Login HereDave Neiwert and I were talking yesterday about the need for an AA for bloggers, because you get sucked in to the constant stream of information and research and debate. And the next thing you know, you've lost several hours on the computer or with your nose in a book or magazine. My suggestion was that there needed to be a further chapter of Blog-Anon for family members of bloggers who need to vent about their computer-addled spouses. The worst part is that sometimes it feels like no matter how much time you put in, how many hours of research, how much discussion or calls or...well, it just feels like you are running in place in quicksand some days.
And then I got an e-mail from a reader with a link to this YouTube, and I wanted to work even more. You'll see what I mean when you watch it.
In case anyone is wondering, this is how we get more and better Democrats -- better educated voters, found and nurtured one at a time, registered and ready to vote. People who, through the magic of human contact and a spark of inspiration from talking to someone else who is willing to put themselves on the line for a cause greater than themselves, aslo see the possibilities in a collective push to make things better.
Then that person goes out to do the same -- to interest other citizens in participating in this grand experiment in self-governance we call the United States. And it multiplies across like-minded folks who want something better, for themselves, for their nation, and for all the generations to come -- and who are willing to vote that way and do the work to make it happen.
Just imagine the possibilities. Better yet, put that inspiration to work to make it happen...just like the Patterson family. Kudos!
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Mornin’, Christy. Great post and that’s the way it works.
(((QuakerGirl)))
Morning, Christy. Morning, Southern Dragon. Sending prayers for Quakergirl.
Each one reach one (or, is it teach one? Both work, I think).
(((QuakerGirl))) Peace to you.
(((Patterson family)))
Turns out there’s nothing much the matter with Kansas…at least not with this family.
Thanks — it pretty much is the way it works. And I’m tired of the GOP using local churches as their own, personal “vote Republican or you are going to hell” forced voting system. It’s time we changed some minds back to civic duty and independent thought process, isn’t it?
Christy - I saw a recent article which talked about the generational gap in the evangelican movement - I think the younger people really resent the GOP interjecting their agenda.
Asked how he managed to build such a powerful organization, Cesar Chavez replied, “One person at a time.” Even with all our electronic toys imo face-to-face is still the most effective method of enlisting supporters. People don’t carry on civil discourse in sound bites. We’re doing it here to elect a better Dem. Definitely an uphill battle but one worth waging.
If this is true, then the young people have the power to save this country. Because the Fox crowd doesn’t seem to mind at all.
Duty calls.
But I don’t need any “AA for bloggers” program. I can quit anytime I want.
Good Morning Christy,
Thanks for starting the day with some inspiration,
and the happy goal of more and better Democrats
LOL, me too.
lol! one of my all time favorites
(((((QUAKER GIRL)))))
I’m sorry, but it just makes so damn sad @ Quaker Girl. (((((SURROUNDING YOU WITH WARM LOVING LIGHT)))))
The night of the 2006 mid-term election, myself and others were live-blogging the night on AMERICAblog. TWEAK, who was a regular commenter was in the hospital fighting for his life. He was able to convince the hospital to let him use his laptop (or he borrowed one inside the hospital), so he could talk to all of us. Well, after the Democrats took control of both houses, TWEAK left a final message to us “shock troops” that he was so happy to see this victorious night. Well, he died shortly after he left the message to us. We know this, because his brother came on Ablog a week or so later (at TWEAK’s asking before he died) and told us this had happened.
So sad! It pains me to lose great Patriots.
Thanks for the video, Christy. I think that the two biggest impacts this year are from the newly registered voters, as pointed out in the video and from the massive number of individual donors. Doesn’t Obama now have over 1.5 million individual donors? That’s how the massive donations from the special interests can and will be overcome.
Is there going to be an effort to get Obama to help down-ticket candidates? I’m trying to help out a Democratic challenger to our entrenched Gooper Congressman. We would be helped greatly if we could get the Obama campaign to send out a communication to his donors in the district to support our candidate. If the Obama campaign did this across the country, I think the effects on the entire election would be tremendous.
