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Re: Rundown 11-19-03
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8:00-8:01 Billboard:
War Resistance: How A Growing Number of Soldiers Are Speaking
Out Against War
Pacifica Archive Special: We Hear the Voices of Martin Luther
King Jr., Nixon, Pacifica Reporter Dale Minor, Vietnam War
Resisters and More
From the Persian Gulf to the Invasion – Poet, Activist,
Essayist and Teacher June Jordan Speaks About the U.S. and
Iraq in 1991
Mass. Court Rules That Gay Couples Have the Right to Marry
Under the State’s Constitution
8:01-8:06 Headlines
8:06-8:07 One Minute Music Break
8:07-8:12 War Resistance: How A Growing Number of
Soldiers Are Speaking Out Against War
INTRO: A growing number of voices are coming out against
the invasion and increasingly bloody occupation of Iraq. They
are the voices of U.S. soldiers at home and abroad who are
speaking out against war. We speak with one of those war resisters
today as well as a coordinator for the GI Rights Hotline and
Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors.
The U.S. is launching its largest raids in Iraq since April
- using F-16s to bomb targets on the ground as part of an
effort to destroy the Iraqi resistance movement. This comes
on the heels of last weekend’s helicopter collision
that killed 17 soldiers in the deadliest single incident involving
U.S. troops since the start of the Iraq war. So far, over
420 U.S. troops have been killed since March and new reports
reveal that the number of casualties has now topped 9,000.
Well today we are going to hear a story that is not being
reported in the press. A growing number of voices are coming
out against the war and increasingly bloody occupation of
Iraq. They are the voices of U.S. soldiers at home and abroad
who are speaking out against war. An increasing number of
these soldiers are making their voices hear. Today we are
joined on the phone by one of them…
- Michael Sudbury, a former Army Reserve staff reserve sergeant.
He called a news conference a month before the invasion
to say he wouldn’t go when his unit deployed in Iraq.
Sudbury’s discharge which was delayed because of the
pending conflict, came through a day before his planned
announcement.
- Teresa Panepinto, the GI Rights Program Coordinator for
the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (CCCO).
She has been receiving an increasing number of calls from
soldiers in Iraq as well as at home.
Link: www.objector.org
8:12-8:20 Pacifica Archive Special: We Hear the Voices
of Martin Luther King Jr., Nixon, Pacifica Reporter Dale Minor,
Vietnam War Resisters and More
INTRO: Many people are comparing the current U.S. occupation
of Iraq to the quagmire of Vietnam. As we celebrate the Pacifica
Archives we go back 30 years to hear the sounds and voices
of the Vietnam war in a piece produced by Pacifica Radio titled
“War, Peace & Pacifica.”
- War, Peace & Pacifica, piece produced by Brian DeShazor
and Chri Sprinkle for Pacifica Radio.
8:20-8:21 One Minute Music Break
8:21-8:40 From the Persian Gulf to the Invasion –
Poet, Activist, Essayist and Teacher June Jordan Speaks About
the U.S. and Iraq in 1991
INTRO: We hear poems and a speech about the Persian Gulf
war by renowned poet, activist, essayist and teacher June
Jordan speaking at Poets and Politicians Against the War in
1991 – she may as well have been speaking today.
We turn now to the words of renowned poet, activist, essayist
and teacher June Jordan. June Jordan is the most published
African-American writer in history. She burst onto the literary
and political scene in the late 1960s, on the wings of the
civil rights and anti-war movements. Poetry for her was a
political act, and she used it to shine a fierce light on
racism, sexism, homophobia, apartheid, poverty, and US foreign
policy. Author Toni Morrison once summed up her career as:
"Forty years of tireless activism coupled with and fueled
by flawless art." She died of breast cancer a year and
a half ago. She was 65 years old.
- June Jordan, speaking at “Poets and Politicians
Against the War” in 1991.
8:40-8:41 One Minute Music Break
8:41-8:58 Mass. Court Rules That Gay Couples Have
the Right to Marry Under the State’s Constitution
INTRO: We speak with one of the seven gay couple couples
who petitioned the case, the country's leading lawyer on LBGTQ
rights issues and from a conservative think tank that is pushing
against what they call "the homosexual agenda."
Massachusetts' highest court ruled yesterday that gay couples
have the right to marry under the state's Constitution. In
the 4-3 ruling, the state Supreme Court wrote that marriage
is "among the most basic of every individual's liberty
and due-process rights."
Judges gave the state legislature six months to come up with
a law making same-sex marriage possible. Vermont established
civil unions for gay couples in 2000 but legal experts say
the Massachusetts ruling goes a step further by clearly saying
same-sex couples have the identical right to marriage as heterosexuals.
The ruling could have ramifications across the country.
Opponents of same-sex marriages condemned the decision and
said legislation is needed to take the issue out of the courts'
hands. The only way to overturn the court ruling would be
to change the Massachusetts constitution.
The Legislature is considering an amendment backed by Republican
Governor Mitt Romney and key Democratic legislators that would
bar same-sex marriages.
- Sen. Bill Frist, Majority Leader, speaking after the
Mass. Cour ruling on November 18, 2003.
- Susan Sommer, Supervising Attorney at Lambda Legal who
was one of the key counsels in the historic Lawrence vs.
Texas ruling this summer and is also part of the marriage
license suit in New Jersey by seven couples that was just
dismissed but will be appealed.
Link: www.lambdalegal.org
- Gary Chalmers and Rich Linnell, one of the seven same
sex couples who are petitioners in the Massachusetts case
- EJ Graff, author of “What is Marriage For: The
Strange Social History of Our Most Intimate Institution”
and visiting scholar at Brandeis Women’s Studies Research
Center in Waltham Massachusetts
- Robert Knight, Director of the Culture and Family Institute.
8:58-8:59 Outro and Credits
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu
(RAY MA MU), Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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