My New Word

“Dubairaqatrinationaldebtortureplamissionaccomplished”

I invented a new word today. I was thinking of the myriad crises, scandals, tragedies and outrages that George W. Bush has wrought upon this nation and this planet. Many agree, it’s been hard to catalogue all of this woe, to have shorthand for the mess we’ve been put in. Here’s a crude attempt:

“Dubairaqatrinationaldebtortureplamissionaccomplished”

It should be pronounceable, like “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” except within the word is a nice catalogue of Bush’s failures.

The GOP’s Catch-22 on Immigration

The GOP’s self-inflicted immigration policy fiasco forces the Rupugs to choose between two of their most cherished values: xenophobia and corporate greed. Today, behind the evil firewall at the New York Times, Krugman is typically insightful. While Progressives should emphasize limits on the influx of undocumented workers and enforcement of existing law ...

The harsh anti-immigration legislation passed the House, which has led to huge protests -- legislation that would, among other things, make it a criminal act to provide an illegal immigrant with medical care -- is simply immoral.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bush’s plan for a “guest worker” program is clearly desinged by and for corporate interests, who’d love to have a low-wage workforce that couldn’t vote.

Democrats and progressives should approach the Republican’s policy on immigration the same way a kid approaches a piñata. Whack it hard, amigos, and votes will fall down like rain!

Three suggestions: 1) Emphasize strict enforcement of current law and better funding for border security programs that would limit the number of illegal immigrants. 2) Stress the importance of compassion and charity as a bedrock American values and 3) Marry this issue to the dire need to raise the minimum wage in the United States.

Folks, it is downright insulting to United States citizens to hear King George whine about “jobs that Americans will not do.” Americans are among the hardest working, most productive people in the world. Americans have never shied away from hard, dangerous, boring or disgusting work, Mr. Bush!

Rather, they have shunned work that does not provide a living wage. As Krugman points out today, “The willingness of American to do a job depends on how much that job pays -- and the reason some jobs pay to little to attract native-born Americans is competition from poorly-paid immigrants.”

Lastly, I think Democrats, progressives, netroots denizens, dKossers, and everyone else on the side of light and goodness should get out there and take a Spanish language class! We need to engage and enroll these new Americans that have been marching in the streets for their basic rights.

Neanderthal Wanted

Dear Jim Brady:

I hear you’re looking for a new conservative blogger for Wasingtonpost.com. Well, look no further, sir: I am your man.

I will write you the most knuckle-dragging, lib-hating, thick skulled blog in the world, and we can call it Redder State.

Now, look, I was raised in Kansas. I mean, how much redder and flippin’ American can you get than Kansas? It’s in the heart-most of the heartland, the middle of the map. I simply feel the soul of Red State America in my bones, sir.

Things I like include Bush, war, torture, beer, hot chicks, the flag, bear meat, Fox News, crossbow hunting, Jesus, SUVs, the NSA and both readin’ and writin’.

Things I hate and like to complain about are the Martin Luther King, Jr. family, the Clintons, pacifists, civil rights pushers, the French, gun grabbers, Katrina victims and those bloggers who drug down that fine young plagiarist, Domenech, and who now want you to resign for some reason.

Can’t you see how I’d be the perfect voice to balance out all those pantywaist “journalists” at your paper, with their B.S. degrees or whatever? I eat bear meat, man.

While I don’t have an extensive writing sample, I realize that the quality of my writing isn’t really what you’re interested in. Sh*t, everybody knows liberals are way better writers than conservatives! No, what you want is a presence at the Post that will make all my racist, warmongering, gay-hating compatriots pick up the Washington Post and say to themselves, “Hey, this is my kind of paper!”

Mr. Brady, I am available for an interview and await your call. You don’t care about references, right?

Counter-RNC, Pro-Feingold Ad w/ Voice Over

Adapted from the new GOP attack ad on Feingold.

Voice Over:

September eleventh changed our country.

The terrorists hated our freedoms.

Senator Russel Feingold is working to keep American families free. Fighting against the PATRIOT Act which has dissolved Americans’ civil liberties and made secret FBI snooping into citizens’ library records legal and routine. But Republicans are working against these efforts to secure our freedom, pushing for the PATRIOT Act and warrentless wiretapping of Americans in direct defiance of the Fourth Amendment and the FISA laws passed by Congress.

Their leader is George W. Bush.

Now Bush and other Republicans want to attack Russ Feingold. Publicly reprimanding Senator Feingold for fighting to protect our civil rights.

Some Republicans are even saying Senator Feingold is something less than an honorable American patriot.

Is this how Republicans plan to win their "Long War?"

Who are they fighting anyway?

Call the White House and ask them why they’re more interested in secret illegal spying on Americans than on protecting our ports and winning in Iraq.

My Missed Connection: Senator Charles Schumer

My toddler daughter was sick with a viral eye infection of some kind, so our little family was apartment-bound for the weekend, which didn’t matter much because it was so cold and windy here in NYC. But yesterday, I managed to sneak out because I really needed a haircut.

