For DeLay, All A Matter of Timing

It almost seemed like part of a pre-holiday news dump, didn't it?  I mean, who didn't think that Tom DeLay was at best a sleazy pay-for-play kind of politician?  But when the news came down that he's been convicted on two felony counts and now faced the possibility of life in prison, well, for some of us, this seemed like Christmas in November.

And while I certainly don't have any sympathy for DeLay (and in fact would characterize my most generous emotion towards him as outright contempt), I do have to wonder if DeLay is in fact a victim of some terrible timing.

That's because the underlying conduct that got him convicted--funneling corporate money to candidates--is pretty much a-okay these days thanks to the Citizens United decision.  And that raises a whole host of interesting (and depressing) questions about the scope and impact of that decision, let alone the challenge our democracy now faces.

Because thanks to the Roberts Court, the very conduct that gave DeLay the opportunity to trade his dancing shoes for an orange jumpsuit is now not only acceptable it is enshrined as a constitutional right.  So when DeLay and his lawyers railed against the verdict as political payback I have to admit in some ways I agreed with him.  After all, by today's standards he was merely facilitating corporate political speech rights. 

That also raises the question of just whether or not the conviction will stick.  If I was DeLay's attorney you'd better believe I'd appeal this conviction, and continue to in hopes of getting it before a sympathetic Roberts Court where the case can be made that DeLay was not a felon but a man ahead of the times, a politician on the cutting edge of constitutional jurisprudence.

And that right there should be proof enough of just how damaging, just how disastrous, Citizens United really is.

 

MOMochat Goes Live!

Listen to internet radio with Momocrats on Blog Talk RadioClick the button above to hear the latest MOMochat, featuring Cynematic, Julie, and Meghan. Our special guest today is Linda from Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis, talking about Sarah Palin's new reality show from an Alaskan's point of view.

Subscribe now to our weekly podcast in iTunes, so you don't miss any of the MOMochatter!

14-year old Graeme Taylor Stands Up for Rights, and What's Right

In another 20 years, gay rights will not be the issue it is today. It will not be the issue it is today because kids like Graeme Taylor understand that gay kids are no different from straight kids and the homophobia in schools is not only unacceptable, it's deadly.

Taylor also understands the difference between encouraging hate and encouraging understanding. In his amazing speech above, he takes the Howell, Michigan school board to task for disciplining a teacher on the day students wore purple to school for supporting gay students against bullies.

The school board's side of things.:

In reprimanding Michigan high school teacher Jay McDowell for telling a student his anti-gay comments were unacceptable and having him leave the class, administrators said his actions "could be construed as teacher-to-student bullying; ironic of the anti-bullying message of the day. Your demonstration of intolerance stands in contradistinction of the anti-bullying message of the day."

What the nine-year Howell High School teacher McDowell did was confront student Dan Glowacki's belief that wearing a Confederate flag belt buckle — to many, a sign of racist support — was the equivalent of people wearing purple in support of LGBT youth. For that, McDowell was suspended for a day without pay; he's appealing.

But McDowell, who's filing a grievance contesting the district's decision, says the school district's report, which blames the incident squarely on the teacher, is a "complete fabrication" of what transpired. "You disciplined them in anger under the guise of harassment and bullying because you opposed their religious belief and were offended by it," the reprimand letter continues. "The students were causing no disruption to the educational process" — a clear nod to students' First Amendment protections, which are limited in schools only by disruption of normal school activity. Part of McDowell's punishment calls for him to attend First Amendment protection training.

To which Graeme Taylor, son of a teacher and Ann Arbor high school student, calls BS:

Rebooting MOMocrats Radio: Here's MOMochat

The MOMocrats have been busy at work putting together a new project... or rather, relaunching one that was put to rest following the 2008 election: our MOMocrats Radio Show.

MOMocrats Radio 2.0 is more of a reboot than a recreation. It's lighter... chattier... but (we hope!) just as illuminating as our first series. Plus, this one will run in a regular weekday time slot: Every Wednesday morning at 9:00 A.M. Pacific Time (12:00 for those of you on the East Coast). We're hoping this is a time that makes sense for busy parents, like us.

Because we weren't sure how it was going to go, we did not publicize this morning's pilot episode -- and there were plenty of glitches (mostly "technical difficulties" and inarticulate moments on my part!) However, our MOMocrat panel of Cynematic, Meghan Schuster Harvey and Melissa Schober rocked, as did our special surprise guest, Gina Cooper (founder of Netroots Nation).

