Elaine here, still with you. I spoke to Rebecca today and there will be a message to everyone from her at the bottom before we do the "Peace Quotes."
Democracy Now! was pretty interesting today and you should try to make time to listen to it or watch it or read the transcripts. Mike called today and asked if I was going to spotlight tonight and I said there were three I was thinking of noting here. Mike was thinking of the same three. I told him that he could have them and I'd find something else but he said no and thinks that both of us spotlighting the same three will hopefully draw attention to them.
2,000 Protest Bush in Salt Lake City (Democracy Now!)
While President Bush was speaking, anti-war demonstrators gathered outside calling for the troops to be brought home from Iraq. Protest organizers in Salt Lake City had taken out a permit for a one-thousand person protest - but more than twice that many took to the streets. Celeste Zappala - who co-founded Gold Star Mothers for Peace with Cindy Sheehan - addressed the crowd. Her 30-year-old son Sherwood Baker died in Baghdad last year.
The tipping point? (I always think of the sixties edition of The Third Estate Sunday Review and especially their essay "Essay dedicated to the mainstream press: 'Don't it leave you on the empty side?'") We're there. It's taken us a long time to get there (or it's felt that way) but we're there. What that means to me is that we really need to commit to speaking truth to power and we need to protest and be more active. That's the only way to stop the war, for us to to participate in our country and to ensure democracy here.
We can't let this moment be hijacked by the ones who would tell us to wait a few years or that we need to fine tune the war. We've got a lot of elected officials (and a lot out of office that want to get in) who try to tell us the problem is that we didn't do this or that correctly.
Wrong. The problem is that we waged an illegal war and are now occupiers but refuse to abide by any terms for occupation. Why have the attacks increased? It's not because we need to "fine tune." It's because we are the problem. No one wants their country occupied. If that's difficult for some middle of the roaders to grasp, pretend it's the United States that was being occupied and think about the feelings that would result in for you.
You can't fine tune it. It's like looking at a murder in progress and arguing that if a gun was used instead of knife, things would be better. We are the problem and we need to get over our selves and realize that.
Joan Baez & Others Rally At Camp Casey in Crawford, TX (Democracy Now!)
Meanwhile in Crawford Texas, military families, veterans and anti-war activists are continuing their vigil at Camp Casey outside President Bush's 1,600-acre estate. Folk singer Joan Baez spoke to reporters on Monday. "I think the question that nobody wanted to deal with is the question that they're posing - why did my kid die in vain," Baez said. "Because the answer is too awful." Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and actress Margot Kidder have also stopped by the Crawford protest site. Kidder - who is best known for playing Lois Lane in Superman - said she became a U.S. citizen last week in order to be able to protest the war in Iraq without facing the possibility of deportation.
Mike's grabbing Kat's entry on Joan Baez tonight (or was planning to) so I'll note that some other time this week. Instead, I'll tell you that one of my favorite Joan Baez albums is Where Are You Now, My Son? Like Liang and C.I., that album has a lot of meaning for me. I heard a lot of talk about how brave Joan Baez was to go to Camp Casey and she is brave. But she's lived her life taking brave stands. Where Are You Now, My Son? includes the title track which has audio recordings from Vietnam. Joan Baez was there when we were dropping bombs. It's a wonderful commentary and a great introduction if you're trying to visualize Vietnam.
A lot of people have grown up with Vietnam being a blur and what has seeped in has often come via jingoistic films like Rambo so if you're confused, you should seek out the album. One of the things I enjoy most about the album is that the Vietnamese are people. Listening to the album, you're not over here safely looking down at the "other," you're aware that we're talking about people. That may seem a small point but if you look at, for instance, the coverage of Iraq today, you'll note how little we hear from them in our mainstream press. We highlight the Iraqi's we've appointed (and funded) but the non-Westernized Iraqis are treated like something less than human. It's a really great album but that's what stands out for me. The first side (I have it on vinyl) is "Where Are You Now, My Son?" -- the title track. It's a long track (over twenty minutes) that mixes song and reporting. She wrote the song and she ties together all these elements. I know C.I. has it on CD (as well as on vinyl) so I'll try to ask C.I. what it's on. (I think it's on Joan Baez's A&M boxed set.) And you can read the entry C.I. wrote at Liang's request entitled "Where Are You Now, My Son?" to get more of a feel about the album and that period of time.
Rep. Lynn Woolsey to Hold Hearings on Iraq Exit Strategy (Democracy Now!)
In Washington, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey of California has announced she will hold hearings on Sept. 15 on how the U.S. can leave Iraq. She said the hearings will be modeled on the one organized by Congressman John Conyers about the Downing Street Memos. Woolsey said, "We'll hear from academics, military personnel and other experts about strategies to achieve military disengagement while still playing a constructive role in the rebuilding of Iraqi society." The hearings will come a week before the major Sept. 24 anti-war rally in Washington.
Mike and I talked about that on the phone. We really think Lynn Woolsey has shown real determination and vision. Congress won't deal with the invasion/occupation. Not just the Republicans, but the Democrats like Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton as well. So it takes someone like Lynn Woolsey to say, "I'm not going to wait anymore for you to figure out where you stand on this." We need to start dealing with reality ("not jerking off over strategy," Rebecca said on the phone today).
Now I want to highlight Betty's recent post at her site Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man. I think Betty's smart and funny. Her humor has a point and, if you miss it, you can still laugh at the jokes. But there's a deeper layer to what she's doing.
"The World May Not Be Flat But Thomas Friedman Has A Bearded Butt"
"Bettina," Thomas Friedman said in his usual pompous manner, "how do you feel about a seaside get away?"
I was up to my elbows in dirty dish water as I worked my way through Thomas Friedman's dirty silk shorts. A seaside get away? You think I was about to turn that down?
I'm picturing rest & relaxation, a summer resort but "a seaside get away" to Thomas Friedman means . . . Coney Island. Possibly this inability to conceptualize in real life is reflected in the limited thought that goes into his columns?
The only thing worse than learning that a vacation billed as "a seaside get away" is actually a day trip to Coney Island was seeing Thomas Friedman's outfit.
Huge, round, black sun glasses, light blue (he called it "sky blue") plastic flip-flops, the infamous shorty robe ("Bettina, it's a vacation!") and a tan, tiny thong.
"You are not going out in public dressed like that!" I insisted.
"It's a vacation!" he screamed again. "Geez Bettina, you're so square, this is what all the kids wear today!"
"Thomas Friedman, were that true, you are not a kid."
"I look like one with my new highlights," Thomas Friedman said sticking his tongue out at me.
The blonder he gets, the dumber he gets. I know, I know. I immediately thought, "How can he get any dumber?"
I don't know how it's possible but it has happened.
And there was no way to persuade him to change into a more suitable, and less nausea inducing outfit.
We arrived at 9:40 a.m. and had 20 minutes until the pool opened. As we waited, he bounced up and down causing his shorty robe to fly up and attracting even more stares.
Again, I know, I know, how could anything attract more stares than the outfit itself? It's hard to believe, but it is true.
When the pool opened, he flung his robe off, tossed it to me and ran to the pool.
All around him, people pointed to his hairy butt cheeks and laughed.
When he emerged from the pool, finally, he asked me if I'd noticed how much joy his "mere presence brings to the local yokels?"
Telling him I did notice, I attempted to get him into his shorty robe as quickly as possible.
"It's the excitement of seeing a celebrity," Thomas Friedman confided as I pulled a sleeve up his arm.
"Bettina!" Thomas Friedman snapped. "I can put it on myself."
"Sorry," I said trying to think of a way to get him back into the robe, "it's just that you . . . look so good in it."
His eyebrows shot up, his lips pursed, and he tilted his head sideways for a moment before breaking out into a wide grin, pulling on the robe and strutting back and forth in front of me.
"See, Bettina, there is hope for you. You're finally starting to appreciate high fashion. Must be the fitted sheet you're wearing."
Rolling my eyes, I followed him as he headed for the rides attracting stares from every angle.
The Scream Machine. He just had to try it. As difficult as the day had already been, I didn't grasp that with Thomas Friedman even crap can turn to something worse.
Going up fifty feet in the air was easy enough. But Thomas Friedman was feeling impatient and decided, against my advice and everyone else's yelling, to stand up. Just as he did, the ride dropped fifty feet with Thomas Friedman screeching the entire way and struggling to hang onto the ride. In the process, first his sunglasses went flying, then his shorty robe flew up, then snagged on something, and finally was ripped right from his body.
On the ground, I tried to comfort him by telling him what a miracle it was that he had even survived but Thomas Friedman was having none of that as he stomped his feet and sobbed.
"My shorty robe! My beautiful shorty robe!"
Some kids had gathered around to watch the sight of a grown man sobbing and throwing a hissy fit.
"Look at the titty baby!" one kid hollered, attracting even more stares.
Thomas Friedman spun around to see who had said that.
"Oh my God, Mama, the man with the mustache has a bearded butt!"
Well, his butt cheeks are hairy. I mean, there's nothing I can add to that.
"Bearded butt! Bearded butt! Bearded butt!" everyone began chanting.
