LIBERADIO(!)

A NYTimes.comfront page headline reads: ‘Clinton Seeks Middle Ground in Abortion Debate’ with the tag line, ‘Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said that the nation’s focus should be on preventing unwanted pregnancies.’

I’m only going to scream this once. FOCUSING ON UNWANTED PREGNANCIES IS NOT THE ‘MIDDLE GROUND IN THE ABORTION DEBATE.’ IT’S SMART PUBLIC POLICY! IT’S WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING TO REDUCE ABORTIONS! IT’S EDUCATING OUR YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN TO MAKE SMART CHOICES ABOUT THEIR SEXUALITY!

Karl Rove is all about recycling . . . his old, worn-out political attacks. In a speech to New Hampshire Republican officials yesterday he rolled out these old chestnuts, “They’re for higher taxes. We’re for lower taxes” and “They’re for more spending. We’re for less spending.” Republicans, the party of fiscal incontinence, is for less spending? Huh?

He also attacked John Kerry (attacking John Kerry is so 2004) and Rep. John P. Murtha (Pa.), who he said advocate “cutting and running.” Hrm. Let me think. A public servant who never spent a day of his life in uniform attacking decorated war veterans. Sounds so familiar. And so lame.

Funny, though, that he didn’t mention any public policy debates. Not really funny, more like, how could he since President Bush has mismanaged everything from the war to the economy? And that which he hasn’t bungled, he’s ignored (global climate change? healthcare crisis?).

I don’t give a crap that Karl Rove didn’t get indicted but I sure wish he would stop boring me to death. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….

UPDATE: We have a winner! As soon as she sends us permission we’ll publish her name and her letter to Gov. Bredesen. It’s a good one!

If you’d like a chance to win tickets today to see Bill Maher at the Ryman Auditorium on July 8, particpate 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 tonight to see if you’re the winner.

We’ll be giving away three more pair of tickets in the coming weeks.

Our guests for Monday, June 12, will be Randy Tarkington, Campaign Director for Vote NO on 1 (Because marriage equality matters) and Milan Rai, a London-based writer whose most recent book is the just-released “7/7: The London Bombings, Islam and the Iraq War.” Milan is also a 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.

Ticket Giveaway!!! Tune in tomorrow to win a pair of tickets to see Bill Maher at the Ryman Auditorium on Saturday, July 8th. But it won’t be your only chance. We’ll be giving away one pair of tickets for the next four weeks.

Must Reads

2006-06-09
Why Democrats Lose by Robert Parry (TomPaine.com)
Liberals have not invested enough in a media message machine that can counter the conservative spinmeisters.

NASA shelves climate satellites by By Beth Daley (Boston Globe)
Maybe they know something we don’t. Maybe it’s already too late and colonizing the moon is our only option!

REPORT: Congress Has Voted More Than 50 Times to Override State Laws
Federalists. Yeah right.

Big Pharma’s Deadly Experiments By Kelly Hearn (AlterNet.org)
Drug companies prey on poor people overseas by using them in tests for new — and often dangerous — meds.

Associate Publisher: Public Interest in News Topics Beyond Control of Mainstream Media By Kenneth F. Bunting (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
When will mainstream media question the 2004 election?

Unreported: The Zarqawi Invitation By Greg Palast (Truthout.org)
Who invited Zarqawi into Iraq, anyway?

2006-06-22
“Power Grab”, by Elizabeth Drew (New York Review of Books)
Fortunately, we have three branches of government for a separation of powers. Oh, wait.

AC’s post notwithstanding, it sometimes take me some time to read, read, read all about it.

Although Rep. Cooper did vote for the Markey amendment, which would have codified Net Neutrality into law, that amendment did not pass and yet Mr. Cooper went ahead and voted yes on HR 5252, aka COPE (Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006). In other words, he voted for a piece of legislation that does nothing to protect consumers and democracy and is, as many have pointed out, just another a boon to big business. To be clear, I find Rep. Cooper’s actions unacceptable (as I did when he voted for CAFTA).

There may be a few parts of the bill, such as requiring companies that allow you to make telephone calls using your Internet connection to provide access to 911 emergency services, that might benefit us but is this enough for our Congressman to have voted the way he did? No. COPE does much more harm than good giving big Telecom a pass not only on Net Neutrality but on their responsiblities as good corporate “citizens” as well. Jean Carter Wilson eloquently schooled me on the details:

COPE in general is a bill written by and for a limited number of telcom companies such as AT&T and Verizon and cable companies like Comcast. It takes control of cable and television franchises away from local and state regulatory authorities, and gives it to the Federal Communications Commission (run by Bush appointees – I don’t think I have to tell you what their policies are like.)

Under COPE, communications providers will no longer be required to ‘build-out’ their networks equitably; they can offer the new services in a wealthy neighborhood but neglect an adjacent low-income community (this is referred to as red-lining). As more and more content and services are available online, poorer communities will be left in the dust as companies go head to head to command a higher pricing structure. This is
anti-consumerism at its most refined.

Under COPE, one provider, like Comcast, can be given control of cable service in a city (let’s say Jackson, TN) and eliminate all the competition, which means they will be able to charge whatever fees they like. Jackson would have no say in the arrangement – the FCC will dictate the terms. This is pretty ironic, coming from so-
called small-Federal-government regulating Republicans, eh?

Phone companies like Bellsouth are in favor of COPE because they want to get in the business of providing cable-tv-like services and provide television over the Internet through DSL. Right now, because of the way the franchise arrangements are structured, this will require the phone company to apply for a franchise with a city like Nashville. Bellsouth doesn’t want to do that. They want to be able to bypass tose arrangements (that companies like Comcast already have to abide by) through the FCC. Bellsouth also doesn’t want want to have to agree with any provisions set up by the community to provide access to underserved communities. It’s basically the phone company saying, ‘Trust us – we’ll do what’s in your best interest.’

What happens when Comcast and Bellsouth begin to act in cahoots? They’ll shut out services like voice-over-IP telephone companies Skype and Vonage, and begin to act in coordination to set prices and coordinate ervices to maximize profits. It’s a gigantic profit-fixing scheme.

Right now, if you have a problem with your cable bill, you call Comcast. If your problem is escalated, it’ll go to the TN Regulatory Commission. Under COPE, your problem goes to the FCC – a huge government bureaucracy. Good luck requesting channels your cable company doesn’t offer right now.

COPE will also drastically affect public access television programming. Under COPE cities would receive a 5% fee from the cable company franchises, with an additional 1% going to finance public access television. This is the problem for many larger cities who currently receive a larger percentage. A ‘Do No Harm’ amendment
protecting existing public access programming by Baldwin/Wilson was voted down.

And all this is even outside of control of the Internet that’s now in COPE, thanks to the defeat of the Markey Amendment. I wonder whether this isn’t the Bush Administration giveback to the phone companies as
a quid pro quo for their participation in the NSA spying. Because you better believe BushCo will start telling their corporate allies to shut down access to sites like Truthout, et. al, once they have control of the Internet. (I did a quick search on OpenSecrets and telecom PAC donations average 70% giving to Republicans, vs. only 30% of donations to Democrats. Some individual CEOs and other executives give considerably more to Republicans.)

The worst part is, there is no experimental period with any of this. Once control of phone service, cable franchises and the Internet goes to corporations, it would be nearly impossible to get it back.

I think it’s unbelievable that the same Internet, virtually all of the construction of which was financed by U.S. taxpayers, is now being given wholesale to corporate interests, and that a monopoly of this size is being enacted without much notice.

COPE will come to the Senate soon. Let’s keep up the pressure.

ACTION: Call Rep. Cooper and ask him to explain, in detail, why he voted for COPE (Phone: 202-225-4311). Then call Senators William Frist and Lamar Alexander and demand support for Net Neutrality. Tell them to support the bipartisan Snowe-Dorgan Internet Freedom Preservation Act (S. 2917). Details regarding the Senate version of the COPE Act forthcoming.

Senator William Frist, Phone: 202-224-3344
Senator Lamar Alexander, Phone: 202-224-4944

And thanks to everyone for filling me in on the details of Rep. Cooper’s betrayal. Still on notice.

We’re so glad that Representative Jim Cooper is getting some competition in the upcoming election from Independent candidate Ginny Welsch.

Yesterday, Representative Cooper voted for the Communications, Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006 (.pdf) that would give large internet service providers like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast more control over what you see and do online. Representative Cooper voted against Net Neutrality, or the idea that no one company can control what you see on the internet. Update: I was just assured by someone in Jim Cooper’s office that he also voted against voted for an amendment to the bill offered by Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey, which would have codified net neutrality regulations into federal law. However, even with the defeated amendment Rep. Cooper voted for the bill, which does nothing to cement the concept of Net Neutrality into law. In other words, Congress passed a bill that doesn’t do anything explicit to protect Net Net Neutrality so large Internet Service Providers can make deals to provide better access to whomever they want to.

Now what? Call Rep. Cooper and give him hell say howdy to John Spragens. Then call Senators William Frist and Lamar Alexander and demand support for Net Neutrality. Tell them to support the bipartisan Snowe-Dorgan Internet Freedom Preservation Act (S. 2917).

Congressman Jim Cooper
Phone: 202-225-4311

Senator William Frist
Phone: 202-224-3344

Senator Lamar Alexander
Phone: 202-224-4944

Then, ask 5 friends to join Moveon.org’s fight for Internet freedom by signing their petition to Congress.

If you are active in local organizations, ask them to join the coalition.

Representative Cooper, you’re on notice.

On Monday, we interviewed comedian Matt Besser of Upright Citizens Brigade. Matt will be in town tomorrow tonight, June 7th, at Bongo Java Cafe Theater, to perform Woo Pig Sooie, his stand up routine/performance highlighting current issues concerning the separation of church and state.

