In Batavia last night Jon Powers, candidate for Congress in NY-26, hosted a screening of the film “Gunner Palace” at the Batavia Elk’s Club. Several members of The Greatest Generation (WWII Veterans and citizens) were in attendance. After the screening, Powers took questions and what struck me the most is how fired up these aging veterans were about the current war in Iraq. Far from being unpatriotic, these are members of arguably our most exalted community, WWII Veterans. The questions asked ranged from “When are we ever getting out of this war?” to “What would you do (Powers) to get us out of this war?” Each question was asked with a measure of palpable frustration. Would anyone dare call these men and women “unpatriotic”?

So many Republicans assert that it’s unpatriotic to critique the war and yet here are members of The Greatest Generation speaking out, able to discern the important distinction between critiquing a war and its impetus and the noble soldiers fulfilling their duty. Our soldiers have done what was asked of them over and over. Our leaders in Washington have not.

I maintain, along with many Democratic candidates and leaders, Powers included, that it is unpatriotic not to advocate for the best for our soldiers. It is unpatriotic to be silent in the face of such egregious mismanagement and undermining of our veterans’ health and economic well-being. Despite what the Bush Administration propagates, Americans are savvy and more and more immune to the spin of the lockstep Republicans and their fall-in-line mantra.

Americans, and perhaps especially WWII Veterans, recognize the tangible effects of this ill-begotten war, which are the erosion of our military in myriad ways, erosion of our economy and, consequently, the erosion of everyday Americans’ ability to attain the American Dream.

Powers answered the veterans’ questions in thorough detail, at one point demonstrating the often overlooked causes and symptoms of Total Brain Injury (TBI) by using three chairs as a model for a Humvee formation. Powers said the IED hits the first Humvee but the shockwave hits the second and third Humvees like a rock making ripples on the water. The shockwave then causes air bubbles to dart around inside the soldiers’ heads due to the shockwave reverberating under their helmets, thus causing sustained brain damage. He pointed out that in many cases a soldier’s condition goes unnoticed until after his or her eligibility for care through the V.A. has expired.

Powers also said that soon we will have more soldiers dying of suicide than in combat in Iraq. That is a different kind of shockwave altogether but one that we all will feel. We need to listen to The Greatest Generation and get fired up. Powers, for one, is listening to them. Here’s hoping those in Washington will listen as well because our soldiers from all generations are speaking out, some with words, others with actions.

This past Saturday Jon Powers, candidate for Congress in NY-26, canvassed Monroe County in the Greece

Photo courtesy Michael Parks.

area, getting out and talking to voters face-to-face for several hours. Powers, a down to earth, affable kind of guy, wore his combat boots to remind him of why he’s doing this. An Army veteran who served in Iraq, Powers returned to Iraq once his tour was completed to begin War Kids Relief, an organization that seeks to help Iraqi children in need before they become the next generation of terrorists. It’s this type of direct, people-oriented problem-solving for which Powers is becoming known.

Powers’ campaign has also taken a direct, grassroots approach, going door-to-door in the district, holding conference calls with supporters, and holding house parties, among other people-centered activities. In essence, Jon Powers’ philosophy seems to be “Boots on the ground.”

Image courtesy Michael Parks.

I’m sorry I just think that headline is funny.   It was from the D&C on-line edition. the Print Edition says “Minarik sounds drumbeat over races”

Apparently there was local GOP convention where the party faithful heard about the important local races.

County Chairman Stephen Minarik warned that Democrats are spending resources and organizing in an attempt to oust state Sen. Joseph Robach, R-Greece.

“The Democrats are harnessing all of their power, all of their money,” Minarik said.

Robach responded

“The idea of them controlling every house, every policy, would be horrible,” Robach said.

Yeah Joe - we’re coming for you.  The big bad Democratic storm clouds are forming and  going to rain on your parade.  boo freaking hoo.

No,  Joe - it is like this - Your record will be allowed to speak for itself.  In fact your conservative voting record and you being a critical enabler of a dysfunctional state government are the stuff that storm clounds are made of.

