[Jane of Arc]

I listened to Air America today and everyone was all excited about Mike Gravel's performance at the Democrats debate last night. Seeing that I no longer have television, I watched it on You Tube. I was BLOWN AWAY by Mike Gravel. The man actually told the truth! He actually brought up the MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX! I couldn't believe my ears! He called the "War on Terror" basically a bunch of hogwash and pointed at the United States as the biggest threat to peace on the planet.

It was SO refreshing to hear honest, unpolished, no hair-spray, no gloss, no nonsense answers. I was thrilled. I LOVE THE GUY! And I love his original positions. :thumbup:

Check out his website: http://www.gravel2008.us/

[Jane of Arc]

Gravel is for the abolition of the IRS and income tax. He's got a tax program called the "Fair Tax", that will appeal to conservatives as well as liberals. I'm liking this guy. :sunny: He's an elder statesman and an 'outsider' who's doing something truly patriotic.

http://www.gravel2008.us/fair_tax

[Jane of Arc]

Salon.com says:

Friday, April 27, 2007

GRAVEL REFUSES TO GROVEL / WINS FIRST DEBATE

"The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie. One word of truth outweighs the world.": Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918- ) Russian writer, Soviet dissident, Nobel Prize for Literature 1970 / imprisoned for 8 years for criticizing Stalin in a personal letter.
http://www.gravel2008.us/themes/gravel/images/panel.top.pic.jpg
Just as I was beginning to nod off during the first Democratic debate ~ lulled to sleep by careful, posturing, groveling candidates beholden to AIPAC and the Military/Industrial complex ~ Mike Gravel woke me up with his wit, authenticity and seeming ability to sense what Americans really wanted to hear ~ the truth and righteous anger over a badly managed war, occupation and economy.
Take a look at Gravel's positions on these issues ~

http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2007/04/27.html

[Michael DeM]

I watched some of the debate the other night, and Gravel really stood out to me. That guy has guts. He isn't afraid to speak his mind. Have you ever heard a Democrat say something as radical as,"We have no important enemies. What we need to do is begin to deal with the rest of the world as equals"?

[Jane of Arc]

I hear ya' Michael. My jaw dropped when Gravel said that. He exposed the war-mongers he shared the stage with (except Kucinich, who was also excellent) for what they are: the paid bobble-heads of the MILITARY-INDUSTRAIL COMPLEX. His words reminded me of old time speeches I've heard on the Thom Hartmann Show. Mike Gravel is of the ilk of Truman or FDR. He actually tells the truth as he sees it. And I'm sure 'the establishment' is working overtime right now on how to minimalize and control this "loose cannon". Just how will they turn him into a joke or a crazy? I pray he holds his ground and something just tells me he will. :sunny:

Hear the man give 'em hell on "terrorism":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi1nfSoivP0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi1nfSoivP0)

[FDRfollower]

Hey Jane D'arc. Hola! Gravel is certainly a neat change from the scripted debates. Glad you brought him up. He and Denis are my choices for now.

[Jennifer_SFBA]

I like Mike! Gee, I haven't seen fire in the belly for peace like that since JFK, Martin Luther King and RFK in the 60s and the anti-Viet Nam War movement in early to mid 70s. Unfortunately, Dennis just doesn't generate that. Now with the development of the Christian Coalition, it's harder now that ever before for heaven to move toward Earth for, "Peace on Earth. Good will toward men AND women of all types and varieties" who are here.

[Jane of Arc]

Why Hillary Scares Me
by Sen. Mike Gravel

June 25, 2007


During one of the debates I mentioned that my fellow Democratic candidates scare me. Hillary's speech last week to the Take Back America conference gives me yet another reason to be afraid.

In an indignant voice she decried the Bush administration's ''stunning record of secrecy and corruption, of cronyism run amok. . . It is everything our founders were afraid of, everything our Constitution was designed to prevent.'' Actually, our Constitution grants Congress the power to prevent these ills but Hillary and her colleagues weren't up to the task.

Our founders' legacy did not stop Hillary from voting for the Patriot Act and then supporting its renewal in 2006 despite revelations that the government was using it to infringe on the very liberties that our founders held sacred. Where was her commitment to our founders when she voted to gut our habeas corpus protections?

As for cronyism -- Hillary has repeatedly authorized billions that the Pentagon gave in no-bid contracts to Halliburton. Even though the Democrats have been in control of Congress for months, they still haven't summoned Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld and the other usual suspects to account for the missing millions in reconstruction funding.

When I think about how Congress enabled Bush's corruption and cronyism, I'm reminded of the lines from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar:


And why should Caesar be a tyrant then?
Poor man! I know he would not be a wolf,
But that he sees the Romans are but sheep:
He were no lion, were not Romans hinds.

In the same frightening speech, Hillary went on the blame the Iraqis for the mess in their country: "The American military has succeeded. It is the Iraqi government which has failed to make the tough decisions that are important for their own people.''

Let me get this straight. The Iraq disaster is not the fault of the delusional neo-cons, the greedy oil companies, or the gullible and cowardly Congressional warhawks. (Most senators including Clinton didn't even bother to read the 90-page National Intelligence Estimate). According to Hillary, the real culprit is the Iraqi government that we created virtually overnight and left to govern a fractured, impoverished society. Talk about blaming the victim!

Hillary, as an active supporter of the war, you are one of many Americans who are guilty. And now all Americans are left responsible, regardless of whether we supported or opposed he war. When we pull out, our hands will drip with the blood of the tens of thousands of American casualties and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi dead. The Iraqi government didn't start this, we did.

Of course we can continue to compartmentalize ourselves from the truth, remove the troops and blame the rubble on the Iraqis. We can feed the collective fantasy that our good intentions and heroic efforts were thwarted by the cowardice and incompetence of others. But if that's what we take from our experience in Iraq, we will never learn the true lessons and we will be condemned to repeat the same mistakes.

The inability to admit a mistake and assume responsibility is not just a morally bankrupt way to walk through life; it is a dangerous and deadly way to lead a nation. When I am president, I will open up all secret files relating to the Iraq war and expose all officials who lied to the public in promoting it. (That's right, Dick, your files too.) My Justice Department will prosecute everyone who lied under oath or ripped off the American taxpayer by exploiting the Iraq reconstruction effort. And I will pardon to no one.

[MAGI]

Great find, Jane of Arc,
:thumbup:
:sunny: