Bill Clinton made his campaign stops for Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom, and the news was overwhelmingly positive. Good press followed wherever he went, and people even waited in the rain to hear him stump for Mike Thompson in Napa:
Hundreds of hopeful fans waited for hours in the rain for the chance to hear Clinton speak at the historic Uptown Theater. Just minutes after its doors opened, the venue was packed with 850 people.
"It may be raining outside, but the sun's shining in here," Clinton said as the crowd cheered.
Clinton's campaign stop in Napa was his 83rd this season, he said, in an election where anger against incumbents is motivating Republicans and tea party supporters.
Like a pastor before a devoted congregation, Clinton captivated the crowd inside the theater for nearly an hour, and challenged the idea that there was an "enthusiasm gap" between energized Republicans and apathetic Democrats.(Santa Rosa P-D)
California has always been something of an outlier. And who knows how Democrats may fare across the nation, but in California, things are looking fairly good. Brown and Boxer's numbers are strong as their opponents have been unmasked as far too conservative for the state. As voters tune in, Carly and Meg lose them.
That is not to say that there isn't a lot of work left. We need to work every day until 8pm on November 2 to make sure that every possible vote makes it through the door. This is the word of Bill Clinton as he traveled the state. And I think that is the right message for California right now. We just cannot afford Whitman or Fiorina in office.
President Clinton is going to be making a swing through California to do some fundraisers and a pair of rallies for Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown. The CDP has the deets on the two rallies, and you can sign up at:
Let's get together to make some noise and spread the word about how important it is that every Democrat vote. Whether you vote by mail this month or if you come out to the polls on November 2 - we need your vote.
LOS ANGELES
Friday, October 15 - Doors open at 6:00 p.m.
UCLA - Dickson Court (outdoor location), Charles E. Young Drive and Dickson Court, Los Angeles, 90084
SAN JOSE
Sunday, October 17 - Doors open at 7:00 p.m.
San Jose State University - Event Center (indoor arena), 290 South 7th Street, San José, 95192
The Big Dog always makes for an entertaining evening, so be sure to sign up ASAP! Bonus good seats if you make some phone calls beforehand.
Last Tuesday, I had one of those days we treasure for life. I had the honor of receiving a public endorsement from President Bill Clinton at a rally with hundreds of enthusiastic Bay Area supporters at the Basque Cultural Center in South San Francisco.
The crowd was enthusiastic attentive, and the issues discussed far ranging - from solving the healthcare crisis to stabilizing our economy to slowing the ravages of climate change to creating high quality, middle-class jobs.
It's impossible to upstage the former President, and I won't try. Below are excerpts of his wonderful speech. CBS 5 has partial video.
FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON:
"I was thinking today as I was driving down here of so many things of the extent to which my life has been intertwined for the last 18 years with the Garamendi family.
"You heard John say that he and Patti served with great distinction. He was the Deputy Secretary of the Interior where he worked on everything from climate change to resolving water disputes in California, and he did a superb job of everything. And Patti at the Peace Corps, where we began what has now been an unbroken strain of bringing back the Peace Corps. Bringing more people back into it, going into more countries. ...
"This world has been pretty good to us. But on the other hand, California has the 4th highest unemployment rate in the country; Compton was ground zero of the earthquake of home mortgage foreclosures even before the failure of Lehman Brothers and the financial collapse. On September 15th, 2008, the day that Lehman Brothers collapsed, before that happened, already two-thirds of the American people were actually worse off than the day I left office. Little known fact. The median income after inflation was $2000 lower on September 15, 2008, than the day I left the presidency. And health costs after inflation had doubled. College costs after inflation have gone up 75 percent. ... We can't go on for eight more years where nobody gets a raise." ...
Anyway, his events for Newsom were this afternoon at LACC and at a private location for a fundraiser. UPDATE: Here's the video of the LACC event with Sen. Alex Padilla, the President, and Mayor Newsom.
The 42nd President will also appear with Lt. Governor John Garamendi in support of his CA-10 campaign. Unfortunately for Garamendi, the event is actually in Jackie Speier's district. It seems that Clinton's time in the Bay Area is short, so the event is being held near SFO.
I actually just got a robocall from Garamendi touting this as a health-care rally, so expect that to be a focus. Details over the flip.
