The Deep State Factionalized: Review of Sibel Edmonds' book: The Lone Gladio by Cindy Sheehan

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The Deep State Factionalized

Review of The Lone Gladio by Sibel Edmonds

Cindy Sheehan

Since I have become an activist after my son’s death in Iraq in 2004, I have gotten out of the practice of reading fiction. The exceptions are through my iPod when I am exercising, or when I am on airplanes. And, if I do read fiction, it’s not usually international spy thriller type books.  I find those types of books too real for me now since I have been the subject of surveillance. And, since my son was killed by this “deep state,” I don’t like the traditional way of portraying the protagonists in these books as “heroes,” when I suspect in reality most of them are either boring functionaries or stone-cold killer/torturers.

However, having said all that when Sibel Edmonds, (“The Most Gagged Woman in America”) asked me if she could send me a review copy of her fictional (high stress on the "fictional") book The Lone Gladio, I readily agreed because how could I refuse someone who I hold in such high regard for her courage, intelligence, and compassion?

After the book arrived, it took me a few days to sit down and crack open The Lone Gladio, but when I finally did I had trouble putting it down.

Of course, I know Sibel’s story and I know her work with The Boiling Frogs Post and after I read The Lone Gladio, I looked more into the very real program called “Gladio B.” Gladio B is the codename for an operation that began in 1997 for ongoing relations between US intelligence, the Pentagon, and Al Qaeda. The name refers to the original Operation Gladio, in which US intelligence had relations with anti-communist groups in Europe. (From the Wikipedia page of Sibel Edmonds).

Operation Gladio is fundamental in this book because the anti-hero, Greg McPhearson is a semi-retired Gladio agent who gets drawn back into the murderous world of international intrigue and his path eventually coincides with the protagonist of the book Sibel, oops, I mean FBI analyst Elsie Simon, who is actually a hero who wants to expose the fact that many of the so-called “terrorists” are actually agents of the CIA trained by US operatives and many had meetings with high level US operatives long before 9/11/2001.

Sibel does a great job of portraying what I suspect is the reality of the slimy underbelly of the “deep state’ without turning the bad guys into noble actors or falling into the trap that the USA actually has any good intentions and sometimes, regrettably (yeah, right) has to do evil to meet those ends.

I highly recommend this book and the only mild criticism I had was that I was lost for the first several chapters but Sibel ties all those loose threads up and weaves them into a very compelling tale of intrigue and as a reader it’s fun in fiction to have those “aha” moments.

The Lone Gladio was released on September 11, 2014 and it’s factional recounting of the suppression of the events that led to such a disaster and horrendous aftermath is so important because after 13 years, many, many people are still dying and being tortured for the lies and cover-ups of that day.

In fact, the current US “peace” president and propaganda mill of the war machine are lying us right into more and more wars and we need more courageous whistle-blowers who refuse to be “gagged” to step forward and get these stories out any way that they can and Sibel is a gifted storyteller.

Get this book!

ORDERING INFO:

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Lone-Gladio-Ms-Sibel-Edmonds/dp/0692213295/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410413558&sr=1-1&keywords=the+lone+gladio

Sibel Edmonds' e-Store:

https://www.createspace.com/4787776

Nook:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-lone-gladio-sibel-edmonds/1120323939?ean=2940150682863

The Last Word on the (Kennedy) Assassination (SOAPBOX PODCAST 9/7/14)

Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox Podcast

September 7, 2014

John Barbour

Today, Cindy chats with raconteur John Barbour.

Among other things, John hosted a talk show in L.A. for years and created the hit show Real People.

He also has long been a radical political thinker and comedian who admired Jack Paar and whose mentor was Redd Fox (we're dating ourselves, but young people: please listen!).

John became interested in the Kennedy assassination after he read a book by attorney Jim Garrison and then John interviewed him for 3 1/2 hours in what came to be, The Garrison Tapes.

Please listen to this fascinating interview and go to John Barbour's website for info on how to order his film: The Last Word on the Assassination

John Barbour's World

Special Labor Day Podcast with Ray Light from Revolutionary Organization of Labor, USA (September 1, 2014)

Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox

September 1, 2014

"Workers of the world unite, the only thing

you have to lose is your chains!"