I’ll be canvassing neighborhoods this Saturday. Should be fun. Thursday evening I meet with fellow Obama delegates to get ready for the State Convention in June.
Kay - I’ve said this before but for all the fighting and disagreements, etc. we have here, I still feel we are all family in a crazy way. It pains me no end that I don’t know where Quakergirl is or how to reach any of her close-by friends of relatives. She could be in the town next door to me and I’d never know it. And if she were, I’d go to hospice and sit with her and hold her hand, the way I did for my mom. But I can’t.
Good morning CHS. Is this the America we want?
OT
I am sick over the arrest of 300 undocumented workers in the kosher meat plant 18 miles from here. The rural communities are devastated here over their roundup as they were herded into buses and transported 100 hundred miles away to a place called the National Cattle Congress.
http://www.desmoinesregister.c...../805140358
“And then they came for me”
Facsists
(((QuakerGirl)))
We are family.
And last night, dakinikat mentioned Elizabeth has had a relapse? Caring thoughts for all our FDL family who walk the cancer road.
Which one? This is my second time around as treasurer for a Dem trying to unseat Bill Young, who got on the ballot this time by getting petition signatures. The difference between the Pinellas County Rethug and Dem parties couldn’t be more evident. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of those on the Dem Executive Committee were getting petitions signed for Young. They sure didn’t help us. Worthless bunch of Bush Dogs.
OMG! look at those long driveways!
Good on you, KIM! June 1 is our congressional district gathering of delegates prior to state convention. Hoping to make that.
TobyWollin, your kind spirit is a very tender thing. As we schlog through cancer here, people like you are more precious than…well, than almost anything. Thank creation the national bile hasn’t buried you. I mean it.
I know exactly what you mean Toby. It’s our words, thoughts, and opinions that bind us online. We don’t really know each other but we have a kinship that is strong. Believe me, I don’t agree with all the opinions of my regular readers, but we like each other a lot and that prevails over everything.
By the way, here’s TWEAKS’ last comment to all of us before he died:
It still makes me weepy after all this time! He was a good man fighting the good fight with all of us. Miss him. ;-)
Okay, going to work. Have a great day everyone!
My favourite line was, “Can you say Obama?”
Thanks
It’s been years since I’ve been to Lindsborg, so I could be wrong, but I think I know the Pattersons in that YouTube.
The thing about that YouTube is that it could be done by a family, a small group of school buddies, a couple of coworkers, or some other collection of folks. It could be done in an urban area, a small town, a suburb, — just about any neighborhood.
Imagine a group of folks folks on horseback riding from farm to farm in a more rural areas. “We’re the Democratic Roundup Crew, looking for some stray voters. Could we talk to you for a minute?”
Ya know, this really is a family. And while there’s an addictive element at play (my name is barbara…), there is something so powerful (and healing) at work here. And yes, I would be unable to write without parentheses (as you have probably noticed over time).
Tim Cunha in FL-6. He’s challenging Cliff Stearns. I’ve started posting on The Case Against Cliff. So far, our local Dem Executive Committee has been helpful, even making the office available for a meeting to organize the campaign.
christy - thanks for the video, reminds me of canvassing in CT for lamont. really enjoyed it. someday i’d love to canvass not for a particular candidate, but just to ask people about what matters to them and what ideas they have for making things better. what a national conversation we could have with just those two questions.
toby and kay - thank you.
That baby is so adorable. Reminds me of taking The Peanut out canvassing with me for the Kerry campaign in 2004. I’d pop her in her stroller and off we’d go. She wasn’t quite that young, but it sure did bring back memories…
We had that in 06 when the chair of the DEC was a radical. They ousted him in 07. Now they’re in lockstep with the Rethugs. There are a couple of individuals helping us but the rest are too busy sucking up to Mel Sembler and the rest of the greedheads. It’s a microcosm of Kansas in 2000. The voters in this county have no problem voting against their own interests. Most of our volunteers are young and want change.
