Life and Death with Dignity for All:
Hi All you Green Dogs. Here is a very important Valentine's message for you all. It speaks to our hearts and our progressive political beliefs, family values, and human dignity.
It's the California Compassionate Choice Act, AB 651, now in the Assembly, also known as Death with Dignity. This Act, introduced by Assembly members Patty Berg of Sonoma and Lloyd Levine of Southern California, will allow terminally ill patients the means to make end of life choices. It is similar to the law passed in Oregon in 1997 and recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The entire Bill can be read at http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/Bills/AB_651
California stands poised to become a leader in the movement to allow freedom for all people to have control over their life and their death. This Bill provides safeguards for those with disabilities or elderly people to prevent any abuses. Only those diagnosed with six months or less to live, having requested a lethal prescription orally and in writing from their physician, found to be mentally competent and capable of taking the final measure themselves, qualify.
My Life, My Death, My Choice:
This Bill is about choices in medical decisions free of governmental interference. That is why leading physicians, nurses, clergy and other caring professionals have endorsed it. Organizations such as NOW, ACLU, Senior and Hospice groups are listed as supporters.
Major newspapers, such as the San Francisco Chronicle, the LA Times, San Jose Mercury and Sacramento Bee have editorialized for the measure.
Both Democratic candidates for Governor are in support. They all know that when it comes to end of life decisions, just as when it comes to a woman's right to choose, only a patient and his/her doctor are in the position to determine what is best.
This bill will end needless end of life suffering for countless Californians, while respecting the rights of those who wish to prolong life. It is Your Life, Your Death, Your Choice.
Your Help:
Although right now, things look good for passage out of the Assembly, there is a long way to go and we expect a backlash from the Right. That's why this campaign is so urgent for us all to support with our time, energy and dollars. The lead organization, Compassion and Choices, is a non-profit out of Portland Oregon, helping people with end of life decisions, and advocating for legislative changes all over the country.
They are focused now in California, putting their staff and Board energy into getting this Bill passed. That means raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in a few months to pay for outreach materials, educational and lobbying drives and positive advertising to promote the legislation.
You can read about the organization and the campaign at www.compassionandchoices.org.
If any of you want to help in any way, let me know at coastlaw@earthlink.net. I will be calling some of you to discuss this in more detail soon.
And please, pass this on to your lists and write or call your Assembly member to ask for their support. Thanks!
Dotty
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Union of the State
Is it a Police State yet?
Last night's State of Union Address, despite its modulated tone and small sops to Democratic issues (health care, education, alternative energy) sounded the same old themes:
Seriously, the Dems were suckered on this one. There were three times when the appropriate Democratic response was to rise from their seats: at the beginning when Bush noted the passing of Coretta Scott King, when the fallen soldier was honored and when he noted the end of Sandra Day O'Connor's tenure on the Supreme Court.
They should have done so silently with heads bowed on all occasions.
Health Care Savings Accounts
Instead, they let Bush sucker them into rising when he mentioned the demise of his Social Security plans of last year; then went on to detail his new plans for bankrupting the American workers: the use of so-called Health Savings Accounts.
These are nothing more than ways for employers to shirk their duty to provide health care coverage to their workers, for insurance companies to jack up their premiums and deductibles, and to leave even more working Americans un or underinsured.
As David Lazarus said in today's Chronicle: "[H]ealth savings accounts can be a nifty financial tool as long as you're rich or don't get sick."
At one point Bush stated that "our generation" would be fighting "a determined enemy" for a long time. That future Presidents of both parties would be in the battle. I think he meant the "war on terr'ism" but I dunno, maybe he meant the war on wrinkles or midriff bulge. Maybe that's why Hillary Clinton rose and applauded, even as those around her stayed seated. Somehow I don't think so, and joining Bush's "wars" is not a auspicious beginning for a Democratic Presidential campaign.
"Intelligence" Gathering
Bush's defense of his warrentless wiretaps, saying we all want to know if Al Quada is calling, and suggesting that if we had had wiretaps in place before 9/11, we could have foiled the attack on the world Trade Center, did not pass the Straight Face test.
He did not mention the August 2001 memo suggesting just such a scenario, entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike Inside the United States." He did not listen to those who warned that some of the later-identified 9/11 hijackers were taking lessons in flying but not landing airplanes, and he ignored warnings of his own advisors on increased "chatter" between known terror suspects.
They were listening then. They had the tools to do something about it and they failed. Spy on yourself George.
Don't even get me started on what he had to say on Iraq, where the sun is always shining and great strides are being made. Oh, and pigs fly.
What about Them Dems?
And what about those Dems? Couldn't they find anyone more alive than the pasty faced Patrician Governor of Virginia to give their (our) response? I mean, come on. Where was the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party last night? Howard Dean would have done. Charles Wrangel. Even Nancy Pelosi.
No wonder we lose elections. Come on Dems, this is your wake up call. Russ Feingold for President anyone?
Last night's State of Union Address, despite its modulated tone and small sops to Democratic issues (health care, education, alternative energy) sounded the same old themes:
War, war and more war.
Wiretaps will protect us from the Enemy.
Terr'ists are comin' to getcha.
Seriously, the Dems were suckered on this one. There were three times when the appropriate Democratic response was to rise from their seats: at the beginning when Bush noted the passing of Coretta Scott King, when the fallen soldier was honored and when he noted the end of Sandra Day O'Connor's tenure on the Supreme Court.
They should have done so silently with heads bowed on all occasions.
Health Care Savings Accounts
Instead, they let Bush sucker them into rising when he mentioned the demise of his Social Security plans of last year; then went on to detail his new plans for bankrupting the American workers: the use of so-called Health Savings Accounts.
These are nothing more than ways for employers to shirk their duty to provide health care coverage to their workers, for insurance companies to jack up their premiums and deductibles, and to leave even more working Americans un or underinsured.
As David Lazarus said in today's Chronicle: "[H]ealth savings accounts can be a nifty financial tool as long as you're rich or don't get sick."
At one point Bush stated that "our generation" would be fighting "a determined enemy" for a long time. That future Presidents of both parties would be in the battle. I think he meant the "war on terr'ism" but I dunno, maybe he meant the war on wrinkles or midriff bulge. Maybe that's why Hillary Clinton rose and applauded, even as those around her stayed seated. Somehow I don't think so, and joining Bush's "wars" is not a auspicious beginning for a Democratic Presidential campaign.
"Intelligence" Gathering
Bush's defense of his warrentless wiretaps, saying we all want to know if Al Quada is calling, and suggesting that if we had had wiretaps in place before 9/11, we could have foiled the attack on the world Trade Center, did not pass the Straight Face test.
He did not mention the August 2001 memo suggesting just such a scenario, entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike Inside the United States." He did not listen to those who warned that some of the later-identified 9/11 hijackers were taking lessons in flying but not landing airplanes, and he ignored warnings of his own advisors on increased "chatter" between known terror suspects.
They were listening then. They had the tools to do something about it and they failed. Spy on yourself George.
Don't even get me started on what he had to say on Iraq, where the sun is always shining and great strides are being made. Oh, and pigs fly.
What about Them Dems?
And what about those Dems? Couldn't they find anyone more alive than the pasty faced Patrician Governor of Virginia to give their (our) response? I mean, come on. Where was the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party last night? Howard Dean would have done. Charles Wrangel. Even Nancy Pelosi.
No wonder we lose elections. Come on Dems, this is your wake up call. Russ Feingold for President anyone?
Monday, January 30, 2006
THE GREEN DOG'S YEAR
Year of the Dog
2006 is the Year of the Dog. This Green Dog takes that to mean it's a good year for Progressives. Come November, will we take back the House? It's up to all good Green (and Yellow) Dogs to make it happen.
But first a look at this Green Dog's 2005:
CAMPAIGNS:
Most of you know about my business, Green Dog Campaigns, which specializes in Democratic and progressive non-Partisan candidates and issues. This year, we helped with Fairfax's Measure F, a parcel tax to fund public safety, infrastructure and after school programs. The measure, led by Fairfax's long term Councilmember Frank Egger and a dedicated volunteer group, passed easily in a July special election.
We also helped with two campaigns in the November election. We partnered with Kathleen Russell Consulting to help elect Derek Knell to the Novato School Board. Derek's come from behind victory diwas not final until two weeks after election Day, when late absentee votes were counted. This shows the strength of the permanent absentee voter in Marin County, and the importance of reaching out with mail and phone calls the last crucial week.
Mary Ann Maggiore won a seat on the Fairfax Town Council, garnering a broad base of support. Mary Ann will be a bright addition to the Council, bringing her negotiating skills and experience on the Planning Commission to bear. Her Victory Celebration and Retire the Debt Party is this Friday, February 10, 5:30-8 PM at the Green Fusion Design Studio, 14 Greenhill Avenue, San Anselmo, at the Hub. $25 for food, fun, and friends!
ACTIVISM TRAINING
In April and again in September, I gave a day long workshop at the College of Marin for community activists and people considering a run for office. Four of my students went on to win races in the fall: Two mentioned above: Derek Knell and Mary Ann Maggiore, as well as Greg Brockbank (winning his re-election to the College of Marin Board of Trustees) and Jeanne Thompson elected to the Ross Valley School Board.
The next class is scheduled for April 1. More on that later.
I also joined with the Mendocino Democratic Party to train activists in that County. Thanks to Susan Savage for inviting me to help out.
I made presentations on grass roots activism to two groups fighting powerful forces in their bids to protect the environment. In McCloud, near Mt. Shasta, a citizen's group is battling the giant Nestle Corporation which threatens to undermine the local ground water system with a new bottling plant. Closer to home, the No Wetland Landfill Expansion group, a coalition of Marin and Sonoma County citizens, is challenging the expansion of the Redwood Landfill In Novato. Plans for the Landfill will incrase traffic and threaten the Petaluma River and Marsh with runoff from an expanded use.
And finally, I joined the Marin National Women's Political Caucus on its mentoring and training night. Several seasoned campaigners and elected officials offered advice to local candidates on topics as varied as what to wear to the debate and how to pick up the phone and "dial for dollars."
CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATIC PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS
The high point of the year for this Green Dog was surely the ratification of the California Democratic Progressive Caucus by our State Party. Our first official meeting as a Caucus in April drew a membership of nearly four hundred Democrats. By October, our ranks had swelled to more than 600. We were instrumental in passing a resolution calling for the withdrawal of troops in Iraq at the State Convention, and this past weekend at the State Democratic Executive Committee meeting, we presented a panel on how to do just that, featuring former weapons Inspector Scott Ritter.
A self styled "conservative Republican," Ritter's advice is for Democrats to take back the house this year. It truly is going to be the Year of the (Green) Dog!
NEW OFFICE
Last year I moved my office from Mill Valley to San Rafael. My new office is conveniently located opposite two of my favorite eateries, the Panama Hotel and Muffin Mania. If you need to meet a friend or colleague for lunch or dinner, check them out.
The new address is 496 B St. Suite D. It's up the stairs and past the dental lab. I hope to see you all when the rains stop for a Welcome to Spring Open House.
2006
This year I finally put up a website. It's still in process, but you can view it here (and make suggestions please. But note, for some reason I cannot format this so you can click on it; you have to copy and paste the url.):
http://www.greendogcampaigns.com
On the site are some of my sample campaign materials and articles I've written for Campaigns and Elections Magazine.
I attended my first Progressive Caucus meeting as a member of the Executive Board. My title is Member at Large. We have a great group and I'm so proud of us for putting on a sensational Iraq forum after Democratic Party events were over. Besides Scott Ritter, we had an excellent panel, including our own Harlan Hopgood, who has drafted a workable blueprint for getting out of Iraq soon.
The Caucus adopted a four point program for the year: Clean Money (passed by our California Assembly this week! Now on to the Senate) Living Wage, Out of Iraq and Single Payer Universal Health care.
In February I'm off to Fresno to join a campaign forum for the NWPC there. And April 1, I'm back at the College of Marin. I'll post the class agenda here soon. I hope some of you can join the class.
Since the year is young, I look forward to many campaigns and columns. The first is under way: I have joined the team helping to pass Compassionate Choices legislation in the State Legislature. This legislation introduced by the North Coast's Patty Berg and Southern California's Lloyd Levine, is similar to legislation passed in Oregon and recently upheld by the United States Supreme Court, allowing terminal patients the means to end their life, with physician's assistance and under stringent guidelines. You can read the full legislation here:
http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/billtrack/billview.html?bill=AB_654
I look forward to talking with many of you about this legislation in the weeks and months ahead.
Your input on this and other Green Dog matters is always welcome.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Warrants; We ain't got no Warrants; We don't got to show you no stinkin' Warrants!"
George Bush came out fighting in his campaign to spy on the American people. "The polls are even" say the pundits, "half of all Americans say 'Spy on me, Mr. President. I've got nothing to hide.'"
And if you do have something to hide, better hide it well. Someone is watching you. This only works if people buy into the Administration's version of things.
