I remember the first indication my youngest son was a political prodigy. It was early 2004, and I looked out the window, seeing Jordan, then nine, taking down one of my political signs. My friends have an idea what that means -- do anything you want, but don't mess with my political signs. I flung open the door and screamed at my son, forgetting my commitment to adult composure, "Hey! What are you doing to my Mike Miles sign?! You put that back right now!"
Jordan, looking surprised, looked up at me and said, "It's okay, Mom. You must not have realized you put the wrong sign up. This guy is running against Ken Salazar, and he is the good guy. Didn't you see the commercials?"
Half angry, half overjoyed that one of my kids actually carried my political compulsion gene, I asked him, "So what do you know about Ken Salazar?"
Jordan: "He wears a cowboy hat, Mom, and he cares about stuff that people in Colorado care about like the water and the air and our land. He is definitely going to win."
"But Jordan", I said, "Mike Miles is a school administrator and he is against the war. He doesn't like George Bush and he says he wants change. Isn't that cool? You know, like 'tikkun olam.' He wants to have a world that is more loving and peaceful, and safe for kids."
Jordan: "That is good, Mom, but the cowboy guy is going to win because he wears a cowboy hat. Nobody in Colorado would vote for someone without a cowboy hat. Ken Salazar knows how to ride a horse! I bet he is really nice, too, 'cause he is a Democrat like us."
I looked down at my son and was amazed that at nine, he knew about electability, demographics and marketing. If it was that obvious to a third grader, could he be right? I helped him take down the Mike Miles sign, and the next day, we drove over to the Arapahoe County Democrat's office and we picked up a sign for Ken Salazar. A week later, while driving Jordan back from school, he asked to use my (new) cell phone. I listened as he dialed.
Jordan: "Can I speak to Ken Salazar, please? Oh, okay, can you tell him Jordan Greenhut called? I sent him an email, I think, but I don't know if he has a computer. My phone number is ...
A few days later, we received an email from Ken Salazar's office returning Jordan's many messages. In the months to come, Jordan founded a group called "Kids for Ken Salazar." Our entire family joined Jordan in canvassing at soccer games, school events, Halloween parties, and everywhere children congregated. We gave them suckers and tootsie rolls attached to a copy of the "Kids for Ken Salazar" policy statement. We traveled to Alamosa and met the Salazar family, where Ken Salazar's brother Peter read a speech Jordan wrote for the rally-goers. Scrawled on the original note about caring for the elderly, funding schools, preventing child abuse, caring for the environment and other issues the kids cared about, Ken Salazar wrote across the top, "I love you, Jordan".
Jordan also read his statement to a crowd of 500 people on the stairs of the Colorado State Capitol. Our whole family celebrated Ken's victory at the Convention Center with hundreds of other volunteers. Later, Ken's State Policy Director spoke to Jordan's third grade class (that is another story I will tell in another blog!).
Jordan had been right. Ken Salazar, like Mike Miles, believed in "tikkun olam" (Hebrew for "repairing the world"), but he also had great marketing.
Lesson learned!
***
Fast forward to winter 2008. Our family was deeply embroiled in a daily argument, much like households across America, about "Hilary Clinton or Barack Obama?" On Team Obama were my then 15 year old son Jonathan and my husband, Saul. Team Hillary was I and 12 year old Jordan. My oldest son, Adam, was the independent in our home, and we campaigned vigorously for his vote, knowing he would be voting for the first time as an adult.
"Hillary is the more electable candidate" (I had learned this lesson once before), we argued. "She fights hard for health care and she cares about women and children."
"Barack is cooler than Hillary, and everyone is going to vote for him. Just wait. You'll see. He is against the war, and he wants all kids to go to college." they argued.
This argument went on for weeks. Jonathan recruited his friends who increasingly wore t-shirts saying things like "Barack and Roll." Jordan and I bought Hillary Clinton paraphernalia. My husband started as an Obama alternate, and I was a Hillary delegate to the county. We each went to our respective rallies, caucuses, conventions, etc. The intensity of the campaign was hotter in our house than it was in Pennsylvania, we thought. The lawn was aerated beautifully in 2008 -- I would put up a Hillary sign and Jonathan would sneak out and replace it with a Barack sign. Jon would go to school and I would replace it again. This went on for weeks.
When Barack Obama received the nomination, we went to Invesco Field together as a family. We celebrated like it was 1999 -- only much more so. The boys became official interns, we started an Arapahoe County Teens for Obama group, and I became their mentor (driver). As a family, we scheduled our lives around the Campaign for Change Office and our two different neighborhood teams (kids don't like volunteering with their parents, we were told).
We took the day off school to be poll-watchers and GOTV door-knockers, and we celebrated the amazing victory together with our friends. Electability proved not to be all it was cracked up to be, we thought. Barack Obama stood for a compassionate change for America -- caring for all people of all ages, all religions, all nationalities, all states, all races, all genders, all affiliations. Tikkun olam was alive and well, and we were surprised in what seemed like a new shift for Colorado.
Lesson learned?
***
October, 2009. Jordan and Jonathan are burned out on politics and say they are not going to get involved in the 2010 race, they tell me. Jordan, now almost 14, and Jonathan, now 16 and a half, have discovered girls. Barack Obama shirts sit collecting spider webs in their closets, and the only race they care about is the World Series.
"That's too bad" I tell my youngest. There is a really fun senate race going on, and both of the candidates are Jewish. They are both young and cool and one of them even has "Tikkun Olam" on his website.
"Show me," Jordan says. I did.
"Cool".
I explain to Jordan that Michael Bennet has already been our Senator since Ken Salazar was moved up to a more important position, and he was picked to replace him. "One of his parents was Jewish," I told him, "but he doesn't practice it. He still cares about tikkun olam, though. He is a Dad who voted to give health care to children and equal pay for women. He wants to give more opportunities to children who grew up here like you, but whose parents are immigrants, so they can go to college, too."
