I feel that it would be remiss of me not to spend a moment remembering that October marks the tenth anniversary of the bloody war in Afghanistan that George W. Bush waged against an entire nation because it “sheltered” Osama Bin Laden, rather than tracking down the culprit as President Obama finally did. This war turned out to be more costly by a mile than the war in Vietnam, which brought thousands of protesters to the streets of America. To date the cost in human life is more than 1,600 U.S. military personnel, and an estimated 17,611 to 37,208 civilian in-country direct and indirect deaths (indirect indicates deaths that are a byproduct of war, such those due to starvation, lack of medical care, lack of basic needs, and destruction of infrastructure). The financial cost to the United States comes in at around $459.8 billion. Also, it is a good time to remember that a primary inspiration to the voters who elected Barak Obama to the presidency was his promise to get us out of Afghanistan and Iraq right away. He has failed to keep that promise. Please make him stick to his latest pledge.
A Few Simple Actions
- Write to President Obama or call the White House to remind him of his campaign promises: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact or 202-456-1111
- Imagine what America could do if we reallocated the funds being squandered on war and convey your ideas to the appropriate people
- Write to your representatives and ask them to insist we stick to the withdrawal schedule and to sever ties with the lobbyists who are making a fortune by supplying and sustaining every aspect of the bloodshed and occupation
- Remind President Obama that outside of the major cities in-country, the plight of women is still dictated by brutal and misogynist cultural habits
Yikes! I'm all for dissent, disagreement, etc, but with the election
ReplyDeletearound the corner I don't want to support a blog that attacks or even
criticizes Obama. Anything that might disincentive people to vote for Obama is like a
vote for Perry-Romney-Bachman-Cain-Santorum et al, and that prospect is
real, and terrifying. The last time the Dems/left did that we ended up
with 8 years of Bush/Cheney. The stakes are every bit as high now, and the result
of NOT exciting and encouraging support for Obama could be far worse than
Bush. Just one gal's opinion. :))
I agree with you and i agree with her! the right is always so mobilized (power being their singular goal) while we the left are always so
ReplyDeletesplintered
Niki
I think there's a difference right now between what is happening and the times when we've been truly splintered. Partly because of the Occupy
ReplyDeletemovements that had rallies all over the country, everything is in flux. It is a melding and movement of the dissatisfied with, as yet, no over-riding policy. One may emerge from their General Assemblies, but so far the
uniting and defining piece is that we want the nation to have an economy that will work for everyone. That can't happen without telling Obama that the people, not the banks need bailing out. That can't happen without keeping
the laws and lack of regulations that allow us to export jobs overseas to exploit desperately poor workers in order to save a couple of bucks on our TVs and Sneakers. It can't happen without pushing up against those who are
responsible, which means the Congress & the President.
Sally
however, i do believe we HAD to bail out the banks -- but of course the banks have responded horribly and we absolutely need to fix the way
ReplyDeletecorporations operate.
Yes, we needed to bail out the banks ~ and I sometimes forget to say that, especially when I'm dashing something off. But we should never have bailed them out without strict parameters about how the money could be used, such as no CEO bonuses, no vacation trips,& nothing that could be done in the office or by phone transported to the tropics or China, etc.....
ReplyDeleteFirst time here at your blog and wanted to say i enjoyed reading this.
ReplyDelete