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I spoke with John Hanna

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( – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

NOTE: I am reposting this from a long comment I just made in a diary posted by Julia Rosen about the incident at the Resolutions Committee meeting last night. I am reposting it here as a diary so that John’s response can potentially be read by a larger audience.

Thank you to everyone who posted supportive comments in the aftermath of the sign incident with John Hanna.

Since I told you earlier that I was planning to talk with John, I can now tell you what happened.

In the interim period, many people talked to me about how to respond, some going so far as to suggest that I call the police to file a report.

Something about that didn’t feel right. In my gut, I knew that what happened clearly crossed the line (to be kind) but that I needed to talk to John before taking any kind of action. I did not know John but I felt I needed to give him a chance to explain himself.

He did, both publicly and privately. I wasn’t in the room when the meeting adjourned, but from what Julia told me, John offered a very sincere apology to the Resolutions Committee and others present for his behavior.

Brian (Leubitz), who is on the Resolutions Committee, privately asked John to meet with me. Juls called me and I came over to the meeting room shortly thereafer.

More below the fold…

John approached me and immediately and thoughtfully apologized for his behavior. He was quite forthright and direct. I sensed that his regret was coming from a very sincere place.

We talked for a good 45 minutes with him, Brian, Juls and a two of John’s colleagues.  It was actually one of the most edifying and intellectually stimulating conversations I’ve had in Anaheim.

While consistently acknowledging that what he had done was wrong, John then went on to talk about what led up to this altercation and how it might have been avoided. For example, he respectfully suggested that we should have approached the co-chairs of the meeting before positioning our sign in the room.

It’s a fair point. I am mindful that we could have made a more formal request to place the sign and easel inside the room. Crunched for time, we failed to follow the expected protocol. If I had to do it over again, I/we would have followed it. I’m not sure what the outcome would have been, but at least it would have started the conversation on a more collegial level, perhaps leading to an amicable solution for everyone.

I don’t know John that well, but I got the impression from our conversation that he is a very thoughtful, very judicious and presumably fair individual who overreacted to a high-stress moment with an uncharacteristic physical response.

I accept his apology.

Hopefully, this unfortunate incident can be a potential bridge-building opportunity with the Resolutions Committee members. To that end, I have invited John Hanna to reach out to the grassroots and netroots and engage our communities in a dialogue about the resolutions process.

In the end, as many of you know now, the censure resolution itself was not officially heard by the Resolutions Committee. A number of members objected to it being considered, due to its submission as a late resolution, per party rules.

You can read more about the Resolutions Committee outcome in a piece Rick Jacobs posted at the Courage Campaign.

Thanks again for your support, everyone.

Onward.

Eden James
Managing Director
Courage Campaign

California, Orange County, San Diego

What Happened at the Convention, Once and for All

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Two weeks may have passed between the Democratic Convention and today, but that hasn’t stopped us from speculating over what actually happened during that weekend. During these two weeks, everyone seems to have developed a theory on who knew what ahead of time, who was conspiring to silence the progressives, and who was really behind the mysterious quorum call. Two weeks have passed since then, and I’d like to do my part to end all the speculation NOW.

Last Thursday, I hopped on over to OC Drinking Liberally. John Hanna, Co-chair of the Resolutions Committee, also happened to be there. Pretty soon, hekebolos showed up, and we all went to the back room of Memphis to discuss what really happened at the convention. Later on, we also talked about what we can do better next time, but I’ll talk about that part of the discussion another time.

Right now, I’m inviting you to follow me after the flip to find out WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO ALL THOSE RESOLUTIONS. I have been collecting information from a few brave individuals for quite some time now, and my meeting with John Hanna on Thursday put an end to my own speculation on all these rumors. So why not join me after the flip, so that you can also toss the speculation and just find out what happened?

OK, let’s start out by going through all those wild rumors. Here’s what true, and here’s what’s just wild.

– Rumor #1: There was a deal made between PDA and party leadership on impeachment- TRUE! Yes, PDA did meet with party leaders before and during the convention. A friend of mine involved in PDA told me that the party leaders knew about PDA’s plans for San Diego, and they did not want the convention to turn ugly. PDA agreed to soften the language on impeachment of Bush, the leaders agreed to tough language on Cheney, and everyone agreed to fold all the resolutions into one.

– Rumor #2: There was a grand conspiracy among the party leaders to “appoint” a delegate to make the quorum call- FALSE (well, kinda sorta)! Neither John Hanna NOR Art Torres had any advance knowledge of the quorum call. This makes sense, as Torres really did look bewildered and genuinely frustrated at the podium. However, other folks that I spoke with earlier did drop me a hint. They’ve called Bob Mulholland a “street fighter”, and they have suggested that he wouldn’t hesitate to pull a stunt like this. Hmmm, so does this mean we have a culprit?

– Rumor #3: John Hanna conspired to silence the true antiwar voices who wanted to “stengthen” Don Perata’s Out of Iraq Resolution- FALSE! He wanted the Perata Resolution clean, but he didn’t block the amendments by Karen Bernall (deauthorize the war) and the Hull-Richters (defund the war). John Hanna wanted to ensure that the Perata’s Out of Iraq Resolution ended up looking like what Perata wants to put on the ballot next February. However Garry Shay, of the Rules Committee, urged him to come up with a way to allow Bernall and the others (even the Hull-Richters) to be heard. So they worked out a deal. The rules would be temporarily suspended, so that the amendments could be split off from the Perata measure, and they could become their own resolutions. All the delegates can then vote on each proposal separately, and all sides can get a fair shake. John seemed sincere when he said that he thought the perfect deal had been struck, and everyone could get what he/she wanted… Until Karen Wingard stepped in.

– Rumor #4: John Hanna conspired with AT&T and CWA to kill the net neutrality resolution- ABSOLUTELY FALSE! Unfortunately, John Hanna and the party leaders weren’t as familiar with net neutrality then as they are now. So out of good faith that Jim Gordon would work out a fair agreement with CWA and AT&T on net neutrality, the Resolutions Committee agreed to refer it to the Labor Caucus. But now, John Hanna regrets taking Jim Gordon’s word when he promised John that he’d come up with a resolution in the Labor Caucus that “the net neutrality folks will like”. John told us that he didn’t know about the CWA/AT&T deep hostility toward net neutrality. And yes, he wants our forgiveness, and he wants to make it up to us. That’s why he’s willing to give us another chance to get net neutrality passed. (And I’ll talk more about this in a future story.)

Basically, John Hanna regrets what happened with many of the resolutions. He now says that he should have just allowed Karen Bernall to do a petition drive for her own “Out of Iraq” resolution, even though her resolution had been “gutted and amended” to make way for Perata. He says that he might change the rules to allow for this next time. He has also said that we weren’t given a fair chance to clarify what was about to happen to net neutrality. And yes, this might inspire some changes in the rules as well. I know that we were all let down by what happened two weeks ago, but let’s not allow these disappointments to stop us from doing better next time.

Now we know how the internal politics are played. And now, we have a better grasp of the rules that we need to follow. So let’s follow the rules (including whatever new ones that might actually make our jobs easier), and let’s get our agenda accomplished. And now that we have made amends with the past, let’s get back to making a better future. : )

Orange County, San Diego

On John Hanna, Resolutions, & Steps for Success

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OK, so many of you have probably seen this diary by now. And yes, I can understand the frustration of seeing CDP Resolutions Committee Co-chair John Hanna coming here to “talk down at us”. However if you look beyond the first comment, you just might find that Hanna is offering some pretty good advice. Hopefully, we’re all beyond anger at this point, and we’re ready to learn how to be more successful in passing resolutions and holding the Democratic Party to its true values .

Now I know that all of this is frustrating. I know that it sucks when we can’t get the party to agree to such no-brainers like net neutrality and deauthorizing the Iraq War. However, there are some important lessons to be learned from our failures.

John Hanna, along with other knowledgable folks in previous comments, hinted at some good secrets to success for next time around, and I’d like to talk more about these after the flip…

So what can we do better next time? Well, as Woody Allen would say, “80 percent of success is just showing up.” Whenever you’re writing a resolution, it might make good sense to actually show up to the committee meeting so you can make a case for your resolution. Just showing up for the meeting might be a good start in ensuring that your resolution gets a fair hearing.

However if you’re REALLY looking for success, it might also help to do some homework before the meeting. Call the other delegates in your area, and ask them if they plan to support your resolution should it come to a floor vote. Contact the Resolutions Committee members in your area, and ask for their input and advice. And oh yes, FOLLOW THE RULES and make sure that your resolution actually qualifies as one. How much of a waste is it when all your hard work gets thrown out the window when your resolution is ruled out of order?

So can we all agree on these points now? John Hanna only came onto our dear site to offer his side of the story, and to give us good advice for next time. Now I know John Hanna, as I’ve seen him in action here in Orange County. He’s no corporate shill, and he’s no “DLC establishment type” that’s out to “destroy the netroots”. He’s just someone who has been around this Democratic Party for a VERY LONG TIME, and now he’s offering us some good advice on how we can become effective agents of change in the party. And you know what? Maybe we should take it. : )