Hypocrisy driven by Fear

During the Bush administration I have seen the same faces protesting in the suburbs of Philadelphia, in center city Philadelphia, Washington DC and NYC. It was not just the war on/in Iraq that took us to the streets but the warrantless surveillance of citizens, Guantanamo, torture of prisoners,water boarding, women rights to choose, gay rights -to name a few- Simply put, we spent 8 years protesting beginning with the shameful fiasco of the 2000 Election
We were good at pointing out lies and injustice and making our voices heard (well, at least we tried).
Today we Have the man we voted for and the whole world knows that he inherited Bush's mess. But today president Obama is a Noble Peace Prize winner and while some of us argue that we should not criticize him - as he does all he can and perhaps he knows things we don't know and that's why he is sending 30.000 more troops in Afghanistan - most of us agree that he does not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. But here is where the hypocrisy surfaces: Among all of us only a minority has the courage to openly criticize our President for accepting this prize or better, for not openly criticize the Nobel Prize Committee and this pisses me off!

The bottom line is that the people with whom I have protested for justice for 8 years are adopting the Right Wing attitude that their man they put in the White House in 2000 and 2004 could not do anything wrong and since he was the President and the Commander in chief should no be criticized. They didn't. Republicans stick for each other, no matter what!
The argument today from the quiet Left is that we shouldn't give anything to the Sarah Palin's crowd. This argument does not make us better than those we criticized.
Sticking for each other - no matter what- is not the voice of justice. By continuing doing so, we are losing our collective voice I once believed was never to be called hypocrisy driven by fear.
We must stand for Justice, no matter who is in power.
Will you again SPEAK OUT?

Forever after

A few days ago a woman from my past approached me during the intermission of a concert I attended, just as I was thinking that I can be among hundreds sharing same interests in a town I lived for many years and yet not see a soul I knew. One person instantly brought back memories of places and events many of them I did not want to remember, yet without them I would not be where I am today.
I am grateful for being alive and for my experiences.
She told me of the unexpected death of an old friend's son, a young man in his '30 a couple of years ago on Thanksgiving day. I cannot imagine the pain of losing a child and today for many people it is a sad day.
As President Obama will soon announce his decision to send more troops in Afghanistan
I share William River Pitt's "Unhappy Thanksgiving"
I don't mean to rain on your parade but my friends the reality of more casualties is there and we cannot, should not ignore this. On this Thanksgiving day listen to the wish that will always be in my heart. If only, we all could say NO to wars !
This would be one of the greatest experience we could happily share.

Racism is here to stay

After a while, lies become legends and no matter what, no matter how big is the question mark for some, people believe and lies stay. Most of those morons are not being brainwashed, they just repeat what they hear from their political party. Arguments/proofs? They have none, except for being racists. But don't hold your breath, you will never hear this from them, unless caught on tape. This video was recorded during our protesting Palin/McCain when they came to Media. "You were even born in America" said one of their supporters to me. This woman was right, I was not born in America but she had no reason to believe this, unless if any American who speaks with an accent is not an American born. In any case, does not matter if I am American citizen, does not matter if I have the right to vote and if I pay taxes. Morons and racists fall into the same basket. Bill Maher is right, if we do not stop the lies we are in deep shit. The hatred towards our President is real and I am convinced that if the color of his skin were the same as mine questioning his birth certificate would not exist. Shame on those who call themselves "Patriotic" while teaching hatred to their children! Those children will be our America of tomorrow. Racism is here to stay.

