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The Tao of Politics, Chapter Two
[Editors Note: Part of our ongoing Sunday series examining the intersection of religion and politics and its relationship to our present state of democracy, written exclusively for the DCP, by Matthew Carnicelli]
In the second chapter of the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tse turns to the inevitable problems introduced through human beings’ tendency to unnecessarily compare and contrast things, to judge them - often as a means of bolstering one’s own self-esteem, or imagined standing in God’s eyes, or reputation within a community.
When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.
So, for instance, with regard to a form of human expression like homosexuality – which scientists increasingly tell us represents a genetic disposition, and not the impact of inappropriate parenting or a character defect – it is my view that Lao Tse here is suggesting that it is our need to rigidly define “beautiful” and “ugly” that unnecessarily sows disharmony in a nation, and within the larger human family.
Lao Tse continues:
Being and non-being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
Before and after follow each other.
The sage’s meaning here should be self-evident: seemingly irreconcilable dualities are a natural expression of the essential harmony of things, of a thing's wholeness. Eliminate one and you distort the other. For instance, when a repressive society forces gay men and lesbians into the closet, our understanding of the natural range of possible healthy sexual expressions is artificially curtailed. Centuries after the biological imperative to “be fruitful and multiply” had been utterly accomplished (and with its achievement, the end of any possible justification for homophobic attitudes), we remain psychically, and I’d argue spiritually, diminished. In the place of natural expression, these religious ideologues furiously struggle to restore an ideal of gay men and lesbians marrying members of the opposite sex – for whom they feel little sexual desire. This creates a dynamic where heartbreak, betrayal, and emotional estrangement in the family are inevitable. And yet these ideologues pretend that this unnatural situation is healthy for either spouse, or for any offspring they might produce – and proscribe it as supporting “family values”. Burdened by thinking like this, it's no wonder that the institution of marriage is in such a sorry state.
While it is certainly true that many of us were taught that homosexuality is evil, I’d argue that this teaching reflects not the light of wisdom or experience, but ultimately the remnant of a dark era when one could be killed for not keeping the Sabbath, or being thought somehow guilty of blasphemy, or accused of practicing witchcraft. This is exactly the worldview that Enlightenment thinkers overthrew. And there was no greater expression of the Enlightenment ethos than the birth of the United States of America, and the creation of its Constitution. But for those religious Americans for whom this proof is insufficient, and who remain gravely troubled by the alleged “sin” of homosexuality, let me close with Jesus’ words, as expressed in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 7, Verses 1-5:
Judge not, that ye be not judged.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Have wiser words ever been spoken?
******
This translation of the Tao Te Ching is by Stephen Mitchell, copyright 1988. It is available in paperpack editions from Harper Perennial Classics (ISBN: 0060812451) and Harper Perennial Persona (ISBN: 0060812451).
The complete second chapter is as follows:
When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.
Being and non-being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
Before and after follow each other.
Therefore the Master
acts without doing anything
and teaches without saying anything.
Things arise and she lets them come;
things disappear and she lets them go.
She has but doesn't possess,
acts but doesn't expect.
When her work is done, she forgets it.
That is why it lasts forever.
The tendency to split our thinking into good/bad, black/white, gay/straight, safety/danger, etc. is fostered by fundamentalist thinking, but it is also a developmental stage. Two-year olds and young teens naturally go through such phases, where objects are all-good, or all-bad--sometimes the same objects are all-good one moment, and all-bad the next moment.
As the mother and step-mother of teens, I have direct experience daily with this stage.
The stage that follows this stage is called RAPPROCHEMENT--a lovely word, in my opinion, aside from its lilting French origins. It means reconciliation; in this case, of opposites. It means what Matthew/Lao Tse describe above:
"Being and non-being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
Before and after follow each other."
But I want to add something here: rapprochement does not support overlooking or not addressing outrageous behavior. Just because I understand the true nature of my children does not mean I ignore their less stellar deeds. As Lao Tse goes on to remind me, I must be someone who "acts but doesn't expect."
In the case of racism, homophobia, sexism,a nd outrageous behavior on the part of my government, for example, we all must act, daily, with no expectations, but with a sense of the entire spectrum of human possibilities.
Thanks Matthew, for another Sunday morning breakfast of great thoughts.
Before the Enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.
After the Enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.
the world changes when we view it through another's eyes,
Otter
"The way in which the world is imagined determines at any particular moment what men will do."
~~Walter Lippmann
Karen
Yes Bush thinks like a teenager, like Beavis and Butthead. Things are "cool" or "suck" and a new fad along any time.
New idea:
I just read an OpEd from a conservative Arizona paper where the columnist pointed out that Bush was being hypocritical. Bush said Putin should protect minorities. The columnist cautioned that Arizona politicians should not read this in the "liberal media" or they might get ideas. He ended by suggesting that Bush had implied "Do as I say, not as I do."
I emailed the guy & told him I enjoyed his Op-Ed. I told him I was writing from Seattle so he'd know he was getting a wider audience. Then I said, "You might also enjoy this" and added a link to an article about libertarians and conservatives who are skeptical about the new driver license regulations. The angle is that they may be used to track gun ownership, something conservatives and libertarians worry about constantly.
I believe we will need some "strange bedfellows" in our struggle. I want to start sending links to articles to columnists when I email them after reading their columns. I am especially interested in more dialogue with people who antagonize me, like Brooks and sometimes Friedman. They are people of print, so they might be compelled to read them. & I just love to get a response!!
I also wrote to Tom Tierney, the paperdoll guy, but posted that letter under the last topic, as it was more fashion-related.
Water, is taught by thirst.
Land- by the Oceans passed.
Transport- by throe-
Peace- by its battles told-
Love, by Memorial Mold-
Birds, by the Snow.
~Emily Dickinson
Posted by: DiAnne at February 27, 2005 11:09 AM
Good job with that! I welcome "strange bedfellows" to aid us in our struggle, and I definitely think someone should be sending these things to Brooks. He makes me so angry because he seems intelligent, and yet...!
Matthew great and thought provoking and also sadly very true :(
I know I havent been around much and I am so sorry for that.
As I looked over the "News" today, I saw something that struck me as frankly humerous, Please see below: Can anyone tell me what Bush's whirl wind tour was about that some labled a huge success?? I see no success in any of this. He stood beside Putin not even a week ago and look what comes out today. Now I personally have no problem with Iran I figure live and let live, but we all know where the Bush administration is looking to for its next great war over oil, or Freedom as they claim.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/02/27/russia.iran.reut/index.html
TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) -- Russia and Iran signed a nuclear fuel supply deal long opposed by Washington on Sunday, paving the way for Iran to start up its first atomic reactor next year.
The agreement, inked by the two countries' nuclear energy chiefs at the Bushehr atomic plant in southern Iran, came as Tehran faced heightened pressure from the United States, which accuses it of secretly developing nuclear weapons.
Iran, OPEC's second largest oil producer, denies the charge and has received strong backing from Moscow, which is keen to play a major role in expanding Iran's nuclear energy program.
"This is a very important incident in the ties between the two countries and in the near future a number of Russian experts will be sent to Bushehr to equip the power station," Iranian state television quoted Alexander Rumyantsev, head of Russia's Federal Atomic Energy Agency, as saying.
A key part of the agreement obliges Tehran to repatriate all spent nuclear fuel to Russia. Moscow hopes this will allay U.S. worries that Iran may use the spent fuel, which could be reprocessed into bomb-grade plutonium, to develop arms.
>
Are we going to invade Russia to??
Native Texan
Speaking of "strange bedfellows," someone just sent me a link to this article from the paleocon mag "American Conservative," in which they are speculating that the neocons tend toward fascism. I sense a general discomfort lately among libertarians from left to right. They differ from liberals/progressives in that they don't like the government to provide social programs but they differ from Bush-type conservatives in that they also don't like the government to meddle in our personal affairs or curb our civil liberties. Those on the right are concerned more with gun laws, those on the left are more worried about their access to pot and porn. They both consider liberals "socialist" because they think we use money for collective programs rather than every man being for himself.
I am willing to work with them on certain issues though, such as making sure The Beast doesn't get his way.
http://www.amconmag.com/2005_02_14/article.html
Invade Russia too? Perish the thought!
I *have* always believed, though, that the U.S. seriously screwed the pooch back in the '80's when the Soviet Union was crumbling and they were desperate for cash by not just moving in and buying up all their missles, tanks, submarines, nuclear material, etc. for cash on the barrelhead.
That would have been much, much cheaper in the long run than having to deal militarily with all of those weapons now that they've spread to every corner of the globe instead. I mean, we *were* in the Reaganomics years, after all, and that's the good ol' American way -- don't bother to argue with 'em, just wave dollars in their face and buy 'em out instead!
(Oh, wait, I forgot -- we couldn't have afforded to do that anyway. In the process of bringing the Soviet Union to its knees by forcing it into bankruptcy through the arms race and so on, Reagan & Co. also came within a hair's breadth of bankrupting the U.S. at the same time. Talk about brinkmanship! We went at it bankroll to bankroll, and the other guy's wallet blinked first... fortunately for us.)
just my 0.55500 Russian rubles,
Otter
So I sent the following to "American Conservative" -
I appreciate your magazine very much. I am a liberal, not a conservative, but I am libertarian-leaning. I now appreciate traditional conservatives who are fiscally conservative and socially libertarian and somewhat isolationist for foreign policy. Where we probably differ is that I advocate some public support of education, healthcare & basic infrastructure. Our government is going broke due to wholesale "welfare" for the military industrial complex. Our civil liberties are being eroded because anyone or anything can be labored "terrorist" & this is the way the "communist" threat was used earlier in history. I agree that the neocons tend toward fascism and that some of the more radical rightwing conservatives have gone far to the right of traditional conservatives. I am very interested in working with other champions of freedom and in reaching common ground. I also think there are many misconceptions about "liberals" and would be more than willing to help dispel them.
Otter -
Here is a nice piece from "Light up the Darkness" where John Kerry discusses nuclear leftovers and nonproliferation in light of Bush meeting with Putin. I also highly recommend Kerry's book "The New War," from the late '90s, which is just brilliant.
John Kerry on U.S.-Russia Nuclear Agreement
John Kerry made the following statement today on the Bratislava Initiatives agreed to by President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin:
“There is no greater danger to America’s security than the threat of nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists, which is why I have called for a comprehensive strategy to meet this threat.
“I applaud President Bush and President Putin for putting this back on their agenda, but more remains to be done to turn today’s promises into actual security. We can and we should unambiguously commit to securing nuclear weapons and materials in Russia and around the world in the next four years. There is no greater or more urgent task.
“The President must then act on the broader agenda to end the production of new fissile material for use in nuclear weapons, to reduce the existing stockpiles of nuclear weapons and materials, and to end nuclear weapons programs in hostile states like North Korea and Iran.
“Meeting these challenges requires sustained leadership and urgent action by President Bush to remove remaining obstacles to progress, and I call on him to rise to that challenge. America’s security demands no less.”
http://www.lightupthedarkness.org
Petition re Sibel Edwards, whistleblower:
Petition http://www.justacitizen.com/
Make classified documents available to Congress.
Won't it be wonderful when justice is done for this woman and for Valerie Plame? Let's make it happen!
Julie from Oregon sent this letter to an Economist she just heard speak on Social Security (Earl Blumenhauer) and wanted me to post it.
The presentation in Portland at the Unitarian church was outstanding.
