Mike Gravel unlike Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama bravely speaks truth to power

This past Thanksgiving weekend, upon visiting a mall, I witnessed every day Americans coming together to support our troops overseas in Iraq and even Afghanistan. The volunteers manning this booth were collecting donated items and they in turn were packaging individual boxes to be shipped via Fed-Ex. These packages were being sent to our troops in time for the holidays. In seeing that display of true compassion, again in my mind, I screamed: They did not have to be there in the first place. I remembered before Bush’s illegal invasion of Iraq, his warning to the Iraqi people, “Do not blow the oil fields.” I have used that warning in previous pieces since the inception of this godless war.

In many previous articles I have written of the oil connection to this damn war in which I wrote, “If you do not believe me that this war in Iraq is all about oil, I invite all of you to read, Iraq Carve up begins. This article which was originally published by the London Line on June 26, 2005, stated, “Executives from BP, Shell, Exxon Mobil and Halliburton, Dick Cheney’s old firm, are expected to congregate at the Paddington Hilton for a two-day chinwag with top-level officials from Iraq’s oil ministry. The gathering, sponsored by the British Government, is being described as the "premier event" for those with designs on Iraqi oil, and will go ahead despite opposition from Iraqi oil workers, who fear their livelihoods are being flogged to foreigners. The Met will be on hand to secure the venue ahead of the conference.”

I then opined, “So, please Bush, do not dare tell us that the war in Iraq is about fighting any alleged war on terror. That equally applies to the U.S. congress as well as the complicit media.”

I will address those presently holding a seat and running for president in 2008 namely front-runner, Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama further on in this piece. I will also praise former Senator Mike Gravel once more.

Since the London Line piece proved that this war was all about oil and not to protect America’s security, it deeply angers me that as our soldiers die in Iraq and will continue to do so over the holiday season, the oil our congress and Pres. Bush coveted and stole will be shipped to Israel as cited in this piece. It will anger you to read, “The Prime Minister’s Office, which views the pipeline to Haifa as a "bonus" the U.S. could give to Israel in return for its unequivocal support for the American-led campaign in Iraq, had asked the Americans for the official telegram.” So, are our soldiers dying so that this oil stolen from Iraq will now be shipped to Israel for their support of this war? This is the true face of this war which few elected officials are bold enough to speak of and none of our presidential candidates are speaking of with the exception of former Senator Mike Gravel.

I want you to watch this feed in full as Mike Gravel so rightly states that this is an “oil war” I feel that this is an important feed especially with the Iowa caucuses are only weeks away and right after many Christians celebrate Christmas. It is important that all Democrats watch this feed as they go to the polls in the New Hampshire primary in order to make an informed decision. He is the only one who is telling the American people the truth, yet CNN and NBC blocked him from telling it.

In the spirit of Christmas, one must remember these Ten Commandments which are, you shall not murder, you shall not steal and you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. The war in Iraq has violated everyone of these commandments.

I have heard from some that Gravel is too old to become president and one only has to look at the late and former President Ronald Reagan to know age should play no business when a candidate is able to convey a message. Our soldiers and their families are the ones who will pay the price when men like Gravel are marginalized by the media and the Democratic leadership. When Gravel speaks out, the phrase that comes to mind is: With age comes wisdom. And to prove so, he has fought this battle before where others have not.

While not to solely pick on Hillary Clinton: Has Barack Obama showed any temerity to go up against this powerful president when he has in the past voted to re-fund this war time and time again? As a senator votes to fund the war, it is approving of this war and so many do not fully understand that. If you do not believe this opinion of Senator Barack Obama, one only has to visit Project Vote Smart to see the evidence of the many defense appropriations bills he has voted in favor of. As I have called for Senator Clinton to lead the charge to filibuster as did Mike Gravel, the same challenge must be said of Senator Obama.

A friend of mine sent me this YouTube.com feed: VIETNAM = IRAQ . . . MIKE GRAVEL = PEACE! And I do think it important for all Iowans and New Hampshire Democrats and even independents this feed since in New Hampshire independents are able to vote in the Democratic primary. If you do know of friends and family within those states who can vote for a formidable candidate such as Mike Gravel to send a message to the top-tier Democratic candidates, this is your time to speak out and send a message that we the American people will not tolerate a presidential candidate that refuses to bring our men and women home.

In the beginning of that feed two men interviewing Gravel ask: “If you had two minutes with the President of the United States, what would you say?” Gravel’s response was “Drop dead!” and isn’t that what politicians such as President Bush, our congress and complicit presidential candidates have been saying to our troops day-in-and-day-out?

I for one am sick of the obfuscation that has been the very premise of this presidential campaign so far. I want the truth. I want a candidate that I can believe in and one who is actually supporting our troops by getting them out of that hell-hole known as Iraq.

Last week, I received an email from a die-hard Hillary supporter in which she wrote a brief response to The Metro as you will see: "I was outraged by Elliot Kalan’s tasteless and unfunny column about Hillary Clinton. He is obviously a misogynist and cannot accept the fact that Hillary Clinton is the odds on favorite to be the next president of the United States. Therefore my advice to him is that he should either accept that fact or leave the country.”

While I could not find the article she responded to, what I did find was a striking similarity to those who supported Bush when he became president. That similarity is this response to accept Hillary as president or “leave the country” My message to this Hillary supporter is that this country belongs to all of us and even those who challenge Senator Clinton’s ability to lead her. I have the right to stay in this country and do not care for any supporter of a presidential candidate telling me to move.

Perhaps the best condemnation of Hillary Clinton comes from Scott Ritter in this Alternet.org piece, It Doesn’t Matter If Hillary Apologizes for Her Iraq War Vote in which this well respected patriot in my opinion, Scott Ritter had this to say of Hillary Clinton, “Let there be no doubt that Hillary Clinton is about as slippery a species of politician that exists, one who has demonstrated an ability to morph facts into a nebulous blob that blurs the record and distorts the truth. While she has demonstrated this less than flattering ability on a number of issues, nowhere is it so blatant as when dealing with the issue of the ongoing war in Iraq and her vote in favor of this war.” This passage reminds me of that age old saying, “Evil prevails when good men do nothing.” And evil is prevailing when presidential candidates refuse to bring our soldiers home immediately as candidates like Gravel have called for.

I have long since called both Hans Blix and Scott Ritter the go-to-guys when it came to finding out the truth concerning Bush’s assertions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. As weapons inspectors they were the ones who held the truth yet presidential candidates like Clinton sided with Bush and she refused to read the entire intelligence report that proved Bush wrong. There is no redemption for such an apology only accountability and it is time for Democrats to hold her accountable within the upcoming primaries. You cannot call yourself anti-war and vote for Clinton and Obama. You can only claim yourself anti-war by voting for candidates like Mike Gravel.

While some will take this column as an endorsement of Gravel, it is not, it is speaking up for the truth when the truth should and must matter in this country as we go forward. It is also speaking up for those soldiers who have died and have come home maimed for life. It is for the one million innocent Iraqis who have died. As an independent, it is my hope that Democrats can claim independence from candidates like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. If through claiming said independence you wish to turn the Democratic leadership on its head, then vote for Mike Gravel. At least he stared down a president unlike candidates such as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama who has shown their complicit nature when it comes to this president.

Author’s email address is, xmjmac@optonline.net

There are two IMPORTANT feeds I wish my readers to view so that this editorial makes sense as well as other important articles. To view these feeds, please go to this link:
– http://www.marymacelveen.com/blog/_...