Author: philinmaine

Cposted at Kos

So, yesterday we heard about a challenge issued by the County ‘Young Repubs’ to the Dems to field a bowling team for a Big Bro/Sis funder. The idea is you put a team together, get people to pledge and the competition is not the bowling but who raises $$$ for charity. Of course, they didn’t contact us directly and only gave us a week to field a team and raise at least $250. Oh, and their age limit for the Young R’s is, get ready…40. Plus I’m pretty sure there’s really only 4-5 people in their club. So, we weren’t even sure if we should bother…..
But then, D essentially said, WTF. And how long did it take us?

One night. we passed the hat at our monthly meeting and raised $550 on the spot and I’m pretty sure we have a team (of under 30 thank you)..

To put this in context, we get 50-80 people at our monthly mtgs and the average age is well above 40. We’re in the process of turning our county blue even though we have fewer Dems than R’s or unaffliated. I’ve written about this county before and this is just one more example of if we can do it, anyone can. A local organization that can generate a phonebank and local support for leg candidates is what we need everywhere. That provides the foundation (and competition) for statewide and federal level races. Oh, and if you care to see my brand new ActBlue page:

http://www.actblue.com/list/philinmaine

This is all cut and paste but, as always, it’s instructive to see who is the butt of the jokes on late night. No surprise and there are some good ones: Best of starts here:

“When he [President Bush] was in India he saw a woman with the red dot on her head. He thought she had been hunting with Cheney.”  
–Bill Maher  

Vice President Cheney has donated two million dollars to the  
cardiovascular center that treats him. Actually it’s more of  
an advance than a donation.  
–Conan O’Brien  

President Bush and the Indian prime minister agreed on a  
landmark nuclear energy agreement in which the U.S. would  
share its nuclear know-how and fuel with India. And, in  
exchange, India would take all our jobs.”  
–Tina Fey
 “They just seem to be wrapped in bubbles, surrounded by sycophants. Bush was in Tampa today in front of one of those invited audiences he speaks to. The first question, this is not a joke, said the nation was blessed to have Bush as president. That was a question. The second one referred to Jeb as ‘your great brother.’ You know, at least when Clinton got blown it was in private.” –Bill Maher

“President Bush got off the plane in Pakistan and said,  
‘Pakistan is a force for freedom in the Arab world.’ Only problem there is Pakistan is not free and they’re not Arab.    
–Bill Maher

“I do have some sad news to report. Bjork couldn’t be here tonight. She was trying on her Oscar dress and Dick Cheney shot her.”  
–Jon Stewart (hosting the Academy Awards)

“Today is President Abe Lincoln’s birthday. He was six-foot- four and had a beard. If he was alive today he would be detained by the Department of Homeland Security.”  
–David Letterman  

“Mardi Gras starts tomorrow in New Orleans. Talk about  
perfect timing. Those truckloads of ice from FEMA just  
showed up.”  
–Bill Maher

“Dick Cheney said he felt terrible about shooting a 78-year-old man, but on the bright side, it did give him a great idea about how to fix Social Security.”  
–Bill Maher  

“Dick Cheney gave an interview to Fox News. I don’t want to  say Fox News was lenient, but the first question they asked was, ‘Who do you like in American Idol?'”  
–Jay Leno  

“Dick Cheney gave an interview to Fox News. Some are accusing Fox of giving softball questions. My answer to that is, ‘Well does a vice president shoot in the woods?'”  
–David Letterman  

“Dick Cheney finally answered questions about the hunting accident on Fox News. You know, I think Fox News is a little biased. They called it ‘Interview with a Marksman.'”  
–Jay Leno  

“A mere five days after shooting a man in the face, Vice President Dick Cheney broke his silence about the incident by submitting to a no-holds-barred grilling at a public press conference. I’m just kidding. … Actually, he sat down with Brit Hume on Fox News for not so much a grilling  
— more of a teat suckle.”  
–Jon Stewart  

“It turns out now that Dick Cheney did not have a license to hunt, and coincidentally, turns out we didn’t have a license to go into Iraq.”  
–David Letterman

