Publish to Newswire
Add an EventFrom the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
Amy Goodman's Democracy Now! Hosts Debate Between Norman Soloman and Kevin Zeese
Amy Goodman's hard-hitting independent radio program Democracy Now! hosts a debate between Norman Solomon and Kevin Zeese in her latest program, Monday, October 26, 2004.
In addition to continued investigation into possible election problems that many fear will take place by and on election day just one week from today, Amy Goodman's Democracy Now! spends the latter half of today's program hosting a debate between columnist Norman Soloman and Ralph Nader's Campaign Manager Kevin Zeese.
The debate focuses on the issue of the wisdom of contemporary Progressive strategy in the 2004 election. Soloman argues that Nader is a detriment to a Kerry win which is critical to a Bush defeat. Zeese argues that Progressives have abandoned the momentum they achieved in the early anti-war rallies and are demanding nothing from a corporate-controlled Democratic Party candidate.
Both plainly wish to see Bush defeated. This program makes for extremely lively listening. Zeese believes that Nader abandoned the Peace Movement. Zeese believes that the Peace Movement abandoned their own causes.
For whatever reason (and I am suspicious as I recall the many dirty tricks the major parties have used to supress Nader's candidacy this year-- including keeping him out of the 3 Presidential "debates")-- Democracy Now! has not yet posted this October 26, 2004 program's details as it customarily does on it's website homepage. (http://www.democracynow.org/ As of October 27, 2004 12:07 AM UTC)
The program can still be accessed at:
http://www.democracynow.org/streampage.pl
Democracy Now! can also be found archived at http://www.archive.org/
however, at this same time, for whatever reason, that sight is inaccessible.
The debate focuses on the issue of the wisdom of contemporary Progressive strategy in the 2004 election. Soloman argues that Nader is a detriment to a Kerry win which is critical to a Bush defeat. Zeese argues that Progressives have abandoned the momentum they achieved in the early anti-war rallies and are demanding nothing from a corporate-controlled Democratic Party candidate.
Both plainly wish to see Bush defeated. This program makes for extremely lively listening. Zeese believes that Nader abandoned the Peace Movement. Zeese believes that the Peace Movement abandoned their own causes.
For whatever reason (and I am suspicious as I recall the many dirty tricks the major parties have used to supress Nader's candidacy this year-- including keeping him out of the 3 Presidential "debates")-- Democracy Now! has not yet posted this October 26, 2004 program's details as it customarily does on it's website homepage. (http://www.democracynow.org/ As of October 27, 2004 12:07 AM UTC)
The program can still be accessed at:
http://www.democracynow.org/streampage.pl
Democracy Now! can also be found archived at http://www.archive.org/
however, at this same time, for whatever reason, that sight is inaccessible.
Add Your Comments
Comments
(Hide Comments)
The program highlights for Democracy Now! October 26, 2004 can be found at http://www.democracynow.org/index.pl?issue=20041026
As of this time 00:55 UTC the homepage for Democarcy Now! still does not display the most recent highlights as is customary.
http://www.democracynow.org
Archive.org is still not accessible.
As of this time 00:55 UTC the homepage for Democarcy Now! still does not display the most recent highlights as is customary.
http://www.democracynow.org
Archive.org is still not accessible.
Kevin Zeese began his political career as Chief Counsel for NORML, the National Organization to Reform the Marijuana Laws in 1980, and served as NORML's Executive Director from 1983-1986.
He's since been involved in such drug policy reform efforts as the Drug Policy Foundation ( renamed Drug Policy Alliance), the Harm Reduction Coalition, Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke's Mayor's Working Group on Drug Policy Reform, and the Journey for Justice, a march from Tulia, Texas to the Texas State House on behalf of 43 mostly black Tulia residents caught up in a fabricated drug sting, and convicted on the word of a single professional informant who'd been dropped by other law enforcement agencies after a history of misconduct.
In 2004, Zeese became spokesman for Ralph Nader's Presidential campaign.
http://www.dkosopedia.com/index.php/Kevin_Zeese
He's since been involved in such drug policy reform efforts as the Drug Policy Foundation ( renamed Drug Policy Alliance), the Harm Reduction Coalition, Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke's Mayor's Working Group on Drug Policy Reform, and the Journey for Justice, a march from Tulia, Texas to the Texas State House on behalf of 43 mostly black Tulia residents caught up in a fabricated drug sting, and convicted on the word of a single professional informant who'd been dropped by other law enforcement agencies after a history of misconduct.
In 2004, Zeese became spokesman for Ralph Nader's Presidential campaign.
http://www.dkosopedia.com/index.php/Kevin_Zeese
Nader's man Zeese repeatedly talked over Soloman to the point where he couldn't really make a complete statement on any of the topics. He did give a strong defense of the Reform Party as a "positive" alternative to the Democrats and Republicans.
---
The Repressive Side of Right Wing Populism
What can possibly explain the Reform Party and the discussions about recruiting Pat Buchanan, that include possible support from H. Ross Perot, and Lenora Fulani?
We think the rhetoric of right wing populism is attractive to some forces on the left who side with business nationalists and isolationists because of joint opposition to global "free trade" treaties that undeniably benefit international corporate elites at the expense of working people.
Liberals and progressives are being asked to ignore the historic prejudice behind right wing populism. Consider the statement of John Talbott, the Reform Party spokesperson in New Hampshire:
"If you close your eyes, it is difficult to hear much of a difference between Ralph Nader on the left and Pat Buchanan on the right when they talk about corruption in government, the excesses of corporate welfare, the devastating effect of free international trade on the American worker and a desire to clean big money and special-interests out of Washington. There's a reason for this; 91 percent of the American people consider themselves middle class or working class. The time is now for a new political party that is neither right nor left, neither conservative nor liberal, but created and built to represent the hard-working average American in reforming our government."
"If we all pull together, put our prejudices behind us, and ignore traditional labeling such as liberal or conservative, we can join together to fight the battle of our lives against the collaboration of big business and big government, break the two-party monopoly, and return control of our government to the true owners of this country - the American people."
The call to put prejudice behind us is ironic indeed in this statement which really is asking people to close their eyes to the prejudice of Pat Buchanan with his history of racism, sexism, homophobia and antisemitism.
Liberals and progressives who join in coalitions with right wing populists see the anti-corporate and anti-government arguments. What they don't see (or choose to ignore) is the flip side of what is called the "producerist" narrative of right wing populism. The producerist narrative sees a hard-working productive middle class and working class being squeezed from above and below by social parasites. Historically, this has led to scapegoating and conspiracy theories of power.
The overall outcome of the producerist model of populism is a broad social and political movement sometimes called "Middle American Nationalism" or "The Radical Center" or "Middle American Radicals." Whatever the label, this is a form of repressive populism with a producerist narrative.
The list of scapegoats seen as among the alleged elite parasites includes international bankers, Freemasons, Jews, globalists, liberal secular humanists, and government bureaucrats. The parasites below are stereotyped as lazy or sinful, draining the economic resources of the productive middle, or poisoning the culture with their sinful sexuality.
The so-called "lazy parasites" in the producerist narrative of right wing populism are frequently Blacks and other people of color, immigrants, and welfare recipients.
The so-called "sinful parasites" in the producerist narrative of right wing populism are frequently gays and lesbians, abortion providers, and feminists.
And the issue goes far beyond Buchanan and the Reform Party. As the size of the repressive populist sectors grow, politicians and activists within electoral reform movements try to recruit the populists toward participation within electoral political frameworks. As they seek votes, some politicians begin to use populist rhetoric and pander to the scapegoating. At the same time the Far Right seeks to pull right wing populists further toward bigoted ideological positions and aggressive insurgency or violence.
Some argue that globalization of the world's economies on behalf of powerful corporate interests is the only issue that matters. But what about racism, sexism, homophobia, and antisemitism? It is a political fact of life that many liberals and progressives find themselves on the same side of the struggle against corporatist globalization along with business nationalists and the followers of Pat Buchanan. But working on the same side of an issue is not the same as creating a coalition where we give assistance to the enemies of our friends.
Which of our allies on the left are we willing to toss overboard to keep the leaky lifeboat of populist anti-elitist politics afloat?
http://www.publiceye.org/sucker_punch/Reform_Party.html
---
The Repressive Side of Right Wing Populism
What can possibly explain the Reform Party and the discussions about recruiting Pat Buchanan, that include possible support from H. Ross Perot, and Lenora Fulani?
We think the rhetoric of right wing populism is attractive to some forces on the left who side with business nationalists and isolationists because of joint opposition to global "free trade" treaties that undeniably benefit international corporate elites at the expense of working people.
Liberals and progressives are being asked to ignore the historic prejudice behind right wing populism. Consider the statement of John Talbott, the Reform Party spokesperson in New Hampshire:
"If you close your eyes, it is difficult to hear much of a difference between Ralph Nader on the left and Pat Buchanan on the right when they talk about corruption in government, the excesses of corporate welfare, the devastating effect of free international trade on the American worker and a desire to clean big money and special-interests out of Washington. There's a reason for this; 91 percent of the American people consider themselves middle class or working class. The time is now for a new political party that is neither right nor left, neither conservative nor liberal, but created and built to represent the hard-working average American in reforming our government."
"If we all pull together, put our prejudices behind us, and ignore traditional labeling such as liberal or conservative, we can join together to fight the battle of our lives against the collaboration of big business and big government, break the two-party monopoly, and return control of our government to the true owners of this country - the American people."
The call to put prejudice behind us is ironic indeed in this statement which really is asking people to close their eyes to the prejudice of Pat Buchanan with his history of racism, sexism, homophobia and antisemitism.
Liberals and progressives who join in coalitions with right wing populists see the anti-corporate and anti-government arguments. What they don't see (or choose to ignore) is the flip side of what is called the "producerist" narrative of right wing populism. The producerist narrative sees a hard-working productive middle class and working class being squeezed from above and below by social parasites. Historically, this has led to scapegoating and conspiracy theories of power.
The overall outcome of the producerist model of populism is a broad social and political movement sometimes called "Middle American Nationalism" or "The Radical Center" or "Middle American Radicals." Whatever the label, this is a form of repressive populism with a producerist narrative.
The list of scapegoats seen as among the alleged elite parasites includes international bankers, Freemasons, Jews, globalists, liberal secular humanists, and government bureaucrats. The parasites below are stereotyped as lazy or sinful, draining the economic resources of the productive middle, or poisoning the culture with their sinful sexuality.
The so-called "lazy parasites" in the producerist narrative of right wing populism are frequently Blacks and other people of color, immigrants, and welfare recipients.
The so-called "sinful parasites" in the producerist narrative of right wing populism are frequently gays and lesbians, abortion providers, and feminists.
And the issue goes far beyond Buchanan and the Reform Party. As the size of the repressive populist sectors grow, politicians and activists within electoral reform movements try to recruit the populists toward participation within electoral political frameworks. As they seek votes, some politicians begin to use populist rhetoric and pander to the scapegoating. At the same time the Far Right seeks to pull right wing populists further toward bigoted ideological positions and aggressive insurgency or violence.
Some argue that globalization of the world's economies on behalf of powerful corporate interests is the only issue that matters. But what about racism, sexism, homophobia, and antisemitism? It is a political fact of life that many liberals and progressives find themselves on the same side of the struggle against corporatist globalization along with business nationalists and the followers of Pat Buchanan. But working on the same side of an issue is not the same as creating a coalition where we give assistance to the enemies of our friends.
Which of our allies on the left are we willing to toss overboard to keep the leaky lifeboat of populist anti-elitist politics afloat?
http://www.publiceye.org/sucker_punch/Reform_Party.html
"Weak Kneed Progressives buckle Under Democrat Pressure"
http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/09/1695394_comment.php#1701544
http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/09/1695394_comment.php#1701544
It's strange that info and links for Tuesday's show still aren't up on their home page: http://democracynow.org/
However, the transcript of Zeese v. Solomon and audio downloads can be found at:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/26/144233
A more compressed mp3 of the audio can be found at the KPFA archives. The URL is:
http://209.81.10.18/data/20041026-Tue0900.mp3
However, the transcript of Zeese v. Solomon and audio downloads can be found at:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/26/144233
A more compressed mp3 of the audio can be found at the KPFA archives. The URL is:
http://209.81.10.18/data/20041026-Tue0900.mp3
For more information:
http://kpfa.aarons.fastmail.fm
The paragraph I wrote:
Both plainly wish to see Bush defeated. This program makes for extremely lively listening. Zeese believes that Nader abandoned the Peace Movement. Zeese believes that the Peace Movement abandoned their own causes.
should read:
Both plainly wish to see Bush defeated. This program makes for extremely lively listening. Solomon believes that Nader abandoned the Peace Movement. Zeese believes that the Peace Movement abandoned their own causes.
Sorry for the error.
Both plainly wish to see Bush defeated. This program makes for extremely lively listening. Zeese believes that Nader abandoned the Peace Movement. Zeese believes that the Peace Movement abandoned their own causes.
should read:
Both plainly wish to see Bush defeated. This program makes for extremely lively listening. Solomon believes that Nader abandoned the Peace Movement. Zeese believes that the Peace Movement abandoned their own causes.
Sorry for the error.
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!
Donate
$120.00 donated
in the past month
Get Involved
If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.
Publish
Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.
Topics
More
Search Indybay's Archives
Advanced Search
►
▼
IMC Network