Personally I am not averse to raising my contributions slightly and think that raising the level that contributions are made to at least a $100,000 income would be beneficial but know there would be a loud outcry against that because business would not want to match that.
I thought you did a good job of bringing a complex topic to a more understandable level. I am glad you are appearing in interviews on tv because I think a lot of people don't read the papers and just get their information from brief interview programs on tv which can definitely give the wrong idea on the subject.
Another thought that has crossed my mind is that the exportation of jobs is probably doing a lot towards lowering the social security trust fund figures.
I wish there was a way to really capsulize all the information about the benefit losses over time and do some kind of printout that could easily be distributed to all workers so they could really see what this plan is going to do to their benefits, so that they could see what a sham these private accounts will be in terms of their long term security.
I also worry a great deal about total loss of survivor and disability benefits under the new plan. I am a part time respite provider for a young woman with developmental disabilities and a life threatening seizure disorder. Her meds are often $2,000 per month and even though her widowed mother has insurance it is a real stretch just to cover the deductible on the cost of her meds. If they lower her disability payment from social security we do not know how we will pay for her meds.
We long for the days when you could hear people say that they know and they care for everyone
(in the words of a song of the 70s).
Of course, I also think that the Democrats seriously screwed the pooch in 2004 by not co-opting the memes and frames of the Reagan years and turning them back on the people who originally used them.
I mean, can you just imagine the blatant irony (not to mention the incredible soundbite value) if during the recent Presidential debates, when Shrub was floundering and flopping, Sen. Kerry had just paused with both hands on the sides of his lectern, looked over at Shrub with ever the slightest touch of condescension on his face, and simply said:
"See, Mr. President, there you go again... with your fuzzy math and your voodoo economics."
Now, *that* would have been a piece of political theatre that people would still be talking about thirty years from now...
Too bad it never happened. *sigh*
oh well, an otter can dream anyway,
Otter
Otter
Yeah I thought up the brilliant "Contract On America" yesterday and my husband told me it had already been used about 10 years ago. I couldn't tell that by Googling though. Where was I?!
Seriously, the Republicans are planning to use Newt's work & ideas & possibly Newt himself in 2008 so we'd better get on it!
I noticed also on DNC/Dean that they are "framing" Bush as more or less a "used car salesman" - talking about his failed sales pitch & so on (on social security, to Putin). Bush should be portrayed more as similar to the used car salesman in Fargo (son-in-law of the owner), with thugs working for him.
Otter
My favorite Kerry moment was when he had his mike on & outed them as "lying" "crooked" "scary" - I had that Mp3 on my desktop for a long time. When I first heard it on NPR I was screaming into my dashboard "yes!" I almost bought the HeroBuilders doll of Kerry where he said it, but didn't want to give any more money to those French-baiting rightwingers. I already bought their screaming Dean doll.
DiAnne,
My ex- was in a comedy improv group back then and they did a whole trenchcoat, smoke-filled room skit on the Contract On America. In my memory, it was hysterical. Too bad it was predictive. And accurate.
Karen
We still have a Newt Gingrich lightswitch cover and the switch is his nose. My son put it up when he was in middle school. I don't think he can honestly be President. I know that some conspiracy theorists think the conservatives can transmute into lizards but "President Newt"!!
DiAnne: I just tried googling "contract on america" and got 50 hits. Some of them are about a book by that title talking about the JFK murders, but others are several political variations on the theme (including some from freerepublic.*om, ick ack ugh).
As most if not everyone realizes, the phrase "Contract On America" is a play on the title of the 10-year-old Republican "Contract With America" (and also on the phrase "Contract For America", which has also been used many times for many politcal purposes as well.)
Assuming that you're looking for info on the 10-year-old Republican document in question, here's one take on it for you to check out: http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/index.php/Contract_With_America
And see also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_with_America
And, of course, there's also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newt_Gingrich for more info on the discredited slimeweasel himself.
I have strongly disliked Gingrich since he was nominally my junior House representative from Georgia, despite his outreach efforts at science fiction conventions of the day to convince people that he was pro-space-exploration and therefore worthy of respect.
I always said at the time that "They couldn't find any real people willing to run for that office on the Republican side, so they had to keep turning over rocks until they found a newt they could use instead."
Now, Gincrich's alleged resurgence in mainstream American politics seems like a rather long-shot joke to me now. I hope it still does a few years from now, too. And it certainly will, if I have anything to say about it anyway.
"she's a witch! she turned me into a newt!",
Otter
"conservatives can transmute into lizards" --??
Um, in my experience it usually works in the other direction...
leaping lizards!,
Otter
Otter
Thanks for the info - I think we need to watch these guys & pre-empt them.
Just now I've been getting emails with documents about shakeups among southern Dems - established party is being jolted by alot of young liberal Dems want to take their party back at the local level. Party members in NC & Texas are demanding the party get together & meet, etc.
I think it has to do with DNC advocacy of a 50 state campaign & I do think we need to do this because of redistricting & Republican strategy.
I sent it on to the person in our cell who came from TX/GA & can shed some light.
The South shall rise again!!
Here is an example of what I'm talking about:
http://www.burntorangereport.com/archives/003372.html#more
We need to kick some serious elephant!!
BE THE MEDIA idea:
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/05/02/con05063.html
Stand and Fight: Frame the "Birth Tax" issue on Talk Radio March 14 to March 18, 2005
$50 Can Put a 60 Second Ad on the Radio in Some Markets
Listen to the ad and join the fight.
We cannot stand silently while President Bush borrows trillions of dollars in our name. We cannot stand silently while the Mr. Bush accumulates a staggering debt for our children to pay back.
People in Albany, New York, and Tampa, Florida, are taking the offensive. We are spending our hard-earned money to run "Birth Tax," a radio ad that frames the Bush policies for what they are--a crippling debt the next generation will have to pay, and pay.
Please join us, put this ad on the radio where you live. Anyone can put an issue ad on the radio.
Her Syndicate Runs Edited Version of Ann Coulter Column (in which she called Helen Thomas "old Arab)
NEW YORK Ann Coulter, no stanger to controversy, stirred the pot some more this past week, when she took up the subject of the still-simmering story of ex-White House reporter James Guckert, better known as Jeff Gannon, formerly of Talon News.
Writing in her February 23 column for Universal Press Syndicate, Coulter observed, among other things, that Guckert/Gannon was a better reporter than The New York Times' Maureen Dowd and his "only offense is that he may be gay." Nothing unexpected there, but Coulter also wrote: "Press passes can't be that hard to come by if the White House allows that old Arab Helen Thomas to sit within yards of the president."
But when the column got posted by by Universal on its Web site, that line was changed to: "Press passes can't be that hard to come by if the White House allows that dyspeptic, old Helen Thomas to sit within yards of the president."
The original column is still available at anncoulter.com and labeled "Universal Press Syndicate."
Helen Thomas continues to write a regular column for Hearst. Her parents are Lebanese. She has spent more than 60 years in journalism.
(from editorandpublisher.com, also raw story)
One of the last remaining Democratic officeholders in my county changed parties last week. He'd been a democrat for some 20 years, and had succeeded in keeping his office because of his reputation for honesty and the fact that he "worked well with Republicans." He claims he changed because he just couldn't be a member of a party with Howard Dean at it's helm. He believes Dean supports gay marriage and is an ultra-liberal. OR- he believes that that's what people in this county believe, and he's simply afraid to run again as a Democrat. We really have to change the perception of this party in the South somehow. I supported Dean for the chairmanship, because I believe he can hit the south running and offer a straight talking presence down here that will change minds about our party. I only wish he'd come on down and start doing just that, before we lose anymore Democratic office holders in this county. We only have one or two left as it is.
