The liar Valda Jean Combs:
This contrasts with Bill and Hillary Clinton. Both have marginalized Obama at different times with statements such as: "He gives good speeches," "he's not electable," "he's another Jesse Jackson" and most recently "hard working whites support me." It's an encoded drumbeat that spreads the message that Obama is "not like us."
Betty (Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man) asked me to please the note above ("Obama wins Sojourner Truth's vote") because we're doing an article on Liar Valda at Third this weekend. Valda who thinks she can lie then, thinks she can lie now as well. She's trying to give mouth-to-mouth to the Unity Pony and get everyone on board with Saint Barack. Not happening and no one's going to fall for her lies. She's a liar. SHe put things in quotes that were never said or she edited them. Valda just a stupid liar. She lied to attack Bill and Hillary Clinton by making quotes out of her own personal paranoia and now she thinks she can show up and speak woman-to-woman to all the 'ladies.' Blow it out your ass, Valda, no one's falling for your bulls**t.
You used lies in the excerpt above and you're still lying today. No sale, Valda, peddle your wares somewhere else.
In the real world, Austin Cassidy's Independent Political Report informs that 46% of those polled want Ralph Nader in the debates and 55% want Bob Barr.
So why won't they let Ralph in the debate already (and Bob Barr and Cynthia McKinney)? I'm sure that if they polled on whether John McCain or Barack Obama should be included in the debates, their numbers would be similar to Ralph and Bob Barr's.
Ralph Nader was on NPR's Talk of the Nation Wednesday and I'm grabbing this section that C.I. transcribed in the Thursday snapshot:
Ralph Nader: This campaign stands for a whole number of changes and redirections that are supported by a majority of the American people. We're the only ones who are standing for full Medicare for all, for a living wage, for cutting the bloated, wasteful military budgets full of so much contracting fraud that's offending tax payers. We want to cut down tax payer coherced subsidies to corporations, you know the hand outs giveaways bailouts of crooked Wall Street firms. We want to open up the presidential debates. Why are we rationing debates? We don't ration weather reports, do we?
Neil Conan: No.
Ralph Nader: Or entertainment or sports. And we want to shift the tax burden more to things that society likes the least or dislikes the most like security derivative speculation pollution, gambling, addictive industries before you first tax human labor. And we want to crack down on corporate crime, fraud and abuse. And, you know, public radio's reported that -- repeatedly stealing people's pensions, ripping off their savings, their mutal funds -- all of this has been reported and the major party candidates, McCain and Obama, are taking these issues off the table. They don't have a corporate crime crackdown, law and order, against these crooks. They don't have a decent tax reform. They don't want to open up the presidential debates. They don't want full Medicare for all which even a majority of doctors want in a recent poll and a majority of the American people giving you free choice of doctor and hospital cutting out a lot of wasteful bureacratic expenses. And they really don't have a plan to get out of Iraq and they want to expand the Afghanistan War. So we really have a very broad agenda for people to sink their teeth in and say, "What's left for us to decide as the people? Is there anything left for us to decide as these corporations have hijacked our government and control about every department and agency?" That's what we're saying to the American people: If you don't take it over, if you don't win your government back, if you don't vote for people you believe in who have a record of accomplishment and a good platform which you can see on VoteNader.org, what's left for you to decide? I mean, these two parties don't represent you in area after area. Their drum is beaten by the big corporations.
We don't need to ration the debates anymore than we need to ration democracy. Excluding candidates from a debate does not take place in a functioning democracy.
I had an e-mail (from Jody, don't know him or her) saying Kimberly Wilder also linked to the editorial we did at Third. Jody, you didn't include the link. You can visit On The Wilder Side and hunt it down and also find out about Cynthia McKinney whom Wilder is supporting.
So there's a link to Kimberly's site. I don't have time to visit. I'm blogging fast tonight with the hopes that I can then work on a CD review to post this weekend at The Common Ills. I was carrying a note pad around with me and, if it goes up, it's going to have to be one of those times when C.I. looks at all my rough notes, cuts them into paragraphs and we paste them together on sheets of paper. I really thought by having the notepad with me all week I'd be able to write up three CD reviews. I didn't even get one. That's because there's no free time despite what people always think. After we're done speaking, I'm talking to the group about Iraq or whatever they want to (often it's music). Then it's time to head to the next speaking gig. I suppose I could write as we drove but I like driving and am always behind the wheel. By the time I'm done in the evening (I usually skip the night time speaking gigs and take a cab back to the hotel or they drop me off at the hotel on the way to the next gig), I'm wiped out and still have to come here and blog something. When I get that done, I've got nothing left and am drained. I'm hoping to finish the review tonight and then I'll just have to worry about editing. (And I will be asking C.I. for help there.) This one's not a rave, just FYI. I think the CD has gotten enough feather kisses. It's not that great. The other two I want to review are two I love.
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Friday, August 15, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more deaths, Ralph Nader keeps issues on the table and more.
Starting with war resistance. Wednesday US war resister Jeremy Hinzman learned that the Canadian government has ordered him out of that country by September 23rd. Today he appeared on Democracy Now! where Juan Gonzalez and Amy Goodman interviewed him.
JEREMY HINZMAN: Well, essentially, it turns our lives upside down. We, as you said, just had a baby [daughter Megahn]. Our son [Liam] knows nothing else aside from Canada. And if we do go back, which it's looking like, I will undoubtedly be court-martialed and serve some time in jail.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Is there any appeal process left to you yet that might delay the September 23rd deadline?
JEREMY HINZMAN: There is. It's not guaranteed that we'll be granted leave to appeal, but if my lawyer can find errors in the compassionate and humanitarian decision that the Canadian Border Services rendered, then we can--we can appeal. But there's no guarantee that the court will grant us leave.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And what were the arguments the court used in rejecting your appeal?
JEREMY HINZMAN: Well, in a compassionate and humanitarian case, you need to show that there would be undue hardship if you returned to your country of origin, and we--and you also need to show that you've been established in Canada and can live independently. And we did that. In the decision, the officer said we've established ourselves well in Canada. We haven't been a hindrance to the social assistance programs. But he said that wasn't enough for us to stay. He said the US has a fair justice system. My First Amendment right to free speech is protected. And they also mentioned that--for whatever reason, I don't know--they mentioned George Bush's No School Left Behind program to say that our son would be able to get a good education. I found that kind of humorous.
[. . .]
JUAN GONZALEZ: Have you maintained ties with other US war resisters who are in Canada, who have gone there in recent years?
JEREMY HINZMAN: There are a number of us in Toronto, and I am acquainted with them. There's a movement called the War Resisters Support Campaign that's been active pretty much since we got here, and we have meetings, and there's been a lot of lobbying in support of us. And on June 3rd, the Canadian parliament passed a nonbinding motion by a vote of 137-to-110 saying that US war resisters should be able to remain in Canada. However, the conservative government is refusing to enact the legislation.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Now, Canada, of course, has a long history of giving refugee status to resisters from American wars. Obviously, during the Vietnam War, there were many who went there. How would you characterize the difference between this government's treatment of war resisters and what you know of past times?
JEREMY HINZMAN: Well, during the Vietnam era, of course, Pierre Trudeau, who was a liberal, was in power, and he famously stated--at least up here--that Canada should be a haven from militarism, and that kind of opened the floodgates for American soldiers to come to Canada. I think 50,000 eventually settled here. Right now, there's a conservative minority government. Canada has a parliamentary system, and they hold the balance of power. And I wouldn't say they're lapdogs to the US, but they share many of the same values of the Bush administration and aren't really sympathetic to what we're doing.
AP files another story where they quote Jeremy stating, "I went through all the training. I served honorably in my unit. I used army provisions to try become a noncombatant and remain in the army as a medic or something, but I still would be subject to going on combat missions as a medic. I can't bring myself to shoot another person. If people want to criticize me for that, then I'm honored to be criticized because I'm not a killer."
Jeremy Hinzman and other war resisters in Canada need support and to pressure the Stephen Harper government to honor the House of Commons vote, Gerry Condon, War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist all encourage contacting the Diane Finley (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration -- 613.996.4974, phone; 613.996.9749, fax; e-mail http://thecommonills.blogspot.com/mc/compose?to=finley.d@parl.gc.ca -- that's "finley.d" at "parl.gc.ca") and Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, 613.992.4211, phone; 613.941.6900, fax; e-mail http://thecommonills.blogspot.com/mc/compose?to=pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's "pm" at "pm.gc.ca"). Courage to Resist collected more than 10,000 letters to send before the vote. Now they've started a new letter you can use online here. The War Resisters Support Campaign's petition can be found here. Long expulsion does not change the need for action and the War Resisters Support Campaign explains: "The War Resisters Support Campaign is calling on supporters across Canada to urgently continue to put pressure on the minority conservative government to immediately cease deportation proceedings against other US war resisters and to respect the will of Canadians and their elected representatives by implementing the motion adopted by Parliament on June 3rd. Please see the take action page for what you can do." The War Resisters Support Campaign has called an "Emergency Meeting to Stop the Deportation of Jeremy Hinzman and his family, Wednesday August 20 at 7 p.m. at the Steelworkers Hall, 25, Cecil Street" (Toronto) and encourages everyone to "Read the War Resisters Support Campaign press release and circulate it widely
James Burmeister is a US war resister. He is the whistle blower who went to Canada and told the world (or those who would listen) about the kill teams. Last month, Dee Knight's "Army court-martials resister for blowing whistle on 'bait-and-kill'" (Workers World) offered an overview of Burmeister's court-martial providing the context and why the US military brass wanted to silence him. Today Evan Kornfeld (US Socialist Worker) also offers a look at James court-martial (James was not deported or extradited, he returned to the US from Canada of his own accord earlier this year and was court-martialed July 16th):
The Eugene Weekly has pointed out that of the 4,698 soldiers who have been charged with desertion in 2007, only 108 have been convicted. [Erich] Burmeister, James' father, believes that his son was prosecuted as punishment for speaking out about the bait and kill teams.After the trial, at which he testified on his son's behalf, he said, "I obviously now believe that James has been made an example to the rest of the soldiers and to the rest of those who dare think about what James did, that the punishment can be quite severe."
Courage to Resist has noted that "The PFC James Burmeister Support Campaign can be reached at letjamesbefree@gmail.com" and that he can receive mail at this address:
James Burmeister
Box A
Fort Knox, KY 40121
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Yovany Rivero, William Shearer, Michael Thurman, Andrei Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
Turning to Iraq. Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) reports that the death toll for yesterday's bombing attack on pilgrims is 20 "and it raised the specter of more bloodshed as the pilgrimage route becomes crowded before the event Saturday." Sami al-Jumaili (Reuters) explains that "Despite the [security] precautions, Kerbala is bracing for the worst. Local health director Alaa Hammoudi said that 40 medical units were standing by, and that extra hospital beds were made ready. Near the mosque, makeshift clinics were set up in tents and trailers. Some pilgrims donated blood." Campbell Robertson and Riyadh Muhammed (New York Times) quote an eye witness to yesterday's bombing, Ali, who explains, "I saw smoke, and I smelled the very bad smell of burned flesh and blood. The reactions were a little less than at the last blast maybe because they already have been shocked." Sudarsan Raghavan and Saad Sarhan (Washington Post) cite Iskandariyah police chief Ali al-Zahawi insisting there is "a shortage of female police officers in the town". And why is that? Hey, remember when women were being purged? Remember when female police officers were informed they could not carry fire arms? And remember how the pig and thug and puppet Nouri al-Maliki was pleased as punch with all of that and shocked when a few (very few reports) objections were raised? The puppet needs the illegal war to stay in power. And the White House doesn't give a damn about the rights of Iraqi women. So it was the perfect blend for pigs everywhere. Anna Badkhen (Salon) reports that, even in the crack-downed Baghdad, "women here still feel threatened. One can't yet see a pervasive shift in the way women dress. They continue to wear the conservative clothing that the militias began compelling them to wear after the U.S. invasion. Most women remain cocooned in shapeless, black abaya dresses and hijab scarves that covered their hair. . . . Before the war, Tammy says, she could walk down the streets of her hometown, the southern and heavily Shia Iraqi port city of Basra, dressed like most teenagers in the United States -- in jeans and no head scarf. Saddam Hussein's regime was one of the world's most despotic, but it was secular and allowed Iraqi women personal rights and freedoms unparalleled in the Persian Gulf. Women, who make up more than half of the country's populartion, could drive, travel abroad alone, serve in Iraqi security forces and work side-by-side with men. They chose whom to marry and whether to marry at all, and were among the most educated in the region. . . . After the U.S. invasion in 2003, conservative Muslim clerics called for Iraq to become an Islamic state. In the name of Islamic values, they eroded the liberties women here enjoyed even under Saddam's oppressive regime. Schools, once coed, became segregated by gender; women were afraid to go outside without a head scarf. As sectarian violence engulfed Baghdad and other parts of the country in 2006, it brought in its wake even more constraints on women's freedoms." And the White House didn't just let it happen, they encouraged and, in fact, still encourage it. At a time when female bombers are said to be the biggest threat to stability in Iraq (foreign forces on the ground in Iraq are the biggest threat to the country's stability), the US military actively recruits women into their "Awakening" Councils and yet -- despite a supposed need which should be driving the market forces -- they pay these women 20% less than their male counterparts. No one objects. No one calls it out. And it reinforces the message to those installed into power in Iraq (by the US) that women are not equal and that their worth is less than that of a man's.
Helen Benedict (In These Times) reports on the increased number of sexual assaults in the US military -- women serving assaulted and abused by their "comrades-in-arms" -- and notes that "the attention always focuses on the women: where they were when assaulted, their relations with the assailant, the effects on their mental health and careers, whether they are being adequately helped, and so on. That discussion, as valuable as it is, misses a fundamental point. To understand military sexual assault, let alone know how to stop it, we must focus on the perpetrators. We need to ask: Why do soldiers rape?" It's the culture of the institution (which includes looking the other way) and that institution has had a bigger impact than any other US institution in Iraq.
Institutions, organizations. How does the peace movement ever plan to be effective in the US with such sorry-ass 'leaders.' Tom Hayden shows up to soil his own name at The Nation this week with "The Defunding of the Peace Movement." He pretends to be talking straight (no doubt inflicting howls of laughter from all who know Tom-Tom) and pretends like Barack has pledged to end the illegal war. Barack has pledged no such thing. He might reduce the number of US forces in Iraq (to send them to Afghanistan) but he has not called for all US troops out of Iraq -- and long ago refused to promise in a televised debate that, if elected president, all US troops would be out of Iraq by 2012. Tom-Tom's heart-heart races for Barack so he lies and lies. The problem, as Tom-Tom sees it, is that people aren't giving money to peace organizations. Or 527s. 527s? No, those are not peace organizations but Tom was never a peace leader. Not now, not back then. He was always someone lusting after a political career and that motivated him then and does so now. It's always been about setting Tom's end up. He talks to Leslie Cagan of UPFJ and she's wondering what her organization could do with $100,000? More of the same, Leslie, absolutely nothing. Say it again.
When UPFJ (not one of the worst offenders in my opinion) had more money it didn't change the way they operated. At best, they were silent on John Kerry. Other orgs and 'leaders' made it their life's work to shill for his 2004 election. If UPFJ is facing fund shortages it goes to the lousy leadership they've shown since the start of the illegal war. Engaging in their sniping with A.N.S.W.E.R. which is fine if it's just an open debate but is not fine when it prevents actions from taking place. There has not been a huge peace rally since January 2007. No one's in the mood to give one damn dime to any of these useless organizations. (IVAW remains the only organization that is working at ending the illegal war.) They all go rushing off to "War With Iran Tomorrow!" or "Saint Bhutto Has Died!" or one hundred and one other causes while they abandon Iraq. (Again, my opinion, UPFJ has not been the worst offender there. CODESTINK has been the worst and the most hypocritical. UPFJ has tended to go for silence as opposed to hawking non-peace events/candidates.) Barack's greedy. How surprising that people are just now grasping that. How pathetic that Leslie's going to whine to Tom-Tom instead of taking to the UPFJ website to state, "We are an organization trying to end the illegal war. We are not endorsing any candidate. We are endorsing the end of the Iraq War. If you are with us on that, we could use some donations to continue this struggle." Tom-Tom lies as well and claims, "The Obama finance committee is under more pressure, literally, to pay Hillary Clinton's debt to Mark Penn than to fund any messages on war, recession and global warming." Tom Hayden, you sexist pig, drop the Bash The Bitch games. At your age, it only makes you look older, uglier and more pathetic. Barack hasn't done a damn thing to retire Clinton's debt (and Hillary has stated that she's paying off small vendors first). That joint-appearance where he gave the speech and 'forgot' to ask people to donate to Hillary and only returned to the stage when reporters questioned him on it? He's done nothing to help her with her debt and shame on you, a man who'd be living on the streets were it not for his divorce settlement, for pretending otherwise and yet again trying to make it all about Hillary. Your Lover Man has failed you Tom. Your limp and inactive and it has nothing to do with Hillary. You fell in love with Barack and he broke your heart. Those are the breaks, grow the hell up before senility sets in.
Or has that already happened. Tom-Tom was one of the signers of that ridiculous ass-kiss to Barack from The Nation. As we observed at Third:
Because The Nation is run by the brain dead and the socially stunted today, they decide to copy that with an open letter. (They only know how to do what was done before, no visionaries or dreamers they.) The open letter is called "Change *We* Can Believe In" and if the starring of "We" didn't indicate to you there was a lot of ego tripping going down, you only had to read the names of those who signed on to the garbage -- including non-Democrat Frances Fox Piven (billed as Francis Piven -- what happened, she looked in a mirror?), The Ego Of Us All's Red Buddy who pimped her hard to The New York Times and did more to lie for Friedan than even she herself did, Democratic Groupie (in the worst sense of "groupie" in the rock world) Norm Solomon, Tom-Tom Hayden (still fretting about the 1969 violence we pointed out recently), Red Billy Fletcher, Take Me To My Divorce Pay Day! Jodie Evans, Emma Goldman lookalike Barbara Ehrenreich, Does-Marlo-Know-You-Signed-That-Garbage Phil Donahue, School Girl Katrina vanden Heuvel (who reportedly came up with the embarrassing phrase "the long night of greed" -- to which C.I. responded, "Oh, she's turned her hand to autobigoraphy?") and, yes, Howard Zinn.
At Dissident Voice, John Walsh calls out that nonsense:
The letter is also frankly dishonest when it says that Obama is simply moving to a more "centrist stance" In what sense "centrist"? The war is wildly unpopular and close to 70% of Americans want the U.S. out of Iraq asap. What is "centrist" about moving away from a landslide majoritarian position? And what is the "peace" candidate doing when he calls for 100,000 more active duty army and marines, when he calls for more military spending, when he calls for stepping up the war on Afghanistan, when he talks belligerently about Iran, and when he equivocates on how many tens of thousands of troops are to be left in Iraq? All these are positions that the "peace" candidate took during the primary. They are not new.
[. . .]
What is awfully irritating is that Katrina Vanden Heuval and the rest of the "liberal" elite criticize supporters of McKinney/Clemente and Nader/Gonzalez for "wishful thinking." Compared to the sentiments and views of the supplicants' letter, supporters of third party candidates are hard core realists. And it is very sad to see some of the signatories of this letter who in better times would have been men and women who put principle over "lesser evil" politics. Read the letter carefully. Look at the signatories. It may bring tears.
Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports pilgrims continue to be targeted with a Baghdad roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 (nine more wounded), a Baghdad mortar attack left two people wounded, another Baghdad roadside bombing left six people wounded, and a Salahudding car bombing that claimed 5 lives (twenty more wounded).
Shootings?
Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports an armed clash in Kirkuk that resulted in 1 death and an Al Anbar Province assassination attempt on "Sheikh Kahmees Al-Dulaimi, the Imam of one of the mosques in Falluja" who was taken to the hospital for medical care
Today the US military announced: "A Multi-National Force -- West Marine was killed Aug. 14 when his unit received small-arms fire during security operations approximately 1 km east of Fallujah." And they announced: "A Multi-National Corps-Iraq Soldier died of non-battle related causes Aug. 15 in Baghdad. An investigation into the cause of death is under way." That brings the total number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war to 4143 and the death toll for the month thus far is 16 -- which is 3 more than the July total that all the news outlets thought was news.
Neil Conan: We're talking with independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader here at the Newseum. I'm Neil Conan along with NPR Political Junkie Ken Rudin. If you'd like to join us, 800-989-8255 e-mail talk@npr.org. This is Talk of the Nation from NPR News. And let's get a question from here in the Newseum.
Patty: Hi, good afternoon. I'm Patty from San Francisco, California and as a retired public school principal I'd like to know your views on No Child Left Behind. And I'd also like to know what your education platform is.
Ralph Nader: Well the way No Child Left Behind has been implemented is not good. First of all, there are too many tests. It ruptures the relationship between teachers and students -- they've got to have a test Tuesday and a test Thursday. They're the wrong kind of tests in my opinion: A, B, C, D, "None of the above." That's not the assessment test that I think are better evaluators They make teachers teach to the test. It's this frantic test mania. It creates unnecessary anxiety among children. So I'm against it. Teachers are against it too. A lot of people think it was underfunded and I think the key thing in environmental agenda for a presidential candidate is more decent facilities -- I mean a lot of these inner-city schools are crumbling, we have gleaming stadiums funded by you the tax payer in the same cities the schools, and clinics and libraries are crumbling. The second thing is decent pay for competent teachers. They should be assessed too. And the third is citizen skills, civic skills. We should teach students connecting the classroom with their town with their community so they can learn about the history, the geography, economics, government of their town and in the process learn citizen skills. How to use the Freedom of Information Act in your state, how to build coalitions, how to get information from City Hall. How to do comparative price analysis of staples in supermarket. That's what makes student learn indirectly reading, writing and arithmetic. I hope a lot of teachers will . . . push to replace No Child Left Behind with this kind or practical and down to earth and very exciting educational process.
Neil Conan: Thanks for the question. Let's go the phones, line six, and Mike is with us from Boca Raton in Florida.
Mike: Good morning or good afternoon. Mister candidate, considering what's happened since the year 2000, don't you think that your candidacy creates too much of a risk of unintended consequences based on your past performance?
Ralph Nader: Well the social scientists who studied that say that [Al] Gore won the election, he won the popular vote. The electoral college stood in his way and the press investigations and others in Florida indicate, and Gore believes this, that he won Florida but it was taken from him before, during and after election day in all kinds of tricky ways that have been subject to documentaries and investigations, to the five Republicans in the Supreme Court who selected George Bush. I keep saying to Democrats "Look in the mirror Go after the thieves because they might do it again and there was a lot of shenanigans in Ohio -- the swing state that left Kerry behind --
Mike: You obviously can't win. Which of the two candidates would you prefer to be president. The other two candidates.
Ralph Nader: The ones that are closer to the agenda of Nader - Gonzalez and we don't have time to go through a checklist but if you want to look at VoteNader.org we have a sheet which says these are the issues on the table for Nader - Gonzalez -- like full health insurance -- and they're off the table for McCain and Obama. It's quite remarkable how similar they are on about 15 major re-directions for country and the reason is they've been dialing too much for corporate dollars and they're too close to these corporate interests.
Mike: Well you know, I'm all for anyone being able to run but candidly we can't stand another eight years of George Bush, McCain and that crowd.
Ralph Nader: Nor can we. In fact if Al Gore picked up my withering criticism in detail of Bush's record in Texas when he was governor, he'd have won even over the obstacles that these Republican illegally put in his way.
Team Nader has set up Ralph's Daily Audio to leave audio commentaries and the one that went up today is entitled "Impeachment:"
This is Ralph Nader. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are the most impeachable president and vice president in the history of the United States. The Constitution of the United States structures our democracy within the rule of law. Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senator Barack Obama and their Republican associates are seriously subverting the rule of law by blocking the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
Bill Clinton must be shaking his head in wonderment. High Crimes and Misdemeanors are what get a president impeached. That's in Article II, Section IV of our Constitution. Let's consider the case of Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney.
High crimes and misdemeanor number one: The criminal war, invasion and occupation of Iraq in violation of our Constitution, federal statutes and international treaties that our country belongs to. The second is systemic torture condoned at the top of our government. That even violates the US Army Field Manual as well as FBI procedures. High crimes and misdemeanor number three: the arrests and imprisonment of thousands of Americans without charges, denying ha beaus corpus the fundamental requirement for a restraining power to show why the liberty of a person is being restrained. High crimes and misdemeanor number four: spying on millions of Americans without a judicial warrant. This one violates the FISA Act which provides for a five-year jail term. High crimes and misdemeanor number five are all those signing statements that George W. Bush declared when he signed one bill after another from Congress saying that it would be up to him to decide whether or not to obey the law. I guess one could call him King George IV.
The American Bar Association, the largest barre association in the world, quite conservative, has sent three major reports to President George W. Bush outlining his serious violations of provisions in our Constitution. I stood in front of the White House for 45 minutes a few weeks ago and declared the reasons for the impeachment or resignation or subsequent prosecution of Bush and Cheney for the five categories of High Crimes and Misdemeanors.
If we allow rampant, recidivist criminal activity in the White House -- as Speaker Pelosi, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have done week after week, month after month -- that'll simply set the stage for future presidents to think that they too can break the law with impunity and run our civil liberties, our civil rights, our safety, our freedoms, our status before the world into the ground. I'm Ralph Nader.
Friday (in most markets, check local listings), Bill Moyers sits down with Andrew Bacevich to discuss the imperial impresidency. PBS tonight (and throughout the weekend depending on when your local station airs it) will also feature Washington Week. Janine Zacharia (Bloomberg News) will be among the guests. She's been doing a ton of research on refugees so she should be able to pull that into her topic (the positions of Barack and McCain), Todd S. Purdum (Vanity Fair) will discuss the upcoming Democratic National Convention (will Gwen or anyone mention the Nadar Super Rally that will take place in Denver August 27th?), and Jeffrey Birnbaum (Washington Post) will be among the guests (Birnbuam will be addressing campaign monies and laws). And NOW on PBS explores the US and Mexican border.
iraqjeremy hinzman
james burmeisterrobin longevan kornfeldt
democracy nowjuan gonzalez
dee knight
tina susmanthe los angeles timesthe new york timescampbell robertsonriyadh muhammedthe washington postsudarsan raghavansaad sarhan
anna badkhen
john walsh
bill moyers journalpbsjanine zachariatodd s. purdumjeffrey birnbaumwashington weeknow on pbs
talk of the nationnpr
Friday, August 15, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Ruth Conniff is an idiot
Last night was 'movie night' for many community sites. Rebecca offered "breakfast club," Ruth went with "Betrayed," Kat offered "Pretty in Pink and Reckless," Marcia explored "Outrageous Fortune," Elaine examined "Broadway Danny Rose" and Mike went with "Die Hard and Baby Boom." Cedric's "The battered syndrome is what Bambi works" and Wally's "THIS JUST IN! BARACK SPITS ON WOMEN AGAIN!" covered the latest disgusting insult to women from Team Obama. And if you missed Betty's "Testing out The Obama Playbook" and Trina's "Garlic Pasta in the Kitchen" over the weekend, please check them out.
That's C.I. at the end of "Jeremy Hinzman" this morning. And, on Jeremy,this from Courage to Resist:
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Thursday, August 14, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, US war resister Jeremy Hinzman mounts an appeal, a president learns stay away from all those fatty foods or face heart surgery, the Ralph Nader campaign gears up for this month's Nader Super Rally by opening their Denver headquarters today, and more.
Starting with war resistance. Yesterday, US war resister Jeremy Hinzman was informed that he and his family must leave Canada by September 23rd. He and his wife Nga Nguyen went with their son Liam to Canada and Jeremy became the first US war resister in Canada to publicly seek safe harbor. July 21st Jeremy and Nga added daughter Meghan to their family. Ian Austen contributes a paragraph for today's New York Times. The Los Angeles Times also reduces it to World Briefing. Utah's Daily Herald includes it in briefings as does Tulsa World. Radio Netherlands files a brief as well. All Headline News joins the brief squad while BBC teases out a brief with padding but Canwest News Services settles for a brief. Michael Futch (Fayetteville Observer) speaks with Jeremy who explains, "I don't regret what we've done. I've had the opportunity to speak out against the war. No offense to the soldiers over there -- I have respect for them as soldiers -- but it was a bogus war based on false pretenses . . . and I'm happy to have not taken part in it." Don Jorgensen (South Dakota's KELOLAND TV) notes that Jeremy is "a graduate from Rapid City Stevens High School" in South Dakota and that Jeremy told the KEOLAND News that he expects if he is forced out of Canada he will be sentenced to prison. Sindh Today quotes him stating, "We're disappointed. Life goes on and we'll make the most of it wherever we end up." Brett Clarkson (Edmonton Sun) quotes Jeremy stating, "Iraq was an unjust war based on false pretences, and every soldier who refused to fight probably saved a lot of lives." Hinzman was outside the Canada Border Services Agency in Toronto and Jessica McDiarmid (Canadian Press) continues, "The 29-year-old was stoic as he walked out, holding the glass door open for his son Liam, 6, and his wife Nga Nguyen, who cradled a newborn daughter in her arms." CBC notes, "Federal NDP citizenship and immigration critic Olivia Chow, who put forward the June motion, called Wednesday's decision "mean-spirited," and called on Citizenship and Immigration Minister Diane Finley to halt the deportation of Hinzman and other war resisters immediately." The War Resisters Support Campaign's Dale Landry ("himself a deserter of the U.S. Air Force") tells Liam Lahey (Inside Toronto), "We're going to try everything we can do legally to keep him in the country. If Jeremy is sent back, his wife is left as a single mom raising two small children and that's not an easy thing to do while he's in jail for God knows how long." Meghan is a Canadian citizen and before the Canadian government moves further, they might want to check their own policies regarding the parents of Canadian citizens.
Reuters reports Alyssa Manning (Jeremy's attorney) is filing "a new appeal in Canada's Federal Court" and arguing that the ruling/order "did not take into account the effect on his family if he ended up in prison". Iraq Veterans Against the War issued this statement:
US Iraq War resister Jeremy Hinzman was informed on August 13th that his application to stay in Canada has been rejected. Jeremy served a tour in Afghanistan in a non-combat role after applying for conscientious objector status. When his unit, the 82nd Airborne Division, was to be deployed to Iraq Jeremy and his family decided to come to Canada. Jeremy is the first U.S. war resister to apply for refuge in Canada. He has been ordered to be deported by September 23rd. Jeremy is in Canada with his wife Nga Nuyen, and their two young children.
The decision to deport Hinzman comes just two months after the Canadian Parliament passed a motion calling on the government to allow US war resisters to apply for Permanent Resident status in Canada.
To support Jeremy, call or email Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and ask her to intervene in this case. Phone: 613.996.4974 email: finley.d@parl.gc.ca.
Jeremy Hinzman and other war resisters in Canada need support and to pressure the Stephen Harper government to honor the House of Commons vote, Gerry Condon, War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist all encourage contacting the Diane Finley (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration -- 613.996.4974, phone; 613.996.9749, fax; e-mail http://thecommonills.blogspot.com/mc/compose?to=finley.d@parl.gc.ca -- that's "finley.d" at "parl.gc.ca") and Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, 613.992.4211, phone; 613.941.6900, fax; e-mail http://thecommonills.blogspot.com/mc/compose?to=pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's "pm" at "pm.gc.ca"). Courage to Resist collected more than 10,000 letters to send before the vote. Now they've started a new letter you can use online here. The War Resisters Support Campaign's petition can be found here. Long expulsion does not change the need for action and the War Resisters Support Campaign explains: "The War Resisters Support Campaign is calling on supporters across Canada to urgently continue to put pressure on the minority conservative government to immediately cease deportation proceedings against other US war resisters and to respect the will of Canadians and their elected representatives by implementing the motion adopted by Parliament on June 3rd. Please see the take action page for what you can do."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Yovany Rivero, William Shearer, Michael Thurman, Andrei Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
Moving on to Iraq and file it under "No surprise." October 21, 2007 we noted: "In today's New York Times, Andrew E. Kramer tells you that Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, is upset with Syria for publicly endorsing the Turkish parliament's vote to approve the Turkish military being sent into Iraq to fight the PKK. 'Usually I refrain from commening on Syrian positions to maintain our historical good relations,' Talabani (who stuffed his face with fatty foods` on his recent trip to the US to visit the Mayo Clinic, just FYI -- the heart trouble is not going to be cured by pigging out in hotel rooms)." Talabani's face stuffing (of fatty foods) never made the press but it's all anyone could talk about. It should have made the news. We returned to that topic over and over. (And he reportedly visited a book store on that trip and staggered, nearly passing out. It took the support of several men for him to make out of the bookstore.) June 16th we were 'harping again' (as one drive-by e-mailed) with: "Meanwhile AP notes that the president of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, is in the US and will receive treatment at the Mayo Clinic. A brief mention is made of the fact that this is not his first visit or that moments after leaving last time, he was spotted gorging on fatty foods in public. (And 'gorging' is putting it mildly.) He's 73-years-old and really can eat whatever he wants -- if he steps down as president. But while he's president (or 'president') of an occupied country, there's really no point in treating him if he's going to completely ignore doctors' orders and it's not as if the average Iraqi is going to be flown to the Mayo Clinic." Deborah Haynes (Times of London) reports that the Iraqi president is "said to be in 'good health' today after undergoing heart surgery in the United States, an operation that left some Iraqis wondering whether he is still fit for the job." Peter Graff (Reuters) points out that, prior to today, the press was told he was in the US for "a knee operation." CBS and AP state: "A statement by the presidential press office said Talabani entered the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota on Aug. 2 for knee surgery but 'the medical team found out that he suffers from a problem in one of the heart valves'." That's a sweet way to put "We thought we could lie but Reuters found out the truth, broke the story and now we have to admit to the heart surgery." "I think he's too old to continue as President," Fadel Dawish tells Deborah Haynes in Baghdad while "Nassar al-Rubaie, a senior Shia politician, said the medical reports from the hospital would determine whether the heart operation would affect Mr Talabani's ability to work."
In Iraq today, religous pilgrims were among those targeted repeadly. The Shabaniyah festival has repeatedly been plagued with violenct attacks on pilgirms each year (since the illegal war started). The festival is honoring the birth of Mohammed al-Mahdi who was the twelth iman and also the last Shi'ite to be an imam -- one who is predicted to come back to the world and bring peace with him. AFP explains, "Tens of thousands of Shiites are expected to flock to Karbala to venerate Imam Mahdi, an eighth century imam who vanished as a boy and whom Shiites believe will return to bring justice to the world." Peter Graff (Reuters) adds that the Shi'ite pilgrimages and festivals "have become an annual ritual show of strength for Iraq's Shi'ite majority since the fall of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Arab who restricted some Shi'ite religious practices." In the attack with the largest number of known deaths, CBS and AP report that a bomber (apparently female) in Iskandariya took her own life as well as the lives of "at least 26 people and wounding dozens" in "the deadliest in a series of attacks" on the pilgrims. The Telegraph of London quotes eye witness Ahmed al-Saadi explaining, "I heard a big explosion. I turned my head back and saw big flames. We rushed to the site and saw charred bodies, while wounded people were crying for help. Pots and burnt prayer rugs were scattered all the place." Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) observes, "So far this year, there have been about 30 female suicide bombing attacks, according to the U.S. military. Last year, there were just seven."
In other reported violence today . . .
Bombings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 police officer (and five pilgrims were wounded), another claimed the life of 1 pilgrim (seven more wounded), a Diyala Province roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 8-year-old girl and left her sister and mother wounded and a Baquba roadside bombing claimed the lives of 2 police officers (and left three more wounded). Reuters notes "five employees of Baiji oil refinery" were injured in a Baiji roadside bombing.
Shootings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 police officer shot dead in Mosul. Reuters drops back to yesterday today and notes a Mosul home invasion in which 1 man was killed and his son was injured.
Corpses?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 corpse discovered in Baghdad. Reuters notes that the corpse "of a murder policeman" was discovered in Kirkuk.
Meanwhile Peter Graff (Reuters) reports that six sailors who served at Camp Bucca in Iraq are now looking at a court-martial "for abusing detainees" and that the court-martials are expected to commence "within the next 30 days."
Turning to the US presidential race. As they prepare to rock Denver, the Ralph Nader - Matt Gonzalez campaign opened up their Denver headquarters today. The office is located in Suite 111 on 1155 Sherman Street, a tree-lined street whose intersection with East 12th Avenue makes it very accessible becuase East 12th is a bus route. The office is wheel chair accessible. Jess spoke with Junue Millan this afternoon about the opening and the news confernce which was attended by at least five media people including Univision. The office was "specifically created" for the Super Rally that will be held in Denver (at the Magness Arena) on August 27th. They are expecting between 5,000 and 7,000 people to attend and are currently working on a website just for the Denver office.
The Denver event will take place as the Democratic Party stages there convention and there is a great deal of excitement for the Super Rally and volunteers are needed to help with fliers and getting the word out. Those interested in assisting can e-mail Junue Millan at junue@votenader.org as well as call the office (303) 832-2509 or walk in. They intend to be open from nine in the morning until nine in the evening Monday through Friday as they work to pull together this large project. Both Ralph and Matt will be speaking at the event and, as the event gets closer, they will begin announcing some of the guest speakers they've already confirmed. Artist, activist and rocker Jello Biafra is among those who will be participating.
The Super Rally in Denver (September 4th, a Nader Super Rally will be held at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, during the GOP convention) will start at seven o'clock p.m and will PUT ON THE TABLE the issues that the two major parties refuse to address -- the Iraq War, single-payer universal health care, corporate crime, impeachment and more. It will also challenge the two-party duopoly by insisting that the presidential debates be opened. As Kat noted last night, " I really find it offensive that Ralph Nader, Bob Barr and Cynthia McKinney (or Chuck Baldwin for that matter) have to fight to get into the debates. They are presidential candidates and should be in the debates. What are the Democrats and Republicans so scared of? Are their candidates so weak that they can't hold their own against Ralph, Bob, Cynthia and Chuck? Do John McCain and Barack Obama get the night sweats just thinking about being on stage with the other candidates? In a real democracy, debates would be open to all on the ballots. This nonsense that you have to meet X% would be called out. It's not a popularity contest. It's supposed to be a race for the presidency."
Yesterday, Ralph was a guest on NPR's Talk of the Nation. Below is some of the exchange:
Neal Conan: Back in February Ralph Nader announced that he was running for president as an independent candidate. The longtime consumer advocate's third consecutive run for the White House. If you'd like to talk with him about his campaign, why he's running, our phone number is 800-989-8255, e-mail again is talk@npr.org and, of course, political junkie Ken Rudin is with us, he's NPR's political editor and you can read his political junkie column at nrp.org. And, Ralph Nader, nice to have you with us on the program today. Why are you running for president, remind us?
Ralph Nader: This campaign stands for a whole number of changes and redirections that are supported by a majority of the American people. We're the only ones who are standing for full Medicare for all, for a living wage, for cutting the bloated, wasteful military budgets full of so much contracting fraud that's offending tax payers. We want to cut down tax payer coherced subsidies to corporations, you know the hand outs giveaways bailouts of crooked Wall Street firms. We want to open up the presidential debates. Why are we rationing debates? We don't ration weather reports, do we?
Neil Conan: No.
Ralph Nader: Or entertainment or sports. And we want to shift the tax burden more to things that society likes the least or dislikes the most like security derivative speculation pollution, gambling, addictive industries before you first tax human labor. And we want to crack down on corporate crime, fraud and abuse. And, you know, public radio's reported that -- repeatedly stealing people's pensions, ripping off their savings, their mutal funds -- all of this has been reported and the major party candidates, McCain and Obama, are taking these issues off the table. They don't have a corporate crime crackdown, law and order, against these crooks. They don't have a decent tax reform. They don't want to open up the presidential debates. They don't want full Medicare for all which even a majority of doctors want in a recent poll and a majority of the American people giving you free choice of doctor and hospital cutting out a lot of wasteful bureacratic expenses. And they really don't have a plan to get out of Iraq and they want to expand the Afghanistan War. So we really have a very broad agenda for people to sink their teeth in and say, "What's left for us to decide as the people? Is there anything left for us to decide as these corporations have hijacked our government and control about every department and agency?" That's what we're saying to the American people: If you don't take it over, if you don't win your government back, if you don't vote for people you believe in who have a record of accomplishment and a good platform which you can see on VoteNader.org, what's left for you to decide? I mean, these two parties don't represent you in area after area. Their drum is beaten by the big corporations.
Neal Conan: Could we have some time for callers to ask some questions? 800-898-255 e-mails us talk@npr.org and let's see if we can get a caller on the line. Let's go to, this is line 6, Peter, Peter with us from Pennelton, is that right, in Oregon? Pendleton, it must be.
Peter: Hello?
Neil Conan: Yes go ahead.
Peter: Hi.
Neil Conan: Go you're on the air.
Peter: Mr. Nader?
Ralph Nader: Yes.
Peter: Hi. In 2004, I voted for John Kerry and I actually have regretted it ever since. And I really wish that I had written your name in. Of course, I don't believe that you were on the ballot in Oregon. But --
Ralph Nader: The Democrats pushed us off.
Peter: I'm sorry?
Ralph Nader: The Democrats pushed us off state ballots with frivilous litigation, partisan judges. You're right, we weren't on the ballot even though we got a lot of signatures, more than necessary.
Peter: It was pretty dirty. But this year, it seems just so easy to just get behind Barack Obama but, at the same time, there are people like me who are pretty liberal and see you as a more progressive candidate. What is one way that Barack Obama could become more progressive?
Ralph Nader: Well, he could be the Barack Obama, who knows what the score is rather than having antenna out for political advantage. He would reflect what he believes, what he said privately believes we should have full Medicare for all, he prefers the single-payer system. He certainly knows about the exploitation -- commercial and otherwise -- of the lower 100 million Americans on the income scale but he doesn't associate himself with any comprehensive reform plan there. He's taking actually more corporate interest money than John McCain as of June 30 of this year. And he wants to have a bigger military budget. His plan for getting out of Iraq according to his military adviser would leave 50,000 soldiers, American soldiers, there with all these bases. That's not really getting out of Iraq. I think he's making a strategic mistake that Mondale, Dukakis, Kerry and others have made by moving toward the Republican position on area after area, by not drawing a bright line between the two as these issues I mentioned earlier he's going to lose votes, he's not going to gain votes.
Neil Conan: And let me ask you, Senator Obama, of course, the Democratic nominee this time around, you're on the ballot in 35 states is the Democratic Party this year continuing to work to keep you off the ballots elsewhere?
Ralph Nader: No, not so far. We're going to be on about 45 state ballots. We sued the Democratic Party last November for their abusive legal process in violating our civil rights in '04 -- places like Pennsylvania. And, in answer to your question, what's keeping them from doing what they did in '04 is the state Attorney General of Pennsylvania has brought indictments against 12 Democrats, two state legislatures and 10 legislative aides for using government money, government space, government resources to get us off the ballot in 2004 in Pennsylvania and they also gave them a $188,000 tay payer bonus and this is criminal stuff. So I don't think they're going to do it again this year.
Team Nader is releasing daily audio of Ralph Nader (with Matt Gonzalez expected to participate as well). Ralph's Daily Audio is the web page and we noted "Open the Debates!" in yesterday's snapshot. Below is the transcript to Ralph's "Corporate Tax Cheats:"
A report just out by the well regarded US Government Accountability Office concludes that about two-thirds of corporations operating in the United States did not pay taxes annually from 1998 to 2005. Imagine that. Senator Byron Dorgan, the Democrat of North Dakota, called the findings "A shocking indictment of the current tax system."
He continues, "It's shameful that so many corporations make big profits and pay nothing to support our country. The tax system that allows this whole sale tax avoidance is an embarrassment and unfair to hard working Americans who pay their fair share of taxes. We need to plug these tax loopholes and put these corporations back on the tax rolls."
Senator Carl Levin says, "This report makes clear that too many corporations are using tax trickery to send their profits overseas and to avoid paying their fare share in the United States." The GAO report said that 28% of large corporations paid no taxes during that period between 1998 to 2005. It's suspected that a lot of these global corporations were using transfer pricing to reduce their tax bills. This allows these multi-national corporations to transfer their goods and assets between their internal subsidiaries so they can record in the jurisdiction with low tax rates like the Bahamas.
David Cay Johnston, in his great book Perfectly Legal concluded, and I paraphrase him, he said, "These global companies have now reached a point of power and manipulation where they can decide how much taxes they're going to pay, where they're going to pay these taxes, and when they're going to pay these taxes."
That's the leading tax reporter for the New York Times, a Pulitzer Prize winner, David Cay Johnston. It's something to think about when we ponder the double standard between working people on the one hand under our tax system and those tax escapees the global corporations on the other. This is Ralph Nader.
That was released today. Yesterday's was Ralph's "Outsourcing" and it appears below:
This is Ralph Nader. You know how often these big corporate executives, when they're shipping jobs of American workers to fascist or communist dictators abroad who know how to keep their workers in their place . Do you know how often they say "Well we have to do this to keep up with the global competition"? But one thing they don't do to keep up with the global competition is to outsource themselves, outsource their own CEO jobs or their own faluting commentators and editors jobs.
Let's start with the New York Times editorial page. It would be hard to replace Maureen Dowd, no doubt. But Thomas Friedman? He of the rah-rah, pro-corporate, globalization, cheesy metaphors? Well he could easily be replaced by a hard working Indian or Chinese bi-lingual columnist at a much lower rate. And how about Wall Street? All those investment bank executives, the executives of Citigroup or Merrill Lynch. Imagine how many first rate Indian or Chinese executives could have done a much better job than Bob Rubin who helped drive the giant Citibank into the ground. I'm sure good executives from India or China could replace Rick Wagoner as CEO of General Motors at a much, much lower salary. That's the way to meet the global competition: Outsouce CEOS.
"What's good for the worker," says the CEO, "is not good for the CEO." The shareholders know better thye've got to demand outsourcing CEOS for a new fresh. energetic start for the management of their country. I'm Ralph Nader.
At Dissident Voice, Ron Jacobs has another must-read, this one explaining when 'withdrawal' isn't really withdrawal. (I'm out of time, we'll quote Ron tonight in "I Hate The War.") Robert Fisk (Independent of London) also dares to tell the truth about the 'withdrawal' Barack and Iraqi puppets are trying to sell. And, community note, last night Rebecca offered "breakfast club," Ruth went with "Betrayed," Kat offered "Pretty in Pink and Reckless," Marcia explored "Outrageous Fortune," Elaine examined "Broadway Danny Rose" and Mike went with "Die Hard and Baby Boom." Cedric's "The battered syndrome is what Bambi works" and Wally's "THIS JUST IN! BARACK SPITS ON WOMEN AGAIN!" covered the latest disgusting insult to women from Team Obama. And if you missed Betty's "Testing out The Obama Playbook" and Trina's "Garlic Pasta in the Kitchen" over the weekend, please check them out.
iraqjeremy hinzmanmichael futchdon jorgensenian austensindh todayliam laheybrett clarksondavid huttonjessica mcdiarmid
talk of the nationnpr
the new york timesandrew e. kramer
the los angeles timestina susman
mcclatchy newspapers
deborah haynes
robert fisk
ron jacobs
iraq veterans against the war
That's C.I. at the end of "Jeremy Hinzman" this morning. And, on Jeremy,this from Courage to Resist:
| Jeremy Hinzman ordered deported from Canada |  |  |  |
By Courage to Resist and War Resisters Support Campaign (Canada). August 13, 2008
The first U.S. war resister to apply for refuge in Canada has been ordered deported by September 23rd. Jeremy is in Canada with his wife Nga Nuyen, and their two young children. This decision flies in the face of the motion adopted by Parliament on June 3, 2008 which calls on the government to allow US war resisters to apply for Permanent Resident status in Canada. Supporters are calling on Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, to intervene. Phone 613.996.4974 or email finley.d@parl.gc.caJeremy Hinzman and Nga Nuyen now have two children. The picture features their son Liam and Nga gave birth to a girl, Meghan, last month.
IVAW also has a statement on Jeremy but I don't generally remember to note Courage to Resist (a great organization) and I know C.I.'s noted IVAw's summer base tour and thought I would add something else from from Iraq Veterans Against the War:
Northwest GI Coffeehouse in the works
So let's turn to the idiot Ruth Conniff. Bill Gwatney is dead. He was a close friend of the Clintons and he was murdered yesterday. So for Ruth The Idiot Conniff, the way to write about the man's murder ("Arkansas Shooting, Summer of Menace") is to trash the Clintons? Ruth Conniff is a STUPID, F**KING IDIOT. That's all she is. A stupid hack and a Clinton hater who can't stop trying to stir up s**t. Bill and Hillary Clinton lost a very good friend. But to Ruth, the death of Bill Gwatney is time to sermonize about how evil she finds Bill Clinton (and to pimp Barack). She's so disgusting. She thinks she's classy but she's just trash. (And that out of date photo, that is several years old, speaks to a woman afraid to let readers know how she looks today.) In the midst of her latest Clinton hatred, she writes of Bill Clinton, "No civil rights hero, no fiery war resister, no champion of the poor, as it turned out." What her 'judgment' has to do with a man being murdered is a question she can never answer because she must always savage Bill Clinton. It's very personal to the Ugly Little Girl Who Never Grew Up and looks like she reeks of urine. If Ruth thinks she's any better than her image of Bill Clinton, she's sadly mistaken. If Ruth thinks a "war resister" is so wonderful, you wouldn't know it from the garbage she writes. In other words, she never writes about war resisters. She could have written today about Jeremy Hinzman. Instead, she decided to defile the memory of a murdered man by ripping apart the couple he was friends with. She is such trash. And this is the woman who is a fan of Joe Klein's 'writing' and, of course, did The NoGressive's hit job on Ralph Nader in 2004. Ruth Conniff has a tiny, pea brain. And the manners of someone who has chosen to live in the gutter with the other rats.
Readers of The NoGressive do not like Ruth. That's why you can no longer comment on her articles. Readers have been calling her out. Not like I'm doing here. They've been civil. But it was too much for Little Baby Ruthie. Ruthie's the one who said on KPFA that she didn't know anyone in her neighborhood who had been touched by the Iraq War. Gated mind from the gated community.
Here's Ralph Nader breaking down the basics on health care:
Health Care Politics
One of my favorite monthly publications is Registered Nurse – the journal of the fast growing, progressive California Nurses Association (CNA) – a union that stands up for patients rights and well-being.
The June 2008 issue contains stories that illustrate how this nurses group takes stands. On June 19, the CNA sponsored street rallies for its Medicare for all (single-payer with free choice of doctor and hospital) in San Francisco and a dozen other major cities around the nation. For over a decade these nurses have made full Medicare for all their major goal. They have run voter initiatives, lobbied legislatures and have opposed sweetheart labor-management deals like those embraced by the Service Employees International Union – SEIU. (SEIU also opposes single-payer health insurance which is supported by a majority of physicians and the American people.)
The June magazine describers the autocratic native of SEIU toward its members and how its leader, Andy Stern, cuts labor deals with large corporate employers that shockingly deprive workers of normal union rights.
Here is an example of what CNA says:
“In exchange for access to more dues units, SEIU gave California nursing home operators the “exclusive right” to set all pay rates, working conditions, speed up and reassign work, eliminate jobs at will, and outsource union work.”
“SEIU also agreed to support legislation limiting patient’s right to sue over care abuses, to oppose reforms to require better staffing for patients safety, and to never report health care code violations.”
Stern rejected single-payer health insurance at his recent union convention. Senator Barack Obama has declined to propose single-payer as well. SEIU is pouring tens of millions of dollars to elect Senator Obama President. CNA works to eliminate “the insurance nightmare through establishing a high-quality, single payer healthcare system. (See: http://www.guaranteedhealthcare.org/blog)
The current health care industry is a wasteful, redundant, defrauding mess costing Americans over 2.2 trillion this year and hundreds of thousands of avoidable injuries, fatalities and serious infections a year. The honest, competent caregivers are on the edge of despair, unable to do their best work due to the domination and control of commercial-profit priorities which include denial of care by these corporations.
People die or get sicker sometimes when they are denied health care. People die when they cannot afford health insurance – 18,000 Americans a year according to the Institute of Medicine
Corporate billing fraud and abuse costs over $200 billion a year. Ask Malcolm Sparrow of the Kennedy School at Harvard University or read his book License to Steal.
Do you ever hear John McCain or Barack Obama focus public attention on these tragedies and rip-offs of consumers and taxpayers?
The employers of health insurance companies, hospital chains and drug industry are pouring money into the coffers of these two men and their parties.
Strange as it many seem, on June 26, 2008 even the principled, independent California Nurses Association fell in line with the AFL-CIO. The CNA endorsed Senator Barack Obama.
Well, Senator Obama doesn’t have to worry a minute about CNA’s nurses putting up one of their famous critical demonstrations at his events. He can continue dialing for corporate dollars.Matthew Rothschild and his trashy magazine will never tell you about that. They're hoping to get some of that Soros blood money and so they're pimping Barack hard. (Ruth, in fairness, doesn't need a motive. She's just genuinely stupid.)
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Thursday, August 14, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, US war resister Jeremy Hinzman mounts an appeal, a president learns stay away from all those fatty foods or face heart surgery, the Ralph Nader campaign gears up for this month's Nader Super Rally by opening their Denver headquarters today, and more.
Starting with war resistance. Yesterday, US war resister Jeremy Hinzman was informed that he and his family must leave Canada by September 23rd. He and his wife Nga Nguyen went with their son Liam to Canada and Jeremy became the first US war resister in Canada to publicly seek safe harbor. July 21st Jeremy and Nga added daughter Meghan to their family. Ian Austen contributes a paragraph for today's New York Times. The Los Angeles Times also reduces it to World Briefing. Utah's Daily Herald includes it in briefings as does Tulsa World. Radio Netherlands files a brief as well. All Headline News joins the brief squad while BBC teases out a brief with padding but Canwest News Services settles for a brief. Michael Futch (Fayetteville Observer) speaks with Jeremy who explains, "I don't regret what we've done. I've had the opportunity to speak out against the war. No offense to the soldiers over there -- I have respect for them as soldiers -- but it was a bogus war based on false pretenses . . . and I'm happy to have not taken part in it." Don Jorgensen (South Dakota's KELOLAND TV) notes that Jeremy is "a graduate from Rapid City Stevens High School" in South Dakota and that Jeremy told the KEOLAND News that he expects if he is forced out of Canada he will be sentenced to prison. Sindh Today quotes him stating, "We're disappointed. Life goes on and we'll make the most of it wherever we end up." Brett Clarkson (Edmonton Sun) quotes Jeremy stating, "Iraq was an unjust war based on false pretences, and every soldier who refused to fight probably saved a lot of lives." Hinzman was outside the Canada Border Services Agency in Toronto and Jessica McDiarmid (Canadian Press) continues, "The 29-year-old was stoic as he walked out, holding the glass door open for his son Liam, 6, and his wife Nga Nguyen, who cradled a newborn daughter in her arms." CBC notes, "Federal NDP citizenship and immigration critic Olivia Chow, who put forward the June motion, called Wednesday's decision "mean-spirited," and called on Citizenship and Immigration Minister Diane Finley to halt the deportation of Hinzman and other war resisters immediately." The War Resisters Support Campaign's Dale Landry ("himself a deserter of the U.S. Air Force") tells Liam Lahey (Inside Toronto), "We're going to try everything we can do legally to keep him in the country. If Jeremy is sent back, his wife is left as a single mom raising two small children and that's not an easy thing to do while he's in jail for God knows how long." Meghan is a Canadian citizen and before the Canadian government moves further, they might want to check their own policies regarding the parents of Canadian citizens.
Reuters reports Alyssa Manning (Jeremy's attorney) is filing "a new appeal in Canada's Federal Court" and arguing that the ruling/order "did not take into account the effect on his family if he ended up in prison". Iraq Veterans Against the War issued this statement:
US Iraq War resister Jeremy Hinzman was informed on August 13th that his application to stay in Canada has been rejected. Jeremy served a tour in Afghanistan in a non-combat role after applying for conscientious objector status. When his unit, the 82nd Airborne Division, was to be deployed to Iraq Jeremy and his family decided to come to Canada. Jeremy is the first U.S. war resister to apply for refuge in Canada. He has been ordered to be deported by September 23rd. Jeremy is in Canada with his wife Nga Nuyen, and their two young children.
The decision to deport Hinzman comes just two months after the Canadian Parliament passed a motion calling on the government to allow US war resisters to apply for Permanent Resident status in Canada.
To support Jeremy, call or email Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and ask her to intervene in this case. Phone: 613.996.4974 email: finley.d@parl.gc.ca.
Jeremy Hinzman and other war resisters in Canada need support and to pressure the Stephen Harper government to honor the House of Commons vote, Gerry Condon, War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist all encourage contacting the Diane Finley (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration -- 613.996.4974, phone; 613.996.9749, fax; e-mail http://thecommonills.blogspot.com/mc/compose?to=finley.d@parl.gc.ca -- that's "finley.d" at "parl.gc.ca") and Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, 613.992.4211, phone; 613.941.6900, fax; e-mail http://thecommonills.blogspot.com/mc/compose?to=pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's "pm" at "pm.gc.ca"). Courage to Resist collected more than 10,000 letters to send before the vote. Now they've started a new letter you can use online here. The War Resisters Support Campaign's petition can be found here. Long expulsion does not change the need for action and the War Resisters Support Campaign explains: "The War Resisters Support Campaign is calling on supporters across Canada to urgently continue to put pressure on the minority conservative government to immediately cease deportation proceedings against other US war resisters and to respect the will of Canadians and their elected representatives by implementing the motion adopted by Parliament on June 3rd. Please see the take action page for what you can do."
There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Yovany Rivero, William Shearer, Michael Thurman, Andrei Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
Moving on to Iraq and file it under "No surprise." October 21, 2007 we noted: "In today's New York Times, Andrew E. Kramer tells you that Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, is upset with Syria for publicly endorsing the Turkish parliament's vote to approve the Turkish military being sent into Iraq to fight the PKK. 'Usually I refrain from commening on Syrian positions to maintain our historical good relations,' Talabani (who stuffed his face with fatty foods` on his recent trip to the US to visit the Mayo Clinic, just FYI -- the heart trouble is not going to be cured by pigging out in hotel rooms)." Talabani's face stuffing (of fatty foods) never made the press but it's all anyone could talk about. It should have made the news. We returned to that topic over and over. (And he reportedly visited a book store on that trip and staggered, nearly passing out. It took the support of several men for him to make out of the bookstore.) June 16th we were 'harping again' (as one drive-by e-mailed) with: "Meanwhile AP notes that the president of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, is in the US and will receive treatment at the Mayo Clinic. A brief mention is made of the fact that this is not his first visit or that moments after leaving last time, he was spotted gorging on fatty foods in public. (And 'gorging' is putting it mildly.) He's 73-years-old and really can eat whatever he wants -- if he steps down as president. But while he's president (or 'president') of an occupied country, there's really no point in treating him if he's going to completely ignore doctors' orders and it's not as if the average Iraqi is going to be flown to the Mayo Clinic." Deborah Haynes (Times of London) reports that the Iraqi president is "said to be in 'good health' today after undergoing heart surgery in the United States, an operation that left some Iraqis wondering whether he is still fit for the job." Peter Graff (Reuters) points out that, prior to today, the press was told he was in the US for "a knee operation." CBS and AP state: "A statement by the presidential press office said Talabani entered the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota on Aug. 2 for knee surgery but 'the medical team found out that he suffers from a problem in one of the heart valves'." That's a sweet way to put "We thought we could lie but Reuters found out the truth, broke the story and now we have to admit to the heart surgery." "I think he's too old to continue as President," Fadel Dawish tells Deborah Haynes in Baghdad while "Nassar al-Rubaie, a senior Shia politician, said the medical reports from the hospital would determine whether the heart operation would affect Mr Talabani's ability to work."
In Iraq today, religous pilgrims were among those targeted repeadly. The Shabaniyah festival has repeatedly been plagued with violenct attacks on pilgirms each year (since the illegal war started). The festival is honoring the birth of Mohammed al-Mahdi who was the twelth iman and also the last Shi'ite to be an imam -- one who is predicted to come back to the world and bring peace with him. AFP explains, "Tens of thousands of Shiites are expected to flock to Karbala to venerate Imam Mahdi, an eighth century imam who vanished as a boy and whom Shiites believe will return to bring justice to the world." Peter Graff (Reuters) adds that the Shi'ite pilgrimages and festivals "have become an annual ritual show of strength for Iraq's Shi'ite majority since the fall of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Arab who restricted some Shi'ite religious practices." In the attack with the largest number of known deaths, CBS and AP report that a bomber (apparently female) in Iskandariya took her own life as well as the lives of "at least 26 people and wounding dozens" in "the deadliest in a series of attacks" on the pilgrims. The Telegraph of London quotes eye witness Ahmed al-Saadi explaining, "I heard a big explosion. I turned my head back and saw big flames. We rushed to the site and saw charred bodies, while wounded people were crying for help. Pots and burnt prayer rugs were scattered all the place." Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) observes, "So far this year, there have been about 30 female suicide bombing attacks, according to the U.S. military. Last year, there were just seven."
In other reported violence today . . .
Bombings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 police officer (and five pilgrims were wounded), another claimed the life of 1 pilgrim (seven more wounded), a Diyala Province roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 8-year-old girl and left her sister and mother wounded and a Baquba roadside bombing claimed the lives of 2 police officers (and left three more wounded). Reuters notes "five employees of Baiji oil refinery" were injured in a Baiji roadside bombing.
Shootings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 police officer shot dead in Mosul. Reuters drops back to yesterday today and notes a Mosul home invasion in which 1 man was killed and his son was injured.
Corpses?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 corpse discovered in Baghdad. Reuters notes that the corpse "of a murder policeman" was discovered in Kirkuk.
Meanwhile Peter Graff (Reuters) reports that six sailors who served at Camp Bucca in Iraq are now looking at a court-martial "for abusing detainees" and that the court-martials are expected to commence "within the next 30 days."
Turning to the US presidential race. As they prepare to rock Denver, the Ralph Nader - Matt Gonzalez campaign opened up their Denver headquarters today. The office is located in Suite 111 on 1155 Sherman Street, a tree-lined street whose intersection with East 12th Avenue makes it very accessible becuase East 12th is a bus route. The office is wheel chair accessible. Jess spoke with Junue Millan this afternoon about the opening and the news confernce which was attended by at least five media people including Univision. The office was "specifically created" for the Super Rally that will be held in Denver (at the Magness Arena) on August 27th. They are expecting between 5,000 and 7,000 people to attend and are currently working on a website just for the Denver office.
The Denver event will take place as the Democratic Party stages there convention and there is a great deal of excitement for the Super Rally and volunteers are needed to help with fliers and getting the word out. Those interested in assisting can e-mail Junue Millan at junue@votenader.org as well as call the office (303) 832-2509 or walk in. They intend to be open from nine in the morning until nine in the evening Monday through Friday as they work to pull together this large project. Both Ralph and Matt will be speaking at the event and, as the event gets closer, they will begin announcing some of the guest speakers they've already confirmed. Artist, activist and rocker Jello Biafra is among those who will be participating.
The Super Rally in Denver (September 4th, a Nader Super Rally will be held at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, during the GOP convention) will start at seven o'clock p.m and will PUT ON THE TABLE the issues that the two major parties refuse to address -- the Iraq War, single-payer universal health care, corporate crime, impeachment and more. It will also challenge the two-party duopoly by insisting that the presidential debates be opened. As Kat noted last night, " I really find it offensive that Ralph Nader, Bob Barr and Cynthia McKinney (or Chuck Baldwin for that matter) have to fight to get into the debates. They are presidential candidates and should be in the debates. What are the Democrats and Republicans so scared of? Are their candidates so weak that they can't hold their own against Ralph, Bob, Cynthia and Chuck? Do John McCain and Barack Obama get the night sweats just thinking about being on stage with the other candidates? In a real democracy, debates would be open to all on the ballots. This nonsense that you have to meet X% would be called out. It's not a popularity contest. It's supposed to be a race for the presidency."
Yesterday, Ralph was a guest on NPR's Talk of the Nation. Below is some of the exchange:
Neal Conan: Back in February Ralph Nader announced that he was running for president as an independent candidate. The longtime consumer advocate's third consecutive run for the White House. If you'd like to talk with him about his campaign, why he's running, our phone number is 800-989-8255, e-mail again is talk@npr.org and, of course, political junkie Ken Rudin is with us, he's NPR's political editor and you can read his political junkie column at nrp.org. And, Ralph Nader, nice to have you with us on the program today. Why are you running for president, remind us?
Ralph Nader: This campaign stands for a whole number of changes and redirections that are supported by a majority of the American people. We're the only ones who are standing for full Medicare for all, for a living wage, for cutting the bloated, wasteful military budgets full of so much contracting fraud that's offending tax payers. We want to cut down tax payer coherced subsidies to corporations, you know the hand outs giveaways bailouts of crooked Wall Street firms. We want to open up the presidential debates. Why are we rationing debates? We don't ration weather reports, do we?
Neil Conan: No.
Ralph Nader: Or entertainment or sports. And we want to shift the tax burden more to things that society likes the least or dislikes the most like security derivative speculation pollution, gambling, addictive industries before you first tax human labor. And we want to crack down on corporate crime, fraud and abuse. And, you know, public radio's reported that -- repeatedly stealing people's pensions, ripping off their savings, their mutal funds -- all of this has been reported and the major party candidates, McCain and Obama, are taking these issues off the table. They don't have a corporate crime crackdown, law and order, against these crooks. They don't have a decent tax reform. They don't want to open up the presidential debates. They don't want full Medicare for all which even a majority of doctors want in a recent poll and a majority of the American people giving you free choice of doctor and hospital cutting out a lot of wasteful bureacratic expenses. And they really don't have a plan to get out of Iraq and they want to expand the Afghanistan War. So we really have a very broad agenda for people to sink their teeth in and say, "What's left for us to decide as the people? Is there anything left for us to decide as these corporations have hijacked our government and control about every department and agency?" That's what we're saying to the American people: If you don't take it over, if you don't win your government back, if you don't vote for people you believe in who have a record of accomplishment and a good platform which you can see on VoteNader.org, what's left for you to decide? I mean, these two parties don't represent you in area after area. Their drum is beaten by the big corporations.
Neal Conan: Could we have some time for callers to ask some questions? 800-898-255 e-mails us talk@npr.org and let's see if we can get a caller on the line. Let's go to, this is line 6, Peter, Peter with us from Pennelton, is that right, in Oregon? Pendleton, it must be.
Peter: Hello?
Neil Conan: Yes go ahead.
Peter: Hi.
Neil Conan: Go you're on the air.
Peter: Mr. Nader?
Ralph Nader: Yes.
Peter: Hi. In 2004, I voted for John Kerry and I actually have regretted it ever since. And I really wish that I had written your name in. Of course, I don't believe that you were on the ballot in Oregon. But --
Ralph Nader: The Democrats pushed us off.
Peter: I'm sorry?
Ralph Nader: The Democrats pushed us off state ballots with frivilous litigation, partisan judges. You're right, we weren't on the ballot even though we got a lot of signatures, more than necessary.
Peter: It was pretty dirty. But this year, it seems just so easy to just get behind Barack Obama but, at the same time, there are people like me who are pretty liberal and see you as a more progressive candidate. What is one way that Barack Obama could become more progressive?
Ralph Nader: Well, he could be the Barack Obama, who knows what the score is rather than having antenna out for political advantage. He would reflect what he believes, what he said privately believes we should have full Medicare for all, he prefers the single-payer system. He certainly knows about the exploitation -- commercial and otherwise -- of the lower 100 million Americans on the income scale but he doesn't associate himself with any comprehensive reform plan there. He's taking actually more corporate interest money than John McCain as of June 30 of this year. And he wants to have a bigger military budget. His plan for getting out of Iraq according to his military adviser would leave 50,000 soldiers, American soldiers, there with all these bases. That's not really getting out of Iraq. I think he's making a strategic mistake that Mondale, Dukakis, Kerry and others have made by moving toward the Republican position on area after area, by not drawing a bright line between the two as these issues I mentioned earlier he's going to lose votes, he's not going to gain votes.
Neil Conan: And let me ask you, Senator Obama, of course, the Democratic nominee this time around, you're on the ballot in 35 states is the Democratic Party this year continuing to work to keep you off the ballots elsewhere?
Ralph Nader: No, not so far. We're going to be on about 45 state ballots. We sued the Democratic Party last November for their abusive legal process in violating our civil rights in '04 -- places like Pennsylvania. And, in answer to your question, what's keeping them from doing what they did in '04 is the state Attorney General of Pennsylvania has brought indictments against 12 Democrats, two state legislatures and 10 legislative aides for using government money, government space, government resources to get us off the ballot in 2004 in Pennsylvania and they also gave them a $188,000 tay payer bonus and this is criminal stuff. So I don't think they're going to do it again this year.
Team Nader is releasing daily audio of Ralph Nader (with Matt Gonzalez expected to participate as well). Ralph's Daily Audio is the web page and we noted "Open the Debates!" in yesterday's snapshot. Below is the transcript to Ralph's "Corporate Tax Cheats:"
A report just out by the well regarded US Government Accountability Office concludes that about two-thirds of corporations operating in the United States did not pay taxes annually from 1998 to 2005. Imagine that. Senator Byron Dorgan, the Democrat of North Dakota, called the findings "A shocking indictment of the current tax system."
He continues, "It's shameful that so many corporations make big profits and pay nothing to support our country. The tax system that allows this whole sale tax avoidance is an embarrassment and unfair to hard working Americans who pay their fair share of taxes. We need to plug these tax loopholes and put these corporations back on the tax rolls."
Senator Carl Levin says, "This report makes clear that too many corporations are using tax trickery to send their profits overseas and to avoid paying their fare share in the United States." The GAO report said that 28% of large corporations paid no taxes during that period between 1998 to 2005. It's suspected that a lot of these global corporations were using transfer pricing to reduce their tax bills. This allows these multi-national corporations to transfer their goods and assets between their internal subsidiaries so they can record in the jurisdiction with low tax rates like the Bahamas.
David Cay Johnston, in his great book Perfectly Legal concluded, and I paraphrase him, he said, "These global companies have now reached a point of power and manipulation where they can decide how much taxes they're going to pay, where they're going to pay these taxes, and when they're going to pay these taxes."
That's the leading tax reporter for the New York Times, a Pulitzer Prize winner, David Cay Johnston. It's something to think about when we ponder the double standard between working people on the one hand under our tax system and those tax escapees the global corporations on the other. This is Ralph Nader.
That was released today. Yesterday's was Ralph's "Outsourcing" and it appears below:
This is Ralph Nader. You know how often these big corporate executives, when they're shipping jobs of American workers to fascist or communist dictators abroad who know how to keep their workers in their place . Do you know how often they say "Well we have to do this to keep up with the global competition"? But one thing they don't do to keep up with the global competition is to outsource themselves, outsource their own CEO jobs or their own faluting commentators and editors jobs.
Let's start with the New York Times editorial page. It would be hard to replace Maureen Dowd, no doubt. But Thomas Friedman? He of the rah-rah, pro-corporate, globalization, cheesy metaphors? Well he could easily be replaced by a hard working Indian or Chinese bi-lingual columnist at a much lower rate. And how about Wall Street? All those investment bank executives, the executives of Citigroup or Merrill Lynch. Imagine how many first rate Indian or Chinese executives could have done a much better job than Bob Rubin who helped drive the giant Citibank into the ground. I'm sure good executives from India or China could replace Rick Wagoner as CEO of General Motors at a much, much lower salary. That's the way to meet the global competition: Outsouce CEOS.
"What's good for the worker," says the CEO, "is not good for the CEO." The shareholders know better thye've got to demand outsourcing CEOS for a new fresh. energetic start for the management of their country. I'm Ralph Nader.
At Dissident Voice, Ron Jacobs has another must-read, this one explaining when 'withdrawal' isn't really withdrawal. (I'm out of time, we'll quote Ron tonight in "I Hate The War.") Robert Fisk (Independent of London) also dares to tell the truth about the 'withdrawal' Barack and Iraqi puppets are trying to sell. And, community note, last night Rebecca offered "breakfast club," Ruth went with "Betrayed," Kat offered "Pretty in Pink and Reckless," Marcia explored "Outrageous Fortune," Elaine examined "Broadway Danny Rose" and Mike went with "Die Hard and Baby Boom." Cedric's "The battered syndrome is what Bambi works" and Wally's "THIS JUST IN! BARACK SPITS ON WOMEN AGAIN!" covered the latest disgusting insult to women from Team Obama. And if you missed Betty's "Testing out The Obama Playbook" and Trina's "Garlic Pasta in the Kitchen" over the weekend, please check them out.
iraqjeremy hinzmanmichael futchdon jorgensenian austensindh todayliam laheybrett clarksondavid huttonjessica mcdiarmid
talk of the nationnpr
the new york timesandrew e. kramer
the los angeles timestina susman
mcclatchy newspapers
deborah haynes
robert fisk
ron jacobs
iraq veterans against the war
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)