Perhaps the most telling statement from his speech was, “But America remains the one indispensable nation in world affairs, and as long as I am President, I intend to keep it that way.” This single sentence lays bare the President’s intentions to continue down the path of U.S. interventionism and push for global military and political and economic hegemony. So even in his attempt to claim America is back, and articulate a new direction, we really just heard more of the same: American imperialism at the expense of human needs and the principles of freedom and self-determination. The overwhelming applause by Democrats and Republicans to this sentiment made clear that our national political leadership is united with President Obama in a vision of the United States as the center of the world, telling the world what to do.

I agree with the President’s call for investment in the nation’s infrastructure and clean energy, to take care of veterans, to pay for many other human needs and for the rich to pay their fair share. But none of that will matter as long as our foreign policy is based on militarism instead of diplomacy and guided by the arrogant premise that America’s interest supersedes all other nation’s ambitions to chart their own course. Our nation will continue to be embroiled in wars of intervention and aggression as U.S. interference in regional conflicts will invite retaliation and resistance. Our nation’s limited resources will continue to be wasted on building a military capable of projecting global power to ensure U.S. dominance.

The President demonstrated the truth about these misplaced priorities when he referenced a $500 billion savings from the Pentagon budget. Upon closer examination, these so-called savings are not really cuts, but rather a reduction in previously projected increases in Pentagon spending. In fact the Pentagon budget will not be cut at all but will continue to grow even though at present the U.S. accounts for approximately 41% of global military expenditures. The U.S. budget is 6 times more than the next highest spender, China. Moreover, while $500 billion sounds like a lot, the number is over a 10 year period in which total Pentagon spending will top $700 trillion dollars. The “savings” amounts to less than 7%.

At a time of rising budget deficits, millions suffering from job loss, mortgage foreclosures, homelessness and a bleak economic future, our nation is at a crossroads. With the end of the Iraq War, the death of Osama bin Laden and the relative demise of al Qaeda, we must look back on the past ten years and ask ourselves what have we learned? Was war the answer to the problems we faced as a nation the morning of September 12, 2001? Did we lead ourselves into the conflict with blowback from years of a foreign policy based on exploiting Islamic violent jihad against the former Soviet Union? Did our friendly relationship with dictators like Saddam Hussein and Hosni Mubarak put us on the wrong side of history? As we look to the future will militarism and the pursuit of economic and political world dominance simply lead to more distrust and conflict as Arab nations emerge from their peoples’ movements for self-government and self-determination? Is it really possible for the U.S. to impose its will on the expanding economic powers of Brazil, Russia, India and China? Can the U.S. really claim to champion freedom while at the same time direct a global empire not that different from the one the founding generation decided they had to break free from?

The challenge lies before us. As peacemakers and justice seekers working with emerging and growing movements like the Occupations, and across the full spectrum of economic and social justice struggles, we must develop, communicate and live a new vision of human coexistence and international cooperation. With the world facing the Armageddon – like threats of climate change and nuclear war – the future of the world rests in our hands and in the urgency of our efforts. We must unite in our determination to change the priorities of our country. Most important, we must practice what we preach: tolerance, peace and justice providing a model of our vision to follow and not just empty words to be ignored. Now is the time. Let us think, let us plan and let us act.

Why were so many Democrats searching for someone else to support? I decided early on that I was going to vote for Obama.  I was upset with Hillary Clinton’s refusal to admit that the Iraq war was a mistake. Obama spoke out against it before he was a candidate and Edwards stated that going to war was a wrong decision. Clinton could not bring herself to say it. Her reluctance undermined trust with Democrat activists and ran counter to the anti-war sentiment in the general Left. This can be seen in 2008 exit polls where voters said the war and the economy were their top issues. The difference between Obama, Edwards and Clinton on economic policy was minimal with Edwards being the most aggressive with addressing poverty and economic equity. I have already outlined the difference in positions on Iraq. Similarly, trust is the obstacle facing Romney. He has been the front runner by keeping a steady poll number of 25% in a crowded field, but the most active conservative wing of the Republican Party, simply do not trust him. They do not believe he is a true Conservative, so they are shopping which gave Santorum the opening he exploited. The other similarity to Obama’s win in 2008 is that the activist wing of the Republican Party is pushing back on the establishment candidate and will continue to do so until they either win with an alternative candidate or lose and must rally around Romney.

