3 Things

Things we're noting. 2 candidates, 1 film.

Howard Wolfson's "HUBdate: Getting Out The Vote" covers the latest on the only real choice in the Democratic primary:

Getting Out The Vote in Kentucky: Today, Hillary hosts "Get Out The Vote" rallies in Bowling Green, KY and Mayfield, KY. On Monday, Hillary hosts "Get Out The Vote" rallies in Maysville, Lexington, and Louisville.
Economic Plan For Kentucky: Yesterday, "at a rally in Frankfort, Kentucky, Hillary Clinton outline[d] her plan to create good jobs for Kentucky workers and cut taxes for middle class families. Hillary also criticize[d] Senator McCain for embracing George Bush’s economic vision." Hillary said: "Senator McCain's economic policy boils down to this: don't just continue driving our nation in the wrong direction, put your foot on the accelerator and gun it -- that's exactly what he's proposing. It's hard to imagine but Senator McCain and President Bush are like two sides of the same coin and it doesn't amount to a whole lot of change…My top priority is making this economy work for middle class and hardworking families again." Read more.
Caring for Kentucky: As Hillary begins her final push before Tuesday's Kentucky primary, enthusiastic supporters continue cheering her on: "'She's the one that can get us out of this mess,' [Amanda] Keith said ahead of Clinton's campaign stop at Maker's Mark distillery that drew hundreds of supporters…‘She's showed she cares about this state,’ said Angela Markum, who drove an hour from Louisville to attend the event.'" Read more.
Making Her Mark in Loretto: "Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., dipped a bottle of Maker's Mark in its signature red wax and then urged a crowd of close to 1,000 to vote in Kentucky's presidential primary Tuesday. 'I am hoping that Kentucky will send a big message to the Democratic Party and to the country,’ Clinton said as the crowd cheered, 'that we know what kind of president we need and we know who will defeat John McCain in the fall.'" Read more.
In Case You Missed It: Watch Hillary's new ads currently airing in Oregon and Kentucky. View "Right Track," "Partner," and "What's Right" here.

If you missed it, Hillary's the Democrat. If you missed it, the Communists, Socialist and others on board for Barack. They do have their own party. Credit to Anthony Arnove who doesn't hide the fact that he's not a Democratic while he tries to subvert the Democratic primary. Arnove's ISR published a factually challenged bad article on Jena that didn't even jibe with what Democracy Now! aired and we all took a break from highlighting that magazine. In the latest issue, Arnove's got another winner: a college professor who sees racism where it isn't. Yeah, it's time for ISR to pimp Barack. No, ISR never raised any objection to the rampant sexism. They don't care.

If you missed it, liberals are the ones being kicked to the curb. (See other features this edition.) And if you want to join with all the non-Democrats in supporting Barack, have at it. They want to take over the Democratic Party. Building their own was just too much work.

And if you pay attention, you'll realize that Barack's attacked liberalism throughout the campaign. Starting to make sense yet? In a perfect world, all Democrats (across the spectrum) would stand shoulder-to-shoulder and make it clear to outsiders that there will NO HOSTILE TAKEOVER of the Democratic Party. But considering the weakness on display at the top in recent years, more than likely real Democrats will be looking for a new party. Democrats need to start standing shoulder-to-shoulder in support of Hillary. She's a Democrat, her base is Democrats.

The other real candidate is fighting for ballot access. This is Team Nader's "Nader/Gonzalez to Protest Oil Industry Price Gouging:"

Fed up with paying $70 to fill up your car with gasoline?
What to do?
If you are in corporate occupied territory (read: our nation's capital) next Tuesday, join with Ralph Nader and the Nader/Gonzalez team to protest oil industry speculation, manipulation, and conglomeration that is driving gasoline prices over $4 a gallon.
The protest will be held at noon on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at oil industry lobby headquarters (American Petroleum Institute) at 1220 L Street, NW, Washington, D.C. (Corner of 13th and L Streets, NW)
We are also inviting the Obama, Clinton and McCain campaigns to join with us at this protest.
In recent years, the big five oil companies - ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, BP and Shell - have booked record profits - a big chunk of which result from oil industry market manipulation and anti-competitive practices. (For example, oil companies have exploited their market position to intentionally restrict refining capacity by driving smaller, independent refiners out of business.)
Nader/Gonzalez would strictly regulate the oil industry - clamping down on speculators and enforcing the antitrust laws.
Nader/Gonzalez would also revoke federal subsidies to the oil industry, repeal multi-billion tax breaks and impose a windfall profits tax to fuel a transition to a solar energy economy.
So, if you are in the neighborhood next Tuesday, plan to join with us at noon.
If not, become a founding member of the Nader/Gonzalez Take Back Our Government from the Corporations Protest Fund.
The oil price gouging demonstration will be the second in a series of Nader/Gonzalez protests against the corporate takeover of our democracy.
Last week, Ralph Nader led a protest at the federal auto safety agency.
That agency is about to issue a weak federal roof crush standard that would deny rollover victims their rights to justice and compensation.
We’ll be taking it to the streets of corporate occupied territory throughout the year.
Thank you for your support.
Together, we will make a difference.
Onward.
The Nader Team
Your contribution could be doubled. Public campaign financing may match your contribution total up to $250.

