Not the man you think U.S. Veteran Dispatch po box 246 Kinston, NC 28502 |
State Dept profile noteless foreign minister henchmen otaku links FPIF |
The U.S. is "running out of demons. I'm down to Fidel Castro & Kim Il Sung" Colin Powell former Joint Chiefs of Staff chair & millennial Sec.State per
Robt. Borosage "Inventing the Threat: | ||
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a Polonius
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REYNALDO |
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… Colin Powell as the four-star general who masterminded the lopsided U.S.
victory over Saddam Hussein … is an icon (like) Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Many view him as serious contender for Presidency of the United States.
Powell's Gulf War strategy … With the support of a 30 country coalition and
untold billions of dollars, Powell organized a half million U.S. personnel and
with almost no casualties, gunned down tens of thousands of Saddam's Iraqi
invaders. His armies then easily drove what was left of Saddam's army out of
Kuwait.
The answer is in a Senate Armed Services Committee report into the incident. The report criticized Powell and his staff for bending to political pressure by making a decision against sending AC-130 gun ships to support the American Troops. An October 30, 1995 political poll revealed that Powell would vault ahead of Republican presidential front runner Senator Robert Dole should the retired general decide to run for President. Behind the scenes, former President George Bush is privately cheerleading for the man he appointed chairman of the JCS. Political power brokers and mentors of Powell, such as Frank Carlucci, Casper Weinberger and Richard Armitage, are also lending their influential support. Establishment media has effectively blown a blizzard of free publicity to "the insider's insider".
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… As an Army officer, Powell's superiors considered him a consummate "team
player". They could count on Powell to haul their water despite any
contradictory feels he may have had. Powell's blind loyalty was
demonstrated during a second tour in Vietnam (1968-69), where as deputy
assistant chief of staff for operations G-3 at American Division HQ in Chu Lai,
he was asked to handle a potentially embarrassing letter a young soldier had
written to Gen. Creighton Abrams, commander of all U.S. forces in Vietnam. The
soldier had written about rumors of a massacre that American Division soldiers
had committed in the hamlet of My Lai 4 in South Vietnam. Although he did
not mention My Lai in the letter, the soldier complained that American soldiers
were indiscriminately killing Vietnamese civilians. Such acts, the young soldier
warned "are carried on at entire unit levels and thereby acquire the aspect of
sanctioned policy". Several days after he received a copy of the letter, Powell sent a memo to his superior, the adjutant general, making the outrageous claim that the young soldier had not given enough specifics upon which to base an inquiry. The purposely blind Powell said the soldier's charges were false except for "isolated instances". He wrote that "relations between American soldiers and the Vietnamese are excellent". Powell's damage control efforts soon proved fruitless and the My Lai massacre burst onto the world stage like an atomic explosion, severely damaging the U.S. war effort in Vietnam. On the orders of Lt. William Calley, soldiers from the U.S. Army American Division had indeed indiscriminately gunned down an entire village of men, women and children. Although Powell's attempt to cover up the massacre was unsuccessful, he had at least proven his willingness to do what was necessary to please his bosses. For his two tours of duty in Vietnam, Powell, who was never exposed to serious combat, was awarded the Purple Heart for a minor foot wound he received after stepping on a "punji stick". He was later awarded a Bronze Star for heroism and the Soldiers Medal for pulling two men free from a NON-COMBAT RELATED helicopter crash. After returning from Vietnam, the ambitious young officer attended George Washington University, courtesy of the Army, and received an MBA degree.
A year later, in 1972, Powell was one of 17 persons hand picked by Washington
insiders from more than 1,500 military and civilian applicants for White House
fellowships. He was assigned to work for Frank Carlucci, who was at that time
deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Casper Weinberger,
budget director. The two became Powell's champions in Washington's power
circles. … President Nixon made a politically convenient decision to ignore
high level intelligence which told of large numbers of American prisoners of war
being held back as hostages by the communist Vietnamese and their Laotian
puppets after the war ended. Nixon's decision to declare all "missing" Americans
dead caused a controversy which has plagued Washington decision makers to this
day.
… Armitage, who Powell now claims is his best friend, has been lined by various
news reports to CIA sanctioned arms and drug trafficking during the mid-'70s while working for a
U.S. government agency based in Bangkok, Thailand. … Syndicated columnist,
Jack Anderson, reported in the March 13, 1986 issue of the Washington Post that
the President's Commission on Organized Crime had questioned Armitage about his
relationship with a Vietnamese refugee who was convicted in 1985 of running a major gambling
operation in Arlington, VA. Armitage had written a letter on official Defense Department
stationary urging the Arlington County Court to "show mercy" on the refugee whom
he acknowledged was a friend. But, Powell's damage control activities have not
been limited to Armitage. He played an active role in White House damage control
following the tragic loss of hundreds of marines when the U.S. Marine barracks
in Beirut were blown up. (MARINE GUARDS HAD BEEN FORCED TO STAND GUARD DUTY
WITH EMPTY RIFLES.) Powell also helped with damage control after the U.S.
government's failed attempt to kill Libya's Moammar Khadafy, a bombing raid
which instead killed one of the Libyan leader's children.
