“Would you live with ease, Do what you ought, and not what you please.”Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1734
2003: President Bush announces the recess appointment of Clark Ervin to serve as Homeland Security Inspector General. Ervin would expose serious lapses at this critical agency (calling it “a huge, dysfunctional bureaucracy” in a USA Today story). He reported on millions of dollars in wasted spending. One of his reports, about a D.C. awards banquet that cost almost $500,000 (including $1,500 spent on cheese displays alone) received widespread publicity. Another Ervin report showed a surprising number of TSA executives getting cash bonuses ("about 76 percent of the senior [TSA] executives” he said in the USA Today story). Asked in that story to name what was wrong at Homeland Security Mr. Ervin said, “It’s difficult to figure out where to start”. When Ervin’s appointment lapsed President Bush refused to reappoint him, despite Ervin wanting to stay on. Ervin found this strange, telling USA Today that his dismissal “will be an enduring mystery to me”. Ervin had worked for then Governor Bush in Texas, and had worked for the first President Bush as well. Could it be that the president does not want an Inspector General who does his job a little too well? Better to paint a rosy picture for the public than to expose them to the truth.
2006: President Gerry Ford dies today. Shortly after, the Washington Post’s Bob Woodward published excerpts from a Ford interview that Woodward had agreed to keep secret until Ford’s death. The former president was critical of Bush’s Iraq invasion, saying he “very strongly” disagreed with the Bush administration’s reasoning for the war. Ford added that “Rumsfeld and Cheney and the president made a big mistake” when they “put the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction”. When no WMDs were found, President Bush would claim that the Iraq invasion served to free the Iraqi people. Ford said, “I can understand the theory of wanting to free people”, but he added, “I just don’t think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security”.
Excerpted from the 2008 Bush Calendar: http://www.PoorGeorgesAlmanac.com/onThisDate.htm
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Halliburton and Rape
Click here to add your name:
Sign the petition
Jamie Leigh Jones was a 20-year-old woman working in Iraq for a subsidiary of Halliburton when she was drugged and brutally gang-raped by several co-workers.
The next day, Halliburton told her that if she left Iraq to get medical treatment, she could lose her job.1
Jamie's story gets even more horrific: For the last two years, she's been asking the US government to hold the perpetrators accountable. But the men who raped her may never be brought to justice because Halliburton and other contractors in Iraq aren't subject to US or Iraqi laws. They can't be tried for a crime in any court.2
This is one of the most disturbing stories we have come across in a while. We're calling on Congress to investigate Jamie's case, hold those involved accountable, and bring US contractors under the jurisdiction of US law so this can't happen again. If hundreds of thousands of us speak out against this outrageous story, we can force Congress to take action.
Can you sign the petition? The text is in the blue box at the right. Clicking below will add your name.
After you sign, please forward this email to friends, family and colleagues—we all need to speak out together.
When you get an email from us, it doesn't usually include a graphic description of a brutal attack. But when we heard this story, we knew we had to do something about it.
Here's how Jamie described what happened after the attack:
I awoke the next morning in the barracks to find my naked body battered and bruised. I was still groggy from whatever had been put in my drink. I was bleeding... After getting to the clinic and having a rape kit performed...I was locked in a container with no food, no way to call my parents, and was placed under armed guard by Halliburton.3
Jamie's attackers aren't the only ones exploiting a legal loophole to get away with their violent crimes. Another female employee of Halliburton says she was raped by her co-workers in Iraq.4 Employees of Blackwater, another private contracting firm in Iraq, were accused of killing innocent Iraqi civilians, and that incident turned into an international scandal. Worst of all, they may never be punished.5
Private contractors in Iraq are making massive amounts of money, operating above the law and are accountable to no one. This has to stop.
Congress needs to act now to bring these contractors under the rule of law. If they don't, nothing will prevent a case like Jamie's from happening again. No man or woman working in Iraq should have to fear that they can be attacked without consequences.
Please sign on to the petition: "Congress must investigate the rape of Jamie Leigh Jones and others, hold those involved accountable, and bring US contractors under the jurisdiction of US law." Clicking below adds your name:
Thanks for all you do,
Support Jamie Leigh Jones' Foundation Jamie started an organization to help US citizens who are victims of sexual abuse, rape and harassment while working abroad for federal contractors, corporations or the government. Her organization wants to ensure that overseas contractors and corporations act responsibly, and those who commit crimes are held accountable.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Can you chip in $10 to run this ad urging Congress to stop Bush's march to war with Iran?  Click Here To See The Ad and Contribute  How did President Bush respond to the bombshell last week that Iran had stopped its nuclear program? Here's how one of his top military commanders put it: "There has been no course correction."1 For years, Bush and Cheney and Rove have governed using fear—talking up war and terrorism to win elections and push their agenda. They used this method to get us into the war in Iraq, and now the President's at it again—trying to rally support by marching the nation toward war with Iran. Someone's got to call him out. Our ad team has come up with a unique twist on the issue. We want to run this as a full-page ad in The New York Times. Can you help out with $10 to help run the ad? We think you'll like it—take a look. We need to expose not just the President's lies but his political motivations behind them. To do that, we need the media to be asking tough questions. Running this ad now can force those answers to be made public. Consider this: Days after the White House's National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) reported that Iran stopped developing nuclear weapons years ago, President Bush and his proxies are still out stumping for war. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that "Iran seeks to create chaos" everywhere they go.2 And leading neocon and Giuliani adviser Norman Podheretz, has even accused the intelligence community of lying in its report.3 It's an old political trick, and one that got us mired in the war in Iraq. Back in 2002, Karl Rove advised Republican candidates to use the fear of war to win their campaigns.4 And right-wing commentators openly brag about how Bush used the war to win the election in '04.5 This time, the report's revelations about Iran's lack of nuclear weapons give us just the opening we need to expose their lies and force the media to question the motivation behind their march to war. This is just the ad to do it. Can you chip in to make sure that this story gets told? Thanks for all you do, –Ilyse, Adam G., Marika, Karin and the MoveOn.org Political Action TeamWednesday, December 12th, 2007 1. "Pentagon plans unchanged by Iran report: general," Reuters, December 7, 2007 2."Gates Says Iran Seeks to Cause Chaos," Associated Press, December 8, 2007 3."Dark Suspicions about NIE" Commentary Magazine, December 3, 2007 4. "General Karl Rove, Reporting for Duty," Time, September 29, 2002 5. "Five-Tool Player," National Review, August 14, 2007 Support our member-driven organization: MoveOn.org Political Action is entirely funded by our 3.2 million members. We have no corporate contributors, no foundation grants, no money from unions. Our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. If you'd like to support our work, you can give now at: PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/ |
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Give The Gift Of Impeachment
How would you like to give the best holiday gift ever? And what if it
cost you absolutely nothing? By speaking out on the issue of
impeachment, you have ALREADY contributed to that gift on the
installment plan, the gift of constitutional rule of law, to be
cherished for generations to come.
We just need to keep speaking out, in greater and greater numbers,
and keep encouraging everyone we know and encounter to do the same,
and we bring that gift home. Today, we learned that a 23rd member of
the House, Raul Grijalva (AZ), has signed on to H.Res 799 (previously
H.Res. 333) to impeach Cheney first.
And what better way to spread the holiday message of impeachment than
with the ultimate mobilization tool, a collector's item "Impeach
Cheney?" cap to give to a friend or family member? We have nearly
another 1,000 packed up ready to do out tomorrow for those of you
have requested one in the last week or so, and we want to make sure
everyone who wants one can get one before the holidays.
If you want us to send you one, as someone who has already made their
voice heard on one of the impeachment action pages, all you have to
do is email us back and send us a mailing address and we will send
you one for no charge, not even shipping. And all we ask of you is
this: If you CAN make a donation of any amount, to help us keep this
movement building, please instead use the following page to make your
request, and remember that your donation is what makes it possible to
send all these free caps to those who cannot afford anything at all.
IMPEACHMENT CAPS: http://www.usalone.com/impeach_cheney_cap.php
And please also remember you are not just helping with the cap
initiative. You also know that we are even now in the middle of
shipping out the THIRD printing of 25,000 full color 11x17 Impeach
Cheney posters, going up on college campuses all over the country.
