Posts by Don Hazen

Don Hazen is the executive editor of AlterNet.

Zombie Republican "Feminists" Must be Stopped
Posted by Don Hazen, AlterNet on September 11, 2008 at 9:16 AM.

There is a remarkable guerrilla war going on, where everything that feminism stands for is being turned on its head, as the McCain campaign goes for the jugular with massive doses of Orwellian double speak -- framing Obama as a sexist wolf -- and the corporate media reports it as news.

Here is the beginning of today's Washington Post main story by Jonathan Weisman and Peter Slevin for one sickening example:

McCain Camp Hits Obama On More Than One Front

Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign launched a broadside against Sen. Barack Obama yesterday, accusing him of a sexist smear, comparing his campaign to a pack of wolves on the prowl against the GOP vice presidential pick, charging that the Democratic nominee favored sex education for kindergartners, and resurrecting the comments of the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.

Rebecca Traister on Salon gamely tries to stop the flood gates of Palinania, while explaining why she is gobsmacked at the notion of Sarah Palin as fake feminist in chief in the White House:

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It Is Time to Send Maureen Dowd Packing
Posted by Don Hazen, AlterNet on August 15, 2008 at 12:12 PM.

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd has evolved into a destructive force. Her pieces are almost purely gossip, innuendo, and meanness; worst of all they are often wrong. I used to enjoy her writing; she was frequently funny, and her cutting take seemed more focused on the forces of evil. Now, more often than not, she is the evil, generating paranoia without a purpose -- her own brand of the politics of destruction.

Did something happen along the way to reprogram her writing brain? Was it the publishing of her book and how it was received that has stimulated her inner misanthrope? The work she has been producing is not good journalism or op-ed writing. I don't know what her family was like growing up, but it must have been pretty vicious -- playing gotcha all the time, and forcing her to make stuff up as she went along.

So a thank you to Salon's Joan Walsh, who today gleefully writes:

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Holiday Fun at the Huff Po: American Flag Bikinis
Posted by Don Hazen, AlterNet on July 6, 2008 at 6:22 PM.

The 4th of July in my neck of the woods has become pretty boring. The classic barbecue has become a vestige of the past; even the fireworks seemed old hat. So this year excitement was at a minimum.

But there was one surprise that I never expected. In a stroke of genius I didn't realize the people at the Huffington Post possessed, they produced "The Ten Greatest American Flag Bikini Moments," providing us with the photos of the best babes in the best stars and stripes bikinis. We're talking a range from Jessica Simpson, to Giselle, to Lynda Carter in her Wonder Woman outfit, who incidentally announced on the same day -- thank you again Huff Po -- that she is an alcoholic.

I want to go out of my way to thank the Huffington Post for enriching my Independence Day (snark!), with a feature I never would have thought of in a hundred years. And in case there are any party poopers in the audience, rest assured. Don't lose your confidence in the Huff Po readers: Barack Obama's explanation of his FISA vote was out-polling the Bikini spread in page views: 143, 550 to 122,510. (And make no mistake. I love the Huffington Post -- where else can you get hot politics and hot bodies on the same web site at the same time. What a country! )

New York Times Salutes Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films
Posted by Don Hazen, AlterNet on June 30, 2008 at 9:23 AM.

Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films is garnering accolades for its hard-hitting, commercial free political videos, which are available for free online and circulate virally throughout the blogosphere. Greenwald's anti-McCain videos are racking up millions of hits and attracting the attention of big media players, including the Sunday New York Times (which has an even larger subscription than the weekday editions).

Times reporter Jim Rutenberg described the BNF phenomenon:

"The video blasted across the Internet, drawing political blood from Senator John McCain within a matter of days. It juxtaposed harsh statements about Islam made by the Rev. Rod Parsley with statements from Mr. McCain praising Mr. Parsley, a conservative evangelical leader. The montage won notice on network newscasts this spring and ultimately helped lead Mr. McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee, to reject Mr. Parsley’s earlier endorsement."

