Progressive Groups

Free Showing of : "The World According to Monsanto"

Joanne ONeill — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:32:46 -0400

WHAT: Screening of "The World According to Monsanto"

WHEN: Tuesday, September 22 07:00 PM

WHERE: Collingswood Library
771 Haddon Ave
Collingswood, New Jersey 8108

HOSTED BY: PDA/DFA Progressive Demcracy South Jersey.

ProgressiveDemocracySoJersey@gmail.com or 856-858-4997

Tickets are FREE. RSVP required.

For more details and to RSVP, please visit:
http://monsanto.bravenewtheaters.com/screening/show/12887

--~--~------~--~---------~-------~--~----~
About the film:
Monsanto’s controversial past combines some of the most toxic products ever sold with misleading reports, pressure tactics, collusion, and attempted corruption. They now race to genetically engineer (and patent) the world’s food supply, which profoundly threatens our health, environment, and economy. Combining secret documents with first-hand accounts by victims, scientists, and politicians, this widely praised film exposes why Monsanto has become the world’s poster child for malignant corporate influence in government and technology.

David Swanson Featured Speaker at Kutztown Area Democratic Club's Fall Film/Lecture Series

feridun — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:29:42 -0400

David Swanson will promote his new book, "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union" in Kutztown, Pennsylvania at 7 p.m. on November 4th as part of the Kutztown Area Democratic Club's Fall Film/Lecture Series that runs from September 30th through November 11th. A book signing will follow Swanson's talk. The other events in the series are as follows:

30 September, 7 p.m., Boehm Hall, Room 105 Stealing America: Vote by Vote Employing first-person accounts, extensive research and telling clips gleaned from the nightly news, Emmy Awardwinning and Academy Award-nominated social issue filmmaker Dorothy Fadiman shines a spotlight on the gritty reality of the last decade’s most egregious incidents of U.S. electoral insecurity. SYNOPSIS For more than 20 years, exit polls accurately predicted U.S. election results. Over the last 10 years, that reliability has progressively disappeared.

What’s going on? http://www.stealingamericathemovie.org

07 October, 7 p.m., Boehm Hall, Room 105 Blood and Oil Featuring Michael T. Klare The notion that oil motivates America's military engagements in the Middle East is often disregarded as nonsense or mere conspiracy theory. In Blood and Oil, bestselling author and Nation magazine defense correspondent Michael T. Klare challenges this conventional wisdom and corrects the historical record. The film unearths declassified documents and highlights forgotten passages in prominent presidential doctrines to show how concerns about oil have been at the core of American foreign policy for more than 60 years -- rendering our contemporary energy and military policies virtually indistinguishable. In the end, Blood and Oil calls for a radical re-thinking of US energy policy, warning that unless we change direction, we stand to be drawn into one oil war after another as the global hunt for diminishing world petroleum supplies accelerates. http://www.bloodandoilmovie.com/ Discussion on foreign policy to follow.

14 October, 7 p.m., Boehm Hall, Room 105 War Made Easy War Made Easy reaches into the Orwellian memory hole to expose a 50-year pattern of government deception and media spin that has dragged the United States into one war after another from Vietnam to Iraq. Narrated by actor and activist Sean Penn, the film exhumes remarkable archival footage of official distortion and exaggeration from LBJ to George W. Bush, revealing in stunning detail how the American news media have uncritically disseminated the pro-war messages of successive presidential administrations. War Made Easy gives special attention to parallels between the Vietnam war and the war in Iraq. Guided by media critic Norman Solomon’s meticulous research and tough-minded analysis, the film presents disturbing examples of propaganda and media complicity from the present alongside rare footage of political leaders and leading journalists from the past, including Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, dissident Senator Wayne Morse, and news correspondents Walter Cronkite and Morley Safer. Norman Solomon’s work has been praised by the Los Angeles Times as “brutally persuasive” and essential “for those who would like greater context with their bitter morning coffee.” This film now offers a chance to see that context on the screen. http://www.warmadeeasythemovie.org/war made easy

Discussion on the media’s relationship to government and citizen to follow.

21 October, 7 p.m., Boehm Hall, Room 105 Fallout: Coming Home From the War in Iraq A documentary, by 18 year-old filmmaker Ava Lowery, about three veterans of the war in Iraq. Each veteran speaks about their experience as a soldier in Iraq and the challenges they faced while readjusting to civilian life here at home. Unbiased, this documentary aimed to have each veteran profile their own Iraq war experiences. http://www.iraqfallout.com/Home.html Discussion to follow.

