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Post by evelyn on Feb 14, 2007 16:40:55 GMT 4
Michelle, Full marks for standing with your principled beliefs. I do wish you - and, of course, Dennis Kucinich - well, hoping my concern about the consequences of a splintered opposition to the Dem/Repub machine (and all that props it up) proves ill founded. Otherwise, though left with principles intact, we'll end up with more of the same, which we absolutely cannot afford.
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michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Feb 15, 2007 18:02:58 GMT 4
Imagine - Essay on Government
by U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich(Essay taken from IMAGINE: What America Could be in the 21st Century)As the chambers and passageways of the Great Pyramid are said to have encrypted the past and predicted the future, the majesty of the U.S. Capitol, its chambers and passageways, its paintings and pronouncements is similarly evocative of the past, present, and future of America's government. As I sit inside the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives as a member of the 106th Congress and try to imagine the best this government can be a half-century from now, I am moved by the beauty of the People's House. A giant eagle soars above, etched in glass against a huge canopy, its wings spread over the assembled Congress. I noticed it instantly when I first walked onto the floor as an elected member. The eagle is quick, daring, possessed of exceptional vision. It is symbolic of our national spirit, which, when it soars, is awesome to behold. Secure in the eagle's beak is a prophetic banner inscribed with our nation's original motto: e pluribus unum. "Out of many, one." I think of my own journey as one of 435 members of the House representing 50 states. Here, I and those who chose me establish the merger of "We the People of the United States." The unity that the banner forever proclaims above the heads of the members of Congress speaks not to the fixed idea of flat history but to our interconnectedness how the choices that each one of us makes are choices for all of us; that the idea of unity precedes us, is present before us, and calls to us from a distant future. The very first sentence of the Declaration of Independence, in performing the act of dissolving "the political bands which have connected" people with one another, confirms the underlying power of cohesiveness. The consciousness of interconnectedness, together with the principle of freedom, was the thought that birthed a nation. "We the People" is also prologue. The constitutive is intuitive. The awareness that America exists as the thoughts, words, and deeds of each and every one of us can empower us to begin to create today the nation that we want for ourselves and for our children 50 years from now. Each time we vote, each day we address the House, members of Congress face the Speaker's rostrum, above which, carved in marble, is the national motto adopted by Congress in 1956: in god we trust. This act of faith is stunning in a nation whose Constitution celebrates not only freedom of religion but the separation of Church and State in the First Amendment. Separation of Church and State is an ethic that encourages the unity of all Americans, whether Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, other faith, or nonfaith. It is, after all, the House of all the people. A paradox occurs: It is clear that the founders never intended to separate the government from spiritual values. Otherwise, what of the summary appeal to the protection of Divine Providence in the Declaration itself? A tour of the Capitol reveals the spiritual heritage of the United States, with images of angels, divine light, and entreaties for holy intervention abounding in paintings, sculpture, and inscription, all describing a nation walking a lit path toward something intangible, just beyond the five senses. How else to explain, in the very center of the Capitol, in the canopy of the dome above the Rotunda, Constantino Brumidi's fresco The Apotheosis of Washington? Rising above a rainbow, looking down from starry heavens, our first president is flanked by winged beings in a joyous masterpiece of the transfiguring power of democracy. I've often come to the Rotunda in the early mornings, approaching it as I may a grand cathedral, to seek solitude for reflection. At the beginning of every day, Congress is called to solemn attention with a prayer, a focused, concentrated meditation, a call for higher consciousness to help us carry forward the people's business. Congress as a repository of faith might strike some as brilliant hyperbole. But as representatives of the people, we are truly called by faith and to faith. Faith in our constituents, faith in ourselves, faith in our nation, faith in something that transcends our condition, some higher awareness that we can reach for, some understanding that comes from spirit when we ask for it. That we ultimately get what we pray for is a truism. What shall our prayers be for the government of the United States of tomorrow? Can you imagine the power of unity of prayer and purpose? Some religions teach that faith is empowered through good works. What if in the next 30 years we pray and work for Union, Justice, Liberty, Tolerance, and Peace, those foundational spiritual principles memorialized at the base of the Speaker's platform that faces the assembled Congress? What if we pray and work for a more perfect union 50 years hence? In the Capitol, you can sense a certain spirit permeating the air, and you can imagine the possibilities of the people's government to inspire, to create new forms. The Capitol is infused with the energies of everyone who ever served here; of every member of Congress, every senator, every president. The energy and the intentions of not only officeholders but of all Americans are charged in this alabaster city. People can feel the history of the Capitol. They can feel the portent as well. This sense of discovery gives loft to our highest aspirations for ourselves and our nation. It confirms our sense of achievement. It informs our sense of the physical beauty of the structure of thought of our constitutional democracy and the principles that shaped it. Imagine the possibilities of tapping into the higher consciousness of the Spirit of America. But just as our nation's great heart can almost be heard to sing, comes a jolt and one is returned to a dense, painful reality: Washington, D.C., 2000, is hyper-paced, fearful, and confused. Instead of debate that leads to a new synthesis expressing an underlying unity, we are trapped in dichotomous thinking that devolves into the incoherence of right versus left, Democrat versus Republican, rich versus poor, male versus female, young versus old, black versus white. The same discontinuity that occurred when our nation divided North from South is accelerated in the separation of people from the very government that is the work of their own hands. Government is a manifestation of the impulse of the human community to organize for social and economic purposes. The attack on government is essentially an attack upon ourselves and our aspirations of what we are to become as a people. The attack on the institution of democratic government is in and of itself antidemocratic. It is a theft of the anchor points or philosophical coordinates of a free society. It would disestablish the American community and replace it with the tyranny of monolithic rule, whether by concentrated wealth or corporate control. As conscience becomes subordinate to commerce, we become alienated from our inalienable rights. Lost in an alien nation, people do not trust the government and the government does not trust the people. A dialectic of fear sets in. Institutional decay and public apathy follow. Self government deteriorates as people feel that neither their voice nor their vote matters. Government then loses its legitimacy, and Lincoln's prayer for an imperishable "government of the people, by the people and for the people" is not heard, lost in the deafening roar of the cash registers of interest groups who view democratic principles as an impediment to doing business, notwithstanding human needs. Capitol Hill today is abuzz with busy people. We run, under the watchful eyes of a large security force, past the metal detectors, from meeting to meeting, tethered to our cell phones and our pagers, in a time famine, starving for an extra moment, rushing headlong as to the Mad Hatter's tea party, just a step ahead of an avalanche of details. The pace of Congress is not a human pace, and one gets the feeling of the rehearsed, automatic activity of a supernumerary who is not permitted to know the main plot. As we hurry from vote to vote, the most frequently asked question members ask on the floor of the House is: "What are we voting on?" No time to say hello or good-bye, we are already late for our next meeting. We are bombarded with information that will be absolutely meaningless 50 years from now, sapping us of the time we need to do things that will matter 50 years from now. It is urgent that we require of ourselves a more human pace, a slower, more natural rhythm of human interaction that provides for something more than a superficial presence in relationship to ourselves, our loved ones, and our nation; to take time to think about the America of tomorrow and our place in it, that we may again make great plans. We have to transport our consciousness of America into the future and imagine that which cannot be imagined; we must re-create, summon new forms from the unknown, and draw forth new structures that spring from higher awareness, a greater understanding of ourselves, our nation, and the world. A spiritual dedication and practice of transcendence to create new alternatives can awaken our highest aspirations, can invoke a sense of great purpose, can energize our spiritual capabilities and lead to our own transformation and to the transformation of our nation. How much power has the human heart! Remember a child's belief in the power of magic, of wizards, of shape shifting. That towering instinct toward transformation is nascent in the human heart. Once joined to the soul's purpose, that instinct lets the human spirit take flight to explore the stars in the heavens within and above us, and we take our place within Washington's apotheosis. It is that instinct that led the Founders to create beyond existing structures of 18th-century thought and fling far into the future a United States built upon hallowed Liberty, Justice, Equality, principles that give America the ability to adapt to an undreamed of future. While we recognize that the Founders participated in a world of exceptional cruelty, with its dependence on the abominable institution of slavery, its disregard of the essential role of women as co- creators, and its appropriation of the land and lives of its Native American sons and daughters, we