November 14, 2008

Dear DeLear Family, Friends and Folks~

I want to thank you for joining and supporting our campaign for Congress for 2008.  Although we didn’t win, our campaign did succeed in garnering significant local and national endorsements, in addition to raising the most financial support from a broad range of stakeholders from the greater St. Louis region and throughout America.  Bringing to light important progressive issues, such as the greening of our economy, ending the war in Iraq and the absolute need for universal health care undoubtedly had a positive impact.  None of these successes would have been possible without your valuable help and support.  

I also want to especially thank those who volunteered to canvass neighborhoods, make phone calls and help get the word out to voters.  Personally, your comradery and team spirit is what made all the ups and downs that every political campaign experiences worthwhile.  Our collaboration and others like it are what absolutely makes the difference for the strength of our democracy and ensuring success in our continuing American experiment.  But we still have miles to go.  

With the unprecedented levels of engagement, excitement and new achievements this political season, we have accomplished what only a short time ago seemed impossible.  That said, there is still much healing to be done as the voter turnout for the 2008 Presidential Election was around 56%, just a few million more ballots cast then in the 2004 Kerry/Bush contest (at this time final numbers are still being tabulated).  Many pundits and politicos had predicted a much higher voter turnout.  It seems some voters, not seeing things go their way, may have taken their toys and left the electoral sandbox.  I look forward to working with all of you and continuing to reach out to everyday Americans to help to heal these divisions.  Bringing our nation together and realizing President Elect Obama’s desire to bridge the divide in our national community will take much care, concern and a lot of big-listening hard work.

Concerning voter apathy, the means to further engage and educate America’s electorate are out there: a national voting holiday, standardized elections and independently verifiable ballot results are just a few of important changes we should consider for securing the most sacrosanct institution of our republic: the vote.

President Elect Barack Obama’s emphasis on investing in our children’s future through the edification and renovation of our schools will help to create a generation of new dreams and new visions for what our country is capable of.  His success and influence has had the unique capacity of generating higher aspirations held by the youth of America and of the world.  Obama is a dream-maker.  And through his presidency and our important Democratic success, we begin to turn around the degenerative policies of George Bush, restore the efficacy of scientifically sound perspectives and finally – finally – America has actually entered the 21st Century.

I have many exciting projects I am working on, and will be in touch with you about them in the future.  Please feel free to contact me with any of your thoughts and don’t hesitate to ask anything or just to stay in touch.  Many sincere thanks for standing with me — I am encouraged to know you have been by my side.

In your service,

Byron DeLear  

Okay, we’ve got the Mormon Church urging its members to go all out to get California’s  homophobic Proposition 8 enacted. We’ve got Catholics trying to deny communion to the faithful who voted for Obama–while the Bishops figure out how to really sharpen their take on whether or not Catholics can escape an eternity of hell-fire if they vote for pro-choice politicians.  Of course, we all remember St. Louis’ own Archbishop Raymond Burke who helped set in motion a movement to deny Catholic politicians communion if they voted pro-life (or pro-stem-cell research).

And these organizations keep their tax-free IRS status?  You. Have. Got. to. Be. Kidding. Remember what happened when the minister of a Southern California church delivered an anti-war sermon and the IRS came after him big-time?

A group know as the Alliance Defense Fund, however, is gearing up to try make the entire question moot by generating a supreme court case to challenge the prohibition.  It seems to me, at least based on  this guide that these instances of religious political meddling constitute unambiguous violations of the IRS rules;  much of the guide is devoted to elaborating on the following prohibitions:

*no substantial part of its [the organization’s] activity may be attempting to influence legislation,

*the organization may not intervene in political campaigns

I see no reason why churches should not be subject to the same rules as any other non-profit as regards their tax-exempt status.  I look forward to the Alliance court case; I would like to see this question settled once and for all.

Matt Blunt’s role in the Palin press conference yesterday inspired an interesting and possibly horrifying article from Ken Newton up in St. Joseph titled Palin’s a star, but don’t expect Blunt to disappear.

