'Dean strategists involved in helping create left-wing CNN?''

"This was one of the main stories found today at The Tyee, which is an alternative new-media left-wing source based out of British Columbia, Canada:

"Independent World Television will go public on June 15. The goal, as bold as it is big, is to create an alternative news and current affairs network that is, as its name implies, global in reach and free from corporate or government pressures. The network’s success depends on changing the economics of media, with an audacious plan to raise $25 million a year made up of $50 donations from half a million people around the world. Money from business, advertisers and government will be prohibited. The creator of this is Paul Jay, who was a former excutive producer of CBC Newsworld's debate program "CounterSpin".

According to the article, IWTNews is aiming to get its own digital TV channels in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere. Programming will also be offered at their web site. The article says that Link TV will carry IWT programming. "ensuring that 25 million U.S. home will have access to IWT shows".

Here's one interesting statement in the article that really caught my eye:


...They would use the Internet -- which allows millions of people to band together – to raise the money. Jay has brought on board key strategists from the Howard Dean presidential campaign who were astonishingly successful in raising millions of dollars in small amounts over the Internet. The article doesn't really state if they are former or current strategists... but whoever they are, they want that expertise of fundraising over the internet to help them get started. The article lists a pretty impressive list of who's who on the advisory committee of IWT: The 98-member IWT advisory committee reads like a who’s who of progressive left activism and journalism, especially from the US. The list includes Lewis Lapham of Harper’s Magazine, Gore Vidal, Jeff Cohen, Laura Flanders and Janine Jackson from Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, and Janeane Garofalo of Air America."-from the post on Kos, in the diaries. Former Dean folks who are named include Paul Maslin, Nicco Mele and Stephanie Schriock.

''Dean's comments''

"There's no need to distance yourself from Howard Dean. Don't be fooled! Don't allow the media to worry you into taking what he said out of context. Dean is not a representative or a senator. He's there to rally the base and raise money. Edwards and others need to put Dean's comments into perspective and avoid perpetuating this unnecessary media flap."-from the post on the Northwest Progressive Institute blog.

''Support Howard Dean Day: Wednesday, June 15th''

"We at Sonoma County DFA are proposing an outreach effort to all Democratic activists to make a big splash to enhance our visibility and demonstrate our fund-raising and organizational capabilities: Support Howard Dean Day - June 15th.

Between now and June 15th, we’re encouraging our fellow activists to do whatever we can to enlist support and participation not only from our core activist lists, but also our extended communities of sympathetic - but less engaged - friends and family."-from the post on the New Hampshire DFA site.

''Quote of the Day''

From Political Wire: "My view is FOX News is a propaganda outlet for the Republican Party and I don't comment on FOX News."

-- DNC chairman Howard Dean, quoted by Chicago's ABC News affiliate."

''Public starts to get a fix on 'fixing' intelligence''

"Americans are probably more conversant about Angelina Jolie than about the contents of the so-called Downing Street memo, which was leaked in London seven weeks ago to the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sunday Times. But if the war chaos continues (80 U.S. troops and 700 Iraqis died last month), the awareness gap may narrow - because the memo states that as Washington was preparing for war, "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."
This is one of the few pieces of hard evidence that supports critics who contend that Bush hyped a nonexistent threat - Hussein's purported weapons of mass destruction - as his justification for waging war.
Liberal Internet blogs, and roughly 90 House Democrats, have sought publicity for the memo, and last Tuesday, for the first time, the Washington press asked Bush about it. He didn't dispute its authenticity. He didn't address the observation that his intelligence was being "fixed."-from Dick Polman's column Sunday in The Philadelphia Inquirer, one of the few msm scribes I respect.

''Dean Just Told Them The Truth and They Thought It Was Hell''

"Timid and fearful Democrats are trembling on national television as they beg Dr. Dean to stop pointing out the hypocricy and misinformation efforts of Republicans in office and Conservatives in the media.

"He doesn't speak for me," they say, apparently longing for the days when their spokesman was taking big checks from multinational corporations, signing corporate-friendly trade deals, and defending sex scandals.

