Daily Archives: April 30, 2008

Uncategorized

Is The Corporate Media Deciding This Election For Us?

By Dave Johnson, Speak Out California

Are you following the election coverage?  Here are some recent stories:  The media pounds candidate Hillary Clinton to release her tax forms, because the public has a right to know.  And she does release her and her husband’s returns, going back a decade.  The media trumpets how much income they have been receiving, how rich they are, and drills down into details.  If you follow the news, it is inescapable.  At the same time candidate John McCain releases only partial forms that show all assets are now in his wife’s name, and he won’t release his wife’s tax returns.  The media is mostly silent on this; most of the public has little opportunity to learn of this.

Another story:  Candidate McCain won’t release his medical records.  Again from the media there is mostly silence; most of the public has little opportunity to learn of this.

And here is the big story:  Unless you have been in a coma you know that for several weeks video clips of statements by Barack Obama’s former minister have been aired nearly 24 hours a day on the news shows, especially on FOX News.  These clips are considered scary by certain demographic groups who are not familiar with the speaking patterns of black ministers

Interestingly, at the same time as this “Obama’s minister” story is saturating the news there is another Presidential candidate with a “scary minister” problem of his own.  But the news media is not providing the public with any information at all about the things this minister has said. In this case the Presidential candidate is John McCain and the minister is John Hagee.  This minister has issued statements condemning Jews, is described as “virulently anti-Catholic,” and says that 9/11 and Katrina are examples of God punishing America.  Yet John McCain sought out this minister’s endorsement and insists that he is “proud” to have received it.

While saturating the airwaves with scary video clips of Obama’s scary minister the corporate media is providing the public with almost no information about McCain’s.  In the article, The McCain-Hagee Connection, the Columbia Journalism Review asks, “Why is the press ignoring this hate-monger?”

Why, indeed?

A well-functioning democracy depends on an informed public.  There is no question that the public deserves to know these things about Senators Clinton and Obama.  The information in the examples cited here could and should have an effect on the election, because the public will weigh these factors into their voting decisions.  But the public also needs the information about Senator McCain, presented with equal emphasis.  And clearly this isn’t happening.  

So with nearly identical stories — a relationship with a minister who makes scary and hateful statements — the corporate media chooses to present the information about only one to the public, and does so in a way that is guaranteed to scare the … excuse me … bejeesus out of everyone.  The other is given a pass and a free ride, and the public is left without the information it needs to make an informed choice.

Why is this happening?  Here is some background on our media:

In the United States the broadcast media used to be required by law to serve “the public interest” ahead of profits.  Use of OUR airwaves was licensed out to private interests that were allowed to use them to profit to a limited extent in exchange for  providing the public with information and news.  We did this because it served our interests and those of our democracy.    

The rules allowed very limited commercialization of this public resource.  For example, in exchange for the license to make a profit from the use of the public airwaves the companies were required to provide educational content for children, news coverage, documentaries, arts and other public interest content.  And by law the information had to be objective and balanced.

At certain times of the day the companies could then present commercialized content.  But even then the commercialization was to be limited.  They were limited in how much time during a show could be used for commercial advertisements — and the shows themselves were not allowed to be commercialized.  There were even restrictions on what the commercial advertisements could say.  Public benefit was the priority, commercial profits were limited.

It was an exchange – they get to make some money using our resource, and we get news and information that educates us and strengthens our democracy.  Why else would we have allowed private companies access to our airwaves, but to serve the public?

This changed.  In the early 1980s the Reagan administration unilaterally dropped the requirements that broadcast media serve the public interest and these companies promptly stopped serving the public interest and started serving their own corporate interests. As happens with any for-profit corporate interest commercialization became the only use of our public airwaves.

Shocked by this seizure of a public resource for corporate commercial interests the Congress immediately voted to restore the public benefit requirements, but Reagan vetoed this.  Then, under President George H.W. Bush the Congress again voted to restore the public benefit requirements, and this was again vetoed.  Under President Clinton the requirement was against brought before the Congress and again a majority voted to restore placing the priority on public benefit but Senate Republicans filibustered and blocked the bill.  

So today there is no requirement that our mass media serve the public interest.  Instead the only interests that are served are private, corporate interests and the only information the public receives through these outlets is information that benefits the corporations that control them.  

Is this why we are seeing such dramatic disparities in the way information about the candidates is presented to the public?  Should we be surprised?

Control of our information sources is now in the hands of corporations with no requirement that they serve the interests of democracy.  So shouldn’t we expect that corporate interests are placed ahead of the public interest?  If for-profit enterprises control the information the public receives then why wouldn’t they promote candidates who would be more favorable to their commercial interests?

Let me provide a clear example of how this affects all of us:  When was the last time you saw or heard on a corporate outlet information about the benefits of joining a union?  Of course you haven’t, and you wouldn’t expect to.  And, in the years since the requirement that the broadcasters serve the public interest by providing balanced information, we have seen a dramatic decline in the percent of the workforce that is unionized.  At the same time we have seen a dramatic increase in commercialization of everything, and in the power of corporations over the decision-making of our government.

What else should we expect?

Click through to Speak Out California

Central Valley, Environment

Ding, Dong, the [Canal] is Dead!

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Well, at least for another year. The Sac Bee reports that the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, chaired by Yolo County’s own Lois Wolk (D- Davis), just killed SB 27 until next year. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) would have established a committee to build a peripheral canal diverting water around the Sacramento Delta for export south, although it called it a “conveyance” in a modest feat of bureaucratic obscurantism.

Wolk, whose 8th Assembly District represents the northern half of the Delta, and who is running for the 5th State Senate district, which encompasses most of the eastern half of the Delta, recently spoke about Delta issues in a three part interview (1, 2, 3) in the Davis Vanguard:

We’ve asked the Delta to do many things and many of them are incompatible with each other. We want it to supply an unending or increasing supply of water to Southern California and to the Bay Area. We want it to be an extraordinary estuary to breed and facilitate fisheries. We want it to be the repository of agricultural and urban runoff. We want it to, I don’t, but it has become an area of increasing urbanization. We’ve asked it to do far too many things and it is dying, it is absolutely dying. Of course it is surrounded by levies that are basically 19th century piles of dirt, and they are failing. And it is seismically at risk. You can’t imagine an area that is of more significance and at risk.

What can we do? We can do a number of things. The people of the state of California voted for a bond in 2006 to repair the levies and to begin the process of improving the water quality in the Delta, and the fisheries, the habitat, and the agriculture. What we can do is to try to raise the profile of the delta. Most people know where the coast is and know why it’s important to protect it. Most people know about the Sierra Nevada, and they will protect it. They know about Yosemite and they will protect it. They know about their local parks and they want to protect those. But the Delta has very few people in it and very little political clout. So we need to be able to raise the profile of the Delta so that it takes its place as the key water and environmental issue for California.

Then we need to put in place structures that will protect it. It needs are steward. There is no steward-no body, no agency-whose sole purpose is to protect the delta. And if I’m elected to the Senate, that’s what I’ll spend many years trying to accomplish. It won’t be easy, but there has to be a body like the Coastal Commission that focuses exclusively on the Delta and has responsibility for all water decisions and all environmental decisions that affect it. That won’t be easy to do, but I am convinced that has to occur.

Of course, the Delta has to be preserved long enough to get such a commission to – ironically – preserve it, so it’s great news to see this bill killed in committee. Gov. Schwarzeneggar and San Joaquin vallley agribusiness were pushing to get this on the November ballot along with a $4 billion bond, as part of that whole extra special emergency session intended to ram through a bunch of dams funded with public bond money. Having this off the ballot may make the High Speed Rail Ballot measure, which also stands to be a boon for the Central Valley (even if the Altamont Pass route that was rejected would have been even better for the Delta commuter cities), more likely to pass, so this is good all around.

The Delta is dying, for a host of reasons, ranging from So Cal and the San Joaquin Valley stealing too much of its water, to a network of static 19th century levees that work at direct cross-purposes with the innately dynamic hydrological structure of a river delta, to cities and farms dumping all manner of pollutants into the water, to sprawl in the floodplain, (and that’s just the beginning), but the way to save the Delta isn’t draining it. The Delta is a stark example of the way that modern society ignores the hidden values of things just because they don’t overtly cost money to use. Until the state learns to see that incredibly complex ecosystem and hydrological system as something more than just a channel where a valuable commodity flows to the sea, and thus wasted, the Delta will continue to be in danger from hare-brained ideas like peripheral canals.

But for this year, it’s safe. And that’s worth remembering in November, when Wolk runs against San Joaquin Republican  Greg Aghazarian to represent the Delta.

(h/t to Aquafornia for the link to the Bee story)

originally at surf putah

Health Care

Ohio hospital workers: from exhilaration to shock and dismay

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Watch this video of Registered Nurse Sally Baker and her Catholic Health Partners (CHP) colleagues in Ohio describe the exhilaration they felt when–after three long years–they finally got the chance for a free and fair union election at their hospitals. Their feelings turned to shock and dismay when dozens of California Nurses Association (CNA) organizers flew to Ohio, urging them to vote “no” for a stronger voice through SEIU.

Hear directly from the affected workers how CNA’s “vote no” campaign shattered their hopes of forming a union and gaining a stronger voice for their patients.  

Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…  

And to learn more about what CHP nurses and other caregivers have been doing to expose the truth about CNA’s anti-union efforts, go to www.ShameOnCNA.com.  

Uncategorized

Candidate Throws Himself Under a Bus

Not really, but it did make you look, didn’t it?  

Please, wait, just stay for a little bit and read about my husband’s campaign?  I know you are busy and I know there are a lot bigger fish to fry, but I’m hoping you will hear me out, please?

You see, Gary needs your help.  In order to raise money you need to raise money.  Make sense?

Follow me…

Gary and I met with the Democratic Party of Orange County and we also got a chance to meet with a wonderful grassroots organizer.  Well, he’s actually a full time student who is an intern at the DPOC and we want to hire him to help us with our campaign.

Gary is running as the “Sacrificial lamb” in this contest but we also both promised that we would do whatever we could to forward the Democratic cause and issues in our so very red County.  So, for me, personally, I think one of the best things we could do would be to hire a student, who wants to work in campaigns and also forward the Democratic Party in our very red County.

Does this make sense?  The best way for him to get experience is to actually help run a campaign, but right now, we don’t have enough to pay for him.  We do desperately need help because I’ve promised that I would only do as much as I could without losing my job or neglecting my child!  It’s quite an undertaking and we are fighting in quite a large district.  Take a look.

This area covers over 500,000 voters, yes, that’s more than any of the congressional districts in California.  It’s 100,000 more than the largest Congressional District in our area, CA-48 which is just over 400,000 registered voters.  Yes, we really do need help!

So yes, this is a plea for money.  And you are just the tip as they say, I’ve made phone calls to our families and friends and we need to get access to donor lists.  If you want to know something about Gary, here is his ‘About Gary’ page on his website.

And here is our “priorities” information on the website.


Priorities

Transparency and Responsibility in Government

Transparency and responsibility are the first priorities. Every resident should have access to how their taxes are spent in the State of California. It should also be easy to understand and to know who exactly was responsible for parts of the budget and who put forth earmark spending. Fiscal responsibility is imperative at all times, the good and the bad. Why doesn’t the State currently have a surplus from when our economy was booming? Important revenues were cut and spending was expanded without any regard for unforeseen future economic circumstances. Would the average household not prepare for hard times by saving when times are good? Should we not expect the same common sense approach in our Government by demanding our legislature treat our money like theirs?

Education

Education is the largest part of our State’s budget, as it should be. It is what allows California to lead the way in technology, keep business thriving and maintain our high quality of life. Education is a lifetime process from K-12 to our State’s public Colleges and Universities. Parents should be able to expect a quality public education for their children and for themselves, learning is a lifetime pursuit.

