Posted by MJ on September 11, 2008
Today marks the seventh anniversary of the tragedy on Sept. 9th 2001 when cowardly acts were carried out by foreign terrorists on our soil. Hopefully every American will at least take a moment to reflect on all who lost their lives that day – police, fire, first aid responders, citizens, and foreigners.
I was glad to read that Barack Obama and John McCain promised to set presidential politics aside and appear together today for ceremonies at ground zero. I assume this means we will not hear about the “lipstick on the pig” comment or debate it any more now.
I would like people to also remember some events that have happened politically directly and indirectly because of 9/11. George Bush took full advantage of the climate of fear following the attack to push policies that have not been for our benefit which our next President will hopefully address.
-mostly unneeded USA PATRIOT Act and new FISA law which serves more to erode our civil liabilities then catch terrorists
-the increasing ineffective war in Afghanistan (terrorists wave at us from Pakistan)
-unneeded and illegal war in Iraq which was somehow linked to 9/11 so our President could justify it
-unlawful use of torture
-illegal wiretapping (hint – terrorists are not using phones that can be tapped)
Thinking rationally is better then acting out of fear in regards to terrorism so the next time it strikes (and it will) we can react smarter. We must not allow one certain political party to pretend they are the best one to fight the war on terror since then we will all lose.
I will end this to remind you while you wonder what’s taking so long to finish the 9/11 memorial that the mastermind behind the attack - Osama bin Laden still has not been bought to justice. I am sure George is working hard on this in his last days or not…
“…again, I don’t know where he is. I — I’ll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him.”
George Bush, referring to Osama bin Laden
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Posted in Election 2008, Politics, War, Wordpress Political Blogs | Tagged: 9/11, 9/11 memorial, Barack Obama, Election 2008, George Bush, ground zero, John McCain, No Fly List, observing 9/11, Osama bin Laden, Patriot Act, Politics, politics of fear, remember 9/11, terrorist watch list, War, war on terror, Wordpress Political Blogs | Leave a Comment »
Posted by MJ on August 22, 2008
Randi Rhodes, of the novaM Radio Network was talking today about how John McCain always bring up his days as a POW for cover when he has to answer bad press. Worse, McCain has not really been a friend of fellow veterans over the years. She also brought up the mental state of McCain because of his POW experience. Ms. Rhodes whether you love or hate her does the most research of any talk radio host – progressive or conservative.
The following is excerpted from her show notes from today’s broadcast on her website and is very interesting reading…
John McCain’s GET OUT OF EVERYTHING CARD? ‘I was a POW’. Well let’s look at that today shall we? Viet Nam Vets hate him. Iraq Vets hate him. Afghanistan Vets hate him. WHY? Have you seen his voting record on Veterans Issues lately? SCROLL DOWN AND HAVE A LOOK.
McCain “I’ve won every Award from Veterans Groups”
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/23/mccain-vet-awards/
Not really, Grampa. SEE BELOW
John McCain HATES VETERANS – While John McCain says Veterans Groups honor and love him, the truth is they dishonor and abhor him. Here is a list of his ratings from Veterans Groups!
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Posted in Election 2008, Politics, War, Wordpress Political Blogs | Tagged: Election 2008, John McCain, McCain mental issues, McCain uses POW card, Politics, Randi Rhodes, veterans against McCain, War, Wordpress Political Blogs | 3 Comments »
Posted by MJ on May 9, 2008
Posted in Media, Politics, Religion, War, Wordpress Political Blogs | Tagged: Gay Rights, George Bush, Iran, Marriage, Media, Politics, Protest, Religion, Shadow Democracy, War, Wordpress Political Blogs | Leave a Comment »
Posted by MJ on February 12, 2008
This post originally appeared in the Shadow Democracy blog which is a old project I was part of but no longer exists.
The big showdown has been brewing for weeks after the Berkeley city council voted to ask the Marines Corp. to close the recruiting station downtown near the UC Berkeley campus because they are “unwelcome intruders”. The issue has been the city not wanting the Marines to recruit their young people for the Iraq War that is not supported by the majority of the people in the city.
Hundreds of people from anti-war groups like Code Pink will be met by support-the-troops groups that is sure to be interesting.
The San Francisco Chronicle has been covering the story…
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Posted in Media, Politics, War | Tagged: anti-war, Berkeley city council, Code Pink, Iraq, marine recruiting station unwelcome, Move America Forward, Politics, Protest, Shadow Democracy, War | 4 Comments »
Posted by MJ on March 20, 2007
In my quest to become more personally involved in community activism I went to the Iraq War Anniversary Vigil held at the corner of Elmwood and West Ferry at 6:00pm today. This was organized by MoveOn.org of which I am on their mailing list and was part of the 1000’s of nationwide vigils held today for the war. Turn out was small, which was about 40 strong but could be expected because of the weather. While there was much support by cars passing by heard from the frequent horn blowing, the vigil never really got off the ground. Much of the problem was because the vigil was only scheduled to be half hour which seemed to short. But as it turns out the real event was inside the Unitarian Church at that corner.
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Posted in Buffalo, Politics, War | Tagged: Activism, George Bush, Government, Iraq, MoveOn, Politics, Protest, UB Antiwar Action, War, WNY Peace Center | 1 Comment »
Posted by MJ on March 8, 2007
Thanks to MoveOn.org you can get a free bumper sticker that expresses how you feel about the war in Iraq. Sure to be limited so order yours now like I did here.
UPDATED – All bumper stickers are gone!
Posted in Free Stuff, Politics, War | Tagged: Activism, Free Stuff, Iraq, MoveOn, Protest, War | Leave a Comment »