Anyhow- re the topic above- the judging of some things as good an evil, as a way to build your own self esteem. I just got home from seeing Million Dollar Baby, and Clint Eastwood's character said that the whole purpose of boxing was to "gain respect for yourself, while taking away the respect of the other man." We're supposed to cheer that statement in the movie????? Something is seriously wrong with a society in which no one can gain self respect or esteem without demeaning another person- and that seems to be where we're at in America today. It's extremely frightening to me. I don't think it's the fault of religion, as someone suggested above, I do think it's part of human nature, but there is a lot in human nature that we need to overcome. That's what evolving, gaining knowledge, and civilization is all about. I'm not sure we've gone forward with that process in the past few years- we've gone backward if anything, atleast in this country. And it's really something to be ashamed of.
Linda E
Do you have progressives, young or old, to replace the departing with? Can new members be brought into the party? Can it be revived?
If so, some attrition is understandable. If any Zell Millers leave, so be it.
Now Canada has the opposite problem - Martin has to cater to those who want gay marriage.
DiAnne- we have progressives in our county, but they just cannot succeed at the ballot box because of the general perception of our party as being too liberal. We have a lot of moderates in our county as well, but they won't run as Democrats because they know they just won't be elected with our party's name behind them. We had a school superintendant's election this year, and the Democrats couldn't get enough participation in the primaries to even have competition between two candidates. We only had one candidate who qualified to run, and she was squashed severely in the general election. I don't know- maybe I just need to move. After all, this is the Bible Belt of the Bible Belt. But I just have to believe it could change with the right candidates leading our party. We do have a healthy organization here- I learned that much working with them during the general election- we were able to get our message out. I'm just not sure people here will ever accept the message. I'm just depressed. (Maybe I shouldn't have gone to see that movie, huh?)
Good luck, Linda! I live in the "blue section" of a purple state (WA) but a Mafiosi is trying to oust the Governor & 8 state Senators are trying to get Bush to declare their part of the state separate from us. It's depressing enough that I didn't really want to come back from Canada, where Bush is not President & they are not at war.
My friends who used to be Republicans and live near Orlando are moving to Canada. The guy's father refuses to read the New York Times because it is "too liberal" but his brother got all excited when my friend forwarded him a letter from the Christian Science Monitor - he thought it was a Christian publication.
To run a 50 state campaign, the Democrats will need alot of warm bodies of all ages!! The party has alot of LOUD liberal members but we would never have won anything in the past had we not attracted alot of moderate Democrats and we will need to continue to do so.
DiAnne & Linda,
Some encouraging news: I got an e-mail this morning from kerryedwardsalumni (Ohio campaign) saying the Ohio Democratic Party has hired a bunch of regional organizers to work on party grassroots development.
I also heard from a very bright and talented young woman who worked as a field organizer in the campaign. She was devastated by the election result and had vowed that she was done with politics. It turns out that she didn't keep her vow. She continues to be an activist in several grassroots organizations.
And for some very encouraging news on student activism, see the story Pamela posted at the lightup blog:
http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=431
Bob Evans, Linda ..
I would hope that the Democrats are learning from everything that happened in the last 2 elections.
NO SURRENDER!!!!
I just talked with someone from the east coast & there is a focus on opposing Santorum, Romney.
It's great!
Bob,
We had a Kerry campaign workers reunion in Richland County, Ohio (Mansfield area) last Wednesday. A regional organizer came up from Columbus. He seemed to be an enthusiastic young man.
We had probably 70 people at the meeting for a brainstorming session. There will be a meeting this week to organize the suggested ideas and a general meeting later in the month to get started again. There was also discussion of Lakoff's book as a means to get our ideas into the county.