Really putting the family back into politics, not that phony family values crap from the Rethugs.
Wouldn’t it be nice to think we’d actually have that sort of national conversation, instead of the crap that gets tossed around during debates or the phony ad war idiocy that gets ginned up or spammed around in hit e-mails?
For those of you who were around for the chat, my old Con Law professor, Bob Bastress, unfortunately lost his primary race yesterday. The good news is that the Justice about whom ethical questions had been raised? He lost his race, too. So if I can’t get Bob sitting on the court, we at least have folks remaining in the race who are all fine lawyers who have a lot of personal integrity, including the woman who will be running on the GOP side.
So, that’s something…just wish it had been more. (But, isn’t that always the way?)
Shorter Matalin on Imus this morning:
Bush is not a liar, Bush never lied, I’ve known him 20 years and Bush never, never, never lied…belljar…liberal bloggers are meanies.
Ooops — meant to link in the conversation on judicial elections, in case folks wanted to take a peek who had missed it. Sorry about that, gang…not quite awake yet this morning. It was a long day yesterday…
And, what alternative universe is she living in?
OT - there are lots of interesting congressional hearings scheduled for today. here are just a few (for complete lists, details and links click on my name):
the one on the far right
Would that be Mary “member of the WHIG, former Dick Cheney spokesperson who covered for his ass when Libby got indicted and did fundraising at her own home for her pal Scooter” Matalin? Oh yeah, I’m so buying every freaking word she says…
Channeling Satann Coulter.
to quote you and egr - it’s a marathon not a sprint. *g*
Oooooh, thanks selise. I’m woefully behind in hearings this week due to researching so much on the WV primary. And my brain is too foggy this morning to have looked all that up — so bless you. Those do look interesting…
You rang?
If a Democrat can win MS-1, imagine what can happen on a national scale this fall if we can unite the Democrats! Let’s all keep our eyes on what is at stake and what we can accomplish together. It’s hard to see now, but we are stronger for our differences. The Republicans are failing because a central feature of their approach is absolute intolerance for differing views. We get stronger when we discuss things together and work things out.
Good morning Christy,
I had a funny dream, that the Democrat won for Congress in reddest Mississippi.
Election Contingency Plans?
Yeah, very true. I thought Bob was the most highly qualified — his con law work and especially the work he’d done on voter integrity has been superb. But, honestly, the three remaining folks who will be vying for two seats on the Court are all incredibly decent and hard-working professionals, and any contact I’ve had with any of them suggests they’d do a good job.
It just sucks when someone you know and like loses, doesn’t it? SIGH
Anti-choice, pro-gun supposed Dem. Not a real one
So I take it you don’t live in a conservative part of the country?
clinton2 is crowing this morning about her great victory in CHS’s back yard as if her bankrupt campaign has suddenly found new life and will be the toast of America come the August convention. Get real lady.
As we have found out during the last couple of weeks of talking head politics WV is populated by elderly, hard working, white racists and, apparently, no one else. The problem with the supposition that only she can win the popular vote come November is that the country is not a majority of elderly, hardworking, racist whites it is, rather, an eclectic mix of people that also include misogynists and anti-clintons who will under no circumstances vote for a woman and will definitely not vote for a woman named clinton.
The WV “victory” was like getting two numbers correct on a lottery ticket and hoping the other numbers will come up the following week. Delusional.
Uh huh, the race was clearly of no consequence. That would explain why Cheney, Barbour, Huckabee, Cochran, and Lott all campaigned for his opponent. And why the Republican party dropped well over a million dollars to defend a completely “safe” Repub district — and still lost.
We are making inroads in places we could not have dreamed of a year ago.
