What will the Democrats Do?

Dear Friends,

This weekend is the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party State Convention.  In fact, as I am writing the first ballot for the endorsement for Governor is going on.  It is anybody's guess who will win and regardless there will be a primary challenge from former U.S. Senator Mark Dayton and maybe others. 

For those of you not from Minnesota, in this great state the Democratic Party has kept its historical name: "Democratic Farmer Labor Party" which is a merger of several parties way before my time.  We usually just call the party "the DFL". 

It has been well over 20 years since we have had a DFL Governor here in Minnesota.  Usually people think of Minnesota as a really blue state and when it comes to Presidential elections we are, but we are also unpredictable and schizophrenic.  Remember we were the state that at one time had Senator Paul Wellstone as one U.S. Senator and Senator Rod Grams as the other.  Senator Wellstone was known as the most liberal person in the Senate.  Rod Grams was a conservative Republican who was before his time because he objected to everything that the government might do.  We also elected Jesse Venture, an independent.  That was the year that the DFL and the Republicans had a contest to see who could endorse the worst candidate.  It was a tie, and we got Governor Ventura.  He was most recently seen as a guest host on the Larry King Live show. 

Anyway, the DFL has a habit of shooting itself in the foot.  We actually have some really good candidates for Governor.  Some of them don't have a chance of being endorsed, and I hope that later today or early tomorrow morning they will all get behind the endorsed candidate.  But that is not the way the DFL usually works.  Often times we endorse a bad candidate, as we did last time when we endorsed Mike Hatch.  We had some good candidates, but we endorsed Mr. Hatch because he had been around along time and it was his turn.  That is usually the mistake that we make.

As I said before, this year we have some really good candidates.  In fact, for the first time in a long time, I think that I will be able to support the candidate that gets the endorsement.  Unfortunately, former Senator Mark Dayton early on decided to skip the endorsement process and run in the primary.  I really like Senator Dayton both personally and his political positions, but that was a really bad mistake.  It is not good for the DFL or the State of Minnesota because we need a DFL Governor.

So the DFL is not likely to have just one candidate until fall while the Republicans will unite behind their candidate in a couple of weeks.  Michael Brodkorb, the Deputy Chair of the Minnesota Republican Party is attending the DFL Convention as a visitor.  The Politics in Minnesota website has an article quoting Mr. Brodkorb as follows:

 I think the Democrats will lose the governor’s office again, regardless of who’s endorsed. After next weekend, we will be united, and they won’t have a candidate until late August.

In a perfect world, R.T. Rybak, the current mayor of Minneapolis, will win the endorsement; Senator Dayton and all the other DFL candidates will drop out and support R.T.; and Minnesota will have a DFL Governor again.  He will be a great Governor.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Music that Stirs the Soul

Dear Friends,

I just returned from a concert by the Lyra Baroque Orchestra that included three of Johann Sebastian Bach's Brandenburg concertos and a horn concerto by Carl Heinrich Graun.  It was a fantastic concert.  The music is incredible and the way it was performed was awesome.  The Lyra Baroque Orchestra is not a full time orchestra, but it is very professional and is able to attract great guest performers from all over the world.  The concertos were played by about ten performers.  You can hear each instrument.  It is a completely different experience from hearing larger orchestras. 

The Minneapolis/St. Paul area has the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra , the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Lyra Baroque Orchestra, and several community orchestras.  We are extremely lucky to have such an incredible variety of professional orchestras and community orchestra.  They enrich our lives and our communities.  Go to a performance you won't regret it.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Finally Truth from a Republican

Dear Friends,

Every so often a Republican will actually tell the truth about something important that they have been denying.  A couple of days ago Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele in a question and answer period with a group of students at DePaul University told the truth about the Republican southern strategy.  Chairman Steele was asked why an African-American should vote Republican.  His response:

You really don't have a reason to, to be honest -- we haven't done a very good job of really giving you one. True? True,

He went on to say:

For the last 40-plus years we had a 'Southern Strategy' that alienated many minority voters by focusing on the white male vote in the South. Well, guess what happened in 1992, folks, 'Bubba' went back home to the Democratic Party and voted for Bill Clinton.

