Left In Lowell

Hi all; I’m back. Sure, there are boxes in various states of disarray everywhere in my new apartment, I can’t get to my stove, microwave, half of my new office, and the only place that is box-free is the bathroom, but…we are all moved. And the day we did most of the hauling was the one day that was consistently sunny and beautiful this whole long weekend, so we lucked out.

Today’s Lowell City Council blogging will be a bit shorter and less detailed than usual. For one thing, I was taking notes manually (with a what-do-you-call-it…oh, a pencil) so I only caught the highlights. And the phone rang twice while I was watching the meeting, so I did miss some stuff.

The rest is on the flip.

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He insists he’s not planning for sure to run for the Republican presidential nomination in ‘08, but dKos’er jj32 finds some parallels between Romney now and Bush in ‘00:

Today, there are two articles about a potential run.

Both articles discuss parallels to what then-Governor Bush did on his way to the presidency. First from the Boston Herald. Romney is talking to a GOP women’s group in NH whom Bush talked to in 1999.

I got a particular kick out of this quote:

Romney’s spokeman, of course, plays down speculation, saying he is a “national political figure” just like Ted Kennedy and John Kerry” and he can raise money for the party just like them.

Oh, a national political figure, that’s so rich…the only reason Romney is a national political figure is twofold: 1. he’s from the state that Kerry was from, which got some national attention and Romney, as governor, got splashed with some; and 2. gay marriage propelled Mass even more into the news, which Romney took copious advantage of by stumping feverishly against it - everywhere except in Massachusetts. Am I wrong?

Everyone in the state says Romney is going to run, except of course Romney. Stumping in NH? Well you can argue, hey, it’s just above the Mass state line, why not? But the only reason to court NH at this time, or any other time, is its self-hallowed First-in-the-Nation status, and a shot at the Oval Office.

I really am going back to packing now, I just had to comment on this one. Its snark-potential cried out for a response.

What a clannish little group we’re becoming…I suppose it’s only natural that we reference each other a lot. I don’t really have too much time to post, but I wanted to point out that Fred Clarkson and sco at .08 Acres linked to an article in the Valley Advocate about Deval Patrick (if you’ve missed the excitement, Patrick is the going grassroots Democratic candidate for governor). It’s well worth the read.

He also points out this sidebar in the Advocate which I find particularly interesting.

Blogging is fun! And on that note, I’m going back to breaking down my life and putting it into boxes.

I know I should be working and packing, but I sat down tonight to watch a little bit of Showtime’s new movie, Our Fathers, and ended up watching until the end. The movie opens with the beginning of the Archdiocese of Boston sex abuse scandal, and ends with the resignation of Cardinal Law.

I was raised Catholic in New Hampshire, though by the time the scandal hit the airwaves, I had long ago left the Church. We were just becoming settled in Massachusetts when the story broke. You can find the Globe’s archives of their articles here. I remember the media storm, the formation of the laity group Voice of the Faithful in response to the coverup, the calls for Law to resign. I remember feeling sick to my stomach.

While all that is behind us, it behooves us to remember the victims of Church policy, and continue to work for justice in this world for all its vulnerable. Our Fathers is a good reminder, and that’ll have to stand as my review. With the election of Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI, and the alleged order he gave to cover up the sex abuse, it doesn’t pay to forget.

It may be a small world, this Mass blogger community, but I’m still new enough to get a thrill when I get a mention somewhere. Kristen at The Fray was kind enough to notice my Tuesday City Council blogging and mention it. (Thanks, Kristen!)

It’s going to be a busy weekend, what with losing internet connection for a bit, as well as dismantling my office, so if I don’t post for a while, don’t send the search party just yet. In case I don’t say it later, have a good Memorial Day weekend, folks! Think of me hauling boxes up and down stairs when you’re basking in the (*gasp!*) forecasted sunshine and nice weather on Saturday.

Well, this week’s meeting was a little less contentious, but none-the-less interesting. I waited for the 6:30pm Lowell City Council meeting to start on LTC’s channel 10, eating my ice cream (having eaten my dinner early to avoid starvation) and trying to mentally check off all the things that I still need to do before moving this weekend. But despite my insane schedule this week, it is my privilege to bring you city council bloggity goodness. I watch the city council meetings, so you don’t have to!

More on the flip!

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Looks like a deal has been struck between 7 Dems and 7 GOP Senators:

Under the agreement, Democrats would pledge not to filibuster any of Bush’s future appeals court or Supreme Court nominees except in “extraordinary circumstances.”