“The man who was shot [by Dick Cheney] is named Harry  
Whittington. He’s a high powered Republican lawyer, he was very lucky. They say the only reason that he wasn’t killed is he was wearing the body armor that never got shipped to our troops.”  
–Jimmy Kimmel

“Earlier today, President Bush flew to New Orleans. There was an awkward moment when the president looked around and said ‘Oh my god, what the hell happened here?'” –Conan O’Brien

“George Clooney won for Syriana, which was about the CIA and what people will do for oil. Or as Dick Cheney calls it, a love story.” –Jay Leno

“On the port deal, a lot of Republican congressmen are saying let’s not rush to judgment, let’s investigate it and be sure of our facts. Gee, too bad they didn’t try that before we invaded Iraq.” –Jay Leno

“They’re now talking about bringing in a guy from Dubai to run the country” –Jay Leno, on Bush’s low approval ratings

“Even Tom DeLay is saying this port deal is a big mistake. He said if the people of Dubai want to be involved in our government, they should do it through proper channels and write me a big giant campaign check.” –Jay Leno

cross posted at Kos

I don’t have all the story but Justice O’Connor has BLASTED the Republicans for their partisan attacks on the courts. She stated (paraphrase) that partisan attacks on the courts for political purposes must stop. She included references to cutting a court’s budget, intimidation, and poisioning the public against the judicial system. Wow! Then she said something off the charts…
She closed by saying (paraphrase) that it takes a long time to become a dictatorship but better to stop the slide at the beginning than the end. That’s Right..Sandra Day O’Connor used the word dictatorship. Not some ‘nutty blogger’ not some ‘left wing lezzy’ but the most venerated, praised, widely respected, Justice O’Connor.

The audio was on NPR..I suppose the lead could be ‘NPR finds its balls’ cause I’ve been scouring the net and can’t find the speech but the audio will be on the net at 10AM

http://www.npr.org/...

I don’t care if this diary gets recommended or not (I had a good diary yesterday that got pretty much ignored) but I hope this gets picked up. Her statements were right on the mark, Molly Ivins could not have said it better. Thank you Justice O’Connor, from the bottom of my heart I salute your guts and courage. You told it as it is except you may have left out that we’re well into the slide down the slippery slope (or maybe you inferred).

I think this diary has been brewing for a while. For whatever reason, feels like it’s time to let it fly. Maybe it’s the incessant drumbeat of Dems don’t have their act together, the constant back seat driving about how the DNC is inept, those Washington Dems can’t get their act together, the candidates for fill in the blank of a congressional or statewide office are not good enough and so forth.

My theory is that national is only as good as local. Throw a pepple in still water and watch the ripples. It’s not a charismatic leader at the national level that will take back the country to its principles, it’s hundreds of local leaders. I’ll offer proof below
Let me tell you a story of our county. We have 44,000 voters. I forget the exact split but the largest party are Unaffiliated, then Repubs, then Dems. For a long time R’s held all the offices in the county and the legislature. Gradually with population shifts and Dems moving to a beautiful area more Dems got elected but at best in national or state terms it’s a swing county. Gore won here by 260 votes.

Some of you have heard part of this story before but bear with. A small group of organized Dems became the local party officials. They raised money, got people to volunteer (Bush was a big help), did local phone banking, Voter ID, GOTV, and in 2004 Kerry won by 3,656 votes (far more than any 4 yr population shift). It wasn’t easy, it included a few people spending two years just getting a decent voting list by getting each town’s voter list and getting a phone book. But in the midst of a national let down we were euphoric. We had done grassroots campaigning and won. Won big.

What has happened since then? Well, last fall there was an anti-discrimination issue on the ballot. The right wing was committed to overturning legislation the Dems at the state level and the Dem Governor had signed. In the county a small group took responsibility and begged people to volunteer for the phone bank and it was a slog. Still they got most of the calling done, a good GOTV operation and we won 62% of the vote and arguably did a great job.

We then turned our focus on our state leg seats. We targeted two R seats and plan to hold our 4 D seats. In part because we have a credible county wide effort and can actually offer support to a candidate two really good candidates with a decent chance to win are now on the ballot. We could come out of this election with a 6-2 or 7-1 edge in the delegation. For the first time ever.

What difference will that make? Well, there’s only a 1-2 Dem vote edge in the legislature that’s why. The other thing is we are building strength, consistency, and know how. Maybe a future statewide or Congressional winner will come out of these ranks. One of the leg candidates is the youth director at the Y and he will have teens who know him volunteering for the first time.

Statewide, our county has made a name for itself in political circles. When we tell people where we are from, they think we know something. We do. We know that local organizing, local fundraising, local volunteers, a local office, local Voter ID, local GOTV make a difference.

There are something like 1753 counties in the country, whatever, it’s a number we can see. Some are large urban, some are small rural. The large urban ones have to be split into manageable population bites but it’s doable. It’s doable if people don’t get their egos in a tizzy and focus on what needs to be done to Save the Country. By winning locally, we will win nationally. And it can happen sooner than you think.

Now I’m going to say something about campaigns. Campaigns are about restoring democracy to the people but campaigns are not democratic. It’s nuts, it’s bolts and someone has to be in charge. There are only about 240 days left to November 2006. There’s only so much time. Think of campaigns as a military campaign and you begin to get the idea. The general is the campaign manager. What they say goes and that includes the candidate. The candidate can fire the mgr but outside of that they should just do their role and do it to the best of their ability.

How does that affect you and me? Pick a campaign now, volunteer, get hired as a staffer, run yourself, raise money, whatever. But do it, do it well and you’ll soon have no time for anything unless it has something to do with winning. When you see the blogs from the candidates, officeholders, campaign mgrs, staffers, etc doesn’t it get you going? We read them, let’s do them.

Finally, a word on the DNC, Dean and so forth. Who are these people? Why can’t they do everything (or sometimes anything) right? These people are for the most part people who probably worked for Dean, have slogged in the trenches, and are still doing the best they can (I hope). I’ve worked on two statewide campaigns and can say it’s near impossible to cover everything and do it well. We’re also Democrats and tend not to walk in lock step when it comes to national policy. So what? We can and probably will around a few key issues like the illegal war, the trashing of the nation, and health care.

In the meantime, I hope every one who takes the time to read my rant gets out and works locally. A leg candidate with a dozen good volunteers can win almost anywhere. Why not win?

Well, according to Reuters, BP, aka British Petroleum, or as their ads say, Beyond Petroleum,  plans to double its investment in greener energy sources over the next three years, in reaction to soaring demand for low carbon energy.
Really, a big oil company going alternative? Is it possible? Is it serious or greenwashing?
 
“We are now at a point where we have sufficient new technologies and sound commercial opportunities within our reach to build a significant and sustainable business in alternative and renewable energy,” BP Chief Executive John Browne said.

Demand for solar systems is rising 30 percent per year, BP said. Ohhh, demand. That market driving force called `people want solar power’. That’s all well and good but in the past, some environmentalists have criticized BP’s renewables activities as a sop aimed at greening the firm’s oily image.

Not according to BP tho. “It is good business…The economy of the future will be a low carbon economy,” Vivienne Cox, chief executive of BP’s gas, power and renewables division, told reporters at a briefing.
However, the vast majority of BP’s around $15 billion annual investment budget will remain focused on oil and gas projects, which offer much higher returns.
The London-based oil giant will form a new unit called BP Alternative Energy to manage a fleet of projects that BP said had the potential to deliver sales around $6 billion a year within a decade.

An initial $1.8 billion will be invested over the next three years, spread in broadly equal proportions between solar, wind, hydrogen and combined cycle gas turbines. Cox said the larger part of this would be invested in the United States.

Browne added that within seven years the division would be expected to offer the same returns demanded of other customer-facing sections of the firm, such as fuel marketing. This is around 15 percent through the business cycle.

The exact level of investment in the new unit depends on the nature of opportunities and government support for renewables and for alternative energy technology such as carbon capture. So, in some cases they will still need our tax dollars. Well, I’d rather it go there then say Middle East oil fields.

Wind operators say they are experiencing growing problems in finding turbine sites which are suitable and unopposed by residents and environmental groups.
BP hopes to avoid this problem by erecting turbines on its own industrial sites. It has identified some U.S. sites which are in high wind zones away from residential areas.

