Here are some reactions from the progressive community to last week's disaster of a Supreme Court decision (Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission).

Keith Olbermann offers a Special Comment. (watch here)

Thom Hartmann gives his initial reaction and analysis. This is a pretty convincing rant. Hartmann has been a consistently vocal opponent of the concept of "corporate personhood." (watch here)

Rachel Maddow reports on the potential effects the Supreme Court decision could have on passage of health "reform," and consults with Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) regarding possible legislative solutions to the mess the ruling created. (watch here)

Law professor Lawrence Lessig of Change Congress provides his initial reaction to the decision. (watch here and read his essay response as well)

One side note: you just know something must be wrong when Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann, Thom Hartmann, Lawrence Lessig AND the founder of one of the Tea Party movements all agree that it is.

 

In light of the election results from last night's disaster in Massachusetts, a lot of progressives are left asking themselves, "What happened?" Well, that's a good question. There are probably a lot of valid answers. But I tend to agree 100% with Dr. Lawrence Lessig's take on all of this, as he sums up Obama's first year in office more neatly and accurately than I could ever hope to.

Lessig is a highly intelligent guy who I have always had endless respect for. I think he's spot on in his analysis here, and really gets to the heart of the problem in American politics today.

Essentially as he says, the problem isn't as simple as Democrats vs. Republicans. As convenient as it is to beat up on Joe Lieberman for contradicting himself, lying, and obstructing health reform, the problem was always bigger than him, even though he selfishly didn't want it to seem that way. Instead what was wrong with the health reform debate from the beginning was that it was entirely produced from within a fundamentally broken system - a much larger and more serious "systemic failure" than the one President Obama talked about shortly after the failed Christmas airplane bombing attempt, in regards to intelligence sharing among government agencies. Rather than allowing our airplanes to be hijacked, in this case it's our democracy that's been hijacked, not by political parties but by the persistent evil of money in politics. Congress is owned by this money and can do nothing without it.

So what's the solution? Many have been proposed, but one thing is for sure: now is not the time to allow campaign finance laws to become even weaker. They are already insufficient to say the least, but as they rest on a fragile foundation pending the Supreme Court decision that could come any minute now, progressives and even well-meaning real conservatives alike need to pressure Congress to take up this issue once again.

It's been done before, with as unholy of an alliance as Sens. Russ Feingold (D-WI) and John McCain (R-AR), so as unlikely as it may seem, I believe it can be done again. In fact, there is legislation to support right now! So it's not too late. There is still time to save our democracy. But the situation is getting more dire by the minute.

 

Rachel Maddow reports on a worrying discovery that raises concerns regarding both the military-industrial complex and the separation of church and state. Trijicon, a military contractor, has been imprinting Bible verses on the guns they're supplying to the U.S. military. In the video, Rachel describes how this is infuriatingly counter-productive to the main objectives of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Point of discussion: How many times do we need to hear about some new, terribly embarrassing mishap that private military contractors caused before we, as a nation, reevaluate their position in American foreign policy? I, for one, hope the answer isn't indefinite.

 

This Sunday, the DePaul College Democrats in conjunction with 43rd Ward Democrats, DePaul Political Science Department and Better Government with Andy Shaw present the County Board President Forum.

The Cook County Board Presidential candidates will be here for a discussion and to answer your questions. Moderating will be Andy Shaw.

Doors open at noon, actual discussion is from 1:00pm until 3:00pm. We are asking for those who are interested to RSVP to guarantee a spot as we may fill to capacity. Please e-mail us at depauldems@gmail.com for reservation.

If you are interested in volunteering there are plenty of opportunities including: voter registration, BRIEFING ANDY SHAW, question card distribution/collection, press greeting, etc. Please contact an DePaul Democrats executive board member if you are interested.

 

Unfortunately, the health care reform panel scheduled for tomorrow (Monday) has been postponed due to some of the professors not being able to attend. We plan on rescheduling this event for a later date.

Sorry for the inconvenience and hopefully we will see you at the next DePaul Democrats general body meeting (Monday Nov. 9th)! We hope you all had a great Halloween weekend as well.
 

Hello!

Hopefully everybody's midterms went well. The DePaul Dems still have a busy quarter ahead of us so we have a lot of things to fill you in about.

