Friday, January 26, 2007

THIS JUST IN! HE KNEW! HE JUST FORGOT HE KNEW!

 
JULY 22, 2003, WHITE HOUSE FLACK SCOTTY MCCLELLAN ASSURED THE PRESS THAT, REGARDING THE OUTING OF C.I.A. AGENT VALERIE PLAME, NO 1 IN THE WHITE HOUSE WOULD HAVE DONE THAT, "I'M SAYING THAT THIS IS NOT THE WAY THAT THIS PRESIDENT OR THIS WHITE HOUSE OPERATES . . .  I'M TELLING YOU, FLATLY, THAT THIS IS NOT THE WAY THIS WHITE HOUSE OPERATES."
 
SEPTEMBER 30, 2003, BULLY BOY RESPONDS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT THE OUTING OF C.I.A. AGENT VALERIE PLAME WITH, "THERE'S JUST TOO MANY LEAKS.  AND IF THERE IS A LEAK OUT OF MY ADMINISTRATION, I WANT TO KNOW WHO IT IS.  AND IF THE PERSON HAS VIOLATED LAW, THE PERSON WILL BE TAKEN CARE OF. . . . I WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH."
 
NOW COMES THE NEWS THAT THEN WHITE HOUSE FLACK ARI FLEISHER CONFESSED THAT HE WAS INVOLVED IN BLABBING NATIONAL SECURITY SECRETS AS WELL AS HE TOOK PART IN THE OUTING OF VALERIE PLAME BY CALLING THE PRESS AND PASSING ON THE NEWS. 
 
FLEISHER, SCOOTER LIBBY AND KARL ROVE. 
 
DID THE WHITE HOUSE REALLY NOT KNOW?
 
THESE REPORTERS SPOKE WITH A FORMER WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL.  HE ASKED THAT HIS NAME NOT BEEN GIVEN FOR FEAR OF RETALIATION.  SO WE WILL CALL HIM "NOT SCOTTY MCCLELLAN" (HONEST!). 
 
NOT SCOTTY MCCLELLAN TOLD US THAT THE ANSWER "DEPENDS UPON WHAT YOU MEAN BY 'THE WHITE HOUSE'.  DID BULLY BOY KNOW?  OF COURSE HE DID BUT HE FORGOT.  THIS IS THE MAN WHO ASKED DICK CHENEY TO FIND HIM SOMEONE TO BE A VICE PRESIDENT AND ASKED HARRIET MIERS TO FIND HIM SOMEONE TO SIT ON THE SUPREME COURT.  BOTH CAME BACK SAYING, 'PICK ME!'  HE HAD TO ASK THEM 'FOR WHAT?'  HE NEVER REMEMBERS ANYTHING.  IN FACT, ONE OF DONALD RUMSFELD'S MAIN DUTIES WHEN HE WAS SECRETARY OF DEFENSE WAS TO FOLLOW BULLY BOY AROUND AND FLUSH TOILETS FOR HIM.  ROBERT GATES IS EVEN BETTER AT THE JOB BECAUSE HE ALSO PUTS THE TOILET SEAT DOWN."
 
SO THERE YOU HAVE IT.
 
 
 
Starting with Ehren Watada, he, his father (Bob Watada) and his mother (Carolyn Ho) will be out in full force tomorrow.  Susan Paynter (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) reports  will be taking part in Seattle's events to end the war: "1 p.m. at the Center for Social Justice, 2111 E. Union St., moving to the Military Recruitment Center at 2301 S. Jackson St., then to the Langston Hughes Center at 104 17th Ave. S. at 3, where speakers will include Lt. Ehren Watada." Watada, who will be part of a panel discussion, is the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq and he is facing a Februarty 5th court-martial in which he will not be able to present any real defense because 'Judge' Head has a really sick sense of what "justice" is.
Michael E. Ruane (Washington Post) reports that Bob Watada will be speaking at the DC rally tomorrow and Bob Watada tells Ruane: "There is no doubt in my mind that the invasion and occupation of Iraq is wholly unwarranted. The Iraqi people have done absolutely nothing to the United States. They've done nothing to deserve the massacre and the pummeling they're getting . . . the plunder, the torture, the rape, the murder of innocent people. It's got to stop."  Meredith May (San Francisco Chronicle) reports that, in San Francisco, things kick off with  "a noon rally at Powell and Market streets. Carolyn Ho, the mother of Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada of Hawaii, who is refusing orders to deploy to Iraq, will speak to the crowd."
 
Three different cities tomorrow where they will be attempting to get the message that the illegal war needs to end and that what will take place in the February 5th court-martial won't be justice because the 'judge' has refused to allow Ehren Watada to present his reasons for refusing to deploy, the studies he did as part of his command that led him to the conclusion that the war was illegal and immoral.  Marilyn Bechtel (People's Weekly World) spoke with Marti Hiken (National Lawyers Guild) who noted that "people do not surrender all their constional rights when they enter the military" and that "Regardless of whether the military wins this court martial, they lose for silencing an individual who has so much integrity that is evident to people across the country."
 
 
Saying "no" to an illegal war is hard.  It takes courage.  (Note the Cowards Silence plauging the left if you doubt that, but I'm actually talking about those in the military who have said "no.")  Watada is a part of a movement of resistance with the military that includes others such as Agustin Aguayo (whose court-martial is currently set to begin on March
6th),  Kyle Snyder, Darrell Anderson, Ivan Brobeck, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Mark Wilkerson, Joshua Key, 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, Chris Teske 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.
 
In the United States, tomorrow sees protests, rallies and marches around the country.  As  CODEPINK notes: "Join us on January 27 to say No More Funding for War! Bring Our Troops Home Now! We will use our feet and our lungs and our signs and our outrage to let Bush and our new Congress know that we are serious about ending this war.
If you can't make it to DC, see if there is a solidarity event being planned in your area. If not, create your own, even if that means standing alone on a street corner with a sign! In lieu of lobbying, you can call your Congressperson to demand they cut the funding for George Bush's War. Our voices are powerful, wherever we may be geographically. We know peace is the only real path to hope and opportunity for this country. Together we will make it happen."
 
If you can't make it to DC, you can still be heard.  If there's not an event in your area, start one. Avaaz.org (formely Ceasefire Campaign Team) is attempting to get the word out on a way you can be heard in DC if you're not able to attend:
 
Join Saturday's global peace march... without Leaving Your House!
This Saturday, hundreds of thousands of Americans will march on Washington DC to demand peace and justice in Iraq and the Middle East. We can be there too, raising a global voice of solidarity -- through our own worldwide virtual march. Time is short, so add your voice and join the march today!  
http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_peace_march/   
This could signal the rebirth of the US peace movement. We need to show them the world is on their side. Let's bring our call for peace to the streets of power in Washington. Join the global peace march and tell your friends today! 
 
Events will be covered by some media.  Known coverage will include: KPFA which will broadcast live from the DC demonstrations from 10:00 am to noon PST.  (At which point it will begin covering demonstrations in the Bay Area.) and Laura Flanders who will cover the days demonstration Saturday night (7:00 to 10:00 pm EST) on her program  RadioNation with Laura Flanders (heard on Air America Radio and other outlets).  (Both KPFA and Air America Radio offer online streaming.)  (KPFA also offers their achived broadcasts for free, so if you miss the live coverage and would like to hear it later, check out the KPFA Archives).  Rachel notes that WBAI will broadcast live coverage of the demonstrations from
11:00 am to 1:00 pm EST.  In addition, she notes that tonight (Friday) on WBAI, David Occhiuto will host a special which will feature anti-war films, interviews and will include coverage of Ehren Watada including sections of  the speech he gave in Seattle that the the Article 32 hearing in August included and the court-martial next month plans to include in their prosecution of him.  Tune in to hear the message that so frightened the military brass that 'Judge' Head has gagged Watada's defense from presenting. That's tonight, WBAI,
7:00 pm to 11:00 pm EST (over the airwaves in NYC and surrounding areas as well as online).
 
[. . .]
 
Reminder:  Those in DC Saturday should check out Anthony Arnove, author most recently of IRAQ: The Logic of Withdrawal, who will be speaking at Busboys and Poets at 5:00 pm and those in the NYC area on Sunday should check out Joan Mellen speech at 7:30 p.m.  at the 92nd Street Y (92nd Street and Lesington Avenue). Mellan, a professor at Temple University and the author of seventeen books, will be presenting a lecture on the JFK assasination . . . and beyond. Tickets are $25. Mellen's latest book is A Farewell to Justice which probes the assasination of JFK. She was a guest on Law and Disorder November 7, 2005. And the March 15, 2006 broadcast of KPFA's Guns and Butter featured her speech "How the Failure to Identify, Prosecute and Convict President Kennedy's Assassins Has Led to Today's Crisis of Democracy." You can also read a transcript of that speech here.
 
 
 
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"

It's here! Your new message!
Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar.
Posted by at

Thursday, January 25, 2007

THIS JUST IN! PUBLIC SAFETY ADVISORY RE: DICK CHENEY!

 
THE STRAIN IS SHOWING ON OL' DIRTY BASTARD HIMSELF, DICK CHENEY.
 
 
 
VICE CHENEY HAS TAKEN TO SLAMMING WAR CRITICS AS "DEAD WRONG" LEADING SOME WAGS TO WONDER IF HE THINKS THEY PLANNED THE ILLEGAL WAR AND NOT CHENEY HIMSELF?
 
DICK DURBIN HAS CALLED HIM "DELUSIONAL."
 
AND HE NEARLY LOST IT WHEN WOLF BLITZER ASKED HIM ABOUT HIS DAUGHTER MARY CHENEY'S PREGNANCY.  HAVING CAMPAIGNED REPEATEDLY AGAINST GAY RIGHTS AS PART OF THE BULLY BOY - CHENEY TICKET, HAVING HELPED MAKE 2004 ABOUT ATTEMPTS TO OUTLAW SAME-SEX MARRIAGES, THE FACT THAT DICK CHENEY'S DAUGHTER AND HER SAME-SEX PARTNER HEATHER POE ARE ABOUT TO HAVE A BABY CHENEY-POE AND AREN'T BEING QUIET ABOUT IT IS NEWS.  BOTH WOMEN ARE ADULTS AND WHEN YOU HAVE YOUR FLACKS ISSUING PUBLICITY STATEMENTS, REPORTERS HAVE A RIGHT TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT IT.
 
HOWEVER WOLF BLITZER TOLD THESE REPORTERS THAT VICE DICK SNAPPED AT HIM YESTERDAY ON CNN, STATING, "I THINK, FRANKLY, YOU'RE OUT OF LINE WITH THAT QUESTION."
 
LATER, TONY SNOWJOB WOULD DECLARE THAT IT IS A PRIVATE MATTER AS THOUGH BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS AREN'T PRINTED IN EVERY PAPER AND AS IF MARY CHENEY DIDN'T JUST PUBLISH A BOOK OF SILLY SCRIBBLES IN AN ATTEMPT TO CASH IN ON HER OWN LAST NAME.  MANY ARE WONDERING IF VICE DICK IS ASHASMED OF HIS DAUGHTER MARY?
 
 
IN LIGHT OF ALL THE ABOVE BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX
ARE ISSUING A PUBLIC SAFETY ALERT.  IF YOU SEE DICK CHENEY DRUNK AND HOLDING A RIFLE, NO MATTER HOW HE SMILES OR SNEERS, STEP AWAY QUICKLY.  AVOID MAKING EYE CONTACT.  IN LIGHT OF WHAT HAPPENED TO POOR
HARRY WHITTINGTON, THE PUBLIC SHOULD TAKE PRECAUTIONS.
 
 
 
 
 
Starting with news of war resistance.  Bobbie Morgan (Bainbridge Buzz) observes, "Sometimes it takes a travesty to create a hearo.  We have a hero close by, awaiting a court martial for refusing to participate in the Iraq war because he feels it was never a lawful war."
Morgan is writing of Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse to deploy to the Iraq war.  Next month, February 5th, Watada faces a court-martial. 
 
Speaking recently with Ken Mochizuki (International Examiner), Watada stated: "I've said publicly that I'm willing to face the consequences for my action. But, I would ask that I be given a fair trial. So, there's no desertion there. And, when it comes to dissension, I have dissented, obviously, against the orders I've been given. Watada's referring to the ruling by 'Judge' Head which strips him of the ability to mount a defense or even offer his reasons for refusing to deploy.  Stanley Campbell (Rock River Times) notes Watada's reasons that Watada will not be allowed to uttered in court: "It's my conclusion as an officer of the armed forces that the Iraq war is not only morally wrong but a horrible breach of American law. Although I have tried to resign out of protest, I am forced to participate in a war that is manifestly illegal. As the order to take part in an illegal act is ultimately unlawful as well, I must, as an officer of honor and integrity, refuse that order."  Again, the court-martial is scheduled for February 5th, Fort Lewis, Washington.
 
 
Meanwhile, in Germany, a court-martial date has been set for US war resister Agustin Aguayo.  Kevin Dougherty (Stars & Stripes) reports that at today's arrinment hearing, the judge decided ("barring any delays") that the court-martial will start on March 6th.  Aguayo
served in Iraq and, based on what he witnessed, decided serving in Iraq was against his religious beliefs.  He then applied for conscientious objector status but was denied that status and expected to deploy to Iraq for a second tour.  From September 2nd through September 26th of last year, Aguayo was absent from the military.  He turned himself on the 26th.  He has appealed his denial of C.O. status and, although the US Court of Appeals heard arguments on November 21, 2006, they have yet to issue a ruling.
 
 
Agustin Aguayo, Ehren Watada  are part of a movement of resistance within the military that also includes Kyle Snyder, Darrell Anderson, Ivan Brobeck, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Mark Wilkerson, Joshua Key, 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, Chris Teske 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.
 
In the United States, many demonstrations will be held on Saturday including a rally and march in DC.  For information on that, you can check out CODEPINK's Bring the Peace Mandate to D.C. on J27!   KPFA will be broadcasting live from the DC demonstrations from 10:00 am to noon PST.  (At which point it will begin covering demonstrations in the Bay Area.)  Saturday night (7:00 to 10:00 pm EST), Laura Flanders will cover the days demonstrations and more on RadioNation with Laura Flanders. 
 
CODEPINK,  United for Peace & Justice and many other groups are taking part in Saturday's DC demonstration and march and in activites around the United States (at least fifty cities in the US have activities scheduled -- fifty in addition to DC -- at this time and more are expected to be added to the lists).
 
 
As the mobilizations gear up, shades of Tricky Dick, Bully Boy is spying on peace groups.  Aaron Glantz (OneWorld) reports on US Defense Department documents obtained by the ACLU which reveal that 186 demonstrations have been spied on and recorded by the Defense Department: "The internal Defense Department documents show it is monitoring the activities of a wide swath of peace groups, including Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, Code Pink, the American Friends Service Committee, the War Resisters League, and the umbrella group United for Peace and Justice, which is spearheading what organizers hope will be a massive march on Washington this Saturday."
[. . .]
 
Those in DC Saturday should check out Anthony Arnove, author most recently of IRAQ: The Logic of Withdrawal, who will be speaking at Busboys and Poets at 5:00 pm and those in the NYC area on Sunday should check out Joan Mellen speech at 7:30 p.m.  at the 92nd Street Y (92nd Street and Lesington Avenue). Mellan, a professor at Temple University and the author of seventeen books, will be presenting a lecture on the JFK assasination . . . and beyond. Tickets are $25. Mellen's latest book is A Farewell to Justice which probes the assasination of JFK. She was a guest on Law and Disorder November 7, 2005. And the March 15, 2006 broadcast of KPFA's Guns and Butter featured her speech "How the Failure to Identify, Prosecute and Convict President Kennedy's Assassins Has Led to Today's Crisis of Democracy." You can also read a transcript of that speech here.
 
 
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot" 

Don't get soaked. Take a quick peak at the forecast
with theYahoo! Search weather shortcut.
Posted by at

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

THIS JUST IN! DICK CHENEY GOES A'WASHING!

 
AFTER BOMBING ON LIVE TV LAST NIGHT, BULLY BOY HAS GONE INTO HIDING AND IS SAID TO BE BLAMING ALL HIS SPEECH WRITERS FOR INSISTING HE NOT DELIVER A JOKE HE AND DAUGHTER JENNA WORKED OUT TOGETHER: "WHAT'S BLACK, BLUE, RED AND ALL OVER?  YOU AFTER I SEND YOUR BUTTS TO IRAQ!"
 
BULLY BOY IS CONVINCED THE 'JOKE' COULD HAVE EASED A TENSE SITUATION BY ACTING AS AN ICE BREAKER.
 
WHILE BULLY BOY LOCKED HIMSELF AWAY, REPORTEDLY WITH A BOTTLE OF J&B, ORIGINAL GANGSTA' AND OL' DIRTY BASTARD HIMSELF DICK CHENEY STRONG ARMED THE PRESS.
 
CORNERING THESE REPORTERS, AMERICA'S VICE INSISTED THAT TALK OF THE WAR BEING ILLEGAL, UNNECESSARY AND DAMAGING TO AMERICA WAS QUOTE: "HOGWASH!"
 
EXPLAINED OL' DIRTY DICK, "I KNOW ABOUT WASHING HOGS.  YOU EVER LOOK AT MY WIFE!"
 
WHEN THESE REPORTERS INQUIRED IF "HOG" COULDN'T ALSO APPLY TO HIMSELF, DICK CHENEY TURNED AGREEABLE AND REPLIED, "YES, IT COULD!  AND I'VE BATHED MYSELF SINCE I HIT 43.  I TAKE AT LEAST ONE BATH EVERY 2 WEEKS.  SO, LIKE I SAID, I KNOW ALL ABOUT WASHING HOGS."
 
 
 
In the US, Ehren Watada is the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq and faces a court-martial on February 5th at Fort Lewis.  Last week, the 'judge' (John Head) ruled on the parameters of the case.  As Matt Hutaff (The Simon) reports the ruling amounts to "stripping the defendant of his constitutional rights.  When Watada faces prosecution on February 5, he will be unable to assert free speech in questioning the legality of the war and is forbidden from using Nurember laws as defense.  Watada's entire argument rests on the fact that troops are bound to serve honorably and follow lawful orders, and that the Iraq war is a hodepodge of neither."  Paul Rockwell (San Francisco Bay Guardian) observes, "It is a sad day in American jurisprudence when a soldier of conscience is court-martialed -- not for lying, but for telling the truth; not for breaking a covenant with the military, but for upholding the rule of law in wartime."  Eric Ruder (Socialist Worker) notes, "Activists in the Northwest and around the country are planning a February 5 day of action to show support for Watada, timed to coincide with the beginning of the Army's court-martial against him.  Defending war resisters is a critical part of ending the war, because it gives confidence to other soldiers considering their options as Bush plans a 'surge' of 21,500 more troops to Iraq."  Jim Warren (Lexington Herald-Leader) notes that among those people showing support for Watada on February 5th at Fort Lewis will be war resister Darrell Anderson who "set off on a cross-country bus tour with the Iraq Veterans Against the War organization, making stops in several cities to support war resisters."
 
 
Meanwhile, war resister Agustin Aguayo was due to be arraigned on Monday but Stars & Stripes reports that the arraingment has now been postponed until Thursday.  Aguayo served in Iraq and applied for Conscientious Objector status afterwards.  The military denied that and Aguayo has been appealing that.  On November 21, 2006, the US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC heard Aguayo's appeal.  They have not yet ruled on it.  As Aaron Glantz reported on the November 20, 2006 broadcast of The KPFA Evening News, Aguayo's case was the first of it's kind hear in "a federal court since 1971".  Despite the fact that the case was on appeal, the military had told Aguayo he had to redeploy to Iraq.  In September, Aguayo self-checked out and turned himself in the same month.  He was gone less than 30 days (September 2nd through September 26th.).  However, last week, the military announced that they would be charging him with desertion.  As Kevin Dougherty (Stars & Stripes) noted in November, 30 days, though not a rule, is "the standard benchmark."  That charge and missing movement could, if convicted on both counts, result in Aguayo serving seven years in prison.
 
 
Interviewed by Alan Maass (Socialist Worker), Dahr Jamail noted the importance of war resisters and observed: "There are between 8,000 and 10,000 people AWOL from the military, and I imagine that number has increased dramatically over just the last week.  I know it was starting to increase dramatically even before Bush made his speech.  More people than ever are heading off to Canada or going underground, so that they don't have to go to Iraq and be targets.  If anyone is seriously interested in ending this occupation and wants to do something to make it happen, people should follow the instruction of Lt. Ehren Watada.  In his speech at the Veterans for Peace national convention in August of last year, he said that the best thing people could do is adopt the family of someone who wants to become a resister, and do what they need to do to support those families, economically and morally, so that their people don't have to go to Iraq." 
 
Agustin Aguayo, Ehren Watada and Darrell Anderson are part of a movement of resistance within the military that also includes Kyle Snyder, Ivan Brobeck, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Mark Wilkerson, Joshua Key, 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, Chris Teske 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.
 
[. . .]
 
Which is a good time to offer the contrast: US Representative Maxine Waters.  Appearing on Democracy Now! today, Waters discussed the proposal she and US Reps. Barbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey have on the table: "No more troops going to Iraq.  Number two, to start to wind out of Iraq.  Make sure that you work with the Iraqis for a security plan that they come up with that would include the international community and those in the region and no American soldiers in that kind of security plan.  We also talk about reconstruction.  We have bombed Baghdad and other parts of Iraq to smithereens.  We owe it to them to be involved in a reconstruction plan that's real.  Thirdly, we would leave some troops over the horizon in neighboring communities, in the event the coalition forces that are put together by the Iraqis would ask for a bit of assistance at any given time."   Waters and Goodman also discussed the Saturday protest in DC and that the representative has "sent a letter to all members of Congress" encouraging them to also take part. 
 
Information on the demonstrations can be found at CODEPINK's Bring the Peace Mandate to D.C. on J27!  activities will also be taking place in communities around the country. Saturday, Laura Flanders will be broadcasting live from DC to cover the demonstrations on RadioNation with Laura Flanders.  Aaron Glantz (IPS) reports on the upcoming demonstrations and notes United for Peace & Justice's Leslie Cagan stating, "The voters of this country figured out that they could use the November elections as a vehicle to voice their opposition to the war.  What happened there was that the voters gave Congress a mandate to end the war in Iraq and bring the troops home."  Glanz notes that in addition to events in DC, there are "large mobilisations planned for Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco.  In addition smaller actions are planned for more than 50 cities."  In DC, Saturday the rally will be held at the National Mall from eleven in the morning to one p.m. at which point a march will begin.  Larry Margasak (AP) notes of the DC rally and march: "Scheduled speakers include members of Congress sponsoring anti-war measures; civili rights activist Jesse Jackson; veterans against the war; actors such as Danny Glover, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon; and a voice from the . . . [pro-peace] past, Jane Fonda."
 
Those in DC Saturday may want to check out Anthony Arnove, author most recently of IRAQ: The Logic of Withdrawal, who will be speaking at Busboys and Poets at 5:00 pm while those in the NYC area on Sunday should check out Joan Mellen speech at 7:30 p.m.  at the 92nd Street Y (92nd Street and Lesington Avenue). Mellan, a professor at Temple University and the author of seventeen books, will be presenting a lecture on the JFK assasination . . . and beyond. Tickets are $25. Mellen's latest book is A Farewell to Justice which probes the assasination of JFK. She was a guest on Law and Disorder November 7, 2005. And the March 15, 2006 broadcast of KPFA's Guns and Butter featured her speech "How the Failure to Identify, Prosecute and Convict President Kennedy's Assassins Has Led to Today's Crisis of Democracy." You can also read a transcript of that speech here.
Again, that's Sunday, January 28th, 7:30 p.m. the 92nd Street Y in NYC.
 
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"

Never miss an email again!
Yahoo! Toolbar alerts you the instant new Mail arrives. Check it out.
Posted by at

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

THIS JUST IN! THE HARD SELL GOES LIMP!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- DC.

LOOKING SLIGHTLY MORE DRUNK THAN DEAN MARTIN AT A ROAST AND OFFERING FAR LESS CHARM, BULLY BOY OFFERED A LAUGH GETTER TO THE COUNTRY TONIGHT IN HIS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS.

BULLY BOY: "AMERICA MUST NOT FAIL IN IRAQ."

HAVING STARTED AN ILLEGAL AND UNNECESSARY WAR ALL ON HIS OWN, BULLY BOY NOW WANTS TO DRAG THE ENTIRE COUNTRY DOWN WITH HIM.

THAT STATEMENT AND ALL STATEMENTS CAME OFF AS PLEADING AND WHINING FROM THE IMPOTENT BULLY BOY WHO APPEARED TO BE BOTH DRUNK AND DRUGGED.

IN NEWS OF IMPOTENCE, ARMY LT. GENERAL DAVID H. PETRAEUS, IN THE MIDST OF ATTEMPTING TO WIN SENATE CONFIRMATION TO BECOME THE NEW COMMANDER OF IRAQ, STOPPED THE SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS TODAY TO TAPE AN ENDORSEMENT FOR VIAGRA.

LOOKING INTO THE CAMERA, PETRAEUS INTONED, "HARD IS NOT HOPELESS."

REPORTEDLY, PETRAEUS NEXT INTEND TO PLUG ANAL PROBES.

FROM THE TCI WIRE:


In June Ehren Watada became the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. Today, he spoke to Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! about what he's facing ins February 5th court-martial at Fort Lewis. Watada explained the process by which he came to his decision: assigned to Iraq, he began doing the research required of him. (Yesterday on WBAI's Law and Disorder, Carolyn Ho walked people through her son's awakening. In addition to archived broadcasts at either link, Rebecca's written of the speech at her site.) His research provided him with information and, from that infomation, he was left the reality that the war was illegal and immoral. At which point he had to decide what to do and he tried to handle the matter privately but the military repeatedly refused to do so. Only after months of that did Watada go public. In his August Article 32 hearing (similar to a grand jury), his attornies (a military attorney and a civilian attorney) were allowed to present a defense. 'Judge' Head has disallowed that for the court-martial scheduled to be held at Fort Lewis on February 5th.

Amy Goodman asked, in light of that ruling, "what is heard in the court, that you just refused to show up?" Watada answered, "Correct. It will simply be. It will be a non-trial. It will not be a fair trial or a show of justice, in any sense. I think that they will simply say, 'Was he ordered to go? Yes. Did he go? No. Well, he’s guilty.' And that also goes for the conduct unbecoming charges: 'Did he make those statements? Can we verify that? Yes? Okay, he’s guilty.' And then it will be pretty much a disciplinary hearing -- in terms of how much punishment should we give this lieutenant." There will be strong defense offered despite the fact that Watada faces up to six years in prison if convicted of all charges. Now the military has a roll of who made the deployment and who didn't and they have transcripts and audio and video of Watada's statment. If he's not allowed to explain his reasons, it's a matter of "yes" and "no." That's really not a defense and "Judge" Head really isn't a judge. (That's me, not Watada for any 'researches' for the prosecution.)

Watada declared that "there's tremendous support out there. I think it's unfortunate that we haven't been able to get into the national media as much as we wanted to. And therefore, the more east you go, the less people know about the case. And I think, just looking at how much support I've received in Washington state and back home in my home state, in Hawaii, there are a lot of people who are coming out. And not just people on one spectrum of the political ideology, but people from the mainstream. They are all coming out -- the unions, the interfaith groups, the students, universities. They are all coming out to support. And I think that's just a testament to how people feel about the war and the policies of this administration."

There is a lot of support. There is, however, very little coverage in media big or small. There are exceptions and it's usually the same group we've learned to look for coverage of what matters. Yesterday on Free Speech Radio News and The KPFA Evening News, Martha Baskin reported on the Citizens' Hearing on the Legality of U.S. Actions in Iraq held in Tacoma, Washington last Satruday and Sunday noting that while a 'judge' had "ruled that" Watada "could not raise the legality of the war in his defense" the hearing did just that attracting experts from legal and military fields, "military families and veterans". Richard Falk was heard, in the report, testifying that, "It is our role as citizens to protect those who are brave enough . . . who refuse to participate in an illegal war."


Another issue in the court-martial of Ehren Watada is whether or not journalists should participate in the proceedings as witnesses for the prosecution. Emily Howard spoke with journalists Sarah Olson and Norman Solomon yesterday on KPFA's Flashpoints. Olson will not discuss her "legal strategy." She has stated, on air, to Laura Flanders she wouldn't testify and she has played mum on that with others. However, as noted on Sunday, she has not stated that she supported Watada 100%, she has just stated that as a journalist it is her job to cover the news and her sources are sources and neither an endorsement or a rebuke.

Speaking with Howard yesterday, Olson made her strongest case yet.

She did that by first starting with Ehren Watada who is facing the court-martial and whose stand is what the military is interested in and wants to punish. ("The crux of this trial," as Howard pointed out.) Having established Watada's stand, Olson then connected it to other war resisters who had come forward by name (and noted that Flashpoints interviewed Ivan Brobeck -- they were the only outlet to do so when he returned to the US from Canada to turn himself on election day in November with an open letter to the Bully Boy). Why does whether she testifies or not in the court-martial matter?

As Olson and Solomon outlined it (very clearly) who are war resisters going to talk to? If they're under the impression that any reporter they tell their stories to will then be called before a court to testify against them, that will produce a chilling effect on free speech and prevent a free press from the ability to keep citizens informed. That is the purpose of the free press, as veteran DC journalist Helen Thomas noted on yesterday's Democracy Now!, not providing with you commercials of products that will 'enhance' your life, informing citizens so that they can make their decisions and contribute within a democracy.

Norman Solomon noted that the Pentagon is "worried about people not only thinking for themselves but speaking up" so it is "trying to intimidate" people into silence and that this is "a contradicition between the myth of the military defending our 'freedoms'" and trying to supress freedoms.

Olson, who faces six month in jail and/or a fine if she refuses to testify, declared, "When you look at the number of people who are taking steps to actively express their opposition to this war I think that is has become it has grown to a point it's not something that can be ignored or . . . can or should be ignored. And I think it's very important as journalists . . . that we are able to cover this perspective and this growing number of active dutry Iraq war vetrns and soldiers who are in opposition to this war. It's becoming more and more relevant as the days go by."

Olson is correct -- Watada is part of a movement of resistance within the military that also includes Kyle Snyder, Agustin Aguayo, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Mark Wilkerson, Joshua Key, 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, Robin Long, Ryan Johnson, Chris Teske, Tim Richard 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.



RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Watada, Olson, press"
"NYT: Who died? Santora's not interested"
"law and disorder, ehren watada, ray mcgovern"
"Jeff Cohen, Mike Whitney"
"Law & Disorder, Anthony Arnove, Michael Schwartz"
"Elizabeth DiNovella on Mexico and NAFTA"
"White House confessions (humor)"
"THIS JUST IN! NEW POLLS WORRY THE WHITE HOUSE!"
Posted by at

THIS JUST IN! THE HARD SELL GOES LIMP!

 
LOOKING SLIGHTLY MORE DRUNK THAN DEAN MARTIN AT A ROAST AND OFFERING FAR LESS CHARM, BULLY BOY OFFERED A LAUGH GETTER TO THE COUNTRY TONIGHT IN HIS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS.
 
BULLY BOY: "AMERICA MUST NOT FAIL IN IRAQ."
 
HAVING STARTED AN ILLEGAL AND UNNECESSARY WAR ALL ON HIS OWN, BULLY BOY NOW WANTS TO DRAG THE ENTIRE COUNTRY DOWN WITH HIM. 
 
THAT STATEMENT AND ALL STATEMENTS CAME OFF AS PLEADING AND WHINING FROM THE IMPOTENT BULLY BOY WHO APPEARED TO BE BOTH DRUNK AND DRUGGED.
 
IN NEWS OF IMPOTENCE, ARMY LT. GENERAL DAVID H. PETRAEUS, IN THE MIDST OF ATTEMPTING TO WIN SENATE CONFIRMATION TO BECOME THE NEW COMMANDER OF IRAQ, STOPPED THE SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS TODAY TO TAPE AN ENDORSEMENT FOR VIAGRA.
 
LOOKING INTO THE CAMERA, PETRAEUS INTONED, "HARD IS NOT HOPELESS." 
 
