Liberal College Kid

Last night I was able to attend Perfect Presidents or Perfect Politicians, a forum for some of the biggest names in progressive radio to come out and talk to their listeners in person about the upcoming election. The distinguished panel included Cenk Uygur and Ben Mankiewicz from the Young Turks, Mike Malloy, Big Ed Shultz, Thom Hartmann, and my favorite sugar mama; Stephanie Miller. Stephanie, actually, is the reason I was even able to go. I was unable to buy tickets, and in a city like Seattle an event like this sells out very quickly. So, I wrote to Mama telling her I was a lowly college kid with a web site who loved her and low and behold she had a ticket for me! Here’s a picture of the shirt I had her sign and my pass:

The event itself had many highlights. Thom Hartmann served as the host / moderator for the event and basically just threw out questions based on suggestions that had been submitted by local AM 1090 listeners.  To be honest, I really wished he would have participated more in the discussion because he really could be the smartest man in the country.  The rest of the panel answered questions intermittently so I thought I’d break them down the way we’ve done some of the debate debriefs.

Mike Malloy:

Mike came out wearing an ENOUGH t-shirt as part of the ENOUGH campaign seeking to impeach the Decider. Malloy’s style on his show is one that he characterizes as having “a lot of questions, not answers.” Malloy was certainly on the left side of the panel, which was of course on the left side to being with. His best points came when he spoke about the need for authenticity when it comes to a Democratic Presidential candidate. After all, that’s why Republicans love their actors so much right? They act the most presidential.

Ben Mankiewicz:

Ben got several boos throughout the course of the night, mostly for supporting a position Big Ed took on the issue of Islamic Fundamentalists. I’ll talk about that more in Eddie’s section, but Ben also had some redeeming qualities. His discussion about embracing all of the Democratic candidates as viable presidential options and talking about how strong the field on the Democratic side is made a lot of sense. His most intriguing comment of the night was on the topic of impeachment, and it actually made a lot of sense: if we start the impeachment procedure, everything else will stop and right now Iraq matters more. I’m not sure where I am on that point, but it is certainly food for thought.

Big Ed Shultz:

Big Ed received the second biggest round of applause from the crowd when he was introduced and was the only one wearing a suit. He explained that the suit was to make him look “presidential.” He also said that if given the money, he would gladly run for President. The thing is, I don’t think I could support him. Big Ed’s radio show is a great program because he really does give people an open mic to discuss the issues of the day. The thing that always upsets me about his show, though, is that Big Ed doesn’t call anybody out when they make a false statement or regurgitate a Republican talking point. To that end, last night Ed made the comment that we can’t lose sight of the fact that there are Islamic extremists who want to kill us. Of course, this was received by the crowd poorly and Eddie was subsequently booed and heckled. He tried to defend his point, but the crowd simply would not have it. Ben from the Young Turks was the only one to come to his defense on stage and Ed eventually stopped the discussion with a small pity plea of “I did not come here to be heckled, I pay my taxes, I’m an American and I have a right to my opinion.” Kind of a cry-baby move Ed… However, the rest of the night Ed was right on about a lot of different issues, providing the “political reality” about single-payer healthcare and campaign finance reform.

Cenk Uygur:

Cenk was on fire all night. Without question, Cenk stood out among many more well known radio personalities and I think many in the crowd were ready to anoint him the new leader of the progressive movement. His discussion of life and death issues was especially great. I’m paraphrasing a little bit here but,

The police and fire departments are socialized because they deal with life and death issues. Healthcare is a life or death issue.

Boo yah! He continued to say that, as die-hard capitalists we should be outraged by our spending in healthcare. We spend more than any other country, yet we are ranked 37th in the world.  It just doesn’t make financial sense, so why are so many on the right, who love money, not embracing a change in policy? His best point, though, came when he said that what the Democrats really need is a dynamic leader that won’t accept “Republican talking points.” He said that Democrats accept Republican notions of things like values, when all the Republicans care about are Republican values. Paying people a living wage, giving mothers time off to be with their babies when they become new mothers, providing people with healthcare: these are real values and it’s past time Democrats stand up and reject the Republican talking points.  Cenk Uygur, my vote for leader of the coming revolution…

Stephanie Miller:

Of course, I’m saving the best for last.  Stephanie received the largest round of applause when she was introduced and did what she does best for much of the night: make us laugh at smart liberal jokes.  Several times her comments kept the conversation from becoming too heavy, and other times she provided great commentary about the Democratic party and the candidates themselves.  My favorite serious comment of hers was when she said the Republican values consist of gay bashing and blaming brown people if they don’t have a job.  She quoted Barry Goldwater who apparently said, “It doesn’t matter if you are straight, so long as you can shoot straight,” in regards to gay people serving in the armed forces.  Her comment about Democratic causes, though funny in nature, also contained a great point.  She was talking about an Anti-War rally and that because Democrats are the party of tolerance there were people there representing all kinds of unrelated topics, like “Save the Turtles.”  “Focus People!” was her direction, but she illustrated a great point: we are such a big tent party on the left that we can have difficult times really moving on the larger issues when there are people who value the smaller ones more.  My favorite comedic moment of Mama’s came when she commented on Dick Cheney’s use of power in this administration “Sure, when he’s not killing puppies and pushing old ladies down the stairs.”  I love Mama, and the fact that she signed my t-shirt just solidifies her goddess stature in my heart.

