Daily Archives: October 24, 2007

California, San Diego

“Where is the National Guard?”

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This is cross posted at the Huffington Post.  If you’ve seen California Lt. Governor John Garamendi on CNN or MSNBC today, you’ll agree with his statement that, “we need our troops back from Iraq.”
This post deals with that.

Where is the National Guard?

Today, we all extend our sympathies and prayers to those devastated by the wildfires in California.  Millions of Americans are impacted by this natural disaster.

Neighbors should help neighbors in their time of need.  As Governor of New Mexico,  I ordered two fire crews (strike teams, with 5 engines and 21 crew members each) to California. As a candidate for President, I donated to the American Red Cross and I encourage you to do so as well, click here to do so.

But as someone who believes the war in Iraq is a complete disaster and that we need to get our troops out now (www.getourtroopsout.com), I look at the natural disaster in California and feel compelled to also ask President Bush and every candidate who thinks it is okay for our troops to remain in Iraq until 2013 or longer – where is our National Guard?

It is a sad irony that yesterday, the very day I sent fire crews to California, 300 more New Mexico National Guard members were sent to Iraq.  Just when we need them most at home, more of our brave men and women, true public servants, are sent away to a war we cannot win.

Never before in our history has our National Guard, a group of dedicated men and women who serve our country and provide critical aid in the time of natural disasters been used, and re-used, for so long to fight a war tens of thousands of miles away.

In California, the Guard force is authorized to have over 21,000 members. Today, that number is just under 15,000. Why the decline? I believe it has nothing to do with a diminished commitment to service, but rather is a frustration with having that commitment abused, and families turned upside down, just so President Bush can continue to pretend his war can succeed. 

George Bush, his Republican friends and the Democrats who continue to allow this war to continue have not only broken our military, they’ve broken our National Guard. 

The news this morning had images of Americans fleeing to a huge sports arena for shelter during a natural disaster that struck a familiar chord.  When Katrina struck and the floods hit two years ago, a good portion of the Louisiana National Guard was in Iraq. How many people died in the days it took to get proper personnel on the ground in New Orleans?  Today, as the fires rage, California has National Guard men, women, and critical equipment thousands of miles away in Iraq. 

They need to come home.  We need them here.

This has gone on long enough.  When a national disaster hits, our states depend on the National Guard.  Right now, President Bush is robbing Peter to pay Paul to continue his disastrous adventure in Iraq, and when tragedy hits us here at home, Americans are stuck with the bill.  This cannot continue. 

Bush won’t end this war.  Congress must.  And they must end it now.  We shouldn’t have to wait until January, and we certainly can’t wait until 2013 – we need our troops out of harm’s way and our National Guard members back home where they belong. 

Join my call at www.getourtroopsout.com to push Congress to begin ending this war now.  Not in January, not next spring, not next year – now.

The war in Iraq is a tragedy, and compounding it by leaving our citizens here at home defenseless is an even greater crime.

Uncategorized

Thank You Dianne!

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For giving a bigot and a homophobe a lifetime appointment and a federal pension.

Senate Republicans scored a key victory Wednesday with the confirmation of Leslie Southwick to the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.

A united GOP conference convinced enough Democrats to cross party lines to first clear a procedural hurdle and then succeed in the confirmation vote. Southwick has been arguably the most contentious judicial nominee of the 110th Congress up to this point, amid strong opposition from Democratic leaders and liberal groups. Senators had invoked cloture in a 62-35 vote and, minutes later, confirmed Southwick on a 59-38 vote.

So three cowardly Dems pulled the Lieberman and changed their vote from “yes” to “no” after cloture, so they can go home to their states and claim that they opposed Southwick.  Which won’t matter a lot to the defendants in the 5th Circuit, who will endure the judge’s politically motivated opinions for decades.

Dianne Feinstein is the most responsible Senator for this travesty, having voted Southwick out of committee after getting sweet-talked by Trent Lott.  Howie Klein has more.

UPDATE: And the hits just keep on coming.  The DREAM Act failed a test vote, getting 52 votes but not the 60 required to invoke cloture.  What a fun day.

Uncategorized

Wednesday Fire Thread

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The winds are starting to die down, but several fires are still blazing with little containment throughout Southern California.  Assemblyman Pedro Nava put up a great list of the various fires and their status as of midnight last night.  The PCH reopened around Malibu, meaning that the fire does not appear to be running to the coast in that area.  We're up to 313 homes lost in the Lake Arrowhead area as a result of the Slide Fire.  And the Witch and the Poomacha fires are close to merging. Of course, the possibility of the “vacuum effect”, warm on air sucking in lower pressure cool sea air creating winds from the coast to the deserts, still exists.  The firefighters are now working on clearing fuel, which is much more manageable with lower wind speeds.

I should also note this great diary with a list of resources and ways to volunteer and help out.

The Los Angeles County Public Health office has updated their 211 page to reflect resources to assist Southland Fires 2007. Here's the page from San Diego County San Diego County Fire information. Speaker Fabian Nunez and the Assembly Dem Caucus have a new Emergency Services Website.  Here's one Google Map with Fire information, and another, KPBS Google Map of San Diego fires. And don't forget the U-T's fireblog.

Blood donations are greatly needed. The San Diego Blood Bank will hold blood drives Tuesday at two wildfire emergency evacuation sites, Qualcomm Stadium and the Del Mar Fairgrounds, officials said. Also, check out the Red Cross schedule. If you would like to donate money, our recommendation is the San Diego Foundation's After the Fire Fund. You can donate online here.

helicopter

Animal Evacuations: 818-991-0071
Arrowhead Schools 909-499-9900
Buckweed, Canyon Fire: 323-881-2411
Coronado Hills Fire: 619-590-3160
Grass Valley Fire: 909-383-5688
Harris, Rice, McCoy Fire: 619-590-3160
Irvine: 714-628-7085
Lake Forest 714-628-7085
Malibu: 310-456-2489
Orange County 800-540-8282
Ranch Fire: 626-574-5208
Riverside: 909.988.3650
Roca Fire: 951-940-6985
Santa Clarita Evacuations: 661-295-6366
Santiago Fire: 714-573-6200
Sedgewick Fire: 805-681-5546
Slide and Witch: Fire 619-590-3160
US Forest Line: 626-574-5208

UPDATE (3:30 Brian): Of course, you knew immigration would come up.  Per some comments, right wing talk show hosts are already complaining about undocumented immigrants at the shelters. I suppose they would rather what? Stay in their charred residences?

This morning, Rep. Brian Bilbray (R, CA-50), mentioned on CSPAN that officials believed that “20 illegals” were killed by the fires on the border. You know, b/c there are so many of those “illegals” sneaking in, it was just bound to happen. It was he said unfortunate, but you know, not unfortunate enough to quit the framing of these people's very existence of being illegal and it was merely a bummer that 20, or so, of them were horrifyingly burned alive. I suppose framing is a 24/7/365 job for Bilbray.

UPDATE (2:02pm Shayera) Some of the evacuation orders are being lifted. Mallibu Canyon residents are being allowed to return home.  The evacuation order for residents affected by the Buckweed fire has been lifted. But residents are not being allowed to return home yet due to the weather conditions. San Diego and Irvine are still in quite a lot of danger.

UPDATE: (1:41 by David) I should mention that at tonight's Westside LA Drinking Liberally event, we're going to be passing the hat around for relief efforts.  Stop by if you can.  We're starting at 7:00pm at The Cock & Bull Pub, 2947 Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica.

UPDATE: (1:32 by David) Apparently a major problem right now is the electricity island around San Diego.  They're basically cut off from the grid, meaning that large uses of power could cause a blackout.  20,000 homes and businesses are currently without power.  Most of the LA County blazes are under control, so the story really is in Orange and San Diego Counties.  A suspected arsonist was shot and killed in San Bernardino last night.  And there's a new fire in Riverside County.

UPDATE: (11:24 by Brian) More crazies crawling out of the woodwork. This one, James Hartline, an ex-gay activist, blames the gays. Wow, if it was all the LGBT community's fault, I would have figured West Hollywood and the Castro would have been harder hit. I guess Mayor Sanders' decision to support marriage equality was way more powerful than Gavin Newsom's move to authorize marriages in San Francisco.

