Today I got another fundraising email from John Kerry. Here is what I wrote back:

Dear Senator Kerry,

I have voted Democrat since I was eighteen years old. I support the ideals of the Democratic party because I think they are the best vision for the United States of America. What I am about to say to you comes from my deep love of this country and our party.

Shut the hell up.

You have no credibility. You voted for the Iraq War Resolution in 2002. In 2004, when it was obvious that Bush had lied about Saddam's weapons programs, when it was obvious that Bush had all but abandoned the war on al Qaeda, you still failed to oppose the war in Iraq. You were one of the many people who was wrong. Democrats do not care what you have to say. The rest of the country does not care what you have to say. They view you as a politician who changed his position to match opinion polls. We do not need more politicians whose opinions change with the polls.

We need more politicians who have the courage to stand up for what is right even when it is unpopular. Politicians like Jim McDermott, Henry Waxman, John Conyers, Wesley Clark, and Howard Dean. They were right from the beginning, when you were still wrong. When the Republicans told Iraq war opponents to shut up, they kept speaking out while you kept silent. They understood what it means to be an opposition party while you were still kissing Bush's ass.

Shut up and let the grownups do the talking.

Sincerely,

Nathan David Teegarden
Saint Paul, Minnesota
registered Democrat since June 7, 1988
Iraq war opponent since March 20, 2003

If you would like to send your own letter to Senator Kerry, you can do so here
- posted by truthspeaker    Comments

From across the pond, a call for impeachment:

The only way parliament can regain the trust of disaffected voters is to admit that it was wrong to support the war.

Wars are won when the people, government and army work together for a common cause in which they genuinely believe. Whereas the people may be initially uncertain about military intervention, politicians will often be the strongest advocates - blinded by the imperatives of their political views. It will invariably be military commanders who are most cautious about using force - for they understand better than most the consequences of engaging in war. Although in a true democracy they must remain subordinate to their political masters, they have a clear responsibility to point out when political strategies are flawed or inadequately resourced. Since they might also have to ask their soldiers to sacrifice their lives, they must be assured that a war is just, legal and the last resort available. Yet three years ago this country was somehow led by the prime minister into war in Iraq where few, if any, of these requirements were met.

Most importantly a clear justification for the war in Iraq was never sufficiently made by Tony Blair - for the intelligence he presented was always embarrassingly patchy and inconsistent. What is more, his unequivocal statement to the House of Commons that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction that could be used within 45 minutes was made without being properly validated - for it was decided in Washington and London to launch the invasion of Iraq early, on the basis of the flimsy evidence available. This was done without asking the UN weapons inspectors, who were actually on the ground in Iraq, to investigate this allegation. Ultimately, as the inspectors suspected and as we now all know, it turned out that there were no such weapons. Britain had been led into war on false pretences.

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In a letter addressed to George Bush, the US president, the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) requested that the US administration deduct direct aid to Israel the amount equal to what Israel spends on its the settlements and on the construction and maintenance of the separation wall inside the West Bank.

The HRW letter cites figures from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics that in the first half of 2005, there was a 28% increase in settlement housing starts compared to the same period in 2004.

According to the Israeli settlement watchdog group Peace Now, there are 121 official settlements in Israel and 101 unofficial outposts.

The settlement areas occupy more than 40% of the West Bank. There are 240,000 settlers residing in the settlements amid some 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank.

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Human Rights Watch
- posted by truthspeaker    Comments

The Bush administration has scaled back its ambitions to rebuild Iraq from the devastation wrought by war and dictatorship and does not intend to seek new funds for reconstruction, it emerged Monday.

In a decision that will be seen as a retreat from a promise by President George Bush to give Iraq the best infrastructure in the region, administration officials say they will not seek reconstruction funds when the budget request is presented to Congress next month, the Washington Post reported Monday.

The $18.4 billion allocation is scheduled to run out in June 2007. The move will be seen by critics as further evidence of the administration's failure to plan for the aftermath of the war.

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