...Palin's disparagement of community organizing says a lot about her

marjorie says...

It's clear from Sarah Palin's speech last night that she doesn't know any community organizers, which says a lot about her as a mayor and a governor.

You know, folks in the community organizing world have noticed that Obama flies the organizing flag. The language of community organizing is sprinkled throughout his speeches, and he highlights his organizing experience front and center, rather than his time as president of the Harvard Law Review, or his years as a constitutional law professor.

Why does he think its an important thing to honor, while Palin disparages it?

I was pleased to see that, out of all Palins ad hominem attacks last night, Obama chose to respond to the belittling of community organizers in his campaign's personal email to me this morning. ;-)

Here's what David Plouffe told me:

...worst of all -- and this deserves to be noted -- they insulted the very idea that ordinary people have a role to play in our political process.

You know that despite what John McCain and his attack squad say, everyday people have the power to build something extraordinary when we come together.

Both Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin specifically mocked Barack's experience as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago more than two decades ago, where he worked with people who had lost jobs and been left behind when the local steel plants closed.

Let's clarify something for them right now.

Community organizing is how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies.

And it's no surprise that, after eight years of George Bush, millions of people have found that by coming together in their local communities they can change the course of history. That promise is what our campaign has been about from the beginning.

Throughout our history, ordinary people have made good on America's promise by organizing for change from the bottom up. Community organizing is the foundation of the civil rights movement, the women's suffrage movement, labor rights, and the 40-hour workweek. And it's happening today in church basements and community centers and living rooms across America.

Disgusting

Maggie says:
Palin's speech last night was, in a word, disgusting. It was completely patronizing, out of touch, mocking, and downright mean. And that's fine if they've decided to go that route, because when it comes down to it I think that Americans are too smart, and too weary, for their tactics to work. For a convention trying to connect with American voters, isn't it amusing that only Mike Huckabee seems to grasp that Americans are actually hurting right now?

The lowpoint of Palin's speech - and something I know struck a chord with so many of you - was her mocking put-downs of community organizing. In an effort to sound like an executive, Palin and by extension this campaign highlighted their own disinterest in and disrespect of citizen engagement, of so-called "real people" engaging in their communities and beyond, and of one person's belief that they can make a difference. For someone supposedly full of small town pride and shaking up the establishment, Palin demonstrated that her core is much more like the ruling party than her carefully crafted image would have us believe. Her disregard of Americans who - supposedly just like she did in Alaska - might want to knock those in power down a notch or ten and elect someone who stands up for them is all that we need to see here.

This convention is the biggest identity crisis I've ever witnessed. Running in 2008, trying to pretend it's 2004, using talking points from 1992? Bring on McCain.

"We are a better country than this." - Obama, 8-28-08

Hundreds arrested at RNC, including Amy Goodman

Maggie says:
Amy Goodman among the hundreds arrested in the Twin Cities during the RNC. Salon has the best review so far of the Amy Goodman situation, including updates, audio, and video of the arrest.

Wasn't this a 'West Wing' episode?

Maggie says:
Hang on a minute here... let's review. We have a new article from the Times detailing the increasingly apparent lack of vetting that Sarah Palin received. We have little 'what if' speculations cropping up that sigh over other names, which I expect will only increase, featuring a variety of would-be candidates. We have a revved-up Right that's excited to talk about abortion and religion again, and just remembered that there's an election in two months. Mission accomplished?

Here's what I mean: As Sarah Palin risks becoming the next Harriet Miers, there's still time for the campaign to nominate someone else in her place. Imagine McCain picking one of his safe/boring choices (Pawlenty or Romney, for example), while still reaping benefits from all the press/attention/gossip pointed toward the campaign that he never would have received otherwise. And his base? Completely rallied in a way neither a Pawlenty nor Romney choice would have accomplished on its own. Depending on just how ugly/weird the revelations about Palin get, could we actually see McCain push forward a different name before Wednesday's night's VP acceptance speech? And if he waits, the RNC has a provision in place - Rule 9 (scroll down) - to actually hold another convention and re-vote, if I'm reading that correctly. I suppose a re-do would allow them to schedule a non-hurricane event. Not to mention have two conventions.

