BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE
DAY TWO SINCE LUDACRIS DROPPED THE BOMB THAT REVEALED THE REALITIES OF THE CULT OF BARACK AND STILL NO COMMENT FROM BARACK.
WHEN REACHED FOR COMMENT, BARACK TOLD THESE REPORTERS, "WHY SHOULD I SAY ANYTHING MYSELF? ISN'T IT OBVIOUS THAT I AGREE WITH HIM?"
WHEN ASKED IF HE THOUGHT THIS WAS HOW TO WIN AN ELECTION, BARACK EXPLAINED THAT JOHN KERRY TELLS HIM THIS IS A WINNING STRATEGY "AND HE OUGHT TO KNOW, HE WON IN 2004!"
WHEN WE EXPLAINED (AGAIN) TO BARACK THAT JOHN KERRY DID NOT WIN THE 2004 ELECTION HE LOOKED CONFUSED.
Starting with war resistance. Yovany Rivero ("Geo") is an Iraq War veteran who has been twice deployed to Iraq. While serving, his faith deepened and he applied for Conscientious Objector status -- please note, CO status does not depend on religious status (a fact noted in the US military's own written guidelines -- but one those 'determining' frequently ignore). June 14th, he received a peace prize from The Rheinland-Pfalz Peace Adovacty Group. Early this month, John Vandiver (Stars and Stripes) reported on Rivero "who enlisted in the Army in 2001 when he was 18" and notes:
Michael Sharp, who works closely with Rivero as an adviser with the Germany-based Military Counseling Network, said the soldier wants to keep a low profile and isn't looking to bring attention to his case. In particular, Rivero doesn't want his fellow soldiers, whom he respects, to misinterpret his position as a sign of disrespect, Sharp said. Though Sharp also declined to discuss Rivero's case in detail, citing Rivero's desire to avoid publicity, MCN has been working closely with numerous soldiers since the start of the Iraq war. Perhaps the best-known case connected with MCN was that of Agustin Aguayo, a combat medic who was found guilty in 2007 of deserting the Schweinfurt, Germany-based 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division as it prepared to deploy to Iraq in 2006. Aguayo returned to California last year after serving a brief prison sentence. Others, however, have found their conscientious objector claims supported: In 2006, seven soldiers who worked with MCN had their requests approved.
Last month Courage to Resist interviewed Iraq War veteran and war resister William Shearer. Shearer enlisted at 17-years in 2002 and ended up with a non-deployable unit ("teaching units what they needed to know before they went over to a combat area, we pretty much put them through a month long simulation of combat") but that changed in 2004. Asked about his time in Iraq, Sharer responded, "It was more of like -- There wasn't a lot of action. It was more of -- It's hard to explain down there. Action over there is like getting IED or maybe getting shot at a few times or a car bomb goes off. It's not exactly what you're expecting. It's more like hunting season, you're the deer."
While serving in Iraq, Shearer faced a number of problems, "In my case I had lost a lot while I was over there. And it just started -- The more you lose and the less they do for you the more you start to see how jacked up things really are." The problems included his new wife having a semi-public affair "with an MP on post" and he was hearing about it from his platoon sergeant who heard about it from his wife who lived across the street from Shearer's wife. "And the army did nothing," Shearer states. "And there's plenty they could do. And they just they did nothing. I lost a lot of money, I lost my family while I was there you know pretty much. And when I get back, I'd lost so much, it was like I needed to start over." He returned from Iraq "like two days later . . . I got served divorce papers".
William Shearer: And the more things that pile up, it would just start detiriorating me as a soldier. It would make me look worse and worse It would get harder and harder. They didn't care. That's what I'm trying to get across. They don't care. And if they don't care and nobody's helping you out, you start to not care. You start to -- you just look at everything as bad, you have no positive whatsoever coming in. And so me and the military is pretty much diminishing quick.
Courage to Resist: So you're saying that not only didn't you get support while you were in a combat zone, you didn't get any support when you were back home either?
William Shearer: No, not really. I was checked out for PTSD. I got -- when I got home -- They put you through all of these tests, talk to a bunch of doctors I was diagnosed with PTSD, depression and a couple like sleep disorders and other things. And pretty much all they did was just start throwing me pills. Kind of like to shut me up, put me in a I-don't-care vegetative state. Pretty much just to have me there.
His PTSD 'counseling' was completely lacking in targets, goals or medical supervision. It was pair him up with an over-sixty-years-old retired military person and 'rap.' Someone who had not served in Iraq.
William Shearer: They give you this idea they're going to take of you and things are just one big family you know So I was thinking to myself "Man, I got to have a reset. I got to find a way to get myself out of this and start over -- start my life over, you know. I have nothing to work with." So I pretty much started going through the things, asking around 'Hey, what happened to this guy for doing this?' when he -- you know -- did he get an article 15? I was mainly not so worried about the disciplinary actions but the discharge that's what I was really worried about. I was asking around and AWOL was one of the things, I heard a couple of things. But the one thing that came up for me was failing the urinalysis. I-I- I just couldn't fathom anybody you deploy with or anybody who says they care about you so much -- like your batallion commanders do -- would put you out with a bad discharge after you showing for four years all the honorable deeds you've done. So it seemed to me that that was the best route for me. I wasn't so sure about AWOL. So I knew -- I knew for a fact that if I failed the urinalysis, I would be able to get out and I was pretty confident that I wouldn't get anything less than a general discharge
Courage to Resist: And your concern about the type of discharge had to do with veterans' beneifts?
William Shearer: That and how am I going to live the rest of my life, you know, how am I going to have a career? I just -- I -- There was a lot of things going through my head. You know -- as a matter of fact -- the very reason I was worried is actually what I'm doing now. You know. I'm not -- There's nothing I have no options really. It's survival.
Courage to Resist: So you made a decision to fail a urinalysis test, is that right?
William Shearer: When I went home on leave I was just like "This is how I'm going to do it." Because as soon as you come back from leave you know that the very next day you're going to get a urinalysis test.
He no longer supports the war and his thoughts on it today are:
I feel like they're exploiting those healthy young bucks that are just getting out of high school or going to be getting out of high school, you know They're telling these guys all these things they want to hear about how glorious and how fun and how good the military is. Granted, there's something that are good about it but it's not going to last forever. It doesn't last forever. And when you do go in everything changes and one thing I can tell you, they tell you, you know you could end up in a war zone, okay? When you sign up, you know all this stuff. But what they don't tell you is that you're going to be driving around and you have rules on you that the people you're fighting don't use or go against -- They don't use any of those rules. They don't abide by any rules. So you're pretty much a pawn. You do what they need you to do regardless of how dangerous it is, you know? For instance, you're just driving up and down a road expecting to get blown up. We -- we covered a mile -- a good strip of highway -- it was the most used transport highway in Iraq. It linked the north and south together. And that's where all the supplies went up and down while we were there. And our job for about two weeks was to patrol that strip of highway and eliminate all threats of IEDs whether that be they be blow you up or you find them first . They just don't want IEDs there They don't tell you that you're going to be the person that they pick to walk up to a suspected IED and give it a little nudge to see if it's a bomb, you know? They don't tell you these things. And these aren't things that these kids are thinking about -- they don't know that this stuff's there, they don't know it's like this. They're thinking they're going to go into the army, they're going to get take care of, and they're going to get put into a huge combat situation when it's not. The only people that's getting to fire anything is the enemy.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Yovany Rivero, William Shearer, Michael Thurman, Andrei Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, 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, Jose Vasquez, 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, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, 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. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma). [. . .]
