(Cross posted from Docudharma)

The likely outcome of the Bush-led Republican raid on America astonishes me.  As America’s national nightmare approaches the eight-year mark, the Bush administration is apparently going to escape unpunished.  They are going to skate scot-free.  They have brazenly committed major crimes against the people of the United States, not to mention the terrible things they have done to much of the rest of the world...and these bastards are going to skate scot-free.  

They have implemented a systematic program of torture approved, directed and overseen by the White House.  And it wasn’t just some schoolboy pranks and it wasn’t just the isolated waterboarding of a few really bad guys.  It was systematic, it was widespread, and it was far worse than the elite media has admitted.  Far worse.  They have hidden the most shocking images from view.  But as they say, the truth will out.

(Cross posted from Docudharma)
 
I came of age in the time of Nixon and Vietnam.  I learned then that our government was not to be trusted, that they lie to us whenever it’s convenient and that there is nothing pure about their motives.  I also learned to suspect that elements of our government played an active role in the assassination of John Kennedy and possibly others.  I’m not saying they did, just that I’ve pondered that possibility for most of my life and not without reason.  I still have to wonder.  The possibility that our government is that fucking evil shouldn’t seem like such a stretch to anybody these days.

(Cross posted from Docudharma)

Let’s Impeach the President for Lying
And misleading our country into war
Abusing all the power that we gave him
And shipping all our money out the door

Neil Young

On Monday of this week Rep. Dennis Kucinich introduced 35 articles of impeachment.  On Wednesday it finally was acknowledged by CNN.  In fact it was, for a time, the third most popular story right after Incest girl reunited with family and 'Idol' runner-up lands record deal.

(Cross posted from Docudharma)

We have come to a place unimagined even by Orwell who got so much right.  

(Cross posted from Docudharma)

I was born at the tail end of 1951.  My father was a soldier who served in WWII and Korea.  His brother came back from Korea so psychologically devastated that he never recovered.  He lived nearly fifty of his seventy years haunted by the horror of what he witnessed in the Korean War.  He was not alone.  Every war produces more casualties than are accounted for in the body counts.  My uncle died just a few years ago but it was the Korean War that killed him.  

(Cross posted from Docudharma)

This diary carries a message or two but is also a tribute.  It is not hero worship.  I am well aware of JFK’s flaws and weaknesses as a human being – you needn’t remind me.  But John F. Kennedy was also a gifted orator who inspired and uplifted us with the poetry in his soul and the power in his words – and certain of his words resonate now more than ever.

(Cross posted from Docudharma)

My generation thought Vietnam was an aberration, but it wasn’t, it was the game plan.  Lie your way into a nasty little war and let other people’s children do the killing and dying while the fat cats at the top of the capitalist pile rake in the dough.  It’s all for the benefit of those so bloated with greed that they just don’t care that their profits come soaked in the blood of innocents and patriots.

Cross posted from the front page of Docudharma.

(Crossposted from the frontpage of Docudharma)

An America that tortures is not my America.

An America that denies healthcare to its citizens is not my America.

An America run by amoral corporations and corrupt politicians for the exclusive benefit of the few at the expense of the many is not my America.

Crossposted from Docudharma.

Some people believe we shouldn’t complain too loudly, protest too vigorously or argue too passionately – the theory being that if we appear too leftist, too radical or too seriously committed to our beliefs that people who don’t share those beliefs will be offended and therefore unlikely to become seriously committed radical leftists themselves one day.  Well I have big news; those dim bulbs are not likely to ever shine – certainly not in response to our stifling ourselves.  For once, let’s let the smart people have their say.  

Crossposted from Docudharma

Remember when they were an opposition party?  Remember when they were on our side?  I’m sure most of you have noticed by now that they just aren’t anymore.

(crossposted from Docudharma)

It’s simple really.  Radical problems require radical solutions.

Radical

1.  of or going to the root or origin; fundamental: a radical difference.

2.  thoroughgoing or extreme, esp. as regards change from accepted or traditional forms: a radical change in the policy of a company.

3.  favoring drastic political, economic, or social reforms: radical ideas; radical and anarchistic ideologues.

Dictionary.com

Having decided at the last minute to fly rather than drive to D.C., my son and I were separated by virtue of our seat assignments.  I asked the young man sitting next to me if he was going home and he said yes, but only for a brief visit.  He asked why I was going to Washington and I told him to march against the war.  "That’s interesting," he replied, "I’m headed for Iraq."  Turns out he works for an NGO and had been to Iraq twice before.  He had recently graduated from American University with a degree in International Relations with a specialty in the Middle East.  We had a fascinating conversation for the duration of the flight.  I encouraged him to write about his experiences and invited him to consider blogging at dailykos.  Hopefully he will.

And our plan to nuke Iran is shaping up nicely too.