Democracy Now! "always worth watching" (Marcia). Two hard hitting segments and Cedric's e-mailed about something he intended to post inspired by the first segment. (It made him relate the subject to another topic.) I'd say that it's pretty much "explosive" today.
Headlines for March 4, 2005
- 14 Workers Die at Texas Oil Refinery Fire
- Sciavo's Parents File Appeal w/ U.S. Supreme Court
- Anti-Government Protesters Storm Palace in Kyrgyzstan
- Report: Wolfowitz's Election to World Bank Virtually Sealed
- U.S. Blocks Italians From Examining Shot-Up Car
- Guantanamo Detainee Says Bin Laden Escaped Tora Bora
- Canada to Decide on War Resister's Refugee Status
- Gov't: Medicare Faces "Much Worse" Crisis Than Social Security
- Unocal Settles Human Rights Abuse Suit W/ Burmese
Red Lake Struggles to Cope With Shooting Tragedy
Tribal and religious ceremonies are being held in the Red Lake Native American reservation in northern Minnesota following Monday's high school shooting that left 10 people dead. We speak with an indigenous rights activist who grew up in a neighboring reservation and we go to Minnesota to speak with a Bemidji community organizer.
Phil Donahue: "We Have an Emergency in the Media and We Have to Fix It"
Phil Donahue - one of the best-known talk show hosts in the history of television in the United States - joins us in our firehouse studio to discuss the state of the media in this country. Donahue's show was on the air for more than 29 years. In 2003, he was fired by MSNBC because he was allowing antiwar voices on the air. [includes rush transcript - partial]
At The Daily Howler, Bob Somerby continues to probe the realities too often hidden. His entry today is Robert Novak's warbling (off-key, we're sure) his version of "I Went to a Garden Party:"
At THE HOWLER, we don't doubt Novak's account, and we think you should ponder what it means. According to Novak, the Schiavo matter has his mainstream press colleagues more upset than anything since Vietnam! Translation: They didn't care this much about Iraq. They didn't care this much about Bush's tax cuts. They don't care this much about Social Security. They didn't care this much about the Bush-Gore election--the election which totally changed our politics--or about that crackpot book by those Swift Boat Veterans. No--more than all else, they care about this. It's a confession we find most illustrative.
Who are the opinion leaders of your mainstream Washington "press corps?" As we've told you for years and years, they're a gang of perfumed millionaires, and no, they don't give a good goldarn about Bush's budget follies. Indeed, because they're multimillionaires, they gain from everything Bush has done in that area, and no, they don't care if you don't. But there's one thing these people still aren't--they still aren't a group of Christian conservatives. They get upset when the Christian right takes the stage. They don't care much about anything else.
Not since the days of Vietnam has your powered press corps been so upset! They were willing to roll with Iraq--and with Bush's endless gifts to the rich. This is the one thing that gets them upset. We think you should ponder that deeply.
Let's note Ruth Conniff's Blog entry "Bringing Back Debtors Prison:"
While the courts, the Congress, the President, and the national media have been caught up in the circus around Terri Schiavo, bending our whole system of government out of shape around this single right-to-life case, the Republicans have been pushing through legislation that will have a huge effect on thousands of people--with very little coverage at all.Senate Bill S256, the "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005" is a credit-card-company-backed bill that will make it much harder for Americans to clear their debts. www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/03/09/bankruptcy.ap/For eight years banks, credit card companies and retailers have been pushing for this regressive law. Now they have succeeded. A House version of the bill has not yet passed, but it's virtually certain that final legislation will reach the President's desk within weeks.
Site e-mail address is common_ills@yahoo.com and please listen, watch or read Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez's interview with Phil Donahue if you're concerned about the state of our media.