Turning to the US race for president. January 16, 2007 Barack Obama declared his intention to run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. Interesting. Before Barack told the American people he was running, months before, he met with a rapper. Deanne Bellandi (Chicago Sun-Times) reported November 29, 2006 on Barack's meet up with "rapper Ludacris . . . Obama declined to comment after their meeting but walked with [Chris] Bridges [Ludacris' legal name] to the elevator as he left." Nearly two months before Barack would tell the American people that he had decided to run for president, he was sounding out Ludacris. By that time Ludacris was already gutter trash with a long history of misogny. It got him kicked from the Jackson County Fair in 2003 -- three years prior to Barack's first known 'counseling' with Ludacris. That wouldn't stop Barack from praising him to Rolling Stone and bragging that he had Ludacris on his iPod. Presumably the feminist manifesto "Move Bitch"? Ludacris is in the news and a complete reflection on the gutter trash campaign Barack has run. And Barack's praised him as among the "great talents and great businessmen." [See Cedric's "Gutter Trash you can smell" and Wally's "THIS JUST IN! THE LEADER TRIES TO CONTROL THE CULT!"] The Guardian of London has long been in the tank for Barack. They're a laugh and not real journalism. It's only on this side of the ocean that they're taken seriously. In England they're seen as the party organ for the Labour Party. So let's see how they lie. Ewen MacAskill 'informs' that: "Obama, seeking to become the first African-American president, was not helped by a song by the Grammy award-winning rapper Ludacris endorsing him and abusing McCain, George Bush and Clinton." To be clear, Rev. Jesse Jackson is disrespected in the song. In a rap song, that's not surprising. In one attempting to help out Ludacris' lover-man Barack, it's appalling. Way to pimp that 'unity.' The remark about John McCain would have people screaming if anyone had said it about Barack. But what does Ewen Pig leave out? Hillary. Laura Yao (Washington Post) explained it this way, "On YouTube yesterday, rapper Ludacris released a song called 'Politics,' in which he denigrates President Bush, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) -- all in the space of about two minutes. . . In the next line, the three-time Grammy Award winner calls Clinton an 'irreleveant [slur for female]'." It's a campaign song for Barack and it's recorded by the man Barack's not only praised but sought out for 'counsel' since November 2006. What was Barack's response? As usual NOT A DAMN WORD. His campaign flack was sent out. A detail Foon Rhee (Boston Globe) and many others fail to grasp. Barack's not condemned a thing. Feminist Wire Daily finally decides they can call out sexism. Of course, they fail to connect it to Bernie Mac's sexist routine at Barack's campaign event earlier this year which led to boos and heckling -- and to Barack finding it so delightful, he had to 'joke' too. WomenCount PAC (which FWD doesn't even think to link to) "is calling for an apology as well as a blanket condemnation by the Party leadership. . . . These lyrics are outrageous, offensive, and unacceptable. In an e-mail this afternoon to its membership, WomenCount states, 'It is another example of hateful, sexist language being used on the campaign trail, and now is our moment to make it clear: not on our watch! The leadership of both parties must step up to condemn such hateful speech and demand apologies. The Obama campaign has criticized the lyrics, but we call on the presumptive party nominee, who is the celebrated subject of the new song, to go even further: Publicly condemn the song. Demand an apology on behalf of the targets. Now." Now? And where our the little girls of NOW? The same useless 'leadership' that could insist The New Yorker DESTROY copies of their magazine bound for overseas (while ignoring the Bernie Mac event) can't seem to say a DAMN THING. Did Kim sleep in this morning? If you're missing it, check the news coverage and note how ha-ha and 'minor' this is being treated. CBS News online? Could Scott Conroy explain how calling Hillary a "bitch" doesn't strike him as "harsh"? Are our 'leaders' going to stay silent again? Are they going to betray women again? And when does CBS plan to public respond to what they allowed online? As Ava and I noted in "CBS 'cares' enough to promote sexism," the network's news site shut down comments on Barack stories when they felt racist comments were being left ("too many" was actually how it was worded -- apparently CBS will accept an undefined number of racist comments) but they didn't do a damn thing about the sexism and, in fact, their online policy does not even name sexism as being off limits. It does name comparisons to Hitler off limits (no surprise after CBS' problems with the mini-series earlier this decade) but they waived that rule repeatedly to allow Barack's gutter trash to post that Hillary was Hitler. Feminist leaders, if they're really leaders, will get off their asses and call this out because we don't need you as leaders if you don't. Women have been trashed -- this isn't just about Hillary -- non-stop for months now. Leaders either show they can lead or face the threats of boycotts that are already rumbling in the grassroots. (If a boycott is called, Ava and I will do our part to get the word out on it when we speak to women's groups.)
Ralph Nader is running for president. Doug G. Ware (KUTV) notes that Nader speaks tonight to a group at the University of Utah and that the former mayor of Salt Lake City (and Nation magazine cover boy) Rocky Anderson will introduce him.
We're up against it here in Ralph's home state --- Connecticut. I'm Ken Krayeske, the state coordinator, and I promised Ralph I would get him on the ballot here. We have only 7,000 signatures in hand. And we need to get to 15,000 in five days. We have 30 to 40 people on the ground collecting in Connecticut and we need to pay for their gas, transportation, copying costs. You get the picture. To do that, we need your donations now -- $10, $20, $50, $100 -- whatever you can afford. Why are we busting it so hard every day to get Ralph on the ballot here? Because it's not just about Ralph. It's about you and me and a young man named Derek O'Kanos. (Check out Derek's short video here about why he likes Ralph --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cfltpogno6c) Last Friday, Derek phoned me. "I want to help petition," he said. "How old are you?" I asked. "Sixteen," he said. "Wow! That's fantastic, but you need an adult to help you out, because you have to be a registered voter," I said. "But before we get into logistics, I don't often get calls from 16-year-olds. Can you tell me how you know about Ralph?" "Two years ago, Mr. Nader came to my high school," Derek said. "What school is that?" I asked. "Enrico Fermi in Enfield," Derek said. "No way," I said. "I helped organize that. There was a standing room only crowd. What did you think of Ralph's speech?" "I didn't see it," Derek said. "I was a freshman, and I was in World History class, and my class didn't go. I guess they thought that Ralph didn't fit with world history." "Bummer," I said. "Yeah, but I've been interested in Mr. Nader since then, reading about him, and I want to help him," Derek said. So we discussed strategies for him to convince adults in his life to go out and petition with him. Derek recruited his uncle's girlfriend to transport him and witness signatures at grocery stores. Next, he corralled his grandfather to drive him around neighborhoods in suburban northern Connecticut. (Above is a photo of Derek and his grandfather) Shortly after, I got this email from Derek: "Today was truly amazing. No more than a few days ago I felt an overwhelming feeling of worthlessness. I felt that there was nothing that I could do due to my age and transportation issue. Then we talked and I went out and did something. I truly felt like I was a part of something, that I was making history. I could have volunteered for many other political campaigns, but it was the Nader/Gonzalez campaign that truly inspired me. I can openly support every policy of the campaign and sleep at night. This is a campaign that puts national interest before personal interest. We the people -- not for sale! Gives me chills. It is truly amazing to see an entire organization of everyday people working towards one beautiful common goal and putting power back into the hands of the people." Let's not let Ralph, Derek and all our supporters down in Connecticut. Donate now whatever you can afford. Together, we are making a difference --- in Ralph's home state and beyond. Onward
Other news. Republican US Senator Ted Stevens is in the news (due to his indictment). NOW on PBS earlier probed the story of that corruption. BIll Moyers Journal have been exploring Capitol Crimes and this Friday on the program will explore the continuation of thes Capitol Crimes:
Like the largesse he spread so bountifully to members of Congress and the White House staff -- countless fancy meals, skybox tickets to basketball games and U2 concerts, golfing sprees in Scotland -- Jack Abramoff is the gift that keeps on giving.
