David Swanson to Speak on “How We Fund Wars”

6:30 p.m., Wednesday, July 14, 2010
A McClendon Group Event
The McClendon Room
The National Press Club
Washington, D.C.
Open to the Public

David Swanson is the author of “Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union” by Seven Stories Press (2009). He holds a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia. Swanson has worked as a newspaper reporter and as a communications director, read more

By David Swanson

The latest hardcopy newsletter from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities opens with an article about poetry about war, which opens with this line: “Many of my favorite poets are soldiers.” The author begins with a poet who “has served in the current war in Iraq.” Served what we are not told. Then she jumps to Virgil and declares:

“Neither Virgil nor Turner gives us answers to war: they know the questions are more important, and likely answerable read more

By David Swanson

The U.S. corporate media pronounces our nation a “democracy” so frequently that sometimes its spokespeople stumble. They can’t be unaware that virtually every act of Congress diverges significantly from what the majority of Americans favor. Yet the assumption that somehow the government must follow public opinion creeps in, creating this sort of comedy:

“The only way [war] funding will continue much longer is if Republicans take control of Congress this read more

Podcast: Play in new window

Source

I know it’s not still Friday. In fact, it’s Monday. I admit that. But Thursday night they funded a war escalation, and Friday was devoted to unsuccessful efforts to point that out to people. The weekend was needed for reviewing what we should have done differently and should next time. So, here it is Monday, and the only logical thing to do is to turn to states, and away from Washington. So, here’s one of the best state-level campaigns, reproducable in almost any state:

read more

By David Swanson

The peace movement has made significant progress in the United States since its low point of late 2008, and just about everything anyone in it has done has been a contribution. If everyone keeps doing what they’re doing, and more of it, we might just end some wars, eventually. But I think some techniques are working better than others, and that pursuing the most strategic approaches would make victory likelier sooner and longer-lasting when it comes.

I think the peace movement read more