Political Cortex: Progressive Democrat Newsletter Issue 144

Progressive Democrat Newsletter Issue 144

By mole333
12/01/2007 10:24:08 PM EST

The Progressive Democrat Newsletter grew out of the frustration of the 2004 election. So I have bene doing this for three years. Having organized protests against the Republican Convention, I found I had a core of activists who needed some encouragement after Bush "won" re-"election". My carefully thought out suggestions as to where we could go from that defeat led to this more-or-less weekly newsletter. Since then I have tried mixing my own rants with national issues and some very local groups and events in an attempt to both help shape debate and to help people find their own ways of getting involved.

This week I discuss Bush's latest slashing of funds for first responders, give some suggestions for holiday shopping to match your values, the irrational Republican hatred for Muslims, and a special thank you for the Oregon Democratic Party. I also discuss the anniversary of the Bhopal disaster. I also do a roundup of local progressive events for places where I have had the most readers over the last couple of weeks. Don't forget to visit an advertiser or two and if you want more, please visit Culture Kitchen.

From what I have heard about the most recent Republican Presidential Primary debate, it amazes me how abyssmal that the Republican candidates are. Of course, the current Republican resident of the White House is even worse than any of the current batch of candidates. So abyssmal candidates CAN lie, steal and cheat their way to the White House. But I can't help but feel that the Republican candidates are SO BAD, and the Democrats are so good that it is hard to imagine we will have a Republican president after Bush leaves office.

Giuliani, arguably the most reasonable and intelligent of the Republican candidates, has a slew of new scandals hitting him. Nothing unexpected to ANY New Yorker who was paying attention to when he was mayor of NYC, but still likely to sour people on him.

This week I start focusing a bit on the holidays and the shopping we all must be part of. I make some suggestions about where to be shopping for the holidays. Hope some of you go with those suggestions.

This coming week is another anniversary of the Bhopal disaster. This man-made disaster, which killed more than 20,000 people, has yet to be cleaned up and justice has yet to be achieved. This kind of disgusting behavior makes American capitalism unacceptable to large parts of the world. We can't let these disgusting events be the dominant view people around the world have of America and democracy.

Here is this week's newsletter:

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

BUSH SCREWS OUR FIRST RESPONDERS...AGAIN!

HOLIDAY SHOPPING FOR LIBERALS

REPUBLICAN PARTY TO MUSLIM-AMERICANS: Screw You!

THANKING THE OREGON DEMOCRATIC PARTY

BHOPAL: 23 Years Later

NY STATE FOCUS: Winning the State Senate

BROOKLYN FOCUS: Shopping to Support Our Community

PENNSYLVANIA FOCUS: Groups and Events

TEXAS FOCUS: Solar Energy for Texas

CALIFORNIA FOCUS: Groups and Events