DCDL

On Thursday, September 14, DCDL regular Ian Fried, director of Blue Catapult PAC, will be among the panelists discussing “Taking Over Congress: Democratic Chances in the 2006 Elections” from 6 to 8pm (including dinner) at the Woman’s National Democratic Club, 1526 New Hampshire Ave NW (Dupont Circle Metro). The discussion will be moderated by Shelly Livingston, chair of the WNDC PAC. The other panelists are

• Joshua Ulibarri, vice president of Lake Research Partners
• Jim Gerstein, executive director of Democracy Corps
• Phyllis Busansky, Democratic candidate for Congress (FL-9)

The event is free (though you’ll have to pay if you want dinner or drinks). Sounds like it’ll be an interesting conversation. For more information and to RSVP, see the Blue Catapult announcement.

Our friends at DC for Democracy are having a fundraiser Wednesday. It’s a great group of people, so come out and support them.

Mingle with candidates, have a few drinks, meet new people, and improve the political landscape at a fundraiser for the District’s largest unaligned progressive group of activists, community leaders, and everyday voters working for positive change in our local government and recognition in America’s legislature.

Join DC for Democracy and their endorsed candidates for the 2006 DC elections:

• City Council, At Large: Phil Mendelson
• City Council, Ward 1: Jim Graham
• City Council, Ward 6: Tommy Wells
• Delegate to the U.S. House of Reps.: Eleanor Holmes Norton
• U.S. (Shadow) Senator: Philip Pannell
• U.S. (Shadow) Representative: Mike Panetta

at a fundraiser to support their political activity in the upcoming elections.

(more…)

On a muggy, occasionally rainy DC night, about 70 people gathered in an upstairs room at Così coffee shop and bar to show their support for Jerry McNerney, the Democrat who’s running against Richard Pombo, the House’s foremost enemy of the environment (I announced the event earlier). Among the crowd were

• members of DC for Democracy and DC Drinking Liberally
• a director of the Sierra Club
• Ian Fried and Campbell Tyler of Blue Catapult, who presented Jerry with a check
• staff from the Humane Society
• the general counsel of a large California tech company, who maxed out on his contribution for Jerry
• students from area universities
• Helen McCloskey, wife of Pete McCloskey, the Republican who challenged Pombo in the primary
• Hill staffers
• Jerry’s son, Michael, a lieutenant in the Air Force
• Jerry’s brother, John, from Connecticut
• political organizer Christine Pelosi
• Christine’s mother, Nancy (whom you may have heard of)
• Rep. George Miller (D-CA-7)
• Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-9)
• Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA-6)
• other Democratic members of Congress

Jerry was introduced by Congressman George Miller and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (I got a bad photo — should have used a flash). He then spoke about his how he got into alternative energy and eventually ended up running for Congress.

Jerry spoke about having a job interview for an oil company at a site where he could taste the oil in the air. He knew he didn’t want to be contributing to that sort of pollution, and he had to decide whether to take the money or do the right thing (and, as Jerry said, we know what Richard Pombo would do in that situation). So he went into wind energy.

Years later, Jerry said, his son Michael felt called to join the military after 9/11, and then in 2004 Michael noticed there was no Democrat running in the 11th District and suggested that his father do his part for the country by running. Jerry jumped in at the last minute, ran as a write-in in the primary, and got onto the ballot to run against Pombo. Unfortunately he didn’t win that time, but now he’s back with the experience he’s gained from his first campaign, and judging by the polls and the number of supporters, he’s doing a lot better this time.

If you missed the fundraiser and still want to do your part by donating what you can afford, you can give through the ActBlue netroots candidates page.

Update (July 18): It’s possible it was Pete McCloskey’s daughter, not his wife, who was there. Sorry for the inept reporting.

Are you worried about what’s happening to the environment under Republican rule? Then show up at an affordable fundraiser for Jerry McNerney, the Democrat running for Congress in California’s 11th District. Join Jerry, Democratic members of Congress, and DC netroots activists on Wednesday, July 12, 5:30-7:30pm, at Così, 301 Pennsylvania Ave SE (Capitol South Metro). Suggested donation is $25 per person, but please give more if you can afford it. RSVPs to Kenneth Christensen at 202-543-8191 (or ken{at}caiassociates.com) are appreciated.

