For an occasion so momentous, not much has changed. The 115th
Congress are lame ducks and though it will be dominated by a Democratic
caucus with 229 votes, eleven more than the barest majority the 116th
which swears in January 2019 won’t be much different.
Its Democratic party leaders are uniformly war Democrats, devoted to
the bombing of several countries, to maintaining US fleets in every
ocean, over 800 US military bases in a hundred plus countries, and to
keep spending more on the military than the next nine or ten countries
combined. Although a good hundred Democrats in the 115th Congress have
signed on to a watered down version of Medicare For
All, Democratic leaders are not committed to educate the public so
Democrats can use this to win in 2020, and nobody expects Nancy Pelosi
and the gang to support debt forgiveness for student loans, free college
tuition, rent control, a living wage tied to actual prices, reining in
the frackers and oil companies, or laws that would enable workers to
organize unions and protect themselves. All these are things Democratic
voters want, but Democratic leaders in the new 116th Congress do not.
Existing Democrats did not just overwhelmingly approve Trump’s record military budget proposal,
they heaped upon it an additional amount greater than the entire amount
spent by Russia while American communities are cutting and closing
public schools, libraries and community hospitals and privatizing
infrastructure from crumbling roads and bridges to the Post Office and
the Veterans Administration. The new Democratic House leaders are
expected to be Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, both
78 years old, and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, age 79.
-- Bruce A. Dixon, "Was This Really The Most Important Mid-Term of Our Lives? Maybe Not" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).
Monday, November 12, 2018
Truest statement of the week II
All Americans are moving backward in the endlessly rightward
political lurch. Americans are overcome by debt peonage with no
guarantee of living wage employment, housing, or health care. The energy
used to defend Trump and the Koch brothers on this one point would be
better spent on a much needed political movement for this century.
But that requires struggle and hard work. We will even have to struggle with one another as the system circles the drain. One thing is for certain. Black people will suffer the most if the doctrine of birthright citizenship is changed in any way.
-- Margaret Kimberley, "Black People Need Birthright Citizenship" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).
But that requires struggle and hard work. We will even have to struggle with one another as the system circles the drain. One thing is for certain. Black people will suffer the most if the doctrine of birthright citizenship is changed in any way.
-- Margaret Kimberley, "Black People Need Birthright Citizenship" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).
A note to our readers
Hey --
Almost Monday morning on the west coast and we're finally done.
Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:
And what did we come up with?
Peace,
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Almost Monday morning on the west coast and we're finally done.
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.
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 Bruce A. Dixon.
Another truest for Margaret Kimberley.
Let's start there.
Ava and C.I. narrow the focus to one program to zoom in on sexism.
Long overdue, we've finally done another roundtable.
Continuing to cover the book coverage in the community.
Sarah Abdallah gets this one.
What we listened to while writing.
Repost from THE COMMON ILLS. I (Jim) turned this down. C.I. was eager to get started on doing her post for THE COMMON ILLS. She tossed this topic out as a suggestion for a piece here. I didn't get it -- probably wasn't listening fully. On a break, she wrote it up for THE COMMON ILLS. We're reposting it here.
Mike and the gang wrote this and we thank them for it.Peace,
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Editorial: Awareness
- Sit-in protests in northern #Basra began today near the oilfields. Residents are protesting against unemployment and dire living conditions. They also voiced their need for cancer treatment hospitals, schools, and paved roads—many of #Basrah’s roads remain unpaved. #BasraProtests
When residents of Basra demand basic human rights, what's your obligation as an American?
Maybe one thing you need to do is just to be aware. To make sure others are as well.
Maybe since our government started this illegal -- and ongoing -- war, we need to make a point to be aware of what's going on in Iraq.
The alternative is to live in your bubble.
TV: Sexism and THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Sexism. Some people find it so hard to see -- even when it's right in front of them.
In 2008, Hillary Clinton ran for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination and endured non-stop sexism from the media. We called it out, week after week. We called it out, media watchdogs ignored it. For example, from our "TV: American Oh-Dull:"
Last week, we noted that FAIR's radio program CounterSpin is happy to ignore sexism and, at the top of Friday's show, they appeared bound and determined to prove us wrong.
