Democracy for New Mexico

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: DFA Endorses Lamont vs. Lieberman

From Jim Dean of Democracy for America:

Joe Lieberman: George Bush's favorite Democrat?  Support Ned Lamont!

For years, Joe Lieberman has supported President Bush on issue after issue. He supported Bush's crusade to dismantle Social Security and he folded on the nominations of Justices Roberts and Alito. Lieberman voted for the invasion of Iraq and he continues to stand in the way of real solutions that will bring our troops home. He has even supported attempts to label criticism of the war as unpatriotic. Last winter, he said, "It is time for Democrats who distrust President Bush to acknowledge that he will be Commander-in-Chief for three more critical years, and that in matters of war we undermine Presidential credibility at our nation's peril."

On Friday, Connecticut Democrats said, "Enough." The Connecticut Democratic Convention was the first opportunity for an open vote between Joe Lieberman and upstart challenger Ned Lamont. With the process heavily stacked toward insiders, Lamont was expected to collect just a handful of votes. Instead, he shocked the establishment and won more than twice the number of votes he needed to qualify for the August primary ballot.

Ned Lamont has won the support of DFA members across Connecticut and now he's won a place on the ballot to challenge Joe Lieberman. When he's elected in November, Ned will oppose the Bush administration's misguided policies and he'll stand with other Democrats for clean government, universal healthcare, and a moral foreign policy. I urge you to join me in supporting Ned Lamont today!

Joe Lieberman has won strong support from Republicans. Vice President Cheney calls him "a fine U.S. Senator." Republican Congressman Chris Shays and Fox News Commentator Sean Hannity have both endorsed him. Even President Bush loves Lieberman—there are rumors he has been considered for a post in Bush's cabinet. Is that the kind of Democrat that we want in Washington?

Ned Lamont won't have any Washington Republicans fighting for him. He's only going to win through thousands of grassroots donations from DFA members like you. We need to show Ned that the grassroots will stand with him. With your help, our goal is to raise $25,000 from 500 donors today. Can you make a donation of $100, $50, $25 or even $10 to make it happen?

Ned will be a progressive voice in the Senate. He'll speak out against the destructive Bush administration policies that threaten our moral and economic future, our civil liberties, and our nation's security. He has opposed the Iraq War since the beginning and he'll advocate a new direction in Iraq. Let's make it happen.
**********
Editor's Note: For more information on Lamont's shocking support in the Connecticut Democratic Party delegate vote in this Democratic primary race, check out the coverage on MyDD and watch video of local news coverage of this story. I just gave another $10 to the Lamont campaign via DFA and I strongly encourage you to donate a few bucks. We need to display our grassroots and netroots strength and put our money where our mouth is for this race and others where progressives are challenging entrenched, "Republican-lite" Democrats in name only.

40,000 Signatures Against Iran War Delivered to White House

Anti-Iran war sentiment is growing rapidly as information is revealed that we may already have troops and/or operatives on the ground in Iran. On Thursday, May 18th, more than 40,000 petition signatures were delivered to the White House against war with Iran.

Following the delivery of the petitions, a march to Donald Rumsfeld's house was led by Ray McGovern and Cindy Sheehan. Four people were arrested trying to deliver a message to the Secretary of Defense. Click for of the events shot by Truthout. Go here to access other the video in additional formats.

Ward 31 Dem Picnic Rocks

Patricia Madrid (center) arriving at Ward 31 picnic.

From Shay Rose, Democratic candidate for NM State Representative, District 28: Albuquerque's Ward 31 had a great District 'meet and greet' at High Desert Park in the Northeast Heights this past Saturday. There was a band, food catered by Garduno's (red and green enchaladas, rice, beans, taquitas, chips and salsa); plenty of cold water and sodas to drink and lots of NE Heights Democrats meeting their candidates. Tom Solomon (Vice Chair Ward 31A) and Kooch Jacobus, Adam Romero, Charles Penney and several others did a fine job organizing this event. About 125 ward residents were in attendance.

Amy, Shay, Ana

Shay Rose's Campaign provided a cake (chocolate with cream cheese filling, blue rose buds and a minature campaign card on each piece of cake) and a watermelon tent (the only candidate to do this as others had campaign materials only). Not that I'm bragging but food always brings people by! All candidates were recognized on stage by Kooch and received an enthusiastic welcome.

