1. Bush is a Republican.
2. We care about YOU.
3. Looks wonderful on any kind of application.
4. Everyone deserves more than one chance.
5. We help those less fortunate.
6. We believe in equality in all people reguardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, etc.
7. We keep our noses out of others’ bedrooms.
8. Education is important.
9. We hold sacred freedom of press.
10. We believe in upholding civil liberty.
During my spring break, I was flipping through the channels when I just so happened to stumble across Barack Obama on “The View”. Whoopi Goldberg asked him what the first three things he would do if elected president.
The obvious first answer was to “…responsibly and honorably begin a withdrawal from Iraq…” That response was followed by “…give every American health care”. As important as those are, they didn’t really interest me. However, his third response made me like him even more than I already did. Obama said “The third thing is I really think we have to deal with our energy crisis. Everybody’s personal crisis is $4 a gallon gas which is maybe coming up this summer. So for us to say we’re going to deal with climate change and cap the emission of greenhouse gases and raise fuel efficiency standards and invest in solar and wind and bio-diesel, it’s a three-for. That’s the only way we can drive gas prices down over the long-term. It’s the only way that we’re going to deal with global warming.”
To me, that topic is very important. As a member of S.P.A.R.E. [students for protecting and restoring the environment] at my school, I would like our president to understand and agree with what I believe in. My peers and I feel Obama represents us, and will help increase the amount of teenage interest in politics.
Alright so a month ago I said that I would keep you guys up to date on the primaries. Well I forgot to do it so I have decided to update you on everything that has happened in the last ten weeks. I already did week 1 so this post begins with week 2.
Week 2 September 17-23
This week, Hillary Clinton announced her plan for mandatory healthcare for all American citizens. The plan would allocate $110 billion to help people afford healthcare while making it a law that all people must have some form of health insurance. She made this announcement at a hospital in Iowa in front of a large group of supporters and hospital workers. Upon hearing her announcement, both John Edwards and Barrack Obama were quick to attack her plan. Edwards claims that it is almost identical to his own healthcare plan and Obama was quoted as saying that his own plan goes farther than Clinton’s proposal.
Barack Obama announced his tax plan that would contain $80 billion in tax cuts. Obama plans to support these tax cuts by decreasing taxes on the poor and middle class and increasing taxes on the wealthy. This proposed tax plan fits into his constant statements in which he claims that the current tax code rewards the rich and punishes the poor and middle class. He also said that he will simplify the tax code, making it possible for most people to file their taxes in a matter of minutes.
Week 3 September 24- 30
John Edwards announced this week that he will accept public financing in the primary election. To accept public financing means that Edwards will limit the amount of private funds he will be allowed to accept. Critics have claimed that his acceptance of these funds is a result of a drop off in the amounts of money that he has been able to raise but Edwards claims that this is a move based on principle and he challenged his competitors, namely Obama and Clinton, to do the same. Barack Obama has stated that he will accept public financing in the general election if the Republican counterpart agrees to do the same.
Hillary Clinton is widening her lead in New Hampshire polls, now beating Obama by more than twenty points. As the primary gets closer, Clinton seems to be becoming more and more popular with the voters. Edwards is currently in third place and Richardson is currently coming in fourth.
Week 4 October 1-7
Barack Obama made a claim this week that his early opposition to the war in Iraq proves that he has the right qualities to lead this country. As a state senator in Illinois, Obama made a public statement before the invasion of Iraq in which he said that Saddam Hussein posed no imminent threat to the US. Because of his own opposition to the war, Obama has said that the Senators that voted in favor of the war should have foreseen the problems that would arise. By making this statement, Obama effectively attacked the decision making abilities of Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, both of whom voted in favor of the war.
The announcement of the third quarter fundraising totals happened this week and Hillary Clinton came out as the top fundraiser for the Democrats. She reports having raised $27 million this quarter. She beat Barrack Obama by roughly $7 million as his staff is reporting his total funds raised to $20 million. Coming in a distant third for total money raised is John Edwards who is presently reporting $7 million and Bill Richardson reported $5.2 million.
Week 5 October 8-14
Senator Obama criticized Hillary Clinton for a vote that she made in support of a measure regarding Iran, claiming that she repeated the mistakes that were made before the invasion of Iraq. The measure declared the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, part of the Iranian military, a foreign terrorist organization which could possibly allow President Bush to use military force against Iran. Obama used this vote to attack Clinton’s judgment ability while she defended herself saying that it was not a law.
Senator Clinton announced this week that, if elected president, she would meet with President Ahmadinejad of Iran without precondition. This statement called into question the comments that Clinton made following a debate in which she criticized Barack Obama calling him naive for having made a similar statement. In an effort make herself look less like a hypocrite, Clinton’s campaign issued follow up statement in which they clarified her position as if it were actually different from that of Obama.
Week 6 October 15-21
Polls have shown that Hillary Clinton holds more support from black Democrat voters than Barack Obama. Clinton holds more support from black women and the male black vote is split more evenly between the two candidates. Clinton’s popularity among black voters seems surprising but it shows that black people have trouble relating to Obama.
In an attempt to gain stronger support in South Carolina, John Edwards keeps bringing up the time that he spent living in the state. He claims that he knows well the issues important to the voters of that state because he experienced them personally. This is not entirely true because he may have been born in South Carolina but he was raised in North Carolina. Despite this fact, he is hoping that a win in South Carolina will help him to win the primaries in other key states.
Week 7 October 22- 28
The major national labor unions have yet to endorse a Democratic candidate for the primary. All of the candidates are actively working to gain the endorsement of any one of the major unions that have yet to offer endorsements. Analysts are saying that the unions are waiting until later in the primary, once the field has thinned out a bit, to name an endorsement because of the defeat of both of their endorsed candidates in the 2004 election. These unions are widely expected to endorse a candidate come the general election.
Analysts are saying that Barack Obama needs to start being tougher in his campaign strategy. He has always based his campaign on the principle of him being a unifier and reconciler. As a result, Obama commonly wins polls over who is the most likeable candidate. In polls of who will win, however, Clinton has a strong lead because people do not believe that Obama can win a national election unless he toughens up his campaign strategy.
Week 8 October 29- November 4
The endorsements of unions are powerful tools for presidential candidates in the Democratic primary. Unions offer candidates both recognition and a large supply of “ground troops” to help in the campaigning process. This week Hillary Clinton accepted the endorsement of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. With the Service Employees International Union refusing to endorse a candidate, this endorsement was highly sought by all of the Democratic hopefuls. John Edwards also received an important endorsement from the Service Employee’s International Union’s Granite State chapter in New Hampshire, the first state to hold a primary.
John Edwards and Barack Obama both attacked Hillary Clinton this week for her vagueness in describing her plan to strengthen Social Security. They also attacked her for being too close with lobbyists and the Washington elite. These attacks from Obama and Edwards show that both of these men are taking a tougher stance on their campaign policies.
Week 9 November 5- 11
Hillary Clinton was quoted as saying that her performance in last week’s debate was not her best. She said that she was not able to clearly express the points that she was trying make. Some of these points included her calls for fuel standards to increase over the next twenty years as well as a question regarding giving drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants.
In a move that will hurt Barack Obama’s popularity with the 18-25 age group, his campaign pressured the South Carolina Democratic Party to vote against allowing Stephen Colbert to be on the Democratic ballot there. This pressure came from telephone calls made by leading Obama supporters in South Carolina. Obama has officially denied any connection to these phone calls, seeing an attack on Colbert as being detrimental to his popularity with young people, who make up the majority of Colbert’s fan base.
Week 10 November 12-18
On the issue of Social Security reform, Hillary Clinton offered a basic outline for the policies that she would push for if elected president. Compared to Obama, she claims that her policies would be more cautious, relying on bipartisan coalitions in Congress and fiscal responsibility. Barrack on the other hand stated that he would eliminate the cap on taxable income generating more funds by taxing the upper end of the socio-economic ladder. Both candidates support reducing the strain on middle-class families that currently bear the brunt of the cost of Social Security.
In the Democratic debate this week, Hillary Clinton defended herself against the constant barrage of attacks that have been aimed at her by her opponents for the Democratic nomination. She called all of these attacks mudslinging and defended herself against the claims that she has not taken a firm stance on any controversial issue since the start of her campaign. Obama and Edwards both continued to attack Clinton throughout the debate, attacking her positions on issues like the Iraq war and the corruption in Washington.
“This just in,” as they say, from Harvey Wells, General Manager of WCPT. In short, a new place on the dial, and a much stronger signal! Of course, this will also necessitate a new URL for the web page, currently at http://www.wcpt850.com/
Dear 850 Club Member,
It’s a good thing that we did not issue membership cards because if we did, they would simply be a collector’s item as of Monday, November 26th. That’s because beginning that day, WCPT is moving three steps to the left. Instead of broadcasting at 850-AM, we are moving to 820-AM. While that might be three small steps on the radio dial, it’s going to be one giant leap for Progressives all over Northern Illinois, Southern Wisconsin and Northwest Indiana.
