That's why the call them scholars

"President Bush was presented with a letter Monday signed by 50 high school seniors in the Presidential Scholars program urging a halt to 'violations of the human rights' of terror suspects held by the United States.

"The White House said Bush had not expected the letter but took a moment to read it and talk with a young woman who handed it to him.

"'The president enjoyed a visit with the students, accepted the letter and upon reading it let the student know that the United States does not torture and that we value human rights,' deputy press secretary Dana Perino said."

(from Democratic Underground)

That's why they call the young people scholars. We should call them heroes. The real question is: who knew Bush could read?

June 27: Vigil for Kian Tajbakhsh

Here's a follow-up to the recent note from our comrade and friend Juliet Ucelli:

"I think I have spoken to many of you about my friend Kian Tajbakhsh, who has been unjustly detained by the Iranian government since May 11, allowed no lawyer or family visits and possibly facing serious charges. (Some of you also know Kian yourselves.) More info is available at

www.freekian.org

"Amnesty International and other groups have called a vigil at UN Plaza on behalf of the Iranian-American detainees--their notice is below. It's on Wednesday, June 27 from noon to 1 p.m.

"It would be great if anyone who's free during the day or works nearby could attend."

Thanks.

Juliet
************************

"Amnesty International, the American Islamic Congress, Human Rights Watch, the National Iranian-American Council, the Near Eastern Studies Department at Princeton University, and Vital Voices Global Partnership have organized a vigil to support Haleh, Kian and the other detained Iranian-Americans. The event begins at noon on Wednesday, June 27th at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza across from the United Nations Plaza (at 47th St. and 1st Ave.)."

July 9:"In Darfur" at the Delacorte Theater - free

July 9, 8:00PM

In Darfur

Written by Winter Miller
Directed by Joanna Settle

At the Delacorte Theater in Central Park

Featuring Ron Brice, Leon Addison Brown, Zainab Jah, Aaron Lohr, Heather Raffo, Maduka Steady, Sharon Washington, Rutina Wesley

With SPECIAL GUESTS including Don Cheadle, Mark Hanis, Daoud Ibarahaem Hari, Omer Ismail, Nicholas Kristof and John Prendergast.

Pick up free tickets on the day of the performance, beginning at 1:00pm at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park or from 1-3pm at The Public Theater Box office, 425 Lafayette Street (just below Astor Place).
For more information click here or call 212-539-8750.

In Darfur is the provocative account of three intertwined lives at a camp for internally displaced persons in Darfur. The story follows an aid-worker’s mission to save and protect lives, a journalist’s pursuit to deliver a Page One story and a Darfuri woman’s quest for safety. It is a searing story of urgency and international significance.

(Working as Research Assistant to Nicholas Kristof, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist from The New York Times, playwright Winter Miller is immersed in the issues surrounding the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan.)

Join The Public Theater in drawing attention to the genocide in Darfur at this one-night-only event.

PARTNERS INCLUDE:
The Save Darfur Coalition
Genocide Intervention Network
Jewcy

BECOME AN IN DARFUR SUPPORTER AND RECEIVE RESERVED SEATS!
Make a $100 tax-deductible donation – 30% goes to Darfur Beneficiaries – and receive a reserved seat. Order information below.

To learn more about the crisis in Darfur and to get involved,
visit the websites of Save Darfur and Genocide Intervention Network.


*Cast and special guests subject to change.

Who's government?

Every once in a great while despite all the cacophony of the war in Iraq, the immigration battle and the wildly overlong election campaign a sharp light exposes the self-image of the Bush administration.

Several days ago in an attempt to once again brush off the will of the people's representatives over the issue of the utterly incompetent Attorney General, Bush uttered these words:

"They [Congress] can have their votes of no confidence but it's not going to make the determination about who serves in my government."

No one ever accused George W. Bush of having any sense of history or his place in it. But the line of demarcation between his understanding of the relationship between the government and the people and that of Abraham Lincoln becomes all the sharper when his comment is compared to Lincoln's "Government of the people, by the people, for the people, [which] shall not perish from the Earth."

Hopefully it won't be too long before Bush takes his government back to Texas and we can reclaim our government.

June 22: Film showing - EL PUEBLO SE LEVANTA (The people rise up)

A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition Film Showing:

EL PUEBLO SE LEVANTA
(The people rise up)
(A 1970’s Newsreel production.)

Friday, June 22, 7 PM

The story of the 1960’s - 70’s Puerto Rican, revolutionary youth organization, the Young Lords.
Open discussion on the significance of that movement.

ANSWER Coalition office
2295 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd.
(Bt 134th & 135th Streets)

(Subway: 7th Ave 2 & 3 or the C & B to 135th Street.)

$7 donation suggested. No one turned away for lack of funds.

ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism)
212-694-8720 ANSWERCoalition.org

June 16 - N.Y. C. Labor Chorus Concert

Photo by Dan Cohen
8th GALA BENEFIT CONCERT
New York City Labor Chorus

Saturday June 16th - 7:30pm

Ethical Culture Society
2 West 64th Street (off Central Park West)


Celebrate the great tradition of labor and folk music through song.

TICKETS: $25
Seniors, Students, & Unemployed: $15
ORDER TICKETS NOW ONLINE!

Film: Salud - June 14

Film screening and discussion of:
¡Salud!
by Academy Award Nominee Connie Field

Thursday, June 14th, 6:30 - 9 pm

SOLIDARITY CENTER
55 West 17th St, 5th floor,
(bt 5th & 6th Aves)

Also meet one of the 1st U.S. graduates from the Cuban Medical School.
Find out about the week he just spent with PINCC (Prevention International: No Cervical Cancer) in El Salvador.

Filmed in Cuba , South Africa , The Gambia, Honduras and Venezuela .
Salud is a timely film about the competing values that mark the battle for global health.

DONATIONS ACCEPTED

March to End the War in Iraq

Troops Out Now!
Put the Antiwar Movement Back on the Streets

September 22 – 29 -- Anti-war encampment in Washington D.C.

September 29 – March on Washington D.C.
Assemble at the Capitol – March on the White House

Stop the War Abroad and at Home

All are invited to an Antiwar Strategy meeting in New York City on Saturday, June 16 where there will be more discussion of this proposal, as well as others.


In the spirit of unity, and for the purposes of taking the movement away from politicians and putting it back into the streets, the Troops Out Now Coalition submits this proposal to all antiwar forces:

Our proposal is for an Encampment to Stop the War at Home & Abroad, starting on Saturday, September 22 in Washington D.C., culminating in a mass march on Saturday, September 29.

This proposal is open to change. TONC welcomes and encourages discussion and suggestions for modifying and improving this proposal. Please endorse the proposal if you are in agreement.

Petition to free Kian Tajbakhsh

From our longtime friend and comrade Juliet Ucelli:

"Folks,


"I may have mentioned to some of you that one of the Iranian-U.S. dual citizens currently being detained and charged with espionage by the Iranian government is a good friend of mine for over 20 years, Kian Tajbakhsh.

"Kian left a professorship at the New School (in Urban Planning) to return to his country and work on public service projects like flood relief and social security administration, usually through contracts that the Open Society Institute had with the Iranian government. I've stayed in touch with Kian since we met, when he first came to NYC in the mid-80s and was working as an advocate for low-income housing. He is a principled, progressive person who of course is not a spy for the U.S. and is unfortunately caught in a game between the two governments.

"Some of Kian's friends at Columbia and the New School have initiated a petition to the Iranian government for his release, and I hope that people can sign it by going to http://www.FreeKian.org. The update below and of course the web site itself contain more information. Thanks."

Juliet


From: "Free Kian"

"Dear friend,

"Kian has been in Evin Prison for four weeks as of today. He has still not
seen a lawyer. This week, he was charged with espionage, which is a
capital crime in Iran. The charges are completely unfounded, and we call
for their dismissal and Kian’s immediate release from prison.

"Many academic and human rights organizations have released letters of
support for Kian, which can be seen at http://www.FreeKian.org under
“Statements of Support.” We have also added a new section to share your
comments, as well as more media coverage and some of Kian’s writing.

"Please continue to raise awareness about Kian and the other detainees, and
encourage others to visit the website and sign the petition. We are
deeply grateful for your support."

Thank you,


-The Free Kian Campaign

Protest Bush's latest outrage

From Human Rights Campaign Take Action

"Keep Bias Out of America's Health Decisions."

Bush's latest outrage is his appointment of homophobic Dr. James Holsinger, whose "record seems to demonstrate that he is uninterested in the best scientific information available; instead, he allows his anti-gay bias to inform his medical judgments. In past writings he has compared reproductive organs to plumbing parts and he seems to believe homosexuality is a 'lifestyle' choice that should be 'cured.'

It should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the Bush agenda that "This is the man Bush wants to make our next Surgeon General?"

"Voice your outrage today, by writing your Senators. Tell them to vote NO on Holsinger's nomination." See above link to take action.

If you have any doubts about Holsinger's homophobia, check out "Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality"

June 18: Solidarity Tour-Voices of Iraqi Workers

June 18, 2007, 6:30-8:30pm

Solidarity Tour-Voices of Iraqi Workers

Transit Workers Union Local 100
80 West End Avenue
Manhattan

Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein, President of Iraqi Electrical Utility Workers Union, the first woman to lead a national union in Iraq.
Faleh Abood Umara, General Secretary of Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, which has been leading the struggle to prevent the take over of Iraq’s oil by multinational corporations.

Come to hear about:
• What conditions for working people are like in Iraq?
• How the occupation has affected families and children?
• Why unions oppose the proposed oil investment law?
• What will happen if the occupation continues?
• What will happen if it rapidly ends?
• What do Iraqi working people want to happen?
• How is a peaceful, stable, non-sectarian Iraq possible?

Contribution: $5-10 sliding scale as a donation to support Iraqi unions

Sponsored by: United for Peace and Justice/NYC, US Labor Against the War, CODEPINK NYC For more Info: (212) 868-5545

In LA people like Paris are untouchable

Photo by: Peter Kramer / Getty;
Thos Robinson / Getty

I don't know if Paris Hilton should have been sentenced to jail in the first place. I'm not sure that if her name were Shirley Smith she would have been. But once she was she obviously should have been treated like any other jailbird.

But it is even more surprising that anyone - least of all someone as politically sophisticated as Rev. Al Sharpton - is surprised that a white, rich celebrity would be given preferential treatment in Los Angeles. According to People online, after her premature release Sharpton said:

"This early release gives all the appearances of economic and racial favoritism that is constantly cited by poor people and people of color," the civil-rights leader and president of National Action Network said Thursday, according to the Drudge Report. "There are any number of cases of people who handle being incarcerated badly and even have health conditions that are not released."

"I have served several sentences for civil rights and civil disobedience actions and I even fasted, which caused health concerns to prison authorities who paid for a doctor to come see me daily rather than release me," Sharpton said. "This act smacks of the double standards that many of us raise."

One of the problems with all this brouhaha over her incarceration, release and possible return to finish her sentence is that as usual she is being used as a distraction from the issues about which people should be concerned. As the war in Iraq tanks and Bush makes an ass of himself at the G8 meeting and the Democratic Congress uncovers more and more administration disasters the clowns will be brought out to entertain the populace. I would much prefer that Sharpton urge people to ignore these distractions and focus on what's important.

But I doubt that that will happen.

Rape is a hate crime

Last Friday the New York Post reported that Sacha Baron Cohen (no relation) the creator of Ali G on HBO (Da Ali G Show) and more recently the smash hit film Borat is expanding to write a book. Publisher Suzanne Herz told the Post:

"This is Borat, so it's hysterical, very funny. He's become an iconic figure ... It'll be like nothing like you've ever read." The Post also said "that readers should expect Borat to tell tourists [to Kazakhstan] about the 'sports' his country has to offer -- which according to him, include archery, rape, pingpong and dog hunting."

This is not, of course, the first time recently that weak attempts at humor have been used to cover up verbal attacks on women. Remember how shlock jocks Opie & Anthony laughed as "Homeless Charlie," a character on their show talked about how he would like to "fuck that bitch." Opie and Anthony laughed and said, "I just imagine the horror in Condoleezza Rice's face ... as she realizes what's going on ... as you were just holding her down and fucking her." They continued to laugh as "Charlie" talked about punching Rice in the face and raping Laura Bush "to death ."

The extraordinary brutality of all this can't be ignored. It's seems to be part and parcel of a broader right-wing attempt regain control over women; to turn women back into chattel.

That's, after all, what the fight over women's bodies is all about. Women can't be free and liberated unless they can control their own sexuality and their own bodies.

The pseudo-humorous use of rape - the classical weapon of male dominance - needs to be counteracted, not through censorship, but by constantly challenging this use of rape in the guise of humor to attack women.

One Note Rudy echoes W and the boys

If you have enjoyed the last nearly eight years of U.S. politics, you'll certainly appreciate "One Note Rudy":

"It’s unthinkable that you would leave Saddam Hussein in charge of Iraq and be able to fight the war on terror. And the problem is that we see Iraq in a vacuum. Iraq should not be seen in a vacuum. Iraq is part of the overall terrorist war against the United States."

"And during the debate the other night, the Democrats seemed to be back in the 1990s. They don’t seem to have gotten beyond the Cold War. Iran is a threat, a nuclear threat, not just because they can deliver a nuclear warhead with missiles. They’re a nuclear threat because they are the biggest state sponsor of terrorism and they can hand nuclear materials to terrorists. And we saw just last week in New York an attempt by Islamic terrorists to attack JFK Airport; three weeks ago, an attempt to attack Fort Dix."

Does this remind you of anyone else? How about George W. Bush just before last November's election:

"The stakes in this war are high and so are the stakes this November. Americans face a choice between two parties with different attitudes on this War on Terror."

"Five years after 9/11, the worst attack on the American homeland in history, the Democrats offer nothing but criticism and obstruction and endless second-guessing. The party of FDR, the party of Harry Truman has become the party of cut and run."

Or perhaps you prefer Dick Cheney's version:

"That [the 1972 Nixon/McGovern election] was the last time the national Democratic Party took a hard left turn," Cheney told a conference hosted by the conservative Heritage Foundation. "But in 2007, it looks like history is repeating itself. Today, on some of the most critical issues facing the country, the new Democratic majority resembles nothing so much as that old party of the early 1970s."

Or Karl Rove's warning before the last election:

"Republicans have a post-9/11 worldview—and many Democrats have a pre-9/11 worldview," Rove told Republican activists. "That doesn't make them unpatriotic, not at all. But it does make them wrong—deeply and profoundly and consistently wrong."

It's interesting how directly "One Note" Rudy echoes the current White House axis of evil.

This should be a really good event!

Left Forum and The Nation Present:

CAN PROGRESSIVES MOVE THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY TO THE LEFT?
A debate between Stanley Aronowitz and Laura Flanders

Monday June 18 , 7pm

CUNY Graduate Center
Elebash Recital Hall
365 5th Avenue at 34th St.

$5 to $10 admission, ticketing at the door (no advance sales)


Stanley Aronowitz is author of Left Turn: Forging a New Political Future (Paradigm Publishers, 2006), and Laura Flanders is author of Blue Grit: True Democrats Take Back Politics from the Politicians (The Penguin Press, 2007), will discuss and debate the possibilities and limitations of working within the Democratic party.
Gary Younge, correspondent for The Guardian and contributor to The Nation will moderate.

Stanley Aronowitz and Laura Flanders will be signing their books after the discussion.

Information: 212-817-2003 or leftforum@leftforum.org

STANLEY ARONOWITZ is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at CUNY Graduate Center, where he is Director of The Center for the Study of Culture, Technology and Work. He is Founding Editor of Social Text and Situations, was Book Review Editor of Social Policy, and serves on the Editorial Board of Ethnography; Cultural Critique. He has authored and edited 24 books, the most recent being Left Turn: Forging a New Political Future (2006).

LAURA FLANDERS is the host of "RadioNation" heard on Air America Radio and syndicated to non-commercial affiliates nationwide. She is the author most recently of Blue Grit: True Democrats Take Back Politics from the Politicians (The Penguin Press, 2007) and also BUSHWOMEN: Tales of a Cynical Species (Verso, 2004), an investigation into the women in George W. Bush's Cabinet.

