Building Our Movement

The rise of the progressive blogosphere in Massachusetts has had a number of impacts. Perhaps the best impact is in building a larger community of people who care. Through the internet, people are able to organize new communities and share resources with other communities. People who prefer to work via email and postings can get involved without having to knock on doors or make phone calls. And that's okay; some people just aren't comfortable with certain ways putting themselves out there. Others, who are willing, are able to capitalize on the diversity of mediums available to get their message out.

A lot of people would probably say the best thing about the blogosphere was our ability to organize and influence the previous election - I have no doubts that without the presence of the netroots (which extends far beyond blogs), Deval Patrick probably wouldn't have been able to catch on and at least win with the dominance he displayed. The blogosphere certainly helped feed the word-of-mouth press Deval needed to get through the primary. We also contributed to what the mainstream media reported on (as evidenced by the fact that people at the Boston Globe tend to read my little site daily). Tens of thousands of people visit sites like Bluemassgroup every week - so of course the netroots have made an impact.

The question is - what do we do now? The influence of the netroots will undoubtedly expand as the years come through a natural movement, but we've already reached a point in which we need to start creating new methods of building ideas, organizing those ideas and getting those ideas out there. We need to fuse and expand on our abilities to create a noise machine and form new ideas, almost like a think tank. How do we go about doing that?

One of the best things about the netroots is that the people who comprise it are regular people, who are rarely part of the establishment. Interestingly, I've noticed that all of these "normal" people also happen to be exceptionally bright in their own fields - they have great ideas that aren't making it to Beacon Hill. I look at people like David at BMG, who's a lawyer and is now on one of Deval's transition committees. I look at people like RevDeb, of the Mass Netroots, who's a Unitarian Universalist minister who has done some great, largely behind the scenes, work on glbt and habeas corpus issues - working with both Senator Kerry and Kennedy's office.

We need to expand on all of these great people who consider themselves a part of the "netroots" and create an organization that can turn our individual expertise into universal progress. In doing that, I've come up with a few ideas. Here are my suggestions, all drawing from the best that the progressive netroots has to offer:

1. On fostering ideas:

On BMG, I recommended creating permanent, volunteer councils largely comprised of non-establishment experts to both serve as a sound board for Deval Patrick (so he can test ideas out with them) and as a way to create new ideas Deval could use. They could be similar to the transition teams, but be a radically new way of doing things after the transition is made. There could be any number of committees ranging from issues to geography, set up through an executive order. They wouldn't suffer from any of the obfuscation or scares of creating any ideas that may be considered "far out there," because these people aren't going to suffer from the wear and tear of the political machine. Councils on Education and Higher Education should include people at all levels, from students to teachers and professors; Councils on Health Care should include doctors, nurses and patients. Things that the establishment may never be able to think of just could come out of these committees.

One of my biggest complaints about any bureaucracy is that eventually people lose their fresh ideas and get too busy working on the day-to-day problems that they lose the ability to be an innovator. Creating councils of non-lobbyists, who are experts in their own way - from students who have gone through a flawed system and have ideas of making it better to local business leaders who know how to create jobs in Springfield - will bring an influx of new ideas to kick start new innovation. New people should be brought in every few years to make sure the councils don't become complacent themselves. These councils will be a way of taking the "tank" out of think tank - they're ideas from everyday people for everyday people.

2. Exporting our ideas to Massachusetts:

A. Let's create a podcast! I've been in talks with Mike at Massmarrier, Lynne at Left in Lowell and Susan at Beyond 495 about creating a Leftyblogs Podcast. I don't know if it'll be monthly, weekly or what, but I think the interest is there that we're going to commit to it. However, I don't want it to be just us. I want the podcast to include people from all regions of the state, representing all sorts of issues. There's a number of fantastic glbt and geographic blogs that I'd love to have join us. Heck, I'd like to see more than just bloggers be a part of the podcast - the netroots is a large operation.

Furthermore, the innovation shouldn't stop there. One day, I envision much more than podcasts for Massachusetts - I see videos, online satire and all sorts of mediums that the progressive netroots must look into. If anyone is interested in the podcast or has ideas of their own, let me know. Send me an email (which is available on my profile).

B. Join the Mass Netroots Project: Or an organization like it. Blogging isn't for everyone - and its power has limits. Blogging is a platform and isn't any more powerful than the people who provide the base of that platform - the people who read blogs and tell their friends about what they've learned. Like any foundation, a strong and organized base is the key. Luckily, the netroots are working on organization through such efforts as Moveon.org.

However, there's been little effort to organize around the state level - until now, that is. Groups like the Massachusetts Netroots Project are quickly becoming a key way to create change through localized organizing combined with netroots activity. I've talked about the Mass Netroots Project on my blog before, but they really do great things. The Netroots Project was started by blogs like www.firedoglake.com to bring the message, ideas and momentum of the lefty blogosphere into state house offices. Right now, there's a core group driving the Mass Netroots project to becoming one of the most powerful early efforts so far. They've already made powerful, behind-the-scenes efforts simply by organizing in small groups of people and knocking on Senator Kerry's door - helping the Senator contribute a lot of late money during the General Election season, which could have helped pick up a seat.

People power is replacing lobbyist power, by usurping big money with big effort. Yet, the Mass Netroots Project has a long way to go and a lot of potential. Currently, most of the members are working with Senator Kennedy and Kerry - and issues like habeas Corpus and the Bill of Rights are their key issues. If there were more members, the Mass Netroots could be knocking on the doors of our entire state delegation. They could be making appointments with State Representatives and State Senators, solidifying the movement and making sure our elected officials know where their loyalties lay - with the people, not lobbyists. Through organization, they can become a force that will rival any powerful lobby in Boston and export our ideas through powerful, behind the scene methods.

C. Reach out to the mainstream media: For too long have they existed in their own little cocoon. Because of the mainstream media, "moderate positions" are often confused with the far right. Because of the mainstream, candidates for office like Phil Dunkelbarger and John Bonifaz barely ever saw the light of day. Until the mainstream media gets that hard news isn't optional, we need to keep our eyes on them.

However, that doesn't mean we should just go on a bash-the-Boston-Globe spree (though it's a favorite past-time of mine). Part of getting institutions to change is through working with them, not against them. We need to send them friendly reminders when they print horrendous stories; we need to find ways to get progressive blogger stories mainstream attention - just like the Right-Wing-Noise Machine has been so successful at doing. Part of this process will be to shift the media from thinking of bloggers as diarists at best and threats at worst and make them see that we can be an asset and that we're now a part of the media (even if it's a slightly different in many ways). Just because we aren't paid, doesn't mean we can be ignored (unless you consider the $35 dollars I've made on ads so far being "paid"). Just because Howie Carr and Sean Hannity are paid, it doesn't mean everything they say is news simply because they said it.

Blogs like BMG and Left in Lowell have got a little mainstream attention. However, for the large part, few others have. What does that mean for the progressive, netroots movement? Some great candidates, who don't have millions to spend, will have no chance. Important news events and issues - like Killer Coke and fraudulent signature collecting - are largely ignored. In essence, it means the people are screwed and terrible stories are covered in the place of good ones.

What it all means:

By creating new committees, with regular meetings, comprised of people who are directly involved in the process at all different levels - a new diversity of ideas will be created that could breath life into the system. These people can both help start ideas and foster them, until they're ready for either the public or Deval Patrick's team. They won't be paid; they won't be lobbyists; they'll just be doing this because they care. A lot of these types of organizations already exist; we, as progressives, should make sure Deval Patrick and the public hears their ideas.

However, no one will ever hear those ideas if the netroots doesn't amplify the message. Sometimes, the message is best heard through a few, committed volunteers - people like members of the Massachusetts Netroots Project. Citizen lobbyists can go tell our politicians what normal people think, instead of just HMOs, Unions and Big Business.

Yet, that's not enough. Sometimes a message is best heard through amping up the volume. That's where new forms of progressive media will come in - be it either the podcast project I'm trying to start or something completely new and better, such as a Mass Blogger Internet TV which could be a powerful competitor to the TV stations which tend to be biased. Furthermore, we need to work with the Mainstream Media and make sure issues that progressives care about are covered with proper diligence. Progressives make up a huge part of Massachusetts and we deserve coverage of issues that progressives care about in the daily newspapers. The combination of fostering new ideas and getting them out there into both the public and in the offices on Beacon Hill is a surefire way to make sure the outlook for America and Massachusetts is Progress.

Dear Secretary Bill Galvin,

I'm writing to you to express just how angry I am to read about more ballot issues in Massachusetts once again, resulting in another investigation by the President Bush's US Department of Justice. You have years of bad records on election issues and I'm wondering when the Bay State will actually go through a clean election.

