Tricounty DFA Update: Meetup Next Week, Protect the Vote, An Outrage In Washington, Merrick Press Conference, Saturday Activities, Movies, More
It's been a busy few days and things are really heating up with more and more going on!

In this update:

1. DFA Meeting Next Week: David Carter, GOTV
2. A Great New Video On Preventing Election Fraud On Wednesday
3. Petition Senators On Emergency Ballots
4. Merrick Conference Details
5. Tabling & Canvassing Saturday
6. An Outrage In Washington: Torture Bill Passes
7. Progressive Films: Bakehouse Cafe and Crandall Library
8. Bob Woodward Expose On Sixty Minutes: Details

1. DFA Meeting Next Week: David Carter, GOTV

Greater Glens Falls Democracy For America will be holding its October meeting next Wednesday, October 4th at 7pm at the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe in downtown Glens Falls.

We will have an unusually rich agenda:

First, Hudson Falls Mayor David Carter, who is running against incument Roy McDonald in the 112th Assembly District, will making an appearance to speak, answer questions and seek our support.

Second, We will be discussing what we can do in the next 41 days to help our candidates get elected: Canvassing, building the Neighborhood Network, phone banking, Get Out The Vote and more.

2. A Great New Video On Preventing Election Fraud On Wednesday

Third, we will be having the Glens Falls area premier of Robert Millman's new video, Bought and Sold: Electronic Voting in New York. Here is the description of this biting expose:

"Do you trust political parties and government to protect your vote???? Do you know about the reliability of the voting machines being marketed in NYS? This 45-minute film produced in 2006 explores how the selection of new voting equipment required under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) has been skewed in favor of DREs (direct recording electronic voting machines), in spite of serious unanswered questions about the danger of vote tampering and verifiable voting."

I think I get more member mail on the subject of voting technology and the security of our ballots than any other subject and I hear everyone goes away with new revelations!

3. Petition Senators On Emergency Ballots

On voting issues: legislation is before Congress requiring emergency paper ballots in all polling places if the machines break, or something goes wrong. If you have not contacted our Senators and Representatives, there's still time. True Majority has an online petition: http://action.truemajority.org/campaign/paper_ballot?rk=m7Lgfg11GX4nE

4. Merrick Conference Details

State Senate candidate Tim Merrick held another press conference, this time on the steps of City Hall to expose Rep. State Senator Betty Little's voting record. Merrick has discovered it is surprisingly difficult to find out how NYS Senators actually vote. But he has detailed many examples of how she votes against the interests of people who live in our area.

"In its detailed report, "The New York State Legislative Process: An Evaluation and Blueprint for Reform," the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University's Center for Law notes that "virtually every major newspaper in New York State has editorialized against the current system...
The Brennan report finds that "Under the current system, voters cannot hold their elected representatives accountable" because "publicly available information about the Legislature’s actual practices and procedures, and the role of individual legislators, is scant."

For more, check out his full comments: http://www.votemerrick.com/blog/index.html

5. Tabling & Canvassing

Okay. We want the Republicans out. What are we going to do about it?

We will again be tabling during the Farmer's Market on South Street in downtown Glens Falls this Saturday, September30th from at least 9am (and possibly 8am) until about 11am. Come out and show support for all our candidates and bring a friend.

For more info and to RSVP go to: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=11212

Afterwards we've been canvassing door to door in Glens Falls. We will be organizing this week's canvass during Saturday's tabling. Come and check before 11am at the Farmer's Market if you want to help! We need as many people as we can get! If you have never canvassed before, you can go around with someone else to get the hang of it. But it's easy-- just talking to neighbors. We will have new sheets for Glens Falls' Second Ward.


6. An Outrage In Washington: Torture Bill Passes

Something truly terrifying happened in Washington today: the Republican led Congress voted to authorize torture and effectively eliminate the Writ of Habeas Corpus.

One of the issues leading to the American Revolution was the Writs of Assistance, which gave Royal officers power to search and seize property anywhere they pleased. This is worse. It actually takes us back to the Star Chambers of medieval England, something we left behind 400 years ago.

Anyone can now be declared an "enemy combatant" by the administration and thrown into a secret prison. This is what goes in in authoritarian/totalitarian societies. People disappear in such societies. That's what will happen under this measure. Gone, into thin air. No one will know. Someone will be picked up in the dead of night and transported to a secret prison. Who will know they are there? How will they hire attorneys? How will they be able to sign the necessary papers? Who will even know where these prisons are? No one will, and no one will be able to do anything about it.

What defense will any American have? What makes one an "enemy combatant?" A member of the opposition party who doesn't agree with the so-called "war on terror?"

The Republican led Senate essentially voted to commit a war crime, and treason. This will echo for many, many years to come. Axis parliamentarians, particularly in Japan, were tried as war criminals after World War Two for their role in starting or enabling that vast human catastrophe. I increasingly believe in time many such trials will come here, as well.

What is doubly distressing is that our Democratic Senators failed to fillibuster this evil measure. That act of cowardice should blight their consciences and sleep for the rest of their lives. It also points to the importance of buidling the "Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party."

For more, check out the Times editorial or Tom Paine.com: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/28/opinion/28thu1.html?hp
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/09/28/terror_2016.php

On the "Democratic wing of the Democratic Party," Governor Dean was in Austin recently and declared, “We want to be a moral beacon for the rest of the world again,” Dean said. “We are a great country. We just have bad leadership, and we can change that, and you can change that because remember: you have the power.” http://star.txstate.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2019


7. Progressive Films: Bakehouse Cafe and Crandall Library

There are three new progressive films coming up: The Terrorist at the Bakehouse Cafe Friday, on Tuesday Crandall Library will show An Inconvenient Truth. and on the 13th the Cafe will show the DFA endorsed film Iraq For Sale.

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe's progressive film fest continues this Friday with:

Sept 29 THE TERRORIST (2000) Docudrama
Director – Sivanti Ninan 90 min.
Over the past decade, and particularly since 9/11 in the USA, the politics of terror & terrorism has replaced the Cold War. Challenges to the NEW Cold War by the disadvantaged and oppressed segments of the population have developed in several parts of the world. Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and the greater Tamil diaspora stretching into India is one area where insurgent opposition to the State has raged for almost 25 years. Current mainstream newspaper reports note the possibility of the intensification of the war. Sivan’s film has its focus on a young, striking looking girl, Malli. Her brother’s death in combat propels her to join the insurgents. In a sensitive portrayal of the character of Malli the film shows the complexity of factors in the making of
a terrorist as well as her eventual self-destruction.

On Tuesday, October 3rd at 6:30 and 8:30, the Crandall Library in downtown Glens Falls will be showing Al Gore's new film, An Inconvenient Truth. Global warming is arguably the greatest long term issue facing humanity. Indeed, the greatest knock against the Iraq debacle is that it distracted us from this, the real issue.

Also, DFA is organizing national showings of Iraq For Sale. The Cafe has already organized showings on Oct. 13 & 20, so we don't need to. But please RSVP at: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=12132 to show your support.

8. Bob Woodward Expose On Sixty Minutes: Details

Finally, Drew sends along the piece pasted below. This will be huge. Bob Woodward of Watergate expose fame has a new book out and will appear on Sixty Minutes on Sunday. It already led the NBC Nightly News today and will undoubtedly get bigger-- he reveals reports of the war are far worse than expected and that there is a insurgent (really resistance) attack on American forces every 15 minutes.

Thanks everyone!

Larry Dudley



Veteran Washington reporter Bob Woodward tells Mike Wallace that the Bush administration has not told the truth regarding the level of violence, especially against U.S. troops, in Iraq. He also reveals key intelligence that predicts the insurgency will grow worse next year.

In Wallace’s interview with Woodward, to be broadcast on 60 Minutes this Sunday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. ET/PT, the reporter also claims that Henry Kissenger is among those advising Mr. Bush.

According to Woodward, insurgent attacks against coalition troops occur, on average, every 15 minutes, a shocking fact the administration has kept secret. "It’s getting to the point now where there are eight-, nine-hundred attacks a week. That's more than 100 a day. That is four an hour attacking our forces," says Woodward.

The situation is getting much worse, says Woodward, despite what the White House and the Pentagon are saying in public. "The truth is that the assessment by intelligence experts is that next year, 2007, is going to get worse and, in public, you have the president and you have the Pentagon [saying], 'Oh, no, things are going to get better,'" he tells Wallace. "Now there’s public, and then there’s private. But what did they do with the private? They stamp it secret. No one is supposed to know," says Woodward.

"The insurgents know what they are doing. They know the level of violence and how effective they are. Who doesn't know? The American public," Woodward tells Wallace.

Woodward also reports that the president and vice president often meet with Henry Kissinger, who was President Richard Nixon’s secretary of state, as an adviser. Says Woodward, "Now what’s Kissinger’s advice? In Iraq, he declared very simply, ‘Victory is the only meaningful exit strategy.'" Woodward adds. "This is so fascinating. Kissinger’s fighting the Vietnam War again because, in his view, the problem in Vietnam was we lost our will."
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 12:30 AM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: Chili Cookoff, Clinton, Letters and More
In This Update:

1. Chili Cookoff With Candidates Report and Pictures
2. More Fort Edward Pics
3. Clinton Clocks Fox, Shows Us How
4. Olbermann Channels Edward R. Murrow Again
5. NIE Uproar: Gillibrand Hits Sweeney, Dean Issues Call
5. Letter Topics: 20 Most Corrupt and Iraq War NIE
6. Tabling & Canvassing
7. Friday Film Fest

1. Chili Cookoff With Candidates Report and Pictures

Saturday night saw a jam packed crowd of area Democrats turn out at Nora Nellis' in Lake George for the Great Adirondack Chili Cookoff. All three area Democratic candidates made an appearance: Congressional candidate Kirsten Gillibrand, State Senate candidate Tim Merrick and Assembly candidate Hudson Falls Mayor David Carter. Joining Mayor Carter were our other three Democratic Mayors: Valerie Keehn of Saratoga Springs and Roy Akins of Glens Falls. Together, they represent a clean sweep of all our big Northcountry communities.

Those who made it know the 15 different chilies, the corn breads and muffins, the deserts and many beverages made it a terrific eating experience and fun event all around.

Special thanks for making this event possible go to House Party Hostess with the Mostest Nora Nellis, Pat Dudley for tireless organizing and everyone who brought food, beverages and supplies or pitched into help.

We should probably also thank the eight teenaged protesters who showed up outside for providing some inadvertent entertainment! As Tim Merrick told them, at least they've started to care. In time maybe they'll start to think, too, and party goers who spent some time talking to them may have helped.

To see pictures of the event, scroll down.

2. More Fort Edward Pics

There are also a couple more pictures below of the Fort Edward appearance by Eliot Spitzer with area candidates, including a really evocative shot of the headquarters by Dick Dudley.

3. Clinton Clocks Fox, Shows Us How

People have been talking for the last few days about the confrontation between Bill Clinton and Chris Wallace on Fox TV. Clinton cleaned Wallace's clock. Talking Points Memo had it best:

"You really ought to go watch this clip. Clinton is simply the most gifted politician of our times. I have my issues with Clinton, but I sometimes forget not just what a tremendously effective communicator he is but how much he just plain gets it. He understands politics at a level no one else does. He intuitively knows the subtext to questions and so not only answers the expressed question but in a very analytical way picks apart the subtext and answers the implied question, too. If you're a little younger and missed most of the Clinton years, it's something to watch."

See the full video at: http://movies.crooksandliars.com/fox_fns_clinton_.mov It's takes a minutes to get into it but it is worth it.

4. Olbermann Channels Edward R. Murrow Again

More and more Keith Olbermann is turning into the Edward R. Murrow of our generation. For those who haven't seen Good Night and Good Luck, Murrow was the crusading TV journalist in the 1950s who stood up to power hungry anti-communist witch hunters who really wanted to roll back civil liberties and the New Deal. Olbermann has led the once moribund MSNBC to new ratings heights, which disproves cynics who say people don't care. Last night he hammered Fox News and the right wingers over the attempt to sandbag Bill Clinton. It's memorable: http://movies.crooksandliars.com/CountDown-SpecialComment-ClintonInterview.mov

5. NIE Uproar: Gillibrand Hits Sweeney, Dean Issues Call

Our other great American communicator, Governor Dean, picked up on what was behind Fox's attempt to sandbag the former President, and also the other big story of the weekend, the leaking of the secret National Intelligence Estimate, which reveals that the entire Intelligence community, all sixteen agencies, are saying the Iraq War has made America less safe, not more safe. Coverage began in the NY Times and Washington Post: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/world/middleeast/24terror.html?ref=worldspecial

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/23/AR2006092301130.html

Retired U.S. Generals also opened fire on Rumsfeld with devastating effect: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20060926/D8KC9KIG0.html

Kirsten Gillibrand also hammered John Sweeney on the NIE issue: John Sweeney "has supported President Bush 100 percent of the time on Iraq, refusing to ask tough questions or push for honest answers."

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=nation_world&id=4596323

According to Governor Dean, "we're going on the offense on national security. The future of our party, and of our country, depends on the ability of Democrats to get a strong national security message out in all 50 states this year." More at: http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_howard_d_060925_howard_dean_3a_you_can.htm

6. Letter Topics: 20 Most Corrupt and Iraq War NIE

What can the rest of us do? Two suggestions: first letters.

Sweeney is now rated as one of the 20 most corrupt members of congress. Lisa and Rosemary sent this along last Thursday: http://www.beyonddelay.org/summaries/sweeney.php

Or for info on how the Republicans have made America less safe, check out the NY TImes and WaPost pieces above.

Send a letter to the Post Star at: http://www.poststar.com/contact/form_letter.php

The Saratogian: letters@saratogian.com

The Chronicle: chronicl@loneoak.com

All other area papers through the AAUW Two-Minutes activist page: http://capwiz.com/aauw/dbq/media/?azip=12801&search.x=23&search.y=12&command=zipresult

If you've never written a letter to the editor before, you can check out these tips: http://www.dfalink.com/uploads/files/998440e49842500b/DFNY%20letter%20tips.pdf

6. Tabling & Canvassing

We will again be tabling during the Farmer's Market on South Street in downtown Glens Falls this Saturday, September30th from at least 9am (and possibly 8am) until about 11am. Come out and show support for Kirsten and bring a friend.

For more info and to RSVP go to: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=11212

Afterwards we've been canvassing door to door in Glens Falls. We will be organizing this week's canvass during Saturday's tabling. Come and check before 11am at the Farmer's Market if you want to help! We need as many people as we can get! If you have never canvassed before, you can go around with someone else to get the hang of it. But it's easy-- just talking to neighbors.

7. Friday Film Fest

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe's progressive film fest continues this Friday with:

Sept 29 THE TERRORIST (2000) Docudrama
Director – Sivanti Ninan 90 min.
Over the past decade, and particularly since 9/11 in the USA, the politics of terror & terrorism has replaced the Cold War. Challenges to the NEW Cold War by the disadvantaged and oppressed segments of the population have developed in several parts of the world. Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and the greater Tamil diaspora stretching into India is one area where insurgent opposition to the State has raged for almost 25 years. Current mainstream newspaper reports note the possibility of the intensification of the war. Sivan’s film has its focus on a young, striking
looking girl, Malli. Her brother’s death in combat propels her to join the insurgents. In a sensitive portrayal of the character of Malli the film shows the complexity of factors in the making of
a terrorist as well as her eventual self-destruction.

Also, DFA is organizing national showings of Iraq For Sale. The Cafe will be showing it on Oct. 13 & 20. Please RSVP at: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=12132

Thanks everyone!

Larry Dudley
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 10:38 AM 0 comments

 
Great Adirondack Chili Cookoff with candidates Kirsten Gillibrand, Tim Merrick and Mayor David Carter with Mayor Roy Akins and Mayor Valerie Keehn
A large crowd gathered at Nora's in Lake George Saturday night for the Great Adirondack Chili Cookoff. Present were all three area Democratic Candidates and all three area Democratic Mayors.


New York State Senate Candidate Tim Merrick started the evening by speaking on key issues of the Northcountry economy and property taxes.


Tim answers questions from the large crowd.


Later Congressional Candidate Kirsten Gillibrand spoke and answered questions and then posed with our three area Democratic mayors. Left to right: Hudson Falls Mayor and 112th Assembly District candidate David Carter, Saratoga Springs Mayor Val Keehn, Kirsten Gillibrand and Glens Falls Mayor Roy Akins. At far right Warren County Conservative Party Chair Doug Auer digs into some of the 15 different chilies.


Representative John Sweeney, R-Clifton Park, finally agreed to a debate-- a paper debate with Theo Gillibrand. Sweeney lost. Decisively.


Dave, Val, Kirsten and Roy.

Many thanks to Nora Nellis, our hostess with the mostess, Pat Dudley for organizing, and everyone who brought chili, muffins, corn bread, deserts, Adirondack Windpower cups and beverages and supplies to make this event possible for so many!

All photos by Richard Dudley.
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 10:50 PM 0 comments

 
The American Political Scene As It Once Was And Could Be Again: Candidates In Fort Edward
An evocative shot of a classic American scene, something straight out of Frank Capra movie, or maybe the American idea as it was in the beginning:


Politics, candidates and voters in historic Fort Edward, NY on a warm, late summer night.

In the center, Attorney General and Gubernatorial Candidate Eliot Spitzer and Congressional Candidate Kirsten Gillibrand while to their left, backs to us, State Senate Candidate Tim Merrick and Assembly Candidate Mayor David Carter wait the spotlight.


Gillibrand talking about Spitzer.

Both photographs by Richard Dudley
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 9:57 PM 0 comments

 
Saratoga Springs Charter Commission Disappointed in Chamber Board’s Decision Against Educating the Business Community
Saratoga Springs Charter Commission Disappointed in Chamber Board’s Decision Against Educating the Business Community
September 25, 2006

The Board of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce has rebuffed the request by the Charter Revision Commission to help educate the business community and instead has substituted its opinion for those of the diverse Chamber membership.

Charter Revision Commission Chair Beth Hershenhart and Commission Member Rory O’Connor asked the Board on September 14 to partner with the Commission in educating the business community on the important issues surrounding the proposed change in the structure of the city government.

“We are disappointed that the Chamber Board once again chose to take a position on behalf of its membership instead of empowering them to make their own informed decisions. But we know that many members of the Chamber Board and scores of chamber members plan to vote YES on November 7th in favor of the charter amendment, which just makes business sense. I understand there are powerful forces opposed to making our government in Saratoga Springs work effectively, but the business community shouldn’t suffer because of it,” said Beth Hershenhart, a sixteen-year member of the Chamber of Commerce and Chair of the Charter Revision Commission.

“The business community and voters of Saratoga Spring have waited for more than twenty years for the opportunity to vote on a more efficient and effective city government. Our Commission form of government has amounted to paralysis and gridlock regardless of what political party has the majority. The Charter Commission respectfully asked the Chamber Board to sponsor education sessions for its almost 3000 members so they could become fully informed and make their own decisions. But, sadly, the Chamber Board refused,” said Rory O’Connor.

Beth Hershenhart, Chair
2006 Charter Revision Commission
518.584.7206 office
518.225.4057 mobile phone
beth@InnovativeResourcesGroup.com
- posted by Hilary McLellan @ 9:21 PM 0 comments

 
First Pictures: Eliot Spitzer Vists Fort Edward, Endorses Kirsten Gillibrand
It was one of the biggest nights in recent memory in Fort Edward, NY when NYS Attorney General Eliot Spitzer visited the newly opened Washington County Democratic Headquarters to address area voters and endorse candidates Kirsten Gillibrand, running for Congress in the 20th CD, Tim Merrick, running in the 45th Senatorial District and Hudson Falls Mayor David Carter, running for Assembly in the 112th Assembly District.

This visit culminates a great season and is a real tribute to Washington County Democratic Chairwoman Sheila Comar, who was Petition Coordinator for Dean For America. Now in her second term as County Chair, Sheila has turned the Democratic Party around in Washington County, enlisted great candidates and opened the first Democratic election headquarters in Washington County.

All these great pictures by Richard Dudley!


From left to right, Washington County Democratic Chairwoman Sheila Comar, 20th Congressional District candidate Kirsten Gillibrand (partially behind Sheila), the next Governor of the State of New York, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, former Warren County Democratic Committee Vice-Chair Frank Garofalo, Larry Dudley, Coordinator, Greater Glens Falls Democracy For America and Miranda Kyhill, Greater Glens Falls Democracy For America Steering Committee member.


Attorney General Eliot Spitzer calls for a new direction to revive upstate New York.


Attorney General Eliot Spitzer endorses Kirsten Gillibrand.


Gillibrand applauds Spitzer.
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 9:14 AM 0 comments

 
September 20, 2006 Press Conference By Tim Merrick In Historic Glens Falls Bandstand
On September 20th, 2006, Democratic State Senate candidate Dr. Tim Merrick of Plattsburg held the second in a series of weekly press conferences. The location for the 20th was held inside Glens Falls' historic bandstand in City Park in downtown Glens Falls, NY. On this location, 42 years ago, Senator Robert F. Kennedy made his famous Glens Falls appearance.


With 45th New York State Senate District candidate Tim Merrick, center, are from left to right, former Councilman-At-Large Richard Dudley, Hudson Falls Mayor and 112th Assembly District candidate David Carter, and Glens Falls Fifth Ward Supervisor Bill Kenny.


Another view with TV-8 news team in foreground.


Tim answers press questions as Dick, Dave and Bill listen.


Tim wraps up this week's press conference.
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 12:44 AM 0 comments

 
Merrick Press Conference In Glens Falls on September 13.
State Senate Candidate Tim Merrick held the first of a series of weekly press conferences in downtown Glens Falls on September 13th, 2006, talking especially on the subject of property tax reform, including full state assumption of Medicaid costs (like 48 other states) and funding of public schools from state income taxes, not property taxes.


Tim begins.


Tim talking about property tax reform and relief.


An attentive crowd listens.


More of the audience.


Tim Merrick answers questions from the press.
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 12:35 AM 0 comments

 
Merrick Press Conference, Spitzer in Fort Edward, More
Hello Everyone;

In This Update:

1. Merrick Press Conference Wednesday
2. Spitzer In Fort Edward Wednesday Night
3. DFA Candidates Win And Show The Way
4. Beltway Kleptocrats Wrecking Democratic Party?
5. What A Real Winning Ad Looks Like
6. Keith Olbermann: "Is Bush trying to cover his ass on war crimes?"
7. Tabling and Canvassing Saturday: Gillibrand may attend
8. Rockhill & DFA Together On Robert Greenwald's new Iraq For Sale Film
9. Friday Progressive Film Fest

1. Merrick Press Conference Wednesday

This Wednesday, September 20th at 11:15am, Democratic State Senate Tim Merrick will be holding the second in a weekly series of press conferences in downtown Glens Falls at the historic bandstand in City Park in front of the Queensbury Hotel.

This bandstand was the site of Attorney General Robert Kennedy's legendary first (and second) visit to Glens Falls during his run for the United States Senate seat for New York. That visit, at about this time in September, was one of the biggest events Glens Falls has ever seen.

We're asking everyone to please come and show our support for Tim! We hardly expect the crowd RFK got, but if you have an hour in the morning to come, it would be a great help to Tim.

In Glens Falls we got our school taxes this week, and people are talking. At last week's conference Tim unveiled an innovative program to reduce property taxes, by having the state assume all medicaid costs, the way 48 other states do, and fund education with income, not property taxes. It was worth the trip!

For directions or to RSVP: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=13087

Again, that's Wednesday, September 20 at 11:15am.

2. Spitzer In Fort Edward Wednesday Night

Our Washington County Democratic Chair Sheila Comar is very pleased to invite all interested Democrats and voters to join Eliot Spitzer, NY Attorney General and Gubernatorial Candidate, on Wednesday, September 20th, at the Washington County Democratic Headquarters at 143 Broadway in Ft. Edward from 7 PM until 9 PM.

Sheila says, "Congratulate Eliot on his recent Primary victory. Spitzer wants to hear from you, share your ideas about Jobs, Reform, Education, Property Taxes, Health Care and more."

Refreshments will be served. For more information, please call 747-9310 or 642-9566.

3. DFA Candidates Win And Show The Way

(There was a bit of a cut and paste error in a few of my last message-- that was meant for this update, and here is the full version. Your indulgence is respectfully requested!)

DFA endorsed candidates across the country did really well on Primary Day.

To the south of us, in the 19th Congressional District, John Hall (you may remember him as the rocker/songwriter) had a smashing victory over a three person field:

Hall Aydelott Shuldiner Rigger

10141 5627 3327 1851

which gave Hall about 49% of this mixed field.

So Hats Off to our DFA colleagues in Westchester, Dutchess and Rockland Counties, especiallyDemocracy For Westchester, who worked very closely with Hall and his campaign to make this happen: Hall and DFA were a real team.

Also, in New Hampshire, DFA member Carol Shea-Porter went up against a DCCC endorsed candidate and won 54-36, despite being outspent 5-1. Her victory proves it isn't about money, and I quote from an update on dKos:

"In the eyes of the establishment politicians, Carol Shea-Porter was not supposed to win. That is why folks in Washington never returned the campaign's calls. The DCCC selected her opponent, shipped up campaign talent and had incumbent Congress members stump on Jim Craig's behalf--IN A PRIMARY.
But it was obvious by the results of the primary that the DCCC picked the wrong horse and they should recognize that there is something special in the grass roots campaign that just beat them silly in the NH 1st

Carol Shea-Porter can defeat Republican Jeb Bradley. She is a long-time activist that has closely followed Bradley and understands not only his record, but his psyche.


4. Beltway Kleptocrats Wrecking Democratic Party?

Drew sent me this, and it dovetails nicely with Carol Shea-Porter's experience above. This comes from www.mydd.com and its about the growing anger at the kleptocracy of connected inside the Beltway consultants who go out, profit greatly off the contributions of average Democrats, and fly one campaign after another right into the side of a cliff, including campaings we should and could, and would've easy won.

The wreckage we see is not a pretty sight.

As a Party and a movement we have got to find a way to rein in these corrupt, self-serving and self-dealing consultants. I suppose you could argue that does not matter if they win. The problem is, they don't, because as we have see again and again, they are incompetent. Sure-- they can get Hillary Clinton elected. Like that's a big challenge!

Read it and weep.


"New 527 Ripoff Schemes from 'Top Democratic Strategists'

by Matt Stoller, Thu Sep 14, 2006 at 07:34:09 PM EST

Ok, so Harold Ickes is trying to raise $25 million for a new 527 to focus on field and advertising. Rahm Emanuel is hiring the Bob Shrum of field operations, Michael Whouley, to run his DCCC field plan. And another 527 with a presumed budget of $8-10 million is being run by former DNC bigwigs Martin Frost, Tony Coehlo, Joe Andrew, and Don Fowler.

Ok, let's look at what's going on here.

Ickes is tied into the Hillary Clinton axis and the Glover Park Group, which was busted today lobbying for the Dubai Ports deal. Ickes is behind the disastrous Datamart voterfile project, which is project managed by Laura Quinn, the person who screwed up Demzilla in 2004 under Terry McAuliffe and was somehow hired again to screw up another voterfile.

Whouley has a massive telecom contract through his firm Dewey Square, which is tasked with passing the Stevens bill eviscerating net neutrality. He's been all over losing Presidential campaigns, most recently Kerry's in 2004. And he's not only in charge of the DCCC field plan, but he's also managed to convince donors to give him $3 million to map out yet another losing Presidential field strategy in 2008.

And of course, Tony Coehlo really takes the cake. Coehlo more than any individual is responsible for the decline of the Democratic Party - he literally has his fingerprints all over every moral and political debacle of the last twenty five years, from the introduction of rivers of business PAC money into the party in 1982 to the Congressional loss of 1994 to Gore's snatching of defeat from the jaws of victory in 2000. In the process, Coehlo had to leave Congress under a cloud of scandal, and became a millionaire almost instantly after he left. Hmm.

Seriously, donors need to be retrained. Why are they giving money to the people responsible for putting the party in the awful shape it is in? These people are not as famous as Bob Shrum, but they should be. These are the people that are anonymous senior strategists leaking to the New York Times about how worried they are about Democrats taking a stand on this issue or that one (often with undisclosed financial conflicts of interest), or getting Adam Nagourney to write process pieces about Howard Dean's questionable stewardship of the DNC. These are the people that buy broadcast and waste buckets of cash paying off their media buyer and pollster friends/business partners. This is the all white mostly male circuit that is alienating minority Democratic influentials through their insular arrogance.

This is the establishment. And they are not winners, unless you consider getting Bob Shrum a new boat a victory for the Democratic Party.

Just so you know."

5. What A Real Winning Ad Looks Like

Check out the Vote Vets ad on this page. It's an example of the creativity that's possible when you break outside the Beltway kleptocracy. This is widely regarded as the best ad of the season. So it is no surprise it's makers have been blown off by the DCCC and the rest of the beltway boys.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/9/15/121916/583

6. Keith Olbermann: "Is Bush trying to cover his ass on war crimes?"

MSNBC reporter and commentator Keith Olbermann is turning into a national treasure. In this video he asks the big question-- is Bush pushing his new torture legislation to protect himself from future war crimes charges?

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Video_Bush_rants_at_reporters_in_0916.html

7. Tabling and Canvassing Saturday: Gillibrand may attend

We will again be tabling at the Farmer's Market on South Street in downtown Glens Falls this Saturday, September 23rd from at least 9am (and possibly 8am) until about 11am. This is a great way to inform everyone about our candidates: there's nothing better than personally connecting with voters.

We may have a special guest at the Farmer's Market: our Congressional candidate, Kirsten Gillibrand, is scheduled to join us! So-- Bring a friend to meet Kirsten! For more info and to RSVP go to: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=11212

Last week a group of us went canvassing door to door in Glens Falls' Fifth Ward after the tabling. Visiting voters at their door is the best thing we can do to build our party and advance our candidates. Come and join us at 11am at the Farmer's Market as we organize the canvass; we need all your help!

8. Rockhill & DFA Together On Robert Greenwald's new Iraq For Sale Film

Many of us will remember Robert Greenwald's previous work like Outfoxed and Walmart: The High Price Of The Low Price, which we showed last year.

This year DFA National is sponsoring Greenwald's newest and possibly most timely video-- Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers. Iraq For Sale takes you inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the reconstruction of Iraq. The film uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who let it happen. Halliburton, Dick Cheney and Republican leaders everywhere don't want you to see this movie.

We initially needed 15 people to RSVP to get our own free copy of Iraq For Sale. However, Matt Funiciello has already purchased copies for the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe's Friday Night Progressive Film Festival! So we don't need to get our own copies, instead we can join with the Matt and the Cafe by endorsing its showing Iraq For Sale.

The showing dates will be in October 13 and 20. To RSVP or get more info: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=12132
and for the 20th: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=12132

So-- Three Cheers for Matt and the Cafe!

There is a great post today on Tom Paine.com on the issue of Iraq profiteering, if you want to get a head start-- it's a pretty exhaustive review: http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/09/18/exposing_the_war_profiteers.php

9. Friday Progressive Film Fest

This week the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe's Friday Progressive Film Fest begins a three week special festival of films from India. All programs begin at 8pm.

Sept 22 CHORDS ON THE RICHTER SCALE (2004) Documentary
Gujrati-Hindi (EST) Director - Shyam Rajankar 47 min.
Imagine India at the beginning of the 21st century. The ruling government is a coalition led by the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), which is a right-wing political alliance reviving/exacerbating communal (inter-religious/inter-ethnic) conflict. The Western state of Gujrat is hit by a massive earthquake (9.7 on the Richter scale), centered in the Kutch region. The film documents the manner by which discrimination, oppression and disparity operate in the provision of relief and rehabilitation through the work of the BJP government and the organizations of the higher caste
Hindus. Specifically the focus is on housing, food, clothing plus other daily necessities denied to the lower castes, dalits and minorities (read Muslim). Often humanitarian aid is turned around to become a means of oppression of the disadvantaged. More recently such oppression is illustrated in the case of the victims of the Tsunami and the earthquake in Kashmir.

RADIATING LIES (2005) Documentary
Hindi (EST & English Commentary) Director Jujhar Singh 45 min.
Energy crisis is a prominent media item – gasoline prices hovering around $3.00/gallon, so-called shortages of supply, global instability (especially in major crude oil producing areas), rising energy demand and continuing wars in several regions of the globe. These conditions have revived an interest in nuclear energy – military and peaceful. India, since the 1970’s, has been a nuclear power. In the past decade the government of India has increased its activity to develop nuclear resources. An important component of the nuclear revival is mining operations to access/recover uranium. The media only marginally covers human consequences of the nuclear industry. ‘Radiating Lies’ is an important contribution covering the consequences in one region
of East Central India – Jharkand, Orissa and West Bengal. The consequences being environmental pollution, deadly exposure to radiation and displacement of the rural population. Through candid interviews, hard-hitting commentary expert witness depositions the film shows the devastation wrought among the people of this region of India.


Thanks everyone! Don't forget Hudson Fall's Democratic Mayor David Carter is running for the 112th Assembly District seat and has also created a candidate's page on DFA-Link: http://www.dfalink.com/campaign.php?id=1979

See you soon!

Larry
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 6:44 PM 0 comments

 
Charter reform fundraiser in Saratoga Springs
Move Saratoga Forward is having a fundraiser on September 21st at The Inn at Saratoga from 5:30-7:30. Cash bar. Join Us! Please show your support! All donations welcome. What is Move Saratoga Forward? Move Saratoga Forward is a nonpartisan, nonprofit political action committee. Its mission is to support the charter reform proposal that Mayor Keehn's commission prepares and to help educate city voters so that they will understand – and support – this charter when it appears on the ballot in November 2006. We are Democrats and Republicans working together out of a love for our great city. Our goal is to enhance and modernize the city's government – and the government's ability to address the challenges the city faces. City services – and the quality of those services – will remain unchanged. If anything, they will be improved because of greater government accountability. What will change is the city's ability to address issues such as parking, truck traffic, affordable housing, open space, a recreation center, and cutting red tape.

For more information --- and facts not attacks --- about the charter reform --- go to movesaratogaforward.com.

Most cities in New York changed away from the commissioner form of government 50 or 60 years ago. Today only Saratoga Springs and Mechanicville retain this outdated structure. There are several hidden costs of the commission form of government, including how much the city has spent to defend law suits brought about by such matters as last year's public safety debacle involving Deputy Commissioner Erin Dreyer. The examples of other cities, such as Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that have made similar transitions, is that this charter will save Saratoga Springs residents money. In 1995 the City’s total operating budget was $16 million. Ten years later – in 2004 – it was over $29 million, up 80%. Today it is over $32 million. Why? There is currently no system of checks and balances to rein in spending. The proposed charter will change this.
- posted by Hilary McLellan @ 1:14 PM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: Primary Day, Pictures, Press Conferences, Signs and more
Hello Everyone!

