September 2007

Whistleblowers on Tape

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By David Swanson

While they may not be in Congress, there are members of our government willing to risk their careers and more to blow the whistle on the criminal takeover of our former democracy. One of them is Sam Provance.

I’ve just posted an amazing video of Sam Provance telling his story, along with videos of others telling theirs, including: Dan Ellsberg, Ann Wright, Larry Johnson, Coleen Rowley, Bob Parry, Akbar Ahmed, Peter Kuznick, Edward Mortimer, Max Friedman, and Ray McGovern: read more

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Now What?

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By David Swanson

Over the past day or so, the following things have happened:

The Senate passed language aimed at antagonizing Iran.

The House approved billions more dollars to extend the occupation of Iraq a couple of more months and also joined the Senate in passing a condemnation of an activist group for telling the truth about a lying warmongering general.

A number of Democratic presidential candidates refused to commit to ending the occupation of Iraq by 2013, practically guaranteeing a Republican read more

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Presidential Candidates Diverge

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By David Swanson

There are now two types of Democratic presidential candidates, the ones who promise to end the occupation of Iraq, and the ones who say they may very well keep it going for another four years.

MSNBC hosted another Democratic presidential debate Wednesday evening. Due to a technical error, the cable network failed to identify itself as a subsidiary of General Electric, a major weapons maker. Due to another technical shortcoming, viewing the debate streaming live on the MSNBC website read more

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Observing Our Government Through Blackwater

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By David Swanson

Jeremy Scahill, author of a terrific book on the Blackwater mercenary army, spoke in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Tuesday to a packed hall. He took questions at the end, and one man asked something to the effect of “Why does the government want to privatize the military? We taxpayers have been paying for the Army.” I wished Scahill had pointed out that it’s the tax payers who are now paying the private corporations, but the answer Scahill gave was critical. read more

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We The People, Concert for the Constitution

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By Andrea Miller, Inform Progressive Virginia


David Swanson, Laura Flanders, Norman Solomon

It has been a very bizarre week for the American government (and a pretty terrible one for the American people). The Senate refused to pass legislation that would give the troops as much time at home as they spent in combat, and officially condemned an organization that supports free speech for pointing out an obvious lie. I found it interesting that they didn’t exactly deny the charges, the Senate read more

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Peace and Hillary Clinton

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By David Swanson

This past Sunday, crime thriller author John Grisham hosted a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in my town. I talked with a lot of the people attending. Some said they supported Clinton because they wanted to keep troops in Iraq. But most were there because they opposed Bush and Cheney’s policies on Iraq. Who was confused, and who was not? Or could they both be right?

Among the protest posters at the event: “You and Rupert Murdoch are raising $ for the same candidate.” read more

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Flyering for Hillary

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Here’s a flyer in Word that can be used at events featuring Senator Hillary Clinton.

Here’s the text:

Hillary Clinton = More War

Whether or not you are committed to voting for whatever candidate the Democratic Party nominates, we are now in the primaries, the purpose of which is to make sure that nominee is the best candidate possible. Hillary Clinton is not. Apart from being a candidate, she is a Senator whose positions conflict with those of most Americans.

Ted Koppel reported on NPR read more

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We Have Nothing But Fear Itself

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By David Swanson

A Roseland, Indiana, city council member orders police to remove a fellow city council member. The police escort him out, shove him down on his face and pound his head. Onlookers either cheer, do nothing, joke, behave as if all were normal, or yell at others to let the police do their jobs. Not a single person protests. Only the one victim is hauled off in the police car. No one jumps in and shouts “Before this becomes Nazi Germany, arrest me too!”

A University read more

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Telling the Truth

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By David Swanson

Sam Provance exposed the torture in Abu Ghraib and as thanks had his career ruined, was threatened with prison, has had his wife leave him, and is now barely scraping by. He said Thursday evening that on a personal level his choice to speak out was not worth it. “But,” he said, “this is not about me.” And everyone in the auditorium where he was speaking knew exactly what he meant, because we had just heard Dan Ellsberg, Ann Wright, Larry Johnson, Coleen read more

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