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January 11th, 2007 11:53 pm
Rocky Anderson calls for Bush impeachment
ABC-4
Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson is saying he now supports the impeachment of both the President and Vice-President.
The mayor is reacting strongly to the President's Iraq speech Wednesday night.
Anderson is opposed to any escalation of U.S. troops there and says he would like to see the President's exit sped up.
Anderson said, "I'd like to see them both gone and the sooner the better and if there were a way to do that through impeachment I would be completely in favor of it."
But Anderson is also blaming Congressional Democrats for creating the situation in Iraq.
:thumbup:
-V-,
Rocky Anderson should be a sticky for 2008............... please........ (got it --h)
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9310
February 28th, 2007 2:20 am
Rocky is calling for uprooting of Bush
By Doug Smeath / Deseret Morning News
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - Rocky Anderson's status as a national anti-war figure continues to grow, and along with it, so do his convictions.
The Salt Lake mayor has spoken against President Bush and the war in Iraq at two Salt Lake protests and one in Washington, D.C. But this week, he isn't just calling for an end to the war: He's calling for an end to the Bush presidency.
Anderson has been invited to Olympia, Wash., by first-term Washington state Sen. Eric Oemig, D-Kirkland, to testify Thursday before state lawmakers on a resolution calling on Congress to investigate and possibly impeach Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
"It's been obvious, I'm sure, that I've wanted to see an end to the disastrous and immoral policies of the Bush administration, but never before was I so absolutely convinced as I am now that impeachment and removal from office is not only appropriate, but morally and legally compelled," Anderson said Tuesday. "I firmly believe that our nation is at its lowest point ever — morally, legally and in terms of its relations with the rest of the world."
Several other state legislatures — including those in California, Illinois, Minnesota and New Mexico — have considered similar impeachment resolutions in the past year. Oemig's resolution cites the now-discredited reasons Bush gave for invading Iraq, warrantless electronic surveillance of U.S. citizens, and accusations of illegal imprisonment and torture of Americans designated as "enemy combatants" as reasons impeachment may be in order.
"Such offenses, if committed, are subversive of constitutional government to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice," the resolution reads.
And if those things don't justify impeachment, Anderson said, "I don't know under what circumstances impeachment would ever be appropriate."
Meanwhile, Enid Greene, chairwoman of the Utah Republican Party, called Anderson's trip to Olympia "embarrassing on many, many levels," and she accused him of political grandstanding.
"He wouldn't be getting attention if he was mayor of, say, somewhere in Vermont," Greene said. "Rocky uses the fact that he is mayor of Salt Lake City to gain personal attention for his personal political agenda."
She said that, as a lawyer, Anderson should recognize that Bush hasn't been accused of "anything approaching" high crimes and misdemeanors, for which the U.S. Constitution prescribes impeachment.
But Anderson disagrees.
"Any review of what the founders had in mind when they drafted the impeachment clause of the Constitution would make it abundantly clear that the outrageous abuses of power, the violations of our Constitution and of sacred treaty obligations, the dictatorial assumption of powers and derogation of the balance of power between the three branches of government implicit in our democracy and the disgraceful human rights abuses are far beyond anything that would have to be established to demonstrate a high crime or misdemeanor," he said.
"All of these actions have been incredibly injurious to this country, unlike the perjury by President Clinton in a private lawsuit that had virtually no ramifications on the welfare of this nation."
Oemig's resolution, though, is also being questioned by some Democrats. Two of Washington's Democratic congressional representatives, Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Jay Inslee, have said the calls for impeachment distract from efforts in Congress to end the war in Iraq.
Anderson has little patience for those concerns, calling them "sadly reflective of how incredibly timid and irresponsible so many members of Congress, including Democrats, have been while these atrocities have been committed in the name of our country, with virtually no accountability."
The mayor said the Olympia trip does not signal a new campaign on his part to push for impeachment, and he has no other speeches or trips planned related to it. "But I will do everything that I can to achieve accountability by an administration for the most heinous and immoral conduct ever undertaken by a president and his administration."
Anderson's trip is being paid for by a grassroots group, Washington for Impeachment.
:thumbup:
Our Mr. Anderson,
Rocky sounds like a relative of yours,
:sunny:
Thank you h
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Transcript of Mayor Rocky Anderson's speech in the Salt Lake Tribune:
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_4263654
Editor's Note: Remarks appear as prepared in advance and differ slightly from those delivered.
Washington Square Salt Lake City, Utah August 30, 2006
A patriot is a person who loves his or her country.
Who among you loves your country so much that you have come here today to raise your voice out of deep concern for our nation - and for our world?
And who among you loves your country so much that you insist that our nation's leaders tell us the truth?
Let's hear it: "Give us the truth! Give us the truth! Give us the truth!"
Let no one deny we are patriots. We love our country, we hold dear the values upon which our nation was founded, and we are distressed at what our President, his administration, and our Congress are doing to, and in the name of, our great nation.
Blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism.
skip
Consider the irony regarding the claims that Saddam had chemical weapons and, because of that, we needed to rush to war in Iraq. When Saddam Hussein was using chemical weapons - first against Iranians, then against his own people, the Kurds - our country provided him with biological and chemical agents and equipment to make the weapons. Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush refused even to support economic sanctions against Hussein for his use of weapons of mass destruction.
What did our nation do in response to Hussein's use of chemical weapons, killing tens of thousand of people, when he actually had them?
skip
We are patriots. We're deeply concerned. And we demand change, now.
No more lies from Condoleezza Rice about whether she and President Bush were advised before 9/11 of the possibility of planes being flown into buildings by terrorists.
No more gross incompetence in the office of the Secretary of Defense.
No more torture of human beings.
No more disregard of the basic human rights enshrined in the Geneva Convention.
No more kidnapping of people and sending them off to secret prisons in nations where we can expect they will be tortured.
No more unconstitutional wiretapping of Americans.
No more proposed amendments to the United States Constitution that would, for the first time, limit fundamental rights and liberties for entire classes of people simply on the basis of sexual orientation.
No more federal land giveaways to developers.
No more increases in mercury emissions from old, dirty, dangerous coalburning power plants.
No more backroom deals that deprive protection for millions of acres of wild lands.
No more attacks on immigrants who work so hard to build better lives.
No more inaction by Congress on fixing our hypocritical and inconsistent immigration laws and policies.
No more reliance on fiction rather than the science of global warming.
No more manipulation of our media with false propaganda.
No more disastrous cuts in funding for those most in need.
No more federal cuts in community policing and local law enforcement grant programs for our cities.
No more inaction on stopping the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.
No more of the Patriot Act.
No more killing.
No more pre-emptive wars.
No more contempt for our long-time allies around the world.
No more dependence on foreign oil.
No more failure to impose increased fuel efficiency standards for automobiles.
No more energy policies developed in secret meetings between Dick Cheney and his energy company cronies.
No more excuses for failing to aggressively cut global warming pollutant emissions.
No more tragically incompetent federal responses to natural disasters.
No more tax cuts for the wealthiest, while the middle class and those who are economically-disadvantaged continue to struggle more and more each year.
No more reckless spending and massive tax cuts, resulting in historic deficits and historic accumulated national debt.
No more purchasing of elections by the wealthiest corporations and individuals in the country.
No more phony, ineffective, inhumane so-called war on drugs.
No more failure to pass an increase in the minimum wage.
No more silence by the American people.
This is a new day. We will not be silent. We will continue to raise our voices. We will bring others with us. We will grow and grow, regardless of political party - unified in our insistence upon the truth, upon peace-making, upon more humane treatment of our brothers and sisters around the world.
We will be ever cognizant of our moral responsibility to speak up in the face of wrongdoing, and to work as we can for a better, safer, more just community, nation, and world.
So we won't let down. We won't be quiet. We will continue to resist the lies, the deception, the outrages of the Bush administration. We will insist that peace be pursued, and that, as a nation, we help those in need. We must break the cycle of hatred, of intolerance, of exploitation. We must pursue peace as vigorously as the Bush administration has pursued war. It's up to all of us to do our part.
Thank you everyone for lending your voices to this call for compassion, for peace, for greater humanity. Let us keep in mind the injunction of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
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see below for all the posts:
http://progressivesonline.com/showthread.php?t=762&highlight=Rocky+Anderson
Michael Moore has a good account of Mayor Rocky Andersons past actions against bushco as well as his speech in Washington:
MichaelMoore.com
Latest News
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9325
March 2nd, 2007 1:12 am
Salt Lake Mayor calls for Washington Legislature to support resolution to impeach President Bush
By Doug Smeath / Deseret Morning News
When President Clinton was impeached, it was a partisan exploitation of a law broken not at the expense of the nation but in a personal matter, Rocky Anderson says. When President Andrew Johnson was impeached, it was simply over policy disagreements.
But when it comes to President Bush, "Never before has there been such a compelling case for impeachment and removal from office of the president of the United States," the Salt Lake City mayor told a Washington state Senate committee today.
The mayor was invited to Olympia, Wash., by Sen. Eric Oemig, D-Kirkland, to testify in support of the first-term lawmaker's proposed resolution that would call on Congress to investigate possible impeachment of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
In his written testimony, Anderson wrote that impeachment "should be pursued when, as in the case of George W. Bush, a president misleads Congress and the American people in taking our nation to war; authorizes and supports the kidnapping, incarceration without charge and torture of human beings; demonstrates contempt for the rule of law and for specific laws passed by the United States Congress; and blatantly violates fundamental constitutional protections afforded citizens of the United States."
The 22-page written testimony, along with the text of Anderson's speeches today, can be read at www.slcgov.com.
Also testifying in support of the resolution today was Ann Wright, a 29-year U.S. Army veteran who served in Afghanistan in 2001. A number of Washington residents spoke at a public hearing for the resolution, and all favored the impeachment effort.
Anderson's written testimony outlines a number of instances in which Anderson believes Bush and his administration misled the public in the run-up to the Iraq war, broke international law in invading Iraq, spied on American citizens through unconstitutional wiretapping and violated detainees' human rights by allowing them to be tortured.
"Impeachment and removal from office is the only appropriate remedy for a president who asserts such abusive, totalitarian power, in contravention of fundamental rights and liberties embodied in the U.S. Constitution," Anderson wrote. "It is the only means by which we can make it clear in the future that no president can so casually override our precious freedoms."
Oemig's resolution is one of a handful of similar statements that have been considered by state legislatures across the nation, including in California, Illinois, Minnesota and New Mexico. No state has passed such a resolution, although New Mexico's has passed through two committees.
The Washington resolution has missed a technical deadline — the cut-off date for legislation to be introduced to the floor of the full Senate was Wednesday. However, an exemption can be granted by a simple majority vote of the Senate, and an Oemig spokesman said the delay was intentional.
The idea, he said, was to allow debate on state issues to be carried out before the cut-off period and save the debate on national politics for later.
The Washington Legislature finishes its current session April 22. Oemig's proposal could come up for consideration any time before then.
Anderson's status as a national anti-war and anti-Bush figure continues to grow in the wake of two Salt Lake City anti-war rallies — one in August 2006, another in August 2005. Before he appeared before the legislative committee in Olympia, he spoke at an pro-impeachment rally at the state Capitol there.
He told his fellow protesters that Bush must be booted from office "to restore some modicum of decency and accountability for our nation and to protect our nation against those who would rule without regard to established law."
The rally, he said, was a gathering of "proud patriots" who "embrace the fundamental values underlying our Constitution so dearly."
Anderson's anti-Bush rhetoric has regularly stirred the ire of Utah Republicans, who condemned him as a bad host for protesting when Bush visited Salt Lake City the last two summers. And while they were largely quiet when he addressed an anti-war rally in Washington, D.C., in January, state GOP chairwoman Enid Greene this week called Anderson's visit to Olympia "embarrassing on many, many levels."
Related content:
Rocky Anderson's pro-impeachment rally speech Part 1 (PDF)
Pro-impeachment rally speech Part 2 (PDF)
Anderson's speech before Washington state Senate committee (PDF)
Anderson's written testimony (PDF)
Please go to Moore's site for the different (PDF)'s which are highlighted there.
I hope I'll be able to see or hear Mayor Rocky Anderson debate one of the lying, spinning, rightwinger, radical media hosts one of these days................
:thumbup:
from MICHAELMOORE.com :
March 8th, 2007 6:52 pm
Fox News Cancels Rocky's Debate With Sean Hannity
By Doug Ware / KUTV
SALT LAKE CITY - A scheduled showdown between Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and conservative commentator Sean Hannity – to be televised nationally tonight – has been called off.
Mayor Anderson was supposed to appear on the Fox News Channel’s “Hannity & Colmes” political debate program on Thurs. night. However, the cable channel abruptly canceled the event – reportedly due to scheduling problems.
“We were contacted on Monday and they assured us that we were confirmed for the [show],” mayoral spokesman Patrick Thronson told KUTV.com. “We rearranged the mayor’s schedule so he could make it. It is very uncourteous of [Fox] to do this… given the amount of time we spent preparing for their program.”
Thronson said he was informed of the cancellation via voicemail message from Fox News producer Thomas Holmes, who claimed that he was not able to “fill out the segment” for Thursday’s program. However, Thronson said the producer gave little explanation as to what that meant.
However, Thronson said Holmes sounded as if it would be possible to have Mayor Anderson on the program at a future date.
Last week, Anderson traveled to Washington state to support a resolution aimed to impeach President Bush. Thursday, Mayor Anderson wondered whether his left-leaning viewpoint regarding this matter may have played a factor in the cancellation.
"I think Sean Hannity knows we have a strong case [for impeachment]," Mayor Anderson told 2News. "Now they call with some vague message... they are calling it off."
Mayor Anderson said his stance against the president is firm, logical and perhaps something that the conservative talk show host can't face during a live broadcast.
"This is a president who thinks he is above the law. He has taken on the role, basically, of a dictator. And I say that without exaggeration," the mayor said.
Now, Anderson is welcoming other national media venues to spread what he believes is the truth about President Bush.
"Bring me Rush Limbaugh. Bring me Michael Savage. You bring me the worst, the rudest, the most right-wing," he said. "We need to get this information out and it needs to get to the people who are actually listening."
Phone calls by KUTV.com to the Fox News Channel were not immediately returned.
If anyone ever has news of such, please let me know...........
:thumbup:
March 9th, 2007 3:56 pm
Hannity Re-challenges Mayor Anderson to Debate
By Richard Piatt / KSL-TV
Talk show host Sean Hannity has challenged Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson to a debate over the war in Iraq and impeaching President Bush.
Hannity made his challenge on his radio show today, after his producers apparently canceled Anderson's appearance on the television show "Hannity and Colmes."
They haven't talked to each other yet, but they're both practically spitting fire talking about each other. And, if this debate actually happens, it'll probably be quite an event.
Mayor Anderson's rallying cry to impeach President Bush made friends in Washington state last week, but it inflamed old enemies in Utah, where approval ratings for the President--while dropping--are still higher than any other state.
Anderson's talk of impeachment became potential fodder for conservative entertainer Sean Hannity, whose Fox TV producers invited Anderson to appear on Hannity and Colmes.
Fox Producers canceled the appearance. But on Hannity's radio talk show today, a caller recalled Anderson's reaction and sparked a Hannity challenge.
"The Sean Hannity Show", KSL Radio: "His response was that you and other right-wing people are afraid his argument is so perfect that you could never stand up against it."
Sean Hannity, "The Sean Hannity Show": "I tell you what, you tell the mayor of Salt Lake City this from Sean Hannity. I will fly out to Salt Lake City at my own expense, for charity, and I will debate the merits of the war, impeachment, and the liberal-conservative debate of our time."
Rocky Anderson was disappointed his TV appearance was canceled earlier in the day. Later, though, he was intrigued by the debate challenge.
Rocky Anderson, Salt Lake City mayor: "I think we need to be discussing this throughout this land however we can. I think Sean Hannity will have trouble in a debate format where there are rules, and he can't hang up on people."
Anderson believes the president is guilty of abusing power, lying to Congress about the reason for the war and of violating several international treaties. He refuses to be phased by critics.
Mayor Rocky Anderson: "I see a lot of hate. I see a lot of bitterness, but I don't see a lot of knowledge. And I wonder what have we become as a country?"
Caller, "The Sean Hannity Show", KSL Radio: "We are feeling misrepresented, and we need someone to stand up against him."
Sean Hannity, "The Sean Hannity Show": "I'm there if you need me."
Jennifer_SFBA
03/11/07, 01:40 pm
Criminal 9/11 evidence and the violations of guaranteed U.S. constitutional rights by means of conspiratorial, illegal legislation predicated on fabricated 9/11 attacks by middle eastern terrorists that have abrogated our rights need to go to court. Impeachment IS the process of going to court. The available factual evidence about 9/11 is light years beyond any liberal/conserative debate between Anderson and Hannity, such debate serving an attempt to polarize the U.S. citizenry on the basis of political ideology and loyalty and the delay of justice. Yes, bring them to JUSTICE now!
Mayor Rocky Anderson.................
Gosh, I love this man.......... If only it could be.................:angel:
http://www.slcgov.com/mayor/
He supposedly participated in the Peace Walk in D.C. yesterday and I started seacrching. Nothing yet. But here's what he's been up to lately.................
http://www.slcgov.com/mayor/pressreleases/2007/PRtrident31207.pdf
Major Anderson Signs Proclamation Opposing Development And Testing Of Trident Warhead
Here's The Proclamation
http://www.slcgov.com/mayor/proclamations/2007%20Proclamations/tridentproclamation.pdf
FDRfollower
03/18/07, 03:40 pm
Just out of interest, I checked some of the Utah newspapers (online) to see what they say about Rocky.
I found one article giving straight coverage of his trip to DC for the protest. Considering where he is, and the domineering political slant of the Mammon Church ;) that was somewhat surprising.
Too bad he's just a mayor. Good luck in his endeavers.
and, why not finish the morning visit with :thumbup: :thumbup: for Michael Moore for presenting this article:
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9533
April 5th, 2007 3:52 am
Location finally set for Anderson-Hannity debate
Kingsbury Hall site of May 4 face-off; still no moderator
By Doug Smeath / Deseret Morning News
One of the last remaining issues standing in the way of a Sean Hannity-Rocky Anderson debate has been resolved.
Brian Burton, programming adviser for the Associated Students of the University of Utah, said Wednesday that the school will host the May 4 debate on campus at Kingsbury Hall. Anderson and Hannity will discuss the war in Iraq and calls for impeachment of President Bush.
Earlier discussions surrounding plans for a face-off between the liberal Salt Lake City mayor and the conservative Fox News Channel talk-show pundit left uncertain the availability of any campus venues to host the event, because the university's commencement ceremonies are being held the same day.
"Commencement is the biggest deal here on campus, and we didn't want to interfere with that," Burton said. But the last commencement event planned at Kingsbury Hall will be at 3 p.m., and the building will be available at 6 p.m. The debate is planned for 8:30 p.m.
Burton said the only commencement event he knows of that will be happening on campus the evening of May 4 is the College of Humanities graduation ceremony, which will be held on the other side of campus at the Huntsman Center.
That means there should be plenty of parking for the debate. Parking for Kingsbury Hall events is usually offered at the Rice-Eccles Stadium lot, with a shuttle service available. Burton said he expects that to be the case for the debate.
Also settled is the question of ticket sales. Burton said 900 tickets will be available to current U. students for $5 each. Tickets for the general public will cost $20. Kingsbury Hall has a capacity of about 1,900. That means the debate could bring in nearly $25,000.
Tickets will likely be available sometime in the middle of next week through the Kingsbury Hall box office and through kingsburyhall.org.
