IFPJ

A Former POW's Open Letter to Congress
Phillip Butler | January 05, 2009

Here is the Oath of Office I took on July 1, 1957:

I, Phillip Neal Butler, having been appointed a Midshipman in the United States Navy, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter, so help me God.

Upon graduation from the United States Naval Academy in 1961, I repeated this oath to be commissioned an ensign in the United States Navy. I served 20 years as an active duty commissioned officer. During that time I became a Naval Aviator, flew combat in Vietnam, was downed over North Vietnam on April 20, 1965 and became a prisoner of war. I was repatriated on February 12, 1973, having served 2,855 days and nights as a POW – just short of 8 years. The Vietnamese were not signatory to any international treaties on treatment of prisoners. They pronounced us "criminals" and freely used torture, harassment, malnutrition, isolation, lack of medical care and other degradations during our captivity. I was tortured dozens of times during my captivity. But I often thought of our Constitution and the higher purpose we served – a purpose that helped me resist beyond what I thought I’d ever be capable of. Ironically, we POWs often reminded each other that our country would never stoop to torture and the low level of treatment we were experiencing at the hands of our captors.

Dare

Freedom of speech. Freedom of worship. Freedom from want. Freedom from fear.

— Franklin D. Roosevelt, excerpted from the Annual Message to the Congress, January 6, 1941

For there is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and strong democracy. The basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple. They are:
Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.

Jobs for those who can work.

Security for those who need it.

The ending of special privilege for the few.

The preservation of civil liberties for all.

The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living.

These are the simple, basic things that must never be lost sight of in the turmoil and unbelievable complexity of our modern world. The inner and abiding strength of our economic and political systems is dependent upon the degree to which they fulfill these expectations.

One woman artist, one highway, one mountain and one helluva work of art.

Gives you some perspective on just what can be accomplished.

Linda Tripp

Once again it is proved that those that forget history are doomed to repeat it. A recent article in The Hill proclaims "Obama dismisses Bush Pentagon appointees". A closer reading reveals that "Out of roughly 250 political appointees, 90 were dismissed."

Not much of a clean sweep as David Swanson points out in his recent ADS post Obama to Keep on Majority of Bush Appointees at Pentagon. But there is even more to the story.

Linda Tripp, Monica Lewinsky's erstwhile friend and confidant, was a Republican political appointee kept on by the Clinton administration. She also received a $20,000 raise! Linda, with the Democrat's help, was sitting pretty, ready to do her patriotic part in the subsequent impeachment of Thomas Jefferson Clinton.

It seems the only rationale for not firing every single Bush employee is the quaint idea that those who make the mess, should clean it up. That's alright as far as it goes, President-Elect Obama...just watch out they don't make a clean sweep of you.

Dare

1 January 1808 - An Act to Prohibit the Importation of Slaves into any Port or Place Within the Jurisdiction of the United States, From and After the First Day of January, in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Eight

What the 9th United States Congress managed on slavery; the 110th United States Congress should do on high crimes and misdemeanors: IMPEACHMENT - IT'S MANDATED BY THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

Background

The United States Constitution, Article 1 Section 9 protected the slave for twenty years. Only after 1808 could laws be passed to end the slave trade.

Santayana Rebus

Dare

United Auto Workers

The Strike Heard Round the World

Background

The UAW had only been formed in 1935 and held its first convention in 1936. Shortly thereafter the union decided that it could not survive by piecemeal organizing campaigns at smaller plants, as it had in the past, but that it could organize the automobile industry only by going after its biggest and most powerful employer, General Motors Corporation, focusing on GM's production complex in Flint, Michigan.

Dare

Religious Freedom Stamp

Remonstrance of the Inhabitants of the Town of Flushing to Governor Stuyvesant, December 27, 1657

Right Honorable

You have been pleased to send unto us a certain prohibition or command that we should not receive or entertain any of those people called Quakers because they are supposed to be, by some, seducers of the people. For our part we cannot condemn them in this case, neither can we stretch out our hands against them, for out of Christ God is a consuming fire, and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Plainly, submitting one resolution to impeach is not enough. Even, two, three, four or more may not be
enough. It's not the number of articles submitted that matter; it's the number of times impeachment is
attempted. So, submit one a day. Start with the crimes private soldiers were convicted of. Convictions are
the proof crimes were committed. Therefore, ordering soldiers to commit crimes is a crime. Impeach
Bush for them. If you try to impeach Bush every day; people will soon get it.

Here, just fill it out and submit it.

Stooge: Lynndie England

4 days in December, 10 years ago today

12/15/1998, 11:45 PM: The House Committee on Judiciary reported an original measure, House Report105-830.

12/19/1998 2:14pm:
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.

TIME ELAPSED: 3 days, 14 hours, 29 minutes

Rep. Henry J. Hyde (Repbulican-IL, 6D) manages to send articles impeaching President William J. Clinton to the U.S. Senate in only 86 hours and 29 minutes.

86.5 HOURS! And with NO Cosponsors!

What the heck is wrong with Congress? Bush and Cheney have admitted to crimes and can’t get impeached. But Mr. “Youthful Indescretion” sticks Bill Clinton in 86 and a half hours minus one minute.

Here’s how he did it. (Pay attention Mr. Conyers.)

H.RES.611

Finally, after missing out during the Vietnam War and playacting on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln...

THE WHITE HOUSE
UNITARY EXECUTIVE
GEORGE W. BUSH

For Immediate Release
Office of the Unitary Press Secretary
December 15, 2008

Unitary Executive Order 5: Awards-Combat Infantry Badge, Combat Action Ribbon, Purple Heart

BUSH, GEORGE W.

