Political Quote of the Day

Sometimes I wonder if we wouldn’t be better off picking legislatures like we pick juries. Here in Texas we could pick 181 people at random, put them through an orientation that taught them that everything any lobbyist ever said was a lie, and set them to fixing our problems. They couldn’t do any worse.

~ Glenn W. Smith from Firedoglake

Another Fine Post from: No 2 Religion - Just Say No!

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"One Nation Working Together" Rally on the National Mall

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Progressive and civil rights groups marched by the thousands Saturday on the Lincoln Memorial and pledged to support Democrats. 


More than 400 organizations including labor unions, environmental groups and gay rights groups partnered for the event.

Among the speakers were: Ed Schultz, host of "The Ed Show" on MSNBC, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, and NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous among others


Ed Schultz said, "It is about the people standing up to the corporations".

"They don't need hateful rhetoric. They need real solutions," said Van Jones former White House energy advisor.

Another Fine Post from: No 2 Religion - Just Say No!

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• Labor, civil rights groups rally on Mall (msnbc.msn.com)
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• DC rally shows support for struggling Democrats (sfgate.com)

Random Thought 0003

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If a candidate is not willing to take questions from their constituents then they are not worthy of our vote.

Chris Christie Bullies Constituent at Meg Whitman Town Hall

Another Fine Post from: No 2 Religion - Just Say No!

Lifelong Learning

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One of the things I have enjoyed about my position as Political Action Coordinator (PAC) for my union is the training. I consider myself a lifelong learner. I enjoy learning new things and I enjoy learning more about what I already learned.

The first learning opportunity I received was from the California Democratic Party. In November 2009 I attended, Learn to Win 2010 Campaign Training in San Luis Obispo. The training focused on grass-roots organizing with emphasis on tools for success in Field Skills, Online Strategy, Finance Law, Using New Technology and Campaign Messaging.

Although, I do not think I am ready to run a campaign, the training left me with more than basic knowledge about how to run one. I certainly learned enough to be a strong campaign volunteer or staffer. However, what I really gained was insight into how to get involved and get others involved.

If you are in California, I urge you to attend this training if you are at all interested in becoming part of or learning more about political campaigns. If you are not in California, I suggest you contact your state or local democratic party to see if they are offering training like this.

One of the things I hope to do with this training is not only provide better working conditions and healthcare in my union but also use it to bring about progressive change in California and keep religion out of schools and government.

It is time to end the apathy and get involved.

Getting Involved

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There is a lot of talk on various blogs about getting involved. But what does getting involved mean? Although, I think getting involved means something different for everyone, what ever it means to you, just get involved.

For me, getting involved meant becoming active in my union. Instead of jumping in both feet first I started out as webmaster for my chapter and after about six months I attended the Chapter Public Relations Officer academy. Chapter Public Relations Officer (CPRO) seemed like the next logical step because it was basically what I was doing as webmaster. Additionally, the position was open on my chapter's executive board.

Last year I was recommended to the Regional Representative for the position of Political Action Coordinator (PAC). I readily accepted the position because it was time to put my mouth where my politics were; progressively to left. I have, for the most part always voted democrat, and for the last 15-20 years I have voted exclusively democrat and more progressively with each election. Without doubt I am a yellow dog democrat. 

The advantage of getting involved with my union was familiarity. I knew the people, I knew the subject and I knew the politics. Well at least I thought I knew the people, the subject and the politics.

Most of the people are like minded liberals of varying degrees. However, it surprised me to find so many religious conservatives in the union. I also found out the subject was much deeper than I thought. At least the politics were mostly what I suspected - progressively liberal.

Overall, I am still getting my feet wet as my region's PAC but I have enjoyed what I have done so far and I am looking forward to the coming months working up to the November election.

Now get out there and get involved.

Hey Martin, Where Have You Been?

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Busy. Crazy busy!

Last year I accepted a position with my union (CSEA) as Political Action Coordinator for my region (San Luis Obispo county). I knew accepting the position would entail extra work eventually. Well eventually came. Since the last week of April I have attended a legislative conference, training for a grass roots group and a fund raiser for an endorsed candidate. In between these events I worked with a team from my region to stage a rally to protest cuts to California education. Oh and of course I had all of my regular work and family life going on.

I have always been interested in politics but I was never willing to get involved because most politics get me rather upset. However, since starting this blog I have been able to temper by anger over religion through posts. Now I am hoping to do the same with politics. This is not to say this is going to become a political blog but I feel as though atheism, education and politics have become inextricably intertwined.

 Starting with post I am going to be posting more about politics in addition to atheism and education.

The Wrong News For Americans

I just read an interesting article at, Right Side News - The Right News for  Americans:

Texas: Muslim Gubernatorial Candidate Practices Art of 'Talk and Say Nothing'

Written by Robert Spencer of JihadWatch.org on Monday, 08 February 2010.

In his article Spencer takes Texas democratic gubernatorial candidate, Farouk Shami to task for his, as Spencer says, a "statement [that] is notable for its sly obfuscations and detours..."

Spencer has an interesting analysis of what Shami says (or doesn't say). For the most part his analysis could be applied to any politician's comment about anything. As for Spencer's comment that, "he has mastered the art of claiming victim status," I think Shami did an OK job but to truly see a master you need only look at a Christian conservative politician.

Religious Conservatives Praying for Death and Failure

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What is with the Christian tactic of praying for someone's death or failure?

Recently, religious conservatives have taken to praying for someone's death or at least for them fail. A few recent examples of this Christian virtue at work:

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.)  Proposes a Prayer on the Senate Floor
Conservatives Pray for Obama's Death
DeMint Attends Prayercast to Defeat Health Care Bill
Michelle Bachman: Prayer and Fasting will Defeat Health Care Reform  
Rush Prays For Obama's Failure

I think, like gun control, we should have a seven day waiting period for prayer.

It May Not Be Alright But It Is Not All Wrong

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Paul Fidalgo of Bloc Raisonneur and a Secularism Examiner laments in a recent post at Bloc Raisonneur that

Maybe It's Not Alright

At some point over the past month or so, my credulity reached its breaking point. A confluence of disparate events has saturated me with a feeling of hopelessness about the state of our democracy, our media, our ability to address real crises -- not just problems, crises -- with our politics and government. I have found it nearly impossible to avoid concluding that change is not coming to America.

Please read the remainder of Paul's excellent post, Maybe It's Not Alright.

Below is the comment I posted:

I too feel the despair, I too am angry.

Although, I place plenty of blame on Obama and the not-so-progressive democrats, I feel there is much more blame to go around on the republican side. We may have been sold on the hype of change that Obama promised but I think we were naive to think that everything could be fixed by now. Remember it took Bush eight years to fuck things up.

I certainly understand the apathy of voters and sometimes wonder why I bother. Well I bother because I can. Maybe I will make a difference and maybe I won't but voting is a right that many countries don't give their citizens.

While I have always voted I mostly didn't care about politics however, Bush changed that and I have become much more involved in the political process.

If all else fails, blame Canada!

 But after thinking about it for a while I realized I had more to say.

Since shortly after Bush took office I watched in horror as he dragged the U.S. goodwill and mostly good name through every mud hole in the world. However, much worse than what he did to us internationally, he pilfered, plundered and abused the people of the U.S.

A few years back I became involved in my union's local chapter. At first just as the web master because I enjoy building websites but then as Chapter Public Relations Officer (CPRO). As a CPRO I write the chapter newsletter, send information and communication to members, and interface with the media when necessary.

I just recently became the Regional Political Action Coordinator for my union. While I am still learning all that this position entails I can say that I will be my unions face for most things political in San Luis Obispo County, Ca. 

A few weeks ago I attended a two day Learn to Win 2010 training by the California Democratic Party, (CDP). The training is intended to help "activists in "red-to-blue" opportunity districts with the organizing, communications, technology, and finance skills they’ll need to help Democrats reach out to more voters and win these crucial local races..."

It was fascinating to say the least. While I didn't enjoy all aspects of the process, I enjoyed most it. Since I am a techie I particularly enjoyed the sessions on Using New Technology  - Twitter, Facebook, Blogs - and Online Stragey -  CDP's online campaign management tools.

At this point I do not know what I am going to do with all of this because I have no intention for running for any public office. But, I could see myself in a behind the scenes position on a campaign.

What I do know is that I can't be apathetic any longer. I need to be proactive and involved. While I often feel like Paul does, I do feel the need to try.

And if we can't turn this county around, Blame Canada!

So what are doing to change America?

Obama's Speech to Students - What's the Big Deal

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The fundies, teabaggers, birthers, and dittoheads have been whining and crying about Obama's speech to students since it was announced. They have claimed that Obama will brainwash or indoctrinate their children with his politics. I can see why the are upset about this because they fee this is their job.

However, after reading the text of Obama's speech I don't see the what big deal is and it appears that these individuals have yet again cried wolf. It's beginning to seem that no matter what Obama, liberals or progressives say they will react with vehement opposition without any facts to back their claims. When did ignorance become a virtue?