BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE
CNN JUST RATED CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O "MISLEADING." THE WALL STREET JOURNAL CALLS HIM A "GLOBAL HAS BEEN."
BUT DON'T WORRY, BARRY O HAS A PLAN: DOUBLE DOWN ON THE YOUTH VOTE.
AND WHY NOT?
WITH YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AT AN ALL TIME HISTORICAL LOW, SURELY THIS IS A GROUP THAT SEES BARRY O AS A LEADER, RIGHT?
IN RELATED NEWS, DAVID AXLEROD WAS ADMITTED TO A D.C. EMERGENCY ROOM LAST NIGHT FOLLOWING AN OVERDOSE OF TUMS WHILE GASPING, "WHY? WHY?"
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Iraq Veterans Against the War's Jose Vasquez notes that Joshua Casteel has passed away afte battling lung cancer. In 2008, Claire Schaeffer-Duffy (National Catholic Reporter) noted Casteel was "an Evangical Christian" who became a conscientious objector and appeared in the documentary Soldiers of Conscience. From the November 16, 2006 snapshot:
Starting with Ehren Watada -- the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. Last week,
the US military announced they would move to court-martial Watada. The
court-martial is expected to take place early next year. Last night,
Watada appeared on CNN's Paula Zahn Now program. Speaking to Zahn, Watada explained
how, as late as September 2005, he was willing to go to Iraq (and had
volunteered to deploy with any unit) but "then I began findout out
some things about how possibly that our government could have misled,
not only the Congress, but also the public, and the world as to the
reasons why we were going to Iraq, and there were never any weapons of
mass destruction, there were never any ties to al Qaeda or ties to
9/11. And I just -- at that point, I personally felt very betrayed as a
soldier, willing to put my life on the line and willing to order
soldiers to do the same, that we were sent to go and fight a war were
the reasons were falsified."
After Watada's appearance, Zahn had a panel discussion. Joshua Casteel noted
"the Uniform Code of Military Justice tells us two things. One is that
we have an obligation to obey all lawful orders, but we also have an
obligation to disobey all unlawful orders, and -- which includes
disobeying orders that are unlawful, even if they come from the
President of the United States. Article Six, Paragraph Two of the
United States Constitution dictates that treaties that the United States
signs on to are to be considered the laws of the land, including among
them, the Hague Convention on Land Warfare of 1899, the Neruember
Principles, which in 1953, the Department of Defense declared to be
official policy. And Justice Jackson, who's the chief . . ." Zahn
interrupts to ask if Watada's stand is "justified." Castell replies,
"He is one of the few examples of moral courage that we have in the
midst of plenty of individuals who show physical courage to go to Iraq
and sacrifice for their country. But what we need right now are moral
leaders. And Lieutenant Watada is an example of the kind of leadership
that reminds us of our better nature and the aspirations of the United
States Constitution."
Jose Vasquez notes Joshua
was at his friend Ricky Clousing's side when Ricky turned himself in
August 2006. In addition to speaking up for others who took brave
stands, Joshua Casteel also inspired many people like Logan
Mehl-Laituri, the author of the new book Reborn on the Fourth of July: The Challenge of Faith, Patriotism & Conscience.
Joshua Casteel took part in IVAW's historic Winter Soldier in March
2008 and he took part in many other truth telling events.
Jose
Vasquez points out, "Joshua believed his illness was a result of his
service in Iraq where he was exposed to the toxic fumes from burn pits
and had sumbitted a compensation claim with the Veterans
Administration." Veterans for Peace's Mike Wong notes,
"I remember so well standing behind and to the left of Joshua and
watching him as he spoke at Ricky Clousing's press conference. He spoke
the truth so clearly and without hesitation. He accomplished so much
in his short life and will be sorely missed. Thank you, thank you for
all you have given, Joshua."
Yesterday
Joshua went home to meet his Heavenly father and to embrace again his
earthly father. We miss him with all of our hearts and every ounce of
our beings. We cling to the promise that we will see him again. His
body is healed and for that we rejoice.
When
we finalize plans for his memorial service and celebration of his life
we will post more information. Thank you all -- Rebekah
The
Republican National Convention is underway in Tampa. Today former US
Secretary of State and former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
got a little attention today. Mike Schneider (AP) reports CODEPINK's Medea Benjamin and other members announced they were present -- brandishing handcuffs -- to arrest Rice. Tom Pennington (Getty Images) has a photo of CODEPINK with signs here.
Yesterday's snapshot noted War Criminal Tony Blair:
Now Tony's off to South Africa and Money Web reports a
protest is planned for Johannesburg and quotes the president of the Al
Jama-ah political party Ganief Hendricks stating, "The democration is
being held to support a warrant of arrest to charge him for crimes
against humanity relating to the invasion of Iraq which led to the
killings of millions of Iraqis." Arrest Blair For Crimes Against Peace notes his scheduled appearance in Johannesburg at the Discovery Invest Leadership Summit on Thursday and the site reminds: [. . .]
As
Tony Blair prepares to speak at the Discovery Leadership Summitt in
Johannesburg Thursday where the War Criminal will be pocketing a large
sum of money for speaking, people prep for a protest and a possible
citizen's arrest. SAPA notes,
"Attempts to arrest him have been made in China outside the Chilcot
Inquiry into the Iraq war and the European Parliament; and in Dublin,
Ireland." Whatever happens on Thursday, War Criminal Blair's impact is
already being felt.
BBC News reports,
"Archbishop Desmond Tutu has pulled out of an event because he refuses
to share a platform with Tony Blair. The veteran peace campaigner said
Mr Blair's support for the Iraq war was 'morally indefensible' and it
would be 'inappropriate' for him to appear alongside him." Caroline Crampton (New Statesman) reports,
"A spokesman for Archbishop Tutu told me that this should not be viewed
as a nsap decision, saying that Tutu is 'a very prayerful man' who will
have 'spent hours on his knees considering this decision'." Free Malaysia Today quotes
from the letter his office sent the ogranizers, "Ultimately, the
archbishop is of the view that Mr Blair's decision to support the United
States' military invasion of Iraq, on the basis of unproven allegations
of the existence in Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, was morally
indefensible." His spokesperson Roger Friedman tells Reuters,
"Morality and leadership are indivisible. In this context, it would be
inappropriate and untenable for the archbishop to share a platform with
Mr Blair."
"Obviously
Tony Blair is sorry that the Archbishop has decided to pull out now
from an event that has been fixed for months and where he and the
Archbishop were never actually sharing a platform.
"As far as Iraq is concerned they have always disagreed about removing Saddam by force - such disagreement is part of a healthy democracy.
"As for the morality of that decision we have recently had both the memorial of the Halabja massacre where thousands of people were murdered in one day by Saddam's use of chemical weapons; and that of the Iran-Iraq war where casualties numbered up to a million including many killed by chemical weapons.
"So these decisions are never easy morally or politically".
"As far as Iraq is concerned they have always disagreed about removing Saddam by force - such disagreement is part of a healthy democracy.
"As for the morality of that decision we have recently had both the memorial of the Halabja massacre where thousands of people were murdered in one day by Saddam's use of chemical weapons; and that of the Iran-Iraq war where casualties numbered up to a million including many killed by chemical weapons.
"So these decisions are never easy morally or politically".
I
don't get into 'moral' discussions. I don't mind discussing ethics but
never with War Criminals. You'll note that Tony Blair's office
steadfastly avoided whether "these decisions" are legal or not. For
obvious reasons.
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