Tricounty DFA Update: Meeting Wednesday-- Six Months In, Where Are We?

Hello Everyone;

In this update for May 31st, 2009:

1. Glens Falls DFA Meeting Wednesday, 7pm

2. Dean Endorses Schumer Healthcare Plan

3. Ted Kennedy Health Plan Rollout Monday

4. Democracy Fest Coming to Vermont This July

5. Rockhill Friday Night Progressive Film Festival

1. Glens Falls DFA Meeting Wednesday, 7pm

Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area will be holding its monthly meeting at its usual time, the first Wednesday of the month, June 3rd at 7pm at the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe in downtown Glens Falls.

It's now six months into the Obama administration, so it's time to take stock and evaluate how Democrats and the administration are doing. Last week we saw something we feared so much for so many years resolved: President Obama appointed Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. The right wing dream of packing the Court for a whole generation is shattered.

Where are we on war and peace? Is there a behind the scenes effort to get us out of Afghanistan?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/world/asia/21kabul.html?hp

Healthcare is moving forward after a half century of stalling, as noted in the next items.

What's going on with the economy and the bailout seems to puzzle everyone I talk to, but one thing is settled: as economist James K. Galbraith details, the long contentious debate over government's role in regulating the economy is over, and liberals have won: http://www.truthout.org/050609J

The Cafe is located one blocks west of the Roundabout on the corner of Elm Streets and Hudson Avenue.

2. Dean Endorses Schumer Healthcare Plan

Last Thursday Gov. Dean offered support for Senator Schumer's proposed plan for a partial (we hope) compromise on healthcare reform. Dean is holding fast on the issue of opt-in. "If we can get Schumer's proposal out of the Senate, I think that would be a very good thing," he told the Huffington Post. "It can't be any weaker than that though. We don't want what would be a fake public option."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/29/dean-offers-support-for-s_n_209129.html

3. Ted Kennedy Health Plan Rollout Monday

Senator Ted Kennedy is back in the Senate and he is working on healthcare reform as he has been for decades. He will be making a major presentation of his plan on Monday. His plan features opt-in, too.

"It would require every American to have insurance and would mandate that employers contribute to workers' coverage. In many respects it adopts the most liberal approaches to health reform being discussed in Washington. Kennedy, for example, embraces a proposal to create a government-sponsored insurance program to compete directly with existing private insurance plans, according to one senior adviser who was not authorized to talk to reporters.

"The draft summary also calls for opening Medicaid to those whose incomes are 500 percent of the federal poverty level, or $110,250 a year for a family of four." For more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/28/AR2009052803772.html?nav=hcmoduletmv

4. Democracy Fest Coming to Vermont This July

Democracy Fest-- an annual DFA get-together and confab-- is returning to Vermont this summer. From organizer Jessica Falker in Vermont:

"DemocracyFest is a political festival for liberal/progressive activists which features trainings, speakers and entertainment; teaching people how to make a difference and have fun doing it! Prior DemocracyFests have been held in Massachusetts, Texas, California, New Hampshire and Virginia. Over 4,000 activists have been trained to help on campaigns and make a difference in their communities.

"The 6th Annual DemocracyFest will be held this summer, July 17th-19th, at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center in Burlington, VT!

http://www.DemocracyFest.net

Tickets

Tickets are limited! Reserve yours today at http://www.DemocracyFest.net

Full weekend tickets are only $55 and include:

- All trainings, entertainment, and speakers on Saturday and Sunday.

- Dinner on Saturday.

- Breakfast on Sunday.

- Semi-Guided Tour of Burlington and Welcome Party on Friday.

- Children under 14 free with adult ticket purchase.

- Free parking, or transportation to and from Burlington Airport.

- Priceless interaction with activists from across the region and nation.

Single day tickets are also available.

Speakers, Trainers and Entertainers

Gov. Howard Dean will be the Keynote Speaker. Other presenters include SOS. Deb Markowitz, Rep. David Zuckerman, Dr. Deb Richter, Dan DeWalt, Alan Dechert, Sheryl Rapee-Adams, Charlie Grapski, Teri Mills, Subway Serenade, Rebecca Padula, Bobby Kendes, Axiomatic, and more!

