Progressive Democrats Sonoma County

by Norman Solomon
Common Dreams
April 10, 2013

For progressives, there’s not a lot to be gained by venting against Obama without working to implement a plausible strategy for ousting corporate war Democrats from state power

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The story goes that some mice became very upset about the cat in the house and convened an emergency meeting. They finally came up with the idea of tying a bell around the cat’s neck, so the dangerous feline could no longer catch victims unawares. The plan gained a lot of enthusiastic praise, until one mouse piped up with a question that preceded a long silence: “Who’s going to bell the cat?”

In recent days, the big cat in the White House has provoked denunciations from groups that have rarely crossed him. They’re upset about his decision to push for cuts in Social Security benefits. “Progressive outrage has reached a boiling point,” the online juggernaut MoveOn declared a few days ago.

Obama’s move to cut Social Security is certainly outrageous, and it’s encouraging that a wide range of progressive groups are steamed at Obama as never before. But this kind of outrage should have reached a “boiling point” a long time ago. The administration’s undermining of civil liberties, scant action on climate change, huge escalation of war in Afghanistan, expansion of drone warfare, austerity policies serving Wall Street and shafting Main Street, vast deference to corporate power. . . The list is long and chilling.

For progressives, there’s not a lot to be gained by venting against Obama without working to implement a plausible strategy for ousting corporate war Democrats from state power.

So is the evasive record of many groups that are now denouncing Obama’s plan to cut Social Security. Mostly, their leaders griped in private and made nice with the Obama White House in public.

Yet imagine if those groups had polarized with President Obama in 2009 on even a couple of key issues. ...

Read the rest here

March 12, 2013

An e-mail sent out by Coalition for Grassroots Progress, today …

Thousands of constituents have put their names on petitions urging new Congressman Jared Huffman to sign a letter making a crucial commitment: “We will vote against any and every cut to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security benefits — including raising the retirement age or cutting the cost of living adjustments that our constituents earned and need.”

But Huffman is saying he has no intention of signing that congressional letter — or making that firm commitment.

Read the Rest Here

Dissident Voice
by Kim Petersen / February 7th, 2013

In March 2003, the United States under the administration of president George W. Bush and vice-president Dick Cheney launched an aggression against a smaller, sanctions-crippled nation that had been fundamentally disarmed by a UN weapons inspection regime. Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! looked back at then-secretary-of-state Colin Powell’s address to the UN Security Council which electrified the corporate media types and had chickenhawks and right-wing commentators clucking that this presentation was definitive proof of Saddam Hussein’s government possessing weapons-of-mass-destruction (WMD).

Read the article here

by Norman Solomon
January 23, 2013. CommonDreams.org

With President Obama’s second term underway and huge decisions looming on Capitol Hill, consider this statement from Howard Zinn: “When a social movement adopts the compromises of legislators, it has forgotten its role, which is to push and challenge the politicians, not to fall in meekly behind them.”“When a social movement adopts the compromises of legislators, it has forgotten its role, which is to push and challenge the politicians, not to fall in meekly behind them.”

With so much at stake, we can’t afford to forget our role. For starters, it must include public clarity.

Read the article here

by Norman Solomon
Common Dreams. January 16, 2013

A simple twist of fate has set President Obama’s second Inaugural Address for January 21, the same day as the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday.

Obama made no mention of King during the Inauguration four years ago — but since then, in word and deed, the president has done much to distinguish himself from the man who said “I have a dream.”

Read the article here

Number and Location of Ballots Remaining To Be Counted in CD 2 Underscores Designation. California’s Secretary of State Debra Bowen has designated the ongoing race for the 2nd Congressional District as a “close contest” due to the unresolved question as to who the top two finishers will be once all the votes cast in the race are counted.

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A key paradox for progressives of our national political life goes something like this: everybody complains about Congress, but nobody does anything about it.

Of course, it is far from true that nobody is doing anything about Congress. Lots of people are doing something about it. But if you hold the complaints of progressives about Congress in one hand, and the level of progressive activity to change who is in Congress and what they do when they get there in the other, there is a big mismatch. The level of complaint should provoke a much higher level of activity to do something about it.

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March 13, 2012

Following up on the first anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, congressional candidate Norman Solomon on Tuesday [March 13] renewed his call for closing California’s two nuclear power plants as part of a “swift and urgently needed” transition to an energy policy focused on “clean and green” renewable sources and conservation.

“The Diablo Canyon plant near San Luis Obispo and the San Onofre plant on the southern California coast are vulnerable to meltdowns from earthquakes and threaten both residents and the environment,” said Solomon, who has been a leading critic of the nuclear industry for more than 30 years.

Read the full story here

Dan Hamburg/For the Times-Standard
January 28, 2012

Since 2001, Humboldt County has contributed roughly $350 million to fighting the nation’s wars (costofwar.com). I’m supporting Norman Solomon because this expenditure represents a catastrophic misuse of public funds and because Norman, among a group of strong candidates, is uniquely qualified to help stop the bleeding.

When I finally met Norman last year, after decades of reading his work, I wondered why such a smart and accomplished activist would think the U.S. House was the best place to work for progressive political change.

Read the full article here

Phil Donahue tells a different story about our ‘merry little wars’...

By David Templeton
Pacific Sun
January 13, 2012

“Wait a minute! Is that an egret?”

