Yoon and Rivera on the DFA-List!

Sam Yoon and Gibran Rivera are nationally recognized canidates on the DFA-List!
From Democracy for America:
Sam Yoon for Boston City Council. Since graduating from the Harvard�s Kennedy School of Government, Yoon has spent more than a decade improving his community by working with local non-profit groups to create affordable housing and spur economic development. He is a teacher and community activist who is committed to improving the public schools of Boston and the delivery of community services by listening to his constituents and finding innovative solutions. If elected, Yoon will become the first Asian-American to serve on the Boston City Council. Join DFA and DFA Boston in supporting Sam Yoon. The election is November 8, 2005.
http://www.samyoon.com

Gibran Rivera for Boston City Council, District 6. Gibran was born in Puerto Rico and came to Massachusetts when he was twelve years old. He is a community leader dedicated to making sure democracy works for everyone. Rivera is committed to improving the quality of all Boston schools, keeping neighborhood housing affordable and promoting community activism and citizen involvement. He co-founded Voto Latino, a voter empowerment organization, served as Executive Director of Inciativa, the Massachusetts Initiative for Latino Students, and was a board member and officer of the Schott Foundation for Public Education. The election is November 8, 2005.
http://www.voterivera.com

Hard news.

In my random survey of the web, I've come across three stories that remind me why fiction and fantasy can be preferable to reality. The truth can be harsh and unforgiving. In most stories the villains suffer and good triumphs. That is not necessarily so in the world we inhabit.

Arctic warming.

Bunny Greenhouse.

Time-lapse Iraq coalition casualties.

Menino on the Run

The Boston Globe wins big brownie points from me for putting Menino's fear of a real debate with Maura Hennigan (especially after the WBGH humiliation as their lead story today: Never the Twain Shall Meet:

Hennigan's frustration over her inability to pin down Menino has grown. The evening after the preliminary election, the two appeared on the WGBH program, ''Greater Boston," in a town meeting-style forum that did not provide the opportunity for them to directly challenge each other. Tomorrow night, WBZ radio will host both of them, for questions from host Paul Sullivan and callers. Also, the candidates have agreed to a conversation together next week with Globe columnist Brian McGrory. Again, it appears the candidates will not directly debate in front of an audience.

Adam Reilly has more about yesterday's student forum.

Meanwhile, yesterday DFA Boston helped out at the RoxVote forum, tabling with a variety of great organizations, including organizers of the Millions More Movement, and of the voting rights symposium on October 29 and reenactment of Dr. King's 1965 march in Boston on the 30th.

Disappointingly, the RoxVote organizers didn't allow Maura to speak, although they let district councillor Chuck Turner participate and Felix Arroyo's son to speak on his behalf. I think it's great that there are so many city council forums (see DFA-Link) but the power resides in the mayor's office. If Menino is chicken, then the organizers of these city council forums should let Maura participate.

More City Council Updates: Patricia White

The Boston Globe continues its Boston City Council candidate profiles with Patricia White, which doesn't say too much about her positions or plans, other than this:

Shaped by the pressure of being a mother and a candidate, White says she wants to help others handle the stresses of work and family. She supports universal after-school activities, expanded prenatal care, more police officers, and says, broadly, that she wants to be a voice for women's issues on the male-dominated City Council.

Unfortunately, she didn't fill out the DFA Boston questionnaire so I can't offer a much better picture--see more at votepatriciawhite.com.

Adam Reilly of the Boston Phoenix wrote a more in-depth and politically minded profile in Gender and Race, which also takes a look at Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, currently being dogged by gubernatorial candidate Tom Reilly.

Adam raises an interesting question in his piece:

Finally, a parting question for White and her supporters: what are you doing to elect Maura Hennigan? During White’s press conference, it was repeatedly noted that Boston has had a female at-large city councilor since 1973. For the past few years, that honor has gone to Hennigan. Now, though, Hennigan is waging the political fight of her life, challenging incumbent Tom Menino for the right to be Boston’s mayor. The odds are long, but Hennigan has gained credibility in the past few weeks, first by freeing up nearly a million dollars in credit to self-fund her campaign and then by spanking Menino in WGBH’s recent mayoral forum.

If she wins, Hennigan would be Boston’s first female mayor. As such, she’d have an unprecedented chance to impart a woman’s perspective to city government. You might think that White and her supporters would be working on Hennigan’s behalf — but you would be wrong. According to the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance, none of the women who publicly supported White this week (Budson, Fortunato, and Shillingford) has donated to Hennigan’s campaign. Neither has White.

