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Eric Vessels (Delaware, OH)
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This is Eric's blog home on Progress Ohio. Look for plenty of conservative banging as well as witty commentary from the cheap seats. Hell, you might even be treated to audio of a surprise phone call to a backpeddling politician. What fun!

So it's been a year eh? Time does fly when you're having fun countering the right-wing smear machine with progressive voices.  They ended up being so diverse and powerful that many entrenched political figures cowered under the shadows on high.

What I remember is a left-wing crazy assed blogger hooking up with an established political communications professional in an unlikely synergy that would launch a powerful progressive force uniting activists of all types into one strong voice.

I remember strategy meetings in Starbucks. I remember going over website features and designs over a Bob Evans breakfast. I remember flying to Denver to learn from our colleagues (and now good friends) at ProgressNow. I seem to also remember a ton of snow and sitting on a plane for two hours, but thems the breaks in ski country I reckon.

I remember finally coming to light on South Third Street and shooting a video holding Deb Pryce and company accountable to our seniors while furniture was being moved in.  Hit the ground running - and haven't let up since. You might remember that video. They didn't care about our statement.

They care now.

Only now the statement is bigger.  Not many listen to a dozen voices as those are easy to ignore.  It's no longer feasible to ignore more than 250,000 voices all demanding an end to our failed foray into neo-conservatism.  The voices demanded an end to 16 years of corrupt one party rule.  The voices demanded to be represented.

They are starting to listen.

From the first day we countered the right-wing noise, and you were there.  You might have just sat back and read emails.  You might have cursed your screen as we all do at times.  You might have signed a petition thinking 'what good does this really do?'.  You might have signed up for a blog and began to speak out online.  You may have even attended or even organized a live event.  Whatever you did, you did it with ProgressOhio tools - and it mattered immensely.  I'm often asked what it is ProgressOhio does.  It's actually quite simple and the confusion amazes me.  PO is a toolset for countering right-wing noise and smears and for furthering progressive causes.  PO is a concentration of our power and voice.  PO works to make sure progressive voices are heard and progressive policies are fought for.

But most of all ProgressOhio was launched with the goal to be powered by and representative of you, the progressive activist.  I'm proud to have had a very small role in getting the ball rolling.  By the looks of it, the ball is not only rolling but picking up steam.  My last visit to the offices at PO was two doors down and double the space.  Each time I've been in there have been multiple people working to further the progressive cause, whether directly for ProgressOhio or for partner groups.  I've rarely recognized everyone in the office and that left me smilling.  It's what we were after.

So congratulations.  To YOU.  For one year of progressive work.  I hope we are able to get together soon and celebrate our accomplishments together.  I hope you feel as good about it as I do.

And finally some advice.  Whatever it is you do - DO IT!  Don't worry about how small it feels.  Together it is significant.  I think it was said best by a bespeckled bald Indian:

"Almost anything you do seems insignificant.  It is very important that you do it.  You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

Progress Bombaye!

PS - I want a corner piece!
x-posted at Plunderbund 

Here’s a lovely little story. For a week now, I’ve been hearing that the wife of Scott Pullins, Kathryn Elliott Pullins, has been contacting several bloggers and trying to get them to delete comments and posts, and generally intimidate people into not blogging about Scott - especially in a bad light. I didn’t think much of it until we got a call on Monday.

Phone rings. I pick it up. Female voice. “Is Holly there?”. “Sure, hang on”, I say, figuring it for a massage client or a friend of Holly’s whose voice I didn’t know. I don’t start paying attention until Holly starts raising her voice saying something about not appreciating the caller calling our home and threatening her. The following are several exchanges that Holly and Kathryn had. They are not in chronological order according to Holly and there are other parts of the conversation that happened but are not included here:

Kathryn: You don’t know me, but my name is Kathryn Pullins, I live in Knox County, my husband is Scott Pullins.

Holly: OK

Kathryn: Your husband owns a website called Plunderbund

Holly: Yes

Kathryn: On that website your husband has continually posted things about my husband. Is your husband an attorney?

Me: No

Kathryn: Are you an attorney?

Holly: No

Kathryn: Do you have a job?

Me: Yes

Kathryn: Does your husband have a job?

Holly: Yes

Kathryn: Are you homeowners?

Holly: Yes [Eric says: Ladies and gentleman, my wife has spectacular patience]

Kathryn: OK. Well my husband IS an attorney and I have asked your husband to remove a post that is attacking our business, and I have not heard back from him. I am a calling you to let you know that if the post is not taken down, we will file a lawsuit against you, and we can garnish your wages, and your husbands wages, and take your home.

   Read More »

(X posted from Plunderbund) Let's cut to the point and get something straight here right out of the gate. The Buckeye Institute is not our friend - if you don't consider yourself a conservative. Put a nice little period after that one and you can go about your day unless you want to hear me pound Jill Zimon for the next couple minutes.

Jill posted a nice little note on her blog making us all aware that The Buckeye Institute has a new blog designed to alert us of any "wasteful spending" at The Statehouse. It's fun! It's exciting! We can make our government better and the flowers will smell rosier and the sun will shine brighter. Jill, dear, what the FUCK don't you get about the Buckeye Institute? First clue:


Buckeye Institute capture

Right there above the link to your blog...see it? "...promoting free market ideas and limited government". That's code for "Right-wing intelligent design loving miscreants". Is this new to you? Thankfully Jerid hopped on this and outed Carlo and friends. You really want to point people there and have us all hop on this illusion of a bi-partisan trainwreck? You really hat tipped Matt Naugle? Did i really just see that? There is a reason Russell and I used to give you shit about being a closet conservative. Then you let Matt get away with slamming Policy Matters and pretending that Buckeye Institute is "completely unlike Policy Matters, which is a group of liberal smucks and union cronies". Pardon me, but What? The? Fuck?

Do some damned research. You normally do. Find out that while Matt is understandably trying to paint Policy Matters as partisan and Buckeye Institute as "representing the general interest", nothing could be further from the truth. Second clue? They hired his ass to put the blog together! Ding ding ding! I think there is a knob behind your left ear labeled "conservative misinformation bullshit meter". Turn that up to 11.

Business First got it right when they called BI "a conservative think tank in Columbus". Duh. You might also find out that in January Deborah Owens (aka DeborahLOwens or Deborah Owens Fink) was named to the board. Wanna guess who she gave money to? Yup. Wanna guess what else she is involved in? You know, right? You quoted her once and I think even pounded on her a bit. She's also the mouthpiece in Ohio for Seattle's Discovery Institute - a so-called "public policy think tank", but more aptly described as a "belief tank" (like a think tank without the doubt).

Blackwell, Loparo, Fink, Naugle. Yes! Let's get behind that! Make no mistake here: The Buckeye Institute is the enemy. If No one is more concerned about Ohio's future than you, then call bullshit on this instead of empower it. For the love of all that is good and right fight the good fight! 

But hey, it's a rough and tumble world out there in this political landscape. Charlatans everywhere. Be careful, kid. You need something just come see me at the pub. I'll be in the back talking strategy with Vinnie.

Word on the street is that the newly hired Online Director here has upgraded to Vista on his PC laptop. Not only that, but he is dragging our fearless Executive Director on premises into the age where computers respond quicker than it takes you to get a sandwich at Ray Johnson's by outfitting him with a much needed NEW laptop - also with Vista.

Therefore I figured it appropriate to share this little bit of hilarity:



That is all...nothing follows.
Ah, the post I didn't wanna write. I will say that it is a bit easier than 3 weeks ago when this first began. I was forced to a decision. When I was first talking to people in Colorado about forming a group similar to theirs in Ohio I was both excited about the concept as well as doubtful that I'd be picked to launch it. It turned out that I got the opportunity to do just that, and as those who read my post at Plunderbund know, I viewed it as a high honor.

What some might not know is that for the past 4 years I've also been involved in another startup of sorts in the private sector. A website that has become the number one news destination in the global commercial printing industry. I told Brian when I interviewed to be the resident geek at ProgressOhio about the business and that I was an equity partner and would not be walking away from that. So for the last 5 months I've essentially been doing two jobs. ProgressOhio during the day and WhatTheyThink.com at night. Ironic given PO is supposed to be the "shadow organization" and I did that in the light of day. It was hard, but the energy around the midterm elections helped me get by on adrenaline and caffeine.

Soon after the election we decided amongst the owners of the business that we needed to get serious in order to make it the success we thought it could be. This forced my decision and I spent the better part of a month with permanent knots in my stomach. I will say that I have never made a harder decision in my entire life, including some pretty damned tough ones!

In the end, my entrepreneurial dreams and a desire to have my own business and make something that had lasting value and contributed to the long-term financial stability of my family barely won over my passion for politics and contributing to progressive change in an era when more and more control is concentrated in the hands of less and less folks.

I was worried about Rootscamp coming toward the end of my time knowing I had already decided to leave. I feared the event would cause me to regret given what I predicted would be a great time with a good number of like-minded folks from across the state. I was right about the last part, but in my heart I did not feel regret for my decision and feel very fortunate for that.

I will certainly miss a great many things, most of which will be getting to work with one of the brightest political minds in the state in Brian. I was very hesitant in the beginning given our recent history over the ODP state dinner and the Obama table. The two of us worked better together than I ever could have imagined and I'm glad I listened to Mike Huttner when he said us coming from different directions could be a plus - he was spot on! (Mike is the Executive Director of our sister organization in Colorado - ProgressNow.) I feel like we learned alot from each other - me gaining a slight edge maybe in things learned.

So I'm leaving ProgressOhio after having successfully launched what I hope will be a progressive force for years to come. I am quite confident that I'm leaving things in capable hands with Dave Harding. I have followed Dave since I first started Plunderbund and watched his work at UAPA's blog and then watched as he ran probably the best online operation among the Congressionals. Join me in welcoming Dave aboard and give him your full support. He's gonna take this to a whole new level. I'll do everything I can from the outside now to see that it succeeds. I hope you all will join me in that. When you look at what went on at this weekend's RootsCamp event, it is clear that there is a strong movement and a great many individuals willing to get things done. A buddy of mine asked out loud as we were standing around during a break in the action at the Y: "Look around. You think the right has any idea what they are dealing with?"

Nope. I don't.

So sayonara ProgressOhio, and Doumo arigatou gozai-masu. Kochira koso.

PS - If you end up looking for me you will probably find me here or here.

We hope you are headed that way. Quick note - the wiki had the address as 5 S 4th Street. It is 65 S 4th Street. Thanks to the wandering Jill Miller Zimon for pointing this out!

Most things related to camp will be posted on the now locked down wiki site:

rootscamp.pbwiki.com/RootsCampOH 

If you have questions, don't hesitate: eric@progressohio.org

The Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) will welcome the return  of the Ohio Legislature with a stinging rebuke over its exclusion  of farm workers from the Constitutional Amendment that increased  Ohio’s minimum wage. Baldemar Velasquez, the organization’s  president, said, “To deny some of Ohio’s hardest working people  this minimum-wage increase is mean-spirited and contributes to an  underclass in our state. These workers do the stoop labor in our  fields that is undesirable to most Ohioans, they put food on our  tables by working in the most adverse conditions and spend their  nights, in many cases, in hot cramped cabins in labor camps.”

Ohio voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot issue last November  amending Ohio’s Constitution and increasing the minimum wage. The  state legislature introduced H.B. 690 which exempts some low-wage  industries, specifically labor-intensive, piece-rate agricultural  jobs.

Lupe Williams, Professor at Ohio State University said,  “Undoubtedly, the broader public is unaware of this despicable act  of our legislature. The public voted for this wage increase as a  Constitutional measure – now some want to speak louder than our  Constitution.”

Velasquez added, “The people work so hard and ironically live in  perpetual poverty. What happened to our country’s ethic of a fair  day’s pay for a fair day’s work? I’ll tell you the truth, in  this case the violators of that ethic are supposed leaders in our  legislature whose hearts are corrupt with power and privilege that  makes them blind to the plight of the working poor.”

Velasquez and Williams will be joined by other Latino Leaders from  around the state at a press conference this coming Friday, January  26th at 10 a.m. in the Capitol’s southeast passageway. The Latino  leaders are expected to announce a statewide initiative to organize  politically against this measure.

Heads up. We got a much better formatted RSS feed now. If you have us in the feed reader, please udpate it so you can get out of block text hell!

Our Feed

Happy feeding!

Linkin' Log Matt tells us his favorite part. Mine was when Bush was talking about reducing our gasoline use by 20% over the next 10 years and Cheney was behind him with this big ass "yeah, right" smirk on his face. Can't beat that. The smirk lasted a long, long time. Maybe he was thinking about selling Scooter down the river.

What was your favorite/memorable part?
I guess the bizzster is gonna have some 'splain' to do. Seems "global climate change" is not just the gospel of St. Al:
America is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that will enable us to live our lives less dependent on oil. These technologies will help us become better stewards of the environment -- and they will help us to confront the serious challenge of global climate change.
Yep, Bush in his SOTU address admits there are serious problems with man-made global warming, er, um, climate change. Yet another example of a righty blogger getting caught "joking"?
Given the President's mention of earmarks in the SOTU speech, I found this to be pretty interesting:

via BNN:
Not only has Boehner kept a big pork spender on the Appropriations committee, Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) who allowed more than 13,000 spending earmarks in the 2005 budget, but he has retaliated against an earmark whistle blower from his own Party. Boehner has denied Representative Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) his spot on the Judiciary committee even though he ranks 6 other members there.
And the final analysis:
In any case, the "new" Republican leadership in the House is just like the old. And it was the old that lost us majority status. Boehner is not salve, but salt in the wound.

