Saturday, January 19, 2008

THIS JUST IN! TOUGH TIMES FOR BAMBI!

 
REPORTERS WHO HAVE CARRIED THE WATER FOR THE BAMBI CAMPAIGN ARE IN A TIZZY.  AT THE WASHINGTON POST, THEY WORRY THAT BARACK OBAMA IS GOING NEGATIVE.
 
APPARENTLY THEY MISSED THE SMEAR HIS CAMPAIGN TRIED TO GET THE ATLANTIC MOTHLY TO LOOK INTO LAST YEAR, APPARENTLY THEY MISSED HIS "PUNJAB" REMARK, APPARENTLY THEY MISSED A LOT.
 
BUT IT IS TRUE THAT BAMBI'S NOT ABLE TO DISPENSE HIS CHICKEN SOP FOR THE SOUL AS EASILY AS HE ONCE SERVED IT UP.
 
GONE ARE THE DAYS WHEN HE COULD PLAY MRS. GARRETT TO THEIR TOOTIES AND BLAIRS.  GONE ARE THE DAYS WHERE HE COULD GIVE THEM SIMPLISTIC STATEMENTS AND THEY COULD ALL GO SKIPPING OFF SINGING "YOU TAKE THE GOOD, YOU TAKE THE BAD, YOU TAKE THEM BOTH AND THEN YOU HAVE . . ."
 
SIMPLISTIC MORALIZING.  FROM A MAN WHOSE OWN PREACHER APPEARS TO ENJOY STANDING IN THE GUTTER.
 
ALLEGED MAN OF THE CLOTH REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT DECLARED IN CHURCH THAT AFRICAN-AMERICANS SHOULD SUPPORT BAMBI BECAUSE . . .  WELL NOT BECAUSE OF ANYTHING HILLARY CLINTON DID OR DID NOT DO.  STANDING IN CHURCH, WRIGHT PROVED THAT HE'S GOT A LOT OF JERRY FALWELL IN HIM AND VERY LITTLE CHRIST AS HE DECLARED OF BILL CLINTON, "HE DID THE SAME THING TO US THAT HE DID TO MONICAL LEWINSKY."
 
WHILE JESUS HATERS LIKE ALEXANDER COCKBURN CHUCKLE OVER THAT OFFENSIVE REMARK BEING MADE IN CHURCH, THESE REPORTERS HAVE TO PROVIDE BASIC SEX ED BECAUSE SO MANY SEEM NOT TO KNOW THE FACTS OF LIFE.
 
WHAT WRIGHT IS SAYING IS THAT BILL CLINTON PRESENTED HIS DICK TO WRIGHT BECAUSE BILL CLINTON DID NOT 'SCREW' MONICA LEWINSKY.  SO OUR QUESTION TO THE RIGHT-ON-REV IS, "DID YOU LIKE IT?  DID IT TASTE GOOD?  DID YOU CHOW DOWN, BUDDY?  DID YOU GO NOSE-DEEP INTO THE PUBES?  DID YOU SWALLOW?"
 
HAVING GONE INTO THE SEWER IN CHURCH, WRIGHT CAN'T CLAIM THE HIGH GROUND NOW.  HE REVEALED HIMSELF TO BE A SMUT MERCHANT IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD AND HE DEMONSTRATED THAT HE IS IGNORANT OF WHAT A BLOW JOB IS.  SOME IDIOTS MIGHT FIND IT 'AMUSING' BUT IN THE REAL WORLD IT'S ONE MORE REASON YOU DON'T ALLOW THE CHURCH TO DISPENSE SEX ED.
 
IT'S ALSO ANOTHER INDICATION WHY MEN OF THE CLOTH SHOULDN'T TRY TO STEAL JOKES FROM WOODY ALLEN'S ANNIE HALL -- IT WILL ALWAYS BACKFIRE.  CHOW DOWN ON THAT, REV. WRIGHT.
 
 
 
Starting with war resisters, Courage to Resist has posted a number of interviews with war resisters.  Today we'll focus on their interview with Brandon Hughey who spoke of how he turned against the illegal war, advised his superior of it and finally took matters into his own hands by checking out from Fort Hood for 28 days (starting in January 2004) "to see if maybe they would boot me out.  Once I go AWOL and once I show that I'm not a 'good soldier' maybe they'd just boot me out.  So I came back in 28 days, instead of kicking me out of the army they said, 'We're glad to have you back. We're going to give you extra duty and dock your pay. But I suggest you pack your backs and start getting ready to go to Iraq.'  So basically that idea I had backfired.  I had tried to get myself booted out and even that didn't work.  So at that point, I began to feel like I was trapped.  There was no way out."
 
Courage to Resist: And none of your superiors ever informed you of Conscientious Objector status?
 
Brandon Hughey: No, I had never even heard of that.  I didn't even know that existed until I after I came to Canada.
 
Courage to Resist: So you were told to get ready to ship out to Iraq after being AWOL for 28 days?  What did you do then?
 
Brandon Hughey: Basically, I began to think of what other options I had to get out of the military.  You know, I couldn't really think of anything.  I tried going AWOL and coming back, at that point I just felt trapped.  I had remembered that tens of thousands of people had come up -- during Vietnam -- had come up to Canada and I thought at the time, 'Maybe as a last resort option I could leave the country?" And so I kept that in the back of my mind and when I realized that, you know, there didn't seem like any other way I could get out I began to feel like, "Okay, leaving the country is an option." So, at that point, I began to make plans to go to Canada.
 
Courage to Resist:  How did you prepare yourself to make this huge decision?
 
Brandon Hughey:  I was just going to pack my bags and drive myself there -- try to set aside whatever money I could and hopefully have enough to get myself started in a new life and a new country.  I really didn't have much a plan because I didn't know what I was getting myself into.   And that was pretty much it.
 
Courage to Resist: And when did you actually make the move?
 
Brandon Hughey: I came up in March of 2004, when I arrived. 
 
Courage to Resist: Did you make contact right away with anybody with the War Resisters Support Campaign or any other resisters.
 
