CIVILIANISM PODCAST

Our capitalist system is falling apart. Bush and portions of Congress want to nationalize our banking system.

McCain and Obama star in the McCain-Obama debates. They were not presidential debates because the other presidential candidates were not invited. All “major” party candidates should have been on that stage, including the candidates from the Green Party, the Nader party, the Socialist party, the Libertarian party, the Independence party, etc. Would that really crowd the stage so much? No, the American people are at a disadvantage when the corporate media presents us with only two people and says “pick one.”

As for the “bailout” — I support free money for everyone. Let’s just print a few trainloads of $1,000 dollar bills and hand them out to everyone. Why not? We hand out money in Iraq and Afghanistan like pizza coupons; might as well hand money out here in the U.S. And yes, go ahead and bail out the homeowners, but those greedy investment banks that prey on people and make money from nothing and add nothing to the world? Someone tell me how they deserve a bailout. What we really need is single-payer, universal health care. Bail us into THAT.

Is Bush turning into a dictator? I present a somewhat circuitous route to my theory that Bush is going to give John McCain the presidency via a manufactured economic meltdown, provoked riots, and some seriously unethical methods involving martial law, the suspension of the posse comitatus act, and the Army.

This is all related to the March on the RNC and the police state that we saw in St. Paul in the first week in September. I interview the coordinator of that protest march and Katrina P. explains to me what REALLY happened during that mini police state in St. Paul.

Support the RNC 8.

Want to write letters to support a candidate? Here is how the McCain campaign tells people to do it.

Foreclosure: They Were Preyed Upon, a very sad story. One family of 28,000 Minnesota families who are losing their homes through foreclosure this year.

And I forgot to mention this, but thanks to Donna who told me that Thom Hartmann is available for free on Green 960

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Our homeland insecurity is now of gargantuan proportions. Our economy is in ruins because of Reaganomics, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the enormous bailouts we are giving corporations and the gigantic Pentagon budget. What we spend on war in six months could eradicate poverty in this country and probably many others too, but our goverment’s priorities are in all the wrong places. The Republican-led government would rather protect rich people than give what’s left of the middle class a break. In fact, they are now asking those middle class people to bail out giant investment companies and rich people with money to burn, including CEOs, who made the bad decisions. Will they succeed? Obama and McCain are also battling this out in the media — when McCain is not ignoring the media, that is.

As for martial law — we have a real danger, due to a combination of events, of heading for a very unpleasant “October surprise”. It could be both economic and militaristic in nature. What is really troublesome is this article from the Army Times that reveals a plan to deploy an Army brigade inside the united States, violating the Posse Comitatus Act. The brigade will be used for various “homeland security” issues.

ArmyTimes article on the Homeland Brigade is here.

National Defense Authorization Act article of 2007, setting up the end of the Posse Comitatus Act, is here.
Is this the End of America as we know it? If not, it’s a big wake-up call!

Naomi Wolf also presents her version of the battle plan for the Republicans
Wolf says that Sarah Palin is the Muse of the Conservatives and possibly, their political end game. See the article she wrote about it here.

Youth against war and racism’s website is here. My interview with Jon, a local high school student, is about the YAWR group, what they do, and more.
And here is the new GI Bill Overview that is mentioned in the interview — but this all hinges on the economy. If the economy goes down in flames, I doubt any soldier will receive a paycheck, much less GI Benefits.

Jon M. talks about ways students can counteract recruitment in schools. He also tells me about a rally and march in my city that will go to a military recruitment center. If they can distrupt students trying to learn in schools, he says that we can disrupt their work. If you want to join the rally and march on October 4th, visit for more information: October 4th march to recruitment center in central Minnesota.

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This episode contains the 2nd part of the interview with Anne Kilkenny of Alaska on the subject of Governor Palin. The first part of this episode is a discussion of some news items, and more things about how John McCain and Sarah Palin equal a Bush-Cheney Term III. The first half of this interview is in episode #66.

Anne’s original email is here
Articles mentioned:
2006 Governor’s questionnaire
from Eagle Forum Alaska, a conservative website.

Good voting information site: Votersunite.org and Election Law News Wire
Palin links Iraq to September 11! Shades of Bush and Cheney . . . .

Here is the Pastor Bess story about Palin’s belief in religion on government

Palin and the teleprompter ad-lib story is here. It’s funny, but not as funny as how my interest in Palin is exorcised.

War Crimes videos from last week’s Conference hosted by the Massachusetts School of Law.
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Today, an exclusive interview with a resident of Wasilla Alaska, who has known Sarah Palin since 1992.

