Incarceration, Racism, and Fear

Written by: Ilya Sheyman on Mar 3, 2008 7:34 AM EST

(This is a personal diary, and in no way implies endorsement by DFA) 

Last week, there was a shocking report released that over 1% of America's adult population is in jails. Of course, the numbers are even worse when broken down into subgroups. Disproportionally African American, disproportionally there for non-violent drug offenses, and incredible rates of recidivism due to the lack of any sort of rehabiltation program, the system is fundamentally broken. 

More than one in a hundred adult Americans are in prison, a higher rate of incarceration than at any time in US history that is pushing the budgets of several states to breaking point, a report warns.

The Pew Centre on the States, a Washington-based research body, reveals that in 2007 the inexorable rise in the prison population saw the US cross what it calls a "sobering threshold". The number of prisoners in federal and local jails grew to 2.3 million, out of the country's adult population of 229.8 million, which gives a ratio of one in 99 adults behind bars.

When that statistic is broken down for different demographic groups, the proportion is even more startling. One in nine black men aged 20 to 34 is incarcerated.

It has long been known that the US has the most prison-happy approach to crime control in the world. China, with a population far greater than America's, comes in second with 1.5 million prisoners, and Russia third with 890,000.

Today, some minor changes in sentencing guidelines come in effect which will allow the release of a tiny fraction fo the prisoners caught up in our unjust system. And what does DOJ have to say?

Judges could reduce sentences for nearly 20,000 inmates following the decision by the U.S. Sentencing Commission -- an independent federal agency that advises all three branches of government on sentences. Advocates of the sentence reduction say it is only fair, but the Justice Department counters and says that the move will allow dangerous criminals back on the street.  

Fear. Fear. And more fear. Fear of a scary black man coming out to kill you and your children. Fearmongering and scapegoating. Whether its blacks, hispanics, or gays. For decades now, through administrations Republican and even Democratic, there has been no solution on this issue. That's why need real change and we need it now. 

Shutting the Door on Superdelegates Deciding the Nomination

Written by: Ilya Sheyman on Feb 27, 2008 10:21 AM EST

(Cross-posted in part at DailyKos)

Few people knew what to expect when we launched DFA's Voters Decide campaign. We called on super-delegates to confirm the will of the voters, instead of crowning a different winner. Never before had anyone forced the media spotlight to focus on the power of this group of less than 800 party insiders.

And, we were shocked by the results. In only 10 days:

60,000+ Signatures on our Voters Decide petition
Full Page ad in USA Today with MoveOn
Speaker Pelosi, Sen. McCaskill and other leading Democrats came out in support

On Monday, we took our message to the Democratic leadership with deliveries to Sen. Clinton, Sen. Obama, Majority Leader Reid, Speaker Pelosi, and DNC Chair Gov Dean. Read their stories below.

And, yesterday, over 3,600 DFA members across the country delivered Voters Decide petitions to super-delegates in their communities. Their stories are below:

Kathy in Tuscson, AZ: 

I dropped the signatures at Gabrielle Gifford's office. Someone had beat me to it so she had two copies there. Her office manager asked if there was a way to get the addresses of the people in Tucson who signed it who were in her district, (8th). I said that I would ask you. Gabriel likes to personally respond to her constituents. ..

finally, Joni did say that it is Ms Gifford's intention to follow what the people want.

More below the fold:

Read more

Checking in from San Diego

Written by: Ilya Sheyman on Feb 20, 2008 8:36 AM EST

Just got an email checking in from Carol Changus, a DFA Organizer in San Diego She just returned from a great event with San Diego DFA members, Nick Leibham (a candidate for Congress in CA-50) and DNC Chair Gov. Howard Dean.

She sent in this great photo from the event:

Left to Right: Judy Ki, SD DFA member, & GO Team Coordinator; Carol Changus, Group Organizer, San Diego DFA; HOWARD DEAN; Nick Leibham, Candidate for 50th Congressional District.; Cynthia Lee, Local Activist & SD DFA member; Lady in Dean Hat, DFA

And, if you're in Southern California, be sure to sign up for the DFA Training Academy which is coming to San Diego April 5th-6th.

-Ilya

Primaries Matter - Feel the Momentum!

Written by: Ilya Sheyman on Feb 9, 2008 11:30 AM EST

DFA-List Candidate Donna Edwards has her primary election on Tuesday, and there's been a lot of news over the past few days.

Today, the Washington Post endorsed Donna over Bush-Democrat incumbent Al Wynn. 