can still retrieve the highest sentiments of the time. At the same time, we must include the lowest sentiments of our historical experience. The path to the future is now, through truth, reconciliation, and transformation. Can you hear the reveille of the American Spirit? It calls us forth to remember where we came from as a nation, to reclaim our spiritual heritage and the finest human potential that radiates from it. On my way to vote, I complete my climb up the stairs of the House of Representatives and pass through doors on which three-dimensional iron figures reveal another reality of our national identity: war. The heavy metal passageway that leads to the floor of the House is a gallery in high relief of grim reminders from the American Revolutionary War, of the clash of arms and the sacrifice of lives to ensure America's survival as a nation. This very House was burned by the British in 1814. On some evenings, a faint, acrid smell (something burnt?!), its origin unknown, haunts the air near the upper entrance to the House. The Capitol, and all of America, is a panorama of battlefield tributes, exacting such a powerful claim on our national psyche that even in peacetime, even after the demise of the Soviet Union and with it the end of the Cold War, our nation still spends more than $300 billion a year to warranty our preparedness for future fighting. Ghosts gather, blood spirits hover, and our fears float freely when our country's resources are to be allocated. The searing truth is that in the 20th century, more than 100 million members of the human community, most of them civilian noncombatants, perished in wars. At the dawn of the 21st century, violence seems to be an overarching theme in the world, encompassing personal, group, national, and international conflict. It now extends to the production of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons of mass destruction for use on land and sea, in air and outer space. Real and anticipated conflict is accepted, even glorified, as intrinsic to the human condition, with few questions about whether the structures of thought, word, and deed that we have inherited are relevant to the maintenance, growth, and survival of our entire civilization. Our national policy dialogue is infected with war metaphors: the war on poverty, the war on drugs, the war on illiteracy, the war on this or that. Our children are immersed in video war games. Our sports are rife with war talk. Our media often glorify war. How did we as a society develop such an ardor for arms? Our Founders, while providing for the Common Defense, did not envision America as a land of conquistadores. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, at the beginning of World War II, encouraged steadfastness among the American people: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." As the war wound down, FDR aspired to ending the beginning of all wars: "Today we are faced with the pre-eminent fact that, if civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships, the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together and work together in the same world, at peace." As we stand on the threshold of a new millennium, it is time to free ourselves, to jettison our illusions and fears and transform age-old challenges with new thinking. We can conceive of peace as not simply the absence of violence but the active presence of the capacity for a higher evolution of human awareness, of respect, trust, and integrity. Of peace, wherein we all may tap the infinite capabilities of humanity to transform consciousness and conditions that impel or compel violence at a personal, group, or national level toward creating understanding, compassion, and love. We can bring forth new understandings where peace, not war, becomes inevitable. Can we move from wars to end all wars to peace to end all war? As our fears ossify thought, so our hopes can excite new thinking toward the construction of a new social reality for the new century, to create a new architecture for human relationships and transport its structure directly to our system of government. America can, in the first half of this century, create a cabinet-level Department of Peace. The mission would be to make nonviolence the central organizing principle in our society, advancing human relations in domestic as well as foreign policy. It takes an act of Congress and an act of faith in our transformative capacities to evolve to a condition where violence and war become archaic. One possessed of a sober understanding of politics and government could fairly challenge such a concept as impractical and hopelessly idealistic since, in the view of some, war is the very invention of politics and government. We look to government to repair the nation, yet our challenges at their core are not necessarily those on which government trains its focus. Our greatest challenges are spiritual at their source: a misunderstanding of power, the heavy burden of unrelieved materialism, fear of death. If all that government does is address symptoms, we will always be dissatisfied with the government. Government itself must be moved to a higher level of thought, to a quickened cognizance of its generative role as a convener of consciousness for the country. Our Founders understood that the material foundations of an enduring democracy rest upon immaterial principles. They knew that our journey here on Earth is to carry spiritual principles into the material world, and in spiritualizing the material, our thoughts, words, and deeds are made holy, and we are elevated with them. "We must cultivate the science of human relationships," said the noble FDR shortly before he passed away. You are wondering what a Department of Peace might look like. A proposal is being crafted at this very moment, with the help of thousands of people across America, to create a Department of Peace whose domestic application would be to develop policies that address human aggression, domestic violence, spousal abuse, child abuse, and mistreatment of the elderly. It could work to create new policies directed at drug and alcohol abuse. It would lead to a reevaluation of the causes of crime. It could give us a new chance to review failed approaches to punishment that have resulted in more than two million Americans being confined. It should enable the rescue of human lives and the liberation of our society from self-imprisonment. It could analyze present policies, employ field-tested programs, and craft new approaches for dealing with violence in our society: school violence, gang or racial violence, violence against gays and lesbians, and clashes between police and community. In its international work, the Department of Peace would deal with issues of human security, whether that security is threatened by geographic, religious, ethnic, or class conflicts. It would face the economic threats to human security, from inequities resulting from trade, unequal distribution of wealth, or scarcity of natural resources. It could foster a new consciousness of peace in our society, just as our national consciousness is informed by other structures in the government. It can be done. It starts with our own commitment to peace, to nonviolence in our own lives. The hymn entreats us: "Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me." There is an intricate, synergistic relationship that exists between the people and their government. The idea of self-government implies that the self and the government are interrelated. We live in the nation and the nation lives in us. In understanding the reciprocity between ourselves and the government, we come to understand the power that we have to move our government, as we have the power to move our own lives. This is not an abstraction. This is an application of the spiritual principles that the Founders and their successors brought to us. We call upon them, as secular saints, for inspiration to help us become more than we are as a nation. We call upon Washington to reconfirm our nation. We call upon Jefferson to enlighten us. We call upon Lincoln to heal our divisions. We call upon Theodore Roosevelt to embolden us. We call upon Franklin Roosevelt to encourage us. And we call upon the Founding Mothers and their successors to temper us, to nurture us, to make us gentle, and to seek peace as a light within. We ask forgiveness as we call upon our slave ancestors, who built this country from their stolen labor and ruined families. We seek atonement as we ask them for the courage to overcome and to continue the upward quest toward the emancipation of each and every human being. We call upon our Native American ancestors to help us reestablish our relationship with the Great Spirits of the Earth the water, the sky, the wind to give us the wisdom to heal the land to which we all belong. We seek reconciliation with our American Indian brothers and sisters through restoration of their dignity and full opportunity. We can call and they will answer, because time is an illusion and in matters of spirit and energy, the past, the present, and the future are one. Each of us can lead in this effort to renew America, and to enable this nation to take its rightful place as a nation among nations, a "shining city on a hill" whose light gleams not only from the Capitol Dome against the darkest night, but whose light shines from within its people. We can become as presidents of our own lives by harkening to the words of "America the Beautiful," confirming "thy goal in self-control" to understand the interrelationship between the unfolding of democratic principles in our own lives and the upholding of democratic principles in the life of our nation, to consider that personhood and nationhood is a craft of the spirit. It is how we treat everyone. It is how we speak to one another. It is in affirming the humanity of anyone we may view as an enemy, whether across the street or over the seas, that we assert our own humanity. None of us will go forward unless we all go forward together, united as Americans we the people, continuing the work of forming a more perfect union, under the watchful eye of the Spirit of America. *** Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat, serves in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the 10th district of Ohio. Among his congressional assignments is serving on the Committee on Government Reform. Kucinich's political career began in the late 1960s when he was elected to the Cleveland City Council. In 1977, at the age of 31, he became mayor of Cleveland. After serving one term, Kucinich went on to become a teacher, writer, consultant, and commentator. He returned to politics in 1994.
This essay was taken from the book IMAGINE: What America Could be in the 21st Century, edited by Marianne Williamson. The book is a collection of essays from America's foremost visionaries offering a prescriptive plan for what every person can, and must, do to create a better future for themselves and the world.