GARY YOUNGE is a columnist and correspondent for The Guardian and the Alfred Knobler fellow for The Nation. He has written extensively from Southern Africa and throughout Europe, and is author of No Place Like Home: A Black Briton's Journey Through the Deep South (1999), and, most recently, of Stranger in a Strange Land: Encounters in the Disunited States (2006).

Michael Moore on Oprah Tues. 6/5

Michael Moore on Oprah Tuesday

Michael Moore will appear on Oprah tomorrow, Tuesday, June 5, and will present, for the first time on television, scenes from his new film, Sicko. Oprah will interview Michael about the movie and the attention it's receiving before its release (opening day everywhere is June 29).
The theme of Oprah's show is the one film you must see this summer -- Sicko -- and the one book you must read (Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"). Oprah loved Michael's film and wants to make health care for all one of her main missions this year.

So set your recorders for Oprah tomorrow, Tuesday!

Nixon redux: Bush martial law

From a friend:

"Listening to WNYC today, someone called in about a Presidential Directive that was issued in mid-May that has received no coverage and, according to the caller, gives the President virtual dictatoral powers in the event of an "emergency". I googled it, and found about five pages of commentary, but they were ALL ONE COMMENTARY, from clearly anti-Bush blogs. I tried to find a reputable news source that dealt with it, but as the caller stated, NO ONE SEEMS TO BE WRITING ABOUT THIS. So I went to the source:The White House, and downloaded the actual directive. I'm sending it out for you to look over and see if you can decipher it's meaning. If the bloggers are correct, we must not let this go under the radar. In fact, if the bloggers are correct, we are really in grave danger."

O'Reilly in wonderland

Reading a Bill O'Reilly column is like entering another dimension. A dimension that might be called "O'Reilly's Wonderland." A wonderland characterized by two things: O'Reilly and his cohorts are always the victims. Who can forget his brave struggle against the infidels who wanted to violate the purity of Christmas by trying to include everyone in the holiday spirit by wishing people Seasons Greetings instead of the Christian-only narrower Merry Christmas.

The other is that any mistakes - no matter how deadly - made by O'Reilly and his cohorts are always someone else's fault. "... President Bush had no plan 'B' when the Iraqi people decided not to fight for their freedom after Saddam fell. That is the crux of the mess in Iraq" (NYP, 5/25/07) Heavens, we uninvited invaded a sovereign country to change regimes and the people of Iraq "...embraced ancient hatreds and corruption, and some even cooperated with al Qaeda. The ensuing chaos and death is heartbreaking to those of us who believe Iraq could be a free nation, if only the people had the will."

In other words, our crusade to turn the Middle East into a carbon copy of the U.S. was foiled by Iraqi's desire to be Iraqis.

Yesterday Bush claimed, "I'm credible because I read the intelligence."

But, according to the WP, "Months before the invasion of Iraq, U.S. intelligence agencies predicted that it would be likely to spark violent sectarian divides and provide al-Qaeda with new opportunities in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a report released yesterday by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence."

O'Reilly asks: "...is there a rational person on earth who believes Bush, Blair ... lied to the world in order to remove Saddam Hussein." Well Bill, some of us believe - without claiming to be rational - that the removal of Saddam Hussein was the first necessary step toward taking control of Iraq's vast oil wealth. It's interesting that the word "oil" never appears in your column.

Iraq Veterans Against the War Memorial Day action

Rally to support Iraq Veterans Against the War

Sunday, May 27th, 2007
12 Noon,
Union Square, South steps


"In an effort to illuminate the true reality of the conflict in Iraq, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) will engage in a series of street theater actions around the New York City area on Sunday, May 27.

This day coincides with our national remembrance of Memorial Day on Monday, May 28, which bears particular significance this year as we are in the midst of the fifth year of a war that has claimed the lives of over 3,300 American service members and over 655,000 Iraqis."

Congressional Democrats capitulate and abandon the American people, the troops and the Iraqi people

I don't claim to understand why the Democrats have aligned themselves with Bush on Iraq. Except to realize once again that there is really only one corporate party.

On Nov. 9th - electorally victorious - the Democrats marched into Washington promising to respond to the voters and end the occupation of Iraq. Today they capitulated and proved that they couldn't stand up to Bush and agreed to continue to finance his immoral war. It's clear that they did not have the votes to overturn a Bush veto of a real bill that would end the occupation and bring the troops home. But that's not the point of the Nov. 8th election. The voters were demanding that the Democrats stand up and be counted. It seems that they can't.

Bush, as usual, has been playing politics with the troops. He vetoed (rejected) the bill to finance the occupation. And then blamed the Democrats for not supporting the troops. This is what magicians call misdirection. It's how they fool their audience. It seems that he fooled the Democratic leadership even if he couldn't distract the American people from their determination to end the occupation and bring the troops home.

Among the current Democratic candidates Joe Biden and John Edwards basically agree with Conn. Senator Christopher Dodd who said:

"Half-measures and equivocations are not going to change our course in Iraq,"
"If we are serious about ending the war, Congress must stand up to this president's failed policy now -- with clarity and conviction. ..."

As of this writing Sens. Clinton and Obama haven't said how they will vote. I guess they are waiting for word from the weatherman as to which way the political wind is blowing.

Labor Chorus Benefit concert

Photo by Dan Cohen
8th GALA BENEFIT CONCERT
New York City Labor Chorus

Saturday June 16th - 7:30pm

Ethical Culture Society
2 West 64th Street (off Central Park West)


Celebrate the great tradition of labor and folk music through song.

TICKETS: $25
Seniors, Students, & Unemployed: $15
ORDER TICKETS NOW ONLINE!

Soap Opera humor:

"Renee Elise Goldsberry exits 'OLTL' ['One Life to Live'] May 21, when Evangeline slips into a contract-induced coma.

(from Soap Dish by Carolyn Hinsey in N.Y. Daily News)

May 8th second anniversary of Chelsea Stands Up Against the War

Tuesday, May 8Th, 6-7 p.m.
is the 104th consecutive week of the Stand Up against the war in Iraq.
Join with your fellow anti-war neighbors at the northwest corner of 8th Ave and 24th St to Stand Up Against The War in Iraq.
If you live in Chelsea (or not) and are against the war - be there!

With George Tenant for better or worse you get what you pay for

Tenant with his one time-White House
masters
One thing you have to say about former CIA director George Tenant is that he's consistant. Whoever pays him gets what they need.

When he worked for the current axis of evil in the white House (Cheney, Bush and Rove) he gave them whatever they needed to market a very lucrative war. Although it seems as if yesterday's "slam dunk" has turned into today's "air ball."

Now that he is working for HarperCollins he is providing them what they need to market his reportedly $4 million tome. I suspect that this shot may also turn into an air ball.

Evolution and the right wing: theater of the absurd

Many Americans wonder why a great nation has become the world's laughing stock. After last Thursday evening's Republican party presidential debate it should be fairly obvious.

Three contenders for the Republican presidential nomination - Kansas's senator sam Brownback, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and Colorado House member Tom Tancredo - actually said they did not believe in evolution.

I can only assume that they also believe that if they sail far enough they will fall off the end of the earth. Wait a minute. Maybe that's not such a bad idea.

Not only do these people make the U.S. look bad, but they also demean whichever religion they espouse. No religion demands that you be an idiot.

Are we once again back to the imperial presidency?

Why is the U.S. the only democratic nation that treats its leaders as untouchable? Shouldn't the current events in Israel tell us something?

"[A] report, by an Israeli government commission, set off a furious debate in Israel on whether [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert should remain in office.

"The commission accused him of having decided hastily to go to war, neglecting to ask for a detailed military plan, refusing to consult outside the army and setting “over-ambitious and unobtainable goals.

"One result, the commission said, was that Mr. Olmert had been responsible for 'a severe failure in exercising judgment, responsibility and prudence.'" (N.Y. Times)

Doesn't all this sound familiar? Shouldn't the Bush administration be subjected to the same questions, only more so. The Bush administration has proven over and over again its historic self-indulgence and incompetence.

