GobalPunditOrg's Blog

Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Elections, FEMA, International Politics, Iran, Iraq War, Isreal, Liberia, Pakistan, Rhodesia, Robert Young Pelton, War on Terror, World's Most Dangerous Places, Zimbabwe, books, mercenaries, politics

The following is an excerpt from News E-Magazine GlobalPundit.Org’s Interview with author( World’s Most Dangerous Places, Raven ),traveller, knowledge seeker, NatGeo writer, documentary filmmaker, and www.ComeBackAlive.com curator  Robert Young Pelton discusses his new book, Licensed to Kill, Hired Guns in the War on Terror. Robert talks with us about the relaities of Iraq, Chechnya, Liberia, Afghanistan, FARC, DRC, and his extensive experiences travelling in war zones and trying to bring the truth that certain powers don’t want you to know.

 The Discovery Channel picked up and ran a series by the same book title, ‘World’s Most Dangerous Places’, and if you visit Pelton’s main site, you can purchase his DVD’s and books directly.

 The interview was conducted for a radio program and for 2 European print magazines, both now defunct. However the information and understanding that Pelton offers during the course of the interview clarifies his position and reasons for writing Licensed to Kill:Hired Guns In The War On Terror.

 Speaking candidly about Blackwater, Erik Prince, Sandline, Tim Spicer, media manipulation, marketing, and a wide array of subjects, we see why Pelton’s writing is often misinterpreted despite his own clarity. Many come to his work with their own preconcieved notions and try to superimpose their politics on his frank and honest reportage.

 The following is Part 4 of an 8 part unedited interview:

 The rest of the full interview will be posted over the next 4 days as simple audio podcasts,please visit back.

IF the above player doesn’t work, CLICK HERE

 A brief will accompany each podcast segment.

As once written in a brief for a 2002 interview with Salon.com,”Robert Young Pelton, author of “The World’s Most Dangerous Places,” says the U.S. military has killed “thousands and thousands” of people in Afghanistan, al-Qaida is a myth and the WTC was brought down by a “Mickey Mouse” outfit.”

 Pelton would know however. He has been there.

                  ~Sven Erik Balabanoff

                  reach us via: Editor AT GlobalPundit . Org

- note: interview audio & content copyright GlobalPundit.Org

-Please contact us for permission and credit allocation.

Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Elections, FEMA, International Politics, Iran, Iraq War, Isreal, Liberia, Pakistan, Rhodesia, Robert Young Pelton, War on Terror, World's Most Dangerous Places, Zimbabwe, books, mercenaries, politics

The following is an excerpt from News E-Magazine GlobalPundit.Org’s Interview with author( World’s Most Dangerous Places, Raven ),traveller, knowledge seeker, NatGeo writer, documentary filmmaker, and www.ComeBackAlive.com curator  Robert Young Pelton discusses his new book, Licensed to Kill, Hired Guns in the War on Terror. Robert talks with us about the relaities of Iraq, Chechnya, Liberia, Afghanistan, FARC, DRC, and his extensive experiences travelling in war zones and trying to bring the truth that certain powers don’t want you to know.

 The Discovery Channel picked up and ran a series by the same book title, ‘World’s Most Dangerous Places’, and if you visit Pelton’s main site, you can purchase his DVD’s and books directly.

 The interview was conducted for a radio program and for 2 European print magazines, both now defunct. However the information and understanding that Pelton offers during the course of the interview clarifies his position and reasons for writing Licensed to Kill:Hired Guns In The War On Terror.

 Speaking candidly about Blackwater, Erik Prince, Sandline, Tim Spicer, media manipulation, marketing, and a wide array of subjects, we see why Pelton’s writing is often misinterpreted despite his own clarity. Many come to his work with their own preconcieved notions and try to superimpose their politics on his frank and honest reportage.

 The following is Part 4 of an 8 part unedited interview:

 The rest of the full interview will be posted over the next 4 days as simple audio podcasts,please visit back.

IF the above player doesn’t work, CLICK HERE

 A brief will accompany each podcast segment.

As once written in a brief for a 2002 interview with Salon.com,”Robert Young Pelton, author of “The World’s Most Dangerous Places,” says the U.S. military has killed “thousands and thousands” of people in Afghanistan, al-Qaida is a myth and the WTC was brought down by a “Mickey Mouse” outfit.”

 Pelton would know however. He has been there.

