The corporate media does not report the news fairly and accurately but merely sells the propaganda they are told to sell.
Their job is not to report the truth or the facts, but merely sell "soap" (i.e. war, agendas, toothpaste, etc.) for their sponsors.
Jon Stewart nails the MSM with their blatant attempts to discredit, and essentially ignore Ron Paul. It's hilarious when it's so clearly pointed out.
As most of you already know who are visiting this site, this is just one example of the many topics that are misrepresented by the corporate media.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Monday, January 28, 2008
Great Ron Paul Interview !
The following is a great interview with Ron Paul in from my local FOX channel. I've seen this many times... the local FOX affiliate will actually break through the Mainstream Media blackout on certain subjects. In this interview, they not only give Ron Paul a fair shot, but also acknowledge that big media is biased and not playing fair with their coverage of the candidates.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
A Great Ron Paul Post... Great Job Kemp!
The following is one of the best articles I've read on the incredible grassroots support of Ron Paul. Great article Kemp! (His blog article is here)
The greatest grassroots campaign in the history of American politics has been summarily ignored and shunned by the large media.
Yes, you read that right. The greatest grassroots campaign in the HISTORY OF AMERICAN POLITICS. IGNORED BY THE MEDIA.
The Ron Paul campaign is centered around a man who is not a media sensation or a media creation. The campaign is centered around an individual who does not seek power and control over others. The campaign is centered around an individual who avoids shadiness and corruption like the plague. A man who is honest, has integrity, and cares fundamentally about America and the amazing freedoms that were granted when the Revolutionaries of 1776 broke off from the yoke of oppressive, central government. These men asserted all individuals’ natural rights.
So a grassroots campaign has grown around this man who fights for the protection of our natural rights via the respect of the U.S. Constitution. The job of the president is to protect and defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. The Constitution protects our rights as free individuals and limits the government from oppressively entering into our lives and controlling us on a whim.
The grassroots campaign that grew around the support of Ron Paul has done everything in their power to earn a respectable place in the national consciousness. Through individual efforts, the Ron Paul grassroots campaign raised $4 million in a single day in early November. Then, in mid-December, the growing group broke the ALL-TIME SINGLE DAY RECORD bringing in $6 million in one 24 hour period. This was reported in the media, but was it reported in the amazing way it should have been? Did this vault Ron Paul into the key “front runners circle” that the large media has had such immense control over? The answer is no. The media summarily ignored Ron Paul and his campaign very soon thereafter.
Ron Paul’s supporters have organized to dominate most local straw polls around the country. They have dominated nearly every online poll and both online and text polls after every single Republican debate. Has this vaulted Ron Paul into the media “front runners circle”? No. They ignore him and figuratively spit on his hard working supporters.
When Ron Paul does get a rare interview or report, at times he is treated fairly, but most often he has been treated like a second class citizen, called a “long shot”, dismissed as a “kook” and treated generally in a way unbecoming of any respectable interviewer. Like I said, there are exceptions, but the rule is patently ugly treatment by a more and more despicable traditional media.
The mis-treatment and lack of respect have forced the grassroots campaign onto the internet and into the streets. The Ron Paul campaign dominates MySpace, Youtube, Digg, Facebook and far outpaces any other candidate in terms of Meetup groups and Meetup members. Does this get reported? No. Ron Paul has signed up over 12,000 volunteers as local precinct coordinators to walk their local neighborhoods passing out literature and getting to know their neighbors. Reported? No.
Ron Paul’s supporters have organized hundreds of marches, thousands of sign wavings, numerous other small fundraisers, as well as starting hundreds of websites dedicated to the race. Ron Paul’s website is the most visited out of any campaign in the Republican race and goes toe-to-toe with Obama’s out of any campaign period. Reported? Not much, if at all.
Ron Paul’s 2008 presidential campaign has seen a tremendous groundswell of independent support form many hundreds of thousands of very passionate, intelligent and caring supporters across the country. Lovers of America, patriots of this great country, individuals dedicated to the Constitution, restrained government, and who care about our natural unalienable rights as independent human beings. This amazing groundswell has been shunned and pushed to the side by the large traditional media. Supporters have been told “he can’t win” and he has been kept out of the big media “winner’s circle”. It is a sham and a travesty.
