Connecticut
Post posts about what is happening in the State of Connecticut.
The Latest Doninger Brief
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 12/09/2007 - 16:20Well, it is finally online. For those of you who enjoy reading legal briefs filed in The U.S. Court of Appeals won’t want to miss this one:
The Reply Brief of the Plaintiff-Appellant in the Avery Doninger case.
Now, normally, I would not recommend reading legal briefs as a form of relaxing entertainment on a Sunday afternoon a few weeks before Christmas, but this brief is fun to read; either that, or I need to get out more.
National Presidential Caucus
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 12/07/2007 - 13:40Back in October, I wrote about the Florida Primary Mess and the National Presidential Caucus. Well, today is National Presidential Caucus day and there aren’t a lot that are organized. My wife and I talked about organizing one for our home town, but there were too many things going on, and she is on the road up to New Hampshire to canvas for John Edwards this weekend.
We did have an event that was close to the caucuses being imagined. The Advancing the Dialog Presidential Proxy Debate had all the trappings of the caucuses, bright people presenting their views about the candidates they support. The one thing that it lacked was the actual caucusing at the end and any sort of tallying to see who won.
In New Jersey, they are having their own Presidential Caucus this evening. It looks like a great event. If you’re in New Jersey, you should try to make it.
Many DFA groups held caucuses or strawpolls at their monthly meetings. John Edwards won the Democracy for NEW YORK CITY Caucus. In the discussion there, it is mentioned that he also won in the Oakland, CA and Austin, TX caucuses or strawpolls.
Clinton won a strawpoll at a local fundraising dinner in North Coast, CA. As I commented about the Presidential Proxy Debate here in Connecticut as well as in my earlier post about the National Presidential Caucus, these sort of events, I believe, return us to the sort of democracy that is essential our country, a democracy where everyone participates, instead of simply a democracy where people watch a few ads, listen to a few soundbites and go to voting booths as uninformed voters.
Chris Angle declares candidacy
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 12/06/2007 - 14:57Yesterday, Chris Angle, 58, of Redding, filed forms with the Federal Election Commission to run for Congress in the 4th Congressional District. Chris will be running as a Libertarian candidate. Chris is a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) and in 2004 filed for a patent for a ‘Process for incorporation of exchange traded portfolios (a.k.a. exchange traded funds) into life insurance or annuity policies with an optional principal protection feature’.
His website should be up in about a week and I am expecting to receive a copy of his platform shortly. I spoke briefly with Chris this afternoon and congratulated him on his decision to run. While I traditionally vote for Democrats and for that matter, no longer even live in the fourth congressional district, I was glad to welcome Chris to the race. Our democracy is made stronger by a lively, spirited and respectful debate. I hope that Chris will bring that to the 4th CD race.
Wordless Wednesday
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 12/04/2007 - 19:31
Sen Clinton: Fiona is running for President
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 12/04/2007 - 12:15I hope, forty years from now, an opponent of Fiona’s in a Presidential primary, will look back at this blog post and prepare a press release stating, “AHA! I told you Fiona had been planning to run for President for years!”. Yes, if you ask her, she wants to be President. She would sure do a better job than our current President, and she knows that.
I give a lot of credit to people like Howard Dean, John Edwards, and Barack Obama for returning the role of President to its proper place in the American dream. The Presidency should be an honorable office sought by people hoping to make our country better for everyone.
When Fiona isn’t dreaming of being a President or Congresswoman, she is dreaming of being a paleontologist, a marine biologist or a fashion designer. The dreams of childhood, we need people like John Edwards or Barack Obama to help make the American Dream and the dreams of childhood a little more realistic.
So, when Fiona’s opponent, forty years hence, comes and read this blog post, I hope they read all of it. I hope follow the link to Hillary Clinton’s press release proclaiming that Sen. Obama is rewriting history, by claiming he hadn't been planning a White House run. I hope they read the disgust people have at Sen. Clinton’s word parsing and her inability to distinguish between hopes, aspirations and the hard word of planning and organizing a Presidential campaign. Somehow, Sen. Clinton’s speech sounds a little bit too much like Brutus accusing Caesar of being ambitious. Yes, Obama is ambitious. Ambition can be a great thing, and so perhaps I must play Mark Anthony.
Yes, Sen. Clinton, and whomever channels this sort of attack forty years hence, Fiona is planning on running for President, with all the childlike joy and passion a six year old has. It is a beautiful thing and shame on anyone who would speak ill of such dreams.
My support is with John Edwards, I believe he is the best candidate this time around, but I also have great respect for Barack Obama, and this latest attack by Hillary Clinton only improves my opinion of Barack Obama and lowers my opinion of Hillary Clinton.
(Cross posted at DailyKos)