Amy, Barb, Mike, Marvin at the Shay Rose booth

CD1 Congressional candidate Patricia Madrid visited with fellow Democrats, gave a rousing speech from the stage and took questions from the crowd. Others who spoke and picnicked at the event were Ray Powell, running for State Land Commissioner; Gary King, candidate for NM Attorney General; Judge Clay Campbell, running to keep his seat as District Judge in Division 12 of the 2nd Judicial District; and Karen Montoya and Moises Gonzales, both Dem candidates for Bernalillo County Assessor. Shay Rose (House District 28) and Barbara Scharf (House District 31) were the only legislative candidates that spoke, although Janice Saxton (House District 22) was there hanging out in the crowd. Other candidates sent representatives in their place -- just not quite the same tho!

Ray Powell (center in cap) visits with picnickers

By all accounts, a wonderful time was had by all. Other wards are encouraged to hold similar events to provide an opportunity for Democrats to meet, mingle and nurture our network while having fun at the same time. (Click on photos for larger images.)

District Judge Clay Campbell appraises the scene.

Rally Against North Valley Walmart

From the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County e-news:
RALLY against corporate greed! TAKE A STAND AGAINST WALMART!

Please join your neighbors in the North Valley to protest a proposed WALMART Supercenter. Help us spread the message that WALMART is bad for America, and bad for our community. Our fight against WALMART will be long and hard, you can help take this important first step. Labor, environmentalists, educators, small business, community leaders, elected officials and candidates encouraged to attend!

Date: May 25, 2006, 5 - 6:30 PM (public meeting to follow)
Place: Desert Springs Church, 705 Osuna NE
(Corner Osuna & Vista del Norte)   
Contacts: Victor Raigoza, 453-1897; Al Mund, 344-9950

Sunday Circus Bird Blogging

American life can feel like a circus these days, and Sunny our sun conure parrot apparently sees things that way -- as long as he can be in the center ring. He loves to hang upside down, especially when someone is around to watch. Despite his residing far from any surf, he calls the above pose "hanging ten."

When he's done wowing observers with that maneuver, he likes to take it a step further and hang by only one foot. He calls this his "high five" trick and he often alternates hanging by one foot and then the other, twisting and turning theatrically in the process. He boogies, and he expects heartfelt oohs and ahs as a reward, like any performer (or politician) worth his or her salt.

Afterwards, he like to use his foot in another pursuit -- chowing down on his seeds, veggies and fruits. Notice that he's using his LEFT foot, which should give you a clue about the side of the political spectrum that Sunny favors. Eventually, he puts his foot down, as he hopes Americans will do in finally stopping the Bush machine in its tracks. Enough is enough! (Click on images for larger versions.)

Saturday Morning Funnies

Watch the video. If Gore were president: Al Gore on Saturday Night Live last Saturday. When you're done chuckling (and pining for what might have been), go pledge to see Gore's new movie on global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth," on its opening weekend. The movie opens at the Century 14 in Albuquerque on June 16 and in Santa Fe at the DeVargas 6 on June 23.

Fried Friedman Smokes With the Neocons

I've never been a fan of New York Times writer Tom Friedman. I think he's one of the most overrated reporters in the world and I certainly couldn't support his zesty passion for attacking Iraq, er, for bringing democracy to the Middle East. I think he's a pompous and self-serving dreamer who keeps insisting, despite all evidence to the contrary, that we're doing just fine in Iraq and will be leaving shortly.

After all, as they stand up, we stand down. Ouch. The scary thing is that he really seems to believe his own schtick. It is said that if you repeat a lie long enough, you'll begin to believe it's the truth.

Now Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting has compiled a one and half year record of his predictions that we'll be withdrawing from Iraq in six months (or a few weeks or a few months or 9 months). Regardless of what happens in Iraq, Friedman keeps making the same prediction that another six months will do the trick. Over and over and over again. Reality never penetrates and he never changes his tune. Consider:

"The next six months in Iraq—which will determine the prospects for democracy-building there—are the most important six months in U.S. foreign policy in a long, long time." (New York Times, 11/30/03)

"What I absolutely don't understand is just at the moment when we finally have a UN-approved Iraqi-caretaker government made up of—I know a lot of these guys—reasonably decent people and more than reasonably decent people, everyone wants to declare it's over. I don't get it. It might be over in a week, it might be over in a month, it might be over in six months, but what's the rush? Can we let this play out, please?" (NPR's Fresh Air, 6/3/04)

"What we're gonna find out, Bob, in the next six to nine months is whether we have liberated a country or uncorked a civil war." (CBS's Face the Nation, 10/3/04)

"Improv time is over. This is crunch time. Iraq will be won or lost in the next few months. But it won't be won with high rhetoric. It will be won on the ground in a war over the last mile." (New York Times, 11/28/04)

"I think we're in the end game now…. I think we're in a six-month window here where it's going to become very clear and this is all going to pre-empt I think the next congressional election—that's my own feeling— let alone the presidential one." (NBC's Meet the Press, 9/25/05)