For instance War. The Bushies say we're at War. War with Terrorists. Wrong. They are at war. War with the American people. War with the truth. War with the Constitution.
The Terrorists are not a tribe. They are not a Nation. They are not even a "they." Terrorism is a tactic, and we can all agree we don't like it one bit. It is not something you can declare war on. Or something that can declare war on us. The "Terrorists" did not attack us on September 11, 2001. A group of fundamentalist fanatics attacked the World Trade Center. Somehow that act, as horrible as it was, has been used to justify our governments declaring war on us and our way of life.
Think about it. George Bush says the terrorists hate us because they hate our way of life, and want to destroy it. If you substitute the word I for "the terrorists" you will see what is really happening here.
George Bush: "I hate the American way of life and I want to destroy it."
"I hate civil liberties and I want to destroy them."
"I hate free speech and I want to destroy it."
See the pattern.
It's like a Mad magazine fold-in cover. Fold in the edges of the page and you will see the real message.
"I hate Democracy and I want to destroy it."
So why, then, do we let our government use it against us?
Spying on you without a warrant is terrorism. I know, you have nothing to fear because you don't get calls from Al Quaeda. But what if you occasionally glance at an x rated site on the computer? They want to know that too. What if you go to a peace march, a pro-choice rally or a non-fundamentalist church?
Guess what, you might be fair game for George's peepers. And if you are Arabic, Muslim, or look like you might be, you, my friend, are a target. No, you do not have to be a terrorist to be treated like one.
And that is the insidious thing about terrorism. It gets inside your head and makes you fear. And fear is the best thing for those who want to terrorize. Especially if they can get you to fear someone or some thing else. That way they get to look like the guys in the white hats. Spy on me, Mr. President. I'm afraid of the terrorists. I'm afraid I might be a terrorist.
Save me from myself.
"I am George Bush and I hate you and want to destroy you."
And if you do have something to hide, better hide it well. Someone is watching you. This only works if people buy into the Administration's version of things.
For instance War. The Bushies say we're at War. War with Terrorists. Wrong. They are at war. War with the American people. War with the truth. War with the Constitution.
The Terrorists are not a tribe. They are not a Nation. They are not even a "they." Terrorism is a tactic, and we can all agree we don't like it one bit. It is not something you can declare war on. Or something that can declare war on us. The "Terrorists" did not attack us on September 11, 2001. A group of fundamentalist fanatics attacked the World Trade Center. Somehow that act, as horrible as it was, has been used to justify our governments declaring war on us and our way of life.
Think about it. George Bush says the terrorists hate us because they hate our way of life, and want to destroy it. If you substitute the word I for "the terrorists" you will see what is really happening here.
George Bush: "I hate the American way of life and I want to destroy it."
"I hate civil liberties and I want to destroy them."
"I hate free speech and I want to destroy it."
See the pattern.
It's like a Mad magazine fold-in cover. Fold in the edges of the page and you will see the real message.
"I hate Democracy and I want to destroy it."
So why, then, do we let our government use it against us?
Spying on you without a warrant is terrorism. I know, you have nothing to fear because you don't get calls from Al Quaeda. But what if you occasionally glance at an x rated site on the computer? They want to know that too. What if you go to a peace march, a pro-choice rally or a non-fundamentalist church?
Guess what, you might be fair game for George's peepers. And if you are Arabic, Muslim, or look like you might be, you, my friend, are a target. No, you do not have to be a terrorist to be treated like one.
And that is the insidious thing about terrorism. It gets inside your head and makes you fear. And fear is the best thing for those who want to terrorize. Especially if they can get you to fear someone or some thing else. That way they get to look like the guys in the white hats. Spy on me, Mr. President. I'm afraid of the terrorists. I'm afraid I might be a terrorist.
Save me from myself.
"I am George Bush and I hate you and want to destroy you."
Friday, January 06, 2006
IT CAN HAPPEN HERE
A Man Ahead of His Time
“Those who fail to learn from history are destined…”
“I want to stand up on my hind legs and not just admit but frankly holler right out that we’ve got to change out system a lot, maybe even change the whole Constitution (but change it legally, and not by violence) to bring it up from the horseback-and-corduroy road epoch to the automobile-and-cement-highway period of today. The Executive has got to have a freer hand and be able to move quick in an emergency, and not be tied down by a lot of dumb shyster-lawyer congressmen taking months to shoot off their mouths in debates. BUT – and it’s a But as big as Deacon Checkerboard’s hay-barn back home – these new economic changes are only a means to an End, and that End is and must be, fundamentally, the same principles of Liberty, Equality, and Justice that were advocated by the Founding Fathers of this great land back in 1776!”
Quick, who said that? And when? No it wasn’t George W. Bush announcing how tapping our phones and emails will make us safe from terrorists. It was fictional Presidential candidate Senator Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip in It Can’t Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis, author of such American classics as Main Street, Babbit and Elmer Gantry. And it was written in 1935.
Nothing really ever changes. In the First World War, they called Sauerkraut Liberty Kraut and for a while, so goes the tale, even entertained the notion of renaming German Measles Liberty measles
So in 1935, with the rise of Hitler and Mussolini in Europe, Sinclair Lewis penned a cautionary tale of what could happen in our own country to a populace easily persuaded by a silver tongued orator disguised in humble garb, spouting rhetoric of what was in its own interest.
Senator Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip is a blowhard Senator, anti-Semetic, anti- Negro, anti-woman rights, who wraps his lust for power in charming appeals to the working classes’ desire for a better life. He promises to rid the country of the yoke of (Jewish) bankers’ tyranny as well as the corruption of those presently in government. He’s the anti-government candidate for President, thinly based on real life Huey Long, whose Share the Wealth movement parallels Windrip’s League of Forgotten Men, both cynical ploys for votes calculated to thrust them into power.
Once elected, Windrip and his advisers, a Karl Rove double called Lee Sarasson, who seems to be the brains behind the maneuvering, and charismatic radio preacher Peter Paul Prang (based on Charles Coughlin, a fire-and-brimstone right wing evangalist, whose base included Pat Buchanan’s father), ditched the League of Forgotten Men for the American Corporate State and Patriotic Party and its henchmen, an untrained unpaid band of vigilantes known as the Minute Men. In a prescient moment, Lewis puts these words in Windrip’s mouth: “There are two parties, the Corporate and those who don’t belong to any party at all, and so, to use a common phrase, are just out of luck!”
The Windrip Corporate platform besides being anti-Semitic, was boldly racist and anti-woman. As for men, those unlucky enough to be out of work were sent to labor farms, where for a dollar a day they could hire out to the corporate bosses, who were only too happy for the chance to ditch their Union member workers for these low paid laborers, thus swelling the ranks of the unemployed even further.
Sold as an answer to the ravages of Depression, the new Corporate State led to rampant inflation and wholesale migrations to Canada until the Minute Men closed the border. Dismantling Democracy in the name of saving it came easy. Those in the other branches of government who disagreed either left their posts (several Supreme Court justices were quickly replaced with “surprisingly unknown lawyers who called [Windrip] by his first name’),’ or were put into protective custody (opposition members of Congress). One of the first bulwarks of Democracy to go was the press. Our hero, Doremus Jessup, an Everyman Vermont newspaper editor, is sent to a camp, then escapes to Canada to ponder how this happened and why even he, who saw it coming and warned his fellows that it can happen here, missed the seriousness of the takeover.
Early on in the book, Lewis elucidates Jessup’s observations: “Doremus Jessup, so inconspicuous an observer, watching Senator Windrip from so humble a Boeotia, could not explain his power of bewitching large audiences. The Senator was vulgar, almost illiterate, a public liar easily detected, and in his ‘ideas’ almost idiotic, while his celebrated piety was that of a traveling salesman for church furniture, and his yet more celebrated humor the sly cynicism of a country store.”
Reading these words in 2006 is downright eerie. Whether it’s George Bush and his folksy smirk alternating with his sneering admonitions that “if you’re not with us you’re with the terrorists,” or Arnold Schwarzenegger, reinventing himself as the friend to the working man and woman, education and health care, two months after waging war on all of it with his November propositions, the warning is clear: Those who want absolute power will stop at nothing, will use any tactics, measures and lies to convince a gullible public they are on “your” side.
Thinking people would do well to be heed the lessons of the past, even fictional ones. Novels like It Can’t Happen Here are worth reading, especially now. This book was recently reissued, although I found my copy in ancient paperback form in a used bookstore. The Boston Globe reviewed it only last month:
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2005/12/18/public_enemy/?page=full
And bloggers like me are joining in. Read it and be afraid. Be very afraid.
Dotty
“Those who fail to learn from history are destined…”
“I want to stand up on my hind legs and not just admit but frankly holler right out that we’ve got to change out system a lot, maybe even change the whole Constitution (but change it legally, and not by violence) to bring it up from the horseback-and-corduroy road epoch to the automobile-and-cement-highway period of today. The Executive has got to have a freer hand and be able to move quick in an emergency, and not be tied down by a lot of dumb shyster-lawyer congressmen taking months to shoot off their mouths in debates. BUT – and it’s a But as big as Deacon Checkerboard’s hay-barn back home – these new economic changes are only a means to an End, and that End is and must be, fundamentally, the same principles of Liberty, Equality, and Justice that were advocated by the Founding Fathers of this great land back in 1776!”
Quick, who said that? And when? No it wasn’t George W. Bush announcing how tapping our phones and emails will make us safe from terrorists. It was fictional Presidential candidate Senator Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip in It Can’t Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis, author of such American classics as Main Street, Babbit and Elmer Gantry. And it was written in 1935.
Nothing really ever changes. In the First World War, they called Sauerkraut Liberty Kraut and for a while, so goes the tale, even entertained the notion of renaming German Measles Liberty measles
So in 1935, with the rise of Hitler and Mussolini in Europe, Sinclair Lewis penned a cautionary tale of what could happen in our own country to a populace easily persuaded by a silver tongued orator disguised in humble garb, spouting rhetoric of what was in its own interest.
Senator Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip is a blowhard Senator, anti-Semetic, anti- Negro, anti-woman rights, who wraps his lust for power in charming appeals to the working classes’ desire for a better life. He promises to rid the country of the yoke of (Jewish) bankers’ tyranny as well as the corruption of those presently in government. He’s the anti-government candidate for President, thinly based on real life Huey Long, whose Share the Wealth movement parallels Windrip’s League of Forgotten Men, both cynical ploys for votes calculated to thrust them into power.
Once elected, Windrip and his advisers, a Karl Rove double called Lee Sarasson, who seems to be the brains behind the maneuvering, and charismatic radio preacher Peter Paul Prang (based on Charles Coughlin, a fire-and-brimstone right wing evangalist, whose base included Pat Buchanan’s father), ditched the League of Forgotten Men for the American Corporate State and Patriotic Party and its henchmen, an untrained unpaid band of vigilantes known as the Minute Men. In a prescient moment, Lewis puts these words in Windrip’s mouth: “There are two parties, the Corporate and those who don’t belong to any party at all, and so, to use a common phrase, are just out of luck!”
The Windrip Corporate platform besides being anti-Semitic, was boldly racist and anti-woman. As for men, those unlucky enough to be out of work were sent to labor farms, where for a dollar a day they could hire out to the corporate bosses, who were only too happy for the chance to ditch their Union member workers for these low paid laborers, thus swelling the ranks of the unemployed even further.
Sold as an answer to the ravages of Depression, the new Corporate State led to rampant inflation and wholesale migrations to Canada until the Minute Men closed the border. Dismantling Democracy in the name of saving it came easy. Those in the other branches of government who disagreed either left their posts (several Supreme Court justices were quickly replaced with “surprisingly unknown lawyers who called [Windrip] by his first name’),’ or were put into protective custody (opposition members of Congress). One of the first bulwarks of Democracy to go was the press. Our hero, Doremus Jessup, an Everyman Vermont newspaper editor, is sent to a camp, then escapes to Canada to ponder how this happened and why even he, who saw it coming and warned his fellows that it can happen here, missed the seriousness of the takeover.
Early on in the book, Lewis elucidates Jessup’s observations: “Doremus Jessup, so inconspicuous an observer, watching Senator Windrip from so humble a Boeotia, could not explain his power of bewitching large audiences. The Senator was vulgar, almost illiterate, a public liar easily detected, and in his ‘ideas’ almost idiotic, while his celebrated piety was that of a traveling salesman for church furniture, and his yet more celebrated humor the sly cynicism of a country store.”
Reading these words in 2006 is downright eerie. Whether it’s George Bush and his folksy smirk alternating with his sneering admonitions that “if you’re not with us you’re with the terrorists,” or Arnold Schwarzenegger, reinventing himself as the friend to the working man and woman, education and health care, two months after waging war on all of it with his November propositions, the warning is clear: Those who want absolute power will stop at nothing, will use any tactics, measures and lies to convince a gullible public they are on “your” side.
Thinking people would do well to be heed the lessons of the past, even fictional ones. Novels like It Can’t Happen Here are worth reading, especially now. This book was recently reissued, although I found my copy in ancient paperback form in a used bookstore. The Boston Globe reviewed it only last month:
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2005/12/18/public_enemy/?page=full
And bloggers like me are joining in. Read it and be afraid. Be very afraid.
Dotty
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
More Fun with Dick and George – Me and my Wiretap – A Christmas Parable
OK, I admit it, I’m a little paranoid, but it has just occurred to me that I am a prime suspect for a warrentless George Bush NSA wiretap. Right this minute, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to learn that he’s lurking on my computer, ready to pounce on and record my emails.
These wiretaps against US citizens are ok, says the President, because they only involve correspondence between Americans and foreigners. At first I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking this is no Cointelpro operation. I may rail a little bit against the current administration’s activities in Iraq and elsewhere, but I do it all on American soil, with fellow Countrymen. But then I realized I might be on the list after all.
Why? For one thing I get regular correspondence from an organization called Lawyers Against the War. This makes wiretapping ok, even necessary in our fearless leader’s opinion, to protect Americans from terrorists and evildoers.
You see Lawyers Against the War is a Canadian based outfit currently suing the Bushies over allegations of torture in Iraq. Unfortunately, the Canadian Court hearing the case has claimed “diplomatic immunity” for Bush because of his chumminess with the Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin.
Lawyers Against the War is undaunted, however, and plans to continue to press their suit, even if they have to wait until King George is impeached … er … out of office, however that occurs.
This brings me to another conjecture about potential surveillance candidates: elderly Americans who regularly buy their prescription drugs in Canada. These subversive seniors are undercutting American drug companies’ profits by making midnight runs across the border, or sending their orders over the internet or through the US mails.
Prime targets for wiretapping. How more un-American can you be than taking your business out of the country?
And wait. What about all those techies in India I chat with when Earthlink goes on the blink? Clearly cause for surveillance. How close to the Pakistan border are these facilities? And now that I think of it, why is Earthlink going down so often these days? Are they being targeted too? Or is it just my computer, infected as it is with foreign communications?
And that buzzing sound on my home phone I attributed to the weather … the clicks and whistles on my cell … George, Dick, are you listening?
Here's the Christmas part? I do wish you both a merry one … If you can take time out from reading all those letters sent from American children to Santa, that foreign born elf from the North Pole.
Ho Ho Ho!
These wiretaps against US citizens are ok, says the President, because they only involve correspondence between Americans and foreigners. At first I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking this is no Cointelpro operation. I may rail a little bit against the current administration’s activities in Iraq and elsewhere, but I do it all on American soil, with fellow Countrymen. But then I realized I might be on the list after all.
Why? For one thing I get regular correspondence from an organization called Lawyers Against the War. This makes wiretapping ok, even necessary in our fearless leader’s opinion, to protect Americans from terrorists and evildoers.
You see Lawyers Against the War is a Canadian based outfit currently suing the Bushies over allegations of torture in Iraq. Unfortunately, the Canadian Court hearing the case has claimed “diplomatic immunity” for Bush because of his chumminess with the Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin.
Lawyers Against the War is undaunted, however, and plans to continue to press their suit, even if they have to wait until King George is impeached … er … out of office, however that occurs.
This brings me to another conjecture about potential surveillance candidates: elderly Americans who regularly buy their prescription drugs in Canada. These subversive seniors are undercutting American drug companies’ profits by making midnight runs across the border, or sending their orders over the internet or through the US mails.
Prime targets for wiretapping. How more un-American can you be than taking your business out of the country?
And wait. What about all those techies in India I chat with when Earthlink goes on the blink? Clearly cause for surveillance. How close to the Pakistan border are these facilities? And now that I think of it, why is Earthlink going down so often these days? Are they being targeted too? Or is it just my computer, infected as it is with foreign communications?
And that buzzing sound on my home phone I attributed to the weather … the clicks and whistles on my cell … George, Dick, are you listening?
Here's the Christmas part? I do wish you both a merry one … If you can take time out from reading all those letters sent from American children to Santa, that foreign born elf from the North Pole.
Ho Ho Ho!
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
MURTHA MOTHRA
George Bush and Dick Cheney spent the weekend watching old Japanese horror flicks in the presidential screening room. Notably, they viewed a series featuring the creatures Mothra and Godzilla. Mothra, as film buffs and former teenagers will recall, is a giant moth like creature who fights to protect her eggs, then takes on the giant Godzilla lizard in a series of battles of the beasts. She is often killed to be reborn of the pupa she leaves behind.
Cheney and Bush were arguing over who in current affairs was Mothra and who was Godzilla. "Well, Dick," said Bush, between bites of hot buttered popcorn, "I don't see how you can even ask that question. There's a guy named Mothra trying to undo all our hard work in the Iraq right now. A Democratic traitor who wants us to cut and run. Mothra the guy's name is. Risen from the dead, just like those nasty caterpillars do, popping out of his cocoon to drip slime all over the good American name. Let’s waste 'im!"
After rolling his eyes, and casting a sideways glance at the Secret Service detail hunkered down in the back of the screening room, Cheney whispered to Bush, "But that makes us Godzilla; do you want to be known as the giant lizard that ate Iraq? And besides, the guy’s name is Murtha, not Mothra."
"Murtha, Mothra, what’s the difference? You're always so hung up hung up on appearances," complained Bush. "Oh, wait, here’s the good part, where the Giant lizard makes omelettes out of the Moth's eggs." He starts thumbing the remote to increase the volume of the roars and screeches coming from the screen."
With that, Cheney whacked Bush upside the head, "You idiot," he growled, grabbing at the remote. "Mothra’s protected by little angel fairies, and she's gonna whale on the lizard. He’s the bad guy you moron. Now watch him stamp out Tokyo with a single webbed foot! Is that how you want this Administration to be remembered?"
"Hey, all those broken down buildings kinda remind me of Fallujah. Do you think he has any of those cool flame throwing things?" As Cheny tosses the remote behind the couch, Bush turns to him, annoyed, "Dick, are you telling me this Murtha Mothra guy is gonna whup our asses?"
"It's those damn little angel fairies. They're everywhere, spreading lies and deceit and insubordination in the ranks. And George, it doesn’t help if you go around telling people we’re Godzilla."
"Little angel fairies? Damn gays in the military! That's the whole problem. Once we establish democracy and Christianity over there, we’ll be back on track. Now, give me back the remote! There is no way Godzilla gets whupped by a moth and little angel fairies. Not on my watch."
With that, George Bush sank lower into his cushions and dug into the popcorn with both hands.
Cheney and Bush were arguing over who in current affairs was Mothra and who was Godzilla. "Well, Dick," said Bush, between bites of hot buttered popcorn, "I don't see how you can even ask that question. There's a guy named Mothra trying to undo all our hard work in the Iraq right now. A Democratic traitor who wants us to cut and run. Mothra the guy's name is. Risen from the dead, just like those nasty caterpillars do, popping out of his cocoon to drip slime all over the good American name. Let’s waste 'im!"
After rolling his eyes, and casting a sideways glance at the Secret Service detail hunkered down in the back of the screening room, Cheney whispered to Bush, "But that makes us Godzilla; do you want to be known as the giant lizard that ate Iraq? And besides, the guy’s name is Murtha, not Mothra."
"Murtha, Mothra, what’s the difference? You're always so hung up hung up on appearances," complained Bush. "Oh, wait, here’s the good part, where the Giant lizard makes omelettes out of the Moth's eggs." He starts thumbing the remote to increase the volume of the roars and screeches coming from the screen."
With that, Cheney whacked Bush upside the head, "You idiot," he growled, grabbing at the remote. "Mothra’s protected by little angel fairies, and she's gonna whale on the lizard. He’s the bad guy you moron. Now watch him stamp out Tokyo with a single webbed foot! Is that how you want this Administration to be remembered?"
"Hey, all those broken down buildings kinda remind me of Fallujah. Do you think he has any of those cool flame throwing things?" As Cheny tosses the remote behind the couch, Bush turns to him, annoyed, "Dick, are you telling me this Murtha Mothra guy is gonna whup our asses?"
"It's those damn little angel fairies. They're everywhere, spreading lies and deceit and insubordination in the ranks. And George, it doesn’t help if you go around telling people we’re Godzilla."
"Little angel fairies? Damn gays in the military! That's the whole problem. Once we establish democracy and Christianity over there, we’ll be back on track. Now, give me back the remote! There is no way Godzilla gets whupped by a moth and little angel fairies. Not on my watch."
With that, George Bush sank lower into his cushions and dug into the popcorn with both hands.
Friday, December 02, 2005
Congresswoman Woolsey's Progressive Leadership
This Oped first appeared in the Marin Independent Journal on Nov. 28, 2005. Lynn Woolsey represents the California 6th Congressional District, and I'm proud to have her as my representative in Congress.
Dotty E. LeMieux
ONCE AGAIN, I must take exception to something my good friend Dick Spotswood says in his column.
In his Nov. 19 piece, he states that "Lynn Woolsey symbolizes why the Democratic party is in deep trouble." I have to disagree.
The reality might be precisely the opposite. The Democratic Party has been in deep trouble for so long because it has not had more Congresswoman Lynn Woolseys in positions of power.
What Lynn and the handful of progressive Democrats in Congress symbolize is the growing realization that the administration is using every trick in the book to support an illegal, immoral war in Iraq and an increasingly hostile war on dissent at home.
Spotswood criticizes Woolsey for voting against House Resolution 427, which sympathized with the victims of
the 9/11 attacks. If that was all the resolution did, it would indeed be strange for her not to approve it. But this resolution went much further. Specifically it called for Congress to renew a "commitment to the Global War on Terrorism and to providing the United States Armed Forces with the resources and support to wage it effectively and safely" and to "continue to take whatever actions necessary to identify, intercept, and disrupt terrorists and their activities."
Lynn Woolsey said she could not vote for this language because it left the door open for an expansion of preemptive wars and the erosion of civil rights through the Patriot Act.
She was right. And she was not the only one to voice those concerns.
In the words of another dissenter (there were six altogether), East Bay Congressman Pete Stark:
"I cannot vote for a resolution supporting a "global war on terrorism" because there is no such thing. The only war the United States is engaged in is the misguided Iraq War. To support a resolution simply so President Bush can continue to carry out actions in the name of this false global war of terrorism only encourages this administration to lead this country into additional unnecessary military actions."
The Republicans have hijacked and continue to misuse and misrepresent the terrible events of 9/11 and its aftermath. They have squandered the world's goodwill and created chaos, destruction and instability in Iraq.
Stark is absolutely correct in saying there is no such thing as a global war on terrorism. If there were, they'd still be looking for Osama bin Laden.
They'd be busy attacking the root causes of terrorism, not glibly tossing off platitudes and using fear tactics to push their agenda. And that agenda is not spreading democracy around the world.
Rather than continuing to run to the middle, as Sen. John Kerry so ingloriously did in 2004, the Democrats need to listen to the words of progressives like Pete Stark and Lynn Woolsey.
Progressive isn't just another word for liberal. It's a philosophy based on going forward and making progress, not going backward or running on fear and hatred.
The Democratic Party is the party of hope. At least it used to be. And it can be again, by standing firm on issues that truly do advance democratic ideals, which means not imposing puppet governments and justice at the end of a gun barrel or bomb. Not lying to the American people and the world.
The words "any actions necessary" used by George Bush and company along with other such catch phrases as "fighting them there so we don't have to fight them here" and "if you're not with us, you're with the terrorists," are not about fighting terror; they are about giving this administration a blank check to do whatever it pleases. They are all about the Patriot Act and the war in Iraq and cowing the American public into going along with their actions.
These are the actions this administration has deemed necessary to carry out its policies, including torture, denial of due process for prisoners and no-bid contracts to crony capitalists.
Dotty E. LeMieux
ONCE AGAIN, I must take exception to something my good friend Dick Spotswood says in his column.
In his Nov. 19 piece, he states that "Lynn Woolsey symbolizes why the Democratic party is in deep trouble." I have to disagree.
The reality might be precisely the opposite. The Democratic Party has been in deep trouble for so long because it has not had more Congresswoman Lynn Woolseys in positions of power.
What Lynn and the handful of progressive Democrats in Congress symbolize is the growing realization that the administration is using every trick in the book to support an illegal, immoral war in Iraq and an increasingly hostile war on dissent at home.
Spotswood criticizes Woolsey for voting against House Resolution 427, which sympathized with the victims of
the 9/11 attacks. If that was all the resolution did, it would indeed be strange for her not to approve it. But this resolution went much further. Specifically it called for Congress to renew a "commitment to the Global War on Terrorism and to providing the United States Armed Forces with the resources and support to wage it effectively and safely" and to "continue to take whatever actions necessary to identify, intercept, and disrupt terrorists and their activities."
Lynn Woolsey said she could not vote for this language because it left the door open for an expansion of preemptive wars and the erosion of civil rights through the Patriot Act.
She was right. And she was not the only one to voice those concerns.