Citation: For exceptionally meritorious service and professional achievement in the superior performance of duties above and beyond the call of duty while serving as the Unitary Executive of America, George Dubya Bush did successfully dodge murderous enemy combatant fire while undergoing torturous questioning in Baghdad, Iraq on 14 December 2008. Although the Unitary Executive’s quick reflexes saved him from injury by the deadly shoe barage; he bravely withstood the cutting remark which characterized him as a “dog.” Unitary Executive Bush’s gallantry at the press conference and his extraordinary grammatical errors at the risk of...blah, blah, blah,...his life,..blah,...highest traditions,..blah, blah,...Texas Air National Guard,...blah,... great credit,...blah, blah, blah,...et cetera,..blah,... his country.

GEORGE W. BUSH

THE WHITE HOUSE

December 14, 2008

SIGNING STATEMENT: Oh, I forgot. And a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

"To waste, to destroy, our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed." Theodore Roosevelt, Seventh State of the Union (1907-12-03)

Doctors' Opinion of Financial Bail Out Package

The Allergists voted to scratch it and the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves. The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it; but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve and the Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception. The Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted. The Pathologists yelled, 'Over my dead body!' while the Pediatricians said, 'Oh, Grow up!' The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, the Radiologists could see right through it, and the Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing. The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow and the Plastic Surgeons said, 'This puts a whole new face on the matter.' The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward; but the Urologists felt the scheme wouldn't hold water. The Anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas and the Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no. In the end, the Proctologists left the decision up to some assholes in Washington.

Dubya's Folly

U.S. Militarism & Global Tensions Rise Together
By Phyllis Bennis | Institute for Policy Studies

17 September 2008

Dear friends,

Just a note on where we are, before I get into the analysis here. As all of us recognize, as we wake shaking in the night, fearing tomorrow, this is an incredibly dangerous moment. It doesn't just seem to, it really does get worse each election - the stakes grow higher, the dangers spread further. People's lives - not only, not even mainly, our own - are at grave risk. This election is probably the most important most of us have ever faced. And its outcome is at least partly in our hands.

My friend Holly Near, the great songwriter and singer-agitator, recently sent me some of her ideas of how to think about this election:

Official: Bush OK'd raids into Pakistan
Kelli Arena | CNN.com

President Bush authorized U.S. special forces to conduct ground assaults inside Pakistan without seeking Islamabad's permission first, a senior American intelligence official said Thursday.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said better U.S.-Pakistan cooperation is needed to fight terror.

"We have had the president's OK for months," said the official, who declined to be identified because the order is classified. "It is my understanding that the Pakistanis are well-aware of the change."

by Linda Milazzo

During Sarah Palin's acceptance speech when nominated by John McCain for Vice President, McCain wouldn't leave Palin alone on stage. Rather than give her the momentary limelight, McCain peered over her shoulder and read her speech alongside her. He was visibly nervous and has remained so ever since. Other than Wednesday at the RNC when Palin finally appeared solo, the image of McCain hovering authoritatively over her is the constant at every appearance. McCain's public subjugation of Palin, and her public acceptance of it, set male-female advancement back decades. Were Palin truly a trusted and powerful woman she'd request and be granted autonomy on stage, and reject McCain's Taliban-like presence. All that's missing is her burka. Honestly, what strong woman tolerates a man hovering over her in the presence of thousands? If she's really VP worthy, McCain should leave her alone.

Here are 3 short videos evidencing McCain's "tight-leash" on Palin. The first is Palin's acceptance of the nomination for VP:

A coalition working to end the war in Iraq announced it is organizing the year’s largest anti-war mobilization. Million Doors for Peace, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 20, will ask one million Americans to sign petitions urging the next Congress to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq within one year.

The action combines the best of grassroots activism and support from the netroots. The campaign will allow tens of thousands of volunteers to download a neighborhood “walk list” for the coalition website. The volunteers will then use this public information talk to and identify neighbors who oppose the Iraq war and will join the efforts to end the war. Please join this effort, click here.

TWO VIEWS: OF INDEPENDENCE SQUARE AND OF AMERICA

Independence Square 1917

Assembled in Independence Square, Philadelphia, thousands of patriotic Americans recently pledged their unanimous support to the President in the following stirring resolutions:
"Meeting on the eve of a great crisis affecting our national life and on the sacred ground where, 141 years ago, the fathers of the Republic declared belief in the unalienable right of man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we citizens of Philadelphia, following the traditions of the fathers, here publicly renew our oath of allegiance to the Constitution and the laws of the Republic, pledging to the President of the United States our loyal support in any action which, in the exercise of his constitutional powers, he may deem necessary to the protection of American rights upon land and sea. Because the common defense is a common duty, universal military training is the only system that is fundamentally democratic and fair. We urge upon Congress the prompt enactment of a bill to put this system into immediate operation." - April 1917 issue of The National Geographic Magazine (XXXI)

Notice the people were renewing their oath to the Constitution and the laws of the Republic. They only pledged their support to the president in his exercise of his constitutional powers. And, they didn't neglect Congress; Congress has it's duty to perform, too. How different from today.

Independence Square 2008A 'Sea of Tombstones' in Philadelphia Brings Memorial Day Remembrances to a New Level
by Cheryl Biren-Wright

In the early hours on the Friday before Memorial Day, members of the Delaware Valley Veterans for America, other veterans groups and volunteers, began the painstaking process of marking out the grid that hours later would hold markers representing the 4081 U.S. service members who lost their lives in the Iraq war (as of May 24).

Adding to this stunning visual were the buildings that flanked the memorial that was first displayed on Veteran’s Day 2005. But, it wasn’t historic Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell or the National Constitution Center that pulled at the heartstrings of those who walked along the somber exhibit. It was the tone that was set by the organizers, mostly veterans, who moved quietly among the perfect rows listening, sharing stories, and answering sometimes difficult questions.