Ticket revenue will be split three ways, with a third going to the Guadalupe Schools in Anderson's name, a third to Primary Children's Medical Center in Hannity's name and a third going to the university for an unspecified scholarship.
"We really are looking at this as a unique opportunity to hold this event on campus and to put that money to the charities," Burton said.
One thing left to be worked out is the identity of a moderator for the debate. Anderson wants to avoid using someone from the media because he doesn't want to give one media outlet the upper hand. Hannity has said he is suspicious of anyone Anderson supports as moderator.
The two recently agreed on KSL-Newsradio's Doug Wright Show to allow professional pollster and U. professor Dan Jones to select the moderator. However, Jones said Wednesday that he had not been asked by any of the people involved in the planning.
Representatives from Anderson's and Hannity's offices could not be reached Wednesday.
:thumbup:
Thanks again to Michael Moore for bringing news of Salt Lake City, Mayor Rocky Anderson. I think it would be the best thing that could happen to the Democratic debates; along with Mike Gravel................. :thumbup:
April 28th, 2007 4:40 am
Salt Lake mayor flays Bush, Cheney in D.C. rally
By Suzanne Struglinski / Deseret Morning News
"WASHINGTON — President Bush has demonstrated an "unprecedented" abuse of power and needs to be impeached, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson said at a rally Wednesday on a terrace outside the Cannon House Office Building.
A day after Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, introduced a resolution in the House calling for the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney, Kucinich joined Anderson and about 50 other activists — including war protester Cindy Sheehan — at their rally. Also in attendance was Daniel Ellsberg, the whistle-blower who in 1971 leaked to newspapers classified documents known as the Pentagon Papers, which revealed information about casualties in the Vietnam War.
Anderson and the other activists outlined their reasons why Congress should move forward with proceedings to impeach Bush and Cheney.
"They have betrayed our Constitution in the most fundamental way," Anderson said. "Impeachment is absolutely critical."
Using similar lines from his speeches at anti-war rallies in Washington earlier this year, Anderson said that prior to Bush and Cheney coming into power, the United States looked down on other nations that tortured people, violated treaties or otherwise disregarded laws. But under this administration, the United States is becoming "just like them," the Salt Lake City mayor said.
"We are going to stand up for the most fundamental patriotic values," Anderson added.
The mayor said impeachment proceedings would send the message to other nations that torture, kidnapping and wiretapping are "not American values."
"Imagine how others in other countries view us," Anderson said. "These are frightening times."
Kucinich, who is also running for the Democratic nomination for president, said Wednesday that he may not have the support from other members of Congress just yet, but he does have the support of "the people." As he spoke, the crowd behind him raised their hands to show that they want the impeachment resolution to move ahead.
Author John Nichols, who wrote "The Genius of Impeachment: The Founders' Cure for Royalism," told those at the rally that the matter of impeachment also goes beyond Bush, by not allowing future presidents to abuse power in the way Bush has.
Nichols said that to put the issue in perspective, he asks his Republican friends if they would want Hillary Clinton, if she won the presidential election, to have all the power Bush has.
Whether the impeachment calls will gain momentum remains to be seen. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has said she does not support going forward with impeachment proceedings and that they are "off the table." "
Thanks to Michael Moore:
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9752
"May 5th, 2007 8:20 pm
Rocky, Hannity go at it before rowdy crowd
By Christopher Smart / Salt Lake Tribune
The much-ballyhooed "smackdown" between Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and Fox News commentator Sean Hannity took on a circus atmosphere and lived up to its billing as Friday night at the (political) fights.
A raucous crowd filled the University of Utah's Kingsbury Hall with cheers and jeers as Anderson and Hannity exchanged jabs and insults to the thrill of the divided - and often vocal - audience.
Moderator Ken Verdoia chastised the debaters and the audience regularly. He frequently shouted at the debaters and at times looked to be at wits end.
In an unusual format, each man got to make a 30-minute presentation, and then answered each other's questions for 15 minutes each, followed by questions from the audience.
Anderson, the former lawyer and litigator, led off with a PowerPoint presentation in building his case against the Iraq war and for the impeachment of President Bush.
"Our most-cherished values as Americans have been betrayed in unprecedented fashion," Anderson said. "Either we condone what he has done through our inaction or we impeach him."
The mayor argued for impeachment by citing a litany of "failures" and "misrepresentations" by Bush and his administration - from leading the country into war with Iraq and all its horrors, including torture at Abu Ghraib prison, to the fact weapons of mass destruction never were found there to the warrantless wiretaps undertaken against U.S. citizens.
Anderson - who has protested in Utah's capital, the nation's capital and in Washington state against Bush and the war - used footage of bloodied Iraqis who had been imprisoned by American forces.
"The cost of the war to the Iraqi people, who are much worse off now than before the invasion of Iraq, have been massive and tragic," Anderson said. "Resentment and hatred of the United States have increased dramatically because of Bush's atrocities."
Hannity countered by invoking the image of Ronald Reagan and the former president's proclamation that America is the guiding light for all nations.
The nationally syndicated talk-show host decried the Democrat-dominated U.S. Congress for attempting to cut funding for the Iraq war and dividing the nation in order, he alleged, to score political points.
"Your mayor is contributing greatly to this toxicity," Hannity said.
Hannity played video clips of top Democrats, including Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts supporting the invasion of Iraq. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., also talked of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein possessing weapons of mass destruction, Hannity noted.
Then he asked Anderson why he voted for Kerry in 2004, and why he wasn't asking for the removal of Kerry and other Democrats from office.
Anderson, a maverick Democrat, shot back. "You don't know who I voted for," he said. "I voted for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader."
Hannity demanded again that Anderson ask for removal of Democrats who favored war and now want to pull out.
"Why won't you show intellectual honesty and have the Democrats removed from office?"
The mayor answered that Democrats who supported the war need to be held accountable.
"Our Congress is absolutely complicit," Anderson said.
Hannity lashed out at "liberals" in the audience for not supporting the president.
"Everything is George Bush's fault," he said, sarcastically. "Some of you women may get pregnant. If you do, it's not your fault, it's George Bush's fault."
Anderson and others - such as anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan, whose soldier-son was killed in Iraq - are playing politics with war, Hannity argued. "They are undermining our troops and their efforts."
Hannity suggested that if Anderson - whom he frequently referred to as Salt Lake City's "part-time mayor and full-time protester" - refused to call for removal of all politicians who supported the war in Iraq, then Anderson, too, should be impeached.
The mayor closed by saying the U.S. "war of aggression" in Iraq is not what America stands for.
"To remove the president would send a resounding message to the world," he said. "To remain silent is complicity." "
:thumbup: :thumbup:
Has anyone a transcript? U Tube?
Thelonious
05/06/07, 12:58 am
Hannity demanded again that Anderson ask for removal of Democrats who favored war and now want to pull out.
