LEFT OF DAYTON
McCain Shows Us How to Kill an Army/By Sara Robinson
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McCain Shows Us How to Kill an Army
By Sara Robinson, TomPaine.com
Posted on April 17, 2008, Printed on April 17, 2008
John McCain, who from the early 1980s worked hard to establish himself as one of the Senate’s shining champions of Vietnam veterans’ issues, completed his betrayal of the Iraq-era troops today. Brandon Friedman of vetvoice.com has the details:
Yesterday VoteVets.org delivered a petition with 30,000 signatures to the office of Sen. John McCain. Through that petition, we asked him to support Sen. Jim Webb’s new GI Bill. And less than 24 hours later, we have an answer:
“Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, seemed to give a thumbs down to bipartisan legislation that would greatly expand educational benefits for members of the military returning from Iraq and Afghanistan under the GI Bill …”
The reason for McCain’s refusal to support the bill is about the most disturbing rationale one could imagine. … Officials in charge of Pentagon personnel worry that a more generous and expansive GI Bill would create an incentive for troops to get out of the military and go to college.
Friedman observes that McCain’s no-college-for-grunts position essentially says to the troops: “Thanks for your service and your three combat tours in five years. Now get back to work.” (more…)
ANTIOCH COLLEGE ALUMNI OUTRAGED AT UNIVERSITY’S REJECTION OF BID
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Mitt Romney’s Words on the MLK Holiday/Dr. Jerrie L. Bascome McGill
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I received this in an email today and was struck by the character insight Dr McGGill provides into Republican Presidential candidate Willard “Mitt” Romney.
Her essay:
“Teach kids they ought to get married before they have babies!”
These were the words spoken by Republican candidate for President, Mitt Romney, after he had posed smilingly with a group of African American children and was asked to make a comment. To publicly speak his thoughts in this way on any day gives all of us a clear indicator of his skewed beliefs about a people. But to publicly pronounce his belief that promiscuity is factual within African American youth on the day the nation paused to honor a world renown African American visionary is absolutely egregious. (more…)
We’re Mad as Hell and the Dems Aren’t Listening/Jim Hightower
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By Jim Hightower, Hightower Lowdown
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US SENATOR SHERROD BROWN:A 2007 RETROSPECTIVE
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A year ago, due to the hard work of people like you, Ohioans turned Ohio blue by electing Ted Strickland to lead our state, Jennifer Brunner to restore fair elections, Marc Dann as our top law enforcement officer, Rich Cordray to manage our state’s finances, and selecting me to serve in the U.S. Senate.
During the campaign, I promised I would put the middle class first as Ohio’s U.S. Senator. I have honored that commitment.
To date, I have held 71 roundtables from Toledo to Marietta, from Ashtabula to Cincinnati. I have held legislative conference calls with Ohioans on issues ranging from agriculture to education to job creation. (more…)
Dennis Kucinich Hoping forUpset in New Hampshire Primary
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Posted by Sabrina Eaton Cleveland Plain Dealer Politics Blog
December 01, 2007 19:27PM
Categories: Democratic Party
After shaking Kucinich’s hand outside Brewbakers coffee shop in Keene, Jane Morgan of Hancock said she’ll definitely support him in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary. “He says what he thinks is right and he doesn’t mind saying things that will turn people off.”
Kucinich kicks off a fourteen hour day of presidential campaigning in the Keene, New Hampshire area by greeting campaign volunteers Bill Hay of Keene (center) and Donnell Graves of Cambridge, Mass. Bagel Works cafe.
Kucinich and his wife, Elizabeth, enter a house party at the Keene, New Hampshire home of dentist Paul Krautmann, where the candidate told Democratic primary voters: “If people want a winner, I can win.”
Kucinich supporter asks: Will I waste my vote? An audio report:
Dennis Kucinich talks about his New Hampshire campaign: An audio report:
Plain Dealer book review of “The Courage to Survive” by Dennis Kucinich
A Plain Dealer graphic on the New Hampshire primary:.
By Sabrina Eaton/Plain Dealer Washington Bureau
Keene, N.H. — “Moose Crossing” warnings still outnumber political signs along the snow-dusted byways of New Hampshire, home of the nation’s first presidential primary and the place where underdog Democratic candidate Dennis Kucinich has pinned his presidential hopes.
