I just returned from an eight-day jaunt to San Francisco and Monterey with my wife and daughter. Before I get started with my "let me count the ways" thoughts on institutionalized racism in America, I must first say that California is the hippest place on earth. You feel the vibe almost as soon as you cross the state line. We took the coast road down from Astoria and as when we hit the Redwoods north of Eureka (which, if you haven't done - do! Go and see them, that is, don't hit them) there was just some weird ethereal presence that said "you are at the center of the known universe." It was noticeably stronger the closer we got to San Francisco, and I'm left with a yearning to sell my house, all my "stuff", and go practice Tai Ch'i in Golden Gate Park for the next four years.
However, as hip as Frisco is, I have never been in a city which has such a stark contrast in the condition of evidently ethnic neighborhoods. You know what I mean, right? You come in off the freeway and on your way to the tourist spots you have to go through the ghetto, where the roads are miserably potholed, buildings are dilapidated and boarded over, and there is a definite lack of "whiteness" in the sidewalk population. So you drive north for a few miles, thinking that your vehicle wasn't really built for this kind of cross-country outback terrain and hoping you don't blow a tire, and all of a sudden the roads are better and the buildings are no longer in a state of disrepair. In San Francisco, if you're on I-280 like I was, you are now in the business/warehouse district. Get me? The warehouses and the docks are better taken care of than the minority neighborhoods. Cruise a little farther north and west and Presto!, you're in White City, where the apartments are renting for $2650 for a 3-bedroom. Now, there are black people on the streets in these neighborhoods occasionally (at least there were in the Haight-Ashbury district) but they tend to have paper cups.
Tying this into the recent election cycle, does anyone ever notice that folks with W stickers on their vehicles are white. Not just mostly white, or predominantly white. Not proportionally white based on population demographics. I mean 99.9%. I did see a black guy with a W sticker on the freeway the other day...but he was driving a company van. How about those "VIVA Bush" stickers? I keep expecting to see someone who is obviously Latino driving those cars, but nope, it's whitey again. I hate to be stereotypical, I really do, but there's definitely something going on here (I know you see it too, but we need to keep saying it.) All is not well with race relations in America, despite us telling ourselves what a great job we're doing.
There are a couple of books you should read by a fellow named Cornel West, who is a preeminent scholar of race relations who has taught a number of places, but I think he's currently at Harvard. The first is called "Race Matters" published in 1993, the second was just published as a decade-later follow-up called "Democracy Matters". West references the good doctor Dean in his introduction, and the Deaniac movement as being emblematic of hope for the future (among other things.) And he certainly is a Bush-basher, but subtly. He has a video lecture that is run every now and then by UWTV. Then check out Chris Rock's newest DVD (HBO special) titled "Never Scared." He is a brilliant young man, and really taps into the roots of race problems in our country. He talks about the nationalistic fervor that has been present since 9-11 as being a little "too Germany." His comedy is superb.
OK, the last thing I want to make a point on is an activist issue where we all need to call Comcast and DirecTV or whomever we get our cable from. There is a progressive station called FSTV (Free Speech TV) which does a lot of C-Span type book reviews, has Democracy Now! hours, runs videos from people like Ralph Nader and Noam Chomsky. I was unaware of this station until I came across it in Eureka, CA last week (it broadcasts from public access in Arcata.) I then found that our public access stations (Seattle) run FSTV for a single hour (8am - 9am) Mon-Fri and not at all on weekends. How is it that progressive Seattle does not have more access to this station. This is the stuff that people should be watching - the "real" news as opposed to "faux" news that is a GOP cheerleading organization. We have to get this more widely available. What do we do? Where do we start? I know someone out there has ideas about this. Waiting for comments.
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Begging, Borrowing, and Stealing..........
Recently a soldier on his way to Iraq asked Don Rumsfeld why there wasn't enough armor to protect the troops in harm's way. The army says it will spend 4 BILLION dollars to equip all the humvees by June, 2005. The congress and the public leapt with joy. The troops will be protected. Of course, with a budget deficit large enough to drive Alaska through, we might ask where those BILLIONS will come from.