It also hopes to build two hydrogen-fired power plants whose carbon emissions would be stored in depleted oil fields. One, at Peterhead in Scotland, will derive hydrogen from North Sea gas, although its development hinges on those government incentives. The other unidentified project would be in the United States and would burn hydrogen derived from low value refinery by-products. CO2 sequestration can also have the advantage of extending the life of oil fields, by keeping up reservoir pressure.

BP’s move is at odds with the views of some in the oil industry, including the world’s largest private oil and gas firm, Exxon Mobil, which argues renewables are a poor use of investors’ funds. And that’s an understatement.  Exxon is not investing one penny in renewables and BP is, Shell is, others are, and that means there will be winners and losers in the future. You can guess my prediction and although I’m mighty suspicious of these large companies, maybe sometimes good things come in large packages. At least they’re trying.

This is the concluding portion of my recent trip to Panama with Sustainable Harvest.  I’ve posted a diary a week if you want to see the others. So far we’ve visited and worked on several farms, working with the farmers and their families. SHI’s goal is to work with farmers by funding local extension agents and materials showing them sustainable, organic agriculture practices. This way both the environment and their standard of living are raised. On with the trip.  

The next day is a boat excursion across another of the large lakes made by the construction of the Canal.  This is a gathering of several communities who have been working with SHI for around 5 years. They live on a peninsula in a watershed with no road access. Everything comes in by small boats. The community we visited has given several `agri-eco tours’ and receives support from more than one organization although our work through the extension agent makes the biggest difference. The location is beautiful and the farms are more advanced. They have rice paddies, vegetable gardens, the root crops, some fruit, even some compost worm bins, and the people even look better off and healthier. Like, they have more than half their teeth. It’s still poverty and exisiting at a bare existence. I get to play soccer with some of the kids and they love that. An 8 year old nutmegs me. I don’t love that. Because they have some familiarity with groups coming through this is the first time I get the sense of a dog and pony show but it’s clear they appreciate the support, especially of Eric, the extension agent who lives in one of the communities. There is a woman with an exquisite face. Not so much sexy as beautiful and her eyes are incredible. I fade that afternoon and night with a fever.

By now we only have 3 days left. We fly to a town called David, on the coast close to Costa Rica and then bus 45 mins to the mountain town of Boquette. Clearly, a more upscale resort area with some Americans and Europeans in the mix. We’re into the tourist phase and a few of us, me included, go shopping. Can’t resist two beautiful dresses for my granddaughter Sophia (probably for when she is 2 but so what). There are rumors that Pamela Anderson and Disney are both looking for land. Let’s hope neither is true. The area reminds me somewhat of New Mexico but with more greenery. The next day we tour a coffee plantation and take a hike to look for the seldom seen quetzal bird. The forest and mountain views are beautiful. We have a guide who imitates the bird call. I go on ahead and imitate the guide. People in the group think it is the bird so maybe it wasn’t too bad. I catch an entirely too brief glimpse of something that might have been a quetzal but others do get a good view. Oh well, the trip is not about that. The farm owner is engaged by one of our American organic farmers and they have a lively discussion on the merits and possibility of organically grown coffee. To his credit, the American is going to come back when he goes to Costa Rica in March. This coffee farm was voted best in the world two years ago so if we make a convert that would be something. We go back to Panama City, a farewell dinner and folklore show followed by a few hours of sleep prior to departure to the States.

Certainly the people, both from the farms and SHI have been the highlight of the trip for me.  The work SHI does, to uplift farmers, to make their lives and farms more sustainable is gratifying. So let’s summarize this trip and the sample of hope it represents.  The goal is to change hunger into plenty while turning eroded, desert type land into an oasis. By halting the destruction of the forests (the world’s lungs) and planting trees that will benefit the farmers, the environment is being restored. By hiring and working through local ag extension agents, providing them materials and training, SHI is able to reach hundreds of farming families in four countries but they would like to reach thousands.  

