Hi. I added the final calendar item after reading of the victory of the
progressive slate in yesterday's UTLA slate. All things are possible.
Ed
The New York Times
February 27, 2005
OP-ED COLUMNIST
W.'s Stiletto Democracy
By MAUREEN DOWD
http://tinyurl.com/59grq
WASHINGTON
It was remarkable to see President Bush lecture Vladimir Putin on the
importance of checks and balances in a democratic society.
Remarkably brazen, given that the only checks Mr. Bush seems to
believe in are those written to the "journalists" Armstrong Williams, Maggie
Gallagher and Karen Ryan, the fake TV anchor, to help promote his policies.
The administration has given a whole new meaning to checkbook journalism,
paying a stupendous $97 million to an outside P.R. firm to buy columnists
and produce propaganda, including faux video news releases.
The only balance W. likes is the slavering, Pravda-like "Fair and
Balanced" coverage Fox News provides. Mr. Bush pledges to spread democracy
while his officials strive to create a Potemkin press village at home. This
White House seems to prefer softball questions from a self-advertised male
escort with a fake name to hardball questions from journalists with real
names; it prefers tossing journalists who protect their sources into the
gulag to giving up the officials who broke the law by leaking the name of
their own C.I.A. agent.
W., who once looked into Mr. Putin's soul and liked what he saw, did
not demand the end of tyranny, as he did in his second Inaugural Address.
His upper lip sweating a bit, he did not rise to the level of his hero
Ronald Reagan's "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Instead, he said that
"the common ground is a lot more than those areas where we disagree." The
Russians were happy to stress the common ground as well.
An irritated Mr. Putin compared the Russian system to the American
Electoral College, perhaps reminding the man preaching to him about
democracy that he had come in second in 2000 according to the popular vote,
the standard most democracies use.
Certainly the autocratic former K.G.B. agent needs to be upbraided by
someone - Tony Blair, maybe? - for eviscerating the meager steps toward
democracy that Russia had made before Mr. Putin came to power. But Mr. Bush
is on shaky ground if he wants to hold up his administration as a paragon of
safeguarding liberty - considering it has trampled civil liberties in the
name of the war on terror and outsourced the torture of prisoners to
bastions of democracy like Syria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. (The secretary of
state canceled a trip to Egypt this week after Egypt's arrest of a leading
opposition politician.)
"I live in a transparent country," Mr. Bush protested to a Russian
reporter who implicitly criticized the Patriot Act by noting that the
private lives of American citizens "are now being monitored by the state."
Dick Cheney's secret meetings with energy lobbyists were certainly a
model of transparency. As was the buildup to the Iraq war, when the Bush
hawks did their best to cloak the real reasons they wanted to go to war and
trumpet the trumped-up reasons.
The Bush administration wields maximum secrecy with minimal
opposition. The White House press is timid. The poor, limp Democrats don't
have enough power to convene Congressional hearings on any Republican
outrages and are reduced to writing whining letters of protest that are
tossed in the Oval Office trash.
When nearly $9 billion allotted for Iraqi reconstruction during Paul
Bremer's tenure went up in smoke, Democratic lawmakers vainly pleaded with
Republicans to open a Congressional investigation.
Even the near absence of checks and balances is not enough for W. Not
content with controlling the White House, Congress, the Supreme Court and a
good chunk of the Fourth Estate, he goes to even more ludicrous lengths to
avoid being challenged.
The White House wants its Republican allies in the Senate to stamp out
the filibuster, one of the few weapons the handcuffed Democrats have left.
They want to invoke the so-called nuclear option and get rid of the
150-year-old tradition in order to ram through more right-wing judges.
Mr. Bush and Condi Rice strut in their speeches - the secretary of
state also strutted in Wiesbaden in her foxy "Matrix"-dominatrix black
leather stiletto boots - but they shy away from taking questions from the
public unless they get to vet the questions and audiences in advance.
Administration officials went so far as to cancel a town hall meeting
during Mr. Bush's visit to Germany last week after deciding an unscripted
setting would be too risky, opting for a round-table talk in Mainz with
preselected Germans and Americans.
The president loves democracy - as long as democracy means he's always
right.
***
Guitarist Bernie Pearl brings his exciting brand of finger style blues back
to
Boulvard Music on Saturday, March 5. The redux of last year's sold-out
show will again feature a set by bluesman Bob Jones.
As a follow-up to the Bernie Pearl Live From Boulevard Music CD of 2002,
the concert will be recorded for release by next summer.
Bernie Pearl, characterized as a "fount of imagination" by the LA Times,
and considered an LA blues icon by his many fans and students, is
solidly grounded in and inspired by deep southern rural traditions. He
personalizes and extends the definition of the blues by fusing rural and
urban traditions into a style of his own. Bernie is an authentic blues voice
who produces a powerful and identifiable sound. As on the previous CD,
Pearl will be accompanied by his long time bassist Mike Barry.
Boulevard Music is at 4316 Sepulveda Blvd, at Culver, Culver City.
Tickets are $12. For information and reservations call (310) 398-2583.
***
Office of the Americas Peace Calendar
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 1:46 PM
FRIDAY, MARCH 4TH, 7 PM
David Rovics and Robb Johnson in Concert
Claremont Forum
111 So. College Ave.
Claremont, CA 91711
"David Rovics is the musical version of Democracy Now." -Amy Goodman
Rovics is joined by Robb Johnson, political peace activist songwriter.
