On 8.28.2010, Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally was held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The purpose of the rally, which Beck claimed to be “non-political” despite featuring Tea Party-favorite Sarah Palin as a speaker and its being attended entirely by conservatives, was unclear. The participants spoke abstractly about the need to restore “honor” and “pride” to a country that had lost it. When pressed for when our country had lost its honor, most cited the election of Barack Obama.
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8.28.2010 also represented the 47th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, and Glenn Beck has been criticized for by civil rights groups for trying to misappropriate the occasion.
Last year, Beck referred to Barack Obama—our country’s first African-American President--as a “racist… who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture.” When offered the chance to respond to Beck’s statements, his fans either agreed with him or simply refused to believe that he had ever made them.
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While the speaker list was diverse, the overwhelmingly white crowd expressed paranoid and conspiratorial fears of multiculturalism—that atheists or black liberation theologists or radical Muslims or “free-loading” Latinos were going to ruin our country. There was the constant suggestion that white Christians and their way of life are somehow under assault, and that the attendees of this rally were here to put an end to it and return the country to what it used to be.
This NEW LEFT MEDIA film was produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviewer) and Erick Stoll (camera operator) with additional camera work from Kasey Hosp. Support NEW LEFT MEDIA by donating here.
This isn’t a new video from us, but we decided to pull this interview with Andrew Breitbart out from our archives because it achieved new relevance after the Shirley Sherrod situation (Read more here: http://nyti.ms/cZbxAt)
It’s long--twelve minutes--but we wanted to leave it unedited to make a point.
BREITBART ON EDITING
Breitbart talks about the media and his philosophy on editing:
“They kept hammering: ‘these tapes are heavily edited, heavily edited, heavily edited.’ ‘Propaganda!’ … people with a sense of fear going ‘Oh my God, these tapes were heavily edited.’ Duh! All television is edited!”
He also says that Barack Obama was elected as a result of “selective editing.”
MAKE A MASH-UP
We are giving permission, and encouraging people, to make a mash-up of Andrew Breitbart’s interview and edit him to say, well, whatever you want. If there is a really good one, we will put it on our website.
BREITBART ON OBAMA
While Breitbart at first says that conservatives can criticize Obama on the issues--without a need to look into his history--he then says that Obama’s history was unexplored by the press, and that had the public had more information about it, they wouldn’t have voted for him. Asked for what that information was, Breitbart can only cite things which did come up in the media--Bill Ayers, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and so forth. Oh, and Obama is a Marxist. Surprise.
BREITBART ON MY FAKE JOB
He is also strangely befuddled by my (decidedly non-liberal) University--Wright State, out of Dayton, Ohio--and tells me to come back to him when I “get a real job.” (I am a fake American living in fake America with a fake job.)
Speaking of which, Erick and I are working on some longer pieces now which may or may not be distributed here on YouTube, but we look forward to sharing it with you however we can get it to you. There are also new videos in the works which will be posted here. So check back!
This NEW LEFT MEDIA video was shot by Erick Stoll on April 15, 2010 at the Tax Day Tea Party event in Washington D.C. Interview by Chase Whiteside.
On Thursday, April 15, Tea Partiers from around the country gathered in the nation’s capital to protest what they percieved to be egregious increases in taxation under the Obama administration, despite taxes having actually been lowered for 98% of working Americans.
The usual nativist rhetoric and and praise of Fox News personalities ensued.
This NEW LEFT MEDIA film was produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviewer) and Erick Stoll (camera operator) with additional camera work from Kasey Hosp.
President Obama Cut Taxes for 98 Percent of Working Americans in 2009, from the non-partisan Citizens for Tax Justice: http://bit.ly/cyWy8T
On March 16, 2010, Tea Partiers from around the country gathered (in disappointing numbers) in front of the Capitol building for their final protest against health care reform. Also in town, appropriately, was Barnum & Bailey’s actual circus. The protestors voiced their usual conspiratorial concerns about healthcare reform: that it was a government takeover and more government, of course, equals less freedom; that it would euthanize seniors too expensive to treat; and that the bill would sink the nation into irrecoverable debt, despite its actually reducing the deficit by more than $100-billion over the next ten years. Averse to facts, no one interviewed was able to cite evidence for their false beliefs about the reform proposal, and instead suggested we seek the “truth” from Glenn Beck and Fox News.
