A Progressive in the Cabinet!

I have been unabashedly unimpressed with many of the Clinton folks now appointed to work for Obama, but this morning the Obama appointed Melody Barnes to head the Domestic Policy Council. She is a front and center progressive who has worked for Ted Kennedy (the lion of the Senate and a lion for progressives) on the Judiciary committee. She has also worked for the Center for American Progress for the last few years. An African-American woman, she will coordinate the mega-board of the Cabinet secretaries of Health and Human Services, Justice, Labor, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce, Energy, Treasury, Agriculture, Transportation, Interior and Veterans Affairs. Basically, she'll be domestic policy czar. More on Barnes. She also penned an essay at the Washington Post, "What a Progressive President Might Say." Here is part of what she said:

Here at home there is urgent work to do to fight the historically high -- and growing -- gap between our richest and poorest citizens. While the mean income of households on the low end of the income spectrum -- the bottom 20 percent -- is just $10,655 a year, the income of the top twenty percent of households averages almost $160,000. That's 15 times as much. At the same time, according to the latest census figures, the middle class, beset with stagnant wages and mountainous debts, is shrinking. The sad fact is that one of our most cherished values as a society, namely equality of opportunity, is fading as a reality for far too many people...

Here is a small interview with her on C-SPAN:

Obama Will Close Guantanamo Bay and Ban Torture

I have become cynical in two weeks of an Obama elect world. You hear the reports that he can't do this and he can't do that. And I stand steadfast that if Obama does not follow through on his promises I will make this blog critical of Obama very quickly. But, this is nice to hear. Guantanamo is gone as well as torture:



We need to do much more. We need help for the poor in this country as well as the working class and of course the middle class. Not just the fucking rich wall streeters who have their hands in the till. We need a country that stimulates the economy through practical policies that help regular people as well as changing the way we have done business for the last thirty years - capitalism for the rich. I don't see Obama as an FDR type, one who will change America significantly for the better in a progressive way. I hope I am wrong.

"Obamawitz"

one more day until the primary ... paul was interviewed on NPR's the brian lehrer show this morning. he handled the tough questions brilliantly ... listen here and rally for paul! go paul!


Nonviolence is an orphan among democratic ideas. It has nearly vanished from public discourse even though the most basic element of free government -the vote-has no other meaning. Every ballot is a piece of nonviolence, signifying hard won consent to raise politics above firepower and bloody conquest. -Taylor Branch-

Assembly Candidate Paul Newell is beginning to make waves in his longshot bid (an understatement) to unseat none other than the most powerful person in New York, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver of the infamous three men in a room. Now with Spitzer gone, he may be the most powerful of the three men. But, Newell is not deterred and the blogosphere as well as the progressive community in New York City is beginning to take notice.

An event is scheduled this Tuesday night - June 24th, 7 - 10 PM, a fundraiser that sends a message with every contribution.

You can donate $77 for how many days until Newell unseats Silver; or

$149 for the amount of Assemblyman that will get a voice other than Silver; or

$500 (which gets you on the finance committee by the way) which is the amount of signatures Paul needs to get on the ballot.

He even has the attention of Ben Smith of Politico with the creative 'Obamawitz' image. This whole scenario makes me proud because once progressives (nationally for Obama and Edwards for that matter) realize they have power we can do just about anything.

There are some downsides to taking on the powerful, however. Paul told me when he began this quest that it wouldn't be easy and he would probably face another challenger funded by Silver. In pops Luke Henry. As Newell's candidacy began to pick up steam Henry announced. Suddenly, he moved back to the 64th from the West Village to challenge Silver, suspiciously in September. Doubly suspicious to Newell was that Henry has also worked for Wilson Elser (the lobbyist giant where Kenneth Shapiro works), which reps several firms with ties to Silver and the Assembly, such as the Dolans (Henry says he didn’t do political work there). Newell is concerned that Henry might be a sort of spoiler, an unserious candidate designed to split the non-Silver vote.

Paul, on the other hand, has lived in Chinatown for ten years, he is an Obama delegate and has been working for non-profits, including Ubuntu, an organization dedicated to the AIDS crisis in South Africa. Newell also speaks fluent Spanish, an important caveat in his constituency in the 64th. It is time the progressive blogosphere got behind a progressive candidate in New York City. NYC should be run by progressives, not old school democrats who we cannot tell from moderate Republicans, who we would rather have a conversation with - say Bloomberg than Sheldon Silver. It is ridiculous. Come to the fundraiser.