As I walked to my regular hair cutting joint on Seventh Avenue in Brooklyn, I noticed barriers blocking cross streets from the Avenue, and a bunch of cops standing on the corners. Obviously, something was afoot.

I asked an NYPD cop, “What’s going on today?”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s the Irish,” she said. “St. Patrick’s Day parade or something.”

Although I’m, half-Irish (and proud of it), the thought of taking in a parade alone wasn’t so appealing. So I continued on my way to the barber.

When I got to the shop, which is right on Seventh Ave. with plate glass windows facing the street, I had to wait for my regular hair stylist. By this time, the parade was beginning to get underway just outside.

I watched some police cars, a few fire engines, and some bag pipers go by. A few school bands clanged past. Then, I saw mayor Bloomberg, with his retinue.

This is some parade, I thought. At this moment, the girl who washes hair at the shop came and told me to follow her back to the sinks. I rose from my chair.

But then, outside, suddenly, came Senator Charles Schumer. Unlike the other pols in the Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Day Parade, he was alone in the parade, with an aide traipsing behind. Smiling, walking, smiling. Here was a man I wanted to talk to.

Just that morning, I had heard Schumer on TV explaining that (American hero) Russ Feingold’s resolution to censure George Bush for illegally wiretapping Americans without court warrants was “premature” or something. Basically, Schumer is scared to tell King George “no” when he does illegal things.

But, now, here was Schumer. Waving to the Park Slope moms and dads, giving thumbs up to everyone. Basically, acting like a mensch pol from Brooklyn. But he’s no mensch – he’s selling out our rights to a creeping dictatorship!

Anyway, he was gone before I could say a word, or somehow emerge from the barbershop to come onto the Avenue and confront him.

“Senator, as your constituent, I want you to know that your failure to support Russ Feingold’s censure resolution makes you impossible to vote for ever again. I’ll put it up there with your support of this Iraq War and your vote to reauthorize the Patriot Act as indelible black marks against you, your party, and your office itself. Please never again come into my neighborhood and wave at me, while back in Washington you’re stabbing my neighbors and me in the back by playing footsie with Bush and his anti-American agenda. Now, please get on board with Feingold!”

That is what I wanted him to know. That is what I wanted to tell Schumer as he went by grinning, sucking, losing, doing nothing, failing utterly.

But I didn’t have the chance.

Open Letter to Senator Clinton

Senator Clinton:

On March 13, 2006, your colleague and fellow Democrat, Senator Russ Feingold, introduced a measure to formally censure President Bush for his blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the FISA laws enacted to prevent illegal spying upon Americans.

In explaining the censure resolution, Senator Feingold said, “This issue is not about whether the government should be wiretapping terrorists – of course it should, and it can under current law. But this President and this Administration decided to break the law and they have yet to give a convincing explanation of why their actions were necessary, appropriate, or legal. Passing more laws will not change the fact that the President broke the ones already in place and for that, Congress must hold him accountable.”

Senator Clinton, as a Democrat and a New Yorker, I find it very difficult to understand why you have failed to support Senator Feingold’s censure resolution.

Millions of Americans want a leader with enough confidence of character to thwart the monarchical arrogance emanating from the Bush White House. Senator Feingold has provided such leadership. Unfortunately, the Democratic caucus has been too slow and too unenthusiastic in its response. That needs to change, Senator!

On Jan. 25, speaking of Bush’s NSA eavesdropping program, you were quoted in N.Y. Newsday as saying, ”Their argument that it's rooted in the Constitution inherently is kind of strange because we have FISA and FISA operated very effectively.”

Obviously, from the above statement, you have misgivings about the program. Indeed, anyone familiar with the Constitution or the laws of this country should have such doubts. But actions speak louder than words, Senator. And in the case of an elected official, it is their votes that matter before their rhetoric. So, will you use your vote to defend your constituents’ civil rights? You should support censure.

Continuing to sit on the sidelines on censure is a disservice to your constituency and your nation and, after your votes go to war with Iraq and make permanent the USA Patriot Act, reinforces the growing perception that you’re out of touch with the real concerns of the majority of Democrats, the majority of New Yorkers and the majority of Americans.

Especially as a Senator from New York, the national bastion of free speech and democracy, I hope you come around to support Senator Feingold’s censure resolution. And quick.

Sincerely,
RED/GLARE

One Word for Bush: "Incompetent"

The Pew Research Center for People and the Press yesterday released a poll showing America’s growing distain for the Bush administration. What I thought was most interesting was a question where respondants could choose just one word to describe their view of the President. The most popular? "Incompetent." From the results, you can see the country turning on Bush as his domestic and foreign policies prove more ruinous every day.

Wake up the Democrats in Congress. Tell them Bush is toast and it’s time to get behind a patriotic American, Russ Feingold, and the righteousness of his censure resolution. Such a move would force Repugs up for a 2006 reelection deeper into Bush’s deeply unpopular corner. It’s good politics and good for democracy.

