Democracy for New Mexico

ABQ Fundraiser with Gov. Bill Richardson Set for Sept. 21

From the DPBC E-News: There will be a fundraiser with Governor Richardson in support of his campaign for President on September 21st at 5:00 PM at the home of Joe and Kathy Duffy, 6364 Isleta Blvd SW, Albuquerque. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased in advance by calling the campaign office at 828-2455 or at the door the day of the event.

Six Years Beyond

How fragile we are. How fragile we are. Remembering all the deaths that have come from violence, whether on 9.11.01, or before, or after.

"An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and the whole world would soon be blind and toothless." --Mahatma Gandhi

"Fragile"

If blood will flow when flesh and steel are one
Drying in the colour of the evening sun
Tomorrow's rain will wash the stains away
But something in our minds will always stay
Perhaps this final act was meant
To clinch a lifetime's argument
That nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could
For all those born beneath an angry star
Lest we forget how fragile we are

On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are

On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are
How fragile we are how fragile we are

(h/t firedoglake)

One more for today:

Try this:

Online Chat: ABQ City Council District 6 Candidates

The Albuquerque Journal is hosting an online chat at 7:30 PM on Wednesday night, September 12th, with the four candidates running for Albuquerque City Council in District 6. Rey Garduño, Joanie Griffin, Blair Kaufman and Kevin Williams will participate in the chat, moderated by reporter Dan McKay. To access the chat, click here. You can begin submitting questions right now.

Stop the DC Establishment: Watch & Sign

I certainly support what Glenn Greenwald has to say:

"Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake has produced a video, which, along with Matt Stoller, I helped put together and narrated, documenting the four-years-long record of Gen. Petraeus in repeatedly assuring Americans that the war is going well and great progress is being made. The video can be viewed, among other places, here at FDL.

"It is actually amazing to watch media coverage of Gen. Petraeus' testimony depict him as though he has just risen from the apolitical ether as the objective and trustworthy source with regard to the war. The White House is desperate for that image to be maintained because the nation no longer trusts George Bush or Dick Cheney or other Republican office-holders, precisely because they have heard from those individuals over the last several years countless assurances of "progress," only for events repeatedly to prove those claims to be untrue.

"But since the inception of the war, Gen. Petraeus has been at the forefront of issuing those sorts of highly -- and unduly -- optimistic statements about the war's progress. The media should not take a position as to how much credibility ought to be assigned to Gen. Petraeus' testimony, but it is inexcusable to exclude from their coverage these facts -- facts which demonstrate indisputably that what Gen. Petraeus is claiming this week about the war's success is exactly what he has been claiming for the last several years.

"In addition to documenting Gen. Petraeus' history, the video is also intended to spur support for an online petition, created and to be submitted to various Congressional leaders by Matt Stoller and Open Left. That online petition, which I encourage you to sign, is here, at Stop The DC Establishment. As indicated, the video can be viewed here. This is the first step in trying to develop a template for channeling the intensity and growing anger with the political class into meaningful pressure."

Amen.

More evidence that Petraeus is spinning and dodging and politicking is offered by Juan Cole in his post "McClatchy: Civilian Deaths Steady through Surge; August Secret Official Toll Staggering 2,890; Mahdi Army Continuing Ethnic Cleansing." It's getting better all the time ... better, better, better ....

Weenie Cops. Weenie Skelton. Too Many Weenie Dems.

Remember when they used to be called "peace officers"? That was back in an era when many cops saw their job as doing just that -- keeping the peace. Now too many, even among the U.S. Capitol security force, apparently just look for excuses to gang tackle people and knee them while they're down. And do they really have to tightly handcuff everyone they are arresting or escorting out? That used to be reserved for legimately dangerous people. I guess anyone with enough gumption to mention they have rights is considered a dangerous person now. Unfortunately the really dangerous people are in the White House and the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House and the Department of Justice and testifying before Congressional committees.

Peaceful Reverend Gang Tackled
This makes me hissing mad. The video above captures the incredibly rough arrest of Rev. Lennox Yearwood outside the Petraeus hearing room today. Here's an account of what happened. He was doing absolutely nothing threatening that I can determine. He was merely asserting to the officers that he had a perfect right to be in the hearing room after waiting all morning in line. Which he did. I wonder who made up the arbitrary rule that no more than seven "peace people" could be in the hearing room. I wonder who defined the characteristics that define "peace people" and who told the cops to gang tackle Yearwood. Was it Democratic Rep. Ike Skelton? Was it other Dems on the committee? Or did they just sit idly by and ignore it?

