NY State gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer and Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll
Eliot Spitzer Rally
in Syracuse
Eliot Spitzer rolled into Syracuse last night and spoke to a crowd of about 100 supporters at the Erie Canal Museum.
As supporters gather, preparations are made for Spitzer's visit.
Nancy Hallock (l) and Kaye Jaeger (r),
members of SEIU 1199
Eliot Spitzer's bus rolled in to the tune of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down."
Eliot Spitzer emerged from the bus smiling, waving, and shaking hands as he approached the outdoor podium.
Attorney General Spitzer reminded the crowd that the Erie Canal helped to make New York City the place it is today. When Dewitt Clinton had the vision for the canal, there was a lack of hope that it would live up to its alleged potential. There was a decided Upstate vs. Downstate mentality, and he believed that was a fitting metaphor for this time as we see gridlock in Albany, population loss in the state, employment losses, and a palpable sense of doom.
Spitzer said, "We know a good project when we see it."
"We need to shake the lethargy out of Albany," said Spitzer, insisting that reform must be confronted in a "head-on" manner. Having just visited the city of Rochester where women's rights activist Susan B Anthony lived, he quoted the historic activist:
"Careful, cautious people, always casting about to preserve their reputations, can never effect a reform."
He reminded his supporters, "No one has ever called me cautious." He promised to continue to risk the tough fights and to stand up, unafraid of losing, even if he risks getting "scuffed up" a little bit. He ended by saying that his goal is creating the kind of government that works for the People, and not the other way around.
Listening intently to the current NYS Attorney General.
From the Oneonta Daily Star: N.Y. Democrats designate Spitzer for governor
Politics
A Small Business Owner Discusses Net Neutrality
Small business owner Scott Huffman from Charlotte, N.C. eloquently brings the issue of Net Neutrality, local politics (Rep. Sue Myrick), national politics, the danger of mega-mergers and improper FCC oversight into focus in a way that citizens can easily understand. All this occurred in a seven-minute conversation with Mike Collins on May 23 during "Open Phones" on his radio show "Charlotte Talks." We may be hearing more from Mr. Huffman on future Charlotte Talks shows. I highly recommend that you listen to Scott and Mike. This is eye-opening.
PART ONE:
PART TWO:
Politics, Net Neutrality
Headlines May 31Global Warming
Hear Al Gore talk about global warming at NPR. He discusses the melting of the North Pole. Definitely not good news for Santa Claus.
The Internet
The Net Squared conference is happening now in San Jose, Ca. The conference blog is here. One of today's highlights was a session with Democracy Now's Amy Goodman on Grassroots, Netroots, and the End and Beginning of Politics. (Sure wish I could have been there).
Media
In a review of the glaring hypocrisy we see in journalism today, Joe Conason asks: "Is there a reason why the enduring, 30-year bond of the Clintons merits more withering scrutiny than the multiple unhappy marriages of ambitious politicians such as Senator John McCain and Rudolph Giuliani? Is there a reason why the marital privacy of elected officials should be violated, while media moguls like Rupert Murdoch can discard their wives with impunity?"
Today's ABC News Political Note has some juicy gossip about the Associated Press' veteran political journalist Ron Fournier. They ask: What is Fournier's new job (related to the World Wide Web) and which potential 2008 presidential candidates are familiar enough with the AP to have educated guesses about who might replace Fournier in this slot (and has begun sucking up to them)? ;)
Iraq
An Iraqi war veteran is suing filmmaker Michael Moore over the use of certain footage in his film "Fahrenheit 9/11". It's in the New York Post, naturally. It's a "feelings" lawsuit. In a nutshell, the double-amputee felt used; misrepresented. He can't lose, when you think about it. Even if unsuccessful in the litigation, the vet's views will be made clearly known to the public.
In a Statfor.com analysis titled Break Point, George Friedman says:
"A government has been formed in Iraq. It is a defective government, in the sense that it does not yet have a defense or interior minister. It is an ineffective government, insofar as the ability to govern directly is at this point limited institutionally, politically and functionally. Ultimately, what exists now is less a government than a political arrangement between major elements of Iraq's three main ethnic groups. And that is what makes this agreement of potentially decisive importance: If it holds, it represents the political foundation of a regime....If it holds. If it holds, the rest is almost easy. If it doesn't hold, the rest is impossible..."
Politics
