August 29, 2010
August 22, 2010
"Galileo (Galileo) Galileo (Galileo) Galileo Figaro"
Although I’ve come to depend upon “Letters to the Editor” as an energizing way to start each day, never failing to find a fresh dose of outrageous nonsense somewhere in the mix, I must observe that Desmond Mason’s “Reason without violence” raves in the August 19th Fresno Bee are singularly stupid, reflecting a level of ignorance perhaps unknown since 1633 when the Vatican made Galileo recant his telescope and, in the face of substantial visual evidence to the contrary, declare that the earth is the center of the Universe by divine decree. Galileo, despite his “confession of Faith,” was then sentenced by The Inquisition to life in prison.
Almost four centuries later, in 1992, Pope John Paul II stated that the ruling against Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension”.
Hopefully, it won’t take another four hundred years for the Western world and Mr. Mason to realize that Islam is NOT a “religion of violence”, that the Quran does NOT teach that “Christianity is the Big Satan and Judaism is the Small Satan” and that Muhammad is NOT “the real Satan.”
As Galileo discovered the hard way, any size “Satan” dwells only in the minds of the bedeviled.
August 12, 2010
“MR. BLUTARSKY? -- ZERO POINT ZERO!”
Think -- “National Lampoon’s Animal House.”
Leadership means you do what I say!
Dean Vernon Wormer ran the meeting.
Proposition 19, also known as the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, is a California ballot proposition which is on the upcoming November 2, 2010 California statewide ballot as an initiated state statute.
Proposition 19, if approved by voters, will legalize various marijuana-related activities, allow local governments to regulate these activities, permit local governments to impose and collect marijuana-related fees and taxes, and authorize various criminal and civil penalties.
Medical marijuana is already legal in California, due to the enactment of Proposition 215 in 1996. That was 14 full years ago. Word seems to be just reaching us here in the hills.
Before continuing, I confess that this column is passionately subjective in nature. Please know that I personally participated in public protest at a meeting covered elsewhere in this edition, and understand that I consider the behavior of Madera County’s Planning Commission Chairman at this gathering to be that of a common school yard bully.
By way of brief background, allow me to share a letter which I wrote last September to the Madera County Board of Supervisors:
September 25, 2009
Madera County Board of Supervisors
200 West 4th Street
Madera, California 93637
Gentlemen:
As a resident of Madera County, I request reconsideration be given to the ban on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries you enacted by unanimous vote September 22, 2009.
I’ve been smoking marijuana for more than fifty years, though not continuously. Sometimes I sleep.
I am the father of four and grandfather of eleven, having been happily married to the same woman for 45 years.
I enjoyed high (no pun intended) (well, maybe) executive positions for decades in my chosen profession.
All eight of my daughters and sons-in-law are successful entrepreneurs, exceptional parents and staunch Republicans, deeply involved in their churches and communities.
Sheriff Anderson’s comments on medicinal marijuana seem embarrassingly provincial.
For example, his assertion that “cities with marijuana dispensaries saw an increase in crime” begs for independent verification.
The county counsel’s finding that “marijuana dispensaries would negatively impact the health, safety, and welfare of the community" is simply silly.
For more than twenty years, Dutch citizens over age eighteen have been permitted to buy and use cannabis in government-regulated coffee shops. Even this non-medicinal policy has not resulted in escalating consumption. Rates of marijuana use in the Netherlands are far lower than those in the United States and rank average when compared to other European countries.
Setting aside recreational use, the proven medicinal benefits of marijuana are now far past mere anecdotal testimony.
One might as well condemn aspirin as a work of the devil.
I urge recision of your September 22nd decision.
With best wishes,
Peter Cavanaugh
Oakhurst, California
The Supervisors had been informed in a letter from area ministers that certain parties were going to set up “Marijuana Dispensers” in Oakhurst
(confusing the word with “Dispensary’) -- inferring that
local children would soon be able drop a quarter in a joint box and one would roll right out. Armed with such inspired data and similar tripe, the Supervisors took their vote. I never received official response to my letter, but things seemed pretty mellow for months until I learned in The Star of a public meeting in Coarsegold scheduled for August 3rd. The headline read, “Planners Revisit Pot Shop Ruling.”
Here’s my own headline sent to Star Editor Brian Wilkinson the morning after:
"Planners Revisit Pot Shop Ruling - - No Vote Taken - - Sheriff Called."
I went on to suggest that it might be instructive to contact Steven and Rita Smith, who were petitioning for a temporary use permit, or County Supervisors and/or Planning Commission Chairman Larry Wright for appropriate comments.
I had entered the Coarsegold Community Center as a total stranger, not knowing a single soul in a room soon to reach standing room only status.
More than a dozen attendees offered sworn testimony supporting the medical collective with NO OPPOSITION expressed by ANYONE in the wall-to-wall crowd, even when repeatedly prompted to do so. The “hearing”, by then hopping hopelessly like the Kangaroo Court it was, ended tumultuously when Wright rose from his seat on the dais and approached Mrs. Smith in a menacing manner, ordering her to immediately leave the building.
When members of the audience responded to Wright’s conduct with significant negativity, Wright demanded the entire room be cleared and threatened to call the Sheriff, moments later doing so as the crowd refused to move. Within minutes, a CHP unit and three Madera County Sheriff’s cruisers pulled up, complete with a canine unit to sniff out the snafu. But the doggie had nothing to do, nor did any of the summoned officers, other than ponder why on earth someone had panicked. It was quiet as a mouse on cotton.
Mrs. Smith, a devout Christian whose deep faith plays an open and prominent role in her activities, remains shocked and shaken. She wants to move cannabis from the Devil’s darkness into the light of the Lord that it be cleansed and controlled. Those are my words, not Mrs. Smith’s. She would say it much better.
I trust the Madera County Board of Supervisors will review the sad episode herein recounted and realize issues yet unresolved need to be fully and fairly addressed in open forum. It will also be beneficial for them to inform the Planning Commission that they need to listen to their boss -- the people -- rather than be listened to.
Chairman Wright?
As far as I’m concerned -- he’s on Quadruple-Secret Double Probation.
In a major summer highlight, The Oakhurst Democratic Club was honored to present a personal appearance by
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen at a sold-out August 7th Breakfast Reception.
Secretary Bowen is the third highest ranking executive in California State government.
Secretary of State Bowen visits Oakhurst
Thursday, August 12, 2010,
Secretary of State Debra Bowen gains following at Oakhurst club event
by Tiffany Tuell
Secretary of State Debra Bowen personally greeted each of the 85 guests who attended a breakfast in her honor Saturday at the Oakhurst Community Center.
Peter Cavanaugh, a member of the Oakhurst Democratic Club executive committee, columnist and former disc jockey, opened the morning's festivities by putting his remarks to song, providing the crowd an early morning laugh. Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress in California's 19th District and Oakhurst Democratic Club member Les Marsden lead the introductions.
Secretary Bowen visited the Mountain Area to inform voters what she is doing to protect against voter fraud, empower voters, work with teens through mock trials, work on open government, the Safe at Home program -- a confidential address program for survivors of abuse -- and to take questions from the partisan crowd.
Bowen said she is working on expanding voter rights and passing AB 1340, which would allow military votes to be counted if they are received within 10 days of an election with a postmark on or before the election date.
Mountain Area residents felt privileged to be visited by Bowen, the third highest ranking executive in California government.
Devon Foster, 12, came from Fresno with his parents and said one day he hopes to either be the Secretary of State or a member of the House of Representatives.
"I think it's very unusual to have someone that high up in California politics come to Oakhurst and it's an honor to meet her," Foster said.
Bowen already has Joyce Stuhr's vote in the November elections.
