Aug 16 2008

The Extremely Important Presidential Candidate Forum That Wasn’t

(11 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

We have two theaters of occupations of others in destroyed countries, destroyed by us, one in continuing destruction from others before to us now and our broken promises of helping to rebuild as that theater grows more dangerous, the other totally destroyed on the trumped up lies of a twisted ideology of a few, tens of thousands dead and maimed, millions living as refugee’s, billions of dollars wasted, stolen, lost in the machine of war profitteering, soldiers serving mutiple tours in both, families of same scraficing as a nation that is not moves along, most not caring what is happening In Their Names.

We call this “The War On Terror” and in the seven years these conflict theaters have been raging all we’ve created are the hatreds that will feed the ranks of the criminal terrorists leading to damaged National Securities around the globe and more theaters of death, destruction and occupations.

The sub title of this ‘War On Terrorism’ has been sold to all as a clash of twisted religious ideologies, a ‘Religious War’, on all sides. Those war hawks supporting and pushing these ideologies, few of them fighting, define everything about these clashes with political and religious labels, those opposed are left to define in same manner.

Tonight, as we approach the 2008 elections, we will have the first face to face forum of the Presidential Candidates, and where will that forum take place, in of all places a mega church presided over, and moderated by a best-selling pastor, Rick Warren.

This in a Country that labels itself as a Christian Nation, comfortably attempting to push all other religious ideologies of it’s citizens out of site and mind. A nation where those that individually preach their christian faiths in the teachings of rarely follow those teachings, picking and choosing the teachings each feels comfortable with in their lives while living with intolerance of others and placing political ideologies front and center as the religion they follow.

There was a Presidential Candidate Forum of much more meaning that was to be and should have been the first. It would have brought forth what this Nation and it’s Presidential Candidates should be focussed on for in what direction this nation is heading, what are it’s moral standards, how it should lead by the examples it says it has but continuingly fails to follow, how it takes care of those who serve it’s National Defense and the families of those who serve and much more, but it didn’t happen.

Let me introduce the young lady that was spear heading this attempted Presidential Forum:

“Military Spouses Working to Improve Lives of Soldiers”

Carissa is, Carissa Picard, A Blue Star Wife and President/Founder of Military Spouses for Change at P.O. Box 216, Copperas Cove, TX 76522

And these are just some of the Advocacy Groups working with her:

The Town Hall Consortium is made up of:

 American Veterans

 Brain Injury Association of America

 Disabled Veterans of America

 Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States

 Fleet Reserve Association

 Military Officers Association of America

 Military Order of the Purple Heart

 Military Spouse Corporate Career Network

 National Spinal Cord INjury Association

 The Sanctuary International

 Veterans for Common Sense

 Veterans United for Truth

 Vietnam Veterans of America

 Veterans Village

 WELLsville Veterans Project

Carissa tried, along with others, to also get a Candidate Forum for the primary runs of both political parties and all the candidates, that to didn’t happen.

This is an article from back than:

War uneasiness could loosen GOP’s hold on military votes

This is a Video report from back than:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Margaret Mead.

The one that should have been was the 2008 Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall to take place on Monday August 11, 2008, 9:00 pm (EST) at the Bell County Expo Center, Belton, Texas and carried live on the CBS Television Network.

Neither of these important forums failed because of a lack of extremely hard work or poor planning, they did so because the Presidential Candidates, in the primary runs, and now approaching the elections didn’t want them, nor did the greater majority of this countries voter population. The latter was proven out by posting about these on the political interactive web forums and the replys given and not given.

Breaking the cycle of war making: our country will not find peace until we take responsibility for our wars. from Heal the Warrior, Heal the Country

The forum that was to be this past monday was accepted by one presidential candidates camp, in word only, the other said that previous committments interfeared, with the Town Hall Consortium saying they would work with both to find a suitable date.

As the date was closing in the Consortium suspended the forum. The candidate camp that had accepted, instead of using that suspension as a political point, instead ignored and came out with a series of other attack ads and no mention in the stump speaches, the other camp also hasn’t mentioned the forum, meanwhile our soldiers and their families still carry the countries burden of sacrifice. The voting population seems also to have brushed it aside as it wasn’t, to them, important enough to stand behind and fight for!

