1.30.2004
There Will Be No Criticism of the Emperor During the Circus
"Given the Congressional Budget Office's acknowledgement of a $500 billion deficit from the Bush Administration for this year alone, it's more important than ever to have this issue in front of the public,?
Take a look at the ad CBS won't air. That's right, you'll see an ad from the White House, yet nothing from MoveOn.
Apparently, the network is more comfortable with dirty old men than innocent kids. The ads scheduled to run during the Super Bowl this Sunday will feature an abundance of senior pitchmen for Viagra, Levitra and Cialis, the Big Three of erectile dysfunction. Unwelcome on the same airwaves is a commercial called "Child's Pay."
Call CBS and let them know just what you think of their denial of Democratic ideals.
CBS Comment Line (212) 975-4321
Let MoveOn know that you called
CBS will advocate beer, junkfood and drugs to help erections along- but telling the truth about our shared fiscal future is taboo. Logically I guess one can say they are advocating Mr Bush and his administrations tax breaks for the richest Americans, their over-the-top deficit spending during a time of war, by their gagging of the ad. What are the folks at CBS afraid we'll learn?
The government's budget outlook deteriorated further on Monday as the Congressional Budget Office projected nearly $2.4 trillion in deficits over the next decade, providing new fuel for an election-year battle over soaring federal shortfalls.
Oh, that's right, citizens supplied with factual information can draw intelligent conclusions. Armed with the truth all the rightwing OOHRAH looks like just what it is. A steaming pile of crap. Oh, right, there are toilet paper ads scheduled too.
Yesterday, Vermont Congressman Bernie Sanders and 26 Washington lawmakers fired off a letter to CBS president Les Moonves, objecting to this slippery policy. The lawmakers said CBS seemed to be climbing into bed with the White House, just as all the TV networks are pleading for a major overhaul in federal broadcasting regulations.
From MoveOn:
This Sunday, during the Super Bowl half time show, join us in changing channels on CBS. At 8:10pm and 8:35pm EST, switch over to CNN to watch "Child's Pay" on a channel which doesn't censor its ads. We'd like to keep a tally of the number of people who participate -- you can sign up here.
See you at CNN at halftime. They'll be showing the ad.
The Patriots should be comfortably ahead by then. : )
post reworked and titled
1/30/2004
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A non-profit legal watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, is calling on the Bush White House
to have the White House Counsel investigate Mr Cheney's "confirmation" of leaked intelligence that purports a relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda. The Department of Defense has already stated that this information is inaccurate. Confirming leaked information is against the law.
Why would Vice President Cheney refer to innacurate, leaked information? Accurate information is what allows a Democracy to exist. Seems that question is our ongoing theme lately.
"Mr. Cheney's reference to classified information and the ensuing silence from the White House shows a distinct pattern: leaking classified information that the administration deems beneficial is Standard Operating Procedure," Melanie Sloan, Executive Director of CREW said today.
"The deliberate delay in investigating the outing of Valerie Plame and the immediate investigation into an alleged leak by former Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill the morning after Mr. O'Neill's interview with 60 Minutes shows the contrast between investigations into leaks that help with President Bush's agenda and those that damage the administration's efforts."
John Dean says that the Valerie Plame leak was more vicious than anything his former boss, Richard Nixon did. Why is it that the Plame leak hasn't been found, but Paul O'Neill was jumped on right away? Go figure... Dean thinks a civil lawsuit would find the source of the leak, getting the investigation out of the hands of the Justice Department and the FBI- and getting it more free from Administration influence.
Speaking of the Plame leak, Symbolman of Take Back The Media was in the right place at the right time- a guy who called Robert Novak on his giving away the fact that Ms Plame was an undercover CIA Operative ( he called Novak "Traitor") slid across the ice outside the Merrimac Restaurant in Manchester NH where Novak assaulted him, right into our favorite flash animation creator.
Right place at the right time because the fellow could have cracked his head open on the ice without Symbolman's presence.
Over at Blah3 we get more details, including that Brad Carr, the person Novak attacked has filed a criminal assault complaint.
A Grand Jury is probing the Plame leak.
1/30/2004
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Do you have the courage to stand by your core values? Or will you fold to the media generated hype.
I hear nothing about the candidates stands on the issues, but a lot about their campaign appearance, their style, listen, tell me if you hear about the substance of their campaign, even from their own mouths. Rhetoric yes, facts and figures, no.
Enter Dennis Kucinich.
Dennis Kucinich vows to keep running for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency. I found that although people like Mr Kucinich and find his vision for America consistent with their views his lack of media attention found them voting strategically.
Use the sidebar links to find out more about his plans to make America a revitalized place for all Americans.
Robert Kuttner touches on the fact that a populist candidate makes the monied interests in our country uncomfortable in this Boston Globe op/ed piece.
Finally, it's no surprise that elite media and other business-affiliated institutions make clucking sounds whenever Democratic candidates champion ordinary people and call for regulation and taxation of society's most powerful. But it is distressing to hear other Democrats, or well-intentioned media commentators, accepting that bogus framing of the real issue. "Populist" is sly epithet because it evokes an ugly history. In the American past, the term has been variously used to describe racists, antiforeigners, and know-nothings. But economic populism, in modern usage, means a politics of advancing the well-being of working- and middle-class Americans using the leverage of government policies. If the rhetoric occasionally gets hot, Bush and his corporate allies have richly earned it.
There's nothing "antigrowth" about insisting on a progressive tax system or a public policy that balances drug company profits against the public's health. In the glory years of the post-World War II boom, well-to-do Americans lived nicely with higher tax rates, and corporations did just fine despite tougher regulation. That regulation saved capitalism from its own excesses. And Wall Street might have been spared the carnage of 2000-2001 if tougher financial, accounting, and securities regulations hadn't been gutted in the 1990s (with Lieberman cheering on the repeal).
Nor is there anything radical about wanting the public sector to fund public education, universal health coverage, and decent child care.
Just in- Scott Ritter endorses Dennis Kucinich.
Also found at Mousemusings, this insightful article Dennis Kucinich and the Question By William Rivers Pitt
"He is the only candidate in this race hitting hard against NAFTA and the WTO. He is the only candidate promising, with details attached, to establish universal single-payer health care for everyone in America. He is the only candidate attacking the deranged nature of the bloated Pentagon budget, and has sworn an oath to clean that house to pay for his social programs. Drawing on the lessons of Vietnam, a conflict which dragged on because we were too proud to leave when we should have, he has crafted a detailed plan to get our troops home within 90 days. This, like the other policies, sets him apart. Through it all is a cry for the worker, the forgotten American worker, and the family, and the soul of the nation entire.
The ghost of FDR..." .
1/30/2004
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