( – promoted by Jack McCullough)

Scudder Parker’s Statement to the Brattleboro Peace Rally – July 30, 2006:

My political consciousness was shaped in large part by my opposition to the Vietnam War.  I opposed the deepening involvement of our nation in that war when I was a student at Williams College, and when I studied at Union Theological Seminary.  As a new pastor in the communities of East St. Johnsbury and Lower Waterford, Vermont, I spoke and organized against the war.  I learned that it is possible to oppose a war while caring deeply for the soldiers and their families who are most directly affected by our nation’s conduct in war.

It is due to this experience of ministering to families who have experienced sacrifice and loss at the hands of war, that I feel a special empathy and compassion for Cindy Sheehan. I recognize her pain, and her anger. I also applaud her actions. By exercising her civil rights – and I would argue that is her duty as an American to exercise those rights – she has become a leader and an example for us all. I understand that she can’t be with us today as intended, because she is traveling to the Middle-east to speak for much-needed peace in that region.

I have been opposed to the war in Iraq since George Bush first began building the propaganda toward the war. I used my first press conference as a candidate to speak out against the war and the Bush administration’s attempts to silence critics. Throughout my opposition to this war, however, I have continued to reiterate my commitment to supporting our military personnel and their families.

Little question remains that the Bush administration deceived us into going to war.  They systematically manipulated the American people and Congress.  George Bush, Dick Cheney, and their subordinates continue to repeat the falsehoods and distortions that led us into a conflict that has cost thousands of lives, immense suffering, billions of dollars, and a steady decline of America’s moral standing in the world.

I believe this administration has done severe damage to our nation’s standing as a beacon of justice for other peoples.  It is not just the rush to war and the continued deception; it is also the claim to be a presidency above the law and above the constitution. George Bush continues to show himself as a world leader with a profound disregard for international law.

The founders of this nation and this state trusted the people with freedom and created a government to protect that freedom.  We are free because we have a voice, and we have a voice because we are free.  In this spirit, we can step forward when our own leaders falter. This is true patriotism.

Vermonters have an innate sense of what is right.  It’s why we aren’t afraid to stand up and speak. Though we are a small state, we can have a loud voice.  Over the past several months, Vermonters have raised their voices in a movement supporting an impeachment resolution – and the nation took notice.  I am excited and inspired by the grassroots energy that rose to stand up for what is right – and as governor I want to harness that energy.

There is no question in my mind that impeachment proceedings against this president are warranted, and might be the best way to restore our democracy.  I will, as Governor, continue to speak out against this war, against torture, and against the disregard shown for our civil liberties shown by the Bush administration.  I will work with Vermonters to get their voices heard.

It has never been more clear why it’s just as important who we elect as governor as who we elect as president.  Jim Douglas has failed repeatedly to stand up for Vermonters in the face of George Bush and the radical Republican agenda in Washington.  He’s said YES to the Iraq war.  He’s said YES to No Child Left Behind.  He’s said YES to the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy that are eviscerating essential social service and job programs for those who need our help the most.  Jim Douglas has failed to do all he can do for our farmers during the current crisis.

I have faith in Vermonters’ sense of what is right. When I am elected Governor of Vermont, I will listen to the voice of Vermonters. I will listen to Vermonters and I will lead.

I will lead on investing in clean, reliable and secure energy for our state.  I will lead on making sure every Vermonter has healthcare.  I will lead in bringing accessible and effective education and childcare to Vermont.  I will stand up for working people and the middle class.  I will stand up for our dairy farmers – crisis or no crisis.

As Governor, I will continue to speak out against this war, against torture, and against the disregard shown for our civil liberties shown by the Bush administration.  If Vermonters speak clearly for Impeachment proceedings against George Bush, I will take action and I will make sure their voices are heard and their position is represented.

I will close by invoking the words of John F. Kennedy: “For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”

These are times that call for our state and our nation to embrace the voice and leadership of its people, not to turn a deaf ear. Vermont – I am listening. I will continue to listen, and I will not falter on leadership. Elect me governor and I will provide leadership of which you can be proud.

Submitted by vtpeace

McCain to Tarrant: Get off the train!

July 18, 2006

Sen. John McCain this weekend is bringing his straight-talk express to Vermont on behalf of Congressional candidate Martha Rainville.

But supporters of another GOP candidate for another seat — Senate hopeful Richard Tarrant — could be excused for thinking that the Arizona maverick is also coming to town to support their guy.