More money per student does not mean better teaching but funds for the classroom, teacher pay and school improvements are important for a quality public education. Bureaucracy and endless paperwork takes time away from the classroom and we have to not only fully fund our schools but make it possible for teachers to spend more time doing what they are there to do, teach!

Environment

Our Environment is one of our most important assets and resources which shouldn’t be taken for granted. Many are arguing about whether Global Warming is happening and if it is man made, it’s not relevant since our dependence of foreign oil has put our Country at risk. By working on alternatives to many of the resources we rely upon that are not renewable or sustainable we can lead the way as a State and show how greening our jobs and our communities can be profitable and improve our quality of life. The State should be investing in new technologies and rewarding companies that transition their businesses to greener solutions.

One failure of our current Governor was to veto the bi-partisan bill AB 1147 which would have reclassified industrial hemp as a safe crop and not as a “drug”. The current laws allow the importation of hemp to be sold here and manufactured into products but does not allow it to be grown. Hemp is a highly sustainable plant that could be used for paper, food products and beauty care products. It makes no sense to block such innovations because of arcane drug laws.

The economy is a very important to our quality of life in Orange County and depends upon the above priorities in order to thrive. Without sustainable resources and a supply of well educated and trained workers, businesses are free to go elsewhere to find what we cannot provide as a County and a State. This does not mean that business should not pay its fair share in taxes. Most businesses use our resources at a much greater rate than an individual taxpayer and they also rely on our infrastructure, court systems and Government. It is important that the business/community relationship does not come at the cost of our quality of life.

Health Care

Health care insurance is another very important issue that needs to be addressed by our State. There are just some things that should not be profit driven and when lives don’t come before the bottom line Health Insurance is not working as it should. There is no need for “Universal Health Care” what we need is Universal Health Insurance. By getting rid of red tape and letting Doctors decide what is best for their patients we can insure that every Californian can afford health care. The burden of this benefit should not fall on businesses since there are so many different kinds of employers. If we can take the burden of cost from our business we can encourage them to stay in California where they can thrive as can their employees knowing they will have coverage no matter where they work.

All of these vital priorities directly affect our quality of life and we should not have to compromise education, the environment, the economy and our wellbeing in order to find a balance between work and family and what we want for our children and grandchildren. The State Government should make it easier to live in Orange County and it’s the job of your Senate Representative to be sure that your interests as a resident in South Orange County are a priority to them. Even if they do not have all the solutions they should be willing to work towards balanced solutions to difficult problems that will not get better with time and legislative gridlock.

So, I ask that you give a little bit to help us raise the money to hire a local organizer, so he can help us raise more money, put up a good fight and let this guy learn how to run a campaign.  I’ve met him, he’s worth it and I seriously don’t want another campaign to snap him up.

I believe this is why we support Obama, it’s not just about the campaign, but about organizing, registering Democrats and getting more people involved in the process.

Thanks for reading if you got this far.  We will probably be running against Mimi Walters, check out her hit piece against the other Republican running against her in the Primary.  Ouch.  Seriously, it scares me that Gary has put himself in the shark infested waters of politics.

Uncategorized

SF Bay Guardian Endorsements: Leno, Hancock, Ammiano, No on 98 and more

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The SF Bay Guardian released their endorsements for local races and state propositions. These tend to be some of the most influential endorsements in the City, and to a lesser extent, in the region. As always, they do a laudable job presenting a thorough analysis of each race and the relative merits of each position. Hats off to Tim Redmond and the crew at the SFBG.  Here’s a summary of their positions, and I’ll discuss some of them over the flip.

Prop 98: No, No, No

Prop 99: Yes, Yes, Yes

SD-03: Mark Leno

SD-09: Loni Hancock

AD-13: Tom Ammiano

AD-14: Kriss Worthington

CA-08 (Pelosi): No Endorsement

Let’s start with Props 98 and 99. (I work for No on 98) They state the position that progressives across the state have come to, whether Jon Coupal thought the opposite might be true, Prop 98 is a disaster for California. And they even give us a nice little way to remember which is the good one: “We hate 98, but 99 is fine.” Cute.

On to the Senate Races, surely the most watched position in this endorsement slate was the issue of SD-03 (aka Rumble in the Bubble, that’s mine, I want royalties for that, even though I do work for Mark Leno.)  The BG has endorsed both Leno and Migden in the past, but they haven’t been so into Joe Nation. (I don’t know if they ever endorsed him in a primary…he ran unopposed for at least one term in the Assembly.) So, this came down to a decision between the two San Francisco gay candidates.

The BG sees strengths and weaknesses in both candidates. Migden has passed some good pieces of legislation like community choice and toxics legislation, and Leno has a record of protecting vulnerable populations from evictions and passing the marriage bill. But they also disliked Leno’s close ties to Mayor Newsom and Migden’s connections to Gap Founder Don Fischer who is a huge “school choice advocate.”

The BG, like me, is a fan of primary challenges in this one-party town., and they laud the attention the mostly absentee Migden has now paid to the district. But toss Migden’s “imperious and arrogant” ways to her campaign finance troubles, and the BG tilted towards Leno. “In the end, we’ve decided – with much enthusiasm and some reservations – to endorse Assemblymember Mark Leno.”

SD-09: Loni Hancock. I’m a fan of both Hancock and Chan. Whomever wins will be a great Senator to replace the, shall we say “imperious,” Don Perata. The BG went with Hancock based upon her work on the budget.

AD-13: Ammiano. He’s running unopposed, but that is, in and of itself, is a testament to Ammiano. People in SF love the guy, for good reason. He’s great personally as well as politically.

AD-14: Kriss Worthington. There are some great candidates here, but Kriss Worthington, the openly gay Berkeley Councilman that has been the heart of Berkeley’s progressive movement, for years will be a great legislator. He’s willing to stand alone for progressive values, if need be.  And, in Sacramento, need exists. Often.

CA-08: The Guardian chose not to endorse Speaker Pelosi, stating that she no longer represents San Francisco’s progressive values.

I’ll leave the other races to the Guardian’s excellent endorsement editorial, save one where I think they got it wrong. That is the SF DCCC endorsement of the so-called HOPE Slate. Besides the obvious play off of Obama’s campaign, my issue is with a few members of the slate.  Specifically, the inclusion of two San Francisco supervisors on the slate. Now, I understand that the Supervisors want to ensure that their political positions get into the Party’s apparatus, but frankly, the point of the DCCC should be less about policy positions and grandstanding and more about organizing Democrats in San Francisco to ensure turnout.

I understand that the endorsements of the party have a very strong impact upon the vote for local issues here in San Francisco. But it is hard to argue that the SF Democratic Party has been anything other than progressive in the last two years. And furthermore, while hope is terrific and all, after all I am an Obama supporter, the results of elections depends on the hard work of registering voters and turning them out. Under the leadership of Scott Wiener, the SF DCCC has done just that. SF is one of the few counties to increase Democratic percentages during 2007. Fighting the battle against increased apathy and DTS registrations, we’ve been winning.

Scott has been an enormous part of that success and deserves re-election to the DCCC and to the chair.

Economy

California Hillary Backers Can’t Use The Google, Read FEC Law

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The California Majority Report-infused “American Leadership Project,” the pro-Hillary Clinton 527 that apparently thinks they can take credit for the Texas primary victory because they ran one ad the day before the election, has a new ad up in Indiana aimed at no-information voters:

Really, we’re going down the “Obama has no substance” road?  REALLY?  

Come closer, Jason Kinney.  Here’s Barack Obama’s website.  There’s an entire section with his position on issues!  There are white papers galore!  And he’s even explained those proposals in speeches!  And in newspapers!  And leading economists preferred them!  Imagine that!  You don’t have to rely on opinion editorialists (that’s who the ad quotes) anymore!

(By the way, if you want to use David Ignatius’ boneheaded intellect as a selling point, go ahead.  Really makes you look smart.)

Oh yeah, the ALC is still potentially breaking the law.

The Obama campaign has just announced they’ve filed an FEC complaint against the American Leadership Project, the 527 group founded by some big Hillary Clinton donors and pro-Hillary unions, on the grounds that they have failed to properly register as a political committee and to obey spending and donation limits in their founding mission of spending on behalf of Hillary Clinton.

“The group isn’t making any bones about their purpose here,” said Obama campaign chief counsel Bob Bauer on a conference call with reporters, “which makes their legal position hopelessly defective.”

You’re all making California proud.  Go get ’em!

UPDATE: Superdelegate and Congresswoman Lois Capps, of CA-23, just endorsed Obama.  The Illinois Senator won CA-23 in the primary.

education

May Day Happenings

Tomorrow is May Day, and the combination of anniversaries – the traditional holiday for workers (that started in the United States, it is most certainly NOT a Communist holiday), a day of action in the Latino community, and the 5th anniversary of “Mission Accomplished” – means that there are goings-on all over the state tomorrow.

• Latino groups will stage a May Day rally for immigrant rights tomorrow in downtown Los Angeles.  You may remember that last year’s event in Macarthur Park ended in chaos with tear gas and brutality marring a peaceful protest.  The cops have actually been practicing and preparing so that there are no such incidents this year.  Organizers expect anywhere between 25,000-100,000.

• There’s at least one budget cut/fee increase protest being planned at Cal-State Northridge, organized by students.  It should start around 12:00 on the bookstore lawn.  I believe this is part of a continuing action by students to raise awareness about the crime Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to commit on public education this fiscal year.  There’s more at The Alliance for the CSU.

• On the anniversary of “Mission Accomplished,” True Majority and CREDO Mobile are teaming up to deliver the Responsible Plan to End The War in Iraq to incumbent House members, and urge them to sign on to the bills in the plan that have already been proposed.  The House leadership is planning on cravenly offering more money in the war supplemental than even George Bush asked for, funding it through 2009 without any checks or conditions.  This is dead wrong, and there are steps Congress can take right now to rein in military contractors, aid in the humanitarian crisis, and increase regional diplomatic efforts, instead of allowing Bush to muddle through and pass off the disaster to his successor.  You can find one of the 210 events in your area by clicking this link.

• The west coast chapters of the International Longshoreman Worker’s Union (ILWU) is planning on shutting down all west coast ports on May Day to protest the ongoing occupation of Iraq.  Information on Bay Area events is here.  There’s also information at this blog.  This is the biggest general strike I can remember, and coming from longshoremen it can hardly be considered the work of dirty hippies.  This is a very important event.

• And in what may in the final analysis be the most revolutionary event, word has it that Tesla Motors will open their very first store tomorrow in West LA, on Santa Monica Boulevard just east of the 405 Freeway, which paradoxically is one of the most congested spots in the city.  Tesla has created an electric vehicle that runs like a sports car, and in future years their sedan model will be relatively affordable while getting the equivalent of 135 miles per gallon.  As this event is the closest to me, I might actually get to this one. 🙂

Budget

Yacht Party Plans to Hold State Budget Hostage Again

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Today’s SacBee is reporting that Republicans are planning to demand gutting of business and environmental regulation as a price of their support for any budget. Among their list of demands is an end to mandatory overtime pay (because you want workers to be paid less as we enter a recession), a one-year delay in the implementation of the AB 32 goals, state assessment of the effects of regulation on business, and a yacht and safe passage to Costa Rica. (Hmm, not sure about that last one.)

Speaker Fabian Núñez provided the proper response:

“It’s unfortunate Senate Republicans are once again trying to use their budget leverage to push unrelated proposals that would dirty our air and hurt working families,” Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, said in a statement. “They tried unsuccessfully to do that last year, and their efforts will fail again this year.”

Whereas Don Perata provided the wrong response:

“We are in such dire trouble fiscally, I am glad for anybody who wants to get into the game,” Perata said. “We have not yet come to grips with how difficult this year will be. Everything must be on the table.”

