SUPPORT OUR TROOPS: BRING THEM HOME. WHY THE WMD ISSUE MATTERS

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS: BRING THEM HOME. WHY THE WMD ISSUE MATTERS


SUPPORT OUR TROOPS: BRING THEM HOME. A TWO PART ESSAY


1) 164 REASONS WHY THE INABILITY TO FIND WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION SHOULD MATTER TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, AND 2) WHY NEO-CONSERVATIVISM NOW REPRESENTS A GREATER THREAT TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY THAN TERRORISM.


1) 164 REASONS WHY THE INABILITY TO FIND WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION SHOULD MATTER TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Understand that the real reason why we should all care about the lies and misrepresentations of intelligence data that President George W. Bush told and misrepresented to the American people is because he played on our fears by citing a threat level that did not exist. This President should be impeached for citing threats faced by WMD known to be destroyed years ago, for citing threats about a non-existent nuclear program using forged documents, and for citing threats by lying about connections between Iraq and Al-Qaeda that never existed or ended years ago. President George W. Bush misled us into a war in which 190 troops have already been slaughtered and continue to be slaughtered in addition to thousands of Iraqi?. Below I share with you a list of some 164 troops of the 190 who have been killed so far. Our troops continue to die in a war that should have never been fought in the first place, a war sold to the American people by President George W. Bush as he lied, misrepresented the facts, used our own fears against us, and sent brave, honorable men and women to die for nothing more than politics, power and the greed for oil desired by a select few wealthy, powerful traitors to America and American Democracy.

164 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT THE FAILURE TO FIND WMD

