President Obama just accepted General McChrystal's resignation. I called for McChrystal to go in October, 2009. I called for him to go yesterday. And now, he's gone. But this isn't about McChrystal's job. It's about McChrystal's plan -- the plan for endless war.
The question is whether America is turning away from war.
And we are. Slowly.
It's time to speed up the turn towards peace. Now that there's a moment to rethink our commitment to this interminable war, let's raise our voices and make Congress hear us.
This month will be the worst month in Afghanistan for NATO casualties since the 2001 invasion. It's not a coincidence that when we withdrew troops from Iraq casualties went down, and when we 'surged' in Afghanistan casualties went up.
War kills.
Peace doesn't.
No matter who is in charge.
On Monday, thousands of people will join in a 'Peace Party' to fund my campaign. I am the only Democrat from a district that leans Republican (R+2) who consistently has voted against money for war. By supporting us, you will help show Democrats in Congress that peace is a winning message. That peace matters.
So join our Peace Party: http://www.CongressmanWithGuts.com
You and me, together, will help America this 3000-year-old prophecy true: "The will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore."
Follow Rep. Alan Grayson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/alangrayson
William Bradley: McChrystal: Right Man, Wrong Mission
When President Barack Obama picked Stanley McChrystal to be his general in Afghanistan, I thought he might have picked the right man for the right mission. After all, McChrystal had a strong record of going after jihadist leaders. He had exactly the right skill set and experiences for that fundamentally counter-terrorist mission. Instead, Obama had something much more conventional, not to mention massive, in mind. Nation-building, like we tried in Vietnam, cast in the guise of counter-insurgency. McChrystal embraced it. Who knows what he really thought?
You appear to be too smart to be in Congress. But, since you're there, could you please get behind this cause?
The biggest problem we have in this country right now and is leading the country into decline is the corrupting influence of government by moneyed self interests. Both parties are infected and it is paralyzing the political process.
Campaigns raised for both parties in Congress over a BILLION dollars in the last election cycle. Does anybody want something for a BILLION dollars? You tell me. Where does all of this money go? Primarily, to tv advertising. Think about it, the American people give giant corporations a BILLION dollars to help them get some bozos elected. The American people own the airwaves. We just lease them to big corporations. We could decide that all political advertising is a public service message and therefore free. One last thought. What do you think the big corporations do with the profits from all of that tv advertising? They spend a lot of it trying to influence government to srew you and me.
For anyone wanting to know more about what needs to be done, I refer you to Fair Elections Now Act (S. 752 and H.R. 1826) – matching public funding of federal elections.
It appears that Rep. Grayson is attempting an "end run" around the traditional money-route. If he succeeds and proves it to be a workable alternative, that might start an eventual avalanche among rest of Congress to follow.
Since I don’t prescribe to your loony toons belief system that has no basis in reality, yet I have to endure your rediculus wars, that makes you my enemy perhaps you will have to be eliminated at some point . Or it could be much easier if all of you religious nut bags stop killing each other because you don’t like the way the other prays to the same God and maybe those of us who live in the age of reason, without demons, witches, goblins and all other Gods such as Thor and Zeus, can live in peace.
It's nice to have a prez who's smart enough to deal with Russians.
You sit in the Congress of the United States. What do you need from any of us, especially why "money?"
Get in there and DO your Job.
Fire the Command. It is INEPT.
The United States of America is LOSING.
The Chicken Hawks are COWARDS.
War proponents are PROFITEERS.
STOP THE GREED.
STOP THIS INSANITY!
Sisyphus.
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New Deal. 9/11 provided the "perfect storm": a pretense to invade Iraq to steal their oil, thereby increasing military spending to $1 billion per month. That, plus Bush annual tax cuts, created deficits as far as the eye can see. And of course, now Republicans are calling for cuts in entitlements, saying Social Security and Medicare are bankrupt. Well, if we pull out of Afghanistan, and remove the cap on Social Security income taxes, and let anyone into Medicare that wants to join (premiums for people under 65), entitlements will become solvent and we can use the money being wasted in the Middle East on renewable energy technologies; which is what should have been done in 2002.
Bring down the Pentagon's budget. Close military bases on foreign soil in many locations.
Revamp factories. Build better plowshares! Bring jobs home. Collect taxes from 18,000 companies with mailing address in the Cayman Islands. Collect taxes from 5 to 7,000 Americans with Swiss bank accounts.
Raise taxes on the wealthy to pre-Reagan era.
Employ workers to improve America's infrastructure: roads, bridges, water systems, clean waterways, build a train for the 21st century.
Eliminate Wal-Mart and its sick drive for cheap, sometimes toxic Chinese products. Revamp "Main" Street stores.
Support small businesses which supplies most employment, not corporations.
Etc.
I love Alan Grayson. I think he can do this.
Clean the Gulf and the beaches
Border patrol
Airport security
Setup and training of light manufacturing for solar panels and wind turbines in "coal country"
National health clinics
Tornado and forest fire response teams
but as the word of wisdom goes: "There's no half pregnancy." It's better to pull all the way out, if this nation wants to refrain from ever again getting pregnant with fever for wars of aggression.
Americans of this generation in the coming decade have a hand in influencing how the American Empire ends. Among knowledgeable people who are fully aware of the financial and economic status of the empire, there's relatively little doubt that the national debts and USDollar have high probability of imploding at some point in time. The crucial question is --- will this eventuality subconsciously drive political and military leaders towards catastrophic recklessness in all aspects of national policies, . . . thus leading to temptations towards "wag the dog" uncontrollable wars of aggression . . . quite possibly kicked off by aegis of AIPAC and Israeli imperative towards war with Iran.
There's little doubt the unwinding and retrenchment of American military bases worldwide would begin, . . . quite possibly beginning with bases in Okinawa. The Okinawa base issue has already precipitated the recent fall of the Japanese Prime Minister surrounding that issue. It is imcumbent on all thinking Americans to become fully engaged in collective definition of the future of America. The issue is no less than a matter of life and death of the republic and the people.
can you imagine how upset we would be if the russians supplied the taliban with stingers to shot down our planes like we did when the russians were trying to take control of that country.
now that the shoe is on the other foot things change.
the russians have to be smiling at our attempt to take control of that country with our puppet gov.
oh the suffering we will cause when we leave for many of the afghans.
this is involvement in another civil war. and install our puppet gov.
this nation will bankrupt us.
this is the only thing that will stop our imperialism. compete economic meltdown.
americans will even borrow huge sums of money to keep our super power status and our trillion dollar military budget.
sad days in america. the end is near third world status coming soon to america. cannot be stopped the capitalist system wont let it stop.
capitalism left unchecked must create a society of haves and have nots. 95% have nots.