In January, 1986, the political general again blindly obeyed his superiors and
secretly transferred U.S. TOW missiles to Iran without the approval or knowledge
of Congress. Fortunately for Powell, his powerful mentors successfully
camouflaged and explained away his not so insignificant role in what later
became known as the Iran-Contra affair. Powell had his "ticket punched" again in
June 1986 when he was temporarily given a much coveted military assignment as
the commanding general of the 75,000 member 5th Corps in Frankfort, West
Germany. After only six months of service as a real commanding general, Powell's
handlers recalled him to the White House when the Iran Contra affair exploded.
Reagan administration damage control experts scurried to replace the disgraced
Bud McFarlane giving the job to the trusted Carlucci. As he had done in the
past, Carlucci summoned Powell to his side, naming him deputy national security
advisor. During this assignment, the political general was involved in a secret
telephone conversation with a senior aide to Vice President George Bush … .
The call, concerning an effort Ross Perot was making to attain the release of
live American prisoners of war believed to be held by the communists in
Indochina, was documented …
According to a declassified memorandum detailing the call, at 3:40 pm on March
21, 1987, Powell became engaged in the conversation during which the Bush aide
asked Powell to check out certain details pertaining to the Perot effort.
Powell said he would call back. The memorandum, which was written by the Bush
aide, shows that Powell called back at 3:55 pm and reported that the Vietnamese
communists had not been cooperating with the U.S. government on the POW/MIA
issue for "the last few months". According to Powell, the Vietnamese apparently
believed that there was "a 'bigger deal' coming soon who will be bearing gifts
and so our people [the U.S. Government] have been stiffed."
Undoubtedly, that statement refers to Perot and the positive reaction of the Vietnamese to his
attempt to secure the release of live American prisoners of war. The memorandum
continued to quote Powell saying, "We still believe it is not wise for Ross to
go...after 14 years they [the Vietnamese] have denied live Americans...if they
were to produce live people, can you imagine what will be asked for?"
In late 1987, Colin Powell … was appointed the National Security Advisor to
President Reagan and served in that prestigious post until 1989. Then, as had
happened before, Powell was sent off for a four month tour in a military
command. This time, for a brief period in 1989, he became Commander in Chief at
Forces Command, Ft. McPherson, Ga. Shortly after Powell assumed that command,
President Bush, over the objections of the military's top brass, reached well
beyond their ranks and pulled his thoroughbred political general to the top,
appointing Powell as the U.S. military's top officer, Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff. "I believe the entire professional military establishment was disturbed by his appointment," said Admiral Eugene Carroll. "looking at General Powell's career record, it is clear that he was picked out early for a more important role in life than getting his boots dirty." … According to a September 18, 1995 U.S. News and World Report article: President Bush had been presented with a "dilemma" in 1992 - how to help keep Vietnam's communist leaders from losing face because of an unexpected and embarrassing appearance of detailed POW/MIA records and photos, whose very existence the communists had long denied. … Bush's answer - U.S. government officials would secretly create "a public relations script" for the communists. The action agent would be Colin Powell's Pentagon. U.S. News and World Report detailed the Bush administration's solution:
Powell's loyalty to his mentors and fellow insiders is now paying off. He talks daily about his upcoming presidential race with best friend Richard Armitage, a man many believe to be most responsible for the failed attempts to recover living American prisoners from Indochina. Powell says that he would trust Richard Armitage with the lives of his children. Other Americans did and they lost. Meanwhile, Powell's handlers appear to be ready to race their thoroughbred. Newsweek reports that George Bush "is privately talking up his old general," Casper Weinberger is "making behind-the-scenes calls" and Frank Carlucci is "rounding up" uncommitted Republicans. |
Irish flip
3.10.01 Warren P. Strobel Knight Ridder News Service ANALYSIS Despite, or perhaps because of, a blue-chip roster of foreign and defense policy veterans, the Bush team is having trouble in its early weeks sending a coherent message about its policies. "They're communicating a number of precise messages. They just happen to conflict with each other," said Kenneth Lieberthal, Asia specialist on the National Security Council staff under President Clinton. The missteps suggest that Powell, VP Cheney, Def.Sec Rumsfeld & NatlSec.Adviser Condoleezza Rice are vying for Bush's ear on foreign policy, where the president has little experience. When S.Korean President Kim Dae-jung came to Washington this week, seeking Bush's backing in his quest for peace with reclusive N.Korea, he was greeted by a U.S. administration with a policy that appeared to veer from conciliatory to hard-line depending on who was explaining it. On the eve of Kim's visit, Powell said, "We do plan to pick up where President Clinton and his administration left off." But after a White House official contradicted him, Powell changed course the next morning, saying "there's no hurry" to engage N.Korea. Bush himself voiced skepticism about whether the communist state could be trusted. A senior administration official said Powell's mistake was leaving the impression that negotiations would resume right away.
3.12.01 CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA AP
3.14.01 CNN
Another comment Wed. of last week, involved U.S. policy on Jerusalem, which both the Israelis
and the Palestinians claim as their capital. The United States has long maintained that the fate of
Jerusalem is a "final status" issue to be negotiated between the parties. Asked by Senate Foreign
Relations Committee about Pres.GWBush's plans to move the U.S. embassy out of Tel Aviv,
Powell said the president was committed to moving "the embassy to the capital of Israel, which is
Jerusalem." Boucher called the comment an inadvertent mistake and said U.S. policy on
Jerusalem remained unchanged. The mistake provoked strong reaction in the Arab world…
Arab-American leaders met with Powell Tuesday and said he took personal responsibility for the
comment, saying Powell called it a "mischaracterization" of policy. Boucher attributed the
statements to Powell's extemporaneous speaking style. …Powell is known for appearing
before Congress and the news media w/out piles of briefing notes.
[ Powell goes noteless because he has been trained by the privileged who know they
will never be held accountable due to their wealth or power. They know better than to jeopardize
their privilege by even having facts & records for which they MIGHT be held accountable. Powell
apes his masters. This is the noblesse oblige power technique of Ivy League & Eaton;
confidence in acting as if you were above, hence beyond, the fray puts you beyond the fray.
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Bush LatinAm advisers' IranContra roles Colin Powell, Sec.State Sec.Defense military asst (known as "filter"). Autobio: Pentagon's "point man" for U.S. Contra support. Key role funding Contras via illegal arms sales to Iran.
John Maisto, Natl Security Council Adviser Inter-American affairs
John Negroponte, U.S. UN ambassador
Otto Juan Reich, Asst Sec.State W.Hem.Affairs
Aetna's ex-CEO to work with Kissinger, McLarty
… Richard L. Huber, ousted as Aetna's chief executive just over a year ago, is joining an
investment group focused on Latin America and will serve in a firm headed by former Sec.State
Kissenger. Huber named chief executive, managing dir. & principal in Norte-Sur Partners
headed by former WhiteHouse Chief of Staff Thos.F.McLarty III with Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys
owner
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7.24.01 Reuters Powell, the most senior U.S. official who fought in the war to visit Vietnam, was to attend a meeting of the regional ASEAN group, but will also meet U.S. officials trying to find remains of American war veterans still missing in action (MIA). More than 58,000 Americans were killed in the war and establishing the fate of those still missing has long been a top priority in U.S. relations with Vietnam, which began moving away from old-style socialist central planning in 1986.
But the two countries are also focusing on a landmark bilateral trade deal which passed an important hurdle on July
17 when it won approval by a key Senate committee in Washington. "MIA will always be a top priority, whether it's
number one or number two, it will always be at the top of the list somehow," Powell told reporters. "We have an
obligation to the families, an obligation to those men to get the fullest possible accounting for what happened with
them," he said. He said he was looking forward to meeting the new U.S. MIA team after seven Americans --
including the outgoing and the incoming commander -- and nine Vietnamese were killed in a helicopter crash in
April while searching for remains. The Vietnamese foreign ministry has refrained from commenting on Powell's war record, saying he would be welcome like other foreign ministers. Asked on Tuesday whether Powell would be |
11.19.02 Howard Kurtz Wash.Post But Woodward's role has changed over the years. The young Metro reporter knocking on doors of lower-level aides is now one of Washington's premier insiders, with access to the highest councils of power. Once he helped topple a president; now he sits at the ranch in Crawford for presidential interviews. A major criticism of Woodward's work has been that those who cooperate tend to get starring, and often favorable, roles in his narratives. He's also been accused of having grown soft on the powerful, a charge that was heard after a Wash.Post series he co-authored last year made the Bush team look strong & decisive after 9.11.01. Occasionally there are flaps over the accuracy of The Post editor's accounts, such as his controversial deathbed interview with William Casey, but that has been less of an issue in recent years as Woodward has more openly served as a White House chronicler.
Woodward's response has been that he double & triple-checks his material by interviewing multiple sources
and using participants' notes when possible. He does seem to come up with the kind of anecdotes that no one else
gets. "There were no leaks as such," Woodward told Larry King. "No one was calling me. I was calling them.
… It's a very slow, tedious process." One source, Bush, has bestowed a nickname: "Woody."
But the same excerpt shows that Bush's own inner circle had doubts about whether the plan would work. The
debate over Woodward invariably extends to who cooperated with the author & and why. Some Clintonites
were said to be in the doghouse after feeding Woodward material for his books. Mike McCurry once got into a
public spat with him after declaring that he'd been Woodward's "babysitter" and telling the author that "you fell into
the trap of relying too heavily on those people we set up to deal with you." Woodward called that "absurd."
