Friday, February 6, 2004

Who's Choosin' Who? FEATURED ARTICLES- - The Question is Wisconsin, CNN's Wolf Blitzer - Kerry Blocked Law, Drew Cash, AP - Democrats Assail, and Tap, 'Special Interests', NY Times - The Awesome Destructive Power Of The CPM, The Black Commentator QUOTE OF THE DAY "We poets hate hate & make war on war." - - Pablo Neruda KNOW YOUR HISTORY - FEBRUARY 6th 1945 -- Reggae musical hero Bob Marley lives, Spanish Town, Jamaica. Yesterday's Daily Bleed Saint. http://www.bobmarley.com/ 1976 -- Canada: Native American activist Leonard Peltier is captured &, on the basis of fictitious affidavits generated by the FBI, is later extradited to the US. Federal prosecutors later admit they don't have a clue who committed the crime they convicted Peltier for. The FBI is often fondly referred to, because of its criminal conduct in cases like this, as the Federal Bureau of Fabrication. His sentence by the US government to two consecutive life terms was solely based on false testimonies made under FBI duress, on manufactured ballistic evidence & on perjury by FBI officials. Furthermore, his two co-defendants -- who stood separate trial -- were acquitted of the same charge on the grounds of self-defense. February 6 of each year has become THE INTERNATIONAL DAY IN SOLIDARITY WITH LEONARD PELTIER. Protest gatherings to publicize Peltier's plight & help gain his release are held around the world, from a few individuals in small towns, to thousands on the Internet registering their protest with elected officials & the White House. http://www.freepeltier.org/ RHINO HERE: Today's RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE is an excellent editorial on the dangerous power of the media today from The Black Commentator, a website whose core audience is African Americans and their allies in the struggle for social and economic justice. Offering commentary, analysis and investigation, co-publishers Glen Ford and Peter Gamble have been collaborators on various media projects for nearly 30 years since working together as network broadcast journalists in Washington, D.C. http://www.blackcommentator.com That commentary was sent to me by activist/actor Peter Coyote who's been a committed progressive communicator since long before the internet made that calling so easy. Today's blog, besides The Black Commentator piece, consists of several other pieces forwarded by Coyote, all pointing towards the mainstream media's anti-democratic behavior regarding our presidential primary process. If you'd like to contribute to the last chance we have of not needing to choose between 2 members of the skull & bones secret society (Kerry & shrub), go to Dean For America & make a reasonable donation for the Governor's TV ads in Wisconsin. http://www.deanforamerica.com/wisconsinad You say you think it's a lost cause? Rhino sez, "Read the insights of Jeff Greenfield below." Peter Coyote writes: Perhaps you're angry at the news media (the hot-air class) determining for you which candidate is acceptable and which is not. If you've followed Kerry's voting record you'll see that he is a business-as-usual Democrat, an elegant man with a conscientious demeanor who consistently votes for big business, for Bush programs, is the most successful Senator in terms of receiving lobbying money. Know wonder the major media (read multi-nationals) love him. On the other hand, Howard Dean has common-sense practical solutions to a number of vexing problems that he has already put into practice. Here's a reminder that it ain't over till the fat lady sings.  peter   "The Question is Wisconsin" Jeff Greenfield explains why Howard Dean can't be counted out yet on CNN's Wolf Blitzer. And he isn't even counting in your power: WOLF BLITZER: The former front-runner, Howard Dean, failed to win any of yesterday's primaries or caucuses, but he's still pushing on and today he launched a new offensive in his bid for a comeback. Will it work? Jeff Greenfield is joining us live. The question is Wisconsin. That seems to be where Howard Dean is placing a lot of emphasis. JEFF GREENFIELD: It makes sense, Wisconsin is an unusual state. It has been home to progressive insurgent reformists for almost 100 years since Robert La Follette the former Governor and Senator helped found the progressive movement in this country. His son was a U.S. Senator, Bill Proxmyer who served in the Senate for decades was famous for going after wasteful government spending, remember the famous Golden Fleece awards and Russ Feingold, one of Wisconsin Senators is co-author of the campaign finance reform act. So it is a very favorable climate. I spent four years there in school for outsiders, for people challenging the interests. If there's any state where that message ought to Senate, Wisconsin is it. WOLF BLITZER: ....But Michigan is significant. That's coming up this Saturday, Michigan and Washington State. Michigan is significant, but take a look the poll numbers from Detroit news. Look at this. Kerry so far ahead over Howard Dean right now. Michigan doesn't seem to be a place where Howard Dean is going to do very well. JEFF GREENFIELD: We professionals can tell you if you're 44 points behind in a poll with four days to go, you have a problem. But there is one message if I can go back to the Wisconsin list, and I was thinking about--flatter a statement. Tell it, "you have the power to turn this election around." When Nelson Rockefeller went to Oregon his message was he "cared enough to come. The other guys couldn't even bother with you." When Robert Kennedy ran in Indiana in 1968, not a particularly major campaign state, he would say "Indiana can choose the next President of the United States." You can see a message where Dean says "You Wisconsin don't let the insiders have this nomination, you can turn this election around." I'm not saying it will work, because I can't predict the future it. But it seems that message makes sense. WOLF BLITZER: Let's say he wins Wisconsin, then what? JEFF GREENFIELD: Well, you're right, then you face Super Tuesday with very little money....  ...You can have a similar message. Call me Mad Cow, but suppose you went to these big states and said "isn't it time that the larger states help pick a nominee? Aren't you tired of letting Iowa and New Hampshire run your campaign? You, California, New York, Ohio, Georgia, you never have any power. This is your chance to say to the democratic party, all right, we're going to help pick the nominee." We're talking about a long shot strategy for Howard Dean. But it doesn't seem to me impossible. When people say he's toast, he's finished, forget it, it's the same people often who said he's the definite nominee two months ago, and maybe we ought to look at what the possibilities are rather than saying, "Oh yeah, I know what the future is." Kerry Blocked Law, Drew Cash AP, 2/4/04 WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Senate colleague was trying to close a loophole that allowed a major insurer to divert millions of federal dollars from the nation's most expensive construction project. John Kerry stepped in and blocked the legislation. Over the next two years, the insurer, American International Group, paid Kerry's way on a trip to Vermont and donated at least $30,000 to a tax-exempt group Kerry used to set up his presidential campaign. Company executives donated $18,000 to his Senate and presidential campaigns. Were the two connected? Kerry says not. But to some government watchdogs, the tale of the Massachusetts senator's 2000 intervention, detailed in documents obtained by The Associated Press, is a textbook case of the special interest politicking that Kerry rails against on the presidential trail. ``The idea that Kerry has not helped or benefited from a specific special interest, which he has said, is utterly absurd,'' said Charles Lewis, head of the Center for Public Integrity that just published a book on political donations to the presidential candidates... MORE: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3711031,00.html Democrats Assail, and Tap, 'Special Interests' by Glen Justice and John Tierney, NY Times,  1/31/04 CHARLESTON, S.C., Jan. 30 - The Democratic presidential hopefuls have been crossing the country this week promising to drive "special interests" and "influence peddlers" out of the White House. But campaign finance reports show some contenders benefit significantly from the lobbyists and special interests that they attack. While Senator John Kerry regularly promises to stand up to "big corporations," his campaign has taken money from executives on Wall Street and those representing the telecommunications industry, which is under his purview in Congress. Mr. Kerry denounces President Bush for catering to the rich, but he has depended more heavily on affluent donors than the other leading Democrats except for another populist, Senator John Edwards...  ...To be sure, none of the Democrats have collected donations on the scale of President Bush's campaign, and they generally avoid donations from political action committees. But the Democrats are hardly naifs when it comes to enlisting support from special interests in Washington and elsewhere, from corporate leaders and from unions in the public and private sectors. MORE: http://united-states-of-earth.com/article.asp?MenuID?51 7:32:48 AM    comment

The Awesome Destructive Power Of The CPM (Corporate Power Media) The Awesome Destructive Power Of The CPM (Corporate Power Media) The Black Commentator, 1/29/04 Howard Dean has joined the list of victims of U.S. corporate media consolidation. Dean shares this distinction with Dennis Kucinich and the people of the formerly sovereign state of Iraq, among many others. Dean was stripped of half his popular support in the space of two weeks in January while John Kerry - tied in the polls with Carol Moseley-Braun at seven percent just two months earlier - rose like a genie from a bottle to become the overnight presidential frontrunner. Both candidates were shocked and disoriented by the dizzying turns of fortune, and for good reason. Neither Dean nor Kerry had done anything on their own that could have so dramatically altered the race. Corporate America decided that Dean must be savaged, and its media sector made it happen. This commentary, however, is not about the merits of Howard Dean. If a mildly progressive, Internet-driven, young white middle class-centered, movement-like campaign such as Dean's - flush with money derived from unconventional sources, backed by significant sections of labor, reinforced by big name endorsements and surging with upward momentum - can be derailed in a matter of weeks at the whim of corporate media, then all of us are in deep trouble. The Dean beat-down should signal an intense reassessment of media's role in the American power structure. The African American historical experience has much to offer in that regard, since the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements were born in a wrestling match with an essentially hostile corporate (white) media. However, there can be no meaningful discussion of the options available to progressive forces in the United States unless it is first recognized that the corporate media in the current era is the enemy, and must be treated that way... MORE: http://www.blackcommentator.com/75/75_cover_dean_media.html "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. Tell a friend about Rhino's Blog 6:18:26 AM    comment

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