Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Sadistic Interrogation

This is one of the three reasons why there has to be an independent commission (retired judges?) to investigate the Bush, Cheney, Yoo and Company, CIA sadistic interrogation practices. #1 is they probably committed illegal acts and if we are a civilized country that goes by rule of law, well ..... #2 is there has to be an investigation and probable prosecution to draw the line in the sand to future thugs and fascists that this won't be tolerated, it's essential to retaining our national identity and stopping the slide into fascism and #3, like she says, those torture memos were just the authorizing legalese, we still don't know what REALLY happened and it is probable that other abuses occurred beyond those authorized in the memos, and the tactics authorized were probably exceeded in many instances.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Florida Dems Pushing War on Iran Again!

(This is a commentary, not a link to any show).

After their reckless Iran naval blockade resolution backfired last year, Congressmembers Robert Wexler (who had the good sense to revoke his cosponsorship after being exposed by The Mark Weaver Show, although any causal connection is unproven), unrepentant Ron Klein and Republican Gus Bilirakis are pushing war-by-other-means-leading-to-real-war with a “rebranded” act to choke off Iran’s refined petroleum imports. This time around the destructive duo are joined by newly elected Democrat Suzanne Kosmas, who picked up one of two Republican seats in November. Funny how the Democrats keep the perpetual war pipeline full with people who are no better, and often times worse, than the Republicans they replace on the greatest issues of war and peace while diverting funds from the progressive agenda with their bloated military spending.

J Street, the new moderate Jewish lobby (they’re still a tad too center-right for me) formed as a counterweight to the extremist right American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) says the backers of the resolution are trying to “thwart” and “undercut” President Obama’s efforts to negotiate with Iran. The opponents of Obama’s agenda, J Street’s Issac Luria says, “are proposing aggressive new sanctions on Iran just as diplomatic outreach begins …. the Orwellian named “Iran Diplomacy Enhancement Act” was introduced in the House (cosponsored by Kosmas, Klein and Wexler in Florida, among others) - a bill that in reality does nothing to ‘enhance diplomacy’ but instead imposes further sanctions on Iran, directly undercutting the President’s diplomatic message.”

Neoconservative scholar Fred Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute says “Iranians are going to die if we impose additional sanctions.” We can therefore infer that Democrats Kosmas, Klein and Wexler are advocating the killing of Iranian civilians. Kagan, who supports the sanctions, being a neocon, is at least honest. He says there is a “human cost” any time sanctions regimes take away a “vital resource” from a society. A U.S. embargo on spare aircraft parts is already causing an increase in civilian airplane crashes in Iran, so the killing is already underway.

Imagine a Chinese-dominated international embargo on gasoline and jet fuel imports into the U.S. It would drive up prices and wreak havoc in the U.S. Do you think that would drive American public opinion toward war with China?

The Senate version of the Act was introduced by …… are you ready for this? ……. Joe Lieberman. We can therefore infer as we learned in our algebra classes that at least in this critical case Joe Lieberman = Ron Klein = Robert Wexler = Suzanne Kosmas = Florida Neocons in Liberals’ clothing. The House bill is introduced by Republican extremist Mark Kirk (IL). What are these three Florida Democrats doing joining up with Bilirakis, Kirk and Lieberman?

I am heartened to see that there is a growing cry from Rick Spisak, Susan Smith and others of the FPC and other grassroots Florida Democrats for accountability from Democratic politicians and getting them on the record on the major issues.

We need to get Senate candidates Kendrick Meek and Dan Gelber on the record on this. Would they cosponsor or would they vote for Joe Lieberman’s Act? This is the most important vote on Iran so far in 2009. It’s major folks. It could get us into a war with Iran.

You can hear more about the coming war with Iran, along with Obama’s alarming bumbling into a war in Pakistan, on the May 9 Mark Weaver Show — The Leading Edge

These Democrats will probably weasle by telling you that they support Obama’s diplomacy but they want to back him up with the coercion of more sanctions as another “bargaining chip”. Why this is destructive, needless and will probably backfire is the subject of part 2. I heard Wexler tell Nicole Sandler on WINZ last year that if it comes down to it, we should bomb Iran. And of course, not having any political background whatsoever, she left him unchallenged.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Conditions for Normalization of Relations with the U.S.A.

(This is a commentary that does not link to any show).

With Emperor Obama declaring that “the ball is now in the Castros’ court” after his minimalist token easing of the Bush travel/remittance restrictions on Cuba and demanding that Cuba free all political prisoners, restore freedom of speech and press and end its 20% tax on remittances,

with ever-pandering and behind-the-curve U.S. Senate candidate Kendrick Meek, opposing even these token gestures and running for Senator of Hialeah,

all this despite Monday’s Bendixen poll showing a “stunning change of heart” in CUBAN-AMERICAN attitudes showing 67% approval for totally ending the trade and travel embargo ….

Mark Weaver, host of the explosive Mark Weaver Show, last Saturday (4/18) urged the Castros to hold firm and issued conditions for restoration of diplomatic relations with the U.S. of A.