Oh, and speaking of earmarks...
nah, not really...but pretty funny:

Jon Stewart provides a preview of the SOTU tonight, and of course - Bush gets slayed:



...maybe we'll get one of these afterward:

Bill Callahan asks a serious question:
Let's imagine that Dennis Kucinich is a serious guy who actually cares about the human beings, including but not limited to those from his Congressional District, trapped in the Iraq bloodbath.
(CBS/AP) Former Rep. Bob Ney was sentenced Friday to 30 months in federal prison for his role in a congressional bribery scandal.

Ney was the first member of Congress to plead guilty to corruption charges in the scandal revolving around Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff - but that investigation continues and he might not be the last, CBS News correspondent Bob Fuss reports.
Patiently awaiting another one of Matt Dole's "Bob Ney is really a great guy" posts...
Just got an email from Terry Nelson of McWhine 2008 - The Exploratory Committee. [cue baby crying background sounds]. Terry and John are not too happy with our friends at MoveOn.org:
Yesterday, Moveon.org began attacking Senator John McCain for his steadfast support of achieving victory in Iraq.
Heh. Translation: MoveOn.org began letting people know how disastrous the McCain Doctrine is and how escalation of troop levels will escalate the violence and escalate all of their chances of catching an IED ride home in a bobybag. But hey, "victory in Iraq" does have a bit of a better ring to it.

You can see the ad that has McWhine and his McWhiners all in a tizzy here. What ultra-conservative John McCain can't get clear is that nobody wants any kind of troop surge. Here in Ohio essay after essay is piling in against such an idea.

So they can McWhine all they want about "ultra-liberal" this and "victory in Iraq" that. What they'll find out soon is that no matter how much they pander to the religious right, the base of people wanting to escalate war is vanishing faster than the ice boundary at the North Pole.

But there's more. Oh, yes. Like a good ginsu commercial this here blog post has so much more. You see, gmail tells me that said email was a possible fraud attempt:
MailScanner has detected a possible fraud attempt from "tracking.campaignsolutions.com" claiming to be "www.exploremccain.com/moveonresponse"
Nah, not really a fraud attempt. But it does shed some light on the actual sender and the "negative" frame. Campaign Solutions, the group McWhine's exploratory committee is using to scare up some fundage has a bit of history with this sort of thing - and will probably get some big contract to pimp some negatives for them at some point. In fact, they've won awards for it!
DumpDaschle.org
Silver Award - Best Fundraising Online Advertisement
Silver Award - Best Negative/Contrast Website
Bronze Award - Best Use of Website for Fundraising
Honorable Mention - Best Fundraising Online Advertisement
Spare us the outrage. I'd buy it if there wasn't so much Barack "Obambi" Hussein Big Eared crap on your side. Toughen up John. Stop whining.
Today's Dispatch covers the story of 3 elecions officials in Cuyahoga County conspiring to ease recount pains by not selecting precincts randomly:
Baxter said testimony in the case will show that the three county workers chose sample precincts for the Dec. 16, 2004, recount that did not have questionable results to ensure the tally from the sample matched a previous vote count. Sample precincts were to be selected randomly.
Innocent laziness or more sinister fraud.

The outcome of the '04 election likely would not have been impacted, but our faith in the process sure has to be shaken. Whatever the motivation, these 3 should be punished if they are found guilty of the prosecutors claims.
Muhammad Ali turned 65 today. I was pointed to a fantastic photo collection at Slate by a buddy who also holds Ali in high regard. Worth checking out. Also want to point you to the hometown paper, where it is revealed what the champed wanted for his birthday:
His birthday will pass with calls from his nine children and other relatives. Ali's only request to mark the occasion is a trip to one of his favorite magic shops so he can pick up a new trick or two to show visitors.
Ali needing new tricks? Nah. Hardly.

Ali was truly larger than life. On a day when we are asking people to comment on the war in Iraq and it is getting harder and harder to escape comparisons to the war Ali opposed, it sems fitting to honor him. The greatest there ever was...the greatest there ever will be.

Good to see the Congress honor him with House Resolution 58. Fitting.

(nice of Tubbs Jones to sign on)
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