Yesterday's Ammianoliner:

McCain's speech runs the gamut of emotion from A to B.

(From the home telephone answering machine of Sup.Tom Ammiano on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2008, the day after the acceptance speech of Sen. John McCain at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.)

Good going, Tom. You enunciated much better. Editorial aside: Tom was in the office on Friday for an editorial interview on the November election. Instead of being a standup comedian who happens to be a politician, he becomes a sitdown comedian who happens to be a politician. He complained wryly that, because his jokes were appearing regularly on the Bruce blog, that he was under a lot of pressure. Under pressure, he explained, to not only come up with pithy, topical jokes but to do it daily and and to enunciate clearly. We assured him that it was well worth the effort because he was getting his Ammianoliners out on deadline, getting enormous international viewship on the almost famous Bruce blog, and doing it all from the comfort of his Bernal Heights home. Moreover, it would be good training for his move next year to Sacramento as a San Francisco assemblyman.

While the Nation magazine has Calvin Trillin as its Deadline Poet, we have Tom Ammiano as our
Deadline Ammianoliner. B3

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Posted by Bruce B. Brugmann at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)

By Bruce B. Brugmann (Scroll down for the alternative coverage)

While the Republicans were turning into instant reformers and mavericks inside the convention hall,
outside the St. Paul police were roughing up demonstrators and arresting journalists committing the grave sin of journalism.

Somehow, none of the reformers and mavericks inside referred to the violence outside nor tried to stop it and very few of the mainstream papers or broadcasters thought it worthy of coverage. Fortunately, the press rallied nationwide and, led by the Free Press Organization and the Society of Professional Journalists, collected more than 60,000 protest letters in 72 hours and delivered them to City hall in St. Paul this morning (5/9/2008). The letters called on Mayor Chris Coleman and law enforcement officials to drop all charges.

Personally, I am appalled at official St. Paul. I come from a town only five miles from the Minnesota border, Rock Rapids, five miles south of Luverne in the southeast corner of the state. I visited Minneapolis and St. Paul many times through the years. I watched George Mikan play for the old Minneapolis Lakers and I watched Paul Giel play University of Minnesota football. And for two summers I worked out of the downtown YMCA in Minneapoilis in its YMCA camp on Half Moon Bay Lake up in the Iron Country.

Minnesotans are good progressive people and vote in people like Eugene McCarthy, Walter Mondale, Paul Wellstone, and (hopefully) Al Franken. Garrison Keillor does the Lake Woebegone radio stories out of St. Paul. How in the world did this happen in St. Paul, Minnesota?
I recommend the two daily papers, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Dispatch, do a major investigation and figure it out and call for some real reformers and mavericks to get the local cops and City Hall back in line.

Under the First Amendment, It ought not to be a crime to demonstrate against Bush and the Iraq War and it ought not to be a crime to commit journalism to cover the demonstrations. After all, even the Republicans "demonstrated" against Bush and Cheney and their ruined war and economic policies. They in effect declared Bush and Cheney persona non grata at the convention and refused to even mention their names in their speeches. B3

Continued coverage of the journalist arrests at the RNC:

From Free Press.net: St. Paul in the Hot Seat over Journalist Arrests

From Editor and Publisher: Letters Protesting Journalist Arrests at RNC Delivered Today in St. Paul

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Posted by Bruce B. Brugmann at 06:11 PM | Comments (1)

Here is the first column in a series we will be running regularly from Project Syndicate. Project Syndicate, based in Prague, is an international association of newspapers devoted to bringing distinguished voices from across the world to local audiences everywhere, strengthening the independence of printed media in transition and developing countries and upgrading their journalistic, editorial, and business capacities. To learn more about Project Syndicate visit: www.project-syndicate.org/

Learning the Lessons of Iraq

By Joseph E. Stiglitz

NEW YORK – The Iraq war has been replaced by the declining economy as the most important issue in America’s presidential election campaign, in part because Americans have come to believe that the tide has turned in Iraq: the troop “surge” has supposedly cowed the insurgents, bringing a decline in violence. The implications are clear: a show of power wins the day.

