This week in progressive state blogs is designed specifically to focus attention on the writing and analysis of people focused on their home turf. Let me know via comments or Kosmail if you have a favorite state- or city-based blog you think I should be watching.
Inclusion of a diary does not necessarily indicate my agreement or endorsement of its contents.
At Blue Virginia, Lowell writes—Karen Tumulty's WaPo Article on Marco Rubio Illustrates Much That's Wrong with Corporate Media:
People sometimes make fun of Politico as nothing better than "Tiger Beat on the Potomac"—all personalities, gossip, scandal, who's up and who's down, politics as entertainment/horse race, etc. No substance, in other words. But unfortunately, it's not just Politico, it's vast swaths of the corporate media that's really no better than "Tiger Beat."
Take this mindless drivel by Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post on how Marco Rubio had a "strong showing" at last night's debate, mainly because of a silly, schoolyard-style back-and-forth with "JEB" Bush over Rubio's frequent absences from the U.S. Senate. Of course, Rubio didn't directly address that perfectly valid criticism, but instead used his abundant rhetorical skills to turn the tables on tongue-tied, pathetic "JEB."
So here's the problem: nothing in Tumulty's inspid article makes the case as to why Rubio had a "strong showing" last night, other than that the corporate media proclaimed him to have had a "strong showing." On substance, the reality is that Rubio was basically total bull**, distortions, and outright lies
There are more excerpts below.
At Left in Alabama, countrycat writes—HSV Public School Parent Confronts Clinic Protesters:
The Academy for Academics and the Arts (AAA) in Huntsville is a K-8 school that happens to be across the road from Huntsville’s women’s clinic. Anti-abortion protesters have tried to use that proximity to get a state law passed prohibiting any clinic that performs abortions from operating within 2,000 feet of a public school. Their legislative effort failed, so now they’ve changed tactics.
The clinic protesters say that the clinics draw a bad crowd of people who are too dangerous to be allowed near children. In a way they’re right. Except that the most dangerous person we know of lately—a convicted arsonist and registered sex offender—was invited by the protesters, not the clinic.
The most recent strategy is to cause such a ruckus outside the school that upset parents join the protest against the clinic. However, this little group of hapless sidewalk bullies miscalculated. Parents are upset all right – at the protesters.
At
Blue Oregon,
Nicholas Caleb writes—
Dear Fossil Fuel Industry: Thanks, But No Thanks:
In 2015, Portland was twice the subject of national news. In July, the New Yorker published an article about the potential for an enormous earthquake in the Northwest. Later that month, local activists teamed up with Greenpeace climbers to dramatically blockade the Fennica, a ship carrying mission critical equipment for Shell’s Arctic oil drilling operations (since abandoned). Importantly, the #ShellNo blockade built off of the momentum of a big local story; the multi-generational, energetic, and creative climate activists who, in the Spring, launched an aggressive campaign that ultimately convinced Mayor Charlie Hales to reverse his previous support for an enormous propane export terminal planned at the Port of Portland. These stories captured the cultural imaginary and highlighted the immanent dangers of regional seismic instability and global climate chaos.
In response, the City of Portland is now considering a legal framework that would take the national lead on climate policy and protecting the health and safety of local residents. I could spend a lot of text explaining the regional and global significance of this action (it’s big), but because the resolution is so beautifully drafted, comprehensive, and persuasively makes its own case, I’ll simply present it as is:
Oppose expansion of infrastructure whose primary purpose is transporting or storing fossil fuels in or through Portland or adjacent waterways (Resolution) |
At
The Seminole Democrat of Florida,
Vin Fl writes—
Trump on rising barbarity at his rallies: "I'll be a little more violent...":
What the living hell is happening to my country?
Although I am proudly a Democrat, I absolutely abhor a one-party system. That only leads to corruption. As an American first, I expect and demand a choice of robust ideas. Everyone should.
But alas, we have just a two-party system, and one of these parties has completely gone off the rails.
