Sunday, August 31, 2008
Minneapolis Pre Convention Arrests Updated! Complete Coverage.
0 comments Posted by ed. dickau at 8:19 PM
Minneapolis Pre Convention Arrests Updated! Links included below lead to several videos and slide presentations as well as additional on site reporting.
The Star-Tribune reports Minneapolis police raided Republican National Convention protest groups and arrested five members, charging them as a criminal enterprise that planned criminal acts to “welcome” conventioneers:
“In a statement Saturday morning, Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said the St. Paul raid targeted the RNC Welcoming Committee, a group he described as “a criminal enterprise made up of 35 self-described anarchists…intent on committing criminal acts before and during the Republican National Convention.”
“These acts include tactics to blockade and disable delegate buses, breaching venue security and injuring police officers,” Fletcher said. Deputies seized a variety of items that they believed were tools of civil disobedience: a gas mask, bolt cutters, axes, slingshots, homemade “caltrops” for disabling buses, even buckets of urine.”
Protesters claimed the police action was preventive detention and likened it to terrorism. They vowed they would not be intimidated. The raids were also condemned by City Councilman Dave Thune:
“I’m really ticked off…the city is perfectly capable of taking care of things,” Thune said. “If they had found anything that could have been used to commit a crime they would have arrested somebody.”
“Unless they come up with anthrax or weapons of mass destruction, I think they [the police] came up short.”
I try to be open-minded but anarchists don’t do much for me. Neither does this city councilman.
St. Paul police officers attempt to gain entrance to a house on Iglehart Ave. Saturday. Sara Coffey with the National Lawyers Guild was stopped outside the house, handcuffed and detained. She helped police negotiate with those inside.
By Abby Simons, Heron Marquez Estrada and Bill McAuliffe, Star Tribune
Last update: August 30, 2008 - 6:26 PM
Ramsey County authorities conducted raids across Minneapolis and St. Paul Friday and Saturday as a pre-emptive strike against disruptive protests of the Republican National Convention.
Five people were arrested and more than 100 were handcuffed, questioned and released by scores of deputies and police officers, according to police and elected officials familiar with the raids.
In a statement Saturday morning, Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said the St. Paul raid targeted the RNC Welcoming Committee, a group he described as "a criminal enterprise made up of 35 self-described anarchists...intent on committing criminal acts before and during the Republican National Convention."
"These acts include tactics to blockade and disable delegate buses, breaching venue security and injuring police officers," Fletcher said. Deputies seized a variety of items that they believed were tools of civil disobedience: a gas mask, bolt cutters, axes, slingshots, homemade "caltrops" for disabling buses, even buckets of urine.
But the raids drew immediate condemnation from activists and St. Paul City Councilman Dave Thune, whose district includes the former theater at 627 Smith Avenue South, which was rented by activists as a gathering space.
"This is not the way to start things off," Thune said Saturday morning. "This is sending the wrong message. Regardless of how you feel about these people...they had a right to be there."
On Saturday afternoon, law agents surrounded 951 Iglehart Av. in St. Paul where members of I-Witness Video, a New York-based group that monitors police conduct during protests, were staying. They were detained and handcuffed but eventually freed without charges.
At a news conference Saturday, Cheri Honkala of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, one of the protest groups, described the Friday raid and an earlier one Thursday that evicted a demonstrators' camp on Harriet Island as "terrorism" intended to divert attention from issues the protest groups are raising and cast the news as police versus protestors.
Thune was especially critical of Fletcher for taking action within St. Paul city limits.
"I'm really ticked off...the city is perfectly capable of taking care of things," Thune said. "If they had found anything that could have been used to commit a crime they would have arrested somebody."
Buckets of urine, slingshots, anti-bus weapons seized in raid on anti-RNC protesters
By Mara H. Gottfried, Elizabeth Mohr and Dave Orrick
Article Last Updated: 08/30/2008 09:07:32 PM CDT
Ramsey County sheriff's deputies found weapons and devices to disable buses - among other items - in searches in the Twin Cities last night and today.
Authorities said the items came from "key members of the RNC Welcoming Committee," a self-described anarchist group.
Five people have been arrested and four properties have been searched, according to the sheriff's office.
At 8 a.m. today, the sheriff's office executed search warrants at three Minneapolis homes - 2301 23rd Ave. S., 3500 Harriet Ave. and 3240 17th Ave. S. The FBI, Minneapolis police and the Hennepin County sheriff's office assisted them.
"The 'Welcoming Committee' is a criminal enterprise made up of 35 anarchists who are intent on committing criminal acts before and during the Republican National Convention," said Sheriff Bob Fletcher in a statement. "These acts include tactics to blockade and disable delegate buses, breaching venue security and injuring police officers. They have recruited assistance in their criminal conspiracy from other anarchists groups throughout the country. Through their plans and actions they have exhibited a blatant disregard for the law and the safety of others."
The statement said the items found in the searches included:
Materials to create "sleeping dragons" (PVC pipe, chicken wire, duct tape), which is when protesters lock themselves together
Large amounts of urine, including three to five gallon buckets of urine
Wrist rockets (high-powered slingshots)
A machete, hatchet and several throwing knives
a gas mask and filter
Empty glass bottles
Rags
Flammable liquids
Homemade caltrops (devises used to disable buses in roads)
Metal pipes
Axes
Bolt cutters
Sledge hammers
Rapelling equipment
Kryptonite locks
Empty plastic buckets cut and made into shields
Material for protective padding
An Army helmet.
The five people being held at the Hennepin County jail are under arrest on suspicion of conspiracy to riot, conspiracy to commit civil disorder and conspiracy to damage property.
Arrested at the 17th Avenue home were Monica Rachel Bicking, 23, Erin Chase Trimmer, 23, and Garrett Scott Fitzgerald, 25, Nestor said.
Nathanel David Secor, 26,was arrested at the 23rd Avenue South home.
Erik Charles Oseland, 21, was arrested an undisclosed location, the sheriff's office said.
"Conspiracy to riot was the charge used against the Chicago Eight in 1968 as part of a politically motivated prosecution," said Bruce Nestor, president of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. "It is a charge that is essentially used for preventive detention."
A St. Paul building leased by The RNC Welcoming Committee, Where A Search Warrant Was Executed Friday Night, Is being turned back over to the property owner, the mayor's office said this afternoon.
An inspector from the St. Paul Department of Safety and Inspections secured the former theater on the city's West Side after fire code violations were found during the search, said Bob Hume, Mayor Chris Coleman's spokesman. The violations included a boarded-up fire exit and "sleeping pads everywhere," Hume said.
The building was secured, pending notification of the property owner, which has happened, Hume said.
No one was arrested after Friday night's search, but five arrests were made today.
People planning to protest at the Republican National Convention and St. Paul City Council Member Dave Thune are calling the actions a preemptive strike before the RNC, which starts Monday.
St. Paul's mayor said this afternoon that free speech rights are separate from criminal behavior.
"We have worked very, very hard to make sure we've protected people's right to exercise free speech," Coleman said. "To pick up a protest sign, that's fine. If you're here to pick up a brick or some other instrument there's a problem."