1. Primary Day
2. TIm Merrick For State Senate Press Conference For Wednesday
3. David Carter On DFA-Link
4. Tim Merrick Signs
5. Washington County HQ Pictures
6. Tabling and Canvassing
7. Dean: Who Financed Path To 9/11?
8. Friday Film Fest
9. Kids For Peace
10. 9/11 and Terror


1. Primary Day

I know you all know Tuesday is Primary Day and that the polls open at Noon. However, it's always good to be reminded to vote in the Democratic Primary!

Last week Glens Falls DFA voted to endorse Eliot Spitzer for Governor (actually Spitzer/Patterson) and Mark Green For Attorney General. This week Democracy For New York officially endorsed Spitzer/Patterson.

As we discussed at last week's meeting, DFNY withheld its endorsement until Spitzer embraced one of DFA's key issues, paper ballots/optically scanned. The battle over making sure our votes are honestly counted isn't over, but the endorsement of the "Sheriff of Wall Street" has given PB/OS a huge boost.


2. TIm Merrick For State Senate Press Conference For Wednesday

Last summer we also endorsed Tim Merrick for State Senate. On Wednesday, September 13 at 11:15am, Tim will be holding the first of a series of weekly press conferences at Democratic offices in the Rogers Building on the corner of Bay and Maple Streets in downtown Glens Falls, right across the street from the Crandall Library and the Methodist and Episcopal Churches.

We're asking everyone to please come and show our support for Tim! If you have an hour in the morning to come, it would be a great help to Tim. Again, that's Wednesday, September 13 at 11:15am.

3. David Carter On DFA-Link

Hudson Fall's Democratic Mayor David Carter is running for the 112th Assembly District seat. (The 112th is Washington County along with parts of Rensselaer and Saratoga Counties, particularly the towns of Wilton and Moreau. )

I was talking with Dave at the opening of the Washington County Democratic HQ Saturday. Dave has been making real strides in cleaning up Hudson Falls and dealing with blight driven by absentee landlords. Incidentally, Hudson Falls is the biggest village in Washington County, and in fact there are cities in NYS that are smaller than Hudson Falls, so being Mayor of Hudson Falls is a handful.

I asked Dave if he would like to appear at our October meeting on the 4th, and he happily agreed; one of our basic functions as a DFA group is to host candidate forums. We'll be inviting everyone from the 112th to attend this forum.

Dave has also created a candidate's page on DFA-Link. We can discuss a possible group endorsement at our next meeting, but if we want, we can all individually show our support for Dave's race right now by going to his DFA-Link candidate page: http://www.dfalink.com/campaign.php?id=1979 I felt confident in doing so myself, and I am sure you will, too.

If you haven't joined DFA-Link, you will need to do so first. Click and register, it's easy! http://dfalink.com/register.php?c=g&id=91042f3ae603ef90& Then go to http://www.dfalink.com/campaign.php?id=1979 if you want to show support for Dave Carter.

4. Tim Merrick Signs

Tim Merrick was also at the Washington County HQ opening Saturday, and he has provided us Merrick For Senate lawn signs. We really want to get these signs out, especially on busy streets to show support for Tim! Please shoot me an email at ldudley@larrydudley.com or call at 518-792-5444 (you may have to leave a message) if you can take a sign. Obviously, the more Democratic signs we can get, the stronger all Democrats look.

5. Washington County HQ Pictures

Dick Dudley also took some great pictures of the opening of the Washington County Democratic Headquarters Saturday.
Go to: http://townmeetingday.blogspot.com/2006/09/washington-county-headquarters-opens.html

Pictured are: State Senate Candidate Tim Merrick, State Assembly Candidate David Carter, Granville Assessor Candidate Ed Burkhart, and Kingsbury Town Board Candidate April O'Hearn. Also pictured are Ken Talkington, Budget Officer for Washington County Board of Supervisors, Washington County Chairwoman Sheila Comar and volunteer Patrick Layden. Again: http://townmeetingday.blogspot.com/2006/09/washington-county-headquarters-opens.html

6. Tabling and Canvassing


We will again be tabling at the Farmer's Market on South Street in downtown Glens Falls this Saturday, September 16th from at least 9am (and possibly 8am) until about 11am. This is a great way to inform everyone about our candidates: there's nothing better than personally connecting with voters.

Bring a friend and join us! For more info and to RSVP go to: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=11211

6. Tabling and Canvassing

Last week after the tabling a group of us went to the Washington County HQ opening. After that, we came back and at 1:30 the assembled group then went canvassing door to door in Glens Falls' Fifth Ward. It's an interesting system and we will be doing so again right after the Farmer's Market: basically from 11am until 1pm.

Visiting voters at their door is the best thing we can do to build our party and advance our candidates. Two hours at least once a week is not too much to ask for a Democratic victory in November! Come and join us at 11am at the Farmer's Market as we organize the canvass; we need all your help!

7. Dean: Who Financed Path To 9/11?

As we might expect, it's Governor Dean who is asking the tough questions about the despicable two part, fraudulent, quasi-documentary Path to 9/11. Radical religious conservatives were apparently involved in creating Path To 9/11.
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Dean_Who_funded_this_40_million_0908.html
For more on the secretive right wing organizations behind this piece of right wing propaganda: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-blumenthal/discover-the-secret-right_b_29015.html

I would note that WTEN management has been telling people they are required to carry the program. This is NOT true. FCC regulations prohibit that and the Supreme Court in US vs. NBC (1943) upheld that restriction.

In the future we may want to investigate getting together with our other DFA groups and challenging WTEN's license renewal, which seems to be due in 2007. They don't have the right to use airwaves we all own to spread propaganda and slander.

8. Friday Film Fest

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe, on Elm and Exchange Streets in downtown Glens Falls, continues its progressive film festival this week with:

Sept 15 GAZA STRIP (2004) James Longley 74 min.
In January of 2001, American director, James Longley traveled to the Gaza strip, planning to stay for two weeks and film preliminary material for a documentary on the Palestinian Intifada. As the situation on the ground rapidly worsened, he threw away his return ticket and filmed for the next three months, acquiring 75 hours of footage. Gaza Strip is an extraordinary and painful journey into the lives of ordinary Palestinians struggling with the day-to-day trials of the Israeli occupation and giving voice to a population largely ignored by mainstream media.

9. Kids For Peace

Take your kids to Kids for Peace -- "Around the World, Kids Chalking for Peace" will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. Sept. 16 at 280 Warren St., at the corner of Peck and Warren streets by the traffic light in downtown Glens Falls. This non-political event will bring together kids of all ages to create chalk drawings with the theme "world peace."

This event is only one of many Chalk4Peace events taking place worldwide on Sept. 16. The kids can also participate in a "Circle of Words," when they will be able to give voice to their feelings and ideas about peace. Music will be provided by guitarist Jamie Mandolare. Bring your own chalk or use the chalk provided. For more information, call event coordinator Jean Santoro at 747-9568.

10. 9/11 and Terror

Finally, in honor and memory of those who died on 9/11, I am posting below a great book review from Powell's.com (I highly recommend signing up for their reviews). As scholar Louise Richardson notes, the popular picture of terrorists as insane radicals isn't true,
"Terrorists are human beings who think like we do. They have goals they are trying to achieve, and in a different set of circumstances they, and perhaps we, would lead very different lives," she writes.

But they do have distinguishing, abnormal characteristics. "Terrorists see the world in Manichean, black-and-white terms; they identify with others; and they desire revenge," according to Richardson."

"Ossama been forgotten" would have no greater victory than if we were to fall into this trap, including adopting his manichean, black and white world view, as Bush has.

To this end, Britain's Guardian quotes Michael Scheuer, the CIA analyst who set up the Osama bin Laden group inside the CIA in 1996 and resigned two years ago, who
"blames President Bush for employing the shoot-'em-up tactics that have alienated Muslim opinion in places where the US needed help the most. "It should have been presented as a search for justice using intelligence and law enforcement. If we kept it in that ideological space, simply asking Muslims for help in tracking down a criminal, we would have made headway," he says. "Instead, we regarded it as a war we could fight through the military with heavy and blunt instruments that were telegraphed for hundreds of miles." http://www.guardian.co.uk/september11/story/0,,1869516,00.html

George Lakoff also wrote today on how mistaken it is to say we are fighting a "war on terror." http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/9/11/123451/321

Let us remember that the burden of memory includes many things, especially, and perhaps above all, the obligations to learn from the sacrifices paid so dearly by others.

Thanks everyone! Remember, see you Wednesday Morning at 11:15am at the Rogers Building, the tabling and canvassing and please go to DFA-Link and take a look at Dave Carter: http://www.dfalink.com/campaign.php?id=1979

Larry Dudley


Today's Review From
Christian Science Monitor

What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat
by Louise Richardson

<<>
Read today's review in HTML at:
http://www.powells.com/csm/review/2006_09_11

Tell us what you think! Give us your two (or ten) cents about today's
review by posting a comment on the Powells.com blog:
http://www.powells.com/blog/?p=1415

<>>

To Fight Terrorism, You Must Know Your Enemy
A review by Peter Grier

The United States can't win a war on terrorism, any more than
it could win a war against armed robbery or tornadoes. What it
can do is contain the threat to the nation caused by a specific
group of terrorists: Islamist radicals.

To do so, it must strive to understand Al Qaeda and its ilk, and
try to isolate them from communities which now give them tacit
support. And it needs to have patience: Terrorist groups, even
damaged ones, don't wither away quickly.

In brief, these are among the main conclusions of Louise Richardson's
concise and illuminating new book What Terrorists Want: Understanding
the Enemy, Containing the Threat. If you think the application
of academic terrorism research to today's policy problems sounds
interesting, this volume could be for you.

Not that Richardson is dispassionate. The Bush administration
might even call her partisan. She considers both the overt declaration
of war on terrorism and the invasion of Iraq to be disasters in
the context of fighting Osama bin Laden.

"Governments are invariably placed under enormous pressure to
react forcibly and fast in the wake of a terrorist attack," she
writes. "This response is not likely to be most conducive to long-term
success against terrorists."

Richardson is one of the relative handful of experts who have
been studying the history and practice of terrorism since the
cold war.

Born in Ireland to Catholic parents, she experienced the seductive
nature of terrorist groups at an early age. From the society she
grew up in, she learned a remembered history of Ireland's long
struggle with England that was full of heroes and villains, and
was oversimplified to motivate the next generation. The facts
didn't seem to matter so much.

After the Bloody Sunday massacre of 1972, in which 26 Irish protesters
were shot by British troops in Derry, Northern Ireland, Richardson
would have joined the IRA "in a heartbeat," she writes.

But she was only 14, and as she attended university and learned
the real story behind some of her childhood myths, she became
more interested in understanding terrorism than in joining it.

Eventually she received advanced degrees in government from Harvard
University and began teaching international security classes.
Today she is executive dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced
Study, among other academic posts.

She has interviewed all the terrorists she can contact, as well
as pored over transcripts of captured terrorists and other source
material. From this, she's determined, she believes, this important
point: They're not nuts.

The popular picture of terrorists as insane radicals isn't true,
she insists. "Terrorists are human beings who think like we do.
They have goals they are trying to achieve, and in a different
set of circumstances they, and perhaps we, would lead very different
lives," she writes.

But they do have distinguishing, abnormal characteristics.

"Terrorists see the world in Manichean, black-and-white terms;
they identify with others; and they desire revenge," according
to Richardson.

Lots of people are called "terrorists" by their enemies, of course.
That doesn't mean they all are. Terrorism's true definition, Richardson
writes, is "deliberately and violently targeting civilians for
political purposes."

Terrorists want change, but lack the strength to prevail in other
political or military ways. Individual terrorists are generally
disaffected people, from any level of society. They encounter
an enabling group (such as radical Islamists at a local mosque)
who spout an ideology that purports to justify violent actions.

Their motivations can be summed up in a three-word phrase, according
to Richardson: "Revenge, Renown, Reaction."

Historically, terrorist groups have begun as small local organizations,
and then expanded. Al Qaeda seems to have been able to turn this
on its head: It's a global ideology that has inspired some disaffected
youth to take violent action where they live.

That's the pattern of the 2005 London transport bombings, for
instance. "This is not an auspicious development," warns Richardson.

So, what is to be done? The part of this book that will probably
get the most attention is the policy prescriptions that Richardson
says she has derived from her academic findings.

September 11 did not change the world, she argued. It simply --
and brutally -- made the US aware of a world that was already
occurring.

The rhetoric of declaring war on terrorism, she argues, is a mistake.
Terrorism is a tactic, and thus cannot be defeated; what can be
defeated, or at least contained, are individual groups of terrorists.

Thus her "Six Rules":

Have a defensible and achievable goal, such as stopping the spread
of Islamist militancy.

Live by your principles. No more Abu Ghraibs.

Know your enemy.

Separate the terrorists from their communities.

Engage others in countering terrorists with you.

Have patience and keep your perspective.

This book can seem cold, even bloodless. There are many people
for whom the world did irrevocably change on 9/11, after all.
And given the criticisms of the Bush administration it contains,
both overt and implicit, it seems unlikely that Richardson will
be working for the National Security Council anytime soon.

But if you've ever stared slack-jawed at the television screen,
while some terrorism "expert" belabored the obvious like it was
a stubborn pony, this book is a welcome source of information.
It's written by a true expert, giving her measured thoughts.

Read the review online at:
http://www.powells.com/csm/review/2006_09_11
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 10:39 PM 0 comments

 
Washington County Headquarters Opens In Fort Edward
The Washington County Democratic Committee opened its new headquarters at 143 Broadway in historic Fort Edward, NY last Saturday.


At a Gala event lasting from 10am until noon, area Democrats gathered to hear speeches from New York State Senate Candidate Tim Merrick, who came down from Plattsburg for the day, New York State Assembly Candidate, his honor David Carter, the Mayor of Hudson Falls, NY, Granville Assessor Candidate Ed Burkhart, and Kingsbury Town Board Candidate April O'Hearn.


Washington County Democratic Chairwoman Sheila Comar welcomed guests to the Headquarters.


Ken Talkington, Budget Officer for WC Board of Supervisors and the Supervisor of the Town of Hebron, also spoke about the rise of the Democratic Party in Washington County.


Pictures with captions are below. All pictures by Richard E. Dudley.

From left to right: State Senate Candidate Tim Merrick, Mayor David Carter, Granville Assessor Candidate Ed Burkhart, Kingsbury Town Board Candidate April O'Hearn.



Below, Tim Merrick listens to Dave Carter with Ed Burkhart in rear.



Volunteer Patrick Layden and Washington County Chairwoman Sheila Comar.



Washington County Supervisor Ken Talkington and Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area coordinator Larry Dudley listen.



Another picture of Tim, Dave, Ed and April.


- posted by Larry Dudley @ 12:10 AM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Meeting Report: Contact WTEN, Endorsements, Canvass This Weekend
Hello Everyone;

In this update:

1. Emergency Action: "Path To 9/11" Outrage-- Contact WTEN
2. Report on Meeting: Endorsements
3. Meeting Report: Canvassing This Weekend -- Neighborhood Network
4. Tabling At Farmer's Market
5. Friday Film Fest
6. Kids For Peace

1. Emergency Action: "Path To 9/11" Outrage-- Contact WTEN

Before I get into last night's meeting-- I am sure most of you responded to last night's request from the DNC to contact ABC about the outrageous ABC TV two part dramatization of the events leading up to 9/11. As you have read, it tries to blame the Clinton administration and Democrats for the atrocity of 9/11. It's coldly calculated propaganda the Nazis would have been proud of. It's also obviously been in the works for awhile to help the Republicans fend off the Democratic challenge this year.

President Clinton, who is personally defamed by it, and probably should sue, is demanding it be rewritten or withdrawn. http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/bubba_goes_ballistic_on_abc_about_its_damning_9_11_movie_nationalnews_ian_bishop_________post_correspondent.htm That itself is extraordinary-- no former President has ever made such a complaint.

However, we can do something effective: the real pressure point is the local affiliates. They are actually licensed by the FCC, the networks are not. Their licenses are threatened by consumer complaints and licenses have been taken away in the past.

I would urge you to write our local ABC-TV affiliate, WTEN at news@wten.com and what I think is the General Manager, Bob Peterson at bob.peterson@wten.com (I got that off the conservative Parent's TV site, but that's what I think it is.)

Tell them how upset and unacceptable this situation is. Remind them that they are not obliged to carry Path To 9/11. (they aren't) They can run a movie. Let them know you are willing to complain to the FCC and ask for license revocation. Ask them to live up to the responsibilities of evenhandedness and fair play, and, above all, refuse to accept lying. Ask them to act like true Americans!

2. Report on Meeting: Endorsements:

Spitzer For Governor

We had a great meeting last night at the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe. After a brief discussion, we joined DFA groups across New York State in endorsing Eliot Spitzer, thanks to his embracing one of our signature issues, Paper Ballots, Optically Scanned. The vote was unanimous.

Mark Green For Attorney General

We also considered the hotly contested Attorney General's race. After discussion of the candidates, and also news reports that came out this week on Andrew Cuomo's relationship with real estate developer Andrew Farkas, the group decided to endorse Mark Green because of his long record of consumer advocacy. Green was a top aide at one time to Ralph Nader and is the former Consumer Protection Officer of New York City and its first elected Public Advocate. The office he ran in NYC was second only to the Attorney General's office and in many ways Green was doing consumer protection for the entire country.

