Patriots exist, Happy May Day

From: "Sara D. Roos" <roos@biology.ucla.edu>
Sent: Friday, May 01, 2009 8:51 AM
Subject: Patriots exist. They may not all be Democrats, even.

Gotta love this guy:

Bruce Fine, on The Rule of Law, Chaney, Obama, et alia

(Teriffiic; a highly effective, succinct argument for prosecution of the

designers and justifiers of the torture program.  It rips apart the

administration's evasive responses.  -Ed)

http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=3613

 From sea to shining sea.
--
-S.

***

 

From: David McReynolds

Happy May Day!

 

The photo was taken April 30, in front of the White House, of a group of men and women,

including two in wheel chairs, who are about to be arrested in an act of civil disobedience

to protest the fact Guantanamo remains open.

 

More than fifty men have been "cleared for release" but are still there. Bagram Air

Base in Afghanistan has also used torture. (Get a DVD of Taxi to the Dark Side, the award

winning documentary of the death of a young Afghan picked up by mistake and murdered

by US troops in Bagram. There is no question as to whether torture has been used - the

only question is whether those who gave the orders permitting it will be brought to justice).

 

Thursday's action was the climax of the 100 Days Campaign against torture, organized by

the Catholic Worker community, and widely supported. The final day saw full support from

Amnesty International.

 

If you want information about the ongoing campaign to end torture, go to: 100DaysCampaign.org

And if you want to know what you can do, here are three steps you can take.

 

1. Call President Obama (202 / 456.1111) and Attorney General Holder (202 / 514.2001) and ask them

to admit all 17 Uighurs to the US now. (The 17 Uighurs are an ethnic group in Western China who

are innocent of any acts of terrorism and have already been cleared by Judge Ricardo Urbina in

October 2008 for immediate release - yet remain in Guantanamo).

 

2. Urge Obama and Holder to recognize habeas corpus rights for prisoners at Bagram Air Base

and other such sites.

 

3. Demand investigation and, where appropriate, prosecution for serious violations of laws

concerning illegal detention; torture; cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

 

Now a brief note note on May Day, a uniquely American holiday, growing out of the labor movement

in Chicago in the 19th century and adopted by Socialists, Anarchists, and Communists around

the world as the Worker's Holiday. I just got back home from a brief visit to the Catholic Worker

here in New York, which marks its own birthday on May Day.

 

For all the disagreements we may have on the left, we are united in the knowledge that the liberation

of the many requires the liberation of all - that the enemy is not a group of individuals, but a set

of institutions and structures which repress us all.

 

Now, as we watch the tragedy of an economic crisis which has brought terrible hardship to so

many, and as we are reminded that this nation holds more people in prison than any other nation

on earth, let us continue the struggle, in good faith and with good will.

 

Fraternally,

David McReynolds

New York City, May 1, 2009

 

*** If you have time, reread yesterday's muse by Galleano.  Beautiful thoughts and writing.

    -Ed