Shame on you Durbin, Shame on you Obama

Our Illinois Senators failed to stand up to their responsibilities today. Amendment 3o17 was approved for the Defense Reauthorization bill. This amendment was watered down, but still provides room for war-monger Bush to attack Iran.

Mr. Obama failed to vote on this amendment, while Mr. Durbin voted "yea." Durbin, you cannot claim to be a peaceful man. Mr. Obama, if you approve the Defense Reauthorization bill with this amendment, and make excuses about not wanting to hold up the funding for our troops, you are a snake. Shame on both of you for failing to vote against this amendment. There are no excuses. If there is war in Iran, you are  to blame. Do not insult your constituents' intelligence, claiming that Bush lied his way to war.

Why should we let him speak?

Iranian president Ahmadinejad made some outrageous statements at Columbia today. He questioned both the September 11, 2001 attacks, and the holocaust. Some say it's wrong for Columbia to have provided him with the opportunity to make those statements here in the U.S. 

It may have been stupid for the them to have done so, but there's no harm in it. If you, personally, are opposed to the idea, ask yourself why it's harmful. Do you think his audience can't think for themselves? Do you think he speaks the truth, but you don't want to hear it? Clearly they can think for themselves, and I seriously doubt you believe him. Anyone who buys his line was already thinking along those lines. To most of us, though, he's only managed to further marginalize himself.

If we were to prevent him speaking, many people would think we are afraid of what he has to say. If we are afraid of his words, they will think, there must be some truth to them. Our actions would speak louder than his words.

Benjamin Franklin said, at the opening of a hall in Philadelphia "if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a missionary to preach Mohammedism to us, he would find a pulpit at his service." Historians have debated the specifics of Franklin's religion, but he was clearly a Christian and did not advocate Islam. 

If we listen to those we disagree with, we will always learn something. We may find some truth in their words, we may find the weaknesses in their arguments. Whatever happens, we grow stronger in the truth. Only if they have something of value to say will it benefit them. Let us not forget to speak our own thoughts, but let us pause from time to time and allow others to speak. 

Now that more people know that Ahmadinejad speaks foolishness, they may pay more attention to what his opponents have to say. Ands that is one of the few things I have in common with President Bush, we both oppose the Iranian government. Of course, I have vastly different ideas on what should be done about that.

Blackwater

Does it seem that Blackwater security has a very appropriate name? 

They are obscuring the truth about Iraq in every way imaginable. First off, they are helping to convince Iraqi resistance that all Americans are legitimate targets. If American civilians are wandering around Iraq with weapons and not subject to US military rules or Iraqi law, why should American citizens be anything but targets. If you're already angry about having no electricity, no water, and no security, it doesn't take much to make that leap in logic.

Blackwater doesn't like their employees to be called mercenaries. Can anyone come up with a better word? A mercenary is someone hired to work for a foreign army. They aren't working for the US army and they aren't working for the Iraqi army. I guess if I saw them kill my neighbors I wouldn't be splitting hairs. Maybe they are their own army, or does that give them too much legitimacy?

Frankly, we need to stop hiring mercenaries. The US military budget is half of the entire world's military budget, yet we are paying outrageous sums to paid brigands operating outside of the law. 

If elected I will introduce a bill to require that the military do jobs that belong to the military. And that includes ALL jobs that Blackwater is doing.

Black water bring to mind swamp water, with who knows what hiding beneath the surface. We've recently seen a glimpse of what's beneath the water, and it's not pretty. Blackwater Insecurity is being used to hide the truth about Iraq.

Mrs. Robinson

Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon

Going to the candidates debate

Laugh about it, shout about it

When you've got to choose

Ev'ry way you look at it, you lose

The lyrics above are from Simon and Garfunkel's Mrs. Robinson. It's easy to believe them, and they are sometimes true. They don't have to be, though. 

It seems that most Americans have forgotten what democracy means. When a celebrity makes a comment on politics, you can always hear someone say "What does he know? He's just an actor (or baseball player, or whatever)." The response should be, "he knows what is important to him." Democracy means that everyone, from Bill Gates to the homeless person on the street to the person bagging your groceries is supposed to be able to participate equally. 

We all know that no society can ever be completely fair and democratic, but we can get a lot  closer than we are now. When I tell people I'm running for Congress, the reactions are interesting. Some people, clearly "small d" democrats, immediately understand and are supportive. Others are surprised that someone they know can run. They technically know that anyone can, but they don't believe it. The best part, though, is when those who clearly disagree with me on most issues clearly state their support for what I'm doing. They may not vote for me, but they are glad to know that democracy can happen.

If I achieve nothing else, my campaign is already a success because more people understand what it means to live in a democratic society. The Republicrats have tried to keep us out but, so far, they haven't achieved it. Do I think our next President will be any good? No. But lightning will strike someday and it might just be 11/4/08. Look at the Illinois gubernatorial race in 2006. The Greens needed 5% for a ballot slot, and surpassed 10%. Let's see what happens next. That was the same environment that gave the Mods a slot in the 8th.

That's what my campaign is about, on the most basic level.

How to make my last post relevant

I ended my last post stating that it was irrelevant. The reason I say that is we aren't going to fix any of the problems we're passionate about unless we can end the Republicrat duopoly. 