Peter Hart: One of the most disturbing features of the media coverage of the Democratic presidential race is the way racism and sexism have been expressed. CNN viewers were treated to one pundit explanation that people might call Hillary Clinton a bitch because well isn't that just what some women are. Not everyone's so out in the open. MSNBC host Chris Matthews opened his May 18th show wondering how Barack Obama would connect with regular Democrats? Obviously code for working class Whites. This would seem to make the millions of Obama voters so far irregular. But then consider the May 14th op-ed by Washington Post Writers Group Kathleen Parker. She wrote about 'full bloodness' and the patriot divide between Obama and John McCain offering that there is "different sense of America among those who trace their bloodlines through generations of sacrifice." This makes Obama less American than his likely Republican rival and his success part of a larger threat "There is a very real sense that once upon a time America is getting lost in the dash to diversity." Well thanks to The Washington Post, Parker's rant appeared in newspapers around the country including the Baltimore Sun and Chicago Tribune. We're not sure what those papers used for a headline but one blogger suggest [nonsense] would do. Parker's attack wasn't even new. Before in the pages of The Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan wondered if Obama had ever gotten misty thinking about his country's rich heritage. John McCain by contrast "carries it in his bones." There's an appetite in corporate media for such repellent ideas as Editor & Publisher's Greg Mitchell recalled, Noonan's column was praised by NBC's anchor Brian Williams as Pulitzer worthy.
If you paid attention, Peter only proved us right. The first time this year CounterSpin can note any of the sexism, it's when Hillary's called a bitch and it produces a single sentence in which the 'pundit' isn't even named. We'll get back to that sentence but, like CounterSpin, let's focus on race. You'll notice the construct of Hart's opening sentence. We don't read Kathleen Parker, we don't know her, we can't even picture what she looks like. We haven't read her column and have no interest in doing so. We say all that as a preface because someone might be able to offer a defense of her and it might be valid. As Hart summarized and quoted what Parker wrote, it sure sounded like racism. But what of the other two examples? Yes, there are three examples of racism (real or imagined, we'll get to it) and only one of sexism. The sexism is clearly sexism and what Parker's credited with writing seems like racism.
[. . .]
It's amazing when you think about it, Hart has one solid case of racism and one solid case of sexism. Sexism is reduced to one sentence with no direct quote and neither the program or pundit is named. However, Kathleen Parker is named and quoted and it's six sentences of commentary. Hart also includes a Chris Matthews citation that may have nothing to do with racism and a Peggy Noonan citation that is only racist if we live in a world where Peggy's forced to stop recycling her usual garbage because the person she's targeting is bi-racial. Again, Peggy hates all living Democrats equally.
This was CounterSpin's initial 'foray' into sexism. The one time they've noted it in all of 2008. How proud they must be and how, well, fair they must feel that just once, for one non-specific, fleeting sentence they realized that sexism existed.
Even after the primary was over, people still couldn't be honest. That includes the embarrassing Kathleen Hall Jamieson who pretended to THE NEW YORK TIMES that she couldn't be sure that Hillary had experienced real sexist media coverage because what was there was so "limited." We found that strange since Kathy had participated in sexist media coverage of Hillary -- most infamously when Kath and Bill Moyers laughed and mocked Hillary for 'crying' onstage and shared Jesse Jackson Jr.'s tirade against Hillary instead of footage of Hillary (footage of the New Hampshire debate would've defeated Kath and Bill's 'observations' because Hillary did not cry).
Some wanted to argue it was open to interpretation.
Let's talk about another case of sexism.
If a show does 36 episodes, and each episode is an interview, how many women should be featured?
You might argue 18 because that would be a split directly down the middle.
How many episodes should feature women?
Let's just go the answer of how many episodes featured women: 6.
We're talking about NETFLIX and Loyola Marymount University's HOLLYWOOD MASTERS. NETFLIX has now aired 36 episodes.
Only six featured women. Women, to be featured, had to be actresses with multiple awards (Jane Fonda, Hillary Swank, Julia Louise Dreyfuss, Geena Davis and Amy Adams) or they had to produce multiple successful films and run a studio (Sherry Lansing).
No offense to human hairball Jake Gyllenhaal but how he is he qualified for THE HOLLYWOOD MASTERS? Or, for that matter, Damon Lindelof? Ken Burns is a "Hollywood Master"? He's the poster kid for revisionary history and Super-Cuts, that's all he is. Billy Bob Thorton -- is he going to be remembered as anything other than an ex-husband of Anjelina Jolie's? Do we even want to get started on what world needs an episode revolving around never-lived-up-to-his-promise Ethan Hawke?
