Tricounty DFA Update: Candidates, Appeals, More
Hello Everyone;

In This Update For February 15th, 2009:

1. Congressional Race
2. Online Actions: Single Payer Healthcare Petition
3. Populist Rebellion
4. Bernice Mennis Reading
5. Progressive Film Festival


1. Congressional Race

As you all know, with Kirsten Gillibrand now in the Senate, a special election is on tap here in the 20th CD on March 31st, and many of you have been contacting me for information about Scott Murphy.

Dick has been in contact with Scott Murphy. He emailed us on Jan. 27. We haven't heard from him since, but we would expect to hear from him soon. The DFA protocol is for him to meet ASAP with our Steering Committee before a regular meeting, and we want to make sure that happens so that I can report to all of you. Obviously, since Mr. Murphy is so new, both as a candidate and a resident or our area, and few of us know him, we all have a lot of questions!

Murphy has opened a headquarters at 3 Warren Street in downtown Glens Falls. There is also a website now up at http://www.scottmurphy09.com/ although there isn't much on it yet.


2. Online Actions: Single Payer Healthcare Petition

President Obama (it's still a thrill to write that!) won a great victory this week with passage of the Stimulus Bill to restore and rebuild the American economy. In a second, lesser noted victory, Sen. Chris Dodd saved language in the bill to clip the gouging culture of salaries on Wall Street.

The White House and Congress is necessarily moving onto banking next, but it's clear healthcare reform will come up, soon. As we've endorsed before, and with the overwhelming majority of Americans-- 59%-32%, according to a recent poll, a Single Payer Healthcare system should lead the debate, even if we can't get it this year. After all, the less we ask for, the less we'll get when all the wrangling is done.

Rep. John Conyers is leading the fight for Single Payer Health Care for decades H.R. 676, the "Medicare For All" Bill .

Democrats.com has a petition online so we can show our support for Single-Payer:

http://democrats.com/single-payer-petition?cid=ZGVtczIzODE2OGRlbXM=


3. Populist Rebellion

What's starting to help drive this new era of reform is what can only be described as a new populist era of rebellion. It is increasingly clear that this new spirit, which helped elect Obama last year, but also brought down Tom Daschle, is going to define American politics for the next generation.

It is rooted in and driven by the complete discrediting of the economic dogmas of the last thirty years, which last year's economic crisis exposed as a sham as complete as Bernie Madoff's ponzi scheme. This discrediting is not only functional and pragmatic in terms of what works, but deeply moral in nature. Those entrusted with leadership of our leading corporations were exposed as not only incompetent, but corrupt and venal, blowing millions on office decor and junkets, and billions on bonuses for themselves, while laying off tens of thousands of employees and begging for a government handout. The idea capitalism has any moral foundation has been shattered irrevocably.

There is an axiom among military reformers that victory in war goes to those who can go through cycles of observation, decision and action the fastest. History seems to confirm that, and it applies equally well to politics. One of the challenges facing Democrats, liberals and progressives today is whether they can go through this cycle of observation, decision and action fast enough to adjust to this new reality and build enduring change. At the moment President Obama seems to be making the leap.

Here are some great pieces on this remarkable era of change we live in:

Tom Daschle And The Populist Revolt: http://robertreich.blogspot.com/2009/02/tom-daschle-and-populist-revolt.html
Slumdogs Unite! http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/opinion/08rich.html?em
BooHoo in the Boardroom: http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/boo-hoo-in-the-boardroom/?ref=opinion

Also don't miss Frank Rich today on Obama's victory: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/opinion/15rich.html

4. Bernice Mennis Reading

Our own Bernice Mennis will be reading from her new book Breaking Out of Prison: a guide to consciousness, compassion, and freedom at Red Fox Books, on Ridge Street in downtown Glens Falls, between the roundabout and City Hall, on Monday, Feb. 23, at 6:30. It's about how the power of language and thought can shape our minds and our lives.


5. Progressive Film Festival

The Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe's Saturday Night Progressive Film Festival continues with:

SAT FEB 21 7:00 pm SATURDAY SCREENING Free
GIRLHOOD (2003) Liz Garbus 82 min RT Rating = 94 %
Tells two coming-of-age stories from the real America: Shanae, ten years old when she was gang-raped by five boys, responded by drinking and drugging, and then graduated to murder, with the stabbing death of a friend, at age 11. Megan, whose mother abandoned her to turn tricks to support her ravaging heroin addiction, ran away from ten different foster homes before being arrested for attacking another foster child with a box cutter. Both girls ended up in the Waxter Juvenile Facility, home to Maryland's most violent juvenile offenders. It is here that their journeys really begin. With unprecedented access to the system and to the complex interior lives of the protagonists, the film follows Shanae and Megan over the next three years as they struggle to come to terms with their crimes, their pasts, and their futures. Both will struggle to come of age in an America in which childhood, as we would all like to imagine it, is in shorter and shorter supply. A story of mothers and daughters, crime and consequences, and ceaseless striving in the face of inconceivable adversity, Girlhood is a testament to the faith and struggles of two girls just trying to grow up.