28 October, 7 p.m., Boehm Hall, Room 105 End Of America Investigating parallels between our current situation and the rise of dictators and fascism in once-free societies, Wolf uncovers a number of deeply unsettling similarities—from the use of paramilitary groups and secret prisons to the targeted suspension of the rule of law. With this galvanizing call to arms based on her recent book, she urges regular citizens to take back our legacy of freedom and justice. http://www.endofamericamovie.com/about-film 04 November, 7 p.m., Boehm Hall Lecture Hall, Room 145 David Swanson, Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a more perfect Union "[Daybreak is] a useful guide to restore the balance of powers and reclaim our constitutional system of government."-Majorie Cohn, president of the National Lawyers Guild Daybreak is a thorough investigation of how Bush/Cheney altered the way American government works and deteriorated the Constitution and Bill of Rights. It includes clear plans for how we may reclaim democracy, declare our rights, and truly set out for a new America. Shocking and inspirational, Daybreak provides a clear breakdown of all that we have lost, and all that we have to gain. http://www.davidswanson.org/

11 November, 7 p.m., Boehm Hall Lecture Hall, Room 145 Armistice Remembrance Event The focus of this event is on the cessation of hostilities as a prelude to peace, and the human cost of war, particularly of children. So many lives cannot have been shattered, or lost, in vain. Readings of passages from speeches of international leaders throughout the ages, not just the 20th and 21st C., will be featured. Local university and primary school students will be invited to submit passages for consideration, which, if chosen, will be read by the student. A silent auction of artwork by local children will also take place throughout the evening. This event will be structured as a WarChild Fundraiser.

http://www.warchild.org/index.html

Handicapped parking is available in the lot next to the venue. Please contact info@kutztowndemocrats.org with your questions and check out our site, www.kutztowndemocrats.com for information on our other events.

Of Blue Dogs and Pink Jellyfish

dlindorff — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:51:45 -0400

By Dave Lindorff

What’s the difference between a Blue Dog Democrat and a progressive
Democrat? One is a vertebrate with a spine and a willingness to bite.
The other is a jellyfish with no spine and no teeth.

This difference has been glaringly apparent in the current fight over health care reform.

The Blue Dogs in House and Senate have been giving the progressive
Democrats an object lesson in how a small group in Congress can get its
way. They have threatened to withhold their support for the Obama
Administration’s key policy objective of a health reform package, and
have managed, with just a handful of votes between them, to remove
almost all progressive content from that legislation by threatening to
walk if they don’t get their way.

Compare that to the progressives—a much larger faction within the
Democratic Party majority in both houses. There are plenty of articles
currently circulating in the media talking about progressive rage and
dissatisfaction, both among progressives at large, and among
progressives in Congress, over the bills that are emerging in
committees in both the House and Senate—bills that are gutting any
reference to a genuine so-called “public option” government insurance
plan that would actually compete with and challenge private insurance
companies, and that have studiously avoided having anything to do with
a single-payer approach, bills that call for actually cutting back on
Medicare, the wildly successful single-payer program that since 1965
has been providing health care for the elderly and the disabled. But
none of the dissatisfied progressive Democrats in Congress, and only a
few of the progressive political organizations operating outside of
Congress, have threatened to bolt and oppose the sell-out legislation
that is being produced in Congress, or to stop supporting those
Democrats in Congress who are caving in to the pressure from the health
industry lobbies. And certainly none of those progressive groups have
told the president that he will no longer have their support if he
doesn’t insist on a much bolder and progressive health reform bill.

Given the power that the small Blue Dog Democratic Caucus has
demonstrated by threatening to rebel and vote against a health reform
bill, just imagine the power that Progressive Caucus would have if it
were to collectively threaten a “No” vote. Just imagine the different
path that health reform legislation would be taking in Congress today
if progressive organizations like trade unions, netroots organizations,
and others were to tell President Obama that they would withhold their
backing in 2010 from any member of Congress who didn’t vote for a
single-payer plan, or that he could no longer count on their support in
2012 if he failed to push for single-payer today.

This is the lesson of the current disaster of health reform in
Congress, and it is just the latest chapter in the failed history of
progressive Democratic politics.

