"Audemus Jura Nostra Defendere," We Dare Defend Our
Rights
"When Chief Justice Jackson, chief counsel for the
prosecution (at Nuremberg)
spoke to
the
tribunal and explained to them the importance of what they
were
doing, he said,
to paraphrase,
that: ‘We are handing these defendants a
poisoned
chalice, and if we
ever sip from it we must
be subject to the same
punishments,
otherwise this whole trial
is a farce.’ Well, you can look
at the history
from then on,
and we’ve sipped from the
poisoned chalice many times, but it’s
never been
considered a crime. So, that means we
are saying that trial was a farce."-
An
Interview
with Noam Chomsky, On Responsibility,
War Guilt and Intellectuals
by Gabriel Mattherw Schivone, 8/3/2007
Humor....the detached, cold, hellish hearts of those that
condemn innocents. Like gods
they rain terror from the sky...but not gods and their deeds condemning them to
a death
far worse than mere physical death...death of the soul.-
Obama's "joke" about
drone
attacks in Pakistan, 12/29/2010.
|
Alexander Palace Time Machine C-Span California Laws, Codes & Regulations Canadian Government Information Carnegie
Endowment for
International The Cato
Institute
Governing
Green Party of The United States Heritage Foundation
International Action Center
International Relations International
Association for
Judicial Watch Library of Congress: Country Studies Middle
East Research &
Public Agenda Thomas- Legislative Information
Townhall.com
Wealth and Our Commonwealth: World Bank World
Policy Institute Veterans Organizations
American
Veterans for Equal Rights
Congressional Medal of Honor The
Immortal Chaplains Foundation National Coalition
of Homeless National
Association of Uniformed Navy League of the United States The Retired Enlisted Association Rolling
Thunder Tragedy Assistance
Program Veterans
Against the Iraq War Vietnam
Veterans of America
|
| BenefitsCheckup A free, easy-to-use service that identifies federal & state assistance programs for older Americans. Consumer.gov Disability.gov |
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
& Firearms
Bureau
of Labor Statistics
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Environmental Protection Agency
FBI Freedom of
Information Act
Reading Room
Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Communications Commission
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal
Reserve Bank of
San Francisco
HazardMaps.gov
Collection of natural hazards,
& supporting data.
The
Office of Homeland Security
U.S.
House Of Representatives |
Senate
U.S. Mint
Centers for
Medicaid and Medicare Services
National Archives
& Records
Administration
National Criminal Justice
Reference Service
Clearinghouse for research, policy, &
practice related to criminal & juvenile
justice & drug control.
National Endowment for the
Humanities
Grant-making agency of the United
States government dedicated to supporting
research, education, preservation, &
public programs in the humanities.
National
Highway Traffic Safety
Administration
National Institute
of Standards
and Technologies
National
Intelligence Council
Center for US Government strategic
thinking and for Intelligence
Community collaboration.
National Transportation Safety Board
Office of National Drug Control Policy
|
|
|
|
Moral Force When opposing the state, I believe that the single greatest strength one can bring is moral force. Use of violence by the opposition, by adopting the tactics of the oppressor-erodes moral force and is counterproductive. Yet, are there situations where moral force and strategic non-violence is not enough? Perhaps the answer is yes- but not as a form of consciousness raising- but perhaps to directly save life. But even here a spiritual dilemma arises. What I am about to say goes beyond most people's notion of spirituality. What if there is something more important than life, suffering and death? What if by sacrificing our lives by practicing non-violence and acting for what we believe in- we can bring truth to souls otherwise lost in hate and despair. In this sense the outcome is less important than the compassion we bring to the world and the possibility of ending all forms of violence. I know this notion of self sacrifice comes perilously close to the supposed Christian mindset that sees our physical existence subordinate to an idealized heaven. All to often this notion becomes a lever of state control. I believe in winning- but not at the cost of eroding moral force through violence. I reject passivity. If by living and acting this way I die unfulfilled in terms of accomplishing what I believe is truth-so be it. I may fall short, but my hope is that I adhere to these principles. |
|
On the Use of Cluster Bombs Peace requires creativity and a willingness to break with establish hierarchies and power structures. Obama clearly has no notion of this and lacks the heart and courage required to break with this convention. If he did, he would treat all people with respect, not use indiscriminate warfare and make diplomacy and fairness the pillar of his foreign policy. Instead we have selfish interests competing for power and domination and seeking to defeat, rather than understand their opposition. Further, as Greenwald has so eloquently and consistently pointed out, this power elite works without respect for the law- whether federal or international. Until the system is undermined enough and people are radicalized enough to take action, little will change. |
| The Iraq War
Just how much of a
success if one million Americans died?
How many lives did the Iraqi people cost
us? Did they devastate our cities?
Contaminate our land with white
phosphor? Litter our cities and country
side with landmines? Did they murder our
civilians? Did they even declare war
against us? |
| Equal Protection Apparently the Voting Rights Act gives the Justice Department the ability to block laws, such as the one passed in South Carolina. Yet, on the face of it there is nothing inherently discriminatory in the law-and there is no issue of due process. It would also be difficult to prove that bias was a motivation. This is probably an issue of equal protection, where the courts have specifically enumerated rights to Congress to address disparate impact against suspect classes of people. Yet if laws can be struck down based on an interpretation of whether their impact is discriminatory- then a window exists to challenge the fairness of every law. For example, it would seem perfectly legitimate to make the environment a protected/suspect class-and by doing so strike down laws that permit their wanton degradation. What if the "poor" were considered a group routinely discriminated against? Numerous laws could be struck down on the basis of their de-facto discrimination. Finally, even if the Supreme Court won't extend protected status to the environment or the poor, what is to stop states and localities from doing so? There is I believe nothing in the US constitution that prohibits the protection of any class of citizen, unless by so doing the rights of other classes or the citizenry as a whole are adversely affected-all of which is subject to interpretation. In summary, it is not our laws or the Constitution that perpetuate abuses of power, but those in power who use their power to restrict the rights of others in order to perpetuate their unfair advantage. Just this week, the Justice Department blocked South Carolina’s new law requiring voters to show photo IDs at the polls, saying data submitted by South Carolina showed that minority voters were about 20 percent more likely to lack acceptable photo ID required at polling places |
|
Health Care Reform “This economic mandate represents a wholly novel and potentially unbounded assertion of congressional authority: the ability to compel Americans to purchase an expensive health insurance product they have elected not to buy, and to make them re-purchase that insurance product every month for their entire lives.” Obama might respond that there is also a mandate for auto insurance. Of course, driving a car and therefore having insurance, is a choice. Your point about the rationale for making insurance mandatory is a valid one- however, one might argue there are other reasons- for example, to bolster the profits of the health care industry- a kind of corporate welfare. The later is clearly not a compelling reason. I believe that heath care, like food, shelter, education- even basic levels of caring are human rights. I also agree with Nichols that a Medicare for all is a much better solution.. In the end, if the US is to compete economically in global markets- it cannot sustain Obamacare and/or the current health care delivery system. Universal health care- single payer- is an economic necessity and therefore will come sooner or later. However politicians like Obama often confuse political reality with "true" reality- which spells their downfall and the downfall of their countries. Compromise is essential in politics- however, as Solomon understood- splitting the baby- is less a form of compromise and more a form of moral collapse. Obama and his administration have split the baby so many times, it no longer even bares repeating. |
|
The
American Fascist "Through the Looking Glass," Lewis Carroll- Political discourse in America- twentieth and twenty-first centuries and beyond? Words- Bush/Cheney 2000 Presidential Campaign: The Social Security surplus must be locked away only for Social Security. Words- 8/24/02 Bush News Conference: Reality- After a 1.2 trillion dollar federal tax cut and a slowing economy: "The
administration's budget shows that it is close
to dipping into the Social Security surplus to
fund spending, and a Congressional Budget
Office estimate due next week is
expected to show that the government is
already tapping the Social Security
surplus."- 8/25/01
Washington Post article by Amy Goldstein.
