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Paul Kengor offers a lively, yet sober, analysis of the most controversial social issue of our day, gay marriage. He traces the intellectual origins of the movement to redefine marriage, and how it has unfolded in recent times. His analysis of how the contributions of left-wing thinkers and political operatives found their way into mainstream American thought is masterful. Importantly, Kengor examines the way leading Catholic figures, such as Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, saw how the destabilization of marriage and the family was aided by, and served the interests of, Communism. This is one of the book's greatest strengths: Kengor's weaving of the political with the cultural. Takedown deserves a major place in all future discussions on this subject. (Bill Donohue, Ph.D., President Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights)

Paul Kengor does an excellent job of tying historic events and personalities together to make a coherent tale of what happened to America in the 20th century, from John Dewey and his effect on public education, to Herbert Marcuse and the Communist influence, to Betty Friedan and the feminists attack on marriage and motherhood, and to the voices of sanity from Dr. Fred Schwarz and Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. (Phyllis Schlafly, president, Eagle Forum and author of 24 books)

America has been waiting for this book. History has been waiting for it. Takedown irrefutably documents that todays leftist war against the traditional American family is rooted in Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto, which preaches the abolition [Aufhebung] of family. . . .

I am glad Paul Kenkgor is not politically correct. I hope his Takedown will hammer another nail in the coffin of Marxism.

Kengors depth of scholarship combined with a light style make Takedown a must read. He shows what Marx only dreamt of but Lenin planned and set in motion with the Frankfurt School, their academic allies (Margaret Mead, Wilhelm Reich, Herbert Marcuse), activists (Margaret Sanger, 60s feminists, The Weathermen) and finally the President of the United States. These all worked to change the Wests view of sexuality. Already they have achieved more than Marx ever dreamed of or any ordinary American thought possiblethe destruction of the American family. The fall of the Berlin Wall may have seemed like the end of Marx but he is having the last laugh as his progeny tears down the our nation, law by law and family by family. Every parent, pastor, teacher and professor needs to be given a copy of this book.

Takedown is an explosive and significant book. While I respectfully disagree with some of Professor Kengor's conclusions, his work shows that the dark dream of an all-powerful government with officially enforced equality is both a cause and effect of the weakening of the family. In the process, he exposes aspects of the international left that may shock even careful students of recent history.

Classic Kengor: researched; readable; and rivoting. This time, Paul Kengor connects the dots showing that the current push to redefine marriage is not some isolated end, but rather a coordinated means used for a larger ideological end: undermining the family and related mediating authorities so as to unleash an increasingly Leviathan State. Following the footnotes leads to one unmistakable conclusion: the Left and their Progressive friends focus on the family . . . in order to destroy it. Learn the truth; refute the error.

Very few people know how many generations the war against the family has been being fought, how intensely, how seriously. Paul Kengor, in short taut chapters, brings the outline up to date. Kengor includes many colorful first-person passages from enemies of marriage, and he pushes back with a certain brio of his own.

Everyone should read this book, especially those conservatives who think they can support genderless marriage and other alternative family forms. Paul Kengor makes very clear the Leftist and Statist, big-government roots of these ideas.

Americans will be astounded to learn the history of the movement to undo the institution and definition of marriage, and its ultimate purposes. Takedown is a powerful documentary in an accessible book, and the one most critical to engage in our time, to face what comes next.

Takedownby Paul Kengor switches on the krieg lights to expose the shadowy theoreticians and practicioners who have undermined marriage for over a century. Kengors careful research shows that the hammer used to smash the House of Marriage has been invariably accompanied by the sickle used to cut the power cables. If you want to understand the ideology behind the sudden juggernaut against the millennia-old definitions of marriage and family, get this book.

Original post:
Takedown: From Communists to Progressives, How the Left ...

But a lot has changed since Trump's victory -- starting with Rouda's party affiliation. A Republican until 1997, Rouda spent the next two decades as an independent. He and his wife donated to longtime family friend, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, during the Republican nominating contest. Rouda registered as a Democrat shortly after the 2016 election (he voted for Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama twice and Democratic nominee John Kerry before that, he said). Then, in March 2017, Rouda entered the congressional primary in his adopted home, California's 48th Congressional District, where Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is the incumbent.

He grabbed the attention of local activists with his early support of "Medicare for All," which helped him win the twin endorsements of the California Nurses Association and National Nurses United, organizations best known politically for their close alliance with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

On Wednesday, Rouda will get another boost when Indivisible -- the influential anti-Trump resistance group -- endorses him, a booming bat signal to Democrats ahead of June's "jungle primary," which advances the top two vote-getters regardless of party affiliation.

The support of Indivisible, which in less than two years has become one of the country's leading grassroots progressive organizations, confirms the Ohio-born Rouda as the Democratic favorite in the district, which like so many others in the deep blue state was initially inundated with enthusiastic, tenderfoot candidates -- enough that Democrats in other races still risk splitting their primary support, effectively canceling each other out, and inadvertently clearing the way for two Republicans onto the general election ballot.

