Lynne Stewart (Workers World)

Repost from Workers World (and Friday Judge Koeltl refused to alter the sentence).

A message from Lynne Stewart to all of us

By Workers World staff on August 6, 2013 » Add the first comment.

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Lynne Stewart, June 2013

The following letter was issued on Aug. 1 by political prisoner Lynne Stewart, who is suffering from breast cancer and is engaged in a struggle to gain compassionate release.
Supporters in New York are encouraged to attend a rally on Thursday, Aug. 8, the day of Stewart’s next court hearing, at 1 p.m. outside the New York City Federal Courthouse, 500 Pearl St. in Manhattan (at the Worth Street entrance). The hearing starts at 2:30 p.m. but it takes a long time to clear security, so please arrive early. Bring photo identification.


To All:


By now we will have filed papers which take us back into federal court in New York City to request that Judge [John G.] Koeltl overturn the barbaric decision by the Bureau of Prisons and allow me to leave this empty loveless prison and go home to people and places familiar and beloved. I certainly am sick enough — even my oncologist revised her prognosis down to 18 months now.


However, my spirit remains undaunted and when I compare myself to others far worse off than I am — the Guantánamo and Pelican Bay prisoners; Marie Mason; Aafia Siddiqui; Hugo “Yogi” Pinell; those under the death penalty, like Kevin Cooper; the remaining Angola 2; Ruchel Magee; and my fellow New Yorkers, Jalil [Muntaqim], Sekou [Odinga], Herman [Bell], Seth [Robert Seth Hayes], David [Gilbert], Abdul [Majid] — let me stop before I choke up here — I know we MUST win my fight and the struggle for all other political prisoners to be freed. And then we must struggle for all to be free in this country.



How much can we, the people, take? Their austerity is barbaric cruelty, with food stamps gone and public housing unavailable permanently. How long can the 1% continue to rule and the corporations call the shots? There is so much wrong, but we are not allowed to despair since we have been given sight in this land of the blind and hopeless and heartless.


So, that said, let’s once again get out there as often as needs be — for all the causes, for all the humanity. For the future. Forward, ever forward!!


— Lynne

Articles copyright 1995-2013 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.

Highlights

This piece is written by Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Kat of Kat's Korner, Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man, Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Ruth of Ruth's Report, Marcia of SICKOFITRADLZ, Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends, Ann of Ann's Mega Dub, Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts and Wally of The Daily Jot. Unless otherwise noted, we picked all highlights.


"Barack the little bitch" -- most requested highlight by readers of this site.

"Kat's Korner: Sam Phillips finally comes across" -- Kat reviews Sam Phillips new album.


"Easy Summer Tomato Salad in the Kitchen" -- Trina offers another easy tomato-based recipe.


"What's Curly doing in a sci-fi movie?," "Betty's hilarious review of Elysium," "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," "Comedy movies," "The Lone Stranger who bought a ticket to the dud," "The spin goes on (Lone Ranger)" and "Elysium" -- Ann, Betty and Stan go to the movies.

 "Iraq snapshot," "the hypocrite and user barack," "Barack needs to focus on nuclear disarmament (not Snowden)," and "Who's he to judge?" and "THIS JUST IN! JUDGE JUDY MAKE WAY FOR BARRY!" -- C.I., Rebecca, Elaine and Cedric and Wally weigh in on Barack's press conference.

"Happy Birthday, Curiosity" -- Betty continues her coverage of NASA's mission to Mars.

"Is the CIA censored on Benghazi?," "Benghazi again," "Benghazi" and "What difference does it make?" -- Ruth continues her Benghazi coverage.

"Tag sale Detroit" -- Trina continues her coverage of Detroit.

"Linda and others not in the Hall" -- Kat notes the continued exclusion of women from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"Washington Post?" and "Uh-oh, Bezos!" -- Kat writes about the new owner of the Washington Post.

"Fired for being gay" -- is it the 1970s?  

"The deflation of Barack" -- Barack grows ever smaller.

