Saturday, August 02, 2008

Other Items

Re: Ralph Moore letter to the editor, "Candidate's letter challenged by reader" (Packet & Times, July 18)
I would like to thank Mr. Moore for his letter of July 18 in response to my earlier letter on conscientious objectors. Although I disagree with Moore's opinion on the legality of the Iraq war, I truly welcome honest public debate on important matters such as this one.
The unsanctioned invasion of Iraq occurred March 18, 2003, a full seven months before the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1511 to ensure the "restoration of stability and security" in response to the chaos caused by the invasion. The resolution does not and could not provide retroactive exoneration. The fact remains, Stephen Harper would have committed Canada to this illegal war if he were Prime Minister at the time.
As for Afghanistan, I would much prefer that Canada was there with our original intention of peace-keeping and reconstruction. However, our troops deserve our full support in this new, combative role, which is sanctioned by the UN.
The point of my letter was that the Conservative government must respect the motion on conscientious objectors passed by Parliament. Harper himself said the government has a moral responsibility to respect such motions. This motion is based on an issue of fundamental human rights, and it is downright callous to ignore it.
According to an Angus Reid poll conducted June 6 and 7, 2008, after Parliament passed the motion calling on the government to make a provision to allow war resisters to stay in Canada and to cease all deportation and removal proceedings, two-thirds of Canadians want Canada to grant permanent residence status to U. S. Iraq war resisters.
The Harper Conservatives are afraid of raising the ire of their ideological cousins in the Republican administration but, ignoring the democratic will of Parliament and the views of the large majority of Canadians will only raise the fury of Canadian voters who want a more progressive government that reflects Canadian values.
Steve Clarke, Federal Liberal candidate for Simcoe North




The above is a letter to the the Orillia Packet & Times by Steve Clarke, Federal Liberal candidate for Simcoe North. The earlier letter to the editor that he wrote and refers to is"Gov't can't keep ignoring motion concerning war objectors: Clarke" and he also refers to Ralph Moore's letter.



From Margaret Kimberley's "Obama Pardons Bush" (Black Agenda Report):



The Senator would never have been able to launch a successful presidential race if he did not already have buy-in from very rich, very powerful people. Not only did he have to secure their support in order to run, he must continue securing it in order to win.
That is why he will never investigate the Bush administration's well documented criminal activity. The rule of law doesn't apply to presidents, to their cabinet members, to members of Congress or to criminal corporations. Obama's backers would be most unhappy if they thought their guy was going to get into office and start calling powerful people to account on any issue.

All of which means that Barack Obama will never investigate any of the crimes committed in the Bush administration. When pressed because of the long campaign against Hillary Clinton, Obama was sometimes forced to give an appearance that he would actually preserve, protect and defend the constitution if he became president. The Senator spoke on the issue himself in April, and once again proved that he is a genius at double talk:
"What I would want to do is to have my Justice Department and my Attorney General immediately review the information that's already there [emphasis mine] and to find out are there inquiries that need to be pursued. I can't prejudge that because we don't have access to all the material right now. I think that you are right, if crimes have been committed, they should be investigated. You're also right that I would not want my first term consumed by what was perceived on the part of Republicans as a partisan witch hunt [emphasis mine] because I think we've got too many problems we've got to solve."
What kind of investigation pursues only what is already known? It seems that Obama would investigate only what he wouldn't have to look for, but not so much that Republican sensibilities would be bruised. In other words, he won't try to find wrong doing.




One of the more revealing aspects about this campaign to the real press has been watching a whack-job emerge. We're talking about the man run off by the MSM who actually had some Real Media peer support until this year. A friend on mine cautioned him in the eighties that passion was a wonderful thing but you shouldn't let it blind your journalistic judgment. He threw that out the window this year. Why? My own hypothesis is that his fear of vagina and worship of the penis dictated that it play out the way it did. Susan (Random Thoughts) offers her hypothesis here. But he is a joke to Real Media now. His past work and past bravery don't count for a thing and, should his site go belly up, he'll need to eat a lot of humble pie to get a job in Real Media this time. I don't think there is a comeback for him. He's too old. He's a joke in many newsrooms (due to the fact that he made a number of enemies while in the MSM and they have loved watching his nutty behavior since the start of the year). And there's really no way to overcome that. When you're 'controversial,' you need your supporters. He no longer has them and some of the harshest statements made in newsrooms today about him come from those who supported before 2008 became, for him, La Vida Loco.



He wants the Bully Boy to pay. That's not an unusal sentiment. What was unusual is he 'mind-read' Hillary via Bill. Bill and Hillary are married, they are not the same person. But he just knew it wasn't going to happen (punishment of Bully Boy under a Hillary presidency) and he did a lot of transferance and a let a lot of his personal bitterness over the way Iran-Contra went down dictate his approach. (Exactly what Sarah long ago warned him against when she attempted to explain the value of passion in journalism and the liabilities.) He became a caricuture of his former self. Kimberley's column no doubt would enrage him. But, thing is, she's pointing out how it was obvious long ago.



He disgraced himself and there's probably no comeback for him now. (I don't attempt to defend him these days when he's trashed by Real Media.) I mention the above due to an e-mail from a visitor who is frightened Barack will win in November because he fears futher pushes for 'post-racism' in America. (A concern many African-Americans have. A very valid concern.) I can't say anything to reassure on that concern. But he also raised the issue of how many 'journalists' embarrassed themselves and named the unnameable specifically. Regardless of the outcome in November, a lot of people have exposed themselves in public and the up-side to that is that their careers are over. They don't grasp it yet, but it is over. That will be true regardless of the outcome in November. These weren't idealistic kids just out of J-school. These were alleged professionals with lifetimes of experience that they 'called upon' to speak with such authority. A loss demonstrates that they should have stayed the hell out of it if they couldn't be anything but a cheerleader. A win is actually worse because their open-mouthed slobbering will be thrown in their faces. Over and over again. That will be very true of the unnameable. Those sentences he wrote in Jaunuary are already laughed about in newsrooms.

The bottom is already falling out of Panhandle Media and has been for some time. [. . .*] Their dream lover Barack does the same thing. Tip to the McCain campaign, the next ad needs to be something like this.