On real events, I-5 is now fully open. The Harris Fire will, hopefully, be controlled by the end of the day, and the Witch and Poomacha fires are now combined burning over 200,000 acres..

San Diego

Fourth Fire Thread

The winds are starting to die down, but several fires are still blazing with little containment throughout Southern California.  Assemblyman Pedro Nava put up a great list of the various fires and their status as of midnight last night.  The PCH reopened around Malibu, meaning that the fire does not appear to be running to the coast in that area.  We’re up to 313 homes lost in the Lake Arrowhead area as a result of the Slide Fire.  And the Witch and the Poomacha fires are close to merging.

I should also note this great diary with a list of resources and ways to volunteer and help out.

Use this as a new thread.

Thanks to flickr user vissago for some powerful photos.

The Los Angeles County Public Health office has updated their 211 page to reflect resources to assist Southland Fires 2007. Here's the page from San Diego County San Diego County Fire information. Speaker Fabian Nunez and the Assembly Dem Caucus have a new Emergency Services Website.  Here's one Google Map with Fire information, and another, KPBS Google Map of San Diego fires.

Blood donations are greatly needed. The San Diego Blood Bank will hold blood drives Tuesday at two wildfire emergency evacuation sites, Qualcomm Stadium and the Del Mar Fairgrounds, officials said. We'll update with tomorrow's blood donation schedule. If you would like to donate money, our recommendation is the San Diego Foundation's After the Fire Fund. You can donate online here.

 Here are some phone numbers to get information:

Animal Evacuations: 818-991-0071
Arrowhead Schools 909-499-9900
Buckweed, Canyon Fire: 323-881-2411
Coronado Hills Fire: 619-590-3160
Grass Valley Fire: 909-383-5688
Harris, Rice, McCoy Fire: 619-590-3160
Irvine: 714-628-7085
Lake Forest 714-628-7085
Malibu: 310-456-2489
Orange County 800-540-8282
Ranch Fire: 626-574-5208
Riverside: 909.988.3650
Roca Fire: 951-940-6985
Santa Clarita Evacuations: 661-295-6366
Santiago Fire: 714-573-6200
Sedgewick Fire: 805-681-5546
Slide and Witch: Fire 619-590-3160
US Forest Line: 626-574-5208

Uncategorized

On DREAMs, Intimidation, and Nativist Jerks

As mentioned by Brian, the federal version of the DREAM Act is up for a vote today.  The bill would set on a path to legal status those children of immigrants who enlist in the military or enroll in college.  Yesterday, college students who would benefit from this program were on Capitol Hill, lobbying Congress for passage.  Tom Tancredo, noted jerk, called for the arrest of the students.

Democrats were planning to hold a press conference today featuring three college students whose parents came to the United States illegally in order to promote the DREAM Act. But the event was postponed after anti-immigrant Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) called on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency to arrest the three students:

“I call on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency to detain any illegal aliens at this press conference,” said Tancredo, who claims to have alerted federal authorities about the well publicized press confrence. “Just because these illegal aliens are being used for political gain doesn’t mean they get immunity from the law. If we can’t enforce our laws inside the building where American laws are made, where can we enforce them?”

They eventually held the press conference anyway and nobody was arrested.  Tancredo is not only being callous here, he’s being ignorant.  One of the students has permanent residency status, and another cannot be deported because she exists in a kind of legal limbo.  Her name is Tam Tran.

Tam Tran, whose Vietnamese parents came illegally to the US from Germany, has lived in the US since she was ten, is a UCLA graduate who wants to pursue a PhD at USC, but can’t because she can’t afford further schooling without federal student loans. The government can’t deport her family back to Vietnam because her father was persecuted by the communist government there, but the German government won’t take them back either. Tran said today she is in “permanent legal limbo.”

The last time Tran spoke out in support of the DREAM Act, in an article in USA Today on October 8, her family was detained by the ICE.