"I still wouldn'r call it a victory" -- Marcia on Bradley Manning.

"FISA" -- Elaine on the realities re: the FISA court.




"Protest music " and  "Conor Oberst is a joke" -- Kat and Mike note the ridiculous.

"Barack's spying" -- Mike notes the criminal.


"Eileen Brennan" and "Karen Black RIP" -- Betty and Stan cover passings.

"Attitudes of Gratitude" -- Isaiah dips into the archives.

Truest statement of the week

The authorities of United States have a long history of spying on those who actively participate in the nation's democracy through free speech and other civic and community activities.  Over the years, citizens and the judiciary have tried to rein in state surveillance by asserting First Amendment protections of free speech and Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.  From the Palmer Raids through COINTELPRO, periods of perceived national emergency have typically eroded these protections.  Today, a sprawling industry has mushroomed, financed by taxpayer money, ostensibly to protect the nation from terrorism and other threats.  As this industry consolidates and grows, sophisticated surveillance technologies pose new threats to privacy and the right of association. 


-- Heidi Boghosian (National Lawyers Guild Executive Director and co-host of Law and Disorder Radio) from her new book Spying on Democracy: Government Surveillance, Corporate Power and Public Resistance.

Truest statement of the week II

At any rate, the mainstream press corps’ alignment with conservative sources began coming apart in July 2003, as the failure to find so-called WMD in Iraq began to move center stage. In the wake of that embarrassment, the mainstream press began moving away from Bold Leader Bush and his Strong Silent Leadership Style.

For the previous dozen years, they had strongly tended to align with the right, from whom they took their dictation. (Example: In the twenty-month coverage of Campaign 2000, it’s very hard to distinguish mainstream treatment of Candidate Gore from that which emerged on the right.)

Starting in July 2003, this alignment began to dissolve. And so it came to pass: By the spring of 2012, when the national press began to report the killing of Martin, the major organs were willing to take their dictation from “the left.”

In the process, we got yet another hapless product -- another tabloid-inflected, standardized tale. But this time, the fake facts, cloying language and disappeared information all came from voices on “the left.”

This time, the “press corps” farmed out its responsibilities to forces on the left! Handed this responsibility by a deeply irresponsible press corps, we lefties churned the typical reams of bullshit, though we’re still assuring the world that we created “an honest dialogue” about Martin’s death -- that we’ve been “fighting tabloid news with truth-telling investigation and commentary.”

What a manifest pile of crap!


-- Bob Somerby, "DUBLINERS TOO: Skolnik's 'mythical garment!'" (The Daily Howler).

A note to our readers

Hey --
Another Sunday.

First up, we 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.

We thank them all. What did we come up with?

• Truest statement of the week

Heidi Boghosian gets a truest.

• Truest statement of the week II

Bob Somerby does as well.

• Editorial: Media silence

This could have been a longer editorial but really, a longer editorial on the press reducing Iraq to less than a minute of 'coverage'?  

• TV: The So-So behind The Mediocres

Ava and C.I.'s instant classic lets you know that not only is The Awesomes anything but, the fact that it is so awful may say something about Seth Meyers and his planned stint (starting next February) as the host of NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers.

• Report on Congress

Dona takes a look at a Senate hearing with Ann, Cedric, Wally, Kat, Ava and C.I.

• Old Coot In The Suit

Dona found the photo.  What could we do with it?  Rebecca wondered "steal this look" and we thought about that but Ava and C.I. said "Yes, to the dress!"  We weren't aware of what that meant.  It's a reality show.  So have Susan Rice be the host of her own little reality show.

• Dunce of the Week: Matthew Rothschild

"Victory for Bradley Manning"?  When he's convicted of 20 out of 22 charges?  Ay-yi-yi.

• The Hate Merchant of Twitter

We found this and thought, "How typical."  On another week, it would be a much longer piece.

• Senator Patty Murray tackles assault in the milita...

Senator Murray press release.

• Syria (Sara Flounders)

Repost from Workers World.

• Special Victims Counsels

Senator Murray press release.

• Highlights

Mike and the gang wrote this and we thank them for it. 

We'll see you next week.




Peace.

-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.

Editorial: Media silence

If you missed the news last week, the United Nations counted 1057 violent deaths in Iraq last month, a monthly total not seen since 2008.   As violence continues to worsen in Iraq, the Brookings Institute.  Kenneth M. Pollack offered (PDF format warning) "The Fall and Rise and Fall of Iraq" last week.

But what did the US media offer?


Not much.

In fact, you can see Friday's second hour of The Diane Rehm Show of the sort of 'coverage' of Iraq we're supposed to be grateful.

Diane Rehm:  And in Iraq a wave of car bombs, Elise?


Elise Labott:  A wave of car bombs really raising fears that the sectarian strife that you saw five years ago after the U.S. invasion is really returning. There have been over the last week more than a dozen explosions. July was the deadliest month since 2007, over 1,000 killed, spiked during Ramadan. And all part of this, al-Qaida in Iraq is claiming responsibility for a lot of them, but it's really to sow up, you know, hatred against the Shia-lead government and more bloodshed between Sunni and Shia. 

Diane Rehm:  And let's go back to the phones to Little Rock, Ark. Hi there. Rod.

The entire 'coverage' of Iraq lasted less then 50 seconds.  In one hour of commercial free, public radio, as Iraq descends into ever more violence, we're supposed to be grateful with 50 lousy seconds.

That's disgusting.

Last week, The Voice of Russia's Rob Sachs spoke with Michael O'Brien about the violence and, at the end of the interview, a point was made that really applies:

 At this point, ten years out, Americans are tired of hearing about violence in Iraq, tired of hearing about efforts to stop it, but why should average Americans care at this point?

Well, you know, that's a real good question. Average Americans probably don't, but if you are an American that believes in right and wrong, if you're an American that believes in consequences, if you're an American that believes in the Constitution and also strictly focused on the defense of our country, then you'd be an American that would be going, "Why did we go over there in 03?" And you'd be an American that would be saying not only that, but "No one has been held accountable for us going there." And I'm talking about American leadership.

But questions like that are not answered or even asked when Iraq remains the topic the US media won't address.




Oh, yeah, and protests.  Above is 2011.  It's feeling a lot like 2011 in Iraq.  Friday, saw peaceful Baghdad protesters yet again targeted with beatings and arrests.

And where's the media?

TV: The So-So behind The Mediocres

When we heard that Seth Meyers had at least stumbled a bit at Comic-Con recently when unveiling his new series The Awesomes, we mentioned it to two NBC exes.  One simply insisted that had not happened.  The other was adamant that Seth had not only wowed everyone but The Awesomes was an indicator of how he would wow NBC late night in February when Late Nigh with Seth Meyers takes over Jimmy Fallon's slot while Jimmy slides behind the desk for The Tonight Show.

To state the obvious: Seriously?



The Awesomes is a Hulu exclusive series and the big question there is: Why?

At one point Syfy was going to run with the show but then got cold feet, a few years later it was MTV but they passed as well leaving Hulu with bragging rights -- or maybe shaming rights?


The premise of the animated program is that Prock (voiced by Meyers) is a would-be super hero with the power to freeze time and he's trying to take the lead of The Awesomes -- a super hero team his father had led. His father didn't think to name Prock as a successor, not even when his first and only choice, Perfect Man (voiced by Seth's brother Josh) turns down the honor of leading the team.

Prock is a nothing.  He's tired.  He's boring.  He's just not interesting enough to be a lead.

One example, he has the ability to freeze time.  What does he do with it?

Even his father thinks it's not a super power.  Really?  We seem to remember Holly Marie Combs' Piper kicking some major butt on Charmed with that power.  But then, she used it.  While she had everyone frozen, she was setting up the next move.

Prock 'uses' it to launch into inner monologues and then, when he decides on what he'll say, he unfreezes time and screws up his planned speech.