"The other man," I told Jordan, "is single, very cool, and has traveled around the world. He has worked very hard to get people to care about the suffering in Darfur." Jordan was definitely intrigued, since his bar mitzvah project was a benefit for "Doctors without Borders." Jordan asked for the proceeds to benefit people in Darfur.
Jordan immediately became a fan of Andrew Romanoff, and said, "Mom, I think I will work for that guy in the summer." I explained to Jordan that I thought Michael Bennet, who also had a record of caring for people, was probably more electable because Democrats and Republicans seem to like him for different reasons. "Remember Ken Salazar and the cowboy hat, Jordan?" I asked him.
Jordan: "Mom, now that Colorado knows that you don't have to wear a cowboy hat to win, it doesn't really matter. Just pick the one you like the best. Which one does Barack Obama like better?"
"Michael Bennet," I told him.
"Which one does Rabbi Foster like better?"
"I am not sure, but I think, Michael Bennet. I bet he probably likes them both, though, actually. They both believe in 'tikkun olam.'"
Jordan: "Which one wants health care for everybody?"
Me: "Both of them."
Jordan: "Which one cares more about workers?"
Me: "We're still watching to figure that out", I said honestly.
I went on to tell him both of them care about children and old people, both of them want to take care of our land and our water and our air, both of them treat immigrants fairly, and both of them are not prejudiced against gays and lesbians, or anyone else.
Jordan: "If I pick one guy and you pick the other one, is that okay? Then, if your guy wins, we can all work for him, and if my guy wins, then you have to work for mine, okay?"
"Sure," I agree, shaking hands, "...just don't mess with my lawn sign."
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
An Open Rosh Hashanah Challenge to Andrew Romanoff
(This is my personal opinion only. I do not speak for any organization or office with which I am affiliated.)
Dear Andrew Romanoff,
I used to believe in you, Former Speaker of the House, Andrew Romanoff. Really I did...and I want to again. I cried when Gov. Bill Ritter picked Michael Bennet for US Senate. Ask my friends.
If you really want my vote, and the votes of other regular Coloradoans like me, you would not be resting on your laurels on what you did when you were in office at the state level. Where have you been since you left?
If you really care about my sister, the preschool teacher who has never been able to afford health care insurance at any point during her adult life, despite the fact she works eleven hours a day, why haven't we seen you at one of the (approximately) fifty town halls, rallies, protests, meetings, or other events my friends and I have been to this past five months on health care reform? Other legislators like Bennet, Perlmutter, Kefalas, Kagan, Williams, Ryden, both Carrolls (Morgan and Terrance) were there. Even hiding-from-the-sunlight Senator Udall was at one of them. State Rep. Daniel Kagan was at many of them. It's not like he didn't have better things to do, either. He was in office at the time.
How many did we see you at Andrew? ZERO. ZIP. Nada. Where were you while we fought for the lives of 45,000 Americans who die every year because they don't have adequate health care (per a new study referenced by msnbc just last night)? Where were you during the past 8 months you could have been leading this charge for no political gain? Seriously, Mr. Romanoff, where were you?
Some of my friends and I didn't take a vacation this year because of people like my brother. Dean is an independent home contractor in Michigan who cannot afford health care for his very painful diverticulitis and hernia. Instead, my friends and I went to rallies all summer, fighting for my brother Dean, and the tens of millions of other Americans like him. The thought that one rally, one phone bank, one town hall counter-protest might somehow effect a deciding vote was enough for us to not go on my vacation this year. My brother has two small children and may lose his home soon, because he has to pay for his son's health care for a congenital issue that couldn't wait. My brother will be driving to CO soon to do a kitchen remodel, doubled over in pain, so he can drive back to northern Michigan just to pay his rent, so his babies won't be living on the street. Did you take a vacation this summer, Andrew? He didn't. Many of us regular middle class Americans who care about getting federal health care legislation passed didn't, or couldn't -- for both financial and moral reasons.
Candidate Romanoff -- I believed in you; you let us down on the fight for federal health care finance reform so far, but it is not too late for you to do something about it now.
By the way, guess who was there most of the time these past 8 months, fighting with us on health care insurance reform? MICHAEL BENNET. If he wasn't there personally, he always sent his best staffers, even on the days when he only had two of them. Yeah, you know the guy -- Ritter's pick. I may not like how he got into office, but I love the way he delivered on something that will mean life or death for some of my family members. I love the way he has delivered for my aging parents who cannot afford the co-pays on my Dad's 13 post-cancer surgery medications.
Check my photos on facebook. I am glad I chronicled the last six months of health care reform events in Colorado. I am sad to say the only place I saw you was at a fundraising dinner in Arapahoe County. Check my photos. It's in there, too. And yes, I did tell you I was one of your strongest supporters when I saw you, but that was before I knew you would be throwing your hat into the ring now, after letting the rest of us in Colorado carry the torch on federal health care reform without you. I honestly thought you would do something first to show us why you deserve to play on the big stage. Spend a little time volunteering for Organizing for America in your free time? Nope, haven't seen you there, either. (Apparently, neither has Barack Obama...)
Prove me wrong, Andrew. Get Wade Norris or Cary Kennedy or Cindy Lowery or your County Chairs and Officers, or any one of your other high visibility supporters to run some phone banks, rallies, town halls, or other events while we are on the home stretch on health care reform. Have them take on Max Baucus - show us what you can really do. Throw your passion and your legions of supporters behind this one like Senator Michael Bennet and his bare-bones staff have in 64 counties these past 8 months, banging his fist down on tables and saying, "Health Care Insurance Reform is a moral obligation".
Stand up to tea-party protesters for all of my unemployed friends who cannot afford their COBRA premiums, or for whom unemployment is about to run out, who will soon join the 14,000 people per week in America who lose their health care insurance. Senator Bennet took on an ambush of many of them in Highlands Ranch at David Canter's house. Check my facebook photo albums. It's in there.
This isn't a state level fight, Mr. Romanoff --- this is federal, this is big time. Show us what you can do on the big stage. WHEN I SEE AS MANY ROMANOFF SHIRTS AT PHONE BANKS FOR HEALTH CARE REFORM as I have Bennet shirts over the last 8 months, I'll document all of it with my inexpensive camera, like I have all the others. Go ahead; make up for the last 8 months, where the only place full-time health care reform activists like my friends and I have seen you is a formal fundraising dinner in Arapahoe County.
My camera is ready, Mr. Speaker. Please prove me wrong. We dare you - me and family and my friends. I wouldn't offer you a challenge if I didn't think you were up to it. I think you are definitely up to it.
Oh, by the way, there are numerous health care insurance reform events this weekend (details below). I know it is Rosh Hashanah, but maybe some of your supporters won't be celebrating it like you and I will be. (I am taking a day off to pray for my parents, my brother, my sister and about 45 million other people's family members.)
As yet undecided voter,
Nancy Cronk
P.S. L'Shanah Tovah - May you be inscribed for a peaceful, prosperous, compassionate and EFFECTIVE New Year.
(This is my personal opinion only. I do not speak for any organization or office with which I am affiliated.)
Health Care Reform Events for Saturday, September 19, 2009:
#1: Littleton: Donovan O'Dell, Community Organizer. Two shifts: 10:00 am and 1:00 pm. Location: Upper Ridgewood Park (The name on the park sign has been changed to Charley Emley Park), 2301 W Briarwood Avenue, Corner of Prince St. & W Briarwood Ave., Littleton, CO 80120. Contact Donovan directly for more info at littletondems.dpo@gmail.com
#2 Aurora: Joseph Soto, OFA Intern, Organizer. Time: 10:00 - 1:00 pm. Location: Bicentennial Park, 13655 E. Alameda Ave, Aurora CO.
#3 Denver: Walk into the Colorado Dems Party HQ office on Santa Fe. Ask for a walk-list and get to work. For other locations and times, contact your county Organizing for America leaders, Democratic Party Chairs, or call the Dem HQ for more info.
Dear Andrew Romanoff,
I used to believe in you, Former Speaker of the House, Andrew Romanoff. Really I did...and I want to again. I cried when Gov. Bill Ritter picked Michael Bennet for US Senate. Ask my friends.
If you really want my vote, and the votes of other regular Coloradoans like me, you would not be resting on your laurels on what you did when you were in office at the state level. Where have you been since you left?
If you really care about my sister, the preschool teacher who has never been able to afford health care insurance at any point during her adult life, despite the fact she works eleven hours a day, why haven't we seen you at one of the (approximately) fifty town halls, rallies, protests, meetings, or other events my friends and I have been to this past five months on health care reform? Other legislators like Bennet, Perlmutter, Kefalas, Kagan, Williams, Ryden, both Carrolls (Morgan and Terrance) were there. Even hiding-from-the-sunlight Senator Udall was at one of them. State Rep. Daniel Kagan was at many of them. It's not like he didn't have better things to do, either. He was in office at the time.
How many did we see you at Andrew? ZERO. ZIP. Nada. Where were you while we fought for the lives of 45,000 Americans who die every year because they don't have adequate health care (per a new study referenced by msnbc just last night)? Where were you during the past 8 months you could have been leading this charge for no political gain? Seriously, Mr. Romanoff, where were you?
Some of my friends and I didn't take a vacation this year because of people like my brother. Dean is an independent home contractor in Michigan who cannot afford health care for his very painful diverticulitis and hernia. Instead, my friends and I went to rallies all summer, fighting for my brother Dean, and the tens of millions of other Americans like him. The thought that one rally, one phone bank, one town hall counter-protest might somehow effect a deciding vote was enough for us to not go on my vacation this year. My brother has two small children and may lose his home soon, because he has to pay for his son's health care for a congenital issue that couldn't wait. My brother will be driving to CO soon to do a kitchen remodel, doubled over in pain, so he can drive back to northern Michigan just to pay his rent, so his babies won't be living on the street. Did you take a vacation this summer, Andrew? He didn't. Many of us regular middle class Americans who care about getting federal health care legislation passed didn't, or couldn't -- for both financial and moral reasons.
Candidate Romanoff -- I believed in you; you let us down on the fight for federal health care finance reform so far, but it is not too late for you to do something about it now.
By the way, guess who was there most of the time these past 8 months, fighting with us on health care insurance reform? MICHAEL BENNET. If he wasn't there personally, he always sent his best staffers, even on the days when he only had two of them. Yeah, you know the guy -- Ritter's pick. I may not like how he got into office, but I love the way he delivered on something that will mean life or death for some of my family members. I love the way he has delivered for my aging parents who cannot afford the co-pays on my Dad's 13 post-cancer surgery medications.
Check my photos on facebook. I am glad I chronicled the last six months of health care reform events in Colorado. I am sad to say the only place I saw you was at a fundraising dinner in Arapahoe County. Check my photos. It's in there, too. And yes, I did tell you I was one of your strongest supporters when I saw you, but that was before I knew you would be throwing your hat into the ring now, after letting the rest of us in Colorado carry the torch on federal health care reform without you. I honestly thought you would do something first to show us why you deserve to play on the big stage. Spend a little time volunteering for Organizing for America in your free time? Nope, haven't seen you there, either. (Apparently, neither has Barack Obama...)
Prove me wrong, Andrew. Get Wade Norris or Cary Kennedy or Cindy Lowery or your County Chairs and Officers, or any one of your other high visibility supporters to run some phone banks, rallies, town halls, or other events while we are on the home stretch on health care reform. Have them take on Max Baucus - show us what you can really do. Throw your passion and your legions of supporters behind this one like Senator Michael Bennet and his bare-bones staff have in 64 counties these past 8 months, banging his fist down on tables and saying, "Health Care Insurance Reform is a moral obligation".
Stand up to tea-party protesters for all of my unemployed friends who cannot afford their COBRA premiums, or for whom unemployment is about to run out, who will soon join the 14,000 people per week in America who lose their health care insurance. Senator Bennet took on an ambush of many of them in Highlands Ranch at David Canter's house. Check my facebook photo albums. It's in there.
This isn't a state level fight, Mr. Romanoff --- this is federal, this is big time. Show us what you can do on the big stage. WHEN I SEE AS MANY ROMANOFF SHIRTS AT PHONE BANKS FOR HEALTH CARE REFORM as I have Bennet shirts over the last 8 months, I'll document all of it with my inexpensive camera, like I have all the others. Go ahead; make up for the last 8 months, where the only place full-time health care reform activists like my friends and I have seen you is a formal fundraising dinner in Arapahoe County.
My camera is ready, Mr. Speaker. Please prove me wrong. We dare you - me and family and my friends. I wouldn't offer you a challenge if I didn't think you were up to it. I think you are definitely up to it.
Oh, by the way, there are numerous health care insurance reform events this weekend (details below). I know it is Rosh Hashanah, but maybe some of your supporters won't be celebrating it like you and I will be. (I am taking a day off to pray for my parents, my brother, my sister and about 45 million other people's family members.)
As yet undecided voter,
Nancy Cronk
P.S. L'Shanah Tovah - May you be inscribed for a peaceful, prosperous, compassionate and EFFECTIVE New Year.
(This is my personal opinion only. I do not speak for any organization or office with which I am affiliated.)
Health Care Reform Events for Saturday, September 19, 2009:
#1: Littleton: Donovan O'Dell, Community Organizer. Two shifts: 10:00 am and 1:00 pm. Location: Upper Ridgewood Park (The name on the park sign has been changed to Charley Emley Park), 2301 W Briarwood Avenue, Corner of Prince St. & W Briarwood Ave., Littleton, CO 80120. Contact Donovan directly for more info at littletondems.dpo@gmail.com
#2 Aurora: Joseph Soto, OFA Intern, Organizer. Time: 10:00 - 1:00 pm. Location: Bicentennial Park, 13655 E. Alameda Ave, Aurora CO.
#3 Denver: Walk into the Colorado Dems Party HQ office on Santa Fe. Ask for a walk-list and get to work. For other locations and times, contact your county Organizing for America leaders, Democratic Party Chairs, or call the Dem HQ for more info.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Right Out of the Republican Playbook
Right out of the Republican Playbook
(Also posted on Square State)
by Nancy Cronk
It is said, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Imagine a relay race between the Democrats and the Republicans. Winner takes all. If Democrats win, innocent people's lives will be made better -- a stronger economy, health care insurance for everyone, green jobs, clean air, protected wetlands, guaranteed rights for all citizens, safer schools, etc. If the Ruplicans win, more corporate profit, more cheap labor, and the institutions that helped them get there remain in power for years to come.
The Republicans, licking their wounds from the 2008 election, have learned that splitting up into two smaller teams, the religious conservatives and fiscal conservatives, didn't help their overall game plan. Together in Barack Obama, they see not only a black man with a white man's attitude (their view, not mine) but also a serious threat to the status quo of corporate rule. Since November of 2009, they have started to come together again, in the spirit of a common enemy.
The opponent seemed so formidable in November -- a coalition of Latinos, African-Americans, Native Americans, Asian-Americans, European Americans, women, children, men, homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual and "questioning". And so many others... Together, we blogged, we sang, we marched, we picketed, we rallied, we canvassed and we voted. We had to -- our lives and our homes and our families were at stake. Using the battle cry of "YES WE CAN", we proved mightier than the most powerful army on the face of this earth.
And on our victory night, newly elected President Barack Obama said, 'This is just the first step. The real work STARTS NOW."
It is said if you don't keep moving forward, you will slide backward. There is no such thing as a quiet system. Stop moving, and entropy takes over.
I spent the last week blogging almost daily on progressive blogs, trying to rally the troops a little more around health care finance reform. What I saw horrified me as nothing else can. I saw in-fighting. Raw, precious, valuable energy wasted on whose primary challenger was better than the other. Not energy spent organizing, calling neighbors and friends, planning events, writing to legislators who actually vote... just arguing. The three most precious revelations we learned in the Obama campaign, "watch each other's back", "tell your own personal story" and "focus on issues not personalities", seem to have all but disapeared.
"My Senate candidate is more supportive of the public option than your Senator".
"But my Senate candidate drives a more fuel-efficient car."
"Barack Obama (or substitute the name of any recently elected Democratic official) has let us down".
"I am going to take my vote and go start a third party (a variation of taking ones marbles and going home)."
Meanwhile, the Republicans are figuring out how to work together as a team again. They're watching us, one eye glancing over their shoulders, hoping the punches we throw at each other will wear us out before they are called into the ring. The fiscal conservatives are financing the Sarah Palin wack-a-doos and putting them on buses, or training them to be lobbyists. The insurance companies have been working behind the scenes, spending $350 million so far to buy votes against health care fiance reform.
And stil we argue. "Van Jones was a saint. He should have his own holiday".
"Van Jones sabotaged us. He never should have signed that petition, even if the whole country knows George Bush had something to do with 911".
Republicans see what's going on, and they organizing while we fight amongst ourselves. Sound familiar? Does anyone remember a young smoke-bomb style distracion named Monica Lewisnsky? Anyone remember the next eight years after Democrats lost the White House, and the Senate and the Congress?
So, going back to the Chapter 4 of the Republican Handbook titled, "Divide and Conquer". Divide?
Check. Will we let them conquer, too?
(Also posted on Square State)
by Nancy Cronk
It is said, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Imagine a relay race between the Democrats and the Republicans. Winner takes all. If Democrats win, innocent people's lives will be made better -- a stronger economy, health care insurance for everyone, green jobs, clean air, protected wetlands, guaranteed rights for all citizens, safer schools, etc. If the Ruplicans win, more corporate profit, more cheap labor, and the institutions that helped them get there remain in power for years to come.
