Peoria Progressive

I’m reminded by my calendar from Progressive Magazine that today is the anniversary of the Lincoln’s delivery of the Gettsyburg Address.

Like many, I believe, I find this to be one of the greatest expressions of the American promise and one of the most inspiring calls to action in American history. I have a framed copy above my desk.

And it seems more relevant today than in many years. I have my criticisms of the Occupy movement, but I don’t disagree at all with its spirit, which I think is well captured by a call for the preservation of government “of the people, by the people, for the people” and a ”new birth of freedom”.

I urge you to take the roughly two minutes it takes read the entire text.

Some links here to the folks in Galesburg, who are planning their occupation for tomorrow. Good luck to Galesburg!

http://www.occupygalesburg.org

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=262081917164577

http://www.meetup.com/occupytogether/Galesburg-IL/

Tomorrow in Peoria, come out for a march organized in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement!

It starts at noon at the corner of Main and University in Peoria. The march begins at 1 p.m. and ends at Liberty Park along the riverfront. You can find out more at the web site:

http://occupypeoria.org/

See you there!

Here is the great Thom Hartmann discussing the "freedom" and what it means in the U.S. of the 21st century:

“I think freedom means the right to have security in our economic system and our banking system, rather than rule by banksters,” he said. “Does freedom mean that business should be allowed to get as big as it can, so that we find ourselves in a situation where six financial institutions control 60 percent of the wealth of this country? … There is not a major industry in this country that is not now more than 70 percent controlled by fewer than six corporations. That is not competition.

That’s monopoly. That has nothing to do with competition. “As Franklin Roosevelt said in 1936, he said, ‘They hide behind the flag and the Constitution, but in their blindness they forget what the flag and the Constitution stand for.’ He said we must stand up to this kind of power. He said, ‘These economic royalists complain that we seek to overthrow the institutions of America. What they really complain about is that we seek to take away their power. Our commitment to American institutions requires the overthrow of that kind of power.’”

Contrast with the Right's use of the context and content free use of the word and others, including "liberty".

Here's another sign that we are living in the New Wiemar Republic, where political insanity is the norm. Speaking to a group of Massachusetts Tea Thingies, Andrew Breitbart discussed how he was constantly under attack from the Left (which presumably includes anyone who is not a rabid Republican):

“I’m under attack all the time,” he said. “The call me gay. There are death threats… There are times when I’m not thinking as clearly as I should, and in those unclear moments, I always think to myself, ‘Fire the first shot. Bring it on.’ Because I know who’s on our side.

“They can only win a rhetorical and propaganda war. They cannot win. We outnumber them in this country and we have the guns I’m not kidding. They talk a mean game, but they will not cross that line because they know what they’re dealing with. ”

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Cross posted at slothropia.com.

Remember how Paul Ryan got booed and had to answer tough questions about his medicare voucher plan when he held town hall meetings earlier this year? Well it seems the Congressman has discovered how to avoid such embarrassing scenes in the future: charge admission to keep out the riff raff.Per David Dayen at Firedog Lake:

I’ve been writing about the invisible town hall revolution, where dozens of conservative members of Congress have been bombarded by ordinary citizens delivering progressive messages. This actually started after the passage of the Paul Ryan budget in the spring, and some members have figured out methods to deal with it. Some do only tele-town halls. Some throw out “disruptive” constituents asking the wrong questions. Some screen the questions. Some hold no town halls altogether. Some stack town halls with loyal constituents. And now, Paul Ryan and friends have hit on a new approach – charge money for the town hall meeting.

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