16 Wednesday Jul 2008
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Selfish Democrats and Opportunistic Republicans Subvert Democratic Party in the City (and Beyond)
Want to get an inside look at City politics? Take a look at this recent post from the ever painfully honest St. Louis American about the seamy side of our local political operatives.
16 Wednesday Jul 2008
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The Johnson County Democratic Club presented former Governor Roger Wilson with an award for his public service, in the tradition of the the legendary public servant and Secretary of State Jimmy Kirkpatrick who had been a long time Warrensburg resident, at a dinner tonight in Johnson County. Approximately two hundred people were in attendance.
Doris Kirkpatrick and Charlie Wheeler, Democratic candidate for State Treasurer.
Chris Benjamin (right), Democratic candidate in the 31st Senate District, with members of the Missouri Educational Workers, Local #1.
Jim Jackson, Democratic candidate in the 121st Legislative District, with a young Democrat.
Former State Representative Jim Sigfried assisted with the dessert auction which raised funds for the Johnson County Democratic Central Committee. Several pies went for over one hundred dollars.
Former Governor Roger Wilson addresses the audience.
After the dinner Roger Wilson speaks with Mike Carey, from Robin Carnahan’s campaign.
16 Wednesday Jul 2008
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I have heard supporters of Hillary Clinton (HRC) complaining about how she was mistreated and insisting that they could not support Obama since, clearly, he could not have vanquished their hero without having pandered to gender bias. (And besides he’s African-American and nobody in these politically correct times can get away with racism, dontcha know, just sexism.)
The most hard-core of these folks state that they either definitely will or may vote for McCain–or they won’t vote at all which is effectively a vote for McCain. They are not worried about his retrograde positions on most issues, including those dear to feminists. (On the topic of reproductive rights, for one, you might want to go to the NARAL website and check out both candidates views on family planning.) After all, so the reasoning goes, there will surely be strong Democratic majorities in the Congress and they will be able to hold McCain in check until HRC can ride in on her white horse and wipe him out in 2012.
As a matter of fact, some argue, a McCain presidency may help HRC to eventual victory since folks will be so disgusted by the desperate state of the country at the end of his McBush presidency that they will vote for her in droves. (I guess nobody told them that opportunity usually only knocks once–and if the Democrats don’t answer the door while opportunity is beating it down right now, it will probably be a long time before they get such a good chance again.) On the other hand, an Obama presidency, which they assume will probably be followed by a second term in 2012, may assure that this specially anointed woman may never realize her ambition.
There has also been a lot of talk floating around about how Obama has moved to the center, and is taking the progressive left for granted, and how we have to disabuse him of that perception poste haste or risk irrelevance in the future–an attitude that I admit I flirted with for a few days after the FISA vote. And of course, many smugly note that HRC, now that the nomination is a done-deal and she has nothing to loose, has begun to correct her previous list to the right, as demonstrated by her FISA vote–so aren’t we all sorry we went with Obama now when we could have had this sterling progressive?
In spite of my impatience with these arguments, I don’t really mean to denigrate efforts to rationalize what may be a legitimate distaste for Obama, or disappointment about the primary results. However, this bitterness really leaves me uneasy, and not only because it bothers me that anyone is willing to base our future on possibly very shaky assumptions. It also seems to me to reflect an unfortunate preoccupation with personality that is allowed to trump the political realities that we all need to keep uppermost if we are ever, in the near or far term, to change the direction in which our country is headed–if you will forgive me for being so grandiose.
As a result of this uneasiness, I started to keep a list of things that the president can control regardless of the makeup of the congress. Things like Supreme Court nominations, environmental rules issued by agencies controlled by the executive, or maybe Jane Mayer’s recent disclosures about how we got into the torture business. (Remember who reversed his position on torture recently when he realized it was popular with 24 fans?)
But today I just heard the real topper. Take a look at this article from the New York Times about new Health and Human Services regulations. You want to see contraceptives defined as an abortificants? No? Then tell me which of the candidates you trust to turn back this type of meddling in our reproductive life. Is it really the one trying to claim the rightwing pro-lifers as his base? According to NARAL:
The regulation would allow health-care corporations or individuals to consider birth control “abortion” and therefore to refuse to provide contraception to women who need it. The proposal has the potential to undermine hard-fought laws that ensure women’s access to birth control. In addition, the proposed regulation could affect Medicaid and the Title X family-planning program. For instance, staff at clinics or health-care plans that contract for Medicaid services could refuse to provide contraception services.
