Singing the Truth - -

Even my apolitical friend Jim will appreciate the "Tell Us the Truth Tour." To tell you the truth, I don't know who any of these rockers are (I got off the musical carousel about when Paul Butterfield died), but I have a feeling that the names Billy Bragg, Lester Chambers, Steve Earle, The Nightwatchman, and Boots Riley might turn of summa yawl on. The tour starts in the Peoples Republic of Madison on 11/7 and rocks all over the place on route to DC on 11/24. They have a great website - stick around during the intro.

Once again, IPS's Peyman Pejman describes how The Cheney Gang's decisions in and about Iraq have put everyone in jeopardy. As my regular readers know, however, I'm not convinced that any of these decisions have been "mistakes". This is a war for corporate profits. The way Rummy and Doubleduh inflect the issue of casualities says to me that dead Americans and Iraqis are, in the Gang's mind, just a "calculated cost of doing business". And the casualties aren't costing their friends anything. Consider the fact that the investments made by DynCorp, Halliburton/KBR, and the other profiteers have been minimal when compared to what young Americans and Iraqis and their families have paid - and you and I in our disappearing tax money. A great deal of that corporate investment was paid up front in campaign contributions.

Of course, there this . . . proving that Doubleduh don't even listen to his daddy.

Even I have much to learn. A website called Politics1 - which I'd never heard of - has a great page for Dennis Kucinich (as well as for other candidates). Very concise and inclusive.

Alternet prints a review of the Dumbopublican candidates for prez by WorkingforChange's Geov Parrish. Excerpt (emphasis added by me):

"Excepting Kucinich, who has raised hundreds of dollars to date, none of Dubya's would-be replacements is challenging the fundamental Bush premise that the U.S. intends and expects to call the shots in Iraq (literally) for a long time to come. None is addressing future specifics of how to help alleviate the dire status of U.S. soldiers, or the even more dire reality facing many ordinary Iraqis.

"Perhaps American politics can't support such detail; maybe it really is all about image and leadership and judgment and (especially) personality. But like it or not, George Bush has a clear plan for Iraq: loot it bare, shoot anything that moves, and eventually install puppets to oversee the survivors. It's grim, but it's simple and concrete."


Be at peace.