If Words Matter...

As I stared out on my "Stop Global Warming" lawn sign which has been mostly covered up by snow this winter, I realized, "Stop Global Climate Change" would have been better, and more accurate, wording. So it is with this in mind, I offer the inspirational words of our two Democratic frontrunners...

Hillary Clinton:
When asked by WISC-TV about the last message she wanted to send Wisconsin voters, Clinton responded, "I have a long relationship with Wisconsin going back to growing up in Chicago, and coming here for vacations and Scout trips and church retreats. I really believe I can be a good president, and have a great working relationship with people like Sen. Russ Feingold, and really bring our country back."

Barack Obama:

"I'm not running to fulfill some long-held ambition. I'm not running because it was somehow owed to me," he added. "I chose to run in this election because of what Dr. King called 'the fierce urgency of now.'

"My faith in the American people has been vindicated," he said, referring to his 1-year-old campaign.

"Everywhere I go, people are standing up. People want something different. . . . Our planet is in peril. People are working harder for less. It's harder to save. It's harder to retire."

The Democrat said he learned this lesson from laid-off steelworkers: "Change in America does not happen from the top down. It happens from the bottom up."

Pineapples and Cheeseheads, It Must Be HA-WI Tuesday

The good folks in Hawaii and Wisconsin get to weigh in on the Democrats tomorrow. And there could be a couple surprises.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows Barack Obama with a narrow four-point advantage over Hillary Clinton, 47% to 43%. Nearly one-fourth of the voters say there’s a good chance they might change their mind. Five percent (5%) of those who currently support Obama and Clinton say there’s a good chance they could change their mind before voting.

Clinton leads by ten points among women but trails by twenty-three points among men. Clinton leads among voters over 65 while Obama has the edge among younger voters.

In Hawaii, where no polling has taken place, the state's most powerful Democrat, longtime Senator Daniel Inouye, has endorsed Clinton, as has state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, considered a rising political star here. Nine-term Congressman Neil Abercrombie has endorsed the Illinois senator in the caucus.

As SEIU Goes, So Goes Sarah Swisher

I missed this, but SEIU national endorsing Barack Obama, it appears that one time John Edwards champion Sarah Swisher, who briefly danced with Hillary Clinton, is now in the Barack Obama camp.

Sarah Swisher, a superdelegate and member of the SEIU from Iowa City, had committed to Edwards. After he quit the race, she switched to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, but she changed her mind again after her union endorsed Obama. "That will be kind of cool," Swisher said. "I will have supported all three."

Sarah, its okay to have a change of heart, but I just skipped HRC completely, and went directly to Obama (by my own freewill, I might add) after John Edwards went home.

Obama on the Stump in Wisconsin/Clinton Speaks to the Grassroots

It's Off

Hell must have frozen over.

Because of the weather, University of Iowa officials have rescheduled a visit by Karl Rove, which was supposed to take place tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Iowa Memorial Union, according to an advisory on UI’s Web site.

The lecture by President Bush’s former deputy chief of staff and senior adviser will now happen on Sunday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m. in the Main Lounge of the Iowa Memorial Union.

Oh, It's On!

Tonight is Karl Rove's opportunity to discuss his career in public service at the IMU.

"Reflections From The Architect."

Admission is free and open to the public, doors will open at 6:30 p.m., on February 17th at the east entrance of the main lounge of the Iowa Memorial Union. Seating is on a first come, first served basis, with a scheduled start time of 7:30 p.m.

At 5:30 a counter-group will be providing information about his "architecture" in the South Room of the IMU.

No one I know wants to limit free speech and universities should be places of intellectual dialogue. Therefore, wouldn't be more educative for liberals and conservatives to intellectually discuss issues rather than to create these "I talk, you listen" situations?

I think conservatives in our area have a point when they say their views are not as valued in academic discussions, but I believe it is equally true that the liberal viewpoint is often shut out in economic, theological. and other areas of society.

I hope that differences in opinion can lead to real discussions to solve the harder problems that communities and countries have to make.

As for Karl Rove, bring him on!--Encourage him to donate his $40,000 speaker fee to the ACLU who works harder than any organization to preserve free speech.

As Hubert Humphrey once said, "The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously."

_________________
If we cannot end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.

--John F. Kennedy

Six Bucks a Head for Voter-Funded Elections

Go to Just 6 Dollars for more info:

Watch more videos like this at www.quantumshift.tv

Dear Iowa Elected Officials, Could VOICE Be Heard This Year?

Now that the Iowa House and Senate are back in session, do you think that Voter-owned Iowa Clean Elections could happen this year?

Rep. Pam Jochum and Senator Mike Connolly pushed this in 2007 and was shut out by her own party's leadership to get it voted up or down. if ever there was a need to clean up our election process so that good folks could make a legitimate run for public office, maybe we would get more substantive lawmaking done. Unfortunately Jochum's partner in VOICE will be retiring and she will be seeking his seat this summer.

In the meantime, Jochum has forwarded two bills to make elections a little more fairer. The Sioux City Journal reports:

The first bill would mandate disclosure for organizers or individuals who conduct push polling, otherwise known as persuasion polling.

Push polling attempts to influence respondents' political beliefs by planting a message for or against a candidate under the guise of gathering individuals' answers to questions.

The legislative proposal, which advanced out of a House subcommittee Wednesday, would mandate the organization or individual issuing such a "poll" label the phone call as a paid advertisement. If the call is backed by a particular candidate, that also would need to be disclosed.

Groups and individuals who conduct persuasion polling also would be required to register with the state.

Violators could be charged with a serious misdemeanor.
The second bill, which was approved by the same subcommittee Wednesday, would forbid candidates and political parties from knowingly making false statements or not checking the accuracy of such false statements.

If made law, opponents and political parties would be prohibited from lying about a candidate's voting record, public service history, endorsements and criminal history.

The formal prohibition on lying would only apply to these issues because they can be verified, said Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames.

"These are items that are provable," Wessel-Kroeschell said.

Different Question: What Kind of Government Do We Need?

A week ago or so I wrote an article called Do we need Government? Thanks to John Neff who offered a comment, I realize now that it was a goofy question. We have a government, we are going to have a government, but reading Frances Moore Lappe's book "Getting a Grip" made me think: How can we use government more effectively?

We know that government is widely lambasted for wasting our money, wasting the lives of our children (e.g., war), and not being responsive to the people so much as to corporate interests. However, what if government just was in the bar setting business? We want to eliminate poverty in 10 years--go to it people. We want to provide housing for everybody--sure, figure it out.

Lappe describes that we are living in a "Thin Democracy" --we vote, we let the market do its thing--that's democracy. The democracy she describes alternately as a "Living Democracy" or a "Learning Democracy" has five qualities:
1) It is dynamic
2) It is guided by values rather than dogma
3) It is learned
4) It is power-creating not controlling
5) It is not limited to government.

In application, it is a community that says, for instance, we have a problem with our kids not graduating from our schools. And, instead of blaming the schools, looks at their the community, brings people together to problem-solve and propose solutions which the school board helps to implement.

Typically this type of governance takes time to organize, requires patience, and is ultimately messy, but the end result, is positive, real change.

So, do we want a government that "represents us" or one that is a "partner" with us?

And John, yes, kids can participate in this too (although, you're right, we might want to keep firearms away from the kiddos).

US Troop Levels To Become Surge-ier

Reuters via the New York Times reports that we are likely to have more troops in Iraq than before the Surge.

The United States will probably have more troops in Iraq this summer than it did before pouring in forces last year - even after a planned drawdown, a U.S. general said on Friday.

There were some 132,000 U.S. troops in Iraq before President George W. Bush ordered a surge of about 30,000 more to curb rampant violence that threatened to plunge the country into all-out civil war.

By summer, U.S. commanders plan to have withdrawn more than 20,000 combat troops deployed as part of the surge. But officials indicated some support units sent around the same time would remain or be replaced.

"It's likely that... the (total) number will be a little bit larger than the 132,000 or so that was the number of personnel on the ground pre-surge," said Army Lt. Gen. Carter Ham, director of operations on the Pentagon's Joint Staff.

Sattler said he could not be more precise yet as commanders had still to complete their plans, but a Pentagon source said the number could be as high as 140,000.

At the same news briefing, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John Sattler said Iraqi forces would continue to need substantial help from U.S. support troops in areas such as logistics.

"We will still be required for a period of time to provide those enablers," said Sattler, the Joint Staff's director of strategic plans and policy.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, on a visit to Baghdad this week, backed the idea of a pause in drawdowns after the extra combat troops have pulled out.

That increased the prospect that troop levels could still be around 130,000 when Americans choose a successor to Bush in early November.

If You Happen to See Karl Rove ...

Why were so many Black and Hispanic voters disenfranchised in 2004...Reporter Greg Palast tells the story:



Also read what Mona Shaw has to say about "Anti-Christ Rove."

Ohioans "Get" Hillary

This morsel from the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch:

“I really think the people of Ohio get me and get what I’m about,” Clinton
said. “We’re practical people. I’m from the Midwest. It’s kind of like,
‘Show me what you’re going to do.’ The best way to tell what somebody will
do is to find out what they have done. There is a big difference between
speeches and solutions and talk and action.”

