LCDP Summer Fiesta/General Party Meeting
Monday, June 16, 2008
5:00 to 7:00 P.M.
Rowe Park, Shelter 1 (between the skate Park and Tennis courts)
Onalaska
Food, drinks
Speaker: Cheryl Hancock, (94th Assembly)

Cheryl Hancock Fundraiser
Thursday, June 19th
5:00 P.M. to 7:30 P.M.
Cedar Creek
Onalaska Special Guest: Jennifer Shilling

Tara Johnson Birthday Fundraiser
Monday, June 23rd
5:30 P.M. to 7:00 P.M.
Myrick Park
La Crosse

La Crosse Interstate Fair
July 16th to 20th
County Fairgrounds, West Salem
Volunteers needed
Please contact Marcia Wine to volunteer: 783- 0172

excerpted from the Media Matters Action Network

Myth: John McCain has considerable foreign policy expertise.

The media have said over and over that McCain has "credibility" and "expertise" on foreign policy. It's worth asking what that expertise consists of.

In the February 26 Democratic debate in Cleveland, moderator Brian Williams told Sen. Barack Obama that he "could be going into a general election against a Republican with vast foreign policy expertise and credibility on national security." For almost his entire career, foreign policy has been regarded as one of John McCain's strengths. But a closer examination of his record contradicts that image. Take Iraq. McCain was one of the strongest proponents of the war to oust Saddam Hussein. In the run-up to the war, a September 29, 2002, online CNN article quoted him predicting, "We're not going to get into house-to-house fighting in Baghdad. We may have to take out buildings, but we're not going to have a bloodletting of trading American bodies for Iraqi bodies." In May 2003, McCain wrote: "Thanks to a war plan that represented a revolutionary advance in military science, to the magnificent performance of our armed forces, and to the firm resolve of the President, the war in Iraq succeeded beyond the most optimistic expectations." Asked whether Iraqis would greet us as liberators, he replied, "Absolutely. Absolutely." (He would later lambaste the Bush administration for giving the public "too rosy a scenario" about Iraq.)

As the situation in Iraq has deteriorated, McCain has amplified his criticism of the administration's policy -- even as he proposes to keep the United States in Iraq for 100 years. Commenting on the sectarian violence in Iraq, McCain said in 2006, "One of the things I would do if I were president would be to sit the Shiites and the Sunnis down and say, 'Stop the bullshit.' " The idea that all the Iraqis needed was a swift kick in the pants might have marked McCain as a deeply unserious thinker when it came to foreign affairs and national security -- had anyone bothered to notice. As The New Republic's John Judis put it, "He was wrong about [Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmed] Chalabi, he was wrong about Iraq's ties to Al Qaeda and WMD, he was wrong about the reaction of Iraqis to the invasion, and he was wrong about the effects on the wider Muslim world." But none of that matters. To most of the media, McCain remains the candidate with the most foreign policy expertise.

By Steve Argo

via Fightingbob.com

Forty years after his death, Bobby Kennedy is an icon who is nonethelesss underappreciated.

Forty years ago this week, Robert F. Kennedy was shot and killed while shaking the hands of kitchen workers at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He was just 42 years old. Had he lived, he very likely would have gone on to capture the Democratic Party nomination for president and quite possibly the White House in November 1968. As it was, his absence during the final months of that campaign was a catastrophic setback for the forces of peace, racial reconciliation and social justice.

His life deserves wider appreciation.

Robert Kennedy's name comes up only once or twice in most U.S. history courses. In the textbook the students in the Advanced Placement U.S. History course I teach use, The American Pageant, RFK's name is busily crammed into a chapter full of 1960s angst: Dallas, Pleiku, My Lai, Selma, Woodstock, LSD, Watts, Tet. He appears - and then suddenly disappears - somewhere between James Earl Ray and the 1968 Democratic National Convention. I'm guessing the typical high school student knows about as much about Robert Kennedy as they do about his assassin, Sirhan Sirhan - which is to say, almost nothing.

This is unfortunate. At a minimum, Americans should know the following things about the younger Kennedy:

First, it was Bobby who more than anyone else pushed his brother to act more boldly on civil rights. Although he himself needed considerable prodding by the black community, RFK grew to see civil rights as the defining domestic issue of the decade. When President Kennedy later said, "We are confronted with [an] issue as old as the Scriptures and as clear as the American Constitution," he was echoing Bobby's view that white Americans should consider the question of civil rights from the perspective of black Americans. "Who among us would be content to have the color of their skin changed and stand in his place?" the president asked. "Who among us would be content with the counsels of patience and delay?"

Second, Robert Kennedy's arguments against surgical air strikes during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis steered the world back from the brink of World War III. At the time of the missiles' discovery a majority of the president's staff members were itching for an opportunity to avenge the Bay of Pigs and topple Fidel Castro. It was Bobby Kennedy who first rejected the idea of the strikes. Not only did he consider a sneak attack "immoral," he knew it would trigger a "totally unacceptable" Soviet response. His subtle, behind- the-scenes diplomacy with Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin eventually defused the crisis and the missiles were removed in a matter of days.