For their part, Republicans agreed not to support an attempt to strip Democrats of their right to block votes.

Kos quotes McCain as saying:

You have before you the agreement and I won’t go in the details of it. But basically, all 14 of us have pledged to vote for cloture for the judicial nominees Janice Rogers Brown, William Pryor and Priscilla Owen.

The signatories make no commitment to vote for or against cloture on two judges, William Myers and Henry Saad. Future nominations will – the signatories will exercise their responsibilities and the nominees should only be filibusters under extraordinary circumstances.

Kos goes on to say:

Now, some wanted to roll the dice, but had we lost, Dobson would’ve chosen the next Supreme Court justice. I wasn’t willing to make that bet, and I’m glad we didn’t have to.

On top of everything, Frist looks weak. He’s failed his crazies. He’s finished.

Things may change, but so far, this is the second-best option. Beating Frist on the procedural vote may’ve been the best option. But the worst option was too horrible to contemplate.

To some extent, he’s right - losing the filibuster would have been pretty damn bad. But the alternative, allowing Owens and Brown to get the nod - is not really a victory as far as I’m concerned. I fought hard against these nominees myself - calling and writing Kerry and Kennedy (not that you have to worry about Kennedy) and doing the actions that came across my desk via pro-choice and other activist groups. These two, especially Owens, are especially nasty pills to swallow.

It’s so sad that our choices are reduced to between having the Senate rules nuked, and letting the worst of the worst of Bush’s nominees get lifetime appointments to the Appellate Court.

Deval Patrick is running for the Democratic nomination for governor and is considered to be the only real progressive (barring Capuano entering the race). Noho-missives has a recent review of Patrick’s western MA tour, and an older post as well, and a post about the media coverage. Also take a look at Michael Wilcox’s post.

If I missed anyone’s blog entry out there, please feel free to post it in the comments! Sorry I don’t have anything else to add, but unfortunately I have not yet attended any of Deval’s events, and this week is tight anyway. I’ll be happy when we’re installed in our new apt after this weekend…

I thought I would update everyone on the anti-Fred Phelps rallies, or as I like to say, the pro-equality rallies, that I’ve written about previously.

This is the latest schedule:

Sunday, June 5, 1:30pm - Sign-making gathering before the rally. We will get a chance to meet other like-minded people, make enough signs for everyone, and attend the rally as a group. We will meet on the third floor of 517 Moody St, Lowell, (the Coalition for a Better Acre building). Here’s a Mapquest link [Edit: and here’s a Google link showing the directions from the Gallagher terminal (commuter rail) to 517 Moody St]. I will be heading this up, so you can email me if you have questions. Some markers and poster board will be available but please bring some if you have it.

Sunday, June 5, 3:00 - 4:30pm - By 3PM, we should be at the protest site. The Phelps flyer says they will be there from 3:30 - 4:30pm. I want to be sure we are there before or at the same time as they are. Feel free to show up whenever you can, however! [Edit: duh, forgot to reiterate, the Phelps people are protesting at the Tsongas Arena against the Lexington High School Graduation.] [Edit #2: And here’s a Google link showing the directions to the Tsongas from the Gallagher terminal.]

Sunday, June 5, 4:30pm (Not related, but on the same day, please join us!) - GLPJ will hold its regular meeting at the CBA building (1/2 an hour later than normal). Of note is that we’re holding an educational at 5pm, regarding affordable housing in Lowell, along with a potluck. The educational is in preparation for our June 28th event when the March to Abolish Poverty comes to Lowell, when we will be highlighting local affordable housing issues.

Monday, June 6th, 8:30 am - Another rally to prove that Massachusetts doesn’t like Kansas interfering with its equality. Phelps’ website reports a rally starting at 9:15am. I will be there with bells on! And signs from the previous day as well (but feel free to bring your own). [Edit: Again, just to reiterate, this is at the Englesby Intermediate School in Dracut.]

As most of you know, right now, the Senate is in debate about Pricilla Owens, or really - about the filibuster itself.

MoveOn PAC is pulling a page from the amazing people at Princeton U, and asking for citizen filibusters across the country. Time is short on this one, folks, with things to be decided one way or the other by next week sometime. I have absolutely no time to organize a local filibuster, but I love the idea (and might even make the time for a 1/2 hour or so of filibustering if someone else organized it). It’s easy to organize using MoveOn’s tools. Come on Lowell! Someone step up to the plate! Let’s filibuster already!