This is definitely a `grassroots’ effort, from the ground up, working through the people and the plants fostering change and progress. There is no doubt that if the environmental degradation of the Americas can be turned around, the planet has hope. According to their own agriculture department, almost 30% of Panama has been `deforested’ and `slash and burn’ is still the standard operating practice. In fact, I recently heard a radio report on American farmers moving to South America and developing farmland there. The potential for corporate style farming exists and it is a threat not only to the environment but would likely reduce the farmers to even more of a serf status.

There’s another factor at work here. A little goes a long way in Central America. SHI is working in four countries. It only takes $50 to help convert half an acre to sustainable farming practices, $300 to support a farming family changing their farm to SHI standards and $15,000 supports an extension agent for a year working with 40-70 families (including travel and materials). This is a great return on investment when one compares that to what we can do in the US. $15,000 might be enough to install solar or wind at one house. One. Protecting thousands of acres a year and establishing organic gardening gives us all hope. To see the enthusiasm and willingness of SHI members is compelling but I hope at the end of the day as they say, it is the earth that will find some relief in our work. Without a change in our approach to the environment and agriculture we face a greater change in the environment. There is little time left to make a difference. Once again, it’s up to us. www.sustainableharvest.org

Last week on the New Environmentalism we started a little travel journal on my trip to Panama with Sustainable Harvest. Recap: I took a trip. With an organization that practices what we preach. They hire people from the country to be sustainable ag extension agents. They help farmers and help save the earth’s lungs….Let’s pick it up. Today is an actual work day in the fields preparing soil and compost bags and planting seedlings. It’s our first day in the rural area. The eager Americanos and the pleased and eager farmers.

The bus goes ten miles on severely rutted dirt roads through lots of brushland and wooded country. The countryside is varied. I expected farms cleared out of virtual rainforests, what I found was different. Every once in a while a small square concrete structure with a tin roof that represents a house. The brush is cleared around the house and often one sees a semblance of fields and plants that have been cultivated….
Sometimes there are two to three houses in the same area and a school. That’s the extent of the villages. We arrive and walk along a path to the farm where we will be transplanting nursery seedlings (fruit trees). The first thing I notice is the hard ground. It’s very hard, doesn’t seem like farm land. The other thing is the wind. I realize we’re really on a plateau more than hills and valleys. Lots of scrub trees, bushes and thick grass land. The farm has three buildings, two families, probably related, live here. Several families that work with SHI in the area are here, polite introductions, welcoming little talks with someone translating and we get ready to work. There’s a wooden stand where the fruit tree seedlings have been growing, a pile of dirt, black plastic bangs with holes in them, little trowels and 18 of us gringos. We even have a show and tell and then we get to work transplanting the seedlings. This is long term work. It takes 3 years from when the 3 inch seedlings are put in the bags for them to become fruit trees and bear fruit. They will spend 6 months in the bags being watered daily by hand before being put in the ground. The dirt is decent, friable and the work starts.

I go with a couple of the farmers to get more dirt with a wheel barrow and a couple of shovels. The pile is under some trees and before long I realize the dirt under the trees is the dirt in the bags (what a genius I am) and then I understand why the usual practice is to cut the trees down and farm. That’s where the decent dirt is. The problem is they have a 5-6 month rainy season. The dirt washes away and you get the hard, compacted miserable stuff. The importance of compost and more available organic material is clear. Before lunch we have finished some 350 bags and before the end of the day well over 700. We take a tour of the farm and I spend time with the Panama director for SHI, Xemena, talking through the process of approaching the World Bank in Panama. As she said, I speak Spanish, French and English all in the same sentence but we manage ok. Franish someone dubs it.  It’s a good day, and we feel a sense of accomplishment and connection. The people are shy, kind, but relaxed, aware and involved. Some of their kids worked with us and families play a big role. The farm and family are their life.  As we leave we hear another family in the area wants to join the SHI program. We made a difference.

