Breaking the glass wall of national politics.

This past weekend, Senator John Kerry landed at our airport here in Madison on his way to a Frank Lloyd Wright-type luxury resort in Spring Green, WI.

Here is an image mad-women might try envisioning in their mind’s eye as they watch/listen to Kerry debate George W tonight:

It begins seven miles down the road from the resort in Spring Green. It ends at a local attraction called the House on the Rock. (http://www.thehouseontherock.com/index1.htm)

The Democratic presidential campaign has metaphorical similarities to the House on the Rock (HOR.) There are cobwebs in the corners and too many dimly lit rooms. Kerry‘s summer campaign was a lot like a tour in HOR. Folks were guided to rooms like the Weapons Exhibit (Dem convention in Boston), the Armor Collection (Vietnam, Swift boat charges) and the Circus Building (just who is in charge with the man on the windsurfer?)

In my mind both represent a retro version of American politics today. It is a kitschy, dusty collection of garage sale stuff. It’s no longer useful for my mommy-mantra of less is more and my world-citizen view of living simply.

Why do we hold on to this stuff?

National politics, in general, reeks of tired patriarchal ideas, war-speak and the delegation of women’s issues to second-class status. The Kerry campaign spent the entire summer on the HOR World’s Largest Carousel - going round and round and round – riding the same old animals, pumping out hypnotic music and no one progressing forward.

Tonight I’ll stand in my mind’s eye in the Infinity Room at HOR; perched in my metaphorical glass-walled room on a precipice overlooking a forest floor above middle America…waiting for the glass to break.

This past Friday, George W Bush was in Janesville, WI to speak from the bully pulpit on education - this from the man who admits he doesn't like to read newspapers. It should be noted that at the same time, former Texas Governor, Ann Richards came to speak at the Monona Terrace in Madison. Ann rocks!

In Madison, the room was filled to capacity with the lively talk among many, many women and some men as well. There was an earnest sharing from Pro-choice advocates, Women for Kerry and Tammy Baldwin supporters of campaign literature, buttons and stickers. By the time I left I looked like a walking billboard of campaigns.

I did learn some important facts. One of which is that the state of Texas is ranked 50th (at the bottom) in the nation for high school graduation rates after following the Texas version of No Child Left Behind. This bill was signed into law by none other than then-Governor George W. Bush.

Some of the highlights, Richards quips, of Bush's first year in office include removing coverage of birth control from the federal health insurance program. She noted that Viagra is still covered.

Since the time he took office, Richards said, Wisconsin has lost 67,000 jobs. A more startling number is that due to the national 5 trillion dollar deficit (of which the U.S. has borrowed money from countries like China) - each American now owes the equivalent of $27,000 in debt.

Sad to say, I don't think any of this made the local broadcast news. Thank goodness community radio WORT (89.9 FM) was there!

The local/national television stations covered the President's visit not like journalists; more like stenographers. This included the prerequisite (I'm being sarcastic) nice visual backdrop; a brief word on the supporters inside/protestors outside; brief mention of the No Child Left Behind Act; and, quick ending of camera shot of Bush shaking hands with the young, pretty female student he shared the stage with during the rally.

So George W came to talk of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and all I got was this stupid media?

There had been no mention of how the state will account for the 124 schools in 31 districts which didn't meet one or more indicators of the NCLB Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP.)

(See http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/dpi/dltcl/eis/pdf/dpi2004_119.pdf )


The Media could have spent a few minutes on the web to find out the financial ramifications of the NCLB Act in the state of Wisconsin. Specifically, that according to a 2002 study by the Institute for Wisconsin's Future, current spending per pupil in Wisconsin is $8,241. Yet to meet NCLB, Wisconsin would need to spend $11,121 per pupil in school or a 35% increase for Wisconsin!

William J Mathis, superintendent of schools in Brandon, Vermont and a senior fellow of the Vermont Society for the Study of Education clarifies the issue in his paper, No Child Left Behind: Costs and Benefits, Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 84, No. 09 (May 2003) pp. 679-686. In Wisconsin, Mathis cites a study from the Institute for Wisconsin's Future, authored by Whitney Allgood and Richard Rothstein, that found in order to meet NCLB, funding would be $11,231 per pupil and $27,879 per high-risk pupils -- more than 2.5 times the cost of previous estimates.

According to Mathis, "In arriving at this figure, the authors demonstrated that overcoming the effects of poverty requires interventions beyond the traditional school. Thus they included community clinics, before- and after-school programs, early childhood intervention, and summer school programs. Simply teaching children will have little effect if they return to bad neighborhoods, single-parent homes, foster care, inadequate health care, and a general lack of support. The authors marshaled convincing evidence that expecting students to reach high standards without essential support systems in place overestimates the ability of schools to cure social ills." )See (http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0305mat.htm#24 )

The NCLB Act, according to Senator Russ Feingold raises concern that, "...the President's budget requests for the three fiscal years since enactment of this bill – one of the centerpieces of his domestic policy – have underfunded the programs that he signed into law and have actually eliminated funding for a variety of programs authorized by this law. In fact, the President's fiscal year 2005 budget request actually underfunds the NCLB by $9.4 billion. The federal government has a responsibility to come through with education funds that we have promised to states and local school districts. To do otherwise sets students and educators up for failure." (See http://feingold.senate.gov/issues_nclb.html)

The Voices Not Heard

One of the more disappointing aspects of the presidential race thus far (don't worry, there will be more to bemoan) is the smear campaign directed against John Kerry's Viet Nam war service.

