Adam Kokesh - Revolutionary Patriot

New show!

2011-10-10T15:14:00.002-05:00

So I haven't updated this blog in ages, but now that it's public again, I'll use it to promote the new show on the new website! Check it out!

2009-06-01T14:04:00.002-05:00

This blog is no longer active! From now on, I will be blogging at the site for my Congressional Exploratory Committee at kokeshforcongress.com. Please check it out, sign up to receive our weekly newsletters, and if you really want to get involved, check out the FTW-112 Communicator.

Love, faith, respect,

Adam Kokesh

Letter From Kevin Benderman

2009-05-29T21:43:00.002-05:00

Subject: Adam Kokesh

To: whom it may concern
RE: Adam Kokesh

I am writing this to give my endorsement to Adam Kokesh as he attempts to gather enough support in an attempt to run for a congressional representative in the state of New Mexico.

It is past time that WE THE PEOPLE had someone in congress who is as concerned with doing the work of the American people as those currently “serving the people” are in accepting kickbacks and taking bribes from large corporations. It is time that WE THE PEOPLE started looking at the people who want to serve in government with a more critical eye. It is time to start being more involved in the running of our country and I believe that by Supporting Adam Kokesh we will be supporting someone who fully believes in the true authority of the United States as not being in the hands of the few, but is in the hands of the people.

I would ask that you take a look at what Adam Kokesh has to say about constitutional authority and his approach to how government should work in our democratic republic. I have heard some of his positions on constitutional authority as belonging to the people and this is the mindset we need in Washington and throughout our state and local governments as well.

So, if you believe the current system we have is broken and needs to be fixed, get involved, get informed, and become the true solution to the problems we face.

I believe that by Supporting Adam Kokesh and others of like mind, we will be moving our country in the direction it needs to move; back to government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Support Adam as he attempts to bring the voice of the people and the laws of the land back to Washington.

Sincerely,

Kevin M Benderman
Concerned United States Citizen
Former Army Sergeant, Iraq Vet, and Conscientious Objector

IT'S HERE!!!

2009-05-29T16:31:00.002-05:00

Please share this, repost it, put it on your facebook status, etc. We're not starting the r3VOLution without you, but you don't want to get left behind! We can't do this without you . . .

More Coverage From the New Mexican . . .

2009-05-28T04:01:00.003-05:00

. . . of the Sotomayor nomination that is. But apparently, I've reached local talking head status:

Adam Kokesh, a libertarian-leaning Iraq war veteran considering a run for Congress
in New Mexico's Third District, said Tuesday: "It's just sad that we're not discussing
how capable (nominees) are to interpret the constitutionality of legislation and their
commitment to those principles. ... In terms of faithfully upholding the constitution
(Sotomayor's) record is tragically deficient in terms of her views on general government
intervention and her disregard for the Second Amendment."

I would say I was misquoted, since I'm sure what I said was far more eloquent than that, but the points conveyed were exactly what I intended, and I got the last word in the story!

More Support From Our Very Talented Movement!

2009-05-28T01:18:00.005-05:00

Someone just sent me the link to this video today and it was very exciting to see that our movement is really starting to gear up for 2010 and put its creative talents behind our viable candidates. I am honored to be counted among them.

While supporters are gearing up for a July 4th money bomb, we're gearing up for a huge Independence Day weekend here in Santa Fe. We'll have more details about that with the launch of the full site on June 1st. I also just saw the first draft of a video to promote the money bomb that should be coming out on Monday with the launch of the new site at kokeshforcongress.com from Clay Trainor. If you thought his previous videos were good, this one is going to knock your socks all the way to next November.

***EDIT: The crew from REP Freedom Force is also working on a video that will have significant footwear removing capabilities. Standby to be fully blown away as soon as tomorrow evening!***

Rand Paul's supporters are also gearing up for a "mini money bomb" for June 1st. I just donated and you should too! While having folks like myself, RJ Harris, or BJ Lawson standing behind Ron Paul in the House would be a giant leap forward for liberty, imagine our movement occupying a Senat seat! It's also looking more likely that Schiff will be entering the race to take Dodd's Senate seat in Connecticut. With Ron Paul considering backing a "10 in 2010" slate, this is looking to be a good time to be fighting for freedom!

Adam Kokesh at the Jekyll Island Project

2009-05-23T09:19:00.001-05:00

Ron Paul Weighs In

2009-05-18T22:05:00.002-05:00

Dear Friends,

Adam Kokesh has been a tremendous supporter - of both me AND you! As a leader of Iraq Veterans Against the War, Adam has spent years traveling the country to spread our message of peace, a strong national defense and limited government. Adam has tremendous credibility because of his service in the United States Marine Corps and I have deep respect for his commitment to principle.

And now, Adam Kokesh needs our support.

Adam has formed an exploratory committee to run for Congress in his home state of New Mexico. Sending Adam Kokesh to Congress would be a tremendous victory for the Freedom Movement, and if we come together and stand behind him, he has a real chance to win.

This race will be difficult, but I know Adam has the energy and drive to be successful and pour every ounce of himself into this effort. I urge you to go to www.KokeshforCongress.com and support him in anyway you feel comfortable. Whether it is making a financial contribution, volunteering or getting more information share with your friends and family, Adam needs your support now so he can start down this long journey with momentum and a strong wind at his back.

We have a chance to help a real patriot and lover of liberty join me in Washington. Again, I hope you will help me support Adam Kokesh for Congress.

In Liberty,

Ron Paul

Matthew Dobbs, Human Being

2009-05-17T20:05:00.001-05:00

My name is Matthew Dobbs; I am not a Constitutionalist yet an advocate of the Constitution. I have the rank human being, I carry military rank no longer for I am no longer shackled to a system that no longer represents me, that to be a part of this species is honor enough. I am a veteran of the Afghanistan campaign, and also a concerned citizen of the United States. I believe America is at a cross roads, we are at one of those moments in history that define a people. We have immoral wars and corrupt leaders, we have corporations as war profiteers and bankers as policy makers, and we have a seemingly confused and therefore apathetic people. We also have strength and courage to oppose those who would tell us that we need to be silent and silenced, we have a determination to say no, not me, I have been used for too long, I will not be the excuse of why our republic was destroyed by Imperialism and propaganda spewed at us and told it is for our own good. So what is to be done? There is a stranglehold on our economy and veterans who speak out of line and patriotic peace loving people are becoming marked targets. We have a system where all you need is the backing of corrupt individuals and corporations, and a willingness to sell your own peoples souls to become president. We have to stop waiting for the power elite to present us with leaders that we can not only we can live with but guide us toward a greater destiny. America has sat on its hands for nearly 60 years before ever realizing we have been lied to. I can’t think of a president besides Eisenhower or Kennedy that has even believed in the concept of Republic. These corporations and banks have no bid contracts not just in Iraq and Afghanistan but on Capitol Hill and right down the street in Austin. We look to the few Politician’s who still do right by their constituents, they are few and far between, but there are still some who have the intestinal fortitude to stand up and expose the lies of our blackened kleptocracy that was once a proud Republic. So I ask again what is to be done. Do we toe the line with the people and systems that we know are hanging us out to dry? I would like to think not. Nor should we stand to the side and point fingers at the people at the top or whisper to our friends the responsibilities of the Government, one which is no longer ours. I present another question. What is the Patriots’ responsibility? In my humble opinion it is to spread the seeds of a Revolution of thought and the creation of a spirit of individual responsibility. Education for the people who no not of the destruction that Empire brings and the trust and compassion of a true Democracy. We need to throw to the curb the truths of yesterday where we defined our allies and enemies in broad strokes to fool ourselves and the masses into tight boxes of black and white. The inspired message of unfettered diplomacy amongst us all. Too long have we distrusted our neighbors even here in the heart of Texas, we need to conquer our fear and stop deceiving ourselves into thinking peace is too hard or a flight of fancy of fools. Conquer your fears and then we can march toward victory together. Someone once told me the least effective way to Influence an organization is to leave it, the most effective way to change one is from the inside. We need to support and vote for the ones who believe in peace and responsibility. The Revolution is here we now need to back and support those who are willing to do battle. We need not to just get involved with the political process but take it and make it ours once again. This is an ambitious and harrowing undertaking for those who are willing, but this course is better than fighting in the streets or capitulation to a monster we have let roam our country side and cities for far too long. John F Kennedy once said

"A revolution is coming - a revolution which will be peaceful if we are wise enough; compassionate if we care enough; successful if we are fortunate enough - but a revolution which is coming whether we will it or not. We can affect its character; we cannot alter its inevitability."

ATTN: AMERICA

2009-05-15T13:49:00.002-05:00

Submitted by Jordan Page

“If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.”
- Samuel Adams, 1780

My fellow Americans, the time has come. Undoubtedly we stand at the edge of a great abyss, with our most cherished liberties in jeopardy. We live in a time when the people of once free nations have no voice, and live in fear of repression by dark forces aligning against them. We live in a time when laws that dissolve the security and sovereignty of our country are passed without public debate and those who swear public oaths to defend it blatantly attack our Constitution. We live in an era when ruthless men atop mountains of wealth control all mainstream information outlets, thus creating false reality and proving that money is stronger than truth.

Our unaccountable elected and selected officials in Washington DC have squandered our inheritance, and given themselves immunity. They have allowed and perpetuated unsound monetary, legislative, and foreign military policies, which have led us down the path to untold human suffering. We have survived the eight long years of smug arrogance and hypocrisy that defined the Bush presidency and changed the face of the world forever, only to be swept up by the fervor of the idea of change personified by one man, whom I believe to be under the thumb and shield of the upper echelons of high finance. I remain, thoroughly unimpressed. I anxiously wait for a true voice of the people to emerge from out of the mire that is our Congress and bring sanity and humanity to our nation’s capital.

Please join me in your support for my friend, Adam Kokesh, a true American Patriot, in his quest for a seat in the United States Congress. The issues that we as a nation face have evolved beyond party affiliation, and political terminologies. We are no longer red and blue states. We are all Americans who believe in the idea of freedom and we must put forth our best efforts to protect it. Please visit www.kokeshforcongress.com, sign up and donate to Adam’s campaign. There will be a money bomb event on Independence Day, July 4th 2009, so please show your support, pledge $10 at thisjuly4th.com and help spread the message. I know Adam personally and am thrilled that someone is running for public office who genuinely believes in and fights for the ideals upon which this country was founded.

Adam Kokesh is a former Marine and outspoken voice for Iraq Veterans Against the War. I support his mission to bring passion and dedication to the table. We must have people of this caliber battling our domestic enemies in government and finance on the battlefield of the high political arena. This is a most desperate hour, and we are in need of experienced patriots to prevent our ruin.

Jordan Page, musician/activist
www.myspace.com/jordanpagemusic

Motorhome Diaries in Santa Fe!

2009-05-06T00:41:00.002-05:00

The Motorhome Diaries crew stopped by my place in Santa Fe Sunday for a brief stay that included a meetup, an interview, and a showdown in the high desert. The videos are below. Check out what these guys are up to and how you can support them to spread the message of liberty throughout America.

Once A Marine, Always a Marine

2009-05-04T15:34:00.002-05:00

Contributed by Tina Richards

I was so excited on Saturday when I opened up my email and found a link to the New Mexican's article about Adam's possible Congressional run. I expect there will be many more articles if he jumps in the race. While I thought the piece was fair on balance, their were a couple of items that I felt should be addressed.

First, I was caught off guard by the title of the article calling him an "Ex-Marine." As the mother of a Marine, I know that there is no such thing as an "EX"-Marine. A Marine who has left the Corps still holds the title, and if you have to, you can call Adam a "former Marine." Especially for a Marine who has served in combat in one of Iraq's toughest battles. My son was there too, Fallujah, April, 2004 in what has become known as the "Siege of Fallujah". A mother's worse nightmare and one of the defining moments of Adam's life. Once a Marine, always a Marine. Semper Fi!

In addition, I would like to set the record straight as to the results of the last election. The article reported that Lujan received 65% of the vote. As that would be almost 2/3's of the votes cast, that would truly be an uphill climb for any Marine. However, I found that the New Mexican just got the facts wrong. Lujan received 56% of the vote, although a strong showing, this is hardly the deep blue that the article described.

Adam Kokesh, regardless of what party banner he may run under, represents a powerful new political ideology that serves the people, not the political structure. Within hours of his announcement, he received endorsements from Democrats, Republicans and Independents. The wide appeal from across the political spectrum, truly shows that with Adam, labels do not apply.

Apparently, Congressman Lujan recognizes how formidable Adam will be. I've never heard of a sitting congressman responding to a potential adversary 18 months before the election, especially since we don't even know what party Adam will run with yet. Lujan sees the threat. On that point, I completely concur.

Tina Richards
Media Relations
Kokesh Exploratory Committee

It's Here!

2009-05-04T03:11:00.001-05:00

The first grassroots-generated video in support of the exploratory committee:

A Touching Response to My Last Post

2009-05-03T01:12:00.001-05:00

Nicely written and inspiring Adam,

As the power elite and their lackeys push us toward and ever increasing
state of oppression under the "police state" and suffocate us with
un-Constitutional laws and morph the occupations while spending our money at
an unprecedented rate, I have become increasingly more disaffected as a
federal employee. I fear that sticking it out to retirement may be for
naught for the possibility that my retirement benefits may be held ransom in
exchange for my loyalty to the system or, that once we've reached a breaking
point, I may be unable to claim and enjoy those benefits for risk of
exposing myself to confinement as an "Enemy of the state".

In recent days I have done a serious soul searching and find that the time
may be close that I should leave the safety of the federal nest. This is not
an easy pill to swallow as I have grown accustom to the security and
standard of living which my employment provides. I have grown fat and lazy
while living off the public dole, wasted the talents and ability that
Providence has provided while selling out the Birth Right bequeathed me by
our Forefathers. At the same time I have grown weary of the low
energy-sleepy pace of this pitiful existence.

While you announce an Exploratory Committee for public office, I announce an
exploration of my own and myself in search of a mission loyal to the cause
of Liberty, worthy of my existence, and the trials endured and sacrifices
made by those who left us so much.

I care not what the call may be; whether as a cog in the political machine
to grind away at our fiat government and it's hidden masters, a voice in the
wilderness of sheep in denial or, as a last resort, a soldier risking life
and limb in defense of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. I stand
committed and willing to defend, at all costs, those ideals which made our
Federation of States what it once was and can be again. Long live Liberty!

In Liberty,

Bill *****

Kokesh for Congress Exploratory Committee

2009-05-01T06:00:00.002-05:00

My fellow patriots,

Thank you for all you have done to help me in my journey over the past years. It has been an honor to stand shoulder to shoulder with you. Slowly but surely, in our struggle for freedom from authoritarianism, we are making progress. As long as we continue to hang together, we will not hang separately!

After leaving the Marine Corps, I joined the monumental fight to end the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, bring our troops home to defend America, and restore a Constitutional foreign policy. Having won the public to our side, it is time we take the fight to the capitol, to the real enemies of the Constitution. Posturing against war while voting to fund it is unacceptable! Tragically, we still have a government that behaves like it owns us, rather than serves us.

Since I was first politically active, people have been encouraging me to run for Congress, including a recent effort to “draft” me to run (draftkokesh.com). We need rallying points to keep our movement invigorated and growing, and if a run for Congress from my home town of Santa Fe can serve as one, I will gladly step up. In that spirit, I am excited to announce the formation of the Kokesh for Congress Exploratory Committee.

While I am asking for your financial support in this effort, I want to make it clear that I am willing to make the personal sacrifices necessary to raise the standard of our national leadership. If elected, I will not accept the Congressional salary of approximately $170,000, but only the national average income. It is unbearable in these difficult times, for Congress to tell the American people what is best for us economically while they vote themselves another pay raise and burden our children with impossible debt. Enough is enough!

There is a temporary website up now at kokeshforcongress.com. Please sign up and donate there as we prepare for the launch of a complete site on June 1st.

It is time once again to draw the line between patriots and loyalists. I am a patriot because I am committed to the ideals of liberty and equality this country is destined to achieve, loyal to no false authority. I know that much more than political resistance is required to achieve a paradigm shift, but we can do no wrong standing up for what we know to be morally right. Regardless of my decision, I remain eternally committed to the cause of liberty.

Love, faith, respect,

Adam Kokesh

Flag Draped Coffins

2009-04-30T01:25:00.002-05:00

by Tina Richards

US flagged draped coffins
our children inside,
Iraqi flagged draped coffins
their children inside,
Afghani flagged draped coffins
their children inside

As I hold a lily to place on our children’s coffin,
my heart is torn.
So many Marines I have broken bread with,
Thanksgiving dinner,
Christmas dinner
I remember their eyes with so much innocence
Their families spread far and wide
For that day,
we became their family
I became their mom

These children who returned home in flagged draped coffins.
Not knowing what war and occupation would bring them
Conflicted
I mourn for what should not have been,
what should not be

Trusting their government not to lie
Not to send them into harm’s way,
unless it was absolutely necessary
I see their innocent faces each time I see a flagged draped coffin,
I go to lay a lily upon them

But then I hesitate

I hear my son’s words

“Mother,” he told me with a tear stained face,
Innocence no longer there
“I thought what we were doing was right,“
“I was told we were going to liberate the Iraqi people.”
“I trusted our leaders.”

“Baghdad,”
“We set it free,”
“We set it free by shelling them with our artillery.”
“As we began to secure the city,
to safeguard the innocent civilians,”
“I saw three children playing,”
“I thought, ‘Yes that is why we are here.’”
“I saw a girl, maybe ten or eleven,
just the age of my sister,
playing with her younger brother and sister”
“Twirling something in the air.”
“Pink and Purple streamers she twirled it by.”
“Her brother and sister laughing.”
“Laughing at the pretty toy,”
“Delivered by the US military. “
“I realized at that moment,
it was a bomblet from our artillery.”
“Unexploded ordinances.”
“Cluster bombs.”
“In the moment I went to run,”
“to scream,”
“to shout, “No, No’”
……it detonated.
“In an instant,
half her face and arm gone.”
“Her brother and sister lay dead before her”
He said, “At that moment, I knew all I had been told was a lie”
“You cannot liberate or bring democracy with a howitzer,” he cried.
That thought would haunt him for years,
as he would bring a gun to his mouth
and call me to say he didn’t deserve to live.
Not live with the guilt of all the children killed

I think of that little girl,
Her brother
Her sister
I am so overwhelmed with sorrow and shame.
That our soldiers and Marines so trusting,
so patriotic,
have been so mislead
I brought my sons up to be Patriots
The occupations are not patriotic,
There is no honor
It is genocide.

As I lay the lily on the Iraqi coffin,
I make a vow
We must stop the killing of all these innocents,
perpetuated by the war profiteers,
military industrial complex,
our government
No more “patriots” will I raise

Rick Reyes Calls Out John Kerry

2009-04-27T19:54:00.002-05:00

Former Marine Corporal Rick Reyes testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chaired by Senator John Kerry. Of course, Kerry has come a long way since he was in Rick's position, testifying himself about the war crimes of Vietnam. He has sold out. Kerry composed a panel of four veterans expecting them all to support Obama's criminal escalation in Afghanistan as he has. Fortunately, Rick was there to point out his great failure. John Kerry went from being a principled anti-war activist, to being a presidential candidate who, regarding the Iraq war, "voted for it before voting against it," and now is supporting Obama's interventionism. Thank you Rick Reyes!

The video here from Brave New Films doesn't go quite as far as I have in pointing out the great hypocrisy of Kerry, but is still quite informative, and a nice juxtaposition of the two veterans.

Here is Rick's full testimony. You can see Kerry looking extremely bored around 2:00.

I think Reye's predictions about Afghanistan are right on, and simple observations of history (recent and not so recent) back them up. But let me go one step further, because Reye's predictions about Afghanistan are "if" predictions. I predict the Democrats will continue to posture against war while voting to fund it. The precedent of the last two years of the Bush Administration highly support this prediction. Obama will keep his campaign promises (especially those to Wall Street and the Military-Industrial Complex) and maintain the American empire of exploitation. I hope I'm wrong!

Matthis Vindicated!

2009-04-22T00:45:00.003-05:00

A letter from Matthis today about his hearing. Be sure to watch the video, he's brilliant in it!

Good Things Come to Those Who Struggle

Today, I stood before the Army. I looked a board of officers in the eyes, and I told them I thought they were sending people off to participate in war crimes. And what did they say? Get out of here, Sergeant, and keep your damn G.I. Bill!!!

Indeed, folks! The Army awarded me a recommendation for a general discharge under honorable conditions from the Individual Ready Reserve for my refusal to deploy to Iraq last summer. This landmark decision means not only am I a free man, I’m free to continue school this fall with the “new” G.I. Bill that I earned while on active duty.

Though this discharge is identical to the one I refused in exchange for having this hearing, I can now rest easy knowing I never submitted, I never backed down and the Army has heard my story.

And not just my story, but the stories of those brave veterans at Winter Soldier and those who’ve participated in IVAW’s Warrior Writers’ program. Full texts of both books were submitted to the Army this morning, and I can only imagine the fun they’re having transcribing them into the record.

I testified, Marjorie Conn, the president of the National Lawyers’ Guild, testified, and my mother Patricia testified as to why my refusal to deploy was quite legitimate and not deserving of attack by the military.

Though Maj. Laws, the prosecution, did everything he could to keep my legal arguments from the ears of the board (he even prevented me from reading to them from my Constitution calling the document irrelevant), our voices were heard loud and clear by a board of gentlemen who’ve given me a new respect and hope for our nation and servicemembers world-wide.

The hearing, which lasted around four-and-a-half hours, cemented in my mind that not only is military resistance to our illegal occupations righteous, it is finding new breath amongst troops who are fed up with the status quo.

This all came after a provocative appearance this morning on the local Fox News Channel (http://www.fox2now.com/ktvi-ap-soldier-on-trial-042109,0,1094348.story) in which I wore a patriotic symbol of distress (an upside-down flag) on my uniform.

During the hearing, my girlfriend Alexandra among others were present in the board room to offer moral support. Having them there made all the difference as I squared off with the military over human slaughter that we’ve all been forced to bow down to.

So what does this mean for the military? RESIST!!!! Now’s the time, ladies and gentleman. The flood-gates are open. Your leaders are listening, and more and more, they are agreeing. Resisters are moving away from being the exception, and slowly becoming the norm.

If I can refuse to go to Iraq, climb monuments, march into presidential debates, lobby congress, face the military, not go to jail and not even loose my G.I. Bill, we just don’t have any excuses anymore! Resistance is rising, and IVAW will stand firm underneath it. My story is now history, and I humbly pass the torch.

More to follow soon on my testimony at Winter Soldier and the juicy details of my hearing. Now, I’m going to sleep like I haven’t in a year!

Peace and Solidarity,

Matthis Chiroux

Matthisresists.us

Obama Looks Forward, Sees More Torture

2009-04-18T02:39:00.003-05:00

The Obama mantra on crimes of the Bush administration since before he was elected has always been, “We're looking forwards, not backwards.” This is why people think Obama is arrogant, because he must think we are all idiots. Pointing out the logical absurdity of this statement is not enough when the intent is clear: Obama is arguing for immunity for his own continuation of the crimes he is trying to cover up.

In Obama's recent statement regarding Bush Administration torture memos, he said, “In one of my very first acts as President, I prohibited the use of these interrogation techniques by the United States because they undermine our moral authority and do not make us safer.” After a few paragraphs waxing about how none of this matters anymore, as in, “I fixed it, you can all feel better and go back to sleep now,” he concludes by saying that, “The United States is a nation of laws. My Administration will always act in accordance with those laws, and with an unshakeable commitment to our ideals. ... That is why we have taken steps to ensure that the actions described within them never take place again.” So the Bush Administration does something that is not moral and makes us less safe, and we're supposed to believe that by releasing a few memos and waving the magic Obama wand, everything is just going to be ok? Not only is Obama derelict in his duties to support and defend the Constitution, he is criminally obstructing justice.

Of course there is something much more insidious here. Yes, we should be outraged that Obama is letting Bush and his cronies off. We should be outraged that there will be no justice for the innocent detainees at Guantanamo. We should be outraged, that on behalf of those doing the torturing, Obama has intervened with the defense that was rejected at Nuremberg so long ago, “We were just following orders.” But there is something far worse to be outraged about.

Please consider for just one second why Obama would not seek accountability and establish precedent that torture will not be tolerated. It is because he plans to continue the same basic policies! Obama is working to deny detainees at Bagram their right to habeas corpus. Obama is keeping open secretive prisons within the US called Communcation Management Units in Indiana and Illinois which inmates refer to as “little Guantanamos.” Obama has declared his intent to continue the practice of rendition of victims to other countries to be tortured. His largely symbolic closing of the facility at Guantanamo will do nothing to change our image around the world when our travesty of a justice system continues to produce torture victims. Perhaps Bush did not know better, but as a scholar of Constitutional Law, Obama must know that he is crossing numerous lines. Even the most deeply “immoral” and “dangerous” policies created by the Bush Administration have not changed with the election of a President at least as immoral and dangerous.

Tea Party posters, poseurs, lions, tigers, and infiltrators, oh my!

2009-04-14T18:26:00.005-05:00

Trouble is brewing, and the movement of patriots demanding individual economic freedom is being infiltrated, co-opted, and derided. But fear not. Restore the Republic, a truly grassroots, unregistered organization of freedom fighters is going to be there to ensure that the true message of liberty will be heard. For my contribution to the effort, I designed a series of posters for them that you can download here.

The Tax Day Tea Parties that began as a grassroots effort have been somewhat co-opted by big money sponsors and "neocon types." If they want to invest in a message that is important to us, I say let them. This may not be a day for our movement, but it could be a day for a much broader coalition to form. In Santa Fe, we even have a former Democrat State Senator speaking.

It is for this co-option (and her obsession with our tongue-in-cheek use of the verb "to teabag") that they have been derided by Rachel Maddow. She claims Obama is going to be cutting taxes for most people present, and only raising them for the rich sponsors of some of these events. Oh Rachel. If only you were paying attention when Bernanke himself admitted to Ron Paul in a Congressional hearing that inflation constituted a tax. In fact, it is the most insidious and regressive tax there is.

There have been reports that ACORN reps plan to infiltrate these events and gather signatures of people who like to sign things without reading them, only to tell Obama they were collected from people who support his economic policies.

And on top of all that, a number of movement insiders are calling the whole thing an exercise in controlled opposition. I suppose if they have us building coalitions at rally after rally (the 25th End The Fed followed by 4th of July Tea Parties) we won't have time to build a real resistance. I don't think so. Rallies will always have their place in any movement, even if they only become really effective in places like France and Thailand. Those guys know how to shut a country down! Maybe the rallies are helping our movement build towards 2010 and 2012. Believe me, the opposition our movement puts forth in 2010 and 2012 will be nowhere near controllable!

SANTA FE TEA PARTY!

