Trump’s Articles of Impeachment: A Greatest Hits Collection

Trump’s Articles of Impeachment: A Greatest Hits Collection

By David Swanson, FireDonaldTrump.org

Several years back, I led a team of authors drafting articles of impeachment against then-President George W. Bush for then-Congressman Dennis Kucinich. We drafted over 60 and settled on the best 35. Had Congress moved forward, it would not have passed all 35 or convicted on them. But we felt it was important to establish the record and present the options. In fact, I would have preferred to go with more than 35, including a wider range of topics. The fact that someone has abused power in 10 ways should constitute no license to abuse it in an 11th way.

Believe it or not (hint, hint: I don’t need more emails on this) I am aware of the general horror of Mike Pence, but a country that impeached and removed presidents would be a very different country in which the next president would have to behave or face impeachment and removal in turn. Fear of the next person will look ever weaker as grounds for allowing the current person to destroy things as he proceeds with his destruction.

I’m further aware that Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi’s team wants Trump around more than the Republicans do, so that the Democrats can “oppose” him. The task before the public is to compel members of both major parties to impeach, not to sit back and observe them doing so of their own volition.

Although several potential articles of impeachment against Trump stand very strongly on their own, and picking any one of them would be sufficient, the very strongest case for impeachment is a cumulative one. I cannot predict which articles, if any, will gain the most popular or Congressional support. I am, therefore, collecting the strongest ones available here at FireDonaldTrump.org. I will add more as the crime wave rolls on. I pushed for impeachment of Bush and of Obama for some similar offenses and some completely different ones. Many of Trump’s high crimes and misdemeanors are unprecedented. None are identical to the abuses by those who have gone before him.

I. Domestic Emoluments

In his conduct while President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution “to take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” has illegally received emoluments from the United States government and from individual state governments.

The Constitutional ban on domestic emoluments is absolute, not waivable by Congress, and not subject to proving any particular corrupting influence.

President Trump’s lease of the Old Post Office Building in Washington D.C. violates the General Services Administration lease contract which states: “No … elected official of the Government of the United States … shall be admitted to any share or part of this Lease, or to any benefit that may arise therefrom.” The GSA’s failure to enforce that contract constitutes an emolument.

Since 1980 Trump and his businesses have garnered, according to the New York Times, “$885 million in tax breaks, grants and other subsidies for luxury apartments, hotels and office buildings in New York.” Those subsidies from the state of New York have continued since President Trump took office and constitute emoluments.

In these and many similar actions and decisions, President Donald J. Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore, President Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.

II. Foreign Emoluments

In his conduct while President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution “to take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” has illegally received emoluments from foreign governments. Foreign emoluments are banned by the U.S. Constitution.

Donald J. Trump’s business has licensing deals with two Trump Towers in Istanbul, Turkey. Donald J. Trump has stated: “I have a little conflict of interest, because I have a major, major building in Istanbul.”

China’s state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is the largest tenant in Trump Tower in New York City. It is also a major lender to Donald J. Trump. Its rent payments and its loans put President Trump in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Foreign diplomats, including the Embassy of Kuwait, have changed their Washington D.C. hotel and event reservations to Trump International Hotel following Donald J. Trump’s election to public office.

In these and many similar actions and decisions, President Donald J. Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore, President Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.

III. Incitement of Violence Within the United States

In his conduct while President of the United States, and while campaigning for election to that office, Donald J. Trump, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution “to take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” has illegally incited violence within the United States.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brandenberg v. Ohio in 1969 that “advocacy directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action . . . likely to incite or produce such action” is not protected by the First Amendment.

An incomplete sampling of public statements by candidate Donald J. Trump:

“If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them. I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees.”

“Maybe he should have been roughed up, because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing.”

“See, in the good old days this doesn’t happen, because they used to treat them very, very rough. And when they protested once, you know, they would not do it again so easily.”

“You know what I hate? There’s a guy, totally disruptive, throwing punches, we’re not allowed to punch back anymore. I love the old days—you know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this? They’d be carried out on a stretcher, folks.”

“See the first group, I was nice. Oh, take your time. The second group, I was pretty nice. The third group, I’ll be a little more violent. And the fourth group, I’ll say get the hell out of here!”

“I’d like to punch him in the face, I tell ya.”

“You see, in the good old days, law enforcement acted a lot quicker than this. A lot quicker. In the good old days, they’d rip him out of that seat so fast — but today, everybody’s politically correct.”

“He was swinging, he was hitting people, and the audience hit back. That’s what we need more of.”

Numerous incidents of violence followed these comments. John Franklin McGraw punched a man in the face at a Trump event, and then told Inside Edition that “The next time we see him, we might have to kill him.” Donald J. Trump said that he was considering paying McGraw’s legal bills.

Since Trump’s election and inauguration, his comments appearing to incite violence have continued, as have incidents of violence in which those participating in violence have pointed to Trump as justification.

On July 2, 2017, President Donald J. Trump tweeted a video of himself body slamming a man with an image of “CNN” superimposed on him.

In August 2017, participants in a racist rally in Charlottesville, Va., credited President Trump with boosting their cause. Their violence included actions that have led to a murder charge. President Trump publicly minimized the offense and sought to blame “many sides.”

