[Pen-l] Swans Release: July 28, 2008

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Swans Commentary
http://www.swans.com/
July 28, 2008


Note from the Editors:  Although the 2008 presidential election still seems
about as far away and illusive as Bush's "time horizon" for getting the
troops out of Iraq, time is actually running low for those principled third-
party candidates to jump through the hoops, over the hurdles, into the
public's attention, and on to the ballots, let alone in the debates. Problem
is, the corporate media's utter blackout of Ralph Nader has raised the bar to
Olympic heights, and the notion of equal time for all candidates seems to
have been filed away somewhere between "Democracy" and "Geneva Conventions."
Were it not for a cadre of dedicated individuals working tirelessly alongside
those candidates -- without corporate sponsorship -- the two parties'
monopoly on the Constitution would have been sealed long ago. One such
individual is the eclectic film director and author Jürgen "Rommel" Vsych,
Nader's photographer and filmmaker for the 2004 and 2008 campaigns. Jan
Baughman interviews Ms. Vsych about her experiences and reviews her latest
book, "What Was Ralph Nader Thinking?", a creative and entertaining chronicle
of Nader's grueling 2004 campaign, in which the Democrats spent millions to
keep him off the ballots, and it took a Rommel to get Ralph in the debate.


With the Beijing Olympics fast approaching, the propaganda from the National
Endowment for Democracy and Human Rights Watch is ramping up against China.
Michael Barker shares his scholarly analysis of America's imperial
humanitarian interventions, following the money and the individuals behind
these two key manipulating organizations. Barker recommends the
disassociation of progressive activism from liberal philanthropy, just one
among the many challenges we're leaving for the next generation to tackle,
without the funds to do so... Carol Warner Christen shares a moment of
generational insight that she recently experienced, and at least the next Gen
is made up of pragmatists!


On the musical front, Charles Marowitz mourns the death of Jo Stafford, whose
lush, romantic vocals serenaded him through the 1940s and '50s, while Peter
Byrne reviews "Black Voices, White Visions," which explores the history of
the blues as sung by blacks yet controlled by whites. Our poetic offerings
from Guido Monte, Michael Doliner, and Marie Rennard reflect the solemn mood
of the times -- crisis, helplessness, loneliness, but Byrne also penned a
humorous antidote blending the 40th birthdays of Gore Vidal's Myra
Breckinridge and Robert Crumb's Mr. Natural. Finally, our Martian Blips shoot
at some of his favorite targets, from irredeemable lib-labs, "good" spoilers,
essential inequality, the financial tsunami and the bums we elected to create
it, free-markets, lesser-evilism, incrementalism, philanthropy's dirty little
secret, to rattlesnakes; and your letters take on Stephen Zunes, Lee Iacocca,
and two approaches for returning democracy to the people.


As always, please form your OWN opinion, and let your friends (and foes) know
about Swans. It's your voice that makes ours grow.


                                               # # # # #


http://www.swans.com/library/art14/jeb195.html
An Interview With Jürgen Vsych  -  Jan Baughman
(Ralph Nader's Campaign 2004-2008 photographer and videographer,
and author of "What Was Ralph Nader Thinking?")


http://www.swans.com/library/art14/jeb196.html
Jürgen Vsych's "What Was Ralph Nader Thinking?" - Book Review by Jan Baughman


http://www.swans.com/library/art14/nader08.html
How To Help The Nader-Gonzalez '08 Campaign
- Gilles d'Aymery & Jan Baughman


http://www.swans.com/library/art14/barker03.html
Waging Democracy On China: Human Rights and an Endowment for Democracy
 - Michael Barker


http://www.swans.com/library/art14/carenc41.html
The Sands Of Time Grinding Again Exceedingly Fine - Carol Warner Christen


http://www.swans.com/library/art14/cmarow113.html
A Wreath For Jo Stafford  -  Charles Marowitz


http://www.swans.com/library/art14/pbyrne76.html
Marybeth Hamilton's "In Search Of The Blues: Black Voices, White Visions"
- Book Review by Peter Byrne


http://www.swans.com/library/art14/gmonte48.html
Crisi (Crisis)  - Poem by Guido Monte


http://www.swans.com/library/art14/pbyrne77.html
Myrn Dreckinbridge Meets Bob Crumbo  - Humor by Peter Byrne


http://www.swans.com/library/art14/mdolin36.html
Break Down  - Poem by Michael Doliner


http://www.swans.com/library/art14/marier19.html
Outlandish Sail  - Poem by Marie Rennard


http://www.swans.com/library/art14/desk071.html
Blips #71 - From the Martian Desk - Gilles d'Aymery


http://www.swans.com/library/art14/letter144.html
Letters to the Editor


                                                   # # # # #


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Cordially,
Gilles d'Aymery
--
Swans


"Hungry man, reach for the book: It is a weapon."  B. Brecht

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