Matt was kind enough to call in to the show from the airport on his way to Houston to talk about his Jewish father, his Christian mother, his fundamentalist grandparents, gay marriage, flag burning, Hillary Clinton, and The Davinci Code. Climb the rope for Jesus, Matt!

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Media Matters monitors the worst of the media, including Rush Limbaugh who admitted a few days ago to airing a call from phony liberal-bashing Lt. Col. in Iraq.

For a long time I’ve believed that many of Rush’s callers are setups so this doesn’t surprise me. Nor does it surprise me that he’s one of those Republicans who supports the military until he needs to blame them. Case in point, when a real member of the military made it known that the caller did not, in fact, exist Rush said, “Then, the other option we have is: Do we believe the military? The man did have some very pointed things to say. The man was very — whatever. I mean, whoever he is, he had some very, very pointed — like, “Let us go. Turn us loose. Let us out of the cages and do what we came here to do.” So, who do we believe here? Who do we believe? Do we believe the military? Do we believe the caller?”

Typical Republican “when reality catches up to you, cast doubt” behavior.

Molly Ivins: Flag Burning and Other Dubious Epidemics

AUSTIN, Texas—Thank goodness the Republicans are around to tell me what to worry about. The flag-burning crisis—here in Austin, there’s that pall of smoke rising from the west every morning (it’s from an area called Tarrytown, where they burn hundreds of flags daily).

You didn’t know hundreds of flags were being burned daily? Actually, you can count on your hand the number of incidents reported over the last five years. For instance, there was one flag burned in 2005 by a drunken teenager and one by a protester in California in 2002. This appalling record of ravishment must be stopped. You’re clearly not worried about what matters.

Gay marriage, now there’s a crisis. Well, OK, so there isn’t much gay marriage going on here in Texas. None, in fact. First, we made it illegal. Then, we made it unconstitutional. But President Bush is all concerned about it, so I guess we have to alter the U.S. Constitution.

Gus and Captain Call (of “Lonesome Dove” fame) will be an item—with who knows who waiting in line right after them.

Also of great concern to Republicans is God Almighty, who, rather to my surprise, has been elected chairman of the Texas Republican Party. That’s what they announced at the biannual convention in Fort Worth this week: “He is the chairman of the party.” Sheesh, the Democrats couldn’t even get Superman.

Also weighing down the nation with a heavy burden is the estate tax, which the Senate will try to repeal this week. The estate tax applies to around 1% of Americans, and I have yet to find any record of it costing anyone a family farm or business. It affects only very, very, very rich people, of whom you are probably not one. And they don’t, actually, need another tax break.

These are the things we are supposed to be worrying about, and you notice that it frees us of quite a few troubles we might otherwise fret about.

The war in Iraq? No sweat.

War with Iran? We’re carefree.

The economy? Hey, did you see that employment report? Well, ignore it.

Budget out of control, shipwreck ahead? Never mind—Bush doesn’t. Worst class divisions since the Gilded Age, rich so much more enormously richer than everybody else, country starting to get creepy? Don’t worry, be happy. Torture, massacre, extraordinary rendition, hidden gulag of prisons in foreign countries, Guantanamo and massive violations of international law, American law and the Constitution? Well, you can see why gay marriage is a far greater menace.

Wipe out for the environment; hundreds of regulations and laws changed to favor those who exploit and damage natural resources; all so common no one is keeping track of them all? Let her rip.

Global warming? In the first place, it’s Al Gore’s issue. In the second place, it’s a downer. In the third place, who cares if it’s too late in a few years?

Homeland security/war on terror? With the highly excellent disposition of anti-terror funds once more judiciously applied by the Department of Homeland Security, we truly have nothing to worry about. We’re ready to stop terrorist attacks in Wyoming, and there are no important cultural sites in New York City, so let’s rock.

Oil crisis? Ha! What oil crisis? You want a $100 rebate you can then give the oil companies? Hey, we’re going to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and that should see us through … oh, about nine months.

Windfall profits? You think the oil companies are ripping us off for windfall profits? Who? ExxonMobil? Why, they would never!

I believe what we have here is a difference over moral values.

The Republicans are worried about the flag, gay marriage and the terrible burden of the estate tax on the rich. The rest of us are obviously unnecessarily worried about war, peace, the economy, the environment and civilization. Another reason to vote Republican—they have a shorter list.

To find out more about Molly Ivins and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

A woman called the show anonymously this morning to bring our attention to her plight as a victim of Hurricane Katrina and, subsequently, as a victim of the insurance industry. She wanted to remain anonymous because she was in litigation against her insurance company. Here is the Sun Herald news story she wants us all to read. Subtitled “National media attention continues to follow the Big Easy’s plight, leaving smaller towns feeling …,” it’s an excellent example of what the Senate should be talking about for the next few weeks instead of what they will be talking about for the next few weeks. (Thank you, Bill Frist).

Read an editorial as well (pdf file).

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