Politics

Register for the Annapolis Summit January 14!

CEM — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 08:06:38 -0800

January 14, 2009, 7-9:30 AM
Phillips Seafood Restaurant
12 Dock Street, Annapolis, MD 21401

Your chance to ask questions that matter to you!

Join Marc Steiner for a live two-hour broadcast on the opening day of the 2009 Maryland General Assembly Legislative Session. For the 6th year, Marc will interview Maryland's leaders covering pertinent topics such as the financial crisis hitting Maryland and the country, environmental issues, the death penalty legislation and BRAC.

A breakfast buffet begins at 7:00 AM, followed by Marc's interview with Senate President Miller and Speaker Michael Busch from 7:30-8:30. Governor Martin O’Malley will be interviewed from 8:30-9:30. In each hour, time will be set aside for audience members to ask questions. The show will air on WEAA FM 88.9, in Baltimore and WSCL 89.9 FM in Salisbury.

Advance tickets can be purchased for $15 via Paypal by clicking here.

If you'd like to pay by check, please send to:

Center for Emerging Media

Attn: Annapolis Summit

3000 Chestnut Ave Suite C

Baltimore, MD 21211

Tickets will also be available at the door for $20.

For more information, call (443) 934-1111.

16 Arrested During Election Night Celebration in Charles Village

CEM — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:21:32 -0800

Here's a letter that we received and wanted to share with everyone. If anyone else would like to publicize first-hand information about the police misconduct in Charles Village on Election Night, or has other Election Night experiences they'd like to share, please post your comments here or email us at cem@centerforemergingmedia.org.

Marc,

During the night following the election, my roommates and I walked
down to 33rd and St. Paul and started celebrating the election of
Barack Obama. We quickly gained support of local students, and our
group of seven quickly grew to over 400. What was a beautifully
patriotic evening, filled with unity and gentle celebration, quickly
turned into fear and chaos as the Baltimore Police Department randomly
(and illegally) assaulted, intimidated, and arrested many members of a
peaceful crowd.

Last Spring, President Ungar invited you to speak at Goucher to a
group of Goucher students, faculty, and staff. President Ungar
personally invited me at the last moment, claiming it was essential
that I hear you speak. Your discussion inspired me to want to get more
involved with our city, and this semester several of my friends and I
moved down to Charles Village from Towson, in order to become true
Baltimoreans.

On November 4, the six of us - all sophomores at Goucher, voted
for the first time. Sending in my absentee ballot to my native
California was one of the most exciting things I have ever done, and
we were all excited to partake in making history. Just a month before
hearing you speak at Goucher, I had the opportunity to shake now
President-elect Obama's hand at an election rally in Wilmington. I
took the train up to Wilmington by myself, and I instantly befriended
a group of students from the University of Delaware. The feeling of
unity was overwhelming, and I instantly knew this campaign was unlike
anything else in history.

The night of Nov. 4th was no exception. My roommates and I had to get
outside to celebrate. People joined quickly and we were suddenly
flanked by members of the community, students from several
institutions, schoolteachers, and professors - all united and chanting
"USA! USA!". The Hopkins Campus Security respected the crowd and kept
it under control, and it became a truly beautiful event. I was
surrounded by people I had never met before, of all colors: black and
white, Muslim and Jewish, old and young, from near and far all
celebrating under American flags.

You have already heard about what the police did last night. They
arrested two of my roommates and another one of my friends, for
reasons that were never disclosed. I stood and watched while my
roommate, a 19-year-old girl from New Jersey, was grabbed by the
throat by two policemen twice her size and had her arms bound so
tightly behind her back, she was screaming in agony.

I have talked with Goucher President Sanford Ungar, and he has already tried to help us get our
voice heard. The fact is that this happens every night in this city,
without a single mention in the Sun or on the local TV news. These
students and the professor that were arrested were never told their
rights and were fingerprinted, photographed, intimidated, and forced
to spend hours in cells with people charged with violent crimes.
Fortunately, my friends and the rest of these aforementioned sixteen
that were arrested are lucky enough to be backed up by institutions
like Goucher College and Johns Hopkins University.

I know this letter is far from brief, and I appreciate that you have
taken the time to read this. I was inspired by your discussion at
Goucher, and wanted to know what I could do to change something in
this city. I think Baltimore is a beautiful place buried in an
inconceivable amount of filth. Before election day I couldn't fathom
how I could help, or what I could even help with. I now know the
intricacies of how the Baltimore Police Department detains citizens
without Mirandizing them, charging them, or respecting their basic
freedoms. I feel I can speak on behalf of everyone who witnessed
Tuesday night's atrocities when I say that we want to help.

The sixteen people arrested last night were picked randomly. It could
have been anyone. I have spoken with and know personally several of
those arrested and can tell you that they were all respectable and
respectful citizens that have done so much already to make this city a
better place. Will these volunteers, public school teachers, artists,
and professors voices be drowned out?

