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Sign up to help out with your own neighborhood precinct! Are you one of those people who is always wondering, "what can I do to help?" The Democratic Party of Orange County (and the Democratic Party of California) has an answer! You can sign up with the new Precinct Captains program. Check out Precinct Captains here. If you are interested, please email Sharon Toji at htoji@cox.net She will forward your information to the proper organizer, depending on where you live, so be sure to include your full name, address with zip code and (optional but it helps - a phone number where you can be reached). If you know your precinct number, include that also. If you can do only your own street, or couple of streets, please indicate that also. We need you to help prepare for wins in the November election, and to prepare for the Presidential election in 2008!
Everyone should see the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" If this doesn't get you interested in activism, nothing will! Al Gore tells it like it REALLY is, and at the end of the film, you'll see many things, small and large, that you can do. Go see it now!
Yes, we do have Meetups! Go to Meetup.com and put in your zip code to find the Meetups near you.We have a meetup in Santa Ana on Wednesday, August 8, Spoons California Grill
2601 Hotel Terrace (Dyer exit off 55) Turn right at Grand, left at Hotel Terr
Santa Ana , CA 92705, 7:00 pm, and also regular South County meetups at El Adobe in San Juan Capistrano (buffet at 6 pm, meeting at 7 pm).
Sent by a friend. Lengthy, but quite
to the point...
The
only way we can truly effect change and take back America is to stop
allowing others to conquer and divide, reach out across "party" lines
on the issues, and elect those who can truly make a
difference.
==============================================
This is an excerpt from Lee Iacocca's book. He has put
into words what many of us are trying to verbalize
ourselves. I think this is something that really
should be passed along to as many people as possible.
It unites us in the way we question our current
leadership. (The text has been verified by
snopes.com.)
Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
By Lee Iacocca with Catherine Whitney
Had enough? Am I the only guy in this country who's
fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our
outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've
got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of
state right over a cliff, we've got corporate
gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean
up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But
instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods
their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the
course." Stay the course? You've got to be kidding.
This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you
a sound bite: Throw the bums out! You might think I'm
getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and
maybe I have. But someone has to speak up.
I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President
of the United States is given a free pass to ignore
the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war
on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record
deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy
(thanks, but I don't need it). The most famous
business leaders are not the innovators but the guys
in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle
East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do.
And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking
hard questions. That's not the promise of America my
parents and yours traveled across the ocean for.
I've had enough. How about you? I'll go a step
further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're
not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to
have. My friends tell me to calm down. They say,
"Lee, you're eighty-two years old. Leave the rage to
the young people." I'd love to? As soon as I can pry
them away from their iPods for five seconds and get
them to pay attention. I'm going to speak up because
it's my patriotic duty. I think people will listen to
me. They say I have a reputation as a straight
shooter. So I'll tell you how I see it, and it's not
pretty, but at least it's real. I'm hoping to strike a
nerve in those young folks who say they don't vote
because they don't trust politicians to represent
their interests.
Hey, America, wake up. These guys work for us. Who
are these guys, anyway? Why are we in this mess? How
did we end up with this crowd in Washington? Well, we
voted for them. Or at least some of us did. But I'll
tell you what we didn't do. We didn't agree to suspend
the Constitution. We didn't agree to stop asking
questions or demanding answers. Some of us are sick
and tired of people who call free speech treason.
Where I come from that's a dictatorship, not a
democracy.
And don't tell me it's all the fault of right-wing
Republicans or liberal Democrats. That's an
intellectually lazy argument, and it's part of the
reason we're in this stew. We're not just a nation of
factions. We're a people. We share common principles
and ideals. And we rise and fall together. Where are
the voices of leaders who can inspire us to action and
make us stand taller? What happened to the strong and
resolute party of Lincoln? What happened to the
courageous, populist party of FDR and Truman? There
was a time in this country when the voices of great
leaders lifted us up and made us want to do better.
Where have all the leaders gone?
The Test of a Leader
I've never been Commander-in-Chief, but I've been a
CEO. I understand a few things about leadership at the
top. I've figured out nine points. Not ten (I don't
want people accusing me of thinking I'm Moses). I call
them the "Nine Cs of Leadership."
