Clippings for 15 November 2008...

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A New Progressive Direction
Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Ali Frick, Ryan Powers and Matt Duss write for The Center for American Progress: "The disastrous foreign policies of the Bush years have created an opening for the new administration to show that progressive ideas are better able to secure and protect America in the 21st Century.... Developing and implementing these new policies will require repairing America's image in the world, reestablishing American leadership seven years after President Bush arrogantly declared 'either you're with us, or you're with the terrorists.'"

Reorganizing Government for the 21st Century
Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Ali Frick and Ryan Powers, write for The Center for American Progress: "In 1997, President Bill Clinton vowed to start building 'a bridge' to the 21st century. President Bush's White House, however, has moved backwards in time, operating on a 20th century model. Yesterday, the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF), with the New Democracy Project, released a new book called Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President. The book outlines new ideas for governing in the 21st century, updating the White House to reflect this century's priorities."

A Pro-Growth, Progressive Economic Agenda
Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Ali Frick, Ryan Powers and Matt Duss from The Center for American Progress write: "On election day, 60 percent of voters said that the state of the economy is 'the most important issue facing the nation.' With a resounding progressive victory, the new administration has the opportunity to implement pro-growth, progressive economic policies to get the economy back on track."

Hard Labor at a Tender Age
Franco Ordonez and Ames Alexander report for The Charlotte Observer: "Four months after turning 15, Lucero Gayton began work on the night shift at a House of Raeford Farms chicken plant. Starting at 11 each night, when most girls her age were asleep, the shy teenager with brown eyes was working 10-hour shifts, wielding a sharp knife, cutting muscles from thousands of freshly killed chickens."

Ditch the Smooth Transition. The People Voted for Change.
Naomi Klein writes for The Guardian UK: "The more details emerge, the clearer it becomes that Washington's handling of the Wall Street bail-out is not merely incompetent: it is borderline criminal. In a moment of high panic in September, the US treasury pushed through a radical change in how bank mergers are taxed - a change long sought by the industry."

The Danger of Keeping Robert Gates
Robert Parry writes for Consortium News: "Press reports say Barack Obama may retain George W. Bush's Defense Secretary Robert Gates as a gesture to war-time continuity, bipartisanship and respect for the Washington insider community, which has embraced Gates as something of a new Wise Man. However, if Obama does keep Gates on, the new President will be employing someone who embodies many of the worst elements of U.S. national security policy over the past three decades, including responsibility for what Obama himself has fingered as a chief concern, 'politicized intelligence.'"

Bloomberg Sues the Fed for Bailout Disclosure
Charley James reports for The LA Progressive: "Lost in the wake of Henry Paulson's announcement Wednesday that Treasury is 'changing direction' in how it doles out money in the bank rescue plan is a little-noticed lawsuit filed last Friday by Bloomberg LP, the business news wire service. It is suing the Federal Reserve Board's governors for public records that would answer two simple questions: Who is receiving $2 trillion in Fed loans and what collateral are taxpayers getting to support them? That's trillion, with a 't.' And, yes, as hard as it is to believe, taxpayers don't know the identity of the borrowers to whom they are lending. They also don't know what kind of junk - Stocks? Bonds? Three milk cows and a '69 Camaro? - they are getting to collateralize the federal loans."

Bush Sells Free Market as a Cure-All, Despite Crash.
Matthew Rothschild writes for the Progressive: "On Thursday, Bush gave a speech in New York about the financial crisis, and it was a laughable ode to the free market. It sure was an odd time for such an ode, since the free market is crashing down upon us. Ever incoherent, Bush himself admitted as much. 'I’m a market-oriented guy, but not when I’m faced with the prospect of a global meltdown,' he said. And so he enumerated the market interventions that his administration has already taken. He talked about the need to 'make our financial markets more transparent'— though his bailout is anything but. And he even called for more regulation. "

Exposed: Federal Air Marshals Too Busy Smuggling Coke and Molesting Kids to Protect You
Michael Garbell writes for Pro Publica: "Shawn Nguyen bragged that he could sneak anything past airport security using his top-secret clearance as a federal air marshal. And for months, he smuggled cocaine and drug money onto flights across the country, boasting to an FBI informant that he was 'the man with the golden badge.'"

New Blackwater Iraq Scandal: Guns, Silencers and Dog Food
Brian Ross and Jason Ryan report for ABC News: "A federal grand jury in North Carolina is investigating allegations the controversial private security firm Blackwater illegally shipped assault weapons and silencers to Iraq, hidden in large sacks of dog food, ABCNews.com has learned."

We Won! We Lost!Barack Obama is headed to the White House, but California and other states turned back gay equality. What's next for the GLBT community?
Sean Bugg, writing for Metro Weekly, asked the leaders of a number of national LGBT and HIV/AIDS organizations their thoughts on the new administration, what the community can achieve, and what the victory of anti-gay campaigns across the country means for the LGBT movement.

Letter to Obama: Change Agenda Shoudl Include LGBT Americas too.
Author Marc Acito, from National Public Radio, in an open letter to President-elect Barack Obama, notes the irony of the LGBT community suffering major setbacks through four state ballot measures at a time when the nation was embracing Obama's message of change. "I hope you'll set a tone for the rest of the country, showing them that you understand that the rights that straight couples automatically enjoy -- like inheritance of property, adoption, health benefits and hospital visitation -- are civil rights all Americans deserve," Acito writes.

Prop. 8 Protests Could Become National Movement
Wyatt Buchanan writes for the San Francisco Chronilce: "Outrage and anguish over the passage of Proposition 8 has spurred massive street protests throughout California, and leaders of the gay and lesbian community believe the backlash could spark an unprecedented nationwide push for gay rights."

Recommended Audio: Charles McVey on Feast of Fools
Former Community Bridge guest, Charles McVey, recently appeared on the Feast of Fools Podcast. NOTE: Podcast contains EXPLICIT LANGUAGE.
"Charles wants to call you “Sir.” On today’s show we have queer indie rocker Charles S McVey to play for us. Listen as Charles seduces you in his distinctively gravely voice. We’re sure you’ll appreciate his open and honest lyrics."

Anti-Abortion Terror Tactics Take a Toll
Eleanor J. Bader writes for On the Issues Magazine: "To the anti-abortion movement, standing outside clinic doors and bellowing at patients and staff that they are murderers and whores is simply an effort to 'stop the war against America's children.' Like most wars, this one has included a host of tactics, from picket lines to blockades, and has gone so far as to include arson, property damage, kidnapping and the murder of providers. The antis call it collateral damage, the end product of a campaign that has for 36 years worked doggedly to undo Roe v. Wade."

Abortion Is the Issue for Starting the Healing
E. J. Dionne write for Truthdig.com: "Of course, President-elect Barack Obama’s most urgent task is to repair an ailing economy. But one of his most important promises was to end the cultural and religious wars that have disfigured politics for four decades."

Few Will Miss the Following Campaign News
The Media Channel summarizes data from the Pew Research Center on how the media did in the 2008 election.

Educational Television Falls Short
Ira Teinowitz, writes for TV Week: "How educational are children's educational TV shows on commercial channels? Not very, suggests a new study by Children's Now, which finds that only 1 in 8 programs listed by TV stations as "educational/informational" in fact offer education of 'high quality.'"