Marching for Teddycare

Undeterred by Weather.com storm warnings, MYDers showed up to support healthcare reform at a rally in Times Square on Saturday:

Some nice signage at the rally, too–including the one referenced in the title, “We Are Marching for Teddycare!” Check out MYD pics here. NYTimes coverage here.

Tortured Logic

President Obama has indicated he doesn’t want to dwell in the past. But Christopher Hayes, Washington Editor of The Nation compares the 1970s Church Committee, which exposed the dark underbelly of Cold War spy operations, to the present uproar over CIA interrogations of detainees from the War on Terror and concludes:

The danger now isn’t naïveté but cynicism–that we just come to accept that the government will commit crimes in our name under the cover of secrecy and that such activities are more or less business as usual, about which nothing can be done. But something can be done. Something must be done. And Congress should do it.

A Comprehensive Accounting Is Long Overdue
ACLU: Tortured Logic

Are You On Your Way To Times Square?

The Healthcare rally starts at 2PM. See you there.

Photo of the Week: Vigor

Though his picture is everywhere this week, we couldn’t help honoring Senator Kennedy a bit more. This image, from his Senate campaign in 1962, shows Kennedy as an idealistic youth just getting started.

A great reminder of why we do what we do.

Photo: uncredited

Non Sequitor: Obama Ink

Do not try this at home:

14 more awful Obama tattoos here.

Hat tip: Gloria

Tell OFA NY What You Want – Tonight

OFA is on a Listening Tour! Organizing for America is touring the state to introduce itself to New York and hear what communities around the state have to to say. Now’s your chance to ask those burning questions and make your voice heard with the President’s grassroots org.

Time:	Thursday, August 27 from 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Host:	Geoff Berman
Location:	Middle Collegiate Church (New York, NY) 50 E 7th St New York, NY 10011

MyBO event (remember that site?) here.

What If We Ran This Town? Join Young Dems Across NYC For A Straw Poll

What is a Straw Poll? It’s an informal vote to gauge opinion within a group–not an endorsement. We want to see what our members think about the prospective 2009 Candidates for the city-wides.

Voters between 18 and 36 make up 1/3 of the electorate. Experts have been trying to figure out this election for months and they’re still clueless. This poll will be the first real chance for these candidates to see how their messages are resonating with our generation.

We’ll be gathering at locations in Manhattan (there are locations in Queens and Brooklyn too) at 7:30PM on Tuesday, Sept 1st and staying past 10PM. Tickets are $10 and will get you one vote each for Mayor, Comptroller, and Public Advocate.

Votes will be tallied from all over the City to give you the minute-by-minute results of the City-wide poll. We’ll have an exciting vote tally, special guests, and drink specials. See you there!

RSVP + Event Details on Facebook |    RSVP on DEMopolis

The Work Goes On

“The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.” – Senator Ted Kennedy

TAPPED:

Ted Kennedy wasn’t a symbol of American liberalism. He was the executor of American liberalism, he was the real deal, he got it done. He couldn’t make the whole country fall in love with him. But centuries from now, when the sentimental attachment of those who can remember the older Kennedy brothers are gone, it is the youngest Kennedy sibling who will be remembered, warts and all, for having most shaped America’s path, and most exemplified its ideals. He is, in short, the only Kennedy who wasn’t overrated, the only one we saw for who he was, the one we will remember fondly for what he did, not what he said or what he might have been.

Where’s The Green? Impressions from MYD’s PA Forum

As one Democratic insider supporting Mr. de Blasio put it, “You can’t attack what’s not there.”

That may be true, but it’s also hard to vote for someone with less presence than a ghost. Last week’s Public Advocate Forum, hosted by MYD, allowed our members, students from co-host Pace University, and others from the community to hear from all of the non-Green candidates: Former ACLU chief Normal Seigel, Brooklyn Councilman Bill de Blasio, and Queens Councilman Eric Gioia. Former PA and most-recognized candidate Mark Green has been keeping a low profile and refusing to engage in public debates–kind of ironic for someone who wants to advocate on our behalf, no?

Here are some initial impressions on the candidates’ opening remarks from Marty Glyer, MYD member and furious note-taker during the Forum. His full set of notes, including some highlights from the Q&A and his ‘grades’ for the various candidates, after the jump. Please note that these are solely his impressions, and do not necessarily reflect the views of MYD or anyone else.

First was Norman Siegel. Man, not what I was expecting at all for an opening answer: he spent a vast chunk of his time scolding MYD for not including the Republican candidate for PA, and then went on to rail on PACE for not allowing literature to be distributed within the room.  Not going to lie, I was taken aback.  At first.  But then it occurred to me that, so long as your moral compass is set in the right direction, its probably a good thing to be so grumpy, spiky, and tough.  And he definitely didn’t seem to mind if he came off that way.

Next was Bill de Blasio. He was well spoken, and very well put together, giving the impression that knew the job and could handle it.  However, he didn’t seem quite as authentic as Siegel (I guess its kind of hard to be disingenuous when you are being so spiky), and he seemed to spit out a few too many canned lines in a row.  And, forgive me for this, can we have a moratorium on politicians espousing “Change?”  I know it sounds good in your head, but it seems to fall flat when you hear it from most people.

The final candidate was Eric Gioia. Young, smart, clear, and concise.  He seemed to take the stance of reconciler and conciliatory, a bringing people together to a consensus in order to move forward toward the right thing.  Extremely engaging.  Much more “people” and “community” oriented.  Despite working as a Janitor to pay for NYU tuition, I might question how bull-doggedly he would bust down walls in the job.

Read more

Will TA For Public Good? Grad School Fair in NYC

If you’re looking for an easy way to meet recruiters from tons of graduate school programs all across the country, want that degree to be about making the world a better place, and are planning to be in town on Sep. 10th, look no further:

Idealist.org Grad Fair

At the fair, you will have an opportunity to meet graduate admissions representatives from various programs to discuss professional development through graduate education. You will also have a chance to attend a free information session offering advice on graduate degree options, the application process, financial aid, and deciding when to attend graduate school after spending time in the working world.

September 10, 2009, 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. (schedule)
Metropolitan Pavilion, North and South Pavilion
125 West 18th Street, New York, NY (directions)

Hat Tip: Heather J

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