Letterman VS O'Reilly while Miners lose to Greed by John Pietaro Jan. 4, 2006 12:09 PM
This morning as the cold air gave light to the news that twelve of the thirteen West Virginia miners trapped in the dark of their workplace had died, I recalled last night's David Letterman show with a particular fondness. More than just the usual odd silliness with a tight-lipped host and a cackling band- leader, this show stood out far from the rest. Ironically, this morning's news reports revealed that the miner's friends and families were in the midst of celebration at midnight last night, around the time I tuned into Letterman, a celebration which lasted 2 - 3 hours. Their misguided glee was halted abruptly when they discovered, in horror, that the reports from the mine company were wrong---there were not 12 survivors, but 12 victims. 2006 offered no prosperity to this mining community. The appearance of the mine companies CEO on all of cable news, speaking in a morbid tone that attempted to cross into genuine concern, meant nothing to the people whom, for generations, had sacrificed so much. And while this particular mine company had dozens of health and safety violations against it, they continued to send men down into harm's way, again and again and again. For all of the gains that have occurred since Mother Jones' time, not nearly enough has changed. But last night, the generally middle ground David Letterman lashed out at a right-wing icon---in style. Its about time, Dave. Fox News' Bill O'Reilly was Letterman's first guest of the evening, an odd choice, I thought, even for a non- political show like Letterman. Coming in on the heels of usual 'Late Show' fair, such as regular camera shots of a cat reportedly about to make a phone call, O'Reilly took to the set unprepared for any confrontation. Dave asked him about his campaign of the last couple of months (that which John Stewart has had so much fun denigrating every night), his rant about "the attack on Christmas'. Congenial at first, Letterman told O'Reilly that no one should feel threatened by the choice to wish others' 'happy holidays' or 'season's greetings', as opposed to 'merry Christmas'. O'Reilly, in his usual brutish manner, attempted to speak over Letterman, citing 2 examples of how small municipalities have acted in a "politically correct" way to avoid mixing church and state, etc. After attempting a bit of reason, Letterman finally waved O'Reilly off, "Oh, stop, this does not represent an 'attack on Christmas', what are you even talking about? You gave me two damned examples..." O'Reilly, nonplussed, regained ground by attempting to hyperbolically cite other examples. Letterman did not fall for it. Instead he brushed off this conservative windbag, interrupting him more than once. He finally said, "You know, its people like you who really concern me...", chastising O'Reilly and exposing him for the one-sided reporter he is. He even brought up Fox News' ridiculous claim of giving both sides of every story, ridiculing it as worthless. The audience erupted into a loud applause, but Letterman refused to leave it at that. As O'Reilly attempted to bait Dave with the right-wing logic based in Bush's "you're either with us or them", speaking of the need to support the troops, etc, Letterman again waved him off. "Oh, stop", he told the pseudo-pundit, "Of course we need to support all of the troops, they are the finest in the world and we thank every one of them for what they are sacrificing, but the real question, Bill, is---Why Are We There?" Again, loud eruption from the audience, cheering the host's bold foray into progressive television. "You know, you've done a very good job of defending every move of this president, but how do you explain this? We were led to believe...". After hemming and hawing, O'Reilly annoyedly tried to offer terrorism statistics to his own advantage (why not, he is just reading from the same White House script). Letterman sarcastically responded, "Look, I don't have the intelligence to debate you on every aspect of this, but 60% per cent of everything you say is----crap". Screaming audience approval. He again asserted that point after sidekick Paul Shaffer laughingly repeated it, causing Letterman to say, "Yeah--60%: crap". Momentarily at least, David Letterman shut the offensive mouth of one of the right's most brazen spokespersons. This kind of public action is needed so very much at this time. If all of the celebrities who had any clear thought on global affairs would make such a move, things would progress much faster. Bush will fall; its just a matter of how quickly. The public needs to see the truth, through all of the lies, soundbites and PR campaigns of this Bush administration. It is just so easy for folks to get caught up in the rhetoric of cable news, Fox in