Wise Words

According to Jim Hightower, it looks like the Bush-Cheney cabal are serious about going to war with Iran.

Here are some suggestions for taking action:

"We the People have to be the leaders. More than ever, we have to get noisy. We can't just wring our hands -- there are things we can do:

• First, connect with our allies in Congress, including the 22 senators who voted against the Kyl-Lieberman surrender to Bush (list available here). Let antiwar lawmakers know you're behind them, ask them to get still noisier on this, and ask that they develop an inside-outside strategy to rally and focus our national outrage against expanding Bush's Iraq disaster into Iran.
• Second, demand that your Congress critters (whatever their stripe) use all their congressional powers (to control spending, launch investigations, declare war, etc.) to say that the president can take no preemptive military action against Iran without a full, constitutionally mandated declaration of war by Congress.
• Third, connect with any and all of the savvy grassroots groups in this issue's "Do Something" box. Use their information, sign all of their petitions, spread their materials, and join their actions.
• Fourth, talk, talk, talk, and talk some more -- in church, at school, with your neighbors and coworkers, at town hall meetings, in family phone calls or visits, on talk radio, at candidate forums, in supermarket check-out lines... wherever you can find an ear. The vast majority of Americans have not heard what Bush is up to, and they won't like it. The most effective way to reach them and activate them is by personal contact -- i.e., you. Talk to someone about it every day.
• Fifth, don't let Democrats waffle. Iraq was Bush's war (and his political debacle), but Iran would be a product of a Democratic-controlled Congress, and they will be responsible either for allowing it...or for stopping it.
• Sixth, come up with your own action idea, and let the rest of us know how we can support and spread it.

Be brave. Be loud. Your country needs you."

The Bush - bin Laden Twins: Separated at Birth

Bush gave a speech last night announcing an "enduring security presence" in Iraq. From the first day he announced his intention to go to war with a country that posed no threat to us, he knew we would never leave.

Osama bin Laden knew it too. In a March 1997 interview with journalist Peter Arnett, bin Laden predicted:

"The US today as a result of the arrogant atmosphere has set a double standard, calling whoever goes against its injustice a terrorist. It wants to occupy our countries, steal our resources, impose on us agents to rule us based not on what God has revealed and wants us to agree on all these. If we refuse to do so, it will say you are terrorists."

It is as though Bush and bin Laden are working together to create an endless war from which they both benefit.

Bush aids and enriches the military industrial complex -- run by his cronies and biggest supporters and in return bin Laden has the most successful jihad recruiting tool he could have ever imagined.

Can anyone ever get us out of this mess?

Bush's mission is accomplished but the terror for us is just beginning.

What Goes Around Comes Around

"I do not know with what weapons World War 3 will be fought, but World War 4 will be fought with sticks and stones." Albert Einstein

Today marks the 62nd anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. On August 6, 1945, we dropped the bomb, nicknamed 'Little Boy" which instantly incinerated 70,000 Japanese - men, women, children, birds, trees, goats, chickens, dogs, cats and horses.

The A-Bomb did/does not discriminate. It is truly a weapon of massive destruction.

And the shock and awe of Hiroshima was so impressive that we couldn't resist one more display of American power. Thus, 3 days later we nuked Nagasaki - just to drive home the point.

Of course, the devastation wrought by the A-Bomb showed the world that America was a force to be reckoned with. We were and still are the biggest bully on the playground. We've got the biggest and hardest proverbial penis in the world and the hawks and neo-cons want us to keep it that way.

Shortly after, leaders of other nations began to envy American power and rushed to acquire their own nuclear cod piece. Thus began the phallus - er I mean arms race.

According to the Nuclear Files:

"There are currently about 31,000 nuclear warheads deployed or in reserve in the stockpiles of eight countries: China, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Of these about 13,000 are deployed and 4,600 of these are on high alert, i.e. ready to be launched within minutes notice. The combined explosive yield of these weapons is approximately 5,000 megatons, which is about 200,000 times the explosive yield of the bomb used on Hiroshima."

In other words, more than enough to destroy the world 1,000 times.

WHY?

We all learned from our history books - and they do not lie -- that America was forced to use the bomb after anguishing over it for months. All we wanted was peace and those damned Japanese just wouldn't see things our way. Everyone knows that war and devastation is the best pathway to peace and so we did what we HAD to do!

In fact, we have been so good at waging wars for peace for so long now that now others want to return the favor upon us!

Thanks to all of that good old American war mongering, there are now tens of thousands -- if not millions -- of people in the world who would love to see a few of our cities blessed with the same fate as Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

And I am sure many Americans will be just as fried -- just as dead -- as the Japanese.

But, such is war and boys will be boys!

In fact, being cannon fodder (AKA collateral damage) in a war between men who want to rule the playground, is one thing all of us civilians have in common. This little detail should unite all of us together in outrage at the big daddy war monger.

Unfortunately, individual citizens of the world are encouraged to see themselves as separate from others. Divisions along such lines as race, religion, nationality, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and economic status are designed to distinguish between "them" and "us."

Maintaining those distinct categories of persons is vital to those who require our submission. Otherwise, we may start to realize we are not all that different. We would figure out that we all want pretty much the same thing in life - to live safely, strive and stay alive.

So, who benefits from our distrust of one another? Who is enriched and empowered by it?

Corporations? Political leaders? Governments? Religious Leaders?

Our willingness to fight amongst ourselves gives them "cover" as they amass more power and control unto themselves.

When will we realize we are all one people, inhabiting one beautiful planet?

When will we wake up and see that there is plenty of food, water and other resources to go around?

Today I feel particularly defeated when I think of the true scale of the problem.

As the quote from Einstein above reveals, we will probably continue to wage horrific wars until most -- if not all -- of the world is destroyed.

Happy Anniversary.

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!

Democrats Backing Down on Troop Withdrawal Date

We hate to admit it but... Pat Buchanan is right about the Democrats!

Recently on Scarborough Country, we heard Buchanan say that unlike Bush, Democratic leaders in Congress would cave and completely fund the war because they "do not have the courage of their convictions."

And then yesterday, we read this in the Houston Chronicle:

"Congressional Democrats relented Tuesday on their insistence that a war spending measure set a date for withdrawing U.S. combat troops from Iraq. Instead, they moved toward a deal with President Bush that would impose new conditions on the Iraqi government."

Americans voted the Democrats into the majority last fall to put a stop to this madness! Why are they caving on the issue of setting a timetable? Do they think we are stupid? Do they believe we will do nothing?

TAKE ACTION AND TELL CONGRESS NO MORE BLANK CHECKS!

UPDATE: MoveOn sent the following email which we urge you to read and take action on!

MoveOn Opposes Iraq Bill -- Urges All Democrats to Vote Against

Statement by Eli Pariser, MoveOn.org Political Action Executive Director

Voters elected Democrats in November to lead the way out of the mess in Iraq, but the supplemental bill to be voted on this week won't end the war.

There are no real timelines or real accountability for the Bush administration -- just a blank check for an endless war.

A vote for this bill is a vote to continue President Bush's failed Iraq policy, and we'll be urging every last member of Congress to vote against it.

MoveOn members are asking us to consider all options for Democratic members of congress who ran on ending the war but vote for more chaos and more troops in Iraq -- including in-district advertising and recruitment of primary challengers.

And we'll work hard so that Republicans who refuse to listen to the country on Iraq face a great political backlash in their home districts.

In an email this morning, MoveOn encouraged all 3.2 million of its members to urge Congress to vote no. In part, the email reads: "Every single Democrat must vote against this bill. This is a key test vote on whether your representative is serious about ending the war." The email was sent by MoveOn's Nita Chaudhary.