The Republicans, licking their wounds from the 2008 election, have learned that splitting up into two smaller teams, the religious conservatives and fiscal conservatives, didn't help their overall game plan. Together in Barack Obama, they see not only a black man with a white man's attitude (their view, not mine) but also a serious threat to the status quo of corporate rule. Since November of 2009, they have started to come together again, in the spirit of a common enemy.
The opponent seemed so formidable in November -- a coalition of Latinos, African-Americans, Native Americans, Asian-Americans, European Americans, women, children, men, homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual and "questioning". And so many others... Together, we blogged, we sang, we marched, we picketed, we rallied, we canvassed and we voted. We had to -- our lives and our homes and our families were at stake. Using the battle cry of "YES WE CAN", we proved mightier than the most powerful army on the face of this earth.
And on our victory night, newly elected President Barack Obama said, 'This is just the first step. The real work STARTS NOW."
It is said if you don't keep moving forward, you will slide backward. There is no such thing as a quiet system. Stop moving, and entropy takes over.
I spent the last week blogging almost daily on progressive blogs, trying to rally the troops a little more around health care finance reform. What I saw horrified me as nothing else can. I saw in-fighting. Raw, precious, valuable energy wasted on whose primary challenger was better than the other. Not energy spent organizing, calling neighbors and friends, planning events, writing to legislators who actually vote... just arguing. The three most precious revelations we learned in the Obama campaign, "watch each other's back", "tell your own personal story" and "focus on issues not personalities", seem to have all but disapeared.
"My Senate candidate is more supportive of the public option than your Senator".
"But my Senate candidate drives a more fuel-efficient car."
"Barack Obama (or substitute the name of any recently elected Democratic official) has let us down".
"I am going to take my vote and go start a third party (a variation of taking ones marbles and going home)."
Meanwhile, the Republicans are figuring out how to work together as a team again. They're watching us, one eye glancing over their shoulders, hoping the punches we throw at each other will wear us out before they are called into the ring. The fiscal conservatives are financing the Sarah Palin wack-a-doos and putting them on buses, or training them to be lobbyists. The insurance companies have been working behind the scenes, spending $350 million so far to buy votes against health care fiance reform.
And stil we argue. "Van Jones was a saint. He should have his own holiday".
"Van Jones sabotaged us. He never should have signed that petition, even if the whole country knows George Bush had something to do with 911".
Republicans see what's going on, and they organizing while we fight amongst ourselves. Sound familiar? Does anyone remember a young smoke-bomb style distracion named Monica Lewisnsky? Anyone remember the next eight years after Democrats lost the White House, and the Senate and the Congress?
So, going back to the Chapter 4 of the Republican Handbook titled, "Divide and Conquer". Divide?
Check. Will we let them conquer, too?
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Pedigree or Poverty: Is there a litmus test for US Senate?
Pedigree or Poverty: Is there a litmus test for US Senate?
(Cross posted on Square State)
On Monday, September 7th, Square State blogger “JO” wrote a diary titled, “Michael and Me”, chronicling the rise up the political ladder of US Senator Michael Bennet. In it, JO claimed Michael Bennet's family finances and social connections resulted in his rise to the top. If Michael Bennet got on the faster elevator to the top floor, does that mean he doesn't have a right to be there?
As someone who grew up in a working class, blue collar home from a huge family (not unlike Bill Ritter's or Ken Salazar's childhoods, except my family did not own a ranch), I am also a populist, suspicious of those who rise to the top quickly with help from "Daddy's connections". The possibility someone could become Superintendant of DPS without paying his/her dues as a teacher, disgusts me. If "connections" were involved, it was a slap in the face to hard-working teachers who toil away day after day, year after year, hoping for recognition and promotion. (I cannot speak to the accuracy of that story because I do not have the facts.)
The same argument could me made about Michael Bennet's appointment to the US Senate by Governor Bill Ritter. Bennet's appointment was a slap in the face to Andrew Romanoff, who worked tirelessly as CO Speaker-of-the-House and deserved the promotion. I don't know a single progressive, myself included, who was not surprised and irritated by the pick that first day. Countless blog entries on Square State and elsewhere attest to that fact.
Michael Bennet is now our US Senator, like it or not. The question is no longer, "Should he have been appointed?” the question is, "Should he stay?"
Michael Bennet has positioned himself as a moderate Democrat in a very purple state. That is a wise move. As much as we all respect and admire Andrew Romanoff and his many accomplishments, let's be real. He would not have even the slightest chance of winning the general election in a state with 6-foot privacy fences and an abundance of gun-shops. If you can't see that, go hang out in Elbert or Douglas or Larimer counties for awhile, and count the gun racks and "hippies use side door" signs. If the general election were between Andrew Romanoff and Michael Bennet(hypothetically speaking), Andrew Romanoff would win in Denver and Boulder, and Michael Bennet would win overall.
Aah, but "progressive" Barack Obama won in Colorado, you might point out. Barack Obama had a now-legendary ground game, and followed the worst President in the history of the United States. Barack Obama was in the right place at the right time, and was the right candidate. As my friend Ken Ohmstede recently said, "Andrew Romanoff is the right candidate at the wrong time". I have to agree with him.
Would I rather have a strong progressive as my US Senator? Absolutely! Do I believe one has even tofu's chance of becoming the most popular dish at Stampede? Hell, no.
Michael Bennet has travelled to 64 counties in Colorado, as of today. He started long before he thought he would have a primary challenger, listening to voters, meeting their families and learning about their needs and concerns. He didn't have to do that. He could be hiding somewhere with Mark Udall sipping Celestial Seasonings tea these past six months.
