Fair Elections Act needed now more than ever

The Supreme Court made it possible for our elections and candidates to be bought and sold by corporations. This is a true disgrace, for a country that calls itself democratic. Most sinister, oppressive and demoralizing!!!!!

Karita Hummer

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/10/04-0

Tom Geohagan's Formula for Democratic Party Success

Tom Geohagan is a perfectly brilliant writer on politics and I only can wish that leaders in the Democratic Party could think as well, or at least heed his advice.

His formula for Democratic success is a must read, for anyone who cares if populist needs are ever to be enacted in this country. He hits the nail on the head. Sure wish the Party had this kind of back-bone.

Karita Hummer

Entitled,

Ten Things Dems Could Do to Win

Thomas Geoghegan, it can be found in The Nation magazine at:

http://www.thenation.com/article/154607/ten-things-dems-could-do-win

A Tale of Two Municipal Rose Gardens in One City

Civic Spending and Civic Pride in an age of Budget Cuts

In the span of about an hour or so, my husband and I visited two rose gardens here in San Jose, the Municipal Rose Garden in the affluent Rosegarden neighborhood of San Jose and the Heritage Rose Garden, in Guadalupe Gardens, bordering downtown San Jose. Both were abundant in roses and color, and both were delightful and wondrous to behold, in this apparently bumper crop year for roses. . However, the Municipal Rose Garden was utterly pristine, showing the utmost of care and attention, apparently by City Parks workers and community volunteers from the surrounding neighborhood. Despite budget cuts, apparently, the community surrounding the garden had rallied to the cause of keeping this place special for the neighborhood, city and region. As we walked through the Rose Garden, I commented on how there was nary a dead head on a bush and what good care the garden was receiving.

On the other hand, when we landed in the Heritage Rose Garden, though I delighted in the slightly wilder look of the massing of heritage roses, climbing everywhere,, as I looked closer, I could see that this garden was receiving far less attention, apparently the result of fewer gardeners available to tend the garden , from both city and community. These massive bushes, with their beautiful heritage flowers were being degraded by scads of deadheads, that could only ultimately deplete these heritage bushes of their blooms and vitality. So, I ask my fellow citizens of the City of San Jose, how long will it be before the beauty and vitality of our parks will be thoroughly eroded.

There seems to be a civic lesson in all this. Public assets such as parks are for the good and well-being of all of us, and it behooves all of us to support them willingly through our taxes, Tea Partiers, notwithstanding, and good old fashioned community volunteerism. And, yes, tea partiers, please visit our City parks, and ask yourself if they deserve attention as a common asset. Heritage roses are worth preserving for everyone.

Karita Hummer

Municipal Rose Garden, San Jose, CA

Naglee and Dana

San Jose, CA

Guadalupe Gardens, Heritage Rose Garden

Guadalupe River Park and Gardens
Spring and Taylor Streets, San Jose, California

Should such beauty be neglected?

I always feel a surge of pride when I visit this Heritage garden as I invariably recall how my Mother, quite elderly at the time, and I helped the day of the initial plsnitng of the gardens.

The beauty and glory of Western Pennsylvania in the Spring!

Is there any place more beautiful than western Pennsylvania in the Spring?

I went out this sunny spring morning here in California to check on my tulips, beginning to bud.

The cool crisp air of this sunny morning here reminded me of Easter in my hometown of Carnegie, PA

I remembered how every Easter Day, on my way to Church, I would go down a long walkway from our home high on the hill, walking through a pathway of Irises and many other flowers, all decked out in my Easter finery, new every year, a little girl in a finely made dress and coat (navy wool, with a beautiful little cape), a fine straw hat, purchased in a wonderful department store in Pittsburgh, PA with a blue, velvet ribbon (to match the coat), bedecked with flowers, with new patent leather shoes and little purse to match, and, oh yes, always, new, white, gloves.