Note again that these regulations do not need to be approved by congress. And then go ahead and vote for McCain (or sit at home on election day) all in the cause of feminism.
15 Tuesday Jul 2008
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Missouri Chrysler Plant Shut Downs, Economy in Freefall; Bush and Akin Agenda to Erode US Manufacturing
Contact: Kevin Caravelli, 314-537-5435, Kevin@DeLearForCongress.org
Matt Pidgeon, 314-322-1077, Matt@pi2advertising.com
For more information please visit: http://www.DeLearForCongress.org
St. Louis, MO, July 14, 2008 – The City of Fenton and area school districts received terrible news nearly two weeks ago with the announcement that Chrysler intends to close the St. Louis South Assembly Plant and eliminate one work shift in the St. Louis North assembly.
Hearing the news of the Chrysler shutdown, Congressional Candidate Byron DeLear (D-MO2) expressed his dismay, “I am shocked to see a seemingly callous approach by many of our elected leaders to just stand by and watch our economy get hollowed out with the endless sell-offs, firings and buy-outs to the point of putting Americans in a state of economic trauma.”
These cuts will be felt beyond the expected job loss. Using the widely accepted economic multiplier of 7 supplier jobs for every assembly job, the Chrysler layoffs will affect 2,400 Chrysler workers and as many as 16,800 support related jobs. Schools, Police Departments, Fire Districts and other services will also have to cope with declining revenue and the reduction of services to our communities.
There is no question that our economy is struggling. Millions of jobs have already been lost due to NAFTA and other unfair “free trade” agreements. The Detroit Auto Industry continues to open new plants in Mexico and overseas, while our own good American manufacturing jobs stateside are being shut down and closed off. The unabated deterioration of our manufacturing sector is in no small part to the mismanaged economic policies of George Bush with support from legislators like Todd Akin (R-MO2). Rep. Akin voted for CAFTA and against the interests of his own constituents. As a matter of fact, Rep. Akin has continuously voted for these anti-American “free trade” agreements that continue to cost us jobs, weakening our economy and mortgaging our collective future.
“With the current path our trade policies have put our nation on, we will see more and more factory shut downs, more foreign takeovers of US industries like Anheuser-Busch, and more good jobs replaced with temporary employment without benefits”, said Glenn Kage, President of the UAW Community Action Program in Hazelwood, MO. “With the recession escalating and no significant action to change these trends, it kind of makes you wonder what it’ll take to wake people up.”
Trade can’t be “free” when American workers are expected to compete with foreign factories operating with questionable labor practices with no significant environmental standards. Mr. DeLear supports Fair Trade agreements to help keep our jobs here in Missouri and protect those hard fought for values, like 40 hour work weeks, safety in the work place, child labor laws and environmental standards.
“We need to stage a political intervention to defend and protect our American economy before it is too late,” said DeLear “A common-sense approach shows very clearly that for us as a national family to be successful partners in globalization, we first have to be responsible stewards to the health of our own economy here at home – it’s time to demand a true ‘Made in America Creates Jobs in America’ politic out of Washington, D.C.”
For more information please visit: http://www.DeLearForCongress.org
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15 Tuesday Jul 2008
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Get to the point!
On the evening that I went out door knocking with Deb Lavender, she did that. She introduced herself and told each person that, as a physical therapist who owns a business in Kirkwood, she is passionate about health care. She is also passionate about having members of both parties sit down at the table together and work on solutions without all the bickering.
One man asked her what she could do as a state rep to ease the health care crisis in Missouri. Her answer was a solution I’d not heard of. She told him that she wanted Missourians to have the right to knock on Medicare’s door and ask for a premium. She told him that Medicare’s rates are far lower than Anthem’s, the company where he gets his insurance, because Medicare operates with 5 percent overhead, whereas Anthem and other private insurers operate with 40 percent overhead. Anthem’s rates would fall if people had the option of going with Medicare.
Deb wasn’t sure that such a plan could be enacted, but even if that didn’t work out, she’d at least aim to get vets on Medicare if they want that coverage.
None of the people we talked to that evening questioned her about her second passion, establishing bipartisan cooperation. But I did. As we drove back to the office, I played devil’s advocate and pointed out that bipartisan cooperation isn’t feasible when Republicans are so bent on having it: my way or the highway. Their motives are mainly greedy, I said, and finding consensus between legislators who want a level playing field for ordinary people and those who want to enrich the wealthy doesn’t work.