In the words of another dissenter (there were six altogether), East Bay Congressman Pete Stark:
"I cannot vote for a resolution supporting a "global war on terrorism" because there is no such thing. The only war the United States is engaged in is the misguided Iraq War. To support a resolution simply so President Bush can continue to carry out actions in the name of this false global war of terrorism only encourages this administration to lead this country into additional unnecessary military actions."
The Republicans have hijacked and continue to misuse and misrepresent the terrible events of 9/11 and its aftermath. They have squandered the world's goodwill and created chaos, destruction and instability in Iraq.
Stark is absolutely correct in saying there is no such thing as a global war on terrorism. If there were, they'd still be looking for Osama bin Laden.
They'd be busy attacking the root causes of terrorism, not glibly tossing off platitudes and using fear tactics to push their agenda. And that agenda is not spreading democracy around the world.
Rather than continuing to run to the middle, as Sen. John Kerry so ingloriously did in 2004, the Democrats need to listen to the words of progressives like Pete Stark and Lynn Woolsey.
Progressive isn't just another word for liberal. It's a philosophy based on going forward and making progress, not going backward or running on fear and hatred.
The Democratic Party is the party of hope. At least it used to be. And it can be again, by standing firm on issues that truly do advance democratic ideals, which means not imposing puppet governments and justice at the end of a gun barrel or bomb. Not lying to the American people and the world.
The words "any actions necessary" used by George Bush and company along with other such catch phrases as "fighting them there so we don't have to fight them here" and "if you're not with us, you're with the terrorists," are not about fighting terror; they are about giving this administration a blank check to do whatever it pleases. They are all about the Patriot Act and the war in Iraq and cowing the American public into going along with their actions.
These are the actions this administration has deemed necessary to carry out its policies, including torture, denial of due process for prisoners and no-bid contracts to crony capitalists.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Progressives Dems v. Greens continued
After my guest editorial in the Beyond Chron publication, www.beyondchron.org/ a Green saw fit to respond. So I got another crack at the discussion and then another Green weighed in. Below is the exchange, which follows the first editorial, posted below all of these.
Your comments, my fellow Green Dogs?
Dotty
Guest Editorial: Progressives Should be Green
Kim Knox 21.NOV.05
Recently, Beyond Chron ran a guest editorial beseeching progressives to not leave the Democratic party. I can't speak for the San Francisco Greens. But as a Green party member, I disagree with the author's premise that Democratic Party is now the home for true progressives.
In light of Friday's Congressional vote of 403-3 against a nonbinding resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of troops in Iraq, I wonder why progressives would stay in a party that refuses to vote its conscience. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco "sent word to the rank-and-file Democrats to vote with the Republicans against immediate withdrawl of U.S. troops."
At last year's election, I didn't vote for Pelosi. I wrote in the name of Terry Baum, SF Green Party's endorsed Congressional candidate and peace activist. I also gave a check to Green Party activist Marla Ruzicka's CIVIC Organization. Marla gave her life this spring helping Iraqi civilians in Iraq.
I belong to the party who lead the campaign for the City's Minimum Wage Initiative onto the ballot and into the City Charter. I belong to the party who lead the drive to institute Instant Runoff Voting and worked with other progressives to create and pass the City's Sunshine Ordinance.
I am angry that the majority of Democratic Congressional members voted for the Patriot Act. I am dismayed at the Democrats' support of Bush's "No Child Left Behind" programs. I am also shocked at the speed that the Democratic leadership have separated themselves from the issue of gay marriage.
But I've been amazed at the depth of knowledge and talent that the Greens have brought to our City. As an author of several books on science-related education as well as mentor of 82 students over seven years, I was honored to work on the School Board campaigns of outstanding education activists (and Greens) Mark Sanchez, Sarah Lipson and Whitney Leigh, an attorney who formerly worked in the Juvenile Section for the Public Defender's Office.
School Board Members Sarah Lipson and Mark Sanchez are examples of why the Green Party is successful. Sarah is a successful advocate of univeral pre-K and quality early childhood education. Her leadership at the last BOE meeting prior to the scheduled strike by Local 790 against SFUSD helped to create time that resulted in the 11th hour agreement and an averted strike.
Mark is a key advocate on the School Board for the students in the county schools (those who drop out or are expelled), open government within the District and the Small Schools Initiative. As the only gay BOE member who has been vocal in his opposition to the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, Mark has been active in creating legislation against miltary recruitment efforts in San Francisco's schools.
Over the last several years, other progressives have worked on the campaigns of other Green outstanding candidates such as Ross Mirkarimi, Renee Saucedo, Terry Baum, Lisa Feldstein, Susan King, Barry Hermanson and Jane Kim.
In the past, progressives may have had a voice within the Democrat party. But those days appear to be gone. That's why I am a member of the Green Party.
Kim Knox, is an education and environmental activist and a Green Party member.
And me again:
Guest Editorial: Green Dog Democrat Responds
Dotty LeMieux
Dotty LeMieux 22.NOV.05
In response to your recent guest editorial responding to my recent Guest editorial on progressive Democrats, it appears the writer got hung up on the headline (Which was not my own, by the way). The point of my article was not that progressives need to be Democrats or even that the Democratic iParty s necessarily progressive. But that we need to work together, Greens and progressive Democrats alike (not to mention progressive independents sick of all political labels) to ensure that progressives are elected.
I applaud the Green Party for doing just that in electing local school board members, city council members (I live in a town with two Greens on the Council), Supervisors and the like.
Also I applaud those Greens who are supporting the candidacy of Ron Dellums for Oakland mayor. Look to the politics, the principles and the person, not the Party.
Yes, as a life long Democrat, I'd love to pull my own Party in a more progressive direction. That's why we formed the California Democratic Progressive Caucus. We are still living in an essentially two party system. If we want to take back the Congress, we have to look to the Democratic Party to do it. For now, anyway.
I believe in pluralism, and will support a Green when she is the most progressive (and viable) candidate for local office. If Greens can get elected to Congress, so much the better for our Democratic system I say. But that time is not yet.
As for Republican Trojan Horse "pull out now" resolution introduced Friday, its sole purpose was to unleash a backlash and fury on the right. My first reaction was like yours, call their bluff! (only three Dems did vote against it, notably neither Barbara Lee nor Lynn Woolsey, who saw it for what it was, a way to squelch debate and make Democratic lawmakers look unpatriotic.)
Unfortunately, in a Congress with arcane procedures like allowing unrelated matters to be added to bills, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Repubs tack on drilling in downtown San Francisco to any realistic out of Iraq bill the Dems come up with at this time. No reason they shouldn't try however. I hope the Dems are using this Thanksgiving break to craft a message on the War that supports the troops, calls for UN intervention and sets a short timetable, for withdrawal just as John Murtha called for. What they should not do, and I think the author of the Guest Editorial can agree, is cede the moral high ground.
Our best hope is the upcoming 2006 elections. Greens and progressive Democrats together can make the difference. Running to the middle doesn't work. We must stand FOR something.
Help us change the course of these disastrous times.
And the last Green. Any Progressive Dems want to join this deiscussion: send to
Randy@thclinic.org
Guest Editorial: Progressives Should be Green
Matt Magaña 23.NOV.05
I've been a registered democrat for nearly 28 years. Never have I been so disgusted with the party as I have been these past eight years. Perhaps, had I been more politically involved, I would have seen it sooner who's to say. Since Al Gore bent over the barrel in 2000, I have been voting my conscience. Which basically means that I have voted Green in all elections since then. I will continue to do so.
My choice as a figure head for the democratic party would not have been Howard Dean. Instead, how about Congressman Conyers? Barbara Lee? She would have surely shaken things up. Dennis Kucinich? Nevermind. I suppose, with the prolific racism that resides just below the surface in this country, it's probably too much to expect that anyone from the Democratic Black Caucus will be voted into the executive office. Congressman Kucinich supports worker rights. That alone puts him out of the running.
Wait a minute! How about Barbara Boxer. Isn't she one of those "democrats" who from 2000-2004, not only voted for this war, but was pretty much quiet about all the lies and deceit for the entire time. Let's give her an instant pass to go to the front of the line because she spoke up about the irregularities of the 2004 election. I'm sorry, the calls for her within the democratic party to have her run for president were, quite frankly, embarrassing. Anyone of the above I mentioned who have been consistently fighting to tell the truth should be seriously considered for an executive position, if not the presidency, in the next election. Only then, will the party get back it's spine.
I don't hold much faith in the two party system anymore. Not so much because I previously did, but because I'm simply more aware.
For example, this past presidential election. John Kerry, as expected, didn't put forth much of a fight to contest the election. Instead, basically, pretended the election wasn't stolen, and told everyone that we should ignore the lies spewing forth from the war criminals in the White House. That we should all pretend nothing is wrong and we should hold hands and play well together. at the same time, pocketing the + $50 million dollars collected for his campaign. What a bunch of HOOEY! I'd us much harsher language, but it probably wouldn't be printed.
Several friends told me that we all have to band together and vote for John Kerry. In spite of voting my conscience, the democratic ticket wins yet, another term in office. I now have very small hopes that they will change things, and I'm not surprised or disappointed when they don't. At least they're consistent.
To those of you who believe that simply continuing to vote these same democrats into office is going to solve the problems, just look at one of the most visible, Senator Feinsten. She consistently votes along the conservative line. Didn't she also vote in favor of Condi Rice as Secretary of State? She should be kicked out of the party, in my opinion. Pelosi is another one. Immediately after Congressman Murtha was quoted as calling for a pull-out of U.S. forces in Iraq, there was Congresswoman Pelosi, saying "Well, Congressman Murtha doesn't really speak for the democratic party" (paraphrased).
Need I say more. And don't kid yourself. Iraq is in Civil War right now. The question is, if we pull out, no more of our soldiers have to die, and less Iraquis will die. If we stay, there will continue to be more casualties*on both sides. Follow the trail. Bush's push for war was premeditated. They want control of the oil, and are even willing to sacrifice U.S. lives on our soil to do it * to gain support for their agenda * let alone countless lives abroad. Everything else is a smokescreen.
Basically, there is a saying in 12 step programs. "The definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior and expecting different results." People who vote from a place of fear (voting for the "lesser of 2 evils" mentality), are going to be constantly disappointed.
When my friends complain about the state of things, I have to remind them that they were the ones who encouraged me to vote democrat. It's becoming more clear to them. I'm encouraging them to vote their conscience.
This comes back to a recent article you had about Instant Runoff Voting. This is a democracy*at least on paper. When we go to electronic voting, it will cease to be. IRV is the only way that we can have a choice. Period.
Matt Magaña is an artist, photographer, Green Party Activist, and a member of D5 Dog, and the Alamo Square Neighborhood Assocoation.
Your comments, my fellow Green Dogs?
Dotty
Guest Editorial: Progressives Should be Green
Kim Knox 21.NOV.05
Recently, Beyond Chron ran a guest editorial beseeching progressives to not leave the Democratic party. I can't speak for the San Francisco Greens. But as a Green party member, I disagree with the author's premise that Democratic Party is now the home for true progressives.
In light of Friday's Congressional vote of 403-3 against a nonbinding resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of troops in Iraq, I wonder why progressives would stay in a party that refuses to vote its conscience. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco "sent word to the rank-and-file Democrats to vote with the Republicans against immediate withdrawl of U.S. troops."
At last year's election, I didn't vote for Pelosi. I wrote in the name of Terry Baum, SF Green Party's endorsed Congressional candidate and peace activist. I also gave a check to Green Party activist Marla Ruzicka's CIVIC Organization. Marla gave her life this spring helping Iraqi civilians in Iraq.
I belong to the party who lead the campaign for the City's Minimum Wage Initiative onto the ballot and into the City Charter. I belong to the party who lead the drive to institute Instant Runoff Voting and worked with other progressives to create and pass the City's Sunshine Ordinance.
I am angry that the majority of Democratic Congressional members voted for the Patriot Act. I am dismayed at the Democrats' support of Bush's "No Child Left Behind" programs. I am also shocked at the speed that the Democratic leadership have separated themselves from the issue of gay marriage.
But I've been amazed at the depth of knowledge and talent that the Greens have brought to our City. As an author of several books on science-related education as well as mentor of 82 students over seven years, I was honored to work on the School Board campaigns of outstanding education activists (and Greens) Mark Sanchez, Sarah Lipson and Whitney Leigh, an attorney who formerly worked in the Juvenile Section for the Public Defender's Office.
School Board Members Sarah Lipson and Mark Sanchez are examples of why the Green Party is successful. Sarah is a successful advocate of univeral pre-K and quality early childhood education. Her leadership at the last BOE meeting prior to the scheduled strike by Local 790 against SFUSD helped to create time that resulted in the 11th hour agreement and an averted strike.
Mark is a key advocate on the School Board for the students in the county schools (those who drop out or are expelled), open government within the District and the Small Schools Initiative. As the only gay BOE member who has been vocal in his opposition to the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, Mark has been active in creating legislation against miltary recruitment efforts in San Francisco's schools.
