Dallas and friends he listens to The Laura Flanders Show with share that Laura Flanders will be covering the Congressional committee hearing on the 2004 scheduled to take place in Ohio tomorrow and "Steve" is already in Ohio. (I'm assuming that's Steven Rosenfeld who is a "senior producer" of the show and has previously covered the Ohio voting issue.) Obviously, since Steve is already in Ohio, The Laura Flanders Show has been on this issue, was already on the issue. (It may have been mentioned Saturday night. I didn't hear the show Saturday night. When it started, I was still taking part in protests. Hopefully Air America Place will have the archived show posted tomorrow and I'll listen then. (Not for Ohio, but because I do enjoy Flanders' show. And "enjoy" may be too weak of a word.)
So Dallas & friends took action and e-mailed to ask about Ohio and they got an e-mail back from Flanders mid-show! That's pretty impressive if you ask me. (The majority of e-mails to this site do not get personal replies and I'm sure The Laura Flanders Show gets far more e-mail than The Common Ills.) (Add in that Flanders is in the middle of doing a live show.)
They forwarded the e-mail to back up what they were saying (Dallas knows we don't publish any e-mails without permission). I assume The Randi Rhodes Show will cover it on her show as well because she's back (as Flanders just noted) and the Ohio issue was important to her.
But I'm reading e-mails from Jimmy and Elaine, among others, who are also being proactive and
writing e-mails to ask that the Ohio hearing (if it is held -- who knows, they may try to cancel it due to the Schiavo thing). So be proactive and follow their lead and Dallas'.
I can't tell you what people are doing (Flanders and her show were obviously on this story) so ask them.
We're not a breaking news site. If we're ever discussing an item that's breaking news to you (that's not based upon someone I know or have met, or something that someone I know has asked that we pass on), I'd say that's a problem. We're a resource/review.
We certainly were not an "Ohio blog." We addressed it in terms of how the Times covered it and we addressed it when Randi Rhodes or Laura Flanders mentioned it. Back then, we didn't even have any members in Ohio. (We have several now. One of which is hoping he'll be able to swing his work schedule to be at the hearing if it's held tomorrow. But he's not making any promises because although he does have vacation time, he's not sure that his supervisor will let him use it at the last minute. And NO ONE should use sick time. You've seen people fired repeatedly over the last few years for using sick time to attend political events. My advice, don't do it unless you're willing to lose your job.)
We're not a breaking news site. We weren't an "Ohio blog." So if you learned about the hearing this morning when I did, that underscores that there's a problem. I don't mean with bloggers.
I mean with the mainstream media. A Congressional committee, headed by a Republican, is leaving D.C. to hold a hearing in Ohio. This isn't "tin foil hat" time (which may be why the Times hasn't had time to inform you -- they do love to mock). This is an issue at the heart of democracy. (As were the rallies, protests, marches, teach-ins, et al that were held this weekend.)
But you don't hear about it. Not even after Blackwell skipped out on testifying to the committee in February. Not even after Boxer (and House Democrats in the Congressional Black Caucus) took a brave stand in January.
The problem is the media.
And I stumbled upon the issue this morning. The initial entry states maybe you've heard about this, maybe you haven't, but I hadn't. I wasn't aware that to so many members, this would be breaking news.
With the mainstream media not covering it, other people (for instance some of the bloggers you are asking about in your e-mails) may not be aware of the issue. It's been a long weekend for most of us on the left. And it's Sunday. And people are tired. I understand that and I think you do as well. So instead of e-mailing this site (common_ills@yahoo.com) as to why you aren't seeing this at ___ or wherever, e-mail them. They may not know about it.
And make a point to check out Steve's reporting on the issue this coming weekend on The Laura Flanders Show. (That's this Saturday, if my wording isn't clear. I'm tired like most of you e-mailing and besides the cautionary note about my math -- always check my math -- never trust my chronology when I'm tired.)
