Silicon Valley for Howard Dean

Honor & Integrity in the White House? Not Until Nov. 2004!

I LIFTED THIS FROM THE MAIN DEAN BLOG, BUT SINCE IT REFERENCES MY EARLIER POST, I THINK IT'S LEGITIMATE TO DO SO. GO GOVERNOR DEAN, GO!

Governor Howard Dean Calls For Honor and Integrity in Investigation of Plame Affair

LOS ANGELES--Governor Howard Dean issued the following statement today following Attorney General’s announcement that the Justice Department has opened a full investigation into whether senior administration officials illegally disclosed the identity of Ambassador Joseph Wilson’s wife, a CIA operative:

"Because Attorney General Ashcroft failed to appoint a special counsel, I fear that the investigation into this breach of national security will not be carried out free from political influence.

"This is a matter of critical importance to our national security and its seriousness cannot be overstated. As former President George Bush said, those who expose the names of intelligence sources are ‘the most insidious of traitors.’ And so I ask the following today:

"This story broke fully two months ago. Why did the President -- who came into office vowing to bring honor and integrity to the White House -- not demand answers from his staff at that time?

"We know now that the CIA asked the Justice Department to investigate this matter at the end of July. When did President Bush know about the CIA request and why did Mr. Ashcroft delay in opening the investigation?

"If Mr. Ashcroft yesterday evening requested that the White House and the CIA preserve all documents that might be relevant to this investigation, why did White House counsel Al Gonzalez wait until today to email White House staff and instruct them to do so?

"The failure to name special counsel taints this investigation from the outset. Why did Mr. Ashcroft refuse to explain his decision not to do so?

"Whether it is a special counsel or the Justice Department Inspector General, I once again call for the selection of a person whose honesty, objectivity, and fairness are guaranteed to investigate the Plame affair. The American people deserve no less.

"As President, I will deliver to the American people the honor, integrity, and leadership that President Bush promised, but has utterly failed to deliver."

Posted by Mathew Gross at 06:01 PM
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swing that bat!!

The World Series of Baseball hasn't started yet, but it looks as if the World Series of Democracy has...I spend a few days away from my computer, and what happens? Dean for America not only breaks the bat for contributions, but meets the goal of signing up over 450,000 to the cause...all this and an appearance tonight on Jay Leno? I guess we'll have plenty to talk about at the Oct. MeetUp.

For anyone who needs a little more to talk about, try and catch Robert Novack on Crossfire tonight, as he desperately tries to talk himself out of a pending criminal investigation involving the White House and the "outing" of a CIA operative. Just another reason to swing that bat!

FROM THE AP:

WASHINGTON Sept. 29 — The White House on Monday emphatically denied that President Bush's chief political strategist was involved in revealing the identity of a CIA operative, in possible violation of the law. A Democratic senator has asked Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to probe the matter.
The naming of the intelligence officer's identity by syndicated columnist Robert Novak came shortly after her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, had undermined Bush's claim that Iraq had tried to buy uranium in Africa.

Wilson has publicly blamed Karl Rove, Bush's top political adviser, for the leak, although Wilson did say Monday he did not know whether Rove personally was the source of Novak's information.

See also: http://truthout.org/docs_03/093003A.shtml

30 hours to go!

Reposting this from the national blog because there is a lot of good info to watch for.
30 Hours to Go-- and Upcoming Appearances!
As of 6 pm eastern, tens of thousands of Americans have contributed $12,893,919 through 152,460 donations!

There's a great deal in store during these next 30 hours....

Tonight at 8 pm, Howard Dean and more than 14,000 supporters will gather for the largest conference call in history-- for Dr. Dean's National House Call. We'll be bringing you live reports right here on the blog, and audio as soon as it's available. Show your support for the house partying Dean supporters by contributing between 8 and 9 pm EDT tonight.

Then, join us all night for marathon blogging-- we'll be with you every hour on the hour with bat updates.

Tomorrow morning, Howard Dean will appear on Good Morning America as part of Claire Shipman's report on our campaign’s grassroots support and internet strategy. (The Governor's appearance is pre-recorded.) The segment should appear during the first half hour of the show.

He'll then appear at fundraisers in Riverside, California.

All day tomorrow, we'll be updating the bat and bringing you the latest news.

At 9:30 Eastern, we'll begin bringing you live updates and a web cast of the final fundraiser of the quarter when Governor Dean appears at Union Station in Los Angeles.

Then, at 11:35pm ET, celebrate the final moments of the September to Remember by watching Governor Dean on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The Governor will appear with Catherine Zeta-Jones and musical guest Lyle Lovett.