Karl Marx

On Labor Day (May Day, USA style),

Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox

Presents an exclusive interview with 

Ray Light: General Secretary of

The Revolutionary Organization of Labor, USA

Ray and Cindy chat about the organization, it's goals, the essential link between the working-class and oppressed peoples of the world AND do a little myth busting about the Soviet Union and Stalin.

ISIS Crisis: Brought to You by Israel/US (SOAPBOX PODCAST, August 31, 2014)

CINDY SHEEHAN'S SOAPBOX

AUGUST 31, 2014

GUEST: BRANDON TURBEVILLE

 www.BrandonTurbeville.com

Truth on the Tracks 

SUBJECT: ISIS in Syria and Iraq AND

Why doesn't Israel ever get attacked by

ISIS and al Qaeda 

We Were Lied To About 9/11 - Episode 2 - Mickey Huff

MICKEY HUFF is director of Project Censored and serves on the board of the Media Freedom Foundation. To date, he has edited or coedited six volumes of Censored and contributed numerous chapters to these works dating back to 2008. Additionally, he has coauthored several chapters on media and propaganda for other scholarly publications, most recently Flashpoint in Ukraine from Clarity Press (2014). He is currently professor of social science and history at Diablo Valley College in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he is cochair of the history department. Huff is cohost with former Project Censored director Dr. Peter Phillips of The Project Censored Show, the weekly syndicated public affairs program that originates from KPFA Pacifica Radio in Berkeley CA. For the past several years, Huff has worked on the national planning committee of Banned Books Week, working with the American Library Association and the National Coalition Against Censorship, of which Project Censored is a member. He is also a longtime musician and composer. He lives with his family in Northern California. He's also the associate editor of the forthcoming SAGE publication Encyclopedia of Censorship in 2017.

I apologize for the quality of the audio. One of our phones caused static. I did my best to fix it.

The song is "Killing In The Name Of" by Rage Against The Machine.

http://www.projectcensored.org
http://www.projectcensoredthemovie.com
http://www.cindysheehanssoapbox.com

The Soapbox People's Network presents... (Soapbox Podcast 8/24/14)

click to play show

On this week's Soapbox Podcast,

Cindy Sheehan

chats with two of our newest podcast

hosts:

Anthony Freda of

Freda Rants

and

Jon Gold of

We Were Lied to About 9/11

CLICK TO HEAR JON'S FIRST SHOW

We Were Lied To About 9/11 - Episode 1 - Jenna Orkin

Jenna Orkin is the author of "The Moron's Guide To Global Collapse." After 9/11, she was among the first to question the EPA's announcement that the air was safe to breathe. She went on to co-found the World Trade Center Environmental Organization as well as other lower Manhattan activist organizations that revealed and testified to the EPA's lies. Later, she wrote for fromthewilderness.com, the website founded by 9/11 investigative journalist Mike Ruppert who sadly killed himself in April of this year.

The name of the song is "Killing In The Name Of" by Rage Against The Machine.

www.fromthewilderness.com
wtceo.org
www.fealgoodfoundation.com
www.cindysheehanssoapbox.com

Everyday is Labor Day: Save Our Unions: (Soapbox Podcast August 17, 2014)

Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox

GUEST: STEVE EARLY

TOPIC: SAVE OUR UNIONS

DISPATCHES FROM A MOVEMENT IN DISTRESS

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO ABOUT THE BOOK

Stopping War Where it Begins: NNOMY (Soapbox Podcast 8/10/14)

Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox

August 10, 2014

CLICK PLAYER TO HEAR SHOW

GUEST: Rick Jahnkow

TOPIC: Alternatives to Youth Joining the Military

NNOMY

(NATIONAL NETWORK OPPOSING MILITARIZATION OF YOUTH)

ProjectYANO

The project on Youth and Non-military Options 

If you know young people or want to help keep our kids out of the military, please listen and spread the word!

 

August 6th: This Day in (Camp Casey) History by Cindy Sheehan

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August 6th is certainly a day that has gone down in infamy.

From Hiroshima, August 6, 2011

Undoubtedly, the most notorious event that occurred on 8/6 was the 1945 US a-bombing of Hiroshima followed closely by the bombing of Nagasaki. The tragedy of those war crimes still has have many repercussions to this day. 

