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Because People Mater
Progressive News and Views September / October 2007
Inside this issue:
Editorial.2Healthcare.for.All.2Impeachment—Not.on.the.news.3 Media.reform:.a.priority.49/11.investigation.needed.5Talk.City.Radio.6Democracy.Now!.6
Mainstream media: too lile, too late
.7 Making.a.Movie.8TV.stations.get.report.card.9Films:.“A.Place.Called.Sacramento”..9 Journalism.Ethics.9West.Coast.Diversity.Summit.10Free.Internet.for.Sacramento.10Sacramento.Area.Peace.Action.12Big.Media.and.the.War.13Israel/Palestine.reporting.13Book.Review:.
Assault on Reason
.14Calendar.15Progressive.Media.16
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Media Spin on Iraq:
We’re Leaving (Sort of)
By Norman Solomon
Posted on “AlterNet” July 26, 2007
I
n mid-July, a media advisory rom “Te NewsHourwith Jim Lehrer” announced a new series o inter- views on the PBS show that will address “what Iraqmight look like when the US military leaves.”A ew days later,
ime
magazine published a coverstory titled “Iraq: What will happen when we leave.”But it turns out, what will happen when we leave isthat we won’t leave.Urging a course o action that’s now supported by “the best strategic minds in both parties,” the
ime
story calls or “an orderly withdrawal o about hal the 160,000troops currently in Iraq by the middle o 2008. … Aorce o 50,000 to 100,000 troops would dig in or a lon-ger stay to protect America’s most vital interests….”On Iraq policy, in Washington, the dierencesbetween Republicans and Democrats—and between themedia’s war boosters and opponents—are oen signi-cant. Yet they’re apt to mask the emergence o a generalormula that could gain wide support rom the politicaland media establishment.Te ormula’s details and timelines are up or grabs.But there’s not a single “major” candidate or presidentwilling to call or withdrawal o all US orces—not just
By Dan Bacher
S
acramento or Democracy, a chapter o Progres-sive Democrats o America, hosted the localmovie premiere o “War Made Easy: How Presi-dents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death,” in July at the Crest Teatre in Sacramento with a large andenthusiastic crowd.Author Norman Solomon, on whose book thelm is based, was joined by Assemblyman Mark Leno and Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, sponsoro Assembly Joint Resolution 36, the bill to bring theCaliornia National Guard home rom Iraq, or a live-ly panel discussion aer the movie. Christine Cra,Sacramento’s own progressive radio talk show host o “alk City,” on 1240 AM moderated the discussion.Te documentary exposes how corporate mediaand US presidents over the past 50 years have beenpartners in disinormation campaigns to promote aseries o bloody, costly and unnecessary wars, includ-ing interventions in Vietnam, Central America, Yugo-slavia, Aghanistan and Iraq.Adapted rom Solomon’s 2005 book, by LorettaAlper and Jeremy Earp o the Media Education Foun-dation, the lm chronicles how presidents managedto sell war using the same Orwellian arguments withthe help o a compliant media. Narrated by actorand activist Sean Penn, the lm exhumes remarkablearchival ootage o ocial distortion and exaggerationrom Lyndon Johnson to George W. Bush, revealingin stunning detail how the American news mediahave disseminated pro-war messages in one adminis-tration aer another.Te movie documents in a darkly humorous mat-ter how presidential administrations claimed againand again they were seeking only peace, not conict,while bombing thousands o civilians. Te lm ea-tures illuminating quotes rom presidents about theUS corporate state’s drive or war.“We still seek no wider war,” President LyndonJohnson said as he escalated a war in Vietnam thatresulted in the deaths o 3 million Vietnamese andmore than 50,000 US soldiers.“Te United States does not start ghts,” saidPresident Ronald Reagan, who engineered a war o genocide against the Mayan population o Guatemalawiping out 636 Mayan villages, along with military interventions in Nicaragua, El Salvador and othercountries. Tese interventions resulted in thousandsdead, a massive exodus o reugees, and the destruc-tion o country inrastructures.“America does not seek conict,” argued GeorgeH.W. Bush, the architect o Operation Desert Stormand the invasion o Panama. Yet another mass mur-derer supported by the corporate media.President Bill Clinton repeatedly bombed Yugo-slavia and Iraq, killing thousands o Iraqis, mostly children, through his campaign o economic sanc-tions against Iraq, and claimed, “I don’t like to usemilitary orce.”George W. Bush, who advanced a “preventa-tive war” by illegally invading Aghanistan andIraq, told the world, “Our nation enters this conictreluctantly.”By demonstrating how mainstream news haspromoted endless war, the lm dispels the notion o a liberal media propagated by right wing pundits.Solomon said when the news media nally startsentertaining the view that the war was based on lies, itis too late or the millions wounded and killed by theUS military. “News media, down the road, will pointout that there were lies about the Gul o onkin orabout weapons o mass destruction in Iraq,” saidSolomon in the lm. “But that doesn’t bring back any o the people who have died. When it comes to lieand death, the truth comes out too late.”Reaction to the movie was avorable by the audi-ence and panel members. “Tis lm should be shownin every high school in America,” Cra said. Hancock also commented, “Te propaganda techniques towage war have been the same throughout our history.Te question is how we inoculate our children againstthe propaganda.” Solomon encouraged screeningso the lm throughout the country to revive andstrengthen the anti-war movement.For more inormation:
www.warmadeeasythemovie.org.
