Molly Ivins died yesterday at 62. Far too young to leave. She is missed. 

Stand Up Against the "Surge" by Molly Ivins January 12, 2007

"The purpose of this old-fashioned newspaper crusade to stop the war is not to make George W. Bush look like the dumbest president ever. People have done dumber things. What were they thinking when they bought into the Bay of Pigs fiasco? How dumb was the Egypt-Suez war? How massively stupid was the entire war in Vietnam? Even at that, the challenge with this misbegotten adventure is that we simply cannot let it continue.

It is not a matter of whether we will lose or we are losing. We have lost. Gen. John P. Abizaid, until recently the senior commander in the Middle East, insists that the answer to our problems there is not military. "You have to internationalize the problem. You have to attack it diplomatically, geo-strategically," he said.

His assessment is supported by Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the senior American commander in Iraq, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who only recommend releasing forces with a clear definition of the goals for the additional troops.

Bush’s call for a "surge" or "escalation" also goes against the Iraq Study Group. Talk is that the White House has planned to do anything but what the group suggested after months of investigation and proposals based on much broader strategic implications.

About the only politician out there besides Bush actively calling for a surge is Sen. John McCain. In a recent opinion piece, he wrote: "The presence of additional coalition forces would allow the Iraqi government to do what it cannot accomplish today on its own — impose its rule throughout the country. … By surging troops and bringing security to Baghdad and other areas, we will give the Iraqis the best possible chance to succeed." But with all due respect to the senator from Arizona, that ship has long since sailed.

A surge is not acceptable to the people in this country — we have voted overwhelmingly against this war in polls (about 80 percent of the public is against escalation, and a recent Military Times poll shows only 38 percent of active military want more troops sent) and at the polls. We know this is wrong. The people understand, the people have the right to make this decision, and the people have the obligation to make sure our will is implemented.

Congress must work for the people in the resolution of this fiasco. Ted Kennedy’s proposal to control the money and tighten oversight is a welcome first step. And if Republicans want to continue to rubber-stamp this administration’s idiotic "plans" and go against the will of the people, they should be thrown out as soon as possible, to join their recent colleagues.

Anyone who wants to talk knowledgably about our Iraq misadventure should pick up Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s "Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone." It’s like reading a horror novel. You just want to put your face down and moan: How could we have let this happen? How could we have been so stupid?

As The Washington Post’s review notes, Chandrasekaran’s book "methodically documents the baffling ineptitude that dominated U.S. attempts to influence Iraq’s fiendish politics, rebuild the electrical grid, privatize the economy, run the oil industry, recruit expert staff or instill a modicum of normalcy to the lives of Iraqis."

We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we’re for them and trying to get them out of there. Hit the streets to protest Bush’s proposed surge. If you can, go to the peace march in Washington on Jan. 27. We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, "Stop it, now!"

                                                                   

may we all remember what this day means and vow to continue the peaceful efforts of freedom from and for ALL!

 

 

Everyone, please go out and vote today. If you’re doing an absentee ballott then make sure it gets in today’s mail so your vote can be counted. It is soooooo important. Change begins at home and we can do a lot for the structure of this country if we vote in democrats in our city/state offices. They are the ones who go on to become Senators and President.

for any parents out there not wanting their child/children to receive propoganda from the armed forces, go to this site and print out two copies to sign. One copy is sent to the Pentagon, where our children’s school information is sent and then passed on to the armed forces, and one copy is sent to your local school superintendent. This is an opt-out form that tells them you do not want any contact between them and your child!

 http://themmob.org/lmca/

Many people do not know this but our public schools(which I stand in strong support of) are required to send student information to the Pentagon and in turn, our fucked up current government sends money back to the schools. Quite a trade, eh?   Thank George Bush for that in the No Child Left Behind Act

 

 

 

did anyone catch the NFL pre-game show tonight?  Bono and Green Day, wow!  The words they sang were so emotional, I cried through the whole show. Bravo to Bono as he is a true humanitarian. He has brought attention to serious world matters….

 

Of course, I wanted to vomit when they brought out George Herbert Walker Bush to watch the coin toss. Nice play on the part of our administration. Bring out Bush right before elections, to try and fool us into thinking the republicans are doing the job. Choosing GHWB over Bill Clinton, whom is the real President fighting for New Orleans.   sickening!

The White House is currently pushing for a new law to allow torture of detainees in the “war on terror” — a law that would violate the Geneva Conventions and contradict our United States Constitution.

The proposed law would allow evidence to be withheld from defendants in terrorism trials, and severely restrict the fundamental right of habeas corpus. It would apply retroactively to 2001 — thus protecting Administration officals for illegal acts they may have committed. Most notably, it would allow the use of coerced testimony in military tribunals — even though this information has been shown not to be reliable.

In contrast, Senators Graham, McCain and Warner have recently defied the White House and helped pass different legislation out of the Senate Armed Services Committee. This bill has very significant flaws - but is a great deal better than the Administration’s proposal.

Their legislation would bar the U.S. military from engaging in “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” of detainees, from hiding prisoners from the Red Cross, and from using interrogation methods not authorized by a new Army field manual. These principles should be taken as a bare minimum for any detainee policy that Congress passes into law.

Tell the Senate — the President’s torture proposals are simply unacceptable, and must never pass the Senate.

Go to www.actforchange.com and follow the appropriate links.

