Series 2558: Constituent Correspondence, 2000-2003
36495
From: "Kenneth E. Lamb" <klamb@uspolitics.net> To: 1USPN listtxtformat Created: 7/1/2000 7:09 PM Subject: USPN Action Update 07/03/00 Message: USPolitics.Net Web Action Update NewsWeekly By Kenneth E. Lamb SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE or wrong delivery information at the bottom of this newsletter. July 3, 2000 / Published every Monday "Read by more than 3,000 of America's most influential people!" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This Week's Headlines: ** Clinton snarls, Lazio whines: If turnabout is fair play, why is Rick complaining? ** Abortion and the next prez: Close Supreme Court vote reawakens Justice issue. ** GOP senators fight web porn: A New Media short from MediaLife Magazine. ** Advocacy groups advance: USPN links up just over 350 of the country's most important. ** New in the Public Forums area of the USPN website: John Skaggs talks about what Gov. Bush offers America; NY Dem State Comm. and Patients' Bill of Rights; job postings on the General Message Board. ** "Quote of the Week": Ready to die by 45? Harvard's Paul Massari and the culture of the net. ** Columnists Galore, PR a Plenty: An invitation to post your thoughts and announcements on the USPN site. ** "How to Win": Free, nationally distributed anthology still available. ** Letters to the Editor: Texas county chair raps USPN article; Nader supporters tell why they like him. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE FULLY ENABLED WEB EDITION IS AT: http://www.uspolitics.net/newsletter. Past Issue Index is at: http://www.uspolitics.net/pastissues For other columnists and messaging, visit us at http://www.uspolitics.net/forums/index.php AOL Users: Just type the Fully Enabled Web Edition address above into your Keyword box beneath the icons and press the ENTER key. For those using the Internet Explorer or Netscape browser, move your cursor over the hyperlink and click, or just type the address into the ADDRESS BOX and press the ENTER key. To receive the web-quality version: Mail klamb@uspolitics.net and type HTML in the subject line. AOL does not accept the HTML version, and neither do some corporate e-mail systems. If the newsletter arrives jumbled or hard to read, please switch back to this plain-text version. USPolitics.Net Home Page: http://www.uspolitics.net Washington, D.C. Office: The Blake Building / 1025 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 1012 / 20036 "Located between K and L four blocks from the White House" Local - 202.857.9701 Toll-free numbers: Admin - 800.520.5512 Data Acquisition - 888.508.8776 Pensacola, FL Tech/Ops Office: The Allison Financial Center / 6108 Village Oaks Drive, Suite B / 32504 Voice: 850.478.8776 / Fax: 850.494.2929 / e-mail: info@uspolitics.net --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Got a lead, news tip, Letter to the Editor or story idea? Mail to: klamb@uspolitics.net Copyright 2000 by USPolitics.Net, Inc. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- And now, the news: ** Clinton snarls, Lazio whines: If turnabout is fair play, why is Rick complaining? When Rick Lazio got the GOP nod for the Senate run against Hillary (the candidate formerly known as First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton), he conducted a flame-throwing assault on her qualifications for office, commitment to New York and willingness to be open with her life to the media. You know, kind of a "rip her lungs out" attack. But now the shoe is on the other foot and Hillary is on the attack. Mr. Lazio is screaming "Foul!" After watching her numbers going nowhere - and concluding those who don't like her just don't like her no matter who runs against her - Hillary launched a TV campaign with former NYC Mayor Ed Koch carrying the battle axe. Two TV spots, entitled "Trust Me" and "I Love New York," made their debut on June 23. The spots are playable as either Real Video or QuickTime files. Both the spots and the scripts are posted at Hillary's site, http://www.hillary2000.org. Mayor Koch, ever smiling, tells viewers he likes Rick Lazio. Sure. Following the sarcasm, Hiz Honor hits Mr. Lazio on licensing and registration of handguns, not being pro-choice and for being "willing to run on the Independence line with Pat Buchanan . . .Hillary had the guts to say no way to Buchanan." With his perma-grin firmly in place, the mayor closes with "Trust me. I love New York." His "Trust Me" ad differs only in mentioning the Patients' Bill of Rights as an issue. Mr. Lazio, however, let someone else do the dirty work of slamming Hillary for the ads. On June 25, he trotted out State GOP Chairman Bill Powers. Mr. Powers