Deb didn’t dispute that. In fact, she added that they’ve punished Democrats for the sin of being Democrats by taking the parking assignments of Dem leaders and giving them to junior Republican legislators. Same with office space. Deb told me that one Democratic legislator spent an entire summer attending workshops to learn more about the topic of a subcommittee she was to sit on. Then the Republicans, for no good reason, removed her from that subcommittee.
So it isn’t as if Deb is naive about Republicans. But she does believe that when Democrats retake the power, they will be tempted to exact some payback for all that gratuitous meanness. Bad idea. And Deb would push for as much comity as possible.
So, let’s see, the mostly socially moderate voters of Kirkwood have a choice between pro-voucher, pro-death penalty, pro-abstinence-only sex ed, anti-choice, anti-cure Republican Rick Stream or a concerned, compassionate, sensible Democrat in the person of Deb Lavender. That should be a no-brainer. All she has to do is knock on 12,000 doors before November 4th and show them the difference. That’s all.
That would require hitting 500 doors a week, and–hint, hint–she could sure use more help achieving that.
15 Tuesday Jul 2008
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The second quarter 2008 campaign finance reports are due today (pdf) at the Missouri Ethics Commission. The transcription elves at our Show Me Progress corporate headquarters will be shifting their attention to sifting through the reports of the candidates for 163 House races, 17 Senate races, Governor, Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, and Attorney General.
As you might imagine, it’s the political research equivalent of trying to take a sip of water from a high pressure fire hose. We’re not going to get every drop all at once. Nor is this task going to be completed within the next twenty-four hours. Please, there are transcription elf labor laws and they could go on strike if we push them too hard.
So, if you’re an aspiring intrepid investigative blogger, especially when it comes to General Assembly races, knock yourself out. Don’t forget to take a look at the “Report Summary”, “Contributions And Loans Received”, “Expenditures And Contributions Made”, and “Supplemental Loan Information”. Our transcription discerning and astute campaign finance research elves will be making a valiant attempt to do so. If you’re inclined to give them a hand, by all means do so…
15 Tuesday Jul 2008
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Terrorist Watch List Hits One Million Names
WASHINGTON, DC – The nation’s terrorist watch list has hit one million names, according to a tally maintained by the American Civil Liberties Union based upon the government’s own reported numbers for the size of the list.
“Members of Congress, nuns, war heroes and other ‘suspicious characters,’ with names like Robert Johnson and Gary Smith, have become trapped in the Kafkaesque clutches of this list, with little hope of escape,” said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “Congress needs to fix it, the Terrorist Screening Center needs to fix it, or the next president needs to fix it, but it has to be done soon…”
“…America’s new million record watch list is a perfect symbol for what’s wrong with this administration’s approach to security: it’s unfair, out-of-control, a waste of resources, treats the rights of the innocent as an afterthought, and is a very real impediment in the lives of millions of travelers in this country,” said Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU Technology and Liberty Program. “It must be fixed without delay.”
“Putting a million names on a watch list is a guarantee that the list will do more harm than good by interfering with the travel of innocent people and wasting huge amounts of our limited security resources on bureaucratic wheel-spinning,” said Steinhardt. “I doubt this thing would even be effective at catching a real terrorist…”
“…it’s unfair, out-of-control, a waste of resources, treats the rights of the innocent as an afterthought…”
Yep, that sounds like dubya and his administration. Nothing fails like failure. The deity looks after fools and idiots, it’s just that everyone else suffers.
AUDIT OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TERRORIST WATCHLIST NOMINATION PROCESSES (pdf)
Audit Report 08-16
March 2008…We believe that informal information sharing processes create a greater risk that terrorism information is not passed fully, accurately, and timely and that information is not acted upon in an appropriate manner. We therefore recommend that DOJ consider promulgating general policy related to watchlist nomination processes and the sharing of information that might result in a nomination. Such policy could identify nomination thresholds and information sharing criteria, or require formalization of watchlist nomination and information sharing activities. Although each DOJ component would continue its current initiatives to share information related to known or suspected terrorists and the FBI would continue to make its nominations, such a policy would provide an overall framework within which all DOJ components would operate. Further, if DOJ components operated within a standardized framework, others in the Intelligence Community, such as NCTC, would have a better understanding of the intent of, and act appropriately upon, information provided…
[emphasis added]
That would explain Nelson Mandela.
