Tricounty DFA Weekend Update: Local events, What is going on in the furor over Dean?
Hello Everyone:

In this update:

1. In This Together Coalition -- Call For Action Sunday at Clifton County Mall Sunday
2. Spitzer In Washington County
3. Furor over Governor Dean; why is this happening now?



1. In This Together Coalition -- Call For Action Sunday at Clifton County Mall Sunday

The In This Together Coalition is sponsoring an action Sunday at the Clinton Country Mall. There is a basically bogus "Town Meeting" on "Boomers and Aging in the Suburbs" with the information gather supposedly going to the WHite House Conference on Aging. Rep. Sweeney will be present and they hope to press him for the answers he has never really given on Social Security, which you would think would have some impact on "Boomers and Aging in the Suburbs." The time is 1:30 Sunday at the Community Room. For more on the official event: http://www.cliftonpark.org/articles/content.asp?MemberID=2421

2. Spitzer In Washington County

The "Sheriff of Wall Street" Attorney General Elliot Spitzer will be in Washington County Tuesday for a fundraiser. I am not sure if tickets are still available, but if the are the cost is $50 per ticket. It's at B&B on the Green, Kingswood Golf Club 89 County Route 41,Hudson Falls, NY from 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm For info call 642-9566 or 854-3388

3. Furor over Governor Dean; why is this happening now?

As we all know, there has been furor over Governor Dean in the last few days, especially a really vicious and inaccurate piece on Alternet that seems to have gotten a lot of circulation, which accuses the Govern of abandoning his anti-war stance (more on that in a second). The Governor is in fact saying very tough things (still ) on the war and other issues, as those who have heard his speeches will know.

The question is why this is happening now? When he was out touring the country after he became Chair in January, he was saying the same tough things about the Republicans he always has. And his comments were no tougher, and actually probably not as tough, as what Senator Clinton said earlier this week: she said they had no shame, the Republican leadership was a dictatorship, that they thought they had a direct line to heaven and were not acquainted with the truth. I don't know where you go from there on toughness. Take another look: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/06/nyregion/06cnd-hillary.html?pagewanted=print A couple of weeks ago Senate Minority Leader Reid called Bush a liar. Period. We don't expect much of Republican officeholders, but when's the last time you remember a Democratic Senator flat out calling the President a liar?

So, what's the deal here?

The revelation of the identity of Deep Throat reminded us of a famous saying, "follow the money."

A not two weeks ago Dean announced the DNC was going to be putting millions of new dollars into building infrastructure in the State Parties. (See http://www.democrats.org/news/200506020001.html )

That's when the cow pies hit the fan -- because an unelected aristocracy of Washington consultants suddenly realized the gravy train was over. Some of these guys, like Bob Shrum, who made at least SEVEN MILLION BUCKS off of the Kerry campaign last year alone, or James Carville, among others, have become very, very wealthy off of electoral politics in this country. You see, when these guys run a campaign in a major race, they have a contract that gives them a commission on every advertising dollar, usually television, that is placed. When you realize that a Presidential campaign can spend a couple of hundred million on TV, we are talking tremendous sums of money.

Dean's sending money to the State Parties - to our level -- to build up the infrastructure and make us more competitive -- is enormously threatening to these consultants and they are doing what they can, which as we can see is quite a bit, to stop him. But the state chairs are very happy with this. They like Dean's 50 State Strategy, which in fact is now new, but dates to the very beginning of Dean For America. People ask how Dean spent $50 million bucks during the primary; the answers is he was doing the responsible thing and preparing a 50 state campaign from the very beginning. Dean had a professionally staffed office in the key state of Ohio in the summer of 2003. 2003! Kerry didn't have one there until almost a year later. And people wonder why Kerry lost? As the Governor says, we can't run in 18 states only and expect to win.

The state chairs are very happy about this: check out NPR today: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4698423

Other leaders are standing behind Dean because they understand we need a 50 state strategy to Take Back America: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/06/09/democratic_leaders_stand_up_for_dean/?page=full

This is great for us here in upstate New York, because our Party will no longer write off the 20th CD and give bums like Sweeney a pass. This reform means us!

A note on the issue of the war: we all should note none of our Democrats are saying much about the War right now. Check out the updates of the House Progressive Caucus, run by Reps. Sanders and Kuncinich. See if you see any updates about Iraq. http://bernie.house.gov/pc/update.asp

There is no need for us to be talking about this, and we shouldn't be. Enlistments are crashing, falling short at least 3,000 a month, excluding all those who don't reenlist, aren't retained, desert, or are wounded, etc. The Army is likely shrinking by a brigade at least every 6-7 weeks, maybe faster. There are only 60 brigades in the Army. Do the math. The war is lost. We can't stay much longer. The brass is breaking this slowly to the American people right now, as we saw on the network news tonight. The best thing is to sit back and let it explode in Bush's face, let him clash with the military over his infantile fantasy of empire, and we can then be in the position of defending the military from his crazy actions.

Those of us who are veterans of the last anti-war movement 30 years ago learned the hard way we don't want to be maneuvered into a position where the Republicans can accuse us of stabbing the Army in the back, which was the case they tried to make, with some success. This time the tables will be turned. And we will turn them out. For once we are playing this smart.

Drew sent me a great quote today from Martin Luther King, Jr. "Our enemies will adequately deflate our accomplishments; we need not serve them as eager volunteers." Right on.

Thom Hartmann suggests we all give just ten bucks to the DNC, pointing out that if one million Democrats did that, it would settle the argument over the party's direction right away: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0610-28.htm
Hartmann paraphrases the old saying about Truman: Dean just told the truth and they called it hell.

I have been in contact with DFA National in Burlington; they really like the idea we came up with in our last meetup of pushing a Walmart Law here in NYS, as the the Working Families Party, which is tremendous. When I hear more, I'll pass that along right away.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Larry
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 11:07 PM