Cindy Sheehan

"Peace Mom" v. "Guardian of Power"
by Stephen Lendman

Credit both titles to the book authors. Cindy Sheehan as a mother, peace activist, and now candidate to succeed Nancy Pelosi in California's Eighth Congressional District. Pelosi as both "guardian" and possessor of what Davids Cromwell and Edwards wrote about in their powerful critique of the media.

Both women represent hugely different interests, so let readers choose which ones they prefer. First some background on both candidates.

by Linda Milazzo

Last Monday evening, in the plush environs of Los Angeles' American Jewish University, a dedicated group of pro-peace, Pro-Constitution patriots "booked" Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. No, I don't mean "booked" as in charged her with a crime and jailed her. In this scenario, "booked" is more akin to "punked" - in which case we surprised Madam Pelosi by revising her new book, and then forced her to read our revisions. Tuh-Dah!!

It happened like this:

Madam Speaker of the House Pelosi, second in line to the Presidency, appeared at a book signing for her ironically titled new tome, "Know Your Power." Since Madam Pelosi has not used her power as Speaker to hold impeachment hearings against George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, as prescribed by Article 1 Section 2 of the Constitution, we pro-Constitution patriots held her to task. We took her new book and scrawled our personalized imperatives and questions within it. I wrote "Honor Your Oath" on side-by side blank pages in the book and "Debate Cindy Sheehan" on the blank side of the book jacket. See below:

The dead, wounded and tortured of America’s illegal wars attend Nancy Pelosi’s “Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters" book signing at San Francisco’s Cowell Theatre
by ntuit | SanFrancisco IndyBay.org

Facing the dead is never pleasant and especially so when they were victims of a violent death or torture. Their spirits are angry and they ask why. They were there last night at Cowell Theatre in San Francisco’s Fort Mason. Nancy Pelosi was there for a book signing and a chat with KQED public radio host Michael Krasny. The theatre was almost full and an imbedded force of protestors spoke forcefully for the dead, wounded and tortured – the victims of our president’s corrupt policies and of those who enabled him to do so. Nancy Pelosi helped enable Bush to do whatever he wanted. She and her cohorts gave him almost everything and more that he needed to conduct a war based on his lies and deception.

The Why-Haven’t-You Impeached-the-President Tour
By Carl Hulse | NYTimes.com | Published: August 15, 2008

WASHINGTON -- When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi set out to promote her new motivational book this month, she simultaneously touched off her national why-haven't-you-impeached-the-president tour.

As she made the coast-to-coast rounds of lectures, television interviews and radio chats the past two weeks, Ms. Pelosi found herself under siege by people unhappy that she has not been motivated to try to throw President Bush out of office – even if only a few months remain before he leaves voluntarily.

Begins at 4:51.

Q: If you were to go back and change anything from your political career, what would it be?

A: Well, of course, the biggest disappointment for me is that we are still in this war in Iraq, and, ah, I had always thought at the time that, that, ah, people knew the truth they would not vote for this war and, I don't know what else, er, not have been supportive of this, I don't know what else we could have done, ah, but this has been the most damaging to us:

Countdown to Crawford: Impeach Bush Crowd Dogs Pelosi's Book Tour
Johanna Neuman | LATimes

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the San Francisco Democrat who last year became the first woman in U.S. history to be elected speaker, is on a book tour.

"Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters," charts her journey from stay-at-home mom to politician and urges young women to reach their potential.

But in pushing the book, Pelosi is likely to run into a gauntlet of outraged voters who want to know why she will not allow impeachment proceedings against President Bush.

by Linda Milazzo

After weeks of collecting signatures from constituents in San Francisco's 8th Congressional District, Independent candidate Cindy Sheehan has made it onto the November ballot to oppose Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, for Pelosi's heretofore secure Congressional seat. As Sheehan told me exclusively this afternoon:

"I think this is the happiest that I have been since before Casey was killed (except when my grandson was born). Getting on the ballot as an independent in California is so difficult, but with the help of many of our friends who are committed to peace, accountability, economic equality and environmental sustainability, we have done it! The voice of the people will be on the ballot in San Francisco in November."

By Cindy Sheehan

It is not if we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists will we be?
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

You know, I don't care if it's not proper for a Congressional candidate to say: "horseshit." I don't care if it is not a good "tactic" to get kicked out of a Congressional non-impeachment hearing that was just a bunch of horseshit anyway. I don't care if I get accused of being too "extreme" for bucking the (cyst)em by doing everything form camping in a ditch in Crawford, Tx to non-violent civil disobedience to, lately, running for Congress as (oh no!) an independent.

If people can't see how this nation is teetering on the precipice of financial ruin and dragging the rest of this planet down with us as we destroy our ecology, too…and if people don't realize how desperate our situation is, then I must say, that's horseshit!

Disenfranchisement, The New American Way?
by Cindy Sheehan | Dandelion Salad

I knew it was not going to be easy to challenge the two party duopoly (that is brought to us by the US Military Industrial Media Complex), but I did not realize how hard this same system would make it to obtain ballot access.

In California, if one has the audacity to actually want to represent the voice of the people and not represent the corporate parties, then you have to obtain signatures amounting to 3% of EVERYONE who voted in the last election, no matter what party, to get on the ballot.

Here in San Francisco, for the November general election that number is: 10,198.

By Cindy Sheehan

I knew it was not going to be easy to challenge the two party duopoly (that is brought to us by the US Military Industrial Media Complex), but I did not realize how hard this same system would make it to obtain ballot access.
In California, if one has the audacity to actually want to represent the voice of the people and not represent the corporate parties, then you have to obtain signatures amounting to 3% of EVERYONE who voted in the last election, no matter what party, to get on the ballot.

Here in San Francisco, for the November general election that number is: 10, 198.

By Cindy Sheehan

My opponent for Congress, Nancy Pelosi is using her month long summer recess from doing nothing positive in Congress to promote her new book: Know Your Power. This book is supposedly a (xenophobic?) screed for "America's daughters." Admittedly, Ms. Pelosi broke some kind of invisible "glass ceiling" when she became the first female Speaker of the House, but many of us are wondering if she really knows her "Power?"

Pelosi offers Veep support for House darkhorse
Steve Brusk | CNN

Plenty of high profile names are getting bounced around as Barack Obama’s potential running mate. But Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi may have a lesser-known candidate in mind.

Newsweek and other publications say Pelosi has been lobbying for Rep. Chet Edwards (D – Texas). The 56-year-old Edwards is a 9-term congressman representing a district in central Texas that includes President Bush’s ranch in Crawford.

In an interview Sunday, Pelosi said, I didn't want to see a discussion of candidates for vice president without showing the House of Representatives...I just wanted people to be aware of the extraordinary credentials of Chet Edwards. And I hope he will be the nominee."

"At the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends," Martin Luther King Jr.

Nancy Pelosi was entrusted with the responsibility of ending the war and took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. The war rages on and Nancy has refused to hold those accountable for this immoral war based on lies. Cindy for Congress is asking the country to stand up against injustice and stand with Cindy Sheehan again on August 6th.

By Guadamour, Dandelion Salad

The most important election in the United States of America in 2008 is not the one that will take place between Barack Obama and John McCain, nor will it be if the Democrats gain a commanding majority in the two houses of Congress.

Ultimately there is little difference between Senators Obama and McCain. This statement is made much to the chagrin of Obama supporters who are treating him like a messiah who will lead the nation out of its floundering confusion. Given that Obama has done little, has little experience and has been raised and educated as part of the ruling elite, I believe Obama supporters are going to ve severely disappointed.

10 Questions for Nancy Pelosi
James Carney | Time, Inc.

Q: Why have you taken impeachment off the table as an option for President George W. Bush? Nancy Shipes WOODSTOWN, N.J.

A: I took it off the table a long time ago. You can't talk about impeachment unless you have the facts, and you can't have the facts unless you have cooperation from the Administration. I think the Republicans would like nothing better than for us to focus on impeachment and take our eye off the ball of a progressive economic agenda.

Q: What plans do you have to help right our economic ship? Nathan Duersch SPANISH FORK, UTAH

Cindy Sheehan has now collected enough signatures to be on the ballot against Nancy Pelosi. Only 6th independent in California history to do so.

By John Nichols, www.thenation.com

Does anyone seriously doubt that one of the reasons why a House Judiciary Committee hearing will at least discuss the "I" word on Friday is Cindy Sheehan's independent challenge House Speaker Nancy Pelosi?

Pelosi, famously, took impeachment "off the table" just before the 2006 election.

Then, this summer, she edged it back on the menu – suggesting that the Judiciary Committee might take up the matter of Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich's proposal to impeach the president for using deception to draw the nation into an illegal and immoral war.

“Put impeachment on the table or I’ll run against you!” – A year to the date later Congress prepares to begin investigations.

WHO: U.S. Congressional Candidate Cindy Sheehan brings together a diverse assembly of prominent citizens to address the hearings taking place this week in the Judiciary Committee investigating abuses of Executive power. Speakers will include noted Republican Constitutional Lawyer Bruce Fein, Fein will also be testifying at the hearing; Mara Verheyden-Hillard representing ImpeachBush.org, former CIA analyst Ray McGovern and others.

In one week, we have collected 2836 signatures and we need 2821 more to qualify to get on the ballot for November.

We averaged about 405 per day last week. We had more volunteers out on the streets and neighborhoods and we were able
to raise enough money to hire some paid gatherers, too.

If we keep up this rate, we will have the required amount by next Sunday...the earlier we turn in our required signatures, the earlier
we will know our invalid rate and we will have until August 8th to make those signatures up. When we turned in our 3000 filing signatures, our invalid rate was 22%, I expect this time it will be lower, because we won't make the same errors we did last time.

Thanks for your support and for spreading the word!

I am supremely confident that we will be on the ballot and that is 2/3rds of the way to victory in November!

Love and Peace
Cindy
www.CindyforCongress.org

From http://www.usalone.com

We made a commitment to you that when the time came, we would do everything we could to help Cindy Sheehan. That time is now.

Cindy Sheehan is making a courageous run for the Congressional seat in San Francisco, to challenge Nancy Pelosi, who has done nothing but cave in to the Bush/Cheney criminal war agenda, while the approval rating of Congress drops into single digits for the first time ever.

But FIRST Cindy needs to get on the ballot, and to do that as an independent she still needs another 6,000 petitions signatures in the next couple weeks.

Even with her many valiant volunteers, you can really help now by making a donation to put more paid signature gatherers for Cindy Sheehan on the street to give the voters of San Francisco a pro-courage choice. Help put Cindy safely over the top with enough margin of petition signatures that they cannot keep her off the ballot.

By Cindy Sheehan

"There is no challenge greater than the defense of our nation and our values. The men and women of our military –-– have signed up at a time when our troops face an ever-increasing load. Fighting a resurgent Taliban. Targeting al Qaeda. Persevering in the deserts and cities of Iraq. Training foreign militaries. Delivering humanitarian relief. In this young century, our military has answered when called, even as that call has come too often. Through their commitment, their capability, and their courage they have done us all proud.

"But we need to ease the burden on our troops, while meeting the challenges of the 21st century. That's why I will call on a new generation of Americans to join our military, and complete the effort to increase our ground forces by 65,000 soldiers and 27,000 Marines."

The above excerpt is from a speech that the "peace" candidate, Barack Obama gave in Colorado on the 2nd of July. To be sure, he also called for other service to our country but I feel these two paragraphs highlight the continuing subservience the so-called public servants of the USA have to War, Inc.

(San Francisco) Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney Joins Cindy for Congress as Honorary Co-Chair as No-Strings Occupation and War Funding, Telecom Immunity Bills Are Ushered Through Democrat-controlled Congress

McKinney: "The point was to change Washington, DC, but instead Washington, DC changed Nancy Pelosi"

As a sign of tightening opposition to the string of hope-reversing policies being put forward by Speaker Pelosi, Green Party Presidential and pro-peace candidate Cynthia McKinney agreed to serve as an Honorary Co-Chair of Cindy Sheehan's campaign to oust Nancy Pelosi from Congress. "Nancy Pelosi needs to phone home, because it's clear that she's forgotten the values of the people of California who sent her to Congress. The point was to change Washington, DC, but instead Washington, DC changed Nancy Pelosi," commented McKinney, a former colleague of Pelosi.

by Linda Milazzo

(Photo by Linda Milazzo)

There are adjectives that come to mind when describing famed former prosecutor and renowned author, Vincent Bugliosi, who for forty years has set the standard for prosecutorial skill in America. Some are intrepid, brave, independent, brilliant, driven, indomitable, respected, focused, relentless and confident. Each fits perfectly well. But after interviewing Mr. Bugliosi at his California home, and reading his latest book, "The Prosecution Of George W. Bush For Murder," I am compelled to add two more adjectives to that already formidable list: PATRIOTIC and ENRAGED. Beyond all other characterizations one may ascribe to Vincent Bugliosi, the principal descriptors TODAY for this inherently honorable man are PATRIOTIC and ENRAGED - emanating equally from his love for his nation.

Of course, there's another descriptor that has long been associated with Vincent Bugliosi. That descriptor is JUSTICE, to which Bugliosi has devoted his life. Yet not until now - not until George W. Bush caused the murders of over 4,000 Americans and countless innocent Iraqi men, women, children and babies, has JUSTICE assumed an even greater role for Bugliosi - arguably this nation's preeminent prosecutor. JUSTICE has morphed from a noun to a verb - enacted by Bugliosi with a vengeance - fueled by his intense love of nation, his profound knowledge of law, and his unparalleled ability to dispense it. Vincent Bugliosi is a man of action. While others speak of JUSTICE, Bugliosi creates the ways to achieve it - and he has done so in this book.

By Cindy Sheehan

This past week, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Oh) historically and courageously introduced 35 articles of impeachment against (p)Resident George W. Bush. Repeated calls to Speaker Pelosi's offices gave many of us the assurance that impeachment was still off her "table." The latest absolutely frivolous reason is that impeachment would be "divisive."

By Cindy Sheehan

Around 5pm (PDST) this evening, I received an email saying that Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Oh) was introducing 35 articles of impeachment against the sham-illegitimate-criminal president of the United States, George W. Bush, on the House floor at that very moment and that I should change my channel to CSPAN to watch.

I sat on my couch riveted for the next 4 hours as my friend Dennis (America's most courageous Congressman) read the thirty-five articles with the supporting evidence. A diminutive Congressman from Ohio and twice principled presidential candidate has done more for impeachment and to restore the rule of law than any other person in Congress to date. Today, he made me proud to be an American for the first time in a hell of a long time.

After Dennis read each article and the supporting evidence he would sing this beautiful refrain:

By Cindy Sheehan

This is a picture of our new campaign bumper sticker.

I am "Your Voice" for Congress if you believe in the following humane ideals:

1) Violence should never be used at a foreign (or domestic) policy tool.
2) Our troops should not only be withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan, but from hundreds of
bases all over the world.
3) George Bush and Dick Cheney must be impeached to restore some semblance of the rule of
law to America and to restrain future Executives.
4) All "free" trade agreements should be repealed and instead, "fair" trade must be practiced so
every worker in the world can earn a livable wage.
5) Get the insurance companies out of health care---Universal, single payer health care for all
American.

By Cindy Sheehan

Memorial Day is a double-whammy for me.

You see, my son Casey was born on Memorial Day 29 years ago.

When he was growing up, we would gather dozens of our friends and relatives to celebrate his birthday.

Now a few of us gather at his grave in Vacaville, California, to mourn his death and cry for his life that was stolen from him by George W. Bush.

Casey is not buried in a military cemetery, but there are many veterans of other wars buried in his cemetery.

The flags flutter on Memorial Day as living vets from many past wars salute the flags and their fallen comrades.

Seeing all the flags and the battered vets paying homage makes my stomach turn and my heart break for all the broken families that have had to pay needlessly high prices for this war, and other imperial wars, like Vietnam.

By Cindy Sheehan

A man may fulfill the object of his existence by asking a question he cannot answer, and attempting a task he cannot achieve.
Oliver Wendell Holmes

When one reflects on ones life, there are several ways to do it. We can look back in a linear fashion and say, for example: "When I was 11, my beloved grandmother died." "In 1975, I graduated from high school." "In 1977, I got married." "In 1979, I gave birth to my first child, a son." "In the 1980's, money was tight." You get the picture.

Or, we can look at life as a journey or path we are on. The road has been smooth, rocky, windy, narrow, or wide; we have descended into deep, dark valleys, or we have sailed along on cruise control, until an unexpected obstacle arises and there's either a crash or a near miss.

By The Associated Press

Highlights of a Senate bill to pay for military and diplomatic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan into next spring. The House passed companion legislation last week after an unusual coalition of anti-war Democrats and Republicans unhappy with domestic add-ons combined to kill $163 billion to fund the war.

The bill would add approximately $66 billion over 10 years to extend unemployment benefits and bolster the GI Bill. It's broken into two components: non-war add-ons and Iraq funding and policy restrictions.

The Senate bill would:

_Provide $165 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for the rest of this year and several months into 2009, when there is a new president.