I wish the article spoke more of the all the GOP red meat that was spewed to the GOP minions.   Business  knows better than  government,  governments job is to help our business’ survive the perils of the free market.  blah blah blah.

The article touched a little bit with quotes by The guys running for Congress provided some quotes by the GOP Congressional candidates.

“I have no problem telling people no new taxes and no new regulation,” said Lee, who lives in Clarence, Erie County, and is running in the 26th District being vacated by Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-Clarence.

“I am fiercely pro-business,” Sweetland [running for Walsh’s set] told the committee members gathered at the Clarion Riverside Hotel. “I also believe in individual rights.”

But local red meat quotes were strangely absent.

Seats for sale! Get your red-hot federal seats heah! A

former Republican and buddy of Bush (who nearly got the appointment of Manufacturing Czar in this adminstration) who decided it’d be easier to buy the Senate seat being vacated by Hagel as a Democrat than a Republican. So that’s what he’s doing.

The New Nebraska Network puts it this way:

One campaign has the grassroots. One campaign has the organization. One campaign has the excitement level to take on Mike Johanns.

And one campaign has a checkbook.

Change the names to New York, Jack Davis, and Jon Powers, and you’re describing the NY-26 race.

Earlier, Rotten and we concurred that Randy Kuhl and other Congressional Republicans will have to move past childish name-calling and adopt an actual agenda if they’re going to have any chance to survive in November. It seems that Newt Gingrich, of all people agrees with us. Problem is, the agenda he suggests is even more absurd than Randy’s current rhetoric and will have little appeal in this area beyond the D&C blog crowd. Here are some of Newt’s suggestions:

1. Repeal the gas tax for the summer

5. Overhaul the census and cut its budget radically.

7. Declare English the official language of government.

In fairness, they’re not all quite this ridiculous. But let’s focus on these for now. We’ve seen before that everyone with half a brain knows number one is a stupid idea. As for number two, the census is in fact badly underfunded and only the 28 percenters will get excited cutting it further. Number 7, like all anti-immigrant measures, is a slow form of political suicide.

It’s amazing. Even when Republicans agree that they have to do something serious, they don’t talk about real issues like Iraq, or health care, or the financial crisis, or the rising cost of food and fuel. They come up with distractions.

Voters will see through this, at least in this part of the country.

http://imgserv.ya.com/galerias2.ya.com/img/a/a196450841323faai3.jpg

(I never noticed before that the word, “analyze”, has the word, “anal” in it. Just an aside.)

Hillary-Barack, Barack-Hillary…What are the issues here? There really are none, unless you count their stands on the suspension of the “gas tax” as a major issue, because, other than that, their stances are very similar, which would explain why a culture war between the two is driving these supporters (especially in the Hillary camp) to become fanatical in the defense of their candidates.

Matt Taibbi addresses this in “Hillary’s Bitter Victory” from this week’s Rolling Stone.

Hillary made herself the champion of everything stylistically ordinary, superficially unimpressive and ignored. And while her opponent won all the attention and admiration, all the teen-idol gushings of the beautiful people, she went for something deeper — resentment at the lack of those same things. She took an opponent who was relentless in his attempts to remain genial, positive and unifying, and managed to turn him into a divisive villain, a symbol representing every oversexed winner who ever had it too easy at the pimply kid’s expense. It’s brilliant strategy, and it’s working so well that Hillary now has her crowds hurling catcalls at the mere mention of anything Obama. Moreover, she’s inspired such profound loyalty that her supporters no longer give a shit at all how they win, as long as they do. Like O.J. apologists who became overnight skeptics of DNA evidence, Clinton backers don’t see anything wrong with winning the nomination through a brokered convention, despite being behind in the popular vote and the delegate count.

