Obama’s former lawyers at United to Protect Democracy understand that
Americans demand only that politicians use pretty words to justify the
barbarities committed in their name. If you stick with the formula, the
template, and make Americans feel exceptional, then you can bomb the
hell out of the rest of the world, at will.
-- Glen Ford, "Criminal Nation: Obama and Trump Both Should Be Jailed for War Crimes" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Truest statement of the week II
Obamacare is now history because Obama himself and the rest of his party
refused to enact Medicare for all, which is what the country needs and
wants. Instead, they jerry-rigged a hodge-podge of insurance and Big Pharma bailouts and called it healthcare. Arguing
that Obamacare is better than nothing or better than the Republican
plan which will rob millions of people of their coverage is an example
of how the Democrats have been wiped off of the political map from coast
to coast.
-- Margaret Kimberley, "Freedom Rider: Democratic Party Death Spiral" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).
-- Margaret Kimberley, "Freedom Rider: Democratic Party Death Spiral" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).
A note to our readers
Hey --
A Tuesday..
A Tuesday..
Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen,
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen,
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
And what did we come up with?
Another truest for Glen Ford.
And another for Margaret Kimberley.
There is no future in Iraq without political reconciliation.
Ava and C.I. examine the TV landscape.
No, he didn't. This our effort to emulate big media by ignoring real issues of this administration that need to be followed to instead invent falsehoods to attack Donald Trump.
Oh, Corrine, you're as crooked as your wig.
Weighing in on some comics.
Good job.
Be sure to check out BLACK AGENDA RADIO.
What we listened to while writing.
Important article from SOCIALIST WORKER.
Press release from Senators Isakson and Tester.
Repost from BURN PITS 360.
That's what we came up with.
Editorial: Where's the reconciliation?
Iraq: Forces have surrounded ISIS in Mosul's Old City, leaving ISIS in control of only 10% of western half of city. http://abcn.ws/2qnwCZz
209 days of The Mosul Slog and counting.
When will it end?
More importantly, what then?
The Islamic State took hold in Iraq due to the persecution of the Sunnis.
When is that addressed?
Because it was supposed to have been addressed in 2007.
That's when Bully Boy Bush came up with his 'benchmarks' for success.
And the Iraqi government was supposed to meet those benchmarks in order continue to have the support -- money and military -- of the United States.
Ten years ago and they've still not moved towards political reconciliation.
The US government?
It looked the other way under Bully Boy Bush, it looked the other way under Barack Obama and it's looking the other way under Donald Trump.
Either national reconciliation takes place or every few years there's another ISIS -- maybe with a different name, maybe not.
The answer is reconciliation.
TV: The Bell Tolls For Diversity
Last week's real massacre took place as the broadcast networks culled their line ups.
The biggest casualty was diversity.
As usual, no one in The Water Cooler Set noticed.
2 BROKE GIRLS was a CBS utility player, yes, that could be placed anywhere on the schedule and pull in viewers.
It was also a show with a diverse cast which included Chinese-American Matthew Moy and African-American (and original SNL cast member) Garrett Morris. More to the point on CBS -- where Joel McHale, Matthew Perry, Judd Hircsh, Kevin James and Matt LeBlanc are among the many men given sitcom leads by the network in recent years -- it starred Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs.
With the cancellation of 2 BROKE GIRLS, the only sitcom led by females is MOM starring Anna Faris and Allison Janney.
Four new sitcoms will air on CBS next fall: BY THE BOOK, YOUNG SHELDON, 9JKL and ME, MYSELF, AND I -- all revolving around male characters.
Diversity also took a huge hit when ABC cancelled the sitcom DR. KEN starring Korean-American Ken Jeong and which also included Suzy Nakamura, Tisha Campbell-Martin and Krista Marie Yu.
But ABC's biggest diversity hit was with LAST MAN STANDING -- a show that found its footing in season two and ended its sixth season as ABC's 2nd highest rated sitcom and 3rd highest rated scripted show.
LAST MAN STANDING was the only sitcom ABC had -- the only one on any network -- that revolved around a lead character who was conservative.
We'll come back to 2 BROKE GIRLS and LAST MAN STANDING, but for now let's note THE GREAT INDOORS. This was a strong season one show -- and strong in the ratings. But the Joel McHale sitcom got the axe because CBS forgot that their biggest sitcom hits tend to blossom in seasons two and three -- see THE BIG BANG THEORY, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, etc.
NBC's cancellations included THE BLACKLIST: REDEMPTION. As we noted, hurting the show was the decision to keep the identity of Tom Keen (Ryan Eggold) a secret from Scottie (Famke Janssen). The audience knew she was his mother and the show would have zipped along faster if they'd let Scottie in on the secret -- as it did in the final two episodes. Lesson for future show runners: Plotting is important, have more than one plot point an episode.
FOX needs to learn a lesson too. PITCH? Not a show we honestly cared for. We liked the cast. We were so-so on the scripts. But we did appreciate and acknowledge the fact that families loved this show. Instead of cancelling the series, they should have considered moving it to the first hour of prime time on Sundays. This has traditionally been a strong berth for family fare even if it's been years since the networks remembered that. An hour lead-in to THE SIMPSONS, BOB'S BURGERS and FAMILY GUY would leave only one troubled half-hour for the network to fill.