This essay may be distributed freely as long as it contains the following attribution:
© 2000 Global Renaissance Alliance and Dennis Kucinich
From the book IMAGINE- What America Could be in the 21st Century
www.renaissancealliance.org www.house.gov/kucinich/ e-mail: enewsletter@renaissancealliance.org Source: www.renaissancealliance.org/imagine/dkucin.htm
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Post by evelyn on Mar 9, 2007 22:02:07 GMT 4
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michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Mar 14, 2007 14:11:23 GMT 4
The Time for Action on Iraq3/13/07 4:31:19 PM Eastern Standard Time Dear Friend, Democratic leaders are poised to give President Bush another $120 billion ($120,000,000,000) for the war, more than enough money to keep out troops in Iraq through the end of his term and enough money to expand the war into Iran. Democratic leaders want to fund the war while saying they oppose the war. They are promising to use the war as a campaign issue against Republicans in 2008. We do not have time to discern whether the leaders who say they are for peace yet vote for war are motivated by sincerity, self-deception or duplicity. We need to mobilize now to contact Members of Congress to vote against further funding of the war. If the war is to be brought to an end, then Members of Congress must hear from you. Your efforts will make a difference. Remember last year when Democrats ran TV commercials against Republicans attacking them for supporting the war? Democrats were brought to power in the House and the Senate because of the war. Now, in the first 100 days in a Democratic Congress; it is the Democrats who are raising the banner of war in the name of the troops, in the name of the Constitution, in the name of national security and in your name. Voila! The Democratic version of the war in Iraq. The Democratic Party is at a turning point. Either we take this nation out of Iraq by cutting off funds NOW or we will forfeit the trust and the confidence of the American people. There will be consequences for Democrats funding the war. Please join the thousands of citizen activists who are coming to Washington in the next 10 days to meet with Members of Congress to demand an end to the war and a real plan for stabilizing Iraq. Tell them about my bill, HR 1234, the plan to end the Iraq war. kucinich.us/files/pdfs/HR_1234.pdfHR 1234 is the plan that will end the occupation, close the bases, bring the troops home, make Halliburton and all contractors come home and stabilize Iraq with an international peace-keeping and security force. HR 1234 will restore Iraq’s sovereignty over its oil, control its food and energy prices and protect its financial integrity by ensuring Iraq will not be the target of World Bank and IMF structural adjustment policies. Please read HR 1234 before you meet with Members of Congress. This bill, crafted with the consultation of senior UN advisors with expertise in international peace-keeping and security missions, military experts and principals of the international political community is the plan that will end the occupation, bring our troops home and stabilize Iraq. HR 1234 - Spread the word! kucinich.us/files/pdfs/HR_1234.pdfThank you, Dennis J Kucinich
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michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Mar 16, 2007 13:05:36 GMT 4
Kucinich: "Impeachment May Well Be the Only Remedy"Today Rep. Dennis Kucinich defied Speaker Nancy Pelosi and put the Impeachment of George W. Bush "on the table" where it urgently belongs. Kucinich said, "This week the House Appropriations committee removed language from the Iraq war funding bill requiring the Administration, under Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11 of the Constitution, to seek permission before it launched an attack against Iran. Since war with Iran is an option of this Administration and since such war is patently illegal, then impeachment may well be the only remedy which remains to stop a war of aggression against Iran." Of course speaking about impeachment is not the same as introducing Articles of Impeachment. But Kucinich is stepping into a firestorm of opposition from the corporate media and his own party's leadership - and needs our support to keep him going. Please thank Rep. Dennis Kucinich for speaking out on impeachment - and ask him to make his remarks real by introducing Articles of Impeachment:202-225-5871 info@kucinich.us kucinich.us/contactRead more of Kucinich's speech in "The Ides of March" by Cindy Sheehan: www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/19708 On Wednesday night, Kucinich spoke with a group of citizens about Iran and impeachment. Here's video: www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/19680We also highly recommend this new video of an impeachment workshop with Mimi Kennedy, John Nichols, Antonia Juhasz, David Swanson, and Tim Carpenter: www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/19700_______________ Is the Progressive Caucus Standing Firm on Iraq? Help Us Find OutToday the House Appropriations Committee passed the "Supplemental" spending bill for the war (and arrested 10 activists who tried to get into the room to observe the proceedings). Next week, the full House will vote. Barbara Lee (D-CA) has an amendment that would require that any money appropriated for Iraq be spent only for a "fully funded withdrawal," bringing American troops home by the end of this year. Some members of the House Progressive Caucus have previously stated they would vote against the Iraq supplemental unless it includes Lee's amendment. But the House leadership is now pressuring them to back down. We need to find out quickly: where do Progressive Caucus members stand? Working together with other anti-war groups, we are creating a whip list on this issue. Please take a moment now to call one of the representatives in the "UNKNOWN" category at www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/19669 , and ask them: Are you committed to voting NO on the current supplemental spending bill for Iraq if it doesn't include Barbara Lee's amendment for a fully funded withdrawal? You can find the phone number of each progressive member at www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/19669 Or just call the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected. The aides answering the phone may know the answer; if not, ask to speak to their press secretary or legislative assistant for foreign policy. Then, leave whatever answer they give you at www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/19669 Please call as many Progressive Caucus Members as you can, not just your own representative. More here, including a podcast with Rep. Lee: pdamerica.org/articles/news/2007-03-07-17-50-28-news.php_____________ This Saturday, March 17, March on the Pentagon for Peace and ImpeachmentMake plans now to join hundreds of thousands of veterans, military families, and peace and impeachment activists in a nonviolent march for peace and impeachment, beginning at 12:00 at the Vietnam War Memorial (23rd Street and Constitution Ave. NW) and ending at the Pentagon. www.marchonpentagon.orgAt the assembly site, between 8:00 a.m. and 12:30, there will be a pre-march People's Assembly. Contingents and organizations will be providing information displays and literature tables. We will be joined by the famous Bread and Puppet Theater. There will be children's activities, including sign-making for the march, where our children can also pick up anti-war balloons. There will be a large Impeach Bush tent with impeachment materials and a place for impeachment advocates from around the country to gather. We are encouraging every impeachment organization to register to march with the impeachment contingent, so we can publicize the groups making up the Impeachment Contingent. You can do this by clicking on this link for the contingent form and specifying "Impeachment" for the "Name of contingent." tinyurl.com/2jlfyu
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michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Mar 20, 2007 17:25:34 GMT 4
Impeachment: I'm asking you. Do you think it's time?Dear Friends,Today is the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq. We know it was wrong to go into this war and it's wrong to stay in. For four years I have been working to end this war, including leading the effort to cut off continued funding for the war. There is enough money to bring our troops home and we should do that. But the Bush administration, with the help of some in Congress, wants to pour more money into this war. Worse than that, the Bush administration now is signaling its intention to wage war with Iran. We cannot allow that to happen. So I'm asking you. Do you think it's time? I'm talking about time for impeachment. I ask because we are now have a condition in this country where we are told to take impeachment off the table, and keep on the table a U.S. military attack against Iran. This situation calls for us to reconsider very deeply the moment that we're in – where our Constitution is being trashed, where international law is being violated, where our hopes and dreams for the education of our children, for the health of our people, for housing, for our veterans, are being set aside as we go deeper and deeper into war. We need a whole discussion in America. And with your help, we're about to have one. Please go to my website, and watch the video posted today, "Impeachment: I'm asking you. Do you think it's time?" ... kucinich.us/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?q=182233&u=310You may find the printed transcript of this video at ... kucinich.us/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?q=182233&u=311Or you can see this video on my YouTube site, at ... kucinich.us/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?q=182233&u=312Once you've watched or read this statement, please send me your comments. Over this past weekend there were thousands of demonstrations against this war being waged by the President with the consent of Congress. This must stop. Then talk to your friends, family, and neighbors. Get them together for a house party to discuss this war, and our options to stop it. Click here for information on a house party kit. Please join with me on this day by signaling your continued support for ending this war. Your voice is important. And so is your contribution. We need your help to carry our message forward. Our goal is to raise $50 million for this campaign, $50 at a time from one million concerned Americans: kucinich.us/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?q=182233&u=314;id=1Be One of a Million. Please contribute today to show your support for ending this war. Thank you, Dennis J Kucinich