Dan Bacher is an outdoor writer, alternative journalist and satirical songwriter in Sacramento.
“War Made Easy”—
How Presidents and MediaCollude to Wage War
See Solomon, page 11
Q & A discussion with author Norman Solomon aterscreening o “War Made Easy,” a flm based on hisbook. From let to right, AM1240’s Christine Crat,Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, Assemblyman Mark Leno and Normon Soloman.
Photo: Dick Wood
Because People Matter September / October 007
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Vlume 16, Numbe 5
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because
Editorial
On the cover
A small sampling of themany books and maga-zine articles which arecalling for the impeach-ment of George Bushand Dick Cheney.
JoAnn Fuller and Charlene Jones,Coordinating Editors for This Issue
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A
s is characteristic o BPM, this issuebrings you news and opinion not coveredby corporate media. We ocus particu-larly on media activities by community membersdoing what they must to nd expression or con-tend with the misdirection o Big Media shapingpublic discourse. Do you eel the media isn’t tell-ing the story, supplying diversity in art and analy-sis or covering important local issues? You aren’talone. Tere is a vibrant media reorm movementin our country that is making demands andconstructing their own media channels whilemainstream broadcasters carry the party trusteeline.
Because People Matter
is part o those proudindependent eorts.I you like what we’re doing, please subscribeto BPM. For $20, the paper will be delivered toyour door and you can be assured BPM will coverwith a local slant what may interest you.Ever wanted to make a movie? We take youbehind the scenes with local olks doing just that.Interested in broadening the issues presentedon local television? Check out the eorts o theSacramento Media Group and others. Like toread about success stories? We have those, too.And there are stories reporting on eorts to bringhealth care or all, the costs o war, getting tothe bottom o Sept. 11, impeachment and more.We introduce writers new to
BPM
this issue anddeliver some o our seasoned regulars. ake alook or yoursel and don’t orget; the calendarpage lists upcoming events you won’t want tomiss.
By Elaine Corn
Beware the news story about healthcare reorm that does not mention stateSenate Bill 840, the only proposed lawthat would provide universal single-payer health care to all Caliornians as abenet o residence in the state.For example, a story ran in
TeSacramento Bee
(“erm limit measurelures health care donors,” 7-16-07) abouthealth care providers contributing in acrisscross aair to term limits measuresthat would preserve the seats o thosemembers o the state senate who would“hurt” the or-prot health care industry the least. As conusing as the story was, itdid attempt to provide background aboutthe health care reorm plans swirlingthrough the Capitol building halls. Butthe list was incomplete.Readers saw the governor’s big idea, errone-ously billed as “universal” and with its mandateto buy insurance rom industry Bigs. Tenthere’s the Nuñez-Perata plan, which sets upa purchasing pool only or businesses, doesn’tcover the sel-employed, and keeps private insur-ers in play, making it more like US Senator edStevens’s bridge in Alaska—the Health Care Billto Nowhere.Te story ails to mention the one plan thattruly covers everyone, SB 840, Senator SheilaKuehl’s cradle-to-grave health care or all Calior-nians. Rarely do media mention the legs this billhas grown and the progress it continues to make.Tis past August, in a rare showing o electedocials representing the will o the people, SB840 passed both houses, but was vetoed by thepeople’s governor. A snide observer might con-clude this is precisely when Schwarzenegger gotthe idea he should come up with his own planso he could claim to have invented theconcept.Perhaps SB 840 was omitted rom
TeBee’s
story because it takes prot out o health care, thereore making it pointlessto note contributions to politicians whodo not take money rom private insurers, such asKuehl. Remembering that this story linked lob-byist donations to proposed recongurations o term limits, the writer also outlined how a Febru-ary 2008 ballot measure would tighten term lim-its, except or Nuñez and Perata. Unortunately,he missed a chance to note that Kuehl termsout next year under current law. Could it be anaccident that she won’t get the special treatmentsingled out or Nuñez and Perata so they remainin their leadership positions? Nuñez would getsix years beyond 2008, Perata our. Kuehl wouldhave to walk away. And the Health Care Bill toNowhere would continue its journey to ailedpolicy, keeping prot saely entrenched in our
rue Health Care Reform: Any News?
