what the hell was going on and that the Supreme Court ruled on this 37 years ago.
Turning to more war resistance, Randy Furst (Minneapolis Star Tribune) reports on the Kamunen brothers. They are? Three brothers who decided to self-check out last Christmas. Luke Kamunen is now discharged from the military, his brothers Leif and Leo "plan to turn themselves in soon" and the three are among the 3,301 the US army admits self-checked out in 2006.
The movement of resistance within the US military continues to grow. It includes Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
Joshua Partlow (Washington Post) reported today on the 17 US service members who have been announced dead in "the first three days of June." Currently, ICCC's count of the total number of US service members who have died from the Iraq war since the start of the illegal war is 3496.
Attempting to remember them is an anonymous Iraq veteran who has now been marching in California for over a week. On The KPFA Evening News Saturday, David Rosenberg noted Friday marked the veteran's "1200 loop around the State Capitol Building in Sacramento on Friday night the effort which began on Memorial Day is continuing this weekend with scores of supporters also walking laps for Americans killed in Iraq. The anonymous veteran talked about why he decided to take the action he did."
Iraq Veteran: I'm doing this as a way to focus on what we're doing and to focus on the soldiers that we're trying to remember. So right now, I'm representing Sgt. Travis M. Arndt who was 23 at the time of death. He died of a result of vehicle accident during a convoy operation in Kirkuk, Iraq on September 21, 2005. So that's my identity right now. I'm just doing this for the soldiers in a way to bring attention to the fact that we need to stop the war and stop killing and stop sending our soldiers over their to die and stop the innocent death of Iraqis as well. . . . Our group started by doing all the California . . . casualties and then we kind of spread it out to the community and allowed them to carry a soldier so that more people would get exposed to these individual soldiers and it's been a really touching experience for everyone. We've had a few people just break down and start crying, and saying 'I never realized, you know, like I read about this in the paper but it was just, 'seven soldiers were killed in this' but I never realized how much of a difference it is when you hold a specific soldier in your hand and read a little about him and then read about how tragically he was taken out of this world at the age of like 19 or 18, you know, in a lot of cases, or as the soldier I'm holding right now 23 years-old.
David Rosenberg noted, "The anonymous veteran says the group of anti-war activists will probably be at the state capitol through most of next week. The activist who are inviting people to join them usually start off about six in the morning and go to a little after ten at night."
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Nicky K's Desperate Hours"
Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Bully Boy's Immigration Plan"
"Kat's Korner: Those Jones girls"
"Other Items"
"17 US service members killed in Iraq since start of June"
"And the war drags on . . ."
"NYT: Cave on bridge bombing, PvZ on Pendleton"
"NYT: Provides a look at reporting in Iraq"
"Community note"
"Truest statement of the week"
"A Note to Our Readers"
"Editorial: The missing coverage"
"TV: The really long pilots"
"US military goes after veterans"
"Our Modern Day Carrie Nations"
"Uncle Dick Wants You"
"Operation Iraqi (Oil) Liberation"
"Sgt. Pepper's turns 40"
"DVD Pick: Grace of My Heart"
"Highlights" "Fred Thompson dishes"
"THIS JUST IN! FRED THOMPSON RANKS THE COMPETITION!..."
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