Gen. Odom: Use The Spending Power To End the Iraq
Debacle

post from TalkLeft on 05 July 2007 11:45:00 PM. © TalkLeft

Via mcjoan, retired General William Odom says:

. . . Congress clearly and indisputably has two powers over the executive: the power of the purse and the power to impeach. Instead of using either, members of congress are wasting their time discussing feckless measures like a bill that "de-authorizes the war in Iraq." That is toothless unless it is matched by a cut-off of funds....
To force him to begin a withdrawal before then, the first step should be to rally the public by providing an honest and candid definition of what "supporting the troops" really means and pointing out who is and who is not supporting our troops at war. The next step should be a flat refusal to appropriate money for to be used in Iraq for anything but withdrawal operations with a clear deadline for completion.
The final step should be to put that president on notice that if [he]ignores this legislative action and tries to extort Congress into providing funds by keeping U.S. forces in peril, impeachment proceedings will proceed in the House of Representatives. Such presidential behavior surely would constitute the "high crime" of squandering the lives of soldiers and Marines for his own personal interest.

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Punishment to Fit the Crime

post from Daily Kos on 05 July 2007 11:40:34 PM. © Daily Kos

If you've ever considered installing a Gro-Lite in a closet to cultivate a marijuana plant for your very own use, I suggest you consider obstructing justice and perjuring yourself in a case involving national security instead. Especially if you live in Florida, Delaware, Alabama, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Utah, Arizona, Virginia, or South Carolina.

Because, while the fine or jail time meted out in court for your cannabis experiment is likely to be mild in most cases, the additional penalties triggered by the conviction can really hurt. Sometimes for life.

According to the comprehensive Life Sentences: The Collateral Sanctions Associated with Marijuana Offenses released Monday by the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics:

In most cases, a felony marijuana conviction (for example growing marijuana) triggers the same collateral sanctions as those triggered by a conviction for murder, rape, or kidnapping. In many cases, the collateral sanctions for a marijuana-related conviction actually exceed those for a violent crime.

• Collateral sanctions triggered by a marijuana conviction can include: revocation or suspension of professional licenses, barriers to employment or promotion, loss of educational aid, driver’s license suspension, and bars on adoption, voting and jury service. For people who depend upon public assistance, a marijuana conviction can trigger a bar on receiving food stamps and restrict access to public housing. In some states, these sanctions continue for life. ...

• In 47 states, a conviction for growing marijuana (or any other marijuana-related felony) results in at least some period of time during which the person is barred from voting. In 6 of these states, the bar on voting lasts for life.

Some 45,000 of the three-quarter-million Americans arrested for marijuana offenses each year are convicted of felonies that can trigger these collateral sanctions.

Are there any but a handful of true believers in reefer madness who don't realize how disastrous a toll the War on (some) Drugs has taken on America and Americans? So why isn't there even a handful of high-level elected officials willing to do something about it?

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The Power of Congress to End the War

post from Daily Kos on 05 July 2007 11:21:29 PM. © Daily Kos

General Odom, a powerful and credible critic of Bush's Mesopotamic folly, says it's time for Congress to do its job:

If the Democrats truly want to succeed in forcing President Bush to begin withdrawing from Iraq, the first step is to redefine supporting the troops" as withdrawing them, citing the mass of accumulating evidence of the psychological as well as the physical damage that the president is forcing them to endure because he did not raise adequate forces. Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress could confirm this evidence and lay the blame for "not supporting the troops" where it really belongs – on the president. And they could rightly claim to the public that they are supporting the troops by cutting off the funds that he uses to keep U.S. forces in Iraq.

The public is ahead of the both branches of government in grasping this reality, but political leaders and opinion makers in the media must give them greater voice.

Congress clearly and indisputably has two powers over the executive: the power of the purse and the power to impeach. Instead of using either, members of congress are wasting their time discussing feckless measures like a bill that "de-authorizes the war in Iraq." That is toothless unless it is matched by a cut-off of funds....

To force him to begin a withdrawal before then, the first step should be to rally the public by providing an honest and candid definition of what "supporting the troops" really means and pointing out who is and who is not supporting our troops at war. The next step should be a flat refusal to appropriate money for to be used in Iraq for anything but withdrawal operations with a clear deadline for completion.

