Believe it or not, November 11th was not made a holiday in order to celebrate war, support troops, or cheer the 11th year of occupying Afghanistan. This day was made a holiday in order to celebrate an armistice that ended what was up until that point, in 1918, one of ...
Open Mike
Blogger Profile: David Swanson
David Swanson is a longtime peace and justice activist and author of War Is a Lie and Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union.
David Swanson's Blogs
Imagine If War Were Illegal — It Is!
A Forgotten Law We Need In January 1929 the U.S. Senate ratified by a vote of 85 to 1 a treaty that is still on the books, still upheld by most of the world, still listed on the U.S. State Department's website -- a treaty that under Article VI of ...
US Army Assaults Its Biggest Fan
One of the most valuable benefits of putting political action into the form of nonviolent encampments is that we learn each other's stories as we occupy our public parks and squares. Here's a story from the October2011 occupation in Freedom Plaza, Washington, D.C. There are many more, and we'd like ...
Thanks in large part to the New York and national corporate media a massive campaign to shift power away from giant corporations and into the hands of the people is now afoot all across this continent. It was inspired by peoples' nonviolent uprisings in other countries and sparked by courageous ...
I've been coughing and vomiting, and my head aches from pepper spray. Video from what happened is below. We intended to hold signs and sing inside the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, protesting its promotion of unmanned drones, missiles, and bombs, including its sponsorship by and promotion of weapons corporations. We ...
Rebuild the Dream in the Streets
Remarks at Take Back the Dream conference, October 3, 2011.For videos of this speech and of remarks by Derrick Crowe and Jo Comerford click here: http://warisacrime.org/content/rebuild-dream-streets Back around May or June a bunch of us announced plans for this coming Thursday, October 6th, to occupy Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., ...
I sat down during a lengthy protest occupation to play a game of chess, but my friend was better than I am. So, halfway through the match, I said to him, "What's your one move?" He didn't know what I meant. "What's your one winning move," I said, "and which ...
Remarks at Lynchburg College on September 26, 2011 I'd like to thank Dave Freier for inviting me, and all of you for being here. I think I was invited to speak about my most recent book, War Is A Lie, but I asked Professor Freier if it would be all ...
There Must Be 50 Ways to Leave the Military Industrial Complex
And we heard all of them from two dozen brilliant speakers during a three-day conference this past weekend. If you missed it, the video is all online. So is the text of many of the papers presented. Here are a few excerpts to whet your appetite: "Let's say we want ...
No, not 29 million job offers. I'm no better at applying for jobs than you are, and my town offers nothing but dead-end McJobs or positions in the military industrial complex, just like yours. I mean I just spotted an easy way to create 29 million jobs, one for every ...
An upcoming Charlottesville conference highlights the importance of whistleblowers when addressing the corruption present in military contracting By David Swanson, Guest Viewpoint on August 31, 2011, Cavalier Daily Bunnatine “Bunny” Greenhouse YOU MAY have heard something about a budget crisis in Washington this summer. Were you aware that in the ...
Drowning Government in a Hurricane (Why Wait for a Bathtub?)
"Shrinking government" in American political discourse has, for decades now, meant the following. We enlarge the government's budget through taxation and penalties on working people and through borrowing and printing money. We not only tax the wealthy and corporations less, but we massively subsidize them with public funds. We move ...
The Military: Closer to You Than Your Family
Two blocks from my house in a nondescript little building on the edge of our residential neighborhood is an office with a small sign reading "DVBIC of Charlottesville" which turns out to mean "Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center." Now, I'm in favor of caring for people with brain injuries. ...
Military Industrial Complex at 50 - A National Conference in Charlottesville, Va.
A Conference on Moving Money from the Military to Human Needs -- http://micat50cville.org Reserve your spot to attend this conference now! The fees increase after September 1st: Register. Over 20 speakers will lead the discussion, planning, and organizing. Speakers will include retired Army Colonel Ann Wright, author Bruce Levine, retired ...
"Zeus did not want man to throw his life away, no matter how much the other evils might torment him, but rather to go on letting himself be tormented anew. To that end, he gives man hope. In truth, it is the most evil of evils because it prolongs man's ...
Balance the Budget on the Backs of Billionaires
The wealthiest nation on earth is not actually obliged to starve our senior citizens. We don't need a military 670% more expensive than the next largest one on earth. We don't need to fund health insurance corporations instead of healthcare. And we don't need tax breaks for billionaires. In fact, ...
Murdoch Has Blood on His Hands
Nailing Rupert Murdoch for his employees' phone tapping or bribery would be a little like bringing down Al Capone for tax fraud, or George W. Bush for torture. I'd be glad to see it happen but there'd still be something perverse about it. I remember how outraged Americans were in ...