"She's done a good job and she's here talking to us," Stuhr said. "How many elected officials do that? I'm also voting for her because of her success with voting machines."
The event was hosted by the Oakhurst Democratic Club and although there was a light-hearted feel to the event, political opinions were still strong.
"I'm a Democrat because I think and I care," Ed Bailey said. "I was a biological conservative Republican and was brought up where illiteracy was high. President Nixon helped change my mind. He was my hero and let me down."
More than anything, Cavanaugh hopes the event brought awareness to the November election.
"Secretary Bowen's presence in Oakhurst will hopefully bring awareness to the November election which I think is the most important election of my lifetime," Cavanaugh said. "This has not been a progressive Congress and this election could somehow put us on a trajectory into the past by blowing up our bridge to the future.
"I really think this election will see the momentum from two years ago that elected Barak Obama and will reinstitute a progressive presence or it will go in the other direction and plunge us into the dark ages recently seen during the administration of George W. Bush."
August/September 2010
“The Right Side of History”
Summer 2010 is sizzling to a close as we approach some stark, cold realities. A pending November election period awaits us with everything on the line and little to brag about except not being Republicans. Sadly, that should more than be enough.
In the words of Buffalo Springfield, “I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound? Everybody look what's going down!”
The Minority Leader in the House of Representatives sports an artificial tan as phony as his continual claims to speak for “The American People” at every turn.
The Minority Leader in the Senate recites talking points of the privileged like the good party parrot he is, feathers righteously ruffling at the slightest hint of genuine social concern on the part of anyone -- anywhere.
Our “Democratic Majority” in the House and Senate is highly suspect at best -- purely fictional at worst.
Recent headlines screaming: “ Next Big Battle in Washington: Bush’s Tax Cuts” (New York Times 7/24/10) remind us that even the most obvious immediate remedies to historic budget deficits remain hostage to the relentless push and pull of powerful wealth.
“Victories” in Health Insurance and Financial Reform legislation have been, by any fair measure, severely limited. Attempts at formulating initial important steps addressing climate control have now been abandoned for the current session.
The unauthorized release of secret military documents dramatically unveils the depth of deceit ever more evident in our naive occupation of Afghanistan, an ongoing tragedy for all participants.
According to National Talk Show Host Thom Hartmann, Chief Justice John Roberts' Supreme Court is "the most conservative one in living memory." During this time, the Roberts court "issued conservative decisions 58 percent of the time" and, in the last year, “that rate increased to 65 percent, the highest since 1953.” As Jeffrey Toobin wrote last year in an article for The New Yorker, "In every major case since he became the nation's seventeenth Chief Justice, Roberts has sided with the prosecution over the defendant, the state over the condemned, the executive branch over the legislative, and the corporate defendant over the individual plaintiff.
President Obama is vilified by the right for doing what he hasn’t done and pilloried by the left for not doing what he should have done. Driving down the middle of any given road guarantees being repeatedly struck by both sides of traffic. By now it must be crystal clear to our President that conciliation has been rejected, compromise spurned and capitulation demanded. It’s always jump ball with a knee in the -- never mind.
And yet.
It seems to me we have no choice but to rededicate ourselves to each and every principle and purpose which -- so far -- have proceeded not much further than putting Barack Obama in the White House. A mighty and historic step, but only the first of many if we are to truly succeed.
Change comes slowly, but when it arrives, we must be on the right side of history -- not to be found on the right side of the aisle.
In a tanning booth or gilded cage.
July 29, 2010
"ABRAHAM LINCOLN: 101 -- Too Big For Our Britches?"
The word "Breeches" goes back to the Twelfth Century in Old English, commencing earlier as "Brokiz" in the Germanic language, derived from the Nordic "Brok" and Latin "Bracca". All of these words refer to -- pants -- not to be confused with sounds made by Mel Gibson in full tilt boogie rage. B-r-i-t-c-h-e-s is how "Breeches" is pronounced and has become the common spelling in these contemporary times.
An idiom, again something not to be confused with Mr. Gibson, is an expression which means something different from what the words literally imply. In this case, being too big for one's britches suggests arrogance, conceit and an exaggerated sense of self-importance
As any elementary grade school student learns quite early on (I hope), one of the most powerful and impactive speeches in human history, certainly in our American experience, was President Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address", delivered on Thursday, November 19, 1863, at the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of The Civil War. In his remarks, Mister Lincoln redefined "The War Between The States" as a struggle not merely for the Union, but as a "new birth of freedom" to guarantee survival of America's representative democracy as a government of the people.
So when Glenn, Sean, Mark, Jerry, Lars, Michael, Billy, Rush and hordes of similarly inclined, intellectually constipated, Wall Street vested, local imitators across the land pitch and moan about "big government", aren't they simultaneously assigning ALL of us --"We the People" -- to secondary status? Have we become too BIG for our britches?
Government = People. Government equals The People. WE are supposed to BE the GOVERNMENT.
Our Founders never meant government to be a separate, third party entity. When government's not working, we need to change ourselves, not elect a government fundamentally dedicated to its own destruction.
In the immortal utterance of another famous American (Homer Simpson) -- "D'oh!"
But don't say that out loud! "D'oh" is a sound trademark of 20th Century Fox. Rupert Murdock feels that's his private property. Not mine. Not yours. Honest to Abe! Go ahead - Google!
I just picked up a copy of the "Central Valley Tea Party Times" at the Oakhurst Branch Library. At the very top of the front page are listed "Core Values" -- the first one being "Constitutionally Limited Government", followed by "Free Markets" and "Fiscal Responsibility."
In my view, as with everything in life, it's all in how you look at it -- all in how you study it.
I treasure our Constitution, but am bitterly opposed to limiting the our power -- the power of "We the People."
A "Free Market" guarded by other watchdogs of wealth killed two million Irish during the "Great Famine" of the 19th Century, a personal family issue verified by documents on file at the Library of Ireland in Dublin.
"Fiscal Responsibility" was masterfully addressed by my colleague, Alan Cheah, in his most recent column. Basically, Alan simply suggests looking at an irrefutable record. It's all there.
Having enjoyed a lovely gathering at the July 4th "Family Freedom Fest" at Oakhurst Park, all concerned are due appropriate congratulations and recognition for successful organizational efforts and, mainly, for deeply caring about their country. It seemed more like a proper church picnic than a political rally on a completely gorgeous Sunday afternoon. Hundreds were on the scene -- well dressed -- down home upscale -- most wisely positioning themselves in shaded areas under a hot summer sun. Staying out of the heat. Being cool.
It will be even cooler when we can all leap past tired slogans, empty talking points and wild rhetoric - so that "government of the people - by the people and for the people --shall not perish from the earth."
We can do it.
The people are a perfect fit.
July 16, 2010
I note with befuddled amusement Sheriff Margaret Mims' curious allegations in The Bee July 13 that marijuana "dispensaries are a magnet for crime." She adds, "public safety risks outweigh any medical benefits."
This is provincial nonsense.
Forcing medical marijuana back into the underworld despite emerging public consensus to the contrary hardly seems enlightened or advisable -- unless our good sheriff is dedicated to driving up the pricey cost of untaxed, quality cannabis in the Valley.
County officials have already had plenty of time to "draft regulations" regarding distribution. California voters approved the use of marijuana for medical purposes in 1996. That's 14 years ago.
The public gets the picture.
Wake up, Maggie!
July 1, 2010
The New Scarlet Letter
Branded with an “L”? You’re on a Highway to Hell!
That “L-word” now ranks with the worst of epithets, having been mutated and mutilated in certain circles to subterranean levels of disrespect. Local TV viewers can easily testify that, during the recent Primary Election period, our Central Valley News agonizingly devolved into “The Meg and Steve Show” as Meg Whitman and Steve Poisner exchanged nasty diatribes debating who is more “Liberal”.
