bean

Person #6757: 8 Posts

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  1. Markey did a good job (0 Replies)

    He was excellent on the bailout and on his support for women’s reproductive freedom. He didn’t give an inch on his vote for Obamacare. He scored points pointing out Lynch’s vote for the Stupak amendment and underscoring his own endorsements from NARAL and Planned Parenthood. I liked his last question on support for veterans, too – made him seem the bigger person – someone who could share credit in .the service of a larger principle.

    I was always going to support Markey – he’s been right on so many votes – against the dismantling of Glass Steagall, against DOMA, against the AUMF in Iraq, for healthcare reform, out in front on climate change.

    I didn’t know what kind if debater he was, though, and I was happy to see him take charge, make his points succinctly and underscore the ways he is more in step with Massachusetts Democratic primary voters’ views than Lynch.

    bean   @   Mar 27, 2013 at 22:33 EST

  2. Don't be so quick to write off Markey's organization (0 Replies)

    He’s got Carl Nilsson, fresh from OFA, running the field operation. Carl brings the OFA volunteers. Markey’s also been hiring from Warren’s field team and is activating the Warren volunteers. Plus Markey’s team ran the coordinated campaign GOTV in 2010 in his district, so he’s got all those names. The activists are with Markey, not Lynch. Lynch’s long anti-choice record, his votes against the Affordable Care Act, and against the assault weapons ban and for the Keystone pipeline just aren’t going to wow the Democratic base in a primary in Massachusetts.

    bean   @   Feb 5, 2013 at 23:49 EST

  3. Clear win for Warren (0 Replies)

    Brown has been running on being likeable and bipartisan. Elizabeth tied Brown repeatedly to the the national Republican party and got Brown flustered enough that he came across as a bit of a jerk. Meanwhile she was level, clear and perfectly likeable.

    It was a good night for team Warren.

    bean   @   Sep 20, 2012 at 22:43 EST

  4. Thanks for sharing your experiences (0 Replies)

    I now understand why quite a few delegates looked pretty tired in close ups last night :)

    bean   @   Sep 7, 2012 at 06:54 EST

  5. Pictures, please, of things TV won't cover... (0 Replies)

    Interviews with anyone interesting you can get…

    bean   @   Sep 3, 2012 at 23:18 EST

  6. We're training a rescue dog adopted a few months back (3 Replies)

    And the mantra we have to keep in mind constantly is “don’t give attention to behaviors you don’t like.” Attention is affirming – positive or negative. Behaviors you attend to increase, while those you ignore diminish. Same rule applies for trolls. Hard as it is in practice sometimes, don’t react, don’t call the annoying poster a troll, don’t engage. If there is no attention or reaction whatsoever to be had here from dumb, inflammatory comments, they will decrease.

    bean   @   Jul 19, 2012 at 07:19 EST

  7. Amen, brother (0 Replies)

    Jeff Jacoby is also a talking point amplifier. It’s as though the Globe editorial board is committed to including conservative opinions but not to the extent of putting any effort into finding *good* conservative columnists. Maybe the sad state of conservatism today is that there simply aren’t any conservative writers who offer reality-based and interesting analyses, but I find that hard to believe.

    bean   @   Jul 19, 2012 at 06:27 EST

  8. The three protesters weren't actually Native Anerican per NECN (0 Replies)

    They were tea party types carrying signs refencing their faux Cherokee outrage.

    bean   @   Jun 3, 2012 at 03:01 EST

  9. If Warren wanted? (0 Replies)

    It’s what those of us elected as delegates wanted. Many of us were elected on committed Warren slates back in February. We made our choice then and organized support to win our caucuses. For those who went into the convention uncommitted, Marisa didn’t make the case that a lopsided primary between her and Warren would somehow help beat Brown. A primary between compelling, charismatic alternatives – think Hilary and Obama in 2008 – is energizing and worthwhile. A primary between a strong, compelling candidate like Warren and a very weak candidate like DeFranco would have served only to delay bringing party resources into the race against Brown. Delegates saw that and gave Warren an unprecedented margin.

    bean   @   Jun 3, 2012 at 02:45 EST

  10. Oh please, NO, we do not need a lively primary (0 Replies)

    All one accomplishes is preventing the Democratic party from engaging fully against Brown until fall.

    bean   @   May 31, 2012 at 19:03 EST

  11. I'll be there (0 Replies)

    In 4th Middlesex

    bean   @   May 29, 2012 at 06:44 EST

  12. Will be at the convention, supporting Elizabeth Warren (1 Reply)

    Not to give aid and comfort to Mr. Fritz and team, but I did receive a call recently from the DeFranco campaign, and I’ve heard from several other delegates in Arlington who did as well. I assume Marisa doesn’t have a big enough volunteer team to have hit all of the delegates. There was no outreach from her prior to the caucus, though. I find the DeFranco campaign’s argument that it’s somehow more democratic to throw Marisa a vote at the convention, when she didn’t organize for the caucus, very specious and annoying. At our caucus, delegates and were elected on a Warren slate. People were elected based on their support for Warren. It’s disingenuous, not democratic, to pledge to support one candidate to get elected and then vote for someone else.

