Imagine our surprise when we checked the Pace University website last night only to find that the Senate Town Hall Meeting, scheduled for August 22nd, is now marked CANCELLED. As you know, Jonathan Tasini was denied participation in this event due to the arbitrary "threshold" set by NY1 of $500,000 either raised or spent by the campaign. NY1 presented a Republican Senate debate last weekend; no Democratic Senate debate was set.
So this is NY1's response to the outpouring of grassroots outrage to the station’s suppression of political debate? NY1 feared the power of the grassroots, the power of regular citizens.
To our supporters who raised a ruckus with NY1, there are two ways to make sure there is a full debate in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate. You have a chance to ensure that our progressive message is heard and that voters get a chance to hear the different views on the future of our state put forth by Jonathan Tasini and Hillary Clinton.
#1: Would you pay $5 to safeguard democracy? Would you like to show Big Media giants like Time Warner that they can’t control our democratic debate? Justifying the station’s money-buys-democracy policy, Steve Paulus, senior vice president at NY1, told the Associated Press, “There are 5.5 million registered Democrats in New York. All Tasini would need is for each one to send him a dollar.â€
So, we issue a challenge to voters across the state: make sure Jonathan has a fair shot at getting his message out. Donate $5 at our website www.tasinifornewyork.org/donate (our system won’t accept less than $5!!!...try it!). Of course if you want to donate more, you can.
#2: Do you believe Hillary Clinton has an obligation to the voters of New York to explain her vote to go to war in Iraq, as well as many other positions that are out-of-step with the majority of Democrats in New York? If you do, call Hillary Clinton’s campaign office. Tell her that she cannot hide from the voters and undercut democracy by refusing to engage in an open debate with Jonathan Tasini. Call: 212-213-3717
From: John Francis Lee
To: [email protected]
Subject: League of Women Voters debate on September 6th
Date: Sat, 19 Aug 2006 16:21:05 +0700
Dear Hillary Clinton,
For some reason the Tasini Campaign thinks that you are avoiding them!
They think that you would rather ignore Tasini's plans to end the war in
Iraq and to bring the American troops home from that country than debate
that policy, and to justify your own original and ongoing support for
that war.
They think that you would rather ingnore Tasini's plans for a settlement
to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict rather than debate that policy, and
to defend your own support for Israeli "settlements" and the Israeli
Apartheid Wall built upon land that Israel was to have returned to
Palestinian control thirty-nine years ago pursuant to UNSCR 242.
I have told the Tasini campaign that this cannot be true. That you would
never duck an opportunity to defend the positions you've taken and the
moneys you've taken to take those positions as well.
I'm sure that your accectance of the League of Women Voters' invitation
to debate Jonathan Tasini on September 6th has been lost in the mail. Or
that your dog ate it. Or that there is some other perfectly reasonable
explanation for its not yet having arrived at the League.
But, for whatever reason, it apparently hasn't yet arrived there.
I write because I know that you will want to rectify this as soon as
humanly possible so that you can defend the positions you've taken and
presently hold vis a vis The Wars in the Middle East.
I'm looking forward to seeing you defend yourself on 6 September.
--
John Francis Lee
636 E11th Street
NY NY 10009