Dan Rather - Though Questions
Report Exposes Corporate Lobby In All States
Source: Natural Resources Defense Council
Major corporations are operating behind-the-scenes in state capitals across
the country through a purported "good government" group that pushes an
industry-friendly agenda, according to a report to be released by Defenders
of Wildlife and the Natural Resources Defense Council. In addition to
financing gifts and junkets for elected officials, the American Legislative
Exchange Council (ALEC) acts as a conduit for special-interest legislation
from corporations to key state legislators on issues that range from
rolling back environmental and consumer protections to privatizing
government services such as prisons and schools.
"It's time to shine the public spotlight on the American Legislative
Exchange Council," Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen
said. "ALEC's sole mission is to advance special-interest legislation
across the nation on behalf of its corporate sponsors and funders.
Polluters, developers and their big business allies will use their
extensive resources to finance a corporate takeover of state government if
we continue to turn a blind eye to this deceptive organization's work."
The report - entitled "Corporate America's Trojan Horse in the States: The
Untold Story Behind the American Legislative Exchange Council" - is
available on the Internet at www.alecwatch.org.
Dan Rather Admits National Mood Caused Him to Shrink From Tough Questions
on War in Afghanistan
Matthew Engel reported in the Guardian May 17 that Dan Rather, the star
news anchor for the US television network CBS, said last night that
"patriotism run amok" was in danger of trampling the freedom of American
journalists to ask tough questions. And he admitted that he had shrunk from
taking on the Bush administration over the war on terrorism. In the weeks
after September 11 Rather wore a Stars and Stripes pin in his lapel during
his evening news show in an apparent display of total solidarity with the
American cause. However, in an interview with BBC's Newsnight, he
graphically described the pressures to conform that built up after the
attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.
"It is an obscene comparison - you know I am not sure I like it - but you
know there was a time in South Africa that people would put flaming tyres
around people's necks if they dissented. And in some ways the fear is that
you will be necklaced here, you will have a flaming tyre of lack of
patriotism put around your neck," he said. "Now it is that fear that keeps
journalists from asking the toughest of the tough questions."
Rather did not exempt himself from the criticism, and said the problem was
self-censorship. "It starts with a feeling of patriotism within oneself. It
carries through with a certain knowledge that the country as a whole - and
for all the right reasons - felt and continues to feel this surge of
patriotism within themselves. And one finds oneself saying: 'I know the
right question, but you know what? This is not exactly the right time to
ask it."
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