[Peace-discuss] Hedges: only a candidate who calls for an immediate end to the war...

[Jenifer Cartwright]

In the words of the late (ret) great tennis player John McEnroe, you can NOT be serious!!
 --Jenifer

--- On Fri, 8/1/08, E. Wayne Johnson <ewj at pigs.ag> wrote:

From: E. Wayne Johnson <ewj at pigs.ag>
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Hedges: only a candidate who calls for an immediate end to the war...
To: "Neil Parthun" <lennybrucefan at gmail.com>
Cc: "peace-discuss" <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>, kmedina at illinois.edu
Date: Friday, August 1, 2008, 10:51 AM


The War in Iraq is a continuation of Clinton's War.

We are looking an unbroken poly-partisan thread of interventionalist foreign policy 
also known around the world and elsewhere as American Imperialism.
It should be clear to all that Obama will not bring any end to the war 
or this policy and is likely to escalate and expand existing theatres of war.  

There really isn't any lesser evil between McCain and Obama, just different flavours of evil.  

Do you want your Cheat-oes Crispy or Crunchy?   Totally Fried or just Half-Baked?


Neil Parthun wrote: 

As the late, great Eugene V. Debs stated: "I'd rather vote for something I want and not get it than vote for something I don't and get it."


McCain is open about his imperialism in the Middle East.  People have, and rightly so, criticized McCain's imperialist linguistics/policies.  However, it is a misconception and disingenuous to state that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are "Republican wars" or "Bush's wars".


Let's not forget that Congressional Republicans and Democrats authorized the use of force, authorized the Nuremburg Tribunal violating invasion of a country that did not attack us and has continued to fund an illegal, immoral and imperialist occupation.  The Democrats seized Congressional power in 2006 with the masses' dissatisfaction with the Iraq war.  What have they done since they've seized power?  A whole lot of nothing major to end the war that they were given the power to stop.


The idea that Nader is evil is absolutely laughable and an unfair characterization.  All left of center votes are not already prescribed to the Democratic party.  As I watch a party continue to fund an illegal, imperialist war...As I watch a party sell out the 4th Amendment while accepting AT&T funding/gifts for the DNC...As I watch a party given the power to end the war yet do nothing...As I watch a party who watches flagrant high crimes and misdemeanors taking place on such an epic and open scale that it boggles the imagination and does nothing.  As I watch all of this, it is quite clear why people vote for 3rd party candidates.  They are tired of their interests being sold out after being co-opted (see the anti-war mandate of '06, for example).


If anybody wants to place the blame on so-called spoilers, blame it the Democratic party and Obama.  These candidates need to earn the votes of people.  Obama's candidacy should have a warning signal: This candidate makes wide right turns.  Obama is for a continued military presence in the Middle East despite the Rand Corporation stating that a military operation is not the optimum way to combat terrorism.  Obama is for the "White Man's Burden" style of imperialism -- the idea that we can't dare leave Afghanistan or Iraq because the Afghanis and the Iraqis sure as Hell don't know how or can't form their own government and security themselves.  I sure as Hell can't vote for that.


Obama has also stated that he would attack and bomb Pakistan if they didn't do as we said.  He's supported the apartheid regime in Israel.  He's for aggressive wars as well and seems to be for the "Bush Doctrine" of aggressive wars but in alternative forums (Afghanistan/Pakistan/Palestine, not Iraq).


But we're supposed to hold our nose and vote Obama?  The idea of lesser evilism has led to numerous problems and made the Democratic party the opportunist that capitalizes on outrage for their own electoral gain rather than fixing the problems that so many are concerned about.  It is the graveyard of social movements.


I agree with Hedges:  I can't vote for a candidate that doesn't call for an immediate end to this blatant imperialism.




There is only this moment,
                    
     Neil






 We absolutely have to refuse to attribute any kind of permanency to that which is simply because it is.
[angela v. davis, 1944-]


The point is, the only real tools we have are our eyes and our heads. Its not the act of seeing with our own eyes alone; its correctly comprehending what we see.
[warren ellis, 1968-]
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