    bean   @   May 29, 2012 at 06:39 EST

  13. I was on the call (1 Reply)

    These calls are for volunteers, to give them some contact with Elizabeth. I approve of the campaign doing them and wasn’t too bothered by the very specific, in-the-weeds questions that were asked. We probably all have our pet issues, like the guy who is paying the $6 check-cashing fee, that we’d like our candidates to address and that we’d like to raise if given the chance in a forum like the call the other night. But hopefully when we hit the streets canvassing, talking to undecided voters, we talk about Elizabeth being a champion for the middle class, while Scott Brown is voting against jobs bills, against extending unemployment benefits and to allow student loan interest rates to double.

    One thing I did hear from another volunteer on the call was that it bothered her that 5 of the 6 questions taken were from men. Some screening to introduce more gender balance in who gets to ask questions would have been preferable to her.

    bean   @   May 20, 2012 at 23:52 EST

  14. Research shows that enumerated anti-bullying policies work better than generic ones (0 Replies)

    Here’s a link to a good piece from GLSEN that makes the case for enumeration. Clip from the piece:

    Students who attend schools with policies that enumerate categories report less bullying and harassment then students who do not!
    o Research has shown that students in states with generic laws are no more protected from bullying than students who live in states without any anti-bullying and harassment laws (40.8% w/ generic policies vs. 39.8% w/ no policies report ‘often or frequently’ hearing verbal harassment based on sexual orientation).2
    o Students report less overall harassment when they know their school has a comprehensive policy that includes enumeration. Students from schools with an enumerated policy report that others are harassed far less often in their school for reasons like their physical appearance (36% vs. 52%), their sexual orientation (32% vs. 43%) or their gender expression (26% vs. 37%).3
    o Students whose schools have a policy that specifically includes sexual orientation or gender identity/expression are less likely than other students to report a serious harassment problem at their school (33% vs. 44%).4

    bean   @   May 2, 2012 at 22:13 EST

  15. Great point, Ryan - I intend to vote for delegates who support the marriage equality plank (1 Reply)

    I’m hearing it referred to as the Grossman amendment, since State Treasurer Steve Grossman (and three other former chairs of the DNC) are supporting it.

    For those in the new 5th CD, at this weekend’s DSC meeting, I spoke with Bob Peters (4th Middlesex State Committeeman) who is a candidate for delegate. He said he supports the Grossman “freedom to marry” plank. Bob is one of the hardest working Dems around, as are his slate-mates. Recommend him highly to those in Markey’s district.

    bean   @   Apr 15, 2012 at 21:23 EST

  16. Too late for one more? (0 Replies)

    The American military casts a long shadow
    Is the argument of a new book by Maddow.
    In the pages of Drift,
    She details the rift
    Between leading with ideals or with ammo.

    bean   @   Mar 31, 2012 at 07:06 EST

  17. It's hard to "move on" (0 Replies)

    -When you’re married, but have to check off and file your taxes as “single” every year, because DOMA prevents the IRS from recognizing that fact.
    -When your marriage is not recognized in most other states.
    -When your defined-benefit pension would be inheritable by an opposite-sex spouse, but not a same-sex spouse.
    -When being covered on your spouse’s health plan creates a tax liability.
    -When you can’t count in your Senator to support your rights – it’s anyone’s guess where he’ll be on issues that affect you.

    bean   @   Mar 20, 2012 at 22:38 EST

  18. I'm not a fan of the shock-tone, either (0 Replies)

    Think you’re completely within your rights to react to the style, Christopher.

    I’m don’t generally favor public funding of infrastructure improvements for the exclusive benefit a single business, but at least some of the roads named above are heavily trafficked already (they may all be – I don’t know the area that well). Do we know that these changes would only benefit a slot barn at Suffolk Downs? Have the improvements identified been needed for years, and they’re now being tied to the slots proposal as a way to move them forward? Are residents of the area in favor or opposed? The tone of the piece demands outrage without providing answers to questions that it would be good to know before deciding whether to be outraged.

    On balance, I would have preferred not to see the casino bill pass, and I wouldn’t favor public-funding of road work to benefit a slots barn only, but I don’t think this piece has made the case that that’s what’s going on here yet.

    bean   @   Mar 17, 2012 at 20:26 EST

  19. It is another reason (0 Replies)

    To donate elsewhere, though, given that the donations may get used in other ways…

    bean   @   Mar 13, 2012 at 06:29 EST

  20. All I could think of when I saw the slogan (0 Replies)

    Was how much Brown had not been for us when he was a state senator… He was a holdout against marriage equality. I remember getting some lit that detailed 20+ anti-equality votes he had taken in the state senate. Any Republican in the US Senate from Massachusetts is undesirable for an old yellow dog Democrat like me, but Brown in particular is anathema.

    bean   @   Mar 10, 2012 at 22:57 EST