ANSWER, ANSWER this

peregrine1988

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Monday September 19, 2005 · 5:02 PM PDT

2005/09/19 · 17:02

(Cross-posted from ePluribus Media)

Living in Washington D.C. does have its benefits, especially when I can decide to join an anti-war parade outside the White House a day (or hour) before it happens. Very convinient. And so it will be this weekend, when the ANSWER coalition and United For Peace and Justice put on a massive march this Saturday. However, just a few lines signal to me that this march will be a sadly futile gesture for two reasons: first, no politican yet has the guts to show up at an anti-war rally (someone get on the phone to Feingold). Second, and more importantly, the brilliant planners of this parade decided to squeeze in a few of their own pet causes under the thin protection of an anti-war rally. It exploits the participants, forces unneeded viewpoints, and undermines rallies like this by sending them far out to the left.

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Boston Globe: Defense CEOs Profit From Prolonged Iraq War

peregrine1988

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Tuesday August 30, 2005 · 7:54 AM PDT

2005/08/30 · 07:54

Talk about a major conflict of interest: the Boston Globe (also heard on NPR's Marketplace Morning Report) has an analysis of the astonishingly high rise in pay for CEOs in the defense industry: an average of 200 percent. Obviously, this is not too surprising until you consider the real scale:

The chief executives of the defense industry's largest companies are taking home paychecks that have more than doubled in the past four years -- far greater than the average 7 percent growth for all corporate CEOs, according to an independent study based on documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Now let's consider the interest of a Defense CEO for a moment. He's supposed to be creating gear, weapons, and vehicles that protect our troops, right? Yet war makes a great profit for him. What incentive is there for him to move towards a quicker end to the war? Get out Fahrenheit 9-11 and listen to the defense industry reps talk about the profitability of war. More stats in extended. Read More

Kos, Stop Talking!

peregrine1988

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Tuesday August 30, 2005 · 5:29 AM PDT

2005/08/30 · 05:29

...Actually, please keep talking, but use the advantage of blogging to organize. But this is not a diary aimed at kos; it's meant to be read by everyone. We've heard a lot about making the Democratic Party a smarter, more attractive political party. Everyone is still talking about George Lakoff and his great ideas. Yet we continue to ignore one of his best examples of right-wing effectiveness: the weekly meetings organized by Grover Norquist with leaders from across the right. They are willing to come to a consensus on a broad message for Republicans. The coherent message has proven effective time and time again.

Now some people are saying, "That's great, but the Democrats will never do that." Well, if they won't do it voluntarily, let's do it ourselves. Use the blogosphere to network, to bring progressive activisits of all types together and discuss the issues and reach a consensus. It is a quick way to do so. And if dailykos starts this, people will take note: dailykos is already popular enough to merit an acknowledgment in, among other places, The Almanac of American Politics.

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From A Youth: "Stop Ignoring My Generation!"

peregrine1988

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Sunday August 28, 2005 · 9:25 AM PDT

2005/08/28 · 09:25

Buried in the Washington Post's Outlook section is an excellent article about the young anti-war generation. The article focuses on how the new generation does not get credit or exposure for its work for peace. Being a member of this group, I just want to give my personal version of this, and issue a call to any other young activists out there.

First, let me say that I am a high school senior, and so I am only beginning to enter into the real world where I can make my own initiatives. I follow politics extrememly closely, and I am actively involved in local politics. Obviously, I get a little tired of all the reports about "the uncaring youth who never vote." Let me first say that our generation has been much quicker to swell the peace ranks than Vietnam. Some have said that we are not radical or passionate enough. Yet as Ms. Kamenetz says in her article, we're more focused on getting a real result. We have to deal with a conservative tide, and so we must add practicality to our pleas. This is not compromising; it is smart politics.

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Republican Sentences That Nail Democrats...For Now

peregrine1988

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Thursday August 25, 2005 · 8:15 PM PDT

2005/08/25 · 20:15

(Cross-posted from ePluribus Media) So obviously I'm not the only one talking about message discipline. What set me thinking again was the point AaronBa raised in More On Focusing the Left over on ePluribus Media. We can't turn Cindy Sheehan into a circus of crusades including anti-corruption, globalisation, and imperialism. We must look at raising single, powerful points that hit people across the political spectrum the right

Lakoff has already brought up the example of taxes. But I want to just compare the talking point of both sides on taxes and Iraq. On taxes, four words simplify the Republicans' message into ka-ching for listeners. Their message on Iraq is as straightforward. Lakoff has talked about frames, but he has not so much focused on the value of shaving down the Democratic message to a simple sentence.

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McCain Supports "Intelligent Design."

peregrine1988

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Wednesday August 24, 2005 · 6:13 PM PDT

2005/08/24 · 18:13

In the worst play to the radical fringe of a party seen so far in the 2008 race, McCain tells the Arizona Daily Star that he supports intelligent design. The bulletin is here at Political Wire. He "believes that all viewpoints should be available to students studying the origins of mankind."

I've always been suspicious of John McCain's independent credentials, but withheld anger because of his amazing work on campaign finance reform. However, it's hard to see any other reason for this amazing statement than as an attempt to build up credibility with the radical right. It's sad to see such an apparently intelligent man as McCain pull such a transparent stunt. I guess he's getting back to his ape roots.

Apologies if this was already posted.