John McCain: Hello, I'm John McCain. I've been in the US Senate for a number of years and most Americans know me. For some reason, Senator Barack Obama doesn't seem to know me. He keeps linking me to George W. Bush. As most Americans know, I am my own person [McCain would probably say "man"] and it's really strange to hear Senator Obama repeatedly cry that we need to deal with issues while he repeatedly tries to turn me into someone else. Barack Obama, let me introduce myself, I'm John McCain and I'm your opponent. You don't have a record to run on and you seem to think you can refuse to let me run on mine. You seem to think you can trick the American people into believing that George W. Bush is running for re-election and not me. You already wrongly stated in public that the United States has 58 states so maybe you're not up on the Constitution but the way it works is a president can only have two terms. George W. Bush's second term is expiring. I am your opponent. You toss a lot of words around about wanting to deal with issues, then you lie and say I'm a clone or a twin of someone else. The American people are not stupid. Stop insulting them and me. It's 2008, Senator Obama, not 2000 or 2004. If you want 'change, try changing your calendar.

*What do "they do"? Edited out. Jim was reading over my shoulder while this was being written and claimed one very visual (re: Barack) for Third. I said Third could have it only if it was run by Isaiah first because he might want to run with that for a comic. I came back to the morning entries, called Dona over and asked, "Is this something that can be used by Third?" Jim's request would have pulled no more than two sentences. Ten paragraphs, however, were pulled out when Dona agreed we could build those up and build around them for a piece at Third. We're all tired of working over thirty hours straight at Third to finish an edition and some people will be catching planes later tomorrow to fly home.

The following community sites have updated since yesterday morning:

Rebecca's Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude;

Kat's Kat's Korner;

Mike's Mikey Likes It!;

Elaine's Like Maria Said Paz;

Trina's Trina's Kitchen;

Ruth's Ruth's Report;

and Marcia's SICKOFITRADLZ

Three sites will be posting later today:

Cedric's Cedric's Big Mix;

Betty's Thomas Friedman is a Great Man;

and Wally's The Daily Jot

Ralph Nader is the independent candidate for president. This is from Team Nader:

CNN Poll: Ralph Nader at Six Percent
Posted by The Nader Team on Friday, August 1, 2008 at 10:16:00 AM
ShareThis
Good morning.
Here's something you can do right now.
Donate six dollars.
To Nader/Gonzalez.
Why?
Because we're celebrating.
For two reasons.
Number one reason to celebrate:
CNN poll from two days ago---Ralph Nader at six percent.
After being totally blocked out from the mainstream media for months.
(This is the fourth major poll putting us at five percent and above. Remember, John Anderson and Ross Perot both got into Presidential debates because they met the then League of Women Voters' threshold of five percent in a number of polls.)
And that's quite remarkable.
Six percent.
With little to no national news coverage.
Number two reason to celebrate: In 2004, we were on only 34 state ballots.
Now, in 2008, thanks to your help, we're heading toward 45 states.
For example, in 2004, we were not on in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Arizona, and Massachusetts.
But we will be on these states in 2008.
Today, for example, we will turn in more than 53,000 signatures in Pennsylvania. (25,000 valid required.)
So, yes, we are moving on up.
We'll take the six percent in the polls.
And we'd gladly take six percent national coverage from the mainstream media -- to match our most recent poll number.
But no.
To the mainstream corporate media, we're untouchable.
Why?
Because we represent what the majority of Americans want?
Because we favor single payer health insurance?
And Obama and McCain oppose it?
Because we would quickly end the corporate and military occupation of Iraq?
And Obama and McCain wouldn't?
Because we stand for a shift of the power away from the corporations and back into the hands of the American people?
Because we would cut the bloated, wasteful military budget?
Yes, that's why.
Because the corporate media is just doing its job.
Protecting corporate power.
And we are doing ours.
Representing the majority of the American people.
So, they are doing what they must do.
And we are doing what we must do.
So, drop a six spot here now.
And support the campaign that represents the American people.
Against the corporate masters.
And help us reach our new fundraising goal -- $100,000 by August 10.
Thanks to your generous contributions so far, we're a third of the way home.
Let's keep moving on up.
Both to our goal of $100,000 by August 10.
And let's drive our numbers in the polls to seven, eight, nine and ten points and beyond.
So that even the corporate media will have to sit up and take notice.
Together, we are making a difference.
Onward
The Nader Team
P.S. Remember, for a donation of
$200 or more to Nader/Gonzalez by Sunday August 3 at midnight, we'll ship to you three anti-war books by former New York Times reporter and current Nader supporter Chris Hedges---Collateral Damage, What Every Person Should Know About War, and War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning.
Your contribution could be doubled. Public campaign financing may match your contribution total up to $250.
ShareThis

The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.




Iraq

"KILL EVERYBODY" - US ARMY SPECIALIST DARRELL ANDERSON EXPOSES US POLICY "I joined in '03," 'cause I was broke, I needed money, but I was a young American kid, I wanted to fight in a war. I joined up. [A] month out of training I arrived in Baghdad, Iraq, January '04. Saddam's been captured. And I get there and the guys I'm serving with have been there for six months already; they were there in '03. And I go, "Well, you know what, I think it's come out that, you know, these people had nothing to do with 9/11, there was no Iraqi on those planes. We can see around here there's no Al Qaida, there's no terrorist syndicates in Baghdad, or Iraq. Saddam had stamped 'em out." And I asked my buddies, "Well, you know, we're here to find 'weapons of mass destruction'." And they laughed at me. And I said, "Well, you know, we're here to 'help the people.'" And they laughed at me. And I said, "What's our mission? What's our goal?"...They're like, "All we're trying to do is make it home alive..." Anderson describes the escalation of violence against unarmed civilians: "In April, they told us, "In a crowded area, if one person shoots at you, kill everybody." Anderson explains the rationale from the officers: "They [members of the crowd of people] are letting them [the person or persons firing at the U.S. military] attack you. They're no longer innocent if they're there at the time of the crime..." (9/11 conference, Chandler AZ Feb 23-25, 2007) 911TV.org / snowshoefilms post-production/ 9:46