2009-04-07T14:30:00.004-05:00

The taxman is coming: 090415. RESIST TODAY!

santafeteaparty.blogspot.com

reteaparty.com

What Caused Me To Become "Anti-War"

2009-03-31T03:37:00.006-05:00

A message I received via YouTube:

Hello, I am not for nor against your beliefs..I respect everyone's, and every Marine's opinion. I was just curious, and if you don't want to answer I understand, but what event and such caused you to become "anti-war" (please don't take that the wrong way)? I'm not saying that I necessarily agree or disagree with the conflict in Iraq, but I volunteered to serve in the USMC and understood that it meant I could go to war and fight and possibly die, I never questioned it...But I don't know, I guess what I'm looking for is another prospective from someone who did. Again, I understand if you don't want to discuss it. Thank you for at least taking the time to read this and for volunteering for my beloved Corps. Semper Fidelis.

In response:

There was no one particular event and there was no regret for me in facing the hardships of war. I never questioned my duty, but I have since questioned the morality and Constitutionality of the war in Iraq. Remember, we swore an oath to the Constitution first, and obeying unconstitutional orders is contrary to that oath. Then there was Ronald Reagan, who said that resorting to war was essentially a sign of weakness. "Peace is not the absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means."

My disillusionment about Iraq in particular began as a slow process with the "handover of power" on June 28th, 2004, when I was in Fallujah. There was no such handover, and there was no expected draw-down when I left. When the reality failed to meet the rhetoric, I started questioning.

Then there was the sinking feeling in my stomach when I realized (and was emotionally ready to accept) that we had been lied to. It didn't help when Allen Greenspan finally admitted, "the war was largely about oil," but it did help me to stop doubting myself.

We should all, as human beings, be "anti-war." What is war but the widespread, systematic destruction of human bodies by machinery? Who could be for that? Only those who are missing a part of their humanity. Sometimes the experience of war or the bloodlust of the military can take that away, but it is always ours to reclaim.

I am against this war because it is bad for America. It is bad for our security, it is bad for our military, it is bad for our economy, it is bad for our reputation abroad, and it is bad for our brothers and sisters who continue to loose their lives for lies. I am against war because I am a human being. I believe in the right to self-defense, and even collective self defense, but we should never take joy in even the most righteous acts of causing pain and suffering for fellow human beings.

Semper fidelis,

Adam

I Am a Domestic Terrorist

2009-03-28T11:30:00.005-05:00

Right now, I am listening to Tom Woods at the first Campaign for Liberty regional conference in St Louis. They think we're terrorists here. A report recently released by the Missouri Information Analysis Center equates Ron Paul supporters, tax resistors, militia members, and flyers of the Gadsden flag as “terrorists.”

According to Merriam-Webster, terrorism is “ the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.” It also defines terror as “a state of intense fear.” The definition that I learned in school is even more specific: the threat or use of violence to incite fear by non-state actors to influence the actions or policies of governments.”

So terrorism can go two ways in directing its threat or use of violence, by either terrorizing a population or terrorizing the government directly. The moral choice is to attack the transgressors of individual rights, the violators of the peace, and the organized criminals that are always to be found within the government, and not in the general population. What more righteous cause could there be than to strike fear into the hearts of those who think and act like they can control by force the lives of others?

As a political movement, we are calling out the abusers of power, the tramplers of the Constitution, the servants and lackeys of the truly powerful, and we want them to be afraid! We want them to be afraid first because we are a political force. We are young, we are strong, we are calling for no less than a revolution, and we are not going anywhere until we get it!

The revolution that we speak of is a revolution of values, a paradigm shift, and a renewed commitment among the American people to patriotism, not loyalism. Our patriotism is resisting state power and being ever-ready to defend this country . . . from the government. This is in direct opposition to the current propaganda driven definition that has perverted patriotism into loyalism, the worship of power and authority and willingness to cede the rights of self-ownership to an external power that is the source of all unjust powers in the world. As a political force, they should fear us.

The core of our philosophy is non-aggression, but we do not cede the right to self-defense and collective self-defense. As Judge Napolitano said here just last night, “The dirty little secret about the second amendment, is that it was written that way so that you could shoot at the government!” The assertion of the human right, the natural right, or God-given right, to keep and bear arms is the utmost manifestation of that old rallying cry, “POWER TO THE PEOPLE!”

Thomas Jefferson said, “The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” We live in an era of uncanny increases in tyranny in the United States and never has it been more important, despite the heightened difficulty, to assert the right to keep and bear arms. John F. Kennedy astutely observed, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”

To go back to Jefferson, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” Make no mistake, the first blood of this era's revolution has already been spilled. The victims of a violent statism are all around us. We are far from ruling out the possibility of peaceful revolution, but we bring that same commitment that our founders did to today's cause of liberty, and if you would use the force of government to trample the rights of others, you should be very, very afraid!

If you want to be respected as an individual, if you want to respect the rights of others, you have nothing to fear. If you believe that our government is no longer serving the people, join us. As a member of this movement I am fighting for no less than the highest values of humanity that this country was founded on. That makes me a patriot. Some of us found out the hard way that the greatest enemies of the Constitution that I celebrate only as a means of restraining government power, are not to be found in the sands of some far off land, but rather right here at home. We know who our common enemies really are, and I want them to be scared. So I guess that makes me a terrorist. I am a domestic terrorist for freedom!

Hey Adam!

2009-03-26T07:49:00.003-05:00

Hey Adam-

Just wanted to let you know that "Is It Time" Hit over 6000 plays this week!

Though it's been out since January - I continue to get great responses to it, and the message just becomes more powerful with each passing day.

Here it is on my Myspace:
www.myspace.com/jerm073

and here is the Free Download link:
http://www.divshare.com/download/6221713-855

I think it's a powerful message that everyone should hear - which is why I had to put it to music.
It's an easy format to burn and pass to fellow Americans. Motivational!

Hope you're well, man! Must go back to work. Thanx much again for spreading the truth & continuing to fight for freedom!

In solidarity-
Jeremy / jerm

Lots of Beautiful People Protest Occupations - Only One Obama Shirt Present

2009-03-25T17:00:00.001-05:00

This was the hard-core. The remnant of the anti-war movement. The non-Koolaid drinkers. As in the Obama Koolaid. The ten thousand or so people that joined IVAW and the ANSWER Coalition to protest the occupations last Saturday were there because they meant it. This was no Obama rally. We had a great time setting up "Operation Not Change" at the rally and became the focus of the attention of the "Pro-War Blogosphere" contingency. I even got to do an interview with Uncle Jim from Blackfive. Enjoy:

Iraq Veterans Against the War Commence "Operation Not Change" to Mark the 6th Anniversary of the Invasion

2009-03-19T20:42:00.003-05:00

Because the real reason for being in Afghanistan, to gain control of access to natural resources did
NOT CHANGE!
Because maintaining non-combat troops in harmʼs way in Iraq to continue the subjugation of the
Iraqi people under the guise of a softer, friendlier occupation after SIX YEARS is
NOT CHANGE!
Because continuing the indiscriminate bombing of Afghanistan, which has led to countless
unnecessary civilian casualties, driving the Afghan people back to the Taliban is
NOT CHANGE!
Because escalating the occupation of Afghanistan when our soldiers are tired of STOPLOSS,
IRR MOBILIZATIONS, and REPEATED DEPLOYMENTS with not enough
down time, to ﬁght the same imperialist war on a different front is
NOT CHANGE!
Iraq Veterans Against the War is committed to the immediate withdrawal of all occupying
forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, reparations for the Iraqi and Afghan people,
and full veterans benefits for all returning soldiers, and that . . .
WILL NEVER CHANGE!

I had a great time today setting up and manning the towers for "Operation Not Change." My favorite raving pro-war blogger even stopped by to interview me. He had the courtesy of posting a good part of our exchange unedited. Normally, he just tries to make me look like an idiot, (he would say he needs not try) but he was surprisingly polite this time. It's true what he says in the beginning about being right behind me everywhere I go. It feels like I have a stalker! One more reason I'm glad to have moved to New Mexico.

An Open Letter to the Peace/Anti-War Movement from Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, and Veterans For Peace

After six years of war and the historic election of a new President, we as veterans, military and Gold Star families felt an urgent need to reach out to the larger peace/anti-war movements to make our position on Iraq clear during this time of political and economic uncertainty. Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out and Veterans For Peace continue to stand together in our demand to Bring the Troops Home Now! We ask all those who have stood with us in the past to stay faithful to the cause.

President Obama has announced a plan to gradually reduce troop levels in Iraq. Many in the peace/anti-war movements are breathing a sigh of relief, and suggesting that it is time for us to scale back our efforts to bring an end to the occupation of Iraq. But for our troops on the ground, their families and the Iraqi people, the nightmare continues. They need all of us to stay in the struggle. IVAW, MFSO and VFP have been long united in our call for an immediate and complete end to the occupation of Iraq and will not shift our stance under any circumstances.

President Obama's plan will result in more casualties and suffering for U.S. troops, their families and Iraqis. To the American public facing hard times here at home, two and a half more years of occupation may not sound like that long — but for our troops and their families it means two and a half more years of fear, pain, and separation in a war and occupation based on lies. Hundreds of the troops deployed in the next two and a half years will not come home alive. Many more will return forever scarred by deep wounds to their bodies, minds, and spirits. Well over a million Iraqis have died as a result of this war — many more will be killed as the occupation continues.

We cannot afford the cost of empire. Today we are in the midst of the worst economic crisis most of us have seen in our lifetimes. Yet our government continues to allow the occupation to drain $10 billion a month from our nation's coffers. Meanwhile, veterans and military families struggle to put food on the table and get decent housing and adequate medical care. Women and men who risked their lives for this country are often forced to fight tooth and nail to get health care from an underfunded and overburdened Veterans Administration. Hundreds of thousands of veterans are homeless.

The occupation of Iraq is the source of the violence not the solution. Living under occupation the people of Iraq are held back from taking control of their own lives to determine their destiny. The continued U.S. military presence there is a cause of the violence they face, not its solution. U.S. continued interference contradicts the principles of democracy and self-determination our country was founded on.

IVAW, MFSO and VFP will continue to keep pressure on Congress and the President to bring all our troops home from Iraq NOW, ensure that veterans receive the care they need and deserve, and that the U.S. provides resources to rebuild a country we destroyed. But we cannot do that alone. We need your help to reach out to the vast majority of the American people who are completely isolated from the realities of this war. Please don't abandon this struggle or shift your position before the occupation is over and our veterans and the Iraqi people are on the path to healing.

— Signed by Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, and Veterans For Peace

Texas Straight Talk

2009-03-18T00:43:00.003-05:00

The following essay is from Ron Paul's weekly column. I think one of the primary things that keep neocon ditto-heads (as opposed to deliberate, neocon propagandists) from being libertarians is the inability to empathize with other people. This is prevalent in their worldview and is tragically relevant in most of their positions, but most offensively in their "views" (regurgitated talking points) on foreign policy. This is made possible by a distorted sense of American exceptionalism. I'm a patriot and believe that America is exceptional, but not because of our militarty, our economy, our government, our borders, or even our Constitution. America is exceptional only as it remains a symbol of the principles on which it was founded, as embodied in the Declaration, another imperfect, man-made document. That exceptionalism does not give us some biological advantage or the right to exploit the rest of the world's population by force, or even to think that we can tell other people how to run their countries. Ultimately, if a people want to tolerate a dictatorship, or an oligarchy, that is their decision. We have been doing it in this country for quite some time and the final responsibility lies always, with we the people. In this essay, Ron Paul profoundly asks his readers to think outside of their bubbles and EMPATHIZE. Enjoy.

Imagine

Imagine for a moment that somewhere in the middle of Texas there was a large foreign military base, say Chinese or Russian. Imagine that thousands of armed foreign troops were constantly patrolling American streets in military vehicles. Imagine they were here under the auspices of “keeping us safe” or “promoting democracy” or “protecting their strategic interests.”

Imagine that they operated outside of US law, and that the Constitution did not apply to them. Imagine that every now and then they made mistakes or acted on bad information and accidentally killed or terrorized innocent Americans, including women and children, most of the time with little to no repercussions or consequences. Imagine that they set up check points on our soil and routinely searched and ransacked entire neighborhoods of homes. Imagine if Americans were fearful of these foreign troops, and overwhelmingly thought America would be better off without their presence.

Imagine if some Americans were so angry about them being in Texas that they actually joined together to fight them off, in defense of our soil and sovereignty, because leadership in government refused or were unable to do so. Imagine that those Americans were labeled terrorists or insurgents for their defensive actions, and routinely killed, or captured and tortured by the foreign troops on our land. Imagine that the occupiers’ attitude was that if they just killed enough Americans, the resistance would stop, but instead, for every American killed, ten more would take up arms against them, resulting in perpetual bloodshed. Imagine if most of the citizens of the foreign land also wanted these troops to return home. Imagine if they elected a leader who promised to bring them home and put an end to this horror.

Imagine if that leader changed his mind once he took office.

The reality is that our military presence on foreign soil is as offensive to the people that live there as armed Chinese troops would be if they were stationed in Texas. We would not stand for it here, but we have had a globe straddling empire and a very intrusive foreign policy for decades that incites a lot of hatred and resentment towards us.

According to our own CIA, our meddling in the Middle East was the prime motivation for the horrific attacks on 9/11. But instead of re-evaluating our foreign policy, we have simply escalated it. We had a right to go after those responsible for 9/11, to be sure, but why do so many Americans feel as if we have a right to a military presence in some 160 countries when we wouldn’t stand for even one foreign base on our soil, for any reason? These are not embassies, mind you, these are military installations. The new administration is not materially changing anything about this. Shuffling troops around and playing with semantics does not accomplish the goals of the American people, who simply want our men and women to come home. 50,000 troops left behind in Iraq is not conducive to peace any more than 50,000 Russian soldiers would be in the United States.

Shutting down military bases and ceasing to deal with other nations with threats and violence is not isolationism. It is the opposite. Opening ourselves up to friendship, honest trade and diplomacy is the foreign policy of peace and prosperity. It is the only foreign policy that will not bankrupt us in short order, as our current actions most definitely will. I share the disappointment of the American people in the foreign policy rhetoric coming from the administration. The sad thing is, our foreign policy WILL change eventually, as Rome’s did, when all budgetary and monetary tricks to fund it are exhausted.

Posted by Ron Paul (03-09-2009, 10:29 AM) filed under Foreign Policy

Constitution r3VOLution 2012!

2009-03-15T13:51:00.003-05:00

The new video is here and the website is up! We already have over 7k views and over 1k members on the Facebook group in our first weekend! Please help out with this effort by rating and fav'ing the video, joining the group, digging it, and signing up at www.constitutionrevolution2012.com. Then do what you can to spread the word! The creator of the videos, Clay Trainor, also has a post on Ron Paul Forums that talks about other things you can do to help with spreading the message.This r3VOLution is just getting cranked up again!

From the website:
We are coming together to make it clear that as a movement, we are young, we are strong, we are calling for no less than a revolution, and we are not going anywhere until we get it. Consider this our muster. It is time to stand up and be counted. Almost six years ago, on March 19th, 2003, our government began the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, a war of aggression, the worst manifestation of state power. Six years later, we will pledge our support for Ron Paul, a principled non-interventionist, to run for President of the United States of America in 2012. If he will not run, we will support whomever he deems worthy of his endorsement. Watch the video, sign up for the email list, join the facebook group, tell your friends, and come back on March 19th, 2009 to show the world there is still hope for freedom in America. ~ Adam Kokesh, Iraq War Veteran

Obama Puts the Economic Cart Before the Horse

2009-03-11T13:40:00.002-05:00

In the following article, Peter Schiff deconstructs a lot of the myth behind Obama's economic plan in his typical, easy to understand yet revelationary style. Enjoy.

by Peter Schiff
www.europac.net

Obama Puts the Economic Cart Before the Horse

In his first televised speech before Congress, President Obama asserted that prosperity will return once the government restores the flow of credit in the economy. It may come as a surprise to him, but an economy cannot run on consumer loans. Furthermore, credit stopped flowing in the U.S. for a very good reason: there was no more savings left to loan. Government efforts to simply make credit available, without rebuilding productive capacity or increasing savings, are doomed to destroy what’s left of our economy.

The central tenets of Obamanomics appear to be that access to credit will enable people to borrow money to buy stuff, the spending will spur production and employment, and thus the economy will grow. It’s a neat and simple picture, but it has nothing whatsoever to do with how an economy works. The President does not understand that consumption is made possible by production and that credit is made possible by savings. The size and complexity of modern economies has obscured these simple concepts, but reducing the picture to a small scale can help clear away the fog.

Suppose there is a very small barter-based economy consisting of only three individuals, a butcher, a baker, and a candlestick maker. If the candlestick maker wants bread or steak, he makes candles and trades. The candlestick maker always wants food, but his demand can only be satisfied if he makes candles, without which he goes hungry. The mere fact that he desires bread and steak is meaningless.

Enter the magic wand of credit, which many now assume can take the place of production. Suppose the butcher has managed to produce an excess amount of steak and has more than he needs on a daily basis. Knowing this, the candlestick maker asks to borrow a steak from the butcher to trade to the baker for bread. For this transaction to take place the butcher must first have produced steaks which he did not consume (savings). He then loans his savings to the candlestick maker, who issues the butcher a note promising to repay his debt in candlesticks.

In this instance, it was the butcher’s production of steak that enabled the candlestick maker to buy bread, which also had to be produced. The fact that the candlestick maker had access to credit did not increase demand or bolster the economy. In fact, by using credit to buy instead of candles, the economy now has fewer candles, and the butcher now has fewer steaks with which to buy bread himself. What has happened is that through savings, the butcher has loaned his purchasing power, created by his production, to the candlestick maker, who used it to buy bread.

Similarly, the candlestick maker could have offered “IOU candlesticks” directly to the baker. Again, the transaction could only be successful if the baker actually baked bread that he did not consume himself and was therefore able to loan his savings to the candlestick maker. Since he loaned his bread to the candlestick maker, he no longer has that bread himself to trade for steak.

The existence of credit in no way increases aggregate consumption within this community, it merely temporarily alters the way consumption is distributed. The only way for aggregate consumption to increase is for the production of candlesticks, steak, and bread to increase.

One way credit could be used to grow this economy would be for the candlestick maker to borrow bread and steak for sustenance while he improves the productive capacity of his candlestick-making equipment. If successful, he could repay his loans with interest out of his increased production, and all would benefit from greater productivity. In this case the under-consumption of the butcher and baker led to the accumulation of savings, which were then loaned to the candlestick maker to finance capital investments. Had the butcher and baker consumed all their production, no savings would have been accumulated, and no credit would have been available to the candlestick maker, depriving society of the increased productivity that would have followed.

On the other hand, had the candlestick maker merely borrowed bread and steak to sustain himself while taking a vacation from candlestick making, society would gain nothing, and there would be a good chance the candlestick maker would default on the loan. In this case, the extension of consumer credit squanders savings which are now no longer available to finance other capital investments.

What would happen if a natural disaster destroyed all the equipment used to make candlesticks, bread and steak? Confronted with dangerous shortages of food and lighting, Barack Obama would offer to stimulate the economy by handing out pieces of paper called money and guaranteeing loans to whomever wants to consume. What good would the money do? Would these pieces of paper or loans make goods magically appear?

The mere introduction of paper money into this economy only increases the ability of the butcher, baker, and candlestick maker to bid up prices (measured in money, not trade goods) once goods are actually produced again. The only way to restore actual prosperity is to repair the destroyed equipment and start producing again.

The sad truth is that the productive capacity of the American economy is now largely in tatters. Our industrial economy has been replaced by a reliance on health care, financial services and government spending. Introducing freer flowing credit and more printed money into such a system will do nothing except spark inflation. We need to get back to the basics of production. It won’t be easy, but it will work.

President Obama would have us believe that we can all spend the day relaxing in a tub while his printing press does all the work for us. The problem comes when you get out of the tub to go to dinner and the only thing on your plate is an IOU for steak.

www.europac.net

Meet Obama's Residual Iraq Force

2009-03-09T17:42:00.002-05:00

It is the noble, humble attitude of the soldier training the Iraqis in this video that will embody the spirit of Obama's residual force of "non-combat troops" in Iraq.

IVAW is Armed and Dangerous in New Hampshire!

2009-03-07T00:28:00.003-05:00

Not only is there an IVAW member here (James Schmill) enjoying the lack of laws prohibiting open-carry in the state of New Hampshire at the Liberty Forum, we also scored some free press for IVAW at the Wilson Hill Pistol Club! (more photos on facebook here)
If they think all of us are pacifists, they might find out the hard way that's not the case! There's been a lot going on here in New Hampshire. Our first day here, we got up early to rally in support of HCR6 at the New Hampshire State House.

I gave my speech today as part of the forum and received a standing ovation. It blew me away. To be able to contribute something of value to such a savvy and educated crowd felt like quite an achievement. I'll post video if I see some.

There is so much going on here I'd love to post about, but it's well past my bed time and it all starts again tomorrow morning, bright and early. It's great to feel surrounded by people here that really feel like, "my people."

Speaking of which, the following article was written by a fellow member of my local Ron Paul Meetup in Santa Fe just for our listserve, but it was so well-written, I have to share it with you here. Frank Martin only insisted that I include his email address so you can send feedback to him directly: frank@fundimensions.com

The Lifeline of Capital, and Its Greatest Enemy

Capital is what makes it possible to produce, to employ labor and to extend credit. Capital consists of the accumulated surplus of production, in the form of machinery, buildings, transportation, communication, and so forth, together with factors of nature, such as land and labor. Capital is created primarily from unconsumed production, but also from homesteading natural factors of production.

Wages and materials must be paid out of capital, since it is usually impossible to sell production soon enough to meet payrolls. Capital is used in the production process, in the form of methods and equipment that amplify and extend labor. Finally, capital is converted to money which can be lent, either for purposes of consumption, or (more commonly in a free market) for the conversion to other forms of capital, to be used for expanding or creating new means of production.

Capital is the only thing between us and a life of subsistence farming, or hunting and gathering. Economically, these ways of life would mean rapid death for most of the people on this planet, and an end to civilization and all that it provides in art, literature, and thought. Ontologically, it would be a contraction of human possibility in a scale unmatched even by the Dark Ages.

Government is the enemy of capital. Government seeks to appropriate capital without a prior corresponding act of production, which free markets generally require, so the existence of government acts to decumulate capital. Even when government, ex post, produces something with the capital it has appropriated, it has produced something which the free market either would not produce at all (the production of "bads", such as war), or it has engaged in production to a degree more or less than the free market would have chosen. This is also the production of "bads", since the result is either a surplus, so that actors of production are wasted, or a deficiency is enforced by monopoly, and so demand is unmet.

The economic stimulus programs being conducted by government now are further assaults on capital. Government itself is stimulated substantially: one of the few prosperous ares of the country right is the Washington, DC area, and here in New Mexico, government wages have and are rising substantially. But to the extent that these programs stimulate spending as they are designed to do,the result is consumption (decumulation) of capital. While the consumption may be matched by new production, this production itself involves consumption- of materials, labor, of the useful life of plants and equipment. Without the prior corresponding act of production, the net result is still one act of consumption more than that of production. That act of prior production is missing when the government simply puts money in people's hands to spend.

The progressively greater regulation of free markets by government further diminishes capital, by adding to the costs of production, while contributing little or no additional value to the consumer. If the value of these things was economic, it would not be necessary to regulate them into existence.

Government deficits represent pure consumption and loss of capital. Government says "I will spend this money, claiming goods and services in return for it, without any prior act of production by myself or by the victims of my taxation." The loss of capital in the economy is exactly reduced by the amount of the deficit. The money is then used to produce "bads", which require further depletion of capital ("goods") to ameliorate.

It is this assault on capital, together with the production of bads, that make government the greatest enemy of peace, prosperity and civilization. The solution is widespread acknowledgement of the parasitic character inherent to government (even, and especially, of democracies), and the replacement of government with free markets in the production of security, justice, infrastructure and other so-called "government services." Failing this, we advance to economic collapse and the destruction of civilization.

The author acknowledges the contribution to this text of Economic Recovery Requires Capital Accumulation, Not Government 'Stimulus Packages' by George Reisman and Democracy: The God That Failed by Hans Herman Hoppe.

Regards,
Frank Martin
Author, FUNDimensions Fundraising Software
Apple Certified Help Desk Specialist

And finally, the following video was made with the audio of a speech delivered by Ron Paul on the floor of the US Congress recently. It seems the most strident non-interventionist in the Congress is a Republican!

IVAW Austin Pulls Off a Great Winter Soldier

2009-03-04T18:46:00.003-05:00

Allow me to start by saying congratulations to the Austin Chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War for pulling off an amazing local Winter Soldier event last weekend. Thanks to everyone who helped me out along the way to get there, to our Code Pink allies who helped with housing, to all of the allies who helped make this event possible, to Doug Zachary for hosting, and to the Austin Chapter for inviting me to participate. I posted some photos from the event on facebook here.

One of the highlights of the day was the much anticipated testimony from Brandon Neely about his time as a prison guard at Guantanamo. The actual testimony has not been posted yet, but after he spoke to the AP, two of MSNBC's sillier talking heads picked up on the story. The first video is of Keith Olbermann's segment which sets up the second video of his interview "twenty minutes later" with Rachel Maddow. His testimony is like pulling the sheet off of the elephant in the room that we had all been feeling around and thought was an elephant, but weren't quite sure. But as with 99% of the times that we suspect the government of wrongdoing of one kind or another, despite the denials by politicians of what is under the sheet, the elephant was right there all along. And yes, I mean that the reality of Guantanamo is as bad as we all suspected.

Although all of the testimony was well-presented and a welcome addition to the growing body of evidence condemning the Global War O(f) Terror, there was one other standout that was particularly insightful. Ronn Cantu, president of the Fort Hood Chapter until he recently got himself and his four top organizers honorably discharged early, testified about how an Iraqi becomes a detainee. His thorough explanation of the process will make it very clear how exactly we are making enemies fast than we can kill them.

Here's a video with some shots of the march and some clips of speeches at the rally, including mine.

The next day we went to the grand opening of the Under the Hood Cafe. Under the Hood is carrying on the tradition of the Oleo Strut by providing a place for vets and active duty guys to have a true free speech zone where they are welcome to question authority, hang out, shoot the shit, and get help with legal or personal issues they might be facing as a consequence of their service. I posted another album from Under the Hood on facebook here.

And one more parting shot for all you Obama voters out there . . .

I couldn't resist . . .

Get it yet?

Constitution Revolution Trailer - Calling All Remaining Patriots!

2009-02-28T03:41:00.001-05:00

Something big is coming with this . . . get ready.

We are coming together to make it clear that as a movement, we are young, we are strong, we are calling for no less than a revolution, and we are not going anywhere until we get it. Consider this our muster. It is time to stand up and be counted.

Obama Pushes Back Iraq Timeline

2009-02-25T18:16:00.004-05:00

Is anyone reading this surprised? I sure hope not, but I'll bet some of my liberal friends who endorse the concept of interventionism (and like good Democratic Party ditto-heads support a 17,000-troop surge in Afghanistan) are willing to forgive President Obama going back on his campaign promise. Even as aides say that he is trying to end the war by removing “all combat troops,” or at least reclassifying a remaining residual force of at least 30,000 troops as “non-combat,” Obama just announced that he is pushing back his promised timeline by three months.

I was in Iraq on a Civil Affairs Team. We were not “combat troops.” Too bad no one told the guys who were shooting at us. One of the most common causes of death suffered by American troops in Iraq is IEDs, which often take out the driver of a vehicle. You think it will be any comfort to the families of soldiers who die after Obama removes all the “combat troops” from Iraq (and replaces them at least in part with more mercenaries) that their perished loved ones were classified as “non-combat?”

