At times, I will see a pertinent question asked on the many political lists that I partake in and read. In those times, I will then turn my answer to that list into an article and the question below coming from a group member screams out to me to address. I am choosing this one after writing my previous article on former Senator Mike Gravel. His question on the group will be in italics and it is in no way edited by me.
Not that I was ever a Gravelian, most of you know where my allegiances lie -- Yes, I admit it proudly, I'm a Clintonista - always have been, always will be. But I've noticed that Mike Gravel has not been in the last 2 or 3 debates. Did he drop out, and I missed it?? Did he fall off the edge of the earth?? What happened to him?? I'm just curious.
Here was my answer to this poster:
As far as the NBC debate goes, NBC did not invite him. According to this article, “Just a week before one of the most important debates in the bid for the presidency, NBC announced that Mike Gravel (Senator- Alaska) will not be allowed to participate in this public debate.” Excuse me, NBC, this election does not belong to you and you do not get to set the rules. As far as the Las Vegas debate, CNN did not invite him to participate citing, “CNN Washington bureau chief David Bohrman says Gravel didn't meet the fundraising threshold set by the network. Candidates had to have raised at least $1 million in donations to get an invitation.” As you will see the media does not believe in democracy.
Here we have a man who single-handedly ended the war in Viet Nam by filibustering to end the draft which showed immense courage and he could have challenged folks like Hillary why she does not have the balls to do the same. He (Gravel) had been in both Hillary’s and Barack’s face concerning their approval for an attack on Iran.
While Barack Obama did not even show up to vote for the Kyl/Lieberman vote labeling the Iranian National Guard as a terrorist group, he has stated previous before an AIPAC conference that “all options are on the table” In fact I wrote a piece called, Does AIPAC unduly influence the United States Congress? In that article I wrote, "I zeroed in on was one made by Senator Barack Obama who is a Democratic presidential candidate when he said, “We should take no option, including military action, off the table, and show strong support for Israel’s actions in last summer’s war against Hezbollah,”
The option he speaks of is a possible attack upon Iran by the United States. I would like to ask Senator Obama is any attack on Iran by the United States in our best interest or Israel’s?” By the way that attack on Hezbollah was an unwarranted attack upon the people of Lebanon in which countless Lebanese civilians died. Oh and let us not forget we the American tax payer paid $280 million dollars to supply Israel’s fighter jets with fuel.
In fact, you can see the pain and destruction we help fund when Israel attacked Lebanon by viewing this piece I wrote called, Come to think of it, who are really the terrorists now? This is what both Hillary and Barack supported. Go ahead and look at the pictures, (Name of poster). Take a good look. Will the same be waiting for the people of Iran?
So, Democrats, those are your choices and as an independent we are at the mercy of those who would select candidates like Hillary and Barack. Oh and (Name of poster), when Hillary stated “No” to whether or not she is in favor of illegals getting driver’s licenses, as one of her constituents, I do not believe her. You may ask why and that is because she voted for the comprehensive immigration reform bill twice. Gov. Spitzer only changed his mind to help his candidate of choice who found herself in a bit of a pickle in the last debate.
Do I feel that both NBC and CNN were pressured by anyone of these campaigns? While I have no proof, my gut feeling says yes since he zeroed in on both Clinton and Obama consistently in the debates prior to the ones he was not invited to. So you see, CNN and NBC made the decision and told the people you have no right to hear from this candidate. That is not democracy, but a dictatorship.
I have not handed out my Benedict Arnold Award in quite sometime and seeing that both NBC and CNN excluded former Senator Mike Gravel from taking part in these debates, they are now the recipients’ of my award.
Author’s email address is, xmjmac@optonline.net
