Progressive Calendar 11.10.07
From: David Shove (shove001tc.umn.edu)
Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2007 05:01:47 -0800 (PST)
            P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R   11.10.07

1. Bedouin/Palestine  11.10 9:30am
2. WILPF/women/Nepal  11.10 10am
3. RCTA book sale     11.10 10am
4. Peace walkout      11.10 10:30am
5. NWN4P-Minnetonka   11.10 11am
6. NWN4P-Plymouth     11.10 1pm
7. Palestine fair     11.10 2pm Northfield MN
8. Sudan/children/CTV 11.10 6pm
9. FNVW bene/music    11.10 6:45pm
10. Peace stars       11.10 7pm
11. Palestine/CTV     11.10 9pm

12. Armistice/vets    11.11 10:30am
13. Stillwater vigil  11.11 1pm
14. LooseChange final 11.11 4:30pm
15. Colombia union    11.11 5pm
16. Peacemaker awd    11.11 5pm
17. Vets4Peace        11.11 6pm
18. Pray peace        11.11 6:30pm
19. Weinglass/Cuban5  11.11 7pm  Madison WI
20. Armenia/TV        11.11 10:30pm

21. CorpCrimeRptr - Is the AFL trying to derail single payer health care?
22. Tom Barry     - Latin America: Clinton policy = Bush policy
23. Dave Lindorff - Ridiculing impeachment: double standards at the NYT
24. SLC mayor     - Speech at demo against occupation of Iraq
25. ed            - Small world  (poem)

--------1 of 25-------

From: "wamm [at] mtn.org" <wamm [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Bedouin/Palestine 11.10 9:30am

Dr. Aref Abu Rabia: "Life as a Bedouin Palestinian"
Saturday, November 10, 9:30 a.m. (Refreshments) 10:00 a.m. (Presentation)
Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer, 5440 Penn Avenue South,
Minneapolis.

Dr. Abu Rabia is an anthropologist and Professor in the Department of
Middle East Studies, Ben Gurion University, Israel. He specializes in
Bedouin culture, medical practices, health, and education issues. Dr. Abu
Rabia was Superintendent of the Bedouin Educational Schools in the Negev
for 10 years and in 1993 received the Berelson Prize for Jewish-Arab
Understanding and Co-Existence. Dr. Abu Rabia will provide basic
information on the Bedouin population in Israel, addressing their human
and civil rights, and issues of land confiscation and water resources. He
will also describe their education system and give us his view of the
peace process. Sponsored by: Middle East Peace Now (MEPN). FFI: Call
Florence Steichen, 651-696-1642.


--------2 of 25--------

From: Doris Marquit <marqu001 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: WILPF/women/Nepal 11.10 10am

WILPF invites you to coffee with discussion on:
Women resisting oppression in Nepal
Saturday, November 10, 2007, 10 am to noon
Van Cleve Community Center, 901 15th Ave. SE, Minneapolis

WATCH (Women Acting Together for Change): How women are confronting
oppression and environmental destruction in Nepal and creating networks for
change
Speaker: Narayan (Kaji) Shrestha
Fulbright Scholar in Residence, Univ. of Minnesota, Dept. of Fisheries,
Wildlife, and Conservation Biology

Nepal is a small land-locked country in the Himalayas, often known in the
West chiefly for its beautiful scenery and troubled political history. The
speaker will offer deeper insights. WATCH is a participatory,
woman-oriented group supporting rural women, those with disabilities and
disease, sex workers, and other oppressed people. It creates networks and
federations of users around issues like irrigation and drinking water.

FREE RefreshMentS  Everyone Welcome!
A monthly WILPF "Coffee With" program. FFI: 651-633-4410; www.wilpfmn.org
<http://www.wilpfmn.org/>


--------3 of 25--------

From: Jeff Martinka <jeffreymartinka [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: RCTA book sale 11.10 10am

Bookstore of the Americas final closeout sale
Saturday, Nov. 10th, 2007 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
3019 Minnehaha Street, Minneapolis

All remaining Bookstore of the Americas inventory will be sold, with
60-80% discounts offered on this final sale day. Books, artcrafts, cards,
posters and calendars all available.  Cash and checks only, please.

In addition, there will be duplicate books and videos from the Resource
Center library that are on "give away tables"  in the cafe. Donations for
these items will be accepted, and appreciated!


--------4 of 25--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Peace walkout 11.10 10:30am

Saturday,11/10, Fellowship of Reconciliation's Youth and Militarism
Project host peace marshall training (10:30 am to 11:30 am) in preparation
for the November 16th walkout, then community strategizing from noon to
4:30, Center for Independent Artists, 4137 Bloomington Ave S, Mpls.
grassrootsnonviolence [at] gmail.com or 612-423-1073. (free)


--------5 of 25--------

From: Carole Rydberg <carydberg [at] comcast.net>
Subject: NWN4P-Minnetonka 11.10 11am

NWN4P-Minnetonka demonstration- Every Saturday, 11 AM to noon, at Hwy. 7
and 101.  Park in the Target Greatland lot; meet near the fountain. We
will walk along the public sidewalk. Signs available.


--------6 of 25--------

From: Carole Rydberg <carydberg [at] comcast.net>
Subject: NWN4P-Plymouth 11.10 1pm

NWN4P Plymouth vigil, every Saturday, 1-2 PM

The "New Hope vigil" has moved to County Rd. 9 (also known as Rockford
Rd. or 42nd Avenue N.) and Vinewood, one block east of 494, for the
winter months. You may park in the lot between Chilis and Bakers Square.
Express your thoughts on your own sign or feel free to use one of ours.
Vinewood is the entrance to Target Greatland and Rainbow. Please join
us; all are welcome.


--------7 of 25--------

From: Bill McGrath <billmcgrath52 [at] gmail.com>
Subject: Palestine fair 11.10 2pm Northfield MN

Palestinian Fair, 2 until 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 10, at First United
Church of Christ (UCC) 300 Union Street in Northfield.

Slide show by journalist Bill McGrath, who recently spent a month living
with a Christian Arab Palestinian family in the West Bank.  Additional
comments by Michael and Carmen Zoughbi, olive-wood carvers from the
Bethlehem area. There will be information booths, samples of Middle
Eastern foods, and Palestinian Fair Trade items for purchase including
olive wood carvings, embroidery and olive oil. Sponsored by Northfielders
for Justice in Palestine/Israel. Information: darlenebc43 [at] msn.com


--------8 of 25--------

From: Suzanne Linton <bahiabaubo [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Sudan/Children 11.10 6pm

"Child Abduction in Sudan" on Our World Today
SPNN (St. Paul Neighborhood Network)
Cable access channel 15

Saturday November 10 6:00 pm
Sunday November 11 1:00 am and 11:00 am

'Our World Today' presents "Child Abduction in Sudan."  The show has a
special local interest because two students from the Law school of the
University (Dana Boraas and Amanda Lyons) whose Human Rights Advocacy
Class has taken on the project to help a fellow graduate student, Kuo
Soloman from Southern Sudan.  Kuo had his grandmother killed and two of
his neices abducted several weeks ago, and seeks to find them. They have
created a website with updates of this effort .  www.save-yar.org

The show includes the personal story of Kuo, which is very touching, and
activities of the Universtty Chapter of Amnesty International. There is a
good explanation of the history of Sudan and much about what is happening
in the present day, which includes Darfor.  I met these students at the
premiere showing of the award winning documentary on the genocide in
Darfor, "The Devil Came on Horseback," which is a must see.

"Our World Today" is left/progressive political tv show on cable access
which is produced by Suzanne Linton and Bill Oldfather of the Green Party.
The show is aired every Saturday at 6:00 pm and every Sunday at 1:00 am
and 11:00 am.  Mark your calendars and watch every week.


--------9 of 25--------

From: Florence Steichen <steichenfm [at] usfamily.net>
Subject: FNVW bene/music 11.10 6:45pm

Saturday Nov. 10, 6:45 -9:30 p.m.  Come early. Seats limited. Peace
concert to benefit Friends for a Non-Violent World Twin Cities Friends
meeting house, 1725 Grand Ave.  St. Paul, MN 55105 Free: donations
accepted

Sako Hirabayashi, World renowned Harpsichordist; Russell Packard, promoter
of classical Folkloric Arab Music; The Ariel Trio; Anguksuar, Pianist and
spoken word artist; Miriam Larson, Flutist;  Ann Bancroft, explorer.


--------10 of 25--------

From: "wamm [at] mtn.org" <wamm [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Peace stars 11.10 7pm

Film Stars of the Peace Movement: Wine and Cheese Reception
Saturday, November 10, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. 1425 West 28th Street,
Minneapolis.

Celebrate the life-time peace work of WAMM founder Marianne Hamilton and
of dedicated peace activists Phyllis Cohen and Elmer Zoff. See short
documentaries on their action-packed lives, meet the film producers and
the stars, themselves. Suggested donation: $5.00 to $20.00. FFI: Call
WAMM, 612-827-5364.


--------11 of 25--------

From: Eric Angell <eric-angell [at] riseup.net>
Subject: Palestine/CTV 11.10 9pm

Minneapolis Television Network (MTN 17) viewers:
"Our World In Depth" cablecasts on MTN Channel 17 on Saturdays at 9pm and
Tuesdays at 8am.  Households with basic cable can watch!

11/10 9pm and 11/13 8am "Ali Abunimah: Where Next for Palestine-Israel:
Peace, Apartheid or Democratic Inclusion?"  Palestinian American talks at
the U of M on 10/9.


--------12 of 25--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Armistice/vets 11.11 10:30am

Sunday, 11/11, 10:30 to noon, Veterans for Peace chapter 27 Armistice Day
program at First Shot Memorial, State Capitol grounds, St Paul.
651-774-4008.


--------13 of 25--------

From: scot b <earthmannow [at] comcast.net>
Subject: Stillwater vigil 11.11 1pm

A weekly Vigil for Peace Every Sunday, at the Stillwater bridge from 1- 2
p.m.  Come after Church or after brunch ! All are invited to join in song
and witness to the human desire for peace in our world. Signs need to be
positive.  Sponsored by the St. Croix Valley Peacemakers.

If you have a United Nations flag or a United States flag please bring it.
Be sure to dress for the weather . For more information go to
<http://www.stcroixvalleypeacemakers.com/>http://www.stcroixvalleypeacemakers.com/

For more information you could call 651 275 0247 or 651 999 - 9560


--------14 of 25--------

From: 'Catherine Statz' <statz001 [at] umn.edu>
Subject: LooseChange final 11.11 4:30pm

Premier Screening at the Riverview Theater November 11, 2007 at 4:30 PM

"Loose Change Final Cut" is the third and last installment of the
documentary series that has shocked the world.  This all new film takes
another look at the attacks of September 11th, and raises difficult
questions surrounding the event that changed our lives forever.  With a
wealth of unseen news footage and interviews, including former members of
government, scientists, and academics, Loose Change Final Cut delivers the
truth in an unadulterated fashion rarely seen in cinema today.

The film makes its debut showing to a public audience in Minneapolis,
Minnesota:

Loose Change Final Cut
Riverview Theater
3800 42nd Ave S., Minneapolis
4:30 p.m. Sunday November 11, 2007
Cost $6.00
Advance tickets available at the Riverview Theater

Following the showing, Producer Jason Bermas will speak and take questions
regarding the film.  We invite you to join us for this historic event on
the official release date of a film that may very well change the world.

For more information go to www.mn911truth.org.


--------15 of 25--------

From: Monique Askew <monique [at] commonrootscafe.com>
Subject: Colombia union 11.11 5pm

Talk with Lydia Lopez, president of a Colombian flower-workers union
Sunday, November 11th 5pm

Meet Lydia Lopez, President of Untraflores
Untraflores is an independent union located right outside Bogota made of
women organized to improve the working conditions of women workers. Many
of the flowers grown in Colombia are exported to the United States. Lydia
will speak on anti-union campaigns against flower workers and specific
attempts to bust Untraflores in Columbia. This year Congress may vote on
the Free Trade Agreement with Columbia. free and open to the public!

Common Roots Cafe
2558 Lyndale Ave S
Local ° Organic ° Fair Trade
2558 Lyndale Ave S ° 612-871-2360 ° commonrootscafe.com


--------16 of 25--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Peacemaker awd 11.11 5pm

Sunday, 11/11, 5 to 7:30 pm, 92nd birthday party for the Fellowship of
Reconciliation, including music, fellowship, supper, and an award for
"peacemaker of the year" given to Teresa Ortiz (author of "Never Again a
World Without Us: Voices of Mayan Women in Chiapas," Macalester-Plymouth
United Church, 1658 Lincoln Ave, St Paul.  http://www.mnfor.org


--------17 of 25--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Vets4Peace 11.11 6pm

Sunday,11/11, 6 to 8:30 pm (and the 2nd Sunday of each month), Veterans
for Peace chapter 27 meeting, St Stephens School basement, 2130 Clinton
Ave S, Mpls.  John at 952-448-2664.


--------18 of 25--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Pray peace 11.11 6:30pm

Sunday, 11/11, 6:30 pm Sisters of St Joseph of Carondelet's 11th day
prayer for peace, 1890 Randolph Ave, St Paul.  www.csjstpaul.org or
651-690-7079.


--------19 of 25--------

From: Art Heitzer <aheitzer [at] igc.org>
From: Gloria Fullerton
Subject: Weinglass/Cuban5 11.11 7pm  Madison WI

This Event Alert is being sent out to all state media and to as many
social justice groups in the state that the Free the 5 Madison Committee
can reach.  We ask all media to mark your work-calendars and we ask all
social justice groups to forward the alert to all of your members.

Please address any questions to Robert Kimbrough (608-238-1266) or
Victoria Gutierrez (freethe5madison [at] yahoo.com).

LEONARD WEINGLASS on Sunday, November 11, 2007, at 7pm, in Room B1, Lowell
Hall, 610 Langdon Street (UW Campus), Madison, Wisconsin, will talk about
the CASE OF "THE CUBAN FIVE".

Leonard Weinglass is a most accomplished U.S. criminal defense attorney
and is a pre-eminent civil rights lawyer known for his defense of
high-profile political clients. Among those he has defended are Angela
Davis, Daniel Ellsberg, the Chicago Seven, and Mumia Abu-Jamal. Weinglass
is presently counsel to one of the Cuban Five, Antonio Guerrero, and he is
the lead-lawyer among the team of all the lawyers working in behalf of
each of the 5.

Who are the Cuban Five? Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón
Labañino, René González, and Ferrnando González are in five separate U.S.
prisons for simply defending their country from acts of terrorism carried
out by extremist right-wing groups in Miami. René was sentenced to 15
years, Fernando 19 years, Ramón and Antonio for life, and Gerardo two life
sentences plus 15 years.

The Cuban Five never harmed anyone, were not destructive, did not try to
gather state secrets, and were never a threat to the security of the
United States.  On the other hand, confessed anti-Cuba terrorists walk
freely in Miami. For example, Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada Carilles,
longtime CIA agents, openly brag that they master-minded the October 6,
1976 explosion of two bombs planted on a Cuban airline flight from
Barbados to Cuba killing all 73 aboard.

Noam Chomsky has said: "It's an amazing case! Here are Cubans who are
infiltrating illegal, terrorist organizations in the U.S. which are
violating U.S. law, and the infiltrators are arrested, not the terrorists.
It's astonishing!"

Leonard Weinglass's presentation is free and open to all. A full media
release will be sent out on Monday, November 5, 2007. For complete
information and documentation on the Cuban Five: www.freethefive.org


--------20 of 25--------

From: Ahmed Tharwat <tharwat77 [at] msn.com>
Subject: Armenia/TV 11.11 10:30pm

Guest of this week
Taner Akcam,  Armenian genocide

Ahmed Tharwat/ Host
 <http://www.belahdan.com/> BelAhdan
TV show  airs on Public TV ch17
Sundays at 10:30pm
WWW.Belahdan.com


--------21 of 25--------

Siding with the Bosses
Is the AFL Trying to Derail Single Payer Health Care?
By CORPORATE CRIME REPORTER
CounterPunch
November 9, 2007

Does the leadership of the AFL-CIO favor a single payer, Canadian-style,
Medicare-for-all, health insurance system? They do not.

The California Nurses Association, which joined the AFL executive council
earlier this year, supports single payer.

More than 350 other union locals support single payer.

More than 80 members of the House of Representatives support legislation
that would create a single payer system in the United States (HR 676).

But the leadership of the AFL-CIO does not support single payer.

They may say they support it.

But yesterday, at a press conference at the National Press Club, it became
clear that AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and his fellow labor union
bosses are actively working to derail the rank and file movement for
single payer.

Sweeney and leaders of the SEIU, UFCW, Bricklayers, Laborers, and
Teamsters - along with DLA Piper partner and former Congressman Dick
Gephardt - yesterday put their stamp of approval on a employer-based state
health insurance reform plan by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D).

The Illinois plan is similar to one introduced by Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger (R) for California and Governor Ed Rendell (D) for
Pennsylvania.

These employer based "reforms" have been roundly criticized by Physicians
for a National Health Program (PNHP) and the California Nurses Association
(CNA) as undermining the nationwide drive for single payer.

"We should get rid the employer-based health insurance system," said
PNHP's Dr. Don McCanne. "It's a regressive method of funding health
insurance. There are all kinds of problems with them. All of these reforms
are inadequate measures that will only postpone the day that we actually
fix the system with single payer."

In the past, the CNA has been critical of the SEIU for supporting reforms
like those proposed by Governor Blagojevich.

In June, for example, CNA president Rose Ann DeMoro told Corporate Crime
Reporter that "rather than being on the side of the workers, SEIU
continues to be on the side of the bosses."

"And it's a disgrace," DeMoro said.

But yesterday, CNA did not return calls seeking comment.

At the press conference, Blagojevich was asked why he didn't support
single payer.

"So much of what you do in government is done through political
realities," Blagojevich said. "The art of politics in government is the
recognition of what is possible. The choice is between whether you take an
existing structure - an employer-based health care system and build on
that, shore that up - or whether you scrap the whole thing and create a
whole new system that historically has not taken root in the United
States."

"And while it has been done in other countries, it has not been able to
get a beachhead in our country," he said. "And my reading of history in
the United States is that when change happens in America, it generally
happens by building on existing institutions and existing structures
rather than tearing them down and building something completely new and
different. So, in a perfect world and in theory, the single payer system
is one that I could certainly support. Whereas as a practical matter, I
don't think it is something we are going to achieve in the near future."

Especially with that kind of leadership.

Sweeney was asked whether the AFL supports single payer, and if so, why is
he working to undermine it.

"I recognize that there is tremendous support for single payer," a subdued
Sweeney said. "But as the Governor has said, it is important that we move
on health care coverage now with what we have the political will to
achieve. That doesn't mean we aren't going to continue to strive for a
single payer health care system."

Yes it does.

The press conference was pulled together by America's Agenda: Health Care
for All.

By the way, here's a new rule of thumb for Washington: when you hear the
words "universal health care" or "health care for all," wait a few seconds
and a health insurance industry lobbyist will walk to the mike.

Yesterday, leading off the press conference was Ken Thorpe - introduced as
the nation's leading health policy expert.

Thorpe called the Illinois proposal - "the most promising health care
reform legislation enacted anywhere in America in the last 40 years."

After the press conference, I sought out Ken Thorpe and asked him who he
worked for.

"I'm a consultant for America's Agenda - Health Care for All," he said.
"I also teach at Emory University."

Do you also work for the health insurance industry?

"Do I work for them?" he asked.

Do you consult for them?

"I've done studies for them," Thorpe said. "I don't consult with them."

Have you been paid to do the studies?

"Oh yeah," he says.

Who were you paid by?

"Blue Cross Blue Shield Association."

Corporate Crime Reporter is located in Washington, DC. They can be reached
through their website.

Published on Friday, November 9, 2007 by Corporate Crime Reporter

[Perhaps it's time to tell the AFL-CIO to go to hell. If they won't help
the people, why should the people help them? -ed]


--------22 of 25--------

The Clinton Policy is the Bush Policy
Hillary Clinton's Lack of Respect for Latin America
By TOM BARRY
CounterPunch
November 9, 2007

"A great nation must command the respect of others," writes Hillary
Clinton in the new issue of Foreign Affairs. But what about showing a
little respect? In her infatuation with U.S. power and the transcendent
"American idea," she forgets that international cooperation is not just
about winning respect, it's also about respecting other nations.

In her outline of her foreign policy agenda, titled "Security and
Opportunity for the Twenty-first Century," Clinton laments that the Bush
administration "has squandered the respect, trust, and confidence of even
our closest allies and friends." As president, Clinton promises to
introduce America to the world, and to demonstrate that the "United States
is committed to building a world we want, rather than simply defending
against a world we fear." That world, says Clinton, will be "a world of
security and opportunity."

But Clinton's cursory review of Latin America policy won't win much
respect in Latin America. In the one paragraph devoted to Latin America in
her 18-page essay, Clinton focused more on U.S. fear of new political
developments in the region than on ways to increase human security and
opportunity.

According to Clinton, the Bush administration neglected "at our peril" the
new political developments in Latin America. Without naming names, Clinton
asserts, "We have witnessed the rollback of democratic development and
economic openness in parts of Latin America."

Rather than applauding the new willingness of an increasing number of
elected governments to tackle the structural obstacles that have
marginalized the poor and indigenous populations, Clinton evokes a picture
of a region threatened by retrograde forces. Blaming the Bush
administration for its negligence, Clinton implies that a more engaged
U.S. policy could have obstructed the rise of democratically elected
left-center governments, such as those in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador.

"We must return to a policy of vigorous engagement: this is too critical a
region for the United States to stand idly by," asserts Clinton.

But what kind of "vigorous engagement" is she talking about? Past forms
have included intervention in national elections, financial and military
support for illegal opposition movements, propaganda campaigns to carry
the message of pro-U.S. forces and vilify others. Any "return" to policies
like these is not likely to be regarded kindly in Latin America. With few
positive examples to cite recently, U.S. engagement to protect "critical"
U.S. geopolitical and economic interests has too often been synonymous
with intervention.

Priorities in the region, according to Clinton, include supporting the
"largest developing democracies in the region, Brazil and Mexico";
deepening "economic and strategic cooperation with Argentina and Chile";
and combating "the interconnected threats of drug trafficking, crime, and
insurgency" in Colombia, Central America, and the Caribbean.

After establishing this aggressive agenda for U.S. involvement in security
issues she concludes, "We must work with our allies to provide
sustainable-development programs that promote economic opportunity and
reduce inequality for the citizens of Latin America."

In short as president, Hillary Clinton's Latin American policy would
likely be very similar to that of the Bush I, Clinton I, and Bush II
administrations before her-with the only notable difference being that her
administration may take stronger measures to counter governments that dare
to determine their own trade, development, and foreign policies.

In laying out her policy, she fails to mention the need to overhaul the
monumentally flawed Cuba policy, and in fact has said elsewhere that she
wouldn't lift the trade embargo until there is a "democratic transition."
Apparently she has no intention of modifying the strategy of the failed
drug wars either, even though U.S. policies of drug interdiction, drug
eradication, and counterinsurgency have not slowed the flow of illegal
drugs and have caused enormous problems of displacement and environmental
destruction.

Candidate Clinton offers a U.S. policy that promotes economic opportunity
to reduce inequality. But her solutions-economic "openness" and foreign
aid-are the standard formulas that have increased inequality and prompted
the search for alternatives among the nations she criticizes for "rolling
back economic openness" in an effort to provide basic needs to their
citizens.

While the Washington political establishment is stuck within a narrow band
of policy options, Latin American nations, particularly in South America,
are experimenting with new policies aimed at setting their nations on
sustainable development paths. Establishing national control over energy
resources, sponsoring agrarian reforms, and breaking free of the economic
reforms imposed by the international financial institutions are among the
policies that have antagonized the Bush administration.

To win the respect of Latin Americans, Clinton doesn't need to endorse
these policy alternatives. But she does need to respect the right of Latin
Americans to set their own directions.

When President Franklin D. Roosevelt set out to build cooperative
relations in Latin America after three decades of imperial interventions
and occupations, he promised that his "policy of the good neighbor" would
be founded on "mutual respect" and self-determination. While the FDR
administration did not always follow its own good neighbor principles, it
did go a long way to building respect for the United States and a culture
of cooperation in the Americas.

Clinton asserts that respect can be won by a leadership that "draws on all
the dimensions of American power" and reestablishes the authority of the
"American idea." But to regain respect for U.S. leadership, whether in
Latin America or elsewhere, the United States will need to return to basic
good neighbor principles. Rather than relying on its power and ideas that
have largely lost credibility in the hemisphere, she needs to let Latin
Americans set their own policy agendas. Some new thinking is long overdue,
but Hillary Clinton isn't offering it.

Clinton fails to recognize that the United States must acknowledge that
U.S.-Latin America relations are imperiled much more by U.S. arrogance and
its misdirected "engagement" than by negligence or inaction in the face of
imagined threats to U.S. interests. Moving forward, the foundation of
improved relations and sustainable development in the Americas must be
"mutual respect."

If Clinton wants respect for U.S. foreign policy, then she will need to
show more respect for our southern neighbors. As a start, Clinton should
tell Latin Americans that she respects their right to decide for
themselves what is needed to ensure "security and opportunity."

Tom Barry is a senior analyst with the Americas Policy Program of the
Center for International Policy.

[Hillary's evil is not "lesser". Dem/Rep = evil/evil. Don't do evil, don't
voter for either. -ed]


---------23 of 25--------

Ridiculing Impeachment
Double Standards at the New York Times
By DAVE LINDORFF
CounterPunch
November 8, 2007

The New York Times, which claims to draw a clear distinction between its
news articles and its commentary articles, dropped any pretense of such a
distinction in its minimalist "coverage" of yesterday's dramatic effort by
Rep. Dennis Kucinich to force the House to consider the impeachment of
Vice President Dick Cheney.

In a small 230-word piece on Kucinich's privilege motion, and the
subsequent vote to send his H Res. 333, now called H. Res. 799, to the
House Judiciary Committee, after it has been consigned to limbo for over 6
months by the House leadership, the Times succeeded in dissing both
Kucinich and the notion of impeaching the vice president.

As the anonymous Times reporter wrote in the lead of this hit piece:

It is hard to know which effort has longer odds, the bid by Representative
Dennis J. Kucinich, Democrat of Ohio, to become president of the United
State, or his bid to unseat Vice President Dick Cheney by impeaching him.

The rest of the article, which made no attempt to lay out Kucinich's
blistering expose of the vice president's criminal role in presenting
false evidence to the Congress and American people to justify an invasion
of Iraq, and his condemnation of the vice president for the international
crime of threatening war against Iran, is spent describing how House
Democratic leaders and Republicans sparred over Kucinich's bill, with
Republicans helping to defeat a Democratic effort to table it, and with
Democrats then pushing it off the floor and over to the Judiciary
Committee.

The Times has clearly decided that despite its editorial positions
blasting the criminal actions and blatant abuses of power of this
administration, there should be no impeachment hearings on either Bush or
Cheney. That might be okay as an editorial position, but the nation's
leading newspaper, at least by reputation, has also decided it will
buttress that position by either ignoring the growing nationwide
impeachment movement, which it has been doing now for two years, or by
using its news pages to undermine and ridicule impeachment efforts. That
is not okay for a publication that hypocritically pretends that its news
articles are fair and balanced.

Instead of assigning a team of crack reporters to investigate the vice
president's ongoing crimes - for example his recent effort to drag the US
into a war with Iran by going behind the State Department and pressing
Israel to attack Iran, so that Iran would retaliate and the U.S. would be
forced to come to Israel's aid (a treasonous act by Cheney that was
reported in Newsweek magazine) - or the president's crimes (such as his
role in obstructing the investigation of the Valerie Plame outiing, or his
direct role in authorizing severe torture of captives), the Times is using
its reportorial resources to squelch a mass movement for impeachment.

The paper is also joining the rest of the corporate media in yet another
shameless effort to deny the American people a genuine political campaign
of ideas, deciding well ahead of the primaries which candidates are worthy
of coverage, and which ideas and issues are acceptable for public debate.
Kucinich, who has been the most consistent and principled opponent of the
Iraq War and the drive to attack Iran, the most knowledgeable and
consistent proponent of genuine health care reform, the most solid
defender of the Constitution and the most ardent defender of working
Americans and of the poor among the list of Democratic candidates, is
simply not covered by the Times, and is now written off in a suppposed
news article as being unelectable!

What a pathetic display of bias, and what an insult to readers.

At least it helps me to understand why the paper has never reviewed
Barbara Olshansky's and my book on "The Case for Impeachment," or in fact
any of the excellent books on that topic that have been published over the
past two years.

Impeachment, for the Times, is a non-story, suitable apparently only for
sophomoric ridicule.

Dave Lindorff is the author of Killing Time: an Investigation into the
Death Row Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. His n book of CounterPunch columns
titled "This Can't be Happening!" is published by Common Courage Press.
Lindorff's newest book is "The Case for Impeachment",
co-authored by Barbara Olshansky.

He can be reached at: dlindorff [at] mindspring.com

[The NYT always backs main ruling class objectives - eg war for empire,
trickle-up economics, etc. It will say the "liberal" thing on economically
unimportant "social" issues, but when it gets down to more goodies for the
rich, they're loyal toadies. -ed]


--------24 of 25--------

Subject: SLC Mayor Speech at Demo Against Occupation of Iraq
Address by Mayor Ross C. "Rocky" Anderson on October 27, 2007
Mon, 2007-10-29 16:45. October 27 2007 reports
Salt Lake City, Utah -

Today, as we come together once again in this great city, we raise our
voices in unison to say to President Bush, to Vice President Cheney, to
other members of the Bush Administration (past and present), to a majority
of Congress, including Utah's entire congressional delegation, and to much
of the mainstream media:  "You have failed us miserably and we won't take
it any more."

"While we had every reason to expect far more of you, you have been
pompous, greedy, cruel, and incompetent as you have led this great nation
to a moral, military, and national security abyss."

"You have breached trust with the American people in the most egregious
ways. You have utterly failed in the performance of your jobs. You have
undermined our Constitution, permitted the violation of the most
fundamental treaty obligations, and betrayed the rule of law."

"You have engaged in, or permitted, heinous human rights abuses of the
sort never before countenanced in our nation's history as a matter of
official policy. You have sent American men and women to kill and be
killed on the basis of lies, on the basis of shifting justifications,
without competent leadership, and without even a coherent plan for this
monumental blunder."

"We are here to tell you: We won't take it any more!"

"You have acted in direct contravention of values that we, as Americans
who love our country, hold dear. You have deceived us in the most cynical,
outrageous ways. You have undermined, or allowed the undermining of, our
constitutional system of checks and balances among the three presumed
co-equal branches of government. You have helped lead our nation to the
brink of fascism, of a dictatorship contemptuous of our nation's treaty
obligations, federal statutory law, our Constitution, and the rule of
law."

"Because of you, and because of your jingoistic false "patriotism," our
world is far more dangerous, our nation is far more despised, and the
threat of terrorism is far greater than ever before.

It has been absolutely astounding how you have committed the most
horrendous acts, causing such needless tragedy in the lives of millions of
people, yet you wear your so-called religion on your sleeves, asserting
your God-is-on-my-side nonsense - when what you have done flies in the
face of any religious or humanitarian tradition. Your hypocrisy is
mind-boggling - and disgraceful. What part of "Thou shalt not kill" do you
not understand? What part of the "Golden rule" do you not understand?
What part of "be honest," "be responsible," and "be accountable"
don't you understand? What part of "Blessed are the peacekeepers" do
you not understand?

Because of you, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, many
thousands of people have suffered horrendous lifetime injuries, and
millions have been run off from their homes. For the sake of our nation,
for the sake of our children, and for the sake of our brothers and sisters
around the world, we are morally compelled to say, as loudly as we can,
"We won't take it any more!"

"As United States agents kidnap, disappear, and torture human beings
around the world, you justify, you deceive, and you cover up. We find what
you have done to men, women and children, and to the good name and
reputation of the United States, so appalling, so unconscionable, and so
outrageous as to compel us to call upon you to step aside and allow other
men and women who are competent, true to our nation's values, and with
high moral principles to stand in your places - for the good of our
nation, for the good of our children, and for the good of our world."

In the case of the President and Vice President, this means impeachment
and removal from office, without any further delay from a complacent,
complicit Congress, the Democratic majority of which cares more about
political gain in 2008 than it does about the vindication of our
Constitution, the rule of law, and democratic accountability.

It means the election of people as President and Vice President who,
unlike most of the presidential candidates from both major parties, have
not aided and abetted in the perpetration of the illegal, tragic,
devastating invasion and occupation of Iraq. And it means the election of
people as President and Vice President who will commit to return our
nation to the moral and strategic imperative of refraining from torturing
human beings.

In the case of the majority of Congress, it means electing people who are
diligent enough to learn the facts, including reading available National
Intelligence Estimates, before voting to go to war. It means electing to
Congress men and women who will jealously guard Congress's sole
prerogative to declare war. It means electing to Congress men and women
who will not submit like vapid lap dogs to presidential requests for blank
checks to engage in so-called preemptive wars, for legislation permitting
warrantless wiretapping of communications involving US citizens, and for
dangerous, irresponsible, saber-rattling legislation like the recent
Kyl-Lieberman amendment.

We must avoid the trap of focusing the blame solely upon President Bush
and Vice-President Cheney. This is not just about a few people who have
wronged our country - and the world. They were enabled by members of both
parties in Congress, they were enabled by the pathetic mainstream news
media, and, ultimately, they have been enabled by the American people -
40% of whom are so ill-informed they still think Iraq was behind the 9/11
attacks - a people who know and care more about baseball statistics and
which drunken starlets are wearing underwear than they know and care about
the atrocities being committed every single day in our name by a
government for which we need to take responsibility.

As loyal Americans, without regard to political partisanship - as
veterans, as teachers, as religious leaders, as working men and women, as
students, as professionals, as businesspeople, as public servants, as
retirees, as people of all ages, races, ethnic origins, sexual
orientations, and faiths - we are here to say to the Bush administration,
to the majority of Congress, and to the mainstream media: "You have
violated your solemn responsibilities. You have undermined our democracy,
spat upon our Constitution, and engaged in outrageous, despicable acts.
You have brought our nation to a point of immorality, inhumanity, and
illegality of immense, tragic, unprecedented proportions."

"But we will live up to our responsibilities as citizens, as brothers and
sisters of those who have suffered as a result of the imperial bullying of
the United States government, and as moral actors who must take a stand:
And we will, and must, mean it when we say "We won't take it any
more."

If we want principled, courageous elected officials, we need to be
principled, courageous, and tenacious ourselves. History has demonstrated
that our elected officials are not the leaders - the leadership has to
come from us. If we don't insist, if we don't persist, then we are not
living up to our responsibilities as citizens in a democracy - and our
responsibilities as moral human beings. If we remain silent, we signal to
Congress and the Bush administration - and to candidates running for
office - and to the world - that we support the status quo.

Silence is complicity. Only by standing up for what's right and never
letting down can we say we are doing our part.

Our government, on the basis of a campaign we now know was entirely
fraudulent, attacked and militarily occupied a nation that posed no danger
to the United States. Our government, acting in our name, has caused
immense, unjustified death and destruction.

It all started five years ago, yet where have we, the American people,
been? At this point, we are responsible. We get together once in a while
at demonstrations and complain about Bush and Cheney, about Congress, and
about the pathetic news media. We point fingers and yell a lot. Then most
people politely go away until another demonstration a few months later.

How many people can honestly say they have spent as much time learning
about and opposing the outrages of the Bush administration as they have
spent watching sports or mindless television programs during the past five
years? Escapist, time-sapping sports and insipid entertainment have indeed
become the opiate of the masses.

Why is this country so sound asleep? Why do we abide what is happening to
our nation, to our Constitution, to the cause of peace and international
law and order? Why are we not doing all in our power to put an end to this
madness?

We should be in the streets regularly and students should be raising hell
on our campuses. We should be making it clear in every way possible that
apologies or convoluted, disingenuous explanations just don't cut it when
presidential candidates and so many others voted to authorize George Bush
and his neo-con buddies to send American men and women to attack and
occupy Iraq.

Let's awaken, and wake up the country by committing here and now to do all
each of us can to take our nation back. Let them hear us across the
country, as we ask others to join us: "We won't take it any more!"

I implore you: Draw a line. Figure out exactly where your own moral
breaking point is. How much will you put up with before you say "No more"
and mean it?

I have drawn my line as a matter of simple personal morality: I cannot,
and will not, support any candidate who has voted to fund the atrocities
in Iraq. I cannot, and will not, support any candidate who will not commit
to remove all US troops, as soon as possible, from Iraq. I cannot, and
will not, support any candidate who has supported legislation that takes
us one step closer to attacking Iran. I cannot, and will not, support any
candidate who has not fought to stop the kidnapping, disappearances, and
torture being carried on in our name.

If we expect our nation's elected officials to take us seriously, let us
send a powerful message they cannot misunderstand. Let them know we really
do have our moral breaking point. Let them know we have drawn a bright
line. Let them know they cannot take our support for granted - that,
regardless of their party and regardless of other political
considerations, they will not have our support if they cannot provide, and
have not provided, principled leadership.

The people of this nation may have been far too quiet for five years, but
let us pledge that we won't let it go on one more day - that we will do
all we can to put an end to the illegalities, the moral degradation, and
the disintegration of our nation's reputation in the world.

Let us be unified in drawing the line - in declaring that we do have a
moral breaking point. Let us insist, together, in supporting our troops
and in gratitude for the freedoms for which our veterans gave so much,
that we bring our troops home from Iraq, that we return our government to
a constitutional democracy, and that we commit to honoring the fundamental
principles of human rights.

In defense of our country, in defense of our Constitution, in defense of
our shared values as Americans - and as moral human beings - we declare
today that we will fight in every way possible to stop the insanity, stop
the continued military occupation of Iraq, and stop the moral depravity
reflected by the kidnapping, disappearing, and torture of people around
the world.

http://www.slcgov.com/mayor/speeches/2007%20Speeches/102507octoberdemonstration.pdf

--
From: David Strand <mncivil [at] yahoo.com>
[This] speech by the Mayor of Salt Lake City makes one hungry for more of
this type of leadership.  It certainly makes some of our local political
leadership which alleges to be "progressive" pale by comparison.


--------25 of 25--------

 Honey I shrunk the
 universe. Now maybe your
 wedding dress will fit.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------

   - David Shove             shove001 [at] tc.umn.edu
   rhymes with clove         Progressive Calendar
                     over 2225 subscribers as of 12.19.02
              please send all messages in plain text no attachments

 To GO DIRECTLY to an item, eg
 --------8 of x--------
 do a find on
 --8
                            impeach bush & cheney
                            impeach bush & cheney
                            impeach bush & cheney
                            impeach bush & cheney




  • (no other messages in thread)

Results generated by Tiger Technologies Web hosting using MHonArc.