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The MA Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus recently sent my campaign a questionnaire, which I am returning today.  My support on the issues of civil rights, marriage rights, privacy, HIV/AIDS policy, and education is resolute, which their members will see easily enough in my answers.

The cover letter to the questionnaire identified the caucus as being ‘bi-partisan.’  This made me wonder if the caucus is open to endorsing a candidate from outside the parties that are generally defined by the term ‘bi-partisan,’ or if they limit serious consideration only to candidates from two parties.  I asked about this last week, but have not received an answer yet.

Continue reading MA Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus: A Candidate’s Answer

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Who should be running the shadow war?

“Who should be running the shadow war?” asks a recent New York Times article which simultaneously exposes and lends support to the recent shift towards secret, unaccountable, and unconstitutional military aggression by the United States government.

The attack offered a glimpse of the Obama administration’s shadow war against Al Qaeda and its allies. In roughly a dozen countries – from the deserts of North Africa, to the mountains of Pakistan, to former Soviet republics crippled by ethnic and religious strife – the United States has significantly increased military and intelligence operations, pursuing the enemy using robotic drones and commando teams, paying contractors to spy and training local operatives to chase terrorists.

The White House has intensified the Central Intelligence Agency’s drone missile campaign in Pakistan, approved raids against Qaeda operatives in Somalia and launched clandestine operations from Kenya. The administration has worked with European allies to dismantle terrorist groups in North Africa, efforts that include a recent French strike in Algeria. And the Pentagon tapped a network of private contractors to gather intelligence about things like militant hide-outs in Pakistan and the location of an American soldier currently in Taliban hands.

While the stealth war began in the Bush administration, it has expanded under President Obama, who rose to prominence in part for his early opposition to the invasion of Iraq. Virtually none of the newly aggressive steps undertaken by the United States government have been publicly acknowledged. In contrast with the troop buildup in Afghanistan, which came after months of robust debate, for example, the American military campaign in Yemen began without notice in December and has never been officially confirmed.

Obama administration officials point to the benefits of bringing the fight against Al Qaeda and other militants into the shadows. Afghanistan and Iraq, they said, have sobered American politicians and voters about the staggering costs of big wars that topple governments, require years of occupation and can be a catalyst for further radicalization throughout the Muslim world.

Continue reading Private Empire, Shadow Warfare. America slips towards fascism.
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Gotta hand it to The Onion for saying it better than anyone else has.

massive quantities of oil reach their intended destination

PORT FOURCHON, LA-In what may be the greatest environmental disaster in the nation’s history, the supertanker TI Oceania docked without incident at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port Monday and successfully unloaded 3.1 million barrels of dangerous crude oil into the United States.

According to witnesses, the catastrophe began shortly after the tanker, which sailed unimpeded across the Gulf of Mexico, stopped safely at the harbor and made contact with oil company workers on the shore. Soon after, vast amounts of the black, toxic petroleum in the ship’s hold were unloaded at an alarming rate into special storage containers on the mainland.

From there, experts confirmed, the oil will likely spread across the entire country’s infrastructure and commit unforetold damage to its lakes, streams, and air.

Continue reading Millions Of Barrels Of Oil Safely Reach Port In Major Environmental Catastrophe
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I am forwarding this excellent editorial from Jason Pramas from OMG.

Mike Heichman

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Let Jill Stein Debate

by Jason Pramas (Staff), Aug-13-10

• OMB Editorial

It’s really something to watch the mainstream media in our fair state close ranks around the mainstream candidates in the Mass. gubernatorial race. On Tuesday, Green-Rainbow Party candidate Jill Stein was contacted by a consortium of nine major local media organizations and (to quote her press release) “invited to participate in two major televised debates, providing she met certain criteria including raising $100,000 in campaign funds and achieving at least a 5 percent score in election polls.” I would have to agree with Stein that the media outlets in question are setting the bar for entry to the debates too high to easily allow qualified third-party candidates to participate.

