Uppity Wisconsin Election Special Items
Since Nov. 4 is quickly arriving, I want to bring up 2 things:
1. Michael Leon made a suggestion this morning that sounds like an interesting idea to me. So I'm going to spread it around -
We'd like to ask any progressives who want to do so to write a piece for an Uppity Wisconsin section to be called "Obama's Way Forward". This will be a place for you to articulate what you think should be President Elect Obama's top priorities at the beginning of his term. As Michael suggested: The proposed priorities could be composed of legislative, administrative, diplomatic initiatives and presidential communications made directly with the American people whose Constitution President-elect Obama will take an oath to protect, serve and defend. Please try to keep these down to 200-400 words.
You can submit them by:
a. Writing them as a normal blog entry on Uppity Wisconsin, and using the new "section" category on the blogs to put it in the "Obama's Way Forward" section.
b. Emailing them to me - shanson
uppitywis [dot] org
Either way - get 'em in by Nov. 3. If you email them in I'll post them as
soon as I get a chance.
Carrier pigeon, fax, etc. are not options.
The Pill Kills?
It is no secret that anti-choice groups have long used radical tactics to oppose abortion. This year, we saw young children outfitted in "I survived the American Holocaust" tee shirts in legislative hearings in the Wisconsin capitol. Last July, we watched in horror as a group of "pro-lifers" staged, in front of a Milwaukee abortion clinic, a celebratory reenactment of the murder of a Florida abortion provider and his escort by Paul Hill. In short, their campaigns and demonstrations have grown increasingly extreme and more inappropriate as of late.
Women's Health and Safety Act
On Wednesday, February 27th, the Senate Health Committee heard testimony on SB 398, the Women's Health and Safety Act. The bill seeks to repeal Wisconsin statute 940.04 (Wisconsin's Criminal Abortion Ban), which, if Roe v. Wade is overturned, would outlaw nearly all forms of abortion in Wisconsin. Moreover, the law includes a penalty of up to 15 years in prison for doctors who perform an abortion and a woman could receive up to 3.5 years in prison for having an abortion or performing an abortion on herself. The law is currently unenforceable as the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade legalized abortions in all fifty states 35 years ago. However, if Roe fell, Wisconsin's Criminal Abortion Ban would immediately go into effect; local district attorneys could prosecute both women and doctors involved in the now-illegal procedure.
Wisconsin Progressive Blogger Meeting
A few of us have been kicking around the idea of having a meeting for progressive bloggers and webmasters later in the year. It struck me that one good possibility might be to do this in conjunction with Fighting Bob Fest - but I'm very open to suggestions. Ideas ? Either comment here or drop me a line through the contact button at the top of the site.
A Blog of One's Own
Okay, so maybe you aren't Virginia Woolf. Still, that doesn't mean that we don't want to feature your blog on Uppity Wisconsin. You can have your own blog here -just sign up for an account (you know, over there on the left column) and you'll immediately have your own blog. You can write about anything you want, though of course we'd like you to mostly stick with progressive politics. We're looking for more writers to write about Wisconsin topics, anywhere in the state.
It's all pretty straightforward. We promote articles from your blog to the front page if we think they're of general interest.
Help save our readers from having to listen to me all the time, and give them a break. Write for Uppity Wisconsin. Become famous in the Blogosphere. And in the process, help improve the state and the country.
So come on in - get an account, go to Create Content -> Blog Entry, and get whatever it is off your chest.
Longing for the Good Old Days (that never were)
Cross-posted at the DailyKos.
About once a month, I get some e-mail chain letter that carries on about how great Americans and America was in the 1950, and how, in comparison, we're all crap now. Mostly, they're the whining of conservatives about how the world isn't the way they imagined it was when they were kids. I delight in replying and proving the lie to the e-mail, point by point. Today, I turned the fun up another notch and made a preemptive strike. What follows is a fictional conversation with my grandparents that tries to set the record straight. The Good Old Days never were....
Open Letter to Barack Obama
December 15, 2006
Open Letter to Senator Barack Obama:
From: David Cook, Menomonie, WI
As you ponder whether you will enter the race for the Democratic nominee for President in 2008, I would like to share with you my heartfelt request that you only make the decision to enter this contest if you are willing to lose the nomination on the basis of your policy positions.
I am writing as a progressive Democrat, a senior citizen on Medicare, and an active member of the United Church of Christ.
