I've been listening to the podcast version of Democracy Now! (DemocracyNow.org) for probably more than a year now. It was tough to get going on because it's so low budget. It sounds low budget and if you watch the show it looks low budget. However, they mange to cover almost every topic they touch on with way more depth than you get from the mainstream news. DN is daily, Monday thru Friday and it's an hour long. That adds up to way more depth than the evening network news shows could ever deliver and still a heckuva a lot more depth than you'll get in an equivalent number of hours on CNN. Plus you won't hear about independent reporters getting shot during months-long protests in Oaxaca (wah-hah-ka), Mexico. Goodman did a full hour on this American indy reporter who was shot dead by Mexican police who were trying (but failed) to break up a HUGE protest against the local governor. Of course, you probably didn't hear about the protest, either. But hey, I grew up on reruns of the classic Trek. I can totally deal with low budget and in fact most of the time I prefer it because the content is usually better. The catch here has been that Amy Goodman is not a dynamic personality when she's hosting the show. Her style is rather bare-bones and unemotional. I suppose she's trying to come across "unbiased" but it's obvious to me how liberal she is when she has on two liberal guests and one conservative to debate an issue. Of course, I don't mind that because last week I heard Joe Scarborough, on MSNBC, refer to soon-to-be Senator-Elect Ford (from Tennessee) as a "moderate" because Ford is a Democrat who admits his love for Jesus. So, I figure Amy Goodman stacking the deck just balances things out in the end. That said, she is still so MONOTONE. It would be great if she could just seem a little less clinical. Early on I would literally get drowsy listening to her voice. Eventually, though, I got used to it and have come to not mind it, really. I mean, it's a small price to pay for the great coverage of stories you get from that show. The thing is, up until yesterday I still didn't think of her as much more than someone who was a libbie-hippie type who could write decent copy. Then, yesterday, I listened to [http://www.democracynow.org/index.pl?issue=20061113|the November 13, 2006 episode of Democracy Now] and was blown away. On the show she talked about how, back in 1991, Goodman and another reporter were covering the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. There was a group of East Timorese who were attending a funeral for a local community figure. The mob was getting a bit unruly, but there was no violence among the mourners. Then, Goodman and the other reporter see Indonesian troops marching down the street that led into the walled cemetery. Obviously, they were armed and it was also obvious to Goodman and her friend that these troops were going to use those arms on the mourners. The two journalists put themselves between the troops and the mourners, holding their microphones, recorders and cameras in full view of the troops. The troops just marched by them, raised their M-16s and began to fire on the crowd. They also began beating the journalists, dragging both of them to the side of the road. They were both beaten and bloodied and had M-16s pointed at their heads but at the last moment, the troops decided not to murder them. Two-hundred-seventy East Timorese were killed in the massacre. Amy Goodman is a fucking hero. To be sure, so was Allan Nairn, the male reporter who was with her and threw his body over her to protect her against the rifle butts of Indonesian soldiers, but I had never heard of him before yesterday and never fathomed that Amy Goodman had done something that brave. Seriously, Amy Goodman is a fucking hero. Sorry, gotta say "fucking". Calling her a hero just doesn't seem enough. Oh yeah--and the American president's response to the massacre? More support to the Indonesian military. Where do you think they got their American-made M-16s from in the first place? THANKS, GEORGE H.W.!
Orignal From: AMY GOODMAN: MONOTONE HERO
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