Friday,
August 29, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the US military
announces another death, John McCain declares a running mate, Cynthia
McKinney campaigns this weekend in Michigan, and more.
Starting with the US presidential race. Independent presidential candidate
Ralph Nader
held a Super Rally in Denver Wednesday and took the stage to the tune
of "This Land Is Your Land." Below are some of his opening remarks and
you can see the video
here:
Ralph
Nader: . . . one of the best songs of social justice ever written. And
for those of you concerned, all this [points to confetti] can be
recycled. Well, where do we start? Let's start with something dealing
with Colorado. The Democratic Party Convention selling sky-boxes. And
guess who paid big money for those sky-boxes? Coors. One million
dollars. How about this one: Excell, one million dollars. Qwest, six
million dollars.
Well, you know, if they
are really a part of working people, the way they used to say they
were, fifty, sixty years ago, under Franklin Roosevelt and Harry
Truman. They'd have hospitality suites, not for these fat cat
corporate lobbyists who are tearing the heart and soul out of America,
they'd have hospitality suites for workers, for farm workers, for
nurses, for patients trying to get health care, for consumers being
ripped off, for students who are being gouged by student loans. They'd
have all kinds of hospitality suites and maybe they ought to go and see
how some people in Denver live on the other side of the tracks, to see
the poverty and the desperation and the lack of affordable housing and
the lack of insurance when they get sick.
This
party is sick. It's decaying. It's lost its soul. And its leaders
can't ever get up on the stage like at the Pepsi Center -- the Pepsi
Center, imagine after you say "The Pepsi Center" -- I'll bet you the
tax payer built that center.
You never
talk about the poor. That's a no-no in Democratic Party dictionary.
You talk about the middle class, which they've helped shrink through
NAFTA and WTO and all the way they've crushed opposition to corporate
power. Corporate power has crushed so much of its opposition they've
brought trade unions to their knees. They've made it almost impossible
for industrial or commercial workers to even form a trade union because
of the Taft-Hartley Law and other obstructive laws that no other
western country puts before it workers.
The
Democrats are dialing for the same dollars, the same corporate dollars
the Republicans are dialing for. And they don't even bother covering
it up. They're being winded and dined by the corrupters, the corporate
predators, the corporations who have ripped off American consumers and
workers that depleted their pensions who are outsourcing your jobs when
you get out of college. Who are saying to you when you get out of
college, "You got a skill but try getting a good paying job, try
getting affordable housing, try getting affordable health insurance,
try getting anything that your forebearers were able to get." You know
what you're doing? I'm talking to young people in the audience, you're
the first generation that's ever polled and said they aren't going to
be as well off as their parents.
And the
indicators are all coming down. More and more, millions of Americans,
not making a living wage, not even close. Wal-Mart wages. K-Mart
wages. Millions and millions of people who have to get sick or become
sicker or even die because they can't afford health insurance. Just
think of that.
This is the richest country
in the world and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of
Science, just to give you a fact, says 18,000 people a year in this
country die because they can't afford health insurance. That's six
9-11s. Washington turned the country upside down after . . . 9-11. In
a lot of bad ways, as we know. They don't turn the country upside down
for 58,000 people who die every year from work-related diseases in the
mines and foundries. They don't turn the company upside down for
65,000 Americans who die from asphyxiation or cancer due to air
pollution. They don't turn the country upside down for the 100,000
people who die from medical negligence and malpractice in hospitals.
They
don't turn the country upside down for any form of violence -- however
preventable it is -- if it's source is corporate crime, corporate
negligence, corporate greed and corporate power.
