Author: Kahli

There are so many people here who write with precision and eloquence. I am not one of them.  My thoughts rush out too fast and too passionately.  My fingers stumble over the keyboard.  But I am going to express as best I can my humble gratitude to the ordinary people who flamed the fires of democracy on the prairies of Illinois.

The results of the Illinois 06 Congressional race aren’t final.  Apparently the shiny new electronic voting machines have created a nightmare and final results may not be known for days.  Yet it appears that the big boys from DC have managed to buy, at exorbitant cost, a very close victory for Tammy Duckworth. It also appears that a recount would cost the Cegelis campaign a minimum of $75,000 under Illinois law.  Clearly this race is a poster child example of the need for both voting reform and campaign finance reform.  I’m sure much will be written about these issues in the coming days.

No matter what the ultimate outcome, I want to stand in humble gratitude before Christine and the grassroots supporters who fought so valiantly for her victory. They are true American heroes. They really are. They are among the most patriotic people I have ever had the privilege to meet.
A few short years ago, Christine took on the challenge of running against Henry Hyde. She did this not because she had always dreamed of becoming a powerful Congressman, but because she was horrified at the direction in which the country was moving. She asked herself what she could do to make things better. She went on the internet and found out what one had to do to run for Congress and she did it.  She did not genuflect before the Democratic powers that be. She took action.  The Democratic machinery didn’t care.  That district was not “winnable” from their perspective.  One wonders what Christine’s nearly 45 per cent total against Hyde would have been if the party had lifted a finger.

Christine’s campaign came at great cost to her professionally and economically. She essentially blew up her nice tidy suburban life and took a huge risk in order to make her country better. She is a person of outstanding integrity and honor.  She opposed the war early and passionately.  She is Catholic, but never wavers on the issue of a woman’s right to choose. She is grounded. She is strong.  She is funny.

Christine’s first campaign attracted a lot of Kucinich and Dean supporters who were long on passion and short on political experience. They worked like crazy and as a team made an impressive showing against Hyde.

Chis decided early on to run a second time. Her supporters returned – a little more seasoned. New ones, some with much more political experience in their background, arrived. For over a year these people have been growing the campaign through one grassroots effort after another. Early fundraising allowed for some professional support, but largely Chris was surrounded by ordinary citizens as passionate and as honorable as she was.  Ordinary people who left their comfort zones so far behind them it wasn’t even funny.  People who care deeply about America.  True Patriots. True heroes. People who never gave up on their progressive principles — even when the DC big boys decided that the constituents of Illinois 06 needed a more (genuinely) dramatic outsider to represent them in Congress.

No matter what the outcome, these patriots made a difference. They let the machine know that there are numerous citizens who will fight like hell for their progressive beliefs. They raised issues. They worked to educate the public.  They gained invaluable experience.  And no matter what the outcome they will fight again.  I stand in humble gratitude before their efforts and know that the fire they started on the prairie will spread light and warmth in the years to come.

We are at war.  The president tells us so – again, and again, and again. Why does he have to tell us? Could it be because the war doesn’t touch most of us, doesn’t inconvenience most of us, doesn’t cost us anything tangible?

Sure the costs of the war are staggering (especially to the people who are actually fighting it and their families) but for most of us the costs are kind of “out there.” Yes, our prestige has fallen around the world. Yes, we are less safe than when this mess started.  Yes, the deficit has soared — but who knows how many a trillion is anyway?

Last week ABC News visited Kent State University to ask today’s crop of students how they felt about today’s war.  While most of them seemed to oppose it, none seemed too worked up about it.  How different from the Viet Nam era! Of course the crack MSM analysts speculated on the reasons why this might be.  The one thing the oafs never thought to mention was there was a draft during the Viet Nam era.  That made the war damn personal for many, many of us.

Continued…

We are now at a point where over half of polled Americans oppose the war. Most aren’t doing a damn thing about that opposition.  But what if it was personal?  What if there was a draft?  What if there was a special tax to fund the costs of the war?   What if we all had to work six and a half days a week to produce material?  What if we were all required to give four hours a week to the cause – in VA hospitals?  What if, at the very least, our dinners were interrupted by the sight of flag-draped coffins or a real accounting of civilian casualties over there?

What would the over 50 per cent do then?  What would the other  per cent do? The Bush administration has been brilliant in whipping up a feeling of patriotism and a sense of vague anxiety.  Perhaps its most brilliant/evil strategy has been reducing the experience of this war to nothing more than a pretend game for the vast majority of Americans.

So what is the cost for most of us? $1.99 for our magnetic ribbon and a large piece of our soul.

After Howard Dean’s candidacy was eradicated in large part by the Democratic powers-that-be, I was despondent. Unable to bring myself to do any more than vote for Kerry, I looked around for a candidate I could believe in.  I didn’t have to look very far. One congressional district away from mine, a smart, progressive ballsy woman had the audacity to challenge Henry Hyde for the congressional seat in the 6th District. This woman had great ideas about energy, about workers, about foreign policy. She opposed the war when 70% of the public supported it.  She was unbought and unbossed. She was Christine Cegelis and she got almost 45 per cent of the vote against a 30 year incumbent.  She did this with a small army of passionate, progressive volunteers with minimal political experience.

There’s more…

Chris knew she was fighting an uphill battle, but she knew it was a battle worth fighting on principle.  She gave up her nice suburban life and threw herself into the political fray.  She also made a commitment to her district and to her supporters to run a second time if necessary.

One would think that the Democratic Party of Illinois would have been thrilled. A smart, committed courageous candidate with a passionate cadre of supporters was in place and ready to go.  So did the beltway crowd support her? Nope.  They discouraged regular donors from donating to her.  They then accused Christine of being unable to raise funds and they recruited a woman from outside the district to run against her.  It is truly disappointing to see the darlings of the progressive movement in Illinois, (Obama, Durbin, Schakowsky) dancing to the tune of the decidedly unprogressive Rahm Emmanuel and the DCCC.

One of Christine’s hardest working supporters, Sandra Verthein, described the situation in Il-06 most eloquently.

This is an area that has been written off for decades as “solid Republican.”  They really do run rampant out here, and Christine’s campaign was the first little flowering of a true,grassroots, Democratic organization in this area.  All the local
township organizations and other local activist groups are behind her. They have put their own blood, sweat and tears into this effort.  And again, this is an area were just a few short years ago Democrats were
afraid to march in parades because they would be jeered at by the crowd.  But Christine stood up, and inspired people to stand up with her, and what was their reward?  The local groups are completely
ignored, marginalized, and trivialized.  That is NOT how you build a party, that is not how you restore people’s faith in the political process, and that is not how you help people realize that “they have
the power.”

I know the treatment Christine has received is not unique to her.  The DLC and DCCC types are pouring herbicide on the grassroots in state after state.  Kerry and Clinton are out raising money for Christine’s anointed opponent.  Why? Why is Casey the fair-haired child in Pennsylvania? Why does the Democratic Party fear us so much?

Could it be that they are more concerned with keeping their power rather than using it in a beneficial way?  Could it be that they have forgotten what it means to take a principled stand? Could it be that they are just pissed as hell that we haven’t kissed the rings (or their butts) and asked permission to be involved in politics?

I don’t know.  What I do know is that we are at a turning point and we need to stand up for the candidates we feel most passionate about.  For me, Christine heads the list.  No matter who it is for you, please take this seriously.  The DLC would like to prove that we are nothing more than annoying gnats and that they can ignore us at will.  Donate your time, your money, your talent to a good progressive candidate. This is our short term priority. After the primaries, we need to develop long-term strategy.  Some groups such as PDA and DFA are already working hard to reform the Democratic Party.  In the short term, though, do everything you make the great progressive candidates successful in their primaries.  Do it for them.  Do it for the grassroots.  Do it for your country.

p.s. http://www.cegelisforcongress.com

Here are just a few thoughts from one of this country’s greatest statesmen. An imperfect, complex man from humble beginnings, Lincoln left us words of challenge, inspiration and hope

Take what you will and let it move you to work toward the healing of this country in your own way.

Read on:

I am not a Know-Nothing. That is certain. How could I be? How can any one who abhors the oppression of negroes, be in favor of degrading classes of white people? Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declaring that “all men are created equal.” We now practically read it “all men are created equal, except Negroes.” When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read “all men are created equal, except Negroes and foreigners and Catholics.” When it comes to this, I shall prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty – to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.
Letter to Joshua F. Speed, August 24,1855

Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.
Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, March 4,1865.

Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces; but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes.
Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865.

Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed.
Lincoln-Douglas debate at Ottawa, August 21, 1858

I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.
Civil War Dispatches

Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.
Lincoln’s First Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1861

The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.
Lincoln’s Second Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861

What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried? Lincoln’s Cooper Institute Address, February 27, 1860

“It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: ‘And this, too, shall pass away.’ How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!
Address Before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September 30, 1859

It was an ordinary enough day – except, perhaps, for the extraordinarily crystalline blue sky. People opened their email.  They rode trains.  They prepped vegetables for the day’s menu. They bragged about their successes in the football pool.  They sipped their coffee and dreamed about their upcoming vacation.

Then their world collapsed. Other people, willing to kill innocents to promote their political agenda, struck hard, struck swiftly, struck dramatically. The result was devastating. As the event unfolded, heroes arose. In stark contrast to the perpetrators of the deed, these people risked or gave their lives helping others. Saints arose that day, too.  All around the world, people and governments reached out to try to heal the suffering.

In the days that followed, the brashest city in the brashest country in the world was the recipient of the tender solicitude offered from every corner of the globe.
In remarkably short order, most of us went on with our lives.  We grappled with our fears. We took planes, rode elevators, attended Broadway shows.

Our nation struck back hard and mightily and righteously against those who attacked us — those who attacked US. What we did not do as a nation is reflect on the meaning of these events.  It was anathema, which was understandable in the immediate aftermath, to examine how our role in the world contributed to those terrible events.  How our role contributed to – not caused – the events of September 11.  Unfortunately, that conversation is still being censored.

A few short months later, some of the most cynical people on earth used our grief and our fear and our rage to rationalize their intention to attack a country that had nothing to do with the gaping hole in the Pentagon, the crumbled towers or the charred field in Pennsylvania.  Another discussion that has been censored is the bigotry involved in this action. How easily our country transferred its hostility from one group of Arabs and Muslims to another. How easily we confused bravado with patriotism.

Almost exactly four years later America is reeling again as Hurricane Katrina killed untold numbers and swept apart families, communities, and livelihoods. Once again there were heroes, many unsung, who struggled desperately to help people in need. Once again the world embraced America, despite our carelessly squandering its earlier good will. Once again there are conversations that are being censored – conversations about race, conversations about class, conversations about competence.

Twice in a few short years, America sustained serious blows to it blissful insouciance and unquestioning self-assurance.  It is time to take pride in our strengths, but it is also time to humbly assess our weaknesses and to use this tragedy as an opportunity to advance as a society.

As we hold in our hearts those who have lost so much in these two devastating tragedies, let us reach inward to the best of ourselves and outward toward cooperation with others.  Let us each fearlessly, but respectfully, have the conversations we can no longer avoid.  Let us each honor those victims of Osama and Katrina by making a commitment to do what we can with our own time, talent and resources to make our country and the world better places.  Day by day, in acts large and small we have the power to make a difference.  Our hearts will go on – let them do so with grace, compassion, grit, humor and honor.  

Certainly, the preservation of cultural heritage is far secondary to meeting the needs for food, medical care, shelter and employment for those displaced by Hurrican Katrina.  Down the line, it will become something to which to turn our national attention.

The Society for American Archivists held its national convention in New Orleans just a few weeks ago.  Now they are making plans to gather the material and volunteers needed to recover what they can from the important cultural repositories in the Gulf region.

Additionally, a link from SAA’s site gives information to individuals who are able to return to their homes to salvage what they can of their own heritage.  If you know someone in the affected region who can benefit from these tips from the Regional Alliance for Preservation, please pass them on.

The Regional Alliance for Preservation (RAP) has members across the country.  You can find one<a=href”http://www.rap-arcc.org/welcome/rarcc.htm”>in your area.

Salvage Tips from The Heritage Emergency National Task Force:

Hurricanes threaten not only homes, but treasured possessions: family heirlooms, photos, and other keepsakes. Even if they are completely soaked, they can probably still be saved if they are not contaminated with sewage or chemicals. The Heritage Emergency National Task Force, a coalition of 36 national organizations and federal agencies including FEMA, offers these basic guidelines from professional conservators:

*Safety First! With any disaster there may be health risks. Wear plastic or rubber gloves during cleanup. If there is mold, wear protective gear–surgical mask or respirator, goggles, and coveralls.

*Prevent Mold. Mold can form within 48 hours so you will need to work fast. The goal is to reduce the humidity and temperature around your treasures as you proceed to clean and dry them.

*Air-Dry. Gentle air-drying is best for all your treasured belongings–indoors, if possible. Hair dryers, irons, ovens, and prolonged exposure to sunlight will do irreversible damage. Increase good indoor airflow with fans, open windows, air conditioners, and dehumidifiers.

*Handle with Care. Use great caution in handling your heirlooms, which can be especially fragile when wet. Separate damp materials: remove the contents from drawers; take photographs out of damp albums; remove paintings and prints from frames; place paper towels between the pages of wet books.

*Clean Gently. Loosen dirt and debris on fragile objects gently with soft brushes and cloths. Avoid rubbing, which can grind in dirt.

*Salvage Photos. Clean photographs by rinsing them carefully in clean water. Air-dry photos on a plastic screen or paper towel, or by hanging them by the corner with plastic clothespins. Don’t let the image come into contact with other surfaces as it dries.

*Prioritize. You may not be able to save everything, so focus on what’s most important to you, whether for historic, monetary, or sentimental reasons.

*Can’t Do It All? Damp objects and items that cannot be dealt with immediately should be put in open, unsealed boxes or bags. Photos, papers, books, and textiles should be frozen if you can’t get them dry within 48 hours.

*Call in a Pro. If a precious item is badly damaged, a conservator may be able to help. Be sure to collect broken pieces. Set your treasure aside in a well-ventilated room until you find professional help. To locate a conservator, contact the Guide to Conservation Services, American Institute for Conservation (202) 452-9545.

These recommendations are intended as guidance only. Neither the Heritage Emergency National Task Force, nor its sponsors Heritage Preservation and FEMA, assumes responsibility or liability for treatment of damaged objects.

You can find reliable online information and links to professional conservation resources,

Informational Leaflets:
Resources for Recovery: Post-Disaster Aid for Cultural Institutions, a publication sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in partnership with the Small Business Administration (SBA). It offers tips for getting through the difficult first days of disaster recovery, and offers information on financial assistance. You can access it for free as a .pdf.

Hurricane Katrina Online Information:
American Association of Museums (AAM) has information on first reports as they come in, as well as disaster resources and ways to contribute.  Heritage Preservation now has a Hurricane Resource Page dedicated to Katrina.

The Society of American Archivists (SAA) is assembling a register of people prepared to help with recovery efforts.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA)  has a Disaster Assistance Program, and will keep their website updated with information.

Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. – Abraham Lincoln

Only a fool would try to deprive working men and working women of their right to join the union of their choice. – Dwight D. Eisenhower  

The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people. – Cesar Chavez

As we celebrate this Labor Day weekend.  It seems appropriate to thank the men and women of the labor movement who paid with blood, sweat and tears so that the situation of all working people could be improved.