To this, I say never!

when I volunteered to work on Howard Dean's campaign and joined the hard core liberal-democrats of "PhillyForDean", I also joined many on a long bus drive to Iowa. This was January 2004. Today I am still a democrat but I am aware that some of us have left he party to become independents. After so many deceptions we went through, I do not blame them. But when one of them recently contacted me and told me that she could not openly speak about being a democrat because of her personal relationship with a die-hard conservative and suggested that I should embrace the differences for the sake of debates and/or possibly reconciliation, to this I say, never!
I find outrageously hypocrite for someone to pretend and/or hide beliefs in order to please someone else and I cannot comprehend anyone having a personal relationship with someone with such deep political differences. Sad to say, but too many people do not see the reality that politic touches their life from the morning they wake-up to the time they go to sleep, in their own life at home, from the toothpaste they use, the food they eat, the car they drive and the air they breathe ( to name a few.)
What is the name of a die-hard conservative who fights against the big corporations making money at the expense of the tax-payers, who opposes making riches richer and who supports the rights of every citizen to be treated equally and have access to health insurance (even if not affordable)?
I choose not to lose time in debating. Too busy fighting for what I morally believe is right.

Food, Inc. and me

Today I saw a documentary which made me ashamed to belong to the human race. the way we dare treating animals for our own consumption, manipulate food for profit without caring of the negative effects on future generations and abusing our planet. Ten years ago, I chose to become vegetarian not just because of the growth hormones ( rBGH or rBST)given to animals and which I did not want in my body, but I came to the intelligent conclusion that I did not need to eat meat to survive. Today more than ever I am outraged that our society believes that animals are here for us to kill and eat. But for those who believe that this is the case, I urge them to watch the documentary, they may change their mind.
As if fattening and killing animals were not enough, the food industry is killing us all, bit by bit by destroying vitamins in the food we eat. One has to look at a company such as Cargill which "threatens the environment in both the United States and abroad. It has spilled toxic waste into the San Francisco Bay, violated the Clean Air Act with harmful emissions, and deforested key habitats for endangered species in South America."
It is time to wake-up, don't you think? That is if you care.
In a few weeks I will get to work and enlarge my vegetable garden. I am grateful to have a garden to begin with and if you do not, I urge you to buy from your local farmers and support the farmer markets which accept food stamps ( a great suggestion that was given to the audience watching the film).
Organic food being - usually- more expensive, should be available to all!

Evolution?

The day all newspapers in print will come to an end will be a sad day for many who cannot afford to buy a computer. Some will say that similar argument was made when telephones began to be a familiar tool of communication, yet in 2009 I personally know of people who still cannot afford the basic price of a monthly telephone service and/or a subscription to an Internet provider.
But when that day arrives more than the underprivileged will feel a void. Don't get me wrong, I love technology but I know what happens when I begin to read News online. One link takes me to another and in no time (in my mind only)I have traveled through many sites, readjusted the pillow on my back several times, drank many cups of coffee, went down an up the stairs more than once taking short breaks in frustration, when I cannot find the words I need in writing a letter to the Editor. Yes, I prefer to find my newspapers at my front door everyday and I cannot imagine a world without them. But again, there is a bit of romanticism in my thinking as I look at a photograph of a Paris café on my wall, a table with two coffee cups next to the daily "Le Monde" all facing the cathedral. Sigh....

With "progress" we are reshaping our way of doing and thinking but I am not so sure that the inevitable changes of our "physical" brain should be associated with "evolution" - as we know it- in our Prozac society. Our evolution is producing so many addiction disorders that soon we will ran out of alphabet letters to name them. IAD anyone?

Finally, a voice I like to hear!

I heard that citizen George W. Bush will be touring here and there giving private speeches to selected groups of business people. First trip: Canada, and 10 trips in a row, and making mucho amount of money! Are those people nuts? or do they want to learn how to destroy their businesses, the way he destroyed our country? Yuk! just thinking of the sound of this voice make me sick!

This evening, our new President Barack Obama gave his first Address to congress. I was glued to my chair. Finally, a voice I like to hear and a President I respect and trust to do the best he can for our country! A friend of mine said that he will be a failed president - although he likes Obama- and when I hear such prediction within such short time since the inauguration, it makes me angry that some people have such negative attitude and yet nothing to back it.
Obama's speech was strong, positive and encouraging, and this is what our country needed to hear. He did not tell us anything we did not know about our economy and that it will take sacrifices from all of us until things get better. But he also followed on his promises during his campaign, from energy efficiency, health care and education reforms, ending the war on Iraq and eliminating Bush's tax-cuts.
Obama does not have a magic wand but without unity between both parties, his task won't be easy. Just watching the floor of the chamber, unity was missing although I was surprised to see McCain applaud on the subject of ending the war on Iraq. Speaking about McCain I cannot help thinking that he is a sour loser. Have you seen his face lately?