Then there’s the Nuñez-Perata plan, which setsup a purchasing pool only or businesses,doesn’t cover the sel-employed, and keeps private insurers in play,making it more like US Senator Ted Stevens’sbridge in Alaska—theHealth Care Bill toNowhere.
BPM is sad to say arewell to SethSandronsky, whosemordant observationshave appeared in thepaper almost rom thestart. His vigorous“Media Clipped” seg-ment o the publicationcovered topics as wideranging as economics,racism, education andgun violence. You willcontinue to nd San-dronsky pieces on Dissident Voice, Counterpunch, andin the pages o Te News and Review. We appreciatedhis careul editing and penetrating analysis and we willmiss him.
Goodby, Sth
SB 840: health care or all Caliornia.
medical utures—and these two in oce.Who will carry the SB 840 torch aer 2008?And who among us will call out to the mediaevery time health care reorm is mentionedwithout containing a discussion or sentenceacknowledging that SB 840, the true universalsingle-payer proposal, is the answer. We all mustkeep SB 840 alive and well. We must all be mediawatchdogs.More inormation:
www.onecarenow.org/index.html
Elaine Corn is a reelance journalist with nohealth insurance.
www.bpmnews.org
September / October 007 BECAUSE PEOPLE MATTER
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By Charlene Jones
C
indy Sheehan, ounder o Gold StarFamilies or Peace and Camp Casey, ledmarchers in July rom Arlington NationalCemetery to the oce o Congressman JohnConyers, chair o the House Judiciary Commit-tee, to ask him to begin impeachment proceed-ings against Vice President Dick Cheney andPresident George W. Bush. Sheehan’s contingent,while lled with names amiliar to readers, isbut one o a mounting number o less amiliaractions and organizations across the country committed to addressing Constitutional griev-ances against the White House. Nonetheless,corporate media continue to dismiss, as did Rep.Conyers, the upsurge in American insistence onaccountability by the Bush administration.Numerous city, county and state measureshave been disregarded, according to ProjectCensored, a media analysis center at SonomaState University, along with hundreds o lettersto editors o major newspapers, opinion writersacross the country and cover articles by nationalpublications like
Te Nation
and
Harper’s Maga-zine
. Sheehan also presented Rep. Conyers witha petition containing more than a million sig-natures, according to a July broadcast o publicnews program “Democracy Now,” with littlemention in mainstream news. In addition, one o the most popular questions submitted on “You-tube” or the July presidential candidates’ debatedealt with impeachment, according to the LosAngeles National Impeachment Center (LANIC),and CNN chose to skip it.Aer Vice President Al Gore called “apresident who breaks the law a threat to the very structure o our government,” PBS television’sMcLaughlin Group spent a ew minutes early this year on the “I” word but dismissed impeach-ment mentions as “a growing movement on thele trying to get some attention.” On a June air-ing o CNN’s “Situation Room,” om Foremancommented on Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s (D-OH)eorts to orward articles o impeachmentagainst Cheney. “It’s hardly a mass movement,said Forman, “but the congressman rom Cleve-land is picking up a ew new pals.” How aboutthose pals?Nearly two years aer Zogby Internationaland Ipsos polls in 2005 reported more Americanswanted Congress to consider impeaching Presi-dent Bush i he lied about the war in Iraq, thanthose who did not, the American Research Groupsurveyed the impeachment question again. Morethan our in 10 Americans avored impeach-ment hearings or President Bush and 54 percentavored impeachment o Vice President Cheney.As o June, 11 state legislatures had con-sidered impeachment resolutions, according toLANIC, with Vermont succeeding in passage andMaine and Wisconsin still pending. Te list o state Democratic parties that have passed resolu-tions urging impeachment o Bush and Cheney
In addition, one o themost popular questions submitted on Youtubeor the July presidential candidates’ debate dealt with impeachment,according to the Los Angeles National Impeachment Center, and CNN chose to skip it.