Rutenberg notes that the "McCain videos, most of which portray the senator as contradicting himself in different settings, have been viewed more than five million times — more than Mr. McCain’s own campaign videos have been downloaded on YouTube:

In previous elections, an attack like that would have come from party operatives, campaign researchers or the professional political hit men who orbit around them. But in the 2008 race, the first in which campaigns are feeling the full force of the changes wrought by the Web, the most attention-grabbing attacks are increasingly coming from people outside the political world. In some cases they are amateurs operating with nothing but passion, a computer and a YouTube account, in other cases sophisticated media types with more elaborate resources but no campaign experience.

The political and media establishments realizing what AlterNet fans have known for some time: User-generated video has changed the rules of American politics. These days, a citizen doesn't need a huge budget, or a network, or cable TV capacity to make powerful video and get it seen by millions. Dissemination is assisted by the progressive blogosphere, which in 2008 is plugged in to a vibrant infrastructure of news magazines, pundits, and videographers like Greenwald. This "Progosphere" is an echo chamber on the Internet, a tool for framing and messaging that far outstrips anything progressives had at their disposal previously.

The Greening of the Big Apple
Posted by Don Hazen, AlterNet on June 20, 2008 at 9:59 AM.

The Streets Belong to the People

Yes, the New York State legislature scuttled Mayor Bloomberg's bid for Congestion Pricing -- which is another way of saying paying tolls to be able drive into overcrowded Midtown Manhattan -- but that isn't stopping various of the city's political players from trying other tactics to make the city greener and more livable. NYC's charismatic and innovative Transportation Secretary Janette Sadik-Khan, with support from her boss Bloomberg, of course, is creating a major car-free zone that will stretch for 6.9 miles from the Brooklyn Bridge to Park Avenue and up the East Side, on three Saturdays during the dog days of August, clearing the way for a giant strolling mall -- do I hear European cities anyone? Check it out on August 9, 16, and 23.

Of course this is labeled an experiment, but one guesses even the most hardened of New Yorkers are going to take to the idea that the streets belong to the people, at least some of them, some of the time.

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Sarah Jessica Parker Whores for Woman Beater
Posted by Don Hazen on September 18, 2007 at 5:17 AM.

There seems to be an epidemic of all sorts of violence against women -- beatings, stabbings, shootings. Often wives and girlfriends are the target. Even People Magazine had a recent feature on high school girls who get trapped in relationships where their "cute' or "popular" boy friends regularly pulverize them. But it seems so hard for prominent people to hold their pals even the slightest bit accountable for bad behavior.

One guy who seemed to pay the price for women battering was Chris Albrecht, the former CEO of HBO, who developed mega shows like The Sopranos and Sex in the City. He was forced to resign last May after being charged with assaulting his girlfriend in a Las Vegas parking lot. Then it came out that he had payed at least $400,000 to a women in 1991, who worked under him, who accused him of choking her during a disagreement in her office. We don't know what happened in between.

But in the Hollywood world of many chances, Albrecht has landed firmly on both feet as a major player as head of the global business unit at IMG, a growing Hollywood talent agency, owned by big finance guy Theodore F. Forstman. The NY Times reported the new life for Albrecht in a god-awful puff piece by Andrew Ross Sorkin in the business section yesterday. The article did not quote a single person who uttered anything remotely negative about the newly re-empowered Albrecht and his past behavior. And in a great show of enterprising energy, Sorkin gives a key quote framing the new role and image of Albrecht to......... the Goldman Sachs partner who helped broker Albrecht's deal. I bet that guy offered a lot if insight. Quite a journalist that Andrew Sorkin.

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Timberlake's Dick In a Box
Posted by Don Hazen on September 9, 2007 at 1:51 PM.

Ho Ho Ho, Hipster music super sexy star and aspiring actor Justin Timberlake really showed his cojones when he performed the "Dick in the Box" routine on Saturday Night Live last December. Timberlake and SNL" cast member Andy Samberg offered up their "members" as a gift, wrapping them, and eager to presenting to a "loved one" as a holiday present.