This sounds like an Aaron Sorkin plotline, I know, but I have to ask, what are the odds that:

A) McCain figured Palin was worth a shot for headlines, excitement, and history, even though he knew all along the lack of real vetting might present a problem and necessitate a second choice, or

B) He never thought she'd make it through anyway and thought the benefits of the choice would outweigh the negation of that choice, which is rather brilliant and evil

Conspiracy theories are fun.

My question for the Right

Maggie asks:

Why is the Christian Right so congratulatory to Bristol Palin for making the decision to keep her baby, when they believe women don't have the right to make that decision at all?

Support low-income families during Gustav evacuation

marjorie says...

The news tells me this morning that most of New Orleans has evacuated the city, and that upwards of 2 million have fled the gulf coast. These numbers are staggering.

Many may not realize the difficulty that low-income people have with maintaining their households during these sorts of crisis situations. Having to evacuate means having to find a place to stay, and having to pay for the gas and the groceries along the way. It then means having to make one's way back home, hopefully to a job. For families that live paycheck to paycheck, this can be devastating.

One of the major challenges post-Hurricane Katrina has been the return of its low-income population. This is due to a combination of factors: the lack of resources that low-income people have access to, government neglect, and major social planning by the city of New Orleans that has eliminated low-income housing projects and hindered rebuilding in low-income communities of color.

Keeping in mind these factors, and this very recent history, I thought I'd pass along this appeal by INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence.

INCITE is an organization that I trust, and they have appealed for donations that will directly support their constituency, which is composed of low-income women of color, in New Orleans through this evacuation crisis.



August 30, 2008


Dear INCITE! friends and supporters,

On the eve of the 3 year anniversary of the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and subsequent government criminal negligence and assaults on the low income people of color on the Gulf Coast, our sisters from INCITE! projects in New Orleans (including the local chapter, the Women's Health and Justice Initiative, and the New Orleans Women's Health Clinic) are bracing for the potential landfall of Hurricane Gustav, which is currently projected to hit the Louisiana coast on Monday or Tuesday at a category 4 or 5. Voluntary evacuation of New Orleans has already begun, and mandatory evacuation could be declared as early as today.

INCITE! organizers and supporters in New Orleans have made over 700 phone calls to women of color and their families that make up the constituency of the New Orleans Women's Health Clinic, working to prepare and implement evacuation and safety plans.

Your assistance is urgently needed to help low-income women of color and their families evacuate safely if need be, stay safe for the duration of the evacuation, and return to the city as soon as possible so as not to fall prey to the pushout that has kept so many folks from being able to return to New Orleans since Katrina. Local organizers are using whatever resources and funds at their disposal to help women and their families evacuate, bond people being held in Orleans Parish Prison out, and support those who make the choice to stay in whatever way they can.

Your support is urgently needed: financial donations of any size are needed and would be greatly appreciated.

Donations online are preferred because we can more quickly send the funds to our folks in New Orleans.

You can send your donation to INCITE online by clicking the button below and putting "New Orleans" in the "Purpose" line:

DONATE HERE

Or you can write a check directly to WHJI and send it to:

PO Box 51325, New Orleans, LA 70151

Your donation will go directly to supporting the hundreds of low income women of color that are the constituency of the New Orleans Women's Health Clinic.

Once again, the particular vulnerability of low-income women of color and single female-headed households (including folks with disabilities, seniors, undocumented immigrant women, and incarcerated women) has been erased in the face of disaster and overlooked in the days leading up to the storm.

Folks in New Orleans women's prisons are being evacuated to the Angola men's prison, with little thought for safety. With few resources, facing challenges and concerns for their families of their own, INCITE! New Orleans and WHJI have stepped in to fill the gap.

Please send all your support, solidarity, sisterhood and strength their way, and join us in hoping for the safety and well-being of the people who are already suffering from Gustav in Cuba, Jamaica, and Haiti, and willing the storm to subside or veer off safely before it strikes the Gulf Coast.