They're not fancy or complicated. Just clear, obvious
qualities that every true leader should have. We
should look at how the current administration stacks
up. Like it or not, this crew is going to be around
until January 2009. Maybe we can learn something
before we go to the polls in 2008. Then let's be sure
we use the leadership test to screen the candidates
who say they want to run the country. It's up to us to
choose wisely.
So, here's my C list:
A leader has to show CURIOSITY. He has to listen to
people outside of the "Yes, sir" crowd in his inner
circle. He has to read voraciously, because the world
is a big, complicated place. George W. Bush brags
about never reading a newspaper. "I just scan the
headlines," he says. Am I hearing this right? He's the
President of the United States and he never reads a
newspaper? Thomas Jefferson once said, "Were it left
to me to decide whether we should have a government
without newspapers, or newspapers without a
government, I should not hesitate for a moment to
prefer the latter."
Bush disagrees. As long as he gets his daily hour in
the gym, with Fox News piped through the sound system,
he's ready to go. If a leader never steps outside
his comfort zone to hear different ideas, he grows
stale. If he doesn't put his beliefs to the test, how
does he know he's right? The inability to listen is a
form of arrogance. It means either you think you
already know it all, or you just don't care.
Before the 2006 election, George Bush made a big point
of saying he didn't listen to the polls. Yeah, that's
what they all say when the polls stink. But maybe he
should have listened, because 70 percent of the people
were saying he was on the wrong track. It took a
"thumping" on election day to wake him up, but even
then you got the feeling he wasn't listening so much
as he was calculating how to do a better job of
convincing everyone he was right.
A leader has to be CREATIVE, go out on a limb, and be
willing to try something different. You know, think
outside the box. George Bush prides himself on never
changing, even as the world around him is spinning out
of control. God forbid someone should accuse him of
flip-flopping.
There's a disturbingly messianic fervor to his
certainty. Senator Joe Biden recalled a conversation
he had with Bush a few months after our troops marched
into Baghdad. Joe was in the Office outlining his
concerns to the President? The explosive mix of Shiite
and Sunni, the disbanded Iraqi army, the problems
securing the oil fields. "The President was serene,
Joe recalled. "He told me he was sure that we were on
the right course and that all would be well. 'Mr.
President,' I finally said, 'how can you be so sure
when you don't yet know all the facts?'" Bush then
reached over and put a steadying hand on Joe's
shoulder. "My instincts," he said. "My instincts." Joe
was flabbergasted. He told Bush, "Mr. President, your
instincts aren't good enough." Joe Biden sure didn't
think the matter was settled. And, as we all know now,
it wasn't.
Leadership is all about managing change? Whether
you're leading a company or leading a country. Things
change, and you get creative. You adapt. Maybe Bush
was absent the day they covered that at Harvard
Business School.
A leader has to COMMUNICATE. I'm not talking about
running off at the mouth or spouting sound bites. I'm
talking about facing reality and telling the truth.
Nobody in the current administration seems to know how
to talk straight anymore. Instead, they spend most of
their time trying to convince us that things are not
really as bad as they seem. I don't know if it's
denial or dishonesty, but it can start to drive you
crazy after a while. Communication has to start with
telling the truth, even when it's painful. The war in
Iraq has been, among other things, a grand failure of
communication. Bush is like the boy who didn't cry
wolf when the wolf was at the door. After years of
being told that all is well, even as the casualties
and chaos mount, we've stopped listening to him.
A leader has to be a person of CHARACTER. That means
knowing the difference between right and wrong and
having the guts to do the right thing. Abraham Lincoln
once said, "If you want to test a man's character,
give him power." George Bush has a lot of power. What
does it say about his character? Bush has shown a
willingness to take bold action on the world stage
because he has the power, but he shows little regard
for the grievous consequences. He has sent our troops
(not to mention hundreds of thousands of innocent
Iraqi citizens) to their deaths? For what? To build
our oil reserves? To avenge his daddy because Saddam
Hussein once tried to have him killed? To show his
daddy he's tougher? The motivations behind the war in
Iraq are questionable, and the execution of the war
has been a disaster. A man of character does not ask a
single soldier to die for a failed policy.
A leader must have COURAGE. I'm talking about balls.
(That even goes for female leaders.) Swagger isn't
courage. Tough talk isn't courage. George Bush comes
from a blue- blooded Connecticut family, but he likes
to talk like a cowboy. You know, my gun is bigger than
your gun. Courage in the twenty-first century doesn't
mean posturing and bravado. Courage is a commitment to
sit down at the negotiating table and talk. If
you're a politician, courage means taking a position
even when you know it will cost you votes. Bush can't
even make a public appearance unless the audience has
been handpicked and sanitized. He did a series of
so-called town hall meetings last year, in auditoriums
packed with his most devoted fans. The questions were
all softballs.
To be a leader you've got to have CONVICTION. A fire
in your belly. You've got to have passion. You've got
to really want to get something done. How do you
measure fire in the belly? Bush has set the all-time
record for number of vacation days taken by a U.S.
President? Four hundred and counting. He'd rather
clear brush on his ranch than immerse himself in the
business of governing. He even told an interviewer
that the high point of his presidency so far was
catching a seven-and-a-half-pound perch in his
hand-stocked lake. It's no better on Capitol Hill.
Congress was in session only ninety-seven days in
2006. That's eleven days less than the record set in
1948, when President Harry Truman coined the term
do-nothing Congress. Most people would expect to be
fired if they worked so little and had nothing to show
for it. But Congress managed to find the time to vote
itself a raise. Now, that's not leadership.
A leader should have CHARISMA . I'm not talking about
being flashy. Charisma is the quality that makes
people want to follow you. It's the ability to
inspire. People follow a leader because they trust
him. That's my definition of charisma. Maybe George
Bush is a great guy to hang out with at a barbecue or
a ball game. But put him at a global summit where the
future of our planet is at stake, and he doesn't look
very presidential. Those frat-boy pranks and the
kidding around he enjoys so much don't go over that
well with world leaders. Just ask German Chancellor
Angela Merkel, who received an unwelcome shoulder
massage from our President at a G-8 Summit. When he
came up behind her and started squeezing, I thought
she was going to go right through the roof.
A leader has to be COMPETENT. That seems obvious,
doesn't it? You've got to know what you're doing. More
important than that, you've got to surround yourself
with people who know what they're doing. Bush brags
about being our first MBA president. Does that make
him competent? Well, let's see. Thanks to our first
MBA President, we've got the largest deficit in
history, social Security is on life support, and we've
run up a half-a-trillion dollar price tag (so far) in
Iraq. And that's just for starters. A leader has to be
a problem solver, and the biggest problems we face as
a nation seem to be on the back burner.
You can't be a leader if you don't have COMMON SENSE.
I call this Charlie Meacham's rule. When I was a young
guy just starting out in the car business, one of my
first jobs was as Ford's zone manager in Wilkes-Barre,
Pennsylvania. My boss was a guy named Charlie, who was
the East Coast regional manager. Charlie was a big
Southerner, with a warm drawl, a huge smile, and a
core of steel. Charlie used to tell me," Remember,
Lee, the only thing you've got going for you as a
human being is your ability to reason and your common
sense. If you don't know a dip of horseshit from a dip
of vanilla ice cream, you'll never make it." George
Bush doesn't have common sense. He just has a lot of
sound bites, you know? Mr. "they'll-welcome-us-as-liberators,
This is an excerpt from Lee Iacocca's book. He has put
into words what many of us are trying to verbalize
ourselves. I think this is something that really
should be passed along to as many people as possible.
It unites us in the way we question our current
leadership. (The text has been verified by
snopes.com.)
Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
By Lee Iacocca with Catherine Whitney
Had enough? Am I the only guy in this country who's
fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our
outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've
got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of
state right over a cliff, we've got corporate
gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean
up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But
instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods
their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the
course." Stay the course? You've got to be kidding.
