January 11, 2008 will mark 6 years since the first 20 prisoners arrived at Guantánamo Bay Cuba. More than 770 men have passed through the gates and no trials have been completed.

As a symbol of freedom and democracy throughout the world, the United States must hold itself to its own high standards. When we resort to the use of torture, abuse, and indefinite detention we lower ourselves to the level of our enemies and violate our own core values.

Guantánamo Bay has tarnished the reputation of the United States and makes a mockery of the values we hold dear. It is time to call once and for all for the United States to CLOSE GUANTÁNAMO!

Why I don't watch CNN...

I realized today why I don't watch CNN. Tonight we were at a restaurant for dinner with a TV in the corner and the CNN show "Prime News" was on. While I did try to pay attention to the dinner conversation I did make a mental note of the stories that were broadcast during the show.

1) The latest hollywood teen to be arrested for DUI
2) A new "lead" in the Lacy Peterson disappearance proves to be a dead end.
3) Something about the non-gay Senator from Utah still not being gay.
4) Someone received a urn of cremated ashes by mistake during Christmastime.
5) Politicians biggest blunders and goofs of 2007 (and not getting us out of Iraq wasn't listed!)

This is the most important (hence "Prime") news of the day ? These are the most important stories that CNN is using to compete for viewers against Katie and Brian and whoever is on ABC these days I don't know I never watch it... is it still Charlie Gibson?

Is it any wonder that American's don't know what is going on the world today ? Luckily there are several places where people can find out what's happening in the world around them (oh and you and I both know it's not the Fox News Channel). The BBC is now broadcasting an hour of news on BBCAmerica at the same time just for us here in the United States. It's a very good program and very well done. Check your cable or satellite listings for the channel where you are. I also love a show called Democracy NOW! which we get on DirecTV's LINK Channel but it's carried some places on PBS.

The truth is out there !!

Today Marks the Fortieth Anniversary of the crew of Apollo 8's Christmas Message from the orbit of the Moon.
On Christmas Eve, 1968, during the Apollo-8
mission, Astronauts Frank Borman, James A.
Lovell, Jr., and William A. Anders, beamed home this holiday message as they orbited the moon(approximately 240,000 miles above the earth).

William A. Anders:
We are now approaching lunar sunrise. And, for
all the people back on earth, the crew of Apollo
8 have a message that we would like to send to you.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth. And the earth was without form, and void;
and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And
the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters. And God said, Let there be light: and
there was light. And God saw the light, that it
was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

James A. Lovell, Jr.:
And God called the light Day, and the darkness
he called Night. And the evening and the morning
were the first day. And God said, Let there be a
firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it
divide the waters from the waters. And God made
the firmament, and divided the waters which were
under the firmament from the waters which were
above the firmament: and it was so. And God
called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and
the morning were the second day.

Frank Borman:
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be
gathered together unto one place, and let the dry
land appear: and it was so. And God called the
dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the
waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close, with
good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God
bless all of you, all of you on the good earth.

The 10 Dumbest Thing Bush Said in 2007

10. "And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it." --interview on National Public Radio, Jan. 29, 2007

9. "I fully understand those who say you can't win this thing militarily. That's exactly what the United States military says, that you can't win this military." --on the need for political progress in Iraq, Washington, D.C., Oct. 17, 2007

8. "One of my concerns is that the health care not be as good as it can possibly be." --on military benefits, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007

7. "Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for your introduction. Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit." --addressing Australian Prime Minister John Howard at the APEC Summit. Later, in the same speech: "As John Howard accurately noted when he went to thank the Austrian troops there last year..." --referring to Australian troops as "Austrian troops," Sept. 7, 2007

6. "My relationship with this good man is where I've been focused, and that's where my concentration is. And I don't regret any other aspect of it. And so I -- we filled a lot of space together." --on British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Washington, D.C., May 17, 2007

5. "You helped our nation celebrate its bicentennial in 17 -- 1976." --to Queen Elizabeth, Washington, D.C., May 7, 2007 ( Watch video clip)

4. "The question is, who ought to make that decision? The Congress or the commanders? And as you know, my position is clear -- I'm a Commander Guy." --deciding he is no longer just " The Decider," Washington, D.C., May 2, 2007 ( Watch video clip)

3. "Information is moving -- you know, nightly news is one way, of course, but it's also moving through the blogosphere and through the Internets." --Washington, D.C., May 2, 2007

2. "There are some similarities, of course (between Iraq and Vietnam). Death is terrible." --Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007

1. "As yesterday's positive report card shows, childrens do learn when standards are high and results are measured." --on the No Child Left Behind Act, Washington, D.C., Sept. 26, 2007 (Watch video clip)

Our Troops Must Leave Iraq

Our Troops Must Leave Iraq
by Walter Cronkite and David Krieger

The American people no longer support the war in Iraq. The war is being carried on by a stubborn president who, like Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon during the Vietnam War, does not want to lose. But from the beginning this has been an ill-considered and poorly prosecuted war that, like the Vietnam War, has diminished respect for America. We believe Mr. Bush would like to drag the war on long enough to hand it off to another president.

The war in Iraq reminds us of the tragedy of the Vietnam War. Both wars began with false assertions by the president to the American people and the Congress. Like Vietnam, the Iraq War has introduced a new vocabulary: “shock and awe,” “mission accomplished,” “the surge.” Like Vietnam, we have destroyed cities in order to save them. It is not a strategy for success.