has grown to 15. At least 77 cities and towns anda growing list o labor unions and other organiza-tions have also passed such declarations. Accord-ing to “Democracy Now!,” the cosponsor list orH.R. 333, Dennis Kucinich’s articles o impeach-ment against Cheney, is now up to 15. While nota member o Congress who may join the list,Bruce Fein also called or proceedings to begin.Fein was deputy attorney general underPresident Ronald Reagan and columnist or theconservative
Washington News
. For an hour dur-ing a July PBS broadcast o “Bill Moyers Journal”he laid out reasoning or all good women andmen to demand inquiry into possible crimes by Bush and Cheney against the American people.Fein praised “the great genius o the ound-ing athers, their revolutionary ideas, with thechie mission o the state to make you and themree to pursue their ambitions and aculties. Notto build empires, not to aggrandize government.Tat’s the mission or the state, to make themree, to think, to chart their own destiny. Andthe burden is on our government to give really good explanations as to why they’re taking theseextraordinary measures. And on that score, Bushhas unked on every single occasion. And weneed to get the American people to think. Every time that there’s an incursion on reedom, they have to demand why.”Advocating or ormal hearings on theimpeachment, Fein said, “Because there arepolitical crimes that have been perpetrated incombination. It hasn’t been one, the other beingin isolation. And the hearings have to be not intothis Republican or Democrat. Tis is somethingthat needs to set a precedent, whoever occupiesthe White House in 2009. You do not want tohave that occupant, whether it’s John McCainor Hillary Clinton or Rudy Giuliani or JohnEdwards, to have this authority to go outside thelaw and say, ‘I am the law. I do what I want. Noone else’s view matters.’” Impeachment? Toughyou’d never know, the prospect is more popularevery day. It seems more than a ew new pals arelining up.
Charlene Jones is an editor with
BecausePeople Matter.
Impeachment Movement? Not on Mainstream News
Caliornia Dmocraic Pary ImpachmnRsolion, Adopd April 2007
CALLING FOR FULLINVESTIGATION INTO ABUSES OFPOWER BY PRESIDENT GEORGE W.BUSH AND RICHARD B. CHENEY
WHEREAS,
George W. Bush and Richard B.Cheney have acted in a manner contrary totheir trust as President and Vice President,subversive o the Constitution, to the greatprejudice o the cause o law and justice, andto the maniest injury o the people o Cali-ornia and the United States o America, by intentionally disseminating and propagatingknowingly alse and abricated “evidence”regarding the threat rom Iraq in order to wagea tragic, bloody war with the loss o thousandso brave American troops and Iraqi civilians,and
WHEREAS,
it is clear that since September11, 2001, President George W. Bush and VicePresident Dick Cheney have abused theirpowers o oce by: 1) using inormation they knew to be alse as justication or the USinvasion o Iraq; 2) condoning and authorizingthe torture o prisoners o war; 3) authorizingwiretaps on US citizens without obtaining awarrant; 4) disclosing the name o an under-cover CIA operative contrary to law in order toharm her or her husband’s opposition to theIraq War; 5) having suspended and denied thehistoric Writ o Habeas Corpus by ordering theindenite detention o so-called enemy com-batants without charge and without access tolegal counsel; and 6) overstepping Presidentialauthority by signing statements used to ignoreor circumvent portions o over 750 Congres-sional statutes he brought into law; and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,
that theCaliornia Democratic Party supports vigorousinvestigation o these charges by the Congresso the United States, including the ull use o Congressional subpoena power authority tocompletely disclose the actions o the Admin-istration to the American people and to takenecessary action to call the Administration toaccount with appropriate remedies and pun-ishment, including impeachment.
For inormaion, organizing ools and piions:
www.ipetitions.com/petition/moveontoimpeachmentwww.democrats.com/join-our-impeachment-group-on-facebook www.democrats.com/impeach-cheney-congressional-recordwww.impeachspace.com
www.aerdowningstreet.orgwww.impeachbush.tvwww.impeachpac.orgwww.bcimpeach.com
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