Our new signal at 820-AM will literally double our coverage area. Instead of broadcasting at 2,500 watts from Crystal Lake Illinois, our new transmitter moves 40 miles right to the heart of Chicago. In fact, WCPT’s new 5,000 watt daytime signal will be the best signal of any major AM station in Chicago. Yes, I did say daytime because the 820-AM signal is also licensed by the FCC to sign-on at sunrise and sign-off at sunset. Although we would love to broadcast all day and all night, the new WCPT at 820-AM will now be heard from as far north as Milwaukee to as far south as Springfield.
The 820-AM signal has been very successful in the past. In fact, it was to fist signal of WSCR (The Score) and I can tell you from personal experience as The Score’s first General Manager that our new signal will finally put us on a level playing field with the rest of Chicago’s talk radio stations; just in time for the 2008 election season.
Speaking of playing fields and seasons, I am happy to tell you that Ed Schultz is coming back to Joey’s Brickhouse on Thursday night, December 6th. That is the night when the Bears play the Washington Redskins. We could not think of a better reason to bring Ed to Chicago than a combination of Washington politics and Bears football…until today. Now Ed’s appearance will not only be for watching the Bears beat the Redskins, but it will also be a celebration of our new home at 820-AM. Admission to the event is ten dollars, but the boys at Joey’s have promised a menu of great food that will more than pay for the admission price. For information, please call Joey’s Brickhouse at (773) 296-1300.
Finally, I have to thank each and every WCPT listener for spreading the news, like Johnny Appleseed, on the station and helping us take this very important step. I am especially thankful to the people who live in areas where our signal at 850-AM has (to say the least) not been very strong. Your ability to withstand radio noise will now be rewarded with a static-free signal beginning on Monday, November 26th. It’s our way of extending the Thanksgiving weekend an extra day!
Let me be the first person to welcome you to the 820 Club,
Harvey Wells
WCPT General Manager
I’m trying to write this, make dinner, and hand out candy, all in the next 30 minutes, so forgive me for making this rather abbreviated and short.
Today, as many people know, is Halloween, the day in which children (and some who aren’t children) dress up as something with the intent to either frighten others, or get candy. (I’ve never really celebrated Halloween as most of you know it, so my interpretation may be a bit off.)
Now, in between supporting the dentist industry and checking for the spaghetti water to boil, I have a couple of seconds here and there to point out what is really frightening in this world: the simple fact that Noah Webster and Samuel Johnson are under the thumb of the GOP. I am, of course, referring to the makers of the first dictionaries, and the monopoly that President Bush and his cronies have on the English language. The control of the language began, of all places, in Hollywood, known for their dramatic special effects, from the mind of Ronald Reagan. While most Americans were drawn in by the rhetoric to fight the Soviet Union and “win one for the Gipper,” a subtle change was occuring: the word “public” became related with communism, and “private” was suddenly the popular word around the Beltway. Now we’ve got privatized Social Security (as if that isn’t a contradiction in terms), private military contractors, and on and on. Next I imagine we’re going to privatize sidewalks.
Since I’ve already written on Blackwater, I’ll go after the future of Social Security here. It’s certainly possible that I’ve missed something major, but from what I understand of the president’s plan, all of “Social” Security in the future will be handling by investing in Wall Street. Now, it may just be the spaghetti, but something there just doesn’t sit well with me. In terms of economics, we’ve got a real problem on our plate at this very moment. The housing market has reached a new low, a credit crunch is here now, and the Fed’s plan to ease us out of it is to inject $17 billion into the economy, which only causes inflation. Economists left and right are anticpating a major recession to come, and to come soon, resulting in billions of dollars lost by businesses. And, billions of dollars lost by businesses means that shareholders aren’t going to get their dividends (don’t forget we’ve got this little problem of the national debt, too). So, go ahead and invest your retirement savings, but if what the experts think will happen actually happens, then you’d better work to pay off your retirement debts. Personally, I’d rather pay into Social Security now and get guaranteed returns, than pay into Wall Street now and get possible returns. Here’s what is really scary about this year’s Halloween: the potential for millions of retirees to suddenly be without money if the market collapses (and it will- but that’s a different story to come). As a side note, President Bush is taking money out of Social Security to fund the occupation of Iraq, then returning to DC and complaining about how Social Security is broke. Well, I wonder why!
