[Peace-discuss] [Discuss] [sf-core] Re: [CentralILJwJ] Fw: [OccupyCU] Fwd: [cchcc-l] Gov. Quinn Announces State-Federal Partnership Health Exchange

[John W.]

Hasn't Tim Johnson announced that he's not running for office again?  Who
is Gill's Republican opponent this time around?  Seems to be we should be
more concerned about the current race than about the actions and
motivations of a lame duck Representative.

John Wason


On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 7:43 PM, C. G. Estabrook <cge at shout.net> wrote:

Ricky--
>
> As was true in Vietnam and Nicaragua, when we're trying to marshall votes
> against a criminal war, it's a bit ridiculous not to accept them if we
> can't convince ourselves that they're *really sincere*...
>
> In fact, Tim Johnson has said that he was wrong to vote for war in
> Afghanistan and in Iraq, and since then he has been a consistent vote
> against any more money for war in the Mideast - one of the few in the
> House, where 2/3-3/4 continue to support the war. (And remember there is
> just one war from Central Asia to Central Africa, in several "theaters," as
> Obama says.)
>
> David Gill on the other hand, even though he now seems to have said
> quietly (only on Facebook comments, so far as I know!) that he would vote
> as Tim does, has never admitted that he's changed his position, even though
> he originally trumpeted his agreement with Conservative British MP Rory
> Stewart about how the occupation of Afghanistan should proceed.
>
> Obama mendaciously asserts that he's 'winding down' the war(s), when in
> fact he's substantially widening and intensifying them - more brutally and
> efficiently than Bush did. (I had a piece in last Sunday's News-Gazette
> about his real war policy.) Hypocrisy being the tribute vice pays to
> virtue, Obama misleads a public, 2/3-3/4 of which think US troops should be
> withdrawn.
>
> My fear is that David will fall into the administration's arms on this
> point (see picture) and say he supports Obama's 'withdrawal.' Johnson's
> forthright opposition (whatever his secret heart) to voting for any more
> money for war in the Mideast will be lost.
>
> So I hope, if David becomes the Congress member for IL-13, he'll vote on
> the war as Tim did, but I'm not convinced he will.  To summarize:
>
> ~ Why hasn't he publicly pledged (as Johnson did) to vote against funds
> for war in the Middle East?
> ~ Why hasn't he admitted (as Johnson did) that he's changed his position
> on the war (if he has), since he once espoused Rory Stewart's views?
> ~ Why hasn't he publicly praised the bipartisan suit by members of
> Congress (including Rep. Johnson) against Obama's obvious violation of the
> War Powers Act in Libya (an impeachable offense)?
> ~ Why hasn't he publicly condemned Obama's murders of US citizens and
> children (an impeachable offense)?
> ~ Why hasn't he publicly condemned Obama's illegal drone wars in six
> countries (an impeachable offense)?
>
> Obviously the most important thing the federal government does is kill
> people. Many Americans have worked for years to convince their elected
> representatives to prevent the mass murder carried out by the Bush & Obama
> administrations on the excuse of 9/11. I'd be sorry to replace one of the
> few members of Congress who has voted consistently against it with someone
> whose position is not so clear.
>
> Regards, Carl
>
> PS - I think I can shed some light on the "secret information ... which
> justified ... support for [the invasion of Iraq]" in 2003.
>
> As the Green party candidate, I ran against Tim for Congress in 2002. I
> told him at the time, quite publicly, that he shouldn't vote for the
> invasion of Iraq - but he refused to take a position on the matter. I met
> with him and his people just after the election (which I lost) and told
> them in even more detail why the the invasion was both a crime and a
> blunder.
>
> A short time later, the White House invited in a number of members of
> Congress, including Tim, to give them "secret information" that the WH said
> sealed the case for war. They told them (I think but cannot prove) the
> Niger yellow-cake story, the made-up CIA yarn about how Saddam Hussein was
> seeking materials for a nuclear bomb from Africa. That was the story that
> eventually led to Amb. Joseph Wilson's revelation of its falsity, CIA agent
> Valerie Plame's outing, and the conviction of Cheney's chief of staff
> Scooter Libby. But it served its purpose with a number of wavering
> Congressmembers, and we were able to go back the traditional American
> pastime of slaughtering Iraqi men women, and children. (Remember Clinton
> was responsible for a death of about a million of them.)
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