Six women. Thirty-one men (one episode featured two men who were brothers -- and who were popular for a very limited time in the 90s culminating with THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY).
Six versus thirty-one.
These are numbers, hard data.
And this show comes with a host from THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, Stephen Galloway. That would be the same publication that loves to pretend to care about inequality in the industry while they . . . perpetuate inequality in the industry.
Why is that we're the only ones calling them out?
Why is it that they have to be called out to begin with?
Common sense would tell you that, in 2018, you need to interview an equal number. And don't talk to us about 'merit.' When you're called THE HOLLYWOOD MASTERS and you sit down with the king of schlock Jerry Bruckheimer (episode six of season two), you don't have any standards at all.
Even with the pretense of merit, there are huge numbers of women who warrant being interviewed for a program entitled THE HOLLYWOOD MASTERS. Faye Dunaway, Rita Moreno, Cicely Tyson, Penny Marshall, Diana Ross, Nancy Meyers, Patty Jenkins, Charlize Theron, Lily Tomlin, Jane Wagner, Cher, Halle Berry, Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton, Regina King, Nicole Kidman, Jessica Lange, Sissy Spacek, Pam Grier, Frances McDormand, Angela Bassett, Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Meg Ryan, Glenn Close, Viola Davis, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Holly Hunter, Alfre Woodard, Julie Andrews, Ellen Burstyn, Salma Hayek, Lonette McKee, Vanessa Redgrave . . .
There's a huge number of women we haven't even listed.
But somehow women aren't invited to be on THE HOLLYWOOD MASTERS.
And those few times they are invited?
They're tokens.
What exactly is Loyola Marymount University teaching, enforcing and encouraging?
Sexism.
People complain, rightly, about the huge inequality of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But it didn't start in just one year. Each year, people were inducted. Men and a woman. Maybe two women one year. But lots and lots of men every year.
There are 30 episodes of THE HOLLYWOOD MASTERS where a man speaks to male guests. Only six episodes where the the male host interviews women.
These are numbers, not interpretations or anything that might make the nervous have to think or step out on a limb with us.
Last June, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER offered "TV Showrunners Talk Sexism in Writers Rooms, Hiring Diverse Staff and Weinstein's Blacklist." Exactly when are they going to examine the rank sexism in the program hosted by their own Stephen Galloway?
In 2008, Hillary Clinton ran for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination and endured non-stop sexism from the media. We called it out, week after week. We called it out, media watchdogs ignored it. For example, from our "TV: American Oh-Dull:"
Last week, we noted that FAIR's radio program CounterSpin is happy to ignore sexism and, at the top of Friday's show, they appeared bound and determined to prove us wrong.
Peter Hart: One of the most disturbing features of the media coverage of the Democratic presidential race is the way racism and sexism have been expressed. CNN viewers were treated to one pundit explanation that people might call Hillary Clinton a bitch because well isn't that just what some women are. Not everyone's so out in the open. MSNBC host Chris Matthews opened his May 18th show wondering how Barack Obama would connect with regular Democrats? Obviously code for working class Whites. This would seem to make the millions of Obama voters so far irregular. But then consider the May 14th op-ed by Washington Post Writers Group Kathleen Parker. She wrote about 'full bloodness' and the patriot divide between Obama and John McCain offering that there is "different sense of America among those who trace their bloodlines through generations of sacrifice." This makes Obama less American than his likely Republican rival and his success part of a larger threat "There is a very real sense that once upon a time America is getting lost in the dash to diversity." Well thanks to The Washington Post, Parker's rant appeared in newspapers around the country including the Baltimore Sun and Chicago Tribune. We're not sure what those papers used for a headline but one blogger suggest [nonsense] would do. Parker's attack wasn't even new. Before in the pages of The Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan wondered if Obama had ever gotten misty thinking about his country's rich heritage. John McCain by contrast "carries it in his bones." There's an appetite in corporate media for such repellent ideas as Editor & Publisher's Greg Mitchell recalled, Noonan's column was praised by NBC's anchor Brian Williams as Pulitzer worthy.
