Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) Announces Retirement

Sorry to be OT so early in the thread, but is anyone in NYC that would like to attend and report back on what democracy looks like up close and personal?

Community forum on Iraq with Charles Rangel, Michael Mcphearson and Pastor Wilson
Date: Saturday, March 12th 2005
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: St. Lukes AME Church, 1872 Amsterdam Ave (corner 153rd)
City/State: New York, NY

It is sad to live through the end of the Enlightenment. Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin would never believe the depths that our nation has sunk into with the unquestioning selection of George W. Bush.

Ray,

I think that Paine, Jefferson and Franklin would have no problem believing it. They would, however, be incredibly disappointed by it.

They had all understood that this sort of thing might happen and had all worked so hard to put in safeguards against it happening. And yet here we are anyway.

Forunately the fabric of what the founders built upon has not been totally destroyed, only ripped and rendered a bit. It's still not too late to take the country back from the heartless, soulless, selfish greedheads who have done so much to subvert its principles and co-opt its integrity.

It won't be easy, but it can be done. And it *must* be done. And we can do it if we try hard enough and work together for our common goals instead of separately against each other.

courage,
Otter

Turn on to c-span. DNC discussion about caucuses in IA and NH,with Levin leading the forum.

Received an email this morning from a local activist with a signoff tag that was so darn inspiring in a succinct, pithy sort of way that I just had to repeat it here:

THOSE PEOPLE CONQUERED MY COUNTRY, NOT MY SPIRIT!

Nice.

never give in and never give up,
Otter

"I think that Paine, Jefferson and Franklin would have no problem believing it. They would, however, be incredibly disappointed by it.

They had all understood that this sort of thing might happen and had all worked so hard to put in safeguards against it happening. And yet here we are anyway. "

Hmmmmm ....

I don't think they anticipated how leaving it up to the states to decide how to select delegates to the electoral college would leave us with gerry mandered districts and a winner take all process that has left us with an entrenched two party system so resistant to dissent and change. Once that political rigor mortis sets in, it leaves a power vacuum for someone like Bush to exploit. Many so abhored the concept of political parties and rule of the mob that they made the amendment process so difficult that the system seems today incapable of healing itself and reforming, with the end result we have today.

Chuck in Baku for Bob-i-co:

I found this to be an interesting article summarizing some of the peculiarities of the US electoral system:

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/030905A.shtml

Sorry that's off-topic. I tried to construe it into a Sarbanes post but couldn't.

Chuck in Baku

Casey,

It is always disappointing to see a respected Democrat decide not to seek re-election. I am unfamiliar with Maryland politics. Your question however, brings up a fundamental question: What does a candidate need to do in order to appeal to voters? Some on this site have focused on the issue of American vs. Progressive ideals (not mutally exclusive in my opinion). Either way we need to ask ourselves what can we (the DCP) do in order to identify and assure that the new Senator from Maryland reflects those ideals and principles that our members value.

Unbelievable article on Bush's "Road show" on SS.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4860253,00.html

"I've got alot of educating to do," he says. He should have started with himself. Yesterday I heard him on NPR, accusing others of being "propagandists."

Posted by: DiAnne at March 12, 2005 11:50 AM

And just who is paying for this road show to convince us that his bad idea is will work...

56% of Americans (clearly a mandate, in his view) should demand money back or refuse to pay for this wasteful endeavor.

Just think of how that money and time could be better spent to perhaps save medicare and health care, where there clearly is a problem.

DiAnne:

Speaking of Senate and gerrymandering issues (trying to get on topic) -- what did you think of the Stranger article on two new Washington states and the implicit "Missouri compromise" for letting DC have regular representation as well? (Sort of on-topic as DC and Maryland are contiguous.) I know it's goofy as heck but it is fun, in a provocative way, to think about as a logic exercise and a way of visualizing our "rain-shadow divide."

Chuck in Baku

I'm sure the taxpayers are paying for it.

Speaking of corruption in government:

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/031205Z.shtml

Schwartzenegger forged News reports

Chuck in Baku

I just picked up The Stranger and The Weekly in hard copy and am looking forward to reading over coffee! Am heading out to the bakery where my son works so I can get a discount.

