Even if Meg Whitman were a nice person and a competent corporate executive, the premise of her campaign to be California's governor is wrong at face value. It's a premise we see from Republicans from Florida to Oregon, and we've seen it on the national stage many times, through the years. The theory is that a successful businessperson would make for a successful public servant. And we can skip right by questions of Rick Scott's corporate corruption or whether Chris Dudley ever actually did anything at all in his business life or whether Meg Whitman's train-wreck tenure a business executive qualifies her for anything at all, and get right to the premise itself.
There is a fundamental tension between capitalism and democracy, for at their cores they serve very different purposes. Capitalism is not democratic in nature. It is, in fact, almost the opposite. Without the pressure of government regulation, the pure profit motive would drive most businesses to compete with each other to the point of predation and extermination, with wages cut to the minimum possible, product quality only as good as needs be to control the market, and environmental degradation not even worth bothering about. And it is no coincidence that these corporate executive candidates pursue agendas that include cutting corporate taxes, cutting the minimum wage, cutting worker and consumer and environmental protections, and generally serving only to further consolidate the world's wealth and power into as few oligopolistic hands as is possible. You want to understand the type of government corporatists crave, read Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine, or read a bit about the Pinochet regime or how democracy in Post-Soviet Russia was derailed. Some people got very very wealthy. The vast majority of people suffered. So did freedom and democracy.
Capitalism certainly has its value, but it must be very carefully regulated. It takes intelligence and wisdom to find anything close to a proper balance in the necessary tension between the profit motive's conscienceless power to motivate and democracy's socially moral motive to serve the common good. Not only do Republicans such as Meg Whitman lack such intelligence and wisdom, they also lack the fundamental motive that should drive all public servants. People like Meg Whitman don't want to use government to serve the public good, they want to use it to serve themselves and others in their income and social cohorts. That's why even if she were a nice person and a competent businesswoman, she is not in any way qualified to lead a state government. What has she ever done to prove she cares about the common good? She has blithely burned well over a hundred million of her own dollars to try to buy the statehouse, but has she ever spent anything close to that amount to help people in need?
Let Meg Whitman go find another high-paying job in private industry, if anyone will have her. Then, she can buy lobbyists to try to corrupt government to her greedy, selfish purposes. But government should be trying to fight her efforts and to temper her excesses. If California voters want to serve their own best interests, as individuals and as a statewide community, the choice could not be more clear. And despite her having spent such a fortune in her attempt to buy the statehouse, the polls indicate that a majority of California voters see through her, and understand what's at stake. But as is the case everywhere, this year, this election will be all about turnout. No complacency. No early celebrations. Vote and get others to vote. The worst would be to allow what looks like positive momentum and a successful campaign to slip away.
Please help Jerry Brown defeat Meg Whitman, and help prove that Californians' votes cannot be bought. You also might win a quilt signed at Netroots Nation 2007.
"All Buttoned Up" – photo by Bill Bachhuber
The community signed a quilt in Chicago at the 2007 Yearly Kos. It is, in a sense, a snapshot of who we were then. It could be yours!
Every day in October brings an opportunity to enter a drawing to benefit Jerry Brown’s campaign for Governor of California. Every donation of $10 or more to the fundraiser’s Act Blue page will count for a chance – one chance per person per day. You don't need to spend money to enter, however. If you are not donating, you can enter and have an equal chance of winning by writing an essay of 50 words or less on "Why I want Jerry Brown to be California’s next Governor". Send your essay with a subject line, "Jerry Brown Essay", to communityquilts (at) yahoo (dot) com. If we find your essay topical, it will count for a chance. As with donations, one essay per person per day will count as a chance. Only one form of entry is allowed for a person on a given day.
The winning ticket of the "From Red to Blue" quilt
At the end of the fundraiser period, I will assign a ticket number to each chance and ask a neighborhood child to pull just one ticket. The drawing will be the first week in November.
Drawing for the star quilt
Quilt stats: It is 59" square, made of cotton fabric with a cotton batting. My sister and I pieced it. I hand quilted it. The blocks feature 1930s reproduction fabric (feedsack prints) on one side, and bright, jewel toned contemporary fabrics on the other. The quilt is sleeved for hanging and would look great on your wall!
Here are the signatures, by block number:
1-1A: Shanna
1-1B: Marilyn Rickert
1-2A: shakti
1-2B: Ben Wyskida
1-3A: LeAnne Clausen
1-3B: Peace to all
1-4A: sisterhavana
1-4B: snokat
1-5A: DailyKingfish
1-5B: Randi Scheurer
1-6A: Kainah
1-6B: Littlesky
1-7A: grndrush
1-7B: Tenn Wisc Jan
1-8A: Hope Despite All
1-8B: Xanthe
1-8C: WV Blue Guy
1-9A: Agnostic
1-9B: cocker mom
1-9C: Lauren Swihart & Nick Bailey
1-10A: herding old cats
1-10B: Mooncat
2-1A: LoisNClark
2-1B: Brian Reach
2-2A: Gilda Reed
2-2B: Ultrageek
2-3A: Courtney Sieloff
2-3B: rwreed17
2-4A: Ozzie
2-4B: flautist & Jared Lash
2-4C: JanetT in MD
2-5A: Rick Perlstein
2-5B: Anderson Republican
2-6A: Waterbug
2-6B: Cosmic Debris
2-7A: Kathy Kaufman
2-7B: ntorbett
2-8A: Optimusprime
2-8B: TheDon
2-9A: erinh
2-9B: Dania Audax & Timroff
2-9C: Christy Bowman
2-10: Matt Gibson, Jay Purdy, Jacob Wolf (The Extraordinaires)
3-1A: bendygirl
3-1B Malacandra
3-2A: Daniel Hartman
3-2B: Anne Marie Nicholls
3-3A: Irish Patti
3-3B: DavidNYC
3-3C: Hunter
3-4A: The Werewolf Prophet
3-4B: General Wes Clark
3-4C: Andy Ternay
3-5A: flaxter
3-5B: Michelle Martin
3-6A: spotbrian
3-6B: elfling
3-6C: Marian Nestle
3-7A: AAbshier
3-7B: megabn
3-8A: sharoney
3-8B: TheKK
3-9A: uberblonde
3-9B: Michelangelo Signorile
3-10A: Lane Hudson
3-10B: Jerome a Paris
4-1A: cskendrick
4-1B: Eric Massa
4-1C: Christina Siun O’Connel
4-2A: casperr
4-2B: Melissa McCullough
4-3A: quicksilver
4-3B: David Brock
4-4A: DemFromCT
4-4B: loggersbrat
4-5A: Mrs. P
4-5B: pastordan
4-6A: John W. Dean
4-6B: Ilona Meagher
4-7A: Kos
4-7B: Carla Axtman
4-8A: texasmom
4-8B: javelina
4-9A: janeta43
4-9B: Lilypew
4-10A: Juan Cole
4-10B: Jeffrey Feldman
5-1A: northwesterly
5-1B: everhopeful
5-2A: Kennedy
5-2B: kid Oakland
5-3A: Susan Thistlewaite
5-3B: schmendrick
5-4A: Navajo
5-4B: Melissa S.
5-4C: DBunn
5-5A: Tracy Joan
5-5B: fabooj
5-6A: thereisnospoon
5-6B: Ann Reed
5-6C: JZola
5-7A: Tullia Fidei-Bagwell
5-7B: memiller
5-8A: Silence is Complicity
5-8B: Jesselyn Radack
5-8C: Spiral
5-9A: One Pissed Off Liberal
5-9B: Bodhisattva
5-10A: Booman
5-10B: Cali Scribe
6-1A: Jill Richardson
6-1B: soyinkafan
6-2A: 42
6-2B: athenachrome
6-3A: silverleaf
6-3B: Susan McCue
6-3C: murphy
6-4A: highfive
6-4B: Edgewater Joe
6-5: MsSpentyouth
6-6A: ArgosRun
6-6B: Digby
6-6C: Sundayhighway
6-7A: Scott Kleeb
6-7B: Larry Grant
6-8A: noblindeye
6-8B: diceepur
6-9A: ProduceMan
6-9B: Oakroyd
6-10A: xysri
6-10B: fghPA
6-10C: George Lakoff
7-1A: ttobba
7-1B: Josh Sproat
7-1C: PlantingLiberally
7-2A: NinthElegy
7-2B: Susan S
7-3A: Common Sense Mainer
7-3B: Bill in Portland Maine
7-4A: SanDiegoDem
7-4B: Christy Hardin Smith, Taylor Marsh
7-4C: kaye
7-5A: Sean Robertson
7-5B: Vicki
7-6A: Bonddad
7-6B: Virginia Simmons
7-6C: worldpiece17
7-7A: rickeagle
7-7B: suz in seattle
7-8A: teacherken
7-8B: Rev. David Beckmann
7-8C: sra030
7-9A: Hlinmo
7-9B: Blog Active
7-10B: gloriana
7-10B: boofdah
8-1A: Ellicatt
8-1B: Dreaming of Better Days
8-2A: Frederick Clarkson
8-2B: DHinMI
8-3A: wanderindiana
8-3B: Frankenoid
8-4A: videogirl
8-4B: Delaware Dem
8-5A: Robert Losner
8-5B: Anathalie Sugiva
8-5C: BAC
8-6A: virgomusic
8-6B: raines
8-7A: Spencer Overton
8-7B: shermanesq
8-8A: Atrios
8-8B: Will Bunch
8-9A: Reality Bites Back
8-9B: Dante Atkins
8-9C: MBNYC
8-10A: sdorn
8-10B: Perseus
9-1A: Brian Keeler
9-1B: Irene Yacobson
9-2A: synesthete
9-2B: Carol Barnes
9-3A: Glenn Greenwald
9-3B: Rachel Griffiths
9-4A: Cenk Uygur
9-4B: Poemless
9-4C: Safir Ahmed
9-5A: Sam Seder
9-5B: Garance Franke-Ruta
9-5C: David Boyle
9-6A: China Parmalee
9-6B: Elizabeth Compa
9-6C: Kevin Huyge
9-7A: Sydney Blumenthal
9-7B: Steve Novick
9-8A: David Sirota
9-8B: Max Blumenthal
9-9A: Danish Brethern
9-9B: Sara Reed
9-10A: Espresso
9-10B: Kelly Gordon
10-1A: Charles Brown
10-1B: Gary Trauner
10-2A: Timroff and Dania Audax
10:2B: maxomai
10-3A: Bill Richardson
10-3B: Joan McCarter
10-4A: Pam Spaulding
10-4B: Linda Perlstein
10-5A: Madame de Farge
10-5B: VB Dietz
10-5C: Dan Seals
10-5D: Marianne Wood
10-6A: Delia
10-6B: Lanie
10-6C: JCHFleetguy
10-7A: Canyoubeangryandstilldream
10-7B: Major Danby
10-8A: Robert Geiger
10-8B: Anthony Romero
10-8C: Lithium Cola
10-9A: brillig
10-9B: mik
10-10A: Sara Robinson
10-10B: Darcy Burner