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Our Editor To Unsubscribe Table of Contents * Featured
Articles Opportunities,
Petitions and Feedback How Would You Spend
$3 Trillion instead of Iraq?** Commentaries from Our Members Ronna
Weltman on Lousy ABC Forum Amelia
Weltman on Lousy ABC Forum Don Smith on Need for Competent Government Mary Pat DiLeva on the Human
Toll of War Virginia Paulsen on Control
of Iraq’s Oil Liberals and Democrats Links to the
Beef State and Local Links to the
Beef Promoting
a Washington State Income Tax* New Democratic State Legislative Candidates* Dino Rossi’s Ridiculous
Transportation Proposals Leading the Way on Climate Change* Domestic
Violence in Washington State Nation and World
Links to the Beef We’re Losing
the War against Ignorance Our Liberal Spirit Suffering,
Bitterness and Then What?* ·
Fair Clean Elections and Open Government ·
Fair Taxes and Competent Spending ·
Investment for Productivity ·
Quality Health, Education, Jobs, Income and Retirement ·
Environmental Protection and Energy ·
Personal Security and Equal Rights ·
Justice and Peace Everywhere ·
International Cooperation and Leadership Conservatives
oppose all of these Let’s End Our National Nightmare Let’s
Restore Our American Dream More
on Conservative opposition to our American Dream See
Nancy Pelosi’s political priorities Washington
State’s 4 Major Needs ·
Federal Funding for Health and Education ·
A Progressive Income
Tax ·
Public Campaign
Financing ·
Replacing Republican Legislators Quote of the Week Although the
world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it. Helen Keller
(1880 - 1968) For more.
Calendar of Events
Friday, April 25 at 6:30 PM at
Saturday, April 26 at
9:30-3:30 at
Saturday, April 26 at
9:30 AM – 4 PM at
Saturday, April 26 at
1:30 PM at the New Everett Theatre (
Monday, April 28 at 12 Noon at the
Westin Grand Ballroom (
Monday, April 28 at 7 PM at Seattle
REI (
Thursday, May 1 at 12 Noon at
Friday, May 2 at 7 PM at the Rainier
UU Center (
Monday, May 5 at 12 Noon at the Westin
(
Tuesday, May
6 at 6:30 at the Bellevue Regional Library (
Friday, May
16 at 6:30 PM at Candy Sullivan and Jule Sugarman’s place (1140 Alki Ave SW #505,
Friday, May 16 at 7 PM at
Saturday, June
7 at 2 PM at
Opportunities, Petitions and Feedback
Opportunities
How would you spend the $3 trillion the Iraq War
will cost us? On what other government
programs?
See a website that tracks Iraq War
casualties.
League of Women Voters has new website featuring
all the election information you might want.
Learn about the Friends Committee on National
Legislation, A Quaker Lobby in the Public Interest.
Use Senator Barbara Boxers
web tools.
Find out how your senators and
member of congress rated on global issues.
Find out how your congressional members rated
on environmental issues.
Learn how Facebook is
an agent of change.
Barbara Rader of Black Widow Web Development created our
Puget Sound Liberals Website, to which I can easily add, modify and remove
files. Learn more
about this unique company, which offers a 50% discount for organizations
that promote social justice and environmental stewardship.
Petitions and Donations
Tell your
congressmembers, ‘no more funds for Iraq occupation.
Sign Barbara Boxer’s
petition to President Bush to act to reduce global warming.
Tell
John McCain to oppose tax breaks for big oil, directing the money to
alternative energy.
Ask your
congressmembers to support legislation to protect our wilderness.
Ask your congressmembers to support
legislation providing home foreclosure relief.
Tell your senators to pass
the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (H.R. 2831).
Ask
your senators to co-sponsor the global poverty act.
Petition
our presidential candidates to end U.S. torture.
Feedback
What do
Commentaries
From Our Members
Ronna Weltman on Lousy ABC
Democratic Presidential Nomination Forum
Hi, If you missed the Democratic presidential
debate on ABC Wednesday night, Editor
& Publisher called it "perhaps the most embarrassing
performance by the media in a major presidential debate in years." Moderators George
Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson spent the first 50 minutes obsessed with
distractions that only political insiders care about--gaffes, polling numbers,
the stale Rev. Wright story, and the old-news
I just signed a petition to ABC and other media that says: "Debate
moderators abuse the public trust every time they ask trivial questions about
gaffes and 'gotchas' that only political insiders care about. Enough with the
distractions--ABC and other networks must focus on issues that affect people's
daily lives." Want to sign it too?