1. New E-Board
This past Monday we elected 3 new members to fill our vacant spots on E-Board. Congratulations Hattie, Katie, and Alex on rounding out the rest of E-Board we are glad to have you aboard!

2. Flag Football
This Friday, October 16th we will be playing a fun, bipartisan game of Flag Football with the DePaul Republicans. Please come by and play with us so we can show Republicans who is boss!
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=146440773647&index=1

3. Debate!
This quarter we again holding our quarterly debate with the Republicans. The topics are Public Option(Health care), Gun Control(as it relates to Chicago),DREAM Act, and Cap and Trade. We have 4 great debaters who are anxious to debate the Republicans. Please come out to show your support. However, just as important, this next Monday at 5:15 in 309 of the Richardson Library, we will be helping our great debaters prepare their arguments for the Debate. We would love it if you stopped by to help us shape our arguments.

Debate Wednesday October 21st, from 7-9pm in McGowan South room 105(the new science building). Hosted by the radio show Politics 101.

4. T-Shirt Contest
We are hosting a design contest for the T-shirts for this year. If you are creative, or have an idea in mind, please submit your designs either via e-mail or at one of our meetings. We will be picking a design sometime in the second week of November so please have your designs submitted by then.

5 Will Ferrell
http://pol.moveon.org/insurance_execs/?&reloaded=1
Here's a funny short video that will hopefully bring a smile to your face

6.Hillell event on Women's Journalalists
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=170865753012&index=1
here is a great event to know about.

7. Chicago Climate Action
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=160975321799&index=1
Here is a great opportunity to voice your support for a more green Chicago

8.Dem-o-ween
Friday, October 30th, we Dems will be hosting our annual fundraiser. Please stop and have a great time with the Dems in costume!
2519 N Lincoln Apt A2 (Above Irish Eyes)
Party starts at 9! 

Join the DePaul Democrats on Monday, October 12th for our first movie outing of the year! We will be seeing Michael Moore's much-hyped and critically acclaimed new film, Capitalism: A Love Story. We will be leaving for the movie theater right after our general body meeting, which is at 5:00pm in the DePaul Student Center. Check out this preview of the film and get excited! See you on Monday. 

Welcome to the new school year! Things are starting to pick up around DePaul Dems land. We would like to invite all members, old and new, to a few upcoming events:

The year's first meeting will take place at 5:00pm this Monday (that's tomorrow) in room 314 of the Lincoln Park student center. If an engaging political gathering is not enough to draw you in, we will also be giving away free T-shirts to some lucky winners. Also, if you see (DePaul Dems) elected office in your future, you must attend the first two meetings in order to be eligible to run in the DePaul Dems elections, which will be held during the third meeting.

This afternoon is the DePaul involvement fair. We will have a table there, so drop by and say hi!

Here are a few more items from the newsletter:

Chicago will be host to the National Hunger and Homelessness conference. They are looking for on-campus groups, including the Dems to help out. If you would like more information please come to the meeting or email us back. This is a great opportunity for a great cause.

Next Monday (September 21st), we will be holding a BBQ in the quad from 10:00am - 3:00pm. So please come by to support the Dems and eat some great food!

Finally, I leave you with the latest installment of South Carolina politicians embarrassing themselves:

Joe Wilson becomes national joke

Joe Wilson, habitual blurter 

About the DePaul College Democrats.

The DePaul College Democrats is the Democratic Party's official undergraduate representative on DePaul University's campus. The DePaul Democrats is a member of the College Democrats of America, as well as the Illinois Federation of College Democrats. Over the last year and a half, the DePaul Democrats have grown from a small organization with only four members to one of the most active student groups on campus with over 1300 students on our e-mail list and an average of thirty-five to forty members at our bi-weekly meetings. We experienced this phenomenal growth because of dedicated members and adherence to our values of community, education, and activism.

The organization is involved in all parts of the political process. From registering voters and working on the grassroots level in the DePaul and Chicago community to phone banking and leafleting on campaigns to discussing policy matters with local and national leaders, the DePaul Democrats have a strong dedication and commitment to the core values of the Democratic party. In recent years, we have hosted numerous speakers, worked on many exciting races, registered hundreds of new and first-time voters, and met countless prominent Democrats.

We are proud of our continued growth and passionate commitment to spreading progressive Democratic values throughout Chicago and America.