I got this note from Clare Kelly yesterday – let’s plan a road trip for Saturday!
Dear John,
We’re only five days away from election in the 12th Bristol District and Democratic
nominee Roger Brunelle needs your help more than ever.
Roger is a proven business and community leader, but he face stiff opposition from
his Tea Party-backed opponent.
You can help stem that tide by volunteering in this weekend’s GOTV effort.
Below you will find a list of volunteer opportunities Roger’s campaign has
organized for this weekend. I can’t wait to see you there!
Clare Kelly,
Executive Director
P.S. Make sure you call all your friends, family, and neighbors and let them know
about this election!
——–
Saturday, September 17th:
Taunton Canvass from 11am-5pm. Meet at Taunton Post Office, 493 Middleboro Ave.
Sunday, September 18th:
New Bedford Canvass from 11am-5pm. Meet at campaign HQ, 554 Pleasant Ave, New
Bedford.
Monday the 19th and Tuesday the 20th:
GOTV canvasses from 7am-7pm leaving from campaign HQ.
Anyone that is interested in volunteering at any other time can visit campaign HQ
from 10am-4pm at 554 Pleasant St. in New Bedford.
To find our more information on Roger, you can visit his website
www.votebrunelle2011.com.
An Unnoticed Result of the 2010 Elections
An article in the latest (Sept 12th 2011) issue of The Nation is worth summarizing and remembering. Titled ‘Rural Rebellions’, it contains analysis of subtle but encouraging statistical voting trends in rural counties that traditionally vote Republican. This is a demographic Democrats sorely need to win in Congress as well as the Red states legislatures. Continue reading
BOSTON — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled unanimously late Friday that Simon Glik had a right to videotape police in action on Boston Common. Mr. Glik sued three police officers and the City of Boston for violating his civil rights after police arrested him and charged him with illegal wiretapping, aiding the escape of a prisoner, and disturbing the peace–all for merely holding up his cell phone and openly recording Boston police officers who were punching another man on Boston Common in October 2007. As a defense, the police argued the law was not clear, but the Court decisively rejected their claim of immunity from being sued.
http://aclum.org/news_release_8.29.11
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/17/rick-perrys-k-street-proj_n_929584.html
(First Posted on HP: 8/17/11)
. . . Perry also railed at earmarks, the practice of a member of Congress directing spending to be used on specific programs.
“Earmarks represent the wasteful spending that has most caught public interest of late and for good reason, he wrote. “Earmarks corrupt the process and divert attention from the real task of governing and oversight.”
But during the same time period covered in the book, Perry himself entered Texas into controversial contracts with Washington lobbyists who helped bring billions of dollars in federal money to Perry’s home state, some of it via earmarks. Some of those lobbyists would wind up pleading guilty in a separate major bribery scandal.
(A request for comment sent to Perry’s office was not returned Wednesday afternoon.)
http://www.gocomics.com/jackohman/2011/08/30
http://www.gocomics.com/bensargent/2011/08/31
http://www.gocomics.com/stevekelley/2011/08/25
http://www.gocomics.com/drewsheneman/2011/08/29
http://www.gocomics.com/tonyauth/2011/08/31
http://www.gocomics.com/claybennett/2011/08/26
http://www.gocomics.com/mikethompson/2011/08/28
http://www.gocomics.com/chipbok/2011/08/26
http://www.gocomics.com/viewsamerica/2011/08/25
and this one I just couldn’t resist:
http://www.gocomics.com/viewslatinamerica/2011/08/25
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/25/steve-chabot-tea-party-cameras-town-halls_n_936465.html
WASHINGTON — After banning and confiscating cameras at his town hall events, Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) is taking heat from all sides — including from Tea Party activists Eric Odom and Judson Phillips.
At a town hall meeting on Monday, a Chabot staffer directed a Cincinnati police officer to seize video cameras and cell phones from two Democratic activists who were attending the event.
This is the first report of cameras being confiscated at Chabot’s town halls, although he has been banning them since at least June.
Chabot spokesman Jamie Schwartz said the policy was meant “to protect the privacy of constituents,” saying there were “multiple instances where constituents voiced their concern about being videotaped when asking a question that revealed private information.” [private info shouldn’t be shared in a public forum in the first place !]
Members of the media were also filming at Monday’s event, but their cameras were not taken.
. . .
The controversy has yielded a rare moment of agreement between progressives and Tea Party activists. Odom sharply criticized Chabot in an email to supporters on Thursday, writing, “Just when you think you’ve seen it all… a story breaks about a Republican Congressman (or his staff) instructing police to confiscate cameras from constituents in the audience of a townhall event! Yep, you read that right, at a public townhall event, in a public venue (high school gym), hosted by a public official and coordinated by public staffers, personal/private cameras and cell phones are now being forcefully removed to keep video footage from hitting YouTube.”
. . . at Chabot’s next town hall meeting, scheduled for Monday, cameras will not be confiscatedand individuals will be able to ask questions directly.
“We will be modifying our policy to allow individual citizens to bring cameras to our town hall events and will be instructing those in attendance that if they have a private question for the Congressman that he will be available to meet with them after the meeting concludes,” he said.