But all is not lost for the dashingly slick mayor of the City of St. Francis. He's getting some big time help. From a press release:
San Francisco, CA - Former President Bill Clinton and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will participate in two events together in Los
Angeles on October 5, the Newsom for California campaign announced today. One event will be a fundraiser to benefit the Mayor's primary
campaign for governor.
"President Clinton's record of achievement as president and as a senior statesman is inspiring to all Democrats," said Newsom. "I am truly honored that he will join me in October."
If there is one thing that the Big Dog can do, other than rescue reporters, it is raise money. The fundraiser and appearance will give Newsom a desperately needed boost at a time when Jerry Brown is running away with a race that he hasn't actually entered yet.
It is going to take more than a couple of campaign stops for the Newsom campaign to really challenge the Jerry Brown Express, yet, if you had to pick a name that would help in a Democratic primary, Bill Clinton would be pretty high on that list.
UPDATE by Dave: ABC News has a report. A (public?) event is reportedly scheduled to be held in October in East Los Angeles, a largely Latino area. The real benefit of this endorsement will come if Newsom can tap in to the ground effort that Hillary Clinton used so well to defeat Barack Obama, particularly in the Latino and Asian communities.
Among Democrats, my lead is even starker: 37 percent favor me, 23 percent favor DeSaulnier, 18 percent favor Buchanan, 13 percent favor Woods, and only 2 percent are undecided. Most importantly, our great team of volunteers is effectively converting the support identified in the Survey USA and other polls into actual votes cast. Among those who have already voted, our considerable lead holds: 27 percent voted for me, 18 percent for DeSaulnier, 13 percent for Buchanan, and 10 percent for Woods.
Our lead holds among all demographic groups, including Obama voters, men, women, all age groups, all races, all levels of educational achievement, and all income levels. Our support is broad based and diverse. As the only candidate who has represented all corners of the 10th Congressional District, the voters know where I stand. As CBS 5 explained, "DeSaulnier and Buchanan have failed to make inroads since CBS 5's last poll 16 days ago."
Clearly, with Election Day fast approaching this Tuesday, we like where we stand.
The poll explains the what, but it fails to explain the why. I'm proud of the campaign we've run. We're convinced the polls are a reflection of voter support for a positive issues-based campaign that has emphasized solid Democratic principles and experience that can deliver results.
Thousands of people are lined up in front of a sports arena waiting to receive the health care they desperately need from a nonprofit that specializes in treating patients from the developing world. Some of their grateful patients stand outside hours past sunset waiting to be treated. Basic dental work for working mothers, glasses for young children, infections left to linger, procedures delayed because the cost of treatment is too great.
No, I'm not recalling an incident from the years I volunteered for the Peace Corps in rural Ethiopia treating small pox. I'm talking about the Remote Area Medical Volunteer Corp's weeklong clinic in Inglewood, a community near Los Angeles. For the first time in their 25 year history, they are offering their worthy service in a major metropolitan U.S. city. Where did we go wrong?
• A cool Jewish Community Federation event if you are in SF on the morning of Feb. 24: Shai Aggasi, CEO of Better Place will be giving the keynote to the group's Business Leadership Council breakfast. Better Place is a very interesting company that is trying to build infrastructure for an electric car network. They have actually already begun work on networks in Israel and Denmark, and have come to some agreements with some California mayors (including SF's Gavin Newsom and SJ's Chuck Reed). From what I hear, he's also a very good speaker.
• The Chief of Cal Fire, Ruben D. Grijalva, plans on retiring after about three years in the gig. Arnold has appointed Del Walters to replace him.
• This is a good recap of a conference call with Assemblyman John Perez on marriage equality issues.
• It'll probably never happen, but former GOP Assemblyman Bill Maze wants to split California into two states. Unlike most of these proposals, he wants to split the coastal areas from the inland areas, creating one rural state of 45 counties and, basically, Chile, with 13 counties but including LA, San Francisco and San Jose, and therefore most of the people.
• The SJ Merc takes a look at the stimulus and specifically what's in it for Silicon Valley firms. If you are reading this from the Valley, well, there are a lot of reasons to be glad the package will become law.
• As we await the outcome of Measure B, the solar energy proposal on the March ballot in Los Angeles, a major deal was struck in Oakland to provide solar for 845,000 homes, creating 1,300 megawatts of energy in a massive solar-thermal power deal. This is worth keeping an eye on.
