Iranian Missile Crisis?

The clock of destruction is ticking in the Middle East as the chain of events set off by the Cheney/Bush neocons ticks enexorably toward complete disaster. In the latest and most serious complication, Russia has opted to sell Tor air defense missile systems to Iran. Though Iran has every right to defend itself and every reason to feel threatened, Israel will see the arrival of these missiles in Iran as a threat in that they can no longer act with impunity in attacking Iran. That dramatically increases the chances that Israel will bomb Iran before the arrival of the missiles in September setting off a conflagration that may spread throughout the entire region.

As the US is already involved in fighting Israel's war we will no doubt be pulled even farther into the conflict. Our unwillingness to rein in Israel, much less to criticise it leaves no option for us to stay out of any conflict they initiate. Russia's interest here is in keeping oil prices high, and in seeing the US stretched to the limit and discredited as a major global player.

We can't stop the missile deal. The only way to avert this disaster is to take the heat off of Iran and to put the leash on our client state, Israel, which after all is entirely dependent on our financial underwriting.

Class Loyalties Revealed as Primary

If our neocon junta is good at anything it is exemplary in making enemies and alienating friends. Because of them, the world is a much more dangerous place. Their use of nationalism and fear is remeniscent of other totalitarian dictatorships but it is a sham. One illustration of this is that the Repugs on the so-called Homeland Security Committee have blocked a bill that would have mandated 100 percent scanning of American-bound shipping containers.

Living in a port city that is also one of the largest military centers and storage facilities for our own WMDs, I am acutely aware of living in a target zone. If I was a terrorist, I would certainly consider obtaining an old soviet nuke on the black market and putting it in a shipping container headed for -- right here! That the repugs would block the mandated scanning of all containers illustrates their true loyalty to corporate interests and their disloyalty to the nation. That is unfortunately true of most Democrats as well. Nationalism and patriotism are merely tools to whip up support for their vile policies or soldiers to carry them out. The ruling class is loyal only to their vested class interests.

Class loyalty is not only for the corporate elite and their syncophants.
Our own loyalty as working poeple must be to each other regardless of borders or nationality. We should not fall for the old con of nationalism stoked with fear. We need to recognize that our enemy is among us and they wear ties, not kafiyes. We need to recognize that our nation has been hijacked by corporations with no national loyalty and they are endangering us all weather through their wars, destruction of the environment or their cynical policies that enslave us in the workplace pitting us against each other while turning necessities like medicine and shelter into expensive commodities and whole nations into "cheap labor zones."

We need to recognize that the Democrats are part of the problem and not the answer. I know the liberals among you will have a hard time accepting this but it's true as they are owned by the same corporations as the Repugs. There are nascient alternatives like the Working Families Party, The Labor Party, the Communist Party, The Green Party and a few others and we need to form a national coalition that can represent a People's Agenda and the build the popular support needed to take our country back.

Throwing Fuel on the Fire?

The Cheney/Bush junta has decided to take advantage of the recent spike in gas prices by easing environmental restrictions on production and diverting gas from the strategic reserve but, while they hope to boost their popularity they are playing with fire. Not only in feeding the disaster of global warming but in this case an economic disaster as the high price of oil is one of the few things keeping the dollar values stable. In all likelihoood, the international alienation resulting from the rogue state behavior of this administration along with the 3 trillion dollar national debt will drive other countries to switch to the more stable and valuable euro as the international reserve currency sending our economy into an irretrievable tailspin.

This bodes ill for us in that a collapsed economy will make safety net programs, education, SSI, and Medicare unafordable. That may be the ultimate goal of the right wing but for the rest of us it leaves a bleak future at best.

60 Minutes of Reality

Now that Tyler Drumheller, the former chief of the CIA’s Europe division, has revealed on 60 Minutes that in the fall of 2002, President Bush, Vice President Cheney, then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and others were told by CIA Director George Tenet that Iraq’s foreign minister — who agreed to act as a spy for the United States — had reported that Iraq had no active weapons of mass destruction program, it is time for impeachment hearings to start.

How many lives have been destroyed by the mad plans of this lying administration? To get a better picture of day to day life under our illegal occupation I have added a ling to Baghdad Burning. This award winning diary of life in Baghdad cuts through the propaganda to reveal the brutal reality we have created along with the hopes and fears of the people of Iraq.

