Nancy Skinner's latest blog post - Detroit to Rachel - Ouch That One Hurt!

[SharonRB]

Starting a thread so Nancy can post it.

[Nancy Skinner]

1. Detroit to Rachel - Ouch That One Hurt!

(Cross-posted from my blog at http://thenancyskinnershow.blogspot.com)

Ok – Let me set this up right. I’m a huge Rachel Maddow fan. I enjoyed her radio program, and often quote her and credit her insightful interviews on my show (i.e. this is not an Alec Baldwin thing). I respect intelligent, likeable women like Rachel who have been able to break the male political host opinion barrier as she has done. Kudos.

But I gotta say….On my show over the last two days we’ve had this raging dispute among listeners as to whether there will be enough media oxygen to allow both the prosecutions of Bush administration officials for violations on torture and passing cap-and-trade (a/k/a climate change a/k/a the biggest preventable future threat to humanity) legislation, or whether we should time them with a little more political calculation. We could have a good (and rightfully deserved) bloodletting now, which will make us all feel better, but Obama’s capital reserves will surely pay a price that any stress test could readily detect, and we’ll spend all our energy bailing out the Dems in a partisan food fight while watching our dream of finally passing cap and trade (READ: kiss green jobs, oil independence and a rescued planet bye-bye).

We were essentially debating tipping points in media coverage. Tonight I got my answer. I live in Detroit. The Detroit Free Press headlines in the local paper TODAY included these gems.

“GM to furlough all US plants for 9 weeks.” Sales down 49% in Q1. Won’t make June 1st debt payment. Thousands to lose wages and rely on state unemployment (which is already well over 12%).
(Note to the US: Michigan has been in a technical recession for eight years, not one like the rest of the country).

“Anxiety over Chrysler’s fate runs high. Health care, plant closings, pay concerns as April 30th deadline draws near.”
After repeated “Let’em go bankrupt” rants from cable TV pundits and polls show 75% of Americans don’t seem to care if their companies fail .
“Governor Granholm: Bailed out banks suffocating. Chrysler: Who knew that bailing out the banks would mean that they would kill the auto industry?” said Granholm.
“Cash-for-Clunkers plans run into competing legislation.” (Turns out that even though the Big 3, the UAW and environmentalists are all behind this bill, “foreign automakers are strongly opposed” and it’s holding up because they want US tax dollars to help them even though they’ve been subsidized for decades by their own governments.)
So, an industry that created the middle class and is now desperately trying to re-invent itself is being held hostage by banks that care only about liquidating an industry, an event that will have enormous shockwaves on the economy. And people, good, decent hard-working people, and businesses have pulled together in a time of crisis in this, the most favored of punching bag cities to pull through together.

(When GM could no longer afford to sponsor the Detroit Tigers Fountain for $2 million dollars, Little Caesar’s Pizza and Detroit Tigers owner Mike Ilitch, who had offers from foreign car companies, declined and has donated the sponsorship to all Big Three automakers in a show of solidarity for the love of a city that apparently the whole country reviles.)

We’re now eight days and counting from the Katrina-like slow motion collapse of a state – and real human suffering will be a consequence. (Chrysler’s deadline is May 1st, but we all know the domino effect with suppliers and the other Big Two.)

So after a good 40 minutes on Rachel Maddow’s show on the torture memo reporting (courtesy of our beloved Carl Levin), I was beyond shocked that the next story was devoted to ridiculing the perfect 0-16 record of the Detroit Lion’s football team and the fact that the team had changed its mascot design a bit to “be meaner.”

Not eight days until auto Armageddon, no rallying cry to maintain the manufacturing base in our country, no concern for the legacy of the autoworkers who lost their lives to form unions to give us a middle class and became the arsenal of democracy during World War II, the same retired folks who stand to lose the lion’s share of their pension and health care. Hell, even Arnold Schwarzenegger was here this week and said he believed that Detroit was not far behind in building the advanced technology to meet even California’s emission standards and deserved the government’s help to get there.

But just eight days from collapse, we got ripped because our football team totally sucks. Ouch, my friend Rachel. There are real people here who are hurting in ways the rest of the country hasn’t yet seen (and we don’t want them to). That was a kick in the gut to a player down on the field. I’m sure you didn’t intend it that way, but someone from Detroit had to say “ouch.”

And I can’t help but think my point about media oxygen and tipping points just may have some merit.

[NowHearThis]

2. Profound. Beautifully written. According to some. EOM

nt

[No More Bushbots]

3. Good Job!

Unfortunately the people outside the Midwest couldn't give a shit one way or the other if the American Auto Industry survives. They're too busy pissing and moaning over the fact that the gallows haven't been built to hang every member of the Bushyt Misadministration. Maybe once unemployment reaches 25% because of the failure of the Auto Industry, maybe they'll start worrying about what is really important right now.

[sailor65]

4. Nicely written

I for one am sick and tired of our industry being treated like the outcast while every other pet project gets the front page.

[JaneCharles]

5. Leave the real progressive women alone--You're not worthy!

I find your complaint about Rachel disingenuous, at best. Last week you were going off on Janeane Garafalo, that she's "gone too far," because she dared make an truthful observation about the "teabaggers" and the actions/attitudes of most republicans.

