We Americans should be fed-up and angry as hell!

What has happened to us?  When did we get so weak and detached?

Wake-up, America!

We should be phoning our lawmakers in the Washington and various State Capitols and demanding REAL leadership.

It's obvious by now that there is little leadership and that if we don't rise-up together, united, to find REAL leadership we're going to sink like the Titanic!

George W. Bush gave away America!  He set us up to become 3rd-rate citizens and a meager nation.

Wake-up, America!

George Walker Bush has defiled our Constitution and made us weaker, as a nation, as a people.

You can either think I'm insane or you may quote me, but that man and his assembly of cohorts gave away the America we once were proud of.

His band of know-nothing, do-nothing, bumbling honchos have made our beloved America weaker and more dependent on foreign energy.

Our domestic infrastructures are corroding away, our education system is falling apart, we have fewer good-paying jobs and more home foreclosures than EVER in our nation, and all our president tells us is that "We must stay the course."

I need to preface this commentary and say that I have been a member of the Republican Party since the Eisenhower administration of the 1950's.

I need to say that because there will be quite a few folks pointing their fingers and tongues at me as a "Liberal" and that's just not true.

I am just like so many people who are trying to make some sense of the past several decades of Democratic and Republican mismanagement of our nation, and also more or less "soul-searching" and wading through the seemingly endless well-practiced speeches of the candidates of the current presidential "primary", which has evolved into an Ironman marathon of candidate "two-stepping", media rhetoric and political gamesmanship.

Honestly, how the heck can you make any real sense of all this chaos?

I have been forcing myself to listen to the speeches of each of the candidates:  John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.  I have come to some conclusions that some people may or may not agree with, but I have based my presumptions and opinions with careful consideration.

Consequently, it is my opinion that Barack Obama is the more intelligent of the 3 candidates.  Please note that I am NOT stating that he will win come election day or that he is the best candidate for the position.

I simply am saying that Obama is the "brightest" of the bunch.

That said, let's review a few of what Obama and I believe are urgent issues:

• The war in Iraq
• Middle East Nations
• U.S. Budget and Expenditures
• A Stagnated Congress
• U.S. Economy / Recession
• High Cost of Gasoline
• A National or Socialized Health Care Program
• Creation of Jobs
• Education
• Transportation

 

Happy 5th Anniversary, America! May 1, 2008 was the 5th anniversary of the day President George Walker Bush, televised from a U.S. Battleship, told the American people that we have completed our mission in Iraq. Five years later there is one thing we do know for sure.  We are still stuck in Iraq and will be for an undetermined length of time.  Since that time another almost 2,000 Americans and Iraqis have died in Iraq.  Many deaths were the "innocents" whose only fault was in living too close among the terrorist fighting population. In addition, the U.S. economy has slipped and fallen into a deep foul-smelling bog, which seemingly is inescapable for most citizens.  We have watched as our leaders continued to cut taxes for the wealthy and increase an astronomical war debt in the middle east.  The American dollar has plummeted in value, while silver, gold and platinum have skyrocketed. During the past 8 years those wealthy individuals and corporate hierarchy close to the Bush administration have raked-in huge profits, but the financial straits of most citizens have dissolved into less earnings and ever-escalating costs of living expenses with increased debt. Home foreclosures are at a record high in the U.S. Unbelievably, the president still wants congress to turn-over BILLIONS more for the Iraq/Afghanistan wars and more BILLIONS to fight hunger around the world. What's wrong with spending BILLIONS here in American first? This is the legacy of the Bush administration.  The last time Americans were that "strung-out" was 39 years ago.

Anniversary of Bush Declaration of “Mission Accomplished”. Join the crowd at the weekly "Stand for Peace" vigil at CNN, Marietta and Centennial Olympic Park. Support John Zientowski and Veterans for Peace in a short street visibility and public education action. If President Bush was in touch with the needs of average Americans, he would know that we do not want to continue an endless war in Iraq. The President is so disconnected from the public and the realities of the war that in 2003 he proudly stood under a “mission accomplished” banner and proclaimed that major combat operations in Iraq were over. Five years later, mothers and fathers across the country are still welcoming their sons and daughters home in body bags. We do not want to lose any more of Georgians to this war. So be at the corner of Marietta St. and Centennial Olympic Park (across from CNN) at 5:00 Thursday

The first step Georgia utilities are taking to try to get federal approval to build new nuclear reactors along the Savannah River is to apply for an “early site permit.” If the permit is issued, concerns such as water, land, public health, and safety cannot be brought up again even if we learn new information. For example, the new reactors will require tens of millions of gallons of water above and beyond the tens of millions Vogtle is already pulling from the Savannah River—this issue cannot be revisited again if the “early site permit” is granted. If approved, this permit essentially allows the Southern Company and its utility partners in Georgia to use the permit at any time for up to 20 years in any future applications with the NRC. Together, Atlanta WAND, Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, Center for a Sustainable Coast, Savannah Riverkeeper, and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy legally challenged the permit.

