Roskam almost trumps Kirk for US-Iran deal hyperbole

After my Senator Mark Kirk called the US-5 Power Iran agreement outline as worse than Neville Chamberlin's Munich Agreement with Nazi Germany, it was clear Kirk missed the deal details.
My congressman Peter Roskam (IL-6) mustn't have been listening either when President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry spent an hour educating the world on the historic nuclear deal with Iran. The five world powers, the US, UK, Russia, China, and France hammered out the outlines of a substantive, long term, and verifiable agreement which is the best, indeed the only alternative to what Roskam really promotes: war with Iran. His near immediate statement outrageously begins by alluding to it being announced the day after April Fool's Day, a rhetorical trick which should not go unchallenged. He rehashes the 'bomb Iran' contingent of Congress nonsense by saying it "promises Iran everything it wants" while the US and its partners get "minimal restrictions on peripheral aspects of Iran's nuclear program...more empty promises from a dictatorial regime... that calls for the destruction of the United States." He cleverly, but repulsively argues that while Obama spins a horrible deal, the nuclear centrifuges in Iran "will continue to spin." Roskam laments that the deal will "likely expire in ten years, at which point the mullahs can freely pursue a nuclear weapon." Again, by skipping the Obama-Kerry tutorial on real statesmanship, Roskam missed that many of the agreement controls will last 15 years and some will last INDEFINATELY!

Roskam's closes his mendacious statement by trumpeting that no deal is better than the Obama-Kerry deal, and bragging how, last week, he "urged House appropriators to prohibit funding for additional P5+1 negotiations with Iran in Fiscal Year 2016." That's right folks, if cynical, warmongering Congressman Peter Roskam has his way, we wouldn't even be talking to Iran, we'd be bombing them. Every sane, peace loving Sixth District Resident should touch 202-225-4561 and let the congressman know that such reckless, dangerous, false and idiotic rhetoric from a sitting congressman is not welcome in the Sixth District; indeed, the state, the nation, and the world. We've come too far to allow shills for the war party and the Israel Lobby destroy our best chance for peace.

Kirk plays the Nazi card on historic Iran deal

I'm not making this up. Here is my Senator Mark Kirk's quote within hours of President Obama announcement of the six power nuclear agreement with Iran:

"Neville Chamberlain got a better deal from Adolf Hitler. Under today's deal, the United States and its international partners will dismantle the sanctions regime against Iran, while Iran, the world's biggest exporter of terrorism, will be allowed to keep vast capabilities to make nuclear weapons."

Kirk, and his warmongering, neocon buddies in Congress, have been marginalized by the overwhelming support for the deal in America and around the world. Kirk and Company have to earn their keep from the munitions makers and Israel Lobby who demand war for all the largess they lavish on this pernicious group. Kirk supports the noxious Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, which if passed over a presidential veto, allows the Senate to kill the agreement. If Kirk had served in Congress during the Kennedy era, he'd have worked tirelessly to sabotage the 1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty which was passed after it gained support from former Republican President Eisenhower and Republican Senate Majority Leader Ev Dirksen.

Kirk's reckless rhetoric has only one endgame: war with Iran. It must be opposed by every sane, peace seeking Illinoisan. Call him at 312-886-3506 and demand he cease his shameful Nazi illusions and fear mongering concerning the 5 Power Agreement with Iran. While you're at it, encourage Kirk to resign from the Senate today. We can't wait till a true, peace loving statesman like Tammy Duckworth replaces Kirk on January 2, 2017.

This Is The Week That Is

The good news continues this week with President Obama's announcement of a solid, sensible, verifiable nuclear deal with Iran. The warmongers in the US and Israel will be set back on their plans to bomb Iran even more than Iran has been set back on building a bomb (if they ever were). This comes on the good news that one of the Senate's most virulent warmongers, Bob Menendez (D-NJ), will have to spend more time trying to avoid the Slammer on bribery charges than ginning up war with Iran.

Earlier this week the homophobic dinosaurs couching their homophobia as religious freedom, self destructed. When a groveling politician like Indiana governor Mike Pence passed a law allowing, even sanctifying discrimination against the LGBT community (or anyone else), the vast majority of people and corporate America pushed back, threatening economic collapse for the Hoosier State or any other backward state dumb enough to copycat.

And even slave wage corporate giant McDonalds bowed to public pressure to increase wages a buck over the poverty level minimum wage in restaurants it owns. While only giving relief to 90,000 of 900,000 low wage McDonalds employees, due to independence of the 90% employed by franchisees, it turns up the heat on those skinflints to follow suit.

Weeks like this don't come to often. Let's savor this one for a bit, (I'll sip a shot of Jack Daniels Sinatra Select) and then get back to work moving the ball of human progress forward. It's heavy, but when wise leaders and tens of millions of supporters push... it moves.

Not Bergdahl's, the Trib's dishonor

How dare the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board smear Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in their editorial 'Bowe Bergdahl's dishonor'. One would think that after cheering on two criminal wars in the Middle East that killed hundreds of thousands, the Trib would avoid calling attention to their malfeasance by demanding jail time for a American hero who had the decency to walk away from one instead of legitimizing it by serving. But instead, you plow ahea...d with your chicken hawk talk about soldiers having to "accept a grave obligation to perform their duties no matter what the circumstances, even at the cost of their lives." But when those "circumstances" are lies and propaganda to entice soldiers to kill in totally unwinnable wars which have no connection to our real national security interests, we are better served with soldiers like Bergdahl just walking away. Bergdahl should get an honorable discharge; all his back pay; and thanks for letting every American know that there are thousands of Bowe Bergdahls out there who suffer terrible mental problems and often kill themselves rather than just walk away, like Bergdahl did.

And how dare the Trib take a cheap shot at President Obama for releasing the five Guantanamo prisoners to get Bergdahl home. You and the neocons, like former UN Ambassador John Bolton, who despicably urged we bomb Iran in fellow neocon paper NY Times, energize more folks to fight against American imperialists in the Middle East than those five released detainees, now under the control of Qatar, ever could.

Time for the Tribune Editorial Board to stop glorifying our failed militarism in the Middle East and creating an endless army of the maimed...mentally as well as physically.
Thanks for your service, Sargent.

New state song needed after Indiana anti LGBT law repeal

It's great to see smug, arrogant, nasty governor Mike Pence squirming over the outpouring of disgust at Indiana's fake religious freedom law designed to sanctify discrimination against gays by Indiana business owners. The prospect of lost revenue by companies and individuals saying NO to doing business in a state harkening back to 'Jim Crow' mores of the Old South may force Pence and his legislative Neanderthals to reco...nsider this law, not even a week old.

If Indiana does repeal the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, they will need a PR campaign to polish up Indiana's stained image. Given the tone deafness of this unfortunate member of our union they might well come up with a new state song titled:

                                                      'Back Homo Again In Indiana'