Tricounty DFA Update: Bush Veto Alert, Meeting, DFA Conference, More
Hello Everyone!

In This Update:

1. Bush Veto Demo Alert
2. Meeting Wednesday
3. DFNY Conference Next Weekend
4. Keehn Announces
5. Saratoga DFA Meeting Monday, May 7
6. Friday Night Film Fest
7. On The Lighter Side


1. Bush Veto Demo Alert

One of the things we voted to do at our April Meeting was to hold a demonstration when Bush vetoed the Supplemental Bill with its timeline for ending the Iraq War. The Conference Committee finalized the bill and the House of Representatives passed it Tuesday. The Senate passed it Friday. Bush's veto is expected Tuesday or possibly Wednesday.

Accordingly, we agreed to rally for an hour at the intersection of Route Nine and Quaker Road in Queensbury. (This is because our usual rallying point in downtown Glens Falls is still torn up by the roundabout construction.) Since Tuesday is a work day, we agreed to gather at 5:30 on the veto day, whenever it occurs- again, presumably Tuesday or Wednesday. All I can say beyond that is stay tuned for further details. If the veto comes on Wednesday, we will not be able to hold the May DFA-Linkup meeting. We will just have to postpone until June. In effect, the rally/demonstration will be our meeting in that case.

2. Meeting Wednesday

If Bush's veto is not on Wednesday, then Wednesday, May 2nd, is our scheduled monthly DFA Linkup or Meetup at the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe in downtown Glens Falls at 7pm. We'll see a return of something those of us who began with Dean For America will remember fondly: a new "Letters To Iowa" campaign. We should have the materials by then.

Only we won't be writing to Iowa, but rather the winners of the current DFA All Stars Poll ( If you haven't voted, or know what this is about, go to: http://www.democracyforamerica.com/allstars ). This is a vote to select a few early Congressional races Democrats are looking to take from the Republicans in 2008. The winners will be known later this week, and, just the way we wrote to people in Iowa asking them to support Governor Dean, we will write to Democrats in those districts asking them to support the winners of the DFA All Stars Poll. It will be fun.

3. DFNY Conference Next Weekend

I will have more information on this tomorrow night, but the third annual Democracy For New York Conference is on at the SEIU hall in Albany on Saturday and Sunday May 5th and 6th.

Included on the speakers list are Jim Dean, Chair of DFA, Eric Massa, Democratic Candidate for the NY-29th CD, Amy Little, Campaign Manager of the successful John Hall for Congress campaign and Brian Keeler, NYBri, candidate for the New York State Senate and founder of The Albany Project blog, and Bo Lipari, Director and Founder of New Yorkers for Verified Voting. Saturday evening will featuring a showing of the film "Taking the Hill" a documentary about five veterans who ran for Congress in 2006 along with a buffet at the Schuyler Inn in Albany.

If you are interested, RSVP, or get more details at: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=17019

Again, I will have more details tomorrow and at the meeting.

4. Keehn Announces

I am sure many of us read in the papers about Mayor Valerie Keehn's announcement Monday that she would run for reelection in November. Our Saratoga DFA group endorsed Val two years ago and the clean sweep won by the Democrats in Saratoga Springs in the 2005 elections brought attention across the country. It should be an interesting year in Saratoga.

Watch for important postings on this race and others on our blog at http://townmeetingday.blogspot.com .

5. Saratoga DFA Meeting Monday, May 7

On the same note, I am pleased to announced that Saratoga Springs DFA will be holding meetings again starting Monday, May 7th at 7pm.

As many of us know, Pat Friesen started the Saratoga meetups during the Dean campaign and did a great job. But Pat is now working for Rep. Gillibrand, so Sally Kirouac has agreed to take them on.

There are major races for City council coming up this year.

Sally sends this along:

"Dear Friends,
Please attend Talk with Mayor Valerie Keehn on Monday, May 7, 2007 at
7:00 PM. You can RSVP at:
http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=19886
The DFA of Saratoga Springs endorsed Valerie Keehn for mayor in 2005.
She was elected and has served for 16 months. Now she is facing
another Democratic primary in September and election in November.
Mayor Keehn will talk about what she has accomplished during her time
in office and what she hopes to accomplish in a second term.

"Those present at this DFA meeting will decide whether to endorse Mayor
Keehn for reelection.

What: Talk with Mayor Valerie Keehn
When: Monday, May 7, 2007, 7:00 PM
Where: Home of Sally Kirouac
21 Horseshoe Drive
Saratoga Springs NY 12866"

Many thanks to Pat for all her very hard work in the past!

6. Friday Night Film Fest

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe's Friday Night Progressive Film Fest continues at 7:30 with"

Apr 27 THE ROAD TO GUANTANAMO (2006) Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross 95 min.
The post-9/11 climate found the U.S. government resorting to many unorthodox methods to quash the perceived threat from further terrorist attacks. None was more controversial or more headline-grabbing than the detainment camp set up in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which was constructed to imprison and interrogate Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives captured by U.S. soldiers. Prolific British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom (9 SONGS) turns his cameras on the camp with this true story of three innocent British 20-something Muslims who were captured and held at Guantanamo for two years. Winterbottom cleverly marries extensive interview footage with the three men--Asif Iqbal, Ruhel Ahmed, and Shafiq Rasifknown, collectively known as the Tipton Three--with nerve-jarring reconstructive footage of what happened to them. After traveling to Pakistan for a wedding, the three men set out on an intrepid explora

7. On The Lighter Side

In times like these we do need some humor. Rik sends this along:

One night, George W. Bush is tossing restlessly in his White House bed. He awakens to see George Washington standing by him.
Bush asks him, "George, what's the best thing I can do to help the country?"
"Set an honest and honorable example, just as I did," Washington advises, and then fades away...
The next night, Bush is astir again, and sees the ghost of Thomas Jefferson moving through the darkened bedroom. Bush calls out,
"Tom, please! What is the best thing I can do to help the country?"
"Respect the Constitution, as I did," Jefferson advises, and dims from sight...
The third night sleep still does not come for Bush. He awakens to see the ghost of FDR hovering over his bed. Bush whispers,
"Franklin, What is the best thing I can do to help the country?"
"Help the less fortunate, just as I did," FDR replies and fades into the mist...
Bush isn't sleeping well the fourth night when he sees another figure moving in the shadows. It is the ghost of Abraham Lincoln.
Bush pleads, "Abe, what is the best thing I can do right now to help the country?"
Lincoln replies, "Go see a play."

Thanks everyone; watch for alerts on the veto protest!

Larry Dudley

Labels: Democracy For America, DFA, Glens Falls, Iraq Timeline, Iraq War, protest, Rally, Supplemental Bill

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 11:43 PM