[PAA-Discuss] A message you may not know about

[June Bennett Larsen]

Following is a letter from General Wesley Clark sent via Karl Silverman of
the Neighborhood Democrats of League City.  You may want to participate
in this action.

June

Message about the cancellation of the Ed Schultz show ­ please read the
message below from Wesley Clark:

Dear Friend, 

Many of you probably already know Ed Schultz, a prominent progressive radio
talk show host who is syndicated nationwide.  You may not know what happened
this week though. 

After being told that the first hour of Ed Schultz's daily radio show would
air live on Armed Forces Radio every day, the Pentagon suddenly reversed the
decision and refused to air Ed's program Monday morning, only hours before
the first show would have been broadcast. The explanation for this sudden
reversal seems weak.

Last year, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced a resolution that was
unanimously passed by the Senate, urging Secretary Rumsfeld and Armed Forces
Radio to ensure more political balance in programming.  Then, at the end of
September, Manny Levy, Chief of the Radio Division of the American Forces
Network Broadcast Center, advised Schultz's distributor, Jones Radio, that:
"AFN Radio has squared away everything on our end to begin carrying the
first hour of 'The Ed Schultz Show' each day, beginning Monday, October 17,
2005." 

But suddenly, at 7 am on Monday the 17th, Allison Barber, the Pentagon's
deputy assistant secretary for internal communications -- the same person
who was responsible for staging last week's ill-fated video conference
between President Bush and American troops in Iraq -- called Schultz's
producer.  Without any further explanation, she simply said that the deal
was off.  

We must let our voices be heard and exercise leadership to help ensure that
the spirit of Senator Harkin's resolution -- and the spirit of fairness --
are at play on taxpayer financed programming.

Send an email to your Members of Congress now -- urge them to enforce fair
play on Armed Forces Radio!

It was just 11 years ago when 70 Republican Members of Congress, led by then
Congressman Robert Dornan (R-CA), demanded that President Clinton's
Secretary of Defense Les Aspin broadcast Rush Limbaugh's radio and
television programs to the military.

Well if Armed Services Radio is good enough for Rush Limbaugh, it's
certainly good enough for Ed Schultz.

Tell your Members of Congress to urge the Pentagon to honor their promise
and air the Ed Schultz Show on Armed Forces Radio!

Sincerely,