Ramblings from a Moderate Democrat who grew up in Ohio and has spent the last 20 years below the Mason-Dixon Line now living in Georgia

Opportunity, Shared Sacrifice & Responsibility

Donkey and an Elephant
Join me over at D & E. It is a great new social networking site dedicated to politics of every stripe.


                                                            

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Posted by Steve Deak at 4/4/2007 9:33 AM | View Comments (63) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
Senator James Webb D-VA....Liberal Class Warlord

There are right wing nuts and then there is Eugene Delgaudio. Eugene is a County Board Supervisor in Loudoun County, Virginia. A place once called the 'Republican Incubator' as so many wingers moved there to learn the ropes close to Washington. I say once called because Democrats Tim Kaine, Jim Webb, Leslie Byrne, David Poisson, Mark Herring and Bruce Roemmelt have all carried Loudoun in elections since 2005.

Mr. Delgaudio is a bit of a drama queen. He is the head of a group called Public Advocate of the United States. I'd link it but I really don't want to be the cause of the actually getting any traffic to their site.

He is the walking, talking example of Newt Gingrich's 1996 GOPAC memo.

This guy is sooooo out of control. Thank God the Democrats in Loudoun County have been picking these guys off one at a time over the last couple of years. The best news is that the Republicans are getting tired of these antics as well and have started 'holding their noses' and voting for Democrats. That is the first step. Once they see that the Democrat they voted for is a common sense leader, they will continue to vote for them regardless of party.

Enjoy...

Dear Republican Friend,Loudoun Democrats and their liberal allies have made the last four years the most hateful, vitriolic and poisonous in our county's 250-year history.
And they may top it off by taking control of the June 9 Loudoun GOP convention and exterminating their opposition.

That's why you MUST fill out the enclosed form and attend the Convention. Let me explain.
Since being thrown out of power 2003, Loudoun's Democrats and their liberal allies have responded with a ruthless campaign of hate and lies. The Loudoun GOP convention is their chance to steal back power by stealing control of the opposition.

It all started when voters rejected them four years ago.

Responding with near-violent rage, they began a four-year campaign of vitriol, hate, lies, slander and anger intended to terrify voters and poison the public discourse.

They appeared before the Board waving Nazi flags, screeching at supervisors during public meetings and even suing people for mocking them hoping to bankrupt their family.

They accused supervisors of trying to slaughter children and poison the water. Others have even written to the newspaper claiming Republicans want to eliminate Loudoun County's trees.

Some Loudoun Democrat Party officials even appeared before the Herndon Town Council to praise their illegal alien job center - and slander as violent racists any law-abiding citizen who doesn't want Sterling to become a haven for illegal aliens.

They have spent the last four years stirring a boiling cauldron of poisonous hate intended to terrify voters.

It's been four years of outlandish "statistics," fake "petitions" and swarms of fake one-person "citizen" groups - all intended to terrify and deceive voters.

They frivolously sued one Republican hoping to bankrupt his family. I sat in the courtroom and watched as one liberal told the jury she had never met him before - despite the fact she knew him personally and hated him for years. She just wanted to destroy him and his family, nasty payback for 2003.

They've even resorted to illegal anonymous fliers and fake Internet posts spewing the most hateful lies and nastiest language I have ever seen.

Sadly, their ruthless campaign of hate has been effective.

By terrifying voters and poisoning the public discourse, they upset Dick Black, took away our seat in the State Senate and delivered Loudoun County to liberal class warlord Jim Webb.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! I am sick and tired of their lies and hate, and it's about time we took back Loudoun County.

But with control of the Board now up for grabs, they are stepping up their deceitful campaign of lies and venom.

They began this year with a series of outlandish newspaper stories from a liberal reporter that offered more inflammatory accusations and misleading words than any actual facts.

They then filed a complaint against one Republican official and demanded her resignation for simply asking if a liberal opposing a project stood to make money if it was rejected?

This, at the very same time they demanded Republicans reveal exactly the same information.

Another liberal activist has just filed phony criminal charges against a local Republican official. It will likely be laughed out of court, but it shows some Loudoun liberals aren't joking when they demand people who question be put in prison.

Even worse, my Democrat opponent's campaign hijacked the e-mail list of a local non-profit group and used it to solicit improper funds.

Federal tax law says that's a no-no. But they don't care.

Consumed by a raging hatred of anyone who opposes them, Loudoun's Democrats and their liberal allies have employed a scorched-earth campaign of hate and lies.

They have spent the last four years making themselves perfectly clear?

