Thursday, March 06, 2008

Bambi Explains It All

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- CAMPAIGN TRAIL.
 
TODAY THESE REPORTERS ASKED SENATOR BAMBI OBAMA WHY HE WAS SO OBSESSED WITH HILLARY CLINTON'S TAX RETURN?  IS HE PLANNING ON GOING TO WORK FOR H. & R. BLOCK?
 
BAMBI EXPLAINED IT TO US, "HERE'S THE THING ABOUT PEOPLE AND MONEY: IT ALWAYS TRIPS THEM UP.  IT WILL ALWAYS BE THEIR DOWNFALL.  TIME AND AGAIN, IT'S THE THING THAT WILL HAVE THEM TO GREEDY TO BE SENSIBLE.  SO YOU END UP WITH THAT MANSION IN CHICAGO THAT YOU CAN'T AFFORD.  YOU WANT IT, YOUR WIFE WANTS IT, BUT YOU JUST GOT ELECTED TO THE U.S. SENATE AND WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TO BE SPENDING OVER A MILLION DOLLARS FOR A MANSION ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'LL BE IN D.C. THE BULK OF THE TIME?  SO YOU GO TO YOUR MOB BOSS FRIEND, SAY HIS NAME IS BIG TONY, AND YOU SAY 'BIG TONY, I WANT THIS HOUSE.  GET ME THE MANSION1'  BIG TONY AND YOUR TACKY SPOUSE WORK OUT A DEAL WHERE YOUR SPOUSE WILL USING SITTING ON THE CHICAGO LANDMARK COMMISSION TO OKAY THAT THE MANSION AND THE LITTLE STRIP OF LAND TO THE RIGHT OF IT ARE SPLIT UP EVEN THOUGH IT GOES AGAINST WHAT THE LANDMARK COMMISSION SHOULD DO.  THEN YOU AND BIG TONY TOUR THE PLACE AND HE EXPLAINS HOW HE NEEDS HIS FRIENDS TO BE IN HIGH PLACES.  YOU TELL HIM, 'I WATCH THE SOPRANOS.  I GET YOU, BIG TONY.'  SO HE SAYS HE'LL BY THE LAND AND YOU'LL BUY THE MANSION AND HE'LL SEND HIS WIFE IN WITH YOU TO CLOSE ON THE PROPERTY.  AND HE ENDS UP UNDER FEDERAL INDICTMENT BUT YOU KEEP TELLING YOURSELF, IF I JUST SMILE LONG ENOUGH EVERYONE WILL FORGET. JUST KEEP SMILING.  KNOWING YOU CAN ALWAYS DEPEND ON BIG TONY.'  YOU HUM A LITTLE DIONNE AND TRY TO SMILE."
 
BAMBI PAUSED AND HIS MOUTH DROPPED OPEN.
 
"AT LEAST," HE HURRIEDLY ADDED, "I THINK SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPENED WITH HILLARY!  THIS INTERVIEW IS OVER!"
 
 
 
Starting with war resistance.  IVAW chair Camilo Mejia told his story in  Road from Ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia.  He is the first Iraq War veteran to refuse to continue serving in the illegal war.  Frank Houston (Miami New Times) notes that Querido Camilo (Dear Camilo) plays tonight (9:15 pm at Bill Cosford Cinema, University of Miami) and tomorrow (9:15 pm at Regal Cinemas South Beach) as part of the Miami International Film Festival and notes, "Querido Camilo tells Mejia's story from the perspective of friends and family members, sketching in his background with snapshots, interviews, and narrated letters that begin in 1995, when Mejia arrived in the United States from Nicaragua. 'I thought it would be more fun, more beautiful.  But it's really very different,' Mejia says of the United States in an interview with filmmakers Julio Molina and Daniel Ross Mix.  They explore military enlistment as a last resort for the working class, especially immigrants."
 
Agustin Aguayo is another war resister who served in Iraq and today Aguayo and his wife Helga Aguayo will be speaking at UCLA Riverside, in the Interdisciplinary Building at 6:00 pm while yesterday he took part in a debate on the illegal war at Paso Robles High School. Amber Lee (KSBY -- link has text and video) reports that it is "the second year in a row" that the school has "decided to hold a war debate forum to give students the opportunity to decide about the military."  Aguayo explains, "You know you can't really tell anyone what to do but you can share some knowledge with them."
 
Meanwhile Americans Against the War-France announces their support for the US war resisters in Canada.   War resisters who went to Canada need the coverage right now.  They  were dealt a serious set-back when the Canadian Supreme Court refused to hear the appeals of Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. Today, Canada's Parliament remaining the best hope for safe harbor war resisters have, you can make your voice heard by the Canadian parliament which has the ability to pass legislation to grant war resisters the right to remain in Canada. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. That is the sort of thing that should receive attention but instead it's ignored.