We're probably going to drop upward of a couple thousand dollars
tomorrow just for the poster shipping alone. Maybe you would like a
poster to give out as a gift instead. Maybe you would like a cap AND
a poster. If so, please use this page instead.
IMPEACHMENT POSTER: http://www.usalone.com/impeach_cheney_flyer.php
And again, if you want a poster, just email us back with a mailing
address and we'll send you one. Or if you only want to just help with
a contribution to defray these mounting shipping costs, please use
the form above to do that.
Or maybe you would like to also join the now 1,400 volunteers we
already have spreading out all over college campuses all over the
country, forming into Impeach Teams in virtually very major city in
the country. Just submit the form above and request as many posters
as you like, and we'll do everything we can to get them to you as
soon as possible. And you if can't contribute anything, to even cover
the postage, email us, tell us you want to help, that you want to be
on the Impeach Team, and we will come through for you.
The developments of the last couple days have finally stunned even
the mainstream media, with the revelation that Cheney and Bush have
been fear-mongering a new war in Iran even as they knew their nuclear
weapon boogie man was totally bogus. It is reported that top CIA
senior intelligence officers were literally prepared to go to jail by
leaking the new NIE (National Intelligence Estimate) if it were not
released.
And what makes it so egregious, is that Cheney himself, just as in
the cooking of the intelligence books in the run up to the Iraq
invasion has been all over the CIA pressuring them to change their
conclusions. Again and again, over the last year, he has rejected
this same NIE, demanding that it be done over and over. And when
finally he could contain the truth no longer he lies again and tells
us they wanted us to have the information.
Some may think this must surely be the end of the road of their
planned Iran attack. But they are so pathologically unrepentant that
we can take no such assurance. The way we see their rabid dogs on the
extreme right jumping all over the cable TV channels trying to Swift
Boat the CIA, while at the same time dismissing their conclusions,
tell us they have learned nothing, and are not interested in learning
anything.
When you hear Bush claim, as he did today, that he takes the NIE
report as some kind of affirmation, you know we are dealing with the
truly incorrigible, and that the current administration REMAINS an
immediate and ongoing danger to the peace and security of our own
country and the entire world. When you hear Cheney again growl about
the necessity for "serious consequences", you know there must be
serious consequences for the shredding of our constitution and the
betrayal of our worldwide strategic interests, and those serious
consequences are impeachments.
Only impeachment will stop them. Only impeachment.
Has is ever been more apparent, watching Bush stumble through yet
another press conference, telling lie after documentable lie, each
one bigger than the last, that's he's just reading from Cheney's crib
notes for him? Has it ever been more apparent that the bottom line
problem is Cheney and his behind the scenes manipulations, from the
day he manipulated the process into installing himself as Vice
President? And rest assured of one thing, that once Cheney is
impeached that Bush will quickly follow.
Give Kucinich Some Holiday Cheer As Well
And let us not forget on our holiday list the one person who has more
real leadership in his little finger on the impeachment issue than
all the other politicians in Washington put together. If you are so
blessed that you can make a donation to Dennis Kucinich, to encourage
him to continue to fight for constitutional accountability, please
use the form below to do that.
KUCINICH DONATIONS: http://www.usalone.com/donations_kucinich.php
Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed
to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
Guess Donald Gallagher would consider Lee Iacocca "far left". Listen to what he has to say:
Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course."
Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!
You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don't need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq , the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?
I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have.
My friends tell me to calm down. They say, "Lee, you're eighty-two years old. Leave the rage to the young people." I'd love to—as soon as I can pry them away from their iPods for five seconds and get them to pay attention. I'm going to speak up because it's my patriotic duty. I think people will listen to me. They say I have a reputation as a straight shooter. So I'll tell you how I see it, and it's not pretty, but at least it's real. I'm hoping to strike a nerve in those young folks who say they don't vote because they don't trust politicians to represent their interests. Hey, America , wake up. These guys work for us.
Who Are These Guys, Anyway?
Why are we in this mess? How did we end up with this crowd in Washington ? Well, we voted for them—or at least some of us did. But I'll tell you what we didn't do. We didn't agree to suspend the Constitution. We didn't agree to stop asking questions or demanding answers. Some of us are sick and tired of people who call free speech treason. Where I come from that's a dictatorship, not a democracy.
And don't tell me it's all the fault of right-wing Republicans or liberal Democrats. That's an intellectually lazy argument, and it's part of the reason we're in this stew. We're not just a nation of factions. We're a people. We share common principles and ideals. And we rise and fall together.
Where are the voices of leaders who can inspire us to action and make us stand taller? What happened to the strong and resolute party of Lincoln ? What happened to the courageous, populist party of FDR and Truman? There was a time in this country when the voices of great leaders lifted us up and made us want to do better. Where have all the leaders gone?
The Test of a Leader
I've never been Commander in Chief, but I've been a CEO. I understand a few things about leadership at the top. I've figured out nine points—not ten (I don't want people accusing me of thinking I'm Moses). I call them the "Nine Cs of Leadership." They're not fancy or complicated. Just clear, obvious qualities that every true leader should have. We should look at how the current administration stacks up. Like it or not, this crew is going to be around until January 2009. Maybe we can learn something before we go to the polls in 2008. Then let's be sure we use the leadership test to screen the candidates who say they want to run the country. It's up to us to choose wisely.
So, here's my C list:
A leader has to show CURIOSITY. He has to listen to people outside of the "Yes, sir" crowd in his inner circle. He has to read voraciously, because the world is a big, complicated place. George W. Bush brags about never reading a newspaper. "I just scan the headlines," he says. Am I hearing this right? He's the President of the United States and he never reads a newspaper? Thomas Jefferson once said, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate for a moment to prefer the latter." Bush disagrees. As long as he gets his daily hour in the gym, with Fox News piped through the sound system, he's ready to go.
If a leader never steps outside his comfort zone to hear different ideas, he grows stale. If he doesn't put his beliefs to the test, how does he know he's right? The inability to listen is a form of arrogance. It means either you think you already know it all, or you just don't care. Before the 2006 election, George Bush made a big point of saying he didn't listen to the polls. Yeah, that's what they all say when the polls stink. But maybe he should have listened, because 70 percent of the people were saying he was on the wrong track. It took a "thumping" on election day to wake him up, but even then you got the feeling he wasn't listening so much as he was calculating how to do a better job of convincing everyone he was right.
A leader has to be CREATIVE, go out on a limb, be willing to try something different. You know, think outside the box. George Bush prides himself on never changing, even as the world around him is spinning out of control. God forbid someone should accuse him of flip-flopping. There's a disturbingly messianic fervor to his certainty. Senator Joe Biden recalled a conversation he had with Bush a few months after our troops marched into Baghdad . Joe was in the Oval Office outlining his concerns to the President—the explosive mix of Shiite and Sunni, the disbanded Iraqi army, the problems securing the oil fields. "The President was serene," Joe recalled. "He told me he was sure that we were on the right course and that all would be well. 'Mr. President,' I finally said, 'how can you be so sure when you don't yet know all the facts?'" Bush then reached over and put a steadying hand on Joe's shoulder. "My instincts," he said. "My instincts." Joe was flabbergasted. He told Bush, "Mr. President, your instincts aren't good enough." Joe Biden sure didn't think the matter was settled. And, as we all know now, it wasn't.
Leadership is all about managing change—whether you're leading a company or leading a country. Things change, and you get creative. You adapt. Maybe Bush was absent the day they covered that at Harvard Business School .
A leader has to COMMUNICATE. I'm not talking about running off at the mouth or spouting sound bites. I'm talking about facing reality and telling the truth. Nobody in the current administration seems to know how to talk straight anymore. Instead, they spend most of their time trying to convince us that things are not really as bad as they seem. I don't know if it's denial or dishonesty, but it can start to drive you crazy after a while. Communication has to start with telling the truth, even when it's painful. The war in Iraq has been, among other things, a grand failure of communication. Bush is like the boy who didn't cry wolf when the wolf was at the door. After years of being told that all is well, even as the casualties and chaos mount, we've stopped listening to him.