Thune said he called city officials seeking an explanation for why the building, which appeared to be up to code and had a valid lease, was being boarded up at the request of the Ramsey County sheriff's office. Thune said Saturday afternoon that the building has been reopened.
"I don't know what happened with the boarding, but they've corrected it, and I'm grateful to our folks at DSI (Department of Safety and Inspections) for seeing the mistake."
Thune has been concerned about the conduct of authorities in the last 24 hours regarding activists.
"This is all about free speech," Thune said. "It's what my father fought in the war for. To me, this smacks of preemptive strike against free speech."
Friday's warrant was executed at 627 Smith Ave. in St. Paul about 9:15 p.m. The building is a former theater that the RNC Welcoming Committee is renting. The sheriff's office said St. Paul police assisted in the search.
Members of various protest groups targeted in last night's raid held a press conference today to express their anger and frustration.
The raid was an effort to "derail RNC protest organizing efforts and to intimidate and terrorize individuals and groups converging in the Twin Cities to exercise what are supposed to be their basic civil rights," RNC Welcoming Committee member Tony Jones read from a statement.
"We will not be intimidated," Jones exclaimed.
The group is demanding re-entry into the convergence space and a guarantee against future raids, the return of all property seized and an end to the "harassment and surveillance."
After reading the statement, Jones refused to answer media questions, saying RNC Welcoming Committee members won't talk until they've had a chance to meet with each other.
There will be another press conference this afternoon at the former Smith Theater, the site of last night's raid. Representatives of other protest groups, such as the Poor People's Economic Rights Campaign, spoke out against local police at the press conference.
Cheri Honkala, who's participated in other RNC protests, such as in New York in 2004, compared the St. Paul raid to "terrorism."
"We, just like the Republicans, have the right to free speech," Honkala said. One speaker, who said she does not belong to any protest group, but lives in St. Paul and has been helping visiting protesters, said the raid on the convergence center was unprompted and that the people there had done nothing wrong.
"The place they raided last night, they were showing documentary movies to twenty-somethings in a clean, alcohol free zone after dinner," Nanette Echols said.
"Today is the biggest day that people are arriving, and we have no place to welcome them," she said, choking up.
Dozens of people are being arrested in Minneapolis ahead of the Republican National Convention, apparently in a pre-emptive attempt to stifle protest and independent media coverage.
The people arrested appear to fall into two general group, liberal protestors and video bloggers.
On the weekend before the Republican National Convention, law enforcement agencies detained dozens of people and issued a series of search warrants aimed at groups believed to be organizing demonstrations while delegates and Republican officials are in town.
On Friday night the Ramsey County sheriff’s department, accompanied by the St. Paul police, detained people inside a building here that was being used as a headquarters to plan protests.
“They handcuffed all of us, said Sonia Silbert, 28, from Washington. “They searched everyone.
A copy of a warrant at one house said the police were authorized to look for a laundry list of items, including fire bombs, Molotov cocktails, brake fluid, photographs and maps of St. Paul, paint, computers and camera equipment, and documents and other communications.
Attorneys for the National Lawyers Guild said the people who were detained and photographed included local residents as well as visitors in town to demonstrate at the convention.
Bruce Nestor, a lawyer at one house, said three people there were arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit a riot.
“In my mind it’s a classic preventive detention charge, Mr. Nestor said.
He said the authorities were permitted to hold those they arrested without charging them for up to 36 hours — excluding weekends or holidays — in essence detaining them for the length of the convention.
Eileen Clancy blogs at iWitness, a group of bloggers that “uses video to protect civil liberties.” She discusses their experiences in this statement:
Live from the I-Witness Video Residence
Report: Massive, warrantless raids on peace protesters in Minneapolis, ahead of RNC. http://www.boingboing.net/2008/08/30/report-massive-warra.html
Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com reports that protesters in Minneapolis, where the Republican National Convention will soon begin, have been subjected to massive, pre-emptive police raids. Those arrested include members of Food not Bombs, and a group calling itself the "RNC Welcoming Committee," and a group that uses video to protect civil liberties by documenting police activity at first amendment events. Snip:
[They have been targeted by a series of highly intimidating, sweeping police raids across the city, involving teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets.
Last night, members of the St. Paul police department and the Ramsey County sheriff's department handcuffed, photographed and detained dozens of people meeting at a public venue to plan a demonstration, charging them with no crime other than "fire code violations," and early this morning, the Sheriff's department sent teams of officers into at least four Minneapolis area homes where suspected protesters were staying.
Jane Hamsher and I were at two of those homes this morning -- one which had just been raided and one which was in the process of being raided. Each of the raided houses is known by neighbors as a "hippie house," where 5-10 college-aged individuals live in a communal setting, and everyone we spoke with said that there had never been any problems of any kind in those houses, that they were filled with "peaceful kids" who are politically active but entirely unthreatening and friendly. Posted below is the video of the scene, including various interviews, which convey a very clear sense of what is actually going on here.
In the house that had just been raided, those inside described how a team of roughly 25 officers had barged into their homes with masks and black swat gear, holding large semi-automatic rifles, and ordered them to lie on the floor, where they were handcuffed and ordered not to move. The officers refused to state why they were there and, until the very end, refused to show whether they had a search warrant.
They were forced to remain on the floor for 45 minutes while the officers took away the laptops, computers, individual journals, and political materials kept in the house. One of the individuals renting the house, an 18-year-old woman, was extremely shaken as she and others described how the officers were deliberately making intimidating statements such as "Do you have Terminator ready?" as they lay on the floor in handcuffs. The 10 or so individuals in the house all said that though they found the experience very jarring, they still intended to protest against the GOP Convention, and several said that being subjected to raids of that sort made them more emboldened than ever to do so.
Massive police raids on suspected protestors in Minneapolis. Glenn's post includes videos. One of them is embedded here, below, "from the house that had just been raided."
Glenn's Salon item also points to blog posts from the targeted protest groups, including this one from I-Witness. This group previously "videotaped police behavior at the 2004 GOP Convention in New York and helped get charges dismissed against hundreds of protesters who were arrested." The post excerpted below was published while the police raid was happening today:
The house where I-Witness Video is staying in St. Paul has been surrounded by police. We have locked all the doors. We have been told that if we leave we will be detained. One of our people who was caught outside is being detained in handcuffs in front of the house. The police say that they are waiting to get a search warrant. More than a dozen police are wielding firearms, including one St. Paul officer with a long gun, which someone told me is an M-16.
We are suffering a preemptive video arrest. For those that don't know, I-Witness Video was remarkably successful in exposing police misconduct and outright perjury by police during the 2004 RNC. Out of 1800 arrests, at least 400 were overturned based solely on video evidence which contradicted sworn statements which were fabricated by police officers. It seems that the house arrest we are now under and the possible threat of the seizure of our computers and video cameras is a result of the 2004 success.
Federal government involved in raids on protestersSalon - 9 hours agoA man whose sister was one of those arrested at one of the raided houses in Minneapolis yesterday emailed me a photograph of her and her friend who was also ...