We received a mind numbing sneak preview of what awaits us this autumn as manipulative money dominated the airwaves -- in our faces -- keeping us in our places. In a sharp doctrinal shift overruling two important precedents about the First Amendment rights of corporations, a bitterly divided Supreme Court ruled in January that the government may not ban political spending by corporations or unions in candidate elections. Don’t be deceived by any implied parity between the two. Unions have millions. Corporations have billions. No tie.
I am a “Chuck Berry Liberal”. Sometimes I will and again sometimes I won’t. Sometimes I do and against some times I don’t. I can change my mind faster than Larry King switches wives. Or girlfriends. Or wives of girlfriends.
Contrary to the naive notion that there is one specific “Liberal” agenda to which all swear allegiance, free thinkers are all over the place in our bunch. A room filled with “Liberals” is pretty much a cluster of unherded cats. Contrast this to the lock step, nonjudgmental, unwavering blind obedience to party politics evident elsewhere. Bought and paid for.
From a practical perspective, this has been working like a charm in our current Congress with a minority party exerting influence far beyond their number in blocking any form of regulatory legislation not favoring private profit over public good. My only satisfaction is witnessing John Boehner and Mitch McConnell as chief spokespersons basically elevated by seniority, both men sharing the charisma of sea slugs, save the fact that sea slugs can be quietly colorful.
Altruistic exceptions aside, private profit is a primary and essential human motivator Ask the Chinese. It’s our current balance of things here at home that’s concerning. In our nation, the top ONE percent own as much as the bottom NINETY-FIVE percent combined. That’s not a typo. And control goes with it.
The Tea Party has it right. We need to return our government to the people. I only suggest more reflection is desirable as to just who “the people” are. It sure can’t just be ONE percent of us.
“Liberal” is derived from the Latin “Libertas”, meaning “FREEDOM!” the exact word Mel Gibson defiantly screamed aloud at the end of “Brave Heart.” Yes! That wild William Wallace was a Liberal --as are most honored heroes of History.
In Ancient Rome, “Libertas” distinguished the free from the enslaved.
This also seems true in Modern Oakhurst.
Lest we be hung, drawn and quartered by some new King.
Happy Freedom Day!
June/July 2010
“All in the Family”
If there was a shred of doubt in anyone’s mind that sinister forces are at work in the world, one only needs to review the appalling “Remembering the Brave” campaign launched in support of State Senator Jeff Denham with an extensive paid schedule dominating our mountain airwaves on every major Fresno TV station in days leading up to the June 8th Primary.
In late March, Denham probably violated federal election law when he traveled on a corporate aircraft owned by a prominent west-side farming company from Fresno to the Bay Area with Karl Rove, Presidential Advisor to George W. Bush.
Rove, long overdue for serious time in the slammer, had just addressed a major Republican rally at the Fresno Convention Center. Karl should have advised Jeff about the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act George signed in September of 2007 making it illegal for House candidates to fly on corporate jets.
But this is nickel and dime stuff.
How about over $150,000 in funds mysteriously launched in support of a “Public Service Campaign” as we witness Jeff Denham climbing to long sought Congressional heights over the bodies of American war dead?
The following is an example of our correspondence with KGPE, KFSN, KSEE, KMPH and KFRE which summarizes the issue:
Linda Danna
Vice President/General Manager
WGPE-TV
Fresno, CA 93726
Dear Ms. Danna:
By way of brief self introduction, my name is Peter Cavanaugh.
I am Media Manager for Les Marsden, running for Congress in the 19th District on the Democratic ticket.
Noting that today's Fresno Bee (5/17/10) references a certain broadcast announcement promoting a benefit concert for “Remembering the Brave, Inc.” featuring Jeff Denham, also a candidate in the 19th District Congressional Primary, and having been informed that KGPE-TV has been running a significant schedule for said announcement, please consider this a formal request that Mr. Marsden be provided with similar air time and frequency prior to the June 8th Primary to express his thoughts and observations in this important race.
My understanding of still extant FCC Equal Time rules would indicate this request is appropriate, even though the announcements are alleged to be "paid for by a nonprofit organization,” your broadcast of same constitutes free airtime used by a candidate for Federal Office, ignoring the fact
that the entire campaign appears to be a cynical, flag-waving attempt to circumvent election laws by forces unknown “saluting” the parents of dead soldiers.
Should my understanding of FCC policy in this area seem incorrect, please provide me with applicable citations.
Otherwise, Mr. Marsden looks forward to reaching your important audience with parity against opposing Federal candidates.
Peter Cavanaugh
The Committee to Elect Les Marsden
$150,000 is a whole lotta loot. It looks like Fresno TV stations took the money and ran with it without meaningful review. Surprise. Surprise.
Veterans’ groups are justifiably in an uproar.
And we once again see our darkest suspicions blatantly verified by the actions of a powerful few against the many with total disregard for true honor, proper respect and common decency.
Family values at their finest.
April 22, 2010
The Little Annie Fanny of America's Recidivist Right
For Your Consideration
Peter Cavanaugh
Although my four Republican daughters roll their eyes like Brunswick Power Grooves every time I refer to Sarah Palin as "The Little Annie Fanny of America's Recidivist Right," I believe Palin should be free to speak at Stanislaus College for as much money as she can possibly grab from those similarly free to pay. Say what you will about the lady, she sure can draw a crowd.
For successful economic enterprise, one gives people what they want. In selling advertising for "Rock 'n' Roll Radio" several centuries ago, when most business folks regarded the new music form as little more than thundering air hammers at painful, screeching pound, this observation often worked like a charm: "Hey! Our listeners love rock 'n' roll. You use worms to catch fish, but never eat 'em yourself, right? Wanna catch the largest radio audience around?"
The CSU Stanislaus Foundation, a private, separate entity from the publicly supported school, is looking for a profitable 50th anniversary celebration. According to foundation president Matt Swanson, "The event is being 100% funded by fresh, private money."
Although College President Hamid Shirvani is also chairman of the foundation board, Shirvani seems to be offering nothing on the controversial issue other than Swanson's busy phone number. But it's quite true that no taxpayer money is going to Sarah for making heavy hay while her midnight sun shines -- ringing that recidivist register -- ca-ching!
Our tax money is going for schools. For defense. For police. For firefighters. For wealth held in common, properly defined as commonwealth, a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good.
Historically, it has sometimes meant the same thing as "republic." The United States of America is a democratic republic. And I concur with Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.: "Taxes are the price of civilization."
But what sort of civilians are we? Since the American Revolution, we've had taxation with representation, but, from time to time, shifting, competing majorities have made a few poor choices.
When Ronald Reagan made his successful bid for re-election in the fall of 1984, Perrysburg, Ohio, just south of Toledo, was the final destination on a "whistle-stop" train tour. It had been arranged to capture a nostalgic sense of traditional American political campaign history. Perrysburg is where I lived while selling that noisy rock 'n' roll. There were Secret Service agents swarming all over our little town with machine-gun toting sharpshooters on every roof.
The tall Irishman spoke only four blocks from my house and not 50 feet away from the Shamrock Lounge, my home away from home. His last words were that Democrats always thought it was April 15, but Republicans wanted every new day to be the Fourth of July.
Right on cue, fireworks exploded in the distance and a band struck-up "Stars and Stripes Forever" as Reagan's train pulled away from the station. It was slick as could be. Like a shining city upon a hill. Or Fox News. Or Sarah Palin at CSU Stanislaus.
THE MOUNTAIN DEMOCRAT
April/May 2010
“Let freedom ring. Let the white doves sing.
Let the whole world know that today is a day of reckoning.
Let the weak be strong. Let the right be wrong. Roll the stone away. Let the guilty pay.
It’s Independence Day.”
“Independence Day”
Martina McBride
1993
Each weekday afternoon across our nation, that impossibly smug, outrageously pompous, self-labeled Great American, Sean Hannity, begins his program with the above chorus from Martina McBride’s “Independence Day”. It is presented by implication as a powerful personal anthem, evoking thrilling images of a locked and loaded, combat geared, radio warrior about to wreak savage revenge against enemies far and wide, especially those with certain Middle East connections, all liberals, most progressives, and some folks who just plain look funny. One might even envision a jaunty, ascot-attired, aviator-scarfed Sean climbing into his Sopwith Camel F.1 biplane, setting off to strafe the Kaiser at sunset over war torn Berlin.
Country music fans, however, know “Independence Day” is actually about a horribly abused housewife who burns her alcoholic husband alive and their whole house with him on a Fourth of July. Talk about fireworks! A daughter, ostensibly the song’s composer, is consequently sent to live in in the uncertain safety of foster care.
But Sean only plays Martina’s chorus. Why ruin an otherwise stirring image with mere facts?
Truth can be bothersome.
Especially when Mr. Hannity received a major broadcasting award in late March from Talkers Magazine for “Outstanding Community Service by a Radio Talk Show Host” while being simultaneously accused of being an utter fraud for the very same activity cited in his official commendation.
Quoting Conservative commentator Debbie Schlussel, Sean Hannity’s sponsorship of, involvement with and allegiance to a group called “Freedom Alliance” and their “Freedom Concerts” is “all a huge scam.”
Writes Ms. Schlussel, “They’ve told you they are raising money to pay for the college tuition of the children of fallen soldiers and to pay for severely wounded war vets. In two recent years, less than 7% and 4%, respectively of the money raised by Freedom Alliance
went to these causes, while millions of dollars went to “expenses”, including consultants and apparently to ferret a Hannity posse of family and friends in high style.”
On one line item from her impressively detailed documentation, Ms. Schlussel observes that $500,000 in expenses were spent to award just over $800,000 in scholarships.
Wait!
A Conservative investigator accusing a Conservative talk show host of major fraud?
That’s almost as crazy as a Republican candidate for Governor, Steve Poizner, attacking California liberals for “years of doing too much for too many.” Poizner is running far behind Meg Whitman in voter polling and so resorts to thinly disguised racist rhetoric in a desperate attempt to win base support, evidently forgetting the words of another prominent Conservative, Winston Churchill, who once famously observed, “Never was so much owed by so many to so few.
Wow!
If Poizner’s correct, Sir Winston could have been have been talking about us Mountain Democrats!
Yes, Martina, the “right is wrong.”
Sean Hannity proves that every day on Fresno’s good old KMJ.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
"My name is MacNamara. I'm the leader of the band."
Although I was barely 2, and could hardly walk, my father would stand me up on the bar to entertain his cronies with a fairly impressive ensemble of various Irish ballads, dirges and chants, which I mastered even as I learned to speak. They would give me pennies and shot glasses of beer for my trouble.
To this day, it seems like more than a fair exchange as I recall the laughter and the love.
And here it is the 77th day of this very year with another 364 days until St. Paddy's Day 2011.
My head is spinning with numbers.
About 15 million Americans are unemployed. Another 9 million are officially labeled "involuntary part-time workers" by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which it explains in its March release, "these individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job."
Toss on the heap another 2.5 million who are, in government-speak, "marginally detached," half of whom have become "discouraged workers." With six applicants for every job, folks in this category have just about given up.
These figures are translated into an overall "Unemployment Rate" of 9.7%. Against this national percentage, compare Madera County at 16.6%, Fresno County at 18.2% and Merced County at a heartbreaking 21.7%.
Welcome to the new "now." About 45 million of us remain without any form of health insurance, a statistic swelling by 10,000 a day.
Current pending legislation intended to address this issue insures only the insurers. Private companies are guaranteed billions in mandatory premiums from the public, but no public options are presented to provide proven, cost-cutting competition.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent by outrageously profitable corporations in cleverly conceived, brilliantly executed strategies, which have been clearly successful in convincing many of us to emotionally vote against our own interests time after time.
But once in a while some very nice things still happen.
Did you know Madera County Supervisor Tom Wheeler has endorsed a "socialistic" project? Last week's Sierra Star quotes Wheeler as saying, "I think it's a big hit for the community," and I quite agree. Wheeler was referring to a Department of Veterans' Affairs Outpatient Clinic being built in Oakhurst for our nearly 3,000 Mountain Area veterans.
The 8,500-square-foot clinic off Highway 49 will house 18 treatment rooms offering primary care, mental health care, women's health services, eye care and a pharmacy, all paid for and run by the government.
God Bless our veterans. The American military death toll in Afghanistan has reached 1,000 with four times that number killed in Iraq.
Earlier this month, General Stanley McCrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, was given extended control over all military activities and operations in the region. McCrystal's latest analysis of the situation indicates he will require more troops than originally anticipated to finish the job and win. Or at least, end the mission some way that doesn't seem too terribly whacked, then retire from the military to become set for life with appropriate compensatory rewards for self-service properly rendered.
Barack Obama has 34 months left in his first term as president, but minimal time remaining to regain the enormously enthusiastic momentum across party lines initially generated by his election to office. He has stood, but not delivered. He has spoken, but done little. He has promised, but not provided.
Obama is despised by the right and is being abandoned by the left. And with a fine fighting name like O'Bama, Mr. President, this Irishman's still in your corner, but hoping for no future rounds like the first.
Make your stand.
Lead this land.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Here’s the deal:
Paid speech isn’t “Free Speech” by core definition.
Under various pieces of self-serving legislation enacted through the years by lawmakers far and wide, “Political Advertising” has been enshrined with delightfully friendly laws, custom made for the special folks who write them. Those running for Federal Office, in particular, enjoy certain unique privileges, including “lowest unit cost” guarantees, absolute freedom from any form of editing and/or content control and increased availability of airtime which must be provided significantly beyond normal commercial tolerances during campaigns.
While the guiding spirit behind these statutes has been to theoretically insure the electorate is made sufficiently aware of community issues and needs to be able to intelligently vote with adequate, informed aforethought, the cumulative effect of such noble attempts by the empowered to maintain position and status has been quite to the contrary.
An intelligent discussion of public affairs? Come on. We’ve seen it all---an endless parade of poisonous partisanship from all sides.
Name calling. Character assassination. Blatant untruths. Vulgar vituperation. Ugly innuendo.
Snarling sarcasm. Sneering sloganeering. Arsenic-coated bullet points.
Sadly, negative campaigning works great. It’s human nature. Fundamental decency and common courtesy are seasonally sacrificed by practiced professionals upon the cold, bloodless altar of blatant political expediency.
Sticks and stones will break your bones, but names will never hurt you?
Unless you’re running for office.
We warn our kids of sex and drugs, but willfully expose them to vile personal attacks of the lowest order at the highest levels of debate as a sanctioned form of civilized human discourse.
And, let’s face it. Those ads are annoying at best and infuriating at worst. At the height of last year’s Presidential Campaign, more than one-third of all prime broadcast time could be characterized as “political” in nature, the bulk of which ranged in content from nasty to nefarious.
No wonder “government” is now commonly viewed with dark suspicion. We are cynically conditioned on an annual basis to consider leadership little more than leprosy.
The controversial January 21st Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission has opened the door to unlimited corporate and union spending. Recent national polling now indicates eight in ten respondents say they oppose
such activity with little difference between Democrats, Independents and Republicans.
Something with which most of us can mainly agree!
At last!
But why not go all the way?
Let’s ban all paid political advertising from radio, television, satellite and cable.
There would still be plenty of opportunities for propaganda peddling through newspapers, billboards, magazines and, of course, the mighty Internet, but none of these offers the same potentially intrusive, virtually unavoidable presence of traditional, licensed, electronic media.
It will make for more pleasant programming and a far nicer world in our Valley.
THE MOUNTAIN DEMOCRAT
February - March 2010
The Finest Elections Money Can Buy
A bitterly divided and radically partisan U. S. Supreme Court has
opened the floodgates on profligate corporate political extortion.
In yet another act of wild public betrayal reminiscent of its
December 2000 anointing of George W. Bush as President, the
Court has ruled that the government may not ban political spending
by corporations in candidate elections.
The 5 to 4 decision overruled two important First Amendment
precedents.
The New York Times offers us this headline: "Lobbies' New
Power: Cross Us, and Our Cash Will Bury You."
President Obama calls it “a major victory for big oil, Wall Street
banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests
that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the
voices of everyday Americans.”
But our still new President needs to put a bit of bite into his barks.
Make that bites. With really big teeth. Fangs are fitting.
It’s no surprise to any of us that things haven’t completely turned
around in the last twelve months after eight horrid years of Bush-
Cheney and three decades of wretched retreat from traditional
democratic values, but we seem at dead stall with no wind in our
sails, no hand on the wheel and no cannons on deck, loose or
otherwise - not even a Mighty Mouse to round up all the
Democratic Congressional Cats unable to herd themselves.
Our leaders seem bafflingly blinded even as we see the road.
Medicare for all. OUT of Iraq. OUT of Afghanistan. IN with
Social Responsibility. IN with Economic Justice. And ON and ON.
There are over 35,000 registered lobbyists in Washington, D.C.,
the number growing every hour since Obama’s election. That’s
approximately 65 lobbyists haunting each member of the U.S.
Congress on any given day.
And the Supreme Court’s Decision in “Citizens United v. Federal
Election Commission?”
E.J. Dionne Jr. nailed it in the Washington Post:
“The only proper response to this distortion of our political system
by ideologically driven justices is a popular revolt. It would be a
revolt of a sort deeply rooted in the American political tradition.
The most vibrant reform alliances in our history have involved
coalitions between populists (who stand up for the interests and
values of average citizens) and progressives (who fight against
corruption in government and for institutional changes to improve
the workings of our democracy). It's time for a new populistprogressive
alliance.”
Dionne continues:
“This court ruling should also challenge the fake populism we have
seen of late. It disguises a defense of the interests of the powerful
behind crowd-pleasing rhetoric against "Washington," "taxes" and,
yes, "Obama." The President has helped feed this faux populist
revolt by failing to understand until recently how deeply frustrated
politically moderate, middle-class Americans are over policies that
bailed out the banks while leaving behind millions of unemployed
and millions more alarmed about their economic futures.”
Yet, paraphrasing Franklin Delano Roosevelt, we have nothing to
fear but us, ourselves. And, quoting Elvis, “It’s now or never!”
Make no mistake. This is not a rehearsal.
THE MOUNTAIN DEMOCRAT
December 2009 - January 2010
“Happy Word from the 23rd!”
The 23rd New York Congressional District is as carved up as a Thanksgiving Turkey by Friday morning, not unlike our own California 19th. It includes all or parts of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Oswego and St. Lawrence counties, most of the Adirondack Mountains and the Thousand Islands region, bordered by Canada to the north.
As of a recent special election, the 23rd is now represented by Bill Owens of Plattsburgh, the first Democrat to serve the area since sometime in the 1850’s - before The Civil War.
My namesake and Great-Grandfather, Peter Cavanaugh, having fled to America from unrestrained free market economics during Ireland’s Famine Years, has been buried under a fine Celtic Cross in New York’s 23rd since 1892. I’m sure he’s resting more comfortably these days, having waited 117 years for proper representation.
The special election to please Peter gained national attention when several national Republican leaders endorsed Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman over Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava. A few days before the election Scozzafava dropped out and endorsed Mr. Owens, who went on to win the seat with a 48.7% plurality. Nice work, Sarah.
I’m hoping it won’t take 117 years for Les Marsden to replace George Radanovich.
The November 17th issue of the Fresno Bee featured a Letter to the Editor submitted by Nicholas Massei, Jr., suggesting Radanovich be congratulated for “having the courage to vote against” the House-passed health care reform bill.
Junior went on to loyally recite standard GOP “talking points,” escalating in wild absurdity with data from The Lewin Group, a consulting firm based in Falls Church, Virginia.
He neglected to mention that the Lewin organization is wholly owned by the health insurance giant, UnitedHealth Group, or that Mr. Massei, himself, is an Authorized Independent Agent for Blue Cross of California.
Radanovich’s vote against health care reform is as cowardly and beholding to special interests as his November 5th “No” vote on H.R. 3548, “The Workers, Home Ownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009.”, which passed 403 to 12, including overwhelming support from 156 Republican members.
An immediate priority of the measure was an extension of
unemployment benefits for 14 weeks with an extra 6 weeks
intended for states with unemployment figures above 8.5%, including California at 12.2%.
In Radanovich’s 19th Congressional district, latest figures indicate Mariposa County registering 9.9% unemployment, Madera 13.8%, Tuolumne 13.5%, Fresno 15.8% and Stanislaus 16.6%.
More “compassionate conservatism” from Mr. Radanovich?
How ‘bout Work Farms, Orphan Labor and Debtors’ Prisons?
To hold the torch of freedom high.
And burn out the poor.
Peter Cavanaugh
Oakhurst
WildWednesday.com
Letter to the Editor for November 12, 2009
Dear Editor,
No, Virginia, there is no "Doc Oslo." This is a simplistic creation of Bill Atwood's bombastic imagination, expressed in his grandiloquent ravings about President Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize in his letter to the editor in the Oct. 29 Sierra Star.
Mr. Atwood regularly contributes such "thoughts" to the Sierra Star and, along with other imaginary friends, "Doc Oslo" is as phony as the rest of Bill's platitudinous blather.
We see our young President presented as a "teleprompter" reading, "world order guy" whose "indecision" on Afghanistan "is putting our troops into a more dangerous situation." More dangerous than what, Mr. Atwood? Being there in the first place?
After savaging the administration's nascent economic policies, Nancy Pelosi's independently verified charges against the CIA and CNN for not being FOX, Atwood fires a grand finale fusillade against health reform.
Stating "more than 80% of Americans are happy with their current health care plan and the socialists want to mess up the best health care delivery system in the world to help just a few," Atwood plunges from fantasy to fiction with astoundingly ingenuous ease.
And he's waiting for the White House to call? More likely some nice young men in their clean white coats.
And they're coming to take him away.
Peter Cavanaugh, Oakhurst
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
As a resident of Madera County, I am requesting that reconsideration be given to the ban on medical marijuana dispensaries the Board of Supervisors enacted by unanimous vote Sept. 22.
I’ve been smoking marijuana for more than 50 years, though not continuously. Sometimes I sleep.
I am the father of four and grandfather of eleven, having been happily married to the same woman for 45 years. I enjoyed high (no pun intended … well, maybe) executive positions for decades in my chosen profession.
All eight of my daughters and sons-in-law are successful entrepreneurs, exceptional parents and staunch Republicans, deeply involved in their churches and communities.
Sheriff Anderson’s comments on medicinal marijuana seem embarrassingly provincial.
For example, his assertion that “cities with marijuana dispensaries saw an increase in crime” begs for independent verification.
The county counsel’s finding that “marijuana dispensaries would negatively impact the health, safety, and welfare of the community” is simply silly.