This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you
a sound bite: Throw the bums out! You might think I'm
getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and
maybe I have. But someone has to speak up.
I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President
of the United States is given a free pass to ignore
the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war
on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record
deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy
(thanks, but I don't need it). The most famous
business leaders are not the innovators but the guys
in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle
East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do.
And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking
hard questions. That's not the promise of America my
parents and yours traveled across the ocean for.
I've had enough. How about you? I'll go a step
further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're
not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to
have. My friends tell me to calm down. They say,
"Lee, you're eighty-two years old. Leave the rage to
the young people." I'd love to? As soon as I can pry
them away from their iPods for five seconds and get
them to pay attention. I'm going to speak up because
it's my patriotic duty. I think people will listen to
me. They say I have a reputation as a straight
shooter. So I'll tell you how I see it, and it's not
pretty, but at least it's real. I'm hoping to strike a
nerve in those young folks who say they don't vote
because they don't trust politicians to represent
their interests.
Hey, America, wake up. These guys work for us. Who
are these guys, anyway? Why are we in this mess? How
did we end up with this crowd in Washington? Well, we
voted for them. Or at least some of us did. But I'll
tell you what we didn't do. We didn't agree to suspend
the Constitution. We didn't agree to stop asking
questions or demanding answers. Some of us are sick
and tired of people who call free speech treason.
Where I come from that's a dictatorship, not a
democracy.
And don't tell me it's all the fault of right-wing
Republicans or liberal Democrats. That's an
intellectually lazy argument, and it's part of the
reason we're in this stew. We're not just a nation of
factions. We're a people. We share common principles
and ideals. And we rise and fall together. Where are
the voices of leaders who can inspire us to action and
make us stand taller? What happened to the strong and
resolute party of Lincoln? What happened to the
courageous, populist party of FDR and Truman? There
was a time in this country when the voices of great
leaders lifted us up and made us want to do better.
Where have all the leaders gone?
The Test of a Leader
I've never been Commander-in-Chief, but I've been a
CEO. I understand a few things about leadership at the
top. I've figured out nine points. Not ten (I don't
want people accusing me of thinking I'm Moses). I call
them the "Nine Cs of Leadership."
They're not fancy or complicated. Just clear, obvious
qualities that every true leader should have. We
should look at how the current administration stacks
up. Like it or not, this crew is going to be around
until January 2009. Maybe we can learn something
before we go to the polls in 2008. Then let's be sure
we use the leadership test to screen the candidates
who say they want to run the country. It's up to us to
choose wisely.
So, here's my C list:
A leader has to show CURIOSITY. He has to listen to
people outside of the "Yes, sir" crowd in his inner
circle. He has to read voraciously, because the world
is a big, complicated place. George W. Bush brags
about never reading a newspaper. "I just scan the
headlines," he says. Am I hearing this right? He's the
President of the United States and he never reads a
newspaper? Thomas Jefferson once said, "Were it left
to me to decide whether we should have a government
without newspapers, or newspapers without a
government, I should not hesitate for a moment to
prefer the latter."
Bush disagrees. As long as he gets his daily hour in
the gym, with Fox News piped through the sound system,
he's ready to go. If a leader never steps outside
his comfort zone to hear different ideas, he grows
stale. If he doesn't put his beliefs to the test, how
does he know he's right? The inability to listen is a
form of arrogance. It means either you think you
already know it all, or you just don't care.
Before the 2006 election, George Bush made a big point
of saying he didn't listen to the polls. Yeah, that's
what they all say when the polls stink. But maybe he
should have listened, because 70 percent of the people
were saying he was on the wrong track. It took a
"thumping" on election day to wake him up, but even
then you got the feeling he wasn't listening so much
as he was calculating how to do a better job of
convincing everyone he was right.
A leader has to be CREATIVE, go out on a limb, and be
willing to try something different. You know, think
outside the box. George Bush prides himself on never
changing, even as the world around him is spinning out
of control. God forbid someone should accuse him of
flip-flopping.
