2007 ALREADY OFF WITH SOME HA-HAS!
1) GOT PUPPET?
PUPPET OF THE OCCUPATION, NOURI AL-MALIKI DECLARED TODAY THAT "HE HAS NO INTEREST IN A SECOND TERM" AND THE U.S. ADMINISTRATION SHOUTS BACK, "WHO CARES WHAT OUR PUPPET WANTS? DANCE, PUPPET, DANCE!" WHILE THE IRAQI PEOPLE NOTE THAT THEY HAVE NO INTEREST IN AL-MALIKI SERVING A SECOND TERM EITHER: "WHAT ARE WE, CRAZY?"
2) GOT GAMS?
TODAY ON DEMOCRACY NOW, THE ISSUE OF THE 3,000 MARK FOR U.S. TROOPS WHO HAVE DIED IN IRAQ WAS REDUCED TO A HEADLINE AND NOT JUDGED WORTHY OF A DISCUSSION. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT IN THE HEADLINES MORE TIME WAS GIVEN TO "COVERING" THE FUNERAL OF JAMES BROWN THAN TO NOTING THE 3,000 MARK.
WHEN ASKED OF THAT, AMY GOODMAN, HOST OF DEMOCRACY NOW, EXPLAINED THE PROBLEM WAS WITH A NEW CAMERA OPERATOR. SAID GOODMAN, "HE WAS SUPPOSED TO ZOOM IN ON MY LEGS RIGHT AFTER WE PLAYED MICHAEL JACKSON LONG QUOTE. I'M GOING FOR THE MARY HART ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT AUDIENCE THESE DAYS!"
3) GOT HACK?
DEB RIECHMANN IS SUPPOSED TO BE A REPORTER FOR THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BUT SHE WANTS TO BE SO MUCH MORE: EDITOR, HEALER OF THE NATION, YOU NAME IT!
FROM A RECENT REPORT BY LITTLE DEBBIE: "AMERICANS ARE A PATIENT LOT AND LIKELY WILL GIVE BUSH THE TIME AND BACKING HE NEEDS TO TAKE ANOTHER SHOT AT GETTING A U.S. POLICY IN IRAQ THAT WORKS."
IT'S NOT CALLED REPORTING! BUT THEN DEBRIECHMANN IS NO REPORTER!
TURNING TO THE REAL WORLD, FROM THE TCI WIRE:
In the real world, Courage to Resist reports that Lisa Brobeck is asking people write to her husband, war resister Ivan Brobeck, "so he is constantly reminded that he is not alone during this time in the brig and that he is supported in his brave and courages stand." The mail does not run (in the US) today (apparently Gerald Ford is honored by the government stopping its business) but the way to address your postcards or envelopes is:
LCPL Ivan S. Brobeck
MCB Quantico Brig
3247 Elrod Avenue
Quantico, Virginia 22134
Ivan Brobeck self-checked out of the US military after serving seven months in Iraq. He went to Canada in April 2005 and remained there until he returned to the US in November to turn himself in on election day with an open letter to the Bully Boy. The day before he turned himself in, November 6, 2006, he was interviewed by Nora Barrows-Friedman on Flashpoints which remains one of the few media outlets to note his decision to return then or since. "The Full Brobeck" is the term coined for a brave stand that media outlets bend over backwards to avoid noting.
As noted earlier, Ehren Watada faces a pre-trial hearing on Thursday. On Thursday, there will be at least two rallies in support of Watada. One rally will be held at Fort Lewis, off Interstate Five, exit 119. Among those scheduled to participate are Bob Watada (father of Ehren), Sara Rich (mother of Suzanne Swift), US war resister Darrell Anderson, Chanan Suarez Diaz, Michael Cuzzort, Pia Rivera and Carrie Hathorn. The rally will begin at ten a.m. January 4th (this Thursday). Another rally will be held in San Francisco and begin at 11:15 a.m. (Thursday, January 4th) at Japantown Peace Plaza (corner of Post and Buchanan) which will then move to the San Francisco Federal Building at noon and culminate in a Die-in at the front enterance of the Federal Building (one p.m.). More information can be found at ThankYouLt.org.
Jason Leopold (Truthout) notes that the pre-trial hearing "comes on the same day the new Democratic-controlled Congess returns to work and begins to investigate one of the lingering questions surrounding the nearly four-year-old war. It's the same question that Watada said led to his decision to publicly challenge the legality of the war and refuse deployment -- whether the intelligence that led to the US-led invasion was cooked by Bush administration officials."
Ivan Brobeck and Ehren Watada are part a movment of resistance within the military that includes Kyle Snyder, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Mark Wilkerson, Agustin Aguayo, Joshua Key, Ivan Brobeck, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Appeal for Redress is collecting signatures of active duty service members calling on Congress to bring the troops home -- the petition will be delivered to Congress this month.
Recommended: "Iraq Snapshot"
"Saturday"
"3,000"
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