I don't know who is actually responsible for the disasters in New Orleans, Iraq, Walter Reade, for the politicization of every aspect of this administration, Justice, science, etc. Only history will tell us whether the real culprit is named Bush, Cheney, Rove, the ridiculous neo-cons, or maybe all of the co-conspirators, but since Bush claims to be the "decider," let's take him at his word. And investigate him for "a severe failure in exercising judgment, responsibility and prudence."

In the past it's been a two-bit robbery and cover-up (Nixon) and lying about blow jobs (Clinton) that has been grounds for impeachment (even if neither was ever convicted), these are penny ante "crimes and misdemeanors" compared to the behavior of Bush and his gang of war criminals.

Even arguments against challenging the Commander-in-chief in time of war pale before the Israeli situation. There they investigate the prime minister here we take impeachment off the table. The question is what's wrong with us? And what are we going to do about it?

8th GALA BENEFIT CONCERT
New York City Labor Chorus

Saturday June 16th - 7:30pm

Ethical Culture Society
2 West 64th Street (off Central Park West)


Celebrate the great tradition of labor and folk music through song.

TICKETS: $25
Seniors, Students, & Unemployed: $15
ORDER TICKETS NOW ONLINE!

Virginia Tech and gun control

Ever since the horrific events at Virginia Tech I have been thinking about the question of gun control.

I should say that I don't like guns, I don't think hunting defenseless animals is a sport and I think that most hunters substitute guns for penises. But none of this leads me to the conclusion that stricter gun controls would have prevented Cho Seung-Hui from gunning down 31 people and himself.

According to press reports it's not clear if any existing gun laws were broken. According to The coalition to Stop Gun Violence

"In December 2005 a Virginia district court ruled that Cho was 'an imminent danger to himself as a result of mental illness' and ordered that he be evaluated at a psychiatric facility. He was released the next day. Throughout this period, local police had at least three contacts with Cho.

"Although he passed a background check on two occasions, it is unclear whether Cho's handgun purchases were legal under federal law. Federal law prohibits individuals who have been 'adjudicated as a mental defective' or 'committed to any mental institution' from purchasing firearms. Virginia State Police maintain the sale was legal under state law and the Virginia attorney general's office has yet to comment on the case."

Of course, there have been commissions set up to study what happened and investigations are under way. But I don't think they will solve the problem of whether the massacre could have been prevented by stricter gun laws. In this society if someone wants something there will always be someone to sell it to him/her. If we haven't learned this from Prohibition and from the failure of anti-drug laws to effect their availability, we just don't want to acknowledge the limitations of passing laws to change human behavior.

One more word about Virginia Tech. Those people who argue that arming all (or most of) the students and faculty would have prevented some or all of the deaths of April 16 are promulgating very dangerous ideas.

But all this said, I think that if we wait to intervene until someone has reached the point of picking up a gun to solve their problems, we have totally failed as a society.

The availability of guns isn't the problem. It's that so many people from the President on down seem to believe that violence is the way to solve problems.

It takes a community to save a life, in this case 32 lives.

Cho was a part of a community at Virginia Tech and that community failed him in so many ways. Although some people realized from his writing how disturbed he was and tried to bring these problems to the attention of others who were professionally charged with dealing with them. But the professionals simply failed.

If we come across a wounded four-legged animal we are very likely to find a home for it or give it one ourselves. But with the two-legged variety we seem incapable of bringing outsiders into our midst. And until we can do that, there will always be another "deviant" who will pick up a gun to solve problems.

It's Guiliani time!

No one who lived through eight years of "one note" Rudy would be the least bit surprised that his conception of politics is ignorant confrontation. Most New Yorkers were thrilled when "One Note" became America's Mayor, because it meant he was no longer our mayor.

When criticized for his silly comments dxisparaging Democrats on the question of terrorism "One Note" said:

"They [Democrats] do not seem to get the fact that there are people, terrorists in this world, really dangerous people that want to come here and kill us," He said on The Sean Hannity Show, according to a transcript distributed by his campaign. "They want to take us back to not being as alert which to me will just extend this war much, much longer."

Is it really possible that anyone can possibly believe this nonsense? It's hardly surprising that he had to broadcast this foolishness on Sean Hannity's show. Who else (besides possibly Bill O'Reilly) would tolerate it?

It's quite ironic that the two people on who's watch 9/11 took place ("One Note" and the Bush) are the two who shout terrorism loudest. Perhaps there's some compensation going on.

The best thing we can do is to re-elect "One Note" as America's mayor - a job for which he seems ideally suited.

May 8-6PM: Second anniversary of Chelsea Stands up Against the War

From Chelsea Stands Up Against the War:

Invitation

2ND Anniversary of Chelsea Stands Up Against The War

Tuesday, May 8, 2007 6pm

Northwest corner of 8Th Avenue and 24Th Street

Anyone and everyone who participated in the first 103 weeks of the Stand Up and everyone who would like to participate to Stand Up Against the War in Iraq and
demand that the war end immediately and our troops be returned home safely can join this commemoration.

Because it is both a sad and glorious day.
Sad because the war continues, now it its fifth year, but glorious because the people of Chelsea promised that they would Stand Up each and every week as long as
the war in Iraq continues, and through rain, snow, freezing temperatures, sweltering summers and dark and dreary nights, Chelsea Neighbors have made good on their word.

Join with your friends and neighbors to say that you have had enough of the killing, enough of the torture, enough of the extraordinary waste of resources that is the war In Iraq.

Show support for your community and your neighbors while opposing this illegal and immoral war.

For further information call 212-726-1385
or go to www.chelseaneighborsunited.org

Chelsea Neighbors United To End The War
P.O. Box 821
JAF Station
New York, NY 10116-0821

The NYC Council saves us from pedicabs

We are faced with global warming, which may end the world as we know it.

According to the National Resources Defense Council,"The global warming crisis is at a tipping point. To stave off the worst effects of global warming, the United States must quickly pass strong legislation including a mandatory cap on emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping pollutants." In other words, the key to controlling (and maybe eventually reversing global warming) is to control the emission of greenhouse gasses. This would at the very least mean putting limits on automobiles and other gas emitting vehicles.


So what does the New York City Concil do?

They passed a bill controlling pedi-cabs, which emit no gasses. ("The pedicab bill caps the number of cabs at 325 and also adds new safety and insur- ance re- quirements.") And then to put a cap on this stupidity they overroad a mayoral veto. Could the taxi industry have had anything to do with this?

And we vote for these people.

April 14: Global warming action

***the BIG one*** Sea of People Mass Rally
New York, NY

April 14, 2007
12:00-3:00PM

MAIN LAWN at Battery Park

(SUBWAY: R/W to Whitehall Street, 4/5 to Bowling Green, 1 to South Ferry
BUS: M1, M6, M15 to South Ferry)

What is SEA OF PEOPLE? - visit www.seaofpeople.org for more info -

New York City's coastal location makes it particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels that will result from unabated warming. A ten-foot change could result from significant melting of the Antarctic and Greenland ice shelves over the course of this century. Such a rise would greatly reconfigure the map of our city, sinking much of lower Manhattan beneath the water.

The SEA OF PEOPLE project combines the dynamics of a mass rally with the expressive power of an interactive artistic installation.

A noon rally at Battery Park (main lawn) will kick off the event. Then, thousands of participants, ideally dressed in blue, will stretch north in two columns along the projected eastern and western 10-foot waterlines that may one day redefine lower Manhattan under the ten-foot sea level rise scenario. Creating, in essence, a Sea of People!

We hope for this line to stretch a mile or more, winding up both sides of downtown Manhattan to create a visual and symbolic statement that our elected representatives can't possibly ignore!

Leave your home, wearing blue, as much blue as you can handle -- blue shirts, blue socks, blue underwear, blue shoes, blue pants, blue hats! Remember, the Sea Of People line is yours, so feel to put your stamp on it--GO NUTS!