REPORTEDLY, PETRAEUS NEXT INTEND TO PLUG ANAL PROBES.
 
 
 
In June Ehren Watada became the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq.  Today, he spoke to Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! about what he's facing ins February 5th court-martial at Fort Lewis.  Watada explained the process by which he came to his decision: assigned to Iraq, he began doing the research required of him.  (Yesterday on WBAI's Law and Disorder, Carolyn Ho walked people through her son's awakening.  In addition to archived broadcasts at either link, Rebecca's written of the speech at her site.)  His research provided him with information and, from that infomation, he was left the reality that the war was illegal and immoral.  At which point he had to decide what to do and he tried to handle the matter privately but the military repeatedly refused to do so.  Only after months of that did Watada go public.  In his August Article 32 hearing (similar to a grand jury), his attornies (a military attorney and a civilian attorney) were allowed to present a defense.  'Judge' Head has disallowed that for the court-martial scheduled to be held at Fort Lewis on February 5th.
 
Amy Goodman asked, in light of that ruling, "what is heard in the court, that you just refused to show up?"  Watada answered, "Correct. It will simply be.  It will be a non-trial. It will not be a fair trial or a show of justice, in any sense. I think that they will simply say, 'Was he ordered to go? Yes. Did he go? No. Well, he’s guilty.' And that also goes for the conduct unbecoming charges: 'Did he make those statements? Can we verify that? Yes? Okay, he’s guilty.' And then it will be pretty much a disciplinary hearing -- in terms of how much punishment should we give this lieutenant."  There will be strong defense offered despite the fact that Watada faces up to six years in prison if convicted of all charges.  Now the military has a roll of who made the deployment and who didn't and they have transcripts and audio and video of Watada's statment.  If he's not allowed to explain his reasons, it's a matter of "yes" and "no."  That's really not a defense and "Judge" Head really isn't a judge.  (That's me, not Watada for any 'researches' for the prosecution.)
 
Watada declared that "there's tremendous support out there. I think it's unfortunate that we haven't been able to get into the national media as much as we wanted to. And therefore, the more east you go, the less people know about the case. And I think, just looking at how much support I've received in Washington state and back home in my home state, in Hawaii, there are a lot of people who are coming out.  And not just people on one spectrum of the political ideology, but people from the mainstream.  They are all coming out -- the unions, the interfaith groups, the students, universities.  They are all coming out to support. And I think that's just a testament to how people feel about the war and the policies of this administration."
 
There is a lot of support.  There is, however, very little coverage in media big or small.  There are exceptions and it's usually the same group we've learned to look for coverage of what matters.  Yesterday on Free Speech Radio News and The KPFA Evening News, Martha Baskin reported on the Citizens' Hearing on the Legality of U.S. Actions in Iraq held in Tacoma, Washington last Satruday and Sunday noting that while a 'judge' had "ruled that" Watada "could not raise the legality of the war in his defense" the hearing did just that attracting experts from legal and military fields, "military families and veterans".  Richard Falk was heard, in the report, testifying that, "It is our role as citizens to protect those who are brave enough . .  . who refuse to participate in an illegal war."
 
 
Another issue in the court-martial of Ehren Watada is whether or not journalists should participate in the proceedings as witnesses for the prosecution.  Emily Howard spoke with journalists Sarah Olson and Norman Solomon yesterday on KPFA's Flashpoints.  Olson will not discuss her "legal strategy."  She has stated, on air, to Laura Flanders she wouldn't testify and she has played mum on that with others.  However, as noted on Sunday, she has not stated that she supported Watada 100%, she has just stated that as a journalist it is her job to cover the news and her sources are sources and neither an endorsement or a rebuke.
 
Speaking with Howard yesterday, Olson made her strongest case yet. 
 
She did that by first starting with Ehren Watada who is facing the court-martial and whose stand is what the military is interested in and wants to punish. ("The crux of this trial," as Howard pointed out.) Having established Watada's stand, Olson then connected it to other war resisters who had come forward by name (and noted that Flashpoints interviewed Ivan Brobeck -- they were the only outlet to do so when he returned to the US from Canada to turn himself on election day in November with an open letter to the Bully Boy). Why does whether she testifies or not in the court-martial matter?
 
As Olson and Solomon outlined it (very clearly) who are war resisters going to talk to?  If they're under the impression that any reporter they tell their stories to will then be called before a court to testify against them, that will produce a chilling effect on free speech and prevent a free press from the ability to keep citizens informed.   That is the purpose of the free press, as veteran DC journalist Helen Thomas noted on yesterday's Democracy Now!, not providing with you commercials of products that will 'enhance' your life, informing citizens so that they can make their decisions and contribute within a democracy. 
 
Norman Solomon noted that the Pentagon is "worried about people not only thinking for themselves but speaking up" so it is "trying to intimidate" people into silence and that this is "a contradicition between the myth of the military defending our 'freedoms'" and trying to supress freedoms. 
 
Olson, who faces six month in jail and/or a fine if she refuses to testify, declared, "When you look at the number of people who are taking steps to actively express their opposition to this war I think that is has become it has grown to a point it's not something that can be ignored or . . .  can or should be ignored.  And I think it's very important as journalists . . . that we are able to cover this perspective and this growing number of active dutry Iraq war vetrns and soldiers who are in opposition to this war.  It's becoming more and more relevant as the days go by."
 
Olson is correct -- Watada is part of a movement of resistance within the military that also includes Kyle Snyder, Agustin Aguayo, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Mark Wilkerson, Joshua Key, 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, Robin Long, Ryan Johnson, Chris Teske, Tim Richard 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.
 
 
 

8:00? 8:25? 8:40? Find a flick in no time
with theYahoo! Search movie showtime shortcut.
Posted by at

THIS JUST IN! THE HARD SELL GOES LIMP!

 
LOOKING SLIGHTLY MORE DRUNK THAN DEAN MARTIN AT A ROAST AND OFFERING FAR LESS CHARM, BULLY BOY OFFERED A LAUGH GETTER TO THE COUNTRY TONIGHT IN HIS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS.
 
BULLY BOY: "AMERICA MUST NOT FAIL IN IRAQ."
 
HAVING STARTED AN ILLEGAL AND UNNECESSARY WAR ALL ON HIS OWN, BULLY BOY NOW WANTS TO DRAG THE ENTIRE COUNTRY DOWN WITH HIM. 
 
THAT STATEMENT AND ALL STATEMENTS CAME OFF AS PLEADING AND WHINING FROM THE IMPOTENT BULLY BOY WHO APPEARED TO BE BOTH DRUNK AND DRUGGED.
 
IN NEWS OF IMPOTENCE, ARMY LT. GENERAL DAVID H. PETRAEUS, IN THE MIDST OF ATTEMPTING TO WIN SENATE CONFIRMATION TO BECOME THE NEW COMMANDER OF IRAQ, STOPPED THE SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS TODAY TO TAPE AN ENDORSEMENT FOR VIAGRA.
 
LOOKING INTO THE CAMERA, PETRAEUS INTONED, "HARD IS NOT HOPELESS." 
 
REPORTEDLY, PETRAEUS NEXT INTEND TO PLUG ANAL PROBES.
 
 
 
In June Ehren Watada became the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq.  Today, he spoke to Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! about what he's facing ins February 5th court-martial at Fort Lewis.  Watada explained the process by which he came to his decision: assigned to Iraq, he began doing the research required of him.  (Yesterday on WBAI's Law and Disorder, Carolyn Ho walked people through her son's awakening.  In addition to archived broadcasts at either link, Rebecca's written of the speech at her site.)  His research provided him with information and, from that infomation, he was left the reality that the war was illegal and immoral.  At which point he had to decide what to do and he tried to handle the matter privately but the military repeatedly refused to do so.  Only after months of that did Watada go public.  In his August Article 32 hearing (similar to a grand jury), his attornies (a military attorney and a civilian attorney) were allowed to present a defense.  'Judge' Head has disallowed that for the court-martial scheduled to be held at Fort Lewis on February 5th.
 
Amy Goodman asked, in light of that ruling, "what is heard in the court, that you just refused to show up?"  Watada answered, "Correct. It will simply be.  It will be a non-trial. It will not be a fair trial or a show of justice, in any sense. I think that they will simply say, 'Was he ordered to go? Yes. Did he go? No. Well, he’s guilty.' And that also goes for the conduct unbecoming charges: 'Did he make those statements? Can we verify that? Yes? Okay, he’s guilty.' And then it will be pretty much a disciplinary hearing -- in terms of how much punishment should we give this lieutenant."  There will be strong defense offered despite the fact that Watada faces up to six years in prison if convicted of all charges.  Now the military has a roll of who made the deployment and who didn't and they have transcripts and audio and video of Watada's statment.  If he's not allowed to explain his reasons, it's a matter of "yes" and "no."  That's really not a defense and "Judge" Head really isn't a judge.  (That's me, not Watada for any 'researches' for the prosecution.)
 
Watada declared that "there's tremendous support out there. I think it's unfortunate that we haven't been able to get into the national media as much as we wanted to. And therefore, the more east you go, the less people know about the case. And I think, just looking at how much support I've received in Washington state and back home in my home state, in Hawaii, there are a lot of people who are coming out.  And not just people on one spectrum of the political ideology, but people from the mainstream.  They are all coming out -- the unions, the interfaith groups, the students, universities.  They are all coming out to support. And I think that's just a testament to how people feel about the war and the policies of this administration."
 
There is a lot of support.  There is, however, very little coverage in media big or small.  There are exceptions and it's usually the same group we've learned to look for coverage of what matters.  Yesterday on Free Speech Radio News and The KPFA Evening News, Martha Baskin reported on the Citizens' Hearing on the Legality of U.S. Actions in Iraq held in Tacoma, Washington last Satruday and Sunday noting that while a 'judge' had "ruled that" Watada "could not raise the legality of the war in his defense" the hearing did just that attracting experts from legal and military fields, "military families and veterans".  Richard Falk was heard, in the report, testifying that, "It is our role as citizens to protect those who are brave enough . .  . who refuse to participate in an illegal war."
 
 
Another issue in the court-martial of Ehren Watada is whether or not journalists should participate in the proceedings as witnesses for the prosecution.  Emily Howard spoke with journalists Sarah Olson and Norman Solomon yesterday on KPFA's Flashpoints.  Olson will not discuss her "legal strategy."  She has stated, on air, to Laura Flanders she wouldn't testify and she has played mum on that with others.  However, as noted on Sunday, she has not stated that she supported Watada 100%, she has just stated that as a journalist it is her job to cover the news and her sources are sources and neither an endorsement or a rebuke.
 
Speaking with Howard yesterday, Olson made her strongest case yet. 
 
She did that by first starting with Ehren Watada who is facing the court-martial and whose stand is what the military is interested in and wants to punish. ("The crux of this trial," as Howard pointed out.) Having established Watada's stand, Olson then connected it to other war resisters who had come forward by name (and noted that Flashpoints interviewed Ivan Brobeck -- they were the only outlet to do so when he returned to the US from Canada to turn himself on election day in November with an open letter to the Bully Boy). Why does whether she testifies or not in the court-martial matter?
 
As Olson and Solomon outlined it (very clearly) who are war resisters going to talk to?  If they're under the impression that any reporter they tell their stories to will then be called before a court to testify against them, that will produce a chilling effect on free speech and prevent a free press from the ability to keep citizens informed.   That is the purpose of the free press, as veteran DC journalist Helen Thomas noted on yesterday's Democracy Now!, not providing with you commercials of products that will 'enhance' your life, informing citizens so that they can make their decisions and contribute within a democracy. 
 
Norman Solomon noted that the Pentagon is "worried about people not only thinking for themselves but speaking up" so it is "trying to intimidate" people into silence and that this is "a contradicition between the myth of the military defending our 'freedoms'" and trying to supress freedoms. 
 
Olson, who faces six month in jail and/or a fine if she refuses to testify, declared, "When you look at the number of people who are taking steps to actively express their opposition to this war I think that is has become it has grown to a point it's not something that can be ignored or . . .  can or should be ignored.  And I think it's very important as journalists . . . that we are able to cover this perspective and this growing number of active dutry Iraq war vetrns and soldiers who are in opposition to this war.  It's becoming more and more relevant as the days go by."
 
Olson is correct -- Watada is part of a movement of resistance within the military that also includes Kyle Snyder, Agustin Aguayo, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Mark Wilkerson, Joshua Key, 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, Robin Long, Ryan Johnson, Chris Teske, Tim Richard 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.
 
 
 

Expecting? Get great news right away with email Auto-Check.
Try the Yahoo! Mail Beta.
Posted by at

THIS JUST IN! THE HARD SELL GOES LIMP!

 
LOOKING SLIGHTLY MORE DRUNK THAN DEAN MARTIN AT A ROAST AND OFFERING FAR LESS CHARM, BULLY BOY OFFERED A LAUGH GETTER TO THE COUNTRY TONIGHT IN HIS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS.
 
BULLY BOY: "AMERICA MUST NOT FAIL IN IRAQ."
 
HAVING STARTED AN ILLEGAL AND UNNECESSARY WAR ALL ON HIS OWN, BULLY BOY NOW WANTS TO DRAG THE ENTIRE COUNTRY DOWN WITH HIM. 
 
THAT STATEMENT AND ALL STATEMENTS CAME OFF AS PLEADING AND WHINING FROM THE IMPOTENT BULLY BOY WHO APPEARED TO BE BOTH DRUNK AND DRUGGED.
 
IN NEWS OF IMPOTENCE, ARMY LT. GENERAL DAVID H. PETRAEUS, IN THE MIDST OF ATTEMPTING TO WIN SENATE CONFIRMATION TO BECOME THE NEW COMMANDER OF IRAQ, STOPPED THE SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS TODAY TO TAPE AN ENDORSEMENT FOR VIAGRA.
 
LOOKING INTO THE CAMERA, PETRAEUS INTONED, "HARD IS NOT HOPELESS." 
 
REPORTEDLY, PETRAEUS NEXT INTEND TO PLUG ANAL PROBES.
 
 
 
In June Ehren Watada became the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq.  Today, he spoke to Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! about what he's facing ins February 5th court-martial at Fort Lewis.  Watada explained the process by which he came to his decision: assigned to Iraq, he began doing the research required of him.  (Yesterday on WBAI's Law and Disorder, Carolyn Ho walked people through her son's awakening.  In addition to archived broadcasts at either link, Rebecca's written of the speech at her site.)  His research provided him with information and, from that infomation, he was left the reality that the war was illegal and immoral.  At which point he had to decide what to do and he tried to handle the matter privately but the military repeatedly refused to do so.  Only after months of that did Watada go public.  In his August Article 32 hearing (similar to a grand jury), his attornies (a military attorney and a civilian attorney) were allowed to present a defense.  'Judge' Head has disallowed that for the court-martial scheduled to be held at Fort Lewis on February 5th.
 
Amy Goodman asked, in light of that ruling, "what is heard in the court, that you just refused to show up?"  Watada answered, "Correct. It will simply be.  It will be a non-trial. It will not be a fair trial or a show of justice, in any sense. I think that they will simply say, 'Was he ordered to go? Yes. Did he go? No. Well, he’s guilty.' And that also goes for the conduct unbecoming charges: 'Did he make those statements? Can we verify that? Yes? Okay, he’s guilty.' And then it will be pretty much a disciplinary hearing -- in terms of how much punishment should we give this lieutenant."  There will be strong defense offered despite the fact that Watada faces up to six years in prison if convicted of all charges.  Now the military has a roll of who made the deployment and who didn't and they have transcripts and audio and video of Watada's statment.  If he's not allowed to explain his reasons, it's a matter of "yes" and "no."  That's really not a defense and "Judge" Head really isn't a judge.  (That's me, not Watada for any 'researches' for the prosecution.)
 
Watada declared that "there's tremendous support out there. I think it's unfortunate that we haven't been able to get into the national media as much as we wanted to. And therefore, the more east you go, the less people know about the case. And I think, just looking at how much support I've received in Washington state and back home in my home state, in Hawaii, there are a lot of people who are coming out.  And not just people on one spectrum of the political ideology, but people from the mainstream.  They are all coming out -- the unions, the interfaith groups, the students, universities.  They are all coming out to support. And I think that's just a testament to how people feel about the war and the policies of this administration."
 
There is a lot of support.  There is, however, very little coverage in media big or small.  There are exceptions and it's usually the same group we've learned to look for coverage of what matters.  Yesterday on Free Speech Radio News and The KPFA Evening News, Martha Baskin reported on the Citizens' Hearing on the Legality of U.S. Actions in Iraq held in Tacoma, Washington last Satruday and Sunday noting that while a 'judge' had "ruled that" Watada "could not raise the legality of the war in his defense" the hearing did just that attracting experts from legal and military fields, "military families and veterans".  Richard Falk was heard, in the report, testifying that, "It is our role as citizens to protect those who are brave enough . .  . who refuse to participate in an illegal war."
 
 
Another issue in the court-martial of Ehren Watada is whether or not journalists should participate in the proceedings as witnesses for the prosecution.  Emily Howard spoke with journalists Sarah Olson and Norman Solomon yesterday on KPFA's Flashpoints.  Olson will not discuss her "legal strategy."  She has stated, on air, to Laura Flanders she wouldn't testify and she has played mum on that with others.  However, as noted on Sunday, she has not stated that she supported Watada 100%, she has just stated that as a journalist it is her job to cover the news and her sources are sources and neither an endorsement or a rebuke.
 
Speaking with Howard yesterday, Olson made her strongest case yet. 
 
She did that by first starting with Ehren Watada who is facing the court-martial and whose stand is what the military is interested in and wants to punish. ("The crux of this trial," as Howard pointed out.) Having established Watada's stand, Olson then connected it to other war resisters who had come forward by name (and noted that Flashpoints interviewed Ivan Brobeck -- they were the only outlet to do so when he returned to the US from Canada to turn himself on election day in November with an open letter to the Bully Boy). Why does whether she testifies or not in the court-martial matter?
 
As Olson and Solomon outlined it (very clearly) who are war resisters going to talk to?  If they're under the impression that any reporter they tell their stories to will then be called before a court to testify against them, that will produce a chilling effect on free speech and prevent a free press from the ability to keep citizens informed.   That is the purpose of the free press, as veteran DC journalist Helen Thomas noted on yesterday's Democracy Now!, not providing with you commercials of products that will 'enhance' your life, informing citizens so that they can make their decisions and contribute within a democracy. 
 
Norman Solomon noted that the Pentagon is "worried about people not only thinking for themselves but speaking up" so it is "trying to intimidate" people into silence and that this is "a contradicition between the myth of the military defending our 'freedoms'" and trying to supress freedoms. 
 
Olson, who faces six month in jail and/or a fine if she refuses to testify, declared, "When you look at the number of people who are taking steps to actively express their opposition to this war I think that is has become it has grown to a point it's not something that can be ignored or . . .  can or should be ignored.  And I think it's very important as journalists . . . that we are able to cover this perspective and this growing number of active dutry Iraq war vetrns and soldiers who are in opposition to this war.  It's becoming more and more relevant as the days go by."
 
Olson is correct -- Watada is part of a movement of resistance within the military that also includes Kyle Snyder, Agustin Aguayo, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Mark Wilkerson, Joshua Key, 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, Robin Long, Ryan Johnson, Chris Teske, Tim Richard 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.
 
 
 

Don't pick lemons.
See all the new 2007 cars at Yahoo! Autos.
Posted by at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)