We've had two great days with Ralph and Rocky in town and we'll have our monthly meeting at our office here starting at 7pm tonight. Below is a sampling of the media. Ralph packed 250 people at noon into Powell's, then had more than 600 people pack into Lewis and Clark to see him debate former Bush admin. official and neo-con Jamie Fly (Ralph won that debate easily)! Today we had a great press conference with Rocky & Ralph (video here) , had an article in Oregonian, two TV channels (KATU and KPTV), and Oregon public broadcasting there.  Then we had a successful rally with Rocky at PSU. This is a great kick-off for the Progressive Party and 2012 Elections let's keep the momentum up and firing...go we go...

• NADER & ROCKY PRESS CONFERENCE: http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/04/former_salt_lake_ci...
   
• NADER STEVE DUIN INTERVIEW: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf/2012/04/st...
   
• NADER AT POWELL'S Coverage http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/04/green_party_staple_...

At a press conference in Portland today, Ralph Nader introduced and announced his support for Rocky Anderson as the 2012 nominee of the Oregon Progressive Party for President of the United States.

The Oregon Progressive Party is a ballot-qualified minor party in Oregon.  It was created by voter petition as the Peace Party in 2008 and that year nominated Ralph Nader for President.  The party changed its name in 2009 to the Oregon Progressive Party to reflect its broader platform.

Rocky Anderson is the progressive former 2-term Mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah.  He has now obtained the Presidential general election ballot in 3 states--which is 3 more states than Ralph Nader had obtained at this stage in 2008 on his way to appearing on the ballot in 45 states.

The State Nominating Panel of the Oregon Progressive Party seeks feedback from party members on the prospect of nominating Rocky Anderson to run as our candidate for President of the United States in the November 2012 election.

Rocky Anderson is actively seeking our nomination.  His positions on issues closely match those of the Oregon Progressive Party.  Ralph Nader favors his candidacy over all others.  If nominated by the Oregon Progressive Party, he has promised to campaign actively in Oregon.

Here is his impressive biography: http://www.voterocky.org/meet_rocky.  Perhaps most impressive is his election and reelection as the notably progressive Mayor of Salt Lake City in a state that has voted all Republican in federal elections for decades and voted for a non-Republican for President only once in the past 60 years (Lyndon Johnson in 1964).

Here is his Wikipedia page:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Anderson
Here are some videos of his recent appearances:  http://www.voterocky.org/television

If you are a member of the Oregon Progressive Party, you can provide feedback by sending email to info@progparty.org (with Rocky in the subject) or by posting comments on this item.

We just received a fundraising email signed by "Barack" himself.  He says:

As we count down to another critical fundraising deadline for this campaign, it's important to remember this: We always knew this election would be about two competing economic plans -- whether we get to build on our progress or see it taken away. But we had no idea we'd also be up against a social agenda that would roll back decades of progress, particularly for women's health.

He had no idea that Republicans would advance such a social agenda?  What planet has he been living on?

On March 13, 2012, the Oregon Progressive Party endorsed these candidates for Portland Mayor and City Commissioner (in alphabetical order by office sought):

Mayor:  Cameron Whitten, Jefferson Smith

City Commissioner #1:  Amanda Fritz, Teressa Raiford

City Commissioner #4:  Mark White

"There was lively debate, and we appreciate the efforts of the candidates to convey to us their qualifications and positions on the issues," said David Hess, Treasurer of the Oregon Progressive Party.

Jack Ohman, the renowned political cartoonist of the Oregonian, has allowed us to reprint this gem from February 12. It is available nowhere else on the web. Click on the cartoon to see a readable version.

Where Ohman says, "But we don't have any limits on contributions," he means Oregon does not have limits that are being enforced. As we know, in November 2006, the voters of Oregon enacted Measure 47, which established one of the nation's most strict system of limits on political campaign contributions and expenditures. It also requires every political advertisement funded by "independent expenditures" to fully disclose the names, businesses, and amount contributed by each of its 5 largest donors, right in the ad itself.

The Secretary of State and Attorney General of Oregon have refused to enforce Measure 47, even though no court has ruled any part of Measure 47 to be unconstitutional. The Chief Petitioners have sued the Secretary of State and Attorney General to compel them to implement and enforce Measure 47, and that case is now before the Oregon Supreme Court, where oral argument was heard on January 9, 2012. The Court will probably make a decision within a few months.

Due to their refusal to implement Measure 47, campaign spending in Oregon continues to skyrocket. Total spending on campaigns for state and local offices in Oregon increased from $4.2 million in 1998 to $57 million in 2010. Candidates for Governor in 2010 alone raised and spent over $20 million. Winning a contested race for the Oregon Legislature now typically costs over $600,000, sometimes more. The Oregonian reports that spending on state legislative races in Oregon is higher per capita than in any other state, except New Jersey.

The Oregon Legislature's consideration of SB 1534 has triggered a massive outpouring of opposition, not just in Oregon but nationwide. Here are two of the articles in national publications about it:

Mother Jones     Forbes

Here are videos of the testimony about the bill at the Oregon Senate Judiciary Committee:

SB 1534 Testimony 1     SB 1534 Testimony 2

Attempt to criminalize tweets that solicit law-breaking fizzles at Oregon Legislature

Jamie Francis/The Oregonian Flash mobs that engage in criminal activity are the target of a bill that would make it illegal to electronically summon two or more people to a designated place to do something that is against the law. Critics say the bill, which appears dead, is aimed at preventing demonstrations such as Occupy Portland.

SALEM -- It was dubbed the "flash mob" bill when it got a hearing Monday at the Oregon Legislature -- a proposal to make it a felony to summon people by Twitter or email to commit a crime at a designated place.