We've heard through the grapevine that Papa Smurf and the Blue Man Group (or at least impersonators) will be making guest appearances! Others plan on coming dressed in blue speedos, complete with beach balls and umbrellas; there may even be some mermaids! And of course, please feel free to bring BANNERS, NOISEMAKERS, AND ALL YOUR FRIENDS!

Join us at Battery Park on the main lawn at 12 Noon on Saturday, April 14.
(The Battery is accessible from State Street and Battery Place. It is adjacent to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal
SUBWAY: 4/5 to Bowling Green, R/W to Whitehall Street, 1 to South Ferry. BUS: M1, M6, M15 to South Ferry)

Bush the trickster is at it again

Congress to their great credit finally stood up to the Dick and the Bush and passed two versions of a bill providing supplemental funds for the Iraq adventure. But,as the people demanded last Nov. 7Th they added certain very mild conditions with regard to ending the war and bringing the troops home. They still have to transform these two bills into one and send it to the president for his signature.

That's where the problem arises. Bush says that if the bill contains any conditions on his power to continue the war to his heart's content, he will veto it.

Now there are many roads he could take other than a veto. He could compromise with the Democratic controlled Congress, he could sign the bill and add one of his famous signing statements saying that he will not adhere to the conditions set out in the bill to control his behavior. But instead he has chosen the road of greatest confrontation rather than compromise. In other words, he is willing to place the troops at greater risk and to withhold money he claims is necessary from them to do their job. And now in pure Bushspeak he is blaming the Democrats, who passed the bill, for withholding the funding.

This is what magicians call the "turn" or the move that distracts your attention so that they can pull the rabbit out of the hat. The American people can't allow themselves to be distracted from the obvious: It's Bush who is withholding the money from the troops with his veto and not the Democratically controlled Congress who passed the bills in the first place.

"Mr. Bush told reporters April 3 that the funding delay would mean troops may have to stay in Iraq longer than planned.

"'That is unacceptable to me, and I believe it is unacceptable to the American people,' he said."

Then to undermine his own trick Bush sent "Defense Secretary Robert Gates [out to announce] Wednesday the Army would keep troops in Iraq and Afghanistan for 15-month tours instead of the yearlong stints that have become standard. The three-month extension [is necessary to] allow the Pentagon to maintain its 30,000-troop buildup in Baghdad for another year.

"The announcement 'just underscores the fact that the burden of the war in Iraq has fallen upon our troops and their families,' said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. 'The Bush administration has failed to create a plan to fully equip and train our troops, bring them home safely and soon, and provide our veterans with the quality care they deserve.'" (SignOnSanDiego.com)

One thing that Bush is right about is that the American people won't accept this latest Bush attempt to distract them from the task at hand: Bringing the troops home.

Greg Palast in New York City

Independent journalist Greg Palast will make two appearances in New York City (May 1 and May 2) while on tour to promote the new edition of his excellent book Armed Madhouse

An Evening with Greg Palast
Randi Rhodes and Robert Kennedy Jr
Tuesday MAY 1st — 7pm
Community Church of New York,
40 East 35th St. (Bt Park&Madison)

The official NYC Launch of Palast’s NEW updated and expanded Paperback edition of
Armed Madhouse
Palast, Rhodes and Kennedy talk about "From Baghdad to New Orleans"
Also featuring:
Palast’s film: Big Easy to Big Empty — The True Story of the Drowning of New Orleans

All Proceeds go in support of WBAI Pacifica Radio and The Palast Investigative Fund

Also the following evening:

Talk and Book Signing
Wed May 2 7pm - Wed May 2 9pm
Border's Books and Music,
10 Columbus Circle, Time Warner Center

Imus update

Update on Imus in the Hateful Morning post.

Although it's clear that CBS Radio and MSNBC are trying to get away with Imus' racist and sexist remarks the sponsors are not - so Imus may be in for more than a two-week suspension. According to Keith Olbermann

"recent comments on the show have caused [one sponsor] to discontinue its advertising on Imus in the Morning...the co-president of Bigalow Tea announced that her company, whose advertising contract with Imus in the Morning had just expired, had 'suspended our current advertising and may not resume it" [and] the nation's biggest marketer Proctor and Gamble had suspended its advertising commitments for the television simulcast and the media buying agency Carat USA says some of its clients have asked for their commercials to be pulled from the Imus program, though it would not identify those clients."

The abandonment of the show by advertisers will be far more damaging than anything CBS Radio and MSNBC seem willing to do at this point. But this will only happen if we keep the pressure on.

One further word: a number of people have raised the question: If all the Hip Hop artists and rappers call Black women hos, why is everyone picking on Imus? Doesn't their using these words make them part of the common language?

First, I don't listen to most Gangster Rap because I think much of it does demean women and is sexist and possibly racist. And many of the people who have been calling for Imus to be fired have previously been equally critical of Rap music.

But the simple fact is "Two wrongs don't make a right." If I commit murder that doesn't make it OK for you to go out and kill someone.

Each person has to take responsibility for their own actions.

Imus in the hateful morning

As John McEnroe used to say: "You can't be serious?"

Two weeks suspension for Don Imus. In other words, if you spew hate on MSNBC and CBS Radio you get a two-week vacation. "I think it's clearly not enough," Al Sharpton told CNN.

"This is a two-week cooling off period," The Rev. Jesse Jackson said, according to Gambling 911. "It does not challenge the character of the show, its political impact, or the impact that these comments have had on our society."

But there are other aspects of the Imus show that may change right away. For example, The Washington Times reports that "Hall of Famer Cal Ripken canceled an appearance on Don Imus' radio and television program scheduled for later this week because of comments the talk show host made about Rutgers' women's basketball team." A few more people with integrity, or those who just don't want to get involved in the controversy, could change the minds at CBS Radio and MSNBC.

Does the "I" in I-man really stand for Idiot? Or perhaps a better question is: Does Imus take us for idiots? Obviously he does and it seems he's right.

On April 4Th Imus and his executive producer were discussing the previous night's Rutgers/Tennessee women's title basketball game.

IMUS: "That's some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos and --"

[The show's executive producer] McGUIRK: "Some hard-core hos."

IMUS: "That's some nappy-headed hos there. I'm gonna tell you that now, man, that's some -- woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like -- kinda like -- I don't know."

Since then he has claimed to not be a racist, to have intended the comment to be funny, and today (Monday) he said:

"I'm not a bad person. I'm a good person who said something bad."

The simple fact is that good people don't think that something as hateful as "nappy-headed hos" is funny. What kind of audience listens/watches his show? A friend of mine commented that if he said something similar about the Israeli women's basketball team (I don't know if there is one) he'd already be suspended while this discussion is going on and probably never see the inside of a broadcast studio again.

I don't know if he should be fired outright or given a long suspension, but two weeks is less than a slap on the wrist. Monday on The View , Elizabeth Hasselback suggested he be suspended until Black History Month (February). That would be a good beginning.

Whether Imus is eventually fired or gets a meaningful suspension it has nothing to do with constitutionally protected speech. Unless the government enters the dispute. Given the current makeup of the Bush FCC hurtful speech is seen as much less dangerous than a nipple.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson said that Imus' suspensions would not halt the protests that have taken place as a result of the comments. There should be demonstrations every day outside CBS and NBC (a moving demo) until there is a punishment that fits the crime. Imus is not the issue. Racism and sexism are.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that the headline of the Imus story on Fox News.com is "Two Sides to Imus Story?"

Cheney lurks in shrubs at Bush press conference

I have a weak stomach so I don't usually watch Bush press conferences, but I did last week. And watched an extraordinary Bush administration visual: Cheney lurking in the shrubs during the conference and then slinking into the White House after it ended.

It brought back memories of the wire under Bush's jacket in the first debate with Kerry. Only this time Cheney decided to make a personal appearance and work the puppet strings himself. Or maybe he was just there to step in if Bush needed backup.

Dad demands son not be treated as "baggage"

"In an about-face by the U.S. government four years into the war in Iraq, America's fallen troops are being brought back to their families aboard charter jets instead of ordinary commercial flights, and the caskets are being met by honor guards in white gloves instead of baggage handlers with forklifts.

"That change — which took effect quietly in January and applies to members of the U.S. military killed in Afghanistan, too — came after a campaign waged by a father who was aghast to learn that his son's body was going to be unloaded like so much luggage."

