TonyPalmeri.Com Update For April 4, 2005
note: Tony Palmeri.Com recently earned a nomination in the Oshkosh Public Library "Best Website in Oshkosh" contest http://www.oshkoshpubliclibrary.org/pages/internetguides/websitecontest.asp Many thanks to all who visit the site!
1. Fighting Reactionary Politics: "Fighting Reactionary Politics: Real Conservatives, Real Liberals, and Real Radicals Must Work Together" is the title of the cover story I have written for the April issue of The Valley Scene. The version on my website has additional graphics: http://www.tonypalmeri.com/frp.htm Here is the Scene version: http://www.valleyscene.com/cover.html If you live in the Fox Valley, please pick up a hard copy of the Scene (it's free!!). Copies can be found at these locations: http://www.valleyscene.com/where.html (In Oshkosh the Scene can be found in the New Moon Cafe on Main St., Polk Library on the UW Oshkosh campus, the downtown bookstore, and a variety of other locations).
The Fighting Reactionary Politics cover story will be the topic of a meeting of the Fox Valley Justice Coalition on May 3. Businessman Paul Linzmeyer, who is quoted in the story, will be talking to the Justice Coalition on April 5th: http://www.tonypalmeri.com/frp.htm#meeting
2. Eye on Oshkosh Wins State Award: "Eye on Oshkosh," a public affairs cable access program created by journalist Cheryl Hentz and former Oshkosh Mayor Melanie Bloechl, recently won a state award: http://eyeonoshkosh.com/article.php?story=2005031806174678 I have been co-hosting the show with Cheryl for about 4 months now, and I am proud to be part of the team. We've gotten a tremendous response to shows we have done with candidates running in the April 5th elections.
3. Vote NO on Extending Elected Officials' Terms: On Tuesday Wisconsin voters will have an opportunity to vote for an amendment to the Wisconsin constitution that would extend the terms of some elected county officials from 2 years to 4 years. The Madison Capital Times explains why the amendment is a bad idea: http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion//index.php?ntid=34385&ntpid=12 In Winnebago County, a place that suffered until recently from former district attorney Joe Paulus' office that was one of the most corrupt in the history of the state, it would make absolutely no sense to give any DA a 4 year term.
4. Heck and McCabe at UW Oshkosh: Jay Heck of Common Cause in Wisconsin and Mike McCabe of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign will be participating in a forum on Political Reform in Wisconsin on Thursday, April 21st from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. at the UW OshkoshReeve Union 227BC: http://www.geocities.com/abvtimes/zApril21.html Common Cause recently succeeded in getting the State Senate to at least debate a campaign finance reform bill before dismissing it out of hand (as they have done for the last 7 years or so), while the WDC released a "Serving the Have Mores" report that shows the corporate welfare mess the state has become: http://www.wisdc.org/sp031605cover.html After the forum with Jay and Mike, the Campus Greens and the Student Environmental Action Coalition will be showing Amy Goodman's great film, "Independent Media in a Time of War" from 8:15 pm - 9:00 pm Reeve Memorial Union Rm 227 BC. According to the student sponsors:
"Part scathing critique, part call to action, 'Independent Media In A Time Of War' is a hard-hitting documentary composed of a speech given by Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now! illustrated by clips of mainstream media juxtaposed with rare footage from independent reporters in Iraq. The documentary argues that dialogue is vital to a healthy democracy. 'Independent media has a crucial responsibility to go to where the silence is,' says Amy Goodman, 'to represent the diverse voices of people engaged in dissent.' She makes a compelling argument that the commercial news media have failed to represent the 'true face of war.'"
This documentary is sponsored by the UWO Campus Greens and SEAC. Free Popcorn!! Donations accepted to cover cost of film. email oshkoshgreens@yahoo.com for more information.
