Posted by Mary Mancini on June 28, 2006 under Uncategorized | 
Congratulations to Morgan Melekos of Linden, TN, our latest Bill Maher ticket winner. Morgan wrote a very nice letter to Senator Frist suggesting that perhaps he has better things to do with the Senate’s time than debate flag-burning: “I realize that your party is desperate to shore up it’s support now that the bitter fruits of Republican dominance have clearly revolted the Center, but please, try to convince yourself and your partisans to leave power with some dignity as hard-working statesmen, not as cynical flag-exploiters.”
We’ll see him at the show on Saturday, July 8 at the Ryman Auditorium.
Listen this coming Monday for your chance to win a pair of tickets.
Posted by Mary Mancini on June 26, 2006 under Uncategorized |
Interviews from our June 12 show:
Listen to Milan Rai, the co-founder of Voices in the Wilderness UK, which has been campaigning against US/UK policy towards Iraq since the mid-nineties, and Justice Not Vengeance, which campaigns for a peaceful resolution of international conflicts. He gives us his insight into the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and the insurgency.
Listen to Randy Tarkington, campaign manager for Vote No on 1, which is the Tennessee Equality Project’s official campaign opposing the state constitutional amendment that would permanently ban marriage for same-sex couples in TN.
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Posted by Mary Mancini on under Uncategorized |
Bill Mason, Executive Director of Tennessee Citizen Action
Alex Wiesendanger, Associate Director of Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing (TCASK).
Why Conservatives Can’t Govern by Alan Wolfe (Washington Monthly)
The Road From K Street to Yusufiya by Frank Rich (The New York Times)
Voter Disenfranchisement by the GOP - They delayed the vote on the renewal of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Greg Palast writes: “Don’t kid yourself: the Republican party’s decision yesterday to “delay” the renewal of the Voting Rights Act has not a darn thing to do with objections of the Republican’s white sheets caucus.”
How to Recycle Practically Anything by Sally Deneen (Emagazine.com) - Recycling, it’s not just for bottle anymore.
Posted by Mary Mancini on under Uncategorized |
If this isn’t a prime example of Mahatma Gandhi’s famous quote “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win,” in action then I don’t know what is.
Posted by Mary Mancini on June 25, 2006 under Uncategorized |
Newsweek has a draft copy of the national reconciliation plan that will be presented today by Iraq’s new Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki. It asks for a firm U.S. withdrawal plan to be enforced by a United Nations resolution:
The plan also calls for a withdrawal timetable for coalition forces from Iraq, but it doesn’t specify an actual date — one of the Sunnis’ key demands. It calls for “the necessity of agreeing on a timetable under conditions that take into account the formation of Iraqi armed forces so as to guarantee Iraq’s security,” and asks that a U.N. Security Council decree confirm the timetable. Mahmoud Othman, a National Assembly member who is close to President Talabani, said that no one disagrees with the concept of a broad, conditions-based timetable.
….[A] senior coalition military official, who agreed to discuss this subject with Newsweek and The Times of London on the condition of anonymity, notably did not outright rule out the idea of a date. “One of the advantages of a timetable — all of a sudden there is a date which is a much more explicit thing than an abstract condition,” he said. “That’s the sort of assurance that [the Sunnis] are looking for.”
It also makes a distinction between terror groups and insurgents “in response to Sunni politicians’ demands that the “national resistance” should not be punished for what they see as legitimate self-defense in attacks against a foreign occupying power.”
Maliki has made reconciliation and control of party militias the main emphasis of his new government. This plan follows a series of secret negotiations over the past two months between seven insurgent groups, President Jalal Talabani and officials of the U.S. embassy. The insurgent groups involved are Sunnis but do not include foreign jihadis like al Qaeda and other terrorist factions who deliberately target civilians; those groups have always denounced any negotiations.
The distinction between insurgents and terrorists is one of the key principles in the document, and is in response to Sunni politicians’ demands that the “national resistance” should not be punished for what they see as legitimate self-defense in attacks against a foreign occupying power. Principle No. 19 calls for “Recognizing the legitimacy of the national resistance and differentiating or separating it from terrorism” while “encouraging the national resistance to enroll in the political process and recognizing the necessity of the participation of the national resistance in the national reconciliation dialogue.”
Let’s recap: the majority of the American people want to set a timetable for troop withdrawl, the top American commander in Iraq has drafted a plan to cut trooops starting in September, and the Iraqis are debating a plan asking for a firm U.S. withdrawl plan.
I happily call this a tipping point. But how will the Republican leadership and the Bush administration spin these latest events after two solid weeks of demonizing John Murtha and John Kerry and accusing Democrats of cowardly ‘cutting and running’ because they proposed setting a date for troop withdrawl? They clearly have some ’splainin to do.
