Democracy for Utah blogs

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Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:06:52 -0600

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Description: The Salt Lake County Blue Army is a collaborative group of volunteers willing to lend their support in building a stronger, better Salt Lake County Democratic Party. Having more Democrats in Utah will help all of us no matter where we live to help balance extreme Republican domination.

Reagbushonomis Essay 2: Spending, the Other Half of the Equation

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:19:53 -0600

This part in the series will focus on the fiscal policy of the Reagan administration, his priorities and it’s impact upon deficits and the national debt. Ronald Reagan put a great deal of weight into the idea that a major tax cut was necessary. Successfully selling that idea upon a skeptical Democrat-controlled Congress was not easy, but it was passed never the less.

The other half of the equation that got lost was the need to decrease spending at the same time. Reagan’s budget director David Stockman slashed away at certain departmental budgets. However, at the same time that Stockman was proposing massive cuts to certain budgets, he was confronted with another reality. Reagan had been critical of his predecessor in allowing the U.S. military to become weakened and vulnerable during Carter’s administration. Notwithstanding Carter’s development of the Trident Sub program and his failed attempt at his original proposal for an MX Missile system (mobile missiles), conservative think-tanks, many funded by arms manufacturers, had worked on selling the public on the idea that the U.S. was militarily weak relative to the Soviet Union. The result was a massive increase in military spending during the Reagan years. Military spending grew during the 1980’s from $136 billion in 1980 to $282 billion in 1987.

(gag) Forced to watch Fox News

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:24:31 -0600

Got my nails done yesterday; Fox news was on the TV...A few things I remember.....

Barak should be strongly questioned about his lack of foreign and military experience. Hey Pubs, neither did Bush!

One of the commentators actually said the nation needs to carefully scrutinize Barak's attitudes about America; even tho he left Wright's church, he may still have similar feelings.

They also mentioned about Spitzer's new "vulture fund" He is despicable. First he fought the lobbyists and developers and now he wants to buy all the developments that are sinking (pennies on the dollar) then turn around and sell them. Normailly, I don't care who has consenting sex with who, but in his case, I do. I am rankled that Spitzer, who fought for laws against prostitution, noy only indulged and was OK when they got arrested, is not being arrested himself for being the John. He should be censured, disbarred, other licences revoked, and not be allowed to do lot's of other things. The commentators also added that Spitzer is encouraged by all his supporters who have said that sex doesn't matter. The female's eyebrows twitched, and she said to her male counterpart, "So they think sex doesn't matter, hunh".

Anyone want to do this with me? Bake Sale

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:04:01 -0600

Dear MoveOn member,
Winning the White House is going to take a lot of dough. So on Saturday, June 21st and Sunday, June 22nd, we're organizing "Hungry for Change"—the largest bake sale in history—to fund a massive campaign to send Barack Obama to the Oval Office. Every extra cookie and brownie we sell means more organizers on the ground, more creative ads, and more Obama voters at the polls on Election Day. Can you help?

Evita!

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:24:22 -0600

Hillary Clinton continues to show the world her true persona: Evita Peron.

Eva Person, the first wife of Argentina's dictator-President; Juan Peron,fought publicly for the popularity of her misused and unheard masses. Evita is viewed historically as a manipulative, egotistical woman, who helped to decimate the wealth and standing of her country.

Through a planned campaign she abused her power to be seen as bountiful and charitable while in fact she helped to rob the country financially, and destroy her enemies.

To the State Party; Unity can be ours...

Thu, 22 May 2008 10:35:39 -0600

It has been one and a half weeks since the State Democratic Convention.

Most of the hurt feelings and confusion about the “line out” process and election results have become less painful, with most people moving towards working for specific local and national candidates.

I read a letter to the editor in the Salt Lake Tribune a few days ago. It was written by a 19 year old man who had driven up to the State Convention in Salt Lake City, to participate in his own bid for National Delegate, and to participate in the State Convention itself. He was discouraged on many levels. He voiced some of the feelings that I am sure other participants felt after the State Convention was over.

Hillary: Arrogance or Racism?

Fri, 09 May 2008 10:58:17 -0600

When I first heard Hillary's statements about "hard working Americans (vs lazy Americans) and White voters without college degrees (student loans have dried up?)
supporting her above Obama, I gasped..Hillary! Is this the same women married to the First BLack President??

Who's Blogging» Links to this article
By Eugene Robinson
Friday, May 9, 2008; Page A27

From the beginning, Hillary Clinton has campaigned as if the Democratic nomination were hers by divine right. That's why she is falling short -- and that's why she should be persuaded to quit now, rather than later, before her majestic sense of entitlement splits the party along racial lines.

Rev. Wright vs. the pro-Republican 'prosperity gospel'

Wed, 07 May 2008 12:58:51 -0600

Sara Robinson, who also writes about the FLDS, has a new article explaining the historical context of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's theology and why conservatives are so eager to take him down. First, you have to understand the evangelical concept of the "prosperity gospel," also called the "Word of Faith." The following explanation is from Sarah Posner:

THESE are the times that try men's souls...

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:02:32 -0600

to paraphrase Tom Caine..."These are the times that try men's souls. The electioneering soldier and the lapel-pin patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country."

The polidiots are proposing a summer gas-tax holiday to appeal to the electorate. Yes, gas prices have risen to hurtful levels. Why not give us a break on gas taxes?

Well,the current uptick in oil prices doesn't reflect a tight supply - it reflects speculation triggered by the news from Nigeria & Britain on temporary supply problems (pipeline attack, strike). However, given a gas-tax decrease, people will then drive more this summer, and this increased demand will guarantee even worse prices come fall(or post-election...since we could expect any tax holiday to extend through election day in November).

