By Doug Porter
Vermont Senator and Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders did not concede–as some expected him to do– during his 27-minute speech to supporters on Thursday night.
He did, however, attempt to drive home the point that the movement springing from his candidacy wasn’t about him.
Sanders urged supporters to stay engaged in the struggle for economic and social justice by taking their cause to the Democratic convention, the general election and by involving themselves in the political process at every level.
Here’s how he started out the speech:
Election days come and go. But political and social revolutions that attempt to transform our society never end. They continue every day, every week and every month in the fight to create a nation of social and economic justice. That’s what the trade union movement is about. That’s what the civil rights movement is about. That’s what the women’s movement is about. That’s what the gay rights movement is about. That’s what the environmental movement is about.
And that’s what this campaign has been about over the past year. That’s what the political revolution is about and that’s why the political revolution must continue into the future…
And it ended with:
…My hope is that when future historians look back and describe how our country moved forward into reversing the drift toward oligarchy, and created a government which represents all the people and not just the few, they will note that, to a significant degree, that effort began with the political revolution of 2016.
Watching Michael Vu
At a press conference this morning, activists announced legal action against the San Diego County Registrar of Voters (and his immediate county supervisor).
Earlier this week, the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, Michael Vu, refused to include 285,000 uncounted ballots in the 1% manual count audit of the vote required by the California Elections Code. [On June 16, 2016, Vu DID add a 9th sample batch of Vote by Mail (VBM) ballots in response to the demand for 8 additional batches to cover all the VBM ballots cast.]
Therefore, Ray Lutz has filed a Complaint for Declarative Relief with the California Superior Court against Vu and his supervisor, County Chief Administrative Officer Helen Robbins-Meyer, demanding:
- A larger sample of Vote by Mail (VBM) ballots be included in the manual tally process. The percentage must be at least 1% of the VBM ballots known to have been cast. In this case, it roughly double the number of batches originally selected are required.
- Essentially all VBM ballots and provisional ballots should be included in the set of ballots included in the manual tally process. By including these ballots in the process, more of the process is checked, including the ballots removed in the QC inspection.
- The definition for “batch” according to the election code “means a set of ballots tabulated by the voting system devices, for which the voting system can produce a report of the votes cast.” Plaintiff asked for data files corresponding to the “report of the votes cast” for batches in the VBM manual tally and the Registrar refused to provide these files. In addition, our oversight protocol is substantially enhanced if we get all the data files corresponding to the batches PRIOR TO the 1% manual tally selection process.
- The official election results should not be certified unless the 1% manual tally is performed according to the law.
Chicago: On to the Future…
Bernie Sanders supporters showed their appreciation as the candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States made his way to the stage at a rally held April 19 in Penn State’s Recreation Hall.
For some Sanders supporters, led by the National Nurses Union, continuing the revolution will be discussed at a ‘People’s Summit’ in Chicago this weekend.
From CNN:
“Activists are going to congregate and work on process and working groups and have breakout sessions and talk more broadly about what’s next,” said People for Bernie co-founder andOccupy Wall Street alum Winnie Wong. “What does the movement look like? What kind of platform do we demand? What kind of democracy are we going to create together?”
More than 3,000 potential allies are expected to take up those weighty questions during a three-day series of panel discussions, film screenings, and workshop sessions with titles like “Building Independent Political Power” and “Ending Voter Suppression, Mass Incarceration, Deportations and Gender Inequality.” Among the participants will be representatives and members of a broad swath of progressive organizations, including the Working Families Party, Reclaim Chicago, 350.org and dozens more.
The Struggle Continues: Movements Uniting
A coalition of activist groups, including both Sanders and Clinton supporters, has issued a call for unity.
Endorsers of a statement by Members of the MovementsUnited4Justice include: American Federation of Teachers, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Color of Change, Communications Workers of America, Friends of the Earth, MoveOn.org, National Council of La Raza Action Fund, National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Service Employees International Union, Sierra Club, 350.org, United We Dream, and Working Families Party:
From Occupy Wall Street to the fight for marriage equality, from Black Lives Matter to the rising demand for immigrant justice and criminal justice reform, from the defense of reproductive rights to the demand to end gun violence, from the People’s Climate March to the Fight for $15 and a union, and to fighting against student debt, people across the country have come together to build broad movements to empower their communities and act as a force for change. Our movements have shifted the national debate and our political discourse. Together, we are fighting for justice on all fronts.
The horrific tragedy in Orlando once again reminds us that hate and violence threaten the core of who we are as a country. It reminds us that by joining together we have the power and the strength in numbers to combat hate and build a better future for our families and communities.