You see, even though we don't typically have close general elections, it's still important to have an election system we can trust. Otherwise, our democracy will begin to resemble those found in Venice and Florence - where, if you were an elite, your name could be picked out of a hat to serve a short term and powerful families generally held control of cities. I'd like to think our election system is more reliable than Florida, but the current evidence isn't very inspiring.

If you can't get your act together by the next election - and make sure Massachusetts has a smooth election - you will face another primary. If that happens again, you're not going to be able to rely on a lot of the political establishment - it will start to erode.

That said, you've been given a gift. You have another 2 years to make things right for the next election. You have another 4 years to be innovator and prove to Massachusetts why you belong in office. If you do well, you'll be rewarded with another term. If you don't, it won't be so easy next time. For the sake of Massachusetts, I hope you will get rewarded with another four year term and prove to the state why you should be our chief elections officer. It's time for Massachusetts to be confident in knowing their votes count and everyone's vote is equal and easy to cast.

Tom Reilly: Taking a Bow as He Exits Stage Left

Now that Tom Reilly's about to go his wayward way, he's actually doing a little good. He's taking the fight to the feds on behalf of the people - which is exactly the kind of inspired leadership that could have gotten him elected Governor if he had done these things several years ago. I applaud his efforts in taking Bechtel to task - and if that's why he was so quiet during the primary, he would have said so. He'd have gotten praise, not scorn.

Sometimes elections make good people do bad things. Sometimes it makes them do good things. It can all be very confusing; no one really knew who Tom Reilly was. Was he the politician who thought our state couldn't afford reductions to the income tax at this time, or was he the guy who thought we needed to cut taxes no matter what (schools would have to have layoffs)? Was he the politician that was opposed to gay marriage, or the one who was in favor of it, but not in favor of investigating fraudulent signatures to push marriage-banning amendments? Confusing!

With three very good stories all coming out of Reilly's office within a few days, I'm kinda feeling proud of the guy (especially over the very non-fancy environmental case and trying to block the LNG plant in Fall River, even if he lost) . He's leaving on a very high, graceful note. The pressures about having to worry about politics while running an Attorney General's office was poisonous, though that's sadly no excuse. It turned him into a slightly mean, obfuscating politician that only 24% of the state would vote for - and that was a sad truth. I'm glad he didn't just hunker down after his loss and actually did something with his last remaining days in office. Kudos to him - these three cases could restore his legacy as an Attorney General.

It almost makes me want to suggest to a certain incoming Attorney General to avoid even thinking about running for higher office in the years ahead. Massachusetts needs an Attorney General willing to get in the hell-pits of the federal government. The Bay State needs an AG willing to protect our environment even if there are no political rewards - and willing to fight hard even if public opinion is an ugly beast on the loose.

Mitt Romney is Officially a Masochist

He clearly doesn't like Massachusetts. He's publicly stated that he would have been better off running for Governor in Michigan. He's made statements that made me believe that's where he'd center his Presidential campaign; a state he'd actually have a small chance to win - because he's certainly not going to win in Massachusetts. (Indeed, many voters would relish the chance to vote against him - repudiation or schadenfruede?)

We're the butt of his jokes, but he's apparently planning to stick around anyway.

Mitt's making plans to have his new campaign headquarted in this building, which is located in the North End. While it's not that I don't appreciate the jobs and attention it'll bring, I do hope Mitt will lay off the Massachusetts one-liners during his campaign. After all, there's got to be some kind of feelings he has for this state... even if it's more on the lines of a "love/hate" relationship.

In some ways, the location makes sense. Massachusetts has a whole host of political operatives that are well versed in Presidential Elections. This state has actually made it into a whole sector that comes alive for two years out of every four. It hasn't helped too many Democrats lately, but even Republicans have employed our services.

It's still an odd choice, though, as these kinds of political operatives will travel. Mitt has some clear disdain for this state (hence masochism is an apt description for Willard) and he won't win Massachusetts - it won't even be close. Massachusetts doesn't like Mitt Romney - otherwise, he would have ran for reelection. A state like Michigan would have been a better option for the Mittster, but I'm all about him making a POTUS-scale fool of himself... so I'll just shut up now.

LNG In Fall River = Potential Disaster

Today's Boston Globe features a brief, but disturbing article:

A federal appeals court rejected yesterday an attempt by officials in Massachusetts and Rhode Island to block a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal from being built in Fall River.

The LNG terminal planned for design in Fall River would be built right in Fall River's harbor area, not miles away like other large and important projects for energy needs - such as Cape Wind, which is miles off of Cape Cod's coast. Not only is it going to be ugly, environmentally damaging and potentially cause the harbor to be backed up - but an LNG terminal in Fall River would pose a direct threat to literally hundreds of thousands of people. If the LNG terminal were to explode, be it from an accident or other cause, the damage would reach all the way to UMASS Dartmouth - more than a mile away.

Even if the tank were almost completely empty, tens of thousands of people would be at risk because an explosion would still be massive.

Critics fear that the LNG terminal could endanger residents in the densely populated area. Almost 64,000 people in Rhode Island and Massachusetts live along a tanker route proposed by the developers, Weaver's Cove Energy and Hess LNG.

When an LNG terminal explodes, the entire "tanker route" supposedly goes with it.

While the Northeast needs LNG terminals, there needs to be extremely particular planning for where they go. The best locations would be further out to see, at least a mile out. Furthermore, there could be some locations off the coast in Maine and New Hampshire which wouldn't put nearly as many people at risk. It may cost more money, but hundreds of thousands of people are put in direct threat when LNG facilities are nearby densely populated areas. LNG terminals are one area where no expense can be spared.

Best. Headline. Ever.

I was just checking out www.boston.com when I ran across this headline: "Report: Los Alamos Security Flawed."

And you better not forget it!

I refuse to read the story, I don't want to ruin the moment, but I'll link to it anyway, for the sake of my readers.

I don't know who came up with the headline, but I'm inspired.

Talk About Sore Losers!

Note to anyone who supported Tom Reilly: it's now past the general election, well past time to... I wish I could put this kindly... shut up. Creating division within the party is not helping. I'm glad Reilly's trying to take Becthel & friends to task, but does the one good thing he's done post mordem election have to include cheap shots at Deval supporters?

Any time a BMG diary includes something like.

This is my first post, so for full disclosure everyone should know that I supported Tom during the primary and I believe that of all the candidates for Governor(Democrat, Republican, Independent) Tom was and still is the best choice.

Nothing good will come of it. And nothing did. In a post supposively about Reilly's new Big Dig lawsuit, "redwhiteandblue" went on the attack... not against Bechtel or machine politicians who lied about the Big Dig... but against Deval.

I wish DP's followers were a little more aware of Deval's faults--newsflash:he's not perfect

Newsflash: who said he was? Certainly not the man himself, who on more than one occasion has said he will make mistakes.

There's a real disconnect from psuede-liberals and DINO-wannabe Democrats. They think that because people like me like Deval Patrick, we're suddenly giving him a pass. They think, interestingly, we think he's perfect. They can't absorb the fact that we like him because he is admittedly imperfect. We find it refreshing. When one of the left's biggest complaints about President Bush is that he won't admit to his mistakes and apologize, do people really think we're suddenly going to support someone who won't admit to mistakes and apologize?

Redwhiteandblue got really bad in the comments. He attacked Deval because 'the transition team is important.' Pray, tell, what has Deval fudged about the transition team? Certainly, it can't be the fact that Deval's taking on regular people and fielding advice from EVERYONE, not just the HMOs and political establishment. Certainly isn't not that he's spent more time reaching out and including everyone than any Bay State Governor of this generation. So, pray tell, what's he screwed up?

The circular logic is amazing... and senseless. Like this juicy bit,

Yes the campaign is over and debating each individual issue will distract us from the present. I can not agree with you that forgetting Deval's or any other elected official's past is acceptable.... If Deval Patrick starts giving out state contracts to Coke we need to ask was this done in the best interest in the state or to reward his old friends. Certainly we questioned Dick Cheney's ties to Halliburton and Enron.

Sadly, Redwhiteandblue didn't catch his own, glaring error. Dick Cheney was a sitting Vice President when Halliburton got its perks. Deval's not sitting anywhere yet, other than his own posh pad in Milton. His only trips to the Corner Office has been a supervised visit with the Mittster, as a big photo-op for Mr. Nice "Mitt" Romney.

Saying Deval Patrick shouldn't be criticized for Governor - yet, when he hasn't been sworn in - yet - isn't hypocritical. To criticize him for something he'd have no control over would be.

So, for Tom Reilly's sore losers (and the likes of Hub Politics), it's time to learn a basic lesson:

You don't forget where a politician came from. But you don't criticize them before making mistakes after being elected. If there's a perceived conflict of interest beforehand, by all means don't vote for the person. It's a choice I've made at least on one occasion this past election. However, Deval Patrick was elected. Until he makes United Airlines the official airline of Massachusetts and bans ExxonMobile, Gulf, BP and every other company other than Texaco, please feel free to gain a firm, tenable grip on reality and stop foaming at the mouth like a sore loser who got spanked by 30 points before halftime even started.

Update: [sarcasm on] I'm so glad no staunch Deval supporters have ever criticized the guy - I mean, he's so perfect that he'll never do anything wrong! [/sarcasm off]

Memo to the Rest of the Country: Mitt Romney Doesn't Care About You

If any readers think Mitt Romney cares about anyone other than himself, you're sorely mistaken. Mitt Romney cares about the photo-op. He's the Mary Poppins of Politicians - except without any of the sweetness and any of the quick problem solving skills. However, he'd sure love to float on down with his umbrella and sing a good song, make a good dance and hopefully stir the appearance of a cleaner bedroom State House. It doesn't matter that it's dirtier than before, now a political weapon of a governor who has clear disdain for the state he governs; it just matters that he has a new job to buy win: POTUS.

He's as likely to give people a spoon-full of medicine as Mary, but it could just be arsenic if it helps his cause. Medicine is spared for the people with morals - you know, the people who love American flags, but hate gay people. In order to help Mitt's cause, he'll throw any other cause under the bus, even if he feigned support years (or days) prior. But it's not like he's never served one up to IHOP before, that pancake flopper!

So let's give an ode to Mitt Romney: Nearly perfect in almost every way. "Nearly" being not at all and "almost" being the sticky details and actual grinding work he ignores on a daily basis - those can be left to more capable hands... like Deval Patrick.

My Paper on Lynn - Continued

Once upon a time, Lynn used to almost be its own metropolitan area. In many ways, people who lived in and around Lynn went to Lynn for all their shopping needs. It's where they went to work, be it at the GE (which paid well enough to afford a high quality of life for its employees) or lawyers. Downtown was bustling, with three movie theaters and over a half dozen department stores. Can anyone imagine that - department stores in a city's downtown?

(My mother's favorite theater.)

The other day, when I first wrote about Lynn, I said that it was suffering from an identity crisis. Since the 1970s, that's probably true. As its industrial base at the GE and other factories declined, Lynn had little to replace it. Furthermore, Lynn was no longer its own metropolitan area. There was easy access to Boston, be it either through the Lynnway and into Revere or a series of commuter rails running through the North Shore (including a stop in Lynn). Whereas people before used to work in Lynn, now many more commuted to Boston. Whereas people used to shop in Downtown Lynn, now they shop in Peabody, Saugus and Danvers.

That said, I sense a real identity starting to form. Young professionals are moving into Lynn, a lot of them in and around the old Downtown area. Newly renovated, large and beautiful lofts can be had for sometimes half the price as something in Southie or elsewhere. People who are hardworking, but just can't afford the crazy prices things are going for, are finding cities like Lynn and Salem appealing. There's some hope for Lynn.

(You too could own a loft like the above in Lynn - really, it's from Lynn!)

However, hope isn't enough. Lynn (and other cities like it) has to take its new potential and turn it into jobs. They need to create jobs that some of these people moving into these cities may just want, as opposed to having to commute. It will foster an environment that will bring new commuters into these cities looking for jobs. It will foster an environment that will lead to new business environments that can support restaurants, little shops and artsy things that are culturally unique to the city they're in.

What Lynn and other cities are missing are their hearts. Most of them were punctured by job loss and destruction of their Downtowns. Cities will never be as they were. However, there's no reason that something new can't form that both reflects on the old and builds on it. Maybe there won't be a half dozen department stores in Lynn ever again, but that doesn't mean there won't be something better - be it an art gallery or new .com.

My 20 Page Paper on Lynn

Consider this an incoherent babble-on of epic proportions on the city I've come to know and love (the incoherent-ness is my thesis, be forewarned). I'm quickly becoming an expert on the economic development (or lack thereof) of the city of sin - Lynn. Lynn. It's the darndest city you've ever been in. Don't ask for water, you'll probably get gin. Wait a minute, why aren't people flocking to Lynn? What better draw is there to a town than a permanent, open bar? Some people call it the shoe town. Lynn tried to call it the city of firsts. But sin fits real well.

A Lynn denizen at the local watering hole.

Okay, so Lynn had the first Rolling Stones concert in America - which is pretty cool - but is that a statement for or against the City of Sin? And who cares about the first jet engine? I'm much more interested in the fact that the Chamber of Commerce's big economic stimulus plan in the 60s and 70s was putting out flowers in Downtown. Let me just say, it didn't work. Neither did the brick walkways (which were later destroyed) or parking bans (which were later removed).

The interesting thing is after years of stagnation, population decline, high crime and terrible schools - for some inexplicable reason, Lynn seems to finally be on the rebound. People are (and I couldn't believe this if not for the fact I envision myself joining them) moving there. Crime is down, especially in the downtown area. Some restaurants are moving in. The tech industry, the last false hope, may be ready to actually start to pay dividends for the city.

Of course, there's always inept political (machine) leadership. Good ol Mayor Chip's doing a wonderful job, selling off large swathes of land for pennies on the dollar - instead of, oh, I don't know, using that land for useful, city purposes. For example, Lynn could have built the new Classical High School on the site of the old Convalescent Home... but they decided it was a much better idea to sell that lot off for about a million (cheap change for the acreage) and put Classical in a sinking swamp. Why build one high school when you can pay for two? (The costs to repair the sinking gym and other damages to Classical are 20 million or more.)

Still, though, if Massachusetts is to truly become a Commonwealth, cities like Lynn need to be at the forefront. Massachusetts can't be considered prosperous until, once again, every son and daughter going to school in Lynn has parents who can afford to help send them to college. The days of GE jobs paying the bills are long dying, but that doesn't mean the American Dream has to be over.

If I were a far smarter person, I'd have some real suggestions. How about some flowers in Downtown?

If there's anything I've learned about Lynn is that it's damned if it does, damned if it doesn't. Addressing some issues facing Lynn will hurt its effort at others. Spend more on police and you'll spend less on teachers - and crime will undoubtedly go up in the future. Spend less on police, more on teachers, and crime will go up - people will move away and the stigma, which is at fault for Lynn's failures as much as any reason, will continue. Oh, and those people who moved away? They're not paying taxes, so teachers will have to be cut anyway. Lynn's damned if it tries to revive industry, but damned if it allows the last few thousand manufacturing jobs to go away without a fight. The Tech industry is something, but we're already seeing tech jobs ship overseas and bubbles burst. Lynn's kinda damned, huh? No wonder they call it the city of sin?

Perhaps this was incoherent not because I couldn't piece it together, but for a more intentional reason. The dilemmas facing Lynn are wide and varied. They're incoherent and discombobulated. Lynn is facing an identity crisis - and until those issues are resolved, brink cities like Lynn can never fully rebound - to the detriment of us all.

New Banner?

I want to move away from the template look on Ryan's Take and move more towards something personalized. However, html is something I only know how to use in the most basic form. Yet, I try nonetheless. So, I just wanted to get a thumbs up or down on a very rough version of what I think will be close to my new banner - something I'll eventually put up on Ryan's Take.

Barney's Staying Put

No matter what. From a letter to the Globe editors:

I absolutely will not run for the Senate no matter what Senator Kerry decides.

Who could blame him? He's about to become one of the most powerful people in the House of Representatives.

This really throws things wide open in the Battle for Senator, but I'm not quite convinced John Kerry is going to give the seat up. He's going to take his sweet time coming to that decision. If he does take a long time, it'll probably give a guy like Meehan (and his huge warchest) the advantage.

For Once, the Pension System Isn't the Problem

I'm not about to say there aren't problems with the state's pension programs, because those have been listed time and time again. I'd be a great big dummy to suggest otherwise. However, Mitt Romney appointing his pal Eric Fernstrom to a part time position to finish up his 10 years of service to the state (the minimum to receive a pension) isn't exactly prime territory to bash the pension system. By all means, lets bash Mitt Romney for being the hack that he is. Mitt shouldn't be appointing anyone to part time jobs in Brookline that doesn't really have much to do with the Corner Office. However, let's not get carried away.

David at BMG and Lynne from LeftinLowell both seemed peeved over Mitt's newest appointment - as well they should be. However, they both took offense to the pension system - not the real problem, which is Mitt Romney. Currently, someone has to work for the state for 10 years before being eligible to receive a pension. At that point, the top 3 consecutive years one receives a salary is averaged together to determine the pension (the years put into the system factors in too). That Fernstrom will have reached that in just a couple from a political appointment in Brookline is only absurd because its a crony job, not because it's breaking the pension system. Lynne made the following suggestion:

make it 10 years that are used to average a salary for purposes of determining pension, to reward the lifelong public servant and not the temporary hack

That's a very, very bad idea. No wonder - Peter Porcupine came up with it! Furthermore, it wouldn't even put solve the supposed problem - which is cronyism. Fernstrom would still get his pension and it probably wouldn't be that much smaller. Let's think who this policy is going to hurt the most - the occasional political appointee or the average Joe?

I gave Lynne the case of my father to answer that question. It takes a long time to rise up in the public sector, even (or maybe especially) in the school system - which is where a lot (if not most) of state employees work. My Dad has worked at Lynnfield High School for about 25 years, during which time he's been a teacher and a coach. He started as a history teacher, football coach and JV girls basketball coach, and became the Head Coach of the girl's team a few years later. He took the job as Head Coach of the boy's basketball team around when my brother started playing for Lynnfield - and my Dad got to coach my brother when he made the All Star Team. At some early point, my Dad became the Head Coach of the football team too - but that was his specialty, considering his very large background in football. Here and there, he helped the track team as well. Heck, at points he even coached the golf team (and won the Globe's Coach of the Year in his second season).

When my brother graduated, my Dad soon became the Athletic Director. It took him a long time to get there, about 20 years - and a lot of hard work. As Athletic Director, he still had a full schedule of classes (and papers to correct). As AD, he had to go to every home game and make every playoff game for every sport. He had to schedule games, work with other Athletic Directors and get through a lot of hectic times. He wasn't paid much for it, but added to his teaching salary he became one of the higher paid teachers at Lynnfield - deservedly so.

After being AD for a few years, it was just too much work. Because Lynnfield doesn't have a full-time salaried AD, my Dad asked to split his AD salary and go into a co-Athletic Director system. It was still a lot of work, but at least he got to spend some time home. However, the football program began to fall apart. My father was asked by the Superintendent to take over again just a few years later, a task he agreed to. So now he's again a Head Football coach, which requires a huge amount of time during the summer and fall (plus year-round work too) and the Athletic Director. He's now making a very good salary for a teacher, but working way too many hours for someone who has two young kids.

To suddenly say that man, who's working upwards of 80 hours many weeks as he's nearing 60, doesn't deserve to be recieving a pension that reflects the amount of work that he's been doing is a shame. He's happy to do the work, he likes being busy. But he also deserves his respect. So do the thousands of other "average Joes" such a sweeping change would effect.

My Dad is not alone. There are a lot of people like him. Changing the pension system would hurt tens of thousands of hard working, middle class people. There are other ways of fixing it than screwing over the middle and working class people, who for most of their careers aren't making very much money. Should teachers receive their pension based on their final responsibilities, or should we pay them based on what they were doing in the middle of their career? If we do that, there's a much smaller incentive for them to keep pushing themselves. There's a lot of problems with bureaucratic inertia as it is, let's not add to it.

Like I said at the beginning, what Mitt Romney did was wrong. But it has nothing to do with the pension system - and everything to do with the fact that he appointed a hack. Cronyism is the problem here, not the pensions that tens of thousands of hard working people in this state will depend on (and pay into). The pension system at Massport certainly needs to be corrected. Furthermore, no state employee should be recieving a $160,000 pension like Billy Bulger. However, the changes proposed on the lefty blogosphere aren't going to fix any of those problems.

Let's not get focused on Herald headlines and Howie Carr columns; let's not be prey to hysteria. Let's try to create policies for people that need them, not just against people that don't. If we only focus on the people who don't, we're going to screw over a lot of hardworking people in the process. It's a way to make ourselves feel good about doing a shitty job, bringing the Mitt Romneys of the world down at the cost of hard working people. It's far removed from everything the reality-based community supposedly stands for and I hope we quickly leave this nonsense behind us.

PS Happy Thanksgiving!

Derrick Jackson on Mitt, the Church and South Africa

Derrick Jackson proves just why the pen is truly mightier than the sword.

ALL IN THE same week, Governor Mitt Romney, the US Catholic bishops, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, and the Presbyterian Church USA drove themselves nuts over homosexuality.

Here in Massachusetts, despite ample evidence that two years of same-sex marriage have not destroyed straight life in the Commonwealth, Romney is helping plan a rally tomorrow for a statewide referendum to ban it. A month ago, in one of his sky-is-falling speeches, Romney said "activist judges struck a blow to the foundation of civilization, the family." He went so far as to say, "The price of same-sex marriage is paid by the children."

In Washington, the bishops passed a bizarre set of guidelines called, "Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination." In the same breath, they claim to be "welcoming" to gay and lesbian people, then tell them to be chaste and stay in the closet about their sexual orientation. The bishops remain resolute that being gay or lesbian is "disordered."

Well, we know where Mitt Romney's priorities lay, with himself. And, Mr. Jackson, let's not forget Cardinal O'Malley. He's too busy writing letters to the editors on marriage equality to focus on what's really hurting our country (and what he could do to fix it). It's sad, as Derrick puts it, that our civic and religious leaders couldn't be like South Africa's.

While all this nuttiness was going on here, the South African parliament this week voted 230-41 to legalize same-sex marriage. This vote came after South Africa's highest court ruled that existing marriage laws discriminated against gay and lesbian couples. The post-apartheid South African Constitution passed about a decade ago was noteworthy for being the first in the world to explicitly outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

South African Defense Minister Mosuia Lekota was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, "The roots of this bill lie in many years of struggle. . . . This country cannot afford to be a prison of timeworn prejudices which have no basis in modern society. Let us bequeath to future generations a society which is more democratic and tolerant than the one that was handed down to us."

The tone of affirmation in South Africa had been set years before by the likes of former South African President Nelson Mandela, who lost a son to AIDS, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, who has repeatedly criticized homophobia in the church. "This is crazy," the retired archbishop said eight years ago.

So, come on Mitt. Don't you have better things to do? Besides, gay marriage isn't quite working for Republicans like it used to. Just ask Senator George Allen. If anything, it only hurt Allen's chances on election day as several high-ranking campaign members from Virginia, Wisconsin and elsewhere have suggested. Heck, the amendment failed to pass in Arizona!

Come on Cardinal O'Malley. Let's work on issues we supposedly agree on. The church still believes in matters of social justice and poverty, right? The church still believes that unnecessary wars are wrong, right? While I may no longer consider myself a Catholic, that doesn't mean the Church and Ryan's Take doesn't share many of the same beliefs. There's a huge health care bill in the works; there's a prescription drug benefit with donut holes the elderly can fall through. Children are being left behind every day. Yet, the Catholic Church is busy writing letters to the editor on civil marriage - which has nothing to do with the Church.

Focus on issues that matter to hundreds of millions of people. Focus on issues that are actually killing people in America. Focus on issues that are killing tens of thousands in Iraq and destroying any chance of peace. Focus on issues that a broad coalition of people, including gays, will work together on to accomplish (only then will it be successful).

The national meeting of the Catholic Church in D.C. proclaimed that the Church wanted to be "welcoming" to gays. Currently, that's no possible - not when the Church is reaching beyond the Church/State line. However, if the Church ever really wants to welcome anyone, they should do it by focusing on what we all agree with - not what will force everyone to tear each other down. As Derrick Jackson would probably hope - be a little more Desmond Tutu and a little less Mitt Romney.

There's Now No Reason to Read the Herald

Their only good reporter, Kim Atkins, is getting out of Dodge. While I'm happy to see her move on to bigger and better things, sadly there's one less real journalist in Boston - something rare in any form of Bean Town print. With the election over, there's no reason to read the likes of Virginia Buckingham and Howie Carr (the schadenfruede's been had).

Well, who knows, I'm sure if I get curious about the latest K-Fed/Britney developments, the Herald will have a 10 inch headline to clue me in.

Mitt Romney: Solving Problems by Creating Bigger Ones

Who needs State Mental Hospitals anyway?

State psychiatric hospitals will stop admitting new patients tomorrow , and 170 Department of Mental Health staff positions will be eliminated in response to Governor Mitt Romney's emergency budget cuts announced earlier this month, according to private hospital groups briefed by state officials.

I'm so glad we're going to have more dangerous, violent schizophrenics on the streets. Thanks Mitt! Those emergency cuts to social services are really gonna work out well, huh? It's not as if we need State Hospitals for violent schizophrenics, people with very bad forms of Bi-Polar disease, clinical depression and other mental conditions that may require intensive therapy and drugs before it's safe for them to be let loose.

Maybe Mitt Romney doesn't get that some people - especially with serious mental conditions - can't afford private hospitalization. Well, Mitt, they can't. If someone's seeing things, having a full time job is the least of their worries. And even if they did, people can't exactly get full time treatment and work too. But, wait, everyone has rich parents that ran for President one day, huh Mitt?

But at least good ol Willard's going to help out the kiddies, right? Think again.

In addition to the freeze on hospital admissions, the cuts would do away with 37 percent of the staffers who provide care to hundreds of emotionally disturbed children and teens in their communities.

Let's all collectively thank Mitt Romney for trying his hardest to make Massachusetts as bad as he tells everyone it is - crossing the country making Massachusetts the butt of his jokes (Hey, did you hear that one about Massachusetts? It's a real howl!) and wishing he ran for Governor in Michigan instead.

At least Mitt's owning up to this one, right? Oh, wait, Republicans blame things on everyone else. It's the Department of Mental Health's fault that their budget was cut!

Romney's spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom, defended the cuts, and accused Department of Mental Health officials of resorting to a "Washington Monument" strategy to try to get out of reducing the budget: "You take something highly visible and shut it down, so the public will complain and funding will be restored," he said.

God, Massachusetts needs a "mercy rule" like they have in Little League - Mitt's down by way more than 10 runs, why does he still get to play the game? Someone please wake me up when this is all over. I asked what else Mitt could ruin in his remaining months - I just don't want to know anymore. And Republicans complained about Deval helping Ben LaGuer! Mitt Romney just basically frakking shut down the entire Department of Mental Health! The crazies, quite literally, are now going to roam the streets. God help us all!

The first "disturbed" teen who needed therapy in a desperate way (but won't get it because we need to save a dime Mitt needed to throw Mass under the bus for his Presidential ambitions) or adult who should have been admitted to a State Hospital, but wasn't, should effectively kiss Mitt Romney's presidential ambitions goodbye when they go either commit suicide or rape some girl walking home from the train. The first person who hears voices in their head to go kill the demon-person should effectively kill Mitt's political career in the process. That could be the only possible political justice in all of this.

I for one think the reduction in State Hospitals has had negative effects on society, on the whole, don't you all agree? While there were lots of people locked up in the 40s, 50s and 60s who shouldn't have been, there are a lot of people on the streets today who desperately need treatment that aren't getting it. Now, they're going to stay on the streets - at least until Deval Patrick fixes it. But it's not as if we're used to Republicans solving problems anyway. (I'd settle for them not creating huge new ones.)

But don't worry, now there aren't going to be any new patients. All the crazies will be free to roam the streets of Fall River, New Bedford, Lynn, Dorchester, Springfield, Worcester and everywhere else that's been struggling to rebuild over the past few decades. Maybe they'll even wander the streets of Lynnfield, Westwood and Newburyport too? The most violent schizophrenic people have to live somewhere, and sadly because of Mitt Romney, they won't be living in a place where they can get adequate treatment.

Suddenly, I get what it means to be a "Masshole." It means being Mitt Romney!

Mitt Romney: puts the ass in Massachusetts. Thanks Mitt!

PS Anyone else feeling bad for Deval Patrick? Mitt Romney is making Deval's job REALLY hard in the last few months. It wasn't as if Deval didn't have a lot on his plate already, with the highway toll fiasco and Big Dig nightmare. What will Mitt Romney do next to screw over Deval Patrick that will take weeks or months to fix - weeks or months that could have been spent fixing issues Massachusetts has had for years instead of just Mitt Romney's last few months. Maybe Mitt will close down public schools or place a moratorium on the prison system? How about both!

PPS: Dan Bernstein, of Talking Politics, has more. BMG diarest Demheartland is worth the read too.

Nancy Pelosi's National Address

While this has nothing to do with local issues, it's important that everyone hear Nancy Pelosi's eloquent speech aired live on NBC on Saturday, November 15th at some point after midnight. People will long remember it as Nancy Pelosi's defining moment as the incoming Speaker of the House.



P.S. I guess this probably answers the question on whether or not I'd mind Joe's Halloween costume for next year.

Today, We Mourn the Loss of an Old Friend

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it has come to my knowledge that a dear an old friend is metaphorically no more, his blog site down - presumably for good. That's right, throughout the entirety of the election, D.R. Tucker's crazy, incessant, lying posts made for a good laugh session that we'll never be able enjoy again sadly have to visit the comments at Hubpolitics the Massachusetts Fringe Right Crazies blog to enjoy again. Whatever will we do?

I'm going to miss D.R. blaming Deval for wanting to let all the rapists free because our Governor-elect was a fan of an open, honest and accurate judicial system. I'll miss the misleading links to my site, blaming all the world's problems on Deval Patrick because a supporter (me) wrote something related to it.

Let's chalk this up to a victory of hope over obfuscation and deception. Hopefully the dimwits at Hubpolitics the Massachusetts Fringe Right Crazies blog will be next. After all, they openly detest Massachusetts anyway. After 16 years of congestion, I finally think I can breathe again. It feels so good to get such bad news. I for one will miss crazy D.R.'s presence on the web, his quaint opinions were so bad they were good (in a funny kind of way).

I Can No Longer Justify Taking the T

There's a great diary on the impending T-fare increases and some of the comments are worth reading. Cos, who's spent his adult life living in Cambridge and Somerville, drives because he can't afford the T.

If I make that trip about three times a week, the total marginal cost to me for a month is about $6.00, or about $9.00 when gas prices are near $3/gallon. By T, it's $30/month, and about to go up to over $40/month. A new T pass, at $59/month, is equivalent to the marginal cost of making 236 trips to Davis or back! And if I stop on the way, say to pick up something at a store, or meet a friend? By car, no extra cost. By T, it's another $1.25 if I don't have a pass.

The result: I could be taking the T, but instead, I'm on the roads. Increasing traffic congestion, increasing pollution, increasing gas consumption, increasing health & injury risks. Because the T is too expensive!

One of the funny things in life is the lack of planning by this country. Often, because there's no planning from the top, what makes sense at the personal level is absolutely devastating to the country as a whole. Just look at Urban sprawl: it's cheaper to live in suburbs and exurbs, people get better schools and actually have a yard. However, it means cities no longer have middle classes and their educational systems suffer from a smaller taxpayer base and less parents interested in the system. It also means the environment suffers because of increased traffic and huge neighborhoods were jettisoned in favor of highways en masse. It makes sense on the individual level to move out of cities - and the further out, the better - but it comes at an extreme societal cost.

The same goes for transportation. It makes sense, at an individual level, for people to drive. If I want to visit my friend in Boston, I could take the T or drive. If I take the T, I have to pay $3 at Wonderland for parking (plus 30 minutes of traffic and gas to get there and back). Then another $2.50 for T passes, which will soon go up to about $3.50. Add to that the fact I need to leave early so I can get the T back home and it soon becomes apparent to see just why I've been driving in lately.

Contrast taking the T with driving and I need only pay for the gas and $3 bucks in tolls, which I could avoid if I wanted to. My friend has some free parking nearby her apartment, it's much quicker to drive in (about an hour vs. 30 minutes). Best of all, I can leave when I want (and even stay over) and pay much, much less for it.

With a hefty portion of Boston living in poverty, we're talking about a lot of money here.

At the risk of quoting myself, I think I made a good point in the diary. I'll end this blog there.

The T is a public service, it should be getting enough support from Beacon Hill that it should never be in the red. It doesn't have to make all its money back from riders because non-riders depend on it too. Given that hundreds of thousands of employees who work in Boston or nearby areas use the T, those employers have an invested stake in the T actually working and delivering their crew. Therefore, their invested stake means some of their tax dollars should be going into it without complaint.

Feedback

During the campaign season, I started to experiment with new concepts on my site. I made some youtube videos and posted others. I added all sorts of pictures and made some different kinds of blog posts. What do readers like? Are my artistic endeavors worth the considerable effort put into them? Or should I just stick to writing because that's what I'm good at (or at least I pretend to be)?

Wake Me Up When It's All Over

One of the frustrating things about actually winning an election is the fact that your candidate doesn't immediately take office. We see the petty annoyances in the US Senate, where President Bush is trying to ram through all the last-minute judicial appointments and a new Secretary of Defense before there's a Democratic Majority he has to deal with. Luckily, procedural maneuvers can block most of those last-minute appointments. You see it in the last twenty four hours of an administration, when the latest political crooks get pardoned by Governors and Presidents alike. Most of all, though, we see it in the form of a crude nightmare this state has been forced to endure for the past four years: Mitt Romney. He's a testament to the notion 'you get what you pay for,' as his work ethic just about matches his paycheck (which is, to say, 'on the house').

Sixteen years of Republican administrations are about to end. I'm finally about to wake up. Is it January 3rd yet?

