Montgomery County Ohio Democratic Party Blog

Keeping Lobbyists at bay

2008-11-11T20:03:00.001-05:00

Change we need, reported by the BBC:

At a briefing in Washington, Mr Podesta told reporters: "President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to change the way Washington works and curb the influence of lobbyists."

Under the new measures, Mr Obama will not allow lobbyists who petition the federal government to do any such work while working with the transition, said Mr Podesta.

The guidelines will also prevent anyone who has acted as a lobbyist over the last 12 months from working on any policy area in the transition in which they had been active.

He added that anyone who works on the transition and then becomes a lobbyist will be barred from approaching the administration for 12 months in the area in which they worked.

To the person who defaced signs...

2008-11-03T18:53:00.001-05:00

That is, who defaced McCain and Palin signs around Oakwood.

I probably agree with you politically. I (obviously) don't support McCain or Palin. I think they're horrible choices for a lot of reasons. I don't "like her" either.

But defacing their supporter's signs?

Nope. That is a no-go at this station. That's not what we're standing for. Please own up and apologize - in writing if you'd rather not do it in person - to the folks whose signs you defaced.

It isn't cool when it happens to us - it's even worse when it is one of us.

Whassup.

2008-10-26T07:21:00.001-04:00

Truthifying Robocalls

2008-10-25T08:41:00.001-04:00

I've already gotten a robocall or three, so it's well worth noting that there's an official site debunking the craptastic tactics being deployed by the McCain Campaign.

Under the Radar

The McCain Campaign and its allies have begun an unprecedented nationwide negative campaign that uses robocalls, direct mail, and other techniques to quietly poison voters' information with lies and fear tactics. This map is an effort to track some of the most toxic attacks — all of which are approved by the McCain campaign or its Republican partners.

Will the GOP denounce extremists?

2008-10-10T06:55:00.001-04:00

[crossposted from my personal blog.]

Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin:

What's good for the goose is good for the gander. We can agree on this, right?

I understand that your campaign and its proxies have made a big deal of a few of Sen. Obama's associates. The concept of being held accountable for every word of a pastor or the prior actions of a neighbor bother me. I know that pastors of mine have said things I disagreed strongly with; I have no idea what some of my neighbors did ten years ago, let alone twenty.

This is all beside the point.

In case you forgot, Sen. Obama has denounced both the incendiary words of Rev. Wright and the acts of Will Ayers.

Yet your supporters are becoming extremely angry, seemingly racist and violent before and during your rallies. These are not just second hand reports, but video caught by citizen journalists in several places throughout the country. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin, these people take your words in your interviews and speeches as approval.

I hope that you find these acts as detestable as Sen. Obama found the words of Rev. Wright and the acts of Will Ayers.

Surely, then, you can avoid inflammatory words and acknowledge denouncements in your stump speeches, and make open denouncements of racism, extremists and violence.

Right?

I will be waiting for the change in your behavior.

You will denounce them? Won't you?

It would be only fair.

A call to the GOP

2008-10-09T21:36:00.001-04:00

I spend a lot of time telling conservative friends and acquaintances that we liberals should be policing our own wacky elements. They point out that the truly loony left needs to be kept in check, and I agree.

The Democratic candidate *IS* doing that.

Conservatives, it's your turn.

This story provides the main background...

and then watch this video.

The fact that an American - in the 21st century - would use "He's got the bloodlines" (at 1:09) as a justification for anything...

And that it would happen here, in Ohio, is even sadder.

Accountability

2008-09-26T11:02:00.002-04:00

From the DDN: Foreclosure on its own isn't enough to challenge right to vote

News reports in other states have said that Republicans would be using foreclosure lists to challenge voters' right to vote in the Nov. 4 election because their registered addresses may not be up to date. Brunner issued an advisory to election administrators this week, telling them that a foreclosure action on its own isn't sufficient to challenge a voter's right to vote. They'll have to consider other information, such as whether the voter still lives at the house being foreclosed.

Of course, we've seen voter challenges used in 2000 and 2004 to try to disenfranchise voters. So when the Ohio GOP was asked....

The New York Times published a story Thursday, Sept. 25, in which Ohio Republican Chairman Bob Bennett, when asked whether his party would use foreclosure lists, declined to publicly discuss campaign strategy. That prompted blistering criticism from Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern who said, "Ohio Republican Party leaders are apparently harboring plans to benefit from the foreclosure crisis by disenfranchising vulnerable voters who are losing their homes or struggling to keep them." Bennett responded: "No such plan exists. It's a complete fabrication by desperate Democrats trying to use anger as a motivational tactic. Let me be very clear on this. We absolutely condemn any effort to challenge the eligibility of voters based on home foreclosure."

Doesn't that give you the sense that it might have been a plan - until called on it? I can't know for certain, but why else would the Ohio GOP refuse to discuss the topic plainly until called on it? This is the kind of vigilance needed at all times, by all people. Make each other - and your politicians - commit publicly to doing the right thing. And then remember that in November.

Tony Hall to Endorse Obama

2008-09-23T21:07:00.001-04:00

Tony Hall to endorse Obama in ad on Christian radio stations

While a Democrat endorsing another Democrat is not unusual, Hall's action is part of a broader effort by Democrats this year to draw support from religious voters who have been crucial to Republicans' success. "The Republicans would have us all believe that if you're not a Republican, you can't know God," Hall, who made fighting hunger in the U.S. and globally the focus of his congressional career, said in a telephone interview on Saturday, Sept. 20.

Compare the candidates on the economic crisis

2008-09-20T08:20:00.000-04:00

This keeps happening - when you put the two candidates side by side, one of them is working to make America better - and one is working only to beat the other candidate.

Dayton Regional Barack Obama Meet & Greet

2008-06-25T20:39:00.001-04:00

Come meet the newly arrived Obama staff, organizing fellows, and other area Obama supporters and find out how you can be a part of our movement for change here in Dayton. Tuesday, July 1 at 7:00 PM Duration: 1 hour Location: Montgomery County Democratic Party Headquarters (Dayton, OH) 131 S. Wilkinson St. Dayton, OH 45402 Register for the Event!

The feeling of change.

2008-06-05T22:10:00.004-04:00

I have never gotten a chill from a political e-mail before. Politicians, yes. Speeches, yes. A fundraising e-mail? Never. Until tonight.

As we move toward the general election, the Democratic Party has to be the Party of ordinary Americans, not Washington lobbyists and special interests. We've unilaterally agreed to shut lobbyists out of the process, and are we're relying on people just like you.

This is simply astounding. This is simply amazing. This is inspiring. Show your support.

Changes are a comin'...

2006-11-04T06:57:00.000-05:00

If the U.S. government (a.k.a Bush Administration) gets its way, beginning on Jan. 14, 2007, we'll all be on no-fly lists, unless the government gives us permission to leave-or re-enter-the United States.

Read more <a href="http://liberalcandy.blogspot.com/2006/11/us-citizens-to-be-required-clearance-to.html">here.</A>

2006-11-01T16:02:00.000-05:00

By now, you've probably heard Kerry's statement: "You know, education, if you make the most of it, and you study hard and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq." What's wrong with this statement? Kerry was too nice. Our political culture hates pointing fingers and naming names. This whole (very intentional) misunderstanding by other veterans and conservatives would have been moot if Democrats would say the truth: "If George Bush had done his home work and made an effort to be smart, we could have done well. Since he didn't, we got stuck in Iraq."

What constitution?

2006-10-29T21:57:00.001-05:00

An anonymous reader writes to point us to an article on the meaning of a new law that President Bush signed on Oct. 17. It seems to allow the President to impose martial law on any state or territory , using federal troops and/or the state's own, or other states', National Guard troops.

There comes a time when enough is enough.

How America Changed Yesterday

2006-10-18T08:42:00.000-04:00

The provisions of Bush's new torture law mean that Americans have lost the key, constitutional right on which Anglo-American criminal law (and criminal-law procedures in true democracies in general) is founded; that's the basic right of an individual to know why he or she is being apprehended and detained. Now, technically, as in Stalin's Soviet Union, Hitler's Germany, Mao's China or Pol Pot's Cambodia, anyone labeled an "enemy combatant" - again, by whom; by Bush? - can be whisked away and never heard from again. That kind of authority, in the hands of corrupt or untruthful politicians, may or may not be an effective tool in some kind of "war on terror," but it certainly can be a useful tool when it comes to silencing their opponents.

The White Rose

2006-09-30T18:52:00.000-04:00

And so it begins. Yesterday, the House essentially passed a bill eliminating habeas corpus. As William Pitt put it Underneath all this is the definition of "enemy combatant" that has been established by this legislation. An "enemy combatant" is now no longer just someone captured "during an armed conflict" against our forces. Thanks to this legislation, George W. Bush is now able to designate as an "enemy combatant" anyone who has "purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States." Consider that language a moment. "Purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States" is in the eye of the beholder, and this administration has proven itself to be astonishingly impatient with criticism of any kind. The broad powers given to Bush by this legislation allow him to capture, indefinitely detain, and refuse a hearing to any American citizen who speaks out against Iraq or any other part of the so-called "War on Terror." Still sound unlikely? Far-fetched? Dare I say - shrill? Not at all. As the Cleveland Plain-Dealer reports: President Bush asserted Friday that critics who claim the Iraq war has made America less safe embrace "the enemy's propaganda." Whether meant that way or not, I'm afraid that 9/11 has become our Reichstag fire. Must the rest truly follow? What will you do when the gays, the browns, the blacks, the Catholics, the evangelicals, the Jews, the poor, the disabled start disappearing?

