Author name: davidswanson

McCain Tonight

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By David Swanson

Prior to tonight’s debate and each time during it that John McCain brags about his torture victimhood (or Jim Lehrer does it for him) or any of the participants touch on the topic of torture in any way without mentioning the facts below, please send Mr. Lehrer a note at onlineda@newshour.org along these lines.

Dear Jim Lehrer,

Are you aware of the following history?

In February 2008, John McCain voted against a bill that would supposedly have banned torture, and then applauded read more

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Calming the Fearful Mind

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By David Swanson

Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who in 1964 was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr., has published a new book of advice to Americans and to U.S. Congress members called “Calming the Fearful Mind: A Zen Response to Terrorism.”

Hanh’s words of wisdom strike me as potentially of great value for a variety of types of conflict resolution, but of somewhat limited — if still significant — value for Congress or for U.S. read more

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Blood, Sweat, and Bailouts

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By David Swanson

Excerpted from remarks at an Augusta Coalition for Peace and Justice event at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia, September 23, 2008.

Have you heard the latest news? John McCain is now in favor of regulating Wall Street. But, of course, local son Woodrow Wilson was reelected as a peace candidate. And candidate George W. Bush was opposed to nation building. Now he’s borrowing money from China to build a nation in Iraq and another one here in the United States, except read more

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Speak With President of Veterans for Peace Who Occupied National Archives

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Tonight, Wednesday, September 24th, you can speak live on the radio or submit your questions through an online chat room for Elliott Adams, the president of Veterans for Peace and one of five veterans who yesterday climbed a 9-foot fence and occupied a 35-foot high ledge to raise a 22×8 foot banner stating, “DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION. ARREST BUSH AND CHENEY: WAR CRIMINALS!”

Adams was also the only spokesman for any grassroots organization who testified at the six-hour non-impeachment impeachment read more

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We Can Stop Paulson's Plunder

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By David Swanson

There does not seem to be any way we are going to avoid shelling out a major amount of money to save banks from the unregulated greed of bankers. Dean Baker and Doug Henwood and every person with any economic expertise whom I find credible predicts disaster if we don’t.

But, as Baker pointed out on Democracy Now! this morning, the bailout can punish those responsible rather than rewarding them. It can also be done without creating new dictatorial powers for the executive read more

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Jane Mayer Boosts John McCain as Torture Opponent

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By David Swanson

On Monday morning at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, Jane Mayer, New Yorker reporter and author of “The Dark Side,” lavishly praised John McCain for passing a legislative ban on torture. She did so in a town-hall Q and A full of lots of very useful insights. And much later in the discussion she did acknowledge that McCain opposes habeas corpus and supports the use of certain “interrogation techniques” by the CIA.

But, read more

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