I seriously doubt you consider Rachel "your friend." Probably, Ms. Maddow has too much class to comment on your faux-complaint.

Oh, and BTW.....you are "trouble" in the sense that you have been put in a time slot that a real progressive used be in. You really should replace Alan Colmes on the Sean Hannity show. That is more your speed.

[flakban]

6. Nancy Skinner's short-sightedness

OK,Nancy, we get it. You have limited to no interest in pursuing accountability for the most egregious Bush crimes. You evidently don't understand (or care) how crucial the creation of an impactful deterrent will be to the preservation of our constitutional democracy. You can't seem to grasp that such a deterrent is the only thing that may keep future corrupt presidents from finishing what Bush and Cheney started. If appropriate sanctions are not imposed for these hideous war crimes, positive progress on such fronts as cap and trade, healthcare, the financial structure, etc. may become obliterated by a subsequent regime (sooner or later, once the Obama years are behind us).

There exist specific divisions under our government's Executive Branch, one of which is called the Department of Justice. Have you heard of it, Nancy? Its role is to enforce our laws through investigations and prosecutions. As such, AG Holder will appoint individuals and/or groups to investigate and potentially prosecute for the torture crimes, and it's these people who will commence with an orchestration of such procedures. In this way, Mr. Obama need not burden himself with the Bush investigation activities, as he maintains focus on other important things. And Congress will function in much the same manner. They have a multitude of committees and are capable of walking and chewing gum simultaneously. Partisan slams and bickering are inevitable regardless of the set of issues at play.

I know you're concerned about media time as well. Terrestrial mainstream broadcast media outlets will continue to divi up sound bites as usual. They will be able to do this irrespective of what a special prosecutor or an investigative commission might be addressing behind the scenes. Only the cable channels may opt to provide extended coverage of investigative and prosecutory developments. That's not an issue; these networks have extensive resources and multiple channels of dissemination.

So, no worries, Nancy. Please stop exaggerating and awfulizing. And please familiarize yourself with the real threat of our nation's demise under a fascist-rule dictatorship should we forgo establishing a harsh deterrent. The United States Constitution must be our top priority, and protecting it from Bush-Cheney style decimation our imperative. Now that an opportunity has arisen, the unnecessary devastation and death imposed upon so many by the heartless and manipulative Bush regime must be firmly addressed. We must deter anyone from seizing the White House and raping our nation and other lands again. If it occurs again, we'll be doomed.

[itsrobert]

7. Talk-Radio Host Randi Rhodes Joins Premiere

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124052709154050163.html

[flakban]

8. Your unwillingness to address my points - overwhelmed perhaps, Nancy?

So, Nancy, where's this open mind you claim to possess? You're obviously unwilling to consider my explanations, which I find quite a shame. Lack of willingness to converse with those who take time to express alternate views is the sign of a concrete mentality. In fact, your proneness in this regard further emerged today within an on-air comment you made about what you've been telling those who support Bush crimes prosecution. Specifically, you said: "you'd rather have him (Bush) in jail than protect the climate? That's ridiculous!" The statement not only ignores the immensely important deterrent factor that I spoke of, but it sets up a false choice. It seems fairly conclusive that you've not merely missed the significance of my point about a deterrent, but that you've missed the point itself. Despite your claim to enjoy "mixing it up," I find that your avoidant behavior says another thing entirely.

Still another example of your propensity toward fact-filtering is this: On yesterday's broadcast, Michael Ratner answered your query about the statute of limitations for torture. He said it's 10 years. So what did you say when you quoted him on today's broadcast? You asserted that Mr. Ratner had advised there's "no statute of limitations" for torture crimes. This shows that you tend to hear only what you wish to hear, Nancy. You are accuracy-challenged and unaware of it. I'll give you some credit, though. A bit later in your broadcast someone informed you of your misstatement, so you then correctly recited Mr. Ratner's answer.

Here's some helpful advice (which I'm sure you'll ignore): Distorting reality to fit one's artificial realm tends to demean one's credibility. But then I understand that a distorted sense of reality can preclude perception of the problem itself. Correctable or not, I'll just say that I've not found you to be much of an objective person, Nancy.

I feel compelled to tell you that you remind me a great deal of one of the many obstructionist Democrats who opposed Rep. Dennis Kucinich's diligent impeachment resolution efforts during the second Bush-Cheney term. If you'll recall, Rep. Kucinich introduced 3 House resolutions detailing myriad articles of impeachment against Mr. Cheney and Mr.Bush. Unfortunately, our fine corporate media outlets refused to inform the American public of these resolution efforts. Corporate media certainly did what they could to keep lots of folks from learning there was a movement to impeach these characters, presumably in order to preclude a public outcry for legislators to support the efforts. Of course, obstructionist House Democrats, with mindsets similar to your own, opposed these resolutions because of "more important issues." It seems there will always be issues that are considered "more important" than defending the United States Constitution. And sadly I'm becoming convinced this may always be the case.

Here's the bottom line: If, while there's momentum, we fail to embrace the opportunity to reverse the dangerous precedent for rogue Executive Branch policy implementation, it will permanently establish said precedent as an integral component of our nation's system of government. And that will effectively make each of our presidents a king. If you have no problem with this concept, Nancy, you're not only 'trouble,' your part of the movement to destroy America.