I'm on a mission to restore the American Dream - and I know that to do that, we're going to have shake things up in Washington. It's time we fundamentally change our priorities; and that starts by putting pressure on our leaders to act on creating good jobs and stop protecting unnecessary tax breaks for the wealthiest one percent.
Having been a 2008 Obama National Delegate and attended recent California State Conventions first as an observer in San Jose and then as an alternate, in Sacramento, I can tell you that there is nothing quite like being in a convention center or, in my case, a National Democratic Convention at Mile High Stadium in Denver with "50 Thousand" or so like minded folks. You CAN be the change, you really can make a difference, on your street, zip code, town, city, State and National levels. Plus make many new friends in the process. The following notice showed up in my inbox and I am passing along. Good Luck! California Democratic Party needs as many Progressive Voices as can possibly be elected. TAG, as Thom Hartmann would say, YOU ARE IT.
In 2010 California Democrats bucked a national trend and won eight of nine statewide offices, with the race for Attorney General still being counted.
A huge part of our success was because California Democrats from up and down the state volunteered their time, made phone calls, donated money, knocked on doors, and participated in our biggest Get out the Vote effort ever.
If you were part of our team and you want to stay involved, a great way to do that is by running to be a delegate to our 2011 and 2012 state conventions
The California Democratic Party will hold elections in each of California's 80 Assembly Districts on January 8 & 9, 2011. At these meetings, registered Democrats will elect 12 delegates from each Assembly District to be members of the California Democratic Party State Central Committee.
Now is your opportunity to help direct the future of Democrats in California! Delegates approve the platform of the Party, elect Party officers and endorse candidates for congress, state legislature, and executive office.
After more than 25 years working in the social justice/advocacy and community sectors, I've developed some pretty clear ideas about how to make the world a better place. Unfortunately, the power to do such things is limited and is currently being twisted and tweaked by those who have begun to figure out how to capitalize on what's called "double" or "triple" bottom line philosophies-organizational structures that propose to balance the differences between nonprofit and for-profit operational models.
But the funny thing is that as good as some of these ideas are they fail to represent the single most important element of successful social change: empowering people to have a voice in their own lives and over the forces that control the access they have to power, which is usually the money. While the underlying technology is, for example, usually the key interest of those wanting to invest in innovative social networking strategies, the real key to bringing about change is using these systems in different, more effective ways. Seldom do venture capitalists or other do-gooders do this.
I'm looking forward to writing here about a few such ideas with a focus on how entirely new ideas could impact California's obesity catastrophe, develop a new genre of Entertainment Justice, and showcase how Main Street retailers could really maximize their viability by using technological scales of efficiency. Unfortunately, few people have started exploring these possible solutions ... at least not yet. But maybe this forum will inspire some policymakers to try and try again with new models for real change.
A good way to start is by reading Paul Hawken's book Blessed Unrest. It's been around for a while but its value remains untapped. I look forward to hearing what you all have to say as we start these kinds of discussions, assuming this is a good place to seed real change.
Corporations are not people. They do not breathe, they do not eat, they do not think. They exist only on paper. They are contractual agreements in which people unite their efforts in order to do one thing and one thing only: make money.
Therefore, corporations should not have the same rights that people do. But as of today, that's not how the Supreme Court of the United States sees things. Corporations are now essentially the fourth (or fifth) branch of government. Out of their endlessly deep pockets will come a barrage of TV ads, mailers, billboards, perhaps even canvassers, that will change the political system forever.
California needs a knight in shining armor to deliver it from the forces of budget shortfalls, program cuts, and sub-15% legislative approval ratings.
At first, I thought our hope was Gavin Newsom, but his departure from the Governor's race leaves a handful of candidates on both sides that seem inherently opposed to doing the one thing that could save this state: raising revenue.
So, who is going to carry the baton? Where is our saving grace, and when will he/she hurry their butt up and save us from sinking further and further into debt and depression?
One person who could posthumanly save the State of California is Saul Alinsky. Deemed by many as the "father of community organizing", Alinsky helped organize the Back of the Yards area of Chicago introduced to the national stage by Sinclair's "The Jungle".
Alinsky passed away in 1972 (in Carmel-By-The-Sea), but his revolutionary tactics for mobilizing the masses have time and time again generated the true catalyst for change: Friction. Given the current economic situation in this state, Lord knows we need something.
On November 19th, 52 UC Davis students were arrested after peacefully protesting the new 32% fee increases established by the UC Regents. As a second year undergraduate, I was hopeful that students were beginning to see the bigger picture: California is broken.
