Heading to downtown San Francisco to protest. Will have pictures up afterwards. Bet the news media will deliberately underestimate the crowd by a factor of 10 like they do with every protest.
Column: in Defense of Free Speech
Fri October 24, 2003 08:42 PM ET
By Keith Girard, Billboard Editor-in-Chief
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Free speech is a precious right. Nowhere is that more evident than in countries where the world's dictators rule.
Almost without exception, the first victim of dictatorship is freedom of expression. Those in power cannot tolerate dissent. As we've seen in countries as diverse as Iraq, North Korea and Cuba, dissidents are frequently jailed -- or worse.
Free speech is one of the cornerstones of the world's democracies. When the Founding Fathers gathered to draft a Bill of Rights to the Constitution, it's no surprise that the protection of free speech and the establishment of religion were foremost in their minds.
Under the King of England, they had experienced religious and political repression firsthand. They realized that a free and unfettered political dialogue would be critical to the functioning of a government based on the rule of law and the political will of the people.
While we're not normally given to providing civics lessons in this space, we think it's important to do our part to remind readers about the importance of our "first freedom." After all, artistic expression is the first cousin of political expression, and that's something that concerns us greatly.
In a time of national crisis, as the nation moves toward a potentially divisive election campaign, some may find it politically expedient to question the loyalty of or brand as "un-American" those who question our government's policies.
We saw evidence of that ugly trend earlier this year, when the Dixie Chicks became the victims of an organized campaign of retribution for speaking out against the government.
Even so, a number of artists are putting their careers at risk to let their voices be heard.
Last week, we reported on efforts by Alanis Morissette and others to raise awareness about the government's environmental policies. We were disappointed to see Interior Department spokesman Mark Pfeifle raise the fact that Morissette is Canadian, as if to suggest that her national origin disqualifies her from expressing her opinion.
This week, John Mellencamp became the latest artist to speak out. He questioned the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq.
"It is not just our 'right' but also our duty to speak out and voice our thoughts and opinions," he wrote in a personal message posted on his Web site. "How, then, was it possible that, in the land of freedom, those who opposed the common opinion were called ... 'un-American?"'
We share his concern.
As Bob Dylan once said, "I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom." Chief among them is the responsibility to speak out without fear of retribution when you believe your government is wrong.
Reuters/Billboard
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I just hope they don't sue me for printing the whole article. Can you imagine - getting sued over printing an entire article defending free speech. In spite of the current interpretation of copyright law - there are things posted to the Internet that are clearly intended to be spread. And this article is clearly one of them. Even though there is a copyright statement on it - it's the same one they put on all their articles. But the content of the article itself has an urgency to get the word out about free expression and I interpret that as permission to repost all of it.
Another article you won't see in the mainstream press. This one from The Populist. It appears that Cheney has millions invested in Halliburton who got the lion's share of the no bid contract awarded in Iraq.
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On Meet the Press Sept. 14, Cheney disavowed any present connection to Halliburton: "And since I left Halliburton to become George Bush's vice president, I've severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interests. I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had now for over three years." The statement was subsequently reinforced by spokespersons for both Cheney and Halliburton, who pointed out that Cheney's contract protects his benefits even if the company loses money.
The disclosure form paints a somewhat more nuanced picture. The Vanguard Group holdings are easily among Cheney's largest holdings. Assets are given in ranges (from $100,000 to $1M; from $1M to $5M; etc). Cheney's statement includes two holdings in the $500,000-$1M range; two holdings in the $1M-$5M range; and three holdings in the $5M-$25M range. Thus Cheney's assets invested with Vanguard Group total $18M to $87M. Given the size of Vanguard's stake in Halliburton, it is hard to imagine a mathematical possibility that Cheney's assets are unconnected to Halliburton's fortunes.
Probable return on assets is obviously hard to quantify. Some estimate can be provided by George W. Bush's own financial disclosure statement (see www.opensecrets.org). Bush had relatively piddling assets of $68,766 invested in Vanguard in 2001, on which he declared a quite respectable capital gain of $4,735, or about 6%.
Interestingly, the previous list of top Halliburton shareholders included Texas' Wylie brothers, known as the Maverick Group. The privately owned Maverick Capital last surfaced in headlines back during campaign 2000, when the billionaire Wylies turned out to be behind a group called "Republicans for Clean Air." The group, little known before the campaign, ran a blitz of pro-Bush ads praising Bush on the environment and attacking John McCain, just before the March primaries in 2000, when McCain had been beating Bush, and was credited with damaging McCain's candidacy.