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michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Mar 22, 2007 14:42:33 GMT 4
Please call your member of congress today3/22/07 3:04:45 AM Eastern Standard Time Dear Friends,Four years ago this week, in violation of international law, standing upon a mountain of lies, the United States went to war against the people of Iraq. Our nation now has the moral responsibility for the deaths of as many as 650,000 to one million innocent Iraqi civilians, for the destruction of Iraq, and the theft of billions of dollars in oil assets. Those who told lies to take us into war should be held accountable under the U.S. Constitution and at the International Criminal Court. Instead of true accountability on the war, this week Congress may give the President and Vice President more than $100 billion to keep the war going through the end of their term. More war, more civilian deaths, more U.S. soldiers killed or maimed. Less money for housing, for health care, for education, for seniors here at home as we borrow money from Beijing to keep the war going in Baghdad. Instead of accountability, the appropriations bill will mandate the privatization of $6 trillion in Iraq oil assets, and it will provide money which can be used to attack Iran in an attempt to grab another $6 trillion in Iranian oil assets for the oil companies. We must support the troops, stop the war, end the occupation, and support HR 1234.Please call your member of congress today. Thank you, Dennis J KucinichHR 1234 - Spread the word! See previous post here: Posted by michelle on Mar 14, 2007, 2:11pm The Time for Action on Iraq Or: kucinich.us/files/pdfs/HR_1234.pdf------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Message from Democrats.com:Kucinich Boosts ImpeachmentRep. Dennis Kucinich took another step towards introducing Articles of Impeachment with a video: "We need to reevaluate the direction of this administration by looking at its conduct in office, by determining whether it has faithfully followed the laws of our nation. I'm prepared to start that process. I began this week with a speech on the floor of the House, which warned the administration that its actions toward Iran already constitute a case to ask the question about impeachment. So I'm asking you, what do you think? Do you think it's time?" Watch the video and answer him here:kucinich.us/node/3696Vote in our poll: Should Rep. Kucinich Introduce Articles of Impeachment?www.democrats.com/kucinich-impeachment-pollAlso, some interesting info about MoveOn.org and manipulation of citizen's anti-war efforts:Moveon Betrays Peace MovementEven as hundreds of thousands were protesting the 4th anniversary of Bush's illegal and disastrous war in Iraq, Moveon was urging its 3.2 million members to support $93 billion more for Bush's War. Moveon conducted a dishonest member "poll" which deliberately left out the Barbara Lee Amendment that would limit new spending to a "fully funded withdrawal" of our troops by the end of the year. www.democrats.com/move-over-moveonMoveon used its dishonest poll to claim 85% of its members support the $93 billion Supplemental. Send a message to Moveon by voting in our poll:www.democrats.com/iraq-supplemental-pollAnd if you want to quit Moveon, tell them why:pol.moveon.org/feedback/fb/form.html?tp=suggestAnd More:Progressive Democrats in Congress Can Stop the SupplementalThe Iraq Supplemental can be defeated if only 15 of the 68 progressive House Democrats vote against it. Under tremendous pressure from Speaker Pelosi, only 6 Democrats are definitely voting no: Barbara Lee, Lynn Woolsey, Maxine Waters, Dennis Kucinich, Raul Grijalva, and Pete Stark. Another 7 are leaning no: Steve Cohen, Danny Davis, Lloyd Doggett, Keith Ellison, Sheila Jackson Lee, Juanita Millender-McDonald, and Diane Watson. Speaker Pelosi says the only alternative to her toothless bill is a blank check for Bush. But Rep. Pete Stark says simply: "We can write a better bill." We need your help calling all 68 members of the Progressive Caucus and telling us what they say:www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/19669------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The most recent from MoveOn: Ask Your Rep. to support the Iraq Accountability Act Date: 3/21/07 1:30:04 PM Eastern Standard Time Dear MoveOn member, Yesterday you saw the results of our poll—85 percent of MoveOn members want to work to pass Speaker Pelosi's plan for Iraq. Today, we have to get to work. This vote is going to be incredibly close and it'll be one of the most important ones of the year. Every member of Congress should hear from their constituents today. The critical piece of this plan is that it sets a timeline for withdrawing our troops from Iraq—it sets a date certain to end the war. President Bush doesn't want to set a deadline to exit Iraq1—his policy would strand our troops in the middle of what has become a religious civil war. Can you call your Rep. and ask him to support the Iraq Accountability Act to set a date certain to bring our troops home?
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
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Post by michelle on Mar 27, 2007 13:25:23 GMT 4
It Is Time To Take A Strong Stand3/24/07 11:49:48 PM Eastern Standard Time Today as the Democratic leadership celebrates the passage of HR 1591, Dennis and I are in mourning. We mourn the deaths of those who have passed and those whose lives are now on the line, both in the military and civilian Iraqis. We mourn the destruction, the ecocide. We mourn with families in Iraq and the US who will see more death and devastation. We mourn the callous and calculated political spin cloaking the Congress' hawkish support of war, with the rhetoric of peace. Congressman Kucinich voted NO. Standing firm with him on this NO vote were 13 Democrats: John Barrow [GA], Dan Boren [OK], Lincoln Davis [TN], Barbara Lee [CA], John Lewis [GA], Jim Marshall [GA], Jim Matheson [UT], Michael McNulty [NY], Michael Michaud [ME], Gene Taylor [MS], Maxine Waters [CA], Diane Watson [CA], and Lynn Woolsey [CA]. I would like to thank Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace, Code Pink, Gold Star Mothers and all those other organizations who have worked so valiantly in recent years to raise awareness about what is going on in Iraq and to end the war. We would also like to thank the other 13 Democrats who voted against the additional Administration's appropriation request of $120 billion. $120 billion for an escalation of the war, the privatization of Iraqi oil assets and a possible extension of the war into Iran. And the President said he will veto this because it's not enough. By showing such a weak position against the Administration and the war, the Democrats have thoroughly undermined whatever bargaining position they could have had. Americans must be heard. It is time to take a strong stand for the end of the war and for peace. It is time to return to the town halls of America to develop a powerful movement for change. In peace and with love, Elizabeth Kucinich------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Congress Votes to Continue Funding WarFri, 2007-03-23 19:51. Mar 23, 2007 The House on Friday passed the controversial supplemental appropriations bill, H.R. 1591, by a vote of 218 to 212, in Roll Call 186. Congressman Kucinich immediately released a video, saying, "Washington hasn't listened. Washington has said More War." Kucinich now calls for Americans now to act, to "go into the town squares ... meet in libraries and on university campuses across the country, to cause the policies of the United States to emerge right from the grassroots, and be heard in Washington."Congressman Kucinich voted NO. Standing firm with him were 13 Democrats: John Barrow [GA], Dan Boren [OK], Lincoln Davis [TN], Barbara Lee [CA], John Lewis [GA], Jim Marshall [GA], Jim Matheson [UT], Michael McNulty [NY], Michael Michaud [ME], Gene Taylor [MS], Maxine Waters [CA], Diane Watson [CA], and Lynn Woolsey [CA]. The President has said he will veto any legislation tied to a timed withdrawal. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Transcript of Dennis' VideoCongress Votes to Continue Funding WarSubmitted by dennis on Sat, 2007-03-24 09:21. March 24, 2007 Congress has just voted to give President Bush the money he needs to keep the war going through the end of his term. So where do we go from here? Well, this is the moment that all of us must come together, in communities across the United States, to insist that our nation take a new direction -- now -- in Iraq. We must go into the town squares. We must meet in libraries, and on university campuses across the country, to cause the policies of the United States to emerge right from the grassroots, and be heard in Washington. Unfortunately Washington hasn't listened. Washington has said More War. You're the ones who must stand for peace. And join with me in this effort to just Change America. It's not satisfactory that Congress has voted to keep the war going. Congress had the power to end this war. And you and I know that. And now we have to forge a whole new relationship, with the American people leading the way, not waiting for Congress to act. We must act. And we must act from our streets, we must act from our neighborhoods, we must act from our town halls. And it's the power of the people now that's going to have to transform the American government. It's a sad day when Washington, having recognized that we're standing on a mountain of lies, is proceeding to prosecute a war against a people that did not attack us. It's a sad day when America will know that there will be more troop casualties and more civilian casualties, and a greater drain on our resources, when we need money for education, health care, and so many other things in this country. Where do we go from here? We go to where America has always gone, and that is the strength of a powerful civic response. And you must be part of that. I join with you, as I have never wavered in my efforts for peace, in my determination to point out that war is not the way, in my insistence that this is the time that we have to take a new direction. Just know that there are those of us who continue to take that stand in Washington. But now you need to take a stand. So please, join, together, all over this country. And I'll be there with you. Thank you very much. Watch Video: kucinich.us/node/3792Transcript: kucinich.us/node/3795------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I meant to add this earlier, sorry....If case you haven't read the following, here is Dennis' exclusive interview with Newsweek...M"It's Called Heart" Newsweek Web-exclusive interview 3/24/07 10:24:08 PM Eastern Standard Time With Vilsack out, there's one less dark horse in the running. Can Dennis Kucinich capitalize? The pride of Cleveland on how his anti-war politics went mainstream, what he's got on Obama and Hillary, and what makes him run. By Susannah Meadows Newsweek Follow this link to Newsweek's web site and read the story on Dennis, then go to the comment section and let America know we're behind him. www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17348970/site/newsweek/And don't forget to also visit Kucinich.us, where you can become one in a million. We're going to raise $50 million for this campaign with No Strings Attached. Be one in a million, contribute $50 to the campaign today. Thanks. David Bright Campaign Manager CLIP:‘It’s Called Heart’With Vilsack out, there's one less dark horse in the running. Can Dennis Kucinich capitalize? The pride of Cleveland on how his anti-war politics went mainstream, what he's got on Obama and Hillary, and what makes him run. Web-exclusive interview By Susannah Meadows Newsweek Updated: 8:15 p.m. ET Feb 27, 2007 Feb. 26, 2007 - You don’t have to pay thousands of dollars to rub elbows with an antiwar Democratic presidential candidate in Hollywood. Rep. Dennis Kucinich was in town this past weekend, lining up support for his own bid for the White House. How much to meet the congressman from Cleveland? Twenty-five bucks, at one Culver City fund-raiser. And he actually voted against going into Iraq. In fact, he’s the only Democratic candidate to have done so. And unlike the current front runner, he has the experience of having run for president himself before. A recent Cook Political Report/RT Strategies poll showed him weighing in at 1 percent—a tough spot, to be sure, but still ahead of Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd. Kucinich spoke out against the war in his 2004 run; this time around, polls show, the country is thinking more like him. Does that mean the dark horse’s time has come? He spoke with NEWSWEEK’s Susannah Meadows about winning, falling in love and playing third-string quarterback. NEWSWEEK: How is this race going to be different? Dennis Kucinich: Four years ago, people weren’t sure about the war. Today, my stand is mainstream. Four years ago, people weren’t sure how they felt about a not-for-profit health-care system, Medicare for all. Today my position is mainstream. And so I think what’s happened is on the biggest international issue and on the biggest domestic issue, my candidacy emerges as the one to win. But with the polls showing you at 1 percent, how are you going to win?At one time, everyone comes from 1 percent….There’s time. There are some who feel that if you raise enough money now you can intimidate the others. Well, I can’t be bought. I can’t be intimidated. I can win because I’ve been right. No amount of money raised by some of these candidates is going to be able cover up their faulty judgment of the war. I am now in what I think is a very good position to build a campaign based on the success of what I’ve stood for. How does this campaign so far compare to your 2004 bid?It’s much different. There’s a recognition that I was right about the war. This is the central international policy question that faces the United States and the world, and those candidates who were not right about it, serious questions have to be raised about whether or not they’re up for being president of the United States. What about the candidates, like Barack Obama, who—granted—wasn’t in a position to vote against the war, but who spoke out against it?That’s fine, except for one thing. He’s voted 100 percent to fund it. If you’re opposed to something, you don’t vote to give it money. And a single speech is not hundreds of speeches. It’s not real leadership. If someone wants to talk about the war, then they better have real credentials for it. And those credentials have to include working to defeat funding for the war. There’s no other person in this race who’s done that. There’s no one else who’s taken a stand for peace that I’ve taken and I think that’s what the American people are yearning for. Continue reading or watch video: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17348970/site/newsweek/------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ There is also this article, posted by Anwaar, at TruthSpring:Kucinich Lionized in LondonPosted on March 24, 2007 by Michael Carmichael Unexpectedly, it came upon the vernal equinox, and it was a strategic masterstroke. Dennis Kucinich’s arrival in London crept up on the global peace movement like a fog settling over the ancient city that resulted in high voltage blasts of white-hot political thunderbolts. To continue reading, go to:truthspring.info/2007/03/24/kucinich-lionized-in-london/
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
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Post by michelle on Mar 30, 2007 5:40:16 GMT 4
A Special Message From Dennis Kucinich Regarding A Recent Campaign Communication
Here's a message, sent this evening, from Dennis to his supporters. It is in response to a message sent yesterday from Evan Moody, the National Outreach Coordinator. I have posted that message too. The following response from Dennis shows that he is not your run of the mill politician. His words are an example of what it means to stand in the Light, and to be guided so. This is not a new campaign trick, this manner of speaking. I have been a long time supporter and admirer of Dennis Kucinich and can tell you this is the way he talks. But please, don't take my word for it. As you read his remarks, I think you will find that Dennis embodies what we are searching for, what we have been longing for in our public servants.....Michelle
A Special Message From Dennis Kucinich Regarding A Recent Campaign Communication Date: 3/29/07 6:16:37 PM Eastern Standard Time
Dear Friends,
Our campaign has arrived at a teachable moment and an opportunity for growth. Yesterday, you received a message from our campaign entitled: "Eyes and Ears: We need your help!" relating to a project which advocated the monitoring of the campaigns of my fellow presidential candidates.
I believe such tactics are spiritually and politically counterproductive, therefore I am asking you to disregard the request. The focus of our campaign has been and must continue to be: What kind of a nation and world do we want to create? The intellectual or emotional focus on any campaign dissipates that creative energy.
The vital organ of this campaign is the heart. This campaign is about transforming politics, not mimicking stale political trends. The other candidates are all fine public servants and long-time friends. I ask that you join me in wishing every one of them well by expressing compassion for all candidates who strive to serve. "Monitoring" projects are inherently pretentious, divisive and mean-spirited and have no place in a campaign which desires to change the world for the better.
When we "track" other candidates, we come from a place of fear which shows that we are off the track of our own objectives. I reserve the right and accept sole responsibility to draw factual comparisons on policy matters. But such comparisons must come from a place of integrity. It is not the job of our campaign to keep other candidates honest. Each candidate must accept responsibility for his or her own integrity.
Let's use this moment to joyously and courageously recommit ourselves to the highest principles which animate our campaign, the imperative of human unity, and saving the planet from global warring and global warming. We have so much work to do. Let us not shift our focus for even one moment from our dedicated efforts to achieve the America and the world we desire.
I am so grateful for your support.
Sincerely,
Dennis J Kucinich ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Eyes and Ears: We need your help! 3/28/07 5:14:11 AM Eastern Standard Time
Hello Volunteer,
Thank you so much for all of your hard work so far!
We are happy to announce that we need your help with an important opportunity called the Eyes and Ears Project. In order for Dennis to continue to be a successful candidate, it is important that we track, monitor, and gather information about the other candidates. In politics, it is absolutely essential to gather information about your opponents. That is why we are happy to invite you to help us monitor the other candidates. If you are interested in this volunteer job, you will be gathering information about other campaigns and exactly what it is they are doing to market themselves.
