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Tuesday, November 30
Jesse Jackson: It's Not Too Much to Ask
by
Trish Nelson
on Tue 30 Nov 2004 09:52 AM CST
 Rev. Jesse Jackson on the Ohio Recount: It's Not Too Much to Ask
OpEdNews.com
"We cannot be the home of the thief and the land of the slave."
by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
COLUMBUS--Preaching to a packed,
wildly cheering central Ohio citizen congregation, Rev. Jesse Jackson
blasted the presidential election back into the national headlines
Sunday. Jackson said new findings cast serious doubt on the idea that
George W. Bush beat John Kerry in Ohio November 2. A GOP "pattern of
intentionality" was behind a suspect outcome, he said. At stake is "the
integrity of the vote" for which "too many have died." "We can live
with losing an election," he said. "We cannot live with fraud and
stealing."
Jackson
demanded the removal of Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell from
supervising the recount, which Jackson termed a case of "the fox
guarding the chicken house." Blackwell co-chaired the Bush-Cheney
campaign in Ohio.
Jackson said "the owner of the team
can't also be the referee." A broad-based legal team--now including
Jackson's PUSH/Rainbow Coalition as Plaintiff--is preparing to file an
election challenge asking the election results be overturned.
Jackson said the situation
"does not pass the smell test."
Before
some 500 supporters, Jackson preached a litany of doubt surrounding the
Ohio outcome. "You can't have public elections on privately-owned
machines, especially where one of the owners has vowed to deliver the
state for George Bush," Jackson added.
"We as
Americans should not be begging a Secretary of State for a fair vote
count. We cannot be the home of the thief and the land of the slave."
"This is
not about John Kerry versus George Bush," said Jackson. "This is about
Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer and Viola Liuzzo. About Goodman,
Cheney and Schwerner, and twenty-seven years in prison for Nelson
Mandela," he said, referring to heroes of the movements for equal
rights. "It's about a will to dignity. It's not too much to ask for our
vote to count."
* * *
Bob
Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman are co-authors of the upcoming ANOTHER
STOLEN ELECTION: VOICES OF THE DISENFRANCHISED, 2004 (freepress.org).
Fitrakis is publisher and Wasserman is senior editor of freepress.org.
Fitrakis is co-counsel for the Alliance For Democracy which has
announced that it will file a lawsuit to ensure a fair recount of the
votes in Ohio.
(click here to read the entire story)
Monday, November 29
Who Wants to be a Governor?
by
Trish Nelson
on Mon 29 Nov 2004 07:19 AM CST
 Who Wants to be a Governor?
by Thomas Beaumont, Des Moines Register
Nussle says Republicans have failed to galvanize the faithful
NOV 28, 2004
Republicans lost
the last two [gubernatorial] elections because the nominees' resumes
failed to inspire Iowans, [Bob] Vander Plaats of Sioux City, said.
Vander Plaats, who ran two years ago, has said he will
run in 2006. And Des Moines lawyer Doug Gross has traveled the state to
gauge a reprise of his role as the 2002 nominee.
Vander
Plaats is alone as a declared candidate. Gross and Nussle have courted
support without formal announcements. Both expect to decide by
mid-2005. Iowa Senate President Jeff Lamberti of Ankeny and state Rep.
Danny Carroll of Grinnell will also consider runs.
Whoever
emerges won't have to take on Vilsack, the first Democrat re-elected
governor since 1966. "I know I'm not running for a third term," he said
earlier this month.
(click here to read the entire story)
Sunday, November 28
Howard Dean Weighs DNC Decision
by
Trish Nelson
on Sun 28 Nov 2004 08:47 AM CST
 Howard Dean Weighs DNC Decision
Newsweek
The Vermont firebrand is essentially a centrist—with conviction and passion. He's an obvious choice to lead the fractured party
NOV 26, 2004
By Eleanor Clift
The struggle to be Democratic
National Committee chair is round one of the battle for the soul of the
party. The obvious choice is Howard Dean, who has the clarity of
conviction and the passion that voters hunger for even if they don’t
always agree with him.
Party
activists around the country are furious at the Washington Democrats
for blowing the election. Wresting control away from the entrenched
establishment is their goal. Dean would spark a Red State rebellion
within the party, but the Heartland’s leading contender, Iowa Gov. Tom
Vilsack, withdrew his name from contention after being shown numbers
suggesting Dean would win.
Dean is
talking to a lot of people, and what he’s telling them is that if a
consensus African-American or minority candidate emerged, he would not
seek the job. Clinton Labor Secretary Alexis Herman’s name surfaced,
but she said she wasn’t interested, and so far nobody else has assumed
the mantle. A DraftHoward.com Web site has sprung up, and a Democratic
source says Dean is planning a series of speeches “to position himself
as a centrist.” A campaign aide with close ties to the governor
protests that he “wouldn’t be positioning himself. Remember in Iowa,
the nicks came from the left.” Rival campaigns attacked Dean for once
agreeing with Newt Gingrich that Social Security’s growth rate should
be slowed, and for winning the endorsement of the National Rifle
Association as Vermont’s governor.
