We pledge not to donate to the Democratic National Committee, Organizing for America, or the Obama campaign until Congress passes, and the president signs, legislation enacting the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT), and repealing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
To formally join the boycott, visit: http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6006/t/5410/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=727
I wonder at what point the Republican Party will begin to see themselves as part of the solution to American's problems rather than a dedicated opposition to anything associated with Barack Obama. Michael Steele's statement on the Nobel Peace Prize is an excellent example of what a right-wing talking head thinks is a good idea when pitching this week's cable or radio show. It is not reflective of the values and tone I associate with the long-time, dedicated Republican Party members I know. Those Republicans have been increasing set loose to fend for themselves in a war of words.
The bitter, angry tone of criticism against the President has me, frankly, worried. At what point do the comments of Rush Limbaugh stop being "entertainment" or even "political commentary," and venture into "fighting words" prohibited by Supreme Court challenges in the past? If something, God forbid, were to ever happen to the President, will we be able to look back at the shrill tone of the right and say it incited violence? And if it does incite violence, who is responsible? Does that tone have its roots in criticism of George W. Bush or Bill Clinton? Or is there something more irrational at work here?
As I have listened to, watched, and read coverage of the award, one point seems to be lost: the President did not nominate himself for the award, campaign for it, or encourage the Nobel committee. In other words, if the Nobel Prize committee overlooked other worthy causes or hurt the feelings of some groups, the bad guy here is not Obama. He is as surprised as anyone that he was given it. He acknowledged that he feels humbled to be in the company of great people, who have done more than he has. His good sense in recognizing the obvious shows his instincts and read of the American people is still on target.
The right-wing racist insults (his award is part of an "affirmative action" quota?!) and associations of Obama with terrorist groups (simply because he exists) is dangerously out of step with most of America. But should a violent splinter group take the call to hate Obama to an extreme, I wonder if Morris Dees can file a lawsuit on behalf of the American people to silence the poisonous cheerleaders. Better yet, I wonder if we can do something ourselves, RIGHT NOW, to take away the cheerleaders' megaphones.
Don't the haters need internet service providers? Don't they depend on advertisers? Who books them to speak at public venues, built by tax-payer dollars (in many cases)? We all know that a huge number of Americans support Obama, which is why he was able to out-fundraise all previous Republican candidates. I think the real future of mobilizing these supporters, who responded in huge numbers through sites like this one, lies in on-line action, like digital boycotts, email campaigns to advertisers, and electronic protests to local officials about the use of public space to encourage hate, etc.
Obviously, as someone posting on the Organizing for America web site, I have supported Obama in the past and do now as well. But I really object to the idea that it is not possible to dislike the President without being irrationally angry at the same time. At the risk of helping the Republican Party recover from its 2008 defeat and strengthening it for 2012, I would like to be part of a campaign to restore rationality to political debate. I want my parents, life-long Republicans, to have some viable option in voting their beliefs in the future--and not to be at the mercy of the likes of Joe Wilson. I want to be able to say that I saw where this kind of "debate" was going and tried to prevent the bitterness from spinning out of control.
Rupert Murdoch and his Faux News netword have every right to refuse to air the president’s news conference touting his first 100 days in office.
The White House has every right to refuse to grant press credentials and access to the White House press area to “Fox News”, not out of any retaliation but ONLY because the company really does not meet the requirements to be defined or qualified and journalists.
Even now, when the president’s remarks haven’t been written, we all can predict the Fox News response and “analysis”. That’s not news, it certainly isn’t analysis, and it is even a response because it’s prepared BEFORE the statement it claims to be answering.
We have every right to boycott Murdoch's businesses and their subsidiaries and programs.
(Your Tax Dollars at Work in the Middle East)
The state of Israel is facing charges of war crimes following the slaughter of innocent civilians including hundreds of children in its recent campaign against Palestinian militants on the Gaza Strip. Israel's powerful ally, the United States, also faces charges of complicity in the slaughter as Palestinians declare: "This Damage Made in USA."