Though the network elected to renew LAST MAN ON EARTH, that show is doing worse than ever with many episodes of hitting record lows this past season. In fairness, we should also point out that the show has improved and is often funny but how do you convince the people who sampled the show long ago to come back and give it another chance?
No amount of marketing is going to help SUPERSTORE. NBC's failed sitcom will move next fall to Tuesday nights and follow THE VOICE.
Why?
The so-so ratings of season one disappeared in season two as the show tanked non-stop.
It might make sense to keep the sitcom if you were pinning its poor second season performance on being teamed with THE GOOD PLACE -- an unfunny sitcom that ended its season with half the viewers that showed up for its premiere.
However, THE GOOD PLACE is not just being brought back, it's being moved to Tuesday nights with SUPERSTORE.
Fall was supposed to be NBC's big comeback. WILL & GRACE will return for 12 episodes. This is a smart move (one we hope is also smartly executed). But despite boasting that they're attempting to return Thursday nights to must-see-TV, WILL & GRACE is the only multi-cam sitcom they're offering.
Which brings us back to 2 BROKE GIRLS and LAST MAN STANDING.
They're multi-cams.
And they're doing well in syndication.
The way NBC's sitcoms did -- when they were multi-cams.
SEINFELD, FRIENDS, etc still do well in syndication.
When NBC moved to single-cam, they ran their audiences off with crap like MY NAME IS EARL, THE OFFICE, etc.
All those shows?
They have no syndication life.
People are rushing to offer excuses for why 2 BROKE GIRLS and LAST MAN STANDING were cancelled.
It's not really a secret.
CBS cancelled 2 BROKE GIRLS because it hates women, it always has hated women.
Lucille Ball solo?
They were forever hoping she'd crash and burn in the ratings. At one point, they brought Doris Day to the network with the hopes that it would allow them to get rid of Lucy.
THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW?
What kind of a network doesn't call a meeting to try to keep a hit sitcom?
MAUDE, KATE & ALLIE, DESIGNING WOMEN, MURPHY BROWNE, THE NANNY, CYBIL -- even non-sitcom CAGNEY & LACEY -- CBS is the network that hates women.
Always has been, always will be.
Which is how it cancels 2 BROKE GIRLS without breaking a sweat.
Tim Allen's sitcom?
ABC cancelled it because of Tim's politics. Not just his character's politics, but Tim's politics.
People can debate like crazy but ABC didn't want to meet with 20th CENTURY FOX about cost-cutting -- or about anything.
They wanted to dump their third most successful TV show because of Tim's politics onscreen and off.
That's not right.
The lie is that they axed it because they didn't own the show.
Really?
That's the argument they want to make?
Because we remember the US government ruled that studios couldn't make films and own theaters -- it was considered a monopoly. A similar anti-trust action led to the break up of MCA UNIVERSAL.
So is that really the argument that various critics want to make? That ABC killed a successful show, an audience favorite, because the network did not own it?
If that's the case they want to make, we say it's time for more anti-trust actions.
ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey grasps where this path leads which is why she quickly backed away from it in a recent interview ("I wouldn't say that was the deciding factor") and insisted that "the network has shows from multiple independent studios."
The biggest casualty was diversity.
As usual, no one in The Water Cooler Set noticed.
2 BROKE GIRLS was a CBS utility player, yes, that could be placed anywhere on the schedule and pull in viewers.
It was also a show with a diverse cast which included Chinese-American Matthew Moy and African-American (and original SNL cast member) Garrett Morris. More to the point on CBS -- where Joel McHale, Matthew Perry, Judd Hircsh, Kevin James and Matt LeBlanc are among the many men given sitcom leads by the network in recent years -- it starred Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs.
With the cancellation of 2 BROKE GIRLS, the only sitcom led by females is MOM starring Anna Faris and Allison Janney.
Four new sitcoms will air on CBS next fall: BY THE BOOK, YOUNG SHELDON, 9JKL and ME, MYSELF, AND I -- all revolving around male characters.
Diversity also took a huge hit when ABC cancelled the sitcom DR. KEN starring Korean-American Ken Jeong and which also included Suzy Nakamura, Tisha Campbell-Martin and Krista Marie Yu.
But ABC's biggest diversity hit was with LAST MAN STANDING -- a show that found its footing in season two and ended its sixth season as ABC's 2nd highest rated sitcom and 3rd highest rated scripted show.
LAST MAN STANDING was the only sitcom ABC had -- the only one on any network -- that revolved around a lead character who was conservative.
We'll come back to 2 BROKE GIRLS and LAST MAN STANDING, but for now let's note THE GREAT INDOORS. This was a strong season one show -- and strong in the ratings. But the Joel McHale sitcom got the axe because CBS forgot that their biggest sitcom hits tend to blossom in seasons two and three -- see THE BIG BANG THEORY, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, etc.
NBC's cancellations included THE BLACKLIST: REDEMPTION. As we noted, hurting the show was the decision to keep the identity of Tom Keen (Ryan Eggold) a secret from Scottie (Famke Janssen). The audience knew she was his mother and the show would have zipped along faster if they'd let Scottie in on the secret -- as it did in the final two episodes. Lesson for future show runners: Plotting is important, have more than one plot point an episode.
FOX needs to learn a lesson too. PITCH? Not a show we honestly cared for. We liked the cast. We were so-so on the scripts. But we did appreciate and acknowledge the fact that families loved this show. Instead of cancelling the series, they should have considered moving it to the first hour of prime time on Sundays. This has traditionally been a strong berth for family fare even if it's been years since the networks remembered that. An hour lead-in to THE SIMPSONS, BOB'S BURGERS and FAMILY GUY would leave only one troubled half-hour for the network to fill.
Though the network elected to renew LAST MAN ON EARTH, that show is doing worse than ever with many episodes of hitting record lows this past season. In fairness, we should also point out that the show has improved and is often funny but how do you convince the people who sampled the show long ago to come back and give it another chance?
No amount of marketing is going to help SUPERSTORE. NBC's failed sitcom will move next fall to Tuesday nights and follow THE VOICE.
Why?
The so-so ratings of season one disappeared in season two as the show tanked non-stop.
It might make sense to keep the sitcom if you were pinning its poor second season performance on being teamed with THE GOOD PLACE -- an unfunny sitcom that ended its season with half the viewers that showed up for its premiere.
However, THE GOOD PLACE is not just being brought back, it's being moved to Tuesday nights with SUPERSTORE.
Fall was supposed to be NBC's big comeback. WILL & GRACE will return for 12 episodes. This is a smart move (one we hope is also smartly executed). But despite boasting that they're attempting to return Thursday nights to must-see-TV, WILL & GRACE is the only multi-cam sitcom they're offering.
Which brings us back to 2 BROKE GIRLS and LAST MAN STANDING.
They're multi-cams.
And they're doing well in syndication.
The way NBC's sitcoms did -- when they were multi-cams.
SEINFELD, FRIENDS, etc still do well in syndication.
When NBC moved to single-cam, they ran their audiences off with crap like MY NAME IS EARL, THE OFFICE, etc.
All those shows?
They have no syndication life.
People are rushing to offer excuses for why 2 BROKE GIRLS and LAST MAN STANDING were cancelled.
It's not really a secret.
CBS cancelled 2 BROKE GIRLS because it hates women, it always has hated women.
Lucille Ball solo?
They were forever hoping she'd crash and burn in the ratings. At one point, they brought Doris Day to the network with the hopes that it would allow them to get rid of Lucy.
THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW?
What kind of a network doesn't call a meeting to try to keep a hit sitcom?
MAUDE, KATE & ALLIE, DESIGNING WOMEN, MURPHY BROWNE, THE NANNY, CYBIL -- even non-sitcom CAGNEY & LACEY -- CBS is the network that hates women.
Always has been, always will be.
Which is how it cancels 2 BROKE GIRLS without breaking a sweat.
Tim Allen's sitcom?
ABC cancelled it because of Tim's politics. Not just his character's politics, but Tim's politics.
People can debate like crazy but ABC didn't want to meet with 20th CENTURY FOX about cost-cutting -- or about anything.
They wanted to dump their third most successful TV show because of Tim's politics onscreen and off.
That's not right.
The lie is that they axed it because they didn't own the show.
Really?
That's the argument they want to make?
Because we remember the US government ruled that studios couldn't make films and own theaters -- it was considered a monopoly. A similar anti-trust action led to the break up of MCA UNIVERSAL.
So is that really the argument that various critics want to make? That ABC killed a successful show, an audience favorite, because the network did not own it?
If that's the case they want to make, we say it's time for more anti-trust actions.
ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey grasps where this path leads which is why she quickly backed away from it in a recent interview ("I wouldn't say that was the deciding factor") and insisted that "the network has shows from multiple independent studios."
Trump murdered Helen Taft Manning
Now it can be told, before he became President of the United States, Donald Trump murdered Helen Taft Manning.
At the time, Donald was longing to be president and to own the Plaza Hotel in NYC.
February 21, 1987, he entered the nursing home and killed Helen Taft Manning.
For decades, it has been thought that the daughter of former President William Taft died of pneumonia.
But the murder was among one of many plots cooked up by Donald and social overlord Lynda Bird Johnson.
With the 1987 pre-party for The International Debutante Ball, Donald and Lynda plotted how they would take over NYC.
Though the daughter of former President Lyndon B. Johnson was successful in urging Donald on his crimes, Lynda's own road to success was ended when she committed the worst crime of all: Crimes against fashion.
At the ball, Lynda showed up in a horrifying black monstrosity that features lace around the neck and shoulders fading into black netting for the arms, with a bulging black top, a huge (waist emphasizing) ribbon followed by a pleated skirt worn over an a-line skirt.
Remembers debutante Lucinda Robb, "It was so appalling, as though she had no idea what she wanted to wear so she asked a seamstress to tack on everything."
