By David Swanson

Cindy Sheehan has a court date Wednesday morning in Washington, D.C., and faces up to 6 months in jail for the charge of demonstrating without a permit, as a result of the civil disobedience action at the White House in September at which Cindy and nearly 400 other activists protested the war. Some paid a $75 fine. Others, including Cindy, are refusing to pay anything.

Some of those refusing to pay are required to appear in federal court at 9:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday. They’ll read more

Bonifaz: A Candidate for the Rest of Us
By David Swanson

John Bonifaz is seriously considering running for election next year as Massachusetts Secretary of State, or more properly, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A victory for him would be a victory of national importance for election reform and voting rights.

John’s Voters’ Bill of Rights includes “a guarantee of open and transparent elections with verified voting, paper trails, and access to the source codes read more

Politically Strategic Impeachment
By David Swanson

While it would of course be good for the world for Bush and Cheney to be impeached, convicted, and sent packing, would it be politically advantageous for a Congress Member to introduce articles of impeachment? And would it benefit the Democratic Party for some or all of the Democrats to push for impeachment at this time? Or should they do it later? Or is there another way?

The facts that would seem to argue in favor of pushing impeachment include read more

Anna and I watched Wesley on a sonogram today and he’s a boy, and we’re calling him Wesley Neil Swanson. The Neil part is from my Dad’s name. The Wesley part is because it sounds good and we like it!

We’re moving back to Charlottesville VA next week, so the room we painted blue will have to be for another baby. But the new house already has a light blue room for Wesley!

I’ll post some photos in a second that we’ve collected recently – of Wesley’s read more

November 9, 2005

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi
Iraqi National Congress
c/o The Ritz-Carlton Georgetown
3100 South Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007

Dear Mr. Deputy Prime Minister:

We write to you as members of the 60 to 70 percent of Americans who believe that this war has been (in the words of the polling companies) a “mistake,” or (in our own words) a criminal fraud. We resent the role you played in instigating it. We believe you owe an apology.

You owe an apology not to Judith read more

DISHONORING THE DEAD AT THE AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE

Group Hosts Major Misleader of American People on Iraq

WASHINGTON, DC — A broad coalition of organizations opposed to the war in Iraq will be demonstrating from 2PM to 4PM on Wednesday, November 9th against the appearance of Ahmed Chalabi at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

As an Iraqi exile before the war, Chalabi was one of the principal sources of intelligence about Iraq and its alleged weapons of mass destruction read more

The Bush-Cheney Ethics Refresher Course
By David Swanson

Apparently the new “ethics refresher course” at the White House is going to focus on reminding White House staff that classified information is not supposed to be told to reporters.

Ethics Part 2, to be taught in the Spring, will delve into the appropriateness of endangering the life of a woman and her colleagues because you’re pissed off at her husband.

Those who opt for Graduate Level ethics refreshment will study the read more

I Can’t Wait
By David Swanson

Remarks for World Can’t Wait Rally at White House, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2005:

I don’t know about the world, but certainly I can’t wait any longer to end this war or to impeach this president. One more death, American or Iraqi, is too many.

Actually, what I said is not true. We do know something about the world. We know that polls that were done last year were unable to find another country on the planet that would have elected Bush or even made read more

Talking Points on House Resolution 505
From After Downing Street

This piece of legislation is the clearest way for Congress to demand a serious investigation of the Plame leak and the war lies that preceded it.

This privileged Resolution of Inquiry, introduced by Dennis Kucinich, has a lifespan of 14 legislative days, ending on or about November 9 with a vote in the House International Relations Committee. It is crucial that we build support before that date through a long list of cosponsors.

H read more

Writing in an Age of Terror
By David Swanson

Remarks delivered at National Writers Union conference in Philadelphia, October, 29, 2005, opening forum with Ed Herman, Danny Schechter, and Linn Washington, on “Writing in an Age of Terror.”

_______________

Obviously, if this really were an age of terror, an age in which we were all terrorized, there would be no writing. You can’t write if you’re terrorized. I mean, you can, but your writing will have all the clarity of a campaign read more

Why I’m Getting Arrested at the White House Today
By David Swanson, October 26, 2005

The first reason I’m going to lie down, refuse to move, and wait to be arrested outside the White House today is my belief that massive civil disobedience is needed if we are going to end the war and forestall the next war. The power of nonviolent sacrifice has been tried and tested. It may not work this time, but nothing else seems remotely likely to do the job, not even my most extravagant hopes read more

Remarks at “Plan B for Baghdad” Event, Denver, Col., October 15, 2005
By David Swanson

I wrote these remarks down on Thursday, when a Washington Post columnist was pleading with Patrick Fitzgerald to please just go away, and a New York Times news article was claiming that if Lewis Libby leaked anything, he did so with the best of intentions. Meanwhile virtually no voices in the corporate media were asking why Joe Wilson had to be attacked, who had made the false claims that Wilson read more

Can we end the war in Iraq from Denver this Saturday? I don’t know. I’ve never been to Denver before. But we can try to do our bit. Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio will be the keynote speaker.

I’ll be talking about the Downing Street Memo.

Sign up here:

Peace!

By David Swanson

I recommend the movie “Good Night, and Good Luck,” which is named with the line with which Ed Murrow ended his news broadcasts on CBS News, back when CBS did news. It’s a well-made movie and ought to be heartening, except that it gives you an intense pain in your stomach when you realize that the corporate pressures Murrow was under have completely taken over, that we haven’t just lost the literacy and the cigarettes, that we’ve lost the ability of read more

By David Swanson

PHOTO: Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee this morning

A growing list of Congress Members are not just speaking out about Bill Bennett’s recent racist remarks on his radio show. Some of them are pressuring the network that airs his show, Salem Radio Network, and asking the sponsors that fund it to withdraw their support. One already has. Other Congress Members are asking the Federal Communications Commission to censure, suspend, and fine Bennett.

If you’ve been wisely read more

Can’t buy you votes, votes
Can’t buy you votes

You can forget my vote, my friend, if you support this war
I’ll laugh at your ads, my friend, if you support this war
‘Cause all you care about is money, but money can’t buy you votes

If the other guy is for the war, how can you be for it too?
I don’t vote for corporate whores, and I sure won’t vote for you
So go ahead and spend your money, money can’t buy you votes

Can’t buy you votes, everybody read more

In Support of Weakness on National Security
By David Swanson

A senior staff person for one of the most progressive and courageous members of Congress recently advised a room full of peace activists that they won’t be able to persuade Democrats to oppose the war simply by showing them polls finding that a majority of Americans oppose the war. Rather they must assuage the Democrats’ fears of being called “weak on national security.”

But that’s not possible. Opponents read more

Well, that’s the official due date anyway.

The Relevance of Marching
By David Swanson

David Corn, www.davidcorn.com, published an article today on his site and on www.tompaine.com arguing that last weekend’s march on Washington to end the war was a waste of time and money and energy and won’t help end the war. I disagree, but think Corn makes some useful points.

Corn’s arguments include:
1-these marches always result in debates over how many people showed up
2-not enough people showed up
3-there’s read more