I am here today to tell you that the Ron Paul 2008 campaign has witnessed the greatest grassroots support in the history of American politics. I am also here to tell you that the large media has ignored and battled against this campaign.
These two facts should tell you something. If you care about your unalienable rights as a free citizen, you should seriously consider supporting Ron Paul. If you care about these rights as well as the government protecting them rather than stripping them away, you should be very annoyed and upset with the old media. I know I am amazed and pretty pissed. From what I have observed, the media do not care about your rights and they do not care about you. If you care about America, you will think about finding an alternative or demanding a change.
The future of freedom and limited government rest in your hands. So far, the media have shown what side they are on.
In liberty,
Kemp Moyer
The greatest grassroots campaign in the history of American politics has been summarily ignored and shunned by the large media.
Yes, you read that right. The greatest grassroots campaign in the HISTORY OF AMERICAN POLITICS. IGNORED BY THE MEDIA.
The Ron Paul campaign is centered around a man who is not a media sensation or a media creation. The campaign is centered around an individual who does not seek power and control over others. The campaign is centered around an individual who avoids shadiness and corruption like the plague. A man who is honest, has integrity, and cares fundamentally about America and the amazing freedoms that were granted when the Revolutionaries of 1776 broke off from the yoke of oppressive, central government. These men asserted all individuals’ natural rights.
So a grassroots campaign has grown around this man who fights for the protection of our natural rights via the respect of the U.S. Constitution. The job of the president is to protect and defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. The Constitution protects our rights as free individuals and limits the government from oppressively entering into our lives and controlling us on a whim.
The grassroots campaign that grew around the support of Ron Paul has done everything in their power to earn a respectable place in the national consciousness. Through individual efforts, the Ron Paul grassroots campaign raised $4 million in a single day in early November. Then, in mid-December, the growing group broke the ALL-TIME SINGLE DAY RECORD bringing in $6 million in one 24 hour period. This was reported in the media, but was it reported in the amazing way it should have been? Did this vault Ron Paul into the key “front runners circle” that the large media has had such immense control over? The answer is no. The media summarily ignored Ron Paul and his campaign very soon thereafter.
Ron Paul’s supporters have organized to dominate most local straw polls around the country. They have dominated nearly every online poll and both online and text polls after every single Republican debate. Has this vaulted Ron Paul into the media “front runners circle”? No. They ignore him and figuratively spit on his hard working supporters.
When Ron Paul does get a rare interview or report, at times he is treated fairly, but most often he has been treated like a second class citizen, called a “long shot”, dismissed as a “kook” and treated generally in a way unbecoming of any respectable interviewer. Like I said, there are exceptions, but the rule is patently ugly treatment by a more and more despicable traditional media.
The mis-treatment and lack of respect have forced the grassroots campaign onto the internet and into the streets. The Ron Paul campaign dominates MySpace, Youtube, Digg, Facebook and far outpaces any other candidate in terms of Meetup groups and Meetup members. Does this get reported? No. Ron Paul has signed up over 12,000 volunteers as local precinct coordinators to walk their local neighborhoods passing out literature and getting to know their neighbors. Reported? No.
Ron Paul’s supporters have organized hundreds of marches, thousands of sign wavings, numerous other small fundraisers, as well as starting hundreds of websites dedicated to the race. Ron Paul’s website is the most visited out of any campaign in the Republican race and goes toe-to-toe with Obama’s out of any campaign period. Reported? Not much, if at all.
Ron Paul’s 2008 presidential campaign has seen a tremendous groundswell of independent support form many hundreds of thousands of very passionate, intelligent and caring supporters across the country. Lovers of America, patriots of this great country, individuals dedicated to the Constitution, restrained government, and who care about our natural unalienable rights as independent human beings. This amazing groundswell has been shunned and pushed to the side by the large traditional media. Supporters have been told “he can’t win” and he has been kept out of the big media “winner’s circle”. It is a sham and a travesty.
