Save the USA

It appears that the Corporate media is afraid of the growing movement to truly support the troops by bringing them home, so they are attempting to discredit the “appeal for redress” website and active duty troops on the growing list with their recent article “Activists can’t validate soldiers’ names”

A group claiming earlier this week to represent 65 “active-duty” troops opposed to the war in Iraq acknowledged Thursday it cannot validate the number or the authenticity of all the names it claims to have gathered….

The unconfirmed count was up to 713 by midday Thursday, according to Cortright.

Cortright said that the entries are being validated “by hand,” with less than 10 percent that “look fishy” so far, and said a more accurate report should be available in a day or two.

He estimated that the number of valid entries must be at 500 or 600, if not all of the 713 signatures are legitimate. When filling out the form online, signatories are able to provide ranks and service branches, but are only required to provide a name, nonmilitary e-mail address and a home zip code

In another ridiculous attempt to discredit our empowered troops, Fox News and others blame MoveOn.org for forcing these soldiers to speak out…

Yesterday morning FOX & Friends ran two separate segments claiming that MoveOn.org - through its public relations firm, Fenton Communications - is recruiting active-duty soldiers for political purposes. They based their report on an article that appeared in the New York Sun. The Sun story mentioned MoveOn.org by name twice.

Reporter Eli Lake wrote: “Yesterday, a company that does public relations for the liberal activist political action committee MoveOn.org, Fenton Communications, organized a conference call for reporters and three active-duty soldiers to unveil the soldiers’ anti-war group Appeal for Redress.” Later on, Lake quoted FOX News Military Analyst Ret. Gen. Thomas McInerney as saying “I think it [this campaign to recuit soldiers] is shameful because the timing is so close to the election. They ought to be ashamed of themselves. The soldiers should be ashamed of themselves for being duped into this. It is to be expected from a MoveOn.org-type group. They have no standards.”

Thankfully the NewHounds (we watch FOX so you don’t have to) have put these lies to rest…

I went to the website of Appeal for Redress and checked their sponsoring organizations. They are Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out and Veterans for Peace. No mention of MoveOn.org anywhere on the site.

The client list for Fenton Communications does not include Appeal for Redress, Veterans for Peace or Iraq Veterans Against the War but does include Military Families Speak Out. Additionally, MoveOn.org is a client among many, many others.

I searched MoveOn’s site and could not locate this particular campaign at all.

I’m a member of MoveOn.org. I get frequent emails about their various programs. I just checked my past 100 emails and I have not received information on this topic.

It looks as if our troops have hit a nerve, and it is our job as the blogging community to turn up the volume on their requests to bring the troops home from Iraq. Do whatever you can to spread the word, especially to other active duty members of the military. They need and deserve our respect and support. Please follow through on this simple request on the appeal for redress website

Several members of Congress have expressed interest in receiving the Appeal for Redress.

Click here to send the Appeal to your elected representatives.

These troops have so bravely signed up to protect our nation from harm, it is time for us to do our duty to protect them.

Yesterday it was 200 Troops (see below), then by early last night it was up to 350!

The only reaction yesterday, Madden said, came in the form of half a dozen e-mails he received at work from other Marines, mostly supportive.

“They weren’t letters of condemnation,” he said, except for one from a Marine officer at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

The others, he said, were commending him or asking questions about the Appeal for Redress.

Yesterday…

More than 200 servicemembers have signed on to a campaign asking Congress to pull all U.S. forces out of Iraq, saying military efforts there “will not work.”

“We’ve taken an oath and we have to follow orders, but many of us have reservations about those orders,” said Seaman Jonathan Hutto, one of the organizers of the effort. “While we are serving our country faithfully, we do feel this occupation needs to come to an end.”

“Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price,” the statement says. “It is time for U.S. troops to come home.”

“I feel it’s my duty to speak out, not as a Marine but as an informed citizen.