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot" |
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Sexism got his tongue
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Gutter Trash you can smell
BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE
AMERICA GOT A GOOD LOOK AT THE CULT OF ST. BARACK TODAY.
LUDACRIS DROPPED A MIX-TAPE WITH THE 'SONG' "POLITICS: OBAMA IS HERE" WHERE HE DISSED REV. JESSE JACKSON, SUGGESTED JOHN MCCAIN BELONGED IN A CHAIR IF HE WAS PARALYZED -- INCITING VIOLENCE ON MCCAIN? -- AND SAVED THAT FOUL, POTTY MOUTH OF HIS FOR HILLARY CLINTON WHOM HE CALLED A "BITCH."
50 CENT, REACHED FOR COMMENT, DECLARED, "ALL THAT TALK ABOUT 'BARACK'S MY MAN' MAKES IT SOUND LIKE HE'S BARACK'S ***** BUTT-BOY. HE SOUNDS LIKE HE'S LUSTING AFTER OBAMA!"
NON-RAPPERS FOCUSED ON HOW LUDACRIS HAD JUST DROPPED DA B-WORD TO A BEAT WHILE BARACK'S CULT HAS BEEN DROPPING IT NON-STOP AND THEY ALSO POINT OUT THAT BARACK'S VICOTRY PARTY IN IOWA FEATURED THE 'DITTY' ABOUT HOW HE HAS 99 PROBLEMS BUT A "BITCH" ISN'T ONE OF THEM.
BARACK RAISED NO OBJECTIONS TO THAT. BUT HE REALIZES HE'S IN HOT WATER AS THE COUNTRY GETS A GOOD LOOK AT JUST WHAT SORT OF HATE HAS FUELED BARACK'S 'RISE.' SO THE WIMPY CANDY-ASS HAD HIS CAMPAIGN ISSUE A STATEMENT. AS USUAL, BARACK COULDN'T GET HIS SOFT HANDS DIRTY.
THE CAMPAIGN'S EFFORTS TO ACT OFFENDED ARE NOT GOING OVER WELL. BARACK HAD EARLIER PRAISED LUDACRIS TO ROLLING STONE. THE 'TALENT' BARACK FINDS "GREAT" IS FAMOUS FOR SUCH 'SWEET' AND 'APPROPRIATE' AND 'PRESIDENTIAL' LINES SUCH AS "I GOT HOES IN DIFFERENT AREAS CODES." BARACK MET WITH HIM LAST YEAR. AND LUDACRIS WAS ALREADY FAMOUS FOR HIS 'DITTY' "MOVE BITCH, GET OUT THE WAY, GET OUT THE WAY, BITCH, GET OUT THE WAY . . ."
BARACK WAS FINE WITH THAT AND THE REASON IS BECAUSE BARACK IS GUTTER TRASH. NOW HIS SEPTIC TANK IS OVERFLOWING IN PUBLIC AND AMERICA'S SEEING THE REAL BARACK AND WHO REALLY SUPPORTS HIM.
THE CAMPAIGN CANNOT HIDE BEHIND "THIS SONG IS OUTRAGEOUSLY OFFENSIVE" SINCE ALMOST EVERY RAP LUDACRIS HAS DONE HAS BEEN OUTRAGEOUSLY OFFENSIVE. ONLY NOW, WITH THE SPOTLIGHT ON HIM, DOES BARACK PRETEND -- VIA HIS CAMPAIGN -- THAT HE'S OFFENDED. THIS IS THE REAL BARACK AND HIS SUPPORT: GUTTER TRASH.
Starting with war resistance. Alex Atamanenko is a Canadian MP from the New Democratic Party. He writes a letter to the editor of Arrow Lake News:
Tuesday, July 15th will go down as a black day in Canadian history. The first Iraqi War Resister from the American military was deported from Canada for refusing to fight in a war that Canada refused to get involved in, that the United Nations has called illegal, and that much of the world sees as an invasion of a sovereign country for oil resources.
And, of course, "draft dodgers" and "deserters" were both welcomed into Canada during Vietnam. On Robin Long, the War Resisters Support Campaign states:
Against the wishes of Canadians and Canada's Parliament, the federal government deported U.S. Iraq war resister Robin Long to the United States, where he faces punishment for refusing to participate in the Iraq War.
War resisters in Canada need your help. To pressure the Stephen Harper government to honor the House of Commons vote, Gerry Condon, War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist all encourage contacting the Diane Finley (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration -- 613.996.4974, phone; 613.996.9749, fax; e-mail finley.d@parl.gc.ca -- that's "finley.d" at "parl.gc.ca") and Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, 613.992.4211, phone; 613.941.6900, fax; e-mail pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's "pm" at "pm.gc.ca"). Courage to Resist collected more than 10,000 letters to send before the vote. Now they've started a new letter you can use online here. The War Resisters Support Campaign's petition can be found here. Long expulsion does not change the need for action and the War Resisters Support Campaign explains: "The War Resisters Support Campaign is calling on supporters across Canada to urgently continue to put pressure on the minority conservative government to immediately cease deportation proceedings against other US war resisters and to respect the will of Canadians and their elected representatives by implementing the motion adopted by Parliament on June 3rd. Please see the take action page for what you can do."
Thank goodness for The Canadian Press. Were it not for their article, the CBC, the Welland Tribune, the Globe and Mail and the Buffalo News (among others) might have blank spaces. Instead, all work from the same TCP article to tell you that Deltona, Florida's 23-year-old Tyrone Pachauer was arrested by US Customs and Border officers as he attempted to enter the US following a self-checkout while on leave (December 19th through January 1st). He was reportedly living with relatives in Brampton, Ontario while AWOL. Precious Yutango (Toronto Star) is the only one filing a report and cites US Customs and Border Protection's Kevin Corsaro stating, "Supposedly, he had left boot camp in December for Christmas break. I guess he decided he didn't want to be in the army anymore so he fled to Brampton." Meanwhile AP reports Casey Anne Hardt (18-years-old, from Chiloquin, Oregon) was arrested in . . . Louisiana -- which may hold the record for the most arrests of AWOLs during the Iraq War. She was arrested at a traffic stop in Bossier City (right next to Shreveport). AP states she had a desertion warrant and was now awaiting "extradition to Fort Leonard Wood", MO.