It is precisely this kind of macho reasoning that led America to war in Iraq in the first place. The war was meant to demonstrate the strategic power of military might. Instead, the war showed its limitations. Moreover, the war undermined America’s real source of power – its moral authority.

Recent events have reinforced the risks in the Bush administration’s approach. It was always clear that the timing of America’s departure from Iraq might not be its choice – unless it wanted to violate international law once again. Now, Iraq is demanding that American combat troops leave within twelve months, with all troops out in 2011.

To be sure, the reduction in violence is welcome, and the surge in troops may have played some role. Yet the level of violence, were it taking place anywhere else in the world, would make headlines; only in Iraq have we become so inured to violence that it is a good day if only 25 civilians get killed.

And the role of the troop surge in reducing violence in Iraq is not clear. Other factors were probably far more important, including buying off Sunni insurgents so that they fight with the United States against Al Qaeda. But that remains a dangerous strategy. The US should be working to create a strong, unified government, rather than strengthening sectarian militias. Now the Iraqi government has awakened to the dangers, and has begun arresting some of the leaders whom the American government has been supporting. The prospects of a stable future look increasingly dim.

That is the key point: the surge was supposed to provide space for a political settlement, which would provide the foundations of long-term stability. That political settlement has not occurred. So, as with the arguments used to justify the war, and the measures of its success, the rationale behind surge, too, keeps shifting.

Meanwhile, the military and economic opportunity costs of this misadventure become increasingly clear. Even if the US had achieved stability in Iraq, this would not have assured victory in the “war on terrorism,” let alone success in achieving broader strategic objectives. Things have not been going well in Afghanistan, to say the least, and Pakistan looks ever more unstable.

Moreover, most analysts agree that at least part of the rationale behind Russia’s invasion of Georgia, reigniting fears of a new Cold War, was its confidence that, with America’s armed forces pre-occupied with two failing wars (and badly depleted because of a policy of not replacing military resources as fast as they are used up), there was little America could do in response. Russia’s calculations proved correct.

Even the largest and richest country in the world has limited resources. The Iraq war has been financed entirely on credit; and partly because of that, the US national debt has increased by two-thirds in just eight years.

But things keep getting worse: the deficit for 2009 alone is expected to be more than a half-trillion dollars, excluding the costs of financial bail-outs and the second stimulus package that almost all economists now say is urgently needed. The war, and the way it has been conducted, has reduced America’s room for maneuver, and will almost surely deepen and prolong the economic downturn.

The belief that the surge was successful is especially dangerous because the Afghanistan war is going so poorly. America’s European allies are tiring of the endless battles and mounting casualties. Most European leaders are not as practiced in the art of deception as the Bush administration; they have greater difficulty hiding the numbers from their citizens.

The British, for example, are well aware of the problems that they repeatedly encountered in their imperial era in Afghanistan. America will, of course, continue to put pressure on its allies, but democracy has a way of limiting the effectiveness of such pressure. Popular opposition to the Iraq war made it impossible for Mexico and Chile to give into American pressure at the United Nations to endorse the invasion; the citizens of these countries were proven right.

But back in America, the belief that the surge “worked” is now leading many to argue that more troops are needed in Afghanistan. True, the war in Iraq distracted America’s attention from Afghanistan. But the failures in Iraq are a matter of strategy, not troop strength. It is time for America, and Europe, to learn the lessons of Iraq – or, rather, relearn the lessons of virtually every country that tries to occupy another and determine its future.

Joseph E. Stiglitz, professor of economics at Columbia University, and recipient of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics, is co-author, with Linda Bilmes, of The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Costs of the Iraq Conflict.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2008.
www.project-syndicate.org

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Posted by Bruce B. Brugmann at 10:43 AM | Comments (0)

By Bruce B. Brugmann

This is the kind of press release I like to get. This is from the Free Press, a national media reform organization, which circulated a petition demanding that St. Paul authorities drop all charges against Amy Goodman and her Pacifica radio crew and all journalists arrested at the Republican convention in St. Paul.

The petitions were gathered in two days. They will be delivered at 10 a.m. on Friday morning to St. Paul City Hall.

