FW: [Peace-discuss] Obama & Media Reform

Wed Nov 12 11:20:47 CST 2008

While that is the case that I have not studied contract law, I am interested
in how contract law would prevent such a legal action from being brought.  I
am willing to accept that practically speaking it would probably get nowhere
and one would be hard pressed to find a lawyer or court willing to accept
such a case.  My suspicions are that you are probably referring to the fact
that verbal contracts have little effective standing in the courts in
contrast to written contracts, that the candidates never formally signed,
affirmed, or confirmed a contractual agreement, and that there was no direct
and explicit quid pro quo involved in which both parties got something of
value in the contractual transaction (otherwise it would be buying votes
which is illegal). 

From: John W. [mailto:jbw292002 at gmail.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 6:56 AM
To: LAURIE SOLOMON
Cc: peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
Subject: Re: FW: [Peace-discuss] Obama & Media Reform

2008/11/11 LAURIE SOLOMON <LAURIE at advancenet.net>

On this and other campaign promises, I think it would be interesting if
members of the public would bring class action legal actions against elected
officials for breach of contract when they break their campaign promises;
after all these promises are a form of verbal - if not written - contracts.

Plainly you haven't studied contract law.

If we are to be moralists about things, then I would say it is immoral for
anyone to allow a candidate to make promises for expediency sake which they
oppose and then if the candidate wins ask the candidate to breach his/her
contract or repudiate his/her campaign promises. Or a moralist, it is
tantamount to encouraging and promoting lying and calling such lies white
lies when they served one's own purposes and serious lies when they were not
in service of one's purposes.  It would then be hypocritical to want and
expect one's officials to be honest and up front.  

If we were to be power politics realists, then morality and honesty would
play no part in our assessments; it would be sheer power politics and
expediency.  We have already made a sham of party platforms and campaign
promises to a great extent; now are we promoting dishonesty, deliberate
deceit, and fraudulent misdirection?

From: peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net
[mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Ricky Baldwin
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 10:06 AM
To: peace discuss
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Obama & Media Reform

We might not agree with the tone of this call to action (do we still notice
tone?  I forget) but I think there are some tangible issues here worth
supporting.  

More fires to light under Obama's bottom ...

Ricky

"Only those who do nothing make no mistakes." - Peter Kropotkin

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: "Josh Silver, FreePress.net" <list at freepress.net>
To: baldwinricky at yahoo.com
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 8:34:08 AM
Subject: Obama & Media Reform

 <http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=Gg-NsMKJIgwoJJYHAkMIIA..> 

Dear Ricky,

Now that the reality of an Obama presidency is sinking in, I want to give
you a sense of what it means for the future of the media.

In a nutshell, if the new president lives up to his campaign promises, we
are poised to see an unprecedented transformation of U.S. media.

Unlike George W. Bush, the president-elect is a strong supporter of Net
Neutrality and universal, affordable Internet access. He is opposed to
further consolidation of media ownership, and he is a friend to public
broadcasting. Obama's election represents a sea change in leadership that
allows us to go from playing defense to offense. These are exciting times.

While Free Press is a tax-deductible, nonpartisan organization that cannot
and does not endorse political candidates, we are heartened by our nation's
new direction.

Obama's election rekindles hope that media reform may finally claim its
rightful place in American politics as a bona fide political issue -- one
whose success is essential to progress on every other issue: from health
care to the environment; from financial reform to war and peace.

Free Press has worked tirelessly since our founding five years ago to stop
the Bush White House from allowing runaway consolidation of media ownership,
from slashing funding for public broadcasting, and from handing over control
of the Internet to the largest phone and cable companies. Thanks to your
unwavering support and activism, we have succeeded to an extent that few
thought possible.

However, as the new president inherits a severe economic crisis, two wars,
and myriad other problems, it will be too easy for media reform to get
pushed down the to-do list (click here
<http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=VEzkn4EkpS384LveVUb-5Q..>  for a look at
Obama's important media reform pledges during his campaign).

Our job -- your job -- is to keep our momentum going and make sure President
Obama makes good on his campaign pledges in the face of competing priorities
and well-financed lobbyists from the phone, cable and broadcasting
companies. 

*	The future of our economy and our democracy requires that Congress
and FCC pass policies that get fast, open, affordable Internet to every home
and business in America, urban and rural, rich and poor. 
*	We must foster hard-hitting journalism that holds the powerful
accountable and covers the issues that affect you most.
*	There must be no more consolidation of media ownership, and we must
create incentives for more independent, local radio, television and print
media. 
*	We must double funding for public media -- for PBS as NPR, as well
as for community media and other noncommercial outlets, and ensure that
public media are protected from undue political influence. 

Free Press has emerged as one of the most effective advocacy groups in the
nation, with a top-caliber combination of grassroots activism, legal
capacity, aggressive communications and legislative expertise. Our success
is driven by you and the thousands of others who support Free Press and take
action when you are most needed.

We are building a new and unstoppable coalition of every constituency,
company and organization that uses the Internet -- young people, religious
organizations, nonprofits and labor. Together, we can wage and win this
looming battle for media that nourish -- rather than undermine -- our
democracy.

We are pulling together the countless millions of Americans who treasure
public and independent media to create the political will to dramatically
increase funding and distribution of alternative media.

And we are going to fight efforts by the Bush administration to give more
handouts to Big Media before they leave office on January 20. Free Press is
already mobilizing to block eleventh-hour moves.

Over the next few months, we will have a rare moment of opportunity to turn
President-Elect Obama's pledges for media reform into a reality in the next
FCC and Congress.

Together, we will determine whether critical, independent voices will reach
living rooms in red states and blue states, East and West, rural and urban. 

If we do our job right, we could advance several crucial issues in 2009: a
permanent Net Neutrality law; redirecting billions of dollars in the
"Universal Service Fund" away from subsidizing telephone service and toward
high-speed Internet deployment; and laying the groundwork for a major
increase in support for public, noncommercial media -- the crucial
alternative to our failing commercial media system. Thanks to overwhelming
public opposition, we do not anticipate further efforts by the FCC to let
Big Media get bigger.

We have a lot of work to do, but Free Press is ready. I trust you are, too,
because we'll need you next to us more than ever. 

Sincerely yours,

Josh Silver
Executive Director
Free Press
www.freepress.net <http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=jadsCkm9V1y-4sOnH85dBg..>

P.S. The next 75 days until inauguration are critical, as we fight off this
president's eleventh-hour gift to the largest media giants, and prepare to
move from defense to offense in January. Your financial support could not be
more important right now.
<http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=-Zfpl3JhV5ImHT1nSd9sHw..> Please consider
making a donation today.

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