Tricounty DFA Update: Step It Up, Write In Hess, Dr. Dean On Healthcare and Vampires!
Hello Everyone!

First-- A Happy Halloween to you all!

In This Update:

1. A Second Step It Up 2007 Day For Glens Falls
2. More On Write In Candidate Henry Hess
3. Governor Dean Gives Democratic Response
4. Andrew White: It's All Howard Dean's Fault
5. Vampires!
6. Author Justin Franks Video
7. Friday Night Film Fest


1. A Second Step It Up 2007 Day For Glens Falls

Last Spring we sponsored the first Step It Up event to combat Global Warming in our area. The City of Glens Falls is now following with a great series of events on Saturday, Nov. 3rd.

STEP IT UP! Glens Falls: “Building a Cool City”
When: November 3, 2007 – All Day
Where: Downtown Glens Falls
Purpose: How to cope with Global Warming as individuals and as a city, through local, state and federal governments

You’re invited: Bike, roller-blade, walk, car-pool, take the bus to downtown Glens Falls. Don’t get left behind! Reduce your carbon-footprint.

Event Schedule

10:00 Farmers Market - South St.
• Entertainment by Bill Campbell, biking information and tips. Meet people who use their bikes to commute. Local food and snacks, solar oven cooking, biodiesel info-samples, get to know the Toyota hybrid Prius with Jim Stegman.

11:30 Entertainment by C.E. Skidmore - City Park, Bay St/Maple St

12:00 Rally for the Planet - City Park
• Mayor Roy Akins: Making Glens Falls a Cool City. Remarks by Lisa Manzi for Kirstin Gillibrand. Invited guests Betty Little, Theresa Sayward, and a representative from the Sierra Club. Check out a Honda hybrid car with Michael D’ella Bella. Children activities and Group photos. Awards made to people who use their bikes to commute.

1:00 Presentations and Exhibitors - Wood Theater
Presentation Schedule
• 1-1:45 Jim Kunstler - Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century
• 2-2:45 Barton Mines/Green Builders/NYSERDA panel
• 3-3:45 groSolar’s Carbon Challenge - How solar energy works in your home.
• 4-4:30 Seth Jacobs - Local Agriculture as Part of the Solution

5:30 Movie: The Eleventh Hour - Aimie's Dinner and Movie, 190 Glen St. 518.792.8181

TBA Music Three Dimensional Figures - Rock Hill Café

Contacts
• Judy V White Email: jvwhite2004@yahoo.com
• Ruth Lamb Email: cooperlamb@yahoo.com Phone: (518) 761-6125



2. More On Write In Candidate Henry Hess

You probably saw the article a few days ago on Henry Hess and a write in campaign for Queensbury Town Supervisor. Kathy Sonnabend and Chris Strough have sent the following message on this very interesting effort:

"For those of you who are not happy with current Queensbury Town Supervisor Dan Stec, there is an option. Henry Hess has agreed to a write-in campaign. Henry is qualified and competent, and would be a huge improvement over the entrenched machine politics."

"Our mechanical voting machines have a row of levers across the very top. If you pull down the lever that is above the Town Supervisor's column, you can write in the name of Henry Hess. If you are uncertain, ask a poll worker to show you before you enter the booth (or even after you enter the booth). If they don't know how, make sure they find someone who does. If there is no paper in the machine, make sure they get that fixed, before anyone votes who is interested in a write-in."

"When I was a poll watcher for the 2006 election, many of the poll workers seemed unfamiliar with write ins, and we discovered that one of the machines was missing the paper roll. Any poll worker or poll watcher should have the telephone number of the Warren County Board of Elections and call them to have the machine examed quickly."

"If you don't want to vote for Henry Hess, then at least don't vote for Stec."

"You might think "what's the point?" It is true that write-in candidacies rarely succeed, but it will send a message to Stec and the machine that he does not have a complete mandate."

Here is what Henry sent to The Post Star and The Chronicle. The Post Star has not responded to him, but The Chronicle has agreed to cover it.
"It is unfortunate that neither the Democratic nor Conservative Parties were
able to recruit a candidate to run for Queensbury Town Supervisor. Not that
I oppose all that the current Supervisor is doing. However, I begrudge any
elected official the right to elect him/her self with their own single vote.
Without opposing candidates, the voting public has only two options: vote,
or withhold their vote, for the sole candidate. Either way, that sole
candidate receives 100% of votes cast and believes he/she has an unanimous
mandate to continue business as usual.

I have been asked several times to consider a formal candidacy for the
Queensbury Town Supervisor position. But, as I proved four years ago in my
principled, respectable, but not-quite-successful, run for Warren County
Treasurer, I don't have the 'stuff' of a political candidate. My successful
professional career has been based on credentials, expertise, and
performance, not cultured political popularity, and I'm just a bit too set
in my ways to adapt.

Once the candidates for General Election were finalized after the Primary,
some concerned citizens continued to share their views with me about the
current state of local government (both Town and County), and about our lack
of choice for a Town leader. So, when asked a couple weeks ago if I would
consent to a write-in candidacy, I agreed.

But my agreement was not with an expectation of winning, since write-in
campaigns are generally hopeless. However, they are not pointless. In fact,
being able to write-in a candidate of choice allows the voter to bridge the
the closed-end Party selection process. Getting your write-in
candidate elected is rare, but a concerted effort by a few voters sends a
signal that the sole-candidate did not win unanimously.

Last Friday's Post-Star headline said I'm not 'running'. Actually, I think I
am running - I'm just not campaigning. What you read here is pretty much it.
This is the only chance for me to share with Queensbury voters my platform
and my promises.

My platform:

to maintain dignity, decorum, and maturity in the conduct of government
business
without discouraging the civil exchange of bona-fide opinions. I believe
that the best decisions are derived from diverse perspectives;

to treat residents - whether or not voters or taxpayers - as
constituents deserving fair and respectful treatment;

to supervise the operations of Town government as a transparent
bureaucracy not shrouded in duplicity, assuring that all departments and
staff conform to these basic, ethical, governmental tenets: compliance with
laws; fair and courteous treatment of constituents; accountability to
taxpayers;

fiscally conservative spending and financial management;

to pursue economic growth that is compatible with environmental
realities - when doubt exists about the balance between ecology and economy,
I instinctively lean toward ecology.

My promises:

to fulfill my platform;

to assure long-term financial health of the town;

to measure the contribution of all Town public servants and hold them
accountable for their conduct;

to use my vote on the County Board of Supervisors to pursue the same
values I bring to the Town.

For those voters who would like to passively send a message to Town
government, my write in candidacy offers the chance."

3. Governor Dean Gives Democratic Response

To my mind, we can never heard enough from Governor Dean: the low quality of the debate and discussion in this Presidential season is largely determined by his absence-- think how differently we were discussing the great issues of the day four years ago, and how exciting it was.

Saturday, Dean gave the Democratic response to Bush on the Children's Healthcare program:

"WASHINGTON -- Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean on Saturday criticized Republicans in Congress for not supporting legislation to expand a popular children's health care program.

"The Republican leaders have made their choice. They want to stay in Iraq and deny our kids health care," Dean said in the party's weekly radio address."

For the full address: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/27/AR2007102700615.html?hpid=sec-health

4. Andrew White: It's All Howard Dean's Fault

Speaking of Howard Dean, Jim Dean today gave a big online boost to Andrew White, who is running for Supervisor of Stephentown which is west of Troy. Andrew was the long time leader of Democracy For Hudson Mohawk Area down in the Capital District. Andrew well deserves the DFA-List for all his work for DFA over the years alone, and has out up a slightly (but only slightly) tongue in cheek posting-- "It's All Howard Dean's Fault." Congratulations Andrew!

Check it out at: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/30/133143/37

5. Vampires!
It's Halloween, so I couldn't pass up this appeal from Consumer's Union: Do you know there may be a vampire in your wallet?

"It is time that you know the spooky truth: like vampires in the night, credit card companies suck nearly $8 billion annually from consumer’s wallets in fees alone!

This Halloween, tell Congress you want tough new laws that take the poltergeists out of your pocket and end creepy credit card rip-offs.

