I have gazed upon the stars, the bible, the entrails of a chicken, and my own navel.  I share a common ancestry, verifiable by DNA,  with every presidential candidate past and present, as well as with Karl Rove and slime molds.  I have a true penchant for successful predictions based upon the sound methodology of thinking the worst thing I can possibly think in any given situation.

And out of the goodness of my heart, fellow Kossacks, I will now share with you the identity of the veep candidates a few days in advance of the official announcements.  Armed with this most crucial of all knowledge, you will surely make a fortune in the stock market, own as many mansions as McCain, seduce drugged-out supermodels, and be honored as a benefactor of humanity.  So be sure to remember me in your will...

Now without further ado, the running mates of the candidates will be as follows:

I am one of those who is endlessly grateful for Noam Chomsky's activism, his clear and perceptive explanations, and the withering snark he directs at the "Masters".  

I know Chomsky has a well-deserved reputation as a scientific genius in linguistics, but I always thought that his political principles were simple (in a good way).  Chomsky has taught me to apply the following principles to politics:  States are systems of power, not moral entities and must adhere to their obligations under international law.  Everyone is responsible for the foreseeable effects of his or her actions.  Power is fundamentally invalid unless justified by contigent need, with the burden of proof placed on those trying to justify power.  There is far more moral value in criticizing our own states and institutions (for which we are responsible) than in criticizing others.

Because somebody had to say it

Dear Barack Obama,

Put her on the ticket.

I truly believe that antiwar activists should focus our energies on military recruitment. The empire will modify its militarism only if is does not have sufficient bodies and minds to run all its ongoing and contemplated wars.  I believe so all the more strongly in light of the failure of our Democratic Congress not only to stop the war, but to stop the escalation of the war.  

"It is all over people.  We haven't got a prayer!."  - Reverend Lovejoy, The Simpsons.

Suppose the nightmare scenario actually occurs- come convention-time, Obama has a slight lead in delegates chosen by the Democratic electorate, but Clinton swings the nomination her way through the votes of superdelegates.

IMPORTANT UPDATES BELOW

A young girl named Nataline Sarkisyan was initially denied approval for a needed liver transplant by her health care provider, Cigna of California.  The case was diaried by nyceve  and California Nurses Shum, each of whom asked us to call Cigna and protest.  Joyously, Cigna changed its mind and agreed to pay for the transplant.  

"For the first time, I'm stepping out of my pew because I've been inspired. I've been inspired to believe that a new vision is possible for America. Dr King dreamed the dream. But we don't have to just dream the dream anymore. We get to vote that dream into reality"  -Oprah Winfrey, inspiring 30,000 fans, December 9, 2007.

On October 15, 2007, Chalmers Johnson gave an interview to an Australian radio station to talk about his new book:  Nemesis:  The Last Days of the American Republic. During the interview, Johnson endorsed Barack Obama for President, though without any particular confidence that Obama can alter our imperial road to disgrace and bankruptcy.

No transcript is available on the internet, but I, a good and loyal Kossack, have transcribed the relevant section (at 27:45 through 29:00 of the interview).

In 2002-2003, I was so naive that I thought that an unprovoked attack on Iraq would be wildly unpopular!  Instead, bush's popularity rose 25 points and the flag-frenzied hysteria that accompanied our war of aggression  proved to one and all that the world's leading democracy has a deep strain of fascist lunacy.  Will it happen again?  According to Scott Ritter, we will soon find out.

Time for a little pre-emption of our own...

Kos v. Ford

A Wolf found great difficulty in getting at the sheep owing to the vigilance of the shepherd and his dogs. But one day it found the skin of a sheep that had been flayed and thrown aside, so it put it on over its own pelt and strolled down among the sheep."Aesop

"Such unbounded discretion carries with it grave potential for abuse."  Atwater v. City of Lago Vista, 532 U.S. at 372. (O'Connor, J., dissenting).

         
     

To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole. - from the Nuremberg ruling

Only with the complicity of Congress have we become a nation of preemptive war, secret military tribunals, torture, rejection of habeas corpus, warrantless searches, undue government secrecy, extraordinary renditions, and uncontrollable spying on the American people. The greatest danger we face is ourselves: what we are doing in the name of providing security for a people made fearful by distortions of facts. Fighting over there has nothing to do with preserving freedoms here at home. More likely the opposite is true.   - Ron Paul

                                                           

 

Here is a thought about a potentially effective counter-recruitment tactic...

What if military-aged persons contacted their local recruiter and feigned interest in exploring a military career?

The person would talk to the recruiter, politely listen to the recruiter's presentation, make appointments and not show up, reschedule and show up, ask questions, take tests, remain polite but noncommittal, ultimately decide not to enlist.

The whole point would be to waste the recruiter's time and energy.   An hour spent recruiting somebody who is not interested is an hour NOT spent recruiting some impressionable teenager who may be receptive to the recruiter's deceptive claims and imagery.

If enough persons do this, it would clog the recruitment system, demoralize the recruiters, and obstruct the war machine at its most vulnerable point.

Ecrasez l'infame!

I was among several peace activists who met with Congressman Ray LaHood in his Springfield office.  LaHood, to his credit allowed each of us to make a short presentation, and we hit all the main points- the loss of lives, the WMD deception, the expense, the will of the Iraqi people.

Then LaHood spoke and it was sadly clear that he was still drunk on Wingnut Koolaid.   According to LaHood: