Author name: davidswanson

Washington Post Blogger Makes Laughable Attempt to Defend Rumsfeld Against McGovern

By David Swanson

WaPo’s William Arkin has posted a blog with the headline “Rumsfeld Didn’t Lie, But He Should Still Go.”

He quotes Rumsfeld’s exchange with Ray McGovern and then writes: “If the issue here is Saddam Hussein’s connection to al Qaeda and his involvement in 9/11, to the ‘bulletproof’ evidence the administration claimed, and more important for America, to the likelihood that Saddam would have ever shared any WMD with terrorists read more

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Lobbying Hitler's Legislature for Peace

By David Swanson

There are now 37 Congress Members backing an investigation into grounds for impeachment related to the war. Rep. Hilda Solis has joined the list of cosponsors of House Resolution 635, introduced by Congressman John Conyers.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/635

This compares to 17 members backing Rep. Jim McGovern’s bill to cut off funding for the war.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/end

Why are 20 more members on one of these bills than on the other?

Well, public disapproval read more

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Voting, Organizing, and Protesting

I voted in a local election today in Charlottesville, Va., a progressive town in a regressive state in a very backward nation. The electronic machine I voted on creates no paper trail. The friendly woman who directed me to it reassured me that they would produce a paper record later, which I could read at the registrar’s office, completely missing the concept of producing a simultaneous record that could later be compared with what the machines produce. But I did have to show an ID, so read more

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Today Is Mission Accomplished Day

Impeachment Petitions to be Delivered to Speaker Dennis Hastert at 9 a.m., Monday, May 1

At 9:00 a.m. ET on Monday, May 1, “Mission Accomplished Day,” in Room 235 of the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C., Ellen Tenney of Rockingham, Vermont, will present the Speaker of the House with petitions from three towns in Vermont calling for the impeachment of President Bush. The towns each passed resolutions to send the petitions.

These are the first of many petitions from towns, read more

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Impeach Cheney First

By David Swanson

We should impeach Vice President Dick Cheney first, and President George Bush immediately thereafter. This idea is not original with me. It’s been seen on bumper stickers for quite some time. My attention has been called to it by the fact that Congresswoman and Judiciary Committee Member Maxine Waters is talking about it. See below.

I’m persuaded of thevalue of this approach for several reasons. Among activists who very much want impeachment, one can hear a long read more

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Springsteen and Young: Music of a Once and Future Democracy

By David Swanson

Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young have just released a pair of incredible albums of protest, one a bone-rattling revival of the best of rebel music of ages past, the other an impassioned attack on our present slide toward fascism. A hundred years from now, if the human race has survived, when a future Springsteen records a future “Seeger Sessions” it will be bound to include the music of Young’s “Living With War.” Also by that time, Young’s read more

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The War Looks Different from Inside Congress

By David Swanson

Public opinion in the United States and Iraq favors pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq, not to mention removing any who have already entered Iran. This sentiment will be on display this Saturday at the United for Peace and Justice March in New York: www.april29.org

Inside Congress opinions vary, and it is a distinct minority that is willing to support public opinion. Some in Congress are willing to take half-way and tenth-of-the-way steps in the direction of ending the war, some read more

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Mission Accomplished, May 1, Three Years On

May 1 marks three years since George W. Bush staged his “Mission Accomplished” aircraft landing in San Diego Harbor and “delivered good news to the men and women who fought in the cause of freedom: their mission is complete and major combat operations in Iraq have ended.”

As of April 27, at 3:15 p.m. EST – 2,393 US soldiers have been killed in Iraq according to Iraq Coalition Casualty Count.

The count of US wounded is around seven times that number, and Iraqi civilian read more

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Pacifica Radio to Air Congressional Iraq Forum Live

By David Swanson

I’ll be co-hosting with Verna Avery-Brown of Pacifica Radio a live broadcast on Pacifica from 8:30-11 a.m. ET on Thursday, April 27, of a forum on Capitol Hill hosted by Congresswomen Lynn Woolsey and Barbara Lee.
http://www.pacifica.org/stations

The forum will take place in 2325 Rayburn House Office Building (with an overflow room planned for anyone wanting to attend who can’t fit in). The two Co-Chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are continuing to do read more

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California Becomes Second State to Introduce Bush Impeachment

By David Swanson

Joining Illinois, California has become the second state in which a proposal to impeach President Bush has been introduced in the state legislature. And this one includes Cheney as well.

California Assemblyman Paul Koretz of Los Angeles (where the LA Times has now called for Cheney’s resignation) has submitted amendments to Assembly Joint Resolution No. 39, calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney. The amendments reference read more

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