Democracy for New Mexico

Focus Ink Hosts Progressive 'Network for Change' 9.29.07

Don't miss this one if you're interested in progressive politics and hooking up with others dedicated to organizing for positive change. Albuquerque's Focus Ink is hosting an open house/progressive gathering on Saturday, September 29, from Noon to 4:00 PM, so people can "Network for Change." Almost four dozen organizations, candidates and elected officials will have info tables at this festive gathering. Click for a flyer (pdf).

Open to all -- join us! Free refreshments too. Parking will be at Highland High School adjacent to the gathering. Click for map. Pass it on!

There's still time to have your organization table at the event. Contact:

Nancy Denker
Focus Ink, Inc.
We Print EVERYTHING from walnuts to signs!
www.focusink.com
505-265-3497, 505-266-4538 fax
335 Jefferson SE, Albuquerque, NM 87108

Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) #195766
International Union of Sign Painters and Allied Trades
Official licensed vendor for International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Sunday Bird Blogging: Webcam Edition

Dusky conures at the FeatherCam

I find myself traveling to these avian webcam sites whenever I'm at the keyboard and need to get away from the political world for a few minutes. You, too, can escape to birdland anytime and take a gander.

The PNM burrowing owl cam provides fresh views every 60 seconds of a colony of burrowing owls who just happen to live at PNM's Reeves Generating Station in north Albuquerque. If you want something a little more colorful, visit the FeatherCam, which features a variety of views of the many types of parrots hanging out at DJ Feathers home-based aviary in Northern Virginia. FeatherCam, which refreshes every 30 seconds, beat out hundreds of thousands of webcams in the EarthCam database to be named this month's NUMBER ONE webcam. Check back often as birds go through many cycles of action and inaction during any 24 hour period. FeatherCam changes the location of their camera several times a day so different members of their flock are featured. (Click on photos for larger images.)

Macaws pose for FeatherCam

ABQ Mayor Chavez and Police Chief Apologize to Peace Demonstrators

Some good news. As described in a previous post, peaceful demonstrators at last Saturday's Iraq occupation protest at Kirtland AFB's Truman Gate in Albuquerque got a raw deal from members of the Albuquerque Police Department. Those participating in the protest were called names, cars parked in legal spaces were ticketed if they had certain bumperstickers, mounted officers steered their horses onto the sidewalk where people were standing with signs and other problems were reported.

As KRQE News 13 reports, representatives of the peace movement met with Mayor Martin Chavez and APD Chief Ray Schultz last Thursday and received their apologies, as well as a pledge that officers will receive additional training on how to respond to peaceful demonstrations:

A confrontation between anti-war protestors and Albuquerque police last weekend has brought an apology from city officials and a promise of more training for police, according to a protest leader.

... "There's going to be training on First Amendment rights," protest organizer Jeanne Pahls said. "We in the peace movement are looking forward to see how the Police Oversight Committee deals with this.

"We'd like to see there's some accountability for the behavior we saw on Saturday."

View the KRQE News report, which includes video taken at the protest by participants:

Re-Runs to Air of We The People's ABQ City Council District 2 and 4 Candidate Forum

WE THE PEOPLE: DO YOU WANT TO KNOW?
How did the Candidates for Albuquerque City Council Districts 2 and 4 feel about local issues? Check the Cable Channel 27 Re-Run of the Forum from 9/13

COMCAST CABLE - Channel 27
Sunday Sept. 23rd at 7 PM
Tuesday the 25th at 11 am and 9 PM
and simultaneously on your high-speed computer at: https://www.quote-unquote.org. (Click for Channel 27s Media Stream - half way down the page on the right.)

Also remember our District 6 Forum - Live - Channel 27 on September 27th at 6:00 PM

WE THE PEOPLE is an innovative call-in television show looking for TRUTH and TRANSPARENCY in local, state and federal governments. THANKS FOR WATCHING, Mickey Bock, Host; Judith Binder, Producer

Calling All Democrats: RSVP NOW for NM State Organizing Summit Hosted by DPNM, DNC

From the Democratic Party of New Mexico: What a year we had in 2006! Didn’t it feel great to win? Wouldn’t it be great to feel that way again in 2008 when we elect a Democratic President?  JOIN the Democratic Party of New Mexico (DPNM) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for the New Mexico State Organizing Summit and help make us a

Blue State in ’08!

The DPNM, in conjunction with the DNC, will host a free training summit for party activists, community members and candidates. Training will focus on Volunteer Recruitment, Party Building, and Voter Contact. Two separate trainings are scheduled; all activists and party members are encouraged to join us:

Saturday, September 29th, 2007- 9:00 AM -12:30 PM
Alamogordo, NM ♦ Alamogordo Senior Center ♦ 2201 Puerto Rico Ave.
Register ONLINE
Download Alamogordo Agenda


Sunday, September 30th, 2007, 2:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Albuquerque, NM ♦ UNM School of Law ♦ RM 2401 ♦ 1117 Stanford NE

Download Albuquerque Agenda

The 2008 Election Cycle will be the most important election of our time. To prepare for this momentous event, the New Mexico State Organizing Summit will equip you with the tools to organize other Democrats for the upcoming elections. You’ll have an opportunity to hone your skills as a grassroots activist and learn effective tactics in making positive changes in our state and our country.  By participating in this training and using what you learn at the precinct level, you will help ensure that Democrats win elections from the Roundhouse to the White House.

Pleases RSVP with the DPNM by calling 1-800-624-2457 and asking for Mike Wilder or Joseph Casados no later than 5:00 PM, Thursday, September 27th, 2007. You may also email Joseph Casados or Mike Wilder.  To receive training materials and reserve a seat at the summit you must RSVP.

GI Rights & Iraq War Featured on Indy Media TV Tonight

From Indy Media TV:
Friday, September 21, 7-8 PM, Comcast Cable Channel 27 and at quote-unquote.org: GI Rights and the Iraq War. Indy Media TV welcomes Reber Boult, an attorney who has worked with GI war resisters since the Vietnam war; Jackie Thomason, from the National GI Rights Hotline; and Bruce Clark, Marine Veteran and father of a marine stationed 20 KM outside of Baghdad right now. Tune in and call in live: 346-1633.

NM Senators' Votes on Key Iraq Amendments

I thought I'd summarize the votes made by New Mexico's Senate delegation on the flurry of amendments to the war funding supplemental yesterday and today so everyone can be clear on where our Senators stand on the issues.

Cornyn Amendment: Passed 72-25-3
Condemning MoveOn Petraeus ad

• Sen. Jeff Bingaman - Nay
• Sen. Pete Domenici - Yea

Boxer Amendment: Failed 50-27-3 (Needed 60 to Pass)
Condemning MoveOn Petraeus ad, criticism of Kerry, Cleland and all in uniform

• Sen. Jeff Bingaman - Yea
• Sen. Pete Domenici - Nay

Webb-Hegel Amendment: Failed 56-44 (Needed 60 to Pass)
Extend troop leave time between deployments:

• Sen. Jeff Bingaman - Yea
• Sen. Pete Domenici - Nay

Feingold-Reid Amendment: Failed 28-70-2
Start troop withdrawals within 90 days, end by June 30, 2008 when funding cut off

• Sen. Jeff Bingaman - Nay
• Sen. Pete Domenici - Nay

Levin-Reed Amendment: Failed 47-47-6
Start troop withdrawals within 9 months

• Sen. Jeff Bingaman - Yea
• Sen. Pete Domenici - Did Not Vote

Cloture on Restoration of Habeas Corpus: Failed 56-43-1 (Needed 60 to Pass)
Bring Spector habeas corpus amendment to the floor for vote

• Sen. Jeff Bingaman - Yea
• Sen. Pete Domenici - Nay

Telling It Like It Is: Keith Olbermann's Special Comment

Last night Keith said it better than anyone else I've heard or read. Just go see the video or read the transcript. It's what saying something in no uncertain terms sounds like. It's what speaking truth to power really means. It's what experiencing someone calling a spade a spade feels like. I promise. It's all there in a nutshell.