Just three days after the article appeared, federal officers entered her home in the middle of the night and forcibly arrested her family. Tran’s family was detained on a “years-old deportation order,” even though they have been in regular communication with immigration officials for almost 20 years since arriving in the United States.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), chair of the immigration subcommitee, equated the family’s arrest to “witness intimidation” and accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials of targeting the Tran family because Tam “testified before Lofgren’s panel earlier this spring.” Earlier this week, USA Today spoke with Lofgren about the Tran family’s arrest:

“Would she and her family have been arrested if she hadn’t spoken out?” Lofgren said of Tran, who was not at home for the raid but has been asked to report to Immigration and Customs officials next week. “I don’t think so.”

This is shocking behavior for the ICE to undertake, and not only does it show the price for dissent in Bush’s America, but it shows how convoluted our immigration system is in the absence of a comprehensive solution.  You can punish immigrants, who have no political power, or you can punish companies who hire the undocumented, who have loads of political power.  In this case, the solution is clear; allow students who have known no other home to contribute to the country in which they were raised.  Brian has the numbers; light ’em up.

Uncategorized

HRC Demands Exclusive Inclusiveness

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UPDATE: Gospel singer says he is not anti-gay

My Comments are at the bottom of the Diary.

I don’t see anything about this on The Human Rights Campaign’s website, but if the report of HRC’ “Ultimatum” to Senator Barack Obama is true, then it is my considered opinion that all well-meaning Democrats ought to be outraged at the apparent incongruity of an organization devoted to the advocacy of “inclusiveness” demanding that the same consideration be not extended to another person or entity with which it disagrees.

According to HRC, the very existence of the organization is dedicated to “…..HRC envisions an America where GLBT people are ensured of their basic equal rights….”

That HRC is demanding that Senator Obama cancels his scheduled campaign appearance with an ostensibly unpalatable character in order to pacify an organization that many others regard as equally unpalatable is, again in my opinion, the height of hypocrisy. Does HRC not believe that other people have equally pressing needs and opinions, and that those needs and opinions are also “Rights” worth protecting? Is HRC stating that when someone else’s rights collide with their members’ then only their members’ rights deserve to be protected? Does one not have a right to hold opinions and beliefs, however lunatic and extreme those opinions might be? Isn’t there a constitutional right for a stupid person? Or does stupidity make one less entitled to rights worthy of protection?

Let it be said that the Democratic Party is deemed (rightly so) to be the party of inclusiveness. We like to tout the fact that we have a bigger tent and accommodate more shades of characters than the other major party. We do not strive to create outcasts or discriminate against individuals or entities based on their “differences”.

HRC cannot be advancing the interests of one segment of the society, asking that they be treated as the equal part of the society and at the same time be DEMANDING that the same rights and platform they seek for their constituents be denied others. That is reversed discrimination, and it not does not positively help advance HRC’s causes.

The Democratic Party needs the maximum support and inclusiveness it can get from every part of the society. Yes, this position opens up the possibility that we will have amongst us a number of people, beliefs and opinions with which a large part of “Big Tent” will disgree, and with which they will be uncomfortable. But, that is what inclusiveness is all about. The diversity of opinions and beliefs creates a fertile ground for us to understand our differences and work towards reconciling them. The other major has made the art of pitting several segments of the society against one another its exlusive purview. I say let them continue to do so. We do not need to emulate such discrimination and divisiveness. Much as it may distress many within the Democratic Party, the evangelicals in this country are viable, strong and, yes, Americans. They vote, too, and they have voices that also need to be heard.

We cannot and should not seek to silence people with whom we disagree. If HRC truly believes in equal rights for ALL (and not just for their GLBT constituents), then it must be willing to work with others to advance that cause, rather than seeking to ostracize people it deems antagonistic to its cause. I suggest that, rather than DEMANDING that our candidates (nay our party) not work with others it doesn’t like, HRC can do better and find more sympathetic ears by actively championing the expansive inclusivness that having those people within the tent presents.