I am here today to tell you that the Ron Paul 2008 campaign has witnessed the greatest grassroots support in the history of American politics. I am also here to tell you that the large media has ignored and battled against this campaign.
These two facts should tell you something. If you care about your unalienable rights as a free citizen, you should seriously consider supporting Ron Paul. If you care about these rights as well as the government protecting them rather than stripping them away, you should be very annoyed and upset with the old media. I know I am amazed and pretty pissed. From what I have observed, the media do not care about your rights and they do not care about you. If you care about America, you will think about finding an alternative or demanding a change.
The future of freedom and limited government rest in your hands. So far, the media have shown what side they are on.
In liberty,
Kemp Moyer
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Enough Already!
I've had it with the MSM... I've known for years that they lie, don't tell the whole story, "report" the unimportant, and bury the important... propaganda in a "fair and balanced" way... HAHAHAHAHA!
But watching the system repeatedly, day in day out, attempt to discredit, bury, and skewer Ron Paul, has my blood boiling. F U MSM!
From voter fraud, to attempts to link Paul with Al-Quada, to smiling candidates vs. unsmiling Paul, to little time in the debates, to ridiculous questions directed to Paul, to smearing the candidate with baseless claims, to no mention when there is Paul news, etc. F U MSM!
The people supporting Paul may be frustrated by your blatant attempts to dismiss our candidate, but we will not fade into the sunset. The "system" better wisen up... millions of us know you are full of shit... we no longer believe your propaganda... we know you aren't fair or balanced... and we are spreading the real truth to our friends, family, and acquaintances.
Wakeup MSM... Wakeup Mainstream Policitians... Wakeup Powers-That-Be... A discontent and angry tide of true patriots are rising up. We realize that we the people have the power to bring your greed, fraud, and immoral behavior to an end.
But watching the system repeatedly, day in day out, attempt to discredit, bury, and skewer Ron Paul, has my blood boiling. F U MSM!
From voter fraud, to attempts to link Paul with Al-Quada, to smiling candidates vs. unsmiling Paul, to little time in the debates, to ridiculous questions directed to Paul, to smearing the candidate with baseless claims, to no mention when there is Paul news, etc. F U MSM!
The people supporting Paul may be frustrated by your blatant attempts to dismiss our candidate, but we will not fade into the sunset. The "system" better wisen up... millions of us know you are full of shit... we no longer believe your propaganda... we know you aren't fair or balanced... and we are spreading the real truth to our friends, family, and acquaintances.
Wakeup MSM... Wakeup Mainstream Policitians... Wakeup Powers-That-Be... A discontent and angry tide of true patriots are rising up. We realize that we the people have the power to bring your greed, fraud, and immoral behavior to an end.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Freedom Revolution - Ron Paul is on the move!
The people power behind Ron Paul's campaign is amazing! Tens of thousands of well educated, passionate, supporters embracing his message and working towards real change. The status quo has to be nervous by this outcry of support and the growing movement.
Ron Paul's visit to Seattle was an inspiring event in 2007... Go Dr. Paul! Your message will help save this country!
Ron Paul's visit to Seattle was an inspiring event in 2007... Go Dr. Paul! Your message will help save this country!
Monday, November 19, 2007
I'm Not Going To Take It Anymore! How About You?
Address by Mayor Ross C. “Rocky” Anderson on 14 November, 2007
Draw Your Line In the Sand
Today, as we come together once again in this great city, we raise our voices in unison to say to President Bush, to Vice President Cheney, to other members of the Bush Administration (past and present), to a majority of Congress, including Utah’s entire congressional delegation, and to much of the mainstream media:
“You have failed us miserably and we won’t take it any more.”
“While we had every reason to expect far more of you, you have been pompous, greedy, cruel, and incompetent as you have led this great nation to a moral, military, and national security abyss.”
“You have breached trust with the American people in the most egregious ways. You have utterly failed in the performance of your jobs. You have undermined our Constitution, permitted the violation of the most fundamental treaty obligations, and betrayed the rule of law.”
