NEW ENGLAND SOJOURN

IRAQ "HAND OVER?" DONE!

DEAN DUMPS ON NADER

I spent my B-day Sunday rediscovering the beauty of historic New England, motoring alongside the Merrimack River on the North "Sho-ah,"once the source of power for the mills of Lawrence and Lowell in another time, another age. We have seen the deindustrialization of America since then, and today the economic engines of that era are boarded up or have been turned into condos and visitor centers. No more locally produced hats, clothes and textiles. There have been other losses as well, no doubt.

As I streaked up Route 93, I drove under overpasses festooned with flags. At first I thought they were just early offerings to the upcoming 4th of July. But then I noticed the sheets, with messages like "Welcome Home Sean," and "Welcome Home Brendan" or "Welcome Home SFC (Sergeant First Class Michael XXX.)" … "Home," of course, means from the wars. And I wondered, could these signs just be familial expressions of joy or something more - like disguised recruiting signs in the same way that the networks often make those signs that say things like NBC IS #1 that are carried by fans in the stands to be shown on the air as if the fans made them? I hope that is not true. The sons of New England deserve to be home.

"WELCOME TO BOSTON, DANNY"

As I arrived, in the Bean, I already had an IN-BOX welcome from reader Bart Laws: "I was at Logan Airport on Wednesday and I stopped by the newsstand in the U.S. Airways terminal. They had a gigantic TV blaring, guess what, Fox News. It was pointing out into the concourse where no-one could avoid it. I asked the clerk who picked the channel. She said ‘Fox pays my company [Hudson News] to put that on. It’s like an advertisement.’ Not exactly. She said she’d learned to ignore it, she was immune. I said good for you. So Murdoch is spending his money to beam his propaganda into public spaces. You have no choice, you can’t avoid it."

BOSTON BRACES

Boston is in a red state with a Red Line but also some very non-red politricks. The town is bracing for the Democratic convention late next month in an arena now named for a bank. That convention is threatened with picket lines by Boston police offers who are pressing the mayor militantly for a new contract.

The cops want a pay hike like the one the firemen got but many in the local trade union movement are not exactly staging solidarity rallies, perhaps because of their memories about how the police treat them when they are out on strike. Also some complain that, with extra details, frequent over time, and shall we say, what "they get on the side" police officers can pull down as much as $100 grand a year. Not bad. But this is a serious political problem for the city’s stubborn Mayor Tom Menino who knows he is being put up against the wall. He is also under pressure from national pols to settle this mess and fast.

John Kerry is in an awkward position as the Globe reported. Here’s the headline:

Kerry refuses to cross picket

Declaring his refusal to cross a union picket line, Senator John F. Kerry yesterday moved closer to canceling a speech before the US Conference of Mayors as union demonstrators marched on an evening event hosted by Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

rts: "A $107 million surge in contributions has made Senator John Kerry the best-financed challenger in presidential campaign history."

MOORE ON THE SCREEN

Meanwhile, in liberal towns like Newton, Brookline and Harvard Square they were lining up to see Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. Its been selling out although I have not seen it yet in the suburban malls or downtown theaters. Nationally, according to CNN, "Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 took in a whopping $21.8 million in its first three days, becoming the first documentary ever to debut as Hollywood’s top weekend film." I saw it on Friday night in Harvard Square where it was cheered at the late night show.

I was more impressed by the reaction to a screen further South as reported by Lou Plummer of Military Families Speak Out but not reported in our media:

I just returned from handing out 175 copies of WarTimes outside of the only theater in Fayetteville, NC showing Fahrenheit 9/11. (Fayetteville is the home of Ft. Bragg.) I talked to literally dozens of Iraq and Afghanistan vets who were there to see the film. Many were close to their discharge (ETS) date and were eager to talk about the many problems the military has maintaining credibility in the information age.

DO NOT BELIEVE WHAT YOU READ IN THE PAPERS. Everyone I questioned said that reenlistment in their units was negligible and that we should not believe what we read in the papers.

I also distributed Bring Them Home Now Buttons and had people taking my email so that they could get buttons after I ran out. We are out of War Time so tomorrow night I’ll be handing out a flyer that touts BTHN, Military Families Speak Out and Fayetteville Peace WIth Justice. A local person who has been supportive of the movement but not real active is having a house party after a showing of the film tomorrow to further discussion of the points raised.

It was an energizing experience. Even though I had one Vietnam vet who was ready to “whup” me, it turned out to be all good. He calmed down and several other vets gathered around to listen to our exchange. Once the “whupper” left, the vets who had heard his spiel stopped by to give me their perspective, which was 100% antiwar.

e, check out my backgrounder on the Mediachannel.org homepage. My focus: "Moore’s masterful marketing campaign resonates well with the millions of Americans who are frustrated by mainstream media’s fumbling of political and war coverage. If the 2004 revolution won’t be televised, there is nothing to stop it from playing at the mall, and inciting a prairie fire of political opposition."

