Laurel e-mails to state that it is "grossly irresponsible for you to promote the Nader campaign. Don't you remember 2000?"
Jess: I'll assume Laurel's voting for someone other than Ralph Nader. Thanks for writing.
Ty: An e-mail came in mentioning that the War Resisters League released a new report. It's entitled "Listening Process." The Thursday "Iraq snapshot" included links and headings:
Introduction
Section 1: What is lacking in the peace and antiwar movement?
Section 2: What prevents the emergence of a stronger, more coordinated, more strategic movement?
Section 3: What are the biggest openings and opportunities for organizing today? Section 4: How do we build a more multiracial and cross-class antiwar movement?
Section 5: What roles can veterans, soldiers and military families play in ending war?
Section 6: What is the relevance of nonviolence today?
Section 7: How do we link peace and justice issues and build alliances?
Section 8: What does base-building look like in antiwar organizing?
Conclusions: Where to From Here?
C.I.: Those are excerpts. It can be purchased in full for four dollars online and, if you're ording ten or more copies, you can also order by phone: (212) 228-0450.
Ty: Anita writes that she wishes cable TV was covered.
Ava: We started out mindful of the budgets many college students were on. As a result, we attracted low-income readers outside of college as well. We know our base of readers and we tailor our coverage to them. Were this site to continue in 2009, post 'The Death of Free TV,' we might consider including cable in the mix. For now, we'll continue to focus on broadcast TV.
Ty: Justin enjoyed "all of the short stories last week" and wonders "could you do another fiction edition this summer?"
Rebecca: That idea was actually floated last week. Jim proposed it. His reasoning was, it went quick -- or quick for Third -- and with only four pieces, it really didn't cover as much terrain as it normally does. It is a possibility that we'll all work on another short story edition. But there are always a number of possibilities and some things there's never time for and somethings get forgotten. So don't consider that a promise, just an idea that was floated.
Ty: First Run Features advises that 21 Up South Africa comes out on DVD July 22nd:
The Jesuit maxim at the heart of the landmark UP Series has now been taken to South Africa, where a group of children, first filmed in 1992 at the age of 7, are now 21. Rich and poor, black, white and "mixed race," these fascinating and revealing portraits offer unique insights into the social and political upheavals that have occurred throughout South Africa since the crumbling of apartheid.
From township slums to apartheid-era mansions to the bushveldt, the children of 21 UP South Africa have experienced a multitude of change - just like the country itself. As with time-lapse photography, we see them at age 7 and 14 - with their disarming honesty and dreams for the future - and now at 21, part of the new South Africa. We also learn that AIDS has claimed the lives of three of these children.
Director Angus Gibson is one of South Africa's premier documentary filmmakers and a founding member of Free Filmmakers, a film co-operative established in 1985 to create a relevant South African cinema. He produced and directed many documentary projects for European television including the highly acclaimed Soweto, A History for Channel 4 and the South African chapter of Granada Television's flagship documentary Up Series.
Ty (Con't): That's films. Barry e-mails asking when we'll do another book discussion.
Cedric: Whenever there's something worth reading. Have you seen anything? I haven't. We focus on non-fiction and we've narrowed that down to Iraq related topics. Have you seen much on that? I don't think so. If we could find a book to pair with it, I think we'd all be happy to discuss one book. But that got put on hold because we've been waiting to pair it with something. Iraq's off the radar on your TV and in your bookstore.
Ty: Rick likes the illustration "if only for variety, but I still enjoy the Marilyn Monroe illustration and think it's one of the best."
Kat: No one's speaking and I'm being pointed at. I don't even remember the Monroe illustration. I'm sure if it was considered a strong one a good reason for that is due to Monroe herself. She has a very strong image and it's not like trying to, for example, capture Stephen Hadley. Monroe left a mark.
Ty: Bruce wonders if one edition could be "nothing but Ava and C.I. doing TV commentaries"?
Ava: Does he mean new ones or a best-of?
Ty: New ones.
Ava: We do Oprah this week and that's been requested by longterm readers for some time. We grabbed it because we thought it would be easy to do and that it would be brief. It may or may not have been easy, all I'm thinking about is getting to bed right now, but it was not brief. Point being, there's no way we could do a full edition of nothing but TV articles and have five or six of them. I could be wrong, but I don't see that as possible. I'm sure Jim would love the idea, argue we could team it with an editorial and have an 'easy' edition but it wouldn't be an easy edition for C.I. and me.
Ty: Malik wants more Nader coverage. He writes, "One suggestion: More Nader coverage."
Elaine: I think that would be a bit like the TV edition that was just proposed. I know we're planning to feature Nader every week in one article and I would assume if we did an edition that was nothing but Nader it would burn everyone out on Nader coverage for a few weeks. I mean it would burn everyone participating in the writing out on Nader coverage. When we finish, we're generally sick of it. The whole edition. When we wake up, we're less irritated but my fear would be a full edition on Nader would result in everyone feeling, "Do we have to cover that this week?" for the next few weeks. I'm also not sure how Ava and C.I. would necessarily have something to cover on such a week.
Rebecca: They could review the episode of Saturday Night Live that Ralph hosted. But I agree with Elaine that we would burn out.