Houses raided, 5 arrested; critics decry crackdownPioneer Press, MN - 19 hours agoDavid Bicking, of Minneapolis, said his daughter and her boyfriend were among those arrested. Monica Bicking has devoted herself to standing up for her ...
Police in Minnesota actually arrest and charge some people with ...Wired News - 17 hours agoAt 8 am today, the sheriff's office executed search warrants at three Minneapolis homes - 2301 23rd Ave. S., 3500 Harriet Ave. and 3240 17th Ave. ...
It can't happen here? It already has...Twin Cities Planet, Minnesota - Aug 30, 2008We can pressure both city councils in Minneapolis and St. Paul into passing resolutions authorizing the arrest of Bush Administration officials complicit in ...
Mpls. Police make first convention-related arrestKAALtv.com, MN - Aug 26, 2008Less than a week before the start of the Republican National Convention, police have made their first convention-related arrest. Minneapolis Police had ...
The crack-down on demonstrators continuesMinnesota Independent, MN - Aug 30, 2008... three were arrested at the 17th Ave S address and one arrest is being reported at the 23rd Ave S address, home to Minneapolis chapter of Food Not Bombs. ...
Police overreaction continues at Republican gatheringExaminer.com - 11 hours agoThree videographers who document police activities were detained and their cameras confiscated in Minneapolis, and an activist said he was "viciously ...
Minneapolis cops confiscate camerasMinnesota Public Radio, MN - Aug 26, 2008Vlad Ceichberg says the officers detained the men but did not arrest them. However, he says the officers took some of their cell phones, a computer hard ...
Police State RNC: A Nun and Eight Others Swept into Unmarked Van by Cops in Minnesota By Lindsay Beyerstein, FiredoglakeAbuse of "probable cause holds" shows the importance of habeus corpus protections. Read more
Urgent! Defend Freedom of Speech and Assembly at the RNC!
Stand Against Police Repression!
Sign the online petition to send a message to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Police, Bush, Cheney, McCain, RNC, the Minneapolis and St. Paul City Councils, the Minnesota Gov., Congressional Leaders and the media to end the police violence against RNC protesters IMMEDIATELY! http://www.troopsoutnow.org/rnc08protestrights.shtml
For updates from the streets of Minneapolis-St. Paul, see http://dncrnc.wordpress.com.
Use This Link also to stay current: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/30/police_raids/index.html)
There is a great deal to be concerned with in this post. (Ed.)
Reorganized McCain Campaign Sets Out To Resurrect Floundering Effort By Playing A New Tune.
Minneapolis Headed For Full Fascist Police State Display!
0 comments Posted by ed. dickau at 3:37 PM
Minneapolis Headed For Full Fascist Police State Display!
Tell local elected officials in Minneapolis and St. Paul:Put the guns away! Freedom of speech now!
August 30, 2008 -- Today, for the first time in my life, I had guns pointed at me. One of the police officers told me over a loud-speaker: "Get out of the line of fire or we will shoot!" I can't believe the cops said they'd shoot me! In Minneapolis!
CLICK HERE to read an account of this and several other police raids and arrests that have targeted suspected anti-Republican activists in Minneapolis-St. Paul where demonstrators have gathered to protest the Republican National Convention.
Then, please call Minneapolis-St. Paul's local elected officials to ask them to put the guns away and let there be freedom of speech and peaceful assembly.
Phone numbers for elected officials:
Minneapolis Hennepin County St. Paul Ramsey County
MINNESOTA RESIDENTS ONLY: CLICK HERE to send a single email to all of the local elected officials in Minneapolis and St. Paul asking them to put their guns away and let peaceful protesters exercise our constitutionally protected rights of free speech and peaceful assembly.
[Video] Police Seize Journalists Notes About RNC Protest PlansBy Jodin Morey more at http://www.theuptake.org/ A trio of journalists who have a track record of documenting police abuse at political conventions were stopped and searched during the early morning hours in Minneapolis. ...Impeach Bush For Peace - http://impeachforpeace.org/impeach_bush_blog
Heard Around The Impeach Bush & Cheney Block
MCCAIN’S FRONTIER WOMAN
Here we are in the 21st century, but John Sidney McCain clearly has a hankering for the past. McCain talks almost incessantly about being a POW in Vietnam. His policies hue to the laissez-faire rugged individualism me first tradition of Republican reactionary politics. It's a politics that comes down to a might is right philosophy. If you've got a military, solve differences with military responses. You steer government policy to benefit corporations and the rich. You oppose freedom of choice for women.
So we have a somewhat ironic selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate. If a woman were selected for the right reasons, I would at least give a favorable nod to McCain for that. But this is a selection that has "pandering" written all over it. Palin is virulently anti-choice, which appears to be her major appeal.
She will enthuse the evangelicals who haven't been thrilled with McCain. She believes in what Mike Malloy has called "the talking snake theory of creation."
She's anti-environment and doesn't believe human activity is causing global warming.
She's a NRA member and hunter.
Her history doesn't suggest someone who is in tune with the challenges of the 21st century. But neither does McCain's history, for that matter.
I can almost see Palin wearing bandoliers of bullets for a rifle and clutching a big hunting knife, still dripping from a fresh kill. I wonder if she churns her own butter and takes on grizzly bears bare-fisted.
This shows McCain's ultimate contempt for the American people and especially for women.
This column by Gail Collins is at http://www.nytimes.com/:
John McCain has a low opinion of the vice presidency, which he’s frequently described as a job that involves attending funerals and checking on the health of the president.
(Happy 72nd birthday, John!) There’s a lot we don’t know yet about Palin, and I am personally looking forward to deconstructing her role in the Matanuska Maid Dairy closing crisis. But at first glance, she doesn’t seem much less qualified than Tim Pawlenty, the governor of Minnesota who most people thought was the most likely pick.
Unlike Joe Lieberman, Palin is a member of the same party as the presidential candidate. And unlike Mitt Romney, she has never gone on vacation with the family dog strapped to the roof of the car.
However, I do feel kind of ticked off at the assumptions that the Republicans seem to be making about female voters. It’s a tad reminiscent of the Dan Quayle selection, when the first George Bush’s advisers decided they could close the gender gap with a cute running mate.
The idea that women are going to race off to vote for any candidate with the same internal plumbing is both offensive and historically wrong. When the sexes have parted company in modern elections, it’s generally been because women are more likely to be Democrats, and more concerned about protecting the social safety net. "The gender gap traditionally has been determined by party preference, not by the gender of the candidate," said Ruth Mandel of the Eagleton Institute of Politics.
Mccain=Cold War Again
About all that John Sidney McCain has going for him is his record as a POW in Vietnam. Prior to getting shot down and captured, McCain dropped bombs from several thousand feet. He wasn't there on the ground to see the blood and carnage he created. That distance from blood and carnage is a part of his foreign policy. He can joke blithely, "bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" without considering all the innocent civilians who would be slaughtered. McCain is part of the whole neocon cabal that wants endless war against any perceived enemies, whether they be terrorists, Russians, or Chinese.