14 Monday Jul 2008
Posted in Uncategorized
Wow, we just got mentioned on the Post-Dispatch’s blog “The Platform.” Check it out: http://www.stltoday.com/blogzo…
Anyway, it’s another week with a lot of exciting opportunities to get involved. There’s been a lot of chatter lately about tinkering with the Arch Grounds, so I’ll include some information about that after the calendar. For now, here are some of this week’s great events:
Monday, July 14 I couldn’t find a lot going on around town, but for those of you with the TV, Channel 21 in St. Louis City will be showing an episode of Green TV focused on “Environment, Race, and War” at 8:30 PM. Two of the guests will be Nkhil Kothegal and Andy Heaslet, leading me to believe that the revolution will begin somewhere North of the Loop. More info at:http://www.insteadofwar.org/site/calendar/events.php?id=E4427
Tuesday, July 15 John McCain is going to be in town, and we will be protesting his proposed continuation of Bush’s policy of military aggression. The protest will go from 5 to 6:30 on the corner of Ladue Road and S. Woods Mills Road. See the facebook event at http://www.facebook.com/event…. or the calendar listing at http://www.insteadofwar.org/si… for more information.
Also Tuesday. The sale of Anheuser-Busch can only mean one thing; it’s time to start drinking some Schlafly! I’m mostly kidding, but Tuesday’s a great chance to drink Schlafly anyway as the Schlafly Bottleworks will be hosting this month’s installment of “Green Drinks” at 6:30 PM. Green drinks is a loose network of people who meet up once a month to chat about the environment over drinks. More info about the event is at http://www.saucemagazine.com/c…
Wednesday, July 16 7 PM. This isn’t activism per se, but given the tight correlation I’ve observed between activists and future journalists, I thought this event might be interesting to many of you. Don Marsh, host of “St. Louis on the Air,” will be speaking about his life and new book at the St. Louis County Library. The full scoop is at http://leftbank.booksense.com/… .
Thursday, July 17 10 PM. Jesse Allen has helped out a lot of St. Louis peace and social justice groups by organizing fundraisers for rightous causes. On Thursday, Jesse and his friends will be jamming out for justice yet again over in Edwardsville, Illinios. Edwardsville is a bit of a drive, but well worth it when you consider the street cred you’ll get for being able to say you went to a bar called the Stagger Inn. The Stagger Inn is located at 104 E. Vandalia in Edwardsville; you can find the facebook even at http://www.facebook.com/event…. .
Friday, July 18, 5 – 7 PM. Enjoy a lazy Friday evening with veggie grub and tales of activism at the Peace Economy Project BBQ. It’s at the World Community Center at 438 N. Skinker and the facebook page is at http://www.facebook.com/event…. .
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the Webster Film Series is showing “The Unforseen,” a documentary about Austin Environmentalists battle to save Barton Springs. Details are at http://www.webster.edu/filmser… .
Saturday July 19 starting at 9 AM. Donate your junk for a good cause! Here’s a message from Tarah: “Next Saturday, July 19, our Amnesty International St. Louis Group is having a yard sale (at the World Community Center, 438 N. Skinker, in between Delmar and Kinsbury). Anywho- the money from our yard sale will be going to support the Pretty Bird Woman House, the only Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault crisis Center for the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota, which is in vital need of supplies (we’ll be sending them gift cards full of yard-sale money!).
If you have any things you would like to donate to the yard sale (old furniture, clothing, books, whatever), just let me know. You can drop it off at my place (or I can pick it up from you if needed) anytime before next Saturday, July 19. Just let me know 🙂 It’s a great excuse to clean out that garage/closet/shelf/junk! Anything that doesn’t get sold will be donated to Goodwill.
You can contact Tarah at tarahdemant@hotmail.com and find out more about the cause at http://www.amnestyusa.org/viol…
Also Saturday, another very cool charity event. The St. Louis Young Dems remind me that State Senator Jeff Smith is hosting a charity basketball tournament and school supply drive starting at 10 AM. You can register to play and find out more about the wish list at http://jeffsmith3on3.com/
Sunday, July 20 Those of you who know Hedy Epstein know what an amazing woman she is. On Sunday, there will be a party to mark the beginning of Hedy’s next courageous journey. You can RSVP at http://www.facebook.com/event…. .
Finally, as mentioned above, there has been a lot of discussion online about how to best connect the St. Louis riverfront to the rest of downtown, in order to make St. Louis a more vibrant city. Please check out the video at http://www.stltoday.com/blogzo… and consider taking action. For some great background, check out some of the excellent analyses at http://ecoabsence.blogspot.com… and http://stlrising.blogspot.com/… . And I really like Steve Pattersons discussion of getting rid of the I-70 connection altogether: http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/…
Have a fun and meaningful week,
Adam
14 Monday Jul 2008
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Last Tuesday evening, I tagged along as Dev Lavender, running for state rep in Kirkwood, H.D. 94, knocked on doors. We started at 5:00 on a hot, muggy evening–but with a breeze, thank goodness. As we drove to the spot where we met two other volunteers, Deb explained her concerns about finding spots on main thoroughfares for her yard signs. And she talked about the challenge of being a first time candidate and not knowing things that would be obvious to old pros. For example, she thought ordering yard signs a week and a half in advance would be plenty. No-o-o. She should have ordered them at least three weeks before she needed them.