After that insurmountable faux pax, Lynda became social pariah and Donald avoided her except for a brief farewell dinner in August of 2981 at Bellini by Cipriani.
Remember aspiring character actress and professional server Trish Van Barnicle, "They made a big show of ordering the lobster salad after rudely cutting me off when I attempted to describe the day's special. Yet when I brought them the check, they both attempted to ignore it. They then argued over who had invited whom and who should pay. All at once, they both attempted to dash and dine, however, Trump tripped Johnson and we managed to catch her as he high tailed it out of the restaurant. She was then forced to pay."
How true is the above account?
It came to us in our dreams the night after a very satisfying enchilada dinner.
And since making up s**t about Trump is all the rage these days, we didn't want to get left out.
At the time, Donald was longing to be president and to own the Plaza Hotel in NYC.
February 21, 1987, he entered the nursing home and killed Helen Taft Manning.
For decades, it has been thought that the daughter of former President William Taft died of pneumonia.
But the murder was among one of many plots cooked up by Donald and social overlord Lynda Bird Johnson.
With the 1987 pre-party for The International Debutante Ball, Donald and Lynda plotted how they would take over NYC.
Though the daughter of former President Lyndon B. Johnson was successful in urging Donald on his crimes, Lynda's own road to success was ended when she committed the worst crime of all: Crimes against fashion.
At the ball, Lynda showed up in a horrifying black monstrosity that features lace around the neck and shoulders fading into black netting for the arms, with a bulging black top, a huge (waist emphasizing) ribbon followed by a pleated skirt worn over an a-line skirt.
Remembers debutante Lucinda Robb, "It was so appalling, as though she had no idea what she wanted to wear so she asked a seamstress to tack on everything."
After that insurmountable faux pax, Lynda became social pariah and Donald avoided her except for a brief farewell dinner in August of 2981 at Bellini by Cipriani.
Remember aspiring character actress and professional server Trish Van Barnicle, "They made a big show of ordering the lobster salad after rudely cutting me off when I attempted to describe the day's special. Yet when I brought them the check, they both attempted to ignore it. They then argued over who had invited whom and who should pay. All at once, they both attempted to dash and dine, however, Trump tripped Johnson and we managed to catch her as he high tailed it out of the restaurant. She was then forced to pay."
How true is the above account?
It came to us in our dreams the night after a very satisfying enchilada dinner.
And since making up s**t about Trump is all the rage these days, we didn't want to get left out.
Corrine goes down
Do you know about Corrine Brown?
As the US Justice Dept. noted last Thursday, "Former U.S. Congresswoman Corrine Brown was convicted by a federal jury in Jacksonville, Florida, today for her role in a conspiracy and fraud scheme involving a fraudulent scholarship charity."
Sweet justice.
Corrine Brown was a crook.
She served 12 terms in Congress and she was a crook.
She wore bad wigs and she was a crook.
She couldn't navigate the English language and she was a crook.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco declared, "Former Congresswoman Corrine Brown violated the public trust, the honor of her position, and the integrity of the American system of government when she abused one of the most powerful positions in the nation for her own personal gain. She shamefully deprived needy children of hundreds of thousands of dollars that could have helped with their education and improved their opportunities for advancement, and she lied to the IRS and the American public about secret cash deposits into her personal bank accounts. The Department of Justice is committed to fighting corruption and fraud wherever we find it, at all levels of government, regardless of their power and influence."
In February of 2014, filling in at Trina's site, Ava noted:
The 67-year-old woman showed up Wednesday night at the House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing both to defend the VA and to show off her latest wig.
This one appeared to be a homage to Della Reese's pioneering dual wig wearing on Touched By An Angel with one short wig appearing to piggy back on a long one.
Brown's bangs were off and the wig tilted to the right.
When she opened her mouth did she decry the veterans made to wait weeks and months for treatment? Did she note Barry Coates?
No and God no!
Barry Coates is the veteran who testified before the House Veterans Affairs Committee last month. He went for medical attention because he had symptoms -- including bleeding -- that should have raised flags. He waited and waited and waited for medical attention. And, in a year, what was early stage cancer had progressed to stage-four cancer.
When Coates shared that story -- pay attention stupid idiots of Women's Media Center (they stupidly said that noting Brown's wigs was sexism -- no, it's noting cheap and ugly wigs that need to be washed) -- Brown felt it was her role to insist that he needed to stop being so gloomy, stage-four colon cancer isn't so bad, cheer up!
Corinne Brown is a cheap little whore.
She is that.
But where's WOMEN'S MEDIA CENTER?
Gloria CIA Steinem, no words on Corrine's conviction?
Done whoring for her, are you?
NPR reported last week:
Former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown has been found guilty of siphoning hundreds of thousands of dollars from a charity that she and her chief of staff had passed off as a scholarship service for students. The Florida Democrat had faced 22 counts ranging from conspiracy to tax fraud; she was convicted of 18.
Of the more than $800,000 she and Elias "Ronnie" Simmons raised for One Door for Education, member station WJCT reports that just $1,200 actually went where they told donors it would: students' education. In roughly five years, prosecutors say, the charity distributed just two scholarships.
That's Corrine Brown.
