Beyond Washington DC

[H2O Man]

"I don’t have a degree like many of you out there before me have. But history don’t care anything about your degrees. The white man, he has filled you with fear of him ever since you were little black babies. So over you is the greatest enemy a man can have – and that is fear. I know some of you are afraid to listen to the truth – you have been raised on fear and lies. But I’m going to preach to you the truth until you are free of that fear …." –Elijah Muhammad, quoted in The Autobiography of Malcolm X; page 253.

I spoke on the telephone with my normal brother the other day. He had been a Tip O’Neill democrat when he left the East Coast in the 1970s. Much like my father’s brothers, who were FDR democrats when they left for California, my brother’s beliefs – fiscal conservative, social liberal – resulted in his becoming a registered republican. My father taught me that you do not turn on family, even when they make serious errors in judgement, and that this included when one’s brother went through a republican phase.

The Bush2 administration has largely cured my brother from the errors in thinking that made him believe the republican party offered the majority of Americans something good. But he has not returned to the democratic party. Instead, he is an independent, and votes for candidates as individuals.

He recognizes the Bush-Cheney invasion of Iraq as the single most important issue facing our country today. Every other important issue is, in fact, held hostage by the Iraq war, much as LBJ’s "Great Society" was hostage to Vietnam. When I asked him about the democratic candidates’ debate, he said that in his opinion, the single biggest problem is when the "front runners" dismiss what Dennis Kucinich is saying. He said that the top democrats seem to think Dennis is wrong to dare to tell the public the truth about the war. He thinks that the others want to tell some of the truth, but are afraid of the consequences of telling the whole truth.

That is the result of a combination of two things: people have been lied to for far too long, and they have become afraid of the truth. We see that fear in the cowardly actions of many of our elected "leaders." And we hear the echoes of those lies when our brothers and sisters try to rationalize that cowardice, and convince others that the democrats in congress have really played it smart and done the right thing. And all the while, we know that the Bush administration has been increasing the number of US troops, and that the violence continues to spin rapidly out of control. And the democrats’ actions that fund that can never be viewed as good if one removes the fear and the lies.

I’m not interested in debating anyone who thinks that funding the Bush madness is a stroke of genius. I am interested in discussing tactics for increasing pressure on the congress to end the war now, with the people who are interested in grass roots activism.

We need to work on a number of levels. They include public education: many people are opposed to the war, but are not convinced that their voice counts. We need to concentrate – now – on getting those people who feel alienated from the system, who feel disenfranchised from the voting booth, to register and to vote. In many ways, these people have a more accurate sense of what lies that some of the leaders from both parties tell. They aren’t afraid to say they find the system corrupt, and that they are unwilling to believe any politician who says that funding the war today will help end it tomorrow. They know that is as much a lie as saying that by buying an alcoholic a case of beer today, it will help him quit drinking tomorrow. No, we need to quit buying that drunk in the White House more beer, and we need to take the keys away from him, because he has killed too many innocent people when he drives while intoxicated.

We need to take part in organized campaigns to let the congress know that we are too that point that we were in when Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., said this about Vietnam: "Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours."

With those lines, Martin defined the difference between thinking that is infected by lies and fear, and that brave thinking that demands truth. I am convinced that we will only bring this war to an end when we begin to make Martin a reality in our daily lives, and in our communities across this country.

[annabanana]

1. In the absence of an unfettered media, we seem to be in an

"each one, teach one" situation. While this is always the most reliable way to sway people, it is also always the slowest.

[H2O Man]

2. Each One, Teach One

I remember RFK telling about one of the first times he listened to Cesar Chavez. He didn't have the media to help him organize workers. He wasn't popular with the "beautiful people." But he had a plan: he would talk the first person he met, then the second, and then the third ..... Eventually his word-of-mouth message reached many people. And he organized a grass-roots movement.

[snappyturtle]

3. This is a very thoughtful piece.

This administration has been very astute to the power of fear. Fear is here for all of us no matter the color of our skin. When we take fear by the horns and seek the truth of why it has been so placed we will come to the truth.

At times I am afraid however,I realized while watching the movie "V" that we must not be afraid of the consequences for telling the truth...telling it to all we come into contact with not just with those of like beliefs. K&R

[Me.]

5. Saw The Movie This Weekend

And have to say they nailed it. However the most shocking thing to me was the "former USA". We are at that point now. A shadow of who we thought we were. People who quietly accept and justify torture.

[H2O Man]

8. We are at a point

where guys like Mike Gravel and Ron Paul are considered part of a freak show by the corporate media, not because of any of their non-mainstream ideas, but because when it comes to the Bush-Cheney aggression in Iraq, they say what a growing majority of Americans think. The media is serving up fear and lies. I think of another line from Minister Malcolm's book: "I developed a mental image of reporters as human ferrets -- steadily sniffing, darting, probing for some way to trick me, somehow to corner me in our interview exchanges." (page 269)

[La_Fourmi_Rouge]

9. "You've been took. You've been hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amok."

My all-time favorite Malcom X quote!

[H2O Man]

18. I like

that one, too.

[lonestarnot]

6. Yeah, they are peddling it again this a.m. fear fear fear.

[H2O Man]

22. Yep.

The majority of the public recognizes that Bush is a liar. He can't use logic or rational thought promote his agenda. All he has is more lies and fear. This morning we are hearing about 2-year old intelligence that the president hopes will scare people.

[blm]

10. I watched that movie last month and thought anew how the corporate media kept that

movie's basic storyline and parallels to today's political climate from becoming a topic of discussion when it was in theaters.

I also remember how the morning shows would make Natalie Portman cover her Kerry supporting shirt and views, yet they let every moron know-nothing athlete or celebrity supporting Bush have a microphone and platform for that worship.

[Me.]

4. I Am At A Complete Loss To Explain The Madness

Why that miscreant in the WH insists that the war must continue and why Congress is an accessory to that fact. I've heard all kinds of theories from the smart move one to they're all being blackmailed into submission by KKK. Yesterday was the day when they truly revealed themselves. We can keep looking for justifications but really that would make ostriches of us. They blew it and they can't hide from that. Some say there is a strong DLC influence here in the guise of Rahm Emmanuel. I can buy that. Look at how he knuckled progressive candidates in 2006. But each of those reps have a mind of their own and must be held accountable for their lack of action. They're out of excuses and the emperor, as they say, has no clothes.

[H2O Man]

24. "Cowardice

is impotence worse than violence. The coward desires revenge but being afraid to die, he looks for others, maybe to the government of the day, to do the work of defense for him. A coward is less than a man. He does not deserve to be a member of a society of men and women." -- Gandhi on Non-Violence; Thomas Merton; page 33, II-148.

[TahitiNut]

49. I've never known of a coward who didn't call himself a pragmatist.

Indeed, I've never seen heroism from a pragmatist, either. The older I get, the less I'm able to distinguish between cowardice and pragmatism, to the point that I really don't think there is a difference.

[H2O Man]

51. I tend to agree.

There is a time for patience. But there is a time when the excuses we hear from Washington DC just don't cut it.

[La_Fourmi_Rouge]

7. I favor Direct Action!

H20, I went to my first anti - war march when I was in high school. Back then, organizers and activists on either coast could get 250,000 people on the streets at the drop of a hat. Now I know that much of the impetus for direct action came as both an outgrowth of the Civil Rights movement and a response to the Draft, which conditions do not exist today.

I think the netroots has been really effective in the past few years at getting people to write and/or call their "representatives" in D.C., and I know of many people who regularly walk the halls of Congress to "buttonhole" Senators and Congresscritters. But look what it gets us - a pathetic, weak-kneed attmpt to have it both ways! Apparently, most of the D.C. crowd is playing for some sort of "plausible deniability" - putting up a lame, kabuki-theater show of resistance and then caving once they think they've massaged the message enough to squeak through another election cycle.

I would like to see the current level of disgust with the Washington, D.C. crowd expressed in the streets, en mass, the way we did it in the late '60s and early '70s. So I am wracking my brain trying to figure out how to raise the level of passion high enough that folks feel compelled to rise up against this monstrosity of a war and take to the streets.

Also - there were giants in those days - Martin and his cohort, Stokely, Jerry Rubin, Abby Hoffman, Angela Davis... man the list is loong! We had people who literally laid their lives down to drive the message home. There came a point where the civil rights issues and the war issues merged in a "perfect storm" of protest, with people of genuine character and courage at the point of the spear.

Where are they now?

[info being]

13. WE NEED A FUCKING LEADER

That's the only way to get huge, huge support....think MLK, etc. Does Al Gore have what it takes? Is he willing to announce his candidacy as a candidacy of REVOLUTION?

[blm]

14. I believe that, too. Our outrage is directed into our keyboards and emails but

that doesn't amount to a real demonstration that would have more effect.

OTOH, we also don't have any balanced news organizations that can be counted on to REPORT on a massive protest by the citizens.

We would have to see and COUNT ON a massive COORDINATED EFFORT by the left media actually chipping in and working TOGETHER for a change on the SAME effort instead of all off on a different page as they usually are.

[info being]

15. You're waiting for corporations to chip in with our fight?

Keep waiting.

[blm]

20. No - I'm talking about left media sources and blogosphere in a coordinated effort

instead of the separate issue - unique opinion approach they have been taking the last decade that just don't snowball into much of anything.

[info being]

31. I agree with you then

[H2O Man]

17. Yes.

One of the great things about times like the 1960s is that they produce, for lack of a better word, "leaders." Action produces active leaders. Passive people allow for non-leaders such as the ones who compromise with the great evil of this administration. We need to reject the social novocaine that takes away our sense of pain and reduces our willingness to fight for what is important to us as Americans.

The next Martin Luther King Jr is probably some young lady in a high school in your town, or in a college or university in your city. We need to become active participants in our Constitutional democracy, and help clear the path for her.

The next Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin are the guys who have something important to say, but do not have the audience in the public square who are listening. we need to encourage them to get some experience, like Abbie did, of going into low-income neighborhoods, and registering voters. Then those people with gather in the public square, and these new voices of leadership will be heard.

I remember reading the last words of Crazy Horse, when he told his father, "I am hurt bad. Tell the people it is no use to depend on me anymore." (Crazy Horse; Mari Sandoz; page 413) He knew his turn was complete. He didn't want his people to be afraid, to accept lies, and to quit. He wanted them to use his example, and to find leadership within themselves. I think it was the same with leaders like Martin and Malcolm.

[Annces]

11. Like the time I stood up to a petty tyrant boss

when I was in high school, and was fired, and felt so great. Then my mother told me to beg forgiveness and go back because of a worldview based in fear. I went back and it was a huge mistake.

Really living means riding the crest of the wave.

[info being]

12. The people who feel their voice / vote doesn't count...

...maybe they are right. Show me the last time THE AMERICAN PEOPLE were able to actually accomplish something substantial...something that wasn't undermined by all of the powers-that-be (including Dem representatives).

[H2O Man]

21. Though I hear you,

and appreciate what you are saying, I must say that the last time the American people were able to accomplish something substantial was last November, when they went to the voting booths and rejected the violent, evil policies of the Bush-Cheney administration. The "leaders" in congress have failed to live up to their end of the bargain. And yes, many of the democrats in Washington have betrayed us. They are part of the fear and lies that we need to remove from power.

But I understand what you are saying. I feel it.

[info being]

27. But unless the Dems represent us, that isn't anything substantial

Sorry to say.

[H2O Man]

29. Respectfully disagree. n/t

[info being]

30. Why? I'm not saying it wasn't a change...or wasn't symbolic...

I'd just like to know the outcome of that victory...how it leads to our actual Progressive ideas becoming reality. Surely there have been small victories (I think), but I was just curious.

