We Take a Small Step to "Justice for All"

Just when I start to lose all hope in our political system, just when I despair that we will ever truly realize our pledge to "justice for all", a ray of hope breaks through, and we take one more step towards real justice.

As I write this,US Senate is getting ready to vote a repeal of the military policy that has required good, patriotic Americans to keep their identities secret. Of course, I am talking about the policy known as "Don't Ask-Don't Tell" (DADT). Under this policy, and even before it, gay and lesbian service men and women lived in fear of being "outed" and discharged, dishonorably, from the service denying them the opportunity to serve, fight, and even die for their country.

Now, they will no longer be denied the rights enjoyed by all other Americans: the right of opportunity to pursue a military career.

We either mean what we say when we say we want "justice for all" or it is all a lie. Either we say that a gay American is as much a citizen as any American, with all the rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of any citizen, or we must say that gay Americans are second-class citizens.

There is no other way to see this issue, and finally the Congress, led by the Democrats and President Obama, are answering that we do believe that all Americans are equal before the law and in the eyes of the Constitution.

Thus, this year ends for this American with a ray of hope.

Update: The Senate voted 65-31 to repeal "Don't Ask-Don't Tell"!

The Health Care Reform Passage is an "Ugly Victory" But It Is Still An Historical One

For many of us whose politics run to liberal or progressive, the health reform bill is a disappointment since we all knew it could be much better. However, we have debated the right that all Americans have to good health care for more than 5 decades. This is the first time anyone has done anything meaningful about it. We should feel proud of what we have managed to do and take new resolution to improve upon it. I agree with Erza Klein's Washington Post article on the significance of this victory in Congress.

It's been a long time since the legislative system did anything this big, and people have forgotten how awful the victories are. But these are the victories, and if they feel bad to many, they will do good for more. As that comes clearer and clearer, this bill will come to feel more and more like the historic advance it actually is.

Erza Klein,"Winning Ugly But Winning"

My Next Summer Reading Project

Nothing to Fear: FDR's Inner Circle and the Hundred Days That Created Modern America by Adam Cohen
I am reading about FDR, the Great Depression, and his Cabinet's response to it during the time that has been dubbed "The Hundred Days."

Reading this so far has made me more and more convinced that those who try to claim the Roosevelt's actions did little to help those suffering from the Depression are delusional. They rank up there with people who try to deny the Holocaust.

Republican and Democratic Approval Ratings

From Research 2000 via The Daily Kos
FAVORABLE UNFAVORABLE NET CHANGE
PRESIDENT OBAMA 69 (70) 26 (25) -2

PELOSI: 37 (38) 46 (45) -2
REID: 34 (34) 49 (49) -1
McCONNELL: 21 (21) 61 (60) -1
BOEHNER: 16 (16) 63 (62) -1

CONGRESS DEMS: 43 (44) 49 (49) -1
CONGRESS GOPS: 13 (14) 72 (71) -2

DEM PARTY: 53 (54) 41 (40) -2
REP PARTY: 21 (22) 69 (68) -2

Forget about the GOP being the party of the Big Tent. If their approval ratings get any lower, then they will be able to hold their next convention in a pup tent.

One more day as County Chairman

Tomorrow, I will had over the office of Oklahoma County Democratic Party Chairman to someone else. I have enjoyed being chairman, mostly, but I will be happy that someone else has the responsibility for a while.

We managed to raise a good deal of money, and we improved the county's website. I wish we had done better in the last elections, but we were moving against some powerful sources. Oklahoma was a landslide for John McCain. We got caught in it.

I will continue to work in politics, but someone else will have to worry about planning event and gettting people involved in the party.

Good luck to whomever comes after me.

GOP Strategy Isn't Working So Far

The GOP strategy of trying to obstruct Obama's recovery program at every term, being "The Party of NO", doesn't seem to be gathering much favor with the American people. Here are the lastest Favorable/Unfavorable ratings with last week's ratings in parenthesis courtesy of The Daily Kos.

FAVORABLE UNFAVORABLE NET CHANGE
PRESIDENT OBAMA 69(68) 25(25) +1

PELOSI: 43(42) 39(39) +1
REID: 33(32) 41(42) +2
McCONNELL: 23(22) 51(50) +0
BOEHNER: 17(18) 54(55) +0

CONGRESS DEMS: 41(39) 53(53) +2
CONGRESS GOPS: 18(19) 70(69) -2

DEMOCRATIC PARTY: 57(56) 38(37) +0
REPUBLICAN PARTY: 31(31) 62(61) -1
Full Article Here

The Grumpy Old Party is threatening our nation's economy

New Symbol of the GOP
There is a report that the Senate is getting ready to approve the Economic Stimulus package that we need to avoid Great Depression II. Let us pray this is so.

The GOP's worn out ideologues cling to their discredited ideas that by making our economic policies more favorable to the wealthy, somehow, someway, we will manage to avert disaster.

First, can't they see that a stimulus package that provides funds to rebuild our nation's decrepit and antiquated infrastructure is sorely needed on it's own right? Have they completely forgotten the collapsing bridges and breached levees, the slag heap landslides and crumbling highways all across our nation?

And then there is the latest unemployment figures that show over half a million Americans are losing their job, their hopes, each month.

Is their desire to deny Pres. Obama a "victory" so dulled their hearing that they cannot hear the cries of those in need?

The Republican Party has truly grown too old to function.

Al Franken Wins Minnesota Senate Seat

I have to admit that even I find this to be a bit bizarre, but very welcome.
With the recount now complete, absentee ballots have pushed Franken to a 225 vote lead over Norm Coleman, making Franken's eventual victory now appear all but certain.

Election Map Provided by the Associated Press
Oklahoma has the distinction of being the reddest state in this last election. Not only did Oklahoma give John McCain's campaign its largest margin of victory, we were the only state in the nation where President-elect Barack Obama lost every single country. That may change but it may take some time. We have often been a "lag state" when it comes to matters of politics and social justice.

The GOP is presently a regional party, not a national one. You might notice that it's presence is limited to Appalachia, the Deep South, the Plains States, and some of the Inter-Mountain West. The Democratic Party has all of New England, the Upper Midwest, the Mid-Atlantic, some of the border South, the rest of the Inter-Mountain West, and all the West Coast. Oklahoma is at the crossroads of the Deep South and the Plains State. The Democrats are starting to make enroads into the Plains and South. GOP demographics are heavily weighed on the side of the elderly, rural Americans, and blue collar Whites, not exactly an expanding demographics. Democrats are gaining among the young, the college educated, and they are gaining in the suburbs. Democrats have gained Latino voters due to the GOP's radical anti-Latino agenda. Oklahoma is looking more and more like yesterday's America, and not a model for the rest of the country. We will see how long the Republicans are able to maintain the redoubt they have in Oklahoma.

2008 Republican Party Platform Opposes Bailouts

New GOP Logo?
from VoteFromAbroad.Org

"The Republican Party platform adopted 3 weeks ago explicitly opposes government bailouts of private companies. Here is the exact quote (from the section "Rebuilding Homeownership"):

We do not support government bailouts of private institutions. Government interference in the markets exacerbates problems in the marketplace and causes the free market to take longer to correct itself. We believe in the free market as the best tool to sustained prosperity and opportunity for all.

"This plank in the GOP platform is not controversial within the party. Republicans have always believed that when companies make bad business decisions the market will punish them and this is the deterrence for future companies to think through their decisions carefully. The problem now is the utter hypocrisy of throwing overboard a principle Republicans have held dear for a century. If (big) companies lose the fear of bankruptcy because they expect the government to bail them out, they will take unconscionable risks in the future. Maybe somebody should send Henry Paulson a copy of the Republican platform."
The GOP is being hoisted on its own petard.

Barack Obama's Extraordinary Speech

Barack Obama speaks to the 84,000 listeners crammed into Invesco Field in Denver
Obama delivered dead-on campaign speech in Denver tonight. “Tonight, tonight, I say to the people of America, to Democrats and Republicans and independents across this great land — enough!”

I agree.



McCain would only be McSame. I believe we have seen what it means to have the Republican ideology put into actual practice.

It's not a pretty sight.

New Orleans after Katrina

House Divided No More!

Prior to the Oklahoma Presidential Primary, I posted the following picture of our front yard to show how my wife and I were voting in the primary.

Here is the sign in our yard now as we look forward to the election in November. It's time for a real change in our national politics!

Values v. Ideology

Reading The Audacity of Hope

I just finised Barack Obama's book The Audacity of Hope which I found to be intelligent and insightful. Obama clearly understands that there are no easy answers to the problems we face in this country. He recognizes that conservative, liberals, libertarians, greens all have points of view that need to be considered when we formulate policies and laws in our republic.

One important insight he had has to do with those who govern by their ideologies and those who govern by their values. He clearnly prefers the latter. He uses as an example a time while he was in the Illinois state legislature. A bill had been proposed to provide school breakfasts for pre-schoolers. A fellow member of the Illinois Senate, a Republican, opposed the bill in debate over it claiming that it "would crush their [the pre-schoolers'] spirit of self-reliance." Obama tried to point out that few of the 3-5 year old set were self-reliant, but the man would not be moved. The bill was defeated though a version of it later passed.

Obama writes:

[M]y fellow legislator's speech helps underscore one of the differences between ideology and values: Values are faithfully applied to the facts before, while ideology overrides whatever facts call theory into question.

I think this is a valuable lesson we all could learn whether our ideology comes from the left or the right. I may dislike certain aspects of business: the tendency to view human beings, especially workers, as merely figures in the ledger; the disregard for the environment; the encouragement of conspicuous consumption. However, when it comes time to discuss economic policies, I must recognize that the business owner is also the job producer, and capitalist societies allow us to enjoy lives of dignity better than state socialist societies. If I ask my conservative friends to consider the facts, the so must I.

Barack and Michelle "Fist Bump"

Barack and Michelle Obama

I not certain why Obama has gotten so much good press over a simple gesture, but politics is a very funny thing. I'm just glad the nomination process is over.

Barack Obama will be a great president, and Michelle will be great as First Lady.

The Obama's "Fist Bump"

Tonight is a History Making Night

Sen. Barck Obama, presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party for President of the United States
Barack Obama, an African American, became the nominee of a major political party in America. Tonight I have been a witness to history.

Truly, the torch in America has been passed to a new generation.

Sen. Obama made a great speech to an jam-packed auditorium in St. Paul, Minnesota, the site of this year's Republican nominating convention. Over 17,000 listened to him inside the auditorium and another 15,000 were outside viewing a broadcast of it.

The Return of the "Dixiecrats"?

Mississippi Democrat Travis Childers won a special election in a seat formerly held by a Republican. His victory is the second in a row by a southern Democrat. Previously, a Democrat won a seat held by a Republican in Louisiana. It was also the third special election in a row won by a Democrat in a district that was formerly Republican.

Today's Southern Republicans are the lineial descendents of the old "Dixiecrats" who first began leaving the Democratic Party when we adopted a civil rights plank in our platform during the 1948 convention. The trickle became a flood after Lyndon Johnson worked for and help produce the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. At the time, Johnson prophetically said, "We [Democrats] have lost the South for a generation."

While it is far too early to pronounce a trend, it's interesting to note that the two Democrats who won their election are both socially conservative, white, males, once considered an "endangered species" in the American political world. In Oklahoma, we have such an elected official in Rep. Dan Boren who, interestingly enough, represents the part of Oklahoma known as "Little Dixie."

Today, these socially conservative and economically moderate Democrats are known as the "Blue Dog Democrats." In a closely divided Congress, they wield power in greater proportion to their numbers.

In the past, the Dixiecrats blocked a great deal of good legislation like national health care and workers' rights. How will these Democrats respond to the needs we have for economic justice in our nation?

Miss. Democrat wins GOP-held House seat
Why GOP’s Mississippi House loss resonates

Keith Leftwich DFA Training This Weekend

Opening seminar
for OK Democratic Party Chair, Jay Parmeley talks about fundraising
OCDP Secretary James Baggett with Ron Marlett who is running against Sally Kern for House District 84

I spent a good deal of my weekend in Norman for the Keith Leftwich/Democracy for America Candidate Training seminar. I learned many things about running a successful campaign, but it was very intensive. I didn't make all the sessions, but the ones I did I hope will make me a more effective county party chairman.

Barack Obama: A More Perfect Union

I have read Barack Obama's speech on race relations in America. I feel that it was a great speech addressing a topic most of us do not like to talk about. The thing that struck me is he choose not to blame those who feel, in his words, that "your [black American's] dreams come at my expense." Instead, he challenged us to rise above the distractions of those who would use our angers for their benefit which would include politicians of all races. Here is a link to the speech:

Obama on Race

A Memorable Medallion

Corporation Commissiner Jim Roth addresses the 6th Annual Medallion Dinner crowed
We had an outstanding Oklahoma County Democratic Party Medallion Dinner Saturday night. Once again, the great Democrats we have in Central Oklahoma came through for us. Jim Roth, newly appointed member of the Corporation Commission and former Oklahoma County Commissioner, gave a speech that was touched with greatness. I hope to have a copy of his message to post on this blog. He spoke of our need to respond to the attempts to close us off from the rest of the world through our fears and intolerances.

A highlight was the auctioning of a chair donated to the Medallion by state representative Al Lindley. The chair was one used by Lindley during his time in the legislature. When all the chairs in the House chamber were recently replaced, Al purchased the chair he sat in and donated it to the county. State Sen. Debbe Leftwich was high bidder, and she then promptly donated the chair back to Al in honor of his many years of service to the people of Oklahoma.

Around 200 people attended and all gave the event rave reviews.

Thanks everyone for making this a memorable Medallion!

Barack Obama wins 4 states, 1 Territory

Obama Wins Big

Barack Obama has swept 4 states in the presidential primaries: Louisiana, Washington, Nebraska, and Maine. He also won in the Virgin Islands. Obama seems to have a slight advantage over Clinton in the remaining primaries. Texas will be important since it is a large state with a large Hispanic population who seem to be favoring Clinton over Obama. Ohio will also be a big test. Some have said that the race will be decided by whomever the Democratic Party's "Super Delegates" choose. These are the Democrats elected to state and national offices as well as party officials. This has been the most exciting presidential race I've seen in years. Many of my students are getting into it, something that hase't happened in the years I have been involved in public education.