ON TUESDAY, CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O INSULTED THE NATION OF POLAND AND ESPECIALLY THOSE MANY POLES WHO RISKED THEIR LIVES IN THE RESISTANCE DURING WORLD WAR II. THE WORDS WERE BEYOND STUPID, THEY WERE INSULTING.
AND LITTLE MR. PRETTY WORDS WHO HAS NO PROBLEM GOING BEFORE LEADERS AND TRASHING AMERICA'S PAST CAN'T FIND THE WORDS "I'M SORRY" FOR HIS OWN DAMN ACTIONS.
WHAT HE SAID WAS INSULTING -- GROSSLY INSULTING. HE HAS OUTRAGED THE NATION OF POLAND. AND YET THE LITTLE PRINCESS WON'T SAY HE'S SORRY.
THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WITH LITTLE BOYS WHO ARE TREATED PRINCESSES ALL THEIR LIFE, THEY START THINKING THEY DON'T HAVE TO SAY THEY'RE SORRY FOR ANYTHING.
IT'S A REAL SHAME THERE WAS NO STRONG MALE IN YOUNG BARRY O'S LIFE. HE COULD HAVE TALKED HIM THAT THE EASIEST WAY TO LOOK LIKE A PUNK ASS WAS TO REFUSE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS AND APOLOGIZE WHEN YOU MADE A MISTAKE.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
The Honorable Jonathan Sumption is not
only a judge (Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom), he's
also a historian. Earlier this month, he delivered a [PDF format
warning] speech to the London School of Economics' Department of Government
The
extreme case is of course the choice between peace and war. In
reviewing the military interventions of the English government, the
courts have arrived at a position practically indistinguisable from the
old non-justiciability rule, although justified on a different basis.
The legality of the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq in 2003 was, to put
it mildly, a matter of some controversy everywhere outside the United
States. The great majority of international lawyers of repute
considered it to be contrary to international law, in the absence of the
United Nations authority and did not accept that any of the relevant
resolutions conferred that authority. The United States was inclined to
respond to this difficulty in the way that the British had done at the
time of the Suez crisis of 1956, by simply ignoring it. In 1956, the
Attorney-General, Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller and the
Solicitor-General Sir Harry Hilton-Foster, both supported the invasion
politically although both believed and told the Prime Minister that it
was illegal. The Chief of Imperial General Staff, Sir Gerald Templer,
issued the deployment orders without troubling himself with the legal
issue. These are attitudes characteristic of an imperial power, and we
should not be particularly surprised to find them adopted by the United
States. It is a sign of how far the climate of British opinion had
changed by 2003 that the Chiefs of Staff required an assurance from the
Attorney-General that operations in Iraq were lawful. They famously
received one that had been prepared on a basis not wholly consistent
with his previously expressed views and supported by reasoning which
provoked the resignation of one of the Foreign Office legal advisers and
was rejected by every serious authority on international law.
And on empires, we'll move to the latest broadcast of David Swanson's Talk Nation Radio which features Marcy Winograd. Excerpt.
David
Swanson: You have left the fold of the Democratic Party and gone to the
Green Party and after having been a candidate for Congress in
Democratic primaries and done remarkably well against a well funded
incumbent as a peace candidate. Why the -- Why the decision to go to
the Green Party?
Marcy
Winograd: David, it wasn't an easy decision and it was one I wrestled
with for probably quite some time. But at the end of the day, the short
answer is that I really didn't want to be aligned with a War Party any
longer. Even if you're an insurgent in that war party, you're still in
it. And as an insurgent, I challenged Jane Harman she was a big Hawk,
supporter of the military industrial complex, I was on the floor of the
Democratic Party convention in California introducing resolutions to
end the war, the assault on Iraq. I was shut down, quoroms were called,
quorom called, I introduced resolutions to censure senators like Dianne
Feinstein when she waffled on whether water boarding was torture. There
are many struggles to engage in as an insurgent within a party and I'm
not saying that they're not worthy and that they're not of great
value but at this point in my life, I really want to live inside my
skin. I want to be authentic. And I also want to look towards the
future. Face it, the American Empire is declining. This is it. We are
collpasing. And we are watching the collapse of the US Empire. How
long did it take other countries? Well ou know for some it took a
century. For others it took just a few years. Look at the Soviet
Union. Two years for the Soviet Union to collapse. A year for
Portugal, 8 years for France. 17 years for Great Britain. There are
historians. I interviewed one on [KPFK] Connect the Dots, Dr. Alfred McCoy who wrote in The Nation
magazine who predicts that by 2025 it's over. Just 15 years from now,
the empire will be over. So given that, the US Empire, with its military
bases in 3/4 of the countries in the world is just not sustainable.
It's imperative that we look to our future and embrace something
positive. We know what we don't want. What do we want? And that's what
attracted me to the Green Party.
David
Swanson: Well clearly the US Empire could end in a variety of ways --
some softer and easier than others. Do you think that the Democratic
Party and, in particular, President Obama are better or worse or about
the same in relationship to the Republican Party and George W. Bush in
terms of the manner in which the empire is over-extending itself and
moving towards its collapse? In other words, would we be better off in
these final years of empire to have the Democrats doing it or the
Republicans?
Marcy
Winograd: That's a very tough question, isn't it? I know that I will
not be voting for Barack Obama for president. And I did support him when
he ran previously. But this time I am going to be voting for the Green
Party nominee because I really do want a different vision for our
country and now's the time for us to speak out and say this is the
alternative vision: a party of non-violence, a party that opposes
weapon sales to other countries, a party that wants to build
sustainable communities and invest in our communities, not extract
wealth and send jobs to other countries. I think, at the end of the day,
that it's very dangerous to have somebody in the White House who people
don't necessarily who people don't necessarily know or understand and
who may project an image of concilation and partnership but in reality
is escalating what began under former President George Bush. I'm
talking about this "war on terror." Right after Obama took office, he
escalated the drone attacks on Pakistan. We now have an increase
in Joint-Special Operations Command Forces in other countries -- from 60
countries under Bush to 75 countries. We have codified indefiniate
detention, extraordinary rendetion and targeted assassination. We have
moved beyond what was considered under the Bush administration as an
order for hot pursuit. In other words, if somebody attacked us or an
ally, we could cross a border in hot pursuit. Now the whole world is a
war theater under Barack Obama. So I'm afraid that under the Democratic
leadership -- both in Congress and in the White House -- we are not
seeing what we think we want to see or what we think we are seeing.
Instead, we're seeing increased militarism. So I think it's very
dangerous to think that this is an alternative path. In fact, I think
under President Obama, we've seen the Democrats able to advance a
Republican agenda, at least on the foreign policy side, at least better
than the Republicans could.
"Download or get embed code from Archive.org or AudioPort or LetsTryDemocracy or RadioProject."
I really am surprised by Marcy's news and will assume others are as
well. Who's running in the Green Party for the presidential
nomination? A press release from the Green Party of Michigan answers that question:
For Immediate Release:
Green Party of Michigan Presidential Nominating Convention Saturday
Mt.
Pleasant) - This Saturday marks the beginning of the Green Party's
nominating convention at the university's campus in Mt. Pleasant which
will last through Sunday afternoon. Excitement for the event has been
building for months as the presidential candidates have been
particularly exciting among members this year.
Dr. Jill Stein of Massachusetts has been travelling throughout the country to stand in
solidarity
with Occupy movements, to speak at Green conventions and events and has
most recently walked with those protesting the PGA in Benton Harbor. A
long-time activist and dedicated member of the Green Party, Dr. Stein is
currently the forerunner in the nomination pool.
Comedienne and activist Roseanne Barr of California has likewise been a long-time
supporter of grassroots movements. Her rallies in California have drawn hundreds of
supporters. Although she was the last candidate to announce her running, she has made a
strong showing in state polls.
Dr. Kent Mesplay of California was the first to announce his candidacy and has
remained a strong contender as a long-time Green. Having also vied for the presidential
nomination
in 2008, he is the candidate with the most experience. As the son of
missionaries, he grew up alongside native peoples in a nature-centered
environment. This has shaped the focus of his message.
The three contenders for the presidential nomination will be speaking remotely at the
convention on Saturday afternoon. Candidates for state and some local offices will also be
nominated this weekend. The straw poll for the presidential nomination will take place on
Saturday
with the results being announced on Sunday. The decision of the straw
poll will guide the choice the delegates will make at the National
Convention in Baltimore, MD on July 12-15.
Highlights of the convention will also include entertainment Saturday evening by musical
acts Stephen Colarelli, a singer/songwriter, Rope and the Rulers, and Poor Player.
The Members of the Green Party of Michigan have been active in petition drives to have
several
critical issues placed on the November ballot including the Emergency
Manager repeal which was thrown out on a questionable technical
objection and the current ban on fracking petition gaining strength and
support throughout the state.
If you are interested in becoming a member of the Green Party or want to learn more
about our key values, see our webpage: www.migreens.org.
###
For more information, please contact
Convention organizer and Green Party Co-chair Fred Vitale: freddetroit@sbcglobal.net
or Green Party Elections Coordinator John A La Pietra: jalp@triton.net
Your
vote is your vote. Use it as you want. Like Marcy, I cannot vote for
Barack Obama. I don't reward War Hawks. As I've stated before, I think
I'll just sit out the voting for that office. That's what I'm doing,
you do what you want, if you're voting you're an adult so you should be
able to figure out who speaks to you (if anyone does) and vote (or vote
by not voting) accordingly. (And for more on the Green Party race, you
can refer to this post by Ian Wilder at On The Wilder Side.)
Today the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) released "Report on Human Rights in Iraq: 2011." As with the Iraq section of the US State Dept's 2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released last week, UNAMI's findings weren't pretty.
But
it's difficult to tell who's the bigger joke: Nouri al-Maliki or the
UN. Martin Kolber is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Envoy
to Iraq. Having sat through Martin Kobler's presentation to the UN Security Council April 10th
and seeing the single sentence that couldn't use the term "gay" but
hinted that the targeting of Emo and LGBT youth (and those perceived as
such) would be addressed in the report (the one released today), this
report's an embarrassment.
Recommended: "Iraq
snapshot"
"Nouri blames Arabs again (not one word about Iran)..."
"Julian Assange's attorneys appeal"
"Student loans"
"666 Park Avenue"
"6 men, 0 women"
"media whore kelly mcevers"
"Public radio?"
"Reviews"
"Watch your own kid"
"Public transportation"
"Syria"
"The cheat sheet"
"Nut up and apologize, you little candy ass"
"THIS JUST IN! HE'S A COWARD AND DUMB ASS!"
"Nouri blames Arabs again (not one word about Iran)..."
"Julian Assange's attorneys appeal"
"Student loans"
"666 Park Avenue"
"6 men, 0 women"
"media whore kelly mcevers"
"Public radio?"
"Reviews"
"Watch your own kid"
"Public transportation"
"Syria"
"The cheat sheet"
"Nut up and apologize, you little candy ass"
"THIS JUST IN! HE'S A COWARD AND DUMB ASS!"