ACORN Is Right, Lou Dobbs Is Wrong

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By David Swanson

In this video clip, Lou Dobbs of CNN tries to blame the community group ACORN, for which I used to work, for the crimes of Wall Street and of predatory lenders, not to mention Congress:
http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/36465

Dobbs seems to oppose the proposed bailout, and ACORN favors modifying it to include relief for homeowners (which could include business for ACORN Housing Corporation helping renegotiate loans). So, I agree with Dobbs, not ACORN. I want the bill voted down read more

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Lawyers, Guns, and Money

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By David Swanson

Why would anyone phone the United States and ask for lawyers, guns, and money? Primarily because, other than bad movies, that’s most of what the United States produces. What else could you phone home for if you wanted to? We produce weapons and movies about weapons and weapons that were in movies about weapons, and so on .

And we produce lawyers who push money around desks and into drawers and out of envelopes. They manipulate money all day and night, and they call that read more

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Bailout Round II: A New Shade of Lipstick

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The House of Representatives voted down Paulson’s Plunder on Monday, 225 to 208. Here’s why: http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/36420

We demanded a No vote and for the first time in recent memory we were listened to. Thank you! Three cheers for the American people!

Now is not the time, however, to rest on our laurels. Speaker Pelosi is almost certain to dig deep in her purse for a different shade of lipstick she can smear on this pig in preparation for a re-vote, and it might be read more

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Why the Bailout Vote May Fail

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By David Swanson

Today’s vote on the Paulson Plunder Act of 2008 may fail. It should. You should help block it by phoning your representative right now at (202) 224-3121 and promising to vote for them in November only if they vote NO on this grand larceny today. We do have a chance at winning on this and blocking this bill. Here’s why.

First, the corporatists have put a bunch of true believers in office. They thought it’d be really clever to convince people that government read more

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How to Put the Torturers in Prison

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By David Swanson

U.S. politics has become something previously only found in science fiction, an intersection of parallel universes. One universe is the one on television and in Congress. In this universe there are suspicions that someone in the U.S. military may have used some technique bordering on torture, but there’s just no way to know for sure. Perhaps an investigation would be a good idea. Or maybe a better solution would be to elect a new president, especially one who’s read more

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Rep. Baldwin Introduces Bill to Undo and Prosecute Bush-Cheney Crimes

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Rep. Baldwin Introduces Bill to Undo and Prosecute Bush-Cheney Crimes

Baldwin Calls for Executive Accountability To Reverse Illegal Actions and Prevent Further Abuses

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin has introduced the Executive Branch Accountability Act of 2008, calling on the next President to reverse the damaging and illegal actions taken by the Bush/Cheney Administration and to collaborate with Congress to proactively prevent any further abuses of executive branch power.

“Over the past several years, read more

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Foreign Policy Debate All About War

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By David Swanson

There was only one foreign policy asked about in Friday night’s foreign policy debate: war and potential wars.

Obama began the debate by allowing McCain to get away with claiming the mantle of “accountability” on the issue of a bailout that rewards fraud in financial markets. Why? Because Obama won’t oppose the bailout.

Then he let McCain get away with complaining about a huge increase in the size of government, without pointing out that the larger “size” read more

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Calming the Fearful Mind

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By David Swanson

Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who in 1964 was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr., has published a new book of advice to Americans and to U.S. Congress members called “Calming the Fearful Mind: A Zen Response to Terrorism.”

Hanh’s words of wisdom strike me as potentially of great value for a variety of types of conflict resolution, but of somewhat limited — if still significant — value for Congress or for U.S. read more

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McCain Tonight

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By David Swanson

Prior to tonight’s debate and each time during it that John McCain brags about his torture victimhood (or Jim Lehrer does it for him) or any of the participants touch on the topic of torture in any way without mentioning the facts below, please send Mr. Lehrer a note at onlineda@newshour.org along these lines.

Dear Jim Lehrer,

Are you aware of the following history?

In February 2008, John McCain voted against a bill that would supposedly have banned torture, and then applauded read more

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