UN human rights expert Richard Falk said on Thursday that the recent Israeli military operation on the Gaza Strip "raises the specter of systematic war crimes" and needs to be investigated. Falk told journalists in Geneva from his home in California that he had little doubt as to the "unavoidably inhuman character of a large-scale military operation of the sort that Israel has initiated... against an essentially defenseless population." Charging that "unlawful targets have been selected" by Israeli forces during the fighting, Falk insisted that Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip including children and the wounded were effectively trapped in a war zone and prevented from fleeing.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has issued demands for a full explanation of "outrageous" Israeli attacks on UN facilities on the Gaza Strip including a school used as a refuge for civilians, killing dozens. The UN chief noted that Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert had promised to provide results of an Israeli inquiry into the attacks "on an urgent basis" and said he would then decide on "appropriate follow-up action." On January 12, the 47-member UN Human Rights Council voted by a large majority to launch an investigation into "grave" human rights violations by Israeli forces against Palestinians. Israel is also facing questions from human rights groups regarding the use of illegal weapons, including white phosphorus munitions, against Palestinian civilians on the Gaza Strip.
These charges come amid renewed calls for a global boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel from groups such as the Global BDS Movement. Recently, Canadian journalist Naomi Klein wrote in support of such a boycott: "The best strategy to end the increasingly bloody occupation is for Israel to become the target of the kind of global movement that put an end to apartheid in South Africa." Some are also calling for a boycott of US exports for its continuing support of Israeli actions against Palestinians.
The Palestinian death toll from Israel's recent war on Gaza currently stands at around 1300, most of whom were innocent civilians, and around a third of whom were children. Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians were killed in Israel during the same period, an indicator of Israel's massively disproportionate response to Palestinian attacks on Israelis. A total of twenty-eight Israelis have been killed by Palestinian rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip since 2001, a tiny fraction of the number of Palestinians killed in Israel's recent Gaza actions alone. These numbers echo casualty figures from the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict which consistently show innocent Palestinian dead including children massively outnumbering Israelis.
Rocket attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip deserve both condemnation by the international community and a proportionate response by Israel. The killing of one Israeli in a rocket attack does not, however, entitle Israel to respond by slaughtering twenty, thirty, or forty innocent Palestinian civilians. Such slaughter, furthermore, will no more stop Hamas' rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip than it stopped Hezbollah's rocket attacks from Lebanon in 2006. Just as Hezbollah could declare victory in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war simply by surviving to fight another day, so Hamas can declare victory in Gaza this day. Meanwhile, Israel increasingly becomes a pariah state in the eyes of the world, as does the United States for its complicity in the slaughter. Ever-growing anger particularly in the Arab world serves America's national security interests no better than it serves Israel's.
Behold, America: Your tax dollars at work in the Middle East.
Out of the tragedy of Gaza, perhaps, will come renewed opportunity to hold Israel accountable for its actions, to press for a new US policy on the Middle East, for peace, and for an end to Israel's long and bloody occupation of the Palestinian Territories. Boycott, divestment, and sanctions efforts such as those promoted by the Global BDS Movement have a proven track record of success as in the case of South Africa, and deserve our support. UN efforts to hold Israel accountable for its actions also deserve our support, but are likely to require UN Security Council action of the type America with its power of veto most often and most notoriously obstructs. Pressure, therefore, needs to be applied to the White House and Congress for a new US approach to the conflict and a new US attitude in the UN Security Council. Whether our new ambassador to the UN offers active support with a "yes" vote or passive permission by abstaining on UN efforts to hold Israel accountable for its actions, our message to the new administration regarding these efforts can be stated clearly and briefly as follows: NO VETO!
Sources: Agence France Presse, Time, Los Angeles Times, Haaretz, New Straits Times, Bay Area Indymedia, B'Tselem, Human Rights Watch.
Slide show: Gaza Massacre by Sabbah.
Photo gallery: Child victims of Gaza violence.
Contacts:
The White House
US Mission to the UN
Contact your US Senators
Contact your US Representative
By OMAR BARGHOUTI
A spate of recent news reports on international companies moving out of the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) to locations inside pre-1967 Israeli borders gives the impression that boycotting products originating in illegal Israeli colonies is on its way to becoming mainstream, handing the growing boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement with a fresh, substantial victory. While this development should indeed be celebrated by all BDS activists anywhere, caution is called for in distinguishing between advocating such a targeted boycott as a tactic, leading to the ultimate goal of boycotting all Israeli goods and services, and as an end in itself. While the former may be necessary in some countries as a convenient tool of raising awareness and promoting debate about Israel’s colonial and apartheid regime, the latter, despite its lure, would be in direct contradiction with the stated objectives of the Palestinian boycott movement....
ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://www.counterpunch.org/barghouti11132008.html
CNN is posting a lot of wonderful campaign slogans this election season. Unfortunately not only are they not from the campaign, they also aren't remotely accurate.
No Bias, No Bull
I love this one. Would that be the no bias that:
Public Radio has been very biased by not covering the Democrattic Convention.They are covering the Republican. and they are supported by tax payer dollars.??????
I apyed close attention to who was covering the convventin on DirecTV and CNN was the only network to cover it.
How can we get sometihing going on ths??? Please feel free to contact me about this...
By Lauralyn Today at 7:16 pm EDT (Updated Today at 7:16 pm EDT) I think it dishonors the risks and sacrifices endured by the civil rights activiists of the 1950's & '60's to exhort folks to boycott Fox news' advertisers over Liz Trotta's stupid ad lib; for which she went on camera the next day to forthrightly apologize.For protest actions to have meaning & clout, they have to be calibrated proportinately to the offense/injustice.Before folks holler, "BOYCOTT" on a crowded blog platform, they ought to wait at least 24 hours to see how the incident emerges or dissolves.For example, I'd never heard about the Fox News incident until just now, as I signed up as a member of this blog! And I'm not blog-avoidant. So, congratulations for giving this non-event an enduring shelf-life!
This is the email I sent to the New Yorker tonight:
"As a long-time subscriber to the New Yorker, I cancelled my subscription a few minutes ago because of your disgusting cover that is an insult to Mr. Obama, his wife, and all fair-minded Americans. Your argument that satire will be understood by your readers misses the point. (A) Understanding does not equal appreciating or approving. (B) There are huge chunks of the population that will buy into the image from your cover. If we are stuck with Bush 3, or if something terrible happens to Mr. Obama, your publication will be complicit. My subscription was due to end in 2010. It ended in 2008."
These are dangerous times. The world is a mess and we have the Bush administration to thank for a hopeless war, criminal torture, an economic meltdown, and a the tarnished reputation of the United States. There are people who are stupid, people who hate, and people who will do harm if they can. I hope others join in the boycot of the New Yorker. When satire is dangerous, then we have to speak out.
With respect to those who want to get the attention of a huge banking institution, there are more effective ways to deal with them than efforts such as the following: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From: obaman2009@aol.comSubject: Bank of America boycott petition
I created a petition to get Bank of America to balance their political contribution by either withdrawing their $150,000 to the Republican Governor's Association 527 or to make a matching contribution to the Democratic Governor's Association 527. Please go sign it, even if you don't have a BOA account.www.ipetitions.com/petition/BOA_Boycott~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~If you really want to accomplish something... STOP LETTING THEM USE YOUR MONEY AGAINST YOU!
Vehicles- 99.75 percent of vehicles with in the United States use gasoline.Food- It takes gas to harvest food weather it be plant or animal.Jobs- Use Electricity and alot of Electricity is made by gas.Electricity- about 70%, is generated using fossil fuels.Water- Takes Electricity to filter, power lights for employees, and machinery.Businesses- Most businesses use Electricity, supply water, demand that you have a lunch, some use machines, and some require that you drive a vehicle.
Or we could lobby our congress to give subsidy's to companies that are in the development of other types of fuel technologies. Technologies come with the practice of things. We learn from hard work, and many times we learn a way to make it easier, cheaper, and more efficient. What better way to boycott something than to beable to use something else...
Democrat Hillary Clinton’s supporters in Ohio and three other crucial swing states in the presidential election - Pennsylvania, Florida and Michigan - have organized to protest what they consider to be her unfair treatment, particularly from the Democratic Party.
