Thursday, August 03, 2006

What's Hillary afraid of?


The following is a letter sent to Chelsea Neighbors United to End the War by the Tasini campaign:

Dear Friend

One of the worst aspects of our political system is the corrupting role played by money in election campaigns. Too often, money, not ideas or vision, decides what voters get to hear and, as a result, who gets elected to our political bodies.

NY1 has taken this a step further. It is now acting as a censor, refusing to let voters here Jonathan's views. Rather than act as a promoter of greater speech and greater knowledge for its viewers and the public at large, NY1 (which is owned by media giant Time Warner) has announced that Jonathan cannot participate in a Town Hall debate because he has not raised or spent $500,000. This is shocking.

According to NY1, in our democratic system, half a million bucks is the ante to get your voice heard. Even though we have an amazing grassroots campaign--which powered our gathering of 40,000 signatures that put Jonathan on the ballot--NY1 will act as a censor, preventing the voters from being able to fairly judge the positions and views of the two candidates in this race, Jonathan Tasini and Hillary Clinton.

We are asking you to immediately call Robert Hardt, NY1's Director of Politics, who was one of a few media power-brokers who made this decision that is closing off discussion and censoring debate. We are calling for a simple criteria for participation: any candidate who has qualified for the ballot should be allowed into the debate. Call or e-mail him TODAY: 212-379-3330 or Robert.Hardt@ny1news.com and demand that NY1 revise its criteria.
You can read Jonathan's full press statement about this issue and, then, help our voice be heard by making a donation to the campaign.
Don't let the media shut down the debate! This is YOUR DEMOCRACY!
Thanks for all you do for the campaign,

Stephanie, Anna, William, Helen, Andre, Barbara, Sam and the rest of the Tasini For New York team.

Chelsea Neighbors United To End The War
P.O. Box 821
JAF Station
New York, NY 10116-0821
212-726-1385
http://www.chelseaneighborsunited.org
join our listerv: ChelseaNeighborsUnited-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Chelsea Neighbors United to End the War
P.O. Box 821
JAF Station
New York, NY 10116-0821
212-726-1385
www.ChelseaNeighborsUnited.org
Yahoo! Groups Links

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