Hillary has become the champion of every young girl, middle aged woman and grandmotherly type who has ever been wronged by a man (or the man). While Obama, on the other hand has made this mistake:

the Obama camp was so busy stewing over Bill Clinton’s comparison of Obama’s South Carolina win to Jesse Jackson’s and worrying about being painted as a “black candidate” that they forgot to worry about being painted as something even worse, in American political terms: the candidate of liberal intellectuals.

Taibbi ends with this sad summary which, contrary to what Exile wrote this morning, makes me fear for the reality that might greet us in November.

The result has been an epic clash, a war of cultural types that has nothing whatsoever to do with issues and everything to do with self-image. It’s become a pitched fight between the f***ed-over suburban little guy and the vilified intellectual, two groups that for years have felt put upon and dispossessed, for different reasons. The fact that their respective champions are identical superstar U.S. senators/multimillionaires makes the bitter hatred this schism is inspiring absurd, but it doesn’t make it any less real. Or likely to end anytime soon.

Now, I have a preference for who wins the nomination, but I will work my ass off for whoever gets the nod. I know, personally, several people who will stay home if their candidate is not nominated. I fear this headline on November 5th, Hillary (Obama) supporters stay home, McSame Wins Presidency.

From the Post-Standard:

Republican congressional candidate Dale Sweetland’s campaign picked up steam Monday as his most formidable Republican opponent, Assemblyman Bob Oaks, withdrew from the race and endorsed him.

Sweetland also pocketed the endorsement of the man he hopes to succeed - 10-term incumbent Rep. James Walsh, R-Onondaga.

Never fear, though, punk rock fans: David Gay is still in the race.

Walsh urged two other Republicans, David Gay and Mark-Paul Serafin, to withdraw from the race.

Serafin and Gay said Monday they will continue campaigning. Neither has ruled out forcing a Republican primary election.

Update: btp here. Overheard, music playing at Gay’s campaign HQ:

 Rise above, we’re gonna rise above

We’re sick, and tired, of your, abuse

Try and stop us, it’s no use

Today News 8 Now announced that Tom Reynolds has chosen to support Chris Lee in the race for NY-26:

Rep. Tom Reynolds is endorsing Buffalo-area businessman Chris Lee to take his place as Congressman for New York’s 26th District.

Lee, a Republican, announced he was entering the race last week.

Reynolds, also a Republican, has pledged to work on Lee’s campaign.

I haven’t heard in what capacity Reynolds will be working on Lee’s campaign but I imagine it will improve Lee’s ability to raise funds. I also wonder if this is a signal for David Bellavia, the other Republican who has announced he is running, to drop out.

Meanwhile, the Democrats have veteran Jon Powers, attorney Alice Kryzan, and former recent Republican-turned-Democrat Jack Davis running for the Democratic nomination.

I keep wondering if Republicans are about to fall in line (they do that) while Democrats battle it out in a three-way primary, and I wonder how that will affect the results in November.

My daughter’s first grade class recently learned about the president, elections, etc. One of the class assignments was to write a short paper on what they would do if they were president. This is what my daughter wrote:

She’s kind of a perfectionist, so she crumpled it up after she did it since she was mad she misspelled a couple words. Here’s the text:

as your Presadint i want
to make srue evreyone is
following these rules: do not kill
animals. animls feel pane too.
no killing peple. thay are the
same. no wars for 8 years!
i hope this will be true
some day!

She continually amazes me.

We’ve written before about the surprising Democratic successes in special elections in the south and midwest and what these might tell us about the races in NY-25, NY-26, and NY-29. There’s another one today in Louisiana’s sixth Congressional district. The Democratic candidate is favored although the district is very conservative. Here’s a bit about the way the way race is going from Congressional Quarterly:

That makes Saturday’s primary something of a test of a strategy that the Republicans hope to deploy widely in this fall’s national House campaign. Though the Democrats hold major advantages at this point in the national campaign — in terms of fundraising, candidate recruitment, incumbent retention and public opinion concerning the two parties — Republican planners contend they have a trump card: There are 61 seats currently held by Democrats in districts that favored President Bush in 2004, compared to just eight currently held by Republicans in districts that went for Democratic presidential challenger John Kerry .