“You have engaged in, or permitted, heinous human rights abuses of the sort never before countenanced in our nation’s history as a matter of official policy. You have sent American men and women to kill and be killed on the basis of lies, on the basis of shifting justifications, without competent leadership, and without even a coherent plan for this monumental blunder.”
“We are here to tell you: We won’t take it any more!”
“You have acted in direct contravention of values that we, as Americans who love our country, hold dear. You have deceived us in the most cynical, outrageous ways. You have undermined, or allowed the undermining of, our constitutional system of checks and balances among the three presumed co-equal branches of government. You have helped lead our nation to the brink of fascism, of a dictatorship contemptuous of our nation’s treaty obligations, federal statutory law, our Constitution, and the rule of law.”
“Because of you, and because of your jingoistic false ‘patriotism,’ our world is far more dangerous, our nation is far more despised, and the threat of terrorism is far greater than ever before.
It has been absolutely astounding how you have committed the most horrendous acts, causing such needless tragedy in the lives of millions of people, yet you wear your so-called religion on your sleeves, asserting your God-is-on-my-side nonsense – when what you have done flies in the face of any religious or humanitarian tradition. Your hypocrisy is mind-boggling – and disgraceful. What part of “Thou shalt not kill” do you not understand? What part of the “Golden rule” do you not understand? What part of “be honest,” “be responsible,” and “be accountable” don’t you understand? What part of “Blessed are the peacekeepers” do you not understand?
Because of you, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, many thousands of people have suffered horrendous lifetime injuries, and millions have been run off from their homes. For the sake of our nation, for the sake of our children, and for the sake of our brothers and sisters around the world, we are morally compelled to say, as loudly as we can, ‘We won’t take it any more!’ ”
“As United States agents kidnap, disappear, and torture human beings around the world, you justify, you deceive, and you cover up. We find what you have done to men, women and children, and to the good name and reputation of the United States, so appalling, so unconscionable, and so outrageous as to compel us to call upon you to step aside and allow other men and women who are competent, true to our nation’s values, and with high moral principles to stand in your places – for the good of our nation, for the good of our children, and for the good of our world.”
In the case of the President and Vice President, this means impeachment and removal from office, without any further delay from a complacent, complicit Congress, the Democratic majority of which cares more about political gain in 2008 than it does about the vindication of our Constitution, the rule of law, and democratic accountability.
It means the election of people as President and Vice President who, unlike most of the presidential candidates from both major parties, have not aided and abetted in the perpetration of the illegal, tragic, devastating invasion and occupation of Iraq. And it means the election of people as President and Vice President who will commit to return our nation to the moral and strategic imperative of refraining from torturing human beings.
In the case of the majority of Congress, it means electing people who are diligent enough to learn the facts, including reading available National Intelligence Estimates, before voting to go to war. It means electing to Congress men and women who will jealously guard Congress’s sole prerogative to declare war. It means electing to Congress men and women who will not submit like vapid lap dogs to presidential requests for blank checks to engage in so-called preemptive wars, for legislation permitting warrantless wiretapping of communications involving US citizens, and for dangerous, irresponsible, saber-rattling legislation like the recent Kyl-Lieberman amendment.
We must avoid the trap of focusing the blame solely upon President Bush and Vice-President Cheney. This is not just about a few people who have wronged our country – and the world. They were enabled by members of both parties in Congress, they were enabled by the pathetic mainstream news media, and, ultimately, they have been enabled by the American people – 40% of whom are so ill-informed they still think Iraq was behind the 9/11 attacks – a people who know and care more about baseball statistics and which drunken starlets are wearing underwear than they know and care about the atrocities being committed every single day in our name by a government for which we need to take responsibility.
As loyal Americans, without regard to political partisanship -- as veterans, as teachers, as religious leaders, as working men and women, as students, as professionals, as businesspeople, as public servants, as retirees, as people of all ages, races, ethnic origins, sexual orientations, and faiths -- we are here to say to the Bush administration, to the majority of Congress, and to the mainstream media:
“You have violated your solemn responsibilities. You have undermined our democracy, spat upon our Constitution, and engaged in outrageous, despicable acts. You have brought our nation to a point of immorality, inhumanity, and illegality of immense, tragic, unprecedented proportions.”
