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DEF is a non-partisan, independent political blog based in the
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When presidential candidate Hillary Clinton visited St. Louis last Sunday, it wasn't just her fans that came to greet her.
Members of Code Pink, a feminist anti-war group, showed up outside of The Pageant wearing pink shirts and shouting "war profiteer!"
According to the group, Clinton has received more money from employees of the top five U.S. arms manufactures than any other Presidential candidate, including leading Republicans.
Code Pink opposes Clinton because of her support of the Iraq War and her vote in September for a Senate resolution calling the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. Critics say that vote gave Bush a "blank check" to go to war against Iran.
This morning, nearly 200 people from St. Louis and surrounding areas will ride out of town on the 6:00 am Amtrak train to Chicago, or as they call it, the Peace Train.
The passengers are going to the Windy City to take part in the Mobilization to End the War, a demonstration against the war in Iraq. Chicago is one of eleven cities taking part in the Mobilization, and it will serve as the Midwestern hub for those taking part in the protest.
170 Peace Train tickets were available, and all were sold by Friday afternoon.
For more details about the demonstration, click here.
Friday is the start of parents' weekend at Washington University. It's also the day thousands of tombstones will adorn the lawn north of the school's library.
The tombstones are part of a joint effort between student peace groups at Wash U, SLU, UMSL and Fontbonne. The stones represent American soldiers and Iraqi civilians who have died in the Iraq War.
The display was at UMSL on Monday, and next Monday it moves to SLU where it will focus on the effects of war on women. Although the display is sponsored by anti-war groups, it is not meant to forward any particular political message.
On the morning of Monday, September 17, members of CODEPINK from Springfield visited the Washington D.C. offices of Senators Kit Bond and Claire McCaskill with letters from their constituents demanding that they stop funding the occupation of Iraq.
As dozens, if not hundreds, of St. Louisans head down to Jena, Louisiana today to support the Jena 6, and anti-war protestors settle into the third day of their week-long 24-hour protest outside the St. Louis office of U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, PubDef.net reporter Gabe Bullard asks the following question:
Why are today's college students so much less likely to engage in protest than their parents' generation?
The Instead of War Coalition, a St. Louis based peace organization, is holding a 24-hour week-long rally called the "Days of Decision" Watch outside the St. Louis office of U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill.
The Instead of War Coalition, a St. Louis based peace organization, is holding a week-long rally called the "Days of Decision" Watch outside Senator Claire McCaskill's office, 5850 Delmar.
The rally is aimed at urging McCaskill not to support the $190 billion war funding bill currently being debated in Congress unless it is attached to a specific withdrawal timetable.
Following appearances today by General David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad, before the House Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill issued the following statement:
“When President Bush asked the American people in January to support a new way forward, he said this surge was going to be about giving the Iraqi people a chance to stabilize. He set forth himself in that speech in January nine benchmarks that he said he would hold the Iraqi government accountable for.
“Unfortunately, so far, we have not heard enough about why these benchmark aren’t being met, and why is it that we have been able to sacrifice as a country now on the ground for longer than our troops fought in World War II, why is it that the Iraq government cannot take meaningful steps towards securing their own country and living with each other.
“I think there is some good news in what General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker have said today – the fact that they acknowledge that drawing down troops is the right way to go.
“But unfortunately, I don’t think there has been enough conversation yet about something other than the two extremes. I don’t think any of us in Washington want an expeditious drawdown of all our troops in Iraq. And on the other hand, I don’t think most people in American want us to continue to stand in the middle of a civil war. I think there is something in between. I will look forward in the hearing tomorrow, I will look forward to questioning General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker, as I know many other senators will, about what would be in between.
“I think the logical thing is to change the mission, to change our mission from securing Iraq and providing stability to that nation to what we really should be doing which is fighting terrorism. We should be fighting terrorism in Iraq with our troops on the ground, but at a much lower level than we have now. And we should be refocusing our troops in other areas of the world where terrorism continues to be a problem, and in fact is growing because we are bogged down in Iraq. There is a better way than what we are doing now.
“I think that General Petraeus – although I think he is an honorable man, and I think both he and Ambassador Crocker are giving their best judgment – they own this strategy on behalf of the commander-in-chief, and they are obligated to defend it. I think there has to be somewhere in between the president’s stubborn opinion that nothing should change and the position of some on the left who believe everything has to change tomorrow. We’ve got to find that middle ground. It’s important to the American people, it’s important to the men and women risking their lives.”
State Representatives Jeanette Mott Oxford (whose birthday is today, according to the Arch City Chronicle) and Jamilah Nasheed recently appeared on a "A Nation Deceived," a podcast dedicated to discussing the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Listen to the entire show right here...
This year, Nasheed sponsored, and Oxford co-sponsored, HCR 46 calling for Congress to impeach Bush and Cheney. The resolution never got a hearing.
In Congress, St. Louis Congressman Lacy Clay is a co-sponsor of House Resolution 333, calling for the impeachment of the Vice President. Last year, Clay was one of 33 Democrats to co-sponsor a resolution seeking to investigate grounds for impeaching President Bush.
And locally, did Senator Claire McCaskill forget her mandate when she and other Democrats joined with Republicans to authorize more funds for the Iraq War?
McCASKILL & BOND VOTE TO FUND WAR, CLAY & CARNAHAN VOTE AGAINST
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Thursday, May 24, 2007 at 11:03 PM
The U.S. Congress tonight passed a $122 billion emergency supplemental appropriation to continue funding the war in Iraq at least through September. St. Louis Congressmen Lacy Clay and Russ Carnahan voted against the measure, which passed the Democratic-controlled House by a vote of 280-142.
The following statement comes from Rep. Clay:
"I cannot, in good conscience, vote for a supplemental appropriation that provides $97.8 billion more for President Bush's failed policy in Iraq.
This bill imposes no real deadlines and lacks any credible thresholds of accountability for either the President or the Iraqi government.
It does nothing to move this tragic and unnecessary war towards a swift and responsible conclusion, which is what the American people expect us to do.
Very soon, Congress will revisit this critical situation. And I pray that we will finally have the courage to face the realities on the ground, let the Iraqis decide their own country's future, and bring our brave troops home."
In the Senate, Democrat Claire McCaskill and Republican Kit Bond were among the 80 votes in favor of the funding. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin also voted for it, while his colleague and Presidential candidate, Barack Obama, voted against.
Obama's leading competitor in the Senate, Hillary Clinton, also voted no.
How Missouri's Delegation Voted:
Lacy Clay (D-1st) - NO Todd Akin (R-2nd) - YES Russ Carnahan (D-3rd) - NO Ike Skelton (D-4th) - YES Emanuel Cleaver (D-5th) - NO Sam Graves (R-6th) - YES Roy Blunt (R-7th) - YES Jo Ann Emerson (R-8th) - Did not vote Kenny Hulshof (R-9th) - YES
Kit Bond (R) - YES Claire McCaskill (D) - YES
Click here for the Senate roll call vote. Click here for the House roll call vote.
St. Louis Congressman Lacy Clay has joined with Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) in filing articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney.
On April 17, Kucinich wrote a letter to his Democratic colleagues espressing his intention to fill the legislation. "Dear Colleague," wrote the Presidential candidate, "This week I intend to introduce Articles of Impeachment with respect to the conduct of Vice President Cheney. Please have your staff contact my office . . . if you would like to receive a confidential copy of the document prior to its introduction in the House."
Since then, only Clay and Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois have added their names to House Resolution 333, which states:
"Despite all evidence to the contrary, the Vice President actively and systematically sought to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States about an alleged threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction..."
"The Vice President subverted the national security interests of the United States by setting the stage for the loss of more than 3300 United States service members; the loss of 650,000 Iraqi citizens since the United States invasion; the loss of approximately $500 billion in war costs which has increased our Federal debt; the loss of military readiness within the United States Armed Services due to overextension, lack of training and lack of equipment; the loss of United States credibility in world affairs; and the decades of likely blowback created by the invasion of Iraq.
"In all of this, Vice President Richard B. Cheney has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as Vice President, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore, Vice President Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office." Click here to read the full text of the resolution.
Opponents of the America's war in Iraq staged a demonstration downtown yesterday to mark the 4th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of the Middle Eastern nation.
Hundreds of faux headstones stood in the park area at the corner of Market and Chestnut to symbolize the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Americans killed and wounded since the beginning of the conflict.
One blog commenter said that following the end of their own demonstration, several students who had been in City Hall walked over to join the anti-war rally.
Congressman Lacy Clay has issued the following statement in response the report released yesterday by the Iraq Study Group:
"The report issued by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group vindicates what I have been saying for more than three years...we are not winning, the policy is not working, and we need to change direction without delay.
I am hopeful that the President will fully embrace the findings of the commission. We are ready to work with him to find a way to end this tragic war and to once again unify our nation in order to go forward with the unfinished work of the American people.
Ten more brave Americans were killed today in Iraq. We owe it to them, and to the other 23,000 Americans who have been killed or wounded, to forge a bipartisan solution that honors their sacrifice and brings them home as soon as possible."
CNN is reporting that President Bush will announce today that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is stepping down.
UPDATE: U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement on the resignation of Rumsfeld:
"Last night, the American people sent an overwhelming message to Washington that it's time to change our failed course in Iraq, and today's resignation of Donald Rumsfeld is a belated step in the right direction," said Obama.
"But to truly end the ideological mismanagement of this war, we must replace not just a person, but a strategy, and that will take the work of both Democrats and Republicans finding common ground and common solutions in the weeks to come."
Because of Iraq we are less secure, says General and former Presidential candidate Wesley Clark in a new commercial by VoteVets.org, the same group behind earlier ads attacking Republican Senators Jim Talent, George Allen in Virginia, Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania, and Conrad Burns in Montana.
The first 20 people to email us at editor@pubdef.net will get a pass for two to a special screening of the film "Catch a Fire" Wednesday at the Esquire.
Director Phillip Noyce ("Patriot Games", "Clear and Present Danger", "The Quiet American") has made a powerful and moving film that uses the inspirational story of resistance in 1980s' South Africa to make the point that is so relevent in today's America: One man's terrorist is often another man's freedom fighter. And sometimes tactics used to fight terrorism actually creates more "terrorists".
The film features Oscar-worthy performances by Tim Robbins ("Mystic River") and Derek Luke ("Antwone Fisher"). Here are two PSAs featuring the actors talking about some of the issues in the movie.
The debate before yesterday's debate centered around a television ad that was being run by U.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill's campaign and featuring a young veteran telling how difficult it was for him to receive medical care after he returned home from Iraq.
The "Josh" ad, as it has become known, featured Kansas City native Josh Lansdale, a former medic that was wounded while serving in Iraq. The ad was pulled from the air after Landale's story could not be verified by a Kansas City television station.
"This isn't about the veteran, it's about the credibility of Claire McCaskill's television ads," said Jim Talent's Senior Advisor Lloyd Smith. "McCaskill can not prove the ad is true. McCaskill can settle this right now by providing the media with the veteran's appointment schedule as verified by the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Kansas City."
"I think it's a really sad moment," McCaskill said on the matter last night. "Sen. Talent has sent men and women to die for us over there. And they've been injured. They don't mind going to fight for us, but I don't think they expected to be attacked when they get home."
Talent Would Still Have Voted For Iraq War -- Even Without WMD Claims
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Sunday, October 08, 2006 at 1:25 PM
Senator Jim Talent told moderator Tim Russert on "Meet the Press" this morning that he would have voted for to go to war in Iraq even if he knew there were no weapons of mass destruction.
MR. RUSSERT: Knowing what you know today, knowing what you know today, that Saddam did not have the weapons of destruction that our intelligence agencies thought he had, if you knew that today, would you still vote for the war?
SEN. TALENT: Well, yeah, I mean, I think...
MR. RUSSERT: You still would?
SEN. TALENT: ...it was the—I think it was the only possible strategic choice. Look, Saddam had been an organic threat in the region for a long time. He represented a threat to us. That threat is now gone. Tim, look at what’s not happening.
MR. RUSSERT: But Senator, isn’t it an important question: if, if, if the CIA said to you, “Saddam does not have weapons of biological, chemical, or a nuclear program,” you would still vote for the war?
SEN. TALENT: Well, he wanted them. He was trying to get rid of economic sanctions. He would’ve had $70-a-barrel oil. He’d have been competing with—I mean, if action had not been taken to remove Saddam, the same people who are being critical of what’s going on in Iraq now would be screaming that we’d left him in power. We’d have another Iran there. That threat’s been removed.
Approaching the last 30 days of a very close re-election campaign against Democrat Claire McCaskill, Republican Sen. Jim Talent made his fourth appearance on former Mayor Freeman Bosley, Jr.'s radio show yesterday. This time the subject was Iraq.
Talent, who spoke via cell phone on his way to Sunday service at the Cathedral in the Central West End, said America must win the war in Iraq and leave behind a functioning, stable democracy operated by Iraqis.
"We gotta win," said Talent. "If we don't win then that encourages the other side and it'll be a set back for us."
Talent's appearance on Bosley's show, which airs on hip-hop station 100.3 FM, is just the latest example of the Chesterfield Republican's push to make inroads into the tradition Democratic base of black voters. Here's an 8-minute clip from the show...
Talent, Bond Vote to Allow Bush to Broadly Interpret Geneva Convention
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Friday, September 29, 2006 at 8:25 AM
The U.S. Senate, by a vote of 65-34, has passed a controversial bill that gives broad authority to President George W. Bush to interpret (or re-interpret) the long-standing Geneva Convention standards on the treatment of prisoners of war as he sees fit. Missouri Senators Kit Bond and Jim Talent, both Republicans, both voted in support of the bill. Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Barack Obama, both Democrats, voted against.
Word is that Father Lawrence Biondi, president of St. Louis University, is in Lebanon tonight, holed up in a hotel room while Israel bombs the country.
UPDATE: The AP now has the story... "University spokesman Clayton Berry said Biondi has been in frequent contact with the school and is talking with the U.S. Embassy to find out when and how to best get out of the country and return home."
We overheard a Lambert Airport official today saying the family of a Missouri soldier killed in Iraq was forced to wait for hours to accept the body Wednesday because of President George W. Bush's arrival in St. Louis for a fundraiser for Sen. Jim Talent.
At the fundraiser, Bush said "one thing about old Jim Talent, he understands what I understand, is that when you put a man or woman in uniform and ask them to go into harm's way, they deserve the full support of the United States government."