In an unrelated story, it was recently revealed that there has been yet another failure in the trillion dollar, Reagan era (error?) Missile Defense(less) Shield. While it appears that we are still able to launch offensive missiles, our ability to intercept and destroy them is light years away. Of course, in keeping with that noble American spirit of never give up any chance to spend military dollars, the program shall go on.
In yet another unrelated story, George Bush has suggested to Congress that they should be expecting a new budget that calls for across the board freezes or even cuts in all domestic spending programs as an antidote to his record setting budget deficits. This, of course would be the realization of the neo-con philosophy of shrinking the federal government to military-only spending.
Wait! Perhaps these stories are not so unrelated. Perhaps the Progressives should not allow these stories to be unrelated. Perhaps the Progressives should start talking about the failed and unnecessary military spending programs as they relate to the current budget deficit and how that bad money could be used to provide adequate protection for our troops without having to eliminate or slow down funding for education, environmental protection, transportation and infrastructure, healthcare and other domestic programs that are so needed by a civilized society.
In an unrelated story, it was recently revealed that there has been yet another failure in the trillion dollar, Reagan era (error?) Missile Defense(less) Shield. While it appears that we are still able to launch offensive missiles, our ability to intercept and destroy them is light years away. Of course, in keeping with that noble American spirit of never give up any chance to spend military dollars, the program shall go on.
In yet another unrelated story, George Bush has suggested to Congress that they should be expecting a new budget that calls for across the board freezes or even cuts in all domestic spending programs as an antidote to his record setting budget deficits. This, of course would be the realization of the neo-con philosophy of shrinking the federal government to military-only spending.
Wait! Perhaps these stories are not so unrelated. Perhaps the Progressives should not allow these stories to be unrelated. Perhaps the Progressives should start talking about the failed and unnecessary military spending programs as they relate to the current budget deficit and how that bad money could be used to provide adequate protection for our troops without having to eliminate or slow down funding for education, environmental protection, transportation and infrastructure, healthcare and other domestic programs that are so needed by a civilized society.
Friday, December 17, 2004
U.S. to forgive Iraqi Debt
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away....
we were assured by our administration that the bulk of the war cost...oops, the "liberation and reconstruction" cost...would be reimbursed to the US treasury through sale of Iraqi oil. Now we find out that the Bush Brain Trust will forgive $4.1 billion of Iraqi debt. What about the cost to American citizens, who are struggling to make ends meet on a daily basis, with a tanking economy and a national debt now topping $150 billion, who can't afford to keep schools open in one of the nation's largest cities??
Of course, I don't lay any of the responsibility for this debacle at the feet of the Iraqis. The real problem for me is that the companies who are doing the reconstruction and will be subsequently managing the post-reconstruction industry (Halliburton, et al.) are basically making double-money off this debt forgiveness. They are receiving contracts paid for by our government to go in and do the reconstruction. Then the profit that the reconstruction would have reaped for the repayment of war cost will now go to line their pockets further as they oversee the new Iraqi economy (if it ever gets there.) It is mystifying to me that the American public and the American media are unable to put this together. It's all about profit...it never was about anything else. See my Everett Herald letter in today's edition.
Peace y'all.
we were assured by our administration that the bulk of the war cost...oops, the "liberation and reconstruction" cost...would be reimbursed to the US treasury through sale of Iraqi oil. Now we find out that the Bush Brain Trust will forgive $4.1 billion of Iraqi debt. What about the cost to American citizens, who are struggling to make ends meet on a daily basis, with a tanking economy and a national debt now topping $150 billion, who can't afford to keep schools open in one of the nation's largest cities??
Of course, I don't lay any of the responsibility for this debacle at the feet of the Iraqis. The real problem for me is that the companies who are doing the reconstruction and will be subsequently managing the post-reconstruction industry (Halliburton, et al.) are basically making double-money off this debt forgiveness. They are receiving contracts paid for by our government to go in and do the reconstruction. Then the profit that the reconstruction would have reaped for the repayment of war cost will now go to line their pockets further as they oversee the new Iraqi economy (if it ever gets there.) It is mystifying to me that the American public and the American media are unable to put this together. It's all about profit...it never was about anything else. See my Everett Herald letter in today's edition.
Peace y'all.