Facts don't matter, the rules don't apply to them and if you have a different opinion, you should either be thrown in prison or denied the ability to vote.

That's why some now want to target our Loudoun County Republican Convention.

They've already put up several candidates for the Board. They want to fill up the seats, hijack the convention and make the November elections a Soviet-style one-choice affair.

And they can. The only requirement to attend is to not have voted in a Democrat nomination since 2004 and say you will support Republicans in November.

There haven't been many Democrat primaries to disqualify them and they have no problem lying about the pledge. Liberals lined up in the cold to lie on the pledge and vote in the special 2006 Republican primary. They then resumed attacking Republicans.

If you don't claim your seat, they may take it for you and nominate their already-picked candidates. The enclosed form MUST be returned to Suzanne Volpe by March 4th.

I know you don't want Sterling represented by someone who thinks taxes are too low and our neighborhoods should be thrown open for illegal aliens.

Loudoun's Democrats and their liberal allies have gone nuclear over the last four years. Their ruthless campaign of hate and lies, intended to terrify and bully voters, is the nastiest and most outrageous I have ever seen.

And it's worked. Their lies and hate speech stole seats in the House of Delegates and State Senate and elected Jim Webb.

We can begin to put an end to it at the Loudoun GOP Convention. We need to show a strong Republican Party in the face of this ruthless campaign of hate and lies.

More importantly, we need to prevent them from packing our convention and stealing away our Party.

Help me finally put an end to their ruthless campaign of hate so we can continue to fight for lower taxes and against the growing illegal alien presence in Loudoun County.

Please fill out the enclosed form and return it today. It MUST be back in Suzanne Volpe's hands by March 4th.

With your help at the Republican Convention, we can finally put an end to the hate, lies and venom that have elected extreme liberals to our state House and Senate seats and helped send liberal class warlord Jim Webb to the U.S. Senate.

If you don't claim your seat, Loudoun's Democrats and their liberal allies are waiting to claim it for you and nominate their already-picked candidates.

Some now want to target our Loudoun GOP Convention. Don't let them take your seat have their hate and lies speak for you.

May God bless you and your family,

EUGENE DELGAUDIO

Your Republican Sterling District Supervisor

P.S. Rejected by voters in 2003, Loudoun's Democrats and their liberal allies have responded with a scorched-earth war of lies, venom, frivolous lawsuits and fake charges.

Sadly, their ruthless campaign of hate has been effective.

By terrifying voters and poisoning the public discourse, they upset Dick Black, stole our seat in the State Senate and delivered Loudoun County to liberal class warlord Jim Webb.

Now some want to take over our Loudoun GOP Convention. They've already put up several liberal candidates.

Please fill out the enclosed form. It MUST be returned to Suzanne Volpe by March 4th.

Paid for and authorized by Friends of Eugene Delgaudio.

Contributions are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

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Posted by Steve Deak at 3/2/2007 10:24 AM | View Comments (7) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
October 26, 2002

Good afternoon. Let me begin by saying that although this has been billed as an anti-war rally, I stand before you as someone who is not opposed to war in all circumstances.

The Civil War was one of the bloodiest in history, and yet it was only through the crucible of the sword, the sacrifice of multitudes, that we could begin to perfect this union, and drive the scourge of slavery from our soil.

I don’t oppose all wars.

My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton’s army. He saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka. He fought in the name of a larger freedom, part of that arsenal of democracy that triumphed over evil, and he did not fight in vain.

I don’t oppose all wars.

After September 11th, after witnessing the carnage and destruction, the dust and the tears, I supported this Administration’s pledge to hunt down and root out those who would slaughter innocents in the name of intolerance, and I would willingly take up arms myself to prevent such tragedy from happening again.

I don’t oppose all wars. And I know that in this crowd today, there is no shortage of patriots, or of patriotism. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other arm-chair, weekend warriors in this Administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.

What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income—to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression.

That’s what I’m opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.

Now let me be clear—I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has repeatedly defied UN resolutions, thwarted UN inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity.

He’s a bad guy. The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him.

But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history.

I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.

I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars.

So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the president today. You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s finish the fight with Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings.

You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to make sure that the UN inspectors can do their work, and that we vigorously enforce a non-proliferation treaty, and that former enemies and current allies like Russia safeguard and ultimately eliminate their stores of nuclear material, and that nations like Pakistan and India never use the terrible weapons already in their possession, and that the arms merchants in our own country stop feeding the countless wars that rage across the globe.