“But we will live up to our responsibilities as citizens, as brothers and sisters of those who have suffered as a result of the imperial bullying of the United States government, and as moral actors who must take a stand: And we will, and must, mean it when we say ‘We won’t take it any more.’”
If we want principled, courageous elected officials, we need to be principled, courageous, and tenacious ourselves. History has demonstrated that our elected officials are not the leaders – the leadership has to come from us. If we don’t insist, if we don’t persist, then we are not living up to our responsibilities as citizens in a democracy – and our responsibilities as moral human beings. If we remain silent, we signal to Congress and the Bush administration – and to candidates running for office – and to the world – that we support the status quo.
Silence is complicity. Only by standing up for what’s right and never letting down can we say we are doing our part.
Our government, on the basis of a campaign we now know was entirely fraudulent, attacked and militarily occupied a nation that posed no danger to the United States. Our government, acting in our name, has caused immense, unjustified death and destruction.
It all started five years ago, yet where have we, the American people, been? At this point, we are responsible. We get together once in a while at demonstrations and complain about Bush and Cheney, about Congress, and about the pathetic news media. We point fingers and yell a lot. Then most people politely go away until another demonstration a few months later.
How many people can honestly say they have spent as much time learning about and opposing the outrages of the Bush administration as they have spent watching sports or mindless television programs during the past five years? Escapist, time-sapping sports and insipid entertainment have indeed become the opiate of the masses.
Why is this country so sound asleep? Why do we abide what is happening to our nation, to our Constitution, to the cause of peace and international law and order? Why are we not doing all in our power to put an end to this madness?
We should be in the streets regularly and students should be raising hell on our campuses. We should be making it clear in every way possible that apologies or convoluted, disingenuous explanations just don’t cut it when presidential candidates and so many others voted to authorize George Bush and his neo-con buddies to send American men and women to attack and occupy Iraq.
Let’s awaken, and wake up the country by committing here and now to do all each of us can to take our nation back. Let them hear us across the country, as we ask others to join us: “We won’t take it any more!”
I implore you: Draw a line. Figure out exactly where your own moral breaking point is. How much will you put up with before you say “No more” and mean it?
I have drawn my line as a matter of simple personal morality: I cannot, and will not, support any candidate who has voted to fund the atrocities in Iraq. I cannot, and will not, support any candidate who will not commit to remove all US troops, as soon as possible, from Iraq. I cannot, and will not, support any candidate who has supported legislation that takes us one step closer to attacking Iran. I cannot, and will not, support any candidate who has not fought to stop the kidnapping, disappearances, and torture being carried on in our name.
If we expect our nation’s elected officials to take us seriously, let us send a powerful message they cannot misunderstand. Let them know we really do have our moral breaking point. Let them know we have drawn a bright line. Let them know they cannot take our support for granted – that, regardless of their party and regardless of other political considerations, they will not have our support if they cannot provide, and have not provided, principled leadership.
The people of this nation may have been far too quiet for five years, but let us pledge that we won’t let it go on one more day – that we will do all we can to put an end to the illegalities, the moral degradation, and the disintegration of our nation’s reputation in the world.
Let us be unified in drawing the line – in declaring that we do have a moral breaking point. Let us insist, together, in supporting our troops and in gratitude for the freedoms for which our veterans gave so much, that we bring our troops home from Iraq, that we return our government to a constitutional democracy, and that we commit to honoring the fundamental principles of human rights.
In defense of our country, in defense of our Constitution, in defense of our shared values as Americans – and as moral human beings – we declare today that we will fight in every way possible to stop the insanity, stop the continued military occupation of Iraq, and stop the moral depravity reflected by the kidnapping, disappearing, and torture of people around the world.
Draw Your Line In the Sand
Today, as we come together once again in this great city, we raise our voices in unison to say to President Bush, to Vice President Cheney, to other members of the Bush Administration (past and present), to a majority of Congress, including Utah’s entire congressional delegation, and to much of the mainstream media:
“You have failed us miserably and we won’t take it any more.”
“While we had every reason to expect far more of you, you have been pompous, greedy, cruel, and incompetent as you have led this great nation to a moral, military, and national security abyss.”