In an e-mail sent to supporters yesterday, Tarrant all-but-said McCain was here for him. “Rich Tarrant will campaign with Senator John McCain on Saturday!” the e-mail said. “Please join us: A Town Hall Meeting With Senator John McCain.”

McCain’s people were furious, and immediately denounced the move. “It’s not fair,” said Michael Dennehy, a senior strategist with Straight Talk America, McCain’s organization. “He’s coming to Vermont to campaign for Martha Rainville.”

No word yet from the Tarrant camp; we’ve left a message with campaign manager Tim Lennon. We’ll keep you posted.

Only one word for that: chutzpah!  First he tries to horn in on Peter Welch’s Congressional Town Meetings, then strongly suggests that he’s supported by John McCain.  What is his campaign thinking?  If they can’t control him now, imagine what he’d be like in the Senate!

I’d like to see a huge group going to Rutland on Saturday.  McCain will join Martha Rainville at a town hall meeting at 1 p.m. July 22 in the gymnasium at the College of St. Joseph. This will include a question and answer session:  We can ask if either one supports Bush in his renewed assault on Social Security, We can ask if they believe that invading Iraq with no exit strategy in place ‘supports our troops’. 

We can ask if they believe using depleted uranium and white phosphorus constitutes (the US) using chemical warfare.  We can ask if they support the Geneva Convention, as written.  (McCain is famous for passing his anti-torture amendment, but Bush, in a signing statement, said he would  reserve his constitutional right to waterboard, etc. when it will “assist” in protecting the American people from terrorist attacks.) And on and on.  We need to keep these issues on the front page.

Republicans are increasing our risk of terrorist attacks, not protecting us from them.  Would they address this, and how would they change Administration policy (as if they could!)

Barbara

Shouldn’t Clinton realize that Bush’s low poll ratings are linked to illegal, out-of-control invasions with spiraling costs?  Hillary stood by her man when it counted; now he’s standing by her.  We’ll get no help on that issue from him!

Clinton addresses nation’s newest problems

Troy Hooper – Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
http://www.aspendailynews.com/archive_14886
Fri 07/07/2006 10:01PM MST

Back in Aspen, former President Bill Clinton sounded off on a multitude of problems confronting the nation Friday that included disease, destruction and Karl Rove.

As for Rove, who is scheduled to speak at the Aspen Institute on Sunday, Clinton didn’t hold back when Atlantic Monthly national correspondent James Fallows asked him what one question he would ask President Bush’s highly controversial political operative.

Always the overachiever, Clinton didn’t invent just one question he would ask Rove, he came up with three. The 42nd president said he most wanted to know what Rove would do had Clinton’s senior advisor blown the cover of a CIA agent who happened to be married to the man who refused to falsify findings about nuclear transactions taking place between Niger and Iraq (see Valerie Plame). And he openly wondered whether Rove would instruct Republican congressmen to call a White House official who would do such a thing a traitor. Lastly, Clinton wanted to know why it is that, if the Bush administration is as concerned with national security as it claims, why it would spend 20 times the amount of money it would take to shore up gaps in port security to repeal the estate tax for the nation’s elite, which consists of less than one percent of the population.

Speaking to the first question he’d ask Rove, Clinton said; “I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he’d say that’s exactly what I’d ask (Congress) to do, and I don’t know why they didn’t. I mean this guy is good. You don’t understand this strip of the Republican party that controls everything basically,” Clinton said. “These people are all white Protestant males. They don’t do anything that surprises me. I’ve seen this my whole life.”

Clinton, who routinely makes trips to Aspen for a blend of business and pleasure, also offered up ideas on the potential threats posed by North Korea and Iran. The former, he described as “a perplexing country because they can’t make rice but they can make missiles and bombs and things. When they do these things, they want someone to notice them. They don’t get noticed unless they disobey (authority like children),” he said. “I don’t want to minimize this. It’s a bad thing they have reached this level of technology. But I don’t think we should reward their misconduct. I think we ought to not overreact to this. I don’t think we need to freak out.” Iran is harder. “If they develop nuclear capacity and whether or not by accident or by design some of the material is given to terrorists groups, (they could make) smaller explosives that could kill lots and lots of people. There is no option but to negotiate.”