I hope not.

Thank you again for speaking to us at Goucher. Baltimore needs you,
and is lucky to have you.

Thank you,

Nick Bourland
Goucher College class of 2011

Day After the Election by Marc Steiner

CEM — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:25:33 -0800

Last night, I went to my daughter Chelsea’s home to watch the returns. She was having a watch party. It was the perfect venue for that night for many reasons. Chelsea’s mom, Sayida Stone, my first wife and a dear friend, is African American. Chelsea is a Black woman, a mixed race child of America. She has three children, my grand children. Their father, Ebon, a schoolteacher, martial artist and musician, is Afro-Italian-Puerto Rican. From the beginning, Chelsea was deeply moved by Obama’s candidacy. It was their time, it was their day, and it is their time now.

Chelsea’s sister, Alana, her mom’s daughter with her husband who is Jamaican, is 21 years old, a brilliant artist and a junior at MICA. I call her my daughter once removed, she calls me Saba, which is Hebrew for grandfather. Alana was there with a dozen of her classmates. Young, African American, Latino, Asian, mixed race and white who worked for this campaign, who believed in this message of hope.

Chelsea’s friends who were there ranged from 28 to their early forties, every color of the American rainbow. Her mom, her husband Jenel, and others of our generation were there, as well.

The feeling in her home was electric and explosive, but explosive with peace and hope. When Obama was announced the next President of the Untied States of America, there was a pandemonium of joy, screaming, shouting, hugging, singing and champagne corks popping.

I looked around realizing this was their day. These young people believed so deeply and were so full of what the future might bring to us all.

While watching television it was hard not to notice the contrast between the Obama supporters in Grant Park in Chicago and the McCain supporters. Obama’s in a public park with thousands of people of every generation and race in America and McCain’s in a private club for the wealthy and all, well not all, but almost all, white.

This was an election of the two Americas from which we were born and in which we still live. Our great nation has no state religion. Our state religion is our democracy, our belief in freedom and liberty. The USA was founded on liberty and slavery in the same breath. Imagine that and think about that for a moment. Liberty and slavery are the foundations of our nation. The roots of the contradiction and the hope that dwell uneasily together in our nation’s soul were alive and palpable last night in this election.

Maybe the tenor is about to change. Race and racism hurt America. It is a deep wound in the Black American spirit. It is a burden of pain in white America, as well.

The man who was voted in to become the 44th President of the United States of America may be changing the tenor and tone of our nation. In the spirit of the civil rights warriors, he was unbowed and non-violent in his stand against his tormentors in this campaign. When Barack Obama was faced with lies and low blows dealt by his opponents, the Republican Party and their independent advocates, he responded with dignity, strength and love. So many of his supporters screamed that he should fight back, blow for blow and spit in their eye. Barack Obama chose to hold his head and his sense of morality and ethics high, so he kept walking straight ahead amidst the verbal blows and lies. He set a standard for his supporters and the America he believes in. The roots of that way of responding politically come from Martin Luther King, the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee, Fannie Lou Hamer and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 60’s that they gave birth to and that gave birth to them. It bodes well for what we may be able to do in America together.

I am not naïve about the difficulty that lies ahead of us. Barack Obama is not the savior; he is the embodiment of hope for many Americans. The struggle is now on to define our future. We can now fight for something rather than against it. We will have a seat at the table for the debate on our nation’s future. We have serious work ahead of us.

Good gumbo, too, last night... A gumbo of America in the room, a gumbo of America who voted Obama, and a great gumbo in the pot.

Change We Cannot Quit On by Stavros Halkias

CEM — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 07:49:29 -0800

Here are some thoughts written late last night by CEM intern and UMBC student Stavros Halkias. We'd like to encourage everyone to send in their post-election thoughts. Post comments here, email us at cem@centerforemergingmedia.org, or call us on the air today between 5-6pm at 410-319-8888.

Voting for the first time in my life was legitimately exciting. From the moment I entered my polling place, which happened to be my elementary school, I was overcome with emotion. In the building where I first learned what the office of the president was, I would have a hand in choosing the next person to occupy that office. Even better, I was supporting a candidate I actually believed in and held incredible hopes for. My nerves and elation were held together by an overarching sense of purpose. I was part of a societal change, with my ballot serving as tangible proof. Why can’t I feel like this everyday? Why can’t every day be Election Day?

Despite these feelings, as I walked out of that polling station I couldn’t help but wonder “What’s next?” Barack Obama had the kind of campaign and following that was unprecedented in this nation’s history. His campaign deposed Democratic royalty in the primaries, broke all kinds of fundraising records, and truly inspired vast numbers of people for the first time in decades. The sobering realization I came to was that campaigns and administrations are two very different things. Historically, the energy campaigns create largely dies after the immediate goal of election is met. We can’t allow that to happen this time. All the people who voted for Barack Obama on Tuesday, all the people that were part of the historic movement for change in our country, must challenge themselves further. To borrow a few words from the President elect’s victory speech, “This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.”