I was honored to be invited to visit Japan on the anniversaries and I met survivors and the family members of those that were obliterated. I met a Japanese woman who was in Havana and she had lost a young daughter to cancer because of the never-ending after effects of radiation. What the US did on that day was beyond shameful, but what is even more shameful is the vast number of USAians who still consider those bombings justified.

Now, let’s jump over about 56 August 6ths to the year 2001. Remember this is one month and five days before the terrible events of September 11, 2001.

A little known, or remembered event happened on 8/6/2001 in teeny, tiny Crawford, Texas—a place I was to become very familiar with in a few more years.

On that day, Bush was on the longest recorded vacation of any POTUS in US history and he was handed a PDB (Presidential Daily Briefing) titled: Bin Laden Determined to Strike in the US. This, according to The History Commons:

“According to journalist and author Ron Suskind, just after a CIA briefer presents President Bush with the later infamous PDB (Presidential Daily Briefing) item entitled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US” Bush tells the briefer, “You’ve covered your ass, now.” This account is from Suskind’s 2006 book The One Percent Doctrine, which is based largely on anonymous accounts from political insiders. In the book, after describing the presentation of the PDB, Suskind will write: “And, at an eyeball-to-eyeball intelligence briefing during this urgent summer, George W. Bush seems to have made the wrong choice. He looked hard at the panicked CIA briefer. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘You’ve covered your ass, now.’”

Like I said, today, there will be commemorations that get it right, or get it wrong about Hiroshima, but I bet none will mention the PDB in 2001, or my little contribution to that day’s history in 2005 that came to be known as “Camp Casey.”

On August 3 of that year, I was at my home in Vacaville, Ca (still in deep pain from the murder of my son Casey in Iraq) watching some news broadcast, or the other, and my nemesis George Bush came on. He was, once again, on vacation at his pig ranch in Crawford, but this day he was somewhere in Texas doing something. That day, 11 Marines from the same reserve unit in Ohio were killed in the same incident in Iraq. Bush was asked about that and he said, “The families of the fallen can rest assured their loved ones died for a noble cause.”

Of course, since my son Casey died in Iraq in another long line of Imperial wars based on lies and for profit, my ears pricked up at this “Noble Cause” bullshit! At the time George was clearly at a press availability, so I waited for someone from the “press” (really, White House stenographers) to ask him what the “Noble Cause” was, since the mission-lie had already changed several times by then. Predictably, not one of the stenographers asked George that question.

Downing Street Memo Hearing. 6/16/2005

This was the first in a string of coincidences that led me to Crawford that year—well, really the second. The first one was that I was supposed to be in London the following week to go to an impeachment conference with Congressman John Conyers—my plane ticket had already been purchased by the London activists. I was very excited because I had never been anywhere in Europe before, but Conyers’ (he of impeachment fame before he became chair of the House Judiciary Committee in 2007) plans changed and the event was postponed, so I had my entire August free.

That was, I had my August free AFTER I went to Dallas, Texas on

August 4^th to participate in the annual Veterans for Peace convention. So, the day after George openly told another lie he was not held accountable for (except for by the people), I was scheduled to go to Texas. At that point, I had a brainstorm. After I give my speech in Dallas at the VFP conference on August 5, why don’t I drive to Crawford (at that point I didn’t even know where Crawford was in relation to Dallas—Texas is one big-ass state) and try to demand a meeting with George to ask him “What Noble Cause” myself?

I had scheduled an event in Sacramento that night, so I wrote a quick email to my email list at the time (probably about 300-400 people. There was no Twitter, Facebook, or even Myspace back then) telling my contacts about my plan, and I left for Sacramento. On the way, I called my sister Dede Miller who was meeting me in Dallas the next day to tell her that we were driving to Crawford from Dallas on Saturday to ask Bush “What Noble Cause” and she said, “okay.” Then I called Andrea Buffa who was working PR for CODEPINK at the time and asked her if she would help me spread the word and she said, “Okay.”

By the time I arrived back home that evening, my AOL (remember AOL?) inbox had overflowed. Apparently, my email had traveled around the world and many people were excited about the impending action.

