Note... I tried to post this last night. But, alas, I had already used my one and only diary post for the day. Sooo, I am tossing it up now (thus using today's post as well). But I'm leavng the intro from last night, since it is my lame excuse for not plugging in all the links here. But the links are intact if you go to my blog. From late last night...
I blogged a whole lot today on my own site, figuring others would have done a good job of posting here. Maybe not so much. So, in the true "it's late, I'm a little tipsy, and Wesley Clark is speaking in 9 hours" fashion, here's a run of several posts I made, all smooshed together from newest to oldest, from Kerfuffle, my blog.
(Sans the many links... I'm three beers past that capability. Sorry.)
Thursday Night with Howard, Dick and Kos
[Blogging live from Yearly Kos at McCormick Place in Chicago... Sweet jeebus, I love wifi!]
Sam Seder (Air America) kicks things off as the emcee for the evening. He got off to a good start with a few jabs at BillO, complete with a loofah. He also asked that we keep the falafel from our nether regions.
From here, we go to Laughing Liberally's Lee Camp. Nothing like a stand-up to get things going. Especially after beer. A lot of beer. (Or wine. These are liberals, after all.) Good line: change "net neutrality' to "Slow Porn." Don't get between rednecks and their porn, for jeebus' sake. On to global warming. This is an easy crowd as far as picking material. Another good one: "Wal-Mart is a monster that eats small towns and craps out trailer parks."
Dick Durbin, unfortunately, is only here by video. I've always liked Dick Durbin. I lived in Illinois long enough to have had the privilege of voting for him. So I'll cut him some slack for not being here. After all, he's leaving for Iraq and Afghanistan tomorrow. He was sure to thank the Sun-Times for Bob Novak... "the guy on Karl Rove's speed dial #3." Slammed Bolton. Thanked Netroots for getting Dems in the driver's seat in Congress. He thanked everyone for keeping up the pressure, and cited the importance of the Netroots in electing a Democratic president. He also gave props to Matt Stoler and others for keeping up the fight for net neutrality. Durbin also plugged his initiative for public support of candidates so we can get the Repugs off the big pharma money.
On to another Laughing Liberally guy. So, so sorry, dude. I didn't get your name. But you blog on HuffPo and other places. He's black, and he just said we were the nicest looking group of Klansmen he ever saw. OK, he said his name... B. F. Thurston. Don't ask me to spell the first two names. Grew up in DC, made a few crack jokes about a certain former mayor of his home town. He had a lot of other stuff pretty funny, but I am laughing, not typing.
From here, we go to Gina Cooper , the organizer of Yearly Kos. Sadly for her, this is probably my time to go the get ride of that beer I drank. -------- OK, I'm back with a cold Corona... all they had left. This crowd can drink! Anyway, Gina said a lot of nice stuff, a lot of thank yous, and I'm sure it was heartfelt.
Now, on to the headliner, Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee. (Stopping to pour my beer.) Predictably, he is greeted with a standing ovation, and a lot of flashes.
"What you have done in the past six years is to set this country on the path to restore what George Bush has tried to undermine." Nice opener for the Netroots.
Governor Dean chose to cite the Voting Rights Act, celebrating its 46th anniversary next week, as a key thing to focus upon. He le loose several rapid fire applause lines. Didn't get them all, but they worked. Good points all. Truly, he's right. People are getting fucked out of their votes in many cases. The past six years have seen many abuses. But a lot of this has to do with underfunded, understaffed and ill-trained local voting systems. The crowd went nuts, and jumped to its feet, when Dean urged everyone to get their Congressmen to push through a bill that will assure voting accuracy and assuredness. H8-11 is the house bill, by the way.
On to the internets. Dean lauded the YouTube/CNN debates. "Not since the Nixon-Kennedy debates have the American people had such a voice in a presidential debate." Follow that with "And what a surprise that the Republicans don't want to do it." He went on to credit You Tube for a Democratic majority in the Senate. (Macaca anyone?) Intersting point: Dean suggests that countries like China and Iran will eventually have to yield to people who enjoy the free exchange of ideas. And the internet is already allowing this. Sure they can try, but they won't be able to stop it from happening." Stuff like this will do a lot better than sendng troops to Iraq. Viva Net Neutrality!
Iraq. The red meat of the speech, most certainly, brought the crowd to its feet. And Howard was bringin' it. He hit point after point, driving home the fact that we need to keep bringing up Iraq in the Congress, keep forcing votes, and bring the troops home.
Lessons to learn: First, make sure you get young people on board. People tend not to change after three voting cycles. In other words, the ones you lose cost you about 60 years in strength. Second, it's not about race or ethnicity; its about generations. The bump in voter turnout among young people was consistent across different racial and ethnic backgrounds in 2006. Third, young people need to remember that Martin Luther King wasn't just a person in history. he wa a real person. Not every day for someone like him was a good day. Point being, this is not a one day struggle. "We need to pick ourselves up when we get knocked down. We will regain the moral leadership that made America a great country." And the crowd is on their feet as Howard Dean makes his exit stage right.
You have to love this guy's passion. I mean, honestly, he really seems to feel what he says. I only wish I could get him to go drinking with us after the program. He would be a riot, and he may even buy a few rounds.
And, that's it from the ballroom. Goodnight, and drive home safely.
Man, I gotta get some rest. Wait... what? Media Matters is having a reception? Well, I suppose I can stick around for a beer. But no more than two.
