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Voters to Grand Obstruction Party: Where are the jobs?

Why the Grand Obstruction Party hopes obstructionism will lead to feudalism. (Thom Hartmann)

August 6, 2013

Folks here in Washington State, across America, likely throughout the civilized world, and quite possibly in neighboring galaxies have a new name for Republicans: the G.O.P.

Nope, not the Grand Old Party of upstanding statesmen from Lincoln to Eisenhower, but the current corporate-backed incarnation, the Grand Obstruction Party.

The sole purpose of today’s GOP is to bring economic and social progress to a screeching halt. And they’re damn good at it.

  • Jobs? Republicans have put a halt creating family-wage jobs. They’d rather you work for minimum wage, or preferably less, without benefits of course. Hence the Republican attack on unions. Instead of encouraging workers’ rights, championing higher pay and basic benefit packages, the Grand Obstruction Party wants that all to simply disappear so that their “free market” (in other words, unobstructed by any kind of regulations—or ethics, for that matter) corporate backers can continue to increase their already grotesque profits exponentially.
  • Made in America? Forget it. Republicans prefer outsourcing. Easier and cheaper to deal with third-world factory collapses than to be beholden to good old American labor. What’s a few dead Asians compared to a soaring stock market?
  • Equal pay? Republicans know where women belong. Minorities, too. The kitchen would be a great place for both, according to the GOP. Or maybe manicuring a CEO’s lawn.

What to do? Well, friends and neighbors, your members of Congress are about to return home for a series of off-year, off-session (as if the GOP ever accomplished anything on-session) town hall meetings.

Attend those meetings. Exercise your democratic right to ask your elected officials a few questions. Such as:

  • Where are the jobs? We need roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and all manner of other infrastructure built and re-built. How come we’re not doing that?
  • Continued outsourcing…are you kidding me? Americans work harder, smarter, and produce goods we’re proud of. Why does the Grand Obstruction Party actively support sending jobs overseas?
  • Why can’t we earn a decent living? CEOs are raking in mega-bucks; profits are at an all-time high. What about the working people who actually make it all happen?

Go to your local town hall gatherings. This is America. Let no right-wing corporatist obstruct you from standing up and speaking your mind!

Town hall meetings: a perfect time to question your member of congress.

http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/town-hall.jpg?w=480&h=320&crop=1

Originally published at examiner.com

Whatcom County: the light at the end of the coal mine shaft?

Barry Buchanan on the election trail, seeking a seat on Whatcom County Council
Barry Buchanan on the election trail, seeking a seat on Whatcom County Council
Credits: KGMI-AM  790

With the future of fossil fuels as America’s primary energy source hanging in the balance, upcoming off-year elections in the far corner of the Pacific Northwest may tip the scales one way or the other.

Whatcom County, Washington, will be deciding who’ll sit on their County Council and Port Commission. Those officials will in turn decide whether to support or oppose a project to ship thousands of tons of coal via rail to a proposed Whatcom County port for export to China.

If approved, the project would send coal –laden trains rumbling through quiet communities, disrupting traffic and lifestyles, providing a few long-term family-wage jobs. The subsequent unregulated coal-burning plants of China will return the favor by wafting their pollution back to the Pacific Northwest on prevailing winds.

Assuming that China will continue its thirst for foreign fossil fuels, which is by no means certain.

One candidate openly expressing his concerns about the coal port project is Barry Buchanan, seeking a seat on Whatcom County Council in the upcoming November election.

Buchanan was prodded into politics by his friend (and former mayor of Bellingham, Whatcom County’s central city) Mark Asmundson. Barry quickly took the bit, becoming Chairman of the Whatcom County Democratic Party and eventually serving four years on the Bellingham City Council.

Why does the “Gateway Pacific Terminal” worry him? Buchanan cites three main reasons:

  • Global: the impact of burning fossil fuels like coal on climate change is dramatically problematic.
  • Local: how will the introduction of several exceedingly long and potentially dusty coal trains per day affect the flow of traffic and timely emergency services over city and county roads?
  • Financial: those roads will require upgrades if rail traffic is to increase. How will Whatcom County pay for that? And what if the need for coal exports does indeed dwindle?