Sgt. Atanacio Haromarin died because Bush lied.
Spc. Kyle Griffin died because Bush lied.
Spc. Nathaniel A. Caldwell died because Bush lied.
Lt. Col. Dominic R. Baragona died because Bush lied.
Capt. Andrew David La Mont died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. Jason William Moore died because Bush lied.
1st Lt. Timothy Louis Ryan died because Bush lied.
Infantry Sgt. Kirk Straseskie died because Bush lied.
Staff Sgt. Aaron Dean White died because Bush lied.
Cpl. Douglas Jose Marencoreyes died because Bush lied.
Spc. Rasheed Sahib died because Bush lied.
Master Sgt. William Lee Payne died because Bush lied.
Spc. David T. Nutt died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. Nicholas Brian Kleibocker died because Bush lied.
Staff Sgt. Patrick L. Griffin died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. Jakub H. Kowalik died because Bush lied.
Pfc. Jose Franci Gonzalez Rodriguez died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. Matthew R. Smith died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. Cedric E. Bruns died because Bush lied.
Cpl. Richard P. Carl died because Bush lied.
Chief Warrant Officer died because Bush lied.
Chief Warrant Officer Hans N. Gukeisen died because Bush lied.
Brian K. Van Dusen died because Bush lied.
Pfc. Marlin T. Rockhold died because Bush lied.
Sgt. Sean C. Reynolds died because Bush lied.
Pfc. Jesse A. Givens died because Bush lied.
1st Sgt. Joe J. Garza died because Bush lied.
1st Lt. Osbaldo Orozco died because Bush lied.
Spc. Narson B. Sullivan died because Bush lied.
Sgt. Troy D. Jenkins died because Bush lied.
Chief Warrant Officer Andrew T. Arnold died because Bush lied.
Spc. Roy R. Buckley died because Bush lied.
Chief Warrant Officer Robert W. Channell Jr. died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. Alan D. Lam died because Bush lied.
Cpl. John T. Rivero died because Bush lied.
Pvt. Johnny Brown died because Bush lied.
Spc. Thomas Arthur Foley III died because Bush lied.
Cpl. Armando Ariel Gonzalez died because Bush lied.
Spc. Richard A. Goward died because Bush lied.
Pfc. Joseph P. Mayek died because Bush lied.
Cpl. Jason David Mileo died because Bush lied.
Spc. Gil Mercado died because Bush lied.
Cpl. Jesus A. Gonzalez died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. David Edward Owens Jr. died because Bush lied.
Staff Sgt. Riayan A. Tejeda died because Bush lied.
Gunnery Sgt. Jeff Bohr died because Bush lied.
Staff Sgt. Terry W. Hemingway died because Bush lied.
Cpl. Henry L. Brown died because Bush lied.
Pfc. Juan Guadalupe Garza Jr. died because Bush lied.
Sgt. 1st Class John W. Marshall died because Bush lied.
Pfc. Jason M. Meyer died because Bush lied.
Staff Sgt. Scott D. Sather died because Bush lied.
Staff Sgt. Robert A. Stever died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. Andrew Julian Aviles died because Bush lied.
Capt. Eric B. Das died because Bush lied.
Staff Sgt. Lincoln Hollinsaid died because Bush lied.
2nd Lt. Jeffrey J. Kaylor died because Bush lied.
Cpl. Jesus Martin Antonio Medellin died because Bush lied.
Pfc. Anthony S. Miller died because Bush lied.
Spc. George A. Mitchell died because Bush lied.
Major William R. Watkins III died because Bush lied.
Pfc. Gregory P. Huxley Jr. died because Bush lied.
Pvt. Kelley S. Prewitt died because Bush lied.
Sgt. Stevon Booker died because Bush lied.
Spc. Larry K. Brown died because Bush lied.
1st Sgt. Edward Smith died because Bush lied.
Capt. Tristan N. Aitken died because Bush lied.
Pfc. Wilfred D. Bellard died because Bush lied.
Spc. Daniel Francis J. Cunningham died because Bush lied.
Capt. Travis Ford died because Bush lied.
Cp. Bernard G. Gooden died because Bush lied.
Pvt. Devon D. Jones died because Bush lied.
1st Lt. Brian M. McPhillips died because Bush lied.
Sgt. Duane R. Rios died because Bush lied.
Capt. Benjamin Sammis died because Bush lied.
Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith died because Bush lied.
Pfc. Chad Bales Metcalf died because Bush lied.
Sgt. Wilbert Davis died because Bush lied.
Cpl. Mark A. Evnin died because Bush lied.
Capt. Edward J. Korn died because Bush lied.
Staff Sgt. Nino D. Livaudais died because Bush lied.
Spc. Ryan P. Long died because Bush lied.
Spc. Donald S. Oaks Jr. died because Bush lied.
Sgt. 1st Class Randall S. Rehn died because Bush lied.
Capt. Russell B. Rippetoe died because Bush lied.
Sgt. Todd J. Robbins died because Bush lied.
Cpl. Erik H. Silva died because Bush lied.
Capt. James F. Adamouski died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. Brian E. Anderson died because Bush lied.
Spc. Mathew Boule died because Bush lied.
Master Sgt. George A. Fernandez died because Bush lied.
Pfc. Christian D. Gurtner died because Bush lied.
Chief Warrant Officer Erik A. Halvorsen died because Bush lied.
Chief Warrant Officer Scott Jamar died because Bush lied.
Sgt. Michael Pedersen died because Bush lied.
Chief Warrant Officer Eric A. Smith died because Bush lied.
Lt. Nathan D. White died because Bush lied.
Sgt. Jacob L. Butler died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. Joseph B. Maglione died because Bush lied.
Spc. William A. Jeffries died because Bush lied.
Spc. Brandon Rowe died because Bush lied.
Capt. Aaron J. Contreras died because Bush lied.
Sgt. Michael V. Lalush died because Bush lied.
Sgt. Brian McGinnis died because Bush lied.
Staff Sgt. James Cawley died because Bush lied.
Cpl. Michael Curtin died because Bush lied.
Pfc. Diego Fernando Rincon died because Bush lied.
Pfc. Michael Russell Creighton-Weldon died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. William W. White died because Bush lied.
Sgt. Eugene Williams died because Bush lied.
Sgt. Fernando Padilla-Ramirez died because Bush lied.
Sgt. Roderic A. Solomon died because Bush lied.
Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Menusa died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. Jesus A. Suarez Del Solar died because Bush lied.
Maj. Kevin G. Nave died because Bush lied.
Pfc. Francisco A. Martinez Flores died because Bush lied.
Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Michael Vann Johnson Jr. died because Bush lied.
Staff Sgt. Donald C. May Jr. died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. Patrick T. O'Day died because Bush lied.
Cpl. Robert M. Rodriguez died because Bush lied.
Maj. Gregory Stone died because Bush lied.
Cpl. Evan James died because Bush lied.
Sgt. Bradley S. Korthaus died because Bush lied.
Spc. Gregory P. Sanders died because Bush lied.
Spc. Jamaal R. Addison died because Bush lied.
Sgt. Edward J.Y«Anguiano died because Bush lied.
Sgt. Michael E. Bitz died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. Brian Rory Buesing died because Bush lied.
Sgt. George Edward Buggs died because Bush lied.
Pfc. Tamario D. Burkett died because Bush lied.
Cpl. Kemaphoom A. Chanawongse died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. Donald John Cline died because Bush lied.
Master Sgt. Robert J. Dowdy died because Bush lied.
Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. David K. Fribley died because Bush lied.
Cpl. Jose A. Garibay died because Bush lied.
Pvt. Jonathan L. Gifford died because Bush lied.
Cpl. Jorge A. Gonzalez died because Bush lied.
Pvt. Nolen R. Hutchings died because Bush lied.
Pfc. Howard Johnson II died because Bush lied.
Staff Sgt. Phillip A. Jordan died because Bush lied.
Spc. James Kiehl died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. Patrick R. Nixon died because Bush lied.
Chief Warrant Officer Johnny Villareal Mata died because Bush lied.
Pfc. Lori Piestewa died because Bush lied.
2nd Lt. Frederick E. Pokorney Jr. died because Bush lied.
Sgt. Brendon Reiss died because Bush lied.
Cpl. Randal Kent Rosacker died because Bush lied.
Pvt. Brandon Sloan died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. Thomas J. Slocum died because Bush lied.
Sgt. Donald Walters died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. Michael J. Williams died because Bush lied.
Lt. Thomas Mullen Adams died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. Eric J. Orlowski died because Bush lied.
Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert died because Bush lied.
Spc. Brandon S. Tobler died because Bush lied.
Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin died because Bush lied.
Capt. Ryan Anthony Beaupre died because Bush lied.
2nd Lt. Therrel S. Childers died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez died because Bush lied.
Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy died because Bush lied.
Staff Sgt. Kendall Damon Waters-Bey died because Bush lied.
Lance Cpl. Thomas A. Blair died because Bush lied.
Sgt. Nicolas M. Hodson died because Bush lied.

A government of the people, by the people and for the people must be held accountable.
DEMAND AN ANSWER AS TO WHY THESE BRAVE SOULS GAVE THEIR LIVES WHEN NO REASONABLE THREAT LEVEL EVER EXISTED. HOLD BUSH ACCOUNTABLE!!! GET THEM OUT OF THERE NOW MR. BUSH!!!
Hand over responsibility to the UN and the international community for rebuilding efforts and let Iraqi? govern themselves.

See alternet for details (http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16274)
Or see Truthout http://truthout.org/docs_03/062803C.shtml
Or see the CATO institute report: http://www.cato.org/dailys/06-19-03.html
Or see this article: http://www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/iraq/bal-te.occupation28jun28,0,232600.story







2) WHY NEO-CONSERVATIVES NOW REPRESENT A GREATER THREAT TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY THAN TERRORISM.