Students, so far, have been forcing most of the blame on the UC Regents. While it is true that the 20 Regents who voted for the increase certainly deserve a heaving portion of the blame for borrowing tens of millions (from a non-CA bank, NY Merrill Trust) while forcing students into a cycle of debt in order to protect UC's eerily superb bond rating, the only way for students to move towards enacting change is to recognize that UC's woes are symptomatic of the larger disease that has infected the entire state.
The UC student, to widen the umbrella for a movement that might have the capability of rallying support for reform, should understand that he or she risks turning people off by angling attacks towards the Regents and the Regents only. It is important to recognize that while it is a travesty that UC is becoming an unaffordable option for many California families, it is nearsighted to think that UC fees are anything more than a slice of the pie that is California's broken political system. The state workers that have been furloughed, the elderly Californians that are losing their access to Medicare, the thousands of previously middle-class Californians that have had their homes foreclosed, and the over 12% of California that is unemployed might tell students that UC is not the only government program that is underfunded, mismanaged, and increasingly unavailable to the people who need it.
Recently, the first Vice Chair and Controller of the California Democratic Party joined a California Assemblymember to call for delegates to "help us rewrite the rules and make common-sense reforms...." They have proposed to change to one rule of the California Democratic Party.
I applaud their call for reforms. I support their call for rules changes to accomplish that reform. But, though the change they propose is an important one, it is hardly enough. Here are some other ideas that would actually bring the greater accountability these reformers call for:
In Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle, Sr. Political Reporter Carla Marinucci writes about the race for chair of the California Democratic Party:
"Even as the Democratic Party rides an Obama-fueled wave of youth, enthusiasm and "change," the Democrats of California look to be bucking the trend: They're preparing to elect former state Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, 77, the iconic, battle-scarred veteran of state politics, as their party leader.
It's a move not without controversy: The powerful former legislator, who first held the job of party chairman 36 years ago, is to his fans a colorful idol of progressive politics and to his critics the very symbol of old school, insider machine politics."
The article goes on to paint Senator Burton's election as nearly inevitable. But the comments are fascinating. In 6 pages of comments I read this morning, two supported Senator Burton. The rest were pretty consistent--the CDP needs to stop recycling retired politicians to lead the party. One poster wanted to know if this meant disco was coming back too. As hilarious as they were, they pointed to a pretty disturbing perception among California voters--that the CDP is resistant to, and even actively hostile to change.
We have a story today that is a big-time reminder of how things have changed in America...and it's all inspired by a book of jokes.
I am often prowling thrift shops looking for interesting things, and I came across a 1946 copy of "10,000 Jokes, Toasts, And Stories" (edited by Lewis and Faye Copeland), which contains a section of jokes entitled "Races and Nations"...which contains a subsection entitled "Negro".
We are going to examine some of those jokes...and the world in which those jokes resided.
I warn you now: it will be highly unpleasant; but as we come out the other side the goal will be to show that what was not only acceptable, but commonplace, not so very long ago, would be considered wildly unacceptable today-and that we are a better people for the change.
He asked me to take back the Democratic Party. And I agreed to try. I told myself that, if it became clear there was no chance, I would stop.
It has now become clear. John Burton may have a fine legislative record. I don't honestly know. But I only had to meet the man for 2 minutes to know he has nothing to do with change we can believe in. And the whole process of crowning him chair smacks of smoke-filled back rooms and the old-boys network.
I no longer feel there is any opportunity for me to help take back the Democratic Party in California. Rather, I believe Burton is poised to take the party back at least several decades. It appears nobody has noticed the grassroots revolution that put Obama in the White House. Or they don't care. Or, as seems more likely, they are once again saying, "That's nice kids. Thanks for all the money and help. Now go away and let the adults handle things properly."
To put it as delicately as I'm able, they can stick that attitude where the sun don't shine. I was a registered independent before Dean, and I can be one again.
So I have notified the e-board rep for my AD that, despite the fact that I can't find a way to take myself off the cadem.org site, I am no longer running for a delegate slot. I will not ask for re-appointment to another standing committee.
"I have a dream that my four little children
will one day live in a nation where they
will not be judged by the color of their skin
but by the content of their character."
This election marks a potential turning point in American history. The American people will either elect the first black President, following the dictates of logic, self-interest and absolute common sense... or they will elect John McCain and prove that at least a slim majority of the voters in this nation are ignorant fools, religious extremists, blind believers of the partisan propaganda of the right wing, outright racists -- or some horrifying combination of those descriptors.
