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21 AIDS Activists Arrested At Bush-Cheney 2004 HQ Protesting Administration
Policies
God & The Presidency: An In-Depth Examination Of Faith
In The Bush White House
21 AIDS Activists Arrested At Bush-Cheney 2004 HQ
Protesting Administration Policies
Two weeks after Vice President Dick Cheney admitted he was
not aware how severe the AIDS epidemic was among African-American
women, activists from Housing Works and ACT UP take their
message to the Bush-Cheney campaign headquarters in Virginia.
We speak with one of the arrested protesters, Oliva Dawson,
an HIV+ staff member of Housing Works. [includes rush
transcript]
Police arrested 21 protesters at the Bush-Cheney campaign
headquarters in Virginia on Monday in a demonstration against
the administration's policies. The protest was organized by
the AIDS advocacy groups ACT UP and Housing Works.
The protesters were charged with trespassing, and police
used bolt cutters to remove seven people who had chained themselves
to the front door. Several of the protesters carried signs
with a picture of Vice President Cheney and a statement he
made during the vice presidential debate on Oct. 5th.
Moderator Gwen Ifill asked both candidates about the AIDS
crisis in the U.S., where black women ages 25 to 44 are 13
times more likely to die of AIDS than their counterparts.
Cheney responded by saying he had "not heard those numbers."
This is an excerpt of the Vice Presidential debate.
- Vice President Dick Cheney and Senator John Edwards,
discussing AIDS at the Oct. 6 debate
- Olivia Dawson, HIV+ staff member with the AIDS advocacy
group Housing Works. She was one of 21 members arrested
on Monday at the Bush-Cheney campaign headquarters in Virginia
in a protest organized by Housing Works and ACT UP. Housing
Works is the nation"s largest community-based AIDS
service organization. It is a minority-controlled organization
dedicated to providing healthcare, job training and vital
supportive services to homeless people with AIDS and HIV.
- Esther Kaplan, author of the new book "With God on
Their Side: How Christian Fundamentalists Trampled Science,
Policy, and Democracy in George W Bush's White House."
God & The Presidency: An In-Depth Examination
Of Faith In The Bush White House
Journalist Ron Suskind examines how Bush's belief in God
has impacted his presidency, how some of Bush's supporters
believe he is an instrument of God and the growing concern
among many non-Evangelical Republicans. One former Reagan/Bush
official says, "Just in the past few months. I think
a light has gone off for people who've spent time up close
to Bush: that this instinct he's always talking about is this
sort of weird, Messianic idea of what he thinks God has told
him to do." We also speak with Esther Kaplan author of
the new book, "With God On Their Side: How Christian
Fundamentalists Trampled Science, Policy, and Democracy in
George W. Bush's White House." [includes rush
transcript - partial]
With 13 days left until voters go to the polls in one of
the most significant elections in US history, President Bush
and Senator John Kerry are intensifying their campaigning,
particularly in a handful of so-called swing states. Concerns
abound nationwide that voters may be intimidated from voting
and that a repeat of the 2000 elections may unfold. This campaign
has been marked by extraordinary dirty tricks, personal attacks,
and smear campaigns. All against the backdrop of multiple
US occupations and US military deaths rising every day. Both
campaigns say they will make the US safer over the next four
years. But while Iraq and foreign policy dominate much of
the public discussion on the elections, other key domestic
issues are at stake.
The next president will have a major influence over the composition
of the Supreme Court and laws governing a woman"s right
to choose. And it is this issue of abortion that is one of
the lynchpins of the support President Bush receives from
increasingly powerful, right-wing evangelical Christian groups.
Much has been written about the significant role these groups
have played in supporting the Bush campaign. Bush has opened
the doors of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to right-wing Christian
groups more than any president in history. They are well-funded,
well-organized and well-connected.
Today, we are going to spend the rest of the hour taking
an in-depth look at the role religion has played and is playing
in the Bush presidency and election campaign. In a moment,
we will be joined by two journalists. Esther Kaplan is author
of the new book "With God on Their Side: How Christian
Fundamentalists Trampled Science, Policy, and Democracy in
George W Bush"s White House." We"ll also be
joined by Ron Suskind, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and
author of "The Price of Loyalty: George W Bush, the White
House and the Education of Paul O'Neill." His latest
piece in The New York Times Magazine is called "Without
a Doubt," which is about the role of faith in the Bush
presidency. But first, we wanted to play an excerpt from the
final presidential discussion at the University of Arizona
on October 13, when the candidates were asked by moderator
Bob Sheiffer of CBS News about the role religion plays in
their lives.
- President Bush speaking at the final presidential debate
in Tempe, Arizona
- Exerpt: "George W. Bush: Faith in the White House"
- Esther Kaplan, author of the new book "With God on
Their Side: How Christian Fundamentalists Trampled Science,
Policy, and Democracy in George W Bush's White House."
- Ron Suskind, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. He is
author of "The Price of Loyalty: George W Bush, the
White House and the Education of Paul O"Neill."
His latest piece in The New York Times Magazine is called
"Without a Doubt," which is about the role of
faith in the Bush presidency.
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.
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