Democracy for New Mexico

We The People to Present Two Live ABQ City Council Candidate Forums in September

From WE THE PEOPLE - Albuquerque Cable Channel 27 - Quote-unquote.org, Judith Binder & Mickey Bock, Producers: The first of two forums will take place on September 13th when candidates for Albuquerque City Council Districts 2, 4 and 8 will take questions from a live audience. Candidates for District 6 will be featured  September 27th.

Officers from the League of Women Voters, Albuquerque / Bernalillo County will moderate the TV Forums on Comcast Community Cable Channel 27, located in the Old County Courthouse, SW corner of Civic Plaza. The Forums will begin promptly at 6 PM. Doors close at 5:45. If you would like a personal moment with the candidates, please stay around following the Forums until approximately 8:30 PM.

Tickets: Tell your Friends. Sign up for tickets in the League office at 2403 San Mateo NE, W-16C. Please telephone 884-8441 for details. First come, first served. You may also contact: Judith Binder at 265-4336.

Tonight On KUNM's Espejos de Aztlan: Topahkal Health Collective

From Javier Benavidez:
Check out KUNM 89.9FM tonight, Monday, August 20th, at 8:00 PM for a half-hour live interview with Andru Ziwasimon, MD, of the Topahkal Health Collaborative. Topahkal is an independent clinic interweaving traditional/indigenous medicines with conventional family practice medicine. They serve over 5,000 uninsured individuals and families annually and are located in the heart of the South Valley in Albuquerque, NM.

Next Sunday, August 26th, from 6 PM to 10 PM, Topahkal will host a celebration and fund-raiser at the Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center (on the corner of Silver and Harvard in the university area). Music will be provided by Nuevo Mexico Presente, La Junta and Le Chat Lunatique. Patients, their families, and supporters are invited to join in the homemade food, silent art auction, dancing and fun. For more information, please contact Cecilia at the Peace and Justice Center at (505) 268-9557.

Espejos de Aztlan has been on-air since 1979 and is part of the Raices Collective which conducts programming on news, culture and music from a Latino perspective on KUNM 89.9FM. For more information or to submit input about Espejos de Aztlan, please visit the "Raices" link at https://kunm.org/culture/.

Editor's Note: For more information on the work of Topahkal Health Collaborative, click:

• Healing Ourselves, Healing the Earth
• Healthy Choices; The Topahkal Health Collaborative Blends Traditional and Alternative Methods
• Albuquerque Tribune Event Item

YearlyKos

I'm headed to YearlyKos at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, so things may be a bit slow around here for awhile. I set up some auto-posts and I'll try to check in when I can, but no guarantees. There's so much going on at the convention that I think down time and web time will be hard to muster. Very exciting.

Lots of sources will be covering the gathering so you can follow things right from your couch or computer. A YearlyKos follow it at home page will have frequently updated links to all the coverage they know about. Both CSPAN and CNN plan TV and web video coverage -- no details yet. Talking Points Memo will have something called TPMtv with interviews and live coverage. So will PoliticsTV and UstreamTV online. No doubt participants will be uploading stuff to YouTube and flickr. And I'm sure just about every progressive blog will be on the story to some extent.

There are a multitude of panel discussions, workshops, roundtables and film screenings, which you can browse in the convention schedule. Major events, official and unofficial, include (all times Central Daylight Time):

Wednesday, August 1

• Evening: Various receptions and parties
• 8-9:30 PM: DFA Health Care Forum with Jim Dean, health care advocates and experts

Thursday, August 2

• All day: Interest group and blogger caucuses, panels, workshops, roundtables, films
• 7-9 PM: Kickoff keynote speech by DNC Chair Howard Dean, with welcomes from Markos and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)
• 9-10 PM: DFA Grassroots Victory Caucus

Friday, August 3

• All day: roundtables, panel discussions, workshops, films
• 8-9 AM: Keynote speech by Wesley Clark
• Luncheon speech by Andy Stern of SEIU
• 5:30-7:30 PM: Netroots Candidate Celebration (one of the cosponsors is Don Wiviott, Dem candidate for NM Senate)

Saturday, August 4

• All day: roundtables, panel discussions, workshops, films
• 8-9AM: Ask the Leaders Forum with Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Harry Reid, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Rep. Rahm Emanuel
• 1-2:45 PM: Presidential Candidate Forum with Bill Richardson, John Edwards, Barak Obama, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, Mike Gravel
• 3-3:45 PM: Individual breakout sessions with presidential candidates
• 4:30-6:30 PM: Teamsters' Rally and BBQ
• 7-10 PM: Closing Keynote by Markos plus surprises

Sunday, August 5

• 11AM-1PM: Bloggers' Brunch

Other Info:

• An unbelievable list of Speakers, Panel & Workshop Leaders
• Exhibitors

TONIGHT on Espejos: Workers' Rights at UNM Hospital

From Javier Benavidez:
Check out KUNM 89.9FM radio tonight, Monday July 30th, at 8:00 PM for a half-hour live interview with Eleanor Chavez, Director of District 1199 of the NM National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees. The Union has been fighting to negotiate a living wage for the University of New Mexico Hospital's 1200 support staff, which includes housekeepers, nursing assistants, dietary workers, clerical, medical assistants, etc. The Union also represents licensed and technical workers. In all, District 1199NM represents 2500 workers at UNMH.

Ironically, many support staff at the hospital earn so little that they themselves are forced to apply for state medicaid benefits. The Union is organizing a picket in front of the hospital on the morning of Friday, August 3rd, at 6:30 AM, urging UNMH to negotiate in good faith and to end conditions that organizers say have included economic oppression and racism against the affected workers.

Espejos de Aztlan has been on-air since 1979 and is part of the Raices Colectiva which conducts programming on news, culture and music from a Latino perspective on KUNM 89.9. For more information or to submit input about the Espejos de Aztlan, please visit the "Raices" link at https://kunm.org/culture.

The Right-Wing House of Cards Is Falling

How else can you explain the outrageous, hysterical, distorted attacks against Daily Kos and other Dem blogs by Fox Noise pundits? They're getting desperate now ... watch out. And do something, just like Brave New Films suggests. Can we really allow the likes of O'Reilly to compare us to the KKK and the Nazis? I didn't think so.

Must See TV Tonight on NOW: Repub Plan to Disqualify Dem Voters in NM, Other Battleground States

Tonight, July 27, 2007 at 8:00 PM Mountain Time on PBS' NOW on KNME: How Secure Is Your Right to Vote? Those interviewed include investigative journalist Greg Palast, who has done extensive work on the issue in New Mexico and elsewhere. (Check local listings.) NOW investigates a secret Republican plan designed to disqualify voters by various means including voter caging:

Was there a White House plot to illegally suppress votes in 2004? Is there a similar plan for the upcoming elections? NOW examines documents and evidence pointing to a Republican Party plan designed to keep Democrats from voting, by targeting people based on their race and ethnicity. Congress is investigating, and so are we. NOW speaks with David Iglesias, one of eight fired US attorneys, who says he lost his job because he refused to go along with the White House plan to suppress votes.

Was the White House involved? David Iglesias, one of the fired U.S. Attorneys, thinks so: "It's reprehensible. It's unethical, it's unlawful. It may very well be criminal." Iglesias told NOW he was repeatedly urged by his superiors at the Justice Department to investigate allegations of false voter registrations. After his investigations came up short, Iglesias said Republican officials got angry, complained to White House aide Karl Rove. Soon after Iglesias lost his job. As a result of allegations by Iglesias and others, Congress is investigating whether the White House acted unlawfully.

The NOW website also reveals key emails and documents covered in their investigation and also features an extended interview with David Iglesias, as well as one with another fired U.S. Attorney, Bud Collins. Excerpts of Iglesias interview:

NOW: It wasn't only officials at the Department of Justice who were expressing an interest in pursuing such [voter fraud] cases. You were getting requests from other individuals, correct?