Who is Sarah Palin, the new VP candidate who has taken the media by surprise and the GOP by storm? I attempt to shed some light on what she’s about.

Here is the New York Times article on Palin: Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes

The real, final version of the letter about Sarah Palin written by Anne Kilkenny can be found here in its entirety. It will shed some light on the interview if you read it.

Another September 11th anniversary has come and gone, and it’s a day that should be transformed into a day of re-devoting our foreign policy to peace and diplomacy. We also need a memorial for all the war dead since 9/11, not just for the victims of that day in the U.S. How about making it a national holiday to reflect on peace? The public use of 9/11 by politicians for their own political agenda, year after year, is obscene.

Sign a petition to upgrade building safety codes to help if there is ever another tragedy like 9/11 –
CREDO MOBILE petition link here.

The Bush doctrine — What is it? It’s a radical departure from previous foreign policy. Sarah Palin kind of flubbed her answer to that question in her ABC interview last week. (I play the clip). Here is a basic explanation of the Bush doctrine by Noam Chomsky, and it’s even more complicated than that. It’s tied up with the idea of American Exceptionalism.

What is American Exceptionalism? Think “Neocon policy”. It’s something George Bush, John McCain and Gov. Palin believe in, but it’s damaging to our country and offensive by its very premise to many others. Here is what McCain said on the night of the Service Forum, September 11, 2008:

MCCAIN: I do believe in American exceptionalism.
And I think it was best articulated by our founding fathers. {??} But I also think that my hero, Teddy Roosevelt, expressed it very well, and other leaders throughout our history.

We’re the only nation I know in the world that really is deeply concerned about adhering to the principle that all of us are created equal and endowed by our creators with certain rights. And those we have tried to bring to the world. And we have not so much militarily, but through example, through leadership, through economic assistance.

Look at what we did for Europe after World War II, look at the continuous efforts we make throughout the world. Look at the efforts we’re making to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa. There’s a lot more America can do.

And I love these other countries, and I’m not trying to denigrate them. But I know of no other country in the world with the generosity of spirit and the concern for fellow human beings than the United States of America, and I think that goes back to our very beginnings.

WOODRUFF: Does that make America better than these other…?

MCCAIN: I think it makes us exceptional. I think it makes us exceptional in the kind of citizenry we have and the kind of service and sacrifice that we are capable of.

Transcript here.

All in all, these two have some wacky ideas, but you have to admit that Governor Palin is an interesting character, and I’ve always considered Alaska a pretty cool state. (no pun intended!) Listen in this episode to part 1 of my interview with the Wasilla resident, Anne Kilkenny, and the next podcast will have the remainder of it.

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I have a couple of interviews coming up for Civilianism that should be quite interesting. In the meantime, I have created a new Civilianism photo gallery, and the first photos in it are those of the March on the RNC and my next day there. You can find it here

Basically, I dumped about 80% of all my photos in it with minimal to no editing so the images are big and they take awhile to load. Also, there are probably many repeats and even a couple of boring ones. Everyone is free to use them for whatever you want, if you find any of them interesting.

I also have a new anti-war art gallery here. If you know of any anti-war artists or artwork that should/could be in it, let me know. I just started these galleries and I would really like to promote the anti-war art gallery and get more artwork in it. I’m also looking for photos to add to it.

My experience in attending the March on the RNC and the next day taught me that there is no doubt the U.S. is headed towards militarization of the police and “security situations”. We are turning into a police state faster than anyone can imagine if the police presence at the RNC is to be the norm for future events.

There was a completely overdone show of force during the whole week of the RNC, and one example was at Mears Park during the Poor Peoples protest activities there. The entire week, police were decked out in riot gear with numerous weapons, yet still afraid of a few skinny “anarchists”.

Supposedly, the militarization of the police in the U.S. is the “trend” of the future, and few people care, or even notice. After all, we’re in a “War on Terror”, and when the powers that be conflate terrorists and protesters, that’s just an easy little slip down that slippery slope into a full-on militarized society.
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The police only arrested 4 at Mears Park in St. Paul on September 2nd, but they arrested hundreds more on September 1st, and on September 4th when people were herded onto a bridge and made to sit down while they waited to be arrested. See this account of the Marion Avenue Bridges arrests.
‘My first arrest followed attempts to obey police’ – Sun-Sailor editor recounts RNC experience”

In total, nearly 820 people were arrested in four days in St. Paul. They even arrested 30 journalists, and probably more if you count independent citizen media. The Republican convention continued uninterrupted, blissfully oblivious of their security’s completely overblown reaction to what was described as about 100 anarchists. The police and the FBI, et al., also confiscated possessions in their raids before the RNC even started, (See the iWitness video account of that here–
“2008 Republican National Convention Round-Up
Violence and cruel treatment directed at protesters by police; Journalists targeted for arrest, harassment, intimidation and surveillance
. . . . so maybe they thought the protesters have some type of mind control weapons. Most of us were there to protest peacefully. For the small minority that were not, nothing can explain the massive show of police force that responded, or the violent tactics they used.