In these and similar actions and decisions, President Donald J. Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore, President Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.

IV. Voter Intimidation

In his conduct while President of the United States, and while campaigning for election to that office, Donald J. Trump, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution “to take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” has engaged in acts of voter intimidation and suppression.

For months leading up to the November 2016 elections, Donald J. Trump publicly encouraged his supporters, the same ones he had encouraged to engage in violence, to patrol polling places in search of participants in the virtually nonexistent practice of voter fraud. In so doing, candidate Trump made would-be voters aware that they might face such patrols. His remarks included:

“I hope you people can sort of not just vote on the 8th, go around and look and watch other polling places, and make sure that it’s 100 percent fine.”

“We’re going to watch Pennsylvania. Go down to certain areas and watch and study and make sure other people don’t come in and vote five times.”

Trump urged supporters to target Philadelphia, St. Louis, and other cities with large minority populations.

He created on his campaign website a way to sign up to “volunteer to be a Trump election observer.”

When early voting began, incidents were reported of Trump supporters photographing voters and otherwise intimidating them.

Trump ally and former campaign advisor Roger Stone formed an activist group called Stop the Steal that acted in line with Trump’s public statements. The group threatened violence against delegates if the Republican Party denied Trump its nomination. It then organized intimidation efforts in the general election around the unsupported claim that Trump’s opponents would somehow “flood the polls with illegals. Liberal enclaves already let illegals vote in their local and state elections and now they want them to vote in the Presidential election.”

According to the U.S. Department of Justice in 2006, in all federal elections between 2002 and 2005, a total of 26 people out of 197 million were convicted of trying to vote illegally.

Stone’s organization created official-looking ID badges for volunteers and asked them to videotape voters, and conduct phony exit polls in nine cities with large minority populations.

One such volunteer, Steve Webb of Ohio, told the Boston Globe, “I’m going to go right up behind them. I’ll do everything legally. I want to see if they are accountable. I’m not going to do anything illegal. I’m going to make them a little bit nervous.”

Since becoming president, Donald J. Trump has continued with voter intimidation efforts. He has created a Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, which has sent letters to states requesting sensitive voter information. Most states have refused. But thousands of people have canceled their registrations rather than have their information turned over to Trump’s administration.

In these and similar actions and decisions, President Donald J. Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore, President Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.

V. Muslim Bans

In his conduct while President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution “to take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” has engaged in acts of discrimination in violation of the First Amendment and other laws by seeking to ban Muslims from entering the United States.

Donald J. Trump had openly campaigned for office promising a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” Once in office, he created an executive order that his advisor Rudy Giuliani, said on Fox News had been drafted after Trump had asked him for the best way to create a Muslim ban “legally.” The order targeted several majority-Muslim countries for restrictions on immigration to the United States, but made allowances for people of minority religions within those countries. Trump told the Christian Broadcasting Network that Christian refugees would be given priority. When a federal court stopped this order from taking effect, President Trump issued a new one containing, in the words of his advisor Stephen Miller “minor technical differences.”

In these actions and decisions, President Donald J. Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore, President Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.

VI. Environmental Destruction

In his conduct while President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution “to take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” has actively sought to endanger the future existence of human life in the United States and elsewhere.

On December 6, 2009, on page 8 of the New York Times a letter to then-President Barack Obama printed as an advertisement and signed by Donald J. Trump called climate change an immediate challenge. “Please don’t postpone the earth,” it read. “If we fail to act now, it is scientifically irrefutable that there will be catastrophic and irreversible consequences for humanity and our planet.” An overwhelming consensus of climate scientists agreed with and still agree with that statement.

As president, Donald J. Trump has taken the opposite course, refusing to take any significant steps to protect the earth’s climate, and actively taking steps to endanger it, including by seeking to de-fund the Environmental Protection Agency and to censor its publications. President Trump has issued an executive order curbing enforcement of climate regulations. He has withdrawn the United States from the Paris climate agreement. He has disbanded the Advisory Committee for the Sustained National Climate Assessment. He has canceled a study of the health impacts of mountain-top removal.

The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court has written than environmental crimes are crimes against humanity.

In the above and many similar actions and decisions, President Donald J. Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States and the world. Wherefore, President Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.

VII. Illegal Wars

In his conduct while President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution “to take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” has waged numerous wars in violation of the United Nations Charter and of the Kellogg-Briand Pact, both treaties part of the Supreme Law of the United States under Article VI of the U.S. Constitution.

By these actions, President Donald J. Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States and the world. Wherefore, President Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.

VIII. Illegal Threats of Wars

In his conduct while President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution “to take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” has threatened war against additional nations, including North Korea, in violation of the United Nations Charter, a treaty that is part of the Supreme Law of the United States under Article VI of the U.S. Constitution.

By these actions, President Donald J. Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States and the world. Wherefore, President Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.

IX. Sexual Assault

Prior to becoming President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, stated:

“I’m automatically attracted to beautiful [women]—I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything … Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”

By this action, Donald J. Trump has acted in a manner that makes it impossible for him to fulfill his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution “to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”

Wherefore, President Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.

##

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Explosives found near multiple nuclear power plants — Fire and explosion reported

Latest Headlines from ENENews

Explosives found near multiple nuclear power plants — Fire and explosion reported — Large bomb just hundreds of feet from reactor site — Military squads called in (VIDEO)
Posted: 22 Aug 2017 12:49 PM PDT

Symtoms of a change

Dear Friends,

There are symptoms that allow us to foresee an important change in Japan.
The Japanese major media seem to start shifting toward supporting the retreat from the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020.
The Asahi Newspaper and the Mainichi Newspaper, both of them sponsoring the Tokyo Olympic Games, surprised the readers by the following frank expressions.

(The editorial of August 14,2017)

<The Tokyo Olympic Games is based on the false assertion that “Fukushima is under control”, assertion that deceives the whole world. The Abe Cabinet passed by force the law on conspiracy under the pretext of the Tokyo Olympic Games, law that could restrict human rights and menace democracy. We should at least retreat from “the sickness of the Tokyo Olympic Games!”
(The evening edition of the Mainichi News Paper of August7, 2017)

“The results of the nation-wide referendum among the listeners
conducted on 17 June by the TV Asahi news anchor Hiroshi Kume’s wide-show program entitled "Should we retreat from the the Tokyo Olympic Games 2010 ?"are impressive. All age categories except “under 19 years old”
have overwhelmingly(83%) supported the retreat from the 2020 Olympic Games.

Mr. Hiroshi Kume revealed in his radio broadcast of August12 that the Olympic Organizing Committee had addressed him opposing arguments. He told the listeners that they proved their “Olympic First”position, in stead of
“Athletes First”, explaining why the Tokyo Olympic Games is taking place at the hottest period in Japan（July21~August9）. The IOC had accepted the request of 3 American television networks to make the acceptance of it the prerequisite of the candidacy. Actually, the imposed choice of this hottest period is the target of increasing criticism, because of the obvious dangers of heat strokes menacing athletes, spectators, volunteers etc.( The evening edition of the Mainichi News Paper of July 29, 2017)

In view of the unimaginable impact the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympic Games, it could not but develop into a major political issue sooner or later.
In this connection, some former prime ministers are expected to play an important role.
Former Prime Minister Kan Naoto who experienced the 3/11 disaster while in office is engaged in pleading the world to stop
using nuclear reactors, source of humanly unacceptable consequences.
Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama voiced his opposition against it in his interview given by Japan Times a year and a half ago.
Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi continues to condemn strongly the false assertion “under control”. He has established a relief fund to help American soldiers, victims of the TOMODACHI operation after the 3/11 nuclear disaster.
Among former prime ministers who have not taken position on the Olympic issue, some deserve special attention.
Former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa played a role in promoting the removal of nuclear fuel rods from the unit 4 reactor in Fukushima Daiichi.
Former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is now drawing special attention.
On August 2, the Kyodo News interviewed him. He most severely criticized Prime Minister Abe, asserting that Japan would be ruined due to his control of high ranking bureaucrats by dint of the Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affaires established in 2014.
(Japanese version: http://yuruneto.com/hukudayasuo/)

This interview has not yet been reported abroad, as of August 20, according to the Kyodo News. Its impact is expected to be far reaching.

An important change seems to be in the making.

With warmest and highest regards,
Mitsuhei Murata
Former Ambassador to Switzerland

Top 10 Misconceptions About Charlottesville

 
Top 10 Misconceptions About Charlottesville
By David Swanson
http://davidswanson.org/top-10-misconceptions-about-charlottesville

1. Let’s start with the obvious. Charlottesville, Virginia, and Charlotte, North Carolina, are actually two completely different places in the world. The flood of concern and good wishes for those of us here in Charlottesville is wonderful and much appreciated. That people can watch TV news about Charlottesville, remember that I live in Charlottesville, and send me their kind greetings addressed to the people of Charlotte is an indication of how common the confusion is. It’s not badly taken; I have nothing against Charlotte. It’s just a different place, seventeen times the size. Charlottesville is a small town with the University of Virginia, a pedestrian downtown street, and very few monuments. The three located right downtown are for Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and the Confederacy. Neither Lee nor Jackson had anything to do with Charlottesville, and their statues were put up in whites-only parks in the 1920s.

2. The racists who have begun coming to Charlottesville to campaign for governor, garner attention, threaten violence, engage in violence, and commit murder are almost all from outside Charlottesville, and extremely unwelcome here. Charlottesville is a slightly left-of-center, Democratic Party area. Most people don’t rally for good causes or against bad ones. Most people don’t want the Lee statue taken down. (Or at least they didn’t until it became a gathering point for neo-Confederates.) Most people want other memorials added to public space to diversify. And most people don’t want white supremacists coming to town with their hatred and their violence.

