December 2009

John Yoo at UVA on March 19, 2010

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John Yoo at UVA
By David Swanson

Noted war criminal and torture lawyer John Yoo is scheduled to speak at UVA law school on March 19, 2010.

The day we go into year eight in the illegal occupation of Iraq that Yoo and Jay Bybee provided “legal” justification for, this “legalizer” of torture and other war crimes will be speaking at a law school, our law school, in our town.

John Yoo is a Professor of Law at Boalt Hall School of Law in Berkeley, California. I’ve joined read more

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McCain Could Have Meant Less War

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By David Swanson

After two stolen elections by Bush-Cheney, an election of Grandpa John “Bomb Bomb Iran” McCain and his sorority president sidekick — whether honest or blatantly stolen and tolerated — would have said something hugely depressing and debilitating about the American people. But arguably it could have saved a great many lives around the world. Here’s how.

Premise number 1: Presidents will fight as many and as large wars as they possibly can. Presidents read more

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No, We're Not a Broken People

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By David Swanson

In 2004 I began speaking at rallies and forums around the country on issues of peace and justice, something I’ve done off-and-on ever since. Up through 2008, it was extremely unusual for questions from the audience to consist of pure defeatism. In 2009, it was rare to get through a Q&A session without being asked what the point was of trying.

And the defeatism is so contagious that it will be hard for me to make it through 2010 if people don’t shut up about how read more

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An Avatar Awakening

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By David Swanson

Let’s face it, if James Cameron had made a movie with the Iraqi resistance as the heroes and the U.S. military as the enemies, and had set it in Iraq or anywhere else on planet earth, the packed theaters viewing “Avatar” would have been replaced by a screening in a living room for eight people and a dog.

Nineteen years ago, Americans packed theaters for “Dances with Wolves” in which Native Americans became the heroes, but the story was set in a previous read more

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Health Insurance Mandate vs the Constitution

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By David Swanson

Does the United States Constitution allow Congress to force people to purchase a product (health insurance) from a private corporation, and fine them or tax them if they refuse? The answer is a matter of debate, but there is little dispute that such an act of Congress would be unprecedented.

Sheldon Laskin, an Adjunct Professor at the University of Baltimore Law School who has argued that the Constitution forbids such a move, describes read more

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Will WE Win?: A Reply to Frank Schaeffer's 'Obama Will Win'

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By David Swanson at The BRAD BLOG

[Ed Note: On Monday, The BRAD BLOG published Frank Schaeffer’s guest editorial, "Obama Will Win: Why and How His Critics from the Left and Right Will be Proven Wrong". Today, we’re pleased to offer a counterpoint in reply by author David Swanson.]

Guest editorial by David Swanson

I’ve appreciated much of Frank Schaeffer’s commentary at The BRAD BLOG but his column here this week on Obama winning was an exception. read more

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Three New Ways the Army Can Screw You

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1. You’ve got no documents. You immigrated here. You sign up to go kill people in Iraq or Afghanistan. You’re promised citizenship. You manage to survive. You’re deported.

2. You sign up. You do your required time in Iraq. You survive. You’re stop-lossed. … But, wait, that’s not new. This is: You produce a song about your stop-loss. You go to jail.

3. You sign up. You do your required time in Iraq. You have sex there. You’re court martialed.

Be read more

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