Over the last several years, other progressives have worked on the campaigns of other Green outstanding candidates such as Ross Mirkarimi, Renee Saucedo, Terry Baum, Lisa Feldstein, Susan King, Barry Hermanson and Jane Kim.
In the past, progressives may have had a voice within the Democrat party. But those days appear to be gone. That's why I am a member of the Green Party.
Kim Knox, is an education and environmental activist and a Green Party member.
And me again:
Guest Editorial: Green Dog Democrat Responds
Dotty LeMieux
Dotty LeMieux 22.NOV.05
In response to your recent guest editorial responding to my recent Guest editorial on progressive Democrats, it appears the writer got hung up on the headline (Which was not my own, by the way). The point of my article was not that progressives need to be Democrats or even that the Democratic iParty s necessarily progressive. But that we need to work together, Greens and progressive Democrats alike (not to mention progressive independents sick of all political labels) to ensure that progressives are elected.
I applaud the Green Party for doing just that in electing local school board members, city council members (I live in a town with two Greens on the Council), Supervisors and the like.
Also I applaud those Greens who are supporting the candidacy of Ron Dellums for Oakland mayor. Look to the politics, the principles and the person, not the Party.
Yes, as a life long Democrat, I'd love to pull my own Party in a more progressive direction. That's why we formed the California Democratic Progressive Caucus. We are still living in an essentially two party system. If we want to take back the Congress, we have to look to the Democratic Party to do it. For now, anyway.
I believe in pluralism, and will support a Green when she is the most progressive (and viable) candidate for local office. If Greens can get elected to Congress, so much the better for our Democratic system I say. But that time is not yet.
As for Republican Trojan Horse "pull out now" resolution introduced Friday, its sole purpose was to unleash a backlash and fury on the right. My first reaction was like yours, call their bluff! (only three Dems did vote against it, notably neither Barbara Lee nor Lynn Woolsey, who saw it for what it was, a way to squelch debate and make Democratic lawmakers look unpatriotic.)
Unfortunately, in a Congress with arcane procedures like allowing unrelated matters to be added to bills, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Repubs tack on drilling in downtown San Francisco to any realistic out of Iraq bill the Dems come up with at this time. No reason they shouldn't try however. I hope the Dems are using this Thanksgiving break to craft a message on the War that supports the troops, calls for UN intervention and sets a short timetable, for withdrawal just as John Murtha called for. What they should not do, and I think the author of the Guest Editorial can agree, is cede the moral high ground.
Our best hope is the upcoming 2006 elections. Greens and progressive Democrats together can make the difference. Running to the middle doesn't work. We must stand FOR something.
Help us change the course of these disastrous times.
And the last Green. Any Progressive Dems want to join this deiscussion: send to
Randy@thclinic.org
Guest Editorial: Progressives Should be Green
Matt Magaña 23.NOV.05
I've been a registered democrat for nearly 28 years. Never have I been so disgusted with the party as I have been these past eight years. Perhaps, had I been more politically involved, I would have seen it sooner who's to say. Since Al Gore bent over the barrel in 2000, I have been voting my conscience. Which basically means that I have voted Green in all elections since then. I will continue to do so.
My choice as a figure head for the democratic party would not have been Howard Dean. Instead, how about Congressman Conyers? Barbara Lee? She would have surely shaken things up. Dennis Kucinich? Nevermind. I suppose, with the prolific racism that resides just below the surface in this country, it's probably too much to expect that anyone from the Democratic Black Caucus will be voted into the executive office. Congressman Kucinich supports worker rights. That alone puts him out of the running.
Wait a minute! How about Barbara Boxer. Isn't she one of those "democrats" who from 2000-2004, not only voted for this war, but was pretty much quiet about all the lies and deceit for the entire time. Let's give her an instant pass to go to the front of the line because she spoke up about the irregularities of the 2004 election. I'm sorry, the calls for her within the democratic party to have her run for president were, quite frankly, embarrassing. Anyone of the above I mentioned who have been consistently fighting to tell the truth should be seriously considered for an executive position, if not the presidency, in the next election. Only then, will the party get back it's spine.
I don't hold much faith in the two party system anymore. Not so much because I previously did, but because I'm simply more aware.
For example, this past presidential election. John Kerry, as expected, didn't put forth much of a fight to contest the election. Instead, basically, pretended the election wasn't stolen, and told everyone that we should ignore the lies spewing forth from the war criminals in the White House. That we should all pretend nothing is wrong and we should hold hands and play well together. at the same time, pocketing the + $50 million dollars collected for his campaign. What a bunch of HOOEY! I'd us much harsher language, but it probably wouldn't be printed.
Several friends told me that we all have to band together and vote for John Kerry. In spite of voting my conscience, the democratic ticket wins yet, another term in office. I now have very small hopes that they will change things, and I'm not surprised or disappointed when they don't. At least they're consistent.
To those of you who believe that simply continuing to vote these same democrats into office is going to solve the problems, just look at one of the most visible, Senator Feinsten. She consistently votes along the conservative line. Didn't she also vote in favor of Condi Rice as Secretary of State? She should be kicked out of the party, in my opinion. Pelosi is another one. Immediately after Congressman Murtha was quoted as calling for a pull-out of U.S. forces in Iraq, there was Congresswoman Pelosi, saying "Well, Congressman Murtha doesn't really speak for the democratic party" (paraphrased).
Need I say more. And don't kid yourself. Iraq is in Civil War right now. The question is, if we pull out, no more of our soldiers have to die, and less Iraquis will die. If we stay, there will continue to be more casualties*on both sides. Follow the trail. Bush's push for war was premeditated. They want control of the oil, and are even willing to sacrifice U.S. lives on our soil to do it * to gain support for their agenda * let alone countless lives abroad. Everything else is a smokescreen.
Basically, there is a saying in 12 step programs. "The definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior and expecting different results." People who vote from a place of fear (voting for the "lesser of 2 evils" mentality), are going to be constantly disappointed.
When my friends complain about the state of things, I have to remind them that they were the ones who encouraged me to vote democrat. It's becoming more clear to them. I'm encouraging them to vote their conscience.
This comes back to a recent article you had about Instant Runoff Voting. This is a democracy*at least on paper. When we go to electronic voting, it will cease to be. IRV is the only way that we can have a choice. Period.
Matt Magaña is an artist, photographer, Green Party Activist, and a member of D5 Dog, and the Alamo Square Neighborhood Assocoation.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Democratic Party Best Place for Progressives
First published as a Guest Editorial in today's Beyond Chron
Dotty LeMieux 02.NOV.05
At the October 2005 Executive Board meeting of the California Democratic Party, a quiet but important event occurred. The Progressive Caucus received official recognition of its bylaws and newly elected Executive Committee. This Caucus had been a long time coming and proved to be a hard sell for the half dozen Democratic activists who started it last year. As one of those activists, I am especially gratified to have been a part of this momentous achievement. Why was it so difficult to persuade Democrats that a Progressive Caucus was not only viable but necessary to Party growth?
Some viewed us as divisive, at a time when Democrats were courting moderates in an attempt to capitalize on the many scandals and foibles of the Bush and Schwarzenegger Administrations. When the Kerry campaign faltered, many of us were left saying, “I told you so,” having begged the campaign to appeal to the progressives in swing states, not move toward the middle in order to appease phantom moderate voters.
As we saw, people would rather vote for someone they perceive as standing for something than someone whose principles are difficult to detect. Even in the face of the upset Dean election as Chair of the DNC, our road to official recognition was a rocky one.
We persevered and ultimately won through force of numbers. We were the Caucus with more than 400 people in attendance at the State Convention in April. We are growing by leaps and bounds, as we take on issues like single payer health care and clean money election reform. We were instrumental in passing a resolution to end the Iraq War, which received only token opposition on the Convention floor. Without progressives bringing big ideas forward, it’s questionable when or whether our Party would get around to it.
So progressives have shown we are a catalyst for growth within the Party. I hope we can also be a catalyst for coalition building with other like-minded individuals and groups. As a campaign consultant and activist trainer in the Bay Area, I urge those I work with to reach out beyond their base for allies in their cause.
It’s just as important to recognize who your base is. Sometimes, it’s not just those of the same Party affiliation, but those who care deeply about the same values and issues. So it was especially exciting to read about Green Party activists joining with Ron Dellums. The Democratic platform, especially in California, is filled with lofty ambitions and high-sounding principles. We share many if not most of them with those of the Green Party.
Isn’t it only natural for us to join forces when a progressive candidate of either Party (or oh horrors, an independent like Vermont’s Bernie Sanders) steps forward with a real chance of moving our shared values forward? We need to do more than denounce the Bush Administration, which we can never do enough in my opinion. We need to offer a clear, well-defined alternative. Not just “don’t dismantle Social Security.” And not just our own version of “fixing it” either. But a clear unapologetic vision for where we want this Country, this State, and our localities to go.
Randy Shaw in his Oct. 12 comments in Beyond Chron poses the question: “Does the backing of Democrat Dellums signal a strategic shift by Greens?” And answers it this way: “That depends on whether progressives join the Greens because they believe Democrats are the greatest evil (the Camejo view) or as a signal to Democrats that they risk losing votes unless they promote a progressive agenda.” I like to think it’s the latter, and that people join the Democratic progressive Caucus for the same reason.
We can transform our Party into the Party of its potential, not the Party of its mistakes. I believe a part of this potential is the very real and necessary task of building coalitions with other progressives, whether Greens or like-minded Independents, those ‘decline-to-state’ voters, who trust no political Party to represent them. Progressive politics is popping up all over; I must get two invitations to join new groups every couple of days. Progressive weblogs are sprouting like mushrooms. Clearly we’re on to something.
Progressives need to avoid burnout just like any other activists. Working together, rather than splintering into a thousand different directions will be key to making this a movement for real lasting change in our State and our Country.
Dotty E. LeMieux Dotty E. LeMieux runs political campaigns for progressive candidates and causes in Northern California and is an officer-at-large in the California Democratic Progressive Caucus. Her Blog is www.greendogdemocrat.blogspot.com.
Dotty LeMieux 02.NOV.05
At the October 2005 Executive Board meeting of the California Democratic Party, a quiet but important event occurred. The Progressive Caucus received official recognition of its bylaws and newly elected Executive Committee. This Caucus had been a long time coming and proved to be a hard sell for the half dozen Democratic activists who started it last year. As one of those activists, I am especially gratified to have been a part of this momentous achievement. Why was it so difficult to persuade Democrats that a Progressive Caucus was not only viable but necessary to Party growth?
Some viewed us as divisive, at a time when Democrats were courting moderates in an attempt to capitalize on the many scandals and foibles of the Bush and Schwarzenegger Administrations. When the Kerry campaign faltered, many of us were left saying, “I told you so,” having begged the campaign to appeal to the progressives in swing states, not move toward the middle in order to appease phantom moderate voters.
As we saw, people would rather vote for someone they perceive as standing for something than someone whose principles are difficult to detect. Even in the face of the upset Dean election as Chair of the DNC, our road to official recognition was a rocky one.
We persevered and ultimately won through force of numbers. We were the Caucus with more than 400 people in attendance at the State Convention in April. We are growing by leaps and bounds, as we take on issues like single payer health care and clean money election reform. We were instrumental in passing a resolution to end the Iraq War, which received only token opposition on the Convention floor. Without progressives bringing big ideas forward, it’s questionable when or whether our Party would get around to it.
So progressives have shown we are a catalyst for growth within the Party. I hope we can also be a catalyst for coalition building with other like-minded individuals and groups. As a campaign consultant and activist trainer in the Bay Area, I urge those I work with to reach out beyond their base for allies in their cause.
It’s just as important to recognize who your base is. Sometimes, it’s not just those of the same Party affiliation, but those who care deeply about the same values and issues. So it was especially exciting to read about Green Party activists joining with Ron Dellums. The Democratic platform, especially in California, is filled with lofty ambitions and high-sounding principles. We share many if not most of them with those of the Green Party.
Isn’t it only natural for us to join forces when a progressive candidate of either Party (or oh horrors, an independent like Vermont’s Bernie Sanders) steps forward with a real chance of moving our shared values forward? We need to do more than denounce the Bush Administration, which we can never do enough in my opinion. We need to offer a clear, well-defined alternative. Not just “don’t dismantle Social Security.” And not just our own version of “fixing it” either. But a clear unapologetic vision for where we want this Country, this State, and our localities to go.
Randy Shaw in his Oct. 12 comments in Beyond Chron poses the question: “Does the backing of Democrat Dellums signal a strategic shift by Greens?” And answers it this way: “That depends on whether progressives join the Greens because they believe Democrats are the greatest evil (the Camejo view) or as a signal to Democrats that they risk losing votes unless they promote a progressive agenda.” I like to think it’s the latter, and that people join the Democratic progressive Caucus for the same reason.
We can transform our Party into the Party of its potential, not the Party of its mistakes. I believe a part of this potential is the very real and necessary task of building coalitions with other progressives, whether Greens or like-minded Independents, those ‘decline-to-state’ voters, who trust no political Party to represent them. Progressive politics is popping up all over; I must get two invitations to join new groups every couple of days. Progressive weblogs are sprouting like mushrooms. Clearly we’re on to something.
Progressives need to avoid burnout just like any other activists. Working together, rather than splintering into a thousand different directions will be key to making this a movement for real lasting change in our State and our Country.
Dotty E. LeMieux Dotty E. LeMieux runs political campaigns for progressive candidates and causes in Northern California and is an officer-at-large in the California Democratic Progressive Caucus. Her Blog is www.greendogdemocrat.blogspot.com.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
SUPREMEST COURT OF ALL
Or "George Bush Learns a Tough Lesson"
George Bush announced today that he was dispensing with that pesky institution, the Supreme Court, altogether.
"I have so damned much trouble getting my nominees through, even though they're all good God fearing strict constructionist judges," he complained to a rapt audience of worshippers at this morning's Texas Businessmen's Greed and Gospel Society prayer breakfast, that I am turning this whole thing over to a higher power. See I learned something in AA."
He continued, "from now on, we're going to be getting our Constitutional interpretation from the Supreme Being, not the Supreme Court."
Gasps could be heard throughout the crowd, as well as murmers, ranging from "he's really lost his marbles this time" to "should I sell that strip mining company before this happens do you think?"
Some in the crowd urged caution. In the words of one pork belly trader, "George, do you really want to go that far? I mean, the Supreme Court justices have to answer to you after all, and their stock portfolios of course, but God doesn't have those sort of allegiences."
The President looked miffed, saying, "Isn't this what we've always wanted, no more separation of Church and State? Everything according to the Gospels?"
"Well, yeah, but we're in the Gospel and Greed business, George," protested an oil man sporting a ten gallon hat with flashing neon oil wells in the band. "It's just good for business, and what's good for business is good for America. Putting the big guy actually in charge could wreak havoc with our corporate culture."
"Pish tush" barked George, "I talk to God all the time. He likes me. He likes business. He likes war and famine and flood and all that good stuff. Who do you think directed me to Iraq in the first place and then chose Halliburton to clean up that mess? Now you boys just sit back and let me take care of everything."
While the few reporters who had snuck into the breakfast disguised in gray suits and power ties scrambled for their cell phones, a mighty wind was heard blowing outside the Convention Center. It grew louder and louder until the windows were shaking and the building itself was rocking on its foundations.
The surprised business tycoons were busy ducking soaring glasses of juice and dodging flying vats of scrambled eggs, as they sought shelter from the storm in rapidly cracking doorways and under collapsing tables.
"Hey!" shouted Bush, tumbling across the tilted stage grabbing the velvet curtains to slow his slide. "What is going on here? Is that a hurricane? Someone call FEMA. I thought this place was rated to withstand a category 5."
"Sorry, Sir," said a Halliburton executive who was trying to stop the President from disappearing into a hole that had opened up in the floor of the stage. "We had to keep up the profits, so this little old project got a discount on materials. It's a government building after all. That's just standard operating procedure."
"What is this hole I'm falling into, for Chris' sake. Get me outa here!" wailed the rapidly disappearing President.
As he slipped out of the grip of the Halliburton exec, his voice wafted through the now silent hall, "Who the hell authorized a no-bid contract for a place I was speaking in?!"
"Don't worry, George, we'll sue," shouted Dick Cheney, peering into the hole. "Someone will pay.... Urk!" Cheney was soon sucked into the vortex himself. Meanwhile, Donald Rumsfeld, Condi Rice, and Karl Rove were fighting over a limo out in front of the building as the storm waters rose around them.
As George Bush slid down below the sub-basement, he mused, "Fat lotta good that'll do without the Supreme Court to rule in my favor. I shoulda stuck with Texas baseball and cocaine. Hey, which Supreme Being have I been talking to all these years anyway.....?"
Dick Cheney, flopping end over end like a fortune telling fish, yelped, "Watch out for the brimstone, George. It's hot!"
George Bush announced today that he was dispensing with that pesky institution, the Supreme Court, altogether.
"I have so damned much trouble getting my nominees through, even though they're all good God fearing strict constructionist judges," he complained to a rapt audience of worshippers at this morning's Texas Businessmen's Greed and Gospel Society prayer breakfast, that I am turning this whole thing over to a higher power. See I learned something in AA."
He continued, "from now on, we're going to be getting our Constitutional interpretation from the Supreme Being, not the Supreme Court."
Gasps could be heard throughout the crowd, as well as murmers, ranging from "he's really lost his marbles this time" to "should I sell that strip mining company before this happens do you think?"
Some in the crowd urged caution. In the words of one pork belly trader, "George, do you really want to go that far? I mean, the Supreme Court justices have to answer to you after all, and their stock portfolios of course, but God doesn't have those sort of allegiences."
The President looked miffed, saying, "Isn't this what we've always wanted, no more separation of Church and State? Everything according to the Gospels?"
"Well, yeah, but we're in the Gospel and Greed business, George," protested an oil man sporting a ten gallon hat with flashing neon oil wells in the band. "It's just good for business, and what's good for business is good for America. Putting the big guy actually in charge could wreak havoc with our corporate culture."
"Pish tush" barked George, "I talk to God all the time. He likes me. He likes business. He likes war and famine and flood and all that good stuff. Who do you think directed me to Iraq in the first place and then chose Halliburton to clean up that mess? Now you boys just sit back and let me take care of everything."
While the few reporters who had snuck into the breakfast disguised in gray suits and power ties scrambled for their cell phones, a mighty wind was heard blowing outside the Convention Center. It grew louder and louder until the windows were shaking and the building itself was rocking on its foundations.
The surprised business tycoons were busy ducking soaring glasses of juice and dodging flying vats of scrambled eggs, as they sought shelter from the storm in rapidly cracking doorways and under collapsing tables.
"Hey!" shouted Bush, tumbling across the tilted stage grabbing the velvet curtains to slow his slide. "What is going on here? Is that a hurricane? Someone call FEMA. I thought this place was rated to withstand a category 5."
"Sorry, Sir," said a Halliburton executive who was trying to stop the President from disappearing into a hole that had opened up in the floor of the stage. "We had to keep up the profits, so this little old project got a discount on materials. It's a government building after all. That's just standard operating procedure."
"What is this hole I'm falling into, for Chris' sake. Get me outa here!" wailed the rapidly disappearing President.
As he slipped out of the grip of the Halliburton exec, his voice wafted through the now silent hall, "Who the hell authorized a no-bid contract for a place I was speaking in?!"
"Don't worry, George, we'll sue," shouted Dick Cheney, peering into the hole. "Someone will pay.... Urk!" Cheney was soon sucked into the vortex himself. Meanwhile, Donald Rumsfeld, Condi Rice, and Karl Rove were fighting over a limo out in front of the building as the storm waters rose around them.
As George Bush slid down below the sub-basement, he mused, "Fat lotta good that'll do without the Supreme Court to rule in my favor. I shoulda stuck with Texas baseball and cocaine. Hey, which Supreme Being have I been talking to all these years anyway.....?"
Dick Cheney, flopping end over end like a fortune telling fish, yelped, "Watch out for the brimstone, George. It's hot!"
Friday, September 23, 2005
Moon Really Made of Blue Cheese
Channeling the spirit of my friend Stan "The Man" Sinberg, who writes clever bits for the tabloids, I was inspired to pen the following tabloidesque piece of my own:
Flash! Scientists discover the moon is really made of blue, not green, cheese. This revelation is heralded by Corporate America, always on the lookout for new avenues of outsourcing to exploit.
"This amazing discovery," said one industry spokesperson, "will put to shame the famous blue cheese caves of Wisconsin. Think of the possibilities for profit! Endless blue cheese ripening on the moon, just waiting to be mined."
Another industry wag put it this way, "The race is on. Whoever gets to the moon first is going to make bundles, that's for sure. I'm glad that space exploration is finally going private and I know the Bush Administration concurs."
Bush spokesman Scott McClellan offered, "We have always encouraged entrepreneurship and this one is a doozy. Our Administration wholeheartedly endorses these fine Americans doing what Americans do best, cutting the throats of their competition."
Some scientists are saying that the effect of mining blue cheese from the moon could have a devastating effect on the tidal levels here on earth leading to even greater catastrophes than those caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but their claims have been dismissed as alarmist liberal balderdash by the Bush Administration.
Small blue cheese manufacturers have issued their own protest. One went so far as to brand the idea "lunatic."
Big cheeses in the cheese world ignore such criticism as "sour grapes," noting this metaphor may not be as mixed as it seems, since "wine and cheese go together so well, don't be surprised to learn of vineyard opportunities on Mars in the near future."
Flash! Scientists discover the moon is really made of blue, not green, cheese. This revelation is heralded by Corporate America, always on the lookout for new avenues of outsourcing to exploit.
"This amazing discovery," said one industry spokesperson, "will put to shame the famous blue cheese caves of Wisconsin. Think of the possibilities for profit! Endless blue cheese ripening on the moon, just waiting to be mined."
Another industry wag put it this way, "The race is on. Whoever gets to the moon first is going to make bundles, that's for sure. I'm glad that space exploration is finally going private and I know the Bush Administration concurs."
Bush spokesman Scott McClellan offered, "We have always encouraged entrepreneurship and this one is a doozy. Our Administration wholeheartedly endorses these fine Americans doing what Americans do best, cutting the throats of their competition."
Some scientists are saying that the effect of mining blue cheese from the moon could have a devastating effect on the tidal levels here on earth leading to even greater catastrophes than those caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but their claims have been dismissed as alarmist liberal balderdash by the Bush Administration.
Small blue cheese manufacturers have issued their own protest. One went so far as to brand the idea "lunatic."
Big cheeses in the cheese world ignore such criticism as "sour grapes," noting this metaphor may not be as mixed as it seems, since "wine and cheese go together so well, don't be surprised to learn of vineyard opportunities on Mars in the near future."
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
From John Conyers
When I saw the news that Jimmy Carter was part of the group proposing a national voter ID card, I was surprised. Now I'm shocked, after reading the same concern from John Conyers, and it's worse than I thought!
Those of you who are faithful readers of the "Green Dog" know I hardly ever publish stuff from other people, especially national figures and politicians. I figure we all get it several times in our Inbox. However, this one got to me, and I want it to get out far and wide. So read on:
"A privately funded, unaccountable Commission organized by former Bush-Cheney campaign lawyer James Baker, III, and former President Jimmy Carter issued a report today that includes policy proposals that will disenfranchise over ten percent of eligible voters –– a national ID requirement to vote. This national voter ID proposal is essentially a poll tax that will disenfranchise Americans of all backgrounds, but the poor, the disabled, the elderly, students, and people of color would bear the greatest burden. The Katrina victims – those without the means to escape the storm – typify the population that the Commission's ID proposal will most likely leave out of our democracy."
John Conyers is on the ball and doing something about it. What I cannot understand is how Jimmy Carter got hoodwinked into signing on with these guys? Any thoughts? We should all write to him and sing this petition asap.
Thanks.
Read more:
From Rep. John Conyers (http://johnconyers.com The Petitiocn is at
http://johnconyers.com/petition):
Join With Me in Fighting Against This New Poll Tax Proposal
The simple fact is that many minority and poor voters do not have the time, money or need to purchase a drivers license. In fact, over ten percent of eligible voters in the last election did not have a photo ID. They vote by presenting other means of identification (a voter registration card, utility bill, or affidavit). This Commission is now asking Congress to deny the franchise to those voters unless they obtain a national ID card.
The implausible claim is made that Congress will pay for ID cards for those who cannot afford to buy them. Yet, given the shortfalls in funding and implementation of the Help America Vote Act, combined with the multibillion-dollar costs for restoration of the Gulf Coast and the ongoing war in Iraq, we know this is not going to happen.
Join With Me in Fighting Against This New Poll Tax Proposal
http://johnconyers.com
Even those who would not be directly affected by this provision have expressed concern about its potential threat to personal privacy. The institution of a National ID card has throughout world history been a tool of repression. This recommendation, coupled with the Commission's recommendation of interoperable databases of voters, would mark the first step toward the creation of national registries of American citizens.
Make no mistake about it, this national ID voting card will result in the disenfranchisement of poor and minority voters and make us susceptible to the same old Ken Blackwell-style Republican electoral dirty tricks that cost Senator Kerry the election in Ohio. Remember the lack of voting machines in Ohio for Democratic voters? Remember the machines that broke down or registered strange numbers of votes for George Bush or unknown third party candidates? Remember Ken Blackwell's paper weight requirements for voter registration cards?
Imagine if the Republican party can, in one fell swoop, apply new legal obstacles to more than ten percent of voters, most of them poor, minority and elderly voters, most of them Democratic voters, from being able to vote.
I am challenging you to get involved and fight this poll tax. Visit my website, http://johnconyers.com, to sign my petition to House Leadership and write a letter to the editor demanding that this proposal not be enacted. I have converted this website into a voting rights action center to address this issue. It will be constantly updated with up-to-the-minute news on this issue and actions you can take to help.
Thank you for your help and your continued stand for a better democracy.
Sincerely,
John Conyers, Jr.
Those of you who are faithful readers of the "Green Dog" know I hardly ever publish stuff from other people, especially national figures and politicians. I figure we all get it several times in our Inbox. However, this one got to me, and I want it to get out far and wide. So read on:
"A privately funded, unaccountable Commission organized by former Bush-Cheney campaign lawyer James Baker, III, and former President Jimmy Carter issued a report today that includes policy proposals that will disenfranchise over ten percent of eligible voters –– a national ID requirement to vote. This national voter ID proposal is essentially a poll tax that will disenfranchise Americans of all backgrounds, but the poor, the disabled, the elderly, students, and people of color would bear the greatest burden. The Katrina victims – those without the means to escape the storm – typify the population that the Commission's ID proposal will most likely leave out of our democracy."
John Conyers is on the ball and doing something about it. What I cannot understand is how Jimmy Carter got hoodwinked into signing on with these guys? Any thoughts? We should all write to him and sing this petition asap.
Thanks.
Read more:
From Rep. John Conyers (http://johnconyers.com The Petitiocn is at
http://johnconyers.com/petition):
Join With Me in Fighting Against This New Poll Tax Proposal
The simple fact is that many minority and poor voters do not have the time, money or need to purchase a drivers license. In fact, over ten percent of eligible voters in the last election did not have a photo ID. They vote by presenting other means of identification (a voter registration card, utility bill, or affidavit). This Commission is now asking Congress to deny the franchise to those voters unless they obtain a national ID card.
The implausible claim is made that Congress will pay for ID cards for those who cannot afford to buy them. Yet, given the shortfalls in funding and implementation of the Help America Vote Act, combined with the multibillion-dollar costs for restoration of the Gulf Coast and the ongoing war in Iraq, we know this is not going to happen.
Join With Me in Fighting Against This New Poll Tax Proposal
http://johnconyers.com
Even those who would not be directly affected by this provision have expressed concern about its potential threat to personal privacy. The institution of a National ID card has throughout world history been a tool of repression. This recommendation, coupled with the Commission's recommendation of interoperable databases of voters, would mark the first step toward the creation of national registries of American citizens.
Make no mistake about it, this national ID voting card will result in the disenfranchisement of poor and minority voters and make us susceptible to the same old Ken Blackwell-style Republican electoral dirty tricks that cost Senator Kerry the election in Ohio. Remember the lack of voting machines in Ohio for Democratic voters? Remember the machines that broke down or registered strange numbers of votes for George Bush or unknown third party candidates? Remember Ken Blackwell's paper weight requirements for voter registration cards?
Imagine if the Republican party can, in one fell swoop, apply new legal obstacles to more than ten percent of voters, most of them poor, minority and elderly voters, most of them Democratic voters, from being able to vote.
I am challenging you to get involved and fight this poll tax. Visit my website, http://johnconyers.com, to sign my petition to House Leadership and write a letter to the editor demanding that this proposal not be enacted. I have converted this website into a voting rights action center to address this issue. It will be constantly updated with up-to-the-minute news on this issue and actions you can take to help.
Thank you for your help and your continued stand for a better democracy.
Sincerely,
John Conyers, Jr.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
The View From a Black New Orleanian
This just in from a New Orleans native. I'm publishing it as is. Other publications may reprint with credit to Fatima. If you want to reach her, comment at this Blog and I'll see she gets it.:
The View From a Black New Orleanian
I am a Catholic, black, native of New Orleans 7th ward. I am an integrated American with a very diverse background ethnically, hence the name..
I am a former reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, and local and national newspapers and magazines. I worked 10 years for McGraw-Hill. I have written four books about New Orleans, three for children. I teach at a Jesuit college. Following is an editorial I would like to place in your newspaper: The View from a Black New Orleanian
I advised my 85-year-old Dad on Saturday night not to leave when Katrina was coming. The trip out of town might kill him. His house is in the center of New Orleans and is two stories high. It was built at sea level with 12 inch square posts in the 1860s. It has withstood storm and flood many times.
In fact, during Hurricane Betsy the water leveled off about three blocks from his house. Later we heard that the 9th ward was flooded. People were taken off their roofs by others in boats. A high school girl I knew had to swim to higher ground while pulling her grandmother. Snakes were found in peoples’ living rooms.
But since then, the city built levees, and the whole town would be under if he had to go. Sit tight, and we’ll see, I said. But at 5 a.m., while I slept, his tenant, a cousin and friend packed him into the car. My cousin and tenant drove out of New Orleans as fast as they could. My friend stayed behind with his parents in their 80s, too many people to carry too far.
All of us are black and natives of the city, so there was not question about whether he’d go to the Superdome. The shelter of last resort translates to the shelter of no resort. We know how poor, black people are treated in New Orleans and the rest of America.
In the neighborhood where my dad still lives and I grew up, there are 31% of the people who earn less than $10,000. More than 57% earn less than $25,000. Our church parish, our schools, our leaders ask for money to help sickness and depression, joblessness, drug addiction – for families of the people who clean up the hotels, cook in the restaurants and entertain the gold plated tourists. You know the answer we get. I don’t have to say.
That too went into the decision of whether my father should go or stay. No don’t go to the Superdome, or anywhere else there was an army of poverty. Everybody in New Orleans knows that poverty translates to black translates to helpless, in its most literal sense. Now, finally, so do the white people in our nation.
I will tell you one more truth. I’ve been studying the history of my community for the past 200 years through archival research and primary documents. There is little changed in New Orleans since slavery. Many families live in their same neighborhoods. The social conditions are similar – whites on top, blacks on the bottom, mixed people somewhere in between. People had to escape. Escape, is the accurate term for leaving these conditions to go somewhere better. My dad got a Ph.D., intellectual escape. My church calls its members to go the spiritual high road. I got out of town before my anger at unfairness and an unchanged life would kill me. Or like some people at home, Id kill somebody else.
So why did I tell him to stay? Because he knew his own mind, and I have always deferred to him on matters of his own survival. No to the Superdome. Yes. to his house, his neighborhood, his community. If they would go down, so would he.
But Category 5 was too much for a moral stance, even for him. Still, it was not enough for the parents of my friend.
When I was 12, after Hurricane Betsy, the water began to rise. But the next day, the water stopped about three blocks from my house and I went on that hot day for a swim. I waded out into the muddy water on St. Bernard Ave., feeling a bit heady that I was experiencing something that no one ever had, or ever would. Then it got so deep that the ground slipped from under my feet and I drifted, not far, but I was being taken away by something I could not control.
I learned that day that one mistake could be deadly. My dad knew that a risky stand could be his last one. We all knew where we stood with regard to this situation. Too bad so many people trusted that their government thought about them.
Fatima, writing from a Jesuit College
The View From a Black New Orleanian
I am a Catholic, black, native of New Orleans 7th ward. I am an integrated American with a very diverse background ethnically, hence the name..
I am a former reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, and local and national newspapers and magazines. I worked 10 years for McGraw-Hill. I have written four books about New Orleans, three for children. I teach at a Jesuit college. Following is an editorial I would like to place in your newspaper: The View from a Black New Orleanian
I advised my 85-year-old Dad on Saturday night not to leave when Katrina was coming. The trip out of town might kill him. His house is in the center of New Orleans and is two stories high. It was built at sea level with 12 inch square posts in the 1860s. It has withstood storm and flood many times.
In fact, during Hurricane Betsy the water leveled off about three blocks from his house. Later we heard that the 9th ward was flooded. People were taken off their roofs by others in boats. A high school girl I knew had to swim to higher ground while pulling her grandmother. Snakes were found in peoples’ living rooms.
But since then, the city built levees, and the whole town would be under if he had to go. Sit tight, and we’ll see, I said. But at 5 a.m., while I slept, his tenant, a cousin and friend packed him into the car. My cousin and tenant drove out of New Orleans as fast as they could. My friend stayed behind with his parents in their 80s, too many people to carry too far.
All of us are black and natives of the city, so there was not question about whether he’d go to the Superdome. The shelter of last resort translates to the shelter of no resort. We know how poor, black people are treated in New Orleans and the rest of America.
In the neighborhood where my dad still lives and I grew up, there are 31% of the people who earn less than $10,000. More than 57% earn less than $25,000. Our church parish, our schools, our leaders ask for money to help sickness and depression, joblessness, drug addiction – for families of the people who clean up the hotels, cook in the restaurants and entertain the gold plated tourists. You know the answer we get. I don’t have to say.
That too went into the decision of whether my father should go or stay. No don’t go to the Superdome, or anywhere else there was an army of poverty. Everybody in New Orleans knows that poverty translates to black translates to helpless, in its most literal sense. Now, finally, so do the white people in our nation.
I will tell you one more truth. I’ve been studying the history of my community for the past 200 years through archival research and primary documents. There is little changed in New Orleans since slavery. Many families live in their same neighborhoods. The social conditions are similar – whites on top, blacks on the bottom, mixed people somewhere in between. People had to escape. Escape, is the accurate term for leaving these conditions to go somewhere better. My dad got a Ph.D., intellectual escape. My church calls its members to go the spiritual high road. I got out of town before my anger at unfairness and an unchanged life would kill me. Or like some people at home, Id kill somebody else.
So why did I tell him to stay? Because he knew his own mind, and I have always deferred to him on matters of his own survival. No to the Superdome. Yes. to his house, his neighborhood, his community. If they would go down, so would he.
But Category 5 was too much for a moral stance, even for him. Still, it was not enough for the parents of my friend.
When I was 12, after Hurricane Betsy, the water began to rise. But the next day, the water stopped about three blocks from my house and I went on that hot day for a swim. I waded out into the muddy water on St. Bernard Ave., feeling a bit heady that I was experiencing something that no one ever had, or ever would. Then it got so deep that the ground slipped from under my feet and I drifted, not far, but I was being taken away by something I could not control.
I learned that day that one mistake could be deadly. My dad knew that a risky stand could be his last one. We all knew where we stood with regard to this situation. Too bad so many people trusted that their government thought about them.
Fatima, writing from a Jesuit College
New American Reality Show
Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath in New Orleans have given us a prime time glimpse into the heart of what's rotten in America. And I don't mean the bloated corpses or fetid water. This could be a new kind of reality TV: "What's Rotten in America?"
Contestants will vote for the government official (or their immediate family members) who make the most callous, self-serving, conscienceless, greedy, racist, or just plain ignorant comments on real life tragedies. Our so-called leaders could start things off with their comments on Hurricane Katrina and their lack of meaningful response.
Examples of the types of comments highlighted in the new show include:
President Bush struts his ignorance and arrogance against a backdrop of elderly, black, poor people; babies without milk and sick people without homes as he excuses his inaction by saying: "No one could have anticipated the break in the levees."
And his esteemed mother, the former first lady Barbara Bush, notes with pride that the Astrodome is now home to thousands of displaced poor people: "And so many people in the Arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."
For those of a religious persuasion, you may take comfort from these words of Secretary of State Condaleezza Rice: "The Lord Jesus Christ is going to come on time."
The above are all real quotes. You can choose from these and so many more as you compete for valuable prizes. Contestants should all be felons or unindicted co-conspirators from past administrations. Your prizes will be high paying government jobs and the opportunity to appear in your very own Reality Show. As a bonus question this week, a prize will go to the contestant who correctly identifies the first high government official to utter these words:
"Let them eat Beneigts!"
Contestants will vote for the government official (or their immediate family members) who make the most callous, self-serving, conscienceless, greedy, racist, or just plain ignorant comments on real life tragedies. Our so-called leaders could start things off with their comments on Hurricane Katrina and their lack of meaningful response.
Examples of the types of comments highlighted in the new show include:
President Bush struts his ignorance and arrogance against a backdrop of elderly, black, poor people; babies without milk and sick people without homes as he excuses his inaction by saying: "No one could have anticipated the break in the levees."
And his esteemed mother, the former first lady Barbara Bush, notes with pride that the Astrodome is now home to thousands of displaced poor people: "And so many people in the Arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."
For those of a religious persuasion, you may take comfort from these words of Secretary of State Condaleezza Rice: "The Lord Jesus Christ is going to come on time."
The above are all real quotes. You can choose from these and so many more as you compete for valuable prizes. Contestants should all be felons or unindicted co-conspirators from past administrations. Your prizes will be high paying government jobs and the opportunity to appear in your very own Reality Show. As a bonus question this week, a prize will go to the contestant who correctly identifies the first high government official to utter these words:
"Let them eat Beneigts!"
Thursday, September 01, 2005
BUSH THANKS NEW ORLEANS
President Bush, in his return to a Washington prayer breakfast and halleluja chorus, gave thanks to the "good pe'ple of New Orle'ns" for their sacrifice to "get the job done in Iraq."