Third, the 'F' is for Francis, not Fitzgerald. The two brothers were strikingly different. Jack was cool, pragmatic and restrained. Bobby was impulsive and romantic. Jack was popular, poised and funny. Bobby was shy, sensitive, serious, awkward and moody. Jack sped through weighty tomes of modern history and economics. Bobby read Greek plays and essays by Emerson and Thoreau. Jack's 1960 campaign was conventional and cautious, with every movement calibrated for effect. Bobby's '68 campaign was pure pandemonium - part political rally, part rock concert, part rescue mission. (One observer called it a "traveling riot.")

The La Crosse County Democratic Party Office is now OPEN at 127 S. 6th St, (608) 785-5866. The office also has a myspace page at the following link: myspace.com/demofficelax. Please stop by to view the office and to volunteer.

Presidential campaign bumper stickers and buttons should be available next week for sale at the office. Yard signs will not arrive in mass quantities until later in the summer.

We know one of these three men will be out of a job in January, 2009. The other two: Dan Kapanke in the Wisconsin State Senate and Mike Huebsch in the Wisconsin Assembly deserve to be out of their jobs as well. They are the personification of George W. Bush and John McCain's far right-wing agenda in Wisconsin.

The way to restore La Crosse to its rightful designation as a "blue" county is to get involved. The LCDP needs volunteers now for party building and 2008 election preparation. In Tara Johnson (the 32nd Senate District) and Cheryl Hancock (the 94th Assembly District), we will have excellent candidates. Growth of our local party will make it possible for these candidates to have success. We need both volunteers and increased membership in order to fund a campaign office. Keep in mind that neither the National Democratic Party nor the State Democratic Party have funded our campaign office thus far and in this election cycle the funds may come late. and support our local candidates we need increased membership, funding and volunteers.

We have several standing committees/projects. To volunteer generally please contact volunteer coordinator Marcia Wine at 783-0172 or mrswineiii@charter.net

To assist in newsletter preparation please contact Pablo Ruiz at 738-8251 or pablomruiz3@yahoo.com

To assist in list development/voter targeting, please contact Fabio Burgos at 792-0878 or fburgos@laxdems.com

To assist in event planning please contact Barb Clark at 498-6150 or bclarkdemocrat@yahoo.com

2008 is not just a presidential election year. We need a special effort in '08, particularly in the 94th Assembly District and in the 32nd State Senate District.

We have a nominee!! Every Democrat should be confident that Barack Obama is a candidate we will be proud of and who can articulate an inspiring progressive vision for America. And we can congratulate Hillary Clinton for running a great race.

We should also be prepared for a slew of personal attacks from the right-wing media against our candidate. Never forget that the focus of this fall should be on the colossal failures of the Bush administration over the past 7+ years: Iraq, Katrina, the economy and closer to home, Republicans in Madison who have stood in the way of access to health care and stood by as the tax burden falls on the middle class.

There is really no distinguishing George Bush and John McCain's philosophy from that of Dan Kapanke and Mike Huebsch. It is really one campaign this fall to restore accountability and competency to government in both Washington and Madison. I also know that Ron Kind, Jen Shilling, Tara Johnson and Cheryl Hancok are proud to stand with Barack Obama in this effort.

Remember no donation of time, supplies or money is too small to help in this effort. An hour at the LCDP office, a $10 check, or the donation of an office item all have great impact. The Democratic Party by its very nature must be a collaborative effort.

Thanks for all your support and please join us at Rowe Park in Onalaska on June 16th.

Fabio Burgos
Chair
La Crosse County Democratic Party

THANK YOUS & KUDOS

Thanks to all who attended and helped at the LCDP Office Grand Opening on May 29th, particularly the following people: Barb Clark, Vicki Burke, Kat Dellenbach and Kris Troyanek for help in cleaning and setup. Thanks also to Katie Naessens and the College Dems (Graham, Casey, Kat et. al) for help in cleanup. And special thanks to Cheryl Hancock for providing the delicious sandwiches on the same day she announced.

Most of all thanks to all who came. As noted elsewhere, the party office is yours as party members and thanks to all of you for making it happen.

Please renew your memberships!! If you have not done so, you can find our 08 membership form at laxdems.com. (Left side of front page).

Our goal is to push party membership over 400 people. Please check our website at laxdems.com, which has a membership form or email laxdems.com if you cannot come to our future party meetings.

Membership rates, effective October 1, 2006, as established by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, are as follows:

Students, Senior Citizens: $10.00
General: $25.00
Pairs (two memberships): $35.00
Activist (up to three): $45.00
Family(includes all family members: $75.00
Supporter: $120.00
Friend: $240.00
Patron: $600.00
Investor: $1200.00
Benefactor $2400.00
 

Half of the above membership dues go to the State party, with the exception of the Family membership, where $45.00 of $75.00 goes to the local party. Those who join at the higher levels of membership ($120.00 and above) should remember that only $50.00 of those memberships will stay with the local party.

If your intention is to become a new member or renew your membership with the Democratic Party and you want more of your contribution to go to the Local County Party, please consider joining at the single $25 or $75 Family membership level and making additional contributions to the county party directly.

Please join us on Monday, June 16th at 5:00 P.M. for our Summer Fiesta/General Party meeting at Rowe Park in Onalaska. Suggested donation is $5.00 or one of the office wish list items listed elsewhere in the newsletter. Brats and pop will be provided -- please bring a dish to pass.

Thanks to all who marched with the LCDP at the June Dairy Days parade in West Salem. It was a great time and we received a great reception.