it's deja vu all over again...
"
I am the decision maker" said the President today about his planned escalation for Iraq. Yeah, where have we heard that before...
He then also again, essentially said "You got a better plan?" and prodded Congress to come up with something...
Um...somebody already has...THE IRAQ STUDY GROUP
People have been coming up with other plans, George, you just don't LIKE them.
And of course, as he is planning on attacking Iran, he's okaying "
countering" Iranian agents in Iraq. It's the slipnslide way into Iran. He really does appear to be trying to blow up the world by the time he leaves office.
AND then we hear about how four
US soldiers were abducted and killed in a sneak attack in Karbala. Do we want to see more of this?
The son of a fallen 9/11 police officer was invited to the State of the Union by Hillary Clinton. He has called for a meeting with the President as he wants to ask him "How many more have to die?"
There are a lot of people who want to ask George that question and a good number of them are heading to DC this weekend. Make sure that your local paper, radio station, tv station, etc know about this and actually TALK ABOUT IT. This march should not go unnoticed.
And hey, go ahead and remind your Congressfolk and the White House about it, too.
Last night I was taking a ballroom dancing class and one of the gentlemen I danced was named George. "Not W.," he assured me. "Wish we could just go in and fire him...they sent in a boy to do man's job..." Right on, George, and you know, he may be on to something as Chuck Shumer on the Daily Show said he wouldn't mind if there was a way to make a vote of "No confidence" in the president and boot him out of there. "That's Canada!" John Stewart exclaimed. Shumer just shrugged...it's not such a bad idea...it'd be nice to at least have the
option...if they're particularly bad...you know, like George W.
Peace --Alex
Smack, smack...smack...
You know, if he hadn't done this to himself, I'd almost feel bad for George.
He has the lowest polling any president EVER. He is like, below NIXON just before he resigned. He gave his state of the union last night and asked, rather pleaded, with the country and the congress to "give his plan a chance to work". His domestic ideas (wait, he actually did use the term "climate change" last night) are already are being criticised by environmentalists, True Majority has already sent out an email asking us to ask George about revamping our health care system, and the Foreign Relations Committee voted down his plan 12-9 today...but of course, it is a non-binding resolution that George can ignore-and will...so in a way...what's the point? Well, part of the point is the statement Congress made AND that Chuck Hagel (R) tore him a new one essentially.
Even General Petraeus, the general Bush hired to, you know, agree with him, said that while he supports the escalation, he will declare failure if is warranted (which is, right now, but you know, that's just me...)
I mentioned this before and I'll mention it again, if ever there was a time to nag your Congressfolk, this is it. We cannot let this escalation occur. They cannot give him any more money for this war...unless those funds are going to be going to taking our soldiers OUT.
IN THE MEANTIME...you might nag the press a bit as well through the week. Over the weekend, there United For Peace and Justice and numerous other groups are marching in Washington for peace. I, sadly, cannot be there, but if you can be there, GO! and you know who else should be there? THE PRESS...covering this puppy! There should be more than a little blip on the news about this. There needs to be REAL coverage of this march as no doubt there is going to be a substantial crowd and George ('s people) need to see again that the American people are serious. We are DONE with Iraq.
Keep emailing folks. Call, write, fax, email and let them all know that you are paying attention!!
Peace -Alex
Who's NOT running for president?
We've got Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama, Christopher Dodd, Joe Biden, John Edwards, some guy from Indiana, I think George Kucinich is trying again, Rudy Guiliani, Sam Brownback, John McCain...the list keeps growing and growing...I do not envy them as the mess they have to clean up after Bush FINALLY leaves office-and office he never should have been allowed into-is already going to take a minimum of three terms to clean up.
You know...one reason I haven't been at this blog as nearly as often as I should is that there are days you just feel overwhelmed by current events. There is so much going on right now-and not nearly enough it positive-that it can just fry one's brain and drag one down.
But you know, last night was a moving and hopeful kick in the pants.
Last night at Carnegie Hall there was a benefit concert of Verdi's Requiem. The hall was possibly just over half full from what I could see which made me think three things:
1) there needed to be better marketing and publicity (heck, if my friend had not invited me, I wouldn't have known about it)
2) there are classical music fans and there are activists and not all classical music fans are activists; not all activists are classical music fans.
