Tom Hayden's Blog, page 20
March 13, 2014
US-Venezuela Crisis Escalating
US-Venezuelan Crisis Escalating
Oakland Call for "Participatory Democracy"
Mayoral candidate Dan Siegel has vowed to build a participatory democracy in Oakland, joining progressive populist trend in municipal elections from New York City to Seattle. He announced his campaign on January 9 with a rally reminiscent of the Rainbow Coalition era. The race will be watched closely by those wondering whether Oakland's long tradition of radical movements can be advanced through a Mayor promising to battle and bargain with entrenched interests from outside developers to a police department stained by a brutal reputation. If successful, the Siegel campaign may represent a model for achieving gains for under-represented people in areas with progressive majorities. Siegel's core pledge is to raise the city's minimum wage $12.25/hour.
Like New York, Siegel's insurgent campaign comes in the aftermath of the powerful rise and steady decline of the Occupy movement. In New York, Democrats already are divided between a mayor with a voter mandate to tax the rich for pre-K education and a governor advertising that his state is "open for investment" through tax breaks for the rich. The deepening divide among Democrats is between the Populist-Progressive tradition and that of neo-liberalism introduced in the Clinton era. For Siegel's campaign speech, listen here.
March 10, 2014
Sudden Fracking Threat In L.A.
Los Angeles' largest oil production company is abruptly beginning below-ground operations in the West Adams and Jefferson Park neighborhoods in possible preparation for fracking at the sites. The work is taking place despite a 10-0 vote in favor of a moratorium on fracking by the LA City Council on February 28 and overwhelming support for a fracking moratorium at the Democratic state convention held not far from the two locations this weekend.
March 6, 2014
On The Senate Rejection of Civil Rights Nominee
By Robert Garcia, founder, The City Project:
"Wow. What a tragedy. For the Senate. For the country. For Debo.
This how the Senate, and other people with power and resources, view civil rights attorneys. 'Adegbile came under fire for his representation of a convicted killer of a police officer and his leadership tenure at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.' I was an LDF attorney. I helped spring former Black Panther leader Geronimo Pratt from prison after 27 years for a crime he did not commit. I helped reform the LA County Sheriff's Department through the historic Thomas class action. I helped overturn the conviction and death sentence of an indigent black man on Death Row in Georgia for rape, sodomy and murder of a six year old girl. The state then dropped all charges for lack of evidence. Rejecting Debo is a slap in the face of civil rights lawyers who represent unpopular people in unpopular causes.
Plus, Debo was a child star on Sesame Street.
My LDF colleague Bill Lann Lee was acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the Justice Department under Clinton - but Bill never did criminal defense work, and even he was never confirmed by the Senate.
Ambitious young lawyers will be inspired to follow safe career paths as prosecutors and corporate lawyers. Like Sonya Sotomayor.
And people wonder why it is so hard to do the work we do.
We would do it all over again."
March 5, 2014
Fracking Critics Gain Traction in L.A.
[image error]Propelled by passionate grass-roots environmentalists, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed an anti-fracking moratorium on February 28, finally landing the issue in the center of California politics.
Unlike New York or Pennsylvania, where active fracking has triggered a widespread protest, the issue in California is more a potential threat than an in-your-backyard reality. The exception is Kern County, the long center of California's drilling operations. Massive fracking operations are predicted, however, across the vast Monterey Shale region, which encompasses the Central Valley and reaches parts of the Los Angeles basin and Santa Barbara. Some experts project the Monterey Shale formation to contain fifteen billion barrels of oil.
March 4, 2014
Getting Ready for 2014 Senate Races
The Washington Post's published an informative chart today on the Senate seats up for play this coming November. Check it out here:
[image error] [image error]
March 3, 2014
Another Cold War?
February 28, 2014
And Then There Were Three
Fernando Gonzales became the second member of the Cuban Five to be repatriated to his homeland when he arrived at Havana's Jose Marti airport on Friday. His prison term cut from nineteen to fifteen years, it was a long journey for Gonzales from a desert cell in Arizona to his release in Havana.
This was one deportation to celebrate.
Bernie Sanders for President?
Senator Bernie Sanders is preparing a presidential run. While it can still be called off, volunteers already are eyeing Iowa and New Hampshire, a database is being prepared, and factions being formed, and its only winter 2014.
Tom Hayden's Blog
- Tom Hayden's profile
- 28 followers