We will keep you posted as things develop.

peace,

INCITE!

Forget the R's...I've got Gustav on the mind

marjorie says...

Read this and weep.

I'm already feeling tense.

Not to mention, the timing is surreal on multiple levels. Could it really be possible that on the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina the City of New Orleans is not only watching a hurricane headed their way, but may be evacuating the city en mass as the Republicans kick off their convention?

Sarah Palin...fisherwoman to guv.

marjorie says...

Here's an interesting piece on Sarah Palin by one of my fellow writers at the New Mexico Independent, Joel Gay:

The Sarah Palin I knew

As a longtime Alaska journalist and resident who once knew Gov. Sarah Palin and followed her political rise, I have to wonder what John McCain was thinking when he asked her to be his vice presidential nominee.

Sure, she's a lot of things McCain is, was or needs. The 44-year-old is a political maverick, a Republican who challenged the Alaska GOP's old-boy network and won. She is a fiscal and social conservative who opposes abortion rights. She's a photogenic former beauty queen with five kids, including one just born with Down syndrome and another in the Army heading to Iraq. She's a commercial fisherman and a moose hunter and her husband races snowmobiles.

In many respects she's the perfect choice, a combination of exotic and salt-of-the-earth to balance concerns that McCain is too old, too white and too rich. But there are so many questions surrounding his decision that I can hardly imagine how Palin will strengthen the McCain candidacy. And I like her.

Or at least I did when I knew her in the 1990s. She and her husband, Todd, had a commercial salmon fishing operation in Bristol Bay, and I operated the tender boat that steamed by their site daily and purchased their fish. Sarah and Todd were smart, polite and cheerful — not exactly common traits among setnetters — and I counted them among my favorite fishermen, not to mention my top salmon producers.

Read the rest over at the NMI

VP thoughts?

Maggie says:
My quick take on McCain's VP pick:

• Chosen because she is a woman, so McCain can respond to the Dems regarding change and making history

• Thinks Biden won't tear up a woman as badly as he would any of the men mentioned as potential VPs

• Talk about inexperienced...

Teleprompter interference at the DNC

marjorie says...

Here's how I summed up the week. I know that any of my m-pyre live chat buddies from last night could have done a much better job. In fact, I hope you all will.

The DNC drifts into history

The fourth night of the Democratic national convention was a profoundly historic day for the United States. But as one of the two major political parties officially nominated an African American to be their presidential candidate, on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream" speech at the Lincoln memorial, hardly a word was said to acknowledge it. Here, there, or anywhere it seemed.

In fact, a political novice may never have realized the historical significance of the week simply from watching the major speeches on television. In many ways, it's as though those in the know made a collective judgment, taking their cues from the Obama campaign, to only allude to the convergence of history and history in the making. And in fact, it very well may be that words really weren't needed for most Americans--that in the end, we actually all know all to well the long trajectory that got us to this moment, even if many never want to acknowledge it.

Maybe, or maybe not. It's highly possible the speakers were bursting at the seems to talk about Martin Luther King, but were held hostage to the Obama message through a dependence on teleprompters.

Go to NMI to read the rest.

DNC Night 4: Obama's Acceptance Speech

What does tonight have in store for us? How monumental will this night be? How fitting on the 45-year anniversary of "I Have a Dream?" What needs to happen? What do we most want to see? Just how fired up are we?

I Have a Dream

August 28, 1963: 45 years ago today.



Full text.

DNC Night 3!

Maggie says:
I'm watching the roll call right now, which I have always nerdily loved. I really enjoy seeing all the states represented and hearing what they have to say. Watching delegates from each state cheer is one of my happiest nerdy moments, actually. At any rate: so much excitement ahead tonight! I'll be gone from 6ish to 8ish Central time, so fill me in on what I miss, and know that I'll be back to gab asap!

Hillary: Thumbing her nose at the haters

marjorie says...

Hi Dad. It occurred to me that the best way for us to reference this speech was to simply post it here. Hopefully MSNBC will have it up for awhile.