We need a bunch of signers for ABC to take this concern seriously. Click here to sign: http://pol.moveon.org/enoughdistractions/?r_by=-3104217-vX0kiU&rc=paste. Thanks!
Ronna
Weltman
Amelia Kroeger on Lousy ABC
Democratic Presidential Nomination Forum
If you'd like to send a comment to ABC on the Wed.
night debate - http://abc.go.com/site/contactus.html?lid=ABCCOMGlobalFooter&lpos=CONTACT (limited to 500 words). I did. Here's my comment.
In arguably the most important Pres. election in
decades, you spend half the time asking questions immaterial to the significant
and urgent issues facing our nation and the world. More like a Game than a debate. Some
journalism! Even independents felt belittled and angry. . . we do have
brains, care deeply, & are patriotic. Your questions honored only an image
of a dumbed-down and a spiritually phony
Don Smith on Need for Competent Government
Published April 21 in
the
Barack Obama has been
called "elitist" for suggesting that bitterness about economic
troubles causes the working poor to cling to guns and religion. The point isn't that guns and religion are
bad. The point is that for millions of lower and middle class Americans,
concern about religion and guns unreasonably overrides their own self-interest.
As Thomas Frank showed in his 2004 book "What's the Matter with
The working class get guns, religion, and layoffs. Their sons and
daughters (poorly educated in under funded schools) are sent on extended tours
of duty to fight and die in a debilitating and disastrous war for oil.
Gasoline is nearing $4 a gallon and our cars guzzle gas, but public
transportation is inadequate. Americans subsidize Big Oil and send hundreds of
billions of oil dollars overseas each year. Though we spend far more per
capita on health care than other nations, for tens of millions of Americans
health care is unaffordable. Our petroleum-based food supply is laden
with sugar, fat, and hazardous chemicals -- encouraged by farm subsidies that
stimulate overproduction to ensure low commodity prices for giant food
companies. Meanwhile, many are losing
their homes due to the sub prime mortgage crisis -- a result of the
deregulation of the mortgage industry -- while corporate executives rake in
unconscionable salaries.
To fix what ails
"Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the
problem." These words from Ronald Reagan's
first inaugural address continue to be a mantra for many Americans. "Vote
for me, I'll lower your taxes" is a second conservative mantra that, like
the first, extols policies that benefit mostly the well-to-do. Americans
have realized the lie behind the conservative mantra "war on
terrorism." It's time for Americans to realize the lies behind these other
conservative mantras. Call me elitist. Guns and religion have their
proper uses. Misused they can wreak havoc. Donald
A. Smith
Mary Pat DiLeva on the Human Toll of War
Published April 24 in
the
Calling "Body of War" an
exploitive, propaganda film, as Bill White does Friday, can make sense only in
the context of a right-wing agenda. George Bush and the
Virginia Paulsen on Control of Iraq’s Oil
Published April 24 in
the
In a recent news
release,
This is the end goal of
the
There always was an
alternative to the
The bottom line:
Liberals and Democrats
Old and New Politics
We hear a lot about old
and new politics, particularly from Barack Obama. What are they? What are their major differences?
Old Politics
With Johnson’s passage of
the civil rights bill, southern conservatives switched from the Democratic to
the Republican Party. Oil shocks,
declining productivity and foreign competition ended three decades of steadily
increasing incomes. Declining
manufacturing employment reduced labor union membership. More wives entered the labor force. White men
reacted negatively to new competition from both Afro-Americans and women. Financially threatened, middle class
With Reagan’s call for
fewer taxes and less government, he capitalized on this discontent to initiate
an era of Republican control. In
collaboration with business interests, he redefined government from being the
solution (protecting workers and consumers) to being the problem (abusing
businesses). He demonized liberals and
government workers for enabling incompetent poor people and labor leaders for
taking advantage of workers. A
determined Cold Warrior, Reagan supported the military-industrial complex,
leaving post-Vietnam War Democrats to be viewed as weak on defense.