The final step should be to put that president on notice that if [he]ignores this legislative action and tries to extort Congress into providing funds by keeping U.S. forces in peril, impeachment proceeding will proceed in the House of Representatives. Such presidential behavior surely would constitute the "high crime" of squandering the lives of soldiers and Marines for his own personal interest.

Hear, hear. Thank you Gen. Odom for pointing out the responsibility, the capacity, and the duty of this Congress to execute its power of the purse to end this war. This is precisely the prescription that can bring this debacle to an end before January, 2009.

(H/T Aravosis.)

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Late Night

post from Eschaton on 05 July 2007 11:18:00 PM. © Eschaton

Rock harder you bastards.

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Late Nite FDL: News Flash! They Dont Hate Us for
Our Freedom.

post from Firedoglake on 05 July 2007 11:00:42 PM. © Firedoglake

You know, if you don’t read Glenn Greenwald every day, you should. Today, my homeboy G2 points us to the latest Worldwide Pew Research Poll, which indicates that America’s standing in the world has sunk to its lowest level in recorded[...]

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Crumble

post from The Out of Iraq Bloggers Caucus on 05 July 2007 11:00:00 PM. © The Out of Iraq Bloggers Caucus

GOP support for Bush's Iraq war is crumbling, Associated Press.

Last week, GOP Senators Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said the U.S. should reduce its military presence in Iraq. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., had already said the same prior to that. Now Sen. Pete Domenici has withdrawn his support of President Bush's Iraq war policy and embraced a proposal to bring home most troops by March. They don't want to get caught in the pressure that the White House will mount this September.

I wouldn't be surprised if the GOP support for Bush and Cheney's jobs starts to crumble next, particularly after Olbermann's recent broad-side. It's time to hammer at the cracks developing in Bush and Cheney's armor.

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Overwhelming majority in US see two Americas

post from AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth on 05 July 2007 10:55:00 PM. © AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

When I think of what has changed in the since I moved overseas, what stands out the most for me has been the derailing of the American dream. People still talk about the American dream both in the US and abroad and, heck, even Sarkozy alluded to this in his successful political campaign here in France a few months ago in his hopes of bringing it to France. Ten years ago, twenty years ago, I might have agreed but listening to Sarkozy talk about it in 2007 only made me laugh because that dream has been shredded by the greed of powerful special interests for the select few. Greed may be a traditional, even necessary, aspect of capitalism but left unchecked, you have the America of 1900 or so many developing world countries of 2007 and besides New Gingrich and his lot, I don't see Americans begging to have the clocks turned backwards.

It should come as no surprise that most Americans see the gap as a problem. Corporate executives continue to not only take care of themselves rather handsomely but they also exert too much power on the political system to create an even greater lack of opportunity for new players to break in. Let's see if 2008 is the year America moves back to the traditional value of fairness and equality of opportunity and discards the current trend of mean spiritedness.

About seven in 10 said discrepancies between income levels are too large, a sentiment voiced by nearly two-thirds of those from households earning at least $80,000 a year, the survey said. Three-fourths of people earning less than $80,000 agreed.

Eight in 10 said the gap between the rich and the middle class has worsened over the last 25 years, said the survey by the University of Connecticut's Center for Survey Research and Analysis.

Take note that this issue has only been recognized by the Democratic candidates, while the GOP presidential candidates are noticeably quiet. Americans want fairness and opportunity for everyone.

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Does Giuliani Even Need To Win Iowa or NH

On a conference call with reporters this morning, Rudy Giuliani campaign manager Mike DuHaime boasted that his boss is the candidate best positioned to challenge Democrats in the blue states, make them spend money where they ordinarily wouldn't and[...]

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C&Ls Late Nite Music Club with the Drifters

Under the Boardwalk Bill Pinkney, the last survivor of the original members of the musical group The Drifters, has died. He was 81.Pinkney was found dead Wednesday at the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort, Daytona Beach Police spokesman Jimmie Flynt said. The death was not considered suspicious, he said.Pinkney was scheduled to perform for U.S. Independence [...]

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John Kennedys Profile In CourageThe Civil Rights
Speech (Part 1, Background)

Something we were withholding made us weak.Until we found out that it was ourselvesWe were withholding from our land of living,And forthwith found salvation in surrender.Robert Frost, “The Gift Outright”Delivered at the Inauguration of John F. KennedyThey say poets are oracles. Exhibit A: Robert Frost’s Kennedy Inauguration poem, whose lines seem eerie given [...]

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