The world may not be flat but Thomas Friedman has a bearded butt and there it was, both cheeks, hanging out from the thong like some freakshow attraction.
You hear talk about a rally in D.C. in September but if you haven't heard the particulars, I'll share the following.
"September Mobilization" (United for Peace & Justice)
Saturday, September 24
Massive March, Rally & Anti-war Festival
Gather 11 AM at the Washington Monument
March steps off at 12:30 PM
Sat., Sept. 24 - Operation Ceasefire Concert Sun., Sept. 25 - Interfaith Service, Grassroots TrainingMon., Sept. 26 - Congressional Education Day and Mass Nonviolent Direct Action and Civil DisobedienceLinking Anti-war and Global Justice Protests
END THE WAR ON IRAQ
BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
Leave no military bases behind
End the looting of Iraq
Stop the torture
Stop bankrupting our communities
No military recruitment in our schools
Reminder before I go further, Mike's got an interview with Ty of The Third Estate Sunday Review scheduled for tomorrow so check out his site Mikey Likes It!
Rebecca wanted two things highlighted.
First, from Mike's "News and explaining the process for The Third Estate Sunday Review News Review," Rebecca wanted his explanation of how the news review happens put up here:
That's one of the things we covered in "The Third Estate Sunday Review News Review." Bobbie e-mailed asking why I didn't deliver a report in that Sunday feature? Last week, Elaine lost out on her story and Cedric's got slashed to an announcement. So Betty, Jim and me decided to focus on helping with the behind the scenes stuff.
Dona is like the producer. She's making sure that it doesn't run long and telling C.I. to extend or hurry based on the time and whether or not someone going next has their report ready. And based on the time, she and Jim are looking at what people have ready for their report and helping them cut it if time is short or helping them extend it if there's more time. But there's usually not more time. When you read it and C.I.'s talking about something and asking questions, Dona's telling C.I. to extend because the next report isn't ready. C.I. hates being the anchor but everyone thinks C.I. does a great job, except C.I.
Like Dona said here last week, you need someone who can think on their feet and who knows stuff because if she's saying, "Stretch this out" then the anchor's got to be able to say something more than, "So how's your day?"
How does it start? We're usually finishing something and Dona will say, "News Review in 15 minutes." Which means we're all tossing out ideas for topic for like 5 minutes and if someone hears a topic they like, they grab it and leave before that 5 minutes so that they can get their thing started. People will toss out sources and stuff to use like, "We haven't used ___" or "We should use ___." And 5 minutes before it's time to start, Dona will ask who's got something ready and is ready to go?
C.I.'s usually helping someone with their report at that point. Then it's right before it's time to go and Dona will tell C.I. who the first person up is and the topic of their report. Then we're transcribing it in real time.
Elaine went first and we were glad because she didn't get to go last time but there was time needed to stretch because Ava's thing on Pittsburgh needed a little more time and Dona had her planned for next. So C.I. tossed out a topic to Elaine that she had written about and it reads like it was planned but it wasn't. It's time for the next segment and Jess goes next to give Ava more time and Cedric's not ready cause he is trying to find more sources for his story. Jess was way cool and had more stuff than he planned to use which was good because Dona was going stretch and I was helping Cedric and Jim and Betty were helping Ava. We couldn't find an additional report so Cedric worked that into his report. And that's how it moved along.
Then I went to help Dona because Kat had a huge report and was asking for help on cutting it. She was going to include the news about Barbra Streisand's new song but we had time to watch the first 40 seconds of the video while Cedric and C.I. were stretching. It's not a pro-war song but it's not an anti-war song. Kat cut out this long thing she had on that. And there was other stuff that got dropped too but we were all the most depressed about Streisand's song because the stuff Kat found made it sound like it was this really deep song about peace and that's not what it is. It's a nice song, don't get me wrong, but it's not this amazing peace statement like we were all thinking.
And while all that's going on, Ava, Jim, and Betty have gone ahead and included London in her report which made it even stronger and a strong way to go out.
That actually answers Tony's questions as well and just leave Damica's question which was what is C.I. told about the reports ahead of time? Dona gives a brief sentence like "Kat's going to go over music, she's got a Garth joke in there." Or Dona will tell C.I. "You're going to Jess next and he'll be talking about Cindy Sheehan and he has material to extend with if it's needed." That's it.
When she's saying that C.I. is either listening to someone give a report or speaking to them and she really couldn't give much more detail without it being confusing probably. Damica wondered if C.I. and Ava had worked out their exchange during Ava's report because it flowed so well and, no, they didn't. But Ava and C.I. work well together. They do the TV review together and all and they think a lot alike so that's probably what you're seeing when you read it. I also think C.I. doesn't worry about tossing what could be a curve ball to Ava because they know each pretty well and know what each other can handle.
Next, Rebecca wanted this entry by C.I. highlighted in full.
"Baby Cries a Lot Sits Down and Poops on his co-workers" (The Common Ills):
Baby Cries a Lot sits down with The Progressive magazine for an interview entitled "Al Franken Interview" (by Stephen Thompson) and it's not pretty. Stephen Thompson tries hard throughout the interview. He even stretches the truth but it's of no help.
For instance, after running down Franken's two sitcoms (both quickly cancelled), Thompson offers, "He has also worked in film--most notably as co-writer and star of 1995's Stuart Saves His Family, a spin-off of the Stuart Smalley character he'd created for SNL."
Most notably? Thompson's far too kind. What was Stuart Saves His Family's opening domestic box office?
$371,898.
It's final box office total?
$912,082
Most notably? It didn't even make a million at the box office. Thompson tries so hard, but it's Baby Cries a Lot's nappy and he's determined to poop if he wants to, poop if he wants to.
Franken: Yeah, I’m not that leftwing, which is the odd thing about this: My views on most things would jibe with most Americans'. On most issues, most Americans are certainly left of this Administration. Not necessarily left, but more common-sensical. Given a chance, they’d spend less on the military, they wouldn’t make more nuclear weapons, they would want to increase environmental regulation rather than reduce it, they would want to spend more on education and health care, they would enforce corporate-responsibility laws and make corporations pay their taxes, all those kinds of things. Crazy talk. [Laughs.]
Common-sensical? He did graduate college, didn't he?
No, he's not "that leftwing." He's jingoistic and he's Baby Cries a Lot, but he's not leftwing. Which is why the original title for his program was nixed (it included the apparently dreaded word "liberal").
He explains, a nonshocker, how much he enjoys socializing with Republican senators. We kind of got that idea when he brought on AEI refugees and assorted others. One so offensive that Randi Rhodes, whose show aired immediately after, expressed her dismay that Baby Cries a Lot had the man on as a guest.
But, and maybe this somewhat explains The Nation cover story that was so dominated with news of Baby Cries a Lot, note how he fails to bring up any of the other shows. As Randi Rhodes noted (I believe it was in the lengthy profile the Washington Post did on her) that it wouldn't hurt him to plug some of the other shows when he goes on TV. Apparently it would hurt his pride to do that interviews so, instead, he resorts to insults and dismissing reality.
Q: Did you have a difficult time attracting talent in the beginning?
Franken: Well, we didn't really have a problem attracting talent, because there is no talent to some degree. [Laughs.] The right wing has had a radio apparatus for years and years, so they’ve had minor leagues--they've had local rightwing guys who've become national rightwing guys, and who build slowly, and that's how it goes. We haven't had that. It isn’t like we have a farm team.
Possibly Thompson meant, by "talent," guests or writers. Baby Cries a Lot instead goes to the other on air personalities. They don't even qualify for a "farm team."
Next, Thompson appears to attempt to correct the impression (huge ego) that Baby Cries a Lot has just left with readers.
Q: You do have some experienced radio veterans.
Franken: Yeah, but you need an experienced radio veteran who is a liberal advocate. And there just hadn't been any radio that did that. And so they weren't trained--they had developed all these bad habits of being objective and balanced and stuff like that. [Laughs.] It's hard to get that out of a person. I mean, obviously, I value objectivity and actually caring about facts, and we do that on the show. I'm not saying we're objective, but we're advocates. Katherine [Lanpher, co-host of The Al Franken Show] is certainly much more objective than I am, and tries to rein me in and keep me in check, which is good.
Kathaerine's "experienced." (Presumably Rachel Maddow would qualify as well, WRSI & WRNX, but he doesn't mention her.) But it's in that "objective and balanced" radio (read public radio). That's the only kind of "radio veteran" at Air America Radio, according to Baby Cries a Lot, because there was no one who'd been "a liberal advocate" and there "just hadn't been any radio that did that."
You know, outside of his inflated ego there's a thing called facts. He might want to visit the Land of Facts someday. (An appearance by Bob Somerby was a disaster as Franken refused to let the fact checker surpreme -- intended as a compliment -- get a word in.) Laura Flanders had extensive training in radio and is a liberal. She was doing a daily show while Baby Cries a Lot was still trying to figure out why Stuart flopped (and flopped so big). In addition, before Air America Radio existed, Mike Malloy and Randi Rhodes were popular radio hosts. They were established names, dealing with the news from a liberal perspective for many, many years. They were not unknowns. Randi Rhodes was successful in her markets and known via internet streaming outside of her markets. Mike Malloy, too, was a trusted voice. But somehow the three of them don't even qualify for a "farm team?" Besty Rosenberg's EcoTalk existed (like The Randi Rhodes Show) prior to Air America. But Besty Rosenberg doesn't cut it a farm team either apparently.