My gut tells me Michael Bennet is sincere in his concern for the well-being of others (all people, not just the wealthy), based on personal conversations and hearing numerous speeches. In his short time as US Senator, he has accomplished a great deal to help people I care about:
* was a cosponsor of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crime Prevention Act;
* was the deciding vote on the Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights;
* supported the Sander's amendment which would have capped credit card rates at 15% (it failed);
* supported Helping Families Save Their Homes Act;
* supported passage of Barack Obama's budget and the Recovery Act;
* supported the confirmation of Justice Sonia Sotomayor;
* voted for a public lands bill to protect national parks and open spaces;
* voted to expand SCHIP;
* voted for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act;
* has been a strong advocate for the public option (especially in contrast to Mark Udall, who must have come out, seen his shadow, and gone back into his hiding hole for six more weeks). This list does not include legislation Senator Bennet has introduced, which has not yet passed.
I am not formally endorsing either candidate, nor should I. The candidate who wins the primary, if there is one, will have my full, unequivocal support. I am trying to make sure the candidate who wins the primary will be tough enough, moderate enough, and respected enough by independents, to take on and win against their Republican challenger, whoever that may be. Losing one of our US Senate seats is not an option. To win in Colorado, all candidates in a statewide race need to win over independents. It's just that simple.
I have some questions for “JO the blogger”: The Kennedys were all children of great privilege who became heroes in modern American history. Can a rich kid ever make "the list of virtue" by his/her actions, or is there some kind of rule against it in the "American Dream Handbook"? As much as I love the almost-too-perfect real-life story of Barack Obama's rags-to-riches journey to the Presidency, is it realistic to expect all of our elected officials to come from poverty? In a democracy, shouldn't the rich be given the same opportunity to prove themselves as the rest of us? If his heart is in the right place, and he has proven himself to lead, does it really matter who his parents were?
Maybe I should ask Jared Polis.
(Cross posted on Square State)
On Monday, September 7th, Square State blogger “JO” wrote a diary titled, “Michael and Me”, chronicling the rise up the political ladder of US Senator Michael Bennet. In it, JO claimed Michael Bennet's family finances and social connections resulted in his rise to the top. If Michael Bennet got on the faster elevator to the top floor, does that mean he doesn't have a right to be there?
As someone who grew up in a working class, blue collar home from a huge family (not unlike Bill Ritter's or Ken Salazar's childhoods, except my family did not own a ranch), I am also a populist, suspicious of those who rise to the top quickly with help from "Daddy's connections". The possibility someone could become Superintendant of DPS without paying his/her dues as a teacher, disgusts me. If "connections" were involved, it was a slap in the face to hard-working teachers who toil away day after day, year after year, hoping for recognition and promotion. (I cannot speak to the accuracy of that story because I do not have the facts.)
The same argument could me made about Michael Bennet's appointment to the US Senate by Governor Bill Ritter. Bennet's appointment was a slap in the face to Andrew Romanoff, who worked tirelessly as CO Speaker-of-the-House and deserved the promotion. I don't know a single progressive, myself included, who was not surprised and irritated by the pick that first day. Countless blog entries on Square State and elsewhere attest to that fact.
Michael Bennet is now our US Senator, like it or not. The question is no longer, "Should he have been appointed?” the question is, "Should he stay?"
Michael Bennet has positioned himself as a moderate Democrat in a very purple state. That is a wise move. As much as we all respect and admire Andrew Romanoff and his many accomplishments, let's be real. He would not have even the slightest chance of winning the general election in a state with 6-foot privacy fences and an abundance of gun-shops. If you can't see that, go hang out in Elbert or Douglas or Larimer counties for awhile, and count the gun racks and "hippies use side door" signs. If the general election were between Andrew Romanoff and Michael Bennet(hypothetically speaking), Andrew Romanoff would win in Denver and Boulder, and Michael Bennet would win overall.
Aah, but "progressive" Barack Obama won in Colorado, you might point out. Barack Obama had a now-legendary ground game, and followed the worst President in the history of the United States. Barack Obama was in the right place at the right time, and was the right candidate. As my friend Ken Ohmstede recently said, "Andrew Romanoff is the right candidate at the wrong time". I have to agree with him.
Would I rather have a strong progressive as my US Senator? Absolutely! Do I believe one has even tofu's chance of becoming the most popular dish at Stampede? Hell, no.
Michael Bennet has travelled to 64 counties in Colorado, as of today. He started long before he thought he would have a primary challenger, listening to voters, meeting their families and learning about their needs and concerns. He didn't have to do that. He could be hiding somewhere with Mark Udall sipping Celestial Seasonings tea these past six months.
My gut tells me Michael Bennet is sincere in his concern for the well-being of others (all people, not just the wealthy), based on personal conversations and hearing numerous speeches. In his short time as US Senator, he has accomplished a great deal to help people I care about:
* was a cosponsor of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crime Prevention Act;
* was the deciding vote on the Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights;
* supported the Sander's amendment which would have capped credit card rates at 15% (it failed);
* supported Helping Families Save Their Homes Act;
* supported passage of Barack Obama's budget and the Recovery Act;
* supported the confirmation of Justice Sonia Sotomayor;
* voted for a public lands bill to protect national parks and open spaces;
* voted to expand SCHIP;
* voted for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act;
* has been a strong advocate for the public option (especially in contrast to Mark Udall, who must have come out, seen his shadow, and gone back into his hiding hole for six more weeks). This list does not include legislation Senator Bennet has introduced, which has not yet passed.
I am not formally endorsing either candidate, nor should I. The candidate who wins the primary, if there is one, will have my full, unequivocal support. I am trying to make sure the candidate who wins the primary will be tough enough, moderate enough, and respected enough by independents, to take on and win against their Republican challenger, whoever that may be. Losing one of our US Senate seats is not an option. To win in Colorado, all candidates in a statewide race need to win over independents. It's just that simple.
I have some questions for “JO the blogger”: The Kennedys were all children of great privilege who became heroes in modern American history. Can a rich kid ever make "the list of virtue" by his/her actions, or is there some kind of rule against it in the "American Dream Handbook"? As much as I love the almost-too-perfect real-life story of Barack Obama's rags-to-riches journey to the Presidency, is it realistic to expect all of our elected officials to come from poverty? In a democracy, shouldn't the rich be given the same opportunity to prove themselves as the rest of us? If his heart is in the right place, and he has proven himself to lead, does it really matter who his parents were?
Maybe I should ask Jared Polis.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Ritter Campaign Goes to the Dogs
Ritter Campaign Goes to the Dogs
(Cross posted on Square State)
"Ritter's Critters" - Come walk your dog with some of Gov. Bill Ritter's campaign staff at noon, Sunday, September 6th at Cherry Creek State Park off-leash dog park. Meet Marty, the official Ritter campaign canine. Ask staffers your questions, give them a letter to hand to the Governor, and/or get your photo taken with Marty in the parking lot. Come and have some fun and make your pooch happy, too! This is an informal event - Park entrance fees apply. You don't have to be a hard-core Bill Ritter supporter to come - just have some fun with local Dems and friends, and get your questions answered about his campaign.Nancy Cronk, 303-680-6243
BE SURE TO ENTER FROM THE SOUTH END OFF OF THE INTERSECTION AT PARKER AND ORCHARD ROADS.
Please pass this on to any dog-lovers in your life! Thanks.
(Cross posted on Square State)
"Ritter's Critters" - Come walk your dog with some of Gov. Bill Ritter's campaign staff at noon, Sunday, September 6th at Cherry Creek State Park off-leash dog park. Meet Marty, the official Ritter campaign canine. Ask staffers your questions, give them a letter to hand to the Governor, and/or get your photo taken with Marty in the parking lot. Come and have some fun and make your pooch happy, too! This is an informal event - Park entrance fees apply. You don't have to be a hard-core Bill Ritter supporter to come - just have some fun with local Dems and friends, and get your questions answered about his campaign.Nancy Cronk, 303-680-6243
BE SURE TO ENTER FROM THE SOUTH END OFF OF THE INTERSECTION AT PARKER AND ORCHARD ROADS.
Please pass this on to any dog-lovers in your life! Thanks.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Health Care Insurance Reform and The Working Poor
Health Care Insurance Reform and the Working Poor
(Cross posted on Square State)
One of the arguments from the health care debate the Republicans don't want to talk about is the number of working poor in the United States who work like dogs and still can't see a doctor.
My youngest sister Roxanne is 32 years old. She had some serious health issues as a kid, but is doing pretty well as an adult. Raised in a large working class family, Roxanne put herself through college, receiving an Associate's degree in Montessori education. She has been employed as a preschool teacher all of her adult life.
My sister's job, like that of most people in early childhood education, has very long hours (7am- 6pm most days) and is emotionally exhausting. She doesn't make anywhere near the pay a public school teacher makes, nor does she get treated with the same level of respect. Preschool teachers and child care providers, in my opinion, have the most difficult jobs and are compensated the least. How do I know? I've done their job, too.
According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children in 2007, the average salary of a preschool teacher was still under $20,000 annually. For my sister's long hours at work, she is paid enough to make a monthly car payment, a car insurance payment, buy her lunches and clothes, pay for personal necessities, and that is about it. She lives with my elderly parents because she cannot afford rent, so she is their caretaker at times, as well. Her employer, like most child care centers and preschools, does not provide health care insurance benefits. Most preschool teachers are married women and covered under their husband's insurance. My sister will probably never marry.
Roxanne cannot afford a dime for health care insurance, especially because she has a pre-existing condition, and the insurance costs are exorbitant (I hate the word "premiums" because it sounds so positive -- let's call them what they are -- stolen income). When my sister had a brush with death a few years back, she could not afford to pay her medical bills, nor the follow-up care she was advised to get. So, when my sister goes to a free clinic to get a prescription, she is completely dependent on a soft-hearted physician, or must grovel to one of the local charities to get it filled.
More often than not, she just goes without. "They need a union!" you say. Attempts at organizing the early childhood education industry have had zero success. Teachers usually go into the industry when their own children are infants, and stay until their kids are in elementary school. These women are often in the most exhausting period of their lives, juggling babies, a job, and very little sleep. Few teachers see it as a full-time, lifelong profession, so putting energy into professionalizing the industry is a low priority for most of these young mothers. Most teachers do not last long enough in early childhood to fight for the benefits they deserve.
My sister, and many early childhood educators, are among the 47 million Americans who cannot afford health care, or health care insurance. In a country like the United States that prides itself on being "modern", this is shameful. All around the world, industrialized nations give their most vulnerable citizens basic level health care as a civil right. For-profit health care systems are seen as dishonest, immoral and inhumane. Even Iran and North Korea, countries we love to hate here in the United States, have universal health care for all of their citizens.
People like my sister, who give every waking moment educating our nation's children and caring for others, are doing the most patriotic, noble service to their country, in my humble opinion. I ask my fellow Americans -- Republican, Democrat, Independent or other, to stand with me and say, "Enough is enough". No longer can we ignore this moral mandate. Health care is a right, not a privilege.
The myth of "the market" fixing all problems is a lie, and must die. The market has never given a "rat's behind" about the most vulnerable people in our society - the sick, children, the elderly, etc. The un-regulated market has created a situation where the richest one percent of Americans has ninety-five percent of the wealth. It has all but ruined our economy and destroyed this country, and it is time to say "THIS MUST STOP". We need to reign in corporate greed, and we need to do it NOW.
"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
(Cross posted on Square State)
One of the arguments from the health care debate the Republicans don't want to talk about is the number of working poor in the United States who work like dogs and still can't see a doctor.
My youngest sister Roxanne is 32 years old. She had some serious health issues as a kid, but is doing pretty well as an adult. Raised in a large working class family, Roxanne put herself through college, receiving an Associate's degree in Montessori education. She has been employed as a preschool teacher all of her adult life.
My sister's job, like that of most people in early childhood education, has very long hours (7am- 6pm most days) and is emotionally exhausting. She doesn't make anywhere near the pay a public school teacher makes, nor does she get treated with the same level of respect. Preschool teachers and child care providers, in my opinion, have the most difficult jobs and are compensated the least. How do I know? I've done their job, too.
According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children in 2007, the average salary of a preschool teacher was still under $20,000 annually. For my sister's long hours at work, she is paid enough to make a monthly car payment, a car insurance payment, buy her lunches and clothes, pay for personal necessities, and that is about it. She lives with my elderly parents because she cannot afford rent, so she is their caretaker at times, as well. Her employer, like most child care centers and preschools, does not provide health care insurance benefits. Most preschool teachers are married women and covered under their husband's insurance. My sister will probably never marry.
Roxanne cannot afford a dime for health care insurance, especially because she has a pre-existing condition, and the insurance costs are exorbitant (I hate the word "premiums" because it sounds so positive -- let's call them what they are -- stolen income). When my sister had a brush with death a few years back, she could not afford to pay her medical bills, nor the follow-up care she was advised to get. So, when my sister goes to a free clinic to get a prescription, she is completely dependent on a soft-hearted physician, or must grovel to one of the local charities to get it filled.
More often than not, she just goes without. "They need a union!" you say. Attempts at organizing the early childhood education industry have had zero success. Teachers usually go into the industry when their own children are infants, and stay until their kids are in elementary school. These women are often in the most exhausting period of their lives, juggling babies, a job, and very little sleep. Few teachers see it as a full-time, lifelong profession, so putting energy into professionalizing the industry is a low priority for most of these young mothers. Most teachers do not last long enough in early childhood to fight for the benefits they deserve.
My sister, and many early childhood educators, are among the 47 million Americans who cannot afford health care, or health care insurance. In a country like the United States that prides itself on being "modern", this is shameful. All around the world, industrialized nations give their most vulnerable citizens basic level health care as a civil right. For-profit health care systems are seen as dishonest, immoral and inhumane. Even Iran and North Korea, countries we love to hate here in the United States, have universal health care for all of their citizens.
People like my sister, who give every waking moment educating our nation's children and caring for others, are doing the most patriotic, noble service to their country, in my humble opinion. I ask my fellow Americans -- Republican, Democrat, Independent or other, to stand with me and say, "Enough is enough". No longer can we ignore this moral mandate. Health care is a right, not a privilege.
The myth of "the market" fixing all problems is a lie, and must die. The market has never given a "rat's behind" about the most vulnerable people in our society - the sick, children, the elderly, etc. The un-regulated market has created a situation where the richest one percent of Americans has ninety-five percent of the wealth. It has all but ruined our economy and destroyed this country, and it is time to say "THIS MUST STOP". We need to reign in corporate greed, and we need to do it NOW.
"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Multi-group Vigil / Concert / Rally with Sirota well attended!
Multi-group Vigil / Concert / Rally with Sirota well attended!
(Originally posted on Square State)
Wednesday's concert and vigil at Confluence park attracted more than 1000 political activists from all over Colorado. Guest speakers David Sirota, Dr. Irene Aguilar, Mayor John Hickenlooper, the Vice President of SEIU and numerous volunteers told health care horror stories, discussed the political challenges around the health insurance industry, and pumped up the crowd to take action.
A candlelight vigil honored the estimated 800 people who died in Colorado last year alone from inadequate access to health care. Latino band "Debajo del Aqua" provided upbeat music between the vigil and each speaker. Throughout the crowd, news of Senator Mark Udall's
SEIU prepared dozens of "story boards" -- large panels with photos and stories of real people in the Denver area with health care nightmares. Hundreds of blue "scrubs" shirts were signed with the names of people who have died, and a number of them were strung together around the perimeter of the stage area. Pro-health care reform signs including, "Single payer", "People of faith for health care reform" and "People not profits" were everywhere. This attendee did not see a single protester against health care insurance at this very large event.
The rally/vigil/concert was planned and sponsored by SEIU/Change that Works, with many other groups participating: MoveOn.org, Health Care for All Colorado, Organizing for America, etc. SEIU State Director Kjersten Forseth called the event "a huge success".
Thursdays Denver Post covered the second rally in a week to attract more than 1000 people demanding health insurance reform, on page 17A. The front page was reserved for a few crazy parents in Highlands Ranch who do not want their children going to school to be "influenced to be a liberal" by President of the United States, Barack Obama.
(Originally posted on Square State)
Wednesday's concert and vigil at Confluence park attracted more than 1000 political activists from all over Colorado. Guest speakers David Sirota, Dr. Irene Aguilar, Mayor John Hickenlooper, the Vice President of SEIU and numerous volunteers told health care horror stories, discussed the political challenges around the health insurance industry, and pumped up the crowd to take action.
A candlelight vigil honored the estimated 800 people who died in Colorado last year alone from inadequate access to health care. Latino band "Debajo del Aqua" provided upbeat music between the vigil and each speaker. Throughout the crowd, news of Senator Mark Udall's
SEIU prepared dozens of "story boards" -- large panels with photos and stories of real people in the Denver area with health care nightmares. Hundreds of blue "scrubs" shirts were signed with the names of people who have died, and a number of them were strung together around the perimeter of the stage area. Pro-health care reform signs including, "Single payer", "People of faith for health care reform" and "People not profits" were everywhere. This attendee did not see a single protester against health care insurance at this very large event.
The rally/vigil/concert was planned and sponsored by SEIU/Change that Works, with many other groups participating: MoveOn.org, Health Care for All Colorado, Organizing for America, etc. SEIU State Director Kjersten Forseth called the event "a huge success".
Thursdays Denver Post covered the second rally in a week to attract more than 1000 people demanding health insurance reform, on page 17A. The front page was reserved for a few crazy parents in Highlands Ranch who do not want their children going to school to be "influenced to be a liberal" by President of the United States, Barack Obama.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)