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Cooch Shares Vision for 21st Century With “highly secretive…theocratic organization”

By
lowkell
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2

What were you doing this past Saturday night?  Hanging out with friends? Watching a movie? Just chilling? In contrast, our hard-working Attorney General was…well, working hard on Saturday night. At 7:59 pm, the following is what Ken Cuccinelli tweeted he was up to:

“About to speak at cnp on 1st principles in the 21st century!”

Wow, “1st principles in the 21st century,” sounds impressive. Personally, I would have paid good money to hear Cooch reconcile his medieval, 12th century, theocratic views with the 21st century. I mean, didn’t we discover that the earth wasn’t flat a few centuries ago? Hasn’t the concept of “science” been around for a while now? What about separation of church and state? Perhaps Cooch just transposed the numbers “2” and “1” when he was writing his tweet?

Anyway, I’m sure Cooch had all kinds of fascinating things to say on Saturday night, as he always does. But what’s this “cnp” Cooch was speaking to?  As far as I can determine, that would have been the “Council for National Policy.”  What’s that, you ask? According to Source Watch:

The Council for National Policy is a secretive forum that was formed in 1981 by Tim LaHaye as a networking tool for leading US conservative political leaders, financiers and religious right activist leaders…

[…]

… Mark Crispin Miller states that the CNP is a “highly secretive… theocratic organization — what they want is basically religious rule” (A Patriot Act). Barry W. Lynn, the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told the New York Times about the CNP meeting ahead of the 2004 Republican National Convention, “The real crux of this is that these are the genuine leaders of the Republican Party, but they certainly aren’t going to be visible on television next week.“

Secretive. Theocratic. Far right wing. Sounds perfect for Cooch, huh?

But wait, there’s more.

“The Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy at Cornell University considers the Council for National Policy a leading force in the Dominionist movement.”

Dominionism, of course, is the movement seeking “either a nation governed by Christians, or a nation governed by a conservative Christian understanding of biblical law.”

Anyway, that’s what Cooch was up to Saturday night — speaking to a “highly secretive” group that advocates theocracy and Dominionism, among other things.  Now, it would be great if we could all hear what Cooch’s idea of “1st principles in the 21st century” happens to be. Unfortunately, since it’s top secret, we can only imagine.

P.S. Jon Stewart’s take on the Council for National Policy is here. Enjoy!

P.P.S. You know what’s funny? That Cooch was tweeting about his speech to a “highly secretive” organization. So much for THAT secret!  Heh.

Paul Weiner’s Pitch Perfect Media Strategy

By
5oclockshadow
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0

Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster.

Sun Tzu

Face it.  Fox is the greatest political propaganda machine of the modern age, and likely in the history of mankind.   It is a perfect money and opinion making system bred on the cynical brilliance of Roger Ailes and Lee Atwater.  

Here we are

Married to a news franchise and brilliant media production branch, it has raised up a generation, millions strong, bred on misinformation, and dog-whistle trained to astroturf political obstruction.

I call it conservative media, but it isn’t the message but the audience that gives it power.

Fox has been the basic cable leader for news and opinion for the past 100 weeks.  That’s 2 years at the top of the ratings.  That means that on any given night, the VRWC can generate any lie it wants, and get it heard by a million people.  Which creates the controversy cycle.  A million people are now talking about it, which makes it news, and therefore must be covered by all cable news and opion media, the newspapers and … suddenly everyone is talking about the lie… or is it the truth?

See how it works.

While progressives were working endlessly to put Democrats everywhere in power, on pure faith, belief and hard work, conserative media has indoctrinated a generation to a religion of the trinity of hipocrisy: “small government, strong military, and family values”.

How I wish progressives had any kind of media structure.  We don’t.  

and pracing a kind of ideological inbreeding.

Not one cent for fox, halliburton, bp, or wal-mart.

Or a million others.  I want a machine which will help me plan my finances and set my investments and expenditures so that not once cent of my money goes

Elected leaders must fill the void left by the death of the 4th estate.  

The secret of nixonland is that it understands neither the world, nor, more importantly itself.