You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to make sure our so-called allies in the Middle East, the Saudis and the Egyptians, stop oppressing their own people, and suppressing dissent, and tolerating corruption and inequality, and mismanaging their economies so that their youth grow up without education, without prospects, without hope, the ready recruits of terrorist cells.

You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to wean ourselves off Middle East oil, through an energy policy that doesn’t simply serve the interests of Exxon and Mobil.

Those are the battles that we need to fight. Those are the battles that we willingly join. The battles against ignorance and intolerance. Corruption and greed. Poverty and despair.

The consequences of war are dire, the sacrifices immeasurable. We may have occasion in our lifetime to once again rise up in defense of our freedom, and pay the wages of war. But we ought not—we will not—travel down that hellish path blindly. Nor should we allow those who would march off and pay the ultimate sacrifice, who would prove the full measure of devotion with their blood, to make such an awful sacrifice in vain.

Barack Obama

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Posted by Steve Deak at 2/13/2007 3:42 PM | View Comments (6) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
Obama makes huge splash
I just finished watching Obama's speech on C-SPAN. I'm sure they will have the video up in their Road to the Whitehouse section soon. You can watch HERE as well. The text for the speech is HERE

Wow! What a great speech. I have been impressed with Obama since the 04 Democratic National Convention.

"The genius of our founders is that they designed a system of government that can be changed. And we should take heart, because we've changed this country before. In the face of tyranny, a band of patriots brought an Empire to its knees. In the face of secession, we unified a nation and set the captives free. In the face of Depression, we put people back to work and lifted millions out of poverty. We welcomed immigrants to our shores, we opened railroads to the west, we landed a man on the moon, and we heard a King's call to let justice roll down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream."

He is shaping a populist message of Opportunity, Shared Sacrifice and Responsibility. That is what I wanted to hear today.

"By ourselves, this change will not happen. Divided, we are bound to fail.

But the life of a tall, gangly, self-made Springfield lawyer tells us that a different future is possible.

He tells us that there is power in words.

He tells us that there is power in conviction.

That beneath all the differences of race and region, faith and station, we are one people.

He tells us that there is power in hope.

As Lincoln organized the forces arrayed against slavery, he was heard to say: "Of strange, discordant, and even hostile elements, we gathered from the four winds, and formed and fought to battle through."

That is our purpose here today.

That's why I'm in this race.

Not just to hold an office, but to gather with you to transform a nation.

I want to win that next battle - for justice and opportunity.

I want to win that next battle - for better schools, and better jobs, and health care for all.

I want us to take up the unfinished business of perfecting our union, and building a better America."

The Right Wing Smear Machine has already started their attacks. It's kind of surprising for them to jump into our primary race so early. My feeling is they would rather face Hillary and work the Clinton fatigue angle.  I guess they do not want to face Obama in a general election match-up.

Since Gov. Warner decided not to run for President in 08 I have been on the fence as far as who to support. That is no longer true. I am now supporting Barack Obama for President. Now if we can get an Obama/Warner ticket we cannot be stopped!

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Posted by Steve Deak at 2/10/2007 8:53 PM | View Comments (17) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
Georgia DPG Elections

                        Thank You

Mike Berlon,

Thank you for running for DPG Chair. You ran an admirable campaign.

The impact of your decision to run for chair rather than allow the establishment to once again anoint a successor has changed the landscape of the Democratic Party of Georgia. While we are truly disappointed with the outcome of the elections, we know that it was you who stepped out front and called for change.

Many people fear change. I believe this is the sole reason for the loss. We know there were some shenanigans going on behind the scenes to dissuade people from voting for you. This is disappointing and a testament to the need for change.

It cannot be overlooked that you had the most votes and strongest support on the first ballot.  That is the most important ballot as it reveals the true intent of the voters as a whole.

Now we move forward, diligent and more determined to succeed.

I urge you to consider standing for re-election as County Party Chair. 

Gwinnett County has a population larger than 5 states. Your 10 point plan you created for the DPG Chair race should be implemented right here in our home county.

We are energized and ready to work.

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Posted by Steve Deak at 1/31/2007 7:34 AM | View Comments (39) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
Family Day Rally - Georgia Legislature

Save the date: February 10, Georgia Democrats can join their union friends at the state capitol to agitate for real family legislation: raising the minimum wage. From Tasso Knight of UFCW via BlogforDemocracy :


Saturday, Feb 10th, 9-10 a.m on the steps (Washington St. side) of the State Capitol. We will have a
Family Day Rally and press conference, coordinated by the GA AFL-CIO and the Atlanta-N. GA. Labor Council. The legislature will go in to session that Saturday at 10:00a.m.