The above is from "US Army Specialist Darrell Anderson Exposes US Policy" (Freeople) and was noted by Saul. As obvious from above, 26-year-old Darrell Anderson, of Lexinton, Kenutcky, is an Iraq War veteran -- and a decorated one. Due to serving in the illegal war, he decided to self-checkout. He went to Canada. He married in Canada. He went through process of attempting to receive refugee status. Then he decided to return to the US and turn himself in at Fort Knox. He stated that his work opposing the illegal war was a way to "make up for things I did in Iraq; I feel I made up for the sins I committed in this war." Due to the fact that the process largely followed what had been outlined ahead of time, other war resisters in Canada were considering it until Kyle Snyder attempted to return shortly after and found out he was yet again lied to. After being discharged, Anderson has continued to speak out and is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. (He was present to show support for Lt. Ehren Watada in the court-martial that wasn't. Watada, all this time later, has still not been released from the service even though his service contract expired in December 2006, two months prior to his court-martial.) Anita Anderson, his mother, has also remained active and, most recently, was giving support to Helen Burmeister, mother of US war resister James Burmeister who exposed the kill-teams in Iraq. From the July 17th snapshot:



Chris Kenning (Courier-Journal) reported on Helen Burmeister's efforts and spoke with US war resister Darrell Anderson who also went to Canada. Anderson returned September 30, 2006 to turn himself in October 3rd. Like Burmeister, he suffers from PTSD and he also lost his benefits. He told Kenning, "It wasn't the easy choice, it was the hard choice. I lost my GI Bill, my veteran's benefits . . . but I did what's right, and I've still got my pride."



That snapshot contains details of James' court-martial. This is Courage to Resist's "Resister James Burmeister sentenced at Ft. Knox:"



James Burmeister was serving in Baghdad when his humvee was caught in an IED explosion and he was hit in the face with shrapnel. Suffering from the physical and emotional wounds resulting from his injury, and his experiences working with "bait and kill" teams in Iraq, James went to Canada and was AWOL until earlier this year when he decided to return to the U.S., turn himself in, and move on with his life.
James and supporters hoped that the military would offer him an "other than honorable discharge in lieu of court martial"--especially in consideration of his injuries suffered in Iraq. James believes that he is suffering from traumatic brain injury, which would explain his reoccurring seizures. However, he has found real medical treatment an impossible maze to navigate--the military instead offers him various anti-psychotic drug cocktails.
On June 21, Helen Burmeister (photo above) traveled from Oregon to lead local Veterans for Peace members and other supporters in a rally for the freedom on her son James at the gates of Fort Knox, Kentucky. However, hopes for a quick discharge--and real medical help--were dashed when the Army court martialed James yesterday for AWOL and desertion.
James was sentenced to six months at the
Fort Knox Regional Confinement Facility and a bad conduct discharge. The PFC James Burmeister Support Campaign can be reached at
letjamesbefree@gmail.com
Write to James in the stockade!
James Burmeister Box AFort Knox, KY 40121




Ned Parker and Saif Hameed's "Three Iraq soldiers killed in Kirkuk" (Los Angeles Times) explores the continued tension (and violence) in Kirkuk:



The government warned local factions that it would not allow any party to unilaterally decide the region's future, in reaction to a threat Thursday by Kurdish provincial council members to declare ethnically divided Kirkuk part of Iraqi Kurdistan.Kurdish officials are worried that the national parliament will approve legislation that will delay local elections in Kirkuk and impose a quota system for seats in the 40-seat provincial council. Parliament is scheduled to discuss the matter Sunday in an emergency session.

Such a move would force the Kurds, who dominate the current system, to split power with Arabs and Turkmens. The controversial version of the legislation also calls for the removal of the current Iraqi security force from Kirkuk, which Arabs and Turkmens say is controlled by Kurds.

"The Iraqi government is refusing any individual step to change the situation in Kirkuk and it is considering it illegal and unconstitutional," government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said in a statement Friday.



The Iraqi Parliament ended their session Wednesday to take their summer break (that's not an insult to them, the US Congress will be taking their summer break as well). Tomorrow they hold a special session in an attempt to salvage the planned October provincial elections that hit a roadblock when Kirkuk became an issue in the proposal. Kurdish lawmakers staged a walk-out. The bill passed Parliament without them; however, the presidential council (headed by Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, a Kurd) refused to sign off on the bill.



At Inside Iraq, one of McClatchy's Iraqi journalists contributes "The International Zone:"

Before I went to bed I read a book that I found there which prompted this blog. It was a foreign reporter's account of what he had seen in Iraq after the invasion in 2003.
One of the important things he mentioned was that those who lived in the IZ don't know what was going on just a few miles from them. He said that he was in Khadimiyah neighborhood where four suicide bombers had killed dozens of people that morning. In the IZ no one was talking about it when the reporter dined with officials there.
It is still the same today. Iraqi officials live in luxury and don't know what is going on just a few miles from them and what is happening across the country they rule.
They don't care that Iraqi people lack power supply, drinking water, medical care, security, housing and a decent standards of living. We hear that millions of dollars have been spent on these problem in addition to education and transportation, but all in vain. Corruption and lack of planning are a great obstacle to progress but maybe just venturing out of the International Zone for a few nights could teach them what we suffer. Maybe then we'll see progress.




The Nader-Gonzalez '08 campaign (Matt Gonzalez is Ralph's running mate) has been keeping a very busy schedule and some of the upcoming events include:

Sat. August 2nd, 8:00pm Nader for President 2008 Rally w/ Matt GonzalezDavis, CA Varsity Theater 616 Second St., Davis, CA 95616Contributions $10/ $5 studen t(530) 554-8250 or events@votenader.org Map it

Sun. August 3rd, 1:30pm Nader for President 2008 Rally w/ Matt Gonzalez Sebastopol, CA Sebastopol Community Center 390 Morris St., Sebastopol, CA 95472 Contribution $10/$5 student (415) 897-6989 or events@votenader.org Map it

Sun Aug. 3rd, 4:30pm Ralph Nader Book Signing and Speech w/ Matt Gonzalez Healdsburg, CA Copperfield's books 104 Matheson St., Healdsburg, CA 95448 (707) 235-1026 or events@votenader.org Map it

Sun Aug. 3rd, 7:30pm Nader for President 2008 Rally w/ Matt Gonzalez Kentfield, CA (Marin) College of Marin- Olney Hall 835 College Ave., Kentfield, CA Contribution $10/$5 students (415) 897-6989 or events@votenader.org Map it



The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.





iraq





james burmeister

chris kenning


Friday, August 01, 2008

Iraq snapshot

Friday, August 1, 2008.  Chaos and violence continue, Nouri al-Maliki makes like Pretty Woman on Rodeo Drive, Ralph Nader continues taking his campaign to the people, Kirkuk sees increased tension, and more.
 