I live in the great liberal bastion of New Hampshire. A State with two progressive Reps and two nutter Sens. (Gregg is a total, absolute nutter Sununu is mostly a nutter but is very good on pro-choice and DV issues)
Good Morning Christy and Firedogs,
I-N-F-R-A-S-T-R-U-C-T-U-R-E
and I’m not talking about Pawlenty’s killer bridge, talkin’ about progressive infrastructure, rebuilding the 50 State Network that was once our party
have linked this article before, good overview of how the Obama camp has organized around the country - with an emphasis on local autonomy
read it online the day before the Texas primary - and had my come to jeebus moment on election day when I saw it in the working flesh in our little town and our once scarlet red county
this is something Jane, Christy, and Pach, Pach, (((Pach))) have been talkin about since I got here - how it will play out, how much influence we are to have, and how it will benefit the progressive cause after November are questions far above my pay grade - but I consider it a gift and something I plan on maximizing - there are thousands of Patterson Family’s out here
not an Obama fan ? s’okay, get out there and work with Chairman Dean on the oh so crucial downticket races - but you’re gonna love what’s out there
Rolling Stone
But this is good news for the GOP, right?
Yep, we’re all just racist geezers here in WV. Yeppers…that’s why so many of the Clinton voters from yesterday were saying that Obama was their second choice, that they’d vote for him in the Fall against McCain. Just because the national media reports something, it really does not make it true.
We get enough insulting claptrap from the likes of Maureen Dowd, thanks…
Me no say that. I just said the Dem is anti-choice and pro-gun.
Oh christ I forgot the snark thingy. I was trying to point out the stupidity of the talking heads and of the clinton2 claim that the vote made her viable.
. . . and that the person in question was a “supposed Dem.”
And “supposed Dem. Not a real one.”
You want to win in places like Mississippi or not? This was a total blowout for the good guys.
I cannot impress upon people too much that we’ve got a long way to go. The 08 election is not going to save the world nor resolve all the problems. We’ve got 30 years of right wing crap to deal with and it’s going to be a long hard process.
Folks might get tired of me posting this quote but I don’t think anyone could say it better than Churchill:
“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
My long version of “it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
(((Quaker Girl))) and (((Elizabeth)))
Southern Dragon - there’s a whole youtube page devoted to kidz for Obama
this will take you to it
nomolos - Mississippi - makes me happy to think that in a tanning booth somewhere in Georgetown, Boehner is sh*tting bricks and feeling Cheney’s hot sulfurous breath upon his neck
For folks who were following along on the discussion last night about how important the retail politics was in WV for the Presidential race — and why I thought Obama made a mistake not engaging in more of it, the way the Clintons were doing — I offer this as an example of why I thought that. This is an article about a WV House of Delegates race in Charleston that happened to be won by a former law school classmate of mine — but this is the portion that’s relevant:
“…During the campaign, Poore stressed her ability to be a voice for the residents of the 31st, made up of the urban flats of Charleston’s West Side, downtown and East End, and originally conceived as a minority-influence district.
Webster, an East End lawyer, emphasized her ability to influence legislation affecting the district as chairwoman of the powerful Judiciary Committee. She said she has remained true to her core issues of civil rights, workers’ rights and consumer rights with her ascension to a House leadership position.
Webster said she believes Poore benefited from a high turnout in the district of voters for presidential candidate Barack Obama, and from an emphasis on the West Side.
However, the biggest factor was Poore’s grass-roots door-to-door campaigning, something Webster said she had to cut back on this campaign, with her responsibilities as mother of a 3-year-old, a law practice, and a committee chairmanship.”