NEWS FROM THE FRONT

The Bush Administration is in such a hurry to get out of Iraq that the heavily hyped "hand over" has been completed two days early. It is done. CNN Reports:

The handover of sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government took place at 10:26 a.m. Baghdad time today, in a surprise move two days before the June 30 deadline previously announced by the U.S.-led coalition. After receiving the transfer document from coalition administrator Paul Bremer, President Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar said: “This is a historic and happy day for us in Iraq."

O, HAPPY DAY

Al Jazeera is reporting that a US Marine has been captured and threatened with execution. Also: "Scores killed in Iraq-wide attacks." As if to underscore the gap between what the world media is reporting and what US officials believe, London’s Independent reports on Paul Bremer’s last days as proconsul. The story is aptly called "Over and Out:"

If the confident New Englander was weary after the cacophony of bombs and bullets that have steadily increased in tempo throughout his tenure, the signs were not visible. The dark, good looks that belie his 62 years remain fresh and intact. Desert boots still add a dash of flair to his immaculate uniform of Brooks Brothers blazer, chinos and striped tie.

In his trademark calm manner, the former aide to Henry Kissinger is trying to win around his critics with a list of indelible achievements in Iraq: lower tax rates, the opening up of the economy to foreign investment and the reduction of import duties. “If you go back and look at what has been accomplished, I would say we have done almost everything we set out to accomplish at liberation,” he insists. “Bush and Blair had a vision of an Iraq that was stable, pluralistic, at peace with itself - we have accomplished most of that.”

also looks at Bremer’s (sic) "accomplishments." Their headline: BREMER LEAVING, GOALS UNMET.

US OUT, NATO IN?

The Big positive spin pumped by the Administration over the weekend were reports that NATO is coming to the rescue and will now train Iraqi soldiers. The Times reports Condoleeza Rice saying she expects "NATO members to begin sending training missions to Iraq quickly." NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer says "the international community must not watch with indifference as Iraq goes up in flames." What this means is that a US war may be on its way to becoming a world war.

According to Al Jazeera the Iraqi "army" is not trusted by the US and is being stripped of its fire power. "US occupation forces are taking measures to ensure that the emerging Iraqi Army remain a small defensive force with limited capabilities and no armor. For the first time in its 84-year history, the Iraqi Army has been reduced to a nearly impotent force deprived of heavy armaments, armor, and aircraft."

“Right now, tanks and heavy armament are not necessary,” said Frederick C. Smith, the US senior adviser for Iraqi national security.

THE RECONSTRUCTION

Writing in the Guardian, Canadian author Naomi Klein calls the US reconstruction effort a rip-off and fraud:

Good news out of Baghdad: the Program Management Office, which oversees the $18.4bn in US reconstruction funds, has finally set a goal it can meet. Sure, electricity is below pre-war levels, the streets are rivers of sewage and more Iraqis have been fired than hired. But now the PMO has contracted the British mercenary firm Aegis to protect its employees from “assassination, kidnapping, injury and” - get this - “embarrassment”. I don’t know if Aegis will succeed in protecting PMO employees from violent attack, but embarrassment? I’d say mission already accomplished. The people in charge of rebuilding Iraq can’t be embarrassed, because, clearly, they have no shame.

In the run-up to the June 30 underhand (sorry, I can’t bring myself to call it a “handover”), US occupation powers have been unabashed in their efforts to steal money that is supposed to aid a war-ravaged people. The state department has taken $184m earmarked for drinking water projects and moved it to the budget for the lavish new US embassy in Saddam Hussein’s former palace. Short of $1bn for the embassy, Richard Armitage, the deputy secretary of state, said he might have to “rob from Peter in my fiefdom to pay Paul”. In fact, he is robbing Iraq’s people, who, according to a recent study by the consumer group Public Citizen, are facing “massive outbreaks of cholera, diarrhoea, nausea and kidney stones” from drinking contaminated water.

S NADER, ZINN MORE SUPPORTIVE

NEW YORK — John F. Kerry’s chance of being elected president is perhaps at greatest risk not from President Bush, but third-party candidate Ralph Nader, according to former Kerry rival Howard Dean. “I think Nader’s the biggest problem in the race right now.”

… In some of his strongest criticism of Nader, Dean also accused the consumer advocate and former Green Party presidential contender of accepting support from the Republicans — who could benefit from his success — to advance his candidacy. “Ralph Nader is taking money from Republicans and he’s now got Republicans — right wingers — advocating for him."

The Chicago Tribune reported Saturday that the Green Party has not endorsed their former Presidential candidate: "After two rounds of sometimes-contentious balloting, nearly 800 delegates at the national Green Party convention decided against endorsing Nader’s independent presidential bid. "

Meanwhile Nader released a statement by Boston based historian/hero Howard Zinn (the subject of a documentary playing at the Coolidge Theater) saying: “Do all in your power to assure that Nader achieves ballot access." Zinn calls the Nader Campaign a “vital element in keeping alive the public debate about the Iraq War.”

MEDIA NEWS: DID THE TIMES PICK ON DICK CHENEY?

Public Editor Daniel Okrent responds to Cheney’s charge that the paprer was "outrageous" in reporting that “Panel Finds No Qaeda-Iraq Tie; Describes a Wider Plot for 9/11." I don’t buy “outrageous,” but “distortion” works for me - specifically, the common newspaper crime of distortion by abbreviation. The staff report was largely concerned with attacks on United States soil, whereas the headline bore no such qualification. The headline also leaned on two of those words whose brevity makes them dear to all newsrooms: the resolute “no,” and the imprecise “tie.” Assistant managing editor Craig Whitney, who oversees the front page, argues that “tie” in the headline is “a correct shorthand summary” of the report’s conclusion that there appeared to be no “collaborative relationship” between Al Qaeda and Iraq."

Speaking of outrageous, though in a cool sense, Times columnist Maureen Dowd’s stance toward the VEEP is so much fun to read: Here’s the lead of her Sunday screed: "One thing you’ve got to say for Dick Cheney: No one will ever again dismiss the vice presidency as a pitcher of warm spit. Mr. Major League Potty Mouth has shown that, with obsequiousness to the president and obtuseness to the facts, a vice president can run the world. Right into the ground."

GUTSY JOURNALIST OF THE WEEK

My nomination for gutsy journalist of the week must go to RTE Ireland Carole Coleman’s for her interview with US President George Bush. (RTE by the way is a public broadcaster so she was not contained by any corporate pressure.) The Irish Independent reported Thursday night that the "White House told Ms Coleman that she interrupted the president unnecessarily and was disrespectful."

Yahoo News reported: "During that interview, given on Thursday in Washington, Bush displayed annoyance and at one point lost his temper when he was contradicted by Irish journalist Carole Coleman. ‘Let me finish please. Let me answer your question and then you’ll follow up,’ a visibly annoyed Bush told her." Where are the American journalists willing to challenge him as aggressively?

FOR THE FARENHEIT 9/11 SEQUEL

AP reported: "Bush was spotted by television cameras as he was standing in a T-shirt at his window at Dromoland Castle. He was visible from the waist up, apparently as he was changing clothes. An embarrassed Irish government quickly tried to prevent the release of the images. A notice to the news media said, ‘The host broadcaster inadvertently transmitted pictures of President Bush at the window of Dromoland Castle. These pictures are the property of the Irish presidency and must not be used for transmission by any service.’”

Bush on Saturday twice had trouble figuring out what day it was …

ON THE RADIO IN BOSTON AGAIN

I was grateful to Dan Kennedy of the Phoenix for having me on his new radio talk show on WRKO radio. I got some nice feedback although one caller and my dad told me I talked too much. They were probably right. Janis Reed wrote to the station: "Danny Schechter was great on WRKO last night. He should be hosting the show. " She also lashed out at Mediachannel: "I am disgusted with Rory O’Connor’s use of the F-word and the C-word in his June 21 column on MediaChannel.org. Janet Jackson, Howard Stern, Dick Cheney, they all need their mouths washed out with soap!"

"THANK YOU FOR BEING BORN"

My thanks to all the readers who sent me kind, funny, and supportive Happy Birthday greetings. I was touched by many emails, including one that thanked me for being born (not that I had much to do with it). It said in part: "For your birthday, I wish I could give you an Enlightened, Compassionate America and a World of Understanding."

We can all use that. My friend and our Mediachannel advisor Ann-Britt Kaca in Finland sent me this quote: "William Somerset Maughm in his 80’s was asked to speak at a banquet honoring the aged. He began by saying … ‘Old age has its benefits.’ Then after a long painful pause, he cleared his throat, sipped some water, gazed about, shuffled his notes and finally said, ‘But I can’t think of any’ and sat down."

Finally, speaking of new borns, here’s some food for thought from the BBC:

Iranian woman ‘gives birth to frog’

An Iranian newspaper has reported the controversial story of a woman who claims to have given birth to a frog. The Iranian daily Etemaad says the creature is believed to have grown from larva to an adult frog inside her body. While it is unclear how this could have happened, the paper carries quotes from medical experts who say there are human characteristics to the animal.

What a world to be getting older in. I speak the JFK School of Government at Harvard today and then drive back to NY and hope to see a screening of Mark Achbar’s brilliant doc The Corporation. I have heard raves. I was interviewed for it but got left on the edit room floor. I was told that C4 in England has an Iraq special and sum-up on tonight worth watching. Also if you liked F-9/11, check out outspoken journalist John Pilger’s latest report. You can see it online.

Pilger was just interviewed about the value of journalism in the Sunday Herald. His response:

SH: Can journalism really make a difference?

JP: Yes, journalism can make a difference. Information is power; without it, we are immobilised. Look at the invasion of Iraq. Had the American media fulfilled its constitutional role and challenged and exposed Bush’s lies, instead of channelling and amplifying them, there would have been no invasion, and thousands of Iraqis would be alive today.

Keep your comments coming. Write: dissector@mediachannel.org