Election Day 2008: Watching History Unfold

I probably should have put this post up yesterday-- election day-- but after the election of Barack Obama, I was too busying partying with Democrats across the country and progressives around the world. As Ronald Reagan would say, it's a new day in America!

I took yesterday off of work to volunteer to help the Pima County Democratic Party Get Out the Vote Effort. I have never seen so many people at the headquarters. There must have been 60-100 people making phone calls asking people around Southern Arizona if they had voted and/or turned in their mail-in ballots.
There were so many volunteers that some of us were outside under a tent making phone calls. Gabrielle Giffords, our Congressional delegate, and some state legislators stopped by to cheer us on. Here I am-- near my outdoor calling post-- with Gabrielle. After 4 hours of phone calls and some free food, I drove around looking for long voting lines to photograph but couldn't find any. I went home for a few hours, and later in the day I joined my fellow Drinking Liberally peeps (below) at Gentle Ben's for an election watch party. Drinking Liberally is a national organization of progressive political nerds who get together weekly to kibitz about politics and progressive issues. As the excitement mounted, we all headed over to the big Democratic Party Party at the Marriott nearby. The celebration at the the Marriott was amazing. The ballroom and most of the lobby were packed with noisy, excited Democrats of all shapes, sizes, colors, and ages. Two big screens of election results and music by the Wayback Machine entertained the crowd. As we watched Washington, Oregon, and California turn blue, there was a roar from the crowd, and the election was declared for Obama. Men and women alike began cheering, screaming, hugging, dancing, crying, and offering high-5s to each other. It was exhilarating. I think the pictures tell the story.

Early Voting: How Cool Is That?

I just returned from dropping off my early mail-in ballot at the local City Council Ward 6 Office. Today is the last day in Arizona for early voting. I was shocked how many people were waiting in line to vote or dropping off completed early ballots. About 25 or so people were waiting in the noon-day sun to vote--before election day. Nina Trasoff, our local city council representative, and her staff were busily putting out chairs to keep the voters comfortable. Nice touch.

When my brother and I were kids, I can remember waiting in line in bad weather (in Ohio) with my mom when she went to the polls after work. It's great that we now have early voting in person and by mail-in ballot.

Now, let's get the rest of the voting hassles and barriers out of the way! I heard on NPR that the US has the most constrictive, convoluted voting system of any democracy in the world (ie, voting on a weekday, requiring registration in advance, requiring identification, challenges to voter registration, etc.) For example, Here are some items that I believe should be changed.

1) Do away with the electoral college.

2) Standardize voting procedures. It's absurd that in some states counties make the voting rules. Come on, people, can't we agree on nationwide procedures? Other countries can!

3) Make paperless voting systems illegal.

4) Make your birth certificate your voter registration. I heard Michael Moore on Democracy Now today. He said that everyone born in Canada is automatically registered from day 1. Seems like a simple idea that would actually save a lot of money. Only naturalized citizens would have to be registered.

5) Mandate shorter campaigns! In most countries, they campaign for 6-8 weeks. Why do we need 2 years?

6) Make campaigns publically financed... period.

Regarding next Tuesday, all I've got to say is, "Si, se puede!"

Image credit: I love this illustration of Obama. I saw it on the Free Will Astrology website. Here is the blurb about the illustration: "Artist Scott Siedman created this painting of Barack Obama, titled 'The Man from Illinois,' as a tribute to this extraordinary candidate. By placing him within the traditional American "heartland" mythologies, he celebrates Obama as a son of the Midwest, linked in metaphor to the land, to books, and to the possibility of connecting to Lincoln's 'angels of our better nature.' Prints are available at scottzart@earthlink.net."

Marry Me! I Have Health Insurance!

Marrying someone to obtain health insurance is yet another example of how screwed up our health care system is. In Health Benefits Inspire to Marry, or Divorce, the NY Times offers vignettes of people who are making matrimonial decisions based on the availability of health care benefits.

I really don't know what to say about this except that the foreigners who read the NY Times must be either laughing at our collective stupidity or shaking their heads in disbelief.

On NPR this morning, the commentator said that the health care insurance fixes that both McCain and Obama are proposing are not significantly different from the proposals that were suggested back in 1992 when the Clintons tried to push universal coverage forward. Hmmmmmm.....

Maybe availability of health insurance coverage should be added as an personal attribute on the online dating sites:
Hair: auburn
Eyes: brown
Height: 5'3"
Build: average
Health Insurance: yes

Sicko: What a Movie!

Tonight I went to see "Sicko", Michael Moore's latest documentary. What a powerful movie.

Several of my friends had seen the movie before me and had offered snipets of information about it. Although I sort of knew what to expect from "Sicko," I was overwhelmed by the movie and reduced to tears by the end. Yes, the personal stories were moving-- the guy who had to choose which finger to save, the couple whose medical bills forced them into backruptcy and their daughter's basement, the 9/11 rescue workers who were foresaken by our healthcare non-system, the little girl who died because care was refused, etc.

But above all of the personal stories, one commentary really hit home for me. An English gentleman said that American corporations and government want to keep US citizens fearful, uneducated, and disillusioned with the system because then they will be so pessimistic and hopeless that they won't vote. They fear citizens who are healthy, educated, and fearless because they can't be easily controlled. He explained that for Great Brittan free national healthcare came with democracy. (Huh? Aren't we the ones who are supposedly making the world "safe for democracy"? Isn't this our biggest export?) How come our democracy values money and corporate profits more than the health and welfare of its citizens? The current government hopes that we will stay uninformed and believe their big lie that the US has the best healthcare. A recent NY Times editorial offered a conservative but thorough comparison between our non-system and healthcare offer in other industrialized countries.

