Washblog

From Rick Perlstein at The Campaign for America's Future comes this acknowledgement of the passing of Mildred Loving;

"Mildred Loving was a black woman who married a white man in Virginia, which was against the law in the state. She took her case all the way up to the Supreme Court, which struck down interracial marriage bans in the 1967 Loving v. Virginia decision. Today it was announced that she has died at the age of 68. But what her AP obituary doesn't mention--hopefully others will correct the oversight--is that last year Mildred Loving came out foursquare for marriage equality for same-sex couples as well, and insisted you should, too."

Her statement from June 12, 2007 is below the fold:

The first review of David Sirota's new book, "The Uprising: An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street and Washington" is in and it should come as no surprise that the news is good.

From Jerry Cornfield at The Petri Dish comes the story of Andrew Funk:

"Andrew Funk, who is studying accounting and business at Edmonds Community College, plans to run as a Republican against Rep. Marko Liias, D-Mukilteo.

Funk, 18, said he was getting discouraged that no one in the Grand Old Party stepped forward in the 21st Legislative District so he decided he would."

Oh the impetuous nature of Republican youth.

While I would never want to discourage the youth of today from becoming more involved in their communities and politics, there are more than just a couple of things wrong with this picture - not the least of which is the fact that Mr. Funk has chosen to challenge one of the true rising stars in the Democratic Party and the Washington State Legislature in Marko Liias.

More below the fold.......

So some five years and four thousand American troop deaths later, the New York Times has discovered more "Breaking News" about the invasion and occupation of Iraq. It seems that some of the talking heads, operating under the title of "Military Analyst" on our nightly news were actually mouth pieces for the Pentagon and the Bush Administration! OMG, I mean, WHO KNEW?

Originally posted here.  Brought to Washblog due to recent Washington State twist.

This morning I received the following email alert from "The Hill":

Pelosi to prevent Colombia vote

By Alexander Bolton
Posted: 04/09/08 11:56 AM [ET]

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Wednesday that Democrats will use House rules to prevent a vote on the controversial Colombia free trade agreement.
Pelosi said Democrats decided in a closed-door caucus meeting Wednesday morning to vote on a rule this week to postpone consideration of the controversial trade deal..."

More below the fold......

Forty years ago today Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis Tennessee. Just the night before he was shot to death outside his motel room, he delivered a prophetic speech to a crowd of people who had come to hear him speak in support of striking sanitation workers in that city. Our good friend Luis Moscoso forwarded me a reminder of that speech ( "I've Been to the Mountain Top") yesterday. I have to admit that I needed the memory jolt. Not that I haven't been thinking about the current state of racism in our country.

In fact, not since the days of Richard Nixon and his so-called "Southern Strategy" has there been such overt reference to racism in a presidential election cycle. Under the convenient title of "Immigration Reform" the Republicans spent much of their early campaigns spewing their particular brand of racial venom that covered the bases from pitting blacks against browns in the battle for jobs to equating Mexicans with Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. However, with the recent obsession over Barrack Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, and certain statements made from his pulpit; the issue of racism has been brought back into the public arena in a way that it has not been in many years. In one of the best pieces done on these pages in recent times, diarist "fake consultant" wrote "On Truth, Or, An Open Letter To A Reverend" Most recently I have been following a column from David Sirota and some of the responses that to that column from folks in my neck of the woods in Snohomish County.

[Front paged: NM]

Originally posted Here

Apparently Snohomish City Council members Swede Johnson and Doug Thorndike aren't able to distinguish between legitimate city business and their personal anti-immigrant biases. According to reports that first appeared in the Snohomish County Tribune on March 3rd and the Everett Herald just this morning, the two elected officials, supposedly in the context of a debate over a proposal for new "gateway signs" intended to welcome visitors to their city, decided to take the opportunity to express their perceptually discriminatory views on immigration.

As Progressives we are hoping to see a world that no longer chooses war over diplomacy, corporate profits over the health and well being of the people, or individual convenience over the health and well being of the very planet we all share. And while many are working in a variety of ways to achieve these goals, I would suggest that the one common thread that must be woven through all that we do is the promotion of a compassionate society. And obviously the most important element of promoting a compassionate society is reaching out to the children and exposing them to the possibility of inheriting and maintaining such a future. To this end I am truly excited to pass along news of an upcoming event that should be on the calendar of all who seek a compassionate society:

Dalai Lama to Launch Global Compassion Movement
April 11- 15 in Seattle

SEATTLE - Jan. 23, 2008 - Seeds of Compassion, an initiative dedicated to focusing
world attention on the importance of social and emotional development of children, today
announced that it has arranged to add an extra day to His Holiness the 14th Dalai
Lama's visit to Seattle in April.
For five days, from April 11-15, 2008, His Holiness the Dalai Lama will join other global
dignitaries to participate in a series of events that will engage the hearts and minds of
our community by highlighting the vision, science, and programs of early social,
emotional, and cognitive learning.
The five-day Seattle visit by the Dalai Lama is unprecedented. It is the Dalai Lama's
only scheduled event dedicated solely to the future of America's children and his only
planned visit to the West Coast in 2008.