Don, the Republican proposals have absolutely nothing to do with the state’s fiscal situation and would in fact make it much worse by destroying our economy and thereby lowering collection of taxes.

In any case Democrats may have been given a gift with this. They can go to Californians and say “we have a balanced plan to balance the budget, a plan that balances public services and public taxes. The Republicans prefer to hold the state hostage so they can implement a far-right agenda.” Show voters who is really interested in solving our budget problems and who just wants to use it to ram more disaster capitalism down our throats.

Of course this all just shows the need to get rid of the 2/3 rule. Too bad nobody thought to spend some money on that one this year…

Coachella Valley

Ohhhh, We Sure Could Use John Edwards Now

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The first thing I want to say is that I am nothing special nor more intelligent then anyone else.  The one thing that I am is an independent thinker who analyzes a situation and acts based upon what I feel is best, as opposed to acting based upon being part of an “in-group”, the “first-group”, the “cool-group”, the “trend-setting group”, or jumping on a bandwagon.  By the way, how many of you saw Robin Williams on Law & Order this evening and the commentary on “sheep” mentality in America?

I have been greatly disappointed in the future of the United States, generally, and each of us, specifically, since John Edwards (the adult wing of the Democratic Party) dropped out of the Presidential race.  I last and only posted on January 30, 2008 re “Unity Will Flow Naturally From Integrity & Credibility” and  on January 21, 2008 re “The Country Needs John Edwards To Stay In The Race All The Way To The Nomination”.  I never intended to post again since it took 25+ years since my disgust with the Democratic Party following the 1980 Presidential Campaign and the defeat of my candidate of choice in the Wisconsin Primary, Jerry Brown, until this past year when the leadership ideas, backbone strength, and bold courage of John Edwards got me excited again in a President and the Democratic Party for the first time since 1980.  However, the recent sequence of events caused me to be unable to stay silent and to at least make a record that I did my part and tried.  I know that there are many other JRE supporters who feel as I do.

Interestingly, in the midst of the Clinton-Obama unveiling during the past few weeks, the Jimmy Carter of 1980 has resurfaced with a meeting with the terrorist organization of Hamas that seeks to push the Israeli’s into the Sea and destroy the State of Israel.  I guess the botched helicoptor blunder-Iranian Hostage Rescue attempt in the Desert that any Israeli military officer could have advised would be a disasterous failure before it ever began was not enough of a legacy for Mr. Carter nor sufficient damage to inflict upon the Democratic Party.

Now, I have to watch as Mr. Obama, the great questioner of the judgment of Ms. Clinton about going into Iraq, now attempts to squirm and slither his way out from under the exercise of his judgment in his chosen faith leader for the last 20 years, including officiating his marriage, performing the baptisms of his two daughters, and inspiring his book.  Meanwhile, Ms. Clinton continues ahead in the pursuit of the very things that John Edwards legitimately questioned during the debates.  Unfortunately, the mainstream corporate media of America and the significant majority of each of us failed ourselves in not questioning each of the candidates with intellectual honesty and legitimate cross-examination.  Instead, it was easier, less work, and more entertaining (and perhaps more self-serving) to jump on the bandwagon and promote the glitz and glamor of a woman and a black man running for President and ignore JRE, except to cover the price of his haircut, the size and cost of his residence, and his connection to a hedge fund.  Meanwhile, now that it is too late we learn that (1) the income of the Clinton’s and Obama’s is consistent with the income of JRE; and (2) per www.opensecrets.org, the connection of JRE pales in comparison to the campaign contributions received by Ms. Clinton and Mr. Obama from the hedge fund industry, the health care industry, the insurance industry, lawyers, and lobbyists.  I guess you “gotcha” on the haircuts…nice-going corporate mainstream media and the majority of Americans who either continue to be sheep, motivated by pure selfishness without any regard for our fellow human being, and/or too lazy to think for yourself.

