[Peace-discuss] Fwd: debates

Tue Jul 9 15:16:32 UTC 2019

FYI.  A very strong query and recommendation. The problem is whether the DNC will even come close to considering this request.

—mkb

Begin forwarded message:

From: David Swanson <davidcnswanson at gmail.com<mailto:davidcnswanson at gmail.com>>
Subject: Re: debates
Date: July 9, 2019 at 8:24:59 AM CDT
To: medea benjamin <medea.benjamin at gmail.com<mailto:medea.benjamin at gmail.com>>
Cc: Gar Smith <gar.smith at earthlink.net<mailto:gar.smith at earthlink.net>>, "<wbw-discussion at googlegroups.com<mailto:wbw-discussion at googlegroups.com>>" <wbw-discussion at googlegroups.com<mailto:wbw-discussion at googlegroups.com>>, "Brussel,Morton K" <brussel at illinois.edu<mailto:brussel at illinois.edu>>, Frank Lockwood <lockwoodnow at gmail.com<mailto:lockwoodnow at gmail.com>>, Sally McMillan <marugg51 at gmail.com<mailto:marugg51 at gmail.com>>

HERE'S A DRAFT:

Tell the DNC to Hold a War and Peace Debate
Sign this petition to the Democratic National Committee:

We write to you as U.S. residents who support holding a debate on climate and a separate debate on war and peace.

While the U.S. military is our single largest consumer of petroleum, and its activities are excluded from climate agreements, and its budget is a key potential source of funding for a serious effort to slow the damage of climate collapse, we can safely expect corporate media moderators to avoid any in-depth discussion of militarism during a climate debate or any other debate.

During the first pair of debates, some candidates were questioned very briefly on war and peace, others not at all. None were asked for any rough estimate of what federal discretionary spending should look like, whether the majority should go into militarism or not. None were asked about the impacts of militarism on U.S. society. None were asked for a full list of which wars they would end, or even how many wars they were aware of.

Why do scientists believe the risk of nuclear apocalypse is greater than ever, and what would you do about it? That is a critical question that has not been asked.

Economists at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have documented<https://www.peri.umass.edu/publication/item/449-the-u-s-employment-effects-of-military-and-domestic-spending-priorities-2011-update> that military spending is an economic drain rather than a jobs program. Do we need a conversion to peaceful industries, and what would your plan look like? This question has not been asked.

Military spending is, by one calculation<https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/military-spending-2018>, now 68% of federal discretionary spending. A public policy debate that avoids mentioning its existence is not a public policy debate at all. Should military spending go up or down or remain unchanged? Are any of these things that could be funded with a small fraction of it higher priorities, and how would each candidate rank them: free public college, conversion to clean energy, ending starvation globally, building public transit, etc.?

Does militarism protect or endanger? Does it create or fend off refugees? Does it promote or reduce bigotry? Have we gained or lost freedoms during recent wars? These are basic questions that will not arise in the current debate format.

So are these: Would you end weapons sales and the provision of military training to any governments? Which ones? Would you close any foreign bases? Which ones? How many bases does the United States have? Would you halt or continue the practice of murder by missiles from drones? Would you sign and urge ratification of any human rights treaties? Which ones? These are questions that are not going to be tossed in between healthcare, abortion, and commercial breaks. We are not going to obtain a clear vision of what each candidate is likely to do on foreign policy unless we have a full debate on foreign policy.

We urge you to schedule one now.

On Mon, Jul 8, 2019 at 9:41 PM medea benjamin <medea.benjamin at gmail.com<mailto:medea.benjamin at gmail.com>> wrote:
I nominate you. Thanks, David.

On Jul 8, 2019, at 9:39 PM, David Swanson <davidcnswanson at gmail.com<mailto:davidcnswanson at gmail.com>> wrote:

happy to draft
happy for someone else to

On Mon, Jul 8, 2019 at 9:36 PM medea benjamin <medea.benjamin at gmail.com<mailto:medea.benjamin at gmail.com>> wrote:
So who can draft the call for this? Medea

On Jul 8, 2019, at 9:32 PM, David Swanson <davidcnswanson at gmail.com<mailto:davidcnswanson at gmail.com>> wrote:

I can run anything by colleagues at RootsAction.org<http://rootsaction.org/> and/or World BEYOND War.

On Mon, Jul 8, 2019 at 9:16 PM Medea Benjamin <medea.benjamin at gmail.com<mailto:medea.benjamin at gmail.com>> wrote:
No. I’m sure roots action would be happy to do it with us. Probably not MoveOn, as they think their constituents are a lot more interested in domestic issues.

On Mon, Jul 8, 2019 at 7:12 PM Gar Smith <gar.smith at earthlink.net<mailto:gar.smith at earthlink.net>> wrote:
Another avenue: Has MoveOn or RootsAction launched any petitions for a presidential debate on foreign policy?

-----Original Message-----
From: Medea Benjamin
Sent: Jul 8, 2019 3:54 PM
To: Gar Smith
Cc: "" , "Brussel,Morton K" , Frank Lockwood , Sally McMillan
Subject: Re: debates

That's a great idea gar but maybe not just the veterans. I love the idea of getting Tulsi on board. Do you want to draft a letter that we will use to get groups on board?

On Mon, Jul 8, 2019 at 6:31 PM Gar Smith <gar.smith at earthlink.net<mailto:gar.smith at earthlink.net>> wrote:
Might make a difference if our pro-peace veterans groups issued a joint public demand for a presidential debate on foreign policy/war-and-peace.
Perhaps they/we could elicit calls for support from the two military vets in the race—Mayor Pete and Tulsi.
And the Green New Dealers, of course — plus coordinated calls to progressives Warren and Sanders.

-----Original Message-----
From: Medea Benjamin
Sent: Jul 8, 2019 2:37 PM
To: "Brussel, Morton K"
Cc: "" , Frank Lockwood , Sally McMillan
Subject: Re: debates

I think it is more accurate to say we are enthusiastic but lousy organizers. We don't know how to get the energy needed to make it possible. I'm all for it and happy to talk about how to push it. Medea

On Mon, Jul 8, 2019 at 5:32 PM Brussel, Morton K <brussel at illinois.edu<mailto:brussel at illinois.edu>> wrote:
Specific debates on foreign policy is an important idea. So far it has been missing in the presidential debates. Why are the peace groups unenthusiastic, if they are, about this idea? Doesn’t seem logical. The implication is that the population is apathetic to issues regarding foreign policy, as vitally important as they are. .

On Jul 8, 2019, at 3:47 PM, Frank Lockwood <lockwoodnow at gmail.com<mailto:lockwoodnow at gmail.com>> wrote:

Plenty of interest on my part. I cannot travel long distances right away, but I put my two bits worth in whenever I can.  See world beyond wars of tri-cities, washington. https://worldbeyondwar.org/tricities/

On Mon, Jul 8, 2019 at 8:18 AM Sally McMillan <marugg51 at gmail.com<mailto:marugg51 at gmail.com>> wrote:
Sounds like there may be a debate on climate change.Because of lots of pressure on DNC.  We should also have a debate on foreign policy, but lack of interest from peace groups, it seems.  Let's get going for this. Very much needed.  In fact, debates on specific issues is much more useful than the free-for alls we had so far.  -Sally

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WBW discussion" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to wbw-discussion+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com<mailto:wbw-discussion+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com>.
To post to this group, send email to wbw-discussion at googlegroups.com<mailto:wbw-discussion at googlegroups.com>.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/wbw-discussion.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/wbw-discussion/CAKfJskjPhUeHkh-cb3QymOCtuFb_qMkWNVkkL5DEcU1YeADtOw%40mail.gmail.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/wbw-discussion/CAKfJskjPhUeHkh-cb3QymOCtuFb_qMkWNVkkL5DEcU1YeADtOw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WBW discussion" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to wbw-discussion+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com<mailto:wbw-discussion+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com>.
To post to this group, send email to wbw-discussion at googlegroups.com<mailto:wbw-discussion at googlegroups.com>.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/wbw-discussion.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/wbw-discussion/CAMJ830saSP749hKVFCequJpGEqcOY6bO2_CyVwbjHXv5dN39xQ%40mail.gmail.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/wbw-discussion/CAMJ830saSP749hKVFCequJpGEqcOY6bO2_CyVwbjHXv5dN39xQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WBW discussion" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to wbw-discussion+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com<mailto:wbw-discussion+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com>.
To post to this group, send email to wbw-discussion at googlegroups.com<mailto:wbw-discussion at googlegroups.com>.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/wbw-discussion.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/wbw-discussion/1F832F42-06CC-4244-9DA2-5E35C6CB3227%40illinois.edu<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/wbw-discussion/1F832F42-06CC-4244-9DA2-5E35C6CB3227%40illinois.edu?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
--

Medea Benjamin
CODEPINK<http://codepink.org/> Co-founder
(415) 235-6517

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WBW discussion" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to wbw-discussion+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com<mailto:wbw-discussion+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com>.
To post to this group, send email to wbw-discussion at googlegroups.com<mailto:wbw-discussion at googlegroups.com>.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/wbw-discussion.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/wbw-discussion/CADqanfX1-GjFuo%2BvqOYKnNkX%3Djff3pmuB_OvUP0vmk21Nz3MvQ%40mail.gmail.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/wbw-discussion/CADqanfX1-GjFuo%2BvqOYKnNkX%3Djff3pmuB_OvUP0vmk21Nz3MvQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
--