DI: That's correct. In fact, there was a Republican attorney, Pat Rogers, who was a prominent local attorney who tried to pressure me to come up with cases. He would send emails to my assistant, who I had tasked with running this election fraud taskforce ... And I had lunch with Mr. Rogers last fall and he expressed his concern about what he believed to be this systemic, ongoing election fraud. I did not know at the time that he belonged to an organization called the American Center for Voting Rights. He did not disclose to me that he was representing any other interest. And I've also found out that the Republican Party was very interested in stamping out what it believed to be instances of voter fraud.

NOW: The State Republican Party or the National Republican Party?

DI: Both. But who contacted me or some of my assistants was the State Republican Party.

... NOW: In one press account you're quoted as characterizing Mr. Rogers' interest in this issue as "obsessive."

DI: Yes. I was aware of grumbling within the State Republican Party. I had friends of mine who were attorneys. One was a former federal prosecutor himself and he would tell me during the course of early 2005 through mid-2006 ... "The Republicans are still upset with you. They still expect you to prosecute cases."

So I knew there was this belief that was I intentionally not prosecuting prosecutable cases. And I knew Rogers, as a prominent Republican, who had actually represented the State Republican Party in some civil litigation related to the voter ID issue ... I knew he was interested in the issue. And then I was also aware of the emails and phone calls he had been leaving with my assistant, who I had tasked with prosecuting this. So I knew there was a tremendous amount of dissatisfaction of me not prosecuting any cases.

What I believed, however, was consistent with historic practice—that the Justice Department would insulate me from any partisan political pressure. As it turns out, they didn't do that. And that was one of the bases for forcing my resignation.

... NOW: Trying to use the office of a U.S. Attorney for partisan political purposes is unethical. But you're saying it is actually illegal?

DI: Right. That's why there has been such a circling of the wagons around Karl Rove and Harriet Miers and Sarah Taylor. I believe there to be incriminating, possibly criminally incriminating evidence contained in those e-mails and other memoranda. That's why the White House doesn't want to produce it to Congress.

In the Good News Department - Literally

Have you heard about The Real News, a new plan to build the world's first global independent news network -- without funding from governments, corporations or advertising? Be sure to watch the entire video above and check out their site at TheRealNews.com.

They're only at the Beta stage but they plan to eventually offer a full service international news service on the web and and an hour-long TV newscast. They need seed money now to create their web news service, and plan to start their TV show in time to cover the 2008 election. I signed up as a supporter and I hope you'll join me and pass this info on. If this isn't worth $10 a month or however much you can give, I don't know what is. I find their concept really exciting.

Check out of esteemed supporters, which includes people like CBS News veteran Tom Fenton, Air America radio host and journalist Laura Flanders, author Gore Vidal, Freepress founder and president Robert McChesney, longtime progressive Phil Donahue and many others from all over the world who are concerned about the damaging influence of corporate-filtered news.

We all complain about how badly the mainstream media has been performing in terms of keeping citizens informed with REAL fair and balanced coverage that relies on fact instead of spin. We're all tired of the news concentrating on fluff, gossip and mayhem. Now there's something we can do about it. We can sign up to support The Real News.

The Real News will be financed by the economic power of thousands of viewers like us around the world. Just 250,000 people paying $10 a month will make it happen. I made my pledge. I hope you do the same. Here's film maker and Real News founder Paul Jay explaining why our support is so important:

Click for media and blog coverage on the creation of The Real News.

Random Thoughts on the Dem CNN-YouTube Debate

(OK, I've reposted this after it disappeared due to the TypePad power outtage. Now you may get it twice.)

These are my off-the-top-of-my-head, personal thoughts on last night's debate and the Dem candidates. What are your thoughts?

Some questions were more pointed than those usually posed by the MSM, but others were plain silly. It's unfortunate that the poobahs at CNN provided the screening as I'm sure there were many great video questions that CNN wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.