Buchanan suggests a couple of simple alternatives to this dicey coal conundrum. Namely:

  • Promote existing small business enterprises in Whatcom County. Encourage the expansion of local mom-and-pop operations. “Do not hamper their success,” he urged in a recent interview.
  • Build new business by working with Whatcom County’s very own educational institutions like Western Washington University and Bellingham Technical College. Currently, many of the county’s innovative graduates are forced to seek employment elsewhere. Why not work with the local business community to “generate good green jobs here,” argues Buchanan.

Disruptive coal trains and a coal port with an uncertain future. Or good green local jobs.

That’s the choice Whatcom County is faced with this November. And the whole world is watching.

Originally published at Examiner.com

Anger over proposed coal trains unites coastal communities

Coal-fired plants threaten local economies, ecological systems, and citizens' health.

“I’m not any kind of professional organizer,” says anti-coal train activist Lynne Oulman, “but I just got so angry about what was about to happen here.”

Related topics

In Lynne’s case, “here” means Bellingham, Wash. But cities and towns all along the Pacific Northwest coast have united to oppose proposed deep-water ports, shipping terminals, and the potentially protracted trains that would be rumbling to and fro carrying loads of coal from mines in the Midwest bound for shipment to the unregulated belchfire plants of China.

Canadians, too, recognize the threat, as they gather to voice their disapproval of coal exports from their ports.

        Dirty coal. It's a worldwide problem. Cheap profits, expensive consequences.

Among the chief concerns of folks faced with the prospect of thousands of tons of the dirty fuel rolling through their communities and/or off-loading the black ecological plague nearby:

  • The detrimental health effects of coal dust wafting from the passing trains and billowing out during the process of dumping it at the ports.
  • The detrimental health effects of breathing in the resulting pollution from unfettered Chinese coal-fired plants when it inevitably makes its way back to the Pacific Northwest via the prevailing weather patterns.
  • The detrimental economic effects of traffic delays and environmental degradation that could quickly turn what are now highly regarded communities into icky, smudgy societal pariahs.

Add to all this the dawning awareness that China, in a few short years, may lose its taste for America’s high-priced coal   and a clear picture of corporate greed emerges. Short-term profit, long-term loss. Wall Street wins, Main Street loses.

How to derail the corporate-backed coal train juggernaut? Lynne Oulman favors a three-pronged approach:

  • Recruit local businesses to stand in opposition to this economic and environmental threat.
  • Contact your local elected officials. Urge them to pass resolutions against using your community as a thoroughfare or dumping ground for coal.
  • Connect with other groups promoting allied issues both locally and nationwide. “Stand with Native Americans” when it comes to water rights, suggests Oulman. Fight fracking and the Keystone Pipeline. “They’re all intertwined,” she concludes.

As are the train tracks that snake up and down the Pacific Northwest coast.

Originally published at Examiner.com

Fighting for single-payer healthcare: Dr. Milstein vs. the naked emperor

When it comes to the current health care system here in America, Dr. Jerrold Milstein relishes repeating his mantra, “The emperor has no clothes!”

A strong supporter of the Affordable Health Care Act, or “ObamaCare” as right-wing conservatives derisively call it, Dr. Milstein is convinced that “once people realize they’ll be getting better care…resistance will decline.” It’s just a matter of educating both patients and their physicians.

And the central thesis of that education would be getting people to understand that America currently suffers from a “two-tiered system.” The rich can afford to be healthy, the poor cannot; physicians are hounded into requesting unnecessary drugs and tests for their patients, while insurance companies and their CEOs reap record profits; expensive treatments are routinely recommended, but common sense preventive care is routinely denied.

And so it goes. Yes, says Dr. Milstein, Associate Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics and Neurology at Seattle Children’s Hospital, folks here in Washington State and across the country are beginning to realize the benefits of ObamaCare as its improvements slowly kick in. But, here in the Evergreen State, Dr. Milstein would like to give health care a booster shot.

Namely, a giant dose of single-payer health care. By eliminating the insurance company middlemen and the grotesquely exorbitant salaries of their CEOs, Milstein foresees a future where Washington State shines as a pioneer in single-tier health care, with no one standing between patient and doctor, dictating what can and cannot be allowed on the basis of profitability instead of good health.

With the top-heavy for-profit insurance gargantuan out of the way, perhaps we as a society can begin to heal.