I received more information on Cuomo and Farkas today -- in connection to this endorsement, I would urge you to check out this story at the Village Voice: http://villagevoice.com/generic/show_print.php?id=74361&page=lozano&issue=0636&printcde=MzQ3Mjg5MzQxMQ==&refpage=L25ld3MvaW5kZXgucGhwP2lzc3VlPTA2MzYmcGFnZT1sb3phbm8maWQ9NzQzNjE=

3. Meeting Report: Canvassing This Weekend -- Neighborhood Network

We also talked at length about what we can do going into the November Elections and we agreed to begin canvassing for the Neighborhood Network this weekend.

Going to greet people at their homes is the best way to connect voters and get them to vote Democratic. For one thing, it shows we care enough to make the effort.

Lisa Scerbo, who is already been connected with the Neighbor Network system showed everyone her materials and what she has been doing in Stillwater. (Thanks, Lisa, for a great presentation!) After that everyone was very interested and enthused and the group agreed to do a canvass Saturday afternoon.

Jessica Nowlin of the State Democratic Committee will be creating walk lists for us-- that way we do not have to hunt to find voters-- they are lined right up next to each other on the sheets. These will be voters we really want to reach. The approach is simple and straightforward -- we are asking them what the most important issue is to them-- our main job is to listen. Then we record their response.

We agreed on this schedule for Saturday: tabling at the Glens Falls Farmer's Market from 8 or 9am until about 11am. We will be discussing and organizing during the tabling.

Since we have been invited to the Grand Opening of the Washington County Headquarters in Fort Edward, we agreed to go down to Fort Edward from the Farmer's Market and then come back to Glens Falls and do the canvassing.

Please come down and join us for the canvassing -- or at least find out about it. We agreed to try and do this every Saturday, and maybe some week days, until the election.

Please contact me if you were not at the meeting and want to help with this very important effort!

4. Tabling At Farmer's Market

Again, we will also be tabling again at the Glens Falls Farmer's Market from 8-9am , until about 10:30am to 11am this Saturday. (As noted, some of us will be going to the opening of the Washington County HQ in Fort Edward.) We've been getting a pretty good response on this, so if you have a free couple of hours, please come and help.

For more info or to help: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=11210

5. Friday Film Fest
The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe Friday Night Progressive Film Festival Continues on Friday, September 8th at 8pm with

CONTROL ROOM (2002) Jehane Noujaim 86 min.
A rare film that is both timely and timeless: timeless because it explores the ancient and complex relationship between the Western and Arab worlds, timely because it reveals how satellite television has changed the way wars are reported – from news providers, driven by the patriotism of their audiences, to Army information officers, driven by military objectives. Control Room explores how Truth is gathered, presented, and ultimately created by those who deliver it. Official Selection - Sundance

6. Kids For Peace

It's never too early to get kids started on peace causes!

So take your kids to Kids for Peace -- “Around the World, Kids Chalking for Peace” will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. Sept. 16 at 280 Warren St., at the corner of Peck and Warren streets by the traffic light in downtown Glens Falls. This non-political event will bring together kids of all ages to create chalk drawings with the theme “world peace.”

This event is only one of many Chalk4Peace events taking place worldwide on Sept. 16.
The kids can also participate in a “Circle of Words,” when they will be able to give voice to their feelings and ideas about peace.
Music will be provided by guitarist Jamie Mandolare.
Bring your own chalk or use the chalk provided. For more information, call event coordinator Jean Santoro at 747-9568.

Thanks everyone! See you Saturday!

Larry Dudley
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 4:17 PM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: Big Meeting Wednesday! Autumn Action!
Hello Everyone and Happy Labor Day!

In this holiday update:


1. Glens Falls DFA Meeting Wednesday: DFNY Spitzer Endorsement and Autumn Action
2. Gillibrand On WAMC
3. Washington County HQ Gala Opening
4. Preston Jenkins Fundraiser
5. Tabling At Farmer's Market
6. Labor Day Reflections
7. Dean On Olbermann
8. Friday Film Fest

1. Glens Falls DFA Meeting Wednesday: DFNY Spitzer Endorsement

This is a reminder that Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area will be holding its September DFA-Linkup or "meetup" next week on Wednesday, September 6th at 7pm at the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe on Elm and Exchange Streets in downtown Glens Falls. For directions or info go to: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=10954

As we all know, voting integrity is a major DFA issue. Eliot Spitzer's position on this was unclear. However, this week, Spitzer endorsed the progressive voting option, Paper Ballots/Optically Scanned, known as PB/OS. With PB/OS we can be sure our votes are actually being counted.

This has been holding back a DFNY endorsement-- that is coming next week, and all our local groups have been invited to join in with our local endorsements on the 6th. So we will be discussing if we want to do an endorsement Wednesday.

To read the official DFNY Press Release on Spitzer's endorsement of PB/OS go to: http://www.dfalink.com/uploads/files/84544f7452a9244a/Spitzer%20PB_OS%20release%208-31-06.pdf

Autumn Action

We have to start thinking about what we can do to help the candidates we back get elected-- especially, how do we connect with voters to get them to actually go vote?

The answer is the Neighborhood Network, a modern plan to reach out engage voters by contacting our neighbors with a simple question; what's the most important issue to you? The state party is asking for our help with the Neighborhood Network; so we'll be talking about this more at our next meeting; we may also have a special guest from the State Committee.

Again, To RSVP: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=10954
For directions: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Exchange%20Street++Glens%20Falls+NY+12801&hl=en

2. Gillibrand On WAMC

Kirsten Gillibrand will be featured on WAMC’s Roundtable (90.3 FM) with Alan Chartock next week.
There will be three appearances on:
* Tuesday Sept. 5th, 10:50 am: Intro segment
* Wednesday Sept 6th, 10:50 am: Iraq
* Thursday Sept. 7th, 10:50 am: Iraq continued, and energy independence

3. Washington County HQ Gala Opening

From our Washington County Democratic Chair Sheila Comar:

"On Saturday, September 9th, at 143 Broadway in Ft. Edward there will be a grand opening of the Washington County Democratic Headquarters. Tim Merrick, David Carter and our local town candidates will be there plus Denise King from the NYS Democratic Party. It’s from 10 am to 12 noon and there will be refreshments."

It's also possible Kirsten Gillibrand will also attend.

4. Preston Jenkins Fundraiser

From Our Saratoga County Chair Larry Bulman:

“Come one come all to a Dinner with Preston Jenkins, cpa
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR SARATOGA COUNTY TREASURER

Prime rib buffet!
Donations: $35

WHEN: Friday, September 8th, 2006
TIME: 7:00 PM
WHERE: THE RACINO
DIRECTIONS: Take I-87 to exit number 13N- towards Saratoga Springs
Follow US-9 North for approximately 2 miles.
Turn RIGHT onto CRESCENT AVE.
Follow CRESCENT AVE. for approximately 1 mile.

The Saratoga Gaming and Raceway entrance is located on the left.

Please make checks payable to:

TheCommittee to Elect Preston Jenkins
PO Box 1104
south Glens Falls, NY 12803

Please RSVP by Tuesday, September 5, 2006 by contacting mary meade at 307-1855.

For more information, please call Mary Meade, 307-1855, Mary jenkins, 793-1130 OR Larry Bulman, 792-9157.

5. Tabling At Farmer's Market

We will again be tabling again at the Glens Falls Farmer's Market from 9am (or maybe earlier), until about 10:30am to 11am this Saturday. (Some of us will be going to the opening of the Washington County HQ in Fort Edward.) We've been getting a pretty good response on this, so if you have a free couple of hours, please come and help.

For more info or to help: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=11210

6. Labor Day Reflections

In honor of Labor Day a recent, and landmark piece by Howard Meyerson from the Washington Post, which is itself a reflection on an equally important piece in the New York Times is not to be missed. Observes Meyerson:

"wages and salaries now make up the lowest share of gross domestic product since 1947, when the government began measuring such things."
"Clearly, globalization has weakened the power of workers and begun to erode the egalitarian policies of the New Deal and social democracy that characterized the advanced industrial world in the second half of the 20th century."
"For those who profit from this redistribution, there's something comforting in being able to attribute this shift to the vast, impersonal forces of globalization. The stagnant incomes of most Americans can be depicted as the inevitable outcome of events over which we have no control, like the shifting of tectonic plates."
"Problem is, the declining power of the American workforce antedates the integration of China and India into the global labor pool by several decades. "

It is, as we all might expect, about politics, not only within our country, but within the Democratic Party. We have to reverse government support of pro-Walmart union busting economics that have marched continuously without a break since Ronald Reagan smashed the Air Traffic Controller's Unions nearly 25 years ago. A link to the original Times piece is also below.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/29/AR2006082901042.html?nav=hcmodule
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/28/business/28wages.html?ex=1157342400&en=0d05be8d165dc601&ei=5070

7. Dean On Olbermann

Governor Dean, still the clearest and the most forceful and forward lookng speaker of all our national leaders was recently on Keith Olbermann's show and it was almost as much a corker as Olbermann's Edward R. Murrow style dismissal of Donald Rumsfeld: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WYoQMGw4YE

8. Friday Film Fest

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe Friday Night Progressive Film Festival Continues on Friday, September 8th at 8pm with

CONTROL ROOM (2002) Jehane Noujaim 86 min.
A rare film that is both timely and timeless: timeless because it explores the ancient and complex relationship between the Western and Arab worlds, timely because it reveals how satellite television has changed the way wars are reported – from news providers, driven by the patriotism of their audiences, to Army information officers, driven by military objectives. Control Room explores how Truth is gathered, presented, and ultimately created by those who deliver it. Official Selection - Sundance

Thanks Everyone! Hope you all are having a great holiday today and are staying dry! See you all Wednesday!