We want the other campaigns to know we are monitoring them. We want them to know that we have eyes and ears everywhere. Also, this process serves the dual function of keeping other campaigns honest. If they know we are monitoring them, they will be more likely to be transparent and honest. Therefore, we are looking for your help to be our eyes and ears. We are looking for people with good research skills that are very adept at paying attention to detail and gathering vast quantities of information.
Area 1: Monitoring of Advertising Area 2: Monitoring of News Stories Area 3: Monitoring of Blogs, Social Network Sites, Forums, etc.
If you are interested in helping with the Eyes and Ears marketing volunteer project, you will be given one area and one candidate. For example, you may be put in charge of monitoring all advertising around Hillary Clinton. Each week, you will submit a report about all of Hillary's advertising you could find. You can observe her tactics, research her strategy and share your observations.
You can choose any area that you feel most comfortable with, and any candidate you may be interested in tracking. If you are interested in one of the Eyes and Ears marketing volunteer project, please email me back at Evan@kucinich.us. Tell me in what area and what candidate you may be interested. If you need more information about what the job will entail, I will explain more.
Thank you so much for your help,
Evan Moody National Outreach Coordinator Kucinich for President 2008 evan@kucinich.us
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
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Post by michelle on Apr 3, 2007 16:58:35 GMT 4
Sean Penn delivers a strong statement and will vote for Dennis Kucinich....MAn Open Letter to the President... Four and a Half Years LaterBy Sean Penn 03/25/07 "ICH " --- -- Four and a half years ago, I addressed the issue of war in an open letter to our President. Today I would like to again speak to him and his, directly. Mr. President, Mr. Cheney, Ms. Rice et al: Indeed America has a rich history of greatness -indeed, America is still today a devastating military. And because, in the absence of a competent or brave Congress, of a mobilized citizenry, that level of power lies in your hands, it is you who have misused it to become our country's and our constitution's most devastating enemy. You have broken our country and our hearts. The needless blood on your hands, and therefore, on our own, is drowning the freedom, the security, and the dream that America might have been, once healed of and awakened by, the tragedy of September 11, 2001. But now, we are encouraged to self-censor any words that might be perceived as inflammatory - if our belief is that this war should stop today. We cower as you point fingers telling us to "support our troops." Well, you and the smarmy pundits in your pocket, those who bathe in the moisture of your soiled and bloodstained underwear, can take that noise and shove it. We will be snowed no more. Let's make this crystal clear. We do support our troops in our stand, while you exploit them and their families. The verdict is in. You lied, connived, and exploited your own countrymen and most of all, our troops. You Misters Bush and Cheney; you Ms. Rice are villainously and criminally obscene people, obscene human beings, incompetent even to fulfill your own self-serving agenda, while tragically neglectful and destructive of ours and our country's. And I got a question for your daughters Mr. Bush. They're not children anymore. Do they support your policy in Iraq? If they do, how dare they not be in uniform, while the children of the poor; black, white, Asian, Hispanic, and all the other American working men and women are slaughtered, maimed and flown back into this country under cover of darkness. Now, because I've been on the streets of Baghdad during this occupational war, outside the Green Zone, without security, and you haven't; I've met children there. In that country of 25 million, these children have now suffered minimally, a rainstorm of civilian death around and among them totaling the equivalent of two hundred September 11ths in just four years of war. Two hundred 9/11s. Two hundred 9/11s. You want to rattle sabers toward Iran now? Let me tell you something about Iran, because I've been there and you haven't. Iran is a great country. A great country. Does it have its haters? You bet. Just like the United States has its haters. Does it have a corrupt regime? You bet. Just like the United States has a corrupt regime. Does it want a nuclear weapon? Maybe. Do we have one? You bet. But the people of Iran are great people. And if we give that corrupt leadership, (by attacking Iran militarily) the opportunity to unify that great country in hatred against us, we'll have been giving up one of our most promising future allies in decades. If you really know anything about Iran, you know exactly what I'm referring to. Of course your administration belittles diplomatic potential there, as those options rely on a credibility and geopolitical influence that you have aggressively squandered worldwide. Speaking of squandering, how about the billion and a half dollars a day our Iraq-focused military is spending, where three weeks of that kind of spending, would pay the tab on a visionary levy-building project in New Orleans and relieve the entire continent of Africa from starvation and the spread of disease. Not to mention the continued funds now necessary, to not only rebuild our education and healthcare systems, but also, to give care and aid to the veterans of this war, both American and our Iraqi allies and friends who have lost everything. You say we've kept the war on terror off our shores by responding to a criminal act of terror through state sponsored unilateral aggression in a country that took no part in that initial crime. That this war would be fought in Iraq or fought here. They are not our toilet. They are a country of human beings whose lives, while once oppressed by Saddam, are now lived in Dante's inferno. My 15-year-old daughter was working on a comparative essay this week (you can ask Condi what a comparative essay is, as academic exercises fit the limits of her political expertise.) My daughter's essay, which understood substance over theory, discusses the strengths of the Nuremberg trial justice beside the alternate strategy of truth and reconciliation in South Africa, and I quote: "When we observe distinctions between one power and another, one justice and another, we consider the divide between retribution and reconciliation, of closure and disclosure." I can't do her essay justice in this forum, but at its core, it asks how, when, and why we compromise toward peace, punish for war, or balance both for something more. This may focus another soft spot in the rhetoric of both sides. We're told not to engage in the "politics of attack." To "keep away from the negative"...Well, Mr. Bush, when speaking of your administration, that would leave us silent, and impotent indeed. So, in conclusion, I address my remaining remarks to the choir: We all played nice recently at the sad passing of former President Ford. Pundits and players on all sides re-visited his pardoning of Richard Nixon with praise, stating that a divided nation found unity. But what of that precedent on deterrence now? Where is justice now? Let's unite, not only in stopping this war, but holding this administration accountable as well. Without impeachment, justice cannot prevail. In our time, or our children's. And let's make it clear to democrats and republicans alike that we are not willing to wait on '08 to hear them say again: "If I'd known then, what I know now." Even in a so-called victory, what we saw yesterday was a House of Representatives that couldn't bring itself to represent either conscience or constituents. It's a tragedy that the Democratic Party's leadership in Congress refuses to allow the House to vote on Barbara Lee's amendment for a fully funded, orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of this year. Elites circled the war wagons against this proposal, and postponed the day of reckoning that must come as soon as possible - a complete pullout of U.S. military forces from Iraq. There are presidential candidates who understand this. We do have candidates of conscience. As things stand today, I will be voting for Dennis Kucinich, who has fought this war from the beginning. You might say Kucinich can't win. Well, we have an opportunity to re-establish the credibility of democracy as viewed by the world at large.We can fire our current president. We can choose the next president. You and me, the farmer in Wisconsin, the boys at Google, and Bill Gates. It's up to us to choose. Why don't we choose?! From remarks at Congresswoman Barbara Lee's March 24 Town Hall Meeting on the 4th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
This article was first published at www.huffingtonpost.comFrom: www.huffingtonpost.com/sean-penn/an-open-letter-to-the-pre_b_44172.html
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
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Post by michelle on Apr 25, 2007 15:44:20 GMT 4
Kucinich Puts Impeachment On The TableSubmitted by Bob Fertik on April 24, 2007 - 3:59pm. Dennis Kucinich Dick Cheney ImpeachForChange At long last, impeachment is on the table in Washington DC. And at long last, he pro-impeachment majority has a spokesman - Dennis Kucinich.Here are Kucinich's historic Articles of Impeachment for Dick Cheney: 1. Fabricated a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction 2. Purposely manipulated the intelligence process 3. Openly threatened aggression against Iran These are serious, carefully-written Articles and they are thoroughly documented. It took a huge amount of guts for Kucinich to defy Speaker Pelosi and introduce Articles of Impeachment for Dick Cheney. Kucinich must not only deal with her wrath, but also the collective smirks of the entire corrupt punditocracy.