As the US Justice Dept. noted last Thursday, "Former U.S. Congresswoman Corrine Brown was convicted by a federal jury in Jacksonville, Florida, today for her role in a conspiracy and fraud scheme involving a fraudulent scholarship charity."
Sweet justice.
Corrine Brown was a crook.
She served 12 terms in Congress and she was a crook.
She wore bad wigs and she was a crook.
She couldn't navigate the English language and she was a crook.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco declared, "Former Congresswoman Corrine Brown violated the public trust, the honor of her position, and the integrity of the American system of government when she abused one of the most powerful positions in the nation for her own personal gain. She shamefully deprived needy children of hundreds of thousands of dollars that could have helped with their education and improved their opportunities for advancement, and she lied to the IRS and the American public about secret cash deposits into her personal bank accounts. The Department of Justice is committed to fighting corruption and fraud wherever we find it, at all levels of government, regardless of their power and influence."
In February of 2014, filling in at Trina's site, Ava noted:
The 67-year-old woman showed up Wednesday night at the House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing both to defend the VA and to show off her latest wig.
This one appeared to be a homage to Della Reese's pioneering dual wig wearing on Touched By An Angel with one short wig appearing to piggy back on a long one.
Brown's bangs were off and the wig tilted to the right.
When she opened her mouth did she decry the veterans made to wait weeks and months for treatment? Did she note Barry Coates?
No and God no!
Barry Coates is the veteran who testified before the House Veterans Affairs Committee last month. He went for medical attention because he had symptoms -- including bleeding -- that should have raised flags. He waited and waited and waited for medical attention. And, in a year, what was early stage cancer had progressed to stage-four cancer.
When Coates shared that story -- pay attention stupid idiots of Women's Media Center (they stupidly said that noting Brown's wigs was sexism -- no, it's noting cheap and ugly wigs that need to be washed) -- Brown felt it was her role to insist that he needed to stop being so gloomy, stage-four colon cancer isn't so bad, cheer up!
Corinne Brown is a cheap little whore.
She is that.
But where's WOMEN'S MEDIA CENTER?
Gloria CIA Steinem, no words on Corrine's conviction?
Done whoring for her, are you?
NPR reported last week:
Former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown has been found guilty of siphoning hundreds of thousands of dollars from a charity that she and her chief of staff had passed off as a scholarship service for students. The Florida Democrat had faced 22 counts ranging from conspiracy to tax fraud; she was convicted of 18.
Of the more than $800,000 she and Elias "Ronnie" Simmons raised for One Door for Education, member station WJCT reports that just $1,200 actually went where they told donors it would: students' education. In roughly five years, prosecutors say, the charity distributed just two scholarships.
That's Corrine Brown.
Comic
If you missed it, Batwoman is back, in case you missed it.
One of the most visual titles has returned and you won't want to miss it.
In fact, it's long past time for either a BATWOMAN TV show or film.
WONDER WOMAN finally has a film and it debuts June 2nd.
In the meantime, you've got two Wonder Women to choose from.
You can check out her own title and follow the latest with Cheetah and a witch or, if you prefer the Lynda Carter version, check out the issue of BATMAN '66 entitled "Batman '66 Meets Wonder Woman '77."
Venezuela, Malcolm X, prison for life, 'progressives' and neoliberalism
The weekly program BLACK AGENDA RADIO is hosted Glen Ford and Nellie Bailey (and also check out BLACK AGENDA REPORT).
This weeks guests?
Ajamu Baraka discusses realities with Venezuela.
Sara Flounders takes on 'progressives.'
Ashley Nellis talks about life sentences.
Mumia Abu Jamal calls out neoliberalism and its most infamous 'anti-crime' bill.
Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid speaks of the genuine legacy of Malcolm X.
This edition's playlist
1) Aimee Mann's MENTAL ILLNESS.
2) Alicia Keys' HERE.
3) Pointy Poindexter's POINTY POINDEXTER PLAYS THE BIG ONES.
5) Janet Jackson's UNBREAKABLE.
7) Alice Coltrain's TRANSLINEAR LIGHT.
Who’s pulling the strings?
This is a repost from Great Britain's SOCIALIST WORKER:
Alistair Farrow looks at the power of the media—and its limits
Even to the most casual observer it’s clear that the bulk of the British media is out to get Jeremy Corbyn. Every week there are newspaper front pages devoted to smearing him.
Headlines such as “The evil monster haunting Corbyn’s past”, “Jeremy Corbyn will be cheered by racists and terrorists” and “Jeremy Corbyn insult to our heroes” scream out from both broadsheets and tabloids.
The BBC is little better.
So far during this election campaign its reporters have travelled the length and breadth of Britain rooting out former Labour voters who intend to vote Tory.
That takes a lot of work and resources which apparently aren’t available to find the people who are furious with Tory policies and enthused by Corbyn.
Shadow energy minister Barry Gardiner accused the BBC of “fake news” last week. Even right wing journalist Nick Robinson acknowledged bias at the BBC against Corbyn in 2015.
In contrast Theresa May is given repeated opportunities to push her agenda.
