Matewan

Tonight we’re watching “Matewan,” a film directed by John Sayles, filmed by Haskel Wexler, and released in 1987. The film is about attempts to organize coal miners in West Virginia in the 1920s.  It is based on real events; a small war broke out in Matewan in 1920 resulting in the deaths of four townspeople and seven company representatives.

Chris Cooper plays the union organizer who tries to unite the white miners and black and Italian replacement workers brought in by the company.  Some things have not changed in the last 90 some years.  Union organizers are still called socialists and harassed by company goons.  Companies still try to divide blacks and whites and immigrants against one another.  The huge power differential between the companies and the workers is still with us.  And Chris Cooper’s words still ring true:  There are only two sides--those that work and those that don’t.  

No water pistols, Glocks allowed

According to an editorial in today’s New York Times, the Tampa city council is getting ready for the Republican National Convention in August.  The council has temporarily banned “...clubs, hatchets, switchblades, pepper spray, slingshots, chains, shovels and all manner of guns that shoot water, paint or air.”

On the other hand, you can take your Glock, loaded with real bullets, and walk around outside the hall.  It seems that Florida has a law that any local government that bans firearms can be fined up to $100,000.  

The Republican Party is full of Tea Party activists who don’t like Romney, or who do like Romney but not Gingrich or Santorum.  These are the people who brought loaded handguns to townhalls in 2010.  These people are crazy.

You might want to avoid Tampa during the Republican convention.  If you do go, be prepared to take cover.

Reassurance

In a column in today’s New York Times, Nicholas D. Kristof discussed a pair of scientific studies of poultry on factory farms that found that chickens on those farms “...are routinely fed caffeine, active ingredients of Tylenol and Benadryl, banned antibiotics and even arsenic.”

Arsenic is fed to chickens because it reduces infections.  Benadryl and Prozac are fed to chickens to reduce anxiety.  Caffeine keeps them awake so they eat more.

Some readers of this blog eat our eggs.  One has even used one of our old chickens to make stock for stew.  

Here is my disclaimer.  Our chickens are fed “lay mash” manufactured in Kempton, Pennsylvania.  The feed contains no caffeine, arsenic, antibiotics, or Tylenol.

I also throw corn, lettuce, weeds, apples, and sunflower seeds into their yard as a treat.  Occasionally, when I’m working in the garden, I’ll toss them an earthworm or a grub.  They love those.  And while I do drink coffee, I don’t share it with our leghorns.

Speak up, even if your voice shakes

Occasionally I wear a tee shirt with that saying.  I really believe it.  One reason that public opinion has swung in favor of gay rights, including gay marriage, is because gays came out of the closet.  Fifty years ago, almost no one knew any gay people.  It isn’t that there weren’t gay people around, but they were in hiding.  A major result of the gay rights movement was that gays publicly proclaimed who they were.  Sometimes their voices shook, but they spoke out.

Straight people discovered they knew gays.  They were friends, siblings, colleagues, and neighbors.  It is difficult to be anti-gay if your brother is gay.  I’m reasonably certain Santorum would knock off the gay bashing if he knew his sister-in-law was a lesbian, or if one of his sons confided that he was gay. 

It is for this reason that women who have had an abortion or men who are husbands or partners  of women who had an abortion should speak out.  When is the last time at a public meeting you heard a woman announce that she had an abortion?  Literally millions of American women have had abortions, yet they are silent in the national debate.  I believe many of the anti-abortion fanatics would be quite surprised to learn that their sisters or friends or even their mothers at one time had an abortion.  I am fully and personally aware that getting an abortion is not an easy decision.  Nonetheless, we need to speak out, shaky voice or not.   

The EPA and mercury

“Expensive regulation:  EPA coal emissions plan will be a job killer” was the headline in a Times News “guest editorial” written by Jennifer Stefano, the Pennsylvania State Director for Americans for Prosperity.  Americans for Prosperity is an anti-environmental pro-business group which, I believe, would like to bring back breaker boys to pick the slate out of the coal.  The editorial is full of unsubstantiated assertions and dubious statistics.  

Here’s another headline for another guest editorial:  “Expensive deregulation:  Ending EPA coal emissions controls will affect unborn children.”  Yes, that is one of the results of mercury pollution.  I’d send a guest editorial to the Times News to accompany that headline, but I doubt if the paper would use it.  

Dick and Judy's Excellent Campaign Adventure, Part 2

Last night we had the first installment detailing Dick and Judy’s decision to work for Congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth.  Tonight we continue with the actual campaign.

We were two of many volunteers for Tammy…we spent hours writing postcards, making phone calls, and stuffing envelopes. Dick did some door-to-door canvassing and put up campaign signs in the area.  Judy was asked to assist with data entry for the campaign, and she was also successful in having two Letters to the Editor published.   

