Monday, August 15, 2016

FINAL EDITION - La Crosse for Bernie News #52

It’s been a little more than a year since we started reporting on La Crosse area efforts to elect Bernie Sanders as the Democratic party nominee for president. What a long strange trip it’s been, to quote the Grateful Dead.

This is our last issue of La Crosse 4 Bernie News. Last Tuesday, about thirteen per cent of eligible voters turned out to give pro-TPP corporatist Ron Kind another term in Congress. Challenger, Myron  Buchholz received about 18.7 per cent of the vote total (unofficially fewer than 41,000 votes total).

We will try to keep information about local, regional, state, and national progressive events going at couleeprogressives.org. If you would like to blog there, please email Cathy.

In the meantime, here are some events coming up that you may be interested in:
Tonight the La Crosse County Democratic Party is meeting at their HQ (117 Fifth Avenue South).  Socializing begins at 6:30 and at 7 p.m. Ismael Ozanne, District Attorney of Dane County, will speak on recent Federal Court decisions on redistricting.

Wednesday, August 17CNN Town Hall with GREEN PARTY candidate, Jill Stein. Streaming live on CNN and online (CNNgo). Some communities are hosting watch parties – is there one in La Crosse? I don’t know.

Now that they’ve done away with Bernie, the corporate media is turning on Dr. Jill Stein, according to this Counterpunch article. “Jill Stein, the Green Party’s nominee for president, has been the sudden target of attacks from all corners of online media since the official end of Bernie Sanders’ campaign at the Democratic National Convention. Outlets like the Washington Post, New York Magazine and Gizmodo have assaulted Stein by using out-of-context quotes to assail her, wrongly, for being anti-vaccination and anti-WiFi, which is a code for being ‘anti-science.’ This allows us a unique opportunity to confirm the structural role of the media as hypothesized by Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman in Manufacturing Consent: that the media is a propaganda arm for the elite and powerful, and is used to condition us to accept the bounds of socio-political discourse as set by the ruling class.”

Don’t expect to see any third party candidates in the “debates” either, since the Dem/Rep parties control who can get in.

Wednesday, August 24 – Bernie Sanders live stream – OUR REVOLUTION kick off. The Vernon County Dems are hosting a watch party.

Friday, August 26 – La Crosse City Clerk will offer TRAINING FOR SPECIAL (VOTER) REGISTRATION DEPUTIES at 10 a.m. in the 3rd floor conference room at City Hall.  There will be more trainings in early fall, but this is the only one set so far. Please RSVP to lehrket@cityoflacrosse.org or call 608 789-7556 with questions.

The League of Women Voters is seeking SRDs to help register students during move-in week at UWL If you are an SRD and available, please email Mary.
  • Friday, September 2, from 11-3 at Cartwright Port-O-Call
  • Saturday, September 3, from 11-3 at Cartwright Port-O-Call
  • Sunday, September 4, from 11:30 – 1:30 at Whitney
  • Monday, September 5, from 11:30 – 1:30 at Whitney
Saturday, September 17Fighting Bob Fest in Madison

Glen Greenwald has a great article about how McCarthyism is coming back in spades. A very thorough and thoroughly disgusting description of how the Democrats are operating. “A frequent weapon for Democrats in the 2016 election is to publicly malign those they regard as critics and adversaries as Russia sympathizers, Putin stooges, or outright agents of the Kremlin. … But this smear tactic extends far beyond Trump. It is now used to vilify anyone perceived to be an impediment to Clinton’s victory. When WikiLeaks published thousands of DNC emails shortly before the Democratic Convention, which ultimately forced the resignation of four top officials, it was instantly asserted that it was The Russians who gave them those emails (even though The Washington Post cited an intelligence official as saying that “the intelligence community . . . has not reached a conclusion about who passed the emails to WikiLeaks” … On Saturday, it was Jill Stein’s turn in the Kremlin seat. As the Green Party candidate rises in the polls, it was only a matter of time before Democrats turned their Russia-smearing eyes toward her.”

Here’s a new article that describes what really happened to some Bernie Sanders delegates at the convention and, more importantly, why they felt that booing and “misbehaving” were the only options left for them. This is a very detailed article about why some delegates took the steps they did – not following sit-down-shut-up orders from the top when the promised contested convention did not happen. “So here we were going into the convention with nothing to fight for. In fact, the campaign had done nothing to prepare us for any role at the convention at all. There was one staffer assigned to our delegation, and all he did was pester us to stay at the $700-a-night hotel, a severe hardship for Sanders delegates. We were told we had to stay there, so Sanders could confer with us each morning and each night. None of that happened. There was one conference call before the convention. However, it was more to explain Sanders’ endorsement and the future of the political revolution. And no one from the campaign met with us the first morning, either.”

Thomas Frank says, with Trump fizzling, kiss progressivism in the White House good-bye. “My leftist friends persuaded themselves that this stuff didn’t really matter, that Clinton’s many concessions to Sanders’ supporters were permanent concessions. But with the convention over and the struggle with Sanders behind her, headlines show Clinton triangulating to the right, scooping up the dollars and the endorsement, and the elites shaken loose in the great Republican wreck.”

Tuesday, August 09, 2016

VOTE TODAY!! / ACT TOMORROW

Today is the day! We're never going to have such an opportunity to overturn the status quo, send Ron Kind to his next career, and get a real progressive in Congress. With no Republican running, TODAY IS THE DAY. If Myron wins today, he is in! And this year is the year because the Bernie backers are motivated to make a change. If you need more info about voting, check myvote.wi.gov.


There will be an election party at BIG AL'S on Third Street in La Crosse starting at 7 p.m. tonight for everyone who has worked or voted for Myron.

Bernie is inviting people to sign up to host an OUR REVOLUTION KICKOFF PARTY on August 24. If anyone is interested locally, please make sure to let us know.

Oh, and regressive Indiana governor and Donald Trump running mate, Mike Pence will be in La Crosse on Thursday. Get your tickets here: www.donaldjtrump.com/schedule




Monday, August 01, 2016

FOUR (COULEE) PROGRESSIVE ACTIONS THIS WEEK!

Please join us for one or more of these IMPORTANT PROGRESSIVE EVENTS this week!

1. WEDNESDAY (5 to 6 at corner of Third and La Crosse Streets FRIDAY (5 to 6 at corner of Losey and La Crosse St) - WAVE SIGNS FOR MYRON BUCHHOLZ. Signs provided. Questions? Email JD.

2. THURSDAY, AUGUST 4 - 9 to 11 a.m. at 1610 Madison St, La Crosse (Beth's - former local Bernie HQ)  Meet with organizers from CITIZEN ACTION OF WISCONSIN about starting a local/La Crosse group. RSVP at https://goo.gl/forms/HV0A9mtLBX1eteqB2

3. THURSDAY, AUGUST 4 - NOON at La Crosse City Hall (north/La Crosse Street Side) EARLY VOTE FOR MYRON BUCHHOLZ RALLY. This is our chance to knock off a "third way," "corporate" Democrat who is pushing to pass the TPP. Bring your signs - NO TPP, STOP FRACKING NOW, NO MORE WAR, FIGHT FOR $15, etc. If you are a city of La Crosse voter, you may vote early (absentee in person) for Myron in the City Clerk's office. You may also register or change registration address at the same time (be SURE to bring photo ID for voting and, if you are registering/changing registration address, bring appropriate proof of residence). If you have already voted or vote in another municipality, please come anyway to help get the word out! POST RALLY DISCUSSION BY OUR LOCAL BERNIE DELEGATES OBBIE AND XONG at the Root Note at 1 pm. RSVP at https://goo.gl/forms/HV0A9mtLBX1eteqB2

And 4 - SATURDAY, AUGUST 6 from 5 to 8 p.m. GOTV with Jim Hightower (jimhightower.com/), Alicia Leinberger (www.facebook.com/alicia4assembly/) and Myron Buchholz. Take a stand against the TPP with Jim Hightower and progressive Democratic candidates Alicia and Myron. The Chippewa Valley's own Catya and Nick Foytik will kick off the event with an amazing blues set. This is event is FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC (first come, first seated). Donations to the Buchholz campaign can be made here: secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/buchholzforcongress



Saturday, July 30, 2016

Welcome back!

In a couple of weeks we will transition the Bernie energy from the La Crosse for Bernie site back to Coulee Progressives. Big things are happening to continue to fight against the corporatocracy!

First, if you haven't yet voted for Myron Buchholz in the August primary, do it NOW! You can vote "absentee in person" at your municipal clerk's office (check myvote.wi.gov for details) or you can vote in the August 9 primary. Because there is no Republican running, whoever wins this primary will be in (unless the R's run a write-in candidate who can pull enough votes). Check out the latest La Crosse 4 Bernie News for more details about why we really really need to replace Ron Kind as our Third CD representative!

As part of our AUGUST 4 COULEE PROGRESSIVES DAY OF ACTION, we'll have a noon hour EARLY VOTE FOR MYRON rally at La Crosse City Hall (La Crosse Street side). Bring your NO TPP / STOP FRACKING NOW / END THE WARS / FIGHT FOR $15 / etc. signs. Please RSVP so we can plan for the event! 

Second, Beth is hosting a meet up with two representatives of Citizen Action Wisconsin on AUGUST 4 COULEE PROGRESSIVES DAY OF ACTION. The meeting will be from 9 to 11 a.m. at her house, 1610 Madison Street. Please use the RSVP link if you plan to attend.

More soon.


Tuesday, December 01, 2015

NEWS (and links) you can USE!

Several Coulee Climate group members have been forwarding great links about the COP21 conference and related world, national and regional isues. Here they are for your info and use (like a letter to the editor?). Please forward more links/news and we'll try to post new links every few days.
Send links to couleeprogressive.

First, this 2014 story from Mother Jones - We're 20 years from catastrophe per Price-Waterhouse

Politico.EU: COP21 - Everything you need to know

WaPo: Obama urges world action on climate change

The Atlantic: The fate of the world lies between the brackets

Democracy Now!: The Paris agreement will see the planet burn

The Atlantic: The difference two degrees makes

NYT: India pivotal in Obama's climate legacy

Reuters: France and India look to the sun

C40 Cities: Climate leadership from the world's mayors

Climate Reality Project: These five videos explain COP21

Mother Jones: Use this cheat sheet to win every climate argument

TruthDig: Clean energy gathers steam

New Republic: COP21's huge carbon footprint

Climate Desk: If ISIS had a bomb that could put the east coast underwater ...

Also ...

An important film series - RACING EXTINCTION - documenting the human-caused "sixth extinction" is starting tomorrow on the Discovery Channel. Would anyone be interested in putting together a community screening some time in early 2016?

AND:


Wisconsin Farmers' Union and the Wisconsin Towns Association are sponsoring a FRAC SAND MINING CONFERENCE on Monday, December 14 in Eau Claire. More and registration info here. (Register by 12/8 for $25).