Progressive Democrats Sonoma County

By Richard Halstead
Marin Independent Journal
December 7, 2010

Liberal Marin Democrats expressed deep frustration with President Barack Obama on Tuesday after the president announced he had agreed to a deal with Republicans that would extend tax cuts for the wealthy for another two years in exchange for a 13-month extension of benefits for the long-term unemployed.

“I was at the White House Christmas party last night, and Democrats — not just progressives, but all Democrats — were just beside themselves,” said Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma. “They were furious.”

Read the Rest Here

Norman Solomon
December 7, 2010

Join PDA’s End War and Occupations, Redirect Funding Issue Organizing Team (IOT); learn more here.

Last Friday, in a column about economic policy, Paul Krugman focused on “moral collapse” at the White House—“a complete failure of purpose and loss of direction.” Meanwhile, President Obama flew to Afghanistan, where he put on a leather bomber jacket and told U.S. troops: “You’re achieving your objectives. You will succeed in your mission.”

For the Obama presidency, moral collapse has taken on the appearance of craven clockwork, establishing a concentric pattern—doing immense damage to economic security at home while ratcheting up warfare overseas.

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The holidays are coming …

With the holiday season upon us, we have had to tweak the call schedule a bit for December.

Office of Rep.Barbara Lee
December 3, 2010, Washington, DC

On Wednesday, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-09) released the following statement regarding the one year anniversary of President Obama’s December 1, 2009 decision to send an additional 30,000 troops to war in Afghanistan.

“One year ago, President Obama announced to the nation his plans to further entrench the United States into the military quagmire in Afghanistan by sending an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to war.

“Since that day, more that 475 U.S. soldiers have lost their lives to this violent conflict—now America’s longest war in history.

Read the Rest Here

Office of Rep. Dennis Kucinich
November 26, 2010, Washington, DC

Join PDA’s End War and Occupations, Redirect Funding Issue Organizing Team (IOT); learn more here.

Published by Truthout.

Afghanistan War, Nightmare without End for Troops, Innocent Civilians and US Taxpayers

(November 23, 2010) — Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich, a leading proponent of peace, today renewed his call to end the Afghan war after it was revealed that a self-proclaimed senior Taliban negotiator working with President Hamid Karzai and NATO officials was in an imposter.

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October 20, 2010

Dear Representative Woolsey,

October’s Brown Bag Lunch Vigils are making three simple but important requests: Sign Rep. Raul Grijalva’s letter to President Obama urging no cuts to Social Security, join Rep. John Conyers’ Out of Afghanistan Caucus, and cosponsor Rep. Barbara Lee’s HR 6045 to expedite our exit from Afghanistan.

Thank you for being a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Your unwavering voice and vote for progressive legislation is what will pull us away from regressive and unjust policies and lead us toward peace, equality for all, and an accountable government.

Norman Solomon
October 8, 2010

Published by Marin Independent Journal.

Yesterday, the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan is beginning its 10th year, with 100,000 American troops in that country nearly a decade after the invasion started on Oct. 7, 2001.

When I returned home from a brief visit to Afghanistan a year ago, my life resumed in the pleasant, familiar surroundings of Marin. Yet my head was still in Kabul, with people whose voices are routinely drowned out by the foghorns of war.

Read the Rest Here

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A note from Dr. Bill …....

From Peace Action West , with thanks to all.

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For Immediate Release: 10/6/10

California State Democrats Speak Out on Afghanistan War Anniversary
Press Contact: Reva Patwardhan, 510-681-7075, rpatwardhan [at] peaceactionwest [dot] org

Oakland, CA – Tomorrow, on the 9th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, a letter from more than 160 California State Democratic Party delegates will be delivered to the entire California Democratic congressional delegation. The group, which includes state legislators, county chairs and Executive Board members from around the state, will urge members of the delegation to take action to end the war, which is supported by only 20 percent of Democrats, according to a recent CNN poll.