Note to Media: Deval Patrick Isn't the Governor Yet

I was watching the news today and "Keller at Large" hit the airwaves. Let's just say, I hope today wasn't a sign of what's to come. Deval Patrick isn't even governor yet, but Keller was talking about Deval's legacy. His legacy? He's not even Governor yet - and Keller's doing his best to set up Deval for failure.

I'm all for lots of media scrutiny - and I intend to do some serious scrutinizing myself. However, let's let the guy get in office first. When he makes his first mistake - and he will make mistakes - then let's report the news and hold him accountable. However, it's going to do no one in this Commonwealth any good if we pounce on Deval and he's not even in office yet. It's not going to do any good to stir up controversy for the sake of stirring up controversy. No one benefits from that - not the voters, not the people who are depending on progress, not anyone. Except, maybe, Jon Keller.

United Progressives of Massachusetts

When America was a loose federation of states, it seemed none of them got along. Some states were on the brink of war - with each other. No one used the same money. Tariffs were placed against each other. There was seemingly no connection between the former colonies. There was no cohesion, no strength. America seemed like a failed experiment. So wretched were things that, when leaders from around the country met at the Constitutional Convention to fix a few minor issues, they threw the baby out with the bath water. With an agreement to form a strong central government, coupled with an even stronger protection of fundamental rights, America was finally on the right track. Maybe that's exactly what we need from progressives in Massachusetts?

Over the past few days, I've chronicled my displeasure with the course of things over at Progressive Netroots HQ - the Massachusetts Branch, Blue Mass Group. BMG"s most renowned poster, David, took it on himself to create a jihad criticize pro-gay marriage folk who support the state legislature's efforts to kill a proposed amendment that would ban marriage equality. David doesn't think the State Legislature should use procedural maneuvers to block the amendment - and has said so over and over and over and over and over again.

Point taken, procedure is important. A few weeks ago, I fully agreed with him. Then, the legislature did the right thing: stopped discrimination from being written into the Constitution. It may not have been in the way David wanted, but that's the way that happened. Normally, people would move on. People like me would be happy - what happened advanced fundamental fairness, something both David and I agree on. However, David wasn't - hence the broken record attacks.

I don't blame David. He's a legalist. As a trained lawyer, who's in all likelihood very talented (he's worked for more than one US Supreme Court Justice), it would be very difficult for him to move beyond the importance of the legal process. However, as I've said on more than one occasion, it's a good thing we all aren't bound by obeying procedures at all costs. It's a good thing there's a wide range of perspectives. Sometimes the process comes at the cost of what's right - and that's when the process must be slightly bent. That's when hundreds of pounds of tea must be thrown into Boston Harbor; that's when people must hide runaway slaves in their homes as they make their way to freedom.

Over the course of the debate, a few good points have been made. Sco made the best point of all.

The thing of it is, David, that yesterday it was our ox. It was term limits, it was reproductive rights, it was education, it was clean elections -- all killed by the same or similar maneuvering. So, what makes this the line in the sand? What makes marriage equality the sacrifice that must be made in the name of process?

The fact of it remains that when any side is asked to make concessions for the greater movement, it's always expected of minorities. African Americans have been asked to make concessions time after time again - don't rock the boat now, we'll get you your rights later. It'll just take a little longer. Finally, with the help of a broad coalition of people from the SNCC to the NAACP and the likes of great leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. - the boat was finally rocked and rights were actually gained, even if it was merely being able to register to vote. The gay rights movement is no different, as Anthony eloquently explained.

I am a happy and contented individual, but none the less my life as a gay man has been a series of compromises, personal and political. I had to accept don't ask don't tell because it was the furthest they could go at the time, or so I was told. I had to accept DOMA because if we didn't accept Clinton signing it, his veto would have been over ruled anyway and then he would have lost too much political capital and we needed him.... All the while my husband and I have to prepare 4 tax returns every year and I panic just a little whenever we leave the state because God forbid something should happen when we go to visit family in Colorado this Christmas and they refuse to recognize my rights, even though we have a health care proxy which shouldn't need because we are married. I am done with compromising. It is time to take a stand and say clearly and plainly that the compromises are over.

When David wrote his compromise position - that everyone in the state legislature vote to ban marriage equality this time around, so we could vote on health care, I quickly rejected it. Obviously, I didn't think it much of a compromise. Again, the GLBT movement was asked to make all the concessions - and potentially lose everything in the process. Lightiris is right, this whole thing has become a sport and many normally rational people have been doing some great hunt'n of dem gays.

However, all is not lost. As our founding fathers figured out, sometimes you have to throw the baby out with the bath water. David's steamy compromise position was a real pile of stink, sending out fumes both intoxicating and unpleasant. I wrote a counterproposal, which was thankfully front-paged. One of the biggest Health Care proponents I've been debating for the past few days latched onto the idea - something I was excited about, to say the least.

I've been saying this for days: unite or lose. Our new progressive movement is only as strong as the coalition we build. We need to come to certain agreements, mainly that we're not going to stab each other in the back. That we can't have interest groups solely interested in themselves. Finally, I sense people are realizing that. After a few days that have seemed worthless, Massachusetts progressives are learning that lesson. We can unite - protect both marriage and work towards making health care a right - or we can lose, maybe even both rights. Progressives in Massachusetts must commit to a United Progressives of Massachusetts - or all of the hard work during the last election will amount to another steamy pile of stink, as we watch new DINOs reveal themselves, emboldened by divisions within the movement. We must stay strong and work together.

To Hell With Interest Groups - Or Can They Learn?

This was going to be my blog for today:

If there's one thing that's become clear over at BMG this weekend, it's that interest groups - for the most part - cannot be trusted. I've been attacked left and right for my support of gay marriage by members of an interest group trying to pass the health care amendment. Now, many readers would say, what does health care have to do with marriage equality? I've been asking myself the same question over and over again. Perhaps I'm just not enlightened enough, but I can't see anything other than minute, peripherary connections. For example, they're both constitutional amendments and they're both probably going to die horrible procedural deaths. The fact that the health care amendment comes after the marriage amendment doth not mean suddenly people opposed to the marriage amendment banning marriage equality should come under attack.

I'm a huge proponent of affordable healthcare for all. I called my state legislators as early as the summer about the first Health Care Amendment. I was outraged Congress wasn't going to pass it, so it would come for a vote. However, I accepted the fact it was killed. I accepted the fact that the legislature was within its rights to do so. If one of my elected officials voted the wrong way on Health Care, I'd have supported someone else during a primary if he or she had the right view. Luckily, my two elected officials voted the right way and didn't get my wrath.

Sadly, the health care amendment lobby seems more interested in tearing down the progressive movement instead of working together. Together we can, but interest groups have a way of only being interested in themselves. So their amendment will probably fail - and I, for one, will be slightly less upset than I would have otherwise been when that happens. It's hard to get behind a cause when the leaders of the cause make me want to vomit. And this is coming from someone about to finish college and terrified about being insured or having to pay through the teeth through the new state system - with no knowledge of the quality of care that will provide.

I'm getting tired of the divisiveness. I almost just don't even care anymore. I feel like a beaten P O W who succumbs to the conditions they're stuck in, tortured this time by the disappointment of my so-called allies in the greater progressive movement. Just a week or so removed from a profound, watershed victory - the ugly side of the Democratic Party rears itself once again. It's as if all that has proven to be a failure in the party feels renewed, as if it was them that won all the elections. As if it was them that got Deval elected and won us the US House and Senate. Here's news for the issue groups: it wasn't. It was the broader progressive movement and a fed up electorate. The interest groups fought for Lieberman and Chafee, the progressive movement fought for change and won more battles than it lost. It was strong Democratic candidates and a weak field of corrupt, vile Republicans that turned off people left and right, NARAL be damned.

Interest groups can try to kill what we've built. Sadly, just weeks away from our victory, they could be successful. Divided we fall and I'm just feeling too tired to try to unite. I want to give up, but know I can't. However, after months of caring, my energy level is down. Other people need to pick up the slack or we'll lose. We'll lose not because of our political opponents, but because the cancer in the Democratic Party hasn't been fully purged.

Today, I feel a little differently. At least there's dialogue in trying to find a mutually beneficial solution. Perhaps, some people are realizing that tearing apart the movement isn't exactly the best way to win. People comprising the movement aren't always going to agree, but there needs to be a certain amount of loyalty: mainly, that we aren't going to back stab each other. We need to focus on the real problems: the people who would kill the health care amendment outright, not the people who want to save marriage equality.

Here's the Losing Spirit!! Post-Election Cancerous Divisions

Over at BMG, I've been writing dozens of comments and my frustration seems to find no end. David has decided to bump two diaries on why the State House needs to vote on gay marriage at the next ConCon. I reposted a recent blog from this site as a response to David's front paging. Then David felt the need to write a whole blog on why people like me are apparently wrong.

