Stand Up! Take Action! Vote!
Norman Solomon
August 16, 2010
Take Action: Eat lunch for peace—become a brown-bagger
It’s already history. In mid-August 2010, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan launched a huge media campaign to prevent any substantial withdrawal of military forces the next summer.
The morning after Gen. David Petraeus appeared in a Sunday interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” to promote the war effort, the New York Times front-paged news of its own interview with him—reporting that the general “suggested that he would resist any large-scale or rapid withdrawal of American forces.”
Norman Solomon
August 9, 2010
Six scary words: Governor Whitman. Senator Fiorina. Speaker Boehner.
Defeating the GOP is essential. And insufficient. We also need to move public policy in progressive directions .
From Sacramento to Washington, the political anatomy of elected officials is crucial: Republicans are heartless. Disaster follows when Democrats are spineless.
Norman Solomon
August 6, 2010
How the University of California is helping to blow up the world
Published by Bohemian.com.
On my way to the Los Alamos National Laboratory a few years ago, I found it listed in a New Mexico phone book—under “University of California.”
Since the early 1940s, UC has managed the nation’s top laboratories for designing nuclear bombs. Today, California’s public university system is still immersed in the nuclear weapons business.
Ray McGovern
July 29, 2010
See John Nichols interview Daniel Ellsberg at the PDA Grassroots Leadership Conference in Cleveland.
Published by Alternet.org.
Photo: US Army Sergeant Dostal adjusts the scope of his sniper rifle in eastern Afghanistan (AFP – Simon Lim).
The brutality and fecklessness of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan have been laid bare in an indisputable way just days before the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on whether to throw $33.5 billion more into the Afghan quagmire, when that money is badly needed at home.
Norman Solomon
July 28, 2010
Join PDA’s End War and Occupations, Redirect Funding Issue Organizing Team (IOT); learn more here.
Washington’s spin machine is in overdrive to counter the massive leak of documents on Afghanistan. Much of the counterattack revolves around the theme that the documents aren’t particularly relevant to this year’s new-and-improved war effort.
The White House seized on the timeframe of the documents released by WikiLeaks. “The period of time covered in these documents (January 2004-December 2009) is before the President announced his new strategy,” a White House email told reporters on Sunday evening. “Some of the disconcerting things reported are exactly why the President ordered a three month policy review and a change in strategy.”
Progressive Democrats Sonoma County
Monthly General Meeting
Special Guest Speaker!
NORMAN SOLOMON, syndicated columnist & PDA National Board member
Where Do We Go From Here?
Progressive politics this fall and beyond
Wednesday, July 14
6:30 pm
French Garden Restaurant
8050 Bodega Avenue
Sebastopol, CA
Here is a video of a recent interview of Norman Solomon on C-Span’s Washington Journal. He discusses President Obama’s relationship with the progressive & liberal wings of the Democratic Party, unaffiliated liberals, and the Political Left:
By David Swanson
July 3, 2010
Take Local Action: Cost of War to Sonoma County
The peace movement has made significant progress in the United States since its low point of late 2008, and just about everything anyone in it has done has been a contribution. If everyone keeps doing what they’re doing, and more of it, we might just end some wars, eventually. But I think some techniques are working better than others, and that pursuing the most strategic approaches would make victory likelier sooner and longer-lasting when it comes.
For those who couldn’t get into the sold-out screening of “Every War Has Two Losers” in San Rafael on Wednesday night, or for anyone else interested in taking a look, here’s video of Norman Solomon’s interview last week with the filmmaker Haydn Reiss:
By David Swanson
July 2, 2010
The Democratic leadership in the House had to resort to an unusual and underhanded tactic to pass war funding Thursday night.
By David Swanson
WarIsACrime.org
June 29, 2010
Whether an organization opposes a war is not simply a yes or no question. Does it profess opposition when cornered and asked, or does it go all out organizing events, phone calls, press conferences, and civil disobedience? Is the organization a media outlet with multiple views? Does it oppose wars but muddle the issue with unhelpful amendments and rhetoric? How much opposition amounts to opposition?
Nonetheless, it has become clear that many groups opposed wars in significant ways when Bush was president and have not done so since. Additionally, the coalition that opposed the “emergency” war funding bill last year seems to have shrunk considerably by the time this year’s “emergency” war escalation bill came around. It’s not too late to change that, and most of last year’s war opponents jumped on with a statement at the last moment. That may happen again in the coming days.
Norman Solomon is going on KPFA “Morning Show” tomorrow (Thursday) at 8:10 a.m. to talk about the swap of Petraeus for McChrystal; 94.1 FM on the radio in Northern California and streaming on the web at www.kpfa.org
Norman Solomon
June 23, 2010
Take Action: Tell Congress – No More Money for War
When the wheels are coming off, it doesn’t do much good to change the driver.
Whatever the name of the commanding general in Afghanistan, the U.S. war effort will continue its carnage and futility.
Between the lines, some news accounts are implying as much. Hours before Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s meeting with President Obama on Wednesday, the New York Times reported that “the firestorm was fueled by increasing doubts—even in the military—that Afghanistan can be won and by crumbling public support for the nine-year war as American casualties rise.”
June 13, 2010
Norman Solomon, Syndicated Columnist & Progressive Democrats of America, National Board Member, discusses President Obama’s relationship with the progressive & liberal wings of the Democratic Party, unaffiliated liberals, and the Political Left.
Washington, DC
Norman Solomon will be on C-Span “Washington Journal” tomorrow (Sunday), 7:45 a.m. ET, talking about Obama and progressives.
Video of his appearance on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” will be posted soon after it happens Sunday morning:
Wednesday, June 9. 2010
Reactions to yesterday’s election results include exhilarating highs and disappointing lows. Local & Statewide election results will not be certified until July 9. Ballots are still being counted. Semi-official results are posted here .
In Marcy Winograd’s note today to her supporters she states in regard to her lost Congressional bid, “We are building a movement — and change will come.” And that is the theme of tonight’s program at our regular monthly meeting, as we feature:
Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train
Harvey Wasserman
June 9, 2010
Take Action: Tell Congress – End our dependence on dirty energy—we want a carbon tax with revenue returned to households!
Published by Common Dreams
As BP’s ghastly gusher assaults the Gulf of Mexico and so much more, a tornado has forced shut the Fermi2 atomic reactor at the site of a 1966 melt-down that nearly irradiated the entire Great Lakes region.
Steve Cobble
June 7, 2010
Tomorrow is Today—TAKE ACTION NOW— Join the phone bank for Marcy!
Published by The Huffington Post.
Just a little over 2 days left to say yes to one of the only real progressive Democratic challengers running this year.
Just a few hours left to go to www.winograd4congress.com to make a donation, volunteer to make a few phone calls, or find out where to vote.
Here’s the link for live streaming of KPFK Radio, which will air an interview with Marcy Winograd and Norman Solomon on Wednesday at 8 a.m. (West Coast time). The focus: policy toward Israel/Palestine, the killing of people on the Gaza aid flotilla and the record of Congresswoman Jane Harman (who was invited but declined).
Norman Solomon
June 1, 2010
When Israel attacked the Gaza aid flotilla, Congresswoman Jane Harman was engaged in a parallel assault. Israel’s government relied on the efficacy of violence; Harman’s campaign was counting on the power of paid media. In both cases, the targets were advocates of human rights for Palestinian people.
Brandishing guns and stun grenades, in international waters, Israeli commandos rappelled from a helicopter and boarded from a fast-moving boat onto the flotilla’s largest ship. The mission was to halt a Gaza-bound expedition carrying 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid.
The mission of Harman’s campaign strategists—targeting her progressive opponent with a slick TV commercial—was to achieve a related goal in California’s 36th congressional district. Stopping the Gaza flotilla and stopping the congressional campaign of Marcy Winograd are similar agenda items.
Help elect Winograd — join the virtual phone bank!
Remembering. Learning. Changing the Reality.
Healthcare NOT Warfare
“If other eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us.” Gen. John Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic wrote in his general orders prior to the first observance of Memorial Day on May 30, 1868.
Are the words above any less true if spoken about the struggle to stop funding more war, or for healthcare for all, than when spoken about the sacrifice and courage of soldiers? This Memorial Day, let’s pause to recall all of the heroes who fight with every ounce of energy and often with tremendous human suffering to end the great injustices of our day.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 18, 2010
Local PDA Chapter Joins Nationwide Protests in Opposition to $33 Billion War Supplemental
Progressive Democrats Sonoma County, the local chapter of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), to hold noon hour “Brown Bag Lunch Vigil” in front of Rep. Lynn Woolsey’s Santa Rosa office to stop the escalation and funding for war.
We thank Rep. Woolsey for signing on to support HR 2454, calling for an exit strategy from Afghanistan & HR 3699, prohibiting any increase in the number of U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan.
Further, we call on Rep. Woolsey to publicly commit to voting “No” on any bills that fund wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, or Yemen, and to publicly urge her colleagues and the House leadership to make the same commitment.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
12 PM – 1 PM
Office of Rep. Lynn Woolsey
1101 College Avenue
Santa Rosa , CA 95404
Why is progressive Lynn Woolsey working so hard for center-right Jane Harman?
By Norman Solomon
bohemian.com
May 5, 2010
This is a grim story about the care and feeding of a Blue Dog.
Right now, Southern California congresswoman Jane Harman is facing a serious primary challenge from a genuine progressive. Harman is a member of the center-right caucus of House Democrats known as the Blue Dog Coalition. She has chosen not to join the Progressive Caucus.
In sharp contrast, her opponent, Marcy Winograd, is calling for the government “to invest in housing, education, healthcare, transportation—not to perpetuate a war economy that is draining us, robbing us of money that we desperately need.” And Winograd adds: “I challenge my opponent to stop voting for this war machine.”
While belonging to the largest caucus on Capitol Hill (with a membership now above 80), some members of the Progressive Caucus often say that they need more colleagues who’ll be willing to vote against war and in favor of a truly progressive legislative agenda. But if Progressive Caucus members want to move the House of Representatives in a progressive direction, you’d never know it when there’s a real chance to replace a Blue Dog with a progressive.
I spent a weekend with my PDA buddies in California, as we organized around the State Democratic Party Convention in Los Angeles. It was a great weekend, full of close friends, good beer, great speeches, and feisty agitation.
And it reminded me, once again, how important an organization PDA is to progressive populism.
Who Let the Blue Dogs Out?
By Norman Solomon
Pt. Reyes Lighthouse
April 29, 2010
“What’s propelling the Winograd campaign— with its passion, commitment,fearlessness and antipathy toward the corporate warfare state—is exactly what Congress and the country need.” — Norman Solomon.
TAKE LOCAL ACTION: Contact bill@winogradforcongress.com to receive instructions for easy, virtual phone-banking from home. A few hours of your time or a few calls every day can make a big difference!
We are an affiliated chapter of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)
STAY TUNED FOR PROGRAM DETAILS!
PDSonoma meets the 2nd Wednesday of every month except December.
New Members and Guests Always Welcome!
Refreshments can be ordered and enjoyed in our meeting room. Please arrive early if you wish to order refreshments.
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