The Re Collection

Firedoglake - Firedoglake weblog » Memorial Day Truth: There Is No “War on Terror”

Terror is an emotion. Emotions are part of human nature and cannot be eradicated. A “War on Terror” is therefore a war on humanity. The Bush administration has exploited the fear and shock of a nation in the wake of a surprising and dramatic act of violence to whip national fear and paranoia into a constant boil. Why?

The evidence suggests the whole point has been to seize power and steal money. We are witnessing a creeping coup in the United States, the overthrow of the idea, promulgated by our founders and by writers like Tom Paine, that the “Law is King:”

[…]

Bushco has enslaved Americans into a psychological reign of “War on Terror” that amounts to a criminal protection racket. We are told we must be afraid. That is, we are told we must live in terror. This is to protect us from. . . terror. Then, because we feel terrified, we must give up our freedom - freedom to write what we believe without fear of reprisal, freedom of due process and habeas corpus protection, freedom from secret intrusion into our private lives by government.

Today is Memorial Day. Today we remember countless patriots who died and fought for those freedoms our president tells us we must abandon. . . in the name of “freedom.”

A worthwhile read. I agree with Pachacutec. A commenter also provides an illustrative quote from history:

“Of course the people don’t want war. But after all, it’s the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it’s a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.”

— Herman Goering, at the Nuremberg trials

Myself, I am not afraid of terrorists. The numbers game alone, is in my favor; and anyway, they can only kill me — and still they will not achieve their goal. But Bushco and the neocons can make my life unhappy — and we do have a right to pursue happiness, remember — by restricing my freedoms and lessening my safety. Here’s another pertinent quote that should be applied: “Give me liberty or give me death.”

Update: John Avarosis weighs in.

Wow.

Nothing demonstrates character more than the ability to admit a mistake and apologize. This is a message from a man with a great deal of character:

The Shape of Days: Resigned

I recommend reading back two or three posts as well.

I started getting the Waco Trib this week (well, the weekend editions anyway) and will try to write about more local issues on this blog. There are not too many lefty blogs in the Heart of Texas, so it’s a necessary public service.

Today there’s an article about the local MCC church, a gay/lesbian friendly denomination that, in conservative towns like Waco, are usually the core of the GLBT community.

I’m not Christian, or even religious, but I appreciate what MCC does for gays and lesbians, giving them a place where they can express their spirituality without shame or guilt, and of course it also provides social activities, resources for community service and even on occassion a political nudge. It’s a black eye on the rest of the Christians that this ghettoization was necessary in the first place, but overall it’s been a good thing for gays and lesbians by changing the focus of the community’s attention, to some extent, from the bar scene (and other even less productive venues).

The Waco church is having a celebratory reception for MCC founder Troy Perry — whom I met in Florida a few years back — even as I type this, and a dinner tonight which I will try to get to.

I do have one small criticism of CenTex MCC, though. They should have named themselves HOT (Heart of Texas, as the greater area around Waco is known) MCC, because that would be a lot more fun than CenTex, which sounds like a type of stretchy fabric or a condom brand. Seriously, it sounds very corporate, not religious. I’m betting the boys in the church have a much better, affectionate, nickname for their church. If I go tonight, maybe I will find out what it is!

Backlash and more…

(Which reminds me, Wendy, would you please return my copy of Backlash? — not that you read this blog, or even know where to send it to now, but just putting it out there.)

Good story in the Nation about Cindy.

Her trajectory to activism is a morality tale she regularly relates, especially during her frequent speeches on college campuses. “What kept me from speaking out in the beginning was the sense that I couldn’t make a difference,” she says, noting that she saw millions of people around the world protesting the war in February 2003. “And George Bush responded by saying, I don’t have to listen to ‘focus groups,’ and marched into Iraq.”

Now she puts her apathy into a larger context. “I think the people in power want you to feel helpless, because if we all find our voice, our power, we really can make a lasting difference in this country,” she says. “I think we have almost two-thirds of Americans opposed to the war today, and these people just need to find their voices.”