"Maybe the cynical Europeans were right. Maybe this neighborhood is just beyond transformation. That will become clear in the next few months as we see just what kind of minority the Sunnis in Iraq intend to be. If they come around, a decent outcome in Iraq is still possible, and we should stay to help build it. If they won't, then we are wasting our time." (New York Times, 9/28/05)

"We've teed up this situation for Iraqis, and I think the next six months really are going to determine whether this country is going to collapse into three parts or more or whether it's going to come together." (CBS's Face the Nation, 12/18/05)

"We're at the beginning of I think the decisive I would say six months in Iraq, OK, because I feel like this election—you know, I felt from the beginning Iraq was going to be ultimately, Charlie, what Iraqis make of it." (PBS's Charlie Rose Show, 12/20/05)

"The only thing I am certain of is that in the wake of this election, Iraq will be what Iraqis make of it—and the next six months will tell us a lot. I remain guardedly hopeful." (New York Times, 12/21/05)

"I think that we're going to know after six to nine months whether this project has any chance of succeeding. In which case, I think the American people as a whole will want to play it out or whether it really is a fool's errand." (Oprah Winfrey Show, 1/23/06)

"I think we're in the end game there, in the next three to six months, Bob. We've got for the first time an Iraqi government elected on the basis of an Iraqi constitution. Either they're going to produce the kind of inclusive consensual government that we aspire to in the near term, in which case America will stick with it, or they're not, in which case I think the bottom's going to fall out." (CBS, 1/31/06)

"I think we are in the end game. The next six to nine months are going to tell whether we can produce a decent outcome in Iraq." (NBC's Today, 3/2/06)

"Can Iraqis get this government together? If they do, I think the American public will continue to want to support the effort there to try to produce a decent, stable Iraq. But if they don't, then I think the bottom is going to fall out of public support here for the whole Iraq endeavor. So one way or another, I think we're in the end game in the sense it's going to be decided in the next weeks or months whether there's an Iraq there worth investing in. And that is something only Iraqis can tell us." (CNN, 4/23/06)

"Well, I think that we're going to find out, Chris, in the next year to six months—probably sooner—whether a decent outcome is possible there, and I think we're going to have to just let this play out." (MSNBC's Hardball, 5/11/06)

I'm all for optimism, but this constantly expanding "window of opportunity" thing is beginning to feel like a never-ending story, a fantastical fairytale. Unfortunately, there's lots of real blood and guts and brains exploding out of bodies in Iraq, as the dreamers dream on. The neocons' strange addiction to the myth of spreading of democracy at gunpoint, The Decider's unyielding wet dreams of triumph despite growing chaos and Friedman's fried and phony predictions -- all products of reality-challenged egos disconnected from how the world really works and how people really bleed. These kinds of things always looks good on paper. Not so good where the boots hit the sand.

I've decided that Friedman must be smoking the same thing Bush and his neocons have been inhaling. He sounds less like a factual reporter and more like another shill for BushCo with each passing week.

And no, Tom, the world isn't flat at all -- it's tilted to favor rich oligarchists, monopolists, slave labor employers and greedy militarists, to the detriment of ordinary people everywhere. Stop sucking on the hookahs with the neocons and "free" traders and you'll see. Just say no.

Albuquerque Tribune Offers Primary Candidate Profiles

The Albuquerque Tribune has candidate profiles for the major New Mexico primary races that are being contested. You can vote early at your county clerk's office right now. Starting May 20th, you can also vote early at additional satellite voting sites in many counties, including Bernalillo. The primary election is set for June 6th. In order to vote in the Democratic Party primary, you must be registered to vote as a Democrat . For more information, check our earlier post.

DFA Training for Progressives: Denver in June

From Wendy of Democracy for Colorado:
We are co-hosting a Winning Strategies for Progressives training in Denver on June 10-11 with Democracy for America.  I'd like to invite our progressive friends in New Mexico to join us for an intensive training on effective grassroots organizing using our ThinkPrecinct™ method.

Learn all the skills you need to turn your precinct (or block, or town, or apartment building, or …) into a progressive voting star:

• Think Precinct™ 9-Step Organizing Plan
• Volunteer recruitment and team building
• Effective precinct gatherings
• Canvassing and phone banking
• GOTV
• Fun fund raising
• Getting/using voter lists and data
• Power mapping
• Create your action plan
• And MUCH MORE

Citizens, campaign volunteers, and issues organizations are encouraged to attend. We have secured a discounted hotel rate at the Holiday Inn and are happy to arrange home stays for out-of-town participants. For more information and registration links, visit Democracy for Colorado. Hope you can join us!