So, don’t let things go back to the way they were before Barack came along. Don't rely solely on his administration to make change. Let Barack Obama's election be the beginning--not the end--of your efforts. Become more civically involved. Start helping your community in any way you can. Identify problems and work towards them yourself. Volunteer. Tutor at-risk youth. Protest injustice. Support more change-minded politicians. Study social change movements. Do something! Take the energy you put into the campaign and move it to your community, don’t let it go to waste. Don’t just get excited and wait for change-- make change and make everyday Election Day.

-Stavros Halkias

More Follow-up on Protests and Arrests During RNC by Sonia Silbert

CEM — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:31:58 -0700

Sonia Silbert, Co-coordinator of the Washington Peace Center, wrote last week with updates on the mass arrests and detentions by police of activists during the Republican National Convention in the Twin Cities. Here are some more reports from her from later in the week. You can also listen to her interview with us during the RNC on The Marc Steiner Show - click here.

Click here to read more!

In The Jail - treatment and abuse.

Tuesday morning we called the jail and learned that Jonathan and Kari were being held on felony charges, which blew us all away. There was no way they could have the evidence to back that up, so we were sure the charge would be reduced when they finally saw a judge, but it meant that they would be held another night in jail.

As of Tuesday evening, our friends had been in jail over 24 hours. Kari, the 20-year old, had managed to call her mom in Pennsylvania, who called the legal line in a panic. I got her phone number and called her back to reassure her regarding why she got arrested (photographers are scary, I guess), how she would be treated (kept with the protesters, not the general prison population, and I didn’t tell her about the rumors of prisoner abuse that were seeping out of the jail), and what would be the repercussions of this (she’ll be freaked out, but there’s no way she’ll be convicted of a felony…Inshallah).

JAIL SUPPORT

Wednesday afternoon, I went down to the jail where people had been doing a vigil all day. Everyone who had been arrested on Monday had to be charged and released by today since it had been 36 hours – it turned into many more hours than that, but they started the process at least at the 36 hr mark. Our friend Tobin, the minor, had gotten out that morning and his dad had flown him back home. His police report basically just said that he was recognized at an earlier action and that was all the evidence provided – we were all pissed that the public defender didn’t ask for the charges to be dismissed. He has a court date back in Minnesota in October.

There were about 100 activists sitting in the grass outside the jail talking, playing guitar, eating, etc. Needless to say, we were surrounded by riot cops, some on horseback, on all four corners. They continued to group and regroup throughout the afternoon and evening, letting everyone know we could be raided, detained and arrested at any time. Our crimes? Some kind of felony I would guess. Talking too loud or something.

One by one, arrestees were meeting with public defenders, standing in front of a judge, getting (most of) their possessions back and then being released. We went into the court building which was surrounded by wire fencing and guarded by National Guard.

Our friend Aaron, who is an Iraq vet from Chicago, pointed out that even here you could see a huge difference between city cops and the National Guard. The RNC had $50 million to spend on policing the Twin Cities and every cop had brand-new full-body riot gear – padding from shoulder to toe, helmets, gas masks, tools and toys bulging out of every pocket so they had a hard time walking too fast. The Guard, on the other hand, were wearing their camo (so they couldn’t be seen in the city?) and a flak vest without any protection in it. Even in a case like this, the funding doesn’t go to the members of the military. Funny, because it sure feels like a military state out here.

Kari finally went in front of a judge and got her charge reduced to a misdemeanor, just like Jonathan. However, for some reason her judge gave her $300 bail, while Jonathan had none. Some of the main organizers who had been locked up all week were being held on $70,000 bail, which they negotiated down to $1000 bail. Apparently bail bondsmen usually only charge 10% (this is information I now know), but for the RNC protesters they were raising their charges a lot. We were told we’d have to pay $200 to get a bondsman to pay her $300, so the 5 of us from our affinity group went to an ATM and split the amont and pay her bail.

Hours later, I got a collect call from Ramsey Co. Jail on my cell phone from Kari. I knew that I’ll only have 45 seconds before they’d cut me off and demand money, so I quickly told her that we had paid her bail and were all waiting outside for her. She said that the money hadn’t shown up in the system yet and they were transferring her back upstairs to another cell.

She sounded so scared and sad, as if she was never going to get out. I felt the same – if they had lost the bail money (which had to be cash and we had been given no receipt) or were just going to take forever to process it, she’d have to spend another night in jail, this time without many of the activists she had been in with all week.

About half an hour later – about midnight – a group of arrestees are released all at the same time and everyone rushed over to applaud them and see who it is. We are all kinda glum, knowing it wouldn’t be our friends, when through the crowd I see Lily, Ryan and David grinning the most honest and joyful smiles I’ve ever seen, and I peak over the heads and I see Kari! She’s been released and has no idea why and is so happy to be out of there.