Congressman Kucinich, a long time defender of the military in Iraq, is the first to speak out in support of their efforts…

“No one speaks with more moral authority or understanding of the complexity of Iraq then the brave men and women who serve in our Armed Forces and who have done tours of duty in Iraq. The men and women who have joined this effort have demonstrated courage and bravery and represent the very best of our nation.

“These soldiers cut through the political spin and false rhetoric to deliver a stark and important message: It is time to end the war in Iraq and bring our troops home with the honor and dignity they deserve.

“I am proud to stand with the courageous men and women of Appeal for Redress and will continue my efforts to end the grave misadventure in Iraq and bring all our troops home.”

I encourage you all to contact your CongressCritter and their opponent(s) to request (demand) a public statement regarding these brave troops and their appeal for redress. Let’s make this THE issue of the 2006 election.

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Spread this link everywhere on the net
www.appealforredress.org

Active-Duty Troops Launch Campaign to Press Congress to End U.S. Occupation of Iraq

65 Members to Send “Appeals for Redress” Under the Military Whistle-blower Protection Act

10/23/2006 9:58:00 AM

To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor

Contact: Trevor Fitzgibbon, 202-246-5303, or Alex Howe, or Laura Gross, 202-822-5200, for Fenton Communications

News Advisory:

For the first time since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, active- duty members of the military are asking Members of Congress to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq and bring American soldiers home.

Sixty-five active-duty members have sent Appeals for Redress to Members of Congress. Three of these people (including two who served in Iraq) and their attorney will speak about this on Wednesday, Oct. 25 at 11 a.m. EDT.

Under the Military Whistle-Blower Protection Act (DOD directive 7050.6), active-duty military, National Guard and Reservists can file and send a protected communication to a Member of Congress regarding any subject without reprisal.

What: Three active-duty members of the military and their lawyer, a retired U.S. Marine Corps JAG, make comments and take questions from the media.

When: Wednesday, Oct. 25, 11 a.m. EDT

Conference Call Details: 800-362-0574, Conference ID: “Active Duty”

http://www.usnewswire.com/

http://alaskafreepress.com/node/142

“Is Iran A Threat?”

As dissappointing as the US Congress has been in their oversight of this irrational and immoral administration, one congressman stands strong in his attempt to stop the next atrocity in Iran before it happens…again. Congressman Kucinich has been doing his job(not pages), listening to the experts, reading the paper and seeing the obvious imminent threat of the Bush Administration…

The Bush Administration is preparing for war against Iran, using an almost identical drumbeat of weapons of mass destruction, imminent threat, alleged links to Al Qaeda, and even linking Iran with a future 911.

In the past few months, reports have been published in Newsweek, ABC News, and GQ Magazine that indicate the US is recruiting members of paramilitary groups to destabilize Iran through violence. The New Yorker magazine and the Guardian have written that the US has already deployed military inside Iran. The latest issue of Time writes of plans for a naval blockade of Iran at the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40% of the world’s oil supply passes….

the International Atomic Energy Agency called “erroneous, misleading, and unsubstantiated” statements relating to Iran’s nuclear program which came from a staff report of the House Intelligence committee….

I have demanded that the Government Oversight subcommittee on National Security and International Relations, of which I am the ranking Democrat, hold hearings to determine how in the world the Director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte, viewed the report without correcting the obvious inaccuracies before it was published.

Most members of Congress are in their districts focusing on getting re-elected, and I would suggest the best way to be re-elected is to start doing their damn jobs, starting with attending this briefing…

October Surprise: Is the Administration Ramping Up For A War Against Iran? Is Iran A Threat?

Wednesday, October 11, 2006 at 10am
2154 Rayburn House Office Building

With:
Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH)
Dr. David Kay,Former IAEA/UNSCOM Chief Nuclear Weapons Inspector Colonel
Sam Gardner (Ret.), US Air Force, National War College
Joseph Cirincione, Senior Vice President for National Security and International Affairs at the Center for American Progress.
Dr. Trita Parsi, President of the National Iranian American Council

…where they will learn what Sam Gardner has already told us through CNN,
the Bush administration had already given a “go ahead” to US military operation against Iran. “In fact, we’ve probably been executing military operations inside Iran for at least 18 months,” Col. Gardner said. “The evidence is overwhelming.”