Open Letter to Senator Feingold

Senator Feingold:

I want to express my thanks to you for introducing a censure resolution against President Bush for illegally wiretapping American citizens without court warrants in violation of the Fourth Amendment and FISA laws. Alone among Senators, you have proven that your respect for the U.S. Constitution outweighs political calculations, and I heartily applaud you for it.

In a time of great fear and media manipulation, when simple political dissent is painted as treason, it is essential for the health of our democratic form of government that public servants act with the courage of their conventions, as you have.

Senator, you could not be more right when you say ...

This issue is not about whether the government should be wiretapping terrorists – of course it should, and it can under current law. But this President and this Administration decided to break the law and they have yet to give a convincing explanation of why their actions were necessary, appropriate, or legal. Passing more laws will not change the fact that the President broke the ones already in place and for that, Congress must hold him accountable.

Your fight could not be more important or timely. Just today, the American Civil Liberties Union has released documents showing that the FBI has investigated gatherings of the Thomas Merton Center for Peace & Justice in Pennsylvania just because the organization opposed the war in Iraq.

The Bush Administration, apparently, is equating pacifism with terrorism. Such violations of the Constitutional rights of ordinary Americans to 1) peaceably assemble and 2) exercise their freedom to speak should cast into serious doubt this Administration’s most basic respect for the rights of United States citizens.

Of course, the deafening silence of your Democratic counterparts in the Senate is very disappointing to all who care about civil liberties. Such political cowardice, which you rightly criticize, only makes your censure resolution more extraordinary. Should you decide to run for the presidency in 2008, you would have the support of millions of Americans who are hungry for a real fighter for their freedom, liberty, rights and security. Many of these Americans will be energized by your brave stance in this fight. I encourage you to run!

Along with millions of other Americans, I thank you Senator Feingold!

Sincerely,
redglare

Springtime in Chile

Another election, another left leaning government takes power in South America, as the repugnance of the Bush junta gives our nation a bad name even in our old, dependable spheres of influence. From the N.Y. Times:

SANTIAGO, Chile, March 11 — Michelle Bachelet, a Socialist, pediatrician and former political prisoner and exile, was sworn in on Saturday as the first woman to be president of Chile, the culmination of its long and painful journey from repression and dictatorship to democracy.
[….]
Ms. Bachelet is the daughter of an air force general who was jailed for treason and died in prison after Gen. Augusto Pinochet took power in an American-supported coup in 1973.

Bachelet’s father was killed by our proxy dictator, Pinochet, who took power in a CIA-backed Sept. 11 coup. I’m sure she’s a real big fan of our country.

The United States’ moral authority, which was full of holes from actions like the Pinochet coup, has been exploded by the Bush regime. No longer do we even pretend to aspire to high ideals, like valuing universal human dignity or unassailable individual rights. Now, we invade your country, torture you, steal your resources, and blow up your temples.

No apologies folks, because, you know, 9/11 happened and stuff. Gotta stay safe at home.

As a result, with the strange exception of Canada, the nations of our own hemisphere are rushing to elect leaders who will refuse to do business as usual with the USA and our straw horses like the IMF and World Bank, or our voracious, rapacious oil companies and other exploiters of resources and labor. I say, hurray!

We barely have laws in the United States any more, much less a functional government, and the Katrina victims starving on television showed the world the horrors of our selfish culture in collapse.

Alas, we have no viable socialist party here. Just a two-headed Repuli-crat party, engorged by corporate pelf, that offers us the illusion, should we be stupid enough to buy it, that we live in some sort of democracy.

Ambien Nation: Asleep at the Wheel

Today’s N.Y. Times focuses on a spike in traffic accidents caused by the prescription sleeping medication Ambien, whose trade name sounds vaguely like the French for “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!”

Ambien, the nation's best-selling prescription sleeping pill, is showing up with regularity as a factor in traffic arrests, sometimes involving drivers who later say they were sleep-driving and have no memory of taking the wheel after taking the drug.

In some state toxicology laboratories Ambien makes the top 10 list of drugs found in impaired drivers. Wisconsin officials identified Ambien in the bloodstreams of 187 arrested drivers from 1999 to 2004.

With doctors writing Americans 26.5 million prescriptions for Ambien last year, it’s hard to think of a better metaphor for a citizenry that’s asleep at the wheel while the SUV of state careens from the road of democracy into the ditch of despotism.

"Doctors are handing out these drugs like Pez," said William C. Head, an Atlanta lawyer who is one of the nation's leading defense lawyers specializing in impaired-driving cases.

Americans have slept like drugged-up babies while the current regime has outrageously stripped them of rights guaranteed by U.S. Constitution; indefinitely imprisoned citizens without habeas corpus or access to a lawyer; wiretapped Americans without court warrants; jailed journalists and conducted whistleblower witch hunts; lied about WMD to invade and occupy foreign lands; planted propaganda and fake journalists in the media; tortured detainees in violation of our treaty obligations and military laws; broken the wall between church and state; trashed the separation of powers that was supposed to protect us from tyranny; and through either sheer ineptitude or purposeful negligence lost the World Trade Center buildings and the wonderful City of New Orleans.

If the United States were a person, the last five years would be like this …

A registered nurse who lives outside Denver took Ambien before going to sleep one night in January 2003. Sometime later — she says she remembers none of the episode — she got into her car wearing only a thin nightshirt in 20-degree weather, had a fender bender, urinated in the middle of an intersection, then became violent with police officers, according to her lawyer.

Are we medicating ourselves to sleep because we’re kept up at night due to worries about our kids’ futures? Long wars? Peak oil? Or, do we want escape from the incessant ads, the traffic jams, the mortgage, the rent and the reality of post-9/11 USA.

What will it take to snap us out of our Ambien-induced national snooze? The Congress made the despicable USA Patriot Act a permanent law today. They also gonna OK Bush’s illegal wiretapping after the fact. We’re watching Iraq come apart like gossamer in our hands. The there’s the housing bubble, crushing debt, loose nukes and Dubai Ports World.

Hello America! It’s time to wake up now!

Anybody awake out there?

Hello?

Corrupt, but Righteous!

I am a hypocrite with a double standard – I admit it! But George Ryan, in my book, has a get-out-of-jail-free card.

I recently bemoaned an American justice system that lets dirty politicians, like bribe-taking former Connecticut governor John Rowland (1 yr., 1 day) or greed-master Duke Cunningham (8 yrs.), get off with too-light prison sentences.

But now, former Illinois Governor George Ryan is on trial for similar graft:

Ryan, 72, and longtime friend Larry Warner, 67, a lobbyist, were charged in a 22-count federal indictment with racketeering, mail fraud and other offenses.

The indictment says that as secretary of state for eight years in the 1990s and as governor for one term, Ryan steered state leases and contracts to Warner and other friends. In return, he was rewarded with free vacations, loans for his brother's business and even money to pay the band at his daughter's wedding reception, prosecutors say.

Ryan and Warner say nothing they did was illegal.

This time, however, I hope Ryan is found innocent and, if found guilty, I beg he does not spend one single second in jail. Why? What about George Ryan that entitles him to our mercy and leniency?

On Jan. 11, 2003, outgoing Gov. George Ryan emptied Illinois’ death row, citing statistics that show the death penalty in America is racist …

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- Outgoing Illinois Gov. George Ryan announced Saturday that he had commuted the sentences of all of the state's death row inmates and said he would "sleep well knowing I made the right decision."

He delivered his unprecedented speech at Northwestern University.

"Our capital system is haunted by the demon of error: error in determining guilt and error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die. What effect was race having? What effect was poverty having?

"Because of all these reasons, today I am commuting the sentences of all death row inmates," Ryan said.

Ryan's decision affects 156 inmates on death row in Illinois and 11 others who have been sentenced to death but who were not in the custody of the Department of Corrections because they are awaiting re-sentencing or trials in other cases.

And when it comes down to it, on the scales of justice, what has more weight: A little corruption, or ending state killing that’s stacked against African Americans and the economically disadvantaged?

According to the Campaign to End the Death Penalty:

- African Americans are 12% of the U.S. population, but are 43% of prisoners on death row. Although Blacks constitute 50% of all murder victims, 83% of the victims in death penalty cases are white.

- Since 1976 only ten executions involved a white defendant who had killed a Black victim.

- In all, only 37 of the over 18,000 executions in this country's history involved a white person being punished for killing a Black person.

- A comprehensive Georgia study found that killers of whites are 4.3 times more likely to receive a death sentence than killers of Blacks.

- More than 75% of those on federal death row are non-white. Of the 156 federal death penalty prosecutions approved by the Attorney General since 1988, 74% of the defendants were non-white.

So lets stack up Ryan’s good and bad deeds, folks. The good outweighs the bad by a ton. (By contrast, Duke Cunningham’s lawyers argued he should get leniency because he bombed people in Vietnam as an Air Force jet jock!)

I say: Free George Ryan!

Patriot Act = Gleichschaltung

On a dark day for this land, when the Spineless Senate has OK’d a raft of legislation known as the USA Patriot Act that has taken away the rights and liberties of American citizens, it may behoove us to note the term “Gleichschaltung,” since it applies to our plight in the USA in 2006.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The German word Gleichschaltung (literally "synchronising", synchronization) is used in a political sense to describe the process by which the Nazi regime successively established a system of totalitarian control over the individual, and tight coordination over all aspects of society and commerce. Another possible translation is "making equal". One goal of this politics was to enforce a specific way of doctrine and thinking to everybody, eliminating individualism.

The Nazi party's desire for total control required the elimination of all other forms of influence. The period from 1933 to around 1937 was characterized by the systematic elimination of non-Nazi organizations that could potentially influence people, such as trade unions and political parties. Those critical of Hitler's agenda, especially his close ties with the industry were suppressed or intimidated. The regime also assailed the influence of the churches, for example by instituting the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs under Hanns Kerrl. Organizations that the administration could not eliminate, such as schools, came under its direct control.

[snip]

One day after the Reichstag fire on February 27, 1933, the increasingly senile President of Germany Paul von Hindenburg, acting at Hitler's request, issued the Reichstag Fire Decree. This decree suspended most human rights provided for by the 1919 constitution of the Weimar Republic and thus allowed for the arrest of political adversaries, mostly Communists, and for general terrorizing by the SA to intimidate the voters before the upcoming election.
In this atmosphere the Reichstag general election of March 5, 1933 took place. These yielded only a slim majority for Hitler's coalition government and no majority for Hitler's own Nazi party.

When the newly-elected Reichstag first convened on March 23, 1933, (not including the Communist delegates, since their party had already been banned by that time) it passed the Enabling Act (Ermächtigungsgesetz), transferring all legislative powers to the Nazi government and, in effect, abolishing the remainder of the Weimar constitution as a whole. Soon afterwards the government banned the Social Democratic party, which had voted against the Act, while the other parties chose to dissolve themselves to avoid arrests and concentration camp imprisonment.

Media F*cking

I stole this list from a DailyKos diary, but I wanted to add it to this blog ....

Set 1: Primarily National Television News media

countdown@msnbc.com, KOlbermann@msnbc.com, CJ@MSNBC.com, JTrippi@MSNBC.com, hardball@msnbc.com, abramsreport@msnbc.com, dshuster@msnbc.com, dennis.sullivan@msnbc.com, norville@msnbc.com, joe@msnbc.com, msnbcinvestigates@msnbc.com, feedback@msnbc.com, rreagan@msnbc.com, viewerservices@msnbc.com, brian.williams@msnbc.com, imus@msnbc.com, chris.matthews@msnbc.com, msnbcreports@msnbc.com, today@nbc.com, info@cnbc.com, dateline@nbc.com, nightly@nbc.com, MTP@nbc.com, tom.lea@nbc.com, steve.majors@nbc.com, susan.dutcher@nbc.com, rod.prince@nbc.com, jonathan.wald@nbc.com, lisa.hsia@nbc.com, betsy.fischer@nbc.com, mtp@nbc.com, NETAUDR@abc.com, 2020@abc.com, nightline@abcnews.com, wnn@abcnews.com, support@abcnews.go.com, niteline@abc.com, abc.news.magazines@abc.com, phil.boyce@abc.com, thisweek@abc.com, mimi.gurbst@abc.com, mark.nelson@abc.com, virginia.moseley@abc.com, penny.britell@abc.com, muriel.pearson@abc.com, sharon.newman@abc.com, meredith.white@abc.com, gil.pimentel@abc.com, stu.schutzman@abc.com, evening@cbsnews.com, earlyshow@cbs.com, 48hours@cbsnews.com, ftn@cbsnews.com, 60m@cbsnews.com, thismorning@cbsnews.com, bpc@cbsnews.com, dij@cbsnews.com, efm@cbsnews.com, mkx@cbsnews.com, pma@cbsnews.com, rbc@cbsnews.com, sundays@cbsnews.com, grain@cbsnews.com, realitycheck@cbsnews.com, pls@cbsnews.com, pjh@cbsnews.com, wolf@cnn.com, 360@cnn.com, aaron.brown@turner.com, Paula.Zahn2@cnn.com, crossfire@cnn.com, daybreak@cnn.com, jeff.greenfield@cnn.com, livefrom@cnn.com, loudobbs@cnn.com, newsnight@cnn.com, tom.hannon@cnn.com, wam@cnn.com, livetoday@cnn.com, am@cnn.com, andrea.koppel@turner.com, bill.schneider@turner.com, bruce.morton@turner.com, carol.lin@turner.com, daryn.kagan@turner.com, david.ensor@turner.com, jeanne.meserve@turner.com, jim.walton@turner.com, deirdre.walsh@turner.com, kelly.wallace@turner.com, kyra.phillips@turner.com, lou.dobbs@turner.com, miles.obrien@turner.com, paula.zahn@turner.com, candy.crowley@turner.com

Set 2: New York Times, WaPo, LA Times and other National Print media

krugman@nytimes.com, vannatta@nytimes.com, tiwein@nytimes.com, miwein@nytimes.com, weisman@nytimes.com, liptaka@nytimes.com, bobherb@nytimes.com, reissc@nytimes.com, public@nytimes.com, dabrooks@nytimes.com, dakirk@nytimes.com, dasang@nytimes.com, editorial@nytimes.com, erschm@nytimes.com, executiveeditor@nytimes.com, febarr@nytimes.com, foreign@nytimes.com, justice@nytimes.com, burns@nytimes.com, cushman@nytimes.com, markoff@nytimes.com, judym@nytimes.com, letters@nytimes.com, ligree@nytimes.com, nytnews@nytimes.com, managing-editor@nytimes.com, liberties@nytimes.com, mossm@nytimes.com, national@nytimes.com, news-tips@nytimes.com, nicholas@nytimes.com, pekilb@nytimes.com, ropear@nytimes.com, rotone@nytimes.com, stolberg@nytimes.com, slabaton@nytimes.com, weisman@nytimes.com, lewin@nytimes.com, tiwein@nytimes.com, topurd@nytimes.com, washington@nytimes.com, safire@nytimes.com, executive-editor@nytimes.com, managing-editor@nytimes.com, bduffy@usnews.com, letters@usnews.com, gborger@usnews.com, jallen@usnews.com, kwalsh@usnews.com, mzuckerman@usnews.com, vpope@usnews.com, whispers@usnews.com, alevin@usatoday.com, astone@usatoday.com, bslavin@usatoday.com, bnichols@usatoday.com, bwelch@usatoday.com, editor@usatoday.com, dmoniz@usatoday.com, ghager@usatoday.com, gflanders@usatoday.com, jlawrence@usatoday.com, jdrinkard@usatoday.com, jbiskupic@usatoday.com, editor@usatoday.com, jkeen@usatoday.com, kkiely@usatoday.com, kjohnson@usatoday.com, mhall@usatoday.com, rbenedetto@usatoday.com, rwolf@usatoday.com, spage@usatoday.com, tsquitieri@usatoday.com, tlocy@usatoday.com, theforum@usatoday.com, wshapiro@usatoday.com, letters@economist.com, amity.shlaes@ft.com, letters.editor@ft.com, philip.stephens@ft.com, greg.hitt@wsj.com, wsj.ltrs@wsj.com, wsjcontact@dowjones.com, jeanne.cummings@wsj.com, jane_mayer@newyorker.com, themail@newyorker.com, deborah.barfield@newsday.com, ken.fireman@newsday.com, Editors@newsweek.com, WebEditors@newsweek.com, Letters@newsweek.com, letters@time.com, lettersbwol@businessweek.com, letters@washingtontimes.com, gpierce@washingtontimes.com, jmccaslin@washingtontimes.com, dkeil@bloomberg.net, wroberts@bloomberg.net, ghall@bloomberg.net, hprzybyla@bloomberg.net, jcohen@bloomberg.net, NewsAlert@letters.washingtonpost.com, letters@washpost.com, webnews@washingtonpost.com, georgewill@washpost.com, jimhoagland@washpost.com, ombudsman@washpost.com, powellm@washpost.com, kurtzh@washpost.com, abramowitz@washpost.com, achenbachj@washpost.com, allenh@washpost.com, allenm@washpost.com, aranam@washpost.com, argetsinger@washpost.com, asherm@washpost.com, chuck.babbington@washingtonpost.com, bakerp@washpost.com, balzd@washpost.com, barbashf@washpost.com, barkerk@washpost.com, barkinr@washpost.com, barrj@washpost.com, barrs@washpost.com, beckerj@washpost.com, behrp@washpost.com, belmanf@washpost.com, bennettp@washpost.com, benningv@washpost.com, bersellie@washpost.com, beyersd@washpost.com, blumj@washpost.com, bonesteelm@washpost.com, boustanyn@washpost.com, religion@washpost.com, bredemeier@washpost.com, brennanp@washpost.com, brooksd@washpost.com, brownw@washpost.com, browar57@aol.com, carlsonp@washpost.com, castanedar@washpost.com, cavendishs@washpost.com, chans@washpost.com, chandlerc@washpost.com, rajiv@washpost.com, cheaterry@washpost.com, chod@washpost.com, claiborneb@washpost.com, clarkp@washpost.com, cohensh@washpost.com, cohnd@washpost.com, coopermana@washpost.com, copelandl@washpost.com, davenportc@washpost.com, davisp@washpost.com, dawsone@washpost.com, dayk@washpost.com, deanec@washpost.com, deaned@washpost.com, deinerj@washpost.com, deyoungk@washpost.com, dirdam@washpost.com, dobbsm@washpost.com, drezenr@washpost.com, duttj@washpost.com, dvorakp@washpost.com, edsallt@washpost.com, eggend@washpost.com, ahrensf@washpost.com, aizenmann@washpost.com, nightwatch@washpost.com, donovanc@washpost.com, newsonline@bbc.co.uk, editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk, politics.editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk, foreign@guardian.co.uk, letters@guardian.co.uk, politics@guardian.co.uk, online@guardian.co.uk, foreigneditor@independent.co.uk, newseditor@independent.co.uk, letters@iht.com, ellengoodman@globe.com, ombud@globe.com, kcooper@globe.com, letter@globe.com, johnson@globe.com, brelis@globe.com, oliphant@globe.com, editor@scoop.co.nz, alastair@scoop.co.nz, selwyn@scoop.co.nz, jhoward@minidata.co.nz, andrew@scoop.co.nz, wade@scoop.co.nz, jgreenburg@tribune.com, jzeleny@tribune.com, jzuckman@tribune.com, jcrewdson@tribune.com, MPossley@tribune.com, rkemper@tribune.com, bjapsen@tribune.com, csimpson@tribune.com, fjames@tribune.com, GWashburn@tribune.com, gdelama@tribune.com, mdorning@tribune.com, JPeres@tribune.com, cgarrett@tribune.com, oped@csps.com, vanslambrouckp@csps.com, ingwersonm@csps.com, cookd@csps.com, dillinj@csps.com, jonesc@csps.com, armstrongs@csps.com, sullivanc@csps.com, grierp@csps.com, axtmank@csps.com, chinnid@csps.com, kieferf@csps.com, marksa@csps.com, mclaughlina@csps.com, ron@csmonitor.com, richeyw@csps.com, grays@csps.com, letters@latimes.com, readers.rep@latimes.com, aaron.zitner@latimes.com, barbara.serrano@latimes.com, barry.siegel@latimes.com, James.Rainey@latimes.com, bill.rempel@latimes.com, bob.drogin@latimes.com, chuck.neubauer@latimes.com, davan.maharaj@latimes.com, david.kelly@latimes.com, david.savage@latimes.com, david.willman@latimes.com, david.zucchino@latimes.com, deborah.nelson@latimes.com, don.frederick@latimes.com, don.woutat@latimes.com, doyle.mcmanus@latimes.com, ellen.barry@latimes.com, esther.schrader@latimes.com, faye.fiore@latimes.com, glenn.bunting@latimes.com, greg.miller@latimes.com, janet.hook@latimes.com, joan.springhetti@latimes.com, joel.havemann@latimes.com, johanna.neuman@latimes.com, john.glionna@latimes.com, john.hendren@latimes.com, john.stewart@latimes.com, jonathan.peterson@latimes.com, josh.getlin@latimes.com, josh.meyer@latimes.com, judy.pasternak@latimes.com, julie.bowles@latimes.com, ken.silverstein@latimes.com, kevin.sack@latimes.com, leslie.hoffecker@latimes.com, letters@latimes.com, linda.finestone@latimes.com, lisa.getter@latimes.com, maggie.farley@latimes.com, maria.laganga@latimes.com, marjorie.miller@latimes.com, mark.barabak@latimes.com, mark.mazzetti@latimes.com, mark.porubcansky@latimes.com, maryann.meek@latimes.com, mary.braswell@latimes.com, mary.curtius@latimes.com, matea.gold@latimes.com, maura.reynolds@latimes.com, michael.finnegan@latimes.com, michael.kinsley@latimes.com, michael.muskal@latimes.com, millie.quan@latimes.com, nick.anderson@latimes.com, patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com, patt.morrison@latimes.com, paul.feldman@latimes.com, peter.wallsten@latimes.com, readers.rep@latimes.com, richard.cooper@latimes.com, richard.simon@latimes.com, robin.abcarian@latimes.com, roger.ainsley@latimes.com, scott.gold@latimes.com, scott.kraft@latimes.com, stephanie.simon@latimes.com, steve.braun@latimes.com, tom.furlong@latimes.com, tom.hamburger@latimes.com, tom.mccarthy@latimes.com, elizabeth.mehren@latimes.com, alan.miller@latimes.com

