Outspoken folk...

Madison's own Michael Feldman opened today's Whad' Ya Know with, "What Clinton did to an intern, Bush is doing to an entire nation!"

On Thursday, November 17, Congressman John Murtha held a press conference on US policy in Iraq. He says Abu Ghraib was what caused the shift in world and local support for the Iraq war. In the House floor debate on Friday Murtha quoted a recent survey that states that 45% of the Iraqi people now feel that attacks on the US forces are justified. The perception of American occupation of Iraq is now the driving force behind the insurgency.

Murtha further explained that in the first Iraq war Bush Sr. gathered a real coalition over $60 billion in financial support and followed UN resolutions to the letter. Bush Sr. also listened to all of his military advisors and moved accordingly. Murtha says the current Bush administration listens to no one: "The war's not going as advertised. What they're saying is rhetoric."

Send Congressman John Murtha a note telling him that you will not be silent while he is attacked...

Dear Col. Murtha,
I am writing to express my appreciation for adding another commendable act of courage to your service record, demonstrated by your recent speech in Congress. Thank you for standing up and voicing your beliefs and opinions even though you must have known well in advance that those actions were sure to draw a wave of personal attacks and insults. BUT, therein lies the true value of your effort - there were no reasonable or logical replies, no reasonable counter responses to your arguments because there is nothing that can be said to defend what Bush and Company have brought forth; preemptive war, torture, secret prisons and the use of chemical weapons on insurgents. Instead of a well-reasoned recourse all we get is personal insults and war chants from an administration with no plan of action and no wish to be held accountable.

Thank you for opening up this intentional log jam of silence. With a continual and unrelenting demand for truth it is the hope of more and more Americans that one day our country's honor and respect as a leader among the nations of the world will be restored.

Steve Kastner