(Well, Terry beat me to a post on Juneteenth. And this is great. Rec it in orange. – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

Today is June 19…otherwise known as Juneteenth.

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration of of the emancipation of the slaves in the United States. The significance of June 19 is that day in 1865, Major General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston, Texas and announced the order that the slaves had been freed. This was two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and the reasons for this could be one of many, including the desire to not let them know so owners could reap another harvest, to the fact that there weren’t enough Union soldiers to enforce it until Granger arrived. Nevertheless, they were finally freed from their enslavement, and Juneteenth is the celebration of that day.

Slavery was both an economic issue, and a moral issue in America, and slaves, alongside free men and indentured servants, were the people that built America.

more….

I love the poem by Langston Hughes about the people that built America, called Freedom’s Plow, and in it he states,

With billowing sails the galleons came
Bringing men and dreams, women and dreams.
In little bands together,
Heart reaching out to heart,
Hand reaching out to hand,
They began to build our land.
Some were free hands
Seeking a greater freedom,
Some were indentured hands
Hoping to find their freedom,
Some were slave hands
Guarding in their hearts the seed of freedom,
But the word was there always:
Freedom.

Today, many people still come to America to build their lives here, with the seed of freedom in their hearts, and America all too often treats these people harshly. Today they may not be enslaved, but they still live in the hidden corners of society. They build our homes and businesses, and contribute to our world in silence. They are often largely shut out of both the economic and democratic processes, but nevertheless, immigrants have long been silent partners in the building of America.

Before the Civil War, days were dark,
And nobody knew for sure
When freedom would triumph
“Or if it would,” thought some.
But others knew it had to triumph.
In those dark days of slavery,
Guarding in their hearts the seed of freedom,
The slaves made up a song:
Keep Your Hand on the Plow! Hold On!
That song meant just what it said: Hold On!
Freedom will come!

Labor and industry are the economic plows of our nation. With work and patience, the promise of freedom will be fulfilled. That is the silent thought that many people hold in their hearts, and the promise of America. Immigrants come to America to work and to create a better life for their families. We so often hear about the “costs” of immigration to our society, but these same people never speak of the benefits. Any true and rational economic analysis or policy decisions must include both the costs and the benefits of immigration.

According to the Dreams Across America website:

• As of May 2006, 33,449 non-citizens served in the armed forces.
• Undocumented workers pay nearly $7 billion into Social Security and $1.5 billion into Medicare every year, despite being ineligible to collect either of those benefits.
• Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for any federal programs or services, including food stamps.
• Immigrants are overwhelmingly willing to assimilate into American society and learn the English language, and the vast majority are completely bilingual by the second generation.
• In 2005, companies founded by first-generation immigrants employed 450,000 workers and generated $52 billion in sales. 80% of these companies provide jobs in software and innovation/manufacturing-related services.

Immigrants are holding tight to the handle of America’s plow. These are the people who seek to come to America legally and to fully integrate themselves into the American dream, but are all too often met by walls of hostility and a cumbersome bureaucratic process that needs reform and humanity. These working immigrants are the people that end up here “illegally” because the process fails them. These are the people who are separated from their children in an immigration process that values punishment over stable families. In fact, immigration violations are not legally a criminal offense. It’s a civil violation. Immigrants are not criminals in our legal system, but they’re often treated as such.

Immigrants provide value to our economy and to the American way of life. The vast majority of immigrants do not “sneak” across our borders, but come with the open intent to build their lives as Americans, and want to do the “right thing” but our system needs reform.

The plan and the pattern is here,
Woven from the beginning
Into the warp and woof of America:
ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL

Those words are at the very foundation of the concept of America. All men are created equal. All. We never said that all Americans are created equal. All.

So here we are today hearing hateful, angry and sometimes violent words about those who’ve come to America with freedom in their hearts. It’s still an economic issue, whether it be enslaved men and women hidden in the dark, ugly corners of American society, or immigrants hiding themselves by remaining just outside the mainstream of America.

Many people that come to America today are economic refugees of globalization, but  we talk about commerce and capitalism and globalization out of one side of our mouths and about the immigration “problem” out of the other. We talk about the American way and our values and morals, then we seek to hoard our freedom for ourselves.

It seems that so many want open borders for money and for trade, but certainly not open borders for people. They want the benefits without responsibility for the consequences. Few are asking for an “open border”, but many believe we must extend a humanitarian hand to those who have been economically displaced from their homes by the ill effects of globalization, as globalization has most assuredly come on America’s terms. People that come here from other nations are often economic refugees from their homeland. It’s not up to America to fix the problems of the world, but it is up to us to do our part and accept our responsibility.

Economic disparity in the world creates vast movements of people. It always has. What are we going to do about that? We certainly contribute to the problem, and we need to be responsible for some mitigation of the effects.

It is not a zero sum game, my friends. There is no Us vs Them. America isn’t just a place…a continent…a slab of land to be hoarded and coveted like gold. America is a dream and an idea. It holds the secret of freedom that all people hold in their hearts.