{From Fox News}

The times they are a changin': Disney stands up

"Same-sex couples who want to exchange vows in front of Cinderella's Castle now have the chance.

"The Walt Disney Co. had limited its Fairy Tale Wedding program to couples with valid marriage licenses, but it is now making ceremonies at its parks available to gay couples as well."

(from the UK Guardian)

Obama slips into Bushspeak

Photo by Kwame Ross

What happens when the political snake proffers the presidential apple? It seems it beclouds your mind with Bushspeak.

Here's what Senator Barak Obama said when asked about the possibility of a funding cut-off if Bush goes through with his threatened veto of recent congressional anti-war legislation:

"I think that nobody wants to play chicken with our troops on the ground," he told the Associated Press, adding: "I don't think we can muster at this point a majority of Senate Democrats or Republicans to vote for a cutoff of funding."

Labelling it as "playing chicken with our troops on the ground," which is, of course, exactly what Bush is doing, is likely to make it much less likely that "a majority of Senate Democrats or Republicans [will] vote for a cutoff of funding."

Senator, if you're anti-war, don't throw your principles out the window to enhance your presidential prospects. It won't work, no matter what your advisors are telling you.

Chelsea Neighbors United newsletter

Check out the latest newsletter from Chelsea Neighbors United to End the War.

And remember if you live in Chelsea (or even if you don't):

"Every Tuesday evening at 6 pm (rain or shine), Chelsea Neighbors United to End the War assembles on the northwest corner of 8th Avenue and 24th Street. ... [CNU is] a community protest against the war in Iraq."

Iran and the British sailors

During the saga of Iran and the British sailors I have been plagued by a question: How is it possible for the corporate media to once again buy into the innocent Blair-Bush act? Or perhaps, is it possible to actually envision Blair and, in this case, his sidekick, Bush as victims of an international incident?

This has been articulated perfectly by Robert Parry on Consortiumnews.com:

"Of course, left outside this narrow frame of reference was the gross violation of international law – the bloody invasion of Iraq in 2003 – that put the Brits there in the first place.

"Back then, international law was deemed little more than a nuisance getting in the way of what President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted to do, i.e. conquer Iraq, install a compliant government, 'privatize' its resources, and threaten other countries in the region to get in line."



"The combined interventions by the United Kingdom and the United States may have cost the lives of hundreds of thousands – possibly millions – of Iraqis and Iranians over the past century, but somehow Blair and Bush have positioned themselves as the innocent victims – at least as far as the Western press corps is concerned."

Of course, Bush has spent most of his almost two terms in office playing the victim. And until last Nov. 7 it worked perfectly. And now it's up to the Democrats to articulate an alternative framework and take it to the people before Bush, once again, snatches victory from the jaws of defeat (here, not in Iraq).

African-Americans and baseball

This month - as a new season begins - the lords of baseball will once again climb on the back of Jackie Robinson on the occasion of the 60Th anniversary of the breaking of baseball's racist barriers to promote the game and enrich themselves.

This is what Hall of Famer Dave Winfield has to say about the current situation in today's Daily News:

"[There is an] exodus from the game of African-American players and fans - in 1975, 25% of ballplayers were African-American. Today, it's 8% - and some teams have none."

Hypocrisy has never been far from baseball public relations.

The neocons vs. big oil

Remember Dick Cheney's secret meetings to develop an energy policy in the early days of the first Bush administration before 9/11 "legitimated" their already-developed plan to invade Iraq and privatize the oil.

Here's a brief exchange between independent journalist Greg Palast and former Shell Oil CEO Philip Carroll last week on Democracy Now

"GREG PALAST: So I asked Shell's former boss if the neo-con's agenda matched that of the oil industry.

"PHILIP CARROLL: They're absolutely poles apart. Many neo-conservatives are people who do have certain ideological beliefs about markets, about democracy, about this, that and the other. International oil companies, without exception, are very pragmatic, commercial organizations. They don't have a theology. They don't have a doctrine. They are going to do what is in the best interest of their shareholders.

"GREG PALAST: Americans have never paid so much for gasoline. Big oil execs are grinning. They've never seen such big profits. The neo-cons say we missed the chance to stop this run-up in oil prices. All we had to do was sell off Iraq's oil fields. But big oil killed it."

Watch Palast's full report on big oil and Iraq on Democracy Now

Howard Zinn on the Left, Congress and the war

Chelsea Neighbors Against the War has reprinted Howard Zinn's latest piece on the Left, Congress and the war in Iraq http://www.chelseaneighborsunited.org/, which will appear in the May, 2007 issue of The Progressive.

At this moment when Congress is debating cutting-off funds for the this immoral and unpopular war, Zinn not only takes issue with the the "Democrats [who] are behaving with their customary timidity, proposing withdrawal, but only after a year, or eighteen months," but also with sectors of the left like "MoveOn, which polled its members on the Democrat proposal, saying that progressives in Congress, 'like many of us, don’t think the bill goes far enough, but see it as the first concrete step to ending the war.'"

So it is clear that Zinn's article is too urgent to wait for the print version of the May issue of The Progressive. I strongly urge you to check it out on the Chelsea Neighbors' website or that of The Progressive.

I think it's particularly important to herald the courage of the Democrats in the House who voted against the war-funding measure out of a commitment to ending the war NOW - Maxine Waters, Lynn Woolsey, Diane Watson and Barbara Lee, all of California, Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, John Lewis of Georgia, Mike McNulty of New York and Mike Michaud of Maine.

The Senate vote on a similar measure should happen any minute. And our posture toward these largely political votes will be very important. As Zinn says:

"When a social movement adopts the compromises of legislators, it has forgotten its role, which is to push and challenge the politicians, not to fall in meekly behind them.

"We who protest the war are not politicians. We are citizens. Whatever politicians may do, let them first feel the full force of citizens who speak for what is right, not for what is winnable, in a shamefully timorous Congress."

March 21: Book party - Blackwater

Wednesday, March 21st at 7:00 pm.
(Doors open at 6:15)

The New York Society for Ethical Culture
2 West 64th Street at Central Park West, New York City.

Jeremy Scahill will discus Blackwater
in conversation with Nation columnist and best-selling author Naomi Klein and
award-winning journalist and host of Democracy Now! Amy Goodman
in a forum presented by The Nation Institute.

$10 requested donation.

A book signing of Blackwater and No Logo will follow the conversation.

For the full story of the world's most powerful mercenary army and what the privatization of the U.S. military means for American democracy, read Scahill's new book Blackwater (Nation Books). It's an invaluable read for anyone concerned with the direction of the American experiment. Click here for info and to order online.

March 18: March for Peace

Sunday March 18:
NYC Peace March


Brooklyn Parents for Peace

join us

On the 4th anniversary of Bush's War in Iraq,

To say

4 years too many!
Not one more death, not one more dollar!
End the war in Iraq!

1:00 pm Assemble:
Brooklyn delegation: 36th Street East Side of 6th Ave
Youth and student delegation: 37th Street East Side of 6th Ave

2:00 pm March to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, United Nations

Festival of Peace and Justice: continues until 6:00 pm at DH Plaza

We demand:
**Bring our troops home now, safe and alive!
**No more billions for war, death, and destruction!
**Fund human needs: jobs, health care, education, and housing!

Sponsored by United for Peace and Justice
Endorsed by Brooklyn Parents for Peace
Join tens of thousands of New Yorkers in a mighty march!

March 18: Chelsea March to end the war

Join your Chelsea neighbors in the March To End The War
Sunday, March 18th
Chelsea Neighbors United to End the War
assemble at 1 pm
at 6th Avenue at 39th Street (enter from east side)

We are marching for an immediate withdrawal of U. S forces from Iraq;
an end to the funding of this war except for the safe withdrawal of all our armed forces;
no military attacks on Iran;
full funding of veterans benefits;
aid to reconstruct Iraq under Iraqi control;
the redirection of our tax dollars for social programs at home.

