I am asking for support for American troops; the BEST WAY to get them home is for each & every one who truly supports our troops other than a metalic sticker from china saying so: go and mark EXEMPT on your WW2 forms; a DEMOCRACY is supposed to be run by the will of the people; there is a democratic Congress because each & every single one PROMISED that they would immediately bring the troops home; FED UP WITH LIES & DECEPTION? lets BRING AMERICANS HOME!

re: By geoffspear, August 13 at 10:01 am:

geoffspear writes: “We’re talking about California’s 8th district.  You could split the liberal vote into 7 pieces and a Republican still wouldn’t have a chance.”

Exactly, geoff; and that’s why I say, in my post ‘August 13 at 9:40 am’, that she has only one effective political enemy to worry about.

“This should be the campaign to send the message. The republicans should be pouring money “Rush style” into cindy’s campaign. not only as a protest against pelosi but to split the liberal vote.”

Umm, We’re talking about California’s 8th district.  You could split the liberal vote into 7 pieces and a Republican still wouldn’t have a chance.

There are many obvious constituencies passionately opposed to Cindy Sheehan’s views, but only one matters in practical terms.

With one singular exception, all of the hard-core anti-Sheehan constituencies consist of voters, activists, and campaign contributers who don’t tend to live in San Francisco and would never vote for a Democrat anyway. In a liberal Democratic district in liberal San Francisco, Cindy Sheehan’s electoral chances are not much hurt by the fact that Big Oil, the Christian right, or the NRA don’t like her. These groups are among her enemies, but they are not effective enemies, because they have little power in San Francisco politics or in Democratic party politics. They can’t make sure she’s not elected to Congress.

There is only one right-wing group which has a lot of clout within Democratic party politics, a group whose rabidly fanatical members hate everything that Cindy Sheehan stands for in terms of war and foreign policy, even though many members of this group consider themselves “liberal” and even “anti-war”, so strong is their self-deluding bias. This group will never forgive her for occasionally slipping and telling the truth about what the Iraq war was really about. That one group - which is her most fearsome enemy and could well engineer her electoral defeat, even in “liberal” San Francisco - is the Israel lobby.

I feel in my heart that Cindy Sheehen really deserves a bit of political justice against the machine that has belittled and insulted her over and over and over again! If she can by some small miracle defeat Pelosi and obtain a seat in Congress then she will have a great platform to seek out justice for all those “little folks” that have been and continue to be run over by the corporate/political alliance of war.

One fact that is in-disputable is Pelosi’ inability to effective lead the Democratic House against the bullshit artist of the Repuke stonewall! To me, and I am no expert, she always looks like she is floating on “Mother’s Little Helpers!” Pop another sedative and smile Nancy! Meanwhile the NeoCons destroy our country, rob our treasury and dismantle the first responder safety nets.

Cindy has been down and out and now she is fighting mad and for that I say THREE CHEERS Cindy!!!!

Some people have all the luck. Who, but Pelosi, will get to run against someone who was famously pictured hugging Hugo Chavez.

Who here doesn’t understand why that alone assures Pelosi’s victory?

****
To save time for future readers, I’ll synopsize the comments below:

Keith thinks Nancy should have some nuts?

Ed thinks Sheehan’s opponent is Israel.

JBlack correctly thinks Ed is nuts.

mitch44z thinks somebody’s nutsness or lack of nuts should be a secret. It’s unclear whose nuts he’s talking about.

Robert B. Livingston has much diagnosis but despairs of finding a prescription.

purplewolf is more optimistic than Robert…but has he seen the picture of Cindy and Hugo? Does he discount judgment as a necessary trait for public leadership? If Cheney shot himself in the foot all the time instead of relying on faulty intelligence to misidentify a 6’3” lawyer as a quail, would his voters till respect Cheney’s judgment? 

rowdy speaks uncomfortable truths. Hush him up!

samosamo constructively calls Nancy an “ole bitch.” Perhaps he’d do better to hope that Nancy’s face lifts would all spring loose at the same time and kill off two or three hundred congressmen in the recoil.

Robert B. Livingston responds to samosamo with very high minded and eloquent calls to arms for all Americans, but has he seen the picture? Didn’t Patrick Henry, Jefferson and Washington have judgment along with zeal?  Isn’t any “movement” built on a foundation lacking judgment doomed?

diamond present a realistic but hopeful perspective that I tend to agree with. I guess I’d vote for Cindy in a minute if she were running against my gormless Congresswoman—even if Cindy will bump her nose against a wall that she may not know is standing in front of her—take a look at the picture. It doesn’t show much forethought on her part. Any enemy of my enemy is my friend isn’t judgment: it is expedience.

Ed Harges rejoinders JBlack’s accusation of habitual anti-antisemitism by announcing, “I’m not afraid of your shallow labels.” Does he glory in being called antisemitic or is it just an acceptable, expected response to his hate mongering? At first I thought Ed was confessing to chewing labels off sour mash whiskey bottles.

cyrena shares Robert Livingston’s high aspirations for our society. She postulates that Cindy is better equipped than most congressmen to do the job: Put that way, comparatively—Cindy doesn’t look so unready. Other congressmen are all Chamber of Commerce slick and since she may not be, we think she’s naive. What’s wrong with us?

Cyrena even uses the word “judgment.” Has she seen the picture? Is Hugging Hugo good judgment? I wonder how many here think it was a GOOD thing that Cindy went ahuggin’ Hugo? Judgment applies here too.

This came through my email from my local impeachment group. There’s way more, but I don’t have space in one post. Wish I had a link, but there isn’t one, since it’s the standard format that we use for these forums.

**
Nancy Pelosi is on tour for her book “Know Your Power”. As Pelosi gave her lecture, one member of the audience just couldn’t take the hypocrisy any more:

“I am going to vomit.  Who gave you the right to destroy the Constitution and take Impeachment off the table?  Our 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 8th Constitutional amendments are being annihilated.  1 million Iraqis are dead. 5,000 Americans including Cindy Sheehan’s son. We’ve spent over 1 trillion taxpayer dollars on a war that should never have been started. Our constitution is being destroyed, Nancy. Bring back our Constitution… Bring it back (being dragged out of the room)...”

The truthteller was Peter Thottam, founder of the LA Impeachment Center. Peter writes:

Security guard called the LAPD officers and made a citizen’s arrest. Spent the night in jail. The police officers were sympathetic and agreed about the role of big money in Congress. They agreed that Pelosi and these reps are just tools.

Would do it again? Absolutely. One of the best things I’ve ever done. The look on her face was priceless. Deer in the headlights X 10?

We are far too passive and non-confrontational. Kumbaya moments? People are dying…

Who are we kidding. I plan to resign and turn in my bar license. Laws? Who are we kidding?

The system is clearly non-functional. It doesn’t work. The media is a circus. A side-show. They lie. They lie. They lie.

The disconnect b/w Nancy Pelosi (and many of the people in that audience) w/ what is going on here in the U.S. and abroad is appalling. This clown is Speaker of the House? I plan to make the failure of impeachment and of Congress a center-piece in my September 11th talk with Bowman, Griffin. [see ]http://www.911TruthLA.com]