This article by Robert Parry is at http://www.consortiumnews.com/ :
Another casualty of McCain’s endless Middle East wars, which soon could include Iran, would almost surely be America’s volunteer army. Though McCain officially opposes a restoration of the draft, it is nearly impossible to envision how his multiple wars could be waged without one.
And McCain also had made clear that he favors a neo-Cold War confrontation with Moscow over another part of the neocon agenda – the encircling of Russia with pro-U.S. regimes and the placement of strategic missile systems near Russia’s borders.
The fencing in of Russia fits with the goals of the neocon Project for the New American Century that envisions an endless era of U.S. military dominance that tolerates no potential rivals, whether an emerging China or a resurgent Russia. The recent Russian-Georgian conflict underscores the risks from this neocon concept.
Containing Russia in this way ultimately would require dangerous brinkmanship. And the McCain/neocon belligerence – like McCain’s melodramatic declaration “we are all Georgians” – would guarantee that one of these swaggering showdowns eventually would push the world to the brink of a nuclear confrontation.
McCain The Reactionary
Nostalgia is a powerful thing. You can easily get caught up in the idea that things just aren't the way they used to be, that somehow that past was better. I will grant there are things about the past I like better.
But there are many things about the past we would not want again. We don't want the Cold War back. We don't want racial segregation back. We don't want women forced into back alley abortions. We don't want the Gilded Age, although we've been living through a version of the Gilded Age in the past eight years. John McCain represents all the bad things about the past.
We need a country without a chasm existing between the rich and poor. We need a country that uses diplomacy to solve problems and not military responses. We need a country that cares about the environment and about providing for the needs of all its citizens.
This column by Frank Rich is at http://www.nytimes.com/:
How we dig out of this quagmire is the American story that Obama must tell. It is not a story of endless conflicts abroad but a potentially inspiring tale of serious economic, educational, energy and health-care mobilization at home. We don’t have the time or resources to go off on more quixotic military missions or to indulge in culture wars. (In China, they’re too busy exploiting scientific advances for competitive advantage to reopen settled debates about Darwin.)
Americans must band together for change before the new century leaves us completely behind.
The Obama campaign actually has plans, however imperfect or provisional, to set us on that path; the McCain campaign offers only disposable Band-Aids typified by the “drill now” mantra that even McCain says will only have a “psychological” effect on gas prices.
Even as it points to America’s future, the Obama campaign also has the duty to fill in its opponent’s past. McCain’s attacks on Obama have worked: in last week’s Los Angeles Times-Bloomberg poll, Obama’s favorable rating declined from 59 to 48 percent and his negative rating rose from 27 to 35. Yet McCain still has a lower positive rating (46 percent) and higher negative rating (38) than Obama. McCain is not nearly as popular among Americans, it turns out, as he is among his journalistic camp followers. Should voters actually get to know him, he has nowhere to go but down.
Defiance: Coming Soon: A Must See By Ed. Dickau(Ed. Dickau) DEFIANCE is directed by Edward Zwick (BLOOD DIAMOND, GLORY) from a screenplay by Zwick and Clayton Frohman, based on Nechama Tec’s non-fiction book of the same name. The producers are Zwick and Pieter Jan Brugge. ...The Impeachment Hearing Room - http://theimpeachmenthearingroom.blogspot.com/
Kucinich Brings Them To Life: Wake Up America! By Ed. Dickau(Ed. Dickau)
Up with education for all. Up with home ownership. Up with guaranteed retirement benefits. Up with peace. Up with prosperity. Up with the Democratic Party. Up with Obama-Biden. Wake up, America. Wake up, America. Wake up, America. ...The Impeachment Hearing Room - http://theimpeachmenthearingroom.blogspot.com/
An Open Letter to God, from Michael MooreBy Ed. Dickau(Ed. Dickau)
An Open Letter to God, from Michael Moore. Sunday, August 31st, 2008. Dear God,. The other night, the Rev. James Dobson's ministry asked all believers to pray for a storm on Thursday night so that the Obama acceptance speech outdoors in ...The Impeachment Hearing Room - http://theimpeachmenthearingroom.blogspot.com/
DAVE LINDORFF is speaking for than just a few of us when it comes ...
By Ed. Dickau(Ed. Dickau)
DAVE LINDORFF is speaking for than just a few of us when it comes to the fear that has paralyzed this nation and permitted the shredding of the Constitution and the public Rape of our legal system and institutions of Justice. ...The Impeachment Hearing Room - http://theimpeachmenthearingroom.blogspot.com/
Denver Is Over. The Theater In The Hall and In The Streets Is Over.By Ed. Dickau(Ed. Dickau) World Ends In OctoberBy jeepndesert You had the chance to impeach the fucker. But no, you’re too scared to impeach Bush and Cheney for destroying the US Constitution and killing 3000 Americans on 9/11. Yes, Hillary is a psychopath ...The Impeachment Hearing Room - http://theimpeachmenthearingroom.blogspot.com/
DAVE LINDORFF is speaking for than just a few of us when it comes to the fear that has paralyzed this nation
0 comments Posted by ed. dickau at 9:02 AM
DAVE LINDORFF is speaking for than just a few of us when it comes to the fear that has paralyzed this nation and permitted the shredding of the Constitution and the public Rape of our legal system and institutions of Justice.
I was a speaker Tuesday night at an anti-war event sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County, Progressive Democrats of America and Democrats For America in Lincroft, NJ, near the shore.
It was a great group of activist Americans who want to see this country end the Iraq War, turn away from war as a primary instrument of policy, and start dealing with the pressing human needs of the country and the world.
Yet even in this group of committed people, one woman stood up during the question-and-answer session and said, "I want to get involved in writing e-mails to members of Congress urging them to cut off funding for the war and other things, but if I do that, won't I end up getting put on a 'watch list'" or something?"
I told her the short answer was yes, she probably would. In George Bush's and Dick Cheney's America, no one is safe from such spying, and even from harassment, as witness Tom Feeley, the man behind the Web site Information Clearing House, who had armed men invade his house at night and threaten his wife complaining about his First Amendment-protected effort to publicize important stories on the Internet.
But I also told her that it didn't matter. She should defend her freedom of speech and her right to petition for redress of grievances, just as she was defending her freedom of assembly by attending this event.
The only demonstrably true statement George Bush has made in his sorry eight years in office is that the Constitution is "just a goddamned piece of paper." While it wasn't the point he was making, when he reportedly shouted this at a couple of Republican members of Congress who were questioning the constitutionality of some of his actions, he was right that the nation's founding document is only worth the parchment and ink it's composed of, unless people use it and defend it.
There is a remarkable and palpable fear abroad in this land -- not a fear of terrorism, but a fear of speaking up, a fear of being labeled as "different" or as a "troublemaker."
People will lean over and whisper their opinions, if they think they are anti-Establishment, as though someone might be listening. People write me after some of my columns run, praising me for my "courage," though why it should be perceived as requiring courage to merely write something in America is beyond me.
The worst thing is that every time someone says she or he is afraid, or acts afraid to speak or write what she or he is thinking, five more acquaintances become equally scared and silenced.
The corollary, though, is that each time someone forgets or ignores or rejects that fear, five people gain courage the do the same thing.