Although we can mostly agree on what our problems are, fixing those problems requires upsetting some people. There will always be someone who will disagree with a fix. That's no excuse, however for allowing poverty, war and environmental destruction to continue.

The ruling parties have managed to quash meaningful debate on most of the big issues, preferring to interfere in the life of Terry Schiavo and her family. That was, and is, a big issue for the family, but was a welcome distraction for Senators and Congressmen that don't want to chance upsetting a constituent through meaningful discussion. As long as trade unions and the Sierra Club continue to endorse Democrats because they aren't as bad as Republicans, and as long as right to life organizations and second amendment groups endorse Republicans for the same reason, neither party will feel the need to step out on a limb.

We need to begin NOW to put serious pressure on the parties. The only thing that will make them change is loss of power. It's time to open the debates and the ballots. It's time to vote third party and independent.

Site Announcement #1

I've got iainabernathy.org up, but it redirects here. That will become the active site in the near future, so you may want to go ahead and start navigating directly there. You'll get redirected to this site until I add actual content to official site, at which time I'll disable the redirect.

Thanks to Andrew & Pat for all of your help!

Iraq is probably the most talked about issue right now, so I'll add my two cents on the Moderate Party plank of Peaceful Security. This, to me, is about much more than the current catastrophe in Iraq. We need to not only redouble our efforts at diplomacy in world hotspots, but also work to rebuild our credibility. Step 1 - stop supporting dictatorships. Step 2 - if someone we don't like wins a democratic election, don't undermine them. Step 3 - send our troops only to places they can do good, such as Darfur. Step 4 - apologize to the world for our illegal invasion of Iraq, and ask the UN to fix our mess. There are many more required steps, but those would get us off to a roaring start.

It doesn't matter what one thinks of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, he was democratically elected, survived a recall vote easily, and was re-elected with 62% of the vote. We cannot continue to undermine his government. This may seem innocuous to some, but it is hugely damaging to our reputation and to our national security. When we intervene in the internal politics of Venezuela, we make ourselves a legitimate target for those who want to inflame the world against us.

In Iraq, it's time for self-serving politicians and pundits to stop saying "cut and run." Does anyone really think we should "cut and run?" I really don't think so. It's time to admit that we have failed. The invasion itself was a recipe for disaster because there was never an attempt to win. We took out Hussein and handed the country over to Al Quaida. Remember, there was only one small Al Quaida group in Iraq before the invasion, and they were in the US controlled northern no-fly zone. If we apologize to the world it's possible that maybe, just maybe, the United Nations will come up with a stabilization plan. Forces will need to be stationed there, but ours cannot provide net gains for the United States or for Iraq. It will need to be someone else. That's unfortunate, but true.

I'm sure that many people consider the previous paragraph naive. Sorry, but it's far more naive to think we can win a war that we lost as soon as we crossed the border.

In a future post I'll tell you why this one is irrelevant.

Why I Am Running

Welcome to the Iain Abernathy for Congress web journal!

I am running for the the US House of Representatives (Illinois 8th district) under the Moderate Party banner. The Moderate Party platform has two planks:

• Peaceful Security
• Open Democracy

Over the campaign season I will explain my take on those two ideas, and also give my opinion on various issues of the day. Post a comment to tell me what issues are important to you; I look forward to learning about the daily concerns of those living in the Illinois 8th district.

The reason I am running is that the two major parties, the Democrats and Republicans, have attempted a hostile takeover of the United States and are failing to deliver on the promises of our Constitution. We are supposed to be a democratic nation, yet the vast majority of Americans feel completely disconnected from their elected officials. We can't be a true democracy unless we reconnect and take responsibility for our own governance. I want to be a part of that.

The Moderate Party is a perfect springboard for the re-emergence of our democracy. With Bill Scheurer leading the charge, many people put together a fantastic effort to get on the ballot and secure established party status. This is no small feat! The two parties in Springfield set overly restrictive ballot access rules in place, all in an attempt to prevent Illinois citizens from feeling like they can take part in the government without becoming a Republican or Democrat.

I don't believe that any party, with a long list of vague positions, can truly represent anyone. That's why we need to open up the system to allow everyone a voice, and multiple parties that can work together to deliver those voices. This can be accomplished through various methods, including: instant runoff voting, abolishing the electoral college, decreasing the size of Congressional districts, and many more. I will discuss those ideas here in the future. Again, please post a comment with your ideas and concerns.

A little about myself - I was born in Alabama and have also lived in Scotland and Guam. I moved to the Illinois 8th (Zion) in March of 1999. I now live in Round Lake Beach. By profession I am a benefits analyst, specializing in pension plans. I have two wonderful young sons, Gabriel and Malcolm, that help me keep my perspective. They attend elementary school and pre-school in the Round Lake area. One of my goals in life is to help them grow up as active citizens in a truly democratic United States of America.

I have enjoyed living in northern Illinois these past eight+ years, meeting new people with a huge variety of ideas on how to make our country better. I love summer, but I have to admit that spring and fall here are astoundingly beautiful seasons. From the dunes by Lake Michigan, to the farmland in the west, and the vibrant villages, towns and cities all over the district, there's no end of things to do and see all year long.

I will be expanding on the web journal in the near future, adding a website that will make it easier for you to explore my ideas and learn more about democracy. I look forward to hearing from you!