Tag: Republicans

Local officials need to respond to state politics

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Cross-post from OrangePolitics.

A recent column by Kirk Ross in the Chapel Hill News makes very clear how increasingly relevant the N.C. General Assembly’s shenanigans are to us here at the local level. In the past, many have debated the utility of municipal and county governments weighing in with symbolic resoluitions about state and national issues. Well pardon my French, but sh*t just gotreal in Raleigh this summer.

Kirk calls on candidates to make clear what they would do to deal with many draconian budget cuts that will be painfully trickling down to us in months and years to come. This also points to why we need local officials to stand up and lead by fighting back against Art Pope, ALEC, and the other forces that want to drag down our entire state. I may be biased, but my friends the five Orange County elected officals that got arrested at Moral Monday are a great example of this. If you didn’t see it, please watch this video (embedded below) of Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton clearly explaining his constutional rights while being arested by the Capitol Police.

Back to Kirk:

Too often local officials get away with expressing frustration and promising to lobby the local legislative delegation for this issue or that. This year, expect to hear a lot of candidates say they are outraged, but ultimately powerless when it comes to what Raleigh does. That is unacceptable.

If you want to lead a town or a school system in this era you need a plan for dealing with the agenda of the state’s far-right power structure and its consequences. And you owe the voters at least a glimpse of what that plan is, because that slash-and-burn agenda is not going to stop just because the session has ended. And next year, there are already indications that even more changes are in store for cities and towns and public education.

You may have heard about what the Legislature has done to Asheville’s water system and Charlotte’s airport and how the two cities are now suing the state. These may have come across as parochial battles, but they should be clear warnings to anyone in local government.

– chapelhillnews.com: Kirk Ross: We must be ready the next time, 7/26/2013

This is what leadership looks like:

I highly recommend regular reading of The Carolina Mercury to stay informed about how our state is being run.

You need to know: The Powell Memo

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I was talking recently with a very learned and progressive scholar of history about the depth of the right wing’s messaging strategy, and he was unfamiliar with this document that helped create and define a broad and effective corporate-conservative machine: the Powell Memorandum. We all need to know this history.

From Wikipedia:

Based in part on his experiences as a corporate lawyer and as a representative for the tobacco industry with the Virginia legislature, [Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr.] wrote the Powell Memo to a friend at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The memo called for corporate America to become more aggressive in molding politics and law in the U.S. and may have sparked the formation of one or more influential right-wing think tanks.

In August 1971, prior to accepting Nixon’s request to become Associate Justice of Supreme Court, Lewis Powell had sent to the leadership of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce the “Confidential Memorandum”, better known as the Powell Memorandum, and still under the radar of general public. It sounded an alarm with its title, “Attack on the American Free Enterprise System.” The previous decade had seen the increasing regulation of many industries. Powell argued, “The most disquieting voices joining the chorus of criticism came from perfectly respectable elements of society: from the college campus, the pulpit, the media, the intellectual and literary journals, the arts and sciences, and from politicians.” In the memorandum, Powell advocated “constant surveillance” of textbook and television content, as well as a purge of left-wing elements.

In an extraordinary prefiguring of the social goals of business that would be felt over the next three decades, Powell set his main goal: changing how individuals and society think about the corporation, the government, the law, the culture, and the individual. Shaping public opinion on these topics became, and would remain, a major goal of business.

– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell,_Jr.#The_Powell_Memorandum

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Go Dick Go

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I can’t imagine how excruciatingly painful it must be to be shot in the face, neck, and chest with a shotgun. My deepest sympathies to Mr. Whittington, and I wish him a speedy recovery.

That said… how perfect is this whole Cheney shooting debacle! It’s a great microcosm for this administration: Cheney is ruthless and violent, Bush is out of the loop, the press secretary is even more so. This administration can’t even look open and honest when they actually have nothing to hide. Plus they were hunting without the proper license – these are the people who supposed to uphold our laws? This looks so bad even the GOP is pissed off.
Continue reading “Go Dick Go” →

Direct Action = Democracy

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With regrets to NYC residents caught in the cross fire, the week of the RNC is going to go down in history as a huge culmination of diverse, grassroots voices reinvigorating the tradition of protest that our nation was founded on.

I can’t tell you where all of this info comes from but it’s an exteremely reliable source. Plus it’s all public information anyway:

In New York, although one corner near Madison Square Garden will be cordoned off specifically for protesters, only a handful of permits have been granted to protest groups. Most street actions will be unauthorized.

The main umbrella organization for protesters, United for Peace and Justice, says they will gather in Central Park despite not having a permit. Approximately 150 organizations are vying for a piece of what is being called the second biggest protest action of the year (the March for Women’s Lives, of course, was the biggest).

Besides labor, gay and lesbian groups, veterans against the war, there remains a long list of students, environmentalist, and health and political activists anxious to express their views.

On Sunday, August 29, The World says No to the Bush Agenda: United for Peace and Justice will host a march past Madison Square Garden, followed by a rally.

On Monday, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network and the Still We Rise Coalition are co-sponsoring a march and rally to support HIV/AIDS health care, welfare reform, immigrant issues, housing/homelessness, and criminal justice issues. At the same time, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union presents another march, beginning at the United Nations and ending at Madison Square Garden.

Tuesday the One Million Yeses and One NO! people are planning a direct demonstration against the Free Speech Zones (police pens). At the same time, the noRNC Youth are calling for “a youth day of action.”

On Wednesday, the New York City Labor Council will host a massive union rally and march.

A bicyclists’ environmental group called Time’s Up is organizing in a “bike bloc,” attempting to snarl traffic as commuters try to get to work, as a protest against the use of private gasoline-powered vehicles.

Activists plan to hold sit-ins at delegate hotels, take over city intersections, block doors to major corporate offices, confront GOP bigwigs and infiltrate events.

They explain their aim is to use creative mischief to call attention the Bush administration’s destructive policies, not to cause harm or even stop the convention from proceeding.

Organizers advise protesters not to wear masks, which are illegal at New York City demonstrations, and to find alternatives to all-black clothing. Khaki is less intimidating, one Web site suggests. It will also let demonstrators blend in. They won’t know who to arrest or pepper-spray just by looking,” the Web site says. “Plus, the crowd will look much more like the average American instead of a marginalized gang of malcontents – not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

Mayor Michael Bloomberg promises that the heightened security will not interfere with planned protests, which may include the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army, a squadron of George Bush look-alikes in flight suits. “We take people’s rights to come here and say something very valuable very seriously,” Bloomberg said.

The New York Civil Liberties Union will open an information and complaint center two blocks from the convention center to monitor protests and police activity.