Why the smirks? First, the pundits all assume this is a presidential campaign stunt. But the truth is Kucinich won't even let his campaign staff discuss impeachment. For Kucinich, this is serious Capitol Hill business, not a campaign stunt.
Second, the pundits think Kucinich is a joke, because he doesn't buy into the "Washington consensus" of greed, corruption, and imperialism. Kucinich takes politics seriously and is genuinely committed to Truth, Justice, and the American Way. He's Jimmy Stewart for the 21st Century - with a vision for saving humanity from war, genocide, and environmental catastrophe.In other words, he puts the smug know-it-all punditocracy to shame. And they despise him for it. But the pundits are going to have to suppress their smirks, because these Articles are serious business. And with a majority of Americans already supporting impeachment, it's only a matter of time before Cheney will have to face justice for his historic crimes. Source:www.democrats.com/kucinich-puts-impeachment-on-the-table------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From:kucinich.house.gov/News/DocumentPrint.aspx?DocumentID=63379Kucinich Contact: Auke Mahar-Piersma 202-225-5871 Media Advisory: Kucinich to move forward with Impeachment News ConferenceWashington, Apr 24 - The news conference will be: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 at 5 p.m. on the Cannon Terrace, intersection of Independence and New Jersey Avenue Click here to view the resolution and supporting documents: kucinich.house.gov/SpotlightIssues/documents.htm------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Looks to me like Cheney is hiding ...MichelleApril 24, 2007 – 1:21 p.m. Cheney’s Health Prompts Kucinich to Delay Impeachment DriveRep. Dennis J. Kucinich today put off efforts to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney, citing reports that Cheney was being treated for a blood clot in his leg. “News reports this morning indicate the vice president was experiencing a medical crisis. Until the vice president’s condition is clarified, I am placing any action on hold,” Kucinich, D-Ohio, said in a statement. Kucinich — a longshot contender for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination who strongly opposes the Bush administration and the Iraq war — had scheduled a news conference to announce the introduction of articles of impeachment against Cheney.A spokeswoman for the vice president, Megan McGinn, said Cheney returned to his normal schedule after the appointment with his doctors at George Washington University. “The ultrasound was reassuring and showed that the clot is gradually resolving,” McGinn said. “His blood-thinning medication was found to be in the desired range. The vice president’s doctors advised him to continue the current course of treatment.” Source: CQ Today Midday Update Political Clippings compiled from BNN Frontrunner and CQ Politics.com. © 2007 Congressional Quarterly Inc. All Rights Reserved. Source:public.cq.com/docs/cqm/cqmidday110-000002496625.html
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Anwaar
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Speak the truth and keep on coming.
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Post by Anwaar on Apr 28, 2007 12:07:06 GMT 4
Most Democratic Presidential Candidates' Are A Sick Joke1 Minute VideoDespite their opposition to the war, none of the candidates would join fellow candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio in urging impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney.
Click : tinyurl.com/3bvucl
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
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Post by michelle on May 10, 2007 14:55:01 GMT 4
[glow=red,2,300]Take Action:[/glow] Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Richard Cheney: On Tuesday April 24, Rep. Dennis Kucinich acted ALSO: Stop funding an unwinnable occupation!Subj: Turn Up the Heat on Congress 1)Stop funding an unwinnable occupation. 2)Start moving toward impeachment of a White House that is out of control. Date: 5/10/07 2:27:15 AM Eastern Daylight Time From: info@pdamerica.org (Tim Carpenter, Progressive Democrats of America)With national dailies reporting today that the Pentagon is ready to send ten combat brigades to Iraq to sustain this summer’s “troop surge” into next year, it’s time to turn up the heat on our Democratic-led Congress by telling them: 1)Stop funding an unwinnable occupation. 2)Start moving toward impeachment of a White House that is out of control. On both demands, the time is now: Call your representative in the U.S. House (switchboard: 202-224-3121). After Bush vetoed an Iraq supplemental funding bill because it had timelines for withdrawal of most troops, the House Democratic leadership is now proposing a new $95 billion bill without withdrawal timelines. The vote is expected Thursday evening. The bill provides $40 billion in immediate funding, and would release the rest in July after Bush certifies that the Iraqi government is meeting “benchmarks” of progress. The antiwar movement opposes the new Iraq supplemental bill because it continues to lavishly fund the escalated occupation – without a withdrawal timeline. And one of the benchmarks of Iraqi “progress” promoted by this Democratic bill is an oil law that privatizes Iraqi oil on behalf of U.S. and multinational oil interests! So urge your House member immediately (202-224-3121) to vote NO on the Supplemental and any Iraq funding that goes beyond a safe, orderly, prompt withdrawal of all U.S. troops and military contractors.And while you’re calling, please ask your Congress member to co-sponsor H.R. 333, Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Cheney. The bill, drafted by Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), bases impeachment on Cheney’s manipulation of intelligence to launch the Iraq invasion and on his threats of aggressive action against Iran. The bill is now co-sponsored by William. Lacy Clay (D-MO) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). We need co-sponsors for this bill impeaching Cheney first! Email your Congress member: capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=9672446&PROCESS=Take+Action
or call them at 202-224-3121.The antiwar movement understands better than Democratic leaders in Congress that the best way to subdue Team Bush/Cheney and prevent further deepening of U.S. involvement in Iraq and Iran is by putting the White House on the defensive through serious investigations, accountability and impeachment. It was the threat of impeachment that curtailed further Nixonian aggression in Southeast Asia. PDA played a big role in the recent California Democratic Party resolution on impeachment; six more towns in Massachusetts have just called for impeachment. Let’s keep the heat on Congress by saying NO to funding the Iraq occupation and YES to holding this White House accountable! In peace, Tim Carpenter Progressive Democrats of America is a grassroots PAC that works both inside the Democratic Party and outside in movements for peace and justice. Our goal: Extend the victory of Nov. 2006 into a permanent, progressive majority. PDA’s advisory board includes six members of Congress and activist leaders such as Tom Hayden, Cindy Sheehan, Medea Benjamin and Rev. Lennox Yearwood. More info: pdamerica.org/. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [glow=red,2,300]Action Alert [/glow] Impeach Cheney First! Ask your Rep, to support H.Res. 333 On Tuesday April 24, Rep. Dennis Kucinich acted. Late in the afternoon, Kucinich filed Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Richard Cheney citing three reasons:Manipulating intelligence about weapons of mass destruction that misled us into war with Iraq, Manipulating intelligence about Al Queda’s connections to Iraq, which contributed to leading us into the war in Iraq, Openly threatening aggression against Iran, and in so doing undermining our national security. This is not about politics or the next election, it is about wrongdoing at the highest level of our government and it should be punished -- beginning with Vice President Cheney. No one is above the law. Now is the time to act. Tell your Congress member to support H. Res. 333.Read the Articles of Impeachment and supporting documents:kucinich.house.gov/UploadedFiles/int3.pdf [glow=red,2,300]Take Action:[/glow] capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=9672446&PROCESS=Take+Action
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michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on May 11, 2007 1:30:34 GMT 4
[glow=red,2,300]UPDATE TO PAST POST 5/10/07 5:30 pm[/glow]
Subj: Iraq Withdrawal Vote TODAY (Pass this on) Date: 5/10/07 4:29:23 PM Eastern Daylight Time From: info@pdamerica.org (Tim Carpenter, for PDA)
We have hours to act. Today (Thurs.), the U.S. House will finally have a chance to vote for prompt withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. The antiwar movement has struggled hard for this moment. Spread the word.
Contact your Congress member now (switchboard 202-224-3121) to support the James McGovern bill to bring our troops home.
The measure that will get a full House vote today is a slightly watered-down version of the McGovern bill that PDA has long championed. It’s not a perfect bill, but it’s worth fighting for. The McGovern bill (now “H.R. 2337”) calls for redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq to begin within 90 days of enactment, and to be completed 180 days later. That means most troops out of Iraq by early 2008.
The McGovern bill would withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq except forces engaged in limited operations against al-Qaeda and foreign terrorists, or in training Iraqi troops.
Contact every Democrat or independent-minded Congress member you can to urge support for McGovern’s measure. That phone number is 202-224-3121. Finally, thanks to pressure from the peace movement, the House leadership is allowing a vote on a withdrawal proposal that expresses the will of a majority of the American public.
McGovern’s 2337* will be voted on as an amendment to the Iraq supplemental funding bill. If it fails, the Democratic leadership is expected to put forward an Iraq supplemental bill that funds months of occupation without a timeline for withdrawal. The antiwar movement opposes that approach.
Now is the time to vote YES for peace. Vote YES on withdrawal from Iraq. Vote YES on the McGovern measure – H.R. 2337!
NO MORE FUNDING OF AN UNWINNABLE OCCUPATION!
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michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on May 15, 2007 8:00:41 GMT 4
[glow=red,2,300]UPDATE[/glow] on the The McGovern bill vote (“H.R. 2337”) and Senate to vote on ending war fundingSubj: Historic Vote: Our Future Date: 5/11/07 8:33:26 PM Eastern Daylight Time From: info@pdamerica.org (Tim Carpenter, PDA National Director)I want to thank PDAers and our allies for a magnificent mobilization yesterday, and the previous 18 months. Finally, pressure from below forced the Democratic leadership to allow a full House vote on withdrawing combat troops from Iraq – to begin in 3 months, and to be completed six months later. We started working with Rep. James McGovern 18 months ago; we were in his D.C. office seven weeks ago during the first fight over the Iraq supplemental, when he committed to getting some form of his bill (or the “Lee Amendment”) to the floor. And it got 171 votes yesterday – less than 50 shy of victory. With each balloting, we’ll get closer. This vote took place because of years of “outside” grassroots activism, combined with the “inside” leadership of Out of Iraq stalwarts in Congress like Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters, Lynn Woolsey, Raul Grijalva, Dennis Kucinich, Diane Watson, to name just a few.The final tally surprised the Democratic leaders, MoveOn and many others. Nearly 3 out of 4 Democrats – risking accusations of defeatism and surrender and emboldening terrorism – voted to wind down the unwinnable U.S. occupation of Iraq. Late Wednesday night, we were among the first to hear that the McGovern Amendment would be voted on. PDA and our allies instantly mobilized. 171 YES votes. . .after just a few hours of organizing. Imagine what we could have accomplished with a few weeks. More importantly, imagine how much we can accomplish before the next (hopefully soon) House vote to end the Iraq occupation. And before primary elections of 2008, when dead-ender Democratic incumbents who voted to stay in Iraq may find themselves voted out of their jobs. Did you notice that Rep. Jane Harman joined the 171 YES votes? Can anyone spell W-I-N-O-G-R-A-D? PDA and our allies need to consider possible primary challenges in states from Maryland to Florida to Colorado to Utah. We can end this occupation. We can keep building PDA, and broader peace and justice movements. We can drive Republicans and pro-war/pro-corporate Democrats out of office. Last night, after the McGovern amendment was voted down, the House leadership passed its latest supplemental plan – funding months of escalated occupation, while holding back money until the President reports on progress toward “benchmarks.” The Senate is expected to pass an even weaker measure aimed at compromise with the White House. But let’s not forget Sen. Russ Feingold, who has about ten backers for his proposed Senate legislation to cut off funding for major Iraq combat by March 2008. Most Democratic presidential contenders are in the Senate – failure to support Feingold should disqualify anyone from consideration. No candidate can be taken seriously if they talk about “helping America’s working families” while sending billions of dollars to imperial adventures in Iraq, and threatening aggressive action against Iran. We have reason to be heartened by the growth of antiwar sentiment among the U.S. public – and on Capitol Hill. We can end this occupation, and transform American politics in the process. We couldn’t have come this far without your dedicated activism. Thank you for all you’ve done. In Solidarity, Tim Carpenter PS If your member of Congress voted for the McGovern Amendment yesterday, please call the district office and identify yourself as a Progressive Democrats of America member and thank them! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Senate to vote on ending war funding By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer Mon May 14, 7:43 PM ET WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats are staging a dramatic anti-war vote this week, with moderates collaborating behind closed doors on legislation that could call on President Bush to rethink his war strategy. Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) announced Monday that members will decide whether to cut off money for the Iraq war next year, as well as consider a softer proposal calling for troops to leave this fall. The two measures would be offered as amendments to a water projects funding bill to be debated this week. The votes, expected by Wednesday, will probably fall short of the 60-vote threshold usually needed to advance controversial legislation. But they will help Reid, D-Nev., test the Senate's political waters at a time when the Democratic caucus is divided on how far Congress should go to end the war. "These are important votes," said Reid spokesman Rodell Mollineau. "This will give members an opportunity to debate these issues and have up-or-down votes" on whether to end the war. Earlier this month, Bush vetoed a $124 billion supplemental bill, which would have funded the war but demanded troops begin coming home on Oct. 1. Not having enough votes to override the veto but unwilling to back down, House Democrats last week pushed through a new bill that would fund the war only through July. That bill is unlikely to survive the Senate, where several Democrats say they do not want to appear to be turning their backs on the troops by funding combat in installments. "On our side of the aisle, Democrats believe they should do something very, very close to what was done in the bill that was sent to the president to be vetoed," Reid said. Accordingly, Reid and Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record) proposed that the Senate vote on legislation demanding troop withdrawals begin on Oct. 1 but allowing Bush to waive that requirement. Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, called the approach the Senate's "second-best" option. "By providing for the presidential waiver, we are removing any reason for the president to veto the supplemental funding bill," he said. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Bush opposes the Levin amendment. "Such timelines tie the hands of our commanders, weaken our friends, embolden our enemies and enhance the risk faced by our troops in combat," Perino said. "The bottom line is that a date for retreat is a date for retreat, and the president opposes such provisions." Under pressure from other more liberal party members, Reid also wants to give members a chance to cut off money for combat operations after March 31, 2008. Reid co-sponsored the legislation earlier this year alongside Sen. Russ Feingold (news, bio, voting record), but he said he would not push it as a caucus position. "The American people deserve to have the Senate go on record about whether or not it wants to end our misguided mission in Iraq and safely redeploy our brave troops," said Feingold, D-Wis. The votes come as nearly a dozen Republican senators have been discussing possible legislation on the war, including a proposal by Sen. John Warner (news, bio, voting record) that would call on the president to re-evaluate his Iraq strategy if the Baghdad government does not meet certain benchmarks. "We're trying to put together a single document" that would address concerns of GOP senators, Warner, R-Va., said in an interview. Warner said he personally backs requiring reports before the August recess and in September on the extent to which Iraqis are making progress on political and security reforms. Warner said he wants to get a report by July at least "so members of Congress have an evaluation of that situation as they presumably go back to their respective constituencies." If the Baghdad government fails in meeting the benchmarks, "then the president is to determine whether he is to revise the strategy that he laid forward," he added. Warner said he has been discussing the idea with the group and plans to talk about it Tuesday with Sen. Ben Nelson (news, bio, voting record), D-Neb. The goal, he said, is to develop a proposal that attracts broad bipartisan support. The list of Republicans working with Warner include Sens. Susan Collins (news, bio, voting record) of Maine and Norm Coleman (news, bio, voting record) of Minnesota. Nelson has drafted similar legislation that would go even further. If the Iraqis failed to make progress on certain political and security reforms, the U.S. would cut off reconstruction aid. Under the bill, the president could waive the restriction if he provides public justification. Nelson's bill also would require the U.S. commander in Iraq to testify by Sept. 15 on whether Bush's troop buildup around Baghdad is working. "The Senate needs to move forward," Nelson said. "The president has signaled he will accept reasonable benchmarks." The alliance of Nelson and Warner and other moderates on Iraq is reminiscent of the "Gang of 14," a group of senators who in 2005 drafted a compromise to end a Senate fight on judicial nominations. Source: news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070514/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq
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