Democracy for New Mexico

Black Friday: Gotta Love This

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A New Era of Progressivism?

Progressivism is a term that refers to a broad school of international social and political philosophies. The term progressive was first widely used in late 19th century America, in reference to a general branch of political thought which arose as a response to the vast changes brought by industrialization, and as an alternative both to the traditional conservative response to social and economic issues and to the various more or less radical streams of socialism and anarchism which opposed them.

Progressivism historically advocates the advancement of workers' rights and social justice. The progressives were early proponents of anti-trust laws and the regulation of large corporations and monopolies, as well as government-funded environmentalism and the creation of National Parks and Wildlife Refuges. -- Wikipedia

From U-S-History.com:

... Progressivism was rooted in the belief ... [that humans were] capable of improving the lot of all within society. As such, it was a rejection of Social Darwinism, the position taken by many of the rich and powerful figures of the day.... Specific goals included:

The desire to remove corruption and undue influence from government through the taming of bosses and political machines;

the effort to include more people more directly in the political process;

the conviction that government must play a role to solve social problems and establish fairness in economic matters.

The successes were many, beginning with the Interstate Commerce Act (1887) and the Sherman Antitrust Act (1890). Progressives never spoke with one mind and differed sharply over the most effective means to deal with the ills generated by the trusts; some favored an activist approach to trust-busting, others preferred a regulatory approach. A vocal minority supported socialism with government ownership of the means of production. Other Progressive reforms followed in the form of a conservation movement, railroad legislation, and food and drug laws.

From :

Sound Familiar?
Progressive Movement: Concerns over abuses by business and the "robber barons" who exploited labor and the lack of government regulation of the marketplace ... was a prevailing theme of those seeking reform. The sharp rise in economic activity spurred by industrialization and cheap labor contributed to concentrations of economic power among large national corporations and the formation of huge "trusts" as companies sought to eliminate their prime competitors. Between 1897 and 1904, 4,227 firms merged to form 257 corporations, with the largest merger consolidating nine steel companies to create the U.S. Steel Corp. controlled by Andrew Carnegie. By 1904, 318 companies controlled about 40 percent of the nation's manufacturing output. A single firm produced over half the output in 78 industries.

An Early Version of the"Blogosphere"?
Progressive, "muckraking" journalists also played key parts in highlighting specific economic and social ills that led to government action. Jacob Riis exposed the poor living conditions of the tenement slums in How the Other Half Lives (1890), which led to significant legislation establishing minimum safety and housing standards in tenements. In The Shame of the Cities (1904), Lincoln Steffens exposed the rampant political corruption in the party machines of Chicago and New York, arguing that the political machines served the interests of businessmen who sought government contracts, franchises, charters, and special privileges. The Jungle, published by Upton Sinclair in 1906, traced an immigrant family's exploitation and the unsanitary practices prevalent in Chicago's meat packing industry. The outrage provoked by the novel contributed to the enactment of the and the Meat Inspection Act in 1906, the first legislation of its kind to set minimum standards for food and drug production.
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Progressive (and sometimes populist) changes continued on and off through President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, which in large part was designed to head off even more intense and dramatic changes springing from the Labor Movement and Communist revolutions. Some strains of the movement continued into the 1970s with the civil rights, women's and GLTB movements, as well as innovative programs like the GI Bill, Peace Corps and Medicare. Then Richard Nixon's infamous "Southern Strategy" of using opposition to the new civil rights legislation to turn the Southern bloc of states into a Republican stronghold.

Eventually, this led to "conservative" victories, with Ronald Reagan as President and a Congress led by the likes of Rep. Newt Gingich dedicated to turning back the clock on many of the reforms of the progressive and New Deal eras and returning to an unregulated market and corporate hegemony. This still wasn't good enough for Bush II and cronies -- who have worked for 7 years to literally bankrupt, cripple and dismantle the government and regulatory agencies.

The reliance on government to create a level playing field in a variety of areas was replaced by the view that government was the problem, not the solution. The negative results are apparent in virtually every aspect of American life, as well as on a planetary basis. The ravages of "free" trade, severe deregulation, privatization, militarization, anti-unionization and multinational corporatism are everywhere. The Robber Barons are back -- as truly global actors this time.

Unfortunately, too many of today's Dems are aligned with the DLC wing of the Party, or self-identify as so-called "centrists," "moderates" or "pro-business" Democrats. These politicos are dedicated to using "triangulation" to support global corporatist power and fight against "core" or "progressive" Democrats. The new progressives want to institute reforms similar to those implemented in earlier progressive eras to reinstate a level playing field where ordinary working people can prosper and community and environmental needs -- not just the corporate bottom line -- are a primary part of the value system.

From The 50 Year Strategy: A New Progressive Era (No, Really!), By Simon Rosenberg And Peter Leyden, Mother Jones magazine, November/December 2007:

A New Progressive Era?
A conservative president who is deeply unpopular with Americans. A country facing profound economic and security challenges. New technologies upending old media. A cohort of new immigrants and a bulging generation of young people ready to transform the political calculus.

2008? No, 1932, the tail end of the Hoover administration. And you know how that one turned out. FDR and his fellow progressives took on the challenges of their day and built the domestic programs and international institutions that ushered in an era of unrivaled prosperity and stability. They used a new medium—radio—to reach citizens, and fashioned a new majority coalition from the emergent demographic realities of their time.

Today's progressives face a political opportunity as great as any seen since. The election of 2006 may well have marked the end of the conservative ascendancy that began with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. George W. Bush now has the potential to do what Herbert Hoover did in the 1920s—tarnish his party's brand for a generation or more.

As in FDR's day, a new media is emerging, one that will ultimately replace the broadcast model of the 20th century. A new American populace is emerging, led by the arrival of the millennial generation and a new wave of immigrants, particularly Hispanics. And once again, the nation faces massive challenges—from climate change to health care in the era of biotech and preparing young people for a global economy. On the eve of the 2008 election, it's worth raising our sights beyond what it would take for a Democrat to win the presidency, and begin thinking about what it would take to bring about deeper, more lasting changes. The stars have aligned to give progressives a chance to permanently shift the conversation about the nation's values. The question before us now is, Do today's progressives have what it takes to do what FDR and his allies accomplished 75 years ago—seize the new politics, take on the big challenges, and usher in a new era?

Rise of the Internet and Participatory Politics
... This new paradigm represents a profound threat to the politics of privilege. Funding expensive broadcast campaigns forces political leaders to raise enormous sums of money, giving large corporations and wealthy individuals disproportionate influence. Republicans and Democrats have both played this game, but the Republicans consistently won; now, using Internet fundraising, Democratic Party committees consistently out-raise Republicans. The two leading Democratic presidential candidates raised $60 million in the second quarter of 2007—60 percent more than the $38 million for the two leading Republicans. By July, Barack Obama already had 258,000 donors to his campaign, more than any presidential campaign ever had at that point. Embracing this model has allowed the progressive movement and the Democratic Party to become much more authentic champions of the middle class, dependent as they now are on the financial support of average people.

U.S. Senate Race in New Mexico: Photo & Quote of the Day

Rep. Heather Wilson (NM-01) and Rep. Tom Udall (NM-03) at 2007 Veteran's Day event in Santa Fe

Photo (Flickr) by Santa Fe New Mexican reporter Steve Terrell, from his blog. Silently pondering a future matchup?

And in this Politico piece, Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez is quoted dissing Tom Udall again:

But Chavez remains unbowed in his determination to seek the seat. In an interview with Politico, Chavez said his achievements as mayor would compare well with what he called Udall’s lackluster record in the House.

“You take a tough-charging mayor against a congressman who is not known for having done anything,” Chavez said.

“He’s never had the occasion to make tough decisions to offend people. You’re polling at the peak of his popularity. He’ll find that lead will evaporate like wet tissue paper.”

I guess Chavez is referring to "tough decisions" like killing a city ethics bill or fighting a raise in the minimum wage for Albuquerque, or hiring bad boy Republican Greg Payne to run the city's Transportation Department ....

Halloween Howlers

Looking for that last minute Halloween outfit? Check out People for the American Way's . To get into the proper Halloween spirit, take a look at our made-for-New Mexico video of Martin Heinrich, Debbie O'Malley and Don Wiviott fighting off the attack of the right wing zombies! Also check out a frightening video and vote for the scariest Senate Republican at the site. Tom Tomorrow's holiday cartoon presents the scariest Halloween costume of 2007, and counting. The John Edwards campaign offers an election day 2008 edition of the Scary Times. Booooooo!

(Updated) Sunday Bird Blogging: Red Sox Nation

UPDATE: Red Sox sweep series with 4-3 victory in Game Four. Mike Lowell named Series MVP. Pinch hitter Bobby Kielty hits 8th inning solo homer that makes the difference. Red Sox Nation jubilant (including Sunny, Bosco, and the Seven Parakeets -- Whitey, Ginger, Hambone, Georgie, Queenie, Peanut and Jumbo)!
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The Red Sox Nation extends far and wide as Boston closes in on their second World Series victory in four years. They could win their fourth and decisive game in the best of seven series against the Colorado Rockies as early as tonight. Mary Ellen and I have been cheering them on throughout the playoffs and our avian family has been right beside us, pecking and peeping away. Bosco the peach-faced lovebird demanded we feature him and his collection of Red Sox gear in today's bird blogging. He considers himself to be the most loyal Sox supporter of our bird brained clan. This time, Sunny the sun conure and the seven parakeets decided not to argue with him. He's that vehement.

He even got his favorite rainbow bear and a couple of his favorite toys into the photo mix to best show off his plumage against the most colorful of backdrops. He's one vain lovebird. You should hear him sing the Bosox unofficial anthem, "Well I love that dirty water ... oh Boston you're my home." Even though it's really his human flock that has called the Boston area home in days of yore, Bosco definitely counts himself as an enthusiastic -- if long distance -- member of Red Sox Nation.

Bosco has already started the other birds chanting, "Manny, Manny, Papi, Papi! But he reserves his loudest cheers for Jacoby Ellsbury, the first baseball player of Navajo descent to make it to the major leagues. Ellsbury's mother's roots are Navajo and Jacoby sometimes summered with his Diné grandmother, a weaver, and other family near Parker, AZ. He spent a year there with his mom when his grandmoter was ill. He's officially a member of the Colorado River Indian Tribe, whose reservation straddles the Colorado River in Arizona and California and is home to Chemehuevis, Hopis, and Navajos. Click for more info on Ellsbury.

Click on photos for larger versions. All photos by M.E.B.

Scary Movie: Night of the Living Republicans Starring Martin Heinrich, Heather Wilson and ...

Just getting you ready for Halloween -- or election days to come! Watch Don Wiviott report on the scene. See our hero Martin Heinrich and our heroine Debbie O'Malley confront the forces of zombie Repubs Heather Wilson, Steve Pearce, Darren White and more!

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

Sunday Bean Blogging

Sunday's are often for Bird Blogging, but this week I decided to do some Bean Blogging instead. These are photos from Chicago's Millenium Park of what's commonly known as The Bean -- an incredibly popular 110-ton, eliptical piece of public art installed in the main plaza of the park's many interwoven and diverse areas. Made from highly polished stainless steel, it resembles a huge drop of slippery, shiny mercury. Officially known as the Cloud Gate, it's British artist Anish Kapoor's first public outdoor work installed in the US.

Another from down under

Coming up on The Bean from a side park area

The Bean reflects constantly changing images of the city's skyline, the street scene and the sky itself from many angles, each with its own properties, from distorted to clear as a bell. We visited The Bean while in Chicago last month for the YearlyKos bloggers' convention.

The rather dizzying shots are from the concave underside of The Bean, where the distortions and mirroring effects are the strongest. The others show how The Bean reflects the cityscapes around it.

Why  feature The Bean on this particular Sunday? Because we've been discussing how much better our world would be if we spent as much money on Beans and other community enhancements as we do on bombs, prisons and "security." Just think how different things could be if we unleashed and supported positive human creativity for the enrichment of the common good with anywhere near the same degree of determination and focus we apply to unleashing and supporting violence, greed and "law enforcement."

BEANS NOT BOMBS!

Click on photos for larger images. Photo Credit: M.E. Broderick.

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.

Dem Donkeys Kick Up Heels at NM State Fair Parade

DPBC Chair Ana Canales waves from new State Dem Party float

Ana Canales and the State Dem float

Dem U.S. Senate candidate Don Wiviott passes out literature

Float pulled by Terry Riley and his peace van

Kickin' Donkeys

Don Wiviott for U.S Senate banner

Mike Davis and truck with Dem prez candidate signs

Mike Davis' decorated truck

Jon Adams, Dem primary candidate for Congress NM-01

Click on photos for larger versions. For more photos of a variety of marchers in today's NM State Fair Parade, check out our Flickr album.

The 2007 State Fair Parade traveled up Central to from Louisiana to Eubank on Saturday morning. The Parade Marshall was Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, though M.E. didn't get a picture of her or the Democratic Women's float. Fast-moving parades are like that. There were more than 220 units participating.

The Democratic Party float shown in the photos is new this year and was designed and built by volunteers including Barbara Grothus, Terry Riley, Joe Boersig, Paul and Laura Stokes and Bill and Anne Kass. Members of Democracy for New Mexico donated money to help pay for the float at our last Meetup, adding to funds provided by the Party. We think those lively donkeys "kick ass."

The runs until September 23rd at Expo NM in Albuquerque. The Democratic Party will also have a booth at the Fair where you can register to vote or get information about the Party and Dem candidates. The Party needs more people to step up and help staff the booth. If you'd like to volunteer for a shift (and get free entry), please contact the DPNM office at 830-3650.

All photos by M.E. Broderick. Links:

• Democratic Party of New Mexico
• Democratic Party of Bernalillo County
• Democratic Women of New Mexico
• Jon Adams for Congress NM-01