[H2O Man]

33. In my opinion

democracy is constant struggle. It's not a matter of victories that solve problems; it is struggling to deal with those problems in an on-going way. Thus, I see the 2006 elections as substantial, even while recognizing they do not solve the most important issues we were addressing. But they were a significant step in the right direction, on the part of the grass roots.

I understand and respect that others view it differently than I do.

[info being]

36. I respect your position as well, and find it admirable...

...I guess I was just hoping for a more encouraging argument. It's almost like you're saying, "You're probably right but I need to believe this."

Actually Democracy is about getting things done in a way that makes for a better world and better society. Otherwise, what's the point?

[H2O Man]

38. No.

I don't think you are "probably right." But I feel no need to make an "encouraging argument." People tend to believe in either an internal or an external locus of control. It's not a matter of "right" or "wrong." It's just how they view their role in the world.

[blm]

34. There are Dems even now working to protect some historic record of the last 6 yrs

and THAT means something to those concerned with the rabidly inaccurate corporate media portrayal of Bush2's governance.

Actively support the anti-corruption, open government Democrats like Waxman, Conyers, and others who take on the criminality of BushInc. The more power they gain within congress the better for democracy overall.

[info being]

37. I agree with that...

...but do you think the DLC would allow a party of people like that? Like Kucinich? I'm pretty sure they would make sure that group never gets control.

[blm]

39. Well, they certainly are powerful and manipulative - no disagreement there from me

since it was becoming apparent in 2003 and especially in 2004. And it was noted by a well-regarded historian at the time and other reliable sources since then. So, it's not imagined slights as some prefer to view it.


This talk by historian Douglas Brinkley occurred in April 2004:

http://www.depauw.edu/news/index.asp?id=13354

Whom does the biographer think his subject will pick as a running mate? Not Hillary Rodham Clinton. "There's really two different Democratic parties right now: there's the Clintons and Terry McAuliffe and the DNC and then there's the Kerry upstarts. John Kerry had one of the great advantages in life by being considered to get the nomination in December. He watched every Democrat in the country flee from him, and the Clintons really stick the knife in his back a bunch of times, so he's able to really see who was loyal to him and who wasn't. That's a very useful thing in life."
>>>>>


http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2006/oct/07/did_carville_tip_bush_off_to_kerry_strategy_woodward


Did Carville Tip Bush Off to Kerry Strategy (Woodward)

By M.J. Rosenberg

I just came across a troubling incident that Bob Woodward reports in his new book. Very troubling.
On page 344, Woodward describes the doings at the White House in the early morning hours of Wednesday, the day after the '04 election.

Apparently, Kerry had decided not to concede. There were 250,000 outstanding ballots in Ohio.

So Kerry decides to fight. In fact, he considers going to Ohio to camp out with his voters until there is a recount. This is the last thing the White House needs, especially after Florida 2000.

So what happened?

James Carville gets on the phone with his wife, Mary Matalin, who is at the White House with Bush.

"Carville told her he had some inside news. The Kerry campaign was going to challenge the provisional ballots in Ohio -- perhaps up to 250,000 of them. 'I don't agree with it, Carville said. I'm just telling you that's what they're talking about.'

"Matalin went to Cheney to report...You better tell the President Cheney told her."

Matalin does, advising Bush that "somebody in authority needed to get in touch with J. Kenneth Blackwell, the Republican Secretary of State in Ohio who would be in charge of any challenge to the provisional votes." An SOS goes out to Blackwell.
>>>>>>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk1k0nUWEQg

[EFerrari]

26. The 9/11 Commission. No matter what one thinks about

the commission itself, citizens forced it into being, forced those hearings and that report.

[info being]

28. And what was the *outcome* of that?

I'm talking about tangible, substantial, de facto things happening...not cosmetic bullshit.

You know, in democracies (such as the one I'm living in....the Slovak Republic), actual change does actually happen. You know....changing the tax system, withdrawing from a war, taking on huge, huge fucking things that the American people have been told *just can't be*. We've actually come to believe that it is impossible to ask for an entirely different healthcare system.