Within minutes Jonathan and a group of guys are walking down the fenced walkway and there is a beautiful Hollywood moment when Kari and Jonathan run towards each other and he picks her up and spins her around with one arm while flipping off the jail with the other hand. It was pretty great.

The riot cops have backed off – perhaps we’re not as scary when everyone is so happy. At one point, 2 cops weave their way through the celebration and folks start chanting “You’re sexy, you’re cute – take off that riot suit!”

ABUSE IN THE JAIL

As more people get out, we hear more stories from inside the jail that are pretty awful. There are two guys who have been beaten up pretty badly by the guards inside – one has been released, one they couldn’t find in the system. The one they couldn’t find was James, Lisa’s friend and a member of the Pagan Cluster. Jonathan said the 5 or 6 cops went into his cell with batons and beat him up and then moved him elsewhere.

The one who was released was a 19-yr-old named Elliot. He later spoke at a press conference detailing what had happened. He and others had been chanting for medical attention and 5 or 6 cops came into his cell, punched him unconsceiounce, then banged his head against the floor, waking him up. They took him to a separate cell where they put a hood over his head with a gag and used pain compliance holds on him for about an hour and a half – this included disconnecting his jaw and bending his ankles all the way backwards. He had bruises and scrapes on his face and was obviously still traumatized.

A friend of mine who I was watching the press conference with broke down while listening to Elliot’s testimony – he had had similar pain compliance holds used on him by the cops 4 years ago. I had felt traumatized enough being detained at gunpoint and feeling vulnerable on the streets – this intense torture by government officials is something that I don’t know if you ever recover from.

Watch Elliot's testimony here.

On The Streets: harrassment and more mass arrests

Police harassment and arrests continued throughout the week even though the main protests that were designed to block the conventioneers were only planned on Monday. The police presence and abuse throughout the week is hard to overstate. Veteran activists said they hadn’t been so scared or seen such police activity since Miami in 2003 – the FTAA protests notorious for its brutality. That mobilization sent many activists I know into support roles because they couldn’t be on the street anymore.

This kind of police aggression is not the norm for mobilizations – even when “those scary anarchists” are involved. It’s amazing how quickly it becomes normalized though – just don’t walk alone, take off that black hat, oh, there’s another row of 40 riot cops, let’s cross the street. People get used to everything, but this was a rapid normalization of an extreme police state. “Minnesota nice” was out the window.

TUESDAY

Tuesday afternoon, there was an all day peace concert at the state capital – Rage Against the Machine was going to make a surprise appearance at the end of it, but the cops wouldn’t let them play for some reason. So the band stood in front of the stage and passed one bull-horn back and forth and sang some of the crowd’s favorites… they then led the crowd down to join the Rally for the Poor Peoples' Economic Human Rights Campaign that was started out further down the hill. The riot cops were out in force and seemed to be looking for a fight I guess. In any case, they tear gassed and pepper sprayed the crowd again – the Poor People’s March organizers got out of there as the cops started escalating their tactics.

I was at an action in downtown Minneapolis at a party thrown by the American Petroleum Institute for Republican delegates and lobbyists. We were doing a parady, dressed up as oil execs and thanking the Republicans for supporting more and more drilling. Billionaires for Bush have now become Lobbyists for McCain and they came to the celebration. A lone polar bear also made an appearance and got in a death match with Sarah Palin who, as all have been hearing, is pretty tough in situations such as this. The bear didn’t fare too well. While we were greeting party attendees, we also were getting text messages that our friends were getting beat up and tear-gassed in St Paul… our crew got out okay. Funnily enough, our cynical chants of “Drill! Drill! Drill!” were echoed inside the RNC later in the week, but I guess those folks were serious.

Later that night we found out that the Bedlam Theater, a local music venue in Minneapolis that had a punk show on that night, was also surrounded by riot cops. I think about 100 people were arrested at that show. It seemed like the cops were using this week to harass local activists or venues they’d had their eyes on for awhile.

WEDNESDAY

I went to Peace Island, a local peace conference, that was perhaps the stereotype of a peace conference – lots of lovely grey-haired aging hippies. One of them raised her hand and said that she was outraged at the police brutality and harassment throughout the week and how they were targeting protesters based on their appearance. She suggested that all the grey-haired folks in the audience put on bandanas and black hoodies and go out in the street and protect the activists! Everyone applauded, but no one rushed outside.

I still felt uncomfortable walking around in my own black hoodie, even though the temperature had dipped into the 60’s and it was needed. The targeting based on appearance was scary and continued all week. I suppose it’s cliché to say, but it’s an amazing reminder of what I think it’s like to walk around as an African-American young man…

RAIDING THE LEGAL OFFICE

As I was leaving the conference, I got a text that the legal office was being raided and was calling for observers. By the time I got there, the cops were gone and media cameras were everywhere. The legal office’s location had been kept pretty secret from the general public – you had to be escorted there by someone who was working there – because the consequences of its being raided would be really awful. They were in the same building as I Witness Video, which was filming the convention. At the RNC in NY 4 years ago, I Witness’s footage had proven the innocence of a lot of protesters arrested by NYPD.

