McPherson: Politics of Capitulation & Appeasement

[JunkYardDogg]

THE POLITICS OF CAPITULATION and APPEASEMENT
Or Quid Pro Quid-Less Bipartisanship
Election Protection Activists’ Fight against McPherson’s ”Transition Team”

To ALL of you, who took the time and made the effort to phone, fax and E-Mail the Elected Officials of California to express your disapproval of the outrageous composition of the members of McPherson’s “Transition Team”,
we thank you from the bottoms of our hearts for your help.
On Tuesday, March 29, there were about 20 of us at the Capital to protest and express our position. There were 3 of us from So. Calif., myself, Marci from PDLA, and Sarah from Citizens Act, there were a number of Progressive Election Protection Activists from DFA San Marin, DFA Santa Rosa, DFA Sonoma and other DFA groups. The Tuesday hearing was postponed until Wednesday.
So we did something which has never been done by Progressives and Election Protection activists in California.
We broke off into 3 person teams and went to individual Assembly Persons’ offices and we lobbied our position
and expressed our outrage and concerns for this “Transition Team.” The very first thing which we learned was that McPherson was the absolute perfect Mr. Clean Good Guy untouchable that Schwarzenegger could ever have chosen. The second was, that no matter how vile and despicable was the composition of the “Team”, McPherson’s image completely overshadowed and precluded any questions about the Integrity and influence of this “Team”.
The third thing which we immediately became aware of, was, that all your E-Mails, Faxes, and Phone calls really
upset the planned Slam Dunk Confirmation. If it were not for all of your efforts, the issue of the unacceptable conflict of issue composition of the “Team” would NEVER have been addressed. Then we showed up. From the minute we walked into the first Assembly Member’s office, we became keenly aware of one thing-We really upset the Fung Shei of the California State Assembly. No doubt. There were a few offices we walked into where we were not wanted. But there were a number of Assembly Offices, even though they voted for McPherson, they let us know that they didn’t want to. The Deal was done. With absolutely no Quid Pro Quid return to the Democrats. All in the name of Bipartisanship. Some Assembly Offices told us that they did not even know about the Transition Team until our campaign started. A number of Staff told us that if there wasn’t such a push from the top for the confirmation, they would have fought the “Team”. Every office we walked into understood exactly what we were doing. We made a lot of people have to deal with and think about the situation and Election Protection Issues.
Some offices didn’t have the heart to tell us that it was a slam dunk, they wanted us to keep fighting.
On Wednesday morning we meet with Nunez’s Director. He explained the situation somewhat, but encouraged us to keep fighting. They had done the backgrounds on the “Team” a couple of weeks ago, but they did not make an issue out of it. Because of McPherson’s popularity, any resistance would have “tarnished” them. Nunez’s Director advised us to keep up an aggressive Progressive Organizing campaign and bring in more groups. He said if we had started sooner, they might have been able to put up more resistance, but the deal had been done. He understood perfectly what we were doing. They know what we can do and say and act on, there are things which they cannot initiate, but with a large enough population group behind us, they can then justify taking a more confrontational stance. It’s Good Cop/Bad Cop” for sure.
We were referred to Assembly Member Tom Umberg, on the Assembly Elections & Redistricting Committee, and his office sent us to talk to his Elections Consultant, Ethan Jones, who knows and understands ALL the Election Protection Issues and SoS Regs. He’s a good guy to meet.
On Wednesday, the Rules Committee held the confirmation hearing. Seven of us testified against McPherson. A number of Registrar of Voters testified in behalf of McPherson. The last person to testify in McPherson’s favor was Jim March. Not a word from his mouth about the Unacceptable composition of the “Team.” Mervyn Dymally
directed a series of pointed questions to McPherson about the lack of diversity on the “Team.”. He was the only person to vote against McPherson. When it came time for the whole Assembly to vote, 4 members stayed in their offices, which was their way of voting no. These four people were ( all are top quality people):
Mervyn Dymally
Lori Saldana (San Diego)
Jackie Goldberg
Paul Koretz ( who turned out to be a real good guy, he told us that he didn’t even know about the team until he got the E-Mails and Faxes)

