“Dear Mr. President, Please Wait to Bomb Iran Until My Friends Leave”
Dear Mr. President,
Please wait to bomb Iran until my friends leave.
Right now, some religious peace activist folks are doing something you, Condi, Dick and others in your administration obviously could never do – they are in Iran, talking to Iranians. Here, you can learn more about this delegation, and another scheduled for early March. Surely you can wait a few weeks ‘til these folks, friends and colleagues of mine, leave Iran before you concoct the provocation necessary to begin shocking and aweing Iran, yes?
Fess up now, you didn’t think it would be this easy to start another war after the way you did Iraq, did you? Hell, you didn’t even think you’d still be in office! Surely you must have thought you’d have long ago been impeached and removed from office for your perfidy in deceiving the country into a war (not to mention your criminally neglectful reaction to Hurricane Katrina).
So getting to start another war – your third! Nixon could only dream of doing what you are doing! — is icing on the cake for you guys, isn’t it? Good thing there are no cameras in your private meetings with Cheney, Rice and the gang where you roll on the floor and laugh yourselves silly over what you are getting away with, yes?
You are shocked Condi is still Secretary of State, no? After she blew off Iran’s offer of broad negotiations in 2003? Good thing she circular-filed that one, almost blew your plans to attack Iran, a country that hasn’t invaded another country in 250 years (I know, it’s hard for you to go 25 months without attacking somebody).
And Cheney, jeez, telling a U.S. Senator, on the floor of the Senate, to go f— himself, shooting his friend in the face and leaving it up to others to disclose the incident, blowing off Congress over questions about his secret oil-and-gas-interest-laden “energy task force”, saying that waterboarding is “a no-brainer”, good thing he’s on your side! Good thing he picked himself to be your running mate back in 2000, eh?
As far as the media, did you have any idea how easy it would be to play them like a fiddle? Again? In order to start another war? I’m surprised you don’t call them and say “guys, c’mon, this is too easy, make it a little challenging for me at least, put up some resistance. Point out my current denials we are planning to attack Iran are just like those we issued on Iraq in 2002 – c’mon guys, you know how to Google, don’tcha? Maybe point out that Iran is years away from having nuclear weapons while we still have over 10,000 and Israel has several hundred, that Ahmadenijad is not really in charge of nuclear or foreign policy, that it’s really Saudi-funded Sunni groups doing the damage in Iraq, that the briefers on Iran’s alleged meddling in Iraq wouldn’t even allow themselves to be identified? C’mon, something, anything? Oh never mind, go back to Brittany Spears’ shaved head, it’s better you not bother yourself, another war will be great for selling papers and jacking up cable news viewership.”
Heck, the media didn’t even make you pay a price for telling those seven year-olds to stop making peace signs at the YMCA day care center ten days ago, did they? (Whew, that was a close one, good thing they were so distracted with the Anna Nicole Smith story.)
And the Democrats, Reid, Pelosi and crew, in control of Congress now? Admit it, you have not lost one minute of sleep worrying about them stopping you from attacking Iran, have you? Not with them tied up in knots trying to prove they are “strong on defense” and they “support the troops” in Iraq by continuing to vote to spend our tax dollars on an unwinnable quagmire instead of bringing them home to the warm embrace of their families. Shoot, them Dems are afraid of their own shadows, aren’t they? Even when they “control Congress?” C’mon, you can admit it, Mr. President, it’s a little more fun now than when you had your Rubberstamplican buddies in charge of the Congress, ain’t it?
The best thing about this whole deal, if I may be presumptive here, is everybody thinks you are a dunce, instead of the figurehead of the most ruthless wielders of executive power since, gosh I don’t know, Stalin maybe? You and your posse are great understanders that it matters not one wit how historically unpopular you or your policies are, you can continue to do whatever you want – escalate the war in Iraq, attack Iran, maybe even with nucular weapons (in order to stop them from getting nucular weapons – brilliant!) – unless and until you are stopped by impeachment and removal from office, or Congress cutting off funding for the war, or massive war tax resistance, or a huge non-violent general strike that shuts down DC, or even the most likely, hell freezing over. Heck, Congress can’t even get itself together to pass a non-binding resolution against, not the Iraq war itself, but the escalation of the war. Jon Stewart had it right; the Constitution isn’t even binding to you. Stalin would be proud, maybe jealous even.
So I know it’s too much for you to ask to not bomb Iran, when you so easily can.
