Shut This Town Down

[davidswanson]

Run time: 06:40 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdeGUkoo0vA   Posted on YouTube: December 12, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: December 12, 2009 By DU Member: davidswanson Views on DU: 3719

 

[Goldstein1984]

1. Watch this video

Thank you for giving me an opportunity to test myself.

I didn't notice the username (actual name in this case) of the poster. With the title of this post, "Shut This Town Down," I was expecting to see a bunch of real Right Wing teabaggers. Thus, I thought the post was an invitation to condemn a town full of teabaggers.

As I watched the video, I found myself agreeing with what the speaker was saying. I continued, listening, growing increasingly uncomfortable as the cognitive dissonance grew in response to the conflict between what I was experiencing and what I had been expecting. I wasn't familiar with David Swanson. I did some fast research, and now I am more so. And I like what I discovered.

It was as if Swanson was reading my mind. I voted for Obama, and I have been struggling with finding myself disagreeing with so much of what a man I respect has been doing. In just a few minutes, Swanson does a good job of identifying the systemic problems that have to be fixed.

And, closest to my heart, he calls for nonviolent ACTION to make it happen.

Let's SHUT WASHINGTON DOWN and make them listen.

[swilton]

18. It will take shutting the town down

before they will listen -

War is the tip of the iceberg -the inability of our government to deliver health care due to the spending on war, it's the bailout of the banks that support the war profiteers and are the beneficiaries of US imperialism and its inherent energy policies

The progressives who were instrumental in giving Obama his mandate have been ignored and thrown under the bus

What do I hear for a Peace March?

[midnight]

2. It is nice to hear that other options other than escalating this war are being articulated so well.

[Tx4obama]

3. Obama said ...

Obama said at least 100 times on the campaign trail at rallies & townhalls last year that he would send MORE troops to Afghanistan and FIGHT THE WAR there. It is amazing that so many people were not listening!

Obama is doing exactly what he said he would do!

There are a bunch of armchair quarterbacks out there making a lot of noise. Give President Obama a chance at doing what he thinks is best, he knows much more about this issue than the American public does.

[waiting for hope]

5. Was unemployment as high then

as it is now? Does that make it right to put a rider on the war spending bill that would make it next to impossible not to vote for it because of the help it would provide those unemployed? I find that tactic disgusting and reprehensible, and if this escalation in Afghanistan is so peachy, why not have the war spending bill stand on it's own?

[Tx4obama]

7. Bills...

Bills always have things in them that have nothing to do with the main issue.
This is nothing new.

[waiting for hope]

8. I've been umemployed since March - and do not

see any prospects soon. Personally I don't see it as nothing new, both bills carry the same weight in importance, not like throwing a bridge to nowhere on an National Appropriations Bill. I call the whole fiasco blackmail.

[AlbertCat]

9. Bills

and besides, the president doesn't "do" bills. He just signs them or vetoes them CONGRESS does bills.

[ooglymoogly]

26. As if that makes it any less reprehensible!

In this case it is a particularly crooked ruse because, by this bill, hundreds of fellow travelers on this planet will be killed, slaughtered and maimed and that's a fact.

[Angry Dragon]

30. That does not make it right though..........

[lumpy]

12. You know, it doesn't really matter what Obama said on the

campaign trail. I didn't agree with other things he had to say just as I have not always agreed with things my Dem candidates have said throughout the years. Bottom line I tbink he is wrong in not bringing the troops home now and I cannot support his action regarding Afghanistan. Just because he said he would send in more troops doesn't mean I have to blindly accept his decision and give him credit for what he believes is the right thing to do. It may be that someday he will have to admit that he made the wrong decision such as JFK did regarding the bungled Cuban invasion.

[swilton]

19. The amount of troops Obama said he would send

is nothing like the escallation of 30,000 troops that he is sending now.

He also promissed that he would bring the soldiers home from Iraq and that he would close Guantanamo.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. ANd every time he said that on the campaign trail, the peace community disagreed

Just because he is doing what he said he was going to do doesn't make it okay.

[kayakjohnny]

4. Great speech.

I was captivated the whole way through.

Thank you very much.

Very good of you to post this.

[waiting for hope]

6. Thank you David ..

They're going to include unemployment insurance in the same bill. When it's not relief for hurricane victims it's education for veterans. Now it's unemployment insurance as the lipstick on this pig of a bill, a bill that creates unemployment in the first place. Investing money in wars creates fewer jobs than cutting taxes, and cutting taxes creates fewer jobs than investing in education, mass transit, infrastructure, construction, and other nonviolent industries. Every dollar for war is a dollar less for jobs.

That is just a gross manipulation and should be called out for what it is, blackmail.

[gimama]

10. Thank YOU, David, for Your PEACE Work! nt

[demigoddess]

11. Pres. Obama could have and should have said that things have changed since

the election. That there were more important things than finding and arresting a little nobody like Osama bin laden who probably isn't in Afghanistan any longer. Bring the troops home and use the money and manpower to rebuild our country.

Making us sound like fraidy cats just makes it more attractive for someone like al quada to try to attack us.

[guruoo]

13. Creatively out of touch. n/t

[Kajsa]

22. +1

n/t

[tomm2thumbs]

14. SENATOR Obama would have voted against PRESIDENT Obama war policy

- that is a simple fact -

[davidswanson]

16. simple yes

but he voted to fund "bush's wars"

[zeemike]

15. Finally someone calling for action....thanks David.

But where are our liberal organizations on this? They should be behind this and busy organizing a protest to do just that...shut down DC to force the congress to do it's job.
But I suspect they are too busy schmoozing with the powers that be and reaping the rewards of going along with the flow.

[ChiciB1]

17. Speaking Truth... Now We Really MUST Shut The Town Down! I Said

I would try to keep this link operative so here it is. I'm wishing that I can attend, just don't know because of finances, but IT NEEDS a LOT OF ATTENTION, to build A LOT of traction!

link: http://peaceoftheaction.org So for those who are able, and I WILL TRY hard to be one of them, we MUST make this thing bigger than what they even want!

Thanks David Swanson, and thank Cindy Sheehan!!

Get the word out!

[Krashkopf]

20. CONGRESS: END WAR FUNDING!

My new bumpersticker.

[sallyseven]

21. My o My What a load of crap.

[Subdivisions]

24. I am awestruck at the profundity and wisdom of your response. Thank you! n/t

[theFrankFactor]

28. Democrats Cling to Their Fantasy of Individuality

I might lend more credence to the fact that Obama ran on furthering the slaughter in Afghanistan if he weren't such a colossal failure as a Democrat and a Liberal. He is, in fact, a corporatist shill. He AND 90% of the congressional Democrats.

What's the basis of my argument?

You need only be able to remember the performance of the Democrats as a minority under the Bush administration.

You need only remember the effectiveness of the Republican majority under the Bush administration.

You need only to be capable of seeing the abject failure of the Democrat majority under the Obama administration.

You need only to be capable of seeing the power and control of the Republican MINORITY under the Obama administration.

This entire process is a sham. It has become more embolden now that citizen protest has great criminal implications.

This site should be on fire with outrage that most of us have been played for punks. We need a plan and we need to reject media propaganda NOW!

I defy THE FUCK out of any of you Obama and Democrat apologists to make a cogent argument as to why what I describe is either in error or excusable!

Knock you fucking self out!

[scentopine]

25. Let the blood of a million innocent men women and children

splatter the purely realist ethos of the pragmatically numb "centrists" who cheer on the war as just another convenient political compromise and victory for Obama. Democrats here seem absolutely relieved that Obama is a right wing protector of our corporate citizens many of whom will are profiting heavily as dead bodies stack up.

We need to bring back the draft and send the cowardly asses of realists and centrists into these shit holes so the true wonder of their pragmatism can turn dictatorial and tribal narco states into blooming democracies (creating an impoverished and unregulated labor market to be exploited by a corporate sponsored government).

Hmmm - let's see. Heroin is the number one industry in Afghanistan (it isn't terrorism). This industry money is used to elect and position leaders and other decision makers into government. The Afghan government sponsors and enforces laws to the benefit of their industry.

So, like here in USA where industry money directly and indirectly pays the salaries of our representatives, a similar system is at work in Afghanistan.

In the world view of the extreme centrist - its story book perfect, corporate run proxy style government. Why are centrists so interested in killing more people there for simply honoring the centrist ideals of a free market system?

Oh nevermind. Let the centrist democrats celebrate in the blood of their peace prize and this disingenuous president who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. Liberals should just get over it - a constant state of war is peace.

Trillions invested in more effecient ways to kill impoverished people rather than investing in energy efficiency here at home.

Democrats have proven themselves a party of violence every bit as repugnant as republicans.

[Dinger]

27. K & R

Wish there was a text of that speech

[Wizard777]

29. So what do we do about 9/11 and terrorism? Nothing? All we are saying is give peace a chance.

But all THEY are saying is that's all we need to kill even more of you dumbass americans in your homeland. But lets say we end the war. When, not if, when that happens. Al Qaida has regrouped and killed thousands of Americans once again. Is Mr. Swanson gonna give a big speech about how wrong he was. About how those people died for his political beliefs. Would he stick a knife in his heart and suicide right on the stage. So thet he too dies for his political beliefs. John Lennon is cool. But so are the Rolling Stones. So it appears to me that Mr Swanson is just trying to get other people to die for his political beliefs. I understand that there is peace before a war and peace after a war. Now we just need to figure out to keep war from interrupting all that peace. But we haven't figured that out yet. Peace is not a one sided thing. Peace is something that requires Cooperation from everyone. At this point in time Al Qaida is not willing to cooperate with any of our peace plans. So I reiterate what do we do about Al Qaida and Terrorism? What's the plan?

[winyanstaz]

31. I will stand for peace..

[Wizard777]

33. Yeah but will you fight for it? That's what they did in WWII. They fought for peace.

Bush, Cheney, and the neocons have warped peoples minds about war is really all about. They made it all about personal insecurity = insane profits. When war breaks out the ultimate goal is to fight to reestablish the peace at the earliest possible time. We now have a noble and Nobel leader to take us down that path to peace. Just like FDR and Truman did in WWII. Obama can and will do that. I see him maneuvering himself into a very good position. We have some military objectives to obtain to provide a stable platform for what will be a Marshall Plan for terrorism instead of communism. That involves containment and a war of ideologies. That is exactly how we defeated communism. Every tries to give Reagan the credit. But he was just standing there when the Marshal plan paid off big time.

It's food that your willing to at least stand for peace. I know it sounds like an oxymoron. But do you want peace bad enough to fight for it? At least let others fight for peace. Because that's what Obama wants to do. He does want war for the sake of war or it's profits. He's willing to get out there and fight for peace just like so many generations before us. But that is the message he ultimately needs to focus on. We're gonna fight for peace. We want it THAT damned bad.

[winyanstaz]

36. First off...I am a military widow...I know what war is all about.

Secondly...there is no way in hell you can convince me that blowing up civilians in those countries in anyway makes us safer in America or that we are killing those people for peace.
If we really want peace we would get the hell out and stop invading their countries. What part of they don't want us there don't you understand?
What part of there is NO reason to BE there except to steal the oil and drugs there that you just cant wrap your mind around?
100 Al quada are NOT worth the innocent lives or the lives of our troops and it does not do diddly squat for peace to escalate those wars. Nor more than the escalations in Nam..No more than the escalations in Korea.....no more than any war for nation building.
We are over there based on lies. In fact..with every innocent civilian we blow apart..we create more enemies.
War is not Peace. Only the end of War can be called Peace.

[Wizard777]

38. There are only about 100 left in Afghanistan. The rest are in Pakistan.

Even if it was only 100. Look at Iraq. They sent ONE GUY. He recruited hundreds and killed thousands. If they get control of Pakistan's nukes. You don't want to live in a world with a nuclear capable Al Qaida. Peace is not a one sided thing.

[winyanstaz]

39. I don't think it was ONE guy that made that mess......

Every bomb we dropped created the enemy.
Every child slaughtered or woman or man raped.
Every innocent tortured and every home or business ruined.
Want peace in the middle east?
Stop invading their countries and stealing their natural resources..duh.
Al Qaida is a joke of a boogyman that no one is buying anymore.

[Andronex]

35. "What's the plan?"

Well you can start by not promoting the official conspiracy theory.

I suggest you research, Operation Northwoods
Reichstag Fire
Operation Gladio
Lavon Affair
USS Liberty incident
Gulf of Tonkin

and many more have been confirmed and admitted today as being false flags operations, Secretary of State Colin Powell promised the American people that he would bring forward solid proof of Bin Laden involvement in the 911 attacks, but he never produced any report on the matter. On the FBI site 911 is not listed among the crimes Bin Laden is suspected being responsible for, when asked why by a reporter the spokesperson replied that no solid evidence linked him to that event, so I suggest you pass on to the FBI the information you seem to have on Al Qaida.

[Wizard777]

37. Then Who?

[winyanstaz]

32. K & R....stop being afraid......

Our own military claimed there were only about 100 al qaida left....but now we are going to spend trillions and murder thousands and let our own troops die for these lies... going after them?
That is insane. That is beyond stupid!
"About 100 Al Ciada"...and some chicken shits are willing to throw away their civil rights, everyone else's civil rights, the Constitution and the future of our economy...all to get these 100 men hiding under their bed?
You people that support these wars are total cowards and enablers of the murders of civilians. Their blood is on your heads.

[KoKo]

34. Thank you DAVID! Good Stuff....

I'm gonna get on my congress/senate critters.