“California taxpayers have spent $35 billion on the war in Afghanistan,” said California Democratic Party Vice Chair Eric C. Bauman. “Meanwhile, we are closing parks and libraries and our schools are funded at the nation’s lowest levels. The future of California depends on these basic services and we need our leaders in DC to stop the war and re-prioritize how we expend our resources.”

Norman Solomon is scheduled to discuss the ninth anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan in a live interview on KPFA’s “Morning Show” (94.1 FM in Northern California and streaming at http://www.kpfa.org/ ) starting at 8:10 a.m. Thursday, October 7. KPFA 94.1 FM Berkeley: Listener Sponsored Free Speech Radio kpfa.org

Here’s audio of Norman Solomon’s live appearance on KPFA Radio this morning as he talked about Afghanistan including news from Bob Woodward’s new book “Obama’s Wars” (the nine-minute interview starts at 13:15 into the program) and then an excerpt from a recent speech by foreign correspondent Robert Fisk.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

August 20, 2010

Norman Solomon was interviewed yesterday on FAIR’s national radio program “CounterSpin”.

CLICK HERE to listen.

Norman Solomon
August 16, 2010

Take Action: Eat lunch for peace—become a brown-bagger

It’s already history. In mid-August 2010, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan launched a huge media campaign to prevent any substantial withdrawal of military forces the next summer.

The morning after Gen. David Petraeus appeared in a Sunday interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” to promote the war effort, the New York Times front-paged news of its own interview with him—reporting that the general “suggested that he would resist any large-scale or rapid withdrawal of American forces.”

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On this call we introduced the new co-chairs of this IOT – Marcy Winograd and Steve Carlson. We apologize for the poor quality of this recording.

1. We reviewed both the Cleveland and Albany conferences.
2. Discussed Accountability & Transparency for War Voting (BBLV’s)
3. Wikileaks/Bradley Manning Defense Committee
4. Iran, House Res. 1553 (46 Republican co-sponsors pledging US support to Israel for attack on Iran)
5. Why are 46 US warships being sent to Costa Rica? Venezuela connection.
7. BDS/Israel/Palestine

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

Robert Naiman
August 9, 2010

Join PDA’s End War and Occupations, Redirect Funding Issue Organizing Team (IOT); learn more here .

Published by ZNet.

Is there a man or woman in America today who is willing to stand at noon in the public square and claim that demands to bomb, invade, and occupy other people’s countries have anything to do with human liberation?

If such people can be found, let them answer a few simple questions about the US invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Read the Rest Here

August 8, 2010
Published by Tom Hayden.com.

The White House stepped up its campaign against WikiLeaks [Wednesday] by calling for the whistleblower organization to turn over the secret Pentagon documents still in its possession.

Meanwhile a petition supporting WikiLeaks began national and European circulation. See Defend WikiLeaks—End the Secret Wars at http://www.gopetition.com/petition/38165.html . The petition has been endorsed by Daniel Ellsberg, who was prosecuted by the Nixon administration for releasing the Pentagon Papers a generation ago. Other signers include Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, Rev. George Hunsinger of Princeton Theological Seminary, and Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Code Pink.

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Ray McGovern
July 29, 2010

See John Nichols interview Daniel Ellsberg at the PDA Grassroots Leadership Conference in Cleveland.

Published by Alternet.org.
Photo: US Army Sergeant Dostal adjusts the scope of his sniper rifle in eastern Afghanistan (AFP – Simon Lim).

The brutality and fecklessness of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan have been laid bare in an indisputable way just days before the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on whether to throw $33.5 billion more into the Afghan quagmire, when that money is badly needed at home.

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Norman Solomon
July 28, 2010

Join PDA’s End War and Occupations, Redirect Funding Issue Organizing Team (IOT); learn more here.

Washington’s spin machine is in overdrive to counter the massive leak of documents on Afghanistan. Much of the counterattack revolves around the theme that the documents aren’t particularly relevant to this year’s new-and-improved war effort.