I felt utterly nostalgic for the beauty and generosity of that time. Grateful to my Mother who did all the beautiful sewing and shopping with me for the occasion, and, of course, to my father who was so admiring, and who made our beautiful home on the hill possible. (It was a lovely Chateauesque mansion we lived in perched high on a hill in Carnegie, PA, where in keeping with Sicilian traditions, my father and his two brothers lived with their families.)

And Easter Sunday was so special in our Italian parish church, gloriously bedecked in Lilies. I felt just like a princess, running home, then, to Easter baskets, filled with hard boiled colored eggs my brother and I had dyed the day before and just a little bit of chocolate (probabbly a Hershey Bar, put in by my Dad.) And to the lamb dinner around the family's beautiful dining room table, with a Sicilian Cassata - all fluff, custard, rum soaked sponge cake and canned fruits -my Mother had prepared for our dessert.

Yes, nostalgic for Easter in Carnegie, PA. and for Western Pennsylvania.

Karita Hummer
This Passionate Progressive Patriot will always be a Pennsylvania girl!

The Socialist Shibboleth, is false at the core, and contrary to the American Social Contract

Crying over the distortion of America!


March 4, 2010

Last night I had a bad dream....., and it went like this: I dreamt the Health Care Reform Bill failed. In the dream, I was lamenting to a friend, a doctor, how a handful of right wing, well-funded, Tea Partiers are determined to tear our Country's progress down, almost in self-destruct mode. (The trigger for the dream must have been something I read in an article by Dave Sirota on the unimaginable nerve of Glenn Beck declaring his hatred for the word, “community” at the infamous Tea Party Convention. Now, how awful is that? A community can be good or bad, but we, of the community, should make it good for all its members. Now, that’s how I read the Gospel, according to Matthew.

For a wonderful example of advocacy for the community as good, visit the site of The Social Contract Project:
http://www.neighborhoodsonline.net/SocPhilosophy/socphilosophy.html

Neighborhood Social Contracts: Principles
“A community,” St. Augustine observed, “is a group of people united by the common objects of their love.” The principles underlying the Social Contract Project grow out of this basic definition of community.

We can summarize these principles as follows:

1. Building community is the process of defining the values that we share and that we are willing to work together to achieve.
2. The basic values that we share as citizens are the principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
3. The framework for community embodied in the Preamble to the Constitution, in turn, asks that “we the people,” “insure domestic tranqillity,” “establish justice,” “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity,” and “promote the general welfare.” These principles shape our expectations of community in America, as surely as “equality,” “inalienable rights,” and “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” define what we expect as individuals.
4. Whereever we live, we all want our communities to be clean, safe, economically viable, and decent places to raise our children. This is what “to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” means to us.
5. In accordance with these principles, we expect public officials to perform what the Constitution requires--however we understand these requirements. This is the fundamental social contract between government and the people.
http://www.neighborhoodsonline.net/SocPhilosophy/socphilosophy.html

Then waking this morning, I saw an editorial cartoon in the Mercury News about a citizen immersed in shark infested water, sinking fast, and being devoured by sharks, refusing, terrified, to reach out to a rope with the label, "Socialist Rope" printed on it. Amazing, isn't it? How long a group will continue to tap that old socialist shibboleth, and be so successful as to prevent people from even reaching out in self defense to exmine the true nature of the rope, and, if it's been mislabeled?

Downright demoralizing for this Passionate Progressive Patriot!

So, what’s a real populist to do?

Well, fortunately we have a group (maybe several) around to come to the aid of true, real populists,, their revenue stream being only the constant inspiration of the true Social Contract imbedded in the Preamble to our Constituttion.

