Posted by Mary Mancini on June 18, 2007 under Uncategorized | 
Seymour Hersh’s latest in The New Yorker is based around an interview with Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, who led the Pentagon’s investigation into the abuses at Abu Ghraib. Taguba believes high-level military officials, including then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, knew about the abuses at the Iraqi prison.
And what did Taguba get for his long and loyal service? Why, he was “threatened” and forced to retire!
After being threatened by Gen. John Abizaid, who told him that “you and your report will be investigated,” Taguba told Hersh that he’d “been in the Army thirty-two years by then, and it was the first time that I thought I was in the Mafia.”
Forget about oliticizing the Justice Department. Alberto Gonzales should fired for arguing for the legalization of torture. Remember when he characterized the Geneva Conventions as “quaint?” Good times.
Video of Seymour Hersh discussing his latest is available at AlterNet.
Posted by Mary Mancini on under Uncategorized |
#52: Bill O’Reilly kicked out of Mets clubhouse.
O’Reilly, the FoxNews Channel talking head, got inside the visitors’ clubhouse before Stadium security realized that he was not wearing a credential granting clubhouse access. He and his party then were escorted out of the room.
According to a reporter from The Record of Hackensack (N.J.), the Big Righty complained to the security officer, “You don’t have to escort us out - we’re going.”
Posted by Liberadio(!) on June 16, 2007 under Uncategorized |
Summary: In the second part of our Friday morning show on WAMB 1200 AM, we interview Lisa Graves, deputy director at the Center for National Security Studies, about a new internal FBI audit that has revealed that the agency is breaking the rules of intelligence gathering all willy-nilly. We also discuss the Nashville mayor’s race and the candidates’ commitment to the Nashville Homless Power Project and the “Urban Plunge.”
Listen to: I Got This Feeling Somebody’s Watching Me (25:26 23.3MB)
Posted by Liberadio(!) on June 15, 2007 under Uncategorized |
Summary: Freddie’s back from vacation and wants to make sure we don’t forget about Alberto Gonzales and the shame he he hath wrought upon the Justice Department, the Bush presidency, and the country. Plus, we wrap up the Tennessee General Assembly’s year Kurita-style.
Listen to: June 15, 2007 Part 1 (22:05 20.2MB)
Posted by Mary Mancini on under Uncategorized |
Tony Snow of Yesterday v. Tony Snow of Today on the dismissal of US Attorneys. Seriously, guys, we have you on tape.
Posted by Mary Mancini on under Uncategorized |
Think Progress is reporting an exchange during yesterday’s press briefing between White House press corps veteran, Helen Thomas, and press secretary Tony Snow:
Q: Are there any members of the Bush family or this administration in this war?
SNOW: Yeah, the President. The President is in the war every day.
Q: Come on, that isn’t my question –
SNOW: Well, no, if you ask any president who is a commander in chief –
Q: On the frontlines, where ever…
SNOW: The President.
You know, even if Snow meant that the president thinks about the war each day and is on the front lines in spirit with the soldiers, he’s still lying.
Posted by Liberadio(!) on June 14, 2007 under Uncategorized |
Summary: In this segment, Mary and Lonnie (Atkinson, filling in for Freddie) interview Todd Tucker, research director with Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, an organization based in Washington, DC, that promotes democracy by challenging corporate globalization. We talk about the legal, economic and political implications of the WTO, NAFTA, CAFTA and other trade agreements, including how they created of millions of unemployed workers in Mexico that had no where to go for work but north. We also discuss a recent blog post of his entitled “Fred Thompson: Another GOP 100% Anti-Fair Trader,” and how “Hollywood” Fred’s position on Fair trade goes against his down-home, man-of-the-people folksy image.
Listen to: NAFTA + CAFTA = Millions of Undocumented Workers (19:36 18MB)
Posted by Mary Mancini on under Uncategorized |
Breaking news from the Nashville Homeless Power Project:
David Briley, Buck Dozier, and Howard Gentry will be the first to do the “Urban Plunge” a.k.a. “A Night on the Streets.”