You
know some people ask me this around the country, "Nader, what are you
doing this for? What do you expect to achieve?" Well look at what
we've achieved tonight. You have seen the young leaders of the future
on this stage. You have seen not only veteran advocates like Cindy
Sheehan, you've seen Ashley Sanders. You've seen Rosa Clemente. You
have seen Nellie McKay. You've seen someone you're going to hear a lot
more of in the next few months, you've seen Rev. J Wait and see. He's
only 21-years old and he's breaking away from this notion that although
many of us have always hoped there would be an African-American
ascended to the presidency of the United States. He's saying something
more than that. He's saying that's not enough, that may be an
unprecedented career move into the White House but it's got to mean
more than that, it's got to mean standing up to the corporate
subjugation of the American people. It's got to mean pushing forward a
war against poverty. It's got to mean coming from your background,
something more than if it were just a White man or White woman in the
White House, it's got to mean a peculiarly insistent sensitivity to the
bottom 100 million Americans in this country who are at the bottom of
the income scale: African-Americans, poor Whites, Latinos who do the
most dangerous work, who do the most dangerous work for us, who do the
most thankless work for us, who raise our children, take care of our
children, be with our ailing parents, harvest our food, service us in
all kinds of ways while they're underpaid and overcharged, while
they're excluded. While they're disrespected. While their
marginalized. And the only time they're held up before the country is
when they ask them to go overseas and fight our criminal wars for us.
And we're stopping there to note
Hispanic Business trumpets
today that the US army has launched its "Leaders Among Us" tour in
Illinois after having been through San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, NYC,
Miami and Puerto Rico. Just reruns the press release as though it were
a good thing. "Leaders Among Us" is a recruitment effort -- long on
rah-rah, short on facts.
Natalia Montemaor (The Ranger) told
the sad, sad tale of the efforts in San Antonio and how everyone was
just so mean to the ROTC. ROTC instructor Micheal Trujillo didn't
conform to the rules and wants to whine about the unfairness of it
all. Why can't he just he make his own dates for events? And what
happened to the $300 he was promised by someone -- he doesn't say who
-- that his field trip to the Bataan Death March cost. "Those funds
were not promised through the office of student life," said its
director Jorge Posadas. But it's a conspiracy by the well funded
counter-recruitment forces who are bankrolled in the millions by the US
government while the US army must depend on the donations of
individuals and is not on the tax payer payroll -- oh, wait, it's the
other way around. Someone explain it to the ROTC.
From the recruiting tricks to its outcome: violence in Iraq.
Bombings?
Shootings?
Rueters notes police shot dead 1 person in Tal Afar that they suspected was a bomber.
Corpses?
Today the
US military announced:
"A Coalition force Soldier died in a non-combat related incident Aug.
28 while conducting operations in Ninewa." The number of US service
members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war stands at
4150 and, for the month, at
22.
It's
Friday, very little violence gets reported. So who's going to end the
illegal war? Not Barack Obama. But he's going to rip off the film The
American President,
as Delilah Boyd (A Scrivener's Lament) makes clear. Next up, Barack pretends he's Harrison Ford in Air Force One.
Jeremy Lott (Guardian of London) observes
of the speech in front of the mock Pagan Temple, "It was made-for-cable
catnip. Obama looked at the last four years and yelled 'Enough!' He
promised to end the war in Iraq but to do so 'reasonably.' . . . Obama
prissily informed us that he's 'ready to have' that debate about all
this. With all due respect, no he's not." Lott notes the usual MSNBC
male orgy for Barack.
Greg Mitchell (Editor & Publisher) reports
that Olberman's yet again on attack, "So the liberal Olbermann was
outraged that the AP's Babington had written, in his analysis of the
speech, just off the wire, that Obama had tried nothing new and that
his speech was lacking in specifics. He read the first few paragraphs
on the air, lamented that it would be printed in hundred of newspapers
on Friday, and concluded, 'It is analysis that strikes me as having
borne no resemblance to the speech you and I just watched. None
whatsoever. And for it to be distributed by the lone national news
organization in terms of wire copy to newspapers around the country and
web sites is a remarkable failure of that news organization. Charles
Babington, find a new line of work." Babington (whom I know) is not
light with the facts. His work can strike some as 'boring' because he
does not play the drama game in his copy but sticks to the basics: Who,
what, where when. Babington has a long resume filled with many
accomplishments. Olbermann? He's got a mike to yell into as he stars
in a low rated, basic cable yuck-fest. The telling part of Olbermann's
comments can probably be found when he whines that Babington's
reporting will be in "newspapers around the country and web sites".
John
McCain's showed no more indication of ending the Iraq War than has
Barack Obama. And no doubt Keith will be spewing his usual sexism
tonight at the McCain campaign because today McCain announced his
running mate: Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin. The
Chicago Tribune's Mark Silva and the
Los Angeles Times Michael Finnegan
pretty much write the same exact story except Silva's obsessed with one
beauty pageant and, in fairness, neither writer wrote a story -- the
Obama campaign did. It's the Obama camp's narrative in both: She's
inexperienced!
Seems Sarah Palin's crime is
daring to go for the vice presidency with a little less than two years
of being the governor of Alaska. But, Team Obama insists, you can
declare the presidency with less than three years. Unlike Obama, Palin
has an actual resume -- one that the press tries to trivialize -- which
includes having been elected mayor and having been elected to city
council twice. She and her husband Todd are also the parents of five
children. Palin's not pro-abortion, she's not pro anything for the
left. She also isn't someone who deserves to be derided as "beauty
queen" or mocked for her gender which has already become all the rage
online since the surprise announcement today.
Klownhaus notes,
"Sarah Palin is young and telegenic, and any attack on her lack of
experience opens up the GOP counter-punch of attacking Uh-bama's lack
of experience. When the He-Man Woman Haters Club launches misogynistic
attacks on Palin (and they have already begun) it puts the GOP in the
position of supporting and defending women." It's noted that her
oldest son will deploy to Iraq shortly.
McCain
gets a running mate who is young (diminishing the perceived negative of
his age), female (snookering Obama for Hillary's hold-outs), executive
(to his legislative) and most important, both by her deserved
reputation and by the impact of the choice itself, re-establishes
McCain's eroded credentials as a genuine maverick candidate. That
appeals to the middle voters who will decide the election.
Plus, McCain's choice of Palin achieves what McCain himself can never do -- it took the words right out of Obama's mouth.
The
acceptance speech that was so essential to Obama has been filed in the
dusty back drawers of political history, as if the text had never been
given voice. Media are addicted to the new and the now, and now the
Labor Day Weekend will be all I Dream Of Sarah and no echoes of I Had A
Dream. Magic.
Governor
Palin is a tough executive who has demonstrated during her time in
office that she is ready to be president. She has brought Republicans
and Democrats together within her Administration and has a record of
delivering on the change and reform that we need in Washington.
Governor
Palin has challenged the influence of the big oil companies while
fighting for the development of new energy resources. She leads a state
that matters to every one of us -- Alaska has significant energy
resources and she has been a leader in the fight to make America energy
independent.
In Alaska, Governor Palin challenged a corrupt
system and passed a landmark ethics reform bill. She has actually used
her veto and cut budgetary spending. She put a stop to the "bridge to
nowhere" that would have cost taxpayers $400 million dollars.
As
the head of Alaska's National Guard and as the mother of a soldier
herself, Governor Palin understands what it takes to lead our nation
and she understands the importance of supporting our troops.
Governor
Palin has the record of reform and bipartisanship that others can only
speak of. Her experience in shaking up the status quo is exactly what
is needed in Washington today.
A
number of female 'leaders' have taken to trying to forcibly escort
women onto the Barack bus (the one that they were previously thrown
under) and they love to make statements, "Well, like Hillary asked,
were you in it just for her?" It's time for those same 'leaders' to
prove whether they are in it for women or just the Democratic Party?
Sarah Palin becomes the second woman to run for the vice presidency on
a ticket of one of the two-major parties. Are they going to demand
that she be treated with the same respect/tone a male running would
be? Or are they just going to stay silent? Put up or shut up.
