(full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign)

The Senate once again is moving to take up FISA and retroactive immunity for law breaking telecom companies. The vote may come as early as tonight.  The only thing that is really effective at this point are phone calls into Senators offices.  The Courage Campaign, as did CREDO, went to our lists today and asked our members to call Senator Feinstein.

Give her a call right now:

202-224-3841 (Washington, DC)

310-914-7300 (Los Angeles)

415-393-0707 (San Francisco)

619-231-9712 (San Diego)

559-485-7430 (Fresno)

Go to the flip for more information on FISA and Feinstein’s unacceptable amendments.

Robert in Monterey wrote-up a long detailed take-down of Feinstein’s “compromise” amendments.  The first one as Robert notes is not particularly objectionable.  The second one on the other hand…

2. The “compromise” does not provide sufficient safeguards for the public’s rights and for the rule of law.

Even if the “compromise” Feinstein amendment on immunity – kicking it to the FISA court – were viable and could be signed into law, it’s not an approach that civil libertarians endorse. The ACLU has been vocal in their opposition to both the Feinstein and the Specter amendments:

“Unless Congress wholly rejects [the] executive privilege or state secrets claims, there are legal hurdles that could prevent the full hearing of the matter in federal court,” said Tim Sparapani, ACLU senior legislative counsel. “We also oppose having the FISA court making the good faith determination unless outside parties are allowed to argue in front of the secret court, which has never happened before. Otherwise, only one side is represented.”2

FISA is a secret court. Of the many thousands of requests for wiretaps that it has considered over the last 30 years, it has rejected a small handful – perhaps as few as five. This is not the same as a court of law, where the public has the right to examine evidence and file their own claims. FISA courts do not provide for the protection of basic rights. And to allow the FISA courts to determine the legitimacy of telecom actions is to take this crucial decision out of the hands of the courts, therefore undermining the rule of law. Feinstein’s proposal should be rejected on principle alone.

No on the Feinstein amendment and no immunity for law breaking telecom companies.

Senator Boxer has already stated her support for Senator Dodd’s filibuster, however it is a great idea to give her a call thanking her for her support.  Bringing up the Feinstein amendment would be useful:

(202) 224-3553

We need our Senators to know we are paying attention to this bill, as obscure as it sounds to many people.  It is a crucial privacy and constitutional issue and we cannot allow President Bush or these telecom companies to get away with breaking the law.

(Satan may have a few words to say about this one. – promoted by Julia Rosen)

Cross-posted from Huffington Post

Last year at this time, CNN ran a piece about the Courage Campaign’s petition drive to move the California presidential primary forward from June to February 5th. Many doubted that our premise would be born out, namely that by having California competitive in the presidential primary, we might actually have a say in policy formulation and make long term political alliances that would benefit the state, not just export money to finance campaigns in other states.

Put simply, we were right. After the tumult of Iowa and New Hampshire and Michigan, followed Saturday by a first-ever caucus in Nevada and then an election in South Carolina, California has become a key “battleground” state for all of the leading candidates. While no one, least of all the pollsters, has a clue what will happen, the people of California have already won.

I remember four years ago, when as the Chair of the Dean Campaign in California, we could but sit and watch as Iowa and New Hampshire and then Arizona and New Mexico, decided that John Kerry would be the nominee. Not this year.

(much more below)

Last Friday, Senator Clinton visited East Los Angeles as the venue for a major policy speech on an economic recovery package. She was not in Arizona or New Mexico; she was right here, in the county with the most registered Democrats of any in the nation. Flanking her was the ever smiling Mayor Villaraigosa together with Speaker Fabian Nunez. And behind them was a gaggle of elected officials who undoubtedly went home with bruised ribs from elbowing each other to get in the picture next to the candidate. She has opened at least three offices in the state and her campaign team says she’ll win the “ground game” here, something no one even tried in 2004.

(Even long time Clinton surrogate and hatchet man Chris Lehane, who would rather have his name in a news story than eat dinner, has been noticeably quiet. As you may recall, Chris Lehane was hired by the studios at the clip of $100,000 a month to break the WGA strike; perhaps the Clinton apparatus finally understands that the senator cannot effectively cultivate organized labor support while a family retainer is out selling his contacts in the media and politics to try to destroy everything for which organized labor stands.)

Senator Obama has held rallies up and down the state. He’s due back here tonight for an already sold out fundraiser. But he also has a real campaign here. LA City Council President Eric Garcetti, one of his state co-chairs, tells me that the campaign has seven offices open. Former Dean organizer Buffy Wicks runs the field operation here and has already recruited and trained over 4,000 precinct captains.  Steve Phillips, who has long championed greater political access for communities of color, founded a 527 called Vote Hope to engage those communities on behalf of Senator Obama and to keep building beyond the election.

Sal Rosselli, president of United Healthcare Workers West whose 150,000 member local voted to back Senator Edwards, tells me that Senator Edwards will be in LA for a rally at noon on Thursday with SEIU State Council President Anelle Grajeda and others. This follows a slew of visits to California by Senator Edwards, who is the conscience of this race. He was in Fresno, walked picket lines and spoke often about the inequalities that must be bridged in order to restore America’s greatness. While the Edwards campaign does not have a permanent presence here, his West Coast fundraiser, Terri New, doubles as organizer, leading teams to Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

The CNN/LA Times poll yesterday showed that Senator Clinton leads in California with 47%, followed by Senator Obama with 31% and Senator Edwards with 10%. We only have to look to New Hampshire to understand the accuracy of the paid pollsters these days; the voters will decide based on what their friends and family say, not based on the media or paid ads.

Admittedly, I know far less about what is happening with the Republicans, but know they care so deeply about California that Governor Huckabee’s campaign manager, Ed Rollins, has been leading the dirty trick initiative designed to steal 20 or so Electoral College votes for the Republicans. While we managed to keep that initiative off of the June ballot, Mr. Rollins still hopes it’ll be back for November, demonstrating clearly how the Republicans plan to use their skills in the dark arts over coming months. Regardless, expect to see more of Senator McCain, Governor Huckabee, Mayor Giuliani and Governor Romney, newly excited by his win in Michigan. They all need California to win the nomination.

Because this is all about delegates, we’ll almost certainly have multiple winners from California. The Democrats give convention delegates to every candidate that achieves 15% or more from any congressional district. That means that a statewide poll that shows one candidate way ahead may not accurately predict the delegate count, which is the only count that elects the nominee. And it also means this race may go on well past February 5th.

The California primary has already transformed politics in this state. The residual from statewide organizing is evergreen. Because the candidates are actually building campaigns here, we have a huge opportunity in this state to take on the fundamental issues that hobble us and that our government refuses to address. Only through people power from outside of the system – and that means from the sorts of voters who are joining together for their various candidates–can we hope to fix the mess that Proposition 13 created thirty years ago, the result of an initiative system of “citizen government” that has run amok.

The Courage Campaign is running an online poll as an attempt to engage progressives up and down the state for whomever they choose. Unlike those who poll for a living, we do not pretend to be scientific. We seek to encourage opinion leaders to talk to their own social networks about the candidates. That’s the best way to learn and ultimately the most effective way to persuade. Together with our partners in Ohio, Colorado, Michigan, Washington and Wisconsin, we’ve created an online horse race of sorts that requires people to convince their friends to vote. So far in California, Obama and Edwards are very close for first place, with Clinton and Kucinich working for third and fourth. But as we know, anything can happen.

“Tsunami Tuesday” is three weeks away, but we already know that progressives in our state have won by moving the primary forward.

Full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign

We’ve got ourselves a heck of a horserace shaping up as the PickYourPresident poll continues.  In just 24 hours we’ve seen a lot of movement in the standings, with John Edwards cutting Obama’s California lead in half.  Elsewhere, Clinton bumped Edwards for 2nd in Ohio and the two are separated by a whisker in Michigan- further evidence of a Clinton surge over the weekend.

I’ve got big plans to head for Reno at the end of the week (Friday, also when the poll ends), and I’ve got no idea what to expect from the Nevada caucus.  Given that Nevada has never seen a caucus like this, it’s impossible to predict with certainty what will happen there.  But given how unpredictable the nomination process has already been on both sides, I can’t imagine it’ll be definitive.  I’m waiting right now for Michigan results to be finalized, but that won’t matter much on the Democratic side.  Momentum is a fickle beast, but Super Tuesday is the one time it could actually matter.  Polling throughout Feb 5 states have shown that races are tightening all over.  Who knows what could happen at this point, but if you have a candidate that you support, the more public your support, the better.

Edit: Also, of course, go to PickYourPresident.org before the voting closes on Friday to cast your vote.

National Rankings:

1. Sen. Barack Obama

2. Sen. John Edwards

3. Sen. Hillary Clinton

4. Rep. Dennis Kucinich

5. Gov. Bill Richardson *

6. Sen. Mike Gravel

And the California Rankings:

1. Sen. Barack Obama

2. Sen. John Edwards

3. Rep. Dennis Kucinich

4. Sen. Hillary Clinton

5. Gov. Bill Richardson *

6. Sen. Mike Gravel

*Richardson received votes before withdrawing from the race.

(full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign)

The Courage Campaign in coalition with five other progressive state groups have launched PickYourPresident.org, as the name suggests it is an open primary poll.  Yes, you can vote for both Democrats and Republicans, though the response rate as one would imagine is exponentially higher for the Democrats.

Edwards had been leading in almost all of the states, but in the most recent update that flipped nationally and most of the other states.  His lead has narrowed here in California, so supporters of either, it’s time to get to voting.

Obama’s supporters have turned the tide in California.  He is now leading in CA and nationally.  Will the Edwards supporters rally back?  Or will the Obama folks keep up their momentum and put it out of reach?

Here is the current order:

1. Sen. Barack Obama

2. Sen. John Edwards

3. Rep. Dennis Kucinich

4. Sen. Hillary Clinton

5. Gov. Bill Richardson

6. Sen. Mike Gravel

Only one vote per person please, though do pass it on to your friends and family members.  This is a great opportunity to do some person-to-person outreach on behalf of your favorite candidate.  It’s a good icebreaker to start the conversation.

And here is the national order:

1. Sen. Barack Obama

2. Sen. John Edwards

3. Rep. Dennis Kucinich

4. Sen. Hillary Clinton

5. Gov. Bill Richardson

6. Sen. Mike Gravel

Have some fun with the poll, but start some serious conversations with it.

(also up at Daily Kos.  full disclosure: I work for Courage)

Bradley Whitford, better known to many of you as Josh Lyman on The West Wing, took time out of filming a movie in Calgary to shoot this video for the Courage Campaign on the importance of opposing retroactive immunity for telecom companies.  Go watch the video and then do as he says, call your Senators.

Telecom immunity is scheduled to be brought up this week, last I heard Thursday.  It is extremely important that all of our Senators hear from us and hold the line against retroactive immunity.

Senator Dodd has promised to filibuster any bill that lets the phone companies off the hook for passing on our private information to the government without a warrant.  But we need 41 votes to sustain the filibuster and we need your help to get us there.

Here are Senator Feinstein’s phone numbers.  Report back on your call here.

202-224-3841 (Washington, DC)

310-914-7300 (Los Angeles)

415-393-0707 (San Francisco)

619-231-9712 (San Diego)

559-485-7430 (Fresno)

Courage Campaign teamed up with CREDO Action (from Working Assets) to send a message out to all of our California members today. (email after the jump)

Dear Julia,

Remember when President Bush looked you in the eye and told you there was no such thing as a warrantless wiretap?

Turns out President Bush was wrong. But Congress has failed to hold him accountable.

Remember when pundit Joe Klein recently told four million TIME magazine readers that Democrats were granting “terrorists the same rights as Americans” by attempting to restore the previous checks and balances provided by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)?

Turns out Joe Klein was wrong. But TIME has failed to hold him accountable.

Here’s the good news. It’s not too late to hold President Bush and telecom companies accountable for wiretapping Americans without a warrant and trampling on the Constitution.

The Courage Campaign and CREDO Action (from Working Assets) are teaming up with Bradley Whitford (“Josh Lyman” on The West Wing) to spread the word from coast-to-coast before it’s too late. Brad took time out of a film shoot in Canada to record this special YouTube video for the Courage Campaign. Will you take time out today to support his call-to-action?

