Nathan Newman wrote:
>But the Stewart case has gotten a lot of press coverage because the left
>has rallied around the issue and deployed its resources to make it a media
>issue.
-Nathan, that's delusional. The left, whatever that is, has almost no -effect on the media agenda. The Stewart case got a lot of coverage -because she was prosecuted by the federal fucking government as an -example.
This declaration that the left is irrelevant always seems sort of bizarre to me.
I was there in the Guild offices when a lot of people began organizing the second the indictment came down. Creating a media strategy, getting large crowds to early hearings to pull the press in, and doing all the other things needed to highlight the case were all part of that early organizing. And it was effective. I'm sure the case wouldn't have gotten some coverage, but just having the left declare it a cause celebre gives it a certain media status.
And I also think that if the left chose another case, threw a lot of its organizing efforts into highlighting it, it would also get greater media and focus in discussing Bush's policies. And my point is that there are many other folks facing oppression by the Bush administration that could use that concentrated focus. And it would serve the left's overall goals better to make those cases the poster children for Bush's actions, rather than the Stewart case.
Nathan Newman