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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (April 14, 2005)
TO THE EDITOR A PLACE TO SPEAK March 15 was the official unveiling and dedication of the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza, and Saturday, April 2 the people offi- cially put the Plaza to its intended use. The first day of the Saturday Market was sunny, bustling with people of all ages and the Wayne Morse Youth Program had the honor of sponsoring the first of many free speech celebrations at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza at the Lane County Courthouse during the Saturday Market, in the spirit of the late great Senator. We had a people’s dedication of the Free Speech Plaza that Sen. Morse would have been proud of. Many people came to express themselves in a civil and truthful way. They came and spoke to issues that were important to them. They came to share the stage of com- munity functionality and gave a multifaceted view of opinion on various issues. We invite you to join us in bringing new light to old and new issues. No matter who you are or what color, culture, creed, sexual or po- litical persuasion, young and old, we want you to speak out. Between the hours of 10 am and 2 pm every Saturday, you will have the opportu- nity to use our PA system to address the issues closest to your heart. We ask that you join with us in exercising our most cherished constitu- tional right, freedom of speech. You don’t have to speak, you can just come and enjoy the community of diverse opinions that grace the Plaza. Read the stones, as they are bursting with insightful quotes from many wise and respected citi- zens, past and present. View the bronze statue of Morse and learn more about this awesome statesman. Many thanks to the wonderful people who worked hard to bring the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza to fruition. The Wayne Morse Youth Program is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-denomina- tional, education program advocating for local youth. Dave Woods Wayne Morse Youth Program SOME BASIC RIGHTS I am a 25-year-old mother of two beautiful and intelligent children. I am also a lesbian. My partner and I live in fear that if something happens to either one of us, our children will suffer. There are no guarantees that if one of us passes away our kids can stay with their other parent. We also know that because there are no laws protecting our family, in the event of a tragedy my partner and children will loose everything we’ve built “together.” This is horrifying. We live our lives the same way as any straight couple would. All we want is some security, and to know my family will be taken care of if something were to happen to me. Is that too much to ask? We are all humans and we all deserve to have equal rights despite our race, sex, or sex- ual orientation. Society should not be able to pick and choose who should and shouldn’t have rights. Is this not America I live in? The land of the free? Where liberty is supposed to be for all, not just for people whom society deems wor- thy? All we are asking is for civil unions to be recognized and some basic rights. Rachel Morales Eugene OFFENDED Was anyone else offended by Joules Graves performance at Cozmic Pizza on April 2? Never before have I been part of an audience that was “shushed” by the perform- ing artist and told to “Shut up!” while also being told she was “spilling her guts” to us. This was a standing room only crowd with pizza and beer being sold and other ven- dors at tables selling their goods or promoting their services. Above all, this was a fund raiser for the Community Village at the Oregon Country Fair, with an entrance fee of $12 and open to all ages. Did Joules Graves not realize this was a family affair when she then told the crowd to “Shut the fuck up!” in another attempt to have all patrons and guests be completely silent during her performance? I was offended and decided to leave the show immediately, missing the other per- formances that I preferred and came to see. While her folksy music might have emo- tional lyrics and deep meaning to some, it is not welcome by all, especially when trying to BY DAN CAROL Gluing the Pieces A memo to the millionaires I n a remarkable display of moral courage and unbridled optimism, gaggles of progressive millionaires are meeting this month in various venues across America. Their goal: to fix the Democratic Party. What follows is a fawning note filled with brilliant advice that you can send along with your applications for fund- ing your favorite group or cause. Dear (insert millionaire or billionaire’s nickname here): Honestly, I don’t know why it is that you want to spend so much of your dough to save us Democrats and Progressives — but thanks. Really. Your heart is in the right place. Now to the tricky part: making sure your money also makes it to the right place. Here is some unsolicited advice on that. us, this has been tried. But, we’ve got lots of inspiring core beliefs to share, from faith and tolerance in our hearts, to starting gate equality and a dignified retirement, to clean energy Apollo jobs that stay at home, to girls’ education and citizen diplomacy abroad. Whatever we call the New American Dream, we just need to speak from the gut and articulate hope and a can-do spirit — and echo it all via the new, collaborative platform for media, entertainment and activism now taking shape. We also need to micro-target, organize and motivate different audiences, in different places, at different paces. This itera- tive approach can work, especially if we mimic the right on one score: patience. Newt Gingrich, Eddie Mahe, Paul Weyrich and other top conservatives didn’t look for one single slogan to win power in an instant or an election cycle but for solid message, organizing and execution over many years. The best campaigns bubbled up from states and ballot initiatives, like California’s Prop 13 which spawned the anti-tax movement, not down. So let’s copy that. D i v e r si fy y o u r p l a y: S t at es ma ke a p r es id e nt . We live in a confusing time where the old era of political party identification is giving way to a disaggregated thunderdome of cause-based politics, distributed democracy, MoveOns, house parties and DIY (Do It Yourself politics). We all know we are less than the sum of our parts — so what big pieces do we need to glue together first? It’s pretty simple really — think states. Until the rules change in the electoral college, the fact is, ya gotta win states to win the presidency, let alone all the key governorships up next year. They are the prize; they are the coin of the realm. In 2006 and beyond, we will win elections when and where we can create effective, multi-group state issue networks that bring Progressives and Democrats to the polls. Issue-wise, it might be health care, it might be education, it might be some other local concern, driven by a national player like SEIU, the PIRGs, Sierra, you name it. The organizing center of that network might be the state Democratic party, or a new party like Working Families Party in New York, or a home-grown organizing effort like The Oregon Bus Project. So _______, are you investing in smart recipes and experiments to create state voter participation networks? Or not? If not, I respectively suggest you re- think the scale of that investment and diversify your bet. He d g e yo ur b et : Fe ed t h e f er ti li ze r f un d . Listen _______, many well-meaning progressive donors have talked about “building for the long-term” — before blow- ing it all on short-sighted schemes. But collaboration talk is cheap; it’s time to lay it on the line, doncha think? Does anyone really think they have “the one answer” on message or organiz- ing in an era when Jesse Jackson is hanging out with the Schiavo parents? So why not hedge your bets a bit by investing a percentage of your passion play in a “fertilizer fund” dedicated to proven, boring, infrastructure-building efforts we know we’ll need? Hey _______, I’m willing to make the pledge if you are! So before we create another new group, or a new cable channel, or launch another new full-page ad campaign in The New York Times, let’s leave behind a little money to seed success for the long haul. Rich dudes, big groups, everyone should pay in — I’m suggesting 3, 5 or maybe 10 percent of the new money raised moving forward. We know what we need (list matching, voter files, election pro- tection, echo chamber infrastructure), and what works (living wage, boots on the ground, a growing farm team of state and local candidates through great groups like Wellstone Action). Let’s get it done. W h at a bo ut t he p e rf ec t m es s a ge ? Uh ... guess what? There isn’t one bumper Dan Carol is a Democratic political strategist and a founding partner of CTSG (www.ctsg.com), a progressive consulting firm based in Eugene, and Washington, D.C. Got a good idea to send along to the millionaires? Post it at www.kumbayadammit.com/blog.cfm sticker or billboard that will motivate all of our 60 million troops, all at once. Trust 4 APRIL 14, 2005