For a full story about Chairman Steele's comments at the gathering, here is an article by Abdon Pallasch in The Chicago Sun-Times.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Hurray for the Democrats

Dear Friends,

Today the Democrats showed that they can have a backbone and stand up for the traditional Democratic principles.  President Obama when to Copper Union just off Wall Street to give a speech in support of the financial regulation bill.  He invited the titans of Wall Street to attend.  He then spoke truth to power.  He did what he should have done with health care reform and what he needs to do over and over again with each of the items on his agenda.  He needs to speak truth to power, to the American people, to the conservative members of his own party and to the Republicans.

President Obama went on the offensive and called out all the Republican lies about the financial regulation bill.  He did not threaten Wall Street.  He encouraged Wall Street to stop fighting the reforms and join in putting the reforms in place both because it was good for their industry and because it was good for the country.  You can see the full text of his speech at The Huffington Post website (here).

Senators Reid, Durbin and Schumer then held a press conference where they showed clips of Senator McConnell lying about what the financial reform bill would do.  The three Democratic Senators actually called what Senator McConnell said lies which of course they were.

The Democrats have adopted the quick response approach to dealing with the Republican lies and that is a very good thing.  They will move the financial reform legislation ahead with a vote on Monday afternoon to end the Republican filibuster and begin the actual debate.

Rachel Maddow had a great segment tonight that covered President Obama's speech, Representative Boehner lying about the bill and the press conference by the three Democratic Senators.  I have inserted it below.  But just in case you don't watch it.  Representative Boehner went so far as to say that the bill would lead to a government takeover of the entire private sector.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

We need to keep the pressure on the Democrats to continue this approach.  It will result in better policies and better results in November.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Show Some Guts

Dear Friends,

On her show tonight, Rachel Maddow interviewed Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania.  Ms. Maddow was discussing the fact that the Tea Party protesters get lots of media coverage, well beyond what the number of people attending the rallies would justify.  She also reported on some pro-tax, pro-government rallies.  Here is the link to "The Rachel Maddow Show" website.  I cannot link to the segment because today's show has not been posted yet.

Governor Rendell made some excellent points including that government effectively managed can make a real difference in the lives of people, that Democrats are afraid to stand up for the true principles of the Democratic Party, that Democrats will be successful in November if they can get their liberal and traditional base to turn out but that Democratic politicians need to give that base a reason to turn out, and that Democrats have not done a good job making clear to the American people what we stand for.

I have always liked Governor Rendell, and he really got it right tonight.  He also commented on the inordinate amount of coverage that the mainstream media gives to the Tea Party protests.  So I decided to look around for coverage of the pro-tax "Save our State" rally in Springfield, Illinois today.  The Chicago Tribune ran a story on it that was picked up by the Boston Herald, but that was it for mainstream media.  No report from Fox News, nothing from The New York Times.  

Here are first two paragraphs from an article by John O'Connor, an AP political writer that was on the bnd.com website (here).

Crying "Raise our taxes!" and "Show some guts!", thousands of people rallied at the state Capitol on Wednesday to protest lawmakers' inaction on a tax hike to fix a $13 billion deficit.The secretary of state's police estimated 15,000 people showed up, making it one of the largest rallies in Illinois Statehouse history.

That is a big rally but the national media doesn't cover it, but they cover a few thousand a Tea Party rally all the time.

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal

The Impact of the Internet

Dear Friends,

I have written two posts lately that discussed how to keep the internet open on an equal basis to all.  In his column today in The New York Times David Brooks discusses some recent research that confirms for me the importance of an equal opportunity internet (here).  Mr. Brooks first discusses some work by Cass Sunstein that suggested that the internet was undermining the traditional American discourse where people are confronted with a full range of views.  The argument is that the internet permits people to select information that they take in from sources that fit with their preconceived notions.  Conservatives can watch Fox News and liberals can watch MSNBC.  When liberals only interact with liberals, they become more liberal.  When conservatives only interact with conservatives, they become more conservative.

