DEMOCRATS SPEAK-UP for Senator Obama

by RW Spisak Jr.

At the West Palm Beach Democratic Party rally, Democrats gathered to discuss the Election effort ahead, and Bush Administration Criminality. Since the meeting was limited to two hours, only the highlights of Bush Administration Crimes could be discussed. Here are a few examples of each, from the three areas discussed.

National - Violation of his oath of office, "to protect and defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic."
[Partisan/Religious Litmus tests for Justice Department positions.]
[Signing Statements that usurp Legislative and Judicial Authority
further destroying the balance of powers designed for our Government.]

Constitutional - 1st Amendment Free Speech & Freedom of Assembly
[Free Speech Zones.]
4th Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures
[Tapping the entire Internet searching for Personal Information]
[Seizing computers, and pamphlets of activists participating in dissent, and detaining journalists who report on dissent]

International - Geneva Convention Violations, [Secret Prisons, Extraordinary Renditions (State Kidnapping)Ghost Prisoners (held beyond Red Cross or Red Crescent), Policies of Torture.]
Indiscriminate use of weapons of Mass Destruction
[Shock & Awe Warfare, Cluster Bombs, Depleted Uranium Warheads]

Committed, caring democrats presented a wish-list of suggestions for presentation to the Obama campaign. We collected comments for about 30 minutes and these are the Primary Points.

* Democrats need to speak with an emotional message, not just factual points,
some people can't digest factual points but emotional appeals often have greater reach and impact
* Support was requested for the Department of Peace, an important Kucinich campaign issue
* Why hasn't a new Energy Policy been addressed more aggressively - it will help domestically,
it will have a profound impact on national security, it will lead to economic improvements and additional employment opportunities.
* There should be more discussion of the Bush Crimes, and Constitutional abuses
* Senator Biden should have a higher profile
* The FCC needs new leadership - the issues of Net Neutrality and Comcast's "Net-Metering"
as well as the ongoing implosion of Old-Media ownership require a new approach
* Discussions of Gov. Palin's endorsement and/or support of the Alaskan Independence Movement
* Gov. Palin's claim of a record of opposition "the old boy network" must be tested against
A. Her support and fundraising for the indicted Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens
B. Her cronyism approach to staffing her mayoral and governor offices.

There was additional discussion, over whether some of these topics should wait, until after the election or should they be part of the campaign, for the next 50 days.

Many raised questions about where could they find responses to the lies being spread
by many on the republican side. The website RESPOND TO THE LIES was suggested as a great place to find the information necessary to refute the seeming endless stream of outright lies and half truths-summoned by the Rove-ite wing of the Republican party.

There were discussions of recent election problems, and the Florida Legislature's most recent attempt to disenfranchise Floridian minority voters with it's ""no match no vote law".

"Secretary of State Kurt Browning sent notice to the state's 67 supervisors of elections on Friday that the 2006 law, which has been on hold for the last year pending court rulings, would take effect again Sept. 8.

The result is that voters whose identification doesn't match with state files on Election Day will be given a provisional ballot and two days to prove their identity for their ballot to count.

Voting rights activists, who had unsuccessfully challenged the constitutionality of the law, blasted the decision, saying it allows the state to rely on what they consider error-prone databases in the month before voter registration ends on Oct. 6.

``This 11th-hour decision is an ill-advised move to apply a policy the state has never enforced in its current form, at a time when registration activity is at its highest, said Alvaro Fernandez of the Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project, a plaintiff in the case along with the NAACP and the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition."

During a discussion of the progress Florida has finally made on Rights Restoration, (ACLU has an active Rights Restoration Campaign in Florida) it was pointed out that while Florida has increased the rates of processing it has cut funding to inform those whose, rights have been restored.

The Palm Beach democrats are energized and ready to make the most of these fifty+ days till we can call Senator Obama, president elect.