The next day is another farm where we were to build a portable chicken coop. It’s a wood and yes, chicken wire affair, call it a three part dog house. The idea is you set it down in one area for a few days, chickens tear up the ground, leave their manure, and then you mix in dirt and compost and within a short time you’re ready to plant. Pretty swift. We have brought tools and materials and begin work with the Panamainians. Once again, there are several families involved but this farm has been working with SHI for five years and it shows. Diversified crops, many more large, healthy chickens, even a flower garden. Again, the people are easy going, kind, interesting and pleased to have us there. There is no doubt a busload of Americans is a rare, if ever, event and our visit is sure to have an impact. The chicken at lunch is very tender and very likely selected the night before. I can’t help myself and ask some of the other chickens if they know where their mother is. One father came with his three children and at different times they are hanging on him. All the kids play well together and later in the day when one is having a fit, the father carries her like a social worker, comforting but detached, knowing it’s not a big deal and will pass. The people are captivating. Onto tomorrow. Still more to learn.

No surprise, we learned more today. I learned Panamanians have a sense of humor and I could find it. I learned I could selectively cut sugar cane and that it takes a whole lot of work to make a small amount of money. And that life is unfair. Today we went to another farm and met with another great group of people who were happy to see us. There is no avoiding the awkwardness of knowing we are the gringos who provide them the extension agent and materials that has helped them but they are grateful, dignified and tolerant of us. This group of families share a micro enterprise. They each have their own cane field but share in the production of a candy made from the juice. Today was the first day of real work for us. Cutting sugar cane is a bitch. You have to clear an area around the cane bush. The best way to do that is with a machete and a curved stick. Remember not to put the stick on the ground, you’ll lose it; I did. You have to pick out the darker purple stalks of the cane and make an angled cut at the bottom, take out the cane, and throw it behind you on a small stack. Once you get a few canes out, you trim the leaves off, make a similar angle cut at the other end and it’s ready to be pressed. The press, (see photo) operates with the horse. The horse goes round and round and the canes get put through 3-4 at a time. The angled cut is so they fit into the press more easily. The canes have to go through 3 times so there’s a person on each side of the press. One of the farmers watches over us to make sure we do it right. I kid with him in my `Franish’ about the press being for other items and the amount of work he is not doing today. He’s the quiet kind, most of them are, but he laughs and smiles; he gets the jokes.

After there’s about 15 gallons of cane juice collected, a fire is started under a big pot and the juice is simmered, skimmed and reduced until is the consistency of syrup. It is then poured into wooden molds and in 5 minutes has hardened into a soft, crystallized form and is ready to eat. It tastes like light molasses and is very good. It takes all day to make $20 retail worth of candy. They give us most of it before we leave. Turns out they have to rent the pot for $10/day. We are aghast and at night take up a $200 collection to buy them their own pot. Our work may be a little haphazard but that pot will make a difference. We’re still the rich Americans but we do give a damn.  We’re also the entertainment. Flo informs us that watching Americans in Panama is called `gringo TV’ even by those who have no TV. I’ve caught whatever bug is going around and am pretty miserable at night. Oh well, that’s life. Still interested: check out www.sustainableharvest.org

I just started a new job with Sustainable Harvest, got lucky and went on an 11 day trip to Panama. Following is the first of a three part travel journal. If you like, let me know and I’ll post the other two. It’s not so much political as trying to convey the sense of the place and what we could be doing as a ‘world power’. By the way, 11 days with little news of BushCo is both a relief and unsettling at the same time…grab your travel bags…

My fourth night in Panama and certainly the most miserable. It’s our first night in the countryside, well a town in a rural area, it’s 5:30 and I’m awake. I’ve been awake far more than anything that could count for a good night’s sleep. The hotel is clean but it is concrete and tile (which is an excellent conductor of sound) and my room faces the road. If it were just the large trucks that pass every few minutes, I could probably do ok. If it were just the few kids running around being kids before 11pm, I could get by. It’s the car, more specifically, the car below my second floor window. It’s parked, it’s not moving, and nobody’s in it. More’s the pity. Because when the vibrations from a passing truck (did I mention we are close to the road?) hit the car, the car alarm goes off. It plays five different alarms at high volume and is designed to discourage any would be thieves and alert its owner. Unfortunately for me, it attracts neither thieves nor owner.
I should attempt to describe Panama. It will help if you have been anywhere outside the USA, like say Mexico or Puerto Rico, or any Latin speaking country. Panama strikes me as what Mexico was 10-20 years ago. More advanced economically than most Central American countries. The tropical setting, the concrete, whitewash paint, fair amount of humidity, feeling close to a tropical forest almost everywhere and the classes. Classes of people. The very rich, the  rich, the poor and the almost poor. There does seem to be an emerging almost middle class but the countryside is still deep in poverty. Poverty, or the lack of it, seems to be on everyone’s mind. The struggle to get by is everywhere and the separation of the classes is distinct. No one, not Americans, not anyone, sees the very rich and powerful. They live in a different world, a protected world and they don’t want to be seen.