The minimum wage stands at $5.15. “Right to work” states keep proliferating. Benefits and workplace protections are being eroded. Once again, the Labor Movement, and all who have benefited from it, must act strongly to protect and expand workers’ rights – human rights – in this country and around the world.

Our forefathers and foremothers risked much for these rights.  It is time we start picking up their mantle.

The Department of Labor website offers a succinct article about the history and meaning of Labor Day.

“Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country,” said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. “All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man’s prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day…is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation.”

Though it exact origins are in dispute, Labor Day was first celebrated in New York City in 1882. Oregon and New York State led the way in making Labor Day a statewide observance and by the end of the nineteenth century, it had become a national holiday.

Parades, speeches, and dissemination of information about the Labor movement marked the day as ways of celebrating evolved throughout the years. In 1909, the AFL-CIO added Labor Sunday, “dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.”

The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation’s strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker.

The AFL-CIO invites all Americans to show their support for workers by participating in the “Buy Union”  initiative during Union Label Week, Sept. 5-10.  You can find a list of goods and services ranging from automotive to travel at the Union Label Website.

Have a safe and peaceful holiday.  Here a few more thoughts to inspire you.

Let the workers organize. Let the toilers assemble. Let their crystallized voice proclaim their injustices and demand their privileges. Let all thoughtful citizens sustain them, for the future of Labor is the future of America. – John L. Lewis

If capitalism is fair then unionism must be. If men have a right to capitalize their ideas and the resources of their country, then that implies the right of men to capitalize their labor. – Frank Lloyd Wright

Ten thousand times has the labor movement stumbled and bruised itself. We have been enjoined by the courts, assaulted by thugs, charged by the militia, traduced by the press, frowned upon in public opinion, and deceived by politicians. ‘But notwithstanding all this and all these, labor is today the most vital and potential power this planet has ever known, and its historic mission is as certain of ultimate realization as is the setting of the sun. – Eugene Debs

The strongest bond of human sympathy outside the family relation should be one uniting working people of all nations and tongues and kindreds. –Abraham Lincoln

Today’s Chicago Sun-Times  published an article about Christine Cegelis’ run for the 6th Congressional District seat in Illinois in 2006. (Christine, as you may remember, ran a strong grass-roots powered race against Henry Hyde in 2004.)

The article made many positive points about Christine and her campaign – her determination, her work ethic, her credentials and the fact that she “is not allied with and is independent of any of the various Democratic Party bosses in the state.” In other words, she is sort of a white, suburban Shirley Chisholm – “unbought and unbossed.”  She does not shy away from her progressive values when it comes to foreign policy, privacy, workers’ rights or anything else. She has strong grassroots support from around the country.  Bloggers contributed a great deal to her fund-raising last quarter.  But, apparently not enough.

DCCC head, Rahm Emanuel, still is not impressed.  He seems not to care at all about Christine’s credentials and her values. It is all about the money.

Emanuel is the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and part of his job is recruiting strong candidates. Emanuel uses one major yardstick to measure political viability, and that is fund-raising.

Hopefully the Sun-Times is wrong. It sounds as if Emanuel would support an amoral chimpanzee if it could raise enough money.  And if the Sun-Times is not wrong, then things stink to high heaven. Unfortunately, there seems to bit of a rank odor in the air.

Liberal activists have been besieged by calls to donate money for candidate after candidate and cause after cause.  Some days it seems overwhelming.  But as Steven D. Levitt points out in his book, Freakonomics, Americans spend more money on chewing gum every year than they do on federal elections.  So I guess it is up to us to show the Beltway crowd that candidates who share our values are valuable to us.

If you can spare the price of a pack of gum or two, please donate to Christine. Donate to as many outstanding candidates as you can.  And if you would like, let Rahm and the DCCC know that a candidate’s value is not determined by the size of  his or her war chest.

I want my country back!