New Organizing Institute Party Tonight
Sorry for the late notice, but the New Organizing Institute is having a fundraising party tonight, Tuesday, June 12, 5:30–9pm, at MCCXXIII, 1223 Connecticut Ave NW (suggested donation $12, RSVP [not required]):
the blog of DC Drinking Liberally
It happens every Thursday night at DCDL. I can half-recall an article I read somewhere, but not where I read it, or who wrote it. Here’s my effort to follow up on some of the conversations we had in the back room of Timberlake’s. Think of it as the foot notes for Thursday evening.
In this week’s Footnotes, Lynne Cheney Gets Medieval on China, A Not-So-Silent War Protest, and a Brief look at when Cindy Sheehan Jumped the Shark.
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Just heard a clip from these Bush remarks on the radio, delivered with his usual peevish impatience:
And finally, I’m going to spend some time talking about the war on terror and our need to succeed in Iraq. And I’m going to remind the people in the audience today that troop levels will be decided by our commanders on the ground, not by political figures in Washington, D.C., and that we’ve got a plan to lead to victory. And I fully understand that this is a difficult war, and it’s hard on the American people. But I will once again explain the consequences of failure to the American people, and I’ll explain the consequences of success, as well.
Yes, Mr. President, that’s exactly what we need. If you just explain it to us idiots for the thousandth time, maybe it’ll get through our thick heads and we’ll understand the true brilliance and absolute necessity of the Explainer’s mystery plan for victory. Maybe we’ll even be enlightened as to what “victory” means in these circumstances.
Apparently there’s nothing wrong with this war that a good dose of repeated explanation can’t fix.
Here’s the latest from our friends at DC for Democracy:
Finish out the holiday week by joining other DCFD members at the movies! Bring a friend or two!
Michael Moore’s new documentary, Sicko, opened at theaters across the nation last week to amazing reviews. Sicko explores our crumbling health care system and the role of the insurance and pharmaceutical industries.
Come out to see the flim with us this Friday, July 6th for the 7:30pm showing at the Landmark E Street Cinema at 555 11th Street NW. We’ll meet at 7pm sharp to get tickets and seats.
SPECIAL OFFER!* Bring along a potential new member and we’ll pay for his or her ticket. If you plan to bring someone, please contact Lynda at lynda.laughlin{at}gmail.com.
*This offer is only available to new members.
See you at the movies!
Lynda
DCFD Secretary
The eight Democratic candidates (Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, John Edwards, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson) will be at Howard University on Thursday, June 28, for the All-American Presidential Forums on PBS, moderated by Tavis Smiley, from 9 to 10:30pm. We’ll be watching it in the back room at Timberlake’s (1726 Connecticut Ave NW, a few blocks north of Dupont Circle) after our usual Thursday DCDL get-together, and friends from DC for Democracy will be joining us. So stop by any time after 6:30 — for a few minutes to say hello or for the whole marathon session!
I’ll be interested to see whether at a forum in DC anyone raises the question of DC’s lack of congressional representation. If the questioners don’t, the candidates had better. Presumably Clinton and Obama are proud to be cosponsors of S. 1257, the bill to partially address the inequity.
You’ll be glad to know that you won’t have to bring a barf bag to handle your reaction to Republican pollster Frank Luntz’s post-forum analysis. After Jeffrey Feldman, Media Matters, and others called attention to PBS’s inappropriate choice of analyst, PBS clarified (or perhaps “clarified”) that Luntz would not be appearing to spew his propaganda until Friday. The legacy of Ken Tomlinson’s attempt to “balance” public broadcasting apparently continues.
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I’m amazed that Matthew Yglesias and Ezra Klein are only now hearing that Bush’s nickname for Gonzales is “Fredo”, but no doubt there are hundreds of things they think are common knowledge that I’ve never heard of. The important question is, of course, what meaning this Godfather reference has.
My theory is that the explanation is simple: there is no Godfather reference. Bush simply thought in the early days of their relationship that the man’s name was Alfredo, not Alberto (and perhaps he still thinks so). Mystery solved!
AltHippo, Jesse, and I are at the Take Back America conference this week, along with hundreds of other progressives from all over. (AltHippo has been reporting about it on his blog.)
Along with Justin from the national Drinking Liberally group, we’re going to be hosting a happy hour tonight for those in town for the conference, DCDL regulars, and anyone else who’s interested in conversation with fellow liberals. We’ll be starting about 6:30pm at our usual hangout, the back room at Timberlake’s (1726 Connecticut Ave NW), less than two blocks south and across Connecticut Avenue from the conference hotel.
So stop by and say hello. We’ll be around until at least 9.
Sorry for the late notice, but the New Organizing Institute is having a fundraising party tonight, Tuesday, June 12, 5:30–9pm, at MCCXXIII, 1223 Connecticut Ave NW (suggested donation $12, RSVP [not required]):
A few days ago I got an IM from a friend:
gene: I saw you on CBS Evening News!
keith: ?
gene: Front and center at the DC vote hearings
gene: I have a tape of it; I’ll send it to you
keith: That would be great.
keith: I heard they were doing something, but I missed it.
gene: I thought you would have known but saved a tape of it just in case. Glad I did!
keith: There was one point when somebody put a camera in my face, but I didn’t know who they were with.
gene: It looked like the camera was 2 feet from you(!)
keith: It was.
keith: I was trying not to look at it and wondering what they were shooting.
gene: Here I am calmly watching the news, and suddenly THERE’s KEITH! and about fell out of my chair.
As it turns out I didn’t need to wait for the tape, since the segment (from June 1) is online. I appear for a second or two in a shot of the audience at Lieberman’s May 15 committee hearing on the DC House Voting Rights Bill (S. 1257) near the midpoint of a 3-minute report on DC’s situation. There’s even a closeup of my “Demand the Vote” button.
The piece was accompanied by a 1-minute Katie Couric editorial in favor of representation for DC. It’s good to see coverage on a major national program.
If you’re looking to spend a few days networking with liberal activists, hearing speakers, and attending workshops, there are at least three progressive political conferences this summer:
DemocracyFest, June 9–10, 2007, Manchester, New Hampshire: Sponsored by Democracy for America, this “annual educational and inspirational festival for the progressive grassroots” features Howard Dean, John Edwards, Mike Gravel, and other speakers, trainers, films, and panels.
Take Back America, June 18–20, 2007, Washington, DC: The Campaign for America’s Future is holding this conference at the Washington Hilton (across the street from our DCDL meeting place). Speakers include John Edwards (and probably Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who spoke last year), Howard Dean, newly elected senators (including Jon Tester), bloggers (including Atrios and Chris Bowers), and others. Drinking Liberally will be co-hosting a special event one night, so watch this blog and the e-mail list for details.
YearlyKos, August 2–5, 2007, Chicago, Illinois: John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson (at least) will be participating in a Presidential Leadership Forum. The speaker lineup is still in flux. Those who can’t travel to Chicago can attend YearlyKos virtually in Second Life.
The DC House Voting Rights Bill, S. 1257, gets a little further today as the Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing, “Ending Taxation without Representation: The Constitutionality of S. 1257″. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) will preside. The hearing will be webcast from the committee’s site live at 1:30pm.
The witness list includes elected officials from DC and Utah, and a panel of constitutional scholars to educate the committee members about how the bill fits into the provisions of the Constitution (or fails to do so). Let’s hope they’re able to convince some Republican senators who aren’t from Utah.
Since my last update, four more senators have signed on as cosponsors:
That brings the total to 13, not counting Joe Lieberman (I-CT), the main sponsor. It’s good to see support from Democrats from across the ideological spectrum. Now if we can just get enough Republicans to avoid a filibuster. According to local commentator and voting rights advocate Mark Plotkin, former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele is lobbying Republican senators along with Jack Kemp.
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