My Letter to the ADEM "progressives"

Hello,

I'm writing you to let you know I voted for all the Assembly District 6 progressives I could find. There were not 14, but we do what we can.

My priorities include encouraging Democrats to focus their efforts on class rather than race or gender battles, which to me are a sideshow--but y'all do what you want.

I'd also encourage progressives to recruit candidates who oppose funding the Ukraine war, and the belligerence the U.S. promotes worldwide. Imagine my disappointment when "the squad" went along with funding Ukraine, apparently with twice as much money as would have solved domestic homelessness. They even voted for a defense budget that was bigger than Biden requested.

Yes, I know there are legislative tricks that make this necessary, but I honestly don't care. I've stopped giving to "progressive" candidates, although I did recently contribute to Katie Porter's senate campaign. That will be my policy until "progressives" have the gumption to do what the hard right has been doing for generations now--insisting on getting their way. Where's the progressive Manchin and/or Sinema?

The bottom line: I want peace candidates. I want candidates who make war less. Dennis Kucinich is one I admire. Locally, candidates who are "developer" (actually land speculator) friendly and approve outlying, commute-lengthening sprawl do not get my vote. That's a war on the environment, and because we still need to import oil, it leads to war in the Middle East.

U.S. belligerence is a longstanding tradition. Between 1798 and 1994, the U.S. was responsible for 41 changes of government in just this hemisphere, never mind the Philippines, Vietnam, Iraq, Syria, Libya, etc. The U.S. initiated 81% of military attacks worldwide since 1947. Its military budget is literally more than ten times Russia's.

The expression that applies here: "If you live by the sword you'll die by the sword."

This hemisphere's belligerence creates a constant stream of military and political refugees, supplemented by economic refugees--in the wake of NAFTA, Mexican median real income declined by 34%, a figure not seen in the U.S. since the Great Depression. Think of the undocumented as late Okies. The border is not the problem, the attacks are.

Here's a thought: Change the name from the "Department of Defense" to the "Department of Attack." Confucius calls this "rectifying the names" -- or calling a spade a spade. That would be a good start.

In Sacramento, please persuade D's in Sacramento County to at least put up a candidate to oppose Cruella DeVille...er, I mean Sue Frost, a woman whose motto is "The Beatings will continue until morale improves." She's a very talented dissembler who fools people into believing she's not a sadist, but I'd bet someone could rip off that mask. She just voted for a $450 million expansion of the County Jail. Meanwhile, Denver issued housing vouchers to its homeless and cut their arrests by 40%. We're thugs even to our own people.

Incidentally, if you want the most succinct explanation of the distinction between R's and D's, I'd recommend this. It's on my blog where you'll find more such information.

Best of luck,