The excuse offered is nothing new. After listening to “ground commanders,” (like Bush listened to Petraeus!) Obama has agreed to give them more time to cement security gains, strengthen political institutions, and make sure Iraq does not become more unstable again. Wasn't that what “THE SURGE” was for? Aren't we the cause of the instability? Raise your hand if you still think Obama is going to give us any kind of substantive, principled CHANGE in our foreign policy.

From the article in the New York Times, there is a direct anonymous quote that is very telling: “'The president has been struck by the fact that there has been a meeting of the minds in a lot of ways among his military advisers about what would be a safe and responsible way to redeploy our troops while protecting our interests in Iraq,' said a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because no decision had been announced.” This means that the Obama administration accepts the premise that it is appropriate to use force in Iraq to protect “our interests.” This is the fundamental immorality of our foreign policy.

All of this amidst a backdrop blowback denial. According to another recent New York Times article, after four years at Guantanamo, Abdallah Al-Ajmi was released into Kuwaiti custody, as there was no evidence to convict him on. The Kuwaitis tried him but also released him after a full acquittal. American officials were disappointed, but expected him to, “move on, to put his Guantanamo experience behind him, to get a job and settle down after his time in one of the toughest prisons on the planet.” Yeah, right. Last March he killed 13 Iraqi soldiers near Mosul with a suicide car-bomb.

I learned from my time in Iraq, that by the very nature of the occupation, we are making enemies faster than we can kill them. The dynamics in Afghanistan are the same. We must get over the idea that people in the middle east are going to be any more grateful for our government's intervention abroad than we are of it at home. Through both ground assaults and drone attacks, Obama has already killed dozens of Pakistanis. Do you think the brown people that we continue to dispose of so carelessly care about the skin color of our president? No. They were burning his effigy in protest next to Bush and the American flag before Obama even took office. Although I have no fear of a loving God, Jefferson's famous words are very appropriate. "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever."

Photo from AP Photo by KM Chaudary: Pakistani protestors chant anti American slogans after setting on fire the effigies of U.S. President George W. Bush, center, Republican Tom Tancredo, left, and U.S. Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, right, at a protest rally in Lahore, Pakistan on Sunday, August 5, 2007. Protesters criticized to Tancredo and Obama for allegedly making irresponsible statements on military strikes against Muslims and bombing on the Islamic holiest sites, Mecca and Medina.

Whatever It Takes

2009-02-25T12:56:00.000-05:00

Hofstra Update - Police State Out of Control, Out of Touch With Reality, and Out of Excuses

2009-02-24T13:22:00.003-05:00

Iraq Veterans Against the War and supporters have come to water the tree of liberty. Our work is far from done. While I still firmly believe that our most effective weapons for change are nonviolent, if you think this revolution will be a bloodless one, you have already been proven wrong.

Thomas Brinson, a good friend of mine, fellow Veterans For Peace member, and Long Island resident sent out the following letter after meeting with a representative of the Nassau County Police Department Internal Affairs Unit. Apparently, the mounted officer who trampled a group of people on the sidewalk, leading to Nick Morgan getting his face stepped on by the horse in question and Nadine Lubka getting her nose broken on the pavement, is claiming that he was going into the crowd to save one of his fellow foot-soldiers in riot gear. The idea that one of the riot cops from the line that was beating back protesters was trapped in a peaceful crowd is ludicrous. This phantom robocop, was of course not wearing a name-tape because it, "could be ripped off and used as a weapon." If this doesn't make your blood boil, I don't know what would.

Of course, we are still working on Nick and Nadine's civil suits and I will keep you posted here on any progress made.

Folks,

I met yesterday with Sgt. Rich Harrison of the Nassau County Police Department Internal Affairs Unit concerning the statement I submitted following the fracas at the October 15th Presidential Debate at Hofstra. He is in charge of an ongoing NCPD investigation into what happened. I've attached my statement which is both an eyewitness account of what I saw as well as an analysis of why I believe the NCPD behaved as they did toward our peaceful, nonviolent protest.

Essentially, I reiterated and emphasized the following from my testimony:

* We were following police orders to back up across Hempstead Turnpike and up onto very limited sidewalk space at the southeast corner of California Street after the nonviolent civil disobedience action of IVAW that had previously been negotiated with NCPD.
* The BSO (Bureau of Special Operations in unidentifiable Robocop gear) initiated the violence by coming up on the sidewalk to forcibly arrest Geoff Millard who from what I could tell did nothing to merit arrest.
* In the scrum that followed Nick and others were injured by a mounted policeman who came up on the sidewalk densely crowded with peaceful, nonviolent IVAW members and their supporters.
* That it is my strong opinion that Geoff was targeted because of his high profile as a national leader and spokesperson for IVAW.

Sgt. Harrison revealed the following:

* that Bill Perry's You Tube videos were a prime source for his investigation, to include the extraction of numerous still photos from the videos in his file
* that the horses were spooked by the numbers of shouting people and the flashing lights from cameras; they were not and perhaps should have been outfitted with shields to partially blind them
* that a decision was made to keep Hempstead Turnpike open to traffic, which was the rationale to disburse the crowd that was much larger than had been anticipated
* that it was perhaps a tactical error to try to force the crowd up onto a restricted sidewalk area with little space for egress in that the corner of Hempstead and California is mostly blocked by walls and shrubs with only one three-foot sidewalk leading diagonally away from the corner
* that the mounted policeman whose horse injured Nick made an individual decision to go up on the sidewalk into the crowd because he thought he saw a BSO Robocop down on the ground in trouble — his motivation was to protect the cop and move the crowd away from him
* that in a democracy it is unfortunate and needs to be addressed the non-identification of the heavily armed BSO Robocops — that they don't use nametags for safety reasons (they could be ripped off and used as a weapon) and that the coveralls are not individually assigned to members of the BSO unit but are randomly worn by different members at different actions.
* that he is hopeful that his final report will result in better training of both mounted police and BSO units.
* that Nick's notice of claim in a civil suit against the NCPD is most reasonable and appropriate, compared to many artificially inflated claims made by many citizens injured by the police during arrest actions

When he asked me what I would recommend and like the report to address, I responded with the following:

* Re-examine the protocol to confront peaceful, non-violent protestors with a show of extraordinary force from the get go -- perhaps in a democracy it would be more prudent to hold the mounted police and BSO Robocops in reserve until the tactical situation dictated their deployment.
* Re-examine the decision to use force, ie the mounted police and BSO Robocops physically pushing into the crowd, with no prior warnings to clear Hempstead Turnpike
* By whom and what motivated the decision to initiate the forcible arrest of Geoff Millard, a prominent national spokesperson for IVAW, who with other IVAW members and supporters was peacefully following police orders

It is still my strong personal belief that just like the preventative detention arrests of activists, charging them with local anti-terrorist crimes, as well as the arrest of Amy Goodman and her associates at the RNC in Minneapolis, this action was strategically intended to send a strong message to veteran protestors — we the state and the forces of law and order have the power, and we will use it against you, so be good little, loyal citizens, and shut the F up!

Would appreciate it if you could pass on this information to Geoff and Nick — I don't have current emails for them.

Respectfully submitted,

Thomas Brinson, Founding Facilitator
Long Island Veterans For Peace, Chapter 138
SPC Raheen Tyson Heighter Memorial Chapter
VFP National Board of Directors
VVAW Long Island Contact
II Corps Vietnam, 67-68
Peacekeeper, Nonviolent Peaceforce,
Mutur, Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, 2003-2005

To All Members of the Military, Law Enforcement, & Intelligence Services from Gary Franchi

2009-02-24T11:37:00.003-05:00

Gary Franchi is calling on you to honor your oath to the Constitution over your illegal orders, and when necessary to bring our government back within the bounds of the Constitution. I couldn't have said it better myself.

Resting Up For Two Months On The Road: My Eduvacation in Costa Rica

2009-02-05T02:15:00.002-05:00

I just landed in San Jose yesterday and I already have a sunburn! This place it beautiful. If you're a fan of the TV show “Lost,” (or you've seen an episode even if you didn't like it) you've probably noticed a distinct vividness to the cinematography. A certain vibrancy in the visuals. Well, Costa Rica is like that in real life. The show is primarily shot in Hawaii, which I've visited, but it doesn't match the kind of color in the air vitality of Costa Rica.

It also happens to be one of the most libertarian countries in the world with arguably the most successful libertarian party in the world: Partido Movimiento Libertario de Costa Rica (Libertarian Movement Party of Costa Rica or PML, link to google translated page). Costa Rica is naturally fertile soil for the philosophy of freedom with a naturally libertarian culture and a constitution that eliminated the military in 1949. This global first was made possible by a revolt in response to a military coup, but also by the strength of provincial militias and the relatively high rate of gun ownership. Thanks to the proportional representation system, the PML already controls 6 of 57 seats in the National Assembly.

Don Rasmussen of r3VOLution Consultants (formerly with the Ron Paul Presidential Campaign and Campaign For Liberty) invited me down here to learn about the PML and get some R&R before my next long stint on the road. Last night we hung out with his “Tico family” that hosted him years ago when he was here as an exchange student. I got to meet and converse extensively with Carlos Aguilar Leon, a young up-and-coming libertarian activist. His mother, Ricios Leon Dobles, who I also met, is a former vice-mayor of Heredia. With the exception of their current beach-head in the national legislature and lack of an oppressive two-party system, their movement is very similar to ours, with the same social hurdles, ideological obstacles, resistance from the benefactors of big government, and the same unwavering commitment among those at its core to the values of liberty.

The PML was founded in 1994 by Otto Guevara. In their 2006 election, he received 8.4% of the popular vote in his bid for the presidency against the popular former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias. That's a tough race for a libertarian, but 8.4% is far better than any of Bob Barr's most deluded supporters could have hoped for, and well above the 0.4% that Barr actually took. Guevara is a Harvard graduate, and has previously served in the Costa Rican National Assembly. Don and I are very excited to be meeting with him tomorrow as ambassadors of the American freedom movement. Read Don's article about Costa Rica and the PML at The Freedom Revolution.

Meanwhile, back in the homeland, there is a serious effort underway to get Peter Schiff to run against Chris Dodd for his US Senate seat. It looks like it would be tough race, but the line up of Schiff's puritan philosophy of a true free market against Dodd's corrupt version of corporatism would be juicy enough to make it a race worth supporting for our movement. For those of you wondering about his positions outside of the economy, take heart in this quote from the man himself: “I have no faith in government. There is no evidence that they're going to do the right thing.” I guess that makes him one of us! If you haven't yet, please pledge to contribute to the Schiff money-bomb scheduled for February 21st. You can use the widget at the top-right of this page or click here to go straight to their site.

We do plan to get a couple days of surfing in (embarrassing photos to come) before I fly back home, but then it's back to business. I'll be in California for a week, San Diego, LA, and San Francisco before visiting my Mom for her birthday on Valentine's Day in Pebble Beach. Then on to Colorado for a week. Ok, yes, I will take a day or two for Ron-ski and get some snowboarding in. Then Texas for the Freedom and Liberty Movement State convention. I went to their regional convention in Houston a couple weeks ago, and the way they are organizing there from the bottom up before there is even a name for the new organization let alone a structure is truly amazing. I will also be helping out with Winter Soldier Austin on February 28th. Then it's on to DC for a few days for a workshop, then up to Nashua for the New Hampshire Liberty Forum and on to an event at Kent State. Then I'll be in St. Louis supporting Matthis Chiroux resisting deployment at his US Army separation hearing. Then of course, back to DC to mark the sixth anniversary of the war in Iraq, and finally, back to Santa Fe. Did I mention that I will be driving the whole way?

REP Freedom Force Lays Down the Law on Democracy!

2009-01-31T17:36:00.003-05:00

Part of my political process of discovery thus far has been an appreciation of what it means to live in a constitutional republic as opposed to a democracy. Although I fully understand that the "republic" part is more important then the "mob rule of democracy" part, are we not founded on democratic ideals? A republic is different than a democracy because it asserts that a 51% vote cannot supercede the inalienable rights of the individual. But what if 51% decide not to stand up for those rights? I suppose that is what gets to the heart of how our republic is a distinct evolution from democracy: at our founding, it was decided by social compact, by a new set of values, by a democratic process, that we would honor the inalienable rights of all our citizens and send a clear message to the world from a city on a hill that not only does might NOT make right, but with a courageous commitment to nature's God and the divinity in every human being, it does not even have to make what is. Those are the values that make us American. It is only as the majority, not by ballot, or by force, or by mob rule, but by the daily assertions of those values, chooses to maintain the republic that our country will survive. It is by no means a certainty.

Democracy Is... by the REP Freedom Force

USPS in Trouble, Still Plans to Cheat Your Kids

2009-01-29T18:28:00.002-05:00

It looks like even the venerable United States Postal Service is not immune to the plagues of quasi-governmental agencies. In fact, it's not immune to the plagues of business or government that are tormenting our country today. According to an article in today's Washington Post, both the troubled economy, and political irresponsibility are affecting this social staple. Oh, and then there's that nasty little “series of tubes” called the “internets” that has rendered it, as Robert Cohen, a former Postal Regulatory Commission official called it, “primarily a broadcast medium relaying advertising from businesses to households.” You know, junk mail. Previously referred to as “third-class advertising mail,” the once consistent revenue source has been officially renamed, “standard mail.”

Postmaster General John E. Potter testified before a Senate subcommittee yesterday, pleading for Congress to change a statutory requirement that mail must be delivered six days per week. He is looking to cut either Tuesday or Saturday delivery, the two slowest days of the week, in order to cut costs in the face of a $6 billion deficit projected for next year. Last year's deficit was $3 billion when deliveries dropped from 211 billion to 202 billion items. Meanwhile, the general success of private mail delivery services even while competing with this quasi-governmental agency is the best argument for the efficiency of the free market. While in today's state of quasi-socialist corporatism, none of the “upper-end delivery market” companies qualify as true free market entities, at least they can demonstrate the resulting economic prosperity from competition.

I have learned from my study of politics and experience in the military, that 90% of the time, when the government tells you something, the reality is far worse. I would bet that the estimated $6 billion deficit is a very conservative estimate, to put it nicely. So this time, it wants Congress to change a law. Guess who's going to be back for a piece of a bailout/economic stimulus package/taxpayer ripoff/debt burden for our children?

Which gets us back to the plagues of government. As George Washington would remind us, “Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” Putting our country in debt as our government has is not merely fiscally irresponsible, it is immoral, because it means that every child in America is born into debt, and debt is slavery. I love this country and believe that it is a self-righting ship, but I worry how much worse things will have to get before they get better. Fortunately, my generation and those following, are starting to wake up, and a growing number are divorcing themselves from this insanity and declaring, “IT'S NOT MY DEBT!”

We Made It!

2009-01-27T00:22:00.000-05:00

After five intense days on the road, Ali and I pulled into the Santa Fe Horse Park and up to my new house today. Despite still needing lots of furniture, it still has that cozy feel that a ranch house is supposed to have. We had dinner at my Dad's house courtesy of my step-mom, Marla, and hung out with my little brothers Alex and Alden, and my sister Audrey. Alex's school had a basketball game tonight and we showed up to support them, even though he wasn't playing due to a sprained ankle. With their star shooter on crutches instead of on the court, Desert Academy still beat Walatowa handily.

I know there is a lot that I will miss about DC, especially when Ali has to go back in a couple of days, but the thing I will miss the most is a place I will never be able to revisit: the original IVAW house. Our lease was up at the end of December and when it was time to move the operation to a new facility, I gave up my claim to a room to another Marine who I'm sure will make great use of it. The original house with all the charm that the hundreds of vets who passed through it imbued it with will never quite be replicated. The good times had and righteous work done there are what made it special.

Thank you to everyone who helped make the first IVAW house in DC a success. Your faith in we humble, broke, and often crazy veterans made it all possible. Thank you to everyone I visited along the way home. I can only hope to be able to return the favors and provide the same kind of hospitality here in Santa Fe. For you, my door is always open.

Fauxbama / Life on the Road

2009-01-23T00:31:00.002-05:00

Of the estimated two million people at the coronation, er, inauguration of our 44th President, I think I was the only one protesting. I had a sign that was very similar to the one that I held up for McCain at the RNC, but this time, I was actually more nervous. Would the hoards of raving Obama fans tear me to pieces? Surprisingly, the reception was overwhelmingly positive. I had one or two negative comments, including, "C'mon, give the brother a chance!" But there were seemingly hundreds of knowing nods and dozens of passers by who came up to me to shake my hand or give me the old "terrorist fist jab."

Since then, I have been on the road to Santa Fe with my wonderful girlfriend, Alison. As I type this, she is actually driving as we are pulling up to Pensacola to visit some friends and IVAW & VFP members who are also big Ron Paul supporters. Alison has been incredibly helpful in making this difficult relocation. While I was out in the freezing cold making a blunt point with a crude sign, she was at home putting her thoughts together in a much more coherent and eloquent way in the following essay, titled Fauxbama.

by Alison Wilber

I'm extremely bothered by what most of this nation celebrated today.

The day's news began with a church service for the faces of the country's old and new administrations. Why church? Why does religion have such a symbolic presence in this, a nation built on the affirmation of the necessity of the separation of church and state? A prayer was delivered, including the pervasive sentiment of "God Bless America." Whatever God was being prayed to, why was it asked to bless this nation, a nation which refuses to recognize that it should cower in shame for its role in the world as it is today: robbing small countries through impossible debt burdens, thereby ensuring continued global poverty; occupying countries for corporate gain and giving money to grieving families when the endless number of innocents are inevitably killed in the deliberately indefinite conflict; eight years of an administration thriving on our people's ambivalence for holding policy-makers to an ethical standard; holding foreign nations to a different foreign policy standard, as though America knows what is better for the world more than any other country, thereby making it only right that it impose its “enlightened ideas;” and explicitly and unabashedly providing resources for continued conflict in foreign lands. Don't "God Bless America." America, stand up tall and take ownership of the external and internal opinions you have elicited and deserve. Make the bed you want to lie in, and strive to earn any blessings you receive.

Rick Warren spoke about justice for all, which by definition, includes the current administration, who have seemingly been absolved of all wrong-doing in Obama's spirit of looking forward and not dwelling in the past. In fairness, if we are to accept this sentiment, then it would only be fitting that the same type of justice be given to those waiting for trial in Guantanamo Bay and prisons the nation over, who have done far less damage than this administration. In a nation so focused on “justice,” why is it so easy to forget that those who see themselves as above the law should be unquestioningly allowed to do so? If that type of forgiveness is not the intent, then more caution should surely be taken in the inaugural prayer. Finally, Warren spoke about a more peaceful planet, yet the man about to take office supports a continued, troop presence in Iraq (a soldier by any other name would smell as sweet), a surge of troops in Afghanistan, and continued unwavering support of Israel in their unending conflict. Are these steps toward a goal of peace, the platform he ran on and was trusted to honor?

Aretha Franklin sang “My Country 'Tis of Thee,” and it was sung, "Let Freedom Ring." And let freedom ring! Let freedom ring in nations America robs of their freedoms! Let freedom ring for those in America who are oppressed by selective laws, corporate greed, and ingrained institutionalized poverty!

Then Obama delivered his inaugural address. He began by thanking Bush for his service. He could have been explicit about what exactly Bush is to be thanked for after his eight years of service, over which, he was overwhelmingly not supported by those he is in office to serve. Although his administration has been accused of corruption, war crimes, and other illegal abuses of power, and this country has established procedures to follow in such circumstances, what talk of impeachment was there? And while Obama has run a campaign promising change from the Bush administration, one which he has explicitly disagreed with, in his first words in his inaugural speech, he thanked the president who he worked his entire campaign to clearly distinguish himself from. This public expression of appreciation leaves an acrid taste in my mouth, and it feels disrespectful to me, as someone who voted for Obama, and who believed that he would prioritize holding the Bush administration accountable for the decisions made while holding the offices he and his own team would one day inherit and honor. Next, Obama spoke to the importance of equality and freedom for all, and it would have only been fitting that he talk about how these goals are represented in his policies, specifically as they relate to gay marriage and continued support for global militarism, to name a few. He also embedded some discussion of the problem of countries that induce terror, slaughter innocents, and seek conflict, although somehow, he actually wasn't referring to America's current foreign policy. While he cautions these nations that their people will judge them on what they build and not what they destroy, America has begun no formal platform for judging the Bush administration on what they have built or destroyed. It will be interesting to learn how he believes he can to avoid this with continued military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said he believes in defeating this type of administrative presence, and that those who “cling to power through corruption, deceit, and the silencing of dissent,” are on the wrong side of history, yet he had just thanked the man responsible for the American practice of those exact same things. And finally, he paid respect to those remembered in Arlington Cemetery, referring to them as guardians of our liberty. However, it would be difficult to claim that as the reason for the deaths of the people who now rest in peace there since the wars began in 2001, when these young people were not treated as guardians of liberty, but rather as pawns of the government agenda, specifically in a war Bush publicly referred to as beginning from a "disappointment" in not finding WMDs, the touted reason for its inception, and somehow, people are still dying in this war, when nothing was ever found to legitimately begin it.

President Obama, your platform of love, inclusion, tolerance, remaking America, restoring trust in government, and dissolving lines of tribe is virtuous and praiseworthy. Forgive my predisposition to question authority in my supreme disappointment with the last eight years of administration, when I hold you to a standard to actually come through on making decisions that reflect your stated principles. Let us move forward in love and peace, as your poet, Elizabeth Alexander, called for, but not love for America, but for humanity and our planet, both of which we are all a part of. And let us not be known as a land of the brave, but as the land of the loving and loved, of the respectful and respected, of the considerate and considered. Let us repair our global relationships not as the paternal figure of the world, but as a teammate and participant in the spirit of what is truly needed for authentic peace.

IVAW Ad to Air Nationally Today!

2009-01-20T07:36:00.004-05:00

I will be at the inauguration, in the nosebleeds.

I'm saving the other shoe for . . .

2009-01-19T22:21:00.004-05:00

A speech I delivered at the Shoe Bush action. Check out liamh2's youtube channel for more videos from today. The rally in Dupont Circle was followed by an unpermitted march down Connecticut Avenue, through Lafayette Park and up to the White House fence where we enjoyed a raucous throwing of shoes.

Do you have what it takes to support the troops?

2008-11-24T15:01:00.000-05:00

Press Release for END THE FED in DC, Please Help Circulate

2008-11-18T04:59:00.011-05:00

You can also help promote this event on Facebook, as well as our film screening of Aaron Russo's America: Freedom to Fascism on Friday at 7pm at New Bethel Baptist Church, 1739 9th St NW, Washington, DC.

MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 18, 2008
CONTACT:
Debbie Krueger not12submit@gmail.com
Jordan Page jordanpagemusic@gmail.com
Adam Kokesh adam.kokesh@gmail.com

Growing Movement Strikes at Fed in Washington, DC

National “END THE FED” day of protest calls for sound monetary policy and an end to bailouts

On November 22nd, commemorating the secretive conception of the Federal Reserve System, a growing movement of citizens concerned with this country's fiscal policies will gather in 39 cities nationwide at each Federal Reserve location to demand an end to the Fed, return to sound monetary policy, and an end to corporate bailouts. In Washington, DC, they will gather across the street from the Board of Governors of the Fed at 20th and Constitution at 1pm. Denied a permit to protest on Federal Reserve grounds by the Fed's Public Affairs Office on the basis that it is private property, the rally with a stage and amplification system will be held across the street with a permit granted by the Parks Department. National coordination is being provided by Aaron Russo's Restore the Republic (restoretherepublic.net) and more information can be found at endthefed.us.

Speakers will include Gary Franchi of Restore the Republic to discuss his organizational plans for furthering this issue and the duty of all patriotic Americans to get involved. Kevin Zeese, former US Senate candidate, current Executive Director of Break the Bailout, (breakthebailout.com) will talk about building a broad coalition to stop further “theft from the taxpayers.” Anthony Teolis, veteran of the First Gulf War, member of Veterans For Peace (veteransforpeace.org) will show how the Fed is the primary enabler of our destructive interventionist foreign policy. Rick Williams is a founder of BreakTheMatrix, (breakthematrix.com) and serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Basic Media, Inc. From the Center for Economic and Social Justice, (cesj.org) Norman G. Kurland, President of the Board of Directors, and former Congressman, the Hon. Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy will outline an alternative just economic system. Paul-Martin Foss, Legislative Assistant to Congressman Ron Paul, will explain pending legislation H.R. 2755 and what the movement can do to support it.

Organizer Debbie Krueger is a former Marine, and a mother of 5, living in Delaware. She was a real estate agent, when she witnessed the bottom dropping out of the housing markets across the country, and decided something needed to be done. Her research led her to the conclusion that the Federal Reserve System is at the heart of the crisis. “I am devoting my time to help shed light on the Federal Reserve, and to find solutions that will bring us back to financial policies that will benefit Americans the most."

Co-organizer and performer for the rally Jordan Page is a young poet, singer/songwriter, guitarist, political activist, and social commentator who has become an outspoken voice promoting freedom and liberty. The hyper-inflation of American currency, the funding of worldwide interventionist military policies, the unconstitutional income tax, the recent bailout, and the engineered economic depressions the Fed causes have all motivated Jordan's involvement in this most historic citizens' movement. “Please stand up for the Constitution on November 22nd and help us to support HR 2755 calling for the abolition of the Federal Reserve.”

Adam Kokesh will serve as master of ceremonies at the rally. He is from Santa Fe, NM and served in Fallujah, Iraq in 2004 and has been a vocal critic of the war since leaving the US Marines. He has continued to honor his oath to support and defend the Constitution by taking on those he sees as its domestic enemies, especially the Federal Reserve System. He has also advocated various forms of nonviolent resistance including not paying taxes. “As long as the Federal Reserver System has the power to create money from nothing, the individual income tax is nothing more than a means to oppress and enslave the American people. As with all forms of tyranny, Americans have a duty to resist this injustice.”

# # #

An Update On "The Hempstead 15" From Matthis Chiroux

2008-11-15T00:51:00.004-05:00

If you're on Facebook, join the group I Support "The Hempstead 15" and you can get these updates hot off the grill from Matthis there. My friends,

A few updates on Adam Kokesh’s trial and the court dates for the Hempstead 15.

Adam’s case was adjourned until December 11, however the D.A. did try to raise his bail in obvious contempt toward Adam as an activist and a veteran.

This is yet another clear sign the Nassau County D.A. intends to continue her persecution of veteran activists and escalate injustice against us at every opportunity afforded.

However, a good number of supporters were present at the courthouse to send a clear message to the D.A. that we will not be silenced and her conduct and that of her officers will not be tolerated.

So six more days, total, for us to gather, have our voices heard and condemn the Nassau County Police Department’s offense toward this nations’ veterans and our Constitutional rights.

Dec. 10th and 11th, and Jan. 5th thru 8th are the days set for the 15 of us to be tried. Each day, we will assemble at 8 a.m. to demand that charges are dropped against us and the officers responsible for brutalizing us are held accountable.

Please continue calling District Attorney Kathleen Rice at 516-571-2994 or contacting her here: http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/DA/contact.html to demand that all charges be dropped against the Hempstead 15.

As well, we are working on a petition exclusively for Nassau County residents to put some constituent-based pressure on the D.A., who is an elected official. If you can be of assistance either in contacting residents of Nassau county via phone or e-mail or actually street canvassing for signatures in Nassau County, please contact Lillian at lvu1@columbia.edu.

Lastly, Nick has received his first medical bill for his hour-and-a-half hospital stay in Nassau County where he was handcuffed to a gurney, diagnosed with a broken face and given nothing more than Motrin for the pain. $5,000, folks! No kidding. Nick nowhere NEAR has that kind of money, and this is only the first of many bills to right the wrong done by the NCPD to his person. NICK NEEDS YOUR HELP!!!!

Please, if you haven’t already sent a donation to Nick through the IVAW website, do so. This troop deserves everyones’ full support at whatever level they can give. If you already have donated, consider doing so again. Nick’s sacrificed everything to do right by this nation and her Constitution, and now, we MUST do right by Nick.

We’ll be sending out more reminders about court dates as they approach and planned actions around them. As well, we are planning several benefits to raise money for Nick that I will keep all in the loop about as more develops. If you can, consider holding one yourself in your local community to raise money and awareness. This is the type of organizing that really makes a difference to people like Nick and the rest of us.

Please stay in the fight with us, and continue sending me your letters and opinions. I read all of them and respond to as many as I can. Your voices ARE this movement, and I want to hear them as much as our President should.

Peace and Solidarity,

Matthis Chiroux

VIDEO OF THE ARRAIGNMENT DEMONSTRATION:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNGTnxWJFW8

GREAT OP-ED BY PULITZER PRIZE-WINNER BOB KEELER IN NEWSDAY ABOUT THE HEMPSTEAD 15:
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-opkee125923104nov12,0,6936407.story

VIDEO OF HOFSTRA ACTION AND POLICE BRUTALITY:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvV_6OoqhVw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eupU-StpCqM&watch_response

NAOMI WOLF INTERVIEWS MATTHIS CHIROUX ABOUT HOFSTRA ACTION:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahP4Y-8_JgY

Kristofer Goldsmith (Army Sergeant)-Dec. 10
Paul Blasenheim-Dec. 10
Geoff Millard (Army Sergeant)-Dec. 11
Megan Day-Dec. 11
Adam Kokesh (Marine Sergeant)-Dec. 11
James Gilligan (Marine Corporal)-Jan 5
Matthis Chiroux (Army Sergeant)-Jan. 5
Nathan Peld (Navy Petty Officer)-Jan. 6
Ryan Olander-Jan. 6
Mike Spinato (Marine Sergeant)-Jan.6
Jose Vasquez (Army Staff Sergeant)-Jan. 7
David Disimino-Jan 7
Nick Morgan (Army Sergeant)-Jan 7
Marlissa Grogan (Marine Captain)-Jan. 8
Leanne Gillouly-Jan. 8

This shirt was made by Lars Ekstrom for members of the Hempstead 15:

Another Day In Court

2008-11-13T01:14:00.002-05:00

In the interest of being on the same page as the rest of the Hempstead 15, since we have all been split up to different dates for the next round of hearings, I allowed the attorney who is representing everyone else to represent me today. His name is Jonathan Moore and he has taken on the Nassau County Horse Mounted Unit before and he is doing a great job so far. He will also most likely be representing Nick Morgan and maybe a few others in a civil case. We were ready for trial today, but the prosecution was not. However, the DA was taking our cases on full force.

In requesting that I be released on my own recognizance (or ROR as everyone else had been) so I could get my bail money returned, my attorney was told by the prosecutor that he would like to have my bail raised! The judge declined, but that would have put me in jail again until I could get bail posted at the raised amount. The judge also declined Mr. Moore's motion to dismiss, or take an ACD, adjourn in contemplation of dismissal. The prosecutor conferred with the police officer who would be testifying, and came up with a date to schedule the trial. So trial is now scheduled for 9:30 AM on December 11th. For reasons I can't discuss, we are very excited about this going to trial. Thanks to those who came out in support this morning and wish us luck!

Trial Tomorrow

2008-11-11T03:52:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Eric Allen for joining us yesterday morning in Hempstead and putting this video together, and thanks to everyone who came out to support us. Sunday, I drove up from DC to Brooklyn with Geoff, Nick, Liz, Paul, Dave, Polly, and Wild Bill to stay with Matthis. After the arraignment, we drove back to DC. Everyone plead not guilty, and were assigned different dates for trial to prevent us from being co-defendents. (Typical divide and conquer.) I am still scheduled to appear tomorrow, so I will be driving back to NYC this afternoon, staying with friends, then back to Hempstead the next morning. Wish me luck!

Endless War? Inflation Tax? Corporate Bailouts? The Fed Did It!

2008-11-09T13:48:00.001-05:00

http://endthefeddc.chipin.com/end-the-fed-dc

Peace - It's Not Just For Hippies Any More

2008-11-06T19:47:00.003-05:00

Do as I say, not as I do.

2008-11-06T00:35:00.002-05:00

An email from Casey J. Porter, currently in Iraq. He has an extraordinary YouTube channel and is an outspoken member of Iraq Veterans Against the War:

What do you do when the Chaplain doesn't even care? Not only is that a good question, it's one that I am asking myself right now. I have been having issues with a supervisor and the treatment of not only myself, but other Soldiers. She is a Staff Sergeant and is one of those "Do as I say, not as I do." types. I would attempt to feel sorry for her, since it is clear that she is very, very insecure. But you know what? I do not care. Let me say that again so everything is clear: I do not care. She sets rules and standards in play that she does not live up to, but then will break her own rules. She is so incompetent and unprofessional in every aspect of her job it becomes clear why she has stayed in the army for twenty years: She can't get away with the shit she pulls here in the real world. I got so mad at her yesterday that I threw my weapon across the room. I know that if I continue to become and stay this angry it will only get worse and I might end up doing something I regret. So last night I went to go see the Chaplain, a man that is supposed to help you. I walked into his office and let it all out about how NCO's treat their Soldiers like crap, Soldier's do not feel that they are not cared about, and how they are not, so on and so forth. You know what he told me? You can't do anything about it. I can only change how it affects me, change my attitude towards it. Wow gee wiz! That some swell advice, beaver! Why didn't he just tell me to go fuck myself? It would have been more honest. I told him how angry I got, I told him how these Soldiers are being pushed beyond their breaking point, and I got brushed aside. Hello! McFly! It's only when Soldiers start shooting their bosses, or killing themselves that the army does anything. However what they do is the absolute minimum, because guess what? They don't give a shit anything but getting ahead on the backs of Soldiers.

I have NO respect for the United States Army, the Corps of Non-Commissioned Officers, Officers, or any other branch, unit, creed, value, or mandate of ethics that comes from this army. There are some of you who will read that and be offended, but if I do not call you out by name, then don't be. Because I respect you for who you are, not the rank and title that you carry, or once carried.
The next time some civilian comes up to me and says "Thank you for what you do." I will reply with "Fuck you for what you don't do." because civilians are just as much to blame.

Casey J Porter

Oh, yeah, how could I forget! If you think this so some sign of giving up or breaking, think again. I have even more planed to expose this mess for what is, and put these people in the spot light for what they do. Keep fucking with me, see where it gets you. Oh and that's not a threat of violence "big army", so don't even try to pull that shit.

Obama endorses American imperialism - anti-war activist

2008-11-05T04:49:00.001-05:00

Adam Kokesh in Anti-McCain Ad

2008-10-31T01:17:00.000-05:00

Discrimination Against Iraq Veteran in Long Island

2008-10-28T00:14:00.000-05:00

Letter from Kristofer Goldsmith:

To Whom it May Concern,

I am writing you as a Veteran, concerned that First Amendment Rights are not being protected in the United States. My name is Kristofer Goldsmith, and I am from Long Island New York. I spent the year of 2005 with the 3rd Infantry Division in Baghdad. While overseas I received the Army Commendation Medal, and was recommended for the Bronze Star Medal. I was quickly promoted to the rank of Sergeant after just over two years in service, and graduated from Fort Stewart's Non-commissioned Officer School with honors in May of 2006 at the age of twenty.

After coming home from Iraq I began suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and major depression, but for over a year managed my symptoms on my own, and continued to have a successful career. After being stop-lossed for a second deployment, my PTSD was aggravated beyond my control. I was removed from the Army under honorable conditions after a suicide attempt last summer. I am now rated by the VA as 50% disabled due to PTSD, chronic depression and other problems generated from my time in service.

I now continue my service to this great nation as a member of a group called "Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW)." As a member of this non-profit organization I have traveled the country seeking to help the veterans of my generation find a welcoming community and get the benefits they were promised upon enlisting. I have testified before Congress, and worked the hill advocating for an end to the Stop-Loss policy and reminding Politicians of the cost of the Iraq war back at home. I have been fighting to make sure that recent Veterans return from overseas to an America prepared to care for it's wounded.

You may have heard of the 10 Veterans arrested outside the third Presidential Debate on October 15th 2008 at Hofstra University. I was the first of the ten to be handcuffed and charged with "Disorderly Conduct" for attempting to demand of the Presidential Nominees, John McCain and Barrack Obama, that they begin to address the issues most important to Veterans in this country. 1000 Veterans receiving care from the VA attempt suicide each month in this country. An average of 18 Veterans successfully kill themselves each month in America. The VA system has over half a million claims waiting to be processed in it's back-log. One third of the homeless people in this country are Veterans, meaning an estimated 200,000+ Veterans will be sleeping on the street tonight. These are the issues that I fight to push into mainstream America's living rooms.

While most of my work with Iraq Veterans Against the War has been directed regionally or nationally, recently I've attempted to reach the high population of Veterans around my home, here on Long Island. The Annual Bellmore Family Street Festival is an event which has occurred just three blocks from my home each year since before I was born. I remember waiting each year as a child for my favorite part of the fair, the military recruiters and Veterans Groups who would set up their tents around Bellmore's Veterans Memorial Park at the corner of Broadway and Bedford Avenue. This year, home and out of the Army, I approached the Bellmore Chamber of Commerce requesting to set up a table at the Street Festival. At first, as a someone who was late in registry, I was granted space "44" in front of "Madison Smoothies" at the far northern end of Bedford Avenue, close to Oak Street. I was told that regardless of the fact that I am a Veteran of Iraq, if I were to table for Iraq Veterans Against the War, I would be segregated from the other Veterans Groups as to not offend them. The Executive Director/Festival Coordinator, Joni Caputo, explained to me that she was doing me a favor by letting me table at all due to my late registry, so I accepted the terms of the segregation from those at the Veterans Memorial.

The original dates for the Bellmore Street Fair were Saturday, September 27th and Sunday, September 28th. However, due to rain, I was notified by the Bellmore Chamber of Commerce that the fair would be pushed back a few weeks, to Saturday, October 25th, and Sunday, October 26th. At this time I was told by the Bellmore Chamber of Commerce that my space would still be available for the rescheduling, and I confirmed with them I was still planning on tabling.

On Thursday, October 23rd I received a call from the Bellmore Chamber notifying me that my space was now unavailable, and that I would not be allowed to table at the Street Fair. At this time I requested to share a tabling space with another organization, but was denied due to total lack of physical space on the street. Going further, I asked Executive Director Joni Caputo if I found someone willing to share their rented physical space, if I could then be allowed to table there. Her reply was something to the effect of "look, you can't table anywhere, because the Chamber decides who gets to use what space and where. No matter what, you cannot table at the fair."

Saturday, October 25th 2008, I walked along Bedford Avenue to look at the "total lack of physical space" on the street. What I saw on the front window of the Law Office that Joni Caputo works in made it clear as to why my space was suddenly "unavailable" at the last minute. Every Republican Candidate had their posters plastered on the front of this office. A cardboard cutout of John McCain with a sign attached saying "$3.00 for a picture" stood by the front door to the office. Signs for Congressman Peter King taped to the windows reminded me how when I spent a month in Washington DC this summer, King, my own representative, refused to grant me time for a meeting. I know that Peter King supports the troops, but only when they align themselves with his ultra-pro-war views. How could he deny me, an Iraq Veteran, one of his own constituents, time in his office?

Continuing my walk along Bedford this Saturday, I noticed a number of open spaces between tables, ignoring the spaces that were paid for by the store owner to keep their store front clear. When I reached the Veterans Memorial Park, I noticed that Times Magazine, and other Corporations had received preferential treatment from the Bellmore Chamber of Commerce, even more so than the actual Veterans who were placed behind the park in the parking lot and across the street. Vietnam Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Patriot Riders, and other Veterans Organization all got representation at this event- and I've got it on video to prove it.

Sunday, October 26th 2008, I returned to the Bellmore Street Fair, to a more crowded day with the sun shining brightly. Again, I noticed that there was still plenty of empty space between tables at this event. I approached the Long Island Democrats, who allowed me to speak briefly on stage at the Obama Rally on October 15th; and asked them if they would mind it if I shared their space, since they had more than they could use. Because my organization does not endorse any candidate, I set my table up just to their side, as to provide a clear definitive separation from myself and the Obama campaigners.

On the table I set up I displayed voter information concerning the candidates records on Veterans Issues, Books and DVDs produced by IVAW, and other things. Most important to me, however, was my Army Times Magazines. I was displaying the pictures of all the service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last few weeks. To my knowledge, the Military Times, is the only publication that prints pictures of those fallen warriors, and my purpose was to help the people of Bellmore put a face on the numbers. As a servicemember, as a Veteran, I know there are few things more offensive than to be regarded as "just a number."

At precisely 1:16pm I set up a table to the east side of the Mid-Nassau Democrats rented street space on Grand Avenue on the side of the Mediterranean Grill Diner. There I sat for over an hour and a half peaceably, talking to people as they walked by, distributing pieces of paper with websites that links them to Veterans Organizations and their voting issues. Many people approached me, thanking me for my service in the Army, and thanking me for my service out on the street that day. Around 2pm a short, stout woman wearing a green shirt labeled "STAFF" and "Kickin' it up Country" approached me demanding to know who said I could set up where I did. I replied with the name of the local democrat who had offered to share his space, as she angrily scurried off barking inaudibly with her clipboard. With my father present, who was wearing a shirt that says "Honor the Warrior, Not the War", I continued talking to the people on the street who were receiving me with warm welcome.

At approximately 2:30pm on Sunday the stout woman returned with about five other people with the green "STAFF" shirts. One bearded older gentleman with a goatee and ponytail who wore the green shirt of authority immediately demanded that I "pack [my] shit up now!" I explained to him that I was sharing a very clearly open spot with the Long Island democrats, and was causing no harm to anyone by being present. I told him in detail how I had reserved a spot, and when my spot was suddenly unavailable, I was suspicious that my views may have had something to do with my cancellation. He responded "do you think I give a fuck about your views? If you won't pack up your shit, I'll pack it up for you!" At this time he began taring at and piling up the pictures of the dead service members I had displayed to honor and remember on the table. Immediately I was extremely offended... Watching as this man disrespectfully manhandled the photographs of every single servicemember who had died over the last few months...

At this time I began packing my suitcase, to protect the pictures of my fallen brothers and sisters, as the man continued his rant and rage. My father then called the police afraid that I would be assaulted. Within seconds Officer Mobilio and at least four other officers from the Nassau County Police Department showed up. The man with the green shirt, who only identified himself as "Paul" continued to threaten me, even in the presence of the officers, as I was packing up and getting ready to leave. He then turned to my father and said "if you want to see assault, they'll (pointing to the police) be picking you up all over the street!" Upon voicing my concerns over the threat made to my father, Officer Mobilio just responded "they have the right to use force, to an extent".

Now I'm left to wonder, how is it that an Veteran who served in one of Our Nation's most current wars, is not allowed to express his views in his own home town? I'm offended that the Bellmore Chamber of Commerce and it's employees questions my patriotism, my love for country, and especially my love for my fellow Veterans. I have devoted every spare penny, every spare minute of my life over the last few months, since leaving active duty, to fight to honor and protect our nations Veterans. I say Support the Troops, All the Troops, and Respect their Rights, no matter what! When I enlisted in the Army I swore to "defend the Constitution of the United States," and I come home to people willing to trample all over my First Amendment Rights! I will not stand for this, and will expect to see those who stood in my way in court.

To reach the Bellmore Chamber of Commerce to find out why they would discriminate against an Iraq Veteran, and to find out who "Paul" is:

Joni Caputo - Executive Director/Festival Coordinator
Joe Verdi- Exhibit and Display Coordinator
Chamber of Commerce of the Bellmores
PO Box 861
Bellmore, NY 11710
516-679-1875
Fax 615-409-0544
www.bellmorechamber.com

For Press looking for witness testimonies and comments, please write me at kris@ivaw.org

Sincerely,

Kristofer Goldsmith
Former Army Sergeant
Operation Iraqi Freedom III
Iraq Veterans Against the War

"How To Fight Fascism"

2008-10-23T01:15:00.002-05:00

Please send this to ALL Military members

2008-10-21T00:22:00.007-05:00

From afmatt at the Ron Paul Forums:

During the Rally For The Republic I was approached at least a
half dozen times and asked for an interview (because I sang the
anthem) My standard answer was

"I'm sorry but regulations prohibit me from talking to you"

I also left right after the rally instead of staying and checking
out the protests the next day.

During my time there I got to meet a couple awesome patriots
from my home state of TN, they introduced me to Adam Kokesh.
Adam convinced me to check out Iraq Vetrans Against the War and
told me that if I was concerned about publicity I could join
privately. I did so shortly after returning home.

I just got a members packet a few days back - after having read
some of the information in it I am ANGRY. Angry at myself for
believing what I had been told - that is that I had to settle
for not speaking out.

PLEASE send these links (and this story if you'd like) to all
service members or friends of service members you know.

http://www.objector.org/girights/GIRightsresources/accordian050314b.pdf
http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/132506p.pdf

My favorite quote from the dod directive linked above - emphasis
is mine.

Quote:
-
3.5.6. Off-Post Demonstrations by Members. Members of the Armed
Forces are prohibited from participating in off-post demonstrations
when they are on-duty, in a foreign country, when their activities
constitute a breach of law and order, when violence is likely
to result, or when they are in uniform
-

I'm going to follow regulations - but I now KNOW the regulations
and what I'm allowed to do within them - I challenge any military
member that reads this to read the regulations for yourself -
they may be VASTLY different that you have been led to believe.

Disclaimer
I am not a lawyer, this is NOT legal advice.
None of the above is the official stance of the US Air Force.
I am speaking as an individual under my first amendment rights.

- Matt C

10/15/08: Presidential Debate "Hidden Microphone" on Iraq Vet

2008-10-19T22:06:00.002-05:00

After you watch this video, join the facebook group: I Support "The Hempstead 15"

According to the VA I Have “Normal” Uranium Poisoning

2008-10-02T00:39:00.001-05:00

I came home today to find a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs with my urine test results for depleted uranium. “Your total urine uranium level is within normal limits.” I had no idea there was such a thing as “normal limits” for uranium in a person's urine. This was not very reassuring.

The letter also said that there was not enough uranium in my urine sample to determine if it was from “natural sources” or depleted uranium sources. After some research, I learned that there is such a thing as “normal” uranium levels from “natural sources” like air, water, and the food we eat. Fortunately, “any health effects are associated with the total amount of uranium regardless of the of the source and therefore, your normal result does not have any health consequences related to it.” That is to say, no more consequences than for the average American who happens to have been exposed to depleted uranium in their food, water, and air.

My very healthy general distrust of the government prevents me from taking much comfort from any of this. I went to Iraq and crawled around wreckage of Iraqi military equipment as part of our training. Did I dodge a bullet on this one? Maybe. I have a “normal” level of uranium poisoning, but at least I'm in good company.

Adam Kokesh at Ole Miss Punks McCain, Obama, and the Debate

2008-09-29T01:31:00.000-05:00

Liveblogging from The Grove at Ole Miss

2008-09-26T19:59:00.003-05:00

I am currently liveblogging the debate at United Liberty.

I have been hanging out all day with the students of the UM Constitutionalists and now I am joining them in the heckling section.

And this is the view from the cheap seats:

Another shot of the crowd and McCain sounding like a d-bag.

Dahr Jamail Reviews Recently Released IVAW Winter Soldier Book

2008-09-18T03:08:00.004-05:00

In this age of continuous feedback and instant gratification, it is uniquely satisfying to see the delayed fruits of our labor. In this case, it is in the form of a long-anticipated (at least by me) book written by independent, unembeded journalist, Aaron Glantz. While I am waiting to purchase my copy of Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan, Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations at the Bus Boys & Poets book store to support Teaching for Change, you can get it from Amazon here. ***EDIT: You can get it from IVAW here.***

To view the archived footage of the raw WSIA testimony, click here.

BOOKS-IRAQ: "We Blew Her to Pieces"
By Dahr Jamail

MARFA, Texas, Sep 16 (IPS) - Aside from the Iraqi people, nobody knows what the U.S. military is doing in Iraq better than the soldiers themselves. A new book gives readers vivid and detailed accounts of the devastation the U.S. occupation has brought to Iraq, in the soldiers' own words.

"Winter Soldier Iraq and Afghanistan: Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupation," published by Haymarket Books Tuesday, is a gut-wrenching, historic chronicle of what the U.S. military has done to Iraq, as well as its own soldiers.

Authored by Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and journalist Aaron Glantz, the book is a reader for hearings that took place in Silver Spring, Maryland between Mar. 13-16, 2008 at the National Labour College.

"I remember one woman walking by," said Jason Washburn, a corporal in the U.S. Marines who served three tours in Iraq. "She was carrying a huge bag, and she looked like she was heading toward us, so we lit her up with the Mark 19, which is an automatic grenade launcher, and when the dust settled, we realised that the bag was full of groceries. She had been trying to bring us food and we blew her to pieces."

Washburn testified on a panel that discussed the rules of engagement in Iraq, and how lax they were, even to the point of being virtually non-existent.

"During the course of my three tours, the rules of engagement changed a lot," Washburn's testimony continues. "The higher the threat the more viciously we were permitted and expected to respond."

His emotionally charged testimony, like all of those in the book that covered panels addressing dehumanisation, civilian testimony, sexism in the military, veterans' health care, and the breakdown of the military, raised issues that were repeated again and again by other veterans.

"Something else we were encouraged to do, almost with a wink and nudge, was to carry 'drop weapons', or by my third tour, 'drop shovels'. We would carry these weapons or shovels with us because if we accidentally shot a civilian, we could just toss the weapon on the body, and make them look like an insurgent," Washburn said.

Four days of searing testimony, witnessed by this writer, is consolidated into the book, which makes for a difficult read. One page after another is filled with devastating stories from the soldiers about what is being done in Iraq.

Everything from the taking of "trophy" photos of the dead, to torture and slaughtering of civilians is included.

"We're trying to build a historical record of what continues to happen in this war and what the war is really about," Glantz told IPS.

Hart Viges, a member of the 82nd Airborne Division of the Army who served one year in Iraq, tells of taking orders over the radio.

"One time they said to ﬁre on all taxicabs because the enemy was using them for transportation...One of the snipers replied back, 'Excuse me? Did I hear that right? Fire on all taxicabs?' The lieutenant colonel responded, 'You heard me, trooper, ﬁre on all taxicabs.' After that, the town lit up, with all the units ﬁring on cars. This was my ﬁrst experience with war, and that kind of set the tone for the rest of the deployment."

Vincent Emanuele, a Marine rifleman who spent a year in the al-Qaim area of Iraq near the Syrian border, told of emptying magazines of bullets into the city without identifying targets, running over corpses with Humvees and stopping to take "trophy" photos of bodies. "An act that took place quite often in Iraq was taking pot shots at cars that drove by," he said. "This was not an isolated incident, and it took place for most of our eight-month deployment."

Kelly Dougherty, the executive director of IVAW, blames the behaviour of soldiers in Iraq on the policies of the U.S. government. "The abuses committed in the occupations, far from being the result of a 'few bad apples' misbehaving, are the result of our government's Middle East policy, which is crafted in the highest spheres of U.S. power," she said.

Knowing this, however, does little to soften the emotional and moral devastation of the accounts.

"You see an individual with a white ﬂag and he does anything but approach you slowly and obey commands, assume it's a trick and kill him," Michael Leduc, a corporal in the Marines who was part of the U.S. attack of Fallujah in November 2004, said were the orders from his battalion JAG officer he received before entering the city.

This is an important book for the public of the United States, in particular, because the Winter Soldier testimonies were not covered by any of the larger media outlets, aside from the Washington Post, which ran a single piece on the event that was buried in the Metro section.

The New York Times, CNN, and network news channels ABC, NBC and CBS ignored it completely.

This is particularly important in light of the fact that, as former Marine Jon Turner stated, "Anytime we did have embedded reporters with us, our actions changed drastically. We never acted the same. We were always on key with everything, did everything by the book."

"To me it's about giving a picture of what war is like," Glantz added, "Because here in the U.S. we have this very sanitised version of what war is. But war is when we have a large group of armed people killing large numbers of other people. And that is the picture that people will get from reading veterans testimony...the true face of war."

Dehumanisation of the soldiers themselves is covered in the book, as it includes testimony of sexism, racism, and the plight of veterans upon their return home as they struggle to obtain care from the Veterans Administration.

There is much testimony on the dehumanisation of the Iraqi people as well. Brian Casler, a corporal in the Marines, spoke to some of this that he witnessed during the invasion of Iraq.

"But on these convoys, I saw marines defecate into MRE bags or urinate in bottles and throw them at children on the side of the road," he stated.

Numerous accounts from soldiers include the prevalence of degrading terms for Iraqis, such as "hajis," "towel-heads" and "sand-niggers".

Scott Ewing, who served in Iraq from 2005-2006, admitted on one panel that units intentionally gave candy to Iraqi children for reasons other than "winning hearts and minds".

"There was also another motive," Ewing said, "If the kids were around our vehicles, the bad guys wouldn't attack. We used the kids as human shields."

Glantz admits that it would be difficult for the average U.S. citizen to read the book, and believes it is important to keep in mind while doing so what it took for the veterans to give this historic testimony.

"They could have been heroes, but what they are doing here is even more heroic -- which is telling the truth," Glantz told IPS. "They didn't have to come forward. They chose to come forward."

Support the BJ Lawson Money Bomb!

2008-09-16T02:23:00.001-05:00

www.lawsonlibertyfund.com

Keep the Pressure on McCain!

2008-09-15T02:15:00.015-05:00

By request, the original graphics from the RNC action:

Click on the images above to see the high res versions. To recreate the sign, you can go into any Kinko's and have them make each one as a 20" by 50" print, then laminate them back to back. I would love to see these every time McCain shows his face in public between now and election day!

Tell your friends, tell your enemies, even tell Obama supporters! Let's make this happen and keep showing people how full of crap McCain is!

(Apparently, someone is already making some money with these slogans on CafePress.)

***

Since someone asked, you can save the files to a thumb-drive, then bring them into Kinko's, or call your local print store and email the files to them, then they can pull them up when you get there.

Responses to Comments IV

2008-09-14T23:53:00.003-05:00

Keep 'em coming and we might have to make this a Sunday tradition!

Bob Barr – Right Time, Right Party, Wrong Man

***Rebekah said...
***I also think it's just a bit suspicious that a media which completely ignored Ron Paul would be giving him SO much positive coverage.***

I noticed that, but even when Barr gets all the good face time, he still looks like a tool. Thank God for the equalizing power of the internet.

***Chip said...
***I almost wonder if he planned it this way for all the extra media coverage he would get. I mean here we are after the press conference and what are we talking about, but Bob Barr who wasn't even there.***

Good observation, but I'm chalking this one up to ineptitude. (He did used to work for the CIA.) This is not the first time he has demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of the Freedom Movement and the libertarian philosophy.

***Stefan said...
***He and his running mate had the balls to ask RP to join them. That was a bold move of leaders; if RP accepted, the revolution would be coming much faster.***

Ron Paul had said repeatedly, even before Barr was nominated, that he would not run for a third party. It wasn't a bold move of leaders, it was a pandering move of calculating hacks trying to reach out to a demographic that is too smart to fall for it.

***Dave Nalle said...
***What Ron Paul did at his press conference was to endorse third parties which support everything from forced redistribution of wealth to giving up US sovereignty to foreign powers. It was a betrayal of everything the liberty movement has tried to achieve. Paul rendered himself irrelevant once and for all. Barr, on the other hand, did the right thing by not playing along with Paul's egotistical grandstanding and he deserves our support for putting liberty ahead of political opportunism. www.republicofdave.com***

Wrong! Ron Paul did not ENDORSE any of the other candidates. If the Freedom Movement wants to achieve anything, it needs to be willing to work around issues with allies of differing ideologies. I would even define the Freedom Movement to be as broad as anyone who would sign on to the four-point platform. “Egotistical grandstanding” for Ron Paul at this point would look like announcing an independent run for president, and holding his own press conference. Wait, isn't that what Barr did?

***Doob said...
***You are a true Patriot. I think Bob Barr is a plant who was meant to bring the LP down. Never again. By the way, your speech at the Rally in Minneapolis made me cry like a baby.***

As long as it makes you want to fight like a rabid wolverine!

***Anonymous said...
***Adam, thank you again for everything you have been doing since your return from Baghdad. I am not happy that you had to go thru this situation, however, if McCain wins, we all will have many many more 'situations' to go thru... Please, a vote for Obama may hurt, but hey, if Ann Coulter can stomach a vote for McCain, whom she loathes, surely you can spare a vote for the man who is promising to bring home our brothers and sisters.***

Damn! How many times do I have to say this: I cannot in good conscience vote for a pro-war candidate. Obama wants to keep 40k troops in Iraq indefinitely, on permanent bases, add more Blackwater mercenaries, and have a surge in Afghanistan. If that's not pro-war, I don't know what is.

McCain and Obama will both perpetuate the decline this country is on at about the same rate. The difference is that Obama will do it smoothly, sing you a lullaby, and after four years we might be more screwed as the public will be lulled into submission. McCain will do it erratically and clumsily, piss people off, and get more of the public engaged, if only because of their shared disgust for him. Both are “situations” that are not good for this country. I will be voting third party or writing in Ron Paul.

***Mike Blankenship said...
***I can't believe you're still running around with your IVAW t-shirt on acting like you're going to get anything accomplished in stopping the war in Iraq. We're on our way to Victory in Iraq, no thanks to any of you anti-war pukes. Or haven't you all figured that out yet?***

You'd better mother-f'in' believe it! Does it make “Victory” more likely when you capitalize it? Or haven't you figured out that you can't win an occupation?

***Doug Burlison said...
***Adam, I do not know you, you do not know me, but as a fellow lover of Liberty, I urge you to reconsider the status of your Barr endorsement. Granted, those of us in internet land are not as close to this issue as you are, and perhaps that gives us a different perspective about this whole matter. I am saddened by how things have transpired in both the Barr and the Paul camps, and I feel that in the interests of Liberty in America, it is time for some bilateral leadership from both sides. It seems that you are in a unique position to make this happen. . . . None of us are perfect, yet somehow, we need to come together. Can you help this struggle by providing that kind of leadership?***

I am also saddened by these recent developments which will harm the movement in the short-term and perhaps mid-term too, but in the long run, we are better off without Barr, and with a higher standard of leadership and cooperation.

If by “the Barr and the Paul camps” you mean their actual staffers, they represent only a minute part of this movement. We don't need “bilateral leadership” to unite these camps. We need leadership like what Ron Paul demonstrated by bringing some powerful people together on important issues. There is a lot still to be done, and I'm working on it!

***mariana said...
***I love Ron Paul. But he's just a man. An incredible man, but the idea of Liberty, now that's something you can't keep down. Liberty is an eternal principle, has no lifespan, and is only limited by *our resolve* to bring it to the fore. . . . I want maximum Liberty, maximum personal responsibility, and to be divested from a "Government" that uses the fruit of my labor to oppress, occupy and murder hundreds of thousands of people. Ron Paul came the closest, but I'm not giving up because I have no one to "rally under". . . . Don't get me wrong. I'll certainly promote candidates who support my dreams and vision for America (indeed, the world). But I won't blindly associate with a party (such as the Libertarian party), vote for a candidate as sleezy as Barr, just to assure ballot access for the LP candidate in four years. There's so many better ways to go about getting what we want. Campaign for Liberty supporters aren't lost if they associate their freedom with responsibility. They're only lost if they think they need Ron Paul to lead them or tell them what to do. I don't :) To quote an awesome bumper sticker, we don't need leaders, we need Liberty. I don't mean we shouldn't get behind those who stand a chance of representing us. I'm just never going to hand my power over completely to someone else and expect them to do the whole job. It's my job. It's your job. Jump in, the water's fine.***

F'in' a, right on! Thank you.

A Slap in the Face, Courtesy of the Department of Veterans Affairs

***SimonNolan said...
***I wish that every person who puts a yellow ribbon magnet on the back of their car would actually do something to support our soldiers-- at least write their congressman demanding reform. Otherwise that cheap magnet is nothing but a hollow platitude that only makes the owner self-righteous.***

You're not the only one who feels that way. A lot of vets get really pissed off when they see yellow ribbons because it's not even a message of support, it's a directive, an order, telling someone else to support the troops. One of my veteran friends hates them so much that whenever he sees one he takes it. He's got quite the collection on his fridge now.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who put comments of support on this post. It definitely helped to read them as I was still dealing with this. It's also beautiful to see that the brotherhood of veterans transcends politics. (Thanks TSO)

Pissing In McCain's Kool-Aid

***Pen said...
***Did you get wrapped up in the chaos in the streets of St. Paul, MN while you were sticking it to McCain? It was appalling. Nearly three hundred people: protesters, innocent bystanders, and media were rounded up like cattle, pinned to a bridge, and then arrested for unlawful assembly. Civil liberties out the door. Sickening. You made a guest star appearance in my tribute video to those who were braver than me to try to be heard. I hope that is okay? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp7AUQJMOKw***

I didn't see much of the chaos, since I was busy working from the inside. That video is more than ok, it's an honor to be included!

***Anonymous said...
***Right when McCain was speaking and I saw the cut to you holding the sign I literally spit out my pepsi all ovr the floor and scremed out "HOLY SHIT THATS ADAM KOKESH!!!" My finace jumped off the couch and got mad at me for screaming so loudly . . . After watching your speech at the March and at the Rally I think it is best for you to run for congress. If you do, i'll drop $2,300 in your campaign. :)***

I have heard a lot of stories like that and I'm glad that I achieved the goals that my sponsors in the soft drink and carpet industries laid out for me. I plan on running for Congress eventually, but you'd better send me some contact info or tell me the check is in the mail!

***Anonymous said...
***Sure would love a written transcript of the speech you gave last night....word for word. Can you post it on your site.***

It doesn't exist. That was straight off the cuff.

***DanDan said...
***How do you feel as a soldier who put his life on the line to fight for his country about people who burn the American Flag?***

The flag is just a symbol. Burning it is just symbolic. It saddens me that someone would do such a thing to trash our country, but it is no different than chanting “death to America,” and just as childish. I still consider it a means of self-expression, and the freedom of speech means nothing without the right to say what others don't want to hear, so I would never do anything to encroach on someone else's right to destroy their own property, or express themselves in whatever way they see fit so long as it doesn't interfere with anyone else's rights. In fact, I will still fight to the death to defend it.

***World Power Network said...
***I loved your speech. It was very enlightening that our troops swore to uphold the constitution, not the government. I would suggest that you lay off the take up arms against the government angle. That is liable to get you thrown in jail and we don't need to take up arms against the government. We just need the military to refuse to take up arms against US citizens and other things which violate the constitution. The fascist state rules through fear. If the members of the Military disobey orders, stand down and will not cause fear, the fascist will fold like origami.***

I agree, but I never advocated that we take up arms against the government. There may be isolated incidents of violence in our revolution, as there have been throughout our history, and we must be ready to defend ourselves, but when the time comes to physically challenge the government, I have no doubt that the troops will be on our side. The point is that we must bring the same dedication and commitment and be ready to make the ultimate sacrifice as undoubtedly, some of us will be called upon to do. Not ALL of the troops will be on our side, but we must have the courage to look them all in the eye just the same.

Ground Zero - Seven Years Later

2008-09-13T00:55:00.002-05:00

Bob Barr – Right Time, Right Party, Wrong Man

2008-09-11T13:42:00.002-05:00

I attended Ron Paul's press conference yesterday expecting Bob Barr to be there. It was going to be as close to an endorsement as Barr could get from Paul. I almost came with a sign that said “Veterans For Barr.” Boy, am I glad I didn't.

Ron Paul had decided to throw some of his now considerable weight behind the electoral issues that marginalize third party candidates and got all four major third party candidates to endorse a four-point platform that included libertarian positions on foreign policy, privacy, the national debt, and the federal reserve.

When I think of the freedom movement, I think of it as broadly as possible. Everyone who thinks the government is too big, too intrusive, too burdensome, and not representing our will abroad with the current interventionist foreign policy is part of the freedom movement. We are a diverse group, and we do not need to be uniform in all of our beliefs to be unified against a government that is out of control. What Ron Paul did was put that down into four points of agreement and got a team united behind them in a very powerful way. It may not have been as dramatic as some people were hoping, but it was beautiful. Our founders would have recognized the importance of what Paul was doing, or as Benjamin Franklin said, “We must all hang together or most assuredly we will all hang separately.”

Bob Barr just had to ruin it for everyone for his own selfish reasons. He had agreed to the platform, and agreed to be at the event, only to withdraw thirty minutes before it happened. There was an empty seat for him on the stage. Paul was gracious and kind, saying things like, “if he can make it,” but behind the scenes he was angry and hurt.

I went to Barr's own press conference right afterwards still giving him the benefit of the doubt. I had hoped that he had a good reason for not being there that I was not aware of. Maybe he would say he had a personal issue. But instead, I sat there and listened to him prattle on about Ross Perot and getting votes and forcing policy issues and “principled leadership.” Then he asked Ron Paul to be his VP.

I was fuming. I had reservations about Barr before publicly endorsing him, but I even offered my support in a letter that was delivered through the LP staff which was ignored by the campaign. I thought his transformation was genuine and that it was a powerful sign for the LP to elect a newcomer, as if to say “we will embrace anyone who comes around to our principles.” Unfortunately, we picked Barr instead. He has since shown himself to not fully comprehend or endorse the philosophy, having praised the troop surge, argued for intervention in Iran and South America, and advocated a national sales tax. He has also run as far from the LP as possible, and there is still no link to the LP on his website. His lack of willingness to work with other people on key issues (issues any true libertarian would be passionate about) is very revealing.

I raised my hand and stood up to speak when Russ Verney acknowledged me. Maybe he realized who I was when I did not claim any press credentials, but he interrupted me and tried to get me to sit down. One of his staffers actually got up and stood next to me, looking like he was ready to carry me out. I guess he realized that was not a good idea. I ignored him and pressed on, despite Verney's continued interruptions. I don't remember exactly what I said, but what I was trying to say went something like this:

“What Ron Paul was doing today was taking leadership on some issues that I know you agree with and your lack of willingness to be a part of a team and work with others on these issues is telling. You have spoken a lot just now about leadership and unity, but it is clear you care about neither, except when you are the leader, and people are united behind you. Good leadership includes good followership and today, you showed your lack of both, and a complete lack of integrity. I am retracting my endorsement.”

The freedom movement is bigger than any one party, and any one leader. The revolution of which I speak is a revolution of values, of political culture, and of the understanding of the responsibility of being a good citizen. When that happens, it will be reflected in our political system one way or another, be it through the Republicans, Democrats, Green Party, Constitution Party, or an independent candidate. As a moderate libertarian, I still believe that the Libertarian Party will be the mechanism by which our movement will come to fruition and I will remain an enthusiastic lifetime member. More than the party or any one candidate, I am committed to this movement, my country, and my principles.

***

I have signed a petition to have Bob Barr removed from the Libertarian Party ticket. Please click here and sign this petition to join me in this effort. Please forward this to everyone you know who cares about the future of this movement and the Libertarian Party.

***

Russ Verney is full of crap. Click here to read his response to the events of the last day in which he praises Bush's leadership, exploits 9/11, and claims that Ron Paul's press conference was “about promoting a man.” Maybe their campaign strategy goes something like, “Screw liberty, screw the issues, screw the principles of the party of principle. If we can just get enough votes this year, we can get Bob back on the ticket in four!” He was right about Wayne Allen Root though: it was gracious of him to step off the ticket for Ron Paul, but of course if Barr gave a crap about the movement, he would have offered Ron Paul the top spot on the ticket.

A Slap in the Face, Courtesy of the Department of Veterans Affairs

2008-09-09T05:34:00.001-05:00

I had another anxiety attack today. I left the post office and walked to my car. The rage was building, the despair was creeping, and I could tell I was losing it, but I kept going. I called my advisor from the Disabled American Veterans, and screamed into the phone. I got into the car, still yelling, and started the engine.

I had just gotten three letters from the VA. The first two were just like the ones I had been receiving for months. “We are still processing your application for compensation. We apologize for the delay.” It had taken me years to be able to admit to myself that I had PTSD. I registered with the VA when I got off active duty. The first time I went to the VA hospital, I knew the numbers, and I knew it was a disaster. Then I saw it first hand.

At first I saw the Vietnam vets. Men that were hustled through their midlife years and were walking with canes or in wheelchairs, sometimes muttering to themselves the regrets that only a broken soldier knows. Then I saw the World War II vets, clinging to life with the pride of a dieing breed. Then I saw the vets that looked like me. They bore the scars I recognized but couldn't feel. The IEDs of Fallujah echoed in the halls.

I thought I didn't belong. I got a consultation for PTSD, but missed my first appointment and never rescheduled. I didn't want to be a burden. There were those far more deserving than I. But then I needed help, and help came in the form of a fistful of prescriptions. It didn't help.

Then a Vietnam vet told me that I had earned my due. I needed to file for disability. It was the cost of my innocence, but I felt dirty to put a price tag on that and I didn't want to even ask what kind of check came with the “70%” label. So I filled out a lot of forms, and in a gut-wrenching all-nighter, described in detail my “stressors.” With my advisor, I turned in the forms in person in a building that could only make a bureaucrat smile.

It took me over a year and a meeting in person with the secretary of the VA just to get an ID card. I wasn't surprised when they wanted me to fill out more forms and I sent them in, like a good little veteran. Then over the course of months, the letters came. “We apologize for the delay.”

Today was different. The third letter I opened said, “We determined that the following condition was not related to your military service, so service connection couldn't be granted: Medical Description, Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)” “Service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder is denied.” “Review of your DD214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, and 201 Personnel file are negative for any evidence of combat medals or ribbons that can be considered evidence of participation in a stressful episode.” Bureaucratic words that still slice like razors to the bone. I guess they didn't see my Combat Action Ribbon, or Navy Commendation Medal. Maybe I really was crazy before I joined the Marines!

I was livid to say the least. As I drove on and the desperation overcame the anger I cried. I turned up the music to drown the sorrow, but the tears kept coming. I know there is an appeals process that I intend to pursue, but this is worse than being called a “phony soldier” by some neocon nut job. So I guess it's back to being another struggling veteran, trying to figure out how I will cover the rent this month.

But my veteran friends were able to put things in perspective for me. I spoke to Scot Camil, whose courage as a veteran speaking out against the war in Vietnam has been a great source of inspiration for me. I spoke to Chris Hill of Gathering of Eagles, who happens to be a bit of a war fetishist, but understands the brotherhood of veterans. I spoke to Jeremy Williams, who served with me in the same unit at Camp Pendleton, and is now toiling as a tireless veterans advocate in Texas. It could be a lot worse. And before I went to bed, I spoke to my muse and heard the music and she touched my soul and everything was right as rain again.

Pissing In McCain's Kool-Aid

2008-09-08T13:25:00.002-05:00

RALLY FOR THE REPUBLIC!

2008-09-03T15:28:00.002-05:00

I have been in Minneapolis for the last week, first for the IVAW/VFP national convention and then for the launch events for the Campaign For Liberty which culminated last night with the Rally For The Republic. I wish I could sit here and write about all the amazing experiences I have had recently, but there is someone who wants to get an IVAW t-shirt on the floor of the RNC! Duty calls!

I was not planning on speaking at the rally last night, but the organizers decided to squeeze me in at the last minute to introduce Aimee Allen. So I leave you with this:

Video of Speech From Revolution March

2008-08-28T11:03:00.003-05:00

I knew this was in the works for a while, and it's very exciting to see REP FREEDOM FORCE finally release it on YouTube:

KICK ASS FREEDOM REVOLUTION SPEECH!

"Adam Kokesh of Iraq Veterans Against the War delivered a powerful message to the freedom movement at the Revolution March in Washington. We were completely blown away!"

Here is a video of the complete speech:
Adam Kokesh Revolution March

Adam Kokesh Fighting Alongside Mike and Jake on The Fire Team For Freedom Radio Show

2008-08-27T04:23:00.003-05:00

From The Fire Team For Freedom:

Listen here: 08.26.2008 Tuesday - FT4F
Show 90+min
This is a good one! Adam Kokesh of the IVAW, who has been on Larry King, CNN and Fox News joins us for the show: We discuss mumerous topics including Impeaching the President, the movie Sir No Sir and Beyond Treason, 9/11 and much much more!

***

I will be joining these guys again on Monday night in St. Paul for a broadcast from the Rally For the Republic festivities, so check back and tune in!

Some Gave All For Nothing

2008-08-25T21:56:00.004-05:00

Some Gave All For Nothing

With sweat and toil, give blood for oil,
Make an offer to the Gods!
The Gods of war eat dogs of war,
But we all face the odds.
Roll the dice, you'll sacrifice,
For country, God and Corps.
No purple hearts, no bleeding hearts,
But touched forever more.
Mom's reticence, your innocence,
Like dust into the wind.
Home to war, or back for more,
No matter how it's spinned!
Let dreams of glory make your story,
Face the ultimate test.
They'll deceive and you'll believe,
Dulce et decorum est!

Heed the call, don't take the fall,
We know they're only bluffing.
We all gave some and some gave all,
But some gave all for nothing.

It's our blood lust, it's dust to dust,
The seeds of death we sew,
Bury the caches, scatter the ashes,
The people don't want to know.
An IED here, or a bombing there,
What's the death count today?
It's old news, and just half-true,
What is there left to say?
A father's fears, a mother's tears,
Await that number to mount.
Stories we heed of a hero's deed,
But suicides don't even count.
Fill your tanks and save your thanks,
No need to give me props.
We fought, we died, we killed, they lied,
But my friend came home in a box.

Heed the call, don't take the fall,
We know they're only bluffing.
We all gave some and some gave all,
But some gave all for nothing.

A city besieged, a country deceived,
Fallujah was just a ploy,
We couldn't elect, with just disrespect,
When soldiers become just like toys.
Lance Corporal Frank, didn't catch a blank,
From his armpit to his spine.
That same flak vest, protected his chest,
It might as well have been mine.
They dropped the ball, we got the call,
To get him on the mend.
My lead foot fell, we raised some hell,
To make him whole again.
We carried him in, as he faded out,
Told him he would be alright.
Have no fear, your cure is here.
But then he died on site.

Heed the call, don't take the fall,
We know they're only bluffing.
We all gave some and some gave all,
But some gave all for nothing.

Music by Blindfold

The Conventions Are Coming!

2008-08-10T22:04:00.002-05:00

The American people are about to be subjected to another round of partisan pandering this fall with the Democratic National Convention in Denver, and the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis. As with most of our political discourse today, the two-party system has taken something that was once a meaningful chance to further our national dialog and reduced it to a distraction. When the conventions actually meant something, weren't those the good old days? Not really. By the time the conventions meant something, the two parties were joining hands around the neck of the people and starting the process of choking the political vitality out of this country. The way that they conduct conventions today is simply an indicator of the ensuing decline.

Originally, conventions would bring the parties together to nominate their presidential candidates through various delegate mechanisms. In the 1800s, this was an improvement over secret deals in the halls of Congress that had previously determined the candidates. In the further democratization of this process, we now have primaries in a way that ensures that candidates are determined long before
the conventions, which have become glorified acceptance speeches. Despite being completely unnecessary and a horrendous waste of tax dollars, these vestigial political limbs are still being used to beat this country to death.

While the delegates of past conventions sometimes discussed candidates in a way that served to make the process a referendum in itself, they also used to have meaningful debates about party platforms. Today, the mantra is unity, and the big speeches are scheduled for prime-time. These are going to be slick affairs and there will be no room for substantive debate.

Although only one of many pertinent issues, I have to mention the war here to make some critical points. Most of the country is already against the war and we made that clear in the 2006 elections, which were largely referendums on the war. The Democrats were eager to disappoint, and Pelosi has become a shill for the administration. Obama has been positioning himself as a pro-war candidate, advocating a draw-down (not a withdrawal – look at his numbers!) in Iraq, a large long-term presence, increased reliance on contractors, a surge in Afghanistan, and possible strikes against Iran and now Russia. I actually have more faith in McCain (malleable a maverick as he is) to take charge strategically of the Global War of Terror and get us out of Iraq by the end of his first term as he said he hoped to in a recent speech.

Of course neither Republicans or Democrats are willing to discuss a principled philosophy of foreign policy the way that Nader, McKinney, and Barr are clamoring to. But who would be listening? We have made it clear that we would rather be spoon-fed sound-bites than have an intelligent discussion. In the words of Thomas Jefferson, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free ... it expects what never was and never will be.” The American founders by and large disdained and distrusted political parties and would be shocked at how difficult it has become for a third party or independent candidate to just get on the ballot.

The sham media events that conventions have become are indicators of not only how low we have sunk politically, but how we are allowing ourselves to be easy targets for pandering. These events will get widespread media coverage and millions of Americans will be watching. At least the ones who still care about being relatively informed voters. Part of the decline of our culture is because of widespread insecurity and disempowerment. This increases people's psychological need to feel like they belong to a group and derive an identity from it. “I'm a Democrat because that hot girl down the street is a Democrat.” “I'm a Republican because the party is grand. And old.”

Be that as it may still be prevalent, more and more of us are growing past this need to indulge our ignorance and insecurities. We are setting new records for independent and third party voter registrations. The parties are losing their grip. There will be large numbers of principled, passionate, politically aware people in Denver and Minneapolis, but they won't be inside the conventions. In Denver, they will be protesting outside and holding a four day festival at a nearby park. In Minneapolis, they will be marching in the street, but they will also be holding a “counter-convention.” Ron Paul, having been (predictably) denied a speaking spot at the RNC, will headline the “Rally For The Republic,” which will be a celebration of the Freedom Movement and a launch party for Ron Paul's “Campaign For Liberty.”

The conventions may have some utility yet this year: they can show the differences between the goals of the two-party system and the people who tolerate it. As large as the spectacles outside promise to be this time, (“Recreate '68” is a slogan for DNC protesters who have said they will make 1968 “look like a small get together”) the media will be slobbering over the “real news” coming out of the conventions. I have a couple of predictions for what we're going to be presented with as news: Obama will accept the Democratic nomination, John McCain will accept the Republican nomination, the protesters will be ridiculed, the American people will go back to sleep when it's over, and continue to fool themselves into believing that real change can come out of the two-party system.

An Imperial Presidency? Check! Impeachment? Not likely.

2008-07-25T19:30:00.012-05:00

On July 25th, 2008, I attended the Judiciary Committee hearing officially titled, “Executive Power and Its Constitutional Limitations.” It was a pulled punch if there ever was one. According to the press release issued July 17, 2008, it was supposed to be a hearing on the “Imperial Presidency of George W. Bush and possible legal responses.” Conyers said in his opening statement, “We are not done yet, and we do not intend to go away until we achieve the accountability that Congress is entitled to and the American people deserve.” He may be honest in his intentions, but if the “we” he refers to is his committee, his party, or the Congress as a whole, I don't believe him for a second. Somehow, he even managed to look bored throughout a good part of the proceedings.

Despite the original call for “legal responses,” Conyers advised the committee and all the witnesses that House rules prohibit “personal abuse, innuendo or ridicule of the president,” and he made sure that no allegations about specific individuals were allowed. However, one of the Republican members noted the extended talk of impeachment and referred to it as the “elephant in the corner that we have been feeling our way around to.” Kucinich had his way around this, of course. “The rules of the House prevent me or any witness from utilizing familiar terms. But we can put two and two together in our minds.” We sure can. And you, Congressman Kucinich, seem to possess one of the few spines your party has left.

I was joined by several members of Iraq Veterans Against the War and Veterans for Peace. We were there primarily to support Elliott Adams, Presiden of VFP, who did a wonderful job representing our organization. Although we arrived over two hours early for the hearing, we were not in time to claim any of the sixteen seats available to the public. Because Congressman Conyers canceled a meeting with VFP because of the hearing, we had been promised seats in the hearing room that never materialized. After waiting patiently while one man got arrested in the hall for “not backing up” as ordered by United States Capitol Police, crazy lefties had numerous outbursts of off-key singing, and most of the other several hundred people trying to get in left to the overflow room, I was able to get in just in time for the second panel as some more seats opened up and some of the original sixteen gave up on controlling their bladders.

I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate Bob Barr would be testifying. He didn't disappoint. He made a great opening statement about “Preserving Constitutional Liberty through Checks and Balances and the Separation of Powers,” but the best part of his testimony was in the second round before questioning. “What we are facing now is a Constitutional clock, and it is counting down what remains of the Constitution of this great land. I might ask then to introduce for the record the disappearing Bill of Rights. This is the Bill of Rights that we as member of the Judiciary Committee know [he holds up a copy of the Bill of Rights] as adopted in 1791. [he flips it over to reveal a copy of the Bill of Rights that is largely redacted] This is what it is fast becoming.” You know it's a sad day when a former Congressman has to submit the Bill of Rights for the record in a Congressional hearing!

There were numerous outbursts of laughter and applause from the crowd and little authority exercised by Conyers despite repeated ribbing from the Republicans. After one of them complained about “signs,” Conyers told his staff to address the issue. One of the committee staffers arbitrarily approached IVAW members TJ Buonomo and Nick Morgan who were sitting together. They were both wearing pins that said, “VETERANS FOR IMPEACHMENT” and neither had a sign. There were about a dozen of us wearing the same pin. The staffer pleaded incessantly with them to remove their pins, but TJ was offended and when he vocally proclaimed that this was a violation of his Constitutional rights, the Capitol Police descended upon him and escorted him out. He was later charged with “Disrupting Congress” and has a hearing pending for August 12th.

Cindy Sheehan made a more petulant, childish exit in her typical fashion.
Testifier Vince Bugliosi: “By taking this nation into war on a lie, all of the killings of American soldiers in Iraq became unlawful killings, and therefore murders.”
Cindy Sheehan: “Thank you Vince.”
Conyers: “Members are urging me to take more action than merely reminding our audience.”
Cindy Sheehan: “I urge you to take action.”
Conyers: “OK then, Sheehan, you're out.”
Cindy Sheehan: [already getting up and leaving] “I’m going. Good-bye.”
She was allowed to leave without incident. It's ironic that it wasn't for her original interruption, but rather for urging Conyers to take action that she was told to leave.

While the Democrats made a powerful case for impeachment, led by Congressman Kucinich, who was called as a testifier, they seemed to be really trying to make a case for their own party's reelection. They failed. As petulant and petty as the Republicans were throughout the hearing, Representative Lamar Smith of Texas, the ranking Republican, hit the nail on the head: “It seems that we are hosting an anger management class. This hearing will not cause us to impeach the president; it will only serve to impeach Congress's credibility.”

The Democrats have become a sorry excuse for an opposition party. I don't think any of the many potentially deserving members of the Bush Administration will ever be impeached for the same reason that we didn't have impeachment hearings today or even months ago. The Democrats are just as corrupt, and complicit. Spineless Democrats are Neocon Appeasers and the blood is on their hands too.

So what was accomplished? A case for impeachment was made, everyone had a chance to posture and pander, and a few witnesses got to promote their books. The Democrats tried to make the case for why we need to give their party more power in November, but I think this is going to back fire. Now that the state of decay of our republic and our leadership has reached a new low, pointing out that the Republicans are worse than the Democrats (barely) is only going to drive voters into the open arms of our very deserving, uniquely principled, Libertarian Party.

***
I have a lot more photos and even some good video that I'm going to putting together soon, but for now, I will leave you with the wisdom of Bob Barr's written testimony:

OFFICE OF BOB BARR
Member of Congress, 1995-2003

Preserving Constitutional Liberty
through Checks and Balances and the
Separation of Powers

TESTIMONY BEFORE THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

BY BOB BARR

July 25, 2008

Mr. Chairman and distinguished Members of this Committee, on which I was privileged to serve throughout my eight years as a Member of the House of Representatives, it is an honor to appear today to speak on the importance of the separation of powers in the federal government as a tool for protecting the people’s liberties. Many vital issues confront our nation, but few are more important than repairing and maintaining the constitutional bulwarks that guarantee individual liberty and limit government power.

Mr. Chairman, today I appear as a private citizen, and also as a former Member of this Committee and as a once-again practicing attorney. I am also honored to be serving as the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party.

It is axiomatic that no matter how much power government has, it always wants more. While the executive branch under George W. Bush has taken this truism to new heights, it is not unique in its quest for power. Unfortunately, the other branches of government have failed to do enough to maintain the constitutional balance. Particularly disturbing has been Congress’ recent reluctance, in the face of aggressive executive branch claims, to make the laws and ensure that the laws are properly applied. This failure has inhibited the operation of the separation of powers, necessary to provide the checks and balances which undergird our system of constitutional liberty.

CHECKS AND BALANCES

The Constitution employs several techniques to preserve our liberties and privacy. One is to limit federal authority to enumerated powers. Another is to explicitly restrict government power, most notably through the Bill of Rights. The Founders also used the basic structure of government to protect the people from abuse, relying upon federalism, dividing power between state and national governments, as well as the separation of powers within the federal government itself.

The latter concept goes back to ancient Greece and was explicated by such political philosophers as John Locke and most famously by Baron de Montesquieu, who was much studied by America’s Founders. Many countries have implemented the same principle, though with different government structures, ranging up to six branches in Germany. In the U.S. the Founders established the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The result is intentional inefficiency: the three branches are expected to constantly check and balance each other.

For instance, James Madison declared in Federalist No. 51: “the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others.” He went on to explain that, “[i]n framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.” This means “the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that each may be a check on the other.”

Despite the inevitable problems which will afflict any political system, the original constitutional scheme has worked extremely well. Although the relative power of the different branches has varied over time, checks and balances have always operated.

More than two centuries have passed, and the constitutional limits on both the legislative and judicial branches remain robust – at least in theory. The president appoints and the Senate confirms judges, for instance. Presidents veto legislation and administer the laws, while the judiciary assesses the constitutionality of and interprets statutes.

In contrast, however, the constitutional constraints on the executive branch have eroded, with some breaking down substantially or entirely. The process has been underway for many years, but has greatly accelerated since 2001. In particular, President Bush and his appointees have used his power as commander in chief—of the military, not American society, it should be noted—to disregard congressional authority and override explicit constitutional provisions. Indeed, since 9/11, the president has let few opportunities slip by without reminding us that he is not only commander in chief but also a “wartime president,” and to argue that this status justifies whatever new power he claims to possess and wishes to utilize.

The president’s authority is substantial, but limited by law. The Constitution directs him or her to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” However, Congress is vested with the sole power to legislate, thereby determining the laws to be executed. Moreover, the president’s administration of the law is constrained by the Bill of Rights, including the Fourth Amendment, which bars searches and seizures absent a warrant based on probable cause. Further, though the president by the nature of his office has a lead role in shaping foreign and military policy, the Constitution shares powers in these areas between the legislative and executive branches.

Since the nation’s founding, Congress and the executive have struggled for supremacy. The 20th Century witnessed a steady if irregular expansion of presidential authority, which has carried over into this first decade of the 21st Century. The role of the president as the military’s commander in chief has taken on increasing importance as it has been used to justify the aggrandizement of the executive’s authority at the expense of that of both Congress and the judiciary. The issue is not just an abstract struggle between different government officials. Rather, this expansion of presidential power has increasingly put the people’s liberties and privacy at risk.

WAR-MAKING POWERS

One of the most important expansions of executive authority has been transforming the president’s power to conduct a war into that of starting a war. Congress is vested with the sole power to declare, meaning to start, war; the Constitution’s framers explicitly intended to diverge from the British system and vest the authority to initiate war with the many in the legislature rather than the one in the executive. The Constitution also empowers Congress to create the military and enact rules governing both the military and the conduct of war. Although the constitutional convention changed the term from “make” to “declare” to allow the president to respond to a surprise attack, and the president’s authority to conduct war as commander in chief suggests that Congress cannot second guess his tactical judgments, he is to exercise all his powers within the larger framework created by the legislative branch.

Yet modern presidents increasingly assert their unilateral authority to bomb and invade other nations, without legislative approval, and to conduct military operations for years even after the original circumstances giving rise to a congressional authorization to use force have changed. This trend did not originate with the Bush administration, but has continued and grown under it. For instance, in 2002 President George W. Bush insisted that Congress not tie his hands, and refused to acknowledge the constitutional necessity of winning legislative approval to invade Iraq. Rather than make the decision for or against war, Congress transferred discretion to initiate war against Iraq to the president.

After launching the Iraq invasion in 2003 based on a 2002 congressionally-passed resolution to do so, the current administration has rejected the argument that a multi-year occupation violates Congress’ authorization of force, which legally controls the executive’s war objectives. The president also has resisted congressional oversight of its objectives and policies, which is an essential aspect of Congress’ authority. Although acknowledging that Congress controls the budgetary purse strings, the president and his aides have fought any attempt to condition appropriations—conveniently bundled in “emergency” supplementals in order to reduce the opportunity for legislative review.

EROSION OF LIBERTY

The administration has attempted to use the same commander in chief power, as well as Congress’ Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), approved after 9/11, to trump constitutional protections for civil liberties and privacy. Yet the Constitution does not create a national security exception to the Bill of Rights or separation of powers, and no member of Congress imagined that voting to authorize the use of force abroad simultaneously authorized the president to engage in unspecified and otherwise unconstitutional conduct at home. There is no basis for the argument the president’s authority as commander in chief in effect swallows and trumps the rest of the Constitution.

For instance, the administration undertook warrantless surveillance of Americans without court order or supervision. Conducted by the National Security Agency, the program was inaugurated shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and was inaccurately dubbed the Terrorist Surveillance Program, since in fact it targeted American citizens with no reason to believe they were engaged in any actions involving terrorism. The eavesdropping directly violated even the relaxed warrant requirements of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Under Republican control, Congress unashamedly refused to conduct serious inquiry into the obviously improper NSA surveillance program. Unfortunately, the GOP majority put partisan comity ahead of fidelity to the law and Constitution. Although more members of the Democratic majority, which took over in January 2007, indicated concern about administration lawlessness, this Congress recently caved in to administration demands and amended FISA to grant the government unprecedented power to surreptitiously spy on the phone calls and emails of American citizens in our own country, based on nothing more then a belief they are communicating with someone not in the U.S. The measure also granted immunity – retro-active and prospective -- to telephone companies which aided government law-breaking.

Thus did a genuine need to modernize certain of FISA’s technical provisions—for example, to reverse the court interpretation that monitoring calls sent by modern routing mechanisms through the U.S., even though both parties were located abroad, required a court order—became an opportunity to greatly expand the law’s reach. The result is to make virtually every international call or email subject to monitoring without court oversight. Thereby carving out an entire class of communication from constitutional protection is a breathtaking decision with the potential to do enormous damage to the very meaning of the Fourth Amendment and to the essential foundation of limited government. This law also has effectively neutered the oversight role the Congress or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court should play in this area.

Similarly extravagant has been the administration’s claimed right, as an adjunct of both the president’s constitutional warpowers and the AUMF, to designate American citizens arrested in America as well as alleged terrorists captured overseas as “enemy combatants” beyond the reach of the U.S. Constitution and courts. The detention of combatants captured in battle is a natural adjunct to war, but not the suspension of all constitutional and legislative oversight of the executive’s power to imprison anyone it claims to be a combatant for as long as it desires. The argument that the president has the unique power to suspend basic constitutional guarantees, including the “Great Writ” of habeas corpus, whereby a person has a fundamental right to be brought before a court to determine the lawfulness of his or her detention or deprivation, is particularly dangerous in the midst of a potentially endless “war” where the American homeland is considered to be a -- and perhaps the chief -- battlefield.

There is nothing in Article II of the Constitution which provides that the president is the military’s commander in chief, to suggest that he thereby gains the power to suspend any law and any constitutional provision at his discretion. Indeed, the very next section reminds the president that at all times he has a responsibility to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,” with no hint of an exception whenever he decides he is acting as commander in chief. In Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952), the Supreme Court rejected a similar claim by the Truman administration -- that the president’s powers as commander in chief allowed him to seize steel mills despite Congress’ refusal to authorize such an act.

Nor is it plausible that Congress believed that by authorizing military action in response to 9/11 it was empowering the president to deny American citizens their constitutional rights at home. Authorizing military action overseas does not logically mean authorizing every conceivable use of surveillance, arrest, and imprisonment by the federal government at home. Indeed, if the administration had believed this theory at the time, there would have been no reason for it to have proposed the Patriot Act, since all those powers, too, should have been included in the AUMF. Equally important, Congress itself only has the authority to suspend—and only if our country is invaded or faced with overt “Rebellion”—not eliminate, habeas corpus. Congress cannot authorize the president to limit that right in additional circumstances.

SIGNING STATEMENTS

Another example of a direct presidential assault on the separation of powers, and thus the constitutional structure undergirding our free society, are presidential signing statements. Throughout history, signing statements have been used to thank supporters, provide reasons for signing a bill or express satisfaction or displeasure with legislation passed by Congress. Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton all used signing statements to express constitutional and other objections to legislation, influence judicial interpretation, and otherwise advance policy goals.

President George W. Bush has more aggressively – to an historically unprecedented degree -- employed the presidential signing statement to challenge or deny effect to legislation that he considers unconstitutional, but nonetheless signs. As the Congressional Research Service reported last year, a much higher share of President Bush’s signing statements have contained a constitutional challenge, and they “are typified by multiple constitutional and statutory objections, containing challenges to more than 1,000 distinct provisions of the law.” This tactic, adds CRS, is “an integral part of the administration’s efforts to further its broad view of presidential prerogatives and to assert functional and determinative control over all elements of the executive decision making process.”

In scores of cases President Bush has claimed that legislation has improperly interfered with presidential authority. In a democracy, such assertions of power—most fundamentally the underlying failure to comply rather than the explanatory signing statement—do not happen in a vacuum. They affect the careful balance of power in our system of government. The executive branch is not free to unilaterally change that balance; our Constitution requires legislative and judicial involvement in lawmaking to ensure public debate and oversight and to guard against centralization of power.

Article I of the Constitution gives Congress the power to make the laws. Under Article II, the president has the duty to ensure that the laws are faithfully executed. The Constitution also provides that if the president objects to a proposed law, he can veto it. This gives Congress the chance to override his veto, enacting the law despite his opposition, or to sustain his veto, and then work to address the president’s objections. A president may also challenge a law he believes to be unconstitutional in court.

Instead, the current president, especially, has used signing statements, and a refusal to enforce the law, as a sub rosa form of unreviewable veto, usurping the power of Congress and aggrandizing the power of the executive.

EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE

Another tool of executive aggrandizement has been the doctrine of executive privilege. No where spelled out in the Constitution itself, the claim has been advanced by presidents starting with George Washington. The doctrine is most persuasively rooted in national security, but presidents often have more generally contended that confidentiality is necessary for the operation of the executive branch.

Although the argument at its core is not without force, executive privilege has become an all-purpose shield and boilerplate excuse to hide embarrassing and potentially incriminating information from Congress and the public. That a claim for executive privilege had to be balanced with other interests was evident in 1807 when Aaron Burr, on trial for treason, sued President Thomas Jefferson to produce a supposedly exculpatory letter. Chief Justice John Marshall rejected Jefferson’s argument that disclosure risked public safety and ordered the president to comply. In 1974 the climactic case of United States v. Nixon confronted President Richard M. Nixon’s attempt to use the claim of executive privilege to avoid having to turn over evidence of criminal misbehavior to Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski. The Supreme Court unanimously acknowledged a generalized right of confidentiality, but ruled that this privilege must yield to other government interests, most notably the criminal process. The order that he yield up the tapes recording his Oval Office conversations led to his resignation.

Other presidents have relied on the doctrine to shield their operations from scrutiny. The Clinton administration avoided disclosure of the deliberations of the president’s health care reform task force because First Lady Hillary Clinton was considered to be a government employee under the relevant legislation. This admittedly strained interpretation allowed the courts to avoid ruling on the question of whether executive privilege applied to conversations between government officials and people outside of government.

As in other areas, the Bush administration has even more energetically sought to keep information about many of its activities, even those with no sensitive national security implications, from public view. For instance, the administration resisted a request for disclosure, based on legislation covering “advisory committees,” of the names of participants and results of discussions by members of the Vice President’s National Energy Policy Development Group. The administration lost in the lower courts, but was partially upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, which sent the case back to the District Court for reconsideration. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately refused to order disclosure based on its interpretation of the relevant statute, based on the fact that several government officials served on the Group.

Elsewhere the administration’s case for secrecy has been more frivolous and less well received. For instance, the administration attempted to keep secret visitor logs detailing Christian leaders who visited the White House and vice president’s residence. Earlier this month the D.C. Circuit distinguished this case from the energy group decision and ruled that the logs were not the property of the White House—which took custody from the Secret Service (part of the Treasury Department) in order to thwart a request under the Freedom of Information Act—and ordered their release.

These cases centered on statutory interpretation. The Bush administration also has more directly used the doctrine of executive privilege to resist disclosures to Congress, even as part of investigations of potential executive wrong-doing. For instance, at a recent hearing of this Committee, Karl Rove refused to appear, based on advice of the White House Counsel, to discuss his role in possible meddling in Justice Department prosecutions. Last year White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers similarly refused to obey committee subpoenas to appear to discuss the firing of U.S. attorneys; the House voted to hold them in contempt.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has been investigating the White House’s involvement in the disclosure of Valerie Plame’s employment by the CIA. In June Chairman Henry Waxman pointed out to Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey that “In his interview with the FBI, Mr. Libby stated that it was ‘possible’ that Vice President Cheney instructed him to disseminate information about Ambassador Wilson’s wife to the press. This is a significant revelation and, if true, a serious matter. It cannot be responsibly investigated without access to the Vice President’s FBI interview.” However, in an echo of the Watergate controversies, Mukasey refused to comply, citing fear of “the chilling effect that compliance with the committee’s subpoena would have on future White House deliberations.” The White House cited executive privilege in refusing to turn over the FBI interview, even though the vice president’s chief of staff had been convicted of perjury.

In an extraordinary twist on the doctrine of executive privilege, the Bush administration announced last year that it would not allow any U.S. Attorney to pursue a contempt citation on behalf of Congress. By attempting to control federal employees who also are officers of the courts, the administration attempted to place itself beyond effective accountability by any person or institution. Mark Rozell of George Mason University termed this position “astonishing” and “a breathtakingly broad view of the president’s role in this system of separation of powers. What this statement is saying is the president’s claim of executive privilege trumps all.” Indeed, if sustained, Rozell added, this position will allow “the executive to define the scope and limits of its own powers.” As a result, the House has filed suit to enforce its subpoena, the first such lawsuit in history.

“STATE SECRETS” DOCTRINE

Another doctrine used by the executive branch to the detriment of the constitutional separation of powers is the so-called “state secrets privilege.” According to this doctrine, the executive branch refuses to release information in court cases on the grounds that disclosure would harm “national security.” First recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1953, the doctrine has been treated as well-nigh absolute by some judges.

In this case, like many others, there is an obvious basis for shielding sensitive information in extraordinary instances from public view, even - 10 -
to the detriment of a valid lawsuit. However, again, a legitimate doctrine has been twisted to frustrate cases that might expose government wrong-doing and executive misconduct. As a result, government accountability, and redress of wrongs suffered by individuals as the result of government action, have suffered greatly.

For instance, Khalid El-Masri filed a civil case against the U.S. government in a case involving “extraordinary rendition,” in which the government illegally detained Mr. El-Masri in a case of mistaken identity. The trial court judge accepted the government’s claimed “state secrets privilege,” which thwarted disclosures necessary to prosecute the case. A similar result was reached in a similar case by Canadian Maher Arar, who was deported, based on false information, by the U.S. to Syria (he was a dual citizen), where he was apparently tortured. The Bush administration also invoked the state secrets privilege to defeat lawsuits challenging the government’s unlawful FISA surveillance program.

Although judges can order, and have ordered, disclosure of disputed documents and other information to them for in camera screening, too often courts have given inordinate deference to executive branch claims. But the privilege should be treated as qualified, not absolute. A government refusal to allow judicial inspection could be met with forfeiture of the case. Congress could assist the judiciary by holding hearings and drafting legislation clarifying the authority of judges, procedures to be used to adjudicate executive claims of state secrecy, and sanctions to be imposed for the executive branch’s refusal to comply.

CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT

Unfortunately, Congress has been at least impartially complicit in this and other presidential “power grabs.” It repeatedly has acquiesced to President Bush’s unilateral actions. It has failed in its constitutional obligation to make the laws and to oversee the executive branch to ensure that the latter properly implements the laws passed by Congress.

Enforcing presidential compliance with the law is not easy, especially since a pattern of executive law-breaking has been established. However, the people—the citizens in whose name this House and the rest of the government act—can and should insist that those elected president, this coming November and in the future, respect the separation of powers and other constitutional limits on their authority. - 11 -
Taking an oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States” requires no less.

Moreover, the legislature has many tools at its disposal to promote respect for the nation’s fundamental law. It can enlist the courts, of course. It can use its power to hold oversight hearings, backed by the power to subpoena and hold executive officers in contempt. It can refuse to confirm presidential appointments.
Most fundamental is its power to control appropriations. Congress can shape funding in the relevant area to encourage compliance with the law. Moreover, broader retaliation, though less desirable, is another possibility. For instance, the Reagan administration’s attempt to thwart explicit congressional guidelines over federal contracting led to a vote by this Committee to defund the Office of the Attorney General. A compromise was reached: Congress funded the Attorney General’s Office while the administration complied with the law.

The most important requirement is that Congress treat seriously its responsibility to uphold the Constitution. Neither the Bill of Rights nor the separation of powers are self-enforcing documents or principles. The legislative branch has a critical role to play.

The Constitution creates explicit guarantees for individual liberty and limits on government power out of the recognition that even the best-intentioned public officials working to achieve the most public-spirited aims make mistakes. That surely has been evident during the so-called “Global War on Terror,” in which more than a few innocent people have been not just detained, but also imprisoned and tortured. The Bill of Rights and the separation of powers are not mere technicalities, but essentials of our government and our entire system of ordered liberty.

I know this Committee understands that the president’s quest for intelligence and desire for flexibility, legitimate as they are, should not be allowed to serve as a subterfuge for circumventing constitutional protections for liberty and restrictions on presidential power. U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth, appointed by President Ronald Reagan, has reminded us that, “[w]e have to understand you can fight the war [on terrorism] and lose everything if you have no civil liberties left when you get through fighting the war.”

The temptation to cut constitutional corners is not the province of any one party. Rather, it grows when one party controls both the executive and legislature. Then party comity sometimes overrides institutional differences, as it did most recently between 2001 and 2006.

But our constitutional system, and its commitment to limited government and individual liberty, is based both on a series of explicit guarantees that constrain the use of government authority, and a structure that divides government authority. As such, the separation of powers, with the checks and balances expected to naturally follow, is the bedrock foundation of American constitutional government. It is a foundation clearly in danger of crumbling.

Conyers Announces Judiciary Committee Hearing On “Imperial Presidency,” Continues to Stall on Impeachment

2008-07-21T01:08:00.003-05:00

On July 9th, a group of Veterans For Peace members, including myself, met with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Congressman Conyers to hear his plans regarding impeachment. This was a follow up to our previous meeting with him at which we presented a petition calling for impeachment with over 23,000 signatures on June 11th. At that meeting, he promised to reveal to us his plans when we met next. His “plans” were non-existent; his excuse was that he had not made a decision yet. Of course, every day he doesn't impeach, he is deciding not to. The Real News Network covered the meeting and captured it well with this video:

Stalling On Impeachment

I got the impression that Conyers is going senile. If he really thinks as slow as he talks, we're in a lot of trouble. Most of his staff seem to be in favor of impeachment and are just waiting for the word. A couple of them even thanked us for being there and being so strong in our convictions. For a long time, Pelosi has been saying that impeachment is “off the table” and has obeyed every command from the administration, so it's safe to say that they have her by the balls. She bought the speakership by raising money for her fellow Democrats, and there have got to be a lot of financial skeletons in her closet. The only question is, has Pelosi actually convinced him that impeachment isn't strategically wise, or is someone threatening him? I wouldn't put it past Bush's cronies to even go after his family.

He told us at that meeting that he wanted to meet with us again on July 25th. We were pretty pissed to put it mildly. More run around from another spineless Democrat. More posturing from this sorry excuse for an opposition party. Don't they get it that when we can see through their BS so easily it doesn't work? Remember the country having a good laugh when Clinton and Obama made nice in Unity, New Hampshire? If there was a city named Obvious Crude Political Calculation, it would be overrun by Democrats. I really hope they don't keep control of the Congress.

Conyers canceled that meeting with us to announce that his committee will be holding a hearing that day on “the Imperial Presidency of George W. Bush and possible legal responses.” That's like someone who is getting robbed at gun point calling their Mom to discuss calling the cops. Does he really think that this is going to make the Democrats look good? I hope he is aware that after writing impeachment articles for Nixon, his party had a sweeping electoral victory. Likewise for the Republicans with Clinton.

The press release (below) brags about all of the violations of the Constitution by this administration that the judiciary committee has “conducted extensive oversight into.” Basically, “Yes, we're keeping track of how bad we're getting screwed.” He presented us with an even more extensive list of things the committee has looked into at our last meeting, as if it would appease us. Of course, they have failed to do anything about any of them. What's the point of oversight if you don't do anything when you discover a crime has been committed?

This is too disgusting for words. I want to vomit. I will be there on the 25th anyway to continue to push for impeachment, but I'm not holding my breath, and I'll have to hold my nose. Of course, the ultimate reason that our government is corrupt is because our culture is corrupt. If we held our representatives in Congress accountable, they might be inclined to hold the President accountable. But then, if we were paying attention, and doing our duty as citizens, we wouldn't have Bush for a president in the first place.

For Immediate Release
July 17, 2008
Contact: Jonathan Godfrey (Conyers)

(Washington)—Today House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. announced that, on July 25, the House Committee on the Judiciary will hold a hearing on the Imperial Presidency of George W. Bush and possible legal responses.

“Over the last seven plus years, there have been numerous credible allegations of serious misconduct by officials in the Bush Administration,” said Conyers. “At the same time, the administration has adopted what many would describe as a radical view of its own powers and authorities. As Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I believe it is imperative that we pursue a comprehensive review commensurate to this constitutionally dangerous combination of circumstances. Next Friday’s hearings will be an important part of that ongoing effort.”

The Committee is expected to examine a range of legal and legislative responses to allegations of administration misconduct and their expansion of executive branch power.

Since the beginning of the 110th Congress, the Committee has conducted extensive oversight into allegations of misconduct by the administration, including: (1) improper politicization of the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorneys offices, including potential misuse of authority with regard to election and voting controversies; (2) misuse of executive branch authority and the adoption and implementation of the so-called unitary executive theory, including in the areas of presidential signing statements and regulatory authority; (3) misuse of investigatory and detention authority with regard to U.S. citizens and foreign nationals, including questions regarding the legality of the administration’s surveillance, detention, interrogation, and rendition programs; (4) manipulation of intelligence and misuse of war powers, including possible misrepresentations to Congress related thereto; (5) improper retaliation against administration critics, including disclosing information concerning CIA operative Valerie Plame, and obstruction of justice related thereto; and (6) misuse of authority in denying Congress and the American people the ability to oversee and scrutinize conduct within the administration, including through the use of various asserted privileges and immunities.

The July 25 hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. in room 2141 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Additional information, including witness participation, will be announced next week.

The Evidence - That Lying Pig Officer Monahan

2008-07-18T01:16:00.007-05:00

A police officer from the DC MPD leaked this report today. It is written by Officer Monahan, (featured in my last two videos) and contains some blatant lies, but at least confirms that the guy in the Durango was an FBI agent. It also confirms that he called in a 10-33. According to the report, (see page 3, it's the only really interesting one) the FBI agent told Monahan that I was yelling at him. This is an outright lie, and I have two witnesses who can attest that until the MPD showed up, the only person doing any yelling was the FBI agent. For the time after MPD showed up, I have a dozen witnesses (but then they were in uniform, so who knows how reliable they will be in telling the truth) who can attest to the fact that I never yelled at the FBI agent.

The report also says that Monahan stopped me, but skips the part where he cuffed me and went through my wallet. Fortunately, we have the photographic evidence of that. (See the videos below for all of that.) The report says that the FBI agent was off-duty. Either the agent lied to Monahan, (taking him for the chump that he is) and told him he was off-duty, or Monahan is lying for him in this report. We heard from at least three different cops that the FBI agent was tailing someone, and Eric Wexler in his little red Celica screwed up his tail. So there you have it.