Moving On to the War at Hand: A Small Price to Pay

It's no wonder that so many in Congress want to move on to topics other than the ongoing horrors of the occupation in Iraq. Too often, when Repubs talk about Iraq they say things like Rep. John Boehner says in the new ad produced by Americans United for Change above. They seem to have to no real sense of what's going on there or why. They don't seem to get what's really hurting the troops.

Hint: It's not an ad by MoveOn. It's not people working to get our troops out of harm's way and out from under a civil war. What's hurting our troops is the refusal of Republicans to admit realities publicly and take the action they know is needed. It's their fear of getting sideways with Bush that's causing so many Repubs to offer verbal criticisms of the occupation, while at the same time refusing to vote to end the debacle or even take steps in that direction.

Rep. Heather Wilson is one of those doing just that. Despite abundant evidence of the failure of the occupation to achieve any sort of progress on the diplomatic front, Wilson continues to put party loyalty before reason. She said the reports by Gen. Petraeus represented "an important turning point in the war in Iraq." No doubt a similar desire to stay loyal to Bush caused Repub House leader Boehner to utter his infamous "small price to pay" comment about the buckets of blood being spilled in Iraq. Sure it's a small price to pay if you're not the one paying it. Sure it's OK to ignore the damning criticisms in almost every official report other than Petraeus' if you're not the one with your life on the line.

Other Republicans have made similar statements showing just how out of touch with reality they are in terms of what's going on in Iraq. Some examples:

Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) compared Iraq to an Indiana Farmers Market: "There were thousands of people just walking the streets," he said. "It was very encouraging to me." [New York Times, 4/4/07] 

Mitt Romney said his sons weren't serving in the military because they were helping elect him: At a forum, Romney was asked if his children are in the military. He said no, but they are serving their country by working to get him elected. "It's remarkable how we can show our support for our nation," he said, "and one of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping to get me elected, because they think I'd be a great president." [NYT, 8/13/07]

After a visit to Iraq, Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) compared Iraq to the Mall of America: "It's absolutely huge. I turned to my colleagues and said there's a commonality with the Mall of America, in that it's on that proportion. There's marble everywhere. The other thing I remarked about was there is water everywhere. He had man-made lakes all around his personal palace - one for fishing, one for boating." [Star Tribune, 7/22/07]

Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) compared Iraq to a baseball game: "Imagine my beloved St. Louis Cardinals are playing the much-despised Chicago Cubs," began in a speech on the House floor. In his brief but impassioned oratory, Shimkus argued that the Democratic bill calling for the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq was like the Cardinals abandoning the ballpark during a tied, extra-inning game. "Who wins? We know it's the team that stays on the field," he said. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 5/2/07]

Webb-Hagel Amendment
Perhaps the most dramatic recent example of Republicans being out of touch with the reality the troops are facing on the ground and in their repeated deployments is the defeat of the Webb-Hagel amendment in the Senate yesterday. Republican votes (including that of Sen. Pete Domenici) caused the defeat of the measure that would have provided members of our regular military, Guard and Reserve proper rest between extended Iraq tours. A reported it this way:

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), a staunch critic of the war who co-sponsored the Webb amendment, said Wednesday's outcome means Republicans will continue to stick with Bush for at least the rest of the year.

"It's stay the course, Part 2," said Hagel, an Army infantryman in Vietnam who earned two Purple Hearts, warning that some of his Republican colleagues running for re-election next year will soon face a "confrontation" between "a very unpopular war and self-preservation."

... Throughout the day, Webb, Hagel and other senators pleaded for the well-being of the troops. They noted a sharp rise in the divorce rate in military families; they pointed to alarming suicide rates and they recounted missed birthdays, anniversaries and first steps of young children.

"This amendment would provide a safety net to our men and women in uniform by providing minimum and more predictable time for them to rest and retrain before again deploying," said Webb, a Marine who was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts for his service in Vietnam. [Webb also has a son serving in Iraq.]

Bottom Line: Look at recent polling. A large majority of the American people understand what's really happening in Iraq. They know a vote to stop the provision of adequate rest between deployments is much more telling than the party-first spin being spun by Republicans these days. Now's the time for action, not rhetoric. The American people demand it.

Want change? Visit Beat Back Bush New Meixo and make a contribution.

MoveOn Ad Vote: Dems Buy Into Repub Framing (Again)

Yes, it was very important this morning to stop considering things like troops levels, ending the occupation, civil liberties, restoring the U.S. Constitution, the health care crisis, energy policy, the environmental emergency or anything else with real importance to human beings. Instead the Senate took up a "sense of the Senate" debate on whether MoveOn's BETRAY-US ad was naughty or nice. I'm not kidding you. The amendment to the defense appropriations bill eventually passed by a margin of 72-25 with 3 Senators not voting. Imagine what historians will make of this travesty in years to come.

Here's the roll call vote. Note the names of way too many Dems in the Yea category. Lemmings all. Even Leahy. I think every single one of them should be grabbed by the collar and made to read George Lakoff's analysis of MoveOn's framing -- and how powerfully successful it is.

[One positive aspect: Sen. Jeff Bingaman voted against it. Thank you Sen. Bingaman for not playing along with the Republican spin machine and the eternal Republican framing of Democrats -- or anyone else who dares to point out that the emperor has no clothes -- as bad guys.] ***I take back the thank you to Sen. Bingaman contained in the brackets. See my remarks on why in the comments thread below.***

The thing is, Repub gaming on this is losing power. Even after the prolonged, highly orchestrated and chock-full-o'-distortions dog and pony show by Bush-Petraeus, Bush's favorables went down again in the polling. The numbers for ending the Iraq occupation remained steady or rose. The percentage of Americans who believe we're on the wrong track grew. I guess most Americans have finally caught on that they're being lied to AGAIN and that the administration's PR excuses on foreign policy are nothing but hot air and sleight of hand. Too bad too many Democrats are still in the dark on that or at least afraid to publicly admit it.

A Lost Opportunity
The Democrats could have used this lastest example of Republican voodoo-politics-before-the-cameras to point out how wasting time on trivial things when troops and Iraqis are dying is: A) a BETRAYAL of the public trust in elected officials and B) a BETRAYAL of their designated responsibilities as a check on executive power gone mad. Instead, the cowardly Yea voters fell under the spell of their Republican taunters. Do they really think that kowtowing to Bush Bullies will save them from being called names in the future, no matter what they do? Apparently so -- despite it being perfectly clear to just about everyone buth them that their repetitive caving to this same inane maneuvering won't stop the the rightwing mud machine at all. Not one iota. It's what they do.

Thanks A Lot
I work very hard every day (without pay) to try and build support for the Democratic cause, along with millions of other people like me all over the country. You know, like the 3+ million who are members of MoveOn. When too many Dems vote like they did today on the MOVE-ON BETRAYAL AMENDMENT, they wash away any good will or support we've managed to build and replace it with disgust, cynicism and, yes, a sense of betrayal in the pool of possible Dem voters. Bush et al. should personally be thanking every Dem who voted for the amendement -- they've done more for the Republican cause today than any registered Republican could hope to do.

Foot in Mouth Disease
Of course, as Governor Richardson said yesterday in answer to a question about the MoveOn ad: "Why condemn it? I disagreed with it. Who cares?" he said. "You guys have too much fascination with these groups nobody cares about.” I hate to say it, but perhaps the real mistaken fascination is with Richardson's awkward, foot-in-mouth pursuit of the presidential nomination. Doh.

PS: Hooray for these Dems, who voted according to their brains, not their irrational, reptilian fears:

NAYs ---25
Akaka (D-HI) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Byrd (D-WV) Clinton (D-NY) Dodd (D-CT) Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI)	Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Kennedy (D-MA) Kerry (D-MA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Levin (D-MI) Menendez (D-NJ) Murray (D-WA) Reed (D-RI)	Reid (D-NV) Rockefeller (D-WV) Sanders (I-VT) Schumer (D-NY) Stabenow (D-MI) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR)

Oh, and shame on every single Republican Senator -- every one of them voted for this sham. Anything to try and distract attention from the utter and miserable failure of their party, their president and their occupation of Iraq.