My Republican uncle says that WA & CA have both been threatening to split for a decade or so. He made these funny comparisons to Canada with the Quebecois and even with Yugoslavia. He did vote for Kerry and he is quite anticorporate.

I haven't read the article but I would have to say so far that we do subsidize alot of the part of the state that wants to split off! I remember all your comments during the election about how WA and OR were not like this (polarized this badly) when you were growing up. On the other hand, my son tells me that this part of the country used to be "red." But then, Republicans of that day were not THIS far to the right.

and "red" meant something else entirely!

Also we are facing a drought that may rival the "dirty thirties." By the time Rossi is ready to try to head Gregoire off at the pass with a revote, eastern WA may be drying up and harvesting little shriveled sour apples. Get ready for the water wars!! Eastern v Western WA or maybe Washington v California. This will put the Iranian nuclear crisis to shame!

Posted by: madame defarge at March 12, 2005 12:03 PM

Who is paying for the road show, you ask? Well, I asked the same thing. I called my republican representative and asked him. He said, "I don't know."

So I asked him, "Well, is this money in the budget that the president has forwarded to you?"

His response was "No."

So he was going to investigate where the money was coming from. I discovered the answer before he did. The bamboozela tour is being sponsored by the "War room" in the department of treasury. According to Laura Meckler of the A.P.

Now who does the money in the treasury belong to? That money belongs to US the taxpayers. So in other words, our hard earned money is being collected as tax dollars and stolen in a hidden war room to promote propraganda. In the meanwhile, those same tax dollars have been cut from education, healthcare, and social services to help the poor.

How is that for moral values and putting your money where your morals are?

I think we should start by congratulating a great Senator. Each time I see somebody decide that he has been in the Senate for too long and that he wants to step down, I have to say bravo.

I have to say I have a big problem with Byrd running again at his age. He certainly has been a great Senator, but he is really getting too old and should let his place and support a replacement. Thurmond should have stepped down a lot time before he did, he was totally absent at the end, and it would be a shame that Byrd became the same way.

DiAnne:

This is Chuck in Baku, and here are a few excepts from the "should Eastern Washington be a different state" articel I found interesting -- don't know how they might relate to Maryland politics, but you never know (following citation from http://www.thestranger.com/current/feature.html and refer to the author of that articles travels east of the Cascades):

'The economy of the region is built around agriculture, timber, and mining, and it's not doing so well. Tricia Woods, at the Colville Chamber of Commerce, tells me about the mill in Republic closing, about a Northwest Alloys plant shutting down ("they could import from China cheaper," she says), and about the recent sale of Boise Cascade, which has created deep anxiety about the possibility of further job losses. There are bright spots in the local economy, including the growth of small entrepreneurial businesses that sell products over the web, but "a lot of people around here are [just] trying to make ends meet," she says. While Woods believes the secession idea is impractical, she admits that there are "a lot of independent-minded people in this area, a lot of private landowners who don't like being told by the government what to do."

'I hear similar sentiments 10 miles down the road in Kettle Falls, a dusty little town that bills itself, on its welcome sign, as "1,550 Friendly People and One Grouch." At Ralph's Tavern locals reel off a litany of woes: a pocket-knife manufacturing plant that considered opening here but was driven off by state regulation, Burlington Northern's sale of the rail line to a smaller company that has led to the loss of relatively well-paid union jobs, the fact that the Wal-Mart in Colville is killing the mom-and-pop businesses in Kettle Falls. Years of drought have damaged the agricultural base and intensified battles between conservationists, who want to preserve water for salmon runs, and farmers. "I'm only planting half as much hay this year" because water is so scarce, one farmer sitting at the bar says....'

'Eastern Washingtonians are right to feel they are dominated by a liberal coastal elite that doesn't understand them or care about their concerns, argues state Republican Party Chair Chris Vance. "What these people want are jobs," he says, but what they get is more dictates tailored to the West. "The GMA is a severe burden on small county governments. Is anybody really worried about growth in Ferry County?" The Democrats, he adds, have only themselves to blame for losing the support of working-class rural voters: "The Democratic Party used to be the party of the little guy," he says. "Now it's a party of elite Seattle environmentalists hanging around Kay Bullitt's house drinking Chardonnay. I say to liberals in Seattle, whatever happened to your concern for small family farms? What happened to Willie Nelson? What happened to Farm Aid? I'll tell you what happened. It was chic in the 1980s to worry about depressed rural areas in the country. Where did that go?"

'Vance ignores the fact that while Republican elites may offer messages of cultural affinity with the rural poor, their actual policies strongly favor the rich, but he's right about Seattle liberals. And it may be that the best response to Vance is not more false expressions of concern by urban liberals for the rural poor (which come across as false and condescending), but a frank acknowledgment that the issues that divide us are not easily reconciled [NOTE FROM CHUCK: from the article I still did not get a sense of what these issues might be]. During my visit to Eastern Washington, it became obvious that Morton is correct in his perception of stark, and perhaps irreconcilable, differences between East and West. The income disparity and the lack of political clout in Eastern Washington have bred a deep-seated resentment and suspicion of the West that feeds the growing political conservatism there. And though few are willing to admit it, it also breeds a growing dependency on handouts from the West.

'The statistics don't lie. Projections for federal and state transportation funding between 2004 and 2013 show that King County will get back 84 cents on every dollar it provides for transportation funding, Pierce County will get only 80 cents, Snohomish County 88 cents, and Thurston County a mere 59 cents on the dollar. Meanwhile, large rural Eastern counties will get significantly more than they pay in: Stevens County will get $1.56 for every dollar they provide, Pend Oreille County, on the northern Idaho border, will get $2.60, and Ferry County will get a whopping $3.52. A 2001 report for the Senate Judiciary Committee showed that overall, Western Washington provided 82 percent of the state's transportation revenues but received only 78 percent of transportation expenditures; Eastern Washington, providing 18 percent of revenues, received 22 percent of expenditures. Eastern Washington also received more than its share of state K-12 education funding: 12 of the 13 counties that received the least state revenue per student were in the West (the exception was Spokane County).'

Does actually remind me of arguments between Slovenians and Serbs in the late-eighties early-nineties, so I agree with your uncle on that. This northern great plains / rockies "red" dynamic does seem to me to be somewhat different than the SE one (as per Linda Enterkin's posts).

Chuck in Baku

PS: Hope that wasn't too long. It was a very interesting article.

Chuck

That is so wierd - these people want jobs, affordable healthcare, quality education - they feel the Democrats are too elite to care about that and so they vote for the Republicans - who don't care about that!

Is there a reason that the further east I drive the more "nuke Iran" mentality I encounter?

I have crashed a Kay Bullitt party before - it was for good old Senator Mike Lowry. We ate hamburgers made by an Iraqi - so they had these really good herbs right in the meat! We heard the Total Experience Gospel Choir, heard "Bagdad Jim" McDermott speak, & watched comedian Peggy Platt! It was on the 4th of July, late 80s?

These people who want to secede are shooting themselves in the foot.

DiAnne - Elite Seattle Latte-Drinking Foreign Movie Attending Bookstore Hanging Out Flier Posting Internet Dwelling Liberal

Chuck in Baku

Check this out! Maybe you'll want to take the job in Houston after all!

Seattle -- Hate groups and white supremacists are moving out of the backwoods and into suburbia.

Once thought to be centered in remote areas such as northern Idaho, such groups are now found just as frequently in the suburbs of Seattle and Portland, says a new report to be issued today by the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity.

''We used to think they were mostly in eastern Washington, northern Idaho and western Montana,'' says Terre Rybovich, executive director of the coalition, which monitors hate groups in the Northwest.

It was a complete surprise to us'' to find almost two dozen such groups in areas along Interstate 5 between Seattle and Eugene, Ore., she says.

While white supremacist activity is not new here, the increased presence ''may come as a shock to people who think of us as just Birkenstocks and latte drinkers,'' says coalition research director Jonn Lunsford.

Hate groups have been identified in this region since 1973, when Richard Butler founded the Aryan Nations compound in Hayden Lake, Idaho. He issued a manifesto, The Northwest Territorial Imperative, which urged the emigration of white Christian activists to the Northwest to establish an Aryan ''national state.''

DiAnne:

I completely agree. It is weird. That's why I keep wondering, what the heck are the actual issues? The article didn't even really address that, outside of that stupid "latte" stuff. And I can't even figure out what the gripe is there. Heck, I like pork rinds as much as the next person, but that doesn't mean I can't do pesto or enjoy Fellini. I really don't get the essence of this "divide."