Posted by Mary Mancini on June 20, 2006 under Uncategorized |
Last Monday we interviewed Monica Benderman who is the wife of Sgt. Kevin Benderman, a conscientious objector who was convicted of desertion and sentenced to 15 months in the brig for refusing to deploy to Iraq for his second tour.
Their story is heartbreaking and moving and Monica’s retelling of it is eloquent and heartfelt. Thank you for being our guest, Monica.
Listen to the interview.
Kevin and Monica’s websites are www.bendermandefense.org, where you will find three direct ways you can support Kevin, and www.bendermantimeline.com, which is a chronology of facts surrounding his conscientious objection case.
More information about becoming a conscientious objector can be found at Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (CCCO).
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Posted by Mary Mancini on under Uncategorized |
This week’s Bill Maher ticket winner is Rachel Walden. Congrats, Rachel! Rachel’s letter, to Gov. Bredesen, expresses her frustration with a lack of responsiveness from her legislators. She writes: “It is my belief that elected officials have an obligation to respond to citizens’ concerns, and that participatory democracy is stifled when replies are not forthcoming.”
Amen, sister!
Posted by Mary Mancini on June 19, 2006 under Uncategorized |
Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (CCCO)
Kevin and Monica Benderman’s websites are www.bendermandefense.org, where you will find three direct ways you can support Kevin Benderman, and www.bendermantimeline.com, which is a chronology of facts surrounding Sgt. Kevin Benderman’s conscientious objection case.
“The End Of Small Politics,” by Sen. Barack Obama. Barack Obama is a U.S. senator from Illinois. These remarks are excerpted from a speech Obama delivered at the Take Back America conference on June 14, 2006. Freddie adds: “Vilsack/Obama 2008. Now this guy knows what a progressive narrative is.” Mary and Marga say, “We can’t wait to vote for him!”
UPDATE: More on Obama.
If you’d like a chance to win tickets today to see Bill Maher at the Ryman Auditorium on July 8, participate in our democracy and send an email to the legislator of your choice regarding an issue of importance to you. Copy us in on the email (:cc or :bcc) at feedback@liberadio.com and we’ll choose a winner at random from all the emails we receive. Check back tomorrow to see if you’re the winner.
Tennessee Democratic Party presents Jackson Day 2006 this Saturday, June 24.
Posted by Mary Mancini on June 16, 2006 under Uncategorized |
From Senator Harry Reid’s Office: “Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow marked the death of the 2500th American soldier by commenting , “It’s a number, and every time there’s one of these 500 benchmarks people want something.” Obviously, to the family, friends, and neighbors of the fallen service members, their loved ones are more than “a number”. It’s time for a new direction. The following are some more “numbers” that the American people would like to hear the Administration treat otherwise than utterly dismissively.
18,490: Number of American Troops Wounded in Iraq. [DoD Casualty
Report, 6/15/06 .pdf file]
38,355: Minimum Number of Iraqis Killed.
$8.8 Billion: Amount of Iraqi Reconstruction Funds the Military has Failed to Account for, According to the Defense Department’s Inspector General. [Boston Globe, 4/6/06]
68: Journalists Killed in Iraq. [Brookings Institution, 6/15/06]
2.2 Million: Active Duty Soldiers and Veterans at Risk of Identity Theft. [Washington Post, 6/11/06]
382: Days Since Vice President Cheney Claimed the Insurgency Was in its “Last Throes”. [CNN.com, 5/30/05]
1,140: Days Since President Bush Declared “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq. [CNN, 5/2/2003]
37 Million: People Living in Poverty in the United States. [U.S. Census Bureau .pdf file ]
13 Million: Children Living in Poverty in the United States. [U.S. Census Bureau .pdf file ]
$8,375,365,051,008.48: The Public Debt. [Treasury Department, 06/14/2006]
45.8 Million: Americans without Health Insurance. [U.S. Census Bureau .pdf file ]
$16,000: Median Debt of Graduates of Public Colleges. [New York Times, 6/11/06]
$20,000: Median Debt of Graduates of Private Colleges. [New York Times, 6/11/06]
$36 Billion: ExxonMobil’s Profits Last Year. [Reuters, 5/31/06
Posted by Mary Mancini on June 14, 2006 under Uncategorized |
A must see. On yesterday’s Daily Show, in an rare, unguarded moment, Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, in response to a question about why GOP leaders are no longer “the straight talkers, the adults,” said, “I think, greed, cynicism, all of those things caused us to do it.”
Even the dog did a doubletake.