Politics is about elections. Elections is a numbers game. Sinister as that might sound, it is a fact. We cannot continue to cede the religious grounds to the other party – there are too many of us in the Democratic Party who are truly religious and would like to have our positions and concerns listened to. I am a Democrat because I believe that it is the better of the two major parties when it comes to diversity of beliefs and opinions. HRC is not doing us any favor by striving to stiffle that diversity – it is what makes us better than the “other side”.

UPDATED COMMENTARY:

On discrimination:
“I don’t believe that even from a religious point of view that Jesus ever discriminated toward anyone, nor do I. Most of the things that were said were totally out of context and then other things weren’t true.”

Does he mean that this is all a manufactured outrage? I hope someone gets back with documented facts that debunks this assertion.

On what he’s doing hanging with Obama:
“My only concern is to be in place with Sen. Obama in unity and bring all the factors together for the sake of change…..That’s my only thing. Of course some agents have twisted it as though he [Obama] were embracing a racist or a Nazi, and that is anything but true.”

Hmmmm…… maybe the facts will show otherwise.

A believer?:
“‘I believe in his stance. I believe in his platform and his agenda. So when they asked me if I would be a part of it, there was no problem,’ said McClurkin, who has performed at both parties’ conventions and identifies himself as a Democrat. ‘We don’t have to agree on everything, but we do have to agree on the main thing: that there needs to be change and I believe he is the candidate to bring it.'”

Why so anti-gay?:
…..his ministry is open to those who say they no longer want to live as a gay person. What he doesn’t do, he says, is crusade against homosexuality.”

On “curing homosexuality”:
“There’s never been a statement made by me about curing homosexuality. People are using that in order to incite anger and to twist my whole platform on it. There’s no crusade for curing it or to convert everyone. This is just for those who come to me and ask for change.”

Will this pacify HRC and its supporters? What? Not even if we add the fact that there is now an openly-gay Minister on the same platform, providing a counter-balance to the damage that McClurkin (regardless of his protestation to the contrary) may be doing to the GLBT community?

For the sake of sanity and objectivity, I hope it does.

Uncategorized

Federal DREAM Act up for a vote TODAY!

The DREAM Act comes up for a vote in the Senate today, and while our two Senators support it, it will be a close call. Its Republican sponsors, Sens. Hagel and Lugar, will need to twist enough arms to reach the 60 vote threshold necessary for cloture.  Over at California Progress Report, Peter Schrag wonders why Governor Schwarzenegger has been so silent about the federal version of an Act he vetoed recently based upon the $2million of “budget impacts.”

If that need is so great, why aren’t Schwarzenegger et al. also demanding passage of the Dream Act? Repeated queries to the governor’s office produced a blank. Worse, despite the thousands of students who’ve been petitioning Congress, no one in the governor’s office seems to know what the Dream Act is.

If you need more reason why we need this bill, check this post out on the importance of education to these students. The Governor needs to make a statement, and so do we. Over the flip, we have a list of Senators that need so talking to, courtesy of Migra Matters. If you have friends in those states, please have them call their Senators immediately!.

Murkowski (R-AK) 202-244-6665
Stevens (R-AK) 202224-3004
Pryor (D-AR) 202-224-2353
Martinez (R-FL) 202-224-3041
Inouye (D-HI) 202-224-3934
Brownback (R-KS) 202-224-6521
Landieu (D-LA) 202-224-5824
Collins (R-ME) 202-224-2523
Snowe (R-ME) 202-224-5344
Conrad (D-ND) 202-224-2043
Dorgan (D-ND) 202-224-2551
Dominici (R-NM) 202-224-6621
Voinovich (R-OH) 202-224-3353
Smith (R-OR) 202-224-3753
Graham (R-SC) 202-224-5972
Johnson (D-SD) 202-224-5842
Cornyn (R-TX) 202-224-2934
Warner(R-VA) 202-224-2023
Rockefeller (D-VA) 202-224-6472

California, Environment

Ways to help victims of wild fires – and call for One Corps volunteers from John Edwards

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“Our thoughts and prayers are with the more than 300,000 families who have been forced to flee their homes to escape the wildfires spreading across southern California. Those affected by this tragedy should take comfort in the fact that their fellow Americans are standing with them and will do whatever it takes to fight the fires and rebuild the homes and businesses that were destroyed.” – John Edwards

John Edwards has called on One Corps members who live in California to help organize volunteer projects to help the victims of the fires. You can sign up here. There are also more links to helpful web sites on that page, but follow me below the fold and I’ll put them in here.