3. Armed attacks are not covered by the First Amendment. I can and have argued at length for the strategic — never mind legal — need to respect odious free speech, and — more importantly — to respect and build bridges of understanding to the troubled people preaching hatred. But the human right to free speech is not found in a gun or a torch or a can of pepper spray any more than in corporate advertising. When we hold peace rallies in U.S. cities we are sometimes forbidden to bring posters on wooden poles. We have to use hollow cardboard tubes to hold up our signs, because — you know — advocates of nonviolence can be so violent. Yet racist, nationalist, white supremacist agitators are allowed to bring an arsenal with which to attack the general public and counter-demonstrators! Whatever that is, it is not free speech. I’d be willing to say it’s closer to enabling terrorism. All media habits of “balance” and “even handedness” become lies when respect for rights, and blame for deaths and injuries, are based on the notion that premeditated violence and threats of violence and the carrying of weapons are not worth noticing.

4. Charlottesville’s mayor voted against taking down the Lee statue, even if he now sounds on NBC News as if it had been his idea. Seen from a certain angle, that’s progress. I want people to get on board with the idea of taking down all racist monuments and all war monuments, and this one is both. But it is a misconception to imagine that the decision to take down General Lee came from the top or that it came without extensive public input. It’s true that City Council member Kristin Szakos publicly proposed the dominance of our public space by Confederate statues as a problem, and that City Council member Wes Bellamy pushed for that. But it was the national movement of Black Lives Matter, and local activism, that created the demand in the first place, as well as making Bellamy a member of City Council. The City held very lengthy and public and extensive hearings and gathering of facts and views. A Blue Ribbon Commission produced a report. And when the City Council voted to take down Lee (but leave up Jackson) it did so because City Council Member Bob Fenwick joined Szakos and Bellamy in a 3-2 vote, in which Mayor Mike Signer was on the losing and cowardly side. Because that is typical of him, we should be wary of fale perceptions of him as a leader, until he really becomes one. It’s possible that had he shown the leadership of the Mayor of New Orleans in taking down statues and explaining why, we wouldn’t be in this mess.

5. The military and militarized police are not here to protect you. An armed force on the streets and in the air of Charlottesville crashed a helicopter, tragically killing two people. But what else did it accomplish? It heightened tensions. It reduced turnout by those opposed to violence and racism. Its aggression toward anti-racists following the KKK rally in July contributed to fears of what it would do this time. The Charlottesville police do not need the mine-resistant vehicle they keep in their garage, because we do not have land mines. We do not need our skies filled — including on the Friday before the rally — with military helicopters. We do not need tanks on our streets for godsake. We need to disarm those seeking to exercise their First Amendment Rights, not arm someone else. The helicopter never should have crashed because it never should have flown. And every individual who assaulted and threatened people with pepper spray, torches, sticks, fists, or an automobile, should have been welcomed to nonviolently, without guns or other weaponry, speak their mind — and to meet and converse with those opposing their views.

6. The events in Charlottesville, like foreign and domestic emoluments, additional forms of financial corruption, Muslim bans, illegal wars, threats to North Korea, voter intimidation, environmental destruction, and sexual assault, make up yet another article of impeachment for Donald Trump awaiting only the awakening of a House of Representatives. Incitement of acts of violence is a crime, and it is certainly a high-crime-and-misdemeanor, the Constitutional phrase refering to an abuse of power that may or may not be criminal. Donald Trump went out of his way to persuade racists that they were free to engage in their racism openly. Numerous racists, including some of those who have been active in Charlottesville, have openly communicated their understanding of that presidential permission. Those sitting silently by in this moment are condoning racism. So are those not advocating for impeachment and removal. Yes I am aware of the general horror of Mike Pence, but a country that impeached and removed presidents would be a very different country in which the next president would have to behave or face impeachment in turn. Fear of the next person will look ever weaker as grounds for allowing the current person to destroy things as he proceeds with his destruction. I’m further aware that the D.C. Democratic leadership makes Mayor Signer’s cynicism look like child’s play, and that Nancy Pelosi wants Trump around more than the Republicans do, so that the Democrats can “oppose” him. But I’m not asking you to believe he’s going to be impeached without your doing anything. I’m asking you to compel his impeachment.

7. The answer to racist violence is not anti-racist violence or passivism, and the idea that those are the only two choices is ridiculous. Charlottesville’s and the United States’ resistance to racism would be far stronger with disciplined nonviolence. The behavior of a few anti-racists in July allowed the corporate media to depict the KKK as victims. There is nothing the alt-right crowd longs for more in this moment than some act of violence against them that would permit pundits to start trumpeting the need for liberals to be more tolerant of racists, and to proclaim that the real problem is those reckless radicals who want to tear down statues. We need nonviolent activism, and we need a thousand times more of it. We need to initiate the next rally in Charlottesville ourselves.

8. Tearing down statues is not opposing history. Charlottesville has three Confederate war statues, two (pro) genocide of the Native Americans statues, one World War I statue, one Vietnam War memorial, one statue of Thomas Jefferson (whose words and deeds, I’m sorry to say, agreed almost entirely with the latest racists), and one statue of Homer (poet of war). And that’s it. We have no memorials, whether monumental statuary or otherwise, to a single educator, artist, musician, athlete, author, or activst, nothing for Native American history, slavery, civil rights, women’s rights, or ANYTHING ELSE. Almost all of our history is missing. Putting up a giant statue for racism and war is not a step for history. Taking it down is not a blow to history. It could be a step forward, in fact. Even the renaming of Lee Park as Emancipation Park is educational. Creating a memorial to emancipation, and one to civil rights, and one to school integration, and one to peace would be more so.

