Squadron13 Political Action Alert - January 25, 2005

Though we may be stuck with Bush for four more years (Oh, I hate those words!) that doesn’t mean our fight is over. It has just begun. Squadron13 and many, many others are digging in for a long, hard fight. We need your help to raise all the opposition and dissent possible. Spread the word however you can and encourage people to participate.

Here are three very important things you can do right now to help make a difference...

(1.) JOIN THE GROUNDSWELL TO REMOVE DONALD RUMSFELD: There is an increasing effort to remove Donald Rumsfeld from office. We invite you to sign a petition to request just that - replace our Defense Secretary. For your review, I’ve included three pertinent links. The first two are news links, one from BBC, and the second from Aljazeera that cover the serious attempt to charge Donald Rumsfeld with war crimes for his use of torture on prisoners of war. That effort seems to be going well, as Mr. Rumsfeld has recently canceled his plan to visit Germany next month for a routine security meeting. The third link is the petition which you can sign via email on the John Kerry website.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4057531.stm
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8EBCFED0-6677-4F9F-B0D0-6995460FCEFA.htm
http://www.johnkerry.com/petition/rumsfeld2.php
 

(2.) OPPOSE CONFIRMATION OF ALBERTO GONZALES Bush's nominee for Attorney General was the architect of legal opinions calling the Geneva Conventions "quaint" and establishing a legal framework used to justify torture and humiliation of detainees at Abu Gharaib (spelling?) and elsewhere in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo. More about the widespread infliction of these egregious practices continues to emerge with release of records under court order from FOIA demands by the ACLU and other investigative organizations, against adamant administration resistance, stonewalling, and information redaction. A report is expected soon that will document far more than is presently known. In his previous role as counsel to Governor Bush, Gonzales routinely failed to pass along mitigating and exculpatory evidence to Bush in vetting clemency appeals by death row inmates. This facilitated Bush in executing more prisoners that any governor in American history. They both appear indifferent to the irreversibility of mistakes and the need for absolute, painstaking care in such decisions. Here is a link to find out more, and another petition to sign:

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=17596

(3.) JOIN THE EFFORT TO STOP CONDOLEEZZA RICE There is another effort going on to prevent Condoleezza Rice from being confirmed as Secretary of State. It is being spearheaded by Senator Barbara Boxer, who stood up before the world to object to the fishy election happenings. This is what Senator Boxer says of Condoleezza Rice: "I'm disappointed and I'm frustrated, because I don't think Dr. Rice has been forthcoming in our quest for the truth. Time after time, Dr. Rice had the opportunity to set the record straight on many issues. And, on issue after issue, she failed to do so. "She failed to set the record straight on the hyped-up nuclear threat leading up to the war on Iraq; she failed to do it on the total number of trained Iraqi security forces, which is key to the Administration's exit strategy there; she failed to do it on her misstatements about Al Qaida operating in Iraq; and she failed to do it on the U.S. policy regarding torture." This last issue is extremely troubling. As revealed in her confirmation hearing, Dr. Rice pays lip service to rejecting torture but personally intervened to kill an anti-torture provision in a recent intelligence bill. This effort is coming to a head right now and I apologize for not getting this out sooner. Please sign the petition anyway. I would also encourage you to sign up for Sen Boxer's newsletter.  Here is her link:

http://ga4.org/campaign/ricehearings/

Remember, if you think you’re getting all the news from TV and local papers - think again. You’re not. Not even close. Follow their ownership links and you will find big defense contractors such as GE and Westinghouse and major Republican campaign contributors. The only major English-speaking broadcast network left free of corporate influence is the BBC. Americans have had rose-colored glasses placed before their eyes, then the wool pulled over their heads complete with built-in, programmed headphones. Factual reporters are now viewed as "leftist". We believe that facts are dead center. That must be the starting point. Interpretation of those facts and conclusions drawn from them may be left or right, but we must start with the facts, and you're not getting them unless you turn to non-U.S. mainstream sources. One of the best sources of news that the Bush regime doesn’t want you to know about can be found at the Michael Moore website. Yeah I know, lots of people don’t like him. But he has disseminated important facts more widely and effectively through his books and films than any of our mainstream media. And his website has done an incredible job by bringing attention to news reports from all over the world. We happen to like him. We see his site as a wellspring of information for the factual center. Every news article he puts up has a link to the original publisher. He is not inventing news, just bringing it to our attention. Here is his link:

http://www.michaelmoore.com
 

Sincerely,

Gordon Sturrock
Flights of Thought on War and Politics...
Squadron13 Aviation Museum
Eugene, Oregon, USA.

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