Over at Daily Kos, I wrote an essay reflecting on two essays

from Dispatchers from the Religious Left in light of recent political developments.

“One of the premises of this site is that we need not just more, but better Democrats as candidates and office holders. As we look beyond the current policy battles and 2010 elections, we also need to consider how it is we do what we do. To the extent that many of us are frustrated by the way things are, we need to also consider whether if we continue to do things the same way, can we really expect different (and better) outcomes?”

This is a revised and updated version of “Dreaming of Better Dems.”

We are entering a critical political time that is not for the fainthearted. It is easy to second guess what other people do, but it much more difficult to change our own premises about politics, especially if we are professionally invested in the status quo — even the status quo of doing social change. It is time to invite ourselves to rethink our approach to political organizing.

The essays were by Jean Hardisty and Deepak Bhargava, and by Marshall Ganz.  Both involve how to think about organizing for social justice. The first one makes the useful distinction between broad organizing towards a goal, and mobilization towards a specific project, like passing legislation or getting out the vote for a canidate.

I think that the concept of organizing has drifted considerably in political life and is in need of reinvention. If that is so, these essays are an excellent place to start.

I have a new article up at Religion Dispatches.  The editors summarized it this way:  

 The principle of the Hyde Amendment, which restricted federal funds from paying for abortion, is now seen as an acceptable, “abortion-neutral” position for the pro-choice party. How did the most significant anti-abortion legislation in history become a moderate compromise?

Gloria Feldt responded at Not Under The Bus: 

I’m appalled that the president, Congress, pro-choice organizations, and as a result the media are calling the current Hyde amendment restrictions on abortion coverage an acceptable compromise.

Governor Deval Patrick was against them before he was for them. Same goes for much of the Democratic Party establishment.

But last year, a proposal for three resort casinos was defeated by a 2-1 margin in the legislature, thanks in part to an anti-casino Speaker of the House. This year there is a new Speaker and the conventional wisdom has it that casinos are all but a done deal. But as is too often the case, the CW may be an oxymoron.

Massachusetts has a long history of beating back the casino industry. And this year may be no different. Opponents in MA and around the country now refer to it as “predatory gambling” because the entire business is designed to find and hook prospective gambling addicts, which are the core of the business. Everything else, an expert I quoted in an article last year, “is bells and whistles.” Both organized gaming and its opponents, have changed.

Continued at Daily Kos…

Through the grey tinted glass at the end of the hospital hallway, I could see the last of the peak fall color. Bright yellow, red and orange leaves in the distance. Probably maple. There is nothing like Fall in New England.

I was recovering from treatment for “massive pulmonary embolisms,” (blood clots in the blood vessels affecting my lungs) at Bay State Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. (Bay State is a major regional teaching hospital.)  I had had a procedure (via a catheter up through a vein in my leg) to remove some of them, dissolve others, and to install a filter in my vena cava to collect any others that might turn up before they could kill, or leave me permanently impaired.  A retired doc said, snapping his fingers, I could’ve “gone, like that.”

I was fortunate.

That was more than a month ago.

After a week in the hospital, I was discharged, only to be readmitted the next day with fresh symptoms, notably a rapid heartbeat. It took another week in the hospital, but I am pleased (and relieved) to report that I am rebounding, recovering well at home, and getting back to work.

Again, I am fortunate — and not only to be on the road back to health.

I was able during my first hospital stay, to gain access to a bootleg computer long enough to send an email to my love who was worried and far away, and to check out Meteor Blades’ diary at Daily Kos about my hospitalization. I had heard about it while in the intensive care unit, thanks to my good friend Jonathan Hutson. It was a warm surprise in the middle of a strange and harrowing adventure.

I was and am profoundly grateful for the prayers, good thoughts and wishes, and kind offers to help in some way — not to mention the simple act of recommending this diary such that it stayed on the rec list for a day. I certainly did not expect any of this.  I was and am, honored. Thanks too, to kossacks, street prophets, and others for the cards, calls, emails, flowers, visits — and a cake! And a special thanks to Rain from Street Prophets who specializes in making get well quilts, and made a beautiful one as a “big, comfy get-well card” from the community. The quilt features messages from friends (on the white squares). It was very nice to know from Rain’s comments on Meteor Blades’ diary  that that she was making one. It was even better to hear from Rain that it is done and on its way.

Any of us can feel scared and alone, even when we are not really alone. It meant more than I can say that so many helped to make sure that did not happen. I have seen this community come through for many people in remarkable ways over the years, and I am grateful for your having been there for me through this. Thank you. Thank you all so very much.

I hope I don’t bore anyone with the medical details, but I just wanted to update my condition, and offfer a few vignettes from my recent adventures.

                                       —————

I felt pretty good when I was first discharged from the hospital. But it didn’t last long. Shortly after arriving for my follow-up appointment, I was packed in an ambulance, sent strait to the overflowing emergency room at Bay State, a major urban hospital where although no one said so, it was obvious I was a high priority in the triage. (They were afraid that another clot had cut loose from my leg and was, damn the filter, looking for a way to wreak havoc.)

Even with that, what still amazes me most about this episode, was when my two EMTs rushed me through the ER doors on a gurney — we immediately found ourselves in a line of other gurneys, each with two EMTs, waiting to talk to someone.  I asked my EMTs if this was unusual. They said it wasn’t.

                                                 —————

I had never had a major medical problem in my 56 years, and so everything about my hospital experience was new, and often strange.  What’s more, I knew little about clots, and so I tried to learn as much as I could, even as I was being treated and recovering.

It was more than a little humbling not to know what people were talking about, even as — especially as — they were talking about me.

First there was the medical short hand thrown around. I had, for example, DVTs (deep vein thrombosis) PEs (pulmonary embolisms) and afib (atrial fibrillation).  I would be asked if I had ever taken various medications. I hadn’t even heard of most of them, (but no, I had not taken them either.) At one point, a nurse asked me if I understood about clotting. I didn’t, and so she launched into a remarkably clear and concise 15 minute lecture on the circulatory system. (I wish I had a video.)

My case confounded the medical team and the specialists because I had, as far as they could tell, none of the risk factors for clots. And so I became a subject of Grand Rounds. Every morning, three white coated doctors and two or three medical students would stop by and discuss my case, among themselves, and with me. (Did I have any questions?) I liked my doctors and am grateful for my care and treatment, but it was very odd being a subject as well as a participant, in the intimate study of me.

But of course, being more than a little curious about my situation, and visited by a parade of doctors and nurses over two weeks, I managed to get up to speed enough to meaningfully participate (and even successfully challenge some aspects of my treatment.)

I was in a teaching hospital, and I was learning.

                                            —————

Since my release, I have learned more.

One  comprehensive discussion of pulmonary embolisms, based on a survey of the medical and clinical literature found some amazing things.

The average annual incidence of venous thromboembolism [blood clots in the veins] in the United States is 1 per 1000, with about 250,000 incident cases occurring annually. The challenge in understanding the real disease is that autopsy studies show that an additional equal number of patients are diagnosed with pulmonary embolism at autopsy, as were initially diagnosed by clinicians. This is led to estimates of between 650,000 to 900,000 fatal and nonfatal VTE events occurring in the US annually. The incidence of venous thromboembolism has not changed significantly over the last 25 years.”

Only 4-5% of these cases are “massive pulmonary embolisms” like mine, but depending on the study — the death rate runs between 30% and 60%, and the majority of these deaths occur in the first 1-2 hours of care.

I was and am, very fortunate.
                             
I have been home for more than two weeks now, much recovered. And getting back to work. Unfortunately, I am at least month behind, and as a freelancer, that is not good. Anyone who has any writing, editing, or speaking they need done, please write me. I’m available.

Ah, the ups and downs of blogging on my own site.  

I’m baaaack! 

Yesterday I published an article at Religion Dispatches, about the role of religious groups in battling predatory gambling in MA, and around the country.  In it, Laura Everett of the Massachusetts Council of Churches has a message for Governor Deval Patrick who doesn’t seem to get it that casinos are not free money.

“I think it’s cowardly,” said Laura Everett. ”We are going to sacrifice our citizens. We know that there are people in Massachusetts who will become addicted. What Patrick is saying is ‘you are expendable.’”

This is important because the Governor says he wants to go another round. He also does not seem to remember that his casino proposal was beaten by better than 2-1 in the legislature last year. 

How much punishment can one pol stand?

This just in from the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice:

The Obama administration offers hope for a broader understanding of reproductive health and choice. President-elect Barack Obama is both pro-choice and a person of strong religious conviction, and RCRC will be in the forefront of advocacy for positive programs to support healthy and wanted pregnancies, expand healthcare, and strengthen families.

Let’s start by connecting the dots. Reproductive issues such as unintended pregnancy underlie and are connected to our other concerns as people of faith: providing universal health care, eradicating hunger and homelessness, eliminating violence, reducing income disparities, increasing equality and empowering women, and improving environmental quality, among them.

Regressive groups - those that keep the culture wars roiling - will continue to single out and demonize abortion and the women who have abortions, which makes our mission of connecting the dots all the more urgent. The fact is, health, economic stability, education, and other matters of daily life all relate to our private decisions.

 

It is time for  reproductive health and choice to be accepted as part of a comprehensive social justice ethic.  Please take a few moments to read about this vision and help make it a reality by making a generous donation to the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.

Robert at Ig Publishing tells me that the book arrived today — which means that both free standing and cyber bookstores will have it soon too, if they do not already.

I also did my first official book-related radio interview yestderday on Spiritually Speaking — an hour long discussion with Rev. Linda Anderson on WVKR, 91.3 FM in Poughkeepsie, NY.

We know that Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion under any circumstances. Not rape; not incest. So it probably comes as no surprise that she has acted on her beliefs.  David Talbott, writing at Salon.com interviews Rev. Howard Bess. A retired American Baptist minister who pastors a small congregation in nearby Palmer, and whose book “Pastor, I’m Gay” was targeted by Palin’s church for removal from the Wasilla Public Library.  According to Bess, Palin was a leader of the local Religious Right — including its antiabortion activities.

