Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Jim Ascot [TV and Webcast] takes on Danny Davis and the Moonies

The "Public Affairs," show with Jim Ascot [D-Chicago, 7th CD Primary Candidate] is airing this week in the Chicago North Shore, North and Northwest suburbs [See here, for the "Public Affairs," suburban airing schedule and for a summary of the show's topics] and the show with candidate Ascot will air this coming Monday night, November 21, through-out the City of Chicago on Cable Ch. 21 [CANTV] at 8:30 pm.
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Jim Ascot, taking on Cong. Danny Davis in the Democratic Primary, also debates and discusses the issues with Public Affairs show host and legal recruiter Jeff Berkowitz in the Webcast [video and audio] version of the show, playing now. See here
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For a partial transcript of the show, see below:
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Jeff Berkowitz: You are taking on Cong. Danny Davis, who is viewed as what? A pillar of the community in the 7th Cong. Dist.?

Jim Ascot: Yes, definitely. He has that sort of icon type of image.

Jeff Berkowitz: But, you have a different image of him? Is his name [Cong. Davis] tarnished?

Jim Ascot: Well, there have been a lot of things, at least in the paper and other media that talked about, especially the Sun Yung Moon incident. The moonies. This cult group that he [Cong. Davis] crowned, Sun Yung Moon, as the Messiah.

Jeff Berkowitz: Cong. Davis crowned [Sun Yung Moon]?

Jim Ascot: [Yes] Cong. Davis. And I think as far as tarnishing, that kind of gave a bad name to-
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[Ed. note, For an account of the "crowning event," See here, from which the below quote is excerpted:

First, we're shown a rabbi blowing a ram's horn. Most Jews would hold off on this until the High Holy Days, but it probably counts if the Moshiach shows up in a federal office building at taxpayer expense. Then we see the man of the hour, Moon, chilling at a table at the Dirksen in a tuxedo, soaking all this up. He claps. He's having a ball.

Cut to the ritual. Eyes downcast, a man identified as Congressman Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.) is bringing a crown, atop a velvety purple cushion, to a figure who stands waiting austerely with his wife. Now Moon is wearing robes that Louis XIV would have appreciated. All of this has quickly been spliced into a promo reel by Moon's movement, which implies to its followers that the U.S. Congress itself has crowned the Washington Times owner.]
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Jeff Berkowitz: Why would he [Danny Davis] do it? Was he paid to do it or what?

Jim Ascot: I really don’t know what possessed him to do that. I think it was just disrespectful to the office that he holds to be able to do that, especially to an organization that has been known as anti-Semitic and anti-gay and the Reverend Moonie himself has been in jail for tax evasion.

Jeff Berkowitz: You are not accusing Cong. Davis of being anti-Semitic or anti-gay, are you?

Jim Ascot: No, no. The group, the moonies, have been known to do that. You can't be a Representative and do something like that without disrespecting the office and the community that he represents.
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Jeff Berkowitz: A major transportation bill just passed and people say the two Senators [from Illinois], even though it is a Republican Administration, Durbin and Obama, brought home the bacon. They got an enhanced share of that Transportation bill for Illinois. Do you agree?

Jim Ascot: I think it was the good work of all of our [Congressional] delegation.

Jeff Berkowitz: Does [Cong.] Davis get credit for that?

Jim Ascot: He was THERE. I don’t know what he did.

Jeff Berkowitz: Ok. So, what could you have done, what could you do differently about the infrastructure that Cong. Davis is not doing now?

Jim Ascot: I think what we need to do is focus on our local transportation. The CTA needs to grow and needs to be a connected type of a rail system that people can get back and forth on easily. Right now, we have a central system that people have to go to the Loop [center of downtown Chicago] to get to anywhere else. We need to change that dynamic and we need new dollars to be able to do that.

Jeff Berkowitz: So, more money from the Feds?

Jim Ascot: Absolutely. And some of those dollars that came in [from the recently passed Federal Transportation bill] should have been earmarked for that kind of new development—

Jeff Berkowitz: So, you want more money from the Feds for education, more money from the Feds for transportation. Where is it going to come from? Do you want to raise taxes?

Jim Ascot: No, no.

Jeff Berkowitz: You don’t want to raise taxes?

Jim Ascot: We don’t want to raise taxes.

Jeff Berkowitz: You want to cut taxes.

Jim Ascot: We want to re-prioritize how we spend our money. We have made a commitment to Iraq and we are spending 250 billion dollars there.

Jeff Berkowitz: So, you would pull out the troops tomorrow.

Jim Ascot: We need—

Jeff Berkowitz: We are taping this show on November 6- So, if you are elected, they would be out November 7?

Jim Ascot: Well, we made a commitment to the people of Iraq.

Jeff Berkowitz: So, you don’t want immediate withdrawal?

Jim Ascot: We can’t. In hindsight now, people talk about- we made an error.

Jeff Berkowitz: Would you say you would take them out within a year?

Jim Ascot: Absolutely.

Jeff Berkowitz: You would take them ALL out within a year?

Jim Ascot: I think we need to be out of there
. We need to be able to train those troops, the Iraqi troops, for them to be able to secure their country and for us to be able to withdraw.
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Jim Ascot, Democrat Primary candidate in the 7th Cong. Dist., recorded on November 6, 2005, as is airing this week on the Suburban edition of “Public Affairs,” and as will air on the City of Chicago edition of Public Affairs this coming Monday night, November 21 at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch. 21 [CANTV], and is being webcast now on this site [See here].
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Jeff Berkowitz, Host and Producer of Public Affairs and an Executive Recruiter doing Legal Search, can be reached at JBCG@aol.com
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