Monday, April 30, 2012

Inoculation ads


An inoculation ad is one in which a candidate admits something terrible before the other side can bring it up.  Let’s say you are running for Congress, but you received a DUI when you were in your twenties.  You run an ad in which you look at the camera and say something like--”I know I’ve done some bad things in the past.  When I was 25 I received a DUI.  I lost my license for six months, but more importantly, I learned a lesson about personal responsibility.  Drinking and driving don’t mix--ever.”
You get the idea.  If your opponent brings up the DUI, the viewer will say, “Yeah, we know about that,” and discount the ad.  In 2012 we need inoculation ads against the Superpacs.  
Every Democratic candidate for Congress should run an ad something like this:
The Supreme Court, dominated by Republican partisans, ruled in a decision known as “Citizens United,” that independent committees could run mud-slinging campaigns with no restraints.  These committees, given innocuous names like American Crossroads, are allowed to raise unlimited funds, pay no taxes, and smear candidates.  These ads are paid for by wealthy individuals and corporations.  The ads do not address issues.  They attack. You will see hundreds of them over the next few weeks.  Keep in mind where they come from.  Don’t let our democratic form of government fall under the unholy alliance of big money and immoral campaign consultants.  Think before you vote.
Ok, it also needs work.  Nevertheless, a message like that needs to get out.  It will help viewers recognize and dismiss the Superpac ads.  If we don’t fight back, our candidates are going to get swamped.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Afghan Women Poets

I write poetry.  I’ve been doing it since high school.  I written about 300 poems and have had exactly two published. 
Today I read the article in the New York Times Magazine entitled “Why Afghan women risk death to write poetry.”  Think about that.  Brave women in Afghanistan risk death to write poetry.  I’d give it up, but they continue to write--and die.
There are times I think American troops should just be pulled out of that country.  Leave the fanatics and extremists to their own devices.  Then I read about a poet who died after setting herself on fire, and I think, those women need our help.  
I don’t even know where I stand on Afghanistan. I can see no positive outcome no matter what U.S. policy is.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

New food stamp regs

Next Tuesday if you want food stamps in Pennsylvania you have to prove you don’t have assets of more than $5,500.  If you do, you have to sell them if you want the stamps.  If you are age 60 or over, you can have up to $9000. 
According to an AP article in the Times News, the Pennsylvania Public Welfare Department estimates that the proposed rules will affect less than one percent of recipients.  It might also be noted that the new rules will not save Pennsylvania any money, since this is a federal program.
So why is Pennsylvania doing this?  I’m guessing it is to further stigmatize the poor.  After all, it’s their fault.  They didn’t inherit money.  They got laid off from work.  They have too many kids.  They don’t give campaign contributions.  
If you want to know if a government is acting morally, look at the way it treats the weakest members of society--its poor, its children, its old people, its immigrants.  Pennsylvania can pass legislation making 2012 the year of the Bible, but it has an immoral government.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Inherit the Wind

One of the films we showed the students in our American Studies class at San Jose State was “Inherit the Wind,” an excellent film based on the 1925  Scopes “Monkey Trial,” with Spencer Tracy as Attorney Clarence Darrow and Fredric March as William Jennings Bryan.  (You can get it on Netflix).

The film makes Bryan look like a fool, which isn’t accurate, but the whole idea that Tennessee would try to legislate against teaching evolution amazed our students. 
Now, over 80 years after the Scopes Trial, Tennessee is doing it again.  The Republican-dominated legislature passed a law to protect teachers who invite students to question “biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming and human cloning.”  The bill is a transparent attempt to encourage teachers to question scientific findings under the guise of “critical thinking.”  
Tennessee calls itself the “Volunteer State.”  They need to change that to “Tennessee:  The dumb-ass state.”