For more than a year, we've been reading nasty little stories in the papers about Karl Rove, Paul Wolfowitz, and Donald Rumsfeld and condescending stories about President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and Condoleezza Rice. Careful readers have understood that these stories emanated from the State Dept, but until now, Powell has taken care to protect his personal deniability. Now he has abandoned that polite pretense.
In the Woodward piece, Powell scorns the president for his 'Texas, Alamo macho.' Powell complains with Senate
Democrats that acting against Iraq 'would suck the oxygen' out of the anti-terror campaign. He denigrates Rice,
snidely observing that 'she had had difficulties' keeping up with what Bush was doing. When the president over-
rules him, Powell complains that he thought he had a 'deal', as if cabinet members bargain with their president
rather than taking orders from him. Powell repeatedly praises himself or repeats the praise of others: We learn from
him about a personal call from Rice in which she compliments one of his presentations as 'terrific,' and we hear via
Woodward that Powell is 'smooth, upbeat … eloquent.' "There is no sin in a cabinet officer dissenting from the policies of his president. Nor is it necessarily wrong for him to take his dissent to the country. But before he makes his dissent public, he should resign, and if he won't resign, he should be sacked. Instead of representing the U.S. to the world, Powell sees his job as representing the world to the U.S. It's time for him to go."
Toward the bottom of last Friday's table-setting story on the Woodward book by Mike Allen, for example, the reader learns that Bush was 'preoccupied by public perceptions of the war, looking at polling data from Rove, now his sr adviser, even after pretending to have no interest.' How remarkable to be told so bluntly about this Bush obsession, after hearing so many blabbermouths on cable TV & in opinion columns insist that this president, unlike his predecessor, 'doesn't care about polls.' "The difference between Clinton and Bush isn't that one doesn't care about polls and the other did. The difference is that Clinton never pretended that polling data wasn't part of his political work, and didn't expect anyone on his staff to lie about such trivia. (This matrix of deception is likewise exposed in Woodward's scoop about the back- channel advice on public opinion provided to the White House by Fox News chief Roger Ailes. An old Bush family employee, Ailes runs a network that frequently promotes the false but uplifting notion that Bush has no interest in polls.)" conclusion |
10.17.01 Patrick E. Tyler NYTimes
The secretary said the revivified relations with Pakistan did not represent "just a temporary spike" in American
focus, adding that Washington would stay the course to help rebuild Afghanistan and assist in Pakistan's
development. The high praise heaped on Pakistan provided a curious sight: an American secretary state
standing next to a general in uniform who seized power in a military coup, and lauding his achievements.
Those who could play a role in the formation of such a govt, he said, include the former Afghan king, Mohammad
Zahir Shah, "political leaders, moderate Taliban leaders, elements from the Northern Alliance, tribal elders" as well
as "Afghans living outside their country." Neither Gen. Musharraf nor Sec. Powell elaborated on whom they
considered to be "moderate Taliban leaders." But Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, the designated foreign minister of the
Northern Alliance, the main opposition group to the Taliban in Afghanistan, said today that he would not accept any
Taliban member in a future govt. Pakistan regards the Northern Alliance with suspicion. Sec. Powell appeared to
support the notion of a Taliban presence in a future govt. After the current govt is toppled, he said, "there would still
be those who might find that the teachings" and the "beliefs of that movement" are still very important. "We would
have to listen to them or at least take them into account," he said.
Gen. Musharraf's most immediate concern is the political difficulty of holding together a country where many people
oppose the bombing in Afghanistan. "Certainly a majority of the people are against the operation in Afghanistan,"
he said. "They would like to see this operation to be terminated as fast as possible, and that is what I would urge
the coalition, to achieve the military objectives and terminate the operation." Gen. Musharraf added, however, that
polls show that "the majority of the people of Pakistan" support "my govt's action."
The Pakistani president said that this "dichotomy" of public opinion illustrated the precarious political balance he is
trying to maintain as thousands of Pakistanis continue to demonstrate, at times violently, against the American-led
military campaign in Afghanistan. Though President Bush & Sec. Powell have condemned the Taliban
leadership as evil, the secretary said today: "You can't export them. You can't send them to another country. You
can't ethnically cleanse Afghanistan after this is over. But you can certainly get rid of this particular regime that has
driven this country to such devastation." In less than 24 hours, Sec. Powell packed in meetings with Gen.
Musharraf, his cabinet, the Pakistan intelligence chief and his top aides before flying to India. In the news
conference, Sec. Powell pledged that "in the coming months the U.S. will take concrete steps to strengthen
Pakistan's economy and further broaden our commercial & trade ties."
