Cho's been uninvited from Unity '04 at the Convention

[Rose Siding]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/21/201315/004

I often talk about the DC "culture of fear" -- Democrats afraid of doing or saying anything even midly controversial, lest they get bitten by the big, bad, Mighty Wurlitzer.
Dean started changing things, unafraid to take on the idiots on the Right. The blogs are doing their part. And, for a while, it seemed as though the party was starting to grow a spine. But alas, all it took was some lame Whoopi jokes to get them to revert to form.
...

From press release:

Margaret Cho has been "uninvited" to perform at the Unity 2004 event which is taking place at Avalon, this coming Monday, July 26, around the Democratic National Convention. The Human Rights Campaign is one of 10 GLBT groups coming together July 26 at the nightclub to "celebrate GLBT strength and unity." Asked to headline the event, Cho was preparing to preview material from her new State of Emergency tour as part of an unpaid benefit performance. She has since been "uninvited" by a spokesman for the HRC, who cited "a potential media firestorm" and referenced the recent criticism of Whoopi Goldberg's routine at a Kerry fundraiser. Unity 2004 is not officially a part of the Democratic National Convention or the Kerry campaign. Many of the groups involved in Unity 2004 did not agree with the decision to rescind the invitation.

"I am not surprised at the reversal in light of how the Kerry campaign distanced itself from Whoopi's routine in response to the unrelenting media hype and Republican criticism," said Margaret's manager, Karen Taussig. "It's Whoopi's job as a comedian to say things that are sometimes shocking. I wish they could have backed her up. Dennis Miller can make gay jokes about Senators Kerry and Edwards at a recent Bush rally in Wisconsin to a complete absence of media scrutiny. No one demanded a tape of that event or alleged that his comments as a comedian might reflect poorly on Bush."

Spineless asses. They were spinless when Democrats refused to laugh off wingnut indignation at Whoopi's jokes (the way Republicans effectively laughed off indignation over the "girly men" incident), and they're spineless for letting the Right Wing dictate who can speak at our events......MORE from Kos.........

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/7/21/201315/004

[Solly Mack]

1. that's just sad

and deserving of scorn

seems Bush' fear-mongering works

[lastknowngood]

2. No backbone no balls and no win we are doomed

n/t

[Robbien]

7. You have to pick your battles

I am saying up front that I am not fond of Kerry. But

In this RW media world, Kerry has plenty of RW battles thrust at him each day. He has to choose carefully any additional battles he wants to take on.

[AlCzervik]

3. Margaret Cho has a pretty big following

i for one love her, i was lucky enough to see a year ago on mother's day and i think this is a huge mistake and a massive insult to her and her fans.

[Robbien]

4. Doesn't surprise me a bit that Kerry did that

He disassociates his campaign from all controversial topics and people that he can.

Would be nice to know if it is a campaign tactic or his true belief.

[JI7]

8. campaign move of course

he isn't running to hear or say things just to make people happy or feel good. he is running to get elected and for someone form massachusettes and a democrat he already has a tough time being seen as a moral person with values in certain parts of the country which he needs to win.

[Robbien]

9. I keep hoping that it is only campaign tactics

With every day that passes one sees how much we are controlled by the RW corporates. It gets easier to understand why Kerry was chosen as "electable". All of the other candidates would probably have broken and misstepped under all the continual underhandedness being used against them.

[in_cog_ni_to]

5. What a shame.

This is just ridiculous. The repukes are running the Dem campaign. How nice.

[porphyrian]

6. Cho should do that shit anyway, just somewhere else.

Who's got a place?

[whirlygigspin]

10. Cho snub

how very Neville Chamberlain...will the appeasers ever learn?

Tom Delay thanks you in advance.

[Swamp Rat]

11. "Dis-Unity 2004"

How can this be called "Unity" when a person is publicly rejected like was Cho?

Hey Margaret, you have a new fan! Instead of donating money to their (the groups that rejected you) cause I will buy one of your DVDs/CDs instead.

[Robbien]

16. If Bush wins this election,Cho will lose the right to have her type of act

So no more Cho. Believe that.

Now if you were Cho, would you want to headline an act at the Kerry campaign knowing that Delay will hit Kerry hard for anything he can find in Cho's act. And that this Delay attack might lose Kerry the election. Would you want to do the performance?

[Kipepeo]

21. It's wasn't for the Kerry Campaign

It was for an unaffiliated GLBT unity party. That is how much the HRC is scared....that a *comedian's* words at an unrelated *non-Kerry campaign* event might reflect poorly on the Dems. It's not even a part of the Convention.

