Sunday, August 17, 2008

Open Up The Debates!

Now, as to this question, let me say first that I think the vice president and his wife love their daughter. I think they love her very much. And you can't have anything but respect for the fact that they're willing to talk about the fact that they have a gay daughter, the fact that they embrace her. It's a wonderful thing. And there are millions of parents like that who love their children, who want their children to be happy. And I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, and so does John Kerry.



That's the 'moralizer' John Edwards prattling on in 2004 at the vice-presidential debates. The 'enlightened' and 'highly moral' Johnny was back at the stage on July 24, 2007:



I think Reverend Longcrier asks a very important question, which is whether fundamentally -- whether it's right for any of our faith beliefs to be imposed on the American people when we're president of the United States. I do not believe that's right. I feel enormous personal conflict about this issue. I want to end discrimination. I want to do some of the things that I just heard Bill Richardson talking about -- standing up for equal rights, substantive rights, civil unions, the thing that Chris Dodd just talked about. But I think that's something everybody on this stage will commit themselves to as president of the United States. But I personally have been on a journey on this issue. I feel enormous conflict about it. As I think a lot of people know, Elizabeth spoke -- my wife Elizabeth spoke out a few weeks ago, and she actually supports gay marriage. I do not. But this is a very, very difficult issue for me. And I recognize and have enormous respect for people who have a different view of it. [. . .] It's not. I mean, I've been asked a personal question which is, I think, what Reverend Longcrier is raising, and that personal question is, do I believe and do I personally support gay marriage? The honest answer to that is I don't.



Wow, imagine that, John and Elizabeth Edwards with a disagreement, who could have ever guessed? Three years later and he's got nothing new to say despite the laughable repetition of "enormous conflict" felt over this decision. John Edwards, your scarlet letter is showing, zip up your pants.



That's what passes for discourse in presidential debates. In 2004, John Edwards thinks he's pulling a fast one by pointing out the Dick Cheney has a gay daughter (Mary). Oh, such unbelievably intellectual discourse! How fortunate the nation was to have John Rona Barrett Edwards participating in the debates.



But John's not really the problem in and of himself. That garbage that passes for a discussion of the issues is brought to you by the Democratic and Republican parties.



Had John Edwards been this year's nominee we could have looked forward to him saying exactly what he said in 2004 plus that it caused him "enormous conflict." Maybe we could have counted on that being raised even 'higher' via Jay Leno doing a bit about the "enormous conflict" and, looking in the camera, asking, "Is Edwards trying to tell us he's in the midst of a homosexual panic?"



Edwards' 2004 moment quoted above was all the talk of the press for days and days and, in fact, Bully Boy would bring it up in his debate with John Kerry. Gossip. The press would debate endlessly whether Edwards and Kerry noting Mary Cheney was gay (she was already a lesbian) was appropriate or not when, in fact, they should have been decrying the rigged debates themselves.



Don't like gossip posing as "issues"? Well open up the damn debates. The debates are now controlled by the Democratic and Republican Party (and brought to you via corporate donations). That has been true since 1988. As Crapapdeia notes:



In 1988, the League of Women Voters withdrew its sponsorship of the presidential debates after the George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis campaigns secretly agreed to a "memorandum of understanding" that would decide which candidates could participate in the debates, which individuals would be panelists (and therefore able to ask questions), and the height of the podiums. The League rejected the demands and released a statement saying that they were withdrawing support for the debates because "the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter".



In 2004, on NPR's Tavis Smiley Show, Connie Rice (cousin of US Secretary of State Condi Rice) broke down the basics including;



(10.) "A debate is a head-to-head, spontaneous, structured argument over the merits of an issue," Rice says. "Under the ridiculous 32-page contract that reads like the rules for the Miss America Pageant, there will be no candidate-to-candidate questions, no rebuttal to your opponent's points, no cross questions or cross answers, no rebuttals, no follow-up questions — that's not a debate, that's a news conference."
(9.) The debates were hijacked from the truly independent League of Women Voters in 1986.
"The League of Women Voters ran these debates with an iron hand as open, transparent, non-partisan events from 1976 to 1984," Rice says. "The men running the major campaigns ended their control when the League defiantly included John Anderson and Ross Perot, and used tough moderators and formats the parties didn't like. The parties snatched the debates from the League and formed the Commission on Presidential Debates -- the CPD -- in 1986."
(8.) The "independent and non-partisan" Commission on Presidential Debates is neither independent nor non-partisan.
"CPD should stand for 'Cloaking-device for Party Deceptions' -- it is not an independent commission on anything. The CPD is under the total control of the Republican and Democratic parties and by definition bipartisan, not non-partisan. Walter Cronkite called CPD-sponsored debates an 'unconscionable fraud.'"