From Three Continents to Duncan, Oklahoma is a report on the Halliburton protest last week.

Bloggers Against Torture

Join Us!

Join Us!

I know it will come as a huge surprise to my loyal readers — all two of you — that I am taking a firm stand on this issue.

Add your blog to the anti-torture side of the internets by clicking the Join Us link. It’s a small step, but if enough do it, it may garner some Corporate Media attention and perhaps instill some small bit of shame among those who…I know who am I kidding, those folks have no shame or they wouldn’t be involved in the disgusting business in the first place.

Nonetheless, it can’t hurt, and will give you a reason to harp some more on such quaint notions as human rights and American idealism during the month of June (in addition to the always festive queer rights topics that June has provided for some time now).

If you follow the links, you will get to the site of the new film Road to Guantanamo which opens (somewhere, not where I am) on June 23. There is more info on the whole torture business as well in other links.

As difficult as it is to deal with this, this is being done in our name and so we have a responsibility to learn and of course to act to stop it. We cannot turn our eyes away and pretend it is not happening, which is a natural and understandable reaction. A new kind of strength is required in this movement now, and we (in which I of course include myself) must find it in ourselves.

Jean Rohe, the student who took down McCain at the New School graduation, tells why she did it.

… Senator Mc Cain will tell us that we, those of us who are Americans, “have nothing to fear from each other.” I agree strongly with this, but I take it one step further. We have nothing to fear from anyone on this living planet. Fear is the greatest impediment to the achievement of peace. We have nothing to fear from people who are different from us, from people who live in other countries, even from the people who run our government–and this we should have learned from our educations here. We can speak truth to power, we can allow our humanity always to come before our nationality, we can refuse to let fear invade our lives and to goad us on to destroy the lives of others. These words I speak do not reflect the arrogance of a young strong-headed woman, but belong to a line of great progressive thought, a history in which the founders of this institution play an important part. I speak today, even through my nervousness, out of a need to honor those voices that came before me, and I hope that we graduates can all strive to do the same.

Meet the New Boss…
Note link to great article on Colbert & the media at start of the post.

• Pam Spaulding at Pam’s House Blend
• Taylor Marsh
• Arianna Huffington
• Watertiger at Dependable Renegade
• Belle Waring at Crooked Timber
• Laura Rozen at War and Piece
• Barbara O’Brien at Mahablog
• Avedon Carol at the Sideshow
• Susie Mandrak at Suburban Guerilla
• Amanda Marcotte at Pandagon
• Sheri Zollinger at World ‘o Crap
• Xan, Leah and Chicago Dyke at Corrente
• Georgia10 and McJoan at Kos
• Emptywheel at The Next Hurrah
• Jeralyn at TalkLeft
• Ellen Nagler at The Broad View
• SusanG at Booman
• MaryScott O’Connor at My Left Wing
• Lindsey Beyerstein at Majikthise
• Athenae at First Draft
• Echide of the Snakes
• Roxanne at Rox Populi
• Elayne Riggs
• Julia at Sisypus Shrugged
• Shakespeare’s Sister

This Petition and signatures and comments will be delivered to the White House by many activists, including Cindy Sheehan, between 1 and 3 p.m. ET on May 18, in cooperation with the national conference of the Network of Spiritual Progressives — Join us!

Afterwards, Ray McGovern will lead a march to Rumsfeld’s house.

Dear President Bush and Vice President Cheney,

We write to you from all over the United States and all over the world to urge you to obey both international and U.S. law, which forbid aggressive attacks on other nations. We oppose your proposal to attack Iran. Iran does not possess nuclear weapons, just as Iraq did not possess nuclear weapons. If Iran had such weapons, that would not justify the use of force, any more than any other nation would be justified in launching a war against the world’s greatest possesor of nuclear arms, the United States. The most effective way to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons would be to closely monitor its nuclear energy program, and to improve diplomatic relations — two tasks made much more difficult by threatening to bomb Iranian territory. We urge you to lead the way to peace, not war, and to begin by making clear that you will not commit the highest international crime by aggressively attacking Iran.

