Segment Two: It's time to stop using the neocon construct of "terrorism." The Depression intensifies and Obama muddles. (Show picks up after blogtalk server dump).
We Need Hearings on Obama's Afpakistan Escalation!
Quick, make a phone call today to your Congressmember (and Dan Gelber), particularly our Senate candidates Meek and Gelber (and heck, Matt Damon while you’re at it). Get them on the record on this. Get your DEC to pass a resolution. With President Obama escalating drone attacks into Pakistan, which are further destabilizing the country, and in the process of DOUBLING the number of our troops in Afghanistan, and his “envoy” Richard Holbrooke talking paranoid neocon nonsense about how our Reagan-era-funded Taliban allies are now a “threat” to Washington and Islamabad, and the U.S. slowly wading deeper into a $trillion dollar$ Vietnam style quagmire (kind of makes you long for Bush’s relative neglect, huh?) while our nation sinks into a Depression, why are there no Congressional hearings on the next Iraq?
We need hearings on what we’re getting into. Televised.
Demand hearings. Why aren’t there any hearings????????????????????????????????????
Post their responses, or get them to post their position on hearings on the FPC.
We need to know so we know who Accountability Now needs to run anti-war candidates against in the primaries.
Next, and quickly, we need them to sponsor resolutions calling upon Obama to halt troop escalations and deployments into Afpakistan. Me, I don’t need to wait for hearings. I’m already up on this stuff. But the nation needs hearings.
Matt Damon for U.S. Senate
With Democratic Party career politicians Gelber and Meek repeating the same tired old imperial foreign policy platitudes as the Republicans on the Middle East that will keep us in perpetual war that is draining our economy at the very time we are sinking into another Depression, the Democratic nomination race for U.S. Senate is shaping up as just another right wing echo chamber that shuts out any discussion of an alternative foreign policy and will deny Florida voters a fundamental choice that is at stake in next year’s election.
Matt Damon has the potential to add that voice to the debate, and actually be electable. He’s smarter (Harvard) than Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarnegger (and to my knowledge does not have a naked picture published in a body building magazine with his body all oiled up) and has been involved in numerous humanitarian civic causes. He knows public policy. If potty mouth Al Franken (another pro-war Democrat unfortunately) can win in Minnesota …. I rest my case.
From the point of view of us on the True Left, there are two major questions surrounding a Damon candidacy.
One is if he believes this country needs to turn away from the militaristic Bush-Obama-Gelber-Meek-McCain foreign policy (escalating war in Afpakistan, overarming Israel with no constraints and condoning its Gaza slaughter and war crimes (see last week’s Amnesty International report), threatening the bombing of Iran, ever engorging Pentagon budgets, the futile pursuit of a phoney war on “terror”, and on and on). His political sensibilities indicate he may, although he will have to do some crash coursework on foreign policy, just as Dan Gelber is no doubt doing).
Matt, if you believe in a new foreign policy, call me. I will brief you and point you to resources. And most importantly I will guide you to people who will help you frame and advocate a new foreign policy in a way that is electable. 305 893-1566. You can also email me at mwshow@bellsouth.net. You might want to wade through the archive of the Mark Weaver Show, indexed by topics.
The second question is how Matt Damon can win. Matt, I can give you some (partial) advice on this too. You will need a team of consultants more expert than I on campaign strategy, but there is some uber-advice I can give you: be careful who you pick. There are many Democratic Party consultants who view winning above ALL ELSE. Avoid them. You need to win, but you can do that while holding true to your values and principles. Too many consultants will trick you into selling out. There are consultants out there (in and out of the party) who truly want to make politics more progressive rather than just hitching themselves to the candidate they think is going to win and add to their resume. Obviously they are not on the Meek and Gelber teams. Also, there are many powerful interests out there who will try to use you as a vehicle to advance their interests, just like I am, except I’m not powerful. Some of these groups have worthwhile agendas, others don’t. I only hope that you too want a new foreign policy for the U.S. If not, I hope you don’t run. A Senator Matt Damon advocating the same policies as Gelber and Meek is pointless.
Domestic policy will be easier for you since you seem to be within the generic Democratic Party consensus on domestic issues. I can advise you on some tweaking on that to refine more True Progressive positions that address the populist issues of the Florida lower and middle classes AND how to message these.
You will have to neutralize the anti-celebrity reaction to your candidacy, but that will be easy if you study the issues, are serious and meet the editorial boards of all the newspapers in the state in addition to the leadership and meetings of the major interest groups.
One concern I have about Matt’s electability (although something like this did not stop Al Franken or Arnold), is this video. It’s not going to go over well in Ocala, but then again he’d probably pull more votes there than Gelber or Meek in the general, even with the video circulating).
This video is hilarious. And it shows what a great sense of humor and how charismatic candidate Damon would be. He could be our Ronald Reagan, our Schwarznegger.
If any of you know anybody who knows Matt Damon, please get this to him.
Matt, I live near you. Let’s take a four hour walk up Miami Beach and talk about this stuff.
Matt Damon for U.S. Senate. Maybe.
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