The people one meets, the taxi drivers, people working in restaurants, shops, museums, street merchants are all polite but I sense they don’t want prolonged contact with the Americans. I’ve found that even if speak French, they tend to think I’m an American. Panama’s history is dominated by two occupiers; the Spanish and the Americans. Both were occupiers and both were brutal. Panamanians are proud to have ownership of the Canal Zone and certainly the Canal defines the largest metro area, Panama City. The City is a City, looks more like Hong Kong complete with the skyline of skyscrapers and the intensity of any city.

I’m going to tangent from a straight narrative and provide moments or snippets from the trip so far:

-A boy kicks a soccer ball inside a fenced tennis court next to the hotel. Soccer is king.

-The darker the skin the stronger the discrimination. Light skin is good, dark skin is bad. It’s obvious.

-Many of the women are beautiful. Very beautiful, some even amazingly beautiful. There is a gracefulness to many. Movement comes easy. Panamanians are easy going and decent to gringos. We could learn.

-Our guide on the rain forest tour is attractive, bright, eager to please and answers many questions. We praise and applaud her, take her picture with us and manage to make her feel special. She tells us at the end we are the first group she’s taken solo and she was very nervous the night before, studying, trying to know more. She almost cried with the compliments we piled on. We are eager to please as well.

We visit the Canal. Everyone does it seems. It’s amazingly boring. It’s like watching grass grow or in this watching water fill a really big bathtub. We are taken to the Canal Administration building, formerly the symbol of American occupation. From the building, perched on a hill, you can see the field next to the formerly American high school where college students from the city raised the flag of Panama, I think in ’86. Later that night we see a few fireworks going off in the town of Anton where we are now. When we ask, we are told it is the Night of the Martyrs. Apparently, when the students raised the flag, they were shot by the Americans and several died. Our very nice, genial, polite guide failed to mention that piece of information.

The Canal Zone is 8 miles wide and 50 miles wide. When the Americans were here the only Panamanians allowed in had passes to work there. The Americans paid the French for the Canal Zone. It divides the country in half in more ways than I can imagine. It is a source of pride for many but it has quite a history. http://panama-information.executivehotel-panama.com/in-panama-history.html

I’m listening to Solomon Burke’s `None of us are Free’…None of us are Free if one of us is chained….how true and the chains are many, seen and unseen, seen and unseen. May I go beyond mine, may those that need breaking be broken. May I understand more than ever.  

Yesterday I diaried a hopeful What If. Today we’ll whip out the post New Year’s party dusty computer screen and go for the What’s Next. Even in the midst of the widespread media manipulation and collusion more Americans are disenchanted with the most corrupt and sorry ass Presidency ever. That drumbeat is getting more persistent (and Rove’s efforts to cover it up have failed thus far). America will find its voice, but it is up to people like us. Like-minded people are flocking together for reinforcement and gathering their forces. Don’t get me wrong, there’s work to do but hope is alive and change is afoot. Below the fold are four reasons why (and what you can do to fan the embers):