9. The Lee statue is still there, not because racists rally around it, but because legislators glorify war. While neither side has any interest in opposing or even particularly in promoting war, and while the national and local media have gone through endless contortions to avoid mentioning it, the court case holding up the removal of Robert E. Lee and the horse he never rode in on is about war glorification. A state law that may or may not apply to this statue forbids taking down war memorials in Virginia. For fair and balanced free-speech advocates I should note that no similar law forbids taking down peace monuments. Also there really aren’t any to take down if you wanted to. This is a symptom of a culture that has come to accept endless war and the militarization of local police, and to report on rallies of “white nationalists” without ever considering that there may be a problem with both of those words.

10. As I’ve written in recent months, many sympathizers with the racist cause are understandable. This is a quite different thing from being acceptable or praise worthy. To say that someone is understandable is to say that you can understand them. They’re not monsters acting on inexplicable subhuman impulses any more than do the people they hate or the people against whom the United States wages wars typically behave that way. These racists live in one of the most unequal societies ever known, and they don’t live at the top of it. They hear about endless efforts to alleviate injustice toward all sorts of wronged groups that don’t include them. They notice the cultural acceptability in comedy shows and elsewhere of mocking white people. They seek a group identity. They seek others to blame. They seek others to place beneath themselves. And they hear hardly a peep out of Washington D.C. about creating universal rights and supports for everyone, as in Scandinavia. Instead they hear that hatred and violence and racism come with the Presidential seal of approval.

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Nationwide Rallies After Hate Kills in Charlottesville | Weekend Edition

Independent, Non-Profit Newscenter since 1997

While Trump Equivocates on Charlottesville, Nationwide Rallies to Denounce White Supremacy
‘We mourn for the lives that were lost, and we will honor all those under attack by congregating against hate in our own communities.’

News…

Proud Mother Says Charlottesville Victim Heather Heyer ‘Was About Stopping Hatred’
“I want her death to be a rallying cry for justice and equality and fairness and compassion,” says mother of Heather Heyer. “No mother wants to lose a child, but I’m proud of her.”

Police Stood By As Mayhem Mounted in Charlottesville
State police and National Guardsmen watched passively for hours as self-proclaimed Nazis engaged in street battles with counter-protesters.

Horror in Charlottesville: One Dead After Driver Plows into Anti-Racist Demo
In a terrifying scene in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday, the driver of a car appeared to intentionally slam into progressive demonstrators marching against a Klu Klux Klan-backed neo-Nazi rally taking place in the city.

White Supremacists, Armed With Tiki Torches and Hate, Denounced at UVA
‘We cannot let their worldview normalize. We must be clear, united, and vocal in our opposition.’
More News…
Views…

There Are Only Two Sides to Charlottesville. Trump Is on the Wrong One.
by Christine Emba
As the leader of our nation, our president should know that some conflicts don’t deserve forbearance or false equivalence.

A Presidency Built on Racial Divisions
by Peniel Joseph
As the first modern president to consider racial segregationists a part of his base, Trump remains reluctant to forcefully speak out against racial hatred, thereby sending another signal that ensures that this latest explosion of racial violence will get much worse, before it gets better.

Dear White Supremacists: There Will Be No Race War
by Steven Singer
“This one goes out to all the white boys who think being ‘white’ and being a ‘boy’ means the world owes them something.”

Charlottesville Was Not a “Protest Turned Violent,” It Was a Planned Race Riot
by Zenobia Jeffries
Isn’t it time for the media to be honest and call white supremacists the domestic terrorists that they are?

For Media, Driving Into a Crowd of Protesters Is a ‘Clash’
by Adam Johnson
“There are times when things can be ambiguous,but after a person the police say ‘premeditatedly’ rammed into a crowd of anti-racist protesters with a car, it’s fairly clear the anti-racist protesters aren’t to blame for the death.”

The Misguided Attacks on ACLU for Defending Neo-Nazis’ Free Speech Rights in Charlottesville
by Glenn Greenwald
A caution about who exactly is to blame when what looks like political violence occurs.
More Views…
Newswire…

People’s Action:
Until Trump Condemns Racism and Hate, He is Condoning It
Indivisible Guide:
Statement on Charlottesville
National Nurses United:
Nurses Condemn Charlottesville Violence, ‘No Place for White Supremacy, Racism, Bigotry in a Democratic Society’
Democracy for America:
Charlottesville Solidarity Rallies

more newswire…

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Pieces of Fukushima reactor cores still floating around

Latest Headlines from ENENews

Pieces of Fukushima reactor cores still floating around, new study reveals — Hot particles with over 1 Quadrillion becquerels per kilogram detected — Radioactive materials contain Uranium, Polonium, Americium (VIDEO)
Posted: 08 Aug 2017 04:23 AM PDT

What happened at the Democracy Convention – What’s Next

World Beyond War via WorldBeyondWar.org info@worldbeyondwar.org via sg.actionnetwork.org
9:01 AM (13 hours ago)

Sept. 16 Flotilla to the Pentagon: sign up so we know who needs a boat.

