( – promoted by lowkell)

What issue is your issue? What drives your passion for politics?

I’m a relatively new transplant to the Northern Virginia community, but I understood from the start how fortunate this place is to be filled with such strongly progressive voices. Battling climate change, expanding access to affordable health care, pushing for compassionate immigration reform – the residents of Virginia’s 8th congressional district are guided by staunchly progressive values.

But as Professor Lawrence Lessig of Harvard often says – while each of these issues is deeply important, they cannot be the first issue. The first issue is tackling the systemic corruption that has engulfed the American political system. Special interests and the power of money in our political system have rewritten the rules.

I have been following the race to succeed Jim Moran with interest. This is a field of remarkably qualified candidates, each ready to profess their progressive credentials. But from the very start, I have been shocked at how rarely political reform issues have been raised.  

Virginia needs to be ground zero of this debate. The values instilled in the 8th district bleed into the perspective of the greater Washington community. On a state-wide level, the desire for real ethics and campaign reform are on the rise. In many respects, this state will come to represent the challenges in framing these issues across the nation leading up to the midterm elections this year.

Let’s stand up and make these reform issues our issues. Let’s actively shape the debate.

( – promoted by lowkell)

The Supreme Court in our times is troubled with more that an “appearance of corruption.” With its recent decisions gutting the regulation of campaign finance, the majority on the Roberts Court has shown itself a partisan combatant on the side of a most dangerously corrupt form of injustice.  



Justice should be understood as the antidote to the rule of power. When there is no justice, then we fall into the kind of world described by the ancient Athenians as they sought to compel a weaker people to do their bidding–  or else:

“[Y]ou know as well as we do that right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”

Our founders’ great contribution to human history was to devise a government to solve that problem. Saying that “all men are created equal,” they established a system to equalize power among the citizens. With each citizen given an equal voice in deciding the nation’s destiny through the election process- that equality would eliminate the dichotomy between the strong and the weak.

That’s the justice of our democracy.

But here comes John Roberts and his majority – Republican appointees every one of them – telling us with a straight face that there is no problem of corruption (or even its appearance) unless there’s outright bribery. That kind of quid pro quo of selling favors is, of course, already against the law. But anyone with half a brain can see that government can be bought without such blatant transactions. And these justices are not stupid.

Can anyone honestly say, when we see presidential hopefuls trooping to Las Vegas to kiss the ring of a billionaire, that there is no appearance of corruption?

If all men are created equal, can it be justice for gross inequalities of wealth to be translated into equally gross inequalities of power in choosing our government?

Having been in the political arena as a candidate for Congress, it is on the basis of real experience and direct observation that I can say: those who want to win elections in the American system are almost compelled to pay greater attention to those with the most money than to average Americans.

If one looks for the spirit of justice, one will find it not in Roberts’ opinion for the majority in this recent disgraceful decision in McCutcheon v. FEC, but in Justice Breyer’s stinging dissent, where he talks about “grave problems of democratic legitimacy,” about breaking the “necessary ‘chain of communication between the people and their representatives,” about  the “subversion of the political process” by having  money induce elected officials to “act contrary to their obligations of office.”

But Breyer spoke for the minority. It is of course the majority that defines the Court. And Roberts and his majority have turned justice on its head. Instead of making the law into an antidote to the rule of power, they have contorted the law to help the strong do what they can and compel the weak to suffer what they must.

These campaign finance decisions are a disgrace. But they are not the first time in American history that the Supreme Court has disgraced itself. If one looks at the most disgraceful decisions in the Court’s more than two centuries, something interesting reveals itself.

In 1857, the Court handed down the Dred Scott decision, declaring that the black man has no rights the white man is bound to respect and that Congress had no constitutional authority to ban slavery from the territories. Here, too, the Chief Justice of the United States (Roger Taney) was willing to contort the law and to distort the history to reach the desired outcome of tearing down the barriers to the spread of the Slave Power. (For example, he conveniently disregarded the fact – pointed out by Lincoln – that many of those same people who wrote our Constitution had also banned slavery from the Northwest territories.)

In 1896, the Court declared in — Plessy v. Ferguson – that the brutal segregation of post-Civil War Southern society was in compliance with the 14th Amendment’s requirement that all citizens be afforded “equal protection of the laws.” The Court declared itself satisfied that “separate ” was compatible with “equal.” But of course they knew full well that the treatment of blacks was anything but equal, just as we must assume that the majorities in Citizens United and McCutcheon know that big money is corrupting our democracy.

