We Fight Low Information
Sharon Kyle: The billionaire Koch brothers, David and Charles, are hosting their bi-annual meeting of right-wing billionaires. Odds are you’re probably not a right-wing billionaire and weren’t invited to their event. But, no worries, a coalition of progressive organizations has planned an event just for you.
It’s happening again! I’m getting a slew of emails from friends because they don’t have a clue who they should vote for in the upcoming California Democratic Party Delegate election. Like the judicial elections, the average voter is either completely clueless or is only vaguely aware of the delegate process. Most voters know very little about the candidates and still more don’t know there is an election on Jan 8 and Jan 9.
The politics of fear led to the post-Pearl Harbor internment of 120,000 Japanese-Americans yet, not a single one of the interned was ever found to have any connection to the bombing. For them, simply being born Japanese-American was reason enough to be treated like criminals.
Elizabeth Edwards passed away yesterday. To honor her we’ve republished a piece written by Linda Milazzo in 2007 entitled, “I Love Elizabeth Edwards”. Milazzo does a good job of expressing what many feel.
For more than thirty years she represented controversial, and often unpopular defendants. Because of work she did in providing legal council to one of her clients she was charged with conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists.
Sharon Kyle: What troubled me this morning and the reason this email was delayed is because I noticed that once again every article in this newsletter was written by a white man. So I decided to write this article to say. . .
An event you shouldn’t miss. The book, “The Blessing Next to the Wound”, was selected by the Amnesty International group in Pasadena as their November reading selection. No wonder. It is the story of Hector Aristizábal surviving poverty, torture by the US-trained military, cocaine cartels, and civil war in Colombia, as well as facing the challenges of exile. Co-written by Diane Lefer. Hector and Diane will be at Vroman’s Books in Pasadena TONIGHT, Friday Nov 12th at 7:00pm
Sharon Kyle: So, in sum, things may look better after you attend a rally like the one yesterday, but in the final analysis, we’ve still got a bunch of insulated decision-making elites who need to be kept in check by the voters. If you haven’t already voted, please do it on Tuesday and encourage all of your friends and loved ones to do the same.
The term of a supreme court justice ends one of four ways; retirement, resignation, impeachment conviction, or death. However, only one Supreme Court justice has been impeached, Samuel Chase. Impeached in 1804, Chase was acquitted and remained on the bench until his death in 1811. So, to sum it up, if one were to rely on history to forecast the future, the likelihood of a justice being impeached and removed is slim to none.
Regardless of the outcome of the midterm elections, the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United is one that cannot be ignored. Joe Palermo called the impact of the Citizens United decision a “game changer”.
Here we go again. I just received my “Official Sample Ballot” in the mail. I open it and scan each page. I see the list of candidates running for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, controller, treasurer, and so on. I know, without any doubt who I will be casting my vote for in all of the races except one. Which one?. . . You guessed it. THE JUDGES!!!!
This article was posted for the November 2010 election. Click here for the March 8, 2011 election recommendations. Thanks to Marcy Winograd and the Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles, you don’t have to go to the polls clueless. You can walk in with your head held high because PDLA has done their homework and provided [...]
In a recent commentary on Sarah Palin’s endorsement of Tea Party candidates, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich said, “After the victories of many of the insurgent primary candidates she’s sponsored, Sarah Palin is off to Iowa for a high-profile series of political events. Is it possible she’s looking to make a run in 2012? [...]
When my daughter told me she was planning the birth of my soon to arrive grandchild, I expected her to tell me that she was going to use a mid-wife but she told me no, she was going the conventional route. She planned to deliver in a hospital with a doctor, the way all of the women in my family have done for the past 100 years except that she was going to use — here’s the new term — a “doula”.
In his final of a three part series of videos, Gabriel Buelna of the Nonprofit Network Blog asks Father Greg Boyle pointed questions about Same Sex Marriage Church Doctrine v. Common Sense Immigration Reform and the Arizona Law Father Boyle offers some surprising answers and gives viewers insight into why this leader is so compelling [...]
The LA Progressive is proud to endorse Margie Murray, a long time peace and justice activist, who is running for the KPFK Local Station Board. Says Margie, “I support the mission of KPFK and want to help expand its reach to an even greater and more diverse listener audience”.
Labor Day became a federal holiday in the United States in 1894. At that time, conflict between labor unions and the railroads had reached such a fever pitch that there was danger of the American economy taking a big hit. President Grover Cleveland took action by calling in the U.S. Military and U.S. Marshals to [...]
ANOTHER !! Oil Rig Explosion in the Gulf of Mexico National Public Radio, the New York Times, CNN and other media outlets are reporting that another offshore oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. According to the reports, the explosion occurred 80 miles off the coast of Louisiana, just east of the Deepwater Horizon [...]
Part 2 of Gabriel Buelna’s interview with Father Boyle, founder and director of the largest gang intervention program in the country, Homeboy Industries. Fr. Boyle discusses ways the organization has raised funds including an idea that was brought to him by actress Rosario Dawson.
Sharon Kyle: In response to Anthony Samad’s article, “Ramadan: The Best Time To Discuss America’s Growing Anti-Muslim Sentiment”, we posted a quick simple poll to gauge the sentiments of the LA Progressive community on the construction of an Islamic Community Center near Ground Zero.
Many same sex couples were planning to be married this week but yesterday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals extended the ban on same sex marriage while the Proposition 8 case is being appealed. View the two page order granting the stay.
Sharon Kyle: The spotlight this week is on congressional representatives Maxine Waters and Charles Rangel. Both, accused of ethics violations. Both choosing to have their day in court – so to speak.
Citizens United Case Disenfranchises Human Beings I was talking to a friend one day about how to teach children to be fair with one another. He told me that when he was a kid, his mother had a great way of squashing fairness disputes between him and his sister. When an argument arose around someone [...]
Sharon Kyle: We are in a battle that we are losing because we are overly entertained, we’re not paying attention, and we continue to buy stuff and information that is not good for us.
Author Alexander Zaitchik sits down with Keith Olbermann to discuss his new book, “Common Nonsense, Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance”. Zaitchik tells Olbermann that we shouldn’t misinterpret Beck’s recent dip in ratings to mean that he is losing popularity.
Sharon Kyle: Of course, it is possible that Palin’s celebrity will never be more than that – celebrity and she’d be clobbered if she were to actually enter the bid for the presidency. But, so far, things have been working out pretty well for Sarah Palin.
The Oscar Grant verdict has been handed down. Johannes Mehserle has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, the lesser of the three charges he was facing.
Berry Craig: Called the “Ride for Respect,” the demonstration at Walmart corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, will be modeled on civil rights volunteers who rode buses into the South in the 1960s to protest Jim Crow racial injustice.
Charles Hayes: What 42 makes crystal clear is how shallow and superficial the strain of contempt is that enables and sustains racism as prejudice is handed down from one generation to the next.
Walter Moss: What unites us, as it did the early Progressives, is resistance to–in John Muir’s memorable phrase–“trying to make everything dollarable.”
PCL offers monthly Open House Events on the 2nd Saturday at 2pm and 3rd Thursday at 6pm. Click here to learn more.
Sarah Palin Tweets Support to Schlessinger
Sarah Palin tweeted that Laura Schlessinger’s 1st amendment rights ceased to exist thanks to activists trying to silence her for using the N-word. Schlessinger’s constitutional rights were unaffected, her employability was.