GET The Lobbyists OUT of the Pentagon - TAKE ACTION!

Dear Friends,

President Obama has named his nominee for Deputy Secretary of Defense, and his choice makes me ask, "What the HELL is going on here?" William Lynn, Obama's choice for the position, is a classic example of the revolving door that supports and strengthens the United States military-industrial complex.

After his time at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and National Defense University's Strategic Concepts Development Center, Lynn worked for Senator Edward Kennedy in defense/Armed Services-related areas. After further government posts, including serving as Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) under the Clinton administration, Lynn left for greener pastures.

Following a brief time at CDI international, a management consulting firm, Lynn went for the BIG ONE - senior vice president of Government Operations and Strategy at RAYTHEON Company (in 2002)! This is the big time baby (Click here for Lynn's juicy financial picture at Raytheon). Raytheon was (at that time) the third largest defense contractor, and he was senior VP of the how-to-milk-the-government-for-everything-you-can department. This is a classic example of the path many people take who have previously worked on the inside (of the U.S. Defense Department).

President Obama established pretty rigorous ethics rules for his administration, including a "waiting period of two years between lobbying activities and working for the administration on the same issues" (Wikipedia). And now he has waived those rules (which this clearly violates) for William Lynn. Does this look like the classic revolving door to you??? Perhaps this guy has a great deal of government experience, but his conflicts of interest are staggering.

This GOLDEN revolving door is what has made the military-industrial complex what it is today - the strongest, largest, and dangerous entity in the world. It is (to a large extent) what keeps the gears of war grinding at an ever increasing pace through the U.S. government's direct military actions and the fueling of conflicts and wars all over the world through weapons sales and twisted foreign policy. It is what makes people like William Lynn rich. And while it does so, it eviscerates every program of social uplift in the United States as it drains the nations Treasury.

It's time to STOP the revolving door, bring an end to the corruption, to say NO to the military industrial complex. Please join Voters for Peace in taking a first step to getting the lobbyists out of Washington. Send a message to the Senate Armed Services Committee telling them to REJECT Lynn's nomination. Then, urge the President to withdraw Lynn's nomination and replace it with someone who will be truly independent.

Like Nancy Reagan used to say, "JUST SAY NO" (to War)!

Peace,

Leonard

NOTE: You can find more great satirical posters like the one above (and much, much more) at the Project for the Old American Century.

Watch President Eisenhower introduce the concept of the "military industrial complex" to America in 1961.