[Peace-discuss] Patently false article

[John W.]

At 08:57 PM 6/28/2006, C. G. Estabrook wrote:

>Berkeley was not "the first city in the nation to put a referendum on the 
>Nov. 7 ballot to impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick 
>Cheney."  Champaign and Urbana did that in April.

I figured that's what you meant, Carl.  But isn't our own referendum a 
township initiative, rather than an initiative of either Champaign or 
Urbana as a city cum city?   While we are heartily to be congratulated - 
and the news should be widely disseminated so that the congratulatory 
telegrams can come pouring in - if I'm right then it would be technically 
correct for Ms. Bender to say that Berkeley was the first CITY, etc.  In 
any case, I don't see where she's guilty of anything remotely approaching 
"crass ignorance" or "patently" false reportage.

As my mother would have advised, had she possessed the requisite 
vocabulary, "Save your hyperbole for the big things."

John again



>John W. wrote:
>
>>At 05:28 PM 6/28/2006, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
>>
>>>[The crass ignorance of left-coasters is once again on display.  This 
>>>article appeared in the Oroville Mercury-Register [sic] at 
>>><http://www.orovillemr.com/news/bayarea/ci_3990270> and has been 
>>>circulated on the web.  We should write an account of our local 
>>>referenda and supply it to those websites.  --CGE]
>>
>>If I may ask, Carl, where are the factual errors in the article below?
>>A bit of hubris, perhaps.  And the headline is misleading.  But what is 
>>the "crass ignorance" of which you speak, for which it would be difficult 
>>to excuse Kristin Bender?
>>
>>John Wason
>>
>>
>>>Article Launched: 6/28/2006 12:00 PM
>>>Berkeley votes to impeach Bush
>>>By Kristin Bender, STAFF WRITER
>>>Inside Bay Area
>>>BERKELEY - The People's Republic of Berkeley has done it again.
>>>
>>>The liberal, left-leaning city has become the first city in the nation 
>>>to put a referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot to impeach President George W. 
>>>Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
>>>
>>>Anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan and Daniel Ellsberg, a Vietnam whistle-blower 
>>>who in 1971 released the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times, both 
>>>spoke in favor of the resolution at Tuesday's City Council meeting.
>>>
>>>``Berkeley is a place where things begin,'' said Mayor Tom Bates. ``It 
>>>was the first place in the nation that called for divestment from South 
>>>Africa, it was the first city in the nation to have curb cuts for 
>>>disabled people, we were the first city in the nation to have dog parks 
>>>and the first city in the nation to really protest the Vietnam War,'' 
>>>Bates said.
>>>
>>>Let's not forget banning Styrofoam take-out containers in restaurants.
>>>
>>>``What happens in Berkeley people need to pay attention to because it 
>>>travels, it has legs... what happens in Berkeley today is conventional 
>>>wisdom in the rest of the country tomorrow,'' Bates said.
>>>
>>>Although the referendum is largely symbolic because only the United 
>>>States Congress can impeach a president, city leaders don't see it that way.
>>>
>>>``I don't see it as just symbolic, I see it as educational,'' said 
>>>Councilmember Kriss Worthington.
>>>
>>>Dozens of cities, including San Francisco and Oakland, have already 
>>>approved resolutions calling for impeachment, but Berkeley is the first 
>>>American city that will ask voters to decide.
>>>
>>>It will cost the city roughly $10,000 to add the item to the November 
>>>general election ballot.
>>>
>>>Tuesday's resolution also had widespread support from a group called 
>>>Constitution Summer, which originated on several university campuses, 
>>>including UC Berkeley. Constitution Summer represents a coalition of 
>>>students and young people dedicated to defending the constitution by 
>>>launching a campaign to impeach the president.
>>>
>>>It also had the support of the city's Peace and Justice Commission, 
>>>which drafted language for a referendum. Specifically, supporters say 
>>>the effort is being made based on Bush's handling of the Iraq war, 
>>>federal wiretapping and other issues.
>>>
>>>``We hope this is going to raise a national debate on the issues of the 
>>>Bush administration shredding the U.S. Constitution, trampling on it,'' 
>>>Bates said. ``We hope that this will be a debate about what the Bush 
>>>Administration has done to our civil liberties and rights.''
>>>
>>>         ###