Click here to watch Bradley Whitford’s new YouTube video. Forward it to your friends. Then ask Senator Dianne Feinstein to support Senator Chris Dodd’s promise to filibuster any Senate bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecom companies that violated our privacy rights:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/filibuster

As Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor under President Clinton, said in a commentary on NPR recently:

“You’d think anyone who remembered J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI and Nixon’s CIA, the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 — let alone the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution — might be concerned about the government illegally snooping on Americans. But executives at the nation’s biggest telecoms didn’t blink an eye when the NSA, America’s biggest spy agency, came knocking. You want records of domestic phone calls? Sure, help yourself. Emails? Yeah, we got tons — they’re yours.

… (The telecom companies said) they were only following orders. Only following orders? What if the government told telecoms to use their technologies to spy on American bedrooms, or turn over our bank accounts, or our personal photographs, home videos, anything else we store on computers or transmit through cables or over the Internet? The “only following orders” excuse would make telecoms extensions of our spy agencies.”

Now, the telecoms and President Bush want Congress to let them off the hook by granting them amnesty for breaking the law. For violating our privacy. For spying on us. For violating our fundamental constitutional rights as Americans.

It’s time to take a stand. That’s why the Courage Campaign is teaming up with CREDO Action (from Working Assets) to broadcast Bradley Whitford’s YouTube video across America. Together, we are calling on Senator Feinstein to support Senator Dodd’s potential filibuster against retroactive immunity for telecom companies. Will you join us?

http://www.couragecampaign.org/filibuster

This week, a Senate Intelligence Committee bill re-authorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) will likely come to the Senate floor. This bill includes amnesty for telecom companies guilty of wiretapping Americans without a warrant.

Why amnesty? As our friends at CREDO Action explain:

“(President) Bush wants retroactive amnesty for the telecom companies to thwart civil liberties lawsuits that threaten to expose his own violations of the original FISA law. If these lawsuits aren’t allowed to go forward, we may never know the extent of the Bush administration’s illegal efforts to spy on American citizens without the required warrants.”

That’s just one reason why Senator Dodd, supported by Senator Russ Feingold and other Senators, is promising a filibuster. However, it takes 40 votes to uphold a filibuster, and Dodd will need every vote he can get — including Senator Feinstein’s support. Without it, the Bush Administration and telecoms may never be forced to reveal the scandalous history behind their sordid spying.

With our Fourth Amendment privacy rights hanging in the balance, there’s no time to waste. That’s why Bradley Whitford and the Courage Campaign filmed this special YouTube video. Courage and CREDO Action (from Working Assets) would like you to watch it, forward it to your friends, and call Senator Feinstein to ask her to support Senator Dodd’s potential filibuster today:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/filibuster

Why is Senator Feinstein’s support for Senator Dodd’s filibuster so important?

It’s not just about standing strong against telecom immunity. It’s about standing strong against President Bush’s “unitary executive” theory of power. Keep in mind that Senator Feinstein’s pivotal Judiciary Committee vote made it possible for Michael Mukasey to become Attorney General, even though Mukasey supports the interpretation of executive branch power that President Bush has used to wiretap and spy — without congressional approval or judicial review.

While Senator Feinstein voted to confirm Attorney General Mukasey, she can still do the right thing on FISA, the law the Attorney General is supposed to enforce.

Does Senator Feinstein have the courage to hold the Bush Administration and telecoms accountable by supporting Senator Dodd’s potential filibuster? Watch the YouTube video from Bradley Whitford and the Courage Campaign today. Then join Courage and CREDO Action (from Working Assets) in taking action:

http://www.couragecampaign.org…

When corporate executives know government orders to spy on our phone calls and emails are illegal, they have a duty stand up for the Constitution and force the Bush Administration to obtain that information through FISA, a minimum level of judicial review. If these telecom companies fail to take responsibility, Americans need the legal option to sue them and — if these huge corporations are found guilty — force them to pay financial damages.

Otherwise, without the threat of serious financial liability, they will spy again. It’s as simple as that.