Medea Benjamin
CODEPINK<http://codepink.org/> Co-founder
(415) 235-6517
--

Medea Benjamin
CODEPINK<http://codepink.org/> Co-founder
(415) 235-6517

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WBW discussion" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to wbw-discussion+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com<mailto:wbw-discussion+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com>.
To post to this group, send email to wbw-discussion at googlegroups.com<mailto:wbw-discussion at googlegroups.com>.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/wbw-discussion.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/wbw-discussion/CADqanfUzc8K%3DZWyb8pR6PK9LXUifU7YRpgqMZdk_VhLv2wuh_Q%40mail.gmail.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/wbw-discussion/CADqanfUzc8K%3DZWyb8pR6PK9LXUifU7YRpgqMZdk_VhLv2wuh_Q%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is executive director of WorldBeyondWar.org<http://worldbeyondwar.org/> and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org<http://rootsaction.org/>. Swanson's books<http://davidswanson.org/books> include War Is A Lie<http://warisalie.org/>. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org<http://davidswanson.org/> and WarIsACrime.org<http://warisacrime.org/>. He hosts Talk Nation Radio<http://davidswanson.org/tag/talk-nation-radio/>. He is a 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee. Swanson was awarded the 2018 Peace Prize<http://davidswanson.org/2018-peace-prize-awarded-to-david-swanson/> by the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation. Longer bio and photos and videos here<http://davidswanson.org/about>. Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson<http://twitter.com/davidcnswanson> and FaceBook<http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Swanson/297768373319#>, and sign up for:

Activist alerts<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/activism-alerts-from-david-swanson?source=email&referrer=david-swanson>.
Articles<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/articles-from-david-swanson>.
David Swanson news<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/david-swanson-news>.
World Beyond War news<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/world-beyond-war-news>.
Charlottesville news<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/charlottesville-media>.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WBW discussion" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to wbw-discussion+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com<mailto:wbw-discussion+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com>.
To post to this group, send email to wbw-discussion at googlegroups.com<mailto:wbw-discussion at googlegroups.com>.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/wbw-discussion.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/wbw-discussion/CAF1z47JLZiVntshBkQVNCPSVR57xFC5V_PKNB0iVSML1gM0iEA%40mail.gmail.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/wbw-discussion/CAF1z47JLZiVntshBkQVNCPSVR57xFC5V_PKNB0iVSML1gM0iEA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is executive director of WorldBeyondWar.org<http://worldbeyondwar.org/> and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org<http://rootsaction.org/>. Swanson's books<http://davidswanson.org/books> include War Is A Lie<http://warisalie.org/>. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org<http://davidswanson.org/> and WarIsACrime.org<http://warisacrime.org/>. He hosts Talk Nation Radio<http://davidswanson.org/tag/talk-nation-radio/>. He is a 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee. Swanson was awarded the 2018 Peace Prize<http://davidswanson.org/2018-peace-prize-awarded-to-david-swanson/> by the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation. Longer bio and photos and videos here<http://davidswanson.org/about>. Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson<http://twitter.com/davidcnswanson> and FaceBook<http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Swanson/297768373319#>, and sign up for:

Activist alerts<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/activism-alerts-from-david-swanson?source=email&referrer=david-swanson>.
Articles<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/articles-from-david-swanson>.
David Swanson news<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/david-swanson-news>.
World Beyond War news<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/world-beyond-war-news>.
Charlottesville news<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/charlottesville-media>.

--
David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is executive director of WorldBeyondWar.org<http://worldbeyondwar.org/> and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org<http://rootsaction.org/>. Swanson's books<http://davidswanson.org/books> include War Is A Lie<http://warisalie.org/>. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org<http://davidswanson.org/> and WarIsACrime.org<http://warisacrime.org/>. He hosts Talk Nation Radio<http://davidswanson.org/tag/talk-nation-radio/>. He is a 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee. Swanson was awarded the 2018 Peace Prize<http://davidswanson.org/2018-peace-prize-awarded-to-david-swanson/> by the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation. Longer bio and photos and videos here<http://davidswanson.org/about>. Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson<http://twitter.com/davidcnswanson> and FaceBook<http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Swanson/297768373319#>, and sign up for:

Activist alerts<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/activism-alerts-from-david-swanson?source=email&referrer=david-swanson>.
Articles<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/articles-from-david-swanson>.
David Swanson news<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/david-swanson-news>.
World Beyond War news<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/world-beyond-war-news>.
Charlottesville news<https://actionnetwork.org/forms/charlottesville-media>.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/attachments/20190709/ec92c0b7/attachment-0001.html>