The “compromise” approved by the House today and expected to pass the Senate tomorrow is an atrocity. It is a rich man’s coup of our democracy. Consider this: absolutely no tax increases are included in the bill. It creates a “super Congress,” with authority to slash social services when the country is still reeling from the recession. As Robert Reich noted, the President paid a ransom when there was absolutely no reason to link the increase of the debt ceiling with cutting the budget deficit.

Last week, the NY Times published, and The Atlantic promoted, a revealing graphic, reminding us how this deficit was created: with tax breaks to the rich and unfunded and unnecessary wars. Remember this when the mainstream media focuses in on the particulars of what is happening this week. Beltway leadership will not admit that it was spending decisions made during the Bush administration that led to this point.

Who will be affected the most by the budget cuts? Women, of course. Susan Feiner delineates the ways the plan balances the budget on the backs of women in the Ms. blog. If cuts in Social Security and unemployment insurance don’t piss you off, maybe the idea of cutting safety inspections will. Between those cuts and the perennial lack of funding for infrastructure modernization, you can expect more poop in your water in the coming years.

As Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus noted, the debt deal is a ‘sugar-coated Satan sandwich.’ Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, denounced the deal as a give-away to the rich and corporations on the backs of working people and warned that both parties stand at a crossroads. The House of Representatives has already sold the American people down the river, will the Senate do the same?

Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) pointed out today that the media committed malpractice in covering the debt ceiling debate. The ‘center’ has been defined far away from public sentiment and few people acknowledge the cause of the deficit or the fact that the debt ceiling can be raised without cutting vital social programs.

How did we get to this point? The National Organization for Women (NOW) thinks the lack of female leadership in the negotiations was one reason real human needs weren’t taken into account. Many men are calling for the people to march on Washington, from Keith Olbermann to Rep. John Conyers (MI-D)

Join the feminist response to the rich man’s coup. Join CODEPINK in DC as we call on Congress and the President to Bring Our War $$ Home, tax the rich, and create jobs through increased federal spending. Can’t make it to the nation’s capital? Develop a cultural response to ten years and counting of war and corporate welfare through Create, Not Hate. We are the nonviolent resistance needed to overturn this shameful usurpation of democracy. Join the PINK Team today.

Medea speaks at the United National Peace Conference

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Medea VS. the Military Industrial Complex video: http://bit.ly/medeaspeaks

This video was produced by the United National Peace Conference Media Project, an initiative powered by The Sanctuary for Independent Media and Hudson Mohawk Indymedia Center.

Is the death or life of Michael Jackson – or any celebrity — more important than, say, acidic oceans, collapsing fisheries, energy decline, a 20 percent increase in the military budget, or an urgent global warming crisis? Whatever happened to Iran? Did the crisis there suddenly stop because Michael Jackson died?

Newspapers may believe they accurately report on our ecological and social challenges, but most Canadians remain completely unaware of the severe catastrophes that may befall them, their children, and grandchildren. Coverage of celebrities in the face of these urgent issues is a strange use of the public’s precious time to become informed. It leads one to believe that there are no serious issues to cover. Or, do editors and writers of Canada’s major papers secretly wish that they were working for People Magazine?

Should Canadians one day awaken to find themselves surrounded by an unstoppable global warming collapse, they will feel betrayed by the media. Global warming has been known by the scientific community for more than a century. James Lovelock had the CO2 data in hand in the 1960s. Yet we continue to pretend to “debate all sides” of this issue, deny facts, and cover our grief and fear in trivial news like Michael Jackson’s auctioned gloves. We all remember the Holocaust as something that has passed, but are we capable, as we often profess, of preventing future ones?

Like doctors, is it not the job of journalists to alert the public of danger, help citizens act in their democracy based on clear facts? This job is not being done.

We need perspective and a sense of our social priorities. If we fail to solve the challenges of global warming, energy decline, toxic wastes, and dying oceans, our progeny could witness a global holocaust beyond anything history has yet experienced. If we fail to confront dictatorships and war, we are bailing on the central role the news is supposed to play. If provided with the correct information most Canadians would prefer this to reliving ABC and Thriller, and feeling nostalgia for someone who was exploited by the press since childhood. Step back, and rethink the role you play.

Andrea Peloso is the coordinator of CODEPINK Toronto, yoga teacher and proud aunt.

Cockburn must not be, in Twitter-speak, “following” many members of several left organizations, including CODEPINK, UFPJ, AFSC. They’ve sent tweet after tweet calling on Obama to keep his promises, to stop the Afghan war, to end the drone attacks, and more. In fact, last month, these groups coordinated a National Media Day of Action on Afghanistan to spread the word on why we must stop the war in Afghanistan via Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and traditional media letters to the editor, op-eds and more. The goal: to change public opinion against the war.

Unfortunately, their efforts did not catch on with “the Twittering classes” as the conflict in Iran has. The “masses,” for now, are largely uninterested to tweet about ending the Afghan war and in critiquing Obama — at least on the foreign policy front. (This could also explain why, despite valiant efforts by peace groups, the country appears to have no energy for “mobilizations, actions, civil disobedience” as demonstrated by increasing activism around health care, food reform and climate change and dwindling numbers in anti-war street actions. We’ve proof from just yesterday, as few people turned out for the torture accountability actions planned nationwide — though in Pasadena and elsewhere, however, CODEPINKers tried their best). The masses are instead caught up in the fervor of the Iranian protests, fueled by front-page images of beautiful young women, horrifying viral YouTube videos and widespread national outrage and mistrust toward the current Iranian government based on its history of crackdowns on rights, secret torture, etc.

Of course, anti-war groups would LOVE to know — where are the YouTube videos depicting the 80 Pakistani civilians just killed in a U.S. drone attack? Where’s the outrage (and mistrust) toward the U.S. government, based on its torture practices, its killing of innocents, the U.S.’ policies toward Afghanistan? Do we need to see beautiful women victims? Until the “Twittering classes,” or the majority of Americans, feel as comfortable critiquing the often-terrifying practices of their own government, we’ve a long way from “three million…rousing tweets” to “mount any sort of political resistance at home!” Suffice to say, of course, many members of these groups are trying their best to get them there, tweet by tweet.

Jodie Evans, a CODEPINK co-founder, penned this piece now on AlterNet, HuffPo and CommonDreams dispelling the myth that U.S. troops are necessary to “save” Afghan women. Janet Weil, of CODEPINK Bay Area and active member of UFPJ, wrote this amazing op-ed on Obama’s push for war, and of course, CODEPINK women will be posting here all day on Afghanistan.

Join us! Check our list of resources here to find out how you can write a letter to a local newspaper (it’s super easy…we have a tool you can basically just point and click), call a local radio station, update your Twitter, Facebook, and more. (Below are some of our Twitter/FB status updates). We can shift public opinion on this war!

• Out of Iraq and into Afghanistan? We demand another plan! http://bit.ly/out-of-afghan #StopAfghanWar
• Democracy and Peace cannot be brought by foreign occupation.
  End the War in Afghanistan: http://bit.ly/out-of-afghan
• The War in Afghanistan has already cost $187b+ and 682 troops’ lives.
  Can we afford another open-ended war? http://bit.ly/out-of-afghan
• Obama: “You will be judged by your people for what you build, not what you destroy.”
  End the Afghanistan War! http://bit.ly/out-of-afghan