Thank you for taking action today. And a special thank you to all the Courage Campaign supporters who made Bradley Whitford’s YouTube video possible by responding to our call for financial contributions last Thursday. With your ongoing support, we can hold President Bush and the telecoms accountable.

Rick Jacobs

Chair

P.S. Last week, we asked Art Torres, Chairman of the California Democratic Party, to use his political and moral capital to persuade Senator Feinstein on telecom immunity, since he said it was an issue that was “very important” to him. Even though he represents Democrats across California and may be one of the few individuals who can convince Senator Feinstein to support a filibuster, as of today, he has not responded to your calls for accountability.

While we hope Chairman Torres takes the time to call Senator Feinstein before it’s too late, we can’t wait for him to respond. It’s up to you. Take action now by calling Senator Feinstein to ask her to support Senator Dodd’s filibuster:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/filibuster

(full-disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign)

Ok, so the attempt to censure Senator Feinstein failed, but it sure changed the conversation.  Everyone from the New York Times editorial board to Fox News chimed in.  Over 35,000 people and over 40 grassroots groups, clubs and organizations joined in.  It really hit a nerve and catalyzed a new discussion about what it means to be a Democrat.

Now it is time to do something positive and continue the conversation.

Next week the Senate will again take up the re-authorization of FISA.  Immunity for telecom companies will be a major battle within the larger re-authorization bill.  Senator Dodd has promised to put a hold and filibuster the bill to prevent the attempt to let the telecommunications companies off the hook for following Bush’s orders to break the law and spy on Americans without a warrant.  Heck, the bill as written would not even let us even look into what exactly they did and who they spied on.  Senator Feinstein has indicated that he will join this effort.  CDP Chair Art Torres said that this issue was “very important” to him and one that he discussed with Senator Feinstein.  Two Senators does not a sustainable filibuster make.  They need some friends.  We must hold the line together.

So today the Courage Campaign sent out an email to our members (available below the fold) asking people to sign on to a letter to Chairman Torres requesting that he convey the message to Senator Feinstein to stand strong in opposing retroactive immunity for telecom companies.  Will you join us?

Full text of the email that went out an hour ago.

Dear Julia,

“What does it mean to be a Democrat?”

Over 1,000 of you have sent the Courage Campaign your passionate responses to this vital question, continuing the conversation catalyzed by your grassroots movement to censure Senator Dianne Feinstein for her regrettable Judiciary Committee votes supporting Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Judge Leslie Southwick.

While the California Democratic Party used parliamentary procedure to prevent a discussion or vote on the censure resolution, your 35,031 signatures succeeded in fundamentally changing the conversation inside the party.

The mainstream media is also taking notice of this unique grassroots and netroots movement for accountability, as exemplified by the editorial board of the New York Times:

“The censure motion may have failed, but Feinstein’s critics say they are not going away. Rick Jacobs, the founder of the Courage Campaign, vowed that if Ms. Feinstein continues to vote the wrong way, as his group sees it, ‘we’ll be back.'”

Senator Feinstein failed us all by not standing strong against the condoning of torture, homophobia and racism. To hold her accountable, we rallied the California progressive community in support of a censure resolution authored by Mal Burnstein, Co-Chair of the Progressive Caucus, and subsequently supported by 40 other Democratic Clubs and progressive organizations, including MoveOn and Progressive Democrats of America.

Now, we are concerned that Senator Feinstein will fail us all again on one of the most important issues currently facing the Senate — a likely floor vote next week on an Intelligence Committee bill re-authorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). This Intelligence Committee bill includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies guilty of wiretapping Americans without a warrant, a violation of our fundamental constitutional rights.

“What does it mean to be a Democrat?” As many of you wrote to us, it means standing up for the Constitution and standing strong against retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies. If you agree, please click here to send a letter to California Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres, perhaps the only person in California capable of convincing Senator Feinstein to stand strong in opposition to retroactive telecom immunity:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/standstrong

Senator Chris Dodd, Senator Russ Feingold and several other Senators have recently said they will filibuster any legislation that contains retroactive telecom immunity.

However, to date, Senator Feinstein has failed to indicate that she will support such a courageous stand in defense of our Constitution.

Fortunately, California Democrats have a potential friend in California Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres. He may not agree with us on censuring the Senator but he does agree with us on retroactive immunity for telecom companies. In a passionate speech defending Senator Feinstein at the CDP Executive Board meeting last week, the Chairman expressed his sincere opposition to censure and reported a conversation he had with the Senator about granting telecom companies retroactive immunity, indicating that it is an issue that is “very important” to him.

In the spirit of catalyzing an open dialogue about what it means to be a Democrat, the Courage Campaign would like to highlight the YouTube video of the Chairman’s speech, as posted by the California Democratic Party. Please click here to watch it and then sign our letter to Chairman Torres encouraging him to represent California Democrats in asking Senator Feinstein to stand strong in opposition to telecom immunity:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/standstrong

As Chairman Torres said in his speech, “if we don’t have transparency in our rules, if we don’t have open discussions, and if we don’t argue with each other, we’re not the Democratic Party. We’re the Republicans.”

He’s absolutely right. And that’s exactly what many of you said last week when we asked you: “What does it mean to be a Democrat?” Over 1,000 of you responded with heartfelt, passionate statements expressing your core values as Democrats, progressives and Americans, including John W., who said:

“I don’t even want to talk about what it means to be a Democrat; I want to talk about what it means to be a good American who supports the Constitution and wants our country to act with integrity…”

“What does it mean to be a Democrat?” Click here to read the rest of John’s comment as well as other eloquent statements we’ll be sending directly to Chairman Torres. Then take just a few seconds more to sign the letter to the Chairman encouraging him to represent California Democrats in asking Senator Feinstein to stand strong against immunity for telecom companies:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/standstrong

The New York Times isn’t the only media outlet taking notice of your activism in collaboration with the Courage Campaign. From the Los Angeles Daily News and Fox News to the Huffington Post and community blogs like Calitics and Daily Kos, your movement to hold the Senator accountable has fundamentally changed the conversation.

But we can’t be satisfied with just changing the conversation. We also need to change the direction of California and our country. That means standing up for core American values that keep our nation strong, starting with the Constitution itself.

Please encourage the Chairman and the Senator to stand up for our Constitution and stand strong against telecom immunity today.

Thank you for taking action to keep America free and safe.

Rick Jacobs

Chair

P.S. The Courage Campaign does more than just hold our elected representatives accountable. From working to block Blackwater’s plans to build a mercenary base on the California border to our “NoDirtyTricks.com” campaign to stop the Republicans from stealing the White House, we are fighting for you on multiple fronts.

To build a people-powered progressive California, we need to build progressive infrastructure today. Please join with us in common cause by making a contribution to the Courage Campaign, in whatever amount you can afford:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/contribute

(Any other action items you’d suggest? – promoted by Bob Brigham)

[crossposted at Daily Kos.  This is a living document that I’m making continuous updates to – please offer suggestions to improve it.]

The Courage Campaign and the Democratic party establishment are pushing back against the Dirty Tricks Initiative.

What can we as individuals do to help fight this campaign and hopefully prevent it from getting on the ballot?

Let me make a few suggestions:

1. Sign up here  with the CA Dem Party’s group set up to fight this: the FraudBusters.

2. Add your name to Courage Campaign’s No More Dirty Tricks pledge and kick them some money (same page).  (Courage Campaign is bloggers – they are us, so kick ’em some money.)

3. Check for any “assignments” from the FraudBusters folks (I believe they are supposed to come by email).  If you’ve got nothing, then DON’T WAIT — simply go to the most high traffic places that ballot petition signers frequent to get signatures — Wal-Mart, Target, etc., determine whether Dirty Tricks ballot petitioners are there, and notify the Courage Campaign, the CA DEM Fraud Busters and also the state Dem organization fighting this (Californians for Fair Electoral Reform). When you’re at the location, go up to them, present yourself as someone who they would tend to target (pose yourself as someone uneducated about how ballot petitions work, in a hurry, etc.) and see if they take an illegal or unethical approach with you.
 

4. If you encounter Dirty Trick petition signature gatherers (aka Dirty Tricksters) and they are doing clearly illegal or misleading things, or if you learn from Courage Campaign or the CFER folks about places where such Dirty Tricksters are, go there and see if you experience it yourself.  If you do, go to the store manager and complain as a customer that you don’t want the store to protect lawbreakers.  See if you can get the names of the signature gatherers from the store manager while there.

