CounterSpin's wrong, Ava and C.I. are correct

Ty doing a quick note because e-mails keep coming in insisting Ava and C.I. mispell Heidi Boghosian's name in "TV: More sexism, more self-promotion". Now they intentionally mispell people's name (sometimes as a clue to something else) but I knew they liked Heidi Boghosian and wouldn't assume they'd mispell her name on purpose. (Clue, they wouldn't have linked to CounterSpin without Heidi being a guest.)

I asked C.I. who said, "We must have been really tired. I'll go in and do a 'my apologies' note." So how is it spelled? B-o-g-h-o-s-i-a-n.

That's how Ava and C.I. spelled it.

C.I.: "Well that's how she spells her last name so we didn't make a typo let alone an intentional error. If one of the ones complaining is a regular reader [of Third], ask them where they're hearing different?"

Where are they hearing different? From CounterSpin which can't spell their own guest's name correctly:

Heidi Bogosian on convention protests, David Moore on polling (9/5/08-9/11/08)

From CounterSpin which makes the mistake repeatedly:


Heidi Bogosian on convention protests, David Moore on polling

Counterspin (9/5/08-9/11/08)

This week on CounterSpin: Most of the coverage of the political conventions focused on what was going on inside the arenas; so what about what was happening outside? Crackdowns on protests, arrests of journalists, and pre-emptive house raids could provide a very different measure of the state of American democracy. Heidi Bogosian of the National Lawyers Guild will join us to tell us what she saw.

Also on the show: A new book attests to what some have long suspected: that opinion polls can distort understanding of public opinion more than illuminate it-- ginning up controversy where none exists and giving an unearned stamp of public approval to policies favored by the powerful. David Moore was a senior editor at the Gallup Poll for 13 years; he's author of The Opinion Makers: An Insider Exposes the Truth Behind the Polls. We'll hear what he has to say.



Links:

— National Lawyers Guild

—The Opinion Makers: An Insider Exposes the Truth Behind the Polls, by David W. Moore

As Ava and C.I. note, Heidi Boghosian is a co-host of Law and Disorder and from that program's site:

Hosts

	Michael Ratner is the president of the Center for Constitutional Rights and author of Guantanamo: What the World Should Know. Michael has worked for decades, as a crusader for human rights both at home and abroad litigating many cases against international human rights violators resulting in millions of dollars in judgments for abuse victims and expanding the possibilities of international law. He acted as a principal counsel in the successful suit to close the camp for HIV-positive Haitian refugees on Guantanamo Base, Cuba. Over the years, he has litigated a dozen cases challenging a President’s authority to go to war, without congressional approval. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the Center has focused its efforts on the constitutionality of indefinite detention and the restrictions on civil liberties as defined by the unfolding terms of a permanent war. Among his many honors are: Trial Lawyer of the Year from the Trial lawyers for Public Justice, The Columbia Law School Public Interest Law Foundation Award, and the North Star Community Frederick Douglass Award.
	Heidi Boghosian is the executive director of the National Lawyers Guild, a progressive bar association established in 1937. She recently published The Assault on Free Speech, Public Assembly, and Dissent: A National Lawyers Guild Report on Government Violations of First Amendment Rights in the United States, (North River Press, 2004), and Applying Restraints to Private Police (forthcoming in Missouri Law Review, Spring 2005). “The Lynne Stewart Case and the Impact on Federal Government Spying on Attorneys” will appear in the New Centennial Review this spring. Her book reviews have been published in The Federal Lawyer Magazine and the New York Law Journal. She lives in New York City.
	Michael Steven Smith is the author, editor, and co-editor of six books, mostly recently “The Emerging Police State,” by William M. Kunstler. He has testified before committees of the United States Congress and the United Nations on human rights issues. Mr. Smith lives and practices law in New York City with his wife Debby, where on behalf of seriously injured persons he sues insurance companies and occasionally the New York City Police Department. Michael Smith also organizes and chairs the Left Forum.
	Dalia Hashad is Amnesty International’s Director of the USA Program focusing on Domestic Human Rights. She works on a wide variety of issues including the War on Terror, Prison Conditions and Police Misconduct. Previously, Dalia was an Attorney Advocate for the ACLU focusing on civil liberties and human rights abuses post-9/11. Dalia has also worked in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as a human rights legal advisor. As chairperson for CALPIRG, California’s largest environmental and consumer watchdog group, Dalia tackled a number of issues including the weakening of environmental laws, hunger and homelessness, campaign finance reform, and cuts to federal financial aid. She has been a commentator on a wide variety of news outlets, including CNN, ABC News, Democracy Now, Good Morning America and BET. She is a frequent lecturer at law schools, universities, and within activist circles. Dalia’s work encompasses human rights advocacy and protection, the plight of detainees, community outreach and empowerment, and discrimination.