A leader has to be a person of CHARACTER. That means knowing the difference between right and wrong and having the guts to do the right thing. Abraham Lincoln once said, "If you want to test a man's character, give him power." George Bush has a lot of power. What does it say about his character? Bush has shown a willingness to take bold action on the world stage because he has thepower, but he shows little regard for the grievous consequences. He has sent our troops (not to mention hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens) to their deaths—for what? To build our oil reserves? To avenge his daddy because Saddam Hussein once tried to have him killed? To show his daddy he's tougher? The motivations behind the war in Iraq are questionable, and the execution of the war has been a disaster. A man of character does not ask a single soldier to die for a failed policy.
A leader must have COURAGE. I'm talking about balls.(That even goes for female leaders.) Swagger isn't courage. Tough talk isn't courage. George Bush comes from a blue-blooded Connecticut family, but he likes to talk like a cowboy. You know, My gun is bigger than your gun. Courage in the twenty-first century doesn't mean posturing and bravado. Courage is a commitment to sit down at the negotiating table and talk.
If you're a politician, courage means taking a position even when you know it will cost you votes. Bush can't even make a public appearance unless the audience has been handpicked and sanitized. He did a series of so-called town hall meetings last year, in auditoriums packed with his most devoted fans. The questions were all softballs.
To be a leader you've got to have CONVICTION—a fire in your belly. You've got to have passion. You've got to really want to get something done. How do you measure fire in the belly? Bush has set the all-time record for number of vacation days taken by a U.S. President—four hundred and counting. He'd rather clear brush on his ranch than immerse himself in the business of governing. He even told an interviewer that the high point of his presidency so far was catching a seven-and-a-half-pound perch in his hand-stocked lake.
It's no better on Capitol Hill. Congress was in session only ninety-seven days in 2006. That's eleven days less than the record set in 1948, when President Harry Truman coined the term do-nothing Congress. Most people would expect to be fired if they worked so little and had nothing to show for it. But Congress managed to find the time to vote itself a raise. Now, that's not leadership.
A leader should have CHARISMA. I'm not talking about being flashy. Charisma is the quality that makes people want to follow you. It's the ability to inspire. People follow a leader because they trust him. That's my definition of charisma. Maybe George Bush is a great guy to hang out with at a barbecue or a ball game. But put him at a global summit where the future of our planet is at stake, and he doesn't look very presidential. Those frat-boy pranks and the kidding around he enjoys so much don't go over that well with world leaders. Just ask German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who received an unwelcome shoulder massage from our President at a G-8 Summit. When he came up behind her and started squeezing, I thought she was going to go right through the roof.
A leader has to be COMPETENT. That seems obvious, doesn't it? You've got to know what you're doing. More important than that, you've got to surround yourself with people who know what they're doing. Bush brags about being our first MBA President. Does that make him competent? Well, let's see. Thanks to our first MBA President, we've got the largest deficit in history, Social Security is on life support, and we've run up a half-a-trillion-dollar price tag (so far) in Iraq . And that's just for starters. A leader has to be a problem solver, and the biggest problems we face as a nation seem to be on the back burner.
You can't be a leader if you don't have COMMON SENSE. I call this Charlie Beacham's rule. When I was a young guy just starting out in the car business, one of my first jobs was as Ford's zone manager in Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania . My boss was a guy named Charlie Beacham, who was the East Coast regional manager. Charlie was a big Southerner, with a warm drawl, a huge smile, and a core of steel. Charlie used to tell me, "Remember, Lee, the only thing you've got going for you as a human being is your ability to reason and your common sense. If you don't know a dip of horseshit from a dip of vanilla ice cream, you'll never make it." George Bush doesn't have common sense. He just has a lot of sound bites. You know—Mr.they'll-welcome-us-as-liberators-no-child-left-behind-heck-of-a-job-Brownie-mission-accomplished Bush.
Former President Bill Clinton once said, "I grew up in an alcoholic home. I spent half my childhood trying to get into the reality-based world—and I like it here."
I think our current President should visit the real world once in a while.
The Biggest C is Crisis
Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.
On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. Where was George Bush? He was reading a story about a pet goat to kids in Florida when he heard about the attacks. He kept sitting there for twenty minutes with a baffled look on his face. It's all on tape. You can see it for yourself. Then, instead of taking the quickest route back to Washington and immediately going on the air to reassure the panicked people of this country, he decided it wasn't safe to return to the White House. He basically went into hiding for the day—and he told Vice President Dick Cheney to stay put in his bunker. We were all frozen in front of our TVs, scared out of our wits, waiting for our leaders to tell us that we were going to be okay, and there was nobody home. It took Bush a couple of days to get his bearings and devise the right photo op at Ground Zero.
That was George Bush's moment of truth, and he was paralyzed. And what did he do when he'd regained his composure? He led us down the road to Iraq —a road his own father had considered disastrous when he was President. But Bush didn't listen to Daddy. He listened to a higher father. He prides himself on being faith based, not reality based. If that doesn't scare the crap out of you, I don't know what will.
A Hell of a Mess
So here's where we stand. We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia , while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership.
But when you look around, you've got to ask: "Where have all the leaders gone?" Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, competence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.
Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.
Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a singleday evaluating the response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm. Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again. Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do the next time.
Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when "the Big Three" referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen—and more important, what are we going to do about it?
Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.
I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bobblehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change?
Had Enough?
Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope. I believe in America . In my lifetime I've had the privilege of living through some of America 's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises—the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Kennedy assassination, the Vietnam War, the 1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I've learned one thing, it's this: You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. It's a call to action for people who, like me, believe in America . It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off the horse---- and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had enough.
Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course."
Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!
You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don't need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq , the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?
I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have.
My friends tell me to calm down. They say, "Lee, you're eighty-two years old. Leave the rage to the young people." I'd love to—as soon as I can pry them away from their iPods for five seconds and get them to pay attention. I'm going to speak up because it's my patriotic duty. I think people will listen to me. They say I have a reputation as a straight shooter. So I'll tell you how I see it, and it's not pretty, but at least it's real. I'm hoping to strike a nerve in those young folks who say they don't vote because they don't trust politicians to represent their interests. Hey, America , wake up. These guys work for us.
Who Are These Guys, Anyway?
Why are we in this mess? How did we end up with this crowd in Washington ? Well, we voted for them—or at least some of us did. But I'll tell you what we didn't do. We didn't agree to suspend the Constitution. We didn't agree to stop asking questions or demanding answers. Some of us are sick and tired of people who call free speech treason. Where I come from that's a dictatorship, not a democracy.
And don't tell me it's all the fault of right-wing Republicans or liberal Democrats. That's an intellectually lazy argument, and it's part of the reason we're in this stew. We're not just a nation of factions. We're a people. We share common principles and ideals. And we rise and fall together.
Where are the voices of leaders who can inspire us to action and make us stand taller? What happened to the strong and resolute party of Lincoln ? What happened to the courageous, populist party of FDR and Truman? There was a time in this country when the voices of great leaders lifted us up and made us want to do better. Where have all the leaders gone?
The Test of a Leader
I've never been Commander in Chief, but I've been a CEO. I understand a few things about leadership at the top. I've figured out nine points—not ten (I don't want people accusing me of thinking I'm Moses). I call them the "Nine Cs of Leadership." They're not fancy or complicated. Just clear, obvious qualities that every true leader should have. We should look at how the current administration stacks up. Like it or not, this crew is going to be around until January 2009. Maybe we can learn something before we go to the polls in 2008. Then let's be sure we use the leadership test to screen the candidates who say they want to run the country. It's up to us to choose wisely.
So, here's my C list:
A leader has to show CURIOSITY. He has to listen to people outside of the "Yes, sir" crowd in his inner circle. He has to read voraciously, because the world is a big, complicated place. George W. Bush brags about never reading a newspaper. "I just scan the headlines," he says. Am I hearing this right? He's the President of the United States and he never reads a newspaper? Thomas Jefferson once said, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate for a moment to prefer the latter." Bush disagrees. As long as he gets his daily hour in the gym, with Fox News piped through the sound system, he's ready to go.
