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In the months since the 2016 election, progressive organizations around the country, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have been holding seminars to provide information about becoming an activist. Many are modeling their efforts on the grassroots Tea Party playbook that made that movement so effective in 2009.

KCBX attended a seminar held last Saturday by the newly formed organization San Luis Obispo County Progressives.

In the parking lot outside Trinity Hall, a community gathering space in the small agricultural town of Edna, you can see cars, like any old parking lot. But this particular lot has a high number of cars stamped with sassy political bumper stickers, like Fossil fuels are for dinosaurs. Many are adorned with the now outdated Bernie 2016 and the blue capital H with an red arrow across its horizontal line. One truck sports a large Hillary sticker now covered with a smaller sticker saying Resist in all caps.

Last June, SLO Progressives members came together to promote what they see as progressive values. Theres been a push for more educational outreach on how to become an activist and become more involved in campaigning.

Co-Chair Nick Andre says the number of members has risen from around 100 to about 1,500 since November.

A lot of these people have never been active in politics before. Never been active in a political party. Not even in non-profit spaces or anything. So were bringing them a little bit of direction, Andre said.

Thats why the group is holding this Activism 101 training. Sandy Dexter came here with her daughter

Lauren Platte. Dexter says she was somewhat active in local campaigns in years past, but this is the first time she is seriously getting into activism.

So many things have opened my eyes to how the political process works. And it feels personal.. And I think that for my daughter and granddaughter and grandson, I would feel bad if I didnt stand up for the things I believe in, Dexter said.

During the seminars, local politicians, lobbyists and congressional staffers speak about how to get in touch with representatives and how to lobby for agendas they believe in.

Former 24th District Congressional Candidate Bill Ostrander spoke about how to appeal to people who who have differing opinions.

But if I came up here and said, Youre all a*****es! Give me five bucks! Where are we going to go with that? Nowhere. So as much as we dislike and are disgusted by things that will cause harm, things that where people are getting hurt, you must reserve yourself to find the belief system of the person youre talking about, Ostrander said.

Andre said the group is trying to do more to reach out to the more conservative areas of north and south San Luis Obispo County.

And what we want to do is go in there and spread our message. Talk to these people and convince them that the goals and policies that were bringing forward are going to benefit them economically, socially, and every part of their life, Andre said.

KCBX asked Andre about the some of the stereotypes of modern liberals. Some locals have expressed attitudes that progressives are condescending towards people working in blue collar industries and dont do enough listening to others who dont agree with them.

That was a big difference in the Bernie campaign. I think Bernie was one of the few high-level Democratic

politicians that really hammered in a working class message. Its all about income inequality. In helping unions, unionizing people. So I think theres a way to win that crowd back, Andre said. And its through Bernies message.

Here are some resources to start getting more politically involved in your community, no matter which candidate you checked on your ballot:

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SLO Progressives aim to spur grassroots activism - KCBX

Progressives remember though they wish they didnt have to the repeated degradation of the progressive left during the 2016 campaign. The constant references to Bernie bros despite millions of decidedly female progressives. The constant insistence that left-wing Democrats must be willing to compromise with compromise meaning sit down, shut up, and be rational!

But though we are many, many months away from the contentious election and even more months away from the disastrous democratic primary, the continued degradation of the left by Democratic centrists only seems to fester. Ring of Fires Sydney Robinson discusses this.

In a Vanity Fair article published in the March Issue of the magazine, columnist James Wolcott attempted to reignite those same primary wounds by calling the far left the alt left, in mock reference to the alt-right.

Now if youre familiar with the so-called alt right, you know that the term is merely a softly-worded dog whistle for outright white supremacy and white nationalism. The likes of Richard Spencer and even the newly infamous Milo are associated with the term, as they advocate for the mass-murder of black Americans and work to out trans Americans on a national stage.

Basically, it is clear to everyone that to call someone the alt-right, is to conjure up images of violent, race-based crime. Theyre Nazis. Theyre the KKK.

So what has the far left done to deserve such a decidedly racial, extreme label? What have we done to deserve such a dark comparison?

Apparently, what really set off Mr. Wolcott was that a liberal writer, Eileen Jones, dared to write a less-than-positive piece about Meryl Streep in Jacobin Magazine. Jones piece, called Against Meryl Streep, argued that Streep made her criticism of Donald Trump all about the Hollywood elite, failing to grasp or acknowledge the real-life consequences of the mans presidency. No big deal, right?

Big. Deal. Apparently criticism of this level of a millionaire celebrity is somehow comparable to the hate of the alt-right or at least thats what Mr. Wolcott thought when he flippantly referred to the far-left as the alt left.