Democrats
who have spoken with Dean say he is moving toward a decision about the
DNC post. But they caution that it could go either way. Anybody who has
run for president doesn’t get it out of their system fast, particularly
anybody who came as close as Dean thinks he came. Deciding to lead the
party would probably take Dean out of the running for the ’08
nomination. Maybe that’s why the Clintons are quietly pulling for Dean.
He would be one less party favorite for Hillary to dispose of. It’s not
just his own ambition that Dean is weighing. The DNC job is no nirvana.
It’s a place where he could make a difference, but it’s like any other
Washington bureaucracy, says a Democratic operative. “There is a huge
institutional pull in the same direction—‘We do it that way because
we’ve always done it that way'.”
(click here to read the entire story)
Saturday, November 27
Counterpoint: WWJD
by
Trish Nelson
on Sat 27 Nov 2004 09:01 AM CST
The Counterpoint: WWJD
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.
by Iowa's Ted Remington
We try
to keep a level head about Mark Hyman at “The Counterpoint.” Believe it
or not, we try to give him the benefit of every doubt. Sure, we
disagree with his politics, we find his arguments poorly constructed,
and we resent the fact that he forces himself on millions of news
viewers without allowing any significant countering voice.
But we try not to believe the worst about him. We try to see this as a
project of responding to a fellow citizen who has very mistaken views
about the world, but who isn’t a bad human being.
This continues to become more difficult as time goes on.
The latest case is an astonishing commentary on the role of religion in
the previous election. Hyman draws a line between those on the “Angry
Left” who he claims deride religious belief and the red-staters who
think it’s an important part of life. But as factually inaccurate as it
is to claim that Republicans are religious and Democrats are not, this
distinction is not nearly as ugly as the second boundary Hyman draws
that parallels this one along ethnic lines.
While spouting off statistics about the link between religious belief
and voting patterns, Hyman makes a point of announcing not only that
the majority of evangelical Christians and white protestants more
generally voted for Bush, but that overwhelming majorities of Jews and
African Americans voted for Kerry (in fact, Hyman lumps Jews and
non-believers into the same demographic category — apparently for him,
this is a distinction without a difference). Just to underscore this,
Hyman quotes three newspaper columnists who he believes have expressed
intolerance toward Christians since the election. Of the three, two
(Ellen Goodman and Thomas Friedman) are Jewish. The other, E.J. Dionne,
is Catholic. Coincidence?
So, we have a commentary in which Hyman bemoans religious intolerance
and division, yet in which he himself draws clear distinctions between
the believing Red states and the “elitists in the nation’s coastal
pockets of blue states” (note to Mark: what about us Midwestern
elitists?), between conservatives and liberals, and between white
Protestants and Jews, African Americans, and nonbelievers. Hyman will
likely say that he was simply reporting the facts on voter demographics
and didn’t mean anything by it. But given the obvious good/bad
dichotomy Hyman sets up in this piece, the association of certain
religious and ethnic groups with “goodness” and “badness” is
inescapable and certainly intentional.
We’ve seen in the past that Hyman dabbles in racism and religious
bigotry, and we’ve called him on it. But we’ve tried to avoid invoking
dialog-crushing invective likening Hyman’s stance with Nazism or
lynch-mobs. This kind of hyperbole is unfair and diminishes the true
evil of people like a Joseph Goebbels or KKK members by domesticating
it and using it for rhetorical point-scoring. But we can avoid using
this language and still call Hyman’s rhetoric for what it is: bigotry.
Beyond the ugliness of Hyman’s words, he’s simply wrong. Most of the
liberals we know are not only believers, but have political beliefs
that are rooted in their spiritual convictions. What the columnists
Hyman cites are criticizing is not the religiosity of voters; it’s the
equation of religious belief with an extreme and narrow set of
positions on a handful of issues
Hyman and his ilk should keep this in mind: of the sentences in the New
Testament, fully 10% are saying something about helping the less
fortunate. Jesus never said anything about gay marriage. He did say we
should help the poor. Jesus never advocated tax cuts for the wealthy at
the expense of the middle class. He did say it was harder for a camel
to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to get into Heaven.
Jesus didn’t talk about prayer in schools or posting the Ten
Commandments in public spaces. He did say we shouldn’t parade our faith
in front of others but practice it privately. Jesus didn’t say
homosexuality was a sin, that illegal immigrants should be punished, or
that the death penalty was a good idea. He did say “judge not lest ye
be judged.”
We believe, based on what the Bible tells us, that Christ would
probably think universal healthcare was a good idea. He’d probably want
us to spend more money on schools, particularly in poverty-stricken
areas. He’d probably want us to help drug addicts, not throw them in
jail. He’d likely be against starting a war against a country that
wasn’t at war with us. He’d favor a progressive tax code that ensured
that the wealthiest contributed to the well being of the least
fortunate. He’d be for protecting the environment. He’d want to take
care of the homeless. He’d be for taking better care of veterans. He
would be for taking care of the mentally ill, the physically
handicapped, and the developmentally disabled. He’d likely be more
concerned for the welfare of the unwed teen mother than for the
stockholders of Halliburton. And he’d have no time for divisive bigots.
Jesus really would be a uniter, not a divider.
We think Jesus would have voted for Kerry.
And that’s The Counterpoint.
Friday, November 26
Iowa Litter May End Up Back in the Ditch
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 26 Nov 2004 03:40 PM CST
 Iowa Litter May End Up Back in the Ditch
Des Moines Register
Stores don't want messy returns. Give redemption centers a chance, but if litter mounts, require grocers' participation.
Fareway [and now some HyVee stores] began telling customers at some locations [they are] no longer accepting
empties. Convenient drop-off at groceries has been a critical part of
the success of Iowa's quarter-century-old "bottle bill," which has kept
roadside ditches clean and increased recycling.
Given
some grocers' desire to get out of the return business, the state needs
to do two things: First, assure that redemption centers really are
convenient before allowing groceries to quit taking returns. And if the
reality proves otherwise, insist groceries take back the bottles. Then,
in the 2005 Legislature, open the debate on how to keep Iowa as
litter-free as possible and whether this law is still the best way to
do that.
...All
Iowa law requires is that groceries make arrangements for nearby
redemption centers to take the cans and bottles, with state approval -
a step Fareway neglected to take in some cases.
(Click here to read the complete article.)
Attempt to Stop Mandatory Mental Screening Fails
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 26 Nov 2004 04:34 AM CST
 Attempt to Stop Mandatory Mental Screening Fails
WorldNetDaily.com
An
attempt by Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, to add language to the omnibus
spending bill in Congress to require parental consent for any
mental-health screening done to children with federal money has failed.
...Critics
of the mental-health screening plan say it is a thinly veiled attempt
by drug companies to provide a wider market for high-priced
antidepressants and antipsychotic medication, and puts government in
areas of Americans' lives where it does not belong.
(Click here to read the complete article.)
*For further information, click here.
Thursday, November 25
Iowa Gubernatorial Race, 2006: Progressive Ed Fallon Throws Hat into Ring as Sally Pederson Bows Out
by
Linda Thieman
on Thu 25 Nov 2004 02:30 PM CST
 Iowa Gubernatorial Race, 2006: Progressive Ed Fallon Throws Hat into Ring as Sally Pederson Bows Out
by Linda Thieman
Progressive State Representative Ed Fallon
(D-Des Moines) announced Wednesday that after a lengthy exploratory
campaign, he has made his decision and will formally announce in
January that he plans to seek the office of Governor of Iowa.
In the
initial two-year exploratory phase of the campaign, Fallon was able to
bring in close to $100,000 and create a grassroots organization of some
500 volunteers from around Iowa. Fallon has toured the state
extensively and believes that “my message resonates with Iowans across
the political and geographic spectrum.”
Fallon
will leave his job as Executive Director of 1000 Friends of Iowa at the
end of the year. He has been with the organization for five years.
In other Iowa news, Democratic Lt. Gov. Sally Pederson, long considered the presumptive front runner in the 2006 Iowa gubernatorial race, announced Tuesday that she will not seek the office of Governor.
12 Things Progressives Can Be Thankful For This Year
by
Linda Thieman
on Thu 25 Nov 2004 04:24 AM CST
 12 Things Progressives Can Be Thankful For This Year
by Linda Thieman
Thanksgiving can be a bit of a touchy subject in the progressive community. One
can never assume that everyone will simply gather ‘round the turkey or
the tofurkey and join in a celebration which reminds many of the
decimation of the Native American population. On the other hand,
there are many who believe that to express gratitude for the good
things we share serves to increase that abundance.
In
trying to reach a happy medium, Blog for Iowa (with much cribbing from
American Progress) has compiled a list of 12 things that we
progressives can be thankful for this year.
1) We’re thankful for outspoken leaders like Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich who keep the progressive torch lit.
2) We’re thankful for George Lakoff and his dissection and exposure of the GOP meme factory.
3) We’re thankful that the Democrats finally broke the stranglehold that the destructive neocons had on the Iowa Senate.
4)
We’re thankful that the Green Party’s Cobb/LaMarche campaign has used
their legitimate position on the Ohio ballot to pursue the proper
course of action for an Ohio presidential recount.
5) We're
thankful for Jon Stewart for using comedy to highlight the essential
truths – about the media, politicians, and – especially - Tucker
Carlson.
6) We're thankful for California's trailblazing on stem-cell research.
7) We're thankful for Rush Limbaugh, Bill Bennett, Jack Ryan, and Tom DeLay for helping us understand conservative moral values.
8) We're thankful for Costco, for showing Wal-Mart that you can offer rock-bottom prices without paying rock-bottom wages.
9) We're thankful for Canada, for picking up the slack and providing affordable drugs to America's seniors.
10)
We're thankful for Republicans like Senators Dick Lugar and Chuck Hagel for putting principles over partisanship.
11) We're thankful for Air America for taking on conservative talk radio…and winning.
12) And
last but not least, we are very thankful for the policy wonks who read
the fine print of the omnibus and stopped the turkeys in Congress from
reading our income tax returns.
And a personal thank you to Trish Nelson for stepping up to the Blog for Iowa plate and doing such an outstanding job.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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