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IS THE WAR IN IRAQ/AFGHANISTAN OFF THE RADAR?? Where is the Outrage??
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The Polls say we Americans overwhelmingly think that we never should have gone into Iraq and that nearly half of us say we need to get out within a year.
That’s the polls.
Visble manifestations of that oppostion seem to be far and few between.
CBS News/New York Times Poll. March 28-April 2, 2008. N=1,368 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3 (for all adults).
Looking back, do you think the United States did the right thing in taking military action against Iraq, or should the U.S. have stayed out?”
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Right Thing Stayed Out Unsure % % % ALL adults
34 62 4 Republicans
68 26 6 Democrats
13 85 2 Independents
32 62 6
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| Less Than A Year |
One to Two Years |
Two to Five Years |
Longer Than Five Years |
Other/ Unsure |
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| % | % | % | % | % | ||
| 46 | 22 | 14 | 6 | 12 | ||
How is it that we can have such opposition to the Bush Administration’s war policies and yet not be able to get a dozen people to join an anti-war protest here in Dayton? Where is the outrage?? Bush comes to the Air Force Museum and 35 people show up to a demonstration called by the Montgomery County Democratic Party, including just Two Union reps [in a supposedly Union town], ONE party Chairman and NO ELECTED OFFICIALS.
Over the five years this vigil has been held I have personally invited Democratic office holders Nan Whaley, Dean Lovelace, Mayor McLin, Joey Williams, Debbie Lieberman and Dan Foley MULTIPLE TIMES to join the anti war vigils at the Dayton Dragon’s games, and not one of them has shown up yet.
I ask again, Where is the Outrage? and, perhaps as important, Where is the”leadership” of the local Democratic party on this critical issue??? and, please, don’t respond with that lame crap about how “we are LOCAL elected officials and anti-war issues are not our thing…” I’m not buying it, and you should be ashamed to offer it as an excuse for your inactivity.
If the opposition is there on paper and the physical manifestation is not, we have to ask why? There are indeed answers, including the fact that for much of the US mainstream media the war is simply something that they are not given very much attention to, excepting the parroting of the McCain-Bush bullshit about how well the “surge” is working …[though today’s NY Times reports that insurgent attacks in Baghdad more than doubled in March over February’s numbers...]
By way of example, the author Eric Boehlert, from the website Media Matters, notes in an April 2 column:
Last November, I noted that ABC’s Nightline, its long-running signature news program, had essentially boycotted Iraq as a news story. I found that over an 18-week span, from mid-July through late November, Nightline aired approximately 230 separate news segments, only one of which was about events on the ground in Iraq. In the 17 weeks since then, Nightline has continued to look the other way, which means that over a nearly nine-month span, during which time more than 300 reports aired, Nightline has effectively ignored the war in Iraq as a news event.–
Excerpetd from his excllent article
Myth: the American Public Tuned out Iraq Fact: The press tuned out Iraq
http://mediamatters.org/columns/200804020003?lid=214108&rid=6438606
It sems that the unfortunate reality is that most people, despite their poll answers, are simply disconnected to the war in their daily lives. The images we are NOT seeing is the reality of this evil war.
How’s this for complicity?? In March 2003, on the eve of the Iraq war, a directive arrived from the Pentagon at U.S. military bases. “There will be no arrival ceremonies for, or media coverage of, deceased military personnel returning to or departing from Ramstein [Germany] airbase or Dover [Del.] base, to include interim stops,” the Defense Department said, referring to the major ports for the returning remains.
The answer from our “elected representatives, our “leaders”??
Senate Backs Ban on Photos of G.I. Coffins: June 21, 2004.
And the money?? The Billions and Billions [and trillions] of dollars BORROWED from China, Japan and other countries? Off the “books” and payable by our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren [and theirs…]
The money that could be used to pay for comprehensive medical care far beyond any of the presidential candidates offerings..The money that could be used to repair our falling apart infrastructure of bridges, roads and waterways. The money that could be used to provide a college education for every person who had the gumption to go to school and improve themselves and our nation?? And so much much more.
The War goes on, and the American public, having been lulled into complacency, appears comatose in the face of impending disaster, unable or unwilling to take the time to do the right thing, get up off their asses & confront our “leadership” and demand an end to this evil war.
Wake up America . It’s way past time for the wake up call.
