The Hollywood Liberal

In two related moments in contemporary history, the Democratic Party machine
aligned itself with the corporate war machine.

Congress gives the Corporate State the wiretap (spying apparatus) it needs for future surveillance of American Citizens.

Hillary Clinton drives forward with the Democratic Party Central Committee’s design to take over the White House in 2008 with Biden, Dodd vying for a place in her administration. Attacking Obama and ignoring both Edwards and
Kucinich the Old Line Party Demo’s positioned themselves before the trade union
movement as the voice of the Democratic — Anti-Republican Party.

Dennis Kucinich was at his very best at the debate - clearly the crowd’s
favorite. His pro-worker position (as opposed to the trickery of “pro-trade
union” corporate sellout bullshit politics of the AFL), spoke volumes about where
the hearts and minds of working people are.

But Kucinich is an opposition candidate without a sufficiently solidified
base strong enough to change the direction of the DP, nor strong enough to form
an alternative. Unless Kucinich and company (his campaign), turn to the
masses and the progressives, he will find himself a lone voice, once again in
the Congress shouting for change. If that’s the role he wants, then he
certainly has it. That the others completely ignored him reflects their contempt for
a progressive agenda and for Kucinich himself.

Michael O’McCarthy

Here is my audio interview with my congressman, and Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Henry Waxman. The Interview was conducted this morning over the phone from his LA office. In the interview we discuss Impeachment, The Democrats, Pat Tillman, Sibel Edmonds, Alberto Gonzalez, Condi Rice and more. Its about 24 Minutes long. Have a listen. (may take a few seconds to download)

Audio Interview with Henry Waxman

Transcript
HL: It’s an honor to have with us today Henry Waxman, the congressman representing the 30th district of California, which includes Hollywood. Mr. Waxman is also the Chairman on the Committee on oversight and Government Reform, and has singlehandedly been leading the charge against corruption in the Bush administration. Thank you for coming on

Henry Waxman: Thank You, pleased to be with you.

HL: You’re one of the fighters in the Democratic party and I want to thank you for all your hard work in terms of your investigation of corruption in Oversight I also want to say that I am proud to be from your district, I have voted for you every chance I’ve had, you are the only choice on the ballot I don’t even have to think about.

HW: (Laughs) Thank You

HL. OK lets get to some questions. In a video interview I watched with you back in April you stated that you did not think the American people were in favor of impeachment, do you still feel that way.

HW: I don’t know what the public opinion polls show…some people have told me the majority may be for impeachment, but I’m not sure of that. I don’t think that’s the essential point is whether there is a majority at this point, the question is whether there is enough evidence, whether congress has the ability to go down this road…whether the Senate can muster 2/3 for an Impeachment, when they can’t even get together 60 votes for most worthwhile legislation, and whether it will lead to the public coming to the conclusion that the Democrats may be doing to the Republican, what the Republicans did to the democrats which in my view would be a very bad thought.

HL: Some people are saying that it’s a moral thing, that the constitution mandates impeachment for an executive who tries to go too far in his executive powers regardless of the situation just to show that Congress is against what’s going on but I understand your point of view. According to a recent poll I read 54% of Americans are in favor of Impeachement, and with Bush’s approval rating at 28% I just think that a lot of people feel that now is the time to do it rather then allowing Bush to continue to do what he has been doing for the next 18 months or so .

View the Rest of the Transcript

HL is happy to welcome a new blogger to the site, he is Michael O’Mccarthy. Michael is an internationally published poet, writer of prose, journalist and blogger. In the past Mr. McCarthy has written for progressive websites like Counterpunch, Buzzflash, and American Chronicle. Michael is also the author of the book Rebels In Hell. Here is Michaels first post on the HL

Up The Rebels! — A blog in keeping with the legacy of The Declaration of
Independence and “the Right of the People to alter or abolish…”

Michael O’McCarthy
Email: Opolitique@aol.com

I want to thank HL for inviting me to be a feature Blogger from
my old stomping grounds, Los Angeles and that great bastion of progressive
Liberalism, Hollywood. Perhaps no other community has sponsored the cause of
progress political politics more than Los Angeles. There the late and wonderful
Dorothy Healey, (heir to Rosa Luxemburg and Emma Goldman, pioneers of the
humanization of democratic socialism), turned old style, doctrinaire Lefty
Politics into a New American Movement and then joined with the late and wonderful
Michael Harrington in the formation of Democratic Socialists of America. (I
give a nod to the work of Warren Beatty for providing the US with his first
alternative view of the development of modern socialism with his iconic film,
REDS.)

So lets get at it and define why I am, as a democratic socialist, aligning
myself with the “liberals” who have so often found opportunism much more
comfortable than progress. Of my generation, the two who stand out most are
Lyndon (“light at the end of the tunnel” of the war against South East Asia)
Johnson and Hubert “Chicago police riot of 1968” Humphrey — or today, the “
liberalism of Joe Lieberman.

So to define my understanding of “liberal”:

Liberal — The American Heritage Dictionary:

Adjective
a. Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian
attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry.

b. Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and
tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded.

c. Of, relating to, or characteristic of liberalism.

The synonym of liberal as defined by Heritage is Progressive —

1- Moving forward; advancing.
2- Proceeding in steps; continuing steadily by increments: progressive
change. Promoting or favoring progress toward better conditions or new policies,
ideas, or methods.

For an excellent American historical, though outdated, example see:
Progressive Platform of 1924

For today See:The Political Perspective of the Democratic Socialists of America

I invite you to read and digest the information at those sites and ask
yourself: does this not better reflect your values and aspirations for the world
than the current politics of the Democratic Party and the Corporate State that
owns and controls it?

I believe that it is time for the truly Liberal community to move forward
with Left Progressives and democratic socialists to advance and redefine the US
political agenda; to either abolish or alter the current form of oppressive
government. To that end I am happy to be here.