Seeding the Grass Roots
First, scroll down and read Monique’s postings on Rep. Spencer Dickinson. Then… The topics of hope and hopelessness pervaded this weekend’s readings, from absurd labor rules in schools, to the likely outcome of Make It Happen, to Spencer Dickinson’s insider view, and then to Sandra Fluke.
Politicos and policy wonks have been parsing every major speech offered at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, each with his or her own lens. (The exception is MSNBC, which apparently declined to parse several speeches by ethnic minorities.) Some have commented on the gender-war content of Ann Romney’s statements; some have focused on…
Thanks to the General Assembly, the new Sakonnet River Bridge gets a toll booth next June. The cost one way will be $4; $.83 for residents with an EZ pass. It seems to me pretty unfair to suddenly drop tolls on everyone in an area where no tolls had previously been. Tolls are one of…
And, of course, no Tea Party Rally photoentry is complete without some shots showing the size of the crowd…
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, whose views on freedom of speech are generally considered to have been significantly influenced by Professor Zechariah Chafee, wrote in a 1927 opinion that…If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is…
Further to my point about a new political wave starting local, the landscape of Rhode Island politics stands as a stark example and testing ground: … while the state has been trying to work through the desperate finances of its smallest city [Central Falls], it has also been working with three other economically distressed communities…
Noting the fates of previous grassroots movements, Patrick Ruffini suggests to Tea Partiers: “Hitch yourself to established power institutions at your own peril.” That doesn’t mean that they should ignore the Republican Party, refuse to participate in it, or fail to work with its established members. It does mean preserving an independent priority. Indeed, Ruffini…
Here’s my speech to the RI Tea Party meeting, on Wednesday: The speech is only incidentally a sales pitch, but it’s worth tagging on the reminder that you can email or call (401-835-7156) me to pledge financial support — as subscriptions, donations, or advertising — for 2011, helping to create a full-time job doing what…