Learning From the Cultural Conservatives, Part III: Taking It To The Street
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March 11th, 2008 – 10:51am ET
The conservative worldview has succeeded so wildly — and is still holding such tenacious sway over the ways Americans approach their current stack of problems — because the conservatives started out 30 years ago with a focused plan that put promoting their model of reality at the center of every other action. Over the past two posts, I’ve been mining the specific strategies that early planners like Paul Weyrich used to advance the conservative worldview, in the hope that we might gain some insight that will help us engage them directly on this deepest, most important territory.
Progressives will not be able to implement their vision of the future until we’re able to supplant the conservative worldview with our own. We won’t win until we take control of the discourse, offer Americans new ways to make meaning and evaluate and prioritize events, and get them to abandon conservative assumptions about how reality works.
I’d like to thank Bruce Wilson at Talk2Action again for turning me onto Eric Huebeck’s 2001 document that summarized, updated, and refocused the original Weyrich strategies. In this final piece, we’ll look some of the specific ways the conservatives structured their campaign to take their worldview to the streets, and ultimately replaced long-held democratic assumptions about government, economics, and society with the deadly and wrong-headed assumptions that now drive the thinking of the entire nation. (more…)
Learning from The Cultural Conservatives, Part I: Messing With Their Minds
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What the Hell Are Democrats So Afraid of? by Glenn Hurowitz
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Like many progressives, I’d heard all the explanations for Democratic failings, and they all boiled down to this: a lack of smarts or competence. But was that realistic? After all, we’re the egghead party, the party of science, the party of the PhD. Could we really just be as stupid as we say George Bush is? What I’ve seen is something quite different: a lack of courage that makes Democrats afraid of implementing the strategies that work. It’s why even when Democrats win, they lose.
After Democrats took back Congress in 2006, Republicans still manage to bully Democrats and the media into controlling their agenda. It seems like Democrats forgot James Carville’s basic lesson of political summer school “It’s hard for your opponent to say bad things about you when your fist is in his mouth.” Unfortunately, too often, the Democrats are the ones coughing up fingernails. What follows is an excerpt from my new book, Fear and Courage in the Democratic Party (Maisonneuve Press), which illustrates this debilitating weakness in the Democratic Party. (more…)
The ’08 Elections: How Far Will the Clintons Go?By Robert Parry
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Hillary Clinton, who has built her case for the presidency on her superior “ready on Day One” management skills, burned through almost $130 million of campaign money, had to kick in $5 million from her own murky family funds, and is now pressing her chief financial backers to find creative ways to raise more money.
Some of those financial schemes appear to skirt the law – as some backers consider putting money into “independent” entities that can spend unlimited sums but aren’t supposed to coordinate with the campaign – while other ideas are more traditional, like appealing to wealthy donors involved with the pro-Israel AIPAC lobby.
Sen. Clinton’s new scramble for money – as well as her campaign’s declaration that it is prepared to override the will of the elected Democratic delegates if necessary to secure the nomination – raise the question of just how far Bill and Hillary Clinton are willing to go to achieve their presidential restoration. (more…)
DAVID ESRATI FOR CONGRESS [OH-3]
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David Esrati for Congress OH-3
Here’s my endorsement in the race to beat Mike Turner in the fall, and it’s NOT the Democratic Party’s choice of Jane whatshername. There is good reason for that. Ms Jane appears to be mostly fluff with very little substance. Her “website” is basically an online billboard with no substantive information about her positions on anything. She got her butt whupped by Turner in ’04, 63% to 37%. And, despite her proclamations, she was NOT unanimously endorsed by the Montgomery Count Dem’s…I know, I was there for the vote.
Compare this with David Esrati, who for the last three years has been posting his thoughts about “change” and how to achieve it for the 3rd District at Esrati.com. On subjects ranging from the recent interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve Board to giving computer laptops to students in Dayton Public Schools as a way to enhance the educational process, Esrati has articulated a vision that one can look at, ponder and discuss. Where has Jane been for the last 4 years? There’s no evidence of her presence on the local political scene, whereas David Esrati has been in the thick of it the whole time.
We need a voice in the Democratic Congress that is not beholden to the same old power elites that have controlled the levers of power for far too long, both here in the Miami Valley and in Washington. A boldness of vision and a dedication to Real Reform are hallmarks of David Esrati’s campaign for Congress. Honest to a fault!
Visit Esrati.com for more information. Check out his videos on Youtube. Support real change. Support David Esrati for Congress!
IS THIS GUY FOR REAL?QUESTION ABOUT A JUDGES GAY “ETHICS” IS A JUDICIAL DISQUALIFIER
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In a scurrilous attack reported in todays Dayton Daily News concerning Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Mary Wiseman, County Area Judge James Piergies questioned whether Ms Wiseman shouldn’t recuse herself from cases that involve the states gay marriage law or the new Dayton anti-discrimination ordinance.