No wonder his father doesn't think it's a super power.

If Prock is nothing, The Awesomes is even less.

The gay jokes do grow weary.  The first one is when Prock is auditioning members for his team and he's told he should call it try-outs because auditions gives the wrong impressions.  Cut to scene of a flamboyant male onstage performing a song.

This is really where we are in 2013?

Gay people exist to be made fun of?

In 2013, a gay person can't be part of the team?  But can show up for cheap jokes at their own expense?


Women are barely a part of the team.  In fact, until the last five minutes, the team consists of Prock, Muscleman (Ike Barinholtz), Frantic (Taran Killam), Impresario (Kenan Thompson), Tim (Bobby Lee) and Gadget Gal (Paula Pell). Needing one more member, they luck out when Hotwire (Rashida Jones) shows up.  She's invited to join because of her hot body.

Prock ogles her, doesn't care about her powers, just wants her but will settle for her being on the team.

Reminder, the year is 2013.

'Wait! There are two more women!'  Yes, there is Concierge (Emily Spivey) and Joyce Mandrake (Rachel Dratch).  They're not super heroes, they're not team members.  Concierge is a flunky who plays Mommy (usually Mean Mommy), a traditional role.

Joyce? She's fortunate in that Dratch's voicing resulting in so much more than what's on the written page.  Rashida Jones and Ike Barinholtz also deserve praise for their voice work.

It's 2013 and the sole African-American character sounds just like his mother -- because Kenan Thompson voices both Impresario and Impresario's 'sassy' mother.  Yes, it's time to put the African-American male yet again into a dress.

While it's clear why two networks walked away from it, it's still not clear why Hulu thought this crap was worth streaming.


In the comments left at Hulu for the first two episodes ("Pilot Part One" and "Part Two"), there's a fierce debate taking place.  Not over whether or not the show's any good.  A little over a majority of those commenting agree the show sucks.  The only debate is as to whether it's ripping off Mystery Men the most or The Venture Brothers or The Incredibles or Scooby Doo or The Legend of Korra.

It was Hulu's 14th most popular series of the week.  That's really not good.  For example, Melissa Joan Hart's Sabrina The Teenage Witch was at number 12.  We're not knocking Sabrina, it was a solid program but it ran from 1996 to 2003 and last week more people were streaming this at Hulu than the new content The Awesomes?  Even with all the promotion for The Awesomes at Hulu?

Maybe that promotion is what ran off viewers?

Long before Sabrina was a live action show, it was a 1970 Saturday morning cartoon on CBS.   31 episodes aired for four years on CBS.  This was produced by Filmation which is not generally seen as an artistic giant but the Filmation shows had much better animation than does The Awesomes.  It has a cheap and 'animation-lite' feel to it.

For example, if you're enemy is a huge mountain of poo, it needs to look like it.  Otherwise, why did you write the character?

About the best thing we can say about the show is that Seth is a much better voice actor than he is a live action actor.  Doing voice work spares America his Ann B. Davis face and a great deal of his Don Knotts style mugging.  At the same time, it also points to just how bland Meyers is.


His writing is bland as well.   The big winner in his move to late night week day TV is Saturday Night Live which has felt increasingly tired in the last years.  Seth has 'written' and overseen the 'writing' of many a bad scene which existed solely to demonstrate that Seth can't parody politics.  He really can't. SNL political jokes in his tenure have been an embarrassment (and very one-sided).  Seth is most comfortable, as a writer, making every skit have a TV setting.  His world's been very limited and it sorely shows.


Which means we may have to review late night in 2014.  Jimmy Fallon was made for late night.  He had the energy that can perk viewers up.  He's got the looks.  He remains the best looking late night host.   Later this year, he turns 39.  And later this year, 'newbie' Seth turns 40.

Yeah, Seth's a little long in the tooth.

David Letterman was 34 when he carved out the time slot.  Conan O'Brien was 30 when he replaced Dave.  At the age of 34, Jimmy Fallon took over from Conan.  At the age of 40,  Seth will be replacing Jimmy?

Seth will also be a year older than Tonight Show host Jimmy.

NBC might need to start worrying.

Comedy is, of course, derivative.

So maybe it's not all that surprising that over at CBS' late night program, there are snickers and comparisons of Seth to an actress and that the same comparison and laughter is being heard from the Jimmy Kimmel staff?

Derivative or not, NBC is aware that Seth repeatedly failed to connect with most audiences, right? That could cause problems in a format where he's required to deliver an opening monologue five days a week.  On his inability to connect with viewers, for most SNL viewers, Seth's best moments come with Stefan (Bill Hader), for many those are the only moments worth remembering. That's especially sad when you grasp that Meyers has been in the show's cast since 2001 (doing bad bits like Nicolette Sheridan impersonations).


If The Awesomes were supposed to put these concerns to rest by presenting Seth in a lead role in an animated series, it's only established him as the most bland member of the cast.  Bland has often been an ideal quality for a talk show host . . . on daytime TV.

But late night has always demanded charisma.  Those without it (Dick Cavette, for example), have failed repeatedly to find audiences while those with it have become TV stars (Jack Parr, Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Joan Rivers, Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon).

Everything on paper about Seth Meyers is supposed to add up to stardom but the reality is that he's the least well known (or liked) Weekend Update anchor ever (Colin Quinn rejoices as he's finally able to hand off that 'honor').  And, again, except for popping his eyes at Bill Hader's Steon, there's really been no moments that seized the country's attention.


Which brings up back to the comparisons the people at Letterman and Kimmel are making, to the actress who supposedly got the break of a lifetime when she joined the cast of a hit TV show but it all failed miserably and led to the king of late night, Johnny Carson, declaring on air, "When Hack's A is put where her T should be, it still doesn't jiggle."

Carson was speaking of Shelley Hack.  The model had found fame in a series of commercials for the perfume Charlie, leading her to be known as "the Charlie girl."  Kate Jackson had left Charlie's Angels after the third season of the show.  Kate had class and the Charlie ads were seen as classy.  And wasn't Hack already crowned "the Charlie girl"?  What a perfect fit!  Until the shows started airing and America rejected Hack as Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd's co-worker.  Comparing Seth Meyers to Shelley Hack may just be a form of late night rivalry but, then again, it may be an early portent.

Report on Congress

Dona:  Hadn't planned on it, but we are back with another "Report on Congress."  What changed? Last Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing which C.I. reported on in "Iraq snapshot," Wally's "THIS JUST IN! RUSS FEINGOLD WHERE ARE YOU NOW!" and Cedric's "Punchline: US Senate" joint-post took on,   Ava reported on the hearing in "Blumenthal disappoints (Ava)," Wally in ""Leahy and Feinstein are disgraces," Ann in "The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing" and Kat in "The Constitution has been shredded."  For the discussion, I'm  joined by Ann, Ava, Cedric, C.I., Kat and Wally who attended the hearing.  This will be a quick roundtable. Cedric, I'd like to start with you because you and Wally do joint-posts, they are humorous posts.  And they generally take on items in the news.  Instead, this post was a blistering and biting commentary on the Senate.  Talk a little about the thinking of that.

Cedric:  Sure.  Well the hearing was scheduled and I knew Ann was getting crazy, we've just had a baby and she's on family leave, so I mentioned the hearing and she was interested in it.  But the hearing got move up in terms of time of day and so we're scrambling because we didn't realize that.  So Wally and I decided to forget about doing our usual morning post.  We were pretty sure we wouldn't do a post that day, we'd double up later or just be one short.  But then we went to the hearing and we were just so appalled.  We were talking about the Senate and how it refused to stand up for the Constitution.  And that's when we decided we needed to do a post on the topic, to express our outrage and to make it clear how badly the Senate Judiciary Committee performed that day.

Dona: Alright, thank you for that.  The Senate Judiciary Committee was holding a hearing on the spying.  Kat, why?