There's a disturbingly messianic fervor to his
certainty. Senator Joe Biden recalled a conversation
he had with Bush a few months after our troops marched
into Baghdad. Joe was in the Office outlining his
concerns to the President? The explosive mix of Shiite
and Sunni, the disbanded Iraqi army, the problems
securing the oil fields. "The President was serene,
Joe recalled. "He told me he was sure that we were on
the right course and that all would be well. 'Mr.
President,' I finally said, 'how can you be so sure
when you don't yet know all the facts?'" Bush then
reached over and put a steadying hand on Joe's
shoulder. "My instincts," he said. "My instincts." Joe
was flabbergasted. He told Bush, "Mr. President, your
instincts aren't good enough." Joe Biden sure didn't
think the matter was settled. And, as we all know now,
it wasn't.
Leadership is all about managing change? Whether
you're leading a company or leading a country. Things
change, and you get creative. You adapt. Maybe Bush
was absent the day they covered that at Harvard
Business School.
A leader has to COMMUNICATE. I'm not talking about
running off at the mouth or spouting sound bites. I'm
talking about facing reality and telling the truth.
Nobody in the current administration seems to know how
to talk straight anymore. Instead, they spend most of
their time trying to convince us that things are not
really as bad as they seem. I don't know if it's
denial or dishonesty, but it can start to drive you
crazy after a while. Communication has to start with
telling the truth, even when it's painful. The war in
Iraq has been, among other things, a grand failure of
communication. Bush is like the boy who didn't cry
wolf when the wolf was at the door. After years of
being told that all is well, even as the casualties
and chaos mount, we've stopped listening to him.
A leader has to be a person of CHARACTER. That means
knowing the difference between right and wrong and
having the guts to do the right thing. Abraham Lincoln
once said, "If you want to test a man's character,
give him power." George Bush has a lot of power. What
does it say about his character? Bush has shown a
willingness to take bold action on the world stage
because he has the power, but he shows little regard
for the grievous consequences. He has sent our troops
(not to mention hundreds of thousands of innocent
Iraqi citizens) to their deaths? For what? To build
our oil reserves? To avenge his daddy because Saddam
Hussein once tried to have him killed? To show his
daddy he's tougher? The motivations behind the war in
Iraq are questionable, and the execution of the war
has been a disaster. A man of character does not ask a
single soldier to die for a failed policy.
A leader must have COURAGE. I'm talking about balls.
(That even goes for female leaders.) Swagger isn't
courage. Tough talk isn't courage. George Bush comes
from a blue- blooded Connecticut family, but he likes
to talk like a cowboy. You know, my gun is bigger than
your gun. Courage in the twenty-first century doesn't
mean posturing and bravado. Courage is a commitment to
sit down at the negotiating table and talk. If
you're a politician, courage means taking a position
even when you know it will cost you votes. Bush can't
even make a public appearance unless the audience has
been handpicked and sanitized. He did a series of
so-called town hall meetings last year, in auditoriums
packed with his most devoted fans. The questions were
all softballs.
To be a leader you've got to have CONVICTION. A fire
in your belly. You've got to have passion. You've got
to really want to get something done. How do you
measure fire in the belly? Bush has set the all-time
record for number of vacation days taken by a U.S.
President? Four hundred and counting. He'd rather
clear brush on his ranch than immerse himself in the
business of governing. He even told an interviewer
that the high point of his presidency so far was
catching a seven-and-a-half-pound perch in his
hand-stocked lake. It's no better on Capitol Hill.
Congress was in session only ninety-seven days in
2006. That's eleven days less than the record set in
1948, when President Harry Truman coined the term
do-nothing Congress. Most people would expect to be
fired if they worked so little and had nothing to show
for it. But Congress managed to find the time to vote
itself a raise. Now, that's not leadership.
A leader should have CHARISMA . I'm not talking about
being flashy. Charisma is the quality that makes
people want to follow you. It's the ability to
inspire. People follow a leader because they trust
him. That's my definition of charisma. Maybe George
Bush is a great guy to hang out with at a barbecue or
a ball game. But put him at a global summit where the
future of our planet is at stake, and he doesn't look
very presidential. Those frat-boy pranks and the
kidding around he enjoys so much don't go over that
well with world leaders. Just ask German Chancellor
Angela Merkel, who received an unwelcome shoulder
massage from our President at a G-8 Summit. When he
came up behind her and started squeezing, I thought
she was going to go right through the roof.