Courage to Resist speaks with Michael Thurman (audio interview) about how he signed up, at seventeen-years-old, for the delayed entry program in 2005 while in high school, "I was really interested in aviation and having a career in aviation. . . . One day the air force recruiter came to school and I was talking to her about joining the military as an air force maintenance technician and eventually working to become a pilot." He described himself at that time as "indifferent," "young," "motivated by self-interests" and in "a conservative right-wing household."
In his senior year he "found some new friends" who provided him with "more of a liberal lean towards politics. So I started seeing it through those eyes and that's when I started becoming a little discontent with the war and the government. . . . But I was still ready to go."
Thurman was then sent to Lackland Air Force Base for basic training where, "I just questioned a lot of things I was being taught." In one class the training was videos of violence -- people being shot, people being blown up -- which led Thurman to questioning. As did "one of the chants was about killing people" which all indicated that "it just seemed like a really hateful, angry situation I didn't want to be in."
Michael Thurman: I didn't really want to be part of killing people but I was already in and I didn't really have a choice so I just advanced and kept telling myself it might get better. So I went through tech school with that . . . with that kind of -- I was a little bit angry about my situation and I got depressed about it a lot. And from there -- It was actually during tech school that I started studying a lot of Eastern philosophy and thought and Buddhism and Taoism and that kind of changed my perspective in a spiritual way towards humanity and towards existence. So . . . I guess I could say at that point I could say I was totally opposed to the situation I was in.
Eventually, he ended up at Beale Air Force Base:
Michael Thurman: I started working out on the flight lines. And every day I was out there I just thought of all the indirect killing I was contributing to and I just couldn't take it anymore. So one day I told my supervisor that I didn't agree with any of it and I didn't want to be in the military anymore. And I told him, if there was any way I could get out, I'd like to get out. They took me off of flight run. He's actually the one who told me about consientious objector. I actually didn't know about the term until I was introduced to it by him. So I looked into it and I read down the criteria and I thought, "Wow, yeah, this is what I am, this is what I'm going to apply for so I can get out of the military." So I applied for consientious. objector status and it took me a long time to it was a really arduous process. They put me in -- they put me in the office. They took me off of flight line and put me in an office. And I was just doing personnel work just pushing paper and filing. I was like a file clerk and that sort of stuff which I was still contributing to it. So every day that I was in, I was in constant turmoil about even the little, the little stuff -- like mopping or taking out the trash. It still contributed to this huge system that I was totally opposed to being.
Courage to Resist: So from the time you first asked to get out until you were discharged, how long was it?
Michael Thurman: It took a very long time, eight months for me to get discharged by the time I applied for conscientious objector status. What happened was, when I applied I had to write a huge paper about what I believe and how it came to be and why I couldn't contribute to war anymore. And at that point, I had to talk to a psychiatrist to make sure I was still sane. I guess they thought I might have been crazy . . . I talked to a lawyer at the legal office and she's actually the one that processed all my legal stuff and determined whether or not I was actually a cons obj and she recommended me to my base commander and it basically went up the chain of command so that's why it took a long time. Oh and I also had to talk to a chaplain and the chaplain gave me a report about my religious and spiritual beliefs. And, so yeah, from that, from those interviews it goes to legal office on base and then it just goes up the chain of command. And it went all the way up to the Secretary of the Air Force and it took eight months for that to happen.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Andrei Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, 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, Jose Vasquez, 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, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, 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. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
[. . .] Turning to the US presidential race, Jonathan Duckles of Team Nader notes:
Last Friday on Capitol Hill, the House Judiciary Committee weighed in on "executive power and its constitutional limits" in an inconsequential discussion of King George's imperial presidency. There would be no vote on impeachment, no discussion of the dereliction of Congressional duty, and no Ralph Nader. Ralph Nader, who has long championed the necessity of impeachment for W's repeated, defiant high crimes and misdemeanors, was not invited to testify at the Rayburn Building on Friday morning. Writer DC Larson summed the situation up, proclaiming that the "Democrat-led Congress are as unconcerned about political justice as is any neo-con in Rupert Murdoch's Rolodex." The Nader campaign was there to observe, along with hundreds of other concerned citizens, but couldn't crack the guest-list, despite a run-in with Ms. Kucinich . Only 16 individuals were granted admission into the hall to observe testimony from the following witnesses: Panel I: Hon. Dennis Kucinich Hon. Maurice Hinchey Hon. Walter Jones Hon. Brad Miller Panel II: Hon. Elizabeth Holtzman Hon. Bob Barr Hon. Ross C. "Rocky" Anderson Stephen Presser Bruce Fein Vincent Bugliosi Jeremy A. Rabkin Elliott Adams Frederick A. O. Schwarz, Jr. Said Chairman John Conyers with regard to his committee's inaction, "we are not done yet, and we do not intend to go away until we achieve the accountability that Congress is entitled to and the American people deserve." Let's hold Congress to this. Let's reclaim the Constitution. Let's start now. Onward.
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot" |
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The news is not good
BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE
THE NEWS IS NOT GOOD FOR SENATOR SWEETIE, POLLS BY ABC-WASHINGTON POST, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES AND FOX 'NEWS' FIND THAT RALPH NADER OR BOB BARR ARE GETTING 7% OF THE VOTE.
IF YOU DON'T GRASP WHY, CONSIDER THAT TIM KAINE IS BEING CONSIDERED AS A RUNNING MATE. TIM WHO? EXACTLY. AT LEAST HE'S A DEMOCRAT, UNLIKE CHUCK HAGEL AND OTHERS BARACK IS CONSIDERING.
A MAN TOO DUMB TO GRASP THAT THE WOMAN WHO SHOULD BE AT THE TOP OF THE TICKET SHOULD AT LEAST BE OFFERED THE V.P. SLOT IS A MAN STUPID ENOUGH TO LOSE.
WHEN REACHED FOR COMMENT, BARACK LAUGHED, "AH, VOTERS ARE JUST FEELING BLUE. AND THE CLAWS COME OUT! PERIODICALLY!"
WHEN ASKED IF HE THOUGHT HIS STATEMENT MIGHT OFFEND SOME, BARACK STROKED THE MIDDLE FINGER AGAINST HIS FACE AND WHEN CALLED OUT BY THESE REPORTERS ON THAT 3RD GRADE WAY OF FLIPPING THE BIRD, BARACK BEGAN CRYING.