First step this year is opening up the debates. For the future, the CPD needs to be dismantled. Chuck Baldwin, Bob Barr, Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader are running for president but they're not the Democratic Party nominee or the Republican Party nominee (both parties are expected to soon declare their nominees) and so the CPD thinks it can shut them out of the conversation. The CPD thinks that, in a democracy, they can shut presidential candidates out of the discussion and deny the people the right to see all candidates debate.
candi


What has the DNC and GOP so scared? They can't make their backdoor deals about what will be asked, what won't be asked, when a candidate can use a pen to take notes, blah, blah, blah.



Let's seem some real debates to demonstrate that the United States has a real democracy. That means open them up and invite all the candidates. That is the only way we'll see real democracy let alone a discussion of the real issues.



This is Ralph Nader. The only time when tens of millions of Americans tune in for a couple of hours and pay attention to politics is during the prime time presidential debates. For our democracy to survive, prevail and thrive, we must have an open debate about the challenges we face and the solutions that we must apply. We really don't need two-candidate debates that sound like canned interviews. We don't need debaters prepped to look like a couple of game show contestants. We don't need show business, we need serious debate.

A 2000 Zogby poll showed that nearly 52% of the people wanted other candidates in the debates. In 2004, another Zogby poll showed 57% of likely voters wanted the debates opened up. A July 2008 poll by Zogby found that 44% of the public agreed that the American system is broken and cannot be repaired by the traditional two party politics and election. Another poll had 61% of the people saying both parties are failing.

It's time to open up the debates to third party candidates. I'm running for president because our democracy has been the target of an accelerating hostile corporate takeover. Control of our government by large corporations results in huge corporate welfare payouts, mega-fraud by military contractors, a pay or die system of health insurance, continued man-made global climate change and a collapsing financial system being propped up by the day on the backs of the American taxpayer with no restrictions, guarantees or return on investment. This and much more has happened with the craven complicity of both major political parties and politicians in Washington.

Friends, as things stand, the three debates run by the two parties through the private Commission on Presidential Debates, a corporation, will exclude critical discussion of the control of our democracy by large corporations We need honest talk in this campaign. It's time to respect the will of the American people, to expand their access to arguments and facts that address issues central to their daily lives. It's time for the American people to take control of the political system. We can begin by opening up the presidential debates. I'm Ralph Nader.

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That's independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader's "Open the Debates" and you can hear it in audio at Ralph's Daily Audio, a new page at the Nader-Gonzalez campaign site. The campaign is keeping issues on the table. Thursday, Jess spoke with Junue Millan at the newly opened Nader-Gonzalez Denver Headquarters.

The headquarters intends to be open not just business hours Monday through Friday, but from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. That's due to the fact that not only are they a campaign headquarters with all that entails, they're also gearing up for the Denver Super Rally August 27th. They are expecting between 5,000 and 7,000 people at the University of Denver's Magness Arena.

And they need volunteers. If you're in the Denver area and interested in helping, you can e-mail Junue Millan at junue@votenader.org as well as call the office (303) 832-2509 or walk in.

The Denver Super Rally will feature Ralph and running mate Matt Gonzalez as well as many guest speakers such as artist, activist and rocker Jello Biafra. Junue Millan described the mood to Jess as very up and noted that five outlets (including Univision) had sent reporters Thursday to cover the opening of the Denver headquarters. Millan was able to quickly -- without pausing -- tick off the issues that the Nader-Gonzalez campaign were raising and intended to keep on the table. None of that, "Check Saint Barack's website for issues, I am just here to talk about how groovy Barack is and how, when he cries, the heavens rain. I first came to Barack . . . a street junkie who had run away from home and was turning tricks on the side, selling a little blow and scamming this old lady at the homeless shelter, but Saint Barack has changed my life and cured my irritable bowel syndrome. Praise be, St. Barack." Instead, Millan was informed and a total pro which says a great deal the Nader-Gonzalez campaign.

The Super Rallies are about opening the debates and allowing the real issues that matter to the American to be addressed. Will impeachment be raised by a Dem or Repube nominee at the debates? It is doubtful. But here's the Nader campaign's "Impeachment:"


This is Ralph Nader. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are the most impeachable president and vice president in the history of the United States. The Constitution of the United States structures our democracy within the rule of law. Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senator Barack Obama and their Republican associates are seriously subverting the rule of law by blocking the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
Bill Clinton must be shaking his head in wonderment. High Crimes and Misdemeanors are what get a president impeached. That's in Article II, Section IV of our Constitution. Let's consider the case of Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney.
High crimes and misdemeanor number one: The criminal war, invasion and occupation of Iraq in violation of our Constitution, federal statutes and international treaties that our country belongs to. The second is systemic torture condoned at the top of our government. That even violates the US Army Field Manual as well as FBI procedures. High crimes and misdemeanor number three: the arrests and imprisonment of thousands of Americans without charges, denying ha beaus corpus the fundamental requirement for a restraining power to show why the liberty of a person is being restrained. High crimes and misdemeanor number four: spying on millions of Americans without a judicial warrant. This one violates the FISA Act which provides for a five-year jail term. High crimes and misdemeanor number five are all those signing statements that George W. Bush declared when he signed one bill after another from Congress saying that it would be up to him to decide whether or not to obey the law. I guess one could call him King George IV.
The American Bar Association, the largest barre association in the world, quite conservative, has sent three major reports to President George W. Bush outlining his serious violations of provisions in our Constitution. I stood in front of the White House for 45 minutes a few weeks ago and declared the reasons for the impeachment or resignation or subsequent prosecution of Bush and Cheney for the five categories of High Crimes and Misdemeanors.
If we allow rampant, recidivist criminal activity in the White House -- as Speaker Pelosi, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have done week after week, month after month -- that'll simply set the stage for future presidents to think that they too can break the law with impunity and run our civil liberties, our civil rights, our safety, our freedoms, our status before the world into the ground. I'm Ralph Nader.


The CPD controls the debates and is funded by corporations. Do we really expect the Democratic or Republican nominee to take on the corporations? Here's Nader doing just that in "Corporate Tax Cheats:"

A report just out by the well regarded US Government Accountability Office concludes that about two-thirds of corporations operating in the United States did not pay taxes annually from 1998 to 2005. Imagine that. Senator Byron Dorgan, the Democrat of North Dakota, called the findings "A shocking indictment of the current tax system."
He continues, "It's shameful that so many corporations make big profits and pay nothing to support our country. The tax system that allows this whole sale tax avoidance is an embarrassment and unfair to hard working Americans who pay their fair share of taxes. We need to plug these tax loopholes and put these corporations back on the tax rolls."
Senator Carl Levin says, "This report makes clear that too many corporations are using tax trickery to send their profits overseas and to avoid paying their fare share in the United States." The GAO report said that 28% of large corporations paid no taxes during that period between 1998 to 2005. It's suspected that a lot of these global corporations were using transfer pricing to reduce their tax bills. This allows these multi-national corporations to transfer their goods and assets between their internal subsidiaries so they can record in the jurisdiction with low tax rates like the Bahamas.
David Cay Johnston, in his great book
Perfectly Legal concluded, and I paraphrase him, he said, "These global companies have now reached a point of power and manipulation where they can decide how much taxes they're going to pay, where they're going to pay these taxes, and when they're going to pay these taxes."
That's the leading tax reporter for the New York Times, a Pulitzer Prize winner, David Cay Johnston. It's something to think about when we ponder the double standard between working people on the one hand under our tax system and those tax escapees the global corporations on the other. This is Ralph Nader.



