Conservative 99% dupes support 1% candidate for U.S. Senate

Maine State Treasurer Poliquin worked for the 1% in CT and NY managing pension funds (check his resume) and now he wants to represent them in the U.S. Senate.

Naive state legislators -- like mine, Phil Curtis, and perhaps yours -- think this will be good for their constituents in Maine. Nothing could be further from the truth -- but maybe it's their own campaign coffers they are thinking of?

Scroll all the way down to see Poliquin's bogus claims. Then join me in writing a truth-filled letter to the editor today.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bruce Poliquin <info@bruceforsenate.com>
Date: Thu, Apr 5, 2012 at 6:15 PM
Subject: Our campaign is moving fast!
To: Patriot <lsavage3@gmail.com>

 

Dear Patriot,

Our campaign for U.S. Senate is moving faster and faster every day!

Last week, Utah Senator Mike Lee endorsed me with an announcement to his national network of conservative supporters.

Earlier today, eight fiscally conservative state legislators from across Maine also endorsed my campaign:

Representative David C. Burns (R-Whiting)
Representative Phillip A. Curtis (R-Madison)
Representative Larry C. Dunphy (R-Embden)
Representative Jeffery A. Gifford (R-Lincoln)
Representative Peter B. Johnson (R-Greenville)
Representative Mel Newendyke (R-Litchfield)
Representative Beth A. O'Connor (R-Berwick)
Representative Deborah J. Sanderson (R-Chelsea)

 

Rep. David Burns from Washington County said "I am pleased to support Bruce Poliquin in his candidacy for the U.S. Senate.  Since coming to know Bruce in 2010, I have been impressed with his strong conservative values and the tenaciousness with which he works for this State and our citizens.  I believe that Treasurer Poliquin would be a very dynamic member of the U.S. Senate from the very beginning and would truly represent well the interest of all Mainers."

Rep. Peter Johnson from Piscataquis County stated "I am excited to endorse Bruce Poliquin’s candidacy for the U.S. Senate.  He has been a great Treasurer for the State of Maine.  His aggressive leadership on the boards of many quasi-government organizations, like the Maine State Housing Authority, has uncovering wasteful spending and potentially illegal practices.  Bruce has proven that he has the ability, initiative, and toughness to uncover waste in complex government programs while withstanding criticism for doing what is right.  He will do the same as our next United States Senator from Maine.”

 

Rep. Beth O'Connor from York County commented "It is a pleasure and an honor to support Bruce Poliquin for U.S. Senate.  He has been strong on all fiscal issues regarding the State of Maine, and has put us on a much more secure financial footing.  Bruce is the most fiscally conservative candidate in the race for this open U.S. Senate seat.  With his tenacity and excellent grasp of the financial difficulties we face as a nation, I believe Treasurer Poliquin is the only candidate that can help restore fiscal sanity in Washington and safeguard the purse strings of the American people."

Every day, more state and national leaders believe that I am the Republican who can beat former governor Angus King in the general election.  I am honored to have their support, but am really depending on people like you to give our campaign the momentum necessary to win!

With three other U.S. Senate seats poised to shift Republican, the balance of power in Washington could very well hinge upon Maine's open seat. 
...
The financial crisis in Washington worsens.  This open U.S. Senate seat in Maine is a rare opportunity for you to help send to Washington a fiscal conservative with 35 years of private sector experience who is not a career politician.

Please help me join a growing group of fiscal reformers in Washington to address our nation's out-of-control spending, rising debt, and unaffordable entitlements  --  just like we've done in Maine.

Best regards,
Bruce

 Occupy Mainers in Portland say: TAX THE RICH!

Morally Bankrupt: Collective Punishment of Children in Afghanistan

Remember Bradley Manning? He's the Army intelligence analyst who's been in detention since July, 2010, just now reaching the stage of his pre-trial hearing, for allegedly leaking military secrets. The most sensational of these secrets was the helicopter video known as "Collateral Murder" which recorded U.S. troops gleefully shooting down on unarmed civilians including journalists in Baghdad. At one point a van with children in it comes to the rescue of the wounded, so they shoot them, too. Ethan McCord was a soldier on the ground that day, and he radios in the information that there are children injured whom he is trying to rescue. "Well it's their fault for bringing their kids into a battle," we hear one of the morally bankrupt soldiers in the helicopter reply.