THE PROPOSAL
The healthcare reform proposal being advanced in congress, while imperfect, would bring long overdue changes to a broken system. Far from being rushed, the proposals that make up this reform have been debated for years, and this congress has been working on a bill for many months. It’s time for an up or down vote on reform.
The proposal will expand healthcare access to over 30-million uninsured Americans, make healthcare more affordable for everyone, hold insurance companies more accountable, end discrimination against Americans with pre-existing conditions, and help stabilize our budget and economy by reducing the deficit by over $100-billion in the next ten years. http://www.whitehouse.gov/health-care-meeting/proposal
This NEW LEFT MEDIA film was produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviewer) and Erick Stoll (camera operator) with additional camera work from Zac Sleeth.
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE:
You can make a difference in the health care debate without leaving your bedroom. So stop typing that narcissistic Facebook status, pause your Mafia Wars game, and actually do something in reality to advance the cause you support by calling your representative. This is so easy. Many people are timid about making phone calls, but a phone call to your representative now could save you a series of phone calls to an uncooperative insurance company in the future. Too lazy to look up your representative’s number? This website makes it even easier--it will find the number, call it for you, and then call your cell phone to connect you. Tell your representative’s office that you support comprehensive health care reform, and urge them to support the public option.
In February 2010, the group Tea Party Nation organized the first Tea Party Convention in Nashville, TN, a for-profit event. Some 600 people paid $550 to attend, and Sarah Palin was reportedly paid $115,000 to the be the keynote speaker. After criticism of the convention’s cost, for-profit status, and payment to Palin, multiple national Tea Party organizations withdrew their participation.
But the event went on.
And so did the paranoid, conspiratorial assertions--that President Obama was born in another country, that he has covered up his college transcripts, that he is pushing a communist/socialist agenda, that he is protecting terrorists and endangering our country, etc.
The organizers of the convention made great efforts to limit access to the press, and even held “new-media training” sessions to help the Tea Partiers sound and look better on camera--the more people see inside this movement, the less like it. But we got ourselves into the event, where the right-wing, fringe sentiments were on plain display.
That said, these Tea Partiers--able to pay the cost of attendance--are more affluent than those at the 9.12 DC March, and more self-conscious of how they are portrayed in the media. There were fewer signs and homemade t-shirts here, but the attitudes, if more subtle in delivery, were the same.
Special thanks for John Aravosis and Joe Sudbay of AMERICAblog (http://www.americablog.com) for helping us get an Amtrak ticket out of the DC snowstorm, which made this video possible.
On November 20, 2009, Sarah Palin visited Columbus, OH as part of her book signing tour for “Going Rogue.” When her supporters were asked broad questions about why they why they thought she should be president, the responses were vague: She’s “real.” She’ll “stick up for America.”
THERE ARE UNINFORMED OBAMA SUPPORTERS, TOO
It has been said in comments that we would find similarly talking point-driven, substance-less supporters at an Obama rally, and we agree. But no politician has emerged on the national stage as undefined and unqualified as Sarah Palin, and her public persona--which is anti-intellectual by definition--discourages substance. Instead, we get winking. One could hardly imagine her giving a complex speech about race in America, or speaking eloquently about our country’s relations with Islam. Not just because she couldn’t write such a speech (Obama has speech-writers, of course) but because she wouldn’t--such necessarily academic discussion is antithetical to the persona she’s created for herself and that her supporters have come to love.
CHERRY-PICKING
As for accusations of cherry picking, which are commonly thrown at interview-based videos, it simply isn’t what we did. We interviewed only a few more people than ended up in the video, not hundreds, and what was cut was done for time purposes. The people were selected at random--some offered to be interviewed--and we were only there for 90 mins (it gets dark early and fast in Ohio right now). What didn’t make it into the video was just more footage of people talking about taxes/spending, drilling, and abortion, and we constructed blocks in the piece to represent those issues. Of course the piece was edited to be entertaining (this is YouTube, after all, where the currency is cat videos) but we don’t believe we misrepresented the attitudes of the people at that signing in any way.
This NEW LEFT MEDIA film was produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviews) and Erick Stoll (camera).
DONATE:
Donations to New Left Media will go toward the production costs of future videos. Any contribution, no matter how small, will go a long way in keeping us online.