A New Democratic Attack: "When Did You Last Get 70 Vacation Days?"

peregrine1988

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Wednesday August 24, 2005 · 10:13 AM PDT

2005/08/24 · 10:13

As many have noted in the last week, President Bush already has broken the record for vaction days in a term (see Political Wire for the story.) Already, in five years, President Bush has amassed almost 350 vacation days. That's 70 a year, or over two months, or almost 20% of the year. This begs two questions. First, why would any President want to go on so much vacation? If I were President, I'd take as much advantage of it as I could. Second, why hasn't this stat turned into a Democratic soundbyte?

The first question has no rational answer, other than that Bush has no real experience working on his own, without the ability to take such long vacations. The second question has a more obvious answer: Democrats seem to abhor going on the attack nowadays. Yet the President's vacation time should be attacked when many Americans are losing money at home and dying overseas. It can be turned into a potent example of how Republicans cannot govern. Let's ask the country, "When did you last get 70 vacation days?"

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The Christian Coalition Steals Stamps? A Sign of the Times

peregrine1988

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Tuesday August 23, 2005 · 8:09 AM PDT

2005/08/23 · 08:09

From today's Post (Article): "Mailing giant Pitney Bowles is suing the Christian Coalition to recover unpaid postage fees. The firm which provides postage meter and other services, says that from September 1999 to June 2003, the organization ran up $13,643.44 that it refuses to pay. When political organizations stop or miss payments for utilitarian necessities such as rent and mail vendors, it is sometimes an indication of deeper trouble in their finances."

I believe the line in the Bible is "Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone." It's amazing how much the coalition engages in holier-than-thou/fire-and-brimstone "sermons" while they refuse to pay postage.

On the other hand, it's a good sign that they are running out of money. First, it may signal an ebbing of the evangelical tide. Second, I won't have to see as many of their leaders' ugly mugs anymore. (By the way, I'm sorry if anyone else posted this. I took the risk, because I thought it was worth telling)

Washington Post: Democrats Continue To Ignore Lakoff

peregrine1988

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Monday August 22, 2005 · 9:49 AM PDT

2005/08/22 · 09:49

Having just recently begun rereading George Lakoff's book, I am shocked to read what I did this morning in the Washington Post. The front page article depicts "Democrats Split over Position on the Iraq War." The fourth paragraph states: "The internal schism has become all the more evident in recent weeks even as Americans have soured on Bush and the war in poll after poll. Senate Democrats, according to aides, convened a private meeting in late June to develop a cohesive stance on the war and debated every option - only to break up with no consensus."

Lakoff, in his very first chapter, wrote about how Democrats consistently hurt themselves by splitting up, by refusing to work together because each faction is determined that its position is the only way. Republicans, on the other hand, are notoriously good at staying cohesive. Washington Democrats profess to have read Lakoff, mostly, it seems, to gain "street cred" with activists. Obviously, though, they haven't.

Stop Being A Victim of The Right Wing

peregrine1988

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Sunday March 27, 2005 · 8:46 AM PST

2005/03/27 · 08:46

First in a series that will be as regular as possible.

I feel it best to state my thesis up front: To win, the left must stop blaming the opposite side for tricking America and start looking at itself.

"What do I mean?" you cry, "You cannot be serious. We are in the right, we cannot look at ourselves. It's those gay-hating, gun-toting, Bible-loving crazy corporate puppets who have tricked the poor, poor average American into believing that Republicans stand for them. We Democrats, though we altruistically support them, have suffered from their cheap, low trickery!"

Really?

Like many angry progressives, I believed this easy way out at first. But then I went back and took a long hard look at the election.

What did I discover? We got beat, we have to accept it, we can't blame anyone else, and we need to start accepting a lot more to win.

What do I mean? Keep reading and keep an open mind. Read More

Bring On The Moderates - Part 2

peregrine1988

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Wednesday December 22, 2004 · 9:44 PM PST

2004/12/22 · 21:44

The best launching point for a second part is the comments on the first part. Yes, I know that Harry Reid is very conservative for Democratic Senate Minority Leader. While a promising step, it went too far.

As I said previously, the Radical Right is already claiming the spoils of the 2004 election. On the social issues, moderates such as Arlen Specter are pressured both in Republican primaries and now in his new post as head of the Judiciary Committee.

On economic issues, Grover Norquist continues his quest to kill America's successful social programs. Now, economic moderates (i.e. Republicans not for a tax) are given the ignonimous label of RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) and are hounded in primaries and on Capitol Hill, just like the socially moderate comrades.

In the process, they have antagonized many moderate voters. What keeps these moderates in the Republican camp? The equal partisanship on the Democratic side. If Democrats can avoid this partisanship, they can very quickly reverse the Republican tide.
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Bring On The Moderates

peregrine1988

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Monday December 20, 2004 · 8:47 PM PST

2004/12/20 · 20:47

As a pro-life Democrat, I was pleasantly surprised to see Howard Dean say that the Democratic Party must reach out and accept its pro-life members. Normally, Democrats recieve the pro-life faction of the party with a certain coldness normally reserved for Democrats who voted for George W. Bush. It makes a pro-lifer feel ostracized and left out. However, Dean is onto something when he says Democrats should welcome pro-lifers, I felt a spring of hope. Perhaps this is the beginning of a new Democratic party that, with only a slight opening of its ideology, could suddenly be the majority party in America. Read More

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