                  ~Sven Erik Balabanoff

                  reach us via: Editor AT GlobalPundit . Org

- note: interview audio & content copyright GlobalPundit.Org

-Please contact us for permission and credit allocation.

note: for extra fun follow the hyperlinks!....

 Push Polling 2008, The Appearance of Ethics, And the Same Old Same Old

 Push Polling was a major factor in McCain’s loss in the GOP South Carolina primary. Now John McCain actually credits the Bush campaign team for it’s organization.

 8 years on, with an 89% in-step voting record with President Bush, somehow the term ‘Maverick’ precedes Senator McCain’s name. Regular Fox News viewers will recall Sean Hannity declaring that he will act as a “surrogate” for the McCain campaign.

 Few, if any, news junkies will readily remember any mainstream media outlet questioning just how much of a ‘Maverick’ John McCain is, if at all.

But they might remember Obama’s rhetoric about keeping campaign spending capped - and to keep the election fight a clean one.

 Well it’s clear Obama has reneged on his campaign spending agenda. Considering that he would almost be tying his hands behind his back in not using all that money he has raised, I think at this point it’s almost a non issue.

 A Question For Voters Tired Of Tacticians

How will McCain respond after to the fact to the Obama Campaign’s own recent Push Polling tactic - and how does the Obama campaign respond to the use of their tactics?

Some Background

Either the Obama campaign, or “surrogates”, under the guise of a company called ‘Z&M Research’, have outsourced their work to the Canadian office of an American - owned company - TRG - which coincidentally is laying off almost 400 employees by the end of July.

 The Canadian TRG office, located in St. Catharines, Ontario, has been able to capitalize on cheap and expendable labour with their call centres, especially with St.Catharines being a GM town, continually hit hard over the last 29 years by the economic downturn in the auto industry.

Z&M Research appears not to exist - at least based on some initial searching. Perhaps it’s a proxy company that is billed on behalf of the Obama For President Campaign.

 But this is only hypothesising. What is fact is that TRG has callers phoning with the following script for the Obama campaign.
TRG (The Resource Group) as a rule doesn’t respond to information about clients.

And what also remains a fact is that as of June 24th, weeks after Clinton has conceded and Obama has been declared the presumptive nominee, the call center is using the same script.

 How convenient that this company will be packiing up, 30 days hence, especially if the Obama camp tries to maintain a ‘high-road’ facade. They will be untraceable.

The Obama Script

The questionnaire itself - like most political imaging and negative or positive attribution scripts - starts off fairly innocuously. In this one, callers are asked about election 2004, their likelihood in voting in the 2008 election (Q.3), and even “Generally speaking, do you think that things in this country are going in the right direction, or do you feel things have gotten pretty seriously off track? (Q4)

Q5, and Q6 again still lull the participant asking the respondent whether they would support Obama over McCain, Hillary over McCain, or McCain over Obama or Clinton. It’s a deception that it is just a generic opinion poll.

But this is where it gets fun. Clearly in the interest of collecting Obama data, the questionnaire engages in conjecture, ageism, fear tactics, and maybe a little fact.

Let’s read questions 7 - 12!

Q.7 - “McCain is even more committed than Bush to War in Iraq and Iran. Bush wants us in Iraq for 50 years, but McCain supports permanent U.S. bases and committing our troops there for 100 years. He says there will be more wars in the region and that we may have to bomb Iran. One Republican (Ed.- which Republican? There are millions of them after all!) says McCain would be a bigger war hawk than Dick Cheney.

 Q8 - McCain is very critical of lobbyists, but he has several of them managing his campaign, and a total of 59 of them raising money for him. Recently, some of the lobbyists managing his campaign helped broker a deal that will allow the French company (Ed - oh no! not those disgusting French!) Airbus, to build the next aerial tanker for the U.S. Air Force, rather than giving the contract to a U.S. company. We need to create new jobs here, not in France.

Q9 - The housing market is in crisis, wages are stagnating, prices are rising for gas, health care, and food and our economy is losing jobs. But McCain says he’s focused on foreign affairs, not the economy. McCain admitted that, quote, he “doesn’t really understand economics” and, “still needs to be educated” on the economy.

