Sunday Interlude

Read more!

Hello, Hello, Hello

Is There Anybody Out There?!

I get it, everyone is busy and sick and completely bored by the blogosphere. The fight was won. Bushco and his criminal crew are gone in just a few short days. We are on to a new chapter in this country...a blissful new chapter of Peace and Love. [Pay no attention to the multiple wars and the economy in the crapper.]

There is nothing left to fight for. Right?

Wrong.

Dammit. We have more work to do than we did when we were fighting the criminality of the Bush Administration and the corrupt Republican Congress over these last 8 long fucking years.

Obama needs a movement.

And, the thing is, Obama recognizes this. Obama knows that he will not be able to implement any significant change unless the people are louder than the lobbyists. It is not enough to police the Democratic Congress and then bitch about it when they do wrong. This will not get us anywhere except for providing us a place to come and bitch and agree with each other. This is not what we need.

This is what Change.gov is all about. It is also why Obama continues to send us a zillion emails. It is not about fundraising right now...we won. There will not be an election for President for four years. All of this communication with us is not for show - it is because Obama needs a movement. Without us screaming louder than the frickin' lobbyists the change will not happen.

There is also Change.org which is a division of Democrats.com. This is the people's side of the Change movement. (Don't go to change.com unless you want to jack-off; change.com is the underwear manufacturer.)

The bottom line, even though we are tired and we are bored, we have work to do. I warned about the let-down and people seemed to agree with me that it would happen. I thought that it would have happened earlier and been over by now...but, I am thinking, the Holidays might have postponed it and might have added to it (family really is a pain in the ass.)

Consider this the pep-talk. (I can only give them, I have a hard time actually following them up with action - so I expect you all, my friends, to call me on it when I start whining...) We have work to do people. Our blog should be more active than it was while fighting the GOP. There are hearings to watch and policing of the Congress to do. Phone calls to make and letters to write. Volunteering to participate in. Movements to initiate. Media to watchdog.

Just nod if you can hear me - Is there anyone at home?

Read more!

Idiosynchronic: Rest Easy

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Except for copying - that is the very greatest form of flattery.

The Progressive is calling for "Shoeing Bush Out."

Last night, as I said, I received an email on a Democratic District group asking us to send Bush our shoes.

There are numerous posts out there about it.

I have even read posts of people who have already done it.

The only thing that I have not yet seen is the call to include directions to forward them to charity. I think that we should create the PDF instructions directing them to do so and then all of these other places can link to us! It is not easy always being the "Linker". I think that it is high time the L&L Pt 2 is the "Linkee".

Addendum: (by id) dday has observed that the Iraqis are getting pissed over the incarceration and probable beating of al-Zaidi. Now someone has to sit and really think of what do we put on the sheet. The earliest I may get to it is Friday morning.

Read more!

Thursday To Do's

If you do nothing else Thursday,

1. Please call Senator Carl Levin
2. Call your own Senators
3. Call your Representative

Tell them all that you support an independent commission and indictments for anyone in the Bush Administration who authorized and participated in torture.

Tell them that you support indictments and prosecution for war crimes.

Tell them that you want everyone, and we mean everyone (including any Democrats who knew and did nothing) held accountable.

Tell them that we are a nation of laws, not of men. Tell them that the Rule of Law is the only thing that keeps us free.

4. Tell everyone who you know to do the same.

The Congress must hear from us or nothing.will.happen.

5. Go to Change.gov and tell Obama the same.

UPDATE: BTW, Senator Carl Levin was on The Rachel Maddow Show tonight advocating for said commission [this is why we are calling his office first.]

Read more!

Honesty to Return to the Veterans Administration?

General (Ret.) Eric Shinseki is named to lead the Veterans Administration. Anyone who disagreed with and was fired because of Rumsfield and Wolfowitz earns my respect. That means he is a straight shooter, no bullshit. He also happens to be a 2 tour Veteran of Vietnam who lost part of his foot stepping on a land mine. The first Asian-American 4 star General and leader of the Joints Chief of Staff.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America has this to say about Shinseki:

"IAVA applauds President-elect Obama and the transition team for making this historic selection. General Shinseki has a record of courage and honesty, and is a bold choice to lead the VA into the future. The President-elect has demonstrated an understanding of the urgency of the issues facing America's veterans by making this announcement early. General Shinseki is widely-respected, honest and experienced. He is a man that has always put patriotism ahead of politics, and is held in high regard by veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. IAVA looks forward to supporting him to implement the historic change that is needed at the VA.

As a wounded, decorated, combat veteran, and the first Asian American in US History to be a four-star general, General Shinseki, has the potential to be an effective and dedicated advocate for veterans of all generations.

This is a critical time for veterans. One in five veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are facing serious mental health injuries like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or depression. Wounded veterans are waiting months, sometimes years, to receive disability benefits. The struggling U.S. economy is hitting new veterans especially hard. And the new GI Bill, which will make college affordable to every veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, must be implemented by August 2009.