One party that used to stand for something has morphed into something very ugly. Its core base has completely given in to fervent nationalism rooted in extreme hatred and bigotry. One party has managed to turn its core supporters into submissives that are prone to follow a horrible, charismatic, and power-hungry demagogue who offers them simple solutions and feeds into their fear and hate.
At
The Political Environment of Wisconsin, writes—
WI could use Public Intervenor office Gov. Thompson dismantled:
It's important to highlight the grassroots struggles by Wisconsin citizens statewide who are trying to preserve for you and me the healthy drinking water, streams, lakes, wetlands and forests we need to survive and thrive.
Why?
As crazy as it sounds, these battles against powerful corporate interests are being made even tougher because the "chamber of commerce mentality" and personnel intentionally installed atop the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources since 2011 amounts to a heavy thumb on the scales of justice and that is forcing citizens to spend their own money to try and get the government to do its most basic job and protect the public rights guaranteed by the Wisconsin Constitution, case law, common law and common sense.
The state's retreat from its legal and moral obligations on behalf of the people's rights to a clean and healthy environment, however, did not begin with the election of Scott Walker.
At
Indy Democrat Blog,
Jon Easter writes—
Obama Finds Right Message on Testing:
One place I have differed with President Barack Obama is education policy.
His push for reforms including the advancement of charter schools has, in my view, hurt traditional public schools by diverting critical funding away from them. Rather than fixing the problems in the quality of our traditional public schools, the rise of and push for charter schools, some with the same kinds of quality challenges as their traditional public school counterparts, has exacerbated the problems.
The President has also been behind and has helped move forward the performance-based pay models for teachers. In essence, many of his policies have helped contribute, in my view, to the teacher shortages we see across the country today.
It appears that we’ve reached a tipping point in the reform era. President Obama is now speaking out against the number and variety of standardized tests given in our traditional public school classrooms across the country, and he’s starting to advocate for steps to reduce them.
At
Bleeding Heartland of Iowa,
desmoinesdem writes—
New state office will seek to identify and exonerate wrongfully convicted Iowans:
Six months after the Federal Bureau of Investigation acknowledged that flawed testimony about hair analysis may have caused innocent people to be convicted of crimes, the State Public Defender’s office has created a new Wrongful Conviction Division "to determine whether similar errors have occurred in Iowa cases" and to "pursue available legal remedies." I enclose below the press release announcing the new office, which will collaborate with Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Innocence Project of Iowa, and the Midwest Innocence Project. People seeking to have their cases reviewed can submit this 12-page intake questionnaire (pdf).
State Public Defender Adam Gregg deserves credit for making this happen less than a year after Governor Terry Branstad appointed him to the job. (A former legislative liaison for Branstad, Gregg ran unsuccessfully for Iowa attorney general in 2014.) The press release indicates that Gregg repurposed a vacant position in his office using existing appropriations. Taking that route allowed him to move more quickly than if he had lobbied state lawmakers for funding to create a Wrongful Conviction Division. Gregg also hired a serious person to run the new division in Audrey McGinn, who spent four years as a staff attorney for the California Innocence Project.
At
CenLamar of Louisiana,
Lamar White, Jr. writes—
David Vitter’s Animosities Carry Him Away:
Last Friday, the day before the Louisiana jungle primary, U.S. Sen. David Vitter left the scene of a traffic accident in his hometown of Metairie. Vitter, a candidate for governor, was running late for a lunch appointment. The police said they’d question him later. I don’t know what caused Sen. Vitter’s driver, a staffer whose home address is also the address of Vitter’s SuperPAC, to run a red light and wreck, but I wonder if it has anything to do with another story that made headlines on Friday.
Robert Frenzel, a private investigator hired by the Vitter campaign, had just been arrested. Frenzel had been secretly recording a conversation between Newell Normand, the sheriff of Jefferson Parish, State Sen. Danny Martiny, John Cummings, a lawyer, and, believe it or not, another private investigator, Danny DeNoux, at a local coffeeshop. When confronted about the recording, Frenzel bolted. But instead of simply getting in his rental car and calmly driving away, he set out on foot. Like any other rational human being, Sheriff Normand thought this was a little suspicious, and because he’s the sheriff, he was able to get a few deputies to follow the guy. I first broke this story on Friday night, and since then, others have filled in the gaps.
