Steve Jobs, CEO
Apple Computer, Inc.
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014

Dear Mr. Jobs:

I am requesting that you resign your position on the Board of Directors of Disney/ABC in response to their decision to broadcast “The Path to 9/11” a dishonest propaganda piece which makes a mockery of the deaths of Americans and others killed in the 911 terrorist attacks.

Disney/ABC has shown itself desperate to try to deflect attention from the fact that the Bush Administration had more than enough warnings, tools, and resources to prevent the 911 attacks. Instead, Disney is distorting the facts or making them up entirely in an unpaid political ad for the GOP which is worth millions of dollars.

If you remain on the Board of Directors of such an incredibly unpatriotic company as Disney, you will severely damage Apple's corporate image, proving that Apple can be at least as evil as Microsoft.

“The Path to 9/11,” a phony “docudrama” developed by a notorious right-wing extremist, Cyrus Nowrasteh, is creating quite a stir. ABC/Disney seems determined to broadcast this unpaid GOP political advertisement, despite an outcry over its numerous inaccuracies.

The main purpose is to try to let the Bush regime off the hook for its failure to prevent the 911 attacks. The main tactics are to make the Cowardly Lion in the White House look courageous and blame to Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton was responsible for some nasty conservative policies (e.g. NAFTA, supporting price gouging on AIDS drugs, welfare "reform," etc.), but his administration took its responsibility to protect the country from terrorism seriously, something the Bush regime still refuses to do.

Here is a smattering of reactions to the ABC/Disney/GOP propaganda film:

Truthout
Commentary by William Rivers Pitt

America Blog
Commentary

Down with Tyranny
Open Letter to ABC

Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY-28)
Critical Press Release

Center for American Progress
Action Alert

The Federal Elections Commission really should launch an investigation into this unpaid GOP political ad worth millions.

Everything we said about the war beforehand has turned out to be true.

Iraq had nothing to do with 911.

Iraq had no WMDs at the time of the invasion and had none in the months before the war.

The war turned out to be a hopeless quagmire.

The war has aided and abetted Al Qaeda's terrorist recruitment efforts.

The war has generated global hatred of the US, not just in Muslim countries.

The war has ballooned our budget deficits, giving China more control over our economy.

The war has diverted efforts that could have led to the capture of Osama bin Laden and the rest of Al Qeada in Afganistan.

We are waiting.

This is a rallying cry of so many Republicans posting on Internet message boards. Setting aside enormous ethical considerations, there is an obvious practical problem with this. Muslims belong to all racial and ethnic groups. Most Muslims are not even from the Middle East. There just is not any possible way to profile for Muslims.

The stupidity and ignorance of the political base of the Republican Party is astonishing and dangerous. Remember, that party controls both houses of Congress and illegally occupies the White House.

A posting on Liberal Serving references New York Times photos that are amazingly disturbing. I'm still trying to figure out why these photos make such a powerful statement on the destruction of Lebanon by Isreal's out-of-control war machine.

Maybe I have become desensitized by typical war coverage. I would like to believe that is not the case.

As much as the Christian Right and Hizbollah hate each other, they have quite a lot in common.

- Both hate separation of church and state.
- Both hate lesbians, gays, bisexuals,and transgender people.
- Both hate women.
- Both reject evolution.
- Both oppose abortion rights.
- Both are fanatical in their nationalism.
- Both hate freedom.
- Both hate democracy.
- Both have a murderous rage against anyone who does not live according to their religious beliefs.

Of course, there is a lot of irony involved. Neither group would admit how similar they are to their counterparts.

Also, the Christian fundamentalists also are supporting Israel in its fight against Hizbollah, even though they hate Jewish people as “Christ-killers.” The Christers think that supporting aggressive and militaristic policies by the Isreali government will lead to the apocolypse and rapture they are salivating over.

Yet, people still wonder why atheists think religion is so nutty.

Halliburton is famous as a military contractor tied to former CEO, Dick Cheney. Many folks may not know that they also have their own Political Action Committee.

The FEC Disclosure Report Search Results provide interesting information on who Halliburton Company PAC wants in the House and Senate.

HALLIBURTON COMPANY PAC's Friends

Candidate	Party	State	Office	Net Contributions 2005-2006*
George Allen	Rep.	VA	Senate	$2000*
Joe L. Barton	Rep.	TX	House	$3000
Brian P. Bilbray	Rep.	CA	House	$1000
Earl Blumenauer	Dem.	OR	House	$0*
Roy Blunt	Rep.	MO	House	$1000
Denise Bode	Rep.	OK	House	$2000
John A. Boehner	Rep.	OH	House	$1000
Charles W. Boustany, Jr.	Rep.	LA	House	$1000
Conrad Burns	Rep.	MT	Senate	$2000
Ken Calvert	Rep.	CA	House	$2500
Lincoln D. Chafee	Rep.	RI	Senate	$1000
Tom Cole	Rep.	OK	House	$2000
Michael K. Conaway	Rep.	TX	House	$2000
Barbara L. Cubin	Rep.	WY	House	$1000
Henry R. Cuellar	Dem.	TX	House	$2000
John Culberson	Rep.	TX	House	$4500
Geoffrey C. Davis	Rep.	KY	House	$1000
Thomas M. Davis III	Rep.	VA	House	$3000
Richard Michael DeWine	Rep.	OH	Senate	$2000
John Eric Ensign	Rep.	NV	Senate	$2000
Raymond E. “Gene” Green	Dem.	TX	House	$2000
Charles T. Hagel	Rep.	NE	Senate	$1500
Samuel Robert Johnson	Rep.	TX	House	$2000
John Heddens Kingston	Rep.	GA	House	$1000
Jon L. Kyl	Rep.	AZ	Senate	$1000
Trent Lott	Rep.	MI	Senate	$2000
James Otis McCrery III	Rep.	LA	House	$2000
Charlie Melancon Jr.	Dem.	LA	House	$1000
E. Benjamin Nelson	Dem.	NE	Senate	$1000
Solomon P. Ortiz	Dem.	TX	House	$1000
Ted Poe	Rep.	TX	House	$1000
Richard Pombo	Rep.	CA	House	$4000
Silvestre Reyes	Dem.	TX	House	$0*
Richard J. Santorum	Rep.	PA	Senate	$2500
Olympia J. Snowe	Rep.	ME	Senate	$1000
John Sullivan	Rep.	OK	House	$2000
James Matthew Talent	Rep.	OK	House	$2000
Craig Thomas	Rep.	WY	Senate	$2000
William Thomas	Rep.	CA	House	$2000
David Vitter	Rep.	LA	Senate	$2500
John William Warner	Rep.	VA	Senate	$1000
Roger F. Wicker	Rep.	MI	House	$1000
Heather A. Wilson	Rep.	NM	House	$1000

*When negative contributions were listed, the money was subtracted out to get net contributions for the time period in question.

As you can see, Halliburton Company PAC has a particular fondness for Republicans and Texas Democrats.

During the same time period, the National Republican Congressional Committee received $6500 from Halliburton Co PAC. The National Republican Senatorial Committee received $2500.

Time constraints have kept me from responding to this as quickly as I would like, but I think it is still important to comment on a bigoted ad from the Lieberman Senate Campaign. Queerty.com has extensive coverage of the issue, including screen shots and video.

The technique used in the ad was to make Lieberman's opponent, Ned Lamont, look subservient and dependent on former Connecticut Governor Lowell Weicker by putting a pink shirt on his cartoon caricature and giving the Lamont cartoon a high pitched voice. Attacking men by associating female and queer traits with them is reprehensible. It is a personal insult to all queers and to all women.

There is an element of irony. Women like Cindy Sheehan and queers like Harvey Milk have shown more courage and independence than Lieberman is capable of doing.

Lieberman's defenders might point out the Champaign Fund's 100% rating for the incumbent on lgbt issues. However, two terribly important votes on lgbt issues show that such a rating is either outdated or inaccurate. Lieberman cast a viciously homophobic, sexist, and racist vote in favor of confirming John Roberts to the Supreme Court. Joe-mentum cast an equally homophobic, sexist, and racist vote on Alito filibuster, the only Alito vote that affected the outcome of his nomination.

It is no secret that Alito and Roberts have devoted their adult lives to attacking all civil rights and to subverting and undermining the U.S. Constitution. Lieberman didn't just betray the queer community with those votes, he violated his oath of office to uphold and defend the Constitution.

Hopefully, the HRC will put aside the pressure of rich, right-wing donors who love Ann Coulter's endorsee, Joseph Lieberman, and endorse Ned Lamont who is better on queer issues.

The following is an email I sent out to express my frustration about The Al Franken Show's lack of proper coverage of liberal views on trade and Bush's war in Iraq.

On two major issues, liberal perspectives are being ignored.

Your panel discussion on trade was interesting, but why not have a liberal on it? The liberal position on trade is to repeal NAFTA, withdraw from the World Trade Organization, and put limits on corporate policies that pit workers against each other worldwide.

Even more strange was that you and all your guests acted as if "free trade" agreements relieve poverty in the developing world. That view has been rejected in the experiences and election results throughout most of Latin America, where democracy is most prevalent in the developing countries. In fact, the Zapatista revolt was deliberately started on the day NAFTA went into effect because everyone in Mexico knew that NAFTA would devastate everyone except the wealthy elites.

As for the war, liberal views are largely ignored. In State Department polls (which have a strong pro-occupation bias), over 80% of the Iraqis want an immediate withdrawal of US troops, not the phased withdrawal you said that they want. In independent polling, the percentage of Iraqis wanting an immediate withdrawal is around 98%.

Even though most Democrats want an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, you are ignoring or belittling our point of view, often using the GOP buzz-phrase "cut and run."

The irony is that the true cowards are people without the guts to oppose the Bush regime and its corrupt cronies like Halliburton, the Religious Right, Big Oil, Bechtel, etc.

You try to have it both ways by criticizing the Bush regime while actively promoting its Iraq agenda. Saying Bush is bad is not enough, you need to support the responsible alternative to dragging on this illegal and unAmerican war: immediate withdrawal.

Lest you try to spit out GOP talking points, I will point out the following facts.

- The Civil War in Iraq has been going on ever since the invasion.

- The Bush regime's occupation of Iraq is aiding and abetting Al Queda's recruitment efforts, as the CIA and Army have admitted. (When will you report the fact that Zarqawi refused to join Al Queda in 2000, wanting to focus on his opposition to Arab regimes. He only joined Al Queda after the invasion and colonization of Iraq?)

- The Bush Regime already has lost the war in Iraq.

- US troops stuck in Iraq are powerless to go after bin Laden and senior Al Queda leadership figures in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

- The war in Iraq makes bin Laden much more popular in the Muslim world.

- Iraq already is in a state of complete chaos.

Considerable protest has targetted New School President Bob Kerry and his decision to invite John "Keating Five" McCain to speak at the university's commencement address.

The criticism has been focused on issues such as McCain's support of the illegal and unAmerican war in Iraq. McCain also has been criticized for his misogyny, homophobia, and contempt towards the legitimacy of the political views of young adults.

However, there is another important aspect of the issue that has largely been overlooked. The decision by Kerry to invite McCain to speak at commencement shows a lack of concern about ethical education in the University.

McCain is a corrupt politician. His actions and those of the rest of the Keating Five cost people their retirement savings and who helped his corporate cronies carry forward schemes that cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars in the Savings and Loan Bailout. Universities should invite commencement speakers of the highest ethical standards, not sleaze like John "Keating Five" McCain.

A university is not just supposed to provide rote memorization and a degree that helps with future career and income. Part of a university's responsibility is to teach ethical behavior. One of the most influential ways of educating people is by example. What a terrible example Bob Kerry has provided in John “Keating Five” McCain.

Wikipedia has a lengthy article on the movement to impeach Bush. This provides an excellent background and provides evidence to the extent of the movement's support. The crimes of the Bush regime are starting to catch up with them.

San Francisco's Board of Supervisors passed an impeachment resolution a couple of months ago. A resolution has been proposed for the California Legislature. Similar proposals are on the table for Illinois and Vermont.

Several Vermont towns have passed Impeachment Resolutions. The most interesting part of this is that they were passed in town meetings, showing that considered, direct democracy often works better than representative democracy.

The Green Party of the US has taken a particularly thoughtful approach, calling for the impeachment of both Bush and Cheney. Cheney is at least as guilty of Bush, and having him follow Bush in the White House would solve nothing.

Veterans for Peace's early support for impeachment played a vital role, and they have some excellent arguments for impeachment. (PDF)

There now are pro-impeachment House and Senate Candidates. Here are some examples:

Jean Hay Bright - Maine Senate

Jeeni Criscenzo - CA-49

Chris Owens - NY-11

Tony Trupiano - MI-11

The impeachment movement has an enormous online component.

ImpeachPac.org is the most comprehensive. It is worth going through the site for all the resources.

AfterDowningStreet.org is hosting Public Service Announcements for impeachment and have instructions people can use to try to get them on the radio. Some of the people making the announcements include Cindy Sheehan, Ed Asner, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky.

www.impeachbush.org was one of the first impeachment sites. As often is the case, the left takes the lead on issues that the rest of the country is not ready to acknowledge yet.

Another impeachment Web Site

There's an impeachment blog.

Michael Moore is hosting impeachment resolution language on his web site for states, city councils, and political party committees.

There also are online impeachment petitions.

Veterans for Peace

The Petition Site

Petition Online