With Indivisible's backing, Rouda moves to the forefront of a new wave of Democratic activism which has largely sought to cultivate a more ideologically progressive and geographically diverse -- slate of candidates heading into the midterm season.

"They do a better job than anyone else out there helping to provide talking points in how to properly position progressive issues. I think Our Revolution does a good job, as well," Rouda said, also making note of the Sanders-inspired political organization, which has not endorsed in the race. "You know, the mainstream Democratic Party has not been as aggressive in that language and those talking points, but that's from a sense of caution and wanting to make sure they're not pushing certain voter segments away."

"At that time (I entered), the Democratic Party was telling candidates not to be that forthright. Don't say 'Medicare for all,' say 'universal health care," Rouda recalled.

Mara Urbina, Indivisible's national political director, is the more seasoned operative charged with the delicate work of helping direct and advise the project's independently run local outposts. California's 48th district will, after Wednesday's round of endorsements are rolled out, be home to one of 15 contests with nationally backed Indivisible candidates. Those hopefuls won't receive a direct cash infusion, but the group's stamp of approval -- as voted on by its members -- is expected to key up individual donations and activist energy around the campaigns.

"One of the things we ask after you vote (to endorse nationally) is would you be willing to volunteer, and we build out that volunteer list, which is really one of the key features of the program -- that we can help with volunteer recruitment," Urbina said. "Ideally we're helping them to build capacity through this program."

The process of testing the candidates, challenging them to develop and better articulate their agendas, she added, has also helped cultivate thousands of more informed, effective supporters. The constituent town halls and policy explainer sessions, she said, "have created these super, hyper electoral influencers" -- like Indivisible Orange County 48 chairman Aaron McCall, who arranged four debates ahead of the local group's endorsement of Rouda, sorting through the candidates with something called the Voter Support Score, which ranks contestants based on a combination of total cash on-hand, money raised inside the district and total number of in-district donors.

"The Working Families Party endorsement is like a good housekeeping seal of approval for progressive voters," said Joe Dinkin of the WFP. The party, which began as a local endeavor in New York in 1998, has grown steadily since but surged in 2017 by organizing, by its own estimate, something like 1,000 "Resist Trump Tuesdays" -- often a joint effort with MoveOn.org and other groups -- in the first 100 days of the administration. It also provides most candidates who win its local endorsements some combination of campaign consultation, training and voter contact strategies.

But a hotly energized base and bumper crop of new candidates comes with complications.

DCCC national press secretary Tyler Law argued that Democrats don't have to choose between the party and the new grassroots groups.

"Voters across the country have been working hard every day to hold House Republicans accountable and flip districts blue, and the DCCC has long recognized and appreciated the unprecedented influence that the grassroots have in these races," he said. "As we've indicated all cycle, the DCCC is working closely with our allies, including the many new grassroots organizations, to ensure that there's a competitive Democrat on the ballot for voters to elect in November."

"They don't seem to be too invested in races like this and I think that's part of the problem," King said, drawing a contrast with Our Revolution. "We need to show up in places that Trump won with the exclusive populism, the white nationalist populism -- we need to come in with an inclusive, welcoming populism, talking about the same things and inviting people into the process, because we can't afford to lose people to the Trump rhetoric in places like this."

Urbina, from Indivisible, echoed that argument, boosting a logic commonplace in the progressive activist trenches, and now -- if too slowly for some -- gaining currency with the party establishment, which has invested heavily, though more quietly, in what might have been dismissed as longshot races in the pre-Trump era.

"We've seen, even as we look at patterns emerging, there is a special interest (among Democrats) in deep red places that people might look over pretty quickly," she said, adding: "We're serious about building long-term power and not just transactional power."

Read more:
Indivisible backs Rohrabacher challenger as progressives ...

In a number of races up and down the ballot in Pennsylvania on Tuesday night, progressive Democrats scored unexpected victories against incumbents and more conservative challengers.

As the party has been forced to the left in its policy stances by a fervent and enthusiastic base, a number of previous races in the era of President Trump resulted in voters selecting slightly less progressive Democrats. Last week, Richard Cordray won the Ohio Democratic gubernatorial nomination against former Rep. Dennis Kucinich. And before that, Ralph Northam defeated Tom Perriello in his Virginia Democratic gubernatorial primary and was then handily elected governor.

Yet there have been a host of contests indicating a desire for Democrats more befitting of the current political environment.

And on Tuesday, that desire won out in some places.

John Fetterman, the burly, bearded mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, won the primary for lieutenant governor, knocking off Democratic incumbent Mike Stack. Fetterman, who ran a strong Senate challenge in 2016, will now join Gov. Tom Wolfs ticket in November.