Sept. 22-24 No War 2017: War and the Environment conference: check out the new speakers and reserve a spot.

The Democracy Convention was incredible!

Here are a few videos and transcripts:

Hiroshima Haunting Video

Hiroshima Haunting Text

Law vs. War: Scott Shapiro and David Swanson on Kellogg-Briand Video

Ending the Nuclear Nightmare Video

You Cannot Begin a Crime in Good Faith Text

Getting to Peace Through Local Governments Text

Prosecuting Famine Creation Text

The Case for Abolishing War with David Swanson and Medea Benjamin Video

Do the People Want War? Leah Bolger and Norman Solomon Video

Why We Can and Must End Our Greatest Crime Text

Sign the Declaration of Peace.

Find events all over the world that you can take part in.

Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/5QA/ni0YAA/t.29o/m527yP-fRrCGnPDw1GvKig/h12/Jb9ZUZ-2BHBLFAkQw-2FQ1kTOgyuF9N9CNuLMdUBeWJCQajiLaePPxwAuSxwWkeEyt18UZ666XVeKwZkahag3MLQjxrO3UA79vZKL5f-2FQs3kWATFcoJ9ps1nWI450d3ghJfmUdHN7hfVC19gbE-2BDYDs8ktPeDm26crGJdz3BbL7i-2FYhBEdtD-2F1ffEfWGVUk3i0RYJp0p3H8qUPMSMZboNVYDHIALPR3xp5Sz0rrTLXQWkhd8-2BqnLwI9xVRToo80X-2BqU9VJ-2BSLPT2WL0JyXHMC48C3p0GDNYxKnFqr-2BSBUJqKp5FMsCZ0i9aQ57xEnDVgF1pTc8Ly-2Fw2R8wD0D4Osw5xSKXPy1RKV-2FyjDGlKKtauuGIDyotupHpPNT6pEkLxc9LnWsPgNG68b-2Fu-2F4GV2GmjLnAQGhlWArzF17UQy57OLp4N8-3D

 

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You Cannot Begin a Crime in Good Faith

David Swanson via WarIsACrime.org david@davidswanson.org via sg.actionnetwork.org
8:34 AM (13 hours ago)

Press event in DC tomorrow (Tuesday): U.S. planes out of Syria!

Flotilla to the Pentagon! September 16. You have to sign up, so we know who needs a boat!
NoWar2017: War and the Environment. September 22-24. Sign up to reserve a spot.

I’m just back from Democracy Convention in Minneapolis. Videos and transcripts here:

Hiroshima Haunting Video

Hiroshima Haunting Text

Law vs. War: Scott Shapiro and David Swanson on Kellogg-Briand Video

You Cannot Begin a Crime in Good Faith Text

Getting to Peace Through Local Governments Text

Prosecuting Famine Creation Text

Why We Can and Must End Our Greatest Crime Text

David Swanson and Medea Benjamin: The Case for Abolishing War Video

Leah Bolger and Norman Solomon – Do the People Want War? Video

http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/6gA/ni0YAA/t.29o/yK8odyu4SyOx3Y8NPls7HQ/h5/oOrf4U-2FQJ-2Bbavx96gfibBtiOfgF-2BeHV6eCMQf6gSw3D6nky-2B9sktq3sfUbyMsjMNb8oqj9mTwc7cLqsHm680h1ldIhFe6u4GXL8ZpoaoU1VFDl8oBlRPYQmXwgR0X3AmB7BHa3bMQ-2FyoA7gKe60rHbDMy-2FsY3qNVKf6pkmBpH9Q-2BD8luHh6GiNcdLlVnp-2FYP1pdXMct4Pi4xXVKRyko2se14Fb2mEodG4om36gRw6pyGFlnRVB-2F2LnF9keujWw7ZiAVJGvwGtLf1l9sSYAKzCduztbcJgUiwMrbzJHxZwB1-2By7fschMDpD7LBY9iB-2BjeiWNi0hvo-2FDnoBcKilyfThSdi8GZobw2DN7qmNt-2BqdzKDnzbU3nJbdL9PrKea5AhHuTgdc3P2pziYBs1aENwk-2Fw-3D-3DHiroshima Haunting Video
 

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Hiroshima Haunting

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Hiroshima Haunting Video

Hiroshima Haunting Text

https://globalethics.wordpress.com/2016/06/08/%e3%83%92%e3%83%ad%e3%82%b7%e3%83%9e%e2%80%90%e3%83%8a%e3%82%ac%e3%82%b5%e3%82%ad%e5%87%b6%e8%a1%8c%e3%81%ae%e6%9b%b4%e3%81%ab%e6%b7%b1%e3%81%84%e6%a0%b9%e6%ba%90/
「歴史的に」空虚なヒロシマ・スーツ（礼服・儀礼？嘆願）訪問
In “オバマ”
ヒロシマとナガサキ：原爆投下後70年
ヒロシマ‐ナガサキ凶行の更に深い根源
In “オバマ”
Hiroshima Haunting

Remarks at Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration at Peace Garden at Lake Harriet, Minneapolis, Minn., Aug. 6, 2017

Thank you for inviting me to speak here. I’m grateful and honored, but it is not an easy task. I’ve spoken on television and to large crowds and to important big shots, but here you are asking me to speak to hundreds of thousands of ghosts and billions of ghosts in waiting. To think about this subject wisely we must keep all of them in mind, as well as those who tried to prevent Hiroshima and Nagasaki, those who survived, those who reported, those who forced themselves to remember over and over in order to educate others.

Perhaps even more difficult is thinking about those who rushed to make all those deaths and injuries happen or who went along unquestioning, and those who do the same today. Nice people. Decent people. People superficially similar to you. People who do not abuse their children or their pets. People perhaps like the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet who was asked last week if he would launch a nuclear attack on China if President Trump ordered him to. His response was a very principled and reasonable yes, he would obey orders.

If people don’t obey orders, the world falls apart. Therefore one must obey orders even when they rip the world apart — even illegal orders, orders that violate the U.N. Charter, orders that ignore the Kellogg-Briand Pact, orders that annihilate forever all existence of or memory of every beautiful childhood memory and every child.

In contrast, Jeremy Corbyn, the head of the Labour Party in the U.K., and the next prime minister if current trends continue, has said he would never use nuclear weapons. He was widely denounced for being so unreasonable.

We can and must eliminate nuclear weapons from the face of the earth before they are intentionally or accidentally used. Some of them are thousands of times what was dropped on Japan. A small number of them could create a nuclear winter that starves us out of existence. Their proliferation and normalization guarantees that our luck will run out if we do not eliminate them. Nukes have been accidentally launched in Arkansas and accidentally dropped on North Carolina. (John Oliver said not to worry, that’s why we have TWO Carolinas). The list of near misses and misunderstandings is staggering.

Steps like the new treaty advanced by most of the world’s nations to ban possession of nuclear weapons must be worked for with everything we’ve got, and followed with campaigns to divest all funding, and to extend the process to nuclear energy and depleted uranium.

But bringing the nuclear nations, and in particular the one we are standing in, to join the world on this will be a major hurdle, and it may be insurmountable unless we take steps not only against this worst of all weapons thus far manufactured but also against the institution of war itself. Mikhail Gorbachev says that unless the United States scales back its aggression and military dominance with non-nuclear nations, other nations will not abandon the nuclear missiles that they believe protect them from attack. There is a reason that many observers view the latest sanctions against Russia, North Korea, and Iran as a prelude to war on Iran, and not on the other two.

It is the ideology of war, as well as the armaments and agencies of war, that condemns Jeremy Corbyn while applauding a man who professes blind obedience to an illegal order. One wonders whether such good soldiers and sailors view Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov as a degenerate or a hero. He was of course a Soviet Navy officer who refused to launch nuclear weapons during the Cuban missile crisis, thereby quite possibly saving the world. As enjoyable as we may find all the lies and exaggeration and demonization directed at Russia by our elected and unelected officials and their media outlets, I think erecting statues of Vasili Arkhipov in U.S. parks would be much more useful. Perhaps next to statues of Frank Kellogg.

It’s not simply the ideology of war we have to overcome, but parochialism, nationalism, racism, sexism, materialism, and the belief in our prerogative to destroy the planet, whether by radiation or by fossil fuel consumption. This is why I have misgivings about something like a March For Science. I have yet to hear of a march for wisdom or a rally for humility or a demonstration for kindness. We even had a rally for Nothing, in opposition to rallies, organized by a comedian in Washington, D.C., prior to ever having had one demonstration for these other important causes.

There’s a line in a book and movie by Carl Sagan called Contact that has the main character sagely wanting to inquire of a more technologically advanced civilization how they made it past the stage of “technological adolescence” without destroying themselves. But this is not technological adolescence we are in. Technology will continue to produce more and more dangerous devices as time goes by. Technology will not become mature and begin producing only helpful stuff, because technology is not a human being. This is MORAL adolescence we are in. We empower delinquents who urge police to crack heads and their buddies to assault women, and who try to solve problems with giant walls, junior-high-level propaganda, denial of healthcare, and the frequent firing of people.

Or we empower equally adolescent prom-king characters like the U.S. president who went to Hiroshima a little over a year ago and declared quite falsely that “Artifacts tell us that violent conflict appeared with the very first man,” and who urged us to resign ourselves to permanent war with the words: “We may not be able to eliminate man’s capacity to do evil, so nations and the alliances that we form must possess the means to defend ourselves.”

Yet a dominant militarized nation gains absolutely nothing defensive from nukes. They do not deter terrorist attacks by non-state actors in any way. Nor do they add an iota to the U.S. military’s ability to deter nations from attacking, given the United States’ ability to destroy anything anywhere at any time with non-nuclear weapons. They also don’t win wars, and the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, France, and China have all lost wars against non-nuclear powers while possessing nukes. Nor, in the event of global nuclear war, can any outrageous quantity of weaponry protect the United States in any way from apocalypse.

We must work to eliminate nuclear weapons, President Barack Obama said in Prague and Hiroshima, but, he said, probably not in his lifetime. We have no choice but to prove him wrong about that timing.

