cross posted to jack & jill politics
Thank God for Democracy Now.
Amy Goodman had on Greg Mitchell, editor of Editor & Publisher. His has a new book out called, So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits—and the President—Failed on Iraq. In all the retrospective coverage going on covering the five years of this unnecessary war, few in the media have bothered to look in the mirror and take the due blame for driving this country to war.
We had the largest demonstrations in the history of the planet trying to stop this madness, yet few listened. The newspapers and broadcast and cable news outlets almost universally banned any voice that challenged the idea that Iraq was something we needed to do. Media outlets and personalities that fancy themselves critical of the war or the administration now, were the worst kind of journalists when we really needed them.
It's easy to criticize Bush now. It's the hackiest thing you can do. It's easy to criticize the war, but when it really counted -- before we sent people in -- most of these idiots had nothing to say. They created a very hostile environment for our politicians to do the right thing, and for this complicity in war propaganda, they need to be held forever accountable.
We should remember that these same media outlets are the ones driving the coverage and narrative of our current election. In general, they cannot be trusted. Their agenda is not our agenda. If they could help pull off the overthrow of a government, leading to the collapse of a society, the death of hundreds of thousands and the draining of the treasuries of two nations, what interest do you think they have in a substantive mediation of this presidential election? That's right. None.
I'm as guilty as anyone of continuing to prop up these grossly negligent entities, but they've not learned their lesson, and I will try as much as possible to avoid validating them. This means more linking to alternative and perhaps local media, for example.
Charlie Rangle made news years ago for proposing a military draft, as a way to spread the burden of this war more widely across society and, in so doing, end the war. I offer a more modest proposal: a military draft for elected officials and the media. If it were their kids and family members going off to commit crimes against another people, going off to get disfigured by an unjust and wasteful effort, you can bet we would not be where we are today.
Check out Goodman's interview with Mitchell below. Tell us what you think.
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cross-posted to jack and jill politics
Angela, a frequent commenter here, suggested that we take more action. In other words, be the change we want to see. I, for one, am tired of just getting upset and writing. Throughout this campaign, I've sought to put my energy where my mouth is by phonebanking, fundraising, canvassing and communicating actively with friends and family.
Here's a canvassing toolkit I put together, available for free download and reuse by Obama supporters to help them make the case.
But in some ways, we are beyond that. This race must end, and it will be resolved by superdelegates. Signing that petition earlier today was a good start, but let's focus on the best targets. Let's focus on the superdelegates.
They have the power to prevent this party from self-destructing. They are super for a reason. Use your super powers to save your party!
I present the Super Delegate Transparency Project, a joint effort of Congresspedia and several blogs/media outlets including Open Left and Huffington Post.
There are at least four things you can focus on to make a difference.
- Simply read the site. check it out and learn what the project is about. it's full of good information you will never get from those so-called journalists on TV
- Help the project. They have an entire section on how citizens can improve it. If you have just a few minutes, chip in.
- Write to the uncommitted superdelegates. I recommend clicking on your state or a state you have a connection to (from the main page, scroll down to Delegate Information By State). You can also get a full list of uncommitted ones here
- Finally I suggest writing to super delegates committed to Hillary despite the fact that Obama won their district.
- letter Angela sent to Howard Dean at the DNC.
- The Obama website offers a form to submit your letter to a superdelegate
- Don't just say Obama leads in pledged delegates. The superdelegate system was created as a check on majority rule, much like the electoral college. If you're going with "Obama leads in X" make sure to include popular vote, contests won, pledged delegates, money raised and number of donors.
- Appeal to their sense of Democratic party well-being. Obama is more capable of unifying and expanding the party
- November competitiveness. Obama is preferred by Dems in many red states because they know Hillary will mobilize the GOP to vote against her and down-ticket Dems in states where Dems have a chance to pick up state legislative seats
- Hillary's scorched earth campaign in which her campaign challenges not just Obama as a presidential choice, but challenges his patriotism and fitness to be commander in chief. Her dismissal of his supporters and of nearly every contest she has lost as inconsequential
- Your own story
cross-posted to jack & jill politics
Many of you have written in or posted comments about Pat Buchanan's crazy ass comments that black Americans should be grateful to white folks for bringing us (via slavery, of course) to America and Jesus and welfare.
Rather than tackle this stupidness, I pass the mic to Ta-Nehisi Coates. Excerpt
There is a lot wrong here, but one central thread of errant logic undergirds it all. Buchanan, like most racists, doesn't actually believe that African-Americans are Americans. This isn't an interpretation, Buchanan's argument that white Americans, in the form of social programs, have done more for black people than any group (including presumably the entire Civil Rights Movement!) assumes that black people have never paid any taxes for those programs. He quite literally doesn't categorize black people as Americans, but useless layabouts who've never contributed anything to the country. All those charities that Buchanan lays out, presumably none of them were run by black folks. It goes without saying that Buchanan ignores Jim Crow, the epoch of lynching and housing discrimination. That's what bigots do. And Buchanan's rhetoric shouldn't make us angry. He's always been a racist. That said, it's always frustrating to see rank neanderthals, half-wits, and fools making the argument that black people should be thankful to them. Intellectually, Pat Buchanan can't carry Barack Obama's unwashed boxers--from last week. I just got done jogging down Lenox Ave and passed no less than five brothers that would smash Buchanan in any debate.Continue to the full post
cross-posted to Jack & Jill Politics
I am sad. I am angry. I am weary, and I am ashamed.
I hardly know where to begin writing about this five year travesty called the Iraq War, but I do know that it must end.
I was one of those people that didn't need to read a top secret National Intelligence Estimate to know that this war was a terrible idea, but knowing that I was right doesn't make me feel any better. It makes me feel worse for I've done not nearly enough to bring an end to the tragedy. None of us has.
I'm sure you're busy. We all are. But we owe it to our servicemen and women and to the Iraqi people to pay attention to what's happening. Please, stop what you're doing, and read this.
No one in my family, nor any of my close friends are in the military. When I do get a chance to listen to soldiers, I do so with great attention. Three years ago, I ran into a returning U.S. Marine at the Philly airport. Here's a segment of what I wrote:
“Ok, then the opposite question: what’s the most scared you were?” This required no time for Joe to give me a response. “Mortar fire. It’s as loud as an airplane.” I thought that was it, but then he told another story. When he finished, I realized at some point, that I had stopped breathing. “Also, when someone yells ‘gas!’ that means we suspect a chemical weapons attack, and we have to get suited up.” All the troops get suited up in their chemical gear — huge, heavy rubber suits with full face masks. This is in 120 degree desert heat. Then they wait. To me, of the F-U-Philly-Airport crowd, “mortar fire” qualified as most frightening. When he upped it with “gas!” I could see that yes, thinking you might melt from the inside, was more frightening than loud explosions. But, Joe wasn’t finished. “When it’s over, the commanding officer has the youngest, most junior marine take his mask off… to make sure the air is ok. I was the commanding officer, and I had to look into these kids’ eyes and tell them to risk their lives by taking off a mask. The medics were standing by with [instant treatment of some sort] but I’m 22 looking into an 18 year old’s eyes, and he’s scared. It’s hard thing to do.” Damn. Damn. I did not expect that. I’m not sure what I expected, maybe fears of a roadside bomb or some sort of ambush, but not some deep, emotionally scarring event. That’s war. Right there.A year after meeting Joe, I went to a panel at the progressive Yearly Kos blogger convention (summer 2006). It was a panel of those who had served in Iraq, and more than one story moved me to tears. The panel was sponsored by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). Again, here's an excerpt of what I wrote at the time under the title, YearlyKos Day 2: “Listen to me. They come home from war, and they kill themselves”:
IAVA hosted a panel with veterans from Iraq talking about their experience over there, but most horribly, their experience here in the US, once they returned. The quote in the title was from a female vet who joined the military at age 17. She was describing the heart-breaking, back-stabbing and outright cruel lack of resources available to veterans once they get back, especially psychological help. She told of how she was sexually assaulted by a major when she was 19 (a subject I’ve blogged about before), traumatized by her experience in Iraq, and forced into nearly 9-month delays once she returned. She was officially noted by the military health staff as having suicidal tendencies. If it weren’t for IAVA, she said, she’d be another statistic. “I know people who came back from the war and blew their brains out because they couldn’t take it. Listen to me. They come home from war, and they kill themselves”And one year later (June 2007), I wrote about the tragedies waiting to happen as trained killers return home in Let's Talk About The Monster's We're Creating It's 2008, and we are still over there, still murdering and maiming and displacing countless Iraqi people. We're still murdering, maiming and psychologically scarring American servicemen and women. Yet, our leaders, for the most part, tell us to be patient. Victory is attainable. They are wrong. We have already lost. Two weeks ago, I watched No End In Sight, an infuriating documentary which chronicles the extreme arrogance and carelessness with which we planned, launched and prosecuted this war. The people behind this misadventure are criminals, in both their conscious behavior and their negligence. But this is not all I've been thinking about this week. I have spent the past several days listening to the testimony of servicemen and women who have returned from Iraq. They've been speaking openly about their experiences in the Winter Soldier testimonies, modeled on events of the same name post-Vietnam. Every American citizen must take the time to listen to at least some of these stories. You owe it to the people we have sent over there to know what is being done with your money and in your name. It's practically the least you can do. I have pulled together four stories in the video player below
- Mike Prysner talks about the deep-seated racism he witnessed and was a part of
- Camilo Mejia speaks eloquently and painfully of the loss of humanity that is necessary in dehumanizing the enemy
- Kevin and Joyce Lucey had to tell their son's story because he is no longer alive to do so. He returned from Iraq but was overcome by the emotional wounds and killed himself as the VA hospital refused to admit him, despite pleas from his family
- In the most disturbing testimony, Tanya Austin talks about the widespread rape and sexual assault that occurs in the military and how victims are further victimized by the system. Check out Stop Military Rape.
cross-posted to Jack & Jill Politics
Ta-Nehisi Coates is a former writer for the Village Voice among other pubs and has a new book coming out. I also know him from way back in the day in DC/Baltimore. (No, I don't know everyone I link to, but it can help :)).
Anyway, he's written an excellent piece on the debate about Obama's speech and Why Black People Won't Join The Republican Party. An excerpt:
My point is that the Right really doesn't understand black America, and is much more interested in lambasting it then going out in the field, reporting and learning. Cosby has commanded large crowds of black people, pulling on a conservative tradtion that stretches from Booker T. Washington to Louis Farrakhan. The crowds who come to see him understand his message of hard work and "not blaming the white man," but they also find him credible and don't think he's trying to sell them out. The same can't be said of Ward Connerly black conservatives, and there's a good reason why. The conservative position on black people is essentially a negative one. I don't mean that in a value sense, but in the literal sense. The idea is to either dismantle all elements of government which explicitly attempt to heal the old wounds of slavery and Jim Crow, and then do nothing. Of course one could argue that this is of a piece of conservative, small government ideology. Except that black people aren't stupid. They know, for instance, that most conservatives think that government should ban abortion, and some don't. They know that most conservatives are anti-illegal immigration, and some aren't. They know that many conservatives doubt global warming, but some don't. They know that many conservatives believe in standing strong with Israel, but some others don't. There even are a few David Brooks conservatives who believe in gay marriage. Yet when it comes to black folks, for decades the most impoverished demographic in America, the policy is essentially (excuse my language, but it's appropriate)--Fuck them niggers. The saddest thing about Obama's speech is that there really is not a conservative rebuttal. Peek in over at The Corner and you'll hear a lot of folks taking issue with the speech, but virtually no counter-proposals. That's because conservatives believe that black America's biggest problem is itself, and thus they see no role for government. There basic ideology is if black people would start getting married and parenting, they'd be fine. There may be some truth to that, but from there perspective--despite decades of racist policies enacted by the government--there's absolutely nothing government should do to help.
cross-posted to Jack & Jill Politics
I'm just so proud of my folks. Yall remember Derrick from the now-infamous (900,000+ views) set of YouTube videos featuring him discussing Obama. This past Monday, the NY Times business page featured him on the front.
Today, CNN.com has his response to the Obama speech. An excerpt:
Like many Americans I watched Sen. Barack Obama deliver his speech titled "A More Perfect Union." I watched in a state of minor shock, not so much at the deftness with which he defused the sophomoric conflation of his call for national unity with the inflammatory rhetoric of the retired head pastor of his church -- a conflation that would imply that we must each swallow whole the entirety of views expressed by our friends and associates. It was not his repudiation of small thinking that struck me. It was the fact that here we had an American politician speaking with both candor and compassion about the proverbial elephant in our national living room. Race is an issue that continues to confound this country. It is an undercurrent that paints our description, understanding and valuation of people in American society whether spoken or not. It is the subtext that places NBA star LeBron James and Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen on the cover of Vogue, in uncomfortable caricature of brute and ingénue. It is in the minds of some the very reason a person of color would even be considered a serious candidate for the presidency of the nation -- never mind that three centuries into the American experiment there has been to date, only one such person.More Derrick Ashong. Less Pat Buchanan! Be sure to check out the closing line. It echoes what I've been saying for some time, which is that in most elections it's the candidates being tested, but this time around, it's America that's being tested. Will we pass or fail? Follow Derrick's Take Back The Mic initiative, and see the resulting winners on health care.
