Albany, NY -- I Like Eliot Spitzer... The Political Process, Not As Much
I went to a Democracy For America event tonight in downtown Albany to see NY Attorney General and probable Governor-Elect Eliot Spitzer speak to a small group of about 100 fellow progressives.
He was inspiring and insightful in person, and he in fact looked a bit younger in real life than he does on TV.
He wasn't there long (about 15 minutes), but he spoke eloquently about the need to remove corporate influence from government and did his best to answer as many of the audience's questions as he could. I look forward to voting for him in November.
However, I mentioned to another attendee named Jim that I was working on (or at least trying to find the time to work on) Jonathan Tasini's campaign for Senate, and mentioned that Hillary tends to avoid being in the same place as Jonathan. It's not a tactic I like, but Jim said that Spitzer has been doing the same thing to his Democratic quasi-challenger, Tom Suozzi. I expressed my disdain for it, and Jim replied that it's a perfectly good tactic, because a campaign needs to be about winning and not about "some abstract moral statement about democracy and public communications." Several other people within earshot of the conversation concurred.
I don't like it. I really don't. First off, isn't a candidate better prepared for the long haul if he can effectively take on all comers, especially in a debate? Second, by avoiding his challengers and thus not addressing the issues his challengers raise, doesn't a front-runner disenfranchise a large percentage of voters? Things like that in politics are what turn me off to them a good portion of the time, and I'd guess that they're a good part of the reason that young people don't participate much in the political process (there were few people at this event under 40).
Jim said that it's just the way things work, and that young people won't participate in politics anyway... Disappointing to me, but maybe in the future, the internet will help rectify this situation... or maybe not.
(Sigh) Politics should be the perfect place for an idealist, but they certainly aren't.
Gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer speaks to the DFA crowd in Albany
Albany, NY -- RIP Steve Howe
Steve Howe was apparently
killed today in a car accident:
Steve Howe, the relief pitcher whose promising career was derailed by cocaine and alcohol abuse, died Friday when his pickup truck rolled over in Coachella, Calif. He was 48.
Howe was killed at 5:55 a.m. PT, said Dalyn Backes of the Riverside County coroner's office. The pickup truck Howe was driving left the roadway, entered the median and rolled several times, ejecting Howe from the vehicle, according to the coroner's office. The accident occurred about 130 miles east of Los Angeles.I only have one question: Didn't this happen ten years ago?
Binghamton, NY -- Border Run?
This isn't exactly going to help their case with the border, but it's still big news.
Heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, peyote, and marijuana are all being legalized in Mexico in small quantities:
The bill says criminal charges will no longer be brought for possession of up to 25 milligrams of heroin, five grams of marijuana (about one-fifth of an ounce, or about four joints), and half a gram of cocaine — about half the standard street-size quantity, which is enough for several lines of the drug.“No charges will be brought against ... addicts or consumers who are found in possession of any narcotic for personal use,” according to the Senate bill, which also lays out allowable quantities for a large array of other drugs, including LSD, MDA, ecstasy — about two pills’ worth, — and amphetamines.Some of the amounts are eye-popping: Mexicans would be allowed to possess 2.2 pounds of peyote, the button-sized hallucinogenic cactus used in some native Indian religious ceremonies.
Albany, NY -- It Takes Money to Make Money
Another study which tells us something we already know -- If you're born poor or middle class,
you probably have no shot at getting rich:
...the chances of getting rich are about 20 times higher if you are born rich than if you are born in a low-income family.That's not going to stop me from trying, though...
Albany, NY -- Republicans in a Nutshell
SusanG over at DailyKos has a
brief summary of what the Republican Party stands for today:
The modern Republican Party can best be summed up as devoted to lying and spying while others do the dying.Say it over and over:
"Lying and spying while others do the dying."
"Lying and spying while others do the dying."
"Lying and spying while others do the dying."
91 years since the Armenian Genocide
It's really a shame that of all the major 20th Century genocides, this one has largely been ignored.