Now I'm not saying that there aren't people monitoring, and reporting on, what we say. I know our government is busy doing that. I assume that my Internet activities are being monitored by the National Security Agency. I assume my phones are tapped. I assume there was some agent or informant among the fine people at the church last night. But these Stasi wannabes have no power if we don't let them frighten us into silence and inaction.
What I find discouraging is the widespread acceptance, even on the left, of this effort to intimidate us, and the pervasive attitude of fear that has grown up around us. I spent a year and a half living in a truly fascistic society in China, where there are real, concrete threats to life and liberty faced by those who stand up and say what they are thinking, and yet sometimes I think that ordinary people I met in China were braver about stating their minds than many, or even most Americans are.
I'm not talking here about saying things like that you think the Post Office is dysfunctional, or that you think federal bureaucrats are corrupt or that taxes are too high.
I'm talking about questioning the system, or challenging the war, or protesting military spending.
Chinese people would tell me all the time that the Chinese Communist Party was a corrupt gang of thugs or that you could not get justice in a Chinese court. Chinese people are closing down factories that short them on their pay.
They have rallied in the thousands and burned down police stations when corrupt police have raped, killed, and then covered up the death of a young girl. They have marched in massive impromptu protests at the theft of their homes through eminent domain.
If you want to see where we're headed here in America, check out the workplace. There, we Americans have, through years of collective cowardice and unwillingness to stand together in organized labor unions, allowed our Constitutional freedoms to be almost completely erased.
Today, an American workplace is more akin to a police state than to a democratic society. Say what you're thinking on the job, and you're liable to lose it. Wear a shirt that says something the boss disagrees with, and you either remove that shirt or you are unemployed.
Even that final refuge of free speech, the bumper sticker, can get workers in trouble if the wrong one shows up in the company parking lot. That loss of will and of freedom has in no small way contributed to the loss of jobs and the decline in living standards of American workers.
It's time for all of us to put a stop to this creeping usurpation of our liberties.
The anxious woman who asked her question came up to me after the meeting and said proudly that she would not be afraid, and would start signing on to protest letter-writing and e-mailing campaigns.
We need lots more like her.
DAVE LINDORFF is a Philadelphia-based journalist and columnist. His latest book is "The Case for Impeachment" (St. Martin's Press, 2006 and now available in paperback edition). His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net .
What was it that Kucinich was shouting at the top of his lungs at the DNC? Wake up America? | Police State In Republican Convention City | And Elsewhe
0 comments Posted by ed. dickau at 7:56 AM
What was it that Kucinich was shouting at the top of his lungs at the DNC? Wake up America? Police State In Republican Convention City And Elsewhere?The Sunday Town Crier: “Sunday Morning And All Is… Well Gone To Hell!”
For months, people most would describe as tinfoil hat wearers have been predicting the cancellation of the November 4th election. And gun ownership supporters have been fighting for their right to bear arms to protect themselves from a police state. Are they crazy?
There's something coming down in Minneapolis-St. Paul that looks very menacing-- real "Can't Happen Here" fascist, gestapo tactics that look they are coordinate from on high-- with FBI and Homeland Security participation.
Preventive strike forces by police have invaded homes of people planning protests, or even planning to protect protesters by video-taping police. The victims of these raids have been forced to lie face down on the floor, have been handcuffed and then, their computers, records and some money has been taken from them. This frightening abuse of constitutional rights has been done using vague claims that the police are preventing riots. Here's what Glen Greenwald reports:
Protesters here in Minneapolis have been targeted by a series of highly intimidating, sweeping police raids across the city, involving teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets.
Last night, members of the St. Paul police department and the Ramsey County sheriff's department handcuffed, photographed and detained dozens of people meeting at a public venue to plan a demonstration, charging them with no crime other than "fire code violations," and early this morning, the Sheriff's department sent teams of officers into at least four Minneapolis area homes where suspected protesters were staying.
Jane Hamsher and I were at two of those homes this morning -- one which had just been raided and one which was in the process of being raided. Each of the raided houses is known by neighbors as a "hippie house," where 5-10 college-aged individuals live in a communal setting, and everyone we spoke with said that there had never been any problems of any kind in those houses, that they were filled with "peaceful kids" who are politically active but entirely unthreatening and friendly.
In the house that had just been raided, those inside described how a team of roughly 25 officers had barged into their homes with masks and black swat gear, holding large semi-automatic rifles, and ordered them to lie on the floor, where they were handcuffed and ordered not to move. The officers refused to state why they were there and, until the very end, refused to show whether they had a search warrant.
They were forced to remain on the floor for 45 minutes while the officers took away the laptops, computers, individual journals, and political materials kept in the house. One of the individuals renting the house, an 18-year-old woman, was extremely shaken as she and others described how the officers were deliberately making intimidating statements such as "Do you have Terminator ready?" as they lay on the floor in handcuffs.
The 10 or so individuals in the house all said that though they found the experience very jarring, they still intended to protest against the GOP Convention, and several said that being subjected to raids of that sort made them more emboldened than ever to do so.
Several of those who were arrested are being represented by Bruce Nestor, the President of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers' Guild. Nestor said that last night's raid involved a meeting of a group calling itself the "RNC Welcoming Committee", and that this morning's raids appeared to target members of "Food Not Bombs," which he described as an anti-war, anti-authoritarian protest group.
There was not a single act of violence or illegality that has taken place, Nestor said. Instead, the raids were purely anticipatory in nature, and clearly designed to frighten people contemplating taking part in any unauthorized protests.
Nestor indicated that only 2 or 3 of the 50 individuals who were handcuffed this morning at the 2 houses were actually arrested and charged with a crime, and the crime they were charged with is "conspiracy to commit riot."
Greenwald updates his report, describing what a Democracy Now reported:
...she was present at a meeting of a group called "I-Witness" -- which videotaped police behavior at the 2004 GOP Convention in New York and helped get charges dismissed against hundreds of protesters who were arrested.
The police surrounded the St. Paul house where they were meeting even though they had no warrant, told them that anyone who exited the house would be arrested, and then -- even though they finally, after several hours, obtained a warrant only for the house next door -- basically broke into the house, pointed weapons at everyone inside, handcuffed them, searched the house, and then left.
Here is the press report released by a victim of the police gestapo tactics:
Live from the I-Witness Video Residence
This is Eileen Clancy, one of the founders of I-Witness Video, a NYC-based video collective that's in St. Paul to document the policing of the protests around this week's Republican National Convention.
The house where I-Witness Video is staying in St. Paul has been surrounded by police. We have locked all the doors. We have been told that if we leave we will be detained. One of our people who was caught outside is being detained in handcuffs in front of the house. The police say that they are waiting to get a search warrant. More than a dozen police are wielding firearms, including one St. Paul officer with a long gun, which someone told me is an M-16.
We are suffering a preemptive video arrest. For those that don't know, I-Witness Video was remarkably successful in exposing police misconduct and outright perjury by police during the 2004 RNC. Out of 1800 arrests, at least 400 were overturned based solely on video evidence which contradicted sworn statements which were fabricated by police officers. It seems that the house arrest we are now under and the possible threat of the seizure of our computers and video cameras is a result of the 2004 success.
