BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- CHICAGO.
YESTERDAY THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES FOR THE PARTY'S PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION IN 2008 PLAYED PATTY CAKES EXCEPT FOR MIKE GRAVEL WHO DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE SIDE SHOW.
THOUGH CHRIS DODD AND BARACK OBAMA EXCHANGED WORDS AND THE MODERATOR ALLOWED OBAMA TO REBUT DODD AND THEN TO REBUT HIS OWN REBUTTAL AND BASICALLY TO HOG THE WHOLE DAMN DOG AND PONY SHOW, THE PRESS MEMO SAYS ALL MEMBERS OF THE PRESS CORPS MUST BILL YESTERDAY'S NONSENSE AS A "FIGHT BETWEEN BARACK OBAMA AND HILLARY CLINTON."
THIS IS SIMILAR TO THE YOUTUBE SILLYNESS WHERE JOHN EDWARDS LANDED SEVERAL STRONG BLOWS TO BARACK OBAMA'S BAMBI IMAGE BUT ALL THE CHATTERING CLASS WANTED TO OFFER WAS "OBAMA V. CLINTON."
NEWSDAY GOT THE MEMO. THE WASHINGTON POST GOT THE MEMO. THE LIST IS ENDLESS. WHEN WE INTERVIEWED OUR PEERS THEY EXPLAINED THAT THEY JUST WANTED TO SEE A QUOTE "CAT FIGHT." SINCE BARACK OBAMA OBVIOUSLY WANTS TO SOUND LIKE A WHITE, IRISH WOMAN (LOONY TOON SAMANTHA POWER), THE PRESS WANTS TO SEE HOW SAMANTHA STANDS UP TO HILLARY?
MEANWHILE THERE WAS MUCH SOBBING IN THE LAND OF KOO KOO KATRINA. THE PEACE RESISTER KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL HAS REPEATEDLY PROPPED UP OBAMA AND DEFENDED HIM ONLY TO SEE HIM GO INTO WACK-JOB MODE ON PAKISTAN LAST WEEK (REMEMBER, SAMANTHA POWER WRITES ALL THE WORDS THAT POP OUT OF OBAMA'S MOUTH). WHILE SOME STILL DEFEND OBAMA PIPING OFF LIKE OUR MODERN DAY CARRIE NATION, OBAMA HIMSELF IS BACK TRACKING (AGAIN) ON HIS PAKISTAN REMARKS. AND HE'S HOPING NO ONE NOTICES HE CALLED THE PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA A "PRESIDENT."
POOR BAMBI OBAMA. HE THOUGHT GOING IN DRAG AS SAMANTHA POWER WOULD BE A WINNING STRATEGY. INSTEAD HER ODOR CONTINUES TO DESTROY HIS CAMPAIGN WHILE HE PLAYS THE ONLY CARD HE HAS LEFT: BLAME THE PRESS.
MORAL: NEVER HIRE A NUTSO AS AN ADVISOR.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Starting with war resisters. Camilo Mejia is the first war resister to return to the US and refuse to return to the US. Stephen Funk is the first war resister to refuse to to Iraq period. Eli Israel is the first known war resister to refuse while serving in Iraq. At Courage to Resist, Eli Isreal tells his story. He writes of growing up "in the custody of state of Kentucky," living on the streets, attempting to join the Marines at 16 but having no diploma and no GED so being turned down. Israel got his GED, took some college courses and, at 18, enlisted in the military. After leaving the military, he re-enlisted in 2004. In Iraq he was "a JVB Agent -- the JVB (Joint Visitors Bureau) served as protective service for 'three star generals and above' and their 'civilian equivalents'. This included the Vice President, the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff," etc. and "when we didn't have any missions at JVB, it was common for us to be called on for 'search and cordon' operations and other infantry assignements". Israel writes:
I claimed like many that my actions during these missions were justified in the name of "self-defense." However, I came to realize it was that my perception was wrong. I was in a country that I had no right to be in, violating the lives of people, and doing so without regard to the same standards of dignity and respect that we as Americans hold our own homes and our lives to.
I had taken and/or destroyed the lives of people who were defending their families from being the "collateral damage" of the day. Iraqi boys are joining groups like "Al Qaeda" for the same reason street kids in the U.S. join the "Crypts" and the Bloods". It's about self protection, a sense of dignity, and a way of making a stand.
The young man whose father and cousin we "accidentally" killed, and whose mother and siblings cry every time the tank rolls through the neighborhood, doesn't care about who Osama Bin Laden is.
Israel writes of the destuction of Iraq, the daily deaths of Iraqis, martial law, the denial of basic services, and more leading to a realization: "The day I saw myself in the hateful eyes of a young Iraqi boy who stared at me was the day I realized I could no longer justify my role in the occupation." So Eli Israel attempted to become a CO but when he informed his superios of that decision, he was immediately isolated and placed under military guard for two weeks after which he was sent to Camp Arifjan for 30 days in prison which became 25 and he's now discharged and "scheduled to be out-processed from the Army within the month and plan on joining forces with anti-Iraq-War movements, such as Courage to Resist and Iraq Veterans Against the War." That's a synopsis and, again, you can read his story in his own words at Courage to Resist. He concludes, "Objecting to the war and standing up to the miliary was without question, one of the best decisions I have ever made. I made a stand that was the right one, and I have my freedom back as a bonus. Maybe ten years from now those of us resisting from within the military today will be seen as some of the first few to speak the truth and to follow up with action. Even now I have many to remind me that I'm not alone in my thinking, even a majority of Americans who know that all the pieces of this conflict simply don't add up."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Zamesha Dominique, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, 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, 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, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, forty-one 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, 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. IVAW and others will be joining Veterans For Peace's conference in St. Louis, Missouri August 15th to 19th.
Turning to Iraq where the air war continues. CBS and AP report that a dawn attack on the Sadr City section of Baghdad, a US helicopter attack, has left at least 9 civilians dead (2 women included in the fatalties). Reuters says the number, according to hospital officials, is 13 and note: "Hundres of angry mourners later marched chanting through the streets of the slum after the raid on the eve of a major Shi'ite holy day." BBC offers a series of photos of the mourners which include (a) a man seated on the ground holding his head while a small boy cries next to him, three boys and a man slumped over a table while two women cry, and a photo of marchers which numbers over a thousand -- not the "hundreds" billed -- taking to the treets, walking around buses, clutching their chests and their heads. BBC reports eye witnesses stating children were also killed and that the US military does conceed the point that women and children were present -- obvious point, this is a residential area that was bombed at dawn -- they assert none died. Later the US military is expected to also issue assertions that the Easter Bunny exists. Jaime Tarabay (NPR) notes that officials in "Sadr City say that there were no 30 terrorist killed there were acutally 9 civilians killed and among those were women and children and there were also six people that were injured."
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Other Items"
"Toledo Blade editorializes US troops out of Iraq"
"john pilger and a few thoughts"
"John Pilger (Democracy Now!)"
"John Stauber, Ruth Conniff"
"Dave Lindorff, Robert Parry, Scott Horton"
"Bambi pouts"
"THIS JUST IN! HOW MUCH TRUTH WILL THEY LET HIM TELL!"
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