It was Democracy Now! It was Thursday and before we get to that, let's drop back to the 90s.
For months and months and years and years the 'left' 'leaders' have insisted to you that the repeal of Glass-Steagall was one of the most life changing and threatening things that ever happened. They've usually managed to trash Bill Clinton in the process. (And, sidebar, we believe a passage -- a paragraph -- by Bob Somerby got us to thinking about this. But Dallas was kind enough to review the last three months of Somebery's Daily Howler and couldn't find it.) May 6, 1999, it passed the Senate. That bill announced it was, "An Act to enhance competition in the financial services industry by providing a prudential framework for the affiliation of banks, securities firms, and other financial service providers, and for other purposes." Others, including ourselves, see it as a repeal that aided the current financial meltdown. But July 1, 1999, the measure passed the House of Representatives. November 12, 1999, Bill Clinton signed it into law.
And this was monumental, we're told. The repeal of Glass-Steagall changed everything (PBS' Frontline offers a timeline of Glass-Steagall here.) So we were just curious how Democracy Now! covered it in real time. Would you believe that dog didn't yap?
In the weeks leading up to the Senate vote and to the House vote and to then-President Bill Clinton signing the bill into law, Democracy Now! did its hourly, daily (Monday through Friday) look at . . . issues. Just not the repeal of Glass-Steagall. In fairness to them, we should note that they had pressing, serious issues to cover such as "The Air Force's Area 51 in Nevada." We wondered how they handled the destruction of the safety net in 1996? That's when the 'Welfare Reform' Act became law ("Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act"). The House passed it July 18, 1996, the Senate passed it July 23rd and Clinton signed it into law August 22nd. Seven days after the House passed it, two days after the Senate, they did a minor 'report' on the issue. (In fairness, there is another 'report' in the archives -- explaining why "Welfare Reform" was needed -- NEEDED -- and, if they want to bicker, we'll be happy to link to that one. And they can explain why they aired government propaganda.) August 1st they finally return to the issue. And then drop it. Until the day Clinton signs it. If that sounds bad to you, you really just don't know.
See, following the passage in Congress, both of the two major political parties will hold their conventions. Meaning, we're not talking about one hour a day -- Democracy Now! expanded to two hours a day -- for two weeks -- and focused nothing but political parties but couldn't explore the Welfare Reform Act.
We bring that history up because of the appalling nonsense that's passed for 'coverage' of ObamaCare on Democracy Now! Diane Rehm (NPR) has done a better job of highlighting single-payer activists than has Amy Goodman.
In ten years, when the left is condemning the Corporatist War Hawk Barack and telling you how he destroyed any chance of single-payer in the US with his ObamaCare, make sure you remember that, in real time, when it mattered, they refused to call it out.
Part of the reason Goody wasted (and it was wasted) so much time on Haiti this year, we're told by someone with the show, was because it allowed her to avoid the topic of ObamaCare. See, even she was feeling a little embarrassed about her sorry record of coverage and wanted to just wish it all away.
Today, Amy Goodman is one of the loudest critics of the repeal of Glass-Steagall and the Welfare Reform Act but, in real time, she had other things to focus on. Those 'aliens' in Area 51 aren't going to report on themselves, right Amy?
So, if pattern holds, she'll be insisting in 2020, that ObamaCare destroyed everything and how 'we' knew it would and 'we' still got behind it. Speak for yourself, Fork Tongued Amy.
Thursday's program was really something to marvel over and, before we offer our take, let's excerpt from Ian Wilder's "Is Kucinich just herding sheep to slaughter?" (On The Wilder Side) on what happened when Amy (and Juan Gonzalez) chatted with Dennis Kucinich and Ralph Nader:
IW: While faux progressive sites like Daily Kos and MoveOn have threatened Kucinich for not voting for the toothless health insurance bill, independent media site like Black Agenda Report and Democracy Now! have lobbed softballs his way. Even Nader refused to directly criticize Kucinich in his roll in mollifying a potential break away of progressives from the Democratic party over the Afghanistan/Iraq Wars and Health Care Reform. We need leaders who not afraid to speak truth to power, even when it's their friends. We need a political party that is willing to stand up for the best interests of the voter, not defense contractors and insurance companies. And where is a real voice that is not afraid to speak truth to power like Cynthia McKinney? Is leaving her out part of Democracy Now's continual policy of marginalizing the Green Party?
Ian, well said. Damn well said.
