Political Ideas

Torture Revealed Yet Again

By David Swanson

As with the evidence that Bush, Cheney, and gang intentionally lied us into a war, or the evidence of illegal and unconstitutional spying, each time a major new piece of evidence of torture emerges, it is impossible not to hope that this is the one that will compel the Justice Department or Congress or the courts or the American people to act decisively. Certainly I hope that, right now, the day after Mark Danner reported read more

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Signing Statementing Our Way to Empire

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

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One Step Forward, Two Steps Toward Monarchy

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

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What Is a Populist Caucus?

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

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Honestly, Judge, I Did It But Let's Look Forward

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

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Dear Chairman Conyers

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

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Complete Recipe for Accountability: Just Add Sweat

By David Swanson, ConvictBushCheney.org

The First Step Is Prosecutions:

Federal:

Sign a petition asking Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate and prosecute any and all government officials who have participated in war crimes. Sign now.

Collect signatures in the real world by printing out this PDF. Please enter the data you collect on the petition online and/or mail read more

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Building a Bush Memorial

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:

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