CNN is completely biased putting the perceived "frontrunners" at the center of the stage with Kucinich and Gravel at the ends.

CNN is completely biased in giving the perceived "frontrunners" way more questions and way more time than other candidates.

When not every candidate gets to talk about some of the most important issues of the campaign -- like health care reform and environmental degradation -- the format is not serving the interests of voters.

No questions on campaign finance reform, the death penalty, "free" trade, labor issues, the increasingly evil role being played by hedge funds and private equity outfits, military spending, the silencing of real journalism, Iran or many other issues I wanted to hear about. But we did get questions on Hillary's gender, whether Obama is "black enough" and favorite teachers of the candidates. Go figure.

Anderson Cooper obviously doesn't know much about the issues and seemed most concerned with getting all the video questions aired rather then getting comprehensive answers. Let the candidates talk! He gave certain questions to certain candidates without regard to their experience. For instance, you'd think a question about nuclear power would go to Richardson given his experience as Energy Secretary and the fact that NM is so entangled in all things nuclear.

Gay Marriage: The answers from most of the candidates (except Kucinich) were weasling, confusing and just plain wrong. Civil unions or domestic partnerships DO NOT provide the same benefits as civil marriage as they omit hundreds of rights provided by federal civil marriage, like all the rights married couples get regarding Social Security survivorship, portability between states and nations, etc. Gay couples are already getting married in select churches -- it's the civil rights provided by civil marriage , which have absolutely nothing to do with religion or spiritual matters, that are unavailable. I did like that Richardson talked about what's "achievable" instead of talking about how "conflicted" he is about gay marriage, like Edwards did.

The Word Liberal: It really irked me that Hillary couldn't bring herself to respect the word "liberal." She claimed she's a "modern progressive," whatever that is. I guess it means you've abandoned the needs of those living in poverty, the working class and the middle class, and refuse to push for such things as single payer health coverage, in order to please the deep pocket donors from Wall Street and big corporations. But you don't hate gay people, African-Americans or Hispanics. Big whoop. DLC allegiance all the way, just like with Bill.

Health Care: Despite this issue generally being number 2 with the public behind Iraq, it got very little play. They crammed three questions on this into one and then didn't give many candidates a chance to answer. The health reform plans of every candidate except Kucinich preserve the role of for-profit insurance companies, brokers, HMOs etc., when it's clear that a majority of Americans want single payer NOW.

Say It Loud: As in previous debates, Kucinich and Gravel spoke the truth in no uncertain terms on a number of issues, making Cooper and the other candidates uncomfortable. How dare they not stay inside the box of accepted spin talk! They must be crazy! I especially liked Gravel calling out the others on the big donations they take from those connected with global finance and global corporatism. I liked Richardson's clear answer on No Child Left Behind: "I'd scrap it. It doesn't work."

The Dem Field: At this point in the race I have to say that no Dem candidate inspires me enough to get excited. Each one seems to have a gap where they need more substance and/or courage. Maybe I'm just too cynical or I'm still pining for the excitement and status quo challenges of the Dean campaign in 2004. It seems to me we need an incredibly high degree of wisdom, boldness, genuine leadership, passion, creativity and ethical purity if we're even to begin solving the profound problems we face.

Do you see those qualities in any of the current candidates? They all still seem so business as usual to me. Platitudes and spin. Of course, any one of them would be an incredibly better president than any of the Repubs. I'm just not very pumped up by any of them. Craving more charisma and truth! I also wonder if any of them realize we have a constitutional crisis going on ....

Hillary Clinton: The more I see her, the more I think she'll win the nomination based on her toughness, her ability to recite calculated talking points perfectly and her incredible intellect. What I question is what, exactly, she'll use that huge intellect to try and achieve. I don't trust her. Her links to corporatist forces are just too strong and many. Given that the Wall Street and big media forces are aligning behind her, I have a hunch she'll win the nomination hands down. She also uses her "first woman president" schtick to great advantage.

Barak Obama: Very good at using many words that sound substantive on their face but actually communicate little specific meaning. Yes, we're all for "hope" and solving problems and "turning the page." The devil is in the details, not the generic slogans. I tend to mistrust any politician who seems to entirely lack anger at what's going on in America and who seems to view anti-constitutional neocons as being amenable to bipartisan negotiation.

John Edwards: I like his wife much more than I like him. Although he voices positions that are often strong, creative and focused on the real problems we're experiencing as a nation, he doesn't seem tough enough to me to win against the Repub machine or to take on the powers he'd have to confront to achieve his stated plans. He often comes across as too slick and packaged. His populism is attractive but it's anyone's guess how sincere he is about it.

Bill Richardson: Too often, the Governor still seems not ready for prime time in his presence. I question many of his statements about what he wants to do in terms of education, health care and other issues. If he's being sincere, why hasn't he done more in New Mexico to achieve these aims? You have to wonder what he's promising away to raise the funds he's raising. I always get the sense he's really the DLC-oriented politico he's always been with some liberal, anti-war frosting added by consultants to make him more palatable to the Dem base. While he's done some very good things in NM, there's always that lingering sense that he does everything with an eye toward political gain rather than deep-seated values.

Joe Biden: Ever since he badgered Anita Hill at the Clarence Thomas hearings I've had a negative view of him. He often comes across as a bully to me. I don't believe his claim that he prays the rosary every day. He has deep connections with the financial and military establishments.

Chris Dodd: I like many things about Sen. Dodd, but he voted for the war and repeats Repub talking points like "I believe marriage is between one man and one woman." Given the power of corporate players and the severe economic inequalities within his home of state of Connecticut, he's got some 'splainin' to do. Not enough charisma.

Dennis Kucinich: Great positions on many issues coupled with a very weak record of successful achievements in the Congress and beyond. He lacks any degree of pragmatism or realism on many issues. Still, I like that he's on the stage saying what the majority of base Democrats believe on the important issues. Somebody has to do it.

Mike Gravel: I like his ferocity, even if it can be a little over the top. I like his freedom to say things like all the troop deaths in Nam were a complete waste. Almost everyone knows that, but few will say it out loud. He did some really important things that I respect when he was a Senator in the Nam era, like filibustering against the draft and standing up for the release of the Pentagon papers. While he expresses a number of fringe views, I think he should be given his due instead of repeatedly being cut off and dissed by pundits, candidates and debate organizers.

See for yourself:

• Debate transcript Part 1 and Part 2.
• Complete video of debate.
• Video clips from PoliticsTV.

Thursday: Michael Cadigan on 'We The People'

WE THE PEOPLE: Thursday, July 26, 2007, 6 PM
Albuquerque City Councilor Michael Cadigan will discuss 'Government via Clean Elections: Do policies behind our current election system affect society?'

Live on Albuquerque Cable TV Channel 27! Worldwide On The Net! Click for Streaming Media: https://quote-unquote.org/. Call-in: (505) 346-1633. We The People is broadcast every Second and Fourth Thursday at 6-7 PM MDT. It's an innovative call-in television show looking for TRUTH and TRANSPARENCY in local, state and federal governments. THANKS FOR WATCHING, Mickey Bock/Judith Binder - Hosts

Dem CNN-YouTube Debate Today at 5PM

The first of six presidential "debates" officially sanctioned by the DNC starts today at 5:00 PM MDT at The Citadel military college in Charleston, SC. It's a joint presentation by CNN and YouTube, with more than 1300 3000 video questions being submitted by the public. Candidates reportedly reviewed 600 of the 30 second clips, and about two dozen will be used in the forum tonight. Anderson Cooper of CNN will moderate. The debate will be shown live on CNN TV and streamed live on CNN.com. I'm sure there will be repeats on the cable news channel and clips available online.

Candidate websites will be hosting chats and other debate companion features, including Gov. Bill Richardson's campaign online. You can join their live chat with campaign staff and other supporters from around the country at 4:30 PM MDT. You can also submit your feedback on the debate to here.