Backstory, despite claiming that ObamaCare would tax workers (especially union workers), that it would bury single-payer and institutionalize privatized care, that it was a gift to Big Pharma and that he would never, ever support it, US House Rep. Dennis Kucinich held a press conference Wednesday to announce that he was voting in favor of ObamaCare.
On Thursday, the garden gnome appeared on Democracy Now! where Amy and Juan were supposedly a hostile audience -- the way the Dean Martin roasts were supposedly 'hard' on their guest of honor -- and Ralph Nader set aside public crusader in order to . . . What? The way he kept kissing up, we honestly thought we were watching Love Connection and Nader was doing his best version of "Pick me!"
Insisting that "every criticism I made [of ObamaCare] still stands," but "there's been such an effort to delegitimatize his presidency" and "we've got to be careful that we don't play into those who want to destroy his presidency".
"Do you do it for love?" Sheena Easton once asked and, Wednesday and Thursday, we believe Denny gave his answer.
Wednesday? As charted in community posts, that's when Denny declared his love for Barry. See: "ObamaCare's wrong (and so was I)," "Such a damn liar," "the not so special k," "PDA St. Dennis: Big Fraud," "Barack Zombies," "Punk Ass Kucinich," "Denny Koo-Koo Kucinich," "The spineless Dennis and his flunkies," "Barack's bad plan" and "The always pathetic Dennis Kucinich" & "THIS JUST IN! LITTLE DENNY GETS HIS WISH!"
In that press conference, Denny K sounded his "I have to do it for Barry" argument, "That hurts the nation! He was elected!"
We're really confused and, honestly, a little worried about the state of the US Congress and Dennis Kucinich's mind. Not even two years after the November 2008 elections, Denny feels he has to yell and scream in public to convince Americans Barack was elected?
That's part of the historical record, Kucinich. Far more puzzling to us was why Barack figured so heavily into Kucinich's remarks on Wednesday and Thursday. The remarks not only demonstrated an unnatural obsession with the presidency, they also demonstrated an oversized ego on gnome.
Viewers of Democracy Now! watched in vain if they were waiting to see Goody take the gloves off. She never does. She lambastes name journalists for their proximity to their sources and the kid gloves approach that results from that proximity, but she's happy to do the same on her own show.
So if anything hard hitting was going to be said, it would have to be said by Ralph.
Sadly, Ralph wasn't in on Thursday. Instead Jiminy Cricket showed up in a Ralph Nader suit:
What -- I think Dennis Kucinich has been known as the great dissenter in the Democratic Party -- against the criminal wars of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan, for impeaching Bush and Cheney, for single payer, on and on. His subcommittee hearings, which are almost never covered by the press, provide a standard for what House subcommittees should be investigating all over the country.
Thanks for the testimonial. Which brings us back to Ian Wilder's point: Where was Cynthia?
Ralph Nader was on for what reason?
Cynthia McKinney, 2008 Green Party presidential nominee, served in the US Congress. She know about the pressure and dirty tricks of leadership -- including Nancy Pelosi. She knows all about it. It's hard to believe she would have been as detached as Ralph Nader came off.
But Democracy Now!'s really not about accuracy or information these days. That's how you get Amy Goodman stating, "Both of them, Ralph Nader and Dennis Kucinich, have run for president of the United States several times." Dennis Kucinich has never run for president. He has run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. There's a difference. (It's like calling 1975's Miss Bakersfield a Miss America contestant.)
And what the show was broadcasting, what it was encouraging, was the country to feel "Poor Dennis."
Poor Dennis, it's not his fault. Poor Dennis, he wanted to do something to help out Barack. Poor Dennis, . . .
A truly left show would have broadcast: Screw Dennis.
Screw Dennis and his fake stands that always collapse when the rubber hits the road. Screw Dennis and his nonsense about a peace plank in the 2004 Democratic Party platform. Screw Dennis and his "I am a real candidate" versus his "Psst, Barack, want my Iowa delegates?"
But no one made time for outrage. It was . . . surreal. It was as though an intervention took place . . . before the cameras started rolling. And what viewers were shown was the comforting that followed. If Dennis ever admitted he had a problem, it took place offscreen. The show, the big 'get,' was, in the end, as a big of a whimper as the main guest himself. As for addressing the realities of ObamaCare? They made do with a few morsels from Ralph. Click here for Kate Randall's analysis (WSWS) of what may be coming your way.