I really do believe that if we can crack that nut then we are on the way to some big electoral wins. I post this stuff because I really am profoundly confused by this whole issue.

Also, on the Sarbanes thing, want to point out the role of Sarbanes in the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley bill ("SOX" in common corporate parlance) in the aftermath of Enron (and pre-9/11). Internationally coordinated transparency and good governance -- a long way off but we have to start somewhere.

Chuck in Baku

DiAnne:

No surprise to me. We had that whole "Southeast Pride" thing (as in SE Portland) since the early 'eighties back in Portland, if memory serves. In fact, if Multnomah County as a whole is one of the more liberal areas in the country, what we always called "East County" (say, 82nd ave through Corbett) has been home to John Bircher types as long as I have been aware. I know there are lots of good liberals in red areas -- no reason why we won't have some of the reverse.

Chuck (ex-SE Portland) in Baku

DiAnne:

Also, most of those "Aryan Nations" types back in the realy 'eighties, as I recall, weren't from Pende Oreille or Boise or Spokane or Butte or McCall or Pendelton or Burns etc. Most came from suburban California, if memory serves.

Chuck in Baku

Oops -- meant "early 'eighties" and "Pendleton" -- sorry -- fingers working faster than brain again (doesn't say much for fingers).

Chuck in Baku

PS: Might have mis-spelled Pend Oreille too but I'll take the blame for that -- we always said "ponderay" -- can't phoneticize that too well.

Actually, I just reminded myself of something that happened to me some time ago. I stopped in Belle Fouche (sp?), SD (I think) for gas and asked the attendent (yep, long time ago) how you pronounced "Belle Fouche." He replied, "Well, I don't know how it's pronounced, but we say 'Bell Foosh." I said, "Well, if the people that live here say 'Bell Foosh' then it's Bell Foosh, as far as I'm concerned."

Chuck in Baku

PS: Sorry for being off-topic. I have always admired Paul Sarbanes.

Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tennessee, who represents much of Memphis, reflected the view of most Democrats, who oppose private accounts on the grounds they would add trillions of dollars to the deficit and leave people stranded if their private accounts lose money.

"If things go bad, people turn to the government for help," said Ford, who despite his opposition attended Bush's speech and won a warm welcome from the president.

All of Bush's events the last two days have been infiltrated by protesters -- sometimes more than one -- and Friday's appearance in Memphis was no different.

Bush was interrupted four times by people in the crowd trying to shout out an alternative message. One woman was escorted out; the rest were drowned out by the president's remarks and the largely supportive audience.

Wal-Mart uses new tactic to dodge town law
Retailer building two outlets right next to each other

The Associated Press
March 12, 2005

BENTONVILLE, Ark. - Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, is employing a new tactic to get around a Maryland town ordinance that limits store sizes — build two outlets right next to each other.

Signaling what could be a new approach to getting around such restrictions, Wal-Mart will build adjacent stores in Dunkirk, Md. with one outlet being constructed so that it will be just under the 75,000 square-foot limit that is allowed by a Calvert County ordinance.

It is the first time Wal-Mart has considered such a measure, said Mia Masten, a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spokeswoman.

"As these big-box bills come up, all retailers will just have to be flexible," Masten said. "In this case, we developed a model that allowed us to reach our customers."

Masten said Wal-Mart could use the strategy in other locations.

Calvert County passed an ordinance in August limiting the size of commercial retail buildings to 75,000 square feet. Wal-Mart usually builds stores that range from at least 100,000 square feet to more than 200,000 square feet for Supercenters.

Wal-Mart proposed a 74,998-square-foot store in Dunkirk that will be next to a 22,689-square-foot garden center. The two stores would have their own entrances, utilities, bathrooms and cash registers.

Wal-Mart has faced backlash for trying to expand in certain areas, and local jurisdictions have passed measures like the one in Calvert County that limit the size of retail stores. Total square-footage of the store would exceed the limit by 30 percent.

Greg Bowen, who heads the county planning office, said his office will consider the proposal.

"It's not on hold indefinitely," he said. "The county commission has asked the planning commission to defer action until they have a chance to look into (the proposal)."