We set off with the VAN list, skipping the houses that had been identified as strong Republicans. Most people didn’t greet us like company they’d been expecting, but more like we might turn out to be Jehovah’s Witnesses–and we were guilty until proven innocent of that charge. Most of them eased up a little once they realized we weren’t proselytizing (well, not proselytizing for Jesus anyway), but we still weren’t the company they’d been expecting.
Their coolness is so understandable, and it’s no predictor of what will happen in the conversation. One man stood on the sidewalk, holding his cig till it died but not inhaling–considerate of him, I thought. He was a yellow dog Democrat and liked to talk about his experiences. He talked for ten minutes or so, then he told us to be sure to visit with Julia, two doors up. “Now she might not answer, cause she’s blind, and if Bill ain’t home, she might not feel comfortable. But he usually gets home around this time. He’s still workin’ at 72. Me, I got outta Chrysler when I couldn’t take them bosses no more.”
Two doors up, Bill answered, came outside, listened to Deb’s pitch without much expression one way or another. Then Deb mentioned that his neighbor had told us about his wife’s vision problems and asked if she was home. Bill invited us in. We weren’t expecting that.
I made over their two Maine Coon cats–what beauties!–while Deb and Julia got acquainted. Turns out that Julia was the first woman in Kirkwood to run for the City Council. This was back in the seventies. She lost that race, but Marge Schramm, who ran for mayor in the eighties and won, said that Julia had broken ground for female candidates in Kirkwood. Before Julia retired, she ran non-profits, and in fact at one time headed an organization with 6,000 volunteers to oversee.
Deb invited her to help with her campaign, but Julia said, “I can’t see anything.” Deb’s response was that her experience would be very valuable, and I chimed in that Julia would have told her to order those yard signs earlier than she had.
Julia wasn’t interested in working on the campaign, though. On the other hand, she did offer to put up a yard sign for Deb. Julia and Bill are on Geyer Road, a major thoroughfare in Kirkwood–AND right across from a polling place. A plum location.
That, as it turned out, was the house of the night. We soldiered on.
One young mother opened her apartment door with a sweet smile. Deb gave her the opening patter: “Hi, I’m Deb Lavender, and I’m running for state rep. I’m getting out and meeting the neighbors. Do you vote Democratic, Republican … or it depends?” The young woman’s smile broadened: “I work for the Republican Party.” Anyone who’s ever used a VAN list knows they’re not perfect. Deb returned her smile and said that the lady probably wouldn’t be voting for her, then. She shrugged. “They pay my bills, and I don’t bite the hand that feeds me.”
Another man listened to Deb’s intro, took the literature, told her that he was a Democrat and that he’d vote for her. And stopped short of saying, “Now that’s all I want to hear. You can go away.” But we got the idea and left him to his life.
Deb is running against an incumbent, Rick Stream , who is more conservative than most Kirkwood voters. He is pro-voucher in a school district that places high value on its schools, anti-stem cell research, anti-choice, pro-death penalty, and pro-abstinence only sex education.
Deb mentioned none of that at the doors, however, unless someone asked, preferring to focus on her passion, as a physical therapist and a small business owner, for health care reform. I’ll have more to say tomorrow about her conversations with constituents about health care, as well as about her belief that legislators should quit bickering and start looking for common ground.
14 Monday Jul 2008
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So I’ve been eagerly checking McCain’s webpage because he’s supposed to have a public event in St. Louis tomorrow but hasn’t released any details (he is holding a private event at Hunter Farms). Someone from the campaign told a reporter that they’d send out more info on Sunday, but they didn’t, so chalk this up as another instance (though a minor one) of the straight talk derailment. Anyway, as I was looking, I noticed that there will be a town hall meeting in Kansas City this Thursday at 9:30 AM. And who better to ask Mr. Straight Talk some good questions, I thought, than some showmeprogressives? You can RSVP for the event here. I suppose this will mean that you get a bunch of emails from the McCain campaign, but that’s why God made the delete button.
Update: Oh yeah, and anyone in the St. Louis area interested in protesting McCain’s visit on Tuesday can find out more here or here