Larry Dudley
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 4:02 PM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: Meeting Next week, Movies, Letters, Gillibrand and more
Hello Everyone;

First, hope you all have a great holiday weekend!

In This Update:


1. Meetup Next Week! Spitzer Joins DFA On PB/OS, Action Agenda For Fall
2. DFA October Movie Offer
3. Online Letter To Local Papers On "Red Handed" Threat
4. Kirsten Gillibrand To Be On WAMC
5. Progressive Film Fest Tonight
6. Fundraiser For Preston Jenkins For Saratoga County Treasurer
7. Tabling Saturday At Farmer's Market
8. Gov. Dean On Anniversary Of Katrina
9. Back Keith Olbermann

1. Meetup Next Week! Spitzer Joins DFA On PB/OS, Action Agenda For Fall

Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area will be holding its September DFA-Linkup or "meetup" next week on Wednesday, September 6th at 7pm at the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe on Elm and Exchange Streets in downtown Glens Falls. For directions or info go to: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=10954

There was discussion at an earlier meeting of meeting on the second Wednesday, but exciting news came in late this week from our state wide coalition, Democracy For New York. A group of our DFNY leaders have been negotiating an endorsement with the Spitzer For Governor campaign.

As we all know, voting integrity is a major DFA issue. Spitzer's position on this was unclear. However, this week, Eliot Spitzer endorsed the progressive voting option, Paper Ballots/Optically Scanned, known as PB/OS. With PB/OS we can be sure our votes are actually being counted.

If Florida had PB/OS state wide in 2000, Al Gore would be President now. Ossama would likely be in jail, there'd be no Iraq War, Roberts and Alioto would not be on the Supreme Court... well, you get the point, PB/OS matters. No more stolen elections, that's what this is about.

This is a major breakthrough for DFNY, and the team working on this: which included: Alan Goldston of Democracy for Westchester, John McBride and Andrew White of Democracy for the Hudson-Mohawk Region, Cynthia Kouril of Democracy for Long Island and David Kogelman of Democracy for New York City, deserve all our thanks.

This has been holding back a DFNY endorsement-- that is coming next week, and all our local groups have been invited to join in with our local endorsements on the 6th. So we will be discussing if we want to do an endorsement Wednesday.

Also on the agenda: we have to start thinking about what we can do to help the candidates we back get elected-- especially, how do we connect with voters to get them to actually go vote?

The answer is the Neighborhood Network, a modern plan to reach out to Democrats and likely Democratic voters by contacting our neighbors with a simple question; what's the most important issue to you? The goal is then to follow up later in the election season with a specific answer from our candidates. This approach-- basically listening first-- has been found to be far more effective than traditional, impersonal phone banking.

The state party is asking for our help with the Neighborhood Network; so we'll be talking about this more at our next meeting; we may also have a special guest from the State Committee.

Again, To RSVP: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=10954
For directions: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Exchange%20Street++Glens%20Falls+NY+12801&hl=en

We'll also be talking about the next item:

2. DFA October Movie Offer

Many of us will remember Robert Greenwald's previous work like Outfoxed and Walmart: The High Price Of The Low Price, which we showed last year.

This year DFA National is making us a special offer on Greenwald's newest and possibly most timely video-- Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers. Iraq For Sale takes you inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the reconstruction of Iraq. The film uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who let it happen. Halliburton, Dick Cheney and Republican leaders everywhere don't want you to see this movie.

If we can get 15 people to RSVP to attend this showing by September 23rd we can get our own free copy of Iraq For Sale. To RSVP click this link and hit the RSVP button on the side: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=12132

Once we have this copy we can show it as many times as we like and also loan it to others who wish to see it.

(Note: exact date and time are tentative-- we can talk about that at the meeting).

Again, will you help us with this by clicking http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=12132 and RSVPing? We need 15 RSVPs by September 23rd.

3. Online Letter To Local Papers On "Red Handed" Threat

If you read the Post Star this morning you will know that John Sweeney is threatening to sue because he doesn't like an ad Moveon.org has been running on area TV stations. (poor baby!)

Our Lisa Scerbo is circulating a letter/petition to area TV stations thanking them for running the ad (which was paid for by Moveon) and calling on them to stand firm against this kind of intimidation. You can add your name, too, by going to: http://where-did-my-country-go.blogspot.com/

The ads themselves and what one may or not think of them are not the issue. The issue is whether a member of congress can bully anyone out of their free speech rights. Again, http://where-did-my-country-go.blogspot.com/

Click "make a comment" at the bottom and leave your name.

4. Kirsten Gillibrand To Be On WAMC

Kirsten Gillibrand will be featured on WAMC’s Roundtable (90.3 FM) with Alan Chartock next week.
There will be three appearances on:
* Tuesday Sept. 5th, 10:50 am: Intro segment
* Wednesday Sept 6th, 10:50 am: Iraq
* Thursday Sept. 7th, 10:50 am: Iraq continued, and energy independence

This has been eagerly awaited for quite some time, so it's not to be missed!

5. Progressive Film Fest Tonight

The Friday Night Film Fest at the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe continues tonight at 8pm with:

LIFE & DEBT (2002) Stephanie Black 86 min.
“If you come to Jamaica as a tourist, this is what you will see …” These words are the jumping off point for a film that New York Times critic, Stephen Holden, says, “ … offers the clearest analysis of globalization and its negative effect that I’ve ever seen.” This scathing film is an unapologetic look at the “new world order” from the point of view of Jamaican workers and farmers, as well as government and policy officials. Features a dynamic soundtrack and a voice over based on text by Jamaica Kincaid.

(My apologies for not getting this out earlier-- I've taken some time off.)


6. Fundraiser For Preston Jenkins For Saratoga County Treasurer

From Our Saratoga County Chair Larry Bulman:

“Come one come all to a Dinner with Preston Jenkins, cpa
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR SARATOGA COUNTY TREASURER

Prime rib buffet!
Donations: $35

WHEN: Friday, September 8th, 2006
TIME: 7:00 PM
WHERE: THE RACINO
DIRECTIONS: Take I-87 to exit number 13N- towards Saratoga Springs
Follow US-9 North for approximately 2 miles.
Turn RIGHT onto CRESCENT AVE.
Follow CRESCENT AVE. for approximately 1 mile.

The Saratoga Gaming and Raceway entrance is located on the left.

Please make checks payable to:

TheCommittee to Elect Preston Jenkins
PO Box 1104
south Glens Falls, NY 12803

Please RSVP by Tuesday, September 5, 2006 by contacting mary meade at 307-1855.

For more information, please call Mary Meade, 307-1855, Mary jenkins, 793-1130 OR Larry Bulman, 792-9157.

(Note: for our folks outside Saratoga, the Raceway is the harness track, not the Flat Track)

7. Tabling Saturday At Farmer's Market

We will be tabling again at the Glens Falls Farmer's Market from 9am, until about 11am this Saturday. We've been getting a pretty good response on this, so if you have a free couple of hours, please come and help.

For more info or to RSVP go to: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=11209

However, we are watching Ernesto and hoping we miss it. Maybe more on that later.

8. Gov. Dean On Anniversary Of Katrina

Speaking of hurricanes, Governor Dean sent a statement out this week on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I had lunch with the Governor a year ago today, and he predicted then that Katrina would be THE turning point in American history when the right wing started to go down, and he clearly is right: For his comments and more to go: http://www.dnc.org/a/2006/08/dean_on_the_fai.php

9. Back Keith Olbermann

Finally, I hope no one missed Keith Olbermann's blast at Rumsfeld "fascist" speech this week.

There is often talk how Walter Cronkite started the end of the Vietnam War with his frank assessment after Tet. No one has that stature today, but Olbermann rises to that level of eloquence, anger and probity.

See it at: http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/08/30/keith-olbermann-delivers-one-hell-of-a-commentary-on-rumsfeld/

However, many people are worried that the network might retaliate again him. Write NBC to tell them you support Keith. The addresses are at: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/8/31/82620/4825

Many thanks everyone! See you tomorrow at the Market, Wednesday at the Cafe and don't forgot to RSVP for our free copy of Iraq For Sale: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=12132 We need 15 RSVP's by the 23rd.

Larry Dudley
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 2:48 PM 0 comments