When I hear this kind of thing, I wonder how many of those 61 districts that went for Bush in 2004 would go for him now. I think that number is pretty close to zero.

For all you Kuhl/Massa observers out there, here’s a question: how would Bush do against a Democratic candidate in 2008? My feeling is that he’d lose badly.

Update: A Survey USA poll has Democrat Don Cazayoux with 50% support, with 41% for GOP candidate Woody Jenkins.

So, let’s piggy back on my last post about the media’s fascination with trivial crap (lapel pins and crazy preachers) when it comes to the Democratic candidates, and talk about how John McSame gets to bypass that scrutiny and keep his foibles in the closet.

Seems as though McSame has his own crazy preacher, who makes Jeremiah Wright look like a Vienna Choir Boy, in the person of John Hagee. But, do we hear about this bat-shit crazy preacher, who McSame traveled to Texas to beg for his endorsement? No-because the media looooooves them some John McSame. Chris Matthews quote:

“The press loves John McCain. We’re his base.”

-Chris Matthews, MSNBC, Sept 10, 2006

Move on put up this list of facts a while ago. You may note that #9 mentions that sweetheart of a preacher:

10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don’t):
1) John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has “evolved,” yet he’s continued to oppose key civil rights laws.
2) According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain “will make Cheney look like Gandhi.”
3) His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.

4) McCain opposes a woman’s right to choose. He said, “I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned.”
5) The Children’s Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children’s health care bill last year, then defended Bush’s veto of the bill.
6) He’s one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a “second job” and skip their vacations.
7) Many of McCain’s fellow Republican senators say he’s too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: “The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He’s erratic. He’s hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me.”
8 ) McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.

9) McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his “spiritual guide,” Rod Parsley, believes America’s founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a “false religion.” McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church “the Antichrist” and a “false cult.”

10) He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.

And let’s not forget about the Keating Five.

It’s time to call a spade a spade. This man needs to be called out on the carpet for all his ignorance, his inconsistencies, his hubris and his errors in judgment. If the media isn’t going to do it, then it is up to us to get the word out there that this whack-job is the worst thing to come down the pike (that’s right-pike, not pipe) since George W Bush and, could very likely, be much worse.

Scream it from the roof-tops, Progressives!

Is this more fallout from President Bush’s abysmal ratings and Iraq war and other policies?  WBFO News just published this observation about the race in NY-26 (emphasis mine):

BUFFALO, NY (2008-05-01) The race for the 26th congressional district seat being vacated by Republican Tom Reynolds could be unlike any other in recent history. None of the current candidates holds elective office.

Even at the presidential level there is no incumbent president or vice president running for office, the first time since 1928 that has happened. 

The article goes on to say that it is tough for political newcomers to get elected to Congress in Western New York but this year seems to be the exception to “the rule,” as in the rule of the incumbents and current office holders seems to be over in this area.

Which brings us to back to dough, a dear concern.  Incumbents have a huge advantage in fundraising, so the absence of incumbents in NY-26 seems to make the playing field more level…except for that whole millionaire thing.  The Supreme Court, packed with Bush appointees, could override the lack of Bush or his cohorts running for elected office, nullifying the lack of incumbent advantage via their decision on Jack Davis’ Millionaire Complaint later this spring.

So, political experience may be shown the door in NY-26 but it remains to be seen if money can buy its way back in to the party.

Jon Powers, candidate for Congress in NY-26, has written a very powerful and articulate piece in The Huffington Post about the 5-year anniversary of Bush’s “Mission Accomplished.”  Here’s a sample:

There was no plan for securing. There was no plan for reconstructing.

Lieutenant Colonel Alan King recalls, in What Was Asked of Us, that as he rolled into the Baghdad Airport “they told me I had twenty-four hours to come up with a reconstruction plan for Baghdad.” You read that correctly. A Lieutenant Colonel on his way to Iraq, was given 24 hours to “come up” with a plan.