Posted at 07:41 PM
Thursday YK Keynotes pre-game
Nothing like a 90 minute cocktail party to get the group in the mood for some Howard Dean. Actually, tonight's speakers are Dean, MarKOS, and Dick Durbin. Most everyone in attendance was either in the ballroom's reception area, or, better yet, in the Hyatt lobby bar.
I opted for the lobby bar, since they have microbrews on tap and really good Neapolitan pizza. I met Allen from Chicago's north side and Michael from Los Angeles. We did our best to solve the problems of the world while quaffing Fat Tire and Blue Moon drafts. Probably the highlight... not probably but most certainly was our round of beers with the namesake, Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, the Kos in Daily Kos. What a cool guy. He was as I had hoped... down to earth, approachable, and really smart. Best of all, I liked the fact that he came up to us -- well, OK, he came up to get a beer, but we were holding prime bar space -- and stuck around to talk a while.
More to come, once someone with a big name takes the stage.
Posted at 07:16 PM |
The Power of One Iraqi's Story in Film
Can a documentary film inspire a person to run for Congress? Indeed, it can. If it is the right film.
I just finished attending the screening of "The Prisoner: or How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair", a film by Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker. The Year;y Kos schedule describes it as follows:
In an absurd comedy of errors, a freedom-loving Iraqi journalist is mistaken as Tony Blair's would-be assassin and sent to Abu Ghraib Prison where he discovers the true meaning of liberation.
I have to believe that the inclusion of the word "comedy" is a rhetorical device.
This was anything but. It follows one man's horrible experience after being identified wrongly in a suspected assassination plot against Tony Blair. To see Yunis Khatayer Abbas's story is to understand how horrific things have been thanks to our ill-conceived war. At the same time, it was fascinating to hear Michael Tucker explain how this film came to be made. Tucker was imbedded with the unit that raided Abbas's family home. Long after the raid, Tucker came to be reconnected with Abbas and put together this very powerful film.
One of the most disturbing thing about this story is how woefully sloppy our intelligence network seems to have been over there. Abu Graib and the Ganci detention camps were full of thousands of prisoners with no intelligence value... as they were classified. And yet, the beaurocracy that kept prisoners there seems stupefying.
Jon Powers joined Tucker in the discussion. Powers was part of the military unit that was in on the original raid. His additional commentary was quite insightful in understanding how had this war is on soldiers never trained for what they are doing.
"This film change my life," Powers went on to say after someone asked him why he is running for office. In touring to promote this film, "I knew I had to do something." He went on to talk about how he has seen the U.S.' image fall on from a personal perspective, comparing visits with friends in other countries before and after the war. Now, he is running for Congressional office in New York's 26th District.
This film came out in 2006, and perhaps you have already seen it. It had a very small theatrical release, but fortunately NetFlix bought the film rights, and you can get it from them. I would strongly encourage you to seek it out.
Cross-posted on Daily Kos
Posted 03:01 PM
YK GLBT Q&A A-OK
The meeting I attended was the Gay, Lesbian Bi and Trans-gendered caucus. It did not disappoint.
There were a few candidates present, including Rick Noriega, the guy trying to unseat John Cornyn in the upcoming US Senate race in Texas. Not gay, but sure wants our vote. He asked for our support, about seven times. Meanwhile, there was a representative from Chris Dodd's campaign. He got peppered by the group over Dodd's support of civil unions, but not gay marriage. Clearly a hot-button issue. One of the moderators suggested that Dodd's claiming his religious faith doesn't allow him to support gay marriage was a fig leaf to protect him from more conservative Dems. Another guy asked if Dodd has been divorced (he has), since the Catholic church frown on that... something in the bible about stoning.
The real fun came when an older man from San Francisco said he thinks progressives should just forget about the south, since otherwise we have o dilute our positions. Didn't sit well with two smart, young people from Kentucky and the guy from Louisiana. It went back and forth for a while, and I think the confederates won the debate.
All in all, a good session. It could have easily gone another hour or three. There was talk of regrouping at a bar. I might be missing that.
Posted at 11:34 AM |
What happens when a bunch of progressives all get together in one place?
Well, it's a combination of confusion, slight disorganization, and a lot of... "After you." "No, after you." "Please, I insist. After you!"
A running list of observations...
The green lobby lost out. Tons of paper at registration. But, of course, these are touch points, from a media/contact planning point of view.
Everyone is really friendly. Makes me wonder what's in the water.
I am so glad I wore shorts.
A lot of people here know each other, but have never met.
There are a lot of really smart people here, and most of them like to talk. For one, I am inclined to keep my yap shut and learn something.
It's interesting the price one will pay for a bottle of water when you really, really want one.
Going from room 101 to room 404 is a lot further than one would think. So, yes, there are cardio workouts built into this thing.
Some people don't seem to care that coming and going during a person's presentation is a little distracting, but not nearly as distracting as letting the f***ing door slam.
And speaking of noise, to the woman sitting next to me during the screening of a film who was on her laptop the whole hour: your computer has a "mute" button. Consider using it.
They have an excellent, if not over-priced, selection of beers on tap at the Hyatt lobby bar.
They make a good Neapolitan pizza too.
It's really humid here. I mean really, really humid.
Markos is pretty cool in person.
So is Howard Dean.
There's a woman from Minnesota that has an agri-blog and lemme tell ya, she means business.
Posted at 09:35 AM