Camp Casey I

The so-called right-wing in this country wanted to paint Camp Casey as a long planned out and well-funded venture and me as the "front person" in an effort that was politically motivated. Gasbag Rush Limbaugh claimed that my "story" was contrived and based on "false documents" like that of Bill Burkett who accused George Bush of being AWOL from the Texas National Guard. Of course, that's true and what did I do? Bury an empty coffin just so I could camp in 110 degree weather in Crawford 16 months later? Hell, even my own in-laws accused my protest of being motivated by my political leanings even though I had always been against wars in general and Iraq in particular. However, I don't think one brainstorm, no endless stream of conference calls/emails, and three days planning can truthfully be construed by anyone with any intellectual integrity as being nothing but completely spontaneous. And, NO George Soros did not personally fund Camp Casey. It was funded by people from all over sending us their contributions and other kinds of donations. 

Met at Crawford Peace House by the Sheriff of McCleelan County

On Saturday morning, August 6th, we loaded up a bus owned by a

member of VFP that had "IMPEACH BUSH" painted in huge letters on its side, and had a caravan of cars follow us to make the approximately three hour drive from Dallas down to Crawford.

Joining me on the bus were members of Vietnam Vets Against the

Dede, Cindy, Amy in front of Impeachment Bus

War, Vets for Peace, and Iraq Vets Against the War and another Gold Star Families for Peace (GSFP) who had come up from Houston to support us, Amy Branham. We were giddily apprehensive and we had no idea what to expect. The day before one of the founders of the Crawford Peace House, Hadi Jawad had asked me what I had planned to do if Bush refused to meet with me. I answered, "I hadn't thought about that, but I guess I will just sit on the side of the road and refuse to move until he agrees to meet with me." I will never forget Hadi's response to me: "Wow, that's an action." And it did turn out to be quite an "action."

When I look back on that summer, I have many, many, many fond memories. It was the first major post-9/11 "occupy" after all. People flocked from all over the country (and world) to come to that bump in the road to be in solidarity with us. If they couldn't come, they held rallies and camps in their own neck of the woods. One couple drove down from Wisconsin just to meet me, give us a donation and they turned around and went right back.

Of course, we had many celebrities come and join us. Hunky Viggo

Viggo and Me

Mortensen came for a few minutes to kiss my hand and bring me some California produce (greatly appreciated). Joan Baez came when I had to go back home to California to take care of my mother who had suffered a massive stroke one day (she sadly ended up passing away in February, 2007) when I was in Crawford. Joan stayed for awhile and was a great presence.

Joan gives private concert in my trailer that doubled as first aid station.

I made many friends who became my family, but some who have since abandoned the idea of peace in favor of the Democrat party.

When I look back on the experience from a perspective of nine years and millions of gallons of water under the bridge, the one thing I regret is that I did not recognize then that some of the prominent people and big organizations that came to Camp Casey that summer did not come to support peace, but came to only support Democrats. 

Hundreds of people gather at Camp Casey II for a rally

That summer, Camp Casey was a powerful movement that could have affected real systemic change if the devious Democrats and their minions hadn't co-opted the struggle to regain political power, and look what that has achieved as the world tilts on the brink of total global conflict via the Drone Bomber and ever present War Machine.

Also, while I met lifelong friends in Crawford, also I lost some

Joan in front of mural of Casey.

friends due to jealousy at my sudden prominence. I guess in this day and age of the "15 minutes of fame" soundbite culture, many people would think that being "famous" or infamous, or a cause celebré is exciting and/or glamorous. It is not, it's mostly awful, especially if one never sought out, or wanted that celebrity.

I was either viciously attacked for example, Glen Beck called me a "tragedy pimp", or put on a pedestal, for example, Maureen Dowd wrote in the NY Times that I had the "absolute moral authority." Both of these extremes were undeserved. I was simply a mom from California who wanted a simple question answered. I wanted the truth, and here in the US, that is extra-ordinary, but I wasn't an extra-ordinary person. I hated having my life being put under a microscope, especially when another coincidence was that I was going through a separation and eventual divorce at the time, which was a deeply personal thing and never should have been fodder used to demonize me. If every woman going through a divorce was demonized in this country, that would be a profitable industry, wouldn't it?

The day I returned from Calif. Putting flowers near Casey's cross at Camp One

Since Bush has left office in the orderly and lawful way, not in handcuffs, and we're well into the term of the new War President, I almost feel sorry for Bush. (Almost, I said). Where's the outcry against Obama's wars? The occupy movement did not address these issues and I have tried to hold three protest camps since Obama has been president, and instead of thousands of people, there has been tens in attendance. 

