Wednesday, April 18, 2007

THIS JUST IN! TRASH RISES AND TRIES TO PASS AS DEM!

 
 
GRIFFIN BELL WAS APPOINTED TO BE ATTONEY GENERAL BY JIMMY CARTER.  BELL DID NOT SERVE OUT HIS ENTIRE TERM.  THOUGH BELL HAD KENNEDY CONNECTIONS IN THE 60S, HE LEFT HIS DEM PARTY DANCE CARD AT STUDIO 54 SOMETIME IN THE LATE 70S -- ACCOUNTS DIFFER REPORTEDLY DUE TO 'CLUB DISEASE' -- CODE FOR COKE USE.
 
LIKE ANY CLUB KID WORTH HIS WORTH, BELL WAS MORE FAMOUS FOR MAKING MR. BLACKWELL'S BEST DRESSED LIST (1978) THAN FOR ANYTHING HE DID WHILE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
 
WITH STUDIO 54 IN RUINS, GRIFFIN HEADED OFF IN THE EARLY DAWN, MUTTERING "BREAD & BUTTER," AND ENDED UP IN G.O.P. HEADQUARTERS (RUMORED TO BE EVEN WILDER THAN STUDIO 54) WHERE HE WAS PART OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT UNDER RONALD REAGAN.  IN FACT, HE WAS ON THE DEPARTMENT'S ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON SOUTH AFRICA.  FOR THOSE WHO FORGOT OR NEVER KNEW, THE REAGAN WHITE HOUSE SUPPORTED APARTHEID.  WHAT A PRINCE LITTLE GRIFFY BELL, WORKING TO UPHOLD RACISM.
 
TO TOP THAT, HE CARRIED WATER FOR POPPY BUSH AS WELL, SERVING ON POPPY'S FEDERAL ETHICS LAW REFORM (1989) AND BEING THE MOB LAWYER FOR POPPY WHEN HIS CRIMINAL ACTIONS DURING IRAN-CONTRA WERE COMING TO LIGHT.  MOST RECENTLY, THE TIRED OLD MAN (88 YEARS OLD) SHOWED UP IN 2004 WITH A NASTY CASE OF MAN LOVE FOR BULLY BOY WHOM HE ENDORSED IN 2004.
 
THAT TRASH AIN'T DEMOCRAT.  DON'T LABEL IT "BIPARTISAN."  THAT TRASH HOPPED OVER TO THE REPUBLICAN SIDE TWO DECADES AGO.
 
 
 
Addressing Iraq and Congress today was Matthew Rothschild who spoke with Andrea Lewis on KPFA's The Morning Show today.
 
Andrea Lewis: Certainly the Democrats have made a lot of gestures and talk about getting the troops out sooner and cutting off the funding.  It seems to me to be kind of stalled -- the whole plan.  What do you think about what's going on on that front?
 
Matthew Rothschild: Well, first of all, news today in Iraq, terrible day, in Baghdad, 127 people killed in a series of blasts in Baghdad so this idea that Baghdad is becoming a nice, safe, quiet place to visit according to John McCain, clearly not the case.  I do think that the Democrats are not doing enough to demand withdrawal within 6 months or, max, a year and not having loopholes where even if that thing passed and even if Bush were to sign it, Bush would still be able to stay in Iraq for years and years because even the Democrats' legislation allows the president to keep training Iraqi security, keep going after al Qaeda and, you know, helping out patrolling Iraq in defense of US personnel which could be Haliburton.  It could be US contractors over there.  So with those loopholes even in the best of bills this war could go on under Bush -- or under Bush's sucessor if it be Hillary Clinton, John Edwards or Barack Obama. None of the Democrats are demanding withdrawal without conditions and that's what's going to have to happen at some point because otherwise, you know Bush is going to keep this going and I think the Democrats are going to capitulate.  I think Harry Reid, not only has he capitulated on gun control, but he's going to capitulate on this, he's going to take even the kind of fake deadline the Democrats have in that legislation and he's going to take those away.  And so Bush will get his funding and this war will go on and it's going to go on until the 11th hour on January 20, 2009 when Bush leaves office and then the Democratic president, if it be a Democratic president, or the Republican successor is going to continue to wage that war unless we really raise the stakes that people of this county, not just Democrats, but the people across party lines are way ahead of the politicians on this.  They want the troops to come out within a year.  And, at some point, we've got to raise our voices a little bit louder.
 
[Note -- I've smoothed over Rothschild's response by removing "uh" and "you know"s.  I have no problem with them and think it's better to include to reflect speaking styles; however, I was in the middle of something else and had to lose the flavor to keep the context.]
 
