Posted on 01/02/2006 6:43:48 AM PST by billorites
In the dark days after the election of 2004, the mainstream media was touting the making of a permanent rightward shift, and the progressive community was deeply deflated. It was difficult, in those times, to maintain a sense of hope--as corruption, war, lies and injustices large and small loomed all around, and outrage about the Right's assault on our democracy threatened to overwhelm us.
A year later, the dark and menacing clouds that hovered over The Nation's November 2, 2004 cover ("Four More Years") seem to be slowly lifting. Millions of us are organizing, agitating, mobilizing--and there are many hard-fought victories to celebrate.The attempt to destroy Social Security has been successfully blocked, the movement for withdrawal has captured the majority of the public's support, the mainstream media is slowly rousing from its slumbers, the White House's surveillance state is being revealed, there is talk of impeachment in the air, Vice President for Torture Cheney suffered a stinging rebuke when John McCain's torture ban passed, the GOP is mired in corruption and cronyism ( "Jack Abramoff seems to have the whole party on his payroll,"Katha Pollitt writes in her end of year review for The Nation), and scores of local, statewide, and national victories have been won. Here are some of my favorite "sweet victories" of '05--to savor as we head into 2006.
Electoral Reform
Portland, Oregon becomes the first city in the country to approve full public financing of elections.
Connecticut passes the strongest campaign finance reform bill in the country, banning contributions from lobbyists and state contractors. Additionally, the legislation creates a publicly funded election system encompassing all statewide races, including House and Senate seats (also a first).
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Maine becomes the sixth and final New England state to outlaw discrimination against homosexuals in employment, housing, credit, public accommodations, and education.
Residents of Topeka, Kansas rejected Fred "Got Hates Fags" Phelps' attempt to overturn the city's ordinance banning discrimination of gays in municipal hiring. And in the city council primary, Phelps' granddaughter and fellow anti-gay activist, Jael Phelps, lost big to Topeka's first and only openly gay council member, Tiffany Muller.
Massachusetts General Hospital announced the creation of the Disparities Solution Center--the first institution specifically dedicated to bridging the racial gap in health care service.
Iowa's Governor Tom Vilsack restored voting rights to thousands of Iowans, reversing an unjust state law that imposes lifetime disenfranchisement for anyone convicted of a felony. Reform was badly needed in Iowa, where, despite the state's two percent black population, 25 percent of those affected by the disenfranchisement law were African-American--the highest percentage in the country. In March, Nebraska also overturned its lifetime disenfranchisement law for convicted felons, and currently only four states--Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, and Virginia--continue to uphold this absurdly punitive law.
Montana became the fifth state to officially condemn the USA Patriot Act. Joining Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, and Vermont--not to mention more than 375 local governments--Montana's state legislature passed the strongest statewide resolution against the Patriot Act yet.
Environment and Health
California's Safe Cosmetics Bill is signed into law. The bill--which requires manufacturers to disclose to the California's Department of Health Services any product ingredients linked to cancer, mutations, or birth defects--is the first of its kind in America.
Six new Democratic governors--Rod Blagojevich (IL), Jim Doyle (WI), Christine Gregoire (WA), Ted Kulongoski (OR), Janet Napolitano (AZ), and Brian Schweitzer (MT)--joined an earlier three--Jennifer Granholm (MI), Ed Rendel (PA), and Bill Richardson (NM)--in embracing the Apollo Alliance's goal of achieving sustainable American energy independence within a decade.
Colorado passes the Renewable Energy Initiative. A precedent-setting victory for renewable energy, the bill requires the state's largest electric companies to increase their use of renewable sources such as wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, and small hydro from less than two percent today to 10 percent by 2015. Amendment 37 is expected to save Coloradans $236 million by 2025, create 2,000 jobs, and significantly reduce gas prices in the state.
New York City agrees to issue taxi medallions for hybrid cars, the latest in a string of victories for the "Green Fleets" movement. Earlier, legislators in Charlotte, NC voted to hybridize the city's municipal fleet, and Denver, Seattle, and Madison have also made strides in converting their fleets to green.
Labor and Economic Rights
Vermont, New Jersey, Hawaii, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Wisconsin vote to raise state minimum wages. Meanwhile, the national minimum wage has remained stagnant for nine years, the second longest period in U.S. history.
In California, an Alameda County judge ordered uniform giant Cintas to pay 219 workers more than $1 million of back wages in what is being hailed as a landmark decision. Paul Sonn of NYU's Brennan Center for Justice, called it "the first large scale enforcement effort involving a large group of workers in a class action suit."
Students at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. and Washington University of St. Louis stage protests and convince administrators to provide a living wage for university employees.
After a massive three-year boycott against Taco Bell, Yum Brands Inc.--the world's largest fast-food corporation and the chain's parent company--agrees to improve working conditions for its tomato pickers in Florida, increasing their wages by paying an extra penny per pound of tomatoes picked.
Maryland passes the Fair Share Health Care Act, requiring Wal-Mart and other large companies in the state to provide health benefits for employees. Throughout the year, Wal-Mart Watch and Wake Up Wal-Mart--who helped get the bill passed--wage a tireless campaign to reform Wal-Mart, forcing the retail behemoth into P.R. crisis mode.
Antiwar & Peace Movement
Chicago's City Council votes 29 to 9 to become the largest US city to pass the "Bring Them Home Now" resolution. The Windy City joins Philadelphia, San Francisco, Sacramento and more than fifty other municipalities that have called for withdrawal.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus--comprised of the strongest anti-war voices in Washington--gets in gear, hiring Hill veteran Bill Gould as its first full-time staffer.
