LA seems so much like a self-contained unit many don’t realize we don’t get our share of fed funds in his district. In fact, esp. under this maladministration, we get fewer tax dollars back than we send.

This last election, we had a chance until the primary. Don’t know what happened, but Cynthia “I’m gayer than Drieir” Matthews didn ‘t even come close. She came within a few percentage points last time she ran against him, thanks to a public spat between Drieir and two radio DJ’s over immigration.

Russ Warner, the man she beat in the primary, had a good chance in this CD. Who knows? He’s running again next time and, while he’s not exactly progressive, he’s a good Dem.

It’s the only word I don’t use. It’s the only one that makes me go “ohhh” and stop reading. If my survey is correct, 9 out of 10 women feel the same.

Ifya wouldn’t mind, could ya lose it outta your vocabulary, at least here?

Fixed for you, Mommybrain. TRex

See you upstairs.

Swordswoman @ 14

I wish I could say this less clumsily. I’m convinced that we may not be able to do much, but what we do is not futile. The Underground Railroad didn’t end slavery, but it made a difference to some slaves… and it made a difference to the people who operated the Railroad.

I think you said it beautifully. The individuals matter, and this analogy is a great one to keep in mind any time we feel our efforts to do good are for naught. Thinking in terms of the individuals benefited generates power and motivation; in terms of general populations, not so much.

That is a great concept, indeed. And it resonates with me particularly, as my family — Quakers back then — ran a stop on the underground railroad in Michigan. I was privileged to revisit the old farmhouse many years ago (owned by then by an African-American woman and her children, who actually didn’t know the story). Basing my search on family stories, I went down to the basement to see the tunnel that led under the road to the barn, and went up into the tower where a kerosene lamp was hung when a new shipment was expected, alerting other Quakers to come by and pick up their packages.

Lights are hoisted up into the towers here at FDL, and over at Daily Kos, and at America Blog, and HuffPost. Other leaders, like Glenn Greenwald and Taylor Marsh and Matt Stoller and Chris Bowers and Digby help map out routes for others, enslaved by years of right-wing domination, to escape from the grips of the plantations of the right.

Except this is an Overground Railroad.

We’ve arrived at a point where the truth of Iraq — that it is a social, political construct which didn’t have the support of its own citizens, only that of outside forces and strong men — must emerge and be allowed to realize itself as separate states. We’ve deferred this day for a long time, too long. And we’re in the way. I don’t wish for one more innocent to die, but we are not preventing any deaths by staying, as the overfilled morgues there prove.