NATO Occupies Chicago, Key Moment for Afghanistan
Peace movements in every country are raising their voices against the war in Afghanistan in advance of the May 18-20 NATO summit in Chicago. American combat veterans are expected to throw their medals at NATO officials, just as John Kerry and many others did as a heroic gesture in the final stage of Vietnam. Some will converge on Chicago, while others will march in other NATO capitols. Around two-thirds of the public in NATO countries now opposes the war, and most of their governments are anxious to withdraw if a face-saving path can be found. Australia, not a NATO member, announced ...more »
Prosecution of Alex Sanchez Continues
At dawn on June 24, 2009, armed local, state and federal officers swarmed the rented home of Alex Sanchez while he slept with his wife and children, and arrested the former gang leader on charges of racketeering conspiracy, claiming he led a double-life as a peacemaker by day and MS-13 member by night. The LAPD arresting officer, Frank Flores, stuffed Sanchez in a squad car and told him, “You’re done”, it’s all over.” Downtown at Parker Center, where prosecutor Elizabeth Carpenter was present, Officer Flores told Sanchez, “You can plead right now.”
In Close Election, Third Parties Might Threaten Obama and Democratic Majority
As the 2012 war for the presidency intensifies, it appears that Barack Obama leads in the popular vote but is threatened with defeat in the Electoral College, making the turnout levels and votes of undecided progressives, independents, and liberal Democrats, crucially important in swing districts and states this fall.
Barbara Lee Pushing Obama, NATO Toward Afghan Peace
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) is hoping that a majority of House Democrats, along with a dozen Republicans, will sign a letter before the Chicago NATO summit demanding the “expediting of our troops’ return” and a “speed up” of the transition to Afghan sovereignty. Similar messages are being sent to NATO leaders from their war-weary and economically-stressed public in the run up to the May 18-20 summit.
LA Times Resists Pentagon Censorship Pressure
Peace advocates, whose calls for an Afghanistan withdrawal are supported by nearly 70 percent of the American people, appreciate David Zucchino, Laura King and the Los Angeles Times for refusing Pentagon demands that the paper not publish photos of grinning American soldiers posing with “trophy” body parts of dead Afghans.
U.S. Drug War is Fading, with Thousands Dead and Billions Wasted
A turning point in the US drug was is being reached. A majority of American favor legalizing marijuana, including Pat Robertson who says, like many on the Christian right, the nation has “gone overboard on this concept of being ‘tough on crime’,” a punitive approach, and one which most conservatives still support. Robertson now says that the drug war “just hasn’t succeeded,” and marijuana should be regulated by alcohol.
Rachel Maddow for Something
Perhaps I’ve been too hard on Rachel Maddow in the past. Her trip to Afghanistan two years ago was too sympathetic to the military perspective, I believed. But time passes and, after a look at her new book, Drift, I now hope she will run for national office, or at least threaten to do so. She has the smarts and charm to get there, and would be her generation’s leading critic of our insane, imbalanced military priorities.
Police, Student Protesters and Pepper Spray
In the most comprehensive official report on police tactics towards campus anti-tuition protests since the Occupy movement broke out last year, a University of California investigation concludes, “The pepper spraying incident that took place on November 18, 2011 should and could have been prevented.”
Zimmerman: It's Cheaper to Send the "Enemies" to College
Bill Zimmerman, the longtime strategist against failed wars, calculates that we could give every Afghanistan family at least $59,444 instead of killing thousands of people in an unaffordable war.
In Close Election, Third Parties Threaten Obama and Democratic Majority
As the 2012 war for the presidency intensifies, it appears that Barack Obama leads in the popular vote but is threatened with defeat in the Electoral College, making the turnout levels and votes of undecided progressives, independents, and liberal Democrats, crucially important in swing districts and states this fall.
SDS Founder, Veteran Activist Tom Hayden on Participatory Democracy From Port Huron to Occupy Wall Street
Democracy Now! speaks with Tom Hayden, principal author of the Port Huron Statement 50 years ago, the founding document of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). The Statement advocated for participatory democracy and helped launch the student movement of the 1960s. Tens of thousands of copies of the 25,000-word document were printed in booklet form.
Bill Zimmerman: You Can't Say That
Some political reforms make so much common sense they have to be banned from polite conversation.