Murtha & Moran forum repeat on CSPAN now

[LSK]

Just turned it on, not sure how long its been playing

[dutchdemocrat]

1. Podcasts up here

http://www.chris-floyd.com/loudblog/

We have the Murtha & Moran event as an MP3 podcast for easy listening here

http://www.chris-floyd.com/loudblog/


As well as the audio for the Town Hall forum in Washington, D.C. last night which included a remarkable question-and-answer session. I've left out the panelists' opening remarks and included only the questions and answers and discussion in this mp3.

Here's a version compressed for better pod use by Empire Burlesque

http://www.chris-floyd.com/loudblog/

The sound quality is not as good for the questions as for the answers, but I think you'll understand them fine. Here's a little info on the voices you'll hear:

Allan J. Lichtman is a professor of history at American University. He has testified as an expert witness on civil rights in more than 70 cases for the U.S. Department of Justice and for civil rights groups, such as the NAACP, the Mexican-American and Puerto Rican American Legal Defense and Education Funds, and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Working for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Allan discovered that racial differences in the rejection of ballots during Florida’s 2000 election cost African-Americans over 50,000 votes and Democrats the presidency. Allan has provided commentary for all networks and cable channels. He has been the regular political analyst for CNN Headline News. He is a fifteen-year columnist for Maryland’s Journal and Gazette newspapers. He has lectured across the world and been cited hundreds of times by newspapers, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Baltimore Sun. Allan consulted for Vice President Al Gore and Senator Edward Kennedy. He was Scholar/Teacher of the year at American University. He has authored six books, including "The Keys to the White House."

Kevin Zeese is the Director of DemocracyRising, one of the organizations that has led the peace movement in opposition to the Iraq War and helped to push us toward moral but difficult positions. Kevin has written and spoken extensively on ending the Iraq war and occupation. He is also a longtime advocate for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney and has written extensively on that topic. Kevin and Democracy Rising have been members of the After Downing Street coalition from the start, and Kevin is an initial member of the Citizens Impeachment Commission recently created by ImpeachPAC. Kevin has been a voice of powerful opposition to this war, and I have heard him speak on the topic at rallies in London, England, Crawford, Texas, and Washington, D.C.

Lila Rajiva is a web activist and freelance journalist based in Baltimore. She has an advanced degree in politics from the Johns Hopkins University and has taught at the University of Maryland. Her writings can be found on Dissident Voice, Counterpunch, and Alternet, among others. She is the author of "Abu Ghraib and the Media, The Language of Empire," which I am hoping to go home with today. This book is described as "a study of how and why the torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib was white-washed by the American media. Tracing the connections between such apparently unrelated incidents as the videotaped beheading of the American contractor Nicholas Berg and the massive siege and bombing of Fallujah—the Guernica of the 21st century—it builds a compelling case that the torture of Iraqi prisoners was not an aberration but systematic, rehearsed, and in line with the history and policies of the U.S. military. It explains why American journalists and commentators ignored or defended what happened."

Cliff Kindy has spent five months a year in Iraq the last three years working with the Christian Peacemaker Team. He works together with Moslem Peacemaker Teams training people how to respond to violence, nonviolently. Before the Abu Grhaib prisoner abuse scandal became a major story, the Christian Peacemaker Team was documenting these types of human rights violations by US forces. In January 2004, the group released a report called "Report and Recommendations on Iraqi Detainees." Kindy discussed these findings in the media, including an interview on Democracy Now! Hosted by Amy Goodman, who was receiving an award in this room the last time I was here. Cliff Kindy has had substantial contact with Iraqi detainees and their families and with U.S. soldiers and higher-ups. His writings – at least those that I've seen on the internet – serve the important purpose of humanizing Iraqis for an American audience.

David Swanson, Moderator, Co-founder, After Downing Street
David Swanson is the Washington Director of Democrats.com and of ImpeachPAC.org. He is co-founder of the AfterDowningStreet.org / CensureBush.org coalition, creator of MeetWithCindy.org, and a board member of Progressive Democrats of America. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and as a communications director, with jobs including Press Secretary for Dennis Kucinich's 2004 presidential campaign, Media Coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as Communications Coordinator for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Swanson serves on the Executive Council of the Washington Baltimore Newspaper Guild. He obtained a Master's degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia in 1997. His website is www.davidswanson.org.