Set 3: Misc. National media including Newswires Radio Magazines and Internet

feedback@ap.org, jloven@ap.org, lmargasak@ap.org, msilverman@ap.org, npickler@ap.org, rfournier@ap.org, sjohnson@ap.org, pr@ap.org, thunt@ap.org, traum@ap.org, info@ap.org, pr@ap.org, cochs@ap.org, pressreleases@upi.com, tips@upi.com, investigations_desk@upi.com, politics_desk@upi.com, info@ap.org, editor@reuters.com, patricia.wilson.reuters.com@reuters.net, todd.eastham@reuters.com, stella.dawson@reuters.com, arshad.mohammed@reuters.com, randall.mikkelsen@reuters.com, steve.holland@reuters.com, john.whitesides@reuters.com, news@capitolhillbureau.org, sheberer@pbs.org, charlierose@pbs.org, newshour@pbs.org, danschiedel@kozk.pbs.org, theworld@pri.org, newshour@pbs.org, ombudsman@npr.org, atc@npr.org, morning@npr.org, totn@npr.org, morning@npr.org, rsiegel@npr.org, ombudsman@npr.org, sstamberg@npr.org, totn@npr.org, freshair@whyy.org, watc@npr.org, wesat@npr.org, wesun@npr.org, npronsirius@npr.org, worldwide@npr.org, wesat@npr.org, atc@npr.org, ataylor@npr.org, bwilson@npr.org, bnaylor@npr.org, ombudsman@npr.org, cflintoff@npr.org, emcdonnell@npr.org, corrections@npr.org, cwindham@npr.org, dschorr@npr.org, dardalan@npr.org, dgonyea@npr.org, jlyden@npr.org, jcochran@npr.org, jwilliams@npr.org, krudin@npr.org, lhansen@npr.org, ombudsman@npr.org, mliasson@npr.org, lusa@npr.org, mblock@npr.org, atc@npr.org, morning@npr.org, nconan@npr.org, ntotenberg@npr.org, atc@npr.org, pfessler@npr.org, ombudsman@npr.org, pbreslow@npr.org, newstips@wdtn.com, drobinson@wdtn.com, ddmarko@wdtn.com, jason.pheister@wbns10tv.com, jason.pheister@wbns10tv.com, gramshaw@newshour.org, stephanie@stephaniemiller.com, brian_hill@metronetworks.com, mcurtis@njn.org, mail@uttm.com, maureensm@ffww.com, tgrieve@salon.com, talbotd@salon.com, kberger@salon.com, gsealey@salon.com, michelle@salon.com, mjacoby@salon.com, kaufman@salon.com, mfollman@salon.com, mkeeley@salon.com, modonnell@salon.com, kamiya@salon.com, scottr@salon.com, lauram@salon.com, ruth@salon.com, kaufman@salon.com, bwyman@salon.com, jmillman@salon.com, boehlert@salon.com, szacharek@salon.com, jsweeney@salon.com, abenfer@salon.com, ayork@salon.com, fmorgan@salon.com, klauerman@salon.com, jtapper@salon.com, daryl@salon.com, amontgomery@salon.com, cchocano@salon.com, ccolin@salon.com, areiter@salon.com, dawn@salon.com, dcruickshank@salon.com, boehlert@salon.com, stark@salon.com, letters@slate.com, ekelly@gns.gannett.com, fbremner@gns.gannett.com, jcarroll@gns.gannett.com, kscott@gns.gannett.com, lbivins@gns.gannett.com, mgroppe@gns.gannett.com, mmadden@gns.gannett.com, pbrogan@gns.gannett.com, rchebium@gns.gannett.com, aradelat@gns.gannett.com, cweiser@gns.gannett.com, dabrahms@gns.gannett.com, rrhodes@airamericaradio.com, tawalker@airamericaradio.com, geoff@radioleft.com, contact@pacifica.org, jonsintown@airamericaradio.com, me@glennbeck.com, nealznunze@cox.com, brinkerbob@aol.com, howie@wnir.com, colmes@foxnews.com, johncorby@clearchannel.com, bsteigerwald@tribweb.com, mitch@albom.com, sternshow@howardstern.com, buzzflash@buzzflash.com, kos@dailykos.com, mail@democracynow.org, imusshow@yahoo.com, info@jimhightower.com, billy.house@arizonarepublic.com, oped@thestar.ca, rob@opednews.com, jsmyth@plaind.com, mnaymik@plaind.com, feedback@necn.com, alan@alan.com, jnorman@dmreg.com, jconason@observer.com, editorial@progressive.org, news@michaelmoore.com, maillist@michaelmoore.com, MMFlint@aol.com, media@michaelmoore.com, info@michaelmoore.com, mike@mikemalloy.com, fair@fair.org, phart@fair.org, shohauser@fair.org, galbraith@mail.utexas.edu, dcorn@thenation.com, info@thenation.com, drshow@wamu.org, online@tnr.com, connectionweb@wbur.bu.edu, email@wrn.org, justicetalking@asc.upenn.edu, dastor@editorandpublisher.com, Lionel@LionelOnline.com, onthemedia@wnyc.org, editorial@flashpoints.net, now@thirteen.org, jridgeway@villagevoice.com, plorris@univision.net, dmedrano@telemundo.com, abenitez@univision.net, evaldez@univision.net, rvizcon@telemundo.com

Sweatshop Skyscraper: The Empire State Building

It’s truly a wonder that we pay so little to security workers at the Empire State Building – surely among the topmost terrorist targets in the country – they’ve become yet another symbol of worker exploitation in America.

The security workforce at the ESB, which is largely African American, luckily has a great union in the form of the SEIU Local 32BJ. They’ve just put out a press release detailing the pathetic underpayment of workers ($9/hr. without any benefits) by Copstat and real estate mogul Peter Malkin.

"Being a security officer is one of the few non-fast food jobs available in working-class African-American communities," said Hazel Dukes, President of the NAACP New York State Chapter. "Security companies like Copstat exploit this situation by paying low wages that keep our communities in poverty. These officers deserve to make sufficient, stable wages to provide for themselves and their families."

Is there a corollary to the outsourcing of our ports here in New York City? Or the lack of real security, or even understandable public announcements, on our subways? Sure, because in all these cases, small groups of wealthy insiders are profiting at the expense of the public’s safety. When will Americans wake up and demand better? With Bush garnering 34 percent approval ratings this week, I hope it a sign that Americans smell the coffee.

By the way, the Feb. 28 rally for those security officers in New York coincided with a similar action in Los Angeles led by civil rights veteran, Reverend James M. Lawson, outside the tallest building west of the Mississippi, Library Tower, which was supposedly the recent target of a terrorist plot, according to President Bush. Nonetheless, at the Library Tower we have shortchanged facility security by exploiting workers. A National Day of Action will be held in cities across the country on April 4th.