It’s fine to work to elect progressives to Congress, and to send a
Democrat, progressive or not, to the White House, given that there is
no chance for progressive change while Republicans are in charge, and
given the institutional obstacles and the fratricidal internal
conflicts that prevent the rise of a viable Third Party alternative,
but progressive voters and progressive organizations have forgotten the
lesson of the Civil Rights and Anti-Indochina War movements. That
lesson is that elections are only a small first step, and that only
mass movements operating outside of Washington and outside of electoral
politics—mass movements that threaten the Democrats who are currently
in power—can produce progressive change.

The power of the Blue Dogs in Congress is derived from the fact
that despite their small number, they are numerous enough that, if they
stick together, they can derail a progressive reform bill.

But imagine how much more powerful the progressive caucus in House and Senate would be if it took the same tack.

Progressives in Congress, if they developed spines and teeth and
ceased being jellyfish, could threaten to vote against every bill
offered by those same Blue Dogs, unless they supported real health
reform—that is, a single-payer plan such as the one being put forward
today by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI). If they were backed up by
progressive grass roots organizations that let it be known that support
would end for any Democrat not backing single-payer reform, we could
have that reform.

Instead, we have jellyfish on the left, and both the president and
the Democrats in Congress, know that they can ignore the left, because
it will support them no matter what they do.

That is not to say that allthe Democrats in Congress are jellyfish--just most of them. Conyers, who showed jellyfish-like characteristics on the impeachment issue during the Bush/Cheney era, has been outspoken in his criticism of the Obama administration, and has offered a real single-payer alternative. And last week, at a gathering of Progressive Democrats of America in Washington, Conyers warned that Obama risks being a one-term president, saying to him, "Buddy, you are wrong on healthcare and it's going to cost you big time."

Still for the most part, progressives in Congress and at large across the country were quiet as Obama slimed single-payer and moved the debate to the right, only taking a stand at all on the already minimalist issue of whether there will be any kind of "public option" in the resulting legislation, however weak. And even there, few progressive members of Congress have actually vowed to vote down such a lame measure if there's no public option, or just a weak one.

Note: Today is the day that Congress will vote on Rep. Conyers’ single-payer bill (HR 676). For information on how to join in the fight for Single Payer, go to AfterDowningStreet.org or PNHP.org
_____________________

DAVE LINDORFF is a Philadelphia-based journalist. His latest
book is “The Case for Impeachment” (St. Martin’s Press, 2009). His work
is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net

Say 'Good-bye' to the Nice Health Care Reform, Kids

dlindorff — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:31:01 -0400

By Dave Lindorff

Of course I could be wrong. Congress could turn around and pass
some cockamamie scheme to kick the issue of health care reform down the
road, offering some kind of minimal insurance coverage to a few million
more people, and cracking down on this or that particularly egregious
health provider rip-off, and then staging a “mission accomplished”
photo op.

But real health care reform of the kind that Democratic candidates
were promising during last year’s presidential campaign is dead, killed
by the timidity of the promiser-in-chief, President Barack Obama (and
by the massive corruption of the Democrats in Congress, who hav e
accepted the tainted coin of the health care industry).

Obama could have come to the American people as a newly elected
leader and addressed us as adults, saying: “Look, we know what needs to
be done. Plenty of countries in Canada, Europe and elsewhere have
figured it out already. They set up the government as the single payer
to health providers—doctors and hospitals, etc.—and the government
bargains and sets the prices those private providers of health care can
charge. Of course that means you’ll all pay higher taxes to finance
such a plan, but the record of all those countries shows that you’ll be
saving money over all, because you won’t be paying for health
insurance, your employer won’t be paying for health insurance, you
won’t be paying co-pays and deductibles, and you won’t be getting
gouged for drugs or hospital stays or doctors’ bills. You won’t be
paying state taxes for Medicaid either, nor will your insurance and
local property taxes have to subsidize the hospital care of indigents.
On balance, you’ll all be saving money, and you’ll never have to worry
about disease or injury bankrupting you. Nor will employers be able to
hold you hostage any longer. The reality is that the countries that
have a single-payer plan are spending half of what we spend per capita
for health care, they have no uninsured citizens, and their health
overall, as measured by such things as longevity, infant mortality,
etc., is better than ours.”

The president could have said all this and rallied the tens of
millions of Americans who desperately want a health care system modeled
on the single-payer idea to his side, forcing Congress to go along or
pay the price in 2010.

Instead...

