Random Views From A Community Activist by John Drury
Governors go to the fair
This past weekend, 30 or so Governors from across the country met in
Des Moines for their annual conference. Likely 2008 presidential
candidate and current Governor Vilsack put on quite a conference
according to most reports. The governors were even treated to a mini
state fair complete with rides and I’m guessing a corn dog or two. One
bit of good news I saw today was that Governor Schwarzenegger of
California and Governor Jeb Bush of Florida were not among the
attendees. We can only hope this means they aren’t likely to run for
President in 2008.
Bush to announce his nominee for the Supreme Court
I saw a little bit of the nightly news tonight and noticed that Bush is
set to announce his replacement for Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme
Court. He was asked what he thought of a particular judge who is on the
short list of nominees and he shot back, “Let me put it this way, when
I want you to know who it is, I’ll tell you who it is.” Why does
everything have to be such a Texas showdown with this guy?
Gaining new customers
I heard an interesting commentary on Marketplace Morning Report from
commentator Adrian Wooldridge, who is a correspondent for The
Economist. He looks at how businesses try to gain new customers and
applies it to politics. He contrasts Democratic chairman Howard Dean to
Ken Mehlman, saying that Howard Dean is focused on blasting Bush and
speaks more to his base in an attempt to fire up his "existing
customers," if you will. On the other hand, Republican chairman Mehlman
is giving daily speeches to “new customers” of the Republican party; in
this case, minorities. He comments that this approach is working and
that’s why the Republicans are out fundraising Democrats 2 to 1.
The more I look at this blog …
The more I’m impressed with the content. Let’s look back at a few
recent posts. Chad Thompson has a post up today about ethanol and the
debate on whether it takes more energy to produce ethanol than it’s
worth. His post contradicts an earlier post by Molly Regan that states
the opposite, an interesting debate no doubt. A debate whose outcome
probably depends on who is paying for the study, as Linda points out in
her comment.
And we can always count on Trish Nelson to go after the facts on the
issues. She has an ability to analyze the spin and read between the
lines of the propaganda being shoved on America.
I guess my point is that there are some very dedicated people that
contribute to this blog and we should all send a thank you to Linda for
being the driving force behind it. Her dedication to this never ceases
to amaze me.
Random Views From A Community Activist by John Drury
Bush speaks to the nation Bush
addressed the nation the other night in an attempt to regain the
support he has lost over his war for oil. He dismissed calls to set a
timeline to bring the troops home by saying that our troops will remain
in Iraq for as long as we have a mission to complete. I found this
particularly interesting given the fact that it was he who declared
“mission accomplished” over two years ago. It’s time to bring the
troops home, period.
Vilsack orders felons to vote Governor
Vilsack has signed an executive order returning the right to vote to
convicted felons that have served their time and some Republicans are
not happy with the move. The order automatically returns the right to
vote to convicted felons who have served their time. Iowa is one of a
handful of states left that require felons to appeal to the Governor in
a lengthy application process to regain their voting rights. Republican
House Speaker Christopher Rants has said he thinks that we should
welcome felons who have served their time back into society but he
draws the line on voting. What is it about Republicans and their desire
to stop people from voting?
Speaking of voting … There’s
a new report out that tells the tale of the Ohio voting boondoggle.
It’s a good read unless of course you’re under the impression that we
live in a democracy where everyone has a voice in their government.
Here’s an excerpt from the report … half
of the state’s African-American voters reported some problems at the
polls on Election Day. On average, black voters waited in longer lines
than white voters; they were asked to provide identification more often
than white voters; they were required to vote on “provisional ballots”
more often (and their provisional ballots were counted less often); and
they were intimidated at the polls more often than white voters. The
DNC found that 16 percent of African-American voters felt intimidated
at the polls; some reported hearing that “police would be at the polls
to arrest people who had outstanding child support or car payments.”
Overall, the problems African-Americans saw caused them to question the
integrity of the election. While 77 percent of white voters were “very
confident” that their votes had been counted, only 19 percent of black
voters felt the same way.
You
don’t suppose this has anything to do with yet another power hungry
Republican Secretary of State seeking higher office do you?
Fireworks and needy people Like
many Iowans over the weekend, my wife and I watched a fireworks
display. This one happened to be in the neighboring community of
Rockwell. As we sat there with a group of friends watching the night
sky light up, one of our friends said that he thought it was ridiculous
that we spend so much money on fireworks in this country. “Imagine if
we took all the money we spend on fireworks and gave it to needy
people, we wouldn’t have any more needy people,” said Mark.
I
responded to Mark by saying that perhaps Americans need the fireworks
displays to remind us that we are the greatest country in the world. We
are so rich and powerful that we can afford to light up our skies with
these explosives and not give a second thought to the cost. And what
better day to do this than on the fourth of July, our nation’s
birthday.
“Just imagine how many people we could feed with that kind of money, though,” he said.
*IBLTV is a group of citizens from the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area who are concerned about the decline in the quality of local television. Fight local media consolidation, as it leads to an unaccountable medium that enriches itself while disregarding the need to serve the public good.
*The rational counter to 'The Point,' 'The Counterpoint' critiques and corrects the daily editorial by Sinclair Broadcasting's corporate vice president, Mark Hyman, that is broadcast on all Sinclair-owned television stations across the country
Random Views From A Community Activist