The simple truth is that corporate interests have hijacked our nation, theocrats want to take us back to the days of the Salem Witch Trials (with gays playing the part of witches), and the "stars" in the corporate "mainstream" media have been so terrified by Bush administration threats of loss of access (which could then lead to the loss of their own 6- and 7-figure income jobs) that they perpetuate administration lies and tremble at the thought of actually asking a tough follow-up question when Bush prevaricates.

Howard Dean points out these uncomfortable truths. And, like the little boy who said that the Emperor had no clothes, those entrenched in the status quo are trying to hush him up.

But the status quo is bankrupting our families, gutting the middle class, putting a bulls-eye on American soldiers and tourists around the world, devastating our environment and our children's future."-progressive radio talker Thom Hartmann, on Common Dreams.

'Democratic chairman Howard Dean sounds moral theme, vows to fight''

Here's an excerpt from the story in the Washington Post tonight that should appear in tomorrow's Seattle Times: "WASHINGTON — Unrepentant after a week of controversy over some provocative remarks, Democratic chairman Howard Dean told party leaders yesterday that casting traditionally liberal issues in moral terms is a key to breaking Republicans' eight-year hold on the White House. Dean yesterday embraced his reputation for volatility, saying he is being buoyed by activists and donors. At one point, Chicago alderman Joseph Moore had trouble getting recognized and joked that next time, he would "jump up and down."

"That's my job!" Dean said, and the room shook with applause.

The Democratic National Committee's (DNC) lead pollster, Cornell Belcher, said that religious people who have been stymied economically represent a huge opportunity for the party and that the challenge is to portray moral values as "not just gay marriage and abortion." It amounted to a call for the party to reclaim Reagan Democrats, the blue-collar social conservatives who have voted largely Republican for the past 20 years. In a possible future play for President Bush's voters, the party announced the creation of a Veterans and Military Families Council. The party, determined to compete in what Dean called "the Mississippis and the Kansases," has vowed to put paid organizers with four-year commitments in every state and is starting a monthly donation program for small givers. Dean and the pollster provided the most specific blueprint yet for a party where a multitude of factions and potential candidates is competing to point the way back from John Kerry's loss to Bush, 19 states to 31 states.

We have not spoken about moral values in this party for a long time," Dean said. "The truth is, we're Democrats because of our moral values. It's a moral value to make sure that kids don't go to bed hungry at night ... It is a moral value not to go out on golf trips paid for by lobbyists."
Belcher, the pollster, said the emphasis many voters placed on moral values in November is "not a call to move to the right." He said a lot of what he called "faith voters" — those for whom religion plays an equal or more-important role in determining their vote than conventional issues such as education — "are up for grabs." He said they can be reached with policies that affect the raising of their children."

''Dean Cheers Rank-and-File Democrats''

This NPR story from Friday reviews the week's back and forth on Dean. Some highlights: David Sirota and Paul Berendt.

''My Weekend at Camp Wellstone''

"It's been a long time since I've been to summer camp, but this past weekend I spent three days at a special one -- Camp Wellstone, one of the legacies of the great Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone. It's run by Wellstone Action, a 2-year old organization with over 100,000 members -- and growing fast.

Camp Wellstone (located this weekend at Seattle Pacific University) offers three tracks: citizen activism & organizing, running a campaign, and being a candidate. Not unexpectedly, many "Dean" folks were among the campers, including (but not limited to): Nancie Kosnoff, Neal Traven, Jackie Minchew, Mary Van Bronkhorst, Charlene Rawson, Mark McDonald, Sara Needleman-Carleton, and Nigel Herberg. We were dispersed among the three tracks.

The Wellstone folks were fabulous in term of their energy, knowledge, delivery, and respect for their students. The 3 days ran like clockwork. Even the food was tasty, despite the lack of coffee which the organizers repeatedly warned us about.

The activist/organizing workshop -- the one I attended -- nicely blended my "old" knowledge with new information, although I was thirsting for more depth on several topics. Topics covered included relationship building, leadership, lobbying, voter registration, media, and power (presented as a very necessary and good thing). We also learned about the overall Wellstone philosophy and the Wellstone triangle with its three equally critical legs: progressive public policy, grassroots electoral policy, and issue-based organizing. The triangle message was powerful -- no leg can stand on its own, all three are required if we want to take back our country.

