Tom Hayden's Blog, page 53

Barbara Lee Pushing Obama, NATO Toward Afghan Peace

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) is hoping that a majority of House Democrats, along with a dozen Republicans, will sign a letter before the Chicago NATO summit demanding the “expediting of our troops’ return” and a “speed up” of the transition to Afghan sovereignty. Similar messages are being sent to NATO leaders from their war-weary and economically-stressed public in the run up to the May 18-20 summit.

Prosecution of Alex Sanchez Continues

At dawn on June 24, 2009, armed local, state and federal officers swarmed the rented home of Alex Sanchez while he slept with his wife and children, and arrested the former gang leader on charges of racketeering conspiracy, claiming he led a double-life as a peacemaker by day and MS-13 member by night. The LAPD arresting officer, Frank Flores, stuffed Sanchez in a squad car and told him, “You’re done”, it’s all over.” Downtown at Parker Center, where prosecutor Elizabeth Carpenter was present, Officer Flores told Sanchez, “You can plead right now.”

U.S. Drug War is Fading, with Thousands Dead and Billions Wasted

A turning point in the US drug was is being reached. A majority of American favor legalizing marijuana, including Pat Robertson who says, like many on the Christian right, the nation has “gone overboard on this concept of being ‘tough on crime’,” a punitive approach, and one which most conservatives still support. Robertson now says that the drug war “just hasn’t succeeded,” and marijuana should be regulated by alcohol.

Rachel Maddow Should Run for Something

Perhaps I’ve been too hard on Rachel Maddow in the past. Her trip to Afghanistan two years ago was too sympathetic to the military perspective, I believed. But time passes and, after a look at her new book, Drift, I now hope she will run for national office, or at least threaten to do so. She has the smarts and charm to get there, and would be her generation’s leading critic of our insane, imbalanced military priorities. She does so more in the spirit of Mark Twain than Noam Chomsky.

LA Times Resists Pentagon Censorship Pressure

Peace advocates, whose calls for an Afghanistan withdrawal are supported by nearly 70 percent of the American people, appreciate David Zucchino, Laura King and the Los Angeles Times for refusing Pentagon demands that the paper not publish photos of grinning American soldiers posing with “trophy” body parts of dead Afghans.

Police, Student Protesters and Pepper Spray

In the most comprehensive official report on police tactics towards campus anti-tuition protests since the Occupy movement broke out last year, a University of California investigation concludes, “The pepper spraying incident that took place on November 18, 2011 should and could have been prevented.”

In Close Election, Third Parties Might Threaten Obama and Democratic Majority

As the 2012 war for the presidency intensifies, it appears that Barack Obama leads in the popular vote but is threatened with defeat in the Electoral College, making the turnout levels and votes of undecided progressives, independents, and liberal Democrats, crucially important in swing districts and states this fall.

Zimmerman: It's Cheaper to Send the "Enemies" to College

Bill Zimmerman, the longtime strategist against failed wars, calculates that we could give every Afghanistan family at least $59,444 instead of killing thousands of people in an unaffordable war.

A Protest of NATO From NATO Countries

Peace movements in every country are raising their voices against the war in Afghanistan in advance of the May 18-20 NATO summit in Chicago. Some will converge on Chicago, while others will march in NATO capitols. Two-thirds of the public in NATO countries now opposes the war, and most of their governments are anxious to withdraw if a face-saving path can be found.

FBI Approved Bending, Suspending Civil Liberties for Arab-Americans

FBI agents were advised that they could "bend or suspend the law and impinge on freedoms" of Muslims and Arab-Americans during the past decade of the war-on-terrorism, according to documents first revealed by Wired magazine and later examined in a Senate hearing. Attorney General Eric Holder criticized the training materials, which an FBI spokesman called "inartful." Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) condemned the advisory material in a letter last week.