If you paid attention, Peter only proved us right. The first time this year CounterSpin can note any of the sexism, it's when Hillary's called a bitch and it produces a single sentence in which the 'pundit' isn't even named. We'll get back to that sentence but, like CounterSpin, let's focus on race. You'll notice the construct of Hart's opening sentence. We don't read Kathleen Parker, we don't know her, we can't even picture what she looks like. We haven't read her column and have no interest in doing so. We say all that as a preface because someone might be able to offer a defense of her and it might be valid. As Hart summarized and quoted what Parker wrote, it sure sounded like racism. But what of the other two examples? Yes, there are three examples of racism (real or imagined, we'll get to it) and only one of sexism. The sexism is clearly sexism and what Parker's credited with writing seems like racism.
[. . .]
It's amazing when you think about it, Hart has one solid case of racism and one solid case of sexism. Sexism is reduced to one sentence with no direct quote and neither the program or pundit is named. However, Kathleen Parker is named and quoted and it's six sentences of commentary. Hart also includes a Chris Matthews citation that may have nothing to do with racism and a Peggy Noonan citation that is only racist if we live in a world where Peggy's forced to stop recycling her usual garbage because the person she's targeting is bi-racial. Again, Peggy hates all living Democrats equally.
This was CounterSpin's initial 'foray' into sexism. The one time they've noted it in all of 2008. How proud they must be and how, well, fair they must feel that just once, for one non-specific, fleeting sentence they realized that sexism existed.
Even after the primary was over, people still couldn't be honest. That includes the embarrassing Kathleen Hall Jamieson who pretended to THE NEW YORK TIMES that she couldn't be sure that Hillary had experienced real sexist media coverage because what was there was so "limited." We found that strange since Kathy had participated in sexist media coverage of Hillary -- most infamously when Kath and Bill Moyers laughed and mocked Hillary for 'crying' onstage and shared Jesse Jackson Jr.'s tirade against Hillary instead of footage of Hillary (footage of the New Hampshire debate would've defeated Kath and Bill's 'observations' because Hillary did not cry).
Some wanted to argue it was open to interpretation.
Let's talk about another case of sexism.
If a show does 36 episodes, and each episode is an interview, how many women should be featured?
You might argue 18 because that would be a split directly down the middle.
How many episodes should feature women?
Let's just go the answer of how many episodes featured women: 6.
We're talking about NETFLIX and Loyola Marymount University's HOLLYWOOD MASTERS. NETFLIX has now aired 36 episodes.
Only six featured women. Women, to be featured, had to be actresses with multiple awards (Jane Fonda, Hillary Swank, Julia Louise Dreyfuss, Geena Davis and Amy Adams) or they had to produce multiple successful films and run a studio (Sherry Lansing).
No offense to human hairball Jake Gyllenhaal but how he is he qualified for THE HOLLYWOOD MASTERS? Or, for that matter, Damon Lindelof? Ken Burns is a "Hollywood Master"? He's the poster kid for revisionary history and Super-Cuts, that's all he is. Billy Bob Thorton -- is he going to be remembered as anything other than an ex-husband of Anjelina Jolie's? Do we even want to get started on what world needs an episode revolving around never-lived-up-to-his-promise Ethan Hawke?
Six women. Thirty-one men (one episode featured two men who were brothers -- and who were popular for a very limited time in the 90s culminating with THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY).
Six versus thirty-one.
These are numbers, hard data.
And this show comes with a host from THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, Stephen Galloway. That would be the same publication that loves to pretend to care about inequality in the industry while they . . . perpetuate inequality in the industry.
Why is that we're the only ones calling them out?
Why is it that they have to be called out to begin with?
Common sense would tell you that, in 2018, you need to interview an equal number. And don't talk to us about 'merit.' When you're called THE HOLLYWOOD MASTERS and you sit down with the king of schlock Jerry Bruckheimer (episode six of season two), you don't have any standards at all.
Even with the pretense of merit, there are huge numbers of women who warrant being interviewed for a program entitled THE HOLLYWOOD MASTERS. Faye Dunaway, Rita Moreno, Cicely Tyson, Penny Marshall, Diana Ross, Nancy Meyers, Patty Jenkins, Charlize Theron, Lily Tomlin, Jane Wagner, Cher, Halle Berry, Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton, Regina King, Nicole Kidman, Jessica Lange, Sissy Spacek, Pam Grier, Frances McDormand, Angela Bassett, Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Meg Ryan, Glenn Close, Viola Davis, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Holly Hunter, Alfre Woodard, Julie Andrews, Ellen Burstyn, Salma Hayek, Lonette McKee, Vanessa Redgrave . . .
