February 2008

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The Jam-Lewis lineup of the Time, Grammys, Sunday

Holy Moly.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at February 9, 2008 3:15 AM | Comments (0)

 

What I did for Mardi Gras: My resolution passed!

Tonight I went to the Golden Valley caucus across the street from my house and introduced a resolution for the Democratic Farm-Labor Party of Minnesota to support H.R. 4048, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act. The DFL turnout in my suburb was something like four times greater than the previous all-time record, so that 400-plus people turned out for my precinct alone--basically one classroom in a gradeschool full of classrooms, ours filled past capacity, with people sitting on the floor and standing in back.

The room was heavily pro-Obama and pro-Al Franken. Nevertheless, resolutions calling for single-payer healthcare and impeaching Bush and Cheney were voted down. So I was happy to see mine adopted without any nay votes, and without even arguments against it. "But I didn't get to read my speech," I said. That got a laugh. Afterward, I found a delegate going to the county caucus who'll advocate for the resolution, a former resident of Louisiana.

There's every chance in the world that none of this will amount to anything. Yet I wanted to share the experience in case anyone feels, as I have in the past, that caucuses are for insiders, and that you can't do anything to make a difference in either of the major political parties. They're not, and you can.

I was gratified, too, to see both Clinton and Obama mention New Orleans in their speeches on television tonight. I hope that they force the Republican party to address the question, because the media isn't pressing it. What I was going to say in my "speech" was this: that failure or success in reconstructing the Gulf Coast will be looked back on as a defining issues of our time.

High-larious:

Obama Girl email to City Pages and video.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at February 6, 2008 12:17 AM | Comments (1)

 

Mardi Gras Super Tuesday

"I would, with all due respect, say that the United States government is much more than a business. It is a trust. It is the most complicated organization, but it is not out to make a profit. It is out to help the American people. It is about [what we do] to stand up for our values and to do what we should at home and around the world to keep faith with who we are as a country. With all due respect, we have a president who basically ran as the 'CEO/MBA president,' and look what we got. I am not too happy about the results."

-- Hillary Clinton, 2008

I guess I can now say in good conscience that I was for Edwards. He launched and ended his campaign in New Orleans. When he was done with his short withdrawal speech, he and his family went to work on rebuilding a house. CNBC reported that he secured, from the two remaining leading Democratic nominees, a promise to make poverty an issue in the general election.

The night before, I shook his hand in St. Paul and slapped him on the back, but I think I knew then that it was over. Edwards was the first candidate I've ever supported whose reading list actually interests me. And yet he lacks Obama's sense of humor, Clinton's fighting eyes, and McCain's off-the-cuff humanity, the kind of things that matter in mass-media campaigns. Whatever intangible quality silences the voice in the back of my head saying "he's only a politician," Edwards does not have it. (Read Facing South's take.) Now I'm simply against Evil Robot, who triggers the "World War III" voice in the back of my head, and whose adviser on national security is none other than a VP for Blackwater.

I'm also for whichever of the Democratic candidates has a better plan for the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. You can compare Clinton's and Obama's yourself. Then go caucus tonight if you're in Minnesota. I'm leaning towards Obama, whose rhetoric on the issue is stronger, but so far I haven't heard either candidate so much as mention HR 4048, or the HUD corruption behind the recent razing of affordable housing in New Orleans. Download a resolution form here to shape the Democratic Farm-Labor platform for 2008.

Before and after caucusing (which starts at 6:30 p.m.), there's a Mardi Gras celebration tonight with the Jack Brass Band at Dixie's on Grand, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Don't miss their CD release show on Friday, February 22 at the Varsity Theater; $7 (21+), 9:00 p.m. door. Gold Standard open. By then, let's hope the media recognize the Gulf Coast reconstruction as an issue of national concern.

Minnesota caucuses tonight at 6:30 p.m.
http://caucusfinder.sos.state.mn.us/

Democratic Farm-Labor Party
http://www.dfl.org/

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at February 5, 2008 11:39 AM | Comments (0)

 

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