The Importance of Non-violence
The state often adopts violence as a form of social control within society or as an effort to control other nations. Yet violence always perpetuates more violence-thus the problem of violence is never solved. When opposing the state, I believe that the single greatest strength one can bring is moral force. Use of violence by the opposition, by adopting the tactics of the oppressor-erodes moral force and is counterproductive. Yet, are there situations where moral force and strategic non-violence is not enough? Perhaps the answer is yes- but not as a form of consciousness raising- but perhaps to directly save life. But even here a spiritual dilemma arises. |
George Orwell, "1984"
He set to work to exercise himself in crimestop. He
presented himself with propositions -- "the Party says the earth is flat,"
"the Party says that ice is heavier than water" -- and trained himself in not
seeing or not understanding the arguments that contradicted them.
Helen Keller
"Our democracy is but a name. We vote? What does that mean? It means that we choose
between two bodies of real, though not avowed autocrats. We choose between Tweedledum and
Tweedledee."
Andre Gorz
"Wonder each morning how you’re going to hold on till evening, each Monday how
you’ll make it to Saturday. Reach home without the strength to do anything but watch
TV, telling yourself you’ll surely die an idiot... Long to smash everything... once a
day, feel sick... because you’ve traded your life for a living; fear that the rage
mounting within you will die down in the end, that in the final analysis people are right
when they say: ...you can get used to anything."
Theodore Roosevelt
"To announce that there must be no criticism
of the President, or that we are to stand by
the President, right or wrong, is not only
unpatriotic and servile, but is morally
treasonable to the American public."
| "The disease of modern culture is
specialization. Looked at from
the standpoint of the social system, the aim of specialization may seem desirable
enough...The difficulties do not appear until we look at specialization from the opposite
standpoint --that of individual persons. We then begin to see the grotesquerie --indeed,
the impossibility-- of an idea of community wholeness that divorces itself from any idea
of personal wholeness. The first, and best known hazard of the specialist system is that it produces specialists --people who are elaborately and expensively trained to do one thing. We get into absurdity very quickly here. There are, for instance, educators who have nothing to teach, communicators who have nothing to say, medical doctors skilled at expensive cures for diseases that they have no skill, and no interest, in preventing... Even worse, a system of specialization requires the abdication to specialists of various competencies and responsibilities that were once personal and universal. Thus, the average --one is tempted to say, the ideal-- American citizen now consigns the problem of food production to agriculturists and "agribusinessmen," the problems of health to doctors and sanitation experts, the problems of education to school teachers and educators, the problems of conservation to conservationists, and so on. This supposedly fortunate citizen is therefore left with only two concerns: making money and entertaining himself. He earns money, typically, as a specialist, working an eight-hour day at a job for the quality or consequences of which somebody else --or, perhaps nobody else-- will be responsible. And, not surprisingly, since he can do so little else for himself, he is unable to entertain himself, for there exists an enormous industry of exorbitantly expensive specialists whose purpose is to entertain him." |
"I seek to trace the novel features under which despotism may appear
in the world. The first thing that strikes the observation is an innumerable multitude of
men, all equal all alike, incessantly endeavoring to procure petty and paltry pleasures,
which they glut their lives. Each of them, living apart, is a stranger to the fate of the
rest,- his children and his private friends constitute to him the whole of mankind; as for
the rest of his fellow citizens, he is close to them, but he sees them not; he touches
them, but he feels them not; he exists but in himself and for himself alone; and if his
kindred still remain to him, he may be said at any rate to have lost his country."
Alexis
DeTocqueville, "Democracy in America"
"Democracy in America" is, in my opinion, the most brilliant
political commentary ever written on the future of democracy. It was written
between 1831 and 1832. Alexis de Tocqueville, did not merely use his powers of deduction
to see a new age. HE ACTUALLY SAW IT. See also: Democracy In
America- Not
"The intellectual human being must choose between irony and radicalism; a
third choice is not decently possible."
Thomas Mann, "Reflections of a Nonpolitical
Man"
"Vanity; stupidity; duplicity; lack of ability: these need not impede a successful political career." Bagehot, from "The Economist"
"Naturally the common people
don't want war: Neither in Russia, nor in
England, nor for that matter in Germany. That
is understood. But, after all, it is the
leaders of the country who determine the
policy and it is always a simple matter to
drag the people along, whether it is a
democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a
parliament, or a communist dictatorship.
"Voice or no voice, the people can always be
brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is
easy. All you have to do is tell them they are
being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers
for lack of patriotism and exposing the
country to danger. It works the same in any
country."
Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., quote from
Hermann Goering, Nazi wartime criminal and
second man in the Third Reich, following the
October 10th defeat of his Senate battle
against the resolution handing President Bush
unprecedented powers to declare pre-emptive
war and invade Iraq.
"War's cost is exacting. It
destroys families. It leaves behind a wasteland,
irreconcilable grief. It is a disease, and in
the night air I smell its contagion. Justice is
not at issue here: war consumes the good along
with the wicked. There will be no stopping it.
Pity will be banished. Fear will rule. It is the
old lie again, told to children desperate for
glory: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori (It
is sweet and fitting to die for one's
country)."-
"A Gaza Diary- Scenes from the Palestinain
Uprising," by Chris Hedges. See also,
"War
is a Force That Gives Us Meaning," by Chris
Hedges.
|
"Political language, as used by
politicians, does not venture into any of
this territory since the majority of
politicians, on the evidence available to
us, are interested not in truth but in
power and in the maintenance of that
power. To maintain that power it is
essential that people remain in ignorance,
that they live in ignorance of the truth,
even the truth of their own lives. What
surrounds us therefore is a vast tapestry
of lies, upon which we feed."-
Harold Pinter, Nobel Lecture, 2005 "In all major socializing forces you will find an underlying movement to gain and maintain power through the use of words. From witch doctor to priest to bureaucrat it is all the same. A governed populace must be conditioned to accept power-words as actual things, to confuse the symbolized system with the tangible universe. In the maintenance of such a power structure, certain symbols are kept out of the reach of common understanding- symbols such as those dealing with economic manipulation or those which define the local interpretation of sanity. Symbol-secrecy of this form leads to the development of fragmented sub-languages, each being a signal that its users are accumulating some form of power. With this insight into a power process, our Imperial Security Force must be ever alert to the formation of sub-languages." - Lecture by Princess Irulan to the Arrakeen War College, "The convoluted wording of legalisms grew up around the necessity to hide from ourselves the violence we intend toward each other. Between depriving a man of one hour from his life and depriving him of his life there exists only a difference of degree. You have done violence to him, consumed his energy. Elaborate euphemisms may conceal your intent to kill, but behind any use of power over another the ultimate assumption remains: "I feed on your energy."" - Addenda to Orders in Council, The Emperor Paul Muad'dib, "There exists a limit to the force even the most powerful may apply without destroying themselves. Judging this limit is the true artistry of government. Misuse of power is the fatal sin. The law cannot be a tool of vengeance, never a hostage, nor a fortification against the martyrs it has created. You cannot threaten any individual and escape the consequences." - Muad'Dib on Law, The Stilgar Commentary. The three quotations above are from Frank Herbert's, "Dune" series of science fiction works. |
"The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words." Philip K. Dick
Teledemocracy
|
"I think that we have an
epic fight in front of us. And I absolutely
believe to my soul that this corporate greed
and corporate power has an ironclad hold on
our democracy. And if we don't take that hold away, it will be impossible to have universal health care, energy transformation, trade and tax policy that actually works for the American people and for the middle class."- Senator John Edwards, 12/2007 Free Speech Democracy Groups.org A national directory of social change email lists and forums One Million Black Votes Didn't Count in the 2000 Presidential Election: It's not too hard to get your vote lost - if some politicians want it to be lost "In the 2000 presidential election, 1.9 million Americans cast ballots that no one counted. "Spoiled votes" is the technical term. The pile of ballots left to rot has a distinctly dark hue: About 1 million of them - half of the rejected ballots - were cast by African Americans although black voters make up only 12 percent of the electorate." Greg Palast, 6/21/2004 |
20/20 Vision
Organization involved in grassroots
activism. Serves as a Congressional
watchdog.
ACORN
ACORN®, the Association of Community
Organizations for Reform Now, is the
nation's largest community organization
of low- and moderate-income families.
ActForChange
Allows individuals to speak out on urgent
issues of the day such as gun violence
& environmental degradation.
Adbusters
Global network of artists, activists, writers,
pranksters, students, educators &
entrepreneurs who want to advance the new
social activist movement of the information age.
Their aim is to topple existing power structures
& forge a major shift in the way we will live in
the 21st century.
