tagged w/ Patriotism = Freedom to ask questions
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Are you tired of being told how your America isn't quite as "patriotic" or "real" as Republican backwoods America? Tired of that damned elephantiasis party spewing crap to the masses that they're all too lazy to question? Are you pissed as hell and not going to take it anymore?
Read on for the real deal from Automne. I think she really hit the nail on the head and I'm doing my part to spread the word.Are you tired of being told how your America isn't quite as "patriotic"... more
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"We won't know the truth until Congress digs it out, and that's why it is so incredibly important that anybody that reads your blog...gets on the phone, gets on their computer, or writes Congress and tells them to hold Karl Rove in contempt if he does not show up to testify on July 10th." - Don Siegelman
Guest Blogged by Steve Heller of VelvetRevolution.us
In Exclusive Interview, the Former Alabama Governor Requests Readers Contact House Judiciary Committee to Demand Accountability for the Subversion of Justice...
The torment and imprisonment of former Alabama governor Don Siegelman, allegedly via the hands of Karl Rove and his political hitmen operatives, has been extensively covered by The BRAD BLOG.
Over the weekend, Velvet Revolution.us (co-founded by The BRAD BLOG) sat down with him for an exclusive video-taped interview in Alabama. The entire interview will be posted soon, but we have posted two excerpts on YouTube. Both are embedded below.
Siegelman wants you to let Congress know that Rove must face the consequences of his actions. So do we.
Rove has been subpoenaed to testify before Congress tomorrow, July 10th, regarding the politicization of the Justice Department. The House Judiciary Committee wants to question Rove about his knowledge of the persecution prosecution of former Alabama Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman and the U.S. Attorney firing scandal.
But Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, has informed the Judiciary Committee that Rove will not attend the hearing.
Luskin has offered to make Rove available to the committee behind closed doors and not under oath. Luskin also insists that there be no transcript of the questioning and that Rove would not respond to written questions from the panel.
The Judiciary Committee has rejected that so-called "compromise."
We join Siegelman's request, as stated in his interview, in asking you to please contact the House Judiciary Committee and your House Representative to politely but firmly insist that they hold Karl Rove in contempt of Congress.
You can call the House Judiciary Committee at 202-225-3951 and you can email them via this page.
You can call your House Rep. at 202-224-3121. More contact info for your specific Representative can be found here.
"We won't know the truth until Congress digs it out, and that's why it... more
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I don't agree with everything Ron Paul advocates, but this video speaks volumes. We need to listen to the voices of reason over the warmongers who led us to war wrongly with Iraq. We can't let them do it again. Congress needs to think long and hard before they give George W. more power.
Ron Paul speaks for Democrats and Republicans. Many Americans realize we are on the wrong course. We need Congressional leadership. I don't agree with everything Ron Paul advocates, but this video speaks volumes.... more
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** Photo used for post is an actual photo used in an article in 'Popular Mechanics', which was published just after cannabis/hemp was made illegal.** Once it was made illegal, they removed it from educational material and stopped the discussion. Could it also help save the environment? Yes it can!
We need to talk about cannabis/hemp with facts, not spin! We are in the middle of a ‘War on Americans, on American soil’. Cannabis/hemp is included in the ‘War on Drugs’. It doesn’t make sense, when a plant that could be readily available is distorted into an evil weed. Why? If a plant could benefit in so many ways, why can’t we talk? I’ll tell you why, we are at war with ourselves. Distorted facts are being used, instead of readily available documented facts. Why? It benefits Corporate America to keep cannabis/hemp labeled evil weed. It competes with so many man made products, they are afraid if facts about a plant, complements of ‘Mother Nature’, people may ask the real question. Why? They don’t have real facts to back up their spin. All we need is the conversation, the facts would speak for themselves.
Jack Herer, I know you post here, come on and join the dialog. I would like to see the discussion heard around the world. Most other countries already realize the war on cannabis/hemp is wrong. Many choose to go along to get along, because we help them out financially. Help me get the conversation going. Why don’t they want us to talk. Why do they lie?
There is a challenge in the book, ‘The Emperor Wears No Clothes’ in which they include the challenge:
$100,000 Challenge to Prove Us Wrong!
If all fossil fuels and their derivatives, as well as trees for paper and construction, were banned in order to save the planet, reverse the Greenhouse Effect and stop deforestation;
then there is only one known annually renewable natural resource that is capable of providing the overall majority of the world's paper and textiles; meet all of the world's transportation, industrial and home energy needs, while simultaneously reducing pollution, rebuilding the soil and cleaning the atmosphere all at the same time...
and that substance is the same one that has done it before . . .
Let’s talk about it. Today there is a discussion about higher gas prices to save the environment. I was upset by the conversation, higher gas prices will hurt me personally and will take much suffering to make the necessary changes. If we are going to talk about higher fuel prices to save the planet, let's talk about the plant that can save the planet.
I want a conversation about a plant that could change things today. Cannabis/Hemp could be grown in American. Hemp could replace many synthetic, possibly toxic products now sold in America. Cannabis could be used in treating many medical conditions. Cannabis does not cause the same side effects as the current drugs on the market today. If we can’t talk, please explain why we shouldn’t talk?
.** Photo used for post is an actual photo used in an article in 'Popular... more
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Andrew Greeley is a priest in good standing of the Archdiocese of Chicago. for 52 years, a columnist for 40 years, a sociologist for 45 years, a novelist for 28 years, distinguished lecturer at the University of Arizona for 28 , research associate at National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago for 46 years
by Andrew Greeley
The Russians call World War II “The Great Patriotic War.” The current longest of our wars could well be called the same thing. It is a war that originated in the orgy of patriotism (”U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!”) that followed the attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and has been sustained by the patriotism of those who support it (”Our soldiers are defending American freedom”) and false promises of some latter-day prophets (”We are winning the war in Iraq.”) It is likely to be revived by the Iranian attack that the McCainites see as their main chance of winning the election.
The president was right in his spontaneous reaction when he first heard of the attack — “This is war!” The subtext was, “Now I’ll be a wartime president and people will forget about Florida and how Antonin Scalia stole the election.” The Arabs had killed 3,000 Americans; we had to kill at least that many of them.
The issue was: Which Arabs? The obvious target was Saudi Arabia. Most of the terrorists were from that country, indeed products of the religious education that the country provided for its devout young men. But the Saudi royal family has excellent relations with the American oil companies. So very early in the discussions the neo-cons in the administration began to promote the idea of attacking Iraq. The road to Jerusalem, they argued, is through Baghdad. The administration’s neo-cons were (and are) very heavy thinkers. They write great memos. The days when the country was hesitating, some of them found a story about cooperation between al-Qaida and the Iraq government that seemed to legitimate an attack on Iraq. Some of their allies in the media, most notably the Wall Street Journal, insisted that this fable was true.
Much of the literature on the Longest War finds it hard to explain how the decision was made to attack Iraq. Poor Scott McClellan had it part right in his book. The administration, influenced by the memos of the neo-cons, decided that toppling Saddam Hussein would restructure the Middle East to American advantage. But that was a thesis too complicated to sell to the American people. Therefore, the desire for patriotic revenge was used in combination with fear of Iraq’s (as it turns out nonexistent) weapons to launch a great patriotic war. The Republican Party continues to rely on this lethal combination to win elections
It is not the first patriotic/revenge war on which the country has embarked. Remember the Maine. Remember the Alamo. Remember Fort Sumter. Remember Pearl Harbor. The psychology for whipping up revenge in the name of patriotism has always worked. World War II was a just war, but the mix of patriotism and revenge made it easy for the American military to firebomb out of existence 50 Japanese cities and to destroy a couple more with atom bombs.
Are the American people guilty of a war crime because of the Iraq war? Surely the leaders who cooked up the excuses for the war are. So, too, are the national media that allowed patriotism to silence them. So, too, are those ordinary Americans who almost insisted on some kind of patriotic gore. On this weekend in which we glorify — with good reason — our patriotism, we might examine our conscience about what phony patriotism has caused us to do. A third of the American population supported the war and has now changed its mind. It might be wise for such folk to prepare answers to the kinds of questions God might ask about phony patriotism.
Andrew Greeley is a priest in good standing of the Archdiocese of Chicago. for 52... more
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