Advertisement

Peace activists occupy Huckabee's Iowa campaign: "Who Would Jesus Bomb?"

Des Moines – With 40 percent of Iowa’s Republican caucus voters expected to come from the ranks of conservative Christians, peace activists occupied Mike Huckabee’s campaign headquarters in Iowa’s capital city today with signs asking the former Baptist minister, “Who Would Jesus Bomb?”

Eight members of the Iowa Occupation Project and Voices for Creative Nonviolence arrived at Huckabee’s Locust St. campaign office early Monday afternoon, waiting for the former Arkansas governor’s reply to a letter delivered two months ago that sought his pledge to completely withdraw from Iraq within 100 days of assuming office; halt all military actions against Iraq and Iran; fund the rebuilding of Iraq as well as health, education and infrastructure needs in the U.S.; and “…the highest quality health care, education and jobs training benefits for veterans of our country’s Armed Services.”

Brian Terrell, director of the Catholic Peace Ministry in Des Moines, said approximately 35 reporters, including a number of international journalists, were at Huckabee’s office during the protest. 

Let’s toast to ten good things about 2007

As we close this year on the low of Congress giving Bush more billions for war, and the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, let’s remember some of the year’s gains that can revive our spirits for the New Year. Here are just ten.

1.    With the exception of the White House, this has been a banner year for environmental consciousness and action. Al Gore and the scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the Nobel Peace Prize. Green building and renewable energy have exploded. Congress passed the Green Jobs Act of 2007, authorizing $125 million for green job training. Over 700 U.S. mayors, representing 25 percent of the U.S. population, have signed a pledge to reduce greenhouse gases by 2012. Illinois became the 26th state to require that some of the state's electricity come from renewable sources and Kansas became the first state to refuse a permit for a new coal-fired power plant for health and environmental reasons. That’s progress!

Surrender is Not an Option

Surrender is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations and Abroad
by John Bolton.
Simon & Schuster, Threshold Editions, New York. 2007.

It is an interesting perspective, that of America needing ‘defending’, but it is one that John Bolton holds to thoroughly in “Surrender is Not an Option.” Surrounded by terrorists, ‘Islamofascists’, the old guard complacency of the “EUroids”, a resurgent Russian Empire, a belligerent if not hostile China, and almost above all else the two largest threats of Iran and North Korea, the United States certainly finds itself in a hostile world. Internally the “liberals”, the left, the “High Minded” are all appeasing fifth columnists who do not know how to defend America properly against these external threats. Bolton’s focus is trying to promote this perspective as U.S. Ambassador at the United Nations headquarters in New York, a building as such that he is oft quoted as saying would not be affected if the top ten floors disappeared.

Bringing Leonard Peltier to Iowa and New Hampshire

The Clintons are running for a third term in the White House. As expected, their first eight years in office are being given thorough scrutiny. Everything from NAFTA to Bosnia, from Monica to health care, are going rightfully under the microscope.

The disagreements are deep and generally predictable. But it is equally predictable that there is one issue---one man--- being totally ignored by the mainstream media. His case marks the moral low point of the Clinton Era. He deserves to be a part of the primary process.

His name is Leonard Peltier.

There is incontrovertible evidence that Bill Clinton was---and remains---fully aware of the circumstances of the Peltier case. But because of his cowardice, this esteemed Native American activist and spiritual leader was imprisoned not only for every day of Clinton's eight years in office, but now all the way through George W. Bush's.

The ultimate campaign ad

http://mattbors.com

Rock & roll inquiry

Bill Gothard PhD, Founder/President The Institute in Basic Life Principles Oak Brook, IL

Dear Dr. Gothard:

For the past couple years, my colleague, the Dean of Cincinnati, has been writing articles about you and your various enterprises. Before then I'd never even heard of you, your institute, your "character-building" seminars, your unaccredited medical school, your unaccredited law school, your nursing program , your Children's Institute, your bible-centered paramilitary boot camp, your music school , your culinary arts program, your Institute of Photographic Studies, your resort-style training center in Guadalaja, your upholstery training program, your hair design program, etc. As you know, I'm just scratching the surface - the list keeps just on going and according to this 2006 In These Times cover story, The Cult of Character, business is booming:

What's free about your ragsheet?

You ignore me, a WWII combat disabledveteran who is a bonafide announced and filed Republican Presidential Candidate, 2008, from TN. Are you people both Anti-USA and ANTI- veterans who have served their country during WWII?

Its funny to me that you talk about that halfbreed, OBAMA, who was a draft=dodger, YET you ignore me. Have fun, old son.

DR Charles Gordon Vick  (R-TN)
Hebrew Christian Evangelist
FEC ID#P80002793

Contribute to the Free Press!

Dear Free Press and freepress.org subscribers and supporters,
With the 2008 presidential primaries a little more than a week away, it is more important than ever to keep the all-volunteer Free Press in business, so we can continue our efforts to ensure free and fair elections - not only in Ohio and throughout the nation.

  • Since the 2004 election, CICJ co-produced with EON the “Help America Vote on Paper”18-minute informational video documenting the perils of privatized vote counting to corporations using proprietary voting machines and software. The CICJ and EON presented the video at many events and distributed DVD copies nationwide.
  • Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman wrote and promoted “What Happened in Ohio? A documentary record of theft and fraud in the 2004 election” (New Press). The book contains actual public records from the 2004 election and outlines for the readers the massive voting irregularities in Ohio. The book concludes with a calculation showing that if the votes had been properly counted, John Kerry would have won Ohio as the exit polls predicted.

Unions passing resolutions to honor, assist folksinger/storyteller Bruce "Utah" Phillips

The great folksinger and storyteller Utah Phillips ( http://www.utahphillips.org) has had to retire from performing due to chronic and serious heart problems that have plagued him for years. In recognition of his great love for and work on behalf of the union movement and working people of the United States, several union locals have passed resolutions honoring Phillips and attaching donations for his "retirement fund." Unable to travel or stand the rigors of performing a two-hour concert, Phillips has seen his main source of income vanish just when his medical problems are demanding more money for treatment and medications.

In response, Local 1180 of the Communications Workers of America (NYC), and both the Detroit and the James Connolly (Upstate New York) Branches of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) have recently passed the following resolution:

Bruce "Utah" Phillips is a truly unique American treasure. Not just a great folksong writer and interpreter, not just a great storyteller, Utah has preserved and presented the history of our nation's working people and union movement for audiences

Medicare for all via H.R. 676

It is obvious that none of the major Presidential candidates of either the Democratic or Republican Parties are supporting the right approach to providing universal healthcare. Frankly, all the Republican candidates are going to be major obstacles to achieving this national goal. While the top Democratic candidates (Clinton, Edwards and Obama) do support the concept, they are all offering Band-Aid approaches for a life-threatening economic and health crisis in America.

A bill has already been introduced in The House by Congressman John Conyers that effectively addresses the issue. H.R. 676 expands Medicare to cover all citizens.

The scope of the healthcare crisis in America is huge. It has very serious economic and moral implications. It is crippling our nation in terms of protecting American manufacturing, competing in the global economy and undermines our national security. It reflects badly on us as a just and moral society. It is literally killing Americans in huge numbers.

Pages

Subscribe to ColumbusFreePress.com RSS