For the record, most of the cops I have met have been kind, well-intentioned, caring people, even in DC. If we are going to give them guns and entrust them with our safety, it should be all, not most. I want cops to know that people are watching them and holding them accountable. I don't mind pissing them off in the process if it means that next time they are going to search someone they shouldn't, or arrest someone who doesn't deserve it, or pull the trigger, they think twice about it. If it saves one life, (literally or figuratively) it will have been worth it.

Click on the images to see them full size.

More Lying Cops On My Block!

2008-07-17T06:02:00.000-05:00

The Cops Are Everywhere – Especially Where I Am

2008-07-16T17:28:00.002-05:00

When I went outside this afternoon, there was another group of cops (with three patrol cars) on the corner who looked like they were setting up a checkpoint. I got a couple witnesses and a cameraman and went out to confront them. They said they weren't setting up a checkpoint, just doing a “routine patrol.” I asked if this was a new policy for this area, or if there was some kind of crime wave here. They said that crime was actually down in this area recently and couldn't tell me why they were there except that it was new a new practice as of this week. (Hopefully, I'll get the video from this up later tonight.)

When I left for class around 5:30pm, they were still there. On the metro platform there was a cop watching me. He wasn't there when I came in, but I noticed him when I sat down. He was standing next to the escalators. I watched him as he walked towards me, but he walked by as I was getting on the train, and kept going in the same direction away from the stairs and escalators. I have never seen a cop on the metro platforms in DC who wasn't doing something or going somewhere.

On the train, two cops walked by me. I was able to get a quick photo off as they went into the next car. (see below) Then when I got off the metro at Foggy Bottom, there was another cop watching me as I got off the escalator. Right now, I am in the back of a classroom where my professor for “Law of the Political Process” is lecturing. I can't believe I'm studying the law right now.

Adam Kokesh Assaulted by Undercover FBI Agent & MPD Officers

2008-07-16T16:03:00.001-05:00

Adam Kokesh Breaks It Down

2008-07-14T06:25:00.004-05:00

- Episode 1 -
A Different Way of Looking at Politics

Duty to Resist

2008-07-12T16:45:00.001-05:00

Text of speech delivered 080712 at the west lawn of the capitol:

When I joined the Marines at a little strip mall in Santa Fe, and when I was in boot camp in San Diego, and when I was dodging mortars in Fallujah, I could not have imagined that I would one day share a stage with such renowned speakers. However, to march shoulder to shoulder, and to stand in solidarity with you, is a far greater honor.

It has been said that when in the course of human events, an oppression so revolts its subjects, it becomes necessary to alter or abolish the means of that tyranny. Is it that time when our Bill of Rights is defiled every day? When our adventures abroad threaten our security at home? When the Federal Reserve keeps our free nation enslaved by debt? When the people of the world tremble under the thumb of corporate imperialism? And now our nation is drifting dangerously from freedom to fascism. So I have to ask, is it time? The time is now, the threat is clear, the bands of tyranny are tightening around America, and it is our duty to resist!

As empowered patriots, let us take stock of our commitment to the ideals upon which this country is founded. America without her freedoms is like a body without a soul. The challenge before the Freedom Movement is no less, than to bring about a revolution of values, inspire a renaissance of American politics, and breathe new life into the tortured body of our nation. We will meet that challenge with courage and love, and as always, we the people, will prevail!

To rally the troops of the Revolutionary Army in the winter of 1776, Thomas Paine said, “These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot, will in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.”

As Iraq Veterans Against the War, we are resisting an occupation that we once risked our lives for. We swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, but we found out the hard way that the greatest enemies of the Constitution are not to be found in the sands of some far off land, but rather right here at home! We are your new winter soldiers and we are still defending America.

We bring the values, skills, and commitment that make us warriors to the fight before us today. We are working to end the war by strategically withdrawing our material support and inspiring others to do the same. By advocating for veterans, we honor those who served, and empower soldiers to become successful civilians. With Truth In Recruiting, we are inspiring a generation of young Americans to find a better way to serve this country than dying for empire. By supporting those who are actively resisting, we inspire further resistance, and ensure that soldiers still have the right, as is their duty, to disobey illegal orders.

During the siege of Fallujah, a young Lance Corporal was shot through the side of his flak jacket in a firefight to the west of the city. The bullet hit an artery near his spine. My team was called to help get him to the field hospital at Camp Taqadum. He was on a stretcher in the humvee in front of me, and I watched the Corpsman treating the external wound in a frightened, hurried panic, as the dust from the hot road swirled around us. When we got there, I carried him in as he moaned and writhed in pain, barely conscious. He flailed his arm off the stretcher, and as I put it back by his side I told him, “Don't worry. You made it. You're gonna be OK.” But he died only minutes later from the internal bleeding.

I have to live with that memory every day, but I have learned from it. I will not tell you that the band-aids applied by Republicans and Democrats will heal us. I will not pretend that everything is just going to be ok while we are bled dry by tyrants. And if it takes the last full measure of devotion, I will not allow the same fate to befall this country!

This young movement, is getting past the external wounds to the greater evils plaguing this nation. We know, that the greatest threat to American security is the current corruption of our government! No politician has ever ended a war. Civil rights were won in this country not by any legislator, but by a movement. I have great hope for America, but not because of an election. No, my hope comes from you!

Our tragic love affair with the state, has led us to put far too much trust in a government that we hoped could improve our lives, but has instead come to run our lives for us. We have become, as a people, like a frightened, battered, beat down victim of an abusive relationship. A servile, unquestioning, obedient people, will always produce tyrants. We must, as a nation, once again, embrace defiance, rebellion, and resistance!

Every day more and more Americans are avoiding unenforceable taxes, leaving government jobs out of disgust, and sending their kids to college instead of combat. But our efforts as a movement must become unified and deliberate to fully withdraw our compliance and support. Be it with your lives, labor, or tax dollars, stop investing in your own oppression! Guard your communities from the police state! Do not waste a single vote, or a single dollar, on the two-party system! Do not be content merely to grumble and to march while they are using fear, force, and violence as weapons of oppression. We must embrace the opportunity to resist civilly while we still can!

We are compelled to be here for many different reasons, and there is strength in our diversity. As within Iraq Veterans Against the War and Veterans For Peace, we do not need to be uniform to be unified. Take a look at the thoughtful, passionate people around you on this field, and throughout this country. Do not leave here without meeting a new brother or sister in the struggle. Take with you the inspiration to share your passion with someone who does not know they are yet part of our movement. Seek out where you can be most effective in the cause of liberty.

Challenge our force fed culture of unquestioning conformity and compliance. Embrace a world that is not defined by the politics of fear, our obedience producing schools, or the false prophets of the corporate media. As we have been awakened, we must stir the sleeping masses. As the forces of oppression are diligent, so must we toil. As they are committed, we must surpass them. As they step up their efforts, we must rise up to defeat them as a unified movement!

We have been labeled rebels, traitors, enemies of the state. All terms King George would have used to vilify our founders. I, for one, will always rebel against oppression, a traitor only to tyranny, and I would be remiss to not be the enemy of a state, that so blatantly tramples our freedoms.

American values have been nearly vanquished by consumerism, militarism, and authoritarianism. Yellow ribbons and lapel pins will not save this country. When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty. The utmost manifestation of love and devotion to America, is today as it always has been, resistance of tyranny! Resist we must, and resist we will! We will not be silent! We will not obey! We will not let our government destroy our humanity! We will not wait another moment in fear to stand up for what we know to be right! It is time the government starts fearing the people again! It is time that we meet oppression with resistance!

They cannot stop us! Humanity marches on. You can fight it, or fight for it. When we say revolution, we say it with love. As we march onward from this place where we have pledged to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor, let us embrace the struggle, cherish the fight, and live in that love. The passion of our hearts will be raised with our fists!

THE REVOLUTION IS UPON US!

2008-07-09T23:56:00.011-05:00

Adam Kokesh to Speak at Revolution March

This Saturday, July 12, the DC Chapters of Iraq Veterans Against the War and Veterans For Peace will be marching alongside thousands of revolutionaries dedicated to “restoring constitutional government as the founding fathers set forth.” An important element of the wisdom of our founders was a foreign policy based on nonintervention and free trade. As Thomas Jefferson said, "Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none." Our abandonment of those principles has been responsible for all of our nations foreign policy disasters. If we actually followed the provisions of the Constitution, we would not be in Iraq right now.

It is critical that anti-war veterans groups earn the same position of prominence and respect in the Freedom Movement as we have in the Anti-War Movement. In fact, the Anti-War Movement itself would be wise to consider its role in the broader Freedom Movement. A lot of the Anti-War Movement leans left, but principled socialists and libertarians have a lot more in common than most of them know, and some would care to admit. They also have a lot more in common with each other, than either of them have in common with Demubicans. Tragically, the anti-war movement alienates libertarians, and many feel driven out by the condescension that (from my experience) often accompanies leftist ideologies. There are a lot of “closet libertarians” in the anti-war movement, and a lot more that would join us if we could create a more inclusive atmosphere.

I will be speaking about IVAW's strategy to end the war based on withdrawing our material support and inspiring others to do the same. This is based on the consent theory of power. Just as it can be applied to the specific issue of the war, it can be applied to the broader issue of fascism in America. If soldiers refuse to fight in illegal wars, there will be no more occupaiton of Iraq. If we don't comply with illegal police orders en masse, and don't support unconstitutional law enforcement policy, there will be no police state. If tax-payers stopped paying unconstitutional taxes, there would be no (ok, less) funding for unconstitutional programs. If we stopped voting for lesser evils, we would not have an evil government.

The challenge before the Freedom Movement that Ron Paul has played a key part in forming and building, is to find ways beyond the electoral process to bring about the revolution for which we are all hoping and working towards. You say you want a revolution? You had better be willing to fight for it. But you can start by marching. See you Saturday!

We will be meeting at the Washington Monument at 0930, then marching down Constitution Avenue to the West Lawn of the Capitol for the rally. I will also be at the reception at 1800 at the Holiday Inn at 550 C St SW, in the Discovery II Room. For more details about the day, please go to revolutionmarch.com.

***

In a discussion I had recently with a fellow IVAW member about a potential alliance with Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty to protest at the Republican National Convention, he said that he opposed the alliance because Ron Paul “doesn't oppose the war for the same reasons we do.” That statement was either shamefully ignorant and presumptuous, or a deliberate lie. Ron Paul seems to be such a threat, (or at least was) that people are stooping to new lows to discredit him.

The lines in bold are IVAW's ten “official” reasons for opposing the war. Each is followed by a quote from the Congressman and the source.

1. The Iraq war is based on lies and deception.
"The war in Iraq was sold to us with false information."
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/issues/war-and-foreign-policy/

2. The Iraq war violates international law.
"But if the warmongers' goal is to have a war, regardless of international law and the Constitution, current policy serves their interests."
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/articles/65/before-we-bomb-iraq/

3. Corporate profiteering is driving the war in Iraq.
"Cliches about supporting the troops are designed to distract from failed policies, policies promoted by powerful special interests that benefit from war, anything to steer the discussion away from the real reasons the war in Iraq will not end anytime soon."
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/ron_paul.html

4. Overwhelming civilian casualties are a daily occurrence in Iraq.
I was not able to find a specific quote about a "daily occurrence," but in speaking out against the war before it began, he expressed concern for the Iraqi people numerous time, including acknowledging overwhelming civilian casualties.
"Remember, Iraq has not initiated aggression against us. We, on the other hand, have bombed them, taunted them by flying military jets in their airspace, and starved them with economic sanctions- all for more than a decade. We haven't done these things out of humanitarian concern for Kuwait, we've done them because we want to protect our oil interests. Yet these actions have harmed the people of Iraq, not the Hussein regime."
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/articles/70/arguments-against-a-war-in-iraq/

5. Soldiers have the right to refuse illegal war.
I don't think he has ever stated this explicitly, but I had the honor of spending about ten minutes with Congressman Paul this afternoon as he was on his way back to his office from a hearing. Of course, I was more interested in hearing about his future plans and thoughts on the Revolution March, but I also had a chance to explain IVAW's strategy including supporting war resisters, and he was very supportive.

6. Service members are facing serious health consequences due to our Government's negligence.
"Many politicians talk about honoring our veterans and their sacrifices. Yet so often the rhetoric obscures the reality that the federal government treats veterans badly."
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/issues/veterans/

7. The war in Iraq is tearing our families apart.
"With thousands of our troops now deployed in Afghanistan, and thousands more probably headed to Iraq, it is important to remember the sacrifices made by our military families. . . . I recently cosponsored legislation that would exempt members of America’s armed forces from income taxes."
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/articles/234/legislation-for-our-military-families-and-veterans/ This particular article includes other great proposals for supporting the troops and their families.

8. The Iraq war is robbing us of funding sorely needed here at home.
"As if a national debt topping $9 trillion is not bad enough, each day this war is fought, deficit spending increases. . . . Make no mistake, as Congress spends more and more, there will be less and less to fund Social Security and Medicare, the programs Washington has made us dependent on, without a massive tax increase."
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/issues/iraq/

9. The war dehumanizes Iraqis and denies them their right to self-determination.
"It is in the best interests of the Iraqi people that we return their country to them immediately." http://www.ronpaul2008.com/issues/iraq/

10. Our military is being exhausted by repeated deployments, involuntary extensions, and activations of the Reserve and National Guard.
"Military experts, including Generals Barry McCaffrey and John Batiste, have sounded the warning that our military is stretched so thin because of Iraq and our other commitments that, as General Batiste put it recently, 'our Army and Marine Corps are at a breaking point with little to show for it.'"
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/issues/iraq/

Not even all of our members endorse all of these reasons! Maybe at the rally Saturday I can convince the Congressman to join VFP. Our newest VFP member is Congressman John Conyers, whom we met with today as an official delegation of VFP members to discuss impeachment, but more on that later.

One of the reasons we got into the war in the first place was because chickenhawks who had never served in uniform started spouting off about things they knew nothing about to serve their own self-interests. Or in Ron Paul's words before the war, “those without military experience are the ones demanding this war.” Let us be careful to not repeat this mistake and do a little homework next time before “running our sucks,” as we would say in the military.

Iraq Veterans Against the War - Independence Day 2008

2008-07-04T16:57:00.002-05:00

On July 4th, 2008, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War came together at Independence Hall in Philadelphia to mark the 232nd birthday of the United States of America, and remind fellow patriots of the values upon which our country was founded. It should be very clear to all partriotic Americans, that when in the course of human events, an oppression so revolts those subject to it, it becomes necessary to dissolve the political bands that are the means of that tyranny. We must, as a nation, once again, embrace defiance, rebellion, and resistance!

Reading by IVAW board member, Jason Lemieux

Organization and planning by Sholom Keller

Footage by Bill Perry and Adam Kokesh

Video editing by Adam Kokesh

Music by Michael Franti and Spearhead - Yell Fire

www.ivaw.org

A Much Needed Independence Day

2008-07-04T04:08:00.009-05:00

The inverted American flag shown here adorns a wall in

my bedroom. Seeing the symbol of America "in a state

of distress" first thing in the morning always motivates

me to get out of bed and fight for this country.

As a naturally rebelious spirit, Independence Day has a special place in my heart. In elementary school, I was the kid in the back of the classroom who would always get into arguments with the teacher. They all said that I should be a lawyer when I grow up, presuming I could muster the patience required for law school. In middle school, I went punk, always had a crazy haircut, and wore a lot of shirts with skulls and other dark themes. One of them had a skeleton with a k-bar and a Marine Corps 8-point cover on his grape. It read: U.S.M.C. - UNCLE SAM'S MISGUIDED CHILDREN.

When I joined the Marines and started learning about our history, (they tought us about Smedley Butler, but not that he wrote a book called War Is A Racket) the one quote that stuck with me was from the legendary Marine, Chesty Puller. In boot camp, some platoons get to say, “Goodnight Chesty, wherever you are!” every night in unison while laying in the position of attention in their racks. The quote is, “You're not a real Marine until you get busted down once or twice.” I didn't think I would be able to live up to that standard, but fortunately, I was wrong.

Senior Marines would regale me with tales of their craziness, and brag about doing things like driving drunk, getting pulled over, and having the cop let them get away with it. Then explain it like this, “But America needs crazy mother-f'ers like us around. That's what it takes. Americans sleep soundly at night because they know guys like us can be on any beach in less than 24 hours.” Taking a more strategic look at the Corps's strategic value and chances of survival, former Marine Corps Commandant Lieutenant General Krulak noted, “The United States does not need a Marine Corps, the United States wants a Marine Corps.” It should come as no surprise, that Marines are over-represented in the ranks of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

When I joined the Marines, or rather the Delayed Entry Program (DEP) and took my oath of enlistment, I took it very seriously. “Support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” I stopped to think about why the document was more important than the intstitution, and it naturally made sense to me. These are the rules by which we are able to ensure the rights of the people, this is what I want to have my life on the line for.

Of course, the Constitution is simply our best attempt (and I would argue among the best, if not the best created by any society in human history) to enshrine a set of greater values in a practical form of governence. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This philosophy and these ideals were not anything particularly revolutionary in and of themselves, but when faced with the rejection of these ideals in the tyranny of King George III, the founding fathers were in a unique position to take a stand for those ideals. It required a certain courage of them, but they sure as hell delivered! “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

The utopian ideal that comes from those principles is one that is void of the violation of those rights by any human against any other, or what some would call a state of anarchy. But out of the realities of the circumstance and the culture at the time, a practical form of governance was necessary, and naturally came the Constitution. Although beautiful and powerful, this document that created and defined what Benjamin Franklin referred to as, “A republic, if you can keep it,” was far from perfect. Not only did our founders intend for us to keep it, but strive continuously to improve it, and it prescribed the exact means of amendment. Along with the cultural evolution that makes change possible, we have been making great progress with our Constitutional Republic. We have seen the abolition of slavery, a civil rights movement, and a women's movement, among many other great strides.

As a species, we have gone from the law of the jungle, to feudalism, to kingdoms, to empire, to capitalism with slavery, to capitalism with corporatism, but all in all, things are getting better. Humanity marches on. You can fight it, or fight for it. It wasn't too long ago that the best we could expect out of life was fondly referred to as, “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” My oh my, how we have progressed as a species since then.

But even in America, it has been a process of two steps forward, one step back. And as a nation, we are progressing down many paths simultaneously. The founding of the federal reserve as not only unconstitutional, but creating unnatural, imoral concentrations of wealth, could be seen as a step backward begun in 1913 that is still with us today. Within that time frame, there have been many steps forward, and many smaller steps backward. Clearly, in this framework, the Bush Administration has had more than it's fair share of steps backwards.

That is why this Independence Day is so desperately needed right now. We have forgotten the ideals put forth in Declaration. As the founders knew, a servile, unquestioning, obedient people, will always produce tyrants. The mortal flaw of tyranny is that it is dependent upon the obedience of its subjects. On this Independence Day we must renew our commitment to the ideals of the Declaration. It should be very clear to all partriotic Americans, that when in the course of human events, an oppression so revolts those subject to it, it becomes necessary to dissolve the political bands that are the means of that tyranny. We must, as a nation, once again, embrace defiance, rebellion, and resistance!

Happy Independence Day . . . if you can live up to it.

Oh the Irony! Disabled Iraqis to Dominate Paralympics

2008-06-29T11:39:00.006-05:00

“God willing, I will win a medal for Iraq,” said Rasul Kadhim,

a weight lifter with a paralyzed leg, as he trained for the Paralympics.

I saw this in the New York Times daily email:
"Athletes Disabled by Wars Lead Iraqi Team in World Games By ANDREW E. KRAMER War and hardship have not destroyed all of Iraq’s dreams for international competition. The country, which has been in three wars in two decades, has a robust Paralympic team."

From the article:“Iraqis love sports. Anyone who doubts it should consider the rat-a-tat of automatic weapons fired after every Iraqi soccer victory. Yet after five years of war, Iraq’s chances of fielding a competitive Olympic team are vanishingly small. . . . The country, which has been in three wars in two decades, has a robust Paralympic team. 'As a country that participated in many wars since 1980, we have many disabled people,' said Ahmed Abid Hassan, a wheelchair fencing coach. 'Our Paralympic team is better than our Olympic team.'”

Only one Iraqi qualified for the Olympics, but 20 for the Paralympics. They have faced many challenges in preparing for competition this year. The coach of the wheelchair basketball team who stood 6'6” (not in a chair himself) was shot in the head, because when nearby firefight started, the wall he was standing behind wasn't high enough. “A blind athlete, Qasim Muttar, who was a promising player of goalball — soccer played with a ball that contains bells — died after being run over by an American convoy while crossing a street.” These are two small, but poignant examples of the challenges that Iraqis face in their daily lives . . . while training for the Paralympics.

This all speaks to the great humanity of the Iraqi people. When I came back from Iraq, and people asked me what the Iraqi people were like, this was my best explanation: “They are people like any other in the world, with hopes and dreams and fear and love. Like all people, they are to a large extent products of their circumstance and experience. They are affected by a distinctly challenging history and it shows. When in Iraq, we would accuse them of lack of foresight, but why would you start saving money for your kids college tuition when you can't afford to eat, and you don't know if the college will still be standing when your kid grows up anyway?”

I hope that the Iraqi Paralympic team can be a powerful testament to the humanity of the people of Iraq, all the people of the world, and especially those disadvantaged by circumstance whose character we would be tempted to disparage. And I hope they kick some fucking ass!

Camp Fallujah Marines Need Help!

2008-06-25T19:00:00.004-05:00

A friend of mine at Camp Fallujah forwarded this to me today:

Subject: Marines Need Help:

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED

Hey Everyone. Today we had an incident here in Fallujah, and our sister units berthing area caught fire and burned to the ground. It spread so fast and with 120 temps here today, there was no way they could contain the fire in time. These Marines lost everything that they had, all of their military issued gear as well as personal gear. The area was a complete loss, and now these Marines have little means to come up with items to live a somewhat comfortable life out here.

As most of you know, or have heard, getting clothing items and hygiene items out here is very hard, and once it does get here it's a battle between everyone to buy as much as you can at one time. Everyone has been so good supporting us with the comforts of home, and now we are asking for people to help out our fellow Marines. Anything that you could send, hygiene items or clothing items (PT style clothing shorts/t-shirts/black socks/white socks/Boxers/shower shoes (sandals) would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all very much for your continued support...you guys keep us going. Here is my address, you can address it to me, or to Sgt Marilyn Gomez, and we will take it to the unit so it can be distributed out to them. Somewhere on the package, list "C/O RCT-1" that way we know what it is.

Cpl Espinoza, B.C.
(or)
Sgt Gomez, M.J.

I MEF CE FWD G-4
MDDOC/MCC-I Unit 42540
FPO-AP 96426-2540
Al-Fallujah, IRAQ

Brandon C. Espinoza
CPL/USMC
Multi National Force-West
MAGTF Deployment Dist. OPS Center
Movement Coordination Center, Fallujah Iraq

There were about 20 Marines living in this particular building, so there is a significant immediate need here. According to my friend there, things have kind of gone to shit on base. When I first got to Camp Fallujah, the Army was in charge of the chow hall and the chow was about as good as in my college cafeteria. (Some of us still had to eat a lot of MREs.) But when the Marines took over the operation the food went to shit. At least the PX was still run by AAFES and was pretty reliable. But now, according to my friend, "Yeah it is very hard to get stuff here, the shipments have really slowed down. We pretty much resort to people back in the states sending us shaving cream and shit like that, or wait until someone goes to BIAP and they bring it back in bulk. You cant even buy skivee shirts and what not. It blows. Yeah, the Marines are in charge of the one here and it sucks. I feel bad for these guys, they literally lost every fucking thing they had..."

I will be taking up a collection at the IVAW house in DC if anyone in the area would like to donate something. Please call me at (202)505-6435 if you can come by before noon on Friday when I will be sending it out, otherwise, put together your own package!

To find out more about our DC operation, check out this video that Erica Anderson just did for the MTV Street Team.

Clifton Hicks Exposes Christian Ignorance and Arrogance

2008-06-24T20:36:00.006-05:00

From Clif:

I used to be friends with this kid when I was in high school, we used to go camping and shit like that. In hindsight I guess he always was a fucking dipshit - clif

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Chris
Date: Jun 16, 2008 2:59 AM

Man so it has been a long time since i heard anyhitng from you kid. Hope all is well with you. Isaw your vid on you tube made a joke on it if you see it. It seems as if you never have chnaged. Glad your safe from the war. But sad to see your saying alot of G-- D----- in your speach. I dont have an opinion of the war. All i know is the american pressence in the middle east is causing many muslims to convert to christianty because they feel like they well be in safty. Which means i support the war in that sense. BEcause I know God is at work in this world.

Im moving soon to Kenya to work with some over seas missions organizations. Im pretty stoked about it. I get to live with the poorest of the poor people and see Gods hand at work. As you know I am studiyng to be a pastor still. which is really really cool. I will have my masters in a few. So you got to tell me whats be new in your world.

=========================== My Reply ===========================

I believe it goes, "As you have done even unto the least of my brothers, so have you done unto me."

Chris, I shot a man over there, I don't know if he died but he certainly fell down. I was also directly involved in the deaths of numerous other people, among them a 7 or 8 year old girl who's only crime was being born in Iraq. No one knows who's bullet punched a hole in her tiny body. War is murder, supporting war of any kind for any reason in any sense is supporting blind, wholesale mass murder.

I have been a murderer and I have repented. You on the other hand have not murdered, but you seem to think murder is acceptable as long as it's for the sake of converting Christians. Which of us is more likely to burn for eternity in a lake of fire?

You are not a Christian, you are merely another misled sheep who wishes merely to conform with some strange qausi-Christian American ideal, thus taking the easy wrong over the hard right. No true Christian would or could support this or any war. What do you think Christ would think of war? Which village would Christ select for "precision" bombing? How would Christ punish a terrorist? What would Christ say to a coward, like you, who falsely worships him?

You have studied Christianity for much of your life and you have only succeeded in distancing yourself from Christ. You grow further and further away with every turn of a bible page.
- Clif

Adam's note: Chris said in his email: "the american pressence in the middle east is causing many muslims to convert to christianty because they feel like they well be in safty." (sic) This is most absurd. Clearly our presence is driving people away from Christianity. You can decide for yourself if that's a good thing. I have not heard any evidence of a single Muslim converting to Christianity because of the war. I wonder if anyone is deliberately spreading this insidious rumor within the Christian community.

4th Amendment Trampled in DC - Illegal Police Checkpoint

2008-06-23T02:09:00.001-05:00

***UPDATE - This incident occurred in DC Ward One, represented by Jim Graham. If you live here, please email him to ensure that he sees this video at: jim at grahamwone dot com. My email to Jim is at the bottom of the description. For more info about your Police District, city council representative, and other places to lodge complaints, go to dc.gov ***

This video was shot on the afternoon of June 20, 2008 at the corner of Warder St NW and Princeton Pl NW very close to my house.

*****

We have only the rights we are willing to fight for.

Police checkpoints like this are illegal and in direct violation of the 4th amendment, which is meant to protect us from "unreasonable searches and seizures" without "probably cause."

