Make your voice heard!
The strange and fearful phenomenon Mr. Trump brings to our values, our well being, our country and its Constitution requires us to resist resoundingly and to reframe the options.
In consonance with other Recess Resistance events across the United States and participation of Our Revolution, Kauai Indivisible, Hawaii for Bernie and the Democrats of Kauai precinct 16-2, let's show resistance and work toward Progressive Values including: Healthcare for all; promising to save Medicare and Medicaid; and expanding Social Security. Join the resistance this Sunday, February 26, from 2 to 3 p.m., starting at the State Building in Lihue, talking story and listening to a few short speeches (2 minutes each) from whoever wants to share concerns about our country's identity and future. We will then proceed to the County Courthouse and conclude after brief "open mike" comments and a song (song ideas and singers welcome!). Please RSVP to majchk@gmail.com and cc: our d16-2 secretary at psgegen@hotmail.com. Maps available here on the Our Revolution web site You may also RSVP on the Our Revolution site. |
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Join the Resistance! Sunday, 26 February, State Building Lihue
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Democratic Betrayal? Pick a new DNC chair!
Rex Tillerson was confirmed as Secretary of State yesterday (Wednesday 1 Feb). Tillerson is the CEO of Exxon and denies Climate Change. Can there be any better example of how America is being turned into fiefdoms for the benefit of those who already have more than the rest of us combined?
There were 4 Democrats who voted for Tillerson: Warner from Virginia, King from Maine (who is actually an independent), Heitkamp from South Dakota and Manchin from West Virginia. Since the Republicans have a 2-vote majority in the Senate and Tillerson (apparently) would have been confirmed without these Senators, Democrats must ask themselves about "what do we do about this."
Do you insist that the Democratic Party remain united against Trump -- no matter what, or do you give these 4 Senators a break recognizing that they voted for confirmation because stopping Tillerson was a "lost cause" (the confirmation was "going to happen", so why vote against it)?
Is this a time to "cleanse"the Democratic Party? It is often suggested that DINOs (Democrats in Name Only) should be pushed out of the party. The group Justice Democrats thinks so:
It is easy to let the anger we have about the failures of the Democratic Party cause us to want to "clean house", I surely feel it. But, we need to concentrate on our common foe, Donald Trump. Today (2 Feb), we are on the verge of a great victory, IF we can get one more vote against the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary.
The direction the Democratic Party will take depends on who is elected as the chairman of the DNC. The DNC is having 4 "Unity Sessions" that can be viewed on the Democrats web site. They are 8 hours long and so quite boring. The candidates for DNC chair participated in a debate sponsored by the Huffington Post. They are:
There were 4 Democrats who voted for Tillerson: Warner from Virginia, King from Maine (who is actually an independent), Heitkamp from South Dakota and Manchin from West Virginia. Since the Republicans have a 2-vote majority in the Senate and Tillerson (apparently) would have been confirmed without these Senators, Democrats must ask themselves about "what do we do about this."
Do you insist that the Democratic Party remain united against Trump -- no matter what, or do you give these 4 Senators a break recognizing that they voted for confirmation because stopping Tillerson was a "lost cause" (the confirmation was "going to happen", so why vote against it)?
Is this a time to "cleanse"the Democratic Party? It is often suggested that DINOs (Democrats in Name Only) should be pushed out of the party. The group Justice Democrats thinks so:
The solution is not unity with the corporate-backed Democrats. The solution is to challenge them and replace every single one of them with people who will fight for voters, not donors. It’s time to rebuild the Democratic Party from scratch to be a party that fights for a clear progressive vision.The problem is, how do you identify these "corporate-backed" Democrats. Would that include Corrie Booker from New Jersey who is currently being chastised for protecting the drug companies? Some have suggested that Tulsi Gabbard fits the DINO category because of her trip to Syria where she met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
It is easy to let the anger we have about the failures of the Democratic Party cause us to want to "clean house", I surely feel it. But, we need to concentrate on our common foe, Donald Trump. Today (2 Feb), we are on the verge of a great victory, IF we can get one more vote against the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary.
The direction the Democratic Party will take depends on who is elected as the chairman of the DNC. The DNC is having 4 "Unity Sessions" that can be viewed on the Democrats web site. They are 8 hours long and so quite boring. The candidates for DNC chair participated in a debate sponsored by the Huffington Post. They are:
- Sally Boynton Brown, Idaho Democratic Party Executive Director, President of Association of State Democratic Executive Directors
- Ray Buckley, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair, Association of State Democratic Parties Chair
- Pete Buttigieg, Mayor of South Bend, IN
- Keith Ellison, U.S. Representative (MN-5)
- Jehmu Greene, Fox News Political Analyst
- Jaime Harrison, South Carolina Democratic Party Chair
- Tom Perez, secretary of Labor.
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Hooray for Party reforms and the DNC chair, other issues
Hooray! very glad to see the d16-2 blog in action! Come, let us reason together - or at least share!
Imagine Joy suggests a conversation about super-delegates as a step in reforming our house.
Of more immediate concern to me is the election of the Democratic National Chairperson around February 23, and getting our views informed and preferences rank-ordered so we can be the change we want.
I would dearly love to gain input on rank-ordering d16-2 membership preferences for DNC-chair so we can build that out within our Congressional delegation, our DNC Committee persons, and our state and county party organs. Maybe that is a separate reposting of candidates' names and the four websites for candidates? I myself am undecided, largely among Ray Buckley, Keith Ellison, and Perez, but we should dialogue!
Several Basic ideas for reforming our party:
-- Overall focus: We cannot reclaim legislative or executive branches without a fifty-state strategy and engaging in every state.
-- Money: Fund-raising cannot be the focus of every questionnaire or action from a Democratic candidate. Bernie is right and Barack is right: it's grass roots and broad participation that change things. Money raised should be money equally spent on building the party steadily for at least a decade so we re-identify as a national and local party, rural and urban, young and old.
-- Accountability: we need intra party transparency on where the money goes and how it is divvied up.
-- Campaign finance reform has been killed repeatedly by GOP. We need leadership that pledges to fight for that until the battle is won, otherwise the Sheldon Adelson and Kochs and other billionaires will continue to buy the Congress and state houses they want.
-- Refreshing the leadership so we have bridges and backbencher at every level. Lots of issues here, but those who get involved end up as officers and they end up as delegates, etc., which is a selection via who-can-and-will volunteer as much as by elections.
I'll stop, but yes, read Jane Mayer's Dark Money, listen to Hidden Brain blog's The Deep Story this week, but most of all, we need to think for ourselves and share.
And thanks John and anyone else instrumental in birthing the blog.
Imagine Joy suggests a conversation about super-delegates as a step in reforming our house.
Of more immediate concern to me is the election of the Democratic National Chairperson around February 23, and getting our views informed and preferences rank-ordered so we can be the change we want.
I would dearly love to gain input on rank-ordering d16-2 membership preferences for DNC-chair so we can build that out within our Congressional delegation, our DNC Committee persons, and our state and county party organs. Maybe that is a separate reposting of candidates' names and the four websites for candidates? I myself am undecided, largely among Ray Buckley, Keith Ellison, and Perez, but we should dialogue!
Several Basic ideas for reforming our party:
-- Overall focus: We cannot reclaim legislative or executive branches without a fifty-state strategy and engaging in every state.
-- Money: Fund-raising cannot be the focus of every questionnaire or action from a Democratic candidate. Bernie is right and Barack is right: it's grass roots and broad participation that change things. Money raised should be money equally spent on building the party steadily for at least a decade so we re-identify as a national and local party, rural and urban, young and old.
-- Accountability: we need intra party transparency on where the money goes and how it is divvied up.
-- Campaign finance reform has been killed repeatedly by GOP. We need leadership that pledges to fight for that until the battle is won, otherwise the Sheldon Adelson and Kochs and other billionaires will continue to buy the Congress and state houses they want.
-- Refreshing the leadership so we have bridges and backbencher at every level. Lots of issues here, but those who get involved end up as officers and they end up as delegates, etc., which is a selection via who-can-and-will volunteer as much as by elections.
I'll stop, but yes, read Jane Mayer's Dark Money, listen to Hidden Brain blog's The Deep Story this week, but most of all, we need to think for ourselves and share.
And thanks John and anyone else instrumental in birthing the blog.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)