November 2008

How to Treat a President Elect

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By David Swanson

In response to an Email advocating lobbying the new Congress and president-elect for complete withdrawal from Iraq and other goals, I received mostly positive responses, but a sizable minority sent replies like this one:

“Can’t you wait a minute? Give the President-Elect a moment to breathe, to catch his breath, to exhale? Stop this uber anti-militant stance to pause for the appreciation of what has been accomplished. Have a little mercy! Time enough for all this read more

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Celebrating Resisters on Veterans' Day

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By David Swanson

November 11th is Veterans’ Day in the United States and Remembrance Day, Armistice Day, or Poppy Day in various other countries. It was on a November 11th that World War I ended. But November 11th is also a Catholic holiday that long predates World War I: the Feast of Saint Martin, celebrated in honor of a man who supposedly died on November 11, in the year 397.

The two holidays seem to have merged into one militaristic glorification of warfare. Saint Martin is considered read more

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Labor Reborn: A Department of Labor Worthy of the Name

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By David Swanson

According to news reports, president elect Obama is considering for Labor Secretary three people who actually know something about labor and actually support the intended mission of the labor department, which is protecting the rights of laborers. And by laborers, I mean you. If you have not recently received a government bailout, you’re one of us. Here’s the short list:

•Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of House Education and Labor Committee
•Former read more

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Lying 101: Obama Considering Colin Powell for Secretary of Education

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By David Swanson

According to news reports, one of the names president elect Obama is considering for running our national education system is Colin Powell.

This is not from The Onion, but the Houston Chronicle. But there’s hardly a non-humorous way to envision it. Presumably schools will be required to institute new policies in favor of cheating on tests if they want to keep their federal funding. Lying will be developed as an read more

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Recount Fictions in Virginia's Fifth

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By David Swanson

(Gadget courtesy of Waldo Jaquith)

As of about 9 p.m. ET on Thursday, 316,476 votes had been counted in Virginia’s Fifth District congressional race between incumbent bigotted xenophobe Virgil Goode and challenger Tom Perriello, with 158,562 going to Perriello and 157,914 to Goode, for a difference of 648 votes or 0.2 percent of the total.

According to a report on Charlottesville’s NBC-29:

“There is no ‘automatic’ read more

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Tom Perriello Up By 814

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By David Swanson

In Virginia’s undecided Fifth District congressional race, Tom Perriello is now up 814 votes with possibly more still to be added, and a recount likely. But most of the over 300,000 votes cast cannot be recounted, since they were made on electronic machines.

Good bye, Virgil Goode, You left us all worse off and more hateful. May you become a nicer person in a line of work where you don’t think bigotry is your key to success.

Welcome to Congress, Tom Perriello. May read more

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Subpoena Dementia

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By David Swanson

Subpoenas? What are those? Miers? Rove? Who are they? Are they from Chicago? Do they believe in change?

We interrupt this honeymoon to remember that there’s something we should be remembering.

Here is a list of some of the subpoenas issued by the 110th Congress and laughed at by the Bush-Cheney Justice Department: http://democrats.com/subpoenas

Come January there will be a brand new Justice Department. And here’s the interesting thing: justice departments don’t do read more

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Goode v Perriello: Recount?

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By David Swanson

There is still hope that Virginia’s Fifth District can be rid of Virgil Goode, but the final count has him in the lead. A recount is possible, and if there is any basis for it, I hope that Democratic candidate Tom Perriello will request it. Even if he loses a recount, Perriello would earn our respect as someone who stands up to see that every vote is counted, rather than someone who runs in fear of being called names like “sore loser.”

The many complaints of read more

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Blue Virginia

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By David Swanson

Virginia and the rest of the old South always voted for Democrats for president when the Democratic party stood for racism, and for Republicans when the Republican party stood for racism, until tonight. Virginia just voted for a Democrat for president, while the Republican party still carries the banner of racism. In fact, the Republican candidates played up their racism more this year than in other recent elections. In addition, the Democratic candidate was black. It’s read more

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