That. Isn't. Democracy. Sorry.

[EFerrari]

32. I see what you're saying but the women who brought those hearings

into being did do something important. For one thing, they were able to penetrate the public image these felons in the White House had so carefully cultivated. For hours. That was good for this country where one of our biggest problems is a complicit media.

[info being]

35. I'm noticing that Americans can only talk about "battles" in terms of...

the "cultural war" or "political victory" or whatever...but what ever happened to actually getting something done as an actual result? I know it comes in steps...first get the people you think are right in office, then it should happen. My only point is that I totally get why most Americans have given up and maybe they aren't as stupid as we like to say they are...they just see the way it is.

[EFerrari]

43. You may be right about that.

:(

[zippy890]

16. Beyond Washington - thats exactly right

we've got to get past focusing on Washington DC politics

in our towns, our communities our states we can make our voices heard, whether its one-on-one with family and co-workers, or organizing locally.

http://www.mass-impeach.org/

http://www.greenmountaindaily.com/userDiary.do?personId=433

As the deaths in iraq mount, the sadness is hitting closer and closer to home, when I heard this interview with the father of a son just killed, I started crying in my car.
send this link to people, it just might change one person's mind, make it personal and real:

http://www.here-now.org/shows/2007/05/20070518_9.asp

"Andrew Bacevich, a retired Army officer who served in Vietnam and has become a noted conservative critic of the war in Iraq, talks about his son Andrew, who was killed in Iraq. Andrew was a first lieutenant. He died on Mother's Day in a suicide bombing north of Baghdad"

thanks H2O man for helping us re-direct our energy, and posting this, thanks for your inspiration and optimism.

One of the captured US military is from the next town over from me, Lawrence, MA.

Apart yet together we can speak to our neighbors, the people we have contact with, we can move forward toward a better day in this country.

[H2O Man]

19. Exactly.

When you start building a house, you don't begin trying to put a skylight in the roof, so you can watch the stars. No. You begin by doing the hardest part -- below the ground, putting in a solid foundation. It's just as important in building a Constitutional democracy as it is in building a house.

[EFerrari]

23. I wonder if at some level the issue of immigration wasn't raised this week

to distract us all from war funding.

And, in another direction, I want to find people who will demonstrate with me at Nancy's office here in town.

[blm]

40. Jeeeezus - I thought EXACTLY the same thing when immigration 'agreement' popped up

conveniently.

BushInc knows exactly what RW talkradio will cover for the next few weeks.

[EFerrari]

44. And a goodly number of Democrats, too. It works for

the leadership to have people frothing at the mouth over "amnesty" instead of remembering how they want this occupation to be over. :shrug:

[H2O Man]

47. Right.

I think there can be rational discussions, and even debate, about immigration policies. But the corporate media appeared to be promoting the irrational approach.

[H2O Man]

25. Impeach Dick Cheney.

Now.

[Gregorian]

41. I see this as our mission.

Thank you for clarifying something that has been bothering me. Even on this forum we are divided on what to do.

Let's make this a priority of sorts. The impeachment of Dick Cheney.

I'm full of rage, and I'll admit it. Rage for the attitude of the average, and I might add ignorant, American. The milk toasts who can't accept their own rage. Not that rage is anything to be proud of. It's quite destructive unless it elicits a product of change.

It's time to formulate our actions. I know you have been one of the first to promote the notion of impeaching Cheney. And you have a vast knowledge of facts to back it up.

I am not for doing nothing, and just waiting for the tide to change. And I do not believe the country couldn't handle an impeachment, nor would it begin a frivolous use of impeachment.

Impeaching Cheney is an effective act. And perhaps a starting point toward something healing, and something more important.

I think we need to make our voices heard. I think what I mean is, it might be time for someone such as yourself to make the case in a place other than a reply to a post. I hope that isn't overstepping your boundary. If so, maybe I should be so brave as to do it. Although I hardly feel qualified.