Check our website regularly as our schedule is updated. http://www.DemocracyFest.net

5. Rockhill Friday Night Progressive Film Festival

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe's Friday Night Progressive Film Fest continues its IRV special throughout June: From Matt:

FRI JUN 5 7:00 pm I.R.V. INDEPENDENT FILM FORUM (I.R.V. = Instant Runoff Voting). Free.

We will be showing a film tonight but its up to you which film it will be. To reflect our love of the democratic process, we use an Instant Runoff Voting system so that the audience chooses which film we view. We will provide at least 3 choices each week and the IRV setup means that you rank ALL the "candidates" in the "election" or, (s)election, as is the case here. We tabulate the results in a series of runoffs until one of the choices has a clear majority. So, none of us actually know what film will be screened until everyone has voiced their opinion! Ballots can be filled out anytime after 6:00 pm but must be turned in by 7:00 pm sharp. Happy Voting!

Thanks everyone! See you all Wednesday,

Larry

Labels: Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, DFA, DFNY, healthcare reform, Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe, Unitarian Universal Church Glens Falls

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 11:23 PM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: Holiday Wishes, Meeting Date Change, The "Great Fear" Ending?
Hello Everyone!

First, since there really won't be time (or probably interest) for another update, let me extend me the best Holiday Wishes to you all! As always in this party going season, drive safely, especially in this snow.

In This Update:

1. January Meeting Date Change -- The 9th
2. Proof The "Great Fear" Is Ending
3. Wexler Calls For Impeachment Hearings
4. Caution On Iraq "Progress"
5. Friday Night Progressive Film Festival Schedule


1. January Meeting Date Change -- The 9th

Ordinarily we meet on the first Wednesday of the month. However, this year the first Wednesday is the 2nd, the day after New Year's. Accordingly, at our December meeting, we decided to hold our monthly meeting on the second Wednesday, January 9th. Please keep this date change in mind! January 9th! I will remind everyone after New Year's.

This actually should work out well, because the Iowa caucuses will be over by then (they are on the 3rd), so that will give us something to discuss. At our November meeting we decided to defer any endorsements or action on the Presidential races until the January meeting (and there is no requirement we act at all).

As everyone is no doubt aware, the race is tightening between Clinton, Edwards and Obama with the intensity level going up, too. (Sadly, for our Kucinich and Dodd supporters, they do not seem to be catching up, for whatever reason.) What isn't getting much attention on the TV news is that it is Edwards who is now drawing the largest and most enthusiastic crowds. However, it's admittedly difficult to know how to interpret this, since there is no way of knowing for sure if those people are Iowans, or if they actually intend to leave their houses on a freezing January night and mill around for two or three hours in a caucus. In any case, it's going to be an interesting few weeks.

We will also be discussing the proposal we turn towards regional green activism (there is considerable support for that), and some training. We should also have the video of Governor Dean ready.


2. Proof The "Great Fear" Is Ending

In my update on 12/4 I predicted that the startling new National Intelligence Estimate would prove to be a "sea change." I wrote (if everyone will forgive me for quoting myself),

"Put bluntly, the intelligence agencies pulled the rug out from underneath White House warmongers. The likelihood of another or larger war in the Middle East took a huge drop, and probably now cannot happen. There no longer is any threat of a "World War Three," no mushroom clouds, no terror war, and no reason not to cooperate with Iran on resolving the mess we created in Iraq..." and,

"Without this spectre, we are eventually going to see the drawdown of the national security state that should have occurred in the 1990s after the end of the Cold War, but did not."

The N.I.E. report, and the way it blind sided the Bush White House, was a game changing event like Hurricane Katrina, one that fundamentally altered perceptions of the country, its administration and its affairs. We are already seeing the result of this shift in views: what should best be called the "Great Fear" is ending.

