AMERICAN LEFT HISTORY

This space is dedicated to the proposition that we need to know the history of the struggles on the left and of earlier progressive movements here and world-wide. If we can learn from the mistakes made in the past (as well as what went right) we can move forward in the future to create a more just and equitable society. We will be reviewing books, CDs, and movies we believe everyone needs to read, hear and look at as well as making commentary from time to time. Greg Green, site manager

Monday, August 12, 2013

European Parliamentarians call on President Obama to free Bradley Manning

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Open Letter from Members of the European Parliament
to President Barack Obama and US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel

Pfc. Bradley Manning (photo credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

As Members of the European Parliament, who were elected to represent our constituents throughout Europe, we are writing to express our concerns about the ongoing persecution of Bradley Manning, the young U.S. soldier who released classified information revealing evidence of human rights abuses and apparent war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The U.S. Army has charged Private First Class Manning with 21 different crimes, including ‘Aiding the Enemy’; a capital charge. To convict a person who leaked information to the media of “Aiding the Enemy” would set a terrible precedent. Although we understand the US government is not seeking the death penalty for Bradley Manning, there would be nothing to stop this from happening in future cases. As it is, PFC Manning faces the possibility of life in prison without parole, recently rejected as “inhuman and degrading treatment” by the European Court of Human Rights.
On July 2nd , Army prosecutors closed their arguments in the case without having provided any real evidence that Bradley Manning aided the enemy, or that he intended to do so. In his defense against those charges to which he pleaded not guilty, PFC Manning was not permitted to bring any evidence of motivation. And in a statement calling on the court to allow a ‘public interest’ defense, Amnesty International said that this was ‘disturbing…as he has said he reasonably believed he was exposing human rights and humanitarian law violations. Moreover, the prosecution provided no evidence that PFC Manning caused harm to U.S. national security or to US and NATO troops.
We agree with Amnesty International that the U.S. government should immediately drop the most serious charges against PFC Bradley Manning, and that to charge Bradley Manning with ‘aiding the enemy’ is ‘ludicrous’ – a ‘travesty of justice’ which ‘makes a mockery of the US military court system’.
“We’ve now seen the evidence presented by both sides, and it’s abundantly clear that the charge of ‘aiding the enemy’ has no basis,” said Widney Brown, Senior Director for International Law and Policy at Amnesty International. “The prosecution should also take a long, hard look at its entire case and move to drop all other charges that aren’t supported by the evidence presented.”
Rather than causing harm, Bradley Manning’s release to WikiLeaks of the Iraq War Logs and the Afghan War Diaries shone much needed light on those occupations, revealing, amongst other abuses, the routine killing of civilians. The bleak picture painted by these war diaries contrasts greatly with the rosy progress reports being provided to the public by military and political leaders. PFC Manning has said he felt that if the American public had access to this information, this could ‘spark a domestic debate’ on American foreign policy ‘as it related to Iraq and Afghanistan’. Far from being a traitor, Bradley Manning had the best interests of his country in mind.
The Iraqi people continue to suffer the consequences of this war, even after the withdrawal of foreign troops, with millions of homeless refugees and the resumption of sectarian violence. Meanwhile, eleven and a half years after the U.S invaded Afghanistan, that nation has yet to form a functioning democracy or to free itself from the Taliban and fundamentalist warlords.
Bradley Manning: ‘I felt that we were risking so much for people that seemed unwilling to co-operate with us, leading to frustration and anger on both sides. I began to become depressed with the situation that we found ourselves increasingly mired in year after year.’
Bradley Manning was witness to the wrongdoing of the U.S. military. He says this ‘troubled’ and ‘disturbed’ him. But instead of ‘passing by on the other side’ like so many others, he acted in accordance with international law and with a strong commitment to truth, transparency and democracy. He wrote at the time that he hoped his actions would lead to “worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms.”
Bradley Manning also released information about the men who continue to be wrongly held in indefinite detention at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo, Cuba. Over one hundred of these prisoners have been carrying out a long, indefinite hunger strike, and 45 of them are being force-fed by U.S. soldiers. This intolerable situation continues to undermine U.S. claims to promote freedom and democracy, compromising the standing of the US in the world and diminishing US moral authority.
Bradley Manning’s courageous action, for which he has three times been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, was an inspiration to others, including Edward Snowden, who recently revealed massive U.S. government surveillance in the U.S. and also against European governments and citizens.
We are concerned that the U.S. administration’s war on whistleblowers such as Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning is a deterrent to the process of democracy in both the United States and Europe.
We hereby urge you to end the persecution of Bradley Manning, a young gay man who has been imprisoned for over three years, including ten months in solitary confinement, under conditions that the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendez deemed “cruel and abusive.” Bradley Manning has already suffered too much, and he should be freed as soon as humanly possible.
Signed,
Marisa Matias, Member of the European Parliament, Portugal
Christian Engström, Member of the European Parliament, Sweden
Ana Maria Gomes, Member of the European Parliament, Portugal
Gabi Zimmer, Member of the European Parliament, Germany
Paul Murphy, Member of the European Parliament, Ireland
Sabine Wils, Member of the European Parliament, Germany
Jacky Henin, Member of the European Parliament, France
Alda Sousa, Member of the European Parliament, Portugal
Martina Anderson, Member of the European Parliament, Ireland
Nikola Vuljanić, Member of the European Parliament, Kroatia
Sabine Lösing, Member of the European Parliament, Germany
Lothar Bisky, Member of the European Parliament, Germany
Helmut Scholz, Member of the European Parliament, Germany
Willy Meyer, Member of the European Parliament, Spain
Mikael Gustafsson, Member of the European Parliament, Sweden
Marie-Christine Vergiat, Member of the European Parliament, France
Patrick Le Hyaric, Member of the European Parliament, France

