Political Ideas

By David Swanson

Trying to squeeze any sort of peace on earth out of our government in Washington has been a steep uphill climb for years. For the most part we no longer have representatives in Congress, because of the corruption of money, the weakness of the media, and the strength of parties. There are not 535 opinions on Capitol Hill on truly important matters, but 2. Our supposed representatives work for their party leaders, not for us. Luckily, one of the two parties claims to want to read more

By David Swanson

The book I just read is in the running, in my estimation, for second-best text on how to undo the imperial presidency. (Can’t be first, of course.) It’s called “Madison’s Nightmare: How Executive Power Threatens American Democracy,” by Peter M. Shane, and it’s much more about what the problem is than how to solve it, but the two things are not really separable, and the analysis of the problem here is invaluable.

This is a detailed and extensively read more

Eric Mann will host “Voices from the Frontlines” discussion of the Obama administration’s direction thus far: Change that was promised or a presidency in trouble? Guests: Bill Fletcher Jr. and David Swanson. Monday, July 6th, 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. PT (7:00 to 8:00 p.m. ET). Listen live at http://KPFK.org and later to the archived audio at http://www.thestrategycenter.org/radio

By David Swanson

There’s a story deeply buried here. Set aside for a moment dishonest ads being run by Republicans against Congressman Tom Perriello of Virginia’s Fifth District attacking his Yes vote on a climate bill. Set aside the fact that the climate bill will actually increase pollution. The story may involve Perriello’s vote for this controversial bill, but it certainly involves his recent vote for the war supplemental / IMF bankster bailout bill — deeply unpopular read more

By David Swanson

Embedded below is a stunning video. The Bush-Cheney-Rove Justice Department prosecuted 600 elected officials plus 2,500 collateral cases (children, elderly parents, children of defense lawyers, etc), and 85 percent of the officials were Democrats. And — this is something the filmmaker came to understand after producing this film — most of the rest were moderate Republicans, not Federalist Society Republicans.

The prosecutions were concentrated in presidential election read more

from: William Hughes

On Thursday, June 25, 2009, a spirited rally was held in John Marshall Park, in Washington, D.C. Its purpose: To demand that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder appoint a “Special Prosecutor for Torture,” who will hold accountable to the supremacy of the Law, certain members of the Bush-Cheney Gang, including ex-President George W. Bush, Jr. and read more

By David Swanson

Did you know the United States has in recent years prosecuted hundreds of people for political reasons? This is a crime, or rather a crime wave, that has thus far been addressed primarily by ignoring it. You can read a lot about it from bloggers like Larisa Alexandrovna or Scott Horton. But you won’t hear the president mention it on TV.

In an attempt to convince the corporate media that this issue ranked right up there with governors’ sex lives and celebrities’ read more

1. Given that Barack Obama took in WAY more money from health insurance and pharmaceutical corporations than Max Baucus, could everyone please stop calling Baucus the top recipient of such bribes?

2. When is it going to be safe to set foot outside the house without being told that FDR told A Phillip Randolph to go out there and make him do it? Of course we have to make officials do what we want them to do. They’ll never just do it on their own. But this anecdote is being used to shift read more

By David Swanson

Every year in Washington, D.C., the Campaign for America’s Future (CAF) convenes the largest conference of activists positioned anywhere to the left of wherever the center has drifted off to. Labor and community groups and civil rights groups play a big role, most of them strictly loyal to the Democratic Party. The focus is on domestic issues, and the approach is an inside strategy of nudging and honoring those in power. You can sense my cynicism, and yet this year I was read more

I’m blogging the America’s Future Now conference here.

The number one policy proposal on the president’s website and now third second most popular proposal over all calls for prosecuting Bush and Cheney.

The proposal is called End the Imperial Presidency and you can still vote for it. It’s climbing up fast.

Go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/open and go to Brainstorming and log in.

Find the proposal and click the thumbs-up sign.

Also post your suggested changes to the proposal.

THANKS!

By David Swanson

The president’s open government site was supposed to allow brainstorming through May 28th, but the top policy proposal and third highest ranked proposal overall, as of the end of the 28th, was “End the Imperial Presidency.”

It is not too late for you to vote for this proposal.

That’s because the Open Government just changed the rules and won’t be moving on to phase 2 until June 3rd, and will be leaving phase 1 (brainstorming) open until June 19th. read more

By David Swanson

You might want to hurry because the open government is about to close. Participation in the “Brainstorming” phase 1 of President Obama’s online Open Government Initiative only lasts from May 21st to May 28th. To find it, go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/open You’ll see listed there three phases, with the “Discuss” and “Draft” phases not yet active. read more

By David Swanson

Candidate Obama asked for our opinions through a website. Our top demand was that he keep his promise to vote against immunity for telecoms that spied illegally. He ignored us, promised to do better as president, and hasn’t.

President-Elect Obama asked for our opinions through his transition website. Our top question was whether he would appoint a special prosecutor for Bush, Cheney, and gang. He refused to answer the question until asked by the corporate media, and then read more

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin has introduced the Executive Branch Accountability Act of 2009 (H.Res. 417), calling on President Obama 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, serious questions have been raised about the conduct of high ranking Bush/Cheney Administration officials in relation to some of the most basic elements read more

Christiane Brown interviews Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in this audio clip.

Reid says torture has been committed, but that the top priority should be delaying, and that certain people just shouldn’t be prosecuted, even if that means failing to follow the law. Brown is brilliant and relentless. Reid is as pathetic as you’d think he’d be when confronted by a real journalist. Reid wants nothing done until November 2009 when the Senate Intelligence Committee produces its read more

The Urban Journal is hosted by Keith Murphy on XM Satellite Radio Channel 169,
“The Power” daily, Monday through Friday, 8pm Eastern and the special
encore edition at 5am.

Urban Journal 5/07 pt. 1 Pulitzer Prize winning author Tom Ricks
Urban Journal 5/07 pt. 2 David Swanson
Urban Journal 5/07 pt. 3 Actor Hill Harper, author of Letters to a Young Sister
Urban Journal 5/07 pt. 4 Actor Hill Harper, author of Letters to a Young Sister