Brandon Hughey: Well the War Resisters Support Campaign hadn't been formed yet when I arrived.  But I was staying with a Quaker family for a few months when I first arrived.  So the Quaker community did a lot and they, you know, they did a lot to support me.  That was really my first support network when I came to Canada. 
 
Courage to Resist's audio interviews are part of their ongoing Audio Project.
 
A number of war resisters have gone to Canada and attempted to be granted asylum.
November 15th, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the appeals of  war resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey.  Parliament is the solution.Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. Both War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist are calling for actions from January 24-26.  The War Resisters Support Campaign has more on the action in Canada:
 
The War Resisters Support Campaign has called a pan-Canadian mobilization on Saturday, January 26th, 2008 to ensure :
1) that deportation proceedings against U.S. war resisters currently in Canada cease immediately; and 2) that a provision be enacted by Parliament ensuring that U.S. war resisters refusing to fight in Iraq have a means to gain status in Canada.
For listings of local actions, see our Events page. If you are able to organize a rally in your community, contact the Campaign -- we will list events as details come in.
 
 
Join and support January 25 vigils and delegations in support of U.S. war resisters currently seeking sanctuary Canada. Actions are being planned in Washington D.C., New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Supporters will meet with officials at Canadian Consulates across the United States in order underscore that many Americans hope that the Canadian Parliament votes (possible as early as February) in favor of a provision to allow war resisters to remain. Download and distribute Jan. 25-26 action leaflet (PDF).
Supporting the war resisters in Canada is a concrete way to demonstrate your support of the troops who refuse to fight. Help end the war by supporting the growing GI resistance movement today!
Organize a delegation to a Canadian Consulate near you .
Host an event or house-party in support of war resisters.
 
 
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.



Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
 
 

 
In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.

 
March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'."
 
And the war drags on and on.  Nancy A. Youssef (McClatchy Newspapers) pieces together several press conferences to explain, "Gates and top uniformed officers sketched out a plan that runs counter to pledges by Democratic presidential contenders to bring about a rapid drawdown of the U.S. military presence in Iraq" and cites Lt. General Raymond Odierno (the number two) declaring that it "could be five to 10 years" that the US forces remain in Iraq.  Ann Scott Tyson (Washington Post) observes, "Senior U.S. military officials projected yesterday that the Iraqi army and police will grow to an estimated 580,000 members by the end of the year but that shortages of key personnel, equipment, weaponry and logistical capabilities mean that Iraq's security forces will probably require U.S. military support for as long as a decade."  Julian E. Barnes (Los Angeles Times) reminds, "Iraq's defense minister, Abdul-Qader Mohammed Jassim Mifarji, has said Iraqi forces will not be able to assume responsibility for internal security until 2012 or be able to defend the country's borders before 2019."
 
In the face of that, the alleged 'anti-war groups' cave again.  They aren't anti-war groups, they aren't peace groups.  They are Win Without War and all the other useless groups that do nothing to end the illegal war. Nothing the reports of the cave, PR Watch explains that "Ryan Grim reports that the biggest and best-funded organizations in the liberal peace movement, primarily MoveOn and the groups in its Americans Against Escalation in Iraq (AAEI) coalition, are no longer advocating that Congress end the war. This year "the groups instead will lower their sights and push for legislation to prevent President Bush from entering into a long-term agreement with the Iraqi government that could keep significant numbers of troops in Iraq for years to come. ... The groups believe this switch in strategy can draw contrasts with Republicans that will help Democrats gain ground in November." AAEI's PR spokesperson, Moira Mack of Hildebrand Tewes Consulting, called it "the perfect legislative opportunity." In other words, as Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber pointed out last March, for MoveOn and other Democrat-aligned peace groups it's not about ending the war, it's about electing Democrats. Most of the tens of millions of dollars that MoveOn and AAEI have spent lobbying and organizing for "peace" has been directed at pressuring and embarrassing pro-war Republicans, while the Democratic Congress has continued to fund the war and pro-war Democrats have generally been given a pass."  All those 'groups' have to offer is silent vigils and online petitions.  And we've seen serveral years before.
 

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Thursday, January 17, 2008

THIS JUST IN! LOOK WHO GOT INTO BED WITH RONNIE!

 
ALWAYS IN NEED OF A NEW MASK, SENATOR BARACK OBAMA PROVED THAT HE WOULD GLADLY AND WILLINGLY SPIT ON THE LEGACY OF MLK AS HE WENT TO TOWN SINGING THE PRAISES OF REPUBLICAN RONALD REAGAN ("CHANGED THE TRAJECTORY OF AMERICA!" "PUT US ON A FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT PATH BECAUSE THE COUNTRY WAS READY FOR IT!") BECAUSE . . .  WELL HE SHAPE SHIFTS AND MORPHS DEPENDING ON HIS AUDIENCE.
 
BY APPLAUDING AND ENDORSING RONALD REAGAN, BY EMBARCING REAGAN, BAMBI WAS DECLARING
 
 
 
*THAT HE HATES GAY PEOPLE! (UNLESS IT'S A FRIEND OF NANCY'S LIKE WILLIE HAINES, IN WHICH CASE, HE'LL TOLERATE THEM AT PARTIES.)
 
 
 
 
IN YET ANOTHER APPEAL TO REASSURE WHITE VOTERS THAT HIS 1/2 WHITE SIDE IS RACIST ENOUGH FOR BOTH SIDES -- HENCE HIS MADE UP STORY ABOUT READING ABOUT AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN MAN WHO PEELED OFF HIS OWN SKIN --  BAMBI ELECTED TO 'HONOR' RONALD REAGAN ON THE DAYS BETWEEN MLK'S ACTUAL BIRTHDAY AND MLK'S BIRTHDAY OBSERVED -- THE LATTER WOULD BE THE FEDERAL HOLIDAY THAT RONALD REAGAN OPPOSED BUT WAS FORCED TO GO ALONG WITH DUE TO A VETO-PROOF VOTE IN CONGRESS.
 
"THERE'S NOTHING THAT CANDIDATE WON'T DO," SNICKERED THE BAMBI CAMPAIGN'S DAVID AXLEROD.
 
"I CAN'T BELIEVE," HE CONTINUED, "HILLARY CLINTON WOULD SING RONALD REAGAN'S PRAISES.  WHAT A DUMB ASS."
 
WHEN THESE REPORTERS EXPLAINED THAT IT WAS BAMBI, NOT SENATOR CLINTON, SINGING RONALD REAGAN'S PRAISES, AXELROD REPLIED, "WHAT?  WHAT!  NO FAIR!  I KEPT JOHN NICHOLS ON HOLD AND TOLD AMY GOODMAN I'D BOOK HER GUESTS FOR HER LATER!  YOU TRICKED ME! YOU TRICKED ME!"
 
 
 
 
Starting with war resistance.  Today Dee Knight (Workers World) explores an upcoming event and notes war resister Camilo Mejia
 
Mejia spent nine months in military prison from May 2004 to February 2005 for refusing to return to Iraq after his first tour of duty there. He has been speaking and organizing since his release. He was chosen to chair the IVAW National Board at its conference last August. He told WW the organization is growing fast--from about 500 in August to more than 700 now, with members in 48 states, Washington, D.C., Canada, and on numerous bases both here and overseas, including Iraq.
Commenting on the recent mutiny by a platoon of soldiers in Iraq, Mejia said this type of resistance is increasingly common there. "I refused a mission once," he said. "We had watched several of our comrades be killed and wounded. I said no--as squad leader--that I would not allow my guys to be used as bait for some colonel to make general."
 
Camilo Mejia tells his story in Road from Ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia, published last May by The New Press. 
 
War resisters have resisted in a number of ways throughout the Iraq War.  That includes the ones who went to Canada seeking asylum.   November 15th, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the appeals of  war resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey.  Parliament is the solution.Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. Both War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist are calling for actions from January 24-26.  The War Resisters Support Campaign has more on the action in Canada:
 
The War Resisters Support Campaign has called a pan-Canadian mobilization on Saturday, January 26th, 2008 to ensure :
1) that deportation proceedings against U.S. war resisters currently in Canada cease immediately; and 2) that a provision be enacted by Parliament ensuring that U.S. war resisters refusing to fight in Iraq have a means to gain status in Canada.
For listings of local actions, see our Events page. If you are able to organize a rally in your community, contact the Campaign -- we will list events as details come in.
 
 
Join and support January 25 vigils and delegations in support of U.S. war resisters currently seeking sanctuary Canada. Actions are being planned in Washington D.C., New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Supporters will meet with officials at Canadian Consulates across the United States in order underscore that many Americans hope that the Canadian Parliament votes (possible as early as February) in favor of a provision to allow war resisters to remain. Download and distribute Jan. 25-26 action leaflet (PDF).
Supporting the war resisters in Canada is a concrete way to demonstrate your support of the troops who refuse to fight. Help end the war by supporting the growing GI resistance movement today!
Organize a delegation to a Canadian Consulate near you .
Host an event or house-party in support of war resisters.
 
 
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.



Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
 
 

 
In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.

 
March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'."
 
 

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Wednesday, January 16, 2008

THIS JUST IN! JOHN NICHOLS HAS A DREAM!

 
IN A STATE SHE DIDN'T EVEN CAMPAIGN IN, SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON WON 55.4% OF ALL DEMOCRATIC VOTERS.  BARACK OBAMA AND JOHN EDWARDS WERE TOO CHICKEN-SH*T TO STAND UP TO THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL PARTY AND PUT THEIR NAMES ON THE BALLOT AND THAT IS -- PAY ATTENTION LITTLE JEFF SAINT CLARA -- IS A "SCAB.".  THEIR CAMPAIGNS, HOWEVER, DID THROW ALL THEIR WEIGHT INTO GETTING THEIR SUPPORTERS TO VOTE "UNCOMMITTED."
 
IN FACT, DO-NOTHING CHAIR OF THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE JOHN CONYERS ALSO URGED HIS STATE'S VOTERS TO VOTE "UNCOMMITTED."
 
BUT DESPITE THE EFFORTS OF SO MANY, CITIZENS OF MICHIGAN VOTING IN THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY GAVE HILLARY CLINTON -- WHO DID NOT CAMPAIGN IN THE STATE -- THE BIGGEST VICTORY ANY DEMOCRATIC HAS HAD IN A PRIMARY OR CAUCUS THUS FAR THIS YEAR.
 
 
WHEN REACHED FOR COMMENT, NICHOLS TOLD THESE REPORTERS HE WOULD BE HAPPY TO RESPOND TO ANY QUESTIONS PROVIDED WE GAVE HIM ENOUGH TIME TO CALL THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN FOR HIS ANSWERS.
 
HE DID, HOWEVER, AGREE TO ANSWER ONE QUESTION ON HIS OWN: IF YOU COULD BE ANYONE OR ANYTHING ELSE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
 
"THAT'S EASY!" EXCLAIMED NICHOLS.  "I'D BE THE Y-FRONT OF BARACK'S B.V.D.S.  THE INSIDE OF THE Y-FRONT SO I COULD BE WARM AND FRIENDLY AND CLOSER TO MY GOD."
 
 
Starting with war resisters. Heather Wokusch (American Chronicle) notes war resistance in Germany.  She notes Agustin Aguayo's resistance, Clifton Hicks and "John." We noted John when we noted Wokusch's article earlier.  Hicks' story is told in depth in Peter Laufer's Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq.  Hicks would get his CO status after serving in Iraq (twice, his unit made it to Kuwait and were then sent back in instead of heading out of the Mid East as planned).  Hicks shares this story with Laufer:
 
We heard a lot of gunfire up ahead and you could tell it wasn't just a couple AK-47s, it was some U.S. weapon firing back.  We knew somebody was in a fight up there.  We race ahead down the street and there's an 82 Airborne infantry platoon and they're all parked in their Humvees -- about four Humvees packed with guys.  There's a house with the lights on and people are all around the place.  There's a big fuss going on.
 