The Savannah River basin and nearby communities are already suffering; building more nuclear reactors will only make this situation worse. Since the Early Site Permit (ESP) process allows a company to potentially ‘bank’ a site for up to 20 years, the NRC should have to look not only at Georgia ‘today,’ but the Georgia we are likely to live in several decades from now.

Water Use & Supply:

Atlanta Women’s Action for New Directions

Community Action is Needed

This is a Request for Your Support

!A Call-Out to the Community!

Tell the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board that you have concerns about the proposed expansion of Plant Vogtle from two nuclear reactors to four. Tell the Board that you are concerned about water use, accident risks, security, nuclear waste, and health impacts.

The Action: Email, fax, or postal mail the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board by noon, April 25^th to register* to speak at the public hearing being held at the DoubleTree Hotel in Augusta on Sunday, April 27^th or Monday, April 28^th.

 

Montpelier, VT –The Executive Board of the Vermont AFL-CIO, representing thousands of workers in countless sectors across Vermont, have unanimously passed an historic resolution expressing their “unequivocal” support for the first US labor strike against the war in Iraq. The strike, being organized by the Longshore Caucus of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU), will seek to shutdown all west coast ports for a period of 8 hours on the day of May 1^st 2008. The Vermont AFL-CIO is the first state labor federation to publicly back the Longshoremen; other state federations are expected to follow.

 

The resolution, among other things, calls the war in Iraq “immoral, unwanted, and unnecessary”, states that the vast majority of working Vermonters oppose the war, and contends that the war will only be brought to an end by “the direct actions of working people.” Many other Vermont labor unions and organizations, including the Vermont Workers’ Center, have also made official statements condemning the war.

 

The resolution also calls on working Vermonters to “discuss the actions of the Longshoremen, to wear anti-war buttons, and to take various actions of their own design and choosing in their workplace on May 1^st, 2008.”

 

Atlanta Grandmothers for Peace

c/o Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition/Atlanta

Atlanta GA 30333 P.O. Box 133016

(www.georgiapeace.org)



Dear Peace and Justice Friends in Atlanta and beyond--


On Monday, March 17, with the help of over 40 supporters, ten Atlanta Grandmothers for Peace carried out an act of non-violent civil disobedience in Atlanta, Georgia. Modeled on a similar earlier action by New York Grandmothers Against the War, our civil disobedience was part of nation-wide protests this week marking the 5th anniversary of the March 19, 2003, U.S. invasion of Iraq—actions by Grandmothers for Peace in 20 cities and by young and old in every state. We Atlanta Grandmothers entered the U.S. Army Recruiting Station on Ponce de Leon Avenue at 9:30 am, engaged the recruiters in conversation, and asked to enlist in order to take the place of young soldiers. When our offer was turned down, we refused to leave the property. We were arrested for criminal trespass at 10:30 am, taken to the Fulton County Jail for processing, and released 12 hours later on our own recognizance.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19

Atlanta

(5TH anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq )

4pm - Assemble, Freedom Parkway at Ponce de Leon

5pm - March to Army Recruiting Station, Midtown Place (across from City Hall East)

Sponsored by Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition

For more information e-mail atlantaiac@aol.com or call 404-522-4500

The U.S. have been occupying Iraq for 5 years now. It's hard to believe. Even when looking at the awful numbers -- more than 1 million Iraqis and nearly 4,000 U.S. service people killed, 2 million Iraqis living as refugees in other countries, with another 2.5 million displaced within Iraq , more than 1 trillion dollars spent. What is the full sum of the destruction and suffering that has taken place? And what does it mean for the future of our country and our world? There are some who want to push Iraq off the table until after the elections this fall. We can't let that happen -- there's too much at stake. We must be as active, creative, visible and vocal as possible in order to keep Iraq and our demands prominent in the national discourse throughout the electoral season and beyond. Now is the time to stop funding the war and to bring all the troops home!