Bess has been tangling with Palin and her fellow evangelical activists ever since she was a Wasilla City Council member in the 1990s. Recently, Bess again found himself in the spotlight with Palin, when it was reported that his 1995 book, “Pastor, I Am Gay,” was among those Palin tried to have removed from the Wasilla Public Library when she was mayor.

“She scares me,” said Bess. “She’s Jerry Falwell with a pretty face.

“At this point, people in this country don’t grasp what this person is all about. The key to understanding Sarah Palin is understanding her radical theology.”

Bess — a fit-looking, 80-year-old man in a gray University of Illinois sweatshirt and blue jeans - spoke with me over coffee at the Vagabond Blues, a cafe in Palmer with a stunning view of the nearby snow-capped Chugach Mountains. The retired minister moved to the Mat-Su Valley with his wife, Darlene, in 1987, after his outspoken defense of gay rights at Baptist churches in the Santa Barbara, Calif., area and Anchorage landed him in trouble with church officials. In the Mat-Su Valley, Bess plunged into community activism, helping launch an assortment of projects, from an arts council to a shelter for the mentally disabled.

Inevitably, his work brought him into conflict with Palin and other highly politicized Christian fundamentalists in the valley. “Things got very intense around here in the ’90s — the culture war was very hot here,” Bess said. “The evangelicals were trying to take over the valley. They took over the school board, the community hospital board, even the local electric utility. And Sarah Palin was in the direct center of all these culture battles, along with the churches she belonged to.”

And after she became mayor of Wasilla, according to Bess, Sarah Palin tried to get rid of his book from the local library. Palin now denies that she wanted to censor library books, but Bess insists that his book was on a “hit list” targeted by Palin. “I’m as certain of that as I am that I’m sitting here. This is a small town, we all know each other. People in city government have confirmed to me what Sarah was trying to do.”
At one point during the hospital battle, passions ran so hot that local antiabortion activists organized a boisterous picket line outside Dr. Lemagie’s office, in an unassuming professional building across from Palmer’s Little League field. According to Bess and another community activist, among the protesters trying to disrupt the physician’s practice that day was Sarah Palin.

Soon after the book controversy, Bess found himself again at odds with Palin and her fellow evangelicals. In 1996, evangelical churches mounted a vigorous campaign to take over the local hospital’s community board and ban abortion from the valley. When they succeeded, Bess and Dr. Susan Lemagie, a Palmer OB-GYN, fought back, filing suit on behalf of a local woman who had been forced to travel to Seattle for an abortion. The case was finally decided by the Alaska Supreme Court, which ruled that the hospital must provide valley women with the abortion option.

Governor Deval Patrick’s ill-considered casino gambling proposal went down to a stunning, better than two to one defeat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. The vote was 108-46. Now casino proponents are whining that the governor’s bill did not receive a full and fair hearing, even after many months of very public discussion. The simple fact is that the proposal to place three one billion dollar casinos in the state lost on its merits.

I will never understand why Governor Patrick blew so much political capital and public good will in making the three casinos the central feature of his economic plan. Patrick the candidate opposed casinos, knowing full-well the social and economic destruction they leave in their wake. To call his plan regressive, is to generously overstate what casinos are all about. But we have had that debate, and the regressives were routed.

Frank Phillips reported in the Boston Globe:

One of Patrick’s most immediate problems is that the casino initiative alienated a good chunk of his political base, particularly the progressive Democratic coalition that was at the core of his landslide election in 2006.

“I am saddened that he has greatly disillusioned his political base,” said state Representative Jay Kaufman, a Lexington Democrat and early Patrick supporter who voted against the casino plan.

Indeed. Candidate Patrick urged us to a higher standard of discourse. He called on us to become more deeply involved not only in politics but in the process of governance. He called for greater transparency in government and broad civic engagement. He said he would set a higher standard and restore trust in government. But, he delivered none of this in his casino gambling gambit. Instead, he fronted for a disreputable “industry;” using data derived almost soley from gambling interests, and those financed by gambling interests. He developed his plan with none of the transparency or civic engagement we expected from candidate Patrick.

I think Candidate Patrick needs to have a heart-to-heart talk with Governor Patrick. I think they have much to say to each other.

Laurel writes over at Talk to Action:

Holocaust revisionist and homobigot Scott Lively is moving to Springfield, MA. Lively has been the CA state director for Don Wildmon’s American Family Association.

Most recently, Lively co-founded Watchmen on the Walls, a quasi-religious anti-gay hate group which calls homosexuality “inherently evil”. His collaborators include Alexey Ledyaev and Ken Hutcherson. Alexey Ledyaev is the leader of the Latvia-based international New Generation church. New Generation’s flagship location in the USA is Springfield, MA, to which Lively plans to move. Hutcherson is founder of Antioch Bible Church, another anti-gay enterprise located near Seattle, WA.

Lively, Hutcherson and Ledyaev spend a good deal of time traveling around the former Soviet Union and the US spreading the anti-gay message of hate.