Posts in the category Peace and Armed Conflict

Ready To Be Commander In Chief? Palin's Never Issued An Order To Alaska Guard

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:48:11 EDT

Official: Palin's never issued an order to Alaska Guard

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — When presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain introduced Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate last Friday, the Arizona senator emphasized her role as the commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard.
Later, when questions were raised about Palin's lack of experience in national and international affairs, the McCain campaign pointed again to her military command experience as governor. Some reporters have tried to follow up.
"Can you tell me one decision that she made as commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard?" CNN journalist Campbell Brown asked Monday while interviewing McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds. "Just one?"
Bounds couldn't, because Palin has never personally ordered the state guard to do anything.
Instead, here's what he said: "Any decision she has made as the commander of the (Alaska) National Guard that's deployed overseas is more of a decision than Barack Obama's been making as he's been running for president for the last two years."
Full Story Here

Watch It:

VP Palin? Scariest Quote of the Day

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 08:01:43 EDT

“She’s going to learn national security at the foot of the master for the next four years, and most doctors think that he’ll be around at least that long,”
--- Charlie Black, one of Mr. McCain’s top lobbyist advisers.

Here's the "National Security Master" at "whose feet she'd be learning" at work.

Watch It:

Here She Is! The Sarah Palin For Vice President Web Ad

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:41:48 EDT

Palin For America

Watch it:

The Green Party and Community

User from Struthers, OH — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:04:52 EDT

The Green Party and Community

August 28, 2009

Social diversity is the well-spring of community life where old and young, rich and poor, and people of all races and beliefs can interact individually and learn to care for each other, and to understand and cooperate. We emphasize a return to local, face-to-face relationships that humans can understand and care about.
Among Greens, our guiding principle is to think globally and act locally. Community needs recognize a diversity of issues, and local control recognizes a variety of approaches to solving problems, ones that tend to be bottom-up not top-down. Green politics does not place its faith in paternalistic big government. Instead, Greens believe face-to-face interactions are essential to productive and meaningful lives for all citizens.
The Green vision includes building communities that nurture families, generate good jobs and housing, and provide public services; creating cities and towns that educate children, encourage recreation, and preserve natural and cultural resources; building local governments that protect people from environmental hazards and crime; and motivating citizens to participate in making decisions.
The Green vision calls for a global community of communities that recognize our immense diversity, respect our personal worth, and share a global perspective. We call for an approach to politics that acknowledges our endangered planet and habitat. Our politics responds to global crises with a new way of seeing our shared international security.
We will conceive a new era of international cooperation and communication that nurtures cultural diversity, recognizes the interconnectedness between communities, and promotes opportunities for cultural exchange and assistance.

1. We call for increased public transportation, convenient playgrounds and parks for all sections of cities and small towns, and funding to encourage diverse neighborhoods.

2. We support a rich milieu of art, culture, and significant (yet modestly funded) programs such as the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities.
Families and Children

3. We call for social policies to focus on protecting families. The young - our citizens of tomorrow - are increasingly at risk. Programs must ensure that children, who are among the most vulnerable members of society, receive basic nutritional, educational, and medical necessities. The Green Party supports and seeks to expand Head Start and Pre- and neo-natal programs. A Children's Agenda should be put in place to focus attention and concerted action on the future that is our children.

4. A universal, federally funded childcare program for pre-school and young schoolchildren should be developed.

5. Family assistance such as the earned income tax credit, available to working poor families in which the parent supports and lives with the children, should be maintained and increased to offset regressive payroll taxes and growing inequalities in American society.

6. A living family wage is vital to the social health of communities.

7. The actuarial protection of social security is essential to the well-being of our seniors, and maintenance of the system's integrity is an essential part of a healthy community. We oppose privatization of social security, call for the program to remain under the aegis of the Federal Government, and seek to expand its effectiveness.

