Action Point with Cynthia Black 05-04-2008: The Reference Shelf

This week's article and item links:

• POLITICS: NATIONAL: CAMPAIGN 2008: DCCC to challenge Freedom's Watch status as a non-profit: Democrats pushing back on distorting and even illegal dirty tricks from the RNC and its proxies this year is something we can all be a part of--

  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is filing a complaint with the IRS today challenging the conservative group Freedom's Watch status as a non-profit. The DCCC says the group has violated its non-profit status by running attack ads in a Louisiana special election targeting Democratic candidate Don Cazayoux. In a letter to the IRS, Wolff asked the agency to reclassify Freedom's Watch, which includes several former officials from the National Republican Congressional Committee, as a 527 organization and to as penalize the group for improperly claiming non-profit status. 501(c)4s and other non-profits do not have to publicly have to publicly disclose their donors, while 527s must report them to the IRS, which becomes public information.

  AND: ELECTION INTEGRITY: HBO'S 'Recount' and What Really Happened in the Florida 2000 Election (Hint: Gore Won): Brad Friedman comments on HBO's upcoming special and even more importantly he includes “... the mind-blowing section of Dan Rather's remarkable HDNet report which aired last summer, but was picked up by absolutely nobody in the CMSM thereafter. If you can't watch the following, the transcript is posted here. But if you've not seen this one yet, please prepare to be amazed, and appalled..."

• ENVIRONMENT: Cooler Climate Could Prevail in Europe and North America Next Decade: Is Global Warming Over?: If humankind ever needed a life-saver and got it, this could be it.

  A natural fluctuation allowing temperatures to stay cool enough for us to develop energy-efficiency BEFORE the planet is thrown into irreversible changes: To put it succinctly: not a chance. Just because I know there are those who will gleefully point to this study as proof that global warming is all a big hoax (*cough* Senator James Inhofe *cough*), let me start off this post by quoting one of the study's authors, Noel Keenlyside: "We want to make very clear that we don't want to say that [anthropogenic] global warming is not here."

• NATIONAL SECURITY: IRAN: Shirin Ebadi: 'Don't Attack Iran': From my favorite IRAN news blog, IRAN NUCLEAR WATCH, this article on just one facet of the news you NEVER see any media cover, rarely even progressive blogs which shame on them, should:

• In regards to ongoing death threats to her person, Dreyfuss writes, "Ebadi is not intimidated, and she continues to represent dissidents and others caught up in the labyrinthine Iranian court system. But she warns that threats and bellicose rhetoric from American leaders and politicians is not helping matters." According to Ebadi, "The most important thing is not to militarily attack Iran, or to threaten to attack Iran militarily. Even the language of some of the candidates in the United States threatens Iran." Ebadi also addressed the regime change slush fund. "When the United States says that it has allocated $70 million for democracy in Iran, whoever speaks about democracy in Iran will be accused of having accepted part of that money, and of being on the US side," she says. "It gives Iran an excuse for what it does." According to Dreyfuss, she said that all credible Iranian activists have refused to accept American funding, and most of the money has been funneled into radio broadcasts and other US propaganda.

• COMMUNICATIONS: MEDIA: Wether or not you agree with this list of the most influential American political pundits, notice that in the top ten, at least half are conservatives and one is a comedian!!

• MUST READ: The Plague of Potomac Fever: From David Sirota;

  But in the land of Potomac told newspapers "it's irrelevant" how many homeowners — if any — are ever helped. According to The Hill newspaper, he is pushing industry-backed legislation that would federally guarantee banks' outstanding mortgages for modest write-downs. The proposal deliberately avoids forcing banks to freeze interest rates.