Democracy for America: Georgia's Coastal Empire

Hey, Democrats!!

2007-01-29T15:06:00.000-05:00

One of the biggest things that separate most Southern liberals and Democrats from the opposition is our unwavering commitment to public education. While anti-government forces believe we’d be better off without public schools altogether, we on this side of the aisle always talk about how committed we are to excellence in public education. One of our core values is that education is a shared expense, and that public education is one of the most cost-effective places to allocate our shared resources.

But we’re supposed to be good stewards of those public resources we allocate. We have to get them from the appropriate places and make sure that those dollars are effective when spent, and give taxpayers and property owners an appropriate return on their considerable investment. Otherwise, the already endangered support for public education will erode from the folks who put up the lion’s share of the money.

The movement towards private schools and vouchers and white – flight and home-schooling may have their roots firmly planted in the anti-integration soil of the past 40 years. But as of today that movement has gained most of its ground not from the inherent racism of its birth - as many liberal pundits insinuate - but at the fact that our public schools, especially across the South, are failing to return the proper investment to taxpayers, property owners and parents whose children should be attending those schools. In the case of the anti-public schools movement, what began as an ideological response has morphed into a competency-based response. Ignoring this fact will continue the downward spiral and will lead to the eventual dismantling of the American Public Education system, one of the core institutions of American public society, and what could have and should have been one of the crowning achievements of American liberalism.

As I say often, competency will trump ideology, even if all you hear about is the ideology. People will vote with their feet. One day, we wake up, and the whole public education system is de-funded because another, more competent but more exclusive system will have been built while we argued about who is to blame.

Maybe that is just a natural evolution of public institutions, but I think it would be a step backwards. If it ends up being a better education system, however, so be it. But it deserves our best fight - our best efforts - in defending our vision of American public education so that the choice is not poorly made. The final directional choice should be between two of the best educational models as opposed to grasping at whatever is better, safer, or more effective than our crumbling public institutions.

The future of the Democratic Party, Southern Liberalism, and the American way of life will factor heavily on how education is dealt with in the coming years, as an event horizon is approaching. The choice between public education v. private education will come to a head sooner than many of us on this side of the aisle are willing to think, and the results of that choice will have effects long into the future.

That choice will be made in New Orleans.

Seventeen months post-deluge, the public schools run by the locals and the state are still unable to accept all students and provide basic services for them at the schools. While some problems were to be expected in recovering from the scale of the disasters faced by this area, this is an American city, part of an American state and a piece of this Union. Last time I checked, the United States of America was the greatest, richest, most powerful and most can-do nation ever to exist on the face of this Earth, and the roughly 50% of us who consider ourselves left of center have a core value that says ‘we are all in this together’ and ‘what happens to the least of us happens to the best of us.’

Right now, in addition to those students who already went to parochial school, the Archdiocese of New Orleans has 1,500 public school kids in the system who had no space in the public schools, and made a declaration recently that they are willing to add another 300 students to that number because the need has arisen. Yes, bless whoever made that decision, because when the need arises, there is no greater thing to see than someone or some group stepping up to the plate and saying ‘we got this.’

And, as a Southern liberal and a Democrat, I have no problem with the state legislature sending some cash the Archdiocese’s way to cover some of the expenses. Separation of Church and State be damned, there are several hundred kids who won’t go to school this year if such drastic measures aren’t brought to bear. Yes, I factor in a hierarchy of need into my political and policy thought: it is called common sense.

What chills me is the slow pace of the public schools to recover, and I wonder: with the resources already so slow in coming, with the work so overwhelming, will they ever? Us Democrats and Southern Liberals should see the importance of this recovery for what it is: the line in the sand, the referendum on public schools as a shared American value. Right now, our side is losing this fight in spectacular fashion.

Madame Speaker Pelosi, Chairman Dean, we need that 101st Hour.

Democratic Congress So Far

2006-11-12T22:43:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah, the really cool thing is, they haven't even been sworn in as the majority yet. Think the country was ready for a change?

So, we all know that, the day after the elections, Rumsfeld was out as Secretary of Defense, and hopefully the soon to be confirmed Mr. Gates is a conservative member of the reality based community, a huge step in the right direction for this country. As I've said before, I think this is going to be a very good thing.

Second, I submit a hearty Thank You to ultra-Northern Progressive Sen. Feingold, for announcing that he will not run for President in 2008. I don't like Senators running for President, and this has nothing to do with their success rates. They have a huge responsibility to their posts in the legislature, and Presidential campaigns destroy their Senatorial credibility (IMHO). Also, Feingold as an almost undefeatable progressive Senator is far more valuable to the nation, even on issues where I disagree with him, in the legislature than mounting a distracting fight for the Presidential nomination.

Third, I'd rather Maryland Representative Hoyer become Majority leader than Jack Murtha. Only part of this is that the dude is from Maryland, and that's almost considered a Southern state. But Rep. Murtha is not the dude I want to publicly speak for the party from an actual position, because even when he makes good points, I don't like the way he makes them. I'm very tired of lightning rods filling every leadership role.

Fourth, Pelosi is being awful shrewd, and is talking an excellent game so far. The right wing shrill machines will howl about how liberal she is all they want, if Americans see her holding out a hand to the other side to get stuff done, it is the shrill machines who will get egg on their faces. I hope she walks the walk she's talkin about.

This also sounds like a really smart divide and conquer plan, as the schism war between the really real conservatives and the big government Bushitistas has already opened up cracks. If the door to get legislation amended and passed remains open, especially with a Democratic focus primarily on effective government and Congressional oversight instead of partisan retribution for the past decade, some real work may get done - and quickly - without falling into the same holes of hackery that led to the Republican Congressional maturity issues (that consequently led to the GOP's electoral defeat last Tuesday). I think that's one thing the real conservatives and the variety of Democrats are really looking to achieve at this point.

This is some pretty cool stuff to hear about, and like I said up front, they haven't even been sworn in yet...

Didn't Take Long

2006-11-08T14:00:00.000-05:00

Wow. Talk about an immediate effect. Democrats take the the House just before midnight, and just after noon the next day, Rumsfeld Resigns. They haven't even been sworn in, and already they're doing a better job!

Thank You

2006-11-08T13:19:00.000-05:00

Rev. Nelson,

I know this might not be the best morning, but I would like to personally thank you for running for Congress this election. Because of you we had a choice that we wouldn't have had otherwise. Good folks like you, who stand up and run for office with all the mud and frustration and work that entails, win or lose, make Democracy work and keep this country the shining light to the world.

Again, thank you.

Patrick Armstrong

Get Out the Vote!

2006-09-01T09:45:00.000-04:00

Dear friends,

My name is Ben Hubby; I'm a family practitioner in Savannah.
A group of us have formed to Get Out the Vote and elect Jim Nelson to
Congress. We're looking for folks on the coast, in Brunswick and inland who
will work along side their neighbors to bring forth a large turn-out for Jim
in November. Contact me if you'd like to be a volunteer in the area where
you live or whether you'd like to join us in seeking others to expand our
network.

We applaud what you're doing on the coast to end the nightmare of the Bush
years and to get America back on track!

Ben Hubby hubby@ix.netcom.com

Appeasement? Redux

2006-08-31T23:43:00.000-04:00

My first post on "Appeasement?" can be found at Hurricane Radio. Much debate has followed.

But we'll sum up: if you disagree with the Bush Administration and Donald Rumsfeld, you want to appease the terrorists. You hate America. You are morally confused like the anemic Western Democracies of the 1930's.

This is going to be the New Republican Offensive, so get ready to hear it all the way to November. This week has been the absolute roll out of this new narrative, with all their star players on the field hammering away.

Well, I'm sick of it, because this is just more talk, talk.

Bush said last week that Democrats are promising voters to block additional money for continuing the war. Vice President Cheney this week said critics "claim retreat from Iraq would satisfy the appetite of the terrorists and get them to leave us alone." And Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, citing passivity toward Nazi Germany before World War II, said that "many have still not learned history's lessons" and "believe that somehow vicious extremists can be appeased."

Pressed to support these allegations, the White House yesterday could cite no major Democrat who has proposed cutting off funds or suggested that withdrawing from Iraq would persuade terrorists to leave Americans alone. But White House and Republican officials said those are logical interpretations of the most common Democratic position favoring a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq.

(emphasis mine)

It sure is nice of them to tell us what we're thinking. It sure is nice of them to put words in our mouths. Are you sick of it? I am.

Fred Kaplan at Slate seems to be sick of it, too, and goes on to answer the questions Rumsfeld asked in his infamous speech:

1. "With the growing lethality and availability of weapons, can we truly afford to believe that somehow vicious extremists can be appeased?"

Well, it depends which "vicious extremists" he's talking about. If he's talking about the leaders of al-Qaida, no, probably not. But, even here, it's a mistake to presume that there are only two choices—appeasement or war.

...

2. "Can we really continue to think that free countries can negotiate a separate peace with terrorists?"

Again, it depends what he means by "terrorists." If he's talking about al-Qaida, who is advocating such a thing? If he's talking about, say, Syria or Iran, which are state sponsors of terrorism, it's sheer folly not to negotiate with them, at least on some issues.
...
Rumsfeld properly lionizes Winston Churchill and, implicitly, Franklin D. Roosevelt for recognizing the threat from Nazi Germany at a time when many dismissed his warnings. But it's a good thing that the Western leaders of World War II weren't as dogmatic as their wannabe-emulators of today. Otherwise, they might not have formed an alliance with the Soviet Union (out of a refusal to negotiate with evil Communists), and they might have therefore lost the war.

...

3. "Can we truly afford the luxury of pretending that the threats today are simply 'law-enforcement' problems, rather than fundamentally different threats, requiring fundamentally different approaches?"

Once more, Rumsfeld loads the deck. Nobody claims that today's threats are "simply" matters of law enforcement. Obviously, terrorists are not "simply" criminals, and dealing with them requires a mix of approaches, including military. That said, techniques of law enforcement (including police surveillance, border patrol, and international intelligence sharing) have recently broken up more terrorist plots than any military operation.

...

4. "And can we truly afford to return to the destructive view that America—not the enemy—is the real source of the world's trouble?"

This is another red herring. Few Americans, and virtually no contenders in American politics, hold this view. However, a lot of people in other countries—including countries that are, or should be, our allies—do hold this view.

Read the whole article for the full effect, this is just the highlight reel (emphasis on Rumsfeld's questions).

Finally (for this post at least) Blue in Redsville points us to Kieth Olbermann's response on MSNBC. Well worth the view. For the record, even Tucker Carlson said he was offended by Rumsfeld's words last night on MSNBC.

Blessed are the Peacemakers...

2006-08-29T00:02:00.000-04:00

The longer the ceasefire holds, the better. Even if we can't disarm Hezbollah right away, we are working towards that goal. We can walk and chew gum at the same time.

I'm sure the Israelis of Haifa and the Lebanese in Beirut would rather deal with political ramifications than to have missiles and bombs raining on their heads.

Swiftboating Jim Nelson

2006-08-24T23:04:00.000-04:00

That's right Coastal Empire, our own group of swiftboaters has arrived, and they are working like crazy to discredit Rev. Jim Nelson.

They know we have a chance to get rid of Kingston in November, and they are throwing everything they have at us now. Two months of fight is on the way, but we knew this wouldn't be easy when we started the long road back in March.

Welcome to the blogosphere, gentlemen.

Roasting Coulter

2006-08-21T00:37:00.000-04:00

Don't know what website directed me to this link, but it is good reading. Ann Coulter isn't awful, she's just an method actress. She's only playing a role. Some folks get really angry about her, but really shouldn't. The anger against her only feeds her audience to revere her more, and buy more of her books.

The only sad part about the stuff she writes is that there are people out there who take what she says very seriously. I'll remind all of you that there are people out there that take Star Trek (another example of niche entertainment involving a fantasy world) very seriously, too.

Cheap Labor Conservatism

2006-08-17T01:15:00.000-04:00

According to Erick over at Peach Pundit, working hard and expecting to be paid for it is a bad thing.

Way to support Southern Labor, dude! I guess Peach Pundit is OK with us Southern folk getting Northern table scraps.

When did conservative ideology be the "take what they give you, and like it" philosophy? I thought they were all about people not settling for second best. Guess I was wrong.

Labor Fight in the Coastal Empire

2006-08-16T23:46:00.000-04:00

So, if anyone has been reading Georgia Politics Unfiltered recently, you'd know that Hugo Boss is having a problem paying its Georgia employees what they're worth. Then, after breaking down some numbers we realized that this company with profits approaching $120 million and whose stock is up 30% in the past year, must not think Southern labor is as valuable as Northern labor.

When we talk about an honest day's wage, this is what we're talking about.

So, tomorrow in Savannah there will be a rally in support of the company's workers, and I hope this moves wages and pension negotiations along. Reverend Jim Nelson our future Democratic Congressman, will be speaking at the rally, and had this to say about the situation:

The American Dream is not to work hard, productive hours for low wages and poor benefits. I call for executives at Hugo Boss to do what’s morally right; agree to a fair contract with a livable wage and pension plan.

I'll be proud to have a Congressional representative like Rev. Nelson who supports the value of Southern wages.

Mirror post at Hurricane Radio

Info

2006-08-16T22:30:00.000-04:00

Union Rally in Savannah
Come support the Labor Movement in Georgia!