Starting with war resistance. James Burmeister was a class of 2007 war resister which we all know means they got NO attention from Panhandle Media. His story was compelling -- as are the stories of all war resisters -- and it was also news breaking. Mark Larabee's "Soldiers still go over the hill even in an all-volunteer Army" (The Oregonian, July 16, 2007) would break the news of James Burmeister and of the kill-teams targeting Iraqi civilians. And Panhandle Media would respond with . . . silence and indiferrence. Maybe they just found it all 'tedious'? Dee Knight never saw the job of indpendent media to render war resisters (or the Iraq War) invisible. Knight (Workers World) reports that Erich Burmeister (rightly) considers his son a hero, "I think my son is a hero. There are many Iraqis who were not killed because of what he did, and many GIs whose lives were saved because of it. He made a tremendous service to his country by standing up and bearing witness to the 'bait-and-kill' war crimes." Erich Burmeister discusses the court-martial as well as the lead up and feels the military played "'good cop-bad cop' . . . to perfection" in convincing James to enter a guilty plea ("We took the bait and got our butts kicked"). Of the court-martial, he notes, "I feel like the case was used as an example to other soldiers. Not only will you get punished, but your loved ones will be too." James Burmeister can receive letters "at Box A, Fort Knox, KY 40121." Earlier this month, Helen Burmeister explained to Rachel McDonald (OPB), "I'm very disappointed in the way they feel they can treat veterans of war. I think the reason my son went AWOL was for a good reason. I don't think he deserved the punishment he got." James Burmeister was court-martialed July 16th, Dee Knight covered the court-martial here and noted the military came down hard on James because he was a whistle-blower.
Burmeister self-checked out and went to Canada. He decided to return to the US in March and turn himself in. Robin Long self-checked out and went to Canada as well; however, he did not make the decision to return. Judge Anne Mctavish made the decision to extradite him and tried to pass it off as deportation. Courage to Resist notes:
On July 15, 2008 U.S. Army PFC Robin Long became the first war resister since the Vietnam War forced to leave Canada and to be turned over to the U.S. military. Robin is currently being held in the El Paso County Jail, in Colorado, awaiting his Courts Martial. He will be present for his Courts Martial at Fort Carson, Co. He will likely be charged for AWOL, desertion, and possibly speech-related violations of military discipline; he is facing a General Courts Martial, the maximum penalty of such a trial is 20 years confinement. Support Robin Long and all troops with the courage to resist! 1. Donate to Robin's legal expenses
War resisters in Canada need your help. To pressure the Stephen Harper government to honor the House of Commons vote, Gerry Condon, War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist all encourage contacting the Diane Finley (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration -- 613.996.4974, phone; 613.996.9749, fax; e-mail finley.d@parl.gc.ca -- that's "finley.d" at "parl.gc.ca") and Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, 613.992.4211, phone; 613.941.6900, fax; e-mail pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's "pm" at "pm.gc.ca"). Courage to Resist collected more than 10,000 letters to send before the vote. Now they've started a new letter you can use online here. The War Resisters Support Campaign's petition can be found here. Long expulsion does not change the need for action and the War Resisters Support Campaign explains: "The War Resisters Support Campaign is calling on supporters across Canada to urgently continue to put pressure on the minority conservative government to immediately cease deportation proceedings against other US war resisters and to respect the will of Canadians and their elected representatives by implementing the motion adopted by Parliament on June 3rd. Please see the take action page for what you can do."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Andrei Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, 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, Jose Vasquez, 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, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, 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. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
[. . . ]
Turning to the US presidential race. Ronn Cantu (Iraq Veterans Against the War) writes an open letter to Barack Obama, presumed Democratic Party presidential candidate, explaining:
I read an article in the July 12 edition of the New York Times titled "Obama Won't Commit to Event at Military Base." The article confused me, because in a recent Army Times article titled "If Obama Wins," you were quoted as saying "Precisely because I have not served in uniform, I am somebody who strongly believes I have to earn the trust of men and women in uniform." The NY Times article mentioned, and it bears repeating, that Fort Hood is the largest active-duty military installation in the country. Our post is so large and our commitment to Iraq so great that the Killeen Daily Herald published an article on July 13, 2008 about our sister division titled "4th ID Association Looking to Expand Soldier Memorial." Since speaking out against the war, I've had to take great precautions to ensure that I'm never perceived to be speaking on behalf of the United States Army nor the Armed Services as a whole, so I hope this letter isn't perceived as such. But I have to say that I think it would be a huge step toward earning the trust of men and women in uniform if you and your campaign work with Carissa Picard and the Presidential Town Hall Consortium, and commit to appearing at this meeting the way Senator McCain has.
The full letter is here. Meanwhile John Pilger (New Statesman) calls out Barack's rah-rah on Afghanistan slaughter, "Having declared Afghanistan a 'good war', the complicit enablers are now anointing Barack Obama as he tours the bloodfests in Afghanistan and Iraq. What they never say is that Obama is a bomber. In the New York Times on 14 July, in an article spun to appear as if he is ending the war in Iraq, Obama demanded more war in Afghanistan and, in effect, an invasion of Pakistan. He wants more combat troops, more helicopters, more bombs. Bush may be on his way out, but the Republicans have built an ideological machine that transcends the loss of electoral power -- because their collaborators are, as the American writer Mike Whitney put it succinctly, 'bait-and-switch' Democrats, of whom Obama is the prince." Meanwhile, look what happens when Gary Younge lets his Socialist roots hang free: He can tell the truth the way he so rarely does in The Nation or the Guardian of London. Writing for the UK's Socialist Review, Young's Obama-devotion is not rushed to maximum high and includes the following:
"[Obama] is being consumed as the embodiment of colour blindness," Angela Davis, professor of history of consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz, told me last year. "It's the notion that we have moved beyond racism by not taking race into account. That's what makes him conceivable as a presidential candidate. He's become the model of diversity in this period... a model of diversity as the difference that makes no difference. The change that brings no change." Finally, he did not build a multi-racial coalition but a bi-racial one. Clinton's base has been erroneously portrayed as simply the white working class and older white women. But in California Latinos and Asian-Americans went much more heavily for Clinton than whites did and made her victory possible. The same was true with Latinos in Texas. Indeed the only state where Obama won the Latino vote was his home state of Illinois. And even then by just 1 percent.