There's a huge number of women we haven't even listed.
But somehow women aren't invited to be on THE HOLLYWOOD MASTERS.
And those few times they are invited?
They're tokens.
What exactly is Loyola Marymount University teaching, enforcing and encouraging?
Sexism.
People complain, rightly, about the huge inequality of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But it didn't start in just one year. Each year, people were inducted. Men and a woman. Maybe two women one year. But lots and lots of men every year.
There are 30 episodes of THE HOLLYWOOD MASTERS where a man speaks to male guests. Only six episodes where the the male host interviews women.
These are numbers, not interpretations or anything that might make the nervous have to think or step out on a limb with us.
Last June, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER offered "TV Showrunners Talk Sexism in Writers Rooms, Hiring Diverse Staff and Weinstein's Blacklist." Exactly when are they going to examine the rank sexism in the program hosted by their own Stephen Galloway?
Roundtable
Jim: It's been awhile but it's roundtable time again. Remember our e-mail
address is thethirdestatesundayreview@yahoo.com. Participating in our roundtable are The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava, and me, Jim; 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); Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix; Mike of Mikey Likes It!; Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz); Ruth of Ruth's Report; Trina of Trina's Kitchen; Wally of The Daily Jot; Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ; Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends; Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub. Betty's kids did the
illustration. You are reading a rush transcript.
Jim (Con't): Anyone want to talk mid-terms?
Rebecca: There was no blue wave. I honestly would've loved to have seen one but it didn't happen. And the House did go to the Democrats but not like in, for example, 1994 when the Republicans won the House in that mid-term. It was underwhelming.
Mike: It had all the action of an episode of IRONSIDE.
Stan: Well put. And a lot of that is Nancy Pelosi's fault. She was Speaker of the House from 2007 to 2011. It's now 2018. We don't her in 2019. This is beyond stupid. The Democratic Party needs new leaders. Even had she been a success -- and she wasn't -- all this time later she does not need to be Speaker of the House.
Marcia: She was a huge loser. Her 2006 promise was control of the House would mean US troops out of Iraq. So we gave the Dems control of the House and Senate and, guess what, US troops are still in Iraq. Nancy is the face of failure, she needs to go.
Jess: We're talking about Iraq so I want to bring up the continued bombing of North Iraq, the Kurdistan Region, by the Turkish government. Saturday, ANADOLU AGENCY reported that the Turkish government stated it "neutralized" 15 "militants." Then today, it's reported that they claim they killed 14 "militants." They don't know who they're bombing. And they've bombed villages and killed people and killed livestock and they never admit that even when, months later, it's reported that's what the bombs landed on. The Iraqi government doesn't want this taking place -- the bombing -- but the US backs Turkey on it. It's disgusting.
Ty: Agreed. And it ticks me off when independent or 'independent' media repeats the claims as gospel. I will be kind and not name someone or the site they post for but stop repeating these claims as facts. They do not know who they killed. They are dropping bombs from the sky. Quit lying for them.
Elaine: While we're noting Iraq, let me note Daniel Brown (BUSINESS INSIDER):
Of the 76 countries in which the U.S. is currently fighting terrorism, at least three have been incredibly deadly: Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Brown University’s Costs of War Project recently released a report detailing just how deadly they’ve been. It counts how many people have been killed by the “United States’ post-9/11 wars” in these three countries.
Elaine (Con't): So they admit it's an undercount and they have a total of 250,000 for Iraq. But my point here is C.I.'s snapshot on Thursday which rightly called out that idiot Ezra Klein who Tweeted last week that the US wasn't at war. How stupid do you have to be? How out of touch do you want to confess to being? Way back when, this is 2005, I believe, C.I. said that we were cutting off the head of Cokie Roberts but all that would happen is a million more Cokies would sprout in her place. That's exactly what's taken place. All these Ezzie Kleins and others who pretended to give a damn about the Iraq War in 2005 no longer even acknowledge Iraq or any war the US is in. They were lying assholes and they need to be called out.
Rebecca: I find it hilarious that these Kleins call out Glenn Greenwald for being wrong when Glenn's admitted he was wrong about the Iraq War but these Kleins can't acknowledge any ongoing war. They're liars and they're disgusting. They're worse than Cokie Roberts and, honestly, who would have thought that was possible.
