Thoughts on the movement, and a wake up call to anti-war Democrats

I guess many of us are anxiously awaiting to see the results of the Senate and the House's joint conference on the supplelemental bill for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Bush asked for approximately $99 billion, the Democrats newly installed in power, turned around and are willing to give him more than $120 billion. At this point approximately $500 billion has been spent on these disastrous and immoral invasions (November 2001 and March 2003 respectively). The Senate's version has a March 2008 timetable for withdrawal, while the House has an August 2008 date (two months before the Presidential election which the Dems are now expected to win).

Anything smell political here? Sure! Not only are these timetables for withdrawal timed to gain the Dems as much political power as possible, there's nothing about them that can be enforceable when dealing with a reckless and completely morally empty commander-in-chief. Then throw in this weekend's interview of Sen. Carl Levin by George Stephanopolous: Levin says there's no way the Dems will ever cut off funding. Remember the New York Times interview of Sen. Hillary Clinton about three weeks ago? She said when she's president in '09 she will definitely be keeping troops in Iraq. It's time for true progressive and anti-war Dems to begin to leave the party.

March was an extremely busy month, with the Occupation Project across the country and Code Pink doing daily actions on Capitol Hill. What's next? Well, now that we are in the 5th year of the Iraq quagmire I keep hoping more will contnue to visit their senators and representatives and say that the gig is up! My friend Tina Richards is calling for tens of thousands of citizen lobbyists to join her in the halls of Congress!

At the end of '04 I left the Dems, but it's now time for the rest of the good people at PDA to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. The Dems have the majority on The Hill, and now with passing the supplemental, officially own the Iraq quagmire and the mess in Afghanistan (which has still not produced a stable society). Carl Levin and Hillary Clinton don't speak for my friends in PDA and other anti-war progressives -- and I think many of them will now vote with their feet!

Carl Levin's offices:
WASHINGTON
269 Russell Office Building
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510-2202
Phone (202) 224-6221
Fax (202) 224-1388
8:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

TRAVERSE CITY
107 Cass Street
Suite E
Traverse City, MI 49684-2602
Phone: (231) 947-9569
Fax: (231) 947-9518
9:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

GRAND RAPIDS
110 Michigan Street, NW
Suite 720
Grand Rapids, MI 49503-2313
Phone: (616) 456-2531
Fax: (616) 456-5147
9:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

SAGINAW
515 N. Washington
Suite 402
Saginaw, MI 48607-1370
Phone (989) 754-2494
Fax (989) 754-2920
9:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

LANSING OFFICE
124 West Allegan
Suite 1810
Lansing, MI 48933-1716
Phone: (517) 377-1508
Fax: (517) 377-1506
9:00a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

WARREN
30500 Van Dyke Ave
Suite 206
Warren, MI 48093-2109
Phone: (586) 573-9145
Fax: (586) 573-8260
9:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

DETROIT
Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building
477 Michigan Avenue
Room 1860
Detroit, MI 48226-2576
Phone: (313) 226-6020
Fax: (313) 226-6948
TTY: (800) 851-0030
9:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

ESCANABA - UPPER PENINSULA
524 Ludington Street
Suite LL-103
Escanaba, MI 49829-3949
Phone (906) 789-0052
Fax (906) 789-0015
9:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Guantanamo put on trial -- May 27th

In eight days, Eve Tetaz, a 76-year old retired D.C. public schoolteacher, will enter a courthouse in Washington, D.C. and engage in the legal debate over the fate of America's detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The name of Noor Muhammad has never appeared in an American criminal court. On May 27th, Tetaz will change that. On that day, she will appear at the Washington, D.C. Superior Court as Noor Muhammad. Tetaz was arrested, along with 78 others, at the U.S. Supreme Court on January 11, 2008, protesting the denial of habeas rights to and the torture of inmates at Guantanamo. Like her fellow protestors, Tetaz took the name of an inmate during her arrest. ( See the January 13 Washington Post article "Activists Pose as Guantanamo Prisoners" ) Tetaz says she felt compelled to participate in the protest at the Supreme Court because detainees are being tortured at Guantanamo. "Torture is a terrible crime and sin against humanity," she said. Thirty-four ...

The Sad and Disturbing Tale of Dustin Thompson

Wow, it has been a while since I have written a blog entry. In fact, it has been a year, and I have a lot to fill you in on. But let's get down to what I covered via Tweets recently -- the insurrectionist Trial of Dustin Thompson, of Ohio, who entered into the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021, and stole first a bottle of booze and then a coat rack from the office of the Senate Parliamentarian. Yesterday Thompson was convicted on all six criminal counts the Department of Justice had charged him with. There have now been about a half dozen January 6th insurrectionists (many call them rioters) who have been convicted following a trial. About 170 have already plead guilty. Growing up in central Ohio, Thompson was originally a libertarian with moderate political views overall. According to his wife Sarah, the two met when they were both students at Ohio State University, Thompson had a double major of history and psychology. Sarah, a democrat, was a fashion merchandising major an...

Rev. Yearwood attacked by police, arrested, injured

This is American democracy in action. My friend, Rev. Yearwood, was jumped by these six power-tripping Capitol Hill Police officers. He was wearing a button which read "I love the people of Iraq." I have seen the video a couple of times, and while it is disturbing it will be useful in court. If it was me, I'd probably pursue a civil case for damages. Rev. in hospital after anti-war arrest Published: Sept. 12, 2007 at 11:28 AM WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- An anti-war minister and U.S. Air Force veteran was treated in hospital after his arrest by Capitol Hill police outside this week’s Iraq congressional hearings. The Rev. Lennox Yearwood, president of the Washington-based Hip-Hop Caucus, was charged with disorderly conduct and assaulting a police officer after being denied entry to a House hearing room in which Gen. David Petraeus was giving evidence Monday, Capitol Police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider told United Press International. But a video of his arrest, post...

Inside the Belly of the Beltway Beast

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