This onslaught of changing
economic and social circumstances and political calamity disheartened and
divided Democrats. While some Democrats
sought to maintain traditional alliances and programs, others sought to
distance themselves from them. Like
Republicans, they began posing as
Since
Democrats were divided and no longer stressing our Liberal values, Karl Rove
was able to create wedge issues to attack Democrats as unpatriotic, unreligious
and out-of-touch with mainstream Americans.
Democrats defensively promoted Liberal proposals with which American
mainstream voters agreed, but didn’t root them in our values with which American
mainstream also agreed.
Swift
boating and attack ads focusing on symbolically framed trivial incidents were
effective. George Bush was able to
become president in 2000 and was re-elected in 2004. The primary characteristic of our old
politics (Liberal political strategy) is failure to express our values. Instead we increasingly copied Conservative
attack ad tactics, even in our primary contests
among our own candidates.
When Barack Obama refers to our old politics, he
specifically points to micro-marketing which defines specific groups. Then making proposals to appeal to these
various groups. This strategy focuses
upon our differences and what divides us.
It leads to debates about priorities among proposals which much be
generalized for simultaneous implementation.
It leads to attacks against representatives and enablers of our
particular constituents. Both in getting
elected and in governing, we bicker among ourselves instead of focusing upon
our Conservative opponents. The failed
attempt to pass a universal health care program is just one painful example.
New Politics
Reflecting
on the Republican successes (Democratic failures) since President Johnson (especially
Bush’s victories in 2000 and 2004 have
aroused Democrats to review and revise their political strategies toward
winning in 2008. Our major political strategies
are:
·
Clearly express our liberal values (which closely
match our mainstream American dream) and a narrative which distinguishes our
values from those of our conservative opposition.
·
Our political strategy must include both offense
and defense, including reframing terms misleadingly framed by Conservatives.
·
Realistically promote winning liberal policies,
without being sidetracked by special interests of groups within and without our
Democratic Party.
·
Devote ourselves to both creating a strong majority
liberal climate of opinion in the long-term and winning elections in the
short-term.
·
Implement a 50 state, 12 months every year strategy
to mobilize liberals, using the both the internet and grass roots organization.
·
Emphasize values that we share, values and
proposals which unite us, ways we can work together.
The following books
express these strategies in more detail:
·
Gary Hart,
2006, The Courage of Our Convictions, A
Manifesto for Democrats
·
Bill Scher,
2006, Wait! Don’t Move to
·
Matthew Kerbel
(ed.), 2006, Get This Party Started, How
Progressives Can Fight Back and Win
·
James Carville
and Paul Begala, 2006, Take It Back, Our
Party, Our Country, Our Future)
·
Paul Waldman,
2006, Being Right Is Not Enough, What
Progressives Must Learn from Conservative Success
·
Jerome
Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, 2006, Crashing the Gate, Netroots, Grassroots and the Rise of People-Centered
Politics
These and other books
appear in the
‘Liberal Political Strategies’ section in our list of books
for liberals. Also see our Basic Training commentary ‘Back to
Our Liberal Roots’.
In referring to new politics, Barack Obama
emphasizes uniting us. More important
than our different genders, ethnic backgrounds, faiths and other varying
characteristics is that we are all Americans.
We share the American Dream. To
restore this shared American Dream we must all work together. To elect Liberal candidates and to provide
the political support to enact Liberal legislation. He does not emphasize the term ‘Liberal’
which has been framed by conservatives to divide us. He emphasize uniting Democrats, Independents
and disgruntled Republicans who share our values.
In his stump speeches, his responses during forums
and reflections upon these forums, Barack Obama lampoons Old Politics of
trivial attacks which divide us and promotes New Politics of unity. To many of us, he seems obviously right. But many of us still think the old politics
is necessary. The major question (which
our current elections will answer) is can we win by focusing on unity while
lightly dismissing divisive attacks, or must we respond divisively? If the divisive responses are necessary, will
they defeat our efforts to reclaim our American Dream?
Lessons from
Hillary Clinton won almost
10% more
These patterns are similar to those which have
occurred in many other states, in spite of Obama’s superior grassroots
organization. Obama
also spent over two times as much as Clinton on TV ads. The lesson is that social factors have strong
influence, which sometimes can not be overcome by campaign organization and
advertising.
What is less sure is what this portends for our
general elections.