Then in 2000, with some of today’s disgraceful majority already on the Court, a partisan majority decided a presidential election in Bush v. Gore. There’s good evidence that the five-person majority, in shutting down the quest for an honest count of the vote in Florida, understood that they were distorting the law to achieve the result they desired-clear because in the decision itself they warned against treating their logic as a precedent for use in future matters.

Put all these decisions together with the Citizens United (2010) and the recent McCutcheon decisions, and we see that the same dark spirit is at work in each case. The kindredness of spirit is shown not so much in their disregard for the law to achieve a pre-determined result as in the nature of the results they sought.

In each case, they sided with the interests of the strong over the weak. In each case, one might say, the Court acted in service of the Slave Power. That’s literally so in the case of Dred Scott and Plessy (the spirit of Slave Power having be restored to dominance in the South even after the official abolition of slavery).  In the modern cases, the connection with enslavement – dominance and exploitation – is more metaphorical.  In Bush V. Gore the majority served the political side that represented the corporate system and the plutocracy, the side that was eager to give more than $1 trillion in tax breaks to the wealthiest, that would cripple the regulation of the financial system and protections for the environment, and would funnel more of our national wealth to big oil.

In spirit, the Slave Power is back, and back in control of the Supreme Court. So long as these recent decisions stand, America seems destined to continue to evolve toward ever-greater control over our government by ever-greater concentrations of wealth, and the corresponding diminution of the political say, and the life prospects, of the many millions who toil for less than their fair share of the fruits of their labor.

Circumstances change, but the patterns continue. And in our times, a dark pattern of injustice has taken over what is supposed to be the highest court of justice in the land.

The question “What is justice?” is the overriding theme of the classical work that founded political philosophy:  Plato’s Republic. The first answer given in Plato’s famous dialogue is provided by a character named Thrasymachus. Depicted by Plato as a bully, Thrasymachus gives the infamous answer to the question, “Justice is the advantage of the stronger.” Plato presents this unappealing man giving this unappealing answer in order to refute and discredit that argument.

In America today, regrettably, the highest court in the land – the Roberts Court – has institutionalized the kind of justice – the very opposite of real justice-that Thrasymachus propounded.

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, April 14. The photo is of Barack Obama and Drew Kleibrink, who passed away suddenly late last week. Drew was a great photographer, environmentalist, progressive, and Democrat. As Del. Mark Keam writes, “Drew (and his camera) was ubiquitous throughout both 2008 and 2012 campaigns, and he did everything you can ask a campaign volunteer to do. Drew worked hard, and his advice was always sound. He was principled in speaking his mind, and as an intellectual, he could engage in a deep conversation with anyone about any issue. Above all, he was a man with incredible empathy and love for fellow human beings.” Drew will be greatly missed by everyone who know him, including me.

*The 3 Most Sobering Graphics From The U.N.’s New Climate Report (Very, very scary; this should be priority #1 for every country around the world.)

*Ukraine President threatens military operation as unrest grows

*Man with history of anti-Semitism jailed in fatal shooting of three at Johnson County Jewish centers

*Triumph of the Drill: How Big Oil Clings to Billions in Government Giveaways

*Democrats refine their message to avoid repeat of 2010 midterm disaster

*Searchers to Deploy Submersible in Hunt for Missing Jet

*Va. Republicans aren’t budging on Medicaid (“Although expansion of coverage is backed by some important donors and a state government shutdown hangs in the balance, GOP lawmakers are maintaining their opposition, hoping to help the party this fall.”)

*Missing in House: Common sense (“In other words, a so-called ‘clean budget’ can’t even be found in the House. The sooner Republican delegates recognize as much, the sooner this stalemate can end.”)

*Our view: Prudence on climate (“The Climate Change Commission can complement those efforts with strategies for reducing greenhouse gases and slowing, if not reversing, the literal sea change occurring as a result of a rapidly warming planet.”)

*Prayer time makes strange bedfellows

*Ethics bill (of goods) (“But it doesn’t take a seasoned political analyst to recognize that lawmakers’ efforts to police themselves tend to be big on talk and short on action. The bill recently signed by Gov. Terry McAuliffe bears that out. What the lawmakers managed to accomplish fails to live up to the hype.”)

*In Prince William budget process, focus is on libraries

*Braves bash Nationals, sweeping the series

*From summer to winter – in one day (“If you thought the summer-like weather was here to stay, think again.”)

( – promoted by lowkell)

I have been thinking lately that we live in a highly unusual time.  But because we have no direct experience of any other time in history than our own lifetimes, it is natural to look around us and assume that what we see is normal.  And if it’s normal, then it must be okay.

But what is happening around us on our planet these days is far from normal.  And it’s far from okay.  

For example, amphibians, mammals, birds, and other animals are disappearing rapidly, at a rate far higher than normal. Scientists tell us that a major cause of these current extinctions is the changing climate. Habitat loss and habitat degradation are also playing a role.

Despite these alarming losses of fauna, I find that many people do not grasp the enormity of it. When I talk with others about the great number of species that have gone-or are going-extinct as a result of climate disruption, I am often met with a shrug, and “well, there have always been extinctions.”

Even knowing that today’s extinctions are abnormally numerous, I was shocked recently to learn that the current rate of extinctions is SO high that scientists are calling our time “the Sixth Extinction.” In other words, current extinction rates are comparable to the five major waves of extinctions the planet has experienced in its entire 4.5 billion year history!

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, by science writer Elizabeth Kolbert, introduced me to the term ‘background extinction rate.’ This is the term biologists use to describe the rate of extinctions that would occur naturally, if human impact were not a factor.

The background extinction rate for amphibians, reports Kolbert, would be about one species lost every 1,000 years. Yet I know of at least three frog species that have gone extinct in just the last few years.  

And the background extinction rate for mammals?  One mammal lost every 700 years.  Yet so many mammals have been lost during  just the last decade-the Baiji dolphin and the Pyrenean ibex to name just two. And so many more are on the brink- at least three rhinoceros species, two seal species, the Asian elephant.  And many, many more will soon likely disappear forever.

I find these numbers staggering, and, frankly, nauseating.  The background extinction rates for amphibians and mammals are so low that most humans should not experience the disappearance of an amphibian or a mammal in their lifetime.  Yet how frequently we hear of some animal that has left us forever or is hovering on the edge.  Tragically, such news is commonplace for those of us living today. It seems normal to live with mounting losses of our fellow creatures.

Tragically, we fail to understand the significance of what we see, and what we don’t see. I think of a passage in Mary Pipher’s invaluable book THE GREEN BOAT. Pipher relays this report from a California tour guide: “Twenty years ago, when I took tourists out, we saw around 300 blue sharks a day. The tourists loved it and were excited. Ten years ago, we saw 10 a day and my customers loved that too. Now it can take three days to spot a blue shark, but people still come out and are thrilled if they see one.”

It weighs heavily on me that we humans are so focused on ourselves and our own needs and desires  that we are depriving many of our fellow species the ability simply to live.

Amphibians, mammals, and other animals may be paying a high price now for our huge human population and our addiction to climate warming activities. But we humans will soon be paying a high price as well. As the great anthropologist Gregory Bateson once said, “No creature can win against its environment for long.”-April Moore  

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, April 13. Also check out the “lightning round” question on which committees the 8th CD Democratic candidates would want to serve on if they’re elected to Congress. See here for a lot more video and my notes from yesterday’s 8th CD Democratic “forum” at Mt. Vernon High School.

*U.N. Climate Panel Warns Speedier Action Is Needed

*World must end ‘dirty’ fuel use – UN (Note to politicians, both left and right: that means phasing out fossil fuels as fast as possible and replacing them with efficiency, solar, wind, geothermal, wave, tidal, etc. Thank you.)

*Just what is Marketplace Virginia? (“Lawmakers, experts explain private insurance proposal”)

*Schapiro: McAuliffe dismantling McDonnell transportation legacy (“Unless Congress acts by January on an enforcement mechanism for applying sales taxes to Internet purchases, Virginia could lose $841 million by 2018. Near term, the revenue would be made up incrementally at the pump, by automatically increasing the percentage-based sales tax on gasoline.”)

*Fewer tests, more learning (“Reforming Virginia’s approach to public education and, perhaps more specifically, its methods of measuring students’ performance, will take years. But the effort is off to a good start under a bill approved by the General Assembly and signed recently by Gov. Terry McAuliffe.”)

*4 GOP candidates get ready for Warner

*Dem congressional candidate Beyer: ‘We need to ban super PACs’ (“Direct disagreements were rare occurrences in the 120-minute session Saturday.”)

*Challenger Brat seeks to hold debate with Cantor

*Senate hopefuls to attend Shad Planking in Wakefield

*Our view: Restless seas for Virginia’s port

*Coal ash storage a New River worry

*The story behind building the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel

*Few answers known weeks after Navy base shooting

*Virginia Beach sees first increase in property values since 2009

*Momentum building for better Richmond schools

*Ryan Zimmerman breaks thumb in Nationals’ loss to Braves (Ouch, that hurts…in more ways than one!)

*D.C. area forecast: Warm spell continues but midweek rain and chill lurking