Q10 - John McCain appears healthy, but if elected, he would assume the presidency at age 72 and be the oldest man ever to do so. Only a few years ago, he survived a serious case of melanoma, the most dangerous kind of skin cancer. Given the stress all presidents experience, especially in times of war and economic crisis, we need a younger, more vigorous president to get the country out of the mess it’s in. (italics added)

Q11 - John McCain is known for his explosive temper. Even one of his Republican colleagues, Senator Thad Cochran, recently said, “He gets very volatile. He gets red in the face. He talks loud…I certainly know no President who’s has a temper like that…You;d like to think that your president would be cool, calm, and collected. He’s commander in chief.” (Ed-I wonder how many Presidents Thad actually knew. And Truman sure popped off.) Another Republican Senator, Pete Dominici said, “I decided I didn’t want this guy anywhere near a trigger.”

Q12 - John McCain says he’s a true conservative with conservative values. But he has a known history of adultery, in both of his marriages. One month ago, allegations were made that McCain had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a female lobbyist who was frequently seen travelling with him and whose clients won political favors from him.

  The Method

 Of the preceding questions, the caller asks the recipient “Let me read you a series of statements about Republican John McCain. For each statement, please tell me whether this description, if accurate (italics added), raisies serious doubts, minor doubts, or no real doubts in your mind about Republican John McCain.”

 The script ends as it started, asking about the same Clinton/Obama/McCain matchups.

 Again, it’s a clever diversion considering Clinton’s concession.

 Clearly the goal is to see how quickly the respondent was manipulated, and to collect data on which of the main questions had the most impact. In other words, which of the “series of statements” affected callers and which themes would be most successful in, again, manipulating the general voting public.

 A recent Washington Post poll shows that there is defintely some success in spinning the age issue:

“Numerous polls, for example, have indicated that McCain’s age may be a bigger detractor than Obama’s race. And more are now concerned that McCain will heed too closely the interests of large corporations than said so about Obama and the interests of blacks”

 The questions themselves allocate “negative attribution” about the subject. It’s a simple but effective marketing 101 strategy and again, it will be interesting to learn about the questions McCain might employ in imposing the same negative attribution to Barack Obama. Will it be race? The same Washington Post phone poll revealed the following:

At the same time, there is an overwhelming public openness to the idea of electing an African American to the presidency. In a Post-ABC News poll last month, nearly nine in 10 whites said they would be comfortable with a black president. While fewer whites, about two-thirds, said they would be “entirely comfortable” with it, that was more than double the percentage of all adults who said they would be so at ease with someone entering office for the first time at age 72, which McCain (R-Ariz.) would do should he prevail in November.

 BUT:

 Even so, just over half of whites in the new poll called Obama a “risky” choice for the White House, while two-thirds said McCain is a “safe” pick. Forty-three percent of whites said Obama has sufficient experience to serve effectively as president, and about two in 10 worry he would overrepresent the interests of African Americans.

 At the end of the day, it would be sad, but not surprising to see the same divisive actions cut to the core of what actually makes up a population. Good thing there was definitely no sexism involved in the election.

p.s. media outlets who would like a copy of this questionnaire faxed to them, email:

 editor at globalpundit dot org

note: for extra fun follow the hyperlinks!....

 Push Polling 2008, The Appearance of Ethics, And the Same Old Same Old

 Push Polling was a major factor in McCain’s loss in the GOP South Carolina primary. Now John McCain actually credits the Bush campaign team for it’s organization.

 8 years on, with an 89% in-step voting record with President Bush, somehow the term ‘Maverick’ precedes Senator McCain’s name. Regular Fox News viewers will recall Sean Hannity declaring that he will act as a “surrogate” for the McCain campaign.

 Few, if any, news junkies will readily remember any mainstream media outlet questioning just how much of a ‘Maverick’ John McCain is, if at all.

But they might remember Obama’s rhetoric about keeping campaign spending capped - and to keep the election fight a clean one.

 Well it’s clear Obama has reneged on his campaign spending agenda. Considering that he would almost be tying his hands behind his back in not using all that money he has raised, I think at this point it’s almost a non issue.

 A Question For Voters Tired Of Tacticians

How will McCain respond after to the fact to the Obama Campaign’s own recent Push Polling tactic - and how does the Obama campaign respond to the use of their tactics?

Some Background

Either the Obama campaign, or “surrogates”, under the guise of a company called ‘Z&M Research’, have outsourced their work to the Canadian office of an American - owned company - TRG - which coincidentally is laying off almost 400 employees by the end of July.

 The Canadian TRG office, located in St. Catharines, Ontario, has been able to capitalize on cheap and expendable labour with their call centres, especially with St.Catharines being a GM town, continually hit hard over the last 29 years by the economic downturn in the auto industry.

Z&M Research appears not to exist - at least based on some initial searching. Perhaps it’s a proxy company that is billed on behalf of the Obama For President Campaign.

 But this is only hypothesising. What is fact is that TRG has callers phoning with the following script for the Obama campaign.
TRG (The Resource Group) as a rule doesn’t respond to information about clients.

And what also remains a fact is that as of June 24th, weeks after Clinton has conceded and Obama has been declared the presumptive nominee, the call center is using the same script.

 How convenient that this company will be packiing up, 30 days hence, especially if the Obama camp tries to maintain a ‘high-road’ facade. They will be untraceable.

The Obama Script

The questionnaire itself - like most political imaging and negative or positive attribution scripts - starts off fairly innocuously. In this one, callers are asked about election 2004, their likelihood in voting in the 2008 election (Q.3), and even “Generally speaking, do you think that things in this country are going in the right direction, or do you feel things have gotten pretty seriously off track? (Q4)

Q5, and Q6 again still lull the participant asking the respondent whether they would support Obama over McCain, Hillary over McCain, or McCain over Obama or Clinton. It’s a deception that it is just a generic opinion poll.

But this is where it gets fun. Clearly in the interest of collecting Obama data, the questionnaire engages in conjecture, ageism, fear tactics, and maybe a little fact.

Let’s read questions 7 - 12!

Q.7 - “McCain is even more committed than Bush to War in Iraq and Iran. Bush wants us in Iraq for 50 years, but McCain supports permanent U.S. bases and committing our troops there for 100 years. He says there will be more wars in the region and that we may have to bomb Iran. One Republican (Ed.- which Republican? There are millions of them after all!) says McCain would be a bigger war hawk than Dick Cheney.

 Q8 - McCain is very critical of lobbyists, but he has several of them managing his campaign, and a total of 59 of them raising money for him. Recently, some of the lobbyists managing his campaign helped broker a deal that will allow the French company (Ed - oh no! not those disgusting French!) Airbus, to build the next aerial tanker for the U.S. Air Force, rather than giving the contract to a U.S. company. We need to create new jobs here, not in France.

Q9 - The housing market is in crisis, wages are stagnating, prices are rising for gas, health care, and food and our economy is losing jobs. But McCain says he’s focused on foreign affairs, not the economy. McCain admitted that, quote, he “doesn’t really understand economics” and, “still needs to be educated” on the economy.

Q10 - John McCain appears healthy, but if elected, he would assume the presidency at age 72 and be the oldest man ever to do so. Only a few years ago, he survived a serious case of melanoma, the most dangerous kind of skin cancer. Given the stress all presidents experience, especially in times of war and economic crisis, we need a younger, more vigorous president to get the country out of the mess it’s in. (italics added)

Q11 - John McCain is known for his explosive temper. Even one of his Republican colleagues, Senator Thad Cochran, recently said, “He gets very volatile. He gets red in the face. He talks loud…I certainly know no President who’s has a temper like that…You;d like to think that your president would be cool, calm, and collected. He’s commander in chief.” (Ed-I wonder how many Presidents Thad actually knew. And Truman sure popped off.) Another Republican Senator, Pete Dominici said, “I decided I didn’t want this guy anywhere near a trigger.”

Q12 - John McCain says he’s a true conservative with conservative values. But he has a known history of adultery, in both of his marriages. One month ago, allegations were made that McCain had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a female lobbyist who was frequently seen travelling with him and whose clients won political favors from him.

  The Method

 Of the preceding questions, the caller asks the recipient “Let me read you a series of statements about Republican John McCain. For each statement, please tell me whether this description, if accurate (italics added), raisies serious doubts, minor doubts, or no real doubts in your mind about Republican John McCain.”

 The script ends as it started, asking about the same Clinton/Obama/McCain matchups.

 Again, it’s a clever diversion considering Clinton’s concession.

 Clearly the goal is to see how quickly the respondent was manipulated, and to collect data on which of the main questions had the most impact. In other words, which of the “series of statements” affected callers and which themes would be most successful in, again, manipulating the general voting public.

