Want Healthcare? Get Out of Irag, then.

You can't have affordable healthcare and a war in Iraq. It is as simple as that, there just aren't enough dollars for both. All the candidates' promises mean nothing without an immediate pull out from Iraq.

What is not clear about this issue? Why isn't it number one in peoples' minds? Perhaps we've given up on even thinking about how we're getting out. As long as we feel we need Middle East oil, and as long as we think we need to "protect" Israel, we aren't going anywhere. Those are the facts from the military and policy wonks, and they will persuade any new President that "withdrawal" is not an option.

Beyond NH: Campaign Promises Are Empty Until the War Ends

…The candidates also say they are against the war and want our troops out. But Clinton wants withdrawal in phases and wouldn't have most troops out until 2013. After that, she would keep a residual force in Iraq. Edwards would withdraw 40,000 to 50,000 immediately and all within nine or 10 months, another phased pullout. Obama, who -- unlike Clinton and Edwards -- opposed the invasion, would withdraw all troops before 2010, again in phases.

All these plans would leave troops there for a substantial time. And that's assuming that the winner can keep a withdrawal promise. It's easy to imagine what will happen when the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the so-called wise men and women of the Washington foreign policy establishment start "talking sense" to the new president, urging him or her to keep a strong force in Iraq to guard strategic interests and oil supplies in the Middle East and to protect Israel. Only Bill Richardson and Dennis Kucinich favor an immediate pullout.

OK? So let's not get distracted.

Issue No. 1 - When and how do we get out of Iraq? We want clear answers.

Do something to make it happen!!!

Christmas Greeting from Mike Huckabee

To my opponents, go kill yourselves.

With love, Bill.



These so-called Christians and their so-called brotherly love. They are killing the world, literally.

Oh, you might want to read the DIGG comments. :>)

Wrap up Chrismas Smartly

How sad Christmas, reduced to a yearly shopping spree in which we are expected to participate to support the sagging economy. Seems a lot of folks indulge in it with passion and fury. Good. Citibank needs the credit card interest you'll generate. They had to borrow a tidy sum from the Arab world lately at credit card rates. : >)

I think our consumption, however, is rather obscene. I'll spare you the rant. Instead, consider sending a can of worms. Not to your friends but to a farmer in one of 26 countries served by Oxfam America. You can also send a sheep, plant 50 trees, or plant a garden. Your friend gets a card telling of your deed, those in need get useful tools.

Take a look. All it takes is a few clicks to get all your shopping done.

Help a Veteran Call Home, 'W' Won't

It's really a sad state of affairs when the Bush administration won't even grant our nation's hospitalized veterans a few dollars in long-distance fees so they can call their loved ones back home over the holidays.

Go fight the good fight for God and Oil, but don't get injured 'cause we grant no favors. Apparently those mega billions in war appropriations didn't include free calls home from your hospital bed.

Why isn't Halliburton subject to the same level of bean counting? : >)

Salute Our Veterans; Help Them Call Home Over the Holidays

Write Karl Rove

I know the thought makes you sick, but hear me out. DCCC.org is reporting that Uncle Karl is trying to blame Congress for starting the disaster in Iraq. Yeah, that's hardly surprising. It's always someone else's fault - the typical MO of the Bush bunch.

Well, suck it up. DCCC made it very easy to write to Mr. Dirty Tricks himself. If I can do it, you certainly can.

Here's my opus:

Hi.

Lately I hear you are crediting Congress with starting the disastrous war in Iraq. Oh, you're blaming Congress? The war's a mistake?

It doesn't surprise me you and your eminently presumptuous crowd believe you don't make mistakes. I only hope you offer this as a defense in your war crimes trial, a time of judgement long overdue.

You'll thank us from jail.

Start now, write your own missive.

Here's the beef from DCCC.org:

We're compiling a holiday present for Rove to remember -- all your letters chock full of the truth. Help us hit Rove hard with a heavy dose of reality.

Karl Rove has been going around town, blaming Congress for starting the failed war in Iraq. That's right -- he is actually trying to make people forget that President Bush started this disastrous war in a ludicrous attempt to rewrite the history books. But this Sunday, Chairman Van Hollen will call him on it.

Help us set the record straight. Send a letter to Karl Rove himself.

While it's on your mind, write a letter to the editor.

When you're finished, post them to my comment section.

Thanks. :>)

The Shock Doctrine - Naomi Klein

Do you want it straight up? Then sit down, maybe have a drink.

Watch this…



Hello? Yes, get off the floor. Take some deep breaths. Let this sink in.

The Shock Doctrine has hit bestseller lists in 7 countries: The United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden!