A senior administration official speaking to reporters afterward said the Bush administration is planning to provide
another $550 million in economic assistance to Pakistan on top of the $50 million it made available shortly after 9.11.01 terrorist attack on U.S. That money was provided after Pakistan agreed to open its
airspace and provide some logisitics & basing facilities to carry out operations inside Afghanistan. Pakistan
would also receive nearly $100 million to help control its borders and cope with the refugee crisis spawned by the
military operations in Afghanistan. In addition, a significant share of the $320 million Washington approved for food
& medical aid to Afghanistan would be earmarked for Pakistan port facilities, warehouses and logistics as it
prepares for an even greater influx of Afghans fleeing the war. Sec. Powell said he would take back to Washington
Gen. Musharaff's "strong message" that Pakistan wants even more debt relief than the resheduling of $379 million
of obligations that was approved last month. For his part, the Pakistani leader, who seized power in a bloodless
coup in 10.99, told Powell that he was committed to holding democratic elections next year, and he pressed for
greater access to the American market to stabilize a teetering economy. As for Afghanistan itself, Gen. Musharraf said: "The politcal process needs to be placed on a fast track in order to forestall the possibility of a political vacuum. It should not lag behind the fast moving events in the military field, nor should any attempt be made by any warring faction to impose itself on Afghanistan in the wake of the military strikes aginst the Taliban." This last reference was clearly to the Northern Alliance, whose presence in power in Afghanistan would be unacceptable to Pakistan. Consultations on forming a new Afghan govt are underway here between Pakistan, representatives of the former king and other Afghan factions. Other consultations are set for Washington & New York this week. A possible UN peacekeeping role in Afghanistan was also touched on during the discussions here. The "success of any political process will also depend on economic conditions," the Pakistani leader said, because "Afghanistan has been destroyed by over 2 decades of conflict. The social economic infrastructure has been devastated, agriculture is in ruins, pastures have been destroyed, millions of mines litter the landscape." |
The ministers did not adopt a hard-line proposal to hold a meeting to discuss reviving the boycott of Israeli goods
& Western companies doing business with Israel. No such meetings have been held since 1993, the year of
the first Israeli-Palestinian interim peace accord, when some Arab states relaxed or lifted the boycott. The final
statement issued by the ministers also dropped a reference to suspending political contacts with Israel until it
withdraws from occupied Arab territories, instead renewing a commitment to peace with Israel.
Jordan's Foreign Minister Abdul-Illah Khatib, chairman of the meeting, said the resolutions send a positive message
to the international community about the Arabs' desire for peace. The ministers did endorse more financial support
for Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority and backed the Palestinian leader's demand for the deployment of intl
observers in his areas. Arab diplomats said the ministers also discussed proposals from the Gulf states for a
campaign to garner support from major world powers.The campaign includes urging the top industrialized nations,
which meet in Italy this weekend at the G-8 Summit, to take a tougher position on Israel. The nations are U.S.,
Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy Japan and Russia.
10 months of Israeli-Palestinian violence have left hundreds dead. A cease-fire, brokered by the U.S. and declared
June 13, has been repeatedly broken.
3.25.02 Jordan Moss Alternet ed Norwood News, Bronx community newspaper
There were about 65 media activists on hand, many grassroots media producers videotaping the event for
broadcast on the Web & public access stations. The demostration featuring protesters in angel garb and
Billionaires for More Media Mergers
served as a pep rally for mass movement for media democracy. Organizers from a variety of media reform groups
and a growing number of Independent Media Ctrs, impressed themselves by pulling it off in just a month's time via e-mail
& the Web. The organizers had been planning a larger Earth-Day-style week of workshops, protests and
celebrations for Oct. centered around media democracy. But because the courts & the FCC are rapidly
removing restrictions on corporate media ownership, the activists decided to act now.
In Feb., for example, U.S. Court of Appeals handed Powell an easy chance to strike down some media ownership
regulations by sending them back to the FCC for review. Activists expect Powell to push the deregulation
through, which will likely consolidate broadcast tv industry. A couple of weeks ago, the FCC declared broadband
Internet service is an "information service," rather then a "telecommunications service," which may prevent Internet
Service Providers from having equal access to cable Internet networks. Activists describe the problem this way:
Just like you're out of luck now if you want the Food Network and your cable company won't provide it, so too might
you be left hanging if you want to log on to a Web site and the cable network running your service doesn't offer it.
"It's not just old media being deregulated," Chester told the gathering. "The Internet is being hijacked."
Media scholar & activist Dee Dee Halleck warned the Internet is emerging from the utopian "democratic &
participatory" moment enjoyed by all new media early in their evolution. Now, Halleck argued, corporations are
moving in to parcel up the Internet frontier. Recent FCC rulings are only the latest affront to those fighting for
democratic media. They follow many others made easier by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that give greater
control over the flow of information to fewer & fewer corporations. Widespread movement is the only way to
stop speculators from speculating and make the regulators regulate, activists say. Asked for a response to
activists' concerns about withering of FCC's public interest mission, FCC spokesman Brian Marriott seemed to
confirm the activists' worst fears. "We respect what they were saying," he said, "but I think what [the protesters]
need to understand is that the chairman has said that one of his major priorities is reexamining the foundations of
our entire media regulations."