I want you to know that your simple post has given me a ray of sunshine in an otherwise bland and moderate atmosphere. I simply refuse to sit and wait.

[H2O Man]

52. I masy put

together something on impeaching VP Cheney. It would seem that it should be something every patriotic American could agree on.

[Me.]

45. At The Very Least

Let a ciminal trial follow

[spanone]

42. Kick and Reccomend

[Me.]

46. K

:kick:

[mmonk]

48. I have to recommend. You've done it again.

Excellent.

[H2O Man]

50. Thank you

I saw a democratic member of the House on tv this afternoon. He was saying that the republicans have "bought this war." He needs to be told not to try to get by with that type of cowardly lie. The democrats are giving our money -- yours and mine -- to the president to spend on this war. Those democrats who lack the spine to stand up to the president, to be honest with the public, and to take meaningful actions to end this war, are every bit as responsible as the the republicans.

I'm only one person, but some time back, I began a new approach to Senator Clinton. I had donated time and money to her first campaign for senate. I've met her twice, and I like her. But I will not donate a single penny to her campaign as long as I view her as not taking the correct stance on ending Iraq. And so when I get the form letters asking for my money, I explain that it won't happen. I will vote for her, if she is our party's nominee. But I'm not going door-to-door, organizing voter education/registration/participation drives, or writing LTTE for a person who is closer to George W. Bush than to me on Iraq.

I will invest that time and money in a primary campaign of a candidate who shares my view on Iraq.

[mmonk]

56. I feel the same way.

There isn't any need to keep furthering bad policy.

[La_Fourmi_Rouge]

53. k & r for the evening discussion.

This post gets to the heart of the matter. What is to be done, and how? What ACTIONS will effectively bring an end to this war?

As I have said before - time for Direct Action. Take to the streets, Now.

[DemReadingDU]

54. Direct Action

Ok, what and how.

Putting up signs near freeways to Impeach Cheney?

Standing on corners with signs to Impeach Cheney?

Do we become 'groupies' and follow Kucinich, Ron Paul, Gravel, Feingold?

Really, to be effective, we need large groups of people doing something.

[H2O Man]

57. "The wick"

Your questions of "what and how" are fair. The condescending "groupies" comment is not. Normally I would avoid responding to something like that, but these are abnormal times. Plus, I am aware that almost without exception, your contributions on DU are sincere and insightful. Perhaps the "groupies" bit merely reflects the frustration that any good democrat should feel after the past 36 hours.

No one is suggesting that anyone become a "groupie" in any sense. In fact, that is the exact opposite of what this entire thread -- with the possible exceptions of a couple contributions -- advocates. As I quoted from one Malcolm X book in the OP, perhaps it is appropriate to quote from another. Marlene Nadle was interviewing Malcolm for the 2-26-65 edition of the Village Voice. She asked if he were trying to organize people based upon hatred?

"I won't let you call it hate," he responded. "Let's say that I'm going to create an awareness of what has been done to them. This awareness will create an abundance of energy, both negative and positive, that can then be channeled constructively .... The greatest mistake of the movement has been trying to organize a sleeping people around specific goals. You have to wake people up first, then you'll get action.."

"Wake them up to their exploitation?" Nadle asks.

"No," Minister Malcolm explains, "to their humanity, to their own worth, and to their heritage. The biggest difference between the parallel oppression of the Jew and the Negro is that the Jew never lost his pride in being a Jew. He never ceased to be a man. He knew he had made a significant contribution to the world, and his sense of his own value gave him the courage to fight back. It enabled him to act and think independently, unlike our people and our leaders."

Malcolm knew that even a small group of people who were conscious of their self-worth, and were students of history -- and hence aware of how small groups could change the course of history -- might serve as what the good minister called "the wick." Let's look at a quote from Brother Malcolm's 2-18-65 debate with "an expert" on race issues, Gordon Hall. Malcolm enjoyed called him "Dr. Hall," saying "it sure sounds like you are an expert on something." Hall was very condescending towards Malcolm, saying that he only represented a tiny fraction of the black population in the USA, while "responsible" leaders represented the majority. I believe that Dr. Hall's point was that it took large groups of people to get things done.

