Blog for America

Action Alerts

Written by: Kenneth Quinnell on Oct 12, 2008 10:10 AM EDT

Linked to groups: Florida DFA, Democracy for Florida, Democracy for America Miami-Dade (DFAM), DFA Tallahassee, Training Academy Alumni, Class of 2007, DFA at Netroots Nation (formerly YearlyKos) July 17-20, DFA Campaign Academy Alumni

Linked to campaigns: Obama for America

Sign the petition: Protect Our Vote (Progress Florida)

Donate money: AIG goes golfing, we go to work (FLA PIRG)

Send an e-mail: Help Protect the Marbled Murrelet! (TWS)

Send an e-mail: Keep Colorado's Roadless Area Protected! (TWS)

Donate money: Gulf Coast Ike Relief Fund

Sign the petition: Save the Debates (PFAW)

Sign the petition: Will You Fall For the McCain-Palin Lies? (DCCC)

Sign the petition: Tell FDA: NO CONTAMINATED DAIRY INGREDIENTS FROM CHINA! (FWW)

Sign the petition: Take the Watch Out for Wildlife Pledge! (DOW)

Sign the petition: Encourage Women who are Working Their Families out of Poverty (FINCA)

Sign the petition: Tell EPA to Protect People from Pesticide Poisoning! (EJ)

Sign the petition: Support Critical Ocean Conservation Plan (Care2)

Sign the petition: Demand Health Care Reform That Works for Women! (NWLC)

Sign the petition: Some People Get a Golden Parachute...For Everyone Else, There's the Golden Promise: Social Security (CAP)

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Evening Watercooler

Written by: DFA Community and you

DFA's home for a free form, open-ended discussion of what matters most to committed progressive activists.

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Love Story #8

Written by: Thomas Janowski on Oct 11, 2008 5:00 AM EDT

Linked to groups: dfaROCHESTER

In the current issue of the Advocate you'll find an article called Love Stories. The article is both about love and commitment and Proposition 8 in California. Prop 8 is a ballot measure that will end marriage equality in the state.

The article opens with 24 photographs of newly and very happily married gay couples, then goes on to feature short stories about 14 of those couples. For anyone looking for guidence on how to vote on Prop 8, I can offer the following--look at the pictures! Pictures and captions are all that is needed to help in deciding how to vote.

As you'd guess, the photos all feature smiling couples. But there is just one other bit of information that needs to be seen. The couple profiles all begin with their names, their date of marriage and how many years the couples have been together. That last bit of information is most revealing. The "years together" number can be viewed in several ways. I'm saddened that these couples had to wait so long before they were allowed to marry. But I'm uplifted by the idea that their marriage wasn't a beginning but a celebrations of years of love and commitment.

So, here's a listing of the "years together" before getting married for the 14 featured couples:

3 years 11 years 4 years 10 years 30 years 10 years 14 years 17 years 41 years!!

4 years 4 years 12 years 15 years 5 years

I have a warning for the voters of the state of California--DON'T MAKE YOURSELF LOOK STUPID! At a time when many California marriages are measured in hours, not years, don't deny the love of gay couples.

Could it be that gay couples are setting the standard for love and commitment--whether they can marry or not? Could it be that gay couples are showing everyone the true meaning of love and happiness and endurance? I think so, especially in this day and age when divorce is just as common as marriage among those who marry.