From Social Contract Project:

http://www.neighborhoodsonline.net/socialcontract.html


”All governments set forth a social contract between public leaders and the people. The American social contract grows out of the Preamble to the Constitution, which demands that “we the people” work in partnership with government to “establish justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.””
>

This crazy “socialist” talk has a direct line in the regressive politics of Conservative ideology in America. I remember, all too well, Spiro Agnews, fomenting negativism through his calls to the so-called “Silent Majority”. Almost like yesterday, I remember when H.R. Haldeman tried to degrade my whole profession of Social Work, saying Social Workers never earned an honest day’s wage in their lives. Yes, the socialist shibboleth has been around a long time. It was used to fight Medicare, and now it is being used to fight health care reform, and every manner of reform for the common good.

Let’s heed George Lakoff’s advice, call a spade a spade and use the language of our convictions. Let us take charge of the debate. Let’s put the Socialist Shibboleth in its place, no place int the American social Contract.

Let’s join groups like Campaign for America’s Future and broadcast our beliefs, with the full weight of the Constitution behind us. Don’t let "them" shred our Social Contract and mis-define it for poisonous consumption.

http://www.ourfuture.org/

http://citizensposse.com/


Campaign for America's Future, convenes in June in Washington, where we can mobilize and strategize how we can win th debate.

Let's go!

http://ourfuture.org/now

Or join their Citizen's Posse in Washington on March 9th.

http://citizensposse.com/



Karita Hummer

p.s. My nightmare was real!!





Crying over the distortion of Ameria!

Day of 'Transfiguration is a call to action for the Faithful

An old African adage, "When you pray, move your feet."








Who among us prayed harder this way than Martin Luther King, who time and time again, put his beliefs and moral vision in to marching action and non-violent protests?

That, too, is what I mean by "Faithful Citizenship", a phrase the Catholic Bishops of America use in calling Catholics to action.

I was reminded of the African Adage, "When you pray, move your feet.", this morning when the Pastor of the Church I attend, spoke of the meaning of the Transfiguration Gospel, which he said was, in essence, not to stay up on the Mountain top, away from the action needed below, but to wed contemplation and prayer to action, to have no division between them.

On this subject of Faithful Citizenshiip, let's listen to the Catholic Bishops in their message to the Faithful.

http://www.usccb.org/bishops/FCBullInsert.pdf

In the Catholic Tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation. As Catholics, we should be guided more by our moral convictions than by our attachment to a political party or interest group. In today’s environment, Catholics may feel politically disenfranchised, sensing that no party and few candidates fully share our
comprehensive commitment to human life and dignity.

Catholic lay women and men need to act on the Church’s moral principles and become more involved:

- running for office,
- working within political parties,
- and communicating concerns to elected officials.

Even those who cannot vote should raise their voices on matters that affect their lives and the common good.

http://www.usccb.org/bishops/FCBullInsert.pdf

Exactly our calling!

Karita Hummer
Convenor: St. Joseph Basilica Forum for Catholic Social Teaching and Faithful Citizenship.

See Bishops Justice for Immigrants Campaign, as it implements their vision for justice for all people:.

Immigration reform legislation may soon be considered in Congress. Help us show your Senators and Representatives that Catholics and other supporters of immigrants want our elected officials to enact meaningful and compassionate immigration reform.

http://www.capwiz.com/justiceforimmigrants/issues/alert/?alertid=14503781&type=CO

Endless War in Afghanistan that continues to kill and maim children and families in our name.

Bombarded Children of Afghanistan, "in our name"


Endless War in Afghanistan that continues to kill and maim children and families in our name. (+)
by: Karita Hummer
Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 16:19:14 PM EST

Cross-posted from Progressive Blue: http://www.progressiveblue.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=4917

Code Pink, through Gayle Brandeiss, sendt out an alert that is truly alarming: "Last weekend, twelve members of one Afghan family--including six children--were killed during NATO's Afghanistan offensive in Marjah." Code Pink, Gayle Brandeiss, from letter 2/19/2010

How much more of warfare can Afghanistan tolerate without completely falling apart. I know that the families of the recently deceased due to NATO bombing are fragmented totally grief and probably despair. I certainly don't want this being done in my name, when police investigation is the best way to handle terrorist threats. Certainly, not through wanton destruction, which probably creates more terrorists than it ever kills. I highly recommend Khaled Hosseini's novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, to understand the disintegration of Afghan society due to relentless warfare. Whoever the adversaries have been over decades now, the result has been utter destruction and death.

