PDHblog This is a place for members of Progressive
Democrats of Hawai‘i to express their thoughts
and exasperations about political happenings. The opinions and views are not necessarily
those of PDH's steering committee
or membership as a whole.
For those of you working on –or reflecting upon– the effort to pass HB444, and establish Civil Unions for same gender couples, here is powerful testimony in a speech given by NAACP Chairman Julian Bond at the Human Rights Campaign’s Gala Dinner this past Saturday, March 14, in Los Angeles.
Note: the speech is 25 minutes, but listen to the first several minutes and see if you are able turn away from this timely message.
This video should be required viewing for every senator wrestling over how to vote when a motion is made to pull the bill from committee for a vote by the entire Senate. Attempts to justify opposition to the bill based upon “procedural concerns” will stand exposed as just that, “excuses” for not doing what is just, what is “pono” and what is long overdue.
Senators, do the right thing. You will feel better about yourselves and your job.
The “A” in the PDH S.H.A.P.E.S. platform stands for Accountability and Justice for the Bush and Cheney administration. The national Progressive Democrats of America considers this part of their “Stop the War” priority, since most of the Constitutional excesses of the Bush & Cheney regime are related to the so-called “Global War on Terrorism.” That first priority begins:
End the War, Redirect Funding
PDA wants all troops withdrawn promptly, and war funds redirected toward social needs at home and humanitarian aid in Iraq. Toward that end, we call on the Democratic-led Congress to use its powers to 1) cut off funding that prolongs the military occupation of Iraq, and 2) fully investigate false White House claims justifying the invasion and occupation of Iraq. If such investigations lead to moves toward impeachment, so be it.
In the March 2006 issue of The Progressive, the remarkable Molly Ivins published one of her memorable columns, Enough of the D.C. Dems, in which she chastised Democrats,
“As usual, the Democrats have forty good issues on their side and want to run on thirty-nine of them.”
Her solution?
“Here are three they should stick to:
1) Iraq is making terrorism worse; it’s a breeding ground. We need to extricate ourselves as soon as possible. We are not helping the Iraqis by staying.
2) Full public financing of campaigns so as to drive the moneylenders from the halls of Washington.
3) Single-payer health insurance.”
I took her suggestion to PDH, adding one more item: Impeach Bush and Cheney! I also arranged these 4 items into a handy acronym S.H.I.P.:
