When dollars are more important than votes

Admittedly, Person County is not an "A" list county in the world of statewide politics. Other counties have more votes, more money and are easier to get to. so it is understandable that we are not overrun with statewide candidates.
But this year we seem to be especially overlooked, ignored even. We have well over 12,000 democrats who vote rather well and are only 30 minutes north of Durham and the I-40 corridor so we are not that far out in the sticks. We have had multiple grassroots type democrats contact multiple statewide campaigns oer the last two months trying to get one to attend an event or two. With one exception, all have found other places to be, sometimes with good reason sometimes, .... well, not. We have had to beg for campaign materials, been brushed off, and given the run-around.
The one candidate who has, so far, attended an event was Richard Moore, and that was essentially for the reletively few "more established" democrats et al who can write checks. We have our "big" event coming up on April 22 and have only 3 statewide candidates who have expressed interest, and that includes the judicial candidates. Several campaigns have offered surrogates, which is fine, but they are only considered "possibles" at this point..
I have criss-crossed Person Co. putting up my county commissioner signs, and I could have very easily put up signs for another candidate or two. As county chair (until becoming a candidate) for most of the past five years, I have some experience in that area. I am also a teen democrat advisor; you'd think a campaign or two would have reached out based on that alone.
This will not change who I vote for or keep me from voting or any such nonsense as that, but there is a huge difference in simply having my vote and having my energetic and vocal support.
Yes I am whining; but the point I make is valid. Votes lost in May may well be lost in November, and all those dollars don't necessarily transliate into votes.
If anyone cares to send me some cheese, I'll take some smoked gouda.
Thank you for reading.

NCDP SEC Passes Gut Check, Sort of.

Today the Executive Committee of the North Carolina Democratic Party met in Hamlet, NC. Let me set the stage for the gut check. Due to some negative press concerning the naming of the Vance-Aycock dinner,which is the marquee fall event for the NCDP, a motion was presented by the district chairs of the 11th and 1st congressional districts to refer the idea of renaming the dinner to a select committee. You see, Mr. Aycock was quite the racist. The district chairs hoped for a committee with White, Black, Native American and Latino members to address the issue of just what, if anything, should be done concerning the naming of the Vance-Aycock.

Some tinkering was done through amendments to adjust the initial timeframe so as to have the committee complete its work prior to the convention in June and to impel the committee to come up with another name.

That's when yours truly steps into the picture. Seeings how the general topic was the naming of one of our signature dinners, I offered an amendment to have the renaming of the Jefferson-Jackson dinner be included in the motion. I am specifically concerned with the Jackson part of the name. The idea that modern democrats do anything to honor the name of a genocidal racist has bothered me for quite some time. Just let me remind you that it was Jackson who, in violation of existing treaties, forced the Cherokee from their ancestral home in and around the southern Appalachian mountains. The 17,000 or so Cherokee suffered greatly on their 1000+ mile walk during the brutal winter of 1838-39; 4000 Cherokee died of hunger and cold.

Jackson went out of his way to commit genocide. He has no business being honored by the modern Democratic party.

When I introduced my motion, I thought it would be a mere formality. The Vance-Aycock renaming seemed to have a lot of backing, surely this group of progressve democrats would recognize the sense of putting the issue of honoring racists completely behind them.

I was stunned at the volume of the nays shouted in opposition to my amendment. Someone, thankfully, had their wits about them and called for a division, a recorded vote. This was the Gut Check I mentioned previously.

As it turns out 167 members of the NCDP Executive Committee think it is ok to honor a genocidal racist. Other than lend his the first letter of his last name to form a rather catchy name for a signature event, what did Jackson do that was so great? Perhaps it's because of the donkey; he is the genius that come with the symbol for our party, an ass. Lovely.

Thankfully 194 members of the Executive Committee thought as I did, that it is time to put the racist overtones inherent in the names J-J and V-A behind us. Certainly racism will linger in the minds of many people for years to come, but we had the opportunity today to at least take a couple of racists off our marquis and we blew it.

That's right; the motion was put in limbo by an ill timed and ill advised quorum call which came up short. The motion, therefore, was not agreed to and any progress on the renaming issue was officially lost.

This issue will come up again; I will make sure of that, as, I am certain, will many of the other true progressives who voted for my amendment.

I very much hope that the 167 democrats who voted against the J-J amendment will reconsider which is more important, blindly continuing a flawed tradition or starting a new tradition without the hypocrisy of pretending to be an inclusive party while honoring extreme racists such as Aycock and Jackson.

I do wish to thank all those SEC members who supported changing both dinners' names. I do believe we will prevail the next time this issue is raised.

Saving our Schools, a Report

The first Saving our Schools forum was held Nov. 13 at Southern Durham H.S. from 7:00 - 9:00. The event was sponsored and planned by the Young Democrats of NC, and major congratulations are due to Zack Hawkins and Melissa Price.
State Senator Floyd McKissick moderated the event for panelists Dr. June Atikinson, Superintendant of Public Instruction, Donald Berringer, Durham County NCAE, and Durham County School Board members Minnie Forte and Steve Schewel. The attendance was probably less then hoped for, but about 25-30 people were there to soak up the comments from the panelists and to ask them a few questions at the end of the procedings.
I was quite impressed with the knowledge, caring and committment levels of all the panelists. After a couple years of negative news concerning the Durham Bd. of Ed., Forte and Schewel were a breath of fresh air. I was further impressed with the level of funding the schools in Durham obviously enjoy, at least compared to my home, Person Co. One of the Durham folks commented that they were able to put an "extra" nurse in place at Southern H.S.; we have two nurses for the whole of Person County.
Some quick takes:
Frequent high stakes testing was viewed by all panelists as a bad thing, though assessment in general was viewed as necessary.
Statewide drop out rate was a major concern. Dr. Atkinson spoke of instilling the college dream in children as early as possible.
Durham county seemed to have very good programs worked out in collaboration with Duke and NCCU. They also had, or would soon have, "academies" for the construction and medical science professions.
Dr. Atkinson viewed technology as useful especially as regards connecting with today's students, e.g. having teachers give lectures as podcasts or in some other downloadable format.
Training new teachers and retaining the ones we have were mentioned as priorities on a couple of occasions. Improving teacher pay was mentioned as well.
Mr. Berringer stressed reducing class size and allowing elementary teachers some quality planning time.
Dr. Atkinson, Ms. Forte and Mr. Schewel all made mention of forming partnerships with parents and the greater community. Durham Co. has a full time parent liason, and they send a bus out to collect parents on conference days. The idea of a parent getting on a bus to go to a school conference still brings a smile to my face. No excuses!
The Manning decision was mentioned along with school accountability. Forte and Schewel were positive about it since being on Judge Manning's radar was the impetous for much of the improvements they have made in Durham recently.

I am glad I attended. Being around people who care about schools and our future, the children, is refreshing, as is having close contact with state and community leaders who are working to improve our schools. I am doubly pleased the the YDs are the ones getting these discussions going. If I recall correctly, YDs are planning six or so more of these Saving our Schools forums in various locations across NC. Please keep your eyes and ears open and attend one of these events when convenient; providning young people with an education is a necessity, making that a quality education takes commitment from the whole community.

Thanks for reading.

Mike

Some Comments from Kerouac

Just before the publication of On the Road made Jack Kerouac famous, he spent a summer on Mt. Desolation as a fire lookout. Desolation Angels (1965) is one of his autobiographical novels that he wrote about the year in his life that followed his summer of solitude. Though known primarily and rightly for novels that are full of parties and wild travels and certainly rather apolitical, Kerouac was too well informed, too aware of the world around him, too well read, to keep the occasional political comment from creeping into his spontaneous prose.
I just finished reading Desolation Angels, and the following passages brought to mind the cliche "the more things change, the more they stay the same."
The passage reminding me of things staying the same is:

"As far as I can see this Forest Service is nothing but a front, on the one hand a vague Totalitarian governmental effort to restrict the use of forest to people, telling them they can't camp here or piss there, it's illegal to do this and you're allowed to do that, in the Immemorial Wilderness of Tao and the Golden Age and the Milleniums of Man - secondly it's a front for the lumber interests, the net result of the whole thing being, what with Scott Paper Tissue and such companies logging out these woods year after year with the "cooperation" of the Forest Service which boasts so proudly of the number of board feet in the whole forest (as if I owned an inch of board altho I can't piss here nor camp there) result, net, is people all over the world are wiping their ass with the beautiful trees-"

The passage below indicates for me a profound change in the United States. Kerouac was, is, very American, and he sometimes displayed a certain optimism, IMHO, regarding America as a whole. This change is the cancer that eats at our democratic souls.