We pull up and we say, 'What's going on?  We heard some shooting up here.'  And they're like, 'Yeah, we got ambushed just now.'  They started clearing buildings to find out who was firing at them.  They kicked in this first door and there's a wedding party going on.  What they do in Baghdad, when there's a wedding, they shoot into the air.  These people were up on their roof, probably a little sauced up, happy there's a wedding, and I guess Grandpa is up on the roof shooting off his rifle at the same time as this 82nd patrol drives by and is engaged by insurgents from a field.  They returned fire in both directions, and I think most of them returned fire on the wedding party.  They returned fire on the wedding party and they shot three people, three people at a wedding party.  Because somebody was shooting into the air to celebrate, these guys wanted to kill him.   
 
The insurgents were fine, not a scrach on them.  They made it just fine.  The innocent people who were partying, just trying to celebrate a wedding, three of them had been shot.  One man had been shot in the arm, a girl had been shot in the leg, and one younger girl who was about six was dead -- laying on the ground, dead.  She was six years old, laying on the ground, face down, palms up, in a little flowery dress.  She was stone dead.  Mothers and women are all bawling and crying.  The men are all standing in shock.  We bandaged up the one guy.  The one little girl was crying, she was maybe ten, shot in the leg.  Everyone is sitting around like, 'Yeah, they f**king killed some little kid.'  I'm like, 'What the f**k?  That's pretty sh**ty.'        
 
The 82nd called it up to their guys and their command said, 'Charlike Mike [military parlance for 'Continue the mission'], just keep going.'  They packed up and drove off.  So we just hopped in our humvees and we drove off too.  
 
And that was the end of it.  They applied first aid to the people who had been shot.  The girl who was dead, they just left her there on the floor.  We drove off and continued the mission.
 
War resisters have resisted in a number of ways throughout the Iraq War.  That includes the ones who went to Canada seeking asylum.   November 15th, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the appeals of  war resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey.  Parliament is the solution.Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. Both War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist are calling for actions from January 24-26.  The War Resisters Support Campaign has more on the action in Canada:
 
The War Resisters Support Campaign has called a pan-Canadian mobilization on Saturday, January 26th, 2008 to ensure :
1) that deportation proceedings against U.S. war resisters currently in Canada cease immediately; and 2) that a provision be enacted by Parliament ensuring that U.S. war resisters refusing to fight in Iraq have a means to gain status in Canada.
For listings of local actions, see our Events page. If you are able to organize a rally in your community, contact the Campaign -- we will list events as details come in.
 
 
Join and support January 25 vigils and delegations in support of U.S. war resisters currently seeking sanctuary Canada. Actions are being planned in Washington D.C., New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Supporters will meet with officials at Canadian Consulates across the United States in order underscore that many Americans hope that the Canadian Parliament votes (possible as early as February) in favor of a provision to allow war resisters to remain. Download and distribute Jan. 25-26 action leaflet (PDF).
Supporting the war resisters in Canada is a concrete way to demonstrate your support of the troops who refuse to fight. Help end the war by supporting the growing GI resistance movement today!
Organize a delegation to a Canadian Consulate near you .
Host an event or house-party in support of war resisters.
 
Tomorrow (Thursday), Ann Wright (retired State Department, retired US Col.) will have an event for her new book Dissent: Voice of Conscience (Koa Books, out next week) that will benefit Courage to Resist's above campaign.  She will be at Oakland's First Congressional Church on 2501 Harrison along with Daniel Ellsberg.  Dissent: Voices of Conscience, written by Wright and Susan Dixon with an introduction by Ellsberg,
 
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.



Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
 
 

 
In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.

 
March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. 
 
 

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Tuesday, January 15, 2008

DEMOCRACY FOR WHO!

 
 

Democracy For Who! with your hosts Ava and C.I.

Welcome to the "Where is peace?" report, not here, we are Ava and C.I. and we'll turn to headlines.

In news of Iraq we'll note one quick item and then quickly move on.

Now it's time to play our pre-selected unflattering clip of Hillary Clinton. We'll work that clip into a segment later in the show because why play it once when we can offer it twice.

Now we're going to pretend that a US government propaganda institution can testify to the 'fairness' of an election in Kenya.

We go to break with Nina Simone over images because it's MLK Day.

And why doesn't everyone snooze for a bit until we do our required Obama segment.

Wake up, we've got Kevin Alexander Gray.

We'll play dumb while Kevin Alexander Gray (who does not support Obama) says that the Clintons raised the issue of "drugs" and won't point out that Obama wrote about his drug use in two bestselling books and talked about it on Jay Leno's program which we assume someone watches. Gray co-wrote an article that popped up online, far too many places to mention, and made it into print in The Progressive.

We won't ask about that.

We'll continue Little Media's silence on that moment unless and until the Clinton campaign makes a statement -- at which point we'll talk about their "attacks" on Obama.

You know what, it's not worth it to sell our self-respect, so Americans we'll be signing off of Democracy For Who! at the end of this broadcast.

Having just finished a segment where we never asked Gray, while supposedly addressing the South Carolina primary, about his article, about the topic of it, we're ashamed and embarrassed and realize that we've allowed Exception For The Candidate to damage our credibility.

With Marshall Derks, Gray authored "Obama's Big Gay and Black Problem." We apologize to our listeners and viewers for not raising that article with him. From the article:

If Obama doesn't win South Carolina with its large African American voter base the race may be over for him. His poll numbers in South Carolina have been up and down. Right now Clinton appears to have the overall lead in the state as well as with black voters. Clinton also has the edge with black women who regularly vote at a higher rate than black men.
Oddly, Obama threw a premature haymaker but it wasn't aimed at Clinton. The target was the GLBT community. Obama's wild swing involved having four of the most abrasively anti-gay gospel singers represent his campaign on his "Embrace the Courage" gospel music tour in South Carolina. The gay bashing headliners included Reverends Donnie McClurkin and Hezekiah Walker, Pentecostal pastor of Brooklyn mega-church, the Love Fellowship Tabernacle and Mary Mary (a sister act duo).
The Mary Mary sisters compare gays to murderers and prostitutes. In an interview with Vibe magazine, one of the singers said, "They [gays] have issues and need somebody to encourage them like everybody else -- just like the murderer, just like the one full of pride, just like the prostitute."
McClurkin's previous political involvement was performing for George Bush at the Republican National Convention in 2004. Now he's singing for Obama. And, while stumping for the candidate McClurkin didn't just "get on stage, sing, and shut up" as some in the Obama campaign hoped he would do. He sermonized: "God delivered me from homosexuality" - as though one could simply "pray the gay away." The predominately black crowd inside the Township Auditorium in Columbia clapped their approval of McClurkin's message. Meanwhile a small, predominately white group of gay rights supporters picketed outside the venue.

Yeah, that is kind of big news and we never explored it on Democracy For Who! before. We didn't even note the campaign's statement of "We got what we wanted" out of parading homophobia. To do so would mean to indicate that Bambi was anything less than the most innocent and long-lashed candidate ever.

That's why we ignore his runs for the Illinois legislature, that's why we ignore how his campaigns spread rumors about others (most famously to knock out a Democratic rival for the US Senate nomination and then to knock out the only GOP contender he had). Having used personal dirt to his own gain, it's no surprise that he shows no respect, as a law maker, for the victims of sexual assault, is it? Oh, that is a surprise. We forgot to inform our listeners and viewers about that too.

Well, obviously, we threw the LBGT community under the bus. For which we will now ask forgiveness but grasp fully that having repeatedly called out homophobes in the GOP and made jokes, at many public appearances for our book Exception for the Candidate: Why We Want Bambi in the White House, about Jeff Guckertt that possibly the LBGT community will not be quick to forgive us since our lip service has raised the belief that we actually give a damn.

We have no Harvey Milk Day. Outside of AIDs, we really don't focus on LBGT issues on any programs during the year. We do no day, each year, honoring Stonewall. When we report on gays and the military by including the topic in a brief headline sentence or two, we avoid noting Perry Watkins. Telling the people of America about Watkins, and that he served in the US military as an openly gay man for 14 years, that the US courts sided with him, would add another context to the debate ongoing today. But maybe our listeners and viewers would find the topic 'icky' and, besides, how important is the LBGT community any way? We are community radio, just not that community.

That's why we ignored the article Gray had co-written when we had him on our program today. It's not that we support homophobia, it's just we're really not interested in talking about that. Unless it's the GOP. If it's the GOP we can go to town and talk about "those people in the GOP." But the reality of Democratic Bambi using homophobia as a campaign tactic?

If you read our book, Exception For the Candidate, on page 133, you'll see that we clearly outline that a bi-racial man making it into the White House is our goal. Yes, we have also joined the chorus in erasing the strides that the multi-racial movement had made, we've have rendered them invisible and that's outlined in Exception For the Candidate as well, in the introduction, where we declare, "A bi-racial male will be promoted as Black and/or African-American. He and he alone matters more than the 2% of the population that self-identifies as either bi-racial or multi-racial. He matters more than the LGBT community. He matters more than women of all races. He can and must be installed into the White House. It is his due. Or, at least, it is half his due. On the side of his father who willing came to the United States and went to Harvard where he received a doctorate."

Following that guideline outlined in our introduction of Exception For the Candidate, which is out in paperback (we mean "soft cover," but we always say paperback, we don't know why), we also noted our mission as, "Creating silences, where the oppressed voices are, to honor one man's bid for the presidency because, in the end, one man is more important than millions of Americans." We have lived up to that.

We have regularly booked Bambi supporters who denied their support on air. Yesterday, we got into a little bit of trouble with our guest Melissa Harris-Lacewell. We had her on the week prior. On that show she was just a professor helping students get involved in all campaigns. Yesterday, she was a fierce Bambi groupie. And we knew that last week.

Our apologies to our viewers and listeners for not informing them of that fact.

It probably was not fair to allow Harris-Lacewell to plug candidates except Bambi's perceived opponent, Hillary Clinton. And it probably wasn't fair, last week, to allow her to plug Bambi and act like she was just a disinterested professor and he was just one of the many candidates (John Edwards and, to make sure we don't lose our tax free status or being broadcast on NPR and PBS stations, Ron Paul) she happened to catch. Since the press had called the race between Hillary and Bambi, we probably should have at least asked Harris-Lacewell, "Did you catch Senator Clinton speaking at any event?"

We probably should have done that.

Just as, yesterday, we probably should have said, "Wait, hold on, Bambi's getting lynching threats?"

When she paraded that absurd claim, it was probably incumbent on our part to note the parallels to her statement with those who supported Clarence Thomas claiming he was "lynched" in the Senate to shut down his critics. We probably should have pointed out that we seriously doubt anyone's planning to lynch Bambi. But we realize that inflated talk actually serves to stir up anger and stop discussion. We're not really interested in discussion and are fond of starting segments with, "We only have one minute!" But, again, we should have identified her as a strong supporter of Bambi and we failed to do that.

It fits with pattern of allowing Bambi supporters on the program to praise Bambi (sometimes letting them not note that they are indeed already supporting his campaign). It fits with bringing on journalist Glen Ford (Black Agenda Report) who, as far as we actually know, is not supporting any candidate, and -- despite hours of broadcasts featuring Bambi-love -- feeling the need to pit him against a Bambi supporter.

Now we haven't done that when we've acted as a direct echo chamber for The Nation magazine and brought a reporter from there on to discuss their latest slam of Hillary. We haven't felt the need to "host a debate." We've let them launch their attacks and we've grinned and maybe we've giggled a little.

But we couldn't even have Glen Ford on by himself. Glen Ford is an investigative reporter and much more so than either of the Aris at The Nation. He and Bruce Dixon have been covering Barack Obama for years. But we needed a 'debate' with Ford because that's only fair, right?

