Democracy

Expensive Tastes

Submitted by Bob Burton on

The British Conservative Party is offering major donors the "opportunity to discuss the party's PR strategy" in the run up to the 2010 general election. As part of its fundraising strategy, donors which contribute over £50,000 a year become members of the Leader's Group. An email leaked to PR Week reveals that Leader's Group members are offered the option of having lunch with Conservative Party leader, David Cameron, following Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons.

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Main Source: 
PR Week UK, December 3, 2009
Topics: 
Right Wing
Democracy
Lobbying

How Business Propaganda Hijacks Canadian Democracy

Submitted by John Stauber on

A book review in western Canada's Georgia Straight newspaper asks, "Do you ever wonder why so many of the Fraser Institute’s right-wing commentaries get into Canadian daily newspapers? Perhaps you’ve been disturbed by the spate of articles about the inevitability of Canada forming closer ties with the United States.

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Main Source: 
Georgia Straight, October 29, 2009
Topics: 
Corporations
Democracy
Propaganda
Public Relations

U.K. Government Backs Self-Regulation for Lobbyists

Submitted by Bob Burton on

The U.K. government has rejected a parliamentary committee's recommendation for the mandatory registration of lobbyists and the disclosure of their meetings with civil servants. The Cabinet Office dismissed the recommendation claiming that this “would involve collating a huge amount of information and divert significant resources within departments”. Nor did the Cabinet Office support the establishment of a mandatory register of lobbyists.

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Main Source: 
Times Online, October 23, 2009
Topics: 
Democracy
International
Lobbying

"Love IS Worth Fighting For" -- Lt. Dan Choi

"Love is worth fighting for." That's how Lt. Dan Choi ended his remarks this weekend about his journey from West Point to Iraq to discharge under the continuing Pentagon policy of "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT). It really made me think about this deeply flawed policy I have opposed privately over the years. Because, as Lt. Choi distilled it so well, love is worth fighting for.

He is one of only eight people in his graduating class at West Point who majored in Arabic, and so his story also brought home to me the gap between the rhetoric about the "global war on terror" (GWOT) and the reality, in a particular way. Since I left the government over four years ago, I have been speaking out about misplaced priorities involving terrorism, civil liberties, and human rights.

CMD's Lisa Graves Testifies Before U.S. Senate on Patriot Act

Lisa Graves, the Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy, was the only public interest group advocate invited to testify in Washington on Wednesday, September 23, before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in its hearing on the Patriot Act and national security surveillance issues.

The complete hearing, including her testimony, is viewable online. In her written testimony, Lisa dissected U.S. government propaganda and spin from the previous Patriot Act debate of 2004 and 2005, calling for policy improvements to better protect human rights and civil liberties.

She was interviewed by Amy Goodman on her Democracy Now! program on September 22, where she explained the issues at stake in the current debate over Patriot Act renewal advocated by the Obama Administration.

CMD's Wendell Potter a Headliner at Fighting Bob Fest

Submitted by John Stauber on

CMD's new Senior Fellow on Health Care continues to hit the road and light up the debate nationally, and our local paper features an extensive interview and notes that soon he'll be right here in our own Wisconsin backyard: "Wendell Potter has emerged as one of the most important truth tellers in the current health care debate.

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Main Source: 
Madison Capital Times, September 4, 2009
Topics: 
Activism
Democracy
Health

British Spinners Queuing Up for Parliament

Submitted by Bob Burton on

After a year in which numerous British politicians have resigned or been publicly embarrassed by revelations over expense claims, the major UK political parties are promising new faces for the next election. However, Marie Woolf notes that "more than 50 prospective candidates chosen by the main parties are already working as lobbyists and public relations executives and are deeply enmeshed in the world of spin and politics.

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Main Source: 
The Times (UK), August 9, 2009
Topics: 
Democracy
Lobbying
Public Relations

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