A couple of days after the confirmation, Assemblyman Coto’s office contacted Marci and asked if we could provide them with a list of qualified Minority Candidates for the SoS “Team”.
That’s a start.
I believe that quite possibly one of the biggest Election Integrity Threats on the “Team” is Bradley Clark, the Alameda County RoV who used uncertified Software in 2 elections, and his answer to this was that it wasn’t important and it was just shuffling paper. The problem with this guy, vs. Merksamer, et. al., is that Clark is going to be working in the SoS office on a daily basis. I saw this guy for 2 days, and he’s scary.
We didn’t win, but we made them uncomfortable.
We made them think
We made them deal with us
We let them know that the Progressives are for real
We let them know that there are Election Protection Activists in California

[JunkYardDogg]

1. Jim March is a Putrid , Rancid Sorry Ass Sack of Shit

The last person to testify in McPherson's Behalf was Jim March
He Praised McPherson's Character, which probably is good, as McPherson lost their son to a shooting recently.
But this Sorry Ass Sack of Shit introduced himself as an Election Protection Activist, and didn't say a fucking thing about the Transition Team.
He totally shit on the whole Validity of Election Protectionists

[Helga Scow Stern]

3. Who is he? What is "Lock Box Voting"?

I wondered what his story was.

All the other people who spoke in support of McPherson were Registrars of Elections:

Steve Ware(sp?) of Contra Costa County
Jim McCavly(sp?) of Placer County
Michael Smith of Marin County

Placer and Marin are Diebold Counties. I don't know what Ware's issue is. Everyone talked as if McPherson were a saint for coming to their state registrar's meeting in early March, putting aside that he was actively campaigning for a position very much desired.

[emlev]

9. Not Lock Box Voting

Black Box Voting. Jim March is, I believe, President of the Board. As far as I can tell, he's the main face other than Bev Harris's in blackboxvoting.org.

I've met him a few times. He's a Republican. Knows a lot and really seems to care passionately about fair elections and Diebold's scamming of elections in particular.

[Helga Scow Stern]

2. I'm still reading, but I read enough to have nominated it,

already! Thanks, JYD. You were great at the hearing. You warned them. I am so glad we have it on tape.

[Helga Scow Stern]

4. How the recall might have been stolen--Mark Crispin Miller

http://www.opednews.com/miller1003_CA_Voting.htm

On edit:
I just found that while looking for which counties were Diebold to see how they were in support of McPherson.

[Peace Patriot]

5. Recommended! JunkYardDogg, you and the others who led this...

...effort, and who got there to the hearing, and testified and lobbied, are MY HEROES FOREVER! You are the leaders of the SECOND AMERICAN REVOLUTION! You are the Thomas Jeffersons and Paul Reveres of our era!

This is where this Revolution is happening, and must happen: locally, in the states. AND YOU WERE THERE!

Cheers and raves to you! I find it hard to express how grateful I am for your presence there. And thank you so much for the report!

It is beyond comprehension that CA Assembly members DIDN'T KNOW who was on McPherson's "transition team."

What the hell are we paying these people for? And insuring their retirements and their medical coverage and their prestige status for the rest of their lives in our looted and conquered country?

Ye, gods!

Well, the Bush Cartel is going to get rid of the lot of them, though they don't seem to know what peril they are in. (Lord, what dummies!).

Please advise: WHAT NEXT?

I want to send a follow-up letter, which I have time to individualize. Your report above will be a help. Any other advice?

I felt quite dismayed by the remark (reported above) that "if only we'd gotten on it sooner." Because I can plainly see that this whole business was railroaded through, probably quite deliberately to prevent public knowledge and input. (Bastards!) And your campaign was A MIRACLE OF FAST WORK to thwart that purpose! More cheers! Wow, you are wonderful!

How do you see this developing? What might we expect next? What should we do? What issues should we hammer on?

[Helga Scow Stern]

6. That includes you, Peace Patriot!

You have been very instrumental in getting this going and keeping the flame lit.

