"I'm a labor guy"
Detroit metro greets Obama as only the Motor City can! It's one feisty crowd, and Obama rocking right with them:
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Labor Day in the Motor City - Detroit rocks!
Labor Day in Milwaukee
A very nice account of the impression Obama made at Milwaukee's Labor Day here. I haven't seen any reporting of this event in the corporate media.
In particular:
He spoke about the things which have come about due to the impact of labor unions. Things that were not given to individuals, but were fought for by organizing and working together. Some of the victories of labor he mentioned were a 40 hour work week, health care benefits and worker's compensation for those that are injured on the job.He also spoke of the quiet storms that many Americans are facing today.
He talked about the hard times and the difficult choices for all Americans. He mentioned that inner city kids that work hard in school cannot go to college, because of the cost of school and the lack of support from our government.
The entire speech was only fifteen minutes long. It was very thoughtful and sincere. One of the blogs I read today contained a quote from a NYT reporter that has been following Obama all campaign. This reporter said that yesterday's labor day speech was Barack Obama's finest speech of the campaign.
Why Palin
Among the reasons given for McCain to have chosen Sarah Palin as running mate (getting HRC supporters, mobilizing far-right base) one other should be considered: Keeping Alaska in GOP hands.
Alaska is a HUGE state with a LOT of OIL and ENERGY wealth. Putting the state's governor on the presidential ticket should mobilize a big GOP turnout in November. A GOP turn out that could possibly vote straight GOP, even for their indicted and embattled GOP senator Ted Stevens.
After Stevens was indicted, the Alaska senate race came into play. Stevens faces popular Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, a Democrat, in a year that Democrats seem to have the mo' on their side.
The Dems are trying to get at least 57 Senate seats -- a veto-proof 60 majority would be better -- to avoid making the SEnate the bastion of reaction that it had played in the 1930s and 1960s preventing reform legislation from being passed. Every seat counts and especially Alaska's seat. After all, drilling in ANWR or other Big Oil deals could be at stake.
Poor Bristol Palin
TheNew York Times
Gov. Sarah Palin’s husband, Todd, left, with four of their children — Piper, Willow and Bristol, holding Trig — and Cindy and Meghan McCain on Friday in Ohio.
Here's my thoughts on 17-year-old Bristol. First, check out this photo on top...it's worth a gazillion words. Cynthia McCain with her ruling elite, pain-killer addicted glare ("how dare you Alaskan trash ruin our run to the big White House"), daughter Meghan can't help but stare at the pregnant Bristol ("Wow. We have words for a girl like you...s---.")
Why doesn't Daddy Palin ever hold 4-mos.-old Trig? Mamma Palin always hands Trig to Bristol. She even made a big deal about saying Bristol was babysitting Trig in the bus. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/opinion/03dowd.html?em
Why? Maybe those Internet rumors had some truth and the pregnancy announcement was just a way to throw them off? Or is it a bizarre, macho thing that Todd Palin never holds Trig. Or are they just training Bristol for the life of holding babies. Any which way -- bizarro -- and I get a little whiff of Handmaid's Tale when I look at these photos.
But I have lots of contradictory thoughts about poor Bristol. First off -- the hypocrisy of these religious far-right wingers, like Brisol's parents and their supporters. Here they preach and pass policies to fund "Abstinence Only" sex education programs, when obviously it doesn't work! I can understand the glee some might feel because of the blatant hypocrisy is exposed with this story.
On the other hand, they have been forced to say "this stuff happens" and we are going to love our daughter...so in other words -- this happens -- too much -- but it happens. The far-right has totally demonized sex -- in general -- and premarital sex in particular. But now they are forced to admit it happens.
On Black radio, etc., the talk is why do Black families get called pathological when it happens to a Black teen, but with Bristol it's normal and she deserves support. Don't all teen moms deserve support? Including affordable health care and day care and continuing their education? And shouldn't the biggest support be comprehensive sex education and including access to birth control?
More contradictory thoughts: the corporate media is spending way too much time on Bristol. It makes me sick because I envision all these middle-aged men getting all worked up about a teenage sexual encounter. So it's all titilating to them and disgusts me. Leave that 17-year-old girl ALONE!!!
I've known plenty of teens who have gone ahead and had a baby instead of choosing to terminate the pregnancy. But this is the most infuriating thing of all. Abortion has been so demonized that the discussion about the consequences of having a baby when you are a teen versus terminating a pregnancy is not even in the discourse. Movies like Juno make it seem so easy to have a baby, give it up for adoption and then go back to your carefree teen life. WRONG!
My mother told me if I EVER got pregnant as a teen, she would yank me off to an abortion clinic so fast it would make my head spin. That was how SHE felt about teenage moms. And she saw a lot of that growing up in rural Illinois. "Babies having babies," she said, "ruins your life. You won't have a life anymore."