Ohhhhhh, I am sure that many, many wish that JRE was still around.  By the way, neither JRE nor his supporters owe Ms. Clinton or Mr. Obama anything.  The job of Mr. Obama and his campaign and Ms. Clinton and her campaign is, was, and continues to be showing JRE and his supporters why they should put their support behind one of them.  Thus far, Mr. Obama and Ms. Clinton and their respective campaigns have failed miserably.  Perhaps, I set the bar too high, but merely saying you are better than John McCain does not cut it.  I could write pages and pages of why John Edwards is the better candidate, as an individual, and the best Democrat to defeat John McCain, but the time for that has come and gone.  I have yet to see any meaningful, credible, showing by either Ms. Clinton or Mr. Obama that they will carry the torch lit by JRE (although neither had any problem stealing his ideas while he was still campaigning).

I then look to our local election and observe the venomous remarks being made in our local Assembly race.  The self-serving agenda behind such remarks is so obvious, while the goal motivating such remarks moves further and further away.

In the middle of 2007, I was very excited for the first time in over 25 years about the future of our country because I finally saw a person who had the courage, intelligence, and strength to lead our country with integrity and honesty motivated by fairness and justice for all.  As we approach the middle of 2008, I am as disgusted as I was in 1980 and I have seen nothing on the national or local level to cause me to feel otherwise.  I am greatly saddened that the same circumstances that launched Reagan into the White House in 1980 will likely launch McCain into the White House…because of a haircut…unbelievable.

I appreciate that some (or maybe many) of you will not like the content and/or tone of this message.  Perhaps, I could have written this more eloquently and been less direct and candid.  I wrote this the only way I know how.  Therefore, I hope that you will take a look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself the tough questions raised by this message before the tempting immediate knee-jerk reaction to just say that I am a jerk expressing sour grapes.  You see, I do not think I am much different than the very people Mr. Obama or Ms. Clinton need to win the Presidency and calling me a jerk or full of sour grapes is going to lead to the other John (McCain) being the next President of our United States of America.

I feel that each of us have failed the generation of our kids.  By the way, the more power, influence, and/or money that you have reflects the greater failure that you have been because you have had a greater opportunity to make a positive difference.  I hope that our kids can overcome our failure.

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Roger Water’s Lost Pig Found/Open Thread

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Consider this an open thread…

This weekend I went with my three younger sibs to the Coachella Music and Art festival in Indio.  It was three days of more live music than most people see in a lifetime.  In one stretch I got to see Architecture in Helsinki, Vampire Weekend, Tegan and Sarah and the National back-to-back-to-back.  Freaking phenomenal.

Sadly I left Polo Field blissfully unaware that Roger Waters lost his giant inflatable pig, that came filled with Obama fliers.  Evidentially, concert officials had told Waters that he was not allowed to release the fliers.  Guess he didn’t listen.  That might not have been that big of a deal, if the fliers had actually landed over the concert grounds.  But alas the wind had other plans.

“I think he missed” the field, Walker said. “They landed everywhere.” The wind appeared to catch the papers, shortly after an inflatable pig was released into the air during Waters’ set, she added.

When she returned to her home near Avenue 47 and Madison, the entire neighborhood had been sprinkled with the papers, which resemble pro-Obama fortune cookie messages.

Some people were not big fans, as the fliers covered the gated communities by the field.

Indio resident Carol Davison, who lives two blocks from the Polo fields, said the display defiantly changes her thoughts on Obama, calling the incident a “derelict action.”

“I am just appalled. All of our gardeners will now have to spend the whole day trying to clean this up. It’s going to be in our pool filters clogging them up,” Davison said.

Yes, giant inflatable pig from Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters is pissing off people because their pool filters are now clogged, forcing their gardeners to remove them.  The horror.

Perhaps my favorite moment was the drunk girl who decided that “I’ll show you my 501c3” was a fantastic rejoinder.  Then again she also seemed to think saying “f#(# the cops” was also a good idea.  Heh.

For your listening enjoyment a few Coachella music videos on the flip…

Vampire Weekend “Mansard Roof”

Sia doing “Buttons” live in the same outfits she opened her Coachella set.

Here are a few songs from the Cold War Kids’ set.