How is it possible after all of the lies, most congressmen just continue to live in a bubble? Denial certainly must feel better than admitting our government has been overrun with mob like criminals., but at some point doesn’t their conscience kick in? Doesn’t anyone, perhaps their wife or congressional page, remind them that it is their job to provide oversight on the executive branch? Perhaps the Bush Adminstration has some Foley like information on everyone in congress? Now is a good time for all congressmembers interested in democracy to redeem themselves, stand up together with Congressman Kucinich and demand some real accountability for the recent parade of lies.

ANNOUNCEMENT: “Introduced, 20 co-sponsors HR 6200 -paper ballots, hand counted, results posted at precinct. This bill came from this movement.

This weekend in Cleveland Ohio, the “We Count Conference” have been hearing from great speakers about election fraud and the movement to return accountability and integrity to US elections. Speakers included State Sen. Marc Dan, Greg Coleridge, Paul Lehto, , Ron Baiman PhD, Jonathan Simon, Richard Hayes Phillips PhD , Bob Koehler, Bob Fitrakis, Harvey Wasserman, & Mark Crispin Miller. The highlight of the event was Congressmen Dennis Kucinich and his announcement of new legislation as reported by DUers Autorank and LandShark…

I’m at the We Count 2006 Conference in Cleveland. After a break for dinner, we resumed with an address by Dennis Kucinich, D, OH. He made the remarks below and then announced that he’s introduced H.R. 6200, a bill to guarantee that the 2006 election will be conducted on “hand counted, paper ballots, counted and posted at the precinct level” with the process open to all to observe. This was a real stunner. There is some legislation out there on stop gap measures but this is the whole 9 yards, the ultimate in election intgrity - Machines are Gone under this legislation…GONE.

H.R. 6200

Title: To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 ato require States to conduct Presidential elections using paper ballots and to count those ballots by hand, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. (introduced 9/27/2006) Cosponsors (19)
Latest Major Action: 9/27/2006 Referred to House committee.
COSPONSORS(19), ALPHABETICAL : (Sort: by date)
Rep Brown, Corrine - 9/27/2006 Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy - 9/27/2006
Rep Conyers, John, Jr. - 9/27/2006 Rep Filner, Bob - 9/27/2006
Rep Grijalva, Raul M. - 9/27/2006 Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. - 9/27/2006
Rep Hastings, Alcee L. - 9/27/2006 Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. - 9/27/2006
Rep Jackson, Jesse L., Jr. - 9/27/2006 Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila - 9/27/2006
Rep Johnson, Eddie Bernice - 9/27/2006 Rep Kaptur, Marcy - 9/27/2006
Rep Lee, Barbara - 9/27/2006 Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. - 9/27/2006
Rep McDermott, Jim - 9/27/2006 Rep McKinney, Cynthia A. - 9/27/2006
Rep Solis, Hilda L. - 9/27/2006 Rep Waters, Maxine - 9/27/2006
Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. - 9/27/2006

Kucinich quotes from speech…
“One of the most important meetings going on in this state maybe the country.” Referring to “We Count 2006″

“people are deeply concerned about the election process.”

“You’re holding the light of democracy for the whole country.”

“our ability to have control over our institutions” is at risk when the procedures of elections are
controlled…

Referring to Ohio’s disastrous 2004 election he said “We understand why there is such great concern”

Without free and fair elections, “everything is at risk…a cause that’s so important, it’s a measure of the courage of the people” who call attention to the problem.

“We have a mission to make sure that elections are on the level.”

“There are lingering questions about the 2004 election and there ought to be.”

“Even verified voter paper trails are not an adequate solution to safeguarding our elections.”