Phil Donahue, microphone in hand, is addressing about a hundred people, all gathered on the outside patio of the Apple Box Cafe in Petaluma, overlooking the Petaluma River. He is here on day two of a four-day tour to endorse congressional candidate Norman Solomon (Inverness resident and author of War Made Easy and Made Love, Got War), and to host a few screenings of the award-winning 2007 documentary he produced and co-directed, Body of War: The True Story of an Anti-War Hero. As he chats amiably with the assembled crowd, Donahue (best known for his Emmy Award-winning longtime television talk show, The Phil Donahue Show) suddenly stops and points to a white bird soaring low over the water behind the audience. After gazing in wonder for several seconds, he murmurs, “I hope you people appreciate what you’ve got here!”

Read the full story here

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For more information visit the Events page at www.SolomonForCongress.com

Originally published by the Press Democrat
by Norman Solomon

On a recent day in Petaluma, two very different events spotlighted grim results of upside-down priorities from the federal government.

Upwards of 600 people gathered for an early breakfast at the Veterans Memorial Hall to raise money for the Committee on the Shelterless (COTS), a nonprofit organization that last year sheltered nearly 2,000 individuals, served more than 127,000 hearty meals and distributed 800,000 pounds of food to the needy.

We heard moving stories about — and from — people whose lives have been transformed by active compassion, generosity and their own hard work. But, as speakers lamented, COTS must turn away many who need help.

Read the Full Story Here

November 16, 2011

Two of the nation’s most influential Latino leaders — Rep. Raul Grijalva, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and Dolores Huerta, legendary co-founder of the United Farm Workers union — have endorsed Democratic candidate Norman Solomon for Congress.

The endorsements come in the race for an open seat in California’s new coastal district stretching from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border.

Read the full story here

PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS OF AMERICA presents an evening with:

JOHN NICHOLS, Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine,

MICHAEL LIGHTY, Policy Director of the California Nurses Association,

and NORMAN SOLOMON, Co-chair of the national Healthcare NOT Warfare Campaign.

Doors open at 7:30 pm.

Go here for a campus map

This is a rare opportunity to see these three dynamic leaders and speakers together in one room. Join us for an evening of community and celebration in support of Healthcare NOT Warfare!

No entry charge. Donations accepted. Wheel-chair accessible.

Cosponsored by the Expressions Program of the Humanities Department, Dominican University.

Location

PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS OF AMERICA presents an evening with:

JOHN NICHOLS, Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine,

MICHAEL LIGHTY, Policy Director of the California Nurses Association,

and NORMAN SOLOMON, Co-chair of the national Healthcare NOT Warfare Campaign.

WHEN: Saturday, October 15, 8:00 to 9:30 p.m. Doors open at 7:30.

WHERE: Guzman Hall, Dominican University; 50 Acacia Ave., San Rafael, CA 94901.

Go here for a campus map

This is a rare opportunity to see these three dynamic leaders and speakers together in one room. Join us for an evening of community and celebration in support of Healthcare NOT Warfare!

No entry charge. Donations accepted. Wheel-chair accessible.

Cosponsored by the Expressions Program of the Humanities Department, Dominican University.

An Evening with:

JOHN NICHOLS
Washington correspondent for
The Nation Magazine

MICHAEL LIGHTY
Policy Director of the California
Nurses Association

and
NORMAN SOLOMON
Co-Chair of the national
Healthcare Not Warfare Campaign

September 15, 2011

Daniel Ellsberg, the renowned advocate for peace and the First Amendment who leaked the historic Pentagon Papers on the Vietnam War, endorsed congressional candidate Norman Solomon on Thursday (Sept. 15). Ellsberg will join the independent progressive Democrat on the campaign trail.

Once referred to by President Nixon’s adviser Henry Kissinger as “the most dangerous man in America,” Ellsberg is an enthusiastic supporter of Norman Solomon for Congress. The famed whistleblower will speak at a house-party fundraiser for the Solomon campaign in Marin County on Sept. 22, an event bringing together two generations of antiwar leaders.

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On September 1, 2011, at a special meeting in Sebastopol, Progressive Democrats Sonoma County voted to endorse Norman Solomon for Congress.

Solomon expressed deep gratitude for the endorsement, calling it “a big boost for our grassroots campaign to ensure that this region continues to have strong progressive representation in Congress. The Sonoma County chapter of PDA is known for its strength of commitment and depth of community roots. I feel honored by the county chapter’s support, and I look forward to working together as our campaign keeps gaining momentum.”

by Karina Ioffee
Petaluma Patch
August 23, 2011

Oscar-winning actor and former North Bay resident Sean Penn lent the Norman Solomon campaign some star power when he made an appearance in Petaluma Tuesday to endorse Solomon in the race for the 2nd Congressional District.

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On Tuesday August 23, at two events in the North Bay, Sean Penn will be speaking in support of Norman Solomon’s campaign for Congress.

Click Here for Details

By Norman Solomon
Guest op-ed column
Marin IJ. Augutst 15, 2011

THE NEGATIVE TRENDS in the Nation’s Capital are mostly due to extreme GOP ideologues in Congress. But they’ve been enabled by too many Democrats who keep giving ground while Republican leaders refuse to give an inch.

Read the Rest Here

By JEREMY HAY
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
August 15, 2011

New political district maps approved on Monday will color the race to replace Rep. Lynn Woolsey and prompt 7th District Assemblyman Michael Allen to move to advance his political career.

The new maps certified by the state’s voter-created citizens commission stretch Woolsey’s 6th District — formerly a compact Marin-Sonoma package — to the Oregon border and rename it the 2nd District.

“One big difference is I’ll be spending a lot more time in the car,” said Norman Solomon, one of four candidates for Woolsey’s seat.

Read the Full Story Here