Sign here:
Sign Petition Opposing Attack on Iran | AfterDowningStreet.org

Courtesy of Atrios

From Daily Kos :: Comments to
“The REAL reason the press threw Colbert down the memory hole”

Why this whole thing makes me angry

I’ve been trying to figure out why it makes me so angry that the press ignored this story despite the fact that they were sitting there staring at it for what, half an hour? It’s not that they missed it, they actually consciously chose not to report it.

And I realized the reasons that makes me so mad is that:

(1) This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Bush is perhaps more averse to criticism than any previous president, and he is allowed to hide from it 99% of the time. That Colbert was chosen to speak is something of a small miracle in itself.

(2) He nailed it. Anyone who says “but, but… it wasn’t funny” has totally missed the point. The point is: a comedian just got up and had the balls to criticize President Bush on almost every aspect imagineable - to his face. If you look closely, Colbert actually looks directly at Bush throughout much of the time he’s at the podium.

You know what I call that?? A f&cking news story!! Regardless of whether you thought his jokes were funny or not, there’s simply no escaping the fact that this is a news story because Colbert criticized Bush to his face like no one has before.

And not only did he criticize Bush, he also criticized the media itself, and the interelationship of the two. He showed a video with Helen Thomas chasing a fictional White House press secretary who was scared shitless to answer the simple question of why we invaded Iraq.

But no, that’s not news.

I keep going back to the old joke about the headline that states: “Bush says world is flat; Dems disagree”. In every other case, the press will slavishly present two sides of the story. Like in the Abramoff case when they kept wanting to call it a bipartisan scandal even though it clearly was not.

Yet now, where are the two sides? Do we get a headline that says “Colbert satire rips Bush; Repubs downplay significance”? No. We get spoiled “reporters” who simply decide the story isn’t worth running at all. I’m fed up with this.

This is critical. So please take action RIGHT NOW!!!

Sign MoveOn’s petition and call Congress today.

More info.

When someone does something nice for you without expecting anything in return, it’s only right to thank them.

Diane Wilson, An American Hero
KW: Everyone who reads your story is overwhelmed by your courage and boldness. For instance, it must not have been easy being the first woman to run a shrimp boat by yourself. Was it the feminist movement that gave you the idea that you could do that?

Diane Wilson: The feminist movement has not made it to the Gulf of Mexico. Never seen that movement. I became a boat captain because I loved the water and had been on a boat since I was eight. I captained the boat by myself because I liked being alone. Probably if I had a male deckhand on the boat he would have tried to gain control over the wheel. Running a boat isn’t that hard. Just takes doing. Most or all women I ever knew were discouraged from running boats, but it was too late with me.

10 Reasons Why Gay Marriage is Wrong (not what you think)…

01) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.
02) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.
03) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
04) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can’t marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.
05) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.
06) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren’t full yet, and the world needs more children.
07) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
08) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.
09) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That’s why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.
10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

Repost if you believe that LOVE not GENDER makes a marriage.

Hat tip to Steve Gilliard

FEC Won’t Regulate Internet Politics - Yahoo! News

Expanded explanation of how this affects the netroots.

A great speech by Moyers on religious values in politics.

AlterNet: A Time for Heresy
It was in the name of Jesus that a Methodist ship caulker named Edward Rogers crusaded across New England for an eight-hour work day. It was in the name of Jesus that Francis William rose up against the sweatshop. It was in the name of Jesus that Dorothy Day marched alongside auto workers in Michigan, brewery workers in New York, and marble cutters in Vermont. It was in the name of Jesus that E.B. McKinney and Owen Whitfield stood against a Mississippi oligarchy that held sharecroppers in servitude. It was in the name of Jesus that the young priest John Ryan — ten years before the New Deal — crusaded for child labor laws, unemployment insurance, a minimum wage, and decent housing for the poor. And it was in the name of Jesus that Martin Luther King Jr. went to Memphis to march with sanitation workers who were asking only for a living wage.