I heard last night from Marcy Winograd that McPherson is very interested now in legislation for voter identification. I had seen this when I researched him when his name first came up. Apparantly, it is one of the first items on his agenda. I don't know what the Republican fixation on voter ID is, other than a distraction from real issues at best, or something far more sinister at worst. Marcy said that she will get back to me about what she thinks we should do on that front.

In the meantime, I posted this on another thread, and I will say it here too. We can't be too careful these days:

Someone who was there reported she found out that most of the legislators rely on the media for information and are clueless as to what is going on.

I might have been more able to send more information had I not been foolishly engaged in justifying the cause in the face of a quite specific and unaccountably vicious attack here on DU. It is really important to remember not to pay any attention to sudden negativity that comes out of nowhere, especially when you should be furiously sending faxes instead in the face of a deadline. It is a very disruptive technique, and it almost might make you wonder if our forum has an infiltrator or two. Beware whenever a very important issue that requires immediate action comes up and all of a sudden someone you thought was part of the cause starts vehemently opposing you, calling you names, etc.--and then lets it drop as soon as the time for action passes.

Just be careful people. The people you think you are collaborating with may not be who they seem to be. We are doing some very important work in this forum, and you can be assured that fact has not gone unnoticed by those who wish to maintain their party's power at all costs.

[Helga Scow Stern]

7. Contact info for all Dems to thank. Please DO IT:

Mervyn M. Dymally, Assembly District 52

[e-mail]

Web address:
http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/makebio.asp?district=52&assoc=1

Capitol Address
State Capitol
Post Office Box 942849
Room 3123
Sacramento, CA 94249-0052
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

District Address - Compton
322 West Compton Boulevard
Suite 100
Compton, CA 90220
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Jackie Goldberg, Assembly District 45
[e-mail]

Web Address:
http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/makebio.asp?district=45&assoc=1

Capitol Address
State Capitol
Post Office Box 942849
Room 2003
Sacramento, CA 94249-0045
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

District Address - Los Angeles
106 North Avenue 56
Los Angeles, CA 90042
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]


Lori Saldaña, Assembly District 76

Web Address:
http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/makebio.asp?district=76&assoc=1

District Address
1557 Columbia Street
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Capitol Address
P.O. Box 942849
Room 3132
Sacramento, CA 94249-0076
Phone: [phone]

Paul Koretz, Assembly District 42

[e-mail]

Web address:
http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/makebio.asp?district=42&assoc=1

Capitol Address
State Capitol
Post Office Box 942849
Room 4140
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

District Address - West Hollywood
9200 Sunset Boulevard
Suite PH-15
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

[yurbud]

10. I called Dymally the next day and Nunez and...

my ass member.

Nobody said anything specific.

[emlev]

8. I want to highlight this from your great post

"We made them think
We made them deal with us
We let them know that the Progressives are for real
We let them know that there are Election Protection Activists in California."

And that was what you say was about 20 activists, pulled together on short notice. That's a lot to accomplish in those circumstances. It's a beginning. And we need to figure out a strategy to stay on it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all you've done and all you're doing!

[JunkYardDogg]

11. Assemblyman Coto's E-mail to Marcy

Further Information on our Hearing Presentation:
At the end of the week, Marcy Winograd, of PDLA, received an E-Mail from Assemblyman Coto requesting that we send him a list of Election Protection Qualified Candidates, preferably Minority, which we could recommend.Further, he requested that we put him and a number of other Assembly Persons on our E-Mail advisory notice list. His request was as follows:
T“hanks for sending me the recommendations. I am going to send McPherson these recommendations on Monday. “
“Please add me to the voter protection e mail list. Please also add members Baca, Torrico, De la Torre, Arrumbula, Nava, Montanez, Parra, Calderon, Salinas, Levine, Klehs, Hancock, Chan, and Laird for starters......thanks and stay in touch....joe coto
Evidently,
We made a much stronger impact than we thought
And evidently, we (all of us –including you) made people think
Your efforts were not in vain