Our message will be: Raising the Minimum Wage is the best way to show that legislators are Family Friendly.

Remember the fun we had 2 years ago on family day with a march from the stadium to the capitol??? With this just being announced (and I am sure the short notice was intentional) we have less that two weeks to put this together. We look to have at least 200 family, friends, union and coalition members standing with us on this day.

Please spread the word about Family Day at the Capitol (personal or work email list, BLOGS, Democratic Party list serves, etc.) We'll pass along more information as it becomes available.

Thanks for all your help getting this out as soon as possible.

Tasso

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Posted by Steve Deak at 1/30/2007 7:04 AM | View Comments (32) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
Let's all Welcome the 110th Congress
It has been a historic day in Washington as Nancy Pelosi took over as the Speaker of the House.  I read somewhere that 80 other countries have had women in higher leadership positions that the United States.

We have all heard about the first 100 hours. Here is what it looks like..

Thursday 1/4 - Ethics Reform DONE

Friday 1/5 - Budget Controls DONE

Tuesday 1/9 - Security Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission DONE

Wedneday 1/10 - Minimum Wage increase DONE

Thursday 1/11 - Federal funding of Stem Cell Research

Friday 1/12 - Allow Medicare drug price negotiations

Wednesday 1/17 - Reduce interest rates on college loans

Thursday 1/18 - recind tax breaks for big oil and provide tax breaks for alternative energy research.

I don't think the 109th congress worked ANY Fridays.

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Posted by Steve Deak at 1/4/2007 3:39 PM | View Comments (7) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
When will it stop?
Representative-elect Keith Ellison(D) MN-05 has stated he will take the oath of office with a Koran. This has caused the xenophobic crowd on the right to absolutely freak out.

Below is a letter Virgil Goode(R) VA-05 recently send to constituents.

#######
Thank you for your recent communication. When I raise my hand to take the oath on Swearing In Day, I will have the Bible in my other hand. I do not subscribe to using the Koran in any way. The Muslim Representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran. We need to stop illegal immigration totally and reduce legal immigration and end the diversity visas policy pushed hard by President Clinton and allowing many persons from the Middle East to come to this country. I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped.

The Ten Commandments and “In God We Trust” are on the wall in my office. A Muslim student came by the office and asked why I did not have anything on my wall about the Koran. My response was clear, “As long as I have the honor of representing the citizens of the 5th District of Virginia in the United States House of Representatives, The Koran is not going to be on the wall of my office.” Thank you again for your email and thoughts.

Sincerely yours,
Virgil H. Goode, Jr.
70 East Court Street
Suite 215
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151
#######

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Posted by Steve Deak at 12/19/2006 7:56 PM | View Comments (52) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
2008 Democratic Presidential StrawPoll
2008 Straw Poll
Evan Bayh
Wes Clark
Hillary Clinton
John Edwards
Barack Obama
Bill Richardson
Tom Vilsack
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com

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Posted by Steve Deak at 12/12/2006 6:57 AM | View Comments (2) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
ObamaMania
I am still recovering from former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner's decision not to run for President in 2008. I keep hoping he will change his mind.....Doubtful, very doubtful.

So I thought I would throw something out there on the newest hot name - the junior Senator from Illinois Barack Obama.  I like him and would love to see a Obama/Warner or Warner/Obama ticket. Talk about a new generation of leadership!

Of course, the RWNM has already started their 'subtle' mind games with Obama's middle name. It is a family name that means "Handsome One" in arabic. His middle name in Hussein. Expect to hear Brack Hussein Obama a lot on Rush, Hannity, O'Reilly, BushCo etc. in the near future. They are not wasting any time on this one.

Hopefully, the public is starting to catch on and this will back-fire


If you are not familiar with Obama, I have pulled a few quotes...

“I don’t oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.”

"My job is not to represent Washington to you, but to represent you to Washington."

"Today we are engaged in a deadly global struggle for those who would intimidate, torture, and murder people for exercising the most basic freedoms. If we are to win this struggle and spread those freedoms, we must keep our own moral compass pointed in a true direction."

"This budget tells our veterans that if they want increased funding for the VA they'll have to pay for it themselves."

"We have an obligation and a responsibility to be investing in our students and our schools. We must make sure that people who have the grades, the desire and the will, but not the money, can still get the best education possible."

Barack Obama Senate site

Barack Obama site

Draft Obama site

Run Obama site

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Posted by Steve Deak at 12/11/2006 8:37 PM | View Comments (6) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)