September 4, 2008

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Nancy Doyle Brown, Twin Cities Media Alliance, (612) 374-9380
Jen Howard, Free Press, (202) 265-1490, x22 or (703) 517-6273

FRIDAY: Delivery of 50,000 Letters Demanding St. Paul Drop Charges Against Journalists

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- On Friday morning, local advocates and independent journalists will deliver more that 50,000 petitions to St. Paul City Hall calling on Mayor Chris Coleman and local law enforcement officials to drop all charges against journalists arrested while covering protests outside the Republican National Convention.

WHAT: Delivery of 50,000 letters demanding charges against journalists be dropped
WHEN: Sept. 5, 10 a.m. CT
WHERE: St. Paul City Hall, 15 Kellogg Blvd.
WHO: Local advocates and independent journalists from KFAI Community Radio, National Lawyers Guild, Twin Cities Daily Planet, Twin Cities IndyMedia, Twin Cities Media Alliance and The Uptake.

On Monday, local law enforcement officials arrested Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and two producers from her show, Associated Press photographer Matt Rourke and several independent videographers while they were covering protests outside the Republican National Convention. Other independent journalists have also been pepper-sprayed and even held at gunpoint during "pre-emptive" raids aimed at disrupting protesters.

"The targeting and harassment of journalists that we've seen during the RNC sends the message that the Twin Cities don't value the essential role that journalists play in a democracy," said Nancy Doyle Brown of Twin Cities Media Alliance. "From the pre-convention raids to the ongoing harassment and arrests of journalists, these have been dark days for press freedom in the United States. We're bringing Mayor Coleman more than 50,000 letters from people across the nation demanding that all charges pending against these journalists be dropped."

Following the arrests, Free Press, the national media reform organization, circulated a petition demanding that Mayor Coleman and local authorities immediately "free all detained journalists and drop all charges against them" -- garnering more than 50,000 signatures nationwide in less than two days. Their call has been echoed by groups including the Society for Professional Journalists, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Reporters Without Borders and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Watch the video of Goodman's arrest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYjyvkR0bGQ

Watch other journalists being arrested, as recorded by The UpTake: http://theuptake.org/

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Posted by Bruce B. Brugmann at 03:32 PM | Comments (0)

This just arrived from Democracy Now.

=== DROP THE CHARGES - DEMOCRACY NOW! ACTION ALERT - FORWARD WIDELY ===

On the web: http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2008/9/3/call_to_action

*Call to Action on Behalf of DN! Journalists Facing Charges for
Reporting on the Republican National Convention*

Today it is critical that you make your voice heard in the Ramsey
County Attorney and St. Paul City Attorney offices. Demand that they
drop all pending and current charges against journalists arrested while
reporting on protests outside the Republican National Conventions.

The Ramsey County Attorney's office is in the process of deciding
whether or not to press felony P.C. (probable cause) riot charges
against Democracy Now! Producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole
Salazar. Please contact Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner by all
means possible to demand that her office not press charges against
Kouddous and Salazar.

Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner
RCA@co.ramsey.mn.us (cc: dropthecharges@democracynow.org)
651-266-3222

Susan Gaertner for Governor
info@susangaertner.com (cc: dropthecharges@democracynow.org)
(612) 978-8625
(612) 804-6156

The St. Paul City Attorney's office has already charged Amy Goodman with
misdemeanor obstruction of a legal process and interference with a peace
officer. Contact St. Paul City Attorney John Choi by all means possible
to demand that the charges against Goodman be dropped immediately.

St. Paul City Attorney John Choi
john.choi@ci.stpaul.mn.us (cc: dropthecharges@democracynow.org)
(651) 266-8710

Goodman was arrested while questioning police about the unlawful
detention of Kouddous and Salazar, who were arrested while they carried
out their journalistic duties in covering street demonstrations at the
Republican National Convention.

During the demonstration in which the Democracy Now! team was arrested,
law enforcement officers used pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion
grenades and excessive force against protesters and journalists. Several
dozen demonstrators were also arrested during this action, as was a
photographer for the Associated Press.