The Blog | Max Blumenthal: Sensenbrenner Awakens A Sleeping Giant | The Huffington Post

Holy cow! Half a mill march in LA against the draconian anti-immigration bill. Other demos in Phoenix and (I heard somewhere) Chicago. NYC next week.

Woo hoo! It’s gonna be a great summer.

Most of my posts are just links to recommended reading, but this article by Don Hazen of Alternet, AlterNet: Bring the Sixties Out of the Closet, I’m calling special attention to. I see so much on the left denegrating the actions of the 60’s, and refusing to acknowledge the many positive results that the activists of the era achieved, not the famous ones only, but all the unknown marchers and peacemakers.

In the face of this [Bush era post-election] semiparalysis, ’60s values need to be liberated to give us some inspiration and updated to fit our present day. These values don’t belong to just one generation, but rather to a historical river of ideas and ideals that stretch back into history. They are ready to be claimed by new generations and reclaimed by those who remember what it was like the first time around.

Read the whole thing.

Progressive Activism 101:

Be happy, it upsets the Christo-fascists to no end.

DNA frees jailed man 18 years later - Crime & Punishment - MSNBC.com

DALLAS - A man who spent 18 years behind bars for allegedly attacking a woman in her home has been released after DNA testing excluded him as the attacker.

“I don’t know how to apologize. I don’t know where to start, but I’ll start with me and ‘I’m sorry,”’ District Judge John Creuzot said Monday as he released Gregory Wallis, now 47. Creuzot was not involved in the original trial.

Wallis was a 29-year-old warehouse worker when he was convicted in 1988 of burglary with intent to commit sexual assault and sentenced to 50 years in prison.

[snip]

At some point these DNA exoneration stories are going to reach a critical mass, one would hope, and changes will be made in the system, including the elimination of the death penalty altogether. But in the meantime, we can all wonder just how many innocent people are sitting in prison, their lives and families irrevocably harmed.

While wondering, hop over to Amnesty or NCADP and show some love.

Hattip to JMBZine.

Let’s create a list of every idiotic thing George Bush has done in the past five years

This is a piece of
postive news, if a bit overdue. No no more “homesexuals” in their news articles. “The Gay Agenda” advances again!

My late friend Dana Whitehurst would be calling a press conference about now, proclaiming that his (and mine) 1986 letter to the St. Petersburg Times on this very language has finally been widely adopted — although the Times has been ahead of the AP in some regards on this.

Hey, Dana, once again, we were right; and the self-loathing pacifiers were wrong!

News on the Kinky Friedman for Governor campaign, a fairly positive profile in the Austin Chronicle, and a rather disconcerting report in the Dallas Morning News (see BugMeNot to bypass compulsory registration in both papers) , in which the Kinkster is quoted as saying that he rarely goes to the polls, but managed to vote for George W. Bush in 2004.

I’ve been somewhat queasily supporting Kinky, because I think his independent candidacy can help raise awareness about the grossly unfair ballot access laws in Texas, but his going for W in 2004 indicates a real lack of moral fiber, not to mention decent judgement of people (note the “humorous” quote about how Bush is a good man trapped in a Republican body). I appreciate honesty, and I think Kinky is refreshingly honest, but being honest, and being committed to justice, are very different things. He should have sat out voting in 2004 as well — or refrained from making a selection in the presidential race.

I will try to get a fuller version of his statement on this, since it’s possible that it’s out of context, or miscontrued, or simply wrong — or disinformation from the Democratic camp or elsewhere. But I cannot responsibly support him if this is confirmed by his campaign. There may be little chance of him winning and becoming governor, but I’d like to know that the person I vote for, if elected, is a member of the “reality-based community” and no one who willfully voted for George Bush, a known quantity, in 2004, can claim to be one.