WHAT: Press Conference/Union Rally
WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 17 at 1:30 p.m.
WHERE: Johnson Square, Savannah

“The American Dream is not to work hard, productive hours for low wages and poor benefits. I call for executives at Hugo Boss to do what’s morally right; agree to a fair contract with a livable wage and pension plan.” - Rev. Jim Nelson

First District Congressional Democratic Party Nominee Rev. Jim Nelson will speak at a union rally on Thursday, August 17, 1:30 p.m. at Johnson Square in Downtown Savannah. Nelson will join several community leaders in demanding that Hugo Boss USA give workers at its Midway, Ga. distribution center a fair contract.

Others scheduled to speak include State Rep. Al Williams (D-Midway), Union Leaders, Hugo Boss employees, local clergy and other concerned citizens.

Hugo Boss’ Midway distribution center employs 80 workers, mostly African-American women, who earn an average wage of $7.63 an hour and have no retirement plan. They have been working without a union contract for nearly three months because Hugo Boss refuses to offer more than a thirty-cent raise, which won’t even pay for the gas cost increase employees have incurred on their drive to work.

At the same time, Hugo Boss is charging $1200.00 per suit for the company’s new line of designer suits. In fact, Hugo Boss workers must cope with low-wages and no pension at a time when the company is making record profits. In the first half of 2006, sales increased by 19% with the strongest gains in the company’s American division. Last year, the German luxury apparel giant had sales of $1.57 billion and net profits over $120 million. Their stock price shot up more than 30% over the past year. (source: UNITE HERE and www.behindthelabel.org)

Nelson said, “The American Dream is not to work hard, productive hours for low wages and poor benefits. I call for executives at Hugo Boss to do what’s morally right; agree to a fair contract with a livable wage and pension plan.”

Workers at the Midway distribution center are represented by the labor union UNITE HERE. Lorenzo Walker, a Hugo Boss employee and UNITE HERE member, said: “We work very hard to make our company prosper. All we want in return is a fair wage increase and a start for our pension.”

Brett Hulme, president of the Savannah Central Labor Council, said, “The 34 unions that make up the Savannah Central Labor Council support any workers with bona fide labor disputes, especially the workers at Hugo Boss.”

Nelson is the First District Congressional Democratic Party Nominee. The First District covers most of Southeast Georgia, including Midway, stretching along the coast from Savannah to St. Marys, and inland from Valdosta to McRae.

The Blame Game

2006-08-10T22:09:00.000-04:00

...Jack Kingston said this to say about Democrats:

"Gee Whiz, isn't it a shame that their patriotism isn't as strong as their party loyalty?" I guess I forgot that in Jack's America, disagreement is unpatriotic. To have your own opinion is tantamount to treason. I guess the only way to really love America is to be a yes-person, never questioning our leaders.

In the same blurb, he blames the Democrats for the insurgency in Iraq. Sorry, Jack, Republicans currently control the White House, the Congress and the Department of Defense, and I think those individuals have a whole hell of a lot more to do with the management of the war than Democratic primary voters in Connecticut.

Jack, if winning the war is so important to you, where is the Republican Plan for winning? 'Cause the one y'all are using right now ain't doing so good.

My Most Important Vote

2006-08-04T23:47:00.000-04:00

Just logged my first guest blog on Rev. Jim Nelson's new blog. Three guesses as to what I'm writing about...

Rev. Jim Nelson on Blogspot

2006-08-02T11:32:00.000-04:00

Rev. Jim Nelson is the future Democratic Congressman from Georgia's First District. He has changed his blog format to the more user friendly Blogger, and the site looks great. Click over and welcome Rev. Nelson to the new media!

Welcome

2006-08-01T10:31:00.000-04:00

Blog for America Readers!

UPDATE: 08/02/06 6:28pm EDT

Welcome, Kicking Ass readers!

Chatham Artillery

2006-07-30T23:50:00.000-04:00

Democratic Reunion a Wild Success in Savannah

So, it was just another Island City Saturday for me, when I was checking my emails to discover a message in my inbox concerning this weekend's national Democratic Reunion. I clicked around, put in my zip code and found out that the Chatham County Democratic Committee was hosting their Democratic Unification Rally.

Never one to turn down an open invitation to the First City of the Coastal Empire, I grabbed a digital camera, jumped in the car and headed north on Interstate 95.

Upon arriving at the intersection of Abercorn and Victory, I saw the meeting place, The CaledonIan, a true Savannah-style pub. The parking areas and the curbs were filled with vehicles emblazoned proudly with Democratic stickers. I had arrived.

When I walked inside, I was almost taken aback by the sight of dozens of Democrats -young and old, black and white, in a truly integrated show of support for the Party. I signed the guestbook with my Island City address, and waded into the crowd. Reverend Jim Nelson of Savannah, candidate for United States Congress (GA-1) was on stage alongside Master of Ceremonies, CCDC Chairman Joe Murray Rivers, delivering a fiery speech in support of the Georgia Democratic ticket. Rev. Nelson was rewarded with a roar of approval from the crowd.

Up next was Darryl Hicks, candidate for Georgia Secretary of State. Mr. Hicks spoke of his extensive managerial experience, and the theme of his speech was that Georgia needs a Secretary of State who puts competence before ideology and politics. He got noted response from the crowd when he spoke of voting reform, and making sure every vote counts.

Following that came speeches from other candidates and officeholders, including Mell Traylor (candidate for GA State Senate-1), Rep. Tom Bourdeaux (GA-162) and Chatham County School Board 3rd District candidate, Ms. Sabrina Greene-Kent.

After the speeches, I roamed the room for interview opportunities, meeting fellow District 1 Democrats, and enjoying the fellowship. These people are the reason I became a Democrat in the first place; just regular folks who want America to be a better place than we found it. Regular folks who care enough to get involved and help decide the direction of their communities, their state and their nation.

Saturday, I got to talk to fellow Democrats about issues important to Glynn County (education, home ownership) and the nation (Iraq, the Middle East). I got to talk to fellow Democrats about new media (email, internet, blogs). I got to talk to fellow Democrats about college football (which is never, ever wasted time). And, in the end, I get to broadcast this out onto the internet for everyone to see.

All in all, this trip was well worth the drive up through uncooperative weather and traffic on Abercorn. I walked out of this Democratic Unification Rally quite pleased with the future of the Democratic Party, and prouder than ever to call myself a Democrat (Party Wing).

Meet the Democrats:

Vergie, Camilla & Sabrina
Elaine & David
Mike
Chariman Rivers
Carolyn
Gallery

Mirror Post at Hurricane Radio

Meet the Democrats: Vergie, Camilla & Sabrina

2006-07-30T21:36:00.000-04:00

(From left to right: CCDC members Vergie & Camilla speak with Sabrina Greene-Kent, candidate for Chatham County School Board 3rd District)

While the candidates (including Ms. Greene-Kent) were speaking at the Democratic Unification Rally, hosted by the Chatham County Democratic Committee, there were some members of the audience who were closer to the stage, and voicing their approval with gusto. I knew I would need to interview Vergie and Camilla, and when Ms. Greene-Kent walked over after her stump speech, I knew it was photo-op time.

They were the first of my interviews, and they were also the only ones to ask for my credentials - not my press credentials mind you, my Democratic credentials. That's when I knew my decision to talk to these ladies had been the right one.

(Metal note, must make self business card: "Patrick Armstrong. Party Wing, Democratic Party.")

Ms. Sabrina Greene-Kent is a candidate for Chatham County School Board, 3rd District. She has served as PTA/PTO President for 6 years locally, and is a Democrat because she is a minority and she is fighting for the people in her community. Ms. Greene-Kent described herself as a "Martin Luther King, Jr. rebel for the 21st Century," and told me I should definitely include that in any article I write about her. When she wins in November, her first goal is to establish true equality policies for all children in the Chatham County School System, so that students can recieve the same excellence in education whether they are black or white. Her campaign calls for 'better education' and 'more involved parents,' and those are two phrases I love hearing from Democrats.

Vergie and Camilla are both members of the CCDC, and talked about the need for loyalty and committment to Democratic values. Their goal is to bring back the Democratic Party as a whole. Vergie told me that to her, the "Democratic Way is the best way" because Democrats believe in unity. Camilla says she was "born a Democrat" and has known no other Party. After Democrats win in November, she hopes that the nation will focus again on "taking care of the poor," and finding a way to bring the troops home. Her son, Edwin, is in the Air Force and is getting ready to start his second tour in Iraq.

Meet the Democrats: Elaine and David

2006-07-30T20:47:00.000-04:00

For Elaine and David, being involved with the Chatham County Democratic Committee is a family thing. I got a chance to sit down with the two of them and talk about two of my favorite subjects: politics and SEC college football.

Elaine, a self-described liberal Democrat, has been involved in politics since she was a young lady serving as a Page in the Alabama State House. Though our conversation would eventually turn into a lengthy discussion on University of Alabama Head Coach Mike Shula's accomplishments, Steve Spurrier's imact on on South Carolina football, and the mutual joy of hating the University of Florida that only Alabama and Georgia fans can share, she was very specific in her reasons for being a Democrat.

"We take care of our people," she said, "we are not the selfish Party." She has drawn these beliefs from her own experiences. "The CETA grants were cut under the Reagan administration," she told me. These grants helped her go to nursing school, where four of her classmates, also recieving the grant, got themselves off welfare and into the nursing profession. She has a son who has medaled in the National Special Olympics, and fears we may lose such beneficial programs under the other side's philosophies. Her son-in-law is in the Army and is slated for his 3rd tour of duty in Iraq come November, and she hope the coming Democratic victories will bring the troops home.

David, admittedly not as liberal as Elaine, beleive that Democratic views reflect his views of helping others. The most important thing to him this November is who is in charge of the US Senate and House of Representatives. With a Democratic victory, David wants to see voting reform nationwide so that every vote is counted. He also wants to see a timetable to bring the troops home from Iraq, and real funding for the No Child Left Behind Act, so that our educational mandates can be met.

David and I spoke about the Rally, and he was very pleased with the turnout for the event. He told me that email was very important in his knowing about the Rally. Since I had heard about it through email as well, this reminded me of how important new media is going to be for politics.

It was just then that Elaine noticed the bright red hat I was wearing - the one with the big black 'G' displayed prominently. At that point, political discussion was suspended for that most crucial of issues: the upcoming college football season.

Meet the Democrats: Mike

2006-07-30T20:19:00.000-04:00

The success of events like Chatham County's Democratic Unification Rally is dependent on the team of volunteers who offer their time to do all the mundane but important tasks. Because of their work, the candidates have a place to speak to their consitituents, Democrats have a chance to have fun and mingle, and people like me get to annoy people with cameras and questions. We don't usually see the volunteer staff, but the PA system is ready, the food is on the table, and there are folks working the sign in desk.

To all those volunteers I didn't get to: thanks, you guys and gals really made it happen on Saturday. As for Mike, he was working the sign-in table as I came strolling by, so I got to thank him personally.

Mike is one of the many young faces associated with the Chatham County Democratic Committee, and he wasn't surprised by the big turnout for the Rally. Mike said he knew there were a lot of Democrats out there, and was glad to see so many of them come out and have fun.

Mike said he is a Democrat because Democratic policies make more sense to him. He says Democratic policies "help the bottom rung, help the underdog," and that's a big reason he is involved.

When Democrats win in November, Mike wants to see the Party put a stop to budget waste, especially on the national level. He wants better control of spending, and would like to see more money spent to build things up rather than on killing.

Meet the Democrats: Chairman Rivers

2006-07-30T19:53:00.000-04:00

The Chariman of the Chatham County Democratic Committee was also the Master of Ceremonies for the Rally. On stage he spoke often of loyalty and committment to make things better. When he wasn't busy introducing Candidates to the stage, he was out in the thick of the crowd talking issues and strategy and greeting familiar faces and newcomers. I caught up with him once things had wound down around 6pm.

Chairman Rivers told me that he is a Democrat because the Party's principles and ideals, and how the Party is close to the people. He again spoke of the Democratic committment to enhance and help improve life, and how that is something very important to him.

When Democrats win in November, Chairman Rivers would like to see a change in focus of America's foreign relations. He beleives that better policies could help minimize the "crazy things that are happening to us around the world."

He smiled when I asked him what he thought of such a successful Rally. He said he was glad to see "a lot of synergy, a lot of enthusiasm." Such events keep the intensity built up so Democrats can get out and work to make a difference in communities, in the runoffs August 8, and the General Elections come November.

Meet the Democrats: Carolyn

2006-07-30T19:17:00.000-04:00

She was the last person I interviewed at the Democratic Reunion Rally, and there is a good reason for that. Other attendees had pointed her out to me as the Rally's organizer. When so informed, she was elsewhere (as event organizers tend to be) loading some sort of equipment into a vehicle. With an event this large and this successful, that is to be expected. She was winding down a very busy day, but she was nice enough to add one more task to the event and talk shop with me.

I asked her about the Rally. The idea was to get Democrats out; get the citizens to meet their candidates and other local Democrats. She had set a goal of 150 attendees from the community, and it was very likely that goal had been reached. (My unscientific headcount was in three figures, and was thrown off by so many more coming and going over the course of the 3 hour event). The Rally was a wild success, and this description was unanimous.

I asked her to name for me the big reason she's a Democrat, and she echoed an answer I had heard often that day - it was the "belief that we are a society and need to take care of one another." I will never be ashamed to hear such words from a fellow Democrat. I think about how important it is that while the other side worries about "under God," we Democrats focus on the "One Nation."

Carolyn told me that the first thing she wants to see changed, once the Democrats win in November, is reform for clean elections. She wants to the the "House for Sale" mentality eliminated, and thinks office holders should be beholden to the people as opposed to the monied interests. "They're our representatives," she said, "they should work for the people."

Democratic Unification Gallery

2006-07-29T22:56:00.000-04:00

Darryl Hicks, candidate for Georgia Secretary of State, encourages the crowd to support him in the August 8th runoffs.

Mell Traylor is running for Georgia State Senate District 1.

State Representative Tom Bourdeaux (GA-162) speaks to the crowd.

Future US Congressman (GA-1), Rev. Jim Nelson delivers a fiery speech to a packed house.

Stephanie and Marty celebrate another successful day on the campaign trail.

Present and Future Legislators: Rev. Nelson and Rep. Bourdeaux

Kicking Tusk

2006-07-24T18:39:00.000-04:00

Those Democrats over at the DLC have got some skills, and recieve mad props from this Southern Liberal for the unveiling of their latest project.

I may not agree with everything inside, but I sure am glad someone in the Democratic Party is getting some serious planning done with The American Dream Initiative. This is something we've needed and needed to say for a long, long time. Here's a taste:

The American Dream Initiative is an opportunity agenda for the middle class and all who aspire to join its ranks. Our vision is straightforward and clear: to leave our children a richer, safer, smarter, and stronger nation than the one we inherited. We believe that every citizen should have the opportunity to secure the pillars of the American Dream: a college degree, a home, a secure retirement, and the chance to get ahead in a growing economy.

A Map

2006-07-20T22:11:00.000-04:00

Andre at Georgia Poltics Unfiltered has posted a map of the Taylor & Cox votes.

What this tells me is that Taylor needs to get that bus warmed up and start burning up some South Georgia blacktop down here in horsefly territory. We are the votes that will put him over the top in November.

Biased? I'm Not Biased!

2006-07-19T21:26:00.000-04:00

Heh heh heh.

Attended the Rev. Jim Nelson's Congressional Campaign stop today on the steps of the Old Glynn County Courthouse. His motorcade was preceeded by a loud Harley thundering around the block with an American flag and Nelson campaign poster flying prominently.

The Reverend himself showed up wearing a dark blue jacket, which seemed strange for someone who would be speaking in the sun on a day with the humidity and heat index flirting with triple digits, but he appeared calm and cool. You would be too, if you were running for Congress against a 12 year incumbent, and you were only down a touchdown at halftime. The effective score right now? Nelson 17, Kingston 24. And y'all know we own the 4th Quarter this year.

The numbers came back, and Nelson won most District 1 counties - favored mainly by those in rural South Georgia. The only counties where the numbers looked sour, upon further examination, proved to be those counties (especially Glynn) were deciding School Board races based only on the Republican primary.

Flanked by local supporters carrying American flags and placards, Nelson spoke about how his opponent is rated the most partisan member of Congress, how his opponent is one of the chief mudslingers - dude actually sits on the "message" committee - coming up with how best to sell divisive issues for political gain, and how his opponent's "plan" to end oil dependency is to get more oil.

Afterwards, Rev. Nelson took questions from local reporters and outlined his itenerary this weekend, which will take him to the County Courthouses, the public squares and into the homes of supporters in all 25 District 1 Counties.

That is something I don't think Jack Kingston has ever had the notion to do.

On the road again, blasting their campaign song "Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty, Rev. Nelson and his campaign team followed the Harley to Woodbine, down in Camden County, for their next stop.

All photos may be reused freely, long as you link back to DFA: Georgia's Coastal Empire. Image credit: yours truly...

More Pictures

2006-07-19T21:20:00.000-04:00

From Rev. Nelson's Glynn County Campaign Stop.

Taking a congratulatory call.

Talking to reporters after the speech.

Kicking things off.

Getting serious about better government.

These guys may not look it, but they left happy.

All photos may be reused freely, long as you link back to DFA: Georgia's Coastal Empire Image credit: Patrick Armstrong.

Rescue Public Education

2006-07-17T22:52:00.000-04:00

A. Commit ourselves to being the party that will ensure Glynn County, Georgia and America has the finest public education system in the world. Public education is a bedrock institution of Democratic civil belief. If Glynn County is to encourage new investment, we will need a well educated work force. If Glynn County is to alleviate the creeping disease of poverty in our community, public education is the key to the door of opportunity for all citizens.

B. No voters, conservative, centrist or liberal believe that our public schools are in good shape. This is because our public education system is in trouble on all levels. We are not willing to give up on public education. We are not that Party that wants to cut and run from our most at risk classrooms. We are not the Party that will wash our hands of this matter, and leave our public schools in the hands of for-profit entities.

We are the Party that will dive into those troubled waters, and rescue our Public Education system from the deep.

Here’s how we do this:

1. Face realities on the ground. Without understanding and addressing the concerns of citizens, our public schools will continue to sink in both perception and public support. To rescue public education, we must assume the mantle of leadership and begin to address each issue, and work positively with the public for comprehensive solutions. This will require action primarily at both the local and state levels, which are luckily the places where our local Party has more influence.

a. Our budgets are bloated,

b. Our citizens are wary of educational spending due to the overbearing nature and inconsistencies of the property tax system,

c. Our citizens are suspicious of the Teacher’s Unions that are perceived to protect bad teachers at the expense of their children,

d. Our citizens fear that they are sending their children to places where behavior problems detract from the learning environment,

e. Our citizens fear that they are sending their children to school where their ideological and religious beliefs are under attack,

f. Our citizens are weary of promises to deliver results that never come to fruition.

2. Bloated Budgets. In Glynn County especially, we continue to throw money at the schools and continue to have a crumbling infrastructure, problems recruiting educators, and problems providing for adequate supply.

a. Citizens aren’t mad because they are paying for public education, they are mad at localities and municipalities not spending those monies effectively or efficiently.

b. Maintenance costs are most likely the one area where tax dollars are wasted on public schools, and the problems are never apparently fixed. This should be the point of attack.

i. Zero balance budgeting by the state must end. If a school can come in under budget, we must be able to bank that money for capital projects. This will cut down on the spring semester spending frenzy on things that may not be needed, and will allow for more effective yearly maintenance budgeting.

ii. Bidding, development and project completion rules must be re-examined at the local and the state levels so that projects take a shorter amount of time from inception to completion.

iii. Bidders and contractors who fail to deliver within reasonable timeframes and budgets must be removed from the possible pool of applicants for any maintenance or construction
jobs.

3. Educational Spending & the Dependence on the Property Tax. We will never fully address the issue of educational budgets without addressing where we get the money for our schools and how efficiently we spend it.

a. Property taxes generate public ire, especially when collection and appraisal appear as unjust and arbitrary as they do in places like Glynn County because of our archaic and tiered system of exemption.

b. Undeveloped, agricultural and greenspace property must be taxed at a different and lower level than parking lots and subdivisions. Small businesses operating out of owned properties should be under consideration for breaks to encourage small business development.

c. Multiple income streams must be examined. We live in a tourism area where sales tax can prove wildly beneficial to our public education system. Also hotel taxes and property management taxes can be examined.

d. Lowering property taxes increases home ownership potential, providing an influx of investment from outside the community, and equity for lower income families who move from renting to home ownership.

e. Multiple income streams must be examined. It is time we consider creating community trusts and organizations dedicated to raising outside funds to supplement our schools for capital projects and high price equipment.

4. Teacher’s Unions. We will never be able to rescue public education while educators and parents feel at odds with one another.

5. Safe & Positive Learning Environment. Academics and public perception falters when students go to school in fear, when educators go to work in fear and parents fear for their children’s safety while at school.

a. School uniforms?

b. Real and enforced discipline.

c. Early intervention.

d. Common sense penalties.

e. Rewards for good behavior.

f. Encourage half-work days.

6. Ideology & Religion. As long as special interest groups can effectively sell the idea that a student’s core beliefs are in danger by going to school, support for public education will continue to erode.

a. Affirm support for the Pledge of Allegiance, respect a student or educator’s right not to participate.

b. Affirm support for faith based student organizations like the FCA, respect student or staff organizations right not to be religiously affiliated.

c. Affirm support for respectful display of religion, respect the rights of those who do not wish to display their faith. Encourage display of Bill of Rights and First Amendment.

d. Affirm the right of a student to pray in school, especially before math tests, and as long as the method of that prayer does not disrupt class.

e. Reaffirm that Evolution will be taught as part of the science curriculum, and Genesis will be taught at the Church, Temple or Synagogue of the student’s parent’s choice.

f. If a valedictorian wants to turn Graduation speeches into fire and brimstone sermons, the school shall allow an additional speech that does not focus on religion, but on school pride, high school memories, the future, or any number of other appropriate topics for high school graduation.

g. Teachers and Administrators may participate in prayer groups, but may not lead
them.

h. Football games are for football.

i. If any bullying, participation, grades, employment, etc are affected by faith discrimination by the culturally correct, the gloves come off against the offender, not against the folks who have both respect and faith.

7. A Little Less Talk & A Lot More Action. We must constantly re-examine the ways schools are being run so that our practices are the most effective and our spending is the most efficient. If there is a problem, we must never fear to think outside the box to deliver a solution and work towards that solution at all levels.

Paging Buzzbee....

2006-06-20T20:58:00.001-04:00

....Earth to Buzzzbee....come in Buzzzbee.

Homework

2006-06-20T20:58:00.000-04:00

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to help find ways to 1) enunciate specific Democratic positions and 2) develop an overall Democratic philosophy. Next month's meeting should be fun, since that's where we're gonna start bringing all of this together.

I have some suggestions to start us off with....

Enunciating specific beliefs:

1) Rescue Public Education
2) Restore Civil Rights
3) Invest in America's Workers

I'm trying to find a way to put public works, levees, the internet, infrastructure and the environment all together, but nothing sounds very cool with the word 'infrastructure' in the sentence. I'll need some help on that.

Overall Democratic Philosophy:

1) Common Good
2) American Renaissance
3) Playtime is Over
4) We Are The People

I'm a bigger fan of specific enunciation than the overall philosophy, but I think all of those could help us explain our positions better than we are right now. What do y'all think?

Rev. Jim Nelson's Blog

2006-06-09T22:45:00.000-04:00

That's right, folks! Our Candidate for US Congress, the Reverend Jim Nelson, has added a blog to his campaign website.

http://www.electjimnelson.com/blog/

Go there, make some comments. Let 'em know how powerful the Internet is!

I've already alerted Lawmakers and Georgia Politics Unfiltered.

More will come, and soon.

Good job, Nelson campaign. Thanks to LiberalandProud for letting us know.

Mirror post at Hurricane Radio.

The Coastal Empire: DFA News Online

2006-06-06T00:16:00.000-04:00

The Radio is Back ON!
Howdy, folks. Sorry for the hiatus. Sometimes that thing called life just jumps up and whoops you all about the head and shoulders and there ain’t nothin’ you can do about it. I know you’ve all been trembling in anticipation for a new issue of the The Coastal Empire, so here we go. This is your blast of the unapologetic and totally biased Liberal Media.

Memorial Day
During May, a bunch of the Georgia men and women who wear the camo & guns came home from Iraq. We are immensely proud of our military and their families. All that they’ve accomplished they have done so under brutal conditions and against all odds. Most of my friends who serve are back, a few of them are still there, and few more are getting ready to go (again). I thank Heaven above for the ones who have returned and I pray for those who are still there to come back to us safely. They are my heroes and my inspiration to be a better citizen every single day.

Catch Less Shrimp and More Hell!
Now for some more local politics. Remember folks, Think Globally, Act Low Country. We ain’t never gonna get back the US House or the Senate if we can’t win School Board elections in our own backyard.

Hey, speaking of the School Board, Republican Earl Perry (known in some parts of Island City as ‘that jackass that got us on probation’) did not get the endorsement from the local educational political action committee. As a matter of fact, while two Democrats did get the endorsement, four Republican problem children (known in some parts of Glynn County as ‘those jackasses that got us on probation’) did not.

Though Ol’ Earl will be facing a huge Primary challenge from fellow Republican Millard Allen, he isn’t out of the fight yet. He’s latched onto some of that time tested ideological inconsistency that some Republicans feel they must use during an election year to get votes. His plan? Recommend that Island City gets their own Middle School. That’s right, as less middle school aged children end up living on St Simons Island, this Republican wants to spend Millions of taxpayer dollars to build a school that will house less than 300 students. All this while the Glynn County School System budget balloons to $131 MILLION. So much for Republican conservative fiscal policy.

Camden County:
The Crawfish Festival was a rousing success for the Camden County Democrats, though I wish they’d added some pictures or some stories from the event. I’ll just make some up: “People are so tired of Republicans in charge, they nearly beat down the booth to sign up as registered Democrats,” said one Democratic volunteer, “they made a lot of promises to get into office and just keep making things worse. People want competence in government, not just soundbyte political games on Faux News [sic].” (Reeny did forward us a great article from one of the Daily Kos authors, which you can read in the “B” section of this newsletter.)

McIntosh County:
I’m hearing good stuff from the Democrats in McIntosh County, they’re gettin’ organized and folks are showing up at their meetin’s. They’re planning some voter registration drives later in the month (see events section below). Once they get a website up and running, I’m gonna do a little dance, and fill everyone’s email up with the news.

Charlton, Ware, Brantley & Pierce:
I know y’all are out there. I know y’all are readin’ this. Send me some stuff!

National Talking Points:
With the election year in full swing, you knew the cultural elite on the right would fire up something that they only care about when they need to get votes. That’s right y’all, gay marriage is back. This train is never late, is it? Will poll numbers approaching the freezing point, the President gets in on the act. Remember, while marriage is a religious thing, the marriage license and all the legal benefits that come from marriage are a government thing. Put the debate on the legal ramifications of marriage: tax breaks, inheritance, insurance, bank accounts, privileged conversation, business liability, medical visitation, housing etc. etc. etc. If you hammer away at the special rights married people are afforded, you win. If you hammer away at all the more important things on the agenda, you win. If you argue morality or Biblical verses, you loose.

The DNC has a petition about this very issue, so there is a way to fight back right now.

Why do we fight for civil rights? Here is exhibit “A”. It is a must-read. The cultural elite trump common sense as a town in the heartland considers evicting a mother and father and their children from their home because they are not ‘traditionally’ married. Who would Jesus turn out of their homes?

Kingston Watch!
Some web-savvy Dems and Lefties have taken the fight straight at the right wing information machine by commenting on his blog! I can’t tell you how important it is for us to do this, and you can see the frustration in the right wing readership! Kingston bashes the Dixie Chicks for having opinions, and the free speech liberals respond! Kingston attacks college professors and thinking liberals respond! I was so happy to see stuff like this – I ask everyone who reads this and knows how to use a computer to join in the fun exposing right wing jackassery in a public format.

EVENTS!!

Tomorrow! Tuesday, June 6 at 7pm. Coastal Empire DFA Monthly Meeting @ Barberitos Mexican Grille & Cantina on Scranton Road in Brunswick. If you need directions, email me.

Thursday, June 8 at 5 pm - Meet and Greet Rev. Jim Nelson, Candidate for United States Congress!!! at the home of David and Audrey Stewart, St. Simons Island, 5:00 PM. Email for directions. Jim Nelson will be here to hear your ideas and questions. Donations will be accepted. (www.electjimnelson.com)

Saturday, June 10 at 9am: McIntosh County Democratic Party will hold their monthly meeting in Darien at the Ida Hilton Library.

Tuesday, Jue 13th 7pm – 8pm: Democrats of Camden County will hold their monthly meeting. Annex Building located next to the Kingsland Library on Gross Rd.

RIGHT NOW! Andre at Georgia Politics Unfiltered is looking for guest blogs from candidates. This is free press from a well read political news source. Please encourage your favorite candidates to take advantage of this opportunity!

He is also looking for some serious and regular writers to contribute information on Georgia Politics (he’s leaving to organize Democrats in Iowa).

As always, submissions for this newsletter are more than welcome! Email me. We’re really looking for some Camden, Brantley and McIntosh County news, since I don’t subscribe to your papers and the online community isn’t clicking yet.

If you would like me to send out notices of upcoming events, email me. I will include you on this newsletter for all to see. If you like this newsletter, forward it to your friends and have them email me so I can put them on the mailing list!

For additional reading pleasure, be sure to visit both our Coastal Empire DFA blogs:
http://coastalempiredfa.blogspot.com & http://www.dfalink.com/group.php?id=641. If you want to be a blog contributor, let me know. You are more than welcome to come aboard.

And, as always, if you do not want to receive this newsletter or any information about upcoming DFA events and stuff, email me and let me know.

Will it work again?

2006-06-05T08:05:00.000-04:00

With the American public's faith in the president having pretty much bottomed out, congress' approval rating making the president's look good, and the American public more and more questioning the current Iraq war policy, I was wondering when this administration would resort to the tried and true methods for garnering support from the right wing. Then I saw this:

New Amendment Protecting the Sanctity of Homophobia

This is why America is unhappy with the Republicans, because people are thinking about trying to marry people of the same sex. It's not the spiraling situation in Iraq or just the general incompetence of the leaderhip. I don't know why I didn't see it before.

So, now I ask myself; "How long is this going to work?" Eventually, the public has to get desensitized to this nonsense right? I guess we'll soon find out.

If this doesn't work, expect this issue to be followed by prayer in school, placing the ten commandments in schools and courthouses, forced baptisms, and Michael Moore Book Burnings

Code Red

2006-05-27T16:29:00.000-04:00

Just curious. What happened to that color-coded alert system that was so vital during the 2004 presidential election. It just seems like if you really want me to believe you aren't misusing something for political gain you don't stop using it as soon as the political value is gone. I can still remember how perfectly timed the new alerts would be.

OH GOD!! IT'S ORANGE!!! WE'VE GOTTA GET TO THE BOMB SHELTER, RATION FOOD, AND ABOVE ALL ELSE VOTE BUSH/CHENEY IN '04!!!

I wonder if we can look forward to a re-emerging alert system in the next few months as the elections approach. Just a thought.

Oh, They Do It So Well.

2006-05-21T20:30:00.000-04:00

All this talk recently about impending impeachment just serves to remind me of how good the GOP is at neutralizing potentially damaging situations before they become a problem. Let's be real for a minute. We have no idea what's going on in that White House. If at some point the dems take over the legislative branch of government, and Bush doesn't have a Republican controlled congress to cover his tracks and stop investigations, there is no telling what they will find. There is a very, very good chance that high crimes and misdemeanors are taking place on Pennsylvania Ave. Yet, the Republicans have already begun pushing the dems into making a promise that they shouldn't.

Ms. Pelosi, you'll take a stand and end this nonsense, right?

Dems on Impeachment

You openly make the statement "impeachment is off the table" before you have any authority to do so, or know what information is going to come out.

So let me get this straight, we're complaining that the Republicans in congress won't hold the President accountable, and therefore should be replaced. So how do we capitalize on this? We promise that we won't hold him accountable either.

Everyone's wondering how the Democrats are going to screw up this golden opportunity, including myself. Why are we such doubting Thomases? Because the Democrats haven't learned anything in the last 6 yrs. They are still making the same mistakes, and are still getting man-handled by the Republicans. They're still that weak, timid, kid at school and the Republicans still get to be the tough-guy/bully. America has been begging democrats to show some spine, but they still don't get it. It's a shame too, Bush and his buddies are pretty much handing us this election, but we're not ready to step up and take it.

DFA Newsletter: Short & Sweet Week

2006-05-01T23:29:00.000-04:00

Howdy Blue State Brothers and Sisters!

You probably noticed that there was no DFA Newsletter in your inbox last week. I know several of you were hearbroken without your weekly dose of the unashamed liberal media, but don't worry - I'm working on something big that will be well worth the read. Patience is a virtue. I did add some new links to the blog, though, and you can see them at (http://coastalempiredfa.blogspot.com). If you wish to contribute to the blog or this newsletter, we are always looking for additional contributors. Hit reply and vent (PG rating enforced...).

Back to the topic at hand: the Events Calendar! Progress(ivism) stops for no one newsletter, and we continue to plow ahead for victory.

Coastal Empire DFA Monthly Meeting
Tuesday, May 2 @ 7pm (tonight...)
Barberitos Mexican Grille in Brunswick!
Tasty good food, frosty beer and progressive politics.
For information, directions or fan mail you email me.

Camden County Democratic Party - Monthly Meeting
Tuesday, May 9 @ 7pm (That's next week, y'all)
Annex Building on Gross Road in Kingsland (Next to the Public Library)
-Discussion will cover Grassroots training
-Brian Peterson of the Young Democrats of Georgia will be speaking, as Camden re-ignites their fire breathing chapter of the Young Democrats. Let everyone between the ages of 17 and 40 know about this.
More information available at (http://www.camdendemocrats.com/).

(Hey, Camden folks who get this email, someone send me a report on your booth at the Crawfish Festival, I write this newsletter thing and I'd love to share some of the stories...)

Glynn Environmental Coalition - Next Meeting
Tuesday, May 9 @ 7pm (Just in case you can't make the drive to Camden)
GEC office on Hwy 341 (just north of Hwy 303 intersection). Call 466 - 0934, or email (info@glynnenvironmental.org) for more Info!

(Hey, Glynn Environmental folks who read this newsletter, someone send me a report on some of your projects, I write this newsletter thing and I'd love to share some of the stories...)

Glynn County Democratic Party - Big May Event
GCDP is planning this event tomorrow night, so I'll bring you the news soon. Expect a big shindig in late May...
(www.glynndems.org)

The Democratic Party of Georgia has a kickin' new website (http://www.democraticpartyofgeorgia.org). Parts are still under construction, but this is a huge improvement over the last website. It even has all the Local Party Websites, and Local Party Contact information (http://www.democraticpartyofgeorgia.org/party/county/). If you are getting this email and don't know why, I found your information there. Don't be shocked, use this resource!!

As always, submissions for this newsletter are more than welcome.
Email 'em to (hurricane.radio@gmail.com). We're really looking for
some Camden, Brantley, Wayne, Ware, Charlton and McIntosh County news, since I don't subscribe to your papers and the online community isn't clicking yet. Don't be afraid to forward this, or include friends in the online community.

Have an event coming up? Email me and dozens of folks will be informed. I now estimate that this newsletter reaches over 75 people in the Coastal Empire, and is forwarded to even more than that.

For additional reading pleasure, be sure to visit both our Coastal
Empire DFA blogs:
coastalempiredfa.blogspot.com
DFA Link.

If you want to be a blog contributor, let me know. You are more than
welcome to come aboard.

And, as always, if you do not want to receive this newsletter or any
information about upcoming DFA events and stuff, email me and let me
know.

Thanks!

Patrick

Give 'Em Hell, Harry

2006-04-24T23:01:00.000-04:00

Senator Harry Reid's blog.

You want to talk about access? I've started making comments on Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) blog. The post I link to is extremely long, and there are plenty of conservatives and Republicans posting in the open forum.

There seems to be a lot of name calling and empty talking points rhetoric from both the left and the right, though there are some gems to be found deep within the post itself and the comments.

The first rule of blogging (or my first rule of blogging, at least), especially commenting on someone else's blog, is to be respectful and not call names. Ignore those who engage in 'flame wars' - repeated calling of names. Have a thick skin and speak intelligently to the points presented. This is an incredibly useful access tool directly to the Democratic leadership. Be constructive, and be brief, with your points.

All About Lawmakers

2006-04-23T22:29:00.000-04:00

This is a good blog. It rounds up the good, the bad and the ugly of people in National and State governments who run their own blogs. Check it out and see if this doesn't convince you of the access power of the Internet.

Currently, the two best blogs by sitting representatives are those of Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA). (Jack has finally opened up his blog to comments from readers. I've already made two, and the access of the principled opposition to our officials is going to be something I plan to take full advantage of...)

(Mirror post at Hurricane Radio.)

Empires Fall

2006-04-22T18:09:00.000-04:00

Updating our blogroll, I am adding new blogger Empires Fall to the page. YouthAgainstBush is a DFA reader and found us on there. Thus proving how good a networking and communications tool the internet can be.

I will also be adding The Great Society from Arizona.

The Coastal Empire: V4.0

2006-04-20T00:47:00.000-04:00

What DFA Means to Me:
I’ve heard the question asked plenty of times: what is DFA? Technically, it is the inheritor of the “Dean for America” infrastructure, but is now Democracy For America. The mission (should you choose to accept it): elect progressive candidates to office, and get those candidates working for the people (us) as opposed to the big interests that stalk the offices of Washington. What I see us as is part of the ‘plugged-in base,’ the folks who help refine and get out the message – using the internet as a vital tool in doing so. The other side has been getting their act together since Goldwater got beat. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, but the tools are available, the learning curve isn’t as steep as it looks and the country is ready for positive change. The only question is: are you in?

Think Globally, Act Low Country!!
I usually bring a lot of stuff to the table as far as news links (with my own witty banter folded in) but this version of the newsletter isn’t going to be all that long. There are any number of things I could speak about that got tons of ink this week: the Secretary of Defense-defense, oil at $71 dollars a barrel (and the oil companies making $85 a barrel), the coming war with Iran, the secret organization of teachers at Brunswick high who are trying to get the principal fired. But somehow I’m not interested in talking about those things. I’m wanting to give a pep talk to all my readers about involvement.

Vigilance is the price of freedom. I don’t remember who said it, but it is a good quote. Think about that this time next year when we are at war not only with Iraq and Afganistan, but with Iran. Think about that whenever you hear talk of not only pre-emptive war, but pre-emptive nuclear war. Think about that in November, when you go to the ballot box and see every seat where the other side is running unopposed. Think about it tonight when you’re turning off your TV’s in exasperation and tuning out all the bad, bad news. Then think back to 10 short years ago, and think about how we got here today. Is this the America you fell in love with back then?

For a while, I thought voting was enough. No more. The other side is winning because we aren’t even in the fight. I know some folks whose only contribution to our side is drawing faces of right wingers on pumpkins and tossing them off buildings. Cathartic to be sure, but maybe turn those hours into something more constructive and we’re back in this thing. Hell, even now we’re not out of the thing: Bush only beat Kerry by a score of 51-48% - that’s a last minute field goal. I heard that more voters voted for Bush than for any other President in history – but if that was true I figure that more voters voted for Kerry than for any other President in history, too. Clinton took Georgia in 1992, and split the South in 1996. It ain’t like we got to build this thing from the ground up.

But what we can’t be is afraid. We can’t be afraid of the other side and we can’t be afraid of each other. We don’t all have to agree, we just have to be able to work towards a common goal. And getting along with folks we may not agree on everything with, well, that’s good practice, and I’ll tell you why. If we’re planning on winning the South back – and I think that should be priority #1 – we’re going to need voters who currently identify themselves as Republicans and conservatives to vote for our side.

The key is engagement. The key is involvement. Not only do we have to identify our message and get it out and actually deliver once we are in office, but we also have to identify with what is driving Americans to the other side. The Americans who vote for the other side do it for real concerns that hit them at home and in the heart, and we ignore those concerns at our own peril. I remember a time not too long ago where you were filthy rich or you were a Democrat. Nowadays you’re batcrap crazy or you’re Republican. Air America and NPR can’t change that, but YOU can.