In war resistance news,  Agustín Aguayo  was to be released today from the brig in Germany he had been sentenced to since his March 6th court-martial for refusing to deploy to an illegal war.  AP reports that he was released: "With credit for time already served, he spent less than six weeks behind bars before being released, said US European Command spokeswoman Lt. Col. Elizabeth Hibner."  Aguayo was repeatedly denied Conscientious Objector status.  First by the military and then by the civilian court system (he will be appealing).  The Center on Conscience & War has declared May 14th the day to lobby Congress for COs: "Our voices together are magnified when we gather and organize to lobby congress for the sake of rights for the conscientious objector.  It is important to support servicements who become conscientious objectors, to lobby for a place for conscience in an inherently violent organization suffering from a dire lack of it.  A law to protect the rights of conscientious objectors (CO) in the military is needed.  With no end in sight to the brutal wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places around the globe, the number of COs in the military is increasing.  The GI Rights Hotline has experienced a sharp increase in the number of calls from those seeking a CO discharge.  The current military policy for COs is not working: they face harassment, they are forced to violate their beliefs and they are denied CO status for arbitrary reasons.  A law passed by Congress is needed to fix the broken system and to put specific procedures in place for the CO discharge process.  May 16th will be a day for voters to make their voices heard for the proposed bill, the Military CO Act."  Links:
 
Come and lobby in Washington, DC or lobby your member of Congress at their local office near your home.
Click here to sign up for lobby day.
 
On May 15th, International CO Day, CCW is participating in 2 events:
Congressional Briefing: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
An Aspect of Religious Freedom: Conscience in the Military,
sponsored by FCNL, Peace Tax Fund, and John Lewis

Advisory Council, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm @ Church of the Brethren (tentatively)
Church of the Brethren
337 North Carolina Ave. SE
Washington, DC 20003
 
Today, in Geneva, the two day, United Nations organized, "International Conference on Addressing the Humanitarian Needs of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons inside Iraq and in Neighbouring Countries" concluded.  The UN notes that 60 nations participated in the conference on "the nearly 4 million Iraqis who have fled their homes" and that UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, hopes that Iraqis will return to Iraq  and that he "voiced hope that international gratitude for the burden assumed by receiving countries -- with Syria hosting 1.2 million Iraqis and Jordan another 750,000 -- would soon translate into financial support.  He also sought an increased amount of resettlement to third countries, considered necessary for the most vulnerable refugees."  BBC reports that the puppet government of Iraq is willing to give $25 million to Syria and Jordan for housing some of the displaced.  By contrast, the US offered $18 million.  If you don't grasp the difference, Iraq is a client state of the US at present, a client state that still guarantee basic services (let alone security) to Iraqis.  But it has promised $25 million while no-big-spender Bully Boy has okayed $18 million -- to pay for the crisis he created.  Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has declared that:
 
1) The Iraqi Government, in [consultation] with the countries hosting large numbers of displaced Iraqis, will establish offices to address the issue.  These offices will work closely with the host countries, the UNHCR and non-governmental organisations.
 
2) The Iraqi Government has allocated 25 million US dollars to fund the work of these offices.
 
3) The large numbers of displaced Iraqi people are straining the infrastructures of hosting countries.  The Iraqi Government will extend financial assistance to host governments, and its relevant ministries, to support their infrastructure.
 
Dahr Jamail (IPS) reports that Baquba's displaced who have sought refuge in Damascus refer to Baquba with the term "dead city" and notes that "armed men roam the streets and al-Qaeda reigns" and quotes Aziz Abudlla (who was a professor in Baquba) stating, "I think well over half of our city has left, and those who remain never leave their homes.  Those who are left sit in their homes and wait for their death.  They may take their fate from a terrorist entering their house, or a car bomb, or a shooting."
 
Finally, Kevin Zeese (Democracy Rising) interviews Caitlin Esworthy (Port Militarization Resistance of Olympia) about actions to end the illegal war and the attacks peaceful activists suffered from the Tacoma police.  Zeese asks about the "police reaction" and Esworthy responds: "In sum: force, intimidation and erasure of numerous constitutionally protected rights.  Over the course of the two weeks (from March 2nd to the 17th) the police chose to daily escalate their tactics in response to the large groups of people voicing their opposition to the occupation of Iraq and in favor of keeping the 4th Brigade home.  There were pedestrians and drivers that resulted in disorientation and intimidation, use of "less-than-lethal" (read: sometimes lethal) weapons on non-violent protestors, RAMPANT violation of citizens' right to not be videotaped by public officials without probable cause, officers refusing to identify themselves, restriction of the right to wear backpacks on a public street and the repeated restriction of citizens' rights to assemble within reasonable proximity to that which they are protesting so that the nature of their protest is not fundamentally altered (both of which are supported by Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decisions), vehicles being searched without cause or warrant, the list goes on."  A video clips are provided.
 
 

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