A leader has to be COMPETENT. That seems obvious,
doesn't it? You've got to know what you're doing. More
important than that, you've got to surround yourself
with people who know what they're doing. Bush brags
about being our first MBA president. Does that make
him competent? Well, let's see. Thanks to our first
MBA President, we've got the largest deficit in
history, social Security is on life support, and we've
run up a half-a-trillion dollar price tag (so far) in
Iraq. And that's just for starters. A leader has to be
a problem solver, and the biggest problems we face as
a nation seem to be on the back burner.
You can't be a leader if you don't have COMMON SENSE.
I call this Charlie Meacham's rule. When I was a young
guy just starting out in the car business, one of my
first jobs was as Ford's zone manager in Wilkes-Barre,
Pennsylvania. My boss was a guy named Charlie, who was
the East Coast regional manager. Charlie was a big
Southerner, with a warm drawl, a huge smile, and a
core of steel. Charlie used to tell me," Remember,
Lee, the only thing you've got going for you as a
human being is your ability to reason and your common
sense. If you don't know a dip of horseshit from a dip
of vanilla ice cream, you'll never make it." George
Bush doesn't have common sense. He just has a lot of
sound bites, you know? Mr. "they'll-welcome-us-as-liberators,
no-child-left-behind,-heck-of-a-job-Brownie,-mission
accomplished Bush".
Former President Bill Clinton once said,
"I grew up in an alcoholic
home. I spent half my childhood trying to
get into the reality-based
world. And I like it here." I think our
current President should
visit the real world once in a while.
The biggest C is CRISIS. Leaders are made, not born.
Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to
sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk
theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when
you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another
thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down. On
September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more
than any other time in our history. We needed a steady
hand to guide us out of the ashes. Where was George
Bush? He was reading a story about a pet goat to kids
in Florida when he heard about the attacks. He kept
sitting there for twenty minutes with a baffled look
on his face. It's all on tape. You can see it for
yourself.
Then, instead of taking the quickest route back to
Washington and immediately going on the air to
reassure the panicked people of this country, he
decided it wasn't safe to return to the White House.
He basically went into hiding for the day. And he told
Vice President Dick Cheney to stay put in his bunker.
We were all frozen in front of our TVs, scared out of
our wits, waiting for our leaders to tell us that we
were going to be okay, and there was nobody home. It
took Bush a couple of days to get his bearings and
devise the right photo-op at Ground Zero.
That was George Bush's moment of truth, and he was
paralyzed. And what did he do when he'd regained his
composure? He led us down the road to Iraq. A road his
own father had considered disastrous when he was
President. But Bush didn't listen to Daddy. He
listened to a higher father. He prides himself on
being faith based, not reality based.
If that doesn't scare the crap out of you, I don't
know what will.
A Hell of a Mess
So here's where we stand:
We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for
winning and no plan for leaving.
We're running the biggest deficit in the history of
the country.
We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while
health care costs are slaughtering our once-great
companies.
Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a
coherent energy policy.
Our schools are in trouble.
Our borders are like sieves.
The middle class is being squeezed every which way.
These are times that cry out for leadership. But
when you look around, you've got to ask: "Where have
all the leaders gone?" Where are the curious,
creative communicators? Where are the people of
character, courage, conviction, competence, and common
sense?
I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you
get the point.
Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland
security than making us take off our shoes in airports
and throw away our shampoo. We've spent billions of
dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we
know how to do is react to things that have already
happened.
Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of
Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single
day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or
demanding accountability for the decisions that were
made in the crucial hours after the storm. Everyone's
hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't
happen again.
Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it.
Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do the
next time.
Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively
about how we can restore our competitive edge in
manufacturing. Who would have believed that there
could ever be a time when "the Big Three" referred to
Japanese car companies?
The biggest C is CRISIS. Leaders are made, not born.
Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to
sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk
theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when
you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another
thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down. On
September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more
than any other time in our history. We needed a steady
hand to guide us out of the ashes. Where was George
Bush? He was reading a story about a pet goat to kids
in Florida when he heard about the attacks. He kept
sitting there for twenty minutes with a baffled look
on his face. It's all on tape. You can see it for
yourself.
Then, instead of taking the quickest route back to
Washington and immediately going on the air to
reassure the panicked people of this country, he
decided it wasn't safe to return to the White House.
He basically went into hiding for the day. And he told
Vice President Dick Cheney to stay put in his bunker.
We were all frozen in front of our TVs, scared out of
our wits, waiting for our leaders to tell us that we
were going to be okay, and there was nobody home. It
took Bush a couple of days to get his bearings and
devise the right photo-op at Ground Zero.
That was George Bush's moment of truth, and he was
paralyzed. And what did he do when he'd regained his
composure? He led us down the road to Iraq. A road his
own father had considered disastrous when he was
President. But Bush didn't listen to Daddy. He
listened to a higher father. He prides himself on
being faith based, not reality based.
If that doesn't scare the crap out of you, I don't
know what will.
A Hell of a Mess
So here's where we stand:
We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for
winning and no plan for leaving.
We're running the biggest deficit in the history of
the country.
We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while
health care costs are slaughtering our once-great
companies.
Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a
coherent energy policy.
Our schools are in trouble.
Our borders are like sieves.
The middle class is being squeezed every which way.
These are times that cry out for leadership. But
when you look around, you've got to ask: "Where have
all the leaders gone?" Where are the curious,
creative communicators? Where are the people of
character, courage, conviction, competence, and common
sense?
I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you
get the point.
Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland
security than making us take off our shoes in airports
and throw away our shampoo. We've spent billions of
dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we
know how to do is react to things that have already
happened.
Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of
Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single
day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or
demanding accountability for the decisions that were
made in the crucial hours after the storm. Everyone's
hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't
happen again.
Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it.
Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do the
next time.
Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively
about how we can restore our competitive edge in
manufacturing. Who would have believed that there
could ever be a time when "the Big Three" referred to
Japanese car companies?
How did this happen? And
more important, what are we
going to do about it?
Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan
for paying down the debt, or solving the energy
crisis, or managing the health care problem.
The silence is deafening. But these are the crises
that are eating away at our country and milking the
middle class dry.
I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect
you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain
silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our
greatness is being replaced with mediocrity.
What is everybody so afraid of? That some bobblehead
on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break.
Why don't you guys show some spine for a change?
Had enough? Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of
gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm
speaking out because I have hope. I believe in
America. In my lifetime I've had the privilege of
living through some of America's greatest moments.
I've also experienced some of our worst crises? The
Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the
Kennedy assassination, the Vietnam War, the 1970s oil
crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating
with 9/11.
If I've learned one thing, it's this: You don't get
anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for
somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a
better car or building a better future for our
children, we all have a role to play. That's the
challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a call to
action for people who, like me, believe in America.
It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close.
So let's shake off the horseshit and go to work. Let's
tell 'em all we've had enough.
Excerpted from Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
(Copyright) 2007 by Lee Iacocca. All rights reserved.
"Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. It's the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
going to do about it?
Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan
for paying down the debt, or solving the energy
crisis, or managing the health care problem.
The silence is deafening. But these are the crises
that are eating away at our country and milking the
middle class dry.
I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect
you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain
silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our
greatness is being replaced with mediocrity.
What is everybody so afraid of? That some bobblehead
on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break.
Why don't you guys show some spine for a change?
Had enough? Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of
gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm
speaking out because I have hope. I believe in
America. In my lifetime I've had the privilege of
living through some of America's greatest moments.
I've also experienced some of our worst crises? The
Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the
Kennedy assassination, the Vietnam War, the 1970s oil
crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating
with 9/11.
If I've learned one thing, it's this: You don't get
anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for
somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a
better car or building a better future for our
children, we all have a role to play. That's the
challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a call to
action for people who, like me, believe in America.
It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close.
So let's shake off the horseshit and go to work. Let's
tell 'em all we've had enough.
Excerpted from Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
(Copyright) 2007 by Lee Iacocca. All rights reserved.
"Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. It's the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
The Sunshine Boys Can't Save Iraq
By Frank Rich
The New York Times
Sunday 10 December 2006
In America we like quick fixes, closure and an uplifting show. Such were the high hopes for the Iraq Study Group, and on one of the three it delivered.
The report of the 10 Washington elders was rolled out like a heartwarming Hollywood holiday release. There was a feel-good title, "The Way Forward," unfortunately chosen as well by Ford Motor to promote its last-ditch plan to stave off bankruptcy. There was a months-long buildup, with titillating sneak previews to whip up anticipation. There was the gala publicity tour on opening day, starting with a President Bush cameo timed for morning television and building to a "Sunshine Boys" curtain call by James Baker and Lee Hamilton on "Larry King Live."
It's Not the Democrats Who Are Divided
by Frank Rich
Op-Ed Columnist
in The New York Times
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By Anne Kim, Adam Solomon, and Jim Kessler
Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 03:41:43 PM PDT
Ca 48 Steve Young's diary2008 is too late!
by Ca 48 Steve Young
Thu Jun 29, 2006 at 11:38:44 AM PDT
Republicans do not hold a monopoly on patriotism. This 4th of July, Democrats' rallying call should be, "2008 is too late!"
ROVE'S PASS: A WINDOW ON THE REAL
WORLD
by Frank Dwyer
at The Huffington Post
June 13, 2006
April 18, 2006
A Campaign Gore Can't Lose
By Richard CohenCoalition Of the Erring
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006;
A17
Al Gore's Unlikely Helpers
From: "Nathan Gonzalez, Latinos for America"
May 16, 2006 11:51:39 AM PDT
A Response to President Bush
WASHINGTON | May 9, 2006
Optimistic, Democrats Debate the Party's Vision
By ROBIN TONER
Intellectuals in the center and on the left are debating how to present a clear alternative to conservatism.
The Worst President in History?
By Sean Wilentz
Rolling Stone
Friday 21 April 2006
One of America's leading historians assesses George W. Bush.
In California, It's Wonk vs. Hunk Wednesday, April 26, 2006;
Don't we wish this had been written by a Democrat!
Pictures from the Hart Park rally
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/03/150758.php
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/03/150463.php
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/03/150483.php
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/03/150505.php
Not as Lame as You Think
Democrats learn the art of opposition. By Amy SullivanConservatives Predict Allen Will Face Clinton in 2008
Nathan Burchfiel
Mark Fiore animation
 |
Arianna Huffington |
2008: Will Al Gore Be the Anti-Hillary?
It's still three years away but Hollywood is already starting to choose sides for 2008. And two very distinct camps have started to form: those backing Hillary, and those desperately searching for the anti-Hillary.read more...
Links
This is the link to the Orange County branch of "Healthcare for All." Further links are at the bottom of the OC site.
Link to OC branch of Healthcare for All
Social Security Calculator
People have been saying for weeks that the president's privatization plan
will cut benefits. Now all Americans can log onto democrats.govand find
out how true this is. So how much you will lose under Bush Privatization?
Provided by the U.S. Senate Democrats and Democratic Leader Harry
Reid.
Mike Glover for 70th AD
Mike Glover, Democrat, for 70th Assembly District, California
SCCDP "Call to Action"
Democrats in Santa Clara County have organized around central messages that tell the voter the truth about George Bush's policies, and how a Democratic administration can improve their day to day lives. You can download many useful materials from the site.
Orange County
Democratic Party
Here's where you can find out how to volunteer, how to be involved with the Central Committee, the Assembly Districts, and the various chartered Democratic clubs. We're building a strong precinct based organization. Want to be a precinct captain? We'll get you started.
Become a member!
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Progressive
Democrats
of America
Get email updates!
OC Grassroots
Progressive Meetups
here
SoCal Grassroots
Operation Democracy
is up and running.
Sign up now at
MoveOn!
Progressive
Democrats
of America