Mayor Fenty, DC Attorney General Peter Nickles (living in an estate in Virginia) and MPD are using the recent murders as an excuse to shut down our neighborhoods.

This is what the start of a police state looks like.

This is part of the fascist shift this country is experiencing.

Here are three ways to fight back:

1: KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!

You do not have to talk to the police. Police often act as if citizens are required to speak to them. You don't! If they question you, and you don't want to speak to them, simply tell them you have nothing to say. If they persist say, "I want to speak to a lawyer."

If stopped, ask them if you are being detained. If "yes," just say you don't want to say anything, except to a lawyer. If "no," tell them you're going about your business. Then do so.

DO NOT AGREE TO A SEARCH! On the street, they do not have the right to search you without a good reason. Police might anyway, but a lawyer may be able to have the results thrown out if you don't agree to the search. Same thing goes for in your car. DO NOT AGREE TO A SEARCH!

Record as much info as you safely can with any run in with police: date, time, location, names of witnesses, contact info, names of cops, badge numbers, everything.

2: COMPLAIN!

We still have enough of a democracy here that your voice has value. I hope.

Call the Mayor's Office of Community Relations & Services at 202.442.8150. To reach your district department, call 311.

If you were stopped at a checkpoint, your car was searched, or you experienced an inconvenience due to the police, call the ANSWER Coalition, which is organizing a community and citywide response to the checkpoints and police misconduct. 202.544.3389 ext 14

3: RESIST!

This is one time that holding a sign can be very effective if carefully placed:

WARNING!
ILLEGAL POLICE
CHECKPOINT AHEAD
DETOUR

*****

Music credits:
Both tracks used in this video are from Head Roc's album Negrophobia.
http://www.head-roc.com/
http://www.myspace.com/headroc
The first track, "Police Origin," features the voice of Jared Ball. The second track, "Tarzan," includes a conversation about "Cop Watch," which was the inspiration for this video.

*****

Councilmember Graham,

I was appalled to hear that checkpoints were being put up randomly in DC neighborhoods and couldn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes on my own street. When I did, I made the following video about it which expresses my concerns, and the concerns of others affected by this checkpoint.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4NXLB...

I look forward to hearing what you plan on doing about this and if you will join us in resisting this trampling of our Constitution.

Sincerely,

Adam Kokesh

Demanding Impeachment

2008-06-22T02:20:00.008-05:00

Last week I had the honor of joining VFP to present petitions for impeachment to Congressman Conyers. While a lot of the vets took the nice approach, Bill Perry and I were distinct in confronting him directly, and expressing our anger and disappointment in his failure to start impeachment hearings. While a lot of people in the room were shocked with how I spoke to him, I have been receiving a lot of support for directly confronting him.

*****

Kokesh: I'm not here to blow hot air up your ass like some of these other people have. But I hope that the petitions in front of you have made it clear that there is significant public pressure and support for impeachment at this point. And I know you don't get to twenty-one terms in Congress without being concerned about reelection, and I hope that these petitions make it clear that not impeaching is a greater liability for you than impeaching at this point. And I hope that having known that impeachable offenses have been committed for some time now, that you will finally take it upon yourself to do what you can to support that impeachment and support your own oath to support the Constitution instead of abdicating that responsibility as you have thus far.

Conyers: Well, just a minute. I think you should know that the twenty-one terms that I have been voted into office didn't come from me currying favor with my constituents as much as it is for doing the kind of job that they wanted me to do. So I don't think I got here by backing off of the strong issues. As a matter of fact, my record might indicate to even you that it's because I took on the difficult issues that I am now the second most senior person in the House of Representatives.

Kokesh: And that's why it's all the more surprising that you haven't yet brought impeachment hearings.

Conyers: Well, let us decide how we're going to discuss this subject since it's surprising to you. I didn't agree to this meeting because I was going to try not to let you know what has been happening and what it is I intend to do about it. Maybe you will be surprised again.

Kokesh: I hope so.

*****

He didn't tell us anything about what he intended to do about the issue of impeachment at that meeting, but instead scheduled another meeting with us for July 8th. I am hoping, (but not counting on it) to be surprised. I will be there and I will be reporting on it here.

The documentation and some of the supportive emails I have received since then are below.

*****

In an article from Philly IMC:
Vets meet w/ John Conyers, Kucinich, & Wexler Wed, 6/11 re:IMPEACH

While most of the 20 some Veterans were conciliatory and pleased to hand our 23,000 pro-IMPEACH petition signatures to Chairman Conyers, both Iraq Veterans Against the War Board of Directors Co-Chair, Adam Kokesh, and Delaware Valley Veterans Executive Director, Bill Perry, made it clear to Judiciary Chair Conyers that we felt betrayed by Conyers failure to advocate for Impeachment, as he had done earlier, ever since the Downing Street Memos, in April, 2005.

*****

Veterans for Peace Meeting With John Conyers to Demand Impeachment

*****

Veterans for Peace Demand Impeachment of President Bush

*****

From Tarak Kauff:

Thanks Adam for speaking up the other day at Conyers. The rest of us were way too polite. I'm still kicking myself. What a song and dance he gave us. Next time, guaranteed, I won't be so mild.

*****

From Susan:

Hi! I just watched some of the VforP meeting with John Conyers(on youtube) about impeachment, wow- I could really sense your anger. Of course I don't blame you, in fact I admire your ability to be clear and not hold back, I would not have been able to be so icy.(Also liked the guy- i missed his name- who said 'impeach the bastards').

I tend to go from being very, very, very angry that this bullshit has been allowed to go on- (which I'm glad you made that point to Conyers, that something judicial should have been done by now) to trying to be more diplomatic than angry.
But, sometimes enough is enough- and your 'confrontation?' with him struck a cord with me. At first I thought, well Adam, way to alienate the one person who might be able to do something further about impeachment, then I thought about it and realized that you were reflecting your true anger at the situation and displaying what more people should do- which is hold our Senators and Reps. personally accountable- they work for us and should be confronted by the will of the people, esp. when they are not acting to protect our rights and the principles they swore to uphold.

So, I don't know, I was just inspired to write to you about it. I hope you know I support you(posting on your blog for awhile now), and even though I don't know you, your actions(as well as others who are standing up) have a reaching affect to many people. Even though we are strangers, we are all in this together.

Anyway, I have a renewed sense of hope that with Kucinich's resolution having been introduced, what is truly right and just will prevail. I admit I got a little teary eyed watching him read the articles- is that stupid?:)- I can't help it, hopefully you understand. It's just so important to me that someone is speaking these truths on the House floor, it's been a long time coming.

take care-

Susan

*****

Hi!

My name is Miranda and I have been talking to Ron Fisher about the impeachment articles against Bush. While speaking with Mr. Fisher he told me about you guys and asked me to come up when they go back to see Mr. Conyers. I went online and saw the video of when all of you spoke in his office. Then I looked you up, since yours was the first name I saw on the video and I saw your blog.

I just wanted to say that I am so proud of you and the others for your bravery and what you have done, not just on the impeachment, but all you have done for our country, no matter where you went or why. I am saddened and outraged by what has happened to my country in just a few short years and if it weren't for people like you, I don't know where we would be and what we would do. I hope that we can live up to your expectations of us. I live in Norfolk, VA and I believe that civilians have a duty to you to make sure that you are never sent anywhere that isn't absolutely necessary. Like I said to Mr. Fisher, we are taking chances with your lives that we shouldn't be taking, no matter how much money goes in your pockets or Haliburton's. I knew Bush was lying before we went into Iraq and I feel as though I failed in my responsibilities as an American. I did all that I could. It just wasn't enough. Please let me know if there is anything that I can do to help now. I have been very busy already.

Take care and keep up the good work,
Miranda

Do you really think fat guys on segways should have AR-15s? DC Metro Police Department does.

2008-06-20T01:35:00.005-05:00

I attented a rally & press conference held at the Wilson Building last week to protest the killing of DeOnte Rawlings, demand the police officers responsible be held accountable, demand compensation for the Rawlings family, and keep DC from putting AR-15s in the hands of cops on DC streets. The oppressive heat and humidity of this early summer heat wave DC was enduring were nothing compared to the oppressive policies at hand and were not enough to deter a healthy turnout, both from the press and supporters. While we were there, a couple of cops showed up. One of them was the fatass on the segway seen above.

From the announcement:

*******

Last year 14 year old DeOnte Rawlings was shot in the back of the head by off duty police officers. The officers claimed to have been fired on first but, no gun was recovered and the off duty cops fled the scene after shooting DeOnte down.

Last month all charges were dropped against the officers. The U.S. Attorney's Office announced "that investigators have found no wrongdoing by D.C. police officers."

It was also recently announced that D.C. cops will be issued AR-15 assault riffles. The police department says that officers need to be heavily armed to take on the powerful weaponry they claim is increasingly possessed by criminals.

We say that DeOnte's killers must be fully prosecuted and that plans to arm cops with machine guns must be halted immediately. We also demand compensation for DeOnte's family and a memorial for victims of police murder. Join us for a rally and press conference to shed light on these issues and build momentum against police violence and impunity.

Sponsored by the Black August Planning Organization & the International Socialist Organization

*******

Naji Muhamid was there representing the Black August Planning Organization and spoke at length about the history of police brutality towards blacks in America and the lack of accountability. Obi Egbuna was there and lay down the fire for Cease Fire. My favorite speaker that day was Matthew Fogg. I first met Matthew at the Whistleblower's Conference hosted by the No Fear Institute where he introduced himself as a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Right away I felt an afinity for him as a member of LEAP because of the parallel with Iraq Veterans Against the War. We are both people who carried out policies that we are speaking out against now. He was speaking on behalf of the Congress Against Racism & Corruption in Law Enforcement, and as always, did a wonderful job as a police officer speaking critically about law enforcement policies in DC. Here is a video of a speech he gave for the ACLU recently:

Matthis Chiroux Openly Resists in DC

2008-06-15T16:54:00.004-05:00

Matthis Chiroux delivered this speech today, Father's Day, the day he was ordered to report from the IRR for deployment to Iraq. Instead, he is openly resisting from the IVAW house in DC. We are giving him sanctuary here and will assist him in physically resisting if necessary. Should any military or law enforcement personnel come here, to MY house, they will not be welcome, nor will they find removing him from the premises to be physically tenable.

Matthis Chiroux:

We gather here this Father’s Day on a very somber note.

The American occupation of Iraq, an illegal, immoral war which is ripping this nation apart, as well causing immeasurable harm to the Iraqi people and the people of the world alike.

We gather in remembrance of the sacrifice of many whose Fathers’ weep on this joyous day, for they know their own flesh and blood has been torn and siphoned from them for what we collectively hope will be this last blunder of American military might.

We gather here in hope that our fathers will forgive us for the wrongs we’ve perpetrated on our bodies, hearts and minds alike in this cruel decade of disaster, which stems from the very city in which we stand.

This Father’s Day, we gather here to calm the Vicious and the Vengeful alike.

The first time I came to Washington D.C. was less than one month before I shipped out to basic training. I was so moved by this country and it’s history, that it reinvigorated my belief in the righteousness of what I was doing…joining the Army in search of not only personal progress, but to participate in efforts to bring justice to the individuals responsible for 9-11.

I remember standing at the base of the Washington Monument…and watching the fireworks explode in the sky that 4th of July… and wondering how was it that we could have come under attack on American soil, and believing firmly that I would be participating in dealing justice for Sept. 11th.

I remember standing before the Lincoln Memorial and feeling the presence of not just the former president and emancipator, but of Martin Luther King and his dream for a brighter and more united future for the children of this nation.

That young me could not have known where he’d be standing almost six years later and what he would have to be saying…this Father’s Day.

I am Sgt. Matthis Chiroux, and tonight at midnight, I may face further action from the Army for refusing to reactivate to participate in the Iraq Occupation.

This fact hangs heavy on my heart as I look back at my five years of service in uniform, but I understand that what I am doing is in keeping with the values I shared with my friends-in-arms while we wondered if things could really get any worse.

Today I stand in resistance to the occupation of Iraq because I believe in our nation, its military and her people. I resist because I swore an oath to this nation that I would not allow it to fall into decay when I may be serving on the side of right.

And my country is in Decay, and in these times of crisis, as Thomas Paine once said, the summer Soldier and Sunshine Patriot will flee from service to our nation.

I stand here today, as a Winter Soldier, to serve our nation, its military and its people in this dark time of confusion and corruption. I stand here to make it known that my duty, as a Soldier, is first to the higher ideals and guiding principles of this country, which our leaders have failed to uphold.

I stand here today in defense of the U.S. Constitution, which has known no greater enemy, foreign or domestic, than those highest in this land who are sworn to be governed by its word.

I stand here today in defense of those who have been stripped their voices in this occupation, for the warriors of this nation have been silenced to the people who need to start listening.

We are here to honor the memory of our fathers, who more than two centuries ago brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, as Abraham Lincoln once noted.

We are here to honor the struggle of our fathers and their fathers, and their fathers before them to build this nation and bring it together, through slavery and poverty to sexism and racism to materialism and imperialism. They built this nation and struggled to keep it alive as we’ve blundered and learned and blundered again.

We owe it to our fathers to stand for this nation now, when a dark cloud has descended upon it in the form of an administration who is stealing the lives of us all to wage an illegal war, conceived in lies, and birthed of manipulation.

As a Soldier, I was told it was not my place to question the orders of those appointed above me. I had that lie trained into me from my first day of basic training to my last day of active duty.

But I have learned the truth. The truth that the occupation of Iraq is inherently illegal, and that it is my duty as a Soldier to refuse illegal orders to reactivate and deploy in support of it.

I have learned that in times of crisis, one must look deep into their own values to know the path they must walk.

I have learned that feeling, and thinking, and speaking and acting in keeping with courage and honesty and preservation of a righteous cause is blessed and may give a person strength to utter truths…that may calm…the vicious and the vengeful alike.

I believe that this nation and its military may come to know the same truth, that the rule of law has been forsaken, and we must return to it or be doomed to continued disaster.

I believe in the goodness of the American people, and I believe that justice is not dead.

Because we as a people believe that as a people living in the United States it is our responsibility to resist the injustices done by our government in our names.

We know this truth to be self-evident, that our nation can unite to oppose an illegal occupation which is killing and scarring and shattering the lives of our youth and the Iraqi people.

On this Father’s Day, know America that your children need you. We need you to care for us and to care for our country, which we will inherit when you are finished with her.

We need you to end this occupation of Iraq, which has destroyed a country and scattered its people to the winds like ashes in a tempest, a tempest that has engulfed the nation of Iraq and scrubbed any sign of peace and prosperity from the surface of a civilization older than history itself.

Fathers, we need you to care for your children and the children of Iraq, for they know not why you fight and carry no fault in the conflict.

Fathers, your sons and daughters need you now to embrace peace, for though we were attacked, we have dealt in retaliation that same suffering one thousand times over to a people who never wronged us.

This nation will know little healing until we first stem off the flow of blood and human life, for justice and healing will never be done by a blade, or a bullet, or a bomb or a torture cell.

By continuing to participate in the unjust occupation of Iraq, we as servicemembers are contributing to that flow of human life, and we can not now nor could we ever call the Iraqi people an enemy in the fight against the use of terror.

But terror is all we know now. We are terrified by the prospect that we have been lied to. We are terrified by the idea that we have killed for nothing. We are terrified to break the silence. We are terrified to do what we know is right.

But never again will I allow terror to silence me, nor will I allow it to govern my actions.

I refuse terror as a tactic for uniting a people around an unjust cause. I refuse to allow terror to motivate me to do violence on my fellow man, especially those who never wronged me in the first place.

I refuse to be terrified to stand in defense of my constitution, and I refuse to be terrified of doing so in the face of great adversity.

As a resister to the Iraq occupation, I refuse to be terrified by what may come, for I know those who stand against me are in terror of the truth.

But I will speak my truth……and I will stand firmly by it……and forever will my soul know peace.

Major General Kelly Blatanly Lied to Marines in Fallujah on Memorial Day

2008-06-09T15:07:00.002-05:00

On Memorial Day, a group of IVAW (Iraq Veterans Against the War) members including myself were at Alien Art Tattoo in Jacksonville, NC right outside of Camp Lejeune getting tattoos to memorialize our fallen comrades in one of the best ways to remember someone. Meanwhile, at Camp Fallujah, Iraq, Marine Corps Major General Kelly was taking advantage of the opportunity to lie to the troops and spew more of the kind of propaganda that is leading them to die for a worthless cause. I found the text of his remarks at The Sandgram where an anonymous blogger has lied about me before.

Below are excerpts of Kelly's bullshit, and some of my responses:

“With all this service and loss, we as Americans can be proud of the kind of people we are as we have never retained a square foot of any country we have defeated, we possess no empire, nor have we enslaved a single human being. Memorial Day was established three years after our terrible Civil War that finally established what kind of nation we would be.”

Ok, where are the bases in Germany? Japan? Iraq? Afghanistan? I guess they're just magically floating in midair, not occupying a single square foot of any of these countries. What a relief. We never enslaved a single human being? That's good to know, because I thought that this country's economy was founded on slavery. I guess all the African Americans here today are just descendants of migrant workers on some kind of guest worker program. And the Civil War had NOTHING to do with aforementioned mythological slavery of course.

“Like it or not America is engaged in a war today against an enemy that is savage, offers no quarter, whose only objectives are to either kill every one of our families in our homeland, or enslave us with a sick form of extremism that serves no God or purpose that rational men and women can understand. Given the opportunity to do another 9/11, our vicious enemy would do it today, tomorrow and everyday thereafter.”

Actually, most of “the enemy” in Iraq just want us to get the fuck out of their country. And if they want another 9/11 so bad, why are we giving them exactly what they want, having made it relatively easy for them to kill thousands of American soldiers in the Middle East? And if 9/11 was the work of some 19 guys with some money behind them, why invest in a resistance in Iraq?

“I don’t know why they hate us, and I frankly don’t care and they can all go to hell, but they do hate us and are driven irrationally to our destruction. The best way to fight them is somewhere else and that is why we are here.”

Nevermind that in his mind, “they” is probably “all Muslims.” Now we have to put up with “fight them there so we don't fight them here” bullshit from the general himself. Nevermind that we are making enemies faster than we can kill them. Hey, if it made sense, it wouldn't be part of the government, and definitely not part of the military.

“For whatever reason they want to destroy our way of life our countrymen at home should be on their knees everyday thanking God we still have enough young people in America today willing to take up the fight as our Veterans did from the earliest days of our nation.”

Does this guy even have the sense to listen to “the enemy?” I don't mean listen to as in cup of coffee and small talk, but in the Sun Tzu sense, “know your enemy.” But again, if it made sense . . .

The real fight is here at home, where we have an administration that wants to destroy our way of life (as in the free way of life with rights enumerated in the US Constitution) with things like the PATRIOT Act, warrantless wiretapping, and a tax system that amounts to slavery. “Our countrymen at home” should not be on their knees, but on their feet and up in arms! But then this is how the military/fascist leadership would like Americans to behave: servile, subservient, and submissive.

“They should know that they are protected today by men and women as good as have ever served; as good today as their fathers were in Vietnam, and their grandfathers were in Korea and World War II. In this my third tour in Iraq I have never seen an American hesitate, or do anything other than lean into the danger and, with no apparent fear of death or injury, take the fight to the enemies of our way of life.”

Kelly is clearly in denial about the lowered standards for enlistment and “search and avoid missions.” Clearly, this kind of ignorance of the people under his command would suggest he is unfit for duty. And at least in my time in Iraq, I didn't see any enemies of my way of life, except for the “invade and occupy a foreign country” way of life.

“Any one of us could have all stayed in school or gone another way, but yet we chose to serve knowing full well Iraq and Afghanistan was in our future.”

I signed up in 1999. The only people that knew Iraq was in my future were the NeoCons. A lot of the folks that have joined since then have been straight up lied to by recruiters. And as crazy as our military is today, I'm pretty sure this Major General didn't make his rank in less than the five plus years we've been in Iraq or six and half years in Afghanistan, so in his own words here, he is not, “one of us.”

“And the sacrifice continues as three Americans have gone to God since we all went to bed last night and slept free and protected.”

AMERICANS ARE NOT FREE! We have more laws in this country than on any other on earth telling us what we can and can't do. We have a tax system that our founding fathers would call slavery. We have more people in jail per capita that any other country. We still have selective service registration. Our government tells us what we can or can't say on TV and radio, what drugs we can put in our bodies, what kinds of guns we can, or more often can't, own, how much mileage our cars have to get, and some arrogant deluded assholes are still out there perpetuating the myth that this is a free country! And we give them guns! Lots of them. And lots of Marines with guns to do their bidding. These “leaders” aren't just created by the military system, they are selected. They are selected by militaristic politicians that want nothing more than to stay in power and want loyal soldiers who will use their myths to manipulate society.

These people aren't stupid, they are deluded, and that's what is really the greatest tragedy of American militarism. They have the courage to face the horrors of combat, and lead men into battle, (though I don't know if Kelly himself was able to make rank without facing combat – it has happened) and yet they don't have the courage or freedom of mind to question authority and to question their own beliefs.

Perhaps our society has been conditioning mental freedom out of students for so long that people in the military today don't have the basic critical thinking skills necessary to exercise the full freedom of mind that their creator has bestowed upon them. With the intstituionalization of government-run schools, it should be no surprise. The No Child Left Behind Act gets teachers doing nothing but test prep with students, and now they don't even have time for basic PhysEd let alone the kind of rigorous education that develops critical thinking skills. Ask any Drill Instructor or Drill Sergeant if his new recruits are getting fatter with every cycle and you'll know that they don't have the skills I'm talking about.

There was so much more in Kelly's remarks for me to rip into, but there are only so many hours in a day. These were just the ones that could be deconstructed in a reasonable number of words. I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into the mind of a fascist General who has no qualms about lying to the troops, and the kind of propaganda we have been subjected to as members of the military.

Why Facebook is Better Than MySpace

2008-06-05T14:11:00.004-05:00

A friend of mine recently asked me why I preferred Facebook to MySpace. This was my answer:

If Facebook and MySpace got in a fight, Facebook would start off by looking MySpace right in the eye, causing MySpace to get a queasy feeling before soiling itself. Facebook would then give MySpace a punch in the stomach, causing it to vomit retarded profile layouts, excessive ads, and error messages all over itself. Then Facebook would kick MySpace in the gunch, creating a new asshole from which it could shit people that can't get with the times. Facebook would roundhouse kick MySpace's head off, but then Facebook would use it's laser beam eyes to cause it to explode while still in mid air. Then, Facebook would grab MySpace's body, grind it into dust with one hand, and snort it. And that's why you should try Facebook.

FACEBOOK ME!

Iraqi weddings not as joyous as Jenna Bush's

2008-06-04T11:06:00.002-05:00

Dahlia Wasfi sent me this editorial from PSL. If this doesn't get your blood boiling, I don't know what will. General Mattis' comment defending the attack it ridiculous if you look at the numbers. Two dozen "military-age males" is what you would expect at a wedding party, and with 12 women and fourteen children killed, you might expect more. We have literally made being a military-age male at the wrong place and the wrong time a crime punishable by death. You want me to think we're there liberating still? General Mattis, let's not be naive.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

PSL Editorial

On May 10, President Bush gave his daughter Jenna's hand away in holy matrimony. The ceremony was held at sunset, in a tranquil section of his 1,600-acre Texas ranch. Before the night concluded, a 10-piece party band played a whole host of soul and funk classics for the Bush family and their closest friends to boogie down to. George W. called the evening "spectacular" and after a moment of reflection told reporters, "We're mighty blessed."

Almost four years earlier to the day, another wedding took place 7,500 miles away from Texas in Makr al-Deeb, close to the Iraq-Syria border. It ended quite differently.

After the nuptials, the wedding party was in full swing, with dinner just finished and the band playing traditional Arabic music. Suddenly, U.S. fighter jets roared overhead and U.S. vehicles started shining their high beams into the party. The worried hosts abruptly shut down the gathering. The men stayed inside the wedding tent, while women and children scattered to a nearby house.

Five hours later, shortly after 2 a.m., while most were sleeping, the tent came under air attack. The air assault was followed by volleys from ground troops who arrived in helicopters and armored personnel carriers. Panicked women and children fled outside, where they, too, were hit.

Iraqi eyewitnesses claimed that U.S. soldiers went through the wreckage at dawn and killed several of the wounded. At the end of the assault, 45 Iraqis lay dead, including 12 women and 14 children. Some reports claim that both the bride and groom were among the dead. The wedding singer was killed while sleeping. There were no reported U.S. casualties.

Mr. Mahdi Nawaf, a shepherd who attended the wedding, said his daughter and his grandchildren were killed. "Mothers died with their children in their arms. One of them was my daughter. I found her a few steps from the house, her two-year-old son Raad in her arm. Her one-year-old son Ra'ed was lying nearby, his head missing," Nawaf said.

U.S. military officials defended the strike entirely. Implying that the gathering was not a wedding but a clandestine meeting of smugglers and foreign fighters, Maj. Gen. James Mattis asked, "How many people go to the middle of the desert 10 miles from the Syrian border to hold a wedding 80 miles from the nearest civilization?" Mattis continued, "There were more than two dozen military-age males. Let's not be naive."

Videotape was released a few days later that showed the wedding guests singing and dancing, and showed the bride, wearing a Western-style white dress and veil stepping out of the bridal car decorated with colorful ribbons.

How many more weddings have been disrupted, ruined, or attacked in Bush's war of aggression? Five months after the Makr al-Deeb massacre, a U.S. air strike killed 11 people and wounded 17 at a wedding party in Fallujah.

In April 2006, 27-year-old Media Majeed was struck in the head by a stray bullet as she sat in the passenger seat of a car headed to her brother's wedding. At the March Winter Soldier event held in Washington, D.C., Private Clifton Hicks testified that his unit "had fired automatic weapons into the middle of a wedding party, wounding and killing several guests, and [they] were told to drive away and forget about it."

The wedding celebration has long been one of Iraq's most important community events, involving hundreds of guests in parties that lasted through the early morning. Despite the war, Iraqi couples "still want everything to be perfect," according to Nadia Habib, a wedding planner in Baghdad.

But now, the wedding crowds are smaller and the parties are hurried, since the occupation forces keep the country under strict curfew and the threat of brutal violence always looms. Habib organizes only half the weddings she did before the war. The wedding tradition, like so many others that made up the fabric of Iraqi life, has been violently ripped apart.

The U.S. corporate media insisted that Jenna Bush wanted her ceremony to remain "private." Yet somehow, by the time of the big day, we had learned every detail of the bride's dress, the ring, the wedding attire and pre-wedding events. Bush and the capitalist ruling class that stands behind him continue to flaunt their decadent lifestyles after having ruined countless weddings and having left so many Iraqis grieving for their lost partners.

The Iraqi occupation cannot go on a day more. Any politician who prolongs the tragedy—even one more day—is a de facto war criminal and should be held responsible. Every time the corporate media distracts us with the details of another lavish wedding, let us remember the massacre at Makr al-Deeb. Let us remember Media Majeed who arrived at the hospital with bloodied wedding flowers still in her hands. Let us remember Sean Bell, gunned down in 2006 in a hail of police bullets the night before his wedding was to take place.

Let us remember them, and let us bring justice to them all.