I got 5 hours of sleep, but managed to write this last night for Beyond Chron.
Barack Obama's victory in the Iowa caucus last night sent a powerful message of change - as a record turnout (especially among young voters) picked him the winner with 38% of the total vote. John Edwards, who likewise ran a populist campaign that emphasized change, came in second place with 30%. When asked what was the most important factor in a candidate, voters picked "change" over "experience" by a 51-20 margin - giving Hillary Clinton's establishment campaign a humiliating 3rd place finish at 29%. Obama defied expectations by even beating Clinton among women and registered Democrats, which questions her viability as a candidate. But while Obama's insurgent campaign has crystallized the message of change, the dirty little secret in presidential primaries is that the establishment always wins. As the fight moves to New Hampshire and other states, Obama's campaign will have to defy historical precedent to dethrone the Clinton dynasty. I believe he can prevail, but it will be a different story for Mike Huckabee - who won last night's Republican caucus.
(Seriously, is there anybody as cool as Hilda Solis? (Well, maybe there are a few others who are tied.) She always supports progressive goals and organizations and pursues policy for policy's sake. Too bad we can't say that of all of our Representatives. Thank you Representative Solis. - promoted by Brian Leubitz)
This morning I spoke on the House floor to ask why President Bush didn't allow the United States to take part in the United Nation's major Global Warming discussion this week. You can watch my floor statement on my YouTube page here.
I would never have gotten to this diary post w/out Brian; so thank or blame him. Same goes for Beth for head's up on this perfect site.
Of course, neither are responsible for what appears here.
(In support of transparency in politics: I am the authorized point person for the CA Obama Campaign in the 45th CD.)
Today, as I have for the past eight months or so, I start my day on the commuter. I try not to look at who is saying what, why and where. I want to first see what I have to say. Recently, a funny thing has begun to happen almost daily. As I begin my hunt and peck method of typing, I am surprised by where my trembling right hand (due to Parkinson's) actually I only type with the third finger on the right hand and second finger on the left are taking me.
Today is a perfect example. I started "Change is in the air..." (see actual post below); after posting I decided to see what this guy at the Wash Post (Cris something) was up to because it had been awhile (3 wks or so) since I ha d visited his blog. Of course, he was going on about the Obama spot that was being rolled out today; of course titled "Change that you can believe in". Just a coincidence, right?
Then an email from my sister in Carson City working on the caucus thing but for Dennis and she was gushing (which she nevers does) about the new Obama ad in Iowa; she had never seen anything so powerful and how it needed to go nationwide. Just a coincidence, right?
Stay tuned.
Here are a couple of items.
First I did this post, Isn't it amazing
The Obama Campaign & Movement
Change that we can believe in
Posted 9/20/2007 10:06 AM
The Barack Obama Campaign today rolled out it's latest TV spot. Titled, Change that we can believe in, the spot has Barack, alone, talking directly to one camera. No quick cuts, no frills, and no gimmicks. The message is clean and straight forward; no double speak; no parsing. Pure Obama on change that we can believe in. Go to www.BarackObama.com if you would like to have your spirits lifted; mine sure were.
after I had posted this one, Isn't it amazing
The Obama Campaign & Movement
Change is definitely in the air
Posted 9/20/2007 9:17 AM
And, I am not talking about the weather. No surprise here; I'm talking area politics. The "reds" are on the run and the "blues" are strutting their stuff. Some "reds" are thinking about sailing off the Florida Keys, while others are taking to wearing "blue jeans and blue baseball hats".
The "strutters" on the other hand are in full throttle "look at me" mode.
Don't you just love it!
And, I'm thinking, Isn't it amazing
To see Obama spot, click here http://www.youtube.c...
I wrote this for today's Beyond Chron, San Francisco's Alternative Online Daily.
In the presidential campaign, we've heard a lot about "experience" (a plus for Hillary Clinton), "change" (Barack Obama's strongest point), and "electability" (which helps John Edwards.) But one factor that has yet to play a role is "trust." It is one thing to hear what a candidate has to say, but how can progressives know who will stick to their guns when the right-wing noise machine attacks - and who will capitulate, triangulate and take our support for granted? If "trust" becomes a major concern for Democratic primary voters, Hillary Clinton could be in trouble. And while a candidate can tout their resume to boost "experience," their platform to project "change," and good poll numbers to push "electability," there isn't much they can do about the fact that voters don't trust them. Especially when you've been in the public eye for 15 years.
