The Demogram
February 23,
2008
The Website has been
revived.
John Jacobs and Rich
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www.sevdemocrats.com.
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to:laptop@sailorjohn.com.
TEST YOUR READING
SKILLS
By Gerry Tatham
I
propose that the Republican dictionary is a good place to
start. From Abramoff to Bush to Cheney, we have the ABCs of the
GOP, and that’s only the introductory chapter. Continue on into
the D’s on the official corruption list, and you’ll be treated
to Tom DeLay (now facing criminal charges) and further on to our
own Tom Feeney of the 24th Congressional District, under
investigation for voter fraud in addition to his
Abramoff-connected golf excursion to Scotland at tax-payer
expense. (In a sworn affidavit, Computer Programmer Clint Curtis
tells about being asked by Congressman Feeney to make
vote-rigging software, but local media has given scant attention
to it). The reader can’t even get into the G section of The
Republican Rip-off without being reminded of right-wing
“justice” as defined and perverted by A. Gonzalez.
A
detailed recipe for the Republican cheat-to-win formula is
easily accessible to the voter who’d prefer to tune into fact
rather than Fox. Every other book published these days is an
expose of yet more Bush/Cheney lies, not to mention the recently
headlined 935-item deception-count within just two years that
tricked us into war. High on the crime list are corporate theft
(economical and environmental), deliberate misinformation
circulated by the White House masked as “science,” voter
manipulation and crooked machines that disenfranchise and
overturn the vote in Democratic districts. The insatiable
appetite for power of a dishonest, incompetent, I’m-the-boss
president, however, has managed to fear-monger the American
public into overlooking the abundant evidence of his criminal
behavior and tolerating the theft of our democratic liberties
and constitutional rights. Laws that George Bush and Company
consider beneath them are arrogantly ignored. His
administration’s contempt for the rule of law is there for an
informed public, willing to risk an honest look at it, but it’s
easier to adopt the president’s definition of “faith” than show
the courage to doubt and the imagination to question.
For the un-inquiring mind determined not to know, there’s
imaginative literature along the grocery-store aisles that ranks
right up there with Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. In the
category of Horror Fiction, we’re treated to Rush Limbaugh and
Bill O’Reilly. The oversimplification of Republican
righteousness versus wicked, independent, unpatriotic thinking
comes to us from news sources even closer to home. Manufactured
terror holds a sword of Damocles over our heads and our answer
is to duck and pray that we won’t be rounded up at the whim of a
Homeland Security that specializes in eavesdropping, illegal
arrest and torture of its citizens at home and abroad.
After an investigation of the executive branch’s claim to powers
that we recognized as “fascism” in the past century, Harold Koh,
dean of Yale Law School tells us: “If the president has
commander-in-chief power to commit torture, he has the power to
commit genocide, to sanction slavery, to promote apartheid, to
license summary execution.” So much power, exercised without
the consent of the governed, heralds the collapse of democracy.
A
GIANT BROOM
By
William M. White
Thus
far we Democrats have not taken full advantage of the increasing
anti-war sentiment in our country. Congressional Democrats have
not stood up with decisive actions such as impeachment charges
against George Bush. He was responsible for revealing the
identity of a CIA agent. Most important, he lied repeatedly to
the American people when he misled us into a seemingly endless,
an incredibly expensive, and highly immoral war with Iraq. He
knowingly made false excuses for invading a nation which posed
no threat whatever to the United States.
The
‘06
election results clearly showed that the tide has turned against
George Bush and his war. In truth, we Democrats won in
‘06
not because of anything we did, but because of a total lack of
honest, humane and intelligent leadership by President Bush. He
continues to use 9/11 for his very expensive war for oil and has
condoned torture to protect our "vital interests."
Under
Bush’s
presidency we have lost prestige and credibility with other
nations. In fact, we may have become the most feared and the
most hated nation on the entire planet.
We must
utilize our wonderful opportunity to take over not just the
presidency in November, but also to win strong working
majorities in both houses of congress. The Democrats are
especially blessed with two extremely qualified candidates who
are highly intelligent, convincingly articulate and dedicated
not just to our Democratic principles but also to an inspiring
new politics of caring for the long-term needs of our own
citizens and of working for peace and harmony with peoples of
other nations.
"Protecting our vital interest" is the excuse George Bush uses
for anything he wants to do. We have invaded Iraq two times in
recent years and Iran once. These countries just happen to be
two of the nations with the largest oil reserves outside of
Saudi Arabia. If the people of the Middle East would learn to
grow peanuts, we could let them live in peace. It’s
all about OIL. Exxon just announced forty billion dollars
profit for the year,
the largest ever in
history.
From
now to November we must be careful to keep down friction among
various elements within our own party. We must move in harmony
with a renewed dedication to democratic ideals. There is little
doubt that the Republicans will use lies and prejudice in a
bitter campaign. The party that stole an election with the
"Swift-boat" lie is capable of almost anything.
The
truth is that we will enjoy a strongly favorable position for a
vital November sweep not because of what we have done, but
because of the inept, dangerous and pathetic leadership of
George Bush. He has proven to be one of the worst presidents
(perhaps the very worst) in our nation’s
long and admirable history. His ignorance has been exceeded only
by his arrogance.
George
Bush has handed the Democratic Party a giant broom for a clean
sweep. Let us use and enjoy it with determination and great
gusto.
Progressives and the Movement
By Cecil Campfield
Next
month the club has asked me to talk about the Liberal
Progressive Movement, commonly known on the Internet as the
“netroots” movement. The netroots people are not new. We have
been around a very long time. We are the labor movement,
minorities rights, peace with the world, open doors for
immigrants, independence and love caucuses. We are all of the
preceding “grassroots” groups that have persevered, but now we
have a wonderful new tool in the Internet. Now our combined
voices can be heard and not so easily shouted down by the rich
and powerful.
The
netroots exists because the forth column of the republic, (the
news media) has failed us. The netroots exists because we can
now do things on a national level without handing our money to
someone else. The netroots exists because democracy is our goal
and it only happens when all of us have a say in things. I hope
to see you there where I can share my “Democratic netroots”
experiences with you and maybe give a few pointers on some good
netroots access locations. Remember this, the repugs fear us
because we are the majority in America, lets use every tool we
have and take it back in '08. It will do us no good to beat
Feeny this year, in this district, if there are other repugs
elected to congress that will nullify our vote. Come discover
some innovative netroots ways to help the party and help bleed
the repugs dry.
The Ways & Means
Committee Invites You To The Democratic Club of SEVolusia's "PAY
THE RENT PARTY"
By Bill Maul
It
appears that the Democratic Club of SE Volusia members have a
friend who needs our help. Who's the friend? It's the
Democratic Club of SE Volusia. Why does our friend need our
help? The Club wants and needs a campaign headquarters for this
year’s upcoming election. How can we help? Let's all help our
friend PAY THE RENT.
At
February's Club meeting it was determined that the rent for a
local campaign headquarters might well run between $1,000 and
$1,500 a month. Settling in on an average of $1,250 seemed to
make sense. Now, what to do? There have been times when
helping a friend – a friend of a friend, etc. - might be called
by a very special name. The name? A PAY THE RENT PARTY!
People would come to someone's apartment, bring some
refreshments and drop some money in a bowl. Hopefully, it was
enough to help that someone pay the rent. In that spirit,
Democratic Club members can come to the party and help the
Democratic Club of Southeast Volusia pay the rent.
How
can you come to the party? Well, you can fill in the "PAY THE
RENT PARTY" form below, or you can come to the next Club meeting
and personally drop the money in the bowl. Either way you'll
help pay the rent and get that local campaign headquarters
up-and-going faster.
Printable Mail-able
Contribution form
By
the way, make sure you note on the memo section of your check "PTR".
We want to make sure every party goer gets mentioned as a
participant. See you at the party.
Newsletter Submissions
We
welcome submissions to the newsletter and will use them as space
allows. Please send them to
psorensen@cfl.rr.com
as attachments in a Microsoft compatible format if at all
possible. If you do not use a computer you may fax them to my
home office fax at 386 428 6197. All reprints of published
material must be properly credited and released by the
author/publisher. The deadline for submission is the 15th
of each month.
Getting down to
Business
By
Catherine Fox
It
won’t be long before all the in-fighting is over (I hope) and we
can finally get down to the business of putting a Democrat in
the White House. It’s hard for us “politics junkies” to
comprehend why anyone would even consider voting for a
Republican, after the last eight years. But for a large segment
of America, issues are too complicated and boring. These folks
like their info in 10 second sound bites, or better yet, no bite
at all, just a picture. Many of our neighbors pick a president
as if the only thing riding on the outcome is who would be fun
to have a beer with. They want to be comfortable with the guy
or gal; someone who acts and talks like them. So it will be up
to you and me to help them see the light. In order to do this
you will have to put your own bias aside. For example, I see
being a Republican as a character flaw, but perhaps it isn’t so
much a flaw as lack of education. A better way of looking at
Republicans is: Most of them do not get up in the morning and
say to themselves, “What can I do today to impoverish my fellow
Americans?” or “What we need is an amendment to disenfranchise a
group of Americans who are different from me.” No, they’re most
likely thinking about getting a cup of coffee or worrying about
the price of gas. Here are a few discussion points i.e., little
thwacks on the head.
-Competence matters. You wouldn’t let your favorite drinking
buddy fill a cavity, install electrical wiring, or prepare your
tax return, unless of course you party with a dentist, an
electrician, or an accountant. A good ole boy may be a great
Super Bowl companion, but come on! We need to make them see and
agree that being President is a very complicated job. We need
somebody smart.
-Firm
convictions should come with a “get out of jail free” card.
It’s one thing to be confident in your convictions, but if
situations change, as life is want to do, it is a good thing to
rethink the plan. A good example is John McCain. He believes the
war in Iraq is right. Even after knowing there are no WMDs. Even
after knowing the Iraqis had nothing to do with 9/11. Facts
don’t seem to matter. What matters to him is winning. Don’t the
American people deserve a get out of jail free card?
-There
is more than one way to skin a cat. Republicans seem to have
one solution to every problem - lower taxes. While nobody likes
to pay taxes, a better question should be how to spend the
revenue collected. How about thinking outside the box? Maybe our
problems require an array of solutions. If our problems were
really simple, wouldn’t someone (even somebody as simple-minded
as Dubya) have solved them by now? We need someone who can up
with options, not absolutes.
-Do we
really want to take care of ourselves? That term “Nanny State”
really gets me. Can we each test our own food supply and drugs
for toxins? Can we simply put a few dollars away each week in
case we get old and sick? And what if it takes every dollar we
have just to buy food and a place to live? In a civilized
society we expect government to provide certain protection and
safety nets. It does not make us wimps. When a president who
controls regulatory agencies orders them to turn a blind eye, we
end up with contaminated food, drugs with dangerous
side-effects, imported toys with lead, and a sub-prime mortgage
crisis. We live in a country where stealing bread will land you
in prison, but stealing billions of dollars will get you a
promotion. How can you blame the regulations when they’re
already ignored?
-With
the exception of Prohibition, the Constitution has never been
amended to take rights away from us, so why start now? Also, I
recently heard about the Ninth Amendment. It states “The
enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”
Wow! Our founding fathers knew that sooner or later some group
would try to oppress some other group by beating them over the
head with the literal interpretation of the Constitution. So
they told us: Just in case we forgot to mention some rights,
you’ve got ‘em. The appointment of the next Supreme Court
nominee should be asked about that amendment. John McCain has
promised us another Alito or Roberts. Either he really is a
right-wing nut job, or he’s lying to his base. Either way can we
take that chance?
Finally, I believe we can change enough minds to win this
election. Perhaps you can’t carry a sign or make telephone calls
to strangers. But we all know a Republican or Independent who
isn’t a right-wing ideologue. We need to engage them. Make them
think about what is at stake and how our party differs in its
approach to a complicated world. Oh yes, here’s one more.
-There
is no word in the English language that begins with “nucu”.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a president who could say
“nuclear”?
The
March Meeting of the Democratic Club will be held at 7:00 p.m.,
March 4, 2008 at the United Church of Christ in the classroom at
203 Washington Street in New Smyrna Beach. Cecil Campfield will
speak about the Netroots and our opportunity to participate in
democracy. Please plan to attend.