Mr. Wolcott then goes on to refer to the real plague of the left, so-called dude-bros, but the column he is criticism comes from a woman an inconvenient fact from the continually false narrative that it is white males who comprise the far left. Mr. Wolcott, it appears you have already been introduced to one female progressive via Mrs. Jones, but if you need another one, youre looking right at her. Decidedly female. Decidedly not a bro.

Now, Mr. Wolcott is not the first to use the cutesy term alt left, but progressives cannot allow the term to take hold in its current form the far left is concerned with comprehensive healthcare, campaign finance reform, social justice, criminal justice reform, police brutality, separation between church and state, getting wall street out of our government, affordable education, and providing a free and fair system for all.

Now please, Mr. Wolcott, explain to me how anything I just listed could in any way be compared to the violent, racist tactics of the alt-right?

You wont because you cant you, just like so many others, are still so angry that some liberals werent eager to back Clinton from the start that we would have the audacity to ask for MORE than what corporate Democrats would give us? The election was a long time ago, and this isnt about that at all this is about the respect that progressives deserve in the Democratic party and the moderate lefts refusal to grant that respect. Its about the fact that despite having lost everything, Democrats would rather roll over and beg for treats from the moderate right than even take a second look at the ideas of progressives and berniecrats.

Were not interested in being your hot take, and despite what you think you still need us. Badly.

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Calling Progressives Alt-left Just Another Disgusting Attack by Democratic Establishment - The Ring of Fire Network

The left in this country is composed of two major factions. We have the traditional FDR, JFK, patriotic, liberal Democrat, and then you have the far-left, progressive liberal who is staunchly in control of the Democratic Party at the national level.

They are the Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, George Soros, Bill and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama progressives, who believe government is the cure for all ills, and they will use any means, ethical or not, legal or not, to achieve their vision of the world.

Yes, the world! Their allegiance is not to America and our republic; it is to their party and its vision of a new world order, to which the United States is a problem. Has the progressives' unpatriotic disdain for America been any more evident than during President Donald Trump's address to Congress last week?

I understand that progressives think Donald Trump is the Antichrist on steroids. After all, he is a successful businessman who loves his country. That's a progressive's worst nightmare.

But, to sit on your hands when any president, Democrat or Republican, advocates America leading the world, America being great again, creating good-paying jobs at home, protecting Americans from terror and supporting the police is shameful.

One must ask of these individuals, do you love the country to whom you swore allegiance? Do you care about those who put their trust in you, and chose you to represent them? Isn't your country more important than your party? Have you ever said, God bless America and meant it? Have you shed a tear during the Star Spangled Banner? I'm afraid the answer to all these questions is No.

I've often thought that if the progressives have a national anthem, it has to be John Lennon's Imagine. Let's examine the words they live by, Imagine there's no heaven, It's easy if you try, No hell below us, Above us only sky, Imagine all the people, Living for today ... Imagine no heaven, no hell, and living for today? Is that on anyone's wish list?

Imagine there's no countries, It isn't hard to do, Nothing to kill or die for, And no religion, too, Imagine all the people, Living life in peace ... No countries? No America? They say it, as if it were a good thing. Shouldn't there be important things in life that we'd die for? I would hope so.

No religion? If we have God, you have right and wrong. Can't have that. Do they really believe this will let people live in peace?

You may say I'm a dreamer, But I'm not the only one, I hope someday you'll join us, And the world will live as one ... Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can, No need for greed or hunger, A brotherhood of man, Imagine all the people, Sharing all the world ...

You're not a dreamer, you're a naive loon. The world never has, and never will, live as one. No possessions? These words written by John Lennon, who posed as a man of the people, but was nothing more than a selfish, materialistic weasel.

In other words a true progressive! Someone who will pose as a magnanimous individual while scheming to attain power for the advancement of his agenda. They can't be truthful, because people would never support their end product, which is one world, no borders, no individualism, no possessions except theirs, no freedom, and no religion too.

Last week, we read in the Daily Star that Sen. James Seward and Assemblyman Clifford Crouch are introducing a bill to modify the NY SAFE Act for upstate New York. Let's hope they succeed, for the Safe Act has been nothing more than an unconstitutional infringement on our right to bear arms.

I think our chances are good. First, we have the efforts of two good men. Secondly, Gov. Cuomo is a politician, and he knows Republicans control many more states than Democrats. Many were once Democratic strongholds like New York, and 2018 is a gubernatorial election year.

President Trump, a New York City native, will be popular in 2018 and many in the city may vote Republican. Upstate always votes Republican. What better way to help his chances than to sign this bill that upstate voters support, but leaves the NY SAFE Act intact downstate where it is supposedly popular?

Finally, the NY SAFE act is headed to the United States Supreme Court. With Judge Gorsuch likely to be the new justice, the SAFE Act would go down 5-4, and then Gov. Cuomo's signature legislation would cease to exist. With the passage of Sen. Seward's and Assemblyman Crouch's bill, it is likely no further court action would be needed.

Thank you, Sen. Seward and Assemblyman Crouch.

CHUCK PINKEY is a retired area businessman. He can be reached at chuck.ontherightside@gmail.com. The views expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect those of The Daily Star and its editorial board, but the author thinks they ought to.

Continued here:
Chuck Pinkey: Progressives live in fake world of make-believe - Oneonta Daily Star

Jon Ossoff, one of five Democrats hoping to win Tom Prices seat, stands with volunteer Linda Collett of Marietta. Collett was one of nearly 200 volunteers that spearheaded grassroots canvassing efforts as part of the flip the 6th movement for Ossoffs campaign. (Photo by Dallas Anne Duncan)

The battle is on for Georgias 6th Congressional District. Nineteen candidates threw their hats in the ring to take the House seat just vacated by new Health and Human Services Sec. Tom Price, who represented the region since 2005.

Democrats and progressives alike hope the time is ripe to turn the 6th blue. Efforts to flip the 6th include volunteer-led voter registration, neighborhood canvassing, and activists and private citizens alike opening their homes for meet-and-greets with candidates.

I think this grassroots progressive movement has sort of bolstered the feeling that were not alone, that there are more Democrats and progressives and liberals. We must say there are Republicans who are our neighbors who did not vote for Trump. They did vote for Hillary, and we think those people are equally disturbed by the Trump agenda and want to send a clear message to Washington, DC, that we will not stand for this agenda of hatred, said Louise Palmer, who monitors the Indivisible Georgia District 6 social media channels along with Amy Nosek. Realistically, its still a bit of a long shot that we still might flip District 6, but as every day goes by and momentum gathers, it looks like it may be a very close race.

Last fall, Palmer and Nosek helped flip Cobb County blue for the first time in about 40 years. Clinton won the county by 2 percent. Trump only won the entire 6th District by 1.5 percent.

Richard Keatley

Forty-nine percent of the district voted for Hillary, said Richard Keatley, a Democratic candidate from Tucker. Why did they vote for Hillary? Was it because they couldnt stomach the Republican candidate, or were they genuinely moving Democratic?

There are five Democratic candidates who will test that question come April 18, the day of the special election. Including Keatley, who is a former Naval officer and a Georgia State University professor, Ragin Edwards, a technology company executive from East Cobb, feels now is the time to have a woman represent the 6th. Jon Ossoffs had top-security clearance in Washington, DC, and uncovered government waste as part of his investigative filmmaking career points he hopes will help draw conservative votes to his cause.

I think were really scaring Republicans, Nosek said. After we won here in Cobb, politicians nationwide started looking at Cobb County saying, Whats going on here? Theyre red.

Human, civil rights as platform points

We dont have time to push a progressive agenda right now we have to be resisting this agenda of hatred, Palmer said.

Keatley, whos worked with LGBT students over the years, said its a trying time to be any sort of minority.

What were going to have to do is every time something like this occurs, is stand up on a box and decry that thing while working hard to try and have a victory in another two or four or who knows how many years, he said.

Edwards, Keatley and Ossoff are joined on the Democratic ticket by Dr. Rebecca Quigg and former state Sen. Ron Slotin. Chase Oliver declared as a Libertarian candidate, and two independents Alexander Hernandez and Andre Pollard join as well. On the Republican side, the candidates are businessmen David Abroms, Bob Gray, Bruce LeVell and Kurt Wilson; economist Mohammad Ali Bhuiyan, who is also Georgias first Muslim Republican candidate; former Air Force pilot Keith Grawert; former Secretary of State Karen Handel; former state senators Judson Hill and Dan Moody; Amy Kremer, a Tea Party activist; and certified public accountant William Llop.

All Democratic candidates, save Quigg, explicitly stated in their talks with Georgia Voice or on their websites that they will stand up for LGBT rights at the federal level, if elected. The Republican, independent and Libertarian candidates were not so forthcoming with pro-LGBT issues on their platforms.

Getting out the vote

Ragin Edwards

The whole flip the 6th or turning that seat blue, is a movement to show that if you dont listen to us, we will make sure somebody that does is in power, Edwards said.