"Why won't you show intellectual honesty and have the Democrats removed from office?"
The mayor answered that Democrats who supported the war need to be held accountable.
ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC !!!
A few miliion semi-ignorant TV viewers are now Absolutely convinced that:
1. Everyone on the left is a hypocrit
2. Democrats are responsible for the war
3. Maybe there's something to the charge that Democrats hate America.
Who authorized the President to use force if necessary to combat terror in the middle east???? A REPUBLICAN Majority in Congress. A few Democratic votes here or there did NOT make the slightest difference.
Very often I really wonder if Nader, Magi, Michael Moore and the greens are not really working for Gingrich. If you can bash Hillary hard enough from the left, and Limbaugh and Hannity can keep bashing from the right, we may just have a President Newt.
(It makes me wanna puke)
Thelonious
05/06/07, 01:02 am
Those damn Democrats, got us into this stupid war... Hell if old Ronnie Reagan was still around he'd show 'em.
Thelonious
05/06/07, 01:05 am
But Anderson is also blaming Congressional Democrats for creating the situation in Iraq. :thumbup:
Whooooooo Hooooooo!!!!! Yiiiiippppeeeeeeeee!!! Maybe the Green Party vote will TRIPPLE this election. From 1 percent to 3 percent I mean, and continue to be historically completely insignificant!!!!
Jennifer_SFBA
05/06/07, 01:14 am
Thelonius, Hillary Clinton is a Corporate Whore, but, then, that's your kind of political lover. In addition to that, Hillary Clinton is a New World Order shill.
Rocky Anderson a very good soul, and I, for one, know he's right, doing the right thing for the right reasons. I really respect Rocky Anderson. Contrasted against the corporatists for corporatocracy, Bush, Hillary, et al, Rocky Anderson is a pure breath of fresh air.
Rocky Anderson is one of the only politicians out there saying it like is, loudly and often!
Jennifer_SFBA
05/06/07, 02:36 am
Thelonius, besides your distasteful disparagement of Rocky Anderson and members of third parties, especially members of the Green Party, you're just plain wrong about Clinton's electability based on the poll below!
The Elephant in the Room
George W. Bush has the lowest presidential approval rating in a generation, and the leading Dems beat every major ’08 Republican. Coincidence?
By Marcus Mabry
Newsweek
Updated: 7:31 a.m. PT May 5, 2007
May 5, 2007 - It’s hard to say which is worse news for Republicans: that George W. Bush now has the worst approval rating of an American president in a generation, or that he seems to be dragging every ’08 Republican presidential candidate down with him. But According to the new NEWSWEEK Poll, the public’s approval of Bush has sunk to 28 percent, an all-time low for this president in our poll, and a point lower than Gallup recorded for his father at Bush Sr.’s nadir. The last president to be this unpopular was Jimmy Carter who also scored a 28 percent approval in 1979. This remarkably low rating seems to be casting a dark shadow over the GOP’s chances for victory in ’08. The NEWSWEEK Poll finds each of the leading Democratic contenders beating the Republican frontrunners in head-to-head matchups.
Perhaps that explains why Republican candidates, participating in their first major debate this week, mentioned Bush’s name only once, but Ronald Reagan’s 19 times. (The debate was held at Reagan’s presidential library.)
When the NEWSWEEK Poll asked more than 1,000 adults on Wednesday and Thursday night (before and during the GOP debate) which president showed the greatest political courage—meaning being brave enough to make the right decisions for the country, even if it jeopardized his popularity —more respondents volunteered Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton (18 percent each) than any other president. Fourteen percent of adults named John F. Kennedy and 10 percent said Abraham Lincoln. Only four percent mentioned George W. Bush. (Then again, only five percent volunteered Franklin Roosevelt and only three percent said George Washington.)
A majority of Americans believe Bush is not politically courageous: 55 percent vs. 40 percent. And nearly two out of three Americans (62 percent) believe his recent actions in Iraq show he is “stubborn and unwilling to admit his mistakes,” compared to 30 percent who say Bush’s actions demonstrate that he is “willing to take political risks to do what’s right.”
Jennifer_SFBA
05/06/07, 02:39 am
Continued:
The Elephant in the Room
George W. Bush has the lowest presidential approval rating in a generation, and the leading Dems beat every major ’08 Republican. Coincidence?
By Marcus Mabry
Newsweek
Updated: 7:31 a.m. PT May 5, 2007
The Elephant in the Room
Former New York City major Rudolph Giuliani receives the highest marks for having shown political courage in the past among the current major candidates from either party (48 percent of registered voters say he has), followed by Hillary Clinton at 43 percent, John McCain at 42, John Edwards at 33 and Barack Obama at 30. Mitt Romney comes in last among the six leading candidates at 11 percent.
Clinton receives the highest marks for showing political courage in the current campaign, though, with 34 percent of voters saying she has, followed by 33 percent for Obama, 30 percent for Edwards, 28 for McCain, 25 for Giuliani and 11 for Romney.
Obama is seen as the most optimistic candidate (a consistent measure of electability) in either party: 51 percent of registered voters say the Illinois senator is optimistic, compared to 47 percent who say Edwards is, 46 percent for Clinton, 45 percent for Giuliani, 40 percent for McCain, and 27 for Romney.
While the poll has some high marks for Clinton, it’s not all good news. Though the New York senator and former first lady aims to project an aura of inevitability that she will win the Democratic nomination, Obama beats the leading Republicans by larger margins than any other Democrat: besting Giuliani 50 to 43 percent, among registered voters; beating McCain 52 to 39 percent, and defeating Romney 58 percent to 29 percent.
Like Obama, Edwards defeats the Republicans by larger margins than Clinton does: the former Democratic vice-presidential nominee outdistances Giuliani by six points, McCain by 10 and Romney by 37, the largest lead in any of the head-to-head matchups. Meanwhile, Sen. Clinton wins 49 percent to 46 percent against Giuliani, well within the poll’s margin of error; 50 to 44 against McCain; and 57 to 35 against Romney.
Where Clinton remains the undisputed champ is among Democrats. When matched against her main rivals for the Democratic nomination, Clinton is the choice of 51 percent of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters over Obama’s 39 percent; and she defeats Edwards 57 percent to 38 percent. Obama has not substantially narrowed Clinton’s lead since the early March NEWSWEEK poll, where he trailed Clinton by 14 points. Edwards has narrowed Clinton’s lead over him though. Back in March Edwards trailed Clinton by 31 points; now her lead is down to 19 points.
Giuliani, the Republican frontrunner, might want to look over his shoulder too. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning voters, Giuliani leads McCain 56 percent to 41 percent (15 points). But two months ago in the NEWSWEEK Poll, Giuliani held a 25-point lead. Both candidates trounce Romney, despite his placing first in the first-quarter fundraising sweepstakes. Giuliani holds a staggering 51-point lead over Romney and McCain holds a 41-point lead over the former Massachusetts governor.
With 38 percent of Republicans dissatisfied with their party’s field, things could get interesting if former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson joins the race; 46 percent of Republicans who are dissatisfied with their candidates say he should (34 percent say he shouldn’t). Of the much smaller 14 percent of Democrats who are dissatisfied with their candidates, 60 percent say they want former vice president and Democratic nominee Al Gore to join the fray. Current New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Democrat who changed parties shortly before running for mayor, receives unenthusiastic support from both Republicans and Democrats: 18 percent of dissatisfied Democrats would like to see Bloomberg join the Democratic field, and an even more anemic 14 percent of Republicans would like to see him join theirs.
All of the candidates can perhaps take some solace in Americans’ dissatisfaction with the way things are going in the United States at this time (only 25 percent are satisfied; 71 percent dissatisfied). American dissatisfaction ratings last hit 71 in the NEWSWEEK poll in May 2006, at the height of the scandal over secret government wiretapping inside the United States. The last time that even half of our survey respondents were happy with the direction of the country was in April 2003, shortly after the start of the Iraq war. With that many unhappy Americans, the nation should have a strong appetite for new leaders and new ideas.
The NEWSWEEK Poll was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International May 2-3. Telephone interviews were conducted with 1,001 adults, age 18 and older; the overall margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points. The margin of error for questions asked only of Democrats and Democratic leaners is plus or minus 7 percentage points; for Republicans and GOP leaners, 8 percentage points.
If Democrats in the Primary Elections vote Clinton and ignore the polls above AND the left, then, YES, Democrats may very well lose the U.S. Presidency AGAIN! The political left absolutely will NOT vote for Hillary Clinton! Maybe eventually Democrats will learn, and aybe not.
Thelonious
MAGI=blue
ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC !!!
A few miliion semi-ignorant TV viewers Was it on TV? Did you see the debate? Have you read about Mayor Rocky Anderson? Just scroll back to the beginning and tell me what you think of Mayor Anderson. You are too quick to make decision without research; There were NO Millions, T. are now Absolutely convinced that:
1. Everyone on the left is a hypocrit
2. Democrats are responsible for the war
3. Maybe there's something to the charge that Democrats hate America.
Your snap decisions, 1., 2., & 3., all wrong!
So, you're working for Gingrich; another friend of Billary's now.
Who authorized the President to use force if necessary to combat terror in the middle east???? A REPUBLICAN Majority in Congress. A few Democratic votes here or there did NOT make the slightest difference. No, not just a few votes "here or there", unfortunately. And what's worse, Hillary knew what she was doing; read back a few posts about it.
Very often I really wonder if Nader, Magi, Michael Moore and the greens are not really working for Gingrich. Gingrich, a corporatist: you got that right!
If you can bash Hillary hard enough from the left, and Limbaugh and Hannity can keep bashing from the right, we may just have a President Newt. Now, you are really funny! :D
(It makes me wanna puke)
Me too!
Thelonious
05/10/07, 06:37 am
Magi,
You don't believe that we could have a Gingrich presidency? Ok. I never believed we could have a Toxic Texan who can't even speak English. But we got one. Enough peope spread enough disinformation about Clinton, Gore etc... that a bit of election fraud in Florida did the trick.
The Wacko-right wing noise machine, O'Reilly, Limbaugh, etc are working overtime to make sure that the American public believes that the Democrats (especially the Clintons) are to blame for everything. YOU are supporting that right-wing noise machine, and YOU are working hard to split the vote on the left.
Over the last six years, Hillary has been a Junior Senator in the MINORITY party. Yet somehow she is to blame for everything that has been passed or not been passed by congress then signed into law by a REPUBLICAN president. How is it that you can write 7 paragraphs about the horrible state of this country and not once, NOT ONCE, do you include the word REPUBLICAN. Magi, the Republicans had something to do with it.
The worst thing that can happen in the US in the next 2 years is....
Ralph Rocky Green Anderson 30%
Hillary Obama 30%
Rudy McRommney 40%
and Rudy McRommney takes the electoral college!!!!!!!
Thelonious
05/10/07, 06:45 am
..., Hillary Clinton is a Corporate Whore, ...
No, she's not. She is an alien princess who the Freemasons would love to destroy, but Opus Dei has to keep protecting her 'cus she knows too much about the plot to keep the cold war going beyond Stalin's death in 1954. (the true cause of JFK's murder)
:)
Magi,
You don't believe that we could have a Gingrich presidency? Ok. I never believed we could have a Toxic Texan who can't even speak English. But we got one. Enough peope spread enough disinformation about Clinton, Gore etc... that a bit of election fraud in Florida did the trick.
The Wacko-right wing noise machine, O'Reilly, Limbaugh, etc are working overtime to make sure that the American public believes that the Democrats (especially the Clintons) are to blame for everything. YOU are supporting that right-wing noise machine, and YOU are working hard to split the vote on the left.
Over the last six years, Hillary has been a Junior Senator in the MINORITY party. Yet somehow she is to blame for everything that has been passed or not been passed by congress then signed into law by a REPUBLICAN president. How is it that you can write 7 paragraphs about the horrible state of this country and not once, NOT ONCE, do you include the word REPUBLICAN. Magi, the Republicans had something to do with it.
The worst thing that can happen in the US in the next 2 years is....
Ralph Rocky Green Anderson 30%
Hillary Obama 30%
Rudy McRommney 40%
and Rudy McRommney takes the electoral college!!!!!!!
T., You're making statements that prove you haven't read a lot about my thinking and feelings on Rethuglicans, on POL.
You keep saying I ONLY blame the Clintons! That is NOT so! I blame MANY Democrats who have gone along with degrading OUR DEMOCRACY as well! Go to the Main room & check out
http://progressivesonline.com/showthread.php?t=1070
I AM a Democrat! An FDR Democrat! I AM NOT a Corporatist, and will NOT support any Democrat that is a so called "Moderate"! The country IS ready for a change, I believe. Many of us are moving to progressive candidates, and that's where I'll be!
Too many of "The People" have exhausted their savings, retirement funds, childrens' college savings, ect. and are going into deep debt to keep from going under because their wages have not met the high cost of living increases today.
I speak for these people, esp.!
K Street lobbiests are running the Republicans and unfortunately too many incumbent Democrats!
Let's see how this plays out T. before throwing in the towel to Corporate controlled U.S.A.
