Because somebody had to say it

Dear Barack Obama,

Put her on the ticket.

I truly believe that antiwar activists should focus our energies on military recruitment. The empire will modify its militarism only if is does not have sufficient bodies and minds to run all its ongoing and contemplated wars.  I believe so all the more strongly in light of the failure of our Democratic Congress not only to stop the war, but to stop the escalation of the war.  

"It is all over people.  We haven't got a prayer!."  - Reverend Lovejoy, The Simpsons.

Suppose the nightmare scenario actually occurs- come convention-time, Obama has a slight lead in delegates chosen by the Democratic electorate, but Clinton swings the nomination her way through the votes of superdelegates.

IMPORTANT UPDATES BELOW

A young girl named Nataline Sarkisyan was initially denied approval for a needed liver transplant by her health care provider, Cigna of California.  The case was diaried by nyceve  and California Nurses Shum, each of whom asked us to call Cigna and protest.  Joyously, Cigna changed its mind and agreed to pay for the transplant.  

"For the first time, I'm stepping out of my pew because I've been inspired. I've been inspired to believe that a new vision is possible for America. Dr King dreamed the dream. But we don't have to just dream the dream anymore. We get to vote that dream into reality"  -Oprah Winfrey, inspiring 30,000 fans, December 9, 2007.

On October 15, 2007, Chalmers Johnson gave an interview to an Australian radio station to talk about his new book:  Nemesis:  The Last Days of the American Republic. During the interview, Johnson endorsed Barack Obama for President, though without any particular confidence that Obama can alter our imperial road to disgrace and bankruptcy.

No transcript is available on the internet, but I, a good and loyal Kossack, have transcribed the relevant section (at 27:45 through 29:00 of the interview).

In 2002-2003, I was so naive that I thought that an unprovoked attack on Iraq would be wildly unpopular!  Instead, bush's popularity rose 25 points and the flag-frenzied hysteria that accompanied our war of aggression  proved to one and all that the world's leading democracy has a deep strain of fascist lunacy.  Will it happen again?  According to Scott Ritter, we will soon find out.

Time for a little pre-emption of our own...

Kos v. Ford

A Wolf found great difficulty in getting at the sheep owing to the vigilance of the shepherd and his dogs. But one day it found the skin of a sheep that had been flayed and thrown aside, so it put it on over its own pelt and strolled down among the sheep."Aesop

"Such unbounded discretion carries with it grave potential for abuse."  Atwater v. City of Lago Vista, 532 U.S. at 372. (O'Connor, J., dissenting).

         
     

To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole. - from the Nuremberg ruling

Only with the complicity of Congress have we become a nation of preemptive war, secret military tribunals, torture, rejection of habeas corpus, warrantless searches, undue government secrecy, extraordinary renditions, and uncontrollable spying on the American people. The greatest danger we face is ourselves: what we are doing in the name of providing security for a people made fearful by distortions of facts. Fighting over there has nothing to do with preserving freedoms here at home. More likely the opposite is true.   - Ron Paul

                                                           

 

Here is a thought about a potentially effective counter-recruitment tactic...

What if military-aged persons contacted their local recruiter and feigned interest in exploring a military career?

The person would talk to the recruiter, politely listen to the recruiter's presentation, make appointments and not show up, reschedule and show up, ask questions, take tests, remain polite but noncommittal, ultimately decide not to enlist.

The whole point would be to waste the recruiter's time and energy.   An hour spent recruiting somebody who is not interested is an hour NOT spent recruiting some impressionable teenager who may be receptive to the recruiter's deceptive claims and imagery.

If enough persons do this, it would clog the recruitment system, demoralize the recruiters, and obstruct the war machine at its most vulnerable point.

Ecrasez l'infame!

I was among several peace activists who met with Congressman Ray LaHood in his Springfield office.  LaHood, to his credit allowed each of us to make a short presentation, and we hit all the main points- the loss of lives, the WMD deception, the expense, the will of the Iraqi people.

Then LaHood spoke and it was sadly clear that he was still drunk on Wingnut Koolaid.   According to LaHood:

"But, in the end, I had to remind myself that I was dealing with children."  
Alex Kotlowitz, There are No Children Here.
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I urge all progressives in Illinois to contact their state house members and ask them to support HB 180.  This is a chance to really help vulnerable children AND contribute to a long-term reduction in crime!

Under proposed legislation, Illinois would adopt a "therapeutic" rather than a "punitive" model for treating incarcerated juveniles.  In so doing, it would follow the much-praised Missouri model of youth incarceration (yes, Red Missouri has led the way on this issue- go figure!) Missouri has been amply rewarded with a significantly reduced youth recidivism rate.

Specifically, HB 180 would accomplish the following:  1) separate the juvenile justice system from the adult Department of Corrections and set up a new agency to deal specifically with juvenile detainees;  2) requires juvenile detention personnel to have four year degrees in a field such as psychology or social work.

     Military recruitment is the war machine's most apparent vulnerability because our youth, to their infinite credit,  are not enlisting in anticipated numbers.     This in spite of the huge efforts made to lure kids into enlistment.  Recruiters stake out high schools, working class-oriented colleges, and youth events, employing all the techniques of aggressive salesmanship.  

      Suppose that military-aged people contacted  military recruiters, feigned interest, and wasted the recruiter's time.   If enough people do that, would it not waste a significant number of recruiter man-hours and place additional strain on the war machine at its most vulnerable point?