For months, Kim and I have talked about watching Michael Moore's documentary 'Sicko', but never gotten around to it. When it first came out, we invited various State Reps near where we lived to come see it with us. They all declined. Perhaps they were embarrassed about having failed to pass meaningful healthcare reform last session. They should be.
What got us to do it this time, was Democracy for America holding Sicko Houseparties. We didn't try as hard to invite State Reps to attend this time. We had too many other things going on. We did managed to contact one State Rep, who did not attend.
Ned Lamont was the keynote speaker at Democracy for Tennessee over Easter weekend. The video just made it to YouTube.
Part 1 is mostly Jim Dean of the DFA introducing Ned. Though looking remarkably relaxed and confident it's doubtful Ned Lamont will ever be a slick politician. Answering his own question of knowing what he knows now would he still have challenged Joe Lieberman for U.S. Senate? "In a heartbeat." Thank god for Ned Lamont.
Tomorrow night in Norwalk, there'll be an impeachment forum with Dan DeWalt, one of the organizers of the Vermont state legislature's impeachment resolution. It'll be a lively conversation – even though a similar approach is closed until after 2008 here in Connecticut (since there's no more opportunity for CT legislators to file new bills) – with a fun crowd.
Impeachment is one of those things where I don't feel there's a strong orthodoxy one way or the other in the MLN community (but I certainly can be proven wrong - poll over the fold). There are a few separate questions to be answered: can / should we commit resources to investigating abuses from the executive branch? Who will bring charges, and what charges? And – even though it might not look this way for the After Downing Street folks (who see in the Downing Street Memo as the evidence needed to impeach, convict, and remove) – will those two questions line up to make for an impeachment trial of substance?
The last one is important – a lot of us were unhappy when no Senator joined in the motion to challenge electors in 2001 (following Bush v. Gore and the Florida debacle), and in 2004, while Boxer joined with Tubbs-Jones to make the challenge official, it's hardly an event that'll go down in the history books. The reason why is because it was one political event without an understood cultural meaning (in the way that we understand the meaning of an election, for example), with no preparation or organization to define a meaning, and with no real follow-up to place the event in a larger context. It became insignificant in the most basic sense of the word: it didn't signify anything.
My concern about impeachment-from-the-states, given that it's very unusual when considered against the backdrop of 200+ years of American politics, is that should it flop, it'll meet the same fate as the failure to challenge Ohio's Presidential Electors in 2004. If the action is part of a move towards challenging and diminishing executive authority in our government, then I think it could be the beginning of a number of very positive changes even if it fails, ultimately, to remove Bush or Cheney from office.
However, I think it's just as likely, if not more so, that the event of an impeachment resolution transmitted to the House by a state legislature (followed by that events' probable failure) will be used as a bludgeoning stick against "spineless Democrats." Working to lure progressives into a paper-thin movement that promises results without all the time, energy, and organization that's required to genuinely change the minds of the American public – for better or worse, the most famously stubborn population on the face of the earth – has all the appeal to me of doing another "not a dime's worth of difference" dance while President Tancredo is sworn into office.
I'm obviously of mixed opinions on the matter – but that's exactly why this kind of debate is interesting and exciting to me. If that's your cup of tea, swing by the Silver Star tomorrow at 7 to discuss impeachment with Dan DeWalt of VTImpeach.org.
The second of three Spring 2007 DFA Trainings is online – "Building Progressive Coalitions," by SEIU's Ben Monterroso. There's a PDF slideshow with an accompanying MP3 from the DFA conference call.
OSHA actually [sent out] 14,200 letters, which would average out to be 284 workplaces per state. However, in Connecticut, there were 463 dangerous workplaces identified.
(By the way, even though I'm a day late in mentioning it, there's a Majikthise pledge drive on - click through for a picture you'll probably enjoy, and chip in a few bucks to help Lindsay pay the bills.)
I try to avoid writing about the 2008 presidential race, but this is totally worth it: Disco Rudy!
Is Senate President Don Williams running for Governor? Ken Dixon thinks so. Also, a great line:
If you want a job in state government, it's not enough to just be from Waterbury anymore.
The (white) Evangelical movement splits over global warming: the politically-minded leadership is opting to ignore the crisis in favor of fixating on sexual issues, while the grassroots membership is starting to ask for some real action.
Did anyone else notice that Media Matters and Hillary Clinton bought ads on the site?
Post what you're reading in the comments, or just say hello to this week's new kids: Mike Stark, ElanaDMI, jodo201, jabborags, pitin, AThomas, HarryRG, brendanl79, polizeros, Matthew, unbelievable, conflated, dorsky, ferd, YoungDem, baldyoda54, ssara1817o, samiam, Lindy, and jillmarienyc.
What's new and news, from your daily source of leftist extremism:
Does Wal-Mart's reputation in Connecticut need to be damaged further? Apparently so, as commonweal documents Wal-Mart's SLAPP lawsuits to muzzle opponents to the proposed Groton store.
Tom Swan ran a session at the Democracy for America Night School, Holding Elected Leaders Accountable. (PDF link here.) It's a guide to help plan effective constituent meetings with elected officials.
Speaking of DFA, the Norwalk / Silver Star DFA will be having a universal healthcare discussion at their meeting tonight (no linky, website down).
There's also a Planned Parenthood phonebank in New Haven, an Amy Goodman appearance at Connecticut College, and a Bridgeport Young Dems meeting tonight - for more info, see the events calendar in the top left.
It's rare that a statement is so brazen that it's able to shock me, here in 2007, but this one does it:
Harwe, 26 at the time, was rushed to the hospital, where she learned that her left vertebral artery had been crushed. In the days and years that followed, Harwe suffered from paralysis, vision loss, weakness and coordination problems, a paralyzed vocal cord and an inability to swallow. Today, she still uses a feeding tube.
Harwe plans to tell state lawmakers Monday that she had no idea stroke was one of the risks of cervical manipulation by a chiropractor. The legislature's Public Health Committee is considering legislation that would require chiropractors to inform patients, both in writing and verbally, of the risks and possible side effects of their treatments.
State chiropractors say the legislation is unnecessary and unfairly punitive. They argue that a state law requiring a patient to give informed consent before a procedure is excessive given the statistically remote risk of injury and death.
"[A]t best this proposal is a misplaced attempt at patient advocacy and is perhaps prejudicial against the chiropractic profession," said Dr. Matthew N. Pagano, D.C., president of the Connecticut Chiropractic Association.
Real quick reminder, tonight both the New Haven and Fairfield County DFAs will be meeting: New Haven's meeting at Naples Pizza (6:30pm) will feature Lon Seidman and a conversation on a statewide progressive coalition, and Fairfield County's meeting at the Norwalk Silver Star diner will feature a campaign roundup with George Jepsen, Kim Fawcett, and Dave Mooney.
For more events (including the CFL meeting / quiz game in Fairfield, CT New Junkie Benefit in Hartford, and state government training session in Clinton, see this roundup of events.
From Connecticut Bob comes this video at Ned's 4th District HQ, December 6th. Maura makes an appearance. Funny, but I just don't see any Lieberman rally down the road having near the enthusiasm--or pride.
For all of you up-staters . . . tonight's DFA Meetup will not be the last chance you will have to see Ned in the near future. I helping him plan a thank you party for all the campaign volunteers and supporters, which will take place in mid-January some time. So, while everyone is very welcome to attend tonight's meetup in Norwalk, please don't worry that if it is too long a drive, and you can't make it. There will be another opportunity.
I will update more about the January gathering as I have more info . . .
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