Built on the basis of a critique of 20th Century liberalism, it is an anachronism consuming itself in its own internal contradictions, but the new progressive movement.

Why it is great policy.

The liberal worldview transformed America and transformed the world.  A worldview which balances the the seminal American virtues of  liberty and justice created the most powerful engine for democracy in the history of the world: The American Middle Class.

The critique of liberalism began on the left.  Thus the modern conservative movement traces its lineage through the 60’s radicalism as much as the Southern Strategy.  It’s a

Why this is great politics.

The  

Video: Dick Durbin Talks About Barack Obama at Fairfax JJ Dinner

By
lowkell
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0



Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) was the keynote speaker at last night’s Fairfax County Democratic Committee Jefferson-Jackson Dinner.  In this part of his speech, he tells some fun Barack Obama stories and recounts the accomplishments of year #1 of Obama’s presidency.

Video: Jim Webb’s Commencement Address at GMU

By
lowkell
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2

The graduation ceremony was held on May 15 at the Patriot Center.

Obama or Bust: We Need Leadership from the Top

By
Heather TaylorMiesle NRDC Action Fund
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8

(I couldn’t agree more. – promoted by lowkell)

If you look at any of the 24X7 news shows or even the Today Show, you will see everyone proclaiming that there is an anti-incumbent mood spreading across America. There is good reason to say that as evidenced by the size of Tea Party rallies and even a few of the races last Tuesday. But, my personal opinion is that this is less about an anti-incumbent mood and more about a “pro-change” disposition. Voters are angry about the current state of blame and stall politics. They expect elected officials to keep their promises – and that extends to clean energy and climate legislation.

Even though clean energy and climate issues are rarely at the heart of the anti-incumbency rhetoric, the frustration with all things Beltway could block comprehensive energy legislation this year.

President Obama's leadership is the only force that can change that.

You see, when the electorate turns anti-Washington, Congressmen freeze up. They get scared of taking bold steps and they start saying “no” to everything.

Even on a good day, the odds of passing any bill in Congress–no matter the issue–starts at about 5 percent. Smart gamblers always bet the no vote in Congress.

But being a naysayer becomes even more attractive to politicians when they think their job is at risk. Voting “no” on a big, transformative bill allows them to give the illusion that they are “playing it safe” and to keep the bull's-eye off their back for potential mid-term popularity contests.

“No” may be an easy decision for politicians, but it is the wrong choice for the American people.

We need to say yes to a clean energy and climate bill that will generate nearly 2 million jobs, put our nation at the forefront of one of the biggest markets of the 21st century, end our reliance on oil, and reduce dangerous pollution. Yet so many lawmakers are in a panic over elections that they can't see these benefits.

They need to snap out of it. In a movie, this is the moment when someone would come along and slap the panicking person in the face. In politics, that slap is leadership.

President Obama must take charge of clean energy and climate legislation. The only major bills that pass through Congress are the ones with White House support. We are fortunate that President Obama backs climate action, but given this anti-incumbent mood, we need him not just to support it; we need him to lead it.

What would that look like? We saw it in the heath care debate. President Obama went into campaign mode and stumped on that bill every single day. He called in political chits. He got people in the same room to negotiate. He dragged it over the finish line because he went farther than asking for change. He demanded it.

That is what we need him to do for a clean energy and climate bill. Because let's be frank: either we see some leadership or we call it a day.

If we don't pass the bill this year, we won't get another chance for years. Dave Robert's painted the grim prospects for national climate action given the likely outcomes of future election cycles in his Grist blog this week. It doesn't look good for another eight years – at least.

We need to get America moving right now toward a clean energy future, and we need President Obama to lead the way.

This week, Robert Redford appeared in a television ad for the NRDC that has already been written about in the Washington Post and New York Times. Interestingly, he didn't call on Congress to take clean energy and climate action. He called on President Obama.

The president is the one with the bully pulpit. Tell him to use it on behalf of clean energy and climate solutions. Securing our future depends on it.