We need to evolve beyond what our leaders tell us about nuclear weapons, including what our schools tell our children about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Weeks before the first bomb was dropped, Japan sent a telegram to the Soviet Union expressing its desire to surrender and end the war. The United States had broken Japan’s codes and read the telegram. President Harry Truman referred in his diary to “the telegram from Jap Emperor asking for peace.” Japan objected only to surrendering unconditionally and giving up its emperor, but the United States insisted on those terms until after the bombs fell, at which point it allowed Japan to keep its emperor.

Presidential advisor James Byrnes had told Truman that dropping the bombs would allow the United States to “dictate the terms of ending the war.” Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal wrote in his diary that Byrnes was ‘most anxious to get the Japanese affair over with before the Russians got in.’ They got in the same day Nagasaki was destroyed.

The United States Strategic Bombing Survey concluded that, “… certainly prior to 31 December, 1945, and in all probability prior to 1 November, 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated.” One dissenter who had expressed this same view to the Secretary of War prior to the bombings was General Dwight Eisenhower. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral William D. Leahy agreed: “The use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender,” he said.

The United States needs to stop lying to itself and start leading a reverse arms race. This will require humility, deep honesty, and openness to international inspections. But as Tad Daley has written, “Yes, international inspections here would intrude upon our sovereignty. But detonations of atom bombs here would also intrude upon our sovereignty. The only question is, which of those two intrusions do we find less excruciating.”

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Press Release: Radioactively-Hot Particles in Japan

 
 
Dear Friends,
 
The Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 continue to belittle the aggravating consequenses of the Fukushima nuclear accident.
Recent frequent earthquakes in Fukushima and around make us worry about the collapsing of the unit 2 building
that could bring about another uncontrollable disaster.
I am sending you this message transmitting the precious document sent to me by Mr.Arnie Gundersen,Fairwinds
Energy Education.
 
Mitsuhei Murata
Former Ambassador to Switzerland
 
 
ーーーーーーーーーーーーー

Sent: Friday, August 04, 2017 9:47 AM
 
Dear President Thomas Bach,
 
Please allow me to transmit this mail from Mr. Arnie Gundersen,
one of most reliable experts on Fukushima.
 
With highest regards,
Misuhei Murata
Former Ambassador to Switzerland
 
ーーーーー

From: Arnie Gundersen
Sent: Friday, August 04, 2017 12:26 AM
Subject: Press Release: Radioactively-Hot Particles in Japan
 

New Study Shows Full Radiation Risks Are Not Recorded 
 
PRESS RELEASE – 7/27/17 

Contact: info@fairewindsenergy.org 

Today, the scientific journal Science of the Total Environment(STOTEN) published a peer-reviewed article entitled: Radioactively-hot particles detected in dusts and soils from Northern Japan by combination of gamma spectrometry, autoradiography, and SEM/EDS analysis and implications in radiation risk assessment. Co-authored by Dr. Marco Kaltofen, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), and Arnie Gundersen, Fairewinds Energy Education, the article details the analysis of radioactively hot particles collected in Japan following the Fukushima Dai-ichi meltdowns.                            

Based on 415 samples of radioactive dust from Japan, the USA, and Canada, the study identified a statistically meaningful number of samples that were considerably more radioactive than current radiation models anticipated. If ingested, these more radioactive particles increase the risk of suffering a future health problem.  

“Measuring radioactive dust exposures can be like sitting by a fireplace,” Dr. Kaltofen said. “Near the fire you get a little warm, but once in a while the fire throws off a spark that can actually burn you.”

The same level of risk exists in Japan. While most people have an average level of risk, a few people get an extra spark from a hot particle.

According to Dr. Kaltofen, “The average radiation exposures we found in Japan matched-up nicely with other researchers.  We weren’t trying to see just somebody’s theoretical average result.  We looked at how people actually encounter radioactive dust in their real lives. Combining microanalytical methods with traditional health physics models,” he added, “we found that some people were breathing or ingesting enough radioactive dust to have a real increase in their risk of suffering a future health problem.  This was especially true of children and younger people, who inhale or ingest proportionately more dust than adults.”

Fairewinds’ book Fukushima Dai-ichi: The Truth and the Way Forward was published in Japan by Shueisha Publishing, just prior to the one-year commemoration of the tsunami and meltdowns. “Our book,” Mr. Gundersen said, “which is a step-by-step factual account of the reactor meltdowns, was a best seller in Japan and enabled us to build amazing relations with people actually living in Japan, who are the source of the samples we analyzed. We measured things like house dusts, air filters, and even car floor mats.  Collecting such accurate data shows the importance of citizen science, crowd sourcing, and the necessity of open, public domain data for accurate scientific analysis.”

Fairewinds Energy Education founder Maggie Gundersen said, “We are very thankful to the scientists and citizen scientists in Japan, who sought our assistance in collecting and analyzing this data. We will continue to support ongoing scientific projects examining how people in Japan and throughout the world experience radioactive dust in their daily lives.”

The complete peer reviewed report and project audio description by Dr. Kaltofen are available here at the Science of the Total Environment website.  

Interactive data and the supporting materials are available here at the Fairewinds Energy Education website.

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