Daring Aerial Blockade Stops Tar Sands Pipeline Expansion in Michigan

This morning, Michigan Coalition Against Tar Sands (MI-CATS) is taking direct action in the Crane Pond State Game Area to halt expansion of Canadian corporation Enbridge Energy’s tar sands pipeline 6B. Enbridge’s claim that they have restored the Kalamazoo River after the 2010 spill holds no merit, nor does it justify expanding the pipeline. Tar sands cannot be cleaned up; this material is thick and heavy, it sinks in water, and clings to surfaces. Expanding the pipeline increases the risk of another disaster for all of life and future generations.

Felix of the unconfined Kalamazoo River basin climbed into the trees early this morning to halt the expansion of Enbridge’s tar sands pipeline 6B. A rope traverse, spanning a portion of where construction is taking place, is the sole line that holds the platform they are sitting on up in the air. If it were cut and/or tampered with by police or workers they could fall from the tree, resulting in serious injury, possibly even death.

“Tar sands pipeline 6B is pumping a dangerous concoction which fuels global capitalism. This pipeline is Canada’s promise that industrialized capitalism will continue to exploit and oppress the people of the world and the environment. Capitalism guarantees the continued destruction of the natural world. It enables the ruling class to exploit the world’s resources and force the rest of the population to labor for the ruling classes profits. Additionally, we are way beyond the verge of climate crisis. It is of utmost importance that carbon emissions stop immediately. Tar sands infrastructure is one example of industries at the root of the oil addiction. By taking action at the root of the problem, we endeavor to stop the symptoms of the problem. If we halt all carbon emissions into the atmosphere and remember how to live in harmony with the earth, there might be hope for life as we humans have known it for a few hundred thousand years.”

MI CATS asserts that direct action tactics, including civil disobedience, are now necessary as Enbridge’s dominant presence in our bio-region has allowed no room for any constructive alternatives. After three long years of blatant lies and omissions, Enbridge has the audacity to triple the capacity of the same pipeline that poured an ecologically abrasive sludge into the Kalamazoo River. This catastrophe was the largest inland oil spill this continent has ever experienced. While the Kalamazoo spill was the largest, it is one of many devastations brought on by Enbridge. Enbridge’s insidious business practices caused more than 800 pipeline spills between 1999 and 2010; that is more than one tar sands spill a week.

All pipelines leak. All markets peak. Capitalism can rot in hell. Enbridge places profit before our families, the ecosystem, our grandmothers, our dogs (yo what up Smokey*?), our grandchildren and the future of life on this planet. The continuation of tar sands transportation through pipelines like Line 6B risk more than just our own backyards; everything in the industry’s wake is left defiled and in squalor. Our actions against Enbridge won’t stop until Enbridge stops participating in the resource extraction industry. We stand in solidarity with all first peoples’ whose lands were forcibly taken from them, Idle No More, Fearless Summer, those working to end corporate personhood, all the species going extinct, those sick and dying thanks to the extraction industry, and all folks fighting oppression in order to live full and happy lives.

*Smokey was a dog who died as a result of the 2010 spill.

*FREE BRADLEY MANNING* Gay whistleblower who revealed governments’ crimes to Wikileaks
Ever since the trial of Private Bradley Manning started on 3rd June in Fort Meade, US, protests and support have never stopped inside and outside the Court. Recently, Bradley has been celebrated in Pride marches and awarded the Sean MacBride Peace Prize. Hundreds, including *Queer Strike* and *Payday, signed a full page ad in the New York Times* (25 July). 17 Members of the European Parliament signed an open letter to Obama supporting him. 100,000 people signed a petition for him to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. On 30 July, the charge of “aiding the enemy” was dropped, but Bradley Manning was convicted of 20 offences, including five counts of "espionage". The original maximum sentence of 136 year is now reduced to 90. 27 July: INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION in 14 countries (that we know of): Australia, Belgium, Canada, England (several locations), France, Germany (over 20 cities), Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Scotland, South Korea, Turkey, Wales and the US (over 40 cities).
Berlin	London – Vigil at St Martin in the Fields
Haverfordwest, Wales	Rome	Philadelphia
Istanbul	Daily protest at the trial, Fort Meade.
FREE BRADLEY MANNING - DEFEND ALL WHISTLEBLOWERS ASYLUM FOR ASSANGE AND SNOWDEN!
Thanks to international whistleblower Bradley Manning, we know: ● The “collateral murder” video of a US helicopter gunship crew killing Iraqi civilians ● The officially sanctioned cover-up of rape and other torture in Iraq and Afghanistan ● The extent of drone strikes ● The US government attacks on popular government & movements in Haiti and Venezuela ● Corruption by Tunisian dictator Ben Ali, which spurred the 2011 revolution ● Israel consulting with Egypt and the Palestinian Authority before invading Gaza ● etc.
Edward Snowden’s exposé of global snooping by the US has caused outrage around the world. The work of Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange has been crucial in spreading Bradley Manning’s evidence of governments’ crimes and brutality, and for organizing against US persecution of Snowden.		Assange	Snowden
Pride in London	Pride in San Francisco
	What you can do ● Write to Bradley ●Write to your local press ● Translate this message and/or send to your networks ● Show the Collateral Murder video at meetings ●Sign Daniel Ellsberg’s petition and Nobel Prize petition ● Attend ongoing picket at the Ecuador embassy in London to support Assange.● Check the Bradley Manning Support Network (BMSN) for further actions ●Send messages of support to BMSN (cc payday@paydaynet.org and we’ll publish on our website.)
Payday men's network has been organising with *Queer Strike* in defence of Bradley Manning and other whistleblowers and refuseniks. Contact us at payday@paydaynet.org www.refusingtokill.net

Conflict in Syria: US Intervention and the Prospects for Peace

A forum on Syrian perspectives, the US role and activist response

When: Thursday, August 15, 2013, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Where: First Parish Cambridge (Unitarian Universalist) • 3 Church Street • Harvard Square • Cambridge

Donation – $5 (No one turned away)

Presenters:

Marwa Alnaal

Syrian American Forum
A graduate of the international relations program at Clark University, Ms. Alnaal is a Syrian American who has travelled to Syria multiple times to study the crisis.

Assaf Kfoury

Boston University computer science department
Prof. Kfoury grew up in Beirut and Cairo and has published numerous articles on the Middle East in the Nation, Z-net, Counter Punch, etc, and has recently returned from Lebanon.