Coal Electric Plant Proposal, Bitter (and Racial?) Divisions

By
dgjudy
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1

( – promoted by lowkell)

A great article appeared in yesterday's Virginian-Pilot about the proposed coal-electric plant in the town of Dendron, Virginia, upstream (and upwind) from Hampton Roads on the James River.  

The proposal is still early in the permit-seeking process, but the tiny, destitute town and its surrounding population have already formed staunch and angry Pro- and Anti- groups.  The article suggests that, most unfortunately, these groups are noticeably arranged along racial lines.

If all goes as planned, the plant's twin 650-foot emission stacks – nearly 100 feet taller than the Washington Monument – will rise just behind the backyards of Main Street. Where tranquil woods now stand, bulldozers will muscle mounds of fly ash that will rival Mount Trashmore in Virginia Beach. Each week, more than 500 boxcars of coal will clatter in around the clock.

The dilemma cleaved Dendron largely along racial lines, a fact residents say they hate to mention, but then do. The community, roughly half black and half white, had a long history of getting along – until blacks saw the plant as opportunity and whites saw it as disaster.  

Suddenly, conversations grew testy between old friends. "Yes" and "no" signs were swiped out of yards. Mundane town meetings turned into accusation-filled marathons.

While it's tempting to start trying to explain this apparent phenomenon, that seems unwise.  Pushing this story into a pre-existing narrative formed by the local and national history of racial politics is unlikely to isolate or clarify anything useful about the specific issue of whether this plant ought to be built, and whether it ought to be built in Dendron.

Likewise, the story offers some other ways to understand what's happening there now.  For instance, the town was created as a byproduct of an earlier resource-extracting industry, and the echoes of that history are very clearly present still:  

The town in the shadow of the smokestacks is broke. It's been that way since the saw mill packed up. Born as a company town in the 1880s, Dendron – Greek for "trees" – once boomed with 3,000 residents and scores of stores, banks, hotels, restaurants, even a skating rink and movie theater.  But when the virgin forests gave out and the Great Depression hit, the Surry Lumber Co. abandoned Dendron – taking more than just jobs. Company buildings were dismantled, along with the water and electricity systems. The ice plant was moved to Wakefield. The iron tracks of the railroad were wrangled right out of the ground. A 1931 fire finished off most of what remained – destroying 21 buildings on Main Street.

Dendron has limped by ever since. Last year's town operating budget was $50,000. Sidewalks are buckling. The population is shrinking. The water system, installed to replace the company one, is leaking so badly that the state is threatening $25,000-a-day fines. The repair bill could reach $2 million.  At one recent meeting, the mayor put it like this: "We're hooked up to life support. This is a critical time." Enter ODEC, with a plan to buy the lumber mill site [and build a power plant], and an offer to the town that, at least initially, sounded like a savior: a $10,000 zoning application fee, $600,000 toward water repairs, $65,000 for new sidewalks, $100,000 for a picnic and playground area. The co-op even replaced the worn-out copier in Town Hall. The real windfall, however, would come in property taxes – $1.6 million a year to Dendron and $22 million to surrounding Surry County.

Any strategist prefers to have the choice of where and when to fight. Here we see a rather cunning move by the power company in selecting an incredibly vulnerable community with a distant memory of times being better when Dendron was a “company town.”

In such a setting the utility could probably hope to have the thing well underway before a resourceful opposition appeared.  And indeed, the company’s proxies appear to have swept the most recent town council elections.  Of course, many other officials will need to sign off before the plant is reality.  This plant will directly affect millions of Virginians living in Hampton Roads.  It's upstream and upwind from a huge population center, several wildlife refuges, the lower Chesapeake Bay, and major drinking water sources.  Effective opposition first requires awareness.

People should be talking about this plant not only in Dendron, but in all Seven Cities of Hampton Roads, and on the Peninsulas and the Eastern Shore.

NATIONAL CALL-IN DAY TO SPEAK UP FOR EDUCATION AND KIDS

By
teacherken
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2

NATIONAL CALL-IN DAY TO SPEAK UP FOR EDUCATION AND KIDS

WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 2010

Wednesday, May 26, 2010 is the start of the National Speak Up for Education & Kids Campaign.  It begins with a National Call-in Day.