Ty: "Speedy" wants to know if we really intend "to not throw your support to B. Obama. Everyone already has except a few hold outs. You're going to feel awfully foolish the closer it gets to November. Even Hillary is campaigning with Barack now."
Wally: I'm not even sure Hillary being the vice-presidential nominee would get me to vote for Barack. We've discussed that before and our doubts regarding that but I'll go on record saying so. I don't like Barack, I don't like the campaign he's run, I don't like his flip-flops, I don't care for his tiny stands. Hillary and Barack both ran for the Democratic nomination but that's all they have in common. Speaking only for me, I went to Texas -- with Cedric -- in February to get out the vote for Hillary. Until the last primary, I was in one state getting out the vote every month, every week, every day after. I know what Hillary stands for and, were she the nominee or to become the presidential nominee, I'd be doing that again. I don't trust Barack, I'm not getting behind his campaign.
Betty: Hillary always said she'd campaign for the nominee if she wasn't the nominee. She keeps her word. I supported Hillary's run and I support her. But I'm not voting for Barack. I think we're more effective as a voice for change which is Ralph Nader. As a general rule, I don't ever do something because 'everyone' is doing it. I think our time is better spent focusing on Ralph's campaign.
Ruth: I would agree with that. With what Wally said and what Betty said. To expand on Betty's point, I am more interested in covering what everyone else is not covering. I was speaking to a neighbor who will not be voting for Barack and she listed all the reasons and it goes to the campaign he ran. The non-stop name calling tops her list, even more than sexism. I do not think he realizes -- or the DNC realizes -- how toxic that campaign was or how resistant people are to him as a result.
Marcia: Absolutely. If you didn't support Barack you were uneducated/stupid, you were racist, you were old and bitter, you were this and that. All those insults may have resulted in a 'cool' image for the campaign but it insulted the voters. I'm an African-American lesbian so he's insulted me as a woman, as an African-American and as a lesbian. There's nothing he could do that would lead me to vote for him. He burned that bridge.
Ty: Related, Mary Beth e-mails about a host of groups including PUMA and Just Say No. She wants to know why we're not promoting those groups?
Jess: We're really not following them. That's no offense to them. But we don't know those groups.
Mike: And because we don't know them, we're not in a rush to promote them. I would think that they were sincere. But I also thought Taylor Marsh was sincere. She pretended that she might vote for John McCain if Barack was the nominee. Now she's all over Barack with sloppy kisses. I've intended to look into PUMA especially but haven't had the time. Part of that might be a result of the crap that Marsh and others like her pulled. They talked a good talk but they caved. Throw Corrente in there as well. I'm leery of promoting anyone I don't really know. I didn't know a thing about Taylor Marsh but that C.I., Wally and Cedric didn't care for her. I wish I'd listened to that judgment because she certainly proved herself to be not very trust worthy. If I can add something else. I'll be kind and not name the site but they're supposedly not voting for Barack but look at their blogroll. It's all pro-Obama people.
Betty: I agree with Mike on that. There was a woman named Donna Darko. She was going to refuse to vote for Barack. And then she did this idiotic post about how she'd spoken to some relatives and now realized it was the best for the country or some such bull. If I'm going down the road and my kids suddenly remember they need something for school, I'll whip the car around so quick. But that's for my kids. I won't give myself whiplash for Barack. I'm sick of him and his cult. But between Darko and Marsh and others, it's obvious that a lot of people wrote things that they either didn't mean or that they flip a switch and change their beliefs. I don't.
Ty: Mary Beth also noted that a number of the groups stress points made here and community wide for years such as "you own your vote," etc.
Elaine: I'll grab that because most of those, including the power of no, are phrases C.I. comes up with. C.I. can turn a phrase and they're successful because they convey meaning. They become popular. That's always been true. If Mary Beth's interested, she can e-mail me and I'll go into it more at my site but I know I've walked it up to the line in terms of C.I.'s comfort zone.
Rebecca: Never a word of praise allowed. I'm only semi-joking.
C.I.: And I'm semi-wrapping up. Which I had not planned to do. The ugly nature of Barack's campaign has been noted. You can't run a slash and burn campaign during the primaries and just expect that everyone will fall in line for the general election. More importantly, a number of people are realizing that you don't reward bad behavior. Myself, I'm alarmed that a Democratic candidate utilized homophobia and sexism. I'm bothered by the message sent if everyone 'falls in line' behind Barack. You either stand up for things that matter or you don't. On the latter, Barack certainly proved he doesn't stand up against illegal spying on Americans.
Ty: Since you said semi-wrapping up, I'll squeeze in one last e-mail. John T. e-mails asking what we will do if John McCain gets into the White House?
Mike: I'm grabbing. We will do what we always do. We will work on issue, we will raise awareness, we will call out the illegal war. My life does not end, nor do my issues, based on who is in the White House. America will be in trouble with either Barack or McCain. It's not my job to elect Barack. I'm also not keen on lying so I have no interest in being a Barack cheerleader. Barack and McCain are big party nominees, they will get plenty of media attention. They'll be responsible for the votes they earn or don't earn. It's more effective to work on getting out the word on candidates like Ralph Nader who really stand for something. If November sees McCain elected, that's what America wanted. I'll work on something I believe in, getting out the word for Ralph Nader.