I ask you again, how many of the Corporatists are working for Campaign Finance Reform, paper ballots, healthcare for ALL, wages to keep up with the cost of living, reasonable education costs, jobs, jobs,jobs which pay enough money to live a healthy life, with LIBERTY and JUSTICE for ALL!
Did you watch Lou Dobbs today? He was fighting for Middle American
citizens again today...................
Michael DeM
06/25/07, 06:45 pm
This guy is awesome. I wish he'd run for office on the federal level.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/25/1421228
AMY GOODMAN: Rocky Anderson, the Mayor of Salt Lake City, is one of the most outspoken critics of the Bush administration and the Iraq war. Earlier this year he called for the impeachment of President Bush, calling him a “war criminal” who has committed “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Rocky Anderson is also well regarded for his local politics. Last year, The Nation magazine praised him instituting “some of the most creative, thoughtful and radical urban policies anywhere in America.”
Today, Rocky Anderson is in New York to participate in an evening event calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. He will be speaking at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. Mayor Anderson joins us now. Welcome to Democracy Now!
ROCKY ANDERSON: Real pleasure to see you, Amy. Thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: Impeachment is off the table, though, in Washington, D.C. Your party, the Democratic Party, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said no, that that’s not the direction they’re going to go. One of the chief proponents of it, John Conyers, head of the House Judiciary Committee, has backed off of that demand, yet you continue.
ROCKY ANDERSON: Well, yeah, I’ve taken my “proud Democrat” coffee mug out of my shelf and put it into storage for a while.
AMY GOODMAN: Are you going to do like Michael Bloomberg has done? Are you going to leave your party?
ROCKY ANDERSON: I’m not proud of my party. You know, I expected a George Bush and Cheney will come along and try to abuse their power and usurp and undermine the balance of power, disregard the rule of law, and I expect sometimes that the Republican Party is going to support them in that, as we saw during the regime of Richard Nixon.
What I don't expect is that we not have an opposition party all these years, that we not have a party who will stand up against the fiscal recklessness, about the lies that have driven us into this disastrous war of aggression. And I am ashamed of the Democratic Party. There have been a few heroes, a few people that have stood up, but the party as a whole, I think, has been a dismal failure these last several years in standing up to this insanity.
AMY GOODMAN: Let’s go back to last October. The House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, the House Minority Leader in the then-Republican-controlled Congress, was asked by 60 Minutes’s Lesley Stahl whether the Democrats would pursue the impeachment of President Bush if Democrats gained control of the House.
NANCY PELOSI: Impeachment is off the table.
LESLEY STAHL: Off the table. And that’s a pledge?
NANCY PELOSI: Well, it’s a pledge. Yes, and it’s a pledge. Of course, it is. And it is a waste of time.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Nancy Pelosi.
ROCKY ANDERSON: It seems very odd to me that any Democrat would say that a constitutional remedy, a remedy the founders felt very strongly about, when a president through his or her wrongdoing is doing damage to our country, that that remedy would ever be off the table. There can only be one reason for it, and that’s the Democrats want to politically cash in on this disastrous administration in the 2008 elections. And I think that’s wrong.
I think that when we have a president who has blatantly violated our own Constitution, our own treaty obligations, our own statutory law, abused his powers in remarkable ways, undermined the balance of power, exerted a unitary executive power unknown to this country and to our democracy, and at the same time betrayed his trust with our Congress, with the American people, by his deceit in leading us into this war and through his utter incompetency -- if impeachment were ever called for, this is certainly the time, and this is exactly what the founders had in mind.
AMY GOODMAN: The Democratic leadership argues that it would distract from other things that need to get passed.
ROCKY ANDERSON: We need some people in Congress who can multitask. It’s been done before. You know, the Republicans were able to do it in the case against President Clinton, where there was no harm to the country alleged. They were talking about a lie in a private lawsuit having to do with a private affair, not an impeachable offense. Never was that sort of kind -- that kind of thing contemplated by the founders.
But here, we have an instance where our country is suffering in so many ways across the board: our young men and women are being killed, hundreds of thousands in another country that pose no danger to us are being killed, all the wounded, the financial implications that will be felt for generations, and all of us being lied to, to get to this point.
Impeachment, although I understand people's reticence about it, if you take a step back and look at all that’s happened, impeachment has never been more justified. And my point is, let us make that statement to the rest of the world that this is not the American values. This is not who we are as the American people. We don't believe in kidnapping, disappearing, torturing people as a matter of official policy. And it’s absolutely unprecedented in our nation’s history that we’re engaging in those sorts of things: the warrantless wiretapping of people's conversations, of their emails, United States citizens; arresting, basically kidnapping, American citizens and denying them any due process, the right to a lawyer, right to a trial, the right to habeas corpus.
More to come.....
Michael DeM
06/25/07, 06:47 pm
(continued)
We have become, not becoming, but we have become, as a nation, under the Bush administration, the sort of totalitarian country like those from whom we have always been proud to distinguish ourselves. We’ve always looked at other nations and said they’re the ones that kidnap, disappear, and torture their people, and even kill them, when they're perceived to be on the other side. Now, that’s exactly what this president is doing in our nation's name. We need to stand up as a people, let the world know, let posterity know, that’s not who Americans are, this doesn't reflect our values.
AMY GOODMAN: Mayor Anderson, how would you end this war?
ROCKY ANDERSON: I would end this war by going to the United Nations and saying there need to be peacekeeping troops. We need to work with the entire region. We need to have discussions with neighboring countries, countries that this administration has refused to deal with, like Iran, like Syria. But we need to pull our troops out, because every day American troops have a presence there, we're seen as the occupying force. And as long as we’re seen as the occupying force, there will be more terrorists.
We're feeding right into bin Laden's plan. We’re feeding right into his perception of who the United States is, this imperialist country. This war would never have begun, the attacks on 9/11 would never have happened, Osama bin Laden's declaration of war against the United States would never have happened, had we not maintained permanent bases in Saudi Arabia, contrary to Dick Cheney’s promises when he was Secretary of Defense, that after the first Gulf War we would remove those bases. Osama bin Laden saw those bases as basically a Christian and Jewish occupying of the Muslim holy lands.
And now, what have we done? We’ve invaded and occupied another Muslim country that posed no danger whatsoever to the United States and let the Muslim world know that we are asserting that kind of control, that we’re going to tell them what kind of government they have, that we’re going to tell their military what to do. Every single day that happens with our troops, we're making the situation worse. And it is so far worse off for the Iraqi people.
AMY GOODMAN: What is your feeling in Utah? Your constituents, your community, Salt Lake City -- you have many young men and women who have been sent to Iraq -- how do they respond to you?
ROCKY ANDERSON: It’s a mixed bag. We’ve had some huge demonstrations there. The last two times President Bush has come to town, we’ve held demonstrations. I spoke at both of those. And there’s a lot of controversy around it. But I can tell you, after the last time he came, although there were those who thought that just because he’s the President I should lay out the welcoming mat and shut up, there was far less, on the merits, being said in support of the war. And as I said at the time, you know, I’m speaking up, and if anybody wants to stand up and support the kidnapping, disappearing and torture of human beings, if anybody wants to stand up and justify the warrantless wiretapping of Americans, if somebody wants to stand up and defend this nation being deceived into this war of aggression against a country that posed no danger to us, I’m happy to hear that from you. I think you should stand up and support the President. We never heard that.
All we heard was this sort of mindless, “Well, he's the President, and we need to get behind him and support him,” or this notion that you can't support the troops if you’re not supporting the war at the same time. I can tell you, more and more, and I’m even hearing it not just from families of American servicemen and -women in active duty, I’m hearing it from people in the active duty right now: we’ve got to end this war. We're not accomplishing anything. We're working against our own interest and even have good longtime Republicans coming up and, mostly whispering -- they’re not out there in the streets yelling, although some of them do come to the demonstrations now -- they're telling me, “You’re absolutely right. This president is ruining this country. He needs to go.”
AMY GOODMAN: When I came out to Salt Lake City, I interviewed you and also Sergeant Marshall Thompson, who was the officer in Iraq. He actually was the editor of the Anaconda Times. He was a military journalist and said he had interviewed many, many soldiers, many of them opposed to war -- this was in Iraq -- and when he came home to Utah, the reddest state in the nation, he and his wife walked across the state protesting the war and were joined by many people, actually, across the political spectrum. His website was “A Soldier's Peace.” And he said, in that way, he would participate -- his father, the ex-mayor of Logan, Utah.
Mitt Romney -- can you talk about this adopted son of Utah who also has a vacation home there? He just did a campaign swing through Utah. He has a home in Utah, also in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, claimed residency in Utah from 1999 to 2002 during his time as president of the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee. Now, of course, Republican presidential candidate.
ROCKY ANDERSON: Mitt’s a great friend. We worked together very closely on the Olympics. We got to know each other very well. And his wife Ann, lovely woman, dedicated herself to a lot of human rights causes, has done a lot of work in the community with young people. I really admired both of them very much. And I must say that I am very surprised that somebody like Mitt Romney, who I always felt had such great integrity and was so reasonable, would have caved into his handlers and flip-flopped on so many issues that he used to say he felt so strongly about, things like choice. His coming out against stem cell research was just absolutely incredible to me.
Michael DeM
06/25/07, 06:49 pm
(continued)
AMY GOODMAN: What about his past record on choice, on stem cell research?
ROCKY ANDERSON: Well, he was very clearly supportive of Roe v. Wade. He said that as he ran for governor, as he ran for senator in Massachusetts. He told me, going into that race, that Roe v. Wade is working, we need to get beyond this issue. And he felt that it was important that women have choice, so...
But you can see very clearly what’s happening -- it’s so transparent -- that a year before the presidential race, all of a sudden he’s got these new positions on these issues. But then he’s also said now that he was a lifetime hunter, having, I think, hunted once when he was a young boy and then a little while back, after practicing shooting a shotgun, I guess he went out with some Republican funders. That also is just absolutely untrue.
He needs to be himself. If Mitt Romney would be himself, true to himself, true to the people of this country, I think he would be a great president. But he has fallen for these handlers and flip-flopped on these issues and, I think, is misleading us in terms of his positions.
But the thing that I find incredibly frightening is that Mitt Romney -- and this has stunned me -- that he could stand up and say, number one, that he would support this war, that he would have gone about this much like President Bush has, that he supports torture and that he would double the size of Guantanamo. That, for me, is just so absolutely unconscionable. And I have tried to get him to meet with some retired generals and admirals. Human Rights First has been lining some of these people up to talk to the presidential candidates about what is happening, about what the heritage, history, has been, in the armed forces, how important it is even for the safety of our own servicemen and -women to abide by the Geneva Conventions or their equivalent under international law and also abide by our own domestic law in these areas. And to this point, he has refused to meet with them. And I just -- I do not understand that. And I think that it’s so frightening that it’s perceived by any presidential candidate that that is going to help them get elected, standing up for torture, saying that this is a good thing for the first time in our nation's history as a matter of official policy.
AMY GOODMAN: Before he went through Salt Lake City on Saturday, Mitt Romney said, on Friday, when meeting with a convention of Montana Republicans, “I believe Guantanamo plays an important role in protecting our nation from violent, heinous terrorists. Guantanamo is a symbol of our resolve.” He went on to say, if he were elected, there will be a war waged on terrorists. He said, terrorist suspects need to be kept at Guantanamo so they don't get safe harbor in the legal system. “Terrorists,” he said, “don’t get such constitutional rights.”
ROCKY ANDERSON: You know, to talk about safe harbor, the reason that we’ve had upwards of 70% of those at Guantanamo who are innocent of any wrongdoing -- and those are the latest findings; look at the hundreds of people who have been released without any prosecution, any other legal action taken against them -- a lot of these people were fingered by warlords. A lot of them were fingered because there were rewards available for people to identify terrorists or insurgents. They end up at Guantanamo, and then we find out that there was nothing to it, just like when we kidnapped citizens of Germany or Canada and sent them off to be tortured and then found out months later, after torturing them, after holding them without their families knowing where they were, that there was no wrongdoing. And they were set at loose. Maher Arar from Canada, El-Masri from Germany, who was picked up in Macedonia, both of them shipped off to torture camps and innocent. So how a president of the United States could say that there should be safe harbor from any legal protections, it is absolutely counter to our American traditions.
AMY GOODMAN: Do you think Mitt Romney is changing his mind on these issues?
ROCKY ANDERSON: Absolutely. This is not Mitt Romney. It you asked Mitt Romney, sat down and got the real Mitt Romney, first of all, he would say we never should have been in Iraq. Never would Mitt Romney and his wife -- and they're a team, believe me -- they would never support the concept of kidnapping and torturing human beings. They have always stood up for human rights, fundamental human rights. So this is an enormous clash of values. And I think that he's just trying to sound tough in the face of terror. And I guess that sells to the rightwing Christian Coalition, as does his newfound opposition to free choice, his opposition to stem cell research. This is not the Mitt Romney I knew, and it really saddens me.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you very much, Mayor Rocky Anderson, for joining us, the Mayor of Salt Lake City. He’ll be speaking tonight at the New York Ethical Culture Society.
:thumbup:
But for your posts, I would have missed Amy Goodman's interview with Rocky Anderson!
Thanks, Michael DeM
:sunny:
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