March 22 demonstration organizers laid out some broad & ambitious demands, such as, "The FCC shall serve
the public interest by promoting the creative, widespread use of interactive technologies in such a way that these
technologies are open to all and do not further create new sources of social fragmentation." The protesters also
called on the agency to dismantle "the monopolistic concentration of media & communication systems." They
also want the FCC to ban "advertising during children's television programs" and to "support taxation of all
advertising aimed at adults." To build a true movement to achieve this, participants in last week's action say they
know they need to make their issues relevant to grassroots activists & labor unions to recruit more troops to
their cause. Virtually all 72 groups that endorsed the action focus primarily on media issues. One exception,
maybe a model for other groups, was the National Organization of Women. Terry O'Neill of NOW made the
connection between rapidly growing media monopolies and the locking out of diverse voices on TV &
elsewhere in the media.
The message to progressives active on all issues needs to be, "Before you make any social change you have to
change the media," said Prometheus Radio Pete Tridish, an organization that helped to win radio licenses for some
small-power stations but lost a battle to win licenses for small stations in large urban markets. Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting media watchdog group Peter Hart
agrees. "[We need to] connect with those people to make media [reform] a part of their strategy," he said.
Mmedia educator & activist Aliza Dichter, MediaChannel.org editor, said organizers now need to develop working groups & concrete
projects for activists to work on. She also stressed the importance of "outreach to labor & civil rights groups, to
journalism organizations, to educators, to people who are our natural allies once they understand what the issues
are." A week of media democracy activities is still on tap for Oct.
At the protest, Chester urged Powell to come out of his HQ for debate on media policy over public airwaves.
Marriott's response: "There are procedures within the FCC to have public comment and that's the legal way to do
things within the system." So to get that to happen, a higher wattage of people power may be in order.
"We can have a Seattle of the media some day," said Priya Reddy, a videographer and anti-globalization activist
who goes by the name "War Cry." Tridish is on the same page, but thinks such a day may come soon. "The media
movement is about to get much, much bigger," he said.
Copps swears airwaves will be policed
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, who hasn't been getting much response to his call for radio (and TV) stations
to tone down the raunch, has explicitly warned that if the industry doesn't clean up its act, the government may step
in. Specifically, he wants broadcasters to implement a new "voluntary code of conduct" by Easter (March 31), a
prospect that, to be charitable, is unlikely. Copps, the only Democrat on the FCC, used a USA Today column
Monday to condemn, again, what he calls waves of "patently offensive programming invading [American] homes."
At some point, he suggests, Americans won't take it. "Continued intransigence," he warns, could reap "more drastic
remedies. … The industry can fix the problem voluntarily. If it won't, government may have to halt the race to the
bottom." Interestingly, Copps says laws already on the books "could reduce the need for new ones." Problem is,
the FCC has "a dismal record of going after offenders." Admitting the FCC isn't enforcing current rules might make
it harder to get new ones in this sticky area.
Copps' fellow commissioners, including Chairman Michael Powell, have paid only polite attention to indecency
questions. Ironically, one of their focal points instead has been whether to loosen other restrictions — on, for
instance, the number of stations a company can own. |
And the Bushies' principled opposition to affirmative action should surely be reinforced by a
concern that none of the new president's appointees seem to be the beneficiaries of special
treatment. And, to be fair to George W. Bush, most of his appointments have
been refreshingly free of cronyism. But now here comes the new chairman of the Federal
Communications Commission, Michael Powell. A mere 37 years old, Powell is something of a
hotshot in the federal bureaucracy. His Army career peaked when he became a troop executive
officer, and it was ended by a gruesome car accident in Germany. More recently, he spent time at
the antitrust division of the Justice Department before his precocious debut in 1997 at the FCC,
which culminated in his oversight of the communications industry's Y2K problems. His cheerful
personal website, which makes Laurence Tribe's look self-effacing, shows him hugging various
FCC employees and touting his every accomplishment, however minor. Recent photo-ops
featured on the site show Powell chummy with Donny and Marie Osmond, Diana Ross, and the
cast of "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch." Powell is also black, which adds to his allure in the newly diversified Republican Party. Oh, yes; and he's the son of Colin Powell, a man no leading politician has dared criticize for the better part of a decade. Which is where the worrying begins. When you look at Michael Powell's remarkably swift rise through the ranks of the federal govt, red flags poke up at several points. He won his seat on the FCC thanks to an unusual intervention by Senator John McCain. In February 1997, McCain suggested that one of the commissioners, Rachelle Chong, not be renominated for a second term, an unusual request, since most commissioners get a second term unless they have made major enemies. Questioned by The Washington Post, McCain denied any ulterior motive in speeding Chong's departure. He had "nothing in particular" against Chong, even though she was a Republican: "I just think it's appropriate for someone new to come into the job." That person was the son of McCain's friend Colin Powell, a major power broker in the Republican Party at the time McCain was gearing up for a run for the White House. There's no reason to doubt McCain's sincerity in supporting Powell junior. A McCain staffer told the Post that the senator "wants somebody who is going to be a strong opponent to then-FCC Chairman Reed Hundt and stand up for free-market principles." But McCain also had a clear political interest in currying favor with an ally who is now State Dept Secretary.