Every locality has it’s own quirks — Prairie Sunshine and I were talking about the differences in how SD was treated versus WV by the Obama camp in terms of strategy last night. And the key is knowing the local terrain well enough to fit yourself into the local needs in terms of campaign style. I think Obama had an advantage with Tom Daschell advising him for the Dakotas, that perhaps he didn’t have for WV — because, frankly, Jay Rockefeller has always sucked as a retail politician here and wouldn’t be good at that sort of advice. I’m just saying…
A vote for anti-choice is still a vote against choice no matter the D or R after the name. And a pro-gun vote is still a vote for murder on the streets no matter the D or R after the voter’s name. I will not settle for any candidate that takes a pro-gun and/or anti-choice position.
Methinks it’s gonna be a while before Boehner gets a Boehner.
Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, Maureen Dowd can bite me, too. Is there any stereotype in which she will refuse to engage if it makes her feel better about her own self?
Step 1: More Dems
Step 2: Better Dems
One step at a time.
“Living well is the best revenge”, and while I don’t believe, in theory, that revenge is good motivator, the thought of Karl Rove waking up for the last quarter of his life to a “permanent Democratic majority” sure is a sweet thought.
If I was in private practice I could make a ton of money from MoDo. There’s a woman with more issues than Carter has pills. I wonder what it’s like having to prop up your self-esteem 24/7.
It would be especially sweet if he was waking up behind bars… *g* (Sorry, couldn’t help myself.)
LMAO - was just thinking F* Maureen Dowd !!!
debutante this, MO !
we should send start posting parodies now of what will surely be the diffident dreck she’ll be spewing after november
Is MoDo necessary ? *g*
Serious question.
What is the difference between the WHIG and a Nazi office of propaganda?
Both knew they were lying & thousands of people died as a result.
you are picturing him waking up for the last quarter of his life in his cell at Leavenworth, knowing there’s a “permanent Democratic majority,” right?
I owe you a coke
amen and halleluja!
Well, the irritating thing is that she’s right about the cementing ideas and that Obama needs to get his ass in gear to change them. I’ve had many a conversation here and with relatives across the country who have gotten those SPAM e-mails and who believe them. Or, if not believe the whole of them, find parts of them credible. And their pushback has not been nearly enough on that.
What he needs is more one-on-one getting to know you retail in some of these areas, the sort of roll up your sleeves and get to work kind of stuff that Edwards does mixed in with the rock star rallies. That’s going to take a lot of planning and work. Based on the advance work that I saw from his trip to Missouri yesterday, I have to say his staff needs to step that up — because the optics on that venue were horrid.
But Dowd mistakes her sharp claw wit for wisdom sometimes — when the really good nuggets in that column come from someone else who actually got up off his butt and did the hard work once upon a time. Not that she’ll learn anything from that…
He he.
And, by the way, I love the fiddle music in this “West Virginians for Obama” video…did I mention that Maureen Dowd can bite me?
Yes, you did, but I think from a geographic standpoint, I’m closer, so I think she gets to bite me first;)
George W. Bush sacrificed golf because of the war. *He also reportedly cut back on caviar.
Talk about an elitist wanker.
-G
*Satire
“It ain’t over ’til the lady in the pants suit says it is.”
___
Pretty clear to me what HRC means by that.
Now THIS is the sort of “personal introduction” work (YouTube) that I’m talking about for Obama. More stuff like this.
NO… Don’t let that happen… those rabies series are painful. And I’ll bet her little teeth are as sharp as her little claws.
But, those who bike ride (and honeymoon) also serve.
Christy,
I so admire the breadth of your perspective. You are everywhere and always spot on.
That Patterson is a charmer, an inspiration. I would like to know his approach when he rings the doorbell. I would like to see the approach of a lot of people to who know how to do what he obviously does so well. I know listening well is the main thing. Is there an online training for this?
JEC hearing (where volcker will be testifying) is not streaming from their webpage.
All this talk about Bite Me tells me which shirt to put on today. I have the blue one.
Maureen Dowd, the Head Heather.
As nutritious as a creme horn washed down by a Yoo-Hoo.