Toward that end, Jerrold Milstein has begun a petition effort entitled, “Washington: Be the first single-payer healthcare state.” He’s rapidly approaching his goal of 5,000 signatures, whereupon he’d be most pleased to present said petition to Gov. Jay Inslee and the state legislature.

“I still tilt at windmills,” muses Dr. Milstein, now in his seventies. Naked emperors, beware!

Originally published at examiner.com

Christopher Kennedy Lawford: the pain of addiction, the hope of recovery

Christopher Kennedy Lawford brings his insights into addicition and recovery to Seattle, March 19.
Credits: womensconference.org

As a thirteen-year-old with great expectations, he aspired to follow the life trajectory of his uncle: attend and excel at a prestigious university; engage in a distinguished military career; publish an award-winning book at a relatively young age; pursue a successful path in politics; and, naturally, become President of the United States. If that’s what his uncle John F. Kennedy was able to achieve, well then, reasoned youthful Christopher Kennedy Lawford, why couldn’t he?

One of Chris Lawford’s earliest—and fondest—memories is of being awakened early in the morning of July 13, 1960 by Uncle John in Los Angeles. “Christopher,” said Uncle John as he sat on the edge of his five-year-old nephew’s bed, “I’ve been nominated to be President of the United States. Will you help me?”

“I was mesmerized by the whole American political spectacle,” says Lawford, recalling how he did indeed “help” his uncle by sporting a little red jacket, tie, and American flag during the wild tumult of the Democratic National Convention at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

When Uncle John was assassinated just over three years later, it was a horrible blow to Chris and all the extended Kennedy clan. Not to mention the entire nation. But there was still hope. Chris turned to another uncle, Bobby, for inspiration.

“Uncle Bobby was the most profound influence in my young life,” Lawford says. Uncle Bobby always seemed to be there for Christopher, was continually involved with the family. He constantly urged his nephew to explore life, and, no matter what the game or contest, Uncle Bobby saw to it that “no one sat on the sidelines; everybody played.”

That hope ended abruplty with yet another assassin’s bullet when Robert F. Kennedy was cut down in June of 1968, just as his presidential campaign was reaching its climax.

It was the “Summer of Love.” But it devolved into a summer of despair for thirteen-year-old Christopher Kennedy Lawford. Subjected to such immense pain and trauma in raw adolescence, Chris began looking for a way out. Something to help him feel better. Laments Lawford, “I spent the next seventeen years trying to ‘feel better.’”

What began as teenage experiments with LSD escalated into chronic heroin and alcohol abuse. “I knew I had a problem at the age of twenty,” Lawford says, “but it took me ten years to get sober. I tried everything…nothing worked.”

But eventually, one miserably cold day in Boston, 1986, Chris hit rock bottom and began to look up.

By late 1986, Christopher Kennedy Lawford found himself wallowing in a miasma of drugs and alcohol, both despite and because of his rich family heritage from the political Kennedy clan and high-profile actor/father Peter Lawford. Feeling his great expectations might never be realized, he considered his life to be over and contemplated suicide. Then it happened.

Chris Lawford experienced a “moment of surrender, a window of opportunity,” during which he resolved to do whatever he was told to do in order to change his life. Lawford frequently emphasizes the need for such a moment in his incredibly insightful writings about addiction and recovery. Is it a spiritual revelation? Perhaps.

Chris describes it as a gut-level feeling of submission: “Please help me!” And there is help. With that help—and it may take a long time or not—anyone can move from slavery to toxic compulsions into recovery.

Addicts, observes Lawford in his latest book Recover to Live, are driven by self-centeredness. Once that self-centeredness is overcome by the realization that there is, indeed, something greater than you, then the process of reaching out for help can begin. The ultimate prize of recovery, and what Christopher Kennedy Lawford regards as his proudest achievement, is “my freedom to be me.” Finally unchained from his perceived legacy, toxic relationships, and the other assorted carry-on baggage of his previous life, Lawford revels in the possibility to examine his untapped talents and explore his future.

And he firmly believes we as a society ought to foster those opportunities for all Americans. How? For one thing, “nutrition and healthcare should be affordable for everyone.” Why? Because “physical health is mental health.” Can’t have one without the other, as Chris sees it, and everyone should have access to both.