Michael Powell's nomination sailed through the Clinton White House at a time when the
Clintonites were equally careful not to provoke a Powell candidacy for president. Powell senior
threw a congratulatory party for his son, inviting the other FCC commissioners. And the
schmoozing crossed party boundaries. Vice President Al Gore went so far as to personally swear
Michael Powell into office, an odd decision by a Democratic vice president for a minor Republican
appointee. But Gore, remember, also had an interest in making sure Powell senior didn't run for
president in 2000. Perhaps if Michael Powell had gone out of his way to avoid any hint of
impropriety, this could be overlooked. But, in his capacity as a member of the FCC board,
Powell took a strong stand on the AOL-Time Warner merger. He was in the minority in wanting to
waive all objections to the deal and was instrumental in shepherding it through. This despite the
fact that his father became a director of the company the year after Michael became an FCC
board member (resigning only two weeks ago) and owns some 240,000 stock options, acquired
during the same period. Since Powell junior signed off on the merger, Powell senior's
stock options in the company have increased in value by close to $4 million. If the stock price
goes beyond $65 per share, Powell has the option to purchase 80,000 more. Still, Powell junior
refused to recuse himself from the decision, and the ruling was upheld by the usual ethics
watchdogs. Legally, it was Michael Powell's decision to make. Ethically, it stinks.
George W. Bush, an able man [ extremely false - ed. ] who would have
had about as much chance of becoming president as Pee-wee Herman if he had a different last
name;
Senator Jean Carnahan, whose only qualification for office is her dead husband; any Kennedy in
public life, bar Kathleen Kennedy Townsend; Elaine Chao, labor secretary-designate and wife of
Mitch McConnell; Andrew Cuomo, son of Mario and married to a Kennedy; Evan Bayh; Jesse
Jackson Jr.; Steve Forbes; Al Gore, whose first congressional seat was his father's. I could go
on.
11.03.97 Sworn in as member of the FCC 1996-97 Chief of staff for Justice Dept antitrust div. 1994-96 Assoc. to O'Melveny & Myers LLP D.C. office 1993-94 Judicial clerk for Chief Judge Harry T. Reynolds, U.S. Court of Appeals for Dist. of Columbia 1988-90 Defense Dept policy adviser U.S.-Japan security 1985-88 U.S. Army armor officer Education: College of William & Mary, 1985; Georgetown Univ. Law Ctr, 1993 Source: FCC |
11.9.01 Mary Mosquera Internet Week Larger companies, such as Verizon Wireless, are approaching spectrum caps in major cities, like NY, and need more airwaves to improve & expand service in congested areas, although more spectrum will have to be unearthed to accommodate advanced, or third-generation, services. The limits were imposed in 1994 to promote competition when wireless was a young market. 6 carriers, Verizon, Cingular Wireless, AT&T Wireless, Sprint PCS, Nextel Communications Inc. and VoiceStream Wireless, offer nationwide coverage. Wireless carriers count about 123 million subscribers, with most U.S. customers having several competitors in their home market.
3.27.02 D.C. Statehood Greens
Bush's budget
eliminates the Technology Opportunities Pgm sponsored by Commerce Dept as well as Community Technology
Centers sponsored by Education Dept. It would also severely reduce funding for the Housing & Urban
Development Dept's Neighborhood Networks Initiative. In late 2001, only one in 4 of the U.S.'s poorest households
were online; Latino (31.8%) and African American (39.8%) households lag behind their white counterparts
(59.9%), according to research
compiled by Benton Foundation. "It's an issue of basic human rights & equality," said Jay Marx, a member of
the D.C. Statehood Green Party's steering committee. "We're in danger of creating a generation of minimally
educated, minimally literate young people. Along with cuts in athletics and arts & music programs, the
closing of libraries, and underfunding for school supplies, we're seeing the sacrifice of computer literacy in the
communities that need these the most." "Instead, we get standardized testing and teachers required to teach test preparation. The new goal is test scores & statistics; that's not education. It's a disgrace and a betrayal of our young people." This poses a special danger to Dist. of Columbia, which lacks legislative autonomy, and which Congress & the White House have used as a laboratory experiment for regressive policies. "It would probably cost, based on a conservative estimate of $100 per internet appliance (not accounting for large volume contract discounts), about $25-$30 million and, with $22 per month for commercial ISP charges, about $5.5 million per year to provide low income D.C. residents with access," noted Dean Murville, basing estimates on figures from National Telecommunications & Information Agency (NTIA) reports series "Falling through the Net: Toward Digital Inclusion". "That's a much better investment than proposed vendor-driven remote digital camera technology to spy on residents & tourists, and ultimately more cost-effective crime prevention strategy, not to mention economic development strategy." |
02.06.01 Christopher Stern Wash.Post When asked what he thought of the so-called "digital divide," a reference to the lack of high speed Internet access and other services in poor and rural neighborhoods, Powell was quick to point out that innovative products often reach the wealthy before they spread to the rest of society. "I think there is a Mercedes divide," Powell said, adding, "I would like to have one, but I can't afford one." In his comments, Powell clearly established a break with the activist agendas of recent chairmen appointed by former President Clinton. "I am going to wait for issues to come to me, decide them and get them out," Powell said.
