UNDERNEWS
Sam Smith
July 16, 1999
The Progressive Review
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--
WORD
The Governor is now free to blow other candidates out of the political water
well before the voters of this country even get their fair say. This may
signal the end of the notion that money can't buy an election. -- Ellen
Miller of Public Campaign on George Bush's rejection of federal matching
funds.
PUBLIC CAMPAIGN http://publicampaign.org
TRENCHCOAT MEDIA
A yo who shot Rudy in broad daylight for cash.
I woke up this morning and heard the news flash
They said it happened down at City Hall
He had his wife with him
Five shots from the crowd made him fall
It was chaos and pandemonium
Blood covered up the podium
When they announced his death
Wifey was stressed.
-- Song by Screwball forthcoming on the Time-Warner-distributed Tommy Boy
label. According to Insight, the song also mentions "blacks smiling ear to
ear" and adds "the devil died and nobody cried."
LOOK WHAT JAMES CARVILLE
BROUGHT ME FROM ISRAEL
Speaking of the pending arrival of Israel Prime Minister Ehud Barak, W.J.
Clinton said that he was as "eager as a kid with a new toy." Asked an
Israeli reporter of the President at a news conference, "What kind of game
do you want to play with Mr. Barak?"
Explained the Wizard of Is: "It's a slogan, you know, in the way, in
American English it means, 'I am very excited about the prospect of the
rejuvenation of the peace process," and that's all it means."
As in:
"That's a great new car you've got, Joe"
"Thanks. I am very excited about the prospect of the rejuvenation of the
peace process."
Barak, incidentally, was advised during the campaign by James Carville who,
among other things, told him that the election would come down to a question
of who won the Jewish vote.
PROBABLY LEARNED IT
FROM THE PACIFICA BOARD
MSNBC: Dont be surprised if you hear mostly nice things about Tom
Cruise in connection with Eyes Wide Shut. At a recent junket promoting
the movie, the stars publicist insisted that all reporters granted
access to the star had to sign contracts that gave the publicist control
over what the reporters could say about Cruise and when they could say
it. Most startling, perhaps, was the contracts stipulation that the
interview and the program will not show the artist in a negative or
derogatory manner.
WAR AGAINST PACIFICA
What is happening to Pacifica broadcasting is unprecedented in American
media history -- although not, of course, in dictatorships. Nothing gives
the feel of the anti-democratic pathology of the Pacifica board than the
audio of the forced removal of Dennis Bernstein. On July 13, KPFA host
Bernstein was fired after broadcasting a press conference on the controversy
surrounding Pacifica Radio. Guards, hired by Pacifica management, were
ordered to remove Bernstein from the station. He refused to go. There is a
recording of what ensued shortly afterwards in the control room while KPFA
was broadcasting its evening news. KPFA news co-host/director Mark Mericle
began explaining the situation to listeners -- as you will hear -- but
Pacifica management pulled the plug. After a few minutes of silence the
station began broadcasting archive tape.
KPFA TAPE http://www.igc.org/MakingContact/
If the 50-year-old Pacifica tradition of independent broadcasting is
destroyed by its board it will mean the end of America's major
non-establishment radio voice. Not only will this effect Pacifica's own
stations, but the three-score independent community radio stations around
the country that rely on Pacifica's news and information feeds.
THE MEDIA LOCK-DOWN
One of the least reported -- for obvious reasons -- aspects of the Clinton
regime has been in its massive subversion, seduction, and assault on the
press. Media executives such as Mort Zuckerman, Rick Kaplan, and Tina Brown
have been enticed or willingly signed up as press agents of the
administration. Critical journalists have been subject to bad-mouthing,
false accusations, and worse. At least eight