Elaine: C.I.
Rebecca: Well, yes, but most of us wouldn't have. The thing that I want the net to do, in 30 or so years, I want this available somewhere -- an archive, whatever. I want people to know that the ones who self-present as being against the war aren't against it. And they're not here to help you either. They're here to help themselves and they will sell you out so damn fast.
Dona: But we knew that. We all listened to THE MAJORITY REPORT with Janeane Garofalo and that awful Sam Seder. Janeane was off, it was a Friday night and Sam brought on Bill Scher -- who no longer blogs but used to blog at LIBERAL OASIS. The guest was the hideous DLC-er Simon Rosenberg. And Sam endorsed him and coddled him and Bill was right there doing the same thing. They pretended they were against the Iraq War. Janeane didn't pretend. She was against it. But Sam Seder and, yes, Bill Scher pretended. Simon was disgusting and, as C.I. has noted, credit to Rachel Maddow for this because when Simon was on UNFILTERED the same week and started his b.s. about how gays weren't a fight to defend and that we had serious issues, Rachel ripped him a new one and good for her on that. But that sort of crap flew a-okay for Sam Seder and Bill Scher.
Jim: I will just note that Bill was a guest host. He might not have been comfortable as the fill-in host --
Dona (Con't): Then he shouldn't have been on the show!
Jim: He may not have been comfortable disagreeing with the host Sam Seder who was agreeing non-stop with the guest Simon Rosenberg.
Dona: Then he shouldn't have been on the show. He was called out on the message board and so was Sam Seder. It got so bad that Sam started whining and attacking the listeners saying if they heard something they didn't like then they had their answer on where they stood on Simon Rosenberg.
Betty: Sam was and remains a disgrace. Why do the so-called left always advance these men who are best described as 'weak sisters.' Sam Seder is like a clone of Alan Colmes. So many are. Why is Brian Montopoli a behind the scenes producer at MSNBC when he should be on air talent? If you're attractive and actually have a spin, MSNBC doesn't want you in front of the camera. They seem to exist to perpetuate the stereotype Alan Colmes long ago created.
Ty: Okay, I need to work in an e-mail. Every edition, we're trying to include "Read a book?" which notes the community coverage of books. A lot of e-mails have come in expressing appreciation for the increased coverage. They're wondering if this is going to continue beyond 2018?
Trina: I would say so. I would say so. I'm planning to do the review for next week. It will be a pan, by the way, I'm not endorsing the book I'm finishing, I already loathe it.
Jim: And, C.I., are you going to review ______? I know you made a point to read it --
C.I.: Planning to review it. But then I read it. It was awful in a number of ways. I don't know.
Jim: I'm asking because I kind of felt like, recently, Elaine was sort of prompting you to do so with a piece she wrote at her site.
Elaine: I was.
Jim: I got that when I read it.
C.I.: You know, I've already trashed Seymour Hersh's book. Is that what I'm going to do again? Take on another 'lefty'? Although in this case, the person is an actual lefty -- unlike Hersh. I don't know. I suppose I should. He's just so irritating. Why, as Betty was just noting, are so many of the lefty males who get promoted to hero status so unfortunate and irritating?
Isaiah: I hope C.I. does review it. The few remarks she's made about the book in the gina & krista round-robin have really made me want her to review this.
Cedric: Wally and I need to review a book. We're the only ones who haven't. There's got to be a book we can work in someway somehow.
Jim: Your most recent joint-post veered away from Alyssa Milano. Intentional?
Cedric: Yes. We went with Rob Reiner instead and that was intentional. She was nice to people who helped with regards to horses and she was nice to them regardless of politics which was a nice side of her.
Wally: We don't expect that it will last but we will find someone else to mock while it does. And this isn't a book but there's an essay I want to note, from Ahmed Twau's FOREIGN POLICY essay:
Recent violent protests in the southern Iraqi city of Basra have brought to light years of suffering by Iraqis in what is known as the economic capital of Iraq due to its vast oil reserves and deep-sea port access connecting the country to the international market. Basra, a predominantly Shiite city, also has a significant minority population, including black Iraqis and Christians. It is Iraq’s second-largest city and has developed a reputation for fostering some of Iraq’s greatest artists. During the first Gulf War, the Iraqi military used Basra as a route for the Kuwait invasion; ironically, a decade later, U.S.-led forces used it as a path toward Baghdad during the 2003 invasion.