Among other holdings, Maverick also owns millions of shares of the rightwing Liberty Media Corporation and Clear Channel Communications, which sponsored a series of war-boosting rallies around the nation in spring 2003. To these influences can be attributed much of the quality of public discourse about Iraq.
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Now - coinsidering how the press hounded Al Gore for years over making an improper phone call, do you thnk there's any chance they would have let Gore get away with this? Of course not. And you can see how the investment in Clear Channel Communications resulted in media sponsored pro-war rallies. So - when you hear the mainstream media talk about the "liberal press" - it's because their conservative owners made them say it.
David Letterman-style, the Top Ten shareholders for Halliburton Company, Inc., are as follows: Link
#10: The Vanguard Group, with 7.6 million shares of Halliburton stock, worth about $176 million. Vanguard, also 10th largest mutual-fund shareholder in Halliburton, is a huge owner in ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. It moved onto this list recently when Dallas-based Maverick Capital, privately owned by the Wylie family, moved off. Vice President Cheney's disclosure statement (above) shows millions of his retirement money invested through Vanguard.
#9: Lord Abbett & Co., with about 8 million shares of Halliburton. Lord Abbett's trustees, who manage billions controlled by this investment firm, include Bush uncle William H. T. Bush. Lord Abbett is also one of Halliburton's top ten mutual fund holders (another 4.7 million shares).
#8: Deutsche Bank, with 8.3 million shares of Halliburton. Deutsche Bank was home to Alvin B. Krongard, now Bush's number-three man at the CIA. Krongard, whom the CIA web site lists as a longtime consultant, was a director at Alex Brown Bankers Trust, which got a multi-million management contract with FMR (see #7).
#7: FMR Corporation (Fidelity Management & Research), with 10 million shares. FMR, the world's largest mutual fund company, and Wellington (see #2, below) are by far the biggest shareholders in TB Woods Corp., where presidential cousin Craig Stapleton was a director before becoming ambassador to the Czech Republic. FMR also owns big in United Defense/Carlyle, connected to former President George H. W. Bush, and Fresh Del Monte, where presidential brother Marvin P. Bush is back on the board. Interestingly, FMR also owns about 50,000 shares of Harken Energy, George W. Bush's old stomping grounds (current value: about $20,000). Fidelity's Magellan Fund is also the second largest mutual fund holder in Halliburton.
#6: Putnam Investment Manage-ment, LLC, with more than 12.5 million shares. Putnam also owns stock in United Defense/the Carlyle Group and in Fresh Del Monte. Putnam is another top mutual fund holder in Halliburton.
#5: State Street Corporation, with 13 million shares. State Street, which reportedly controls $6 trillion in investments, recently revealed plans for a multi-million deal with (#8) Deutsche Bank, and owns $4.5B worth of Morgan Stanley (#3, below). State Street is also hugely invested in ExxonMobil, one of Saddam's biggest customers, and BP, which started life as "Iraq Petroleum." Also owns big in United Defense/Carlyle.
#4: Barclays Bank PLC, with 17.5 million shares of Halliburton. Barclays is also into United Defense and Fresh Del Monte, and has successfully hung on to 85,000 shares of Harken Energy.
#3: Morgan Stanley, with over 20 million shares. Morgan Stanley, among other connections on this list, is also a shareholder in United Defense and Fresh Del Monte, as well as in #8 Deutsche Bank.
#2: Wellington Management Co., LLP: Headquartered in Boston, Wellington calls itself one of America's oldest investment firms. It holds about 23 million shares, or more than half a billion dollars' worth, of Halliburton, and is linked with most of the rest of this list.
#1: Capital Research and Manage-ment Company, with 25 million shares, also worth over half a billion dollars. Los Angeles-based Capital Group is also a major investor in military contractors Lockheed and Raytheon, and is linked with FMR and Wellington in other large holdings.
By Stan Crock Link
If you want to see how cynical President Bush growing legion of critics are about the Administration's Iraq policy, take a gander sometime at the electronic newsletter sent out by Chuck Spinney, a retired Pentagon analyst. He starts out with a quote from the late journalist H. L. Mencken: "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed [and hence clamorous to be led to safety] by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
Spinney then quotes Nazi Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering, who explained at his Nuremberg trial how easy it is for leaders to get the people to do their bidding. "All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger," Goering said. "It works the same way in any country."
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There's no doubt in my mind that the Anthrax scare was an act of US sponsored terrorism whose sole purpose was to ensure the passage of the Patriot Act. Why do I say that? How do I come to that conclusion? Because we are no longer going after the person responsible for it. When there's an extremely serious crime and the investigation stops - the investigator are the ones behind it.