Another corporate issue was addressed by Nader in "Outsourcing:"


This is Ralph Nader. You know how often these big corporate executives, when they're shipping jobs of American workers to fascist or communist dictators abroad who know how to keep their workers in their place . Do you know how often they say "Well we have to do this to keep up with the global competition"? But one thing they don't do to keep up with the global competition is to outsource themselves, outsource their own CEO jobs or their own faulting commentators and editors jobs.
Let's start with the New York Times editorial page. It would be hard to replace Maureen Dowd, no doubt. But Thomas Friedman? He of the rah-rah, pro-corporate, globalization, cheesy metaphors? Well he could easily be replaced by a hard working Indian or Chinese bi-lingual columnist at a much lower rate. And how about Wall Street? All those investment bank executives, the executives of Citigroup or Merrill Lynch. Imagine how many first rate Indian or Chinese executives could have done a much better job than Bob Rubin who helped drive the giant Citibank into the ground. I'm sure good executives from India or China could replace Rick Wagoner as CEO of General Motors at a much, much lower salary. That's the way to meet the global competition: Outsource CEOS.
"What's good for the worker," says the CEO, "is not good for the CEO." The shareholders know better they've got to demand outsourcing CEOS for a new fresh. energetic start for the management of their country. I'm Ralph Nader.



The debates need to be opened. The US is supposed to have a democracy and the people are supposed to be informed. All candidates need to be up on stage. Until that happens, don't count on hearing issues from the corporate sponsored debates controlled by the duopoly. If you're hungry for issues right now, you can check out Ralph's Daily Audio.

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Jim note: Thank you to community member Lynda who e-mailed C.I. (see this morning entry). This posted without noting Jess' call to the Nader headquarters in Denver last week. It was an oversight that took place in the typing and I've added those paragraphs to article. In addition, I'll go ahead and include Nader's "Open The Debates:"

Good morning, this is Ralph Nader. As you know, Nader/Gonzalez is being blocked from the presidential debates. The corporate controlled so-called Commission on Presidential Debates will not let any independent candidate in unless they show 15% in a series of polls in September. That's no surprise. What is surprising is the failure of other debates to fill the vacuum. Part of this is due to Senator Obama's reluctance to engage his opponents.
On May 4th, Obama told Tim Russert on Meet The Press that he was willing to debate with "any of my opponents about what this country means, what makes it great." But earlier this month, Obama's campaign manager backed off, saying that Obama would debate only Senator McCain and only in the three rigged debates that's sponsored by the two parties and paid for by corporations.
Senator Obama's also refused to participate in a number of other debates including the Google debate in New Orleans, the Texas Ft. Hood debate that is being organized by veterans groups and the series of ten townhall meetings proposed by Senator McCain. Senator Obama's refusal to participate is a mistake and is costing him in the polls. Just yesterday, the Gallup tracking polls put McCain and Obama tied at 44% each. If Obama doesn't agree to more debates he could end up at the end of a sentence that starts out "Mondale, Dukakis, Gore and Kerry.
With only McCain and Obama on the stage , there will be no debate of key issues and redirections important to the American people . Just go down the partial list. Single-payer Medicare for all healthcare, supported by the majority of the American people, the majority of doctors and nurses, and just recently, unanimously, by the US conference of mayors? Obama says "no," McCain says "no." Reversing US policy in the Middle East? Obama says "no," McCain says "no." Cut the bloated, wasteful, redundant military budget? Obama says "no," McCain says "no." They want a bigger military budget. Empty the prisons of drug possessors and fill 'em up with corporate criminals? Obama says "no," McCain says "no." Nader-Gonzalez says "yes" to each.
The only way to change this systemic exclusion is for millions of Americans to become engaged now. If you can, please join with us at our two Super Rallies-- on August 27th in Denver at the University of Denver Magness Arena or September 4th in Minneapolis at Orchestra Hall. And help us raise the banner for all to see: "OPEN THE DEBATES."
If you are not able to attend, please go to VoteNader.org and donate now whatever you can up to the legal maximum of $4,600 to help fund our Open The Debates Campaign. Our goal is to raise $50,000 by Wednesday night. Last night, we were close to $14,000 in less than three days, but we have a ways to go. So join with us in Denver and Minneapolis if you can. We're planning to have some prominent activists and musicians with us. Stay tuned for more information on that. And we have some surprise, giant, inflatable visuals that should be a lot of fun, that will travel with us as we move from Denver to Minneapolis and then, hopefully, will bring attention to our Super Rallies from the press.
Thank you for your ongoing and considered support to our campaign. Together we are making a difference. Onward to November. I'm Ralph Nader.
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