Because several of the candidates ran for political office before, their names may be more familiar to voters especially on the Republican ticket. Palmer said those who want to turn 6 blue are actively involved in get out the vote efforts, and several candidates already put canvassers on the ground to distribute literature and make voters recognize their names and platforms come April 18.

Most of those Republicans are going to vote for a Republican no matter what. Our efforts are in getting out the Democratic vote, period, Palmer said.

In late February, Ossoffs campaign which raised about $2.8 million to date kicked off a canvassing event with somewhere around 200 volunteers, knocking on doors for exactly that reason.

This is a district with very well-informed voters who have proven that they judge candidates rather than voting for parties. I think we saw that in the outcome of the presidential election, Ossoff said. I dont think its so much about the partisan identification of the representative as much as its important that it be represented by someone who will effectively represent the concerns of everyone in the district. Ive never seen grassroots enthusiasm or efforts like this in my lifetime. Its led by women. And it is powerful.

congresscongressional electionelectionfederal electionfederal governmentflip the 6thgaygay atlantajon ossofflgbtlgbt atlantapoliticsragin edwardsrichard keatleytom pricevoting

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Georgia progressives move to 'flip the 6th' Congressional District - The Georgia Voice

Green addresses a standing-room-only crowd at the launch event for Northland Progress.

Blake Green is genetically predisposed to grassroots political activism.

Green, 35, is the oldest grandson of the late Hillard Selck, a former chairman of the Missouri Republican Party and a Republican National Committeeman for many years. Selck who, like Green, was born in Boonville, Missouri was one of the so-called Dirty Dozen, a group of Republicans who led the Reagan Revolution in Missouri in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Backing Reagan over [then-President Gerald] Ford was pretty controversial back in 1976, Green says. But that is the kind of guy he was sort of a maverick, folksy, usually had a good quote for the newspapers. But he was a very principled man who fought hard for ideas that he believed in, even when they werent popular. I learned a lot about community involvement from him. He was involved at the national level, but his heart was in Boonville and local politics.

As a result, Greens childhood in Boonville he lived just a block away from Selck was spent knocking on doors for Cooper County conservatives and U.S. Senate candidates such as Kit Bond. The summer before his freshman year at the University of Missouri, he traveled to the 2000 Republican National Convention, in Philadelphia, where he worked as a page.

But the presidential administration that emerged from that convention challenged Greens political views. The [George W.] Bush years were rough: the Iraq War, the lack of focus on climate change, Green says. But I was also just maturing into my own personal beliefs about the world and about various social issues. The older I got, the less connected I felt to it [the Republican party].

Around 2004, Green began thinking of himself as an independent. Then Barack Obama came along, in 2008, and articulated an ideology of hopeful political pragmatism. Green identified, and the belligerence and obstructionism exhibited by Republicans in the years that followed hardened his sense that the GOP was no longer capable of representing his beliefs.

It was time to face the music: He was a progressive.

In 2016, Green and his wife, Melissa, sold their house in Kansas City, Missouri, and moved to Parkville. Their daughter was 2, and they had a son on the way. Parkville meant better schools, a little more space, a breezier commute to and from Greens West Bottoms law office, in the Livestock Exchange Building. They like it up there.

As a lot of young parents did, Green woke up November 9 with new concerns about the world in which his kids might grow up. He had been alarmed by the hateful and divisive rhetoric at the center of the presidential contest. Now Trump would be in the White House and Green began to worry about what that meant closer to home. Missouri Republicans, whose most conservative legislation efforts the past decade didnt make it onto the books, now enjoy a trifecta control of the governorship and supermajorities in both legislative bodies.

Charter schools, Green says, identifying one such conservative hobby horse. Thats an issue that directly affects those of us in the Northland who plan to send our kids to public school. This ongoing effort to expand charter schools in the state will work to the detriment of public funding of our school districts. Thats an issue that I believe people here would care about if they were informed about it.

Fired up, Green turned up at the next meeting of the Platte County Democratic Central Committee. Despite Platte Countys close proximity to Kansas City, which reliably votes blue, it has no Democratic representatives in the state Legislature, and Republicans hold every elected position at the county level. Green expected he might meet others who had felt themselves shocked into action after such a cataclysmic whipping by Republicans. But the meeting was business as usual. A marquee item on the agenda was whether to extend the lease on a shed where the groups parade float is stored.

Our committee meetings tend to be pretty boring, allows David Christian, chairman of the Platte Dems. Theyre not the best vehicle for activism.

I felt like it might be easier to make a difference by building something from the ground up, Green says, rather than trying to reform or drastically change an organization that already exists.

But he did meet Martin Rucker II at the meeting. Like Green, Rucker has some Missouri politics in his blood. His father, also named Martin Rucker, was a Democratic state representative for parts of St. Joseph and Buchanan County from 2005 to 2010. The senior Rucker also served on the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole and is now the president of the St. Joseph School District Board of Education.

Rucker, 31, is a former first-team All-American tight end for the University of Missouri. He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 2008 and bounced around the league for five years the Eagles, the Cowboys, the Jaguars and, finally, the Chiefs before announcing his retirement in 2014.

Last year, Rucker challenged incumbent Kevin Corlew for the 14th District seat in the Missouri House of Representatives. The district includes parts of Riverside, Gladstone, Parkville and Kansas City. Rucker lost, but the race was relatively close (53 to 47), and hes young. Its unlikely to be his last run for office.

Green and Rucker got together a week after the meeting and discussed Ruckers race and the state of the politics in the Northland. Green was interested in finding ways to reach younger, possibly independent-identifying voters in the Northland people not so different from Green who, for whatever reason, might feel disconnected from Democrats or from the political process in general.

My main observations from my campaign were that, one, the majority of the people whose doors I knocked on were not very informed on state and local issues, and, two, they tended not to care about the issues until it was communicated to them how those issues could actually affect their lives, Rucker says. So Blake and I really agreed right off the bat that it would be very useful to create some kind of organization that could show people in the Northland how these policies being drawn up in Jeff City are affecting them.

That organization now exists. Its a 501(c)(4) called Northland Progress, and in early February it held its first event, Stand Up For Progress: The Road Ahead & How to Help, at the Screenland Armours upstairs event space. Green, the president and board chair of Northland Progress, expected a turnout of around 100 people.

More than 300 people came. Green, Rucker (the groups vice president) and a dozen or so other volunteers identifiable by baseball T-shirts bearing the Obama-like logo of Northland Progress circled the room, greeting guests, gathering information for email lists, pouring Boulevard Kolsch from behind a bar in the back. Throughout the room, gray-haired concerned citizens mingled with 20-somethings and young pregnant women.

The crowd considerably more age-diverse than those who regularly attend community meetings might expect reflects the Northlands changing dynamics. Platte County is the fastest-growing county in the state, and state estimates predict that Clay Countys population is on track to grow by more than 115,000 people between 2000 and 2030. The new arrivals are families, not farmers. They offer an opportunity for Democrats, if they can be mobilized, says Teresa Loar, who represents the Northland on the Kansas City, Missouri, City Council.

I think the Republican Party these days the word I use to describe it is mean, says Loar, who was a Republican herself until the 1990s. They have come to represent this hateful, isolated, mean worldview. And I think as the Northland expands, the younger families that are coming in dont want to hear that message.

Loar continues: What youre seeing with Northland Progress is that trend picking up and sort of materializing. And its exciting, because its brand-new people who are leading it. And I think that will only continue to grow.

Green agrees. This community is already in place up here, he says. Everything I see, everyone I talk to, leads me to believe that there are tons of people who have a vested interest in the future of the Northland who share my views and concerns. They just needed a way to find each other.

As a 501(c)(4), Northland Progress cant be overtly partisan, but the roster of speakers for the debut event in February reflected what one might call a suburban progressive agenda. Bill Griffith, of the local Sierra Club chapter, spoke about home solar installations. Shellie Daniel, with the Missouri Department of Transportation, and Pleasant Valley Mayor David Slater discussed how to combat the sorry state of roads in the Northland. Pat Dujakovich, a union leader, explained why right-to-work laws (since passed by the Legislature) were bad news for fair wages in the Northland.

Rucker (left) and Green rep the Northland team, joined by Missouri Democratic Party chairman Webber (center).

New Missouri Democratic Party chairman Stephen Webber closed out the night with a talk, during which he stressed the importance of events like these. He urged those present to consider running for office.

If youre waiting for somebody to come up and hand you a $20,000 check to run for the Legislature or run for school board, I can tell you from experience: Stop waiting, Webber said. It aint gonna happen. Get out, organize, and do it for yourself.

The next step, Green says, is for Northland Progress to get moving on the issues it most urgently wants to address. Its first membership meeting for which more than 100 people have RSVPd happens March 28, at Cinder Block Brewerys event space. From there, the group will seek to engage with community leaders and, eventually, endorse candidates in local races maybe even help field some of those candidates.

As for Green, hell soon pack up his office in the West Bottoms. Hes moving his law practice to downtown North Kansas City.

I figure I gotta walk the walk, he says.

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A new political action group looks to unite progressives in the Northland - Pitch Weekly