If a leader never steps outside his comfort zone to hear different ideas, he grows stale. If he doesn't put his beliefs to the test, how does he know he's right? The inability to listen is a form of arrogance. It means either you think you already know it all, or you just don't care. Before the 2006 election, George Bush made a big point of saying he didn't listen to the polls. Yeah, that's what they all say when the polls stink. But maybe he should have listened, because 70 percent of the people were saying he was on the wrong track. It took a "thumping" on election day to wake him up, but even then you got the feeling he wasn't listening so much as he was calculating how to do a better job of convincing everyone he was right.
A leader has to be CREATIVE, go out on a limb, be willing to try something different. You know, think outside the box. George Bush prides himself on never changing, even as the world around him is spinning out of control. God forbid someone should accuse him of flip-flopping. There's a disturbingly messianic fervor to his certainty. Senator Joe Biden recalled a conversation he had with Bush a few months after our troops marched into Baghdad . Joe was in the Oval Office outlining his concerns to the President—the explosive mix of Shiite and Sunni, the disbanded Iraqi army, the problems securing the oil fields. "The President was serene," Joe recalled. "He told me he was sure that we were on the right course and that all would be well. 'Mr. President,' I finally said, 'how can you be so sure when you don't yet know all the facts?'" Bush then reached over and put a steadying hand on Joe's shoulder. "My instincts," he said. "My instincts." Joe was flabbergasted. He told Bush, "Mr. President, your instincts aren't good enough." Joe Biden sure didn't think the matter was settled. And, as we all know now, it wasn't.
Leadership is all about managing change—whether you're leading a company or leading a country. Things change, and you get creative. You adapt. Maybe Bush was absent the day they covered that at Harvard Business School .
A leader has to COMMUNICATE. I'm not talking about running off at the mouth or spouting sound bites. I'm talking about facing reality and telling the truth. Nobody in the current administration seems to know how to talk straight anymore. Instead, they spend most of their time trying to convince us that things are not really as bad as they seem. I don't know if it's denial or dishonesty, but it can start to drive you crazy after a while. Communication has to start with telling the truth, even when it's painful. The war in Iraq has been, among other things, a grand failure of communication. Bush is like the boy who didn't cry wolf when the wolf was at the door. After years of being told that all is well, even as the casualties and chaos mount, we've stopped listening to him.
A leader has to be a person of CHARACTER. That means knowing the difference between right and wrong and having the guts to do the right thing. Abraham Lincoln once said, "If you want to test a man's character, give him power." George Bush has a lot of power. What does it say about his character? Bush has shown a willingness to take bold action on the world stage because he has thepower, but he shows little regard for the grievous consequences. He has sent our troops (not to mention hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens) to their deaths—for what? To build our oil reserves? To avenge his daddy because Saddam Hussein once tried to have him killed? To show his daddy he's tougher? The motivations behind the war in Iraq are questionable, and the execution of the war has been a disaster. A man of character does not ask a single soldier to die for a failed policy.
A leader must have COURAGE. I'm talking about balls.(That even goes for female leaders.) Swagger isn't courage. Tough talk isn't courage. George Bush comes from a blue-blooded Connecticut family, but he likes to talk like a cowboy. You know, My gun is bigger than your gun. Courage in the twenty-first century doesn't mean posturing and bravado. Courage is a commitment to sit down at the negotiating table and talk.
If you're a politician, courage means taking a position even when you know it will cost you votes. Bush can't even make a public appearance unless the audience has been handpicked and sanitized. He did a series of so-called town hall meetings last year, in auditoriums packed with his most devoted fans. The questions were all softballs.
To be a leader you've got to have CONVICTION—a fire in your belly. You've got to have passion. You've got to really want to get something done. How do you measure fire in the belly? Bush has set the all-time record for number of vacation days taken by a U.S. President—four hundred and counting. He'd rather clear brush on his ranch than immerse himself in the business of governing. He even told an interviewer that the high point of his presidency so far was catching a seven-and-a-half-pound perch in his hand-stocked lake.
It's no better on Capitol Hill. Congress was in session only ninety-seven days in 2006. That's eleven days less than the record set in 1948, when President Harry Truman coined the term do-nothing Congress. Most people would expect to be fired if they worked so little and had nothing to show for it. But Congress managed to find the time to vote itself a raise. Now, that's not leadership.
A leader should have CHARISMA. I'm not talking about being flashy. Charisma is the quality that makes people want to follow you. It's the ability to inspire. People follow a leader because they trust him. That's my definition of charisma. Maybe George Bush is a great guy to hang out with at a barbecue or a ball game. But put him at a global summit where the future of our planet is at stake, and he doesn't look very presidential. Those frat-boy pranks and the kidding around he enjoys so much don't go over that well with world leaders. Just ask German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who received an unwelcome shoulder massage from our President at a G-8 Summit. When he came up behind her and started squeezing, I thought she was going to go right through the roof.
A leader has to be COMPETENT. That seems obvious, doesn't it? You've got to know what you're doing. More important than that, you've got to surround yourself with people who know what they're doing. Bush brags about being our first MBA President. Does that make him competent? Well, let's see. Thanks to our first MBA President, we've got the largest deficit in history, Social Security is on life support, and we've run up a half-a-trillion-dollar price tag (so far) in Iraq . And that's just for starters. A leader has to be a problem solver, and the biggest problems we face as a nation seem to be on the back burner.
You can't be a leader if you don't have COMMON SENSE. I call this Charlie Beacham's rule. When I was a young guy just starting out in the car business, one of my first jobs was as Ford's zone manager in Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania . My boss was a guy named Charlie Beacham, who was the East Coast regional manager. Charlie was a big Southerner, with a warm drawl, a huge smile, and a core of steel. Charlie used to tell me, "Remember, Lee, the only thing you've got going for you as a human being is your ability to reason and your common sense. If you don't know a dip of horseshit from a dip of vanilla ice cream, you'll never make it." George Bush doesn't have common sense. He just has a lot of sound bites. You know—Mr.they'll-welcome-us-as-liberators-no-child-left-behind-heck-of-a-job-Brownie-mission-accomplished Bush.
Former President Bill Clinton once said, "I grew up in an alcoholic home. I spent half my childhood trying to get into the reality-based world—and I like it here."
I think our current President should visit the real world once in a while.
The Biggest C is Crisis
Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.
On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. Where was George Bush? He was reading a story about a pet goat to kids in Florida when he heard about the attacks. He kept sitting there for twenty minutes with a baffled look on his face. It's all on tape. You can see it for yourself. Then, instead of taking the quickest route back to Washington and immediately going on the air to reassure the panicked people of this country, he decided it wasn't safe to return to the White House. He basically went into hiding for the day—and he told Vice President Dick Cheney to stay put in his bunker. We were all frozen in front of our TVs, scared out of our wits, waiting for our leaders to tell us that we were going to be okay, and there was nobody home. It took Bush a couple of days to get his bearings and devise the right photo op at Ground Zero.
That was George Bush's moment of truth, and he was paralyzed. And what did he do when he'd regained his composure? He led us down the road to Iraq —a road his own father had considered disastrous when he was President. But Bush didn't listen to Daddy. He listened to a higher father. He prides himself on being faith based, not reality based. If that doesn't scare the crap out of you, I don't know what will.
A Hell of a Mess
So here's where we stand. We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia , while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership.
But when you look around, you've got to ask: "Where have all the leaders gone?" Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, competence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.
Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.
Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a singleday evaluating the response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm. Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again. Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do the next time.
Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when "the Big Three" referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen—and more important, what are we going to do about it?
Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.
I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bobblehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change?
Had Enough?
Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope. I believe in America . In my lifetime I've had the privilege of living through some of America 's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises—the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Kennedy assassination, the Vietnam War, the 1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I've learned one thing, it's this: You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. It's a call to action for people who, like me, believe in America . It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off the horse---- and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had enough.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Sunday's Showdown with Karl Rove
Showdown with Karl Rove
Chris Van Hollen squares off tomorrow,
Sunday, December 2, on Fox News.
Check your local listings.
This Sunday, Karl Rove's desperate attempts to rewrite history will come to an abrupt end -- and we can all watch it happen.
On Sunday, DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen will square off with Karl Rove on FOX News Sunday to confront Rove directly on his outright lies about George Bush's war in Iraq.