-G
notNOWGood god, you just gave me sugar shock reading that. Ewwwww…
Good point about Jello Jay, he could not be expected to be of much help
with the people he sells out… I hope the campaign can get better help
and be more boots on the ground in WV in the fall. WV is a prime example
of how the Clinton/Bush prosperity systematicly leaves the working class
out of the “great” deals they make. There is still time to work on it.
When I was doing canvassing for the Kerry folks in 2004, the biggest thing was just to look folks in the eye and have a real conversation, and listen when they were speaking to you. Most of the time, I’d go in, sit down, and just talk to them like I was talking with any of my friends about the same issues.
People know when you respect their thoughts and opinions, and that reflects on the candidate. But they can also feel when you really mean what you are saying or whether you are going through the motions, I think. For me, it was going through the details on the issues — and talking a lot about the court systems — because that was the big issue for me, and still is. I’d say go with whatever issues hit you in your gut, but also the ones that touch people’s everyday lives. You know what matters in your community, where people are hurting…talk about those things and how the candidate you are supporting has plans to make them better.
Yet another reason I’ve been somewhat disappointed by the lack of love for Sen. Obama from the leadership here.
Of the two remaining candidates, Sen. Obama’s campaign has consistently mirrored the values of this place, i.e. 50 state strategy, no money from lobbyists, small ‘Blue America’ style campaign donations from hundreds of thousands of donors, minimal negativity in it’s message, etc.
OTOH, Sen. Clinton’s campaign had no 50 state strategy, took money from lobbyists, emphasized large donations, and has repeatedly gone very negative in it’s message.
Yet no direct endorsement for Sen. Obama, even now.
And, before someone goes there, this isn’t ‘poo flinging’ or ‘my candidate is teh awesome, and yours sucks.’
It is a serious attempt to understand why various Blue America candidates can get wholehearted support here, but Sen. Obama can’t.
Terry McAuliffe now says the the MSM are 90% biased in favor of The Sheikh, and that Faux News has been the “one of the most responsible” in its Dem campaign coverage.
That smarmy prick was everywhere on the tubes last night busily moving goalposts.
Dashed Mr Sunshine to work, so catching up…yes, it would be that Mat.
The scary thing is, up ’til this morning I thought she was just spoutin’ the chatter as any paid pr hack is supposed to do, part of the team, doin’ the “politics ain’t beanbag” so we’ll just go as far as we can go with this little spin.
Today I realized the woman is in Squeaky Fromme territory. Beyond a true believer in Bush’s lies, or Chee-knee’s lies, or Chee-knee’s Super Secret B-Team Facts Creators lies, she believes her own lies. [Robert McKee has a quadrant for that.]
One big difference though is the anti-choice Dem is no where near as likely to make that the centerpiece of his/her campaign where the anti-choice R is most likely to build the entire campaign around being anti-choice.
It may be a matter of priorities and semantics but there is a difference.
Once a Democratic candidate is selected, we’ll be behind the Dem candidate. But we made a conscious decision — which Jane has detailed previously in posts — to report on the primaries and influence policy, but not to pick any one candidate over another because it makes things all about one candidate and NOT about the work we want them to do.
Other sites made different choices. But the fact that we can still have a conversation here instead of just screaming at each other and calling each other names in a constant stream in the comments makes me think ours was a good choice for FDL.
So when are we going to start hearing “Republicans in dissarray” repeated over and over again?
Because they are pulling a McArthur Park cake on us right before our very eyes.
Their summer of discontent is almost upon us.
-G
smarmy he is, weasely, self serving, disingenuous
that’s for starters.
Now all day I’ll be thinking of the words to describe that unctuous toady
In case you missed it last night, Thinkprogress posted this debrief about a hearing on an Iraqi judge done wrong by BushCo. [yeah, I know, surprise, surprise….]
Prairie Today: Mississippi Meltdown
Ding. That cat makes me wanna throw stuff at my TV.
shit eatin dog fucker comes to mind