Nidal Bitari

Arab NGO Network for Development, ANND, Program Coordinator
Mr. Bitari has written in Arabic journals and will talk about his expierences during the uprising in Syria as a Palestinian living in a Syrian refugee camp.

With Commentary By:

Elaine Hagopian

Professor of sociology at Simmons College (emeritus)
Prof. Hagopian is Syrian by birth and has spent much of her life studying the Middle East, Palestine and Syria.

The drawn out conflict in Syria is of great concern; 100,000 people have been killed and there are more than a million refugees, but intervention by the US and other countries creates the potential for a major regional war.
The US decision to supply arms to the opposition escalates the violence when a ceasefire and political talks are needed.
Most activists in the peace/antiwar movement and public opinion oppose US intervention, but there are many questions because of the complexity and lack of reliable information.

US Forces Deployed in Jordan
democracynow.org

The Following Questions will be Addressed:

-- What is the historical background of the current situation?

-- What is the actual situation in Syria, who are the players and what are
their agendas? How are things changing?

-- How are the US and other countries involved, including sanctions, "nonlethal" aid and covert actions? What can we do to oppose US
intervention?
-- Can the peace movement support a dialogue and "political solution by Syrians and for Syrians, based on the Geneva Declaration of June 2012"?
(Syrian American Forum)? How can this be achieved?

-- Is there a way to provide humanitarian assistance to refugees and other victims, through UN or genuinely neutral agencies?

Investigations | US v Pfc. Manning, Secretary of the Army 15-6

By Alexa O'Brien on October 16, 2012 11:15 AM |

Secretary of the Army 15-6 InvestigationSecretary of the Army, John McHugh, directed Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen, commander of the Army General Command and Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to lead a "six-member task force" investigation into "how Pfc. Bradley Manning was selected for his job and trained" and "whether his superiors missed warning signs that he was downloading documents he had no need to read," according to a 23 December 2010 McClatchy report. Army spokesperson, Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, told McClatchy the 15-6 probe had a "very broad investigative mandate" and conducted with cooperation with both the Department of the Army and CENTCOM.
Sworn StatementsAccording to a 27 January 2011 McClatchy report, between late December 2010 and 1 February 2011, when findings were due to Secretary of the Army John McHugh, investigators "made several trips to Fort Drum," home of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team 10th Mountain Division, conducting "scores of interviews." Sworn statements provided to the Secretary of the Army's 15-6 investigators eventually found there way into the 2 December 2011 Defense Request for Article 32 Witnesses.
Lead civilian defense counsel, David Coombs, also used sworn statements provided to Secretary of the Army's 15-6 investigation to impeach Government witnesses at the Article 32 Pretrial Hearing. Rainy Reitman's notes, for example, that Coombs asked Captain Thomas Cherepko, the Assistant S6 and Information Assurance Security Officer with 2nd Brigade Combat Team 10th Mountain Division if he remembered his sworn statement on 6 January 2011, where Cherepko said "we were given just enough knowledge to screw things up."
Reitman also notes, "Cherepko balked slightly at confirming it," and "Coombs responded that 'If you were here in person I would show you your sworn statement.'"
FindingsThe Washington Post reported that Lt. Gen. Caslen was expected to present his findings to the Secretary of the Army, John McHugh, the week of 1 February 2011, and to then Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates by mid-February 2011.
On 27 January 2011, McClatchy reported that investigators found that Pfc. Manning's "direct supervisor" had "warned that Manning had thrown chairs at colleagues and shouted at higher ranking soldiers in the year he was stationed at Fort Drum, NY, and advised that Manning shouldn't be sent to Iraq." An anonymous military official also told the Washington Post in a 1 February 2011 report that Pfc. Manning had "balled up fists and screamed at higher-ranking soldiers."
Two anonymous military officials "familiar with the investigation" told McClatchy that superior officers ignored the advice from Pfc. Mannings' direct supervisor "because the unit was short of intelligence analysts and needed Manning's skills" and "commanders hoped they could address Manning's discipline problems in Iraq." The anonymous military officials also told McClatchy that what followed was a "comedy of errors" with Pfc. Manning's commanders assuming "someone else was addressing Manning's problems."
Although defense filings are redacted and legal proceedings for United States v. Pfc. Manning are being conducted in de facto secrecy, hand written transcripts, research, and news reports reveal that Pfc. Manning's direct supervisor was then then Staff Sergeant, Warrant Officer, One (WO1) Kyle Balonek, and most likely Witness No. 28 on the redacted 2 December 2011, Defense Request for Article 32 Witnesses. Balonek invoked Article 31, or "Compulsory Self-Incrimination Prohibited", at the 18 December 2011 Article 32 Hearing.
No. 28 on the December 2, 2011 Defense Request for Article 32 Witnesses