Better yet, sign up for their email notifications to stay on top of baby bush’s unthinkable actions

good god! Will someone please explain to the American public that the “plan b” pill is not an abortion pill!!!
How many women will have to sacrifice control of their bodies before we get it right?! grrrr
As a woman and mother to a young woman I am so outraged over the ignorance and arrogance of the protest against this pill. If you as a pharmacist feel you simply cannot supply proper medication to a patient then get the fuck out of the pharmaceutical business! There simply is no room for religious grievances in the field of medicine, period!
As for the abortion pill….thank fucking goodness it’s here. If you don’t believe in it then don’t take it, end of issue!
The conservative right,ie…family value fucking idiots, need to take their self-righteous, sanctimonious selves out of the public arena and go back to the house of judgement where they came from.
Whatever your belief on abortion is does not matter……the choice for ANY form of medical care belongs to the individual.
the state of WA is in a huge battle over this. Fortunately our female governor is fighting for us. Yay to Gov. Christine Gregoire!

A Message to Impeachment Supporters from Ramsey Clark
Bush Making More Enemies in the Middle East

By failing to press for the impeachment of President Bush and his most bellicose advisors, the American people and their elected members of the House of Representatives expose our country to ever greater hatred and isolation. By permitting President Bush to pursue his policy of domination through threat and lawless force, we risk ever widening international violence.

The new tragedy of Lebanon has brought death to hundreds of civilians, children, women and men. Hundreds of thousands, approaching one fourth the population of four million, are fugitives from their homes within and outside of their country. Destruction of the infrastructure will require decades to rebuild if/when peace comes. And rage at Israel and the U.S. dominate all other emotions in Lebanon and throughout the Muslim world. New anger is spreading over every continent.

If the capture of two soldiers, or one in the case of Palestine, justifies assaults against whole nations and peoples, as Israel has done, then there is no law, no alternative to war, no hope for peace. Only a person with a memory no longer than three weeks could believe the capture of three Israeli soldiers began the present violence. Was not cross border violence between Israel and Lebanon commonplace for decades? Had not Israel kidnapped half the Palestinian cabinet, destroyed its Foreign Ministry offices and other government buildings and engaged in summary executions throughout Palestine, the West Bank and Gaza, since the elections this year of the Hamas majority in the Palestinian parliament? Was there not a continuum of assaults at will against the Palestinian people over decades?

We must ask whether the forced withdrawal of Syrian peace keepers from Lebanon earlier this year by U.S. and Israeli political pressure after the murder of former Lebanon Prime Minister Harari was the prelude of a plan for Israel to assault Lebanon and reoccupy territories up to the Litani river in Southern Lebanon. While Syrian forces were present in Lebanon, such an assault did not occur.

And we must ask whether the fierce assault on Lebanon and Palestine are the prelude to broader actions against Syria and Iran. President Bush has made it abundantly clear that he would like nothing better than regime change in Iran and Syria and has attempted to lay responsibility for violence in Lebanon and Palestine at their door.

As Iraq descends into uncontrollable sectarian war, President Bush needs new threats to distract Americans attention from what his Shock and Awe policy has brought for Iraq, for us, and for the world. War in Lebanon helps divert attention temporarily and may serve to widen the conflict to include Syria, or Iran.

If not, there are always Cuba, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Venezuela and others to act against.

With only three months to the mid term Congressional election, we must make every effort to achieve support for impeachment in the new Congress. The two most important ways are first, to demonstrate widespread national support for impeachment by multiplying to millions the hundreds of thousands who have voted for impeachment. This will require grass roots efforts and a nationwide newspaper ad campaign beginning in September. And second, district by district, direct contact with House candidates of all parties urging them to be prepared to do their Constitutional duty and vote for impeachment.

As with Iraq, in Lebanon we have seen a war of aggression, the supreme international crime; an attack on the equal sovereignty of Lebanon, violating the First Principle of the United Nations Charter; excessive force of a major magnitude with as many as sixty Israeli planes over the Mediterranean waiting their turn to strike a nation defenseless against aerial assaults; indiscriminate bombing; targeting civilians; collective punishment, everyone in Lebanon suffers.

The future of Palestine remains the central issue for peace in the Middle East. That future is more endangered than at any time since the Oslo Accords. Everyone in Palestine suffers from the violence unleashed on its people by Israel’s renewed Roadmap to War.

President George Bush supports every act of Israel, alone among international heads of government, supporting every strike against Lebanon and Palestine. Nothing could endanger Israel more. And Condoleezza Rice congratulates the Prime Minister of Lebanon for his courage while telling him there must be further destruction of his nation and government — an insult to every human being who cares about peace and understands the world cannot be made safe for hypocrisy.

I urge you to help organize support to secure votes for impeachment and communicate with candidates in the House to urge impeachment, especially during this coming week when Congressional representatives are back in their home states. We’ve placed ads in the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Boston Globe, USA Today and other papers, and each time we do we bring thousands of new people into the impeachment movement who become a growing force putting pressure on their Congressional representatives to introduce articles of impeachment.

I am still outraged at what Governor Mike Rounds of South Dakota has done. Pompous, arrogant son of a bitch!!!!

However, a glimmer of hope has been seen and I give the women of S.D. my full support! 

South Dakota Voters Reject Restrictive Abortion Ban

Sioux Falls, SD – Today the Argus Leader and KELO TV released poll results indicating that voters are likely to reject the restrictive abortion ban signed into law by Governor Mike Rounds earlier this year. The Mason Dixon poll sampled 800 registered voters and found that 47% plan to vote No on Referred Law 6 in November, while 39% of respondents would uphold the abortion ban.

“We are pleased with the results of the poll,” commented Jan Nicolay, co-chairperson for the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families. “Earlier this spring, a large group of volunteers made sure that the voters of South Dakota would have a chance to decide this extremely important issue. This poll is confirmation that the ban is too restrictive and goes too far. However, between now and November, we still have a lot of work to do to defeat the national extremist groups who have taken over our State Government.”

“South Dakotans think this ban is too restrictive and their legislators and Governor have misrepresented them in Pierre. With the continued support of our volunteers across the state, we are confident the ban will be overturned in November.”