Iraq Action Camp in D.C. March 15-17

The Iraq Action Camp that had been scheduled in Philadelphia on March 15-17 has now been relocated to Washington D.C. to better tie-in with all of the anti-war organizing that is happening in advance of the 5-year anniversary of the Iraq War on March 19th.

So, instead of hosting the action camp in Philadelphia, Campus Progress at Penn will be heading down to Washington D.C. It is not too late to register and there are travel subsidies available so cost should not be a deterrent. Click here to apply

~BT

Obama: "End the War in 2009"

Tom Hayden reports for The Nation,

In his victory speech in Texas Tuesday, Barack Obama promised to end the Iraq war in 2009, a new commitment that parallels recent opinion pieces in The Nation.

Prior to his Houston remarks, Obama's previous position favored an American combat troop withdrawal over a sixteen-to-eighteen-month timeframe. He has been less specific on the number and mission of any advisers he would leave behind.

Ending the war in the first year of his potential presidency, therefore, is the strongest stand Obama has taken thus far, and one he will be questioned on sharply by the Republicans and the media. As Juan Cole noted last year, the Bush-Cheney team is preparing a "poison pill" of disorder and blame for any future President contemplating an Iraq troop withdrawal.

Great news. I hope that this is a topic in tonight's debate. 8pm on CNN.

~BT

McCain: Less Jobs, More Wars

From the mouth of Joe Scarborough to voters' ears, John McCain is running on a platform promising "Less Jobs and More Wars". The only way he can get around his awful policy positions is too blur the issues, maintain his patently untrue status as a moderate and rely on low information voters and the distortion of the media.

Knowing this, progressive groups have started to brand McCain as Stu Stein pointed out after seeing the John.he.is video, which has now been seen by over 700k people. Brave New Films has also launched a campaign called Less Jobs, More Wars. Check out the first, second and third videos released so far.






~BT

Iraq Action Camp at Penn March 15-17

Updated Feb 27: The Iraq Action Camp will take place in Washington D.C.

With the Bush administration praising the “progress” in Iraq, and politicians touting the plausibility of a 100 year occupation, it appears that national outrage and activism about the war has run its course. One year after the troop escalation and almost five years since the start of the war, has America become complacent with the ongoing occupation? Not young people. As thousands of soldiers age 18-25 die each year, and more with every passing day, students across the country have had enough.

Campus Progress at Penn is hosting one of the 2008 Iraq Action Camps on March 15-17 (the second weekend of Penn’s spring Break). It will be a great weekend with students flying in from around the country to participate.

Please spread the word both on and off campus!

REGISTER NOW to gain necessary organizing skills, hear from powerful speakers and experts on Iraq, network with students from around the country, and take action to end the war and bring our troops home!

~BT

Join the Campus Progress Chapter at UPenn

I've previously mentioned Campus Progress on this blog and have highlighted our first few events at Penn, notably the Iraq Film Series and the recently announced Zeitgeist Film Series.

I would like to now invite you to join our Googlegroup to stay up to date with future events and get more involved in the group.

We have begun planning some environmentally-related events for the spring semester that we are collaborating with the Penn Environmental Group on.

~BT

VideoVets: Bring Troops Home

Moveon.org released a television ad directed by Oliver Stone featuring John Bruhns, a former sergeant in the Army who served in Iraq.

Check it out and donate to help get this ad on the air. If you aren't already a member of Moveon.org you should join.


~BT

Bush Slammed for veto

Let the strong reaction to Bush's veto continue! Democrats need to stand up to Bush and keep sending back the bill. The American people are behind them! Russ Feingold discusses what should happen next on The Huffington Post. And Edwards has a great response and went even further saying:

This is a political frame and political rhetoric. They use it to justify everything they do. They use that language to justify the war in Iraq. They use it to justify Guantanamo. They use it to justify torture. They use it to justify illegal spying on the American people.

Keith Olbermann has a must watch clip on the Veto:

The Anniversary Veto : Four years after Mission Accomplished, it's blame-transmission, accomplished. The President vetoes spend-and-end, the troops don't get funding... and it's not his fault, of course. As the war slogs onward, Countdown takes a look at the evolution of the selling of the war, from "Mission Accomplished", to "Stay the Course", to... wherever the Hell we are now. Our special guest is Frank Rich of the New York Times.

Chris Bowers blogs on the failure to override Bush's veto and initial steps forward.



~BT

Tragedy at Virginia Tech will have major implications

At 7:15 yesterday morning, the first shots were fired in what has turned out to be the worst shooting rampage in US history. According to the NY Times:

Thirty-two people were killed, along with a gunman, and at least 15 injured in two shooting attacks at Virginia Polytechnic Institute on Monday during three hours of horror and chaos on this sprawling campus.

There has been some really incredible coverage so far. I just saw a CNN interview with a female student who was able to survive by playing dead in the classroom. She was one of four people to leave her class alive after preventing the shooter from re-entering their classroom by blocking the door.

Even Bush suprised me with this appropriate comment:

"Our nation is shocked and saddened by the news of the shootings at Virginia Tech today...Schools should be places of safety and sanctuary and learning...When that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom and every American community."

As the story continues to develop, there are still so many unanswered questions:

• Who is the shooter?
• What was the motive?
  
• Were the two bomb threats from last week related to today's incident?
  
• Why wasn't the campus immediately locked down?
• Why weren't students warned sooner?
• Could the second round of shooting have been prevented?
• Was the University and police response bundled?

While the list of questions grows, this tragedy has already had major political implications. It has fully consumed the news cycle for a full day now and will at least continue through the next week as more information slowly comes out.

One major result is that the following stories have been wiped off our television screens and newspapers:

• The bombings in the Green Zone in Baghdad
• The Don Imus extravanga that was just heating up
• The innocence of the Duke lacrosse players
• The Prosecutor Purge and calls for Gonzales' resignation
• Escalating rhetoric between Bush and Congress on Iraq War funding

I had planned to blog about a number of these items and since they have quickly become "old news", I will try to approach them in a more in-depth manner and spend more time on each.

This tragedy also raises some important questions for Penn. What would Penn have done in this situation? Could we h even handle such a major catastrophe?

According to Penn's Division of Public Safety, Penn Police would be prepared for a similar incident. That is crucial because at the end of the day, Penn students are wondering: " what if something like that happened here?" I know I did.

I am definitely confident that DPS has and will continue to work exceptionally hard to ensure our safety. I really hope they actively communicate how prepared they really are and reassure the Penn community.

~BT