"Good Pe'ple of New Orle'ns," said the President, wiping pop tart juice off his face, "I thank you for giving up that Federal funding to fix your levees so we could win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi pe'ple. You are generous, giving up your National Guard troops to help us in the war against terr'ism over there so we don't have to fight it over here.
"I know y'all have had a little flood down there, and some of ya'll lost a few things, but what are things in comparison to Democracy in the Middle East? OK, so I know some of the things ya'll lost are your family; but heck, they coulda been fightin' in Iraq....Jest a little joke, friends...
"But seriously, we are winnin' the fight against terr'ism; make no mistake. It might be hard for ya'll down there in the flood waters and what not, but you are Amer'cuns! Y'er true Patriots. That's what you are. And I think I'll give y'all a medal. In the meantime, keep a stiff upper lip and.. What the?"
Here he was interrupted by an unseen hand tugging at his right shoulder. Then he slipped from sight as the camera panned the room of confused looking worshippers.
The words "Goddamit Guv'ner! Who invited you...?" could be heard before the screen went black.
"Good Pe'ple of New Orle'ns," said the President, wiping pop tart juice off his face, "I thank you for giving up that Federal funding to fix your levees so we could win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi pe'ple. You are generous, giving up your National Guard troops to help us in the war against terr'ism over there so we don't have to fight it over here.
"I know y'all have had a little flood down there, and some of ya'll lost a few things, but what are things in comparison to Democracy in the Middle East? OK, so I know some of the things ya'll lost are your family; but heck, they coulda been fightin' in Iraq....Jest a little joke, friends...
"But seriously, we are winnin' the fight against terr'ism; make no mistake. It might be hard for ya'll down there in the flood waters and what not, but you are Amer'cuns! Y'er true Patriots. That's what you are. And I think I'll give y'all a medal. In the meantime, keep a stiff upper lip and.. What the?"
Here he was interrupted by an unseen hand tugging at his right shoulder. Then he slipped from sight as the camera panned the room of confused looking worshippers.
The words "Goddamit Guv'ner! Who invited you...?" could be heard before the screen went black.
Friday, August 26, 2005
Grieving Parents
I would never deny the right of anyone to grieve the loss of their child; but I have to question the thought processes behind those who honor their fallen soldier children by NOT speaking out against a war they themselves find wrong.
Such are the cases of several parents in the San Francisco Chronicle this morning.
The Chronicle interviewed parents and other family members who'd lost children to the war in Iraq. Many had gone to protest in Crawford with Cindy Sheehan. Some were pro war. And then there were the ones who said they themselves were opposed to the war but could not protest it out of respect for their fallen soldier children. Loretta Bridges is one such mom:
"My son believed in what he was doing," Bridges said. "I would never go protest against what he believed in and died for."
Another parent, Mark Crowley, also did not support the war:
"His belief was, this was about our freedom," he said. "He did it for country, family and friends."
As for protesting the war, Crowley said, "it's not about what I want, it's about what he wanted."
I'm sorry, I know it's hard to think your children died in vain; but how is this different from grieving parents of Jonestown Massacre victims, saying, "It was what my son wanted. He drank the Kool Aid because he believed in it," and thereby sanctioning the lunatic cult of Jim Jones?
Or the parents of the Heaven's Gate cult, who believed the Hale Bopp comet was accompanied by a space ship and that by "shedding their containers" (read bodies) on earth, they'd be beamed up the Mother Ship? Would they support space alien worship, because it's what their kids wanted?
I think not.
If the war was wrong before your child was killed, isn't it all the more wrong now that he's given the "ultimate sacrifice" for the cult of George Bush? Wouldn't you honor their deaths more by denouncing the war machine that sent them into a meaningless battle without proper equipment, without adequate rationale, without any plan to get them out of there?
What we are doing in Iraq isn't any different from asking people to drink the Kool Aid. Only worse, because thousands of innocent non-believers (we call them Iraqi citizens) are forced to drink right along with the believers.
Honor your fallen soldiers by grieving their death, respecting their memory and mourning their gullibility. Your anger could help other parents not have to go through what you have.
Such are the cases of several parents in the San Francisco Chronicle this morning.
The Chronicle interviewed parents and other family members who'd lost children to the war in Iraq. Many had gone to protest in Crawford with Cindy Sheehan. Some were pro war. And then there were the ones who said they themselves were opposed to the war but could not protest it out of respect for their fallen soldier children. Loretta Bridges is one such mom:
"My son believed in what he was doing," Bridges said. "I would never go protest against what he believed in and died for."
Another parent, Mark Crowley, also did not support the war:
"His belief was, this was about our freedom," he said. "He did it for country, family and friends."
As for protesting the war, Crowley said, "it's not about what I want, it's about what he wanted."
I'm sorry, I know it's hard to think your children died in vain; but how is this different from grieving parents of Jonestown Massacre victims, saying, "It was what my son wanted. He drank the Kool Aid because he believed in it," and thereby sanctioning the lunatic cult of Jim Jones?
Or the parents of the Heaven's Gate cult, who believed the Hale Bopp comet was accompanied by a space ship and that by "shedding their containers" (read bodies) on earth, they'd be beamed up the Mother Ship? Would they support space alien worship, because it's what their kids wanted?
I think not.
If the war was wrong before your child was killed, isn't it all the more wrong now that he's given the "ultimate sacrifice" for the cult of George Bush? Wouldn't you honor their deaths more by denouncing the war machine that sent them into a meaningless battle without proper equipment, without adequate rationale, without any plan to get them out of there?
What we are doing in Iraq isn't any different from asking people to drink the Kool Aid. Only worse, because thousands of innocent non-believers (we call them Iraqi citizens) are forced to drink right along with the believers.
Honor your fallen soldiers by grieving their death, respecting their memory and mourning their gullibility. Your anger could help other parents not have to go through what you have.
Friday, August 12, 2005
STUPID DESIGN
I hear there's something called "Intelligent Design" to explain all the strange and unknowable things about our world.
Like how come there are black widow spiders? And why do penguins go marching?
I'd like to know how come there are so many people doing so many really dumb things like those bank robbers you read about writing their demand note on their deposit slip.
And how about the lady who ate 24 pizzas and then exploded? Is that intelligent I ask you?
No, and that's just the tip of the unseen iceberg. Which brings up another thing. Why are the icebergs melting? OK, you can talk about global warming, but I think it's Stupid Design.
Stupid Design to have so many different types of life forms that have to go around eating each other. And that's not counting stupid people, or shall we say intelligence challenged?
If the designer of this planet was so intelligent, that intelligence ought to have considered things like global warming in the first place. If you were writing your company's business plan you'd have something in there for contingencies, wouldn't you?
I'd say global warming is a honking big contingency.
I'm inclined toward believing the designer of our earth was some big dumb alien. I know people like to think a Supreme Being did all this, but what kind of Supreme Being puts George Bush in charge? Unless this planet is just a dumping ground for nature's mistakes. But if you believe in Intelligent Design by a Supreme Being, there wouldn't be any mistakes right? What good is a Supreme Being who makes mistakes?
So that brings us back to Stupid Design and a dumb alien doing the designing. Maybe we're a Junior High School experiment. I could see that. Junior High School students I've known are totally capable of coming up with the concept of creatures that devour their mate just for the grossness factor.
Maybe not Stupid Design then, but just thoughtless, adolescent design. Maybe someday, the alien mom and dad will step in and clean up the kid's mess. But somehow I doubt it. I think we're on our own, along with the marching penguins and melting ice. If the mother ship does return someday, I may ask to go along on the ride home.
Like how come there are black widow spiders? And why do penguins go marching?
I'd like to know how come there are so many people doing so many really dumb things like those bank robbers you read about writing their demand note on their deposit slip.
And how about the lady who ate 24 pizzas and then exploded? Is that intelligent I ask you?
No, and that's just the tip of the unseen iceberg. Which brings up another thing. Why are the icebergs melting? OK, you can talk about global warming, but I think it's Stupid Design.
Stupid Design to have so many different types of life forms that have to go around eating each other. And that's not counting stupid people, or shall we say intelligence challenged?
If the designer of this planet was so intelligent, that intelligence ought to have considered things like global warming in the first place. If you were writing your company's business plan you'd have something in there for contingencies, wouldn't you?
I'd say global warming is a honking big contingency.
I'm inclined toward believing the designer of our earth was some big dumb alien. I know people like to think a Supreme Being did all this, but what kind of Supreme Being puts George Bush in charge? Unless this planet is just a dumping ground for nature's mistakes. But if you believe in Intelligent Design by a Supreme Being, there wouldn't be any mistakes right? What good is a Supreme Being who makes mistakes?
So that brings us back to Stupid Design and a dumb alien doing the designing. Maybe we're a Junior High School experiment. I could see that. Junior High School students I've known are totally capable of coming up with the concept of creatures that devour their mate just for the grossness factor.
Maybe not Stupid Design then, but just thoughtless, adolescent design. Maybe someday, the alien mom and dad will step in and clean up the kid's mess. But somehow I doubt it. I think we're on our own, along with the marching penguins and melting ice. If the mother ship does return someday, I may ask to go along on the ride home.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
PRACTICAL POLITICS CLASS FOR YOU
All you would be politicians and s*** disturbers, listen up! (Yes, this is a family Blog - so we keep it civilized)
Any of you in the San Francisco Bay Area can sign up for my Practical Politics seminar at the College of Marin on September 17th.
Details below.
If you're not in the Bay Area, or can't make it, I do activist trainings throughout Northern California and am happy to travel to you. The classes are fun and I learn just as much from you as you (hopefully) do from me.
There's lots of work to do and we can do it better together!
Read on.
Dotty
Practical Politics
The Nuts and Bolts of Grassroots Activism
Learn effective political techniques whether you are running for office, lobbying elected officials or creating a "buzz" for your cause. Topics include:
Developing a grassroots strategy
Frame that issue! (or what we can learn from Karl Rove)
Recruiting and training volunteers
Getting the Press you deserve
Creating effective campaign materials
Identifying natural and unlikely allies
Know your opposition
Dialing for dollars
New Section: Running for Office: How to decide what's right for you!
Handouts and a bibliography will be available.
Read George Lakoff's Don't Think of An Elephant before class if possible. Widely available in paperback. Handouts and bibliography will be provided. Please bring a bag lunch.
Dotty E. LeMieux has more than 20 years of grassroots activism under her belt, and currently runs progressive political campaigns and trains grassroots activists throughout Northern California. She served as California Political Director for Dennis Kucinich's Presidential Campaign.
Saturday, 10am-4pm
Sept. 17
Kentfield Campus, Harlan Center 171
Fee $37 (Includes $7 materials fee)
Course #8431 EC
Call (415) 485-9305 to register or register online at:
Dotty E. LeMieux
Green Dog Campaigns
(415) 383-3715
del@greendogcampaigns.com
Any of you in the San Francisco Bay Area can sign up for my Practical Politics seminar at the College of Marin on September 17th.
Details below.
If you're not in the Bay Area, or can't make it, I do activist trainings throughout Northern California and am happy to travel to you. The classes are fun and I learn just as much from you as you (hopefully) do from me.
There's lots of work to do and we can do it better together!
Read on.
Dotty
Practical Politics
The Nuts and Bolts of Grassroots Activism
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever does" -Margaret Mead
Learn effective political techniques whether you are running for office, lobbying elected officials or creating a "buzz" for your cause. Topics include:
Developing a grassroots strategy
Frame that issue! (or what we can learn from Karl Rove)
Recruiting and training volunteers
Getting the Press you deserve
Creating effective campaign materials
Identifying natural and unlikely allies
Know your opposition
Dialing for dollars
New Section: Running for Office: How to decide what's right for you!
Handouts and a bibliography will be available.
Read George Lakoff's Don't Think of An Elephant before class if possible. Widely available in paperback. Handouts and bibliography will be provided. Please bring a bag lunch.
Dotty E. LeMieux has more than 20 years of grassroots activism under her belt, and currently runs progressive political campaigns and trains grassroots activists throughout Northern California. She served as California Political Director for Dennis Kucinich's Presidential Campaign.
Saturday, 10am-4pm
Sept. 17
Kentfield Campus, Harlan Center 171
Fee $37 (Includes $7 materials fee)
Course #8431 EC
Call (415) 485-9305 to register or register online at:
Dotty E. LeMieux
Green Dog Campaigns
(415) 383-3715
del@greendogcampaigns.com
Monday, August 01, 2005
OUR PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS IS OFFICIAL!
Wow! After all this time, the CDP has officially recognized our Progressive Caucus at this weekend's E-Board meeting in Sacramento. It's been a long haul and we are grateful that the Rules Committee saw fit to realize that we represent a large and growing group of Democrats who want to see our Party flourish while moving in a more progressive direction.
Go to this site for more info:
http://www.progressivecaucusCDP.org
Dotty
Go to this site for more info:
http://www.progressivecaucusCDP.org
Dotty
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