Political Ideas

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By David Swanson

President Obama’s second signing statement has generated a great deal of news coverage referring to it as his first. And the coverage largely suffers from the shadow of Obama’s predecessor (and of Bush’s fat sidekick), not to mention the shadow of Obama’s recent statement about signing statements.

Let’s get a few things out of the way: Obama has not abused power to the extent Bush and Cheney did, and he would have to work very hard to do so. I voted read more

By David Swanson

It has become almost commonplace, since the release last week of seven “legal” opinions written in 2001 and 2002 by the Justice Department, to remark that unbeknownst to us we came within an inch of dictatorship. And with President Obama announcing an end to torture and a new policy on signing statements, it is extremely common to speak as if we are moving quickly and deliberately in the opposite direction. But this picture is far too simplistic.

We knew a great deal read more

By David Swanson

The largest caucus in Congress with 75 members is the Progressive Caucus. It even has one member in that bastion of regressivism, the United States Senate. The progressive caucus uniquely supports majority positions (majority outside of Capitol Hill, I mean) on domestic and foreign issues, on trade and the environment, peace and diplomacy, education and healthcare, speaking up for the poor, the powerless, and all the rest of us. Its positions are not perfect and often appear read more

By David Swanson

Now here’s a horrendously bad piece of thinking from a usually terrific website that occasionally lets loyalty to a political party trump common sense. Cynthia Boaz, who has written much better stuff, writes:

“In the wake of Sen. Patrick Leahy’s (somewhat) surprising and determined call for a Truth Commission to investigate the abuses of the Bush-Cheney administration, the Obama administration has been – to many progressives and those on the left of center read more

I really hate to bring this up, but do you recall the many times you told us that you couldn’t uphold your oath of office and impeach Bush and Cheney because you were focused on electing Obama? Maybe you understood the problem with that from the start. If not, I’m guessing it’s dawning on you. If he was not a candidate who would be helped by enforcing the rule of law and upholding checks on the imperial presidency, then what reason might there be to think he would be a president read more

A letter to the editor in my local newspaper, the Charlottesville Daily Progress, has persuaded me to rethink the truly remarkable accomplishments of President George W. Bush and inspired me to join the movement to erect a Bush Memorial on the National Mall.

The letter, published on February 9th, was from David H. Edmunds of Albemarle County and listed just nine of Bush’s good deeds, beginning with this one:

read more

I had a great time on Nicole Sandler’s radio show this morning. check out her blog with a podcast link at the bottom.

By David Swanson

From the pains Democrats take to out-argue and/or to compromise with the fringe minority party called the Republicans you’d think no other course of action was available, specifically you’d have to assume that the filibuster — the power of senators representing 11 percent of us to block all work by the House and Senate — is written in stone. In reality, 51 senators could eliminate the filibuster or change the number of votes required to use it. This nation read more

The embedding doesn’t work for part 2, but both parts are now posted here.

By David Swanson

President Obama wants to avoid criminalizing policy differences and avoid partisan witch hunts. This is taken to mean that Holder will not appoint a special prosecutor for torture.

But the only reason everyone is focused on torture as something to prosecute is that Obama has sought to make it a policy difference. We could prosecute illegal aggressive war and attacks on civilians, but Obama is continuing the illegal occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan and has already attacked read more

This is part 1 of a two-part debate, in which my opponent (not to mention the moderator) pretty well agreed with me that Bush and Cheney should be prosecuted. But it was probably not a topic she would ever have brought up if not asked. Such is the power of the media, and the need to support the Real News Network.

The Center for Constitutional Rights has expressed concern that President Obama’s executive order banning torture may contain a loophole. But no president has any right to declare torture legal or illegal, with or without loopholes. And if we accept that presidents have such powers, even if our new president does good with them, then loopholes will be the least of our worries.

Torture is, and has long been, illegal in every case, without exception. It is banned by our Bill of Rights, the read more

By David Swanson

History cannot be the judge of Bush and Cheney. The corporate news really is the first draft of history, and there will be no magical leap from its dishonesty to an honest account. Most in the Washington establishment want to protect Bush and Cheney and gang, although the New York Times has now printed one column admitting the obvious point that if the outgoing criminals are not punished, their heirs will repeat their crimes.

What is Bush’s legacy? Wars, ruined economy, read more

Cindy Sheehan asked if I could record a 3-minute goodbye message to Bush and Cheney for her radio show, so I wrote down and read the following:

Never more than in this moment, George, have you been a uniter, not a divider. The joy at your departure is world-wide and wonderful. But I don’t want to fully embrace it because I don’t want this to be the last we see of you. When I was four years old I watched Richard Nixon leave, and that was just about the last we saw of him, and that read more

JAN. 10 Come to the VIRGINIA PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY
Delegates from across Virginia will put together a PEOPLE’S AGENDA
to present to the General Assembly
Among other things, we will demand a MORATORIUM ON LAYOFFS, CUTBACKS, EVICTIONS & FORECLOSURES
9 am – 4 pm
Asbury United
Methodist Church
324 N. 29th St.
Richmond, VA 23223
$5 donation requested to help cover cost of lunch & space, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

JAN. 14 Come to a RALLY to demand ‘Bail Out the read more