For more information, contact Marjorie Mikels, (909) 981-2030.
_____________________________________________________________
NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD/L.A. CHAPTER
2005 Winter Awards Reception
Honoring Writer, Teacher & Journalist
ROBERT SCHEER
Sunday, March 6, 2005
2:00 ~ 4:30 p.m.
Sherry Frumkin Gallery
at the Santa Monica Art Studios
3026 Airport Ave, Santa Monica 90405
Cheesecakes, Wine, & Other Refreshments
Tickets: $25 /Patrons: $100/ Law Students Free
323-653-4510
___________________________________________________________
SATURDAY, MARCH 19 - 12:00 Noon
Iraq Invasion Anniversary: Global Day of Mass Action Save the Date!
On the second anniversary of Shock And Awe, there will be massive
demonstrations in Los Angeles, nationwide, and worldwide! Let's show the
Bush administration what a REAL mandate looks like, as we demand: End the
War! Bring the Troops Home Now! Rebuild Our Communities! To become an
endorser of the March 19 Global Day of Mass Action, call 323-464-1636 or
e-mail answerla at answerla.org.
Also submit your local protest activities to the list at
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/events/ .
_____________________________________________________________
EVERY SUNDAY -
Setup at 8:00AM, removal at 6:00 PM
The Arlington West Memorial Project in Santa Monica on the beach, just north
of the Santa Monica Pier.
Now well over 1300 crosses honoring US soldiers killed in Iraq, plus
recognition that Iraqi deaths would fill up the whole beach. Volunteers
needed! This is becoming a gigantic effort! This very moving, nonpartisan
memorial is put on by the Los Angeles Chapter of Veterans For Peace. VFP
plans to do this every Sunday until the United States pulls the troops out
of Iraq. Anyone in the Los Angeles area who would like to help please call
Ed Ellis at 323-934-345 - email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information on VFP's
Arlington West and other projects, go to:
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/Arlington_west_121003.htm ____
***
8) Marc Blitzstein Centennial Concert, Sunday, March 6 at 2 pm
A concert at The Workmen's Circle on Sunday, March 6 at 2 pm will honor the
career and legacy of Jewish American composer Marc Blitzstein (1905-1964),
whose theatre works such as The Cradle Will Rock, No for an Answer, Regina,
Juno, and his translation of Weill and Brecht's Threepenny Opera set a high
standard of social consciousness in American music. The afternoon concert
features the Tetraktys String Quartet, pianist Leo Marcus, singers Christian
Nova and Karen Vuong, Blitzstein's nephew Christopher Davis, and Blitzstein
biographer Eric A. Gordon. The program includes rarely performed works,
including settings of Walt Whitman texts and Elizabethan songs, several in
their West Coast premieres.
Marc Blitzstein was a monumental musical talent, social activist and
commentator, whose influence continues to be felt in the American theatre.
On the centennial of his birth, musicians and speakers will celebrate the
life and work of this leading figure in American progressive life. The
concert is organized by Eric A. Gordon, whose biography of the composer,
Mark the Music: The Life and Work of Marc Blitzstein, was published in 1989
by St. Martin's Press and reprinted in 2001.
Tickets are $20 for the public, and $12 for members of The Workmen's Circle.
Make checks payable to "Workmen's Circle." Call 310.552.2007 for more
information.
There is one performance only and seating is limited. $50 patrons will
receive priority seating and recognition in the program.
This program has been made possible in part by funding from The Puffin
Foundation, "continuing the dialogue between art and the lives of ordinary
people."
***
* 400- 500 teachers expected at March 5 conference 3/5
Educators to Stop the War Conference
Dear Peace and Justice Activist:
Please help us spread the word about our east coast
regional conference,Educators to Stop the War, on March
5 in NewYork City. We are organizing cross-union (AFT,
NE A, UAW, AAUP) and cross grade level (K-12 and
college). Our focus is on anti-war organizing in
unions, curriculum, building the HS and college student
movements, and counter-military recruitment in the
schools.
We are expecting about 400-500 teachers and about 100
students. This promises to be a rich conference and an
antidote to the depression too many people are
experiencing. This is a great way to get teachers
involved in anti-war work in their workplaces and
unions and, thus, an important way to build the anti-
war movement.
This event is co-sponsored by UFPJ and lots of UFPJ
luminaries (Leslie Cagan,Hany Khalil, Judith LeBlanc,
Medea Benjamin, Nancy Lessin, Charley Richardson, Fred
Mason) will be speaking and participating in the 50
workshops offered in the conference.
Please help us and forward this to every teacher you
know on the east coast.Please tell people to register
on the website NOW: www.educatorstostopthewar.organd
have their questions answered by emailing
[EMAIL PROTECTED], many thanks.
In peace and solidarity,
Nancy Romer (PSC-CUNY, AFT 2334)
Michael Zweig (UUP-SUNY, AFT 2190)
Co-conveners
Educators to Stop the War East Coast Regional
Conference
Saturday, March 5, 2005
8:30am - 5 p.m., with party to follow
Hunter High School
(E. 94th Street and Park Avenue, Manhattan)
www.educatorstostopthewar.org
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