Look for the Chelsea Neighbors United signs or
the New York Metro Area Postal Union banner

March route goes past the NYC offices of Senators Clinton and Schumer and then on to the United Nations

For further information on the day of the march call
Chuck at 917-693-9427

Chelsea Neighbors United To End The War
P.O. Box 821
JAF Station
New York, NY 10116-0821
212-726-1385
http://www.chelseaneighborsunited.org

Has O'Reilly left the human race?

Keith Olbermann once again awarded Bill O'Reilly the "Worst person in the world" label and said that O'Reilly had left the human race in response to his comments about the legal status of the victims of last week's fire in New York (9 children and 1 adult). O'Reilly's major concern was whether the children were in this country illegally. He said that the children died because of "an excess of compassion" that allowed them to be here in the first place.

Olbermann . Although acknowledging that immigration could be a legitimate topic of discussion, that his focus on that as the victims were being buried was outrageous.

Although Olbermann's outrage is more than legitimate since O'Reilly has once again shamed us all, the question is how can someone leave the human race who has never been a part of it in the first place. Buffy where are you now that we need you.

Hey Martha! What do you think about scooter's conviction?

=
Scooter Libby has been convicted of lying, under oath, to a federal grand jury. Apparently, right-wing pundits Bill Kristol and Joseph diGenova do not believe that this kind of offense is worthy of prosecution.


the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol on Fox:

"[Fitzgerald] indicted one person, not for any underlying crime, but for allegedly mis-remembering a couple of conversations with reporters when talking about them to the grand jury — these were conversations that went nowhere. No one thinks Scooter Libby actually leaked Valerie Plame’s name, even if that were a crime, which it isn’t.

"Bush should pardon Scooter Libby and get the whole thing over with…I am blaming Ashcroft for recusing himself. And the CIA was out to get people in the White House at that point. And Bush should pardon Scooter Libby."

Conservative pundit and attorney Joseph diGenova is trying to portray a pardon of Libby as standard operating procedure:

"I think ultimately, of course, there are going to be pardons,” said Joseph diGenova, a former prosecutor and an old Washington hand who shares that view with many pundits. “These are the kinds of cases in which historically presidents have given pardons."

This, of course, is only the tip of the pardon-scooter-today iceberg.



So Martha, what do you think of all this fuss about Scooter's conviction for lying to the authorities? Although he will almost surely be pardoned, he might actually go to jail.

March 27: Book party: The Cost of Privilege

Many of you have heard about Chip Smith's incredible book--The Cost of Privilege: Taking on the System of White Supremacy and Racism-- . The book is now out, and there's a...


Book Party/Forum
THE COST OF PRIVILEGE


Tuesday, March 27, 7 p.m.


with Bill Fletcher Jr., Harmony Goldberg and the author, Chip Smith


Brecht Forum
451 West St. (betw. Bank & Bethune)

Suggested donation: $6/$10/$15-No one turned away


(A/C/E/L to 14th St. & 8th Ave, walk down 8th Ave. to Abingdon Square, turn right onto Bethune St., walk west and turn left on West St., the last block before the highway)

Bill Fletcher Jr. is former president of TransAfrica Forum and a long-time activist in the labor and Black liberation movements.

Harmony Goldberg, a veteran of Bay Area youth organizing and popular education projects such as SOUL (School of Unity and Liberation) and a former trainer with the Challenging White Supremacy workshop, is currently a student of Cultural Anthropology at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Chip Smith is the author of The Cost of Privilege: Taking on the System of White Supremacy and Racism, which will be available for sale. He has been a Machinists union departmental steward and a founder of Fayetteville Peace with Justice, and is a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

The death of [Capt.] America

Captain America is dead (Captain America #25}. He probably won't be laid out in the Capitol rotunda. The masses won't be able to pay their respects. He might even be resurrected like his D.C. cohort Superman. Perhaps when the villains currently occupying the White House are gone. But for now, he's dead.

When an icon dies it is a moment for reflection. The death of the Capt. is clearly such a moment.

In the ancient world the people had to live up to their ideals in order not to anger the gods. So today we need to earn the right to our superheros. Capt. America was one of the modern pantheon. Not exactly a superhero - Steve Rogers actually had no super powers - but the ultimate human being. Created to fight Hitler and the Nazis in the age of FDR, perhaps he no longer had a role to play in "the new American century" represented by miniatures such as Bush, Cheney and the recently departed Rumsfeld.

Bush could never fill out the uniform.

According to the Marvel Universe:

"From art student to super soldier to symbol of America to rebel leader, Steve Rogers is the living symbol of the ideals of America."

But America has to live up to those ideals in order to justify a living symbol to protect them.

Goodbye Capt. in your 66 years you've been a true super-hero. Come back soon. Till then rest-in-peace.

The Paris Hilton of the right

Just as Paris Hilton will do anything to get attention, (for example, her porn video mysteriously appeared on line just before the debut of her TV "reality" show) so it seems will Ann Coulter.
There is nothing political about Coulter's screeds. If there were the level of our political discourse would have descended below even that of Bush and Rove. Just like Hilton when Coulter has something to sell, like a book, she trashes a few 911 widows. When she needs to be noticed at a right-wing conference, she pushes the ugly envelope further than even her right-wing cohorts can stomach.

She brought her March 2 speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)in Washington, D.C., to a conclusion with these words:

"I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards, but it turns out that you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot,' so I'm - so, kind of at an impasse, can't really talk about Edwards, so I think I'll just conclude here and take your questions."

To not see this as a desperate cry for attention by a person of very limited talents is to be manipulated by her as she twists the corporate media. The only thing she's actually good at.

Ann Coulter doesn't need rehab, she needs Super Nanny.

Protests on 4th anniversary of Iraq invasion

Living Peace Sign
Friday, March 16th, 6:00 PM
Washington Square Park (4th St. @ 5th Ave.)

On the eve of the fourth anniversary of the Iraq War, Greenwich Village will be illuminated by a living peace sign in Washington Square Park, where hundreds of torch-bearing New Yorkers will be demanding an end to wars and nuclear arms.
The human peace sign will be one of dozens simultaneously constructed in cities around the world, including Rome, Paris, Budapest, Bogota, Sydney, Athens,
London, Madrid, Maputo and Mumbai.

Contact: Aaron Freimark
abf@mac.com
917-459-2626

Sponsored By:
Humanist Movement, Community of Silo's Message, Queens Anti-War Committee, NICE, Movimiento por La Paz en Colombia, Diversity Center of Queens, Ecuatorian International, Humanist Center of Cultures



NYC March to End the War
Sunday, March 18
Assemble at 1:00pm,
East of 6th Ave. on 35th–39th Streets
March at 2:00pm

WHY we are marching:
After 4 years of death and destruction in a war that should never have been launched, we are marching to say NO MORE!
We who live in the city that directly experienced the tragedy of 9/11--the tragedy that was inexcusably used by the Bush administration to justify the invasion of Iraq--have a special responsibility to let the world know that the vast majority of New Yorkers strongly oppose this war.

Contact: United for Peace and Justice for more infrormation

March 17 DC March on Pentagon goes forward

1) Free Speech Victory! Pentagon March Route is Now Set
2) Pro-impeachment organizations uniting for Pentagon March
3) Speakers list for the March on Pentagon

Pentagon March Route is Now Set

The Free Speech battle with the State of Virginia has been won! The attempt to obstruct the demonstration has collapsed. More than 2,000 people sent letters to the Virginia Attorney General and people everywhere expressed their outrage that Virginia would attempt to create barriers preventing demonstrators from marching to the Pentagon. This could not have happened without everyone's participation. This combined political and legal challenge, waged with the assistance of the Partnership for Civil Justice, made all the difference.

At a meeting of a new coalition of a large number of organizations that are supporting impeachment, held in New York City on Feb.17, it was decided to mobilize for the March on the Pentagon on March 17 to demand, "End the War and Impeach Bush Now!"
The coalition of organizations that have united in this effort is called Impeach07.

The March on the Pentagon speakers list includes:
- Malik Rahim, Founder of Common Ground Collective
- Cindy Sheehan, Gold Star Families for Peace
- Howard Zinn, Author, A People's History of the United States
- Ramsey Clark, Former U.S. Attorney General
- Melida and Carlos Arrendando, whose son and stepson was killed in Iraq
- Congressman John Lewis (Georgia)
- Mahdi Bray, Executive Director of Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
- Mounzer Sleiman, TV commentator & Vice Chair, National Council of Arab American
- Leonard Weinglass, Civil Rights Attorney
- Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, National Lawyers Guild
- Jonathan W. Hutto Sr., Navy Petty Office Third Class, Co-Founder Appeal for Redress
- Liam Madden, Former Sgt. USMC, Appeal for Redress, Bellows Falls, VT
- Anita Dennis, Organizer with Courage to Resist, Military Families Speak Out member
- Helga P. Aguayo, Wife of Conscientious Objector Agustín Aguayo
- Debra Sweet, National Coordinator, World Can't Wait
- Brian Becker, National Coordinator, ANSWER Coalition

For further information contact A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition or March on Pentagon

What is it with Samuel L. Jackson and snakes?

What is it with Samuel L. Jackson and snakes?

Snakes on a Plane

Black Snake Moan

There must be movies without snakes.

ENCAMPMENT TO STOP THE WAR: Beginning March 12

ENCAMPMENT TO STOP THE WAR

Beginning March 12
(Before the March on the Pentagon on Saturday March 17)

In Washington DC
on the mall directly in front of the Capitol building (3rd st. bt. Constitution and Independence)


Send a message to Congress:
*CUT OFF ALL WAR FUNDING
*END THE WAR
*BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW

WHY NOW? During the week beginning March 12, Congress will begin voting on Bush’s request for $100 billion more for the wars in Iraq and Afganistan. If Congress votes to cut off funds, they can end the war now and bring the troops home. If they approve Bush’s war funds, the killing, and dying and occupation will go on…it’s as simple as that. This vote will be the most important war related vote since Congress voted to authorized Bush to invade and occupy Iraq in October of 2002. The antiwar movement must be there to let Congress know that we won’t let them get away with it this time.


Right now, the Troops Out Now Coalition is working with local organizers, churches and mosques, unions, and community groups to prepare for a long-term occupation of Washington by the anti-war movement. Local organizers across the U.S. are organizing buses, vans, and car caravans.

An open letter to Sens. Clinton & Edwards

One of the easiest things to do is Monday-morning quarterbacking. However, the great ones, the Hall-of-Fame quarterbacks do it on Sunday. That's what differentiates them from the rest of the pack.

I am well aware that your positions on Iraq are different. But basically they boil down to this,
"if I knew in 2002 what I know now I would not have voted to give the president the power to invade Iraq."
My question is, Why didn't you know then what you know now?

Surely we have learned more since then, but most of what we know now was available then. That's why many in and out of Congress knew enough then to raise serious questions about the snake oil the neo-con artists were selling. There was clearly enough information available to raise significant questions. Now-Sen. Obama spoke out then against the drum rolls for war and 23 of your colleagues voted against the joint resolution. Why didn't you have the same information they had?

There is no vote you can cast more important for our country and the world than the decision to go to war. In 2002 you failed us. We elected you to protect us from those who for their own reasons wanted - and continue to want - to send our young people to die and be maimed in Iraq, and perhaps soon in Iran. You failed to protect us. Why?

There was enough information available for many Americans and most people around the world to be suspicious of the direction Cheney and Bush were taking us. But you voted in lockstep with those who took us to war. We don't need mea culpas now. We need to know why you made the choice you made then. Why you ignored all the available intelligence that contradicted the neo-con artists pro-war smoke screen.

Now you want a promotion to a more important job. Since you failed at the moment of decision, why should we hire you for the job you now want? How do we know that you won't fail us again when you are making the ultimate decision no longer just one of 100 votes? The neo-con artists are promoting a new war - to take out Iran.

It's basically the same people warning us that Armageddon will ensue if we don't change the regime in Iran. Does that sound familiar?

In "From the Wonderful Folks who Brought you Iraq" in Vanity Fair, Craig Unger says:

"Once again, neocon ideologues have been flogging questionable intelligence about WMD. Once again, dubious Middle East exile groups are making the rounds in Washington, this time urging regime change in Syria and Iran. Once again, heroic new exile leaders are promising freedom.” (Also check Amy Goodman's interview with Craig Unger)

As Paul Krugman said in Monday's N .Y.Times,

"It’s still hard to believe that they’re really planning to attack Iran, when it’s so obvious that another war would be a recipe for even bigger disaster. But remember who’s calling the shots: Dick Cheney thinks we’ve had 'enormous successes' in Iraq."

To paraphrase a popular TV commercial, "Every war begins with "W."

So! What are you going to do now? Are you going to stand up against this extension of the war into Iran or are you going to fall into the same trap again?

Congressional office sit-ins to end the war

While the corporate media are focusing all their political attention on the potential Democratic and Republican candidates for 2008, other people are taking a much more active approach to ending Bush's war in Iraq:

"10 activists were arrested on orders from Senator John McCainÂ’s office today after members of the peace groups CODEPINK, Voices for Creative Nonviolence, and Veterans for Peace tried to meet with the senatorÂ’s legislative aide to discuss defunding the war."

Ralph Nader on 2008

Many people (Democrats and independents) continue to blame Ralph Nader for Bush's elevation to the presidency in 2000 and then again in 2004. This seems to me an utterly absured line of reasoning.

First of all, in 2004 Al Gore won the popular vote and then a Supreme Court coup stole it for Bush. To blame Nader is to let those with the real power, those who totally disrespected the American people, those who chose to substitute power for democracy off the hook.

Secondly, the most important thing Nader did was to bring out people (particularly young people) who otherwise would have opted to sit out both elections. It continues to seem that to stifle Nader's voice is to stifle the essense of democracy.

When Amy Goodman asked Nader Monday morning on Democracy Now whether he would run for president again in 2008, this is what he said:

"Too early to say. I think we need more voices and choices. I think the speech by former Senator Mike Gravel indicates there’s going to be a wider debate in the primaries of the Democratic Party, along with Congressman Dennis Kucinich. There are lots of people in this country urging Bill Moyers to run in the Democratic primary. He would certainly give it more depth. And I hope more independent candidates and third-party candidates run. We’ve got to break this two-party elected dictatorship that’s being measured by how much money it raises."

Then when she asked him to expound on his comment to Wolf Blitzer on Sunday that if Hillary Clinton got the Democratic nomination he would be more likely to run, he answered:

"Well, there would be more need for a broader spectrum of views by more candidates. I don't think she has the fortitude to stand up to corporate power, whether it’s ripping off Washington by corporations or the bloated military budget or corporate crime, fraud, and abuse. It has a lot of roots right in her backyard, in Wall Street, Spitzer prosecution land. I don’t think she has it. And she has this increasingly distasteful habit of pandering and flattering in her public appearances. And she panders to special interest groups that need to be given the straight truth, and she flatters people in her audience. And I think that is a sign that she thinks she’s a frontrunner and she can play cautious."

I didn't vote for Nader in 2000 or in 2004 but I'm not at all sure what I will do in 2008. The lesser of two evils argument certainly holds less and less attraction for me. As I have said before here, the lesser of two evils is still evil. And I'm tired of holding my nose when I go into the voting booth.

Tonight (Tues.): Free Leonard Peltier

Both Ann and I were involved with the Native American movement in the 1970s and 1980s - she with the National Committee of the The Native American Solidarity Committee and I was at the International Indian Treaty Council at the UN - so we believe very strongly in freedom for Native American activist Leonard Peltier, who has be a prisoner of war for far to long. (Dan)



Free Leonard Peltier! 31 Years of Injustice is too long!


Tuesday February 6; 7-9PM
at Solidarity Center
55 West 17th Street 5th Floor (5th/6th Ave)


On the 31st anniversary of the unjust extradition and arrest of AIM leader Leonard Peltier, the NYC Leonard Peltier Support Group invites you to an evening of music, history, spoken word, open mike & updates from:

Live music hosted by Wayquay-w.I. N.D. RunningmouthRadio

Legal update by Peltier's attorneys

Special guests from near & far
Live radio interviews

Donation will be collected at door
Refreshments served

www.LeonardPeltier. net