6. Author Justin Franks Video


Hilary McLellan sends along this interesting video interview with author Justin Franks. http://youngturks.vo.llnwd.net/o1/8-9-07JFrank.wmv

Franks has developed a sophisticated psychiatric analysis of George Bush junior in his book "Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of a President is the title of a 2004 book by psychoanalyst Justin Frank. The central premise of Frank's book is that President George W. Bush, as an untreated alcoholic, is in constant danger of a relapse. Further, in Frank's opinion, Bush manifests the symptoms of a dry drunk, principally irritability, judgmentalism and a rigid, unadaptable world view." For more from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_on_the_Couch



7. Friday Night Film Fest


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

Friday Nov 2
AN UNREASONABLE MAN (2006) Henriette Mantel & Steve Skrovan 122 min.
As quietly provocative as its thoughtful protagonist, Steve Skrovan and Henriette Mantel's galvanizing documentary, AN UNREASONABLE MAN, examines how one of the 20th century's most admired and indefatigable social activists, Ralph Nader, became a pariah among the same progressive circles he helped champion. Utilizing the standard documentary formula of archival footage, talking-head interviews, and the occasional computer-animated graphic, the film deftly traces Nader's life and career with a robust, lively pace that follows him from his upbringing in a Lebanese immigrant family that took its commitment to civic engagement very seriously (the family discussed politics at the dinner table and attended town-hall meetings together) to his role as t he leading consumer advocate of the 1960s and '70s (when he took on the automobile industry and became responsible for many safety features modern consumers take for granted, such as seatbelts and airbags). But the film really picks up steam--and takes the form of an impassioned public debate--when it tackles the contentious 2000 and 2004 presidential runs that elicited accusations of splitting the Democratic vote and enabling the election of George W. Bush, making enemies of Nader's most ardent supporters (including celebrity pundits Michael Moore and Bill Maher; liberal journalists Eric Alterman and Todd Gitlin; and even former members of Nader's own advocacy group, Nader’s Raiders) while cementing the continued respect of fellow activists like Mark Green and James Ridgeway. That all these figures appear on screen--alongside such disparate political luminaries as Phil Donahue, Pat Buchanan, and Nader himself--stands as a testament to the film's balanced approach, one that!makes a nonpartisan plea that such a lifelong crusader for social jus tice not be remembered as a mere "spoiler," but as a consummate public advocate and a living example of the average citizen's power to participate in the democratic process.

Thanks everyone! Happy Halloween Again!

Larry
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 12:42 AM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: DFA Pressures Gore, Forums, Write-Ins and more
Hello Everyone;

In This Update:

1. DFA Calls For Final Gore Decision
2. Candidate Forums Thursday
3. Write In Campaign In Queensbury
4. Gillibrand At Binleys
5. NY Times: "With Democrats Like These..."
6. Howard Dean Interview & Article
7. Friday Night Film Fest


1. DFA Calls For Final Gore Decision

Yesterday DFA's new Executive Director. Arshad Hasan, issued a call for Al Gore to make a final decision on whether or not he is willing to enter the race for President. http://blogforamerica.com/view/22676

Four years ago there were similar efforts to draft Gore, by many of the same people doing so now. Gore called them up and asked them not to stop. He has not done so this year. Many people would like to support him. Gore substantially leads in DFA's pulse poll (Denise Kucinich leads otherwise). But what appears to be Gore's dithering is in fact paralyzing the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. If you want to urge him to get off the fence (one way or the other-- you can get contact info at: http://www.draftgore.com/


2. Candidate Forums Thursday

Kathy and Pell send along these candidate forums:

The Warren County League of Women Voters will be hosting a candidate debate on Thurs. Oct. 25th at 7pm at the ACC Scoville Learning Center, Rm. 206.
Going first will be candidates for the Queensbury Town Board, then Warren County Treasurer. You will have the opportunity to submit written questions for the candidates.

The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation and Saratoga P.L.A.N will host a candidate forum on land conservation issues and building preservation at the Lake Avenue School on Thursday, October 24th at 7pm. For more go to: http://www.saratogapreservation.org


3. Write In Campaign In Queensbury

Chris Strough informs me that there is now a write-in candidate against Town Supervisor Dan Stec.

"Henry Hess, former Qby Comptroller, highly educated, ethical man who Mr. Stec railroaded out of Queensbury has agreed to be a write-in candiate for Town Supervisor. Henry has a long history of governmental accounting and was responsible for Queensbury's very favorable bond rating. Hess, is also a past President of the Warren County Historical Society. As we have seen so often, anyone with talent and intelligence is ofter perceived as "competition" and therefore and "enemy" of Team Stec (George and Dan). Rather than embrace John & Richard's intelligence and hard work on behalf of the citizens Team Stec has fought, smeared reputations, discredited, all in an effort to elevate his own standing at the expense of the community. Roger Boor, who brought the destruction of French Mountain to the forefront also has been badly maligned by the republican machine."

"Dan Stec has failed miserably to move anything productive in Queensbury. His only interest is to serve the people in Qby he feels will send him on to Albany, those who enrich the pots of the republican machine."


4. Gillibrand At Binleys

From Liza Manzi in Rep. Gillibrand's Glens Falls office:

"Congresswoman Gillibrand will be at Binley Florist and Garden Center located at the corner of Dix Ave and Quaker Rd in Queensbury to hold Congress At Your Corner this Saturday at 2:30. If you’d like to come and speak with her about issues that are important to you, she would love to see you!"


5. NY Times: "With Democrats Like These..."

On the subject of Congress, there was an extraordinary, must read editorial in the New York Times Saturday. It starts out:

"Every now and then, we are tempted to double-check that the Democrats actually won control of Congress last year. It was particularly hard to tell this week. Democratic leaders were cowed, once again, by propaganda from the White House..."
and it ends with:
"It was bad enough having a one-party government when Republicans controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. But the Democrats took over, and still the one-party system continues."

The specifics of The Time's charge is the FISA spying law. But it applies equally across a variety of issues-- agreeing to provide funds to keep sending troops to Iraq, failure to investigate impeachable crimes, doing nothing about gross offenses against the Constitution like secret rendition, and more.

Obviously, if Congress simply specified in budget bills that no funds could be expended to move troops into Iraq, when the tours of duty of those troops already there expire, they would have to be returned home without replacement and the garrison there will thus be reduced. SInce the longest tours of duty are 15 months, the simple measure of specifying that no money can be spent to move troops over would effectively have us out in year. But that has not happened.

The entire piece is at the bottom.

6. Howard Dean Interview & Article

A clarion voice we have not heard of much lately has been in the news: Howard Dean was featured in a article in the Times and also in an interview after an appearance in Oregon. As always, Dean is a breath of fresh air.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/us/politics/21dean.html?em&ex=1193112000&en=6bd9589625812f51&ei=5087%0A
http://www.blueoregon.com/2007/10/a-few-minutes-a.html

7. Friday Night Film Fest

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

Friday Oct 26
THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED (2006) Kirby Dick 98 min. Grade = 83%
Passionate cinephiles can be found casting quizzical glances at the erratic and often conflicting decisions made by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) as they slap ratings onto movies. So in an attempt to make sense of their working methods--which, until now, have remained shrouded in mystery--one of those cinephiles, Kirby Dick (TWIST OF FAITH), has made this full-length motion picture about the inner workings of the MPAA. Dick begins by examining the MPAA's set-up as an anonymous group that is exclusively funded by the major Hollywood studios. Fundamentally established to prevent children's eyes from seeing anything society would consider unsuitable, the MPAA has blossomed into a powerful force, with the difference between an R and an NC-17 rating possibly leading to mill! ions of dollars forfeited at the box office. Actors and directors such as John Waters, Maria Bello, Mary Harron, and Kevin Smith offer their forthright opinions on these decisions, and Dick highlights many of the clips that have fallen foul of the censors. The director also compares and contrasts similar scenes from indie pictures and films produced by major studios, with the latter seemingly allowed far more leniency when it comes to avoiding the dreaded NC-17. In a wonderful twist that adds a strong narrative structure to the film, Dick hires a private detective to hunt down the MPAA's members, thereby lifting the curtain on who these shadowy figures actually are. But the real cherry on the top of Dick's movie is his submission of THIS FILM HAS NOT YET BEEN RATED to the MPAA, which helps highlight the appeals process, and reveals the involvement of the Catholic Church and major cinema chains across the country. Entertaining and informative, Dick's movie is everything a do! cumentary should be. Revelations come thick and fast throughout, and t he director skillfully creates a palpable feeling of injustice that will leave many viewers feeling the MPAA is in urgent need of a drastic overhaul.


Thanks, everyone! Don't miss the piece below,

Larry




EDITORIAL
With Democrats Like These ...

Every now and then, we are tempted to double-check that the Democrats actually won control of Congress last year. It was particularly hard to tell this week. Democratic leaders were cowed, once again, by propaganda from the White House and failed, once again, to modernize the law on electronic spying in a way that permits robust intelligence gathering on terrorists without undermining the Constitution.

The task before Congress was to review and improve an update to the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA, that was pushed through the Capitol just before the summer break. That bill endorsed warrantless wiretapping and gutted other aspects of the 1978 law.

House Democrats drafted a measure that, while imperfect, was an improvement to the one passed this summer. But before the House could vote, Republicans tied up the measure in bureaucratic knots and Democratic leaders pulled it. Senate Democrats did even worse, accepting a Potemkin compromise that endorsed far too much of the bad summer law.

We were left wondering who is really in charge, when in a bipartisan press release announcing the agreement, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Kit Bond, described the bill as “a delicate arrangement of compromises” that could not be changed in any way. The committee’s chairman, Jay Rockefeller, didn’t object.

As the debate proceeds, Americans will be told that the delicate compromises were about how the government may spy on phone calls and electronic messages in the age of instant communications. Republicans have already started blowing hot air about any naysayers trying to stop spies from tracking terrorists.

No one is doing that. The question really is whether Congress should toss out chunks of the Constitution because Mr. Bush finds them inconvenient and some Democrats are afraid to look soft on terrorism.

FISA requires a warrant to spy on communications within the United States or between people in this country and people abroad. After 9/11, Mr. Bush ordered the National Security Agency to spy, without a warrant, on communications between the United States and other countries. The N.S.A. obtained data from American telecommunications companies by telling them it was legal.

After The Times disclosed the program in late 2005, Mr. Bush looked for a way to legalize it retroactively. He found it this summer. FISA also requires a warrant to intercept strictly foreign communications that happen to move through data networks in the United States.

That Internet age flaw has a relatively simple fix. But the White House seized the opportunity to ram through the far broader bill, which could authorize warrantless surveillance of Americans’ homes, offices and phone records; permit surveillance of Americans abroad without probable cause; and sharply limit the power of the court that controls electronic spying.

Democrats justified their votes for this bad bill by noting that the law expires in February and by promising to fix it this fall. The House bill did, in fact, restore most judicial safeguards. But the deal cooked up by Mr. Rockefeller and the White House doesn’t. It would not expire for six years, which is too long. And it would dismiss pending lawsuits against companies that turned data over to the government without a warrant.

This provision is not primarily about protecting patriotic businessmen, as Mr. Bush claims. It’s about ensuring that Mr. Bush and his aides never have to go to court to explain how many laws they’ve broken. It is a collusion between lawmakers and the White House that means that no one is ever held accountable. Democratic lawmakers said they reviewed the telecommunications companies’ cooperation (by reading documents selected by the White House) and concluded that lawsuits were unwarranted. Unlike them, we still have faith in the judicial system, which is where that sort of conclusion is supposed to be reached, not in a Senate back room polluted by the politics of fear.

There were bright spots in the week. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon managed to attach an amendment requiring a warrant to eavesdrop on American citizens abroad. That merely requires the government to show why it believes the American is in league with terrorists, but Mr. Bush threatened to veto the bill over that issue.

Senator Christopher Dodd, the Connecticut Democrat, said he would put a personal hold on the compromise cooked up by Senator Rockefeller and the White House.

Otherwise, it was a very frustrating week in Washington. It was bad enough having a one-party government when Republicans controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. But the Democrats took over, and still the one-party system continues.
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 12:21 AM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: REVISED TIME On Keehn Fundraiser, DFA Pulse Poll, More
Hello Everyone!

In This Special Update;

1. Alert On REVISED TIME For Keehn/Gillibrand Fundraiser
2. Gillibrand In Moreau
3. Gore Leading In DFA Pulse Poll
4. Rudy Rising?


1. Alert On REVISED TIME For Keehn/Gillibrand Fundraiser

The schedule for Sunday's fundraiser for the reelection of Mayor Valerie Keehn featuring a special guest, Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, has been revised.

Guests are now being asked to "please arrive between 3:30 and 3:40pm due to a last minute schedule change for Rep. Gillibrand, who will arrive promptly at 4pm and must leave at 4:30pm." The Keehn campaign apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.

The event is called "Sunday at Sargo's"

Saratoga National Golf Club, Union Avenue, Saratoga Springs.
Sunday, October 21st from 4 - 6 pm
Suggested contribution $50.
cash bar • hors d’oeuvres
Kindly RSVP by Oct. 18 • 581-8924 or pgussey@msn.com

Join Val and Kirsten at Sargo’s, but if you can’t make it, please show your support for the Mayor’s re-election with your generous contribution.

Directions to Sargo's at Saratoga National from I-87 (Northway)
http://www.golfsaratoga.com/directions.html

You can contribute via PayPal at www.MayorKeehn.com


2. Gillibrand In Moreau

Rep. Gillibrand will also be holding an open public forum on Health Care Affordability, Sunday, October 21st, at 1:00pm at the Moreau Community Center, 144 Main Street, South Glens Falls.


3. Gore Leading In DFA Pulse Poll

Former Vice President Al Gore is leading in the DFA Pulse poll announced earlier this week.

This is a pretty amazing showing, considering he has garnered the most support without his name being on the ballot; all of his votes are write-ins, whereas all the other nine candidates not only have their names on the Pulse Poll ballot, but their pictures as well.

http://democracyforamerica.com/pulsepoll

If you haven't voted, you should. If one candidate gets 66% of the vote, that candidate will get DFA's endorsement. Below that level, the winner can get state wide endorsements. Since tonight Gore seems to be gaining almost 1% per hour, and the poll lasts until November 5th, it seems possible he might get it. The other candidates are pretty much tracking in place without much movement vis-a-vis each other.

Gore has not officially declared, but he placed campaign type videos on his network, Current TV, earlier this week, and the effort to draft him continues. Four years ago Gore called the organizers of that seasons Draft Gore effort and asked them to stop. No calls have been made asking anyone to stop anything this year.


4. Rudy Rising?

Growing interesting in Gore may be due to the continuing rise of Rudy Giuliani on the Republican side of the Presidential contest, and people in NYC who know Rudy best, are starting to sweat. That makes for this must read from the New York Observer: http://www.observer.com/2007/rudy-s-doin-it

"Norman Siegel, who served as the director of the New York Civil Liberties Union during Mr. Giuliani’s tenure as mayor, said, “I’ve been saying to people in New York, especially the liberal community that I’m proud to be part of, that unless the truth is revealed about the real Rudy, he could win, and not just the Republican nomination, but the presidency as well. Most people in New York look at me, and they say ‘no way.’ They say it can’t happen. The political leadership in New York is underestimating him. They are really in political denial. I say to people, ‘You better wake up.’”

Thanks everyone!

Larry

Labels: Al Gore, Climate Change, Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, DFA, Draft Gore, Gillibrand, Giuliani, Glens Falls, Gore, Iraq War, Larry Dudley, Valerie Keehn

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 11:50 PM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: Gore, Fundraisers, Picnics, more
Hello Everyone;

In This Update:

1. Gore Tipping His Hat?
2. Four Years Ago
3. Gillibrand Responds
4. Fundraiser For Keehn
5. Washington County Democratic Women's Luncheon
6. Halfmoon Democratic Picnic
7. Your Right To Know
8. More You Tube
9. Friday Night Film Fest


1. Gore Tipping His Hat?

As we all know, on Friday former Vice President Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for his environmental leadership.

This has produced enormous speculation on Gore's future plans. Will he run for reelection as President? Today, without warning, Gore posted three short campaign-type videos to his network, Current-TV's website. They are on Iraq, Healthcare and Protecting Our Civil Rights. You can find them linked off of this page at dKos:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/15/11302/103

If he's not running, or getting ready to run-- well, I can't imagine what he is doing this for. Gore's last book, The Assault On Reason, discusses in detail the problems with America's current media system. Is Gore preparing to go around the media that so unscrupulously and rather immaturely trashed him in 2000? Wage a net-bsed campaign and talk directly to voters, very much the way our leaders used to? The new word for that is disintermediation. We'll see. But it's worth noting that his network, Current TV, is a highly innovative concept filled with user generated content. It could be Gore is preparing to run a conceptually different campaign, very much the way Governor Dean did four years ago.


2. Four Years Ago

And speaking of four years ago, exactly four years ago this month, the Dean For America campaign was exploding here and everywhere. Dean had just come off the record breaking Sleepless Summer Tour, which brought out rock concert sized crowds. We've still never seen anything like it. The Dean campaign was getting the bulk of attention and support, but it's important to note there were still people coming out and actively working for Kucinich, Edwards and Clark. There were no small number of people who were enthused about them, too. The energy was incredible and people were popping out of the woodwork left and right. But right now, there is absolutely nothing going on. Except for Krista up at ACC working for Obama, no one is doing anything for anyone. That's pretty startling when you stop and think about it. I think that speaks volumes as to what people think of the current crop of Presidential candidates, really, in both parties. Don't believe this stuff you hear about people being satisfied with the candidates. If they were, there'd be more goin' on.


3. Gillibrand Responds

At our last meeting we passed a resolution asking Rep. Gillibrand to co-sponsor, HR. 3119, which would required Bush to come to Congress to ask permission to attack Iran, as the Constitution requires.

She has responded:

"I want to thank you for contacting me regarding this very serious issue and I appreciate your advocacy."

"As you stated in your letter, an attack in Iran at this time could further destabilize and enflame an already dangerous part of the world. This is why I supported two important amendments to the National Defense Authorization Bill. The first amendment prohibited funds from the bill to be used for panning for military operations in Iran. The second amendment I supported clarified that no previous authorizations constituted an authorization for the use of force against Iran without Congressional authority.

"I believe this Administration has not acted in American's best interest when it comes to our foreign policy, and that Congress must reclaim its authority and to 'check and balance' the Executive Branch."

"As an American, and a Member of the House Armed Services Committee, I am deeply concerned about the well-being of our Military and the effects that these extended deployments overseas have on them and their loved ones. That is why I voted in support of legislation sponsored by my colleague from California, Mrs. Tauscher that would require the Department of Defense to uphold mandatory minimums for rest and recuperation four our troops, Reservists and National Guard. H.R. 3159, Ensuring Military readiness Through Stability and Predictability Deployment Policy Act, garnered bipartisen support, and passed the House on August 2, 2007."

"I thank you again for your hard work and advocacy on this man many other critical issues, and look forward to my next opportunity to visit with you."

"SIncerely,
Kirsten Gillibrand
Member of Congress"

I have to admit I am a bit puzzled that she never addresses the gist of our resolution and message, HR, 3119, but it is a good letter on this issue, nonetheless.


4. Fundraiser For Keehn

Rep. Gillibrand will be appearing as a special guest at a fundraiser for the reelection of Mayor Valerie Keehn, "Sunday at Sargo's"

Saratoga National Golf Club, Union Avenue, Saratoga Springs.
Sunday, October 21st from 4 - 6 pm
Suggested contribution $50.
cash bar • hors d’oeuvres
Kindly RSVP by Oct. 18 • 581-8924 or pgussey@msn.com

Join Val and Kirsten at Sargo’s, but if you can’t make it, please show your support for the Mayor’s re-election with your generous contribution.
Directions to Sargo's at Saratoga National from I-87 (Northway)
http://www.golfsaratoga.com/directions.html

You can contribute via PayPal at www.MayorKeehn.com


5. Washington County Democratic Women's Luncheon

You Are Invited To The Washington County Democratic Women’s Luncheon Friday, October 19th, 2007, 12 noon - 2 pm at the Cambridge Hotel, Cambridge, NY. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door.

Featured Speaker: Barbara Bartoletti, Legislative Director of the NYS League of Women Voters.
Plus Guests: Atty. Peter Tulin – Democratic candidate for Supreme Court Justice in NY’s 4th JD and Lisa Manzi – Regional representative from Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand’s office

Special Musical Presentation: Bob Warren performing excerpts from “Only the Message Mattered” – his original song cycle and narrative about the life and times of Susan B. Anthony

For reservations, contact luncheon coordinators: Ellen Faber at 677-8345 or Sheila Comar at 642-9566 or mail checks (made out to WCDC) to Ellen Faber, 100 East Main Street, Cambridge, NY 12816.

For more info go to http://www.washingtoncountydemocrats.com

6. Stillwater Democratic Picnic

The Stillwater Democrats will hold their Fall picnic, raffle and silent auction on October 19th from 6-8pm at the Post 490 Legion Hall, Lake Street, Stillwater. Sausage and peppers, hamburgers, hotdogs, salads, beverages and deserts will be served. The picnic will benefit candidates Supervisor Greg Connors, Councilwoman Joan Ronda, Council Candidate Brian Merrell, Justice Candidate Maria Morris and Tax Collector Carol Ford.


7. Your Right To Know

The Presidency of the United States is the most important and powerful office in the world. Accordingly, those who seek it are rightfully held to the highest standard of scrutiny. That did not happen in 2000 with George Bush, or, arguably, in 1980 or 84 with Ronald Reagan.

Dick sends along a piece from Mother Jones magazine that calls for a close reading. Dick observes,

"We received an invitation today to join the Clinton team from people we respect and like. However, there are questions about Hillary that need answering. They are not simple questions and probably won't be satisfied by simple answers. However, they should be answered. Among those might be, To what extent is she just using them and vice versa. For those of you who don't like long posts: sorry but sometimes it is necessary.

"Don't miss this gem: "That's how it works: The Fellowship isn't out to turn liberals into conservatives; rather, it convinces politicians they can transcend left and right with an ecumenical faith that rises above politics. Only the faith is always evangelical, and the politics always move rightward."

"Yours, Dick Dudley"

"p.s. I think this article is of substance."

Please read the entire Mother Jones article at the bottom.

8. More You Tube

Saratoga DFA member and videographer Roger Wyatt has more videos up on YouTube on politics in the Spa City:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIglHxp8VIU

This is another example of new media in action.

8. Friday Night Film Fest

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

Fri. Oct 19 AMERICAN BLACKOUT (2006) Ian Inaba 86 min. Grade = 73%
A stylish, intelligent, and provocative documentary that looks at the historic and systematic disenfranchisement of the black vote through the lens of the political career of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-Georgia). George W. Bush's narrow victory in 2000 launched an historic investigation into Florida's election process. Public focus was on dysfunctional ballots and the Supreme Court litigation, but Inaba's inquiry leads him to Congresswoman McKinney, who investigated the private company hired by the state of Florida to generate voter lists, which effectively shut out the black vote and handed Bush an unlikely victory. While tracking McKinney's career, Inaba reveals a host of ways in which black political power is systematically squelched, ranging from the slander that assailed McKinney when she stood up to the Bush administration on 9/11 and Iraq, to the political machinations that disempowere! d the black vote in the Georgia Democratic primaries and the Ohio presidential election in 2004. Inaba reminds us that African Americans have long fought a war inside our country for their right to vote, and unfortunately that war rages on today. American Blackout emotionally revitalizes the core of our power as American citizens–the right to vote–and effectively reveals that the fate of black voters is inextricably tied to the fate of all Americans.


Thanks, everyone!

Larry

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MotherJones.com News Feature

Hillary's Prayer: Hillary Clinton's Religion and Politics
For 15 years, Hillary Clinton has been part of a secretive religious group that seeks to bring Jesus back to Capitol Hill. Is she triangulating? or living her faith?

Kathryn Joyce and Jeff Sharlet
September 01 , 2007

It was an elegant example of the Clinton style, a rhetorical maneuver subtle, bold, and banal all at once. During a Democratic candidate forum in June, hosted by the liberal evangelical group Sojourners, Hillary Clinton fielded a softball query about Bill's infidelity: How had her faith gotten her through the Lewinsky scandal?

After a glancing shot at Republican "pharisees," Clinton explained that, of course, her "very serious" grounding in faith had helped her weather the affair. But she had also relied on the "extended faith family" that came to her aid, "people whom I knew who were literally praying for me in prayer chains, who were prayer warriors for me."

Such references to spiritual warfare?prayer as battle against Satan, evil, and sin?might seem like heavy evangelical rhetoric for the senator from New York, but they went over well with the Sojourners audience, as did her call to "inject faith into policy." It was language that recalled Clinton's Jesus moment a year earlier, when she'd summoned the Bible to decry a Republican anti-immigrant initiative that she said would "criminalize the good Samaritan...and even Jesus himself." Liberal Christians crowed ("Hillary Clinton Shows the Way Democrats Can Use the Bible," declared a blogger at TPMCafe) while conservative pundits cried foul, accusing Clinton of scoring points with a faith not really her own.

In fact, Clinton's God talk is more complicated?and more deeply rooted?than either fans or foes would have it, a revelation not just of her determination to out-Jesus the gop, but of the powerful religious strand in her own politics. Over the past year, we've interviewed dozens of Clinton's friends, mentors, and pastors about her faith, her politics, and how each shapes the other. And while media reports tend to characterize Clinton's subtle recalibration of tone and style as part of the Democrats' broader move to recapture the terrain of "moral values," those who know her say there's far more to it than that.

Through all of her years in Washington, Clinton has been an active participant in conservative Bible study and prayer circles that are part of a secretive Capitol Hill group known as the Fellowship. Her collaborations with right-wingers such as Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and former Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) grow in part from that connection. "A lot of evangelicals would see that as just cynical exploitation," says the Reverend Rob Schenck, a former leader of the militant anti-abortion group Operation Rescue who now ministers to decision makers in Washington. "I don't....there is a real good that is infected in people when they are around Jesus talk, and open Bibles, and prayer."

Clinton's faith is grounded in the Methodist beliefs she grew up with in Park Ridge, Illinois, a conservative Chicago suburb where she was active in her church's altar guild, Sunday school, and youth group. It was there, in 1961, that she met the Reverend Don Jones, a 30-year-old youth pastor; Jones, a friend of Clinton's to this day, told us he knows "more about Hillary Clinton's faith than anybody outside her family."

Because Jones introduced Clinton and her teenage peers to the civil rights movement and modern poetry and art, Clinton biographers often cast him as a proto-'60s liberal who sowed seeds of radicalism throughout Park Ridge. Jones, though, describes his theology as neoorthodox, guided by the belief that social change should come about slowly and without radical action. It emerged, he says, as a third way, a reaction against both separatist fundamentalism and the New Deal's labor-based liberalism.

Under Jones' mentorship, Clinton learned about Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich?thinkers whom liberals consider their own, but whom young Hillary Rodham encountered as theological conservatives. The Niebuhr she studied was a cold warrior, dismissive of the progressive politics of his earlier writing. "He'd thought that once we were unionized, the kingdom of God would be ushered in," Jones explains. "But the effect of those two world wars and the violence that they produced shook his faith in liberal theology. He came to believe that the achievement of justice meant a clear understanding of the limitations of the human condition." Tillich, whose sermon on grace Clinton turned to during the Lewinsky scandal, today enjoys a following among conservatives for revising the social gospel?the notion that Christians are to improve humanity's lot here on earth by fighting poverty, inequality, and exploitation?to emphasize individual redemption instead of activism.

Niebuhr and Tillich's combination of aggressiveness in foreign affairs and limited domestic ambition naturally led Clinton toward the gop. She was a Goldwater Girl who, under the tutelage of her high school history teacher Paul Carlson (whom Jones describes as "to the right of the John Birchers"), attended biweekly anticommunist meetings and later served as president of Wellesley's Young Republicans chapter. Out of step with the era's radicalism, Clinton wrote Jones from college, lamenting that her fellow students didn't believe that one could be "a mind conservative and a heart liberal." To Jones, this question indicated that Clinton shared Niebuhr's notion of Christians needing to have "a dark enough view of life that they can be realistic about what's possible."

Two decades later, while Bill was campaigning for president, Clinton picked up that theme once more, displaying a theological depth that conservative believers could appreciate. In an interview with the United Methodist Reporter, she expressed regret that her church had focused too much on social gospel concerns in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, "to the exclusion of personal faith and growth." The spirit, believe theological conservatives, matters more than the flesh. Clinton added that she was happy to see her liberal denomination becoming more salvation centered in the '90s.

When Clinton first came to Washington in 1993, one of her first steps was to join a Bible study group. For the next eight years, she regularly met with a Christian "cell" whose members included Susan Baker, wife of Bush consigliere James Baker; Joanne Kemp, wife of conservative icon Jack Kemp; Eileen Bakke, wife of Dennis Bakke, a leader in the anti-union Christian management movement; and Grace Nelson, the wife of Senator Bill Nelson, a conservative Florida Democrat.

Clinton's prayer group was part of the Fellowship (or "the Family"), a network of sex-segregated cells of political, business, and military leaders dedicated to "spiritual war" on behalf of Christ, many of them recruited at the Fellowship's only public event, the annual National Prayer Breakfast. (Aside from the breakfast, the group has "made a fetish of being invisible," former Republican Senator William Armstrong has said.) The Fellowship believes that the elite win power by the will of God, who uses them for his purposes. Its mission is to help the powerful understand their role in God's plan.

Clinton declined our requests for an interview about her faith, but in Living History, she describes her first encounter with Fellowship leader Doug Coe at a 1993 lunch with her prayer cell at the Cedars, the Fellowship's majestic estate on the Potomac. Coe, she writes, "is a unique presence in Washington: a genuinely loving spiritual mentor and guide to anyone, regardless of party or faith, who wants to deepen his or her relationship with God."

The Fellowship's ideas are essentially a blend of Calvinism and Norman Vincent Peale, the 1960s preacher of positive thinking. It's a cheery faith in the "elect" chosen by a single voter?God?and a devotion to Romans 13:1: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers....The powers that be are ordained of God." Or, as Coe has put it, "we work with power where we can, build new power where we can't."

When Time put together a list of the nation's 25 most powerful evangelicals in 2005, the heading for Coe's entry was "The Stealth Persuader." "You know what I think of when I think of Doug Coe?" the Reverend Schenck (a Coe admirer) asked us. "I think literally of the guy in the smoky back room that you can't even see his face. He sits in the corner, and you see the cigar, and you see the flame, and you hear his voice?but you never see his face. He's that shadowy figure."

Coe has been an intimate of every president since Ford, but he rarely imposes on chief executives, who see him as a slightly mystical but apolitical figure. Rather, Coe uses his access to the Oval Office as currency with lesser leaders. "If Doug Coe can get you some face time with the President of the United States," one official told the author of a Princeton study of the National Prayer Breakfast last year, "then you will take his call and seek his friendship. That's power."

"If you're going to do religion in public life," concurs Schenck, a Jewish convert to fundamentalist Christianity who's retained his sense of irony, Coe's friendship is a kind of "kosher...seal of approval."

Coe's friends include former Attorney General John Ashcroft, Reaganite Edwin Meese III, and ultraconservative Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.). Under Coe's guidance, Meese has hosted weekly prayer breakfasts for politicians, businesspeople, and diplomats, and Pitts rose from obscurity to head the House Values Action Team, an off-the-record network of religious right groups and members of Congress created by Tom DeLay. The corresponding Senate Values Action Team is guided by another Coe prot駩, Brownback, who also claims to have recruited King Abdullah of Jordan into a regular study of Jesus' teachings.

The Fellowship's long-term goal is "a leadership led by God?leaders of all levels of society who direct projects as they are led by the spirit." According to the Fellowship's archives, the spirit has in the past led its members in Congress to increase U.S. support for the Duvalier regime in Haiti and the Park dictatorship in South Korea. The Fellowship's God-led men have also included General Suharto of Indonesia; Honduran general and death squad organizer Gustavo Alvarez Martinez; a Deutsche Bank official disgraced by financial ties to Hitler; and dictator Siad Barre of Somalia, plus a list of other generals and dictators. Clinton, says Schenck, has become a regular visitor to Coe's Arlington, Virginia, headquarters, a former convent where Coe provides members of Congress with sex-segregated housing and spiritual guidance.

We contacted all of Clinton's Fellowship cell mates, but only one agreed to speak?though she stressed that there's much she's not "at liberty" to reveal. Grace Nelson used to be the organizer of the Florida Governor's Prayer Breakfast, which makes her a piety broker in Florida politics?she would decide who could share the head table with Jeb Bush. Clinton's prayer cell was tight-knit, according to Nelson, who recalled that one of her conservative prayer partners was at first loath to pray for the first lady, but learned to "love Hillary as much as any of us love Hillary." Cells like these, Nelson added, exist in "parliaments all over the world," with all welcome so long as they submit to "the person of Jesus" as the source of their power.

Throughout her time at the White House, Clinton writes in Living History, she took solace from "daily scriptures" sent to her by her Fellowship prayer cell, along with Coe's assurances that she was right where God wanted her. (Clinton's sense of divine guidance has been noted by others: Bishop Richard Wilke, who presided over the United Methodist Church of Arkansas during her years in Little Rock, told us, "If I asked Hillary, 'What does the Lord want you to do?' she would say, 'I think I'm called by the Lord to be in public service at whatever level he wants me.'")

Coe counsels that Fellowship cells shouldn't engage in direct evangelical activism, but rather allow Christian causes to benefit from the bonds that develop within the cells. Former Nixon counsel Chuck Colson provides a rare illustration of the process in his 1976 Watergate memoir, Born Again. Facing prosecution in 1973, Colson allowed Coe to ensconce him in a Fellowship cell with a Nixon foe, Senator Harold Hughes. Hughes became the Nixon hatchet man's staunchest defender, voting in favor of a possible pardon for Colson and later supporting Colson as he built Prison Fellowship, now one of the most powerful organizations of the Christian right.

That's how it works: The Fellowship isn't out to turn liberals into conservatives; rather, it convinces politicians they can transcend left and right with an ecumenical faith that rises above politics. Only the faith is always evangelical, and the politics always move rightward.

This is in line with the Christian right's long-term strategy. Francis Schaeffer, late guru of the movement, coined the term "cobelligerency" to describe the alliances evangelicals must forge with conservative Catholics. Colson, his most influential disciple, has refined the concept of cobelligerency to deal with less-than-pure politicians. In this application, conservatives sit pretty and wait for liberals looking for common ground to come to them. Clinton, Colson told us, "has a lot of history" to overcome, but he sees her making the right moves.

These days, Clinton has graduated from the political wives' group into what may be Coe's most elite cell, the weekly Senate Prayer Breakfast. Though weighted Republican, the breakfast?regularly attended by about 40 members?is a bipartisan opportunity for politicians to burnish their reputations, giving Clinton the chance to profess her faith with men such as Brownback as well as the twin terrors of Oklahoma, James Inhofe and Tom Coburn, and, until recently, former Senator George Allen (R-Va.). Democrats in the group include Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor, who told us that the separation of church and state has gone too far; Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) is also a regular.

Unlikely partnerships have become a Clinton trademark. Some are symbolic, such as her support for a ban on flag burning with Senator Bob Bennett (R-Utah) and funding for research on the dangers of video games with Brownback and Santorum. But Clinton has also joined the gop on legislation that redefines social justice issues in terms of conservative morality, such as an anti-human-trafficking law that withheld funding from groups working on the sex trade if they didn't condemn prostitution in the proper terms. With Santorum, Clinton co-sponsored the Workplace Religious Freedom Act; she didn't back off even after Republican senators such as Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter pulled their names from the bill citing concerns that the measure would protect those refusing to perform key aspects of their jobs?say, pharmacists who won't fill birth control prescriptions, or police officers who won't guard abortion clinics.

Clinton has championed federal funding of faith-based social services, which she embraced years before George W. Bush did; Marci Hamilton, author of God vs. the Gavel, says that the Clintons' approach to faith-based initiatives "set the stage for Bush." Clinton has also long supported the Defense of Marriage Act, a measure that has become a purity test for any candidate wishing to avoid war with the Christian right.

Liberal rabbi Michael Lerner, whose "politics of meaning" Clinton made famous in a speech early in her White House tenure, sees the senator's ambivalence as both more and less than calculated opportunism. He believes she has genuine sympathy for liberal causes rights for women, gays, immigrants but often will not follow through. "There is something in her that pushes her toward caring about others, as long as there's no price to pay. But in politics, there is a price to pay."

In politics, those who pay tribute to the powerful also reap rewards. When Ed Klein's attack bio, The Truth About Hillary, came out in 2005, some of her most prominent defenders were Christian conservatives, among them Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler. "Christians," he declared, "should repudiate this book and determine to take no pleasure in it."

Senator Brownback understood the temptation. He used to hate Clinton so much, he told us, that the hate hurt. Then came the Clintons' 1994 National Prayer Breakfast appearance with Mother Teresa, who upbraided the couple for their pro-choice views. Bill made no attempt to conceal his anger, but Hillary took it and smiled. Brownback remembers thinking, "Now, there's gotta be a great lesson here." He didn't know what it was until Clinton got to the Senate and joined him in supporting DeLay's Day of Reconciliation resolution following the 2000 election, a proposal described by its backers as a call to "pray for our leaders." Now, Brownback considers Clinton "a beautiful child of the living God."

Clinton, for her part, turned Mother Teresa's sucker punch into political opportunity. She met with the nun after the prayer breakfast, visited her orphanage in India, helped her set up another one in Washington (which has since become an apparently inoperative branch of Mother Teresa's conservative Vatican order, the Missionaries of Charity), and generally built a highly visible friendship with a figure whose moral bona fides also came with an anti-abortion imprimatur that couldn't but help Clinton on the right.

Of course, no matter how much Clinton speaks of common ground, she doesn't stand a chance of winning votes among pro-lifers. As Tom McClusky of the Family Research Council, command central for Washington's Christian right, told us, movement conservatives consider legislation like Clinton's Putting Prevention First Act, which supports greater access to birth control and sex ed, "just another condom giveaway."

But the senator's project isn't the conversion of her adversaries; it's tempering their opposition so she can court a new generation of Clinton Republicans, values voters who have grown estranged from the Christian right. And while such crossover conservatives may never agree with her on the old litmus-test issues, there is an important, and broader, common ground?the kind of faith-based politics that, under the right circumstances, will permit majority morality to trump individual rights. The libertarian Cato Institute recently observed that Clinton is "adding the paternalistic agenda of the religious right to her old-fashioned liberal paternalism." Clinton suggests as much herself in her 1996 book, It Takes a Village, where she writes approvingly of religious groups' access to schools, lessons in Scripture, and "virtue" making a return to the classroom.

Then, as now, Clinton confounded secularists who recognize public faith only when it comes wrapped in a cornpone accent. Clinton speaks instead the language of nondenominationalism?a sober, eloquent appreciation of "values," the importance of prayer, and "heart" convictions which liberals, unfamiliar with the history of evangelical coalition building, mistake for a tidy, apolitical accommodation, a personal separation of church and state. Nor do skeptical voters looking for political opportunism recognize that, when Clinton seeks guidance among prayer partners such as Coe and Brownback, she is not so much triangulating much as that may have become second nature as honoring her convictions. In her own way, she is a true believer.
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 12:52 AM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: Al Gore Wins Noble Prize
Hello Everyone;

You may know by now that Vice President Al Gore today was awarded the Noble Peace Prize. Anyone who saw his movie, The Inconvenient Truth, at our meeting earlier this year would not doubt how well deserved this award is, just for his environmental work alone.

Gore sent this message out in response to this honor:

"I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. This award is even more meaningful because I have the honor of sharing it with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change--the world's pre-eminent scientific body devoted to improving our understanding of the climate crisis--a group whose members have worked tirelessly and selflessly for many years. We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level."

"My wife, Tipper, and I will donate 100 percent of the proceeds of the award to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan non-profit organization that is devoted to changing public opinion in the U.S. and around the world about the urgency of solving the climate crisis."

"Thank you,

Al Gore"

Senator Schumer, on behalf of the DSCC, sent out a message and a link we can use to congratulate Gore on this great day: http://www.democratsenators.org/o/4/t/90/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=79&BOOL18=1

Democrats.com also sent out a link for those who wish to urge the man who won the most votes for President in 2000 to enter the race again: http://www.democrats.com/run-al-gore

Gore is the man who was right about everything- the environment, the war, the economy, our corrupt politics, the decline of average Americans, and whether he ever runs for office again, his leadership, and leadership like his, is desperately needed. Before ending this message, I would recommend the following "must read" of the week from columnist Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post, which I will paste below. It's perfect for this moment because, since December 2000, when the Supreme Court staged a judicial coup d'état and stole the White House from Al Gore-- and the American people, we have all been the silenced majority.

Thanks everyone! See you all soon,

Larry



The Silenced Majority

By Harold Meyerson
Wednesday, October 10, 2007; Page A17



We are condemned, the smart guys tell us, to stay in Iraq. None of the three leading Democratic presidential candidates will pledge to remove all U.S. forces by 2013. In the think-tankocracy of Washington, defense intellectuals of both parties argue that pulling up stakes is not an option.

"Some of the people mentioned as possible defense secretaries under a Democratic White House," The Post's Thomas E. Ricks reported last month, "offer a vision of a U.S. presence in Iraq that does not differ markedly from that of the Bush administration." Even the fantastical idea floated by Defense Secretary Robert Gates -- that U.S. forces should settle into a permanent presence in Iraq as they have in South Korea -- seems to have won at least tacit acceptance among many defense deep thinkers.

Everyone's on board except the American people, but what do they matter?

When the Pew Research Center polled Americans in September, it found 54 percent support for bringing U.S. forces home immediately or over the next two years. Thirteen percent said we should keep troops in Iraq but set a timetable for withdrawal, while 25 percent favored keeping troops there and not setting a timetable. Pew didn't ask if we should station forces there for half a century, as we have in Korea. Maybe the pollsters' lawyers told them they might be held liable if they asked a question that induced cardiac arrest.

In the past several years there's been great concern about the erosion of individual rights as a consequence of the Bush administration's "war on terror" and war in Iraq. I share this concern. But the administration's critics, myself included, have been remiss in noting a development even more corrosive to American democracy -- the erosion of majority rule.

A fundamental premise of democracy is that elections matter. That belief is being tested today as it seldom has before. In 2006, the Republicans were swept from power in Congress because the American electorate had had it with the war and with Congress's unquestioning acquiescence to President Bush's blind and obdurate faith in the eventual success of the American mission. In responding to the election by sending more troops to Iraq and keeping these troops there until the limits of our manpower compel their return next year, Bush merely doubled down on his unwinnable bet on his unwinnable war.

Congressional Democrats have honorably tried and failed to scale back the war; the Senate's requirement of a 60-vote supermajority to alter policy requires supermajority support from the public for an altered Senate. And looking at the tea leaves for 2008, a heavily Democratic Senate and a Democratic president may well be swept into power.

They won't be, however, if Democratic voters have despaired of the efficacy of elections. For millions of Democrats, the contested verdict of 2000 and the overturned verdict of 2006 -- war is repudiated, war is escalated -- were bad enough. The killer for Democratic prospects would be if millions of Democrats believed that a President Clinton, or Obama, or Edwards, would keep a significant number of troops in Iraq, too.

On this particular, Democratic primary voters do have some choices.

Many of Hillary Clinton's foreign and military policy advisers, such as Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution, supported the war at first, then criticized its conduct, then supported the surge. On the war, at least, they could as easily be providing advice to John McCain. The same cannot be said of the majority of foreign and military policy mavens aligned with her two chief rivals.

Recently, Clinton herself resurrected old doubts about her foreign policy judgment that she had managed to tamp down over the past half-year by favoring a timeline for the withdrawal of most U.S. forces. In voting for the Lieberman-Kyl legislation that deemed Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization, she opened the door for Bush and Vice President Cheney to charge into Iran, or its airspace, with what they would claim to be congressional permission.

Clinton insists that the resolution provides no such permission, but she should know by now that this administration will take an errant cough as permission. These are, after all, the same folks who construed the half-million-vote deficit of the 2000 election as a mandate.

If Democrats are to win in 2008, it will be because they represent a decisive break, not a partially veiled continuity, with George Bush's policies, and with his war policies most of all. The Democratic candidates, Clinton especially, need to assure voters that their voice matters more than those of the Beltway theorists who supported the war at the outset and still can't contemplate ending the occupation. They need to assure voters, in short, that they take democracy in America seriously.
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 4:18 PM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: Saratoga Debate Tonight, Endorsements, Picnics, more
Hello Everyone;

In This Update:


1. Saratoga Springs Mayor Debate Tonight
2. Saratoga DFA Endorses Ron Kim For Reelection
3. Halfmoon Democratic Picnic
4. Washington County Democratic Women's Luncheon
5. Stillwater Democratic Picnic
6. Congress Caving On FISA?
7. Friday Night Film Fest


1. Saratoga Springs Mayor Debate Tonight

There will be open debate tonight, Tuesday, October 9th, between Saratoga Springs candidates for Mayor, including Democracy For Saratoga Springs endorsed candidate Mayor Valerie Keehn, and for Commissioner of Finance. The debate will be held in the Loewenberg Auditorium of the Saratoga Springs High School, One Blue Streak Boulevard, starting at 7:00 PM, on Tuesday. The event is open to the general public and is sponsored by the Saratoga League of Women Voters.

2. Saratoga DFA Endorses Ron Kim For Reelection

Ron Kim, incumbent Public Safety Commissioner of Saratoga Springs, was unanimously endorsed for reelection by Democracy for Saratoga Springs at a meeting on Monday, October 8th at the home of Democracy For Saratoga Springs Host/Coordinator Sally Kirouac.