Hillary gets attacked daily on our show and we bring on journalists to attack her and we feel no need to offer a debate. But when we have Glen Ford on our program, we feel the need to clamp down on his own investigative research by pairing him with a Bambi groupie.

We called it 'balance.' Or maybe we just think the White (and often, yes, Jewish) journalists at The Nation are fair by their very race and the African-American Ford suspect due to his. He must be balanced but the Bermans, et al can drop by any time and we will treat them as if they just won the Pulitzer.

We told Lou Dobbs that we do correct ourselves when a mistake is pointed out to us.

But we've been repeatedly told that Bambi has a post-2002 speech record on Iraq and we pointedly ignore that.

Yesterday, our Bambi-love was so great that we put a woman, a lifelong feminist, into a situation she had spent the bulk of her life avoiding because she knows how that plays outside the feminist community. We truly did ambush journalism yesterday. We threw a woman under the bus and the feminist movement itself and, again, the reasons for that are in our book Exception for the Candidate.

Having gone out of our way to alienate all women, the multi-racial community, the LBGT community and so many more we are left with the fact that the pool of independent media viewers or listeners is now so tiny that there's not much point in going on (although Katrina vanden Heuvel assures us we're a shoe-in for next year's Puffin grant).

Looking at our broadcast history, we grasp our motto should have been: "Creating new silences." We have certainly done that with Bambi. As with the bulk of 'independent media,' we've hated the Clintons for the years. That may confuse some of our most recent viewers and listeners since we went goo-goo over Wesley Clark in a broadcast last year. Early on in our program's history, we called him out regularly but there we were grinning and letting him sidestep questions because, as Cokie Roberts so aptly put it, "I'm a sucker for a man in a uniform."

But we are Clinton haters and we did spend hours on Monica Lewinsky in our program's early history. We invited on the worst of the worst including Mikey Cough-Cough-Turn-Your Head. Clinton and Bambi have no differences on the illegal war. So we have had to work overtime to create differences for them in our "Where is the peace?" report.

We have done that at the expense of the multi-racial community. We have done that at the expense of the LBGT community. We have done that, really, at the expense of all but one community: the community of Barack Obama.

One person matters more than the millions and millions of Americans.

Which is why we repeatedly, including yesterday, press supporters of candidates Edwards and Clinton about their candidates positions on the illegal war -- all three front runners have "positions" and not one steadfast, single position -- and why we avoid ever doing that with Bambi supporters.

Yesterday, we trotted out Hillary on Meet the Press but we never confront Bambi supporters with his quotes. We just grin and nod. And when a student, on the show to explain why her support is so intense for Bambi that she traveled out of state for the New Hampshire primaries, makes a fool of herself by not being able to name even one issue that Bambi connects with her on, we pretend not to notice and move on quickly. We understand the wet panty issue having attended Professor Patti Williams' symposium on "Dampness As The Electoral Pulse."

Creating new silences has been our hallmark and we hoped to continue that. But now, as we grasp that Adam Kokesh was brought onto the program and had to stop us to correct our statements and semi-nicely explain that we didn't know what we're talking about; as we grasp that we didn't, in fact, since we didn't grasp that the military's case against him had already been resolved in a Supreme Court decision during Vietnam; as we grasp that we missed the story of kill-teams in Iraq because we refused to cover the emerging war resisters of 2007; as we grasp that a real left wouldn't have created a "rock star" but should have held all candidates to the fire; as we grasp that the Green Party single debate being reduced to a headline as opposed to an entire show is one more way we have excluded voices; as we grasp that our work in the summer of 2006 did not include coverage of Camp Casey, Abeer or Ehren Watada's Article 32 August hearing; even we are a little disappointed and doubt we can grab the pom-poms tomorrow for another day of "Cheerleading Obama Into The White House."

And so we end Democracy For Who! by answering: Democracy For The Coronation of Barack Obama. He is more important than anything else. He matters more than anything else, more than the millions of people who are distorted and go uncovered. He matters not because he'll end the war (he's refused to pledge that US forces come home by 2013, forget the first year of his term). But who cares about Iraqis anyway?

Usually, on this program, we note Juan Gonzalez columns in The New York Daily News regularly. For some strange reason, despite making Obama a daily topic this week (as with every week), we forgot to note his column from last week: "I smell Barack Obama baloney."

For Democracy For Who!, this has been Ava and C.I.

RECOMMENDED: "Democracy For Who! with your hosts Ava and C.I."
"A judge is assassinated but Little Media shrugs"
"amy goodman provides a forum for attacks"
"Shame on you, Amy Goodman"
"Amy Goodman reveals booking bias for DN!"
"Aura Bogado and hustling the left"
"Amy Goodman joins the Bambi campaign in tossing everyone under the bus"
"Interviewing the anti-woman woman"
"THIS JUST IN! MELISSA ON HER NEW BOOK!"







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Monday, January 14, 2008

THIS JUST IN! MELISSA ON HER NEW BOOK!

 
AFTER JOHN EDWARDS SKIPPED A SCHEDULED INTERVIEW WITH THESE REPORTERS EXPLAINING HE NEEDED TO YET AGAIN PROCLAIM HIS "MAN LOVE" FOR BARACK OBAMA IN PUBLIC, THESE REPORTERS LINED UP AN INTERVIEW WITH NON-SELLING AUTHOR MELISSA HARRIS-LACEWELL
 
MS. HARRIS-LACEWELL, THE TOPICS THAT INTEREST YOU AS AN AUTHOR ARE?
 
MH-L: I'LL GRAB ANY TOPIC THAT'S A STEREOTYPE AND REINFORCE IT BECAUSE I'M REALLY TRYING TO SELL SOME BOOKS.  PEOPLE WILL BUY CRAP IF YOU PACKAGE IT RIGHT!
 
COULD YOU SPEAK OF YOUR STANDARDS AS A WRITER?
 
