David Swanson's Blog, page 218
May 17, 2011
Obama Follows Advice of Rumsfeld's Lawyer
Eight years ago, Donald Rumsfeld asked Jim Haynes whether they should seek new legislation on detainee treatment "so we get off the hook legally." Rumsfeld's request and Haynes' response are here: PDF.
Haynes admitted that legislation could "reduce arbitrariness" but warned that by asking for legislation a precedent would be set for future presidents. In addition, Haynes cautioned, legislation might "limit the President's ability . . . to gather intelligence from those detained at GTMO."
May 16, 2011
Will California's 36th District Vote for War or Peace This Week?
Please phone someone in Los Angeles now and tell them to vote and volunteer for Marcy Winograd tomorrow.
Here's why:
Here's the footage discussed above:
Two-thirds of America wants the war on Afghanistan ended. Veterans for Peace asked the candidates in this Tuesday's special election to sign a commitment not to fund more war. Marcy Winograd agreed to sign. Janice Hahn and Debra Bowen made up lame excuses for not signing. Watch the videos above.
Here's who lives in the 36th district:
http://winogradforcongress.com/2011/map
Here's Marcy's site:
http://winogradforcongress.com/2011
PS to LA Peace Activists who are not backing Marcy: please, no whining about your warmonger representative if Marcy loses, and no claiming they don't represent you.
60 More Days in Libya: Obama Does Bush Lawyers Proud
Now we know why Obama has gone to such outrageous lengths to keep Bush's lawyers out of prison, claiming powers of secrecy and immunity beyond Cheney's wildest dreams and pressuring foreign nations to clamp down on any outbreaks of law enforcement.
If the Bush lawyers who "legalized" aggressive war, lawless imprisonment, and torture were not consulted on how to keep the war in Libya going in perpetuity, they were certainly the inspiration for the latest White House brainstorming session.
Remember when Alberto Gonzales claimed that the U.S. Constitution gives no one the right to habeas corpus by merely asserting that if you had that right it could not be taken away? Amateur work.
May 15, 2011
May 14, 2011
Of Humans and Rights
U.S. newspapers sometimes print what they call the total death count from one or more of our wars, and all the dead who are listed are Americans. They aren't all the Americans. They don't include contractors or suicides or various other categories of dead Americans. They certainly don't include those who died for lack of basic needs while we dumped half of our public treasury into wars.
May 12, 2011
Congressman Jim McGovern Promises a Public Whip List of Congress Members Who Will Vote No on Any More War $
I've been asking for a congress member to do this for years. This is the first time one has said they would.
http://twitter.com/#!/RepMcGovern/sta...
I tweeted this: Will you form a public whip list of members who will vote against any more war $? If not, why not?
@RepMcGovern tweeted: @davidcnswanson We're working on putting a list together now.
Good news indeed.
Afghanistan: War Without End?
Obama promised no open-ended occupation – and to draw down forces from July. A 2.5% cut is hardly an encouraging start
David Swanson
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 May 2011 19.31 BST
General David Petraeus, commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, greets US defence secretary Robert Gates upon his arrival in Kabul, March 2011. Photograph: Pool/Reuters
Afghanistan was supposed to be the campaign promise that President Barack Obama actually kept. He said he would escalate that war, and sure enough he did. Is he now going back on promises he's made as president, by proposing to withdraw 2.5% of US forces in July?
Here are the relevant promises:
"After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home … [O]ur troop commitment in Afghanistan cannot be open-ended – because the nation that I'm most interested in building is our own." – President Barack Obama, 1 December 2009
"I'm confident that the withdrawal will be significant. People will say this is a real process of transition; this is not just a token gesture." – President Barack Obama, 15 April 2011
"In July of 2011, you're going to see a whole lot of people moving out, bet on it." – Vice President Joe Biden, quoted in Jonathan Alter's The Promise
But let's first review how we got here. When loyal Democrats heard candidate Obama say he would escalate the war as president, they mistakenly understood him to say he would end it. Progressive bloggers have planned a panel for next month to discuss their disappointment with this "broken promise" that was actually kept.
Speaker sensing danger
By Lee Shearer, Athens Banner-Herald
Humanity seems bent on destroying itself, according to David Swanson, the featured speaker for this year's 33rd annual Athens Human Rights Festival.
"I think our country and our world are headed in very dangerous directions," said blogger, author and anti-war activist David Swanson - growing ill-will, resentment and antagonism among peoples, continuing proliferation of deadly weapons, and humanity's seeming march toward extinction through environmental destruction.
May 11, 2011
United Airlines Apologizes for Celebrating the Killing of Bin Laden
When a United Airlines pilot of a flight I was on celebrated the killing of Osama bin Laden, and I blogged about it, my friend Emily Levy urged me to complain to the airline. So I did. Here's their response, followed by what I had sent them.
Dear Mr. Swanson:
Thank you for contacting us. We are currently experiencing a high volume of emails, and I offer my apology for the delayed response to your message.
May 10, 2011
Harvey Wasserman on How We'll Survive and Succeed
TRANSCRIPT:
DAVID SWANSON: Okay, we're recording, this is David Swanson, I'm speaking with Harvey Wasserman, long time wonderful activist, author, author among other of wonderful books of "Solartopia," and Harvey, you were emailing me yesterday a little bit about success stories. Do you want to elaborate?