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Priorities for Progressive Activists
Last night I attended a forum entitled “Priorities for a Healthy Washington.” This is an ongoing community forum where a coalition of environmental groups comes together with local and state elected officials to discuss certain priorities in the upcoming legislature. The elected officials discuss where they stand on the issues and inform as to pending legislation regarding the issues presented. Questions from the audience are encouraged.
Over a dozen environmental groups were represented at the forum. Among them were: Audubon Washington, Climate Solutions, Northwest Energy Coalition, People for Puget Sound, Transportation Choices Coalition, Washington Conservation Voters, 1000 Friends of Washington, and the Sierra Club. The elected officials were Brian Sullivan (D-21), incoming Chair of the Natural Resources Committee, John McCoy (D-38), Hans Dunshee (D-44), and Mike Sells (D-38). Brian had to leave early and Mike arrived late but Hans and John were there for the entire forum and both were well equipped. The forum was well moderated by former Snohomish County Council member and environmental activist Dave Somers.
The forum centered on “The Four Questions”: Elimination of Toxic Flame Retardants or PBDE’s, Clean Air/Clean Cars which would have Washington requiring California Emission Standards by 2008, Hood Canal and Puget Sound Cleanup, and Green Buildings which would require new state building be built to high efficiency environmental standards (Hans is the author of the bill in the House). John McCoy has a seat on the committee studying the environmental impacts at Hood Canal. There were over 50 attendees including staff and other concerned citizens like me. The folks who usually host this event remarked how impressed they were with the turnout. I left wishing there had been more folks there.
I won’t go into detail or try to recreate the forum here. What I want to say here is that this is the type of thing I referred to in my initial post about the types of forums that should be embraced and sponsored by progressive groups. There should have been over 1,000 people at the event last night. Progressive activists should be reaching out to these environmental groups and asking what we can do to help them increase participation at these events. We should be taking over the sponsorship of these forums and doing the outreach to the community to expand the audience. These types of events cost money that the non-profit environmental groups could better use for research and lobbying efforts. We do not need to be the experts or reinvent the wheel. We only need to unleash the energy and innovative resources we found in ourselves over the course of the past year to promote the positive Progressive agenda we wish to see.
Over a dozen environmental groups were represented at the forum. Among them were: Audubon Washington, Climate Solutions, Northwest Energy Coalition, People for Puget Sound, Transportation Choices Coalition, Washington Conservation Voters, 1000 Friends of Washington, and the Sierra Club. The elected officials were Brian Sullivan (D-21), incoming Chair of the Natural Resources Committee, John McCoy (D-38), Hans Dunshee (D-44), and Mike Sells (D-38). Brian had to leave early and Mike arrived late but Hans and John were there for the entire forum and both were well equipped. The forum was well moderated by former Snohomish County Council member and environmental activist Dave Somers.
The forum centered on “The Four Questions”: Elimination of Toxic Flame Retardants or PBDE’s, Clean Air/Clean Cars which would have Washington requiring California Emission Standards by 2008, Hood Canal and Puget Sound Cleanup, and Green Buildings which would require new state building be built to high efficiency environmental standards (Hans is the author of the bill in the House). John McCoy has a seat on the committee studying the environmental impacts at Hood Canal. There were over 50 attendees including staff and other concerned citizens like me. The folks who usually host this event remarked how impressed they were with the turnout. I left wishing there had been more folks there.
I won’t go into detail or try to recreate the forum here. What I want to say here is that this is the type of thing I referred to in my initial post about the types of forums that should be embraced and sponsored by progressive groups. There should have been over 1,000 people at the event last night. Progressive activists should be reaching out to these environmental groups and asking what we can do to help them increase participation at these events. We should be taking over the sponsorship of these forums and doing the outreach to the community to expand the audience. These types of events cost money that the non-profit environmental groups could better use for research and lobbying efforts. We do not need to be the experts or reinvent the wheel. We only need to unleash the energy and innovative resources we found in ourselves over the course of the past year to promote the positive Progressive agenda we wish to see.
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
How Many Votes Down the Rabbit Hole
It's all about the vote. Count all the votes. Every vote counts. My Vote is my Voice. Yet, until this year, it never occurred to me how many legally registered voters remain silent in this country. No, I'm not talking about those who choose to stay home and intentionally snub the system. I am talking about all the votes that have never been counted because there was no controversy.
Watching the events of our (Washington State) governor's race, I have been awakened to a glaring injustice that must occur in a vacuum every election cycle. While the media and the political parties remain focused on the "point spread", almost nothing is said about the 1000 plus votes each candidate gained between election night and the mandatory machine recount. Keeping in mind that, with a wider point spread on election night, there would have been no recount and those 2000 plus voters would not have been counted at all. With only 25 of the state's counties reporting results for the ongoing hand recount, each candidate has already picked up another 150 plus votes. The largest counties have not even reported in and yet, in the largest county (King) we already know that there were 561 votes not counted in the first two counts because of an administrative error. This means we are now looking at, at least, 2800 voters who would have had their vote stripped away if there had been no recount triggered by some arbitrary point spread. I have been told that there were over 3000 "undervotes" in Snohomish County (ballots that recorded no vote for governor during the machine counts). Surely some number of these ballots will produce results during the hand recount. It is conceivable to me that, at the end of this process, some 5000 registered voting citizens may have had their voices silenced on election day.
Now none of this may have much effect on the eventual outcome. As a matter of fact, the point spread is growing again in favor of the initial "winner". But the question must be asked, how many votes have been left on the auditor's floor in every election where there was no controversy? Some may ask if it really matters if there is a clear winner. I mean, after all, that is the point of the excerise isn't it? Maybe if we can concentrate more on the process and less on point spread, we might be able to convince people that their voice matters.
Watching the events of our (Washington State) governor's race, I have been awakened to a glaring injustice that must occur in a vacuum every election cycle. While the media and the political parties remain focused on the "point spread", almost nothing is said about the 1000 plus votes each candidate gained between election night and the mandatory machine recount. Keeping in mind that, with a wider point spread on election night, there would have been no recount and those 2000 plus voters would not have been counted at all. With only 25 of the state's counties reporting results for the ongoing hand recount, each candidate has already picked up another 150 plus votes. The largest counties have not even reported in and yet, in the largest county (King) we already know that there were 561 votes not counted in the first two counts because of an administrative error. This means we are now looking at, at least, 2800 voters who would have had their vote stripped away if there had been no recount triggered by some arbitrary point spread. I have been told that there were over 3000 "undervotes" in Snohomish County (ballots that recorded no vote for governor during the machine counts). Surely some number of these ballots will produce results during the hand recount. It is conceivable to me that, at the end of this process, some 5000 registered voting citizens may have had their voices silenced on election day.
Now none of this may have much effect on the eventual outcome. As a matter of fact, the point spread is growing again in favor of the initial "winner". But the question must be asked, how many votes have been left on the auditor's floor in every election where there was no controversy? Some may ask if it really matters if there is a clear winner. I mean, after all, that is the point of the excerise isn't it? Maybe if we can concentrate more on the process and less on point spread, we might be able to convince people that their voice matters.
Freedom Medals
Greetings all. This is my first ever official blog post.
So the news of the day, curiously, is that former CIA director George Tenet, retired General Tommy Franks, and former overseer of Iraq operations Paul Bremer are all to receive the highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Odd that a CIA director who was essentially forced to resign, and Bremer, who was sharply critical of the administration around the time of the "handover of power" to Iraqi officials, would receive this medal. I've had a feeling for a while that the actions of the Bu-shits towards Tenet in particular would reap plentiful rewards in the form of a "yup, they did it" book (whether before or after the end of Bush's reign.) We all know how vindictive the administration is towards anyone - especially within the ranks - who raises a critical voice, and we haven't heard much out of Bremer for quite some time, so perhaps something was in the offing there. And Franks - well, perhaps he's had enough of our servicemen and servicewomen getting their asses shot off also. Ask almost amyone who has any understanding of military strategy about the Iraq war and you are almost certain to get a roll of the eyes. Perhaps Franks' conscience was starting to get the better of him. So what better way of appeasing some potential turncoats than to offer them a place on a fairly short list, forever etched in the annals of history? Let's face it, this administration will essentially stop at nothing to protect itself. They managed to survive what I thought was the endgame for them, the release of books by Richard Clarke, Paul O'Neill, former Nixon advisor John Dean, David Brock, and a vast number of books from the traditional left. They went as far as committing acts of treason in an attempt to pull the plug on Ambassador Joe Wilson. So what did they have on these three? In what ways could their futures have been ruined, or dragged through the slime? Perhaps we'll never know, but be on the lookout for someone to expose this presentation of medals as a Bush buy-off.