Fast forward to March 11, 2012 and the massacre of 17 civilians, including 9 children. Most accounts of the night raid in Panjwae district of southern Kandahar province identify the killer -- Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, supposedly acting alone -- but fail to identify the victims. Here, thanks to CNN reporter Sara Snider, are their names:

Mohammad Dawood Abdullah

Khudaidad Mohmmad Jama

Nazar Mohammad Taj Mohammad

Payendo

Robina

Sahtarina Sultan Mohammad

Zuhra Abdul Hameed

Nazia Doost Mohammad

Mosooma Mohammad Wazir

Farida Mohammad Wazir

Palwasha Mohammad Wazir

Nabia Mohammad Wazir

Asmatullah Mohammad Wazir

Faizullah Mohammad Wazir

Esa Mohammad Mohammad Husain

Akhtar Mohammad Murad Ali

Some of those slain, loaded into the back of a truck following their collective punishment.

Many outlets of corporate-owned media in the U.S. continue to churn out a false tale of one man run amok, but independent investigation by Afghan officials and some brave journalists have uncovered troubling reports from residents. From Mirwais Khan and Deb Riechmann of The Associated Press:

Several Afghans near the villages where an American soldier is alleged to have killed 16 civilians say U.S. troops lined them up against a wall after a roadside bombing and told them that they, and even their children, would pay a price for the attack. 

Residents have given similar accounts to both The Associated Press and to Afghan government officials about an alleged bombing in the vicinity, which they said occurred March 7 or 8, and left U.S. troops injured. The residents also said they are convinced that the slayings of the 16 villagers just days later was in retaliation for that bomb.

From Bill Rigby of Reuters:

The lawyer defending the U.S. soldier accused of murdering 17 Afghan civilians claims U.S. authorities are blocking his ability to investigate the incident.

John Henry Browne, the lawyer for Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, said U.S. forces in Afghanistan have prevented his team from interviewing injured civilians at a hospital in Kandahar, and are allowing other potential witnesses to scatter, making it difficult to track them down.

Yalda Hakim of Australia’s SBS network spoke to survivors in the villages a few days after the attacks. Her video report may be seen here on CNN's website. An eight year old survivor told how her father was shot after trying to defend her mother, who was being dragged by the hair.

 

Others? From the AP report:

Naek Mohammad, who lives in Mokhoyan, told the AP that a U.S. soldier, through a translator, said: "I know you are all involved and you support the insurgents. So now, you will pay for it -- and your children will pay for this."

Here's another child who was injured but survived:

Hakim's interview of the Afghan Army general investigating the incident turned up reports that villagers heard a helicopter overhead during the shootings, and saw Americans with headlamps standing outside the houses during the shootings.

Will the truth come to light? Not if the moral bankruptcy of male bonding does its job, says blogger Kathleen Barry, author of Unmaking War, Remaking Men. She reports:

President Obama claimed "it appeared you had a lone gunman who acted on his own," not wanting it compared to the My Lai massacre in the Vietnam war.

Barry says guys stick together after a violent spree. Here's more from Obama, as reported by Reuters:

"In no way is this representative of the enormous sacrifices that our men and women have made in Afghanistan," Obama said. But he added, "It does signal the importance of us transitioning in accordance with my plans that Afghans are taking more of the initiative in security."

A widowed survivor speaking from behind her burka told Hakim she would like to take more initiative. She feels only that she wants to use her bare hands to kill those responsible  after watching her husband's murder:

And that is why the U.S. morally bankrupt in Afghanistan. We haven't protected women, children, or even U.S. interests. And that is also why collective punishment is not only wrong, it is stupid.

The U.S. war in Afghanistan is the longest in our history, with no end in sight.