The United Methodist Church and the Union for Reform Judaism pass resolutions calling for withdrawal.
Let's dance, sing and laugh on New Year's eve-and celebrate these victories and the organized efforts behind them. But let's also admit that there's little time for pause. Much important work remains to be done and many critical battles loom ahead for all those who wish to rebuild America into a country we can be proud of once again. (As of January 2006, The Nation will chronicle "Sweet Victories" as a regular feature in the magazine. If you have a victory you'd like to share with us, please write to nationvictories@gmail.com. And with many thanks to my co-conspirator on this project--writer and documentary filmmaker Sam Graham-Felsen.)
The ultimate limousine liberal.
What crap.
shh....let them continue to sleep and dream as the web of lies they have spun for the rest of us catches them up in their own deceptions. We win... the story has already been written.
California's Safe Cosmetics Bill is signed into law
There have been so few in the last twelve years that they are reduced to making them up!
Get it, Make Up?
She sounds like what my dog would say when he brings a dead animal up on the porch.
Here are the liberals' victories in 2005 and what it means:
1) Public financing of elections - This will work until liberals suffer continuous defeats, then it will need to be 'reformed'.
2) Civil Rights - as liberals keep pushing the gay agenda, they will shed supporters. Of course, providing civil rights to terrorists is on top of the agenda.
3) Voting Rights - Liberals believe our most violent criminals should be able to vote in our elections (for those that favor the lightest sentences).
4) Patriot Act - Liberals will fight anything that restricts the civil rights of our enemies.
5) Environment - Liberals continue to push for renewable sources of energy (like wind) except when they are built in blue states. Put the eyesore windmills in red states.
6) Hybrid Cars - Liberals must now ban the SUV because when a hybrid encounters an SUV, we all know the liberal loses.
7) Labor Rights - Liberals keep passing legislation and regulations that help make the case for off-shoring. Of course, if they can destroy Wal-Mart in the process, that would be their sweetest victory.
8) Antiwar Movement - Liberals organize and demonstrate that they do not understand war, our enemy or how to defend our country. With such a movement clearly showing the voters who they can trust with national security.
9) United Methodist Church and the Union for Reform Judaism call for unilateral withdrawl - Does anyone notice how mixing church and state is only bad when the church upholds traditional, conservative values? When churches support the liberal movement, they are shining examples of liberal victories.
Commie bee-atch is more like it.
***snicker***
Keep the drug induced delusional state alive, libs....
STOP THE LIES!!!
“If The Democrats Are Alleging That Republicans Are Guilty Of Any Wrongdoing, They’re Sitting In The Same Boat.”
The Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Received Over – $430,000
The Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Received Over – $629,000
The Democrat National Committee (DNC) Received Over – $177,000
40 Of The 45 Members Of The Senate Democrat Caucus:
Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) Received At Least – $22,500
Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) Received At Least – $6,500
Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) Received At Least – $1,250
Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) Received At Least – $2,000
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) Received At Least – $20,250
Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) Received At Least – $21,765
Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) Received At Least – $7,500
Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) Received At Least – $12,950
Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) Received At Least – $8,000
Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ) Received At Least – $7,500
Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) Received At Least – $14,792
Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) Received At Least – $79,300
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) Received At Least – $14,000
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) Received At Least – $2,000
Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) Received At Least – $1,250
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) Received At Least – $45,750
Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) Received At Least – $9,000
Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT) Received At Least – $2,000
Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) Received At Least – $14,250
Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) Received At Least – $3,300
Senator John Kerry (D-MA) Received At Least – $98,550
Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) Received At Least – $28,000
Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT) Received At Least – $4,000
Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) Received At Least – $6,000
Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) Received At Least – $29,830
Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) Received At Least – $14,891
Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) Received At Least – $10,550
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) Received At Least – $78,991
Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) Received At Least – $20,168
Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) Received At Least – $5,200
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) Received At Least – $7,500
Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) Received At Least – $2,300
Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) Received At Least – $3,500
Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) Received At Least – $68,941
Senator John Rockefeller (D-WV) Received At Least – $4,000
Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO) Received At Least – $4,500
Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) Received At Least – $4,300
Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Received At Least – $29,550
Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) Received At Least – $6,250
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) Received At Least – $6,250
Given the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, that's so true. Even in China, the Communist government can barely keep in check the rising tide of capitalism in the country.
I LOVE that photo!!!
Don't these "victories" all sound just a little trivial? As our side frees Iraqis and sponsors elections, their side gets workers an extra penny per pound of tomatoes.
it sounds pretty sad to me.
D
Delusional, truly delusional. At best (or worst, depending on your view), the media was afraid of such a thing, and moaning about it. They've never touted a rightward shift for even a second.
the mainstream media is slowly rousing from its slumbers
Again, delusional. They've been shot through the heart by the new media, and haven't hit the frozen ground with their faces yet, although they sort of feel the cold air rushing by their faces as they're falling.
there is talk of impeachment in the air
On Mars. And how is talk of impeachment progress? All of the impeachment talk is the left's wishful thinking about getting rid of Bush, and is nothing but talk. That, and their desire for revenge over BJ's impeachment.
Will she get slapped around a bit for pointing out that in Iowa black folks comprise 2% of the population and 25% of felons?
No conservative could do this without a loud and long reprisal.
Editor in Chief of The Nation, co-editor of Taking Back America and Taking Down the Radical Right, editor of A Just Response: The Nation on Terrorism, Democracy, and September 11,2001.
And popular college speaker.
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