[Peace-discuss] Let's urge Durbin to speak up in defense of diplomacy to free Bergdahl

Wed Jun 4 19:28:26 EDT 2014

I am not sure why we should care at all about Obama's publicity stunts.

I might be some what impressed if Obot released all of the prisoners but
still I 'd wonder why he was doing it.  I'd be a lot more impressed if 
he released
Manning, and pardoned and praised him and Snowden and others.

Any time a prisoner is released it seems to be a good thing.

Harry Reid is a poster child for what's wrong with Amerika.  It's
a bit mind-boggling that there is anyone that likes him.  No doubt
the doctor slapped his mother when Harry Reid was born.

> Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) offered a full-throated 
> defense Wednesday of the Obama administration and its release of 
> senior Taliban commanders to secure the freedom of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
>
> Read more: 
> http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/208213-reid-charges-gop-with-hypocrisy-on-bergdahl#ixzz33iNa39th 
>

"Full-throated defense" seems a bit too graphic if you ask me,
but surely it is an accurate metaphor.

On 06/05/2014 03:47 AM, Carl G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss wrote:
> In regard to "...pressure from the right wing [and] ... from the 
> left," Chomsky describes "the systems of indoctrination that are 
> employed, often quite consciously, in ... democratic societies: let 
> debate rage, but within limits set by fixed presuppositions, which 
> express the basic interests of power.
>
> "For example, during the US wars in Indochina, the media and journals 
> of opinion were happy to sponsor debates between 'hawks,' who argued 
> that the US should resort to greater violence and destruction, and 
> 'doves,' who argued that our effort to defend the Vietnamese from 
> terror and foreign attack was becoming too costly, and that we should 
> seek other means to attain our noble objectives. The more that debate 
> rages, the less likely people are to ask the obvious questions: for 
> example, are we defending Vietnam by attacking it? Fortunately, great 
> numbers of people broke out of the hawk–dove spectrum, though very few 
> intellectuals. Much the same holds on many other issues."
>
> Right now the administration is desperately afraid that "great numbers 
> of people [may break] out of the hawk–dove spectrum."
>
> If you agree with Carl, do something - like talking to other Obama 
> opponents - to increase their fears.
>
> --CGE
>
> On Jun 4, 2014, at 1:53 PM, Robert Naiman 
> <naiman at justforeignpolicy.org <mailto:naiman at justforeignpolicy.org>> 
> wrote:
>
>> It's a shame that you use your energy to argue for passivity and 
>> inaction. Whether you like or dislike Durbin is not the point. 
>> Members of Congress respond to pressure. Right now they are getting 
>> pressure from the right wing. The question on the table is whether 
>> there should be pressure from the left.
>>
>> Durbin's number is (202) 224-2152 <tel:%28202%29%20224-2152>. If you 
>> agree with Carl, do nothing.
>>
>>
>>
>> Robert Naiman
>> Policy Director
>> Just Foreign Policy
>> www.justforeignpolicy.org <http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/>
>> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org <mailto:naiman at justforeignpolicy.org>
>> (202) 448-2898 x1
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 1:40 PM, Carl G. Estabrook 
>> <galliher at illinois.edu <mailto:galliher at illinois.edu>> wrote:
>>
>>     Durbin is as hypocritical as Obama, just dumber.
>>
>>     We all remember his tears over Gitmo. We don't remember his
>>     reason for them.
>>
>>
>>     On Jun 4, 2014, at 1:35 PM, Robert Naiman via Peace-discuss
>>     <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>>     <mailto:peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>> wrote:
>>
>>>     So, Harry Reid went to the Senate floor and said this:
>>>
>>>     Reid: GOP hypocrites on Bergdahl
>>>     http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/208213-reid-charges-gop-with-hypocrisy-on-bergdahl
>>>
>>>     Since Durbin has long been critical of 1) the endless war in
>>>     Afghanistan and 2) Gitmo, wouldn't it make sense for Durbin to
>>>     speak up?
>>>
>>>     I think so. So I called Durbin's office and said: I saw that
>>>     Senator Reid spoke up. Why not Senator Durbin?
>>>
>>>     You can too:
>>>     (202) 224-2152 <tel:%28202%29%20224-2152>
>>>
>>>     ===
>>>
>>>     Robert Naiman
>>>     Policy Director
>>>     Just Foreign Policy
>>>     www.justforeignpolicy.org <http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/>
>>>     naiman at justforeignpolicy.org <mailto:naiman at justforeignpolicy.org>
>>>     (202) 448-2898 x1 <tel:%28202%29%20448-2898%20x1>
>>>     _______________________________________________
>>>     Peace-discuss mailing list
>>>     Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>>>     <mailto:Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
>>>     https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
>>
>>
>
>
>
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