Berry Holds Bush At Bay, (The Tables May Have Turned)

This information is for the fellow freeper that wanted to know who it was that Mary Fancis Berry refused to unseat so that it could be occupied by Presidents Bush's appointee. ___________________________________________________________

WASHINGTON,Jan.11 (UPI)--Civil rights Chairwoman Mary Francis Berry once again defied President George W. Bush, refusing to seat nominee on despite congressional threats that she could be fired or procecuted.

In the second month of a running fight with the White House, Berry refused to seat Cleveland lawyer Peter Kirsanow on the commission. Bush chose Kirsanow to replace "Victoria Wilson" who was appointed last January by former President Clinton to fill a seat left empty by the death of Judge A. Leon Higginbotham.

Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, chairman of the House subcommittee charged with oversight of commission, warned Berry in a Jan.9th letter to seat Kirsanow , withdraw her lawsuit against the administration or possible face removel from the commission. She could also face criminal penalties if she is improperly hired outside law firm to represent her in court, Chabot said.

Hiring staff on a pro-bono basis, Chabot said, violated commission statutes that if the attorneys were paid with government money, Berry could be suject to criminal penalties of up to 2yrs in prison and $5,000 in fines. Berry used the same argument when she didn't allow Republicans to us John Lott, a Yale University legal scholar, to review findings in the commission's Florida election report, Chabot said.

Tensions among Berry, the White House and Chabot's committee have escalated since the summer, Chabot's committed demanded Berry turn over supporting documents used to compile a report on voting irregularities in the 2000 presidential election. (The request came amid growing concerns that the stastistical data was flawed.

Ari Fleischer: "She (Berry) said she would refuse to seat any new people appointed by President Bush in this manner. She said that (of) the appointment the president announced...she will refuse to sweat him (Kirsanow) in. She futher said that the only way that she will let this person be seated is if United States Marshals show up and force her to do so," Fleischer reported.

Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, chairman of the House subcommittee charged with oversight of commission, warned Berry in a Jan.9th letter to seat Kirsanow , withdraw her lawsuit against the administration or possible face removel from the commission. She could also face criminal penalties if she is improperly hired outside law firm to represent her in court, Chabot said.
Hiring staff on a pro-bono basis, Chabot said, violated commission statutes that if the attorneys were paid with government money, Berry could be suject to criminal penalties of up to 2yrs in prison and $5,000 in fines. Berry used the same argument when she didn't allow Republicans to us John Lott, a Yale University legal scholar, to review findings in the commission's Florida election report, Chabot said.

First I've heard of this . . . and not a moment too soon IMHO. We are supposed to have laws in this country; Ms. Berry has no moral standing after what she has done to this administration's legitimate appointee.

She is a mere scofflaw. Of course she aspires to be the next Rosa Parks. Poor and downtrodden as she is, with no one to look to her interests

except the Establishment.

. . . and if you don't know that broadcast licensees are
the Establishment of America then you are oblivious indeed . . .

Poor and downtrodden my aunt fanny. When I look at all of the opportunities there are in America for black children today and listen to the garbage coming out of the mouth of this woman and men like Sharpton, I could slap their faces.

If you pound it into a childs head hard and long enough about how oppressed and downtrodden they are, they will start to believe it. Well, that trashy talk will not wash with me anymore. I'd tell them, get your kids away from the two-bit hustlers and black pimps, kick their butts back in school and make their little rear-ends stay there.

Marching, protesting, rioting, killing, blaming and they just keep on scratching their heads wondering what went wrong, give me a break Mary Francis Berry. Rosa Parks had a wonderful goal to build upon for her people, the black trash today is tearing down all that was built for them by the blood, sweat and tears of their ancestors.

Is this the same Mary Francis Berry that caused all the trouble with radio Pacifica?

Enter Mary Francis Berry

A few years ago, many who worked at the stations were not paying enough attention to what was happening at the national level. In a move to win more legitimacy and seek new sources of funding at the federal level (and perhaps within the corporate sector), Pacifica, with the backing of many stalwarts, recruited Mary Francis Berry to run the network. On paper, she had all the credentials an alternative network would want. A prominent, black law professor and chair of the United States Civil Rights Commission, she seemed like the perfect bridge between the political mainstream and the fringier Pacifica radio revolutionaries. Berry seemed ideal to those within Pacifica who judge people on their stated politics and visible ethnicity, rather than investigate the details behind their resumes.

In fact, Berry had left a trail of bitterness and resentment behind her in many stops during her career. After taking over Pacifica, this leadership style reached something of an apotheosis, and morphed into a power-crazy nightmare. She fired popular program directors and redirected resources and decision-making away from the communities to a board and national office under her control.

It was her top-down approach that provoked a high-profile strike and mass protests at KPFA last year, a situation that continues in the form of lawsuits and bitter acrimony. (For background, see the POV documentary For the status of this struggle, visit www.savepacifica.net.) The hot rumor was that Berry wanted to sell off some of the Pacifica outlets that occupy valuable broadcast real estate in order to acquire smaller stations in the South that she could remake in her image.

Typically, Berry moved like a Washington insider, without much regard for accountability or transparency, acting in back rooms while mostly refusing to be interviewed. She had argued that Pacifica's problem was that it was stuck in the past, but her idea of a more mainstream future was not one that caught fire with core supporters. Rather than embrace her leadership, they challenged it and were responded to literally with force -- security guards taking over KPFA station and mass arrests.

That confrontation finally resulted in a stalemate that left the deeper issues still to be resolved. Among them are finances. According to Larry Bensky of KPFA in a soon-to-be-published interview: "Any money that gets into their hands now is dangerous, including the 17 percent or more they get from the stations and the $100,000 they're charging KPFA per year for their outrageous attack on the station. They do whatever they damn please with this money .... We need to get full disclosure of the finances. That's why Pacifica has fought so hard to keep any of the current lawsuits against them from proceeding. And, incidentally, we have no idea where they're getting -- or taking -- the money to oppose our lawsuits."

Berry finally stepped down as board chairman this month, but her appointees continue to run the network.

I think anyone of any race would steal and lie in the government given the right opportunity and the character of the person, and Mary Francis Berry is just a character that I think would, lie, cheat, steal and anything else she thought she could get away with.

This was one black woman that had a wonderful chance to be a great role model for other black children but has decided her possition was not grand enough to be proud of. She would rather go on telling here race how terrible their lives are instead of incouraging them to do better, she made it but she's too stupid to know it.

And I too hope to see her on the "Chain Gang".

Is this the same Mary Francis Berry that caused all the trouble with radio Pacifica?

That's her

Same Clinton Judge who moved the Linda Tripp case:

Judge Rules In Favor Of Wilson In Civil Rights Commission Case

What you talkin' 'bout Willis?

Embarrassing Berry - Incivility on the U.S. Civil Rights Commission ~ WSJ.

civil rights panel meeting

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