1) The U.S. must return Guantanamo to Cuba since it is illegally occupying a sovereign nation on land it stole through force of war.
2) The U.S. must restore the freedom of travel to its own people and end their imprisonment north of the Florida Straits.
3) The U.S. must restore habeas corpus rights to all detainees on Cuban territory and at its Bagram prison and other prison sites and release the hundreds of detainees who are believed to have been innocently swept up in the War on Assymetric Tactics.
4) The U.S. must free its own people and establish a single-payer healthcare system that eliminates the predatory extortion and profit making greed of the American medical industry taking advantage of the sick, and re-socialize health personnel to care for the sick out of compassion rather than with Norte Americano dollar signs in their eyes, as Cuba has done.
5) The U.S. shall bring freedom of speech to the American Left who are shut out of any meaningful influence in Americano sociedad by the corporate profit making Mainstream media such as the Miami Heraldo, the Orlando Sentinel and the mere 60 radio stations that Thom Hartmann (the #1 progressive host) is on while Rush Limburger is on 600 stations, which is why people like Trish of the Pensito Review can be be ecstatic over Obama’s tragic minimalist center-right presidency and ready to work hard for his re-election and eight years of tragedy and opportunistic lost opportunities. Cuba will NEVER turn its media over to wealthy ownership and right wing domination.
6) The U.S. shall free the dozens of political prisoners who have been jailed on trumped up charges of “providing material support for terrorism” by making charitable donations to Mid Eastern charities that have working relationships with the elected governing Hamas and Hezbollah Parties of Lebanon and Palestine.
7) The U.S. shall fully fund and socialize its education system from age two through vocational school and college through progressive income taxes, as Cuba has done, giving us the best performing education system in all of Latin America according to the Stanford Professor interviewed last year on the Mark Weaver Show.
8) Cuba will NEVER end its 20% tax on remittances, dummy! That’s how we fund free health care and education for the people receiving the remittances!

Upon fulfillment of these conditions Cuba will
1) End its trade and travel embargo of the U.S. which has impoverished the Americano people.
2) Graciously allow the U.S. into the Organization of Americano States.
3) free any political prisoners who have not engaged in material violent subterfuge of the Cuban government
4) legalize all political parties and hold free regular elections within the context of a political system of working class control of the media and full public financing of elections based on nonpaid signature gathering with all private contributions over $100 to be banned
5) We might even be willing to work with those Cuban exile families who unfairly had their properties confiscated in the Cuban revolution, but only upon determination that these families had not extorted their properties through coercion and force, stolen them or exploited their employees or previous property owners to gain these properties or used ties with the Bautista dictatorship for same.

Futhermore, upon normalization of relations with the new Socialist States of America, we shall invite Mark Weaver to broadcast his show out of Havana, throw a ticker tape parade down the Malecon for uniting our two nations, and invite him and his friends like Betsy Angert, Benjamin Kirby and other Real Progressives to our finest hotel on our finest beach where they can all sip Mojitos.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Solar Cells, Terrorist Sympathizer, Challenging Dem Incumbents, Israeli War Crimes, Jewish Dems Kill National Intelligence Appointment

Guest Jeff Hauser of new Accountability Now PAC supporting leftish challengers in Democratic primaries. Now there's an idea. Rooftop solar cells and distributed grid green electricity. Gainesville is first city in U.S. to pay over-market for renewable energy. Why Florida House Republican leader Adam Hasner is a demagogic terrorist sympathizer as Amnesty Int'l documents Israeli war crimes in Gaza. Jewish Democrats trash Obama's truth-telling national intelligence council appointment.

Charles Schumer and Steve Israel (NY), among many others, forced the Obama Administration to withdraw the nomination of Charles Freeman as Chair of the National Intelligence Council for talking truthfully about the Israeli government's foreign policies. Freeman would have been in charge of the administration's all-important National Intelligence Estimates. Freeman says "the tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assasination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods and an utter disregard for the truth."

Watch for cooked intelligence regarding the Mid East coming from his successor nominee. What's so outrageous about this is that the Israeli government apologists consistently use these tactics against anyone who challenges their distorted worldview -- including me and you if we ever get their attention. I keep hearing this stuff time and again as I follow these issues. This is what they do to Jimmy Carter even. Be prepared to fight back!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Adam Hasner is a Terrorist Sympathizer

We know that Florida House Majority Leader Adam Hasner’s logic is wingnut sick and he must be denounced for his McCarthyite attacks on Adam Bedier and United Voices for America, but if you apply his own logic to himself, one has to say that, by his own definition, he is probably a terrorist sympathizer. He condones, justifies, even applauds Israel’s assault on Gaza, which killed 1300 Palestinians, about half of them civilians, women, children. You watched it on TV. You ought to know. Bill Moyers rightfully called it “state terrorism”. Amnesty International just came out with a report documenting numerous war crimes committed by the Israel Defense Forces. Check it out. The IDF dropped white phosphorous on civilians. They bombed UN schools, even the headquarters. They killed children with Hellfire missiles “Made in Orlando”. Adam Hasner is a terrorist sympathizer. Prove me wrong. But don’t prove to me that he is justified being a terrorist sympathizer. There’s a big difference. Every editorial board in this state ought to be denouncing him for the obvious. He is a terrorist sympathizer.

