MyDD :: Progressive Democrat Newsletter Issue 175

Progressive Democrat Newsletter Issue 175

by mole333, Sat Jul 12, 2008 at 09:24:36 AM EST

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. Jacob saw his first real fireworks display and loved it at first. We were watching from the 12th floor of a building right on the waterfront, so it was spectacular. Unfortunately, he was coming down with a fever and by the end was pretty unhappy. He is fine again now.

This was a big week, both locally where my friend qualified for the ballot for NYC's Sept. 9th primary election, and nationally where Obama's surge continued even as the Democrats once again showed less spine than we would like them to. More below.

There are some major things going on. The FISA vote was, of course, a disappointment. But an expected one. It is unclear to me how we can get our government more responsive to the PEOPLE. I know that surrendering is not the answer. But we have to push harder to elect good candidates and keep them in office when they follow through with their promises. That takes work on our part, but what else can we do. Why is FISA so important? Read this EXTREMELY important article on Salon.com about suing the Bush Adminsitration over illegal surveillance and you will get an inkling of how low we have gone. I meant to write more about it, but lack of time and sheer jaw dropping amazement at how Kafkaesqe/Soviet our system has become has kept me from putting down my thoughts. READ THIS ARTICLE!

On a far more positive note is a Daily Kos diary from a lifelong Republican who is fed up with the Republican Party and EAGER to support Obama, despite FISA. I really think this guy is not alone by any means and, as Chuck Schumer has said, this year will see a tectonic shift in American politics akin to the one led by FDR...or I sure hope Schumer is right! I have also outlined how Bush may be the death of the Republican Party, and why I don't see that as necessarily a good thing. Interestingly, the Republican who wrote the above Daily Kos diary thinks he remembers my diary...perhaps I played a small part in his decisions.

And there was Jesse Jackson's really abyssmally stupid comments, which remind me of why I have never been much of a fan of his. I write about my past brushes with this particular walking ego over at Culture Kitchen. Interestingly, Time magazine read my piece and emailed us about it...trying to get us to link to one of their articles.

Here is this week's newsletter:

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

GLOBAL WARMING: We are Down to One Year to Act

YOUR HEALTH: Keeping Antibiotics Working

GLOBAL WARMING: Nukes are not the Answer

NY STATE FOCUS

GEORGIA FOCUS

FLORIDA FOCUS

Flood Recovery in Iowa

IOWA FOCUS

Big State Level Push in Wisconsin

Tags: election 2008, John McCain, global warming, health, antibiotics, nuclear energy, floods, economy, Washington, Minnesota, Colorado, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Barack Obama, New York, California, Arizona, New Jersey, Georgia, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas, Virginia, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, Oregon, Alaska (all tags)

Permalink :: 2 Comments :: Post a Comment

Nit to pick (none / 0)

It is unclear to me how we can get our government more responsive to the PEOPLE.

The FISA vote was a response to the people. I would guess if you asked each Rebpulican why he voted for the bill he will tell you that he was expressing the will of the people he represents. Some of the more conservatives Democrats would probably say the same thing.

As a result, I don't think the problem is with the gov't being more responsive to the people. It is that the people aren't getting enough information about the issues or they are apathetic toward such issues. FISA is a complicated issue. It can't be boiled down to a 30 second sound byte.

If the Republicans are going to lie about FISA and the Media isn't going to call them on it then it is no wonder the public doesn't care and/or understand the issues involved in the FISA debate. This is the problem.

The truth may be on our side but that isn't enough to overcome lies and apathy. We have to win elections to fix these things. Holding the reins of power is the only way to solve these problems. The public will never care enough about something like FISA to help us overcome Republican lies and media apathy.

Consider that everything which happens, happens justly, and if thou observest carefully, thou wilt find it to be so. -Marcus Aurelius

by Blue Neponset on Sat Jul 12, 2008 at 09:41:54 AM EST

Re: Nit to pick (none / 0)

Fair enough...though I think too often Dem Congress Critter voting lags their district in progressiveness. I know this to be true in some cases (e.g. Nadler's district when it comes to impeachment) in other districts I strongly suspect it is true (if the polls on Bush's popularity and the polls on opposition to the war are true).

by mole333 on Sun Jul 13, 2008 at 06:32:42 PM EST
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