THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM
LISTEN to this week's half-hour program of Between The Lines by clicking here or any of the individual interview segments below (All in RealAudio, needs RealPlayer 7 or 8.)
This week we present Between
The Lines' summary of under-reported news stories and:
-
Progressive Coalition Gears Up for Battle Against Bush Cabinet
Nominees
Interview
by Scott Harris.
- George
W. Bush will be sworn into office on Jan. 20, although he lost
the election by more than 500,000 votes. Yet despite a pledge
to heal the wounds of the disputed election, the incoming president
has made Cabinet appointments that have instantly triggered
intense opposition from women's organizations, labor unions,
environmentalists, civil rights groups and advocates for gay
and lesbian rights.
The Bush nominee to head the Justice Department, John Ashcroft,
is a vocal opponent of civil rights law, gay rights legislation
and abortion even in the case of rape or incest. The former
senator from Missouri has also opposed federal employee health
coverage of prescription contraceptives.
The incoming Bush administration's candidate to lead the
Interior Department, Gale Norton, served as a lobbyist for
a lead paint manufacturer charged with numerous violations
of environmental law and favors polluters policing themselves.
Mr. Bush's original choice for Labor Secretary, Linda Chavez,
long opposed the minimum wage and derided the women who file
sexual harassment lawsuits as "crybabies." Eight years ago,
Chavez criticed Clinton administration appointees for employing
undocumented immigrants; Chavez's own nomination was withdrawn
due to similar allegations made against her.
Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Robert Borosage,
founder and co-director of the Campaign for America's Future,
who assesses the battle ahead for Bush Cabinet nominees and
the emerging progressive coalition gearing up to confront
the next administration's political and economic policy agenda.
Contact the Campaign for America's Future by calling (202)
955-5665 or visit their website at www.ourfuture.org
Related articles
- "Operation
Divide and Discredit"Washington Post, by Robert Borosage,
Jan. 10, 2001. Quotes: "As Marshall Wittman of the right-wing
Hudson Institute summarized, 'The left won this election.
If you add the votes of Nader to Gore, you have a majority
electorate. And they knocked off several Republican senators.'
Al Gore and Ralph Nader totaled the largest center-left
vote since Lyndon Johnson in 1964."
- "Ashcroft's
Record Too Extreme For Justice: New Report Analyzes Votes
& Views from His Senate Term" People for the American
Way report, Jan. 5, 2001
- "Hail
to the Thief" AlterNet, by Geov Parrish, Jan. 8, 2001.
See the "Who's Coming to the Party" sidebar, for a comprehensive
list of groups organizing protests relating to George W.
Bush's inauguration in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, Jan.
20.
- "The
Right's Post-election Agenda" Right Wing Watch Online,
Dec. 19, 2000
- A
Special Report on the Latest Conflict at Pacifica Radio's WBAI
Interview
by Scott Harris.
- Listeners
and staff of New York City's only progressive radio station
WBAI are holding meetings and taking to the streets to battle
what they describe as a "Christmas Coup," where on Dec. 22,
key staff were fired or banned and the locks changed in the
middle of the night. The Pacifica Foundation which owns WBAI
and four other outlets in major cities around the U.S. dismissed
10-year WBAI manager Valerie Van Isler, after she refused to
move to another position in Washington D.C. Program Director
Bernard White and two other producers were also fired, but Pacifica's
Executive Director Bessie Wash declined to specify the reason
for the terminations, citing confidentiality concerns.
The 50-year-old network founded by pacifists after World
War II has been embroiled in conflict since 1999, when Pacifica
fired a popular station manager and other veteran staff at
their Berkeley, Calif. station, KPFA. Months of protest by
thousands of listeners opposed to the changes eventually led
to a return to local control. More recently, Amy Goodman,
the host of Pacifica's daily public affairs program "Democracy
Now," charged Pacifica management with enforcing rules to
"exert political control" over her award-winning show. Meanwhile,
lawsuits filed against the network by listener groups and
dissident Pacifica board members are now making their way
through the courts. Local autonomy is one of the major issues
to surface within Pacifica during these disputes. A change
of the by-laws at the network in March 1999 resulted in severely
limiting the input of each station's local advisory board
on critical decisions.
A leaked memo written by a member of the governing board
advocating the sale of some of Pacifica's stations has increased
speculation that the network is preparing to abandon its listener
base. Kenneth Ford, vice chairman of the Pacifica Board, says
programming on the network has become "irrelevant" and stuck
in the politics of the 1960's. In order to survive, he says,
the five stations must appeal to a broader, younger audience.
Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with two representatives
in the Pacifica dispute: WBAI's interim station manager Utrice
Leid and Pacifica Foundation board member Leslie Cagan. Utrice
Leid, host of WBAI's "Talk Back" program was installed as
the station's interim manager after the firing of Van Isler
on Dec. 22. She maintains that problems at WBAI were initiated
by unnamed individuals driven by personal agenda.
Leslie Cagan, a longtime peace and social justice activist,
joined the Pacifica Foundation Board of Directors in June,
2000. She is unhappy with the network's direction and questions
the current board's commitment to the ideals upon which Pacifica
was founded.
For more information, contact the WBAI listener hotline
at 1-(800) 825-0055 or visit the listener activist website
at: www.savepacifica.net.
The Pacifica Radio Network can be contacted by calling (202)
588-0999 or visit their website at www.pacifica.org
Related interviews:
- Fired
WBAI Program Director, Bernard White WPKN's Counterpoint
program, full-length interview by Scott Harris, recorded
Dec. 28, 2000 (in RealAudio)
- Interim
WBAI Station Manager Utrice Leid WPKN's Counterpoint
program, full-length interview by Scott Harris, recorded
Jan. 8, 2001 (in RealAudio)
- Leslie
Cagan, Pacifica Foundation board member, Part 1 WPKN's
Counterpoint program, Part 1 of full-length interview by
Scott Harris, recorded Jan. 8, 2001 (in RealAudio)
- Leslie
Cagan, Pacifica Foundation board member, , Part 2 WPKN's
Counterpoint program, Part 2 of full-length interview by
Scott Harris, recorded Jan. 8, 2001 (in RealAudio)
Related articles:
- "Why WBAI Should Be 'Left' Alone by Pacifica," New York
Newsday, by Peter Goodman, Jan. 8, 2001
- "Hundreds
Protest Firings at WBAI-FM," New York Times, by Jayson
Blair, Jan. 7, 2001
- "Pacifica
Foundation Locks WBAI Station Manager Out of Office"
New York Times, by Jayson Blair, Dec. 28, 2000
- ... visit www.savepacifica.net's
Media Clips page for more recent articles.
- This
week's summary of under-reported news
Compiled by Bob Nixon.
- Effects of global warming concretely visible at North
Pole; Arctic ice cap has melted 40 percent since 1965. (New
Internationalist, November 2000)
- High levels of industrial toxins, such as PCBs, now found
in Inuit women, polar bears, seals and fish in northern
Canada. (The Progressive, December 2000)
- Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan's outreach efforts
now include accepting funding and moral support from Rev.
Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. (In These Times, Dec.
25, 2000)
Credits:
Senior news editor: Bob Nixon
Program narration: Denise Manzari
News reader: Elaine Osowksi
Distribution: Harry Minot, Anna Manzo, Jeff Yates
Web editor/producer: Anna Manzo
Executive producer: Scott Harris
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... MORE ...
Inauguration Week Teach-Ins, Protests
Inaugurauction.org
National Organization for Women (www.NOW.org)
Independent Progressive Politics Network (www.ippn.org)
International Action Center (www.iacenter.org)
Stop the Death Machine: Free Mumia Abu-Jamal (www.mumia2000.org)
Trust The People (www.countercoup.org)
www.votermarch.org - Working for Voter Rights
Between The Lines/WPKN Election Crisis Archive:
"Human Rights Attorney Assesses Lasting Impact of 'Stolen Election'"
"Law Professor Calls Electoral College a Relic of Slave Era"
"Racial Discrimination Against Florida Voters Unexamined in Election Controversy"
"GOP Injection of Anger, Resentment into Election Politics Dangerous"
"Civil Rights Groups Continue to Investigate Racial Voter Intimidation in Florida Election"
Resources
"Now It's Unofficial: Gore Did Win Florida" Observer of London, Dec. 24, 2000, by Ed Vulliamy
"Election Anger Fuels Protesters"Washington Post, Dec. 21, 2000, by David Montgomery and Arthur Santana
"A Dark Cloud", by Robert Parry, Consortiumnews.com, Dec. 10, 2000
"Electoral College Unfair from Day One" New York Times, Nov. 9, 2000. NYT online subscribers Click here.
"If the Vote Were Flawless..." Miami Herald, Dec. 3, 2000
"Fla. Spoilage Likelier for Blacks," Washington Post, Dec. 3. 2000
"57 Red Flags: Proof Bush Never Won Popular Vote in Florida"(Accessible via Internet Explorer, America Online)
"Black Leaders Sue to Overturn Election", by Scott Gold, Los Angeles Times, Dec. 6, 2000."
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