Feingold Berates Specter Over Gay Marriage Ban Amendment

Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee decided today was the day to throw some extra special red meat to their lunatic fringe. After all, the right-wing extremists who form the core of today's Republican Party have been very unhappy with Bush, his immigration plan and much more. In a transparent and cynical attempt to appease them, Repub Senators raised the always reliable issue of gay marriage.

They proposed a constitutional amendment that would deny states the right to offer their gay citizens equal civil rights under the law. The measure passed on a 10-8 party line vote. There's not a chance it will pass when it's considered by the full Senate on June 5th, and everyone knows it. So why did Repubs rush to offer it today? What better way to convince their complaining base that they're still fighting on their behalf against truth, justice and the American way?

A CNN story details a loud exchange between Sen. Russ Feingold and Committee Chair Arlen Specter at the session. Feingold questioned the handling and timing of the amendment. He also protested Specter's unusual decision to move the markup of the bill from the committee's regular meeting space to a room adjacent to the Senate floor. The President's Room, just by coincidence, offers no access to the public and no TV coverage:

... a shouting match ... ended when one Democrat strode out and the Republican chairman bid him "good riddance."

"I don't need to be lectured by you. You are no more a protector of the Constitution than am I," Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania, shouted after Sen. Russ Feingold declared his opposition to the amendment, his affinity for the Constitution and his intention to leave the meeting.

"If you want to leave, good riddance," Specter finished.

"I've enjoyed your lecture, too, Mr. Chairman," replied Feingold, D-Wisconsin, who is considering a run for president in 2008. "See ya."

It seems ole Arlen, self-described "moderate" and "protector of the constitution," didn't want to be seen in public pushing for an ugly (and unattainable) constitutional change to satisfy the lower reaches of the Republican Party. Although he voted for the proposed constitutional amendment, he claimed he didn't really support it and was merely voting for it so the Senate could debate the topic. Right, Arlen. It must be difficult to serve yourself and your right-wing masters at the same time.

And Now the Dems
Of course you have to wonder why the Democrats on the committee voted against the effort to limit marriage, all over America, to "one man and one woman." Just the other day DNC Chair Howard Dean claimed the Party's 2004 platform included that very position. He was wrong about that, but you wouldn't know it from all the quivering and quaking Democrats who have been working so hard to pretend they're on the side of the Christian right.

It's evident that Repubs will keep using this issue to their advantage whenever they have a chance. With only a few Democrats, like Senator Feingold, willing to stand up to the right-wing noise machine on this issue, there's no chance we can frame it on our terms. Until Democrats are willing to support publicly what we all know most of them support privately, we'll make no progress on this. Instead, Democrats will continue to be cornered by it and made to look like frightened liars.

Come on Democrats! Everyone knows by now you believe that GLBT people, like all Americans, deserve equal treatment under civil law. Everyone knows you understand the difference between church doctrine and civil law. Everyone knows you strongly support justice for minorities. If you keep refusing to fight for your true values and beliefs, you'll just dig yourself deeper in the hole. You'll continue to fit the spineless stereotype used to paint Dems as frightened, duplicitous cowards. Now's the time to shed that burden and be yourselves before we end up once again studying the reasons why Democrats keep losing. If you won't stand up for your own true values, and ours, who will?

Feingold Releases Statement
The general reluctance of Dems to stick up for gay rights makes Feingold's stand even more remarkable. He released this statement about what happened today at the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting. Hurrah:

Objecting to the Judiciary Committee's Handling of the Constitutional Amendment on Marriage

Today's markup of the constitutional amendment concerning marriage, in a small room off the Senate floor with only a handful of people other than Senators and their staffs present, was an affront to the Constitution. I objected to its consideration in such an inappropriate setting and refused to help make a quorum.  I am deeply disappointed that the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee went forward with the markup over my objection.  Unfortunately, the Majority Leader has set a politically motivated schedule for floor consideration of this measure that the Chairman felt compelled to follow, even though he says he opposes the amendment.

Constitutional amendments deserve the most careful and deliberate consideration of any matter that comes before the Senate.  In addition to hearings and a subcommittee markup, such a measure should be considered by the Judiciary Committee in the light of day, open to the press and the public, with cameras present so that the whole country can see what is done.  Open and deliberate debate on such an important matter cannot take place in a setting such as the one chosen by the Chairman of the Committee today. 

The Constitution of the United States is an historic guarantee of individual freedom. It has served as a beacon of hope, an example to people around the world who yearn to be free and to live their lives without government interference in their most basic human decisions.  I took an oath when I joined this body to support and defend the Constitution.  I will continue to fight this mean-spirited, divisive, poorly drafted, and misguided amendment when it comes to the Senate floor.