Malcolm spoke of, "...that wick. The powder keg is always larger than the wick. The smallest thing in the powder keg is the wick. You can touch the powder all day long, and nothing happens. It's the wick that you touch that sets the powder off."

I'll end this by saying that signs at the side of a road can be a wick. They can set off a powder keg of ideas. In 2004, I was driving down NYS Rt 8 in a small town called Mt Upton. There was a sign that said "SUPPORT OUR TROOPS -- BRING THEM HOME NOW." I stopped near-by, at a roadside produce stand, where every year I stock up on the best apples on earth. And I chatted with a group of "locals" about the sign. It was put up by a family of veterans .... WW2, Korea, and Vietnam. The sign got people in the community talking about the war, and having a family with generations of veterans putting up that sign allowed others to feel able to speak their minds without worry of being accused of being unpatriotic, or of not supporting the troops.

The concept of "direct action" is merely recognition that ideas can be powerful. And that powerful ideas often begin with individuals, and spread to large groups.

[DemReadingDU]

59. A group effort

I apologize for my choice of the word groupie, and thank you for your response. I was trying to convey a more vocal support for the candidates who speak most loudly about bringing our troops home. In order for them to be heard more, do we need to be more visually seen by them and others. The more people there are who are speaking about bringing our troops home and ending the war, the more those in charge will hear us. In a nutshell, that's all I meant. Sometimes, my spouse gets things that I say mixed up too, :)

[Octafish]

55. Heard Kucinich on AAR...

Kucinich explained most succinctly how this illegal and immoral war is about oil and stealing Iraq's oil. All the lies -- from 9/11 to WMDs to Democracy to the Middle East -- are just lies to sell the nation a war. He added we should be ashamed.

I add we should all be ashamed that so many of our nation's leaders -- especially Democratic leaders -- are afraid to tell the Truth and fear being labeled as a truth teller. That is something new to America: The Old World tradition of stoning the bearer of bad news to death.


OT1:

I had wondered why Kerry shrugged when Smirko called him a "Liberal. Liberal! Liberal!!!" to his face during the debate.

Kerry did not say he was proud of being a Liberal. He said we should get past the labels.


OT2:

Ray McGovern also has spoken truth: His acronym is OIL:
Oil. The stuff to make the war machine and economy chunga-chunga.
Logistics. A neat base from which to futz with the Oilpatch.
Israel. A country that needs a Big Brother, if you know what I mean.

Most importantly: Great post, as always H20 Man! Thank you!

[H2O Man]

58. In his most powerful speech,

Rev. King said, "This is the message of the great Buddhist leaders of Vietnam. Recently one of them wrote these words: 'Each day the war goes on the hatred increases in the heart of the Vietnamese and in the heart of those of humanitarian instinct. The Americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. It is curious that the Americans, who calculate so carefully on the possibilities of military victory, do not realize that in the process they are incurring deep psychological and political defeat. The image of America will never again be the image of revolution, freedom and democracy, but the image of violence and militarism'." (A Time to Break Silence; April 4, 1967)

I think that Rep. Kucinich recognizes this, and is attempting to remind our citizens of the implications.

[PATRICK]

60. How soon after that speech

when MLK was attacked by the media and establishment for dipping into "peacenik" territory, that he was shot? Rallying voices are not as great today and the suppression is still full force as it ever was. Those particularly disappointed with the Dems now would have seen the like in the Dem majorities at that time or the Dems who did not strongly oppose the McCarthy witch hunts or any number of DC calculating wafflers while the innocent suffered.

The scary thing is not that times are so bad but that the good old days never existed and the future is very hard to achieve when icons and memories can be deleted by the bi-partisan ruthless and the soft.

[H2O Man]

62. A year

to the day. He was savaged, however, by the media and "responsible" leaders within 12 hours.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

61. .