McNerney’s opponent is the Republican incumbent, Rep. Richard Pombo, who we’ve written about several times before, mainly in connection with his proposal to sell off Roosevelt Island. The way he’s used his chairmanship of the House Resources Committee to do the bidding of oil and mining companies has made Pombo the foremost enemy of the environment in the House. He’s also one of the 13 most corrupt members of Congress, according to the nonpartisan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Here’s Pombo having his head adjusted by the Personal Space Invader-in-Chief (from Pombo’s own photo gallery):

Jerry McNerney, on the other hand, is a windpower engineer who ran against Pombo in 2004. This time around he has great support from the netroots, who have helped him win endorsements (and donations) from Russ Feingold’s Progressive Patriots Fund and Democracy for America, and have put him among the Map Changers finalists for Mark Warner’s Forward Together PAC. There’s an interview with him on the DNC blog.

A poll in May by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research showed McNerney actually winning over Pombo 46 to 42 percent (PDF), so this seat is a real pickup possibility for Democrats — if McNerney can get the money to fight back against Pombo’s polluter-backed and corruption-funded campaign. So come meet Jerry and give generously!

Update (July 14): Followup.

DC Vote, the people trying to bring true democracy to DC residents (that is, voting representation in Congress like that of other American citizens), will be having a Summer Drink, Dish, and Dash Happy Hour Monday, July 10, at Busboys and Poets (Langston Room), 2021 14th St NW, from 5 to 6:45pm. Meet new people and find out how to get involved in the fight for voting rights.

At 6:30 sharp they’ll have a free screening of the short film Un-Natural State:

A talented film production team, the Worthy Foes, chose DC voting rights as the topic of an 8-minute documentary submitted for the International Documentary Challenge. Washingtonians Kirk ‘Mango’ Mangels and Brad Mendelsohn approached DC Vote to assist in creating a documentary that would highlight the absurdity of denying democracy in the nation’s capital. The team was given the genre of ‘nature’ and had five days to complete production on the film.

And since YouTube videos are all the rage on the blogs nowadays, here’s a teaser for the film:

In October 2004, journalist Ron Suskind gave us the term “reality-based community”, in a New York Times Magazine article. Now his new book, The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America’s Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11, is burning up the blogosphere with further revelations about the Bush White House.

Monday, June 26, at 7pm, Suskind will be doing a book event at Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave NW. Several DCDL Thursday regulars will be going, and we’ll likely go out for something to eat or drink afterward. Join us if you like — look for the Drinking Liberally buttons.

Update (June 26): Suskind appeared on the Diane Rehm Show this morning. The audio should be available on the WAMU site within an hour.

Three interesting book events this week, and I’m going to try to make it to all of them:

• I just got this message from MoveOn about an event tonight that’s on the theme of this MyDD post by David Sirota:
  

  Tonight, Tuesday, May 9, our friends at The American Prospect magazine and the AFL-CIO are hosting a book launch party and panel discussion entitled, “Fighting the Hostile Takeover in America’s Red States” Speakers include Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer (D), author Thomas Frank, columnist Harold Meyerson, David Sirota and, ah…well me. I’ll be joining the panel to talk about how MoveOn members make a difference across the country.

  You are invited. Here are the details.

  What: “Fighting the Hostile Takeover in America’s Red States” panel discussion and book party.

  Who: Special guests include Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer (D), author Thomas Frank, columnist Harold Meyerson, David Sirota and MoveOn’s Tom Matzzie.

  When: Tonight: Tuesday, May 9, 2006 at 7:00 PM.

  Where: AFL-CIO Building, 815 16th Street N.W., Washington, D.C
  (Metro: Red Line Farragut North or Blue/Orange Line McPherson Square)

  Books will be made available for purchase at the event by Politics & Prose bookstore.

  The book explores how corruption is supported in Congress and takes a critical look at the dealings of politicians in both parties. It is a useful reference book. For example, when you hear an issue discussed — like energy — you can look up all of the big ideas progressives have for dealing with energy issues. At the same time it provides the facts for de-bunking the right-wing spin. […]

  —Tom Matzzie

• The insanity of the prison-industrial complex and how it affects elections and other facets of our politics is something I’ve been getting more interested in lately. It also ties into the prisoner abuse scandals perpetrated by Americans outside the US. This event on Wednesday at Busboys & Poets (2021 14th St NW) features authors of two books on the subject:
  

  6:30 - 8:00 PM (Langston Room) Two Authors/One Event! — Sasha Abramsky and Marc Mauer — In his revised edition of his seminal book on race, class, and the criminal justice system, Race to Incarcerate, Marc Mauer, executive director of one of the United States’ leading criminal justice reform organizations, offers the most up-to-date look available at three decades of prison expansion in America. The book tells the tragic story of runaway growth in the number of prisons and jails and the over reliance on imprisonment to stem problems of economic and social development. Race to Incarcerate documents the enormous financial and human toll of the “get tough” movement, and argues for more humane and productive alternatives.