Lately Karl Rove has been going around town, blaming Congress for starting the failed war in Iraq. That's right -- he is actually trying to make people forget that President Bush started this disastrous war in a ludicrous attempt to rewrite the history books.
Even former White House Chief of Staff Andy Card confirmed that what Rove said was simply not true. He tried to explain Rove's spin. When asked if it was true, Card said, "no." He then explained Rove's lie by saying "Well, Karl is very smart. He's -- sometimes his brain gets ahead of his mouth. And sometimes his mouth gets ahead of his brain."
Tomorrow, Chairman Van Hollen will call him on it.
But we can also use your help to set the record straight.
Write a letter-to-the-editor
Send a letter directly to Karl Rove himself
Most of all, don't forget to watch tomorrow on Fox News. Times will vary, so check your local listings. I can't wait to see it.
Sincerely,
Brian Wolff
Executive Director
P.S. We are so close to reaching our goal of raising $120,000 to hold the DOZEN worst Republican offenders accountable for helping gas prices skyrocket to pad the pockets of their Big Oil friends. We are just $35,000 away -- but our deadline is tomorrow. Will you help put us over the top with a donation of $25, $50 or more today?
Friday, November 30, 2007
Update from Africa
I wanted to take a very quick break from my travels not to ask for money and not to talk politics, but just to pass on some thoughts about two big global challenges which need to be on our minds: HIV/AIDS and climate change.
This week, Teresa and I experienced an up close and personal reminder of how far the world has yet to travel to defeat HIV/AIDS. Talking with people in poverty stricken KwaNgcolosi near Hillcrest in Durban, South Africa, we saw both the most inspiring and the most heartbreaking realities of a global struggle to defeat a global scourge.
We met orphaned children left with no choice but to assume adult responsibilities, caring for their young brothers and sisters. We met single mothers scratching out subsistence in mud houses, their husbands lost to a horrific disease. I have to tell you, experiences like this have an impact on you.
I didn't want to wait until I got back to the United States to say something to you, because tomorrow is World AIDS Day - and it needs to be a day of action. Challenge Washington to stop blocking better educational efforts and stop putting ideology before science. Demand that American leadership help convince nations like South Africa not to repeat our shameful denial of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s - and to commit their countries to saving lives not saving face. There is no fixing a problem political leaders refuse to admit exists.
There's something else - and I'll have much more to say about this when I'm back. I'll be leading - with Senator Boxer - a Senate delegation to Bali in December to the global conference where work will start on a new international climate change treaty. We can't wait until we have a new president; we need to get moving now. The world simply can't solve these problems without American participation and leadership. Stay tuned.
Bottom line - these are the huge global issues that demand that America be America again, and that we lead by example - and that we lead now.
Sincerely,
John F. Kerry
John Kerry For Senate
129 Portland Street, Suite 500, Boston, MA 02114-2014
info@johnkerry.com
www.johnkerry.com
Thursday, November 29, 2007
U.S. Senate bill to criminalize thoughts, blogs, books and speech
We interrupt the normal flow of natural health information today to bring you an urgent message about free speech and "thought crimes" in America. The U.S. Senate is about to pass a law that would criminalize merely thinking thoughts in support of the U.S. Constitution, or against the war on Iraq, or against any government office (including the FDA). All across the internet, top bloggers, authors and commentators are expressing their deep concerns about this new "anti-terrorism" law and how it could plunge America into police state tyranny.
Here's a MUST-SEE video featuring a recent lecture by Naomi Wolfe. You must watch this if you care about your freedom! It's an extraordinary look at how history is repeating itself in America today. Click this link to view it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjALf12PAWc
This is a frightening time in America today. You are witnessing and living through the downfall of a free nation and the rise of a fascist state superpower. Read the first story below to inform yourself now about what's really happening to our freedoms and Constitutional rights in America today. This is no conspiracy theory, it's a genuine U.S. Senate bill that's about to be voted on!
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Action Alert: Stop Holding our Troops for Ransom, Bring Them Home
Tell Congress to Support Our Troops, NOT War Profiteers
Action Page: http://www.usalone.com/no_more_mercenaries.php
Facebook Version:
http://apps.facebook.com/fb_voices/action.php?qnum=pnum740
This week the Cheney White House retaliated for not immediately
getting another 196 billion in emergency Iraq occupation bucks no
strings attached, by threatening to furlough 100,000 Army and Marine
Corps civilian employees in this country.
The Democrats passed a funding bill with some relatively flexible
requirements for a troop withdrawal goal, but it was blocked by yet
another mean-spirited Republican filibuster.
The fact is that the Pentagon has plenty of money for all the troops
to do whatever they want, but a lion's share of all appropriations
are now going to private mercenary militias like Blackwater. There
are as many so-called "contractors" in Iraq as regular members of our
armed forces. Has anybody suggested cutting back on any of them?
Maybe it's time somebody did.
We spend billions of dollars training our armed forces. And for what?
So that they can leave to go to Blackwater, who then sell their
services back to us at a massive markup, as much as 10 times as much.
What kind of crazy fiscal insanity is that?
With their furlough threats, they are literally holding our entire
military civil service for ransom! The only way to REALLY support our
troops is bring them home now, just as the overwhelming majority of
American are demanding, and as you can demand again now.
Action Page: http://www.usalone.com/no_more_mercenaries.php
Facebook Version:
http://apps.facebook.com/fb_voices/action.php?qnum=pnum740
This is like the grinch on steroids. They should be bringing our
troops home for the holidays, not punishing the families of those who
serve by laying them off, in some sick attempt to put political
pressure on Democrats responding to the wishes of the American people
who want an end to the criminal Iraq debacle.
The American people have figured out that all these hundreds of
billions of emergency appropriations, year after year, are not going
to, and have never gone to, support our troops. Instead they have
been piped directly into the pockets of crony war profiteers, as
enabled for example by the tag team of Cookie and Buzzy Krongard, one
impeding investigations of Blackwater crimes, and the other sitting
on their board.
And yet, every time someone tries to impose some accountability on
this gross embezzlement of the U.S. treasury, they threaten to starve
our real troops, their families, and send them into urban combat
without even protective armor.
Oh, but it gets worse. In many ways, this is just another form of
foreign outsourcing, as now we learn that many thousands of these
"contractors" are goons that Blackwater is recruiting from countries
like South Africa and Chile. Then when they open fire on and mow down
innocent civilians, they claim there is no law or jurisdiction where
they can be prosecuted for their war crimes. And they have an edict
from former U.S. viceroy Paul Bremer to back them up, along with
immunity handed out like candy by our state department.
These mercenaries are poison for our own military. They decimate the
morale of our troops who see them getting rich for doing the same
duty as they are, while better equipped. They then further even
decimate the ranks of our troops, by offering them deals to leave the
service which our own military can't compete with, using our own
money to do it. And Blackwater and their ilk are poison for any
mission we thought we had in Iraq, when one of their foreign thugs
murders another Iraq civilian in cold blood just for the hell of it.
Tell Congress to end all mercenary contracts now. The privatization
of the military is absolutely the worst possible thing for democracy
and peace. It makes endless war a corporate imperative.
Action Page: http://www.usalone.com/no_more_mercenaries.php
Facebook Version:
http://apps.facebook.com/fb_voices/action.php?qnum=pnum740
And once we stop fighting wars for the bottom line of crony
corporations, we can bring our troops home once and for all, until
they are needed for a real international crisis, not one created for
the profit of war criminals.
Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed
to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.
If you would like to get alerts like these, you can do so at
http://www.usalone.com/in.htm
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
The Next Step to Impeach Bush and Cheney
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| ImpeachBush.org to initiate Winter Lobbying Campaign Dear D,
Now we are asking you to help in another way. ImpeachBush has decided to launch an intensive few months to lobby Congress. Bush's approval ratings are at an all-time low, and with intensifying threats against Iran, our mission is needed as much now as ever before. Although we are set to announce this winter lobbying campaign to the rest of impeachment movement in the next few days, we are appealing to you, as one of our most active members, to become an initial sponsor. To become an initial sponsor of the Winter Lobbying Campaign, click on this link. Your donation will allow us to turn up the heat on Congress, produce impeachment literature, and to run newspaper ads in the major national and regional papers to energize and recruit concerned persons to the lobbying campaign. As a sponsor, you will receive periodic updates from former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark on all latest developments with the campaign. Of course, it's always powerful when we can announce that the impeachment movement has undertaken a new initiative. But think of how all-the-more powerful it would be if we could announce the launching of the campaign with hundreds or thousands of initial sponsors. Please become a sponsor of this critical campaign right now by clicking this link. -- All of us at ImpeachBush.org / VoteToImpeach.org | ||
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Confirmation of Mukasey = Complicity with Torture
If War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity Aren't Enough to Get Impeachment, What IS?