TAKE ACTION:

   * On Wednesday May 26th, call 1-866-608-6355 to contact your Representative in Congress.

   * You will hear talking points and will be connected to the United States Capitol Switchboard – ask for your House Member.

   * Tell your Representative to protect the future of our children by supporting funding to save education jobs in the emergency funding bill.

   * With 300,000 education layoffs expected, our students are the ones who will suffer – in overcrowded classrooms, with less time in school, and without the teachers and school staff needed to give them individual attention and help.

   * Forward this call-in day information to five friends. Ask them to call Congress on May 26th and to forward this e-mail to five more friends.

Other Actions You Can Take to Speak Up for Education And Kids:

*  E-mail your Members of Congress to support funding to save education jobs in the emergency supplemental appropriations bill.

*  Become a “fan” of Speak up for Education and Kids (http://www.facebook.com/speakupforkids) on Facebook — a community of educators and concerned citizens – now more than 12,000 strong – who believe our nation has a responsibility to invest in education and avoid the short-sighted cuts that could deprive our students of the bright futures they deserve.

*  Visit Education Votes (www.educationvotes.nea.org) to find out how you can make sure your voice is heard on the education issues that matter the most.

Congress can’t ignore a strong message from all across the nation.  Make your voice heard!

Participate in the National Call-In Day and speak up for education and kids!

Webb for Senate 2006 HQ Finally To Meet the Wrecking Ball

By
lowkell
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11

This certainly isn’t the most beautiful building in the world. Its wiring is sketchy, it leaks when it rains, and it probably was ready to be torn down several years ago. But, for those of us who worked on the 2006 Webb for Senate campaign, we’ll always have fond memories of 1916 Wilson Boulevard in Arlington.

I remember the early days of Webb’s candidacy in early March 2006, when Steve Jarding and Lee Diamond (photo after the “flip”) were driving around Northern Virginia, looking for affordable (aka, “cheap”, since the campaign had very little money) office space suitable for Webb’s budding campaign. They finally found what they were looking for, right near Courthouse Metro and – perhaps just as importantly – close to several bars and restaurants like Ireland’s Four Courts, Brooklyn Bagel Bakery, California Tortilla, and Rhodeside Grill. Webb staffers held many lunches and many “meetings” at those establishments, no doubt providing a significant boost to the local economy. 🙂  Inside that building, the Webb for Senate team on the 3rd floor, and the volunteers on the 2nd floor, somehow managed to pull off a victory that pretty much nobody thought was possible when 2006 began. That victory came, of course, with a big assist from an anti-Bush tsunami and a huge cowboy-booted foot in George Allen’s mouth, but we’ll take it nonetheless!

Anyway, it now appears that there are plans to demolish Webb’s old headquarters and replace it with “stores and restaurants on the sidewalk level…200 residential units, two open courtyards and an underground parking garage.” Sounds like a major, much needed, upgrade. Still, I’ll miss driving by 1916 Wilson Boulevard and remembering the excitement of the 2006 Webb-Miller and Webb-Allen races.  Good times.

Among many other fond memories of the Webb for Senate HQ at 1916 Wilson Boulevard, I’d definitely have to list the rally with Jim Webb and John Kerry held in the parking lot (see photos above and after the “flip”) the day before the June 13 Democratic primary. Kerry’s endorsement was a big one for Webb in the Democratic primary, and 300 supporters turned out to celebrate.

Of course, I also remember the hordes of volunteers – ably guided by people like the extraordinary Mary Detweiler, and of course Josh Chernila – descending on 1916 Wilson Boulevard during the fall of 2006. People like filmmakers Annabel Park and Eric Byler from LA, a group of law students from Yale (intent on protecting the vote), senior citizens, high school kids, and “Real Virginians” of all types, all fired up to elect Jim Webb, defeat George Allen, and help take our country back from the disastrous, Republican misrule of Bush, Cheney, Hastert, DeLay, etc. The energy was incredible, and in the end it helped us take back the Congress in 2006 and the White House in 2008.  Now, we need to make sure we don’t lose that energy, or even worse, cede it to fired-up folks on the far right.  If we let that happen, then a “wrecking ball” will come down not just on 1916 Wilson Boulevard, but also (metaphorically) on all the progress we’ve made in the last few years.  With that, enjoy the photos…and the memories!

State Central Committee Position Available

By
NoVA Dem
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0

As an FYI to all, the 10th District Democratic Committee is filling a vacancy to the State Central Committee due to Eileen Manning’s resignation and move to Florida.

Those that might be interested in serving on the Committee should seek an appointment. I believe the Committee will be seeking female applicants from Fairfax to maintain gender and geographic balance.

If anyone is interested, email some members of the 10th to seek a nomination. Committee members are listed here:

http://10thcdvadems.org/page7/…

Gulf Spill Solution: Low Yield Nuclear Device

By
Dan Sullivan
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3

Negotiations are nearing completion for a British Petroleum and North Korean partnership to seal the spewing crude flow in the Gulf of Mexico. “This is the kind of public-private partnership we’ve advocated” said someone familiar with the “Good Government for America Committee” currently sponsoring an unofficial “give George Allen money” website.

This is seen as an immensely important development particularly at this time of heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula. A North Korean envoy intimated that this arrangement serves many purposes but is humanitarian in nature. It will help his proud nation feed its starving population. “But it should not be lost on the people to the south that we possess this capability.” He went on to suggest that the Gulf of Mexico be saturated with rice prior to the blast and that the resulting gumbo be harvested and shipped to his nation. “There is no reason to waste that bounty of nature as it may be the last for some time to come.”

A source close to Delegate Chris Stolle (R-Virginia Beach) who claimed during his campaign against former Delegate Bouchard that his “contacts” in the Navy assured him that there would be no objection to drilling off the coast of Virginia, noted that the absence of any public objection from the Governor Jindal of Louisiana was proof of Jindal’s support for the use of nukes. “It also shows you that the eco-nuts’ objections to drilling off of Virginia are unfounded. With this solution in our quiver, spills off of Virginia Beach only promise more dramatic fireworks for the tourists. Remember that the Delegate was a naval nuclear engineer.”

As the prognosis for conventionally sealing the leak grew dimmer, British Petroleum (BP) initially developed several spins on the disaster. With the flow of crude toward the Gulf Stream intensifying and the hurricane season imminent, a series of public service announcements were developed for release in Ireland. The theme was “Another Irish Miracle,” hoping to convince Europe that crude soaked beaches would re-energize an economy once hailed by American Republicans as a prime example of the outcome of low taxes; all that European Union investment and stimulus money aside. But this drew an adverse reaction from a Norwegian consortium formed to represent gas and oil interests there with the North Atlantic fishing industry concerned that a poisoned Atlantic may not recover for a generation. That is when BP turned to Kim Jong Il.

Kim’s demeanor was characterized as “amazingly receptive considering the extreme pressure he is facing.” Other potential partners in the venture were caught flat footed by the rapid development. While al Qaida and the government of Iran might not have immediately available devices, both have either contacts with sources of supply or are close to production. “That Axis of Evil speech and the malignant US diplomacy under the second Bush really inspired cooperation and creativity worldwide.”

Advocates for this sealing technique point out that it is further evidence of the unfettered free market’s ability to provide innovative solutions. “Government could never deliver such an effective and immediate solution!” The leak is 41 miles offshore and almost a mile down. “It’s not like it’s right off Virginia Beach!” They argue that you should think of it this way: it is one less device than was used on Japan, one less device that threatens our ally South Korea, and about 60 less than were tested in the Marianas (coincidently, a Mariana flagged vessel, the semisubmersible drilling rig Deepwater Horizon owned by Transocean is at the center of this disaster). And what about New Mexico and Nevada!?! People flock there today!

Senator Frank Wagner (R-7th), another naval nuclear engineering expert, is expected to encourage Virginia Governor McDonnell (R) to support the initiative. A temporarily radioactive Gulf of Mexico can only encourage Virginia tourism. Plus another peaceful use of nuclear power provides further evidence that nuclear power production can supplement our energy needs while we wait for our own offshore economic miracle.

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