Ike Skelton, Friend of the War Profiteers
Of course it's not unexpected that Skelton, long in the pocket of the defense corp profiteers, would rather have "peace people" manhandled and would rather say dismissive things to citizens against the war in the crowd than call out Petraeus and Crocker as the spinners and yes men they are.  Skelton was more than happy to get people tossed out of the hearing room with a scowl and a grumble. We aren't "his people" -- those in the "defense establishment" are.

I don't begrudge him having the protestors escorted out after they were warned about outbreaks, but he could have done it with respect for those working so hard to get our troops home and some meager sense of sanity restored in Washington. He or another Dem on the committee could have said something like, "I regret being forced to have you removed because I identify with your frustration and anger with an administration and its spinners who have lied us into war and who are continuing to distort the truth." But no, instead he praised Petraeus and Crocker like they were saints and reserved the dirty looks and nasty treatment for the citizens. Us.

They're Supposed to Work for Us
These members of Congress and their Capitol police thugs think we work for them and not the other way around. I think too many believe they are royalty instead of public servants. They need to be reawakened to what their true duties and responsibilities are in a democracy. Like defending the Constitution, just for starters. Like treating people who dissent with respect. Like demanding that the Capitol cops behave like humans instead of thugs. Every Dem in Congress should be shown the video of the gang tackle of a man of the cloth in the halls of our Capitol merely for asserting he has a right to attend a hearing. And every Dem in Congress should protest the action.

I know that's probably too much to ask when massive defense appropriations are at stake in an era so full of hubris and corruption and lies from on high like this one. But it's displays like today's that show the people who their friends are, and who are more concerned about keeping the defense spending earmarks flowing, the status quo going. I predict this kind of rough treatment of our citizens will become more and more the norm as frustration and anger grow on the part of a majority of Americans about a horrible, futile occupation, about the Republicans who put Party loyalty before country, about the Democrats too stuck in the rubble of their own egos to do what they certainly must know is right. Is this the tipping point?

The Domenici Angle
Meanwhile I see that Sen. Pete Domenici is more upset about a MoveOn ad criticizing Petraeus than he is about the continuing slaughter being kept in place to protect Bush from admitting reality. Domenici is showing his usual skewed sense of priorities. As for Petraeus, he declared he wants to withdraw troops next year because things are going so peachy. Oops, I guess he forgot that knowledgeable people on both sides of the aisle have repeatedly said we don't have the troops to continue beyond that point. Spin, General, spin. That fourth star came with a price.

No, Sen. Domenici, we have a right to criticize anyone in our government. Anyone. As for the MoveOn ad, that was paid for by thousands of ordinary people all over the country, not the Democratic "leadership." Just more hypocritical Republican spin. Time to retire, Pete. You're not getting anything right anymore....

Crisis in Confidence: Politics of the Petraeus Report

Listen to Richard Clark, Roger Cressey, Rand Beers and other national security experts critique the so-called Petraeus Report, which really amounts to a White House-created oral report to Congress to cheerlead for continuing Bush's failed strategy. Note to Democrats in Congress: DON'T BE FOOLED AGAIN.

According to a New York Times editorial:

Mr. Bush, we fear, isn’t looking for the truth, only for ways to confound the public, scare Democrats into dropping their demands for a sound exit strategy, and prolong the war until he leaves office. At times, General Petraeus gives the disturbing impression that he, too, is more focused on the political game in Washington than the unfolding disaster in Iraq. That serves neither American nor Iraqi interests.

Mr. Bush, deeply unpopular with the American people, is counting on the general to restore credibility to his discredited Iraq policy. He frequently refers to the escalation of American forces last January as General Petraeus’s strategy — as if it were not his own creation. The situation echoes the way Mr. Bush made Colin Powell — another military man with an overly honed sense of a soldier’s duty — play frontman at the United Nations in 2003 to make the case that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Bush cannot once again subcontract his responsibility. This is his war.

General Petraeus has his own credibility problems. He overstepped in 2004 when he published an op-ed article in The Washington Post six weeks before the election. The general — then in charge of training and equipping Iraq’s security forces — rhapsodized about “tangible progress” and how the Iraqi forces were “developing steadily,” an assessment that may have swayed some voters but has long since proved to be untrue.

Also read Gov. Bill Richardson's op-ed in the Washington Post. Excerpt:

Clinton, Obama and Edwards reflect the inside-the-Beltway thinking that a complete withdrawal of all American forces somehow would be "irresponsible." On the contrary, the facts suggest that a rapid, complete withdrawal -- not a drawn-out, Vietnam-like process -- would be the most responsible and effective course of action.