Surprise!: Bush reasons for Iraq War Not True

2006-09-09T08:22:00.000-04:00

Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein rejected pleas for assistance from Osama bin Laden and tried to capture terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi when he was in Iraq, according to a Senate Intelligence Committee report released Friday, casting further doubt on the Bush administration's rationale for invading the country. Read more of Study: Saddam rejected al Qaeda

2006-08-21T08:48:00.000-04:00

The first reaction, of course, of Hezbollah and its supporters is, declare victory. I guess I would have done the same thing if I were them. -G.W. Bush

Military Tribunals All Around

2006-08-08T07:43:00.000-04:00

The White House is seeking legislation that would allow people not affiliated with terrorism to be prosecuted in military commissions -- with far fewer rights than afforded civilians. WASHINGTON - A draft Bush administration plan for special military courts seeks to expand the reach and authority of such ''commissions'' to include trials, for the first time, of people who are not al Qaeda members or the Taliban and are not directly involved in acts of international terrorism, according to officials familiar with the proposal plan. The plan, which would replace a military trial system ruled illegal by the Supreme Court in June, also allows the secretary of defense to add crimes at will to those under the military court's jurisdiction. The two provisions would be likely to put more individuals than previously expected before military juries, officials and independent experts said. The draft proposed legislation, set to be discussed at two Senate hearings today, is controversial inside and outside the administration because defendants would be denied many protections guaranteed by the civilian and traditional military criminal justice systems. Under the proposed procedures, defendants would lack rights to confront accusers, exclude hearsay accusations, or bar evidence obtained through rough or coercive interrogations. They would not be guaranteed a public or speedy trial and would lack the right to choose their military counsel, who in turn would not be guaranteed equal access to evidence held by prosecutors. Detainees also would not be guaranteed the right to be present at their own trials, if their absence is deemed necessary to protect national security or individuals. An early draft of the new law prepared by civilian political appointees and leaked to the media last week has been modified in response to criticism from uniformed military lawyers. But the provisions allowing a future expansion of the courts to cover new crimes and more prisoners were retained, according to government officials who are familiar with the deliberations.

Racists in the military

2006-07-07T16:44:00.001-04:00

"Under pressure to meet wartime manpower goals, the U.S. military has relaxed standards designed to weed out racist extremists. Large numbers of potentially violent neo-Nazis, skinheads and other white supremacists are now learning the art of warfare in the armed forces." The irony, of course, is that when I was active duty Army, we were repeatedly warned of extremists trying to get in the military to get training. We were trained in recognizing gang symbols and tattoos to help keep them out. A lot has changed in four years. I wonder why.

Racists in the military

2006-07-07T16:44:00.000-04:00

It's been thier plan all along.

2006-07-03T17:24:00.000-04:00

This should come as no surprise to anybody: The U.S. National Security Agency asked AT&T Inc. to help it set up a domestic call monitoring site seven months before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, lawyers claimed June 23 in court papers filed in New York federal court. The NSA shouldn't be randomly spying on Americans. Bush lied about when the program started - and the nature of the program. It's funny, really. When Bush & co. were saying "If you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about"... they were hiding the bad stuff they were doing.

FBI Confirms the Use of Phone Records to Reveal Reporters' Anonymous Sources

2006-05-15T22:25:00.000-04:00

According to ABC news correspondent Brian Ross, the FBI has confirmed that it uses the phone records of journalists' calls to backtrack to their anonymous sources.

A New Rebel Alliance

2006-05-11T14:44:00.000-04:00

You should read this essay: "I'm currently a life member of the John Birch Society and formerly served on the staff of the organization for 13 years. So why should any left-winger reading this care a fig about what I have to say? Because of a conversation I had with another conservative magazine writer recently. In frustration at the unconstitutional excesses of the Bush administration, I blurted out to him: "The only people doing any good out there are the people at Air America." I expected to shock him with the statement, but his two-word reply shocked me: "And MoveOn.org."

A New Low

2006-04-24T18:31:00.000-04:00

President Bush's approval rating has reached a new low. Of those polled by CNN, 60% disaprove of the way the President is performing his job, while 32% approve, and 8% have no opinion.