Most people grasped that the "family" wasn't a family when Lizz Winstead was disappeared. Considering that Baby Cries a Lot rushed Greg Palast off the air for daring to question the hagiography surrounding Ronald Reagan, that he played an insulting and demeaning theme song before David Brock's every appearence ("We Will Brock You") and that he, like O'Reilly, wouldn't let Jeremy Glick make his points (boiled down as chickens coming home to roost), we've been pretty easy on the man who delighted in mocking the death of Arafat with a zeal that one doesn't expect from such a fluffy man. His sexual remarks to a guest (an elderly, African-American woman) were in bad taste. His comments about activism by entertainers (while praising Meg Ryan) were insulting (and ticked a number of people off). But the worst we've done prior to this entry is to dub him, rightly, Baby Cries a Lot (he turns on the tears when he can't win an argument -- watch the CSPAN video closely if you've missed this trait on his radio program).
Yet once again, his ego leads him to insult others at Air America Radio. For the record, Laura Flanders, Randi Rhodes, Mike Malloy and Betsy Rosenberg came to Air America Radio with radio experience, as liberal voices on the air. They do now, what they did then and do it amazing well. They are not a "farm team," they are on the first string. They know their facts, they know how to shape their points and make their points in a manner which is both entertaining and educational. They are radio professionals and they deserve something more from Baby Cries a Lot then to be slammed and/or overlooked.
In addition to them, Matthew Rothschild has been doing The Progressive Radio Show for many years and Baby Cries a Lot has just slighted Rothschild (and I'm sure others, I don't claim to be an expert on radio) as well. There's also FAIR's CounterSpin program, which, Laura Flanders hosted for years.
No, he's not "that leftwing." And as he bends and twists in the wind, most listeners can grasp that. (Or at least community members can. He's loathed by community members. And he has only himself to blame for that and his tendencies that include raving over Ronald Reagan go to the reason why.)
Not surprisingly, when Thompson asks Baby Cries a Lot about his "dream contributors," Baby gurgles three names, all men. Note, this isn't three hosts, this is three contributors. To put it into TV terms, Baby Cries a Lot wasn't asked to pick an anchor for the evening news. If he had been and had still chosen three males, that would be bad enough. But what's worse is that Baby doesn't even think of a woman who can contribute a report. That's what he's listing, people who could do reports. And no woman springs to mind.
Baby Cries a Lot prefers women to play mommy (as happens on his show) or sex object (as happens during his USO tour -- which resuled in angry responses to Mother Jones when they ran his USO piece).
Baby Cries a Lot needs to start recognizing the contributions of others at Air America Radio and he also needs to grasp that people like Laura Flanders, Randi Rhodes, Mike Malloy and Betsy Rosenberg have been fighting the good fight while he's been yucking it up. They aren't the "farm team," they are varsity players, first string. Were his talent as large as his ego, he'd be a radio giant. It's not and he's not. It's time he stopped minimizing (or ignoring) the work of others.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
(Note: As mentioned earlier today, the interview was e-mailed by Brad who also made a strong case for addressing it here.)
Here's Rebecca's comments she wanted shared: "Al Franken gets more disgusting with each day and thank God C.I. told it like it was because you aren't going to get that elsewhere. Norm Ornstein is on the show because he's Al's friend. He has nothing to offer. Which probably explains the friendship, such as it is. And in a brave blog world, you'd hear about this but you won't because we don't have a brave blog world. We've got too many people trying to set up their own ticket and not addressing the tough issues. So when C.I. does, you note it and you appreciate it. A lot of people are taking swipes at anti-war activists and people like Al Frankin make that possible as he blubbers senselessly about nothing and then thinks he's made a reasoned argument. As Franken and the other gatekeepers try to define what we can and cannot talk about, we need to reject them. There are enough real voices, true voices out there that we don't need Baby Craps a Lot. On Air America alone, you've got Laura Flanders, Randi Rhodes, Mike Malloy and Janeane Garofalo speaking bravely. Reward those voices by telling your friends about them. There's so much fake and phoney in this country that gets attention, make sure you're friends know that Rhodes, Flanders, Malloy and Garofalo are out there. We need those voices. And we need Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez so you better be following Democracy Now! I'm on vacation but I'm following it. We need more reality so use your time wisely."
"Peace Quotes" (Peace Center):
If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.
Anita Koddick