Although Kucinich trails his party’s front-runners in campaign money and polls, the Cleveland congressman says he hopes to pull off an upset in New Hampshire’s Jan. 8 primary through the kind of hard work and grass-roots networking he has employed in Northeast Ohio for decades.
With that in mind, he recently wrapped up a 10-day campaign trip to rustic New Hampshire, where he spent 16-hour days shaking hands and delivering speeches in whitewashed town halls, cozy living rooms, local eateries and country club ballrooms.
“New Hampshire seems to be ready for a real change,” Kucinich said between a book signing and town hall meeting last weekend in Keene, a picturesque college town that calls itself the “Currier and Ives” corner of New Hampshire. “Every town hall meeting has been a solid turnout. What it tells me is that this election is not over. People are listening carefully to what I have to say, and when they hear what I have to say, they seem to like it.” (more…)
Military Recruiting Vans at Schools Draw Fire
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Published on Monday, November 26, 2007 by CommonDreams.org
by Pat Elder
A ninth grader in a suburban Washington DC classroom is delighted to be excused from Algebra class to spend a half hour shooting a life-like 9 MM pistol and lobbing explosive ordinance from an M1A2 Abrams tank simulator. At the same time 3,000 miles away in La Habra, California, a 15 year-old girl is released from English class to squeeze off rounds from a very real looking M-16 rifle. The kids thoroughly enjoy the experience, especially the part about getting out of class.
The two students have experienced the Army’s Adventure Van, a 60-foot, 30-ton 18-wheeler with several interactive exhibits that bring an adrenaline rush and glorify weaponry and combat. The Army’s 19 vans frequent various community events and two thousand schools a year, generating more than 63,000 recruiter leads. In addition to the Adventure Van, the Army has three other 18-wheelers for recruiting purposes. The Aviation Recruiting Van contains an AH 64 Helicopter flight simulator and an interactive air warrior and weapons display.
The American Soldier Adventure Van has an interactive air/land warrior display and a future warrior display. The Army Marksmanship Trainer has an interactive rifle range. (more…)
SHADOWS ON HIGH: Tuesday’s Vote Tells The Nation A Lot About Ohio ‘08
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| By Brian Rothenberg – Nov 7th, 2007 at 12:35 pm EST |
| Also listed in: Ohio Bloggers |
Congratulations go out to Ohio Democrats and Progressives where big-city Mayors changed hands in Lorain and Canton (long held by the GOP) and Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman and his well-run coordinated campaign cruised to a third term in a landslide.
There were few misfires down at blue headquarters on State Street, but there are trends that give a glimpse into November 2008. Lest progressives start high-fiving, Ohio is not going to be a cakewalk in a Presidential race. Just a sobering reminder: the Quinnipiac Poll has the two Presidential front-runners in an Ohio dead heat with Rudy up two points over Hillary in their latest Ohio head-to-head poll. (more…)
University Board Votes to Keep Antioch College Open
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The Antioch University Board of Trustees announced that a decision had been made to keep the Antioch College campus in Yellow Springs open.
Key elements of the agreement include:
Returning to the Ohio Board of Regents to certify remaining open
A change in the role of the Chancellor, making it a collaborative position with the Alumni Board and with no veto powers.
A new president will be selected jointly by University and Alumni Boards.
A commitment by the Alumni Board to raise and disburse directly to the College for use as it and the Board saw fit, the sum of $62.6 million dollars over the next 3 fiscal years. Those monies to arrive as follows:
- 2$2 million within 10 days
- $4.6 million by December 15, 2007
- $12 million by May 31, 2008
- $25 million by June 30, 2009
- $19 million for fiscal year 2010
Expect some celebrating to be taking place today and tonight in the village of Yellow Springs and on the Antioch campus.
11/04 update//A friend sent me a link to an article about Antioch that appears in the notorious Wingnut journal, the Weakly Standard [helmed by the grand puba of Wingnuts himself, William Kristol]. Granting its Wingnut bias as a given, this chronicling of one version of the schools long downward slide is fascinating in its detail. http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/306jqecg.asp?pg=1