Hasner calls Adam Bedier a “known terrorist sympathizer” because Adam has defended University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian, who was coerced into plea bargaining guilty and is now serving five years on charges related to his making donations to charities related to Hamas. From the press accounts at the time it sure looked to me like al-Arian was convicted of a political “crime”. I think he’s the classic example of a political prisoner. Yes, it does happen here in the U.S. in-denial police state.

Now let’s assume for a moment, I’m sure Hasner would verify this if you ask him, that Hasner donates to Jewish charities in Israel. I would hope he does. By his own logic, and the logic of the U.S. police state prosecutors, such money may work its way to families with members serving in the Israel Defense Forces, or replace money that is used such. I’m sure Hasner would love it if it did and would tell you so. “Support the troops,” you know. That aside, Hasner supports U.S. military aid to the Israel Defense Forces that finances the wanton attacks on civilians. So Hasner provides “material support for state terrorism” doesn’t he? Doesn’t he? Say yes. You need to break through the rightwing brainwashing you are under and it helps by verbalizing the new modes of thinking. Out loud.

We all have to start denouncing the disingenuous hypocritical distorted demonizations of Hamas as a terrorist organization. Hamas is a complex political party with a military wing and a political wing. Like our political parties it has moderates and radicals (like Hasner). Hamas provides social services, education, garbage pickup, etc., which al-Arian was probably contributing to. Hamas won the majority of seats in the 2006 parliamentary elections in what international observers called free and fair. Some of Hamas’ leaders and members engage in isolated attacks on Israeli civilians as part of their war to stop Israel’s land confiscations of their land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. (Just last week Israel demolished 88 Palestininan homes in Arab Jerusalem, which can be construed as more state terrorism only using bulldozers instead of bombs.) But Hamas is no more a terrorist organization than the Israeli government is. If I were a radical, I would get down in the radical mud with Hasner and call ISRAEL the terrorist organization. But being a moderate, I know that it’s not constructive to solutions. Israel is no more a terrorist organization than Hamas is.

People, you can’t let the rightwingers, even those in the Democratic Party who keep repeating and reinforcing the demonizations of Hamas, keep clubbing you into submission with their intimidation and use of fear. Every time someone reduces Hamas to a terrorist organization you must interrupt the conversation and correct them. Every time you see it in print or on TV, you must get on the horn and demand that the media stop spreading rightwing distortions as if they were facts.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Matt Damon for U.S. Senate

Segment I: Matt Damon for U.S. Senate (D-FL)? With Meek and Gelber running neocon echo chamber debate in Florida senate race, we need a progressive in the race. Demand hearings on Obama's Afpakistan escalation. Blogtalk server dumps me off air.

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.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Orlando Hellfire Missiles Used in Israeli War Crimes in Gaza

(This is a post, not a show.)

Who’d a thunk. While children are in delight at Disney World, children in Gaza are being killed by Hellfire missiles made a few miles away, courtesy of the Florida Congressional delegation (including Senate candidate Kendrick Meek) and, as soon as he can get his thumb on the Senate electronic voting lever, Dan “Israel Can Do No Wrong” Gelber.

A just-out report by Amnesty International documents that Israeli forces used white phosphorus and other weapons supplied by the USA, such as an AGM 114 Hellfire missile made by Hellfire Systems of Orlando (wonderful corporate name, huh?) which killed three paramedics and a child, to carry out serious violations of international humanitarian law including war crimes. The attacks resulted in the death of hundreds of children and other civilians and destroyed homes on a massive scale. The Israeli aggression, which Bill Moyers has called “state terror”, killed 1300 Gazans in response to Palestinian rocket attacks in Israel which killed 7 Israelis over the past four years, attacks which were in response to the Israeli blockade of Gaza over the past 20 months and its continued building of settlements on Palestinian land in the West Bank.

The report also accuses Hamas of war crimes for firing rockets into civilian areas of Israel and calls for a comprehensive arms embargo of both Israel and Hamas.

The Mark Weaver Show is looking for an activist to research the campaign contributions of Hellfire Systems executives and give an on-air report. We need to know if Hellfire has given contributions to Meek and Gelber and to monitor Meek and Gelber’s campaign contributions from armament companies for their Senate campaigns. You can email mwshow@bellsouth.net.

Regardless, Meek and Gelber must be stopped from getting the Democratic Senate nomination. The Democratic Party must stop offering up Republican war clones on foreign policy issues. We need a candidate who will at least signal some desire to put the brakes on the over-arming of Israel and its military aggressions against its neighbors, not to mention the entire militaristic Imperial foreign policy of the U.S.

If you have not already seen this, you can read the full text of Meek and Gelber’s justifying statements on Israel’s “incursions” on my previous posts on this issue in January. Just look up Mark Weaver posts.

Have a nice day. I’m not.