This is newsworthy now because the performance was awarded a Creative Arts Emmy Awards. It became an Internet sensation garnering millions of views on YouTube and NBC's Web site, which posted an un-bleeped version. The Creative Arts Emmys, which recognize technical and other achievements for the 2006-07 season, will air Sept. 15 on E!, the night before the Primetime Emmy Awards on Fox.

And not to be out done by the macho guys was the female take: the extremely popular and much watched Box in a Box. B in a B. is perhaps derivative, but fun as hell nevertheless as a satire on a satire poking fun at Timberlake and Samberg. The Box in a Box video stars a sexy Penn student Melissa Lamb as Bunny, and a voice over by Leah Kauffman and takes up where the dick left off, with the woman prancing around with a box affixed to... you guessed it ..... her vaginal area and including lyrics like: "Bush is ruining our country But my bush has never lied, Taco Bell might make you sick But my taco's certified ." Keith Olbermann on MSNBC made quite a fuss over Box in a Box

Funny though, the Huffington Post must be aiming for a family audience, because as they were reporting the fact that Dick in a Box won an Emmy award, they were seemingly unable to call a dick a dick, but rather beat around the bush by referring to the video as "racy and off color" referring to it as (blank) in a box and "a certain part of the male anatomy".. This seems rather tame, and hardly like the wild web we've come to expect. After all, NBC ran Dick in a Box unbleeped. But it turns out Huff Po has half an excuse. They used an Associated Press article instead of writing about it themselves. naughty naughty.

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Obama Streaks Ahead, But Wait: Hillary is "Sweeping the Table" : The Insanity of Polls
Posted by Don Hazen on August 6, 2007 at 5:23 AM.

Late last week two poll stories surfaced in news cycle, leading one to think the reporters where talking about two different elections, and reminding us that polls can confound the voters, as pollsters and reporters seemingly operate in separate realities.

On August 1st., news broke with the headline: " Hillary Clinton Has Lost Her Commanding Lead in Two Key States to Barack Obama, "

"In the past month, Obama has erased a 9-point deficit in New Hampshire to tie Clinton, and jumped 12 points in South Carolina to overtake her, according to the Democratic presidential polls by American Research Group."

These poll results were reported by by Charles Hurt of Rupert Murdoch's New York Post, not a paper that has been favorable to Obama, Pollster Dick Bennett, blamed Clinton's woes on her recent skirmish with Obama ...... when Clinton had blasted Obama for agreeing to meet - without any preconditions - some of the world's most dangerous dictators during his first year in the White House. It showed Obama is "naive" and "inexperienced," Clinton said. "Obama fired back that her foreign policy is little different than President Bush's and Vice President Dick Cheney's. He called it "Bush-Cheney light" and that's what Democratic voters remembered, " Bennett said.

Clinton support in South Carolina sank 8 points in the last month to 29 percent, falling below 34% for the first time this year. Obama, meanwhile, jumped 12 points in South Carolina, to 33 percent. And in New Hampshire, Clinton's numbers are at the lowest of the year, and Clinton and Obama are deadlocked at 31%. Meanwhile, the Democratic contest in Iowa has become a three-way dead heat, with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and rivals Sen. Barack Obama and John Edwards locked in a statistical tie, a surprising new poll shows. The numbers show Obama in the lead with 27 percent, while Clinton and Edwards each get 26 percent in the first-caucus state, according to the Washington Post-ABC News survey.

But wait, on the next day, NBC news came rushing in with a headline Clinton, Giuliani widen leads in new poll. "

With the first primary contests still more than five months away, front-runners Sen. Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani have widened their leads... according to the latest national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll." Clinton, D-N.Y., leads Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., 43-22 percent, with former vice presidential nominee John Edwards coming in third at 13 percent. No other Democrat gets more than 6 percent in the poll.

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Yearly Kos 5, DLC 0!
Posted by Don Hazen on July 30, 2007 at 1:00 PM.

An overwhelming indication of how the world of U.S, domestic politics has changed in the past decade is the fact that 5 of the leading presidential candidates including Edwards, Obama and Clinton will all be stopping in at the 2nd Yearly Kos bloggers gathering in Chicago at the end of the week, while none of these same candidates showed up at the Democratic Leadership Conference (DLC) gathering this past weekend in Tennessee. Bill Clinton, off course headed the DLC for two years before running for the Presidency in 1992.

San Francisco Chronicle political writer Joe Garofoli quotes Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, blogs: "It's hilarious that (Hillary Clinton's) is not even attending her own group,"

Even though she is headed to the Kos gathering, the blog world, as Garifoli points out, is tough terrain for Hillary. "Most liberal bloggers detest Clinton for her 2002 vote authorizing President Bush to pursue military action in Iraq. In Daily Kos' monthly presidential straw polls, "No Freaking Clue" frequently has drawn more votes than Clinton," writes Garofoli. Nevertheless, Hillary is trying to earn some points with the bloggers and sent her spokesperson to defend the Chicago Yearly Kos gathering (which is independent of the Daily Kos blog) when Jet Blue had some second thoughts about being a corporate sponsor, after Fox New's right wing demagogue attacked them viciously for having the temerity to support the blog gathering, for, as the Jet Blue spokesperson explained, " wanting to have our logo in front of 1400 influential people. "

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Jane and Lindsay "Do the Jane Fonda"
Posted by Don Hazen on May 9, 2007 at 10:19 AM.

It was quite a sight to behold -- the wild child Lindsay Lohan pulling Jane Fonda out on the floor to dance up a storm to: "Do the Jane Fonda," the funky, raunchy song by Mickey Avalon with lyrics:

"One, two, three, four, get your booty on the dance floor, work it out, shake it little momma, lemme see you do the Jane Fonda"

The unique cross-generational gyrations took place at the after party of the film premier of "Georgia Rule," at New York City's China Club Tuesday night. Eager party goers grabbed their cell phones to document the exuberant display of affection between Lohan and Fonda. With an age difference of approximately 50 years, Fonda shook her booty right fine, giving the 20 year old party girl Lohan, a run for her money.

In Georgia Rule, Fonda, Felicity Huffman and Lohan play grandmother, mother, and daughter in a compelling dissection of painful familial repetition. Each actor does powerfully moving work in a multi-layered exploration of anger, sexual seduction and molestation, eventually all worked out in an American film-style happy ending. And it is Lohan, easily dismissed for her media-hyped acting out, who frequently dominates the screen.

The premier and party was a fund raiser for AlterNet's content partner, the Women's Media Center. Another aging super star, Gloria Steinem, hosted the event and urged the audience to fight to ensure that women's stories are half the news.

Air America goes Green... hallelujah
Posted by Don Hazen on February 4, 2007 at 8:24 PM.

In case anyone has missed the story, NY real estate mogul Stephen Green has stepped up to make an offer to buy majority ownership in Air America Radio (AAR) and take it out of bankruptcy. (It's conceivable, but not likely, that a higher bidder could step in at the Chapter 11 Court auction this week.)

And in case any one has any doubts, or has lost faith, this is a very good thing. Having someone with deep pockets and good politics putting their money on the line, giving us a megaphone against right-wing radio dominance, is excellent news. Oh, and Green's brother is Mark Green, who will likely be involved in the network's future. That's also a Good Thing. Green would have been Mayor of NYC in 2001, if billionaire Michael Bloomberg didn't opt out of campaign spending rules, resulting in his outspending Green by an astounding 5-to-1 margin -- $73 million of his own money.

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UPDATED: Park Service inanity: they won't tell us how old the Grand Canyon is
Posted by Don Hazen on December 28, 2006 at 6:34 PM.

Subsequent reporting has revealed PEER's claims to be inaccurate and misleading. More HERE.

According to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) in a report released this week [PDF], Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geologic age of its principal feature, due to pressure from Bush administration appointees.

Furthermore, a book approved by the Service claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah's flood ,rather than by geologic forces, is on sale in the park for more than three years, even though a review was promised to Congress and the press. A Freedom of Information request [PDF] reveals that no review has ever been requested, nor taken place.

"In order to avoid offending religious fundamentalists, our National Park Service is under orders to suspend its belief in geology," stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. "It is disconcerting that the official position of a national park as to the geologic age of the Grand Canyon is 'no comment.'" PEER urged [PDF] the new Director of the National Park Service (NPS), Mary Bomar, to end the stalling tactics, remove the book from sale at the park and allow park interpretive rangers to honestly answer questions from the public about the geologic age of the Grand Canyon.

Hard to believe... where is Richard Dawkins when we need him?

How Much Risk Can We Risk?
Posted by Don Hazen on December 22, 2006 at 6:58 PM.

Intervention: Confronting The Real Risks of Genetic Engineering And Life On A Biotech Planet, a new book by former NY Times business columnist Denise Caruso, aims to get ahead of the curve regarding how vulnerable we are making ourselves as a species, hurtling forward at breakneck speed with all number of biotech creations and mutations.

Caruso's book is just emerging, and she recently received a strong testimonial from Steven Johnson, one of the very smartest of interdisciplanary thinkers and technologists, who always seems to have his eye on both important tech advances and the ramifications. He writes about Caruso's book on his blog: With ... "as crucial an issue as, say, genetically modified food, Intervention is wrestling with an even more profound question: how we measure and anticipate risk with such complex, open-ended technologies. Denise makes it clear how "spectacularly nearsighted" we tend to be when evaluating radical new advances. And when we're meddling with the primary forces of nature -- to quote Ned Beatty's speech from Network -- we can't afford to be nearsighted. Fortunately, we have people like Denise Caruso to improve our vision."

Look for a full interview with Caruso early in 2007 on AlterNet conducted by Manager editor Heather Gehlert. Go to hybridvigor.org/intervention to order the book.

(Denise Caruso is a member of the board of the Independent Media Institute, the parent organization of AlterNet.)

Was Republican corruption the tipping point?
Posted by Don Hazen on November 13, 2006 at 8:10 AM.

The highly competitive post election spin battle over which constituency or issue was truly the tipping point for the smashing Democratic victory on November 7th continues unabated. Pundits and experts offer their analysis and theories, while exit polls are wrung out for their secret truths.

The issues most credited for the Republican demise are (a.) unhappiness with the results of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, and (b.) populist economic messages, particularly concern for the impact of international trade policies. These two issues are considered the paradigm shifters for many voters. But I want to make a case for the underdog in this race for issue supremacy: Republican corruption.

Let's go back and take a look at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) report on the Twenty Most Corrupt Members of Congress, released in September of 2006. Entitled "Beyond DeLay: The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and five to watch)," the report documents the "egregious, unethical and possibly illegal activities of the most tainted members of the 109th Congress..." with transgressions "analyzed in light of federal laws and congressional rules."

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The MoveOn political machine exceeds all expectations
Posted by Don Hazen on November 5, 2006 at 6:04 PM.

According to its DC political maestro Tom Mattzie, MoveOn is involved in 57 races -- up from 30 a few weeks ago; it has 101,453 volunteers plugged into phone banks, house parties and their "Call From Home" phone system. They will have 161 staff on Election Day with 39 field offices in 25 states. Now that is a political operation.

MoveOn's goal for voter contacts through the end of Election Day was to actually talk to 450,000 people several times. They will pass that goal today, Sunday. According to lead honcho Eli Pariser, MoveOn has made 4.43 million calls to voters -- 805,000 on Saturday alone. People are holding over 3,000 parties across the country. That's 50% more parties than MoveOn has ever done in one round. at this point they are adding something like 4,000 new volunteers a day.

MoveOn leaders joke that their nickname is "Liquid Phone" because they just keep adding volunteers. They say the closer the races are, the more excited their volunteers get. The more excited the people get, the more GOTV work they can do and the more races we can compete in. Quite a nice situation to be in.

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