Starting with war resistance, Jan Slakov (BCLocalNews) proposed ways to prepare for peace this week and the second step was: "Welcome war resisters: Former U.S. President John F. Kennedy once said: 'War will exist until that distant day when the CO [conscientious objector] enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.'  A majority of Canadian MPs understand this, and voted on June 3 to allow U.S. soldiers who object to the 'war on terror' on conscientious grounds to stay in Canada.  However, the Conservative government is ignoring the will of these deserters to be deported to face punishment in the U.S." The Conservative government and conservative shills like Rondi Adamson who offers a string of lies in the Christian Science Monitor.  In fact, Rondi's piece should be titled "No Lie Left Untold."  Rondi admits Canada took in "draft dodgers" during Vietnam but forgets to note they also took in deserters.  Rondi forgets to note the popular (or Parliament) support in Canada for war resisters.  From the July 1st snapshot: "The Angus Reid Poll finds: 'A majority of Canadians would agree with the decision to let American military deserters stay in Canada as permanent residents, a new Angus Reid Strategies survey reveals. . . In the online survey of a representative national sample, three-in-five Canadians (64%) say they would agree to give these U.S. soldiers the opportunity to remain in Canada as permanent residents. Quebec (70%) houses the highest proportion of respondents who agree with the motion, while Alberta (52%) has the fewest supporters. A gender breakdown reveals that while both males and females would agree to let U.S. military deserters remain in Canada, females are much more sympathetic (69% versus 57%)'."  And Rondi is apparently confessing that Canadians spat on US soldiers during Vietnam.  That LIE has long been disproven in the US but apparently, Rondi wants us to believe it happened in Canada.
 
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 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 Iraq where puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki sits on a ton of money and spends it when he feels like on what he wants.  Edmond Lococo and Gopal Ratnam (Bloomberg News) report, "Iraq is seeking to buy $10.9 billion in weapons and services from U.S. defense contractors including General Dynamics Corp,, Boeing Co., Textron Inc. and Raytheon Co. to 'establish security and stablity' throughout the country."  It's been a busy week for the puppet -- a regular spending spree.  The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency started the week with the announcement that they "notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Iraq of Armored Security Vehicles as well as associated equipment and services.  The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $206 milliion."  Wednesday included "The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Iraq of Light Armored Vehicles as well as associated equipment and services.  The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $3 billion" and "The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Iraq of technical assistance for construction of facilities and infrastructure as well as associated equipment and services.  The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $1.6 billiion" and "The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Iraq of Helicopters and related munitions as well as associated equipment and services.  The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $2.4 billion."  Thursday brought this announcement, "The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Iraq of M1A1 and Upgrade to M1A1M Abrams Tanks as well as associated equipment and services.  The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $2.16 billion."
 
This spending spree takes place as Selcan Hacaoglu (AP) reports on sewage treatment plant in Bahgdad that ("nearly three years later") is still nothing but a shell: "Raw sewage is still flowing freely through giant pipes into the Tigris River, ending up in some of the capital's drinking water. And those pipes are hardly the only source of contamination. Many residents only have to sniff the tap water to know something is not right. . . . Two-thirds of the raw sewage produced in the capital flows untreated into rivers and waterways, Stuart Bowen, special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, said in his quarterly report released Wednesday."
 
Tensions continue to flare over Kirkuk.  The October provincial elections are thought to be pushed back (at least) over the efforts in the Parliament to include aspects (force through) to do with Kirkuk.  That led to a mass walk out of Kurdish Parliamentarians last month.  A special session will be held Sunday to attempt to address the issue of provincial elections.  Now Kurdish leaders in Kirkuk (an ethnically diverse, oil-rich city that the Kurdish region wants to absorb) are stating that it will become part of Kurdistan. DPA notes that the demand came on Friday as did an attempted assassination via bombing of Kirkuk's police chief Jamal Taher. KHalid al-Ansary (Reuters) notes that the puppet government is Baghdad is insisting on calm and order.  Not only is that not working, neighbors are noticing.  Alsumaria reports, "Kirkuk issue takes the upper hand in Iraq's politics while Turkey has showed interest in the issue after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki received a phone call from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who expressed his concern over Kurds demand to join Kirkuk to Kurdistan."
 
Meanwhile Sabrina Tavernise and Steven Lee Myers (New York Times) reported this morning, "The American military disclosed on Thursday that soldiers had killed three unarmed people during an operation northwest of Samarra on Wednesday, and injured a fourth.  Ali Salih Jubarah, a spokesman for Salahuddin Province, the region where the killings occurred, said that Dahia Hussein and her two sons, Ali Jassim and Muhammad Jassim, all civilians, were killed during a raid on a house.  He identified the injured person as Ms. Hussein's daughter, Sabeiha Jassim."
 
 In some of today's reported violence . . .
 
Bombings?
 
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad car bombing that claimed 1 life and left two people wounded and a Kirkuk roadside bombing that claimed the lives of 3 Iraqi soldiers and left a fourth wounded.  AP reports, "Two suicide bombers detonated their explosive vests Friday wounding three Iraqi soldiers north of Baghdad during a raid".
 
Shootings?
 
Reuters notes an armed clash in Dhuluiya that claimed 4 lives.
 
Corpses?
 
Reuters notes 1 corpse discovered in Kut.
 
