Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Politics / Woods Moonbeams Organizing to Displace Tennessee Democratic Party
Posted by Jeff Woods on Tue, Jan 26, 2010 at 12:41 PM
Won and I want to thank you all so much for your time last Thursday night. With you valuable input, Unite TN is off to a fantastic start. As we discussed on Thursday, the mission of Unite TN is to formally establish a collaborative and effective group of statewide progressive organizations and individuals that can accomplish electoral and other civic work with political sophistication and technical competence. With redistricting looming, Phase One of Unite TN will be to ascertain through an electoral landscape analysis which races are competitive. In the areas where these races are competitive, we will build a Unite TN model that, with your help, can be rolled out statewide in Phase 2. Phase One will last until November 2010. The Unite TN model is to Activate, Organize, and Brand: Activate - In many areas, Tennesseans who share our values are disgruntled, hidden, or isolated. Unite TN will reach out to leaders in the identified communities and give them the tools and training they need to reconnect with these Tennesseans. Reconnecting will lead to activation which will help to build the capacity needed to sustain progressive ideas, causes, and organizations. Organize - In Phase One, training and activation will be organized around Get Out the Vote and election protection work. Also in Phase One, local ballot initiatives or issues in these competitive communities will be identified to help engage and motivate voters. Brand: Unite TN will be about building Unite TN - we will define who we are based on our values and priorities, which we know to be traditional American values and priorities. No longer will we allow others to define who we are nor will we use their language to define who we are. Unite TN will strive to organize around the values and priorities that unite our members, which we know are more comprehensive than the values and priorities that divide us. Below is the beginning of what with your help will undoubtedly grow into a comprehensive list of progressive organizations in Tennessee. Please take a moment to look at the list and email me any additions that come to mind so that I may add them to the master list. Again, thank you so much for all you do. We will be planning our second meeting soon so that we may address in more detail some of your questions as well as the administration and organizational set-up of Unite TN. All the best, Mary Civil/Political Rights ACLU NAACP TN Equality Project TN Disability Coalition Consumer Protection TN Citizen Action Election Protection/Voter Rights Common Cause League of Women Voters Nashville Women's Political Caucus (NWPC) TN Women's Political Caucus Environment Cumberland Compact Land Trust for Tennessee Sierra Club TN Clean Water Netwok TN Conservation Voters TN Environmental Voters TN Scenic Rivers Association Faith Faith Leaders for All of Us Interdenominational Ministers' Fellowship Nashville Jewish Federation [Note to Jerry Maynard - can you list out the denominations you suggested at the meeting?] Health Care National Physicians Alliance TN Health Care Campaign Tennessee Medical Association TN Nurses Association TN Hospital Association Immigration Coalition For Education About Immigration TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition Labor AFL-CIO APRI CWA CBTU CLUW SEIU TEA TSEA Legal TN Association for Justice Media TN News Service Reproductive Health Planned Parenthood of Middle & East TN Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region Social Justice Conexion Americas Nashville Hispanic Chamber Mid-South Peace & Justice Center Statewide Coalition for Community eMpowerment TN Peace & Justice Center TN Justice Center
Comments (42)
Showing 1-42 of 42
So, Woods, since Harrison and Heatseeker have been involuntarily taken out of commission, the good ole boys are having you do their hippie-punching for them?
I know you are trying to protect them, but they are doomed any way. This is the first I have heard of this, but let me say it's about damned time.
ANYTHING Mary is associated with will be done well, I have found. Maybe it's because she realizes, as I do, that it's not 1992 any more and the same old GOB (not GOP) BS simply won't work any more.
Tell that to your pals in the Old Guard, Woods.
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"Brand: Unite TN will be about building Unite TN - we will define who we are based on our values and priorities, which we know to be traditional American values and priorities."
Now that is funny!
Chairgimp Chipper has run the TNDP's SS Minnow aground. The Chipinista are floating away on a makeshift raft. And Left Hand Wanker attacks me . . . What sense does that make?
I haven't been involuntarily sidelined from anything, Wanker. Hell, I've never been in the damn game. I'm a punk-ass blog commenter that twists your panties whenever I like -- even without making the first freakin' comment.
The sooner you realize that Heatseeker isn't the problem for the Democrat Party in Tennessee, the sooner you might get somewhere . . .
Course, it's fine with me if you Democrats never wake up.
My master Ron Ramsey is pleased, verily, by this latest development. A Chipinista divided cannot stand ... united!
Won Choi? as in the Won Choi who destroyed Tying Nashville Together, got pushed out of the NAACP, and got asked not to come back to the TNDP after his vacation, but who's got money so people keep listening?
Great, that's the kind of leadership Democrats need!?!
I guess my first question is what about TAP? (Tennessee Alliance for Progress)
Will they be competing, or sharing resources? I'd like to hear what Nell Levin says about this effort.