Add to that mix more than one people who are interested in the Health Care amendment arguing we need to vote on the Marriage Equality ban because the Health Care needs a vote - and then going on and on about one thing even when it has nothing to do with the other.

Divisions by issue-oriented groups mired our party in defeat after defeat after defeat over the last 40 years. Pro-Choice groups were fighting with environmental groups. Democratically elected candidates were blaming the Democratic Party for all our country's wrongs.

It's a recipe for disaster. If people care about progressive issues and civil rights, they need to show a united front or be prepared for their cause to lose too. By attacking each other we all will lose. Attack the efforts of the courageous Congressmen and women protecting marriage equality at your peril - it will come back to bite us all on issues that effect far more people, from Clean Elections to the Health Care amendment.

Unite or lose.

Why Civil Rights Aren't On Ballots:

I'm going to see Borat tonight with friends, so I decided to take a trip through Borat memory lane via Youtube today. I found one of my favorite clips and it served as a sudden reminder as to why we shouldn't put civil rights on the ballot.



Sounds just like "let the people vote," doesn't it? Just remember, they can vote on free speech and habeas corpus too.

Setting the Record Straight

No, Massachusetts, the legislature isn't refusing to vote on gay marriage as pundits, reporters and rabid rightwingers alike would have people believe. The truth is the state legislature is employing the rules at hand. The truth is the state legislature voted yesterday, just not the vote Team Homophobia wanted.

The media has an amazing ability to fall for right wing talking points time after time again. "We just want an up or down vote," President Bush would say. Never mind the fact that parliamentary procedures are there for a reason. Never mind the fact that laws aren't supposed to be easy to pass (lest we all want to live in a Gestapo at the whims of James Dobson?). Rhetorical prose makes right, especially when the right - wing, that is - is behind it.

Isn't it amazing how rhetoric influences policy? Get a simple, catchy slogan or chant - "let the people vote" - and suddenly the most heinous and vicious policies seemingly deserve the time of day. No, ladies and gentlemen, they don't. To avoid horrible policies is exactly why parliamentary procedures exist. If they didn't exist, just imagine what terrifying propositions would have reached the ballots of the uneducated voter? Just imagine what nightmarish policies would have left state-house committees?

Alexis de Toqueville wrote a poignant book in the early 19th century - it was called "Democracy in America." In the book, de Toqueville coined a phrase that almost everyone has heard of at some point or another: "the tyranny of the majority." Ironically, Alexis de Toqueville didn't perceive it as a huge threat - just something to be ever vigilant about. Perhaps parliamentary procedure has something to do with it? Otherwise, just look at who could be locked up for being of color, gay or "unAmerican" if bills were easy to pass. So when the next pundit, Globe story or rabid right winger spouts on about how the legislature should vote, tell them it already did - and the stupid bill died the same horrible death that tens of thousands of other stupid bills have before it. Amen.

Sore Losers, Part 2: Bigger, Better and Uncut!

This just from my inbox:

Hey there,
so your blog page shows you with a picture of our governor elect, and I assume you are a supporter.It is good that you are a pol. sci. major, because you will be able to look back and see this election with a bit more perspective.

It is pretty tough to figure out what Deval Patrick stands for, and the things he does stand for are the same things that have gotten our european friends in trouble.

Immigrants used to want to come here to be Americans. Now they want to bring
their version of culture and government here with them and without blending in.
Moderate legal immigration is important so that our culture can be preserved. It's not about spending our tax dollars to give someone else a free ride. Europe is reeling with the islamic problem. The radical islamic strategy is Immigrate, Procreate, and Devestate. Their real, and patiently pusued goal, is to destroy every other religion and culture, and the koran gives them violence as a valid tool. That hasn't hit our shores as much as it has in Europe, but it likely will.

That is just one issue. There are a ton of others. Patrick seems like a nice guy, and
he's popular for the moment, but time will tell. A telling fact is that he went to consult with Mike Dukakis before campaining here. Wow! You should have been alive to see how bad that governorship was. Just ask your parents about no-fault accident insurance. What a dopy idea.

This is just one more indicator of the polarization of Massachusetts away from most of the rest of the country. Politics here are so inbred. There will be a national backlash to this election season, but here in MA, we continue to be dumb as an ass and put up Kennedy, Kerry, and others time and again. Let's hope Patrick isn't all that bad.

Healy just didn't have the personal appeal, even though she has the talent and the better ideas. Who would you want to run your business? I guess smooth and nice wins over talented but less appealing today.

Ciao,
Deke

This was rich: "I guess smooth and nice wins over talented but less appealing today."

Funny, I thought the same thing when George Bush beat Al Gore and John Kerry.

Oh, where do I even begin?

Ignoring his obvious prejudice against Islamic people, I went with giggling to myself as I critiqued his view on who he'd trust to run his business in a reply. Personally, I went with the one who has business experience:

It's funny that you ask who I'd want to run my business. Kerry Healey's never run a business that I'm aware of, she certainly didn't discuss it during her stump speeches or bring it up during the debates if she did. On the other hand, Deval Patrick held very high leadership roles in very large and often successful companies such as Coke, United Airlines and Texaco. So, when it comes to running my business, I'll go with the guy who was paid very well to do it.

I should have stopped there, but I couldn't contain myself. As is often the case, these kinds of people often think they have some sort of idea about how things used to be... but why study history when you can make it up?

And your knowledge of our country's past immigration is limited. Back in the late 19th and early 20th Century, when immigrants were coming to this country en masse, they typically lived in very urban, ethnic neighborhoods. Such neighborhoods sometimes even [still] exist, such as the North End in Boston. Others are different now and aren't so ethnic. However, the point is, back then there wasn't very much "cultural assimilation" either. In fact, America hasn't ever really been so much a melting pot as it has been a salad bowl. People who come to this country always identify to some extent with their past identity - be they latinos coming to this country now or the Irish and Italian immigrants of the previous century. There's nothing wrong with wanting to maintain some degree of cultural authenticity. After all, it's a free country.

Oh, wait, that's right. The rules start to change when people move to this country who the xenophobes don't like. Then suddenly free speech and limited government isn't such a great thing.

However, nothing gets me going like people talking about how talented and intelligent Kerry Healey was. I'm sure she's smart, but talented? Really? If she was so talented, why didn't she win? These people just lack intellectual curiosity.

Anyone else have some interesting letters to send me, griping about how poor Kerry Healey was so talented and Deval won because he was - I don't know - a good speaker? Please do. I enjoy the laughs. (It's almost as good as reading these sore losers.)

LOL @ Local News

Channel 5 is just horrible. I can't believe how bad its coverage is... it's the TV version of the Herald. Wow. I'm just stunned.

First, we learned how awful it is that we didn't "let the people vote."

Then we learned John DePetro was fired for referring to Grace Ross's sexuality and weight. They didn't mention the fact that he called her a fat lesbian... nah, he was just mentioning her weight. No harm, no foul, right? And WRKO won't even talk to him! Boo hoo.

Dearest readers, stick to the blogs and newspapers. At least with newspapers you can filter out the nonsense on your own.

Gay Marriage Amendment on NOW!!!

Turn on PBS 44 - follow www.bluemassgroup.com for some live blogging and commenting (including by me). I'll blog my thoughts later.

Hop on Over to BMG

David is covering the ConCon as it goes. He's been posting a new thread for every potential amendment brought up (so far, anyway). There's been some pretty good discussion in the comments. Where is this on TV so I can watch it too?

I wish I went to the State House today.

Desperation

Desperation? Yes. Schadenfruede? Of course!

Our Job is Not Done

After a tremendous victory all across the board - from Beacon Hill to Montana - most people are ready to crash for a few days and then go on to their normal lives.

Don't.

Today there's a very important Constitutional Convention. The rights of hundreds of thousands are at stake as the many try to clamp down on the rights of the few - as the Tyrrany of the Majority terrorizes gay people once again. One would like to think that a gay marriage ban would be defeated in a landslide in Massachusetts, but why risk it? With a Constitutional Amendment up for debate either today or tomorrow, there's a means to kill it with some finality: vote the sucker down.

That's a tough task to accomplish. To move on to the voters, only 25% of the state legislature needs to pass it (50 people). Then they'd have to do the same next year. It's tight, but a possible victory - and once it dies in an honest and fair way, it would be dead, dead, dead, dead. Finally, the issue at hand (marriage equality) would be up to speed and reality would set in for those who think they have the right to lord over others' rights. Shame on them.

