Florida Congresswoman Stricken From Record For Speaking Truth on House Floor
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and
to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. "
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Florida lawmaker says 2000 election 'stolen'
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
WASHINGTON
-- Think the passions from the 2000 presidential election have cooled?
Certainly not in the House, which voted Thursday to strike a Florida
representative's words from the record after she said Republicans
"stole" that closely fought contest.
The
verbal battle broke out after Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., proposed a
measure barring any federal official from requesting that the United
Nations formally observe the U.S. elections on Nov. 2. His proposal was
approved 243-161 as an amendment to a $19.4 billion foreign aid bill,
with 33 Democrats joining all 210 voting Republicans in voting "yes."
Rep.
Corrine Brown, D-Fla., and several other House Democrats have made that
suggestion. They argue that some black voters were disenfranchised in
2000 and problems could occur again this fall.
(more)
See a video of Rep. Corrine Brown's House speech here. Quick! Her words may be stricken from reality at any time!
Recap from Rapid Response Network
NBC News
first reported an "outburst" on the floor of the House. Turns out
it was Corrine Brown (D- Jacksonville, FL) debating the request made by
five Representatives to have the UN monitor U.S. Elections (see article
re/their original proposal above). Turns out that House
leadership answered their call with legislation forbidding any U.N.
money be used to monitor elections in the U.S. Brown then said
that the House leadership had participated in a "coup d'etat" in 2000
by stealing the election and that we would need monitoring to make sure
it didn't happen again. They played a tape of the leadership then
shouting Brown down, slamming the gavel and telling her to get off the
floor.
The House then voted along party lines - now here is the big news - TO HAVE HER COMMENTS STRICKEN FROM THE RECORD:
"The House's presiding officer, Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, ruled
that Brown's words violated a House rule. "Members should not accuse
other members of committing a crime such as, quote, stealing, end
quote, an election," Thornberry said.
SO, to
recap, we now live in a country where an elected representative may not
speak as she chooses if it violates the sensibilities of the ruling
majority. If such free speech does occur, it is then stricken
from the record? What happened to our representative democracy?
1984
"And if
all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed - if all records
told the same tale-then the lie passed into history and became truth.
'Who controls the past' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who
controls the present controls the past.'" "Day by day and almost minute
by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every prediction
made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been
correct; nor was any item of news, or any expression of opinion, which
conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to remain on
record. All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed
exactly as often as was necessary."
George Orwell, "1984"
Call to Action
1.
Write NBC news and suggest that this story wasn't about an "outburst" -
the story should have been about the fact that an elected Rep's
comments were stricken. world@msnbc.com
2. Write a letter to your favorite political TV show or political writer and ask them to cover this part of the story.
3. Write to your elected Representative and express your feelings about Representative Brown's comments being stricken.
http://www.house.gov/writerep
You might want to add to your note that you support the original request for some kind of monitoring to occur.
4. Write Rep. Brown here - she could probably use some support.
Thanks to Liz Herbert/Rob Nesvacil, Rapid Response Network, for providing this information.
