The purpose of this old-fashioned newspaper crusade to stop the war is not to make George W. Bush look like the dumbest president ever.

People have done dumber things. What were they thinking when they bought into the Bay of Pigs fiasco? How dumb was the Egypt-Suez war? How massively stupid was the entire war in Vietnam? Even at that, the challenge with this misbegotten adventure is that we simply cannot let it continue.
It is not a matter of whether we will lose or we are losing. We have lost. Gen. John P. Abizaid, until recently the senior commander in the Middle East, insists that the answer to our problems there is not military. "You have to internationalize the problem. You have to attack it diplomatically, geo- strategically," he said.
His assessment is supported by Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the senior American commander in Iraq, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who only recommend releasing forces with a clear definition of the goals for the additional troops.
Bush's call for a "surge" or "escalation" also goes against the Iraq Study Group. Talk is that the White House has planned to do anything but what the group suggested after months of investigation and proposals based on much broader strategic implications.
About the only politician out there besides Bush actively calling for a surge is Sen. John McCain. In a recent opinion piece, he wrote: "The presence of additional coalition forces would allow the Iraqi government to do what it cannot accomplish today on its own -- impose its rule throughout the country. ... By surging troops and bringing security to Baghdad and other areas, we will give the Iraqis the best possible chance to succeed." But with all due respect to the senator from Arizona, that ship has long since sailed.
A surge is not acceptable to the people in this country -- we have voted overwhelmingly against this war in polls (about 80 percent of the public is against escalation, and a recent Military Times poll shows only 38 percent of active military want more troops sent) and at the polls. We know this is wrong. The people understand, the people have the right to make this decision, and the people have the obligation to make sure our will is implemented.
~~~~~ Molly Ivins writes about politics, Texas and other bizarre happenings.

In the last few weeks, DFW area peace and justice activist have taken to the steets in some very successful protest actions- you might have seen a brief mention in the main stream local media but Codepink of Greater Dallas has collected photos and videos.

There have been a number of very interesting articles about the rumored decision to locate the Bush presidential library at SMU.

In an e-mail message in December to Mayor Laura Miller of Dallas, Sam Boyd, a longtime neighbor of Southern Methodist, a trial lawyer and a former Green Beret in Vietnam, wrote: “Once completed the $500 million George Bush Library will become the number one (#1) US edifice terrorist target in the world.”

A woman in Garland, Deborah Lewis, wrote The Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Dallas was already infamous for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy: “now it probably will be known for honoring the worst president ever.”

** Note this Deborah Lewis is one of our longtime members - GO ! Deborah - we are so proud of you!

You can read the latest articles published in the New Tork Times here:
Jan 14- A Discordant Chorus Questions Visions for a Bush Library at Southern Methodist

Jan 10- S.M.U. Faculty Complains About Bush Library

The very intriguing story about how opponents to the plan have been burglarized on WFAA- Chanel 8 ( report and video)
Report of mysterious break-in on presidential library site

Also note that the committee is raising ½ a BILLION dollars for the library
Bush's Legacy Enshrined for $500 Million?

Al Franken: Little miracles, big mess Many of our troops are frustrated that the positive work they are doing goes unreported. And yet ...

Al Franken
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
When Laura Bush complained the other day that the media don't cover the "good news" stories in Iraq, I found it literally incredible that anyone in this administration could continue to blame the media for Americans souring on this fiasco. After all, as you might recall, there was "no doubt" about the stockpiles of WMD. The Mission was Accomplished in just six weeks. There was no insurgency, just a few "dead-enders." Then the insurgency was in its "last throes." A week before the recent elections, the president said we were "winning" the war. • Yet many Bush administration supporters (talk about "dead-enders") still bash the media for not reporting about the many Army and Marine units that bring school supplies to children around Iraq. They may not realize that, as has been widely reported, Iraqi principals beg journalists not to cover these stories for fear of their schools being targeted by insurgents. Perhaps, as I suspect, their ignorance is one of partisan convenience. • I'm writing this on a C- 17 cargo plane as I leave Iraqi airspace on the way to Afghanistan. This is my fourth USO tour in the region, and I always try to learn as much as possible while focusing on my primary mission -- telling a few jokes to, and spending some time with, the men and women in uniform who are away from their families and face incredible danger every day.
One thing I've learned on this trip is that many, if not most, of the troops share in that frustration and anger toward the media and what they see as its focus on the negative aspects of the war. Their feelings are understandable. Every day, our troops get up and work with tremendous dedication and courage to roll the boulder a little further up the mountain. There are literally hundreds of thousands of positive stories to tell. These are the micro-stories of this war. Just a few I've encountered myself: A medic treats a 12-year-old Iraqi boy in Baghdad. Progress is made on a sewage system in Ramadi. A JAG officer works with Iraqi judges to build a provincial judicial system in Tikrit.
The truth of the matter is that the Bush administration has made enormous and tragic mistakes at every stage of this debacle. It overplayed the threat from Iraq and undersold the price, in lives and resources, of a war. It failed to plan for a post-invasion Iraq, ignored the threat of an insurgency and allowed a shoddy reconstruction rife with fraud, abuse and sheer amateurism to sabotage our efforts to put the pieces back together. Worst of all, it has failed to admit to its mistakes or adjust to emerging realities along the way, leaving us in what now seems to be a no-win situation.
~~~~~~~~~ Al Franken, the author, comedian and radio talk-show host, lives in Minneapolis.
More Photos on Midwest Values Pac
StarTribune.com- Minneapolis - St. Paul, MN

You did not miss the Media Reform confrence in Memphis last weekend - the site has now posted all the great presentations inlcuding; Bil l Moyers, Amy Goodman and many many more . Media reform

Keith Olbermann: Bush's Legacy: The President Who Cried Wolf
Keith Olbermann writes: "Only this president - only in this time, only with this dangerous, even messianic certitude - could answer a country demanding an exit strategy from Iraq, by offering an entrance strategy for Iran. Only this president could look out over a vista of 3,008 dead and 22,834 wounded in Iraq, and finally say, 'Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me' - only to follow that by proposing to repeat the identical mistake ... in Iran."

The "We shall overcome " speech video - MLKJr.