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Tim Holden

With a very few exceptions (Summit Hill springs to mind), Republicans have a higher turnout than Democrats and split their tickets less often than Democrats.  The result is that Democratic candidates usually need a large cushion of party registrants to win an election.  It also means that political scientists consider a district that is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans to be a safe Republican district.  Democratic candidates just don’t win in districts that have a plurality of Republicans.
Except Tim Holden.  Somehow he pulled it off.  And pulled it off.  And pulled it off.  
Was I bothered by some of his votes?  Of course I was.  I’m a member of Nature Conservancy and the Sierra Club and a founding member of the California Green Party.  Nonetheless, I would point out that if we had 75 Tim Holdens replacing 75 Republican members of Congress, Nancy Pelosi would be speaker, the union checkoff bill would be law, the Post Office would be funded, the Obama federal court nominees would have been approved, and the Ryan budget would be laughed out of Congress.
Because of gerrymandering, moderate Democrats and Republicans are a dying breed.  Very few members of Congress have friends across party lines, and the polarization of the Congress seems to grow each year.  I like Cartwright, and I will work hard for him, but Tim Holden will be missed.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Romney and Obama support in Carbon County

Unless we have some unforeseen circumstance, Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee.  We all know that.  Republicans know that.  
Nonetheless, in Carbon County only 56% of the Republican voters could bring themselves cast a vote for Romney.  Statewide Romney received about 57%.  This man is not well-liked.
For Democrats, the good news is that the total Democratic vote was higher than the total Republican vote.  It should be, since Carbon has thousands of more Democrats, but Republicans in general have a higher rate of turnout.
The sobering news for Democrats is that although 4887 of us voted, only 3402 cast a vote for Obama.  In part that was because Obama was unopposed.  In the unopposed race for Auditor General, Eugene Depasquale only received 3224 votes.  On the other hand, 161 people wrote in someone other than Obama.  Write-ins take an effort, and that means quite a few Carbon Democrats do not like our candidate.  We have our work cut out for us.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Prenatal care in Nebraska

The way we dehumanize undocumented immigrants is frightening.  How could people deny prenatal health care for women who are poor but undocumented?  Who could do that?  
The governor of Nebraska, for one.  He is quoted in an editorial in the New York Times today saying:  “Providing preferential treatment to illegals while increasing taxes on legal Nebraska citizens is misguided, misplaced and inappropriate.”  Note two things.  First, whenever a person in Nebraska buys something, he or she pays sales tax, whether or not he or she is a citizen.  Second, see how the governor dehumanizes these women.  They are not pregnant women, they are “illegals.”
Now the amazing part.  A coalition including the National Right to Life, Planned Parenthood, and the Nebraska Catholic Conference, pushed the legislature to override the governor’s veto.  The bill, now law, says:  “The Legislature finds that unborn children do not have immigration status and therefore are not within the scope” of the Nebraska law that denies health care to people here illegally.
You have to admit, that is pretty slick.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Primary Eve

Last night I posted a little essay entitled “Literature Drop” involving a successful campaign event for Ron Rabenold.  Tonight I had planned to be cute and use the title  “Literature Dropped” to discuss the way schools have cut back on reading the classics. However, it is the night before the primary, so I’ll save the critique of lit classes for another day.  I’ll give you my recommendations for the election tomorrow.
On the Democratic side:
For President:  Barack Obama.  I would have made the same recommendation four years ago, when most of Carbon County went for Clinton.  I liked Clinton, but I thought Obama was the better candidate.  In the past four years, his plusses have far outweighed his negatives. I’m voting for him with pride.
For U.S. Senator:  Bob Casey.  Six more years!
For Attorney General:  Patrick Murphy.  More experienced than Kane.  More likely to give Corbett sleepless nights.
For U.S. Congress:  Vinsko in the northern part of the county.  You couldn’t ask for a better candidate.  In the southern part of the county, I’m not saying.  I don’t want to get into another argument with the wife.
For State Senate:  Tim Seib.  I met Mr. Seib a number of times.  He tends to talk longer than he should, but that’s because he is passionate about his beliefs.  He would make a great state senator.
For State House:  Ron Rabenold.  I’ve campaigned for Ron.  He’s intelligent, knows Carbon County, has great personal values, and understands the needs of the residents.  I like Jerry Strubinger as a friend, but I can’t see him as our representative.
For convention delegates:  Eight candidates are running for eight seats.  The two who should get the most votes are Billy O’Gurek and Roxanne Pauline.  They have little in common except they are my friends.
On the Republican side:
For President:  Anybody but Romney.
For U.S. Senate:  Flip a coin.
For State Senate:  Go for Rich.  At least he’s not Argall.
For State Representative:  Write in your own name.  You’d be better than Heffley.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Literature drop

