Home > Programs
> Democracy
Now! > Wed., July 14, 2004
Democracy Now!
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown 7-14-04
PRSS Channel: A67.7
Kucinich Delegates Strike Deal With Kerry Supporters Over
Platform
Hidden Prisons: U.S. Maintaining Global Network of Secret
Detention Facilities
Clear Channel Rejects Times Square Peace Billboard Timed
for RNC
400 Days Later UFPJ Still Seeking RNC Permit
Rep. Rangel Arrested in Sudan Embassy Protest
Kucinich Delegates Strike Deal With Kerry Supporters
Over Platform
Democratic Party delegates supporting presidential candidate
Dennis Kucinich struck a deal this weekend with representatives
of John Kerry over the Democratic Party's stance on the Iraq
war. We'll speak with the Ohio Congressmember about why his
delegates withdrew their proposal for a quick withdrawal of
U.S. troops from Iraq and about the upcoming Democratic convention
in Boston.
Democratic Party delegates supporting presidential candidate
Dennis Kucinich struck a deal this weekend with representatives
of John Kerry over the Party's stance on the Iraq war. The
deal happened this weekend at the Democratic Party Platform
convention in Miami. Kucinich's delegates withdrew their proposal
for a quick withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.
The critical paragraph was worked out in negotiations led
by Sandy Berger, who was President Bill Clinton's national
security adviser.
It pledges to remove American troops "when appropriate
so that the military support needed by a sovereign Iraqi government
will no longer be seen as the direct continuation of an American
military presence."
Ana Dias, the chief sponsor of the pullout proposal, said
Kucinich had called off his forces. Dias is a delegate from
Hawaii and she told the NY Times she was "terribly disappointed"
not to get a vote on the issue, but added, "We do want
to be unified."
Berger characterized those he was negotiating with as "a
group of people who want to win." Berger added, "We
didn't give up anything."
The platform retains a sentence that the antiwar delegates
originally found objectionable stating that "people of
good will disagree about whether America should have gone
to war in Iraq."
- Rep. Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Congressman from Ohio and
a Democratic presidential candidate.
Hidden Prisons: U.S. Maintaining Global Network of
Secret Detention Facilities
The International Committee of the Red Cross says it fears
the United States is hiding detainees in secret locations
around the world and not granting access to them. We speak
with the executive director of Human Rights First which issued
a report last month entitled "Ending Secret Detentions"
outlining the scope of the global network of U.S. prisons.
The International Committee of the Red Cross says it fears
the United States is hiding detainees in secret locations
around the world and not granting access to them.
The Geneva Conventions on the conduct of warfare require
the U.S. to give the Red Cross access to prisoners of war
and other detainees.
But a Red Cross spokesperson told The Associated Press yesterday
that some suspects reported as arrested by the FBI on its
Web site, or identified in media reports, are unaccounted
for.
A month ago, Human Rights First - formerly known as the Lawyers
Committee for Human Rights - issued a report entitled "Ending
Secret Detentions" which outlined the scope of the global
network of U.S. detention facilities holding suspects in the
so-called "war on terror."
- Michael Posner, executive director of Human Rights First,
which was formerly known as the Lawyers Committee For Human
Rights. His group recently published a report titled "Ending
Secret Detentions."
Clear Channel Rejects Times Square Peace Billboard
Timed for RNC
Media giant Clear Channel is reneging on a deal with a Berkeley-based
organization, Project Billboard, to put up a peace sign in
Times Square, New York. Clear Channel, which has ties to the
Bush administration, rejected the ad calling it "distasteful"
and "politically charged."
We are broadcasting from our firehouse studio in Chinatown
at the Downtown Community Television center. Further uptown,
lies the bustling center of New York City - Times Square.
Each year, more than 26 million people visit the 10-block
area where Seventh Avenue meets Broadway. Massive neon light
displays illuminate the night sky, giant billboards trumpet
Broadway shows, an electronic ticker beams the latest news
and stock quotes and some 50 "supersigns" display
ads for fashion, liquor and other corporate products.