particular. Capital run wild, corporations out of control, this is at the heart of the war machine. And, on a local level, this is also at the heart of the greed that led to the unchecked safety violations in a West Virginia mine. Our working people are, in both cases, made to pay. In Solidarity, John Pietaro www.flamesofdiscontent.org Go to the source: http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/dave_tv/ls_dtv_big_show_highlights.shtml To subscribe: http://lists.portside.org/mailman/listinfo/portside *** http://counterpunch.com/atzmon01052006.html January 5, 2006 Repose in Blood Sharon Meets His Maker By GILAD ATZMON "Laura and I share the concerns of the Israeli people about Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's health, and we are praying for his recovery. Prime Minister Sharon is a man of courage and peace" George W Bush (US President and man of courage and peace) "He has surprised, I think, everyone with the courage and statesmanship he has shown in recent years to work towards a long term peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians." Jack Straw (UK Foreign Affairs Minister and man of courage and statesmanship) A man of peace is dying. Let us all pray for his quick recovery. A man that was just about to rejuvenate the Israeli political world, redeem for us all the Zionist state and its racist agenda. The great man is gravely ill. Oh dear Lord, save our messiah, oh dear Lord may you now be able to create a donkey so upright that it can carry his load. A peaceful man is on his way to meet his Creator. The Lord may ask him, just as he enters the gate of heaven, "Hey Grandpa Arik, why are your hands so red?" Sometimes the Dear Lord pretends to be ignorant, he loves to give his chosen followers a chance to repent. Somehow, they tend to forget to do so while they are still amongst the living. But Grandpa Arik is not that silly, the Dear Lord isn't going to fool him that easily. "What red, what blood? This is me painting your land in my favourite colour, I thought you'd like it". Grandpa Arik winks to the Lord. The Lord is left cold, unaffected. For more than a while, he seems to have been perplexed by the conduct his chosen followers. Meanwhile, down on earth, the Israelites are praying for a new saviour, a new man of peace, a merciless general with a long-term agenda. A term that is so long that no one can ever see where it leads. The Israelites do not like to see a light in the end of the tunnel because it means that they live in a tunnel. No, it isn't easy to find a replacement for Grandpa. Indeed, as far as filling his shoes goes, the task seems slightly easier, but as far as the waistcoat is concerned, the mission is almost impossible. The whole of the Israelites can fit in. The whole of the Hebraic nation wants to wrap itself up in Grandpa Arik's flak jacket. It is warm in the winter and it provides shadow in the summer. Somehow, it worked for him for many years. Nothing really touched him, nothing really stacked against the man; not the Qibya massacre, not Sabra and Shatila, not the death toll of thousands of Palestinian and Israeli civilians that took place under his direct command. Not even the bizarre death of his first wife and his son. Grandpa has managed to get away with everything. On Earth. Grandpa was the last and the best of his kind. He was a devoted Jewish Nationalist. For him peace wasn't an end but rather a tactic. Arik was the last Hebraic warrior, he was the very last Israelite knight. All his followers are merely professional soldiers. They can kill if needed but they do not prefer to bathe in blood. They are spoiled. Thank you peace loving old man for teaching us what the Israelites are all about. Thank you peace loving old man for taking leave of us. Thank you especially for teaching us what Israelis love to love. It is a slight shame it took you so long but considering your talent to resurrect yourself from the dead, I would just say that it is never too late. Gilad Atzmon was born in Israel and served in the Israeli military. He is the author of two novels: A Guide to the Perplexed and the recently released My One and Only Love. Atzmon is also one of the most accomplished jazz saxophonists in Europe. His recent CD, Exile, was named the year's best jazz CD by the BBC. He now lives in London and can be reached at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________ The Middle East & North Africa Email List MENA Info - [EMAIL PROTECTED] *To access the MENA Info ARCHIVE, please visit: http://www.yourmailinglistprovider.com/pubarchive.php?MENAinfo *To SUBSCRIBE to the MENA Info List, please add your emailaddress here: http://hometown.aol.com/menainfo/ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Clean water saves lives. 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