While everyone hangs on to every word of tonights religious? Presidential Candidate Forum, listening to every word and many waiting to write about how each candidate faired, the Occupations go on, the destruction continues, the body counts go up, the billions are spent, the hatreds are increased, and this country continues it’s downward spiral away from it’s stated beliefs!

This is a pretty good description of what is to come tonight, as shown on MSNBC Countdown last night

And this is a tiny window on how lives have been changed:

A Thank You to Those Who Care for Our Nation’s Wounded

“Military Spouses for Change” is working to improve the lives of soldiers and their families. They want to convince government to improve health care, treatment for PTSD and other issues that soldiers face when they return home.

That ‘Government’ is You!!

“We want this dialogue, we want this conversation to occur, we want the American public to be watching it as it happens,” Military Spouses for Change President Carissa Picard said.

Again I’ll say, neither Presidential Candidate Camp wanted this forum, but more Importantly neither did the American Voters, either party!

7 comments

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  1. There should be debates at Fort Hood and there should be debates in New Orleans as well.

    What a bunch of cowards.  No one wants to deal with reality here, and the notion of a Presidential debate being held in a megachurch turns my stomach.

    Thanks, Jim, for this great essay.

    • Edger on August 16, 2008 at 17:10
    • #

    the empire and the economy going. The wars are the reason there are so many cheap goods available. The wars are what enable the American Lifestyle. The wars are what make America so “exeptional”. Without the wars the country would fall on its face and collapse.

    American Exceptionalism

    A Disease of Conceit

    By Ron Jacobs, July 21, 2004

    Any person who is honestly opposed to the US presence in Iraq and Afghanistan has got to wonder why the movement that developed against the US war on Iraq before the March 2003 invasion has faltered so badly and now seems to be caught up in the movement to electorally defeat George Bush [and now John McCain]++, even though that means supporting John Kerry [and now Barack Obama]++-a politician who not only supported the invasion and occupation, but talks openly about widening the war to include the NATO countries and tens of thousands more US troops. One could place the blame on the failure of the movement’s politics, always more liberal than anti-imperialist. Or, one could place the blame on the leadership. In both cases, one would find some basis for their argument.

    When it comes to the bottom line, though, the underlying cause for the US antiwar movement’s current stasis is that most of its adherents believe in one of this country’s basic tenets-a tenet that is ultimately religious in nature. For lack of a more descriptive phrase, we’ll call this phenomenon American exceptionalism. On a basic political level, this phenomenon is the belief that, for some reason (America’s system of democracy, or maybe its economic superiority), the United States system is not subject to the same contradictions and influences as those of the rest of the world.

    …

    America is not a better country than any other. Its citizens and residents are as venal and as great as any others in any other part of the world. The only thing that sets us apart is our wealth. The only reason we have that wealth is because we stole it. God didn’t give it to us, nor did any greater American intelligence or know-how. Robbery is what our foreign policy is based on, just like our racial policies. It’s not the policies that need to change, but the foundation upon which those policies flourish. Until US activists accept this and give up their conscious and unconscious acceptance of the myth of American exceptionalism, any movement against war, racism, and other ills of our world is bound to fail. Not because it doesn’t have the right motivation, but because it doesn’t have a radical enough conception of itself and the world it exists in.

    ++ [additions mine]

  3. This is key.  Most folks would rather not know, rather not have to think about it, rather not have to feel that uneasy feeling in their stomach when they hear about the death and destruction our nation causes.

    The Candidates want to get elected….they my have deep convictions about many things but if they are told by enough advisors that these convictions may risk poll numbers they tend to back down.  Perhaps they convince themselves that when they get elected they can change things and maybe they can.  However I have always felt that no one knows what is going to happen tomorrow: are you going to get elected, what if you don’t get into office?…so I try to act and speak on my convictions TODAY while continuing to hope and work for a better tomorrow.

    Further, our country should be ashamed of how we have treated our soldiers and their families.  But most Americans do not believe or even know about how BushCo has decimated our soldier…..most Americans are happy not knowing, all they want to be required of them to show their support for our troops is putting a magnet on their car.  Actually knowing might require them to take action to alleviate their guilt.

    This is one key reason we are in the mess we are in.

    Thanks for this diary.  

     

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