We talked about everything from the impending chocolate shortage (and the environmental and fair trade issues associated with it) to new/old California Governor Jerry Brown and health care in Texas, should Governor Rick Perry make good on his threat to cease offering Medicaid to the citizens of his state.

So - vanity aside - we've decided to go ahead and make the pilot available to our audience, via the widget below. You can also subscribe to MOMochat as a podcast on iTunes (click on the icon on the player below).

Listen to internet radio with MOMocrats on Blog Talk Radio

Stay tuned for an announcement about next week's MOMochat show.

Obama! A Modern US President

Thanks to PunditMom for sharing this one with us!

Sarah Palin's Alaska: TLC Hands Her One Big Giant Political Ad

MOMocrats welcomes guest poster Yvonne Condes. Cross-posted from her personal site, Yvonne in LA.

I can’t believe that Discovery Communications is actually going to air “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” on TLC Sunday, Nov. 14. But more striking is how the Democrats haven’t made a bigger deal out of it.

The show, which is supposed to be a travelogue of Alaska, appears to be one giant political ad that will show the former vice-presidential candidate ice climbing and facing a bear. The title of one of the show’s videos on TLC.com is “Rock climber or rock star.” Some of the quotes from the TLC preview video include “Family comes first. It’s just gotta be that way” and “I’d rather be out here bein’ free.” If these aren’t future political slogans, I don’t know what is.

Palin claims she’s not running for president, but she quit her job as governor before her term was up. She campaigned for several right-wing and tea-party candidates during the midterm elections and some of them were elected.

The Democrats should be flaming mad that Palin has a show that presents an idealized view of her looking tough and commanding on a popular cable channel. When I saw a clip of the show at the Discovery upfronts in April I was reminded of a lesson from one of my journalism classes. The lesson was about what how images impact people’s opinion.

An example was a mostly negative 60 Minutes episode about Ronald Reagan back in 1984. Even though the show was critical of Reagan his approval ratings went up. It is thought that was because many of the images shown in the piece had Reagan standing in front of an American flag or looking commanding. That piece aired once, maybe twice, for about 5 minutes. Imagine what Sarah Palin’s Alaska will do for her opinion polls after the 8 week, hour-long show airs documenting her running around on great American adventures?

In addition to my concern about what this will do to her possible presidential run, to quote my kids “it’s not fair.” What if Palin does run for president in 2012? Will Discovery give her opponent an 8 week show? What if it’s Hillary Clinton? I suspect that the Republican Party would set up boycotts, burn televisions, and call for the resignations of all Discovery executives if Hillary Clinton got a show that pictured her hunting black bear in New York State.

It seems to me, that the only fair thing would be a promise of equal time to whomever her future opponent may be – even Barack Obama. Or maybe drop the show altogether and find another Alaska native to profile. How about Jewel? Or anyone who hasn’t recently run for vice president of the United States!

Don’t get me wrong. I love the idea of the show sans Sarah Palin and I love Alaska. I spent one of the best summers of my life in Denali National Park. To see Palin try to climb a section of Denali, the highest peak in North America made me a little inspired to go back to Alaska. But as for the show itself glorifying Sarah Palin, it made me physically ill.

Yvonne Condes is YvonneinLA, a former journalist and current freelance blogger. She also blogs at www.yvonnesgfgoodies.com and http://yvonneinla.blogspot.com/.

Bill Maher takes on Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert and challenges them to take a stand. (And he's right.)

Did you all see Real Time this past weekend? Bill Maher delivers one of his best commentaries ever and the Rally to Restore Sanity is in his sights.

Did the rally leave you cold? It did me. The thing about it that bothered me was the constant driving home of the point that both sides—liberal and conservative—share the "insanity" blame. I strongly disagree, and Maher's best line from his commentary cuts directly to the heart of the matter:

"Martin Luther King spoke on that Mall in the capital and he didn't say, 'Remember folks, those southern sheriffs with the fire hoses and the German shepherds, they have a point too.' No, he said I have a dream, they have ...a nightmare...Liberals, like the ones on that field, must stand up and be counted and not pretend that we're as mean, or greedy, or short-sighted or just plain bat-shit as they are. And if that's too polarizing for you, and you still wanna reach across the aisle ... try church"

 

Watch now:

-Stefania Pomponi Butler

Time for us to step up and get Nancy Pelosi's back

Were it not for Nancy Pelosi, we would not have the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act right now. She just about broke her back carrying it over the finish line. 

As Democrats struggle to reposition themselves effectively for the 112th Congress, the remaining BlueDogs are jockeying for the heart, soul, and voice of the Democratic Party. Heath Shuler, a freshman BlueDog from North Carolina has already said he will challenge her if she runs for minority leader. I've got news for Rep. Shuler: She IS running, and she IS going to be our Minority Leader in the 112th Congress. 

Now is not the time for Democrats to splinter into factions. Lest you think otherwise, the extreme right wing of the Republican party believes they have a mandate to undo every bit of progress we've fought so hard for over the past six years, and they're already taking aim at the Senate in 2012, not to mention the Presidency. It's time to get Speaker Pelosi's back, and support her bid to speak for Democrats in the next Congress. 

Please send Nancy Pelosi a note of appreciation, and let her know you support her.

John Boehner & Compromise Go Together Like Bologna & Peanut Butter

It's November 3, 2010 or to borrow a gimmick from Keith Olbermann, it's the first day since our nation declared it was changing the change. Or should I say embracing the patented obstructionism of John Boehner's Republican party?

The wave of Republican candidates that swept into office last night was not a surprise based on the political drama of the last year. I knew there would be more red than blue on the cable news maps of America on election night. And I expected John Boehner to end up as Speaker of the House.

What I didn't expect was his ability to ratchet up the level of disingenuousness quite so much. When it became clear from the midterm results that the Democrats had squandered their 2008 moment of opportunity, Boehner took the stage. He said that he talked with President Obama about how "he [the President] will work with us."

Becoming a Real MOMocrat: 2010 Election Night

My husband and I have taken our sons to vote every year since they were born.  It's important to both of us that our boys know and understand that voting isn't just a privilege, but a responsibility of citizenship.  We want them to pay attention to politics and what is happening in their country and seeing us vote was a good way to start out.

Of course, Hollis and Holden are incredibly lucky little boys. There have been no shortage of politicians in their short lives. Hollis still talks about seeing Barack Obama and the time he met Vice President Biden.  With our close proximity to DC, they've visited the White House several times and love to visit the "Capitol City," singing "I'm Just a Bill" from School House Rock all the way.  With the parents they have, it will also be difficult for them to miss the political screaming matches vigorous political disucssions that take place in our home.

But I think we took it to the next level today.

A good friend and I took our 6 year olds to a local watering hole for dinner with the intention of watching the election returns.  They very nicely turned one of the 50 or so TV's to MSNBC for us and we settled in to watch.  Unfortunately, we were getting frustrated with the lack of local coverage of Virginia's 2nd Congressional District race.  We both campaigned for Congressman Glenn Nye and I even appeared in a commercial for him.  We asked the eatery to change another tv to a local station and they said no.  "No more politics."  (Buffalo Wild Wings in Chesapeake, Virginia, I'm talking to you!)

I was pretty floored that a restaurant full of TV's would refuse to have more than one on election coverage on election night.  But maybe that explains so much of what is wrong with our country these days.  Too many people are more interested in catching the ocassional sound bites that actually delving into the issues and analysis for themselves. I guess it's OK to rant about the state of our country, but why bother actually watching to see what happens after the rants?

Anyway, we decided to head out to the Glenn Nye campaign party in Virginia Beach. We figured we were bound to hear more about the returns at HQ and we were right.

So, wearing t-shirts, sweats and jeans, we headed to the election night party with our 6 year old boys. On a school night. We got some strange looks; the "Moms" were in the house.  But the boys had a great time, we talked about the political process and how important it is to be engaged. I'd like to think they also learned a bit about how to be a gracious loser and the wonderfully civil transfer of power that we have in our country and so take for granted.

Despite the unhappy ending to the night for Glenn Nye and so many other Democratic candidates, I'm glad Hollis got to experience election night. In fact, we think we're going to make this a yearly tradition for the boys. Win or lose, sometimes the best thing you can do is stay engaged. It's my job as a mother and a MOMocrat to make sure my children understand that too.

Hollis enjoys his first election night party.