Social Justice Magazine
Wendy Block is an elected rep of the 42nd AD on the DSCC and DPSFV. She’s Recording Secretary of Valley Democrats United, a member of the Kitchen Cabinet of Kitchen Table Democracy, and speaks and advocates to pass the California Fair Elections Act, on our ballots in June.
We have about a day and a half to save a groundbreaking bill that will make corporations and big-spending One Percenters who buy political ads, reveal their identities in their commercials so you’ll know who’s trying to manipulate your vote. The California DISCLOSE Act, AB 1148, authored by progressive champion Assemblywoman Julia Brownley (D – [...]
Wendy Block: But Stephen, my basic motivation for telling you about DISCLOSE is because when you oppose things, you lavish them with criticism on your show for the benefit of the entire Colbert Nation, which pretty much means the entire universe. I bet your opposition could – no, will — clinch our victory.
Wendy Block: My worst long-range political nightmare is watching the next Republican president appoint even one Supreme Court justice (Go Ralph Nader for President in 2000!).
Wendy Block: Here is one conglomerated guide, the result of studying the few remaining newspapers, endorsements from the LA County Democratic Party, DPSFV, the League of Women Voters, the Courage Campaign and LA Progressive; plus analysis from several progressive Dem clubs and recommendations from electeds.
Wendy Block: Frank Luntz gets paid big bucks, by the right, to play these linguistic tricks on the rest of us; it’s our job to catch his sleight-of-hand and call him on it, and to encourage all the non-political junkies we know to recognize his misdirection for what it is.
Wendy Block: This Election Day, Masry hopes to make that scenario real by beating Jeff Gorell for the open seat in California’s 37th Assembly District (Ventura/LA County). If she wins, her victory will also be a victory for millions of people half a world away.
Wendy Block: The Citizens United decision doesn’t address the homeland of donors. So what would stop multi-national companies or even foreign countries from procuring such potential winners as Sharron Angle, Joe Miller, or Christine O’Donnell? Who are the people/corporations behind these mysterious ads? Could Osama bin Laden be a donor? After all, the Supreme Court did rule in favor of free speech for all money.
Wendy Block: If you missed Valley Democrats United’s most spectacular Badge of Courage luncheon yet, you didn’t learn how one person – including you — can revolutionize progressive communication.
Wendy Block: I don’t know if the world would improve if women ran it. Our decision-making and problem-solving brain centers are proportionally larger than men’s. Same with emotions, perhaps a mixed blessing. And anxiety tends to lead women to reach out to others, often at their own expense, whereas men generally get all “fight or flight.”
Wendy Block: Valley Democrats United’s (VDU’s) 2010 Badge of Courage honorees knew corporate media would respect progressive voices about the same time Rush Limbaugh invited Amy Goodman to guest host his radio show. So documentarian extraordinaire Robert Greenwald, and citizen journalists for the world Sharon Kyle and Dick Price, crashed the international debate.
Wendy Block: It’s impossible to eliminate money from politics, and there’s no reason to. But release candidates from huge campaign contributors and the special favors that follow victory, and you’ll see miracles after every election.
Wendy Block: If every emergency prep session started like Mason’s, I’d already be an expert in CPR and have several well-stocked larders located strategically, carrying the appropriate first-aid provisions and food needed immediately after disaster strikes– whether at home or away.
Wendy Block: Both Zinn and Salinger remained true to themselves. Zinn maintained his radical stance when many of his contemporaries softened. Salinger rejected what he considered the phoniness of fame, and even stopped publishing (but maybe now, secreted works will go public). Though some of his rumored actions, if true, were eccentric, there’s nothing reclusive about wanting to live a life free from an obsessively attentive outside world.
Wendy Block: My criticism of Blue Shield (substitute Blue Cross or Aetna or…) is that the medical experts who know and have treated me for many years, got disgusted and finally left. My HMO doc gives me normal prescriptions and orders routine lab tests. But often, normal isn’t enough.
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