Geoff Brady is the producer of Law & Disorder. His radio documentary work include a look into digital voting machines.

Did you see it? Are you satisfied? Her name is Hedia Boghosian.

In case not, C.I. suggested I note the following ("which will give her name and plug an important publication) from the NLG's books:


Punishing Protest: Government Tactics That Suppress Free Speech, by Executive Director Heidi Boghosian. Brand new report from the Guild, examining a hierarchy of government threats to the exercise of political speech. Limited supply of printed copies. To order, click here.

So to everyone e-mailing, I would suggest you contact Peter Hart phart@fair.org and let him know about CounterSpin's error. While regular readers (two mentioned it and said it was CounterSpin who wrongly spelled it "Bogosian" when I e-mailed asking where they saw it differently) just pointed it out and asked, 15 drive-bys came in insisting we'd made some huge and shameful mistake. I would hope you would take those same angry words to CounterSpin which, for the record, is wrong and Ava and C.I. are correct.

This is written Monday 9-8-08 but being published under Sunday's date to keep it with the edition. I'll also add a link to it in Jim's note. And those reading Brian Stelter's "MSNBC Takes Incendiary Hosts From Anchor Seat" in The New York Times today are e-mailing to note that they "read it already" (June) in "MSNBC's Weiner Dog" which went up here Aug. 31st.

Kwame

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been charged with perjury and obstruction of justice as well as misconduct in office for lying about a romantic relationship with his former chief of staff. If convicted the Democratic mayor would be automatically expelled from office.

So said Amy Goodman in Democracy Now!'s "Headlines" for March 25, 2008. Strangely, however, Friday's "Headlines" noted:

In Detroit, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has resigned after admitting he committed perjury to hide an affair with his chief of staff. Under a plea deal, Kilpatrick will spend four months in jail and pay a $1 million fine. Despite a five-year ban from running for office, the thirty-eight-year-old Kilpatrick vowed to stage a political comeback.

That's a curious way to note what took place between March and last week. First of all, he was asked to step down by the city council (in a five to four vote) and he refused. The council then referred to the matter to the state's governor, Jennifer Granholm.

Granholm actually had to hold a hearing Wednesday to prompt Kwame into finally taking action and between March and September, he also assaulted a sheriffs' deputy, disregarded the judge's orders not to leave Detroit without first notifying the court and a great deal more.

Perjury? The Guardian of London reported he "pleaded guilty to charges of obstruction of justice."



That was Thursday and, though he gave a self-serving speech on Thursday, he didn't resign. He's set to be sentenced September 18th and he apparently intends to hang on as mayor until that date gets closer.

Kwame Kilpatrick entered a guilty plea to felony charges and entered a no contest plea to charges of assaulting an officer of the law. Two felony charges. And then he gave his self-serving speech which offered attacks and excuses:

I'm stepping down because the new spirit of this city, the new expectations and standards that we've set for excellence in the past six and a half years has been tangled up in what I believe is the pursuit of many people's own political ambitions, even our governor, Jennifer Granholm, who I wish well. Rather than focusing on finding solutions to the huge issues that are facing our state, the record home foreclosures, the lack of affordable health care, and record unemployment in our state, Kwame Kilpatrick was at the top of her list.