The current crisis in Basra is not a recent development. It stems from years of inattention from both the international community and the Iraqi government. Increased civil unrest in the region has been exacerbated by the government’s focus on defeating the Islamic State in northern Iraq and unequal distribution of resources, making the current situation both expected and preventable. Basra’s once glorious canals, winding through a city previously known as the Venice of the Middle East, are now open-air sewers.
Following successful military operations against the Islamic State, most of the international focus has been on celebrating the liberation of northern Iraq and reconstruction of these areas. With most national and international attention focused on reconciling Iraq’s diverse communities in these liberated areas, Iraq’s predominantly Shiite southern cities have been neglected and their relative stability taken for granted.
Demonstrations and ensuing clashes with government security forces throughout this summer led to 27 deaths by the end of September, as well as the unsolved assassination of the women’s rights and anti-corruption activist Soad al-Ali. These protests, reflecting Iraqi anger about government corruption, also highlighted the lack of job opportunities and poor public services in the southern city. The protests not only targeted Iraqi officials but also foreign powers for their perceived role in supporting ineffective kleptocratic elites, with attacks on both the U.S. and Iranian consulates in Basra.
Ava: It's amazing how the Basra protests -- which have resumed now that the religious pilgrimage is over -- have been so little covered in the US. But, what I wonder, is this guilt related? You break up with someone -- don't write in asking if I'm referring to myself, Jess and I remain together, raising our baby -- and you feel guilty and you avoid them. In this case, a lot of Americans walked away from the topic of Iraq. Yes, it's the media's lack of coverage that is the primary blame but there are a lot of older people who walk away from the topic today. Is it guilt? Our country started the illegal war -- and continues it -- and is that too much reality for a lot of people to deal with? I'm just tossing it out there.
Ann: And I'm really interested in that question. I think that the work you, C.I., Wally and Kat do is important and I think we can see ripples throughout our society. Young people, for example, just aren't into the two party trap the way their elders are. If they're political, young people are aware of how corrupt the system is and that's a good thing, we can't change anything without confronting it. We need to know what it is to confront it.
Ruth: And I think Ava's on to something but I also hope that we are seeing a renewal of peace actions -- Cindy Sheehan's recent March on the Pentagon, the work of Black Alliance for Peace in DC a week ago and more. I think we're basically having to relearn how to walk. And I think we are looking at longterm efforts.
Cedric: Well that makes sense when you grasp that the Iraq War itself has been a longterm effort. This thing's been going on for 15 years.
Kat: So the resistance will need to be longterm as well, agreed. I also think Ruth's right that each action that's taking place in the autumn of action is impacting further actions that will come later. And I really think Ava has a point here with the question she's raising. She and C.I. have been raising it as we speak to older groups, yes, but also when we speak to college students and high school students about the wars.
Jim: So one more thing we'll have to confront to kick start a peace movement is guilt?
Wally: Collective guilt?
Jim: On that note, let's go ahead and wrap up. You are reading a rush transcript.
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Readers have e-mailed us asking for more book coverage at community sites. We've passed this request on.
So far, the book coverage includes:
"The Women’s Suffrage Movement is an awful (and rac..." and "Penguin's embarrassing and racist book on feminism" -- Ann and Elaine.
"Alice Isn't Dead" -- Marcia.
"I NEVER LOVED A MAN THE WAY I LOVE YOU: ARETHA FRANKLIN, RESPECT, AND THE MAKING OF A SOUL MUSIC MASTERPIECE" -- Elaine.
"WHEN BLANCHE MET BRANDO" -- Betty.
"The Third Hotel by Laura Van Den Berg" -- Trina.
"CLEOPATRA: HISTORIES, DREAMS AND DISTORTIONS" -- Mike.
"THE SAME RIVER TWICE (Alice Walker)" -- Isaiah.
"Dancing with Demons: The Authorized Biography of Dusty Springfield" -- Marcia.
"Good for Jimmy Stewart, bad for readers" -- Stan.
"Good for Jimmy Stewart, bad for readers" -- Stan.
"Conversations with Toni Morrison" -- Marcia.
"He Ran All The Way" -- Trina.
And we'll also note Ann's "How a book store could stay alive in today's economy" about the book business.