Joseph Biden Cries Crocodile Tears Over Old Men Starting Wars

October 26th, 2012 | Posted by jclifford in War and Peace - (6 Comments)

Vice President Joseph Biden, at a memorial ritual for George McGovern, co-opted one of McGovern’s famous statements, saying that he was “tired of old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.”

Joe Biden is tired of old men starting wars?

If he were speaking honestly. Biden would have admitted that he isn’t really tired of old men starting wars. He would have admitted that he has become one of the old men who start wars.

Biden voted in favor of the war in Afghanistan.

Biden voted in favor of the war in Iraq.

Biden supported Barack Obama taking America to war in Libya without congressional approval.

Biden supports Barack Obama’s decision to keep the war in Afghanistan going for years and years after George W. Bush left the White House.

Biden has endorsed the Obama Administration’s increases in the military budget, year after year after year.

If Joe Biden was really tired of old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in, he would stand up and finally apologize for the way he, as an old man, sent young men off to die in wars. He would march straight into the Oval Office and demand that Barack Obama bring America’s soldiers home from Afghanistan, and home from all of our military bases overseas, and if Obama didn’t agree to do it, Biden would quit… if he were really tired of war.

If Biden were really tired of old men starting wars, he would use his position of power to say so, not just in a brief statement at a funeral for a dead politician, but on the WHite House lawn, and on the floor of the U.S. Senate, and at every opportunity he had to stand in front of an audience or a TV camera.

Vice President Biden isn’t tired of war. He isn’t doing what someone who is really tired of war would do.

Vice President Biden is only using somebody else’s funeral to adopt a pose to try to increase voter turnout among voters of his political party – and lying as he does it. He ought to be ashamed of himself.

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3 Years Ago, 5 Years Ago, 7 Years Ago: History Circles Back on Us

August 1st, 2012 | Posted by Jim Cook in Economy | Environment | George W. Bush | Politics | Religion | Republicans | Sex and Gender | War and Peace - (0 Comments)

Some things change with the passage of time, but much remains the same.

Seven years ago today, President George W. Bush spoke before a national Boy Scout Jamboree, praising its practice of kicking out Boy Scouts when it finds out they are gay or don’t believe in God. This week, eagle scouts from across the country returned their medals to the Boy Scouts of America after the organization reaffirmed its discriminatory practices.

Seven years ago today, oil industry officials blamed a rise in oil prices on the death of Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd while on the way to record profits they happily accepted new subsidies from the federal government. Last month, the Energy Information Administration released data showing that the latest spike in oil prices wasn’t coming from too little oil production — it was coming from increased consumption.

Five years ago today, the pastor of the Walnut Creek Community Church in Windsor Heights, Iowa admitted that he had explicitly used his tax-exempt perch to campaign for the election of Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. This is a violation of the promise to stay out of politics that the Walnut Creek Community Church made when it voluntarily sought to avoid paying taxes. Last month, Nathan Cherry announced that in October, churches across the country will break the promises they made when applying for the privilege of not paying taxes. These churches while continuing to refuse paying taxes, will issue a wave of church-based political endorsements just before Election Day.

Five years ago today, the Walnut Creek Community Church held on tight to national political attention, declaring that good Protestant Christians could not possibly vote for Sam Brownback because Brownback was Catholic. Last month, the hosts of the national Wallbuilders Live! radio program declared that not voting for Mitt Romney would be a sin.

Three years ago today, Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich attended a rally with Green Party representatives to oppose Democratic Party foot-dragging on universal health care, leading to speculation that Kucinich might run for President in 2012 as a Green. Today, Dennis Kucinich is off the presidential campaign scene and is preparing to leave the Congress. But the Green Party has gained ballot access in three more states over the past week, laying the groundwork for Jill Stein’s Green presidential bid.