TUESDAY: Congressman Dennis Kucinich, whose bill to impeach Cheney has 22 sponsors, will introduce a resolution on the floor of the
AfterDowningStreet.org says, "Ask your representative to vote No on tabling, Yes on giving impeachment a chance. Those who vote Yes to table cannot use the excuse that "We don't have the votes," since others will at that same instant with exactly the same exertion be voting No. Please contact Congress and the media right away!" More info at afterdowningstreet.org
Friday, CNN reported on Nickelodeon's "Nick News with Linda Ellerbee" and the furor in the blogsophere over a clip called "Rebels With a Cause: Real Kids Tackle Important International Issues" Young World Can't Wait activists protesting torture in December 2006 are featured prominently in this clip. Watch Rebels With A Cause.
Here is the blog where "Army Wife Toddler Mom" is complaining that Linda Ellerbee's program is "anti-war, anti-GWOT, anti-military", attempting to get people to complain to Nickelodeon and the show's sponsors.
You can also follow the links and send a supportive message to Ellerbee and Nickelodeon.
Senators Schumer and Feinstein have announced they are going to vote for Mukasey for Attorney General, meaning that his confirmation is again likely, despite Mukasey's contention that he can't know if waterboarding is torture, and in fact doesn't know how the government is interrogating people it holds. Mukasey is in favor of expanded presidential powers, including warrantless wiretapping.
Let's be clear: confirmation of Mukasey means a reaffirmation of torture as official policy carried out by people who know what they are doing.
| This is waterboarding    |
| These are War Criminals    |
One of many letters to the New York Times against Mukasey:
"So our nominee for attorney general refuses to declare waterboarding illegal after being educated by a member of Congress on what it actually is. That explanation destroyed Judge Michael B. Mukasey's ability to deny knowledge of the practice; one is reminded of the obfuscation of Alberto R. Gonzales, the former attorney general, in his bobbing and weaving before Congress's questions.
Clearly, if confirmed, Judge Mukasey would act as a "team player" of the Bush administration, helping to cover up issues of torture, rather than as an independent enforcer of the nation's laws.
Part of the legacy of such a confirmation would be, inevitably, condoning waterboarding and other methods of torture in the future..." - Kathryn W. Kelber,
One more reason?these crimes must be stopped. One more reason to drive out the Bush regime!
World Can't Wait
866-973-4463
305 W. Broadway #185
New York, NY 10013
Monday, October 29, 2007
Tens of thousands march around country for impeachment, to end war
Thousands march across the country
for impeachment and to end the war
The October 27 demonstrations represented another important step forward for the impeachment and anti-war movement in the United States.
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ImpeachBush and hundreds of other groups organized for the October 27 protests. What is needed now is to intensify the mass organization of the people.
The ImpeachBush movement should be proud of its role in the mobilization of the people. We could not have succeeded in bringing the message of impeachment and an end to the war without the active support of thousands of people who volunteered their time. Others made an urgently needed financial donation.
In the next two months, ImpeachBush will organize more demonstrations, street protests, take out ImpeachBush ads, and collect petitions in every state in the country. You can help sustain this movement by making an important and generous financial contribution. The reason the movement has spread is because we have been able to generate the resources from the people who believe that Bush and Cheney must be held accountable for their criminal conduct. Please donate today by clicking this link.
Everyday, the corporate-dominated media tries to convince people that the anti-war movement is shrinking and that impeachment is "off the table." That is a lie, as you can see from the reports below. The same media lies to the people about the so-called progress made by the “surge” in Iraq. The truth is that the U.S. military occupation of Iraq cannot succeed. The Iraqi people insist on their right to determine their own destiny. The people of the United States, who have no voice in either the Republican or Democratic Parties or in the big business media, are determined to find a way to end the war, which has taken hundreds of thousands of lives and costs $3 billion each week.
San Francisco
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Los Angeles
In Los Angeles, nearly 20,000 people marched through downtown to the federal building for a mass rally and Die-In. The California fire catastrophe did not keep people from registering their opposition to the Iraq war in a major way. The demonstration was overwhelmingly youthful, with students pouring into the march from hundreds of Southern California schools. More than 250 people joined the youth and student contingent organized by Youth & Student ANSWER. Others lined the front banners, chanting "Iraq for Iraqis, troops out now!" and "Alto a la guerra, stop the war!"
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After the march, almost everyone present participated in a mass symbolic Die-In. Thundering sound effects of air raids and bombs exploding punctuated the action, followed by a solemn minute of silence for the Iraqis and U.S. soldiers killed in the war. As protesters rose up after the Die-In, all chanted "Stop the war!" Many carried impeachment signs with them. Other speakers included actors Martin Sheen ("The West Wing"), Mike Farrell ("MASH") and Mark Ruffalo ("Zodiac").
Seattle
In Seattle, at least 7,000 people marched. Buses and carpools came from the entire Northwest Region - from Eugene and Portland, Oregon; Olympia, Tacoma, Everett, Mt. Vernon, Bellingham and elsewhere in Washington State. There was a youth-and-community-oriented opening program, followed by a march and lively rally. Speakers included Fatimah Magsombol, Mindanao Bagsomoro Caucus; Michael Dixon, community activist; Chanan Suarez Diaz, President, Seattle IVAW; Jeff Johnson, research director, Washington State Labor Council, speaking on behalf of WSLC chairman Rick Bender; Aracely Hernandez, Committee for General Amnesty and Social Justice; Wally Cuddeford and Caitlyn Esworthy, Port Militarization Resistance; Dr. Goudarz Eghtedari, American Iranian Friendship Council; MCs Cedric Walker, Jane Cutter of Seattle ANSWER and Marie Marchand of Whatcom Peace and Justice Center in Bellingham.
Chicago
In Chicago, tens of thousands marched. Organizers for the October 27 Mobilization Committee, the sponsoring group, estimated the crowd at 30,000. The demonstration was the largest demonstration yet protesting the U.S. war and occupation of Iraq to take place in Chicago. ANSWER organizers said at least half of the participants were students and other young people. The demonstration was very multinational with strong representation from the African American community. There was a labor contingent from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and a smaller contingent from the Teamsters Union. The ANSWER Coalition in Chicago had distributed tens of thousands of flyers and posters to help mobilize for the demonstration.
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The New York City demonstration received a strong turnout despite a steady downpour. March organizers estimated the crowd at 45,000. ImpeachBush.org mobilized people from around the East Coast, and throngs of attendees were seen with impeachment signs.
Boston
The heart of Boston was filled with anti-war energy on Saturday afternoon, as some 7,500 took to the streets in protest of the war in Iraq. Braving inclement New England weather, veterans, students, seasoned activists and many first-time protesters from throughout the region rallied in Boston Commons. Led by veterans organizations and military families, thousands later marched to Copley Square, demanding "Bring all the troops home now!" one of five principal demands. Speakers at the rally included Melida and Carlos Arrendondo, historian Howard Zinn and Liam Madden of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). New England United, a coalition of local and regional organizations, organized the demonstration and march. Throughout the crowd were people wearing ImpeachBush sweatshirts, and carrying our trademark black-and-yellow signs.
Regional and Local Demonstrations Nationally
Regional and local demonstrations also took place in Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Jonesborough and Chattanooga (Tennessee), Salt Lake City, Denver, Rochester and elsewhere.
This is a genuine grassroots movement. It continues to grow because of the generosity and commitment of the people who believe in the urgent need for impeachment. We are at a critical moment. Please donate to keep this movement going by clicking this link.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Huge Opportunity to Gather Impeachment Votes, Oct 27 Antiwar Demonstration, Oppose Mukasey and More
We have some choice words to say about the proposed replacement for
made man Alberto Gonzales, who some sources are suggesting is likely
to be prosecuted for his perjury before Congress.