I believe our fall election will not be a struggle
between Red and Blue states, as much as a struggle between Red and Blue areas
within states. For more. For
more. McCain will attract many votes
in small towns and rural areas (which are often economically depressed) which
contain many Libertarian White men and traditional conservatives. But in most states, a majority of voters live
in suburban, urban and metropolitan areas.
These (especially their Blacks and more highly educated residents) will
vote strongly for Obama. It will be a
nationwide contest between Liberals and Conservatives. More states will be contested than has
occurred for some time, with more of them changing their color.
Obama will have many advantages. His views are more in tune with mainstream
public opinion. For more. He will have more money. Through our primary and caucus contests, he
has organized most states. Some Hillary
supporters may default from supporting Obama.
But many Republicans will default from supporting McCain.
The bottom line is not simply winning the
election. It is governing
afterward. If both Democratic candidates
could beat McCain, which will be better able to mobilize support for opposing
special interests to pass legislation to reclaim our American Dream?
Democrats for McCain?
We are seeing increasing reports that Barack Obama
and Hillary Clinton supporters are saying that they will vote for John McCain
or not vote, if their candidate fails to become the Democratic candidate. If they follow through on what they say, they are nuts.
Both Obama and Clinton will end our occupation of
Here’s the Beef
Our Senate censored MoveOn. Shouldn’t they censor Fox News.
ABC
forum featured unprecedented attacks on candidates’ associations.
ABC
presidential campaign forum questioners are widely criticized for focusing on
trivialities.
Green Party candidate
Cynthia McKinney is also running for president.
Have
Democrats compromised their Liberal Values?
Are
Democrats ruining their excellent opportunity to win big this fall?
Huge number of
Democratic voters expected in Pennsylvania Primary. For
more.
Liberal state
representative candidates also won in Pennsylvania Primary.
Turmoil
in Hillary Clinton’s campaign organization.
Her many past associations are harming her.
Read
about Barack Obama’s Campaign Manager.
Michael Moore
endorses Barack Obama.
Is
Barack Obama a teacher like Adlai Stevenson or a Stimulator like John Kennedy?
Some
of Obama’s campaign strategies fit with emerging Democratic strategy trends.
Some questions that
presidential candidates should be asked to answer.
Following
John Edwards, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton must address our unfair economy.
Our
next president must address our failed deregulated economic system.
Barack
Obama’s rejection of U.S. foreign policy goes far beyond our occupation of
Iraq.
Barack Obama’s
election campaign and governance may be similar to Franklin Roosevelt’s.
5.3 million felons are
barred from voting. Is this justified?
Republicans
seek to suppress the vote of likely Democratic poor and minority voters
John
McCain opposes some earmarks as wasteful, but supports much more expensive Iraq
Occupation.
State and
Local
Promoting a
We Need a
Do we need a
If we simply reduce our
excise, sales, and/or property taxes to make our tax system more fair, we
reduce our tax revenue. If we increase
our excise, sales and/or property taxes to produce more revenue, we increase
the unfairness of our tax system. The
only way to make our taxes more fair, without further reducing our needed tax
revenue is to substitute an income tax for some of our excise, sales and
property taxes. For
more.
Should We Promote a
The answer to this
question is very unclear. Just because
we need something doesn’t guarantee that it can be obtained. At least soon. Promoting an income tax now might be a waste
of time. Or if it failed, it might be
delay the time when it could be promoted.
Or it might stimulate a discussion which would reduce the time until an
income tax could be implemented.
Much depends upon the
present state of public opinion. How
happy or unhappy are people with our present tax system? Do they believe a better system is needed? What do they think about including an income
tax? The conventional wisdom appears to
be that public opinion strongly opposes an income tax. Unfortunately, we don’t have recent public
opinion polls which answer these questions.
We don’t have good evidence concerning people’s opinions about our tax
system and alternatives.
What do Our
A
comprehensive history of consideration of a Washington State income tax shows
that it has sporadically been recommended.
Various early attempts to adopt an income tax were ruled
unconstitutional. The last major
political attempt to adopt an income tax (with necessary constitutional
changes) occurred in the early 1970’s.
It failed. This failure is still
cited as indicative of opposition to an income tax.
More than thirty years
have passed since then and economic conditions are much better now than they
were during the severe Boeing downturn then.