*IMPORTANT*
Be sure to cc: dropthecharges@democracynow.org on all emails so that our
team can deliver print outs of your messages to the St. Paul City
Attorney and Ramsey County Attorney offices.

RELATED

Amy Goodman Arrest

Media coverage of RNC arrests

Free Press campaign

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Posted by Tim Redmond at 05:45 PM | Comments (0)

By Bruce B. Brugmann

Coming to work this morning, I listened with outrage to the Thom Hartmann radio program on Air America (960AM) and his chilling interview with Amy Goodman, who detailed her arrest with her Democracy Now/Pacifica Radio/KPFA crew at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.

Here are the details of this important story the mainstream media is paying scant attention to. And what you can do about it. Watch for protests from the Society of Professional Journalists and other journalism and free press organizations.

Free Press Action Alert:

Yesterday, police in St. Paul arrested several journalists, including Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and an AP photographer as they were covering protests of the Republican National Convention.

Stand Up for Independent Journalism

Amy Goodman and others were released last night, but the story is not over.

We need you to cosign our public letter demanding that press intimidation cease immediately, and that all charges be dropped. It will be delivered immediately to St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, the RNC Host Committee and the local prosecuting attorneys. We need 10,000 signatures in the next 24 hours, so please take action now:

Sign the Letter: Drop All Charges Against Journalists

In addition to these arrests, police with firearms drawn raided a meeting of the video journalists' group I-Witness and arrested independent media, bloggers and videomakers. We’re also receiving late-breaking reports of other arrests.

By signing this letter, you’re sending a powerful message: Officials must rein in aggressive and violent tactics by local law enforcement, stop the targeting of journalists and immediately drop all charges against them.

Reporting by independent journalists is vital to a functioning democracy. Americans must have access to diverse sources of information to hold their leaders accountable. Journalists must be free to do their jobs without intimidation.

Please Take Action by Signing this Letter

Don’t wait. We need a free press now more than ever. Tell your friends and take action now!

Thank you,

Josh Silver
Executive Director
Free Press
www.freepress.net

1. Watch the video of Goodman's arrest.

2. See other journalists being arrested as reported by UpTake.

3. News of the AP arrest.

4. Learn more about the arrest of an ABC News producer during the Democratic Convention in Denver.

5. Watch the video of the police raid of I-Witness journalists (Caution: strong language).

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Posted by Bruce B. Brugmann at 11:51 AM | Comments (6)

ByBruce B. Brugmann

Yes, McCain's choice for vice-president is a dangerous one. Here's the best summary I've seen demonstrating just how dangerous, from MoveOn.org. B3

Dear MoveOn member,
Yesterday was John McCain's 72nd birthday. If elected, he'd be the oldest president ever inaugurated. And after months of slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people.

Huh?

Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:

She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.1

Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.2

She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. 3

Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.4

She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.5

She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.6
How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.7
This is information the American people need to see. Please take a moment to forward this email to your friends and family.

We also asked Alaska MoveOn members what the rest of us should know about their governor. The response was striking. Here's a sample:

She is really just a mayor from a small town outside Anchorage who has been a governor for only 1.5 years, and has ZERO national and international experience. I shudder to think that she could be the person taking that 3AM call on the White House hotline, and the one who could potentially be charged with leading the US in the volatile international scene that exists today. —Rose M., Fairbanks, AK

She is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect. She's a hunter and fisherwoman, but votes against the environment again and again. She ran on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several charges involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO experience beyond Alaska. —Christine B., Denali Park, AK

As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement. Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the reformer she claims to be. —Karen L., Anchorage, AK

Alaskans, collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of the nation. She is doing well running our State, but is totally inexperienced on the national level, and very much unequipped to run the nation, if it came to that. She is as far right as one can get, which has already been communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees (dems, republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels she is ready for the V.P. position.—Sherry C., Anchorage, AK

She's vehemently anti-choice and doesn't care about protecting our natural resources, even though she has worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary. —Marina L., Juneau, AK

I think she's far too inexperienced to be in this position. I'm all for a woman in the White House, but not one who hasn't done anything to deserve it. There are far many other women who have worked their way up and have much more experience that would have been better choices. This is a patronizing decision on John McCain's part- and insulting to females everywhere that he would assume he'll get our vote by putting "A Woman" in that position.—Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK

So Governor Palin is a staunch anti-choice religious conservative. She's a global warming denier who shares John McCain's commitment to Big Oil. And she's dramatically inexperienced.