I have several thoughts about this performance, now that I've digested it.

First and foremost, it showed just how strong Hillary is--which is why she's been able to withstand all the mysoginators since 1992.

and second, and equally important, Hillary made a few statements buried in the politicking that bear repeating.

As you know, there are loads of things I disagree with Hillary about (Obama also). But I appreciated greatly her admonition to follow the values, not the person:

"I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?"

The cynic in me questions her sincerity, but at the same time appreciates her acknowledgment that politics should always be about organizing and collective struggle. Not about the individual. I wish more politicians got this.

I also appreciated the passage she invoked by Harriet Tubman:

And on that path to freedom, Harriett Tubman had one piece of advice.

If you hear the dogs, keep going.

If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.

If they're shouting after you, keep going.

Don't ever stop. Keep going.

If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

Even in the darkest of moments, ordinary Americans have found the faith to keep going.

A little overwrought perhaps for a speech of this nature, but in a power-based world anyone who's been on the losing end of the stick (which if you're on the right side is probably more often than you'd like) understands this sentiment. It's good to hear it invoked with such passion in a world in which keeping cynicism at bay is always quite the task.

Past and future HRC spin

Maggie says:
After last night's rousing speech from HRC and her irrefutable chastisement of delegates who threaten to vote McCain, I have two thoughts regarding past and future spin.

• Republican HRC ads. On the admission that for the most part the recent HRC-themed Republican ads (one shown here) were not aired and basically constituted "video press releases," we can see very clearly that these ads were created explicitly for the press - to influence talking points, punditry, and coverage. What a decisive way to showcase the pure strategy of that "watch the Dems unravel" message. By producing ads seemingly for the public at large but never intended for airtime beyond news channels, the Republicans succeeded in furthering a storyline that helps them look more unified and confident about their candidate than the Democrats are. We see also, of course, how well that strategy worked for them in the overwrought HRC analysis we've been fed all week... which means, of course, that the media bought it hook, line, and sinker.
  

• HRC as VP storyline. The next phase of the HRC storyline - once today's roll call is over, of course - is going to feature prominent Republicans saying that Obama should've put HRC on the ticket. We saw Rudy Giuliani roll out this strategy yesterday. Keeping the "HRC should've been VP" storyline front and center works for the Rs because it continues to cast doubt on the Democratic ticket and maintains an image of a fragmented party on the airwaves. How far will the media run with this story? If their fling with the HRC delegates story is any indication, they'll buy it completely. The premise, of course, is entirely empty: we are supposed to believe that a Republican party that's made easy money over the last 16 years vilifying HRC is so full of respect for her now that they think she should've been the VP? And that's a heartfelt notion? Come on. Biden was the R's most-feared VP choice, and we all know it. The R's tried-and-true tactics against HRC (again, developed over the last 16 years) and the damage they've done with swing voters who feel incredibly negatively about her, are just two of the reasons she wasn't selected. The media should see through Republicans working from the HRC-as-VP playbook easily and treat such statements as the strategic campaign maneuvering that they are. Nothing more, nothing less. The chatter leading up to Biden's speech tonight will be teeming with this messaging, so it's up to Biden to exceed expectations with his speech. Can he do it? Tonight will tell.
  

DNC Night 2

Maggie says:
Whoopee, another night of politics!

So tonight, we have the all-important Hillary Clinton speech and a keynote from Mark Warner. As I see it, Clinton needs to strongly and genuinely endorse Obama in the context of how damaging McCain will be for the country. Warner needs to deliver a pointed, all-fronts-attack on McCain that puts us on the offense.

The context of Clinton's speech is, of course, her supporters who are still not in the Obama camp. I have so little patience for this point of view. The NPR piece this morning that spotlighted a couple of these women was absurd. Better than I could, here's Eric Alterman:

Personally, I think that people who are "still angry" about Hillary Clinton and are considering "withholding their support" from Obama are moral and political idiots in exactly the same vein as those people who voted for Ralph Nader in swing states in 2000 were. More so, actually. The Democrats had a primary, and Obama won it fair and square. He didn't cheat. He didn't do any of the things that Hillary Clinton diehards are are so angry about. He just won and she lost. That's how these things are supposed to work.

