David Swanson's Blog, page 239
January 4, 2011
New York City Tonight
David Swanson with new book "War Is A Lie"
http://warisalie.org
Jan. 4, 2011, 7:00 p.m., McNally Jackson Bookstore, 52 Prince St. (b/t Lafayette & Mulberry), NYC.
With Mark Crispin Miller.
Free.
January 3, 2011
Meet the New Imperial Court, Same As the Old Imperial Court
By David Swanson, Euro Atlantic Quarterly
One of the mistakes that foreigners make about the United States, millions of Americans make themselves with much less justification: they overestimate the difference between members of the Democratic and Republican Parties in Washington, D.C.
The two parties scream at each other on television quite a lot and attract supporters who come from two very different cultures. But over half of every dollar of income tax in the United States is spent on the military, and that number reliably increases every single year regardless of who is in power.
January 2, 2011
In New York City on Tuesday to Do GRIT TV, United Nations TV, and Public Event with Mark Crispin Miller
Join us to talk about "War Is A Lie"
Jan. 4, 2011, 7:00 p.m.
McNally Jackson Bookstore, 52 Prince St. (b/t Lafayette & Mulberry), NYC.
With Mark Crispin Miller.
January 1, 2011
What Do Afghans Think of the War? Ask Them!
By David Swanson
Americans are down to 35% supporting the war on Afghanistan. The trouble is that our government officials, media pundits, and newspaper editors are part of the 35% and feel no particular obligation to represent the rest of us. And they repeat the same nonsensical justifications for the war so often that we imagine they're 90% instead of the 35% they are or the 20% they should be pretty soon if current trends continue. And one of their main arguments is that the war is good for the people of Afghanistan.
December 30, 2010
JANUARY 15 1991-JANUARY15 2011: 20 YEARS OF U.S. WAR ON IRAQ!
COME TO WASHINGTON, D.C. SATURDAY, JANUARY 15, 2011 TO COMMEMORATE THE U.S. SLAUGHTER OF IRAQ, AND REDEDICATE OUR LIVES TO LIVING OUT DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.’S DREAM OF ABOLISHING WAR AND INJUSTICE.
It's Gonna Be a Real Peace Gathering in Baltimore
Here's a poster/flyer: PDF
David Swanson to Discuss, Sign Copies of "War Is A Lie" in Baltimore, Md.
January 10, 2011
7:00 p.m.
Barnes & Noble Johns Hopkins Bookstore
3330 St. Paul Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
(410) 662-5850
Special guests:
Andy Worthington, author of "Guantanamo Files"
Debra Sweet, director of The World Can't Wait
Cindy Sheehan, the Peace Mom
and other surprises!
Cosponsors:
Pledge of Resistance Baltimore
Chesapeake Citizens
Voters for Peace
Progressive Democrats of America/Maryland
Generations for Peace and Democracy
Indypendent Reader
Give Peace
Peace and counter-recruitment groups are distributing copies of War Is A Lie where they can do the most good. And an admirer of the book is sending copies to every member of Congress and other decision makers (with your personal notes to them included). You can contribute to either or both of these efforts with your donation (and include your notes) here.
Non-Paypal service coming very soon.
"Not since General Smedley Butler's War is a Racket has a simpler, more brilliant, or truer book been published." — Geoffrey Millard, Iraq Veterans Against the War.
"I've been reading a bit of this book every night since I got it. The effect it's having on me is hard to explain. Like I've been born into a cult whether or not I want it, but now the lies are being washed away by the rain." — John Bostrom
Organizations Supplied With Book and Still in Need of Copies
Safe Passage Network, Atlanta, Ga. - sent 10 free books
Peaceful Vocations, Fort Worth, Texas - sent 10 free books
Columbia River Fellowship for Peace: Project Full Disclosure, Hood River, Oreg. - sent 10 free books
Veterans for Peace Chapter 27, Minneapolis, Minn. - sent 10 free books
Addison County Citizens for Alternatives to Military Solutions, Cornwall, Vt. - needs 10 books
Rogue Valley Peace Veterans, Talent, Oreg. - needs 10 books
Sustainable Options for Youth, Austin, Texas - needs 10 books
A High School teacher and member of Santa Fe Veterans for Peace - needs 10 books
CHOICES, Washington, D.C. - needs 30 books to place in school libraries
Coalition for Peace & Justice, Linwood, N.J. - needs 30 books
Peace Action of San Mateo County, Calif. - needs 10 books
Citizen Soldier, New York, N.Y. - needs 10 books
Comite Anti-Militarizacion, Chicago, Ill. - needs 10 books
Buffalo Veterans for Peace and Peacejammers - needs 10 books
To add an organization, send name, purpose, and mailing address.
Officials Sent the Book and Still in Need of Copies
Still need:
Every member of the U.S. House of Representatives
Every member of the U.S. Senate
The President
The Vice President
Every member of the Cabinet
The National Security Advisor
Every member of the U.S. Supreme Court
(You can include a note to any of these people to accompany their copy of the book)
Non-Paypal service coming very soon.
December 29, 2010
Identifying the Districts the Peace Movement Should Focus On
Here's a post by Robert Naiman that provides a useful list of the most Democratic congressional districts in which the incumbent has supported wars, and a list of districts where the incumbent showed some very minimal pretense of interest in peace but was defeated last month.
Naiman's analysis, in my opinion, needs tweaking, but is nonetheless a great place to start. It needs tweaking because, rather than looking at the list of congressmembers who have voted against funding war or escalation, he looks at the list of those who have supported toothless deferential requests to the royal throne to consider ending the war in Afghanistan at any unspecified time in the future. This may give us the list of those who need the least pressure from the peace movement, or it may not. Moving some of these people from a position that defers to the president to one that asserts power may be harder than moving others from war support to real war opposition. In any case, neither the list Naiman uses nor the one I suggest as superior gives us a list of congress members who need no pressure at all. (The most recent funding vote involved no White House pressure for yes votes and no likelihood of defeat.) Our energy might be better spent firming up some of those who are closer to backing peace than trying to convert some of the militarists. But the existence of anything that might be called "our energy" is a wonderful thing in iteself, wherever it is to be found, and it cannot necessarily be moved around to suit our priorities, and it is not a finite substance.
