Category: Uncategorized (Page 5 of 49)

Out at Evergreen tonight, Maya Angelou who brought in the Clinton Years with one of the best poems written in my years.

And, down at OFS, Ralph Nader, of course, was many on the left’s go to blame guy in 2000. From the hope of 1993 to the finger pointing of 2000, just in a few miles.

From “On the Pulse of Morning:”

The horizon leans forward,
Offering you space to place new steps of change.
Here, on the pulse of this fine day
You may have the courage
To look up and out upon me, the
Rock, the River, the Tree, your country.

No less to Midas than the mendicant.

No less to you now than the mastodon then.

Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister’s eyes, into
Your brother’s face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope
Good morning.

This is genius.

Get rid of the Yankees in your community:

The Lowell Spinners want to eliminate the Yankees again – from youth baseball leagues in New England.

The minor league baseball team said Wednesday it will continue the campaign it launched last year. The team will donate hats and pay $200 toward the cost of new uniforms to teams in leagues that change the name of their Yankees teams to the Spinners.

The Spinners are a Class A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox [team stats], archrival of the New York Yankees.

Last year, 76 Yankees teams were replaced, the team said. The Spinners said 43 teams have contacted them for this season. The promotion will be limited to 100 teams, the Spinners said.

The last few weeks as I’ve been thinking about the membership bylaw proposal and my own role as a PCO, I’ve been looking at the map and pondering the PCOs around me. I’ve been thinking that I should get to know these folks and see what we all can do together. I’ve even started trying to recruit a PCO in an empty precinct just north of mine.

Here’s a cool idea from the 36th LD that seems to tie PCOs together locally:

In 2005, we introduced into our bylaws the Neighborhood Organizing Committees. The goal of the NOCs is to create a tangible way to organize the district for political action. We created 5 geographic ‘chunks’ of the district, and elected an organizer from each area to the e-board to support PCO efforts in the area. Many of us work individually to elect Democrats or to push forward issues we feel are important. The NOCs are a way to ‘lobby’, but on a district-wide scale, reaching out to the 80,000+ registered voters (and those that aren’t registered) in our district, and using all of the resources we have on hand to do it

….

But if we as a district have no way to take that discussion to the people, what is our relevance?

Read more about the idea in the 36th LD newsletter.

In the past, for every precinct there had been a “committee” or a group of dedicated volunteers that a PCO led and acted as a liaison to the larger county structure. Now, for every precinct, there might be one active Democrat even willing to serve as a PCO or forget finding anyone to serve on a precinct committee.

But, if say, five or so PCOs banded together to support each other as a Neighborhood Organizing Committee. Now, that might work. I could see them teaming together and door-belling each other’s precincts, working with Neighborhood Associations and even holding inter-precinct events.

Find out what this map is all about and more, this week on the Olympia City Council.

Jim Parque, who last pitched with the Devil Rays in 2003, is signing with the Seattle Mariners as we speak, according to folks I know. Its going to be a minor league contract, which is basically no lose for either side.

It seems like he had a pretty good career going until he fell down the stairs in 2001. Wouldn’t be a bad signing for the Ms, except makes it less likely that my man Jorge Campillo is going to get a roster spot.

Whacky Nation proves its name:

They’re the Democrat party.

I spent many years in the news media during the 70’s and 80’s …. and I never once wrote copy that read “Democratic Party.” It was always “Democrat Party.”

Forget your new spin, liberals. There is nothing democratic about your party. There’s actually nothing democratic about our great United States of America. We’re a republic (under God to many) with a republican form of government. We elect representatives who create laws for us.

You are such losers. You must have flunked civics, if you ever took it. Must be sad to be a Democrat.

First, I don’t doubt that Mark was a reporter, but I do doubt whether he was a good one. He obviously (if he’s telling the truth) didn’t consult his AP Stylebook very often. The stylebook, pretty much the bible of usage for reporters, takes this stand on Democratic Party:

Capitalize both the name of the party and the word party if it is customarily used as part of the organization’s proper name: the Democratic Party, the Republican Party.

Capitalize Communist, Conservative, Democrat, Liberal, Republican, Socialist, etc., when they refer to a specific party or its members. Lowercase these words when they refer to political philosophy (see examples below).

Democratic when referring to the party, Democrat when you’re talking about the member of the party.