So it’s no wonder that some 50,000 people signed a petition accusing the media, and specifically the BBC, of anti-Corbyn bias.
Part of the explanation is simple. The people who own media corporations, commission stories, edit newspapers and present TV bulletins have a vested interest in a divided, elitist society.
A 2006 report by the Sutton Trust found that 54 percent of the top 100 journalists had been privately educated—up from 49 percent two decades earlier.
In contrast just 7 percent of the general population is privately educated.
We’re told that we live in a society where hard work and talent can get anyone to the top.
But more often than not most people are barred from getting near the corridors of power without the “right” family and school connections.
BBC political correspondent Eleanor Garnier was called to ask Theresa May a question at an event where most journalists had to submit theirs in advance last week.
It probably didn’t hurt that her cousin Mark Garnier and her father Edward Garnier are both Tory MPs.
The BBC’s chair David Clementi is the grandson of a former governor of Hong Kong.
He was educated at the private Winchester College, Oxford University then Harvard Business School, and was previously chair of finance firms Virgin Money and World First.
Nick Robinson also went to private school then Oxford before founding Macclesfield Young Conservatives. He was then chair of the Oxford University Conservative Association.
And whatever their background, anyone who gets to the top of the media becomes part of a well-paid elite with no interest in rocking the boat.
The BBC’s senior management wage bill stood at £47 million in 2016, with 98 managers on £150,000 or more. Its top journalists aren’t on much less.
Daily Mail newspaper editor Paul Dacre rakes in more than £2 million including perks most years.
David Pemsel, boss of Guardian Media Group (GMG) which publishes the Guardian and Observer, scrapes by on his £600,000 salary.
So it’s hardly surprising that Corbyn’s policy to increase income tax for those earning over £80,000 got a frosty reception.
Individuals with a stake in the system work for organisations with an even bigger stake in the system.
The BBC relies on some £1 billion of government funding annually. It’s no coincidence that it tends to take the side of whichever party is in office.
The private media is largely owned by billionaires—and much of its revenue comes from selling advertising space to other billionaires.
A journalist or editor who sets themselves at odds with the billionaires’ agenda will have a harder time than those who lick their boots.
This underlines the need for a revolutionary newspaper such as Socialist Worker. It unashamedly takes the side of workers and the oppressed over apologising or cheerleading for the rich.
But the establishment media doesn’t create the imbalance in society. It reflects it.
Newspapers need to sell copies and TV programmes need to attract viewers. That limits how far they can afford to offend their audiences.
To an extent they always have to adapt to the ideas in broader society. These are contested, but on an uneven playing field.
In a world where rivalries between states are settled by wars and untold resources are poured into armies and weapons, the idea of peace can seem unrealistic.
People are pitted into competition with each other to find jobs, homes and university places. So it seems more natural to see greed as human nature, and solidarity as utopian.
At work we have to do what the bosses tell us. This makes us seem powerless.
Meanwhile the rich seem to be doing something right, as more and more wealth is concentrated in their hands. So the idea of challenging their rule seems risky and radical.
In general, as the revolutionary Karl Marx argued in 1845, the way in which a society is run at a given time comes to seem like the default. Those who rule it seem like they were destined to do so.
“The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas,” he wrote.
In other words, “the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force.”
But in reality societies do change, and those who are exploited do have power to hit back at their exploiters. This creates a space for new ideas to get a hearing.
The Iraq War is an example of this. Much of the media—particularly liberal journalists close to New Labour—bought into the lies used to justify the invasion.
But millions of people didn’t, and the movement against the war came to include the biggest protests in British history so far.
The media, particularly those publications with a mass audience, couldn’t ignore this.
The Mirror ended up producing placards for anti-war marches and the BBC provoked a confrontation with the government over its “dodgy dossier”.
An attempt to create an alternative to the rule of the rich will meet with entrenched hostility from the establishment—including the media elite.
But protests, strikes and other forms of collective struggle can cut the ground out from under them.
Media baron Rupert Murdoch likes to present himself as a kingmaker in British politics.
Tony Gallagher, the editor of the Murdoch-owned newspaper The Sun, reportedly texted a Guardian newspaper journalist on the day of the EU referendum result.
“So much for the waning power of the print media,” he boasted.
But if Murdoch really had such a tight grip, Britain would look a lot different than it does.
For one, The Sun in Scotland would not have run a campaign to Remain in the EU. It did so largely because the newspaper couldn’t afford to cut off its circulation there.
The Sun knows how to back a winner and then take credit for their win. But it’s wrong to take its boasts at face value.
At the moment the giant is under pressure.
Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox wants to buy up 61 percent of Sky in a deal worth £11.7 billion. The firm currently controls 37 percent.
In order to do this it has been forced to make compromises to demonstrate its responsibility as a broadcaster.
And between the phone hacking scandal and the Hillsborough justice campaign, The Sun’s credibility has been badly damaged.
This is why it fired infamous former editor Kelvin MacKenzie as a columnist. He compared footballer Ross Barkley, whose grandfather was born in Nigeria, to a gorilla.
It’s vile, but so is most of what MacKenzie writes—why fire him now?