wasn't shy. He called the ads "vicious political attacks" and then went on to make one of his own (http://www.lazio.com/news_pr/press_release_view.cfm?id=285): "None of her attacks change the fact that she's never paid taxes in New York, never voted in New York, never sent her child to our schools. She doesn't know us because she's not one of us," said Powers. "The only thing New Yorkers really know about Mrs. Clinton is that she will do or say anything to steal our U.S. Senate seat." As Hillary's relentless ad campaign churned on, Mr. Lazio decided to turn up the heat June 26 by sending in his campaign manager to play surrogate mud-slinger (http://www.lazio.com/news_pr/press_release_view.cfm?id=287), criticizing Hillary for using surrogates: "Clinton has repeatedly attacked Congressman Lazio - personally, through surrogates and in TV ads -- for missing this vote (NE Home Heating Oil Bill) while he was campaigning in New York." At which point Mr. Lazio launches his "When I do it, it's OK, but I'll hang you for doing the same thing" attack. It was particularly poignant because Mr. Lazio's surrogate calls Hillary a "hypocrite" for using surrogates. Mr. Lazio's campaign manager apparently didn't catch the irony when he said, "'Mrs. Clinton had already raised hypocrisy to a high art,' said Lazio Campaign Manager Bill Dal Col. 'This time, she has created a masterpiece . . . The more voters see the reality behind these untrue Clinton attacks, the more they come to realize that they just can't trust Mrs. Clinton'. . ." For Mr. Lazio and Hillary, this Battle of the Surrogates is known as "staying above the fray." But the longer the poll numbers stay where they are, the more each candidate will be forced to take up the attacks in person. Surrogates can only tell you how bad the opponent is for just so long without getting to be a broken record with no credibility. + + + + + Comment on this article; send a Letter to the Editor to klamb@uspolitics.net ** Abortion and the next prez: Close Supreme Court vote reawakens Justice issue. It hit again when the US Supreme Court narrowly decided a Nebraska case whose practical effect is to strike down partial birth abortion laws in about 30 states. Whoever gets elected president may have as many as 4 nominations to the Court. Court observers say they were surprised to see Justice Clarence Thomas and 2 other dissenting Justices take the time to read portions of their dissents in the Court instead of following the usual habit of merely noting the dissents. On MSNBC's "The News with Brian Williams," one observer said the atmosphere are noticeably "tense." The majority opinion (http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/scotus/articles/062900sc-abort.html ) said it found two reasons to strike down the law: "First, the law lacks any exception 'for the preservation of the health of the mother.' Second, it 'imposes an undue burden on a woman's ability' to choose a D [short for 'dilation and evacuation,' a generic term for abortions performed at 13 weeks or later]." Justice Thomas retorted, "Nothing in our federal Constitution deprives the people of this country of the right to determine whether the consequences of abortion to the fetus and to society outweigh the burden of an unwanted pregnancy on the mother. "Although a state may permit abortion, nothing in the Constitution dictates that a State must do so." But Justice Thomas' intensity of emotion on the issue was clearly shown in this passage: "Today, the Court inexplicably holds that the states cannot constitutionally prohibit a method of abortion that millions find hard to distinguish from infanticide and that the Court hesitates even to describe. . . From reading the majority's sanitized description, one would think that this case involves state regulation of a widely accepted routine medical procedure. "Nothing could be further from the truth. "The most widely used method of abortion during this stage of pregnancy is so gruesome that its use can be traumatic even for the physicians and medical staff who perform it. "And the particular procedure at issue in this case, "partial birth abortion," so closely borders on infanticide that 30 states have attempted to ban it. . . ." While most Court historians agree presidents have been disappointed, if not taken aback by what their nominees do after they get their lifetime appointment to the Court, the fact remains only the president can nominate, which means that while the Senate may not like the nominee, it can only reject the person, not replace his or her name with another. Given the fact that there is no compromise for the advocates of each side of the issue, expect it to boil over as Election Day approaches. + + + + + Comment on this article; send a Letter to the Editor to klamb@uspolitics.net ** GOP senators attack school porn: A New media short from MediaLife Magazine (http://www.medialifemagaizne.com) The Senate, unsure about how to keep internet pornography and hate sites away from children, passed two proposals yesterday, both of which seek to install anti-porn safeguards in schools. Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain of Arizona wants schools and libraries that receive "e-rate" subsidies to use software to filter or block access to certain web sites - or lose their funding. E-rate is a 1996 program bankrolled by higher phone bills that has put thousands of public schools online. McCain's measure passed 95 to 3. The alternative, which passed 75 to 24, was proposed by Republican Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. It would give schools a choice between installing filtering technology or developing their own internet use policies. Both proposals were amendments attached to a non-internet-related appropriations bill. The proposals will be sent to a joint House and Senate panel so that a compromise may be reached. + + + + + Comment on this article; send a Letter to the Editor to klamb@uspolitics.net ** Advocacy groups advance: USPN links up just over 350 of the country's most important. We've told you about our Political Links/Headlines area where you can visit more than 3,000 newspapers, 1,000 TV stations and 450 Talk Radio stations; now check out our Advocacy Organizations site. We've listed more than 350 of the top Advocacy Organizations and their web links for your reference. Just go to http://www.uspolitics.net/advocacy/organizations.php and read for yourself what the organizations have to say about their positions on the issues. ** New in the Public Forums area of the USPN website: John Skaggs talks about what Gov. Bush offers America; NY Dem State Comm. and Patients' Bill of Rights; job postings on the General Message Board. The Chairman of the Hale County (TX) GOP, John Skaggs, rebuts critics of Gov. George W. Bush's decision to skip the state convention in the Public Forum / Columnists area; the New York Democratic Party takes up the fight against Hillary opponent Rick Lazio over health care; and we begin posting job opportunities in the General Message Board area of the Public Forum / WebBoard section of USPolitics.net, at http://www.uspolitics.net/forums/index.php. ** "Quote of the Week": Ready to die by 45? Harvard's Paul Massari and the culture of the net. Everyone in-the-know knows that "The Industry Standard" (http://www.thestandard.com) is the magazine to read if you want to keep up with the Web. But it wasn't until we saw this letter from Paul Massari, development associate for research at Harvard University, that we began to think perhaps it's time for the Gen Xers to get a life. Responding to an article in the June 5 edition of the magazine (http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,15605,00.html), Mr. Massari recalled a slogan quoted in the article "Sleepless in Silicon Valley:" "We'll sleep when we're dead." He'll gives us all a time-out badly needed with this Quote of the Week: "Assuming everything goes great and these entrepreneurs find themselves rich and successful at, say, 40 or 45, what then? They're in 65 or 70-year old bodies! Are they really going to look back at all the gorgeous days they missed, all the hiking they didn't do, all the art and beauty they ignored, all the relationships, the sex they didn't have and say, 'Well, I developed a decent portal. It was all worth it.'?" Hmmm.... Mr. Massari closes with this thought: "To know God, to love one another, to be of service - these are the things that give life meaning and substance. It's difficult to do, but simple. How can these people trade away even the basic aspects of their humanity just for money and power?" Good point, Paul. And may we add, what happens when GenX become GenDisillusioned because they found out all they were was "a factor of production . . ."