For her part, though, Ms. Edwards, a lawyer and foundation executive, has been an effective, energetic advocate for a range of liberal causes -- the environment, higher minimum wages, stemming domestic violence, campaign finance reform. As a community organizer, she has been an unstinting voice for improving mass-transit options, although sometimes at the expense of building roads that the 4th District badly needs. Even in cases where she clashed with local developers, however, she won their respect as a sensible and no-nonsense adversary. Poised, persistent and principled, she would make a fine representative for the 4th District.

And how are the polls looking? Matt Stoller at OpenLeft got his hands on an internal poll from the Edwards campaign. The results?

Donna Edwards - 40%

Al Wynn - 32% 

But, polls don't mean much - it's all about what happens on tuesday in Maryland. Oh, and yes, there will be a Presidential Primary on the ballot as well. Donna made some news on that front:

Most importantly, both Sen. Obama and I offer a real change - a new vision and new voice in politics that actually works for the people. The change that we both envision requires thousands upon thousands of people working together, striving for change and demanding better of our elected officials.

This is an incredible place for a challenger to be. Only a few days out and leading over an entrenched Beltway Democrat. Help Donna Edwards in any way you can, and show the beltway insiders thar primaries do matter!

Uncounted Movie House Parties

Written by: Ilya Sheyman on Feb 8, 2008 8:26 PM EST

Please join fellow DFA members, friends, and family for the new documentary film, Uncounted, at a house party in NULL. At the party, you'll be able to see this remarkable film and join a special conference call with the director, filmmaker David Earnhardt, and DFA's Chairman, Jim Dean.

Search for a DFA-Uncounted House Party near you:
www.DemocracyforAmerica.com/SeeUncounted

Uncounted is an explosive film that shows how the election fraud that changed the outcome of the 2004 election led to even greater fraud in 2006 -- and now looms as an unbridled threat to the outcome of the 2008 election. This film examines in startling terms how easy it is to change election outcomes and undermine election integrity across the U.S.

The film ends with a call to action to take our elections back. Offering ideas, identifying possible coalition partners, and providing the tools to get the job done. This is a great way to have fun watching a movie with friends while working to move America forward.

-Ilya

Presidential Primary: On The War

Written by: Ilya Sheyman on Feb 2, 2008 12:02 AM EST

Sen. Clinton:

However, her Iraq vote was not only wrongheaded. It was also cynical. She made it without taking the time to do critical background research, work that would have revealed doubts about Saddam's alleged weapons of mass destruction among U.S. intelligence agencies.

A 90-page National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, the consensus of the 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, was made available to all members of the Senate, but apparently she didn't bother to read it. (It's a classified document, but senators were permitted to read it at two secure locations on Capitol Hill.)

For a policy-maker who prides herself on preparation and a mastery of detail, that was a curious lapse — suggesting she had made up her mind to cast a vote that would armor her against charges she was too soft to be commander-in-chief. In other words, she, like many others, sent young Americans to war to boost her political fortunes. That's not the only mistake Clinton has ever made, but it is the most damning.

Sen. Obama:

On Oct. 26, 2002, in the midst of a campaign for the U.S. Senate, he gave a speech in Chicago opposing the invasion of Iraq.

While Obama rightly acknowledged that Saddam Hussein was "a bad guy," he also pointed out, "Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States or to his neighbors. ... I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences."

Passed on without comment.  

Uncounted House Parties

Written by: Ilya Sheyman on Jan 29, 2008 2:41 PM EST

Did you think the 2000 election was stolen? And that maybe something was wrong in 2004 as well? Are you wondering what effect election fraud had in 2006? Do you want to know what really happened and how it'll affect this year's election?

If you answered 'YES' to the above questions, then you need to host a DFA-Uncounted House Party on Wednesday, February 13th.

www.DemocracyForAmerica.com/uncounted

From your house party, you'll be able to call in to a very special conference call with filmmaker David Earnhardt and DFA Chair Jim Dean.

We have free copies of Uncounted on DVD to send to the first 200 House Parties with 10 RSVPs before February 6th.

We'll give you all the tools you need to host an effective party. You just need a TV, DVD player, and a living room big enough for you and a few DFA friends. Be sure to get started on planning your house party today.

Uncounted is an explosive new documentary that shows how the election fraud that changed the outcome of the 2004 election led to even greater fraud in 2006 - and now looms as an unbridled threat to the outcome of the 2008 election. This film examines in startling terms how easy it is to change election outcomes and undermine election integrity across the U.S.