The White House seized on the timeframe of the documents released by WikiLeaks. “The period of time covered in these documents (January 2004-December 2009) is before the President announced his new strategy,” a White House email told reporters on Sunday evening. “Some of the disconcerting things reported are exactly why the President ordered a three month policy review and a change in strategy.”

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David Swanson
July 28, 2010

Published by WarIsaCrime.org.

On Tuesday evening, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill already passed by the Senate that funds a $33 billion, 30,000-troop escalation in Afghanistan. The vote was 308 to 114. What could the good news possibly be?

The first good news is that, while we had no more than 35 congress members who would vote against war funding a year ago, or perhaps 55 when it was an easy vote with no pressure, we’ve now got 114. That’s serious progress. That’s a far more dramatic increase than we’ve seen in the number of congress members willing to vote for a non-binding unspecified timetable for a withdrawal. That number rose from 138 last year to 162 on July 1st (although the legislation was somewhat stronger this year). In other words, willingness to express mild interest in ending the war has reached a plateau. Willingness to take serious action to end the war is rapidly catching up. Of course, both have to top 218 before we win.

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July 26, 2010

Two important war votes this week

Last Saturday, Rep. Dennis Kucinich made the first public announcement about his privileged resolution to remove US forces from Pakistan by December 31, 2010, at PDA’s Grassroots Leadership Conference in Cleveland. After speaking to the more than 125 PDA members, Representative Kucinich spoke with Tim Carpenter in an informal interview. Watch the video of their discussion here. (Read a report on the conference.)

The House is expected to debate and vote on this privileged resolution—HCR 301—tomorrow. Call your representative and ask for a YES vote.

By David Swanson
July 9, 2010

On July 1, the House sent a bill with $33 billion in war escalation funding in it back to the Senate, but with changes the Senate will have to deal with. There is a good chance the Senate will make changes and send it back to the House.

If that happens, we will be in a good position to stop it. Already last week the House was unable to pass war funding without Republican votes, and so passed it without technically voting on it at all. The vote on the Rule to create that crazy procedure, however, nearly failed despite the built-in excuses that (1) it was just a “procedural” vote and (2) it allowed votes on good amendments. This time, we’ll be ready to confront that first excuse, and the second one won’t be there.

Our message to congress members is simple, clear, moral, and urgent: VOTE NO. If good measures are included, VOTE NO. If it’s merely a procedural vote, but the procedure facilitated by it is mass murder, VOTE NO.

We need to keep calling, lobbying, protesting, disrupting, and communicating, whether this bill comes back to the House or not. There will be another one.

Capitol Hill Switchboard: (202) 224-3121

Resources that may help you

Link to Original

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From David Swanson
July 5, 2010

WarIsACrime.org

What it means: The Peace Movement’s Progress.

How it worked: Democrats Forced to Cheat to Fund War .

What it looked like: Live Blog of the Vote .

How they voted on the Rule that allowed the war escalation funding to move forward.

John Nichols
July 3, 2010

Join PDA’s End War and Occupations, Redirect Funding Issue Organizing Team (IOT); learn more here .

Published by The Nation

An additional $33 billion in spending for President Obama’s occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq—and they are now his occupations as much as they once were George Bush’s—was approved by the House Thursday night as part of a broad “emergency” supplemental spending bill.

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By David Swanson
July 2, 2010

The Democratic leadership in the House had to resort to an unusual and underhanded tactic to pass war funding Thursday night.

Read the full story here

Norman Solomon
July 2, 2010

Watch — Norman Solomon: From Wall Street to the war, this isn’t what progressive democrats voted for
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For the warfare state, it doesn’t get any better than 99 to 0.

Every living senator voted Wednesday to approve Gen. David Petraeus as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.

Call it the unanimity of lemmings—except the senators and their families aren’t the ones who’ll keep plunging into the sea.

No, the killing and suffering and dying will be left to others: American soldiers who, for the most part, had scant economic opportunities in civilian life, and Afghans trapped between terrible poverty and escalating violence.

Read the Rest Here