[via Progressive Benefit Honoring Harry Belafonte & Arianna Huffington | The Daily Gotham]:

Drumm Major Institute 2005 Annual Benefit Honoring Harry Belafonte & Arianna Huffington "For Speaking Truth To Power."

Please join us as we honor

HARRY BELAFONTE and ARIANNA HUFFINGTON

For Speaking Truth To Power.

Wednesday, June 8, 2005
7:00pm - 8:00pm

1199/SEIU Cherkasky-Davis Conference Center
330 West 42nd Street / Penthouse

Arianna Huffington and Harry Belafonte.

Take your time ... I can wait while you wrap your brain around that one.

Arianna Huffington and Harry Belafonte and believers at the Drum Major Institute of Public Policy:

The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy is a non-partisan, non-profit policy institute founded during the civil rights movement. DMI's approach is unwavering: we do not issue reports to see our name in print or hold forums for the sake of mere talk. We influence policy by conducting rigorous research, leveraging our strategic relationships to engage policymakers and opinion leaders in our work, and offering platforms to amplify the ideas of those who are working for social and economic fairness.  read more »

This is an ongoing action that has not gotten the attention it really needs. Our ability to get fair media coverage is hampered by the loss of the Fairness Doctrine. This is what USED to require the media to balance their coverage, so that one party did not receive preferential treatment. This doctrine was thrown out by the Reagan and the elected Bush administrations. It is time to renew that doctrine. Without the fairness doctrine, the media is at the whim of its publishers and owners, who tend to be Republicans. I am asking you to do three things. First SIGN A PETITION.

Next, write your Congresscritter, your Senators, and your local politicians and ask them to reissue legislation enforcing the fairness doctrine.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, write the media expressing your opinion on the fairness doctrine and why you think it needs to be reissued.

Chris Nolan is one of the best citizen journalists and progressive bloggers we have. Even though she is based out in California, grab her RSS or bookmark her. She is a must read in the progressive blogosphere; and you will appreciate her writing even more when her posts touch on national matters that have New York City at its core:

[via Politics from Left to Right: Rock, Paper, Scissors]:

There is something really interesting going on with the 9/11 Commission and its members' decision to stick with the group's mission despite its lack of official government funding.

Calling themselves the "9/11 Public Discourse Project," the group is scheduling more public hearings on issues it believes the Bush Administration is neglecting. In other words, they are taking it upon themselves to do work they believe is not being done by the U.S. government.

That, my friends, is one hell of a statement. In almost any other nation, the Discourse Project decision to keep going would be considered a vote of "no confidence" by that nation's senior statesmen. Think that's an exaggeration? Imagine if the Warren Commission, called to investigate the Kennedy Assaination, had kept going because it's members thought its work was still undone. Scary, eh?

Go read the whole thing and follow the links.

After Sheldon Silver's decision to stand up to the real estate bullies that were backing Bloomberg's stadium folly, this 9/11 Public Discourse Project will lend even more fuel to his moral fire. Read, especially, the Transcript of June 6th Panel Assessing Progress Of CIA And FBI Reform (PDF Doc).

This transcrip is particularly illuminating given the renaming of the commission to not just a project but a discourse project. Here's what we need to know about that word :

[via Dictionary.com/discourse]:  read more »

I have noticed yet another resurgence of internal attacks within the Democratic party and within the left. People seem back to blaming eachother for our ills rather than uniting against the bastards who are ripping apart our Constitution, destroying our economy and sending our soldiers to die for lies. So I want to resurrect some thoughts I had from one of the earlier periods of leftist infighting.

Progressives are too often so focused on the issues dear to them that they forget that there must be a strategy to fighting for those issues. I have been criticized for being too strategy oriented, but without a strategy, we lose on the issues. The right has the strategy and they win on the issues even when all data, morality and American tradition points to the left being correct on an issue, the neo-Con strategy wins the day. I am always willing to focus on issues, but the overall purpose of what I write regarding politics is aiming for strategy. How do we win on the issues? How can we, a diverse group of people, unite to save American democracy without losing our individual goals and values? How can we show America that its is the LEFT that hold the real, true American values? These are the things on my mind when I write each newsletter.

People say the right won on the values. This is not true at all. They won through strategy and a long term strategy at that. We need to do the same. Truth is, most Americans AGREE with us on the issues already. And the truth is, WE value those things that the Average American values. It is the left that fought for voting rights for all and for overtime pay. The right wants new Jim Crow laws and has already gone a long way to eliminating overtime pay. The left gave America social security and most of the safety net that we all rely on at some point in our lives. The G.I. bill, Veteran’s healthcare, protection of our drinking water and air…these are all leftist values that America holds dear. I covered this in my newsletter and was proud to be quoted on DailyKos. So if we have the values and the issues, why did we lose?  read more »

Mike Lupica today has a great editorial about the Sheldon Silver :

[via New York Daily News - Home - Mike Lupica: West Side glory]:

Sheldon Silver stood up to the mayor and the deputy mayor yesterday. He stood up to Gov. George Pataki and Woody Johnson and Jay Cross, the Jets team president in charge of stadium building. In the process, Silver also delivered the speech of his life.

The whole speech is at The Remarks Of Speaker Sheldon Silver - PACB Decision Press Conference. Here's the sample Lupica quotes.

Developing the West Side and ignoring Lower Manhattan: this is what the PACB vote is really about.

Again, this is not about the Olympics.

For me, this fight is about restoring New York City's soul.

It's about honoring the sacrifices made on September Eleventh.

It's about a moral obligation each and every one of us committed to when we saw those towers go down.

For me, it's about lifting my community, my hometown, my constituents from a kind of devastation never before experienced in the United States of America.

Am I supposed to sell out the community I have fought for and represented for more than a quarter of a century?

Am I supposed to turn my back on Lower Manhattan as it struggles to recover?  read more »