Even more energizing than the material, however, was the passion, creativity, intelligence, and just plain likeability of the participants. The focus of the entire weekend was on what we can do, not what we can't do. I walked away thinking (at least momentarily...and still several hours later) that with so many good folks doing so many good things, we will succeed, period! The session closed with this MLK quote: "...let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil..."-from Bev Marcus. Thanks, Bev, for writing this up for us.

Gwen Ifill on "Meet the Press" Today

Some mildly positive comments stand out from the rest of the Beltway gospel choir: "It turns out the theme with Hillary Clinton is she wants to know where the outrage is now. And the same--now, we've found where the outrage is. It's in Howard Dean. And the problem with that, the flip side of that, is a lot of Democrats are not that upset with Howard Dean. Howard Dean gets out here and he says these inflammatory things, and he doesn't apologize. He doesn't back down a little bit. But the truth is, the people who are the most unhappy with him are Washington Democrats who did--who would never have seen him as Democratic Party chairman anyway. And folks out in the hinterlands or folks who are getting their strokes in the South, they're not as unhappy with Howard Dean. So you don't see anybody starting any movement to get him out of office. at the Democratic Party meeting yesterday, he actually began to outline what began to sound like a reasonable worldview for Democrats, which is, "Let's redefine what moral values are beyond gay abortion--gay marriage and abortion." And finally, someone in the Democratic Party started to articulate it."-from the transcript of today's show.

''A Master Politician at Work''

"If you’re to really change political trends, and put bottom rail on top for a generation, you can’t be gentle about it. You can’t cajole. You can’t seduce. You have to go right for the throat. And you have to be ready for the whole of the old order to come down on you for it. So let’s be clear about this right now. Love him or hate him, Howard Dean is a master politician.

He’s not really a liberal, you know. He’s what used to be called a Rockefeller Republican, back in the day. He believes that budgets should be balanced, that alliances should be negotiated, that science should be respected, and that it’s possible for government to make life better for people if it doesn’t take itself too seriously. He made it work in Vermont. He ran to the right of other Democrats there. He balanced budgets. He dealt amicably with Republicans. For his pains he was often called a sell-out by environmentalists, by the state’s left, even by its gay community.

He’s still the same man, but today Rockefeller Republicanism is called extreme liberalism. He’s only on the left because the center has shifted radically to the right. Our assumptions today are far to the right of those our parents held. Most people today believe government is their enemy. Most people are skeptical about science. Most people don’t care about budgets. This is reflected in their choices right down the line, from President to school board.

So how do you effect change? Well, you don’t do it softly. No great change agent in American political history has worked softly. They have all had enemies. They have chosen these enemies carefully. They have deliberately made themselves the victims of these enemies until events moved their way. They have often made enemies within their own political party. A minority can only become a majority after it grows a spine and tosses aside the spineless. This is how Republicans did it 40 years ago. It’s what they did to the Rockefeller Republicans.

And it’s what Howard Dean has been doing to the Washington Democrats."-from the post on the Corante blog, brought to my attention by Susan Hu on Booman Tribune.

''Howard Dean speaks out in Chicago''

"Still going strong after a week of controversy over some provocative remarks, Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean was in Chicago Sunday afternoon. The former presidential candidate kicked-off the Rainbow-PUSH coalition's annual conference. Howard Dean sparred with reporters and drew laughs from the audience, even while he is earning criticism from "some" in his own party for doing something increasingly uncommon in politics... shooting from the hip. Congressman Jackson doesn't have to speak for me -- but the truth is you don't get to speak for me either," said Howard Dean, Democratic National Committee Chairman.

Dean was blasting a reporter for trying to pin him down on his position on the extension of the voting rights act. It is this kind of fiery give and take that has kept the one-time presidential hopeful on the front page and now on the front lines of criticism as he leads his party's attack on the Republicans."The chairman of the Republican Party has made a big deal out of attracting African-American voters. This is a litmus test. If you don't support the extention of the Voting Rights Act, you don't have the right to walk into a black church and show your face," Dean said. "We want people to understand it is their responsibility to vote, not just their right to vote," Dean said. Dean energized "this" audience of union workers and Rainbow-Push activists with his "ideas" and "inclination" to say it like he sees it.

"My view is FOX News is a propaganda outlet for the Republican Party and I don't comment on FOX News," Dean said. That was in response to vice president Dick Cheney calling Howard Dean "over the top" on Fox News on Sunday."-from ABC7Chicago, with video.

'Toledo Blade 6/12: Dems to meet Dean to discuss Ohio fraud''

"When you see one party with this much power, corruption sets in," Mr. Brown said. "I don't know of any state that has seen it this bad. "People are stunned by the corruption and arrogance of Ohio's Republicans," he said. That's why some Democratic members of Congress are planning to meet with Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean next week to talk about what happened in Ohio during the 2004 presidential election. Ohio held the keys to the White House last year, deciding the presidential race by a margin of fewer than 120,000 votes.

"I think there should be an investigation of Ohio," said Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo), who last week put a statement on the congressional record about Ohio's investment scandal. She said she is hopeful a meeting with Mr. Dean will put Democrats in position to undertake a review of what occurred in her home state.-from today's story.

''Dean calls for Dems to tout morals''

"Washington, DC, Jun. 12 (UPI) -- Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean told party leaders in Washington to try casting traditionally liberal issues in moral terms. The former Vermont governor told the DNC executive committee meeting that putting issues such as education in moral terms is the key to Democrats winning back the White House, the Washington Post reported Sunday. "We have not spoken about moral values in this party for a long time," Dean said. "The truth is, we're Democrats because of our moral values. It's a moral value to make sure that kids don't go to bed hungry at night. It is a moral value not to go out on golf trips paid for by lobbyists." Dean described the party's national campaign apparatus as being "30 years behind" the one fielded by the Bush-Cheney campaign last year. He said the solution is for Democrats to be tough, describe themselves boldly and get organized in all 50 states.

"People want us to fight, and we are here to fight," Dean said during the quarterly meeting. "We are not going to lie down in front of the Republican machine anymore."-from the news story today.

''Memo: U.S. Lacked Full Postwar Iraq Plan''

"A briefing paper prepared for British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top advisers eight months before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq concluded that the U.S. military was not preparing adequately for what the British memo predicted would be a "protracted and costly" postwar occupation of that country. The eight-page memo, written in advance of a July 23, 2002, Downing Street meeting on Iraq, provides new insights into how senior British officials saw a Bush administration decision to go to war as inevitable, and realized more clearly than their American counterparts the potential for the post-invasion instability that continues to plague Iraq." from the front page story in today's Washington Post, courtesy of Annie Robbins. Here's how the London Times tells the story today.

''Why all the screaming at Dean?''

"Dean is an electric figure who could be one of the party's stars - if they would let him. Instead, the Democrats remain in a state of nirvana, lacking both leadership and direction.You won't find one Democrat not named Clinton during the past decade who has been so good at grabbing the spotlight, remaining stubbornly solid on issues and effectively criticizing Republicans. Dean, though sitting on the opposite end of the political spectrum, is better at being Bush than Bush is.

But the Democrats, not known for their bravery or risk-taking in recent years, are afraid of Dean. And so long as they continue to suppress voices like Dean's, the Democrats will remain card-carrying members of the minority party in Washington.

Some of them, like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, understand this. Although she disagrees with Dean's most recent comments, she told The Los Angeles Times he is a terrific party chairman."That is why," she said, "the Republicans are so relentlessly going after him."

Question is, why are the Democrats?"-from the op-ed in The Daily Telegram (MI).

Dean tells Dems: 'People want us to fight'

"WASHINGTON - Howard Dean said Saturday that positive responses from key supporters have reinforced his determination to keep talking tough. Some congressional Democrats have suggested that the party chairman should tone down his rhetoric. "People want us to fight," Dean told the national party's executive committee. "We are here to fight."