In picking Sarah Palin, John McCain has made the religious right very happy. And he's made a very dangerous decision for our country.

In the next few days, many Americans will be wondering what McCain's vice-presidential choice means. Please pass this information along to your friends and family.

Thanks for all you do.

–Ilyse, Noah, Justin, Karin and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

2. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17515&id=13661-3553856-mj902Fx&t=1

3. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13661-3553856-mj902Fx&t=2

4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13661-3553856-mj902Fx&t=3

5. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17517&id=13661-3553856-mj902Fx&t=4

6. "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17518&id=13661-3553856-mj902Fx&t=5

"Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17519&id=13661-3553856-mj902Fx&t=6

"Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor," The Times of London, May 23, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17520&id=13661-3553856-mj902Fx&t=7

7 "McCain met Palin once before yesterday," MSNBC, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=21119&id=13661-3553856-mj902Fx&t=8

Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 3.2 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to lani silver on August 30, 2008. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

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Posted by Bruce B. Brugmann at 02:28 PM | Comments (0)

Today's Ammianoliner:

McCain picks the church lady (Ammiano singing)

"Everybody run, the vice president got a gun gun gun."

(From the home telephone answering machine of Sup. Tom Ammiano on Friday, August 29, 2008). B3

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Posted by Bruce B. Brugmann at 04:41 PM | Comments (0)

Sarah Palin's Portfolio Managed by Smith Barney, Her Policies Would Fail Smith Barney

By Bruce B. Brugmann

Let me admit that I had never really heard of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. I knew that every congressperson from Alaska was either under indictment or under criminal investigation but I didn't know that much about the governor. I found out this morning from the Tom Hartman radio show on Air America that she herself is under an ethics investigation for interfering as governor with an investigation of her ex-brother-in-law in Alaska.

So I was fascinated to see the material gushing forth as breaking news from the Center for American Progress Action Fund. The one that caught my eye first outlined the Barney Smith angle. Its lead on a nifty political point: "Last night at the Democratic convention, a former Republican named Barney Smith spoke of the need for economic policies that "Help Barney Smith, not Smith Barney.

"Ironically, according to Saray Lskow at the Center for Public Integrity who analyzed Palin's disclosure forms, Sarah Palin's financial portfolio is managed by none other than Soloman Smith Barney.

"Furthermore, by joining McCain on the tdicket, Palin is now endorsing a radical $300 billion in tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy that would leave out mllions of American families while delivering $45 billion in tax breaks for America's 200 largest corporations and at leasdt $6.3 billion for American's largest financial firms."

Click here to read B. Furnas' blog, Sarah Palin’s Portfolio Managed By Smith Barney, Her Policies Would Fail Barney Smith, from the Center for American Progress Action Fund's blog, The Wonk Room.

Check the following link for more telling bio information on Palin from The Wonk Room

The heads and stories in order make the point: "What Does Sarah Palin Thionk Of McCain's Opposition to Equal Pay? Would Palin Still Carry a Pitchfork for Pat? Sarah Palin's Portfolio Managed by Smith Barney, Her Policies Would Fail Smtih Barney. Sarah Palin: a Champion For Big Oil. On His Key Issue: McCain VP Pick Rolls The Dice. McCain And Palin: Promoting Failed Consumer-Driven Health Care.

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Posted by Bruce B. Brugmann at 03:21 PM | Comments (0)

Today's Ammianoliner:

Hillary to McCain: Put the toilet seat down, bub.

(From the home telephone answering machine of Sup. Tom Ammiano on the last day of the Democratic convention, Thursday, August 28, 2008) B3

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Posted by Bruce B. Brugmann at 05:48 PM | Comments (0)