Kat: Because they'd refused to do so and the House was doing its job and holding hearings -- the House Judiciary Committee held an infamous hearing last month where Democrats and Republicans were shoulder-to-shoulder on how outrageous and unacceptable the spying on every American was.  The Senate Committee was a huge disappointment, a lackluster moment where the participants appeared unaware of the Constitution. 

Dona: Which would specifically be the Fourth Amendment regarding Americans protection from search and seizure. 

Cedric: Right.  Instead, we've learned, via the revelations of NSA whistle-blower Ed Snowden.  It's spying on all Americans.  It includes, but is not limited to, the government obtaining "mega data" on every American's phone calls. 

Kat: Yes, and that data Cedric's talking about is the information on who you called and how long you were on the phone with the person.  There's also the going through of e-mails and much more.  A great deal to be outraged by.

Dona: But, Wally, where is the outrage?

Wally: In the House.  US House Rep. John Conyers did a great job at the House Judiciary Committee hearing. 

Dona: That's the July 18th hearing.  For coverage, you can see C.I.'s  "Iraq snapshot,"  Ava's  "Officials disrespect House Judiciary Committeem,"  C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot," Kat's "FISA rulings,"  Wally's "Proof that we should be thanking Ed Snowden (Wally)" and  C.I.'s  "House Judiciary Committee hearing."  You can also see it in "Report on Congress" from last week.  Wally, you wrote of Conyers standing up last week, at that hearing, and at the caving going on at the hearing last week.

Wally: If I could pull one person off the Committee, it would be Senator Dianne Feinstein.  She is the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee.  In that role, she failed.  She failed repeatedly and she failed over and over.  That may be why she covers for the unconstitutional program today.  It may not be.  But she needs to exit the Judiciary Committee.

Dona: She's not the chair of this committee, though.

Wally: No, that's the shameful Patrick Leahy.  Chuck Grassley is the Ranking Member.


Dona: Ava, you were disappointed as well -- by many.  Among those you found disappointing was Senator Richard Blumenthal.

Ava: He's been good on some issues.  He was lousy on this one.  He was all about excuses and how to 'fix' the problem but he doesn't really see a problem.  In 2009 and 2010, when we attended hearings, we'd frequently attend a House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee hearing Chaired by John Hall.  He'd make everyone rise and say the pledge of allegiance.  I'm not joking.  I like Hall but I didn't see the point in that.  That said, maybe it's time to have the Congress start every hearing by reading the Bill of Rights -- the first ten amendments to the Constitution.  That way they might actually grasp what it says.

Dona: C.I.?
C.I.: What is taking place in unconstitutional.  That's  a point John Conyers made in the July 17th hearing.  He's correct.  And when something's unconstitutional, you end it.  The Senate Committee hearing last week was an embarrassment as multiple senators failed to talk about how we end this spying on the American people and instead focused on how to keep these programs but try to make them legal.  It was disgusting.  These senators took oaths, they swore to uphold the Constitution.  They should all be embarrassed and ashamed. And it was really appalling to watch people try to find 'fiery' moments to report on from the hearing and ignore the real point of the hearing which is that the Senate Judiciary Committee has accepted the spying as necessary, needed and wanted.  The American people don't think so.  The House doesn't think so.  It was really appalling to watch.

Dona:  Ann, this was your first hearing to attend.

Ann: Correct.  And, as I said in my post, I was expecting some grandeur and I don't know what.  I found a hearing room that was dirty, dusty and had tears in the carpet.  Likewise, I found the senators to be dirty, old and shredded.  I'm a Green, not a Democrat.  And to me, the state of the room was indicative of what happens when we buy into the myth that a duopoly is good for us.  It's not.  And as the Democrats and Republicans become more and more alike, we suffer more and more from the duopoly. 


Dona: I'd recommend everyone read the reports the community did if you haven't already.  I did follow the press coverage.  It was limited.  It was also ignoring the reality that the Committee is embracing the spying.  This is a rush transcript.