This was not fighting terrorism — this was fighting U.S. citizens. See evidence in these two videos linked here: a young man on his bike, falls off, gets arrested and then allegedly abused while in jail.
The “accident” (click for video)

The press conference of torture while in jail

It’s a mirror situation to Iraq and the “War on Terror” in a way — piss people off a lot by fighting their “idealogy” with weapons, and expect them to become passive and like you because they find you so charming. I was anything but charmed by the police actions last week. I’m shocked this happened not only in my state, but in the United States.

The police state scenes I have seen on the streets of St. Paul were like those I have seen of violence in countries that we criticize for their civil rights abuses. People need to speak out against this, or it will only increase, right here in the U.S. and probably in other countries too. That’s the “trend”.

If you were there and arrested and had things confiscated by police, you should contact ColdSnapLegal.org. They are handling legal questions, providing legal help for people, and helping get peoples’ possessions back. I hope to have more stories about the violation of civil rights that occurred last week in the future, and also many interesting stories about McCain’s new sidekick, Sarah Palin.

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On September 1st and 2nd I attended anti-war protests and rallies in St. Paul Minnesota, and this video contains some of the photos and videos I took while there. I’ve also included some video clips I found online of some of the violence I didn’t witness myself, and the protests on the other days I wasn’t there.

Yes, there were police in riot gear everywhere. It was also very difficult to move around due to the fences and barricades. The Xcel Center where the RNC was taking place was cordoned off like the Green Zone in Baghdad and probably as heavily protected.

This 30-minute video includes Iraq Veterans Against the War at the protest rally on September 1st, CodePink, and Rosa Clemente, footage of the protest march itself, several photos of the rally and march, and some video others produced. That video includes footage of some of the violence that occurred on the 2nd and 3rd days of the RNC, the inspiration for all of the protest activity in St. Paul. There was an enormous police and security presence for this “security” event and you can see that in the video. A portion of the Poor People’s march is shown (thanks to TheUptake.org video).

(Click here to play/download the video, or it will be in the RSS feed)

There was a lot going on in St. Paul these 4 days and I missed quite a bit of it due to other things I was doing. Ralph Nader and Ron Paul were also in town holding their own conventions. The main event for me, the March on the RNC to Stop the War on the 1st was great (and mostly peaceful) and I wish everyone had been there. We hoped for 50,000 people and about 15,000 showed up. It was enough to scare the police, apparently. In contrast, there was a police presence of 3,700, in addition to secret service, private security, the FBI, Blackwater, and the National Guard. All for a few protesters exercising their rights of Freedom of speech.

You can also see me in the video, but I was wearing my usual protest disguise of a hat, sunglasses, etc, which is also my usual travel disguise. It didn’t work…. I was apparently tracked by some type of RNC security for 2 days.

The music is from Greenpeace video, Michael Franti from the Ripple Effect concert on September 2nd, and Rage Against the Machine, who gave a concert at the Target Center on the last day of the RNC. I included about 4 photos of the RNC itself, which I got from MTV.com photos. Footage at the end of Amy Goodman is courtesy of SFGate.

Some of my photos from the anti-war march on September 1st can be seen at my Citizen Against Lies blog. I will have a gallery of them later. I wasn’t there when things got violent later, so none of that is in my photos. The violence happened because several anarchist groups started damaging property and purposely confronting police. Their purpose was to incite the police to react, and that’s exactly what happened. No one was stuck in a cage or freedom zone/barrier, so it wasn’t violence that made a lot of sense to me. (The march itself went nearly an hour over schedule and no one harassed us).

The net result was violence, property damage, and the anger of people who wanted to keep the march peaceful, because that was the purpose of the march to begin with — peace.   I was pretty surprised that things got violent after the march was over.  Acceptance of violence is the whole reason we are in Iraq to begin with, so starting violence at a peace march was exactly what I hoped would not happen. However, it did lead to a lot of local media coverage, which meant the anti-war march itself got a lot of coverage. In that respect, it was successful.

Also, Cynthia McKinney was not at the march or rally but Rosa Clemente was and I got to meet her.

[tags]march on the rnc, republican national convention, protest march, anti-war march[/tags]