Our state tax revenues have declined as a percent of our personal income
from 8.2% to 6.8%, a decline of 17%. So
as our finances have improved, we are being taxed less. Compared to other states, we are taxed less,
have less revenues and our education and other social services are
suffering. However due to increasing
income inequality and the unfairness of our tax system, many people are not
being taxed less in proportion to their income and are even being taxed more.
In recent years,
Can voters be persuaded
that substituting an income tax will not only produce adequate revenue, but
also result in more fairness, with most of them paying fewer total state taxes?
Anecdotally, we often hear that the
answer is “no”. Voters are convinced
that adding another form of tax will result in their being forced to pay more
total state taxes. Voters are convinced
that state legislators always want more revenue, which is often wasted. So legislators continually seek to raise
taxes. If an income tax is initially
substituted for some excise, sales or property taxes, these various taxes will
later be increased. So most of us will
simply end up paying more taxes.
If enough voters believe
these statements and can’t be influenced to change, then we will be unable to
promote an income tax. If fewer voters
believe these statements, or many of the ones who do can be influenced to
change, then we can promote an income tax.
Our major challenge is that we don’t know what proportion of voters
believe these statements, or whether and how they can be influenced to change
these beliefs.
Before promoting any political action to adopt a
We invite all of you to contribute your suggestions
and opinions. Particularly concerning what voters believe
about our tax system and changes.
New Democratic State Legislative
Candidates
Democratic
David Carrier is running against incumbent Republican 17th LD
Senator Don Benton.
Democratic
Tina Orwall seeks to replace retiring 33 LD representative Shay Schual-Berke.
Many Democratic Party Leaders and LD 33 PCO’s
sponsored Tina (Shamseldin) Orwell’s kick-off party, including Representative
Democratic Stephanie
Kountouros seeks to replace retiring 40th LD state Senator Harriet
Spanel.
Conservatives Support Dino Rossi’s Ridiculous Transportation
Proposals.
Surrounded by a slate of influential local Republicans like Rep. Doug Erickson,
Rep. Glenn
Anderson, Sen. Cheryl Pflug and King County Councilman Reagan Dunn,
gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi unveiled his new transportation plan. For
more. These proposals would divert
money from education and social services to pay for transportation services to
assist commuters who can’t find affordable housing near their jobs.
Leading the
Way on Climate Change
In the Tuesday, April
22, 2008
With Chris
Gregoire’s leadership,
Domestic Violence in
In the Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The killers used guns in 200 of the murders reported above. National, state and local laws which prohibit
gun ownership by those who are legally identified as abusers have blocked sales
of guns to thousands of abusers. Besides
gun ownership restrictions, other measures should be adopted to prevent
identified abusers from carrying out their intentions, including therapy, GPS
location identification bracelets, incarceration and more. We must better protect our women.
Here’s the Beef
Operation Nightwatch
Director Rick Reynolds’ vivid
report of an evenings’ encounters with homeless.
The
well being of children varies among states.
See how Washington ranks.
Incumbent Democrats,
including Norm Dicks, are facing primary challenges by Liberal candidates.
Legislative
contests will be most expensive yet, with incumbents having fund raising
advantage.
Denis
Hayes, Coordinator of 1st Earthday and Chairman of Earth Day
Network, endorses Darcy Burner.
Our
legislators have failed to legislate adequate training for long-term care
workers.
Nation
and World
Am I the only guy in this country who’s fed up with what’s
happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder.
We’ve got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a
cliff, we’ve got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can’t even clean
up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone
sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, “Stay the course.”
Stay the course? You’ve got to be kidding. This is
You might think
I’m getting senile, that I’ve gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone
has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the
I’ll go a step further. You can’t call yourself a patriot
if you’re not outraged. This
is a fight I’m ready and willing to have.
My friends tell me to calm down. They say, “Lee, you’re
eighty-two years old. Leave the rage to the young people.” I’d love to—as soon
as I can pry them away from their iPods for five seconds and get them to pay
attention. I’m going to speak up because it’s my patriotic duty. I think people
will listen to me. They say I have a reputation as a straight shooter. So I’ll
tell you how I see it, and it’s not pretty, but at least it’s real. I’m hoping
to strike a nerve in those young folks who say they don’t vote because they
don’t trust politicians to represent their interests. Hey,
We are Losing the War against Ignorance
In the
This financing cannot depend upon local and state property
and other taxes. We need increased
federal funding to direct funds to where it is needed to give all students
access to the quality education that enables them to reach their
potential. While federal funding will
require accountability for results, local schools can retain control over
means. To legislate necessary funding, a
Democratic President and Congress are required, as we expect to occur in 2009.
Here’s the Beef
Pope
Benedict delivers uncomfortable message opposing personal freedom and autonomy.
Pope
Benedict delivers general messages concerning global peace and U.S. immigrants.
Great
Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown Endorses Global Marshall Plan.
Global poll shows people
believe governments must do more to wean us from oil consumption.
Lots
has happened during the 38 years since the first Earth Day. For
more (video).
Migrating
birds are disappearing from Europe.
Global food crisis is
worsening, partly due to U.S. policies.
For more.
SHARE
provides a participatory food bank alternative to Food Stamps.
Our $300 billion
farm subsidy bill needs to support what we need, instead of what harms us.
Major agricultural corporations
benefit from slave-like U.S. farm worker conditions.
Economic
consolidation is destroying small towns.
Earthworks is devoted to
protecting us from the ill effects of mineral extraction. For
more.
Proposed
nuclear waste disposal sight isn’t safe. No nuclear plants unless we find safe
alternative.
Environmental Defense
Fund study indicates action to reduce climate change won’t harm economy.
Our
Federal Reserve is providing crony capitalism.
John
Yoo has rewritten our constitution, giving our president power over our
congress.
Women:
Join our Military. Get raped. By fellow soldiers. With no recourse.
Learn
about our Pentagon’s spin machine.
Vermont
AFL-CIO asks workers to support west coast strike against occupation of Iraq.
President Jimmy Carter
meets with Hamas leaders, with whom no peace settlement is possible. More.
China
is main enabler of Sudan’s Darfur repression.
Paraguay
selects liberal president, following other South American countries.
Our Liberal Spirit
Suffering, Bitterness and Then What?
We
all suffer at times. Some of us more
than others. Our suffering is not just a
result of what happens to us. Sometimes
it is primarily the result of our own actions.
Whether the result of our own actions or of other events. Suffering also is the result of what we think
we deserve.
My
favorite quotations is, “Life is unfair and most of us are better off this
way.” Some of us frequently count our
blessings and express our gratitude.
Some of us less often. Some of us
hardly ever. Some of us are low
maintenance, easily adjusting to much that happens. WE don’t suffer in situations in which many
others suffer.
Others
of us are high maintenance, wanting lots of things to be just so. Focusing on ways to improve things. Quick to notice when things go wrong. We quickly suffer and quickly respond with
attempts to remedy the situation.
Some
of us view ourselves a victims. We
cynically assume that the worst will happen.
That misfortunes can’t be remedied.
We go through life moaning, crying and screaming. We ignore suggestions for improving things. Suggestions which if successful would refute
our basic premise. We are more afraid of
failure than of enduring our present pain.
We suffer most of the time.
Some
of us view often view misfortunes as opportunities for testing ourselves. We view them as a challenge. Instead of bemoaning misfortunes, we seek to
overcome them. Instead of suffering and
accepting, we experiment with various remedies.
When
we dream, we suffer pain. The pain that our
dream is not realized, may be difficult to realize and if realized, may become
unrealized again. Many of our Country
love songs express these feelings. We
may attempt to remove our pain by realizing our dream. We identify obstacles, create strategies, and
implement tactics to realize our dream.
Instead
of facing our pain, we may attempt to escape it. By trying to distract ourselves with other
pursuits: gossiping, TV, gambling, drugs, games, and many more. These activities are not necessarily
escapes. Only if they are done to avoid
pursuing our dreams.
We
have all learned many scripts for dealing with misfortune. For suffering and bitterness. For responding to suffering and
bitterness. We have all enacted various
scripts. Some of us come to prefer some scripts
and others different ones. Some of these
preferences may be the result of our social environment. But like most generalizations about social
environments and behavior, generalizations about bitterness, its causes and
effects are chancy. Politicians and
others who make them typically are criticized by people who can easily point
out exceptions. Like the rest of us,
critics also differ concerning which responses to pain, suffering and
bitterness they prefer.
Recommended Books –
See our list of books
for liberals
To
be politically effective, you must understand our new Democratic political
strategies To understand them, read at
least some of the following books:
·
Gary Hart,
2006, The Courage of Our Convictions, A
Manifesto for Democrats
·
Bill Scher, 2006, Wait! Don’t Move to
·
Matthew Kerbel (ed.), 2006, Get This Party Started, How Progressives Can Fight Back and Win
·
James Carville
and Paul Begala, 2006, Take It Back, Our
Party, Our Country, Our Future)
·
Paul Waldman, 2006, Being Right Is Not Enough, What Progressives Must Learn from
Conservative Success
·
Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, 2006,
Crashing the Gate, Netroots, Grassroots
and the Rise of People-Centered Politics
I particularly recommend the last two. Dave Thomas
Free Member Advertising
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on job (but always fair), Jaime Speicher (AAS Auto Repair Technician)
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·
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·
Data Entry- $10 per 12 font, double spaced page-
·
Debt Elimination
Counseling, Seminars and Workshops – price negotiable – Sherry Brandt
(206-356-8034, somerev2@comcast.net)
·
Home Repair- prices vary, depending
on job-
·
Home Repair and
Remodeling,
·
Housekeeper, price negotiable –
·
Life Support Therapies,
·
Private Piano Lessons (students must have a
piano), afternoons - Anna Khosrowian (378-7938), price negotiable
·
Psychotherapist, accepts insurance
- Sandy Mathews (462-7889, www.sandramathews.com)
About
In October, 2005, we founded our Lake Hills
Liberals as an experimental demonstration of creating neighborhoods where
liberals thrive and multiply and maximizing our vote for Liberal
candidates. In January, 2006, we began
our newsletter.
During our
first year, we focused upon Lake Hills neighborhood development, experimenting
with a variety of activities and events.
To elect Liberals, we canvassed our 12 precincts to increase the number
of identified likely Democratic voters from 33% to 90% and stimulated them to
vote, which assisted election of our 2006 Democratic candidates. We recruited
30% (500) of them. We encouraged house
parties to allow neighbors to meet each other to be able to prevent crime, to
assist each other in a disaster, and to protect and assist our children. We created our website. We began a monthly discussion group, called
the Lake Hills Liberal Salon.
During our
second year, we recruited many members from throughout our
As we
begin our third year, we continue our past activities, especially electing Liberals,
canvassing Lake Hills, promoting house parties, educating and enabling
cooperation among Liberals, and promoting Public Campaign Financing. Our
new political priority is promoting a fair
To get our free services, including our newsletter,
our ‘Proud Liberal, Time for a Change’ yard signs or ‘Proud Liberal’ bumper
stickers, volunteer or make a donation, contact
Our weekly newsletter is currently distributed to 2300 members by email each Friday. Submit your news to Editor Dave Thomas.
We are
seeking reporter-reviewer-editors with knowledge of particular political groups
and issues. We have asked
the following experts to help us.
African
Americans –
Blogs
–
Campaign
Finance – Sarajane Siegfriedt
Democratic
Party –
Drug
Policy –
Education
– Dennis Gerlitz, John Stokes
Environment
–
Gays
and Lesbians – Jack Greenlaw
Green
Party – Trey Smith
Health
Care –
Hispanics – needed
Immigration
- Grosvenor Anschell
Housing
and Poverty –
Labor Unions –
Law
and Justice –
State
Legislation –
Veterans
–
Women’s
Issues –
Additional Resources
See
our website at www.PugetSoundLiberals.org,
with our basic training about being Liberal, our archive of all past
newsletters, resources for liberals, tools for Democratic legislative district
organizations and more. Join
Fuse to connect with to other Liberals and more. To learn about particular
issues, visit websites of advocacy and caring organizations. Join them to further your interests and meet
colleagues. Also see our list of helpful
websites. Craig’s List Seattle
For
news about NW sustainability, visit Sightline
Daily. We recommend the Pacific NW Portal for
displaying many blogs through which Northwest Liberals exchange their knowledge
and opinions. See also Lefty Blogs. We recommend you go to Washblog to find blogs containing
information and opinions about
Learn about our State
Democratic Party. About 2008 Caucuses and Elections. Quickly and easily contact your national and
state officials. For
many Congressional Report Cards. Report Card on your congress member.