Gary Younge, has it been erroneously reported? Yeah and you certainly did your part to PUSH THE LIE in your other two outlets. In fact, he has been nothing but a s**t stirrer and a LIAR throughout this election cycle as he pretended he was 'one of us' (he's British, he will not be voting in this election) and posed as a Democrat to make his lies just a little more forceful to Americans. Either tell the truth or beg for Americans to start asking, "Exactly who is Gary Younge?" (He's already lied again this week and the misogynist Common Dreams was happy to repost it.) For the record, Angela Y. Davis speaks the truth. [On truth, Michael D. Shear and Dan Balz (Washington Post) try to track down the story of Barack's skipping out on wounded US soldiers.] Patrick Martin (WSWS) points today to a Newsweek interview with Barach where he "emphasized" "phased withdrawal" and Martin observes this is "support for an open-ended US military presence in Iraq". It's the 'residual forces' aspect that Barack will never be clear on -- but any paying attention should have grasped he's not calling for withdrawal. Last week Katie Couric (CBS Evening News -- video and text at link) interviewed Barack and attempted to press him to get specific about this "residual force" -- noting that "some of your advisors have said it could be tens of thousands of troops. Why can't you be more specific as to what you envision?" Barack's response included, "As I've said before . . . I am not interested in a false choice between either perfect inflexibility in which the next 16 months or the next two years I ignore anything that's happening in Iraq. Or, alternatively, that I just have an open-ended, indefinite occupation of Iraq in which we're not putting any pressure on the Iraqis to stand up . . . take this burden on. What I'm gonna do is to set a vision of where we need to go, a clear and specific timeframe within which we're gonna pull our combat forces out." He would never answer the question. [Ava and I covered the interview here.] And unlike his remarks on Sunday, he did agree the 'surge' was a success in that interview. (The 'surge' has not been a success.) He's not supporting withdrawal. Which is why Patrick Martin (WSWS) concludes "The Amrican people thus will be given the choice on November 4 of voting for War #1 or War #2, Iraq or Afghanistan. In fact, they will be saddled with both wars, with only slight differences between the Democrats and Republicans over which war should receive the largest proportion of US military resources. Those who oppose American militarism, who want to bring an end to the oppression and violence wrought by imperialist aggression throughout the Middle East and Central Asia, have been disenfrancised by the two big business parties." And voters have other choice (including write-in, staying home, voting for other offices but not for president) which includes other candidates because it is not a two-person race. Ralph Nader is the independent presidential candidate, Cynthia McKinney is the Green Party presidential candidate and Bob Barr is the Libertarian Party candidate. Last week the Nader - Gonzalez (Matt Gonzalez) began a series of campaign stops that found local and regional media more receptive to covering the presidential race than is the national media. Jim Galloway (AJC) quoted Nader speaking at the University of Georgia, "[Obama is] always talking about his past as a community organizer. But again and again, day after day, he's back-tracking, surrendering, flip-flopping -- and appointing the worst corporatist advisors you can imagine." John O'Connor (The State) covered Ralph's appearance in South Carolina where Ralph explained of Barack and presumed GOP nominee John McCain, "They represent a minority viewpoint. We represent a majority of the American people." Yvonne Wenger (Post and Courier) reported on the South Carolina stop as well quoting Ralp stating, "If you don't resist, the situation gets worse. The alternative is surrender. . . . The stands McCain and Obama have taken again and again do not have the support of the majority of the American people." Sebastian Kitchen (Montgomery Advertiser) reported on his stop in Montgomery at the Rosa Parks Library and Museum and how he noted "Rosa Parks challenged the system" and wondered of the Iraq War, corporate control of the country, minimum wage and healthcare, "Why aren't these issues talked about by the major parties?" Marshall Griffin (KWMU) reported yesterday, "Ralph Nader is a step closer to getting his name on Missouri's presidential ballot. Robert Dalaviras, State Coordinator for the Nader campaign, delivered two boxes of petitions to the Secretary of State's office in Jefferson City this morning." KXAN reported on his Austin stop noting that he called for a number of issues:
"A comprehensive, negotiated military and corporate withdrawal date from Iraq"
Jennifer Latson (Houston Chronicle) reported on Ralph and Matt Gonzalez' stop in Houston and how they received $7,000 in donations -- in a state that as a result of restrictive (to put it mildly) ballot access laws, they won't even be on the ballot for. (Texas voters can write-in Nader-Gonzalez.) Nader declared in Houston, "This is the worst state in the country in terms of denying voters their own choice of candidates." Prior to the Austin stop, David Shieh (Austin American-Statesman) did a Q&A with Nader:
American-Statesman: So why are you running for the presidency?
Austin Cassidy (Austin Cassidy's Independent Political Report) explains that August 2nd and 34d will find Ralph, Cynthia McKinney, Brian Moore an Gloria La Riva competing in Sacramento for the Peace and Freedom Party's nomination which would allow the candidate to be on the ballot in California. (Cynthia's already on the ballot as the Green nominee). La Riva was part of a woman of color presidential ticket in both 1996 and 2000 (with Monica Moorhead). Team Nader notes:
Is Nader/Gonzalez for real? The country wants to know. Will Nader/Gonzalez be on enough ballots in November to make a run for it? And to be seriously considered for the Presidential debates? We're now on 18 state ballots, heading toward 30 by August 10 - on our way to our ultimate goal of 45 states by September 20. And getting to thirty won't happen unless we hit our goal of $100,000 by August 10. (Which would give us $2 million for the entire campaign year to date.) Thanks to you, we're at over $13,000 in just a few short days. But we need to jack it up this week. Donate now and watch your contribution fuel our road-trippers all around the country. On the ground, things are heating up and the press is starting to take notice. In West Virginia, we turned in more than 24,000 signatures (15,000 valid required). In Montana, our road trip team collected and turned in more than 10,000 signatures (5,000 required). We've also collected enough signatures to get on the ballot in Tennessee and New Jersey. In Missouri, today we will turn in more than 20,000 signatures (10,000 valid required). This coming week, we're looking forward to ballot access victories in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Utah and Wyoming. None of this would have been possible without your help. Every time you hit the contribute button, you fuel this historic ballot access drive. During our last two fundraising drives, you came through with flying colors. First, we asked for $60,000. You did it - on time. Then we asked for $70,000, and you pushed us over the top with time to spare. Right now, we need to hit $100,000 to get us to 30 states. These are the most crucial two weeks of the campaign. Whether Nader/Gonzalez is for real in November depends on whether we can raise the money to pay for ballot access over the next two weeks. Plain and simple. So, please. Donate now whatever you can - $10, $20, $100, $500 - to help us give America a choice in November. For peace. For justice. For a safe and healthy future. For shifting the power from the corporations, back into the hands of the people. Together, we are making a difference. Onward
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot" "Justice Department . . . guilty" |
Monday, July 28, 2008
Sister Barack's cool reception
BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE
IT IS NOT A GOOD TIME TO BE BARACK OBAMA.
AT THE NOW CONFERENCE LAST WEEK, NOW PRESIDENT KIM GANDY TOOK THE PODIUM TO OFFER A GREETING WHICH THOSE PRESENT HAVE DESCRIBED TO US AS FOLLOWS, "I BRING YOU WARM GREETINGS FROM OUR SISTER BARACK OBAMA, A POLITICAL PRISONER, TRAPPED IN A TINY MIND AND PRONE TO LASHING OUT."
GANDY COULD NOT FINISH HER SPEECH AS THE CROWD WAS PACKED WITH HILLARY SUPPORTERS -- APPARENTLY ALL 4 OF BARACK'S SUPPORTERS WERE OFF SHOPPING FOR ARUGALA.
THEN THERE WAS THE BIG TRIP THAT WENT BOMB AND HAS PEOPLE ASKING, "HE THINKS HE'S TOO GOOD TO VISIT WOUNDED U.S. SOLDIERS?"
NOW COMES GALLUP'S POLL WHICH NOT ONLY SHOWS NO BUMP FOR SISTER BARACK, IT ACTUALLY SHOWS A DECREASE.
WHEN SHOWN THE POLL RESULTS, BARACK SCOFFED, TELLING THESE REPORTERS, "WHAT DO THEY KNOW? THEY ONLY LISTED 50 STATES. WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER 8!"
Starting with war resistance. Friday evening, a protest was held outside Fort Carson in Colorado to show support for US war resister Robin Long, extradited from Canada, and now awaiting the US military's decision on what happens next. KKTV (link has text and video) reported on the protest live.
David Nancarrow: He joined the army in 2003 now 25-year-old Robin Long will answer to military officials after he made a choice not to join his unit in Iraq. Thanks for joining us tonight. I'm David Nancarrow.