The similarities end here. While going into Iowa in 2008 as an underdog, a significant number of supporters had already coalesced around Obama providing huge amounts of money second only to Clinton. Obama did not go into Iowa race weeks before in the bottom tier. As a result Obama was not underfunded and he had a very strong and organized ground game. This is almost the opposite of Santorum’s situation.

Though the Democrat field was crowded with six candidates in 2008, the top three received the vast number of votes with the next three posting a dismal 3%. This is in stark contrast to Tuesday 2012 where the bottom four of the seven Republicans received 29% of the vote. The packed race hurt Santorum. He might have received 9 of Herman Cain’s 58 votes or some of Buddy Roemer’s 31 (who is Buddy Roemer). If Michele Bachman had dropped out Monday instead of Wednesday I am sure he would have received 9 of her 6,073.

Perhaps the most important differences between Obama’s win and Santorum’s near win are money and organization. Santorum has these two enormous obstacles to overcome to beat Romney. He must rely on the dissatisfaction and energy of conservative Republicans to quickly fill his coffers and volunteer in mass to keep him competitive. This means that the Conservatives must agree to unite around Santorum and drop Perry and Gingrich. He may not have the time to affect the outcome of the January 10^th New Hampshire primary, but winning conservative South Carolina on January 21^st is definitely possible. So standby to see if Santorum can do what Obama did 2008, beat the establishment candidate of  his party to be its nominee for president. I don’t know if he would like the comparison, but it is what it is and it is in his interest to look to Obama for inspiration.

Sorry Rick, politics is a hell of a game.

 Links to status and more info about both races.

 Iowa 2012 Republican Caucus Results         Iowa 2008:  Rups and Dems Election Results  Exit Polls

Closes U.S. Election Races

The process to make the active ingredients was developed by Dr. John Huffman ,a chemistry professor while researching the effects of cannabinoids. In 1995 he wrote a research paper outlining the method to create the key compound. That method fell into the hands of people seeking to replicate Huffman’s work and to spray onto dried flowers, herbs and tobacco for recreational drug use.

While the full effects are unknown, there have been reports of people hallucinating for days while on the drug. But Dr. Huffman is quoted as saying “People who use it are idiots,” referring to K2 smokers.

Unfortunately it looks like a growing number of U.S. service members are turning to the drug for fun and self-medication.

The military is attempting to cut down on the expanding problem. A Washington Post article reports that two years ago 29 Marines were investigated for Spice, this year the number tops 700. Last year the Air Force punished 380 airmen for using the drug, this year the number climbed to 497. The Army has medically treated 119 soldiers for the synthetic drug in total. The service members have turned to this substance because until recently there was not a way to detect it. Now there are ways to test for it, but it is still not easy to catch people because Spice is made in different ways and designers are always changing it

States and the federal government are moving to make the substances illegal. But the concoction is widely available on the net selling as incenses and marked as not for human consumption.

Read the full story about U.S. service member use here.         Read story quoting Dr. Huffman here?

(See color photo and read article) Occupy Oakland protesters carry Scott Olsen away after he was hit in the head on Tuesday night. Photograph: Kimihiro Hoshino/AFP/Getty Images

Scott made it through a war abroad to be injured in a war at home. Standing up for the 99%, Scott has done his best service to our country  in the streets of Oakland.

I have never met Scott, but I have met veterans like him who want accountability and change that moves our nation away from embracing warfare toward ending it.

Scott is a member of Veterans For Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War.

1. There is a provision that gives the President unlimited power to order the military to pick up and imprison without charge or trial civilians anywhere in the world. This means anyone of us too. I asked them to support Senator Udall’s amendment to strike these provisions.

2. I asked them to oppose an amendment being put forth by Senator Ayottee that will allow harsh and aggressive interrogation tactics, the kind I would not want any of our soldiers to face. We can’t expect our troops not to be tortured if we torture, not to mention that it is wrong and tramples on our commitment to human rights.

3. I hope they support an amendment from Senator Shaheen that will allow women who have experienced rape or incest to receive full coverage from their insurance for abortions. Right now they would have to pay for it themselves. That is crazy.

Call your Senator. Follow this link to find their contact info.

The Act is up for debate and vote today or tomorrow.

Here is a link that talks about the indefinite detention aspect of the act.

http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/senators-demand-military-lock-american-citizens-battlefield-they-define-being

Veterans Day is a wonderful time to educate and outreach to help vets. It is a perfect opportunity to talk about Traumatic Brain Injury, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and suicide. It is a day to highlight the 11% unemployment rate among all vets with an astounding 20% rate for Iraq and Afghan war vets. It is a day to support the tens of thousands of homeless veterans across the country. Thankfully much of this is happens every day. But that is not why we have Veterans Day.

There was a time when I appreciated Veterans Day more than I do today. I was younger and less contemplative about my experiences as a soldier and what it meant to serve in the U.S. military. To be clear, I respect the military and the women and men who serve. I know what it is like to make the sacrifices they make every day. I made them. Spending weeks in the field or working late into the night in the motor-pool. There are many tasks, large and small, which soldiers must do  to be ready for the call. This readiness comes at a steep price, time taken from family and friends; time away from living.

Then comes the call. I know what it feels like to deploy, wondering if you will return home alive, and praying that you will see your loved ones again. I remember hugging my young son over 20 years ago before deploying to Iraq for the Gulf War. He is now a veteran himself, who missed his second son’s birth due to deployment in the current Iraq War campaign.

Troops  are taught to fight for honor, valor and to protect our country, but they really fight for each other and to return home to see those they love.

NYC 2005 Veterans Day Parade

If they make it back home, they return changed. Basic training and experiences preparing for war changed them from the kid who left home to the service member with spit-shined boots and freshly pressed uniforms. This change is mostly for the better. But war changes people in a different way. War is domination through deadly violence. It is killing and death. Kill or be killed, or kill to dominate. Soldiers either kill or enable killing. War takes away innocence. Its inhumanity and death orgy challenges morality and respect for life. A few are made stronger. Some are twisted into monsters. Many are personally destroyed and forever scarred.

Knowing and having lived this life, I can feel nothing but love and respect for those in the armed forces. My son, uncles, grandfather and I were them, and now I am a veteran. Eventually, every active soldier either becomes a veteran, or  dies while serving.

My feelings of appreciation spring from my understanding of the experience of moving from solider to veteran. I am happy that the nation acknowledges us and makes an attempt to think about the sacrifices we have made. Many have made sacrifices that by the grace of God I do not face. They live with nightmares beyond imagination. I know some of these men and women. The burden they carry cannot be overstated.

Veterans Day is meant to bind the nation together in honoring the service and sacrifice of the warrior.  It is one of two annual displays of pomp and circumstances, along with Memorial Day, that contribute to the creation of a warrior who understands her purpose; to defend the nation. These days set aside to shower adoration and accolades on these few good men and women create and reinforce this sense of purpose. We declare them the best, and we honor them with parades and monuments. We have established hallowed ground for their lifeless bodies and maintain eternal flames and tombs to remember one lone soldier whose name we do not know. The U.S. Tomb of the Unknowns and the round the clock guard to honor and protect it is a case study in the psychology of creating a sense of purpose. By generating a feeling of grandeur and perpetuity to venerate unknown soldiers, service members and veterans place themselves as the Unknown believing that they will live on forever as a heroic figure; the protector of the American dream.

The tomb is a sacrosanct space, a kind of altar for those who are being protected to visit and pay homage. It reminds the individual citizen of the sacrifices paid. These evoked feelings help to solidify ties between citizens. The soldier died for me, they died for our country. The veteran served for me, they served for our country.

The warrior’s purpose is to protect the larger group. The warrior must see the larger group or the protection of it worth the service and possible ultimate sacrifice. The group must believe itself worth the possible death of the warrior so that it will send its sons and daughters to the horrors of war. This meaning is provided by a sense of identity. Every nation or people develop a narrative that provides an identity. This identity sets the group apart from the “other” and binds the group members together and on whole, demands subservience to the will of the group for the glory of the group. I am drawn to ambivalence by the reality of this process. It is the same for al Qaeda, the Taliban, Palestinians, Israelis, Canadians or the Brits. It appears to be very human.

But I am angered when I answer, what is the glory of America for which I and others served and so many have died? I am told I served and fought to preserve our values and keep us free. But on closer examination it is something quite different. I was sent to fight Saddam Hussein, a tyrant who the U.S. supported in spite of his brutality and use of chemical weapons on civilian Kurds. As long as he followed U.S. orders anything he did was fine. Relationships and politics change, so I was sent to crush him. In the wake of 9-1-1 my son was sent to occupy Iraq, a nation that had nothing to do with that tragic day and to search for weapons of mass destruction that were not there. Our nation justifies torture, indefinite detention, assassinations, displaces millions and drops bombs that kill innocents all in the name of national security. U.S. soldiers were sent to occupy Viet Nam killing over a million people to stop communism, ignoring Vietnamese’s overtures for friendship and their historical struggle of independence ensuring they would never be lapdogs of the Chinese or the Americans. None of this reflects my values.