Did I mention it was hot?

I would hate to think the only thing Camp Casey accomplished was getting the left-wing of the war party back in political power. I think we did re-shape the dialogue and perceptions of war. With many vets and other family members joining me that summer, people in the US were seeing, for the first time this generation, active family opposition to the institutions that steal our young people to kill and die in the wars for profit of today's Military Industrial Complex. 


We're still trying to make that difference and tip the scales towards peace and justice!

CINDY SHEEHAN'S SOAPBOX 

 

Observations on the Obstacles to Change - Evident Truths, by guest blogger, Stephen Wallace

 

It is tempting to write another piece, given the urgency of the current political situation - it is tempting to compile the usual statistics and economic details into a mosaic - some larger picture that will give legitimacy to the financial arguments for things regarding the human right to Healthcare, or for that matter, the human right to shelter, or food, or water. However, those arguments have been well-established elsewhere - for example, by organizations like the Physicians for a National Health Program, or the variety of organizations - from UNICEF to the United Nations - on the non-scarcity of food and water.
 
It is evident, however, that such arguments do not rupture cynical attitudes or reverse feelings of powerlessness. Observation of the political culture of the United States, its effects on the psychological existences of the population, and the attitudes of the political elite might lead us somewhere in our inquiry. The question is "what is preventing changes that would better the society, given that the facts have already been laid out?"


Well, there are a number of ways to proceed in terms of researching such a question - sociological analysis and study of the fresh commentaries is the common way. I'd like to suggest that the following -- simple observation and contemplation might lead to equally valid conclusions. If you are an organizer, or an activist, and the character of your ideology is radical or progressive, I submit the following as evident truth:


Organizing requires a long term commitment - social change of any sort doesn't happen overnight, and the illusion of spontaneity is the result of many years of dedication - a few days of successful protest is usually the result of months of door-knocking, scurrying about, coffee-fueled epiphany-generating exchanges. The ideal is always in mind, or at least, the moral clarity and sense of urgency that is provided with such a need. It is a temptation for the exceedingly vain to intellectualize the matter - social change being the result of some mysterious hand, or a shift in our spirituality, or some massive psychological leap, or cries about social renaissance and the 'round-the-corner revolution. Perhaps it is much harder to admit work like this is the result of simple virtue: A focused-mind, an open and willing heart, talk, and a willingness to participate in the happenings of the society.


There are some common obstacles. In my experience, the hesitation that precedes change is perfectly expressed in the sentiment that an "outside observer" - our neighbor - may "sympathize" with what we are doing, they may "support" our goals and idealism, and even the specific aim - but "not enough" people will care, not enough support will be garnered, or some variation of candy-coated apathy. It is a frustrating irony that this sentiment, which demonstrates active concern for the political direction and the corruption of institutional behavior, prevents active involvement.


Another variation is in our definition of participation. A person who may be in agreement with certain matters in principle, may disagree as to what the proper method is to induce the changes we seek. It is custom in our culture to take pride in the elections - even if it is apparent, paradoxically, the futility of relying on this ritual. With a signature enthusiasm, we will be told to vote in the next election - that if we don't vote, we cannot complain about the deprived social conditions that we are subjected to. That more people should vote - and, of course, if we could only get an honest fellow in office, the problems would evaporate, simply, as a puddle evaporates after a storm. Come election time, that collective enthusiasm is demonstrated by many educated people - that we ought not to be cynical, that we ought to vote and the hysterical insistence that it does make a very large difference. There is additional frustration here, because, though the enthusiasm and authenticity of the sentiment is surely verifiable - so too is the recursion of disillusionment and inevitable feeling of uselessness and powerlessness that follows when a the love affair between a certain political figure and the public comes to an end. Take your pick with any of them, and some fraction of the population will feel this way. So that limited definition of participation results in self-limitation, and limitation of political possibilities. Participating means something more


Organizing means something different for everyone, of course - but there is the sense that a social change means something in our daily lives changes as well. It means that the merry-go-round, day-in-day-out endlessness transforms into something other than passive observations of headlines at the end of the day. It means that we are striving for some lost, or never discovered vitality that this life deserves - for oneself, and for everyone. It means that the culture of political participation doesn't limit itself to election cycles, or outside observations through academic lenses, or viewing the work of others simply to restore our faith in humanity. Political participation means that we play a part, ourselves, in creating the culture. A culture that is capable of educating itself, a culture that is capable of generating its own solutions and putting them into action. It means that it does not rely on viewing institutions through an illusory lens, static and unchanging. It means perceiving their flexibility, their fragility and moving to change their nature. 


The remaining obstacle is the simple fact that a cultural change is just that - a change. Explaining in explicit detail what such a cultural change would consist of is nearly impossible, given that there are few precedents in American history - this isn't a grandiose or self-celebratory statement - it is simply true that if the aim is to produce a new mode of thinking and acting in political culture, there is a very limited selection of historical examples to pull from. Surely, though, intellectuals have attempted to flesh out definitions of what is called "participatory democracy" and have given it an ideological genealogy: Athens, or models of direct democracy in South America (what's called the Landless Workers Movement) or, other systems of social democracy, but that isn't quite the aim, either. Discussions like this tend to be derailed by pedantic criticism.
 
Beyond that, it is impossible for one to assess the accuracy of critiques like this without direct exchanges with those who are putting effort into realizing these ideas. In addition, it may be intellectually entertaining to suggest that alternatives are possible - but it is a display of moral timidity that such notions - direct action and normalized participation - remain only in the realm of our ideas. But there are current examples to look to, experiments in changing political behavior are happening right now.

The Health is a Human Right Campaign in Maryland has been well underway for quite some time now. A little over a year since its inception, it has progressed toward the realization of the cultural changes that are necessary . Again, without any of the signature grandiosity of commentators - the simple actions of dedicated people have begun to have an effect on the state population. The Health is a Human Right Campaign doesn’t herd itself behind conventional political leadership, it informs its own communities directly of their power through things like speakouts, public forums, letters to local papers. The simple fact that language has meaning carries itself into community discussions with people - some who would consider themselves apolitical in nature may realize their political power, here. Discussions like this allow a platform for an honest assessment - free of political labels and banners - of the damage to personal life caused by the system in place.

The campaign organizes itself in a principled way. Those who organize in their communities are a part of them - an organizer from Southern Maryland is familiar with the psychological terrain of the area. Local events, county fairs, farmers’ markets - it is not someone who is alien to the community that speaks with them. It is literally a friend or neighbor who, like all of us - is seeking to understand what is happening here and everywhere, and is wondering if it is possible to do anything about it. Superficial rhetoric means nothing here. This is about building relationships with people who are directly around us.


Simply getting people together to discuss something has an effect. It shows us that there are people who are in our lives already - who are ready, like us, to see something new happen.


Perhaps it's best summarized, and may be oversimplified in the sentiment that we ought to "just do it." If we want to see something in the world, we ought to just do it. It may be easy to dismiss the sentiment as too idealistic, or even naive, but given the darkness of the current social reality, a bit of naivety, a bit of a spontaneous ethic such as this may be more than a nice thought - it is desperately needed.

Remember Ukraine? (SOAPBOX PODCAST 8/3)

Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox

August 3, 2014

This week, on a Special Edition of 

the Soapbox, Don DeBar from 

CPR Metro interviews journalist 

Patrick Lancaster who is 

reporting from Donetsk in Eastern Ukraine

Petitions, Marches, and Rallies, Oh My! By Cindy Sheehan

"Let them march all they want, as long as they continue to pay their taxes."

Alexander Haig

Nixon Chief of Staff

As a War Tax Refuser (WTR), I have written about this many times before, but every time something like the current bombardment of Gaza by Israel is happening (with US taxpayer funding) there is a lot of talk and graphics about "Your Tax Dollars at Work." I breathe a sigh of relief, because I know that, at least, it is not MY tax dollars at work.

There are also many petitions going around demanding from the US government that it stop funding the international war crimes and crimes against humanity of Israel. Those petitions actually tickle me because when has the USG ever displayed any sympathy towards the people of Palestine in general and Gaza specifically? The elitist war criminals in the US Senate just unanimously passed a resolution in support of Israel. One of my own Zionist Senators Barbara Boxer just introduced a bill (co-sponsored by "liberal" darling, Elizabeth Warren from Mass) that actually is proposing to INCREASE the funding to Israel. Does it sound like these people will be receptive to a petition? Especially when most of the ignorant propagandees in the US believe that poor Israel is the victim?

How many rallies have we all been to demanding peace and justice from all the International War Criminals? 

How many ballots have we cast for the latest "peace hero" who turns out to be a war zero? 

How many deserted streets have we marched through yelling at and shaking our fists at empty buildings?

I know I have been doing this peace work for just over 10 years and I can't even count how many miles I have marched or how many countries I have traveled to in this quest.

In my opinion, if everyone of us who cared about these issues made the principled decision to withhold our money from the murderous government, we would finally start to see some change and they couldn't persecute millions of us.

I know it's frightening to take this bold step because I have done it.

"I will lose my house." Many WTRs own homes so that is not necessarily true and residences can be protected, but I signed my half over during the divorce solving that problem. I am so much happier as a renter. I have more freedom of movement and have ended that "death pledge" (mortgage) I made to the mortgage banker mobsters.

"I will lose my car." Sell it, cars are expensive and they ruin the environment, anyway. It's American counter-cultural and not always convenient, but it is possible. I sold my last car in 2007.

"They will garnishee my wages." Probably, but many WTRs live below the level required to pay taxes, or end their relationship with wage slavery all together. This also requires living in opposition to our consumer-materialism driven culture, but that is also very liberating.

"I will go to prison." Also, probably not, however, I would choose to go to prison over knowing that I am financially supporting even one person being killed by the War Machine. Don't you think I'd rather be in prison as a principled war tax refuser than knowing that for several decades I was funding war and torture AND I eventually paid for my own son's murder? 

I had a showdown with the IRS and the IRS was the one that blinked. 

I am not a legal expert or expert on WTR, but it's lucky that I know some people who are and I also know that they would be happy to answer any questions you have.

I think the time has long passed that we just give lip service, or shoe leather to what we believe in. 

It's time to take a stand. 

If you oppose war, why do you pay for it?

Go to National War Tax Resistance Co-ordinating Committee for help and more information, the world is counting on us!

FRACKY V. SACKY FOR CAL GOV, 2014 by Cindy Sheehan

 “Cindy, I can’t wait to vote for you in November.”

"Sigh," these are nine words I have heard much more than once since I came in 7^th when I competed for Governor in June in California’s Top Two, or Jungle, Primary.

Yes, I did run for Governor of California this year as a member of the Peace and Freedom Party; the strange part (maybe not so "strange" as "predictable") is very little attention was paid as I also ran with 14 other people vying to be one of the Top Two vote receivers to be able to “advance” to the general election in November.

My campaign felt that one of our biggest obstacles was to overcome the apparent lack of understanding of this anti-democratic law (that every political party in California opposed in 2010, even the Democrats and Republicans) that the voters themselves passed because, even though we have the ability to get initiatives on the ballot here in California, more often than not, those initiatives favor the 1% and the voters here consistently vote against their own interests being easily influenced by expensive, yet effective, mass-marketing techniques.

As of this writing, it has been 57 days since my defeat on June 3^rd and I am just now getting some energy back to even care about what is happening around me beyond playing with my grandchildren or swimming at my gym. It was a horrific campaign, but not because my team wasn’t great or didn’t care about what we were doing or about our platform and vision, but because very few people in the State even realized or cared that if they didn’t vote for whomever they really wanted in June, there was slim to no chance they would get a second opportunity in November.

Fracky Brown

Now, in the Governor’s race the voters of California will get to choose between Jerry Brown, a very right-wing Democrat who has proven his bona fides to such institutions as the prison industrial complex and big oil and Neel Kashkari (R, but left of Brown on some issues. I.e. after Brown announced his 2014 budget Kashkari was quoted as saying "Brown just threw poor people under the bus") a former Goldman Sachs executive who admits

Sacky Kashkari

to voting for Obama and managed Obama’s “Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP)" that really only "relieved" the "troubled assets" of Goldman Sachs and other members of the 1% Club.

The LA Times reported that the June 3^rd primary was the worst voter turnout in California state history, and being the newspaper of record for the establishment, attributed that to a general feeling of “content” with the way things are going here in the once Golden State.