The group, “Clinton Supporters Count Too”, held a press conference on Thursday, May 15, in downtown Columbus.
“We are a grassroots group of mostly women, all races, all demographics, that have reached the boiling point and have decided we cannot stand by and watch the huge amount of sexism and misogyny go unremarked,” Cynthia Ruccia of Bexley, a Columbus suburb, who’s part of the group in Ohio, said before the press conference.
The group has no connection to the Clinton campaign, said Ruccia.
At the press conference, the group will announce plans to campaign through the four swing states against the Democratic candidate for president if it’s not Clinton, a press release said.
Cynthia Ruccia has been involved in numerous controversial issues throughtout her career.
In Columbus, Ohio for almost 14 years it had passed without comment that the local Congressman, John Kasich, the powerful chairman of the House Budget Committee, stretches his paycheck by sharing a Virginia townhouse for the two or three nights a week that Congress was in session.
His housemate? His male chief of staff. Cynthia Ruccia, Kasich's Democratic challenger at one time, called for a Justice Department investigation of what she said was "a serious appearance of impropriety" because Kasich, who is divorced, lived with someone whose government salary he controls.
That was the official question. What it unofficially implied was that the two men might be otherwise involved. Kasich's office inevitably found itself having to deny that either man is gay.
"It was the worst sort of gutter politics and gay baiting," says Bob Fitrakis, Kasich's 1992 Democratic opponent.
Ruccia and a 'friend' appeared on O'Reilly's factor tonight screaming "FOUL." FOX NEWS must have been the only media outlet to grant them airtime to voice their empty rhetoric. As a female I'm embarrassed and ashamed of these women. They talk of boycotting NBC because of the "biased" reporting against Senator Clinton. How ironic that they would mention NBC on the O'Reilly Factor since it's well known they aren't the 'best' of friends.
Cynthia Ruccia has threatened to switch party affiliation and vote for McCain. More power to her! Senator McCain will need the TWO votes so it's not a complete blowout by Senator Obama.
Okay, Wanda:
You have a point. I do cite the majority of my articles from those news sites. However, I do look for articles that I do find important. (I'm actually trying to do MSM martial arts with them).
However, there are a couple to look out for:
Bush: Not time to renegotiate, cancel NAFTA: Now, even though he is doing this as a way to "expedite disaster response calls," you may need to keep an eye on this. (See my comments on this one from yesterday's articles).
HRC warning Iran of a nuclear response with transcript
You can look around the independent media for your own take on these issues, which I do encourage.
I do read around the Net, and I'm aware of a lot of the issues as well as their broader scope and impact. However, most people still read MSM as their primary source, and a lot of the media out there are extremely controversial, but some, in my opinion, may have a point we need to be aware of.
My hope is for my blogs to empower ObamaBloggers and other Obama supporters to become educated on these issues as well as their broader scope and impact on ourselves, as well as being the people to "watch our rights."
These are critically important because Obama and a lot of supporters (including ourselves) are trying to win the nomination, but there are other things going on that we may overlook if we don't pay attention.
Good luck, Wanda!
"The society's depravation relies/ not on our differences/ but on the separation within." --Linkin Park, "Frgt/10."
EMK
Calling for Boycott of ABC News
After watching the debate on April 16th, 2008 my mind was focused on was it just me or was ABC’s anchors George Stephanopoulos ' This Week' and Charlie Gibson ' World News Tonight' massively basis against Barack Obama. I know George Stephanopoulos worked for the Clinton administration as a press secretary but it looked as if he took a pay check last night. Then Charlie Gibson with too much focus on his taxes, I thought back and he did the same thing to John Kerry. So I went to ABC and downloaded the entire debate and watched it three times. It was like a triple tag team against Barack Obama. What I could not believe was that Charlie Gibson noted that the time was massively slanting towards Obama and apologized to Hilary Clinton. He was actually counting their time bashing Obama as his allotted time for the two hour debate. I mean this was the 21st debate and could have focused on real issues and covered a majority of them in some detail. ABC chose not to go that route and opted to act like Fox News. What I am calling for is the boycott of both This Week and World News Tonight. I think we can send a message to the higher ups at cooperate ABC and Buena Vista by going after their advertisement dollars. If we stop watching it, it will force a public apology and I think we deserve at least that much. The reason I believe it has come to this point is because the higher ups at ABC said they saw nothing wrong and waved off the 19,000 complaints as just people being deeply interested in this political season. I think this will cause them to take another look at how they acted and apologize for their antics. Larry H Harris
Last night's debate was a farce. We can change things at the grassroots level. Write a letter, email, call ABC protesting the debate and the non-issue questioning.
We ARE the BLUEPRINT for change. WE are the MILLIONS of VOICES CALLING for it.
BOYCOTT, BOYCOTT, BOYCOTT!!!! NOTHING and NO program that you watch on TV is as important as taking back our country.
This is the movement Obama talks about when he says WE are the change. Let's use our anger and bitterness to make things better.
Here is a contact list. Please feel free to cut and paste this blog! Make this VIRAL!
Peter Salinger (THE MAN IN CHARGE OF ELECTION COVERAGE) Director, Special Events & Sports 212.456.5105 peter.salinger@abc.comCristi LandesManager, Programming 212.456.5107 cristi.d.landes@abc.comWayne Fisk Director, Programming 212.456.5327 wayne.fisk@abc.comJeff Fitzgerald Executive Director, Operations 212.456.5554 jeffrey.t.fitzgerald@abc.comHeidi Oringer Executive Director, Entertainment 212.456.5541 heidi.b.oringer@abc.comJon Newman News Coverage 212.456.5100 jonathan.m.newman@abc.comJoyce Alcantara Assignment Manager 212.456.5106 joyce.a.alcantara@abc.comJim Kane Deputy D.C. Bureau Chief 212.222. 6604 james.f.kane@abc.comAndrew Kalb Executive Director, Programming 05.567.2269 andrew.l.kalb@abc.comRobert Garcia Executive Director, News & Sports 212.456.5103 robert.garcia@abc.comWrite ABC's Executives to tell them what you think of the Debate:
COPY and paste these addresses to your email:cristi.d.landes@abc.com, peter.salinger@abc.com, wayne.fisk@abc.com, jeffrey.t.fitzgerald@abc.com, heidi.b.oringer@abc.com, jonathan.m.newman@abc.com, joyce.a.alcantara@abc.com, james.f.kane@abc.com, andrew.l.kalb@abc.com, robert.garcia@abc.comIt's the 2nd, 3rd, 4th day heat that really gets felt..Lynn Schumacher
someone bitter who is doing something for change
Peter Salinger (THE MAN IN CHARGE OF ELECTION COVERAGE) Director, Special Events & Sports 212.456.5105 peter.salinger@abc.comCristi LandesManager, Programming 212.456.5107 cristi.d.landes@abc.comWayne Fisk Director, Programming 212.456.5327 wayne.fisk@abc.comJeff Fitzgerald Executive Director, Operations 212.456.5554 jeffrey.t.fitzgerald@abc.comHeidi Oringer Executive Director, Entertainment 212.456.5541 heidi.b.oringer@abc.comJon Newman News Coverage 212.456.5100 jonathan.m.newman@abc.comJoyce Alcantara Assignment Manager 212.456.5106 joyce.a.alcantara@abc.comJim Kane Deputy D.C. Bureau Chief 212.222. 6604 james.f.kane@abc.comAndrew Kalb Executive Director, Programming 05.567.2269 andrew.l.kalb@abc.comRobert Garcia Executive Director, News & Sports 212.456.5103 robert.garcia@abc.comWrite ABC's Executives to tell them what you think of the Debate:cristi.d.landes@abc.com, peter.salinger@abc.com, wayne.fisk@abc.com, jeffrey.t.fitzgerald@abc.com, heidi.b.oringer@abc.com, jonathan.m.newman@abc.com, joyce.a.alcantara@abc.com, james.f.kane@abc.com, andrew.l.kalb@abc.com, robert.garcia@abc.comIt's the 2nd, 3rd, 4th day heat that really gets felt..Lynn Schumacher