Wasup my peoples,
I'm gonna experiment with posting some lighter stuff on the weekends around here. Got the idea from some other bloggers at this Blogger Summit in DC. Got the name from fellow comics Corey Manning and Chris Tabb in Boston, who used to do a show called "Big Funny Sundays." On Sundays I might try to post comedy from folks to lighten the mood.
The day Obama won South Carolina, I was in DC performing at my old high school. I got the news of his victory moments before hitting the state. I was a bit excited.
Enjoy
cross-posted to Jack & Jill Politics
Faith in Public Life has this out:
First, the margin of error is +/- 3 percent.Second, the number that moved the most wasn't those thinking Obama was a Muslim, but those declaring they weren't sure what his religion was. This number collapsed from 70 percent to 44 percent. The bulk of folks just don't know about Obama's religion.Within this 26 point swing, 19 percent conclude correctly that he's a Protestant, and 5 percent more now think he's a Muslim. It's not clear from this survey if those who think he's Muslim assume that to be a problem, but other surveys have found that half of Americans would be "less likely" to vote for a Muslim as president. (yes, that links to AlJazeera with the article from the Nation)
What's disappointing is the slow creep of these numbers. Of course most Americans didn't know about Obama's religion. He wasn't a truly leading candidate until late February, and most folks are busy, tired, heavily distracted and poorly informed by mass media.
As the number of people who "know" what his religion is grew, is it a problem that 20 percent of these (5 points out of the 26 point swing) got it wrong? And who's to blame?
I expect exploitation and bigotry from a subset of Republicans via email smears and shameless attack groups. Many of them have nothing better to do and lack the faith in their own ideas to do anything but play off fears of other faiths.
I did not expect and will not accept it from my so-called friends in the Democratic Party. Shame on you, Hillary, for leaving any ounce of doubt about Obama's religion and for failing to "reject and denounce" such a smear against Islam in the first place.
We are in a crucial period in this election season. As this survey shows, many people still don't know about Obama, and that ignorance will be exploited actively and passively by foe and friend. Let's set the bar of discourse higher and stop playing to the fears of- and expecting so little from the American voter.
Updated 3:55pm ET.
First a super quick note: I don't think it's an inherent smear to label someone a Muslim, but when the populace sees it as a risk and something to be avoided, it is a smear on multiple levels. It insults Islam and it insults the candidate who is not Muslim. That's all on that.
Now my real reason for updating...
The best part of posting a blog just before takeoff is that you get hours to let it sit in your head. Something was unfinished about my analysis, something important left unsaid. It came to me when a friend saw the 80 percent "newly certain" group believing Obama was Protestant. She saw this as hopeful. 80 percent is a clear majority. I see it as dangerously inconclusive.
Here's the danger.
70 percent of people in December 2007 had no idea what Obama's religion was.
Since then 26 percent have come to a conclusion, and 20 percent of those have come to the wrong conclusion. This could be good, or it could be bad. We need to wait for the next version of the survey to come out.
But here's the real rub, and the reason I'm worried. It works in politics to try to define your opponent, and what we have is 44 percent of the electorate with no clear definition of Obama's religion (and for many, this means his loyalty, patriotism, etc). He is very vulnerable to being defined by these underhanded tactics, and there's no way I can rest easy on this point.
After all, John Kerry and Max Cleland both had strong public definitions as veterans and war heroes, but somehow they were both defined as cowards, traitors and unpatriotic exaggerators. This happened to men about whom there was little to no uncertainty! Imagine what a cynical manipulative mind could do with the remaining half of Americans still very open to Obama on this religion question.
This is why Hillary's failure to categorically set the record straight about Obama's religion is so dangerous. She, more than almost anyone, knows how the GOP especially loves to use this define-your-opponent tactic, and she's acted in a way that not only says she's fine with it, but part of it.
FOFPL Steve Benen brought my attention to a new poll (PDF) showing that the rumors about Barack Obama being a Muslim are having their intended effect. Thirteen percent of respondents to the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released today said Obama is a Muslim, up from eight percent who held that belief in March.When I first saw this blog post, I was all fired up and ready to go! I had my ammo ready to launch at ignorant voters and bigoted Republicans and cynical Clintons, but a closer look at the data reveals something more nuanced.