Cross posted Here

Democracy for Snohomish County Vice-chair, Jackie Minchew, has been a tireless advocate on the issue of Peak Oil since he first attended a seminar on the subject in the Fall of 2004. Since then, he has been working to raise the awareness level of all who will listen (and even some who will not) including members of our local and regional governments. In 2006 he took the lead and brought about the first ever Renewable Energy Symposium and Expo in Everett, Washington. The symposium featured elected representatives from the city, county, state and federal levels and was headlined by Julian Darley, Founder and Director of the Post Carbon Institute.

We at Democracy for Snohomish County are very pleased to see that Jackie's voice has been amplified today with an Op-Ed in the pages of the Everett Herald. Parts of that Op-Ed are reprinted here (below the fold) with the express consent (and encouragement) of the author.

Throughout history, music has played an important part in every great social/political movement. In recent times many have been inspired by the likes of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, and John Lennon.

On Friday night, February 15th, the Three Chord Progressives, a trio of activist/musicians from Snohomish County will continue the tradition of political activism through music when they perform from 7-9 at Zippy's Java Lounge in Everett.(1804 Hewitt Ave.)

[editor's note, by The Left Shue] Corrected link for Zippy's. TLS 02/08

Cross-posted Here

David Sirota points us to this article from McClatchey Newspapers that reinforces the difficulty of dealing with the issue of immigration reform in this country

Immigration officials detaining, deporting American citizens

 "FLORENCE, Ariz. -- Thomas Warziniack was born in Minnesota and grew up in Georgia, but immigration authorities pronounced him an illegal immigrant from Russia."

More below the fold......

In his most recent electronic newsletter, Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon has issued a plea for volunteers to help with the one day "Point in Time" count/estimate of the county's homeless population.

"On Thursday, Jan. 24, Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon and other county staff will take part in the annual Point in Time homeless count. Additionally, volunteers are needed to make the count successful.

If you would like to volunteer, contact Sola Plumacher, the count coordinator, at (425) 388-7289. Otherwise, contact one of the count leaders or show up at one of the four staging areas listed below:

          * North County: Anji Jorstad, (425) 349-6835 or
             anji.jorstad@compassh.org. Housing Hope,
             3018 188th St. NE, Arlington.

          * East County: Bill Humphreys, (425) 259-3191 or
             bhumphreys@voaww.org. Take the Next Step,
             202 S. Sams St., Monroe.

          * Central County: Dana Libby, (425) 259-8129 or            
             dana_libby@usw.sarmy.org. The Salvation Army,
             2525 Rucker Ave., Everett.

         *  South County: Mary Anne Dillon, (425) 258-2766 or  
             mdillon@ywcaworks.org. The YWCA,
             6027 208th St. SW, Lynnwood

Volunteers can arrive anytime between 4 and 10 p.m. at the check-in locations. Participants are asked to help during a three-hour period if possible. ."

More below the fold:

With a nod to Jerry Cornfield at the Everett Herald; via his new online effort The Petri Dish I am pleased to pass along the notice that Scott Olson will launch another effort against 39th LD Republican, Dan Kristiansen.

I first told you about Scott Olson here

"... I was introduced to Scott by Steve Galea, Chair of the 39th LD Democrats at the Snohomish County Convention on Saturday. I was impressed with his knowledge of the issues facing the district and his enthusiasm for the challenge. Scott has lived in the 39th LD for nearly 20 years and has been active in many areas."

While he was not successful in his first effort, Olson gave Kristiansen a serious challenge and had some folks genuinely concerned on election night when the race was too close to call. Unfortunately for Scott, some late money put in to a Republican GOTV effort to secure the 39th proved too much to overcome as the late arriving ballots made the difference in Kristiansen's win.

"Dear Chad,

It is with great pride, understanding and acceptance that I am ending my campaign for President of the United States. It was my hope that all of you would first hear this news from me and not a news organization. But unfortunately, as with too many things in our world today, it's the ending of something that garners the most intense interest and speculation.

On the day after the Iowa Caucuses I want to extend my congratulations to Sen. Obama and his supporters and my deep gratitude to the thousands of new Iowa caucus goers who successfully derailed the Clinton "Inevitability Express." Even though we only heard from slightly more people than the population of Spokane, their message of change must not be discounted. Now it is on to New Hampshire and the first primary of the election year.