An “Urban Plunge” is when economically‑privileged people dress down, empty their wallets, and spend time on the streets as “poor” people. The Mayoral Urban Plunge in Nashville is the first of it’s kinds according to the National Coalition for the Homeless. The 6 Candidates for Nashville Mayor have committed to spending 10 hours (10pm – 8am) out on the streets of Nashville.
There will be a post plunge press conference at 7:30am on Wednesday, June 20th, 2007, location tba, where all candidates will converge at a location to be determined and respond to questions from the homeless community and the media.
The purpose of the plunge is to provide the candidates with first hand and direct experience of being homeless so they can fully understand the impact of public policy decision will have on those who are on the streets. The Power Project has set forth goals for the candidate during their time including:
- To find a legal place to sleep outdoors
- Sleep on a bench for 20 minutes or so.
- Enter a restaurant and ask if you can sweep the sidewalk or do other work for a sandwich.
- Find a place to eat breakfast
- Ask for Money/panhandle in a place where you are least likely to be recognized.
According to the Michael Stoops, Executive Director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, “Economically-privileged people across the country have done urban plunges as a way to better understand homelessness. It is the most effective way we have learned for people to understand this reality. 10 hours is not nearly enough and the suggested minimum PLUNGE is 48 hours but we are thankful that they are willing to do this night on the street. Having said that, as far as I know, the National Coalition for the Homeless has never heard of any other city in this country in which political candidates have agreed to do the Urban Plunge. While this should be part of every candidates campaign unfortunately this is a rarity and is truly historic.”
For more information contact Matthew Leber, Organizer, Nashville Homeless Power Project, 42 The Arcade, Nashville, Tennessee 37219, (615) 733-0633, (615) 977-5098 or 414-3788, or email matt@homelesspower.org.
UPDATE: Karl Dean has also agreed to take the plunge on Tuesday night.
Posted by Mary Mancini on June 13, 2007 under Uncategorized |
We told you so. Repeatedly. And all you had to do to confirm that there is a progressive majority in America was to stop listening to what the radio blow hards (bless their hearts) were telling you and go out and have actual conversations with your fellow citizens. Or read a recent poll. Or look into your own hearts. But you need more proof, don’t you? Happy to oblige with a joint report released today by Media Matters for America and the Campaign for America’s Future.
Eric Lotke, research director for the Campaign for America’s Future, writes:
The façade of conservative political dominance is crumbling. The disintegration runs deeper than public disaffection with the Bush administration’s catastrophic failures and is more fundamental than the political realignment of the 2006 election. The notion of America as a “conservative nation” was always more fiction than fact, but the nation’s rejection of President Bush’s brand of “you’re-on-your-own” conservatism and wedge-issue divisiveness is so broad that today the façade is simply unsustainable.
An exhaustive review released today of decades of public opinion research by the Campaign for America’s Future, using the most reputable, nonpartisan sources, leads to a simple conclusion: America is more progressive than people think — or, more precisely, than the conventional wisdom would lead them to believe. From the economy to social issues, terrorism to trade, Americans want politicians who recognize that we’re all in it together.
We are all in this together, so don’t gloat. Instead, because today, June 13, 2007, has been christened “ReHuglican Day,” go out and spread the love.
Posted by Mary Mancini on under Uncategorized |
In reporting on the Homeless Power Project’s challenge to each mayoral candidate that they spend a night on the street with the homeless, aka the “Urban Plunge,” the Nashville Scene wrote about an incident involving Vice Mayor Howard Gentry.
Last night, Sean Braisted, sometimes guest and co-host of Liberadio(!) and author of Nashville21.com, found out the story wasn’t true, smacking down the Scene’s sometimes elitist attitude towards bloggers in the process.
That said, we can’t lose sight of the original challenge. So far, Vice Mayor Howard Gentry is the only candidate to fulfill the promise made to the Power Project. Early voting starts in about a month which is plenty of time for David Briley, Bob Clement, Karl Dean, Buck Dozier, and Kenneth Eaton to follow through and for you to email each with words of encouragement.
UPDATE: $200,000 for low-income housing for the homeless was added into the Capital Improvements Budget last night by the Metro Council.
