DCDL

Our just-inside-the-Beltway friends at Alexandria Drinking Liberally are moving a little farther inside, to Arlington. No word yet on a name change, but they may be considering “Northern Virginia Drinking Liberally” (though that could cause problems down the line if another NoVa chapter emerges).

The new location is Capitol City Brewing Company, 2700 S. Quincy St, in Shirlington. They’ll continue meeting on Thursday nights, like the Dupont Circle chapter. Subscribe to their e-mail list to keep up-to-date on their events.

By the way, there are currently three DL chapters in the slowly bluening state of Virginia. The others are in Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

I’m not sure what message L.L.Bean is trying to send by putting a retired Don Rumsfeld on the cover of its latest catalog. Perhaps we need a caption contest. Add your suggestions in the comments.

Quite a few DCDLers will be going to tomorrow’s march. Some of us will be gathering with the Progressive Democrats of America and other folks, as described in this message from Democrats.com:

Excitement is Building for Saturday’s March on Washington to End the War Now!

The weather will be perfect, and a huge turnout is expected due to Bush’s adamant refusal to back down from his plan to escalate his disastrous Iraq War. Details here:
United for Peace and Justice

Speakers include: Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Danny Glover, Jane Fonda, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Reps. Dennis Kucinich, Maxine Waters, and Lynn Woolsey, Bob Watada, and many more.

Unlike past marches, the Corporate Media is already covering this event, including the Washington Post. Better yet, we’ve created our own powerful progressive media on the Internet since 2003 — this Revolution will be Blogged and YouTubed!

RALLY: Democrats.Com, PDA, Afterdowningstreet.org activists and friends are asked to gather with their PDA state banner, Saturday morning on the National Mall between Jefferson Ave. NW and 4th St. NW. (Facing the National Air and Space Museum) We will begin gathering at 9:30 AM. Download the map. (If you need help finding us on Saturday, call Sherry 480-529-2131 or Laura 435-640-2252)

Come to the workshops and trainings (including on how to lobby for investigations with the ultimate goal of impeachment) on January 28th and come with us to meet with your Congress Member and Senators on January 29th. It’s not too late to register:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/modinput4.php?modin=121

Here’s what we’re lobbying for (and what you can ask your Senators and Congress Member for):
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/16562

For comprehensive list of all sorts of related events in Washington and elsewhere in the coming days, see:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/event

DCDL and friends are mainly gathering at that location about 11, coordinated by Kesh Ladduwahetty (keshinil@yahoo.com or 202-531-0615). I’ll be catching up with them a little later.

The House voted Wednesday to change its rules to give the five nonvoting delegates (actually the one from Puerto Rico is called a resident commissioner) something they had for a few years in the 1990s but lost when the Republicans took over:

The measure allows [Eleanor Holmes] Norton and representatives from Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the Virgin Islands to vote in the Committee of the Whole, where amendments to legislation are considered.

But it comes with an important caveat: If the delegates’ votes provide the margin of victory, their votes are thrown out and representatives revote without them.

The vote was almost entirely along party lines, but strangely Dan Burton (R-IN) and Gene Taylor (D-MS) both voted in opposition to their parties.

My feelings on the matter remain unchanged: this purely symbolic vote that doesn’t really count is a meaningless distraction from the real goal. The main advantage of having it restored is that Norton can stop complaining about having lost it.

Tom Davis (R-VA), sponsor of a bill to give DC a real vote, explained why he was voting against the fake vote, and I mostly agree with him:

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Do you think you ought to watch the State of the Union, but you’re concerned about the effect on your blood pressure? How about watching it with a support group — others who will share your disgust and outrage, as well as your hope that new Virginia senator Jim Webb does a good job on the Democratic response?

Since the DC-area chapters of Drinking Liberally aren’t having watch parties, let’s join our friends at DC for Democracy for theirs:

Tuesday, January 23
7:30–10pm
Marty’s Restaurant
527 Eighth St SE
(Eastern Market Metro)
RSVP

Last month a couple of people from On Tap (a free local magazine available at Metro stops and other fine establishments) paid a visit to our weekly gathering at Timberlake’s. Now the fruits of that visit are in print and online, as we’re featured as January’s Group of the Month. Aside from a bit of gender confusion, it’s a good article, and it brought us two new people this week.

DCDL regular Jesse describes us as “the place to come for intelligent conversation in a casual atmosphere”, so let’s shape up and try to live up to that for the next few weeks at least.

DC for Democracy is having its annual planning retreat Saturday. If you’re looking for a local grassroots political group to get involved in, consider DCfD (which grew out of DC for Dean and is associated with the national group Democracy for America). If you’re a DCDL Thursday night regular, you’ll see a few familiar faces in the group.

Saturday, January 20
11:30am to 3pm
Cleveland Park Library
3310 Connecticut Ave NW
(at Macomb Street, near the Cleveland Park Metro)
RSVP

Update: Dan will need to reschedule tonight’s guest appearance at Drinking Liberally. New date coming soon.

On Thursday, January 25 the DC chapter of Drinking Liberally is proud to host washingtonpost.com columnist Dan Froomkin at Timberlake’s, Dupont Circle. Dan is best known for his White House Briefing column, a weekday roundup of all the latest on the White House. His column is a critical favorite in the political blogosphere.

The evening starts with a happy hour 6:30-7:30, followed by Dan’s talk and Q&A. Per tradition on our speaker nights, free appetizers, and drink discounts last until 9:00.
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Tonight Bush will be officially announcing his “surge” plan for Iraq, blatantly ignoring the results of November’s election, in which the American people voted to start winding down our involvement in Iraq, not escalating it. Tomorrow evening DC for Democracy will be holding a rally at the White House, and others participating in Win Without War will be holding similar rallies across the country (MoveOn will also be holding rallies).

Here’s the announcement from Kesh at DC for Democracy:

Let’s deliver an immediate and direct response to the president’s call for escalation: NO! On Thursday, January 11, volunteers from the America Says No coalition will host actions in cities and towns across the country within 24 hours of the president’s speech with a simple message: “America says NO more troops in Iraq!”

DC for Democracy is sponsoring the event in the nation’s capital. We will meet at Lafayette Square, directly opposite the White House from 6 - 7 PM. There will be a reading of the names of Iraq War casualties from the DC area, some brief speeches, and a candlelight vigil. The event will conclude at 7PM. Lafayette Square is a few blocks from the Farragut North metro on the Red Line and Farragut West metro on the Orange Line. Click here for a map. For up to date information on the event, please click here.

We, who live in the DC area have a unique opportunity to speak for the millions nationwide who oppose the troop surge, but are unable to do so right outside the White House. So please give one hour of your time this Thursday and join us in sending a clear and visible NO to the escalation.

Kesh Ladduwahetty
DC for Democracy

I only just stumbled across this, but a month ago Byron York uncovered the dastardly fraud behind the Democrats’ plans for the “first 100 hours” of the new Congress:

Here’s a question: When House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi talks about what Democrats plan to accomplish in the first 100 hours when Congress convenes in January, does she mean 100 consecutive hours, as in, say, from a Monday at 10 a.m. until Friday at 2 p.m., or does she mean something else?

The answer is something else. Pelosi plans to enact the Democrats’ “Six for ’06″ agenda in 100 legislative hours — not real hours.

Here’s a question: Has anyone else who appears regularly on television and in newspapers and magazines (as opposed to some random wingnut blogger) said anything quite so stupid about the first 100 hours?

Let’s hope York never goes for a pilot’s license. Logging those 40 hours of flight time could be a problem.