Mr. Kim spoke extensively about the need for a new $17,000,000 police station. According to Kim, the current station is 123 years old and the cost for a new facility has escalated about 67% since the proposal was originally turned down by the City Council in 2003. He also spoke to the need for a new fire station. Saratoga Spring's present two fire stations must cover 29 square miles. In most cities a single fire station is responsible for 2 to four square miles.

Kim suggested that financing for such facilities and other infrastructure would be much more feasible were the City's debt limit raised from 2% to at least 3% of assessed valuation. The state mandates no more than 7% and no other city in the state restricts this limit further. Mr. Kim also answered questions related to traffic and crime downtown, the safety and functionality of City Hall and parking and other issues.

According to Democracy For Saratoga Springs Host Sally Kirouac, "It is clear that Ron Kim strives for integrity, accountability and transparency in city government. He works well with the various departments in his purview, successfully negotiating contracts for five separate bargaining units. He works closely with our Mayor, Valerie Keehn. He has fought hard against obstructionist opponents and has sought ways to move important projects forward in a constructive and positive fashion. He deserves the endorsement of Democracy for America."

3. Halfmoon Democratic Picnic

The Halfmoon Democratic Picnic will be held this Saturday, October 13th from 1-4pm at the Halfmoon-Waterford Firehouse, 315 Middletown Road, Waterford, NY. The event will benefit candidate Jeffrey Harnett and the Halfmoon Democratic Committee. Tickets at $10 and kids under twelve are free. Hamburg, hotdogs and the usual picnic fixin's will be served. For more info to to: http://www.halfmoondemocrats.com


4. Washington County Democratic Women's Luncheon

You Are Invited To The Washington County Democratic Women’s Luncheon Friday, October 19th, 2007, 12 noon - 2 pm at the Cambridge Hotel, Cambridge, NY. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door.

Featured Speaker: Barbara Bartoletti, Legislative Director of the NYS League of Women Voters.
Plus Guests: Atty. Peter Tulin – Democratic candidate for Supreme Court Justice in NY’s 4th JD and Lisa Manzi – Regional representative from Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand’s office

Special Musical Presentation: Bob Warren performing excerpts from “Only the Message Mattered” – his original song cycle and narrative about the life and times of Susan B. Anthony

For reservations, contact luncheon coordinators: Ellen Faber at 677-8345 or Sheila Comar at 642-9566 or mail checks (made out to WCDC) to Ellen Faber, 100 East Main Street, Cambridge, NY 12816.

For more info go to http://www.washingtoncountydemocrats.com

5. Stillwater Democratic Picnic

The Stillwater Democrats will hold their Fall picnic, raffle and silent auction on October 19th from 6-8pm at the Post 490 Legion Hall, Lake Street, Stillwater. Sausage and peppers, hamburgers, hotdogs, salads, beverages and deserts will be served. The picnic will benefit candidates Supervisor Greg Connors, Councilwoman Joan Ronda, Council Candidate Brian Merrell, Justice Candidate Maria Morris and Tax Collector Carol Ford.


6. Congress Caving On FISA?

In the news in the NY Times today is a starling report that the Democratic leadership in Congress is preparing to give the Bush administration a new blank check for extraordinary spying powers. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/washington/09nsa.html?bl&ex=1192075200&en=a1a4efc5ede9a0e4&ei=5087%0A

Under the FISA law, which worked fine, the government had to go to a special court to get permission to wiretap American's phones or spy on their messages. In what is probably the most humiliating episode since the new Congress was sworn in back in January, in August the White House stampeded Congress into granting it sweeping new powers that verged on the kind of powers exercised by totalitarian states. The fear of being accused of being "soft on terror" apparently has some Democrats shaking in their boots.

When one considers than many historians feel that the American Revolution really began with James Otis' famous Writs Of Assistance case in 1761 (the Writs gave Royal authorities analogous powers to enter and spy ), we've reversed the American Revolution and gone from one King George to another.

For a thorough and excellent take, read today's Glenn Greenwald in Salon: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/?last_story=/opinion/greenwald/2007/10/09/fisa/

In fairness, there are some good things in the new bill. But on the whole, why would Congress even consider giving a blatant lawbreaker like Bush any new powers at all? In what way can such a man be trusted with such powers?

7. Friday Night Film Fest

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe will be holding a special screening and presentation Friday night as 7:30 as part of its weekly progressive Film Fest:

Fri. Oct 12
* Special Event * REESE ERLICH - Booksigning w/Discussion on Iran 7:30 pm
Reese Erlich is a reporter from the Christian Science Monitor and an author as well. His new book is "The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis". He will be at Rock Hill Cafe to read from and sign his new book but also to lead a discussion about our impending war with Iran. Following Mr. Erlich will be a screening of "Independent Media: In a Time Of War". The film was made by Hudson Mohawk Independent Media Center in Troy and centers on a speech given by Amy Goodman (in Troy) about the corporate media's coverage of "Shock and Awe" and about the media's drums of war. Apropos considering the current drumbeat concerning Iran. 40 minutes

Thanks everyone!

Larry
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 4:20 PM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: Meeting Report, Much More
Hello Everyone;

In this update:

1. Meeting Report: Resolution On Iran
2. No Decision On Presidential Primaries
3. Report On Precinct System & Think Precinct
4. Local Races: Queensbury
5. Saratoga DFA Monday: Meet Commissioner Ron Kim
6. Seven Straight Days
7. Washington County Democratic Women's Luncheon
8. Gore Tipped To Win Next Week
9. Step It Up 2007 For November
10. Friday Night Film Fest


1. Meeting Report: Resolution On Iran

We had a good turnout and a productive meeting Wednesday night at the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe.

Discussion quickly turned to the danger of a new war with Iran. There was general agreement there was a grave danger Bush would widen the war. Rosemary Weinberg brought everyone's attention to HR. 3119, a bill that would require the President to come to Congress for permission before any attack on Iraq. A resolution was adopted unanimously to urge our Congressional representatives to support Hr. 3119 and also SR. 759, the Senate equivalent, which Senator Clinton has already cosponsored. The resolution also thanks Senator Clinton for her support.

I sent it out Thursday and also sent it to DFA National in Burlington, where Communications Director Sheri Divers was kind to feature on the front page of Blogforamerica.com. You can see it at: http://blogforamerica.com/view/22459


2. No Decision On Presidential Primaries

We also discussed at some length the DFA National Agenda item for October-- DFA and the upcoming Presidential Primaries. We were pleased to have Krista Kammerer present, who is working for Obama at ACC and recently did a three day training internship with the Obama campaign. She gave us her view and why she supports Obama. However, nothing was decided, and there was a consensus we needed to wait to see what Al Gore is going to do.


3. Report On Precinct System & Think Precinct

We also discussed DFA's Tuesday Night Training Academy session on precinct organizing, which Lisa Scerbo and I sat in on. It was a terrific session with the DNC's Training Director, rolling out the national plan by DNC Chair, Governor Dean, to put a precinct organizer in all 203,000 precincts nationally. (In NYS we call precincts Election Districts-- they are not to be confused with wards.)

Each precinct organizer will be able to access the new DNC voter database for their area, and also update it interactively ( this really is politics for the 21st century!).

Voter contact is what wins elections today. Here's one extraordinary statistic from Tuesday's session: what does it take to get one new voter? The answer is 389 pieces of mailed literature, 460 phone calls or 14 canvass visits. You read that right-- fourteen canvass calls, where a volunteer goes door to door talking to neighbors, works better than hundreds of pieces of literature or phone calls. Times have changed and canvassing is far and away the only option. In fact, the DNC apparently no longer recommends phone banking at all.

They also talked about the Democracy For Colorado Think Precinct system, which has the best precinct organizing manual I've seen.

You can still get hear the Training Academy session and view the slide show at: http://www.democracyforamerica.com/nightschool go to October 2.
Also, Think Precinct is at: http://democracyforcolorado.com/thinkprecinct The manual is great, and it is free, you have to sign in to get it.


4. Local Races: Queensbury

At the meeting Dough Auer also updated us on the races in Queensbury, where Roger Boor and Dick Sanford, are now running on the Democratic ticket for Town Board. They were cross endorsed by the Democrats in Queensbury, and then knocked off the Republican line in the primary by a sleazy last minute mailing. Doug reports that turning back the "Old Boy Network" in Queensbury is critical to the area. The machine is really trying to knock them out.

So there's a big Democratic ticket in Queensbury that needs suport: John Strough, who we endorsed earlier, Davide Strainer and Dick Mason, along with Roger Boor and Dick Sanford. We'll have more info on how we can help later.


5. Saratoga DFA Monday: Meet Commissioner Ron Kim

Democracy For Saratoga Springs host Sally Kirouac will be hosting a DFA Link-Up meeting on Monday, October 8, 2007 at 7:00 PM. The meeting will feature a talk with Saratoga Springs Public Safety Commissioner Ron Kim.

For more info and to RSVP go to: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=23915

What: Talk with Ron Kim
When: Monday, October 8, 2007, 7:00 PM
Where: Home of Sally and George Kirouac
21 Horseshoe Drive
Saratoga Springs NY 12866


6. Seven Straight Days

Kate Austin is organizing for Seven Straight Days, and sends this along:

"Seven Straight Nights is a nationwide event put on by straight people in support of LGBT rights. It will take place Sunday, October 7th at 4:00 pm in City Park - we will have several guest speakers, and afterward we will head over to Rock Hill for a showing of "After Stonewall". Straight people are necessary at the event to show support for the gay community, and gay people are needed to show up and be appreciated!"

"More info can be found at www.sevenstraightnights.org or http://tinyurl.com/3b5k2o - I'm the contact person, Kate Austin, kate@aephemera.net or 353-2121."

"There is also a rally going on outside of Senator Bruno's office on Broadway in Saratoga at 1:00 pm on Saturday, October 13th. Details on the rally can be found here: http://www.soulforce.org/pdf/seven_straight_nights_new_york.pdf "


7. Washington County Democratic Women's Luncheon Oct. 19

You Are Invited To The Washington County Democratic Women’s Luncheon Friday, October 19th, 2007, 12 noon - 2 pm at the Cambridge Hotel, Cambridge, NY. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door.

Featured Speaker: Barbara Bartoletti, Legislative Director of the NYS League of Women Voters.
Plus Guests: Atty. Peter Tulin – Democratic candidate for Supreme Court Justice in NY’s 4th JD and Lisa Manzi – Regional representative from Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand’s office

Special Musical Presentation: Bob Warren performing excerpts from “Only the Message Mattered” – his original song cycle and narrative about the life and times of Susan B. Anthony

For reservations, contact luncheon coordinators: Ellen Faber at 677-8345 or Sheila Comar at 642-9566 or mail checks (made out to WCDC) to Ellen Faber, 100 East Main Street, Cambridge, NY 12816.

For more info go to http://www.washingtoncountydemocrats.com


8. Gore Tipped To Win Next Week

Rosemary also sends this along:

"Former Vice President Al Gore and other campaigners against climate change lead experts' choices for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, an award once reserved for statesmen, peacemakers and human rights activists... "I think they are likely winners this year," said Stein Toennesson, director of Oslo's International Peace Research Institute (PRIO) and a long-time Nobel Peace Prize watcher."

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL0463286920071006

9. Step It Up 2007 For November

Ruth Lamb informs me that another Step It Up 2007 event will be held in Glens Falls on November 3rd. The focus will be on building in a time of global warming - how to do it in environmentally friendly ways. We sponsored a well attended Step It Up Event last Spring.

If you want to help or want more info contact Ruth at cooperlamb@yahoo.com For more info on Step It Up 2007 go to: http://www.stepitup2007.org/

10. Friday Night Film Fest

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe will be holding a special screening and presentation Friday night as 7:30 as part of its weekly progressive Film Fest:

Fri. Oct 12
* Special Event * REESE ERLICH - Booksigning w/Discussion on Iran 7:30 pm
Reese Erlich is a reporter from the Christian Science Monitor and an author as well. His new book is "The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis". He will be at Rock Hill Cafe to read from and sign his new book but also to lead a discussion about our impending war with Iran. Following Mr. Erlich will be a screening of "Independent Media: In a Time Of War". The film was made by Hudson Mohawk Independent Media Center in Troy and centers on a speech given by Amy Goodman (in Troy) about the corporate media's coverage of "Shock and Awe" and about the media's drums of war. Apropos considering the current drumbeat concerning Iran. 40 minutes

Thanks everyone!

Larry
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 5:36 PM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: Meeting Reminder, DFA Saratoga To Meet, More
Hello Everyone;

In This Update:


1. Glens Falls Link-Up or "Meetup" Reminder
2. Democracy For Saratoga To Meet With Ron Kim
3. DFA Night School Tuesday Night
4. Democrats.com Tracks Congressional Agenda
5. Fillibuster For Peace
6. "FISA Flood" To Save The Constitution
7. Washington County Democratic Women's Luncheon Oct. 19
8. Friday Night FIlm Fest


1. Glens Falls Link-Up or "Meetup" Reminder

Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area will be having it's usual monthly Link-up or "meetup" this Wednesday, October 3rd, at 7pm at the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe in downtown Glens Falls.

On the agenda for this month: DFA National in Burlington is suggesting that we discuss what presidential candidates we are currently interested in (and might be interested in, in the future) in regard to who DFA may eventually endorse. We'll also be getting a report on what is going on in Queensbury, where two incumbents are now running on the Democratic line and I am sure there will be discussion of the direction of the Congress.


2. Democracy For Saratoga To Meet With Ron Kim

Democracy For Saratoga Springs host Sally Kirouac will be hosting a DFA Link-Up meeting on Monday, October 8, 2007 at 7:00 PM. The meeting will feature a talk with Saratoga Springs Public Safety Commission Ron Kim.

For more info and to RSVP go to: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=23915

What: Talk with Ron Kim
When: Monday, October 8, 2007, 7:00 PM
Where: Home of Sally and George Kirouac
21 Horseshoe Drive
Saratoga Springs NY 12866


3. DFA Night School Tuesday Night

The final session of the DFA Night School Training Session on Precinct Organizing will be tomorrow night, Tuesday at 8:30pm. The subject will be Precinct Organizing: Building Networks.
With Arshad will be special guest Parag Mehta, the Democratic National Committee's Training Director, will lay out the DNC plan to win the White House one neighborhood at a time. Also, Annette Osterlund from Democracy for Colorado, and the Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party Pat Waak to discuss the highly successfully Think Precinct plan.

RSVP for the free conference call and live web presentation now:
http://www.DemocracyforAmerica.com/BuildingNetworks



4. Democrats.com Tracks Congressional Agenda

The Progressive Email Network & Democrats.com sent out something yesterday that I think many will find interesting

I know that many people are concerned they are constantly being blind sided by pieces of legislation that we don't see coming-- like the outrageous bill condemning Moveon.org.

Democrats.com is now putting together a weekly agenda for Congress, which is basically a heads-up on what is pending and what we are very likely to want to get Congress to act on. You can check it out at:
http://www.democrats.com/weekly-agenda

This looks like a very good list and you can directly email it to Representatives and Senators, to show your support, as well as forward it to friends.


5. Fillibuster For Peace

There's another interesting new online initiative: Filibuster For Peace. ( http://www.filibusterforpeace.org/ ) It's an online petition asking Senators to filibuster war bills. From the site:
"It only takes 41 votes to sustain a filibuster and prevent funding requests from the Bush administration from coming to debate or a vote. The Bush administration would then have to return with a funding request that is satisfactory to the 41. That bill should include funds to bring all U.S. forces home quickly and safely but no money to prosecute the war in Iraq. Pro-war Senators used this tactic twice in February to stop non-binding resolutions condemning the so-called "surge." If pro-war Senators can use this tactic, then anti-war Senators should use it also. "
ttp://www.filibusterforpeace.org/


6. "FISA Flood" To Save The Constitution

The ACLU is organizing a "FISA Flood" to save the Constitution. As we all know, in August Congress panicked and gave the Bush administration unprecedented spying powers. According to the ACLU:

"By all indications, the House and Senate will cast critical votes within three weeks — deciding whether or not to make the vast new spying powers that they granted the Bush Administration in August permanent."

"We must not let that happen. Call Reid, Pelosi and your Member of Congress right now. Demand that Congress stand strong by standing up for the Constitution, instead of caving in to the Bush Administration."

"You can help right now by making three calls for the Constitution:
1. Call House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at (202) 225-4965
2. Call Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid at (202) 224-3542
3. Call your representative in the House, Representative Kirsten E. Gillibrand's Office, (202) 225-5614

For more go to: https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?alertId=722&pg=makeACall&page=UserAction&JServSessionIdr008=vauaz4twt1.app23a



7. Friday Night FIlm Fest

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe continues its Friday Night Progressive Film Festival at 7:30 with:

Oct 5 WAR MADE EASY: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us To Death (2007) Loretta Alper 73 min.
Based on Norman Solomon's book of the same name, "War Made Easy", is narrated by Sean Penn and reaches into the Orwellian memory hole to expose a 50-year pattern of government deception and media spin that has dragged the United States into one war after another from Vietnam to Iraq. The film exhumes remarkable archival footage of official distortion and exaggeration from LBJ to George W. Bush, revealing in stunning detail how the American news media have uncritically disseminated the pro-war messages of successive presidential administrations.


8. Washington County Democratic Women's Luncheon Oct. 19

You Are Invited To The Washington County Democratic Women’s Luncheon Friday, October 19th, 2007, 12 noon - 2 pm at the Cambridge Hotel, Cambridge, NY. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door.

Featured Speaker: Barbara Bartoletti, Legislative Director of the NYS League of Women Voters.
Plus Guests: Atty. Peter Tulin – Democratic candidate for Supreme Court Justice in NY’s 4th JD and Lisa Manzi – Regional representative from Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand’s office

Special Musical Presentation: Bob Warren performing excerpts from “Only the Message Mattered” – his original song cycle and narrative about the life and times of Susan B. Anthony

For reservations, contact luncheon coordinators: Ellen Faber at 677-8345 or Sheila Comar at 642-9566 or mail checks (made out to WCDC) to Ellen Faber, 100 East Main Street, Cambridge, NY 12816.

For more info go to http://www.washingtoncountydemocrats.com



Thanks, Everyone! See you all Wednesday,

Larry
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 12:34 AM 0 comments