There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).

Meanwhile IVAW has a DC action this month:

In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan


March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'." IVAW's co-chair Adam Kokesh will, of course, be participating and he explains why at his site, "But out of a strong sense of duty, some of us are trying to put our experiences to use for a good cause. Some of us couldn't live with ourselves if weren't doing everything we could to bring our brothers and sisters home as soon as possible. The environment may be unking, but that is why I will be testifying to shooting at civilians as a result of changing Rules of Engagement, abuse of detainees, and desecration of Iraqi bodies. It won't be easy but it must be done. Some of the stories are things that are difficult to admit that I was a part of, but if one more veteran realizes that they are not alone because of my testimony it will be worth it." The hearings will be broadcast throughout at the Iraq Veterans Against the War home page an on KPFA March 14th and 16th with Aimee Allison (co-host of the station's The Morning Show and co-author with David Solnit of Army Of None) and Aaron Glantz hosting and the KPFA live stream will also be available at Glantz' War Comes Home.
 
Congress held several hearings today and we're noting two.  Background for the first,  Reuters reported this morning, "The U.S. military has authority to conduct combat operations in Iraq beyond the end of this year, even though a United Nations mandate for force ends then, a State Department official said on Wednesday.  David Satterfield, the State Department's coordinator for Iraq, said Congress had authorized U.S. combat in Iraq back in 2002, and the Bush administration did not believe it needed to seek 'explicit additional authorization' from Congress for U.S. combat beyond the end of this year."  Karen DeYoung (Washington Post) reported that "[t]he Bush administration yesterday adavanced a new argument for why it does not require congressional approval to strike a long-term security agreement with Iraq, stating that Congress had already endorsed such an initiative through its 2002 resolution . . . Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-N.Y.), whose questions at a House hearing Tuesday elicted the administration statement, described it as an 'open-ended, never-ending authority for the administration to be at war in Iraq forever with no limitations.'   The conditions of 2002 no longer exist, he said."  This afternoon the US House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia held a hearing that David Satterfield again showed up for (but couldn't really answer anymore than on Tuesday) as did Mary Beth Long the Asst. Secretary of Defense for International Affairs.
 
Satterfield attempted repeatedly to claim everything was a hypothetical and refuse to answer.  A lively exchange took place between Gary Ackerman and Satterield.  Asked specific questions, Satterfield declared, "I will respond more formally to that question subsequent to this hearing" leading Ackerman to ask, "When will we hold that hearing?"  At another point Satterfield attempted to hide by declaring, "I'm not a constitutional expert" leading Ackerman to respond, "Neither is anyone else" in the administration "apparently."
 
The basic principles here (outlined many times before) is whether or not Bully Boy and Nouri al-Maliki can enter into a treaty without Congressional/Parliamentary approval.  The constitutions for both the United States and Iraq say "NO!"  But that hasn't stopped the White House from attempting to circumvent the US Constitution.  As Ackerman noted when Satterfield repeatedly declared questions "hypotheticals," "The Constitution is a document.  It is not a hypothetical."  Her futher noted, "The problem with the administration is that it thinks the Constituion is optional."  Ackerman noted that everything was undefined -- now and in the lead-up to the illegal war.  He noted that now Iraq was apparently a 'threat' to the US in some of the vague responses from Satterfield and that "threat" seems to change from moment to moment leading Satterfield to snap "No, Mister Chairman," the administration has clearly defined threats. Ackerman asked, "Is it this adminstration's belief that you have ongoing authorization in perpetuity?" and "Is Iraq about to attack the United States?" Ackerman noted that it appeared the White House had redefined the mission in Iraq so that "as long as there is trouble in Iraq" the US must remain in "a never ending process".
 
As the committee told Sattefield, it appeared he arrived with an attitude of he would talk about what he wanted to and not answer the questions posed.  In a milder but still comical moment, Mary Beth Long attempted to compare the agreement Bully Boy and al-Maliki are trying to impose with agreements the US has with Belize. Bill Delahunt noted that nothing with Belize talks "about search and destroy actions" such as what takes place in Iraq and Long had to admit that they didn't.  US House Rep Rosa DeLauro was brought into the meeting with the approval of other committee members (she's not a member of the subcommitte) and she noted that this wasn't a "typical" SOFA agreement and that "we should not rush to approve" it, that it is in the best interests of both countries not to rush.  As Satterfield continued to obsfucate, DeLauro noted that, "We're not going to get any straight answers on this."  While Rep Bill Delahunt had noted earlier -- when Satterfield again attempted to propose a closed door briefing -- "The American people deserve to hear what you have to say."  The hearing ended with Ackerman having extracted the promise that Satterfield would have answers to the questions asked no later than three p.m. Friday.
 
 


Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.

No comments: