[Peace-discuss] What AWARE calls on Obama & Congress to do...

[LAURIE SOLOMON]

Stuart,

A few brief points, I promise.  Ok, I lie; I don't know how to keep things
brief.

   > AWARE calls on the Obama administration
   > to live up to the promise of change

I do cringe at the heading because it is so academic.  It needs to be in a
headline format and catchy if you want to catch peoples' eyes and get them
to look at the contents.  Not only does the way it reads sound academic like
the title to a formal legalistic treatise; but allows Obama and others to
suggest that he and his administration are living up to their promises of
change and what THEY meant by them which happens to be different than what
AWARE interpreted it to be.

>Do we need to do this?  Shouldn't we just wait and see what he does?  No!
>There's a great deal of power and trillions of dollars of money at stake in
>keeping things as they are, from the military industry, the new "security"
>industry, the media industry, the oil industry, the banking industry, from
many
>sorts of powerful constituencies.

I would state this introduction along the following lines:

Why do we need to do this rather than just wait and see what he does?  Why
engage in these sorts of pre-emptive actions? There's a great deal of power
and trillions of dollars of money at stake in keeping things as they are.
The military industry, the new "security" industry, the media industry, the
oil industry, the banking industry, from many other sorts of powerful
constituencies already have made in-roads into getting Obama ear in order to
secure support for keeping things more or less as they are. That is why we
need to act now and not wait.  They seek to install and already have
succeeded in installing major appointments that they call "pragmatic" and
"non-ideological" as if that is the sort of change that was promised by
Obama and as if putting into positions of authority and official power the
old Washington hands and establishment representatives who were involved in
previous administrations that were dedicated to maintaining the status quo
that got us into the mess that we are now in represents a change to
something NEW.


> Beware of such labels: "pragmatism" implies not questioning assumptions,
such as the
> assumption that the US has an inalienable right to use military force
anywhere in
> the world, that major changes to the way we use energy or provide health
care are
> just not feasible, that "free market" practices serve our people well,
that erosion
> of civil liberties and use of torture are regrettable but necessary.
That's why...

"Pragmatism" does not imply not questioning assumptions; it implies
expediency and opportunism, while "non-ideological" implies "amoralistic"
and "factual" - therefore not open to empirical question or normative
evaluation. Machiavellian approaches are both practical or pragmatic and
non-ideological on their face as long as one only analyzes the surface
structure and declines to delve into the sub-structure.

You might use the following language:

"Be careful of labels! Do you know what "pragmatic" or "non-ideological"
really mean?"

Then you can go on to explain, give answers, furnish textual descriptions in
a paragraph using the above as the paragraph intro.

>Obama is being compared with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who brought in the
New Deal,
>the fruits of which (Social Security, labor protections, infrastructure
creation, ...)
>we still depend on.  But as Frances Fox Piven[*] and others argue, FDR
didn't and
>wouldn't have done it alone: "mass protests [...] forced him to make
choices he
>would otherwise have avoided [...] the rise of protest movements forced the
new
>president and the Democratic Congress to become bold reformers."

This is too detailed (look at me talking! :-))  You probably do not need to
list specific examples of the New Deal since most people already have a good
idea what the New Deal was and may have included.  I would eliminate the
things in the parentheses.  Instead of "Join us," I would say "Join AWARE."

I would also try to avoid footnotes.  This is a "call to action pamphlet"
and not an academic treatise; footnotes of any kind are off-putting to most
everyday readers.  Newspapers do not use footnotes for good reason; they
would lose readers.

> Some things AWARE [**] calls on the new Administration and Congress to do:

The material referenced by the ** can be put in a box at the end of the
pamphlet and should not be included in the fashion that it is here.  Avoid
** references to footnoted information within the pamphlet's textual
content.

  > - Withdraw from Iraq *all* US troops, *and* all military contractors.
  >   The Iraqi Parliament agreed to a 2011 deadline, but don't wait.
  >   Make it plain that the US will keep no military bases there.

  > - End the war in Afghanistan.  As in Iraq, our invasion violates
international law;
  >   and as in Iraq, our violent presence there only strengthens our
opponents.  Even
  >   our own military have acknowledged that military means will not
suffice in
  >   Afghanistan.  Encourage the Afghan government's efforts to negotiate
with the
  >   Taliban, including all who are willing to talk.

I would suggest the following way of stating the above:

- Withdraw from and end the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Remove *ALL* US
troops *AND* all military contractors.
	
	- The Iraqi Parliament agreed to a 2011 deadline, but we should not
wait until then when we can do this earlier.
        Make it plain and clear that the US will keep no military bases
there in the foreseeable future.

      - As in Iraq, our invasion violates international law; and our violent
presence there only strengthens our         	  opponents.  Even our own
military have acknowledged that military means will not suffice in
Afghanistan.        	  Encourage the Afghan government's efforts to
negotiate with the Taliban, including all who are willing to talk.

- Cease illegal and counterproductive incursions into Pakistan, Syria,
Somalia, ...

- Rethink our policies toward Central America and Latin America.

	- End our long-running, counterproductive embargo against Cuba, and
open a dialog
        with the Cuban government.   

      - Repair relations with Venezuela and Bolivia, including restoring
Bolivia's preferential 
        access to US markets.  
	
- Renew US efforts to resolve Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including
dismantling
    West Bank settlements.  
	
	- Support the 2002 Arab League offer for peace in exchange for a
return to 
        the 1967 borders and agreement on refugee status.  
	
	- Negotiate with Hamas (as 64% of Israelis support doing) -- they
won free and fair elections.

- Put our vast military spending, including our own weapons of mass
destruction,
    on the table for cuts.

- Close Guantanamo Bay, and end use of torture, as promised, and promptly.

- Whether by prosecution of those who created and justified the policies, or
by a
    Truth Commission, ensure that the world and the US people know we
understand that
    wars of aggression, torture and arbitrary imprisonment are never
acceptable.

- Talk with Iran, as promised, without preconditions.  

	- Reestablish US diplomatic representation. 
	
	- Make clear that the US will accept a peaceful Iranian nuclear
power program under 
	  international supervision.  

	- Seek Iran's help in resolving Middle East conflicts, including in
Iraq, Afghanistan, 
	  Israel/Palestine, and Lebanon. 

- Repudiate the Bush Administration's signing statements, and the whole
notion that a President 
  can override laws by fiat.  Stop this terrible precedent now.

Hope this helps even if it is more than a few comments. :-)

-----Original Message-----
From: peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net
[mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Stuart Levy
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2008 2:32 PM
To: peace-discuss at anti-war.net
Subject: [Peace-discuss] What AWARE calls on Obama & Congress to do...

Here's another draft, following input from lots of you.
It's a little long (77 lines where I wanted 66), and of course
leaves a lot out, but I did want some sort of introduction explaining
why on earth we even bother to say all this now.

You might cringe at the heading; if you see a better one,
please let me know.  I do think it's important to appeal to all those
(many, many!) people who see the new Administration as representing
a chance for improvement, so using Obama's own rhetoric seemed appropriate.

=============================================================
	    AWARE calls on the Obama administration
	      to live up to the promise of change

Do we need to do this?  Shouldn't we just wait and see what he does?  No!
There's a great deal of power and trillions of dollars of money at stake in
keeping things as they are, from the military industry, the new "security"
industry, the media industry, the oil industry, the banking industry, from
many
sorts of powerful constituencies.  They speak with confidence, calling
Obama's
Bush- and Clinton-era appointments "pragmatic" and "non-ideological".

Beware of such labels: "pragmatism" implies not questioning assumptions,
such as the
assumption that the US has an inalienable right to use military force
anywhere in
the world, that major changes to the way we use energy or provide health
care are
just not feasible, that "free market" practices serve our people well, that
erosion
of civil liberties and use of torture are regrettable but necessary.  That's
why...

		 Obama Needs a Protest Movement [*]

Obama is being compared with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who brought in the
New Deal,
the fruits of which (Social Security, labor protections, infrastructure
creation, ...)
we still depend on.  But as Frances Fox Piven[*] and others argue, FDR
didn't and
wouldn't have done it alone: "mass protests [...] forced him to make choices
he
would otherwise have avoided [...] the rise of protest movements forced the
new
president and the Democratic Congress to become bold reformers."

Obama and the Congress need our pressure now to resist pressure from our
opponents,
who are not waiting.  We must call on the Administration to carry out the
best of
Obama's promises, and to do other things which he has not promised.  Join us
[**],
join other groups, act on your own, but act.  Write letters to the editor,
to the new
Administration, to Congress.  Make signs and demonstrate.  Talk with your
neighbors.

Some things AWARE [**] calls on the new Administration and Congress to do:

  - Withdraw from Iraq *all* US troops, *and* all military contractors.
    The Iraqi Parliament agreed to a 2011 deadline, but don't wait.
    Make it plain that the US will keep no military bases there.

  - End the war in Afghanistan.  As in Iraq, our invasion violates
international law;
    and as in Iraq, our violent presence there only strengthens our
opponents.  Even
    our own military have acknowledged that military means will not suffice
in
    Afghanistan.  Encourage the Afghan government's efforts to negotiate
with the
    Taliban, including all who are willing to talk.

  - Cease illegal and counterproductive incursions into Pakistan, Syria,
Somalia, ...

  - Renew US efforts to resolve Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including
dismantling
    West Bank settlements.  Support the 2002 Arab League offer for peace in
exchange
    for a return to the 1967 borders and agreement on refugee status.
Negotiate with
    Hamas (as 64% of Israelis support doing) -- they won free and fair
elections.

  - Put our vast military spending, including our own weapons of mass
destruction,
    on the table for cuts.

  - Close Guantanamo Bay, and end use of torture, as promised, and promptly.

  - Whether by prosecution of those who created and justified the policies,
or by a
    Truth Commission, ensure that the world and the US people know we
understand that
    wars of aggression, torture and arbitrary imprisonment are never
acceptable.

  - Talk with Iran, as promised, without preconditions.  Reestablish US
diplomatic
    representation.  Make clear that the US will accept a peaceful Iranian
nuclear power
    program under international supervision.  Seek Iran's help in resolving
Middle East
    conflicts, including in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel/Palestine, and
Lebanon.

  - Rethink our policies toward Central America and Latin America.  End our
    long-running, counterproductive embargo against Cuba, and open a dialog
    with the Cuban government.   Repair relations with Venezuela and
Bolivia,
    including restoring Bolivia's preferential access to US markets.

  - Repudiate the Bush Administration's signing statements, and the whole
notion
    that a President can override laws by fiat.  Stop this terrible
precedent now.

[*]  http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081201/piven
     Article by Frances Fox Piven's in the Dec. 1, 2008 issue of The Nation

[**] http://www.anti-war.net/   AWARE meets every Sunday at 5PM in the
basement
     of the Independent Media Center, Broadway & Elm, Urbana.
_______________________________________________
Peace-discuss mailing list
Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss