Tell Congress: No War With Iran

First of all — for the benefit of any rightwing readers here — this petition is coming from Downsize DC, a Libertarian organization.

As you’ve been seeing in the news, the chickenhawks are foaming at the mouth, champing at the bit to send somebody else’s children and spouses off to war in Iran.  One would think our trillion-dollar quagmire in Iraq had taught us something, but you know the old expression about doing the same thing over and over and over and expecting a different result.

Please click here and send a letter to Congress, telling them you oppose conflict with Iran.  Sorry, it really is a letter and not just a petition to sign.  Come on, your country needs you.

The first sentence is already filled in — “I oppose conflict with Iran.”  Just insert a few sentences or phrases of your own in the blank field, and send it.

The GOP White House contenders — acting on orders from their pimps in the “defense” industry — are all trying to whip up the inbreds with scary images of Iran attacking the world.  Don’t fall for it.  And tell Congress not to fall for it either.

Evan Bayh Leaving — So F#$%&# What?

Aside from being a “centrist” Democrat, the retirement of Evan Bayh won’t be much of a loss. Like the saying goes, “character counts.” Or as a California Republican wannabe governor (Dan Lungren) said, “character is what you do when nobody’s looking.” In his case, people looked, and he got trounced by Gray Davis in the 1998 election.

Using “character” as a yardstick, Evan Bayh is an asshole. Period.

In 2005 he had an e-mail filter that blocked not only spam, but online petitions, mass e-mailings from constituents, and other little annoyances that wasted his valuable time. He eventually relented, but only after a massive campaign by Downsize DC, a Libertarian organization.

I haven’t gone to their website for over a year. Like most people, I’m a Libertarian when the opposing party is in power. I took part in a lot of their e-mail campaigns during the Dumbya years.

As far as I’m concerned, Evan Bayh’s political actions and speeches are vastly outweighed by his obvious contempt for his constituents.

The only reference I could find on the Downsize DC website was here. I did a post about it at the time.

If Evan Bayh’s senate seat goes to a Republican, it’ll be like that joke everyone was telling after Ronald Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s: “How could they tell?”

FDA, You're Doing a Heckuva Job

It shouldn’t be surprising any more when this kind of shit happens. We found out three years ago that FEMA is just a useless empty shell. And the Environmental Protection Agency now exists for the sole purpose of protecting corporations from those #$%&!# environmentalists.

And now we find out the true purpose of the Food and Drug Administration: coddling the pharmaceutical industry and promising them there won't be any mean old competition for their products.

Wyeth Pharmaceutical instructed their prostitutes at the FDA to ban the use of Estriol. Estriol is chemically identical to human estrogen. The FDA even admitted (while they were banning it) that it has no side effects. Wyeth wants the “free market” to be safe for their own similar product. Unlike Estriol, Wyeth’s product is derived from animal hormones. And unlike Estriol, Wyeth’s product has some serious health risks, including blood clots and cancer.

Like the old saying goes, what's good for Wyeth is good for America.

I got this information from the Libertarian organization, Downsize DC. Here's the link.

Doesn’t this make you feel all warm and fuzzy, knowing that the FDA is watching out for you? At this rate we’ll probably find out the Homeland Security Department is protecting Osama bin Laden.

When the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) was approved three years ago — just barely, and only after several hours of threats and arm-twisting from Tom DeLay ("who???") — there were all kinds of rumors going around. The pharmaceutical industry was going to start banning (through their government stooges) most vitamin and herbal supplements so they wouldn’t have any competition. This would be done gradually of course. The peons might get a little restless if Vitamin C and Goldenseal disappeared off the shelves overnight. So we’ll just do it slooowly.

This action by the FDA gives a lot more credibility to those rumors.

cross-posted at Bring It On!

Why Haven’t We Blockaded Iran Yet?

It’s because of You. Us. The Netroots.

On May 22nd a House resolution was introduced which would authorize a naval blockade of Iran. With no publicity from that Bush-hating liberal media, H. Con. Res. 362 was sailing through the House. The “leadership” bragged that the bill would “pass like a hot knife through butter” before the end of June.

The bill steamrolled its way through the House; at one point it had more than 200 cosponsors. It seemed like a done deal. But then those damn Intertubes kicked in. After tens of thousands of e-mails, online petitions and phone calls, co-sponsors started dropping like flies.

Barney Frank (D-MA) — who later apologized for “not having read the bill more carefully” — Robert Wexler (D-FL) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) were among the first to change their minds.

On June 24th the Seattle Post-Intelligencer took notice; or maybe they didn’t want to get left in the dust by thousands of bloggers and netsurfers. In an editorial, they asked “are supporters of Res. 362 asleep at the wheel, or are they just anxious to drag us into another illegal war?”

As of this date, H. Con. Res. 362 is still stuck in committee.

Aside from being ignored by the “media,” this bill seemed unstoppable for another reason: It was being pushed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). They’re one of America’s most powerful lobbying groups. They pretty much get what they want.

Activist groups who thwarted this bill (for now) include: Peace Action, United for Peace and Justice, the National Iranian-American Council, the Friends Committee on National Legislation, and Just Foreign Policy.

Another major player — and not mentioned in the article — is the Libertarian Downsize DC.

And speaking of oblivious legislators who vote for a bill without even knowing what’s in it — one of Downsize DC’s long-running campaigns is the Read The Bills Act. As the name implies, this bill would require all lawmakers to read an entire bill — and sign a statement verifying that they’ve read it and understand it — before they’re allowed to vote yes or no on it. What a concept.

cross-posted at Bring It On!