Unfortunately, the mission was far from accomplished. The mission was never defined. How can an army accomplish a mission when no one decides what the mission really is? This is failure of leadership on the largest scale imaginable.

Powers goes on to list solutions:

In short, the mission needs to finally be defined.

Our new mission is to bring our troops home safely, securely, and soon.

This election is about embracing our new mission. It’s about ending our military engagement, and about beginning a political engagement.

To achieve our new mission, America must return “leadership by example” to the world. And that means implementing strategies to address the following:

• The tragedy of hundreds of thousands of veterans coming home to a broken Veterans Administration
• Engage the millions of moderate middle-class Iraqi refugees who have lost their homes and are at risk to becoming recruited by radical elements
• Reform our approach to national security so that our military is not the only tool we use to solve political problems
• Bring accountability to the war profiteers and criminals who have fleeced our taxpayers and stolen from our troops
• Begin a diplomatic surge to engage the entire region of interested parties to help solve centuries old ethnic resentments and struggle

And that’s just the beginning.

I am running for Congress so that we can finally address and accomplish our new mission…

Read the entire piece and pop a comment in over at Huffington Post.

you have to have a party
when you’re in a state like this
you can really move it all
you have to vote and change
you have to get right out of it
like out of all this mess
you’ll say yeah to anything
if you believe all this but
don’t cry, don’t do anything
no lies, back in the government
no tears, party time is here again
president gas is up for president

I just got off the phone with Eric Massa, retired Navy Commander who is challenging Randy Kuhl, and the Psychedelic Furs’ “President Gas” kept coming to mind. Why? Here’s Massa on the reason we’re soon to be facing gas over $4 a gallon:

I don’t like being partisan but we must understand how we got here. The president stood in the shadow of the World Trade Center towers and committed us to war without [authorizing anyone] to pay for it. He has mitigated that debt by devaluing the dollar, which has been devalued the past two years by 50-60%. OPEC countries largely have moved away from using the dollar as their trade currency and use the euro instead.

This morning Shell and BP (British Petroleum) announced record earnings. This is unheard of. It is profiteering at the pump. They are given tax incentives to drill for new oil. Petro is at $110 a barrel. They don’t need our tax money. The economic policies of George Bush and his rubberstampers are very directly responsible for the increase in the price of gasoline.

I asked Massa if he had pumped his own gas recently and he said:

Yes. I just filled up my mini-van, which has an [extended tank] and $75 did not fill it up.

Massa went on to discuss the devaluing of the dollar and Kuhl’s practice of blaming Speaker Pelosi via the “Pelosi Premium”:

[President Bush has] devalued the dollar by unrestricted borrowing and spending. He has made sure that we import everything. We imported more food than we grew ourselves [last year] for the first time in history. Blaming our economy on Nancy Pelosi while providing tax subsidies for oil companies [is wrong]. This is just a Karl Rove-contracted campaign. George Bush and his majority have been in charge for seven years.

Massa makes a good point: blaming Pelosi for the price of gas given that we’ve had nearly eight years of Bush and his policies is convenient scapegoating. Americans may buy the high gasoline out of necessity but I doubt they will buy the Republicans’ excuses.

With the announcement that Erie County Democrats have endorsed Jon Powers for Congress, Powers’ campaign released the following statement today (emphasis mine):

“I am thrilled to have the endorsement of Erie County Democrats and look forward to bringing real leadership and real solutions to the problems facing working families in Western New York,” said Jon Powers, former captain in the U.S. Army, Iraq war veteran and Democratic candidate for Congress. Powers earned the support of all seven counties solidifying his position as the endorsed Democratic candidate. He has also gained a great deal of support from organization labor in the area.

“Jon Powers is running an incredibly effective grassroots campaign and he represents a new generation of leadership that people are hoping for in this country” stated Len Lenihan, Erie County Democratic Chairman.

This endorsement gives Powers all seven counties and points to the strength of his campaign, which is based on conversations with voters and their interests as opposed to money.