Media giant Clear Channel controls about one-half of these
billboards. It is now refusing to put up one organization's
billboard, with which it had a signed contract. The sign showed
a picture of a bomb with lighted fuse decorated in Stars and
Stripes. The caption underneath reads "Democracy is best
taught by example, not by war." The billboard was to
be mounted on the facade of the Marriott Marquis Hotel.
In a lawsuit filed in New York federal court this week, the
Berkeley-based organization Project Billboard is saying Clear
Channel breached a $368,000 contract to put up the peace sign
during the Republican National Convention in August.
Clear Channel Outdoor, the division that controls the company's
billboard leasing, rejected the ad, calling it "distasteful"
and "politically charged."
Clear Channel's corporate leadership has a history of political
activism on behalf of Republicans. Tom Hicks, a major shareholder
and former member of the company's board, purchased the Texas
Rangers from George W. Bush in 1998 and contributed to his
campaigns. Company employees have given $382,000 to Republicans
in the current election cycle. This according to the Center
for Responsive Politics.
The company has previously been accused of using its media
outlets to assist the GOP. Some company radio stations banned
the Dixie Chicks from their programming after the group's
lead singer, Natalie Maines, criticized Bush. Shock-jock Howard
Stern accused Clear Channel of dropping his show in retaliation
for anti-Bush rhetoric.
- Howard Wolfson, spokesperson for Project Billboard.
400 Days Later UFPJ Still Seeking RNC Permit
We speak with William Dobbs of United for Peace and Justice,
which has been battling for over a year with New York City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his Parks Department to hold a
massive anti-war march on the eve of the Republican National
Convention.
"Anarchy Threat to City: Cops fear hard-core lunatics
plotting convention chaos"
That was the banner headline stretched across the cover of
the New York Daily News on Monday. The paper warned of chaos
at the Republican National Convention in New York City where
hundreds of thousands of protesters are expected to arrive
in August. Inside the two-page spread, the Daily News article
promises anarchist vandals will douse themselves with gunpowder
to wreak havoc at the convention. The only named source in
the article is New York police chief Raymond Kelly. No activists
are quoted.
One organization, United for Peace and Justice has become
the poster child for protesters. It has been battling for
over a year with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and
his Parks Department to hold a massive anti-war march on the
eve of the convention. The planned demonstration would be
the largest held in the city during the GOP convention with
an estimated 250,000 people. UFPJ has applied for a permit
to hold the rally on the Great Lawn in Central Park, but New
York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said it would ruin the
lawn.
Rep. Rangel Arrested in Sudan Embassy Protest
We speak with New York Congressman Charles Rangel who was
arrested in front of the Sudanese Embassy as he took part
in a demonstration calling for an end to what is being described
as a genocide in the country's western Darfur region.
New York Congressman Charles Rangel was arrested yesterday
in front of the Sudanese Embassy in Washington DC. He was
taking part in a demonstration calling for an end to what
he and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus say
is genocide in the country's western Darfur region.
Government-backed Arab militias have killed tens of thousands
of black Africans in Darfur and made more than a million people
homeless in the past 15 months alone.
Congressman Rangel was among 50 protesters who marched in
front of the Embassy demanding the Sudanese government end
its support of the militias. The campaign is calling for sanctions
against Sudan by the United Nations Security Council and for
suspension of its membership in the U.N. Human Rights Commission.
Rangel walked up the embassy steps, crossed his arms, and
stood in front of the embassy doors, facing the crowd. The
Secret Service handcuffed the New York congressman and took
him in a police van to the Third District Police Station.
Rangel was charged with disorderly conduct, was released about
an hour later after paying a $50 fine.
- Rep. Charles Rangel, (D-NY).
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,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
|
Listen
to the show
Help
whole
show