5. File a complaint against the Dirty Tricksters with the Secretary of State.  Form available here.

6. If you encounter Dirty Tricksters and they are giving incorrect descriptions of the ballot initiatives they are getting signatures for, especially the Dirty Trick initiative, then get a video camera, read the ballot summary to them on camera so that they cannot say they were not aware they were misinforming people of the ballot initiative.  Misleading people about ballot petitions is not a crime unless you can show it’s purposeful – that’s why getting proof they were informed of the ballot initiative is very important. 

7. (For the intrepid) Get lawbreakers on camera or audio doing clearly illegal things — instructing potential signers that they need to sign multiple times, misinforming voters when you have proof they’ve been informed of the actual ballot summary — or even sleazy things which might not be illegal but totally wrong, and get those to the Courage Campaign and the Californians for Fair Election Reform folks.

A couple of suggestions if you are going to use video tape:  use one take, do not cut — even if there are boring parts, it makes it a lot clearer that you are not messing with the timeline.  Also, to establish the place, date, and time, consider making a purchase at the store and then showing the receipt to the camera so that no on call into question the When or the Where of the illegal activity you capture if it’s on the same take as when you’ve shown the timedated receipt.

8. Get on your local progressive local talk radio show, inform folks about the Dirty Trick campaign and encourage them to do the above.

9. Bring up the issue at your local Dem Club or other progressive organization meeting and get people involved there.

Please feel free to comment on or add to the my suggestions above.  I don’t pretend to know a lot about these issues, but I hadn’t seen an effort at a practical “What to Do” list for average folks, so I offer this modest effort…

( – 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

(cross-posted from Courage Campaign)

Things took a pretty nasty turn, unfortunately.

I entered the California Democratic Party Resolutions Committee  meeting room with Eden James, Courage Campaign’s Managing Director, bearing our sign and easel.  We found a free space at the front of the room and set up the sign.

Almost immediately, Resolutions Chair John Hanna approached us, demanding that we remove the sign.  Eden politely asked if there “was a rule” against signs in the meeting rooms.  Hanna replied “yes.”

Kathy Bowler, CDP Executive Director, then calmly approached me, stating that the sign should be removed because the room was getting full and she had staff she needed to get into the room.

John then grabbed ahold of one side of the sign, attempting to remove it from Eden’s hands. Eden, maintaining his hold on to the other side, repeated the question to John about whether a rule existed against signs inside the meeting room. John said “yes”again and Eden asked to see the rule, saying that if there was an actual rule against signs inside the room — he would respect it.

Increasingly angry, John threatened to call security. Eden, surprised, calmly responded that John “should go ahead if that’s what you want to do.”

Suddenly, Hanna then shoved his side of the sign and Eden at the same time, forcibly pushing Eden backwards. Eden held on. John shoved again, then pushed Eden’s shoulder back with the palm of his hand.

Stunned, Eden let go of the sign as John ripped it from his hands and threw it to the floor. An unknown person then picked up the sign and sprinted it out of the room, taking it to the staff room (according to Kathy Bowler).

More below

This is the Last thing that we wanted to happen. And Eden is one of the most peaceful, non-aggressive people that I have ever met. It was shocking to see his calm, determined words met by violence.

The goal of bringing the sign into the room was to provide a visual representation of the large number of people, clubs and groups supporting the resolution to censure the Senator.

Our purpose in continuing to discuss moving the sign was to get a clear reason and clarification of the rules surrounding bringing in signs. If a rule was presented against posting signs, we would have respected it without question. And indeed, we would have entertained a discussion about its removal due to space issues.

We are shocked and shaken by this turn of events and so are many others. It is extremely disappointing that something as simple as trying to bring a sign into a room (that lists organizations supporting a resolution) can escalate into physical violence.

Eden and I want to commend Kathy Bowler for her professionalism throughout this incident. John Hanna’s conduct, on the other hand is shocking, upsetting, and completely inappropriate.

This resolution should be addressed on its merits. No matter what side you are on, this discussion does not deserve to be marred by physical violence.