Buy it now!
Read excerpts from the book
See the National Book Critics Circle Best Recommended List

For my Los Angeles friends:

Don’t Miss an Evening in Los Angeles with Naomi & Robert Greenwald, Director of Outfoxed and Iraq for Sale!

Thursday, December 6, 7:30 pm
Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills, 300 N. Clark Drive
Tickets are $20 and open to the public. See more information about the Los Angeles event

This post was culled from Naomi Klein's website where you will find more videos on The Shock Doctrine, among many other writings.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

It's getting harder and harder to keep my sanity these days, what with reading about Dick Cheney's sadistic passion for shooting tame animals, so I thought I'd offer the ultimate antidote to insanity, Andy Warhol.

For the truly inspired among you, click on the video clip below, "Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol", a work by Jonas Mekas, a genius filmmaker and wonderful human being. For those who were around back in the day, enjoy the '60s redux. Jonas ably captures the spirit of creativity's bursting chaos. It's well worth your time to look through Jonas' entire anthology.




OK, now. Back to the present reality. Please take note.

Help the whales, help the ocean, help yourself.

Stop Japan's Whaling Fleet From Killing Humpbacks!

Next month, the Japanese Government plans to send its whaling fleet into the protected waters of the Southern Ocean Sanctuary around Antarctica. And this year, Japan is threatening to add humpback whales to its target list!

Oh, and don't let the folks who recently conspired to spy on you off the hook.

Tell the Senate Judiciary Committee: No Amnesty for AT&T and Verizon
In recent weeks, Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee caved to the White House and cut a deal to grant retroactive immunity to telecom giants who colluded in Bush's illegal program to spy on Americans.

The bill -- a so-called "fix" to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act -- is now being debated by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Fortunately, most of the Democrats on the committee appear ready to strike the amnesty language from the bill. But we still need to make sure they stand strong as pressure increases around this critical vote.

Fax your senator to oppose amnesty for lawbreaking telcos in the FISA reform bill.

Veterans for Peace March Against War

Here are some details from Nate, one of the veterans arrested on Veterans Day:

Getting arrested along with 92 year old Paul Brailsford (who managed to get the plastic cuffs off in the police wagon!!), 80 something year old Sev Bruyn, 76 year old Tony Flaherty was a privilege that I have trouble expressing. Seeing these guys in cuffs was just such an inspiration.

Watch this two minute video of the Veterans for Peace action of Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007, in Boston. See my previous blog post for more details.

Veterans Arrested at Veterans' Day Event

I applaud the Veterans for Peace, who were arrested for protesting their exclusion from an American Legion sponsored Veterans' Day event in Boston, Sunday. The commander of the American Legion in Suffolk County had them arrested for a silent protest at their Veterans' Day ceremony.

The group was made to bring up the rear of the annual parade - for which hundreds of patriots lined Boylston and Tremont streets - and were even placed behind the street sweepers.

“They do not want to adhere to our rules of conduct,” James Lawler, commander of the American Legion in Suffolk County, told the Herald, suggesting the protesters’ time would be better spent in Washington, D.C., fighting for benefits and better VA hospitals." Full Story, Boston Herald.

I understand Mr. Lawler's concerns, but these are extraordinary times. The rules of conduct certainly were not followed in the build-up to this war. More and more people need to make the status quo very uncomfortable to keep the carnage and consequence of this war front and center. What else works?

Let's not forget on this Veterans' Day the unusual number of suicides by returning Iraqi veterans, another needless toll of the disaster in Iraq.

More and more veterans are speaking out, breaking a code of silence and denial the military encourages. Yet, maybe it is only the military that can prevent a disastrous war with Iran. A most unusual situation, don't you think?

One thing I know will get the attention of policy makers is a holiday shopping boycott by we civilians. Why not join me? :>)

The Impeachment of Dick Cheney, Not

Huffington Post, Nov. 7, 2007:

…one year ago yesterday, we elected the Democrats in overwhelming numbers to amplify our screaming voices to a decibel loud enough to penetrate the unchecked corridors of power in Washington -- we hired this party to speak for us and to use this expressed authority to end the war and to hold this historically unpopular executive regime accountable.

To date and with the exception of some admirable investigations by a few standout lawmakers, the Democrats have done nothing to make good on their mandate from you and me.

It was yesterday, on the one year anniversary of the collapse of Karl Rove's thousand-year Reich, when the Democrats subjected themselves to both public embarrassment and public disgrace, and each within a few hours of the other.

Read the story and weep. This is a sad, sad day for America. The Democrats could not stand up for democracy. It generally began to unfold in '30s Germany like this.

Dick has no formal opposition now. Your mandate has officially been neutered by the people you elected to execute it. Bombs away, baby. Bombs away. Your democracy is dead, and you stood by watching, didn't you?