The There's Plenty of Money Act of 2012
112th CONGRESS1st SessionTo highly resolve that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the United States of America.IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESJuly 12, 2011A BILLBe it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,SECTION ...
How We Really Get Rid of Clarence Thomas
Am I the only one who noticed that ex-Nixon lawyer John Dean's article "John Dean Knows How to Get Rid of Clarence Thomas" concludes thus: "In short, nothing is going to happen to Clarence Thomas." Talk about false advertising! But Dean left out of consideration one strategy, the same one ...
When the Public Rises, We'll Want an Ally in Congress
For the majority of people in the United States -- a majority does not vote, a majority believes the government is broken, a majority thinks our public policy is headed in the wrong direction -- the fact that we call this place a democracy is apparently outweighed by the fact ...
Fifty years ago, freedom riders traveled by bus into the U.S. South. Now American freedom riders are joining their allies from around the world on a flotilla bound for Gaza. The U.S. ship is called The Audacity of Hope. The heroes on this ship have pledged to sail unarmed and to ...
How the Mayors Debated and Passed an Antiwar Resolution
The U.S. Conference of Mayors has just done something it hasn't done since Vietnam, passing a resolution that supports efforts to speed up the ending of our current wars and calls on the President and Congress to "bring these war dollars home to meet vital human needs." Here's a page ...
We're years behind Tunisia and Egypt in public understanding of how government of, by, and for the people works, but some in the United States have been inspired and begun forming a path that has real potential. In New York City, students, academics, activists, and workers have joined together to ...
What If UK Drops Out of All US Wars?
LONDON -- Before long public pressure might just lead Britain to drop out of participation in US wars, a move that would seriously damage future pretenses of acting as an international coalition.I've spent the past few days here in London talking with leaders of the Stop the War Coalition, sitting ...
Our Tahrir Square: DC's Freedom Plaza on October 6th
When other nations' governments go off track, their people do something about it. In Tunisia and Egypt people have nonviolently claimed power in a way that has inspired Americans in Wisconsin and other states, as well as the people of Spain and the rest of the world. Washington, D.C., is ...
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Open Mike
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May 26th, 2013
Imagine if at some point during the 1990s or 1980s the President of the United States had given a speech. And this was his speech:My ...
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May 22nd, 2013
Connecticut Advances Conversion from War to Peace Economy
The Connecticut legislature has sent to the governor to sign a bill that would create a commission to develop a plan for, among other things:"the ...
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May 20th, 2013
CIA: An Idea Whose Time Has Gone
There's a contradiction built into every campaign promise about transparent government beyond the failure to keep the promises. Our government is, in significant portion, made ...
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May 13th, 2013
Why We Allow the Destruction of Our Planet
It's not enough to point out that our political system is completely corrupted by money, including money from coal and oil and nukes and gas. ...
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May 8th, 2013
Most of the world's governments no longer use the death penalty. Among wealthy nations there is one exception remaining. The United States is among the ...
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May 5th, 2013
Some Don't Pay Their War Taxes
This past Saturday morning felt like mid-winter in Asheville, North Carolina, but was actually some weeks past tax day, and dozens of people were gathered ...
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April 29th, 2013
The Revolution That's Not Being Televised
Hundreds gathered in Dallas to reject the Bush Lie Bury, and three went to jail. I flew from Dallas to Syracuse, where hundreds protested Obama's ...
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February 9th, 2011
Nonviolent Activism Is Middle Eastern
Muslims can look back to the classic nonviolent struggle against British empire waged by the Pashtuns from 1930-1934 in what is now Pakistan and Afghanistan. ...
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May 19th, 2011
'Support Killing People or Lose Your Job'
"Ban the bombers are afraid of a fight "Peace hurts business and that ain't right "How do I know? I read it in the Daily ...
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June 24th, 2011
Fifty years ago, freedom riders traveled by bus into the U.S. South. Now American freedom riders are joining their allies from around the world on ...
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September 2nd, 2011
No, not 29 million job offers. I'm no better at applying for jobs than you are, and my town offers nothing but dead-end McJobs or ...
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July 1st, 2011
How We Really Get Rid of Clarence Thomas
Am I the only one who noticed that ex-Nixon lawyer John Dean's article "John Dean Knows How to Get Rid of Clarence Thomas" concludes thus: ...
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May 2nd, 2011
The plane I was on landed in Washington, D.C., Sunday night, and the pilot came on the intercom to tell everyone to celebrate: our government ...
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May 13th, 2013
Why We Allow the Destruction of Our Planet
It's not enough to point out that our political system is completely corrupted by money, including money from coal and oil and nukes and gas. ...