These Hillary diehards act as if they are making some sort of point, but the only point they are making is that they would prefer to see John McCain be President--and run a government that is opposed to everything they say they favor (here's where the Nader comparison comes in) because they think politics is a form of therapy rather than a matter of compromise, coalition and, ultimately, victorious combination.

If you talk to one of these people for more than two minutes, they immediately cease to make any sense. But the press doesn't talk to them for more than two minutes at a time because all they need is that one self-serving, conflict-building quote to give them what they need to support their big--and, right now, virtually only--story line.

I think Hillary Clinton will deliver tonight. She's got to, and she knows it. I still want to believe that she is better than the Mark Penn politics that defined her campaign. Whether or not tonight's speech will be enough for these supposed "diehards," time will tell. So will my concern for whether or not they join us in November.

Help me, golfers

Maggie admits:
I know nothing about golf, but what's the deal with this? The LPGA is now requiring all players to speak English. Isn't that a little... big-brothersister of them? A bit xenophobic? Is there precedent for this policy in U.S.-based sports? I can't imagine something like this flying in baseball or basketball, where the teams work together to come up with ways to communicate with their Japanese or Latin American players, for example. Not to mention, most players seem to take the initiative on their own, and learn fairly quickly once they're living and playing in the U.S. And those are team sports, where one might argue there's a real need for everyone to speak the same language... but an individual sport like golf? What exactly is the LPGA trying to accomplish, besides upsetting folks?

What's wrong with this...paragraph?

marjorie says...

I know, I stole that from Mark. But it's kind of fitting...

What's wrong with this paragraph? From LP's blog today, regarding the party Bill Richardson threw for the New Mexico delegation in Denver:

Also there were Doug Fernandez of KOAT, Peter St. Cyr from KKOB radio, Steve Terrell of the Santa Fe New Mexican, Jeff Jones of the Albuquerque Journal, my editor David Alire Garcia at the New Mexico Independent and Dave Maass of the Santa Fe Reporter. It was the first time that I've met Coleman and Fernandez, but I had spoken to the rest of them before.

When grammar Nazis strike

Maggie points out:
Two men in Arizona - self-appointed "grammar vigilantes" - were busted recently on their three-month national tour correcting signage in U.S. National Parks.

Jeff Michael Deck, 28, of Somerville, Mass., and Benjamin Douglas Herson, 28, of Virginia Beach, Va., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Flagstaff after damaging a rare, hand-painted sign in Grand Canyon National Park. They were sentenced to a year's probation, during which they cannot enter any national park, and were ordered to pay restitution.

Deck and Herson used white-out and a permanent marker to correct a misplaced apostrophe and comma on the sign, which was painted sixty-some years ago by artist Mary Colter. Then, according to Deck's diary, they noticed that the sign also contained a completely fictitious word: "emense."

"I was reluctant to disfigure the sign any further," wrote Deck, "so we had to let the other typo stand. Still, I think I shall be haunted by that perversity."

As part of their sentencing, Deck and Herson are prohibited from entering any national parks for the next year. But what, I ask, will be done about the horrendous use of quotations on park signs? Maybe they can go on a convenience store tour instead.




Note to sign-makers everywhere: Quotations are not meant to add emphasis, and when applied in that manner, actually imply an opposite reality. For example, you probably don't want to suggest that fruit isn't really fresh but only appears to be. Got it?

For further examination of my biggest signage pet peeve (and fun imagining me erupting into peals of giggles while reading), see The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks.

DNC: a police state?

marjorie says...

I hope you guys are keeping up with the blogosphere to supplement that DNC convention floor rah-rah-rah. From Dave Maass at Swing State of Mind:





You might also check out the NMI's sister site, the Colorado Independent for extensive pre-convention reporting about police preparations for the DNC. The streets are basically like a police state. And I don't believe this is an exaggeration. Got to keep Barb, et al, safe!