AFL-CIO: Work in Progress
Weekly e-newsletter of the AFL-CIO with
highlights of recent victories by workers
forming unions &other union movement
news. Subscriptions are free. Submissions
to Work in Progress can be e-mailed to
wip@aflcio.org.
America Coming Together
Large voter mobilization project. Knocking
on doors and speaking the truth, ACT
canvassers are laying the groundwork to defeat
George W. Bush and elect Democrats in federal,
state, and local elections in 2004.
American Constitution Society
The American Constitution Society for
Law and Policy (ACS) is one of the nation's
leading progressive legal organizations.
Founded in 2001, ACS is comprised of law
students, lawyers, scholars, judges,
policymakers, activists and other concerned
individuals who are working to ensure that the
fundamental principles of human dignity,
individual rights and liberties, genuine equality,
& access to justice are in their rightful,
central place in American law.
American Progress Action Fund |
Center
for American Progress
Actively promotes progressive ideas &
alternatives & counter right-wing policies
through supporting legislation &
organizing grass-roots activities.
Campaign
Finance
Campaign
Finance Information
Center
Campaign for
America's Future
Challenging the big money corporate agenda
by encouraging Americans to speak up - to
discuss & debate a new vision of an economy
& a future that works for all.
CapitalEye
Capital Eye is a money-in-politics
newsletter published by the
Center for
Responsive Politics.
Center
for Public Integrity
The mission of the Center for Public
Integrity is to provide the American
people with the findings of our
investigations and analyses of public
service, government accountability &
ethics related issues. The Center also
extends globally its style of watchdog
journalism in the public interest through
the International
Consortium of Investigative
Journalists (ICIJ).
The
Center for Voting and Democracy
Dedicated to fair elections where every vote
counts and all voters are represented. As
a catalyst for reform, it conducts research,
analysis, education & advocacy to build
understanding of and support for more democratic
voting systems. It promotes full representation
as an alternative to winner-take-all elections
& instant runoff voting as an alternative to
plurality elections & traditional runoff
elections.
Citizen
Works
Non-profit, non-partisan organization,
that strengthens citizen participation in power.
Gives people the tools & opportunities
to build democracy.
Citizens
for Participation
in Political Action
Founded in 1962, CPPAX (Citizens for
Participation in Political Action) is a
democratic,
grassroots multi-issue organization that
works for justice and peace through political
action. Their approach is to center most of their
efforts on two focus issues at a time.
Citizens for Tax Justice
Research & advocacy organization
dedicated to fair taxation at the federal,
state, & local levels.
The City Repair Project
"The City Repair Project is group of citizen
activists
creating public gathering places & helping others
to creatively transform the places where they
live.
Projects educate people about why most American
neighborhoods are socially isolating and
culturally
inactive, and how we can transform them from
the grassroots, inspire people to both understand
themselves as part of a larger community & fulfill
their own creative potential, & activate people to
be part of the communities around them, as well
as part of the decision-making that shapes the
future of their communities."
Common Cause
Citizen's lobbying organization
promoting open, honest &
accountable government.
Congress.org
Free public service of
Capitol
Advantage,
is a "one-stop-shop" where one can identify
their Congressional representatives;
research Congressional voting records; learn
about the issues of the day; & send e-mail
directly to Congress. Constituents can opt
to have their e-mail message hand-delivered
to their Representative or Senator's office
on Capitol Hill.
CongressVote.com
Daniel Ellsberg's
Website
Web site of the man responsible for the leaking
of the Pentagon Papers. Daniel Ellsberg is a
leading peace activist.
Democracy for America
Inspired by the presidential campaign of Howard
Dean, Democracy for America (DFA) is a
political action committee dedicated to supporting
fiscally responsible, socially progressive
candidates at all levels of government—from
school board to the presidency. DFA fights
against the influence of the far right-wing and
their radical, divisive policies and the selfish
special interests that for too long have
dominated our politics.
Democracy
Groups.org
A national directory of social change
email lists and forums.
Democracy
Now!
News program airing on over 225 stations
in North America. Provides audiences access
to people and perspectives rarely heard in the
U.S. corporate-sponsored media, including
independent and international journalists,
ordinary
people from around the world who are directly
affected by U.S. foreign policy, grassroots
leaders
& peace activists, artists, academics &
independent analysts. In addition, the War &
Peace Report hosts real debates - debates
between people who substantially disagree, such
as between the White House or the Pentagon
spokespeople on the one hand, & grassroots
activists on the other.