A long time ago, but not too long ago, a man said:
ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL —
ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR
WITH CERTAIN INALIENABLE RIGHT–
AMONG THESE LIFE, LIBERTY
AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
His name was Jefferson. There were slaves then,
But in their hearts the slaves believed him, too.
And silently took for granted
That what he said was also meant for them.

People all over the world still believe that what Jefferson said was also meant for them. Who are we to tell them it wasn’t?

I wrote this for today’s Beyond Chron, San Francisco’s Alternative Online Daily.

Back in March, I reported that Michael Colbruno – State Senator Carole Migden’s former chief of staff – is now V.P. of Government Affairs for Clear Channel Outdoor, the massive billboard company.  Whenever Colbruno wants to help his old boss, he makes sure that San Francisco gets plastered with campaign billboards for election season.  Today, the local Municipal Transportation Authority (M.T.A.) will vote on whether to give Clear Channel an exclusive contract to advertise on all 1,100 Muni bus shelters throughout the City, just in time for Carole Migden’s tough re-election fight.

But Clear Channel isn’t waiting for the Muni contract to help her campaign.  Last week, the company set up huge billboards throughout the district, proclaiming that Migden is “leading California’s campaign against the War.”  Migden has always opposed the War in Iraq, but to say that she has led California’s campaign demeans members of Congress like Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters and Lynn Woolsey who represent California and have led the charge since Day One.  Carole Migden may have authored a resolution in the State Senate last January to oppose George Bush’s escalation.  But ironically, it was her opponent, Mark Leno, who sponsored the very first resolution in the nation against the Iraq War – in October 2002.

On October 10, 2002, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Iraq War Resolution, giving George Bush carte blanche to invade the country based on “weapons of mass destruction.” But three days earlier, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution urging Congress to oppose such military action.  Sponsored by then-Supervisor Mark Leno, San Francisco became the very first City government to go on record opposing the War.  Tony Hall and Gavin Newsom were the lone dissenters.

At the time, Carole Migden was in the State Assembly – but there was no such action taken in the state legislature to oppose the War.  Now she claims to be “leading California’s campaign” against the War.  Her only evidence is that in January 2007, Moveon.org approached her to get the State Senate on record opposing George Bush’s proposed escalation of the conflict.  As a State Senator, Migden authored the Resolution, as did Mark Leno who sponsored a companion motion in the Assembly.

But if Migden has been leading the campaign against the War, what has she done in the past four years about it?  While Migden was on the state Board of Equalization from 2002 to 2004, she has been a State Senator for the past two-and-a-half years.  Two years ago, Assemblyman Jerome Horton sponsored a resolution urging that Congress withdraw from Iraq “no later than December 31, 2005.”  Migden was nowhere to be found.

By claiming to lead California’s campaign against the War, Migden has minimized the work that members of California’s Congressional delegation – including the two who ironically represent her State Senate District – have done to oppose this War.  In 2002, San Francisco’s Nancy Pelosi broke away from the party leadership and lobbied the Democratic Caucus to vote “no” on the Iraq War Resolution.  In January 2005, Lynn Woolsey of Marin County became the first member of Congress to support withdrawal.

In fact, most of the members of Congress who have led the charge to end the War in Iraq are from California.  In September 2006, Maxine Waters of Los Angeles sponsored a resolution to repeal authorization of the War.  In June 2005, eight members of Congress – including Woolsey, Waters and Barbara Lee of Oakland – founded the Out of Iraq Caucus.  Today, that Caucus has a healthy California membership, including Pete Stark, Xavier Beccera, Lois Capps, Sam Farr, Bob Filner, Mike Honda, George Miller, Grace Napolitano, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Linda Sanchez and Hilda Solis and Diane Watson.

The Clear Channel billboards are clearly identified as belonging to the company, but do not disclose if Migden’s re-election campaign paid for them.  But the billboards include the same photo, campaign logo and campaign slogan that Migden has used on her official campaign website — which at least raises issues about “co-ordination.”

With Migden’s relationship with Colbruno, it’s no surprise that Clear Channel will display her likeness throughout the district.  Not only does Clear Channel do this for Migden, but they also do it for other candidates who are protégés of the State Senator when she lets Colbruno know that it’s important.  Such examples are Harry Britt’s Assembly race in 2002, and Chris Daly’s re-election fight in 2006.  If Muni approves the Clear Channel contract today, expect to see these ads on bus shelters soon.

But what’s fundamentally dishonest is when the billboards claim that Carole Migden is “leading” the way for California against the War in Iraq.  Because this demeans the work that many other legislative leaders in the Golden State have taken to bring our troops home.  Migden may have been a good vote on this issue, but she’s not a “leader.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: As a private citizen, Paul Hogarth has endorsed Mark Leno for State Senate.  He does not play an advisory role in the campaign, and saw the billboards himself without a “tip” from the Leno campaign.  Send feedback to [email protected]

Where does Dianne Feinstein stand on “clean elections”?  We’ll soon find out.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate’s Rules and Administration committee—chaired by Sen. Feinstein–will hold a hearing on a “Clean Elections” bill for the first time in over a decade.  And this bill has some heft behind it: the sponsors of the Fair Elections Now Act (S.1285) are Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), no slouches. 

But one big question is whether Sen. Feinstein will use her leadership to lend support to this bill, and ultimately to help shepherd it through the Senate.  She’s been relatively mum so far—but here’s hoping she gets behind Fair Elections Now.

This bill creates a voluntary system of public campaign financing for congressional candidates. Instead of having to raise money from special interest groups, wealthy donors and big business, candidates who qualify under this system could opt to be publicly financed, freed from the constraints of constant fundraising and soliciting. Think about it: Candidates could trade in $2,000 a plate dinners and the unwritten quid pro quos from lobbyists for spending time with average voters and focusing on constituents, not contributions.

As chairwoman of the Rules and Administration committee, Senator Feinstein is in a unique position to support this important legislation. As a Senator who has worked hard to change the corrupting influence of million-dollar politics, we should be able to count on Feinstein to help support this historic legislation

Plus, she’s from California, a place that has seen its share of top-dollar, special-interest-driven campaigns—not to mention its share of corrupt elected officials, such as recent standouts John Doolittle and Duke Cunningham.

If you’re wondering what you can do to help, well, the best way is by calling the Senator’s office in D.C. at (202) 224-3841 and telling her that the Fair Elections Now Act is a terrific bill and an important reform and you urge her to support it.  If you’re afraid of the telephone, you can always opt for a petition: www.stopthemoneychase.org/feinstein.
 

I wanted to write a proper thank you post for all the nice words in the comments of juls’s post. Today was pretty crazy jumping on board with mydd and I discovered the post late. This is not a GBCW by the way, I’m not really going anywhere although out of necessity I’ll be posting here a lot less as you can imagine. But I’m continuing with Courage Campaign and look forward to remaining an active part of the calitics community (especially if my Dean post never leaves the Rec list! 🙂 )

A bit more self-indulgence and some meta over the flip…

I wrote to some of you that the whole mydd thing would not have happened without my experience here at calitics, which of course came out of my blogging at Courage Campaign and it’s so true. And it got me thinking about how great it has been to be here for the emergence of the California blogosphere and to experience first hand the vitality and importance of local blogging. It seemed to really grow out of an organic need for change and despite the size of the state and our various interests and issues, we coalesced as a cohesive whole and developed, seemingly effortlessly, a chemistry that is as strong offline as it is on.

What I’ve experienced here at calitics is exactly what local blogs should be doing — developing conventional wisdom, driving stories from the ground up into the national netroots and ultimately into the media and driving narratives. I’ve seen you guys do it so many times, it’s really been cool.

After originally blogging the hell out of the 04 election and finding much needed focus to my blogging here in the California netroots in early 06, as you know, I’ve definitely found myself back in election mode — I think there’s something about that election on the horizon that is motivating and the unlimited and unknowable variables make it exciting. I’m extremely lucky it happened to be what Jerome was looking for and I look forward to blogging the frak out of the 08 elections even more. And if I can give some extra exposure to my California friends along the way, all the better.

Anyway, thanks again and consider this a late night (although probably morning by the time anyone reads it) thread.

A song about 2-3 minutes urging Al Gore to run

by Randy Bayne
The Bayne of Blog

X-posted from California Notes

With only 200 days left to the first 2007 election an early presidential primary seems to have accelerated the regular June primary season as candidates begin positioning themselves. Depending on how things progress, Democrats could have an interesting time with this.

In the 10th Assembly District, Jim Cook who lost to incumbent Alan Nakanishi in the last go round, is planning to run for what will this time be an open seat. Nakanishi is the victim of term limits. Also running for the Democratic nomination is Alyson Huber, an attorney from Elk Grove.

Some Democrats in the district, hoping to avoid a primary battle between two good candidates, and not let a Congressional seat go unchallenged, are asking Cook to fill a Democratic candidate void in the 3rd Congressional District. In 2004, Dr. Bill Durston lost a bitterly contested election to incumbent Dan Lungren. He had a strong showing, however; getting 38% of the vote in the heavily Republican district.

For the time being Cook is sticking with plans for the 10th Assembly, but has not ruled out running for Congress. At a meeting of area Democratic leaders last week Cook laid out what would be required if they wanted him to run against Lungren. It boiled down to professional campaign help and money. Otherwise, he says, he will stay with plans to run for the Assembly.

Photo courtesy of
California List

The other race that is heating up in the valley is for the 26th Assembly District now held by Greg Aghazarian. Aghazarian is another victim of term limits. Democrats have a candidate on the ground already; Angela Raeburn of Turlock. Raeburn most recently worked in the office of Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick from Michigan.

Republicans are rumored to be putting up Bill Berryhill, brother of Ceres Assemblyman Tom Berryhill, in the 26th Assembly contest. Bill Berryhill is currently serving on the Ceres Unified School District Board of Trustees.

The 26th will be a tough race and could go either way on the numbers. Registration is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans (41% – 42%) with 13% DTS.