Feminist Wire posts two items today -- neither noting Palin's
nomination. Do they needed to be reminded of their tax free status?
Or do they need to lose it? That really needs to be explored since
their tax status forbids them from endorsing but Feminist Wire likes to
'fact check' McCain's statements while just reposting Barack's without
any 'checking.' Today a woman was named to be the running mate of the
GOP presumed nominee and Feminist Wire couldn't find a thing worth
noting?
Geraldine Ferraro,
the first woman to run for the vice-presidency from one of the
country's two largest political parties. could note Palin's
significance.
Kristine Johnson (CBS) quotes
Ferraro declaring today, "I've spent a lot of time over the last 24
years saying, 'Gosh, I wish I weren't the only one.' So I welcome
seeing a woman on the ticket. . . . The potential for a woman to be
vice president will really make a difference for girls in this
country."
NOW on PBS notes
that they interviewed Palin for a broadcast earlier this month "about
her efforts to clean up corruption in her home state." But Feminist
Wire? Nothing.
Which is indicative of the 'coverage' they've given
Cynthia McKinney
for her presidential run. McKinney is the Green Party nominee and Rosa
Clemente is her running mate. Does Feminist Wire really think that one
brief, on July 14th, cuts it as 'coverage' of McKinney's run? And then
later they wonder why
Ms. is falsely seen as "White, White, White" and when
Ms.
is seen that way, feminism gets seen that way. Feminist Wire exists on
the Feminist Majority Foundation's tax-free status -- as does Ms. these
days -- and they are forbidden from endorsing candidates. So it's
about damn time they started offering coverage for all the candidates
-- and there's never a need for a feminist publication to explain why
they cover female candidates. (Though there is a need for Ms. and
Femnist Wire to explain why they failed to call out the attacks on
Hillary.)
The Green Party of Michigan
notes Cynthia will be campaigning in Michagan August 30th through
September 1st. She's working the holiday. Maybe Feminist Wire could
do the same? Saturday night (7:00 pm) she'll be speaking at the
International Institute in Detroit at a press conference with a rally
immediately after (7:30). Sunday, Cynthia will appear at the
National Welfare Rights Union
Awards Dinner where she will deliver a speech on poverty. Monday,
Cynthia will be standing shoulder to shoulder with union members as
they march down Woodward Avenue in Detroit to mark the historic workers
struggle in this country that produced the 40-hour work week, that
produced a respect for the workers in this country and that produced
the Labor Day holiday (among many other things).
Meanwhile, China scores big!
Erica Goode and Riyadh Mohammed (New York Times) announce
that China National Petroleum signed a contract with the puppet
government in Baghdad. With the DNC speeches this week repeatedly
hitting on the borrowing from China, that will probably not go over
well in this country. Some examples:
Mark Warner:
"Two wars, a warming planet, an energy policy that says let's borrow
money from China to buy oil from countries that don't like us. "
Al Gore:
"As I have said for many years throughout this land, we're borrowing
money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways
that destroy the future of human civilization."
Hillary Clinton: "The biggest deficit in our nation's history. Money borrowed from the Chinese to buy oil from the Saudis."
Ava and I cover the DNC convention Sunday at
Third.
Ralph Nader's Super Rally took place in Denver and, with little media
attention, Team Nader turned out a large crowd of 4,000. As the huge
crowd gathered and the event geared up Wednesday,
Jesse A. Hamilton (Hartford Courant) reported that
Sean Penn had spoken and notes "major cheers" for Nader's "amnesty talk
for non-violent drug offenders" and quotes Nader stating: "Every
politician I've ever known from the major parties . . . starts
flattering the people. Oh, how they flatter the people! Because that's
what gives the people weak knees. . . . Read the grim lesson of
history, here and abroad. When people do not turn on to politics,
politics will turn on them." Not noted is that Ralph noted the
historical importance of the week (19th Amendment enacted). Something
that Barack skipped out on but no one's supposed to notice that. Team Nader notes:
What a wild last 24 hours.