But Mr. Brooks cites some new research by Matthew Gentzkow and Jesse M. Shapiro.  This research suggests, for example that

People who spend a lot of time on Glenn Beck’s Web site are more likely to visit The New York Times’s Web site than average Internet users. People who spend time on the most liberal sites are more likely to go to foxnews.com than average Internet users. Even white supremacists and neo-Nazis travel far and wide across the Web.

I find it interesting.  Rather than try to summarize Mr. Brooks' conclusions, I will print below the last three paragraphs of his column.  It is a good column, you might want to read it.

Gentzkow and Shapiro found that the Internet is actually more ideologically integrated than old-fashioned forms of face-to-face association — like meeting people at work, at church or through community groups. You’re more likely to overlap with political opponents online than in your own neighborhood.
This study suggests that Internet users are a bunch of ideological Jack Kerouacs. They’re not burrowing down into comforting nests. They’re cruising far and wide looking for adventure, information, combat and arousal. This does not mean they are not polarized. Looking at a site says nothing about how you process it or the character of attention you bring to it. It could be people spend a lot of time at their home sites and then go off on forays looking for things to hate. But it probably does mean they are not insecure and they are not sheltered.
If this study is correct, the Internet will not produce a cocooned public square, but a free-wheeling multilayered Mad Max public square. The study also suggests that if there is increased polarization (and there is), it’s probably not the Internet that’s causing it.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Good News in Threes

Dear Friends,

There were three items that really caught my eye in The New York Times today.

First and foremost, it seems that I have once again beaten The New York Times to the punch.  Today's lead editorial was entitled "The F.C.C. and the Internet" which argues persuasively that the F.C.C. needs to be a strong regulator of the internet and that notwithstanding the recent court decision has the power to do so.  It just needs the will to do so and confront the Republican blow back. (here)  The New York Times editorial board probably got this idea from my post of April 11 (here).

Second, I constantly marvel at the fact that it may be possible that President Obama has an overarching master plan for addressing all the issues and that if we are just patient, we will see it.  I am afraid that I am too much of an cynic to believe that but there is evidence nonetheless.  In The New York Times today there was an article entitled "Reaching Out Quietly to Muslims in America" by Andrea Elliott (here)  President Obama is not doing anything that I would not expect him to do, it is just that I did not know that he was doing these things.  What is the saying about a long journey starting with the first step.  It is possible that there is a master plan.  We all need to applaud the President when he takes these steps while keeping pressure on him to make them.

Third, The New York Times had another article entitled " Democrats Seize on Oversight" by Jackie Calmes (here).  The online version of the article differs slightly from the print version.  Here are the paragraphs from the print version that made my day:

In a sign of the Democrats' increasing confidence that they have the better of the argument in an election year defined by voter anger at big banks and bailouts, White House officials said Sunday that President Obama would take his campaign for a regulatory overhaul on the road in coming weeks.
The campaign will resemble his push that helped the health care bill past it final legislative hurdles. 
Mr. Obama in effect has made the measure's fate a highly personal showdown with Senate Republican leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.  Over the last 15 months, Mr. McConnell has sought to defeat each of the Democratic president's domestic priorities in turn.

I hope this approach to financial reform indicates that President Obama has recognized that he will need to go to the American people to argue his case so that the American people will pressure Congress to pass President Obama's proposal.  He has both the skills to convince the people and the right policies so that they should be convinced.  It is about time he recognized that this approach will be far more successful than trying to achieve bipartisan support by talking with members of Congress.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

PS  Here is a wonderful plant.

Important Lessons from Katrina

Dear Friends,

I just finished reading a book entitled Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. (I apologize. I do not know how to underline so I italicized the title instead.)  It tells the story of struggles faced by one New Orleans family just prior to, during and after Katrina struck New Orleans.  Mr. Eggers writes with a nice story telling style that at the beginning of the book masks the terrible truths about America that are revealed towards the end of the story.  The family struggles to prepare for the storm, has to decide to stay or leave, endure the separation caused by the wife/mother leaving with the kids while the husband/father stays to do what he can and the uncertainty and anguish caused by a lack of communication.

But the important part of the story and the important lessons that we need to learn from Katrina comes from the fact that the husband/father (referred to most often by his last name "Zeitoun") is an immigrant from Syria and a Muslim and the wife/mother ("Kathy") is a white Christian American born woman who prior to meeting Zeitoun converted to Islam.

Kathy faces a very difficult relationship with her family who have a hard time accepting her conversion to Islam.  Kathy prior to her exploration of conversion had many misunderstandings and misconceptions about Islam.  Kathy studies and finds many similarities with her Christian upbringing but prefers Islam because it lacks many of the problems she had with the evangelical Christianity she was raised in.  The important lesson from this part of the book is clear.  A lack of knowledge and understanding can lead to irrational fear and even rejection of those you love. 

A very similar lesson is learned from the issues that Zeitoun faces in the aftermath of Katrina where he is arrested in a building he owns by police and military personnel who are heavily armed and scared.  He is really being arrested because the "authorities" believe that he could be Taliban or al-Qaeda for no other reason than he looks and speaks different.  Zeitoun is mistreated physically and emotionally, and he is denied all rights to which he is entitled under our Constitution. 

There is no law.  There is no justice system.  Fear is the major driving force.  Man's inhumanity to man is clear everywhere particularly as it relates to those who are not white.  By now, we should be prepared that after any national trauma, people are afraid and it brings out our bases instincts.  We need to keep in mind the suspension of habeas corpus by President Lincoln during the Civil War, the internment of the Japanese after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the treatment of people of middle eastern descent after 9/11, etc.  It is in times of national trauma and great fear that we need our Constitution more than ever.  Unfortunately, it is in times like those that we are most apt to ignore our Constitution.

The President of the United States along with many other Federal officials including military officers in their oaths of office pledge to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.  Nowhere in their oaths do they pledge to keep the American people safe by ignoring the Constitution but that is what happens.  You hear politicians of all stripes saying that their job is to keep the American people safe.  Apparently, they were not listening to themselves when they took their oaths of office.  It is the Constitution that comes first.

How can we learn from Katrina and all the national traumas that have led us to ignore the Constitution?  We need to investigate all the claims of breaches of Constitutional rights, we need to hold those that were in power accountable for their actions (including the breach of their oaths of office), and we need to teach the real history of the United States.  America is a great country, and I love it.  But it is not perfect and if we don't remember and teach those parts of our history where we have failed to meet our best intentions then we will repeat our mistakes over and over again.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

President Obama continues President Bush's Stonewalling

Dear Friends,

First, in honor of A Little Leeway, I am including a picture of a beautiful cactus from Arizona:

A couple of days ago The New York Times ran an editorial entitled "Spying, Civil Liberties and the Courts" (here) that reminded me that President Obama is continuing to use Bush Administration reasons to try to stop people from challenging the Constitutionality of the laws that tried to authorize spying and other invasions of our Constitutional rights in the wake of 9/11 and the continuation of the fear mongering of the Republican Party and the wimpy Democrats.  The Bush Administration used two legal theories to stop any challenges that have nothing to do with the substance of the complaints. 

The first is "standing".  Under our system of jurisprudence, a party must have standing to bring a law suit.  The party must have been injured or have a real claim.  The lack of standing has historically been used to stop claims of environmental damages and other important social justice issues.  The Bush Administration used the theory that unless you could prove you had been illegally spied on, you did not have standing to bring an action to challenge the Constitutionality of the laws that attempted to authorize spying. 

The second is the state secrets doctrine.  Under this doctrine, the Bush Administration would claim that whatever the challenging party wanted was a state secret the disclosure of which would jeopardize our national security so the law suit had to be dismissed.  Of course, it would use the state secrets doctrine to block you from finding out if you had been spied on so that then you would not have standing.  Sounds like Alice in Wonderland.

Unfortunately, the Obama Administration has continued to use these two tools to stop any challenges of the many violations of our Constitutional rights.  The New York Times editorial reminds us once again that the Obama Administration is not ending some of the worst policies of the Bush Administration but is in fact continuing them.   Whatever happened to change we can believe in?  In many cases it apparently is make believe.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal