For some real retrospect…

“The modern liberal state … often uses deception to gain its ends — not so much deception of the foreign enemy, but of its own citizens,who have been taught to trust their leaders.” – Howard Zinn

With the passing of George McGovern, remember he was a man who wanted America “to turn away from cursing and hatred and war to the blessings of hope and brotherhood and love.” It is a sentiment men have entered political office understanding yet ignored. Instead, they have turned coward when it came time to act upon this kind of very human idealism. They have governed as empty suits. They have become submissive to the constraints of the system, even when tacitly acknowledging these constraints are what plunges the country into deeper ruin.

Why does the Grey Lady continue to employ David Sanger, didn’t they learn anything from the sordid Judith Affair…?

Long-time Chicano activist Carlos Montes, who has been active in the antiwar, education and civil rights movements in Los Angeles for decades, goes on trial today for bogus charges that are being brought against him for purchasing a gun. It is a political trial and a continuation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) targeting of antiwar and international solidarity activists.

Going away to college is one the defining moments in anyone’s life, and for Scags Morgenstern, the heroine of Deborah Emin’s Scags at 18, her first semester at an elite Vermont college, where she’s a scholarship student, shifts her world.

Told in the first person as diary entries, Scags’ first semester expresses the questioning and discovery that comes with growing into adulthood.

The US has no problem with pressuring, even meddling in a country’s affairs, if only to get the outcome it desires—whatever will be best for US interests. Yet, it knows that it must consider all the variables, stick to talking points and not apply too much or too little pressure in order to achieve success in getting whatever the US wants from a country’s government.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors has just done something it hasn’t done since Vietnam, passing a resolution that supports efforts to speed up the ending of our current wars and calls on the President and Congress to “bring these war dollars home to meet vital human needs.

A few days ago, rallies were held in cities all over the United States in support of veteran Chicano activist Carlos Montes, who had his home raided by the FBI on May 17. The rallies coincided with Montes’ arraignment hearing for felony charges, which were filed against him by the LA County Sheriffs and FBI after the raid.

The target of an ever-expanding government investigation into antiwar and international solidarity activists, Montes demanded that his charges be dropped. The District Attorney denied his request. Montes asked to see the search warrant and police report on the raid of his home. The District Attorney initially refused the request but then agreed to release heavily edited versions of the documents. Montes was also told he would not be allowed to show the documents to the press.

A poll by the Afghanistan Study Group shows majority of conservatives are turning against the war, prompting Grover Norquist to call for an antiwar coalition. But not everyone is happy about this.