The phrase "Great Fear" originally came from Stalin's Soviet Union, and although it wasn't as serious here as it was in the USSR, it was real enough. Bush Press Secretary Ari Fleischer articulated it right after 9/11 when he cautioned Americans to "watch they they say." Under a "great fear" people come to pre-censor themselves, they cease to even try to resist or believe they can. Corrosive fear of consequences, cowardice, really, takes over and governs every action. They are beaten before they begin. We saw this in Congress all year.

But that self-imposed logjam is breaking:
*Today, under a threat of a filibuster against his own majority by Senator Dodd, the Telecom Bill granting immunity to communications companies that committed serious crimes against the rights of Americans under the Bush regime was withdrawn.
*U.S. District Court Judge Henry Kennedy ordered the Bush administration to answer allegations it destroyed evidence terrorist suspects in U.S. custody were tortured.
*U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth rejected White House claims Secret Service logs of White House visitors are private information.
*Congress passed an increase in the CAFE fuel economy standards to 35 MPG, the first rise in 32 years. They had to agree to some tax breaks, but they can always take those away later. The increase will not go away.
*Members of Congress are now also signing onto bills and amendments banning any US attack on Iraq, even though the possibility of such an attack no longer exists, making it a moot and empty gesture, but a backhanded confirmation of the existence of the "great fear, " now gone. (Rep. Gillibrand's staff was forcefully confronted by our members about the danger of an attack on Iran at our meeting last June.)
*And the possibility exists that Congress may yet live up to its commitment made earlier this year to start cutting funding for the Iraq War last September.

Would any of this happened before the fear bubble popped two weeks ago? Sometimes change, when it happens, happens fast.

A few of these sudden changes remind me of stories (apparently true) of bus accidents in New York City, where people rush to get on a bus after it's had a crash, holding their necks and writhing in pain, so they can get in on the whiplash injury lawsuits. When opportunity strikes, you have to act quickly, I guess.


3. Wexler Calls For Impeachment Hearings

The end of the "great fear" brings to the fore the next great issue: Impeachment. Will the Congress find the courage to go after "Lord Cheney," the man who tried to start a war with Iran, a war the N.I.E. proved would have been another senseless disaster like Iraq?

Even if a conviction in the Senate cannot be obtained, the principle still matters. Every member of Congress has taken an Oath of Office to defend the Constitution. Just the hearings alone, and what they would expose, would be the most vital service to democracy.

Representative Robert Wexler (D-FL) is pushing for Impeachment Hearings against Vice President Dick Cheney to begin in the Judiciary Committee. You can help him make it happen by signing his online petition.

http://wexlerwantshearings.com

(Thanks to Tracey at DFNYC for this!)


4. Caution On Iraq "Progress"

There are growing claims of "progress" in Iraq.

But retired Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor writing in Mother Jones argues that the surge, based as it is on American cash bribes to Sunni tribal leaders, may eventually backfire—producing more instability and possibly a regional war. According to Macgregor,

"We don't know much about developments within Iraq. Military officers who have recently served in Iraq tell me they don't truly understand Iraq's complexity or the duplicitous nature of the Iraqis they work with. In my conservations with them, they raise troubling questions that don't lend themselves to sound-bite answers on talk radio or the evening news." And,

"The Sunni insurgents are following a 'fight, bargain, subvert, fight' approach to get what they want," said one colonel. So Americans need to explore whether U.S. forces are courting long-term strategic success, or if the expedient cash surge is leading U.S. forces into a new phase of conflict that could engulf the region and create a perfect storm."... and,

"A former U.S. Army battalion commander with extensive service in Iraq reports, "It is my sense the Sunni Arab leaders are using the pause in the fight with U.S. forces to take a breather, harden and regroup themselves much like a conventional army would rest and refit after a major battle."

All this is reminiscent of Mao's Three Rules Of Guerilla Warfare, which we used to read about during Vietnam: 1. When the enemy advances, we retreat. 2. When the enemy stands, we harass. 3. When the enemy retreats, we attack.

Given that the US Army will soon be forced to retreat, because the surge is unsustainable, could we see a brutal re-surgence of the violence in the New Year? Could they resistance be just biding their time until the surge ends, to when the US Army will be vulnerable as never before? Macgregor's article is our Year-End Must Read: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121207E.shtml


5. Rockhill's Friday Night Progressive Film Festival Schedule


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

Fri Dec 21 7:30 pm ADIRONDACK PROGRESSIVE FILM FORUM!
I AM CUBA (SOY CUBA) (1964) Mikhail Kalatazov 141 min. Grade = 100%
This Russian-made study of Cuba, partially written by renowned poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko, captures the island just before it made the transition to a post-revolutionary society. Moving from city to country and back again, I AM CUBA examines the various problems caused by political oppression as well as by great discrepancies in wealth and power. Beginning in Havana in the pre-Castro era, we see how foreigners contributed to the city's prostitution and poverty; this sequence features dreamy, hallucinogenic camera work that creates a feeling of unease and dislocation. Then, in glorious images of palm tress and fertile land, the film looks at the sugar cane fields in the countryside, and the difficulties faced by peasants working the land. Finally, back in the city again, leftist students battle the police and a corrupt government--and pay a high price for their rebellion.


Thanks Everyone for another great year! Have a wonderful Christmas Holiday Season and a Happy New Year! See you all January 9th!

Larry

Labels: Democracy For America, Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, DFNY, Glens Falls, Impeachment, Iraq War, Larry Dudley

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 10:59 PM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Meetup Report & Reminder: SiCKO Showing Wednesday With Conference Call
Hello Everyone!

In This Update:


1. SiCKO Showing At The UU Reminder
2. GGF-DFA Meeting Report
3. Election Analysis
4. Former Congressman DWI
5. Paul Krugman To Be At Northshire
6. Torturous...
7. Friday Night FIlm Fest


1. SiCKO Showing At The UU Reminder

I would like to remind everyone that they are cordially invited to attend a screening of Michael Moore's acclaimed new film, SiCKO, at a House Party/Screening on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 at 7:15 PM! SiCKO will be followed by a live nationwide conference call with filmmaker Michael Moore himself and DFA Chairman Jim Dean.

SiCKO, which premiered in area theaters earlier this year, is a meditation on the state of healthcare in America, an expose of the failures of the American healthcare system and the brutalities it often inflicts on patients and families, a revelation on how other nations provide better quality care for their sick and injured both more humanely and at lower cost, and a challenge to a political and economic system whose goal is to keep people fearful, insecure and timid. It is also surprisingly warm, humane, and very funny, while clear in its anger at what America has come to tolerate.

There will be refreshments: Anyone who wants to help can please bring some cookies or other treats! There will be coffee courtesy of the UU and Host Harvey Noordsey.

Please RSVP now at: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=24891

What: SiCKO House Parties
When: Wednesday, November 14, 2007, 7:15 PM
Where: UU Congregation of Glens Falls, 21 Weeks Road Queensbury NY 12804
Admission: Free!

SiCKO is not to be missed! So please attend and RSVP right away at: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=24891


2. Meeting Report

We had a productive November meeting at the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe last week. There were three main pieces of business we agreed on:

1. We agreed to put off any endorsement of a Presidential candidate by our local group until January.

2. We agreed to investigate becoming a nexus for environmental concerns in the local area, especially land use in Queensbury and around Lake George. This would involved information coordination and sharing, where we would bring other groups together on a coalition basis, connecting them up to become a more effective whole. Pat and Drew will be reporting back to us on this at our December meeting on the 5th.

3. We also agreed to discuss in December a training program of our own centered on the DNC's new Precinct Leader System (what we called the Neighborhood Network last year) and the spectacular Voter Activation Network of the DNC, where local precinct leaders can access the DNC's national voter file, use it, and update it.
We cannot and should not try replace the committees, but we can train others-- we have the experienced people who can perform that service, which would best leverage our human resources most effectively, rather than trying to fill holes ourselves.

I have already downloaded a video of Governor Dean where he talks about the Precinct Leader System and we will be watching it next month!

3. Election Analysis

On the whole, now that we have all had a bit to think about it, last week's election day was a mixed bag. The worse defeat was Val Keehn in Saratoga Springs, but Democrats took other bitter defeats in Stillwater and elsewhere. But Democrats won in South Glens Falls and Fort Edward and Ballston Spa. Ron Vanselow, who our group knows from the previous election when we endorsed him, won in Johnsburg.

Boor and Sanford lost on the Democratic line in Queensbury, after losing the Republican Primary. I think there is an inescapable message there that if you want to be a reformer, you have to be a Democrat. You cannot do local reform from inside the Republican Party. No one is going to try that again, after what was done to Boor and Sanford. That will clarify things in the future because people who want to clean things up will naturally gravitate to the Democratic Party.

Secondly, there is another lesson-- the people who won were the people who ran modern, 21st century voter contact programs. John Strough told me a few days before the election that he had knocked over 1,500 doors in his ward. That is amazing, but voter contact, either by the candidate or the team, is how you win now. The old 20th century idea of treating politics as a form of marketing is done for. The Republicans spent thousands of dollars to beat Strough and got nowhere.

This was a shake out year. In Saratoga Springs, DPW Commission Tommy McTygue was also defeated. From that defeat a new, reformed Democratic City Committee is already beginning to emerge. That will clean up the picture. I think we will see more effective parties in the future. And that will bring the real changes.

In many local areas Democrats are slowly building to a tipping point. I think that happened in Vermont years ago, too. People made slow gains, like we are here, but the base was building, then one day... boom. And everyone will say, where the heck did that come from? But we will know. The first areas that may change are Saratoga Springs, where the Republicans may have had their last hurrah, and Queensbury, where pent up frustration is still slowly building.

I would also agree Colin Neal, of Upstate Blue also cites Washington County as one of our brighter spots, where, as we know, Sheila Comar is doing a fantastic job. Colin has interesting numbers that are really worth reviewing: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/11/9/20425/4890


4. Former Congressman DWI

After the last election I swore in this posting that I would never mention John Sweeney again, but news too good to resist comes that not only was former Rep. John Sweeney caught driving drunk on the Northway, but that he had a 23 year old on his lap. Where will frat boy do his community service? Inquiring minds want to know... http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=638536&category=REGION&newsdate=11/13/2007


5. Paul Krugman To Be At Northshire

Legendary New York Times columnist Paul Krugman will appear at Northshire Bookstore, Saturday, December 1 at 7 pm, to discuss his new book, Conscience Of A Liberal. In his book, Krugman challenges America to reclaim the values that made it great. Admission is free.

Krugman is a national treasure, and his columns can now be viewed online, for free, including his blog, at: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/paulkrugman/index.html

The Northshire Bookstore is at 4869 Main Street, Manchester Center, VT 05255 For more go to:
www.northshire.com


6. Torturous...

Last week brought what is indisputably the lowest point for the Democratic Party since Fugitive Slave Act, which helped bring on the Civil War. Democrats in the Senate, first of all Chuck Schumer, who voted for him, allowed the confirmation of Michael Mukasey as Attorney General after he refused under oath to repudiate the use of waterboarding. That act put both Senate Democrats and the Senate's stamp of approval on a form of torture the U.S. and its allies prosecuted 60 years ago as a major Axis war crime. George Bush would have gotten no less from a Republican Senate. The Times Editorial Sunday would have to be the
"must read" of the week, the title alone says it all: Abdicate and Capitulate. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/opinion/11sun1.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

That said, Drew sends along this great link to Naomi Klein, author of Shock Therapy, which explains how neoliberal economics has ruined this country's economy and much of the world. It's a bit long, but well worth it: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/11/10/5138/

7. Friday Night FIlm Fest


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

Friday Nov 16 7:30 pm
LENNY BRUCE: Without Tears (1992) Fred Baker 75 min.
The outrageous, groundbreaking comic whose iconoclastic material in a conservative era got him into tragic trouble is here profiled by a close friend who prefers to remember the laughs Lenny Bruce's memory evokes instead of the tears. Appearances by: Lenny Bruce, Steve Allen, Paul Krassner, Mort