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Monday, July 19
Florida Congresswoman Stricken From Record For Speaking Truth on House Floor
by
Linda Thieman
on Mon 19 Jul 2004 06:02 AM CDT
Tuesday, July 13
Fridley Uses Propaganda Techniques to Publicly Justify His F 9/11 Ban
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 13 Jul 2004 04:00 PM CDT
Fridley Uses Propaganda Techniques to Publicly Justify His F 9/11 Ban
Behind The Scenes at Democracy for Iowa Last week when news of the Fridley ban of “Fahrenheit 9/11” came out, Trish Nelson, Co-coordinator of Rapid Response – Iowa, and I took up a little project. Trish researched the 31 towns with Fridley theaters in Iowa and located a local newspaper for almost every town. She set up a system to fairly quickly email or fax these newspapers. For my part, I wrote up a press release from DFIA objecting to the Fridley ban, and sent it over to Trish, who then sent it out to the local newspapers. We do not know how far our protest will reach, but we received confirmation from the Manchester Press that they will be running a story on the Fridley ban today and they will be quoting me (no Internet access to the story, I’m afraid). I found from personal experience during the Dean campaign that Iowa’s local papers frequently provide excellent coverage of issues that are overlooked by the big, corporate-owned media, and that many a reporter welcomes a fresh source for lively quotes. Towards the end of last week, R.L. Fridley, owner of the Des Moines-based Fridley Theatres, issued a press release because, it seems, he was being bombarded by emails, faxes and phone calls regarding his decision to prevent rural Iowa from viewing the documentary. He requested that this be the end of the matter. Trish and I, however, could not let it drop. Trish did some more research and added to her list of local newspapers to include not only the Fridley towns but also towns with newspapers in the surrounding areas. I, in the meantime, set about writing another press release from DFIA. This press release is a little different and probably a bit too long, but hopefully, it will attract some attention and perhaps get a few folks to work on their “critical thinking” skills. I’m including the full text of the press release below, with sources. I know it sounds a little strange to be quoting myself since I’m the one who wrote it, but in any BIG operation, I would not be the one writing the press release. And besides, I always make myself very available to me for comment! Here, in its entirety, is the most recent DFIA press release that went out yesterday. Linda Thieman Fridley Uses Propaganda Techniques to Publicly Justify His F 9/11 Ban Storm Lake, Iowa (July 12) - When R.L. Fridley, owner of the Des Moines-based Fridley Theatres, banned the showing of Michael Moore’s documentary, “Fahrenheit 9/11,” from 31 small-town Iowa theaters, Fridley opened a Pandora’s Box of dissent. One point in the flurry of controversy that seems to have been overlooked was the blatant propaganda techniques that Fridley himself used in issuing his statements to his company managers and to the press – a huge irony since Fridley claimed that he would not show the film because it was “political propaganda.” Here is an inside look. Claim: Fridley Theatres do not "play political propaganda films from either the right or the left." According to propagandacritic.com, “the name-calling technique links a person, or idea, to a negative symbol. The propagandist who uses this technique hopes that the audience will reject the person or the idea on the basis of the negative symbol, instead of looking at the available evidence.” In Mr. Fridley’s case, the term “political propaganda” is the negative symbol that he chooses to link to Moore’s film. “This particular claim of Mr. Fridley’s is also highly debatable,” says Linda Thieman of Storm Lake, co-founder of Democracy for Iowa, a grassroots organization formed as an off-shoot of the Howard Dean presidential campaign, “since, if a ‘political propaganda film’ from the right were to come out, Fridley would no doubt not define it as propaganda.” This “either from the right or the left” claim is a propaganda technique called a “Glittering Generality.” According to the Institute for Propaganda Analysis (IPA), “the Glittering Generality is, in short, Name Calling in reverse. While Name Calling seeks to make us form a judgment to reject and condemn without examining the evidence, the Glittering Generality device seeks to make us approve and accept without examining the evidence.” Thieman explains. “The unsuspecting victim of Fridley’s propaganda technique says to him or herself, ‘Yes! In all fairness, he wouldn’t show propaganda from the RIGHT or the LEFT,’ making Fridley’s decision seem reasonable. It then appears as an acceptable excuse to Fridley’s larger audience while at the same time obscuring the real issue – that Fridley refuses to let his would-be audiences in small-town Iowa make up their own minds.” Claim: “The film incites terrorism” Claim: "Our country is in a war against an enemy who would destroy our way of life, our culture and kill our people," Fridley wrote. "These barbarians have shown through [the September 11 attacks] and the recent beheadings that they will stop at nothing. I believe this film emboldens them and divides our country even more." more » Wednesday, July 7
Iowa: Help Rapid Response Take Back the Media!
by
Linda Thieman
on Wed 07 Jul 2004 05:59 AM CDT
Iowa: Help Rapid Response Take Back the Media!
RapidResponseNetwork.Org needs letter writers! If you have a little extra time to write an occasional letter, Rapid Response needs you. Rapid Response is active at the national and state level, with coordinators in most states and members nationwide. State/Local: Letters to the editor help shape public opinion and here in Iowa we need to make sure that the progressive point of view is represented in the Des Moines Register as well as our local papers. When fellow Iowans see your letter in print, they learn that their neighbors and friends feel the same way they do, and will begin to speak up themselves. You will feel more empowered every time you send your viewpoint off knowing you are NOT alone. National: At the national level, Rapid Response_Iowa has joined with other states in letter-writing campaigns to the New York Times, CNN, CBS, 60 Minutes and countless other national media, members of congress, Bush administration officials and the White House. How it works: You will receive occasional e-mails with ACTION ALERT in the subject line. Alerts will contain a brief explanation of the action, the text of a story or a link, talking points, links to resources, and where to send your letter. All you have to do is write the letter and hit the send button. Letters do not have to be long or time-consuming. In fact, short and to the point is better, sometimes only 3-4 sentences, as long as it is in your own words and from the heart. You can also submit your own Action Alert idears! So please join us in raising our collective, progressive voice. To sign up to take back the media, click on the following link, then click on Iowa, and follow the instructions. http://rapidresponsenetwork.org/ Thanks for all you do. Trish Nelson RapidResponseNetwork/Iowa Co-Coordinator Thursday, July 1
Help Get Ann Coulter Off The Des Moines Register Opinion Page
by
Linda Thieman
on Thu 01 Jul 2004 06:48 PM CDT
Help Get Ann Coulter Off The Des Moines Register Opinion Page
This came in today from DFIA Founding Member and Rapid Response - Iowa Co-coordinator Trish Nelson. If you have a few spare minutes, it is certainly worth the time. In your own words, write a letter to the editor of the Des Moines Register about why we should not be treated to Ann Coulter for Sunday brunch and why she is an inappropriate choice for "the newspaper Iowa depends on." Here's what Trish wrote: To The Editor: What I would like to know is how the Des Moines Register justifies commentary by Ann Coulter in the "To The Point" section on the Opinion page of the Sunday Register. There are many writers to choose from who have far more to offer in terms of rational argument for the conservative side. Ms. Coulter's statements are highly inflammatory, not representative of most conservatives, and do not contribute in a positive way to the national dialogue. She has stated publicly that liberals need to remember that "they can be killed, too" and has branded liberals as traitors. Controversial statements may sell newspapers but that should not be the only qualification for inclusion on your Opinion page. Trish Nelson Resources: Read the National Review Online column where Ann made this famous quote: "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity." http://tinyurl.com/9t8a Read about Ann Coulter being suspended from TV for racist comments. http://tinyurl.com/ywg2s In her book, Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism, Coulter characterizes Asians as “savage Oriental beasts” and Arabs as smelly. More quotes from Ann: "We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too. Otherwise, they will turn out to be outright traitors." (at the Conservative Political Action Conference) (http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/031104A.shtml), 02/26/2002) "My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times building." (New York Observer interview) (08/26/2002) "Being nice to people is, in fact, one of the incidental tenets of Christianity (as opposed to other religions whose tenets are more along the lines of 'kill everyone who doesn't smell bad and doesn't answer to the name Mohammed')". (03/04/2004) "God said, 'Earth is yours. Take it. Rape it. It's yours.'" ("Hannity & Colmes," Fox News, 6/20/01) These and more talking points can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/2kvce E-mail your letters to: letters@dmreg.com or send them directly from: http://tinyurl.com/2qasd If you prefer to mail a letter the traditional way, the address is: Letters to the Editor The Des Moines Register P.O. Box 957 Des Moines, IA 50304 The fax number is (515) 284-8560 Also, here's what the Register says about letter writing: Tips for being published Write a brief letter on any subject. The shorter the better. Make your point quickly. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (If you don't include your name and address, we can't consider your letter for publication.) Remember -- ALL letters are subject to editing. MOST letters are edited for clarification and length. Choose your words carefully. Letters that contain libelous or slanderous statements will likely either be edited or rejected. We prefer to have letters submitted in typed or electronically transmitted form. However, we will accept handwritten letters, providing the handwriting is legible. If you are sending handwritten letters by fax, please be sure the writing is dark enough to transmit clearly. Please sign up to receive daily Rapid Response - Iowa alerts here. Together, we can effect great change. |
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