Invasions of Privacy

May 11, 2008

Two weeks ago, I asked a Burger King spokeswoman whether the company had hired a private investigative firm to infiltrate the non-violent Student/Farmworker Alliance (SFA) or Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). She declined to comment. I asked whether the company was aware of any executives making "libelous" comments against CIW via online posts and e-mails. Again, no comment.

Now we know why.

The Fort Myers News-Press linked Vice President Steve Grover to the anti-CIW posts that he made through "his young daughter's online alias." And in an explosive op-ed in the New York Times last week, investigative journalist and author of Fast Food Nation Eric Schlosser revealed that, in fact, the company used Diplomatic Tactical Services – a private security firm specializing in "covert surveillance" and "covert operations" – to spy on the SFA and CEO John Chidsey knew the firm had been hired to do investigations. Burger King's Senior Analyst of Communications, Denise Wilson, told me that Chidsey "did not know about or authorize the use of Diplomatic Tactical Services to obtain information about the Student/Farmworker Alliance's plans." But when pressed on when he learned about it the company declined to comment. Further, when asked whether Burger King would continue to use Diplomatic Tactical Services or any other investigative firms to track either CIW or the SFA she said, "Burger King Corporation has the right and duty to assess security risks and to protect its employees and assets from potential harm."

Newt Gingrich to GOP--Wake Up or Perish

May 8, 2008

In early 2007, The Nation published an extraordinary speech by Bill Moyers. In "A New Story for America," America's media conscience wrote of how "voters have provided a a respite from a right-wing radicalism predicated on the philosophy that extremism in the pursuit of virtue is no vice." Newt Gingrich, architect of the hit job on America--better known as "The Contract With America" --was a key figure of right wing extremism. Or as Moyers called Gingrich and his hearty band --"Ravenous predators...masquerading as a political party of small government, fiscal restraint and moral piety..."

In a much-publicized May 6th post at Human Events magazine, "My Plea to Republicans: It's Time for Real Change to Avoid Real Disaster," Gingrich seems to echo Moyers, who continued in that 2006 Nation article to argue that "the conservative movement stands intellectually and morally bankrupt...."

The long night of the junta is not yet over. We have more than 200 days until Bush and Cheney depart the White House, But the Republican loss in the special election for Louisiana's Sixth Congressional District last Saturday should be --and even Gingrich warns of this --a sharp wake up call for Republicans.

Young Voters Hold the Key

May 6, 2008

With an unprecedented number of youth voters participating in the Democratic primary this season, Anna Martínez--the Democratic National Committee's Deputy Political Director for Voter Protection-- says, "We must be aware of the voting rights issues that are disproportionately affecting young voters."

The party also needs to be aware of these issues because young voters--largely due to the success of the Obama campaign--have become a vital part of the Democratic base. Indeed a new survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows young people aligning with Democrats over Republicans by 58 to 33 percent--more than twice the 11-point gap that existed in 2004. The numbers suggest that this election could be a realignment that increases the Democratic majority in Congress, helps win the presidency, and continues the power shift at the state and local levels.

In the lead-up to today's Indiana and North Carolina primaries, I spoke with Martínez about what the DNC is doing to harness student energy and protect their votes. She told me that young voters are often adversely impacted by election administration issues, "whether it's inadvertent, failure of election officials to plan well, poor poll worker training – or in some cases, deliberate obstacles…. These issues all reflect the need for our Youth Voting Rights Institute (YVRI)." Given what we know about past efforts to tamp down student participation, it's clear that the YVRI has a vital role to play in fighting back against any efforts to curb youth enthusiasm.

Faith-Based Missile Defense

May 2, 2008

In an oversight hearing on the US missile defense program last month, Philip Coyle III, a former Assistant Secretary of Defense and Director of Operational Test and Evaluation in the Department of Defense from 1994-2001, spoke to the House Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs about the almost impossible position it's in when it comes to oversight of this $150 billion – and counting – weapons program: "Congress does not have the information it needs to do oversight. If you don't have the information, and the Pentagon just says ‘trust me', you can't really do oversight."

Yesterday on Capitol Hill, Lieutenant General Henry A. "Trey" Obering III, Director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), appeared before the subcommittee for the third in this series of hearings: "Oversight of Missile Defense (Part 3): Questions for the Missile Defense Agency." It seemed the General was there to illustrate Coyle's very point, as evident when Chairman John Tierney tried to gauge how realistic the testing has been for the system which purports to defend the US and Europe from ICBMs. Has the system been tested against even the most basic countermeasures and decoys that we would anticipate from a nation capable of developing such missiles?

"What I can say is we have flown against countermeasures in the past… we will continue to expand that in our future program," Gen. Obering said. "To have this conversation in a genuine fashion I need to go closed."

The Audacity of Our Gotcha Media

April 30, 2008

As the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's eruptions filled the media, driving out issues of war and recession, skyrocketing gas prices and the global food crisis, I picked up a copy of Barack Obama's "The Audacity of Hope" as solace--an escape from the media circus.

"To think clearly about race, Obama writes, "requires us to see the world on a split screen--to maintain in our sights the kind of America that we want while looking squarely at America as it is, to acknowledge the sins of our past and the challenges of the present without becoming trapped in cynicism or despair." We're living in a time of split screens. There is a new politics emerging --yet we have a mass media determined that this campaign be about manufactured scandals and campaign conference call talking points.