While at the same time Dennis Miller can speak AT a Bush RALLY and face no firestorm from the media. And *Republicans* themselves (NOT comedians) can call Democrats Girlie Men and tell senators to go fuck themselves and not apologize for it.

[Robbien]

22. Yep. That is what happens when BushCo has all the power.

Unless we can lessen their power, it will get worse.

[Fleshdancer]

23. Backing down gives BushCo more power IMO

The more we allow their reactions to dictate our actions, the more power they have. If the DNC backs away from everyone who has harsh things to say about this administration, then who's left to speak for you and me?

[Robbien]

24. We cannot give BushCo power because we do not have any

We are only playing a game of chess right now, warding off all attacks.

The chance at power we have right now is to win the election. If we lose, then we lose all our rights.

[JI7]

25. they aren't backing away from Ron Reagan speaking on stem cell research

even though republicans opposte stem cell research.

[Robbien]

27. They aren't backing away from that because have a Reagan speak is a coup

and it is a great chess move.

[Fleshdancer]

30. It helps when your last name is Reagan

And while I think the GOP attack dogs are dumb, I don't think they're crazy enough to go into full attack mode on Reagan Jr months after his father died. I think the DNC is pretty safe on this one.

[Kipepeo]

28. So what do you propose?

Would it be better that this wasn't made public (the UN-invite)? I think making it public does more to expose the imbalance of power and the double standard that exists.

Can we harness it and point the finger back at them and ask why they and their supporters can say whatever they want? I hope so.

edited for typo

[Robbien]

32. We have to accept the fact that we have so little power and act on that

basis.

Certainly, fighting back as a minority party is about as useful a pitting a high school baseball team against the New York Yankees. The first order of business to is win the presidency so that we can reverse this frightening foreign policy debacle and stop the bleeding on the domestic front. And that's a big agenda at this point. But if we want to actually enact a progressive agenda it will not be enough to stand around and rail at the Democratic minority in congress for being unable to "win." We need to be in a majority before anything gets done.


Again quoting from
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2004_07_18_digbysblog_archive.html#109018303932457062

Complaining about how unfair all this is, gets us nowhere. It is unfair.

[Kipepeo]

37. clarification

The decision to UN-invite someone is a tactical decision (chess playing, as you call it) and I may or may not disagree with it based on the situation (in this one I don't, because it was not even a kerry or dnc event and the UN-invite seems paranoid and does more to make us look bad since she was already invited pre-whoopi IMO).

What I am disagreeing with you on is whether or not to "complain." I think things like this should be made public, because they point out the double standard. Doesn't it shed light on the previously ignored (by the mainstream so-called liberal media) Dennis Miller hypocrisy? I don't understand your position on that.

[Robbien]

41. If the public knew, what do you expect them to do?

Even if you could get out to the public past the RW corporate media, what good would happen? If they do anything at all, it might have many people angry at the Unity group and have them try to force Unity to reinvite Cho. Or it might have many people angry at the Kerry campaign and not vote for him.

How would either of those things help us get BushCo out of office?

[Kipepeo]

50. Personally

I would hope it made them angry at the media, the HRC, and the rabid RNC-Bush-Co.

[Ducks In A Row]

26. Then why did the Kerry campaign ask HRC to uninvite Cho?

It stinks, to high heaven. Kerry knows we can't vote for anyone else this time but he doesn't have to kow-tow to the Republicans quite so obviously.

[Robbien]

29. It is all about the election. And yes it stinks.

Again I say, you have to choose your battles and make every battle count.

[Ducks In A Row]

31. Well, I chose this battle

otherwise Kerry will whittle down what little spine the Dems have found in recent months.

The Rethugs already know they can silence us. They are strike our words from the annals of Congress without blinking an eye or raising a stink.

With this Cho uninvite, the Rethugs know they can scared Kerry anytime they want, and make him betray the people who support him.

It needs to stop. Now.

[JI7]

33. i choose the battle of fighting right wing judges

[Robbien]

35. No, it needs to stop in three months

Right now you can win this battle, but it could mean BushCo wins the war.

Once Bush is out of office, there will be so many battles to fight. In addition to the RW corporates, there are so many things I do not like about where this party is heading. Plenty of battles.

But unless we get Bush out, we are dead in the water.

[Fleshdancer]

38. So if Cho speaks now, Bush could win in November?

And if Cho is stopped from speaking next week out of fear that Bush will win, then who will be stopped from speaking the week after next?

IMO, if Bush wins because Cho, Ronstadt, Moore, Goldberg, the Dixie Chicks and whoever else spoke their minds, then the election is rigged.

[Robbien]

42. Yes, many of these uninvites will happen in the next three months

It makes me sick to my stomach and mad as hell. But complaining about it gets us no where.