The Phoenix tried contacting these women to ask if they’re backing Hennigan. These calls went unreturned, with the exception of Fortunato, who explained that she’s a long-time Menino supporter, in part because of the mayor’s outreach to the gay-and-lesbian community. (Fortunato also added some nuance that was missing at White’s press conference. "It is so beyond gender in many ways," she said. "Yes, it’s important to have a woman’s voice there, but it needs to be the right voice.")

Maybe the other women would love to be stumping for Hennigan, but think it’s too risky, especially given Menino’s notorious punitive streak. Shillingford, for example, works at the Boston Public Health Commission. And White can ill afford to alienate the mayor in a campaign year. That’s giving them the benefit of the doubt, however. Whatever the explanation, the apparent disinterest in what could be a landmark mayoral race is just one more reason that White’s call for sisterhood is hard to take seriously.

And, before we forget, here's the Phoenix's take on the City Council preliminaries, focusing mainly on challengers Yoon, White, Connolly, and O'Malley.

Mired in Miers

I think Josh Marshall (with many other Democratic pundits) is misreading the religious-right distaste for Miers as evidence that she's "someone with what might be real moderate tendencies." Rather, regarding her record, it seems clear that she's a hard-core corporate right ideologue, as opposed to a religious right ideologue.

The Roberts Court will not only have the opportunity to dismantle the judicial advances of the civil rights era (abortion rights, affirmative action, equal protection, Title IX, etc.) but also the advances of the New Deal.

With Roberts and Miers I expect to see a slow erosion of civil rights pushed by Scalia and Thomas but a rapid roll-back of economic and social rights led by Bush's picks.

Cop-slugging Fla. St. fan lies about her employer and loses job after real employer is asked for comment

This week's Allston-Brighton Tab has an article that updates the story of Amanda Schweitzer, a girl arrested at the BC-Florida State game, that claimed during her arrest that she worked for a US Senator. While resisting arrest, Amanda screamed at the officers and said her boss Sen Bill Nelson would take care of cops. After the TAB's original article was printed online, Sen Nelson's Press Secretary called to tell the TAB that Amanda never worked for Sen Nelson. It turns out Amanda worked for Sen Mel Martinez, Florida's other US Senator. After discovering that Sen Martinez was Amanda's employer, the TAB called his office for a comment. They later learned Amanda was fired. Here is the full article:

Cop-slugging Fla. St. fan worked for US Senator
By Auditi Guha/ Staff Writer
Friday, September 30, 2005

The woman who was arrested during the Sept. 17 BC-Florida State game for allegedly screamed obscenities at police officers actually worked for a U.S. Senator.

Amanda Schweitzer, 25, of Winter Park, Fla., was fired by Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Florida, after the TAB asked his office for a comment on her behavior.

Schweitzer allegedly screamed at the officers and reportedly fibbed that her boss, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, would take care of the cops. She got arrested anyway in Brighton's Shea Field, according to a police report.

Finding the recent article online, Nelson's press secretary called the TAB to say that she did not and has never worked at his office.

While Internet articles say Schweitzer, 25, was a staff aide for Martinez, a spokeswoman at his Washington office said she was a research assistant.
They also said she quit "recently."

"Miss Schweitzer was employed as a research assistant in this office and recently submitted her resignation," said Communications Director Kerry Feehery.

A message was left for Schweitzer at her Florida home, but she did not return calls.

The Florida State fan was one among three who got arrested at the big Boston College game earlier this month.

At 8:30 p.m., as loudspeakers and electronic screens announced that Shea Field closes at the start of the football game, some refused to leave the despite repeated warnings from police.

Had her chances

Warned that refusal to leave may result in trespassing and arrests, all save Schweitzer complied, police said.

According to the report, she complained, refused to leave, and pushing an officer away.

She was given five chances to leave the field, officers said. Schweitzer, of 903 Via Lombardy, Winter Park, Fla. was arrested Sept. 17 at 2600 Beacon St. on charges of assault and battery on a police officer, according to the report.

The report further states that she resisted arrest aggressively and refused to be cuffed.

Schweitzer later admitted to officers that excessive drinking led to her unruly behavior, according to the report.

"The conduct alleged to have occurred is not consistent with the high standards required for employees of the United States Senate and accordingly, her resignation was accepted with regret," Feehery said. "Further comment would be inappropriate."

I guess it doesn't pay to lie about who you work for.