• Well, here's one way to get a job: standing out on the corner at a busy intersection. Our intersections will get mighty busy if everyone does that, though...
As Brian explained yesterday the movement to convince Bill Clinton to honor the Manchester Hyatt boycott this Sunday is growing rapidly. Today the Courage Campaign joined with Cleve Jones, who knows a thing or two about the relationship of boycotts to labor organizing and LGBT rights, to ask our hundreds of thousands of members to call upon Clinton to cancel his talk.
Cleve Jones, a longtime gay-rights activist who founded the NAMES Project/AIDS Memorial Quilt, said Clinton should have known he'd create controversy.
"The boycott has been in effect and very well-publicized since July," said Jones, who also signed the letter. "He's had ample foreknowledge of the situation."
Supporters of the boycott plan to gather outside the hotel at 11 a.m. Sunday and remain throughout Clinton's scheduled 12:30 p.m. speech.
The Courage Campaign has also joined with other key leaders such as Jess Durfee, chair of the San Diego County Democrats, Brigette Browning of UNITE HERE Local 30, and SD councilman Todd Gloria in signing the moveclintonspeech.info letter.
Clinton's advisers argue that his opposition to Prop 8 last fall demonstrates his commitment to the marriage equality movement. But as we in California know, that movement has only grown since November 4, and we need our friends and allies to stand alongside us now more than ever.
Over the flip is the letter we and Cleve Jones sent to our members:
Bill Clinton must make a choice. He must decide whether a speech for big bucks is more important than honoring a labor and activist boycott. On Feb. 15, the former President is scheduled to make a speech at the Manchester Hyatt.
As a refresher, Mr. Manchester gave some of the initial seed money to get Proposition 8 on the ballot, $125,000 to be exact. Since then, a coalition of labor, LGBT, and grassroots organizations has promoted a boycott against the hotel. And it has been quite successful, with groups such as the American Assoc. of Law Schools moving their events.
But our former Democratic president still seems intent on breaking the boycott. That's why a diverse coalition of leaders has taken an ad out in the New York Daily News to ask him not to break the boycott. You can check the ad to the right, and in context at the Daily News politics blog. Also, read the full letter at their site, moveclintonspeech.info. It's signed by leaders like San Diego city councilman Todd Gloria, Unite-HERE Local 30 president Brigette Browning, San Diego Dem. County Chair and DNC member Jess Durfee, and the Courage Campaign's Rick Jacobs.
Rest assured that if Clinton plans on busting the boycott, he'll have to pretend he doesn't notice the rally outside. Activists from around the region are planning on protesting the speech. Clinton should move the speech or just not give it. Together, we will bend the arc of history for justice. But we must be united.
Every political insider in the state woke up this morning, opened the Sacramento Bee and read:
Perata aid angers some Dems $250,000 to help with his legal bills should go to 2008 races, they say. The California Democratic Party's decision to spend another $250,000 on Senate leader Don Perata's legal bills has angered some party activists, who say the money would be better spent electing Democrats this year.
The Oakland Democrat has racked up nearly $2 million in fees fending off an ongoing FBI corruption investigation in the last four years. With the latest donation, made July 1, the party has now given a total of $450,000 to help cover Perata's legal bills.
"The California Democratic Party is in business to defeat Republicans and elect Democrats," said Rick Jacobs, co-founder of the Courage Campaign, a left-leaning online activist group. "It's not really to keep corrupt politicians out of jail."
Steve Cummings, vice president of the Democratic Club of Ventura County, said that while he had not personally formed an opinion, "People are going to be livid."
Democratic activists who want to take advantage of what could be another tidal wave year should be livid to see the CDP waste money like this. Wasting money on an impotent lame duck who should have passed the batton to Darrell Steinberg long ago instead of electing Democrats is plain stupid. There is no excuse. Art Torres should resign in shame. With this latest scandal, on top of the $4,000,000 he wasted on Fabian Nunez, it is abundantly clear that Torres has no intention of doing his job.
Tomorrow, Speaker Karen Bass is hosting a small dollar fundraiser for the CDP. How can Speaker Bass honestly ask Democratic activists to go to Actblue and make a two figure donation when the CDP is writing six and seven figure checks that have nothing to do with electing Democrats? Chair Torres is embarrassing Speaker Bass with this crap and putting her in an awful position thanks to legal crisis created by the clear appearance of impropriety by Senator Don Perata.
At the heart of the crisis rolling the CDP is money. While DNC Chair Howard Dean and Democratic Party presidential nominee Barack Obama have crossed the bridge to the 21st century and inspired small dollar donors to build people-powered political operations, the CDP is actually going backwards and Chair Torres is running things worse than when he was first anointed by then President Bill Clinton a decade ago. Chair Torres is either unable or unwilling to lead the CDP in this direction. As such, he has no business being Chair and should resign immediately.
When I hear the name "Art Torres" I have a sour taste in my mouth. My first thought is how far the $4,450,000 he has wasted could have gone to register and organize Democrats. Think how far that could have gone towards actually helping Charlie Brown this cycle, or Debbie Cook or Russ Warner or any of the great challengers who should be receiving strong support from the Party. If we lose Proposition 8 and California codifies discrimination into the state constitution, I'm going to think how far that money could have gone towards registering and turning out Democrats. Think how many organizers could be hired and trained with such a large sum.
The California Democratic Party is lost and the first step to set a new course is to admit that the CDP is FUBAR with Art Torres at the helm. Chair Torres needs to step down, preferably before he shames Speaker Bass at tomorrow night's small dollar fundraiser. For as long as he stays, it makes no sense for small donors to contribute and every Democrat on the ballot this fall in a tight race is at an extreme disadvantage. It is time for reform, for progress. It is time to start winning.
[UPDATE by Dave] - Might as well add this here - the FISA Amendments Act passed today, and Sen. Feinstein voted for cloture, for the final bill, and against stripping out immunity. Art Torres told us all that last year, she "led the fight" to stop telecom immunity in the United States Senate. Draw your own conslusions.
UPDATE by Dave: Today is NOT the big day. Jesse Helms, in his most positive act as a Senator, died over the weekend, and his funeral will delay the FISA vote until Wednesday. There will be debate in the Senate today, with votes likely tomorrow. You have additional time to call your Senators.
...........................................
The United States Senate will soon vote on whether to provide retroactive immunity to the big telecom companies who broke the law with George Bush and violated the constitution with warrantless wiretaps (beginning before 9/11). From her absurd perch on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein has been leading the push to protect Bush by protecting the telecoms and preventing discovery in the case so the American people never get their day in court and our country may not be able to find out the true extent of shredding of the Constitution that DiFi enabled. Senator Feinstein put our presidential nominee in an awful position with her representation of the administration and made a joke of Art Torres.
Today is the big day and if Senator Feinstein violates her oath of office and does not defend the Constitution, she is likely to face censure again. And while DiFi never responded to the outcry by over 40 wonderful organizations leading the push to censure her, we do know where she stands on censure. You see, Feinstein once pushed her own censure resolution and tell me if the language she used doesn't sound like she thinks she should be censured.
(Crossposted at Daily Kos)
Brian has a diary about the session Bill Clinton had with Superdelegates at the CDP convention, and his comments to Rachel Binah about Carville calling Bill Richardson Judas.
(I had a chance to meet Rachel this weekend, and she is a great person, and very sharp.)
Then there is the excellent Op-Ed by Bill Richardson on the issue of his endorsement of Obama, and James Carville's comments referring to Richardson as a Judas:
"Mr. Richardson's endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic," Carville told the New York Times.
Carville, who usually appears on CNN as an analyst, today was an interviewee, telling Wolf Blizter that his quote "had its desired intent" -- i.e., depicting Richardson as disloyal to the Clinton brand that he once had been so firmly affixed to.
Where this story gets interesting is when Bill Clinton is quoted in the SF Chronicle today as saying:
"Five times to my face (Richardson) said that he would never do that," a red-faced, finger-pointing Clinton erupted.
Meaning, Bill Clinton is saying that Richardson told him that Richardson would never endorse Obama, I suppose that means Richardson would endorse Clinton or at least not endorse.
In any case, Bill Clinton is adamant in this quote that Richardson told him that he would never endorse Obama and probably would endorse Clinton.
And while I was truly torn for weeks about this decision, and seriously contemplated endorsing Sen. Clinton, I never told anyone, including President Clinton, that I would do so. Those who say I did are misinformed or worse.
Richardson says that those that say that Richardson would endorse Clinton are "misinformed"
There could be alot of word parsing here, but this sounds like there are inconsistencies in the business of was Richardson going to endorse Hillary Clinton or not, and did he tell Bill Clinton that he was going to endorse anyone, or did he just tell Bill Clinton he would never endorse Obama.
Bill Richardson, by virtue of this Op-Ed, could be saying that Bill Clinton is misinformed or worse.
"I never did," Richardson said. "I never saw [President Clinton] five times. I saw him when he watched the Super Bowl with me. We made it very clear to him that he shouldn't expect an endorsement after that meeting."
"I held back. I waited. I felt the campaign got nasty. I heard Senator Obama; he would talk to me continuously," Richardson said.
That's a lot of names there, huh? I was thinking about throwing Carole Migden in there as well, but decided to limit myself. At any rate, former President Clinton went off at the mere mention of Governor Bill Richardson. From Matier and Ross:
The Bill Clinton who met privately with California's superdelegates at last weekend's state convention was a far cry from the congenial former president who afterward publicly urged fellow Democrats to "chill out" over the race between his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Barack Obama.
In fact, before his speech Clinton had one of his famous meltdowns Sunday, blasting away at former presidential contender Bill Richardson for having endorsed Obama, the media and the entire nomination process.
"It was one of the worst political meetings I have ever attended," one superdelegate said.
Apparently, Rachel Binah of Mendocino County brought up the New Mexico Governor's name, and Bill went off. CDP Chair Art Torres reportedly called Binah to apologize for the former President. I don't know what's going on with President Clinton, but perhaps he needs more sleep or something. It's clear the pressures of the campaign are getting to him in a way totally unlike the 1992 campaign.
The Clinton campaign is shunting the former President off to minor markets where the locals in the media and the activist set are just excited to see somebody of that character. Clinton himself titled his new role as "rural hitman." Perhaps they have yoga studio in South Bend, IN where he could "just chill out."
I'm live blogging President Clinton's speech to the CDP convention. The former President's first point seems to be that he got bloodied by a long primary, and that he won nonetheless. So, just chill out people.
He went on to describe some sort of position that would focus regionally. So, there's going to be a California "czar" or something like that. Interesting that he said that Hillary will compete everywhere. Some sort of 50-state strategy. ...
... He then went on to tick off the boxes. The mortgage crisis, green jobs, ...
And then there's healthcare. Here in California, it was Republicans who were touting the individual mandate, and Democrats who were fighting it. Hillary supports the mandate with cost caps, kinda like the ABX1 plan, but, you know, different. Either way, the insurance plans get massive premiums, the question is whether they actually use them for care.
He seems to be losing the hall a bit. It's quieter, perhaps even not as loud as Harris.
"There's one area where Hillary is more conservative than Bush: the budget. She supports repayment of the debt..."
Nice little talk about the overstretched military and homeless veterans.
In wrapup mode now, she hopes to be a "change agent." Who will build the best future for America. Kinda weird, because a lot of these are applause lines, but the applause is sporadic and quiet. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that the speech was almost an hour long, and there's not a whole lot new here.
Perhaps not surprising, but certainly striking nonetheless, is the explosion of press and outside-the-center activity now that Bill Clinton's arrival is near at hand. Where once the blogger riser was empty, now there's no room for everyone. Leno/Migden and Blumenfield/Healey/Waldman will apparently be kicking things off this morning- presumably catching everyone while they're half asleep and/or hungover from last night. Frank Russo kinda stole my headline before I could write it, but it's a good one- Migden-Leno Endorsement Fight May Overshadow Bill Clinton Speech at California Democratic Party Convention Today. As a few of us were discussing earlier, it'll be a story for the ages if Carole Migden manages to steal the spotlight from Bill Clinton.
...and we're off.
[Update by Lucas] To clarify how this vote is going down, a "Yes" vote would be for the initial winner of yesterday's endorsement (Migden and Blumenfield) while a "No" vote would mean no endorsement of anyone.
[Update by Dave] ...the Hillary visibility extras are massing on the floor. Incidentally, I heard that Phil Donahue's movie, which screened here last night, is uncompromising on Hillary's war vote, and during the time when she talks about it in the film she was booed. The reaction from the audience here to the Big Dog should be interesting.
[Update by Dave] ...Christine Pelosi is talking about the party platform. Marriage equality is in there, which is awesome, as well as the party's commitment to a safe and orderly withdrawal from Iraq and single payer healthcare. That's a good platform. And it passed without any incident. Fantastic.
[Update by Dave] ...Inola Henry on the Resolutions Committee reports that the party endorses a no vote on 98 and yes on 99 for the June election, and endorses the recall of Jeff Denham in SD-12. That's great, though I hope that the party will put some muscle behind the racall. Prop. 98 would end rent control throughout the state, and it must be stopped. Art Torres says "that's the easiest resolutions report we've ever had."
[Update by Lucas] San Francisco DA Kamala Harris is taking the stage now, speaking on behalf of Obama. Suddenly people have energy in the room.
[Update by Dante]Debra Bowen is talking about her review of the state's voting systems. Meanwhile, both Robert and Brian are looking at Debra Bowen's Facebook page.
[Update by Lucas] Video montage of the Convention just ended. Clips of Willie Brown being awesome, candidates, Pelosi, activists, on and on. Pretty cool, if with a bit of an 'end of summer camp' vibe.
[Update by Brian]: And we're killing time. This has got to be the longest secretary's report EVER.
[Update by Lucas] Well, here comes Bill. And everyone's gettin excited. Also, I could do without ever getting shushed by Art Torres again.
Well, we had our very brief moment in the sun on Feb. 5, but we're back where we are used to being now: the nation's political ATM. Tomorrow, the Big Dog makes a swing through the Bay Area for his wife, hoping to pick up a quick mil for her campaign:
Hillary Clinton may be campaigning elsewhere Monday, but her purse is in California. And her husband is carrying it. Bill Clinton will try to fill it with upward of $1 million from three private fundraisers in the Bay Area on Monday, including two at homes in Saratoga and Portola Valley, to try to keep pace with the Barack Obama money machine.
California has always been a cash cow for presidential campaigns, but until now, candidates usually have made an effort to extend a live hand. With California's Feb. 5 primary but a memory - and the campaigns long moved on to states from Louisiana to Maine and soon on to Ohio and Texas - stand-ins will be the best Californians will get. The campaigns aren't looking for votes at this point, though. They want money.(SJ Merc 2/17/08)
California Matters, ahem, almost as much as Ohio. Honestly, I don't think anybody could have predicted that we would go into March, or even April, for the nomination, but here we are, back in the rearview mirror, wondering who our nominee is going to be.
The Obama campaign is hoping to bring somebody along the lines of a former Sen. Bill Bradley, or somebody like that for a fundraiser, but no specifics were given. California will always have a net ouflow of political dollars. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's just the way it's going to be until the time comes when California is competitive again. I'm hoping that's going to be a long time. So, man the ATM watch towers if you must, but let's just make sure that California stays firmly in the blue column for the foreseeable future. Thanks.
As the Democratic Presidential race moves to California on February 5th, Senator Hillary Clinton holds the advantage in part because she leads Barack Obama among two crucial demographics: gays and Latinos. But if these groups were more "results-oriented" about which candidate would bring about substantive change for their community, Obama could have an edge. Clinton's husband signed the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act when he was President, and she has only promised to scrap part 3 of DOMA - whereas Obama would repeal it entirely. While both have waffled on giving drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants, when pressed to take a position Clinton said "no" and Obama said "yes." Gays and Latinos either don't know such policy differences -- or else have put them aside in favor of symbolic gestures, high name recognition or top-down endorsements. Before it's too late, LGBT and Latino voters must look at the issues, and decide which candidate would better pursue their interests.
In 1983, 50 corporations controlled the vast majority of all news media in the U.S.
...
in 2000, the number had fallen to six. Since then, there have been more mergers and the scope has expanded to include new media like the Internet market. More than 1 in 4 Internet users in the U.S. now log in with AOL Time-Warner, the world's largest media corporation.
In 2004, Bagdikian's revised and expanded book, The New Media Monopoly, shows that only 5 huge corporations -- Time Warner, Disney, Murdoch's News Corporation, Bertelsmann of Germany, and Viacom (formerly CBS) -- now control most of the media industry in the U.S. General Electric's NBC is a close sixth.