01.23.01 Peter S. Goodman Christopher Stern Wash.Post pE1 
President Bush yesterday named Michael K. Powell, son of Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, as
chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, handing him control of the agency that
regulates much of the telecommunications, broadcasting and Internet worlds. It was the safe
choice, one that came with no questions about approval: Powell, 37, has been on the 5 member
commission for the past 3 years. He requires no Senate confirmation.
"Michael Powell has demonstrated a keen intellect and a firm grasp on public policy issues," said National Assoc.
of Broadcasters president Eddie Fritts. Consumer groups reacted warily. "He comes with a reticence to regulate in
the face of market failure for both cable competition and local telephone competition," said Gene Kimmelman, co-
director of the Washington office of Consumers Union. He was supposed to be well into an Army career now, following the path of his well-decorated father. But that course shifted abruptly on a German freeway nearly 14 years ago when the jeep in which he was riding spun out of control and sent him hurtling to the pavement. The vehicle landed on him and broke his pelvis. |
Now Michael Powell is following his father in a different fashion: Together, the two men are the first father-son
executive appointees to serve in the same administration since 1959, when President
Eisenhower named George Lodge assistant secretary of labor, joining his father, Henry Cabot Lodge, then
ambassador to the United Nations. Though the FCC chairmanship is not a cabinet position, Powell is nonetheless
stepping into one of the key positions in the new administration. Once a backwater agency that served as a sort of
air-traffic controller for radio &and tv signals, the modern-day FCC holds sway over much of the so-called New
Economy amid a general slowdown. "Michael Powell might be the single most important person in the Bush
govt for the purpose of building a healthy information sector," said Reed Hundt, himself a former FCC chairman.
"He's got a really tough job. He is totally responsible for the performance of the information economy, and it's going
down, not up. He's got to turn it around right now."
Powell's role in that particular merger review raised some eyebrows. He voted for the deal even
though his father sat on AOL's board at the time and owned stock options worth more than $7
million, according to disclosure statements. Though agency rules did not bar Powell from voting,
some consumer advocates labeled his actions a conflict. During Powell's tenure on the FCC, the
agency has increasingly found itself tugged by interest groups into a broadening debate over
regulations governing the Internet. Powell's consistent counsel has been to stay clear. He
contends that so many new and disruptive technologies have emerged in the last few years that
no company is immune to competition. Consumers and businesses alike are best served when the
regulators stay out of the way and allow the markets to distinguish winners and losers. "Our
bureaucratic process is too slow to respond to the challenges of Internet time," he said during the
Progress & Freedom Foundation speech. "One way to do so is to clear away the regulatory
underbrush to bring greater certainty and regulatory simplicity to the market."
Bell telephone companies are hopeful that a Powell-led FCC will make it easier for them to enter
long-distance-telephone and Internet-traffic markets. Major television broadcasters expect Powell
will take steps to relax or even eliminate the cap on the number of stations broadcasters may own.
"The oppressor here is regulation," Powell said during a recent speech before a conservative think
tank, the Progress & Freedom Foundation, a talk that sounded much like a mission statement for his chairmanship.
"We must foster competitive markets, unencumbered by intrusions and distortions from inapt regulations." Powell
has been critical of Kennard's use of the agency's authority to review mergers as a way to extract
concessions from merging companies in the name of reaping consumer benefits. In the FCC's
recently concluded review of America Online Inc.'s purchase of cable and media giant Time
Warner, he was one of two commissioners to argue against imposing any conditions on the deal, a
position rejected by the Democratic majority.
Michael Powell is well-liked and respected to a degree not often found in Washington, drawing
praise from both sides of the partisan aisle. He sometimes sounds like his father in his choice of
rhetoric. Both share an inclination to cast policy choices as moral decisions, indulging the
language of patriotism and duty that speaks of their shared military roots. But those who know him
say Powell is not one to ride his lineage. Jon Leibowitz, a former chief counsel to the Senate
Antitrust Subcommittee, recalls regular phone calls with Powell, then chief of staff at the antitrust
division under Joel I. Klein. "I had almost no idea who he was," said Leibowitz, now head of
congressional affairs at the Motion Picture Association of America. "I just knew he was this bright,
talented, organized guy. Then I read in the trade press that he was Colin Powell's son and he was
nominated to be on the FCC." Even those who have clashed with Powell on policy grounds still
back his credentials. Andrew Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project, a public
interest law firm, has criticized Powell's unwillingness to challenge media consolidation. But he
does not criticize Powell's grasp of the issues. "He is thoroughly qualified by virtue of his
competence for the job," he said.
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