The price on non-engagement is a continued downward spiral. How do we expect to win Congressional seats when we can’t win a School Board seat in our own backyard? I’ve been lectured on the failings of Southern environmentalism by a Bush voting Ohio Republican. When Grateful Dead stickers sit side by side with “W” stickers on the bumpers of America’s youth, we are witnessing the price of non-involvement.

So this is our ‘all hands on deck’ moment, and it ain’t that hard to get in the fight. The easiest place to start is the Internet; the great information medium of our time. This brings unprecedented access to media and politics, if we just take advantage of it the way the other side has been doing for years.

Just like TV beat Nixon for Kennedy, the Internet is beating us right now. Go and look:

The Reverend Jim Nelson's website vs Jack Kingston's Blog. Which one is getting more information to the constituency? We ignore the Internet at our own peril.

First of all, set up your own email for pure politics (this keeps your politics – and the associated spam - separate from your daily life or work email). You can do this free at places like www.hotmail.com. Convince like minded friends to do the same.

Second, start reading a wide variety of stuff online. First of all, a great deal of information can be garnered straight from the MSM. My first stop is MSNBC. The reasons I like MSNBC is that they seem to me the most plugged in of the MSM. They have a daily political strategy memo called First Read. They feature Eric Alterman’s media watch blog, Altercation (endorsed by Paul Begala and James Carville as required progressive reading), and Keith Olbermann’s Bloggermann (which is sometimes dominated by sports, but can be scathing relevant commentary against the right). For balance, you can read what Glenn Reynolds, Tucker Carlson and Joe Scarborough have to say. You may not like it, but it will give you invaluable insight to the appeal of Libertarian and Populist thought, why they are currently part of the right wing coalition, and how the left is perceived by well-read punditry. If you are wondering why our message is not being well received, these three can give you the answer.

Slate is a valuable media filter: their lead stories seem to be the ones with the most interest by internet readers. They have roundups of today’s newspapers, today’s blogs, and today’s magazines that give you a rundown of what is being said and the actual links to get more in depth information.

Another advantage is the Technorati “Blog Talk” feature on Newsweek's Online Edition. Here, you get the full text of the Newsweek article you are reading, and there is a menu where you can see how many independent blogs and internet media are discussing that very article. Click on this tool, and you are rewarded with a cascade of like minded or opposition opinion makers that, through the internet, you can communicate directly with if you so choose. Or you can just read what they are saying and get a feel for the direction of public opinion.

Then there are the big lefty bloggers: Daily Kos, My DD, and TPM Cafe. There is also Eschaton, Firedoglake and The Huffington Post. We have our news magazines like The Nation and think tanks like The Center for American Progress.

There are also plenty of Georgia Democrats online: Georgia Politics Unfiltered, Cracker Squire, Opportunity for Georgia, David Adelman, Athens Politics, conservative & centrist Right Democrat and your very own Coastal Empire DFA (and our DFA link site here). We’re looking for local blog contributors, by the way…

But don’t just read the blogs and websites that agree with you & who are on your side, that creates an echo chamber effect and doesn’t open your mind to new ideas. Those won’t help you fight the fight where the fight needs to be fought or understand why our side is perceived as out-of-touch. Read the ones from the center & center-right like Instapundit, The Agitator & Peach Pundit to find out why the right is so appealing to Middle America (or maybe why the left is losing its appeal). Read the blogs of Jack Kingston & Dennis Hastert and see the messages they are communicating straight to their base. Keep up with neo-con talking points and the conservative spin machine by reading The Weekly Standard and The New Republic (these will give you a look at what the right wing will be saying next week). And, if you really want to know where ultra-right wing mythology generates (and how they justify it), I present to you: Townhall. You may have heard about it, but you really can’t believe that they are really saying it until you read it.

Now, don’t go visit every one of these sites every day. Read up on them and pick the ones you like. That way, you create your own newswire that you monitor. When our side has a success story, or if you can debunk a certain right wing myth, you can forward it to an amazing amount of people very fast. But focus on your specific interests and your realm of knowledge. There is a tremendous amount of information out there, do not get overwhelmed.

Upcoming Events:

The Glynn County Democratic Party had their meeting last Monday, and I was informed that there is going to be a big shindig at the end of May, not unlike the event DFA was going to try and spearhead. Looks like we might have gotten beat to the punch, but we can still help out. Democrats, liberals and progressives will be invited to attend. GCDP is going to try and rustle up some big name speakers for this one. As soon as we know when the specific dates and times are, y’all will hear about it from me. I don’t care who plans it, big events in our area mean we beat the bushes (heh heh heh) and turn the folks out.

If you know someone who is planning on running for office, they have to declare their candidacy between April 24-28. If anyone is planning on running as a Democrat in Glynn County, we will have someone to verify the status in the Probate office on the 3rd floor of the New Courthouse building all four days between 10am-12pm. If you (or anyone you know) can’t make those times, contact me at (hurricane.radio@gmail.com) and I’ll get you in touch with a Democratic Party organizer to coordinate a more convenient time. April 28th is the deadline!!

Camden County Democrats will have a booth at the Crawfish Festival!! Saturday April 29th (& if they get some more volunteers) Friday night before that! They’re also looking for a few good Democrats to represent them in the parade. If you can, stop by and say hello! Better yet, get out there and volunteer. Contact reeney@tds.net or visit their website for more info.

The State Party is organizing a training session!! This event will be in Macon, GA on May 6th, 9am-3pm. Spaces are limited, so you must reserve a seat if you plan on attending. Contact (tduckett@georgiaparty.com) for more information. You must reserve your seat before close of business on April 25!!

National Canvass Day is April 29th! This is from the DNC. If anyone is interested in canvassing on that day, or just hanging door knockers, get in touch with me and we’ll get you together with an organizer to coordinate activities!

As always, submissions for this newsletter are more than welcome! Email ‘em to (hurricane.radio@gmail.com). We’re really looking for some Camden, Brantley and McIntosh County news, since I don’t subscribe to your papers and the online community isn’t clicking yet.

If you would like me to send out notices of upcoming events, email me. I will include you on this newsletter for all to see. If you like this newsletter, forward it to your friends and have them email me so I can put them on the mailing list!

For additional reading pleasure, be sure to visit both our Coastal Empire DFA blogs:
http://coastalempiredfa.blogspot.com & http://www.dfalink.com/group.php?id=641. If you want to be a blog contributor, let me know. You are more than welcome to come aboard.

And, as always, if you do not want to receive this newsletter or any information about upcoming DFA events and stuff, email me and let me know.

Keeping an Eye on Kingston

2006-04-20T00:45:00.000-04:00

The Coastal Empire: DFA Weekly Section B

It’s just no darn wonder that Democrats are fighting an uphill battle to win political office in the State of Georgia. Either we have no money or we are totally unwilling to spend it to further our political agenda.

A look at the respective financial reports of Representative Jack Kingston, Republican Congressman from our 1st District and Rev. Jim Nelson, his apparent opponent for that seat should provide ample incentive to get organized, start fund raising, and begin using our time and creativity to partially make up for the ample dollars flooding into Kingston’s coffers.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, as of March 31 Kingston had raised $614,804 in campaign contributions during the quarter that ended that day and had spent $409,079. He had $896,582 on hand, a war chest that will buy substantial amounts of media and hired guns and there are still over two quarters of fund-raising left before a vote is cast.

Jim Nelson, during this same period, raised $33,221 and spent $17,045. I can’t even bear to calculate the ratio here. He has $16,175 on hand which is good news as it indicates that his fund-raising only got started at the first of the year while Kingston has had 12 years to build his connections with big business and its lobbyists.

As anyone who has been paying attention can well imagine, 34 percent of Kingston’s funds have come from political action committees and 61 percent from individual contributions. In all probability those individuals are not the working middle class but people with addresses on Sea and Tybee Island. In contrast Nelson has received only $3,000 or 9 percent of his contributions from PACs and has contributed slightly more than $4,000 to his own campaign (Kingston apparently doesn’t think he is a candidate worthy of his own financial support.) 79 percent of his financial support has come from individual contributors. So what we have here is a genuine grass-roots candidacy in need of some serious watering and fertilizing

I am a firm believer that boots on the ground are every bit the equal of money in the bank when it comes to winning in a largely rural district such as ours. But we have to get organized and provide support not only to Jim Nelson but to other Democratic candidates who have the courage to take on the architects of our state, local, and national mess.

Please think about what you can do between now and November. Do you have the energy to canvas, register voters, or organize speaking opportunities for candidates? Are your pockets deep enough to support one or more of these people who have stepped forward in a hostile environment to run against entrenched candidates and challenge the Common Wisdom?

The opposition is growing so strong in their numbers and so skillful in their manipulation of the message that this election may truly be the last chance for democracy in America.

I am frightened and I think you should be as well.

Jann Swanson

The Coastal Empire (DFA Weekly: the Late Edition)

2006-04-11T00:54:00.000-04:00

Think Globally, Act Low Country!
Late edition. Spent the weekend in Athens, so that took up publishing hours between Thursday and Sunday. We’re also going to try and keep the things a little shorter and sweeter than the four page monster that was last week’s issue. We welcome commentary submissions and news tips from y’all, both anonymous and otherwise. (Let’s just keep ‘em PG rated.)

Regional Roundup:
General Assembly: Georgia State House Majority Leader Jerry Keen – (R-St Simons) is quite pleased with himself and his fellow Coastal Empire representatives (Chapman, Lane & Hill – R’s Brunswick, Darien & St Mary’s). This last year's session of the state legislature was very good to them. How nice. Of the 40 days legislators spend in session, they decided sex offenders should go to jail, added $5 million to the Coastal Georgia Community College, added $3 million to the Deepen Brunswick’s Harbor So We Can Finally Use Our Big Expensive Bridge Fund, and came to a consensus that Coastal Residents need water, too. Though they weren’t able to get all their ducks in a row on eminent domain, expect to see more self congratulation on these sweeping and important issues in some softball interviews near you.

Glad you had fun in Atlanta guys and gals. I hate to rain on your back slappin’ parade, but 4 issues in 40 days ain’t gettin’ a whole lot done. One: The State legislature comes up with new and interesting ways to punish sex offenders every year. Not that I’m complainin,’ but hows about enforcing what laws we do have every once in a while? Two: I’m all about funding Coastal Georgia Community College, but Coastal Empire residents still have to drive to places like Savannah, Statesboro or Valdosta; take distance learning classes; or depend on private or out of state institutions to get a 4 year degree. When are we gonna get our University so we can keep more of our homegrown talent at home? Three: When are y’all gonna use your leadership spots to get that harbor finished? Is $3M even going to come close to finishing the job? Four: why don’t y’all ever talk about issues like Pollution? I’ve been drinking the water round these parts since 1983, and I guess that wasn’t such a good idea. (Yeah, I’m cuttin’ and pastin’ from last week, but watch how good this flows, and how on topic it is…) There's still a class action lawsuit against Big Business on the docket in Glynn County because of all the mercury and petrochemicals in the water. Since that’s killing off marine life in the area, it doesn’t help our already struggling local shrimp industry. This one is important to the whole of the Coastal Empire, as almost all of us live in the Turtle River watershed. I found some hard to find info on the site here, but that wasn’t near as helpful as I thought it would be. Oh well, I guess that’s the way things are since the Republican controlled Congress decided to stick this burden on the taxpayer instead of their buddies, the Big Business who dumped it out in the first place. I reckon the State legislature, who represents the Coastal Empire and lives down here, don’t care too much either.

Maybe I’m just an old fashioned, Southern-by-the-Grace-of-God good ole boy, but my Mama taught me to take responsibility and clean up my messes my own damn self. Guess our delegation in the State Legislature didn’t get that partikkular memo.

Oh yeah, and for more information on this sort of thing, visit the Glynn Environmental Coalition at http://www.glynnenvironmental.org/.

The Cadillac of Coastal Georgia Politics: District 1 Congressional Seat
We’re trying to activate the grassroots of horsefly territory to stand with The Reverend Jim Nelson, who is on his way to take back Capitol Hill. Not much news on the press page, and the blogosphere has little new info that I could find through google or Technorati. I guess we’ll just have to wait for the next press release. If they included what blogs said about Rev. Nelson in their pressroom, the coverage would be three times as big of mostly good press. Ideas, communication and media savvy help win elections, fellas.

But sometimes media savvy can backfire, as incumbent Jack Kingston (R-GA) found out recently. Last week, I reported that Mr. Kingston’s blog readership had recently hit a spike. His web folks reported this cheerfully, but what happened was this: Kingston had called one Cindy Sheehan a nutcase. The Raw Story (a far lefty webwatcher) picked up on it, and the left was streaming to Jack’s blog to see the story. So many went, either Kingston’s people pulled the story off the blog, or it just got shot down due to high traffic. Either way, Kingston publicly apologized to Cindy Sheehan over the name calling. Though I think this could help Kingston in the long run (I’m not a big Sheehan fan myself), I bring it up to demonstrate the power of rapid response and the advantage of having a plugged in base. I’d bet most of y’all didn’t even know a high ranking Georgia Congressman had even gotten into it with the Anti-War Icon, much less that one had issued a public apology.

This one will be fought in horsefly territory, y’all. But it will also be fought in cyberspace. This newsletter is but a small part of what needs to be done to win on the Internet.

Upcoming Events:

Coastal Empire DFA has decided to forego the easy stuff and try to get together a big ol’ party. We’re going to try and organize a pretty big event and invite some serious speakers. We’ll be bringing this up to every Democratic and progressive organization we can to see if we can’t get it altogether. Because most of us do politics and event management on a hobby basis, this will move the shindig back to May. We’ll need some extra hands….(hurricane.radio@gmail.com).