But first, if you can attend one of the 11 massive antiwar
demonstrations this weekend, Oct. 27, in Boston, Chicago, Jonesboro
(TN), Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia,
Salt Lake City, San Francisco or Seattle, this would be a PERFECT
place to wear your Impeach Cheney? cap and gather votes for the
National Cheney Impeachment Poll.
Vote Gathering Sheets: http://www.usalone.com/cheney_votesheet.php
You could earn your Impeach Team varsity letter in just one day, by
collecting 200 additional votes for the poll. Let us not squander
this opportunity to extend the impact of these events beyond the day
itself, by giving all participants other ways to speak out on an
ongoing basis.
If anyone has anything to say about the cap at all you put a vote
sheet in their hands and say,
"It's a poll, here, vote."
and you'll gather votes like crazy!
If you don't have your cap yet, you can get one for free for helping
to support the huge college postering campaign we are just about to
kick off, and you'll have it for the next one.
Caps and Posters: http://www.usalone.com/impeach_cheney_poster.php
For more information on the marches: http://www.oct27.org
Reject An Attorney General Who Won't Up Hold The Law
At his senate hearing, Michael B. Mukasey, President Bush’s nominee
for attorney general, was plainly asked if the president is required
to obey federal statutes.
Not only did he refuse to answer that question with an unqualified
"Yes", the basis for his refusal was basically that a war president
can do whatever he likes, the catchall Constitution buster of the
current administration.
Mukasey Action Page: http://www.usalone.com/no_mukasey.php
Facebook Version:
http://apps.facebook.com/fb_voices/action.php?qnum=pnum723
We knew up front that there was no chance that the Cheney
administration would willingly tender a nominee who would even
contemplate holding them accountable in any way for their wholesale
defiance of the law. When the position of Gonzales became untenable,
they went ideological crony shopping and found a willing collaborator
in Mukasey. But that doesn't mean we're not supposed to vociferously
object.
While otherwise being diplomatically polite, former assistant U.S.
attorney, and professor of constitutional law at Yale Law School, Jed
Rubenfeld, editorialized in the New York Times this week that, "If
Judge Mukasey cannot say plainly that the president must obey a valid
statute, he ought not to be the nation’s next attorney general.
But of course Mukasey has already placed his compromised position in
the record. There is nothing left for him to do now but try to snake
around his real character, as some judicial nominees we could
mention, who implemented their full, hardcore, right wing agendas
only after confirmation.
There can be no redemption for this nominee. Our job is to keep
throwing them back, and not tire, until and unless we get one who is
actually acceptable.
Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed
to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.
Tens of thousands will march tomorrow to end the war and for impeachment
Tomorrow, October 27
March for impeachment and to end the war!
Your help is needed.
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| For this Saturday's actions to succeed, however, we need to raise tens of thousands of dollars in just the next few days to cover the costs of literature, posters, stickers, signs, and banners and to make these mass actions resonate with the call to Impeach Bush and Cheney Now!. Click this link to make a generous donation right now. |
Thank you to everyone who has shown their support in the last two weeks. The impeachment campaign is on the move.
Tomorrow, Saturday, October 27, tens of thousands of people nationwide will take to the streets demanding impeachment and an end to the war. ImpeachBush members are mobilizing nationwide to take part in these actions. The call for impeachment is being heard coast to coast. Congress is unable to hide from this constitutional requirement being demanded by their constituencies.
We are hitting the streets again on October 27 as mass actions sweep this country in mass regional demonstrations in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale, Fl., Chattanooga, New Orleans, Salt Lake City, Philadelphia, Jonesboro, and others. To see the exact locations and times for the various demonstrations, go to the ImpeachBush homepage.
ImpeachBush is mobilizing buses, printing posters, placards, banners and leaflets for October 27. Please join us on Saturday and let the message of impeachment appear in the streets from one end of the country to the other. If you cannot come, but would like to make a donation to help others participate in the demonstrations demanding an end to the war and the impeachment of Bush and Cheney, you can do so by clicking this link.
The impeachment movement is growing now more than ever. It is needed not only to stop Bush and the war criminals that surround him, but fundamentally to make the political system accountable to the people. Our fight is a fight that has ramifications far beyond 2007. Bush must be impeached for war crimes - and he must be removed from office before he plunges yet another country, Iran, into war, massive death and devastation. Impeachment is the constitutional mechanism to stop despotism, to make the political system that reflects the will of the vast majority rather than a tiny few. It is our democratic right and one that must be enforced. We need your help now in this fight. Please make as generous a donation as you can by clicking here.
The people can make the difference. The politicians provide cover for Bush’s criminal war in Iraq, his illegal spying on the people, his creation of secret torture facilities and his other illegal and impeachable offenses. But the people are organizing to demand that Bush and every elected official be held accountable for illegal activity. Impeachment can never be “off the table," and the impeachment movement is making it clear that we won't let it be. The pressure on Congress to act is building.
For this Saturday's actions to succeed, however, we need to raise tens of thousands of dollars in just the next few days to cover the costs of literature, posters, stickers, signs, and banners and turn out around the country. Click this link to make a generous donation right now.
Go to ImpeachBush.org to see a list of the cities holding Oct. 27 demonstration.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Join the No Attack on Iran Contingent Saturday!
What Country is this?
…My government represents neither my political will nor my moral imperative against perpetual war for perpetual profit. Our Constitution has been decimated. And I have no representative to stand or speak for—to represent— my convictions, and I have no candidate. And I ask my fellow citizens, “Where is the great cry of outrage? Where is the conscience of our country?”
—Sam Hamill, editor, in the Autumn 2007 Poets Against the War Newsletter
ONCE more, ask your friends to forward the World Can’t Wait video on David Horowitz and
”Islamo Fascism Awareness Week”. Full screen video here.
This Saturday October 27:
World Can’t Wait – Drive Out the Bush Regime is calling on all those who want to stop the Bush Program to Declare It Now by wearing orange, the color forced on those in torture prisons and the color of resistance, to join forces with the anti war movement in protests all over the country.
Thousands of Afghani civilians killed by U.S. forces.
Millions of Iraqis homeless or killed by U.S. forces.
Now, the Bush administration is calling up the same lies in preparation for bombing Iran in an attack that will have global ramifications for decades.
We can’t allow this to continue in our name!
Bring your outrage; bring your determination! Wear Orange!
The organizers of the San Francisco march, including World Can’t Wait, are asking everyone to “die-in” along the march. This die-in will represent all those that have suffered under the terror of U.S. forces across the Middle East.*
We can’t be silent in the face of this terror. We can’t rely on politics as usual to meet the enormity of this horror. We must and can rely on the millions in this country that hate the Bush program to DECLARE IT NOW! WEAR ORANGE!
*The die-in is a good idea!
OUT OF IRAQ! NO ATTACK ON IRAN! NO TORTURE! BUSH & CHENEY OUT NOW!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
WORST PRESIDENT EVER
George W. Bush Interview (Irish TV)
W tries to squirm his way out of tough questions asked of him by a courageous Irish interviewer. Great job exposing the WORST PRESIDENT EVER as the arrogant fraud he truly is.
W tries to squirm his way out of tough questions asked of him by a courageous Irish interviewer. Great job exposing the WORST PRESIDENT EVER as the arrogant fraud he truly is.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
So They're Fond of Condemnations Are They? Let's Condemn the Entire Republican Leadership
If They Want A Condemnation We'll Give Them One
Once in a rare while a member of Congress will speak the plain truth
without equivocation.
Action Page: http://www.usalone.com/condemnation.php
And when Pete Stark stood up to accuse the president of the United
States of having no conscience about the deaths of the thousands of
valiant troops he sent on a criminal war mission (for his "amusement"
Stark said), while at the same time stealing the medicines out of the
mouths of babes, not word was voiced in protest by the Republicans
present in the moment, only a mild generalized statement from the
chair about avoiding personal references to the president.
And the reason there was not a peep of actual outrage when Stark
spoke those indicting words (that they are so howling about now) is
that they knew in what was left of their hearts that it was all
shamefully true.