Universal health care is one priority for Chris Lawford. A national dialogue about mental health is another. Having come from a family scarred by divorce and murder, and seen first-hand the ugly influence of poverty, Lawford insists that “we (Americans) have to overcome this enormous ignorance and shame” we feel when it comes to talking about mental health.

“My family, generationally, was obliterated by gun violence,” Chris recalls, as he bemoans right-wing political hysteria that points accusing fingers at scapegoats and scarecrows instead of engaging in genuine discussion about the root causes of social ills like aggression and addiction.

“People that care about this as a social justice issue have to get involved,” Lawford implores. If it’s left up to politicians and insurance companies dealing behind closed doors, nothing will get done.

Perhaps we as a nation need to recognize our addiction to fear, surrender our ignorance, and recover our possibilities?

 

  • Christopher Kennedy Lawford will be appearing in Seattle at Elliott Bay Books Tuesday, March 19, 7:00pm. He’ll be signing copies of his latest book, Recover to Live: Kick Any Habit, Manage Any Addiction, an extensive exploration of the possibilities for self-treatment of toxic compulsions from drugs to gambling to sex and pornography.
  • Earlier in the day, at 7:30am, Chris will be speaking at an Invest in Youth breakfast for Youth Eastside Services, at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue.

Originally published at Examiner.com.

Talkless in Seattle: listeners bid good night to Emerald City’s liberal voice

Seattle unplugged. Literally and liberally. The demise of Progressive Talk Radio in the Emerald City.

Greetings, Seattle radiophiles! Here we are in a vast metropolitan area teeming with liberal activists and awash in humanitarian causes, while known as merely a so-so “sports town,” except when the Hawks, Mariners or Sonics (oops, looks like we lost that one!) are at the top of the standings. But wait, what’s this? CBS has unceremoniously dumped AM 1090’s wildly popular roster of liberal talkers in favor of yet another obnoxious entry into the dreary series of all-sports stations to compete with KRKO AM 1380 and KJR AM 950.

So let’s take a look at the Emerald City scoreboard: Sports Talk Radio stations 3, Progressive Talk 0.

What’s going on here? Is this game rigged? Is the fix in?

In a city where progressive politicos and celebs draw huge crowds while the struggling Mariners have trouble filling seats even on Ichiro bobblehead night (oh wait, he’s gone too!), you’d expect there to be Progressive Talk radio stations adorning both the AM and FM sides of the dial, what with all the local and national pundits jockeying for air time.

And yet…dead air. Why is Seattle’s radio audience being deprived of their ability to learn about and discuss issues of local and national interest in an open and honest forum?

“We no longer have public airwaves, we have corporate airwaves,” explains Carolyn Tamler, who represents a newly formed group called Progressive Radio in Seattle. She goes on to suggest that the corporate conglomerates who now own much of the airwaves “have no interest in what the Left has to say.”

Could it simply be that there’s no profit in Progressive Talk? Well, yes…and no.

In an eye-opening piece on truthout.org, longtime radio icon Peter B. Collins argues that the bottom line is that, well, Progressive Talk’s bottom line isn’t well. Writes Collins, “In my experience, most station owners and managers have a strong bias to the right, and with a few exceptions, the rest just look for the easiest way to make maximum profit.”

With the demise of the Fairness Doctrine, there’s no compelling need for the current owners of the airwaves (which used to be beholden to the public good) to present balanced news or opposing points of view. The compelling need now is not to educate, but to entertain. Entertainment, that’s where the big bucks are.

And entertainment is exactly what fear-mongering right-wing shills like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Michael Savage are all about. Create a space where anger and frustration reign supreme and the disenfranchised paranoids of the world will beat a path to your radio dial. With cash in hand. Drooling with mad glee as they purchase everything from the latest insane paperback diatribe to whackdoodle T-shirts to sugar-laden tea, whether they can afford it or not.

Where’s a genuine seeker of information and knowledge to turn?

To be continued…stay tuned!

Originally published at Examiner.com

New Year’s resolution for Washingtonians: help Texas secede

Bye-bye, y'all!

 

Dear Texas,

Howdy!

We here in Washington State have heard tell that you’re itchin’ to leave the Union now that the renegade Marxist/Muslim/Kenyan Black man who wants to take away your guns, close down your churches, and force you to marry your dope-smoking gay neighbor has been re-elected.

And since we pinko liberals are fond of making resolutions to cut back on our fat, fear, and

frustration levels in the New Year, we just have one question to ask of you: How can we help you secede?

Well, actually, we do have a few more questions, namely:

  • Exactly how do you intend to survive financially without all the federal aid you government-hatin’ folks in the Red States receive? Got enough oil rigs and longhorns to run an entire country?
  • Y’all seem to be prone to natural disasters—hurricanes, tornadoes and suchlike. Who you gonna call the next time Mama Nature gets it in Her head to wallop the United (or would it be Untied) State of Texas. Can’t come crawling back to bad old Washington, D.C.
  • Supposing Mexico takes a notion to reassert ownership over the Lonely Star Republic. You’ll have to rely on whatever militia you can muster since all your military bases and installations will remain the property of us right here in the U.S.A. You might be able to hold off one or two small drug cartels at the Rio Grande, but the whole Mexican army? Adios!

    Nonetheless, we Washingtonians do have a couple of helpful suggestions:

    • If you need any assistance writing those whackdoodle textbooks for your school system—seeing as history and science ain’t exactly your strong suits—we could lend you a couple of good sci-fi and fantasy writers. Got plenty of them in these parts.
    • And how about we trade you, say, Spokane for Austin? No bastion of progressive open-mindedness like Austin would belong in the new Texas, Inc. And we could sure use a bulwark against incursion by white supremacist loons in the Idaho panhandle.

    So you see, Texas, ridding the Union of you would be one New Year’s resolution we Blue States would just love to keep.

    You’re welcome!

Colbert on succession:
Texas secession? Yee-haw!!!

 

Originally published at Examiner.com

Dear Santa: help us end gun violence

Regarding the rash of gun violence that continues to cause this country so much sorrow and pain, when all is said and done only one thing remains to be said and one thing remains to be done: we must speak out about mental illness and how we can help those in need of treatment and support; and we must do our best to keep guns away from irrational, irresponsible people.

In addition to a decrease in funding for mental health services, there has been a virtual cessation of our national conversation about mental illness. Americans simply don’t like to talk about what’s wrong with us; we just want to revel in our individual liberties, dreams, and accomplishments. The poor and the sick, according to the conservative culture of “American exceptionalism,” are mere aberrations to be swept under the carpet, tiny statistics to be marginalized or ignored.

But murdered children are more than tiny statistics. Their legacy demands that we do better.

At the very least, perhaps we ought to tighten the requirements for those who want to acquire firearms and increase the accountability of those who do own guns. That’s what we ask of people who want to own and operate vehicles; it is astonishing that we don’t do the same when it comes to firearms.

So, let us begin with:

  • Registration: Each privately owned firearm should be accompanied by a certificate of registration, just like a privately owned vehicle. In order to obtain said certificates, the applicant should be subject to an immediate background check and standard psychological profile. Upon complete evaluation of the check and profile—perhaps a ten-day waiting period—the applicant can then take possession of the firearm(s) in question.
  • Licensing: Gun owners should be licensed according to the category of firearm(s) they possess. Just as different classes of vehicles require different classes of operators’ licenses, so it should be with firearms. Knowledge of elements like proper use and safe storage should be tested. These firearms licenses should be renewed every four years.
  • Insurance: Just like drivers, gun owners should be required to purchase firearms insurance covering potential damage and death. It’s high time insurance companies were kicked out of the health care business; here’s a new field they can concentrate on.

If we Americans cannot be persuaded individually to give up our guns, we can at least shoulder the social responsibility of showing that we know how to safely use them and accept accountability for their misuse.

Meanwhile, would it kill us to shoulder the social responsibility of reaching out to help those who are ill and in need of assistance? If we don’t, it just might.

“V for Victory”…over voter suppression

Vote, verify, be vigilant. Make sure your vote counts!

While courts may be striking or watering down some voter suppression attempts by Republican governors and legislatures in key swing states, that does not mean Democratic organizations in those states can let down their guard. It’s not as though the right-wing corporate donors who bought those governors and legislatures are simply going to give up and go away between now and November 6.

Their wildly successful efforts to steal the general elections in 2000 and 2004 were such grand coups for George W. Bush that there’s no way the elite Romney Rich are going to let some paltry court rulings sabotage this year’s push for RepubliCorp election fraud.