MyDD continues their senseless attacks on all things Kerry, this time attacking JohnKerry.com. I responded to this on the Unofficial Kerry Blog, and on Light Up the Darkness at:
http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=533

As usual, lots of other Kerry news and posts on other items. Find out where the US really ranks as a Democracy, and how Disney World differs from Bush World.
http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/

Posted by: Ron Chusid at March 12, 2005 03:19 PM

Ron,

Thanks for the important links. I find that the information provided by LUTD for the most part is usually relevant and important to the progressive cause.

Maybe you could help me with something though. I remember when LUTD had the DCP link on the LUTD home page. However, I noticed that it is no longer there. I do know that it appears to be buried on the blog list on the default blog page. Perhaps, in the spirit of reciprocity, LUTD might want to place DCP as a link on its home page?

Chuck in Baku for Ron Chusid:

I posted this the other day, but it seems OK to post again given your above post:

Why in the world some of us concerned about the direction our nation's political system is taking revel in, not just criticizing, which, if thoughtful and respectful, is certainly useful, but really vilifying and insulting our own messengers and leaders is beyond me. I can think of no example, on the GOP side, to take one instance, where long-standing senators or ex-presidential candidates are treated with such extreme disrespect by supporters of the GOP platform. How do we expect the apathetic or poorly informed (my best-guess characterization of swing-voters or undecideds) to rally round any causes we espouse if we publicly (and even gleefully and enthusiastically) dump on our own? How do we expect even the committed to get excited about our causes when we ourselves parrot the other guys' lines about our folks and leaders? I really hate it when we do that.

Chuck in Baku

CSPAN Reminder:6:26 pm (est.) Sunday March 13 Interview
A Conversation with Senator Kerry
Kennedy (John F.) Presidential Library
John F. Kerry , D-MA
Tom Oliphant , Boston Globe

(since CSPAN estimates broadcast time as 73 minutes, they may not be broadcasting the whole thing. . ? Would be a pity if Kennedy's speech, and Kerry's reaction to same, not broadcast. .I hope at least that they show Kerry's award-acceptacne speech , in addition to the Oliphant interview. . )

thanks mbk. i will be sure to watch

This is Chuck in Baku for Mark Chusid:

Stupid me. I followed those links to that website and read this: "As for the other awards, GeorgeBush.com won best national website for 2004. Let's face it, JohnKerry's website was a near-complete failure. Except serving as a place to view their TV commercials and a place to pay for their airing, it was worthless to the online community." Just a quick two-fer, on the Kerry website there was a blog and a forum where anyone could participate. On the Kerry site there was a detailed platform in pdf (BC04 had something like an old-fashioned Communist Party Slogan Rah-Rah List). OK, 3-fer. Kerry had detailed facsimiles of his military service records plus transcripts of all his speeches. BC04 had no service and can't even speak properly. Who is this MyDD and why do I care?

Sorry. Stupid of me to rant. Back to Stoic Philosophy 101 Step 1 Chuck!

Chuck in Baku

oncall,

I only write for LUTD and the Unofficial Kerry Blog--I'm not involved in the set up or links. However, I do not that Democracy Cell Project is the second link on the Blog Roll on LUTD. It is 5th at the Unofficial Kerry blog--only trailing blogs our own sites and the official Kerry blog.

I also had a plug for DCP just recently:
http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/?view=plink&id=510

DCP'ers should take note of The Online Coalition and add their names to the petition.

The Online Coalition: From Left to Right, Preserve Our Rights
12 March 2005

If there is one thing that bloggers, left and right, can agree on, it’s the need to preserve our rights to free speech on the internet. The FEC has proposed a rulemaking process regarding political communication on the internet.

The Online Coalition has drafted a letter and a petition to Scott E. Thomas, Chairman of the FEC, regarding their concern over “potential regulation of bloggers and other online journalists who distribute political news and commentary exclusively over the web.”

Like the town hall meeting, online political activism is a vital part of American civic life. We encourage the FEC to provide bloggers, online journalists, and everyday cyber-citizens with the same freedoms that individuals and traditional journalists are free to exercise elsewhere. The Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002 was intended to prevent unlimited soft money contributions and regulate electioneering advertising, not to stifle free speech or grassroots activities on the Internet that serve the common good.

If you value your rights to speak out online about your political views, as I do, then please join me in supporting The Online Coalition.

A couple of final personal notes on this subject…

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=534

Pamela (or anyone else):

This is Chuck in Baku. What is this whole Online Coalition thing about precisely? What FEC regulation is this aimed at? 25-words or less? 250?

Chuck in Baku

" On the Kerry site there was a detailed platform in pdf"

They can't acknowledge that. People might go and acutally find out about Kerry rather than falling for their claims.

Chuck in Baku for Ron Chusid:

You know, to my mind, the really sad thing is that it's not so much about what those folks don't understand about KE04, but what they don't understand about the issues that confront us and our posterity, and what they don't understand about those of us that wholeheardedly, myself included, supported KE04. I'm really at a loss on what more to say on that one. I guess the one thing more I could try to say is that they don't know sick 'em about life or reality and I don't even know how to approach them without getting, as my mom would say, persnickety (sp? -- I'm trying to keep it clean here).

Chuck in Baku

By the way, "persnickety" to me is just another way of sayng "when your ears get pointy."

Chuck in Baku

Maybe you could help me with something though. I remember when LUTD had the DCP link on the LUTD home page. However, I noticed that it is no longer there. I do know that it appears to be buried on the blog list on the default blog page. Perhaps, in the spirit of reciprocity, LUTD might want to place DCP as a link on its home page?

Posted by: oncall at March 12, 2005 03:31 PM

Oncall,

Sandy and I maintain LUTD and all of the links on LUTD. As we not only have a blog but also many issues and information pages, we felt it important to link to as many pertinent websites as possible.

Our home page has links to various webpages of the Democratic Party including a few PAC's. Each of our issues pages have links pertaining to those issues. Our Media Action Center has links to Media Reform websites.

Our Blog has links to blogs and other online communities, including DCP which is the 2nd link. Each blog post shows our Blogroll, not just our default Blog page.

Our "Who We Are" page has a Kerry Supporter Blogroll which also includes DCP as the first link.

Our Press Release Page also has Blogroll links which lists DCP as the 2nd link. There is further opportunity to join our "We've Got Your Back" Blogroll by supporting that campaign here on the DCP Blog.

There is also a version of our Blog which includes DCP on our Contact Officials page.

Our efforts on LUTD are varied and we try to provide as much information as possible. There are action alerts, news feeds and book links on the various issues pages pertinent to each issue.

As Ron mentioned, not only do we have links on LUTD to DCP, but there is also a link on the Unofficial Kerry Blog which I posted when DCP went online.

I hope this answers your question and satisfies your request for reciprocity. I appreciate that you find what we provide on LUTD to be "for the most part... relevant and important to the progressive cause."

Posted by: Chazman at March 12, 2005 04:46 PM

Chuck in Baku,

This link is on The Online Coalition page. It has further information about "The coming crackdown on blogging" -
http://news.com.com/The+coming+crackdown+on+blogging/2008-1028_3-5597079.html

I hope this helps.

Chuck in Baku for Pamela:

Yes, that helps. It seems like a link in a web page may be deemed a political contribution. Tangled webs indeed. We're definitely treadng new ground here. My gut tells me that any regulations requiring such nuanced interpretations are poorly drafted and hence bad law. I notice that nothing is said about the veracity of the information provided in any such linked site. Thansk again.

Chuck in Baku

Pamela:

Of course, how brilliant, come to think of it, and with reference to my prior posts, websites like the aforementioned, award-winning BC04 would be exempt because they contain no actual information!

Chuck in Baku.

PS: I know that was gratuitous. Sorry.

"The government, which was designed for the people, has got into the hands of the bosses and their employers, the special interests. An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of democracy." -Woodrow Wilson

Chuck in Baku:

I'm hearing from a couple of Oregonians & they also attended a grassroots organizing houseparty & reported very cool people in the Clackamas, Oregon City area. I've also been sent their stuff from the OR Dems & all sounds really promising and pretty well organized. They also use all paper ballots (mail in).

WA needs some cleaning up & it's happening but I can't imagine how things got so messed up. I love the whole west coast but we need reform, like anywhere else.