Those who think we need to keep troops in Iraq misunderstand the Middle East. I have met and negotiated successfully with many regional leaders, including Saddam Hussein. I am convinced that only a complete withdrawal can sufficiently shift the politics of Iraq and its neighbors to break the deadlock that has been killing so many people for so long.

Our troops have done everything they were asked to do with courage and professionalism, but they cannot win someone else's civil war. So long as American troops are in Iraq, reconciliation among Iraqi factions is postponed. Leaving forces there enables the Iraqis to delay taking the necessary steps to end the violence. And it prevents us from using diplomacy to bring in other nations to help stabilize and rebuild the country.

The presence of American forces in Iraq weakens us in the war against al-Qaeda. It endows the anti-American propaganda of those who portray us as occupiers plundering Iraq's oil and repressing Muslims. The day we leave, this myth collapses, and the Iraqis will drive foreign jihadists out of their country. Our departure would also enable us to focus on defeating the terrorists who attacked us on Sept. 11, those headquartered along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border -- not in Iraq.

Reserve Now: We The People ABQ City Council Debates

WE THE PEOPLE- Live audience

COME SEE the Candidates Answer Your Questions!

ABQ City Council Candidate Forum Districts 2 & 4 

Channel 27

September 13th, 6 p.m.

The League of Women Voters, Albuquerque / Bernalillo County will moderate City Council Districts 2 and 4 Forum at 6 pm. Live audience will participate with their questions. Doors close at 5:45 pm. Reservations must be made by September 10th; there is limited seating. Meet 'n Greet following the Forum.

Please call the League office, staffed by volunteers, between 9:30 and noon: 884-8441 or 265-4336.

Community Cable Channel 27 - SW Corner of Civic Plaza

Please use the ramp in the center of the Building

Albuquerque, NM

Kindly forward this message to your friends.

TAPE the program if you cannot be present.

WE THE PEOPLE is an innovative call-in television show looking for TRUTH and TRANSPARENCY in local, state and federal governments. 

District 6 Forum - Live - Channel 27 on September 27th

!

THANKS FOR WATCHING

Mickey Bock, Host  Judith Binder, Producer 

Editor's Note: The municipal election in Albuquerque is set for October 2, 2007. City Councilors will be elected in even numbered districts, and there are a number of bond issues and ballot initiatives to be decided, as well as a recall election of Councilor Don Harris for District 9.

Learn more by checking out the online version of the League of Women Voters Guide for the 2007 Albuquerque Municipal Election or picking up a hard copy of the guide at various locations around the city.

You can also check out our previous posts on the municipal election at our archive on the topic.

UNM Grad Students Pass Bring the Troops Home Resolution

From the University of New Mexico’s Graduate & Professional Student Association (GPSA): On Saturday, September 7th, the UNM GPSA Council passed a resolution asking the US Congress to end the US occupation of Iraq. Citing concern for the wellbeing of US military service persons and the exorbitant costs of the war, the resolution calls for providing comprehensive health and higher educational assistance to returning troops.

The purpose of the resolution is to call attention to local student and community needs that are not being fully met due to the allocation of needed funds to the US military engagement in Iraq.

“The billions of dollars being squandered in Iraq could be much better spent making campus safer and more family friendly, and providing health care and affordable housing to students,” said GPSA President Joseph J. García. Noting the lack of diversity among the ranks of graduate and professional students, Mr. García said New Mexican’s tax money, instead of funding war, should “go towards more financial aid for aspiring graduate students from traditionally excluded backgrounds.”

Lending their support of the resolution at the meeting were State Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino and City Councilor Isaac Benton. They spoke of the necessity for students and citizens to be heard on important issues, and described their efforts to express opposition to the US occupation of Iraq at the state legislature and city council.

The GPSA council is composed of graduate student representatives from departments across UNM—including the schools of law and medicine.

The GPSA Council will now send copies of the resolution to New Mexico’s congressional delegation, the Albuquerque City Council, the UNM Board of Regents, and the President of the United States of America.

For further information please call GPSA staffer Max Fitzpatrick at 850-4364 or 277-3803, or GPSA President Joseph J. García at 400-3802.

Heinrich Ranks 14th Among ActBlue Congressional Fundraisers

The chart below, provided by Swing State Project, ranks the top twenty Congressional candidate fundraisers on ActBlue through August in this election cycle. As you can see, NM-01 candidate Martin Heinrich ranks 14th, not bad for any candidate this early the race. In total, his campaign raised about $181,000 in the quarter that ended on June 30th from all sources, $31,000 more than the goal of $150,000 set by his campaign. Heinrich is running for a chance to take on incumbent Repub Rep. Heather Wilson.

State	CD	Candidate	ActBlue Total	Donors	Average Donation
MA	5	Niki Tsongas	$195,933	570	$343.74
CO	2	Jared Polis	$162,837	422	$385.87
WA	8	Darcy Burner	$111,018	3,107	$35.73
ME	1	Chellie Pingree	$107,820	273	$394.95
CA	26	Russ Warner	$96,214	348	$276.48
IL	10	Dan Seals	$78,703	250	$314.81
MO	6	Kay Barnes	$75,829	133	$570.14
NY	29	Eric Massa	$74,053	904	$81.92
AZ	3	Bob Lord	$73,715	190	$387.97
TX	10	Dan Grant	$62,080	165	$376.24
NY	26	Jon Powers	$56,062	347	$161.56
CA	4	Charlie Brown	$49,960	1,168	$42.77
FL	8	Mike Smith	$49,925	74	$674.66
NM	1	Martin Heinrich	$46,399	249	$186.34
MD	4	Donna Edwards	$46,001	828	$55.56
NC	8	Larry Kissell	$35,968	362	$99.36
CT	4	Jim Himes	$30,452	203	$150.01
MT	AL	Bill Kennedy	$21,016	80	$262.70
IL	14	John Laesch	$19,136	285	$67.14
IA	4	Selden Spencer	$19,000	126	$150.79

ActBlue.com makes online donations to Democratic candidates a snap. Used by supporters of netroots-grassroots candidates all over the nation, they've helped raise a total of $26,860,650 since 2004, mostly in small donations. Anyone can create a fundraising page, pubicize it and start raising donations, even very small ones, for a favorite candidate. The beauty of ActBlue is that it makes it easy for folks to donate to candidates anywhere in the nation who are attracting netroots support. In this way, we can have a real impact on races that feature strong, progressive candidates, whether they're running locally or in another district where we have a chance to pick up a seat.

For instance, a recent effort using ActBlue called Burn Bush, propelled by blogs such as DailyKos, Eschaton, OpenLeft, MyDD, Firedoglake, SwingStateProject and other local and national blogs, raised more than $100,000 nationwide for netroots favorite Darcy Burner, running for Congress in WA-08. The blog-coordinated fundraising campaign was organized to counteract Bush's visit to the district to raise funds for Burner's Repub opponent and included an online townhall meeting with Burner and other creative elements.

Working with local blogger , we tried a similar (but much smaller scale) ActBlue fundraiser here when Bush visited to raise bucks for Sen. Pete Domenici last month. Our Beat Back Bush New Mexico page raised almost $800 for Martin Heinrich and Dem Senate candidate Don Wiviott. In addition, our ongoing DFNM Netroots for Martin Heinrich effort at ActBlue has so far raised more than $900 for Heinrich's Congressional campaign. You can find the links near the top of our left-hand sidebar on our main page. Click and donate a few bucks to the cause -- it's that easy.

A couple of our previous posts on the Heinrich campaign's fundraising can be found here and here. You can check out all our previous posts related to the NM-01 Congressional race at our archive. For our 2008 Senate race archive, click here.

Tonight: Univision Dem Prez Debate in Spanish & English

Spanish-language TV station Univision is hosting a Dem presidential candidate debate tonight from 6:00 to 7:30 PM Mountain Time. Albuquerque viewers can tune in to the live broadcast from the University of Miami on KLUZ-TV, channel 41, or on Comcast cable channel 15. The broadcast will also be available on Radio Cadena Univision and online at Univision.com. It's the first presidential debate to be broadcast entirely in Spanish, as well as the first to specifically address Latino issues.

Seven of the eight contenders for the Dem presidential nomination will participate. Sen. Joe Biden will miss the event to prepare for next week's Senate Foreign Relations hearing with Gen. Petraeus, which he will chair. Only two, Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Chris Dodd, speak fluent Spanish, but that actually shouldn't be much of a factor in the debate.

Univision anchors Maria Elena Salinas and Jorge Ramos will ask the questions in Spanish but the candidates will hear them translated into English via the UN-style earpieces they'll be wearing. Their answers in English will be translated into Spanish be an interpreter for the TV viewers. English-speaking viewers can watch using the closed caption service on their TVs.

Expect glitches and delays. Plus, I can't imagine that Richardson and Dodd will refrain from showing off their prowess in Spanish at some point, even though the rules say they must speak English during the debate. Why? Univision claims it's to give everyone a level playing field. Both Richardson and Dodd have objected to the rule.