And then came the response from the republican party, delivered by Governor Bobby Jindal begging his republican friends that if the GOP lost their trust, they should NOW trust their party again! This jerk is one of the republican Governors who are rejecting help from the government although they need the money for their own people! Spending is not the answer- he said- but tax-cut is the only way to go!
Bottom line is that Republicans cannot swallow the pill of defeat and no matter what Obama says, no matter what he does or ask, the GOP (as a whole) will not work in unity with the Obama's administration. May be, sooner that later, President Obama will borrow Bush's line: My way or the highway! And I will like to hear that voice!

Banning photos is hidding the reality

When one single person owns the executive power to decide to go to war (preemptive war or not) and when by doing so, this Commander in Chief's face shows up on our television screens and makes the front pages of our national and local newspapers, banning photos of our dead coming back home in coffins is a disservice in not just honoring the sacrifices of our men and women but in bringing awareness to the heart of each of us that one man's political decision of a moment brings eternity hidden under our flag.

Just a cartoon?

As if we did not have enough of hatred and racism display during the past Presidential Elections,today the New York Post gets a star for telling us its opinion re: the stimulus bill. Responding to criticism from Al Sharpton, the editor of the paper defended the work of Sean Delonas

I do not mind caricatures, they really can be funny even if they hurt a little. But this is not a caricature that deserves to be defended neither were to be defended many others of Delonas's works. The New York Post's editor needs to apologize, but do not hold your breath. A paper editor who runs one cartoon making fun of someone for having only leg, another making fun of gay people seeking marriage license, comparing them to sheep lovers is not to be expected to apologize for another outrageous display of insensitivity.

It's happening right here, in America!

During an anti-war group meeting in Philadelphia people decided to hold a fund raising for the people of Gaza who have lost everything, no place to go, no food to eat. How much a small group can raise is questionable as much activists ( the ones I work with anyway) do not have much money for themselves. But, hey! there are many ways to raise money. I find this very commendable. But I have been thinking about the poor people in Philadelphia, the children who go to school on an empty stomach, those who barely have a pair of shoes to wear and then I ask why energy cannot be spent in helping the people of our own town. I was told that over there ( in Gaza) people are dying and suffering. There is a war. What is the difference between war on hunger and military wars? don't people die just the same?

How many people in our town have to choose between paying their water bill or the gas bill and buying food for themselves and their kids? Check some stories here
And want to feel like it is to buy food with food stamps allowance and how much you can get, what kind of food you can buy? check here

So, I am just thinking. Perhaps it is easier to do good deeds for the people we do not see, the ones living far, far away and it hurts too much to help those who are just around the corner from where we live? Could a small group of well intended people do more and be more efficient in helping those they can see?
Just my thoughts for today.

Justice is the real change we need!

I have to admit that I often think of quitting fighting for justice while at the same time I am infuriated at Obama who wants to turn the page on the Bush administration's crimes. Until someone gives me hope again as it happened yesterday when a man crossing the street passing in front of my car gave me thumb-up for my sticker "impeach Bush". If there is no doubt in my mind that a great majority of us feel that justice was not rendered yet many of us are tired to fight, want to turn the page and go forward to a better future. I am ashamed for thinking - even for a short time- of quitting, but if the voices that were not heard during the Bush administration become quiet there is no REAL future and Change for America!
Impeachment still can be done , but if the word "Impeach" a (ex) President brings back a bad memory to the citizens, how about the word INDICT?
Change in the world? Let us begin at home!

Blagojevich? Who's next?

