Washblog

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Attended U.S. Representative Brian Baird Town Hall Meeting in South Bend, Pacific County, Washington on July 1, 2008.  I had very personal reasons for wanting to talk to Congressman Baird this year based on our experience talking with him at his Town Hall meeting last summer.

You may recall that last year Congressman Baird made national news in his support of the 'Surge' (of U.S. troops deployed to Iraq. We were in great opposition and wanted him to know as his constituents living in his district our views as a military family, with 2 returning Iraq veterans.  

This year, at his Town Hall meeting, which covered a range of issues, I had opportunity to discuss the Surge one year later with him.  Read my report below the fold.

 

Saturday, April 19, 2008, Pacific County Courthouse is when and where it was held. I attended as a delegate for Obama from my local precinct caucus. Pacific County will be sending to the Congressional and State convention a total of 7 delegates; four delegates for Obama, and three delegates for Clinton.

I am not among those chosen, yet I am proud, because, having given two brief yet passionate speeches, the message I carry and want sent forth as a military family with 2 returning Iraq veterans and one again deployed in Iraq now will be carried to the Congressional and State conventions. Two of the four Obama delegates know first hand the stakes of having loved ones deployed in Iraq.  One is also a military family (father with two returning Iraq veterans; his daughter  was wounded in Iraq). The other is a woman, a Marine, Vietnam-era.

Breaking it down into categories, we had four elements that could have gone more smoothly:

Confusion about delegates from the precincts
Rudely interrupted during support Obama speech
Can a seated delegate change position of support?
Confusion in the math yielding percentages for the number of delegates for the candidates

.... read more below the fold .....

A series of crustal-shallow earthquakes have occurred over the last two weeks off the Oregon Coast. The largest of these quakes range from 5.0 to 5.2 in magnitude, with a depth of 6.2 miles set by program. These quakes lie along a laterally moving fault known as the Blanco Fracture Zone. The Blanco Fracture Zone is an active seismic area located about 225 miles off the Pacific Coast.  In this area, segments of the oceans crustal plate are tearing apart by moving in opposite directions to each other.  

Although this is a common area of seismicity, the rate at which these moderate size quakes are occurring in the last few weeks appears more frequent than usual. It is important to note that these shallow or crustal quakes are not directly associated with the Cascadia Subduction Zone, which is capable of producing a magnitude 9.0 earthquake. The Subduction Zone fault is located further east, just off the Pacific Coast

Hat tip to and read it at   PERRspectives blog, who wrote it better than I could have.  Oh, and I admit to plagiarizing the exact title from PERRspectives blog.  

Thought I would put up a short diary remarking on what our son-in-law, deployed in Iraq, reported to his wife (my daughter)- it snowed in Baghdad. She phoned this weekend, telling us he told her it was snowing on Baghdad, Iraq.

Conversation with my daughter sounded a bit like this;

Me = Really!  No way.  
Daughter = Yes - way.
Me = Wow - that is too weird. Isn't that something.  Well, I haven't heard anything about it on the news here.  Wonder why.  

  Teresa, representing what I think are strengths in our young generation, was among three finalists   for MTV 'Choose or Lose' engaging young people in  the art of politics. The premise is that one young person in each state will become an MTV election correspondent through the 2008 election.

  In her effort to be selected to be the MTV correspondent for Washington state she's chosen  to produce and has submitted a 4 minute video which includes Lt. Ehren Watada, returning Iraq veteran, Sgt Adam Kokesh, whom she knows from college and other interviews she conducted with young 'potential military recruits' in Seattle.

  The video she produced as her submission piece for the MTV show, 'Can A Nation's Youth Really Stop a War By Refusing to Fight It?' is now available at her blog TeresaCentric.  Check it out - it's a quick 4 minutes and she packed a lot into that 4 minutes.

Hat tip to Moni T. Law, Seattle attorney, who contacted me about this event and invited me to participate as part of the panel presenters; an offer, much to my regret, I was unable to commit to fulfill.  However, I was pleased to be able to participate in some small part in suggesting a couple of names of other women who will be speaking on the panel.  

