Pacifica: Comedy Gold

The left eats its own once again as CounterPunch goes after Pacifica and Grace Aron hits back.

It started with Iain Boal's piece in CounterPunch asserting that

On September 17 the Governance Committee of the Pacifica National Board passed a resolution expressly designed to find out whether Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! program is getting CIA funding through covert channels like the Ford Foundation for suppressing the “truth” about the 9/11 “over-up” The author of the resolution, Chris Condon, made it clear that he wrote a motion on funding disclosure specifically to find out "where the hell Amy Goodman's money is coming from".

After his opening salvo, Boal changes the subject to discuss how the current situation at Pacifica resembles their problems in 1999.

Under Aaron’s tenure, the stations have been under serious pressure to increase listenership and fundraising by offering miracle cures and 9/11 conspiracist DVDs as donor “thank you gifts”. Pacifica station WBAI in New York made tens of thousands of dollars on gifts promising protection from fungus-causing aerosols that the government is supposedly spraying on its population. It is also symptomatic that at the same time that Aaron favors depoliticized self-help shows, she is reported to fulminate against “pro-Palestinian, pro-immigrant” public affairs programming on the network.

Pacifica National Board chair Grace Aron fought back with a letter demanding a retraction. After correcting some of Boal's assertions, she defends her anti-Israel bone fides:

The statement that "she is reported to fulminate against “pro-Palestinian, pro-immigrant” public affairs programming on the network" is untrue. I have a long track record as a peace activist on those issues and I consider this an unfounded smear on my reputation.

It's comforting to know that Pacifica has its priorities straight.

For a trip into the fever swamp, read this story on the NYC Indymedia site. The comments are hilarious.
"New Pacifica's" frontal attack on Democracy Now!
After rejecting Cynthia McKinney for ED, Aaron's Pacifica now turns on Amy Goodman

Pacifica recently rejected the application of perhaps the nation's best-known 9/11 Truth activist - former Rep. Cynthia McKinney - for the position of Executive Director. Meanwhile, PNB Governance Committee member Christopher Condon revealed one goal of his resolution - to reduce funding of Democracy Now!, the network's most popular program, in future contract negotiations.

You just can't write better comedy.

Technorati tags: WBAI, Pacifica, Democracy Now!, radio, Democracy Now!, moonbats