The campaign manuals generally say literature drops aren’t all that effective.  You don’t really engage the voter; you simply leave campaign material somewhere near the mailbox or hanging on the door.
Today, though, I participated in a very effective and productive literature drop for Ron Rabenold, candidate for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.  First, the literature was in a small plastic bag with a photo of Rabenold and his family and a roll of candy.  The plastic bag was a nice touch on a rainy day, and it had a ready-made hole for the door knob--very classy.

Second, the drop provided a reminder.  This is a low profile election for most voters.  President Obama is the only presidential candidate on the Democratic side, while Mitt Romney is a foregone conclusion on the Republican ticket.  Although the Republicans have a hot state senate race between Rich and Argall, the Republican U.S. Senate race is contested, and the Holden-Cartwright race has drawn some interest, quite a few voters remain unaware that Tuesday is election day.  
Third, while Rabenold is a well-known name in the Lehighton Area School District, where he teaches, and in Jim Thorpe, where his father taught, Palmerton voters are less familiar with him.  The material provided a good introduction.
Finally, we had good walk lists.  The turfs were manageable, even on a rainy day, and most of us finished before we were thoroughly drenched.  It was a good afternoon.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Earth Day in Jim Thorpe

This afternoon I worked the Earth Day festival in Jim Thorpe, getting signatures on an anti-fracking petition and registering voters.  The booth was sponsored by The Carbon County Democrats for Change, and my co-workers and I enjoyed the experience, even though in two hours we only registered one person.
I drew three conclusions.  First of all, I believe most Jim Thorpe residents avoided the whole event.  They are probably tired of the traffic, the noise, and the general disruption of their lives.  We talked to people from all over eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and even England, but only a few from Jim Thorpe.

Secondly, I realized again that I miss California.  The dreadlocks, tattoos, patchouli oil, and tie-dyed shirts would have been right at home in Marin County.  The only thing missing was the scent of marijuana smoke.  
Thirdly, the marginalization of the environmental movement was brought home.  The people at the Jim Thorpe festival were not mainstream voters.  The fact that the place looked like a hippie festival was not reassuring.  Where were the people without tattoos, with families?  Where were the senior citizens?  Where were the kind of people you see at firehouse breakfasts or in church?  
We will not win very many environmental battles until the movement grows into what it was when the first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970--a broad-based coalition of people of all ideological persuasions.  We need to build our coalition.  I like hippies, but you can’t win an election with them.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Spring peepers

Every year in late March I would hear spring peepers.  They are tiny frogs that begin their mating calls soon after the ice melts on the pond, and I have heard them call on nights when we had frost.  The frogs sing in a high pitched chorus, and they are a harbinger of spring. 
Except this year.  I didn’t hear them call.  I know there is a world-wide decline in amphibians, but the silence from the pond really brings it home.
Tomorrow I’m working a table for the Carbon County Democrats for Change at the Earth Day celebration in Jim Thorpe.  I really don’t think we should celebrate Earth Day.  I think we should mourn. 

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Hang Jeff Davis from a sour apple tree

You know how Republicans are always harping on the need to cut government programs.  I found one they can slash to the bone.  Confederate President Jefferson Davis’s home in Biloxi, Mississippi, was badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina, and it is now being rebuilt with public money.  
Davis led the Confederacy in a war against the United States, the bloodiest war in U.S. history by far.  After the war, instead of working for the betterment of society as Robert E. Lee did, Davis spent his time writing “The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government,” attempting to justify the rebellion.  
According to an article in the May 2012 Harper’s Magazine, millions of dollars in federal funds are being used to reconstruct the mansion and the library, called the “Jefferson Davis Presidential Library,” like he is on a par with Eisenhower or Kennedy or Reagan.
If misguided white supremacists and confederate flag wavers want to fund this sucker, go ahead.  I can see no reason why my tax money should go to this project.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Changing opinons

I worked in an auto parts warehouse in West Oakland from 1970 to 1973.  For part of that time I worked with a guy named Rip, who was a Marxist.  I liked Rip.  I remember one time we crashed a Nixon rally in San Francisco where supporters were yelling “Four more years.”  Each time they yelled that, you then could hear Rip then shouting “of war.”  It really detracted from the “four more years” slogan.
As you might expect, Rip and I discussed politics.  I think he only worked with me about five months, but we would get into it every day.  Our arguments were always civil, but they were continuous.  I remember asking him after months of argument, “Rip, have I changed your mind on anything?”  He said I had, but the issue he mentioned was very minor.  Think of that--we argued for months, and almost nothing changed.
I sometimes think of Rip when I am posting on this blog.  Have I changed anyone’s mind on any issue?  I believe that I may have educated some of my readers on certain topics, but I think that most of the people who read “Sajeonogi” already agree with most of the things I write; those who don’t agree don’t read it.
I wonder if Rip is still a Marxist.  

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Confrontation with Rep. Heffley

The Carbon County Labor Chapter invited the two Democratic candidates for State House of Representatives, Ron Rabenold and Jerry Strubinger, to come to our Monday meeting at Lengyel’s in Nesquehoning to discuss labor issues.  Rep. Heffley was also invited. 
Ron Rabenold was very good, discussing how labor is under attack.  Jerry Strubinger was not so good--his proposal to limit the number of legislators will increase the proportion of Republicans.  As districts get bigger, it will cost more to run, and more Republicans will win.  His other proposal to give each county in Pennsylvania one senator each is unconstitutional under the Supreme Court decisions in Baker v. Carr and Reynolds v. Sims.
Rep. Heffley was tremendously irritating.  He stood there with a straight face and claimed that the Corbett administration had increased funding for education.  Linda explained to me later how the Republicans do the math.  They increased allocations to  the pension fund because of a court order, and they are counting that as money toward education.  So even though they have cut elementary, secondary, and higher education drastically, they add in the pension money as their education spending.  I would say this is weaselly, but I don’t want to insult weasels.
I asked Rep. Heffley a non-labor question about why we needed picture ID to vote.  He went into the usual spiel about fraud, so I asked him why college students needed an expiration date on their picture ID.  He said they did need an expiration date.  I knew that; he didn’t answer the question; and I lost my temper and raised my voice.
Then Heffley said it is not hard to get an ID, and you need one everywhere.  He noted he had to show a picture ID when he got an MRI.  I am not sure what getting an MRI has to do with voting.  I also know that I will work very hard indeed to elect Ron Rabenold.

The cruelty of conservatives

Antony Davies, an associate professor of economics at Duquesne University, published a column in the April 16 issue of the Morning Call in honor of “tax day.”  Davies wrote that “The federal government blows through $300 million every 45 minutes.” 
Note the phrase “blows through.”  When your grandmother gets her Social Security check, when a ranger teaches a nature program at Yosemite, when a helicopter pilot rescues a wounded soldier in Afghanistan, I would not characterize that as “blowing through” money.
Davies touts the idea of state competition.  To quote: “States that governed well would be rewarded with growing economies and populations.  States that governed poorly would be punished as people voted with their feet.  This is how it works in free markets.”
He’s right.  During the Great Depression, Oklahoma sharecroppers who were “tractored off” made a desperate journey to California.  In the 1920s ill-treated blacks from the south left for Chicago, Detroit, and New York.  Today people who are out of work with homes foreclosed load up their cars and drive to North Carolina or Texas hoping to find work.  
These are wrenching and difficult journeys.  In many cases what awaits at the destination is discrimination, homelessness, and despair.  This is an incredibly callous economic doctrine.  I guess, however, that “This is how it works in free markets.”