Grilling Burger King

April 23, 2008

Last week I wrote about a Senate hearing on working conditions for tomato pickers in Florida. Much of the discussion there revolved around the "penny-per-pound" deal, and the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange efforts to keep corporations like Yum! Brands and McDonald's from paying it to the farmworkers.

One corporation that has refused to pay the extra penny is Burger King, despite the fact that it would cost them only $250,000 annually , its competitors have agreed to do it, and for workers it's the difference between a sub-poverty wage that hasn't been raised in twenty years and a decent one.

And it looks like Burger King's anti-labor activities run deeper than just its refusal to pay the extra cent. Amy Bennett Williams of the Fort Myers News-Press wrote a story last week that tied Burger King to "libelous" attacks via email and online posts against the Coalition of Immokalee Workers-- a respected anti-slavery group that has helped to prosecute six federal slavery cases and has been praised by the FBI, federal prosecutors, members of Congress, and civil rights organizations.

Decoys, Countermeasures and Deception

April 20, 2008

In Congress last week, Representative John Tierney, Chair of the House National Security and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee, convened the latter in a series of hearings to examine the US missile defense program: "What are the Prospects, what are the Costs? Oversight of Missile Defense (Part II)." Here's the short answer – the costs are open-ended, the prospects suck, but the Bush Administration is still hell-bent on spending over $10 billion per year and compromising our national security in the process.

Three extraordinary expert witnesses were on hand to help sort through the smoke, mirrors and deception that defines the missile defense program – a weapons system Rep. Tierney pointed out that has already cost us $120 billion to $150 billion or more, and that the Congressional Budget Office estimates will cost a staggering additional $213 billion to $277 billion between now and 2025.

"In a time of economic hardship, budget deficits, and many pressing and expensive challenges – both foreign and domestic, we need to all ask ourselves… are we wisely spending the taxpayer's money here; is there a real threat we are trying to guard against; and are we actually going to have something useful at the end of the day?" Rep. Tierney asked in his opening remarks.

Ending Slavery for Pennies

April 16, 2008

The exploitation of farmworkers should not be tolerated in Florida. It should not be tolerated anywhere in the United States. There are many social problems that are extremely difficult to solve. This is not one of them. – Eric Schlosser, investigative reporter and author of Fast Food Nation

Yesterday, at a packed Senate hearing on working conditions for tomato workers, Senator Bernie Sanders asked Detective Charlie Frost, investigator for the human trafficking unit at the Collier County Sheriff's Office, "Do you believe that there is human trafficking happening in Florida agriculture as we speak right now?"

"It's probably occurring right now while we sit here," Frost said. "Almost assuredly it's going on right now."

Fighting for the Franchise

April 11, 2008

National syndicated radio host, Tom Joyner, appeared before the House Administration Committee on Wednesday, testifying on continuing voting problems as documented by his 1-866-MY-VOTE-1 hotline during the primary season.

The Washington Post described the hotline as "the center of an expansive effort – run largely by African Americans independent of political parties and election officials – to make sure every vote is counted in this year's elections." According to The Post, more than 1,000 lawyers have volunteered to staff polling places and call centers, and approximately 70,000 voters have reported problems, "including extraordinarily long waits, a shortage of ballots, difficulties finding polling locations and being dropped from registration rolls."

Joining Joyner on the Hill yesterday were representatives of the NAACP National Voter Fund, Voter Action and VoterLink Data Systems. They testified on the need for long-term reform – uniform election standards rather than the current hodgepodge of differing rules within thousands of jurisdictions. But with November just around the corner and record turnout expected, advocates recognized the urgency for action now as well. They pointed to the need for proper allocation of reliable voting machines so that votes aren't lost to long lines and flawed technologies. Poll workers have to be trained on voters' rights and the voting systems that will be used. And we need better protection of eligible voters so that valid ballots are counted and people aren't turned away from the polls.

Rush to Pass This Bill

April 8, 2008

Today, while Congress listens to the latest spin from the Bush Administration on "democracy building" in Iraq, an important pro-democracy effort continues to be waged at home by Representative Rush Holt. In January I wrote about his Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act of 2008 (HR-5036). Last week, the House of Representatives Committee on House Administration approved the bill without opposition. Now it's up to Leadership to bring it to the floor for a vote.

Currently, six states and a number of counties in 14 other states will be conducting completely unauditable elections in 2008. Shockingly, only about a dozen states will conduct audits. Holt's bill would reimburse jurisdictions that choose to implement voter-verified paper trails; help states move to an entirely paper-based system; and/or provide funding for audits of election returns.

The alternative? How many lessons do we need? The 2000 debacle alone should be enough to show the need for these changes. Want more? How about 2006, when 18,000 votes were lost by electronic voting machines in Florida's 13th Congressional District – in a contest decided by less than 400 votes. As a New York Times editorial put it, "The flaws of electronic voting machines have been thoroughly documented by academic studies and by voters' experiences. The machines are far too vulnerable to hacking that could change the outcomes of elections. They are also so prone to mechanical error and breakdown that there is no way to be sure that the totals they report are correct. In some cases, these machines have been known to "flip" votes -- award votes cast for one candidate to an opponent. The solution is for all votes to be recorded on paper records."