1. Iraqi veterans running for Congress. This group will become the defacto voice of the troops and they are overwhelming Democratic voices. They cannot be ignored and they are running seemingly everywhere. If there is one in your district, Volunteer, now when early help counts. If there isn’t one in your district, find one that needs $ help and give. Someone here could start a candidate’s roll call, show us the way to the good ones and bring back the bats.
2. Local action will make the difference. Take the Dean model seriously. People getting involved locally make an incredible difference. By getting involved in the local Dem party we utilize an exisitng vehicle to victory in 2006. Have a vibrant local party: volunteer. Have a dormant, boring local party? volunteer and take it over. And yes, make it the Dem party. There’s no need to pick up a shovel and start on the pile of a shit when a steam shovel is right there waiting to be inspired.
3. The implosion of BushCo. Oh they are still riding high and pulling those media strings, they still hold the upper hand but if I were playing Texas Hold ‘Em with Karl, I’d go all in. They’re in deep doo-doo and the outlook does not look good. Indictments, investigations and Jackie A singing his final aria are but the continuation of the drumbeat of failure. What can we do besides chortle with glee? Write a LOE.
4. The Democratic Party is finding its Voice. Actually, it is finding its Voice of many Voices. Media pundits fault it for not being like the Republicans with its daily talking points pointy headed Coulter, Limbaugh Fox headed paid shills. With Dems, there’s actually discussion, disagreement, and eventually direction in the Dem party. It’s called democracy, it’s healthy, and it works.

What’s Next? A re-vitalized Democratic party that takes Congress with a genuine reform minded freshman class who will bring credibility and accountability to the Hill. Oh, and just in case you’ve forgotten, Rep. John Conyers is in line to Chair the Judiciary Committee. We’re talking real investigations and spies will come in from the Cold. 2006 looks very good to me thank you but it depends on me, on you, and many others. There’s a grass roots movement flaming, keep looking ahead and it will be a Year to Remember. 2006 will be the year America reclaims itself. Your thoughts?

Last night I was watching some of the pontificating talking heads on the tube like Charlie Cook saying (paraphrase) “Oh no, the Republicans won’t lose the House, that would take something like the sweep in ’94 and I don’t see that.” Then later he said, “Aren’t there something like a dozen Iraqi war veterans running?”….and it got me thinking…

What if….half of the 30 or so Iraqi veterans already running(almost all Dems) WON?

What if more returning patriotic blue soldiers run for Congress. It’s still early, what if 50 run and half of them win?

What if the end of the year TV litany of Republican corruption, cronyism, Bush’s ‘woes’ becomes the drumbeat of 2006 and Americans rediscover America and Vote?

What if Rove, Hadley, Rumsfeld, Rice and Cheney all have to resign or are indicted?

What if reporters grow increasingly bolder and publishers, seeing which way the tide is turning, pile on and the perfect storm builds?

What if they start replaying Howard Dean’s speeches from 2003 & 2004 and say, ‘Hey, this guy was really right from the start, maybe we gave him a bum rap.’
What if the public just wanted the truth and threw away their soma?

What if we weren’t singing to the choir but more of our neighbors, co-workers, and family started to ‘get it’?

What if even one of the former CIA tell-all books take off and they’re all over the TV and the media treats them like truth telling experts and the Impeachment drumbeat grows?

What if the Republicans stubbornly refuse to believe their neo-con dream has vanished and simply will not hold hearings?

What if Bush goes on a rant in public, a barely controlled rageful, stammering, head jerking series of not quite suppressed non sequiters?

What if more of the blogging community got involved in their local Dem party and build a flourishing, vibrant local party base that blows the roof off grass roots campaigns and takes towns and cities by storm?

What if electronic voting had to have a paper trail or better yet, enough citizens volunteered to participate in elections and the worst we had to deal with were optical scanners? What if Diebold went broke over the weight of state and local suits?

Yes, what if the perfect storm continues to build and the newbies elected to Congress represent the will of the people and begin an entirely new era where Bush is an after thought and truth, justice and freedom ring again.

Yes, what if the possibility of democracy springs forward and we not only clean house but the world notices and calls it ‘the blue revolution that is sweeping America’. What if the British press says, ‘Clearly America has returned to its roots and re-captured some of the glory of liberty and leadership it once enjoyed.’

What if, we got the hell out of Iraq and moderate Muslim leaders emerged, time heals, and we treat people like the civilized beings most of them are?

What if we launch real aid programs with a worldwide group of allies and in a few years the bin ladens of the world find their support has dried up?

What if we really get it that hell is pounding on the door and we reduce energy usage, air emissions, and stave off the worst of global climate change.

Yes, what if it’s a new year dawning and I’m allowed as many good thoughts as I want. That’s a few of mine…how ’bout you?