Many thanks to Don Kerr of "Slice of New Paltz" for doing a segment on our New Paltz Women in Black which will be aired weekends at 8PM on Public Access Channel 23 for the next 4 or so weeks. We have standing on that street corner every week for nearly 11 years. So proud of all my sisters with their deep commitment to creating a culture of peace! Please join us any Saturday in front of the Elting Library from 12:30-1:30PM.
Romney (Rightfully) Also Apologizes and then Courts Anti-Muslim Group
My
mouth literally dropped open when I heard what Romney said while
Americans were in danger in Egypt and had suffered a murderous attack in Libya. To
accuse the Obama administration of sympathizing with the terrorists was
beyond the pale.
Then
in an interview with George Stefanopoulos four days ago, Romney said
this about the anti-Muslim hate video sparking the outrage, "I think the
whole film is a terrible idea. I think him making it,
promoting it, showing it, is disrespectful to people of other faiths. I
don’t think that should happen. I think people should have the common
courtesy and judgment– the good judgment– not to be– not to offend other
peoples’ faiths. It’s a very bad thing, I think, this guy’s doing."
This is very similar to the statement the Cairo embassy issued as a growing angry mob was gathering at their door step. On 9/11, Romney chose to attack these loyal Americans on the front line in a volatile country and said their statement was "disgraceful". A new poll shows that only 26% of Americans agree with Romney's reaction.
This is very similar to the statement the Cairo embassy issued as a growing angry mob was gathering at their door step. On 9/11, Romney chose to attack these loyal Americans on the front line in a volatile country and said their statement was "disgraceful". A new poll shows that only 26% of Americans agree with Romney's reaction.
What
is really disgraceful is that Romney (by tape) and Ryan (live) both
addressed a designated hate group, the Family Research Council, on
Friday.
The executive VP of the Family Research Council (FRC) is retired Lt General William "Jerry" Boykin who was notorious during the Bush administration for giving speeches in his Army uniform stating that the war on terror is a religious war and that "Islam is evil". Boykin has also said that Muslims are under "obligation to destroy our Constitution", that they did not deserve the protection of our First Amendment which guarantees religious liberty and that no mosques should be built in America.
The FRC's president, Tony Perkins is an extremist too. He thought he could further his campaign for Congress in the 1990s by paying over $80,000 for the mail list from KKK's David Duke. Perkins praised a proposed Ugandan law that would execute LGBT people, defended Todd Aiken's indefensible remarks on "legitimate" rape and routinely equates being gay with pedophilia. That the Republican candidates for president and vice president court such a hateful, bigoted group is an outrage and mainstream news should not be giving them a pass on it.
And let me end by saying making an apology is not a sign of weakness! It is a sign of integrity, humility and courage. Many of us have seen the pictures of Libyans holding up signs apologizing for the killing of our diplomat, Chris Stevens and three other of our countrymen. It was very touching to see the look in their eyes. They showed real remorse and it was healing.
I think we, as Americans, should do the same thing- take to the streets with signs of apology to the Arab world. We could say we are sorry for all the innocents lost in two wars and in ongoing drone attacks, for the arbitrary imprisonment and torture used in Iraq and Afghanistan, for the sickness arising from depleted uranium munitions, for supporting tyrants who brutally oppressed them for decades, for the anti-Muslim hate shown by some Americans, for having a political party that caters to their bigotry and so much more.
Occupy Wall Street One Year Anniversary and Beginning of Year Two!
The executive VP of the Family Research Council (FRC) is retired Lt General William "Jerry" Boykin who was notorious during the Bush administration for giving speeches in his Army uniform stating that the war on terror is a religious war and that "Islam is evil". Boykin has also said that Muslims are under "obligation to destroy our Constitution", that they did not deserve the protection of our First Amendment which guarantees religious liberty and that no mosques should be built in America.
The FRC's president, Tony Perkins is an extremist too. He thought he could further his campaign for Congress in the 1990s by paying over $80,000 for the mail list from KKK's David Duke. Perkins praised a proposed Ugandan law that would execute LGBT people, defended Todd Aiken's indefensible remarks on "legitimate" rape and routinely equates being gay with pedophilia. That the Republican candidates for president and vice president court such a hateful, bigoted group is an outrage and mainstream news should not be giving them a pass on it.
And let me end by saying making an apology is not a sign of weakness! It is a sign of integrity, humility and courage. Many of us have seen the pictures of Libyans holding up signs apologizing for the killing of our diplomat, Chris Stevens and three other of our countrymen. It was very touching to see the look in their eyes. They showed real remorse and it was healing.
I think we, as Americans, should do the same thing- take to the streets with signs of apology to the Arab world. We could say we are sorry for all the innocents lost in two wars and in ongoing drone attacks, for the arbitrary imprisonment and torture used in Iraq and Afghanistan, for the sickness arising from depleted uranium munitions, for supporting tyrants who brutally oppressed them for decades, for the anti-Muslim hate shown by some Americans, for having a political party that caters to their bigotry and so much more.
Occupy Wall Street One Year Anniversary and Beginning of Year Two!
 |
| Marcus Santos NY Daily News |
News is still breaking on the day- but what I found startling is that about 20% of the protestors were arrested. The Guardian said "A repeated theme of the detentions was police rushing forward to seize people identified as agitators." I wonder what one had to do to be targeted as an agitator? Hearing that Zuccotti Park was encircled by metal barricades and that there were walls of police in riot gear everywhere is disturbing and to me indicates that new forms of protest are needed to grow this movement.
 |
| John Minchillo AP |
From RootsAction.org
One year was never going to be enough. A unified movement for peace and justice must never end. As Occupy enters year 2, without the corporate media's help, but with months of experience under our belts, we rededicate ourselves to building a society that is fair to everyone, including future generations, a society that doesn't just feed the insatiable greed of the 1%.
I commit to working locally and nationally, in the real world as well
as online, to build and strengthen a multifaceted nonviolent Occupy
movement regardless of the outcome of elections, a movement dedicated to
empowering people and dis-empowering plutocracy, a movement advancing an
agenda that includes:
--Taxing the rich and corporations
--Ending the wars and cutting spending on war preparation
--Strengthening Social Security and expanding Medicare to cover us all
--Ending corporate welfare for oil companies and other big business interests
--Transitioning to a clean energy economy, reversing environmental degradation
--Protecting worker rights including collective bargaining, creating jobs and raising wages
--Taking the money out of politics
--Making education a right, not a privilege
--Making housing a right, not a privilege
--Breaking up corporate media monopolies
--Restoring and expanding civil liberties
--Ending the wars and cutting spending on war preparation
--Strengthening Social Security and expanding Medicare to cover us all
--Ending corporate welfare for oil companies and other big business interests
--Transitioning to a clean energy economy, reversing environmental degradation
--Protecting worker rights including collective bargaining, creating jobs and raising wages
--Taking the money out of politics
--Making education a right, not a privilege
--Making housing a right, not a privilege
--Breaking up corporate media monopolies
--Restoring and expanding civil liberties
Sign the Pledge here! http://act.rootsaction.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6587
PS Romney insanity continues...
You knew it was only a matter of time before a video like this would surface. Here is Romney at a closed door, $50,000 a plate fundraiser saying what he really thinks! He basically said that almost half of all Americans are freeloaders, who consider themselves "victims" and think they are entitled to food and healthcare (the nerve).
He is referring to the 46.4% of Americans who don't pay federal income tax- almost half of whom are the elderly and about a third are children and the working poor. Romney concluded "my job, is not to worry about those people," which is reminiscent of his earlier statement "I'm not concerned about the very poor". Hear that, one in five American children living in poverty? Mitt Romney is not worried about you- in fact you hardly register on his radar.
So in our new Gilded Age, we have the Republican candidate for President attacking the poorest and most vulnerable among us. In 2008, the average income for the bottom half of workers was $15,300 a year. Those folks still have to pay federal payroll taxes, local and state taxes, sales, gas, utility and other taxes. In fact, the tax burden on the poor for local and state taxes is about double the percent that the rich pay.
Romney of course did not chide the well off who pay nothing in income taxes, nor the dozens of mega-corporations reaping their highest profits ever, yet paying no corporate taxes at all.
"There are 78,000 tax filers with incomes of $211,000 to $533,000 who will pay no federal income taxes this year. Even more amazingly, there are 24,000 households with incomes of $533,000 to $2.2 million with zero income tax liability, and 3,000 tax filers with incomes above $2.2 million with the same federal income tax liability as most of those with incomes barely above the poverty level."
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/28/who-doesnt-pay-federal-income-taxes-legally/
Romney said those not paying federal income tax were all voting for Obama. Really? What a surprise that Obama will win the South.
PS Romney insanity continues...
You knew it was only a matter of time before a video like this would surface. Here is Romney at a closed door, $50,000 a plate fundraiser saying what he really thinks! He basically said that almost half of all Americans are freeloaders, who consider themselves "victims" and think they are entitled to food and healthcare (the nerve).
He is referring to the 46.4% of Americans who don't pay federal income tax- almost half of whom are the elderly and about a third are children and the working poor. Romney concluded "my job, is not to worry about those people," which is reminiscent of his earlier statement "I'm not concerned about the very poor". Hear that, one in five American children living in poverty? Mitt Romney is not worried about you- in fact you hardly register on his radar.
So in our new Gilded Age, we have the Republican candidate for President attacking the poorest and most vulnerable among us. In 2008, the average income for the bottom half of workers was $15,300 a year. Those folks still have to pay federal payroll taxes, local and state taxes, sales, gas, utility and other taxes. In fact, the tax burden on the poor for local and state taxes is about double the percent that the rich pay.
Romney of course did not chide the well off who pay nothing in income taxes, nor the dozens of mega-corporations reaping their highest profits ever, yet paying no corporate taxes at all.
"There are 78,000 tax filers with incomes of $211,000 to $533,000 who will pay no federal income taxes this year. Even more amazingly, there are 24,000 households with incomes of $533,000 to $2.2 million with zero income tax liability, and 3,000 tax filers with incomes above $2.2 million with the same federal income tax liability as most of those with incomes barely above the poverty level."
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/28/who-doesnt-pay-federal-income-taxes-legally/
Romney said those not paying federal income tax were all voting for Obama. Really? What a surprise that Obama will win the South.
BREAKING- here is the response from the White House