With
the help of more than a hundred Colorado volunteers and our best
roadtrippers we worked day and night to pack 4,000 people into the
University of Denver's Magness Arena.
(As
usual, this was done with zero help from the Denver media. For example,
not a mention all week in the Denver Post, the city's largest
newspaper, before or after the event.)
Now we're re-focusing and gearing up for the RNC.
I just flew into Minneapolis and we need your help to fill thousands of seats for our September 4th rally at Orchestra Hall.
Before
they can join us in Minneapolis, they have to make an emergency stop in
Wisconsin where we need 3,000 more signatures over Labor Day weekend or
we won't make the ballot.
It's just that simple.
Before we can crank up the energy this week in Minneapolis, we need you to donate right now to help us fuel our roadtrip team through the cornfields of Iowa to the dairy lands of Wisconsin. A donation of $10 helps provide a roadtripper a hearty and (as Ralph would say) nutritious meal.
A donation of $50 helps put a roof over their heads.
A
donation of $100 helps outfit our roadtrippers in the new Buffalo Nader
'08 t-shirts like you see our team wearing in this photo.
To
meet our most recent fundraising goal, we've got to raise more than
$70,000 more on our way to $100,000 in less than one week.
Please give whatever you can,
to help us knock out Wisconsin fast so we can hit the streets this week
at the RNC and demand that McCain invite Nader/Gonzalez into the
presidential debates. And remember, if
you give $100 or more now, we'll send you three DVDs -- the Denver
rally, the Minneapolis rally, and a special debate DVD. (Three DVD
offer ends September 4 at 11:59 p.m.)
Onward to November
Tonight and over the weekend on PBS (check local listings)
NOW on PBS
(debuts Friday night in most markets) explores affirmative action and
state-ballot measures attempting to overturn it. Katty van van sits
down for a chat and chew with
Bill Moyers -- hope he brings the oats and remember to keep the kids out of the room.
Cat Radio Cafe does not air on WBAI Monday (fundraising) but
The Next Hour
features Michael Heller, Harvey Shapiro and John Taggart on the topic
of Pulitzer Prize winning poet Goerge Oppen broadcasting from eleven to
noon Sunday on
WBAI. And iIndependent journalist
David Bacon's latest book officially is released next week,
Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants (Beacon Press). (Some bookstores already have it in stock currently -- and you can order at the link if you order online.)
Finally.
The 'peace' organization passes on e-mails. A number of visitors and
members have e-mailed to explain that they complained about what went
down and their 'reward' was to have their e-mails passed on. They end
up getting the Gutter Trash's stark raving partner screaming at them in
e-mails. Well, we know they have no ethics. Until Third on Sunday,
that's all I plan to say. We will address it there and some community
sites will address it now. Visitors also e-mail to ask that it be
passed on: Don't bother posting to Gutter Trash''s blog. She will not
allow you statement to go up. Of course not, she can't play victim and
get her small posse to lie with her by allowing outside voices. Best
visitor e-mail runs in
Polly's Brew (with sender's
permission) this Sunday -- it's a Canadian who's had it with the "pushy
American" who is "as phoney as Madonna's British accent." We're done
promoting the organization. There were questions about that in
e-mails. They've been pulled from the links and I'm weighing whether
or not to pull their chapters from the links. We were not speaking of
Courage to Resist,
for visitors who e-mailed asking about that. Courage to Resist is a
real organization and remains linked at this site. I've passed on the
e-mail to Mike
(I've never read Gutter Trash's site) that asks if he gave permission
for his e-mail to be posted (Gutter Trash apparently claims to be
concerned about "niceness" in reposting people's e-mails). No, he did
not. He will address that at his site tonight as well as what Gutter
Trash leaves out.
iraq
the new york times
erica goode
riyadh mohammed
mcclatchy newspapers
david bacon
charles babington
now on pbs
pbs
bill moyers journal