All I ask, Mr. President, is one tiny little favor – please wait ‘til my friends leave.
But hang on a minute. It’s not just the friends I previously mentioned. The people of Iran are my friends, too. Here are some pictures of them.
So, you know what, please don’t bomb them either.
Sincerely,
Kevin Martin
Kevin Martin is Executive Director of Peace Action and the Peace Action Education Fund. Peace Action, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, is the country’s largest peace and disarmament organization with 100,000 members. www.peace-action.org .
Published on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 by CommonDreams.org
Some believe that Merle Haggard has become a dove when it comes to war and peace issues. This song, produced by Merle Haggard and the Strangers keyboard player and co-writer and Merle Haggard producer for over 20 years, indicates otherwise:
For immediate Release:
March 2, 2007
From: Dr. BLT Music
To: Merle Haggard and his peeps
A song by Dr Bruce L. Thiessen, aka, Dr. BLT of Bakersfield, California, paying tribute to Merle Haggard’s fighting side is climbing this chart, jumping over 1200 notches in one week to land at number 243 this week:
http://www.neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/lwwsongspage.html
The Dr. BLT song that proceeded it, Neil Young (Have you Forgotten), hit #1 on this chart back in July of 2006 and now rests at #155. It was also named the # 8 Best Record of 2006 by Blogcritics magazine writer, Al Barger here:
http://www.morethings.com/music/best_songs_2006.htm
The Merle Haggard tribute song can be heard and downloaded for free at the site of the chart or here.
Merle Hasn’t Lost His Fightin’ Side
Dr BLT
words and music by Dr Bruce L. Thiessen, aka Dr. BLT (c) 2007
http://www.drblt.net/music/MerleVeryLast.mp3
Dear Ronald,
I learned years ago, as a community organizer on Chicago’s South Side, that progress and change in our country rarely comes from the top down.
It’s people working at the grassroots, involving their coworkers, neighbors and friends, who have the power to prod the policy-makers to change course. Whether it’s ending this war or getting people health care or lifting people out of poverty, the movement for change begins with you.
It’s one thing to understand that in theory. It’s another to sit in a room full of motivated people, make a plan, and then witness the effects of hard work. To win, this campaign will need to build a movement, and that doesn’t happen spontaneously. It happens because you roll up your sleeves and get to work.
So we’re getting organized — locally and nationally.
On March 31st, I’d like you to host a Community Kickoff event. Whether your local group has already been meeting or this will be the first time supporters will meet in person, this kickoff event is the next step in expanding your reach.
I’ll be in a town in Iowa the same day working to build our support there. We’ll have a live video stream and a conference call from this Iowa event starting at 3 PM Central time so that you can see first hand how we’re building our community of support in this crucial first contest.
We’ve put together the materials and online tools you’ll need to make it happen. Will you start planning a Community Kickoff event right now?
http://action.barackobama.com/hopeactionchange
March 31st is just the beginning.
The main component of the agenda for every local group will be kicking off a week of action to spread the word and build the movement in that community.
The March 31st national organizing meetings will be the launching pad for local action the following week. Some groups will plan one action, while others will plan dozens of events like canvassing or community service.
The theme for these events is “Hope, Action, Change.” That sequence can transform a nation. The link between hope and change is action. So bring together your friends, family, and neighbors on Saturday, March 31, in a national day of community gatherings to kick off a week of localized action:
http://action.barackobama.com/hopeactionchange
To build on the hope for a better future that we all share, we have to take responsibility for our own communities. I want to see you and people across America come together in living rooms to plan what you can do to grow this campaign.
If you’re not ready to host an event but want to attend one in your area, search for events near you here:
http://action.barackobama.com/hopeactionchange
This campaign has already sparked an unprecedented wave of organizing across the country. But this election is a long way off.
It’s up to you to harness that energy in your community and build it into an organization that will last.
Together we have an incredible opportunity to bring politics back to our neighborhoods and communities, where people genuinely care about our common future and believe that we have the power to shape the kind of society in which we live.
Let’s get started.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama
P.S. — In the last few days over 9,000 people like you participated in our new donor drive, in which any supporter could offer to match someone’s first donation to the campaign. Each one had the opportunity to share a personal note with the person who matched their contribution, and across the country stories were shared and new connections were made. You can still participate in the program here: http://action.barackobama.com/match
damn all these beautiful gir. Zaid Bethanie.
Interesting letter to the former president given the current state of Iran. Hum.