Note to Negative Naysayers

Throughout this awful period of American Fascism, many progressive writers, activists and concerned citizens have offered solutions and organized actions ranging from public marches, protests and sit-ins to letter-writing campaigns, petitions, boycotts and strikes.

There is so much discontent in America today -- so many folks trying to do something in opposition to Bush and his policies -- we now have an unprecedented array of options for showing our displeasure and outrage.

No matter your life-style or circumstances, there is an easily accessible community or online action designed just for you:

• If you can't join in a general strike because you can't afford a day without pay or you're afraid you'll get fired, then you always have the option to attend a march or rally held in the evening or over a weekend;
• If you are afraid to participate in a public march or rally because you reasonably believe you might get arrested, labeled a terrorist and/or added to a no-fly list, then you can still sign a petition, lobby, call or write to your elected official;
• And if ANY kind of action that would call attention to your progressive political view terrifies you, then send a few bucks to a candidate or a cause you believe in.
  

With all of these choices, there is NO excuse to do NOTHING.

But it seems that DO-NOTHING is what some of you are suggesting!

And although it is bad enough to be a DO-NOTHING -- it is far worse and more damaging to be a DO-NOTHING and a NAYSAYER!

If we had a nickel for every time we see the comment -- "what good will it do?" -- at the bottom of an idea or a call to action, we'd have enough money to get Dennis Kucinich elected President.

We are SO sick and tired of hearing -- especially from progressives -- that whatever we do, nothing will come of it.

This negative forgone conclusion has become a self-fulfilling prophecy!

So, if YOU are one of those folks who DO NOTHING because you believe no matter what you do it will not make a bit of difference -- then at least do us all a favor and SHUT-UP about it already!

Even without your paralyzing prognostications, it is difficult to stay focused and optimistic (feelings that are necessary for creativity and life) in the face of disastrous Repugnican policies and Democratic cowardice.

If you keep it up, we'll all be so discouraged we'll have to stay in bed with our heads under the covers until January 2009!

So please, either come up with a positive solution that is superior to all of the others that you are poo-pooing or use your naysaying negativity skills to deflate the ideas floated by the right-wing instead.

PS:

See Rob Kall's article for making and debunking arguments against impeachment. It makes for an eye-opening read.

Check out KucinichTV -- a positive solution to the dearth of campaign coverage in the MSM

Visit Cindy Sheehan's campaign website

5 Easy Steps to Impeachment

Here is an action you can take that actually might -- for once -- make a difference!

The issue of impeaching Bush and/or Cheney was famously taken "off the table" by Nancy Pelosi over a year ago. She made this announcement prior to the 2006 mid-term elections hoping the statement would appease "centrists" and help Democrats win a majority in Congress.

Coincidentally, a 2006 win for Democrats also meant Pelosi was destined to be named the first woman Speaker of the House. So, we are guessing she may have had a bit of self-interest when she made such an untenable promise NOT to carry out her sworn duty to uphold the Constitution.

Pelosi may also be reluctant to initiate impeachment for fear she will be accused of doing so because she is third in line to be President. And right-wing critics are ready to pounce on Pelosi for that very reason. If so, rather than stand in the way of impeachment, she should recuse herself from the decision-making process.

Today “there’s rumors on the Internets” -- here, here and here (and lost of other places) -- that Pelosi will reconsider her no-impeachment stance – IF – she receives 10,000 HAND WRITTEN letters supporting the impeachment of Dick Cheney.

So, if you really want to see Congress – especially the Democrats – start acting like the co-equal branch of Government that they were intended to be – PLEASE write to Pelosi today.

For those of you unaccustomed to the snail mail process, here are 5 easy steps:

1. Find a pen and a piece of paper;
2. Write your letter;
3. Find an envelope and write Pelosi's address on it;
4. Put the letter in the envelop and attach a stamp to it;
5. Put it in a mailbox.

For maximum effectiveness, forward this message to everyone you know!

And to make it even easier – if you do not know WHAT to write, copy this letter that another Impeachment supporter already sent:

“Impeaching a high federal official for high crimes and misdemeanors - and other conduct and misuse of power incongruent with the office held - is not only a power of the legislature, but a constitutional duty. It is not a distraction to the work of Congress; it is the work of Congress. Impeachment by the House is not just an indictment, but the only way to break through the stone wall erected around the White House and enable real investigation of malfeasance and effective oversight to be performed. If the "discovery phase" of hard evidence gathering prior to a Senate trial verifies the alleged wrongdoing, the accused will be convicted. Otherwise the accused will be acquitted. Either way, justice is done and the rule of law is upheld. The founding fathers felt so strongly about protecting our democratic republic from would-be kings usurping Executive powers, they included the provision for impeachment in the Constitution six times. It was not by accident. Please, for the sake of our democracy, impeach Dick Cheney.”

This is a timely issue and needs to be acted upon NOW. There is ample public support FOR impeachment and currently, a resolution for impeaching Cheney (HB333, introduced by Dennis Kucinich) is languishing and under consideration in the Judiciary Committee.

Make sure you WRITE your letter – do not TYPE it. Include your name, address and telephone number so its authenticity can be verified. Write it in BLUE INK so it will not be mistaken for a photocopy.

Send your letter to:

Nancy Pelosi
450 Golden Gate Avenue, 14th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94102

Cindy Sheehan is concerned that Pelosi may not accurately count the letters and therefore she is asking that you send them to her instead. We share Cindy’s skepticism but also, as pragmatists, are aware that Pelosi may disregard letters sent to Cindy since she is calling for those letters to be sent to her. Why not write TWO letters and send one of them directly to Pelosi and the other to Sheehan?

Letters to Pelosi via Sheehan should be sent to:

Cindy for Congress
RE: Impeach Dick Cheney
1260 Mission Blvd
San Francisco, Ca 94103

Taking the time to do this one little task may be the most important thing you have ever done. And we've given you everything you need except the 5 minutes of time it will take to write and mail the letter, a pen, a piece of paper, an envelope and a stamp.

Evil Is As Evil Does

Former Republican Presidential candidate -- now MSNBC political analyst -- Pat Buchanan, frequently reminds us that although Bush and Cheney are often morally and literally wrong, the Democrats are not an effective opposition party because they "lack the courage of their convictions."

We fear that a lack of courage may be only a small piece of the major puzzler of the day:

• WHY don't the Democrats stand up to Bush?
• WHY don't they fulfill their sworn duty to defend the Constitution?
• WHY don't they make even the slightest effort to fulfill their promise that -- if elected -- they would change course in Iraq and make Bush and Cheney accountable to the American people?
  

Since the 2006 elections, we have stood by helplessly while "leaders" in Congress continue to make noise and do little else to stop the runaway train wreck that is the Bush Administration's foreign and domestic policy.

The problem is, we are all ON that train and are headed for disaster! We can only watch helplessly as:

The economy plunges;
Jobs are lost;
Gasoline prices soar;
Toys are poisoned;
Illegal wars are waged and more are threatened;
The environment is polluted and the Earth is plundered;
Big business and billionaires get richer;
The poor get poorer;
Access to health care is lost to more and more Americans...

Both political parties have attracted candidates, who, once elected, use their position of influence to amass personal power unto themselves. They are selfish and egotistical with narrow-minded ambition and little -- if any -- regard for their sworn duty to their constituents. Sure there are exceptions, but those who do try to express outrage and act in opposition to anti-democratic policies (ala Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul) are ignored and/or ridiculed by the mainstream media and their colleagues in Congress.

What is really going on? Unfortunately, we get the sinking feeling we know:

Both major political parties are intrinsically evil.

Both are pawns of the military industrial complex, big oil and big business.

But at least the Republican Party admits their true agenda. A voter who elects a Republican (unless they do not read or watch anything except Faux news) should have a pretty good idea of what they are getting.

As for the Democrats, they pretend to stand for ONE thing and then DO something altogether different!

So, which is worse? Someone who "supports evil, but insists they believe it is good? Or someone who supports evil while claiming, at least some of the time, they actually KNOW it is evil?"

"This is where we've come: two criminal gangs run the United States from Washington. Neither of them understands the supreme and sacred value of an individual human life. Neither understands any matter of principle relating to liberty or peace. Both of them are intent upon power, no matter how many innocent people must die, and regardless of how many countries must be destroyed, including our own."

Polls show that, over time, more and more Americans favor impeachment proceedings against Dick Cheney and George W. Bush.

Hopefully, with the help of the Internet, people are beginning to wake up to the truth. This country no longer needs a good housecleaning -- it needs to be demolished and rebuilt with better rodent and roach-resistant materials.

Please call or write to your member of Congress and tell them you support Kucinch's impeachment resolution and want them to do the same. Otherwise, next time they are up for reelection you will remember that they put their own needs for power over the needs of their country.

ON STRIKE!

We are on strike today to show our opposition to the Bush Administration and the weak and ineffective Democratic "opposition" to his illegal and un-American policies.

If you do nothing else today, call Senators Schumer (202-224-6542) and Feinstein (202-224-3841) and your own representatives in Congress.

Tell them you oppose Judge Mukasey (who refuses to say whether water boarding is torture and declared the President is above the law) for Attorney General.

Demand that they vote YES on Dennis Kucinich's resolution to initiate impeachment proceedings against Dick Cheney (H.R. 333) TODAY!

Please fellow citizens - We have GOT to start somewhere:

"The stream of commuters heading into the city, the caravan of tractor-trailers pulling out of the rest stop into the dawn’s early light, speak a deep-throated YES to the sum of what’s going on in our collective life."

Dream the Impossible

Last night I dreamed that Dennis Kucinich was President.

On his first day in office Kucinich established a Peace Department, signed an executive order granting equal marriage rights to same-sex partners and sent an invitation to world leaders (friendly and not-so-friendly) to join him in a summit to discuss the best way to "handle" the withdrawal of US troops in Iraq, problems in Palestine, Darfur, and other areas of war, famine, genocide and injustice.

He made a promise to begin the hard work of transitioning our energy policy from oil to solar and wind power. He promised to substantially lower carbon emissions, and signed executive orders withdrawing the US from the WTO, NAFTA and CAFTA.

He initiated a single-payer health care program that provided medical insurance to every American.

In my dream, the mainstream media (MSM) did not mock Kucinich for being short and "elf-like." They did not make fun of his ideas. Instead, they championed his idealism and courage to reexamine American hegemony and empire.

In my dream, Kucinich won in a landslide because the American people were fed up with Washington insiders, the belt-way bubble, lies, bribes and backroom deals.

And finally, my dream ended with a nightmare when, on his second day in office, Kucinich was assassinated by mercenaries hired by a cabal of wealthy families and the CEO's of big corporations.

When I actually woke up and turned on the news, I discovered that Karl Rove announced he would soon resign.

Since I was already in a paranoid/conspiracy theory frame of mind, I began to wonder at the real story behind Rove's resignation:

• Is Rove's number on the DC Madam's telephone call list (hopefully calling on a male escort)?

• Did an insider/ whistleblower contact Democrats in Congress with information that will finally put Bush's brain behind bars?
  

• Did Rove get a call to join the Romney campaign after Mitt won the Iowa Straw Poll?
  

• Was it a strategy decision to give Rove more time to try to manipulate the elections so that the Republican Party wins the Presidency and re-gains a majority in Congress?
  

Whatever the motive for his resignation, one thing I know for sure: the reason given for Rove's resignation (that he wants to spend more time with his family) is a big fat lie.

More than likely, Rove is freeing up his time to make sure that nothing remotely resembling my dream will ever come true.

Stay tuned.

PLEASE! Call Congress Today!!

Tell the Democratic leadership -- and your own representatives that even if they do not have the votes to override a veto, there is another way to de-fund the war!

Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich (also running as a Democratic Candidate for President) said this morning on Democracy Now! that Congress does not have to introduce ANY bill AT ALL regarding Iraq war funding.

If there is NO BILL there will be NO VETO and thus the argument that there are not enough votes to override an inevitable veto is moot.

Kucinich says there is enough money in the pipeline NOW to bring the troops home! Keith Olbermann also stated in a "Special Comment" on his MSNBC show Countdown, that if Bush really cared about the troops having everything they need for protection, he could take some of the money earmarked for Blackwater and Haliburton and divert it to the troops.

It is BUSH who DOES NOT SUPPORT THE TROOPS -- first by lying to us to make the case for war, then by mismanaging it for the last 4 & 1/2 years, and then using unrealistic fear (and more lies) to perpetuate the war that was being planned long before 9/11/2001 -- NOT anti-war politicians and other Americans.

Please let Congress know TODAY that we will NOT reelect ONE SINGLE politician who votes yes to the funding bill OR who stands by and does NOTHING as it goes forward!