XXXXXXXXXX [ Staff Sergeant now Warrant Officer, One (WO1) Kyle Balonek ] will testify that he originally did not have supervisory responsibilities at the unit. After approximately 60 days, he was given responsibility for supervising two subordinate 35F Soldiers; one of these soldiers was PFC Manning. When XXXXXXXXXX [ Staff Sergeant now Warrant Officer, One (WO1) Kyle Balonek ] got to the unit in May of 2009, he observed operations for approximately 90 days and then approached SFC XXXXXXXXXX [ Master Sergeant Adkins (now Sergeant First Class due to an administrative action) ] to let him know his input about operations. XXXXXXXXXX [ Staff Sergeant now Warrant Officer, One (WO1) Kyle Balonek ] will testify that he specifically told XXXXXXXXXX [ Master Sergeant Adkins (now Sergeant First Class due to an administrative action) ] that PFC Manning clearly was struggling with emotional issues that made him ill-suited for military service. This conversation occurred in June or July of 2009. XXXXXXXXXX [ Staff Sergeant now Warrant Officer, One (WO1) Kyle Balonek ] will testify that he approached XXXXXXXXXX [ WHO IS THIS? ] monthly thereafter about separating PFC Manning from the Army but was aware that he could only take the issue to his supervisor so many times before it fell on deaf ears. XXXXXXXXXX [ Staff Sergeant now Warrant Officer, One (WO1) Kyle Balonek ] will testify that he found an iPod on a bunk and looked though it to determine the owner. When XXXXXXXXXX [ Staff Sergeant now Warrant Officer, One (WO1) Kyle Balonek ] viewed photos on the iPod, he noted that PFC Manning was attending what looked like a gay pride parade. He will also testify that he knew PFC Manning was suffering from extreme emotional issues. During deployment, he found PFC Manning curled in the fetal position in the Brigade conference room, rocking himself back and forth. XXXXXXXXXX [ Staff Sergeant now Warrant Officer, One (WO1) Kyle Balonek ] will testify that he was appointed as a Special Security Representative (SSR) on orders for the T-SCIF. The responsibilities for the SSR included reviewing security clearance requests, initiating DEROGs recommending security clearances for personnel in the S2 shop, producing an SOP and SCIF security. While he was appointed as a SSR, he will testify that he did not conduct those duties. XXXXXXXXXX [ Staff Sergeant now Warrant Officer, One (WO1) Kyle Balonek ] will testify that he believes the reason PFC Manning was allowed to remain in the military and did not receive the help he needed to deal with his issues was because XXXXXXXXXX [ Master Sergeant Adkins (now Sergeant First Class due to an administrative action) ] had influence over every action taken on personnel in the S2 section and it was his decision not to do anything.