The cops showed up at that building because they claimed they had received a phone call from someone in the building being “held hostage by an anarchist”. They didn’t have a warrant and weren’t let in, but the building almost evicted the legal office and they were restricted to having only 8 people in there at a time after that. Given that the phone was ringing off the hook from calls from the street and the jail, there were piles of info from those calls that needed to be entered into the database, and lawyers were operating out of that office to collect statements, challenge the use of force by the cops and work to get folks released, this was a big hinderance.

MORE ARRESTS

On Thursday, most of my affinity group left town, including Jonathan and Kari. The cops hadn’t returned most of their property, including Kari’s camera, but they had to leave that place. I agreed and avoided downtown St Paul. It was the last day of the convention and there was a student anti-war protest. Apparently they were a little slow on their march and had reached the end of the time on their permit around 5:00 or so and the cops trapped them on a bridge. My friend who was there said he had never seen so many cops – not this week, not at other protests. There were lines of riot cops, cops on horses, bicycle cops, and then a row or two of National Guard, plus snow plows and dump trucks to block streets. The students sat down on the bridge and the cops used tear gas and concussion grenades and arrested about 400 of them. 400! This included about a dozen journalists, including a Democracy Now! producer who who had been arrested at Monday’s protests as well.

That night, IVAW member Adam Kokesh and two CODEPINKers got into McCain’s speech and interrupted him. The CODEPINKers said it was incredibly easy to get into the convention. There was no way they could’ve gotten into the DNC because the security was so tight, but the RNC was a piece of cake. All three interrupted McCain’s speech and none were arrested.

As of Friday, I believe everyone has been bailed out, many though generous donations from allies.

OVERALL

Overall, about 800 people were arrested this week – after seeing the judge, only about 30 of the 130 felony charges are still standing. There are many civil suits being discussed; I think Amy Goodman and the 30 or 40 or so journalists who were arrested are doing their own suit, and the ACLU and the National Lawyers Guild are both planning suits as well. It’s funny to think back on Friday night and how shocking that original raid of the convergence space was. It seemed so outrageous and worthy of its own civil suit all by itself. And then the week began and we realized that was just the beginning.

HOW TO HELP

Donate to the legal support fund for general arrestees and for the lead organizers who are being charged with pretty serious charges. Also donate to the Welcoming Committee for organizing all logistics for the weekend. Links to donate are at www.nornc.org.

Get some media attention! The police brutality was barely covered in the mainstream media, even more liberal outlets such as NPR or the NY Times. Call your local station, write a short letter to the editor, and demand coverage of such extremism.

Also, hug an independent journalist! Check out Democracy Now! and your local Indymedia site for the news the other guys don’t want you to hear, then forward all this info on to any other caring folks you know.

Read Sonia Silbert's blog here.

Let The Elderly Never Sound Retreat by Djelloul Marbrook

CEM — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:00:20 -0700

Here's a piece contributed to our site by the author Djelloul Marbrook. Check out his site to see more of his writing and to learn more about him.

The way to take government back from corrupters is at hand. Don't wait for the press to do it for you. It's a do-it-yourself job. It's the perfect job for retirees, because their years and diversity of experience are invaluable tools.

Click here to read more!

But first, learn a little about the muckraker I.F. Stone. You don't have to read his biography, although it's worth it. Just consider his ideas:

—Government doesn't belong to politicians, it belongs to you.
—Information about the government, federal, state and local, doesn't belong to the press, it belongs to you.
—Government leaves a trail. Follow it.
—You don't need to be a trained journalist to ferret out what government is up to. But you do need to read between the lines and wed your intuition to your common sense.
—Government would like you to believe that it's paper trail is so hard to follow that only lawyers can do it, and you have to pay them to spit. Don't believe this. You can follow the paper trail, and very often it can send people to jail.

The news is not where you think it is. It's not where the camera is. It's not where politicians are shooting their mouths off. It's not even at official meetings. It's in documents. And the press won't be caught dead reading them because it's time-consuming and it may lead up blind alleys.

So where does that leave us? Up the creek. Because those documents are where the skullduggery is. Anyone stealing your money or your rights has very likely left his paw prints in those documents. Corrupt governments keep records of themselves, just as the Nazis so famously did.

Why is the government now taking over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Because forensic accountants from Morgan Stanley spent hours, days and weeks going over their books. Never mind the press conferences, the Sunday talk shows, the pundits. They're just finding news ways to repeat themselves. The truth is in documents., which almost no one reads, especially not lawmakers.

There is hardly a town hall, city hall or state capital building free of scandal and corruption, but the press doesn't want to pay reporters to spend hours and days and weeks and months reading reams of papers, microfiche and computerized documents. So many of the most important stories go untold.