I'm totally a latte liberal but I also lived in a trailer in South Dakota. When you mention Belle Fourche being pronounced there as "Bell Foosh," I have to remind you that the capital, Pierre, is pronounced "Pier"

Hundreds of protests will take place across the U.S. and around the world as part of the March 19 Global Day of Action.

U.S. cities holding protests include:
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Augusta, Virginia
Biloxi, Mississippi
Bozeman, Montana
Burlington, Iowa
Carbondale, Illinois
Charleston, South Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Chicago, Illinois
Columbus, Ohio
Cottage Grove, Oregon
Dayton, Ohio
Denver, Colorado
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Flint, Michigan
Gainesville, Florida
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Huntsville, Alabama
Juneau, Alaska
Knoxville, Tennessee
Lansing, Michigan
Lima, Ohio
Little Rock, Arkansas
Los Angeles, California
Martinsburg, West Virginia
Memphis, Tennessee
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Natick, Massachusetts
New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Paltz, New York
New York City, New York
Orlando, Florida
Pahoa, Hawaii
Phoenix, Arizona
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Rutland, Vermont
Salina, Kansas
San Francisco, California
Seattle, Washington
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Paul, Minnesota
St. Petersburg, Florida
Sylmar, California
Worcester, Massachusetts

Flyer:

http://www.karikas.com/mar19/

DiAnne:

I picked this up somewhere so can't vouch for the veracity:

"Here is a sobering quote by Abe Lincoln:

'I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.'

"-- U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864
(letter to Col. William F. Elkins) Ref: The Lincoln Encyclopedia, Archer H. Shaw (Macmillan, 1950, NY) Ref: http://www.ratical.org/corporations/Lincoln.html"

Chuck in Baku

PS: I guess I'm a Jack Daniels with a beer-back liberal (though getting old for that). I like coffee too.

PPS: Last I checked, Oregon City is the oldest incorporated US municipality west of the Mississippi

Posted by: Chazman at March 12, 2005 05:41 PM

This is definately something for all to be concerned with. I noticed as I browsed through the list of signatures on the petition that it included not just Blog owners and contributors but also supporters of various blogs.

Chuck in Baku for Pamela:

Seems at first glance that this issue runs into the whole conflict between campaign contributions on the one hand and free speech as per the First Amendment on the other -- maybe it can't be resolved outside of a larger settlement incorporating all the legislative and Constitutional issues engaged by that.

Chuck in Baku

DiAnne:

Plus I'm a Chess/Sun Records Blues/Rock Beatles/Stones/Hendrix/Allman Brothers/Zeppelin/Elvis Costello/Bob Marley Liberal, so, with respect to some of my above posts, my only question to these MyDD/KOS folks is what kind of liberals are you?

Off topic, I know. But Sarbanes rocks, and so does Maryland (birthplace of my mom and of my dad's maternal grandpa, I think)

God Bless and GOTV 2006!

Chuck in Baku

Darn, left out Dylan and Faces and dozens more....

Chuck in Baku

Heck, left our Earl Monroe, Scruggs and Flatt, and the Man in Black for that matter....

Chuck in Baku

Plus I'm a Chess/Sun Records Blues/Rock Beatles/Stones/Hendrix/Allman Brothers/Zeppelin/Elvis Costello/Bob Marley Liberal, so, with respect to some of my above posts, my only question to these MyDD/KOS folks is what kind of liberals are you?

Chuck in Baku

Posted by: Chazman at March 12, 2005 06:33 PM

LOL! Somehow I don't think they subscribe to the same brand of liberalism most of us do!

Posted by: Chazman at March 12, 2005 06:33 PM

I'm not sure what the answer is on this. But it's disturbing.

Pamela:

In that case, they're missing out on the best tunes and funnest people! How sad....

Chuck in Baku

Posted by: Chazman at March 12, 2005 06:45 PM

I agree! Where would we be without the Blues?

Pamela:

Without the Blues, we'd be stuck with Calvin Coolidge (and I like jazz but don't count it as Blues).

Chuck in Baku

DiAnne:

OK, Pier SD it is, as long as everyone on this blog gets their arms around the concept that it is not Orygun, or even Oregon, but Orgin, with the emphasis on the first syllable (kind of like “organ” with an Oregon accent, if you catch my drift).

Best Wishes to All!

Chuck in Baku signing off

Polly Sigh has a new thread up gang!!!