Michelle Molison: And I'm Michelle Molison. Robin Long flees to Canada just as his unit is being deployed to Iraq.
David Nancarrow: AWOL for three years, Long was deported from Canada and sent back to the US just last week. This the first time since the Vietnam era. KKTV's news reporter Eric Lupher joins us live at Fort Carson tonight and, Eric, Long has plenty of supporters saying he had the right to make the decision he made.
Eric Lupher: His support comes from a local activist group who was out earlier today in protest claiming that Long didn't know what he was getting into when he joined the service but others feel the exact opposite, saying 'If you're going to join the military during wartime, you better be prepared to go to war."
Col B. Shannon Davis: We join military service to fight our nation's wars. When you join and you sign up, you know that right up front.
Eric Lupher: This group disagrees.
Garrett Reppenhagen: There's a huge propaganda smear across the country to get young men to join the military.
Eric Lupher: Garrett Reppenhagen, along with other members, supporters -- young and old from the Pikes Peak Justice Peace Commission stand in protest at Alamo Square Park.
[Unidentified male demonstrating in support of Robin]: At the end of the day, you know, we really feel that Robin should be free.
Eric Lupher: Free from the military from the war Robin Long never wanted to fight.
Lee Zaslofsky: Robin Long did what he did because of his conscience and because he believed that the war was wrong, that he was simply running away or hiding out.
Eric Lupher: But according to Col B. Shannon Davis, the requirements of service are clear from the very beginning.
Col B. Shannon Davis: There should be no reservations when you take the oath of office to protect your country and fight for your country.
Eric Lupher: But Long's supporters refuse to give up, refuse to believe the war in Iraq is justified.
Lee Zaslofsky: I think most Americans now realize that the war in Iraq is a complete mistake.
Eric Lupher: So they protest.
Col B. Shannon Davis:They're exercising the freedoms of this country tonight and I'm not going to put them down for that. That's their freedom, that's what I fight for them to have those freedoms.
Eric Lupher: Long will likely go to court-martial. Now Fort Carson is hesitant to tell us what penalty is ahead of him. Now Long's attorney [James Branum] tells us that his client could spend years in prison and, worse case, face death. David and Michelle?
David Nancarrow: Alright Eric Lupher live for us at Fort Carson tonight. Thanks very much.
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Andrei Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, 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, Jose Vasquez, 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, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, 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. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
[. . .]
Turning to the US presidential race. Thank The Nation for us noting the first item. It's been covered. But when Air Berman thinks he can lie and The Nation wants to let him, we have to cover it. Thursday Barack Obama was in Germany. He was scheduled to meet with wounded US service members there. He cancelled. He had a host of excuses and the one he finally stuck with was that the Pentagon said no. Air Berman runs with that and whines, "The Obama campaign scrapped the troop visit after the Pentagon told them it would be viewed as a campaign event." There is no hope for Air Berman. He is not a journalist, he never will be. He wants to be a Mac Daddy but that'll never happen either. Reality broke in the real media Friday evening/night. Air ignores that -- by choice. His candidate is more important to him than the truth. Dan Balz (Washington Post) reported, "The Pentagon said Friday that it did no prevent an Obama visit" and quoted Pentagon flack Bryan Whitman stating, "Nobody denied Senator Obama the opportunity to visit our wounded being cared for at Landstuhl. Obviously, as a sitting senator, he has an interest in that and certainly visit in an official capacity." Dan Balz or Air Berman, who you gonna trust? Exactly. So little Ari whines Barack was forced to do it because the Pentagon said what was planned was a campaign event! Ari, you no doubt know of Maj Gen Scott Gration (Barack advisor). Caren Bohan (Reuters) quoted him Friday evening stating, "Senator Obama did not want to have a trip to see our wounded warriors perceived as a campaign event". Barack cancelled the event. He did so when the Pentagon informed he could not use it as a photo op. They didn't tell his campaign the visit couldn't happen, they walked the campaign through what was allowed and what wasn't. All the adoring press? Nope. When he found out he wouldn't be able to use wounded GIs as cheap props in campaign photos, he blew off the scheduled visit and went to his hotel to work out. That's reality. CNN quoting Whitman, "We do have certain policy guidelines for political campaigns and elections. And what is appropriate and what is not appropriate in those situations. But the Pentagon certainly did not tell the senator that he could not visit Landstuhl." As Trina noted Friday, "Usually everyone lies for him. But the Pentagon's not going to do that for him and now he's exposed as the man who decided to skip out on wounded service members after he was informed he couldn't turn it into a campaign stop. If a tree falls in the forest when no one is around, did it make a sound? If Barack emotes with no cameras around, he thinks it won't make for a media sound-byte. So it was okay for him to blow off US soldiers. How disgusting is he?" And how disgusting is Ari Berman that he wants to show up on Monday and LIE and how disgusting is The Nation that they go along with it? Pretty disgusting but the Campus Marxist King went from Katrina's coffee-fetcher to Barack's official campaign blogger and regularly brags he can get anything planted in The Nation. Apparently so. Air Berman creates a conspiracy and then traces it back to the White House ("the Bush Administration intervened to block Obama's planned visit"). Now I know that there really aren't any brains at the top of The Nation but when you start allowing your staff to create their own rumors and print them as fact, you've hit a new low. Air 'quotes' MSNBC but doesn't link, I believe it may be to this and Domenico Montanaro added an update: "One military official who was working on the Obama visit said because political candidates are prohibited from using military installations as campaign backdrops, Obama's representatives were told, 'he could only bring two or three of his Senate staff member, no campaign officials or workers. Obama could nto bring any media. Only military photographers would be permitted to record Obama's visit." Barack Obama is the presumped and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. John McCain is the same for the GOP. McCain appeared on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos yesterday (transcript here) and George Steph asked him about the cancelled visit.
John McCain: Well, I know this, that those troops would have loved to have seen him. And I know of no Pentagon regulation that would have prevented him from going there -- without the media and the press and all of the associated people -- nothing that I know of would have kept him from visiting those wounded troops. And they are gravely wounded, many of them.
George Stephanopoulos: He's done it many times in the past.
John McCain: In Landstuhl, Germany, when I went through, I visited -- I visited the hospital. But the important thing is that, if I had been told by the Pentagon that I couldn't visit those troops, and I was there and wanted to be there, I guarantee you, there would have been a seismic event. And so, I believe he had the opportunity to go without the media. And I'll let the facts speak for themselves.
US News & World Reports points out that Whatever Happened to Baby Jane Senator Claire McCaskill stumbled onto the set of Fox News Sunday to rail against an ad that McCain's running by bleating out, "The most disappointing thing about this ad is that it's beneath John MCain, because he's playing political football with wounded soldiers." No, Claire, drop the 40 proof vodka long enough to grasp "the most disappointing thing" is that Saint Barack bailed on wounded service members when he found out it couldn't be a photo-op. (For other 'disappointing things about this,' look in the mirror, Claire.) Juliet Eilperin (Washington Post) notes that Diebold's own Chuckie Hagal took to CBS' Face The Nation where he roared (in his best Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), "I think John is treading on some very thin ground here when he" cutting him off because Chuckie didn't have his facts. That's the US Senate for you, they wake up and drink harder all day than the rest of us. Knock another back, Chuckie. As usual when Bambi gets anything but soft gloves and feather kisses, the campaign whines (and then usually screams "racism!"). Tommy Vietor -- who's been the Agnes Gooch to Barack's Mame for far too long -- whines to Eilperin, "I think a lot of people are wondering what happened to the civil campaign John McCain said he was going to run." Agnes Vietor whines a lot to the press -- click here for the whining to Alexander Cockburn in 2006. Note that the article was published in 2006 -- before Alex drank the Kool-Aid and peed it all over himself in public.
