Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.
Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.
His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.
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Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement
Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris
Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.
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who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!
For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video
Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.
Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.
"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.
Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.
Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.
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Interview with Rachel Curley, democracy associate with Public Citizen's Congress Watch, conducted by Scott Harris
Last April, a coalition of more than 260 advocacy groups supported a series of protest and civil disobedience actions in Washington, D.C. called Democracy Spring and Democracy Awakening. These activists demanded the overturning of the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling that opened the floodgates of unlimited and unaccountable money in U.S. political campaigns, reforms to end the corrupting influence of big money in politics and free & fair elections that give every American an equal voice.
The enthusiastic public support for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign message, denouncing the unchecked influence of a small group of billionaires on U.S. politics, reflects public opinion polls where large numbers of Americans express the belief that our democracy is broken.
As the 2016 presidential and congressional election campaign swings into high gear, political spending is predicted to break the previous record of $6.3 billion spent in 2012. On June 9, Democrats in the U.S. Senate seeking to address growing public concern, announced a new package of proposed legislation that they say is designed to “hold the government more accountable, amend the Constitution to end unlimited campaign contributions and reform the lobbying laws to limit special interest influence on elected officials.” Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Rachel Curley, democracy associate with Public Citizen's Congress Watch, who summarizes the set of bills being proposed in the Senate known as #WeThePeople democracy reforms. (Rush transcript)
RACHEL CURLEY: I think the impetus for the action in the Senate really came from the awareness in our country at how fed up people are at the present, of special interests in our democracy. Polling shows us that 85 percent of Americans think that the way we fund campaigns needs to be changed. That's a really high number. That's what tons of people understand, that corporations have more say than we do in our elections and they are tired of that. Tired of seeing that happen, time and time again. And so I think the Democrats in the Senate see that people are deeply by this issue and they want to see change, and so they are taking a stand and putting forth legislation that could make these changes.
There are a lot of things in this package but I will try to summarize them. One section of it covers transparency and disclosure, so making the donations that come to candidates and their campaigns, clear and transparent, so we know where they're coming from. Since some of that is mandatory disclosure of campaign donations, some of it is requiring candidates for federal office to report major contributions within 48 hours. So right now, reporting is not really happening in real time. And if it happened more in real time, that would increase transparency around who is spending in our elections. And another piece of it is reining in these superPACs that are also collecting huge amounts of money for campaigns. So that's one piece of it. Like I said, disclosure and transparency.
Another is affecting laws around lobbying. More folks know what lobbyists are – they go to Congress and talk about specific issues that affect their clients. And there are rules around lobbying right now. You do have to be registered, but the Senate Democrats want to go further. One of the things that they want to do is to enact a ban on former members of Congress becoming lobbyists. So once you've left Congress, either the House or the Senate, you're no longer allowed to come back and lobby for something.
The one other thing I'll mention is that this does include a Constitutional amendment that would overturn the Supreme Court's decision in Citizen's United, which was the case that opened the floodgates for corporate spending in elections.
BETWEEN THE LINES: Is there a realistic possibility that Congress could pass some of this legislation, or is this going to be used in a way to keep politicians accountable when they are up for re-election this November?
RACHEL CURLEY: The legislation is bipartisan, so it shows that there is broad support for these issues. And I think what's important to note is that Big Money in politics is a problem for everyday voters of both political parties, so regardless of political affiliation, wealthy special interests look out for their own interests and not those of everyday Americans. And so I think the success of this proposal is to continually pound the drumbeat that Americans are tired of the system being rigged against them and they looking for change, and that legislators should support this change.
I know sometimes the issue of money in politics can feel frustrating, but this is an excellent opportunity to call your legislator, there is a package of reforms. It's called the "We the People Act" and I would like you to support it, and I would like you to make this happen. So this is a good moment for folks to continue to make noise on this issue.
BETWEEN THE LINES: Rachel, I'll just end on this question here. Many people across the country are pretty cynical about politics and about the role of Big Money. Wall Street money. Pharmaceutical money. Health insurance company money. All that seems to be calling the shots in Washington when it comes to important policy decisions. What, if anything gives you optimism that there's a change of mood in the country, or maybe on Capitol Hill, too, that gives this legislation a fighting chance?
RACHEL CURLEY: I have always been an optimistic person, but I came to Washington anyway, and I love working here because I can see that there are solutions. And even though it seems like an insurmountable problem, this piece of legislation is one piece in a large puzzle of solutions that can happen. Our democracy can be restored. The balance can sort of be reset, and we can have a democracy that is reflective of what our communities actually look like.
And so, I think that what I'll say is that a lot of folks may not think that there are solutions and it does seem like an issue that can't be addressed. But this is one step, the We The People Act. But this is one in a plan of lots of organizations from across the country that are working on. The Democracy Awakening event was just the beginning. I think the movement is growing and I think that the time is now that we can take back our democracy.
For more information on the #WeThePeople democracy reform legislation, visit Public Citizen at citizen.org; citizen.org/congress; and Democracy is for People at democracyisforpeople.org.
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