For the rest of this article, please go to: www.thiscantbehappening.net

________________
DAVE LINDORFF is a Philadelphia-based journalist. He is author of
“Marketplace Medicine: The Rise of the For-Profit Hospital Chains”
(Bantam Books, 1992), and of “The Case for Impeachment” (St. Martin’s
Press, 2006). His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net

27 Ways to Improve Progressive Organizing

Bob Fertik — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:40:11 -0400

Wade Hudson surveyed progressive activists to find out how we can organize more successfully. Here are the top 27 recommendations, which I believe are useful no matter what issues you're working on.

Evaluate and keep doing it. 9.78
Learn how to conduct short and productive meetings. 9.6
Treat individuals from other groups with respect. 9.6
Use the knowledge of individual cultures. Deep knowledge will produce great results. 9.56
Remind yourself to be a good listener. Step outside of your personal issues and listen objectively. Advise or respond as you would to a friend. Try to see that many people have many different perspectives and validate their thoughts. 9.56
Laugh. 9.54
Keep an open mind. 9.4
Get to know people on their turf. Find out what they want. Ask them what you could do to help. Listen. 9.4
Establish relationships with other groups and organizations: support their issues, become allies, be active in those organizations on behalf of shared interests. 9.4
Adjourn on time so decisions aren't made after some have left. 9.4
Don't propagandize reporters. 9.33
If you have a website &/or blog, keep it up to date. 9.33
Only ask for quick action when it's urgent, then say why specifically. 9.33
Celebrate victories. 9.23
Use individual talents and connections to their fullest. Find or create important roles for other participants (even if smaller than some others), so we are relying on one another. This reliance requires reliability -- trust and trustworthiness -- which in turn rests on the development of strong and multidimensional relationships among us. 9.2
Establish teams who are empowered to make decisions to take on individual tasks, such as recruiting, media, etc. 9.2
Set up phone/email trees, email lists, & car pools before they're needed. 9.2
Delegate responsibly. 9.2
Use technology to cut down redundancy. 9.2
Understand that some things take a lot of time. 9.2
Team up people with limited social skills with more socially skilled folks who don't mind presenting what needs to be presented. 9.2
Recognize that most people want the same things in life: equal rights. 9.11
Creation of action to address issues of the moment. 9.11
Respect the need for news value. 9.11
Develop compassionate listening [http://www.compassionatelistening.org/]. 9.11
Go to other organizations especially places where folks underrepresented in your group congregate. Listen to what their concerns are and figure out how your group could be helpful to them. Then recruit. Ask to get time on their agenda. 9.08
Pace yourself -- realize that we are in this for the long haul. 9.08

Cumberland County Young Democrats

ccpayd — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 20:45:24 -0500

Young Democrats of America (YDA) group formed in Cumberland County.

also: YDA groups in York and Adams gaining momentum.

19th congressional district is within our sights.

james christianson

ccpayd@gmail.com

Obama Hosts Progressives at the White House

Bob Fertik — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:48:13 -0500

Greg Sargent has the scoop:

At a private White House cocktail reception last night for leaders of major progressive groups, Barack Obama and his wife Michelle appealed to these leaders and signaled that their groups would play a key role in driving the big progressive changes at the heart of the White House’s legislative agenda, an attendee tells me.

The message was that these groups would be valuable as a kind of progressive outside “echo chamber,” as the attendee puts it.

So who was there? Christy Hardin Smith reports:

Jimmy Hoffa of the Teamsters; Mark Ayers, head of the Building and Construction Trades Department of AFL-CIO; Jerry McEntee of AFSCME; Randi Weingarten of AFT; Dennis Van Roekel of NEA; Carl Pope of Sierra Club; Andre Delattre of PIRGs; Janice McGee; Cecile Richardson of Planned Parenthood; Kathryn Kolbert of People For the American Way; Joe Solomonese of Human Rights Campaign; Wade Henderson of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; Jerry Hudson of SEIU; Andy Stern of SEIU; Eli Pariser and Justin Ruben of MoveOn.org. (btw, Eli will be moving up to the board of directors for MoveOn and Justin will be taking over day to day operations helm shortly. Congrats to both!); Van Jones; Tom Donahue of the US Chamber of Commerce; Harry Alford of the National Black Chamber of Commerce; John Castellani of the Business Roundtable

That's a good list of progressives, but how on earth did the Democrat-hating Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable end up at a progressive event?

Obama, don't follow McCain into the mud

mr_twist — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:02:14 -0400

Please help unite
Obama supporters in rejecting McCain’s
negative campaign style. We must clean up politics if things are ever to get
better. We have a chance to be so much more than the same old attack politics,
but Obama must hear the voices of his supporters on this.

Please read the message to Obama on the following blog and
help spread it to others.

http://manyhands.blogspot.com/

Senator Barack Obama,

I realize that you have already endured
much since the start of your campaign for the presidency. Along with
the grueling schedules, lack of sleep, and time away from your family,
you have had to deal with being the target of racial slurs, hateful jokes, untrue attacks on your faith, and even slander against your loved ones. All of us who support your bid for president and many of those who do not condemn such unethical political trash.

I call upon you to recognize in these difficult times that the Obama campaign belongs to its supporters. It belongs to all of us. We want to support what we have seen in you. Maybe it was something we read in one of your books, a rousing speech
you made at a huge rally, or a small commitment you expressed in a more
personal setting. Regardless, we all found something to believe in that
we share. We found a hope for something better in the potential that
you contain and in what we have seen from your best moments. Do not
forget this. Even when you falter you must still be committed to the
steady course of something new, something positive, and something which
makes you capable of inspiring and leading millions.

This needs
to be said in light of McCain deciding recently that there is only one
way for him to defeat you: by drawing you into his mud. Unable to rally
the enthusiasm and hope that you stir in people McCain has decided
instead to take the low road and lash out
at you for inspiring so many to believe in and work for change in their
country. These are McCain's politics, do not let them become yours. Our
country does not need a second McCain campaign, we need something
different, something new, and something better.

I am not asking you to be soft and avoid holding people accountable, asking tough questions, or defending yourself from lies.
I am asking you to not be drawn into the negative campaigning that your
opponent so wishes to see you engage in. There is a difference between
hard politics and dirty politics. Do not become a mudslinger instead of
a "hope monger". Many of us want something different and you are our
best hope for that. Please Sen. Obama, do not walk into the politics of
anger and spite.

--- One of your inspired supporters

Sen. Feingold Seeks Citizen Sponsors for Censure Resolutions

Chip — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 15:01:01 -0400

Just in from Senator Feingold:

Over the last week, I've held Listening Sessions across Wisconsin and heard the same sort of comments that thousands of people like you have emailed my way over the last week - it's time to hold the President, and his administration, accountable.

Become A Citizen Co-Sponsor of Censure

The President and Vice President led our nation into an unwise war, under false pretenses, without adequate planning, and have mismanaged the situation that continues today. The President and Attorney General have time and time again thumbed their noses at the Constitution and the rule of law - on everything from warrantless wiretapping to undermining Congress' role to conduct adequate oversight.

If Congress stands by and does nothing to hold this administration responsible, we open the door for this President, and future presidents, to continue to undermine the very foundation of our government whenever they see fit. The President, Vice President and Attorney General must be held accountable.

Become A Citizen Co-Sponsor of Censure

The President has taken our country down the wrong path for far too long and it is up to each and every one of us to get America moving back in the right direction. As I mentioned above, thousands of you have joined our effort and signed on as Citizen Co-Sponsors of Censure. By showing your support today, Congressman Hinchey - the lead sponsor of both censure resolutions in the House - and I can show our colleagues in Congress that the American people demand accountability.

Sincerely,

Senator Russ Feingold

###

Let me be crystal clear here: I support impeachment. Do I think that censure should be in lieu of impeachment? NO. But do I think that censure may heighten the public's push for impeachment, for the constitutional restoration of our republic with its democratic traditions? Do I think it's at least a minimal effort toward our national restoration? Could be...

It's another opportunity to tell Congress that the Bush administration cabal is the anti-thesis of authentic American values and the rule of law. Please join me in signing.

Code Pink-PDA-IVAW Adam Schiff Stop the War! Day 1

CactusPat — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 13:27:19 -0500

Code Pink, Progressive Democrats of America, Iraq Veterans Against The War demonstrate outside Rep. Adam Schiff's Office (Day 1 Occupation Project)

How nice, he sent down cookies... How 'bout STOPPING THE WAR! I think some variant of conventional wisdom has set in amongst the Dem brain-dead-trust and they've decided to not take any political risks and just let Smirk and the Repubnuts twist in the wind on Iraq.

Meanwhile, more US personnel are dying each day. More Iraqi citizens slaughtered, raped, and pillaged each day. More national treasure squandered. Plus, the Dem base gets more alienated each day.

Don't know about you, but that appears to be "risk" they're not taking seriously in their calculus....