For more than 20 years, Dutch citizens over age 18 have been permitted to buy and use cannabis in government-regulated coffee shops. Even this non-medicinal policy has not resulted in escalating consumption. Rates of marijuana use in the Netherlands are far lower than those in the United States and rank average when compared to other European countries.
Setting aside recreational use, the proven medicinal benefits of marijuana are now far past mere anecdotal testimony.
One might as well condemn aspirin as a work of the devil.
I urge rescission of the Sept. 22 decision.
Peter Cavanaugh,
Oakhurst
THE MOUNTAIN DEMOCRAT
OICTOBER-NOVEMBER 2009
“GREAT! Where’s Oakdale?”
Mike’s handlers were getting jumpy.
We were in San Francisco, where Eileen and I had the great
fortune of attending a special screening of “Capitalism: A Love
Story”, later spending time with an old friend.
MIchael Moore had joined us on the sidewalk in front of our hotel
to continue an extended conversation about Flint times and new
challenges. A crowd was quickly gathering. He’d just been on
Leno. His security team was understandably growing increasingly
uncomfortable. Those death threats are real.
“Mister Moore, please get back in the car.”
But Michael was captivated by the wild idea of possibly gracing
George Radanovich’s “Town Meeting” the following day in
Oakdale with an impromptu appearance. Saddened to learn that a 7
AM flight to Minneapolis would prohibit such sport, Mike
nonetheless offered his support in nailing a (D) after our next 19th
District Congressional Representative’s name.
Michael lives in a Republican dominated rural area, too. His year round
home is in Antrim County, Michigan - population 24,109.
He’s all too familiar with the curious George Radanoviches of the
flying monkey right embracing vices as virtues, treasonably
trashing our American middle class, offering a smile all the while.
While any attempt at true objectivity would be folly, I feel safe to
say that Michael’s new film will not disappoint. It is a powerful
call to action.
The star?
…Franklin Delano Roosevelt!
Our 32nd President of the United States visits us in poignant,
never-released, never-seen, granular black and white footage
captured shortly before his death.
He outlines all that could be.
Which still has never been.
Seventy years down the road, it’s our job now.
Mike’s done his.
Eileen Cavanaugh, Michael Moore, Peter Cavanaugh
Advance Screening "Capitalism: A Love Story"
Clay Theater, San Francisco
September 17, 2009
"Halfway to Saint Patrick's Day!"
THE MOUNTAIN DEMOCRAT
AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2009
"Failed Expectations"
“Take me to the station.
Put me on a train
I’ve got no expectations
To pass through here again”
Rolling Stones--”No Expectations“ from ”Beggars Banquet (1968)
Cindy Cavanaugh is fiercely disappointed. She ain’t gonna work
on Maggie’s Farm no more. For $67.50 she expected better from
Bob Dylan at Alliance Stadium in Syracuse on Sunday, July 19th,
before a less than sell-out crowd, even though John Mellencamp
and Willie Nelson were opening acts.
A devoted fan of many years standing, my sister-in-law offers this
succinct summary: “He played nothing but new material all night
long until he encored with a screwed up version of ‘Like a Rolling
Stone’. Dylan sucked.”
Failed expectations haunt us through our lives.
Some ricochet now in progressive circles over perceived neglect
from the new administration with scores of contested issues from
“Don’t Ask” and “Single Payer” to general economic policies,
military involvement in Iraq/ Afghanistan and, especially here in
the Valley, environmental concerns. I suggest it will take more
than a few days to address decades of national decline.
Republican talking points outrageously ignore complexities of any
kind. Thoughtful perspective brings realization that major
realignment is long overdue and imperative for collective survival.
I remain passionately proud of our new President. He deserves our
loyalty, support and guidance. In the Great Depression of the
1930s when the AFL and CIO asked Roosevelt for what became
The Wagner Act of 1935. FDR said, “I agree with you. I want to
do it. NOW GO TO THE STREETS AND MAKE ME DO IT.”
They did. We should.
With Peter Leinau’s decision to withdraw his availability for
Washington responsibilities, I am offering unqualified support and
endorsement of Les Marsden’s candidacy in next year’s 19th
District Congressional Race. Les is a winner and represents the
highest ideals of Democratic Party tradition much, much more than
not.
With symphonic resonance.
Meanwhile, some expectations are grandly exceeded. My (gasp)
50th Year High School Reunion in Syracuse (Cathedral Academy
‘59) on 7/18 was nothing short of amazing. A stop at WPHR-FM
in Syracuse to visit my old friend, Dr. Roosevelt Wright
of the Newhouse School of Communication, found me suddenly
on-the-air for an hour with 6’9’’ Arinze Onuaku, starting center for
this year’s Syracuse University Basketball Team. Arinze made this
year’s “Sweet Sixteen” and has a shot at the National
Championship in 2010. He taught me how to jump.
And I spent a few days in poor little Flint, Michigan, on
the way back home. I was honored being interviewed during an
informal “Michigan Radio Reunion” over WKUF-FM.
WKUF is a listener-supported, low-power facility serving the
Flint Community, quite like Pacifica does Fresno on KFCF.
WKUF broadcasts for the common good. It was delightful being with them.
After five decades in commercial radio, I agree with Cindy
Cavanaugh. I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s Farm no more.
THE MOUNTAIN DEMOCRAT
JUNE - JULY 2009
“The Shunning”
When our new First Lady, Michelle Obama, made her initial and only university commencement address this spring at the University of California at Merced on the 15th of May, five of six San Joaquin Valley congressmen skipped the event.
All had been invited, but only Pleasanton Democrat Jerry McNerney, whose East Bay-centered 11th District district includes a portion of the northern San Joaquin Valley, had the grace and good manners to attend.
According to a spokesperson, our own George Radanovich from the 19th District didn’t “make any special effort to avoid it”, easing concerns among constituents that George ever be subjected to any form of heavy lifting.
Bakersfield Republican Kevin McCarthy said he had an art competition to attend, paintings taking precedence over professional protocol.
Visalia Republican Devin Nunes announced he didn’t go because “he is unhappy with President Barack Obama and the majority Democrats in Congress”, upon whom he blames everything, including the Sack of Rome and The French Revolution.
But two Democrats were also elsewhere.
Jim Costa of Fresno had “other things to attend.”
And Merced Congressman Dennis Cardoza declined an invitation to the exercise for “personal and professional reasons”, although UC Merced is in his district and he received his invitation months in advance.
In the words of Buffalo Springfield (1967) , “There’s something happening here. What it is, ain’t exactly clear.”
While the lack of Republican reps might be cynically scored as characteristically boorish behavior, I find myself concerned in no small measure over Costa’s/Cardoza’s perplexing provincial petulance, for only such might account for their inexcusable absence.
With 20.4% Unemployment (2nd highest in the nation) and 6,000
foreclosures during 2008 in a population of 80,000, Merced deserved more than MIchelle Obama received.
How ‘bout displaying a little unity around here?
Peter Cavanaugh
Oakhurst
WildWednesday.com
THE MOUNTAIN
DEMOCRAT
APRIL – MAY 2009
Fairness Is What Fairness Needs
By Peter Cavanaugh
“Mirror, Mirror on the wall. Who’s the fairest of them all?”, asks
the wicked witch in Snow White. “Fair ball!”, shouts the umpire,
as a home team scores the winning run. “That’s not fair!”, cries
every child ever born anywhere when denied anything. I did.
But it’s hard fitting “fair” into framework. As Supreme Court
Justice Potter Stewart once ruled on obscenity, he couldn’t define
it, but knew it when he saw it.
Having over 90% of government regulated, publicly owned
AM/FM radio airwaves devoted to right-wing, ultra-reactionary,
radically anti-progressive commentary is simply unfair. And this
90% plus percentage is, pun intended, a conservative estimate.