Earth Day Call

Scientists the world over are alarmed at the rate of global warming. They are now saying that, though we are beyond the point of stopping a global catastrophe, we have a few years, not decades but years, to at least curb the worst effects. If we do not make the major changes necessary to do this, the earth will be a very different and inhospitable world in a matter of decades. As Earth Day is being celebrated, I present the following --

For Your Children

When I was a child
the sky was blue
the land was green
there was morning dew.
There were birds in the trees
and honeysuckle air
there were butterflies and
wild animals too.

When I was a child
I'd play out in the sun
without shades or sunblock --
we had so much fun
in the winter it would snow,
snow white as a sheet,
it was still safe to play in
and clean enough to eat.

When I was a child
there were fish in the sea,
there were deer in green woods
oh, how far you could see
when the air was still clean
and you could live off the land
food -- there was plenty
and life was just grand!

Al Markowitz

Undeclaring our Independence

With apologies to Jefferson and Paine, I have to wonder if it was a mistake for us to declare our independence from England. For all the hoopla surrounding our revolution, we are still stuck with a very limited version of democracy that has become corrupted to the point of becoming a national security/corporate oligrchy. England at least has a parlimentary democracy which, if we had, Bush would be history.

The greatest danger facing us, aside from an insane administration hellbent on armegeddon is global warming. Even the Queen of England gets it, as does Tony Blair and for that matter, the rest of the world. Nothing is more serious. The reason the U.S. stands alone in refusing to deal in a rational way with this crisis is that the real power here are corporations whose economic interests pre-empt even the existance of life on earth after the next fiscal quarter.

If we cannot alter our system toward at parlimentary democracy, or even better, disempower capital in favor of a working class democracy, I suggest we rescind our independence and rejoin a somewhat saner Great Britain declaring the American Experiment a noble failure. At least that will give us a fighting chance at the survival.

The Doppleganger at the Seder

In this country, criticism of Israel or of our national underwriting of it or even of the lobby backing that support is verboten and anyone uttering a critical word is visiously attacked as an anti-semite, even if they are Jews. My experience as a Jew is that the culture I came out of, a culture shaped by oppression, acutely aware of injustice, a culture of progressive values, has been transformed into a nightmare doppleganger; a strange hybrid incorporating fascistic nationalism and American denial. This is the ugly effect of Zionism and most Jews are too blinded by it to notice that it does us more harm than good. It destroys the moral basis of our culture, creates nothing but anti-semitism, and gives us nothing in return; certainly not a safe haven. The following was written after preparing a Seder for my family and running into that unwelcomed presence. --

I come
from a family of good
Germans --
not German at all
but Jews
who should know better.

They come bearing gifts
with the pride and feigned
innocence of children,
boxes of food bearing the scar
Made in Israel and if
I happen to mention walls
that tear life from land or
bulldozed homes, check points or
the bright light of Palestine's children
snuffed out for sport like carnival targets,
ears are covered and
I don't want to hear its and
not nows are muttered -- realty
shunned for the preferred delusion
seeking the absolution of denial
feeding the monstrosity we've become.

Of Bullies and Mullahs

The real agenda of our central committee toward Iran seems obvious. We know that our own junta has continually tried to rally support for itself by using fear. They know that their threats against Iran will have the same effect there in strengthening the most extreme leadership. We should remember that Iran had been moving toward reform and moderation prior to Cheney/Bush labeling them as part of an "axis of Evil" and Iranians are by and large an educated and not partucularly fanatic people. It is the policy of this misadministration that forces that country toward extremism. That has been true all along. We deposed a democratic regime there in 1953 and foisted a dictarship with the worlds worst human rights record on them for over 20 years. The reaction brought the Mullahs to power.
Cheney/Bush and the neocon cabal want an enemy so they can justify an agenda of aggression and a take-over of the region but attacking Iran is an insane idea with no good outcome possible. Iran, left alone and not threatened will move toward moderation and experts point out that it is years away from having nuclear weapons. Remove the scare tactics and they will most likely not feel the need to have one.

Victories

It is good to see a victory for French workers. Let those cynical people who condemn street actions as a wast of time take note -- in organization and persistence lies our strength.

Another victory for progress is the defeat of Berlosconi and a rebuff of the right in Italy. A large factor in this was the commitment of Prodi, the progressive candidate to withdraw Italian troops from Iraq. This is another blow for the Cheney/Bush junta which is under heavy fire for its role in exposing Valerie Plame as a CIA agent and them lying about it as well as for the lies used to justify the attack on Iraq.