5. Rieckman v. Maguire: Oshkosh Northwestern Executive Editor Stew Rieckman, who in his weekly column has become somewhat of an angrier, more curmudgeonly, and duller version of J. Jonah Jameson (the publisher of the Daily Bugle who hates Spider-Man with a passion), is now obsessed with bloggers. Check out OshkoshNews.org editor Miles Maguire's response to Stew: http://www.oshkoshnews.org/oshblog/2005/04/more-stuff-from-stewart-rieckman.html That exchange followed this one: http://www.oshkoshnews.org/oshblog/2005/04/letter-from-editor.html
6. Candidate Fundraising Profile: Some major elections are being held in Oshkosh on Tuesday. Note the funding imbalance for "Cobblestoner" candidates vs. candidates that I associate with the Chamber of Commerce: http://www.tonypalmeri.com/#chart I don't believe that the amount of money raised is a reason to vote for or against any candidate, but I always find it puzzling when candidates for local offices raise more money than the compensation they will earn from the seat (Council seats I believe pay $3,000 per year). The Northwestern reported where the money is coming from: http://www.wisinfo.com/northwestern/news/local/stories/local_20407428.shtml
7. Oshkosh v. Davenport: Recently the newspaper informed us that when it comes to riverfront development, Oshkosh can be compared with Davenport, IA (a city, you may recall, which was the scene of three bank robberies last August on the same day George W. Bush and John Kerry happened to be there for competing campaign rallies and ended up monopolizing all the police protection). I think the paper left out some critical comparison points: http://www.tonypalmeri.com/ovd.htm
8. The Complete John Paul II: One good thing about the death of John Paul II is that he succeeded in getting the cable news networks off the "feeding tube frenzy" they had been on for the prior two weeks in regards to the tragic Terri Schiavo case. (As an aside, did anyone catch the bizarre exchange between Pat Buchanan and Catholic League spokesman Bill Donohue on "Hardball?" I can't recall their exact words, but it was a few days before Terri died and Buchanan argued that the government should send the military in to rescue her, a la Elian Gonzalez. Donohue said that that was a bad idea because then others might be motivated to break into penitentiaries and rescue prisoners from death row. You almost get the feeling that these guys are purposely trying to create sound bites that will end up on Jon Stewart's Daily Show).
As a Catholic myself, I can say that John Paul II was not my favorite Pope. He courageously, in my opinion, lent moral weight to democratic movements against totalitarianism in Eastern Europe, but he failed (again in my opinion) to lend equal support to democratic movements in poor regions dominated by the West. He did speak out against capitalist excesses, and he did support movements for living wages and other progressive economic policies, but as regards Western countries his concerns always seemed to be mostly in the areas of private morality. That George W. Bush, Silvio Berlusconi, and the rest of the G8 leaders have been falling over themselves to praise the Pope ought to tell us something. Seems to me that if a Pope is really doing his job in the spirit of Jesus and the early Christians, he should be sufficiently pissing off world leaders so that they at least figuratively feed him to the lions. John Paul II never really forced the world to ask tough questions about the reasons for poverty and ignorance in the world, and thus he was spared the wrath of the so-called democratic leaders in Europe and North America. I think the late Brazilian bishop Dom Helder Camara said it best: "When I gave food to the poor, I was called a saint. When I asked why the poor were hungry I was called a communist." JP II was all for the rich giving to the poor, but he never put himself in the position of questioning the West in such a manner as to be called a communist.
Speaking of Brazilian clerics, Cardinal Claudio Hummes is being mentioned as a possible successor to John Paul II. Cardinal Hummes has said, "The great challenge for the church is how to give hope to a people who feel excluded — not hope in theory but real hope. It's not about just giving people a handout, it's about profound structural reforms. The church has to fight for public policies to conquer poverty." Sounds like a good candidate to me.
You can find a fairly complete archive of all of John Paul II's major writings and speeches here: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/ Here's a sample of his thoughts on media; it almost reads like a condemnation of the American press in the lead up to the Iraq war: "Accurate knowledge promotes understanding, dispels prejudice, and awakens the desire to learn more. Images especially have the power to convey lasting impressions and to shape attitudes. They teach people how to regard members of other groups and nations, subtly influencing whether they are considered as friends or enemies, allies or potential adversaries. . . When others are portrayed in hostile terms, seeds of conflict are sown which can all too easily escalate into violence, war, or even genocide. Instead of building unity and understanding, the media can be used to demonize other social, ethnic and religious groups, fomenting fear and hatred. Those responsible for the style and content of what is communicated have a grave duty to ensure that this does not happen. Indeed, the media have enormous potential for promoting peace and building bridges between peoples, breaking the fatal cycle of violence, reprisal, and fresh violence that is so widespread today "
9. Montana Legislature Condemns Patriot Act: And don't forget that Montana is a "red" state: http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/04/02/build/state/68-pat-act.inc
10. Warning to Miss Piggy! Stay Away From UW Madison! Pigs at the UW will be given cocaine and shocked with tasers: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050329/ap_on_sc/stunning_swine
11. The Politics of Social Security Reform. I think pollster John Zogby and progressive pundit Thom Hartman have caught on to something that no Democrat and most people on the left have not figured out yet. Zogby and Hartman have argued that the Bush Administration is only marginally interested in actually getting a social security privatization bill through the Congress. They are MORE interested in building a long term majority in the Congress via exploitation of an issue with which they can appeal to younger voters in an "ownership society" frame. Here's is Zogby's take: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110006425 and Hartman's: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0321-24.htm
Peace,