There were virtually no people my age there, which I guess wasn’t that surprising, but is slightly discouraging.  I am, after all, one of my only friends who regularly listens to progressive talk radio but I have introduced Stephanie to several folks.  The event was incredible and it was so reassuring to see a packed Town Hall full of people who think like I do.  Thanks again for the ticket Mama, and thanks to 1090 for bringing out some of the truly big names in progressive radio to the Emerald City.

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This is a mobile post….

I just walked into the AM 1090 Perfect Presidents or Perfect Politicians event here in Seattle. I am so happy I might explode. A full event debrief will follow but I just wanted to share with our readers that there are places where having a Dennis Kucinich sticker on your car makes you a moderate! Here’s to progressive radio and thanks to Stephanie Miller for getting me a ticket!!!

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I’ve been listening to a lot of Ed Shultz lately, and seemingly everyday he has people call in and talk about immigration. This is great as I encourage dialogue on such difficult issues. The beef I have with Big Ed, though, is that when callers make a statement that is down right inflammatory (like “I’m calling from WalMart, or Chuck Schumer is a Nazi”) or just wrong he doesn’t do anything to correct them. Sure he calls Republicans funny names, but that’s pretty much where his “progressive” stance ends. Anyway, back to my point: Immigration.

One caller on Wednesday said that he has seen his salary as a carpenter and house builder drop from $38,000 to $18,000 in the last few years. He blames it on “illegal” immigrants doing his job for less. When Big Ed asked him why he didn’t move the caller responded that he had “been there longer than them (meaning Mexican immigrants)” because his family had lived in California since 1849. I immediately called big Ed’s number but wasn’t able to get through. Fortunately for me, I write for this wonderful blog, so I can vent here instead of on the Ed Shultz show. Here is what I would have said, had I been given the chance.

First and foremost, California was a part of MEXICO, so the argument that a white guy’s family has been there longer is laughable. My next question was if he was a member of a carpenter’s union, but that’s not as important here. The fact is, people are reduced to accusing immigrants of lowering wages for citizens doing the same blue collar tasks.

Of course, these are the same people who defend the free market vehemently as well. Here’s a quick econ lesson: if there are people willing to work for a lower wage, the wage paid to all workers will decrease. Supply and demand right? Now to throw in some Marxist thought, all one is truly worth is the value of their labor. If that decreases, they are left at the mercy of the market to set what they will make. But is all of this really the immigrants’ fault?

The whole influx of Hispanic immigration stems from the guest worker programs that allowed workers to come across the border to pick fruit and harvest American crops. These people made money in the summers and fall then returned home to be with their families the rest of the year. However, there became a demand for these people in other fields of work. So much more so that they were able to bring their families across with them and work year round. Add to this the fact that anyone, regardless of parentage, born in the United States is a US citizen, and it’s easy to see all the motivating factors that make people want to cross the border. The northern parts of Mexico, in large part, have much less social mobility than the rest of the country and are fairly rural and poor. The idea that within three generations a family can go from barely getting by to being college educated with an American accident is what the American dream is all about.

Of course, then came September 11, 2001 and things changed about how we look at our borders. No one paid attention that all of the men who were responsible for high jacking the planes entered the country legally… They did not sneak through the Mexican border; but the Republicans, and some Democrats as well, have turned immigration into a national security issue. I mean, I can see the logic in thinking that if people are sneaking in that bad people could too. But the fact is that the people that have actually attacked us are not coming through that border. Period. Further, Hispanics are not attacking us, and they are the sole reason our population has continued to grow and that we are still able to have the quantity and low price of produce in this country. Hispanic immigrants fill the low income jobs that Americans simply won’t do.

Most importantly, people seem to have come to the conclusion that all Hispanics are illegal. According to census data, there are around 36 million Hispanics living in the United States. Of course, that does not count the 12 million or so who entered “illegally.” That means more than 75% of Hispanics are here legally, and they should receive their just deserved respect as citizens and or legal residents of this country.

The Statue of Liberty says,

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

This used to be our immigration policy, back when the American dream still existed. My friends, we are a nation of immigrants who have also been resentful and prejudiced of the newest people to arrive. These people are in our country making a positive contribution and their occupations and contributions to society are what sustain our current life styles. It is beyond unacceptable to think about deporting these people who have American children and families here. After all, if a professional baseball player from another country can have his family move to the US and live here legally, why can’t a baby have the same right for his family?

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