I, however, attribute the profound voter apathy to a lack of voter knowledge of the Top Two Primary and the very fact that the incumbent, Brown, kept a profile lower than a professional Limbo dancer during the primary when he actually faced some polar-opposition, but is now obviously being a governor only for press attention.

Top Two was designed to destroy democracy and kill choice.  

Maybe candidates from 3rd parties or independents had little chance anyway, but now we are doomed to spending a lot of time, money and energy to compete in elections that have little bearing or affect on the actual outcomes. So, California, congratulations in November you have the “choice” between Fracky Brown or Sacky Kashkari.

Me, absent a bubble on my ballot for “No Way in Hell, None of the Above” I am leaving that spot blank.

Do You Have Something to Say? The New Soapbox People's Network is Here!

Do you have something to say, but lack a Soapbox?

Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox was started in January of 2009, because I felt that I still had many things to say, but very few outlets in the corporate media were willing to allow me to bring my message of peace and social justice to the public airwaves any longer.
Why? I don’t know for sure, but I premiered the Soapbox a few months after my run against then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi because I think perhaps the corporate media do not really want honest analysis of the system, just one-sided polemicizing and crass spectacle.

After five and one-half years of building a dedicated audience and refining Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox, we are ready to unveil the Soapbox People’s Network to also give YOU a chance to jump up on the People’s Soapbox (like used to be done in town squares and on corners) and have a chance to give YOUR analysis of current events, culture, or, really, whatever; and this is a site where we will strive to be completely counter-establishment and not give into the fake-glamour of being fake-opposition like so many other sites.

We are already gathering Featured and Guest Bloggers, however, If YOU would like to contribute articles, videos, audio, or start your own podcast (besides Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox we will soon be offering a new podcast called: The Wrong Kind of Green with Gregory Vickrey and Cory Morningstar), please contact me.
(CindySheehansSoapbox@gmail.com)

If YOU are already online with a presence, we would be honored to repost YOUR offerings, but if you are new, we will be happy to give you the tools to construct YOUR Soapbox.

We want to expand the Soapbox People’s Network to be an online breeding ground for the revolution we need to overthrow the evils of neoliberalism and war for Imperial greed.

Visit the Soapbox

In Peace and Solidarity,
Cindy

War Is A Racket By Smedley D. Butler - Video

Breathing Room (Soapbox Podcast: July 27, 2014)

Breathing Room

Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox

July 27, 2014

I think we can all agree that current events have been rather grim and it's frustrating to balance the need for information with the obvious propaganda flowing from the corporate airwaves.

I thought this week that I would reflect on the past several years of doing the Soapbox and come up with my favorite shows and guests to present today.

Our first guest is filmmaker, Helena Norberg-Hodge who has produced a wonderful documentary called:

The Economics of Happiness

(you're welcome)

Our second guest is actor/author/comedian

Richard Belzer, who is not only smart and articulate,

but along with Phil Donahue, one of the the nicest people I 

have ever interviewed on the Soapbox.

We talked about his book:

Myth America: The 20 Greatest Myths of the Robber Class and the Case for Revolution (Free PDF by Cindy Sheehan)

Myth America II: 20 Greatest Myths of the Robber Class and the Case for Revolution

Brother Can You Spare a Dime?

"The goal of modern propaganda is no longer to transform opinion but to arouse an active and mythical belief."

Jacques Ellul

A free PDF file of my 2009 Wo-manifesto:

Myth America: The 20 Greatest Myths of the Robber Class and the

Case for Revolution

has been uploaded to an internet archive source.

Myth America was written by my in early 2009 (and updated in October 2009) out of my frustration at being ostracized by most of my friends and colleagues for holding Obama and the Democrats to the same standards I had previously held Bush and the Republicans to.

I sat up late one night pondering on what causes formerly (it seemed) intelligent people to go bat-guano crazy over a "new boss that was the same as the old boss." I concluded that it must be the Myths we are raised on here in this country.

I identify the Myths, dispel them and offer grassroots-community based solutions to create a working-class poor revolution that divorces itself from the "Robber Class" systems that impoverish us, kill us, and enslave us.

Since 2009, every fear and prediction that I had about the Obama regime has unfortunately been fulfilled in the "chosen one." (Literally)

LINK TO FREE PDF OF MYTH AMERICA

This book is offered for free, but if you can you may donate whatever you can to 

Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox

Thank you, enjoy and SHARE!