 A recent Washington Post poll shows that there is defintely some success in spinning the age issue:

“Numerous polls, for example, have indicated that McCain’s age may be a bigger detractor than Obama’s race. And more are now concerned that McCain will heed too closely the interests of large corporations than said so about Obama and the interests of blacks”

 The questions themselves allocate “negative attribution” about the subject. It’s a simple but effective marketing 101 strategy and again, it will be interesting to learn about the questions McCain might employ in imposing the same negative attribution to Barack Obama. Will it be race? The same Washington Post phone poll revealed the following:

At the same time, there is an overwhelming public openness to the idea of electing an African American to the presidency. In a Post-ABC News poll last month, nearly nine in 10 whites said they would be comfortable with a black president. While fewer whites, about two-thirds, said they would be “entirely comfortable” with it, that was more than double the percentage of all adults who said they would be so at ease with someone entering office for the first time at age 72, which McCain (R-Ariz.) would do should he prevail in November.

 BUT:

 Even so, just over half of whites in the new poll called Obama a “risky” choice for the White House, while two-thirds said McCain is a “safe” pick. Forty-three percent of whites said Obama has sufficient experience to serve effectively as president, and about two in 10 worry he would overrepresent the interests of African Americans.

 At the end of the day, it would be sad, but not surprising to see the same divisive actions cut to the core of what actually makes up a population. Good thing there was definitely no sexism involved in the election.

p.s. media outlets who would like a copy of this questionnaire faxed to them, email:

 editor at globalpundit dot org

  Change We Can Believe In Vs. The Straight Talk Express. Will They Remain Mere Slogans At The End of the Day? 

 The campaign rhetoric between Barack Obama (D-IL), John McCain (R-AZ), Bob Barr (Libertarian Party), and Ralph Nader (Green Party) will fly fast and thick - no different from any other election year - Presidential races are like that and as the money needed to elect increases, so will the institutionalized nature of the electoral beast.

 It will also ensure that the voices of tertiary parties are left silenced under the mountain of campaign fundraising achieved by the dominant 2 Party system.

 Unless, of course, we see broad and sweeping electoral reform and serious transparency in practice. And again, it’s a classic Joseph Heller Catch 22 situation; more money means access to more money, ensuring the status quo never be budged. 

 In the meantime, many questions emerge about how election campaigning away from the podium and glare of the big-money media machines will be conducted. It’s much harder to hold a candidates’ feet to the fire when a campaign becomes plagued with allegations of underhandedness and inuendo away from the cameras.

 While John McCain is certainly no shining example of rhetorical consistency (from referring to Falwell and Roberston as “agents of intolerance” in 2000 to almost sycophantic, backpedalling deference in 2006/7 in an attempt to secure their endorsements), Barack Obama has set high standards for his own campaign and may have painted himself in a corner by doing so.

 And this issue emerges in the ethically malleable underbelly of such things as phone bank campaigning and push polling tactics, surrogates, and the ever present 527’s.

 Sadly Barack Obama’s campaign may be busy pushing that ethical envelope at this very minute. In another city and from another country. By this we mean outsourced Push Polling.

What IS Push Polling?

 After certain allegations emerged in 2000’s Republican South Carolina primary, some definition was required for voters who may have have almost certainly been exposed to it in the past but had no idea what it was that they had been exposed to. Campaign staffers from both the McCain and GW Bush camps we not inclined to let the matter ride.

 CNN, defining Push Polling in thier Feb 10th, 2000 All Politics campaign coverage, said that “Push-polling” refers to a practice where callers represent themselves as a non-partisan member of a polling organization, then provide negative information about a candidate in an effort to discourage voting.”

 More accurately however, Kathy Frankovic, Director of Surveys for CBS News, explains that… ”Fundamentally, what people label a push poll isn’t a poll at all. A push poll is political telemarketing masquerading as a poll. No one is really collecting information. No one will analyze the data. You can tell a push poll because it is very short, even too short. (It has to be very short to reach tens of thousands of potential voters, one by one). It will not include any demographic questions. The “interviewer” will sometimes ask to speak to a specific voter by name. And, of course, a push poll will contain negative information - sometimes truthful, sometimes not - about the opponent.”

 By their very nature, this style of polling, which isn’t really polling, essentially misleads the respondent and subtly damages the image of intended victim and/or party.

 Some license-taking push polling has emerged as recently as 2006. In a race for retiring Sen. Bill Frist’s (R-TN) seat, Rep. Harry Ford Jr (D-TN) faced former Chatanooga Mayor Republican Bob Corker. Corker, using subtle (or overt, depending on one’s definition) racism in questions (ie: his visiting a Playboy Ranch), not to mention the jaw-dropping anti-Ford Jr. TV ads (ie:pretend blonde bimbo:”Harry! Call me.” as she mimes a possible future cell phone communique intimating a tryst).

  Even former Republican Senator from Maine, Bill Cohen, expressed to CNN that the GOP sponsored TV spot was “a very serious appeal to a racist sentiment.”

 And of course, it doesn’t take much to understand how ‘Swift Boating’ became part of the popular lexicon.

 As history shows, if a campaign can cripple a voter’s faith in a candidate, it can undermine that candidate’s likelihood in recieving their vote. And that is the basic method to the madness.

 But it takes a cursory look at the GOP’s 2000 primary race to understand where the modern regimen of Push Polling grew, well fertilized (manured) by pol-operatives.

  Richard Davis, a campaign organizer for Senator McCain’s run against G.W. Bush recounted for the Boston Globe in a pre-campaign Op Ed piece dated Mar.21,2004, that “Anonymous opponents used “push polling” to suggest that McCain’s Bangladeshi born daughter was his own, illegitimate black child…”

 The McCain campaign, riding high on a 19 point win over Bush in New Hampshire, found an agressive adversary in thier main opponent.

 ”What followed was a primary campaign that would make history for its negativity”, Davis remembers.  With few substantive differences between Bush and McCain, the campaign was bound to turn personal. The situation was ripe for a smear.” Certainly some deja vu to be considered in the recent Obama-Clinton battle royale!

 The bottom line? A question asked of race-sensitive South Carolinian voters:“Would you vote for someone who fathered an illegitimate black child ?” If you guessed that Karl Rove had something to with the strategy in question, you wouldn’t be wrong. That Rove was dismissed from Bush Sr.’s says something for Father George. That Bush Jr. loves Rove as his “Turd Blossom” says nothing for the son.

 Davis continues in his op ed piece, ” In the conservative, race-conscious South, that’s [a black illegitimate child] not a minor charge. We had no idea who made the phone calls, who paid for them, or how many calls were made. Effective and anonymous: the perfect smear campaign.”

 More importantly, Davis notes “Campaigns have various ways of dealing with smears. They can refute the lies, or they can ignore them and run the risk of the smear spreading. But “if you’re responding, you’re losing.” Rebutting tawdry attacks focuses public attention on them, and prevents the campaign from talking issues.”

 That’s almost a political aphorism these days. With the modern, well funded campaign machine, “attack response” teams are de riguer. Obama has gone so far as to employ a team and a website/media component to deal with echo chamber allegations that he is a “secret Muslim” and attacks on his patriotism.

 Something that becomes an even more pressing issue than ever, and that’s the responsibility of the media to not allow these various allegations to go unchecked once, twice, and a third time at least. To paraphrase Bill Moyers’ recent appearance at the NCMR (National Conference on Media Reform) that occured in Minneapolis, MN this past June 6-8, it’s ‘incumbent on the 4th column to not become the Filth Column’.

 Davis concluded in his op ed that these strategies that cheapen the democratic process need to be addressed by the candidates themselves in a top-down fashion.

 ”The only way to stop the expected mud-slinging in 2004 is for both President Bush and Senator Kerry to publicly order their supporters not to go there. But if they do, their behavior would be the exception, not the rule.”

 But that was 2004, and we are all to painfully aware of what has continued as business-as-usual.

 Maybe Obama’s supporters can “be the change we’ve been waiting for” by making these standards the new norm, - in the process have people reveal distasteful and unfair tactics that could emerge from the McCain camp. At the very least it would differentiate Obama from McCain and further illustrate that a McCain administration could be an extension of the Bush policies.

  But that means Obama needs to look into the script and the cheaper allegations Obama would have voters possibly believe.

 And if you read part 2 of this piece, perhaps you’ll understand why nothing is going to be different.

ye can leave a comment over at www.globalpundit.org , too ifin ye like.

  A REAL Independent’s Day – Woody Guthrie’s Birthday

The following is not an attempt to recount the life of Woody Guthrie, but to simply remind those of the spirit and life of an individual who continues to inspire contemporary musicians, whether Billy Bragg and Wilco, or Everclear, or any number of musicians spanning an equally staggering number of genres.The “rediscovery” of his work continues to this very day.There are myriad fantastic resources on Guthrie’s life. The Woody Guthrie Foundation can help you get started with some reading. For extra fun, click on the hyperlinks throughout, they’ll take you to many fun places.

  With Canada’s Birthday (July 1st), and America’s Independence Day (July 4th) having just ticked by, I thought a belated birthday reference was in order. And a proper reference to a coming birthday even more needed.

 July 14th is the birthday of Woody Guthrie, an individual whose actions and life does more to inspire the spirit of independence and humanity than 100 nationalist ‘Independence Days’ combined (ie: Coney Island Hotdog Eating Contests). 

 Born in Okemah, OK on July 14th, 1912, Guthrie has a legacy of hundreds of inspiring songs that transcend class, age, and race. He gained reknown for travelling across the USA and Canada, bringing his folk songs to audiences that included migrant workers toiling on farms for subsistence wages to political action groups looking to raise money for progressive social causes such as poverty relief and literacy programs for rural areas.

 His road and train travels, particularly during the Depression, both shaped Woody and chronicled the character and spirit of people dealing with adversity.

 While not linked specifically to any political organization, Guthrie did contribute a column to the Communist-linked ‘Daily Worker’ entitled “Woody Sez”, often expressing common sense advice and folksy wisdom.

 His was political throughout his career. As a member of the Alamanac Singers, Guthrie campaigned for Progressive Party candidate and former Vice President Henry Agard Wallace in 1948 (an election that saw a 4 -way race with racist Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond, Republican Dewey, and Democratic Harry s. Truman) . With regard to politics, Guthrie might be better understood as musician Steve Earle notes:”   I don’t think of Woody Guthrie as a political writer. He was a writer who lived in very political times”. An accurate assesment by any measure, as Guthrie served with and for causes from the anti war movement, to serving in the Merchant Marine. His action was mercurial, and was appropriate for the context he found himself in.

His influence his far reaching and almost impossible to guage. His fictionalized autobiography ‘Bound For Glory’ , published in 1943, could easily be seen as a template for Jack Kerouac’s literary devices in On The Road. Guthrie inspired countless musicians emerging in the late 50’s and 60’s folk revival – most notably Bob Dylan, who visted Guthrie in Brooklyn’s Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital – by which time Guthrie was hospitalized with Huntington’s Disease.

 To help people across North America and Europe keep abreast of events and celebrate the life of Woody Guthrie, www.WoodyGuthrie.Org, run by the Woody Guthrie Foundation, is painstkaingly curated and updated by President Nora Guthrie and publicist Anna Canoni.

From July 9th to Aug 17th, there are a number of notable events fom museum exhibitions to The Woody Guthrie Free Folk Festival, happening the weekend closest to Guthrie’s birthday. This year it happens from  July 9th to 13th.

 As indicated, Guthrie wrote literally hundreds of songs, or made wonderful interpretations of works by others (such as Goebel Reeves’ Hobo’s Lullabye) , again, not to mention his work with the Almanac Singers, Pete Seeger, or Leadbelly to name but a few.

 Guthrie, is, of course linked to one of his most well known songs – This Land is Your Land. Written in 1940, it was a essentially a reaction to the overplaying of ‘God Bless America’ by Kate Smith. Loosely based on a melody bythe Carter Family’s gospel track ‘Oh My Loving Brother’. An anthem itself, This Land is Your Land was finally recorded in 1944 by folk archivist Moses Asch. Frustratingly, the most poignant, and pointed portion of the song – the final verses – are often edited out:

 “In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;

By the relief office, I’d seen my people.

As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,

Is this land made for you and me?

 As I went walking, I saw a sign there,

And on the sign there, It said “no trespassing.” [In another version, the sign reads "Private Property"]

But on the other side, it didn’t say nothing!

It’s hard to find a more eloquent indictment of class inequality in modern song. Breaking that cycle is what is at the kernel of the independent spirit. Without belabouring the obvious ie: political parties already in the pockets of those who perpetutate such inequality - whether from India to the United Kingdom, it would be nice to remember Guthrie and have some assistance in reigniting the independent and revolutionary spirit we so sorely need.