And, for those of you who are interested in knowing, I am wearing a Cubs shirt for Halloween. My dad doesn’t mind having a Democrat for a son, he minds having a Cub fan for a son. Luckily for him it’s only for a day, but when he’s old enough to get Social Security, he’d better hope that the coming recession is old history by then.
From the mind of Eamon Driscoll.
As a nation, the number 80 seems to be a peculiar feature of our republic. It was approximately 80 years ago that the nation voted overwhelmingly for FD Roosevelt, for change in the face of the Great Depression. 80 years before that, there was Lincoln, and 80 years before that- George Washington.
Friends, we are at a crossroads of history. Now, as the 80th year approaches and history confronts us once more, we are left with a deceptively simple choice. There is a feeling I have that this election will determine the course of history and may be the single factor that either restores or destroys the falling opinions of the US abroad. As it is, the best man for the job may be Barack Obama.
For what this nation is, or rather, for what “President” Bush has let this nation become, we need somebody new. We are embroiled in not one, but two wars, while our reputation worldwide has fallen to incredible lows. TIME Magazine had a story about worldwide polls asking which nations people believed had a better government. Of the nations, the majority of people believe that the Kremlin is a better government that the White House! This reflects very poorly upon us as a nation, and we need someone to restore our reputation. The politicians have done little to stop this. For them all that matters is making money, but Obama is different. Barack has refused to take money from lobbyists, meaning that his capital is much smaller than the other candidates, but also that he is not burdened by special interests. In one sense, you might say that Obama’s sole special interest is the American people. Now THAT is a revolutionary statement for a politician.
And the war? Even in 2002, Obama was a stalwart opponent of the invasion of Iraq. No other candidate can claim anything similar. We cannot say that Bush lied, because the intelligence that the war was based on turned out to be false. MI-6, FSB, the Mossad, and various other intelligence agencies all had the same information. But when Congress nearly unanimously supported the war, Obama stood among a small contingent of those who were opposed to the war no matter what the CIA told us. History has vindicated Obama, perhaps in a subtle means of drawing our attention to him. Obama remains among the few candidates who are committed to a complete withdrawal because he, unlike Hillary, unlike McCain, unlike Giuliani.
We are at a crossroads of history. Now, like every 80 years before, we have the opportunity to directly change the course of our nation. The chance may not come again in our lifetimes, but now we have the opportunity to make there be another chance. Therefore, not only for myself and for America, but for the world. I will be voting Obama, and I invite everyone to join me. The best politician is not a politician.
From the mind of Eamon Driscoll
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke today at Columbia University in New York City despite complaints from many influential people. On the list of opponents of this speaking engagement were several city council members for New York, several professors at Columbia, Henry Kissinger, and large crowds that gathered around in protest. The complaints stemmed from Ahmadinejad’s positions on the Holocaust, the state of Israel, and homosexuality. More or less, people did not want to let him speak because of Iran’s common association with terrorism and instability in the Middle East.
Despite all of these protests, the president of Columbia still invited Ahmadinejad to speak, an action for which I applaud him. I do not mean to say that I support the views of Ahmadinejad, who claims that there is insufficient evidence to support the existence of the Holocaust. I simply believe that it is important for Americans, especially young Americans, to learn a broad view of the world at large. It is important to hear unadulterated views about important global events, especially when it is ever more difficult to believe what our own leaders here in this country are telling us.
Most of what President Ahmadinejad said was complete garbage: fictitious ravings from an unbelievably biased source with obvious intent to sway public opinion. Nonetheless, it is important to hear what he has to say. The American public can learn from such view points. Imagine the reception that President Bush would receive if he were to go speak at an Iranian university. In order to be responsible citizens and to understand the world in which we live, we must listen to what leaders from around the world have to say, no matter how biased they may be.
Mike Kean, former Sergeant at Arms.
Mercenaries have been a part of war for millenia. The Carthaginians used them to attempt to hold off the growing might of Rome. The Italian city states, too weak individually to sustain a military, used them to defend from various European empires. The British used Hessian Jaeger mercenaries to try to help subdue their rebellious colonies along the Atlantic coast. But the idea of a mercenary seemed- for a while, at least- to be a method of war that had disappeared sometime before the First World War. Hidden from most of the world, unknown to Congress, unreported by the media, was the “private military contractor,” Blackwater.
