By David Swanson

How did a Democratic challenger defeat a Republican incumbent in an enormous rural district in southern Virginia? A Democratic group in Charlottesville called Left of Center organized a forum on that topic Monday night. Speakers included three staffers on Tom Perriello's victorious campaign: Brian Bills, his personal assistant; Kelli Palmer, who registered African American voters in the southern most part of Virginia's Fifth District; and Rachel Klarman, lead field organizer for the southern counties. Also speaking were two newspaper reporters, Will Goldsmith of the C'ville Weekly and Lindsay Barnes of the Hook. And providing some historical context was Fred Hudson, chair of the Fifth District Democratic Committee.

Dick Cheney today previewed a likely argument defense attorneys will employ when he and Bush and their subordinates are tried, an argument that some of us have been predicting for years: If we weren't impeached and it was "war time" anything we did must have been legal. But, of course, none of the many arguments against impeachment that were frequently employed by the Democrats in Congress ever included the laughable assertion that Bush and Cheney were obeying laws. After all, Congress was busy passing bills to legalize their actions, and other bills to redundantly criminalize them, and watching bills of the latter sort be tossed out with "signing statements." The arguments against impeachment focused on the self-fulfilling alleged impossibility of doing it, the fear of being criticized on Fox News, the supposed need to focus on something else (anyone recall what it was?), the imagined electoral impact, and even the theory that the courts could better handle it.

After five days of citizen voting at President-elect Obama's Change.gov website, the top-ranked question seeks a non-partisan Special Prosecutor to investigate the crimes of the Bush Administration:

WHAT: A long column of figures dressed all in black with white death masks and bearing the names of those killed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine. The march will be followed by a dramatic nonviolent action intended to awaken Congress to the need to end the wars.

WHEN: March from noon to 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. Additional dramatic action 2:15 p.m.

WHERE: The march will approach the U.S. Capitol on Pennsylvania Ave. SE and turn north on 1st Street to pass between the Capitol and the Supreme Court, turn west on Constitution Ave. to pass the Senate office buildings, turn south to pass the west front of the Capitol, and turn east on Independence Ave. to pass the House office buildings. Members of the media wanting to cover the additional nonviolent action should meet representatives of the March of the Dead in front of the Supreme Court at 2 p.m.

By David Swanson

"It is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of the executioners."
— Albert Camus

Washington Post editorial writer Ruth Marcus has joined the side of the executioners and provided a clear example of how that is respectably done in our time and place.

By David Swanson

Congress will be greeted on day 1 this year by a march of war dead on Capitol Hill.

The word epiphany comes from a Greek word meaning to manifest or to show. In Christian tradition the Feast of Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th, marking the day when the three wise men from three foreign lands visited the baby Jesus, the last of the 12 days of Christmas. Epiphany is also used to mean a sudden realization, comprehension, or inspiration.

By David Swanson

New Year's resolutions come in a lot of shapes and sizes. I don't think New Year's 2009 is a year to aim low. So, I'm resolving to create peace on earth. And I intend to follow through. The catch, of course, is that unless a couple of million other people make the same resolution and really commit to it, then I will have been a liar.

I do think just a couple of million people would be enough, especially if they are heavily concentrated in the United States, and the closer to Washington, D.C., the better. I think it will be easy to spread the word and reach two million people who want peace. I think we could find them without even setting foot outside Washington, D.C. The question is one of commitment, time, energy, and resources. Do you just want peace or are you willing to endure some inconvenience and unpleasantness to get it?

JAN. 10 Come to the VIRGINIA PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY
Delegates from across Virginia will put together a PEOPLE’S AGENDA
to present to the General Assembly
Among other things, we will demand a MORATORIUM ON LAYOFFS, CUTBACKS, EVICTIONS & FORECLOSURES
9 am - 4 pm
Asbury United
Methodist Church
324 N. 29th St.
Richmond, VA 23223
$5 donation requested to help cover cost of lunch & space, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

JAN. 14 Come to a RALLY to demand ‘Bail Out the People, not
the Bankers!’
Gather at 4:30 pm at Kanawha Plaza opposite the FEDERAL RESERVE BLDG
8th & Canal streets downtown Richmond
Then we’ll MARCH to the GENERAL ASSEMBLY to say: ‘Don’t balance
the budget on the backs of Virginia’s working people!’ money, votes or numbers to make much of a difference.

Learn more and get involved: PDF.

President-Elect Obama's website asked for questions. People submitted and voted on questions, and finishing in sixth place was this one:

"Will you appoint a Special Prosecutor - ideally Patrick Fitzgerald - to independently investigate the gravest crimes of the Bush Administration, including torture and warrantless wiretapping?"
Bob Fertik, New York City

Now round two begins, and we'd appreciate your voting for this question:

"Do you believe the pardon power extends to allowing a president to authorize a crime and then pardon his subordinate? Are you aware that the Geneva Conventions and the Convention Against Torture commit the United States to prosecuting violators?"
David Swanson, Charlottesville VA

Please go here, and...

1. Sign in. Click to sign into the Change.gov website. It's just one easy step. You won't need to check your Email, and you'll be returned to the screen you were on.

2. Search. On the Open-for-Questions page type or paste into the search box these words:
pardon power

3. Vote. That should bring up the right question which you can then vote for by clicking on the check mark.
Please do it now!

Dear President Elect Obama,

On his third day in office President Grant revoked two pardons that had been granted by President Andrew Johnson. President Nixon also undid a pardon that had been granted by President Lyndon Johnson. There may be other examples of this, as these two have somewhat accidentally come up in a discussion focused on numerous examples of presidents undoing pardons that they had themselves granted, something the current president did last week. (See http://pardonpower.com ). In 2001, President George W. Bush's lawyers advised him that he could undo a pardon that President Clinton had granted.

By David Swanson

Russ Baker's new book presents an account of the U.S. government that is both remarkably new and extensively documented. According to this account, George H. W. Bush, the father of the current president, devoted his career to secret intelligence work with the CIA many years before he became the CIA director, and the network of spies and petroleum plutocrats he began working with early on has played a powerful but hidden role in determining the direction of the U.S. government up to the current day.

By David Swanson

Trying to squeeze any sort of peace on earth out of our government in Washington has been a steep uphill climb for years. For the most part we no longer have representatives in Congress, because of the corruption of money, the weakness of the media, and the strength of parties. There are not 535 opinions on Capitol Hill on truly important matters, but 2. Our supposed representatives work for their party leaders, not for us. Luckily, one of the two parties claims to want to work for us.

Or How to Look Only Forward and Still Look Like an Ass
By David Swanson

The wonderful thing about big lies is their kettle logic. The term, of course, derives from the story of the man who offered several mutually incompatible excuses for returning his friend's kettle in damaged condition: "It broke too easily." "It was like that when I got it." "I improved it for you." "I never borrowed the thing." Et cetera. A big lie is not just a beautiful creation because the bigger you make it the more firmly people believe in it, but also because you can tell other big lies to make the same point and the lies don't have to make any sense in combination.

By Bob Fertik and David Swanson

As George Bush prepares to leave office, he and his aides are trying desperately to rewrite history, especially on Iraq. Nearly six years after invading Iraq on the basis of lies that were manufactured inside the White House, the Bush Administration adamantly insists the lies were all innocent mistakes. Were they?

By David Swanson

Given the fates of the other two members of Bush's axis of evil, some would argue that the best defense Iran could have would be a nuclear bomb. They would, however, be wildly wrong. The best defense Iran could have would be awareness in the minds of Americans of who the Iranian people are, a people with great love and affection for the American people, great generosity toward others, and great commitment to peace. The best way I know that this defense could be created would be for Americans to give every other American they can a copy of Phil Wilayto's new book "In Defense of Iran: Notes from a U.S. Peace Delegation's Journey Through the Islamic Republic."

By David Swanson, PDA
December 15, 2008, Chicago, IL

Saturday night in Chicago, national and state leaders of Progressive Democrats of America met to strategize and discuss the progress of the Healthcare Not Warfare campaign. The meeting was held at the same hotel where PDA members were participating in a three-day United for Peace and Justice national assembly.

By David Swanson

This is the question now raised in Iraq: If they throw shoes at your face are you a combat troop or a noncombat troop? The answer may be important in helping to guide President Elect Obama's strategy of reducing but continuing the genocidal occupation that has made a shoeless journalist one of the most beloved, if little known, people in the world overnight.

By David Swanson

United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), the largest coalition of peace organizations (over 1,400 of them) in the United States, held a national assembly in Chicago December 12-14, and drafted documents establishing the movement's agenda for the coming year.

By David Swanson

New York state could soon be represented in the U.S. Senate by a woman with more respect for and understanding of democratic representation, the Constitution, and the rule of law than we've grown accustomed to finding in Washington, D.C., a woman who has done more to oppose the abuses of power of the Bush administration than have most current members of the House or Senate.

By David Swanson

I've never had any use for the Senate Armed Services Committee before, or even for the idea that someone who was armed could provide a service, but the report on U.S. torture policy that the committee released on Thursday is noteworthy.

By David Swanson

The Pardon Scorecard is expanding rapidly, tracking punditry and advocacy against and in support of Bush pardoning crimes he authorized. Happily, the Against column is much longer than the Support column. Sadly, Bush is highly unlikely to give a rat's ass. Even more sadly, most of the statements against such pardons begin by announcing that Bush has every right to make them if he chooses, before proceeding to criticize, condemn, or mock the idea. That opening concession that such pardons would be Constitutional is morally reprehensible and outrageously absurd, but almost universally accepted by the punditocracy.

This is from Steve Hildebrand:

This is not a time for the left wing of our Party to draw conclusions about the Cabinet and White House appointments that President-Elect Obama is making.

Open for video.

By David Swanson

Imagine that you took your family to the White House for a Christmas tree lighting ceremony, and you were all standing in the front row as the president made some brief remarks, you and your spouse and your two children, a little girl and a little boy. And imagine that after talking for a few minutes the president turned to his chief of staff, handed him a knife, and said "Would you mind grabbing that little girl out of the front row and bringing her up here and slitting her throat?" And imagine that the chief of staff did just that, as you and others screamed and fought with various aides and secret service officers. And then someone shouted "Arrest him!" while pointing at the chief of staff. But the president held up a piece of paper and declared: "I'm pardoning him right now!" And all the shouting suddenly stopped. People murmured to each other: "Oh, well, if he's pardoned he's pardoned." And the president stood and smiled, paused for a while, and then turned to the chief of staff and said "It covers torturing the little boy too."

By David Swanson

Alice squinted as she peered up through the rabbit hole at sunlight wondering how many books she might have to stand on to be able to climb back out. She hadn't even begun to make up her mind when she was completely distracted by a large elephant on a motor scooter who grabbed her with his trunk and stuck her on the back seat as he sped off down a dark gravel path.

By David Swanson

The largest peace coalition in the United States, United for Peace and Justice, will meet in Chicago on December 12 through 14th to set its agenda for the coming year. A draft Strategic Framework is already available. It includes four area for the peace movement to work on:

Take a look at this article:

Obama's Thoughts Evolve on US Troops in Iraq
By Thom Shanker, International Herald Tribune

Washington - On the campaign trail, Senator Barack Obama offered a pledge that electrified and motivated his liberal base, vowing to "end the war" in Iraq.

An ornament urging Bush's impeachment has been removed from the White House Christmas tree, but there's no reason you can't have impeachment for your holiday celebration and prosecution in the new year. Watch this video!

For $10.23 at Amazon.com you can have "The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. Bush" by Congressman Dennis Kucinich with additional material by David Swanson and Elizabeth de la Vega. This book includes the full articles, extensive documentation, a chart listing all of the statutory crimes that can be prosecuted, and an introduction explaining how we can take the only step that will deter future presidential crimes: placing Cheney and Bush behind bars. Plus statements by Ray McGovern, John Kim, Brad Friedman, and Vincent Bugliosi. And it fits perfectly in a stocking!