Blagojevich Has Been Removed From Office and I do not feel an ounce of pride for our justice system. In fact I want to vomit. What kind of people are we for having let Bush finish his term yet we applaud to the Impeachment of a Governor who has not taken any lives? Surely Blagojevich deserved what he got. He abused his power many times, lied and got caught.
During the Bush administration, Democrats had no guts while to day Republicans continue their politics of hypocrisy, such as Sen. Dan Duffy who said "testimony shows that his abuse of power has been going on for years and that many people in this government and in this chamber had to have known about it."
Let me hope that same Dan Duffy and his gang will agree with me that Bush deserves to be arrested for war crimes while I applaud NOT on what happened today.

Farewell, Mr. President

Mr. President,

In 2004, I wrote an open letter "Mr. President, I want to know" (the President was you.) Today, I am somewhat revising my letter, especially after you recently expressed your disappointment for not finding any WMD in Iraq, hoping that you will get it on January 20Th.

So, Mr. President, I still want to know what is a mother to say to her child when old enough to ask why did Dad go to war, why did he have to die?
What should we read on the tombs of the brave American soldiers who lost their lives? What should we tell the orphans of Iraq?
I want to know the name of the God you pray, the one who told you that you were right to attack Iraq, how you managed to smile and lied at the same time, how you could and still can sleep at night.
I want to know how many poor families, how many people without health insurance, how many of our own we could have helped with the billions we spent in Iraq.

Mr. President I was hoping that before you leave would have been humble enough to say that you are sorry, instead of pointing fingers at those who “mislead” you. If I cannot find peace for your war that I call a massacre, it would have restored in me total faith in humanity.

Mr. President, you have not been impeached although you committed crimes against our Constitution ( authorized torture, lied about it, authorized surveillance on American citizens, went to war under false pretense and more), but impeachment would not have brought back our sisters and brothers neither the innocents civilians, women and children who lost their lives in Iraq just because they happened to be there. Your legacy will be “the war
president.” You own it.
But, because I believe in Justice, I know that one day you will be made accountable.
So, just for now I say farewell.

Monique Frugier
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter" ~Martin Luther King Jr.~

BECAUSE WE CAN !

And Because we care! WE MUST DO THIS !

Appoint a Special Prosecutor for the Crimes of the Bush Administration
President-elect Obama recently said, "if I found out that there were high officials who knowingly, consciously broke existing laws, engaged in coverups of those crimes with knowledge forefront, then I think a basic principle of our Constitution is nobody above the law."

Attorney General-designate Eric Holder recently said top Bush Administration officials "authorized the use of torture, approved of secret electronic surveillance of American citizens, secretly detained American citizens without due process of law, denied the Writ of Habeus Corpus to hundreds of accused enemy combatants, and authorized the use of procedures that both violate international law and the United States Constitution."

The Bush administration has refused to investigate its own crimes and President Bush may issue blanket pardons before he leaves. President Obama must appoint a Special Prosecutor - ideally Patrick Fitzgerald - to fully investigate these crimes and prosecute those responsible to demonstrate that we are truly a Nation of Laws and no one - including the President - is above the law.

- Bob Fertik (President of Democrats.com), New York, NY Dec 06 @ 06:02AM PST

Justice in America

America, the home of the Braves who preach Democracy , justice and equality through the entire world never stops to surprise me. On December 19, 1998 WE impeached president Bill Clinton for perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of power. Monica, you should have burn your blue dress! Bill c'mon, you should have known better than lying in front of the world! Is it that hard to say that you had sex with an Intern (and in the White House on top of this)? Guess what? I would have lied too. Yes sir! Today, January 10, 2009 WE impeached the Illinois Governor,Rod Blagojevich for perjury, obstruction of Justice and abuse of power. In America, WE stand for Justice. No one is above the law, no president (remember Nixon?), no Governor, no one I tell you. Isn't America a great country to live in? Pinch me, please. What happened to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's promise to make the Bush administration accountable for its crimes? Ah! this was before she was sworn in (first time). She must have forgotten and now she had been sworn in - second time- Hey! She must be good to keep her post!
During his campaign, Obama said that he will listen to us, he asked us to participate to the conversation, to ask and we should get answers. Obama was elected and through his new site I was eager to read answers I had been longing for, especially re: the question posed by Bob Fertik, “Will you appoint a Special Prosecutor (ideally Patrick Fitzgerald) to independently investigate the gravest crimes of the Bush Administration, including torture and warrantless wiretapping?"

