The Perfect Storm Election of 2010
A lot is up for grabs in 2010. At least that’s what Bill Ballenger, Michigan’s “crown prince of pundits” and editor of Inside Michigan Politics, said Wednesday evening at a Progressive Women’s Alliance meeting.
It only happens once every 16 years, that rare occurrence when there’s an opportunity to reevaluate the very constitution of Michigan. 2010 is that year. In the past, change has been voted down 3-1. Yet Ballenger believes this margin may be closer this time around.
- It only happens once every 16 years, that rare occurrence when there’s an opportunity to reevaluate the very constitution of Michigan. 2010 is that year. In the past, change has been voted down 3-1. Yet Ballenger believes this margin may be closer this time around.
- 2010 is also a census year, which will lead to redistricting, offering Democrats a key chance to get better districts.
- All 4 of the constitutional officers (Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State) will be on the ballot, and there will be no incumbents.
- 2 seats out of the 7 on Michigan’s Supreme Court will be open. As the Federal Supreme Court nominations have shown, Supreme Courts are rarely nonpartisan. Democrats will have a chance to gain more control of the Supreme Court.
- The Republican control of the State Senate may end after 26 years of control. Ballenger predicts Democrats have a good chance at taking the 4 seats needed to do so.
Ballenger is known as a political predicator, and a good one at that. When asked about the gubernatorial race and who to keep an eye on, Ballenger had encouraging words about current Speaker of the House Andy Dillon. While Dillon hasn’t declared whether he will be running, Ballenger thinks he would make an excellent general election candidate. Although Dillon is a Democrat, he is often seen as more nonpartisan on a lot of issues. The Democratic gubernatorial candidate, John Cherry, has a good chance of winning the Democratic primary, yet Ballenger believes he is too closely linked to Gov. Granholm, who has been receiving a lot of flak lately. The filing deadline is in seven months, plenty of time for many upsets and surprises in the political arena.
Ballenger said if Democrats maintain the Governorship and win the Senate, they will really be in the driver’s seat in Michigan. However, Ballenger continually emphasized that this will not be possible without the help and determination of such groups as the Progressive Women’s Alliance.
Media Bites – Music Video “Kiss With a Fist”
Broken jaws, black eyes, a burning bed . . . these are some of the images Florence and the Machine sing about in the alternative music hit, Kiss With A Fist. But, what are the realities of teen dating violence? Watch this deconstruction of the music video to find out.
Report from the DC Immigration Rally
Last week we posted a story about an immigration rally and send-off for people going to Washington, DC to promote comprehensive immigration reform. A member of the Michigan Organizing Project (MOP) wrote this summary of what took place on that trip.
Last week, a group of 52 people from Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Sturgis traveled 24 hours, to Washington, D.C. and back, to tell our congressmen in Washington that it is time for comprehensive immigration reform NOW.
Beginning with a meeting at Garfield Park in Grand Rapids, a diverse group including college students, immigrant families, and the press gathered to send off the travelers. We heard the stories of families that have experienced the incredibly negative effects of the current immigration system, and with the blessings of five different pastors, we began our “pilgrimage” to the capital.
Upon arrival, we went immediately to the office of Representative Fred Upton to ask for a clarification of his position on comprehensive immigration reform. We are very pleased to report that his staff member, Deke Thompson, affirmed that Representative Upton definitely supports comprehensive immigration reform.
We continued on to the office of Representative Vern Ehlers. Although our meeting there was not as positive as the meeting with Upton, it seems that Representative Ehlers is also in agreement with the necessity of immigration reform.
We finished off the day by gathering with hundreds of people from 26 different states at the Church of the Reformation. From there, all of the groups that had gathered marched together to the west lawn of the Capitol building of the United States.
At the Capitol, various congressmen, families, and individuals shared their stories and their commitments to comprehensive immigration reform. Perhaps the most exciting part of the rally was when Representative Luis Gutierrez of Chicago spoke, committing to introduce an immigration reform bill in Congress before the end of this year. Si se puede!
We returned that night, tired, but encouraged, with the sounds of our chants and the memory of the unity we had witnessed in our minds and hearts. Friends, we have achieved much in the fight for comprehensive immigration reform. However, we still have lots of work to do. Without the support of everyone, we will not achieve the reform that we so want and need.
We urge you to take action now, in any or all of the following ways, to help advance immigration reform and let our government know that we mean business! Join the Reform Immigration for America text network. All you need to do is send a text message with the word “unity” in English, or “unidad” in Spanish, to the number 69866.
Visit the Reform Immigration for America website at www.reformimmigrationforamerica.org to email your congressmen, send them faxes, and sign up to receive action alerts via email. Call your congressmen personally and tell them that you want comprehensive immigration reform!
Si se puede! Yes we can!
National Media Coverage is not much better than Local News
We have conducted dozens of studies looking at what local TV stations and the Grand Rapids Press report on and how they cover major issues. One reason why GRIID does not track national media outlets is because there are several credible organization who already do that important work. Groups like Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, Media Matters, News Dissector, Project Censored and the Project for Excellence in Journalism all provide excellent documentation and analysis of national news reporting.
Last month, we completed a 100-day study of the Grand Rapids Press coverage of the US war in Afghanistan/Pakistan. Many of our findings were similar to the analysis that the national media watchdog groups while the US administration gets ready to make decisions on sending more troops in the ninth year of that occupation.
Currently we are working on a 30-day study of the Grand Rapids Press coverage of elections in Kent County. The study began the day that the top 10 finalists in the ArtPrize competition were announced and will conclude the day after there are local elections (November 4). There are 43 candidates running for a variety of local city council seats, as well as 3 ballot proposals for a few communities within Kent County. We want to make a comparison of how the Press reported on the ArtPrize entries/voting and the local political candidates/voting.
The Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) documents what topics were covered on a weekly basis. For the week of October 12 – 18, fund that health care was the lead story, due in part to the Senate Finance Committee vote on Health Care. After Health Care, the ongoing economic crisis received the second most coverage during the week of October 12 – 13, followed by the “Balloon Boy” story.
The “Balloon Boy” story received more coverage last week than US policy in Afghanistan or Pakistan, despite the fact that the US administration has been debating sending 40 – 80,000 more US troops to fight in that war. Another indication of how the media fails to inform the public about the crucial issues of the day, but instead chooses to make a boy in a balloon, ongoing national news.
AT&T Fights back on Internet Neutrality Battle
Two weeks ago we posted a Media Alert asking people to support new federal legislation that would prevent telecom companies from further privatization of the Internet.
Yesterday, FreePress sent out notification that telecom giant AT&T is fighting back on this issue. FreePress staff person Tim Karr wrote:
The company’s top policy officer sent a memo to workers on Monday urging them to hide their company affiliation before posting anti-Net Neutrality comments to the Federal Communication Commission’s Web site.
“We encourage you, your family and friends to join the voices telling the FCC not to regulate the Internet,” AT&T Senior Executive Vice President James Cicconi wrote in an internal communiqué forwarded to Free Press (and posted here). “It can be done through a personal e-mail account by going to www.openinternet.gov and clicking on the ‘Join the Discussion’ link.”
The notice that FreePress sent out yesterday also states, “Last week, several dozen members of Congress put the interests of AT&T ahead of yours and signed a letter to the FCC opposing the agency’s efforts to protect Net Neutrality.” It isn’t known at this point which members of Congress signed a letter, but according to the Center for Responsible Politics, AT&T has given money equally to both Democrats and Republicans. In the 2008 election cycle AT&T gave $4,464,263 to candidates, the most by any of the telephone companies.
If you haven’t signed the online petition in favor of Internet Neutrality, do so today and encourage people you know to do the same.
Media Bites – US Chamber of Commerce Ad
In this week’s Media Bites we take a look at a commercial that is part of a new ad campaign by the US Chamber of Commerce called the American Free Enterprise Campaign. This campaign is designed to promote the idea that the free enterprise system is what will create new jobs in America. We point out that the US Chamber has supported policies that have resulted in a loss of US jobs as well as their lobbying of Congress for anti-worker policies. The Center for Responsive Politics has documented that the US Chamber of Commerce has spent more money lobbying Congress than any other entity since 1998.