Sounding more like Blackbriar from the Jason Bourne movies, Blackwater amounts to much the same thing. It is a shadow organization, unencumbered by the limits of Geneva or national ethics. As a corporation, it does not have to report to the government, yet it only acts when the government asks it to. Up to now, when they slip up in Iraq, too few people knew what was really happening. Blackwater had been asked by the Iraqi government (really by the State Department) to help defend key areas from insurgent attack. Yet, it is questionable if that is what Blackwater was really doing. The cold facts are as such: Blackwater USA was active in Iraq and came under fire from possible insurgents. The response was to fire randomly, killing at least eight Iraqi civilians, innocent people who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now Blackwater is in the wrong place. This is the seventh time that Blackwater has innocent blood on its hands, and they are now being brought to an Iraqi court to decide if they will remain in the country. I for one applaud this. The Iraqi minister of national security affairs, Shirwan al-Waili, declared that there was no justification for what Blackwater had done. The priliminary report of the situation found that “the murder of citizens in cold blood in the Nisour area by Blackwater is considered a terrorist action against civilians just like any other terrorist operations.” These allegations are extremely harsh and will likely devastate what little trust the world has in the capability of the USA to stem the insurgency.
Yet, that is not the only new development in the case against Blackwater. Federal prosecutors are investigating that Blackwater illegally smuggled weapons into Iraq, selling the weapons on the black market. If anything, Blackwater is actully helping the insurgency. One way or another, the organization will benefit from death, so long as they profit in some way, earning the title Merchants of Death. The organization itself has not said anything about either of these allegations. The website’s most recent press release is from June 2007, and the last news report on Blackwater that the company admits is from April! These are signs that CEO Erik Prince, a former Navy Seal, would much rather return to the shadows than hear his mercenary organization’s name every day on FOX News (fair and balanced, as usual). In this modern world, every merchant of death would prefer to remain shadowed. But now Blackwater is trapped. Congress is clamping down, and Baghdad may shut off their link for several decades, if not forever. In an ironic twist, the very same group that the State Department called in to secure Iraq may do so only in its departure, a departure which would be celebrated across the world as the merchants of death leave the largest battleground of the decade.
From the mind of Eamon Driscoll
Sources:
1: Blackwater USA
2: Wall Street Journal 18.Sep.2007
3: Associated Press 22.Sep.2007
4: New York Times 23.Sep.2007
While on the outside the Pledge of Allegiance appears to be an oath of loyalty, there are certainly parts which seem to contradict the fundamental values of America, most of which have been violated time and time again. There is of course the religious controversy about adding “under God” to the Pledge, which occured in 1954. “Indivisible” is clearly a reference to the Civil War, though secession is still held as a right in many states, even those in the north, such as New Hampshire (Article 10). If America is founded on rebellion, why should this country be indivisible? Even Thomas Jefferson believed that “a little revolution now and then is a good thing.” I could go on for hours about “liberty and justice for all.” But I will not make this a philosophical argument about the ethics of the Pledge. Instead I have created a new, more realistic version of the Pledge of Allegiance, according to what I believe that those in power (ahem: King George II) wants everyone to be really saying. Enjoy.
I pledge obediance to the Flag
of the Corporate Feudalism of America
and to the Empire for which it stands
One Conglomerate, under the Christian God,
Superficial, with Serfdom and Conformity for all.
Amen.
~From the mind of Eamon Driscoll
In honour of Fred Thompson throwing his name into the political maelstrom of the 2008 presidential election, I first will salute him for his bravery. This is a turbulent time, what with the War on Terror and the subsequent rape of Islamic culture. If the United States continues on the path that George W. Bush has set forth, if the USA remains in Iraq beyond the point of no return (which may very well have already passed) and if we continue to consume non-renewable resources at ever-increasing rates, then the world in twenty-five years will be a pitiful war-torn excuse for civilization. On that positive note, I would like to announce that I am running for President of the United States in 2032. I will be forty-two years old, one of the youngest to ever run. Now, if you will humour me, the situation all candidates will be facing in 2032 unless something is done right now:
Isn’t that a wonderful picture? It is the most extreme possibility I could imagine, though it would not be too difficult to imagine given how easily the internal societies can change when given drastic external changes, such as rising sea levels and the continued occupation of Iraq. We cannot hold off the future, and we must do something right now to change this. It certainly changes my campaign slogan (Driscoll is good for your Fiscal)- there would be no need for a solid fiscal year in such a situation as described above. It remains to be seen how humanity will respond to these crises, but one thing is certain: the only way to respond fully is to respond before the stimulus occurs. Yet, on our present path, we may never respond. (But it isn’t the first time a strong government denies the truth until it is no longer an issue.)
I feel sort of sorry for Fred Thompson. He doesn’t realize what he’s getting himself into.
~From the mind of Eamon Driscoll
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