In May, 2009, the Maine Legislature extended marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples. As expected, opponents of equality, led by the National Organization for Marriage and the Catholic Church, petitioned to have those rights put to a vote by referendum. This film chronicles the final days of the on-the-ground campaign to protect marriage equality in Maine.
The Democratic National Committee ignored the fight to protect marriage for all couples in Maine, neglecting to donate funds to the cause (even though they reportedly raised over a million dollars from gay donors in June of this year) or to mobilize potentially thousands of volunteers through its Organizing for America arm. The DNC even sent emails to voters in Maine urging them to help with Joe Corzine’s failed gubernatorial reelection in New Jersey, potentially diverting needed volunteers, but also showing that they deemed the fight for marriage equality unworthy of their attention. President Obama never acknowledged the NO ON ONE campaign.
If marriage equality is to be fought for on a state-by-state basis, then our national gay rights organizations should hold the DNC and President Obama responsible for their inaction in Maine and in other state battles.
And so should we.
WHAT WE CAN DO:
President Obama was elected cashing our checks and making promises to our community, but so far he has failed to be the “fierce advocate” for gay rights that he said he would be. The gay community is being told to wait, and be patient—he’s only been in office a year. But many of us have been waiting for decades. We’re being told to wait while hundreds of much-needed soldiers are being thrown out of the military under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT), a policy President Obama could end today with an executive stop-loss order. We’re being told to wait while it is still legal in over thirty states to be fired from your job just for being gay, a practice we could end by passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). We’re being told to wait while the administration puts off repealing the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a law his justice department has defended by comparing loving gay relationships to incest and pedophilia. We’re being told to wait even while we have an overwhelming majority in the House, a filibuster-proof Senate, and a President who promised action on all of the aforementioned issues. It is unlikely that we will sustain this Democratic super-majority, so if not now, then when?
John Aravosis and Joe Sudbay of AMERICAblog have launched a donor boycot of the Democratic National Committee, Organizing for America, and the Obama campaign until Congress and the President pass ENDA and repeal DADT and DOMA, as was promised during campaign season, when the gay community gave plenty and worked hard to get Democratic candidates elected.
We encourage you to read more about it and sign the pledge here:
http://bit.ly/2H7KWf
This NEW LEFT MEDIA film was produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviews) and Erick Stoll (camera).
DONATE:
Donations to New Left Media will go toward the production costs of future videos. Any contribution, no matter how small, will go a long way in keeping us online.
http://bit.ly/nLOdU (will take you to PayPal)
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In May, 2009, the Maine Legislature extended marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples. As expected, opponents of equality, led by the National Organization for Marriage and the Catholic Church, petitioned to have those rights put to a vote by referendum. This film chronicles the final days of the on-the-ground campaign to protect marriage equality in Maine.
The Democratic National Committee ignored the fight to protect marriage for all couples in Maine, neglecting to donate funds to the cause (even though they reportedly raised over a million dollars from gay donors in June of this year) or to mobilize potentially thousands of volunteers through its Organizing for America arm. The DNC even sent emails to voters in Maine urging them to help with Joe Corzine’s failed gubernatorial reelection in New Jersey, potentially diverting needed volunteers, but also showing that they deemed the fight for marriage equality unworthy of their attention. President Obama never acknowledged the NO ON ONE campaign.
If marriage equality is to be fought for on a state-by-state basis, then our national gay rights organizations should hold the DNC and President Obama responsible for their inaction in Maine and in other state battles.
And so should we.
WHAT WE CAN DO:
President Obama was elected cashing our checks and making promises to our community, but so far he has failed to be the “fierce advocate” for gay rights that he said he would be. The gay community is being told to wait, and be patient—he’s only been in office a year. But many of us have been waiting for decades. We’re being told to wait while hundreds of much-needed soldiers are being thrown out of the military under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT), a policy President Obama could end today with an executive stop-loss order. We’re being told to wait while it is still legal in over thirty states to be fired from your job just for being gay, a practice we could end by passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). We’re being told to wait while the administration puts off repealing the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a law his justice department has defended by comparing loving gay relationships to incest and pedophilia. We’re being told to wait even while we have an overwhelming majority in the House, a filibuster-proof Senate, and a President who promised action on all of the aforementioned issues. It is unlikely that we will sustain this Democratic super-majority, so if not now, then when?
John Aravosis and Joe Sudbay of AMERICAblog have launched a donor boycot of the Democratic National Committee, Organizing for America, and the Obama campaign until Congress and the President pass ENDA and repeal DADT and DOMA, as was promised during campaign season, when the gay community gave plenty and worked hard to get Democratic candidates elected.
We encourage you to read more about it and sign the pledge here: http://bit.ly/2H7KWf
This NEW LEFT MEDIA film was produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviews) and Erick Stoll (camera).
DONATE:
Donations to New Left Media will go toward the production costs of future videos. Any contribution, no matter how small, will go a long way in keeping us online. http://bit.ly/nLOdU (will take you to PayPal)
On October 11, thousands of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and straight people who support full equality in all 50 states marched on Washington. Many of them were part of a new generation of activists who reject the ping-pong, state-by-state fight for rights after Proposition 8 passed last year, and who are impatient with the slow gradualism of national gay rights organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign, and President Obama, who so far hasn’t lived up to his promise to be a “fierce advocate” for gay rights.
YOU CAN HELP:
As the opportunity for change narrows, it is time to act. Organize locally in your congressional district--be a leader for equality. http://www.equalityacrossamerica.org/…
This NEW LEFT MEDIA film was produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviews) and Erick Stoll (camera).
DONATE:
Donations to New Left Media will go toward the production costs of future videos. Any contribution, no matter how small, will go a long way in keeping us online. http://bit.ly/nLOdU (will take you to PayPal)
On October 1, House Minority Leader John Boehner said in a press availability, “I’m still trying to find the first American to talk to who’s in favor of the public option, other than a member of Congress or the administration… I’ve not talked to one, and I get to a lot of places and I’ve not had anyone come up to me — I know I’m inviting it — and lobby for the public option.”
Well, some of Mr. Boehner’s constituents decided to take him up on his offer and rally outside his district office in West Chester, Ohio, delivering over 1,800 signatures of people in his district who support a public option.
This NEW LEFT MEDIA film was produced and edited by Chase Whiteside (interviews) and Erick Stoll (camera).
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE:
You can make a difference in the health care debate without leaving your bedroom. So stop typing that narcissistic Facebook status, pause your Mafia Wars game, and actually do something in reality to advance the cause you support on Facebook by calling your representative. This is so easy. Many people are timid about making phone calls, but a phone call to your representative now could save you a series of phone calls to an uncooperative insurance company in the future. Too lazy to look up your representative’s number? This website makes it even easier--it will find the number, call it for you, and then call your cell phone to connect you. Tell your representative’s office that you support comprehensive health care reform, and urge them to support the public option. http://tools.advomatic.com/8/hcn
DONATE:
Donations to New Left Media will go toward the production costs of future videos. Any contribution, no matter how small, will go a long way in keeping us online. http://bit.ly/nLOdU (will take you to PayPal)
You can make a difference in the health care debate without leaving your bedroom. So stop typing that narcissistic Facebook status, pause your Mafia Wars game, and actually do something in reality to advance the cause you support on Facebook by calling your representative. This is so easy. Many people are timid about making phone calls, but a phone call to your representative now could save you a series of phone calls to an uncooperative insurance company in the future. Too lazy to look up your representative’s number? This website makes it even easier--it will find the number, call it for you, and then call your cell phone to connect you. Tell your representative’s office that you support comprehensive health care reform, and urge them to support the public option.
http://tools.advomatic.com/8/hcn
DONATE:
Donations to New Left Media will go toward the production costs of future videos. Any contribution, no matter how small, will go a long way in keeping us online.
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE:
You can make a difference in the health care debate without leaving your bedroom. So stop typing that narcissistic Facebook status, pause your Mafia Wars game, and actually do something in reality to advance the cause you support on Facebook by calling your representative. This is so easy. Many people are timid about making phone calls, but a phone call to your representative now could save you a series of phone calls to an uncooperative insurance company in the future. Too lazy to look up your representative’s number? This website makes it even easier--it will find the number, call it for you, and then call your cell phone to connect you. Tell your representative’s office that you support comprehensive health care reform, and urge them to support the public option. http://tools.advomatic.com/8/hcn
DONATE:
Donations to New Left Media will go toward the production costs of future videos. Any contribution, no matter how small, will go a long way in keeping us online. http://bit.ly/nLOdU (will take you to PayPal)
Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” Rally – Interviews With Participants