The dirty little secret about most corruption scandals like the Whitewater foofaraw of the Clinton years and the fact that the Pentagon today can't say how much it has spent in Iraq is that there are similar scandals all over the nation, in every county, town and city, and the cumulative effect is to send corrupt politicians to Washington and weaken the fiber of the republic.

This is what I.F. Stone knew. And he and his disciples spent the time reading the records. But the I.F. Stone Weekly is a memory now, although journalism students, all of us really, should study it.

When the federal government intends to impose a new rule or change an old rule, when it posts invitations to bid for contracts, it must by law say so in The Federal Register, the most important fine print in the land. It announces hearings, it sets times for comments, and it closes the comment period in the Register. And it counts on you not to comb through it.

Oh, sure, if you ask federal officials, they'll tell you the Register exists for public scrutiny. But the truth is they don't want you or the press to pay attention, and they're usually unhappy when you do. They usually don't have to worry about the press, because the press is increasingly loathe to spend its money where it can't gin up soap opera.

Each state has its own register which functions very much like the Federal Register. These are public documents. You can't be barred from them. They are intently studied by people who do business with government, by people who cheat government, by people who want something specific from government, and by lawyers.

When local government buys things or services, it usually advertises specifications in local or regional newspapers. It also advertises rules and changes, intent to exercise eminent domain, etc. In other words, it advertises its business. This is a big source of revenue for newspapers,
and local government often tries to punish newspapers for being too inquisitive by rerouting advertising to competing newspapers.

But most readers read commercial advertising skip over government advertising, which appears in small print in the classified section. Too bad. Because the first clues that something is fishy are probably going to appear in those advertisements and announcements. They can get pretty tricky, and it can be a lot of fun to analyze them. For example, a city may put out specifications for a new fire truck. It seems on the up and up, because the city is looking for competitive bids. But on closer analysis you might see that the specifications are written so that only one manusfacturer can meet them. In other words, the dice have been loaded and the fix is in. Then the question arises, who was paid under the table to load the dice? Isn't that as interesting as bridge?

This is just the beginning of what a determined citizen can do to keep his local government honest. Those records at town hall and city hall and the county building and the state capital, they all belong to you, the citizens. Some officials will try to make it hard for you to get to them, imposing rules of access; other officials will lean over backwards to accommodate you. Whenever someone makes it hard for you to get to records, you're smelling a rat. Your common sense and intuition will kick in, you'll get your back up and persevere. Don't be afraid to be a gadfly. A republic depends on its gadflies.

I'd like to see an army of retired people descend on government across the land and study the records of every single government action. I'd like to see clubs and groups of people come together and strategize about keeping government clean. All with the knowledge, however saddening, that the press isn't going to do it.

Maybe we better explain a bit more why the press isn't going to do it. First, it's expensive. Second, many young reporters don't have the experience to to do it. Third, there is a pervasive belief in journalism that the subject of government isn't as interesting as sex, scandal, catastrophe, demolition politics, sports, weather, rich ditzes, you name it. And that's a catastrophe, because a republic can't operate without intense scrutiny. Without it, you end up with authoritarian government.

There is another reason the press can't be depended on to open the doors and windows and air government out. The press is very often the recipient of largesse in the form of advertising from the corrupters. For example, a developer who has bought off public officials to get the kind of zoning he wants or the exceptions he needs or the project he is proposing is likely to be a major advertiser. The lenders, realtors, appraisers and everyone else involved in the current sub prime mortgage debacle all advertised in the press. So where was the press's incentive to keep them honest? The press was riding the gravy train, just like the appraisers, the realtors and the bankers.

I believe that legions of retirees, and anyone else with the dedication, can clean government up at every level if they simply follow I.F. Stone's example: read what government says about itself.

Don't depend on attorneys general and other public lawyers to go after the bad guys, first, because it's too late by the time they get into the act, and second, because they'll turn it into cryptology. And, of course, all too often the public lawyers are part of the problem.

Reading up on what government is really doing, compared, say, to what the bloviators say it's doing, might just prove more interesting than bridge or golf. And it will certainly be a public service.

But who's going to print what we find? you say. You are, of course. If you're reading this, then you can do it—on the Internet, on blogs, by e-mail.

And if you get stumped, if you can't understand something, you can put out a call for help. For example, suppose you're a retired engineer and you see something you don't fathom, you can put out an e-mail alert to see if there are any forensic accountants around.

Just think of the human resources we have at hand in our elderly population. They could change the face of American government with their combined knowledge and experience. Task groups could be formed to take on specific projects. This would be grassroots democracy at an unprecedented level, and the upshot would be that none of us would feel quite as helpless as we do now.

Iraq Veterans Against the War

CEM — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:16:28 -0700

Here's a guest post by Nick Morgan, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator for Iraq Vets Against the War (IVAW.) He was a guest on The Marc Steiner Show while in Minneapolis for the Republican National Convention. Click here to listen to that show.

As a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), my experience in the Twin Cities was a unique one. With our organization on the list of over 200 groups on a list studied by Minnesota National Guard and various police units, it was still no secret that our message was completely non-violent and direct. Our mission was to march in formation and in uniform to deliver a message to Senator McCain informing him of the issues veterans are facing today. As a fellow veteran, we were presumptuous to assume that the presidential candidate would listen to our simple message.

With a permit for our action on the opening day of the scaled-back RNC, no member of IVAW was arrested during our action (or the rest of the convention). We shared a certain level of lateral respect with the law enforcement at the RNC because we have all been placed in similar predicaments in the name of serving our country and democracy. Not to mention the fact that many of them were veterans as well and could relate to our logical viewpoints. The clear difference here is that these men and women are dealing with American citizens on American soil, hired as mercenaries for the RNC to the tune of a 50 million dollar liability insurance policy for their protection.

I have to say that I haven't been in an environment so unsafe for average citizens since I left Baghdad in 2005. One notable difference is that the police in Minneapolis have better body armor and protection than American soldiers and Marines do in Iraq. It is a sad day for the United States when a kid on a bicycle is pepper sprayed in the face by a cop just for riding too close when there where no violent protests taking place. What does it say about this country when the police are arresting people with press credentials hanging from their necks just for recording and reporting the interactions between police and American civilians.

I hung out for a period of time with some independent media personnel who understandably added an additional level of anxiety to the air. Pardon my vagueness as I don't want to divulge too much information about individuals. Many of them were just coming back from jail and were on high alert for near by police activity. At one point, myself and a few of my fellow IVAW members were beginning to loose the battle to subdue our PTSD. We decided it was best that we went on a drive outside of the city to get some fresh air and escape all the violence multiplied by paranoia.

Please take some time to consider the implications of the absolute police state that was enforced in the Twin Cities. When the people making the decisions in this country don't want to hear the voices of the people they are making the decisions for, I am saddened. When the people's voices are silenced with clubs, tear gas, rubber bullets, and zip ties, I am appalled. This concludes my humble testimony of how I experience the RNC.

Thanks,

Nick Morgan
Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator
Iraq Veterans Against the War
OIF II, 458th En. Bn., Ist Cavalry Division

Marc on Wal Mart and Unions

CEM — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:47:48 -0700

When I opened the Wall Street Journal this morning, that centerpiece article Wal-Mart Warns of Democratic Win:

"Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is mobilizing its store managers and department supervisors around the country to warn that if Democrats win power in November, they'll likely change federal law to make it easier for workers to unionize companies -- including Wal-Mart.

In recent weeks, thousands of Wal-Mart store managers and department heads have been summoned to mandatory meetings at which the retailer stresses the downside for workers if stores were to be unionized."

Wow, I just read it and sat there stunned for a minute. Then I woke up,
and wondered what I was so shocked about.

Here we have Wal-Mart, a store, that despite its new green image and it’s pronouncements about the Green economy with SEIU boss, Andy Stern, has a history of abusing its employees, paying low wages and few benefits.

Wal-Mart says they are not telling any employees how to vote or who to campaign for. Right, I am working the cash register at Wal-Mart wearing a big Obama button. Oops, is that a pink slip floating after me?! Who’s to know, who’s to protect my rights. Oh yes, that would be Papa Walton.

Let me be clear about my past. I have been a member of union. I have
been a union organizer. I am one of those who believe that if had not been for unions we would have had no middle class in the numbers that we have in America. They fought to ensure that their working class members had a decent life.

Now, unions have become increasingly irrelevant to life in America. Partially of their own making by becoming lethargic corporate giants themselves. Union leaders got too far away from their own members forgetting what it means to work hard to pay your bills and take care of your families. They stopped organizing. Yes, unions were victims of this economy and of the erosion of the industrial base of America. But they have done little to fight it, to change with the times, to organize new workers, to speak up for the unorganized and to enter the 21st century. They became lethargic dinosaurs.

They became easy targets for onerous laws to destroy or curtail or cripple their power to organize. Unions became the media demon and the business
the clean good guys in white shirts that knew how to run a nation.

Unions are only here because so many employees get screwed. It is
interesting I can think of five friends who own companies that don’t have unions. Their workers don’t want or need them. These owners run the gamut from libertarian to progressive to conservative to liberal. They don’t have unions because they treat their employees right. They offer health care, take care of people, worry about their families and take human beings into consideration. They are small companies, too, from 50 to 200 employees. They do it right.

If business leaders don’t want unions, then treat people right. Meanwhile,
America’s laws should be union friendly. Unions need to be protected while organizing and have the freedom to do so. The Employee Free Choice Act that Wal-Mart and others are so worried about is the least our government can do to protect an employee's right to organize and better their lives.

Senators McCain and Obama, what say ye? We are waiting here.

Doug Colbert on Criminal Justice Reform

CEM — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:53:00 -0700

CEM is thrilled that Doug Colbert, a Professor of Law at the University of Maryland, has weighed in with his response to the articles that former Assistant State's Attorney Page Croyder has been publishing on the CEM website. Check out his article, and Page's response, by clicking here.

If you have comments on these pieces, please leave them on the page with the pieces, not this page.

Lea Gilmore: With Spies Like Them, Who Needs Enemies?

CEM — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:34:47 -0700

We're pleased to bring you a special guest blog today by CEM contributor Lea Gilmore.

When 10 Maryland citizens showed up on March 16, 2005 for an anti-death penalty meeting in Takoma Park to coordinate activities on behalf of Maryland death row inmate Vernon Evans, I am sure they didn't think they had a spy in their ranks. As they mobilized volunteers, worked on flyers, and discussed their peaceful protests, I am sure it did not cross their minds that they were doing something so subversive that it warranted secret attendance by Maryland State Police (MSP) undercover agents.

Click here to read more.

Well, that's what they got.

Documents obtained through a Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) lawsuit revealed that the MSP engaged in covert surveillance of local peace and anti-death penalty groups for over a year from 2005-2006. In a press release distributed last week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, the organization expressed alarm at the incomprehensible spying revealed in 43 pages of summaries and computer logs, none of which refer to criminal or even potentially criminal acts, other than a few isolated references to plans for completely nonviolent civil disobedience.

ACLU of Maryland Executive Director Susan Goering blasted the program stating, “The documents show that the MSP engaged in surveillance operations against peaceful activists similar to those abandoned in the 1970s with the end of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s infamous COINTELPRO program. The ACLU will soon file additional requests under the Maryland Public Information Act to assess other activities and targets of the MSP’s ‘Homeland Security and Intelligence Division’ and will seek legislative reforms to ensure this kind of improper spying never happens again.”

So I ask, just what were the Maryland State Police looking for? Did they think that folks were planning to peace us to death? Did they believe these dangerous peacenik gatherings and rogue anti-death penalty groups must have required extra special undercover surveillance in order to save us from “the tuurist”? Or maybe they are saving us from uh...tourists? That must be it. Rabid tourists are descending on local peace gatherings inspiring and plotting destruction of family values and our way of life.

OK, let me stop being facetious.

I understand completely that when Thomas Jefferson said “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” that that really does mean something. We must remain vigilant in the presence of real threats and real enemies, but we must not abandon and throw out our civil liberties in the process. We must be careful to weigh our fear with reason, and be ever so ready to question the motives of government when our rights start sliding down that slippery slope towards injustice.

It's a curious thing. Republicans are always complaining about “big government.” That being said, former Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich and his administration, in this secret folly, seemed to embrace their “bigness,” with a warm bear hug, with Bob taking on the awesome responsibility of becoming a “big brother” to us all.

The fact that the Ehrlich administration expended funds to spy on groups that may disagree with them ideologically, and in the process trampling on their and our constitutional rights, is beyond egregious.

Is this just the tip of the proverbial iceberg? How many other innocent groups and individuals in Maryland and beyond have fallen victim to these intrusive and unconstitutional practices?

These actions are now receiving the national attention they deserve. According to The Baltimore Sun, the US Congress will seek to ascertain the Homeland Security Department's role in this spy game, and whether federal tax dollars were used in the process. With economic collapse happening all around us, dedicating significant funds on this unwarranted chase is just sad and shameful. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, in a letter to the department stated, “These allegations are extremely troublesome and bring to light past domestic covert operations, which were found to be not only unconstitutional but also damaging to the rule of law and America's democratic principles.” He continued, "Funding of the state police actions with federal taxpayer dollars would constitute a waste of valuable resources, both human and financial."

I love this country. What I most love about this land of ours is that I can scream from the rooftops about how ridiculous and Un-American I believe these actions are, all the while knowing I will not be sent to that mystery place of no return because I did – well, at least not yet.

From creepy and insidious Patriot Acts, to our government leaders having serious conversations about the details of defining torture (torture!), this post “911” political climate has lent itself to allowing us to accept the chipping away of our civil liberties by those who manipulate our reasonable fears in unreasonable ways for political gain.

The political tide is turning. This has spurred something in Maryland's electorate and beyond, and is quickly becoming a catalyst for change. The bipartisan outrage at these actions is a sign of life that there are limits to how much and what we will allow done in our name. The ACLU of Maryland is continuing to mount efforts to find out what other organizations and activists have been singled out for this wrongful spying. US Senator Benjamin Cardin and Maryland State Legislators are calling for hearings to delve deeply into these unconstitutional actions. This is not going to be swept under the political rug.

The old folks used to sing a song while marching for equality that rings so true today, “I ain't gonna let nobody turn me around...gonna keep on walking, keep on talking, marching up to freedom land.” We will not be turned around by generated fears and covert power plays. We will keep those flashlights pointed in the face of injustice -- Now that's eternal vigilance.

-Lea Gilmore