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Extension agents and Corbett cutbacks

When I was growing up, we had a County Agent named Ray Reitz. Mr. Reitz gave advice to farmers, ran the 4-H program, and wrote a weekly newspaper column giving farm advice.  He was one of the wisest men I knew, and farmers and 4-H’ers respected and admired him.  He was called an “extension” agent because he was part of Penn State’s service “extended” to the farmers.  
Now I read in Lancaster Farming that Carbon County will no longer have its own County Agent.  Instead Carbon will be lumped in with Wayne, Pike, and Monroe.  On the other hand, we are promised more “video conferencing” and “webinars.”  
The change stems largely from cuts imposed by the Corbett administration, which resulted in 42 job cuts in ag research and the Extension system.  We will now have 19 “district directors” for the whole state.  The article by Chris Torres says even more jobs will be cut.  In addition, the main funding for the extension program will be diverted from the general fund to the Horse Race Development Fund.  
The Marcellus Shale extraction tax, by the way, will not be changed.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Notice of a right to form a union

Last month a federal judge in Washington said the National Labor Relations Board had the power to order private employers to post notices telling workers about their right to form unions and their right to bargain collectively and to distribute union literature.  
Yesterday another federal judge, this one in South Carolina, ruled on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the NLRB did not have that authority.
Generally, when two federal judges issue different rulings, appeals are granted.  Incidentally, the first judge was appointed by Obama; the second by the first George Bush.  
If these cases do reach the Supreme Court, how do you think that court will rule?
[You can find the full story in the Business section of today’s New York Times.]

Friday, April 13, 2012

Avoid the big guys

In the past few days the New York Times has published articles on
  1. Monsanto pushing a very toxic pesticide known as 2-4D;
  2. the mistreatment of chickens by Kreider farms, a giant company that sells millions of eggs, some of which contain salmonella; and
  3. the efforts of Anheuser-Busch, brewer of Hurricane High Gravity Lager, to continue to sell that product to the Indians on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, even though much of the crime and fetal alcohol syndrome common on the Reservation results from such sales.  
If you buy from local organic farms, you will be avoiding Monsanto.  If you buy eggs from local farms, you will be getting free-range eggs.  If you buy beer like Yuengling or Sierra Nevada or boutique brewery beers like the ones sold at The Beer Zone in Palmerton, you will avoid Anheuser-Busch.
Yes, you will pay more.  On the other hand, you will not be spending your money on anti-social corporations that harm both people and the environment.  The extra money you pay is worth it.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Carbon Democrats Approve Headquarters

Tonight the Executive Board of the Democratic Party authorized the rental of a headquarters at the corner of South and First Streets in Lehighton.  The Republican Party already has a headquarters on the same block, but ours is larger and handicapped accessible.  
All Democratic candidates who are victorious in the primary election are invited to use the headquarters for phone banking, meetings, and other campaign activities.
In the summer months campaign workers will work on registration, volunteer recruitment, and obtaining photo IDs for seniors and the home-bound who lack them.  By October the office will be open seven days a week. 

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The real world

Paul Carpenter in his columns in the Morning Call and Rep. Doyle Heffley in his columns in the Times News keep telling us that the ID requirement is not voter suppression.  Anyone can get an ID.  You need an ID to cash a check or board an airplane.  
Tonight I talked to an in-home health care professional who received a frantic call from an 85-year-old woman in Whitehall.  This woman is on oxygen.   She can’t leave the house.  She is mentally sharp.  She has been voting all her life, but she doesn’t have a picture ID with an expiration date with her photo to send in with her request for an absentee ballot.  She will lose her right to vote.
You tell me that this policy is about fraud.  No, it isn’t.  It is about keeping people from voting. 