The Advocate reported that Frenzel had been recording the sheriff’s “breakfast club,” but, as Jeffrey Bostick points out, the story is less like The Breakfast Club and more like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Frenzel allegedly trespassed through several places, hopping fences and running through backyards. Eventually, he was caught hiding behind someone’s air conditioning unit.
Totally not suspicious, right?
At
Democratic Diva of Arizona,
Donna writes—
Rubio Won the Debate, I Guess:
I watched the whole GOP debate Wednesday night, twice, and truly wasn’t impressed by anyone on the stage, including the moderators, but the general consensus was that Marco Rubio won, for some reason. [...]
What I heard was Rubio whining about the media, whining how difficult it has been for him to recover from a poor childhood and student loans and manage his current finances despite an income of nearly $200K a year and a $1 million book deal, whining about how expensive it is to send his children to religious private schools, and whining that Jeb! and the Sun Sentinel were unfairly criticizing him for missing many Senate votes while openly stating that he hates being a Senator and you should just elect him President now, please, because John McCain missed votes too eight years ago.
It was a truly Presidential-level performance, for the caliber of GOP candidates on offer for the 2016 election, I guess. Eyeroll.
At
Blue Mass Group of Massachusetts,
jcohn88 writes—
Warren and Markey Stand Up for Civil Liberties, Oppose CISA:
They are not just standing up for civil liberties, but also for US Internet firms competing in a global market against companies that operate under more business friendly (i.e., less intrusive) national surveillance regimes.
Today, the Senate voted to pass the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) 74 to 21.
CISA is a surveillance bill masquerading as a cybersecurity bill. [...]
CISA would also notably provide full legal immunity to corporations that share data with the federal government in violation of privacy contracts or user agreements, rendering such documents meaningless.
Our two senators, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, voted against CISA, and throughout the whole voting process, they both consistently cast a vote on the civil libertarian side.
At
Green Mountain Daily of Vermont,
Jack McCullough writes—
Why tolerate racism?:
If you’re like me you were surprised, if not shocked, to learn that the South Burlington school board had rejected calls to drop the “Rebel” nickname for its high school sports teams.
After all, it’s easy for us in the north to criticize southern states for clinging to Confederate flags and other symbols of slavery and racial oppression, but we’re immune to that up here in enlightened Vermont, right?
Well, it turns out maybe not.
The Burlington Free Press has done great reporting on the history, establishing beyond any doubt that the school was fully immersed in Confederate iconography, including the use of a rebel mascot and Confederate flags in its yearbooks, cheerleaders’ gear, and more. Nevertheless, the board rejected the proposal, blithely proclaiming that the connection between the symbol and the Confederacy “ended two decades ago“. In the face of the call from the Free Press that, “The worst thing the school can do is to listen to those who say the Rebel controversy is a “non-issue” and belittle any attempt to have an honest discussion about the historical baggage the word carries,” that is exactly what South Burlington has decided to do.
At
FortBoise of Idaho,
Thomas van Alten writes—
The exclamation point:
sWhile reading one more account of last night's debate (and the best so far, even better than Vox's impressive 2 minute explainer video, which is pretty good), and getting to the point where Frank Rich says "Bush is finished," Jeanette said "I knew he was done when they added the exclamation point." Rich continues:
"I’d argue that he was never a real candidate to begin with, for all the money and Establishment support he attracted. There are three basic requirements for running for president: a cause or causes you vehemently want to advance, the proverbial fire in the belly, and an enthusiastic group of grassroots supporters who want to propel you to the White House. Bush had none of the three.
"His campaign has been a study in incompetence that has mainly dramatized the candidate’s sense of entitlement. ...
"What’s also remarkable is how little Jeb is aware of the changes in his own party. He has seemed perpetually surprised by the heathens in the GOP’s midst. He should not have been. His own father, with his race-baiting Willie Horton campaign against Michael Dukakis, helped invite in the crazies."
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