We have started a women's caucus which will meet in a couple of weeks to discuss God's Politics. It feels good to be getting involved again and to have the support of the state Democratic Party behind us.
kay- It's going to take something like Lakoff's book to change the Bible Belters around in their philosophy. It has to come from someone with a fundamentalist religious background like Lakoff's to make a real difference in my part of the country, because it's the religious leaders here who so define the politics of the area. When I saw Lakoff speak on Jon Stewart's show, I was really excited to hear someone who voted Democrat because of religious convictions, not in spite of them. He's exactly the kind of writer and speaker we need in the South to turn this area around, and it can be done. But it's going to take the word being spread, and meetings like the one you are talking about are just what we need in our area. Jimmy Carter did well here in Northwest Florida- it can happen again. Unless we get at least some of the religious right back on our side, the future just doesn't seem to hold much promise. I'm glad to hear you are planning to use that approach up in Ohio. It's good sound thinking.
Kay,
Thanks for the update. It's good to hear that there is so much work being done -- especially in a rural county.
Good luck, and keep up the good work!
Contract on America.... Al Sharpton made reference to Newt's program yestereday at forum using that same phrase.
Did anyone see Chris Rock's opening monologue at the Oscars? It was hilarious. Apparently he to is still puzzled by Shrub's re-election. HEre's what he said:
Hey, a lot of people like to bash Bush. I'm not going to bash Bush here tonight. I saw Farenheit 9-11 and I think Bush is a genius. I think Bush did some things this year nobody in this room could do. Nobody in this room could pull off, okay? 'Cause Bush basically reapplied for his job this year. Now can you imagine applying for a job and while you're applying for that job, there's a movie in every theater in the country that shows how much you suck at that job? It'd be hard to get hired, wouldn't it? [laughter]
I watched Farenheit, I learned some stuff, man. Bush did some things you could never get away with at your job there, never, ever ever. You know, when Bush got into office, they had a surplus of money. Now there's like a 70 trillion dollar deficit. Now, just imagine if you worked at The Gap. [laughter] You're closin' out your register and its 70 trillion dollars short. The average person would get in trouble for somethin' like that, right? Not Bush, no. [extended applause]
Then, then he started a war. That's cool, support the troops, he started a war. Now let's imagine you worked at The Gap. You're 70 trillion behind on your register and then you start a war with Banana Republic [laughter] 'cause you say they got toxic tank tops over there. Ya have the war, people are dyin, a thousand Gap employees are dead, that's right, bleedin' all over the khakis, ya finally take over Banana Republic and then you find out they never made tank tops in the first place. [laughter and applause].
_
Classic.
___
He did sneak one funny in on JK much later in the show. He recognized Oprah out in the audience and said something like:"Oprah has so much money, John Kerry just proposed to her." (there seemed to be a little bit of cautious laughter. but nothing like the side splitting Bush guffaws.)
Many of the people I worked with during the Kerry campaign here in the San Fernando Valley (the sixth largest populated area in the U.S. and where we delivered a greater percentage of votes for Kerry than he got in Mass. along with over 70% for Boxer) just got elected to the Democratic Party in the SFV (DP/SFV for short). I'm proud of my hard-working/organizing progressive friends who are DOING SOMETHING to build up our efforts to affect change locally with an eye for national politics in the future. Here's the update:
There was a huge turnout of over 300 people at yesterday's DP/SFV election, more than three times the turnout in 2003. The Platform for Progress slate, which consisted of members of Valley for Democracy, Progressive Alliance, SFV Young Democrats, West Valley Dems, Valley Dems United, and Democratic Alliance for Action, had a good showing by winning all three contested officer seats and 27 of the 36 elected Executive Board seats.
Thank you to everyone who came out, no matter who you supported. Now it's time to us all to work together to build a stronger Democratic Party.
Congratulations to the new DP/SFV officers:
1st Vice Chair - Agi Kessler
2nd Vice Chair - David Phelps
Recording Secretary - Damian Carroll
Corresponding Secretary - Andrew Lachman
Congratulations also to Jeff Daar who was reelected to the Chair position unanimously by acclamation. Jeff wasn't part of a slate but he is a hard worker and a good friend to all Democrats in the Valley. Damian also ran unopposed and was elected by acclamation.
Congratulations to these new Executive Board members from the Platform for Progress slate who were elected by their Assembly District caucuses:
Renee Lancon
Victor Cuevas
Peter Rothenberg
Michele Hutchins
Angelica Ayala
Wanda Hargrove
Mike Cortez
Tauby Ross
Kess Kessler
Larry Furman
Michael Jay
Sonya Steele
Karo Torossian
And congratulations to these new Executive Board members from the final Platform for Progress slate who were elected at-large by the entire DP/SFV body:
Daniel Tamm
Chad Jones
Stuart Waldman
Miguel Santiago
Kate Sedrowski
Mia Agazarian
Steve Veres
Marilyn Grunwald
Brian Davis
Sallee Proudian
Henry Casas
Moreen Blum
Linda Abrams
Krisiti Nowack
Here's a little more on the DP/SFV election. Currently I'm working on creating a special media unit for progressive grassroots action here in the SFV. More on that as it developes.
The 2005 General Assembly of the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley (DP/SFV) was a huge success. We had a record turn out with 317 credentialed voting members plus many observers. We also had a large number of elected officials in attendance, including State Treasurer Phil Angelides, Congressmember Brad Sherman, Assemblymembers Paul Koretz and Lloyd Levine, Mayor James Hahn, Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, Los Angeles Councilmembers Wendy Greuel, Antonio Villaraigosa and Jack Weiss, LAUSD Boardmembers Julie Korenstein and Jon Lauritzen, and Los Angeles Community College Trustee Mona Field, as well as many other local elected officials. DP/SFV received numerous proclamations recognizing it for 25 years of grassroots organizing, including a wonderful proclamation signed by all 15 Los Angeles City Councilmembers (even including the Republican members).
Congratulations Sam!
Be sure to put it into your geographical area in the Forum in case some wandering soul comes through wanting to know what's going on in your region.
Sam,
Wow! Your report on the Valley meeting is really impressive. (I have a soft spot for the SFV, since I grew up there).
DiAnne is right -- this kind of information deserves to be posted in the forums.
Thanks for such a detailed and encouraging report.
I think I'm the source from the East Coast mentioned by DiAnne above, who talked to her about beating Santorum and Romney.
Our Berkshire Brigades (all the town Dem. committees in Berkshire County, western Mass.)is intent on building a data base of activists from our Kerry campaign work (We have about 600+)and coordinating grassroots activism with Pennsylvania Dem. County Committees, especially those north of Philadelphia that, although strongly Republican, went for Kerry. We Berkshire Brigaders proudly take part credit for Kerry's winning NHampshire (ditto for the new Democratic governor of NH) through a really effective grassroots organization here in w. MA.
Santorum is vulnerable and a Qunnipac poll last week showed a Bob Casey/Santorum race to poll 45/41--and Casey hasn't even announced whether he is running for Gov., like his father, or for Senator agst. Santorum in '06. I'd be interested in whatever Santorum vulnerabilities some of you are aware of. I'm a native Pennsylvanian (born and grew up in the "Alabama part of PA", as Carville called it, Blair County, Altoona, PA) and really despise Santorum. I remember hearing Teresa Heinz Kerry give a fine speech at the University of Pittsburgh after her husband Senator John Heinz was killed and Santorum was running for his seat. She said, essentially, "Rick Santorum, you're no John Heinz."
The only explanation I can dig up for how Romney got elected Governor of Mass. in the first place is: (1)The Dem. candidate (Shannon O'Brien)was weak and he destroyed her in the debates; (2)He did and is again, collecting lots of money. He insults Massachusetts every chance he gets with Republican, especially Southern audiences, looks bad on the Environment, and is thoroughly sleaze-baggy in the vibes he gives off. Maybe people perceive him as being good for the economy, or think he's looks powerful. I don't know--We're working on it.
Tela