How dangerous are the FLDS?

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:37:08 -0600

Another in the series on the FLDS from Sara Robinson, who usually blogs at Orcinus. This article looks at the FLDS from the perspective of a 12-point checklist put out by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service that helps governments determine when religious or political groups have crossed the line and become dangerous (Campaign for America's Future):

7. Crimes of Intimidation — Groups heading toward violent confrontation usually start with threats and petty violence against members and outsiders who dare to cross them. (Occasionally, these people end up dead — which only makes them a useful warning to others.) Knowing that they can intimidate and silence people raises the leader's sense of invincibility and teaches him that violence works. Both lessons raise the odds he'll resort to more violence more quickly in the future. It also makes life much harder for investigators gathering new information on the group as the risk level rises.

For FLDS members, the cultural atmosphere has always been one of dawn-to-dusk intimidation. As noted, men who don't comply will simply lose everything. Women risk being sent away from their families, reassigned to other households or colonies, or committed to mental hospitals. Children have no choices about marriage, work, or education. Whatever the Prophet says, goes — and God have mercy on you if you dare to refuse.

The New Times account strongly suggests that Warren Jeffs was rapidly ratcheting up the overall level of intimidation within the group — and hinting strongly at violence — before he was arrested. His growing paranoia led him to purge dozens of men from the church as suspected enemies, banishing them and seizing their wives on a scale no prophet had dared attempt before. Removing him from the picture may have slowed the group's acceleration toward violent confrontation; but if he comes back — or another leader takes up these same themes — the group could once again move into the danger zone. After all: they live their lives on the edge of that line.

Score: 4 out of 5

Blogging the FLDS

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:49:52 -0600

Sara Robinson at Orcinus is starting a series about the FLDS that includes reporting from Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven and the new book The Secret Lives of Saints by Daphne Bramham. Here's Sara's series so far; check back at Orcinus periodically for more.

One of the things we need to understand is just how the FLDS managed to stay so far under the radar for so long — and what twisted consequences were allowed to follow from that lack of oversight. Bramham shows that they did a stunningly effective job of building their own self-sufficient infrastructure of community institutions — hospitals, police forces, courts, financial trusts, schools, and employers — that allowed the church to function without interacting with the outside world any more than necessary. Most of the group's institutions were designed to mimic and supplant outside authority well enough to keep the group (and especially its treatment of women and children) hidden from the prying eyes of outsiders. And, for 60 years, those who were responsible for providing higher-level oversight for all these institutions have almost always been somehow induced to look the other way. [...]

Like African-Americans in the slavery era, women who tried to run were captured by these police and returned to their husbands for punishment — or taken to the hospital for the dreaded mental health evaluation. The police force's main job is to be the muscle that enforces the Prophet's control of the entire community. When the Prophet decides that a man no longer deserves his home, these are the cops who enforce the eviction. Appealing to the FLDS judges has been useless: due process as we understand it doesn't even enter into the conversation.

There is progress on this front. The state of Utah began to move against the Hildale police force in 2005, revoking the certification of its polygamous chief. Sam Roundy admitted that he'd investigated over 25 sexual abuse cases in the past decade — including one that involved the rape of an eight-year-old — and never reported it to child protection authorities. (He pleaded ignorance of all mandated reporter laws.) However, Roundy was replaced with another polygamous officer who immediately sent Warren Jeffs a letter pledging his loyalty, and I found no word that he's left office since. Later that year, the Utah Supreme Court also disbarred the local polygamous judge, which paved the way for reform of the local courts.

But the Saints are now in many places besides Utah; and officials in these other states shouldn't be surprised if they try to hijack cops and courts and replicate this system wherever they go. In Utah, decades of failure to attend to this effectively deprived tens of thousands of people of their civil rights. It can't be allowed to happen again.

People for the American Way; April 13

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:25:05 -0600

From Rochelle Kaplan; Democratic Activist in utah:

Hi all,

Kathryn Kolbert, the amazing woman who is the new head of the PFAW, is coming to SLC, en route to SF

We decided to rent the back room of Squatters downtown, beginning at 6 PM on Sunday, April 13, so progressives could meet her and learn more about People for the American Way.

It was founded by Norman Lear.

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/

Who Loves Obama Most, Kristy?

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:00:39 -0600

http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4rvjs

This Saturday at 1:00 at THE Woodshed (sleaszy bar across the street from downtown Sears)

SPRING INTO ACTION FOR OBAMA

We were just talking about supporting other groups who are having events for Sentor Obama,Here's a good start!
(I think)

Anyone want to go with me?
Sheryl

heard at last night's caucus

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:09:55 -0600

Topic: Hillary Clinton is going to "throw" the race, True or False? Discuss amoungst yourselves.

(I'm feeling verklempt.)

Democrats Helping McCain to Win the White House

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:38:35 -0600

http://www.politico.com/

Southern Dem warns party to avert disaster
Jonathan Martin, Mike Allen
Wed Mar 26, 5:50 AM ET

Democrats are increasingly nervous about their party’s protracted nomination fight, and some prominent figures are publicly warning that the party needs to act fast to avoid disaster.

Chief among these voices is Phil Bredesen, the two-term governor of Tennessee who is uncommitted to either Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) or Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

In an interview this week with Politico, Bredesen said flatly that if the contentious slog continues until the Democrats’ late-August convention in Denver, the party would have a vastly diminished chance of recapturing the White House. [...]

Bredesen also joined House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in warning that superdelegates should not overturn the outcome from primaries and caucuses.

If Obama were denied the nomination by Democratic insiders after winning the party’s popular vote, Bredesen said, “There would be hell to pay in the party for a long time to come.”