In the US Murdoch has ditched Fox news anchor Bill O’Reilly after repeated accusations of sexual assault from many women who have worked with him.
Murdoch effectively offered both “personalities” up as sacrifices.
One of O’Reilly’s victims is set to give evidence to the media regulator Ofcom’s investigation into Fox’s bid to take over Sky.
Not one mainstream newspaper referred to him positively a majority of the time.
Once he became leader, a survey by Media Reform showed that the amount of negative mentions rose to 60 percent. Just 13 percent of mentions were positive.
Despite this onslaught Corbyn won, twice, and tens of thousands flocked to Labour to support him.
Who’s pulling the strings?
Even to the most casual observer it’s clear that the bulk of the British media is out to get Jeremy Corbyn. Every week there are newspaper front pages devoted to smearing him.
Headlines such as “The evil monster haunting Corbyn’s past”, “Jeremy Corbyn will be cheered by racists and terrorists” and “Jeremy Corbyn insult to our heroes” scream out from both broadsheets and tabloids.
The BBC is little better.
So far during this election campaign its reporters have travelled the length and breadth of Britain rooting out former Labour voters who intend to vote Tory.
That takes a lot of work and resources which apparently aren’t available to find the people who are furious with Tory policies and enthused by Corbyn.
Senior BBC journalist Nick Robinson (Pic: Flickr/Bob Bob)
Shadow energy minister Barry Gardiner accused the BBC of “fake news” last week. Even right wing journalist Nick Robinson acknowledged bias at the BBC against Corbyn in 2015.
In contrast Theresa May is given repeated opportunities to push her agenda.
So it’s no wonder that some 50,000 people signed a petition accusing the media, and specifically the BBC, of anti-Corbyn bias.
Part of the explanation is simple. The people who own media corporations, commission stories, edit newspapers and present TV bulletins have a vested interest in a divided, elitist society.
A 2006 report by the Sutton Trust found that 54 percent of the top 100 journalists had been privately educated—up from 49 percent two decades earlier.
In contrast just 7 percent of the general population is privately educated.
We’re told that we live in a society where hard work and talent can get anyone to the top.
But more often than not most people are barred from getting near the corridors of power without the “right” family and school connections.
BBC political correspondent Eleanor Garnier was called to ask Theresa May a question at an event where most journalists had to submit theirs in advance last week.
It probably didn’t hurt that her cousin Mark Garnier and her father Edward Garnier are both Tory MPs.
The BBC’s chair David Clementi is the grandson of a former governor of Hong Kong.
He was educated at the private Winchester College, Oxford University then Harvard Business School, and was previously chair of finance firms Virgin Money and World First.
Nick Robinson also went to private school then Oxford before founding Macclesfield Young Conservatives. He was then chair of the Oxford University Conservative Association.
And whatever their background, anyone who gets to the top of the media becomes part of a well-paid elite with no interest in rocking the boat.
The BBC’s senior management wage bill stood at £47 million in 2016, with 98 managers on £150,000 or more. Its top journalists aren’t on much less.
Daily Mail newspaper editor Paul Dacre rakes in more than £2 million including perks most years.
David Pemsel, boss of Guardian Media Group (GMG) which publishes the Guardian and Observer, scrapes by on his £600,000 salary.
So it’s hardly surprising that Corbyn’s policy to increase income tax for those earning over £80,000 got a frosty reception.
Individuals with a stake in the system work for organisations with an even bigger stake in the system.
The BBC relies on some £1 billion of government funding annually. It’s no coincidence that it tends to take the side of whichever party is in office.
The private media is largely owned by billionaires—and much of its revenue comes from selling advertising space to other billionaires.
A journalist or editor who sets themselves at odds with the billionaires’ agenda will have a harder time than those who lick their boots.
This underlines the need for a revolutionary newspaper such as Socialist Worker. It unashamedly takes the side of workers and the oppressed over apologising or cheerleading for the rich.
But the establishment media doesn’t create the imbalance in society. It reflects it.
Newspapers need to sell copies and TV programmes need to attract viewers. That limits how far they can afford to offend their audiences.
To an extent they always have to adapt to the ideas in broader society. These are contested, but on an uneven playing field.
In a world where rivalries between states are settled by wars and untold resources are poured into armies and weapons, the idea of peace can seem unrealistic.
People are pitted into competition with each other to find jobs, homes and university places. So it seems more natural to see greed as human nature, and solidarity as utopian.
At work we have to do what the bosses tell us. This makes us seem powerless.
Meanwhile the rich seem to be doing something right, as more and more wealth is concentrated in their hands. So the idea of challenging their rule seems risky and radical.
In general, as the revolutionary Karl Marx argued in 1845, the way in which a society is run at a given time comes to seem like the default. Those who rule it seem like they were destined to do so.
“The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas,” he wrote.
In other words, “the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force.”
But in reality societies do change, and those who are exploited do have power to hit back at their exploiters. This creates a space for new ideas to get a hearing.
The Iraq War is an example of this. Much of the media—particularly liberal journalists close to New Labour—bought into the lies used to justify the invasion.
But millions of people didn’t, and the movement against the war came to include the biggest protests in British history so far.