See: http://www.khaledhosseini.com/...

Also: http://www.khaledhosseinifound...

Americans must ask, "Why is our government doing reckless killing in Afghanistan in our name, when other approaches are both more moral and smarter - fairer to US Citizens (because we need those resources, being spent) and fairer to the Afghan people?". We must ask the necessary questions, as Obama did in Chicago when Bush launched his invasion of Iraq. (Notice that well in to the Obama Administration that we are still not out of Iraq!)

So which Americans are asking the hard questions, and when, if ever, will the media wake up again to is being done in our name.

Well, some Americans are asking the hard questions, and, in the forefront, is Code Pink. Today, I received a letter from the writer, Gayle Brandeis,who is responsible for writing Code Pink Alerts, and this time she gets attention with a little of her own personal, poignant, narrative in the letter.

Because Code Pink offers to let this alert be shared on Facebook and Twitter, I think it is quite appropriate to share it here in its entirety on Progressive Blue as well.
Here is her poignant letter:

January 19, 2010
Dear Friend,
I have been writing the alerts for CODEPINK for several years, but this is the first time I feel compelled to step out from behind the collective voice I normally use and talk to you directly, in my own voice, from my own heart.
As I write this, my three month old baby has pneumonia. He is doing quite well, given the circumstances, but it breaks my heart to see him suffer in any way. My mother took her own life a week after the baby was born, so I feel especially vulnerable right now, especially attuned to potential loss. In this raw, open state, the latest news from Afghanistan hits hard.
Last weekend, twelve members of one Afghan family--including six children--were killed during NATO's Afghanistan offensive in Marjah. As I grapple with the grief over my mom's death, as well as worry over my sick baby, I can't begin to comprehend the grief of those affected by this massive loss. NATO Commander, US General Stanley McChrystal has apologized to President Karzai, but how can his words be anything but cold and empty to those left behind?
Won't you join me in writing to NATO Command to let them know that if they continue to kill Afghan babies and children, they will only create more terrorists? An apology alone won't appease those who have suffered such profound loss. These military attacks are not making us safer; in fact, they are inspiring more people to take up arms against our troops.
Click here to let NATO know that we cannot continue to terrorize and dehumanize the Afghan people.
As a concerned new mother, as a grieving daughter, as a human being who wants no other human being to suffer, I urge you to use your own pain, your own love, to help change the hearts and minds of those in power. Write to NATO today. And join your individual voice with us in collective chorus as we congregate in DC this March to mark the anniversary of the war and work to end our military engagements abroad. Click here to find out more.
I watch my baby sleep, follow the rise and fall of each precious breath and know I'd do anything to keep him safe. Don't the children of Afghanistan deserve to grow up feeling safe, as well? Thank you for speaking out on their behalf and on the behalf of all of our children's future.

With love and outrage and hope,

Gayle Brandeis

CodePink Alert, Gayle Brandeiss, Feb. 19, 2010

Well, no time for standing by idly. Go to Code Pink and sign their petition to General McChrystal.

http://salsa.democracyinaction...

Far too many Americans see Afghanistan as the worthy war, because of Osama Bin Laden (who probably is elsewhere, indeed, if he is still alive). Instead of killing innocent children and families, why aren't we trying less harmful remedies first like good global police work.

For anyone wishing to get a picture of the lives of Afghan citizens, as they have been pummeled in relentless wars, read Khaled Hosseini's enlightening novel, "A Thousand Splendid Suns".

http://www.khaledhosseini.com/

Stand up America! Do what's right.

Karita Hummer