Report on March on the RNC - 40,000 take to streets
Report on March on the RNC - 40,000 take to streets
By Leslie Cagan, National Coordinator, United for Peace & Justice
September 2, 2008
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/
Yesterday, on a hot and humid day in St. Paul,
Minnesota, upwards of 40,000 people marched to the
front door of the Republican National Convention to say
'US Out of Iraq Now', 'Money for Human Needs, Not War';
'No to the Republican Agenda'; 'Yes to Peace, Justice,
and Equality'.
Like most major marches, no one knew for certain how
many people would turn out for the March on the RNC.
The media coverage of the long struggle with local
officials for permit rights had, in the end, helped
organizers get the word out throughout the Twin Cities
area for the march. Groups all around the upper Midwest
organized buses, vans, and carpools to bring people
into town. It was clear that this was an opportunity
not to be missed. As the Republican Party was beginning
its four-day gathering to nominate John McCain as their
presidential candidate, we would be on the streets to
raise a clear strong voice addressing the war and a
range of other issues.
The demonstration began with a two-hour rally that felt
even longer. It was hot as the sun beamed down. The
weak sound system prevented lots of people from hearing
the speakers on the stage, one of which was UFPJ's Co-
Chair George Martin. Yet, everyone was patient, knowing
that it was important to give people time to gather
before heading out for the march.
A little after 1:00 PM, the march kicked off and was
led by a contingent of veterans and military families -
some of the people most impacted by the war in Iraq. I
watched the march go by, and what a sight that was!
People from many walks of life, some young, some old,
some from close-by in St. Paul and Minneapolis, some
from faraway places - all of them gathered for the
march. Contingents of immigrants, labor, poor people,
young people, doctors, religious, and faith-based
groups and much more took part in the march, carrying
tons of great homemade signs and banners. Literally,
tens of thousands of people united in their call to end
the war now!
It was a powerful statement of the deep opposition to
the war in Iraq that exists in every corner of this
country. It was a clear call for an end to the threats
of war with Iran. You couldn't miss the demand to turn
our nation's priorities around and start meeting the
needs of our communities and stop feeding the machinery
of war with our tax dollars.
The march took a route that went in front of the Excel
Center, the site of the RNC - though, once in that
area, marchers had to walk in an area with huge fencing
on both sides of them. While there was hardly any
police presence at the rally site or with the march
itself, there was a massive police operation in the
downtown area, especially near the Convention Center.
The march route turned around at this point and
returned to the starting location on the lawn of the
State Capitol. All but a few hundred people left the
downtown area, exhausted and hot but glad to have been
a part of this important mass mobilization against the
war.
Some people stayed downtown; and before too long, there
were confrontations with the police. I was not in
attendance downtown during the melee, and I'm not able
to report back firsthand, but from the information that
I have received and heard, it is clear that the police
overreacted and used excessive force, using pepper
spray, hitting people with batons, pushing people back
with horses, and much more. Regardless of how we feel
about the activities of the some of the people in
downtown St. Paul, the actions of the police force were
deplorable. In the end, the police arrested 284 people,
including at least four journalists.
United For Peace and Justice was proud to have been
part of the locally-led coalition that organized the
demonstration, and we congratulate the organizers for a
job well-done. We are pleased that we helped get the
word out and mobilized people to be at this march and
other activities in St. Paul during the RNC, just as we
did in Denver for the DNC.
We urge you to keep watching the news to see how things
unfold in the next few days, especially in terms of
police conduct. They need to know that people around
the country are watching!
UFPJ was also working to spread the word about the
major national mobilization, Million Doors for Peace,
scheduled for September 20. A group of staff and
volunteers was actively leafleting in both Denver and
St. Paul, at a whole host of locations in both cities,
to ensure that people and the groups they are
associated with become involved in this very important
mobilization.
More information on the Million Doors for Peace
mobilization will be sent out shortly. To hear more
about this effort, click here
<">http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?">2&c=21ZuIHGk0HUkJqO3a6%2FNpSgZz%2BwA6v%2FV>
and sign-up to be a volunteer, willing to knock on forty doors in your own
neighborhood for voter education, petition-signing, and other related items. You
can sign-up here to volunteer for this effort.
Peace,
Leslie Cagan, UFPJ National Coordinator
Monday, September 1, 2008
GOP/police crack down on freedom of press
ST. PAUL, MN—Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman was unlawfully arrested in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota at approximately 5 p.m. local time. Police violently manhandled Goodman, yanking her arm, as they arrested her.
Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now! producers who were being unlawfully detained. They are Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar. Kouddous and Salazar were arrested while they carried out their journalistic duties in covering street demonstrations at the Republican National Convention. Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher told Democracy Now! that Kouddous and Salazar were being arrested on suspicion of rioting. They are currently being held at the Ramsey County jail in St. Paul.
Democracy Now! is calling on all journalists and concerned citizens to call the office of Mayor Chris Coleman and the Ramsey County Jail and demand the immediate release of Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar. These calls can be directed to: Chris Rider from Mayor Coleman's office at 651-266-8535 and the Ramsey County Jail at 651-266-9350 (press extension 0).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)