Turning to the US presidential race.  "He's a lot more optimistic than me, I can tell you," Jurgen Vsych explains of Ralph Nader to Jan Baughman (Swans Commentary). "That's one thing that we used to fight about, because I'm, I wouldn't say pound-for-pound I'm a total pessimist, but I am pretty pessimistic about a lot of things in the economy and the political successes, he has lots of success stories to tell, although I don't know, I guess because a lot of his work has been undone, systematically undone by dergulation, so how he keeps his spirits up I don't know -- I really don't."  Jurgen Vsych is a filmmaker (including Ralph Nader Crashes The Two Parties) and check out the website she's creating entitled Nader Tube & Ralph Nader Radio.  Jugen Vsych has also written the book What Was Ralph Nader Thinking? which Baughman reviews here.   Speaking at the Dominican University in February of last year, a man complained,  "But we all know you don't have a snow ball's chance in hell of getting elected."  Ralph replied, to the hearty approval of those present, "How about in heaven?" 
 
"Are you a sports fan?  Do you know any sports player who gives up?" Lisa Riley Roche (Desert News) quotes Ralph Nader saying at a news conference in Salt Lake City this morning.  Nader was in Utah capitol on a campaign stop that began Thursday evening when he spoke at the University of Utah.  Introducing him, former Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson explained, "This whole nation needs to be turned around.  We're not going to do it with the Democrats saying, 'We'll get around to it someday'." Speaking to the crowd of over 400, Ralph Nader wondered, "Do you realize there is no discernible breaking point for the American people?  We're headed for a cliff . . . where's the breaking point?"  He added, "If none of us have breaking points, none of us have a moral compass."  Robert Gehrke (Salt Lake Tribune) reports that "Nader filed paperwork putting himself on the ballot in Utah" this morning and quotes Ralph stating, "This country is not owned by the two major parties.  They don't own the voters.  There is not even the word 'party' in the Constitution.  There isn't even the word 'corporation' in the Constitution, and yet these two institutions have run our country into the ground and are tearing the heart and soul out of America."  Salt Lake City's KSL reported on the press conference this morning (link has video as well as a text article written by Richard Piatt):
 
Tonya Papanikolas: Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader is officially a candidate here in Utah. 
 
Scott Haws: Yeah, he's trying to get the word out with a limited budget and minimal support but at a news conference this morning, he was not afraid to take on the big guys.  Richard Piatt was there and joins us with more.  Rich?
 
Richard Piatt: Well, as you know Scott, Ralph Nader has been taking on the big guys for forty years now, starting with General Motors in the 1960s, you'll recall he successfully got a car called the Corvair pulled off the market. These days, in his seventies, he is just as entergetic.  And he's diligent about running for president this time again.  Nader registered as an official presidential candidate in Utah at the lieutenant governor's office this morning.  He called his rivials John McCain and Barack Obama "corporate candidates."  He appeared with former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson at a news conference this morning.  Nader says the average American tax payer is not being served by the status quo.  Unfair tax policies, inadequate health care options and gridlock in Congress are among the problems he sees.  He says voters need a more diverse campaign.  But he points out that he is being excluded from most of the major presidential debates, furthering what he calls a "corporate candidate quagmire."
 
Ralph Nader: The two parties have spoiled our elections.  They've spoiled our government.  They've spoiled our political system.  And they've turned our government over to  big businness that's about the worst constitutional crime you can imagine.
 
Richard Piatt: Nader has been labeled a spoiler in the past, depriving other candidates, like John Kerry, of votes by defusing the support.  But according to a Dan Jones poll in May here in Utah, Nader barely registers in Utah this year.  The poll showed Nader with only 2 percent of the 604 statewide voters at that time in May.  Even so, he refuses to see himself as a spoiler or even a bad candidate.  Instead, he says he's the only candidate who . . .  is a real alternative.  Nader is scheduled to appear next in Davis, Calif., on Saturday for a rally with his running mate Matt Gonzalez. Back to you.
 
 
 
The Nader-Gonzalez '08 campaign (Matt Gonzalez is Ralph's running mate) has been keeping a very busy schedule and some of the upcoming events include:
 
Sat. August 2nd, 8:00pm
Nader for President 2008 Rally w/ Matt Gonzalez
Davis, CA
Varsity Theater
616 Second St., Davis, CA 95616
Contributions $10/ $5 student
(530) 554-8250 or events@votenader.org
Map it 

Sun. August 3rd, 1:30pm 
Nader for President 2008 Rally w/ Matt Gonzalez   
Sebastopol, CA
Sebastopol Community Center
390 Morris St., Sebastopol, CA 95472
Contribution $10/$5 student  
(415) 897-6989 or events@votenader.org     
Map it 

Sun Aug. 3rd, 4:30pm
Ralph Nader Book Signing and Speech w/ Matt Gonzalez
Healdsburg, CA
Copperfield's books
104 Matheson St., Healdsburg, CA 95448
(707) 235-1026 or events@votenader.org
Map it 

Sun Aug. 3rd, 7:30pm
Nader for President 2008 Rally w/ Matt Gonzalez
Kentfield, CA (Marin)
College of Marin- Olney Hall
835 College Ave., Kentfield, CA
Contribution $10/$5 students
(415) 897-6989 or events@votenader.org
Map it 
 
We'll return to the topic of Nader shortly but expanding the focus to other contenders includes noting a surprise failure to stick to the attack plan on John McCain by the Democratic Party.  Last week David Brancaccio (NOW on PBS) interviewed former Democratic presidential hopeful (and 2004 Democratic vice-presidential candidate) John Edwards.  From the exchange:
 
BRANCACCIO: Have you had occasion to talk to the candidates left standing about your poverty proposals?

EDWARDS: Yes, yes I have. Well, before I got out of the race, I talked to Obama and Clinton at the time about some very specific things, which for now I'll keep private. But I got very specific commitments from them about making poverty central to their campaign, making it central to their presidency. And some very specific substantive ideas behind that. I've also spoken to McCain. It's a little harder with him.

BRANCACCIO: But you've talked to McCain about these poverty issues.

EDWARDS: I have I have. I know John McCain very well. Served with him. Traveled around the world with him. It's a little tough because I'm supporting his opponent in the presidential race and doing it vigorously. (some laughs) But having said that, while he doesn't agree with a lot of the policy issues that I'm behind, he's been receptive to the concept that this is something we have to do something about.
 
 
John McCain is the presumed GOP presidential nominee.  McCain is currently in the news for his refusal to allow Barack to play the race card.  Before we get to that, McCain spoke this week in Nevada and Susan (Random Thoughts) attended and has posted video of the event at her site.  This week, Barack was speaking on his favorite topic . . . himself.  As usual Vanity Sux couldn't shut up about how great he thinks he is.  As usual he tried to link McCain to the current White House occupant because, when you have no record to run on, you use the same desperate tactics that the illegal war was sold on (false links).  So Barack declared that McCain and Bully Boy were going to say of Barack (because Barack wants the WHOLE WORLD talking about him), "he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollars bills." First off, Barack IS NOT PRESIDENT.  "HE DOESN'T LOOK LIKE ALL THOSE OTHER PRESIDENTS ON THE DOLLAR BILLS"?  Barack, you ARE NOT president. Joseph (Cannonfire) explains, "McCain never said anything about Obama's patriotism or his name, and he certainly never said anything about race. Yet the Obots actually have defended this rhetoric. They applaud their candidate for running against a hallucinated line of attack."  Marcia weighed in, "Barack has played the race card non-stop throughout his run.  As an African-American, I know what the bi-racial blunder's doing, he's trying to egg up support from the African-American community. He's trying to turn us into his street team. His 'okey doke' and all of that other bull was an attempt back in the primaries.  It is the only card he has left to play and it's not going to play in a general election."  Silly Barack declared today, "There was nobody there who thought at all that I was trying to inject race in this" because, apparently, none of our presidents have had two ears, two eyes, one mouth and one nose.  Is that what Barack's trying to say?  Or was he trying to draw attention -- yet again -- to his 'divine' figure?  is he running to become the bulimic president?  Barack's Cult has trouble with facts so that probably sailed over them.  Yesterday Martha and Rebecca both called out the factually challenged Barack groupie at VIBE.
 
Tonight (in most markets) on PBS, Bill Moyers Journal continues exploring Capitol Crime with an increased focus on the Abramoff Congressional-lobbyist scandals.  NOW on PBS  examines the case of Ted Stevens, US Senator from Alaska now under indictment. And on Washington Week, Gwen and the gas bags chews up this week's factoids and the scenery. Guest stars include: Time's Karen Tumulty and National Journal's James Barnes.
 
 
 
Good morning.
Here's something you can do right now.
Why?
Because we're celebrating.
For two reasons.
Number one reason to celebrate: CNN poll from two days ago---Ralph Nader at six percent.
After being totally blocked out from the mainstream media for months.
(This is the fourth major poll putting us at five percent and above. Remember, John Anderson and Ross Perot both got into Presidential debates because they met the then League of Women Voters' threshold of five percent in a number of polls.)
And that's quite remarkable.
Six percent.
With little to no national news coverage.
Number two reason to celebrate: In 2004, we were on only 34 state ballots.
Now, in 2008, thanks to your help, we're heading toward 45 states.
For example, in 2004, we were not on in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Arizona, and Massachusetts.
But we will be on these states in 2008.
Today, for example, we will turn in more than 53,000 signatures in Pennsylvania. (25,000 valid required.)
So, yes, we are moving on up.
We'll take the six percent in the polls.
And we'd gladly take six percent national coverage from the mainstream media -- to match our most recent poll number.
But no.
To the mainstream corporate media, we're untouchable.
Why?
Because we represent what the majority of Americans want?
Because we favor single payer health insurance?
And Obama and McCain oppose it?
Because we would quickly end the corporate and military occupation of Iraq?
And Obama and McCain wouldn't?
Because we stand for a shift of the power away from the corporations and back into the hands of the American people?
Because we would cut the bloated, wasteful military budget?
Yes, that's why.
Because the corporate media is just doing its job.
Protecting corporate power.
And we are doing ours.
Representing the majority of the American people.
So, they are doing what they must do.
And we are doing what we must do.
And support the campaign that represents the American people.
Against the corporate masters.
Thanks to your generous contributions so far, we're a third of the way home.
Let's keep moving on up.
Both to our goal of $100,000 by August 10.
And let's drive our numbers in the polls to seven, eight, nine and ten points and beyond.
So that even the corporate media will have to sit up and take notice.
Together, we are making a difference.
Onward
 
 

Rondi Adamson Lies

Rondi Adamson's "U.S. military deserters don't deserve refugee status" (Christian Science Monitor) is the usual string of lies from Adamson -- that, however, does not excuse the Christian Science Monitor for printing it. (Link provided for everyone to laugh at the under-educated, uninformed Adamson.) Rondi, a big mouth with no brain to back it up, starts from the premise that, during Vietnam, Canada welcomed "war resisters" which is defined as "draft dodgers." Wrong, Dumb Ass Rondi.

It's a real shame that you didn't value your education enough to actually learn but it's more shocking that the Christian Science Monitor would print your garbage. Canada welcomed draft dodgers and deserters. On the latter category, deserters were not required to have been drafted and many weren't. The draft was never an issue in Canada -- which didn't have a draft. The illegal war was the issue.

In fairness to Idiot Rondi, it's not like 'helpers' have made a point to get that fact out. A lot of 'helpers' have wasted everyone's time by talking about "draft dodgers" when there are no draft dodgers going to Canada today but there are deserters.

Since Rondi is such an idiot, let's drop back to January 23, 1977, Robert Trumbull's "Pardon Brings Cautious Response From Some War Exiles in Canada" (New York Times):


Jeff Enger, a deserter from the Army and therefore excluded from the Presidential pardon, will be sworn in as a Canadian citizen next Friday, one of the many self-exiled American war resisters who "want to make our lives here." However, like other deserters, Mr. Egner would like to be able to travel freely in the country of his birth.
The Presidential pardon covered nearly all draft evaders of the Vietnam War period. Mr. Carter postponed a decision on the men who entered but then deserted the armed forces.
Jack Colhoun, a leader in the Toronto exile community, is one of those deseters who insist that they would fight in a "just war," or "if the United States were attacked," as Mr. Colhoun put it.
The men interviewed, who rerpesent a cross section of the estimated 20,000 to 25,000 American war resisters living in Canada, have in common a yearning for recognition by Americans at home that their actions were an acceptable exercise of principle "in the American tradition," as one said.
"We don't expect to be congratulated or anything," said Mr. Egner, a law student at the University of Toronto, "but we believe we acted correctly."
They also share a deep conviction that the deserters, as well as the draft evaders, should be pardoned.