8. We support the leading-edge work of non-profit public interest groups and those individuals breaking out of "careerism" to pursue non-traditional careers in public service.
Alternative Community Service

9. We must create new opportunities for citizens to serve their communities through non-military community service. Alternative community service to the military should be encouraged.

10. We advocate the formation of a Civilian Conservation Corps, with national leadership and state and local affiliates, to spearhead efforts to work on the tasks of environmental education, restoration of damaged habitats, reforestation, and cleaning up polluted waterways. Providing land and resource management skills will challenge young people while encouraging social responsibility.
WRITE-IN
DENNIS SPISAK FOR CONGRESS
Green Party Candidate for Ohio's 6th District
The ONLY PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATE
Running against a Conservative Democrat and Republican!

Renewable Energy Green/Blue Collars Jobs
Single-Payer Affordable Healthcare
Economic Fairness/Quality Education
Clear and Fair Elections with Paper Ballots

Campaign site: Http://votespisak.org/electspisak.tripod.com

In Denver, Party's Left Pushes for Seat at the Table

Michael Carano — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:02:18 EDT

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121969145343270091.html?mod=hpp_us_inside_today

Party's Left Pushes for a Seat at the TableBy Gerald F. Seib, The Wall Street Journal
August 27, 2008, Denver, CO

Published August 26, 2008, by The Wall Street Journal.

Walk into almost any hotel here this week and you can find an odd sight: Liberal Democrats starting their day by lobbying moderate and conservative Democrats.

The lobbyists are members of the Progressive Democrats of America, an activist group working to keep the party true to liberal priorities, and they have been assigned to every hotel housing Democratic convention delegates.

"At breakfast, where they go to get their talking points [from the national party], we will be there," says Tim Carpenter, a veteran of Democratic campaigns and national director of the PDA.

The fact that Mr. Carpenter and his cohorts feel compelled to buttonhole other Democrats to push a liberal agenda is a sign of a quiet tension lurking within the Democratic Party. That tension is a potential complication for Sen. Barack Obama now, and it is certain to be one for him and his party if he is elected president.

Progressives--the term of art for the party's liberal wing--contend, with some justification, that they have provided much of the fuel that could propel the party to win control of the White House and both houses of Congress for the first time in 16 years. They have contributed and raised large amounts of money, fired up their troops on the Internet, and generally are thrilled at the prospect of a Democratic sweep.

Yet they aren't sure the party they think they are leading to victory is really following them. Sen. Obama has been essentially nonideological in his campaign, has made much of his desire to reach across the ideological spectrum to Republicans, and spent several weeks this summer moving away from the left and toward the center on issues ranging from warrantless wiretaps to abortion to gun control.

More than that, liberals realize that if the party expands its control of the House and Senate, it may do so by electing moderate and conservative Democrats who vanquish sitting Republicans. Thus, while Democratic control in Congress could expand, liberal influence may not.

So the progressive wing of the party has gathered in Denver uncertain whether to celebrate or fight for its due.

"The party doesn't get it," says Mr. Carpenter, who worked on the presidential campaigns of Jesse Jackson, former California Gov. Jerry Brown and former President Bill Clinton. "That's why organizations like the PDA have to organize and energize."

The big question, of course, is: Exactly what do progressives want? For many, the short answer is: Quick and unconditional withdrawal from Iraq, no parallel buildup in Afghanistan, a reduction in the military budget, a broad rollback of the Bush tax cuts, an increase in corporate taxes and a shift of those funds to social spending, a huge government drive for alternative energy sources, and a much bigger government role in providing health care.

Sen. Obama doesn't exactly oppose any of those impulses, but he hasn't fully bought into all of them, either. He'd roll back some but not all Bush tax cuts, for instance, and is a long way from backing the kind of government-funded universal health-insurance system many progressives want.

Rob Kall, a radio host and editor of liberal Web site OpEdNews, says flatly, "Liberals and progressives don't see him as liberal. Universally among liberals and leftists, they seem him as a centrist."

