Wednesday, October 2, 2002

To Criticize One's Country QUOTE OF THE DAY "To criticize one's country is to do it a service and pay it a compliment. It is a service because it may spur the country to do better than it is doing; it is a compliment because it evidences a belief that the country can do better than it is doing." - - J. William Fulbright (From his book, The Arrogance Of Power) RHINO HERE: In spite of the fact that Iraq has made the agreement with the U.N. to let the inspectors in, our Congress is expected to vote for or against shrubs war this week. On Tuesday, I called my Senators and told them that if they vote for shrub's war on Iraq, I will under no circumstances ever vote for them again, for any office. I urge you to do the same. To easily send a message to your representatives to that effect, you can visit Michael Moore's web site and sign his pledge: http://www.michaelmoore.com/petitions/peacepledge/index.php Last month I did a Blog on Chickenhawks; those public officials who push for war but who never served in the military themselves. http://radio.weblogs.com/0103207/2002/09/07.html For a more detailed and entertaining presentation on the Chickenhawks, check out the flash animation program at: http://www.symbolman.com/chickenhawks.html And also last month, I devoted a Blog to the visionary Congressman from Ohio, Dennis Kucinich: http://radio.weblogs.com/0103207/2002/09/16.html Below are excerpts from a recent speech he gave at U.C. Berkeley. If we are ever going to get ourselves out of the spiritual and political crisis the world is now in, I believe it's going to be by electing leaders like him. 8:25:33 AM    comment

A Second Renaissance Speech by U.S. Representative Dennis J. Kucinich, 9/14/02 at The Redwood Sequoia Congress, University of California, Berkeley   ...Today I want to speak to you about the America that can be. About reestablishing the context of our nation. About remythologizing America. About a Second Renaissance which can begin in this nation, with this generation. First let us travel to the place where civilization was born thousands of years ago, upon the banks of the Tigris and the Euphrates. Let us see if there, instead of dancing with death, and killing untold thousands of innocent people, we can change directions, pull back from war with Iraq, change the outcome, connect with our aspirations for peace and reclaim our ingenuity and creativity in human relations. Why is war with Iraq presented as inevitable? Isn't it time to insist that our leaders suspend their incessant talk of preventive war, of assumed right to unilateral action? Isn't it time for insistence upon preventive diplomacy and our obligations to work with the world community on matters of global security?... ...There is no credible evidence linking Iraq with 9/11, with Al Queda or with the anthrax attacks. There is no credible evidence that Iraq has usable weapons of mass destruction, the ability to deliver those weapons or the intention to do so. When Iraq possessed and used such weapons, quite sad to say, they did with the knowledge of, and sometimes with materials from, the United States. During the Administration of Ronald Reagan, 60 helicopters were sold to Iraq. Later reports said Iraq used US helicopters to spray Kurds with chemical weapons. According to the Washington Post, Iraq used mustard gas against Iran with the help of intelligence from the CIA. Intelligence reports cited the use of nerve gas by Iraq against Iran. Iraq's punishment? The US reestablished full diplomatic ties around Thanksgiving of 1984. Throughout 1989 and 1990, U.S. companies, with the permission of the first Bush government, sent to the government of Saddam Hussein tons of mustard gas precursors, live cultures for bacteriological research, helped to build a chemical weapons factory, supplied West Nile virus, supplied fuel air explosive technology, computers for weapons technology, hydrogen cyanide precursors, computers for weapons research and development and vacuum pumps and bellows for nuclear weapons plants. "We have met the enemy," said Walt Kelly's 'Pogo', "And he is us." US... TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE, GO TO: http://www.house.gov/kucinich/press/sp-020914-secondrenaissance.htm Reprinted under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright law ( http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html ). All copyrights belong to original publisher. "RHINO'S NEWS BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. Feedback is encouraged and can be emailed to him at: rhino@kifaru.com RHINO'S WEB SITES: http://radio.weblogs.com/0103207 (RHINO'S NEWS WEBLOG - PRESENT & PAST) http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) 8:21:14 AM    comment

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