We are asking the public to contact the office of St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman at 651-266-8510 to stop this house arrest, this gross intimidation by police officers, and the detention of media activists and reporters.
That report was followed by this one:
Some Other Interesting Places To Visit:
Truth In Journalism…Novel Idea!
Western Bullshit Vs Russia
Here We Go Again
Gov. Palin was FOR the Alaskan Bridge to Nowhere BEFORE She Was ...By noreply@blogger.com (Vox Populi) Today, for the second time, I heard Alaskan governor and McCain VP pick Sarah Palin say that she said "no thanks" to the federal funding of the infamous "bridge to nowhere." REALLY? Then what did she mean by this? ...Powhatan Democrats Blog - http://powhatandemocrats.blogspot.com/
Nixon, Agnew, Quayle, Cheney--and Now Palin?Why are the Republicans so cavalier in their selection of Vice Presidential nominees? A historical look, with some quotations from the Republicans at the National Review.
In comments designed to inflame tensions between the two countries, Putin told CNN: "The suspicion arises that someone in the United States especially created this conflict with the aim of making the situation more tense and creating a competitive advantage for one of the candidates fighting for the post of US president." The White House dismissed Putin's suggestion it had orchestrated the conflict as "not rational".
If future historians look back on this month as opening a new era of confrontation between Russia and the West, Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's youthful, headstrong president, will achieve immortality. This impulsive, charismatic lawyer will go down as the founding father of the Second Cold War.
In an interview with Germany's ARD television Friday, Mr. Putin called on the 27-nation bloc to take what he called a rational and objective stance on the Georgian conflict. He blamed Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili for starting the conflict, and he criticized the United States for supporting the Georgian leadership.
59% of undecideds say Palin unready to be president. 69% say she is conservative, not moderate.
McCain's veep pick is a proud member of Feminists for Life, which tries to convince young women that choice means giving up the right to 'choose'. Founded in 1972, one year before the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the historic Roe vs. Wade decision, they aim for college-age young women.
The 85,000 Democrats leaving Invesco Field on Thursday night loved their coach. In a speech that rose beyond the occasion, Sen. Barack Obama changed the dynamics of the presidential campaign. With fire in his eyes and politeness thankfully forgotten, he finally put Sen. John McCain on the defensive, most notably mocking the Republican’s claim that he’s best suited to be commander in chief.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that enemies do not wish to see Iran and Russia are powerful. He said presence of the US and some of its allies in the region and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan have provoked extremism and tension in the region.
Asked in an interview with CNN if the Georgia row could hurt U.S.- Russian cooperation on Iran , Putin said: "If nobody wants to talk with us on these issues and cooperation with Russia is not needed, then for God's sake, do it yourself." Russia says it does not want Iran to have atomic weapons, but that the Islamic republic is entitled to a peaceful nuclear programme.
$3.8 billion: The initial Help America Vote Act allocation that California Secretary of State Deborah Bowen said "pushed many counties into buying electronic systems that were not properly reviewed or tested." Fadiman's no-frills documentary touches on voters being purged from rolls in Florida in 2000 (the single greatest threat to the 2008 election) and suspiciously insufficient distribution of voting machines in Ohio in '04.
Unlike the athletes, the neocons, unfortunately, represented the US public, the real losers. The neocon strategy, the use of --or threat of-- military power to create a US dominated world order, has left its legacy: wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a stumbling, debt ridden US economy. They have left the country weaker and more pessimistic.
The US has begun five-day military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf, claiming it is preparing for a 'potential confrontation' in the region. The joint war games led by Britain's Royal Navy Commodore Peter Hudson have also brought together vessels from Britain and Bahrain and started Sunday. Earlier in August, a large armada of US and European naval vessels were deployed to the Persian Gulf to reinforce the US strike force.
For months, supporters of H.Con.Res. 362 have defended themselves against critics who argue that the bill poses a serious risk of escalating the conflict between the US and Iran. several cosponsors (four of whom have since withdrawn their cosponsorship) have openly stated that the resolution's blockade language must be removed in order for them to support it. Other cosponsors have lobbied House Speaker not to allow a vote.
Watching television coverage of the convention, with the relentless focus on what the Democrats should do, whether they did it well enough, what they didn't do but should have, and how people would react to it, it often seemed that many journalists don't really have much interest in journalism; they'd rather play armchair campaign manager.
Gov. Palin may be the second woman vice-presidential candidate on a major party ticket, but she is not the right woman. Sadly, she is a woman who opposes women's rights, just like John McCain.
There is nothing criminal about refusing to honor a supposed commitment to serve as contract killers for the world's largest source of preventable criminal violence.
Perhaps Messrs Lieberman and Guttman's article will prove enlightening to those who do not believe that a certain small tail is wagging a rather large dog....
I've had a good run. In 1955, when I started as a reporter, newspaper city rooms were full of tobacco smoke, alcoholics, gluepots, steel rulers, copy pencils and typewriters. There was a lot of profanity and an occasional fistfight. Editors excelled in sarcasm. But they taught me how to write clear sentences. My goal has always been to stimulate, provoke people into thinking for themselves. I wish you all a fond farewell.
When Chemung County bought new electronic voting machines, they expected them to make voting easier. But, they aren't working as well as expected. In fact, the county is having trouble just getting them up and running in time for an upcomming election. Mary O'Dell of the Board of Elections reported, "Almost every time you do something with them, something funny happens."
Yes, America's economy is a war economy. Not a "manufacturing" economy. Not an "agricultural" economy. Nor a "service" economy. Not even a "consumer" economy.
Is an imperial presidency destroying what America stands for? Bill Moyers sits down with history and international relations expert and former US Army Colonel Andrew J. Bacevich who identifies three major problems facing our democracy: the crises of economy, government and militarism, and calls for a redefinition of the American way of life. Bacevich will be on the Rob Kall Radio Show Wednesday night at 9 PM EST
Leonard Peltier writes to Obama: "Your election as president of the United States, where slaves and Indians were long considered less than human under the law, will undoubtedly constitute a historic moment in race relations in the United States. Yet symbolism alone will not bring about change..."
Rachel Maddow reported to Keith Olbermann that Palin expressed her intention to support the project. This goes much further.
INFOWARS: The biggest Newspaper in the Netherlands today devotes its front page to news that the Dutch intelligence agency has helped the CIA prepare for an air attack on Iran which it now believes is imminent. AIVD, Holland's military intelligence service, has pulled back from operations it was carrying out inside Iran as it believes an American led attack will go ahead within weeks according to De Telegraaf's sources.
Tucked deep into a recent proposal from the Bush administration is a provision that has received almost no public attention, yet in many ways captures one of President Bush’s defining legacies: an affirmation that the United States is still at war with Al Qaeda.
Now what? After the US warned Britain that release of "torture" info would "strain US/British relations"...The Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, has failed to persuade the High Court that evidence which could help prove the innocence of a British resident held in Guantanamo Bay must remain secret.
Britain has failed in its duty to stop the U.S. from committing “shameful acts” in the treatment of suspects detained during the war on terror, one of America’s most respected intellectuals warned Saturday. Professor Noam Chomsky calls on the Government to use its special relationship with Washington America to secure the closure of Guantanamo Bay.
If Palin's only on the ticket to try to get disaffected Clinton supporters to cross over, it’s a bad choice. Joe Biden may already be practicing his drop-dead line for the vice-presidential debate: “I know Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton is a friend of mine, and governor, you’re no Hillary Clinton.”
Vice President Dick Cheney in his first visit to Tbilisi next week will assure Georgia that the United States stands firmly with its ally which is reeling from a decisive military defeat at Russian hands.
In an interview with Fox News' Chris Wallace to air Sunday morning, John McCain indicated that the GOP convention could be suspended because of Hurricane Gustav. "It wouldn't be appropriate to have a festive occasion while a near tragedy or a terrible challenge is presented in the form of a natural disaster," McCain told Wallace.
The directors of two major veterans’ groups say the Pentagon’s personnel chief has intentionally withheld benefits from wounded service members. The 2007 Walter Reed scandal, which resulted mostly from poor oversight and inadequate leadership, pales in comparison to what we view as the deliberate manipulation of the law” by David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, and his deputies.
The Obama-Biden campaign has endorsed the very foundations of the Bush administration's foreign policy agenda: "Go after Osama bin Laden, "take him out". The Democrats have endorsed the "Big Lie". The fact that bin Laden is US sponsored intelligence asset, created and sustained by the CIA, is never mentioned.
VERO BEACH, FLA. A system error in Sequoia's optical scanner resulted in doubling the number of votes counted in 40 of 54 precincts in Tuesday's election.
Sarah Palin InvestigationThis is amazing. McCain's pick for VP is being touted as a "reformer," yet she is under investigation. Appropriate for a member of the "Keating 5," whose economic plan is written by a foreign bank lobbyist, and whose foreign policy plan is written by a lobbyist for Georgia.
Sarah Palin InvestigationThis is amazing. McCain's pick for VP is being touted as a "reformer," yet she is under investigation. Appropriate for a member of the "Keating 5," whose economic plan is written by a foreign bank lobbyist, and whose foreign policy plan is written by a lobbyist for Georgia.
Denver through the eyes of now-Denverite David Sirota. Yesterday he posted that Obama's speech included "rise up" referring to his book, "The Uprising." Quote: The progressive movement is on the ascent, overtaking the business-backed triangulators that have been running the Democratic Party--and the country--into the ground.
John Nichols provides background on McCain's VP pick."young enough to be his daughter" & "transparency and accountability" Article Quote: But she's currently the subject of an investigation of whether she used her position to try force the firing of an Alaska State Trooper, who was been involved in a divorce and child custody battle with the governor's sister.
Israel's leadership resolved, in top-level strategic discussions three months ago, to do whatever it takes to prevent Iran from having nuclear bombs. Maariv's veteran political reporter Ben Caspit stops short of detailing the precise solution Israel will implement to put an end to Iran's nuclear program, but writes, "Preparations for an Israeli military option intended to stop Iran's nuclear program are underway."
Many innocent individuals will be flagged, scrutinized, investigated, placed on watch lists, interrogated or arrested, and possibly suffer irreparable harm to their reputation, all because of a hidden machinery of data brokers, information aggregators and computer algorithms.
Krugman: Feeling No PainMy first reaction to Bill Clinton’s convention speech was sheer professional jealousy: nobody, but nobody, has his ability to translate economic wonkery into plain, forceful English. Clinton, famously, felt our pain. Republicans, manifestly, don’t. And it’s hard to fix a problem if you don’t even think it exists.
Krugman: Feeling No PainMy first reaction to Bill Clinton’s convention speech was sheer professional jealousy: nobody, but nobody, has his ability to translate economic wonkery into plain, forceful English. Clinton, famously, felt our pain. Republicans, manifestly, don’t. And it’s hard to fix a problem if you don’t even think it exists.
Vladimir V. Putin, the country’s paramount leader, lashed out at the United States on Thursday, contending that the White House may have orchestrated the conflict to benefit one of the candidates in the American presidential election. Putin also said Russian defense officials believed that United States citizens were in the conflict area supporting the Georgian military when it attacked the separatist region of South Ossetia.
"We have presidential elections as a substitute for serious democratic politics"– that's what Andrew Bacevich says. We shouldn't blame George Bush for the underlying assumptions of the global war on terror, Bacevich argues. "Really it was Bill Clinton who more than anybody else made armed intervention a routine aspect of American political life."
Massive market manipulation: That such obscenities are allowed to continue – UNREPORTED by the mainstream financial press – is, in itself, a condemnation of not only how warped, twisted and connived our capital markets are, but how COMPLETELY BROKEN and complicit our system of free speech and irresponsible our media have become.
There is a remarkable and palpable fear abroad in this land- not a fear of terrorism, but a fear of speaking up, a fear of being labeled as "different" or as a "troublemaker." People will lean over and whisper their opinions, if they think they are anti-Establishment, as though someone might be listening. It's time for all of us to put a stop to this creeping usurpation of our liberties.
Updated August 29, 2008, to emphasize the point that this is NOT just about "electronic voting machines", undisclosed software or paper ballots, as some have suggested. It's about Election Management Systems, software bugs (disclosed or otherwise), checks and balances, and good old common sense.
A nonprofit lobbying organization aimed at strengthening Israel's image in the media quietly ran ads during the Democratic National Convention in which Boulder, Colorado launches missile attacks on Denver, in an attempt to bolster support for Israeli action against Iran. Israel remains the top recipient of US foreign aid.
rapture, speaking in tongues, anti-science, creationism... just lovely
The author of this critique points out some potentially fatal flaws with NIST's latest propaganda piece.
When Gorbachev pulled Russian troops out of East Germany in 1990 his only condition was that NATO did not station troops in East Germany. The promise was given, but soon forgotten, and Russia has been treated like the Cold War loser ever since.
An Open Letter to God, from Michael Moore
Sunday, August 31st, 2008
Dear God,
The other night, the Rev. James Dobson's ministry asked all believers to pray for a storm on Thursday night so that the Obama acceptance speech outdoors in Denver would have to be cancelled.
I see that You have answered Rev. Dobson's prayers -- except the storm You have sent to earth is not over Denver, but on its way to New Orleans! In fact, You have scheduled it to hit Louisiana at exactly the moment that George W. Bush is to deliver his speech at the Republican National Convention.
Now, heavenly Father, we all know You have a great sense of humor and impeccable timing. To send a hurricane on the third anniversary of the Katrina disaster AND right at the beginning of the Republican Convention was, at first blush, a stroke of divine irony. I don't blame You, I know You're angry that the Republicans tried to blame YOU for Katrina by calling it an "Act of God" -- when the truth was that the hurricane itself caused few casualties in New Orleans. Over a thousand people died because of the mistakes and neglect caused by humans, not You.
Some of us tried to help after Katrina hit, while Bush ate cake with McCain and twiddled his thumbs. I closed my office in New York and sent my entire staff down to New Orleans to help. I asked people on my website to contribute to the relief effort I organized -- and I ended up sending over two million dollars in donations, food, water, and supplies (collected from thousands of fans) to New Orleans while Bush's FEMA ice trucks were still driving around Maine three weeks later.
But this past Thursday night, the Washington Post reported that the Republicans had begun making plans to possibly postpone the convention. The AP had reported that there were no shelters set up in New Orleans for this storm, and that the levee repairs have not been adequate. In other words, as the great Ronald Reagan would say, "There you go again!"
So the last thing John McCain and the Republicans needed was to have a split-screen on TVs across America: one side with Bush and McCain partying in St. Paul, and on the other side of the screen, live footage of their Republican administration screwing up once again while New Orleans drowns.
So, yes, You have scared the Jesus, Mary and Joseph out of them, and more than a few million of your followers tip their hats to You.
But now it appears that You haven't been having just a little fun with Bush & Co. It appears that Hurricane Gustav is truly heading to New Orleans and the Gulf coast. We hear You, O Lord, loud and clear, just as we did when Rev. Falwell said You made 9/11 happen because of all those gays and abortions. We beseech You, O Merciful One, not to punish us again as Pat Robertson said You did by giving us Katrina because of America's "wholesale slaughter of unborn children." His sentiments were echoed by other Republicans in 2005.
So this is my plea to you: Don't do this to Louisiana again. The Republicans got your message. They are scrambling and doing the best they can to get planes, trains and buses to New Orleans so that everyone can get out. They haven't sent the entire Louisiana National Guard to Iraq this time -- they are already patrolling the city streets. And, in a nod to I don't know what, Bush's head of FEMA has named a man to help manage the federal government's response. His name is W. Michael Moore. I kid you not, heavenly Father. They have sent a man with both my name AND W's to help save the Gulf Coast.
So please God, let the storm die out at sea. It's done enough damage already. If you do this one favor for me, I promise not to invoke your name again. I'll leave that to the followers of Rev. Dobson and to those gathering this week in St. Paul.
P.S. To all of God's fellow children who are reading this, the city New Orleans has not yet recovered from Katrina. Please click here for a list of things you can do to help our brothers and sisters on the Gulf Coast. And, if you do live along the Gulf Coast, please take all necessary safety precautions immediately.
Tuesday Morning Congress Returns And We Should Be In Action To Hold Their Feet To The Fire Everyday From Here On Out…Out Meaning Bush And Cheney Out The Door Via Impeachment Or Arrest!
Kucinich Petition 1000000 signatures for impeachment
http://www.kucinich.us/
Fire Up To Support Kucinich Initiative!
WHEREAS, in his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has committed abuses of power.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that President George W. Bush has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and Commander in Chief, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States and that he be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors.
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The recent ruling that Harriet Meirs must testify before the House Judiciary Committee in September gives HJC Chairman Conyers the chance to do exactly what former congresswoman Liz Holtzman suggested in the near-impeachment hearings last month. Holtzman back in the ’70s was on Judiciary when they were impeaching Nixon. Conyers would say, “this is an impeachment inquiry” which means there can be no pardons or claims of executive privilege. To do so is automatically impeachable, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars. Bush claims Executive Privilege, there is only one way to vote. Now you have Holtzman’s “Twofer”, both Bush and Cheney gone.
On Tuesday morning let the congressmen return from their vacations and conventions to find voice-mailboxes chock-full with renewed demands for democracy. Chairman Conyers must not miss this opportunity. Leave a message with your congressman and say: “When Meirs testifies, as she must, declare this is a formal impeachment inquiry. Conyers must say the word ‘impeachment’.” This closes the door to the administration’s plan to blanket-pardon itself into the sunset, leaving 4200 fine Americans dead over lies, their families heartbroken and with children who will never know their fathers or mothers, unmeasured carnage among civilians who did not attack us, a spat-upon Constitution, and an economy broken for the benefit of the newly rich at Halliburton.
Your congressman/woman
Bruce Fein: Impeachment was “immensely unifying.”
Remarks delivered by Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio at the Democratic National Convention:
It's Election Day 2008. We Democrats are giving America a wake-up call. Wake up, America. In 2001, the oil companies, the war contractors and the neocon artists seized the economy and have added 4 trillion dollars of unproductive spending to the national debt. We now pay four times more for defense, three times more for gasoline and home heating oil and twice what we paid for health care.
Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, their homes, their health care, their pensions. Trillions of dollars for an unnecessary war paid with borrowed money. Tens of billions of dollars in cash and weapons disappeared into thin air, at the cost of the lives of our troops and innocent Iraqis, while all the president's oilmen are maneuvering to grab Iraq's oil.
Borrowed money to bomb bridges in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. No money to rebuild bridges in America. Money to start a hot war with Iran. Now we have another cold war with Russia, while the American economy has become a game of Russian roulette.
If there was an Olympics for misleading, mismanaging and misappropriating, this administration would take the gold. World records for violations of national and international laws. They want another four-year term to continue to alienate our allies, spend our children's inheritance and hollow out our economy.
We can't afford another Republican administration. Wake up, America. The insurance companies took over health care. Wake up, America. The pharmaceutical companies took over drug pricing.
Wake up, America. The speculators took over Wall Street. Wake up, America. They want to take your Social Security. Wake up, America. Multinational corporations took over our trade policies, factories are closing, good paying jobs lost.
Wake up, America. We went into Iraq for oil. The oil companies want more. War against Iran will mean $10-a-gallon gasoline. The oil administration wants to drill more, into your wallet.
Wake up, America. Weapons contractors want more. An Iran war will cost $5-10 trillion.
This administration can tap our phones. They can't tap our creative spirit.
They can open our mail. They can't open economic opportunities. They can track our every move. They lost track of the economy while the cost of food, gasoline and electricity skyrockets. They skillfully played our post-9/11 fears and allowed the few to profit at the expense of the many. Every day we get the color orange, while the oil companies, the insurance companies, the speculators, the war contractors get the color green.
This administration can tap our phones. They can't tap our creative spirit.
They can open our mail. They can't open economic opportunities. They can track our every move. They lost track of the economy while the cost of food, gasoline and electricity skyrockets. They skillfully played our post-9/11 fears and allowed the few to profit at the expense of the many. Every day we get the color orange, while the oil companies, the insurance companies, the speculators, the war contractors get the color green.
Wake up, America. This is not a call for you to take a new direction from right to left. This is call for you to go from down to up. Up with the rights of workers. Up with wages. Up with fair trade. Up with creating millions of good paying jobs, rebuilding our bridges, ports and water systems. Up with creating millions of sustainable energy jobs to lower the cost of energy, lower carbon emissions and protect the environment.
Up with health care for all. Up with education for all. Up with home ownership. Up with guaranteed retirement benefits. Up with peace. Up with prosperity. Up with the Democratic Party. Up with Obama-Biden.
Wake up, America. Wake up, America. Wake up, America.
No More Bush-Cheney Or Congressional Bullshit. Take Back America. Impeach And Put The Constitution “On The Table”.
End Post Not The Battle!
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