SoulRebel
So the news of the day, curiously, is that former CIA director George Tenet, retired General Tommy Franks, and former overseer of Iraq operations Paul Bremer are all to receive the highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Odd that a CIA director who was essentially forced to resign, and Bremer, who was sharply critical of the administration around the time of the "handover of power" to Iraqi officials, would receive this medal. I've had a feeling for a while that the actions of the Bu-shits towards Tenet in particular would reap plentiful rewards in the form of a "yup, they did it" book (whether before or after the end of Bush's reign.) We all know how vindictive the administration is towards anyone - especially within the ranks - who raises a critical voice, and we haven't heard much out of Bremer for quite some time, so perhaps something was in the offing there. And Franks - well, perhaps he's had enough of our servicemen and servicewomen getting their asses shot off also. Ask almost amyone who has any understanding of military strategy about the Iraq war and you are almost certain to get a roll of the eyes. Perhaps Franks' conscience was starting to get the better of him. So what better way of appeasing some potential turncoats than to offer them a place on a fairly short list, forever etched in the annals of history? Let's face it, this administration will essentially stop at nothing to protect itself. They managed to survive what I thought was the endgame for them, the release of books by Richard Clarke, Paul O'Neill, former Nixon advisor John Dean, David Brock, and a vast number of books from the traditional left. They went as far as committing acts of treason in an attempt to pull the plug on Ambassador Joe Wilson. So what did they have on these three? In what ways could their futures have been ruined, or dragged through the slime? Perhaps we'll never know, but be on the lookout for someone to expose this presentation of medals as a Bush buy-off.
SoulRebel
Saturday, December 11, 2004
The Struggle Ahead
12/11/04
It would be so easy to fold up our tents and head for shelter but, instead, the Political Progressives are remaining active in the struggle to re-direct the Democratic Party. Here in Washington State, it is reorganization time. Legislative Districts, County and State Organizations are electing new officers. Dean and Kucinich supporters are taking their seats at the table. I am proud to have been elected Vice-Chair of my LD along with 2 other Dean supporters in positions on the board.
From the beginning of the 2004 election cycle, the call went out to "Take our Country Back." Progressives acted in concert like few times before. The objective before us now is to strengthen those alliances and engage our communities in the dialogue of shared values and interests. Rather than continue to tell everyone what is wrong with the neo-con agenda, we need to actively promote a positive agenda of Progressive action.
We need to remind people why we value the environment, free and equal quality education, universal healthcare, a foreign policy that values peace over war, and alternative energy sources to name only a few of the common human values we all share. Education and communication are the keys to growing our community. In the months ahead, we need to set up and host public forums and continue to reach out and promote the agendas of other Progressive groups who worked so hard to expand the base during the election cycle.
The road ahead will be a struggle. I am proud to be sharing it with so many dedicated people.
It would be so easy to fold up our tents and head for shelter but, instead, the Political Progressives are remaining active in the struggle to re-direct the Democratic Party. Here in Washington State, it is reorganization time. Legislative Districts, County and State Organizations are electing new officers. Dean and Kucinich supporters are taking their seats at the table. I am proud to have been elected Vice-Chair of my LD along with 2 other Dean supporters in positions on the board.
From the beginning of the 2004 election cycle, the call went out to "Take our Country Back." Progressives acted in concert like few times before. The objective before us now is to strengthen those alliances and engage our communities in the dialogue of shared values and interests. Rather than continue to tell everyone what is wrong with the neo-con agenda, we need to actively promote a positive agenda of Progressive action.
We need to remind people why we value the environment, free and equal quality education, universal healthcare, a foreign policy that values peace over war, and alternative energy sources to name only a few of the common human values we all share. Education and communication are the keys to growing our community. In the months ahead, we need to set up and host public forums and continue to reach out and promote the agendas of other Progressive groups who worked so hard to expand the base during the election cycle.
The road ahead will be a struggle. I am proud to be sharing it with so many dedicated people.
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