Wait a minute. Then what else did he say?? You’re kidding me? He didn’t REALLY say that Thurgood Marshal should have excused himself from appointment to the Supreme Court based on his history/involvement with Brown vs Board of Education?
Before I go any further, let us induct Judge Piergies into the Blue Dog Democrat Hall of Infamy. With two slurs in one commentary, the Judge is a shoo in.
Let’s get real. Based on his stated viewpoint, the only logical conclusion one can draw about the influence of sexual orientation on judicial proceeding’s is that heretofore, heterosexuals should excuse themselves from all cases involving, would you believe, heterosexuals?? It’s a perverted logic that also flows right into whether or not those with a history of civil activism should be judges in cases involving civil activism. Our inductee manages to be both racially and sexually insensitive at the same time. Not a particularly progressive position for a “d”emocrat.
Judge Piergies may sincerely and honestly believe that gays should still be in the closet. He may think that people of color should know their place. And, if those are his views, that opinion, in the America we all live in, is his inalienable right. Our Constitution protects bigots as well as civil rights activists.
The crucial issue here is whether we want people on the Judicial Bench who act fairly and impartially in applying the law or those who are openly bigoted.
For big “D” Democratic primary voters this should be a no brainer…
http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/01/17/ddn011708judges.html
UPDATE DDN 01/21/08/ Blog follow-up? Local attorney calls for judge to drop out of primary. http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/01/20/ddn012008judges.html
UPDATE #2, JUDGE WITHDRAWS FROM RACE 01/24/07
http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/01/23/ddn012308judgeweb.html
The Impeachment Of Dick Cheney/Bob Cesca:Huffington Post
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11/05/2007 Reposted from The Huffington Post/by Bob Cesca
Public perception can beat the shit out of political nuance. The Bush Republicans know this and they have abused it for their own nefarious ends. The Democrats, on the other hand, have somehow overlooked this very basic rule of 21st Century American politics, which is a shame since they would more often than not use it for the betterment of the nation.
After all, 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. (more…)
SPINEOCRAT: HILARIOUS POLITICAL SATIRE VIDEO BY MARK FIORE!!
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This is one very funny, very on the mark satirization of criticism of the “spinelessness” of elected Democrats on the Iraq War, spying, torture and other contentious issues.
Well worth watching…highly recommended!
http://www.markfiore.com/spineocrat
Why I Support Nancy Nerny for Dayton School Board
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As previously noted by this writer, my direct contact with school board politix is, at best, marginal. Don’t go to meetings, semi – knowledgeable about current issues [got a kid at Stivers, I don’t want to see Jullienne School on Old Orchard torn down etc]. Like a lot of other people. When I think about the schools I believe in a public education system that meets the needs of its community as visualized and implemented by a community based and controlled school board.
The people on that Board need to be the best we as a community can elect to serve us. I had a great conversation with Nancy Nerny the other day, and I came away even more convinced that this was someone who would fulfill that role. Ms Nerny is a woman who is deeply involved with the learning/teaching community of Dayton. As a teacher, she has legions of students who can recall being in her classroom as one of the high points of s school day. My youngest son, now nearly 20, was in here when Nancy was. He had her as a student years ago, but the embrace both for and by the former student was still warm and spontaneous. And it’s not the 1st time I’ve seen her greeted by former students in a similar fashion.
Nancy Nerny will translate that connection into action on the board. Her goal is to be a uniter, focused on resolving contentious financial issues surrounding the current Boards spending on multi million dollar administration buildings instead of focusing on the needs of the students. Nancy doesn’t fancy herself a “politician”, but, if by politics you mean the art and science of getting people to get along in a manner that is mutually beneficial for as many as possible while respecting the rights of those who disagree, then I think she will do fine. Thats the kind of “non-politician” we need running our schools. Nancy Nerny is already doing some of this. She serves on several School Board advisory committees and is communication with current and past Board members for their views.
In my estimation though, it is the community connection and her focus on building the communication with the parents and on connecting the schools and parents with the larger community. She sees the necessity of looking into the future to continuously refine and develop curriculum that is ahead of the community needs curve That’s a one two punch that pretty much says it all for me.
btw: Nancy is part of a slate that is associated with current Board member Joe Lacey. In part of an interview with Mike Robinnette, on the DaytonOs website, Lacey elaborates in more detail about why he supports the slate Ms Nerny is part of. It’s an interesting slice of both Board and Democratic Party internal goings on… http://daytonos.com/
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