So breaking it down, Hillary is from the Midwest and is practical, therefore Ohioans get her.
And, because Obama is about "speeches" and "talk" and Clinton is about "solutions" and "action," voters in Ohio will chose her.

Let's see, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, and Nebraska are all Midwestern states (and presumably full of practical people) and all have gone for Barack Obama. Therefore, Ohioans and Obama should "get" each other too.

Obama also won in Missouri, which as I recall is the "Show Me" state. So it could be argued that Obama also win in states that want "solutions" and "action."

Obama also won in Maine, which, as we have all heard, "As Maine goes, so goes the Nation."

On the other hand a recent study shows Clinton up 21% in the state over Obama. so we will have to wait and see who "gets" more votes.

Better Late Than Never: Clinton Wins New Mexico

It's about time--I hope no one demands a recount...

From the Boston Globe:

New Mexico Democratic Party officials announced this afternoon -- nine days
after their caucus -- that Hillary Clinton narrowly defeated Barack Obama.

Clinton received 73,105 votes to Obama's 71,396 votes, and her campaign
said she will get 14 of the 26 delegates because of proportional division.

More than 200 volunteers helped with the count, particularly of
provisional ballots, officials said. They said that the turnout nearly reached
150,000 and was the highest in decades for a nominating contest.

The result makes the final count from Super Tuesday 13 states for Obama
and nine for Clinton.

So that means that Clinton picked up two more delegates than Obama.

Clinton: Momma Said Knock You Out

Apparently the gloves are back off with regard to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

I'm not sure Hillary Clinton was paying homage to always cool rapper LL Cool J, but this picture is worth a thousand words.

Obama's response would probably be something like this.

First Annual Valentine's Day Progressive Love Lists

In keeping with the spirit of Valentine's Day, here are my top five lists of top progressives and why we should show them some love:

National Love

Special Shoutout: Former Senator John Edwards: Despite failing in his bid for the White House, he raised the level of dialogue concerning poorer Americans and the need to clean up politics from corporatization. Also, he is married to one of the finest people on the planet and I wish Elizabeth well in her continued battle with cancer.

5.(Tie) Cynthia McKinney and Cindy Sheehan: These women have taken one for the team with more huevos than anyone. McKinney Former Dem Representative from Georgia now asserting herself for the Green Party's presidential nominee has this weird notion that politics should actually work for the people. Cindy Sheehan, who is not afraid of being arrested for civil disobedience, is running against the disappointing Nancy Pelosi for her Congressional seat.

4. Chris Dodd, Russ Feingold: They tried to stop the FISA bill going through with Telecom immunity. Thankfully the House progressive Dems may have saved the day, with some help of their unwitting Republican counterparts.

3. Dennis Kucinich: Other than having a lovely Valentine of his own, Dennis K is largely responsible for the top issues that the Democrats have been campaigning on. Don't hate the man.

2. Patrick Leahy, as the current chair of the Senate Judicial committee he has raised more hell to improve civil liberties--he just needs a few good men and women to join him.

1. Barack Obama: Who knew that a charismatic first term Senator with a name that would be fodder for the Tightie Righties would turn out to be such a force to be reckoned with? He truly has given the idea of hope --hope. With his plans for health care, the environment, ending the war, righting our relationships globally and the uncanny ability to work with folks across the aisle, I feel change coming.

State Love

Special Shoutout: Des Moines Worker House that contains fine people like Mona Shaw, Frank Cordero and others who walk the walk with moral courage. They have reminded us all that democracy is in our actions not just in our ability to vote.

5. Denise O'Brien: though she fell short of the mark in her race with Bill Northup, she proved that progressive values are not out of sync with being Secretary of Agriculture. We won't be hearing the last of her.

4. Mike Mauro: Our new Secretary of state is tussling with the Governor to make sure every vote counts and he may just get his way. He understands the value of transparency in making sure every vote counts.

3. Joe Bolkcom: The Senate's right hand man, Joe has been a fighter for fairness to working men and women in Iowa and was successful in defeating the onerous "pay day loan" companies charging 300% interest on car title loans. and he's still fighting.

2. Pam Jochum: From mental health, to a living wage, to the Clean Elections Act, this state representative is a progressive's friend in the state house. If it can be done, Pam finds a way to do it. She'll be running for the senate in the next cycle.

1. Ed Fallon: He may have failed to stop the Culver Express, but he may be the next US Representative from Iowa's 3rd District despite a massive difference of cash on hand with Leonard Boswell. But Hey, DFA loves him.