Our movements are not tethered to any particular candidate or party, and our vision doesn’t begin or end with any given election cycle. Our movements are demanding that all candidates address the reality of our times and respond by supporting our fights for justice on all fronts. We are in the midst of a long overdue reckoning with our nation’s history of systemic racism and nativism. Issues of gender identity, equality, and reproductive freedom and access are front and center. Communities have aligned behind the fight for environmental justice, clean air and clean water and a path forward on mitigating the harmful pollution that causes climate change. The economic debate is centered on raising wages and tackling the incredible challenges families face in accessing affordable quality healthcare, child care and college education. Together we are speaking with one voice, more loudly than ever before, to take on the outsized influence corporations have in our political system.
The stakes this November couldn’t be higher. Our nation must choose between the politics that seek to unite us and the politics of division and hate. The organizations we represent are committed to joining together to support candidates who commit to enact the policies and practice the politics required to secure this future for our country. We stand united against and will fight together against politicians who disguise their own lack of vision by manipulating racial and economic fears and who prioritize corporate interests and right-wing extremism over basic protections for all Americans. We will work together to elect candidates who will lead our country on the principles of respect for all people and building an economy and democracy that works for everyone.
Bush: Save the Senate to Check Cheeto Jesus
Former President George W. Bush has emerged from the shadows to campaign for Republican Senators consider vulnerable in the 2016 general election, according to the New York Times.
Following the announcement last month that he would not support the candidacy of Donald Trump, Bush has committed to headlining fundraisers for incumbents in five states.
This wouldn’t normally be considered a big deal, except that the message being touted is that saving controll of the Senate will be needed to keep either Trump or Clinton in check.
GOP consultant Rick Wilson has never given up on the #NeverTrump movement. He may have stumbled on to the negative nickname that will stick to The Donald during a recent rant on twitter.
8/ This weekend, people were lined up hundreds deep to give blood to the victims of Orlando. Your Cheeto Jesus was praising himself.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) June 16, 2016
The Donald is famous for his social media proclamations that attempt to associate opponents with unfavorable or mocking titles. His recent attempts to call out Senator Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas” prompted a wave of negative reaction.
One Year Ago…
White supremacist Dylan Roof gunned down nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina during a bible study class. He was hoping to start a race war. Instead, a movement to “take down” the Confederate flag emerged.
After some early successes, this movement has faltered, according to a story at Think Progress:
There are still eight states that memorialize the Confederacy with designated holidays: South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas.
Each state puts its own spin on those holidays. For instance, Alabama shuts down all of its courts, state offices, and licensing offices on General Robert E Lee’s birthday, whereas Virginia honors Lee and General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson with two separate holidays. Mississippi, the state with thelargest percentage of black people, has an entire Confederate Heritage month.
Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill told ThinkProgress that he supports the “celebration of the heritage of the South” but that pride isn’t “related to race, divisiveness, or a heritage of fighting.”
Unfortunately, the battle flag of the Confederacy has also emerged as the unofficial flag of the bigots supporting Donald Trump.
Weekly Progressive Calendar: Upcoming in San Diego
SlapJazzDanny & Friends at The GO!
Saturday, June 25th, 7:30pm
Grassroots Oasis
3130 Moore St (Old Town)
Info & Updates (Admission)
The Toronto Globe and Mail wrote of SlapJazzDanny:
“Hambone was developed by American slaves as a way of making music when they werent allowed to use musical instruments. San Diegos SlapJazzDanny is among the greatest hambone artists in the world. He literally converts his body into a drum set.”
Inspired by ‘E’! What is ‘E’ you might ask… Oh that is Encouragement! We all need it and it makes life worthwhile. Danny loves to share his art as a performer, and he feels it is his duty to ”give back” out of what has been given to him. You can see SlapJazzDanny in performance at:http://slapjazzdanny.blogspot.com/p/y…
Joining Danny for this very special evening at The GO will be two other masters:
Leland “Spoonful” Collins: Master Spoons! He brings the heat! You will never look at your kitchen spoons the same way again! https://www.facebook.com/leland.s.col….
Jimmy Patton: Award Winning Guitarist! Claimed the title of Best Unsigned Guitarist in the Nation!
https://www.facebook.com/Jimmy-Patton…
Book Launch! Professor Doreen Mattingly
Discusses Her New Book About Midge Costanza
Monday, June 20, 6:30pm
Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans – PANA
4089 Fairmount Ave (City Heights)
Info & Updates
Hosted by Democratic Woman’s Club of San Diego County
A feminist, an outspoken activist, a woman without a college education, Midge Costanza was one of the unlikeliest of White House insiders. Yet in 1977 she became the first female Assistant to the President for Public Liaison under Jimmy Carter, emerging as a prominent focal point of the American culture wars. Tasked with bringing the views of special interest groups to the president, Costanza championed progressive causes even as Americans grew increasingly divided on the very issues for which she fought.
In A Feminist in the White House, clubmember Doreen Mattingly, Professor of History at San Diego State University, draws on Costanza’s personal papers to shed light on the life of this fascinating and controversial woman. Mattingly chronicles Costanza’s dramatic rise and fall as a public figure, from her initial popularity to her ultimate clashes with Carter and his aides. While Costanza challenged Carter to support abortion rights, gay and lesbian rights, and feminist policies, Carter faced increased pressure to appease the interests of emerging Religious Right, which directly opposed Costanza’s ideals. Ultimately, marginalized both within the White House and by her fellow feminists, Costanza was pressured to resign in 1978.
Through the lens of Constanza’s story, readers catch a unique perspective of the rise of debates which have defined the feminist movement and sexual politics to this very day. Mattingly also reveals a wider, but heretofore neglected, narrative of the complex era of gender politics in the late 1970’s Washington – a history which continues to resonate in politics today. A Feminist in the White House is a must-read for anyone with an interest in sexual politics, female politicians, and presidential history.
Ride & Rally to Help Pass the Downtown Mobility Plan!
Tuesday, June 21, 12:30 pm
Starting at Horton Plaza
Info & Updates
Hosted by Bike San Diego and San Diego County Bike Coalition
Join us to support this game changing plan for improve bicycling in downtown San Diego! Meet up at the new Horton Plaza Park at 12:30 p.m. We will have a pre ride rally and then ride through downtown before arriving at City Council for 2pm meeting.
2016 Work-a-thon for Peace & Social Justice
Saturday, June 25, 9am
Access Inc
2612 Daniel Ave
Info & Updates
A day of community service for peace and social justice.
There are TWO WAYS YOU CAN HELP!! Be a Volunteer or Sponsor.
Register online (for either) – now! at the “ticket” link above or here:
http://docs.google.com/forms/d/1WsdEsukDrt3m3XN_hl578vm5otKO74m58Z6mg_fUp0c/viewform
Junco Canche – Comedy & Live Painting
Saturday, June 25, 7pm
Mesheeka
2113 Logan Ave #4
Info & Updates
Come to Mesheeka and enjoy a night of Junco Canche while he paints live and also does a generous set of his own style of Chicano comedy !!!
Documentary Screening of ‘Trapped’
Monday, June 27, 6:30pm
First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego
4190 Front Street, San Diego
Info & Updates
Hosted by the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego and the San Diego Coalition for Reproductive Justice
“Riveting, powerful and timely as hell!” – Flavorwire
Since 2010, 288 laws regulating abortion providers have been passed by state legislatures.
As the U.S. Supreme Court decides in 2016 whether individual states may essentially outlaw abortion (Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt), Trapped follows clinic workers and lawyers who are on the front lines of the battle to keep abortion safe and legal for millions of American women.
Please bring your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors – everyone – as this is a fight that affects everyBODY! Beverages and desserts will be served. FREE event!
Trailer and more info: www.trappeddocumentary.com
There is a major need for patient escort volunteers at the Mira Mesa health center from 7:30 – 12:30pm on Saturdays. Protestors ruthlessly go right up to the patient’s car window, and it gets worse from there. For more information on how to volunteer please check out:https://www.facebook.com/prochoicevolunteersandiego
Get your event listed: I try to list the next 10 days or so of mostly non-commercial events I think our readers might find of interest. I source my material from social media listings and press releases. In cases where there are competing but similar events or campaigns of the progressive persuasion, I do my best to list everything. Unfortunately, my subscription to the psychic hotline has lapsed so if you don’t tell me or Facebook, etc., about your event it won’t get listed. See my email address at the end of this column.
On This Day: 1856 – The Republican Party opened its first national convention in Philadelphia. 1873 – Susan B. Anthony goes on trial in Canandaigua, N.Y., for casting her ballot in a federal election the previous November, in violation of existing statutes barring women from the vote. 1928 – Amelia Earhart began the flight that made her the first woman to successfully fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
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Doug Porter
Latest posts by Doug Porter (see all)
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THANK YOU once more for your service to our community, Doug! Your Starting Line is Must Read for me every morning.
Amen. Doug Porter speaks with his soul, constantly.