The media, particularly those publications with a mass audience, couldn’t ignore this.
The Mirror ended up producing placards for anti-war marches and the BBC provoked a confrontation with the government over its “dodgy dossier”.
An attempt to create an alternative to the rule of the rich will meet with entrenched hostility from the establishment—including the media elite.
But protests, strikes and other forms of collective struggle can cut the ground out from under them.
Murdoch offers sacrifices in order to make Sky-high profits
Media baron Murdoch (Pic: David Shankbone)
Tony Gallagher, the editor of the Murdoch-owned newspaper The Sun, reportedly texted a Guardian newspaper journalist on the day of the EU referendum result.
“So much for the waning power of the print media,” he boasted.
But if Murdoch really had such a tight grip, Britain would look a lot different than it does.
For one, The Sun in Scotland would not have run a campaign to Remain in the EU. It did so largely because the newspaper couldn’t afford to cut off its circulation there.
The Sun knows how to back a winner and then take credit for their win. But it’s wrong to take its boasts at face value.
At the moment the giant is under pressure.
Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox wants to buy up 61 percent of Sky in a deal worth £11.7 billion. The firm currently controls 37 percent.
In order to do this it has been forced to make compromises to demonstrate its responsibility as a broadcaster.
And between the phone hacking scandal and the Hillsborough justice campaign, The Sun’s credibility has been badly damaged.
This is why it fired infamous former editor Kelvin MacKenzie as a columnist. He compared footballer Ross Barkley, whose grandfather was born in Nigeria, to a gorilla.
It’s vile, but so is most of what MacKenzie writes—why fire him now?
In the US Murdoch has ditched Fox news anchor Bill O’Reilly after repeated accusations of sexual assault from many women who have worked with him.
Murdoch effectively offered both “personalities” up as sacrifices.
One of O’Reilly’s victims is set to give evidence to the media regulator Ofcom’s investigation into Fox’s bid to take over Sky.
Sticking the knife into Corbyn
During Corbyn’s first leadership bid, two thirds of opinion pieces and 57 percent of news reports cast him in a negative light, researchers at the LSE university found.Not one mainstream newspaper referred to him positively a majority of the time.
Once he became leader, a survey by Media Reform showed that the amount of negative mentions rose to 60 percent. Just 13 percent of mentions were positive.
Despite this onslaught Corbyn won, twice, and tens of thousands flocked to Labour to support him.
Isakson, Tester Respond to Helman Decision
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Contact: Amanda Maddox (Isakson), 202-224-7777
Marnee Banks (Tester), 202-604-5521
Isakson, Tester Respond to Helman Decision
Following
court decision that could allow VA director involved in 2014 wait-time
scandal to be reinstated, senators call for bipartisan reform
WASHINGTON –
U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., chairman
and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, today
released the following statements after the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Federal Circuit in Helman v. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ruled that a provision in the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 was
unconstitutional. The ruling sends the review of the initial decision
back to the Merit Systems Protection Board and could result in the
reinstatement of former Phoenix VA healthcare system director Sharon
Helman.
“This
ruling highlights the urgency and great need for reforms to give
Secretary Shulkin the tools necessary to fire bad actors at the VA,” said Isakson. “Senator
Tester and I are dedicated to working with our colleagues in the Senate
and House as well as with the administration on bipartisan legislation
that will allow the VA to adequately hold employees accountable for
wrongdoing and withstand legal scrutiny.”
“This
decision underscores the need for Congress to pass bipartisan
accountability legislation. The VA needs the ability to fire poorly
performing employees, and do so in a way that protects constitutional
due process, and makes sure that court decisions stick,”said Tester. “This
ability is critical to ensuring veterans can access the best possible
care at the VA. I look forward to working in a bipartisan manner with my
colleagues to reform this process and hold the appropriate folks
accountable for delivering for our veterans.”
Sharon Helman
was the director of the Phoenix VA healthcare system during the
veterans’ wait-time scandal that arose in 2014. Following that scandal,
Congress passed legislation which expedited the firing of senior
executives such as Helman. After she was fired, Helman sued. The Justice
Department opted against defending a provision in the law because,
according to department lawyers, the provision was unconstitutional.
Today a federal circuit ruled that a provision in the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 was
unconstitutional. Today’s ruling shows that the part of the 2014 law
which circumvented the review of the dismissal was unconstitutional and
requires the Merit Systems Protection Board to reevaluate the decision.
Helman’s
firing still stands, but it is possible she could be reinstated at a VA
facility if the Merit Systems Protection Board overturns the original
decision which affirmed her firing.
###
The
Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs is chaired by U.S. Senator Johnny
Isakson, R-Ga., in the 115th Congress. Isakson is a veteran himself –
having served in the Georgia Air National Guard from 1966-1972 – and has
been a member of the Senate VA Committee since he joined the Senate in
2005. Isakson’s home state of Georgia is home to more than a dozen
military installations representing each branch of the military as well
as more than 750,000 veterans.
BURN PITS 360 CALLS FOR DONATIONS TO SUPPORT URGENT EDUCATION AND OUTREACH
|
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
