First off, Danny Schechter has a new entry up at his News Dissector -- as Martha points out in an e-mail. And later today, Schechter will have a piece up at MediaChannel.org on CNN's 25 anniversary.
Martha also e-mails to note Norman Solomon's "The Media Politics of Impeachment:"
Some activists are now urging Congress to open an inquiry about the option of impeaching the president. But any such effort will face huge obstacles -- and they have nothing to do with legal standards for impeachment. This is all about media and politics.
Five months into 2005, the movement to impeach President Bush is very small. And three enormous factors weigh against it: 1) Republicans control Congress. 2) Most congressional Democrats are routinely gutless. 3) Big media outlets shun the idea that the president might really be a war criminal.
For now, the GOP's majority cannot be ended. But activists may be able to light a fire under congressional Democrats. And during the next several weeks, news media could be affected if a large educational and "agitational" campaign materializes -- spotlighting the newly leaked Downing Street Memo and explaining why its significance must be pursued as a grave constitutional issue.
The leak of the memo weeks ago, providing minutes from a high-level meeting that Prime Minister Tony Blair held with aides in July 2002, may be the strongest evidence yet that Bush is guilty of an impeachable offense. As Rep. John Conyers, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, wrote in late May: "The memo appears to directly contradict the administration's assertions to Congress and the American people that it would exhaust all options before going to war. According to the minutes, in July 2002, the administration had already decided to go to war against Iraq."
The May 26 launch of AfterDowningStreet.org comes from a coalition of solid progressive groups opting to take on this issue with a step-by-step approach that recognizes the need to build a case in the arena of media and politics. The coalition is calling for a Resolution of Inquiry in the House of Representatives that would require a formal investigation by the Judiciary Committee.
Click the link to continue reading.
And note NOW's statement "NOW Signs On To Letter Calling for Iraq Withdrawal Plan:"
May 25, 2005
Dear Member of Congress:
We urge you to vote for the Woolsey sense of the Congress amendment that asks President Bush to develop a plan as soon as practicable to withdraw American troops from Iraq.
Debate over the future of the American intervention into Iraq is overdue in Congress. After more than two years of fighting, the authorization of more than $200 billion to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, over 1,600 American deaths and 12,000 wounded, and many more Iraqi casualties, this country needs a dialogue on the future American policy towards Iraq.
The Woolsey amendment provides no deadlines and no timeframe. It simply calls for the President to submit a plan to Congress on the withdrawal of American forces. This amendment is consistent with the stated policy of President Bush not to stay in Iraq indefinitely. On April 13, 2004, he stated "As a proud and independent people, Iraqis do not support an indefinite occupation and neither does America."
This amendment is being offered in the context of declining public support for the war. As USA Today reported on May 3, 2005, "Support for the decision to go to war in Iraq has fallen to its lowest level since the campaign began in March 2003 . . . 41% say the war was worth it; 57% say it wasn't."
Lastly, sorry for only providing two posts yesterday evening. Kat has decided to set up a site to archive music reviews and other writings from her Kat's Korner here and I was on the phone with her talking her through the set up last night. We've added her site to the links on the left.
Besides posting her first review from December, she's also got a post explaining what her site will be like. Again, she'll be archiving her reviews there. In addition, she plans to do occasional entries. So make a point to check out her site and we'll try to note it here whenever she adds an entry. (And to anyone's who's wondering, yes, Kat will continue to post reviews here.)
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
