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Those of us who consider it disgraceful to have a giant statue of Robert E. Lee on his horse in a park in the middle of Charlottesville, and another of Stonewall Jackson for that matter, should try to understand those who think removing one of these statues is an outrage.

I don't claim to understand them, and certainly don't suggest they all think alike. But there are certain recurring themes if you listen to or read the words of those who think Lee should stay. They're worth listening to. They're human. They mean well. They're not crazy.

First, let's set aside the arguments we're not trying to understand.

For the past decade, the standard procedure for big coalition rallies and marches in Washington D.C. has been to gather together organizations representing labor, the environment, women's rights, anti-racism, anti-bigotry of all sorts, and a wide array of liberal causes, including demands to fund this, that, and the other, and to halt the concentration of wealth.

At that point, some of us in the peace movement will generally begin lobbying the PEP (progressive except for peace) organizers to notice that the military is swallowing up enough money every month to fund all their wishes 100 times over for a year, that the biggest destroyer of the natural environment is the military, that war fuels and is fueled by racism while stripping our rights and militarizing our police and creating refugees.

When we give up on trying to explain the relevance of our society's biggest project to the work of reforming our society, we generally point out that peace is popular, that it adds a mere 5 characters to a thousand-word laundry list of causes, and that we can mobilize peace groups to take part if peace is included.

Michael Flynn participated in mass murder and destruction in Afghanistan and Iraq, advocated for torture, and manufactured false cases for war against Iran. He and anyone who appointed him to office and kept him there should be removed from and disqualified for public service. (Though I still appreciate his blurting out the obvious regarding the counterproductive results of drone murders.)

Many would say that prosecuting Al Capone for tax fraud was a good move if he couldn't be prosecuted for murder. But what if Al Capone had been funding an orphanage on the side, and the state had prosecuted him for that? Or what if the state hadn't prosecuted him, but a rival gang had taken him out? Are all take-downs of major criminals good ones? Do they all deter the right activities by up-and-coming criminals?

Michael Flynn was not removed by public demand, by representative action in Congress, by public impeachment proceedings, or by criminal prosecution (though that may follow). He was removed by an unaccountable gang of spies and killers, and for the offense of seeking friendlier relations with the world's other major nuclear-armed government.

osa Maria Ortega, 37, came to the United States as an infant. She has a sixth grade education. When she was about eleven, her mother was arrested and deported. Her two younger brothers, born in the US, became citizens. She became a permanent resident, with a green card. She is a mother of four children, ages 12-16, who are all citizens, and engaged to marry Oscar Sherman, a citizen.

Old wounds break open. Deep, encrusted wrongs are suddenly visible. The streets flow with anger and solidarity. The past and the future meet.

The news is All Trump, All the Time, but what’s really happening is only minimally about Donald Trump, even though his outrageous actions and bizarre alliances are the trigger.

“As the nightmare reality of Donald Trump sinks in, we need to put our resistance in a larger perspective,” Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman wrote recently, describing Trump as “our imperial vulture come home to roost.”

When Iran's democracy was overthrown by the CIA in 1953, many Iranians had what they still have: affection for the people of the United States, as distinct from the U.S. government.

If -- even with Michael Flynn out -- the U.S. government/military manages to stir up a war on Iran, and the Iranian government responds with less than perfect nonviolent wisdom, it will be the job of U.S. citizens to distinguish the wonderful Iranian people from their government.

This ought to help matters. Iranians, in response to Trump's travel ban, are abandoning the tradition of burning U.S. flags, choosing instead to thank all the U.S. people who have been protesting the Muslim Ban. This gratitude for protests is a good illustration of the importance of protesting injustice by the U.S. government, even when the protests don't immediately reverse the policies. It's important for the other 96% of humanity to know we disapprove.

The thank yous have become expressions of love in both directions, with the hashtag #LoveBeyondFlags. Is this beautiful or what?

 

Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, famously coined the Orwellian phrase “alternative facts” when pressed about flat out lies told the previous day by White House press secretary Sean Spicer regarding the crowd size at President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

The dictionary definition of a “fact” is a piece of information presented as having an objective reality. Accordingly, the term “alternative fact” is itself is an oxymoron. A fact is both indisputable and immutable. Having “alternatives” to a fact undermines its very meaning.

These semantic gymnastics are compounded by Trump’s fundamental and alarming misunderstanding of the role of the three branches of government and the media. The attempt by the Executive branch to recast the role of the media as the mouthpiece of the administration is dangerous. The media is the government’s watchdog, not its lap dog.

Photo of young black man with wire-rimmed glasses

Saturday, February 18 at 2 PM
Battelle Riverfront Park, 25 North Marconi Blvd, downtown Columbus, by the river

Head shot of gray haired smiling man in dark suit

Milwaukee, WI. FEBRUARY 14, 2017 –  Peter Peckarsky’s campaign for Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) received confirmation from the DNC that his name will appear on the ballot for the position of Chair at the DNC Officer Elections on Saturday, February 25, 2017 in Atlanta, GA.

Peckarsky’s campaign is based on providing election and voting protection. He states, “Our country has a Constitution which provides certain rights. One of these rights is the right to vote. My objective is to restore confidence in the voting process.” This, coupled with his vision for an inclusive Party built on a solid grassroots foundation, will enable the Party to move forward in an empowered and engaged fashion in cooperation with State and Local Party organizations.

He went on to emphasize, “A substantial number of our fellow citizens were unconstitutionally denied the right to vote in the November 8, 2016, election because of the color of their skin or other obstacles to fair voting recently erected.”

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