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Progressive Marylanders:
Keep the faith

Tuesday’s unexpected results can only be explained by one thing. 

The Jerry Falwells of America have highjacked our national political landscape.  The Evangelical Christians, who by some reports made up 25 percent of the voting population in Ohio, have taken control of the politics of much of this nation and due to the proselytizing, faith-based nature of their belief systems, we can only expect their strangle-hold to strengthen in the future. As long as this trend continues, there is no hope for the Democratic Party on a national playing field, unless it runs one of “them” on the Democratic ticket — a fanatically anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-separation of church and state ”born-again.” But a victory for a Democratic candidate with this kind of record is not much of a victory at all.  
So, we have to focus locally. If we can’t woo Middle America, we can at least assert our politics over the government that has the most affect in our lives — the State government. Let’s get equal marriage rights in MD, and let’s throw out Robert Erhlich in 2006.  Let’s get a Dean style state-based socialized health care system and bargain for prescription drug prices with insurance companies through that enterprise. Let’s follow California’s example and fund our public schools properly — making universities free for all well-performing, needy MD high school students. Let’s turn around the economics of deficit and outsourcing that are draining this economy on a national level, by establishing a living wage, encouraging local industry development and local ownership of the means of production, and by establishing a culture of economic responsibility that keeps money in our communities by encouraging consumers to buy from locally owned businesses and encouraging businesses to buy their labor from Marylanders. Let’s reclaim democracy in this state and demand a paper trail in the election process, a state-wide holiday for Election Day, and enough precincts to enable everyone who wants to vote to be able to without a 2.5 hour wait. 

If we do this and only then, we will have taken back control of our lives and we will have defeated Bush in the most important way possible — by rendering his politics and his cult ideology irrelevant in our lives.  Perhaps more important, we will have created an attractive political market option that could meaningfully affect future elections. People will vote with their feet as Maryland becomes a more livable community for the middle class, and America and American politics will take notice of our achievements.  Candidates who can compete on a national stage with a powerful resume of success from their work in MD will become the Rudy Giuliani’s and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s of future Presidential elections.

It is time to cut loose the stagnating politics of the federal government and the national attack politics and move our energy to our own neighborhoods.  Robert Erhlich’s policies are not too entrenched to overturn, and we can begin moving in the right direction in this state again. 
Vermonters, Massachusetters, Minnesotans, and Californians live in some of the best economic and social conditions of all Americans, who live in some of the best economic and social conditions of anyone in the world. We should follow their example and demand real leadership in MD and take the risk to engage ourselves in the politics of our communities. 

Maryland has the natural resources, public universities, public hospitals, diversity of industry (manufacturing, entrepreneurial, service, public, IT) and diversity of population to become a place of real hope for middle class Americans. And if we find a strategy of success in Maryland, maybe it will illuminate a strategy of success for progressives across this country. Maryland represents a cross-section of America with rural, conservative voters in Western, Eastern, and Southern Maryland; racially and culturally (sexuality/ religion) diverse urban populations; high immigrant populations; middle class suburban populations; and a small, but significant, blue-collar manufacturing population. If we can reclaim this state and find messages of hope and progress that resonate with all of these diverse constituencies, we may have found a formula that could be tweaked and transplanted in other similar parts of the country: Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, New Mexico, Arizona. Who knows?
On November 2, a reported record of 80 percent of registered voters showed up at polls sending home Republican challenger for the US Senate Earl Pipken by more than a 20 point margin, along with countless other Republican challengers in local elections.  Two years ago, analysts predicted Maryland would continue to trend Republican over the coming years, touting our future as the breeding ground for the next right-wing secret weapon — the black republican backlash.  But voters proved the pundits wrong yesterday, putting Maryland back on track to become the next great progressive antidote to the irresponsible, divisive, and destructive policies of the Republican establishment.

Progressives of Maryland: Keep the faith, because all is not lost. We can turn our frustration into action, and still secure a better government for our communities. Bush is an obstacle to overcome or avoid altogether, but he is not a monolithic wall preventing any positive change in this country. We are a polarized nation, but we can take advantage of that. Blue states have an opportunity in the next four years to show what democratic leadership can do, and if Maryland’s turnout yesterday is any measure, there’s a thirst for change here that could prove monumental to the future of politics in this nation.         

— Ashton Phillips
Beltsville, MD

Congress vs. Human Rights

I am writing on behalf of my fellow members of the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Amnesty International Group, to express our concern about recent Congressional action that will have an impact on human rights. As a part of an important, necessary bill to make all of us more secure based on the recommendations of the Sept. 11 Commission, provisions have been included that will do harm without doing good. In particular, the provisions making it possible to deport people even if they are likely to be tortured in the country they are sent back to are a serious matter, raising the likelihood of grave abuses of human rights. The member of our local group are heartened however by the brave votes of our own Congressional representatives against the bill, upholding civil and human rights standards. They are to be commended for their stand.
— Connie Johnson,
Coordinator, Amnesty International, Group 297

Purple Line Concerns

It was very discouraging to see the Montgomery County Planning Board last week and the Montgomery County Council this week vote in favor of studies that could result in the destruction of homes and businesses on Sligo Avenue in Silver Spring as well as result in the disruption of life in East Silver Spring, including cutting Silver Spring into two communities.

The reason for the vote? To build the Purple Line so that people that do not live in Silver Spring can come shopping in the newly renovated downtown Silver Spring and increase, in the words of Takoma Park Resolution 2004-46 of September 27, 2004, economic development. Proponents in favor of the Purple Line will tell you that is not the reason. Instead you will be told that it is all about mass-transit.
What they do not tell you are the economic reasons nor do they involve themselves with the balancing needs of the residents and the businesses in Silver Spring. They are not concerned with the need to balance the impact of construction against the availability of affordable housing, environmental concerns, displacement of long-time residents and businesses, destruction of historical properties, and causing years of anxiety, litigation, and community agitation by those residents and businesses that would be adversely directly or indirectly impacted by plans for the Purple Line cutting through Silver Spring, especially down Sligo Avenue.

To construct the Purple Line and disrupt and/or displace residents and businesses at a time when Silver Spring development is making it a more desirable place to live and work makes no sense. Why would anyone want to move to the Silver Spring area if they knew that they might be seriously impacted by the Purple Line. Additionally, the number of Silver Spring residents who would benefit from a Purple Line through Silver Spring is more than offset by the costs of construction and disruptions and displacements.
Although most people, including myself, support mass transit, I believe plans for the Purple Line cutting through Silver Spring should include balancing the needs of the residents and businesses of Silver Spring. Although I live in a 1914 Sears Bungalow on Sligo Avenue and I am most concerned about my home, I am just as concerned about the residents and businesses on Sligo Avenue, as well as those on other possible alternative routes in Silver Spring.

Perhaps some good common sense can brought to the planning process for the Purple Line, which, by the way will cost billions of dollars if a light-rail system is built. And perhaps the whole thing will be „derailed‰ if the Supreme Court rules this session that private property cannot be seized for the public good, when the public good is viewed as for commercial purposes.

— Greg Bradsher
Silver Spring, MD

Disabled Cubans are casualties of Bush Doctrine

Despite obstacles due to the lack of normal relations between the U.S. and Cuba, La Familia, the Cuban
American Alliance humanitarian project, has become the largest source of assistance for Cuba’s physically
disabled—its donations surpass those sent from any other country.

We have put in place a network of health-care professionals, social workers, and disability rights advocates to provide support and bonds of friendship with physically impaired people. For many paraplegics, amputees, and others in need of mobility assistance, ACLIFIM and La Familia serve as family extensions. We strive to provide a nurturing environment where the physically impaired person is treated with respect and dignity, encouraged to achieve the highest levels of physical and mental development, and recognized for talents and abilities rather than by apparent limitations.

Working from Washington D.C. and California, La Familia operates under licenses from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Office of Foreign Assets Control to provide delivery and exportation of donations to the Cuban Association for the Physically Disabled, or ACLIFIM (Asociación Cubana de Limitados Físico-Motores). ACLIFIM is a grassroots non-governmental organization that provides medical, rehabilitation, and educational materials for its more than 60,000 members.

La Familia’s deliveries are made on a regular basis to meet current and ongoing needs, and on each delivery, assessments are made regarding medicine, rehabilitation equipment, educational material, and other needs of the disabled community as well as organizational strengths and gains made by the disabled worldwide. La Familia participants share information about advocacy work in the U.S. and Cuba for the removal of architectural, educational, and societal barriers, and current efforts to assist the physically impaired to reach new levels of independent living and empowerment.

Although La Familia has operated successfully for seven years, the organization is now held hostage waiting for a license placed on hold since last August. Neither aid nor assistance has been sent for two months while President Bush’s appointees deliberate on granting a humanitarian travel permit to deliver donations already licensed by the Department of Commerce. In the meantime, children and the elderly in life-threatening conditions languish, waiting for anonymous officials to make up their minds.

Disabled Cubans are the latest casualties of Mr. Bush’s aggressive policy to curtail travel and deny assistance to Cubans in vulnerable situations. We are at a loss for words to explain how the president of the richest nation on the face of this planet is bent on playing politics with the lives of families and innocent people yearning to see the light of day.

—Delvis Fernández Levy, CAAEF President