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A Sunday scan

Written by: Gerry L on Oct 12, 2008 8:37 AM EDT

Sunday~

***************round of articles about our domestic ‘issues’ ~ October 12th, 2008

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The Mask Slips

By Bob Herbert

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/opinion/11herbert.html?em

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White House Overhauling Rescue Plan

~~~The Treasury Department’s surprising turnaround on the issue of buying stock in banks, which has now become its primary focus, has raised questions about whether the administration squandered valuable time in trying to sell Congress on a plan that officials had failed to think through in advance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/business/12imf.html?hp

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ACORN Fraud a GOP Scam

Written by: Sarahkatheryn on Oct 11, 2008 12:48 AM EDT

Linked to groups: DFA Election Rescue Strategy Team

Linked to campaigns: Obama for America

UPDATE: Now John McCain's campaign is attacking Obama for being associated with ACORN

All day the mainstream news has been reporting the so-called Voter Fraud on the part of ACORN that has registered over 1.2 million people to vote in low income areas of the country.

THE FACTS: - all people who do voter registration are REQUIRED BY LAW to turn in the forms that they receive, whether they are valid or not.

What ACORN does when they register someone to vote is then turn around and verify that the person is who they say they are. When the person can't be found ACORN then flags them as suspicious. When they turn them into boards of elections (which again they are require to do) those suspicious ones are flagged so BOE's can deal with them accordingly.

Where the controversy comes in is that this is all a grand voter suppression tactic being used to scare those same low income voters that have been registered by ACORN from voting because they think that their registration might not be valid. If you notice... these are being contested in very close swing states as part of a Republican ploy to slow down the process and scare low income voters.

The Facts: If Donald Duck did in fact register to vote - and by some miracle showed up on the voter rolls, the only way he would be able to vote as a newly registered voter is by showing up on election day and showing valid ID to verify he is who he say he is and lives at the address he lives at. Conducting this kind of "fraud" on a large scale would be impossible.

In Ohio the county is a rich republican leaning county where it is Republicans who are the ones raising the issue

"Greene County Sheriff Gene Fischer and representatives of County Prosecutor Stephen Haller have contacted the local Board of Elections asking for the voter registration cards of everyone who voted during the six-day window, which ended Monday.
Haller is the former law partner of Mike DeWine, the former Republican senator who is chairing presidential nominee John McCain's Ohio campaign." The AP Reports

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Election on the Edge

Written by: Thomas Janowski on Oct 10, 2008 9:10 PM EDT

Linked to groups: dfaROCHESTER

Linked to campaigns: Obama for America

I'm beginning to think this election could have implications beyond epic proportions. I'm also beginning to believe that this election could bring Obama in on a true landslide. Why do I think this? It's the economy, stupid.

The financial crisis in touching absolutely everyone--whether it is a part time employee at McDonalds who is almost unable to afford gas to drive to work or a middle class working family that just saw their 401K lose a tremendous amount of value to those people who actually caused the banking industry to collapse before our eyes.

People aren't just hurting financially--people are angry. In my current job, I'm taking calls from people who are checking on their 401K investments. I hear the fear and anger in their voices. Away from work, I'm seeing an awesome trend of Obama signs everywhere including the Town of Gates, a western suburb of Rochester, NY. Trust me, any democratic candidate signs in Gates is big news because 5 years ago few Democrats dared to display a lawn sign. Now the Obama signs outnumber all other signs. Finally, I'm happy and proud when I drive down the streets of this town.

People are looking to Barack Obama for the answers to the growing number of issues plaguing our economy. People don't trust the Republicans. People don't trust John McCain to be anything but a clone of W.

And now more proof comes to light regarding the fact that Sarah Palin isn't the down home, simple, uncorrupt elected official. Palin does things in Alaska to match the worst of what politicians do in Washington DC--she abuses power. In case anyone was wondering, abuse of power isn't a trait of a maverick.

I've also been thinking back to the 2nd presidential debate because something McCain did has been bugging me. McCain belittled Obama's health insurance plan because it had too much government involvement and oversight. Yet, McCain knows exactly what happened when he championed less and less regulations on the banking industry. McCain made it sound as if government involvement in a health insurance plan was a horrible thing. Isn't that un-American to suggest government can't be good or do good things? If Americans can't count on good government to do good things, why would we bother to vote? And why would John McCain run for office to become part of something that he doesn't believe should be involved in our lives?

McCain and Palin seem finished to me. The extreme negativity from them suggests they are running scared and running on empty. It's over.

I feel as if the voting citizens of America are reaching their boiling point. I trust in these most dire circumstances, they will make the right decision on election day.

I'm heading to the Commonwealth of Pennsylanvia bright and early on Saturday to campaign for our next president!

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Saturday articles

Written by: Gerry L on Oct 11, 2008 9:55 AM EDT

Saturday~

***************round of articles about our domestic ‘issues’ ~ October 11th, 2008

Computer hurdles today…equal frustration & delay..

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Valuable analysis…

Market Fundamentalism and the Madness of Crowds...

Bill Moyers interviews George Soros…

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10102008/transcript4.html

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The Woman Who Could Have Prevented This Financial Mess Was Silenced by Greenspan, Rubin and Summers

By Katrina vanden Heuvel, TheNation.com
http://www.alternet.org/story/102559/

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Sorry America, its not new to us. (on the mcCain/Palin smear events)

Written by: Jim Nichols on Oct 10, 2008 1:35 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Democracy for America - Georgia Chapter, Georgia for Democracy, Blogs United, Jonesboro DFA, Morrow DFA, Peachtree City DFA, Stockbridge Progressives, Blog For America, DFA-CFD of Fresno & Madera Counties, Democratic Club of Coarsegold, DFA-CFD of Mariposa and Tuolumne Counties , California for Democracy, Courage Campaign, Take Back Red California, DFA Blog Network, Northern California Trained Activists, DFA Trust, Reproductive Rights for America, blog for America Test and Poll Group, DFA of Chowchilla, Latinos for America, Netroots Activism!, DFA of Stanislaus County

Being Chairman of the Henry County Democratic party has taught me a lot about organizing. But it is not surprising to watch the tone and invective that has appeared in the past week. Fear tactics, intimidation, and personal threats that lie just below the surface of far too many Republicans is something Democrats here in the South find to be quite common. I saw it as a human rights organizer after 9/11, as an anti-war organizer in the run up to the war, and have watched it grow during this campaign.

After the conservative take over of the Republican party, the base of that party is fixated on beliefs that have no bases in reality. They hold these beliefs very strongly and it resonates within the culture here at a near pathological state.

Its important to note the pathology--these are good people, they work hard and try to live upstanding lives. But in the midst of fear, and lacking the security of knowing things are going to be okay, that pathology starts to surface. Traitor, Communist, unamerican, the devil, satanist, f---'in coward; I've been called all these things right to my face by men far larger than myself swinging their arms in an erratic style. The aggressive postures, the tone, lack of any valid reasoning's for their beliefs has caused many who support getting affordable health care, a sane foreign policy, or books in our schools, to stay silent. I have citizens who want to volunteer for the Democrats but are terrified that their neighbors will find out they are a democrat and will therefore not do anything that can connect them to the party or Obama.

Haven't you seen the emails-- Obama is a terrorist, Obama is a socialist... why haven't you heard Obama Osama, isn't that clear enough! Our way of life is at risk, it reads. I knew the "kill him," "terrorist" screams at recent events were on their way when my nephew sincerely asked me what I thought about people saying Obama is the anti-christ. He truly wanted to know what to think of this, you could see it in his eyes. And the reason he was curious was because kids can see when people are serious in their beliefs. Just below the surface of every smear email, or chuckle from a joke at a dinner party is someone who at some subconscious level is fearful and doesn't know how to protect their families from the outside world. I responded without blinking an eye and in a very serious tone said, "they have no integrity."

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The Media Does Matter

Written by: DFA Staff on Oct 10, 2008 1:10 PM EDT

Media Matters for America is a not-for-profit, progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media. Media Matters is the first organization to systematically monitor the media for conservative misinformation every day, in real time. For more information, visit www.mediamatters.org.

MSNBC.com's First Read again falsely claimed McCain "did not vote" against troop funding

In an October 8 post, MSNBC.com's First Read again falsely claimed that Sen. John McCain opposed -- but did not vote on -- a 2007 troop-funding appropriations bill. Discussing Cindy McCain's claim that Sen. Barack Obama's "vote to not fund my son when he was serving sent a cold chill through my body," NBC News/National Journal reporters Matthew Berger and Carrie Dann reported: "Both McCain and Obama have opposed Senate measures with troop funding attached. ... McCain opposed, but did not vote, on a troop-funding measure earlier that year that did call for a withdrawal timeline, a position with which he vigorously disagrees." In fact, while McCain did not vote on a later version of the appropriations bill, he voted against the measure on March 29, 2007, and said at the time that he was opposing it, in part, because it "would establish a timeline" for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

As Media Matters for America documented, First Read's Dann and NBC News deputy political director Mark Murray also falsely claimed in an October 2 post that Sen. Joe Biden was wrong when he said during that day's vice presidential debate that McCain "voted against funding the troops" in a 2007 appropriations bill. First Read wrote: "McCain OPPOSED -- but did not vote on -- a Senate measure with troop funding because it contained a timetable for withdrawal" [emphasis in original].

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Election Confidential

Written by: DFA Staff on Oct 10, 2008 12:43 PM EDT

Friday, October 10

In This Issue

McCain's Rage Problem
Dare We Downgrade the Bradley Effect?
The Palin Rape Kit Story Needs More Exposure
California Foes of Gay Marriage Surge Ahead
A Provocative video aimed at the Millennials
Can You Shoot Down Those Soviet Missiles ? Try, it's fun!

Election Confidential #2
		

It is day 26 of the election countdown. Obviously debate #2, where McCain failed to make any headway, and a number of positive polls all provide some breathing space and growing confidence.

But when one candidate jumps ahead, the media like to help "tighten" the race to make the media more important. This obscures a more problematic issue: the growing deluge of stories about voter purges and machine problems. Today's front page New York Times article by Ian Urbina was an eye-opener, and it didn't even give us the whole story. The specter of voter system incompetence and corruption gives us all pause, reminding us that Obama may need to be well ahead in battle ground states in order to win, (the Bradley effect notwithstanding -- see below)

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I never, ever thought I would see this in my inbox from my Republican uncle.

Written by: Kate Drazner on Oct 10, 2008 1:06 PM EDT

My uncle is a conservative dentist in Chicago. He never shared in the Chicago pride with my parents and I over the rise of our beloved Senator to the rank of front-runner for arguably the most powerful position in the world. In fact, this was a guy that I distinctly remember peering upon my newly-acquired nose ring as I sat in his dentist's chair, home on a break from college, and sneering, "I'm gonna rip that thing right off of your face, you tree hugger." (That should come off more tongue-in-cheek and lighthearted than it reads - he's actually a very nice man.)

So, for a few months now, my uncle and I have been engaged in an electronic war of words (and forwarded partisan propaganda). I'd like to share the story arc of correspondence that has occurred between us, starting way back in June and ending with the bombshell I received from him yesterday afternoon.

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