Best Buds: A Story Of Betrayal By A U.S. Senator.

I believe it was Yogi Berra that once said, "When you're part of a team you stand up for your teammates. Your loyalty is to them." I'm not sure Senator Lieberman really knows what loyalty is anymore. He seems to be promiscuously perusing the streets of Washington looking for someone or some group that will embrace him. I think he's found someone:

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The announcement today that Senator Lieberman will speak at the Republican National Convention only eight years after he received the Democratic VP nomination is a bit troubling and perhaps telling of his character and motivations. Depending on the number of Senate seats that we pick up in November there has to be serious talk about moving this individual's office to the capitol dumpster and then going to bat against him in 2012.

Gunman Attacks and Seriously Wounds Chair of the Arkansas Democratic Party

Arkansas Democratic Party Chair, Bill Gwatney was wounded when an armed assailant forced his way into the party office in Little Rock today. While this is still developing news and no motive has been established it brings up a few interesting points that I have learned while working with the California Democratic Party this summer. 

First, many people actually call party offices and demand that volunteers and staff actually do something about some problem that has global reach and implications. I recall answering a phone to have someone say that I, personally, needed to fix my state's water problem and that calls to the F.B.I. and C.I.A. would be made if I did not comply. It's kind of obvious when people conduct themselves in this type of manner they are either not completely coherent of what they're saying or they simply don't know any better because of lack of a real civic education. These types of incidents take up our time, but have parallels that could be much more costly. The individual that called 911 because a Subway sandwich worker failed to put sauce on his Italian sub a few weeks ago is a good point to look to.

Secondly, I think that the media coverage of political groups has grown to be so negative in some cases that people are reacting because they believe that some party workers are inherently against what they believe to be best for this nation. When people like Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter spew such vile in print and on the air, it's apparent that new lows have been reached. They're not simply stating that they disagree with certain groups, but launch accusatory ad hominem that depict people that have a slightly different mindset as people that would sell this nation short for a year's membership in the ACLU.

Civic dialogue needs to be restored, but before that can truly happen, substantive changes to our education model need to be made so that people are literate about their government. You can't have a conversation if you don't have a common vocabulary bank to draw terms and ideas from. I just might be over thinking this incident, but I think these two factors contributed to today's incidence in Arkansas. I sent my prayers to the Chair of that State Party and his family members, but it's our work, our continued work for progress that will hopefully one day prevent events like these from happening.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/us/14arkansas.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin 

House Republicans Continue Talking To Themselves In The Dark, Seriously!

For the past two weeks, House Republicans under the leadership of their slightly deranged leader, John Boehner, have gone onto the floor of the U.S. of Representatives and discussed energy policy. Ordinarily this would just entail, spewing the talking points of oil corporations on C-SPAN, but guess what, the lights are off (literally). House Republicans are continuing to attempt this, filming their efforts with personal video cameras (C-SPAN isn't covering it because the House is not in session) and using flashlights in many instances. Coverage of this is spotty and not too many newspapers or blogs are covering it. It's kind of entertaining though. House Republicans thinking their Jimmy Stewart or something. Wait a second though, Jefferson Smith actually tried to prevent the destruction of our environment, what a novel idea. These Members of Congress are just talking to themselves and the occasional tourist to attempt to force drilling in ANWR and on the coast's of state like my beloved California. These guys are a bit crazy, but I'll hand it to them, they got to be smoking something to be keeping this charade up.

Trent Lott to Resign Seat in Senate Before Year's End!

Trent Lott just announced that he will be resigning his seat before the year is over. This is another blow to Republican Senate Leadership that has had a flurry of high ranking resignations this year. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour will appoint another Republican to fill Lott's seat, but it will be up for grabs in 2008 where the winner of that contest will finish the remaining 4 years of Lott's term.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Lott-Senate.html?ref=washington

Meeting Tom Tancredo

I spent this past weekend in Manchester for a meeting of the Young Democrats of America. Sunday morning after business finished,5 members of the organization walked outside of the meeting room to find Tom Tancredo conducting an interview. We were all a bit preplexed as to how his advance team failed to realize that over 500 Democrats from across the nation were holding a meetinig. We then remembered that his advance team is probably 1 person, if that.

I walked up to him and said that I hoped that he would find it in his heart to realize that immigrants are human beings too just trying to make a living. He didn't take too kindly to that and in short a confrontation started between the Congressman, a friend of mine, and me. He eventually left the building, as about 25 other Democrats rushed to get our backs. He knew he could not win the battle. He left in a car that was not made in America.

Tom Tancredo, Defender of America?

I recently viewed a campaign commercial that Republican Congressman and Presidential hopeful Tom Tancredo will start to air in Iowa. Let’s just say that I know politics can get dirty, but this, this is in an entirely different league.

I had to watch the ad twice before realizing that it was an actual official campaign ad (trust me it doesn’t seem real) and not a spoof or the work of another group. Congressman Tancredo starts by saying “I approved this message because someone needs to say it.” Well, watch the ad for yourself:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZBjXr5CWUI 

During GOP debates, Tancredo was always and very noticeable right of center, but I think most would agree that he steps over the line. Not only does he denigrate the work of migrant workers that are here just trying to make a living to support their families, he insinuates that they are the means by which terrorist will attack America. Tancredo’s fear mongering will not solve the threat of terrorist attacks, but instead will only instill xenophobic beliefs in those who for some reason belief what he has to say.

America doesn’t need these types of antics and harangues, but instead steady leadership that is not decisive in nature. Luckily most don’t agree with Tancredo and he is trailing very badly in the polls. It might be wise for Tancredo to drop out before it is too late for him to have any semblance of respectability and intelligence.   

A Conversation with FORMER Senator Santorum

This past Monday my roommate and I ventured to Harvard Hall to hear the former Republican United States Senator from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum. It has taken a few days to fully digest what transpired that evening and I do believe it will be something that I will not forget for many years.

Well to begin, I sat behind 5 individuals all masked as Guy Fawkes and to my right stood 3 individuals in orange jumpsuits holding signs calling the Senator a war criminal. The funny (o.k. kinda scary) thing however is that they were not that odd after I heard what Santorum had to say.

He started off attacking the "Left." Ok, he might have a grudge considering he lost his seat by 18 points a year ago. He complained that the pillars of the "left" are "Homosexuality, Feminism, Privitization of Religion, and Secular Government." Well first off I think that if "Left" is protecting the rights of individuals that's a good a damn good thing. Second, if the "Left" is promoting equality between the sexes that too is a damn good thing. Third, if the "Left" is for allowing people to practice religion in their own way without government intrusion that typically is a good thing too. Fourth, if the "Left" is for public policy being made on evidence and sound research over religious doctrine I think that most of history has shown that this is a good thing as well. This wasn't the crazy part of his talk however.

The part of his hour long speech or so that truly concerned me is how he called on the "Left" to realize that Islam is perhaps the greatest enemy ever. He called on all to realize that the United States is fighting a religous war and that it has to start conceptualizing the war on terror as so. He called President Bush and other policy makers afraid to say that the United States is fighting Islam. He then said that in essence the United States needs to fight Iran as they want to have nuclear weapons.

So, at this point I'm beginning to realize this guy is kinda scary and I'm glad that I helped the Bob Casey campaign last year. He goes on calling on Americans to sacrifice and turn to alternative energy, which is odd considering he voted against reducing oil usage in the U.S. by 40% by 2025 two years ago. So, this guy is all over the place.

By the end of this ordeal he's yelling at Muslim members of the audience that were pointing out how he was wrong on theological issues and he was asking people to by his book, It Takes a Family, for $10 in the back of the room.

As my roommate and I left the room we were afraid, very afraid to think that he once was the 3rd highest ranking member of the Republican conference in the Senate. We survived Senator Santorum, let's just make sure that we get as many Republicans that are like him out of office.

S-CHIP Funding will be Exhausted by March.

The NY Times reported today that 9 States:

1. Alaska
2. Georgia
3. Illinois
4. Iowa
5. Maine
6. Maryland
7. Massachusetts
8. New Jersey
9. Rhode Island.

Will run out of money for children's health insurance if Federal spending continues at its current funding levels. The President however has continued to not give his support to the bipartisan effort to increase funding, leading to a political stalemate that puts the President's ideology of expanding the power of the Federal government in everything except when it actually helps the lives of real Americans, and children on top of that.

Perhaps President Bush should begin to realize that S-CHIP is something that works, works very well and has the capacity to build strong and healthy families as he says he wants to do.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/31/health/policy/31health.html?ref=washington