Several progressives, while condemning the mudslinging, have rightly noted the absurdity of championing military service in an illegal war based on lies that caused widespread civilian deaths and suffering (sound familiar?) as proof of Kerry's leadership. If U.S. political debate were rational, wouldn't Kerry's involvement in the anti-war movement - a politically risky move based on moral arguments - be the best indication of the ability to challenge assumptions, take responsibility and do what's right? Alas, I'm not holding my breath.

But, as Vietnamese-American filmmaker Tiana Thi Thanh Nga reminds us, the Viet Nam war is not just U.S. history-become-political-football:

Who is remembering the millions of Vietnamese non-combatants who died in that conflict? They have become non-persons once again in this debate. Their families live in Apocalypse Forever, and the reasons why remains in America an argument without end. ...

There is so much more yet to be addressed. Agent Orange research, for one, before it is too late. VN is the laboratory since we sprayed the toxic chemicals there. I have filmed Vietnamese postwar survivors living among the rubble in post war Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Laos with serious Agent Orange related illnesses. Innocent children still die every year from landmines – a persistent daily reminder of a war we want to simply forget.

Next April 30th marks the 30 year anniversary of the war’s official end. Here we have the opportunity to mark the past in a manner that positively affects future generations. The Swift Boat controversy has brought Viet Nam back to the front pages but for the wrong reasons. Yet, this critical juncture presents the opportunity to reclaim the skeletons so that we may learn from the past and take essential steps to separate reality from myth.

Right on, sister! Again, I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for whoever wins in November to do the right thing. But the U.S. peace movement should start calling attention to the real Viet Nam - the country and its people today, not partisan smear campaigns about a 30-year-old illegal war. Are you with me?

The Haves and the Have Nots

My last two days in NYC were spent with very different groups, including RNC delegates and members of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign. From an interesting CBS News/ New York Times poll:

58% of the Republican delegates have incomes of $75,000 or above annually, compared to 33% of Republican voters nationally. 61% of Democratic delegates had income of $75,000 or higher. 27% (more than in either 2000 or 1996) of the 2004 Republican delegates have a net worth of $1 million or higher. More Republican delegates are millionaires than there were at the Democratic convention last month - 14% of Democratic delegates said they had a net worth of $1 million or higher.

That explains one woman's concern, voiced as we slowly moved through the extensive security checks at Madison Square Garden Monday morning, that jewelry might set off the metal detectors. (Many, many thanks to WORT 89.9 fm for obtaining RNC media credentials for myself and several other citizen journalists.)

What was it like being on the inside? It was good for me, a progressive member of a progressive community, since it bursted the "bubble" in which I usually reside. Yes, the GOP leadership is morally bankrupt and cynically manipulative, but party members are real (albeit privileged) people, many of whom truly believe that illegal wars are the best way to combat terrorism, that taxes are still too high, and that a woman's control over her own body and love between people of the same sex are both horribly wrong. How do we, as people working for social change, respectfully engage these conservative "real believers"?

A few interesting incidents from the Monday morning RNC session: I talked to several Wisconsin delegates, and asked them, among other things, what their reaction was to the large protest the previous day. One woman would only say that New York is "an interesting city" and that she, personally, had not been affected by any protests. Another woman laughed and said ah, well, there are always going to be a few people who aren't happy with anything. Ummm, try half a million people (see Largest Convention Protest ... Ever). One of the songs performed at the RNC that morning was a vocal / drum version of the Doobie Brothers' "Takin' It To the Streets." A reference to the ongoing demonstrations or simply a clueless song selection? I blog, you decide.

Speaking of FOX News, as I was sitting in an empty Nevada delegation seat, Bill O'Reilly came and stood right next to me as he prepared to report from the convention floor. They wound up not filming - I think because the convention sound system was so loud. But as he stood there waiting, he pointed up at Al Jazeera's press box, laughed and said, only in America... He then remarked to a colleague that, if a package came for Al Jazeera, the RNC folks should make sure not to open it.

What, don't you think it's funny to imply that an independent foreign news organization is run by a bunch of terrorists?

Monday afternoon was the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign's March for Our Lives. At the pre-march rally, speaker after speaker decried poor people's invisibility in the United States, condemned the Democratic and Republican policies which have devastated our country's social safety net, and called for an end to "the war at home." One of the most powerful speakers, to me, was a woman who challenged the dominant assumption that poor people are helpless and hopeless. Waving her arm at the thousands of supporters assembled, she yelled, "This all was organized by poor people!"

