Some of us remember Mike Gravel when he was a senator from Alaska and he took the bold step of reading the Pentagon Papers in his committee room to get the word out. He served two terms in the Senate but he’s been out of politics, or at least out of sight, for a long time.

Now he’s back, and the main thrust of his campaign seems to be to get the hell out of Iraq.

He calls himself a maverick, not a liberal, and there are tons of ideas that I would never sign on for (for instance, his tax plan looks like a Forbes-esque giveaway to the rich and seems to be supported by right-wing Republicans), but I bet there are GMD readers out there who will be receptive to what he’s saying.

The following binding resolutions will be on the agenda of the Bennington County Democratic Committee on Monday, February 26th.  The first was passed by the North Carolina Democratic Party and taken, with the permission of the State Chair, Jerry Meek.  We, the grassroots, need to cut to the chase to save lives, whether they be our troops, Iraqis, Iranians or Vermonters.  We expect the State Committee to follow in their next meeting. We stand together or we stand alone.

Feel free to use either or both at any meetings.

Resolution:  No escalation of troops into Iraq while bringing the troops home in 2007

  WHEREAS, there is remarkable bipartisan agreement from the majority of American people that the Bush Administration’s current occupation strategy of the last three years is not succeeding and cannot ever succeed and further military efforts along these lines are politically unacceptable to the American people, as shown by the 2006 election results;

WHEREAS, the Iraqi people have the inalienable right to full economic, political, and social self-determination and to full control of all Iraqi oil, land, and other resources, and that the only legitimate American policy goal in Iraq is that the Iraqis achieve self-governance;

WHEREAS, there is no tolerance among the Iraqi people for any continuation of U.S. occupation of Iraq, and, as recently revealed by General Abizaid, not even any tolerance by the current Iraqi government nor our own top military commanders for an allegedly temporary increase of substantial American forces to be deployed in Iraq;

WHEREAS, the Bennington County Democratic Committee, in its deep gratitude and unalterable support for the dedication and bravery of our service men and women and their families, cannot stand idly by while even one more of our service men or women is killed or maimed by prolonging the senseless occupation policy of the Bush Administration.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that:

The Bennington County Democratic Committee calls upon the US Congressional Leadership to immediately vote for any and all resolutions consistent with an overall purpose of ending the occupation of Iraq, and starting the orderly redeployment and withdrawal of troops by the summer of 2007.

We further urge the Congress to maintain its resolve not to fund any permanent US bases in Iraq.

We support resolutions such as (1) the Murtha Plan and (2) H.R. 4232 (to be renumbered in the 110th Congress), a resolution introduced by Massachusetts Democrat James McGovern and co-sponsored by nineteen (19) members of the US House of Representatives to oppose any funding not consonant with the foregoing.

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Resolution:  Deny Vt. Yankee a 20 year license

Members of the Bennington County Democratic Committee, concerned about the safety of Vermont communities under the presence of the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor in Vernon, Vermont, ask our Governor and our legislators to deny a 20 year extension of Entergy’s license and to work with utility companies to develop safe, renewal sources of energy and make every effort to free us from our dependency on nuclear power.

The only thing that the Democrats have to say to the Bushtrash is what Leo Amery said to Neville Chamberlain in April, 1940.  “Go, in the name of God, Go.” (he was quoting Oliver Cromwell).