Liberalism

This year has so much potential not just for Democrats, but also for the progressive grassroots. Already, the grassroots are geared up for puting up their biggest fight to date. I want to highlight a couple of ways the grassroots are prepared to take a stand against the corrupt Halliburton Republicans and to restore integrity and democracy to our government.

Starting with Democracy for America, here are just a few things that DFA has done just in the last month:

1. Raised thousands of dollars for key Secretary of State candidates so we can start restoring fairness and accuracy to our elections, something I am working on as well.

2. Expanded DFA coverage of congressional districts though their linkup groups to cover 420 of the nation's 435 congressional districts. That leaves only 15 Congressional districts with no DFA group! You can find your local group or start a new group here.

3. Trained 2000 activists in message development and dissemination through their "Night School Program." You, too, can sign up for training here.

And that was only in one month.

MoveOn.org has been focusing their attention on putting out TV ads in key congressional districts. Market research has shown that these TV ads have been turning districts from leaning Republican to leaning Democrat, opening up more possible pick up chances. You can view these ads and donate to put more on the air by going here.

But MoveOn.org is firing up a new effort, one which my wife and I will be doing our small part for. They are gathering thousands of volunteers to participate in phone banks around the country, targeting the 30 hottest House races. Joy and I will probably be hosting one of their organizers here in Brooklyn where one of their phone banks will be located. You can sign up to participate in this effort here.

I know of a few other efforts but they are local to NYC. If you know of any other national efforts, please post them in the comments. But the most important thing is to volunteer or donate now if you want to win in November.

Planned Parenthood is fighting the South Dakota ban on abortion and they are asking you to host or attend a potluck fundraiser for choice.

Potluck House Parties will be held across the country to raise money and build awareness for the campaign to defeat the abortion ban in South Dakota.

Sign up to host a Potluck for South Dakota with your friends and family!

Use their online tools to create, manage and promote your potluck.

The host whose potluck raises the most money will win a Newman’s Own gift basket and a trip to New York City to meet Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards!

Or you can find a potluck near you to attend.

Or why it ain't easy standing with the colored folks

Having waded head-on into the politics of race in this lovely country of ours by taking a rather active role in New York's Eleventh District Democratic Primary, I really am ready to leave that entire discussion behind and move on to greener pastures. There is, after all, a midterm election coming up, and there are republicans awaiting our unkind attention.

That sentiment dried up, however, when people began tossing about rather unsubtle variants of "uppity nigger". Witness this:

So, Liza, dear, before you go assailing your betters [...], maybe you should head back to eighth grade English and, you know, learn to spell and to write in a linear fashion. Although judging from your other posts that I read, mediocrity may be a chronic condition for you.

This anguished screed (missing a how or two) is a response, of sorts, to two endeavors by our worthy Liza: one, calling Jane Hamscher an idiot over a caricature of Lieberman in blackface she published on FireDogLake – I should add that this evaluation of Jane is reasonably widely shared among political professionals – and two, the recent fracas over a group of bloggers invited to lunch with President Clinton in Harlem. That lunch, as Liza pointed out, did not include any people of color despite being held in Harlem, where the former President maintains his offices.

I have been away from Culture Kitchen for awhile. I have been so immersed in a local primary that I haven't had time to post here. But near the end of the primary season and now that it is over, I began to realize that a rather disturbing underbelly was being revealed right in my very liberal, very white neighborhood. I posted on this at Daily Gotham and got pretty seriously attacked by people who thought I was showing "reverse racism." I am hoping I can explain myself better here because the issue is one that is important for Democrats to face up to.

The Democratic Primary in the NY-11 Congressional district was a hotly contested one. The candidate I originally liked was my City Councilman, David Yassky. Eventually I grew to prefer another man, Chris Owens, who impressed me as being the ideal, intelligent and articulate voice for the progressive movement. Months of hard work, soul searching, arguing and a whole lot more ensued. Ultimately, neither won. My new Congresswoman is Yvette Clarke, someone who overall I like, though she has had some problems with telling the truth.

What makes it hard for me to lay aside this primary is the racial issues that it brought up. You see, the retiring Congressman is black in a predominantly black district. David Yassky, who is white, moved three blocks to enter the district specifically to run because he was relying on a split black vote (originally split among four black candidates, ultimately split among three) and a unified white vote to win. Those who objected to this racial calculation on Yassky's part were called racist.

The (presumably small) Republican Jewish Coalition is apparantly suggesting that Jews, particularly Orthodox Jews, join the Repub party in protest of Lieberman's defeat.

The National Jewish Democratic Council has this to say regarding orthodox Jews defecting to the Republican Party because of Lieberman's defeat:

"I'm absolutely astonished by the RJC ad campaign. American Jews need to know that the Republican Jewish Coalition is no friend of Joe Lieberman, and it certainly isn't an advocate for the issues of importance to the mainstream of the Jewish community.

"For years, the RJC has criticized Joe Lieberman. Now they want to use his good name for their own political purposes. These guys have no shame.

"The Connecticut Senate primary was not about Israel or the Jewish community. Joe Lieberman's record on Israel is impeccable. Ned Lamont's pro-Israel position is commendable. Connecticut will have a pro-Israel senator if either Democrat is elected. Any suggestion otherwise is a distortion of the truth."