A second anonymous military official "familiar with the Army probe" told the Washington Post, "There were serious leadership failures within the unit chain of command and gross negligence in the supervision of Pfc. Manning in Iraq."
Pre-Deployment Mental Health SpecialistAn anonymous military official "familiar with the investigation" told the Washington Post in 1 February 2011 report that a mental health specialist also recommended that Pfc. Manning not be deployed to Iraq. A second anonymous military official told The Washington Post that investigators did not fault the Army's recruitment of Manning or their grant of a security clearance to him. Instead, they found that "[s]omething happened in his personal life after he joined the Army," placing their focus on Manning personally.
Lack of Security in the T-SCIFThe first anonymous military official, however, reportedly told the Washington Post that the investigation found that Pfc. Manning's immediate supervisors did not follow procedures for securing the T-SCIF at FOB Hammer.
Captain Thomas Cherepko, Assistant S6, Information Assurance Security Officer, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division testified that he received a letter from Lt. Gen. Caslen in March 2011 for failure to ensure the Brigade T-SCIF was properly certified.
Administrative actions and criminal chargesAccording to the 27 January 2011 McClatchy report, investigators were considering "disciplinary action against at least three officers in Manning's chain of command," and Army spokesman, George Wright told Politico's Charles Hoskinson on 7 December 2011, "Appropriate action has been taken against 15 individuals identified in Lt. Gen. Caslen's report. In accordance with the Army's long-standing policy to protect the privacy of individuals below the general officer level, specific information concerning their misconduct is not releasable."
When WO1 Kyle Balonek invoked Article 31, David Coombs, lead defense counsel, argued that WO1 Balonek should not be excused from giving testimony, because he was not under criminal investigation. Government prosecutors, however, declined to grant Balonek immunity to testify, and the Investigating Officer, Lt. Col. Paul Almanza, subsequently found Balonek "not available" as a witness.
Pfc. Manning's commanding officers included then Staff Sergeant, now Warrant Officer, One (WO1) Kyle Balonek; then Master Sergeant Paul David Adkins, now Sergeant First Class due to an administrative action; Major Cliff Clausen and Captain Steven Lim, Brigade S2's - Lim officially replaced Clausen during deployment in February 2010; Lt. Col. Brian Kerns, the Brigade Executive Officer; and Col. David Miller, Commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.
As Politico has reported previously, the 2 December 2011 Defense Request for Article 32 Witnesses revealed that the the Non-commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) of the FOB Hammer, Iraq T-SCIF for the S2 Section of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team 10th Mountain Division "was administratively reduced by a board due to being derelict in his duties" for failing "to take proper steps in addressing PFC Manning's issues." That Non-commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) was Master Sergeant Paul David Adkins, now Sergeant First Class (SFC), who invoked Article 31 - or "Compulsory Self-Incrimination Prohibited" - at the Pretrial Hearing on 18 December 2011, and retired from the Army in October 2012.
The spokesperson for the Military District of Washington, Captain John Haberland told the press pool on 18 December 2011 that though he could not confirm, criminal charges were probably being considered for administratively reduced Sergeant First Class, formerly Master Sergeant Adkins. Captain Haberland said that any charges would be reviewed by the Convening Authority and the Judge during the court martial. However, Haberland did not clarify if he was referring specifically to Judge Lind and the court-martial of Pfc. Bradley Manning.

Question: If someone is reduced in rank, are there appellate procedures?
Answer: Depends on how they were reduced. There's always a board that makes a decision and appeals to a higher authority. Sounds like it was an administrative director board - usually a General Officer - that reduced his rank. Rank can be reduced, pending that appeal. The basis for [former Master Sergeant, now Sergeant 1st Class Adkins] invoking Article 31 right was that appeal of the reduction of rank.

Captain Steven Lim, the Brigade S2, who replaced Major Cliff Clausen as the Officer in Charge of the S2 Section, testified that he received a "letter of admonishment from General Caslen on 2 March 2011". Caslen wrote: "You should have been aware of Master Sergeant Paul Adkins from case and the discipline of enlisted soldiers." Captain Steven Lim testified that he replied to Caslen's letter in April 2011, explaining that then Master Sergeant Adkins had not made him aware of an April 2010 email that Pfc. Manning allegedly sent to Adkins concerning his struggles with gender, including a picture of himself dressed as a woman.
Resources

McClatchy, WikiLeaks probe: Army commanders were told not to send Manning to Iraq, 27 January 2011
McClatchy, Army opens probe of its role in WikiLeaks security breach, 23 December 2010
Politico, Army disciplined 15 over Bradley Manning and Wikileaks
Washington Post Mental health specialist recommended WikiLeaks suspect not be deployed to Iraq, 1 February 2011
Defense Request for Article 32 Witnesses, 2 December 2011
Defense Request to Compel the Production of Article 32 Witnesses
Transcript | US v PFC Bradley Manning, Article 32 Pretrial, 12/18/11 by Alexa O'Brien
Transcript | US v PFC Bradley Manning, Article 32 Pretrial, 12/18/11 (by an anonymous journalist, ed. by Alexa O'Brien)
Witness | US v PFC Bradley Manning, Warrant Officer, One (WO1) Kyle Balonek