MH-L: STANDARDS?  I WROTE ABOUT BARBERSHOPS BECAUSE OF THE MOVIE.  GUYS, I'M TELLING YOU, I JUST GRAB A TOPIC, PRETEND I HAVE ONE FRIEND TO TURN TO, PICK UP MY TAPE RECORDER AND DICTATE AS MUCH 'GIRLFRIEND!' TALK AS I CAN FOR 15 MINUTES AND VIOLA! INSTANT CHAPTER!
 
MM-HMM.  WELL ARE YOU INFLUENCED BY THE WORKS OF OTHERS?  NORA ZEAL HURSTON, ALICE WALKER?
 
MH-L: WHO?  I READ JACKIE COLLINS THE BITCH AND THE STUD!  I LOVED THOSE BOOKS!  BUT HOLLYWOOD CHILDREN IS MY IDEA OF CLASSIC LITERATURE.
 
WHAT ABOUT NTOZAKE SHANGE?
 
MH-L: IS THAT AN ITEM YOU ORDER OFF THE MENU?
 
SHE WROTE FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF.  YOUR BOOK YOU'VE WORKED OVER A YEAR ON AND NOT FINISHED IS ENTITLED FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO'VE CONSIDERED POLITICS WHEN BEING STRONG WASN'T ENOUGH.
 
MH-L: OH THAT.  YEAH.  I HEARD THE TITLE OF THAT BOOK --
 
IT WAS A PLAY.
 
MH-L: WHATEVER, YOU KNOW.  I'M ALL ABOUT "EVERYDAY TALK."  I SAW THAT TITLE ON A T-SHIRT AND TOLD MYSELF, "GIRLFRIEND, THERE'S YOUR NEXT BOOK!"  COULD YOU PUT IN THAT I SAID "GIRLFRIEND, THERE'S YOUR NEXT BOOK!" WITH A HEAD ROLL.  I THINK MY STEREOTYPICAL WRITING WILL SELL BETTER IF I AM PRESENTED AS A STEREOTYPE.
 
ON DEMOCRACY NOW! TODAY, WHEN NOT ATTACKING, OR MAYBE IN YOUR CONTINUED ATTACKING, YOU SPOKE OF "LONNIE GUINIER."
 
MH-L: I LOVE LONNIE!
 
IS "LONNIE GUINIER" ACTUALLY LANI GUINIER?
 
MH-L: WHO?
 
YOU SAID "LONNIE," NOT "LANI."  DID YOU MEAN "LANI"?
 
MH-L: LOOK I THINK THAT'S A DIVISIVE QUESTION.  WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A "LONNIE GUINIER" AND A "LANI GUINIER" YOU ARE BEING DIVISIVE.
 
WELL GENDER IS A DIFFERENCE.
 
MH-L: AS I SAID YOU ARE BEING DIVISIVE.
 
LET'S TALK ABOUT THE ILLEGAL WAR.  YOUR CANDIDATE, WHO YOU TOLD BILL MOYERS IN MAY OF 2007 WOULD NOT BE ELECTED PRESIDENT IN 2008 BUT YOU "WOULD LOVE TO SEE HIM AS VICE PRESIDENT BECAUSE MY BET IS THAT HE COULD WIN EIGHT YEARS LATER" --
 
MH-L: I NEVER SAID THAT!
 
MAY 2007, YOU SAID IT.  BACK TO THE ISSUE OF THE ILLEGAL WAR --
 
MH-L: BARACK OBAMA WAS AGAINST THE WAR IN 2002, HE GAVE A WONDERFUL SPEECH WHERE HE CALLED THE WAR "DUMB" -- NOT ILLEGAL LIKE YOU TWO KEEP DOING.  IT WAS "DUMB."  THAT'S WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE WAR, IT WAS DUMB.  WHEN BARACK IS PRESIDENT HE WILL FIGHT IT SMART AND WE WILL KICK SOME IRAQI ASS!  THAT'S WHY HE TELLS PEOPLE HE IS NOT SURE HOW HE WOULD HAVE VOTED IN 2002 IF HE HAD BEEN IN THE SENATE.  HE SAID IT IN 2004 TO THE NEW YORK TIMES, HE SAID IT IN 2006 TO THE NEW YORKER.  AND LIKE A GOOD WAR HAWK HE HAS REPEATEDLY VOTED FOR THE ILLEGAL WAR SINCE BEING IN THE SENATE IN 2005.  KILL IRAQIS!  YEAH!  YEAH!  THAT'S WHY I AM FOR BARACK!  THAT'S WHY I LOVE BARACK!  KILL!  KILL!  KILL SMART!  KILL SMART! 
 
AT WHICH POINT THE 'PROFESSOR' ENDED THE INTERVIEW ABRUPTLY.  THE 'PROFESSOR''S FORTHCOMING BOOK MAY BE OUT THIS YEAR OR NEXT OR THE YEAR AFTER.
 
 
Turning to US political news, today on Democracy Now! a debate was hosted on gender and race.  It's appalling that this passes for an issue, it's appalling that DN! took part in that nonsense.  A discussion on the intersection of race and gender would have been more than fine.  The refusal of DN! and every other public affairs program to address gender will never apparently deemed a topic worthy in an of itself.  So today we got a White feminist and an African-American non-feminist woman pitted against one another.  It was not a proud moment for public affairs broadcasting. 
 
I found it personally offensive and I am very angry that we have to use the snapshot to address it.  However, we reached a record number of e-mails on this with members outraged.  Including everyone's comments would be impossible.  A committee was created quickly composed of Gina, Krista, Liang, Keesha, Martha, Ava, Kat, Maria and myself.  As we went through the e-mails and then grouped together on the phone to discuss them the key points were:
 
* It is offensive that Democracy Now! pitted two women against one another in a sort of CrossFire match up.  What was needed was a discussion on gender.  Gender is a discussion that may get a segment once a year on Democracy Now! if that.  We are not referring to the overt attacks on women worldwide, we are talking about very real gender issues in this country.  By contrast, racism is noted repeatedly each year on Democracy Now!
 