One of Dean's predecessors at the DNC, Don Fowler said, "The controversy over this statement or that statement is a blip and only a blip." But Fowler complained about leading Democrats who aired their gripes last week. "Even if they don't like it, they should have enough sense not to make those comments," Fowler said.

At the session in a downtown hotel, Dean accused Republicans of trying to suppress the vote, selling access to the White House for lobbyists and basically being dishonest with the public. "The reason the Republicans are in trouble is because there are so many cases where they say one thing and do something else," Dean said. He said President Bush's education initiative, the "No Child Left Behind" program, cuts school spending and a clean environment plan, the "Clear Skies Initiative," permits more pollution."-from the AP story this afternoon.


The Reuters story is a little more blunt: "Democratic leaders back Dean, don't want 'wimp': ""I hope Governor Dean will remember that he didn't get elected to be a wimp," said DNC member Gilda Cobb-Hunter, a South Carolina state representative. "We have been waiting a long time for someone to stand up for Democrats." Howard Dean is going to be much more aggressive, much more outspoken and much more of a risk-taker outside the Beltway than any chairman has been. We knew that," said Alvaro Cifuentes, chairman of the DNC Hispanic caucus.
"We have to get our politics out of Washington. We cannot continue to be held captive by party leaders who I respect but who have to play their own local politics," Cifuentes said, calling congressional Democrats "timid" and the flap over his comments "mostly a Beltway play."

Karen Marchioro, a DNC member from Washington state, said she was stunned to see so many congressional Democrats back away from Dean. "We always defend them, why won't they defend us? And they want us to support them for president?" she asked. "I have no desire to lose, I just think this is the way you win -- you let people know where you stand and you fight." You go girl! Update: Kos & Co. agree.

''Dean Speaks For Me Petition''

It started in the Diaries on Kos and is picked up on Booman Tribune: "Let's show the Dems in Congress we like spine and want to see them show some." Sign here.

''Howard Dean speaks for me''

"A new book about America's political divisions notes that the 99 percent of all Republican legislators across the country and in Congress are white. The national Republican Party, whose base is in the South, the Plains and the Mountain states, looks to white men as its power base and source of leadership. Even when Republican states have significant minority populations, the elected Republican representatives rarely are drawn from those communities.

Of 3,643 Republicans serving in the state legislatures, only 44 are minorities, or 1.2 percent. In the Congress, with 274 of the 535 elected senators and representatives Republican, only five are minorities - three Cuban Americans from Florida, a Mexican American from Texas and a Native American senator originally elected as a Democrat.

President Bush's home state leads the way. Texas, with a minority population of 47 percent, has 106 Republicans in the state legislature, but there are 0 blacks and 0 Hispanics among them."-from RadicalRuss.net. Now we need the numbers for the Dems.

''Slamming Dean: The Democratic Establishment Echoes the GOP Echo Machine''

From the publisher of the Rolling Stone, Jann Wenner, on The Huffington Blog: "Karl Rove, Ken Mehlman, and Tom DeLay don’t even have to bother attacking Howard Dean anymore; their work is being done for them by the stalwarts of what’s left of the Democratic Party establishment. Dean says that the Republicans are essentially a party that is by, for, and of the white Christians, which we all know is fundamentally true -- though clearly not the most nuanced description of the long-standing economic, racial, and social divisions that the GOP draws its strength from -- and all of a sudden we have Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi chiding him for one reason or another. And today it’s reported that Hillary Clinton’s spokesman also thinks Dean is speaking too boldly. However they choose to phrase it, the bottom line effect of all this sniping is to marginalize and shame Dean for speaking a truth that the Republicans do not wish spoken or given credence. Our guys are doing the work of the so-called GOP Echo Machine. Dean also said the US wasn’t any safer for the capture of Saddam. And he was criticized instead of supported. But he was right. Again.

Have we so bought into the ethos of the Echo Machine and the Washington press wizards and the values of Tim Russert, that we are now afraid to trust voters with the truth? Dean may not be the slickest and most media savvy speaker, but when did we agree that Democrats are the only ones required to play nice?"