Brendan Smith

Brendan Smith is an journalist, oysterman and labor activist. He is co-founder of Global Labor Strategies, a consulting partner with the Progressive Technology Project, and has recently joined the staff of the Labor Network for Sustainability. As a proud member of the emerging "green jobs" movement, he also runs an 50 acre organic oyster farm off the Thimble Islands of Long Island Sound.

Brendan has published two books, In the Name of Democracy (Holt/Metropolitan) and Globalization From Below (South End), and co-produced the PBS documentary Global Village or Global Pillage?, which was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2000. He also served as a consultant on the documentary about Lt. Ehren Watada titled In the Name of Democracy: America's Conscience, A Soldier's Sacrifice. His commentary has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Nation, The Guardian, CBS News.com, YahooNews and the Baltimore Sun Times. He is a graduate of Cornell Law School. To contact or read more about Brendan's work, go to: www.brendan-smith.org.

Currently

  • Ehren Watada: Free at Last

    October 26, 2009

    After three years of trying to convict Lt. Ehren Watada for refusing to deploy to Iraq, the Army has allowed him to resign.

  • The Trials of Ehren Watada

    May 19, 2009

    The government drops efforts to prosecute an officer who refused to fight in Iraq. But the Army continues its campaign against him.

  • WSF: Is Another World Possible?

    February 13, 2009

    At a time of economic, climatic and political crisis, advocates of social justice gathered for the annual World Social Forum to contemplate a new vision for a better world.

  • Social Movements 2.0

    January 15, 2009

    The tension around the pros and cons of online organizing has spurred a healthy debate in the social movement community.

2008

  • Will War Crimes Be Outed?

    December 17, 2008

    After the primary players in the Bush administration leave office, will they be held accountable for war crimes?

  • Nine Reasons to Investigate War Crimes Now

    July 18, 2008

    Some Democrats are pushing to let bygones be bygones and concentrate instead on solving problems of the future. Here's why we can't let the Bush Administration off the hook.

  • How Green Is Your Collar?

    March 26, 2008

    Labor leaders and environmentalists meet to explore how to make green jobs good jobs for American workers.

  • Labor's War on Global Warming

    March 10, 2008

    Together, unions can force the government to take on the issue of green-collar jobs.

2007

2006

  • 2006: A Year of Living Dangerously

    December 19, 2006

    2006 will be remembered as a year in which the American people and the world rose up to challenge the criminal actions and deceit of the Bush Administration.

  • Prosecute Rumsfeld? Not Ridiculous

    November 21, 2006

    A mainstream media legal analyst dismissed efforts to prosecute Donald Rumsfeld and others for war crimes as ridiculous. They're not.

  • War Criminals, Beware

    November 2, 2006

    Human rights advocates are pressing German courts to prosecute Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales and other Bush Administration officials for war crimes. They just might succeed.

  • Senate Vote Advances President's Effort to Kill War Crimes Act

    September 22, 2006

    The 109th Congress, led by Republican Senators McCain, Warner, and Graham and with the acquiescence of many Democrats, is poised to legalize torture, trials with secret evidence, and annulment of the right of habeas corpus

  • Torture and the Content of our Character

    September 15, 2006

    The standoff between the Senate and the Bush Administration over military tribunals, torture and war crimes tests core legal and moral issues and will determine the kind of country America wishes to be.

  • Watada, the War and the Law

    July 10, 2006

    Bolstered by a Supreme Court ruling that rebuked the Bush Administration's excessive exercise of power, Lieut. Ehren Watada's pending court-martial could help restore the rule of law and energize a popular movement to end an illegal war.

  • Lieutenant Watada's War Against the War

    June 26, 2006

    In a remarkable, media-savvy protest, First Lieut. Ehren Watada has refused orders to go to Iraq, claiming the war and the occupation violate the Constitution, international law and Army regulations.

  • The Pincer Strategy

    June 8, 2006

    Growing concern over Bush's abuses of executive power could be the force that unites Democrats, Republicans and libertarians in a broad, nonpartisan effort to defend the Constitution and the rule of law.

  • Attack Iran, Ignore the Constitution

    April 21, 2006

    Congress and the American people must challenge the Administration's assertion that the President can take military action without consulting Congress.

  • Where Are the Good Americans?

    February 28, 2006

    When the day comes for America to be judged for its war on terror and the human rights crimes that have been done in the name of its citizens, who can say they stood up and said no?

  • Congress Stirs to Rein in the President

    February 9, 2006

    In the wake of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on warrantless spying, bipartisan efforts to rein in the Bush Administration's exercise of executive power are gaining momentum.

  • The Limits of Power: Questions for Alito

    January 6, 2006

    Revelations of the Bush Administration's domestic spying program have sharply shifted the focus of Samuel Alito's Supreme Court confirmation hearings from domestic and social issues to executive privilege during times of war. Here's a list of questions Alito should be asked to fully elicit his views on the scope and limits of presidential power.

2005

  • Fixing the Torture Fix

    December 21, 2005

    Congress has passed legislation allowing evidence obtained through torture to be used against terror suspects in court. But human rights groups and some Congressional leaders will fight back in 2006, with court challenges, hearings and tough questions on executive privilege for Samuel Alito and other Bush nominees.

  • Ban Torture or Protect Torturers?

    December 2, 2005

    A showdown looms in Congress this week over two competing measures involving bedrock human and legal rights: John McCain's legislation to ban all forms of torture and Lindsey Graham's proposal to strip federal courts of the power to hear habeas corpus appeals by terror suspects.

  • Break Up Cheney's Cabal

    November 18, 2005

    If the United States is to extricate itself from the Iraq debacle, the first step is to break up the cabal of Bush Administration officials who have led the nation to war.

  • Right to Trial Imperiled by Senate Vote

    November 14, 2005

    The Senate last week approved a measure that would allow government officials to essentially bypass the courts and lock up people suspected of terrorism without trial. Will cooler heads prevail?

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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