Tricounty DFA Update: Protest, Fundraisers, more
Hello Everyone;

In This Update For September 25th, 2008:

1. Vigil & Protest Saturday, 11am
2. Keep The Pressure On--No Bush Giveaway
3. Bob Muller Fundraiser, Friday September 26th
4. White Privilege
5. Saturday Night Progressive Film Festival


1. Vigil & Protest Saturday, 11am

We have been having a steady vigil against the war and to support our troops every Saturday at 11am in downtown Glens Falls. Given the extraordinary events of the last few days (see next item) I would like to propose that this one time we also make it a joint rally against Bush's $700 Billion going away present to his rich friends. Join us at 11am Saturday until Noon at the corners of Bay, Glen and South Streets in front of the Civil War Monument in downtown Glens Falls. Please bring a sign against either the war or the giveaway and as many friends as you can find!


2. Keep The Pressure On--No Bush Giveaway

If you have not contacted your member of Congress from your respective area about George Bush's outrageous giveaway to his rich corporate buddies, there's no time to lose.

Evidence is growing there is no crisis at all, that it's as much a myth as Saddam's WMD's were.

You may have seen Carnegie Mellon professor Allan Meltzger on PBS's Newshour, which was superb:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/24/133422/858/388/608797

Also excellent is an op-ed in today's Post by James Galbraith: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/24/AR2008092403033.html

A large group of leading economists have signed a petition urging Congress to slow down and deliberate: http://faculty.chicagogsb.edu/john.cochrane/research/Papers/mortgage_protest.htm

Tell members of Congress no deal unless: 1. the taxpayers get an equity stake so we get our money back and pay down the national debt, 2. controls on executive compensation and an end to abusive practices like golden parachutes, 3. relief for homeowners including mortgage renegotiation, 4. a resumption of New Deal era regulation of markets, all of which worked.

The Capitol switchboard is at (202) 224-3121 or Senator Hillary Clinton at (202) 224-4451, Senator Charles Schumer (202) 224-6542

Report your call at http://democracyforamerica.com/activities/104

3. Bob Muller Fundraiser, September 26th

There will be a fundraiser for Supreme Court Candidate Bob Muller tomorrow, Friday, September 26th at the Fort William Henry Hotel in Lake George. The event is from 5:30 to 8:30pm, and includes complimentary hors d' oeuvres and entertainment by Susy Q, with a cash bar.

There is a contribution of $50/75 per couple. Please RSVP to 793-2535, 792-6516, or 792-0915. Or send contributions to Thomas McDonough, Campaign Treasurer, 1088 Lake George Rd., Queensbury, NY 12804.


4. White Privilege

I've received a posting from several people, including our 2004 Congressional candidate Doris Kelley, that I am copying at the bottom. It helps explain why Obama isn't farther ahead than he is-- the assumption of white privilege. It's the "must read" of the week.

White privilege includes, of course, the odious bill just passed in the House to override years of effort by Democrats to extend home rule and equality to the residents of the District of Columbia, and override the District's efforts to pass gun control legislation that meets the Supreme Court's new standard. Meddling in D.C.'s desperate attempt to control guns-- and their murder rate-- is as much an example of white privilege as anything you could ask for-- does any one really believe that reprehensible bill would even have been written if D.C. were 70% white and not 70% black? Just because you don't see any burning crosses and white hoods doesn't mean it's not racist.


5. Saturday Night Progressive Film Festival

NOW ON SATURDAY SEP 27 7:00 pm Free.
EVERYTHING'S COOL (2007) Daniel B. Gold & Judith Helfland 89 min. RT Rating = 81 %
This comedic documentary tackles a very serious topic: global warming. EVERYTHING'S COOL focuses on a group eager to change Americans' attitudes about climate change. With time growing short, these people must defend the earth against people who would unwittingly destroy it. Eco-conscious celebs Salma Hayek and Jake Gyllenhaal even make an appearance to help the cause.


The most important thing in life is to see to it that you are never beaten-- Andre Malraux


We are still waiting on the delivery of signs, bumper stickers and buttons, and will have a report next week on possible out of state canvassing.

Thanks, everyone! See you all soon,

Larry



*************************


By Tim Wise
9/13/08

For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.

White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.

White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."

White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.

White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you.

White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she's being disrespectful.

White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.

White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."

White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.

White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.

White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging th e question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.

White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a "light" burden.

And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain.

White privilege is, in short, the problem.

Labels: 4th Judicial District, bailout, Democracy For America, Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, DFA, Iraq War, New York Supreme Court, Robert Muller, vigil

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 10:47 AM