http://http://vimeo.com/11256515
Is there a market for a peace candidate?
Cindy Sheehan, mother of a deceased Iraqi war veteran, doesn’t know how to define “liberal” or “progressive” anymore. She talks about the two major parties’ stances on war and peace with the other panelists, including Angela Keaton of antiwar.com and Theresa Amato, founder of the Citizen Advocacy Center (citizenadvocacycenter.org).
Filmed Monday, April 26, 2010.
http://http://vimeo.com/11257082
Third party candidates: conducive, or nuisance?
Panelists speak out against California’s “Top Two” initiative for the damage they say it will do to third parties and nonmainstream candidates. Theresa Amato, founder of the Citizen Advocacy Center, tells of when she asked Howard Dean if he thinks third parties should ever run. She says the American media is also a major problem, as they hold massive power to direct Americans’ attention. Other panels included Cindy Sheehan, mother of a deceased Iraqi war veteran, Angela Keaton of antiwar.com and Sean Scallon, a supervisor for Pepin County in Wisconsin.
Filmed Monday, April 26, 2010.
http://http://vimeo.com/11258004
Anyone can be a tea partier!
Sean Scallon, an author, journalist and a supervisor for Pepin County, Wisconsin, lays out what he sees as the four essentials of being a legitimate Tea Party member, and how that framework can allow a spectrum of viewpoints.
Filmed Monday, April 26, 2010.
http://http://vimeo.com/11260749
Audience questions: Tea Party movement, police and government
Filmed Monday, April 26, 2010.
An anti-war panel discussion scheduled to be held at Memorial Union tonight was displaced due to security costs, communication breakdowns and sponsorship withdrawals.
Spokesperson for the Campus Antiwar Network and Badger Herald Opinion writer Steve Horn distributed a press release Sunday morning announcing that the event, which was at different points set to be sponsored by CAN, Madison International Socialist Organization, the University of Wisconsin Havens Center, Middle East Interest Group and the Wisconsin Union Directorate’s Society and Politics Committee, would no longer be held in the Union.
Horn said in the release the reason for the cancellation of the event was the Union demanding they pay for four security guards for controversial anti-war panelist Cindy Sheehan.
Horn said in an interview the reservation was made two weeks in advance of the event and he was not told about the security until Friday, at which point they said he would not be able to hire security in time.
“I couldn’t believe that over a weekend they couldn’t get in touch with anyone that works on security,” Horn said.
Horn asked friends and organizations to talk to the Union about this issue Friday. A friend, former Herald Editorial Page Editor Eric Schmidt, acting as a neutral party, e-mailed Union Building and Events Manager Roger Vogts, saying the cancellation of the event may be a violation of the first amendment under a supreme court decision which said free speech cannot be financially burdened.
However, spokesperson for the Union Marc Kennedy said it was actually not the security fee that canceled the reservation. He said the reservation, which was initially made by spokesperson for ISO Rob Lewis, was never a valid reservation to begin with.
Because the group being asked to speak — a Chicago based organization called Free and Equal — is outside UW, they need a department to sponsor the event, not just a group of student organizations. He said though there was some talk of the event being sponsored by Havens Center, in the end it withdrew its sponsorship.
Kennedy also said many attempts were made to contact the student organizations hosting the event last week, but the Union was unable to reach anybody until Friday, when ISO withdrew their sponsorship because they did not want to be involved with the outside group. He said if they had gotten in touch earlier, the event might have gone on as planned.
Lewis would not comment on the details of the planning, but he did say there needed to be better communication and collaboration on both sides.
Horn later stated ISO did withdraw their sponsorship, adding that is when Havens Center was brought in to sponsor. He said they withdrew Saturday when they became aware of the security cost.
Sheehan said she did not hear about the cancellation of the reservation at the Union until she was driving to Madison Sunday afternoon. She said as far as she knew, the cancellation was due to the security fee and she was not sure why a panel featuring her should have to pay it.
“I’m not exactly sure how to react yet,” she said. “The only thing I’ve ever done is advocate for peace in a very peaceful way.”
Free and Equal Founder and Chair Christina Tobin — who also heard the fee was the reason for the cancellation — said she was outraged. She said she thinks the security fee was charged to the group because she and Sheehan have a liberal outlook.
She added no matter where the event takes place, it will happen. Horn said it was likely to be on the steps of the union.
Schmidt also noted without full permission, Horn lifted a paragraph in his release word for word from an e-mail previously sent from Schmidt to Vogts. Although Schmidt did not give permission for the phrasing to be borrowed, Horn said he had permission to use the information in the e-mail.