The Camden County Democratic Party is having their monthly meeting tomorrow night: Tuesday, April 11 at 7pm. Annex Building next to the Public Library off Gross Road in Kingsland. They are looking for canvassers and volunteers to man their Crawfish Festival booth.

The Glynn Environmental Coalition is meeting Tuesday, April 11 at the GEC HQ on Hwy 341. More specifics can be found here.

The The Glynn County School Board’s regular monthly meeting is Tuesday, April 11, 2006 at the school board building next to Glynn Academy on Egmont Street. 6pm. The Agenda (in PDF).

The Glynn County Democratic Party will be meeting twice in April, once for the General Meeting and another for the District 3 meeting. Their website is down, so I don’t know the exact dates. I will keep you updated.

As always, submissions for this newsletter are more than welcome! Email ‘em to (hurricane.radio@gmail.com). We’re really looking for some Camden, Brantley and McIntosh County news, since I don’t subscribe to your papers and the online community isn’t clicking yet.

If you would like me to send out notices of upcoming events, email me. I will include you on this newsletter for all to see. If you like this newsletter, forward it to your friends and have them email me so I can put them on the mailing list!

For additional reading pleasure, be sure to visit both our Coastal Empire DFA blogs:
http://coastalempiredfa.blogspot.com/ & http://www.dfalink.com/group.php?id=641. If you want to be a blog contributor, let me know. You are more than welcome to come aboard.

And, as always, if you do not want to receive this newsletter or any information about upcoming DFA events and stuff, email me and let me know.

The Coastal Empire: DFA Weekly (The Sequel)

2006-04-03T20:45:00.000-04:00

Think Globally, Act Low Country!
Evening, folks. This second installment of the DFA Weekly newsletter ratchets up the noise for a totally biased version of the news. We’re gonna redefine what hell and high water really mean all the way to election day and we’ve got much more on the plate for this week. This one’s showing up a little late because, unlike what Rightwingers Against Really Real Reality!! (RARRR!!) would like you to believe, liberals do have social lives. (My name is Patrick Armstrong, and I represent the Party Wing of the Democratic Party…) We got some good response from last week so keep those submissions comin’. We welcome news and commentary submissions and news tips from y’all, both anonymous and otherwise. (Let’s just keep ‘em PG rated.)

Welcome Home, Georgia Troops!
Remember, folks, a bunch of our boys and girls who wear the green and guns got back to Ft. Stewart last week. We are immensely proud of them for all they have done. We thank God for the ones who have returned to their families and we pray for the ones who won’t. One of my buddies from high school got back from the desert a few weeks ago, and it is a blessing that I can still meet him at the bar to share drinks and laughs. At times like that, politics are the furthest thing from my mind.

McIntosh County in the News:
The Blessing of the Fleet is this weekend! Be sure to go out, enjoy the beautiful weather, great food, blues music and spend lots of cash into the hands of Darien businesses. If McIntosh does better, the Coastal Empire does better. Wear something blue with pride!

Camden County in the News:
You know its big when it makes the news up in Glynn, 'cause there's a fight over new development goin' on down in St. Mary's. Remember folks, we encourage business and development and property ownership. Those are all good, positive and progressive things to wish for. But that don’t mean businesses and developers and property owners should ever be above the law. We’re not anti-business, we’re anti-lawbreaker.

Glynn County Roundup:

School Board Blues
We left our progressive heroes last week looking at how Hackery and Jackassery on the Glynn County School Board are part of the problem in wasting more than $125 million on buildings that are falling apart. (Yeah, this is rehashing what I wrote last week, but it bears repeating again and again and again) Because those two yahoos would rather spend their time causin’ trouble than making life easier on taxpayers, teachers and school kids, we are leaving everyone behind.

Luckily, the staff at Needwood Middle School went out and took matters into their own hands. Assistant Principal Donna Lawson went out and helped rustle up a $53,000+ grant to put 30 laptop computers in the school with a wireless system. Here’s hoping she can give a class to some of the school board about how to raise supplemental capital for needed infrastructure improvements.

In other good news, some teachers are puttin' in extra elbow grease for their students. While the idea of going to school on Saturday is anathema to a rabble rouser like me, I applaud the teachers like Joy Dawson who are going the extra mile to make things happen for their students.
I bring these up as positive examples of having a plan, standing for something and then going out and get it. Oftentimes, the plugged in base (us) is seen as nothing more than a bunch of worry-worts complaining about things we can’t change. We get in the fight and do some stuff like that, we 1) make the schools better In Spite of the Right and 2) restore some badly needed public credibility to the term “liberal.” That’s a win, win, win situation.

Glynn County Water Authority coming soon to a referendum near you. Golly, I sure sleep better at night knowing that the authority will be chaired by someone who works for Georgia Power, that the financially hurtin’ folks who sit on this authority are getting kicked $500 a month indefinitely, and that community friendly Republicans approved this all the way to Atlanta. I think I’ll go get a cool glass of water right now….mmmmm. (Ten bucks outta my gamblin’ boat money says if this authority becomes a do-little graft machine coming down on everyone who doesn’t sip Perrier or Dasani, the folks that created it blame ‘the liberals’ like we orchestrated the whole thing.)

Pollution Speaking of the water quality in Glynn County, I’ve been drinking the water round these parts since 1983, and I guess that wasn’t such a good idea. Here’s Exhibit A regarding how to tie local issues to national politics, and we should spread the news. There's still a class action lawsuit against Big Business on the docket in Glynn County because of all the mercury and petrochemicals in the water. Since that’s killing off marine life in the area, it doesn’t help our already struggling local shrimp industry. This one is important to the whole of the Coastal Empire, as almost all of us live in the Turtle River watershed. I found some hard to find info on the site here, but that wasn’t near as helpful as I thought it would be. Oh well, I guess that’s the way things are since the Republican controlled Congress decided to stick this burden on the taxpayer instead of their buddies, the Big Business who dumped it out in the first place.
Maybe I’m just an old fashioned, Southern-by-the-Grace-of-God good ole boy, but my Mama taught me to take responsibility and clean up my messes my own damn self. Guess the Right didn’t get that partikkular memo.

(Wasn’t Jack Kingston in Congress in 1995? I wonder how he voted on this one….)

Oh yeah, and for more information on this sort of thing, visit the Glynn Environmental Coalition at http://www.glynnenvironmental.org/.

The Cadillac of Coastal Georgia Politics: District 1 Congressional Seat
We’re trying to activate the grassroots of horsefly territory to stand with The Reverend Jim Nelson, who is on his way to take back Capitol Hill.

The campaign is looking for county canvassers, and we’ll be going over that at the next DFA meeting (Tuesday, April 4, Barberritos in Brunswick, be there or be square). They also have to report campaign contributions tomorrow. But they’re going to have to start getting a lot more media savvy, no amount of money is going to beat Jack Kingston. Ideas and communication will.

For example: Jack Kingston is already getting his talking points out there. He’s so confident, he’s already giving us a look at his playbook. He is a Republican media maven who helps set Republican agendas and communications. He’s really good at it, and (I hate to say it) he looked good on Real Time with Bill Maher last Friday. Now, some of the uneducated who read this are going to think I’m plugging Kingston, but the right is kicking our donkey when it comes to media and communication. In the last week, Kingston and his team have reinforced the right wing narrative that Democrats are weak on National Defense, that education is bad because it is controlled by liberals, and that all Democrats are represented by the most fringe elements of the whole.

Even if we can get a canvass going, we’re going to need a team of folks plugged in, hard wired, and at the ready to discredit all the online stuff that comes out. Kingston's blog is growing exponentially as is his email list (who get a copy of everything that comes onto the blog) and more and more Republicans plan to follow his lead.

This one will be fought in horsefly territory, y’all. But it will also be fought in cyberspace. This newsletter is but a small part of what needs to be done to win on the Internet.

Statewide Stuff:
Ralph!! Some really funny stuff came up about Ralph Reed this week, perhaps you’ve heard. I guess gloating about outrunning the statute of limitations in Texas is a very Christian thing to do. The Daily (from Athens) pulls no punches in describing this affair. (Not a PG rated site, may offend delicate Republicans) And a quick Technorati search turns up just how many people can’t stand ol’ Ralph. But don’t count him out, Ralphie is roundin' up the plugged in righty tighties for a primary win. We’ll see you in November, Ralphie. (Thanks to Jann for the news)

Reader Responses: (that I couldn’t fit anywhere else…)
A certain article in the New Yorker was mentioned to me as required reading. I usually despise quoting from the northern media, but this particular article may deserve some attention. I couldn’t find a direct link to it, but I was able to find author Michael Specter's Q&A about it. This one actually made its way through Left Blogsburg, and you can read what others are saying about it here, here, and here.

Upcoming Events:
Coastal Empire DFA will be meeting on the first Tuesday in April, which is April 4th! 7pm. Barberritos Mexican Grille on Scranton Road in Brunswick. Tasty food. Cold beer. Progressive politics. We’re going to be discussing an upcoming voter registration drive, canvassing the area for the Nelson campaign and I will discuss ways to fight Jack Kingston (and other right wingers) on the Internet. Email me at (hurricane.radio@gmail.com) if you need directions.

We’re gonna get together a multi-county progressive, liberal & Democratic alliance (ahem, DFA) backyard barbecue (so we can put the Party back into politics) sometime soon. I’ll let you know when the specifics are decided. Look for that in early April. If you want to help plan & cook & stuff, email me at (hurricane.radio@gmail.com).

The Glynn Environmental Coalition is meeting Tuesday, April 11 at the GEC HQ on Hwy 341. More specifics can be found here.

The Glynn County Democratic Party will be meeting twice in April, once for the General Meeting and another for the District 3 meeting. I will keep you updated.

The Glynn County School Board should be having their next meeting soon as well. I think it should be Tuesday April 11th. I can’t find out, there is no advance schedule online that shows dates or times that I can find. Does anyone know where that information is?

As always, submissions for this newsletter are more than welcome. Email ‘em to (hurricane.radio@gmail.com). We’re really looking for some Camden, Brantley and McIntosh County news, since I don’t subscribe to your papers and the online community isn’t clicking yet.
If you would like me to send out notices of upcoming events, email me. I will include you on this newsletter for all to see. If you like this newsletter, forward it to your friends and have them email me so I can put them on the mailing list!

For additional reading pleasure, be sure to visit both our Coastal Empire DFA blogs:
http://coastalempiredfa.blogspot.com/ & http://www.dfalink.com/group.php?id=641. If you want to be a blog contributor, let me know. You are more than welcome to come aboard.

And, as always, if you do not want to receive this newsletter or any information about upcoming DFA events and stuff, email me and let me know.

The Coastal Empire: DFA Weekly

2006-03-23T22:56:00.000-05:00

Think Globally, Act Locally!
Evening, folks. This is your new DFA Weekly newsletter, bringing you a totally biased version of the news. They asked for the liberal media, well here we are. We’re gonna redefine what hell and high water really mean all the way to election day. This first edition may be kind of thin, ‘cause a lot of what gets printed here is going to be determined by you – the reader. We welcome news and commentary submissions and news tips from y’all, both anonymous and otherwise. (Let’s just keep ‘em PG rated for the kiddies who are readin’ this, and we’ll get along just fine.)

Glynn County Roundup:
The Glynn County School Board is wheelin' and dealin' with the new budget, and whatever they decide is going to affect the property taxes of the good, tax paying citizens of Glynn County. Now, what I don’t get is why Glynn County spends more than $125 million in the last fiscal year on our schools, the buildings are still falling apart! Don’t you wish we had some good folks to run against Hackery and Jackassery in November? Then we could protect both the tax-payers and our schools against the forces of lunacy. Get out there and help us find some candidates!

We already saw what happened when progressives down here were able to hustle our muscle: the the Visiting International Faculty has been retained! The vote was 5-2 on the Board (guess who the nay votes belonged to) and new Superintendent Bull, love him or hate him, landed on the right side of this issue. This was a big win for us, and it inspired accolades and discussion both within the Democratic Party of Glynn and in the blogosphere. (Shameless self-plug.)

Georgia District 1 Roundup:
But, we all know the Cadillac of Coastal Georgia Politics is the District 1 Congressional Seat (currently held by ol’ Dubya’s Trusty Rubber Stamp, Jack Kingston) and this one will be Savannah vs Savannah in the drag out fight. This one’s going to be won in horsefly territory, y’all, and that’s where we come in. We’re gonna have to get some hustle going and get the Coastal Empire to stand with The Reverend Jim Nelson who is on his way to take back Capitol Hill.

Rev. Nelson’s campaign has been heating up with his trips to all the counties in the District 1. You can check out the campaign's official newsroom and read what The Brunswick News had to say. I’ve also compiled, for your viewing pleasure, a listing of Reverend Nelson’s current press within Georgia’s cyberspace. We are not alone!

Georgia Politics Unfiltered had Rev. Nelson’s campaign as the lead article for part of yesterday, and has had much to say about the District 1 race here, here, here, and here.

Of course, your own Coastal Empire DFA blog brings you the latest campagin press releases, shamelessly promotes Rev. Nelson, and deeply examines Rev. Nelson's political approach.

The blogosphere is also linking to Rev. Nelson’s campaign from Free Press, two links from million reader Daily Kos (who I found giving props here and a great quote that can be found here: “check out Jim Nelson's site, he's running against known Republican bigmouth Jack Kingston. His site has a good setup, and if you want to sock it to a Redstate poster like Kingston, you can do something to help Rev. Jim out”), Blue In Texas, Tequila Mas Fina (who even has an an audio clip on Rev. Nelson speaking at the Capitol), A Wes Clark Democrat, and Democratic Winners.

That’s a whole lot of good press, especially from Daily Kos! Kos is one of the most widely read liberal bloggers in the United States of America.

Rev. Nelson must be doing something right: Jack Kingston is now telling fellow Republicans not to be scared of blogs at the same time he will be taking the unprecedented move of appearing with Bill Maher on HBO. That’s right, folks, Kingston is looking to work on his street cred and will be a panelist Friday night at 11pm on HBO! Tune in to watch “Real Time with Bill Maher” and see how Jackie responds when the audience isn’t hand selected for message maximization.

Upcoming Events:
Coastal Empire DFA will be meeting on the first Tuesday in April. 7pm. Barberritos Mexican Grille on Scranton Road in Brunswick. Tasty food. Cold beer. Progressive politics. Email me at (hurricane.radio@gmail.com) if you need directions.

We’re gonna get together a multi-county progressive, liberal & Democratic alliance (ahem, DFA) backyard barbecue (so we can put the Party back into politics) sometime soon. I’ll let you know when the specifics are decided. Look for that in early April.

As always, submissions for this newsletter are more than welcome. Email ‘em to (hurricane.radio@gmail.com). We’re really looking for some Camden, Brantley and McIntosh County news, since I don’t subscribe to your papers and the online community isn’t clicking yet.

For additional reading pleasure, be sure to visit both our Coastal Empire DFA blogs:
http://coastalempiredfa.blogspot.com & the DFA link. If you want to be a blog contributor, let me know. You are more than welcome to come aboard.

Press Release

2006-03-23T19:36:00.000-05:00

Rev. Jim Nelson for Congress
CAMPAIGN NEWS ALERT

March 21, 2006

DONATE NOW: HELP DEMOCRATS TAKE BACK CONGRESS
______________________________

Nelson To Unveil CONTRACT WITH AMERICAN VETERANS March 22
This Wednesday at Noon Jim is holding a press conference in Downtown Hinesville to announce his CONTRACT WITH AMERICAN VETERANS. The CONTRACT declares several principles that Jim will urge Congress to legislate, including an increase in funding for veterans' programs and rules to ensure promised benefits. The March 22 press conference will take place directly across from Hinesville City Hall at Bradwell Street Park located on the corner of Commerce St. and E. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. Media, campaign supporters and interested veterans and community members are invited to attend. CLICK HERE to read Jim Nelson's CONTRACT WITH AMERICAN VETERANS. To personally endorse the proposal, CLICK HERE.

Air America Radio To Feature Nelson
The hit national talk show The Majority Report, broadcasted on Air America Radio, will feature Jim on Tuesday, March 28. The Majority Report is hosted by movie star/activist Janeane Garofalo and comedian/pundit Sam Seder. Jim's interview starts at 9:30 p.m. CLICK HERE to find out how to listen via the radio or Web stream.

Nelson Takes Part In National Security Panel Discussion
Last week Jim traveled to Washington for a panel discussion and reception at The Army Navy Club sponsored by Americans for Strong National Security. The night's topic was American foreign policy, Iraq and beyond. The event allowed Jim to network with other people who understand America must have strong diplomatic relations as well as a strong military.

Poll: Majority Now Prefer Democrat-controlled Congress
The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll shows that 50 percent of Americans now prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress versus 37 percent who want it controlled by Republicans. The poll shows that only 26 percent believe the nation is headed in the right direction. CLICK HERE to view poll results.

DONATE NOW: HELP END REPUBLICAN CORRUPTION
______________________________

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Jim's campaign continues to build powerful momentum, and multiple polls show folks are tired of Republican rule. WE CAN DO THIS if we put forth our best effort! A very important date is coming up in 11 days...our next financial reporting deadline. Help us show the world Jim's campaign will remain a force to be reckoned with. CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW. You can also mail your contribution. Please write checks to: Jim Nelson For Congress, P.O. Box 14407, Savannah, GA 31416.
Don't forget to visit www.electjimnelson.com/getinvolved to learn how to join our campaign team. In upcoming weeks, the campaign is beginning an aggressive phone banking and door-to-door canvassing program. Now is the perfect time to sign up to volunteer.

Thank you so much for your continued support and encouragement.

Jason Harvey
Campaign Manager
Jim Nelson For Congress
www.ElectJimNelson.com
Phone: (912) 695-9166

Rumble

2006-03-16T23:58:00.000-05:00

The conservatives over on hurricane_radio are giving us a template of their talking points. The liberals (including yours truly) are firing back fiercely. This one is educational, boys and girls.

Know what your adversaries will say, know their plan of attack, and you will own the debate. Even if there is no 'winner' make sure your points are clear so that you can challenge them everywhere you meet them. Never be disrespectful, you don't need to be.

DFA Link

2006-03-05T20:17:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah, here's the link to the other Coastal Empire DFA site....

Free South Georgia!

2006-03-05T18:56:00.000-05:00

Coastal Empire Rebelliion

I've been waiting to write about this for about two weeks. The Reverend Dr. Jim Nelson came to speak at the Glynn County Democratic Party's monthly meeting in February, and he did a great job. The turnout to the meeting could have been higher, but we still had a good time. The Reverend Dr. was a very eloquent and animated speaker, and he navigated many issues - from the war in Iraq to Social Security - both making sense the whole time and connecting with the audience. He navigated many thoughtful questions with some earnest answers that won him many points in my book. He got a great write up in the local daily paper. The Reverend Dr. also has the blogosphere watching, with links from A Wes Clark Democrat, and a money plug from Georgia Unfiltered. (South Georgia will get there, Andre, don't worry!)

Goings On

2006-01-20T01:47:00.000-05:00

For all of our South Georgia readers, the Glynn County Democratic Party will be holding an Open Mic Session on Monday at St Williams' Catholic Church on St Simons Island. The thing goes down at 7:30pm, and the theme is "how can we do better." People should have a lot to say. I can't wait, and I might just bring the camera. Before the meeting, the Young Democrats Caucus will be meeting at Monkey Love Dessert Bar & Gallery in Redfern Village round about 6:30pm. After the big meeting wraps up, us folks with later bedtimes are gonna roll up to Gnat's Landing (I love that bar) and continue talking politics, but with cold, frosty beverages in our hands. If Gnat's ain't open, Marsh Point will be. See ya at the bar.

Lieutenant Governor Elections

2006-01-19T23:15:00.000-05:00

So I got an update from Jan regarding the Lt. Governor's race. She's always so careful to make sure that we let it be known that we're not endorsing anyone in the Lt. Governor's race. Here's the report:

Greg Hecht Status Report for January 2006

1. We have raised over $840,000 and gained over 1000 volunteers

2. In the most recent campaign disclosure report, we outraised Ralph Reed during the latest 6 month reporting period.

3. As of January 9th, 2006 disclosure report, we have outraised Jim Martin by over $240,000.

4. We hold a 4 to 5 point lead over both Ralph Reed and Casey Cagle according to a 2005 Republican Poll. (See McLaughin and Associates Poll at www.greghecht.com)

5. We hold over a 20 point online poll lead over Jim Martin. (See James Political Magazine online poll at www.greghecht.com)

6. The Nation, a prominent national magazine, stated that we are running the model race to win the Lt. Governor's race and to beat Ralph Reed

Our campaign is gaining momentum, please forward this information to anyone you who might be interested. If you would like to continue to get our emails opt in here

For more information about the Elect Hecht for Lieutenant Governor Campaign, please visit www.greghecht.com or StopRalphReed.com.

In other news, fellow South Georgia progressive Griffin Lotson got some love from the Brunswick News today, but doesn't even have his own campaign website yet. But his name did come up attached to this one.

While clicking around I came across a seriously comprehensive policitcal site. I suggest everyone interested in politics in general and Georgia specifically go and visit Politics One.

Reverend Jim Nelson: A Breakdown

2005-12-27T18:32:00.000-05:00

So, Jan asked me to look over the Reverend Jim Nelson, as he is running for Congress and has contacted Democracy for America (Georgia's Coastal Empire) for some support. (I've also been getting some emails from Democrats, so you know we're gearing up for a fight in 2006). Reverend Nelson is facing a 12 year incumbent, (Georiga alum therefore Red and Black brother of mine) Rep. Jack Kingston for Georgia's First Congressional District.

The easiest place to start on Reveren Jim Nelson is on the issues page of his website. This page pretty much is a run down of all Democratically framed issues:

Strengthening the Economy,
Public Education,
Improve how jobs are created and retained,
Legislation for a national energy plan,
Improve healthcare and benefits for veterans,
Ending terrorism,
Improving health care,
Taking care of farmers,
International trade that protects American jobs,
Defend family values.

He doesn't really get into how he's going to do all of that. But I reckon if those all had easy answers, Congressional races would never be contested. I sure would like to see him pick two or three of those and get really good and specific (my suggestion would be 1) public education, 2) improving health care and 3) defending real family values), but it is his campagin, not mine.

The way to really get to know the Reverend Jim Nelson is to go to his other website, Word Changing Faith. The very telling part of this website is that the articles here are articles he has already published to the public. That's a pretty strong statement of intent, because he's already stuck his neck out, and he hasn't avoided controversey by doing so.

Want a little round up? I've gone ahead and made one. I have put some of Reverend Nelson's words in bold for emphasis.

Rev. Nelson handles the idea of morality. This is more a treatise on how Christians should behave rather than how government should behave, but it brings up some very good points. The most impressive to me is his call for Christians to get very personal with our faith and not see the government as a tool of the Church. Those are very refreshing words to come from a Minister in today's America.

Christians on both sides of the political divide seem to have a penchant for government doing the work of the Church. Those who tend to be liberal want the government to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick and so on. Apparently liberals believe if the government does the social work of the Church, they don’t have to get their hands dirty. Those who tend to be conservative want the government to be the moral police, to teach children prayer and religion in general. Apparently conservatives believe if the government does the evangelistic work of the Church, they don’t have to do the hard work of changing people’s lives by witnessing to the love or God through their actions. In either case the Church becomes less and less responsible.

We [Christians] need to be filled with the love of God, and witness to others by our words and more especially by our deeds. The Church and the Christians who comprise the community of faith have the capacity to be passionate and non-judgmental with the time to be loving and caring. The community of faith is best equipped to work with people and change the circumstances of their lives.

We [Christians] can make the world more moral. Not by governmental decree, but by doing the hard work of loving one another as Christ loved us. We have to interfere in people’s lives, especially children’s lives. We need to get our hands dirty, to witness more with our actions than our words. Once we change the circumstances of someone’s life, we change their behavior, and the world becomes a better place for us all.

Some of y'all may be scared about the 'interfere in people's and children's lives' quote. But what he means by that is for those of us who are Christians to stop talking big talk and start walking the walk of our faith. When more Christians dedicate themselves to charity and service, it takes burdens off the government to act as a safety net to so many. That is also what he means by the Church being 'less responsible.' This is a call for the Church to step up and stop expecting the government to handle things the Church should be handling. Again, these are quite refreshing words.

Concerning Moral Values and politics, the Rev. Nelson doesn't pull any punches, and I'll say right here I'm glad to hear someone identify themselves as a Democrat say the following words:

Sound-byte religion is as destructive to our faith as sound-byte politics is to our government. We over simplify everything.

But God is not on either side. Both sides of the political spectrum have their good and bad points, and engage in moral and immoral actions. It may be heresy, but I actually believe if Jesus were among us today, he would not have voted. The negativity of most campaigns had gotten so far out of bounds; I think Jesus would have opted out of the process, so as not to imply his approval of it.

I grew weary of people telling me how a good evangelical Christian should vote. Believing in Jesus as my Lord and Savior does not make me a right-wing, conservative Republican or a left-wing, liberal Democrat.

No one individual or political party represents all our moral values, and therefore does not deserve our unquestioned support.

I remember during the State Party training session last winter, one attendee asked "What happens when there are Democrats we don't like who are running for office?" The response from the state party guy was "Well, our mission is to elect Democrats to office." I'll say right now I prefer Rev. Nelson's opinion on this: no unquestioned support. There are plenty of Democrats (who live far far away from here, to be sure) who I think are straight up crooks, and who do us far more harm than good as a party.

On perception and terrorism:

We have heard over and over how we must win “the hearts and minds” of the people. Disrespecting the Qur’an, a fact never actually denied, is not the way to do it. Nor should we allow religious fanatics to set the standards for us to live “down” to, we are disciples of Jesus after all. To win the hearts and minds of the Islamic people we need to address their perceptions of reality. We cannot tenaciously hold on to what we believe to be the truth, and not deal with what they believe to be the truth. There will never be a meeting of the minds unless we demonstrate a respect for their beliefs with more than just words. We don’t have to believe what they believe or even accept that it could be true; we just need to respect their right to believe it. To stop terrorists, we desperately need to address their perceptions, not ours, and to listen carefully to their concerns. Why does that seem to be so difficult for many Americans to understand? I agree we need to be resolute, but we also need to be smart about it, not stubborn.

As a student of foreign policy, I'll say that if this is a sincere belief of Rev. Nelson, he would be a tremendous asset in Washington.

Concerning the Religious Right (and remember, these words are coming from a Minister):

Once again the "Religious Right" has it wrong. They cry and yell about the loss of morality in the United States, especially the government; they go on TV and bemoan the assault on Christianity by activist judges. But the greatest assault on Christianity is not from the outside, but from the inside.

From the back cover of his book Where Would Jesus Put the Sidewalks? "How we vote on Tuesday says more about what we truly believe than what we profess on Sunday. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us, “You will know them by their fruits.” Thus, what we do is much more important than what we say."