I have an appearance in court Sept. 4th. I’ll let you know how it goes.
~~~~

Activists from PDLA, Code Pink, The National Impeachment Network, Neighbors for Peace and Justice and several other groups [including Ventura Citizens for Impeachment, who sent these reports to SB] implemented the Outside strategy, ringing Mulholland Drive and several approaches to last night’s event, beginning long before its start time. Shadowed by an unusually large police presence and infiltrated by extremely clean-cut fellows claiming to be local “film makers,” activists persevered through the entire book signing with the goal of getting their message in front of the Speaker: There was a huge “Impeachment is on OUR table!” banner just moments before Pelosi’s limo was obliged to exit right past it. - Michael Jay, Co-Chair, PDLA
~~
by Jodie Evans of Code Pink:
Pelosi is on a tour for her book"Know Your Power”. At the American Jewish University we had over 40 people outside with giant “Impeach” banners. The road to parking was lined with people and messages.

Twelve of us had tickets to get in. We met at 6:30 PM to discuss the order we would stand up with our messages at the book signing.

Our cameras were taken away in the search before entering. As they were looking in my bag, they got distracted by someone else and I was waved by with, “You look harmless.”

Eight of us sat on the second row in the middle,  We wrote messages with our sharpie, such as: “Use your Power, Torture?” “You Knew?”“Uphold the Constitution” etc. on the back inside covers of the books. After Pelosi had started talking, we raised the books showing the messages. It was a row of dissent!

Pelosi was flustered, couldn’t remember the questions asked and stammered. Then a security guard disrupted us and tried to get us to leave, gesturing and frowning; we didn’t look at him or move but stayed seated for 20 minutes.

Robert Livingston..

Thank you for these words - all of them, and for posing this very important question…

“And what by God are WE doing to right our republic and help heal the world?”

I would answer this for most of the reading and commenting crowd here, but I manage to stay in enough hot water as it is.

I have NO DOUBTS that Cindy Sheehan, (in ADDITION to being an angry mother) is highly intelligent, and it doesn’t surprise me even a fraction, that she was ALREADY AWARE, (and thinking HARD) on everything that you’d found important to tell her.

Nope, I’m not surprised at all. Sadly, our population has somehow lost the ability to ‘see’. We don’t look beneath the surface to find things out for ourselves, and so our intuitive judgment never has a chance to develop. That’s unfortunate, and the results of that are right before our eyes.

I’ll check out the video and Eric Larsen’s book, along with Mickey Z.

I’ve just finished up (or close enough) Sheldon Wolin’s Democracy Incorporated. I keep suggesting it on every thread these days, because unless ‘we the people’ get some eyesight, and fast, we’re doomed.

I trust completely, that Cindy Sheehan knows as much (and probably FAR MORE) than the average Congressional Rep, to carry out this job for as long as she wants to do it. She’s been in INTENSIVE training for several years now, with all of the appropriate experience built in.

I would be proud to help in any way that I can. Meantime, I’ll just make sure that I pass along the video links that you’ve provided.

By JBlack, August 12 at 4:44 pm:

I’m not afraid of your shallow labels.

I feel sorry for Cindy Sheehan in a way. If she gets inside the tent she’ll find life is much more complicated than it is outside of it. But if she can do some good and be effective and really represent the people instead of special interests then good luck to her!

Rowdy:  the argument that Cindy Sheehan is somehow lacking is rather a rather worn and tired argument.  First—“just an angry mother?” If that were all she is, that is still enough force of nature that I would never be fool enough to underestimate. Ever heard of Hilda Sarkisian? http://tinyurl.com/5mpczq

Sheehan lacking qualifications?  What qualifications or experience does one ideally need to be an effective representative?

How about a deep empathy for others?  How about a belief that Americans will do what is right when given all the facts?  How about a sincere belief in the U.S. Consitution and a desire to protect it at all personal cost? 

That is just a start.

I volunteer for Cindy in San Francisco.  I’ve met and read many politicians and political thinkers over the years—very few impress me as does Sheehan.  She is extremely intelligent, emotionally sound, and completely selfless.  Imagine that in a representative.

How many times have I wanted to tell her about something which I thought was urgent or important—to find out that she already knew about it—and was thinking deeply about it?  Others who know her have the same experience.

Sadly—after Cindy concluded that the two party system was greatly responsible for many of our current troubles, many morally weak Democrats and their media myrmidons abandoned her.

While a child living in Virgina, I used to imagine the lives and times of people like Patrick Henry, Jefferson and Washington.  We live in an age where we are overwhelmed by information.  Who are our patriots and intellectual defenders today?  unequivocally, Cindy is one.  I would add Ralph Nader, Matt Gonzalez, and Cynthia McKinney—and some intellectuals like Eric Larsen, Mickey Z, and dear Mumia Abu Jamal. 

Who are our tories? And traitors? 

And what by God are WE doing to right our republic and help heal the world?

In an era of trivialization it is time to leave our comfort zones and help support those who are real and productive as opposed to the trivial and destructive.

We need to leave our comfort zones and seek new solutions (mostly solutions that exist but have never been tried).

Trivial talk and protest parades—er, marches, and “hearings” (like Conyers’ recent dog and pony show that tied participants’ tongues) haven’t accomplished much.  Time to put your energy where it counts and make demands like Frederick Douglass advised.

Help Cindy Sheehan!

This land is our land!

Shoot, I hope she gets elected just to bump that ole bitch pelosi out. Sheehan would only serve a 2 year term and instead of putting someone else new in that seat, that district would no doubt put pelosi back in. Or, maybe sheehan would learn and with hopefully a new crop of new representatives find a niche, or maybe not. I just go with the extreme need to replace almost all of the house and senate, there are a few that should stay but watch out november because I bet even now the diebold and es&s;folks with the help of the neocons will already have the key folks needed to maintain the current trash set up for hopeful re-election.

most of the democrats in office right now should be tried as co-conspirators in bush’s war. i loathe pelosi and reid as well. cindy is, however, just an angry mother. she has no qualifications to hold elective office. if by sheer luck she did beat pelosi, the washington good old boys club would just ignore her. she would have no political clout. she is and always will be a political nobody.

Robert, the dumbed down masses do not include all Americans, just the majority of them out there. There are still many who do not buy into the propaganda machine that has been working 24/7 since before the stolen 2000 non-election.

GO, CINDY, GO!

NANCY JUST GO AWAY.

AIPAC certainly plays a part influencing American politics—but I have to disagree with Ed Harges. 

Cindy’s main foe is us.

In different measures, we are all dumbed-down victims of a propaganda system that is good at labelling, and simplifying—and getting our assent when a revolution should be in order.

Nancy Pelosi does not meet with San Francisco antiwar activists—just like Bush does not attend soldiers’ funerals.

As Sheehan points out—Pelosi is not a victim, but is complicit with the Bush administration’s war crimes.  She and Jay Rockefeller (briefed on torture techniques) have kept impeachment off the table—and Conyers et al. all fall into line and become silenced.

People like Kucinich—brave as he is—crumple again and again—their faith “in the system” is unfathomable—given these years of criminality that began with the first Iraq War, if not before.

Why?  I wish I was smart enough to answer that.

Eric Larsen has some clues in his book A Nation Gone Blind; Mickey Z has some clues as well: http://tinyurl.com/6bfc2o

Cindy Sheehan’s main foe will be the Israel lobby.

Please watch this to learn about the real Cindy Sheehen that the establishment media will never promote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd74U1kNZ8I

(Cindy gives a passionate speech recently, which only a mere 471 viewers have accessed at this time.  She tells the truth as passionately as any patriot at our country’s founding.)