I liked "An Inconvenient Truth" and thought it was exciting how one movie could sigle-handedly push global warming into the collective consciousness of the American people. I hope that "Sicko" does that for healthcare.

Every adult in the US should see this movie and then take action: contact friends and encourage them to go to the movie; send e-mails or letters to legislators encouraging them to actually do something about the US healthcare scandal; blog about "Sicko" and healthcare in the US; send letters and comments to newspapers; march in the streets; and VOTE.

As Michael Moore said at the end of the movie, when are the citizens of the US going to think of "we" instead of "me"?

What would happen if the poor and disenfranchized citizens of the US all registered to vote and actually voted?

New Emblem for US Government

A friend of mine recently sent this bit of news for my blog.

"The federal government announced today that it is changing its emblem to a condom because it more clearly reflects the government's political stance. A condom stands up to inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives a sense of security while it's actually screwing you."

Sad but true...

Everyone needs to vote in every election!

As Jim Morrison sang, "They got the guns. We got the numbers."

Put It Back on the Table, Nancy!

Last week's Drinking Liberally get-together gave birth to a brilliant grassroots lobbying effort. Local DL regular Marlene Phillips gave an impassioned speech about impeachment of President George Bush. She and others urged the group to write letters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi encouraging her to put impeachment "back on the table". You'll remember that soon after she became Speaker of the House she told George and the nation that impeachment was "off the table".

Letters are a great idea-- if you can get enough people to write custom letters. But Ken, another DL regular, offered a different suggestion. Instead of (or in addition to) letters, he suggested sending Nancy napkins with the handwritten message, "Put it back on the table" Or "Put impeachment back on the table." I love the napkin idea. Here's a link to Blog for Arizona where Marlene outlined the campaign a few days ago. At multiple political gatherings this week Tucson liberals were buzzing about the "Put It Back on the Table" idea. Let's do it!

Green Mayor for Tucson?

Life is full of disappointments. This spring I was seriously disappointed that the local Democratic Party did not have an opponent for Republican Mayor Bob Walkup. Tucson has a city manager form of government; consequently, mayor is a symbolic, ceremonial position. Ok, so Walkup really doesn't have much power, BUT Tucson is a city of Democrats and other independent-minded folks. Why do we have a Republican mayor who used to be a big-wig at Hughes Aircraft Company (now Raytheon)?

Personally, I believe that Walkup has survived as mayor because he knows the Dinosaur/Cockroach Theory of Survival. The dinosaurs stood tall and walked slowly through the forests. Cockroaches, on the other hand, lurk in the darkness and keep a low profile. When the lights are turned on, they scurry under back into their hiding places. The dinosaur's high-profile made them vulnerable to attack by preditors and eventually became extinct. Cockroaches have learned how to avoid preditors, adapt to their suroundings, and survive. They are still with us and stronger than ever. (I learned this survival theory toward the end of my long tenure as a State of Arizona employee. I was a dinosaur, though, and was laid off in 2004. That's a story for another time.)

So, since I am obviously unimpressed with BW, I am dismayed that he has no Democratic opponent. Enter the Green Party. Last night I went to a meeting of the Sonora Progressives and met Green Party Mayoral Candidate Dave Croteau. Normally, even though I agree with Green Party policies, I would not vote for the Green Party because I see them as a fringe group that can't win.

With no Democratic candidate, the Walkup-Croteau race is different story altogether. Here we have a lukewarm, unexciting, do-nothing Republican incumbent running against an unknown Green, who holds values that are closer to those of the Tucson citizenry. Here's a link to the Green Party's Ten Key Values, which include grassroots democracy, social justice, ecological wisdom, non-violence, decentralization, economic justice, gender equity, respect for diversity, personal and global responsibility, and sustainability. Croteau is a candidate who is knows that sustainability is an issue!!!! He also understands the concept of basing economic development on growing local businesses and working with our city's strengths, rather than spending millions to compete with other cities for the major corporations looking for cheap labor and tax breaks.

Walkup didn't beat Tom Volgy, his last opponent, by much of a margin. Here's an interesting blog post about Walkup's honensty (or lack of it); it also includes some information about the Walkup-Volgy and Walkup-McKasson races. If enough of us liberal thinkers organize, work for, and vote for Croteau, I think he has a chance.

Croteau is currently trying to raise donations from Tucson residents so he can get matching funds. He needs matching funds to be a viable candidate, since he doesn't have the corproate sponsors that Walkup undoubtably has. I urge you to go to the link above, print out the donation form, and send Croteau $10 - $390, so he can run a decent race against Walkup. Let's go Green, Tucson!

Arizona Sells Solar Energy to Other States

Ok... maybe you realized that this is a fake headline. Arizona is not currently selling solar energy to other states, but why not? Arizona -- more than any other state in the US -- has an abundance of sunshine that could be harnessed to create electricity. (In mid-July, some might say we have an over-abundance of sunshine. LOL)

During the 2007 session of the Arizona Legislature, Representative Steve Farley sponsored a bill to subsidize installation of solar panels for all Arizona residents who want them. According to Farley, if Arizona had around 90 square miles of solar panels, the state could sell solar energy to other states. Sounds like a great idea to me. We would be using something (sunshine) that we have plenty of, promoting the renewable energy, and making some money for the state coffers.

So, why wasn't this bill passed by the Legislature in 2007? The simple answer is that Republicans killed it. (Since they are the majority party in the Legislature, they control which bills get out of committee and which ones receive a fair hearing by other legislators.) Farley plans to introduce the solar energy bill again during the 2008 session.

I'd also like to know where the media was on this? I knew nothing of the solar energy bill until I heard Farley speak at a local Democratic Party event. I believe that many Arizona voters would see the benefit in this legislation. The media let the citizenry down my not publicizing this important bill.