That may be fine with the Obama campaign, which likely calculates that victory hinges more on the candidate's ability to win over independents and former supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton than the party's liberal base, which figures to go along for the ride. Still, Mr. Kall says some members of his Web site are drifting toward third-party candidates Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney or questioning how hard they want to work this fall.

The most likely campaign effect, though, is continued pressure on Sen. Obama through the fall to move left on key issues.

Spend & Spin!

Free Fallin — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:33:18 EDT

Payday Lenders Continue to Spend & Spin

The payday lobby seems to think that their opponents are being bankrolled by "special interests," apparently disregarding the fact that they are one big "special interest." In Arizona, the payday lenders have exceeded the $9 million mark in their efforts to overturn a pro-consumer bill in that state.

You can read an Article from the Arizona Star, here: http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/254016. The article suggests that the industry's opponents raise and spend next to nothing in comparison.

In Ohio, the payday lobby is outspending their opponents by incredible margins. The disparity in expenditures is easily evident just by looking at the millions of dollars spent on television ads by the payday lobby versus the unusual technique being utilized by the proponents of payday lending reform: YouTube.com! CNN Money and Forbes Magazine picked up an Associated Press story about the efforts to compete with a multi-million dollar lobby: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/08/26/ap5360144.html.

From the article:

Up against a multimillion dollar ad campaign, defenders of Ohio's tough new payday lending law are turning to YouTube.com.

The Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio has created an online video that warns viewers not to be deceived by the payday lending industry, which is trying to repeal the law.

You can view the YouTube video, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDoeXujagE4

Despite enumerable examples of evidence that the payday lobby is working diligently to deceive voters, the industry continues to throw up smoke and mirrors trying to change the subject. The facts, however, remain the same. Payday lending is a debt trap and 391% interest is too high!

Don't be fooled by the payday lobby! 391% interest is not freedom! If you think 391% interest is too high, VOTE YES ON ISSUE 5!

http://www.voteyesonissue5.org

Election Issues: Our Veterans

User from Struthers, OH — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:17:02 EDT

Election Issues: Our Veterans

August 26, 2008

I have been asked what my position would be on Veterans Affairs if elected to Congress.

If Elected to Congress support for men and women in the armed forces must go far beyond the rhetoric used to discredit the peace movement in the U.S. today. I believe that the ill-advised and illegal actions of the U.S. administration have unnecessarily put our troops in harm's way. I further believe that the dangerous burden of fighting the unnecessary war in Iraq, and the wars that may follow, due to the administration's overly narrow and militaristic response to terrorism is disproportionately borne by families of lesser means. Those who are required to carry out militaristic policies, often with great hardship to themselves, their families, and even the risk of their lives, deserve our respect and our commitment to adequate compensation and benefits.
I recommend the following actions:

a. Increase the current pay levels, monthly imminent danger pay, and family separation allowances for those risking their lives in combat zones.

b. Ensure that all pre-deployment physicals are completed and carried out within the standard allotted time period and that medical follow-ups are routinely done on all soldiers.

c. Establish a panel of independent medical doctors to examine and oversee the policies of the military regarding forced vaccinations and shots, often with experimental drugs.

d. Honor all laws concerning time limits on deployments.

e. Provide better care for the wounded, sick, and injured soldiers returning home. The Pentagon must take all steps necessary to fully diagnose and treat both physical and mental health conditions resulting from service in all combat zones.

f. Ensure a smooth transition from active military service to civilian life by providing counseling, housing, emergency management, job protection, and other support systems.

g. Restore full funding for veterans' health programs.

h. Request Congress to enact a new GI Bill, similar to the one that began after World War II and ended in 1981, to provide the following benefits:

Tuition grants for four years of college or other educational opportunities.

Low interest loans for housing or business start-ups.

Free medical care for military personnel and their families for ten years following separation from the armed forces - until universal health care becomes a reality.

I. Support and respect Conscientious Objector status during all phases of the process. We fully support the right of individuals in the military service to modify or completely separate from military involvement because of conscientious objection. We call upon all military entities and officers to support a transparent and democratic conscientious objection process free of harassment, imprisonment, or deployment to war zones for those pursuing the conscientious objection process.

j. Recognized, independent veteran organizations must have access to military personnel to ensure they are being informed of their rights. This is especially true for those who are hospitalized due to service related injuries or illnesses.

WRITE-IN
DENNIS SPISAK FOR CONGRESS
Green Party Candidate for Ohio's 6th District
The ONLY PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATE
Running against a Conservative Democrat and Republican!

Renewable Energy Green/Blue Collars Jobs
Single-Payer Affordable Healthcare

Send Grassroots Campaign Donations to:
Spisak for Congress
548 Poland Ave
Struthers, Ohio 44471

Campaign site: Http://votespisak.org/electspisak.tripod.com

McCain, The Republican FACADE, Iraq Over Easy

NationOfGandhis — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 23:55:28 EDT

Video By Brave New Films
How can anyone say we win in Iraq with hundreds of thousands of people dead there and millions of Iraqi refugees? This points to the ignorance of the republican shortsighted, immoral vision, embodied in the McCain candidacy.

McCain Feels a Draft in New Mexico

Michael O'Brien — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:33:56 EDT

Do you feel a draft? Apparently John McCain does.

While at one of his pseudo town hall meetings in Las Cruces, New Mexico, the presumptive Republican nominee let it slip that he would support a return to a military draft. McCain was responding to a question from the mother of a wounded soldier.

While referencing McCain's oft repeated pledge to follow Usama Bin Laden "to the gates of hell" the woman raised several issues. She reportedly reminded McCain of serious failures in caring for wounded veterans and the deplorable state of U.S. military readiness.

Stating "if we don't reenact the draft I don't think we'll have anyone to chase Bin Laden to the gates of hell", the concerned mother - and the applauding audience - waited for McCain's response. In a style typical of a man who speaks before he thinks, McCain responded "Let me say that I don't disagree with anything you said"

Did McCain know what he was saying when he said it? Long a critic of returning to a military draft, did McCain just not listen? Or did he just commit political suicide? Either way his response is truly stunning.

Any objective observer of John McCain knows that he has converted the vaunted "Straight Talk Express" of 2000 into the Double Talk Express of 2008. Flip flopping like a red herring out of water McCain has changed his mind on several key policy points, from opposing a national holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to opposing - then embracing - the failed Bush tax cuts. Could this be the fish that finally derails his campaign?

The War on Iraq was a direct result of the failed Neoconservative strategy of preemptive war. Throwing up one boogie man after another, America has been kept in an ungodly state of perpetual war for the last 8 years. Combined with the outsourced war on the cheap strategy of former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the result has been a U.S. military stretched to the point of breaking.

Enter John McCain with a strategy of occupation with no end in sight and things look grim indeed. Perhaps the questioner was right. Just how does McCain intend to realize his twisted vision of war without end? Where will the he find the troops needed for four, eight or - as McCain so plainly stated - one hundred years of war?

The War on Iraq has brought untold misery, death and grief to military families. As the rest of the country worries about the recession, military families have borne the burden of this endless war. Hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis have been needlessly slaughtered and millions have been left homeless. Does McCain, after declaring victory in 2003, now feel a need to share the misery?

Only McCain knows. Look for his handlers to backtrack on this flippant response to a concerned mother. If we are to take him at his word - as he insists we should - does John McCain intend, as President, to bring back a military draft? The last thing Camp McCain wants is the suggestion that their candidate favors the forced conscription of young Americans.

But there lies the rub for Camp McCain.

How do they begin to explain away his strident agreement with the notion that a return to a military draft is the only way to get Bin Laden? Perhaps it was just a lack of judgment or worse, McCain really feels that a draft would be a good idea. Camp McCain and their candidate are now painted into a corner from which there may be no escape.

Copyright 2008 Michael O'Brien All Rights Reserved

STOP ANOTHER MISGUIDED UNNNECESSARY WAR!

Michael Carano — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:50:19 EDT

And stop higher gas and heating costs.

Though it seems the rhetoric of taking military action against Iran has been toned down due to dissent within power segments within the Bush Administration, as one baseball great has said, "it ain't over until its over." And the threat ain't over until January 2008 when the Bush regime goes ingloriously out of the White Houae and Barack Obama is our president. Thus, eternal vigilance warrants present action.

10 Ohio Congressional Reps* have co-sponsored a resolution that will increase chances of war with Iran and hurt people in their districts by raising fuel costs. AIPAC is the primary backer of this resolution, and we want to ensure that our representatives stand strong and not give into the false fear of appearing weak on national security.

We of PDA Ohio will be meeting with a local congressional representative's head legislative aide on Monday, August 18th to discuss this issues as well as others. We hope that you will do the same.

The resolution (H.Con.Res.362), with 220 co-sponsors:
• would starve innocent Iranian citizens by stopping gasoline imports;
• would stop and inspect "all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains, and cargo entering or departing Iran"; and
• would prohibit most Iranian officials from international travel.

Translation: THIS IS A LAND AND NAVAL BLOCKADE, an act of war!

Every time we rattle the saber of war with Iran, oil prices increase. So we can expect that this resolution, which essentially approves Bush-Cheney aggressiveness and a bellicose foreign policy inimical to diplomatic, long-term solutions, to:

• Increase gasoline costs to perhaps $6/gallon (experts cited by Rep.Ron Paul)
• Drive up heating and RTA commuting prices
• Push food prices even higher
• Eliminate jobs because people can barely (or not) afford the basics

If we actually go to war:

• We're talking gas at $8-$10/gallon, big increases in food cost, loss of 1 million jobs nationwide, and loss of lives of our soldiers and of innocent Iranian citizens;

• "We'll create generations of jihadists, and our grandchildren will be battling our enemies here in America." (Secretary of Defense Robert Gates);

• The consequences will be worse than Iraq which is already destroying us, e.g., "...this country (America) will not make any major advances in energy policy, in health coverage, in rebuilding its infrastructure, in improving its public schools or in curtailing runaway public and private debt until our open-ended commitment to this catastrophic multitrillion-dollar war comes to an end." (Bob Herbert, New York Times)

Resolution (H.Con.Res.362)will hurt everyone, low-income people most of all! For text of resoluton see:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:1:./temp/~c110kaSh4R::

YOU CAN STILL DO SOMETHING TO STOP IT. If your congressional rep is named below, call their Washington, DC office (202-224-3121) and tell them that you don't want them to co-sponsor HCON Res.362.
You do want them to call for unconditional direct diplomacy with Iran, and support HCon Res. 321 , which takes a diplomatic approach to resolving regional problems in the Mideast.

See: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:1:./temp/~c110TrQM4j::

There are alternatives to provide real security for the US and Israel WITHOUT WAR. Don't let Bush-Cheney (and this resolution) deceive us in thinking that the only choices are harsh sanctions or war on Iran. DEMAND OPEN DIPLOMACY!

*Chabot, Jordan, Latourette, Ryan, Schmidt, Space, Sutton, Tiberi, Tubbs-Jones, Wilson

We of PDA suggest local progressive and Democratic groups to make visits to the home offices of your congressional representatives if listed below asking them to unsign HCON Res. 362 and thank your rep if not signed on. We of PDA are working with Peace Action to ensure that no act of war occurs in the waning days of the lame duck Bush Adminstration.

For more information or to help, Mary Nichols-Rhodes, Ohio PDA Congressional District Organizer at mac40oh@gmail.com, 330-928-5347

Note: Much of the above information has been provided by our friends of Peace Action, and we thank them for their efforts.

Troops Deployed Abroad Give 6:1 to Obama Over McCain

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:06:06 EDT

The Center For Responsive Politics Reports:

According to an analysis of campaign contributions by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Democrat Barack Obama has received nearly six times as much money from troops deployed overseas at the time of their contributions than has Republican John McCain, and the fiercely anti-war Ron Paul, though he suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination months ago, has received more than four times McCain's haul.

Despite McCain's status as a decorated veteran and a historically Republican bent among the military, members of the armed services overall -- whether stationed overseas or at home -- are also favoring Obama with their campaign contributions in 2008, by a $55,000 margin. Although 59 percent of federal contributions by military personnel has gone to Republicans this cycle, of money from the military to the presumed presidential nominees, 57 percent has gone to Obama.

Georgian President To McCain: When Pandering, Please Try To Get My Name Right

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:22:51 EDT

Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili on Wednesday called for John McCain and other American leaders to do more for Georgia in their response to the conflict in his country.

“Yesterday, I heard Sen. McCain say, ‘We are all Georgians now,’” Saakashvili said on CNN’s American Morning. “Well, very nice, you know, very cheering for us to hear that, but OK, it’s time to pass from this. From words to deeds.”

McCain told a crowd in Pennsylvania yesterday that he had called Saakashvili to express solidarity with the people of Georgia, saying: “Today, we are all Georgians.”

Watch It:

Sounds like McCain knows President Saakashvili really well doesn't it?

Well, in his speech yesterday, McCain mispronounced Saakashvili's name three times. Stephen Hayes, editor of the Weekly Standard, defended McCain by saying “he knows the players even if he mispronounces the name.”

Payday Lending Industry Front Group Website Goes Live

Free Fallin — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:47:26 EDT

Industry Front Group Website Goes Live

The Community Financial Services Association's campaign to overturn House Bill 545 went live with a new website yesterday. Their website, Ohioans4financialfreedom, displays how out of touch they are with real Ohioans.

First, they say: "Protect 6,000 good-paying jobs that could be lost."

This is not accurate. House Bill 545 says absolutely nothing about closing any businesses or preventing the dispersion of payday loans. House Bill 545 simply caps interest rates and fees at 28% APR, protecting Ohio's consumers from predatory 391% APR interest. Payday lending stores have already started applying for licenses to continue operating under the new law from the Ohio Department of Commerce. If any stores close, it's because they choose to, not because they have to.

Second, they say: "Protect your financial freedom and private financial choices."

Payday lenders target low-income neighborhoods where it is easier for them to encourage people to walk through the door. Neon signs with "Get cash in minutes!" and "Easy cash quick," etc. Once a borrower is trapped in a cycle of payday loans, it becomes necessary for the consumer to keep taking out loans. This is not a choice! Usurious payday loans at 391% are bad for Ohioans and bad for the Ohio economy. Usury is not freedom!

Third, they say: "Protect your right to privacy about your personal finances."

This is a nice catch phrase that appeals to just about everyone! House Bill 545 includes a provision calling for the creation of a database that will let lenders know how many loans a person has taken out at a given time. This allows lenders to lend according to borrowers ability to repay - something neither predatory mortgage lenders nor payday lenders seem to care about.

And finally, once again, the industry uses their lame argument for why their referendum should be on the ballot: "Ohioans have a right to repeal bad laws."

Well, it bears repeating that House Bill 545 is one of the best consumer protection laws in the country and will help hundreds of thousands of Ohioans escape the debt trap. Ohioans do have a right to overturn bad laws, but this referendum effort is not being mounted by Ohioans, but by industry lobbyists and attorneys flown in on their corporate jets. Where are the citizens working on this referendum? Where are the consumers calling for 391% interest? They are nowhere to be found. Instead, the industry lobby CFSA is the sole donor to the effort to repeal House Bill 545. This is right in line with what they are doing in other states like Arizona where they've spent $8.7 million to overturn a consumer law and in Virginia where they succeeded in buying higher interest rates for a low, low price of $20 million.

The Ohio government should be PROTECTING consumers from predatory business practices that rely on borrowers getting trapped in a cycle of debt! Payday lending is bad for Ohio!

Derek Hess and Kent Smith sign copies of their new book "Please God Save Us" on Saturday at Mahan Gallery

Kent Smith — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:05:13 EDT

On Saturday, August 2,2008 Derek Hess and Kent Smith will be at Mahan Gallery - located at 717 N. High Street Columbus, Ohio 43215 to sell and sign copies of their new book "Please God Save Us".

Here is what Northern Ohio Live wrote about the book in their July Issue:

Advance Praise of "Please God Save Us" from the July 2008 of Northern Ohio Live Taken from Northern Ohio Live July 2008 Page 20

"Political Prose and Pics"

Bored with your summer reading list already? Derek Hess and Kent Smith can fix that. Their first book, Please God Save Us debuts July 4. The arguments begin shortly thereafter.

Hess, a Cleveland-based internationally known artist, contributes over 50 full color pieces of art in this magazine-sized soft-cover book. Smith, a Euclid School Board Member and former Free Times writer, provides written justification for Hess' angry images. (You may also remember Smith as the infamous doorman at Brillo Pad and Touch.)

Hess' well-known style remains; his works are oversized, angry, spiritual, funny and emotive. But the subject mater is not abstract; it is subjective and fresh from the evening news. The villain of the book is the menacing red elephant which seems to be killing soldiers and polar bears while polluting the sky.

Hess and Smith take on all the controversial topics including the Christian Right, the Iraq war, global warming, the oil industry, stem cell research, evolution, the media, rock and roll, and censorship. It's a safe bet that this is one way, George W. Bush does not want you to spend your economic stimulus check.

For information about the book please check out www.strhesspress.com

Independent Voters SPLIT, UPSET and DEBATE Senator Obama's Afghanistan buildup plans

The Mustang Major — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:40:47 EDT

Independent Voters SPLIT, UPSET and DEBATE Senator Obama’s Afghanistan buildup plans There has been a growing debate over Senator Obama's Afghanistan plans within what could be considered the swing vote community. The conflict, similar to confusion over the direct relationship between THE ECONOMY, and how do WE THE PEOPLE continue PAYING for both Iraq and Afghanistan, tends to be over how one views the War on Terror. The intent of this post is to raise the hard questions for the Obama campaign, that I know the media IS NOT going to raise, I intentionally curved my own opinion to report what others are saying. This will have to be in two parts given the feedback I received to what the official position of a few anti-Iraqnam War groups were. Bobby Hanafin The Mustang Major

McCain Delivers Best News I've Heard All Week

Bret Thompson, ProgressOhio — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:53:55 EDT

From his one-on-one yesterday with The Dispatch:

If Sen. Obama had had his way, we'd have been out of Iraq militarily, all our troops would have been withdrawn by last March.

The Other McCain CBS Interview Gaffe: "Iraq Was First Major Conflict After 9/11"

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:44:41 EDT

There is one more John McCain gaffe that the media missed from the now famous CBS interview with Katie Couric.

This is the same interview in which McCain claimed the surge led to the Anbar Awakening, which is demonstrably false. But watch below for another gaffe when McCain says Iraq was the first major conflict after 9/11.

Watch it:

Young Turks on You Tube

CBS News Covers For McCain On Surge Timeline: Edits Out Huge Gaffe

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:12:33 EDT

Both CBS News and John McCain have some 'splaning to do:

During a CBS interview on Tuesday, John McCain made a stone cold error on a subject about which he claims expert knowledge: the "surge" strategy in Iraq. In an interview with anchor Katie Couric, the Arizona Republican said, inaccurately, that the surge strategy was responsible for the much-touted "Anbar Awakening," in which Sunni sheiks turned against Al Qaeda, helping in turn to reduce violence in the country.

From Media Matters:

On the July 22 edition of the CBS Evening News, while airing portions of an interview she conducted that day with Sen. John McCain, anchor Katie Couric removed a part of his response in which he falsely asserted that the 2007 U.S. troop surge "began the Anbar awakening." In fact, the so-called Anbar awakening reportedly began in September 2006, months before the surge was even announced. Couric had asked McCain, "Senator [Barack] Obama says while the increased number of U.S. troops contributed to increased security in Iraq, he also credits the Sunni awakening and the Shia government going after militias, and says that there might have been improved security even without the surge. What's your response to that?" But rather than airing McCain's direct reply, including the false claim that the surge "began the Anbar awakening" -- an agreement by some tribal leaders in western Iraq to accept U.S. aid and cooperate with anti-Al Qaeda operations -- Couric aired comments by McCain spliced together from three separate statements he gave during the interview, one of which responded to a different question. Couric gave no indication that these comments had been edited in any manner, nor did she otherwise note McCain's falsehood.

Keith Olbermann reported on the spliced McCain response on the July 22 edition of MSNBC's Countdown.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen Agrees With Obama On Afghanistan

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:43:32 EDT

Obama Shifts the Foreign Policy Debate

He was effusive in his praise of U.S. troops and diplomats, describing the "terrific" conversation he had with Ryan C. Crocker, the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad, and Gen. David H. Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, who took him on a helicopter tour over the Iraqi capital. Obama said he understands that Petraeus would prefer leaving his options open rather than operating with a timeline, and said if he were in Petraeus's shoes, "I'd probably feel the same way."

But in an indirect dig at President Bush, who has repeatedly said he would base any withdrawal decisions on the advice of military commanders, Obama said his job would be to listen to the military but make decisions based on "a range of factors that I have to take into account as a commander in chief."

Those factors, he said, would include "the perceptions of the Iraqi people" and the statements of their leaders, as well as "the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan," which he called the "central front in the war against terrorism."

McCain's judgments are based on "what he thinks makes the most sense," Obama said. But his own judgments, "in speaking with Afghans and Iraqis, the U.S. military and civilians," he said, led him to conclude that there is a need to "seize this moment to make America more secure" by focusing on "broader challenges."

Chief among them, he said, are the "need to refocus attention on Afghanistan and to go after the Taliban, including putting more troops on the ground, and to put more pressure on Pakistan to deal with the safe havens of terrorists."

The Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, in an interview last night with PBS's "NewsHour," said he shares Obama's assessment that the situation in Afghanistan is "precarious and urgent." The 10,000 additional troops needed there, he said, would not be available "in any significant manner" unless there are withdrawals from Iraq.

For now, he said, "my priorities . . . given to me by the commander in chief are: Focus on Iraq first. It's been that way for some time. Focus on Afghanistan second."

McCain Reacts To al-Maliki's Endorsment Of Obama's Withdrawal Timetable

Dave Harding, ProgressOhio — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:51:04 EDT

In response to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s clear statement in support of a 16-month redeployment from Iraq, a senior McCain official tells Marc Ambinder “[V]oters care about [the] military, not about Iraqi leaders.” A “prominent Republican strategist” who occasionally provides advice to the McCain campaign said more candidly, “We’re f*cked.

” This is what McCain said in 2004:

QUESTION: Let me give you a hypothetical, senator. What would or should we do if, in the post-June 30th period, a so-called sovereign Iraqi government asks us to leave, even if we are unhappy about the security situation there? I understand it’s a hypothetical, but it’s at least possible.

McCAIN: Well, if that scenario evolves, then I think it’s obvious that we would have to leave because — if it was an elected government of Iraq — and we’ve been asked to leave other places in the world. If it were an extremist government, then I think we would have other challenges, but I don’t see how we could stay when our whole emphasis and policy has been based on turning the Iraqi government over to the Iraqi people.

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