Yeah, it was all about Granholm, right Kwame? He's attacking her when the city paid out eight million dollars at his direction for what was nothing but a hush fund. Eight million dollars.

In his speech he also referred to those events as happening when he was a "young man." If he Kwame was too young to be mayor, he shouldn't have run for the office in 2001. He became mayor only after being elected to the state legislature in 1996. This "young man" talk is nonsense. He was an adult. How far into adulthood are we going to allow crooks (including admitted felons) to prolong their 'adolescence'?

Not only is felon Kwame still mayor, he's also still vice president of the National Conference of Democratic Mayors. They gave him the post and they have not issued a press statement saying he is no longer a part of their conference.

Their silence indicts all Democrats.

You might be thinking of the Honorable Stephanie Tubbs Jones, an honorable woman, who died and had her Congressional website pulled within hours because Nancy Pelosi couldn't stand a Hillary supporter. Well as The Financial Times of London noted, Kwame was a super delegate who supported Barack from the start. Let's be really clear, the man is a felon twice over. There is no reason for Democrats to stay silent.

There is every reason to draw a line between what he did (and is doing) and themselves. Is doing?

The Detroit Press reported that the still-mayor gave out some rewards at the close of the work week:

Totally classless is the only way to describe soon-to-be ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's decision to hand fat raises to some of his top aides on his way out the door.
It smacks of the same disrespect for the public interest, and selfish motivation, that led to his downfall in the first place.
Raises when the city's budget is tragically out of whack? When somewhere between 800-1,000 employees will need to be laid off just to balance the books? And these weren't just pittance raises. Many reached 11% -- far more than anyone toiling in a position covered by the city's collective bargaining agreements might ever expect.

Just like the city had to cancel the payment on a shady deal whose money was paid to a company but made its way back to Kwame's wife (that payment cancelled was $250,000).

For those wondering when It's-Important-To-Be-Right-From-Day-One Barack called for Kwame to step down, The Detroit Free Press reports it was September 4th the day after the news outlets reported he was copping a plea and hours before he did just that in court. In other words, when called, Barack had other things to do and not even the Governor of Michigan holding a hearing to determine whether or not they could force Kwame out of office prompted Barack to speak out.

Shannon Jones (World Socialist Web Site) observed last week:

First elected in 2001, Kilpatrick became the youngest mayor of Detroit at age 31. His administration won the support of the city’s corporate establishment for its "business-friendly" policies, including the establishment of tax-free enterprise zones. Kilpatrick's efforts to "revive" Detroit included more cuts in social services, the sell-off of city assets, the privatization of services, and the hosting of sporting extravaganzas, including the 2006 Super Bowl.
Kilpatrick enjoyed national prominence in the Democratic Party. He spoke at the 2000 and 2004 Democratic conventions and was elected vice president of the National Conference of Democratic Mayors. However, his lavish lifestyle in a city ravaged by unemployment and poverty drew unfavorable notice. He charged more than $200,000 in entertainment expenses to the city and used public funds to lease a luxury vehicle for family use. Rumors of a wild party involving exotic dancers at the mayoral mansion further tarnished his image. The subsequent murder of one of these dancers, Tamara Greene, in an apparent contract killing, led to a lawsuit by members of her family, who say city officials obstructed the investigation into her death.

Rochelle Riley (Detroit Free Press) summed up the 'conclusion' as follows:

And thus ends -- for now -- the saga of the mayor and his women:
Tamara Greene, the stripper who reportedly said she was beaten at the Manoogian Mansion by … Carlita Kilpatrick, the mayor’s wife, whose alleged dustup with Greene was not properly investigated by
…Ella Bully-Cummings, an upstanding cop who could not withstand a bullying mayor and his entourage that included
…Sharon McPhail, who once claimed the mayor rigged her City Council office chair to electrocute her, but later gave in to his charms and defended him in front of
…Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a compatriot from Ed McNamara’s political machine who embraced an ouster request from the City Council, whose new president will be
…Monica Conyers, the unpredictable wife of Congressman John Conyers, who called for the mayor to resign, then changed her mind in the case involving the mayor and
…Christine Beatty, former chief of staff, who pled guilty to NOTHING yesterday and who holds the key to a Pandora’s box containing any and every secret the mayor has had in the past six years.

The vain woodman

"We did receive one or two at the White House late yesterday evening, and they are working through it." As The Common Ills pointed out yesterday, that's White House spokesperson Dana Perino addressing the press Friday about Bob Woodward's latest book -- supposedly blowing the lid off the White House -- due out on Monday. A book that somehow was shopped to the White House before it was officially released.

No, that is not how it's supposed to work.

So the question is whose vanity got in the way? The publishing house or Bob Woodward's?

Our money's on Woody.

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 and Wally of The Daily Jot. Unless otherwise noted, we picked all highlights.

"I Hate The War" -- most requested highlight, C.I. tackling the sexism and the silences.

"The Kaminker Chronicles" -- Betinna continues to be plagued by phone calls from nut job Kaminker.

"Lauren's Rice Topping and Sald in the Kitchen" -- Trina tackles the economy.

"Sarah Palin (Ava and C.I.)" -- Ava and C.I. team up for a very popular piece.





"Ellen Susman hasn't been cute since 1972" -- Ruth explains to sexist Ellen that's she's surpassed her cute date and then some.








"Going to probe a life, get honest about your own" -- Marcia takes on a trash merchent with secrets of his own.





"Thoughts on sour grapes from some 'leaders'" -- Elaine's post and she notes C.I. and she had discussed the topic which made it limiting to write about since she knew we'd be tackling it here (it's this week's editorial).





"Baracky's turn to cry" & "THIS JUST IN! BARACK GETS PUNKED!" -- when you've never been in a fight, even the mildest of criticism stings.






"Nader, Roberta Flack, Ben's Chili Bowl" -- Marcia talks history and music.





"WMC needs to decide if it wants to stop sexism" -- Kat calls on accountability.



"Kwame Kilpatrick's disgrace," "Kwame the felon" and "Topics" -- Mike takes on the scandals of felon Kwame.




"The 'left' goes right (and it's not pretty)" & "THIS JUST IN! NEW DEM DIRECTION!" -- Wally and Cedric chart the further rightward drift of the 'left.'



"it's not about republican or democratic" & "disgusted" -- Rebecca takes on the week's topic.


A note Jim's asked us to add. Readers have complained whenever Jim didn't include "A note to our readers" due to time constraints. He says they now have another reason to complain about that. The archives got screwed up when the template was switched in 2007. But reader Jody e-mailed to say that you can go through "almost any" week's edition via Google. For those that have "A note to our readers," simply type in "the third estate sunday review," select "search this site" type in "A note to our readers" and then the date (such as "September 7, 2008") and it will pull up that week's note and allow you to find what features were offered that week.

Truest statement of the week

"The party is 'worried' now about mass defections by Clinton supporters to John McCain. Well, what in the hell did they expect? After the May 31 charade effectively handing Obama the nomination, they lost what little chance they had in the fall. Don't expect Clinton supporters to 'get over it' any more than Gore supporters when the 2000 election was stolen."


-- Susan, "Democratic Convention" (Random Thoughts From Reno)

Truest statement of the Week II

That tends to be how Clinton does things. The public Clinton doesn't usually show hints of the private pain that burns inside.
The same cannot be said of some of her supporters, who can be expected to stage at least a few demonstrations of their fury at the outcome of the race, and at what they perceive as repeated displays of disrespect Obama has shown their hero. It is not lost on them that in selecting Joe Biden to be the vice presidential nominee, Obama has chosen a Washington insider who voted in favor of the Iraq War -- two of the sustained attacks on Clinton that Obama used to devastating effect during the primaries.
The television cameras will linger on angry and tearful Clinton delegates in the convention crowd. The commentators will no doubt take this as a demonstration of disunity -- and not a few will, of course, blame Clinton. But it is usually the job of the party nominee to build unity once a vanquished rival has conceded and made the right gestures. Unless the loser happens to be a woman. Then it's just like high school, and she must do the work.

-- Marie Cocco, "The Cheerleader in Chief" (Washington Post Writers Group)

Truest statement of the Week III

Despite the merits of selecting Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Joe Biden, D-Del., as his running mate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., made a huge tactical, strategic and political error in snubbing the most obvious candidate for vice president, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.Obama looks surly, petty and selfish -- and Clinton looks like a gracious loser who will live to fight the political game another day. The convention has been consumed by gossip about just why Obama didn't even consider her for the second slot. All the public excuses are lame, and the inside story as it is coming out does not indicate the serious thought that he should have given to such an important decision. Senior Obama strategist David Axelrod said that Clinton would not be a "good fit" for the presidential candidate, as though Obama were merely trying on a pair of gloves.

Others repeated the standard mantra that she was too emblematic of the status quo that Obama seeks to shatter. So we are to believe that Biden, a six-term senator who himself ran for president this year but got whipped in the Iowa primary, is a really fresh face with fresh ideas who embodies political change?

No, something else was going on here. And it's probably not pretty. It looks as though Obama simply didn't have the courage to compete any more against the star power of his chief rival -- and her husband. This is not a good omen for standing up against tough world leaders with their own power and congressional leaders of both parties who are not inclined to march to his orders.



-- Marianne Means' "Obama's first big mistake" (Seattle Post-Intelligencer):

A note to our readers

Hey --
That anything went up at all is a miracle and readers know why.

Along with Dallas, the following worked on this edition:

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),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
and Marcia SICKOFITRDLZ.

We thank everyone for their work.

Here's what we came up with:

Truest statement of the week -- There were too many truests so we went with three. We think you'll agree that in a strong week, Susan had the strongest.

Truest statement of the Week II -- Marie Cocco continues to make some fearless observations.

Truest statement of the Week III -- And a surprise entry in the Truest sweepstakes.

Editorial: Ignoring the only news out of Denver -- Ralph Nader made news, instead the media served up junk. Delaying the posting allowed us to come up with a stronger editorial. The original one was effected by many things. Obviously.

TV: The endless non-news -- It needs to be noted that Ava and C.I. didn't falter. When everything fell apart this weekend, they finished their piece and did it on time. Some read it Sunday morning after 1:30 a.m. PST when it posted. We assumed we'd be done in a few hours. When we weren't, we took this down to put up with everything else. This commentary stands with the strongest of Ava and C.I.'s body of work. Dona: "I will repeat. I would save every one of Ava and C.I.'s TV commentaries. It is always our strongest piece each week and it always the most popular. The rest of us were falling apart. I will never forget how Ava and C.I. were able to keep to their heads down focused on the work. I think we all learned a lesson from them this weekend."

Sexism -- As Ava feared at TCI, this got destroyed. Tomorrow Hilda's Mix publishes C.I.'s original first person essay ("I am a feminist"). I (Jim) called it for Third. We reworked and it's nothing like what it is. It's hard for me to realize how powerful it was and like this. I'm told I'm being too hard on it. Thanks to Cedric and Betty who pointed out that not all African-Americans weren't able to vote until the Voting Rights Act. A little bit of history that had passed us by.

MSNBC's Weiner Dog -- This was handed to us for two reasons. One person attending the MSNBC Friday meeting wanted it out and the second reason was personal. (Not related to MSNBC or anything covered in this. Related to C.I.'s cancer.)

The overview of Gutter Trash's attack -- Ava and C.I. walked out on this before a word was written. They didn't write this. We did and we will probably be writing much more next weekend.

How it started and who started it -- Again, no Ava and C.I. We (Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Rebecca, Betty, Mike, Cedric, Elaine, Wally, Marcia, Ruth and Kat) wrote this.

A rare moment when John Edwards told the truth -- Dona cried short feature. She cried it early on. Nothing was working. Ava and C.I. suggested this.

Highlights -- Mike, Elaine, Kat, Betty, Rebecca, Marcia, Ruth, Cedric and Wally wrote this and we thank them for it.

That's what we managed.


See you next weekend.

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