Author name: davidswanson

January, 1999
When Woody Allen was accused of child molesting, a TV interviewer asked him if he had done it. Instead of answering, Woody pointed out the improbability that if he were going to do such a thing he would have chosen to do it at an unusually inconvenient time in a house full of people (as was alleged). Whether or not Woody is innocent, I think he is smart. If he had responded as the interviewer probably wanted him to, saying, “I would never do that! This is my daughter read more

“The nonchalance of boys who are sure of a dinner, and would disdain as much as a lord to do or say aught to conciliate one, is the healthy attitude of human nature.”

Emerson said that. He also said that if superior men departed on a voyage in chains, one could be sure that the chains would be on the captors by the end of the voyage. From what I am about to tell, it may appear that I bring this up in order to claim superiority. I do not. Rather, I wish to point out a particular case read more

I’m an assistant D.A., a lawyer in other words, and people don’t think too highly of us. But let me tell you something: the rest of society doesn’t seem, from a lawyer’s point of view, to necessarily have its act together either. Maybe it takes a lawyer to get an honest picture of things, without any prettyfication. I mean, we encounter all types from the worst angle. We’re presented with every conceivable, or at least every conceived, perversion. Let me just give read more

When they gave me tenure at the university I flew out to Wyoming to give my mother the good news face to face. I knew she’d appreciate that, and it had been a while, quite a while in fact, since I’d seen her. It was not the easiest time for such a trip. My new book was just coming out, with all the last-minute changes and all the obligations that involves. But I was able to grade student papers on the plane. And I needed the change of scene. Even my familiar boyhood home constituted read more

Talking in words about architecture is one of the most difficult activities I am aware of. Everyday talk along the lines of “Meet me in front of the yellow building on the corner,” is not too hard. Nor is commentary on a single building along the lines of “I like that one,” “It’s top-heavy,” “It’s joyful,” “It looks cheap,” “Why couldn’t they have used darker bricks?” But comparisons of buildings, descriptions read more

Sometimes my dog plays a game. It’s the first game he taught himself, and he plays it with all his toys. He’ll hold a toy in his mouth and run in frantic circles, and then toss the toy over his head. It’ll take him a long time to stop running and calm down. When he does he’ll begin sniffing for the toy, sniffing and not looking, for he won’t see the thing even if it’s right in front of him. He’ll sniff worriedly. But when he spots the toy, he’ll read more

Good Morning, Blues.

How do you do?

I’m doing all right.

Good Morning. How are you?

The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

These words, both sets, are about an edge. They are about neither misery nor an easy comfort. Camus’ essay has a lot wrong with it. Camusian absurdity is too much a disappointed attempt to fulfill a desire we do not all share and are gradually putting behind us. It is too much a history. And the read more

A high school teacher took his students to a museum where, among other things, they were to go into a particular room, one at a time, and select a great painting which they would tell the teacher about immediately upon leaving the room by the other door. One student reported that he had been unable to find “a great painting” in the room at all. Most of the others, on the contrary, reported having had a difficult time deciding which of the great paintings to talk about. Strangely enough, read more

NOTES ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE
January, 1999

We cruelly abuse those convicted of crimes. Some who are convicted protest their innocence. Some of these are later found to have been telling the truth. Others plead guilty in plea bargains despite being innocent. This eases our consciences, but does not necessarily promote justice.

This is from You Are Going to Prison by Jim Hogshire:

“The plea bargain is what keeps the courts going at all. Without them, the ‘justice system’ would read more

This paper has benefited from the complaints, exclamations, objections, and obscenities of posters to rec.arts.books and alt.postmodern.

Working Toward Good Results

I suspect that most Westerners at the end of the twentieth century would subscribe to the idea that when you do something, it’s a good idea to consider what the results of your action will be. That is, if without mentioning “ethics” or “morality” you ask someone “Do you think it’s a good idea, read more

To answer these questions requires sorting through a lot of interwoven beliefs or feelings. Where we think there is pain does not correlate with what we are reluctant to damage, and what we are reluctant to damage depends on the directness of the damaging.

Many of us eat dead cow, for example, but couldn’t bring ourselves to kill one. Similarly for capital punishment. Some of us sometimes wince with empathy when our cars are damaged, although often we think the car is not feeling pain. There read more

In article <19971010153301.LAA15626@ladder02.news.aol.com> jackhat1@aol.com (Jackhat1) writes:
> I dip into this thread from time to time looking for a short description of
> decontructionism. I still don’t know what it is. Does anyone have a paragraph
> or two that could help me. Thanks.
>
> Jack h

OK, Jack, I’m picking yours at random, and composing a paragraph. I will then put it on my webpage and in the future refer as many of these requests there as possible. read more

She said to me: Those were the first words you said to me: “You have beautiful mittens.” Remember?

I didn’t remember: Of course. And you did. They were my favorite color. Like . . . like your eyes.

My eyes aren’t red.

Just a little. I kissed her eyes.

Red isn’t your favorite color.

It is now. Just ask me.

What’s your favorite color?

Red . . . see?

What does that prove? What kind of mittens were they?

Wool mittens that you could see the shape of your fingers read more

Fair Taxes Is A Way Of Making The Union More Perfect
Speech By Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.
ACORN’s Annual Legislative and Political Conference
Monday, March 12, 2001
12:00 Noon
I want to start with two observations before making several other points. The first observation is that during the Civil War it was said that one of the differences between Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis was that Davis seemed determined to win arguments and debates even if read more

David Swanson’s books include:
Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union (2009)
War Is A Lie (2010)
When the World Outlawed War (2011)
The Military Industrial Complex at 50 (2012)
The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. Bush (2008)
Tube World (2012)
Iraq War Among World’s Worst Events (2013)
War No More: The Case for Abolition (2013)

David Swanson’s books include:
War read more

Karen Kilroy
Akron, Ohio

re: David Swanson

To Whom It May Concern

I had the good fortune to work closely with David Swanson in his role with the Kucinich for President Campaign in 2003-2004. My role as Webmaster was closely dependent on his role as Press Secretary. I could always depend on the quality of David’s output as I posted his writings to the kucinich.us web site and in mass email communications.

David’s role included being editor-in-chief of the website, which meant that he was read more

From Jeff Cohen, founder of FAIR, columnist/TV commentator, former ACLU attorney

Feb. 3, 2004

To whom it may concern:

I have been an executive in the progressive/public interest/nonprofit sector for more than two decades, and I have never come across a public interest co-worker whose skills and work ethic surpassed those of David Swanson. He is a quick study, talented writer, great motivator of colleagues and consummate multi-tasker. I first met him when he was the communications director of ACORN. read more

FROM DENNIS KUCINICH

Cleveland, Ohio
February 6, 2004

To Whom It May Concern:

This is to enthusiastically recommend David Swanson to your employment.

I worked closely with Mr. Swanson on a daily basis in his capacity as press secretary to my campaign for President of the United States.

He is honest, thorough, hardworking and able to complete even the most demanding tasks expeditiously.

His extraordinary dedication helped to build strong awareness of our campaign in the national media.

He was aggressive read more

From Steve Cobble, Political Strategist

To Whom It May Concern:

David Swanson is quite possibly the hardest-working person I have ever worked with — and I have spent most of my adult life on political and issue campaigns, where hard-working people are everywhere. David is smart; committed to change; a good writer, and a very fast writer. He is optimistic, and I enjoyed working with him on the Kucinich Campaign (of course, that was partly because he was constantly volunteering to take on additional read more

From Jen Kern

To Whom it May Concern,

I am a former colleague of David Swanson who worked closely with him in his capacity as Communications Coordinator for ACORN for over two years.

I found David to be hardworking, conscientious and passionate about the struggle for social and economic justice. He quickly adjusted to both the substance of his work (which often involved learning very detailed aspects of a range of complicated policy issues) and to the pace, climate, and values of the organization. read more