We have no power. To be able to invite who we chose, we need power.

[Rose Siding]

43. "We have no power"

That's funny.

[Robbien]

48. Did you see the scene in F-911

where the Black Caucus was trying to get just one signature?

"We have no power" is not funny in my mind.

[Rose Siding]

51. No, it's hilarious!

Do you think that Kerry would have had the kind of money he needed to be competitive if so many Dems weren't *convinced* we had the power? Would Bush have received the kind of blowback he's experiencing now? Would the polls have EVER drawn even?

[Robbien]

56. oh, the power of the people you mean

Yes, many people believe things are going wrong and are contributing to the party not in office. Yes people are not happy with BushCo.

It is the only thing we have going for us, the power of the people.

But they are not unified and most of them are barely motivated enough to vote.

[Swamp Rat]

57. I didn't think it was funny at all. This part made me cry more than any

other part in the movie... but you make a very good point.

[Rose Siding]

60. Me too

Those were some white knuckle moments.

[Ducks In A Row]

What good will Kerry be in the WH

if he's proved he's so afraid of the Rethugs that he betrays anyone the Rethugs point to at and say "That one is so-o-o controversial". Kerry will be nothing but their whipping boy. It will be worse than when Carter was in office. The Rethugs in Congress will still run the country.

Now is the time to stand up to them. There's no way Kerry will lose if he grows a spine, as well as a pair, stands up and stays strong. He will win and show the Rethugs they are the ones to be afraid.

Grow a spine and we will all spit in the Rethugs eye together.

[Robbien]

52. You want us to stand up to them.

Show some spine you say.

Fine. And while we are busy doing this, the RW Corporates will spin and spin and spin. BushCo is back in the WH.


Kerry is playing a game. A very serious game.
An important one.

We save our spine for after November 2nd and then we will have a chance at making the RW corporates back off.

[Kipepeo]

34. misunderstanding

What I was refuting in my post was the implication that Cho shouldn't accept an invitation to perform for the Kerry Campaign...something the poster I was responding to insinuated.

I pointed out that she *didn't.* This was an unrelated event for a bunch of non-profit LGBT groups and yet *still* there was fear that it might reflect poorly on Kerry. Whereas Bush Co. and his supporters can say whatever they like at their own events (nevermind the unaffiliated ones) and there is no fear.

[Robbien]

36. Yes, I understood. But any event which is not RW corporate sponsored

is part of our "group". The Kerry campaign gets that. BushCo gets that.

[Kipepeo]

39. I was responding to post 26

which was responding to my post to you. The "misundestanding" was meant for that post, not for you.

now this is getting confusing...

:)

[Swamp Rat]

55. YES! I would do the performance because I am a performing artist.

If you were a doctor and you were doing open heart surgery, and some gal/guy on a political board gave you an unreasonable hypothetical that if you save the patient the world will end. Would you save the child?

Look, I understand your point and it is a good one, but this is not the Democratic convention AND I refuse to back down in fear of bug exterminator Tom DeLay. Also, no matter what we do or say, these right wing thugs will take it out of context, twist it, and use it as propaganda. So my point is this: If you have something to say - say it! As I said before, I am an artist, so I really don't care at all what fascists think about my work, unless they want to jail me. If that were the case, then I would change my profession to "freedom fighter."

[onecitizen]

12. I just wanna scream!

HEY DEMS! QUIT LETTING THOSE ASSHOLES PUSH YOU AROUND!

This drives me nuts about my party. Stand up, speak your mind. What is it with Democrats anyway? Why are we so mandy pandy?:grr:

[Robbien]

18. So did I, but I've had a change of heart

Digbsyblog says it very well:

I hear tell that we are going to finally "fight back." And that seems to consist of charging mindlessly onto the battlefield, shouting slogans and beating our chests about taking our country back. It seems to be thought that if only we shout loudly enough, everyone on the sidelines will be impressed with our passion and join the fray on our side. And the Republicans, I guess, will be so shocked and awed that they will lay down their arms and capitulate.

I'm afraid that it's far more likely that when the Democrats rush onto the field shouting our high minded slogans, the Republicans will simply explode a dirty bomb, killing untold numbers and scare the shit out of everybody else. The cable news ratings will go up and up and up as the media once again embeds itself on the side of the GOP in denouncing the "crazy" left wing terrorists.


http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2004_07_18_digbysblog_archive.html#109018303932457062

The first step we have to do . . . is win. After we win then we fight. And we beat them back with all the balls we got.

[Rose Siding]

40. Just how far do you take that?

I mean that 'ends justifies the means' tact. It wasn't even a Kerry-specific function. This is absurd. It's even beyond centrist hogwash, all the way to "SHhhhh, everyone be real quiet while we sneak into the WH".

