Sunday, September 21st, 2003

PROGRAM NOTE

If you’re in or around Chicago on October 3 through the 5th, come drop by the Hip Hop and Social Change Conference at The Field Museum. Mos Def and Talib Kweli will be keynoting on Saturday night, and I’ll be on a panel talking about “Hip-Hop’s Political Futures” on Friday afternoon. The list of speakers is amazing, including hip-hop activists like David Muhammad, Marinieves Alba and James Bernard, hip-hop intellectuals like Bakari Kitwana, Cristina Veran, Racquel Rivera and Marcyliena Morgan, and artists like Jonzi D, Tone B Nimble, Toni Blackman (cop her new book, Innercourse!) , and DPGz M1. Big shout to the Raymond Codrington and the crew at the Field Museum.

posted by @ 11:12 am | 0 Comments

Friday, September 19th, 2003

LA Times spin is that, despite appearances by Jackson and Clinton this week, “Blacks Not Yet on Davis’ Bandwagon”. BTW props to Regina Freer, Cal grad and a legendary student activist from the 80s, who is quoted in the piece.

posted by @ 7:13 am | 0 Comments

Friday, September 19th, 2003

Since May 1, the death toll in Iraq has been 77. The death toll in Oakland for the same period has been 56. Behind the boardwalk roller-coaster atmosphere of the recall, this moving essay by Joan Ryan on violence in Oakland and violence in Iraq is a reminder of just what the real stakes are for this election in California. But is anyone really talking about this?

posted by @ 7:06 am | 0 Comments

Thursday, September 18th, 2003

Here’s an eye-opening look at the economics of Arnie’s campaign from the New York Times. Still think homie’s an independent candidate?

posted by @ 8:14 pm | 0 Comments

Thursday, September 18th, 2003

GOT DAM IT’S A BRAND NEW PAYBACK!

So a brother leaves the scene for a week to soak up art and activism and beauty and hip-hop theater and what happens? The whole world goes nuts. Democrats delay the recall, while they fight not to delay the recall. Wesley Clark declares. Bush even tells the truth. All I can say is I’d hate to see what happens if I try to leave again. I’m staying put ’til this book is done.

At the risk of sounding like an idiot, I hope the delay is affirmed. If it does, it will be bad news for Arnie, who might actually have to do a real interview during the 5 month break. Democrats will have to continue to solidify their core, progressive constituency with more good legislation. And it could spell certain doom for Prop 54–because the contested Dem primary will energize the partisans.

On the other hand, Bustamante and the driver’s bill are serving as lightning rods for the goose-steppers. See this piece.

Props to the Hip-Hop Theater Festival for three nights of incredible, blazing performances at the Yerba Buena Center. If you missed it, don’t miss the extended Fest next year. Next level isht fa sho. Mad love to all who participated in the Future Aesthetics convening this past week. It’s just begun…

posted by @ 10:45 am | 0 Comments

Thursday, September 11th, 2003

Prop 54’s support is sliding. Article in SF Chronicle here. The Sac Bee article is here. The Field poll is here.

Arianna’s Hollywood connections get a closer look in a New York Times article here.

Meanwhile Reeps are getting ready for a bloodbath this weekend. Here’s another reason why you haven’t heard much about Arnie’s campaign–there will be lots of horse-trading going on this weekend as Arnie and McClintock play tug-of-war with McClintock’s supporters.

Article in Sf Chronicle here.

LA Times article is here.

Oh yeah, Ueberroth dropped out this week. No one even yawned when he left the room.

posted by @ 9:06 am | 0 Comments

Tuesday, September 9th, 2003

First post-debate numbers show that Bustamante’s lead over Arnie grew, while Davis closes the gap slightly. McClintock was the biggest mover, up to legitimately double digits, and taking away 27% of the Reep vote. Ueberroth, Huffington went nowhere. Camejo lost ground.

Get the results at Field Poll Online.

posted by @ 7:29 am | 0 Comments

Sunday, September 7th, 2003

BUSTAMANTE DIVERTS DOUGH TO FIGHTING PROP 54

Proving once again that in politics the right things usually happen for the wrong reasons, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante is diverting the money from Indian tribe endorsements to fighting Prop 54. The Sacramento Bee broke the story this morning here. Schwarzenegger decided to oppose Prop 54 as well, almost certainly as a balance to his recently announced stance against driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants.

Connery is all but throwing in the towel. In a LA Times piece this morning he conceded Prop 54 is probably doomed.

Last week, Schwarzenegger announced he would oppose a bill currently heading to Governor Davis’ desk sponsored by Los Angeles State Senator Gilbert Cedillo that would allow undocumented immigrants to be able to acquire drivers licenses. Given the heat he’s received for his support of Prop 187, he’s apparently counted out the Latino vote. His opposition to Prop 54 is probably calculated to stem any further bleeding from the African American and Asian American constituencies, although it is notable that he has not agreed to appear at a statewide debate for California’s ethnic media outlets in Los Angeles next week, and likely won’t show up.

The best thing about this recall race is that the ideological spectrum is being well represented. Moderates look like blow-in-the-wind poll-watchers. Ideologues look like down-from-the-mountain truth-tellers. Party leaders are recognizing, perhaps more so than at any other point in California history, that it will be a race to turnout new–rather than so-called swing–voters.

That’s the basis of the calculus at work in both the Bustamante and Schwarzenegger campaigns. In this instance, Democrats probably have the advantage. Their chair, Art Torres, is a progressive Latino who is comfortable with the expansionist vision that the national party leaders have viewed as poisonous over the past decade. At the same time, Cali Dems have been able to work what they have seen as the emerging majority to their advantage.

Republicans, on the other hand, have been plagued with factional fighting. Schwarzenegger’s campaign still reflects a tension between the cavemen politics of Orange County and the far north of the state, and the socially liberal, suburban moderate bloc of the rest of the state. They may be far more divided at this point. Their candidate is the perfect made-in-Hollywood cipher. It must be mad drama in the daily briefing meetings in the Arnie camp.

We’ll see how the polls look at the end of next week.

posted by @ 12:01 pm | 0 Comments

Friday, September 5th, 2003

CONNERLY’S PROP 54 GROUP UNDER ATTACK FOR NON-DISCLOSURE

The state Fair Political Practices Commission took the unprecedented step yesterday of suing Ward Connerly and his American Civil Rights Coalition for failing to disclose $2 million in campaign contributions. The money from the Coalition is providing almost 90% of the funding for the Proposition 54 campaign. I guess it’s all in keeping with their “Keep Em Ignant” steez. Hearing is set for three weeks from now…

See the Oakland Tribune Online.

posted by @ 9:15 am | 0 Comments

Thursday, September 4th, 2003

You can read Mike Davis’ take on the recall at TomDispatch. Thanks to Tommy Tompkins for this, and as always an intellectual BIG UP to the original L.A. Mike D.

posted by @ 11:56 am | 0 Comments



Previous Posts

Feed Me!

Revolutions

Word

Fiyahlinks


twitter_logo

@zentronix

Come follow me now...

Archives

We work with the Creative Commons license and exercise a "Some Rights Reserved" policy. Feel free to link, distribute, and share written material from cantstopwontstop.com for non-commercial uses.

Requests for commercial uses of any content here are welcome: come correct.

Creative Commons License