Let me first be clear about why I write and ask questions: I speak out because I care about my country, I love the troops and I refuse to be frightened or manipulated by a select few arrogant cowards in power. In doing so, I declare my independence from the State. I think for myself for I am neither specifically Left nor Right and yet I am both. I choose to be an ideological centrist, torn between the Progressivism of the ideological Left and the Libertarian Conservatism of the ideological Right. In this sense, I am an ideological ?wing voter,?or I would be if I was choosing between the Greens and the Libertarians which I wish I was choosing between these two parties. You can choose what you want to be too. You can choose your own political path too and you can choose your own opinions. It is just sad that we rely on the two-party system. Maybe that should change too. You do not have to choose between Left and Right. You can be an ideological independent too. Let me give you an example. Although I am a Democrat, in the last election I did not vote for my Democrat Representative. Instead, I chose to vote for the conservative Libertarian candidate since my Democrat Representative, Democrat Tom Lantos, is hawkish and neo-conservative. I do not vote for neo-conservatives for the same reason that I do not vote for Communists. They are neither progressive nor conservative. Communism and Neo-conservatism are both extreme types of socialism. Let me explain:

Most people commonly think of Socialism an ideology that appears only on the Left. This is a mistake. Socialism as an ideology can appear equally on both the political Left and the political Right. Granted, it takes different forms depending on what side of the political spectrum in which it arises, but make no mistake, extreme Socialism which has in history nearly always taken a Totalitarian form is inherently dangerous to Democracy.
Most of us know what extreme Socialism on the Left is: Communism. In a communist system, the people theoretically own all property and the means of distribution collectively. However, history has shown that this usually creates a class system of its own defined on the basis of who is in power versus those who are not in power. In addition, the mass monopolization of industry under the umbrella of ?ollective-control?results in massive inefficiency, diminished creativity as a result of diminished competition and an overall lowering of the standard-of-living for all people over time. Communism, in practice, has also shown a face of intolerance that seems to emerge from the Totalitarian form it usually takes. Extreme socialism of the Left has proven to be an unpleasant and threatening political system because of the totalitarian form it naturally gravitates toward.

So, then, what is extreme Socialism of the Right? Simply put, extreme Socialism of the Right is a political convergence of unchecked Capitalism and Corporate Socialism. That is, in a capitalist system there exist inherent business risks. If a corporation is not profitable on the market by making enough money, then it will fail. That is the risk. However, Corporate Socialism eliminates this business risk by using taxpayer dollars, levied mostly on the middle class and the poor, to bail out corporations when they face the business risk of failure. Thus, by using taxpayer dollars to bail out unprofitable corporations and eliminate business risk, the government intervenes in market dynamics and prevents some companies from going out of business. As a result, extreme forms of stealing and embezzlement are more likely to occur. For example, Enron or some airlines should now be out of business but yet they are not. They, like many other corporations who flood government with the corrupting influence of money are not out of business because they have bought the privilege of Corporate Socialism which eliminates business risk. The problem is that it does so at our future macro-economic and taxpayer expense. The extreme form of this convergence of Capitalism and Corporate Socialism takes the form of another totalitarian system. In this system, individuals are reduced to mere consumers who simply serve the corporate interest by consuming. In this system, consumers are devoid of any real political rights or responsibilities over the course and direction of the State. Their only purpose is to serve the State interest and thus the corporate interest. As mere consumers, the government then has the right to collect marketing information on them and tabulate consumer trends. This is the principle idea behind the USA Patriot Act and its successor. This type of extreme socialism is commonly referred to as Fascism. However, Fascism and Communism are both loaded terms filled with historical implications. But it is key to understand that Fascism, like Communism, is a political system and not a religious system, that is, any person of any religious faith, be they Christian, Muslim or Jew can be Communists or Fascists. It is also key to understand that Communism is an inherently anti-Right ideology at its root and Fascism is an inherently anti-Left ideology at its root. It is also key to understand that Fascism is not Nazism even though Nazism was a form of Fascism with both an anti-Semitic and an anti-Left ideology at its root. However, due to the historical implications and emotionally charged words such as Fascism and Communism, I prefer to use more subtle terminology, thus I prefer to use the term ?xtreme socialism.? When extreme socialism appears on the Left, it appears as International Socialism (Communism) and when it appears on the Right, it appears as National Socialism (Fascism).

Now let me get right to the point: Neo-Conservatives are not Conservatives. I know what conservatism is for I believe, in part, in Conservatism which is more commonly referred to nowadays as Libertarianism. I believe that government is the servant not the master of the people and that individual citizens have Constitutional Rights and responsibilities as citizens. While I believe in socially progressive causes also, I believe that socially progressive causes must be pursued on the state-government level not on the Federal Government level. This is because I know that money corrupts. This is because I know that money, because it comes largely from corporations, will never let politicians act in the best interest of citizens or at least will demand that politicians act first in the best interest of corporations before citizens. If, however, that money was to be spread over 50 states as opposed to 1 Federal government, then its power to corrupt would be vastly diminished. LET ME BE CLEAR: Neo-Conservatives are neo-National Socialists, that is, they are neo-Fascists. Their rhetoric is soft and mainstream but the policy is extreme which makes them different from yesteryears fascists and makes them even scarier in my assessment. Perle, Rice, Rumsfeld, Rove, DeLay and Wolfowitz are all American neo-National Socialists, they are neo-Fascists pure and simple but they are not neo-Nazi?. A good chunk of the Republican Party has also succumbed to neo-National Socialism. They are largely dominated by the neo-Fascist radical right and the Christian right who themselves are theocratically-minded neo-National Socialists.

Neo-Fascists, theocratic or otherwise, aim to use the powers of the Federal government to create the convergence of unchecked Capitalism and Corporate Socialism and from a theocratic standpoint dictate the moral terms to the individual in matters such as gay-marriage, abortion, drug use and other important privacy, liberty and equality issues . They intend to shove their morality down your throat. I say stand up to them and tell them to go jump in a lake. There are those amongst us who intend to create a single party fascist State. (see Paul Krugman? article in the New York Times for details http://truthout.org/docs_03/062803E.shtml) The Bush administration intends to use the Patriot Act not only to scapegoat Muslims, immigrants, and political adversaries (as the Justice Department has un-Constitutionally and unfairly plucked some people of the judicial system recently to be tried at military tribunals and denied them their Constitutional protected rights). Hey Ashcroft!!!! You want to screw with someone, screw with me. You want to pick someone up??? Pick me up!!! Why don? you and come get me, arrest me and try me at a military tribunal. Know that I am not afraid of you. We the people can still save Democracy if only we join together, Left and Right, in common solidarity against those who pursue tyranny over us, the people. Know freedom, be freedom, SPEAK FREEDOM!!! This kind of fascist behavior by the Justice Department must not be tolerated in our Democracy.
See also the following resources:
(http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0326/hentoff.php) (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/6170775.htm)
The second principle reason for the odious Patriot Act is to collect marketing data. This does affect all of us as they intend to collect detailed marketing information on citizens and use the Totalitarian Information Awareness system to do it. In short, they intend to broaden the powers of the government over all of our daily lives in the name of preventing ?errorism.? However, the Bush Administration is proving to be the biggest, most threatening type of terrorists known to humankind. The greatest threat to our American Democracy now sits in the Oval Office of the White House.

Real Conservatives like Libertarians, on the other hand, aim to diminish that power and restore liberty and privacy to the citizens of Democracy. In a Democracy, citizens have rights because they are individuals. In my conservative minded opinion, the rights of the individual supercedes the rights of the State and rights of any corporate interest. The individual, the individual? choices, the individual? privacy and the individual? rights as citizens is the most crucial cornerstone of Democracy. The rights of the individual outweigh the rights of corporations and rights of the State. To restore our citizens Democracy, we must constantly fight for the rights of the individual. This is why I urge you to reach conservative Libertarian Right and reach Progressive Left and UNITE in common defense of our citizens Democracy. I believe that we in American today are under direct threat from the radical National Socialist Right. American Democracy is threatened by the Imperial minded Neo-Conservatives. To save our Democracy, our Liberty, our Left-Right partisan political system, we unite in solidarity from both the Left and the Right and eject these radicals from power. We must use the tools of non-violence and Free Speech to rid this cancer from America.

We must wait until next year? elections and vote Bush out of office. We should also call for international monitoring over our voting system to prevent election fraud and we should also make voting a two-day affair that takes place on a Saturday and a Sunday in order to maximize voter turnout by giving everyone the chance to cast their votes without missing work. We should also keep the two term-limit on the Presidency in place.

I beg you to remember that our nation was founded on the idea of liberty and free speech, like this great article in the Financial Times recently notes: http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1054966383325&p=1012571727088 and remember how our country came into being in the first place:

?e hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.?
Know what neo-conservatism, as opposed to authentic libertarian conservatism, is really about and why it is such a threat to our American Democracy:

http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/columnists/molly_ivins/5967623.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0623-09.htm

I implore you to not screw around with trimming the leaves of the problem-trees we face together in the future; it is a complete waste of time. Write about and go right to the root of the problems we face and keep hacking away at those roots until the problem-trees fall.

I hope that today you will take an oath that I took some years ago:

I, Eric Edward Johansson, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of The United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of American citizenship upon which I was granted upon birth. So help me G-d.


UNTIL THE TROOPS ARE BROUGHT HOME SAFELY, I CALL FOR RENEWED ANTI-WAR MARCHES:

Given the recent admission by the Department of Defense that US troops are now actively engaged in guerilla warfare operations in Iraq, much as they were engaged in guerilla warfare operations in Somolia, now is the time to begin anew anti-war marches and events. The Bush Administration would like us to think that the war is over but as US troops continue to die and give their lives in a combat scenario not too unlike the combat scenario they engaged in Somolia, we now have before us a unique opportunity to expose what the war in Iraq really is: A quagmire.
See (http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=419980) for details

Now more than ever it is time to re-engage the anti-war movement to protest against the ongoing offensive operations in Iraq and call for direct UN involvement and authoritative control over Iraq. In doing so, we will achieve four immediate objectives: 1) We will expose the Occupation of Iraq for what it is: A WAR LIKE ANY OTHER, 2) We will blunt the ability of the Bush Administration to begin new wars in either Iran or North Korea, and 3) We will keep the momentum and energy going in and surrounding the anti-war movement. We will also have the ability to achieve two long-term objectives: 1) to bring the troops home from Iraq, and 2) to bring down the neoconservative, totalitarian pursuing, irresponsible leadership that comprises our current political establishment.

Hopefully all powerful national anti-war coalitions will begin calling for renewed anti-war marches and demonstrations to demonstrate our displeasure about the ongoing military war and military guerilla battles now being waged in Iraq.
SUPPORT THE TROOPS; BRING THEM HOME. Hand over responsibility to the UN and the international community for rebuilding efforts and let Iraqi? govern themselves.




JFK:
?SK NOT WHAT YOUR COUNTRY CAN DO FOR YOU, ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY.?
HERE IS SOMETHING YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY:


Copy and paste the text of this posting, or simply just copy and paste the websites listed at the bottom of this posting, e-mail them to all your friends. Perhaps even start a ?ood Luck?chain email and send it to all your friends urging them to send it to 10 more of their friends and colleagues. You can preface the email like this:

?his message has been sent to you for good luck. The luck has now been sent to you. You will receive good luck within four days of receiving this message - Provided you, in turn send it on. This is no joke. You will receive good luck. Send copies to people you think need good luck. Do not keep this message. This message must leave your hands in 96 hours.?

Copy and Paste the quoted material above into the body of an email and then under it paste the list of websites shown at the bottom of this posting. If successful, your simple email will spread around the country, bringing the luck of education and information resources to others and buttressing the pillars of our Democracy.