Finally, here's the page from theDemocratic Congressional Campaign Committee. We're only four weeks away from the starting gun, and it looks like the good Reverend is the only challenger to Mr. Kingston. More importantly, right now, there are only two Georgia Congressional seats where Republicans are being challenged by Democrats.

I'm still scouring the web for the Reverend Jim Nelson, and I have questions for him based off of what I have noted here. Those are:

1. Do you have a specific plan for Public Education? If not, who do you listen to the most closely when it comes to setting education policy?

2. Do you have a specific plan to improve health care? If not, what is the problem you would most like to see tackled first and why?

3. What is the biggest danger to family values right now in America?

4. How would you use a position in the US Congress to defend family values in America?

5. Where does the Church's work end, and the government's begin? Where is that line when it comes to social programs?

6. What do you think is the biggest sound byte answer concerning government right now?

7. With so much animostiy and hatred for Muslims in the hearts of so many Americans, and understanding how so many Americans equate Islam with terrorism, how can we begin the process of learning to respect Islamic beliefs, even if they are not our own?

8. What is your single biggest criticism of Rep. Jack Kingston?

9. Will you be able to work well with people of many faiths, once you are elected to Congress?

10. What is one thing you would like to improve about the way the Democratic Party is percieved in the South?

I would love for those questions to be asked, and I may be biased here by what I have already read, but I suspect he'd have some pretty good answers.

The Trenches of the Culture War

2005-11-15T21:37:00.000-05:00

Now that the 2005 elections have come and gone, some of us may be content to sit on our laurels. Though Incumbency won in New Jersey and Virginia, and redundancy was rejected in California, the most important election occurred in a small Pennsylvania town, where concerned citizens threw out a group of culture warriors who insisted on taking science out of science classes. You can read about it here.

But those culture warriors came out swinging the next day, when Pat Robertson said that Americans who insist on teaching science in public school science classes are “voting God out of your city.”

I always had the impression that God didn’t really care about his poll numbers, that whole all-powerful thing didn’t really depend on a job approval rating. But I’m a Catholic, what do I know?

I also was under the impression that, as long as you didn’t disrupt class, you could pray all you wanted. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes met before school every day I was in high school for a morning prayer.

Not content to stand idly by while Yankees take the headlines, Glynn County decided to get in on the act and put “In God We Trust” up on the walls of every classroom. This is the same school system that requires our kids to attend assemblies where they are urged to become born again.

I guess they didn’t get the memo that not all folks (and not all Christians, for that matter) feel the need to be ‘born again,’ but it ain’t like they were really interested in respecting the beliefs of others. I say this as a Catholic whose going to Purgatory on Scholarship.

But that’s your hard earned tax dollars at work. One step towards reasonability, two steps back.

Here's my contention, especially after listening to this 'put God back in schools' nonsense on the radio on my way to work this morning:

We're losing this battle because we've been fighting it wrong. This goes for all us real conservatives, liberals and libertarians out there who realize that, in a plural society, the way you worship may not be the way I worship, if we choose to worship at all. For too long, we have waged a battle that has too easily been spun as a battle against God. That wasn't what we are doing at all, but we never seem to fight back on that point. These people who are for putting prayer in schools don't want students to have the option of prayer, the option of faith, they want to ram it down everyone's throats.

I thought that we built this America thing to be rid of religious persecution.

Remember that when it comes to the Culture War, they shoot first.

I have said before and I will say it again, that all those "non-offensive" rules and laws were written to protect your sweet, innocent baby-darlin’s against what I was in high school: a loud, long haired, counterculture, steel toed boot and black trenchcoat wearing iconoclast. Well it's time they remembered why.

For too long, I think we’ve taken liberty for granted. I think we’ve chosen not to fight back because we were always able to leave the room or bow out of the conversation when the subject matter became uncomfortable for us. Perhaps this is what we need. The backlash it inspires in us, the spirit of what made us rebellious youths in the first place, if handled correctly, is always better than taking the First Amendment for granted. It will solidify those non-evangelicals and non-practicing individuals into a vocal and thinking minority. Right now, we are seen as enemies of God even though we are not. Well, these culture warriors on the right are about to be seen as what they are: enemies of America.

When the School Board comes into your children’s classrooms and puts up the "In God We Trust" on the walls, there are ways to respond, but they must always be classy and based in good taste. Don’t sue and look silly. Don’t attack what is a national motto, enhance it. This is the essence of constructive rebellion. They must be like parables and teach a lesson, IMHO:

1. The Principled Opposition: Cover that sign with a homemade sign that is the text of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. See if the school board makes you take that down, and see how they explain that to the public.

2. The All-Inclusive Opposition: Next to the "In God We Trust" sign, put up a copy of the First Amendment, put up a copy of the "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and Give to God what is God's" (Luke 20:25) verse from the Bible. Put up "In God We Trust" in Hebrew, put up "there is no god but God" in Arabic, "Ad Astra Per Aspera," just cover the walls in whatever text from every religion says "In God We Trust," and when asked why, say you were just 'covering all the bases.'

3. The Iconoclastic Opposition: In order to fall in line with our new scholastic fatwah, we must have the words "In God We Trust" hanging from the classroom walls. Go buy a poster that is a replica of a $100 bill. Hang it up, front and center. The words "In God We Trust" will be prominent. The meaning behind this symbolism is wild and varied, but you are in line with school policy.

Next Up: When the culture warriors have this inch and decide to take another mile, they will start encouraging children to lead classes in prayer and make it mandatory that every child listen. My suggestion, for all those kids and teachers who don't want to go along with it, it to memorize and speak, loudly and clearly, the words to the First Amendment. Start loudly at first with "Congress Shall Make No Law." Then follow with the full text: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

They want prayer in the schoolhouse to be disruptive? Disrupt right back with the very thing they hate: freedom from religion.

That will be our prayer, and our reminder to always be vigilant.

Being an Adult

2005-09-27T16:10:00.000-04:00

I asked a colleague at work the other day, how he considered George W. Bush a Conservative. I told him that Republicans are supposed to cut funding to Government programs and cut taxes, and Democrats are supposed to tax more and build more roads and schools etc. Bush is spending record amounts and cutting taxes. According to FoxNews.com, "federal spending grew on average by 7.6 percent in each of the last two years, more than double the 3.4 percent average annual growth under the Clinton administration." You can read the 2004 article here:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108066,00.html

One of the first things one learns upon reaching adulthood, is that you have to pay your bills. If you want something you have to pay for it. Even as a kid you can probably remember hearing the words "nothing's free". You can't just get a lot of stuff on credit and then not pay for it. Everything would get repossesed and you would likely go to jail. Yet, that is precisely what our president is doing. He is the first president to ever cut taxes during a war, and with the added costs of rebuilding after Katrina, and Rita, and the national debt at $7.9Trillion(U.S. National Debt Clock,http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/ ) it would seem an adult would know that it's time to tighten the belt and work a little over time. In the case of our government, that would mean cutting pork and raising taxes. Bush's own father could see that, though it is something we don't like to do, raising taxes is sometimes neccessary.

In his own words, Bush1 said:
"it is clear to me that both the size of the deficit problem and the need for a package that can be enacted require all of the following: entitlement and mandatory program reform, tax revenue increases, growth incentives, discretionary spending reductions, orderly reductions in defense expenditures, and budget process reform."

The size of the deficit was too big, and Bush1 realized a real need to renig on the unrealistic promise he made in 1988. If only Bush2 were this wise. Instead, the burden will be on the next generations to pay for the extensive debt he is digging us into.

Upcoming Events

2005-07-12T21:36:00.000-04:00

Stormy Monday

Next Monday, July 18th, will be a night of Democratic Politics in Glynn County!

To start the evening, the Young Democrats Caucus will be meeting in Brunswick at Fox's Pizza Den (Corner of Newcastle and Glouchester Streets Downtown) at 6:00pm. We will be talking about what financial support we can send to our sisters and brothers up in Athens, 'cause the biggest Young Democrats organization in Georgia is the UGA Young Democrats. (If you are reading this up in Athens, and you are a Young Democrat, you should be attending meetings. Tell 'em we sent ya!) We're also going to go over the Student Security Resolution that will present a Democratic Party response to the Glynn County School Boards accreditation issue. (We'll have an official full text copy by then, so show up!) We'll also discuss any additional business we'd like to bring up at the Membership Meeting. (see below) Most of y'all know what I look like (I'll be there eating pizza) but for those that don't I'll have an American Flag flying at my table. Everyone is welcome.

The Main Event is the Glynn County Democratic Party July Meeting! Its in Brunswick's downtown, Monday the 18th 7:30 PM - 09:00 PM
Where: First Methodist Church Miller Building
Monck St (between Glynn Academy and Glouchester: drive to the front of GA and then make a left, then your next left. The parking lot should be full of "Kerry/Edwards" stickers. Or you can meet me at Fox's Pizza and follow me there)
This agenda is a big one, lot of stuff going on, including the Student Security Resolution which will be introduced at the meeting. I'll be sitting in the back, raisin' hell as always! Everyone is welcome at this meeting, too.

After we're done with the fireworks at the Main Event, Democracy for America & co will be truckin' on over to Spanky's Marshside for some late night appetizers and Democratic comraderie. We are a Party, after all! Everyone is encouraged to stop by. You will identify me by the American flag I will be carrying about.

See you there & Tell all yo' frens!

Democratic Party Training Session

2005-06-24T17:02:00.000-04:00

This Saturday, June 25, from 10am - 3 pm, the Glynn County Democratic Party is hosting the State Democratic Party grassroots organization training session. Lunch will be provided, and I plan to bring a few donuts. (I hope they have a coffee machine) The address link is here. And the map link is here.

Unfortunately, my band RoughHouse will not be playing Saturday night after all, so if anyone has ideas for an afterparty, let me know. ;)

Rhetoric

2005-06-24T15:26:00.000-04:00

A quote of the day from one of our readers:

From the Sunday Portland Oregonian:
"Other than telling us how to live, think, marry, pray, vote, invest, educate our children and, now, die, I think the Republicans have done a fine job of getting government out of our personal lives."

Speaking of the way the right stays out of our personal lives, here's a little tidbit about what they really think about "freedom of religion."

Which reminds me, there's a lot of nasty rhetoric going on around here nowadays. Between Republican Senators calling for violence against the Judicial branch of government to Democratic Senators likening American troops to Nazis all the way to Babyface in Chief Karly Red Rover calling New Yorkers pansies and soft on terrorism. Apparently all the powers that be can do is call each other names. My roundup of the rhetoric roundups can be found here.

Some of you may agree with what I say, other may not, but what I really want you to look at is the thesis: how we say things is just as, if not more, important that what we are saying. There are a lot of yahoos out there that are in office because they understand the power of the 30 second soundbite. There are times to be witty and score "points" off of the opposition, but try not to fumble the ball by doing so. An intelligent argument will win out over stock answers every time, if you are on point and target, and respect the symbols you use in your words.

I ran across this example and posted it up for all to see. Notice how the first letter from LeBlanc is full of jingos and political catch phrases, then notice what LeBlanc's real ideas are later on. That was after someone looked at his arguments and called "shenanigans!"

We are in the game of winning hearts and minds, we need to start finding out what is behind the jingo and catch phrase, and begin addressing the real issue behind it all.

Upcoming Events

2005-06-19T13:16:00.000-04:00

Monday, June 20th

Join us for an evening of progressive politics!

Young Democrats informal caucus. 6:30pm - 7pm Monkey Love Dessert Bar & Gallery. Redfern Village on St Simons Island.

Glynn County Democratic Party monthy Membership Meeting. 7:30 pm - 9 pm at St William's Catholic Church in the Parish Hall to the side. Please enter through the front doors.

Democracy For America informal caucus. After the Party meeting (9ish - Unitl) at Gnat's Landing Bar and Grill in Redfern Village on St Simons Island.

Email paT_armsTrong for directions. (Link above right in 'contributors' box)

Hitting the Nail on the Head

2005-06-14T21:26:00.000-04:00

Glenn Reynolds is one of my favorite pundits from the right. He hits the nail on the head with this one, and rounds up some answers to a question I've had for a very, very long time: Why on Earth did so many people hate Bill Clinton so much? I always found it funny that you could win an argument with almost any conservative just by saying the magical word "Clinton." They'd get all red and puffy, steam would come out of their ears and they wouldn't be able to talk for two weeks. (As someone with a lot of conservative friends, I used this to every advantage...) But I never could understand where all that writing animosity came from. And Ol' Glenn done forwarded it to me. It really just explains so much, I thought I should share.

Correction

The writer was Ann Althouse not Glenn Reynolds. My bad.

A Magical Land of Fun!

2005-06-13T21:25:00.000-04:00

Follow me to the Neoconservative Kingdom: OllyWorld!

Howard Dean Editorials

2005-06-12T15:55:00.000-04:00

Dr. Dean has been in the news an awful lot recently. A friend you will be hearing from soon sent me this editorial from Truthout. Go there, read it, tell us what you think.

Welcome

2005-06-12T14:31:00.000-04:00

Welcome to DFA Coastal Empire. That's South Georgia for some of y'all. My name is Patrick Armstrong, and I am the website host. This site is for refrence and debate, and we would like to keep it family friendly. We will have news and commentary, events and scheduling information, and links to other sites of interest. Please keep comments and debate thoughtful and on topic. If you need to email me with any concerns, you should be able to do so from my profile above.

Democracy for America is a progressive organizaton dedicated to running everyday, real people for offices in government at every level. That being said, welcome to the site!