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Minimum wage

Here’s how you can tell if someone you know is having economic problems.  Ask him or her what the minimum wage is in Pennsylvania.  People who earn pots of money have no idea what it is. People who are scraping by can tell you immediately without having to look it up.
It’s $7.25.  In some states or localities it is more.  In Washington state, for example, it is over $9.00 by state law; in San Francisco it is over $10.00.  While states may set a higher standard than the feds, Pennsylvania has not chosen to do that.
I’ll save you the trouble of figuring out the day’s total.  It comes to $58.  For the week, $290.  For the year, assuming paid holidays and two weeks vacation, $14,500.   Try living on that with a family of four.  
Incidentally, you probably won’t have health insurance for you and your kids at a minimum wage job.  You probably won’t get paid holidays either.  You won’t be in a union.  Don’t complain, though--you can be replaced.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Linked in

A former student from San Jose State asked me to join something called “Linked In.”  I clicked on the requisite site and filled in my info, giving my occupation as “agrarian radical.”  Now I get requests from three people I don’t know (one in Spanish) who evidently want to contact me.  
I ignored them.  Why would people I don’t know want to contact me?  Why should I waste my time on them?  Am I missing something here?  I liked my student who asked me to join this thing, but I’m having second thoughts.  Advice, anyone?

Sunday, April 8, 2012

More depressing news about what Pennsylvanians think

In the past few weeks I’ve read a number of articles on where Obama went wrong with his economic policy.  The main criticisms were that the Administration did not spend enough and did not put enough funds into “pump-priming.”  Another problem, according to some economists, was that too much money was allocated to long term projects that didn’t get money into the hands of consumers immediately. 
Economists also noted that the President had trouble convincing Congress to allocate the funds that were available.  And every article I read said that while the Administration might have done more, Obama prevented the country from sliding into a complete collapse.  Things were bad, but it was not 1932.  Let me repeat--the consensus among serious economists is that Administration policies prevented another Great Depression.  
According to a poll published in today’s Morning Call, thirty-seven percent of the people polled believe the President’s policies hurt the economy.  Thirty percent believed they made no difference; thirty percent believe they helped.
To reiterate, 2/3rds of Pennsylvanians believed that the Administration policies had no effect or made things worse.  There are times I wish McCain had won.  There are times I wish that these knuckleheads witnessed 25% unemployment, breadlines, soup kitchens, and total despair.  There are times I wish people were not so uninformed.
(I had written “so goddam stupid” but pulled that in deference to this being Easter.)

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Matewan

Tonight we’re watching “Matewan,” a film directed by John Sayles, filmed by Haskel Wexler, and released in 1987. The film is about attempts to organize coal miners in West Virginia in the 1920s.  It is based on real events; a small war broke out in Matewan in 1920 resulting in the deaths of four townspeople and seven company representatives.
Chris Cooper plays the union organizer who tries to unite the white miners and black and Italian replacement workers brought in by the company.  Some things have not changed in the last 90 some years.  Union organizers are still called socialists and harassed by company goons.  Companies still try to divide blacks and whites and immigrants against one another.  The huge power differential between the companies and the workers is still with us.  And Chris Cooper’s words still ring true:  There are only two sides--those that work and those that don’t.  

Friday, April 6, 2012

No water pistols, Glocks allowed

According to an editorial in today’s New York Times, the Tampa city council is getting ready for the Republican National Convention in August.  The council has temporarily banned “...clubs, hatchets, switchblades, pepper spray, slingshots, chains, shovels and all manner of guns that shoot water, paint or air.”
On the other hand, you can take your Glock, loaded with real bullets, and walk around outside the hall.  It seems that Florida has a law that any local government that bans firearms can be fined up to $100,000.  
The Republican Party is full of Tea Party activists who don’t like Romney, or who do like Romney but not Gingrich or Santorum.  These are the people who brought loaded handguns to townhalls in 2010.  These people are crazy.
You might want to avoid Tampa during the Republican convention.  If you do go, be prepared to take cover.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Reassurance