Now it's more like flash-in-the-pan.

"It's dead," said Sen. Floyd Prozanski, the Eugene Democrat who, because he holds the gavel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, gets to decide such things.

Yet 11 Republicans and one Democrat signed onto Senate Bill 1534, which would have created the crime of "aggravated solicitation." And we're not talking street corners here.

Sen. Doug Whitsett, R-Klamath Falls, said he asked for the bill because he heard from retailers about being victims of flash mobs that steal stuff. It wasn't meant to stifle free speech, he said, but to bring law enforcement up to date with the modern era of social media and instant communication.

"If someone wants to bring a whole bunch of people to the Capitol to demonstrate, no problem," he said. "But if they're solicited to come to the Capitol at 9 p.m. to firebomb the place, that's a problem."

Critics say it's an unusual -- and dangerous -- incursion into the freedom to protest, not to mention tweet.

"I would expect a law like this is Myanmar, Turkmenistan, North Korea or Zimbabwe," said Dan Meek, a Portland attorney who testified Monday. Not, he said, at the Oregon Legislature.

FOR RELEASE:  February 6, 2012

CONTACT:
Dan Meek
dan@meek.net
503-293-9021

Daniel Meek, an attorney representing the Oregon Progressive Party, today testified at the Oregon Legislature against a bill to criminalize using any form of "electronic communication" to organize or join in any protest constituting civil disobedience.

"This is the kind of law you might find in Myanmar or Turkmenistan or North Korea or Zimbabwe, but not in Oregon," said Meek.  Several persons associated with the Occupy movement also testified against the bill.

SB 1534, with 12 Senators co-sponsoring (only 16 votes are needed to pass the Senate), would make it a Class C felony for anyone to send an email (or a tweet or text or blog post) "with the intent of causing two or more other persons to engage in specific conduct constituting a crime" that itself is only a misdemeanor.  A Class C felony is punishable by a fine of up to $125,000 and a prison term of 5 years.  A misdemeanor, such as disorderly conduct or failing to disperse when ordered or making an unreasonable noise, is punishable by $2,500 fine and 6 months in jail.  So SB 1534 makes sending the email a far more serious crime than the misdemeanor being suggested in the message.   Read more ...

Oregon's 1st District: My choice for Congress

Letter to Editor by Robert Enninga (Beaverton)
January 20, 2012

Note: This letter is followed, on the Oregonian website, by dozens of comments, the vast majority in support of voting for Steven Reynolds. To see the comments, click on the title above.

I have always proudly and enthusiastically voted and returned my ballot the day after it arrived in my mail. But this "special election" for representative in the 1st Congressional District became anything but special as we once again suffered the ad nauseam bombardment of negative attack ads from both the Republican and Democratic candidates and their supporting organizations. Disgusted, I found for the first time in my 40 years of voting that I was prepared to write in "None of the above" on my ballot, rather than vote for either perpetrator of the same old hyper-partisan "politics as usual."

When I opened my ballot envelope, though, I was thrilled to find that I had another choice: Progressive Party candidate Steven Reynolds, an "Unemployed, Disabled Veteran" and "West Point Graduate." I know nothing at all about Reynolds other than what he submitted for publication in the Voters' Pamphlet. But I found that I agree with every word that Reynolds wrote.

I too believe that Congress is a "dysfunctional organization" that has become an "embarrassment." And I also know that Reynolds has not participated in the politics of personal attack, as have the Democratic and Republican candidates in this race. And that counts, for me.

This one is simple. Steven Reynolds, thank you for your service to our country and for the personal sacrifices you have made. You earned my vote, and I very much hope that my fellow voters of Oregon's 1st Congressional District, regardless of their party affiliations, will see the wisdom of saying "no more politics as usual" and will join me in voting to send you to Congress to represent the state of Oregon.

I am going to work backwards and try to remember all that we have done or tried to do. First, we just came off the Hawthorne Bridge last Friday, it was cold and just two of us stood to announce the war in Iraq was not over, just the removing of the “Uniforms” was reported. We did have the president tell us that the Iraq War was over, but presidents do lie from time to time. I remember another president on May 1, 2003 who announced that major hostilities were over; as he landed on the carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln. There is the hope that this president is telling the truth and we can cheer the end of the war in Iraq, now we only have his word and I have always taken the word of a politician with a grain of salt. What we must do as a first step is stop bombing other nations at will; until that happens these undeclared wars will continue. So, we will continue protesting on the bridges because we need to keep telling all who drive past us to keep up the pressure until all the wars in the Middle East are officially over. Someday all who called for invasion, occupation and the destruction of Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza, Yemen, Libya, and others will be called before a judge to be tried for violations of the Geneva Convention and our laws. If you think we are finished causing wars, you are foolish. We will control the Middle East or destroy ourselves in the process. Iran is now being called the same names as we called Iraq just before “Shock and Awe.”    Read more ...

Host David Delk interviews Portland attorney Greg Kafoury on the status of American civil liberties under President Bush v under President Obama. Greg Kafoury finds they are worst under Obama and that the opposition which Bush generated to his policies have not materialized, even as the Bush policies have continued and the status of civil liberties has deteriorated under Obama.

http://blip.tv/populist-dialogues/12-4-greg-kafoury-civil-liberties-unde...

We were on the Hawthorne Bridge about 4:00 PM and enjoyed our outside shower. The rain and cold caused both of us to ask, what the hell were we doing, but we did get the sympathy vote. We did have a few people who were walking in the rain thank us for doing what we are doing. The bicyclists were with us and gave us the V sign or rang their bells in support. This was our second protest of the day.