Im just coming at this in a low-key, overwhelmed, humbled place, Fetterman reportedly said as he accepted the nomination. I just want to take our message of All places matter, and Im so honored by the people of Pennsylvania to be the nominee for lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania.

Recently, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) endorsed Fetterman and campaigned on his behalf.

Voters across the state were also selecting candidates who will compete in an entirely new congressional map in November, following the state Supreme Courts decision to throw out a previous partisan gerrymander. The new districts, more evenly divided reflecting Pennsylvanias swing state status, provide fertile ground for Democratic hopes of gaining the majority in the House of Representatives.

In one of the easiest potential pickup opportunities for the Democratic Party, the new 5th Congressional Districtnow represented by Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-PA), who resigned at the end of April following revelations that he had used taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment claimMary Gay Scanlon was declared the winner of the Democratic primary. Scanlon, who has a strong shot of winning the district in November, would be the only woman in the states current congressional delegation. But she will likely not be alone.

In the other district ripe for a Democrat win in November, former Allentown solicitor Susan Wild won her primary for the new 7th Congressional District, vacated by retiring Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA). She beat out John Morganelli, a district attorney and centrist Democrat who has expressed some Trump-inclined immigration views and recently scrubbed his Twitter page of tweets supportive of the president. Wild also beat African-American pastor Greg Edwards, who had the support of Sanders and a number of progressive groups.

Nowhere was the success of the left more prevalent than in the shocking statehouse victories of two members of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. Summer Lee, a first-time candidate, earned 68 percent of the vote against sitting Democratic incumbent state house Rep. Paul Costa. And Sara Innamorato, the other DSA member, got 65 percent of the vote in a separate race against Costas cousin Dom, who was first elected almost a decade ago. Two more DSA members, Elizabeth Fiedler and Kristin Seale, also won their state house primary contests.

The zeal for candidates on the left seemed to extend beyond Pennsylvania as well. In Nebraskas 2nd Congressional District, the race had not been called by midnight, but Kara Eastman was narrowly leading former Rep. Brad Ashford (D-NE) in the Democratic primary. Its a district the Democratic Party had its eyes on capturing in November, and Eastman outperformed the former congressman while campaigning on a Medicare-for-All platform.

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On the Republican side in Pennsylvania, one candidate lost out on an opportunity to serve in Congress for the second time in just two months. State Rep. Rick Saccone, who lost in a shocking upset in a special election earlier this year to Rep. Conor Lamb (D-PA), failed to win his primary in a new district that is even more favorable to Republicans.

See more here:
Progressives Score Major Victories in Pennsylvania Primaries

Welcome to Portland ProgressivesWelcome to Portland Progressives Toastmasters Club!

Have a fear of public speaking? Tongue-tied in front of groups? Scared to have those critical or awkward conversations? Want to change the world? Looking to improve interpersonally?

Check out Portland Progressives Toastmasters!

Learn totalk about ANY topic.

We are aSAFE space for everyone!

WHEN: Thursdays (except holidays)

WHERE:Village Gateway Clubhouse, 871 N.E. 90th Ave., Portland, OR 97220

TIME:Gather at6:15pm start at 6:30

NOTE:Parking is allowedONLY inslots marked "Guest Parking," or in non-painted curbsides (one is along the North driveway), or on NE 90th Avenue. DO NOT park in the numbered slots that belong to residents or along red-painted curbsides (these are fire lanes). Thank you.

Our main purpose is to help those who want to conquer their fear of speaking, especially those with an interest in changing our world for the better. And to help progressive thinkers and activists hone their progressive voices as consummate speakers and leaders!

Toastmasters - noun - Members of an international organization working to improve their own communication and leadership skills.

DIRECTIONS

Please see the Directions page for a map and additional information.

Portland Progressives Toastmasters

Club # 875188

Progressively Speaking for a Better World

Through its worldwide network of clubs, Toastmasters helps nearly 280,000 people communicate effectively and achieve the confidence to lead others. Why pay thousands of dollars for a seminar or class when you can join a Toastmasters club for a fraction of the cost and have fun in the process?

Constructive evaluation is central to the Toastmasters philosophy. Each time you give a prepared speech, an evaluator will point out strengths as well as suggest improvements. Receiving - and giving - such feedback is a great learning experience. In Toastmasters, encouragement and improvement go hand-in-hand.

By learning to effectively formulate, organize and express your ideas to others, you can achieve all kinds of success. You'll be more capable and confident when giving presentations. You'll be more persuasive when pitching prospective clients. Want to be better at negotiating your salary with your boss? Networking at business or social functions? Motivating co-workers - or your kids?

Toastmasters International. Where leaders are made.

For meeting information, please see our meeting information page.

Here is a list of some of our members who have chosen to make their profiles public.

Thank you for your request to be removed from our mailing list. We are sorry to see you go. Please contact a club officer or the website administrator if you change your mind.

See the article here:
Portland Progressives Toastmasters Club

Despite the feverish stream of strategic leaks in recent days, there are still very real questions about whether Vice President Joe Biden will ultimately decide to jump into the presidential race, or whether hes merely positioning himself as a backup in case Hillary Clinton falters.

But if Democratic voters who are feeling lukewarm about Hillary see the veep as a potential white knighteither because hes more liberal or because hes more electablethey could be in for a rude awakening.

Biden has been a loyal and effective vice presidentand a recent personal tragedy of unimaginable proportions is generating broad sympathy for him and his family right now. But over his long career, Bidens record is hardly that of a progressive crusader. And his candidacy would perhaps pose more political problems for the Party than it would solve.

Related:If Biden jumps into the race, who will Obama support?

Here are 10 reasons why Joe Biden isnt going to be progressives saviorand why a Biden campaign could even make it harder for Democrats to hold the White House:

1.Biden was the main Senate author of the 1994 Violent Crime Control Act, which, among other steps, encouraged states to incarcerate more people. Theres now widespread agreement that that approach was disastrous. We now know with the fullness of time that we made some terrible mistakes, one expert said last year in reference to the law. And those mistakes were to ramp up the use of prison. Today, Biden supports legislation to reduce mandatory minimum sentences.

2. As a young senator in the 1970s, Biden pandered to conservative constituents by turning himself into a leading anti-busing crusader, as one chronicler of the episode recently put it. Speaking in support of an anti-busing amendment offered by the segregationist Sen. Jesse Helms, Biden called busing a bankrupt concept. His opposition would help shift Democrats away from a forthright stance in favor of de-segregation policies.

3. Biden has frequently voted to ban so-called partial-birth abortions, and has avoided voting when other abortion legislation was being considered. He said in 2008 that he believes life begins at the moment of conception, though he wouldnt impose that judgment on everyone.

4.As Senate Judiciary chairman, Biden angered some womens rights advocates with his handling of Clarence Thomass contentious 1990 confirmation hearings, in which Thomas was accused of sexual harassment by a female subordinate, Anita Hill. Biden didnt allow testimony from two of Hills female colleagues who would have corroborated Hills claims, but he did allow a parade of witnesses to challenge Hills credibility, often in flatly sexist terms. (One suggested Hill might suffer from erotomania.)

5. Bidens home state of Delaware is home to numerous credit card companies, and hehas a long history of support for the banking industry. He was a lead sponsor of an industry-backed 2001 bill that would have made it much harder for struggling Americans to declare bankruptcy, and voted for a similar 2005 measure that passed. Among the leading opponents of those bills? A Harvard law professor named Elizabeth Warren.

6. Biden voted for the Iraq war. Clintons vote for the war was perhaps the single most important reason she ultimately lost the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 to Barack Obama. Both Biden and Clinton have since said it was a mistake to trust President Bush to conduct the war effectively.

7. When Biden and Clinton both served in the Senate, from 2001 to 2009, his voting record was generally slightly more conservative than hers, according tostatisticianNate Silver.

8. Theres little policy rationale for Bidens candidacy. On the economic issues that are most important to many Democrats right now, Clintons proposals to date have been relatively strong. Not much in Bidens backgroundsave one meeting with Elizabeth Warrensuggests hed be well-suited to run to the left of her. Any effort to do so would involve wresting voters away from Bernie Sandersa more credible messenger for progressive economic policies.

9. Policy positions aside, theres currently little reason to think Biden would offer Democrats a better chance of keeping the White House than Clinton, as Silver recently explained. He generally performs worse than her in head-to-head polls against Republican contenders, and his personal favorability ratings are no better than hers, even though hes faced far less scrutiny from the press and the GOP. His two previous presidential bids, in 1988 and 2008, were flops (in the first one, he quit the race after plagiarizing a speech from a British politician). Hes never been a prodigious fundraiser. His habit of touching younger women in public has raised eyebrows. And hed be 74 by the time he was inaugurated, making him by far the oldest president to take office.

10. A Biden candidacy at this point in the race would lend steam to the questionable notion that Clintons use of a personal email account is a major scandal, helping paint a picture of a fatally damaged Democratic front-runner. And it would split the Democratic party, much of which is already behind Clinton. Because there arent many clear policy differences between the two (see Number 8), Biden would likely have to argue that Clinton isnt trustworthy enough to be elected, which could trigger a particularly bitter and divisive campaign. President Obama would be placed in a near-impossible position, stuck between his vice president and his one-time secretary of statea dynamic thats already begun. Add to that the spectacle of a man preventing history from being made by trying to nudge aside a woman seen to have paid her dues, and its a potential recipe for Democratic suicide.

Read more:
Joe Biden is no savior for progressives | MSNBC