Left In Lowell

Tomorrow is election day, the primary for downballot (nonpresidential) tickets. There are some important competitive races, such as the one between John Kerry and Ed O’Reilly, so no excuses - if you don’t vote, you can’t complain. (Again, you can listen to Ed O’Reilly on Left Ahead from last week’s interview.)

BMG has some rundown on the Democratic races on the ballot. (Though some they list are not our district.) And Left Ahead (the podcast I do with Mike and Ryan) interviewed Ed O’Reilly (we could not get Kerry to come on before the primary).

And then there’s that debacle for the Middlesex Register of Probate…if Buonomo wins reelection against any write-ins, he will (presumably) be stepping down as of Wednesday morning…triggering a caucus for his Democratic replacement on the ballot. Every town and city in our Middlesex district will have the opportunity to send delegates to a larger caucus (if they can get their own act together so quick). So stay tuned. BMG is saying vote for one of his write-in opponents, pablo makes the case for forcing this to go to caucus. So you have a choice there, even if it’s a weird one.

Such would be the headlines… DarkSyde at dkos points out the chilling idea that if the Bush plan to privatize Social Security had been successful, millions of seniors and soon-to-be-retired would be losing their SS checks and be bankrupt.

I hadn’t even thought of that until I read this, but he’s right. As his title points out, “Past Results are no Guarantee of Future Performance.” The market is, at its core, a gamble, and someone is always left holding the bag (generally the taxpayer, as conservatives insist on abandoning their precious “free market” principles and bailing out lumbering companies who made bad choices).

Merrill Lynch. Lehman Brothers. Household names and longtime firms. If they’ve gone under, what could possibly be next?

As previously written about, there is a School Committee curriculum subcommittee meeting tonight at 7pm which will take on the planning for comprehensive sex education in our schools. It’s actually being held at 155 Merrimack Street (school department headquarters) second floor, not Middlesex St. Apologies for any inconvenience! Please make sure people know about the correct location.

Friday night’s National Anthem Obama fundraising concert was an uplifting experience. It was nearly sold out, and I have been told (straight from the horse’s mouth) that it reached its $50,000 goal. (I’m sure David will post about that soon - sorry to scoop ya, David!)

Though I was out front selling tickets, I didn’t get to see a lot of the people I knew came, and I’m sorry I didn’t get to say hi. But for those of you who were there you know the front entrance was a bit chaotic - evidence of the amazing attendance. Looking around the hall (after rushing my way in just before curtain), I could see there was only a small percentage of seats not holding bodies.

The evening was full of little moments, like the song sung in the first half which dated from 1920’s Germany deriding oil as something that will ruin the world - all too relevant today - and a lot of personality and poise…and talent. Not the least of whom were Charley and David themselves, who sang in several selections. (Nice to finally hear you sing, Charley!) And the Egmont was lovely (it’s one of my faves).

At the end, the crowd all joined the singers and orchestra in a heartfelt rendition of the national anthem. Charley already wrote about how powerful and moving the experience was, so I don’t need to. But it truly put a perspective on the politics of hope. After all, that the flag still flew over Fort McHenry at Baltimore gave Francis Scott Key, detained in his boat by the British because he knew too much about their navel positions, much hope in a dark hour.

It isn’t, in the end, what we fail to do as Americans that defines us. And our failures are plenty, dating back to our country’s birth. It is our never ending quest to live up to the ideals of our country that the world admires, that we as Americans believe that the world can be better, more fair, less divisive, if only we work hard enough for it. That’s the country Obama is fighting for, and that’s the country that we can be proud of.