By the way, sorry to be a blog hog today. I know I just posted a diary here, but this one was too important. I wanted to get these links out there.

The Red Cross is asking for donations to help fire victims. Money donations will help the most.

Calfire.com has the latest info on the fires and emergency contact info.

California Volunteers has ways to sign up to help.

The State of California web site also has some information, including this link I found there:

The Red Cross Safe and Well list lets you inform family members and friends that you are safe.

Environment

Interview with Friends of the Earth Action President Blackwelder Re Edwards Endorsement

2 Comments

Interview by Tom P, and cross-posted from Daily Kos with his permission.

Last week, Friends of the Earth Action (“FOE Action”) endorsed John Edwards.  This week, I interviewed Brent Blackwelder, President of Friends of the Earth and of Friends of the Earth Action, about FOE Action’s endorsement of John Edwards.

Part I of the interview is in this diary. 

Here’s a little about FOE Action for those unfamiliar with it:

Founded by David Brower in 1967, Friends of the Earth Action has established a 35-year record of not only fighting the tough battles, but winning them too. FoE Action provides extra political muscle on legislative battles here in the U.S. for to our sister organization, Friends of the Earth, which is part of a network of affiliates in over 70 nations around the world. 

snip

FoE Action looks beyond the symptoms of environmental degredation, to the systemic causes.

FOE Action

Come around after the fold to hear a real hero of the struggle to save our planet.

Mr. Blackwelder is a long-time advocate for the planet and the people on it.  He has worked in Washington DC for over 30 years fighting for clean air, clean water, and a healthy planet.  He has testified before Congress on environmental issues more than 100 times. 

Mr. Blackwelder was founder and first chairman of the board of American Rivers, our nation’s leading river-saving organization. He also founded the Environmental Policy Institute, which merged with Friends of the Earth in 1989.  In 1994 he became president of Friends of the Earth and FOE Action. 

More on Mr. Blackwelder here: Friends of the Earth

On October 14, FOE Action became the first major environmental organization to endorse a candidate for president, and they endorsed John Edwards:

WASHINGTON, DC — Friends of the Earth Action (FOE Action), one of the longest-standing, national environmental organizations in the country, today announced its endorsement of Senator John Edwards for President, citing his leadership on real solutions to combat global warming and his unequivocal position against dangerous and expensive nuclear power.

“Friends of the Earth Action enthusiastically endorses John Edwards for President,” said Brent Blackwelder, president of FOE Action.

Friends of the Earth Action Endorses John Edwards

Mr. Blackwelder answered 10 questions that I sent him via email.  Here is Part I of the Interview.  I will publish the remaining questions and answers in Part II tomorrow.

Q:  What most differentiates John Edwards from the other Democratic presidential candidates with respect to environmental issues?

A:  Of the leading Democratic candidates for president, John Edwards is most committed, and best prepared, to halt global warming and promote a healthy, livable planet for our families and our future. Friends of the Earth Action feels John Edwards has set the paces among all of the Democratic candidates by putting forth a plan that provides real action to combat global warming. 

We encourage people to visit our web site,  www.foeaction.org . to learn more about why we endorsed Edwards and facts about his environmental record.

Q:  John Edwards has proposed a global warming plan that will reduce greenhouse pollution by 20 percent by 2020, and reduce it by 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050.  What in this plan do you feel will be most effective in achieving this reduction?

A:  John Edwards plans to share America’s clean energy technology with other nations in exchange for binding greenhouse reduction commitments. If necessary, he will insist that strong labor and environmental standards in our trade deals include commitments on climate change. This new deal will require global participation, promote shared responsibility, and let American workers and businesses compete on a level playing field.  In addition, Edwards’ plan will lead America to a new energy economy by investing in clean, renewable energy and creating a million new jobs. 