Posted by Mathew Gross at 06:05 PM

I'll Remember September

I attended my first Dean meetup on September 3rd, and soon I'll be attending my second in October. What a month it has been! On September 1st, I was the only one in my group of friends who had heard of the Governor from Vermont. On September 4th, they ALL knew who he was. I made sure of it.

I watch the Sunday news shows such as "Meet The Press" to see what they have to say about Howard Dean, and though they try to talk about him as if he's not a true contender...they always TALK about him, don't they? He's in double digits in New Hampshire right now, far outpacing John Kerry. He's connecting once again. I read Salon.com almost daily, and if you are a Dean supporter and don't subscribe, you are missing some good reporting on the Governor.

I log on to deanforamerica.com regularly. I read his speeches, I follow his progress through this country, I see the photos of his supporters. I feel connected. I have seen "the bat". I have, in fact, made contributions to "the bat", my first political campaign contributions ever. I am connected to 17,000+ other contributors. Howard Dean does that: he connects people. We the people now need to connect with each other, on this weblog and face-to-face in our communities.

Hopefully I'll be able to connect with you all here in the near future!

September to Remember coming to a close

A lot of this was covered in the post below, but this month is very important to the campaign. Things have been going amazingly well, but this is not the time to let up. As it comes to a close, the media is going to be looking very closely at how the campaign is doing (Especially in terms of fundraising). It's important to show that we were not a one-quarter wonder. Anything you can do over the next couple of weeks is great, either in terms of contributions, or in getting a few extra people to sign up at the Dean for America website, or attending one of the House Parties planned for September 29th.

For more suggestions on things you can do to help make this a great September to Remember, visit the Dean for America website or go directly to http://www.deanforamerica.com/site/Pageserver?pagename=outreachSeptember

The Bat is Back

Voting for the Q3 fundraising primary is underway. Unlike going to the polls and voting, you can see the results on a continuous basis. Also, you can vote as much as you like; both the amount and how often you vote, up to the $2,000 campaign limit of course. This poll closes at midnight EDT, September 30, 2003.

Some things never end. The Visibility day was great. The ten days of outreach was great. And visibility and outreach never end. Registration of voters never ends. Asking for endorsements only ends when the endorsement is given. If you made a contribution before, great, now is the time to do it again. If you haven’t made a contribution yet, now is the time to do it.

The average contribution to the Howard Dean bat is in the $50 to $60 range. This is someone giving $100 and two or three giving $25. It all counts, both the amount of money given and the number of contributors. Numbers matter in politics. That is where the power comes from. We have that power. We are the power.

How important is this poll? This poll can establish an unstoppable momentum to the Democratic convention and the nomination. It is us, the most phenomenal grassroots movement in history, that can make it happen. It is us that can end the nightmare of the Bush Administration.

September Visibility Event

Greetings Dean supporters and fellow Visibility Event Folks.

Everything is a GO for Saturday morning for our September Visibility Event!

We need each and every local Dean supporter to get out and show their support. We’ve notified the press and the more people that go out, the better.

So, here is the plan:

1) We’ve identified a moderate sized set of major intersections that we will mass at. (This list is somewhat reduced from the earlier one I sent out. We can also still add new locations at the Northern and Southern end of the route. ) See below.

2) Rather than the complex and time-consuming task of gathering everyone’s location and then assigning people to a convenient spot, I would like everyone to self-assign themselves. If we get too many people in one spot, I may ask people to move to a nearby spot.

Please REPLY TO ME ASAP with your preferred location.

3) We ask people to bring:
1) themselves, wearing Dean garb
2) a sign - either official Dean sign or homemade
3) a small batch of flyers which you can download/print (attached or linked)
4) A copy of our sign-in sheet (attached)
5) LOTS of enthusiasm

4) Everyone shows up at his or her assigned location at 9:30am

5) Stay at your assigned location until 10:15am. You may have a handful of people at your major intersection. Meet your fellow supporters. (But don’t go home yet…)

6) At 10:15 am, leaving a couple people at your current major intersection, spread out in both directions. At each new corner, leave a couple more people, and keep moving.

Other Notes:

1) This event is now posted on DeanForAmerica - Get Local. Hopefully we’ll get more people that way.

2) Tell all your friends. Bring them along.

3) We’ve sent out a press release, so let’s make this look good.

4) I’m working on getting some additional signs, which I can offer to some people for $3 per each. I may have a sign-purchase at my house on Friday night and also at 8:30am in RWC. Let me know if you need one. Otherwise, make a handmade one.

5) T-shirts – I can also sell those Friday evening or Saturday morning.


THE LOCATIONS --- THE LOCATIONS --- THE LOCATIONS:

Please RSVP the location you plan to visit

From North to South: More Northern locations? Please suggest them.
· Burlingame Ave. and El Camino
· Millbrae and El Camino
· W. Hillsdale at the Hillsdale Mall and El Camino
· 25th Avenue in San Mateo
· Ralston Blvd. in Belmont in front of the CalTrains station, across from the Safeway/Peets
· San Carlos Ave.
· Brittan Ave.
· Whipple Blvd.
· In front of Keppler’s on El Camino in Menlo Park (i.e. at Santa Cruz. ave)
· Embarcadero in from the the Town and Country mall
· PageMill/Oregon Expwy
· San Antonio Rd.
· El Monte Rd.
· Castro St.
· More Southern locations? Please suggest them.

The Flyers:

The best overall flyer (large download):
http://www.deanforamerica.com/temp/newflyer2.pdf

Also available:
Dean Policy Talking Points – attached PDF file
October Meetup Flyer – Now with all 3 venues

Needed: A flyer for our 9/29 Guinness Book of World Records House party event.


PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS MESSAGE TO YOUR OWN EMAIL LISTS.

WE ONLY HAVE ONE DAY AND BEFORE THE EVENT. SPREAD THE WORD.

Let me know if you have questions, comments, etc.

Bring your friends!

Rob Dickinson
San Mateo County Meetup For Dean
robd@pobox.com
650-544-5925 (cell)
650-365-6025 (h)

The New Paradigm

This weekend I attended the Accelerating Change Conference at Stanford University. This is the second conference put on by this Futurist group and the focus was on the new technology that is currently being developed and how it will affect our future.

It would take a ten-page report to cover all the exciting and scary things that are happening in science, computing, biology, chemistry, physics and nanotechnology. And that is not my purpose for this post.

As I sat listening to all the speakers I was thinking about the current leaders we have in Washington and how unprepared and unskilled they are for this new paradigm. In fact I would go so far as to say they are dinosaurs, screaming as they grasp frantically for oil, war, violence, greed and global domination. The new paradigm will not support that behavior.

Our planet is now racing towards a new society that will demand leaders who will be comfortable managing themselves and issues within chaotic complexity. The answers will not be yes or no or maybe, they will be all three. Our financial stability, health, environment, food, military, education, work force and leisure activities will be disrupted within a very short time from now as we argue over issues that can’t be solved with war.

It also occurred to me this weekend that those of us calling for a new leadership change in Washington have the support of the whole planet. It does not matter that President Bush said that the anti war protestors were of no consequence to him. We were of consequence and we will continue to work towards pushing him and his regime out in 2004.

When the planet shifted and moved on the dinosaurs did not see what was coming and they died out, quickly, because their time has past.

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." A. Einstein.

Happenings

Generation Dean launches a blog for 600 youth groups, providing for young people who deeply care about the future of their country. These young people are tremendous, and we need every one of them if we’re going to re-engage Americans in our democracy again. The youth vote has found a candidate to believe in, who cares about the issues that youth care about, and who understands the impact that the youth vote can have on this election.

September 10-20: Reach Out and Grow The Grassroots campaign web site lists seven ways to get the word out to new people and help grow the largest grassroots campaign in American history. Now is the time to take action.

Campaign issues are becoming sharper, more dividing, and the rhetoric less civil. At our grassroots level let’s remember to keep it positive. Demonizing the other side degrades the demonizer as well. Howard Dean said “The only way that we’re going to beat George Bush is to say what we mean, to stand up for who we are, to lift up a Democratic agenda against the Republican agenda because if you do that the Democratic agenda wins every time.

Silicon Valley for Dean Yahoo! Group (sv4dean) grows from 172 to 198 after the September MeetUp. This is a group of Silicon Valley residents who support Gov. Howard Dean's candidacy for president of the United States. Check the calendar for ways to get involved locally!

September 30 is the end of the third quarter money primary. Donate to Howard Dean’s campaign or donate again. The amount of money raised and the number of contributors will be a underlying issue in determining the Democratic candidate for President.

Converting Republicans

I was listening to Howard Dean's forum in Iowa from either May or June this morning. And, he made the comment (which he's made in other forums) about why Bush's "popularity" is so high. It's something we all need to remember. Bush's popularity and approval rating is so high because whether or not you agree with him on various positions, he is steadfast on those positions. There's no waffling, there's no basing opinions on the poll of the week, etc.

We need a candidate who is a good leader on the issues, but stands for the citizen's rights and not the most conservative of the right wing.

We need to show people, even those who might "support" Bush or those who are registered as Republicans, that Dean is the right man for the job. He has the right ideas, he has a proven track record on getting social programs to work, etc.

Sue Ann Reed