What can people do to help? A very easy - and powerful - way is to call your congressman and senator. How powerful is it? Last Con Con, I called my Senator about the equality marriage ban and the Health Care Constitutional amendment. The aide basically said 'no comment' on health care - so I strongly urged my state senator to vote for it. While I doubt it was my call alone that made the senator do the right thing, it was probably one of several that helped make the difference. When the state legislature voted to effectively kill the proposition (by sending it to a 'committee' for further research - kinda like the Bridge to No Where, except even more metaphysical), my senator voted against that.

So Call NOW! The sooner you call, the more effective that call will be.

Hub Politics: Good Riddance

Here's a little snippet from a recent Hubpolitics blog, emphasis mine:

Tonight I joked with my fellow Republicans that we should all just get up and leave this state and "just let the Democrats have it." More often than I expected, many were already in the process of move to nearest (or warmest) red state they could find; for others, tonight was the last straw. The students from Tufts University I raninto tonight, most of them shared my sorrows, but relished in the fact that they are not residents of this state--lucky them. I am not as lucky as those students only a handful of years younger than me. I still have a few years left in my graduate studies before I can join the Massachusetts Diaspora (or Exodus if you prefer), and gleefully turn back and laugh at all the suckers.

What a shameless, sore loser. If that's the way Aaron Margolis feels, why is he even writing about Massachusetts? Just give up like sore losers do.

I'm here for the count. Win, lose or tie - my home is Massachusetts. I believe in fighting for it. Not long ago, there was a strong tradition of a moderate Republican Party that could compete. Why not fight to bring that back? It wouldn't take an army; it wouldn't take millions of dollars. A few committed volunteers could win, for example, a state legislative seat in Beverly (home to the Margolis family). Republicans held the US 6th District before the incumbent Tierney took over.

But, no, Aaron Margolis says 1,224,725 people "are so dumb." Instead of - and this is quaint - questioning their own beliefs, the more than 1.2 million people who voted for Deval Patrick are "dumb." Real nice.

So no one should be surprised that instead of staying and fighting for the Republican Party, Aaron Margolis is just waiting to join the exodus and "gleefully turn back and laugh at all the suckers" still in Massachusetts. The truth is, Aaron Margolis has no interest in rebuilding the Republican Party in Massachusetts. It would take too much effort for a state he doesn't care about. He's going to join Mitt Romney and flee the state as soon as possible - the new administration can't come soon enough for Mitt, Aaron's graduation can't come soon enough to him.

Building the party would be too much for either of them. It would mean they'd have to field the old-fashioned yeomen types, people who are actually pro-choice and pro-marriage equality. It would mean it would have to be a Republican Party vastly different than the one they'd like: the crazies. So go and leave, Aaron Margolis, we don't want you anyway. I'm sorry us 1.2 million are just too stupid to realize how brilliant you are. It must be so sad being so lonely because of your 'wisdom.'

Change is in the Air

Victory in the US House and Senate = Rumsfeld gets the axe. So, what does Deval Patrick's victory mean for change in Massachusetts? Anyone care to guess? Clean elections? The permanent death of the gay marriage amendment? Real improvements at UMASS Dartmouth?

Everyone put their best guesses in the comments.

Kerry's Speech

I only caught a glimpse, but I wish I could have seen it all. It was starting out as the most amazing speech I've ever heard from him. He's winning me over more and more. I may even consider supporting him in the primary if he so chooses to run again.

Holy Crap SoS!

Massachusett's Secretary of State race:

With 35% of the vote reporting, Jill Stein (G) has 18% of the vote. Heck, she was a 1/10th of the person John Bonifaz was - can you hear us now, Bill Galvin?

Bonifaz [D] 2010: I'm looking forward to it.

PS: That doesn't mean I'm thrilled about the Green Party. More than 20,000 idiots people voted for an "Independent Green" candidate in Virginia - who wasn't even a real green, from what I've heard. That could very well cost Jim Webb the seat. Until the Green Party works for the greater good, I can't support them. They need to work with progressive Democrats, not against them. They need to make sure their own supporters actually know what the heck's going on. When that happens, my rhetoric will dull.

Congratulations Deval Patrick!

I knew he'd do it all the way in April, when I asked my Mom to come with me to Fanueil Hall to see Deval Patrick speak.

"Deval Patrick who?"

"Just come. You'll love him, Mom."

She did. And he won. There will be a lot of things to be excited about tonight - and a lot of disappointments. However, we can be happy that Massachusetts did its job in this country (even if Connecticut was frakking clueless).

The victory was resounding (so far Deval's up about 10-1 in New Bedford). Beacon Hill has been sent a message. Deval Patrick will be our next Governor.

What We've Learned From This Campaign:

In no particular order, here are a few things learned from this campaign season:

1. 50 point plans don't sell, but a hopeful message and a promise of leadership does. It's unreasonable to expect every politician to have bold plans about a million things, but not to expect them to seek out the experts who do and get them to create innovative, new policies for Massachusetts. Deval Patrick may not have 50 detailed plans, but he has "a few good plans." He's going to enact them and enact other good plans he finds along the way - just what any candidate for Governor should do.

2. Fear has no power in Massachusetts. Kerry Healey tried to scare the bajeezes out of Massachusetts and it blew up in her face. Amen.

3. Minorities can - and do - win. Always have hope and don't be afraid to run for office just because you're a minority. In this election, African American candidates have run strong campaigns across the country. Deval Patrick is going to win. Michael Steele and Harold Ford probably aren't. However, that has little to do with the color of their skin (especially in Steele's case, as he's a nasty Bush-loving Republican). Furthermore, there are gay and lesbian candidates who sprung up all around the country, from Cape Cod to Alabama, who will soon be helping to legislate laws across the country. The days where either African Americans or gay people can't win are over.

4. Progressive politics is alive and well. For years, progressives were the neutered base in the Democratic Party. We were the votes the Party could count on, yet there was no accountability. Yet, not only are we the base of the party, but we're also likely the plurality. We are stronger than the establishment. We've seen it in Deval Patrick. We've seen it in non-establishment guys like Jon Tester, Jim Webb and Claire McClaskill holding the line all across the country. We saw it in Ned Lamont's victory during the primary - even if he can't quite close the deal in the general. The Progressive and Netroot movements are burgeoning and growing faster than any other political movement in the country; in the years to come, the Democrat Party is going to look a lot more like us and the country will be better (and happier) for it.

5. Scot Lehigh is an idiot.

6. Newspapers suck, but that doesn't matter. Bad article after bad article didn't amount to a hill of beans. The Herald loved to gossip about Deval Patrick on the front page, seemingly on a weekly basis, reporting on such high entertainment as his sister's marriage problems. The Boston Globe let Frank Phillips run amok during the course of the entire primary season (primary season duck Deval hunting?). Few Globe articles stick to the nuts and the bolts of the story, reporting flowery innuendo before fact.

Yet, again, it doesn't amount to a hill of beans. If newspapers are wondering why their distributions are declining fast, they need look no further than the fact that they've ceased to be journalists and are now PR specialists, reporting press releases instead of serious stories. One day they'll figure it out, increase their reader base (be it online or in print) and create a lasting business model. That day isn't today.

Update: I'm well aware of the fact that there were more than one ads against Ford that were racist. However, those ads backfired for the most part - during the time they were aired, the race was essentially a dead heat. The reason Ford, in my mind, has fallen back in the polls has little to do with the color of his skin and more to do with the fact that he's a hypocritical, DINO SOB who could care less about the Democrats. People in Tennessee see this; consequently, he's not amassing the excitement for change necessary to win.

He's just like Joe Lieberman - the rare case of someone actually being as bad for the Democrats as a Republican majority. Quite frankly, I don't care whether or not he's elected - even at the cost of a possible Senate majority. He'd work against the Democrats so often that it wouldn't make up for the fact that we'd be able to have the committee chairs. He'd provide the same exact cover (and relish the position) as Joe Lieberman does for Republicans.

Agents for change in Tennessee must realize this. It has nothing to do with his voting record - I'm excited by guys like Webb, Tester and Scot Kleeb, who are all moderate to right of center - yet they don't actively work against the Democratic Party. It probably doesn't have a lot to do with his skin. He's just not offering the kind of clear picture and messages to resonate as someone wholly different than his Republican counterpart, so the people of Tennessee are going with their default pick.

Furthermore, I didn't say race or prejudice wasn't impacting the election. What I did say was "in this election, African American candidates have run strong campaigns across the country." Those campaigns have given a lot of candidates, including Ford, the chance to win. Sure, those candidates had to work against hundreds of years of history and mount an uphill battle. However, it wasn't an insurmountable uphill battle - as it would have been in years past. Even Ford could (and should) have won, but he lacked the message, ideas and differences to pull it off. And of course, I could be wrong and he *could* win. We'll find out late tonight.