[IMC-DC] BTL Summary Nov. 21, 2008: Influencing Obama Presidency; Calif's Prop. 8 Gay Marriage Ban; Uncounted Votes in Ga. Senate Race

[sharris at snet.net]

Between The Lines
For The Week Ending Nov. 21, 2008
http://www.btlonline.org
 
THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM 
http://www.btlonline.org/2008/btl112108.html

RealAudio (full-length) | MP3 (full-length) 
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This week we present Between The Lines' summary of under-reported news stories and: 



Progressives Evaluate Best Approach
to Influencing the Obama Presidency 

RealAudio MP3 

Interview with Steve Cobble,
associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies,
conducted by Scott Harris 




Throughout the
presidential campaign, Republican candidate John McCain attacked his
Democratic opponent Barack Obama as a mysterious, radical, socialist
who associated with known terrorists. But now that the campaign is
over, and the GOP's vicious attack machine has taken a brief hiatus,
President-elect Obama is preparing to confront the nation's major
financial crises and two wars when he enters the White House in
January. Americans are now waiting to find out what policies the new
president will pursue and the team he'll select to execute his program.
Many of those individuals mentioned for Cabinet posts in the incoming
Obama administration are familiar names from the presidency of Bill
Clinton. While officials of the Clinton White House would bring
valuable experience to a new administration, their selection would
disappoint many progressives who are hoping that Obama will make good
on his pledge for shaking up business as usual in Washington. 

Barack
Obama's first major announced appointment, Rahm Emanuel as chief of
staff, was troubling to many progressives. Emanuel, a senior adviser to
Clinton from 1993 to 1998, helped pass NAFTA and welfare reform.
Elected as an Illinois representative in 2002, he was a supporter of
President Bush's war in Iraq and well-known as a hawkish ally of
Israel. Later, as chairman of the 2006 Democratic Congressional
Campaign Committee, Emanuel opposed the candidacies of many anti-war
Democrats. Between the Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Steve Cobble, an
associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and co-founder of
Progressive Democrats of America who worked on Dennis Kucinich's 2004
and 2008 presidential campaigns. He assesses the election results and
discusses his hopes for moving the progressive agenda forward under the
Obama presidency. 

Visit the Institute for Policy Studies' website at
 www.ips-dc.org or call (202) 234-9382. 

Related links: 
Progressive Democrats of America at pdamerica.org 
After Downing Street at www.afterdowningstreet.org 

Activists Vow to Overturn
Discriminatory Proposition 8 
Gay Marriage Ban 

RealAudio MP3 

Interview with Marty Rouse, 
Human Rights Campaign national field director,
conducted by Melinda Tuhus 

 


Of the many
ballot initiatives this year in California, the one that attracted the
most attention -- and tens of millions of dollars in funding on both
sides -- was Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment that defined
marriage as between "a man and a woman." The state Supreme Court in a
May 16, 4-3 ruling struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage,
approved by voters in 2000, affirming that California's Constitution
protects a fundamental "right to marry" that extends equally to
same-sex couples. But the passage of Proposition 8, by a nearly 53
percent margin on Nov. 4, could end the short-lived legal right of gays
and lesbians in America's most populous state to marry. Voters in
Arizona and Florida also passed amendments to their states'
constitutions outlawing gay marriage. 

In reaction to the
passage of the gay marriage ban in California, thousands of people took
to the streets across the state, some targeting Mormon and other
conservative churches, which had raised millions to promote the
amendment. Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Marty Rouse,
national field director for the Human Rights Campaign, which works for
equal rights for gays and lesbians. He discusses the forces on both
sides of the ballot question, whether gay marriages that have already
taken place in California will remain legally valid - and the next
steps for those working to overturn the marriage ban. 

For more information, visit Human Rights Campaign's website at www.hrc.org or call their Washington, D.C. office at (202) 628-4160. 


Uncounted Votes Change Outcome
of Key Senate Race in Georgia 

RealAudio MP3 

Interview with Greg Palast,
BBC-TV reporter, 
conducted by Scott Harris 

 


With bitter
memories and suspicion surrounding the integrity of the 2000 and 2004
presidential election, activist groups and attorneys working with the
Democratic Party watched closely as ballots were counted in this year's
national election. While Barack Obama convincingly won across the
nation, a week after votes were cast, many election protection monitors
were looking closely at unresolved Senate races in Minnesota, Alaska
and Georgia. Democrats are hoping to have 60 Senate votes to prevent
Republicans from using filibusters to block legislation in the next
Congress. 

A recount is now underway in Minnesota in the race
between GOP Sen. Norm Coleman and his challenger Democrat Al Franken, a
comedian, with just 206 votes separating the two. In Alaska, Republican
Sen. Ted Stevens, recently convicted of felony charges, led Anchorage
Mayor Mark Begich, a Democrat, by 3,257 votes, but another 90,000 votes
must still be counted. 

In Georgia, GOP Sen.
Saxby Chambliss, who failed to win 50 percent of the votes in his race
with Democrat Jim Martin, is preparing for a runoff election on Dec. 2.
BBC-TV investigative journalist Greg Palast has been watching the
election returns in Georgia and reports that over 50,000 new voters in
Georgia were blocked from having their ballots counted resulting from
provisions of the federal Help America Vote Act passed in 2002. Between
The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Palast, who first reported the
illegal purging of voters in Florida prior to the controversial 2000
election, about why tens of thousands of ballots in Georgia and
millions more across the country, were not counted in the 2008
election. 

Read Greg Palast's articles online at
GregPalast.com. Download a free copy of his illustrated pamphlet,
"Steal Back your Vote," co-authored by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at www.stealbackyourvote.org 


This week's summary 
of under-reported news 

RealAudio MP3 

Compiled by Bob Nixon 


French and European Union President Nicholas Sarkozy has called for
a new "Bretton Woods" agreement to reform the global financial system,
with a common regulatory framework between the EU, England and the
United States. ("EU Calls for Tighter Financial Controls," Financial
Times, Nov. 4, 2008; "IMF Chief Curbs Summit Expectations," Washington
Post, Nov. 7, 2008; "Brazil's Lula Urges Global Solutions," Washington
Post, Nov. 9, 2008) Colombia's top military commander, Gen. Mario Montoya, has
resigned in the aftermath of a scandal involving the killing of
civilians who were falsely identified as leftist guerillas. Over the
summer, Montoya was celebrated as a hero for rescuing hostages former
Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and others held by
FARC. ("Colombia's Army Chief Steps Down," Washington Post, Nov. 5,
2008; "Army Chief Steps Down," Inter Press Review, Nov. 4, 2008;
"Colombian Fires 26 from Army Over Killings," Washington Post, Oct. 30,
2008) Environmentalists and Native American activists in Arizona
are pledging to continue their legal battle over a development plan to
make snow from reclaimed wastewater in the San Francisco mountains.
("Wastewater Ski Slopes," In These Times, Otober 2008) 
 
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