It has been a strange few days -- some of it good: away finding some personal peace (at home, but "on vacation" Monday and Tuesday). The filibuster compromise was disappointing because it capitulates and, like Senator Feingold says, will likely encourage some more poor judicial candidates from the not-so-grand GOP. (Is this candidate "extraordinarily" awful??) But on the positive side, while at Union Square's Saturday peace vigil, I met this extraordinarily wonderful young man: full of passion and peace and determination to help heal the world. His name is Alexander and he has just started working with Children International -- they are blessed to have him. May God sustain him in his mission to better the world. Grant him hope and angels' assistance. His energy made my Saturday and I feel energized thinking of our encounter: beautiful eyes, beautiful soul.

 

My reading material is Thom Hartmann's What Would Jefferson Do? A Return to Democracy -- excellent book. Can we get the political folk to read it -- and heed its message? It stresses how it is the individuals who have rights from our constitution and somehow corporations have clawed their way from privileges to dominance by usurping power, indeed BUYING it: outrageous! (We so need campaign finance reform.) I'm not too far into it, but the message seems to be restoring democracy by reclaiming the rights of the individual over the corporation and corporate greed. Stay tuned, better still, buy your own copy.

 

Peace hugs,

Kate Anne

Here's to those who kick butt -- verbally. I of course would have them do it for good or at least neutral causes. My son has joined the ranks of bloggers and is intent on speaking his piece, just as I speak my peace -- see The Audient Files to check him out on all sorts of topics. I'm even linked to: "My Leftist Mother" -- indeed! :-)

Kicking butt for the Senate record (few attended to actually hear) was Parliament member George Galloway, whom I had the honor (honour?) to hear several years ago when he was in NYC speaking against US sanctions on Iraq. The Repugs (and neocons) have the audacity to accuse this justice seeker of dealing with the Iraqis for personal gain, not out of conviction. Well he refuted their lies on a grand scale and even on paper his passionate words sing. See CommonDreams.org May 17 for Galloway vs. The US Senate: Transcript of Statement but he gave back in kind:

"I told the world that Iraq, contrary to your claims did not have weapons of mass destruction.

"I told the world, contrary to your claims, that Iraq had no connection to al-Qaeda.

"I told the world, contrary to your claims, that Iraq had no connection to the atrocity on 9/11 2001.

"I told the world, contrary to your claims, that the Iraqi people would resist a British and American invasion of their country and that the fall of Baghdad would not be the beginning of the end, but merely the end of the beginning.

"Senator, in everything I said about Iraq, I turned out to be right and you turned out to be wrong and 100,000 people paid with their lives; 1600 of them American soldiers sent to their deaths on a pack of lies; 15,000 of them wounded, many of them disabled forever on a pack of lies."

NOW, if only we could get the media away from the Newsweek smokescreen (Do you doubt those who would torture and kill people would respect something holy to their captives? Newsweek's source wimped out -- or cunningly opted out -- but the story's been out there on the web for a long time.) and back on to the blatant lies and scheming of the Bush administration, particularly, the Downing Street Memo which so clearly proves that Bush planned the Iraq invasion and looked for an excuse to invade. See http://downingstreetmemo.com/ and ACT -- Demand explanation. Better yet, impeach the son of a bush. Would that Howard Dean have the guts to push this information when he's does NBC's Meet the Press this Sunday morning! (Action, call the DNC and demand it! Phone: 202.863.8000)

Finally, if Senator Frist exercises the nuclear option and kills filibustering in the US Senate (as they are threatening to do to get in some extremely right wing judges in), the Democratic US Senators better take some pages from Galloway and do some butt kicking. Get up on the desks and/or out in the streets and scream for justice and frame the nuclear option as it is: the death of checks and balances, and of what's left of our democracy.

These are dangerous -- and fascinating -- times. I pray God my son's karma allows his blog to shift past Bad Car-ma to addressing some of these important issues. Kick butt, Michael Dylan -- and have fun, too. I'll be seeing you :-)

Peace hugs,
Mom a/k/a Kate Anne

 

PS The amNewYork free NYC streetpaper has THE DOWNING STREET MEMO on its front page this morning -- and references page 6. Just found the whole paper is downloadable as a pdf file -- but I will send you the page if you want to email me. Slowly but surely the word is getting out.....then what?? Fascinating times, indeed!

"I think that the government has successfully proved that any service member has reasonable cause to believe that the wars in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq were illegal."
    -- Lt. Cmdr. Robert Klant, presiding at Pablo Paredes' court-martial

War resister Pablo Paredes will serve no jail time for refusing to board his ship to Iraq. Marjorie Cohn called it "a stunning blow to the Bush administration" -- and she helped contribute to it with her forceful testimony that the Iraq war is illegal. See truthout.org's article for more: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/051305X.shtml but bottom line, there is hope.

Meanwhile, FOR's former Executive Director, John Dear, has been praying a forceful prayer for Persecutors: not easy (and in truth it drives the neocons nuts :-) which I plan to email, snail mail, and give to more people. (Ah, I wish I could give it, along with the Cohn piece, to my far right neighbors who just-don't-get-it. I suspect it would be against our good neighbor policy.) Read -- and then PRAY -- the prayer printed May 12th at CommonDreams.org: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0512-24.htm which ENDS:

"Forgive them. They know not what they do.

"May we all resist the structures of violence and makers of war.

"May we all be converted to the wisdom of nonviolence, compassion and disarmament.

"May we all one day be blessed with the gift of your peace, a new world without war, hunger, poverty, injustice or nuclear weapons. Amen."

Amen to that, dear John -- and a prayer for the emergence of more brave servicemembers like Pablo Paredes. I saw a quotation recently that peace begins when enough such folks just refuse to serve. Can't find it now (email me if YOU know it) but found another good one:

"Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding." -- Einstein

Dear God, help us to understand. Help us build peace within ourselves, in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our country, between countries, and in the world. Give us strength and sustenance for our work as peacemakers and children of God. Thank you -- AMEN.

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne

Even as I try to do spring housecleaning, I'm pulled in so many directions. There is so much to do. Just as I need to clean house, so does the good ole U.S.A. But the difference here is that I am intent on doing so. My country, at least this current administration, is blind to all the dirt and distress. And there are those who refuse to question. When my mailbox is full of charity requests and the military killing budget is expanding, there is something wrong. Clean house this spring: fund people helping projects NOT people killing projects.

And where is the media? At least Robert Koehler is out there -- though he's finding difficulty in getting his latest columns published because he is questioning the media's complicity. Bookmark him: commonwonders.com -- and check out commondreams.org -- Here's to the common folk, to spring house cleaning at home, in the parks, and in the government.

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne

 

PS Today Sam Seder was quoting from Bill Gallagher's post on Common Dreams: Bush Mendacity Will Shock Historians -- check it out (media complicity!)