Thanks everyone! See you Wednesday night at the UU for SiCKO! Remember to please RVP: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=24891


Larry Dudley

Labels: Democracy For America, Democracy For New York, Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, DFNY, Glens Falls, Globalization, Iraq Timeline, Jim Dean, Keehn, Larry Dudley, Michael Moore, SiCKO

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 9:33 AM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: Latest On DFNY Conference, Post Star, more
Hello Everyone:

This is mainly an update about this weekend's DFNY conference;

1. Democracy For New York Conference Update: Inconvenient Truth Slideshow Presentation For Sunday
2. RSVP For Banquet With Eric Massa
3. Post Star and Blog For America
4. FDR and Howard Dean

1. Democracy For New York Conference Update: Inconvenient Truth Slideshow Presentation For Sunday

I just want to remind everyone about the Democracy For New York Conference at the SEIU Hall on Washington Avenue in Albany.

I have received an update of interest from organizer John McBride:

"Dear DFNY members,

"We have made a special addition to this weekend's 3rd Annual Democracy
for New York Conference. We will have a presentation of The
Inconvenient Truth slide show on Sunday, May 6, 2007 at 11:30 AM. You
can RSVP at:

"http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=20012

"What: Presentation of The Inconvenient Truth slide show
"When: Sunday, May 6, 2007, 11:30 AM
"Where: SEIU 1199
"155 Washington Avenue
"Albany NY 12210

"This is a unique opportunity to see the actual presentation that
V-Pres Gore makes in his Academy Award winning documentary film.

Please come spend the whole weekend with us or just the hour. If you
want more details on the full conference please look at events on the
DFA Link page for DFNY http://www.dfalink.com/group.php?id=129

2. RSVP For Banquet With Eric Massa


Also, organizer Carol Olszewski reminds anyone wishing to attend Saturday Night's banquet to please RSVP to her. Carol sends these details:

"SATURDAY EVENING a special BUFFET BANQUET at the Schuyler Inn, 575
Broadway, Menands. Just north of Albany. Cost, $15. 6PM cash bar.
6:30 dinner. 7pm Speaker and movie.
Speaker ERIC MASSA (Democratic Candidate for the NY-29 C.D.) Strong
Iraq War Critic and fiery speaker.
Followed by presentation of TAKING THE HILL, a film by Brent Renaud
and Craig Renaud about veterans campaigning to win seats in Congress.
Film has excellent reviews.
For the Banquet, please RSVP to Carol at 330-0226

3. Post Star and Blog For America

The Post Star gave our veto rally a great write up yesterday, which was later featured on Blog For America with pictures taken by Dick Dudley. Many thanks to all who came! A special thanks to Frank Grassia for his great quote and for proposing the veto rally. Check it out at: http://blogforamerica.com/view/20702

4. FDR and Howard Dean

I have to throw in at least one link, and I found this mydd.com posting about the political parallels and similarities in the political organizing theories between Howard Dean and President Franklin Roosevelt to be absolutely fascinating. In a nutshell, in the 1920s era of Republican dominance, FDR faced many of the same problems we face in politics today. FDR's answer was a grassroots party. That turned America around and created an era of Democratic Party dominance that lasted over 40 years. Well worth a read and some real reflection: http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/5/2/1924/37414

Thanks, everyone! See you all soon,

Larry Dudley

Labels: Democracy For America, Democracy For New York, Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, DFA, DFNY, DFNY Conference, Glens Falls

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 12:08 PM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: May Meeting, More
Hello Everyone!

In This Update:

1. DFA-Link/Meetup Next Week: New "Letters To Iowa" Campaign
2. A Keehn Announcement
3. Join The DFA Rapid Response List
4. DFNY Conference May 5th
5. Must See: Bill Moyers Returns: Scalds Media On War
6. Must Read: Globalization, France,The Death of Democracy
7. Friday Night Film Fest

1. DFA-Link/Meetup Next Week: New "Letters To Iowa" Campaign

Next week, Wednesday, May 2nd, we'll be holding our monthly DFA Linkup or Meetup at the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe in downtown Glens Falls at 7pm. There'll be a lot on the agenda (more in a few days) but we'll see a return of something those of us who began with Dean For America will remember fondly: a new "Letters To Iowa" campaign.

