TO AMY GOODMAN & PRODUCERS OF THE DEMOCRACY NOW RADIO PROGRAM : Cleveland IMC (((i)))

TO: Amy Goodman & the Producers of the DEMOCRACY NOW Radio Program
New York City, New York

Listening to the latter part of your program today was unfortunately a reflection and continuation of more of the unacceptable same, in terms of coverage by Democracy Now.

To be succinct, the overwhelmingly biased coverage on the part of the Democracy Now radio program in favor of the US Presidential candidacy of Barack Obama is misleading and it is a real disservice to Black Americans, the nation, and the entire world.

As even a cursory amount of research would seriously demonstrate, Barack Obama has repeatedly made it crystal clear that he is pro Zionist, pro the interests of big business corporations over common people, pro widening the US military/industrial complex through increasing the US military and its budget, and last but certainly not least--he is not opposed to using unilateral US military force to insure what he refers to as "US interests" in other parts of the world. Common sense and integrity would demand that Democracy Now tell the whole truth about Barack Obama, and stop insulting the intelligence of thinking and reasoning people. It is absolutely no coincidence that Barack Obama's mentor in the US Senate is none other than the pro war Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, whom Obama supported, even against the antiwar US Senatorial candidate, in the most recent US Senate election last year in Connecticut.

Barack Obama's being biologically an African American is absolutely no legitimate reason to discard honest and in-depth coverage of where he really stands and has stood on life and death economic and military matters affecting this nation and the entire world. Blindly supporting the candidacy of Barack Obama is in fact inverse white racism, and there is nothing in the least bit progressive about that. Barack Obama, and those who support him, need to be asked the hard and tough questions, not "coddled" as Obama reportedly once claimed that the Iraqi people are being by the US.

This kind of biased and virtually unquestioning favorable coverage of Barack Obama by Democracy Now is enormously dangerous, and is precisely the kind of coverage engaged in by CNN, FOX News, CBS, ABC, Reuters, AP and the like as pertains to other candidates. Surely, Democracy Now must be capable of clearly distinguishing itself from the aforementioned, particularly since the stakes are so high both nationally and internationally. Superficial feel-good rhetoric from Barack Obama, or any other candidate, is no substitute for clear, precise, and definitive position statements on the issues. Black people, and indeed all people irrespective of color, etc., deserve so much better.

Putting a biologically Black face on imperialism and empire as if that changes or ameliorates its horrible affects is entirely unacceptable. As a member of the human family, a Black person, and a US citizen, I am deeply disappointed with Democracy Now, but sadly, not surprised.

Larry Pinkney

Cleveland Indy Media Center