Two weeks ago, I had the privilege to be part of The Black Comedy Experiment, a mini festival showcasing a broad range of black comedy beyond the narrow stereotype too often hyped by many media outlets. After my political show, friend, comic and mobile media mixer Sara Benincasa interviewed me in her role as street team member for MTV's Choose Or Lose campaign.
Check it out:
Update @ 9:39pm CT: i've posted a response here
cross-posted at Jack & Jill Politics
I chose an inflammatory headline because flames may be called for. Forgive me if I'm late to the party. I didn't check out Hillary's Ohio victory speech until just now. She said something extraordinary...
You all know that if we want a Democratic president, we need a Democratic nominee who can win the battleground states just like Ohio. And that is what we've done. We've won Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Michigan, New Hampshire, Arkansas, California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. And today, we won Rhode Island, and thanks to all my friends and supporters there.Hillary Clinton has lost her damn mind. I'm gonna leave Florida alone for now. But just to be clear, in Michigan, SHE WAS THE ONLY CANDIDATE ON THE BALLOT!! How do you claim victory? How? How? How? Who did you defeat? And why is this not the big headline? It's one thing to dis voters by telling them they don't count or by intimidating them (in places like Nevada), but I'll be damned if I let this person run around like some petty dictator. There is no excuse for this, and those who support Senator Clinton also support thug politics. Why not just deploy people with AK-47s and machetes to "canvass" neighborhoods and "campaign" for you Hillary? Why the pretense of commercials and debates? I'm gonna say this much. If she gets to claim those delegates as-is, it's over. If its thug politics you want, then that's cool, just let me know, because I can bring out the thug. You want to destroy my candidate with dirty politics? Fine. You want to hide behind "35 years of experience," go ahead. But you do not get to fuck with my vote. Ya hear me!? YOU DO NOT. I will do all in my power to bring hell to your campaign and hell to the Democratic Party, and if there's one thing I've learned in this political season, it's that I have power. We all have power, much more than those who wield power regularly want us to know. THERE ARE MILLIONS OF US. MILLIONS. There are only a few of them. A Message For Those Pushing Fear Of The Alternative For those of you out there supporting Senator Clinton, you need to look at yourself in the mirror and ask what your soul is worth. For if you don't call her on this, you are complicit in an act of treachery. Many of us think that Senator Clinton's transgressions of racial politicking are enough to disqualify her from receiving our support, but I'm not even gonna go there. I'm just talking about democracy and rules and fairness. If you fail to stand up for democratic principles, then you are against democracy, and you are my enemy. Tell your candidate to back off. She agreed to the rules and now wants to change them. Tell her to back off. She is making a mistake. Many Clinton people have said here and elsewhere that we must ultimately support her if she's the nominee because the alternative, John 100-Years-War McCain, is unacceptable, because the Supreme Court is in jeopardy, because blah blah blah. First of all, the only way she can be the nominee is to thwart the democratic process through some underhanded means. Second, how dare you take me for such a fool? How dare you threaten me? Yes, threaten. Such tactics don't work on me, and the fact that they work on you says you can be bought at a cheap price. Don't come at me with lame ass appeals and scare tactics about the Supreme Court and how bad McCain would be. You cannot scare me into voting for a person who has shown such a lack of principle. I'm gonna be real clear on this: I ain't afraid of John McCain! We just survived eight years of George W. Bush I ain't afraid of John McCain! My mother went to too many meetings, walked in too many marches, took over too many radio stations for me to vote out of fear. I ain't afraid of John McCain! My grandmother wasn't the first black clerk at the Supreme Court, and her father did not teach himself to read just so I could vote out of fear. I ain't afraid of John McCain! Do you hear me?? My people did not build this country with their backs spilling blood, did not have their families systematically destroyed, their language stamped out, their identities stolen en masse so that I might be here today and vote out of fear. I am not afraid of John McCain or what the Republicans might do because millions of my ancestors lay at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean right now, and they did not die for me to cave so easily. Nothing John McCain could do as president would justify me turning my backs on my ancestors or my principles. We will survive. We have always survived. You think we're in for hard times if we don't support Hillary? You don't know hard times. We have a choice, and now is the time to stand up. If we sit by and let this go down as if we had no choice in the matter, then we might as well do away with ballots and courts and rights, get a barcode stamped on our necks and a chip inserted into our hands, and simply bow down. Don't ever come at me and try to blackmail me into voting out of fear.