In a column in today’s New York Times, Nicholas D. Kristof discussed a pair of scientific studies of poultry on factory farms that found that chickens on those farms “...are routinely fed caffeine, active ingredients of Tylenol and Benadryl, banned antibiotics and even arsenic.”
Arsenic is fed to chickens because it reduces infections.  Benadryl and Prozac are fed to chickens to reduce anxiety.  Caffeine keeps them awake so they eat more.
Some readers of this blog eat our eggs.  One has even used one of our old chickens to make stock for stew.  
Here is my disclaimer.  Our chickens are fed “lay mash” manufactured in Kempton, Pennsylvania.  The feed contains no caffeine, arsenic, antibiotics, or Tylenol.
I also throw corn, lettuce, weeds, apples, and sunflower seeds into their yard as a treat.  Occasionally, when I’m working in the garden, I’ll toss them an earthworm or a grub.  They love those.  And while I do drink coffee, I don’t share it with our leghorns.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Speak up, even if your voice shakes

Occasionally I wear a tee shirt with that saying.  I really believe it.  One reason that public opinion has swung in favor of gay rights, including gay marriage, is because gays came out of the closet.  Fifty years ago, almost no one knew any gay people.  It isn’t that there weren’t gay people around, but they were in hiding.  A major result of the gay rights movement was that gays publicly proclaimed who they were.  Sometimes their voices shook, but they spoke out.
Straight people discovered they knew gays.  They were friends, siblings, colleagues, and neighbors.  It is difficult to be anti-gay if your brother is gay.  I’m reasonably certain Santorum would knock off the gay bashing if he knew his sister-in-law was a lesbian, or if one of his sons confided that he was gay. 
It is for this reason that women who have had an abortion or men who are husbands or partners  of women who had an abortion should speak out.  When is the last time at a public meeting you heard a woman announce that she had an abortion?  Literally millions of American women have had abortions, yet they are silent in the national debate.  I believe many of the anti-abortion fanatics would be quite surprised to learn that their sisters or friends or even their mothers at one time had an abortion.  I am fully and personally aware that getting an abortion is not an easy decision.  Nonetheless, we need to speak out, shaky voice or not.   

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

The EPA and mercury

“Expensive regulation:  EPA coal emissions plan will be a job killer” was the headline in a Times News “guest editorial” written by Jennifer Stefano, the Pennsylvania State Director for Americans for Prosperity.  Americans for Prosperity is an anti-environmental pro-business group which, I believe, would like to bring back breaker boys to pick the slate out of the coal.  The editorial is full of unsubstantiated assertions and dubious statistics.  
Here’s another headline for another guest editorial:  “Expensive deregulation:  Ending EPA coal emissions controls will affect unborn children.”  Yes, that is one of the results of mercury pollution.  I’d send a guest editorial to the Times News to accompany that headline, but I doubt if the paper would use it.  

Monday, April 2, 2012

Dick and Judy's Excellent Campaign Adventure, Part 2

Last night we had the first installment detailing Dick and Judy’s decision to work for Congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth.  Tonight we continue with the actual campaign.
We were two of many volunteers for Tammy…we spent hours writing postcards, making phone calls, and stuffing envelopes. Dick did some door-to-door canvassing and put up campaign signs in the area.  Judy was asked to assist with data entry for the campaign, and she was also successful in having two Letters to the Editor published.   
Recently, when we were stuffing envelopes with thank you notes to donors, one of the volunteers commented that Joe Walsh probably only has to send out about six letters, since two of his contributors are the Koch Brothers!
As volunteers we were invited to a Meet and Greet where we met Tammy in person for the first time.   She was immediately impressive and reinforced our decision to work for her.  Tammy did many of these Meet and Greets–wise decision on her part because once you meet her, you are “hooked.”  
We went to a fund-raiser where Senator Dick Durbin endorsed Tammy.  It turned out to be one of the few snowy evenings we’ve had all winter, but it was well-attended in spite of that.  We also enjoyed a debate between Tammy and her primary opponent Raja Krishnamoorthi.  The press was there, and we felt Tammy did exceptionally well.   Krishnamoorthi was a good candidate but not ready for the challenge presented by Joe Walsh. 
The climax was the night of the primary when we were invited to the election night party, which became a rousing celebration when Tammy won with 67% of the vote.   Every TV station had cameras and reporters there, along with radio personalities, blog writers, newspaper reporters–all of whom converged on Tammy for interviews after her victory speech.  It was an exciting evening and an experience we will never forget.
This is truly a grass-roots campaign with a very personal touch.  Since Tammy does not like the use of robo-calls, all the phone calls made were by volunteers.  The postcards were handwritten by volunteers using our own words.   Tammy herself was frequently at the office visiting with us and sharing thoughts and ideas.  We were fortunate to have lunch with her at a local restaurant the day before the primary where she and Dick largely discussed their aviation experiences.  She was very interested in Dick’s former career as an Aircraft Mechanic for the airlines.   She is clearly not a politician who is only interested in talking about herself and her accomplishments (which are many)!
One of the special rewards for working on this campaign is the camaraderie with the other volunteers.  Even though our district is now thought to be “leaning Democratic,” our particular suburban area is still largely Republican, so it was great to have other Democrats to talk with.  They are a very friendly, intelligent group from all walks of life–teachers, skilled workers, accountants, office workers, union members, veterans, etc.  Her campaign staff is great fun to work with and mostly very young–they are committed to the cause and work extremely hard.  We were wondering if they ever slept!  
This will be a watched race throughout the country, not only due to the notoriety of Tammy’s opponent, but also because of the redistricting. We now have a chance to have a Democrat representing us in Congress for the first time.  
The staff is giving a wine and cheese party for all the volunteers next week, but after that, we will likely be slowing down until the fall campaign actively begins in full force.
In the meantime, Tammy plans to do more of the Meet and Greets (a lot like Town Halls, but generally in private homes), along with numerous fund raisers.  We will have the opportunity to participate in local parades on Memorial Day and throughout the summer.  We plan to continue to help out whenever and how ever we can.   Joe Walsh must be defeated!
Dick and Judy will report on the Duckworth campaign again in the upcoming months.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

The Tammy Duckworth race

Far-flung correspondents in locations as far away as Belgium or Summit Hill send in their news.  Two of our readers, Dick and Judy White, live in Illinois, and both were involved in the Tammy Duckworth campaign.  I asked them if they would like to do a guest blog about their experiences.  Here is Part I:
Dick & Judy’s Excellent Campaign Adventure
For the first time in our voting lives, we decided to get involved in politics, specifically the Democratic primary in our District (Illinois District 8).  We began our adventure in January of this year.  
We have been supporters of Tammy Duckworth for some time, but we did not get directly involved with her previous attempt at office in 2006 against Peter Roskam.  It was a largely Republican district, but Tammy received 48.7% of the vote.  Roskam’s campaign was less than honorable (being kind here).    We are now in a different district and no longer have the non-representation of Roskam.  But it gets worse….
The Republican incumbent and candidate in our new District is Joe Walsh – a Tea Party “Screamer” and Obama-hater.   This fact is what really pushed our involvement.  Here are a couple of his latest gems.  From the Washington Post: “He [Walsh] vows that he will do nothing to help his constituents and instead focus entirely on his ‘mission to sorta scream from the mountaintop.’” And from Politico: "What else has she done? Female, wounded veteran...ehhh."  It should also be noted that Tammy has actually lived in the district since at least 2005 and Joe lives well outside of the district.
Here is Tammy’s background.   She was a helicopter pilot in Iraq (one of the first women to fly combat missions).  In 2004, her helicopter was shot down, and she lost both legs and part of the use of her right arm.  She became a strong advocate for veterans while she was still recovering at Walter Reed Hospital and was eventually named Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs.  In 2009 she was appointed Assistant Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs by President Obama.  She was successful in both roles, finding jobs for returning vets and improving the quality of their care.  She has a strong drive to do the same for all Americans.  That’s it in a nutshell – if you’d like to know more, check out <www.tammyduckworth.com>.
Tomorrow:  What we did in the campaign.