Local Love

Special Shoutout: Mike Wright and Mitch Gross: These new Iowa City and Coralville council members defeated monied foes to gain their seats. Wright, as a historic preservation proponent, a former board of adjustment member, he brings a range of experience to the council and given time will shine. Gross is already making his presence felt and is a rising star in the area.

5. Regenia Bailey is the newest mayor in Iowa City and has progressive stripes. As a manager of meetings (e.g., through her leadership on JCCOG) she gets things done for the public good, as the soon to be done deal with the emergency communications center shows.

4. Janelle Rettig: If ever there was a fighter for the rights of the GLBT community, Janelle is the one. She is relentless in the pursuit of equal rights (including the choice of marriage for all).

3. Karen Kubby: Karen is the Queen Bee of all progressives in Johnson County. If there is a person who calmly and patiently works through issues, she is the model. Besides working with FAIR! and running the Emma Goldman Ctr., Karen finds time to tackle tough community problems like working with local affordable housing issues with dedication and tenacity.

2. Amy Correia: Now in her thid year on the council, Amy has found a strong voice on the subjects of youth engagement, housing, and continues to be unwavering in voting her conscience even if she is the lone voice.

1. Rod Sullivan: Now the chair of the Board of Supervisors, Rod has done yeoman's work in voicing a progressive vision on the BOS. With re-election this year, Rod will have his work cut out for himself, but he is respected and should be reseated.

Senate Nixes CIA Waterboarding, Bush Likely to Veto

The Senate voted 51 to 45 to prohibit the CIA from waterboarding and seven other "enhanced" interrogation techniques and using only the 19 methods of interrogation in the Army field manual. President Bush's spokeswoman Dana Perino said, "The president will veto that bill."

From Breitbart

The Senate voted Wednesdy to prohibit the CIA from using waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects despite President Bush's threat to veto any measure that limits the agency's interrogation techniques.

The prohibition was contained in a bill authorizing intelligence activities for the current year. The bill would restrict the CIA to the 19 interrogation techniques outlined in the Army field manual. That manual prohibits waterboarding, a method that makes an interrogation subject feel he is drowning. The bill passed on a 51-45 vote.

The House had approved the measure in December, so Wednesday's Senate vote set up a confrontation with the White House, where Bush has promised to veto any bill that restricts CIA questioning.

Welcome to City Manager Candidates

To the Iowa City Manager candidates: Welcome! You've picked a delightful time to come and visit--sorry about the snow. Iowa City is a great community and has been my favorite place for the last 8 years of my life. Who wouldn't want to live in a college town with the cosmopolitan feel of a bigger city and the commute time of a small town? A city where you can live rurally, suburbanly, or urbanly. A city full of art and music. A river runs through it. More parks and trails than you can shake a stick at. Vibrant. A great mix of young and old. The best health care in the state. One of the most diverse communities in Iowa per capita.

Our fair city has some administrative problems that you will no doubt enjoy working through with the residents, city departments and city council to solve.

- short supplies of salt hamper plowing and street maintenance
- University and City relations in need of repair
- a workable affordable housing policy needed
- a downtown that needs branding
- a trail system that needs connecting
- balancing the needs of bicyclists with those of motorists and pedestrians
- a Senior Center that needs to be more senior centered
- budget policies that keep 30% of taxes back for "rainy days"
- a fire station that needs to be built and staffed
- a police department that needs staff
- concerns about panhandlers, students, troubling downtown businesses
- A community shelter that is insufficent to meet the needs of the homeless
- An economy that is based on services much more than production
- a tax base that will be adversely affected if the state changes the formula for commercial taxation
- the influence of non-residents on city policy (e.g., business owners who work in Iowa City but live outside the city limits and absentee landowners)
- more stuff for families, kids, students, seniors, and tourists to do

These are a handful of the many things you'll likely get an earful of during your visit in meetings and interviews. To each of you, good luck and thanks for putting up with us. I hope you like what you see and leave with the sense that your experience is important to our future. And if you are not chosen, don't take it badly, Iowa City folks just want it all.

No Love For Rove From UI Anti-War Committee Who Plan Protest

From the University of Iowa Anti-War Committee:

The University of Iowa Lecture Committee may be paying Karl Rove $40,000 to speak on campus, but Rove's presence in Iowa City won't be met without opposition.

The UI Anti-war Committee is not opposed to Karl Rove because of his conservative viewpoint. We are opposed to him because his role in crafting Iraq war policy, exposing CIA operative Valerie Plame, and the politically-motivated firings of U.S. Attorney Generals makes him a traitor and a war criminal. If we lived in a functioning democracy, the only place Rove would be expressing his 1st Amendment rights would be inside a courtroom and then a prison cell.

Despite our opposition to Rove's presence on campus, and our disagreement with the UI Lecture Committee's decision to give a traitorous war criminal a $40,000 speaking fee, the UI Antiwar Committee and allies will not prevent Rove from speaking. Instead, we have negotiated a space inside the IMU to protest Rove. We will be protesting in the South Room, directly adjacent to the Main Lounge at 5:30 pm on Sunday February 27. If Rove is protected by the 1st Amendment, then the rights of large segments of the Iowa City community opposed to his presence must also be protected.

We know when Rove is coming into town, where he will be, and who he will be with. However, there are no plans to dog him at this time. The UI Anti-war Committee sees this as an opportunity to further educate the community about Rove's direct involvement in crafting Iraq war policy.

We are calling on federal authorities to arrest Rove in Iowa City for treason, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. If federal authorities are not available at this time, we are calling on the Iowa City Police Department and the University of Iowa Police to hold Rove in custody until such time that U.S. Federal Marshals may be dispatched to pick the traitorous war criminal up.

Supporting evidence and documentation:

Fact: In July 2002, a high-level classified British/UK government document, the Downing Street Memo, was written which reads in part:
"Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."
http://downingstreetmemo.com/
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article387374.ece

Fact: In August 2002, one month after the Downing Street Memo was written, the White House Iraq Group was formed "to sell Iraq War to Congress, Public, and Allies." The White House Iraq Group met once a week at the White House throughout 2002 and 2003, and Karl Rove chaired every meeting. Public rhetoric against Iraq was escalated by the White House Iraq Group, who came up with propaganda terms like "smoking gun" and "mushroom cloud".
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/entity.jsp?entity=white_house_iraq_group
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/12/AR2006061200932.html

Fact: Bush Administration officials made at least 935 demonstrably false statements to the American people about the threat posed by Iraq prior to the invasion, according to the Center for Public Integrity.
http://www.publicintegrity.org/WarCard/

Fact: Karl Rove and Scooter Libby exposed Valerie Plame, a CIA operative, because her husband blew the whistle on the Bush Administration's demonstrably false claims.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/18/politics/18rove.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/01/AR2005100101317_pf.html
http://thinkprogress.org/leak-scandal#rove
http://www.npr.org/templates/dmg/dmg.php?prgCode=ATC&showDate=13-Jul-2005&segNum=2&mediaPref=RM&getUnderwriting=0

Fact: Rove has also been implicated in the illegal firings of several U.S. Attorney Generals. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee recently voted to hold Rove in "contempt" for refusing to testify and hand over documents related to the case. According to CNN:
"Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday in favor of handing out contempt citations to a former and current White House official for failing to comply with subpoenas issued in the investigation into the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year.

The committee voted 11-7 to cite White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten for refusing to hand over documents related to the firings and to cite former White House adviser Karl Rove for refusing to testify and hand over internal documents."
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/12/13/contempt-citations-recomended-for-rove-bolten/

Little Boxes

As Iowa City and other communities tackle affordable housing, we shouldn't forget the historical development of such projects. Followers of Showtime's Weeds get to hear this on a regular basis.

Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky,¹
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.

And the people in the houses
All went to the university,
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same,
And there's doctors and lawyers,
And business executives,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.

And they all play on the golf course
And drink their martinis dry,
And they all have pretty children
And the children go to school,
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university,
Where they are put in boxes
And they come out all the same.

And the boys go into business
And marry and raise a family
In boxes made of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.

Frances Moore Lappe Rocks! Karl Rove Not so Much

“Some of the 20th century’s most vibrant activist thinkers have been American women—Margaret Mead, Jeanette Rankin, Barbara Ward, Dorothy Day—who took it upon themselves to pump life into basic truths. Frances Moore Lappé is among them.” —The Washington Post

For folks who are fed up with the politics as usual (That would include those folks who will protest Karl Rove's $40,000 spew-a-thon at the University of Iowa), do yourself a favor and pick up Frances Moore Lappe's latest called "Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity and Courage in a World Gone Mad" whose birthday was yesterday. If you are looking for inspiration, this book will rock you to the core!

I will talk more about this in future blog entries, as I am in the middle of it and finding it hard to put down. But here is some video that she has put together that spells it out. Also visit the Small Planet Institute and learn more about her work there.

If you don't know her, she's best known for her book "Diet for a Small Planet", which argued that global famine is caused not by overpopulation but by a failure of democracy to reach the people who need it most.

To the University of Iowa Lecture Committee, put her on your short list of speakers--she's actually worth listening to!