  In his new book Conned: How Millions Went to Prison, Lost the Vote, and Helped Send George W. Bush to the White House, Abramsky takes us on a journey through disenfranchised America, detailing the revival of antidemocratic laws that came of age in the post-Civil War segregationist South, and profiling Americans who are fighting to regain the right to vote. Sasha Abramsky is a freelance journalist. His work has appeared in The Nation, The Atlantic Monthly, New York magazine, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone. This event is free and open to the public.

• Finally, on Saturday, there’s an event at Politics and Prose (5015 Connecticut Ave NW) that several of us from DCDL are going to go to (e-mail dcthu@drinkingliberally.org if you’re interested in joining us):
  

  Saturday, May 13, 1 p.m.
  ERIC BOEHLERT
  LAPDOGS (Free Press, $25)
  Boehlert, a former Salon.com journalist, has written an extended indictment of the mainstream media in their coverage of the Bush administration. Rather than performing the role of watchdogs, such media giants as the New York Times, CNN, and CBS, he contends, have committed journalistic malpractice with their soft coverage and failure to challenge President Bush.

Take Back America 2006 will take place June 12-14 at the Washington Hilton:

The Take Back America conference brings together thousands of progressive activists, thinkers and leaders to discuss the ideas, hone the message, train the organizers, and build the infrastructure we need.

Speakers include Wesley Clark, John Murtha, David Sirota, Katrina Van den Heuvel, Robert Greenwald (and his new Tom DeLay movie), Matt Stoller, Jane Hamsher, Jerome Armstrong, Barney Frank, John Conyers, Russ Feingold, John Podesta, Sherrod Brown, Kevin Philips, Barack Obama, and Nancy Pelosi.

Sounds like something worth checking out, if you can spare the time and money. And if you register today (sorry for the late notice), you can still get the earlybird discount on the conference fee.

I’ve signed up, so no doubt you’ll be seeing some reports about it here next month.

Ready for some protesting, canvassing, or school maintenance this weekend? Here are three options for Saturday, April 29:

• The March for Peace, Justice, and Democracy is happening in New York City, organized by United for Peace and Justice and other groups including the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the National Organization for Women, and Friends of the Earth. The message is to end the war in Iraq, not start one in Iran, stand up for immigrants’ and womens’ rights, rebuild the Gulf Coast, stop corporate subsidies, address the climate crisis, and probably a few other things (unfortunately, like many recent protests, it sounds a bit unfocused). See the transportation page for information on buses leaving from DC and elsewhere.

• The Democratic National Committee has its Neighbor-to-Neighbor National Organizing Day. The goal is to knock on 1 million doors across the country to tell people about the Democratic Party and get them energized. This is part of Howard Dean’s 50-state strategy for reviving the party and building it up from the state and local level. There are several canvasses organized in DC and nearby.

• Our friends at DC for Democracy have chosen public schools as one of their focuses for the year, so they’ve formed a team for the annual Hands on DC volunteer project for fixing up DC schools. If you’d like to join the team for painting, landscaping, or whatever needs to be done, RSVP right away. I’ve done Hands on DC in previous years with some other groups, and that’s what I’ll be doing this Saturday.

Tuesday night I donned my tuxedo and headed down to the post office near Union Station, where I assumed the identity of Caspar “Cap” Gaines, billionaire, and met up with my fellow billionaires Ivan Tital, Anita Nuther Taxcutte, R. Owen Lawes, and Marie Antoinette Gaines (my cousin, or sister, or wife, or something). We were there to mingle with last-minute taxpayers dropping off their 1040s and thank the little people for paying their taxes so that billionaires don’t have to, as well as to inform people about the estate tax (or “dynasty tax”) repeal.

It was my first event with Billionaires for Bush, and I was afraid the group might be past its prime, but the satirical protesters are still going strong (though searching for a new name as Bush becomes less relevant). As Ivan says, it’s a mix of people who enjoy dressing up and wonks who are deeply concerned about the way government policies are tilting increasingly toward the ultrarich. Ivan himself fits solidly into both categories.

If you’ve got a tuxedo or gown or can pull together some other sort of billionairewear, consider joining in the fun. The DC chapter has a lunchtime event coming up next week, focusing on the dynasty tax. If you’re interested, contact Ivan Tital, the Richly-Upholstered Chair of the chapter, at ivan.tital@billionairesforbush.com.

The photo of Anita and Ivan comes from Utne’s coverage of the September 24 antiwar march. Tuesday night wasn’t quite as exciting.