" And I know American is too vast with people too vast to ever be degraded to the level of a slave nation, and I can go hitch hiking down that road into my remaining years of my life knowing that outside of a couple fights in bars started by drunks I'll have not a hair of my head (and I need a haircut) harmed by Totalitarian cruelty - "

The link for these two passages is the word "Totalitarian". While I do not believe that the United States is anything like a totalitarian society, the NeoCons and their toadies, without apology or embarrassment, have pushed the USA down that Road way farther than is necessary, decent or ethical. Our Constitution has been bent and twisted in their rush to power and their wish to consolodate that power. Thier intended destination would be a United States cast in darkness, spreading its malignant policies through out the world; certainly Jefferson, Washington and Madison, and the other framers would not approve. I would add Jack Kerouac to that esteemed list; that NeoCon Road would be one Road that Jack would not wish anyone, or any country, to travel.

Thanks for reading,
Mike

FISA Amendments Act be Damned!!

The fourth amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America reads as follows:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Now, good reader, if you please, follow this link and in that excellent article read the details of the FISA Amendments Act. I knew about the telecom facet of the legislation but had no idea as to the potentially radical changes in privacy law that the Act otherwise contains.

This right to privacy, so well stated in our Bill of Rights, is under direct attack by the Bush administration. I find this exceptionally strange, even hypocritical, as the Bush administration suffers few, if any, breaches of its privacy though its business is purportedly that of the people it governs.

The NeoCons like to play the fear card, conjuring up images of Bin Laden and black hooded terrorists in an attempt to justify their power grabs. They cry," We cannot let them win." Well, the terrorists will most certainly win if the Land of the Free becomes the Land of the Gilded Cages.

A law abiding citizen of the USA should not have to suffer unwarranted searches at any time. The original FISA bill allowed for unwarranted searches in extraordinary circumstances but even then the searching organization had three days to get a FISA judge to approve the search.

But this was not enough. An administration that demands accountability in our schools through such short sighted and impractical legislation as No Child Left Behind wishes to go even farther than the original FISA in an attempt to avoid being held accountable itself.

The FISA Amendmenta Act is wrong, it is unAmerican, it is unConstitutional, and I shall attempt to prevent its passage by every legal means at my disposal.

Of Sushi and Cold Wet Fish

Ah Sushi, one of my favorite foods and here a metaphor for things liked ...

I spent a few hours Saturday down at NCDP hq in Raleigh attending the Fall Teen Dem rally. One of the local teen dems wanted to go so we went. Speakers at the event included Jerry Meek, Larry Kissell, Ed Ridpath, Tricia Cotham and Pat Smathers. The assembled teens also heard from Melissa Price, YDNC VP, and a representative from the Hampton Dellinger campaign. The really cool thing was the fact that dozens of teen democrats from various counties gathered and were enthusiastic about making a change in their communities and participating in the democratic process. They had a breakout session in which they shared ideas for increasing their local club's membership, events to sponsor and which candidates they would like to support.
I would like to comment on state Rep. Cotham's remarks, which were very interesting. Apparently the good ole boys haven't taken too well to having a single, young, female collegue. She reported that snide, sexist and even demeaning comments are made to her with some frequency. So rather than a group of "grandfatherly" elders, some of the older males in our esteemed General Assembly act more like adolescent jerks when out of the spotlight. Rep. Cotham also took some heat for sponsoring anti- bullying legislation that included clauses pertaining to sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation. Some republican GA members thought that it should be open season on gay students as they roam the halls of our schools.

I had good time, got to chat with some of the aforementioned political types and had my hope in the future somewhat restored. Varied and very satisfying, just like a good sushi dinner.


But then there is the Cold Wet Fish of Reality ... which will be things not liked, perhaps by you, the reader.