The
Department of Peace
In the halls of Congress, in September of
2005, a landmark Bill to establish a cabinet
level Department of Peace was re-introduced
into the U.S. House of Representatives
(H.R. 3760) and introduced for the first time
into the U.S. Senate (S. 1756.). The primary
function of a United States Department of
Peace will be to research, articulate & facilitate
nonviolent solutions to domestic & international
conflict.
Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund
Public interest law firm dedicated
to protecting the magnificent places,
natural resources, & wildlife of this
earth & to defending the right of all
people to a healthy environment.
Election
Archive.org
The National Election
Data Archive
Project plans to create the first-ever
nation-wide database of election results,
voter registration information, demographic
data, to be analyzed by our core project
team's mathematicians, computer programmers,
pollsters, & statisticians, as well as by our
independent outside peer-review board.
Electronic
Policy Network
Consortium of top public policy
organizations & advocacy groups
providing information & ideas about the
policies and politics that shape our world.
Emily's List
Nation’s largest grassroots political network,
raising campaign contributions for
pro-choice
Democratic women candidates running for
the House, the Senate and for governor;
helping women candidates build strong, winning
campaigns; & helping mobilize women voters.
Essential
Information
Involved in a variety of projects to
encourage citizens to become active
& engaged in their communities. Provides
information to the public on important
topics neglected by the mass
media & policy makers.
Firedoglake
Progressive news commentary
FreedomChannel
|
Voter Registration Information
Freedom
Socialist Party
Revolutionary, socialist feminist organization,
dedicated to the replacement of capitalist rule
by a genuine workers' democracy that will
guarantee full economic, social, political, &
legal equality to women, people of color, gays,
and all who are exploited, oppressed, &
repelled by the profit system & its offshoot
- imperialism.
Foundation
for Taxpayer &
Consumer Rights
Gay and
Lesbian Victory Fund
& Leadership
Institute
National political organization that identifies,
trains and supports open lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender candidates
& officials.
Government
Information
Xchange
In These
Times
Dedicated to informing & analyzing popular
movements for social, environmental &
economic justice; to providing a forum for
discussing the politics that shape our lives; &
to producing a magazine that is read by the
broadest and most diverse audience possible.
International ANSWER
Act Now to Stop War and End Racism.
Investigative Reporters & Editors, Inc
Grassroots nonprofit organization
dedicated to improving the quality
of investigative reporting.
Judicial
Watch
Ethical & legal "watchdog" over US
government, legal, & judicial systems to
promote a return to ethics and morality.
League of Conservation Voters
Dedicated to electing a pro-environment
Congress, protecting the environment
through political action & holding
Congress accountable for their decisions.
League of Women Voters
Encourages the informed & active participation
of citizens in government, works to increase
understanding of major public policy issues,
& influences public policy through education
& advocacy.
Log
Cabin Republicans
Stand on the front lines of today's most
important battleground for gay & lesbian
civil rights. They are a leading voice for
fairness, inclusion, and tolerance in the GOP.
Media Matters for America
Progressive research & information center
dedicated to comprehensively monitoring,
analyzing, and correcting conservative
misinformation in the U.S. media. Conservative
misinformation is defined as news or commentary
presented in the media that is not accurate,
reliable, or credible and that forwards the
conservative agenda.
Michael
Moore
Moveon.org |
MoveOn PAC
Builds electronic advocacy groups. Examples
of such issues are campaign finance,
environmental & energy issues, impeachment,
gun safety, & nuclear disarmament.
NALEO Education Fund
National Association of Latino Elected and
Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational
Fund empowers Latinos to participate fully
in the America political process, from
citizenship to public service.
The Nation
Institute
"Has a fundamental commitment to the
values of free speech & open discourse.
The Institute places particular importance on
strengthening the independent press in the
face of America's increasingly corporate-
controlled flow of information, & through its
programs the Institute promotes progressive
values on a variety of media platforms."
National Coalition Against Censorship
National Coalition
on Black Civic
Participation
Envisions a nation in which all citizens from
children to seniors, have the tools to participate
fully in the democratic process at the local,
state, national and global levels. By continuing
to lead the fight to eliminate remaining barriers
to civic participation, the National Coalition
promotes greater social & economic justice
to enhance the quality of African American life.
National Lawyers Guild
The National Lawyers Guild is dedicated to the
need for basic and progressive change in the
structure of our political and economic system.
Through its members--lawyers, law students,
jailhouse lawyers and legal workers united in
chapters and committees--the Guild works locally,
nationally and internationally as an effective
political
and social force in the service of the people.
National Priorities Project
Offers citizen &
community groups
tools & resources to shape federal
budget & policy priorities which promote
social & economic justice.
National Stonewall Democrats
Grassroots Democratic lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender organization.
Focuses on creating change in three ways:
educating the lgbt community about the
differences between the political parties;
mobilizing the lgbt community to get out
to vote on Election Day for fair-minded
Democrats; and standing up when
Republicans attack lgbt families & civil
rights while leading the Democratic party to
continue improving its record on issues
important to our community.
NOW
OMB Watch
Oversight of the OMB (White House Office
of Management Budget). Focuses in
five main areas: Budget & government
performance; Regulatory & government
accountability; Information for democracy &
community; Nonprofit advocacy & other
cross-cutting nonprofit issues and Nonprofit
policy and technology.
Open Debates
"Committed to reforming the presidential
debate process. Currently, the presidential
debates are secretly controlled by the major
parties, through the private bipartisan
corporation called the Commission on
Presidential Debates, resulting in the
stultification of format, the exclusion of popular
candidates, & the avoidance of pressing
national issues."
openDemocracy
"openDemocracy.net is pioneering a new type
of independent media based on exchange
& participation. Our readers & writers span all
continents. We cover the key questions of our
time with contributions from renowned authors &
marginalised voices. We publish clarifying
debates which help people make up their own minds.
We use the web to build and map intelligent
discussions, which we accumulate and expand
daily."
opensecrets.org
The Center for Responsive Politics is
a non-partisan, non-profit research group
based in Washington, D.C. that tracks
money in politics, and its effect on
elections and public policy.
Oregon Progressive Network
Network website hub organized by the Peace
Justice and Environment Project (PJEP), a
network
of networks that encourages the communication
and cooperation of member groups to facilitate
each other's projects. PJEP now serves nearly
1600 justice, peace and environmental
organizations
in 38 networks and 2 coalitions covering 50
states
throughout the U.S.
Pension
Rights Center
Dedicated solely to protecting & promoting
the pension rights of American workers,
retirees & their families.
People for the American Way
Purpose is to meet the challenges of
discord and fragmentation with an
affirmation of "the American Way"-
Pluralism, individuality, freedom of thought,
expression and religion, a sense of
community, and tolerance & compassion
for others.
PetitionOnline.com
Provides free online hosting of
public petitions for responsible
public advocacy.
Political Friendster
"Political Friendster allows users to create
connections between political figures. This site
depends on user involvement for its success!
Feel free to add any people you want to the
database and create connections between
people and corporations. The only thing we ask
is that you limit your contributions to serious
entries.
Political Friendster only works if everyone adds
legitimate people and connections."
PoliticalMoneyLine
Politics1
Comprehensive online guide to
American politics.
The Progressive Government Project
The Progressive Government works to
promote progressive values and principles in
America’s government. The
Progressive
Government Institute is an online model of the
Executive Branch that educates people about
the unelected political appointees in the federal
government who make decisions that affect the
lives of Americans and people around the world.
The Progressive Shadow Government places
people in the roles of federal Cabinet members
& political appointees, & provides a platform
for them to advocate for progressive public
policies.
Progressive Majority
Purpose is to elect progressive champions by
building a nationwide member network that will
provide much-needed early support to progressive
candidates - helping them to win elections &
bring values back into the halls of government.
Progressive Portal
Provides opportunities for effective, easy
grassroots activism on a range of
progressive issues. It is designed to remove
the obstacles to increased activism that
many busy people face, without
compromising impact.
Project on
Campaign Conduct
National effort to improve political campaigns
& engage voters through the use of
negotiated, voluntary, candidate codes
of conduct.
Project Vote
Since 1982, Project Vote registered &
turned out to vote over 2.7 million low income
& minority citizens nationwide, won a dozen
lawsuits to protect their right to vote,
trained hundreds of low income, minority
organizers, & provided registrants with
non-partisan follow-up voter education.
Project Vote
Smart
Protest.net
Collective of activists who are working
together to create their own media.
By publishing a public record of
political activities on the web they
are taking a stand against the
established media.
Protest
Records
Exists for musicians, poets and artists
to express LOVE + LIBERTY
in the face of greed, sexism, racism,
hate-crime and war.
Public Agenda Online
Public opinion research & citizen
education organization.
Public Citizen
Consumer advocacy organization
founded by Ralph Nader in 1971 to
represent consumer interests in Congress,
the executive branch and the courts. Fights
for openness and democratic accountability
in government, for the right of consumers to
seek redress in the courts; for clean, safe
and sustainable energy sources; for social
and economic justice in trade policies;
for strong health, safety and environmental
protections; and for safe, effective and
affordable prescription drugs and health care.
Publius
State PIRG |
U.S. PIRG
(Public Interest Research Group)
Taxpayers for
Common Sense
Dedicated to cutting wasteful government
spending & subsidies in order to achieve
a responsible and efficient government
that lives within its means.
Teledemocracy News + Network
ThomasPaine.com
Public interest journal.
Trac.Syr.edu
Independent and non-partisan
information
on federal law enforcement.
TrueMajority
Grassroots education and advocacy project
with 10 guiding principles:
-Attack poverty and world hunger as if
our life depends on it. It does.
-Champion the rights of every child,
woman & man.
-End our obstructionism to the world's
treaties.
-Reduce our dependence on oil & lead
the world to an age of renewable energy.
-Close the book on the Cold War &
ease the nuclear nightmare.
-Renounce Star Wars and the militarization
of space.
-Make globalization work for, not against
working people.
-Ensure equal treatment under law for all.
-Get money out of politics.
-Close the gap between rich & poor kids
at home.
The Truth Telling Project
The Truth-Telling Project encourages
whistle blowing in the national interest.
It urges current & recently retired
government officials to reveal the truth to
Congress & the public about governmental
wrongdoing, lies & cover-up. It aims to
change the norms and practices that
sustain the cult of secrecy, & to
de-legitimize silence that costs lives.
United
for Peace
Collaboration of national & international
peace & social justice organizations &
local places of worship, peace centers,
& community organizations.
Victory Fund
The Gay & Lesbian Victory
Fund is
a national political organization that identifies,
trains & supports open lesbian, gay, bisexual
& transgender candidates & officials. The
Victory Fund is committed to increasing the
number of openly gay & lesbian public officials
at federal, state & local levels of government.
Wellstone Action!
Dedicated to continuing Paul & Sheila
Wellstone's fight for economic justice &
progressive social change. Goals are to teach
the Wellstone Approach, organize for change
& continue the Wellstone's work to prevent
domestic violence.
WikiLeaks
Serves as an uncensorable and untraceable
depository for the truth, able to publish
documents
that the courts may prevent newspapers and
broadcasters from being able to touch.
| "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead |
Youth Vote
Coalition
A national nonpartisan coalition of diverse
organizations established to increase
participation, build responsive government
& promote awareness.
Fallujah
It seems all to easy- for me at least- to write about Fallujah, as if I had nothing to do with what happened. The truth is it was my tax dollars that were used to fund the brutality and agony of what took place.
Each person that posts here is responsible. Our legal and moral codes are supposedly based on the principle of justice- suffering a consequence for actions. What is the consequence we face for these crimes? Moral agony and guilt? For some perhaps, but is that enough? War crimes tribunals- not unless we listen to the screams of the dead- and the living, like, Ross, who endure the memory and pain of the suffering that was inflicted.
Our religions sometimes excuse our crimes as a reflection of our imperfection- and offer redemption if we accept their form of salvation. But what we did in Fallujah we did with full awareness. We sought to punish. There was no justification based on self defense. Ignorance is not a defense.
I don't think it is enough to just write, or question. I think actions are needed. I think there needs to not only be greater awareness, but tangible consequence.