3) The people who want to take action, are more often than not, the people who can't afford to go to a benefit like this (I know I couldn't...very grateful for friend who knows conductor, has the money to go to such a thing and invited me).
But more events like this need to happen. Not just for the money, but for the inspiration. The conductor, George Mathews, said before he started the piece that, we would hear moments of "great terror, great fear..." and "explosions". We would also "hear silences where one can take action, as that is what the music asks us to do, to take action, and you can do the same."
And he wasn't kidding.
Photos were displayed above the orchestra and chorus (all volunteers), of women and children, a photo for each movement of the piece. When seeing those photos, along with that music...one could not help but be instantly moved.
They chose the right piece.
I don't know how many of you have heard the Verdi Requiem, save for the often used in commercials "Dies Irae", but it does have moments of great terror, anquish and fear, along with brief moments of respite from the storm. During the
Dies Irae in particular, one could not get away from the "explosions" of not only the tympani, but the TWO bass drums...you could almost see the horses and camels charging through recently bombed villages and hear the pleas of surivivors in the soloists voices (well mainly the bass who was just unreal).
The power of music along with the photographic stills was truly stirring...folks were moved in that hall last night, my friends...and more need to be be moved to action and could be if such events were more readily marketed and made accessible.
It's a shame though, as I just don't see George gettin' it. ("this doesn't have to do with Iraq?")
Tonight, George gives the State of the Union...and what a horrible state we are in, despite his blindness. Let him know. Contact your Congressfolk. Take action.
CALL YOUR CONGRESSFOLK NOW!
The President is making a speech tomorrow about his new "
plan" for Iraq. This plan includes a troop surge of up to more than 20,000 troops. We cannot send more of our troops to die trapped in the middle of the civil war there. The insurgency started and increased because of our presence, and it is time for us to go. General Casey and General Abizaid were let go because they disagreed Bush's plan. General Colin Powell disagrees with this plan. Retired generals, congresspeople, former presidents...a lot of people disagree with this plan, yet George continues to push for it like a petulant child.
CALL and email your
congressfolk and let them know that YOU disagree with this plan as well and will not allow any more of your tax money go towards funding more troops to be sent over to that mess. The only plan that money should be used for is one that includes a troops
withdrawal and proper diplomatic initiatives.
On Thursday there will be anti-war events all over the country (you can check with
UFPJ,
MoveOn,
Code Pink,
Faithful America and
True Majority for details) the ones here in NYC are all at noon (thus far) and I can't get out of work, but if YOU can make any of the planned events, GET OUT THERE and make your voice heard!
You voted. You said no to the corruption. You said no to the single party rule. You said no to the war in Iraq. Make sure that the people you voted for do their jobs.
Peace --Alex
And we're back!
Yes, after nearly a month away from the blog, I have returned! And with good reason! Guess who's comin' to Congress?
The Democrats!
If there was ever a time to nag your Congressfolk, this is it. Bush has a plan to send to 20,000 troops in a "surge" to bring down the violence. Generals and pundits alike have said that this is a bad idea, but unfortunately, our president thinks otherwise...as usual. Our
troops are trapped in the middle of a civil war and this surge merely means that there will be
MORE troops trapped in the middle of a civil war. The violence will rise, therefore so will the death toll; we cannot keep sending more soldiers over there to die for
no good reason.
The hanging of
Saddam Hussein did not help things. He
was a monster and even David Letterman remarked when you're a cruel despot who's murdered hundreds of people "it's gonna catch up with ya". The problem with this execution was mainly how it just appeared that this man was a scapegoat. Somebody needed to be killed here, and all they had was Saddam, 'cause we still don't have the guy who actually attacked us. Osama is still forgotten. It also appeared merely to be
sectarian payback.
Starting today (ceremonially at least), the new Congress will be voting on such things as raising the minimum wage, tightening rules on lobbyists and changing energy policy. They've got a lot planned in that
first hundred hours...but so far none of it is Iraq related. Understandable, as that is going to take a lot of time and debate, but amidst all the other legislation they are trying to get through, I do hope that there is a meeting or two about building a united front among the somewhat fractious Democrats against sending any more troops to Iraq...let alone getting just our soldiers home.
If you want to see this happen, you know what you have to do: KEEP EMAILING! Email, call, fax, write, your family and friends, your Congressfolk and the press and remind them that you are indeed PAYING ATTENTION!! and want the change that we voted for!
Peace --Alex