Recently, when we were stuffing envelopes with thank you notes to donors, one of the volunteers commented that Joe Walsh probably only has to send out about six letters, since two of his contributors are the Koch Brothers!

As volunteers we were invited to a Meet and Greet where we met Tammy in person for the first time.   She was immediately impressive and reinforced our decision to work for her.  Tammy did many of these Meet and Greets–wise decision on her part because once you meet her, you are “hooked.”  

We went to a fund-raiser where Senator Dick Durbin endorsed Tammy.  It turned out to be one of the few snowy evenings we’ve had all winter, but it was well-attended in spite of that.  We also enjoyed a debate between Tammy and her primary opponent Raja Krishnamoorthi.  The press was there, and we felt Tammy did exceptionally well.   Krishnamoorthi was a good candidate but not ready for the challenge presented by Joe Walsh. 

The climax was the night of the primary when we were invited to the election night party, which became a rousing celebration when Tammy won with 67% of the vote.   Every TV station had cameras and reporters there, along with radio personalities, blog writers, newspaper reporters–all of whom converged on Tammy for interviews after her victory speech.  It was an exciting evening and an experience we will never forget.

This is truly a grass-roots campaign with a very personal touch.  Since Tammy does not like the use of robo-calls, all the phone calls made were by volunteers.  The postcards were handwritten by volunteers using our own words.   Tammy herself was frequently at the office visiting with us and sharing thoughts and ideas.  We were fortunate to have lunch with her at a local restaurant the day before the primary where she and Dick largely discussed their aviation experiences.  She was very interested in Dick’s former career as an Aircraft Mechanic for the airlines.   She is clearly not a politician who is only interested in talking about herself and her accomplishments (which are many)!

One of the special rewards for working on this campaign is the camaraderie with the other volunteers.  Even though our district is now thought to be “leaning Democratic,” our particular suburban area is still largely Republican, so it was great to have other Democrats to talk with.  They are a very friendly, intelligent group from all walks of life–teachers, skilled workers, accountants, office workers, union members, veterans, etc.  Her campaign staff is great fun to work with and mostly very young–they are committed to the cause and work extremely hard.  We were wondering if they ever slept!  

This will be a watched race throughout the country, not only due to the notoriety of Tammy’s opponent, but also because of the redistricting. We now have a chance to have a Democrat representing us in Congress for the first time.  

The staff is giving a wine and cheese party for all the volunteers next week, but after that, we will likely be slowing down until the fall campaign actively begins in full force.

In the meantime, Tammy plans to do more of the Meet and Greets (a lot like Town Halls, but generally in private homes), along with numerous fund raisers.  We will have the opportunity to participate in local parades on Memorial Day and throughout the summer.  We plan to continue to help out whenever and how ever we can.   Joe Walsh must be defeated!

Dick and Judy will report on the Duckworth campaign again in the upcoming months.

The Tammy Duckworth race

Far-flung correspondents in locations as far away as Belgium or Summit Hill send in their news.  Two of our readers, Dick and Judy White, live in Illinois, and both were involved in the Tammy Duckworth campaign.  I asked them if they would like to do a guest blog about their experiences.  Here is Part I:

Dick & Judy’s Excellent Campaign Adventure

For the first time in our voting lives, we decided to get involved in politics, specifically the Democratic primary in our District (Illinois District 8).  We began our adventure in January of this year.  

We have been supporters of Tammy Duckworth for some time, but we did not get directly involved with her previous attempt at office in 2006 against Peter Roskam.  It was a largely Republican district, but Tammy received 48.7% of the vote.  Roskam’s campaign was less than honorable (being kind here).    We are now in a different district and no longer have the non-representation of Roskam.  But it gets worse….

The Republican incumbent and candidate in our new District is Joe Walsh – a Tea Party “Screamer” and Obama-hater.   This fact is what really pushed our involvement.  Here are a couple of his latest gems.  From the Washington Post: “He [Walsh] vows that he will do nothing to help his constituents and instead focus entirely on his ‘mission to sorta scream from the mountaintop.’” And from Politico: "What else has she done? Female, wounded veteran...ehhh."  It should also be noted that Tammy has actually lived in the district since at least 2005 and Joe lives well outside of the district.

Here is Tammy’s background.   She was a helicopter pilot in Iraq (one of the first women to fly combat missions).  In 2004, her helicopter was shot down, and she lost both legs and part of the use of her right arm.  She became a strong advocate for veterans while she was still recovering at Walter Reed Hospital and was eventually named Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs.  In 2009 she was appointed Assistant Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs by President Obama.  She was successful in both roles, finding jobs for returning vets and improving the quality of their care.  She has a strong drive to do the same for all Americans.  That’s it in a nutshell – if you’d like to know more, check out <www.tammyduckworth.com>.

Tomorrow:  What we did in the campaign.