Much pressure is now on them regarding their plans to attack Iran and his credibility in justifying it. I believe the danger of them attacking Iran is somewhat lessened by the exposure but they may outsource that operation to Israel.

We must keep the pressure on them and, united, we too may achieve a victory in stopping their murderous plans and in removing them from power.

Stopping the Madness

As if the madness of the Iraq debacle wasn't enough, there is evidence that attacks on Iran are on the Cheney/Bush agenda. Unlike Iraq, Iran is a larger, more organized and much better armed nation. It is likely that the monsterous junta will use nuclear weapons and likely that Iran's neighbor and historically connected ally will retaliate leading to an expanded confagration of unimaginable consequences.

The insane terrorist cabal that has hijacked our nation must be stopped and here's my suggestion. Let's roll!

First -- We must use the “Camp Casey” tactic of camping out surrounding the White House in increasing numbers for as long as it takes demanding resignation and arrests of this administration.

Second -- Building on this we need a national strike in support of those surrounding the White House to shut the country down until these creeps are removed from power.

Should they nuke Iran (and while we’re still alive) we need to take to the streets and STAY THERE shutting the country down.

Meanwhile, alert your misrepresentatives that we will not accept an attack in Iran. Organize to take it to the streets. We must demand not only the resignation of these monsters but their arrests as well.

There is No Remedy Against the Language of Truth

Here you will find a great article regarding the clarity of vision needed to struggle against the heinous crimes committed by governments run astray. It is also a revealing article about the range of opinion in Iran and the ongoing disgust and resistance to with Zionism among more principled Jews.

The language of truth in our own land bears a heavy price as well. The recent attacks on Cynthia McKinney are the price she pays for refusing complicity in the crimes of this administration. Way back in 2001 she was the first to call for a full investigation of the events of September 11th and she was condemned by both wings of the corporate party. She was right. She is one of the very few in congress with any integrity and she deserves our support.

More On Immigration

Much of the moronic blather regarding immigration hopes to play on Migraphobia. The issue of immigration is a "wedge issue" emplyed to divert attention from the reality of the failures of the present misadministration on almost all fronts but especially in Iraq. Stirring up xenophobia and nationalism is an old but effective tactic.
The reality is that immigration is purely economic. Both wings of our corproate party have worked long and hard to insure cheap wages south of our border and now it has come to the point that people have no choice but to migrate north to support themselves and their families.
Borders exist to divide working people. Corporations are multinational and the wealthy can live anywhere they choose. We increasingly work for the same folks and the tactic of these corporations and their government stooges of pitting us against each other for the lowest wages and benefits hurts us all. Instead of falling for the immigrant bashing pushed by the corporate media we need to act in solidarity with our fellow workers and demand an international living wage. We need to demand that nothing produced for less than a living wage be sold legally. Only by raising the wages paid across borders to the equivilant of U.S. Wages will the incentive for migration be curbed. A rising standard of living for all makes us all more secure.

Democracy Starts in the Workplace

As our conditions as working people deteriorate in the corporate oligarchy or America I hear much discussion over what is to be done. Suggestions like big marches, national strikes, independent candidates and others are floated but always run into the same walls. We, as working people are held captive by our jobs. Good jobs are hard to gat and we are ever terrorized by the prospect of getting fired for missing work or speaking out. This tyranny of the workplace undermines our ability to act as responsible citiznes and enforces the dictatorship of those we work for. It keeps their interests met and ours ignored. The ultimate reality is that without workplace democracy there is no democracy at all. We need to get the idea of workplace democracy out there so that more of us can work toward that end, thus, the newest shirt from Partisan T-Party, wear it with pride!

Bush Accosted by Angry Citizens

Gulfport MS -- In an event designed to boost sagging support, President Bush agreed to meet with the families of troops stationed in Iraq. He found himself being asked numerous pointed questions similar to those posed by Helen Thomas regarding his continually changing justifications and misrepresentations for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. After several attempts to downplay and evade the question Bush was reported to make a disrespectful remark toward one of the questioners. A small crowd responded by storming the stage and succeeded beating the President about the head and shoulders before secret service managed to break up the melee and end the event. Thirty citizens were arrested for assault and later released.

OK, so it's April 1st but wouldn't it be satisfying if this were true? And considering that this administration has lost more money, not to mention lives, in a murderous and illegal debacle based on lies then it would cost to rebuild levees in New Orleans much less provide basic national healthcare, shouldn't we all be willing to chase these bastards out of D.C. tarred, feathered and on a rail (directly to jail)?