“You have breached trust with the American people in the most egregious ways. You have utterly failed in the performance of your jobs. You have undermined our Constitution, permitted the violation of the most fundamental treaty obligations, and betrayed the rule of law.”
“You have engaged in, or permitted, heinous human rights abuses of the sort never before countenanced in our nation’s history as a matter of official policy. You have sent American men and women to kill and be killed on the basis of lies, on the basis of shifting justifications, without competent leadership, and without even a coherent plan for this monumental blunder.”
“We are here to tell you: We won’t take it any more!”
“You have acted in direct contravention of values that we, as Americans who love our country, hold dear. You have deceived us in the most cynical, outrageous ways. You have undermined, or allowed the undermining of, our constitutional system of checks and balances among the three presumed co-equal branches of government. You have helped lead our nation to the brink of fascism, of a dictatorship contemptuous of our nation’s treaty obligations, federal statutory law, our Constitution, and the rule of law.”
“Because of you, and because of your jingoistic false ‘patriotism,’ our world is far more dangerous, our nation is far more despised, and the threat of terrorism is far greater than ever before.
It has been absolutely astounding how you have committed the most horrendous acts, causing such needless tragedy in the lives of millions of people, yet you wear your so-called religion on your sleeves, asserting your God-is-on-my-side nonsense – when what you have done flies in the face of any religious or humanitarian tradition. Your hypocrisy is mind-boggling – and disgraceful. What part of “Thou shalt not kill” do you not understand? What part of the “Golden rule” do you not understand? What part of “be honest,” “be responsible,” and “be accountable” don’t you understand? What part of “Blessed are the peacekeepers” do you not understand?
Because of you, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, many thousands of people have suffered horrendous lifetime injuries, and millions have been run off from their homes. For the sake of our nation, for the sake of our children, and for the sake of our brothers and sisters around the world, we are morally compelled to say, as loudly as we can, ‘We won’t take it any more!’ ”
“As United States agents kidnap, disappear, and torture human beings around the world, you justify, you deceive, and you cover up. We find what you have done to men, women and children, and to the good name and reputation of the United States, so appalling, so unconscionable, and so outrageous as to compel us to call upon you to step aside and allow other men and women who are competent, true to our nation’s values, and with high moral principles to stand in your places – for the good of our nation, for the good of our children, and for the good of our world.”
In the case of the President and Vice President, this means impeachment and removal from office, without any further delay from a complacent, complicit Congress, the Democratic majority of which cares more about political gain in 2008 than it does about the vindication of our Constitution, the rule of law, and democratic accountability.
It means the election of people as President and Vice President who, unlike most of the presidential candidates from both major parties, have not aided and abetted in the perpetration of the illegal, tragic, devastating invasion and occupation of Iraq. And it means the election of people as President and Vice President who will commit to return our nation to the moral and strategic imperative of refraining from torturing human beings.
In the case of the majority of Congress, it means electing people who are diligent enough to learn the facts, including reading available National Intelligence Estimates, before voting to go to war. It means electing to Congress men and women who will jealously guard Congress’s sole prerogative to declare war. It means electing to Congress men and women who will not submit like vapid lap dogs to presidential requests for blank checks to engage in so-called preemptive wars, for legislation permitting warrantless wiretapping of communications involving US citizens, and for dangerous, irresponsible, saber-rattling legislation like the recent Kyl-Lieberman amendment.
We must avoid the trap of focusing the blame solely upon President Bush and Vice-President Cheney. This is not just about a few people who have wronged our country – and the world. They were enabled by members of both parties in Congress, they were enabled by the pathetic mainstream news media, and, ultimately, they have been enabled by the American people – 40% of whom are so ill-informed they still think Iraq was behind the 9/11 attacks – a people who know and care more about baseball statistics and which drunken starlets are wearing underwear than they know and care about the atrocities being committed every single day in our name by a government for which we need to take responsibility.