To be blunt, Jim Neal will not play well in Person Co. or in most rural/suburban counties of NC. I am sure you can surmise the reasons - Chapel Hill liberal, gay, Larry Craig guilt by association, Clinton at the top of the ticket (hey, that is the way it looks now) and Mr. Neal's association with "losers" Kerry and Bowles. Some of these "negatives" (notice quotes) can be overcome if Mr. Neal will make a point of visiting (nearly) every county twice, once in early 2008 and once later in 2008 to become 3-D, to show that he is a caring family man, intelligent with good positions on the issues facing society today. The best way to do that is meeting people face to face and creating positive word of mouth. Bowles was just a face on tv to most North Carolinians who live away from the interstate corridors, and he did not fare well as a result. Mr. Neal must create his own labels, his own political identity, before it is done for him by the attack dogs gathering on the right. I noticed that one of the major political prognosticating websites (Cooks?) just yesterday moved NC to solid rep from leans rep.

Please notice that this is not meant as an attack on Mr. Neal, but is simply a dose of reality. The attacks are coming, the better to prepare strategies in advance to cope with and deflect those attacks so as to lessen the damage and possibly gain some advantage.

Thanks for reading.

Beautiful Minds Needed to Reach Across the Divide

Perhaps you were a fan of the movie A Beautiful Mind which was a biographical look at the troubled life of mathematician John Nash. You might be a mathematician yourself, versed in the details of gaming theory, or you might well be sick and tired of so little getting accomplished by the political leaders of this country as they spend more time looking to beat 'the other guys' than they do practicing thoughtful governance.
My guess is that most of you fall into the third catagory. If so, or out of general curiousity, please continue reading below the fold to see what may be done, both theoretically and practically, to get our leaders to lead and so lend hope to our now uncertain future.

Adam Smith posited that self-interest promotes the most efficient use of resources and so results in the best outcome for the wellbeing of the public. John Nash turned that around by suggesting that even in a noncooperative setting (like politics) the best results are attained by acting not with self-interest, but with consideration for the desires and actions of all the players on the field. If I recall correctly, Newt Gingrich accelerated the partisanship in Congress because of two critical chancges he made in the way the House does business. Prior to Gingrich becoming Speaker, all freshmen Reps went through orientation together, getting to know one another, enduring similar hardships and experiences, creating friendships that might last for years. Gingrich had each party run its own orientation, so that there was no chance for cross-party relationships to develop from the start of a congressman's term; the other guys were the enemy right from the start. Gingrich also discouraged congressmen from staying in DC while the House was not in session. This has had the effect of preventing socialization between members of the House and further perpetuating the "Us/Them" mentality. Democrats and Republicans have been fighting for advantage with more vigor, expending ever more energy and resources (increasing cost and decreasing utility) to win. Win what you say, doesn't really matter, just so long as we win. Oh, and before you say it's just the other guys who go out of their way to win, I will remind you of the heavy handedness of the DCCC in 2006.
Hubert Humphrey and Barry Goldwater would go at it on the Senate floor hammer and tongs with rhetorical sparks just a flying, but when off the floor of the Senate they were good friends. So what gets the most reward, or utility, for the most people? Two sides hammering each other with gerrymandered districts, strident labeling, expending resources that could be better spent all which reflect the pure self-interest reflected in the Adam Smith paradigm. In the movie, A Beautiful Mind, Nash's epiphany comes while in a bar when he realizes that his male friends will have a better chance of scoring with a woman if they pursue the less attractive women rather than all competing for the same blonde bombshell. If they do compete for the blonde they will block each other, waste resources and, at best, only one of them will gain any "utility" out of the situation. If they work with each other's goals in mind they will have a greater chance of success.
We need Beautiful Minds, people who will communicate with each other, who will have a rational conversation to learn the motives and desires of the other side so as not to block each other in a way that justs wastes resources. So will you do this? Will you have patient chats with coworkers and neighbors? Will you reach out to the right wing bloggers with class, adding comments and posts that might let them better understand your thinking, motives and desires? Here are some websites you might try this notion out on - Rightmarch.com, Townhall.com, Patriotpost, and the Heritage Foundation.
Also, at every opportunity, please encourage your elected officials to engage each other civily and so work for the best outcomes for their constituents. John Nash is certainly a mathematical genius, but his greatest contribution just might be in providing our crowded society with a model of living that let's us be individuals, with individual goals and aspirations, but working in such a way as to provide the best outcome for all of us who must share life on planet Earth.