Answer:
Vice President-elect Biden, 12/21/08: “[T]he questions of whether or not a criminal act has been committed or a very, very, very bad judgment has been engaged in is—is something the Justice Department decides. Barack Obama and I are—President-elect Obama and I are not sitting thinking about the past. We’re focusing on the future… I’m not ruling [prosecution] in and not ruling it out. I just think we should look forward. I think we should be looking forward, not backwards.”


Wait, Am I missing something? May be Yes, may be no? I just "think"...moving forward? Not backward? Let me try again, put your glasses and READ:



Is it "moving backward" to protect and defend OUR Constitution? Is it "moving backward" to ensure that carte blanche is not given to any president, any elected official in abusing power, lying, giving authorization to torture, going to war under false pretenses? OH NO! No Impeachment? The braves of America won't give up. WE won't turn the page to eight years of hell, WE will continue to demand justice and WE will march and protest for the Indictment of George W. Bush and his gang!
Listen to Philippe Sands Considers A Legacy Of 'Torture'

Who cares about the Palestinians?

The numbers are here.
And guess which weapons Israel is using against the Palestininans? People die and Israel continues bombing Gaza while refusing a cease fire. But better, they stop here and there for a few hours to let food and med. reach Gaza. What? feed them, bandage them before you kill them? And the word Holocaust comes back over and over again as an excuse to kill. Bottom line: THEY are right, I am wrong. No matter what. If you are with me, just do this NOW.

An Unnecessary War? Aren't they all?

Do not misunderstand me. I hate wars, but a true "pacifist" I am not. I would defend myself if attacked, I never pretended to be or wanting to be a martyr. But bombing a country is another story and to say - after bombing- that fighting on the ground because from the air it is difficult to see what is really being targeted ( heard on NPR from the Isateli Government)infuriates me.
I agree with Jimmy Carter and I am glad to see the Bush administration go and hope that Obama will stop following the bias approach of the Bush administration toward Israel. Not that I support Hamas but lets be real, when dealing with extremists ( on both side) one must be honest. Again, two wrongs do not make a right but this vicous cycle will not end because the United States says so. A two states solution is the only answer to this conflict. Will Israel understand this?
Now, the conflict is widening, and this should not be a suprise for Israel did it expect that no one would come and help its ennemy? Good job! lets see how many more are going to die and how much safe, WE are all going to feel!

Freaking wars!

Some say that as long as there is life, there is hope. Today, I feel tired of hoping. I am tired of protesting against wars, tired to witness wars for "Peace". As I am writing, Gaza is in flame and children die. This is war, they say. Cannot avoid people for being killed. There will never be Peace on earth, and as my my friend L. says , many Peace organizations will be out of a job if all wars would cease. No more members, no more salaries given for a quota in recruiting new members. Yes, anti-war is also a business for many.
I wish that all "combatants" would stop to listen and refuse to fight. It would be as I hoped before in asking Congress to stop sending money for the war on Iraq. No money, our soldiers would have come home a long time ago. But we seem to like heroism. We call Heroes those who die for the leaders who sent them to fight, let alone to fight for lies. We call Heroes those who come back physically and/or mentally damaged for life. We build monuments in the memories of the fathers, mothers, son and daughters who did not escape the bullets and bombs. We pray in their memories and pray that it won't happen again. Until next time. In our calendar we create a new holiday in the "Memory of..." Thank you, but I have enough of friends and family who already are in my memory for just dying of disease. I do not need new holidays to commemorate another war. And no, my father was not a "Hero" either. Poor young man was not educated enough to get a better job to feed his family, probably like the German guy who shot him to death. Today, Boris Vian is my mind. Listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjndTXyk3mw
or:
Boris Vian Le Deserteur English Subtitles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYpLHRQV7sQ