As loyal Americans, without regard to political partisanship -- as veterans, as teachers, as religious leaders, as working men and women, as students, as professionals, as businesspeople, as public servants, as retirees, as people of all ages, races, ethnic origins, sexual orientations, and faiths -- we are here to say to the Bush administration, to the majority of Congress, and to the mainstream media:
“You have violated your solemn responsibilities. You have undermined our democracy, spat upon our Constitution, and engaged in outrageous, despicable acts. You have brought our nation to a point of immorality, inhumanity, and illegality of immense, tragic, unprecedented proportions.”
“But we will live up to our responsibilities as citizens, as brothers and sisters of those who have suffered as a result of the imperial bullying of the United States government, and as moral actors who must take a stand: And we will, and must, mean it when we say ‘We won’t take it any more.’”
If we want principled, courageous elected officials, we need to be principled, courageous, and tenacious ourselves. History has demonstrated that our elected officials are not the leaders – the leadership has to come from us. If we don’t insist, if we don’t persist, then we are not living up to our responsibilities as citizens in a democracy – and our responsibilities as moral human beings. If we remain silent, we signal to Congress and the Bush administration – and to candidates running for office – and to the world – that we support the status quo.
Silence is complicity. Only by standing up for what’s right and never letting down can we say we are doing our part.
Our government, on the basis of a campaign we now know was entirely fraudulent, attacked and militarily occupied a nation that posed no danger to the United States. Our government, acting in our name, has caused immense, unjustified death and destruction.
It all started five years ago, yet where have we, the American people, been? At this point, we are responsible. We get together once in a while at demonstrations and complain about Bush and Cheney, about Congress, and about the pathetic news media. We point fingers and yell a lot. Then most people politely go away until another demonstration a few months later.
How many people can honestly say they have spent as much time learning about and opposing the outrages of the Bush administration as they have spent watching sports or mindless television programs during the past five years? Escapist, time-sapping sports and insipid entertainment have indeed become the opiate of the masses.
Why is this country so sound asleep? Why do we abide what is happening to our nation, to our Constitution, to the cause of peace and international law and order? Why are we not doing all in our power to put an end to this madness?
We should be in the streets regularly and students should be raising hell on our campuses. We should be making it clear in every way possible that apologies or convoluted, disingenuous explanations just don’t cut it when presidential candidates and so many others voted to authorize George Bush and his neo-con buddies to send American men and women to attack and occupy Iraq.
Let’s awaken, and wake up the country by committing here and now to do all each of us can to take our nation back. Let them hear us across the country, as we ask others to join us: “We won’t take it any more!”
I implore you: Draw a line. Figure out exactly where your own moral breaking point is. How much will you put up with before you say “No more” and mean it?
I have drawn my line as a matter of simple personal morality: I cannot, and will not, support any candidate who has voted to fund the atrocities in Iraq. I cannot, and will not, support any candidate who will not commit to remove all US troops, as soon as possible, from Iraq. I cannot, and will not, support any candidate who has supported legislation that takes us one step closer to attacking Iran. I cannot, and will not, support any candidate who has not fought to stop the kidnapping, disappearances, and torture being carried on in our name.
If we expect our nation’s elected officials to take us seriously, let us send a powerful message they cannot misunderstand. Let them know we really do have our moral breaking point. Let them know we have drawn a bright line. Let them know they cannot take our support for granted – that, regardless of their party and regardless of other political considerations, they will not have our support if they cannot provide, and have not provided, principled leadership.
The people of this nation may have been far too quiet for five years, but let us pledge that we won’t let it go on one more day – that we will do all we can to put an end to the illegalities, the moral degradation, and the disintegration of our nation’s reputation in the world.
Let us be unified in drawing the line – in declaring that we do have a moral breaking point. Let us insist, together, in supporting our troops and in gratitude for the freedoms for which our veterans gave so much, that we bring our troops home from Iraq, that we return our government to a constitutional democracy, and that we commit to honoring the fundamental principles of human rights.
In defense of our country, in defense of our Constitution, in defense of our shared values as Americans – and as moral human beings – we declare today that we will fight in every way possible to stop the insanity, stop the continued military occupation of Iraq, and stop the moral depravity reflected by the kidnapping, disappearing, and torture of people around the world.
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