Image by PHOTObyTED via SmugMug
by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Feb. 5, 2022
February 7, 2022
Video from the White House on Saturday: Continue reading
David Swanson
Smedley Butler Wasn’t Kidding, by David Swanson
Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr
by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
February 4, 2022
Smedley Butler is generally left out of U.S. history. If you bring up a guy who prevented a Wall Street coup against FDR, you do real damage to the tale of peaceful respect for government from the beginning of time up through January 6, 2021. If you mention the scandal that erupted when he recounted how Mussolini had run over a little girl with his car, it’s hard to leave out the U.S. government’s friendly relations with Mussolini.
To Send Weapons and Troops to Ukraine You’d Have to Be a Stupid Son of a Biden, by David Swanson
Image by Thomas Hawk via Flickr
by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
January 25, 2022
Have yall learned absolutely nothing?
The U.S. government’s internal memos said that the only way to get Iraq to use its weapons if it even had any would be to attack it. The U.S. government’s public statements were that Iraq certainly had weapons and therefore must be attacked. The U.S. government itself had every single one of the weapons in question, and knew Iraq used to have some of them because the U.S. had provided them.
David Swanson and Charles Lenchner: Refusing Military “Service”
Image by Mario Klingemann via Flickr
by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Jan. 4, 2022
January 5, 2022
This week on Talk World Radio we’re talking about refusing military “service.” Our guest Charles Lenchner is a veteran peace activist, organizer, and political campaigner. Born in the United States, he grew up in Israel where he became an anti-occupation activist at a young age. In 1987, he was drafted into the Israeli Army and subsequently refused orders and spent time in military prison. More recently he was a co-founder of People for Bernie Sanders and today is part of the RootsAction team that publishes ProgressiveHub. I also work for RootsAction.
The U.S. Military Is Registering 15-Year-Olds for the Draft, by David Swanson
Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
by David Swanson
Writers, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
December 19, 2021
Most U.S. states still have excuses when asked to make voter registration automatic, but in various states — including here in Virginia — draft registration is automatic even for 15-year-olds who want a learner’s permit to drive a car. (This is still only for males, as Congress did not, in the end, extend draft registration to females, at least until next year — once in a while Democrats’ obeisance to Republicans works out well.) The application for the learner’s permit in Virginia, for which you must be 15-and-a-half-years-old, says:
Continue reading
Reflecting on the Dawn of Everything, by David Swanson
Image by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Nov. 30, 2021
December 1, 2021
The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow is, I think, a terrific contribution to human knowledge and guide to pursuing more of the same — as well as a notable accomplishment for the Davids of the world, who have perhaps been falling a bit short lately. A few of the points it documents and persuades of are:
David Swanson: Those 80 Dead Were All Human Beings
Image by Michael Fleshman via Flickr
with David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Nov. 15, 2021
November 16, 2021
“Why in the heck should it be legal or moral to blow up 80 people if you label them non-civilians?” — David Swanson
Tell the Truth: Veterans Day Is A National Day of Lying, by David Swanson
Image by Leo Reynolds via Flickr
by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Nov. 2, 2018
Originally published Nov. 12, 2018
November 11, 2021
Some are inclined to recognize that Trumpies are dwelling in an alternative universe in which neither climate collapse nor nuclear apocalypse is a concern but terrifying wild hoards of Muslim Hondurans are skipping and dancing into the Fatherland armed with gang symbols, deadly rocks, and socialistic tendencies.
David Swanson and Daniel Ellsberg: The Most Dangerous Missiles
Image by Daniel Arrhakis via Flickr
by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Oct. 24, 2021
October 26, 2021
Daniel Ellsberg is a former U.S. military analyst employed by the RAND Corporation who precipitated a national uproar in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers, the U.S. military’s account of activities during the Vietnam War, to The New York Times.
David Swanson and Margaret Kimberley: Powell, Obama, Alex Saab and Assange
Image by Ivan Radic via Flickr
by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Oct. 18, 2021
October 20, 2021
Margaret Kimberley is a co-founder and Executive Editor and Senior Columnist for Black Agenda Report, a recipient of the Serena Shim Award for Uncompromising Integrity in Journalism, a board member of Consortium News, and a recipient of a 2021 Women and Media Award from the Women’s Institute for Freedom of the Press.
Even in Death There is No Flag Large Enough to Cover the Shame of Killing Innocent People, by Kenn Orphan + Colin Powell’s Own Staff Had Warned Him Against His War Lies, by David Swanson
Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
by Kenn Orphan
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Halifax, Nova Scotia
October 18, 2021
Colin Powell just died from Covid-19. So we should expect a tsunami of mourning from politicians, the mainstream media and even some liberals who seem to enjoy sanitizing the murderous lives of the ruling class. Those of us on the left who refuse to play the games of polite society when it comes to war crimes will be chastised. And he will take his place among the “great generals” of the American Empire. All warmongering societies do this, so it should come as no surprise. But no amount of eulogies can erase the truth.
David Swanson: We Oppose All Sides of All Wars
Image by Matthew Bradley via Flickr
with David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Oct. 8, 2021
October 12, 2021
Yuri muckraker on Oct 8, 2021
On this special episode ONE HUNDRETH/100TH EPISODE OF 1+1 I was rejoined by the brilliant Peace activist, anti-imperialist thinker, journalist, radio show host, NGO critic and wonderful human being David Swanson of World Beyond War, Talk Nation Radio, and Roots Action on to discuss and have him do some much needed mythbusting on “good wars.”
David Swanson and Carissa Byrne Hessick: Punishment Without Trial: Why Plea Bargaining Is a Bad Deal
Image by Truthout.org via Flickr
by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Oct. 5, 2021
October 6, 2021
This week on Talk World Radio: a new book called Punishment Without Trial: Why Plea Bargaining Is a Bad Deal.
What Ending a War Could Look Like, by David Swanson + Abby Martin: Afghanistan War Pays Off BIG For Generals Who Lied
Image by Kevin Wong via Flickr
by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Sept. 4, 2021
September 7, 2021
When you imagine ending a war, do you imagine the U.S. President lamenting the human cost of the war’s financial expense while simultaneously demanding that Congress increase military spending — and while mentioning new wars that could potentially be launched?
They’re About to Add Women to Military Draft in the Name of Feminism, by David Swanson
Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
by David Swanson
Writers, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Aug. 30, 2021
September 2, 2021
In some future lovely little war, perhaps with China or some other demonized target, some percentage of the U.S. public may suddenly exclaim: “Hey, since when does a draft include young women as well as men?!” Old tunes will be revised and sung in protest with lyrics about being the first one on your block to have your daughter come home in a box. The tragedies will be played out in tears and screams and flag-covered propaganda-regurgitating rationalizations. Dead women and men will be thanked for the service of stirring up World War III before being dumped in the ground to rot, as some of the living begin to envy them and wonder about the merits of the service they’ve provided.
Dandelion Salad 