I would also agree with her campaign position on the matter, “All candidates that have qualified for the ballot under the election laws of the Commonwealth should be invited to participate in debates that use the public airways. We also think that fair treatment of all candidates is to be expected from the media corporations that are taking advantage of the privileges our society accords to journalistic enterprises. Those privileges are based on an assumption that journalists will contribute to the free and open dialogue that is essential to a healthy democracy. Journalists should refuse to be parties to any attempt to restrict the flow of information that voters need and deserve.”

Continue reading Let Jill Debate
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Massachusetts likes to call itself the Birthplace of Democracy.  But if giving voters a choice on election day is a measure of the health of a Democracy, we’re not doing very well.  Massachusetts has become a one-party state in which possession of the vote is often rendered meaningless because there is only one candidate in the race.

According to a recent tally by State House News Service, the 2010 elections are suffering from a dearth of candidates.

Continue reading Slim Pickings for Voters
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October 4, 2012 update:  I reiterate my standing policy on debates, which is that I will accept all public debate invitations that are made in good faith by an identified sponsor to all ballot-qualified candidates.  This pledge applies both when I am a challenger and when I am an incumbent seeking re-election.

My debate policy was also reiterated when the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance included a question about my willingness to debate on its 2012 candidate questionnaire, which I answered and made public.  Question #4 noted that many incumbents avoid or seek to limit the number of forums they participate in with opponents.  It asked if I would pledge to continue a practice of public debate after election.  The answer, of course, was YES.

The following was originally written in August of 2010.

Continue reading Candidate Debates

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Laugenour would legalize marijuana

By David Scribner

LENOX – Scott Laugenour, the Green-Rainbow Party candidate running for state representative against Democratic incumbent William F. Pignatelli in the fourth Berkshire district that includes all of South County, has called for the legalization of marijuana, both as a way of undermining covert drug trafficking and as a way of providing a taxable income stream for the area’s farmers.

‘It’s time for marijuana to be legalized and removed from the black market,” he declared. “Let’s allow our communities’ entrepreneurs to apply for licenses so that they may expand their business and profit from the sale of marijuana and related paraphernalia. And let’s collect fair and reasonable excise taxes on it.”

Continue reading “Laugenour Would Legalize Marijuana” : Berkshire Record

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Welll … ya do.

Fascinating times in that we’re witnessing, in both the GOP and the Democratic Party, ominous fissures that go more than skin deep. There are already signs of potential mass defection by folks who identify themselves now as “Tea Partiers” first and “Republicans” second. And now, Robert Gibbs makes it clear that the WH officially acknowledges an equally ominous fracturing taking place within the ranks of Democrats in damning “the professional left” (pretty sure he’s talking about you there, kiddo).

It’s possible that we’re living on a cusp of a power vacuum.

Continue reading “May You Live in Interesting Times”

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{Cross-posted at Blue Mass Group and Red Mass Group}

It’s Democracy Day today, and Massachusetts voters have a clear choice before them. They can support the one candidate who refuses to take corporate money to fuel her campaign, or the 3 candidates who swim through lobbyist-fueled campaign coffers like Scrooge McDuck. They can support the one candidate who unequivocally stands up for justice and sustainability, or the 3 candidates who treat ill-fated and harmful get-rich-quick schemes as though they were sensible, thoughtful, and helpful policy. They can support the one candidate who is standing up for real democracy — clean elections, open meeting and public records laws that apply to the legislature, and meaningful transparency and oversight of government spending — or the 3 candidates who laugh at real democracy as though it were a joke.

With the Green-Rainbow Party putting 3 candidates for statewide office on the ballot November 2nd — Jill Stein for Governor, Rick Purcell for Lt. Governor, and Nat Fortune for Auditor — Massachusetts voters have some real choices. These candidates will unwaveringly support, and fight for, government of, by, and for the people. They have great ideas to strengthen the Commonwealth and a compelling vision of our common future. While Bill McKibben laments the shameful collapse of the mainstream environmental movement’s ability to push climate legislation, the Green-Rainbow Party’s leadership never held out hope that our government — nearly entirely beholden to corporate interests — would have the answers.

Continue reading 4-way race for governor, and one clear choice for democracy
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