General Shinseki has a monumental task before him. To address these issues will require real leadership that encourages active VA outreach and transparency. We encourage General Shinseki to move quickly to add Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans to key positions in his senior staff.

President-elect Obama made veterans' issues a priority in his campaign, and Michelle Obama has called military families one of the issues she cares most about. We look forward to working closely with General Shinseki and the new Administration to ensure every veteran in this country gets the care and support they have earned."

And here is the rest of it.

Read more!

Happy Thanksgiving

Part 1


Part 2

"If ya wanna end war and stuff, ya gotta sing loud." - Arlo Guthrie


Every Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember, at 12 noon, KZOK (our local classic rock station) has played "Alice's Restaurant." No matter what we are doing everything stops so that we can listen; for 18 minutes and 20 seconds.

Having had the ability and honor of seeing Arlo live a couple of years ago, and hearing him sing it live, has increased my appreciation for the genius of Arlo Guthrie, Woody Guthrie and the entire Guthrie family.

The prior Arlo quote - "If ya wanna end war and stuff, ya gotta sing loud," is one of my all-time favorite sayings. I believe it, in all of its incarnations. It is true no matter how I look at it...if we want to change the world we cannot be meek. Silent bitching in the privacy of my own home makes no difference. It is only in putting myself out there and participating in ways that I am not always comfortable - it is only in taking that risk that I can make a difference - that we can make a difference.

I tried to find some of the best versions of "Alice's Restaurant" - but they are all good. For those interested, here are the links to the scenes from the movie:

Dump Closed

Draft scene 1

Draft scene 2

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!! I hope that today is filled with much love and happiness for all of you.

We were to have a small party tomorrow, with the turkey and all of that, but, I am too sick to do it. We have postponed until Sunday. I am on an antibiotic, so hopefully my immune system will not be as screwey as it has been and the antibiotic will fix me fast. I hope so. I am really pissed that my [way too expensive, free range, organic] turkey is waiting. I would like to eat it now.

Read more!

"This Veterans Day, U.S. Soldiers Say 'Stop the War'"

An open letter from war resisters calls for an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. On this day, Veteran's Day, we would like to express to the American public why we, veterans of the Global War on Terror, have chosen to refuse orders to reactivate into military service. We are direct witnesses to the horrors of this war, having experienced its atrocities at their source, and we have decided that we can no longer carry out these illegal and immoral policies. We believe that veterans and active-duty GIs are in a key position to stop illegal and unjust war, and we are inspired by the resistance of troops who stood against the war in Vietnam. One of the preeminent reasons for the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam was increasing dissent among the active-duty troops stationed abroad and at home. By the end of the war, there were entire units refusing to participate in combat, many going as far as outright mutiny. The United States learned a lesson from the Vietnam War: that it is unlikely, except in the event of self-defense, that regular civilians will execute the life-threatening orders that are given to them by military authority. The solution of policy makers was to create an all-volunteer force that negated the need for a draft. This translates into a mercenary force composed of America's disadvantaged: a sector of the U.S. demographic that is particularly susceptible to military recruitment for lack of other options and finding themselves with deployment orders again and again. To compensate for huge pitfalls in recruitment since the invasion of Iraq, the military has resorted to recalling former service members. This policy is known as "involuntary activation" and utilizes deactivated service members who still have time on their contracts in the Individual Ready Reserves (IRR) to fill shortcomings in specific job specialties. The abuse and misuse of this policy has escalated under the current administration to such a degree that it can now only be viewed as a "backdoor draft" that targets the same disadvantaged individuals the military sought out for enlistment, namely because they are better at not questioning orders. However, we have now begun to question these orders. We are veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and members of the IRR who have refused or will refuse any activation orders that would lead to us serving an unjust and imperial U.S. foreign policy. It is a prevailing notion that this refusal is unpatriotic, but we consider our actions the only choice. Not only did the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan do great harm to the people of those countries, but it undermined the ostensible goal with which the wars were begun: Instead of stopping terrorism, it has proliferated terrorism, an expectation that was predicted well before the war started. By refusing activation, we are refusing to participate in wars that serve the purposes of furthering the careers of politicians and high-ranking officers. We openly support other IRR members who follow in these footsteps. The military is a force that rules through fear of retribution for disobeying its will. In reality, more than a third of IRRs simply refuse to report to duty. Most of the rest report out of fear that the military will change their discharge status or prosecute them for desertion, but up to this point, prosecution has been rare. Members of the IRR are not under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), and thus far, the military has had a practice of not prosecuting them with criminal charges unless they report in some form or function to activate. Very few willingly volunteer for activation. There can be no promise that President-Elect Barack Obama will stop the stressful and unfair techniques of back-to-back deployments, "stop-loss" or the "backdoor draft" that are damaging the psychology of veterans in irreparable ways. Nor that he will stop encouraging global violence by unlawful uses of force. It is in this vein that we turn to organizations like Courage to Resist, Iraq Veterans Against the War and many other large-scale and grassroots organizations to solicit change in a largely unrepresentative democracy, and to allow the voices of the people to ring through the halls of the Capital. Benjamin Lewis, former Marine Corps mortarman, Iraq veteran, IRR recall resister, peace activist Brandon Neely, former U.S. Army Military police officer, Iraq veteran, IRR recall refuser.-- Benjamin Lewis and Brandon Neely

Read more!

I Wonder...

I wonder if this has anything to do with this.

And a tip of the hat to Senator Murray for doing something about it.

Read more!

It's Real Simple

I am increasingly frustrated by this Iraq/Obama debate.

What Obama is saying, used to be conventional fucking wisdom. Unlike President Bush, who hides behinds the skirts of General Petraeus, pretending that he is a victim to the desires of "the commanders on the ground," Obama gets what it is that the Commander in Chief is supposed to do.

C-in-C sets the mission, commanders and troops on the ground carry it out.

At Obama's press conference this morning he repeated this endlessly...but the corporate media has been reporting it as though it is an aberration. As though there is some arrogant 'taking over' by Obama of the war [occupation]. If the media were worth a fuck, they would be reporting that up until the Bush Administration, this was the way that it worked.

President Bush pretends that there is simply nothing that he can do, because he has to "listen to the commanders on the ground" when in fact. the. commanders. on. the. ground. listen. to. the. orders. of. the. president.

Let's be clear: the President sets the mission - the troops carry it out.

Hopefully, never again, will our C-in-C corrupt this order.

Read more!

Obama's Iraq Speech

You can watch it live.

Now.

Read more!

But I thought that "Iraq was the central front on the war on terra"?!

Not according to the GAO.

After the U.S. invasion in Afghanistan, Taliban and al-Qaida fighters retreated across the mountainous 373-mile border into Pakistan's unpoliced tribal areas.

But we've given Pakistan almost as much money as we spend on one month in Iraq.

Isn't that enough?

I listened to some of the GAO report being read and it is bad news. I doubt that we will hear much about it from the corporate media. Luckily the PDF of the actual report is linked to; I'm sure that most people will have the time to read it.

Is there one single thing that this Administration has done that actually benefits this Country? Have they handled anything correctly? Anything?

Read more!

Lurch

Mr. Bush explains what we've been doing in Iraq for the last five years.
h/t Jeff Huber, Pen and Sword

It's not often you can say of blogging friends, "I've met that person, we had beers, we talked about blogging and blogsites, politics, music interests, they came inside my house and met my family." I was fortunate enough to meet D.J. Moonbat 2 years back. A few weeks later, Lurch, of Main and Central stopped by. Unfortunately, Valentines Day of this year I learned that he had passed away.

I find myself going back and remembering where I first encountered Lurch. I know we first talked at Jo Fish's place, Democratic Veteran. Upon stopping by Jeff Huber's place today, I remember reading his comments there as well. I was just getting my blogging legs then, coming out from being a lurker. With the help of Jo Fish, he started Main and Central with some other Veterans. I was always amazed at how prolific he was. Story after story... sometimes, 6 in one day. I have a tough time putting out one or two pieces a week. It wasn't only how productive he was, his articles had substance. I think Lurch was the best at reporting on the lack of equipment (such as Body Armor) the troops had in Iraq. His commentary on the War of the Bridges in Iraq was simply outstanding!

I'm glad he took the time to visit. I was able to go all out because it was a weekend when he stopped by. We had a large Mexican feast in his honor. That's what we do in AZ in early summer, Bar-B-Que some marinated chicken and beef for tacos, all the trimmings, some Corona or Dos Equis all poolside, laughing and talking. He loved it. Easy going, smiling the whole time. He spoke lovingly of his late wife. That's how I'll remember him...

In short, I miss my friend Lurch... RIP. He, like Steve Gilliard, leaves a "blogging void" of which few can replace. I find myself visiting Veteran websites for a glimpse of Lurch. He would have laughed at that picure and comment of bu$h...

Crossposted at LEFT is RIGHT

Read more!

4,000 Dead Americans in Iraq!

While most folks went about their daily Easter activities: U.S. death toll in Iraq reaches 4,000.

BAGHDAD - Four U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Baghdad late Sunday, raising the death toll for American forces since start of the war to 4,000, according to the Pentagon...

Was this the cause of my nightmares last night?
It's not OK that I was irritable as hell with my family all day and I lashed out at them! Time for me to regroup, apologize and try again for a better day. That's all I can really do when I get into one of these funks!

h/t MSNBC for stolen photo

Read more!