Such dominance in the last two decades came about through the
mechanics of “free market” economics. Commercial sponsorship
commands programming. Big Business loves Rush, Sean, Glenn, Mark
and Ray just down the road.
In earlier times, the Federal Communications Commission
enforced what came to be known as “The Fairness Doctrine”. This
was a policy, not a law, firm definition proving elusive. It just
meant all sides of important issues should be heard. It was never
meant to shut people down, but open discussion up.
In August of 1987, under President Ronald Reagan, the F.C.C.
abolished the Doctrine. In August of 1988, Rush Limbaugh,
through the magic of newly emerging satellite technology, began
national syndication with radio stations unhampered by the need to
offer reasonable rebuttal to Liberal Losers, Environmentalist
Wackos, Long-Haired, Dope-Smoking Hippies, and, in particular,
Femi-Nazis. Ratings scored, profits soared and “Rush Rooms”
flourished coast-to-coast. With lemming-like instinctive drive at
full throttle, rewarded by riches, the American broadcast industry
took a right hand turn, now intransigently locked in place.
So comes Free Press. They want to reform media and transform
democracy. Free Press offers lots of great ideas. and we can get
involved right here in the Mountains. Right now. Click
www.freepress.net. It’s all there.
I’m working with Senior Program Director Craig Aaron, with
whom I spent an hour discussing fairness on Sirius Left (Channel
146) a few weeks ago. A major push for Free Press is Low-Power
FM Radio. What Is LPFM? LPFM -- stations are community based,
nonprofit radio stations that broadcast at the local level, to
neighborhoods and small towns throughout the country.
Run by nonprofits like colleges, churches, schools, labor unions
and other community groups, LPFM stations provide local
coverage, information and perspectives that are not available
anywhere else. These noncommercial stations are uniquely
positioned to meet local needs. LPFM stations may have a small
broadcast range. They operate at 100 watts or less and have a
broadcast reach of just a few miles, but their impact on local
communities could be immense.
An editorial I was honored having recently published in the
Pulitzer-Prize Winning Toledo Blade, admittedly pushes things a
bit further: When 2009 financial covenants can't be met, taxpayer owned
(or owed) banks should seize the stations and/or groups
which they funded and transfer the facilities in Federal
Communications Commission-sanctioned public auctions to local
interests.
In such transactions, former employees would receive special
consideration, including the opportunity to be considered for
small-business loans to not only gain control but participate in
common, community-oriented ownership.
Oh, no! I must be an Environmentalist Wacko, Femi-Nazi, Dope-
Smoking, Hippie Liberal.
I hope.
THE MOUNTAIN
DEMOCRAT
DECEMBER 2008 – JANUARY 2009
"Misty Mountain Hop"
By Peter Cavanaugh
"Misty Mountain Hop" Led Zeppelin (1973)
"If you go down in the streets today, baby,
you better open your eyes.
Folk down there really don't care which way the pressure lies,
So I've decided what I'm gonna do now.
And I'm packing my bags for the Misty Mountains
where the spirits go,
over the hills where the spirits fly."
The Misty Mountains of Zeppelin fame are in Wales. They are
referred to in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Return Of The King." Robert
Plant is a big fan of Tolkien and I'm a big fan of Robert Plant,
Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John Bonham.
Eileen and I moved from Michigan to Oakhurst two years ago,
here to the Misty Mountains of the Sierra. Yet we always look
back, the better to look ahead.
Flint, Michigan, was once home to the highest paid factory worker
in the entire industrialized world. Then everything went
completely upside down. In less than a human lifetime - first
faded to worst.
Thus sprang a coalescence.
"I wouldn't have been able to do what I've done if I hadn't grown
up in an area that had such a vibrant and rebellious political and
cultural scene. The music was so integrated into your experience as
a teenager. Everyone knows about Woodstock, but we had our own
mini-Woodstock every Wednesday, every summer, just outside
Flint. It was called Wild Wednesday. It was in a field with a big
pond, and it was the first place that people saw so many of these
groups, like MC5, Iggy, Seger. We'd literally be there every
Wednesday from Noon to Midnight. Thousands would show up.
And out of that grew the protests.You'd have a group of high
school students planning a walkout. Maybe it was just over how
lousy the food was at the lunch counter at school. It wasn't like,
"Here's the political thing." It was all woven together in the same
sort of rebellious, rock & roll attitude. When you said rock & roll,
it wasn't just the music. You meant it as a way of life, as a coat of
armor against everything that was coming at you. It was a force to
be reckoned with. In my mind, there would be no "Roger & Me",
no "Fahrenheit 9/11" if I had not been one of thousands
participating in that moment. And the millions who go to
“Fahrenheit” carry that with them as well. They were there at Wild
Wednesday, too."
Michael Moore
40th Anniversary Edition, Rolling Stone Magazine, May 2007
On October 17, 2008, I was honored assisting the Oakhurst
Democratic Club present a free showing of "Michael Moore's
Slacker Uprising," having had the joy of introducing Michael to
the world over WWCK-FM in Flint from 1980 through 1987.
During this period, WWCK-FM became the highest rated Rock ,n
Roll station in America. Michael's program, "Radio Free Flint",
won a number of local and national broadcast awards.
The Oakhurst Library was wall to wall with local residents who, as
the movie concluded, were then treated to a half-hour of live phone
conversation with Michael. Calling from Flint, Mike answered
questions from the Oakhurst audience and offered his overview on
current economic and political challenges.
Through Blue Tooth technology, it seemed as though he was right
in the room. All in attendance were there at Wild Wednesday, too.
For a Misty Mountain Hop.
Published February 12, 2009
The Flint Journal
By way of brief introduction, my name is Peter Cavanaugh.
I am a former DJ on WTAC.
Witnessing the horrid professional executions of Les Root, Jeff Wade, Bill Bailey, Rusty Thomas, Laurie Richter, Doug Fisher, Brian Beddow, and dozens of other loyal and faithful area broadcast employees in recent days and, with local management “unavailable for comment," might I propose a few "new rules" about media ownership?
In the past dozen years, we've seen facility value thrive on the promise of "consolidation," then brutally collapse under the weight of egregious greed.
Major radio stocks have become virtually worthless.
As Cumulus, Citadel, Regent and similar corporate entities default on borrowing covenants in 2009, taxpayer-owned (or owed) banks should seize the stations and/or groups which they funded and transfer the facilities in Federal Communications Commission-sanctioned public auctions to local interests.
In such transactions, former employees would receive special consideration, including the opportunity to be considered for small-business loans to not only gain control but participate in common, community-oriented ownership.
Details to be determined.
Nothing to it but to do it.
Limited AM and FM frequencies are owned by the people.
Flint!
Take back your stations!
Peter C. Cavanaugh
Oakhurst, Calif.
Published February 12, 2009
In his January 29th Sierra Star Column, "House hunting for inmates", Dr. Bill Atwood once again displays the intellectual depth of a frozen bird bath.
Bill, Guantanamo is not an "Air Base." It's a Naval facility.
President Obama is not about to "close" it, he's going to shutter a torture camp housed at that location since 2002.
The overwhelming majority of "terrorists" detained there were not captured by U.S. forces or agents, but were turned in as "enemy combatants" by their own people for massive cash bounties.
Camp Delta, Camp Iguana and Camp X-Ray have become global symbols of criminal corruption at the highest levels of government.
Their abandonment is long overdue, their captives, charged or freed.
Their shameful memory -- forever scarring our collective history.
Peter Cavanaugh,
Oakhurst, California
My last words? “Life is no way to treat an animal, not even a mouse.”
Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007)
Peter C. in the News
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books -- UCLA -- April 28, 2007
Release of 35th Anniversary Edition -- "Guitar Army" --John Sinclair/Michael Simmons
"Beyond Baroque" -- Venice, California
Denny Smithson--"Cover to Cover" with Peter C. on KPFA-FM--San Francisco
A highly-respected Bay Area Broadcast Voice for over 40 years, Denny began at KPFA in 1967, working in public affairs and news programming. He moved on to become the Monday morning host for about 12 years, followed by a year on Brainstorm. Since then he has found his niche doing author interviews on Cover to Cover.
Yosemite National Park
July 2007
Photo By Eileen Cavanaugh
Wall to Wall--Question Mark San Francisco Benefit
Annie's Host Chris Owen, Peter Cavanaugh and Owner Annie Whiteside-- Herself!
Peter C. and Michael Simmons -- King of All Writers
Artillery Magazine, Rolling Stone, High Times, Penthouse, LA Times, Focus on the Family
Rae's Lounge -- Los Angeles
January 17, 2007
Peter C,
I was just chatting with one of my old HS buds & he told me about your book. Messing around the internet, I found your website.
I grew up in Midland in the 60's (Midland HS, class of '70, go Chemics). Naturally, my radio was tuned to WTAC, and of course I attended as many of the local rock n roll shows as I could (Sherwood Forest, Mt Holly, Daniel's Den, Blue Light in Midland). The Jimi Hendrix show at the IMA was my first big-time rock n roll concert.
I'd like to say thanks for all you did & all you meant to so many of us way back when. It really was a magical time to be growing up. I now know how much hard work you must have put into it & how you must have had to put yourself on the line to keep the quality so uniformly high. You really provided cutting edge entertainment to an area that just as easily could have been a real forgotten backwater.
I guess it was in no small part being captivated by what I heard on WTAC and then going to the shows that you were promoting & advertising on the station that really got me hooked on music. I'm happy to say that 40-odd years later, I'm still making a living in the music biz & still having a blast doing it.
For what it's worth, I ran into Ted Nugent in September ( we played the Cal State Fair the night after he did & saw him at the hotel) & had a nice chat about the old days in Mich, and, just last month I went to see Bob Seger's show in Nashville. He still sounds GREAT, by the way.
I hope all's well with you & yours!!!!
Thanks so much!!!!
Jim Scholten
Sawyer Brown
Nashville
January 17, 2007
Peter C,
Loving the book! Takes me back to my miserable Midland, Michigan childhood where all I wanted to do was pack my bag and leave that one-horse-town starting when I was TWELVE!!! WTAC was the only thing happening and it was a a beacon of light to a rock loving kid (listen to the new Bob Seger song "Face the Promise" for an approximate 'biography'!).
Fortunatately I eventually crawled out with stops at Daniel's Den, MSU and various national "Ports of Call" before finally reaching the bright lights of the Big City. Had two great kids, wrote two Graphic Novels on my mis-spent youth and am having helluva good time in my 54th year! Thanks for giving me a good start with the best in Rock & Roll!
Best regards,
Rob "Rocco" Maisch
In Deepest Cleveland
Flint, Michigan -- 2006
A Record Crowd of 15,000 at the 30th Anniversary Bobby Crim Festival of Races
Peter C. & WHNN's Johnny Burke Introduce Robert Gillespie and The Legendary Mitch Ryder
WTLB Radio Reunion --- Utica, New York
Abraham Lincoln, Jerry Reed, Jim Kenyon, Joe Tierno, Janice Kenyon, Peter C. and Dan O'Neil
The Cavanaugh Drinking Horn
One of very few surviving objects known to have been the personal property of an Irish king, the Kavanagh Charter Horn is a ceremonial drinking horn of elephant ivory dating from the early 12th century, with brass mountings added in the 15th century. Owned by the MacMorrough Kavanagh Kings of Leinster for centuries, it remained in the possession of the Chiefs of the Borris line until its later donation to the National Museum of Ireland.
This website was originally created and developed by daughter, Susan, out in Oakhurst, California. You may visit Susan and her husband, Rich Seiling, at www.westcoastimaging.com
Michael Moore, on the far RIGHT side (haha) of our 1980 WWCK staff photo (below)
B. C. Coleman (page 231) is living a life of splendid sanctuary in Buzzonia, Michigan, with turkeys and deer at sunset and a vintage '41 Willys in the barn. Buzzonia was chosen by the Fraternal Union of Casual Knights as venue for Mr. Goodbar's 70th Birthday Party in late October '06. As Aging Children know, "70" is the new "17." Bob Dell (page 35) runs the top-rated Morning Show in New Orleans on WWL, although eventually retiring to Oneida Lake in Upstate New York. Bob Seger (page 195) was back on the road with Coast-to-Coast sell-outs after 11 years of absence. Rock 'n Roll never forgets!" Alice Cooper (page 130) is still 18. MC5 (page 111) have their own excellent movie coming out on DVD. Iggy Stooge (page 156) is available now on DVD with one of the best live performances I ever witnessed, magnificently unleashed before a sold-out crowd at DTE Music Theater in August of 2003. Iggy opens Michael Moore's film, "Capitalism: A Love Story" with a wild version of "Louie-Louie", complete with new, appropriate lyrics.
My friend, Finbarr Slattery, over in Killarney, Holy Ireland, land of mystical enchantment, honored me a while ago by including a brief sinful segment from "Local DJ" in his award winning newspaper column. George Clinton (page 202) has pleaded "no contest" to two misdemeanor drug paraphernalia charges in Tallahassee, Florida. He was sentenced to 200 hours of community service. George is 69, my elder by a year. John Sinclair (page 113) lives mostly in Amsterdam and is the focus of a new film, "20 to Life: The Life and Times of John Sinclair." John reports, "Man, I remember the dances at Sherwood Forest with the fondest possible feeling. Glad you're holding up, my brother. I'm 67 now myself." John has completed a new American book tour in conjunction with release of the long-awaited 35th Anniversary Edition of "Guitar Army" featuring an introduction by Michael Simmons. Peter Townshend of the WHO (page 83) refused to give Michael Moore permission to use "Won't Get Fooled Again" at the very end of "Fahrenheit 9/11", even though the group was first played in America on WTAC and George Bush actually said those exact words in an uncommon moment of linguistic challenge.
I'm pleased to find myself being quoted extensively in "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison" by Michael Streissguth, an Associate Professor of English at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, from which I graduated in '63. I was also happy to record an audio version of "Local DJ" for Wayne State University and WDET-FM, Detroit's National Public Radio station.
RECENT
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IN PRINT:
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Syracuse
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 Syracuse Post-Standard May 20, 2002 |
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Flint
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 The Oakland Press - May 20, 2002 |
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 Grand Rapids Record - June 21, 2002 |
September 6, 2002 - Detroit Free Press
"Bookworming: Your Esteemed Airwave Scribbler spent a large portion of this now-waning summer paging through "Local DJ: A Rock 'n Roll History" by longtime Flint record spinner and Rock Promoter Peter C. Cavanaugh. (349 pages, Xlibris Press, paperback $19.54, hardback $29.69, eBook $8 at www.xlibris.com). Chronicling an era and jobs skills that likely wil never been repeated, it's recommended reading for all radiophiles!" - John Smyntek/Radio TV Editor
March 8, 2006 - Detroit Free Press
DJ's book could be a film
"Peter C. Cavanaugh, a big noise on the radio in Flint back in the rockin' late '60s and early '70s, wrote a book about his experiences called "Local DJ."
PCC says he has signed film option rights to Kathleen Glynn and her new production company, Blue Lake Entertainment. Familiar ring to it? She is married to filmmaker Michael Moore and has produced all of his efforts to date." - John Smyntek/Radio TV Editor