Q:  Polluters often attempt to present a false choice between environmental degradation and jobs.  In fact, clean, green technologies can mean more jobs for Americans, and good paying jobs.  Edwards proposes creating at least 1 million “green collar jobs” by investing in clean energy and energy efficient technologies.  Can you explain the relationship of economic growth, including good paying jobs, and using clean, green technologies?

A: Edwards really gets it: green does not have to mean fewer jobs.  If our nation makes  serious and smart investments in clean energy technologies, such as wind, solar and geothermal, we can create good-paying jobs, expand markets for the renewable energy industry and secure our country’s energy future. 

Renewables are secure and viable alternatives to dirty, fossil fuels and costly and dangerous nuclear power. They can be scaled up relatively quickly, which means jobs and economic growth for states and local communities in the U.S., particularly in rural areas that have been hardest hit by economic downturns but have the space for these technologies to be constructed and brought online.

Q:  What can FoE Action do to help John Edwards be nominated and then elected?  I understand you plan to set up an independent campaign on Edwards’ behalf in New Hampshire.  How will that work?  How can people inside and outside New Hampshire help you ?

A:  We plan to be especially active in New Hampshire, establishing an independent campaign and organization to carry the message about John Edwards’ global warming plan and his vision for a healthy environment. There is a powerful, untapped environmental constituency out there that is up for grabs in this country and we are here to lend our voice to push that constituency toward Edwards.  We believe he has the right vision and record to tap that constituency. 

In New Hampshire, there are a lot of Democratic primary voters who care deeply about the quality of their environment and cite it as a top concern when choosing a nominee for president. In particular, voters in the Granite State are looking for real action to combat global warming. We plan to spend the next 3 months letting these voters know that John Edwards is the candidate best qualified and most committed to help achieve this big and bold goal. 

Please visit the FoE Action website to find out how you can get involved in our campaign to elect John Edwards as president: www.foeaction.org.


 

I’d like to thank Brent Blackwelder for granting me this interview and Jenna Moran for facilitating it.  I will publish Part II of the interview tomorrow.

I also want to thank Mr. Blackwelder for his years of service to people and our planet in fighting corporate polluters and a corrupt government.

And like he says:  Please visit the FoE Action website to find out how you can get involved in our campaign to elect John Edwards as president: www.foeaction.org.

San Francisco

SD-03: Big D Democrats? Check. Little d democracy? Totally absent.

9 Comments

If you've read this blog long, you'll know I support Mark Leno in SD-03.  But you'll also know that I support the concept of primaries in the abstract. Primaries are a part of our system that is integral to a people-powered movement. It puts the voters, not the political machine, in charge of who gets the nomination. While it isn't perfect, it's as Churchill would say, the worst system except for all the others.

And that's why I'm disappointed by what I saw at the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club in San Francisco last night. Over…

What I saw was truly appalling. I mean besides the stifling heat in the building as the room was packed, both literally and figuratively. Literally, in that there was about 225 people in the auditorium. Figuratively in that many were fairly new members of the Harvey Milk Club, but I'll leave the discussions of the machinations to Paul Hogarth at Beyond Chron. To put it mildly, it was a disaster, from start to finish. Strong-arm tactics abound and the mood was anything but congenial. In the picture you see Sen. Carole Migden moving the affair along.

But what got my goat was a statement that received both cheers and jeers. It came after a discussion back and forth, and went something like this (paraphrased): “This is Mark's fault for challenging Carole. What is the difference on issues between these two? Why is he challenging her?”

But the difference is inherent in the question. It's that little d democracy again. It's the belief in machine politics over people powered politics. Look, Sen Migden became a Senator by general acclimation, same thing with the BOE, and the Assembly. Good for her, I suppose, but bad for little d democracy. Were there better candidates? Who knows? The machine picked her, and you better sit down and shut up. That's not democracy, that's Soviet-style Politburo. 

Of course, there's the sense of entitlement there, that she's earned 8 years by winning her non-competitive election. You know, by angling others away via the backrooms of SF politics. Is this what we want San Francisco politics to be about? Is this the Shining City on the Hill that we want others to emulate? Machine politics without representative democracy?

That's not what I signed up for.