Tom Engelhardt has published a new tomgram, an essay by David Swanson, which summarizes and illustrates the topic quite well. If you're interested, it's worth a read!

Impeachment Anyone?

The Case for Taking the Tape Off Our Mouths

By David Swanson
[This piece is based on seven new books on impeachment, all briefly discussed in a final note.]

Never before has the system of government established by the U.S. Constitution been as seriously threatened; never before has the built-in remedy for the sort of threat we face been as badly needed; never before have we had as good an opportunity to use that remedy exactly as it was intended.

...

An official censure by Congress would do nothing to compel the President to obey laws he chooses not to obey. Impeachment would do nothing. Only impeachment followed by removal from office will cure this cancer on the American political system. The current situation is exactly what the authors of the Constitution had in mind when they made impeachment and removal from office the means of protection against tyranny.

...

link

BBC Iraq coverage

The BBC coverage is far superior than the rubbish we are getting from the American media.

The Capital Area Youth Symphony will present a dinner and silent auction with featured artist Svend Ronning, a well known violinist and chair of the string division at Pacific Lutheran Univ. The event is Saturday, Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. at the Olympia Golf and Country Club.

The Youth Symphony, founded in 1982, offers high quality symphonic experience and performance opportunities for young musicians in the Olympia region and beyond.

"This dinner and auction is an important fundraiser for us," says Wayne Bloomingdale, a member of the symphony's board of directors. "It's vital that we support the arts, and the youth symphony is an extraordinary opportunity for our youth."

Tickets for the event are $100 for couples, and $75 for single. For more information call (360) 915-6507.

I have it on good authority that the Port of Olympia invited a group of pro-war activists to hold a bbq for port workers ON THE SAME DAY as anti-war activists were arrested for trying to enter the port property. Does anyone know about this claim, and how it might impact the prosecution of those arrested, ostensibly for trespassing?

I'd like to point out that we seem to have a new user on OlyBlog: "MAF54." I can only guess that since Mark Foley has so much free time on his hands, he has taken an interest in the local scene here in Olympia. Well, welcome Mark. I'm sorry that you couldn't live your life openly as gay man in the US Congress, given the homophobia in our culture at the current moment. Perhaps one day, conservatives will stop using social/moral issues as a political weapon, and then they won't look like such hypocrites when they get caught with their pants down. So, welcome MAF54. I think you'll find OlyBlog is a more accepting place where you are free to express you personality without fear of holier-than-thou pomposity.

Hopefully this will clarify a thread from about two weeks ago.

It might raise more questions or even make my position a bit more murky. I really don't know whether I believe in all of this ("defending the empire"), but I've been thinking about it a lot lately.

Originally, I began thinking about it when Drew asked why I would join the military if the basic purpose today is to serve as a force for imperialism.

Norm then responded to something along the lines of "it doesn't matter if the United States is an empire or not," he would still fight for it.

Maybe the real question in the world today isn't whether the United States is an empire, because that much is evident. In order to resemble a republic, it would probably require a lot of internal armed conflict. But maybe the question is: How are we going to use our empire?

At any rate, here's my longest contribution to OlyBlog. Not really insightful as far as new information but I think it should shed a little light on my thinking process. At the very least, this is how I feel warfare should be executed, regardless of our country carrying the title of empire or republic.

Conflict between Men has been taking place since The Beginning. Christians, Jews, and Muslims all tell the story of Cain and Abel which ultimately resulted first murder in human history.

Therefore, eliminating conflict entirely is simply not plausible. The goal is not to eliminate conflict but rather aim toward winning the conflict in the most honorable way possible.

Jus in Bello, or “Justice in War,

From today's Olympian on the protesting yesterday:

There was an unconfirmed report on the online community news site Olyblog that three Olympia residents were arrested during a demonstration in Seattle.