As far as doing the work that the Democratic Party isn't doing...thats not a bad idea. I can't tell you how many times we had the ball rolling in some rural but important district, only to have the State Party apparatus come in and fuck it up, or, worse, ignore us altogether.
I wish them luck.
I've never seen so many catch phrases and talking points strung together in one place before. Congratulations.
Oh, and Jeff, whats with the use of the term "moonbeam"? Pretty bullshit pejorative to employ, dontchathink? These people are at least out there trying.
How many Republicans are in the Land Trust of Tennessee?
The Tennessee Medical Association is totally a Republican organization.
TSEA knows who is in charge of the Tennessee General Assembly and isn't going to help some liberal group.
League of Women Voters is a non-partisan organization.
Common Cause is a non-partisan organization.
The Women's Political Caucus (state and Nashville) are non-partisan organizations.
ACLU
NAACP
All non-partisan.
Most of these groups are non-partisan.
Who thinks they are suddenly going to go partisan for a state party that everyone knows is imploding?
Well, good for them. This is the first I've heard of it but it's about time someone tried to organize and the TNDP has been doing a piss-poor job of it. Surely Unite TN can't do any worse than the folks who made a Republican TNDP treasurer and candidates like Ty Cobb for house seats.
Jeff Woods can laugh all he wants (and I'm not entirely sure why you find this amusing), but it's obvious that the TNDP is broken and I for one am glad that someone is doing something about it.
Oh, and Jeff, whats with the use of the term "moonbeam"?
Thanks for bringing that up, Mack. I had just gotten used to being labeled a "Moonbat" and along comes this Moonbeam nonsense. Stick to one pejorative folks, you know how easily confused we tree-hugging Grateful Dead burnouts can get.
Woods, could you please discuss the ethics of posting a private e-mail? Not just writing that you know of it or have seen it, but actually posting it. A private e-mail.
So an organization has to notify a political party if it plans to do any political organizing? And it shouldn't exist at all if a political party already does? I hope Woods decided to notify Kleinheider before he wrote his own idiotic bullshit, and will immediately dismantle his blog since its already being done.
It's hard enough for the Democratic Party to find success in Tennessee –– let alone some group of fringe lefties like these folks.
Good luck.
"It's hard enough for the Democratic Party to find success in Tennessee –– let alone some group of fringe lefties like these folks."
Shhhhh!
We want to encourage Democrats to think that their problems are due to the fact that they just aren't liberal enough.
Hell yeah, Southern Beale. It's time for someone to step up. How long has it been since a Democrat won an election in this state?
By the way, is that headline really accurate? Is that really what this organization is trying to accomplish?
Typical disdainful bullshit from Woods. Why exactly was Unite TN supposed to "notify" the TN Democratic Party? To me there is a big difference between an organization designed to promote "progressive ideas, causes, and organizations" and the TN Democratic Party.
Once again Woods uses his position at Nashville's "alternative" news organization to carry water for the fat cats and wing nuts.
Here come the fascist Chipinista trolls to threaten the free speech rights of anyone that refuses to bow to their awesome power.
"Uh, yeah, uh, you posted a private email, Nashville Scene. Is that legal? Maybe we oughta sic the secret police on ya."
Nevermind that it's a legit news organization publishing an email from one public figure to a bunch of other public figures, including elected officials. The Chipinista want it stopped, dammit! In fact, was that a public meeting.
Comrade Stalin is proud, my children.
Why would a state wide group want to include a bunch of city council members. Unless Woods forgot to list the ones from other cities, it seems that this is just another group of Nashville leftie nut jobs
OK, first of all, I don't see anywhere that Mancini considers this effort as a part of the Democratic Party. She seems to view this as a "progressive" (why do they shy away from "liberal"?) initiative. Not necessarily the same thing.
As a matter of reality (and that's what I try to be all about), very few Democrats would have their support. There are no liberal Republicans in Tennessee, and for that matter only a handful of liberal Democrats. Remember, Mancini has a great disdain for Democrats who actually win elections in Tennessee (Bredesen, Cooper, Gordon, Davis). So TNDP should probably look on this program overall as a negative. They won't be helping most Democratic candidates, and it's conceivable that they may even be running Green Party or other fringe candidates that reduce the chances of Democrats.
A better response from Chip Forester would have been: "Thanks, but no thanks. We will be working within our own programs, and we would welcome any help you want to give." He is dead wrong to think this "complements" many, if any, TNDP supported campaigns.
Second, Hill Bobbs makes an excellent point. By far, most of these organizations are non-partisan in their approaches, in their bylaws and in their membership. Where Mancini got the idea that the TMA, one of the most reactionary groups in the Western world, would participate in this group is beyond me. The NWCP is studiously bipartisan, and switches its leadership by party every year. ACLU, NAACP, the League of Women Voters, all avoid direct political endorsements and do not participate in partisan campaigns. Even the Trial Lawyers (Tennessee Association for Justice) at one time had Fred Thompson's son Tony as a lobbyist, and maybe still do for all I know. And all of those environmental groups have plenty of GOP members who are otherwise very conservative in their ideas and don't view protection the land and water as a "liberal" idea. I'm betting most of these organizations are objecting to being included, and were in fact included without their kowledge or permission.
Mack makes a great point. Isn't a liberal coalition of organizations what the Tennessee Alliance of Progress (TAP) is all about? Nell Levin and others have worked hard to build that organization, and its affiliates certainly fill the progressive coalition model better than Mancini's ill-advised list.
I think an organized liberal coalition has a place in Tennessee politics, just as I think the teabaggers ought to have a chance to participate in the public dialogue. And I don't fault liberals for wanting to try and make an impact on elections. But Mancini's approach is indeed off a moonbeam, and she and her fellow organizers of UnitedTN need to get a reality check.
Heatseeker, your paranoia is boiling over. I'm no more a 'Chipinista' than you are Comrade Stalin.
I didn't question whether printing the e-mail was legal, I questioned whether it was journalistically ethical. Pay attention.
'email from one public figure to a bunch of other public figures'
Public figures don't get to send private email?
Seriously, Woods. You are just f**king useless. Bunch of well-meaning folks who obviously are just getting started and there you are, like clockwork, sneering and laughing before they've even had their second meeting.
What the fuck have you contributed to the political conversation in this state that didn't involve a spit take, a sneer, or sarcasm? Garrigan really groomed you well, didn't she?
Meanwhile, right-wing lunatics who believe the world was created in seven days and who are putting guns near our kids at bars and parks run the state. With help, I might add, from so-called Democrats like the Bredesenistas who on a daily basis play into the GOP's hands -- when they're not losing elections to them.
Thousands of good Tennesseans without jobs, but yet you still have one. What a f**king disgrace you are, Woods.
Garrigan really groomed you well, didn't she?
You're right, Glory. It's Garrigan's fault.
Woods, I don't know ya, but others seem to think that you are an astute political observer, and I'll take them at their word.
Much as I hate to flog this particular horse, the use of the term "moonbeam" is nowhere near endearing, and you know it. Its at best dismissive, and while I expect that kind of coverage from almost anyone else, this is troubling coming from the Scene.
Would you refer to efforts by TGW as that of Feminazis? Sure, there are degrees, but a smart guy like you could have found a less patronizing term to use when referring to this group's formation.
Progressive groups and Liberal groups (no, they are NOT the same) have serious shortcomings that could pointed out, and I applaud any constructive criticism, but something about this article feels...I don't know, personal?
"Much as I hate to flog this particular horse, the use of the term "moonbeam" is nowhere near endearing, and you know it. Its at best dismissive, and while I expect that kind of coverage from almost anyone else, this is troubling coming from the Scene."
You guys are hilarious.
Woods has hundreds of posts sneering at Republicans and conservatives, calling the tea party folks "teabaggers", calling some religious folks "the Tennessee Taliban", etc. etc and you lap it up and egg it on.
But let him make ONE reference to some leftists as "moonbeams" and you all get your panties in a wad.
Hypocricy thy name is liberal.
No, Martin, isn't the same. Conservatives are not teabaggers. The Tn Taliban are not conservatives. I know plenty of Conservatives, and most them are embarrassed by these poseurs. But that isn't my point.
If Woods thinks these folks are "moonbeams", fine, call them that and stand behind it. But the claim that it is an term of endearment is disingenuous and that adds insult to injury.
I do everything in my power to avoid using derogatory terms when referring to those who may disagree with me, so I am no hypocrite.
Now I've just remembered you from years ago on this blog, and i just remembered how tedious it was trying to engage you. Suffice to say, i won't do so again.
How funny. The Chipinista are upset that the mighty Pith called business people "bizpigs" . . . Huh? What?
Oh, that's right! The Chipinista think it's okay that Pith, as it often does, makes fun of other people, but it gets its Spongebob Squarepants panties in a twist when Pith ridicules them . . .
Come on, Pithie, don't you know that the Chipinista are super serious people that should be taken super seriously? When you have won as many elections as these moonbeams have, you deserve respect . . . Huh? What?
Oh, yeah, maybe they haven't won anything, but that's not for trying. Look at all the effort Mancini put into that human cloning campaign for the state House. That worked out well . . . Huh? What?
Oh, the hell with these moonbeams . . .
"No, Martin, isn't the same"
It's exactly the same, despite your attempt to spin it otherwise.
This is the first time in history that I have ever agreed with Mil Gartin: It's hilarious to see you guys get all up in arm over what Woods calls you in a blog. Get off your arses and accomplish something, rather than arguing like some of the party organizing scenes in "Reds".
Geez.
Ohs noes! Uriah Heep just called the Chipinista communists.
They are gonna cry for sure.
They're not moonbeams, they're commies. All Dems and liberals are commies. Right, Big G?
Mack says:
Woods, I don't know ya, but others seem to think that you are an astute political observer, and I'll take them at their word.
don't believe everything you hear Mack.