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

2. A Keehn Announcement

A special invitation in tonight:

"Please join the Mayor of the City of Saratoga Springs, The Honorable Valerie Keehn on Wednesday, April 25th at 4:30 PM at the Spirit of Life monument in Congress Park for some important announcements!"

"In case of rain, we will meet at the Farmers' Market on High Rock Ave."

3. Join The DFA Rapid Response List

DFA in Burlington has a new initiative we'll be talking about at the next meeting: a alert list. Our DFA leaders in Burlington sometimes make blog postings with interesting information or calls to action. If you want to be alerted to when these are going up, so you don't miss them, and so you also can join in the comments, send a message to field@democracyforamerica.com . (It's helpful if you also register with blogs like http://www.dailykos.com/ or http://www.mydd.com/ so you can participate, too.) The comment lines also give you a change to interact with our DFA staff in Burlington, which is always fun.

4. DFNY Conference May 5th

Democracy For New York had a great annual conference at the SEIU hall in Albany last year. This year's looks to be even better, so put May 5th and 6th on your calendar for this year's event.

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

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

I will have more details this weekend and at next week's meeting.

5. Must See: Bill Moyers Returns: Scalds Media On War

Lisa sends this along, and I think this is going to be the television event of the year.

"Bill Moyers has put together an amazing 90-minute video documenting the lies that the Bush administration told to sell the Iraq war to the American public, with a special focus on how the media led the charge... Watch PBS from 9:00 to 10:30 PM on Wednesday, April 25. Spending that 90 minutes will actually save you time because you'll never watch television news again--" and

"The Washington Post editorialized in favor of the war 27 times, and published in 2002 about 1,000 articles and columns on the war. But the Post gave a huge anti-war march a total of 36 words. "What got even less ink," Moyers says, "was the release of the National Intelligence Estimate." http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041207D.shtml

6. Must Read: France, Globalization, The Rise of Fascism?

There has been an extraordinary amount of news in the lat 72 hours or so, but the most under reported story of the week was clearly the presidential elections in France.

The French election will have enormous impact on people all around the world because the root issue is how a modern democracy is to respond to the exploding crisis of Globalization. Multinational corporations are playing nations off against one another, destroying worker rights, living standards, the rule of law, representative government and the environment. But more and more voices are being raised against the neoliberal "Washington Consensus" and shadowy anti-worker, anti-progressive groups like the Hamilton Project.

This extraordinary article in the Nation-- the most important article I have seen in some time on almost any subject-- covers a new theory proving what people all over the world have seen for some time, that the theory underlying Globalization is based on inherent contradictions and is doomed to disaster: http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/042407LA.shtml

This other piece in the Nation documents how a right wing victory in France will be used to rationalize the destruction of worker rights and standards of living even in communities like our own: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070430/stancil

If anyone doubts this, check out this account of the last Davos conference, a forum so favored by our corporate elite-- 40 million American jobs to be exported: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2003668844_harrop17.html

This piece by Jerome on dKos shows what a real healthcare systems looks like, what the French have to lose, and we to gain: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/20/1179/27363

And what comes out at the end? The historical record is that when economies are destroyed, and democracy undermined, what you get is something like the Weimar Republic in Germany, and fascism.

I saw this remarkable article by Naomi Wolf, "Fascist America In Ten Easy Step" earlier in the day, but Phil sent it to me, too, and it is the coda to all of the above. If you consciously set out to destroy American Democracy, you would do exactly what Bush has been doing. And the globalizers have been playing a role, too: http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2064157,00.html

7. Friday Night Film Fest

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe Friday Night Progressive Film Fest continues at 7:30 with a video that could not possibly more appropriate to the article on fascism in ten easy steps above:

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

Labels: DFA, DFNY, DFNY Conference, Glens Falls, Globalization, Keehn, Larry Dudley

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 11:48 PM 0 comments