HERE IS ALL THE THINGS I AM DOING?IF I CAN DO ALL THESE THINGS, YOU CAN SEND A LITTLE ITSY-BITSY EMAIL WITH ALL THE WEBSITES BELOW TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY:

I just recently took a new corporate job in a sales/customer service role, I just started a new physical workout plan to buff up and lose weight, I am co-managing the SF Bay Area Veterans for Peace chapter, I am planning a July 4th action with VFP in Redwood City, I am helping assemble the Veterans for Peace National Convention in August and all the workshops that go along with that including 3 workshops that I am directly responsible for, I chair three committees including a publicity committee and a Peace Monument committee, I am applying for a grant to get funding and build a website for the monument, I am putting together an August 10 action in the East Bay, I go to synagogue on a regular basis, I go to Torah study on a regular basis, I am trying to learn about the Kabbalah as I just finished a new book named Kabbalah for beginners by Rabbi Michael Laitman and am looking forward to studying the Zohar and the Ari and embarking on a voyage upwards via the 125 levels of spirituality, I also just started another new book named ?ivility and Subversion, The Intellectual in Democratic Society?by Jeffrey C. Goldfarb and plan on next reading a book named Queer Jews by David Schneer, I am trying to stay updated on all the news stories and figure out what the neocons are up to, I am obviously continuing to utilize my right of FREE SPEECH by writing these op-eds and publishing them in this rather radical fashion, I am participating in a progressive havurah at Shul, I am involved in the Social Action committee there too, I marched with my congregation here in San Francisco for Gay Pride this weekend, and I am planning on taking courses in Judaism in September, I am slowly learning the Hebrew alphabet and I am considering learning how to play the violin although I don? think I have time. In short, I have my hands full. Now if I can do all this, certainly you can take five minutes out of your schedule to send these websites to all your friends and family or start a good luck chain email.



Here is the stronger, more logical, more effective National Security policy that I propose:

1) Rely heavily on the CIA and FBI to curb international terrorism and collaborate with foreign intelligence services (because we do not know it all). This will likely open information sharing venues and help us better access and synthesize data critical to the process of finding and detecting terrorist plots. It will also allow us to construct a vast web of intelligence in conjunction with foreign intelligence services. Most importantly, LISTEN to your people, ANALYSTS AND AGENTS, at the CIA and the FBI. These people know what they're talking about. Depend on them for quality information and expert analyses. If however all you want is to have smoke blown up your rear, I am sure the Office of Special Plans can accommodate. But for accurate, detailed, thorough, and deeply analyzed quality information go to the best and rely on the true professionals and expertise: Listen to the CIA and the FBI. Make safe avenues for whistle blowers to blow the whistle and empower management by giving them the political means to stand up to political pressure exerted by politicians.

2) Address economic issues such as poverty rates in Arab nations (which is a clear factor of despair that may give rise to terrorism) and offer greater foreign aid. You get a lot more flies with honey than with vinegar. Foreign aid instead of invasion is better able to engender foreign peoples to our values and our culture without having to spend countless billions on immorally invading and occupying them illegally. We can more effectively disperse Americanization via economic development and diplomatic exchange. Military conflict is only guaranteed to cause father-son relationships between Occupiers and the Occupied, strain international alliances and destroy the good will of nations and likely spurn resentment from those who have been invaded and occupied. It is a really dumb way to build an empire, frankly. Rely more on economic tools and demonstrate our values in deed to win respect from other nations and illustrate to them that we are willing to defend our interests and their interests by working interdependently with them and building relationships based on trust and mutual understanding. Stop being so pushy and listen to others. We do not know it all but by collaborating with foreign nations we will usher in a new era of successful economic development as we fuse economic and intelligence networks to build mutually beneficial economic relationships and secure intelligence networks. Avoid war at all costs and respect the sovereignty of foreign nations. Economic cooperation and fusion is a win-win situation. Military imperialism is harmful both to those being invaded and to our economic future too. Military imperialism also damages our credibility and reputation to show restraint. When one has real power, they demonstrate real strength by showing restraint, choosing cooperation over conflict. Unfortunately, when an ego-driven cabal of cowards and liars run the government, our policies are irresponsibly implemented with undue arrogance devoid of honor.

3) Do not use a sledgehammer approach to deal with terrorism. Terrorists are shadowy individuals. Using a big military approach is similar to using a sledgehammer on a bee-hive. You might get a few bees but you are also going to get stung. Treat terrorists like a malignant tumor and take great care to cut it out without damaging adjoining organs, metaphorically speaking. Utilize intelligence, law enforcement, and collaborations with foreign nations and Special Operations forces only when absolutely necessary, when no other option exists.

4) Work with the international community and try to obey international law. This will help earn us the respect of foreign nations and will likely open doors of cooperation which could be very helpful in broadening and strengthening our intelligence networks.

5) Accept that the U.S. government screwed up in the days leading up to 9-11. Tell our government to leave us, the American people, alone and return our liberty to us. You are blaming our freedom for your failure and incompetence. Further encroachment on our liberty could be considered state-sponsored subversion of the Constitution. Such encroachment will elicit solid resistance. A government lacking a Constitutional mandate is illegitimate and should be treated as such and ignored. In light of the Patriot Act and its son-in-waiting, the people must take it upon themselves to be the guardians of their liberty and fight hard to restore liberty stolen without good cause for its revocation. Together we must fight to protect Democracy and our right to liberty. Take ownership over your country and help guide it into the future. Remember that Resistance is NOT futile and we are not the BORG. Resist the collective mind. Think for yourself, feel free to disagree and express yourself freely.

6) Develop a plan for enhancing a fluid communication exchange between all relevant agencies that handle potential terrorist data. Constantly nurture such relationships to foster interdepartmental cooperation and synthesis of pertinent data relevant to terrorist threats.

7) Take a serious review of past foreign policy and consider the consequences of actions beyond simply this year. Develop and stick to a long-term plan that is both sustainable and can serve as a guidepost for the conduct of future foreign policy and erect a plan rooted in solid values even if they cannot always be maintained. Try. At least try. Resist pressure from corporations to carry out barbaric foreign policies which only demonstrate a lack values and standards within our foreign policy program and make other peoples around the world hate us. Also, try to fund the CIA and FBI better since they currently are forced to scramble for adequate budgets to meet the new challenge of international terrorism. Provide these agencies with adequate budgets and get them out of the business of finding money in questionable ways.

8) Allocate money for the areas of the homeland that really need extra security and protection such as airports, boat ports, ports-of-entry, bridges, among other venues. Try not to use fear to intimidate people for what comes around goes around. And remember using fear as a weapon against dissent will earn you a solid response. Respect freedom and American Democracy and the rights and responsibilities of American citizenship.

9) Try to understand that without the means to political expression and free speech, terrorists will emerge using violence as their chief means to express their political viewpoints. Recognizing that people worldwide should share the same rights and responsibilities we share as American citizens and that the best means to giving them to determine their own political futures is by giving them an equal voice so that they may avoid the use of violence as a means to political expression.

10) Use the military only for defense, not offense and reduce costly military obesity. Keep Federal intelligence and law-enforcement structures strong against terrorist threats but eliminate agencies whose only purpose is only to lock up American citizens for victimless crimes. Despite whatever the law may say, where there is no victim, there is no crime. The ironic thing about controlled substance are they are anything but controlled. The drug war is out of control. There is no regulation. As a result turf wars and gangs are the result and there exists no accountability. For example, if a child illegally obtains liquor (which by the way eliminates turf wars by limiting that alcohol establishment to a single store that does not move or contains ?urf?to the market only), then one can find out who bought it for them and prosecute them but in drug culture they most likely bought it from a fellow friend that they group up with and whom they are least likely to narc on or a schoolmate who may threaten them. Regulating drugs prevents drugs from getting into the hands of children and sets up a system of accountability. Children can be better protected through regulation. The drug war and the laws passed in the name of the drug war harms us as a people far more than drug culture. What you put into your body, be it alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, marijuana, or other drugs is not the concern of anyone else as long as you do not harm others or endanger them by getting behind the wheel of an automobile. If a person hurts another person prosecute them for doing harm but if they are not harming anyone but themselves, that is their business and their choice alone. To get high in the privacy of your own home is your business alone and not the purview nor the business of the government. It harms us all when Constitutional protections are stripped to give vast power to the Federal government through drug laws and it costs us vast, astronomical sums of tax-dollars to house someone in prison for 20 years for a silly offense like smoking a joint or other drugs or possessing them . This is an example of how our tax dollars hurt each and all of us. The war on drugs does far more harm than good. Taxing and regulating drugs would be far better at limiting users and the government could actually reduce usage by a long-term PR campaign much in the same way they have done against tobacco use. Regulating drugs does not sanction their usage, quite the opposite. As illicit products, the government has created an industry free from any regulatory oversight and loses hundreds of billions of dollars in lost revenue waging an ineffective war against people? choices and a war against people? liberty and freedom to choose and that? all it is. Health conscious citizens are no more likely to try drugs if they are regulated or illegal and money can be raised from taxes to create treatment programs as opposed to our current prison society in America that now locks up now more of its citizens than any other country in the world while it also diverts needed funds from such programs as Education and Social Security. A vast prison population is not typically considered a hallmark of a free society especially when that population is disproportionately non-white and they are paid astronomically cheap wages to manufacture corporate products?perhaps they need to use labor organizations to unionize to end this new form of slavery and perhaps we need to consider bring the Drug War to an end. I say take the more intelligent approach, reclaim liberty in the process, accountability, State? Rights, and your rights as a citizen by saying NO to the continuation of the stupid, immoral, and freedom-eroding Drug War. In the meantime, reclaim your liberty individually by just doing what you want, just be careful, and ignore laws that designate victimless crimes.



AND ABOVE ALL STAY INFORMED:


WEBSITES TO HELP YOU STAY INFORMED

2004 Election Websites

http://www.deanforamerica.com/index.cfm
http://www.kucinich.us
http://www.dickgephardt2004.com
http://www.johnkerry.com/site/PageServer
http://www.grahamforpresident.com
http://www.carolforpresident.com
http://www.al2004.org
http://www.joe2004.com/site/PageServer
http://www.johnedwards2004.com


(competition generates good ideas, and it? more fun to deliberate a decision than dwelling upon a decision already made. Go, discuss, debate, think, compare, weigh, and ultimately decide who you think is best for America!!):


My Favorite Political Organizing Website and a good place to contribute your $$$$$$
http://www.moveon.org


My Top Five Favorite Sites:
http://www.commondreams.org
http://www.counterpunch.com
http://www.alternet.org
http://www.antiwar.com
http://www.truthout.com


Humor Website
(The world is full of tragedy so take a moment to enjoy a good laugh now and then)

http://www.theonion.com
(ridiculously funny stories on the Onion are rivaled only by Fox, CNN AND MSNBC)
http://www.awolbush.com

To find Weapons of Mass Destruction Click on this Website:
http://www.coxar.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk


Radio and Television Programs in your Area:

http://www.radioleft.com
http://www.democracynow.org
http://www.openairwaves.org
http://www.pacifica.org
http://www.anshellmedia.com/anshell_home.htm
http://www.sirius.com/
http://www.cableradionetwork.com/
http://www.pbs.org/now
http://www.jimhightower.com
http://www.buzzflash.com/
http://www.ieamericaradio.com
http://www.radiopower.org
http://www.freespeech.org


