by Linda Sutton
Sunday, May. 21, 2006 at 1:17 PM
Marcy Winograd, Congressional Candidate in the 36th District, is joined by authors Gore Vidal and Robert Dreyfuss at a community forum on US Middle East policy
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Middle East Policy Forum with Marcy Winograd, Gore Vidal and Robert Dreyfuss
by Linda Sutton
Marcy Winograd, 36th District Congressional Candidate, at Middle East Policy Forum, with authors Gore Vidal and Robert Dreyfuss
An overflow crowd attending the US Middle East Policy Forum this week gave historian/author Gore Vidal a standing ovation before he launched into a withering attack on the Bush administration's foreign policy blunders. "This election is the last chance you have. You don't get a republic back very easily...possibly not for generations...if at all." Gore, who is now a full time resident of Los Angeles, authored "Imperial America" and "Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace" in recent years.
Gore was followed by Robert Dreyfuss, author of "Devil's Game:How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam." Dreyfuss explained in meticulous detail how America's historic support of the "Islamic Right" as a partner during the Cold War contributed significantly to the present struggle for control in the Middle East.
Both authors strongly expressed their support for the candidacy of anti-war activist, Marcy Winograd, who is running against incumbent Jane Harman in what has turned into one of the major national races to reclaim the heart and soul of the Democratic Party (quoted from bloomberg.com--of all places!).
Winograd in her remarks said, "Yes, we need to take back Congress, but we must take back Congress with a human face and human heart. What good is it if Democrats wrestle control from Republicans only to plunge us further into Iraq or launch a war against Iran? What good is it if Democrats beat Republicans at the polls, but then collude with the Bush administration to spy on tens of millions of Americans? We need leaders who will stand up to Bush and hold him accountable. I will do that."
Waving two major articles just published in the LA Times and LA Weekly, Winograd called on Nancy Pelosi to remove Jane Harman from the House Intelligence Committee BEFORE the election so that she could "preserve seniority" on the committee. The Times article reported that Pelosi, House Minority Leader, intends to replace Harman, who is said to be too close to Bush in her conservative positions.
As one of the only Democrats in the the Bush inner circle, Harman had been briefed by the administration on the illegal warrantless wiretapping nearly a year and a half before the NY Times released the story to the citizens of the US. Her attack on the NY Times reporters for reporting the illegal activity led Winograd to enter the race just before the filing deadline.