He added: “This whole thing that there are some people we shouldn’t talk to because they’re bad is nuts. I don’t think Americans should put too many preconditions on talks with the Iranians. We shouldn’t try to cook it too much in advance. I also think it would be a matter of serious consequence to think we can attack them militarily.”

Clinton also said there should be no set date on when to withdraw troops from Iraq, and he cautioned Democrats from fighting with each other over the topic. “We ought to be whipped if we allow our differences over what to do now over Iraq divide us,” he said, saying that the Republicans, via Rove’s advice, are trying to win offices with stale but emotionally driven issues such as flag burning and gay marriage.

The former president also said that the problems of AIDS and global warming have, in his view, changed since he left office. He credited the Bush administration for financing efforts to stomp out AIDS, saying his nonprofit organization, the Clinton Foundation, has worked hand-in-hand with some of the president’s program.

Clinton also saw his former Vice President Al Gore’s new film about global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth,” and “thought it was terrific. I loved it. But I don’t think it would be nearly as compelling if we didn’t have $70 (barrels) of oil, do you?” He went on to say that global warming is “a lot worse than I thought it was when I was in office” and that there are many opportunities, which Britain has embraced, to use environmental sustainability to drive up wages, lower unemployment and increase the nation’s quality of life.

“They (Britain) took climate change seriously and because of that they created hundreds of thousands of jobs by creating new clean energy in the future. This decade’s new jobs are in clean energy and we haven’t seized them,” he said.

hoop@aspendailynews.com

(Haven’t bumped up a diary of vtpeace’s for a while, and we don’t have near enough Scudder coverage, so… – promoted by odum)

http://www.benningtonbanner.com/headlines/ci_3970699
Front page in the Bennington Banner:  NO MORE MR. NICE GUY
Friday, June 23
BENNINGTON — Being governor requires more than being a nice guy. It also requires action and results, says Democratic gubernatorial candidate Scudder Parker. And that is why he is challenging Republican Gov. James Douglas this November.

Parker, a former Caledonia County state senator, said Douglas has been on cruise control in the governor’s office, counting on Vermonters to re-elect him because he is likeable.

“The conclusion when I press people is that Jim Douglas is a nice guy. If that’s what the race is about, I’m in it. I’ll take him on. We can have a nice-guy race for governor. This will be very exciting. We’ll show them all how nice we are. It will be very charming. And I think I can win that race, too,” Parker said.

But Parker is counting on the voters to look beyond the two nice guys and focus on the issues.

“If you really want a race about who can govern the state of Vermont; who will actually address the crisis in health care; who will actually address the crisis that we face in energy affordability and availability; who will actually make housing affordable … then I think it’s going to be a very interesting race. And if that’s what people focus on, then I will be the next governor of this state,” he said.

Parker is in Bennington County for three days as part of his “candidate in residence” program. After spending Wednesday in the Manchester area, Parker arrived in Bennington Thursday for two days. He has spent three to four days in each county to give Vermonters a chance to get to know him and to listen to what Vermonters are concerned about.

As part of his visit, Parker hosted a community forum at the Bennington Free Library Thursday evening. Parker, who attended Williams College in nearby Williamstown, Mass., told the crowd that Bennington “feels very much a part of home.”

He also took advantage of an opportunity to speak candidly with voters. His message was that the state is at a crossroads. It can continue to elect a governor who is in line with the White House, or it can go in a new direction.

“What I want to say to all of you is that this is a critical time in the state of Vermont. We have, at the national level, an administration that is systematically trying to dismantle all of the good things that have been put in place … in the last 100 years,” said Parker.

Parker is hoping voters understand that what is happening in Vermont is not separate from what is happening in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country.

“The real issue in this race is whether Mr. Douglas provides the kind of leadership the state needs. I believe that people will begin to move away from this kind of mindset that says, ‘Well, It’s not as bad as the national level’ to realizing that … what’s happening here is kind of an echo of the national level,” Parker said in an interview.

Parker believes that voters are beginning to take notice of the Douglas administration’s lack of results.

“They have had kind of a mental exception to Jim. I think that’s going to evaporate,” he said. “And I think, although his popularity may be relatively high now … I think it’s breaking through. Where is the substance? Where is this administration really delivering something that will protect Vermonters and make their lives better?” he said.

Parker said he will work more effectively with the Legislature than Douglas has been able to do in his two terms. He said Douglas has a habit of passing the blame when things don’t go his way.

“He challenges (the Legislature) … and then blames them for doing something when they do proceed with something that he doesn’t like. He vetoes their health care bill; vetoes the GMO legislation; the first governor to veto a piece of civil rights legislation in Vermont and then tries to draw the Human Rights Commission in to cover for him. This is a governor who is not standing up for the principles of Vermont, and I will,” he said.

During the forum, Parker called for the governor to act on behalf of the state’s farmers and ask President Bush to support a $4 billion emergency farm aid package that he threatened to veto.

“On agriculture has (Douglas) really come through for the farmers of Vermont? Will he in fact pick up the phone and call his president, the man he was bragging about who would be an ally to Vermont and benefit Vermont because they were of the same party?” said Parker. “The president is tying up the legislation that would provide money for that emergency funding, and Jim Douglas will not call the president and say, ‘Get off the dime. Get the money here and help the state of Vermont.'”

——————————————————————————–

E-mail Neal Goswami at ngoswami@benningtonbanner.com

Remember how proud Douglas was to be part of the Bush Team?  Why isn’t he using the ‘collateral’ he earned from the 2000/2004 campaigns to stop Vermonters from being decimated from all the Federal budget cuts?  What’s he saving it for? 
Notice not much is ‘trickling down’ from the Federal Government — could it be the same (gasp) voodoo economics Bush 41 accused Reagan of endorsing?  Is Douglas afraid to pick up the phone?  Come November: Let’s see Douglas retired, and put Scudder Parker, Leahy, Sanders and Peter Welch (the grownups)in charge.

Barbara 
 

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Afghanistan provides one-third of the world’s heroin, and with the poppy harvest doubling this year … could this be a rerun of Iran-Contra?  The same Daddy Bush crooks are baaack, but poor Dubya’s probably ‘out of the loop’ too, just like Dad was.  (Surprise:  Cheney’s probably in charge.)  The unaccounted-for $12 billion dollars brought to Iraq wasn’t enough for the greedy monsters?

Guantanamo Bay:  More than 460 men (and boys) have been held more than four years but only 10 have been charged with a crime.  Anyone seen/heard of a trial?  Probably because there hasn’t been one!  Bush/Cheney say they can imprison the men for the rest of their lives.  The same policy is in place in Abu Ghraib and other prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan, but public outcry did force the Pentagon to scrap plans to classify (and hide) interrogation techniques.  Where’s the evidence of their probable guilt?  We’ll probably be considered ‘enemy combatants’ and locked up in Halliburton’s soon-to-be-built American Guantanamos across the country.

The (latest) reported death of Musab al-Zarqawi ends a Pentagon (incompetent) psychological operation.  Official accounts say two 500 pound bombs were dropped on the house, leaving a 40 foot crater, but al-Zarqawi’s body was barely marked.  Strange?  Five dead, two other men, al-Zarqawi’s 16 year old wife and 5 year old child.  U.S. troops couldn’t take out 3 men without dropping bombs?

Zarqawi, (the terrorist mastermind?) was ridiculed saying he didn’t even know how to handle a gun, but …… Bush said:  “We know that Iraq and al Qaeda have had high-level contacts that go back a decade.”  Really?  A CIA report found no evidence of any “links” between Saddam and Zarqawi.  So goes the U.S. propaganda efforts in Iraq which cost $24 million, (just in 2004) … and who will get the $25 million Bush placed on Zarquawi’s head (dead or alive?)

Consider the the photo-op (without a plastic turkey this time) by Bush as a taxpayer funded trip for a 15 minute visit with a Prime Minister who didn’t even know he was coming.  I don’t think Iraqis want terrorists crossing their border in the dead of night, either, and what a way to show the Iraqi people who’s really in charge!  This should satisfy the blood lusting neo-cons for awhile, until they find the next ‘terrorist’ .. since bin Laden’s been forgotten.

How much longer will people fall for this smoke and mirrors?  How many more must die?

President Bush’s approval rating shows only 1/3 (or less) in the US approving of either his military or his domestic policies.  He has taken the sympathy of the world after 9/11 and transformed himself into a video game/comic book type avenger.  Iran is the next country in his crosshairs.  Will the voters put a stop to this?  Will we have time to?

The Republican Party has the majority in the Senate and the House.  They control the agenda and pass the laws.  Whatever the President wants, he gets. 

The courts, including the Supreme Court, have been packed with more Bush syncophants who choose not to investigate policies that break the laws and ignore the Constitution (in the name of national security). 

Military commanders admit they are unable to stop the mounting violence that kills 1,000 Iraqi civilians a month, with overstressed American troops pushed beyond the breaking point, both physically and mentally.  Afghanistan is in no better shape, with both the Taliban and the drug trade booming and US troops continuing to die.  Contamination by depleted uranium will see deaths mount as years go by, as well as increases in birth defects for future generations.  The same scenario may happen (again) very soon in Iran.

Iran offered in 2003 to accept peace with Israel, cut off assistance to Palestinian armed groups and pressure them to halt terrorist attacks within Israel’s 1967 borders. The two-page proposal for a broad Iran-US agreement covering all the issues separating the two countries, a copy of which was obtained by IPS, was conveyed to the United States in late April or early May 2003. The two-page document contradicts the official line of the administration that Iran is committed to the destruction of Israel and the sponsorship of terrorism in the region.  Iran has sent two letters to Bush recently; both have been dismissed without an answer.

Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad supposedly said he wants Israel  “wiped off the map.”  Farsi speakers say the translation was intentionally bungled.  The Iranian president was quoting an statement by the late Ayatollah Khomeini, that “this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time” (just as the Shah’s regime in Iran had vanished). He was not making a military threat, but was calling for an end to the occupation of Jerusalem at some point in the future. 

Iran is in total compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty and with an International Atomic Energy Agency Safeguards agreement entered into “for the exclusive purpose” of “preventing diversion of nuclear energy from peaceful uses to nuclear weapons.”  Director-General ElBaradei repeatedly reports that he can find “no indication” of diversion of “source or special nuclear materials” to a military purpose.

Nuclear armed US ships are now steaming to the Gulf.  Plans for attack have been in place for some time.  The truth is being concealed here, just as it was in Iraq.  American oil companies are our friends.  We are there to serve them. 

What can Republicans do who feel they were blindsided by Bush’s insistence of Iraq’s 9/11 involvement and wmd’s?  Sending more of the same to Congress will make matters worse.  Taking a hiatus in 2006 and 2008 may be an option, while working to bring the Republican Party back to its roots. 

Let’s give the Democratic Party breathing space to give us real security: no more illegal, pre-emptive wars for corporate gain – and let’s (again) use diplomacy instead of bombs.  Protecting Social Security.  No other promises; the out-of-control spending, deficits, corruption and corporate giveaways will take years to correct before we can even begin to have a conversation about what the government should, and can afford to provide the people. We need goals, but we also need to be realistic.  We need to stop the bleeding first and then find common ground. 

(May God help those people on the Gulf Coast, with more hurricanes coming, and no help in sight).

I had to share this, with Judy’s permission; an op-ed in the Bennington Banner today, Friday, June 2.

This is the third year in a row here in southern Vermont that we have suffered the ravages of tent caterpillars. These foul creatures eat their way through leaf and limb, wreaking havoc on whatever unsuspecting plant happens to be in the way of their insatiable appetites. They gorge on our apple blossoms, our roses, our maples, and oh, our poor willow was really weeping last summer. At first we merely flicked them off and stepped on them, then when that proved too slow started drowning them in soapy water. My husband devised a contraption that allows him to reach up high and burn the tents, and we’ve since learned about a bacillus spray that kills the caterpillars without affecting other wildlife. After hours of battling them, tree by tree, we’ll think we have things under control – at least until the next hatching.

In the throes of caterpillar combat, as I notice the telltale furry-looking branch or the tree trunk so thickly covered it appears cast in shadow, I recall that during the 2000 presidential campaign in response to a question, then-candidate George W. Bush said his favorite book was “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle. Never mind the smug anti-intellectualism – this from the fellow who once wanted to be known as the “Education President.” At the time people laughed this off (things were much lighter then, weren’t they?). Yet I can’t help but think of how perfectly the nonstop-feeding larva serves as a metaphor for the Bush presidency.

In the picture book, a staple of the pre-school bookshelf, the caterpillar chews its way through one apple, two pears, three plums, and a host of other foods including chocolate cake, Swiss cheese, a lollipop, and, improbably, salami. In the same way, Bush has decimated the nation’s budget surplus (now a record-breaking deficit), the viability and morale of the military (stretched thin in misguided, mishandled wars), our country’s moral standing in the world (shrugging aside international laws against torture), and our civil rights (through the so-called Patriot Act and unchecked citizen surveillance). The book has the caterpillar building a cocoon and emerging as a beautiful butterfly, a lovely idea indeed. What I imagine speaks to Bush was not the butterfly as symbol of nature’s wonder, but rather the primitive, raw appetite embodied in the voracious bug. This is also the appeal to young children, which is why Carle’s book has become a classic for pre-readers.

In my worst moments – just as I sometimes despair that our trees cannot withstand any more injury – I fear that there’s no stopping Bush and Co. With all the corruption scandals, presidential faux pas, and Three-Stooges-like appointees, this administration has long ago devolved into farce.

Eventually, of course, this will have to end (witness the numerous “1-20-09 Bush’s Last Day” bumper stickers around town). One can only worry about the damage that will be done in the interim – and fight to reclaim the democratic integrity we seem to have lost.

The greedy, plundering regime in Washington is the backdrop to life today. But we still have our own daily challenges. And for me right now it’s fending off that old Axis of Evil: the forest tent, eastern tent and gypsy moth caterpillars. Yesterday my 11-year-old son, Brendan, and I had a harrowing bike ride, as we literally had to duck and weave around Forest Tents dangling from their diaphanous threads. (They float down from upper branches in a kind of belaying fashion, unfurling silken filaments on their descent.) “There’s one on my shirt! On my leg!” he yelled, horrified. Threads were all over our hair, like cobwebs.

We raced back, and Brendan immediately took a shower. I mixed up another half-gallon of bacillus thuringiensis concentrate, and hauled out my spray bottle – to take on the one scourge I could at least do something about on a sunny afternoon.

——————————————————————————–

Judith D. Schwartz, a member of vermontpeacetrain, is a writer and editor who lives in Bennington.

(An insightful assessment of the State of Things. The anger and fear conveyed by the diarist is what I can only hope would take hold with the people, if they could be made to understand. I do hope it doesn’t take yet ANOTHER war.
-ed – promoted by Ed Garcia)

Will we ever return to a rational Federal government that actually has qualified people there to serve us?  We have had one nightmare scenario after another since 2001, continually raising our ‘fear factor.’ Lies, lies and more lies.

Personally, I’m much more concerned about our own out-of-control government than I am about terrorists striking us here.  I would not be surprised to see Bush refusing to leave the White House on January 20, 2009, backed by a military junta.

The Republicans know they are in trouble, and will lose their majorities in November unless they can justify a new war to convince voters not to ‘change horses in midstream’ … and I can vividly imagine a Strait of Hormuz-type incident  taking place well before the November elections.

Israel is obviously pushing — do it or we will –but they should realize they will lose much international support (at least from people) if they do, especially using nuclear bombs they do not admit having.  Israel is subsidized heavily, and would be forced to put ‘sanctions’ on their own people if this happened.

The U.N. Security Council is floating a plan to affirm Irans’ right to a peaceful nuclear energy program if Iran would suspend enrichment for a few years while the UN (read U.S.) goes through the books, as it were, and is satisfied Iran has no weapons program and no intention to pursue one. (This would call the bluff of Bolton and his superiors, and I can’t see them voting for it.)

I am embarrassed, as an American, to support a resolution asking another country to, in effect, bend over and let the dominator have his way.  This may gain some short term relief here but will inflame tensions not only in the Middle East, but all over the world. Nobody likes a bully.  It will not change any plans Bush already has in place; just force him to think up another excuse.

Wonder if Bush/Cheney will get special visiting rights to Karl Rove in prison?  They certainly wouldn’t want that brain to atrophy!

For us, we need to keep on top of all rhetoric from Bush and Condi and be a truth squad — not just here, but in all our local letters to the editor.  If their plans are finalized to censor the internet it may be our last best chance to find out what reality is!

The next Congress must insist that ‘signing statements’ made by any President are only a personal opinion and do not have the force of law. Congress must take back the reins and again become the lawmakers, and insist the laws be followed.  We need to keep track of these!

Barbara

HOW TO WIN ELECTIONS IN 2006 AND 2008

People need to know what the Democrats stand for:
Let’s get down to the bedrock principles that people identify with most, and stress that the American people are now the priority, not the corporations: (the economy will always be first):

THE ECONOMY IS OUT OF CONTROL: HERE’S WHAT WE’LL DO:

Stop the gouging on gas and oil prices and take back huge giveaways to the oil companies, promise to save Social Security and Medicare (first by changing the prescription drug cost by government price negotiating), rejecting the tax cuts to the rich, and a concerted effort to slow global warming.

Ask the people to sacrifice here to save our planet.

DEFENDING OUR COUNTRY:

No more pre-emptive, illegal wars!  Funding the VA so veterans will get the benefits they were promised!

We will rebuild our intelligence agencies with qualified people.  We will defend America from real threats, from within and without, but we will respect our laws and respect other countries’ values while doing so.  We believe respect is earned, not forced from the muzzle of a gun or the threat of nuclear bombing.

MORAL VALUES:

One America, with equality for all, protecting a woman’s inherent right to control her own body, treating other countries with respect, and holding the President accountable to execute the laws he signs.

Barbara

This could start a groundswell of support for progressive women nationwide to consider running for office.  This is so exciting:  FOUR NATIVE AMERICAN PRO-CHOICE WOMEN RUNNING FOR THE SOUTH DAKOTA STATE LEGISLATURE.  Most of them face anti-choice Democrats in the primary, which is coming up soon on JUNE 6th, so your financial support is needed at once; please don’t put it off!  Even a few dollars goes a long way in South Dakota!

These women are creating an historical first in SD.  They are Charon Asetoyer, Faith Spotted Eagle, Paula Long Fox and Theresa Spry.  And when they win their primary races, they will join Theresa Two Bulls, an incumbent Senator running again for the Pine Ridge district seat, making FIVE Native women running on the Democratic ticket for state legislative offices.

AND! if each of these fine candidates makes it through her primary and wins in the general election she will REPLACE a legislator who VOTED FOR SD’s ATROCIOUS BAN ON ABORTION!  In fact, most of them face antichoice Democrats
in the primary and that’s what makes OUR help NOW so vastly important.

Help move these dynamic, progressive women candidates thru their primaries! They’re running on huge issues like reproductive health rights,including access to abortion, emergency contraceptives and pregnancy care. 

But they’re also running on other issues important to their districts and to all of us – sustainable energy sources, clean water protections, living wages, quality public education, quality health care for all, affordable child care, creating communities free of domestic violence and sexual assault and even testing for depleted uranium on soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan (candidate Long Fox will represent the military families of Ellsworth Air Force Base) to highlight just a few.

Political races in South Dakota don’t take as much money to run as big state, big city races, but that doesn’t mean they can run on nothing and so far it seems pretty unlikely the SD Dem Party is going to pitch in for them before the primaries.  Our job is to help them win their primaries in a big way so that they are “viable” and can perhaps get their party support in the general election. 

A few dollars to each of these campaigns will help create change in South Dakota that we’ll all feel wherever we live.  The individual limit for donations to candidates in SD is $250, but $100, $50, or $25 can do a lot –
from helping to pay for candidate forums to ads in hometown papers and radio spots. Every single dollar gets used well!

Won’t we feel darned good for them, for SD and about ourselves when they win? 

Send your contributions to these campaign addresses and don’t forget to include your occupation and employer name if you are giving $100 or more. 

Charon Asetoyer (Dist. 21 Senate)
Campaign for Change
P.O. Box 472
Lake Andes, SD  57356

Charon@charles-mix.com

Faith Spotted Eagle (Dist. 21 House)
Faith Spotted Eagle for Change
P.O. Box 762
Lake Andes, SD  57356

Eagletrax@hotmail.com
more: Spotted
Eagle: Deksi (Uncle) Vine,
Braveheart

Society)

Paula Long Fox (Dist. 33 House)
10520 Canyon Place
Rapid City, SD  57707
LongFox7@aol.com

(more: American Indian Education   Foundation)

Theresa Spry (Dist. 35 Senate)
821 Halley Ave.
Rapid City, SD  57701

Sprybunch@aol.com
(more: Former teacher, family planning counselor for 14 years,
Chair of the League of Democratic Women among many other
efforts on behalf of women and her community.)

Thanks for everything you’re doing for these candidates.  We’ll keep you updated as we head for June 6th and beyond!  And don’t forget to PASS THIS ON.  We’re not just building grassroots political action, we’re building grassfires of progressive activism that can spread across South Dakota and our whole country.

Yours in solidarity,

Laura Ross
Pat Reuss
Sally Roesch Wagner
Laura Flanders
LaDonna Harris
Katha Pollitt

and add your name in solidarity!

Barbara