Governor Matt Blunt gets the honor of being the second youngest former Governor in Missouri history (and the youngest to end his term without seeking re-election). If Blunt manages to avoid an indictment in the next few years, he could re-emerge to seek office once again.

The editorial essentially notes that Matt Blunt could have been the next Dan Quayle if he played his cards right (well, Ken said that Blunt could have been on the ticket, but let’s face it, Blunt would have probably been the next Quayle.)

Blunt has multiple advantages on Palin, such as slightly more executive experience, a lower chance of saying really stupid things, and being “attractive to women”*. Blunt is a bit nuttier than Palin, since Blunt bit on the C of CC-started “Obama truth squad” nutjobbery.

(* – “I can’t believe a guy that handsome wouldn’t be attractive in some respect (to women)” – John McCain on Dan Quayle, 1988)

But unfortunately for bloggers, and fortunately for the Republican Party, Matt Blunt just wasn’t a realistic pick to be on a ticket with John McCain. It’s hard to be picked for Vice President when you declined to seek reelection after one term. And when your one term was marked by a disastrous first year, alienating the crazier elements of your party (stem cells, Amendment 2), and investigations. (Although, investigations didn’t stop Sarah Palin)

Matt Blunt could run for Senate one day, he could run for Governor again one day, he could found an alpaca farm near Cabool, he could get indicted and sent off to prison, or he could join with Clay “Lyle Lanley” Chastain to promote light rail for places “where people don’t want to live”. The possibilities are endless for Matt Blunt.

January 2009, we won’t have Matt Blunt to kick around anymore. That’s good for Missouri, because we’ll have at least one more part of the capital where someone with good sense runs the show. We’ll have a Gov in place to veto the really stupid and harmful things passed by the General Assembly Republicans. Plus, he won’t get booed during the parade the next time a Missouri team wins a World Title in sports.

Supposedly, Walmart is family friendly.

Supposedly, the company is specifically focused on facilitating the needs of mothers.

Walmart’s silly, pandering, new “Eleven Moms” campaign– consisting, no kidding, of 19 rather than 11 bargain-hunting, values-beaming women bloggers– will probably serve its intended purpose of buoying the brand through the upcoming holiday season.

But to peel back the facile PR facade– to examine real real stories of women’s experiences at Walmart’s stores– is to see something else entirely:

Heather Silvis says she felt bullied when Wal-Mart associates told her she could not breastfeed her baby in the store on Two Notch Road.

Heather Silvis, a real mother, bargain-hunting at a Columbia, South Carolina Walmart outlet, was rudely prohibited from undertaking an activity that is the very heart of motherhood: feeding and caring for her child.

To be clear: breastfeeding in public is expressly permitted under South Carolina law.

Also, to be clear: asking someone to go to a special area to perform a given function she’s about to undertake is one thing. That’s not what happened. A team of thugs in Walmart uniforms, including a manager, not only didn’t ask, but rather told— they illegally handled the child without permission, separating the baby from its mother:

“Then one of them stood up and pushed my shopping cart with my 21-month-old baby in it and my purse around the corner and I was told, ‘If you want to breast feed, you’re going to have to go in there.’ So I followed my child who was in my shopping cart went into the dressing room and nursed my baby,” Silvis said.

It’s about as clear an indication as the Bentonville Behemoth could possibly make: Walmart’s concern for women and for mothers extends to the point of separating them from their money– and no further. The disgusting fact is that they are honestly disgusted with the particulars of motherhood, and they’re not afraid to express that.

Of course this is only one of the things wrong with Walmart. I’m working with Wake-Up Wal-Mart to rally American voices, to force Walmart to respect its workers and its customers. There’s more information here.

A few non-rhetorical questions:

Is public breast-feeding legal here in Missouri?

Have there been instances of Walmart disrespecting the legal rights of its customers here in Missouri?

What’s the worst thing that Walmart has done to Missourians?

(Cross-posted to Daily Kos and MyDD)

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