Ava and I covered the travelogue and Barack's alarming statements (alarming to those who played fool or were fools) re: Iraq, Syria, Israel and more. We will come back to that later in the week but for now check out Katie Couric's interview with Barack (CBS Evening News -- links has video and transcript). Now we're turning to Peggy Simpson's report (WMC) on the NOW convention (July 18-20) which took place in Bethesda and featured Marie Cocco, Patricia Ireland, Carol Jenkins, Carolyn Maloney, Irshad Manji, Monica Aleman and others. Simpson reports NOW president Kim Gandy announced to one and all that "sister" (I'm being sarcastic) Barack sends greetings. From prison, Kim? Do we need to mount a Free Barack action? He sends his greetings? That lousy pig who used sexism non-stop sends his greetings? Let's drop back to June, to Katharine Q. Seelye and Julie Bosman (New York Times) reporting on the media finally maybe noticing the sexism targeted at Hillary:
In response, the Obama campaign directed a reporter to Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democrat of Florida who supported [Ms.] Clinton but who is now speaking for the Obama campaign. She said Mr. Obama had no specific plans for a speech on sexism, partly because he already incorporated themes of discrimination as a societal problem in his speeches.
No specific plans -- now or ever. He could travel all over the globe but he couldn't show up for the NOW convention? No feminist wants to hear his garbage. Which is obvious from Simpson's report. She notes that Gandy's message from Sister Barack resulted in "a minor ripple of applause." Simpson focuses on one organizer who spoke to the conference, Jehmu "Green spoke last weekend at the national NOW convention, one that was subdued rather than boisterous, in the wake of Hillary Clinton's primary defeat by Barack Obama. Some NOW delegates wore Hillary tee-shirts. There was minimal talk of Obama and loud cheers whenever someone mentioned Clinton." She quotes Green explaining, "We increased [women's] turnout by 200 percent in the [Democratic] primaries -- gosh, we came really close to nominating Hillary. . . I also was disheartened when I saw young women vilify Senator Clinton and vilify being a feminist."
To The Contrary's Bonnie Erbe (US News & World Reports) explains, "Obama draws an adoring crowd of 200,000 in Berlin. He pulls ahead in national polls. Meanwhile, McCain, who has run a near-disastrous campaign, inches up in key swing states? Go figure. I say, give Obama the guitar he so richly deserves and make him a rock star. Give McCain a war to run somewhere. And let voters redo the primaries so they can nominate two more mainstream candidates. Anyone who says the election is over and Obama is the victor reminds me of the Obama partisans drumming Sen. Hillary Clinton out of the race and turning off millions of potential Democratic supporters in the process. They do their candidate a much greater service if they duct-tape their mouths." On the Berlin event, Just Say No Deal issues this statement: "While coverage of Senator Obama's Berlin speech provided audiences here at home nothing less than a visual 'shock and awe,' it neglected to mention that the well-hyped speech had an opening act: a gratis concert by two wildly popular groups, Reggae artist Patrice and rock band Reamonn (pictured below with Barack Obama). While we appreciate the Obama Campaign's hospitality, on behalf of furthering US-Germany relations, offering free bratwurst, pizza and even beer for three hours during the free rock concert, we question whether or not the monies might have been better spent here on financially strapped US citizens. Similarly, back on May 20, 2008 in Portland, Oregon, Senator Obama took the stage following the critically acclaimed local band The Decemerists, who gave a rare free concert for 75,000 fans. While news stories generated by both appearances focused on the enormity of the crowd size, few mentioned the accompanying perks, leaving some to question whether revelers are showing up for Senator Obama or for free food and entertainment. Without this additional information, Just Say No Deal contends that Americans are being misled about the presumptive Democratic nominee's true popularity." Let's just add to that the fact that there are dangers in handing out free beer that go beyond driving after. All in Germany who received free beer better have been at least 21-years of age (unless Barack's claiming a nationality other than US). Doubt it? In 2002, a US House Rep just knew he would be the new Minority Leader (the Dems were in the minority then). He could taste it. His base was different than Nancy Pelosi's and he didn't think she was all that. What deralied him? In 1992, he gave out free beer to 3 males -- two were 16 and one was 17. It was a campaign 'action.' (Suburbs had been blockwalked, consider this an after-party.) He was repeatedly warned that he needed to stop but, hey, he was in Congress, he'll do what he damn well wants. He did at approximately 4:00 p.m. The 'after-party' took place at his family's business on a busy, downtown corner. The 'after-party' took place in the parking lot. Photos were taken. For over ten years, he never gave it a second thought. Then he wanted to be Minority Leader. Funny how things can surface when you least expect it. Like photos of you and a bunch of male teenagers pulling back on long necks in broad daylight. (And that, by the way, is the real story on how Nancy Pelosi ended up Minority Leader -- now Speaker of the House. You won't find it in the New York Times or the Washington Post but that is how the only real competition was cleared from the field.)
Is Nader/Gonzalez for real? The country wants to know. Will Nader/Gonzalez be on enough ballots in November to make a run for it? And to be seriously considered for the Presidential debates? We're now on 18 state ballots, heading toward 30 by August 10 - on our way to our ultimate goal of 45 states by September 20. And getting to thirty won't happen unless we hit our goal of $100,000 by August 10. (Which would give us $2 million for the entire campaign year to date.) Thanks to you, we're at over $13,000 in just a few short days. But we need to jack it up this week. Donate now and watch your contribution fuel our road-trippers all around the country. On the ground, things are heating up and the press is starting to take notice. In West Virginia, we turned in more than 24,000 signatures (15,000 valid required). In Montana, our road trip team collected and turned in more than 10,000 signatures (5,000 required). We've also collected enough signatures to get on the ballot in Tennessee and New Jersey. In Missouri, today we will turn in more than 20,000 signatures (10,000 valid required). This coming week, we're looking forward to ballot access victories in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Utah and Wyoming. None of this would have been possible without your help. Every time you hit the contribute button, you fuel this historic ballot access drive. During our last two fundraising drives, you came through with flying colors. First, we asked for $60,000. You did it - on time. Then we asked for $70,000, and you pushed us over the top with time to spare. Right now, we need to hit $100,000 to get us to 30 states. These are the most crucial two weeks of the campaign. Whether Nader/Gonzalez is for real in November depends on whether we can raise the money to pay for ballot access over the next two weeks. Plain and simple. So, please. Donate now whatever you can - $10, $20, $100, $500 - to help us give America a choice in November. For peace. For justice. For a safe and healthy future. For shifting the power from the corporations, back into the hands of the people. Together, we are making a difference. Onward
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
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