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Week of April 3 2006

"Political thought is itself a form of political action." -- E.H. Carr

Rice Gets A Taste Of Dissent And Admits Errors
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's recent visit in England was met with dissent as student protesters at a school she visited let her know she was not welcome.

Protesters also met her at other locations on her two-day trip, which was described as "The most unwelcome visit to Liverpool since Oswald Mosley came here in the 1930s" by the Liverpool Echo. Paul McCartney declined an invitation to meet with her, poet Roger McGough refused to serve as master of ceremonies during a concert of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, actress Cathy Tyson refused to fill the vacancy and a visit to a mosque in Blackburn was canceled due to protests. See photos and a summary of the press coverage on the Stop the War Coalition's web site.

During a press conference with her British counterpart Jack Straw, she even admitted that the U.S. government has made thousands of errors in dealing with Iraq, even though she believes that the Bush Administration has made the right strategic decisions.

Take action: continue to speak up, protest and demand accountability. Tell your friends and family in the U.S. to start making plans for the national demonstration in New York City on April 29.

Justice Does Not Believe In Justice
Justice Antonin Scalia claims the Constitution does not protect enemy combatants. Further comments made this month by Scalia suggest that he believes a legal justice system to be a "crazy" concept. Read and decide for yourself.

Impeachment Campaign Continues
The people's impeachment campaign continues to gain momentum across the nation, including the efforts of "Freeway Bloggers", and anti-administration advertising is on the rise in proactive efforts to demand impeachment and preemptive efforts to stave off war with Iran. See the full page ad in the New York Times.

Take action: visit web sites who support these efforts and sign the petitions.

Feingold Rallies For Censure
Sen. Feingold presses eloquently for investigation and possible censure of Bush. Read his speech and watch him defend his resolution for censure on The Daily Show and even Fox News.

Take Action: urge your senators to support the resolution. Call their offices, send faxes or email through the Working For Change web site.

Retired General and Lieutenant Colonel Speak Out
Both Gen. Anthony Zinni and Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski have been outspoken critics of the war and occupation of Iraq, and both appeared on television in the U.S. this past weekend. Gen. Zinni was on Meet the Press and called for the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld, among others. See the video on Crooks and Liars or a shorter version along with a transcript on ThinkProgress.

Lt. Col. Kwiatkowski was on C-Span's Q&A where she discussed her opinion of the build up to war in Iraq from her position in the Near East/ South Asia policy office at the Pentagon, her service in the Air Force and why she chose to leave the military in March 2003. Watch the video or read the transcript on the Q&A web site.

Nation Of Immigrants Speaks Up
Record crowds gathered in Los Angeles (some say as many as two million) to protest a contentious anti-immigration bill under consideration in Congress. The bill would criminalize over 11 million undocumented immigrants. Even high-school students have repeatedly walked out of school in protest, proving that dissent is alive and well and gives a voice to people.

Take action: write to members of Congress and let them know it is not in the best interest of the country to discriminate against hard-working people. You can also sign the following petition on the People for the American Way web site.

"People Power" Proves Effective And Hopeful
A new publication lists the abundant success stories of peace activism and non-violence as effective means to bring about change, offering timely support and encouragement to current trends of people standing up to corrupt and repressive governments. Read about it on Open Democracy.

Corruption Tried And Convicted
Former lobbyist Jack Abramoff was convicted of fraud in Florida and was sentenced to 5 years and 10 months in prison. This is a first step in what could be a cascading effect for further convictions of corrupt individuals, likely involving some lawmakers who presumably conspired with Abramoff in various dealings. Meanwhile, the Senate passed a lobbying reform bill that fails to address campaign finance. The bill was described by Senator John McCain as "very very weak." Watch (or read the transcript) of an interview with Chellie Pingree of Common Cause on Democracy Now!

Corporations Profit While Workers Don't
U.S. corporate profits surge to 40-year high while labor income lowest since then. Read an article on MarketWatch. And with record profits in the oil industry, Exxon-Mobil knocks Wal-Mart out of first place in the Fortune 500.

If you know of additional news items that should be listed, send them via email.

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