How unlike the instant and unanimous reaction of the Democrats when
mean Jean Schmidt called John Murtha a coward for wanting to bring
our troops home from the senseless slaughter, shouting at the chair
to take her words down. And did Schmidt sincerely apologize for
anything? Of course not. No Republican ever apologizes unless forced
to. They just blame the media for accurately reporting their words,
and blame our ears for hearing what they said and meant.
So let us be clear. What Pete Stark said was not over the line.
It was not over the top, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with
Stark's choice of words.
We are talking about a president who, when we was not being
obstinately surly, has snickered his way through every press
conference since he lied us into invading Iraq. We are talking about
a president who was making funny faces into the camera in the seconds
before he went live on the air to announce the assault, and who with
the raucous approval of the entire media press corps thought those
lies were just a laugh riot in hindsight.
But in an attempt to again shut up any courageous voice of dissent,
the right wing noise machine is trying after the fact to drum up
messages of condemnation. So they want a condemnation do they? Well
we'll give them one. This action page will send your personal message
on the subject, "We condemn the entire Republican leadership."
Action Page: http://www.usalone.com/condemnation.php
We condemn the Republican leadership for mercilessly obstructing
every congressional action of merit, even where that action was
supported by the overwhelming majority of the American people, as in
their engineering of the failure to override the veto of SCHIP
(latest poll 81% supporting).
We condemn the Republican leadership for resorting to filibusters at
a historic record pace, since they lost the majorities in Congress
they had done nothing with but abuse.
We condemn the Republican leadership for doing nothing to hold the
White House accountable for their lies and shredding of the
Constitution, through illegal wiretaps, torture and all, because of
their greed for political power, and not allowing even investigations
in these matters.
We condemn the Republican leadership for using our troops as
political props, while exploiting their suffering and death for the
profit of their war profiteer contributors.
We condemn the Republican leadership for their cynical and sinful
hypocrisy in being the most corrupt and scandalous pack of thieves
who have ever held national office, now resigning at an unprecedented
clip (or reneging on the promise to do so), all the while while
posturing to their gullible diehard supporters as the most righteous.
And we condemn the Republican leadership for seeking to hold others
to a standard of decorum that they themselves grossly and repeatedly
violate with most hateful and false negative attack ads that have
ever besmirched the American political discourse.
We tried ourselves to call our members of Congress on Friday by phone
to offer messages of support for Stark. Randi Rhodes was giving out
the toll free Congressional phone numbers on the air for this
purpose, bless her heart. But the answering machines were all full,
we presume mostly with those words of encouragement.
Action Page: http://www.usalone.com/condemnation.php
Well we need to do more. But the only way you are going to be able to
get through to Washington this weekend is by email, which is what the
action page above will send to all your members of Congress at once.
We need every living, breathing activist we've got to submit that
action page and tell them we've had it. Enough. You will not back us
down with trumped up attacks on our heros. You're going to pass SCHIP
again just the way it is, and make the override go the other way if
necessary.
The action page sends nothing but the stated subject line. Add your
own choice words about whatever issues you are most upset about,
whether it's the occupation, SCHIP, no immunity for law breaking
telecoms, no attack on Iran, or anything else.
We want their email inboxes stuffed by Monday morning. We want their
latest fake outrage to backfire on them in the biggest way. We need
to flood them with emails this weekend like this is the biggest issue
that ever was. Because it is. And the issue is this . . .
We Will Not Back Down
Not an inch. Never again. We win this issue, we win them all. We the
people are running the show from now on. Let's show them how we
respond to their calls for condemnation of Stark. We condemn THEM,
not Stark. In numbers like they've never seen. And then we can start
passing some meaningful legislation around here, over the president's
smirking objection if necessary.
If you want to do more, email all your friends from the same action
page and encourage them to speak out too.
We almost got the first override the first time. With 81% of the
American people on our side now, is the time to pour it on, the cable
news talking fluff heads be damned.
Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed
to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Rendition and the Need to Drive Out Bush/Cheney
Mark Ruffalo:
http://www.worldcantwait.net/
talking about wearing orange…
Opened yesterday, The Film: Rendition
Go see it with your friends, your crew…bring orange for people who will come out of the film outraged at what is being done by the Bush regime in our name…sign them up to drive them out!
Peter Saarsgard: “The administration likes to say that it doesn’t use torture, so they use worlds like “waterboarding,” which sounds like something you do behind a boat in a lake in Missouri…There is not question that rendition is happening, and that it has happened to people who are innocent.”
WITH: Jake Gyllenhaal (Douglas Freeman), Reese Witherspoon (Isabella Fields El-Ibrahimi), Alan Arkin (Senator Hawkins), Peter Sarsgaard (Alan Smith), Meryl Streep (Corrinne Whitman), Omar Metwally (Anwar El-Ibrahimi)
"I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them (Iran) from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon," George Bush said Wednesday.
Not even the means to make the weapons, but the “knowledge” to make them, Bush says, are reason to bomb Iran. A pretty low bar to launch an attack on a heavily populated country that hasn’t done anything to the U.S. Meanwhile, the Republican candidates are cranking up their noise machine about “Islamo-Fascism” (sic) to prepare Bush’s base for the third war of Bush’s reign.
Alarm and anger—and now more opposition—is spreading at David Horowitz’ “Islamo Fascism Awareness Week”. World Can’t Wait has been on some of the key campuses this week, talking with students, professors, and organizations about the need to politically defeat this effort to equate opposition to the “war on terror” as treason. Ann Coulter, Rick Santorum, Sean Hannity and Horowitz himself are speaking at events during the week.
The Daily Bruin at UCLA is running “Who is The Real Nuclear Threat?” Tuesday . So far, only the Washington 
Square News at NYU and the Daily Bruin have taken the ad. 5 other papers have refused it for being too “controversial”. Please show your support for the Bruin and the Iran Quiz by donating to pay for the publication on Tuesday October 23.
Sincerely,
Debra Sweet,
Director, The World Can’t Wait – Drive Out the Bush Regime
Friday, October 19, 2007
They won't get away with this
Yesterday, Republicans in Congress blocked health care for 10 million children.1 If this veto stands, "children with preventable diseases will die."2 We must make absolutely certain this moment is seared in the minds of voters.
We're ready to launch a TV ad campaign in the districts of Republicans who voted against our children and who are vulnerable in 2008. We can do it if we raise another $80,000 today.
These Republicans think they can vote against health care and voters won't hear about it. We can make sure they do. Can you contribute $10? Click here to see the ad and donate:
https://pol.moveon.org/donate/childrensad.html?id=11448-7018451-1s_Rmh&t=2
This ad is a reminder of who Republicans really vetoed—it features Bethany, a 2-year-old girl born with several holes in her heart, who couldn't get private insurance. She relies on the SCHIP children's health care program to stay healthy.
More than 8 in 10 Americans support this program.3 Republicans are choosing right-wing ideology over what we all know is right. Big mistake. If we keep the pressure up, Republicans will be forced to do what's right or get voted out of office next November.
Democratic leaders in Congress promise not to back down. They say they'll bring up this children's health care bill a second time. 4 More than anything, Republicans want to get re-elected. So with sustained pressure, we can push these Republicans to support the bill in the next round of this crucial fight. But for that to work, the Republicans who voted wrong need to feel the heat right now.
Before Congress' vote, we raised $120,000 for this ad—but we need to raise $80,000 more. See the ad and help out by clicking here:
https://pol.moveon.org/donate/childrensad.html?id=11448-7018451-1s_Rmh&t=3
Thank you for all you do.
–Noah, Tanya, Joan, Laura, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Friday, October 19th, 2007
Sources:
1. "Democrats Press Ahead on SCHIP," Washington Post, October 19, 2007
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3074&id=11448-7018451-1s_Rmh&t=4
2. "SCHIP veto threatens health of millions," Ventura County Star, October 16, 2007
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3076&id=11448-7018451-1s_Rmh&t=5
3. "Poll: Most Back Dems In Kids' Health Fight," CBS News, October 17, 2007
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3067&id=11448-7018451-1s_Rmh&t=6
4. "House Fails to Override Child Health Bill Veto," New York Times, October 18, 2007
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3075&id=11448-7018451-1s_Rmh&t=7
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