SAT FEB 28 7:00 pm SATURDAY SCREENING Free
SPEEDO (2004) Jesse Moss 78 min RT Rating = N/A
Exposing all the thrills and spills of the demolition derby, this highly personal documentary from director Jesse Moss focuses on the life of driver Ed "Speedo" Jager. Life as a top derby racer takes its toll on Jager's private life, with every professional peak being leveled out by a very personal trough. Totally addicted to the rush of the track, the latest in a long line of tragedies to befall the superstar is the break-up of his marriage. Moss captures all the gruesome details on camera, as well as Jager's pursuit of a track official who catches his eye. The film is shot over a year in the life of the driver, and captures all the highs and lows he encounters.

Thanks everyone! Hope to have more info for you on Scott Murhpy, soon.

Larry Dudley

Labels: 20th Congressional District, Bernice Mennis, Democracy For New York, Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, DFA, Glens Falls, Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe, Scott Murphy

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 4:37 PM 0 comments

 
Tricounty DFA Update: Vigil Saturday, Meeting Next Week, more
Hello Everyone;

In This Update:


1. Vigil Saturday 11am For Peace & To Bring Our Troops Home
2. May DFA-Linkup Meeting Next Week
3. Dean, Obama, Clinton On Sunday Morning
4. What Day Is It?
5. Friday Night Progressive Film Festival


1. Vigil Saturday 11am For Peace & To Bring Our Troops Home


We will be holding another one hour vigil for peace and to bring our troops home Saturday, May 3rd, at 11am at the corner of Bay, Glen and South Streets by the Civil War monument in downtown Glens Falls. Bring a sign and a friend! With Iraq falling apart, it's time to start showing our opposition to that debacle again.

Last week we doubled our attendance over the previous week-- let's see if we can do that again! Again, 11am Saturday in front of the Civil War monument.


2. May DFA-Linkup Meeting Next Week

We'll be holding our May meeting of Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area next Wednesday, May 7th, at 7pm at the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe in downtown Glens Falls, one block west from the roundabout.

On the agenda will be a DVD prepared by our comrades at TakeNY: "The True Sad Story Of The New York State Senate." New York University's Brennan Center For Justice had declared that New York has the most dysfunctional legislature in the nation, with the Republican controlled State Senate leading the way. The DVD features former State Senate candidate Brian Keeler talking about the lack of democracy in New York, and who really runs NY-- the infamous "three men in a room."

The war issue is also hearing up again and I am hearing from many of you about this. so we may be discussing that as well.


3. Dean, Obama, Clinton On Sunday Morning

There's a big line-up on the Sunday morning talk shows: first Governor Dean will be on Fox News with Chris Wallace. Hillary Clinton will be on This Week With George Stephanpoulous, and Barack Obama will be on Meet The Press with Tim Russert.


4. What Day Is It?

Hope you all had a good May 1st which is International Labor Day. It's also Mission Accomplished Day for George Bush: it's five years ago today that he declared the war in Iraq was won. That was roughly 4,000 American deaths ago, tens of thousands wounded and an unknown number of Iraqi dead, but very possible over a million.


5. Friday Night Progressive Film Festival

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

Fri May 2 7:30 pm Progressive Film Forum
THE INNER TOUR (2002) Ra'anan Alexandrowicz 94 min. RT Rating = 100 %
Ra’anan Alexandrowicz’s THE INNER TOUR is a deeply affecting documentary that addresses the Middle Eastern conflict with a penetrating eye. The film follows a group of Palestinians as they embark on a three-day bus tour through Israel in 2000, just months before the historical Arab-Israeli war recommenced. What at first appears to be a diverse group of men, women, and children, with a wide range of experiences and backgrounds, quickly gels into a tight unit of countrymen who are living under the shadow of the wealthy, more powerful Israel. Every one of these visitors’ lives has been in some way affected by Israel, yet it isn't until a trip to a museum--in which Arabs are presented as cold-blooded murderers--that their anger begins to show. As the journey unfolds, the tourists are forced to confront emotions they didn't know they had in them. The burdensome weight of these feelings turns the trip into more than just a relaxing vacation; it becomes an emotionally draining experience tat they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. Alexandrowicz uses this rare opportunity to his advantage by showing just how hopelessly convoluted the Middle Eastern conflict actually is. This film was included in the 31st New Directors/New Films 2002 series presented by The Film Society of Lincoln Center and The Department of Film and Media of The Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Thanks Everyone! Hope you can make it Saturday. An in honor of May Day, ¡Hasta La VIctoria Siempre!


Larry

Labels: Democracy For America, Democracy For New York, Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area, DFA, Iraq War, vigil

- posted by Larry Dudley @ 12:04 AM 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