Plans were for the march to procede from the rallying point, next to the United Nations, to Madison Square Garden. It was a non-permitted march, and the police presence was very heavy and intimidating. Nonetheless, the march started south down 2nd Ave without incident. There were a few tussles, however, including when the group tried to turn towards Madison Square Garden at 34th Street. The police, on foot, on bikes and in paddy wagons, kept the march moving further south, to 23rd Street, when it was allowed to start moving west. Since it was getting late - and I was getting tired and hungry - I ducked into the 8th Ave subway stop to head back to the RNC and get some dinner along the way. Apparently I just missed some pretty heinous police provocation of the crowd, followed by arrests. NYC Indymedia has several accounts of what happened (see this and this).

I made my way through an even more onerous security check to gain entrance to the RNC Monday evening session, aka 9/11 Exploitation Night. Orwellian doublethink was in full effect, as a former assistant U.S. Attorney praised the PATRIOT Act and an Iraqi woman said, "America, under the strong, compassionate leadership of President Bush, has given Iraqis the most precious gift any nation has ever given another - the gift of democracy and the freedom to determine its own future." Yes, in exchange for at least 11,700 civilian deaths and control of their oil reserves.

Then came the popular Senator John McCain - an utter war hawk, albeit one who exhibits common sense and independent thought in other areas. McCain exhorted the delegates to stand firm in the "fight between right and wrong, good and evil" and - just before slamming Michael Moore - claimed, "Our choice wasn't between a benign status quo and the bloodshed of war. It was between war and a graver threat. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." As if there are only two options (inaction or war) to address terrorism...

The full-on 9/11 salt rubbing began when three telegenic women who had lost either their husband or their brother spoke in front of a darkened screen with "September 11" written across it in large white letters. Their stories were truly heartbreaking. Of course, the 9/11 victims' families are just like any cross-section of the population. These three women drew from their tragic losses the belief that the United States needed to wage war and became (if they weren't already) strong supporters of George Bush. On the other hand, there are the 9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. (More on them later.) The women who spoke to the RNC are just as entitled to their opinions regarding the proper response to 9/11 as are the Peaceful Tomorrows folks. But there was something very disturbing about featuring these women and their pain at a political convention; I had an all-too-vivid mental picture of them being offered up on an ominous-looking altar.

Things didn't get any better when former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani spoke. Some gems: "Terrorists learned they could intimidate the world community and too often the response, particularly in Europe, was 'accommodation, appeasement and compromise.' ... [Repeating a horrible Bush quote:] Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists. ... In any plan to destroy global terrorism, removing Saddam Hussein needed to be accomplished. ... [Hussein] was himself a weapon of mass destruction." I almost expected the screen behind Giuliani to burst into flames.

My favorite experience of the whole week came the next day, Tuesday morning, when I went to the Holy Apostles Church in Manhattan to get a response to the previous evening's RNC speeches from the group 9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. Some of their members were at the church as part of the Stonewalk, a joint effort with the Massachusetts-based Peace Abbey. The Stonewalk, which started in Boston during the DNC and (like DNC2RNC) traveled to New York over the past month, is a prayer-in-action, an educational and atonement effort of sorts, where people pull a massive, 1400-pound stone monument to unknown civilians killed in war. The month-long journey from Boston to New York was organized, in part, to highlight both major parties' shameful willingness to wage war.

I talked to several people involved with the Stonewalk, including the church's reverend. Tearing up, she told me that she had worked in the NYC morgues after 9/11 and that she had never dreamed that their grief would be used to cause others more grief. She invited me to observe their soup kitchen, the largest one in the city. Saying that the congregation wanted to facilitate dialogue, the reverend told me that not only was the church hosting the Stonewalk for a few days, but it had also invited Republicans to volunteer in the soup kitchen and was opening their doors at night to out-of-town protestors needing lodging.

Republican volunteers? With Compassion Across America? I asked to interview them, and a few minutes later was introduced to members of Alabama's RNC delegation. I asked one what would be her response to someone saying that Compassion Across America was just a photo-op. Well, you're here to cover it for your radio station, she said. She also pointed out that the President had called for ongoing volunteerism - although we can't help everyone, she pointed out. I resisted the urge to ask her whether raising the minimum wage might be a more effective way to address poverty than volunteering for a few hours, since I wanted to talk to others in her group.

I then asked the head of the Alabama delegation whether she had heard of the group 9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. No, she said, her face clearly showing displeasure. Well, they have a monument out in front of this church, I said, to honor the victims of 9/11 and all civilian victims of war. Do you have any response to that? She said, somewhat bitterly, that some people must have forgotten their history lessons, that there are times when the United States has to go to war to protect its freedoms. After all, we are the leaders of the free world. And people who question war are wimps, and we can't have wimps leading the United States at this point in our history.

Yes, I have it all on tape. Listen to "A Public Affair" this Friday, September 3, from 12 to 1 pm on WORT 89.9 fm.

It was a great week in New York - and, of course, the RNC and the protests continue. Check out NYC Indymedia and Democracy Now! (also on WORT) for more information.

Diane