The film ends with a call to action to take our elections back. Offering ideas, identifying possible coalition partners, and providing the tools to get the job done. This is a great way to have fun watching a movie with friends while working to move America forward.

Will you host an Uncounted House Party on February 13th?

A Huge Victory

Written by: Ilya Sheyman on Jan 28, 2008 7:10 PM EST

We just won an incredible last minute victory in the Senate. Senate Democrats stood up to the Bush administration and stopped telecom immunity. Here's a message Jim just sent out:

We just had a huge victory. Grassroots action forced the Senate to stop telecom immunity from passing.

Earlier today, DFA members made over 1,000 calls an hour to our Senators. And they heard our voices loud and clear.

Tonight I'll be watching President Bush give his final State of the Union. As usual, he will be fear-mongering and pushing his radical agenda on the American people.

Thanks to your work today, we flipped the vote and forced Senate Democrats to have a backbone.

Jim

Thanks for all your hard work today. Tonight we celebrate, tomorrow we keep up the fight!

Iowa Wrap Up

Written by: Ilya Sheyman on Jan 7, 2008 3:25 PM EST

With the New Hampshire primary fast approaching, I wanted to wrap up our trip to Iowa last week. Out trip began with us spending a whirlwind day in Davenport which I blogged about earlier. Here's a photo of Jim leading a discussion at the Live from Iowa Link Up. Nearly 700 of you have now listened to the call via our brand new channel at blogtalk radio. Thanks for all your feedback and a special shoutout to San Diego Meetup #23 which participated in the call from their monthly meeting.

That night, Jim, Danny, Matt and I headed over to Des Moines to be in the center of things for the caucuses. And, we were not dissapointed. Our day began at 7:30 am as we headed out for a John Edwards rally at the Steelworkers Hall in the southeast part of town. After navigating through the many one way streets, we finally arrived just in time to hear Senator Edwards rally the volunteers on their busiest day yet.

The crowd was excited and enthusiastic, sensing Sen. Edwards' momentum in the state. And there were tons of media outlets in attendence. Of course, they wanted some insights from our very own chair, Jim Dean.

We then headed over to the Village Bean in downtown Des Moines to grab some breakfast and get an internet connection. You know something special is happening when there's a sign on the door saying that they will be "closed at 6:00 today to caucus". Inside the coffee shop, Jim sat down with Dave Ross of Seattle's KIRO radio for an interview about the caucuses. And, we ran into the former Lt. Gov.

After a fantastic lunch, it was finally time for us to caucus at one of the biggest polling places in Des Moines. Here's a shot before the caucus started, and then one with the incredible 554 people in attendance.

The caucus chair was DFA's own Jeffrey Goetz - who was highlighted in the Washington Post. By the way, Jeffrey, thanks for lunch - the view of Des Moines was incredible :-)

Jeffrey ran the caucus amazingly well - just imagine getting 554 opinionated Democrats to do something together. And, in the end, it was Obama 5 delegates, Clinton 2, and Edwards 2 - none of the other candidates were viable.

Once the AP called the victory for Sen. Obama, we sped over to his victory party. And, he delivered a speech that did not dissapoint.

All in all, a fantastic trip to Iowa and an incredible night for progressives. The Unite campaign in action - progressive candidates finishing first and second. Now, on to New Hampshire - tomorrow promises to be another exciting day!

Watching the Caucuses

Written by: Ilya Sheyman on Jan 4, 2008 4:46 PM EST

Wow! What an incredible night. I just drove from Des Moines to my folks' home in northern Illinois and will have a complete write up on all the excitement a bit later. But, I was thrilled to find an article about the local DFA caucus watching party last night.

Check out this great article about Lake County DFA in North Chicago, Illinois:

"This is the first time we've ever had (the TV set) on," said Matt Lowry of Vernon Hills, who brings the Lake County chapter of Democracy for America to Flanagan's once a month. "I'd actually forgotten that it was there."

Lowry added with a smile that "it would have been extraordinarily ironic if the only station we could get was Fox News."

About 14 DFA members kept one eye on the screen as the early results came in, discussing such business as early voting for the Feb. 5 Illinois primary and state Sen. Terry Link's petition controversy. They also welcomed speeches from a pair of Lake County board candidates, Peter Grant (District 1) and Douglas Raul Williams (16).

Keep your eyes on these DFA'ers . Not only are they in my home town, but there's a lot brewing in 2008. Besides a certain Senator running for President and competitive local races, there's a competitive house race with Democrats Dan Seals and Jay Footlik vying to take on Bush Republican Mark Kirk. This is going to be one of the top targets in 08!