Progressive Action Spot: November 2006

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Trying to Stay in Touch

I apologize for being so absent as of late. I have had a lot of personal difficulties and staying on line is not very easy.

Here are some quick hits for today. I will attempt to be a little more regular. I apologize to my three readers for nothing new for so long.

Petitions and Events:

• End genocide in Darfur.

• Demand justice for Smithfield workers.

• Hope for the Holidays – Wake Up WalMart events.

• December 10th is Human Rights and Impeachment Day. Find an event here.

• Tell AG Suthers to stop misusing his office

• Stop spying on US citizens.

• Support clean elections.

• Support verified voting.

• Feminist Majority action page

• Tell Congress to make clean energy a priority.

• January 27th protest in DC

• Progressive Portal petitons.

• Tell lawmakers to protect us from the credit card companies.

Items of Interest:

• Read the reports on fake news from PR Watch. We must overcome the propaganda if we are to help to educate this Country.

• Watch the video on “The Best War Ever.”

• Check out CongressPedia. Fabulous website on every bit of Congressional news out there.

• Check out Source Watch. Another project (as are the previous three items of interest) of the Center for Media and Democracy. A site of citizen journalists attempting to get at the truth behind the news; replacing propaganda with facts, one word at a time.

• Stories ignored or not covered by corporate media. From 1976 to present.

• Institute for a Democratic Future taking applications. Building a stronger Washington State.

• You can send messages of condolence and support to Anna Politkovskaya's family and friends via her newspaper, Novaya Gazeta.

• Give the gift of wildlife adoption.

• This site could become useful (if I had more time and energy….)

• Another good publication.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

One Big Win. Now: The Fight Continues

We have a lot of work ahead of us to insure that a Progressive agenda rolls across America. The people want a Progressive agenda; we cannot allow this Country to be defined by the right wing hacks anymore. Traditional media does not represent the people of America; the bloggers do. Let’s roll up our sleeves and get busy.

• Read the newest report on fake news then sign the petition.
• Stop fake news.

• A Liberal’s Pledge to Disheartened Conservatives. From Michael Moore, you can sign on too. It is well worth the read.

• Service Academy Graduates Against the War New organization that has sprung out of West Point Graduates Against the War. Both organizations have a tremendous amount of info on this illegal war and both are very inspirational.

• Americans United has filed a suit against the VA.

• Tell Congress to Bring them Home Now.

• Foreign Policy in Focus has an analysis on what the Dem Congress means for Iraq and what they need to do.

• FPIF also has a great article on Youth Activism

• Stop global human trafficking of children.

• Tell pharmacies to stock Plan B.

• RSVP for Wake Up WalMart conference call with Senator Edwards and Senator Obama.

• Defenders of Wildlife magazine, special global warming section.

• Defenders of Wildlife Action Center

• Take the True Majority survey, what to do next.

• Sign the mandate for peace.

• Should the Dems really “work from the middle”?

• Senator John Edwards on Letterman this Friday. Read an excerpt from his new book “Home”.

• Conservatism fails. This election is a win for the Dems and a win for Progressives. Progressive ideas and values are where Americans are…do not believe the lies about the “new centrist Democrats.” Hogwash. Phoey. BS.

• Save Tasmanian forests.

• Save the North Atlantic whales.

• Free Shi Tao, Chinese journalist.

• Media Matters compares Time covers.

• Then read Sargent’s take on it.

• Demand paper ballots.

Friday, November 10, 2006

A New Direction for America

The Democratic Party won. Not: The Republicans lost.

It is extremely important to remember that people voted for the Dems. The Democratic Party is the Party of the people. The Dems won; the people won.

Democrats, for instance, won women by 55 percent to 43 percent, their highest margin since 1988. They won independents, the key swing vote, by 18 percentage points, the biggest margin in House races in the past 25 years.

The people have spoken and they are deserving of the respect and honor of what their votes have stated.

Eriposte sums up some election highlights and reminds us that the people are Progressive. The people of America are Center Left. We are well defined and must never again allow the sound machine to define us.

We stand for real American values. We want success for all people and a way forward.

The WAPo is finally commenting on some of the Dem agenda. (Remember: “The Dems have no plans” meme? Perhaps they have to actually cover some of the agenda now?)

The WAPo is now finally giving some of the Dem leaders the respect and coverage that they deserve. Had just a little coverage of the Dem agenda been printed before the elections, it would have been a far larger blowout.

A new direction for America. The Dem agenda has been clear for a very long time. There is nothing ambiguous about what they have proposed. Now it is our job to insure that the Dems follow through with this agenda and more. It is up to us to make sure that the people understand what the Democratically controlled Congress will do for us.

I commented some time ago about the make-up of the House of Representatives. The People’s House. Any diversity in the House of Representatives includes a D. next to their name. The demographics are clear. The Dems are the Party of the people. We are far more representative of the diversity of this Nation and that representation will be felt through every community in this Country.

The Founders of our Country intended the House to be made up of a citizen government, elected every two years, and remain connected to the People. We are a Representative Democracy, the people have the say, and we have spoken.

The Republicans are clueless as to what happened on Tuesday. Let them remain clueless. As long as they are trying to figure out why they lost, they will not be focusing on why we won.

We won because we are Progressives and America is a Progressive Nation. Our Constitution is a Progressive document and the people who founded this Country were Liberals. This election and its results had absolutely nothing to do with anyone “moving to the Right.”

Kos weighs in, Progressive is the pulse of the American people. Conservatism – Neo-Conservatism – is dead. It was based on bullshit and has never been successful in governing or policy. There are no examples of it working, anywhere, anytime.

The new frame that every single Dem and the Dem ‘strategists’ on all of the media need to repeat is “the Republicans need to move towards the Center.” The Republicans are so far to the extreme right that they only represent a handful of the Nation. The Republicans need to abandon their far right agenda and move towards the center. This is the only way that they can benefit the Nation.

Pelosi will kick ass. Her talents and her intelligence have been marginalized by the right. It is time for us to stop allowing the right to define us. We must define ourselves and we must quit this Republican-lite-centrist bullshit. We are Progressive and Proud.

Dismiss the denial of the right and their crap that this election was not a rebuke of the far right extremism. We, the people, took this Country back and it belongs to us…the people, left, right and center who all – excepting a handful on the far right – agree with a Progressive agenda.

My favorite quote on Wednesday from BushCo was:

“I understand when campaigns end and governing begins.”

Sure, I remember all of that wonderful governing that he has done over the last 6 years. While Jr continues living in denial, another surprising twist has occurred in the media. There is a new question arising; ‘will Bu$hCo’s denial be a problem in facing the demands of governing?’ Ya think?

This Country has spoken. We are awake and paying attention. We do not want any more of the right’s extremism.

The Dems won. Not because we moved to the ‘center’ but because we were true to the values that this Nation was founded on. It is time for the Republicans to move to the center, denounce their extremism and join the American people.