Imposing puritanistic 'morals' or 'values' held by some on everyone else, out of *fear* is an issue worth confronting.

[Robbien]

44. You could go ahead and march right up to the RW corporates and complain

Tell them it is unfair and you want the right to do things you want to do. It is not the Kerry campaign who controlled this. It is the RW corporates.

The RW corporates would only smirk at you.

Yes we need to confront all these issues of morals and values. Once we win, do you think the RW corporates are going to stop? That is when the real battle on this issues will begin.

[Rose Siding]

47. No one's whining about anything being "unfair"

Why would anyone waste time pleading with a corp?

What evidence have you that sitting down and shutting up will win the WH? (I've already seen Digby's post)

[Robbien]

59. I am not saying we should sit down and shut up

I am saying that for the next three months we keep our eyes on the prize and work very very hard for that goal.

[madfloridian]

13. View the Women's march video from her site...celebs, speakers, etc.

http://www.margaretcho.com/

Also she meets up with Dr. Dean at the rally, just as he is leaving before speaking. Janeane is in it, plus Camryn Manheim, and others.

[shawcomm]

14. People gettin' booted

out of a 'unity' event. Hmmmmmm.....

[Cat Atomic]

15. Well, this is what happens when a party considers it's base locked up.

They shit on you and ignore you. This is a small symptom, sure, but there it is.

This sort of attitude is where third parties comes from. Kerry seems determined to help Nader get some more votes.

[JI7]

19. they aren't the base of the party if this causes them to not vote

democratic.

[Robbien]

20. There is no base and there is no party

There is BushCo, and there is the rest of us.

If BushCo wins, the rest of us lose our rights because the RW corporates will be free to take over the rest of what is not under their control.

The only chance the rest of us has is to have Bush lose. At that time the rest of us will be free to figure out where we belong. And have the right to do so.

[Fleshdancer]

17. This irritates me to no end

I already ranted on the thread in the campaign room, but I'm still pissed so I'll rant here too.

First of all, the GOP attack dogs are dumb. They can't speak with out their talking points and they attempt to use the same tactic over and over and over whether it works or not.

These idiots wanted Kerry to back away from Whoopi the same way they attempted to get Clark to back away from Moore after Moore's Oscar acceptance speech. Did Clark bend over and take it? No. And when asked about Moore's comments (in a debate by the way) he gave the ONLY acceptable response: Moore has the right to speak his mind. And that was it. The story could no longer linger and the GOP machine had to move on to something else because they know Americans will not tolerate the idea of losing freedom of speech.

But now we punish Cho next week for something Goldberg did last week. Fucking brilliant. What a great way to kick off the UNITY event.

:grr:

[Doctor_J]

45. this really is bad

we should probably just get Delay and Hannity to write up the program for us. They'll still attack it, of course, but then at least we can say, "Well, you said it was OK!"

Do you really think that whoever takes Margaret's place will receive any less abuse than she would have?

We're in trouble, folks.

[Kipepeo]

46. exactly

"Do you really think that whoever takes Margaret's place will receive any less abuse than she would have?"

spot on. This is an unaffiliated event at a gay bar in the middle of the night. If the so-called liberal media wants to spin it bad to play to bushites that is all they need (ie. they need, specifically, nothing). It doesn't matter who performs.

[Rose Siding]

49. It sets a chilling precedent, doesn't it

[gauguin57]

53. This will sound saccharine, but ...

... Margaret Cho helped get me out of my 9/11 funk. I don't think I'd cracked a smile for weeks after the towers collapsed. I had lost my compass. I sat watching cable news and reading the little 9/11 obit-profiles in the New York Times.

One night, I rented Margaret's "I'm the One That I Want."

I laughed so hard, for such a sustained period, that I hurt myself. And I felt myself coming back to life, and felt like I could be useful to the people around me again.

Laughter IS the best medicine. I'll always be grateful to the outRAgeous Margaret for helping me realize life, and laughter, could go on amid the "new normal."

[Rose Siding]

54. She's lifted my spirits, too

I sent a note-

http://www.margaretcho.com/contact_us/contact_us.htm

[Warren DeMontague]

58. Doh'!

I dunno. Someone, somewhere, with some focus group, must be saying that these "hollywood elite" attacks are sticking.

I don't know what some people's god-damn problem is. Would they rather be stuck on a desert Island with Bill Maher, Margaret Cho, R.E.M. and Jack Black? Or would it be preferable to spend your days eating sand and boiled crawfish with Toby Keith, Ted Nugent, Kid Rock and Pat Boone?