* While we're fully aware that it takes an idiot to front a racism charge against Gloria Steinem, there's no need to present an idiot in debate.  There are many feminists of many races who could have been brought on.  Some of whom may in fact disagree with Gloria.  That's fine.  There's no question that their sincere in their support for women.  It would be equally true of those women that they knew history.  Putting on a woman uneducated in women's history -- which is what happened -- is an embarrassment in and of itself.
 
* Amy Goodman (unlike Juan Gonzalez) continues to allow the hype of Barack Obama to be flashed on the program without question.  On Iraq, Gloria was questioned about Hillary's record and quotes from Hillary were provided.  No such thing happened with Obama.  In 2004, he told the New York Times he didn't know how he would have voted if he'd been in the Senate in 2002, he told the same thing in 2006 to The New Yorker, he told a Chicago townhall (which no one has picked up on outside this community), after he was in the Senate, why he wouldn't advocate for withdrawal.  Amy Goodman has one set of standards for the candidate Hillary Clinton and has no standards at all for Obama based upon the fact that Bambi supporters are NEVER asked about the illegal war.  That was true last week as well with the debate there.  Goodman repeatedly avoided asking the pro-Bambi guest on the issue of the war.
 
* The whole thing was an embarrassment for women because it pitted two women against one another and seemed to whip up a desire for a 'cat fight.'  It was offensive.  It was offensive that a woman who knew nothing was allowed to attack Gloria Steinem. It was offensive that feminism is only a topic we can get coverage of from DN! if there's a hope of a 'cat fight.'  It was offensive that after having published in the skin magazine by the pervert (L.F.) regularly featured on Demcracy Now!, this is seen by some as Goodman's contribution to womanhood.
 
* As the e-mails were too large even for all of us to read any member wanting their comments noted should contact Gina and Krista for the gina & krista round-robin by Wednesday.  After Wednesday, you should contact Polly or Maria, Francisco or Miguel and it will run in Polly's Brew or El Espirito on Sunday.  Hilda will comment on the nonsense tomorrow in Hilda's Mix.
 
To address it today, and we have to address it because that b.s. passing off as a public affairs has enraged this community, it was decided Betty and Keesha were the go-to voices because they have regularly addressed race and gender and are feminists. These are the comments they made
 
Betty wants noted, "Professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell, you're an 'author' the way a porn maker is a film maker.  Your book titles are nothing but rip-offs of popular culture, you're unable to make an argument in book form that's of interest without ripping off others.  You're a Barack lover.  You are complicit in oppressing other Black women and I will hold you accountable.  You insulted, you distorted, you flat out lied.  You shame not just yourself, you shame my race and you went on with a set of talking points -- all distortions -- but you're the water carrier for the Bambi campaign.  If you are indeed a Black woman, as opposed to bi- or multi-racial, it's really sad to know that one of my own would lie so loudly and so cravenly in public to advance the needs of a bi-racial man at the expense of all women.  Get a life, write a real book, one that has a real title and not your pop-culture rip offs.  Educate yourself and learn history, you stupid, stupid woman.  On Sunday, I quoted the same thing Gloria Steinem today, from Sojourner Truth.  You're nothing but a ditzy, pop-culture faux academic and you're being sent out to trash a woman. You are disgusting.  Save your soul, it's too late for your self-respect." 
 
Keesha wants noted, "The woman is an idiot, an ahisotrical idiot, who is having an argument with Gloria Steinem -- when she finally gets to anything resembling an actual issue -- that is an argument with Betty Friedan.  Dumb Ass Professor, learn your history, you dumb disgrace.  Steinem was the one pushing sisterhood of all, races and sexuality, Betty Friedan was the one running from both and she did nothing but push middle-class, White women.  Steinem regularly toured as a part of a team and did so in order that the Black feminist experience would be and could be heard not as a sidenote but front and center in the feminism debate.  Steinem is not the one you have an argument with and there is no excuse for your shameful ignorance on feminism except that you are not one.  You also say Steinem wrote an 'op-ed' when she wrote a column -- one more indication of how lacking your pathetic education has been.  As for your laughable column you reference, it should have resulted in dumb threats.  I am the one who led the argument at this site for the closing of the comments and the comments were closed off when I was insulted by 'Blue Dog Democrats' who haunted the site.  I was insulted and degraded both for my gender and my race.  It wasn't one or the other, it was both.  You seem highly ignorant of that.  If you want sympathy for death threats, you've come to the wrong community.  Ava and C.I. have received threats of being gutted with knives for TV reviews -- for TV reviews -- and Betty had to step away from her e-mails due to the fact that her humor site was resulting in so many e-mails.  You don't know anything and you're nothing but a woman making herself pathetic to prop up a man who is not Black, he is bi-racial.  He has played the race card and you lie about that.  He is a War Hawk and you lie about that.  You are either the most uneducated woman put on a television as a professor or you are a liar.  Regardless you are a disgrace and you need to learn a little history before you speak in public again.  Whites should also be offended by your remarks and, were I a White who sent my child to Princeton, I would be on the phone complaining to the president of your university about your characterization of students where you teach.  You are pathetic, and you've been working on your latest bad book -- I read your first, cut & paste journalism at its best passed off as an exploration -- throughout 2007.  Focus on finishing that bad book and spare us all the embarrassment of flaunting your ignorance in public over the airwaves.  My comment to Amy Goodman: I want a discussion on gender.  I want women in the studio.  I want to see as many races as possible and I want women there to discuss women, not to act as help-mates and cheerleaders for men."
 
Note the name Keesha mentioned is not mentioned here at any other time.  She is referred to as The Ego Of Us All here.  Because of her racism and homophobia we do not note her by name even when she passed away.  (The Ego Of Us All is a jab at her giant ego and noting that, no, she is not the mother of us all.)  Because Keesha included the woman's name in her comments, her name appears today.  It will not ever appear here again.
 
 
[. . .]
 
 

 
In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.

 
March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. 
 
 

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