Three years ago today, Congress passed an appropriations measure that expanded the military budget to a full 58 percent of discretionary spending. Today, Republican senators are heading out on a four-state tour, campaigning to protect the military budget from a “$500 billion cut.” But it’s not a “$500 billion cut” to the military budget that’s being proposed — the $500 billion sum is spread across ten annual military budgets. For the annual military budget, there’s only a $50 billion sum being considered. Besides, the $50 billion spending reduction isn’t actually a cut — it’s a reduction in the rate of growth of the military budget. The reality of military spending three years ago and today is that the United States spends more on its military than the next 10 biggest military spenders — China, Russia, the UK, France, Japan, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and India — combined.

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Starting January 17, will Occupy Congress be Something More than a One Day Protest?

January 14th, 2012 | Posted by Jim Cook in Activism | Democrats - (3 Comments)

Did you think the Occupy movement had gone away? Think again.

Occupy Congress, Meeting with Members of Congress, Warily

Tuesday January 17 is the day when Occupy Congress takes the Capitol Grounds and protesters assembling from around the country begin a series of meetings with their members of Congress. An anonymous senior Democratic aide in the House of Representatives is nervous:

“We would want to approach it with caution. I don’t know what we would do personally. It would depend on what they were asking. We never turn people away unless there’s a security reason, or if it is just going to be more of a mess than makes sense.”

They’re called constituents, Anonymous Senior Aide, even if they don’t wear three-piece suits.

Other members of Congress are not trying to run away from Occupy, but rather are trying to get out in front of the movement… at least rhetorically. One organizer reports:

Congresswoman Susan Davis’ office called. She wants to meet with us in DC on #J17. “I want to support OSD you while you’re here”

This is the same Congresswoman Susan Davis, by the way, who voted for indefinite detention without charge via the NDAA, who voted for the reauthorization of the Patriot Act, who voted to let the President go to war without congressional authorization, who voted to keep the war in Afghanistan going, who voted for big military contracts for corporations, and who voted to put God in government — all just last year! That’s rich.

Organizers are ambivalent about what’s been motivating politicians, declaring at once that “Just to be clear — we did NOT invite anyone except YOU, the People. Politicians have invited themselves to #J17” and also listing “Meetings With Representatives” as part of the official schedule.

Occupy Congress: Making Investments for a One Day event?

Here’s another interesting theme running through: building up supplies:

Food donations needed… Non Perishable goods can be mailed to
Occupy Washington DC
1233 12th street NW
Washington DC 20005

#J17, so if you get cold, don’t risk it, come get something to layer.

Essential Tips: It is strongly advised that participants bring their own food to consume throughout the day’s activities and overnight…. If you plan on protesting at Freedom Plaza, McPherson Square, or anywhere else in the city, overnight, please bring your own tent.

Overnight? The official schedule doesn’t list anything overnight. And food donations? A “massive amount of winter gear”? Is it possible the official schedule isn’t the complete schedule?

Final hints: the name of the official account for Occupy Congress on Twitter is “ReOccupy,” and the Sustained Presence working group has been having a bit of discussion.

I think January 17 is going to be a pretty darned interesting day. Who knows about January 18?

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#3 Way to Exasperate a Liberal: Slather Sauce on a Side of Military Pork while Complaining About Spending

January 3rd, 2011 | Posted by Jim Cook in Economy | Politics | Republicans | War and Peace - (0 Comments)

Indiana Republican and presidential aspirant Mike Pence can be so exasperating. When asked by Bloomberg News in July of 2010 to name his legislative priority, he declared it was “to get this economy moving again and to get federal spending under control.” In the same interview with Bloomberg News, Pence defended government spending of $450 million so a factory in his district could tinker around and figure out how to build an engine for the F-35 fighter plane. The Defense Department says it’s not necessary to spend the money to develop an engine for the F-35 because, ahem, they’ve already got an engine. But Mike Pence wants the federal government to spend that money anyway. And to “get federal spending under control.” Oh dear.

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