? ** COLUMNISTS GALORE, PR A PLENTY: An invitation to post your thoughts and announcements on the USPN site. USPolitics.Net is always ready to let responsible opinion be read on its Columnists and Message Board areas. It's true "grassroots" web philosophy. Submit your information to klamb@uspolitics.net. In the columns, we can run a GIF or JPG illustration. Submissions are subject to editing for length (or libel . . .). See the rules in the columnist area in a post by Mr. Lamb. ** "HOW TO WIN": Free, nationally distributed anthology now available. How to Win Your Next Campaign on the Internet is a free, nationally distributed anthology prepared in collaboration with the Democracy Online Project at The George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management, The Brookings Institution and American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies. Multiple copies may be ordered from USPN by calling Tami Oglesby, Marketing Director toll-free at 1.888.508.USPN (8776). USPN is making the guide free to all political parties for distribution to their candidates, to political professionals for their clients and to journalists as a reference tool. We appreciate the calls from across the country for the guide and will mail out your order the next business day after it is received! ** Letters to the Editor: Texas county chair raps USPN article; Nader supporters tell why they like him. Thick Skulled media? DEAR EDITOR: I was a delegate to our state convention and am also the Republican County Chairman in Hale County, Texas. I do not understand why you in the media and other political organizations try to use the fact that Gov. Bush did not come to our convention to slam our platform. With several thousand delegates at the largest political convention in the country there are many planks in the platform that a lot of people do not agree 100% with which is certainly understandable when you get this many political activists together. Gov. Bush did not come to the convention because he was busy campaigning in some swing states and we would rather him use his time there than in Texas where I promise you he will carry by a huge margin. Anyone who was at our convention and reported on the events saw and heard Gov. Bush on the video he sent to us explaining why he felt like he should be using all his time in other states. We understand that and agree with it. Can't you get that through your thick skull? John Skaggs, Republican County Chairman - Hale County, Texas. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Mr. Skaggs has posted a full-length column on the subject in the Public Forum / Columnists' area of USPolitics.Net.) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Keep it coming! DEAR EDITOR: I like your material very much and thank you for putting me on your list. I assume you have straightened out you listserver problems by now but would appreciate your seeing that I continue to receive your interesting info. Thanks. Tanya Melich, political consultant and writer (EDITOR'S NOTE: Computers . . . last week something caused the mail server to loop, and loop, and loop and . . . well, those who got 4 to 6 copies of the HTML edition know what we are talking about. Obviously, we only send 1 copy per subscriber, but since when did computers care what humans wanted? Our apologies on behalf of the machines. We'd like to promise it won't happen again, but as we said . . . computers.) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Nader's supporters say "Yes!" DEAR EDITOR: Your feature on Nader and the other features in general are a breath of fresh air. Thanks for looking at news in the face and reporting accordingly. I am forwarding your message to various list-serves we use. I understand from the editorial you were at the convention. I am sorry we did not get to meet personally. I am sure you received a very professional and congenial service at the press room. I would love to receive you own personal impressions-feed-back. Regards, Nathalie Paravicini ASSUME YOUR DEMOCRACY Check out the Green Party of Texas and our four statewide candidates: Gary Dugger & Charles Mauch (RR Commissioners) Doug Sandage (US Senate) Ben Levy (TX Supreme Court) Green Party of Texas - Nader/Laduke 2000 Campaign Tel: 713-880-9929 www.txgreens.org - www.votenader.org DEAR EDITOR: Excellent article on Mr. Nader and the Green Party. I look forward to reading more about the Green Party and Mr. Nader in the next four months. Thank you for putting me on your list. Sincerely, Virginia Heick Boyne City, MI LETTERS POLICY: Send your Letter to the Editor to klamb@uspolitics.net All letters must carry a full name, city of origin and verifiable e-mail address. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE INFORMATION: USPN's Web Action Update NewsWeekly is a free publication. If you do not want to continue to receive this publication, please e-mail klamb@uspolitics.net. Feel free to e-mail this NewsWeekly to friends, associates and colleagues, who can sign-up for their own at http://www.uspolitics.net. And don't forget to bookmark the web-enabled version at http://www.uspolitics.net/newsletter for an even livelier edition of the NewsWeekly! - Attachment Filename: C:\archives\governor\mail\Governor Musgrove\_attach\USPN Action Update 07_03_00\Mime.822
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