Dateline San Diego: Day One
 
Dear Diary: This is my 12th convention.  To quote David Byrne, "how did I get here," and how will this year’s convention compare with the previous 11? 

There are always little standout moments that stick in your mind . . . like 2003, when I consumed huge amounts of honeydew melon to sustain me through 20-hour days; 1998 when I brought my husband and then 5-month old son with me and discovered the true meaning of the term multi-tasking; and that one year when I labeled 40 receipt envelopes as “reciepts” and then tried to convince everyone that really was how it was spelled.

Much has changed since my first convention.  First of all, I’m a much better speller. 

In 1996, I had only been at the party for about a month and suddenly I was thrust into this strange land called the Bonaventure Hotel, where I spent most of my time in what seemed like a huge concrete underground bunker, working registration.  I don't think I saw the sun for four days, and I was quite perplexed by the enormous volume of yarn -- were Democrats actually the "knitting" party? 

Of course, now we have fancy lanyards.  This year's, courtesy of Bill Lockyer, gets my vote for best ever.  It's really smooth around the neck and is in my signature color: lime green.  Before working at the Party, I didn't even know what a lanyard was.  And a hospitality suite sounded like something written about in a "penthouse letter."

But there is one thing that hasn’t changed – and I don’t mean that ever-present odd smell that emanates from the longest escalators on earth, although that does seem to follow us from convention center to convention center. 

For me, the real commonality in each of these 12 conventions is the amazing people who gather year-in and year-out, election year and off year.  The delegates and volunteers, the interested observers, the little kids who accompany mom or dad, the high school and college students learning about civic responsibility, the veteran grassroots organizers, and the newbies who bring moxie and attitude and a resolve to make a difference.   

When it’s midnight and it seems like there is no end to the work that still needs to get done before I leave and then have to be back here at 6am, I remember these people and why they are here. 
I am a Democrat, and I want this world to be a better, kinder place.  I want that, not just for me and my family, my neighbors and my community – but for all people.

Those gathering here this weekend from all walks of life -- they also want the world to be a better place.  During this convention, they will organize and strategize and share ideas (and perhaps drop by one of the suites to be hospitable and enjoy delicious brownies) and they will come together to make a difference.

This year’s theme is California Democrats Leading the Way.  In 2008, we’ll be leading the way to the White House.  This weekend is all about the first steps down that road.         

Comments

[Shayne Munger]

The “true” moral values that I found were embraced by my fellow Democrats at the California Democratic Convention:

• Getting our troops out of Iraq “Immediately” to stop the killing and maiming of our fellow human beings is a true moral value

• Preventing the bombing of Iran and the murder of innocent civilians is a true moral value

• Engaging in diplomacy instead of war with our adversaries like Syria, Iran and North Korea is a true moral value

• Exposing the crimes and misdemeanors of the Bush Administration is a true moral value

• Demanding accountability and restitution from the war profiteers in Iraq and Afghanistan is a true moral value

• Immediately ending the culture of torture and indefinite imprisonment of human beings without due process is a true moral value

• Restoring the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, transparent, fair and accurate elections to the voter and the American Republic to the people is are true moral values

• Insisting that no one is above the rule of law is a moral value

• Ending the multi-national corporate culture of greed exhibited in the exploitation of the American and foreign working families by the implementation of outrageous and exploitive trade agreements; unfair immigration policies; unfair labor laws; lax government regulations on the workplace and the environment; and corporate tax advantages that have been implemented by our corporate controlled government since the Regan Administration is a true moral value

• Ending poverty in the world, starting with the 40 million plus Americans now living below the poverty line (As illustrated by the shameful pictures of the Katrina victims in N.O.) is a true moral value

• The right to a living wage for every American is a true moral value

• The right to adequate housing for all is a true moral value

• Ending the discrimination that “still” exists in this country is you are a woman, old, disabled, black, brown or gay is a true moral value

• The stewardship of our environment is a true moral value

• Instituting an all out effort to stop global warming is a true moral value

• The rebuilding of America’s industrial base and it’s vital infrastructure is an urgent national security priority and another true moral value

• Providing all our citizens with Universal Single Payer Healthcare , including the 10 million children that are now uninsured, is a right and a moral value

• Eliminating the dramatically increased “gap” in income between the rich few in this country and the rest of our citizens and restoring the middle class is a moral value

• Eliminating the Bush tax cuts for the rich and super rich (“Bush’s Base” as he calls them) is a moral value

• Providing, as a right, a “free” education from pre-school all the way through trade school or college to all our citizens (including free childcare) is a moral value and a national security imperative

By striving to live up to these moral values the United States will again become the beacon of freedom and economic opportunity that it once was. You may well ask “how are we going to pay for all this morality?” To answer that I’ll quote Franklin D. Roosevelt whose New Deal along with a strong union movement built this country into the richest and strongest nation in the world.

The Quote: “Here is my principle: Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle.”

Now I want my Republican friends to know that if you pray every day, go to church every Sunday and have a well respected and pious wife that defends you at every turn do not mean that you have moral values. You will be judged by God by your deeds, your lies and what you have left undone.

"People are poor because they are lazy." ~George W. Bush, while attending Harvard Law School

"Not another nickel, not another dime, not another soldier......NOT THIS TIME!!! ~Maxine Waters, California Democratic Convention, April 2007"

[Joan Kaiser Bell]

I say "Ditto!" to Congresswoman Maxine Waters comment, "Not another nickel..."

[Mary]

Inspiring post, Shayne Munger. Truer words...