What do you know, Dumb Ass Rondi, deserters during Vietnam! In Canada! Welcomed! Again, it's not just Rondi's fault. The strongest argument for today's war resisters was always CANADA WELCOMED DESERTERS DURING VIETNAM AND NEEDS TO TODAY.

But there's no excuse for the Christian Science Monitor repeating THE LIE.

Someone help Rondi off the floor, it's just hit that there are US deserters from Vietnam in Canada.

Rondi scribbles:

In some cases, it's not clear what the deserters are seeking refuge from. Corey Glass, who faces deportation, was discharged from the US military some time ago, according to ABC News. In other words, he's free to go – but might he miss the sight of those antiwar protesters carrying placards in his defense?


Deserters have attempted the refugee path due to the fact that land immigrant status no longer exist. Corey Glass does not believe that ABC News report and he (and his lawyer) believe that he is (at least) now listed as IRR status and, should he return to the US, the military would seek retaliation that way.

Rondi scribbles, "Try to imagine the reaction to someone spitting on a soldier returning from Iraq . . ." Rondi, are you saying Canadians spit on US soldiers during Vietnam? You must be because that LIE has long been disproven in the US. So you must be declaring that Canadians spat on US soldiers coming back from Vietnam.

Right-wing Americans, Canadian Ambassador Rondi's just delivered you a huge nugget of (mis)information. Have at it. Demand that the Canadian government apologize. Scream at the disrespect they've shown.

The Christian Science Monitor practiced no journalism or oversight. Click here to request the correction that their shoddy practices demand. If you do, remember that they are responsible for the headline, not Rondi. That means it's their LIE that war resisters do not have support in Canada. From the July 1st snapshot: "The Angus Reid Poll finds: 'A majority of Canadians would agree with the decision to let American military deserters stay in Canada as permanent residents, a new Angus Reid Strategies survey reveals. . . In the online survey of a representative national sample, three-in-five Canadians (64%) say they would agree to give these U.S. soldiers the opportunity to remain in Canada as permanent residents. Quebec (70%) houses the highest proportion of respondents who agree with the motion, while Alberta (52%) has the fewest supporters. A gender breakdown reveals that while both males and females would agree to let U.S. military deserters remain in Canada, females are much more sympathetic (69% versus 57%)'." Click here for the polling results and below is AngusReid's summary:

Canadian communities, faith, social justice andpeace organizations, and support organizations for U.S. Iraq War resisters are celebrating the results of an AngusReid poll showing strong support for all Iraq War resisters seeking refuge in Canada.
Results show that three in five Canadians (64%) favour giving U.S. soldiers the opportunity to remain in Canada as permanent residents.
The national public opinion pollster noted that Quebec - at 70% - houses the highest proportion of respondents who agree.
With no word yet from the Government of Canada and only nine days remaining until U.S. war resister Corey Glass is scheduled for deportation, a broad spectrum of organizations including Parliamentary opposition parties and Amnesty International Canada are calling on the Prime Minister's office and Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to take immediate action to stop all
deportations.
On June 3rd, the successful passage of a landmark parliamentary motion called on the federal government to allow U.S. war resisters and their immediate family members the opportunity to remain in Canada as permanent residents.

So the Christian Science Monitor needs to retract this sub-headline to Rondi's bad column: "They broke their contract. Even Canada gets that." Meanwhile, Tom Sandborn's "An ordinary house" (Vancouver Courier) reports on Vancouver's Catholic Workers:

Home to the city's Catholic Workers and their guests (and sometimes referred to as Samaritan House), the modest dwelling has offered shelter to the homeless and support to American war resisters for a decade. All this tireless activism is conducted in the name of an interpretation of Christian ethics first articulated by Dorothy Day, an ex-Communist newspaperwoman, and Peter Maurin, a French émigré and former Christian Brother, more than 75 years ago in the Depression-scalded slums of New York.
Inside the cluttered homey kitchen, the two women who opened this unusual experiment in practical spirituality a decade ago share multiple cups of strong coffee. Library worker Sarah Bjorknas and Vikki Marie opened the Vancouver Catholic Worker House literally on a wing and a prayer. Since then, they have provided hospitality to well over 125 homeless guests, some overnight, some for several years.
Since the beginning of the Iraq war, they have cheerfully housed young American soldiers fleeing combat service, and Bjorknas is a key figure in the local movement to support such war resisters and call on Canada to give them legal status.
"Generally, if someone shows up and we have a bed available, they can stay," says Bjorknas. "We have developed some instincts and discernment skills over time and use those when making decisions about guests. We don't take in families--it's not a good space for kids. We have only three rules that pretty much cover everything--no drugs, no alcohol, and respectful behaviour to everyone in the house."



Republican US Senator Ted Stevens is in the news (due to his indictment). NOW on PBS earlier probed the story of that corruption and return to it this Friday (Friday is when all three programs first being airing, some PBS stations air the programs on other days, check your local listings):

This week, NOW goes behind the breaking headlines to shine a bright light on the scandalous connection between VECO and Alaska's old-boy political network. Three state legislators have already been convicted in Federal court for accepting bribes from VECO, and the FBI has video and audio evidence that reveal VECO executives shockingly handing out cash to those legislators in exchange for promises to roll back a tax on the oil industry. And more lawmakers - including Senator Stevens' own son, former Alaska State Senate President Ben Stevens - are being eyed in the growing scandal.

Bill Moyers Journal have been exploring Capitol Crimes and this Friday on the program will continue their exploration of Capitol Crime:

The Wave of "Capitol Crimes" Continues

Bill Moyers and Michael Winship

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.

The notorious lobbyist and his cohorts (including conservatives Tom Delay, Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed) shook down Native American tribal councils and other clients for tens of millions of dollars, buying influence via a coalition of equally corrupt government officials and cronies dedicated to dismantling government by selling it off, making massive profits as they tore the principles of a representative democracy to shreds.

A report earlier this summer from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform builds on an earlier committee investigation that detailed some 485 contacts between Abramoff and the Bush administration. According to the new report, "Senior White House officials told the Committee that White House officials held Mr. Abramoff and members of his lobbying team in high regard and solicited recommendations from Mr. Abramoff and his colleagues on policy matters."

Now Abramoff's doing time in Maryland, at a minimum security Federal prison, serving five years and ten months for unrelated, fraudulent business practices involving a fake wire transfer he and a partner fabricated to secure a loan to buy SunCruz Casinos, a line of Florida cruise ships that ferried high and low rollers into international waters to gamble (its original owner, Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, was gunned down, Mafia-style, in February 2001). But come September, Abramoff will be sentenced for his larger-than-life role in one of the biggest scandals in American history, a collection of outrages that has already sent one member of Congress to jail, others into retirement and dozens of accomplices running for cover.

Over the last couple of years he has been singing to the authorities, which is why he has been kept in a detention facility close to DC and the reason his sentencing for tax evasion, the defrauding of Indians and the bribing of Washington officials has been delayed -- the FBI is thought to be using Abramoff's testimony to build an ever-expanding case that may continue to shake those who live within the Beltway bubble for months and years to come.

Bill Moyers Journal is airing an updated edition of "Capitol Crimes," a special that was first produced for public television two years ago, relating the entire sordid story of the Abramoff scandals. Produced by Sherry Jones, the rebroadcast comes at a moment of renewed interest, with not only Abramoff's sentencing imminent, but the most important national elections in decades little more than three months away and continuing, seemingly daily revelations of further, profligate abuses of power.

Monday saw the publication of a 140-page report from the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility, confirming that, as the Washington Post recounted, "For nearly two years, a young political aide sought to cultivate a 'farm system' for Republicans at the Justice Department, hiring scores of prosecutors and immigration judges who espoused conservative priorities and Christian lifestyle choices.

"That aide, Monica M. Goodling, exercised what amounted to veto power over a wide range of critical jobs, asking candidates for their views on abortion and same-sex marriage and maneuvering around senior officials who outranked her, including the department's second-in-command... [The report] concluded yesterday that Goodling and others had broken civil service laws, run afoul of department policy and engaged in 'misconduct,' a finding that could expose them to further scrutiny and sanctions."

With the next day's sunrise came the indictment of Alaskan Republican Ted Stevens, the first sitting US Senator to face criminal charges in 15 years. Apparently, the senator was playing the home version of "The Price Is Right," for among the gifts a grand jury says were illegally rewarded him by the oil company VECO were a Viking gas grill, tool cabinet and a wraparound deck for his mountainside house in Anchorage. In fact, VECO allegedly gave the place an entire new first floor, with two bedrooms and a bath. How neighborly.

(By the way, just to round the circle, Senator Stevens received $1000 in campaign contributions from Jack Abramoff directly, which subsequently he donated to the Alaskan chapter of the Red Cross, and $16,500 from Native American tribes and others represented by Abramoff, which Stevens gave to other charities.)

Coincidentally, this week also marks the publication of a new book, The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule, written by Thomas Frank, the author of What's the Matter with Kansas? In an essay in the August issue of Harper's magazine, adapted from the book, Frank adroitly weaves the actions of Abramoff and his pals into a vastly larger ideological framework.

"Fantastic misgovernment is not an accident," he writes, "nor is it the work of a few bad individuals. It is the consequence of triumph by a particular philosophy of government, by a movement that understands the liberal state as a perversion and considers the market the ideal nexus of human society. This movement is friendly to industry not just by force of campaign contributions but by conviction; it believes in entrepreneurship not merely in commerce but in politics; and the inevitable results of its ascendance are, first, the capture of the state by business and, second, what follows from that: incompetence, graft, and all the other wretched flotsam that we've come to expect from Washington.

"... The conservatism that speaks to us through its actions in Washington is institutionally opposed to those baseline good intentions we learned about in elementary school. Its leaders laugh off the idea of the public interest as airy-fairy nonsense; they caution against bringing top-notch talent into government service; they declare war on public workers. They have made a cult of outsourcing and privatizing, they have wrecked established federal operations because they disagree with them, and they have deliberately piled up an Everest of debt in order to force the government into crisis. The ruination they have wrought has been thorough; it has been a professional job. Repairing it will require years of political action."
Have we the stamina, commitment -- or even the attention span -- to take such action? Abramoff may be cooling his heels in minimum security but his pals Delay, Norquist and Reed appear on television and radio whose hosts treat them as political savants with nary a nod to their past nefarious association with Abramoff. Few in the audience seem to notice or care. Former House majority leader Delay's awaiting trial on money laundering charges, and the incorrigible Ralph Reed, who played Christian pastors in Texas for suckers in enlisting their unwitting help for Abramoff's gambling clients, even has a political potboiler of a novel out -- Dark Horse, the story of a failed Democratic presidential candidate who finds God, then runs as an independent, funded, presumably, by the supreme being's political action committee.

"Do we Americans really want good government?" That's a question asked, not by Thomas Frank, but the muckraking journalist Lincoln Steffens, writing more than a century ago in his book, The Shame of the Cities. He wrote, "We are a free and sovereign people, we govern ourselves and the government is ours. But that is the point. We are responsible, not our leaders, since we follow them. We let them divert our loyalty from the United States to some 'party;' we let them boss the party and turn our municipal democracies into autocracies and our republican nation into a plutocracy. We cheat our government and we let our leaders loot it, and we let them wheedle and bribe our sovereignty from us."

From more than a hundred years' distance, Steffens would recognize Abramoff & company for what they are. And we for who we are; a nation too easily distracted and looking the other way as everything rightfully ours is taken.
--30 --
Bill Moyers is managing editor and Michael Winship is senior writer of the weekly public affairs program Bill Moyers Journal, which airs Friday night on PBS. Check local airtimes or comment at The Moyers Blog at www.pbs.org/moyers.

And on Washington Week, Gwen and the gas bags chews up this week's factoids and the scenery. Guest stars include: Time's Karen Tumulty and National Journal's James Barnes.

Devona notes this from Team Nader:

Urgent: Five Days Left in Ralph's Home State

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Urgent: Five Days Left in Ralph's Home State .

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.

Hit the contribute button.

Together, we are making a difference --- in Ralph's home state and beyond.

Onward

Ken Krayeske, The Nader Team

Your contribution could be doubled. Public campaign financing may match your contribution total up to $250.

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Be sure to read Martha's entry from last night. The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.





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