You need to be following Nader's campaign because he is a real candidate.

The best documentary in months is coming out on DVD.

MEETING RESISTANCE Available on DVD May 20th
Click here to read the press release


On-the-ground reporting with resistance fighters in Baghdad reveals a wholly different narrative than the one portrayed by many in the mainstream news.

"Meeting Resistance," is about the people and make-up of the Iraqi resistance. Since it was released in theaters last fall, we have shown the film in more than 80 U.S. cities, as well as to several key military audiences. We've made more than 200 appearances with the film to talk about our understanding of the conflict in Iraq and take questions from the audience. When the lights come up, we are greeted with the kind of silence associated with people trying to reconcile what they thought they knew with what they now understand. We've come to realize that our film is delivering a paradigm shift about the Iraq conflict--one audience at a time.

There are two wars in Iraq. "Meeting Resistance" explores the first war, the popularly supported resistance to occupation, which contains the majority of the organized violence that is happening in Iraq. Using primary source material, critical analysis and cross-referencing, we crafted a film that tells the story of that conflict. The second war is the civil war--an internal political struggle being waged over competing visions of Iraq's future, of which the country’s sectarian violence is a symptom, not a cause.

The View From Baghdad

"Meeting Resistance" is a journalistic documentary, not an advocacy or polemic film. Although we did not set out to challenge the narrative of the Iraq conflict--the one that has been constructed in Washington--our reporting eventually led us to do so.

U.S. military's briefings in the Green Zone during 2003 and 2004 told journalists that the violence against American troops came from "dead-enders" and "Ba'athi die-hards," from common criminals, religious extremists, foreign fighters, and al-Qaeda--characterized as "fringe elements". While some might fit some of these descriptions, the vast majority of those involved are citizens from the core of Iraqi society.

In time, we came to see the U.S. military's misnaming of the "enemy" as an intentional act--as a key part of their objective to control the "information battle space." They aspire to control the perception of the enemy's identity, and through the news media persuade the American public that these "fringe elements" of Iraqi society are the only ones who oppose the U.S. presence in Iraq. A military push (or surge) to isolate and eliminate them would accomplish a perceived "victory."

From the Pentagon to Iraq

The National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq delivered to the White House in October 2003 was leaked in February 2006 by Robert Hutchings, the 2003-2005 chairman of the National Intelligence Council. Speaking in interviews, Hutchings revealed that the report said that it is composed of nationalists fighting for their country with deep roots in the society and that the U.S. military, if it remains in Iraq, will be fighting a counterinsurgency war for years to come, a conclusion that echoed what we had found in our on-the-ground reporting for "Meeting Resistance."

This spring, a New York Times' front-page investigation revealed the Pentagon's well-oiled "briefing" system for retired military analysts who are working for TV outlets and writing op-eds in ways that reflect and amplify the U.S. government's narrative. The reporting done by the Times underscores the critical importance the Pentagon ascribes to its efforts to control the "message," including how it defines the enemy.

If the predominant narrative about the Iraq conflict was truly based in reality, it would involve pointing out that the majority of Iraqis want a withdrawal of all foreign forces, and that the Department of Defense's quarterly reports to Congress, on average, show that from April 2004 to December 2007, 74 % of significant attacks initiated by Iraqis targeted U.S.-led coalition forces.

Americans would also find out that half of registered marriages in Baghdad in 2002 were mixed marriages between Sunni and Shia, Kurd and Arab, Christian and Muslim, and many of the tribes and clans and families are, in fact, mixed between Sunni and Shia. Also, nearly all of the Arab Iraqis polled oppose dividing the country along ethnic and sectarian lines, and the vast majority demands that Iraq have a strong central government, not the decentralized powerlessness imposed by the American-influenced constitution.

It is not that these points have never been reported, but the booming voice of "disinformation"--from which the Pentagon wants the American public to view the conflict--drowns much of this information out. Ultimately, our film has helped reveal the success of the Pentagon's strategy to obscure the real nature of the war in Iraq. Unfortunately, too many in the news media have been willing to allow that to happen.

Throughout the world's history, there have been occupations--and resistance to those occupations. Why then do Americans have such a difficult time grasping that our troops are unwelcome by the vast majority of the Iraqi population? And why has reporting by our mainstream news media generally failed to recognize and draw our attention to this central, core aspect of the violence?

Steve Connors and Molly Bingham are directors of "Meeting Resistance." Their film is distributed by First Run Features and available on DVD May 20th.

Please send review links to kelly.hargraves@firstrunfeatures.com or mail tear sheets to:

First Run Features
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