Author: David Swanson

Remarks August 6, 2019, at Hiroshima to Hope in Seattle, Washington

How do we honor victims? We can remember them and appreciate who they were. But there were too many of them, and too many unknown to us. So, we can remember a sample of them, examples of them. And we can honor the living survivors, get to know and appreciate them while they are still alive.

We can remember the horrific way in which those killed were victimized, in hopes of manipulating ourselves into doing something serious about read more

Remarks in Poulsbo, Washington, August 4, 2019

This week, 74 years ago, the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were each hit with a single nuclear bomb that had the power of a third to a half of what NPR calls a low-yield or “usable” weapon. By NPR I mean both the Nuclear Posture Review and National Public Radio, both the U.S. government and what many people dangerously think of as a free press. These so-called usable nukes are for firing from the submarines based nearby here. They are two to read more

Edward Horgan retired from the Irish Defence Forces with the rank of Commandant after 22 years service that included peacekeeping missions with the United Nations in Cyprus and the Middle East. He has worked on over 20 election monitoring missions in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Asia, and Africa. He is international secretary with the Irish Peace and Neutrality Alliance, Chairperson and founder of Veterans For Peace Ireland, and a peace activist with Shannonwatch. His many peace activities include read more

“So, Senator Sanders, do you think that someone who’s profited from the current so-called healthcare system, like John Delaney, is qualified to tell you not to change it?”

is a different sort of question from

“So, Congressman Delaney, won’t good Americans run screaming from Senator Sanders’ rabid socialism?”

Similarly,

“Senator Warren, what percentage of federal discretionary spending now goes to militarism and what percentage should?”

is a different sort of question from

“Senator read more

Jeremy Kuzmarov has taught at numerous colleges across the United States and is author of four books on U.S. foreign policy including The Russians are Coming, Again: The First Cold War as Tragedy, the Second as Farce, with John Marciano and the new book that we will be discussing and which I highly recommend: Obama’s Unending Wars: Fronting the Foreign Policy of the Permanent Warfare State.

Total run time: 29:00
Host: David Swanson.
Producer: David Swanson.
Music by Duke Ellington.

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By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, July 28, 2019

Every government on earth, beginning with the United States, should shut down and be done with secret agencies, spy agencies, agencies used for murder, torture, bribery, election-manipulation, and coups.

While these agencies prevent the public from knowing what is being done in its name, they do not acquire any knowledge that benefits the public and that couldn’t have been acquired openly, lawfully, through simple research, diplomacy, and law-enforcement read more

In my town in the United States — as is not especially unusual — we have big memorials in prominent public places marking some of the most catastrophically immoral actions of the past. Unfortunately, all five of these major monuments celebrate and glorify these past horrors, rather than reminding us not to repeat them. The University of Virginia is building a memorial to the enslaved people who built the University of Virginia. So, we will have five celebrations of evil, and one cautionary read more

Jeff Ostler is Beekman Professor of Northwest and Pacific History at the University of Oregon. He teaches courses on U.S. history and American Indian history. And he is the author of an important new book called Surviving Genocide: Native Nations and the United States from the American Revolution to Bleeding Kansas.

Total run time: 29:00
Host: David Swanson.
Producer: David Swanson.
Music by Duke Ellington.

Download from LetsTryDemocracy, or from Internet Archive.

Pacifica stations can also download read more

I spoke with Senator Mike Gravel on Thursday and asked him whether it seemed fair to him to be excluded from Democratic Party Presidential Primary debates on the basis of his performance in polls that did not include his name among those whom people could say they supported.

Of course, he said that it did not. But he also raised some additional questions, and told me what he would say if included in a debate.

Gravel said that 70,000 supporters had donated to his campaign. That means he has qualified read more

I want Tulsi Gabbard in the Democratic Presidential debates because she speaks out against wars. She raises the topic unasked. She wants various wars ended or not launched. She wants impeachment made automatic for presidents who launch wars. What’s not to love?

I also want Mike Gravel included for the same reason. If anything, he’s even better than Gabbard. But Gravel openly says he doesn’t want to be elected; he just wants to improve the debates. I wish Gabbard would say the same thing. read more