The Bush administration has attempted to forestall ending the war by putting in more troops, but more troops will not solve the problem. We have lost the hearts and minds of most of the Iraqi people, and victory no longer seems to be even a remote possibility. It is time to end our occupation of Iraq, and bring our troops home.

This war has had only limited body counts. There are reports that more than one million Iraqis have died in the war. These reports cannot be corroborated because the US military does not make public the number of the Iraqi dead and injured. There are also reports that some four million Iraqis have been displaced and are refugees either abroad or within their own country. Iraqis with the resources to leave the country have left. They are frightened. They don’t trust the US, its allies or its mercenaries to protect them and their interests.

We know more about the body counts of American soldiers in Iraq. Some 4,000 American soldiers have been killed in this war, about a third more than the number of people who died in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. And some 28,000 American soldiers have suffered debilitating injuries. Many more have been affected by the trauma of war in ways that they will have to live with for the rest of their lives - ways that will have serious effects not only on their lives and the lives of their loved ones, but on society as a whole. Due to woefully inadequate resources being provided, our injured soldiers are not receiving the medical treatment and mental health care that they deserve.

The invasion of Iraq was illegal from the start. Not only was Congress lied to in order to secure its support for the invasion of Iraq, but the war lacked the support of the United Nations Security Council and thus was an aggressive war initiated on the false pretenses of weapons of mass destruction. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Nor has any assertion of a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda proven to be true. In the end, democracy has not come to Iraq. Its government is still being forced to bend to the will of the US administration.

What the war has accomplished is the undermining of US credibility throughout the world, the weakening of our military forces, and the erosion of our Bill of Rights. Nobel Laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz calculates that the war is costing American tax payers more than $1 trillion. This amount could double if we continue the war. Each minute we are spending $500,000 in Iraq. Our losses are incalculable. It is time to remove our military forces from Iraq.

We must ask ourselves whether continuing to pursue this war is benefiting the American people or weakening us. We must ask whether continuing the war is benefiting the Iraqi people or inflicting greater suffering upon them. We believe the answer to these inquiries is that both the American and Iraqi people would benefit by ending the US military presence in Iraq.

Moving forward is not complicated, but it will require courage. Step one is to proceed with the rapid withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and hand over the responsibility for the security of Iraq to Iraqi forces. Step two is to remove our military bases from Iraq and to turn Iraqi oil over to Iraqis. Step three is to provide resources to the Iraqis to rebuild the infrastructure that has been destroyed in the war.

Congress must act. Although Congress never declared war, as required by the Constitution, they did give the president the authority to invade Iraq. Congress must now withdraw that authority and cease its funding of the war.

It is not likely, however, that Congress will act unless the American people make their voices heard with unmistakable clarity. That is the way the Vietnam War was brought to an end. It is the way that the Iraq War will also be brought to an end. The only question is whether it will be now, or whether the war will drag on, with all the suffering that implies, to an even more tragic, costly and degrading defeat. We will be a better, stronger and more decent country to bring the troops home now.

Walter Cronkite is the former long-time anchor for CBS Evening News. David Krieger is President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

December 1, 2007 -- World AIDS Day

We Gather Together....

Whether it be your family of birth or your family of choice I hope everyone is sharing today with those that mean the most to them.

This bombshell just dropped by Rep. Dennis Kucinich on the Ed Schultz show. Kucinich is considering forcing an impeachment vote on a "privileged resolution" on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Time to call your representative and let him/her know that you will not support any candidate who doesn't support accountability and the rule of law.

You can reach the Capitol switchboard toll-free at 1-800-426-8073.

More details to follow on this post as this news develops…

from the desk of Alex Baldwin....

I feel sorry for Larry Craig. Truly. Even though Craig voted to censure Barney Frank for Frank's tryst with a male prostitute. Craig has been behind some of the most intolerant and anti-gay legislation that a US Senator could put his mark on. Now the very condition that drives countless gay men and women into the closet, the bathroom stall or the hospital may have claimed Sen. Craig himself. That is not a cause for gloating. That is sad. Pathetic and sad.

No one can honestly say what Craig did or did not do. No one can know his real intentions. In the new, jacked-up reality of airport "security", maybe those cops in Minneapolis jumped the stall. But if Craig has the chance, especially now that his Republican colleagues have cut his throat, maybe he will experience a change of heart and realize that to be gay, whether he is or not, ought not be a shameful thing, let alone a crime, for anyone. Had he embraced at least that he might still be a Senator today.

Molly Knows Best...

As usual, the Democrats have forty good issues on their side and want to run on thirty-nine of them. Here are three they should stick to:
1) Iraq is making terrorism worse; it's a breeding ground. We need to extricate ourselves as soon as possible. We are not helping the Iraqis by staying.
2) Full public financing of campaigns so as to drive the moneylenders from the halls of Washington.
3) Single-payer health insurance.
Every Democrat I talk to is appalled at the sheer gutlessness and spinelessness of the Democratic performance. The party is still cringing at the thought of being called, ooh-ooh, "unpatriotic" by a bunch of rightwingers.
Take "unpatriotic" and shove it. How dare they do this to our country? "Unpatriotic"? These people have ruined the American military! Not to mention the economy, the middle class, and our reputation in the world. Everything they touch turns to dirt, including Medicare prescription drugs and hurricane relief.
This is not a time for a candidate who will offend no one; it is time for a candidate who takes clear stands and kicks ass.