Note the CLE educational credit which will be available in the afternoon.  A thank you to Moni and all her colleagues who collaborated to make this event happen, I am proud to share this announcement:

King County Washington Women Lawyers presents

  Women and the War in Iraq

CLE and Public Forum

2 CLE (including .5 Ethics) credits pending

Venue:     The Seattle Art Museum

Date:     Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Public Forum:  6p.m.- 9:00 p.m (free admission)

Our Public Forum will include the debut of a short documentary film "Female Faces of War."  Panelists include nationally recognized speakers:

Dr. Bridget Cantrell author of "Down Range to Iraq and Back;"

Sara Rich, M.S.W. and mother of soldier Suzanne Swift;

Stacy Bannerman, author of "When the War Came Home," founder/director of  `The Sanctuary for Veterans and Families' and

Dr. Tracy Simpson, co-director of Seattle VA's Women's Clinic,

Lourdes E. Alvarado-Ramos, Deputy Director of Washington State's Department of Veterans Affairs;

Julia Villalobos, Port Security Specialist 2, Coast Guard (served in Iraq and Kuwait Feb-Aug. 2003);

and special appearance by video, Senator Patty Murray (member of  the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee).

To RSVP to the public forum (space is limited): email womeniniraq@yahoo.com

To become a sponsor, please contact:  Tracy Sarich - tsarich@tousley.com (Sponsorship)

CLE:  3 PM - 5:15PM (only $75.00)

Our CLE "Representing Military Personnel:  Hot Topics in Employment Law, Family Law and Benefits" includes presenter:

Thomas Quinlan, who practices in Pierce County with the law firm Miller, Quinlan & Auter.  He is a WSTLA Eagle with a general civil trial practice, and also a Judge Advocate with the rank of Major in the United States Army Reserve.

 The other presenter Kimberly Cox is an attorney for Safeco and is a Captain in the JAG Corps.  She was also on active duty at Ft. Lewis.

*(includes refreshments following CLE and before public forum)

To register for the CLE, please contact Jill Pugh -jill@employmentlawWA.com

Please take some time to watch this online at this link 'HBO Alive Day Memories - Home From Iraq'  It is neither partisan, pro or anti, and not politicized.  There are 10 wounded, returning Iraq veterans who are interviewed and permitted to tell 'their story' in their own way.  I promise, you cannot help but be moved, no matter how much 'in your head and reason' you want to stay.  

Out of respect for the 10 people in the documentary (and the producer, three time Emmy winner, James Gandolfini) who shared so eloquently, I won't politicize it either.

After watching it, I am sure you will want to consider doing a  bit of networking to promote the documentary while it is available to watch online.

 This program will be available on HBO.com from Sept 9 - 16. Check the HBO schedule for additional airings on HBO and HBO on demand.

 

-Major General John Batiste, US Army (retired); The following is an op-ed I wrote two weeks ago, which neither the Wall Street Journal or Washington Times wanted to consider,so I'm posting it ---
( read it here).

Quoting excerpt from Maj. General Batiste op-ed Aug 22, 2007;

Our all-volunteer military cannot continue the current cycle of deployments for much longer. America's national strategy in Iraq is akin to a four legged stool with legs representing diplomacy, political reconciliation, economic recovery, and the military. The glue holding it all together must be the mobilization of the United States in support of the incredibly important effort to defeat world-wide Islamic extremism. The only leg on the stool of any consequence is the military-it is solid titanium and high performing, the best in the world. After almost six years since September 11, our country is not mobilized behind this important work and the diplomatic, political, and economic legs are not focused and lack leadership. Most Americans now appreciate that the military alone cannot solve the problem in Iraq. In this situation, the stool will surely collapse.

 God, I hope Brian Baird talked to some of the Generals besides Petraeus when Baird decided he needed to now advocate for keeping troops in Iraq

It's been a mean week for this family in learning of my Rep. Brian Baird's new assessment of what America's foreign policy should be in Iraq  --  continue the military presence.  

Yeah, right, continue leaning so heavily on the one leg of the stool while failing to use the other three legs -- diplomacy, political reconciliation and economic recovery.  

I don't think we need the military presence there for the other three legs to be put in place. If anything, the other three legs need to bear some weight and not leave it strictly to the military leg of the stool.  The military has completed their mission, and should not have to wait under threat of death, for this Administration, Congress, America to get busy completing their part of the mission.

Bill Moyers' Journal

Friday, August 10, 9:00pm

CHANNEL 9 (KCTS/Seattle)

Tough Talk on Impeachment

Topic: impeaching President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Guests include constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein and the Nation's John Nichols ("The Genius of Impeachment").

Talk of impeachment is in the air as a recent opinion poll says that nearly half of Americans favor impeachment of the President and more than half believe Vice President Cheney should be impeached.

In a conversation that generated a passionate response when first broadcast, Bill Moyers gets perspective from Constitutional scholar Bruce Fein, who wrote the first article of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, and The Nation's John Nichols, author of The Genius of Impeachment.

if you don't get a chance to watch this second airing of Bill Moyers Journal 'Tough Talk on Impeachment" (original showing aired July 13, 2007); you can still view it online video here

I saw it in July, was very much impressed, and recommend it.

[editor's note, by The Left Shue] Front paged due to scheduled vote on Thursday.

When you phone today to discuss and urge our Representative Congress to action; below is a list of some of the concerns you are likely to hear from the Staffers who will likely be taking your phone calls.

Please call the Capitol switchboard (ask for the office of your Representative) at  800-828-0498, 800-459-1887 or 800-614-2803 as often as you can between now and when they vote on the House Supplemental Appropriations bill next week. Tell your Congressional Representative about your personal connection to this war, and how important it is that they act now to use their 'power of the purse' to end the funding that will allow this unjustifiable war to continue.

The House Supplemental Appropriations Bill: "U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health and Iraq Accountability Act" . The below talking points cover why Military Families Speak Out is urging a "No" vote on this bill:

read more below the fold

I came across it this morning, and think it's an interesting idea.  So many blogs, so many bloggers, and what can it hurt; maybe it can even help.

     One Million Blogs for Peace
           To End the Iraq War

Images they provide to place on your blog, after you sign up your blog at their site.  

or

or

(read more about the concept and pledge below the fold - assuming diaries have a fold)

 

He said it, he apologized.  I reacted, blogged it, got it out of my system (temporarily) and wound up thanking Senator Barack Obama for opening another part of the Iraq war dialogue.  

Read it at my blog; Dying to Preserve the Lies.

excerpts;  

Wasted lives is poor choice of words, in my opinion, when used as descriptive of soldiers killed in combat.

'Wasted Lives', I realize isn't intended to say the individual's life was a waste - rather that their lives were spent and cut short in an unnecessary war. But, I still contend, that the families whose lives have to go on, can hardly be comforted by the use of words 'wasted lives' .

 - read more about why I feel such a statement is a bit larger than an accidental slip of the tongue or a mis-statement at my blog -

I wanted to call attention to
diary by Leftshue, and urge comments and recommends.  It is a diary honoring the increasing number of Washington based soldiers who have paid the ultimate price with their lives in Iraq this month. Seven, so far, in Jan 2007 and we are only at Feb 6, 2007 as of today.  

Please visit his diary, add your respect, if nothing more than a comment to honor the loss to Washington military families.

First it was reporters being subpoenaed (Dahr Jamail, Sara Olson, and Gregg Kakesako) and now it expands to local activists in Washington state. The Army has issued subpoenas to local WA state activists to testify in the upcoming court martial of Lt. Watada.  Veterans for Peace, Washington based organizer Gerry Haynes; Veterans for Peace organizer organizer Tom Burkhart; Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace member Phan Nguyen - received subpoena's to testify.