So, for liberals, progressives and hard-working middle class voters all across the country who want to put an end to Republican obstructionism and get America moving forward again, the key word for Election 2012 is vigilance.

Along with some other V-words, namely…

  • Vote early. In those states where folks can cast ballots prior to November 6, do so. Then there’s no need to try to locate a polling place that’s been mysteriously closed or moved without notice; or to face annoying, intimidating Tea Party “challengers” who might question your right to vote at all. Then…
  • Verify your vote. It may not be enough to vote early. Make sure your ballot was received. Generally speaking, early voting states have folks you can contact to ensure that your ballot arrived safe and sound at the proper office.
  • Vote in groups. Live in a state where early voting is unavailable? Prefer to actually go to a polling place to cast your ballot? Why not bring along a gaggle of friends or family members? Make it a social event, bring snacks. Then, if some angry right-wing white guy tries to question your residence or ID, all of you can challenge him! Where’s his ID and proof of residence? Take pictures or videos of the confrontation and post them on YouTube. Or maybe just offer him a cookie and tell him politely to go away and do something constructive.

Not registered to vote yet? Not sure if your registration is current? It may not be too late to find out. Contact your local elections office.

Not interested in voting? Then stop whining. No cookies for you.

Originally published at examiner.com.

Election 2012: Eerie Evergreen endorsements

Ah, late October…leaves turning into a riot of wondrous color, kids turning into ghouls, political yard signs springing up like unholy daffodils…

…former sponsors and endorsers fleeing from Lance Armstrong and the Tea Party like the Black Plague.

Voters here in Washington State and all across the land have finally torn the mask off the allegedly “grassroots, anti-tax” Tea Party and revealed the zombie within: a corporate-bankrolled Trojan Horse of frightened white folks who would rather suffer lower wages and no benefits than possess the common sense to support workers’ rights through unions; who honestly believe that women ought to lie back and enjoy it when it comes to anything from rape to unequal pay; who worship their religious and corporate overlords to the point of backing another U.S. invasion of the Middle East; and who don’t want no more of them there gummint taxes but demand all the protections and benefits that government provides.

At least Lance helped raise millions of dollars for cancer awareness and research. And, sponsors be damned, he deserves high praise for that.

The Tea Party simply is a cancer on the American body politic. Which is why Republican candidates nationwide are now disavowing their very own Tea Party-inspired platforms faster than Willard “Mitt” Romney can flip his next flop.

And that brings us to a select few endorsements of honest, down-to-Earth candidates here in Washington State who’ll keep our state Evergreen with respect to both the environment and the economy:

  • Jay Inslee, Governor: By most accounts, Republican Rob McKenna is a nice enough fella. But he’s been backpedaling from the State GOP’s platform faster than Lance Armstrong on a downhill hairpin turn. McKenna embraced the crazed Tea Party agenda two years ago. Now? Not so much. Inslee has always been a champion of high-tech jobs, green energy, and equal rights. There’s no telling what a Governor McKenna might do, but we do know that a Governor Inslee will promote both healthy job growth and a healthy environment.
  • Bill Finkbeiner, Lieutenant Governor: OMG, he’s GOP! Finkbeiner is that rare species, a true old-school Republican who favors individual civil liberties rather than Tea Party anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-minority government legislation. Democrat Brad Owen has held this office since the Jurassic Era, and, other than being a huge proponent of the failed War on Drugs, has little to show for his tenure.
  • Denny Heck, 10th Congressional District: A strong advocate for the middle class, veterans, jobs, and the environment, Democrat Heck stands in stark contrast to Tea Party darling Dick Muri who apparently stands for nothing but less government. Whatever that means.
  • Suzan DelBene, 1st Congressional District: Democrat DelBene, a true “job creator” unlike GOP job out-sourcers and down-sizers, is opposed by perennial loser John Koster whose only job appears to be running for Congress on behalf of the Republican right wing year after year after year after…
  • Natalie McClendon, 42nd District State Representative: This local race is elevated to statewide importance by the fact that Democrat McClendon—a consensus-builder and longtime proponent of beneficial community causes—seeks to unseat Republican Jason Overstreet, a right-wing radical who’s so far out there that he might as well be Representative from Mars. That is, if Mars had no women, minorities, or common sense.

Originally published at examiner.com.