Global Climate Justice Day of Action – Saturday, October 24
This Saturday there will be millions of people participating in over 3,700 different actions in 162 countries demanding climate justice. Grand Rapids is among those communities who have joined in to participate in this historic action.
A group of mostly GVSU students have organized an event in conjunction with the International group 350.org. The Grand Rapids event will start at 11:00am at Rosa Parks Circle with information tables, music and a few speakers. At 12:30 there will be a march to Calder Plaza and at 2pm there will be a Critical Mass bike ride to a local energy company. The local 350 group has a facebook page where you can get more details and sign up to participate.
These actions are all taking place just weeks before the big international climate conference that will be taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark. The heads of state from around the world will gather to decide on what actions to take to reduce carbon emissions, but as Bill McKibben – one of the 350.org organizers says, “the politicians have failed us” on climate justice. Environmental activist Vandana Shiva talked with us last week about climate justice and she affirmed McKibben’s point by saying, “climate justice must be citizen-led.”
Another group, Beyond Talk, is asking people to commit to taking action, even participating in civil disobedience. Beyond Talk is encouraging people to join affinity groups and use a consensus-based process to determine actions. They also have great resources on Direct Action, organizing tools and legal support.
A Small Victory in the Struggle Against Racism
On Friday, it was announced that the group of businessmen who had put in a bid to buy the St. Louis Rams professional football team decided against having radio pundit Rush Limbaugh be an ownership partner.
It was only a few weeks ago that the news media reported that syndicated radio talk show host, Rush Limbaugh, was being included as a business partner to buy a professional football team. Activists and groups responded quickly to the news.
First, the head of the NFL players union released a statement in opposition to Limbaugh being a part-owner in the league. “Sport in America is at its best when it unifies, gives all of us reason to cheer, and when it transcends. Our sport does exactly that when it overcomes division and rejects discrimination and hatred.”
Next, a petition campaign was begun online that used a new video from Robert Greenwald. The web page included a list of racist comments that Limbaugh has made over the years, such as:
“Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it.”
The video posting and the online discussion were so overwhelming in just a few days that the group of businessmen, known for supporting right-wing causes, decided to drop Limbaugh from the ownership team. A small victory.
On Friday, Limbaugh responded to the announcement with this statement: “This is about the future of the United States of America and what kind of country we’re going to have…..This is the latest assault on people who believe in rugged individualism and liberty and freedom who threaten the whole notion of state control tyranny and central authority which is typified by the Obama administration and the Democrat Party.”
GRIID has been reading the comments on youtube in response to the Greenwald video and it was quite scary. There is a tremendous amount of racist sentiment across the country. Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting also issued a media advisory on Friday pointing out how much of the media discourse on this issue doesn’t provide any context to Limbaugh’s history of racist remarks.
For those fighting against racism in the US, this is a small victory, but it also shows there is much work to be done.
Campaign to Get Lou Dobbs Off of CNN
There is a national campaign to get Lou Dobbs off of CNN since Dobbs is viewed by many as anti-Immigrant and anti-Latino. Bastadobbs.com is a new website which is educating people about the racist position that CNN commentator Lou Dobbs has been taking for years on the issue of immigration.
According to the Bastadobbs.com web page:
“Lou Dobbs’ brand of journalism is dangerous to Latinos in America — and it’s time to fight back. This week, the CNN anchor broadcast his radio show from the conference of anti-immigrant hate group FAIR, the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Founded by a white nationalist, FAIR was linked earlier this year to vigilantes in Arizona who brutally murdered 9-year-old Brisenia Flores and her father in their home. The appearance at FAIR is just the latest example of Dobbs using his status as a CNN anchor to spread fear about Latinos and immigrants. It’s time we said ¡Basta!”
The campaign has an electronic petition you can sign to pressure CNN to get rid of Lou Dobbs. There is also this short video which highlights Dobbs’ anti-immigrant and racist views.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 