My favorite endorsement that Paul has received, however is the following from the Cougars of America: We the Cougars of America would like to endorse Paul Newell for New York State Assembly. We think he's just what we need in our government, a good lookin' young, single, and bold (bald) progressive. Not only is he the Bialystock of the Bowery, Paul has the right kind of touch (caress) and nearsighted vision that will bring a wave of fresh idea to Albany. It is time for change.

a bright vision for the future-- essential reading

from symposia books in providence, RI (a wonderful bookstore we discovered a few years ago), a book i want to get... i briefly knew chris carlsson (friend of a friend) when i lived in san francisco in the mid 90s, he started the critical mass bike ride phemon, every friday in the city...

Chris Carlsson, the author, will be at symposia on monday may 19th for an in-store reading...

Nowtopia: How Pirate Programmers, Outlaw Bicyclists, and Vacant-lot Gardeners are inventing the Future Today!

"Chris Carlsson is one of our most original and compelling voices of radical social change in America. Nowtopia opens a window onto today's vibrant subcultures of technical experimentation and cooperative work, in everything from biofuels to bicycling, gardening to the webworld. More than tinkerers and bohemians, these renegade innovators are pioneers of new ways of living beyond the market and ordinary jobs. Carlsson moves effortlessly from tales of personal liberation to a trenchant analysis of the reconfiguration of class. Nowtopia is a ringing appeal for the liberation of human creativity from the noose of wagework--before it's too late."

-Richard Walker, Prof. of Geography, University of California, Berkeley, Author of The Capitalist Imperative

What is a Progressive?

"The American left is in the throes of an existential crisis. Some say it's a failure of nerve, others a loss of belief. It is the latter. Neoliberalism has sucked the oxygen out of the left by deflating the political sphere to the economic one. The left must articulate a new creed around three principles: empowerment (the economic is ancillary to the political); social justice (the disadvantaged have an unconditional claim upon the collectivity); and decency (the state may not humiliate anyone). To make its case, the left must redefine that most exalted form of self-interest, patriotism, as pride in a society that grants all of its members the means to belong." -Bernard Chazelle -

Austin Landmark Crushed by Corporation

For those of you who know and love Austin, Texas, the way that I love Austin, Texas, you know that it is the progressive heart of the state and as such, loves its local businesses. Or at least it once did.

Las Manitas is a progressive, women owned business that serves up tasty Tex-Mex and community involvement. The sisters who have owned the business for 26 years have held fundraisers for many causes including the Sandinistas and Zapatistas. It is a place frequented by politicians and locals of all persuasions. Even our favorite Turd Blossom visited.

Unfortunately, since Marriott decided it wanted to place a hotel on top of Las Manitas, Cynthia and Lidia Perez are being forced out. Per NPR, J.W. Marriott was quoted in the Austin American-Statesman as saying, "Why should you hold up a several-hundred-million-dollar investment because of a small little restaurant?" Of course, he has since apologized to them...and I'm sure it was very sincere.

The city tried to intervene by providing them a loan to move elsewhere, but they declined to accept it. The sisters need to come up with $1 million to find a new place. Maybe the city will rally behind them though. However, Austin has been changing for a couple of decades now, so it seems unlikely.

Are You Really Progressive?

Thanks to R. Thelonious for sending this to me. The Times Online had an article recently highlighting a test created by the website Political Compass. One can find out where one is on the political scale. The political scale consists, however of a larger context that is not commonly accepted in the American mainstream. For greater context this is what Political Compass says about the tool and the U.S. Primaries:

Please keep in mind that The Political Compass is a universal tool, reflecting the full spectrum of political thought, and applicable to all democracies. US politics are generally fought within a more confined space. While in mainstream America, Clinton, for example, may be seen as left leaning, in the overall political landscape, she is a moderate conservative. Someone like Kucinich, while seen by his severest opponents as an extreme left winger, would qualify as a typical social democrat in a European context.

I took the test and end up somewhere southwest of Kucinich and Gravel. This probably puts me way outside the mainstream here. It would be interesting, however to see where FDR places. I would bet money it is right where Kucinich finds himself. That is how far to the right the democrats and the Rethuglicans have moved. And actually look further down on the Political Compass article and it links to this article on the Kucinich homepage that shows us that Americans are progressive, but our politicians are not.

I personally do not think Kucinich is a good candidate. He doesn't appeal to a broad base of people. He has the right ideas and is a GREAT Congressman, but he is more like a pit bull than a leader of a nation. I like him where he is.

Anyway take the test. Here also is an explanation of the test.