Media Issues

http://www.mediaaccess.org
http://www.unequalprotection.com
http://www.democraticmedia.org
http://www.takebackthemedia.com/index.shtml
http://www.mediachannel.org
http://www.coldtype.net
http://www.mediaed.org/index_html
http://www.accuracy.org
http://www.fair.org
http://www.cme.org
http://www.prwatch.org/spin
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45


NEWS sites - Non-Partisan

http://news.bbc.co.uk
http://www.haaretzdaily.com
http://www.islamonline.net/english/index.shtml
http://english.aljazeera.net/topics/index.asp?cu_no=1&lng=0&template_id=1&te
http://www.hindustantimes.com
http://www.dailymirror.co.uk
http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk
http://www.latimes.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.nytimes.com
http://www.timesonline.co.uk
http://www.independent.co.uk
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
http://www.reuters.com



NEWS-sites - Liberal Perspective

http://www.commondreams.org
http://www.prospect.org
http://www.ReclaimDemocracy.org
http://www.uspirg.org
http://www.publiccitizen.org
http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general
http://www.nlg.org
http://www.ourfuture.org
http://www.aaldef.org/home.html
http://www.cair-net.org
http://www.familiesusa.org/site/PageServer
http://www.alternet.org
http://www.silenceissedition.com
http://www.freepress.org
http://www.motherjones.com
http://www.thenation.com
http://www.workingforchange.org
http://www.tompaine.com
http://www.villagevoice.com
http://buffaloreport.com
http://www.interventionmag.com
http://www.truthout.com
http://www.dissentmagazine.org
http://www.lchr.org
http://www.drudgereport.com
http://www.progressive.org
http://www.utne.com
http://www.zmag.org
http://www.inthesetimes.com
http://www.fpif.org
http://www.presentdanger.org
http://www.counterpunch.com
http://www.movingideas.org
http://www.yellowtimes.org
http://www.progressivemajority.org
http://www.freespeech.org
http://www.indymedia.org
http://www.transnational.org


NEWS-sites - Conservative Perspective

http://www.anti-war.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.theadvocates.org
http://www.libertarian.org
http://www.progress.org/dfc
http://www.sepschool.org
http://www.libertystorm.com
http://www.theihs.org
http://www.libertarianstudies.org
http://www.lfs.org
http://www.lp.org
http://www.fff.org
http://www.libertarianism.com
http://www.americanlibertyfoundation.org
http://www.libertysoft.com/liberty
http://www.instituteforjustice.org/index.shtml
http://www.heartland.org
http://www.independent.org
http://www.hacer.org
http://www.cei.org/pages/about.cfm
http://www.free-market.net
http://www.lewrockwell.com
http://www.mises.org
http://www.drugpolicy.org
http://www.stopthedrugwar.org
http://www.theamericancause.org
http://www.amconmag.com
http://www.fee.org/vnews.php?sec=iolmisc


Veterans / Peace Issues

http://www.veteransforpeace.org
http://www.unitedforpeace.org
http://www.vaiw.org
http://www.iraqbodycount.net
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org
http://www.vvaw.org
http://www.mfso.org
http://www.antiwarposters.com
http://www.avnery-news.co.il/english
http://www.peacefultomorrows.org
http://www.antiwarnetwork.org
http://www.actagainstwar.org
http://www.debka.com
http://www.mwaw.org
http://www.iwpr.net
http://www.patriotsforpeace.org
http://www.ruralpeacemakers.org
http://www.addictedtowar.com
http://winwithoutwarus.org
http://www.peace-action.org
http://www.californiapeaceaction.org
http://www.warresisters.org
http://www.globalexchange.org
http://www.war-times.org
http://leb.net/IAC
http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw
http://www.objector.org
http://www.nonviolence.org
http://www.activism.net


Good Organizations to Join or Follow:

http://www.aclu.org
http://www.eff.org
http://www.civilrights.org
http://www.bordc.org
http://www.poclad.org
http://www.now.org
http://www.sierraclub.org
http://www.greenpeace.org/homepage
http://www.aflcio.org
http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org
http://www.hrc.org
http://www.gay.com
http://www.ngltf.org
http://www.pflag.org
http://www.glaad.org
http://www.freedomtomarry.org
http://www.proudparenting.com
http://www.sldn.org/templates/index.html
http://www.stopaids.org
http://www.hispaniconline.com
http://www.naacp.org
http://www.rainbowpush.org
http://www.childrensdefense.org
http://www.aarp.com
http://www.plannedparenthood.com
http://www.naral.org
http://www.responsiblewealth.org
http://www.bsr.org
http://www.trilliuminvest.com
http://www.tolerance.org
http://www.corpwatch.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org
http://www.hrw.org


Religion-Based Organizations to Join or Follow:

http://www.shalomctr.org
http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org
http://www.btvshalom.org
http://www.jewsagainsttheoccupation.org
http://www.paxchristiusa.org
http://www.ncccusa.org
http://www.afsc.org
http://www.csmonitor.com
http://www.tikkun.org
http://www.gush-shalom.org/english/index.html
http://www.seruv.org.il/defaulteng.asp
http://www.yesh-gvul.org/english
http://www.refusersolidarity.net
http://www.rhr.israel.net/intro.html
http://www.seekpeace.org
http://www.rebuildinghomes.org/start.htm
http://www.socialaction.com/index.phtml
http://traubman.igc.org/dg-prog.htm
http://www.junity.org
http://www.geocities.com/jewishpeacemakers
http://www.peacenow.org
http://www.btselem.org
http://www.ipcri.org/index1.html
http://www.pij.org


Medical Marijuana Issues

http://www.granitestaters.com/home
http://www.mpp.org
http://www.dpf.org/homepage.cfm
http://www.drugsense.org
http://www.jackherer.com
http://www.mapinc.org
http://www.norml.org


STOP THE DRUG WAR RESOURCES:

http://www.drcnet.org/cops
http://www.ssdp.org
http://www.november.org
http://www.dancesafe.org
http://www.csdp.org
http://www.harmreduction.org
http://www.cjpf.org
http://www.maps.org
http://www.uudpr.org
http://www.changetheclimate.org
http://www.efficacy-online.org
http://www.reconsider.org
http://www.dpft.org
http://www.dpfhi.org
http://www.newmexicodrugpolicy.org
http://www.dpfts.org
http://www.vcl.org/general/Utility/index.htm
http://www.mamas.org
http://www.alchemind.org
http://www.dogwoodcenter.org
http://www.familywatch.org
http://www.prdi.org
http://www.hr95.org
http://www.nasen.org
http://www.fear.org
http://www.aclu.org
http://www.methadone.org
http://www.wola.org


STAND UP, FIGHT BACK WITH YOUR VOICES!!!

LIVE FREE OR DIE.

WAGE PEACE!!!!


Shalom, Salaam, Peace

Eric E. Johansson
Ex-US Army Paratrooper and Infantryman
President, SF Bay Area Veterans for Peace, Chapter 69
San Francisco, CA
http://www.veteransforpeace.org
"There is no way to peace. Peace is the way." ---A.J. Muste

?oyalty is the realization that America was born of revolt, flourished in dissent, became great through experimentation. Our tradition is one of protest and revolt, and it is stultifying to celebrate the rebels of the past while we silence the rebels of the present.?
---Henry Steele, Historian

"My pacifism is not based on any intellectual theory but on a deep antipathy to every form of cruelty and hatred." --Albert Einstein

"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official."
---Theodore Roosevelt, President
"The world stands on three pillars: The truth, the justice and the peace. And these three are indeed one. When justice is served, truth is served, peace is served"
---Rabbi Shimon Ben-Gamliel, Talmudic sage

"Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary." --Sir Cecil Beaton

I, may I rest in peace?, who am still living, say,
May I have peace in the rest of my life.
I want peace right now while I'm still alive.
I don't want to wait like that pious man who wished for one leg
Of the golden chair of Paradise, I want a four-legged chair
Right here, a plain wooden chair. I want the rest of my peace now.
I have lived out my life in wars of every kind: battles without
And within, close combat, face-to-face, the faces always
My own, my lover-face, my enemy-face.
Wars with the old weapons?ticks and stones, blunt axe, words,
dull ripping knife, love and hate,
and wars with newfangled weapons?achine gun, missile,
words, land mines exploding, love and hate.
I don't want to fulfill my parents' prophecy that life is war.
I want peace with all my body and all my soul.
Rest me in peace.
Yehuda Amichai
Israeli Poet



THANK YOU TO THE U.S. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR RECOGNIZING THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY AND THE RIGHT TO EQUALITY.


MY FAVORITE QUOTATION OF ALL TIME

"A Patriot is merely a rebel at the start.

In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot. The soul and substance of what customarily ranks as patriotism is moral cowardice and always has been.
In any civic crisis of a great and dangerous sort the common herd is not privately anxious about the rights and wrongs of the matter, it is only anxious to be on the winning side.
In the North, before the war, the man who opposed slavery was despised and ostracised, and insulted. By the "patriots." Then, by and by, the "patriots" went over to his side, and thenceforth his attitude became patriotism.

There are two kinds of patriotism -- monarchical patriotism and republican patriotism. In the one case the government and the king may rightfully furnish you their notions of patriotism; in the other, neither the government nor the entire nation is privileged to dictate to any individual what the form of his patriotism shall be. The gospel of the monarchical patriotism is: "The King can do no wrong." We have adopted it with all its servility, with an unimportant change in the wording: "Our country, right or wrong!" We have thrown away the most valuable asset we had:-- the individual's right to oppose both flag and country when he (just he, by himself) believed them to be in the wrong. We have thrown it away; and with it all that was really respectable about that grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism."

--Mark Twain



MY TOP FAVORITE QUOTATIONS

?he worst patriots are those who hold certainty dearer than truth, who, in order to spare themselves the pain of thought, are willing to inflict untold sufferings on others. Adolf Eichmann comes to mind.
But if uncritical lovers of their country are the most dangerous of patriots, loveless critics are hardly the best. If you love the good you have to hate evil, else you're sentimental; but if you hate evil more than you love the good, you're a good hater.
Surely the best patriots are those who carry on not a grudge fight but a lover's quarrel with their country.?
---William Sloane Coffin, Minister, president, SANE/FREEZE advisory board


"Be the change you wish to see in the world." ---Mahatma Ghandi


"Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force, that thoughts rule the world."
---Ralph Waldo Emerson, Progress of Culture, Phi Beta Kappa Address, July 18, 1867


"The people of this country, not special interest big money, should be the source of all political power. Government must remain the domain of the general citizenry, not a narrow elite.... This means that the values and preferences of all citizens, not just those who can get our attention by waving large campaign contributions in front of us, must be considered in the political debate. One person, one vote -- no more and no less -- the most fundamental of democratic principles."

Senator Paul Wellstone
April 5, 2001


"Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
-----Magaret Meade"


"I hope... that mankind will at length, as they call themselves reasonable creatures, have reason and sense enough to settle their differences without cutting throats; for in my opinion there never was a good war, or a bad peace."
Benjamin Franklin


"Our safety, our liberty, depends upon preserving the Constitution of the United States as our fathers made it inviolate. The people of the United States are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."
---Abraham Lincoln


"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time."
Abraham Lincoln

"To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men."
Abraham Lincoln

"The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government."
---Thomas Jefferson

"Be at war with your voices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man."
Benjamin Franklin

"A man's first duty is to his own conscience and honor -- the party and the country come second to that, and never first."
---Mark Twain

"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people."
---John Adams

"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
---Thomas Jefferson

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent"
---Thomas Jefferson


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