Here at home the democratic beliefs our government claims I have helped defend and spread are under attack. The right to assemble and our ability to organize are being suppressed. Police are using guns, teargas, beanbags and batons on peaceful protesters. Voting rights are being curtailed. The poor and middle-class are being asked to pay and sacrifice more while opportunities shrink. The American dream is turning into a nightmare as national and personal debts pile up.

All the while the U.S. military juggernaut grinds on powered by the blood, bones and sanity of those who serve.  We are treated as pawns in a game that benefits the rich. The poor and working class of America fighting the poor and working class of the world to forward policy goals that increase the fortune and influence of the rich. In the midst of global suffering and domestic strife a small number get richer on the backs and sacrifices of everyone else.

Veterans Day is a strange time for me because I know that the ceremonies, parades and honors are meant to lead me down a path of blind patriotism. It is an attempt to unite my perceived interest with those of the rich and powerful masquerading as champions of freedom and justice. It is an effort to bond my identity with beliefs and polices that forward their goals but are not good for me, my family, my country or the world on which I depend. I served my country because I love it. Not to gain access to foreign markets or dominate the world. I love my country because of the ideals I was taught it stands for. I grew up and found out that my nation is far from the perfect union it strives to be or the champion of freedom it claims to be. My love for this nation demands I force it to be better and do better. Next Veterans Day I hope more people think about that and maybe, just maybe, we will be a little closer to domestic and global peace and tranquility; with fewer sacrifices and less war.

NAACP President Benjamin Jealous: Stand For Freedom
organizing meeting.

Across the country there is a coordinated campaign to limit people’s access to the ballot box. The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law published a study outlining the attacks on voting rights and how they could impact 2012. I think the Executive Summary does a great job in outlining voter suppression efforts. The full document is an excellent resource to see what is going on in your state and to have a deeper understanding of the national picture.

There are five tactics being used to suppress votes. They are requiring ID, requiring proof of citizenship, making voter registration harder, reducing early and absentee days and making it harder to restore voting rights.

To many some if not all of these measures may sound reasonable, but first read this excerpt from the summary:

• These new laws could make it significantly harder for more than five million eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012.
• The states that have already cut back on voting rights will provide 171 electoral votes in 2012 – 63 percent of the 270 needed to win the presidency.
• Of the 12 likely battleground states, as assessed by an August Los Angeles Times analysis of Gallup polling, five have already cut back on voting rights (and may pass additional restrictive legislation), and two more are currently considering new restrictions.

Five million people are a lot of citizens to disenfranchise for possible voter fraud. I say possible because I cannot find evidence of national voter fraud incidents or a rash of local voter fraud cases. When is the last time you heard about large or small numbers of ineligible voters showing up at polls? The lesson we learned from the Gore/Bush election nightmare is that counting votes is the biggest problem, not illegal votes.

I’m not going to cover all five of the tactics, but I do want to comment on voter ID and registration initiatives.

Voter ID proposals are not new. There is a federal requirement for new voters who register by mail to show ID before voting and many states have additional ID requirements. But the level of restriction and specificity of IDs recently proposed and in some cases passed is new. The measures call for exclusion of many commonly used forms of ID like student IDs and social security cards. They also neglect to outline a process for eligible voters without the specific IDs to cast a ballot that would be counted. How many people does this tactic affect? An estimated 11% of citizens and a larger percentage of low income, young, minority and older citizens do not have state issued IDs.

An example of what making voter registration harder can do is found in Florida. The new law passed in May requires groups who want to conduct registration drives to preregister with the state. Every volunteer or employee participating in the drive must sign an affidavit under penalty of perjury. The law also requires any registration collected must be physically received by election officials within 48 hours of signature or the organization faces penalties and fines. To track the turnaround time the law mandates each registration must have the time and date of completion. Groups must also place their government issued organizational code on each form they receive from election officials and submit a monthly report to the state. These requirements are so burdensome that the League of Women Voters placed a moratorium on voter registration. Yes, the League of Women Voters.

These are but two examples of how the five tactics are being used to shape the electorate and ensure specific interest expand influence and power within the government with the intention of ensuring laws are passed that benefit them.

During a meeting to kick-off organizing for Stand For Freedom, a march and rally in New York city to defend voting rights, NAACP President Benjamin Jealous put into perspective the significance of these attacks. He pointed out that the laws put in place in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s laid the foundation for Jim Crow. The current round of voting laws is another facet of the wide ranging attacks on the poor and working class. These voter suppression efforts support attacks on all our rights to organize and participate in self-government. They lay the ground work to legislate permanent suppression of a myriad of rights. These anti-voting initiatives are a strategy to demoralize our resistance to inequity and our insistence on a fair and real democracy.

Jealous put it best, “They are coming after our right to vote because they are coming after everything else.”

On December 10, 2011 tens of thousands will turnout for Stand For Freedom, a NAACP and SEIU 1199 initiated march and rally in New York city to push back on these attacks and to support the right to vote. We will gather at the NYC headquarters of the Koch brothers, leading funders of the state by state offensive. We will march to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza near the United Nations at East 47th Street & 2nd Avenue for a 12 pm rally.

If you choose to vote or not you should defend your right and others to decide. If you believe in democracy the right to vote is fundamental. Don’t let this attack on our rights go unchallenged. Don’t wake up one day and find out that your intention to vote for a Dem, Rup, Green or your own new party won’t matter because you can’t vote. Help defend our right to vote.

Check us out at www.stand4freedom.org or at www.facebook.com/Stand4Freedom.

Erica Smiley, new contributing editor wth Organizing Upgrade, interviewed Judith LeBlanc, Peace Action Field Director, to get her opinion on how labor and other mass organizations should strategically relate to Occupy Wall Street. Peace Action is the largest grassroots peace organization in the US. Judith is currently helping to coordinate the activities of the New Priorities Network, a newly organized national network of community, labor, faith and peace groups who are working to reduce military spending to fund human needs programs. She is a member of the Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma.

Given your existing efforts to make Wall Street pay, how do you think the Occupy Wall Street developments open the door on sharper demands or more focused strategy, if it does at all?

At the October 5 labor demonstration on Wall Street, a labor leader said , “We have found each other.” A new kind of 21^st century solidarity is being born. It began in Tahrir Square, spread to WI and Ohio and continues now on Wall Street and in over 900 cities and towns. The era of single issue organizing is beginning to end. The occupations are drawing movements together in solidarity that are not always willing to stand together without a lot of negotiations and pre-planning.

Although the search for strategic allies has always been a part of an effective organizing strategy, what is new is that we must connect with spontaneous actions. We have to be able to meld what we have been organizing to the spontaneous rejection of the status quo and strengthen our organizing with solidarity. Solidarity is as old as dirt. But lifting up and supporting the spontaneous actions by others not a part of the movement we, as organizers have been building, is not.

It is a recognition that we cannot win without responding to new movements, especially when those actions are pointing to the systemic nature of the crisis problems we face.

As I see it, standing against hate is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Hate feeds racism and war. To work for peace and justice hate must be confronted in all its forms and at all times. We must confront hate by the hate mongers and in our just rage against war and oppression; we must confront the hate that struggles to rise within us. We must not let our anger turn to hate and consume our spirits.

Hate is blinding and it leads good people into darkness. We must remember as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught us, that darkness cannot drive out darkness only light can do that and hate cannot drive out hate only love can do that.  We as peacemakers and justice seekers must be the light that illuminates the path to envision and build the future.

This is extremely hard. I struggle everyday with my feeling towards the hate mongers, the greedy and those who lead us to war and celebrate death. I am not asking you to love them and you definitely don’t need to like them. But we all must remember as we confront them and speak truth to power that our strength is in our solidarity and our vision of a new way. Each one of us must find our personal path to take our anger and channel it not only into confrontation but most of it must go into peacemaking innovation and positive construction of a new world.  We must build what we want to see. We must remember that we are all humans, yes even the haters and in need of understanding and forgiveness.

In closing, do not take my words as a call for passive resistance. That is not how my ancestors made it through slavery to my standing here today. We like them, must be clear and strong in our confronting these injustices and demanding change. But we must remember that while we gain some energy from it, our power is not in our anger. Our power is in our solidarity, our vision and our message of a different world. Our greatest strength is in our dedication and action to build this new world. If we do not build it will not happen.

Power to the people

I talked  to Larry Hamm about POP’s street actions. On June 27, 2010, POP launched daily street protests to energize and empower the average person to demand change and take action. This is an interview on Aug 15, after day 50 of the protest.

POP is demanding a national jobs program, an end to the current wars and the money wasted to wage them be spent to meet human needs and rebuild the U.S. economy and for the government to support workers’ collective bargaining rights.

Part 1: Day 50 of POP Daily Action

Part 2: Greenspan and surplus assets sitting

Part 3: Surplus assets and my rant about patriotism