Alexa O'Brien‏@carwinb10 Aug

More about the break down in #Manning chain of command in the 2 BCT/10 MTN http://www.alexaobrien.com/secondsight/wikileaks/bradley_manning/investigations/department_of_d/investigations_us_v_pfc_manning_secretary_of_the_army_15_6.html … (Archive October 2012)

From The Pen Of Joshua Lawrence Breslin- Jim Morrison and The Doors- WE WANT THE WORLD AND WE WANT IT NOW!

A YouTube film clip of Jim Morrison and the Doors performing their classic The End.

CD REVIEW

THE BEST OF THE DOORS, ELECTRA ASYLUM RECORDS, 1985
In my jaded youth I developed an ear for roots music, whether I was conscious of that fact or not. The origin of that interest first centered on the blues, country and city with the likes of Son House , Skip James, Mississippi John Hurt, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Elmore James, then early rock and roll, you know the rockabillies and R&B crowd, Elvis, Jerry Lee, Chuck, Roy, Big Joe and Ike, and later, with the folk revival of the early 1960’s, folk music, especially the protest to high heaven sort, Bob Dylan, Dave Von Ronk, Joan Baez, etc. I have often wondered about the source of this interest. I am, and have always been a city boy, and an Eastern city boy at that. Meaning rootless or not meaningfully rooted in any of the niches mentioned above. Nevertheless, over time I have come to appreciate many more forms of roots music than in my youth. Cajun, Tex-Mex, old time dust bowl ballads a la Woody Guthrie, cowboy stuff with the likes of Bob Wills and Milton Brown, Carter Family-etched mountain music and so on. The subject of the following review, Jim Morrison and the Doors, is an example.

The Doors are roots music? Well, yes, in the sense that one of the branches of rock and roll derives from early rhythm and blues and in the special case of Jim Morrison, leader of the Doors, the attempt to musically explore the shamanic elements in the Western American Native American culture that drove the beat of many of his trance-like songs like The End. Some of that influence is apparent here in this essentially greatest hits album.

More than one rock critic has argued that on their good nights when the dope and booze were flowing, Morrison was in high trance, and they were fired up the Doors were the best rock and roll band ever created. Those critics will get no argument here. What a reviewer with that opinion has to do is determine whether any particular CD captures the Doors at their best. This reviewer advises that if you want to buy only one Doors CD that would be The Best of the Doors. If you want to trace their evolution more broadly, or chronologically, other CDs do an adequate job but they are helter-skelter. This CD edition has, with maybe one or two exceptions, all the stuff rock critics in one hundred years will be dusting off when they want to examine what it was like when men (and women, think Bonnie Raitt, Wanda Jackson, et. al) played rock and roll for keeps.

A note on Jim Morrison as an icon of the 1960’s. He was part of the trinity – Morrison, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix who lived fast, lived way too fast, and died young. The slogan of the day (or hour)- Drugs, sex, and rock and roll. And we liked that idea however you wanted to mix it up. Then. Their deaths were part of the price we felt we had to pay if we were going to be free. And be creative. Even the most political among us, including this writer, felt those cultural winds blowing across the continent and counted those who espoused this alternative vision as part of the chosen. The righteous headed to the “promise land.” Unfortunately those who believed that we could have a far-reaching positive cultural change via music or “dropping out” without a huge societal political change proved to be wrong long ago. But, these were still our people.

Know this as well. Whatever excesses were committed by the generation of ’68, and there were many, were mainly made out of ignorance and foolishness. Our opponents, exemplified by one Richard Milhous Nixon, President of the United States and common criminal, spent every day of their lives as a matter of conscious, deliberate policy raining hell down on the peoples of the world, the minorities in this country, and anyone else who got in their way. Forty years of “cultural wars” in revenge by his protégés, hangers-on and their descendants has been a heavy price to pay for our youthful errors. Enough.