On the second notion that our country is not actually a democracy, but rather a republic. I don’t disagree there, but I do disagree that there is something different about the two. Democracies and republics are not exclusive of the other. You aren’t one or the other.

Here’s a civics/history lesson for ya: The Democratic Party began as the Democratic-Republican party, and morphed into the more current Democratic Party in the 1830s or there about. In those early days it was common for those Jeffersonians to refer to themselves as Republicans
(the current day Republican Party was formed by Whig Party activists in the 1850s).

The term “Republican” was a reference not to a system of government but rather a political philosophy that rejected monarchy and corruption.

But, if you’re a stickler for systems, according to the Central Intelligence Agency, we’re a “Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition” and the World Fact Book says:

The Constitution creates a federal system, in which political power is divided between the national government and the governments of each state. The national government is sometimes called the federal government. The Constitution also creates three separate branches of government—legislative, executive, and judicial—to share the work of creating, enforcing, and interpreting the laws of the nation. The branches are represented by Congress, the president, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

So, actually we’re neither republican nor democratic, we’re federalist.

I just heard that the Athletic Director is paying for this himself:

from “Weber, Dave (Staff)”
to Tesc Community Announcements
date Jan 26, 2007 10:45 AM
subject [tesccrier] Students: Win big at tonight’s game with some luck and some skill!

Tonight, Friday, January 26
Evergreen basketball takes on Eastern Oregon University
Women’s Game: 5:30 pm. Men’s Game: 7:30 pm.

This evening marks the beginning of the Spring 2007 Tuition Shot Contest, sponsored by Evergreen Athletics!

At each remaining men’s home game, two students names will be drawn and the first one to make a shot from the half court “hot spot,” will have their Spring 2007 in-state tuition paid in full!

RULES:

1. There will be no more than one winner for the season — first successful shot wins the contest and ends it!

2. Students wishing to participate must sign up in the gym lobby BEFORE the start of the men’s game at 7:30 p.m. Two names will be drawn during the first media timeout of the second half and each selected student will take one shot from the midcourt “hot spot” during the second media timeout of the second half.

3. No current or former student-athletes may participate.

4. Open to all currently enrolled Evergreen students but the winner will receive the amount of in-state tuition only, even if they are not a Washington resident. Have your student ID with you to enter.

GOOD LUCK!

I’ve been on the internet off an on all morning, watching the reaction to my guy announcing his candidacy. One of the neatest things is this post (not directly related to Richardson for President) but rather on the difference between campaign controlled “house parties” and less formal “meetups” (from Joho):

But campaigns generally are not re-creating MeetUp. They’re replacing meetups with house parties. That’s what the Kerry campaign did, and I could never convince Zack Exley (who’s also civic-minded, bless him), who was in charge of Kerry’s Internet campaign, that house parties are fundamentally different than the Meetups that fueled the Dean campaign.

First, and most obviously, house parties traditionally are traditionally fund raisers. Dean Meetups were not. The house party message is clear: Have a nice chat while you take out your checkbook.

Second, campaigns generally assume more ownership of house parties than Meetups. At times, the Dean campaign provided some topic they thought the group might want to talk about. A couple of times, Dean addressed the Meetups via TV. But there’s a real difference in feeling between that and arriving at a friend’s house and being dealt the official house party “kit” materials.

Third, and most important, house parties are in private spaces. Meetups were in public spaces. A house party is put on for the attendees. The host has an obligation to make sure it goes well. But a Meetup in a bar or a restaurant is an empty space within which we are trusted to figure out what to do…what to do during the Meetup and what to do to take our country back (as Deaniacs put it). House parties are parties with guests. Meetups are meetings among citizens.

On the Richardson for President website, they’re linking to the several dozen zanby groups that have been started by Richardson supporters this last year.

I’m going to start a “Democratic Drunks” one of these days, but for now, we have enough drinking lefties in Olympia. Here is the link to DL.

WHAT is Progressive Spirits!? It’s an informal get together where people meet with like minded folks and have a beer, glass of wine and get aquainted … no program, no speeches, no announcements, no being talked at.

WHEN: Tuesday, January 23d, 5:30-7:00 pm

WHERE: Fish Bowl Brew Pub

WHO: Open to anyone who considers themselves liberal, progressive, or whatever, but Sponsored by TC Pro-Net.

WHY: Because you owe yourself a beer with friends after all those meetings you attend

Our man in the 3rd, Baird on Colbert: