Mad Men cast. (Photo Credit: publicity photo.)

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few years, you have heard of the hit TV drama Mad Men.

Set in the late 1950s to early 1960s, Mad Men is AMC’s  award-winning, mini-series about a fictional group of Madison Avenue advertising executives. It features superb script-writing and acting, as well as impeccable period costumes and scenery. In addition, Mad Men gives us glimpses of office life before equal rights for people of color, women, or the disabled… and a sense of history.

By season 4, it’s 1964 in the world of Mad Men. 1964 is the year a newly sworn-in President Lyndon B. Johnson took Republican challenger and Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater and the entire Republican Party to the cleaners. In a landslide victory (61% of the popular vote), Johnson won every state except Arizona.

Television commercials played an important role in the 1964 election, and the extra features on the Mad Men Season 4, Disc 3 include a round-up of speeches and commercials by both the Johnson and Goldwater during their presidential campaigns. (OK, only a political media nerd would watch a show totally comprised of old campaign speeches and commercials… twice… but the footage was fascinating.)

What struck me as most amazing was the complete consistency in the Republican Party’s messaging from 1964 through to the current presidential campaign.

A little background, in the summer of 1964 Congress passed and Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – do you believe it: during a campaign year, they worked?– and language which would create other social safety net programs (including, Medicare and Medicaid) was being crafted.

Small government Goldwater took on Johnson who was in the process of creating War on Poverty and related programs: Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, unemployment insurance, Head Start and other social programs that current Republicans are still fighting against.

Check out these Goldwater commercials to view the Republican Party’s age-old message.

Goldwater on small government

Goldwater on morality

And here are a few familiar Democratic Party messages. Obviously, the Democratic Party’s messaging has changed, as evidence in the War on Poverty commercial. No one– not even our Black president– would run a commercial like that today. Heavy sigh…

Johnson’s ‘Goldwater is scary dangerous’ ad [paraphrasing, of course]

Johnson’s War on Poverty (I wish Obama would run an ad like this.)

Also, on the same DVD is Johnson’s January 1965 inaugural speech. Today’s media critics would chastise Johnson for his halting delivery, but the words are inspirational. I particularly like it when he says as a country we need justice, liberty, and union to survive. Think about that statement. Do we have those things today?

Under Arpaio, a new documentary film by Tucson’s own Pan Left Productions is definitely a must see movie.

The film by J.M. Aragon aired on Saturday to a packed house at the Salt of the Earth Labor College’s first class of the fall semester.

I have been in Arizona long enough to have a general knowledge of Arpaio’s dastardly deeds– the neighborhood sweeps for illegal aliens [his terminology], the racial profiling, the tent city jails in the desert, the chain gangs, the pink underwear, the bologna sandwiches, and the investigations of Arpaio that never go anywhere.

But I was shocked by what I didn’t know– murder and torture (on video tape) inside the Maricopa County Jail; trumped up traffic charges to back up police stops (thanks to SB1070); intimidation, arrest, and detention of elected officials (including several members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors) and others who challenge his authority or tactics; destruction of evidence by the Sheriff’s office; and millions of dollars in lawsuits brought against him.

Aragon and co-producer Mary Charlotte Thurtle have created a chilling documentary by weaving together interviews of Latino activists who have been targeted by Arpaio; interviews of lawyers and family members of prisoners who were murdered by Sheriff’s deputies inside the jail; surveillance video from the Maricopa County jail; videos of traffic stops as they happen; and Arpaio’s speeches.

The big questions that I came away with are: Why isn’t Arpaio in jail? Who votes for this guy? Has anyone been tortured and murdered in the Pima County Jail?

The current version of Under Arpaio is a director’s cut, according to Aragon. During the next few months, he will be showing the film to small audiences around Tucson and raising funds for broader distribution. He plans to have a larger viewing at The Loft in the future.

It is a marvelous film, which deserves national attention. This film made me glad I don’t live in Maricopa County. Here’s the trailer.

Salt of the Earth Labor College will present Under Arpaio, a film by Jason Michael Aragon and co-producer Mary Charlotte Thurtle of Tucson’s Pan Left Productions on Saturday, September 10, at 2 p.m.

Under Arpaio is the story of people abused in Arpaio’s Maricopa County jails, harassed in their neighborhoods, and racially profiled. The documentary also details the culture of corruption within the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department, now under federal investigation. Most importantly, it features the grass roots movement that is fighting back against this new Arizona style fascism.

Following the movie, there will be a discussion with the producer.

Salt of the Earth Labor College, located at 1903 E. Irene Vista in Tucson, sponsors free weekly classes on Saturdays. Here is the Fall 2011 schedule.

A protest sign from a recent MoveOn.org rally. (Photo Credit: Pamela Powers)

The world is in crisis. Hunger, poverty, homelessness, environmental devastation…

Last week at the Salt of the Earth Labor College in Tucson, Sam Webb, chair of the US Communist Party, addressed these worldwide crises, the role of capitalism, and the growing push-back from the people.

Using the pro-union, anti-right-wing government demonstrations in Wisconsin as a jumping off point, Webb said there is a growing “spirit of struggle” in the US. According to Webb, the current movement is “qualitatively different” because recent demonstrations against the extremist Republican agenda have drawn tens of thousands of people to rallies nationwide.

Most of Webb’s talk focused on capitalism in crisis.

“The capitalist class declared a strike action,” Webb quipped. “They have about $2 trillion in hand… and they’re investing nearly nothing of their $2 trillion or if they invest, they are investing it abroad or in speculative ventures, so it’s hard to think the employment rate is going to go down too much.”

Although the current demonstrations in the US have focused on jobs, pensions, and unions, the US and the world are facing several multi-level crises. Beyond widespread unemployment, there are crises in hunger, poverty, equality, education, public health, housing, and the environment.

Webb addressed a packed house of about 50 activists. According to a Labor College representative, about half of the audience was newcomers. The video below includes highlights from his talk. For an schedule of other upcoming classes, check this link.

Gabriel Thompson (Photo Credit: UA College of Public Health)

Gabriel Thompson, investigative journalist, community organizer, and author of Working in the Shadows, There’s No José Here, and Calling All Radicals will be the keynote speaker at the University of Arizona College of Public Health’s 5th Annual Social Justice Symposium on Friday, April 1, 2011.

Lisa Hopper, founder of World Care, a Tucson-based organization dedicated to recycling and redistributing education, health, and emergency relief supplies locally and globally, will be the closing speaker.

The event also will include Social Justice in Everyday Life, Women Advocating for Change, Giving Voice to Vulnerable Populations, and Systems Approaches to Harvesting Change

The Social Justice Symposium is designed to engage students, faculty, health professionals, and community members in dialogue to cultivate awareness and encourage action in the pursuit of equal justice for all people in every aspect of our society.

The symposium will be 9:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health Drachman Building at the Arizona Health Sciences Center. It is FREE and open to the public! Lunch will be provided. Registration is required. Register here.

Pre-event Free Movie Screening

A free screening of the documentary film 389 Miles: “Living the Border” will kick-off the Social Justice Symposium on Thursday, March 31st in Drachman Hall, Room A114 at 7:30 pm (doors open at 7 p.m.). Free pizza will be served.

389 Miles “Living the Border” is a documentary film that addresses the current immigration debate taking place on the Arizona-Mexico border. This film is a human journey, a story documented by director/producer Luis Carlos Davis who grew up in the shadow of the Arizona-Mexico border. It presents the raw, daily life of human beings who come from different backgrounds and ideologies when it comes to immigration

Davis, a UA alumnus, and Gail Emerick, Executive Director of the South East Arizona Area Health Education Center (SEAHEC), will conduct a discussion after the film.

The screening was organized by the Global Health Alliance and the Social Justice Symposium Planning Committee.

For more information on Social Justice Symposium, contact 2011socialjustice@gmail.com.

On Friday, February 25, Derechos Humanos is sponsoring a demonstration to protest Arizona Emperor Russell Pearce’s omnibus SB1611 (nicknamed SB1070 on steroids) and other recent racist laws passed or considered by the Arizona Legislature. The protest will be held at 4 p.m. at the state building in downtown Tucson (corner of Congress and Granada).

SB1611 is so far-reaching that it forces citizens and institutions at multiple levels of society to become immigration officers. Radio, newspaper, and citizen journalists have decried SB1611 because it will force schools, universities, hospitals, and even homeschooling moms to verify citizenship of the people to whom they provide services. It also includes strict penalties for non-compliance; for a complete list, check this link.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union:

“This bill is miles beyond SB1070 in terms of its potential to roll back the rights and fundamental freedoms of both citizens and non-citizens alike,” said Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the ACLU of Arizona. “It demonstrates the lack of leadership, lack of priorities and complete lack of understanding by some Arizona lawmakers of what it really means to uphold the Constitution of the United States and Arizona.”

In addition to 1611, the Arizona Legislature has passed or is considering several other racist laws:

1225– targets forgery of documents used to rent, purchase or lease a dwelling in order to prevent drop houses that could hold undocumented people, but the law could be used to entrap and penalize innocent people who are knowingly or unknowingly helping friends who are not citizens.

SB1308– one of the so-called “anchor baby” laws which would change who is eligible to receive citizenship and a US birth certificate and regulate how the new Arizona birth certificates will work with US birth certificates (which would still recognize the 14th amendment).

SB1309– another “anchor baby” law which would dictate who is eligible to receive “Arizona citizenship.”

SB1405– restricts who can receive hospital services in Arizona and mandates that hospital personnel verify citizenship and call immigration– rather than provide services– when they discover an undocumented patient.

SB1509– increases the penalty for making false statements under oath.

Of course, this is far from a complete list of crazy and unnecessary bills being considered by the Arizona Legislature this session.

Ironically, in just a few weeks, the Teapublican candidates who campaigned on smaller government and more freedom have proposed more than 600!!!! pieces of new legislation that do nothing to solve the state’s problems or give Arizonans more freedom. If anything– except for loosening gun laws even further– the new bills restrict the freedom of Arizonans. For the most part these bills are:  pro-gun, anti-women’s rights, anti-anyone-who-is-not-straight-and-white, anti-poor-and-sick people, pro-fetus-but-anti-children, anti-education, anti-federal government, anti-municipal government, and my personal favorite…authorization of half-a-billion in corporate welfare. Groan…

So, if you are fed up with Emperor Pearce’s shenanigans, come out tomorrow with a sign denouncing your favorite piece of Legislative nonsense and bring a friend!

More than 300 unapologetic progressives packed a local YWCA for the inaugural meeting of Progressive Democrats of America, Tucson Chapter. (Photo Credit: Pamela Powers)

Who said the progressive movement was dead? It is alive and well in Tucson, Arizona.

An estimated 300 activists, liberals, Green Party members, and Democratic Party foot soldiers crammed into a large meeting room at the YWCA on the west side of Tucson Monday night for the inaugural meeting of the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), Tucson Chapter.

Twenty minutes before the meeting started, it was standing room only. By the time the first speaker began at 7 p.m., all chairs were filled and people were standing 2-3 deep on the sidelines, sitting 4-5 deep on the floor in front, and standing out in the hall.

Pretty much all of Tucson’s liberal leaders and volunteers– including a significant portion of Democratic Party Precinct Committeepersons (PCs)– came to hear what Congressman Raul Grijalva, populist radio commentator Jim Hightower and PDA leaders Tim Carpenter and Mimi Kennedy had to say.

As one of the introductory speakers, Carpenter sparked cheers from the crowd with fiery rhetoric, saying, “We [PDA] are not the Democratic Party… We’re the insurgency of the Democratic Party!”

Carpenter said that PDA was born out of the presidential races of Dennis Kucinich and Howard Dean. He gave a shout-out to other liberal groups whose members were in attendance: MoveOn.org, Democracy for America, Jobs with Justice, and the Central Labor Council.

Populist commentator and author Jim Hightower was the keynote speaker, along with Congressman Raul Grijalva. (Photo Credit: Pamela Powers)

“Building community and building organization. That’s what PDA is about,” said Carpenter. But despite their efforts, progressives learned in recent years that electing a Democratic Party president and Congress wasn’t enough to get progressive legislation enacted. PDA is now going to work inside and outside the Democratic Party for real change in America.

The speeches were punctuated with cheers when Carpenter, Grijalva, and Hightower talked about taking our country back from the radical right and corporate pawns in the  Republican and Democratic Parties.

Hightower warned activists that taking the country back from the corporate oligarchy that now runs it would be a long struggle and likened it to the 70-year battle for women’s suffrage.

Hightower did admit that he wasn’t beyond “colluding with the pharmaceutical industry” in his quest to rebuild the middle class. He wants them to invent a “new Viagra” that could be used to stiffen the spines of Democrats and give them the backbone to fight for the middle class, rather than kowtowing to big business and their lobbying machine.

After the speeches, attendees broke up into issue organizing teams around PDA’s six core issues:

• Single-payer healthcare (Medicare for All)
• Peace (ending the wars and occupations and redirecting the funds)
• Clean elections and voter rights (including repeal of Citizens United and elimination of private funding for elections)
• Economic and social justice
• Accountability of elected officials
• Environment and global warming

Republicans and Republican-lite Democrats– be forewarned. Like the Tea Party on the right, progressives are “mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore”. Well, maybe we’re seriously annoyed and not going to donate to or volunteer for Republican-lite anymore. Southern Arizona Leadership Council Democratic Party sympathizers and No Labels Democrats could be in trouble, if even half of the Democratic Party PCs in attendance decide to work for real progressive candidates and issues instead of just settling for someone who is not Republican.

The Tucson meeting was the second in a series of PDA organizing meetings across the state. According to Carpenter, the Bisbee organizing meeting drew 120 attendees; later this week PDA will hold events in Phoenix, Flagstaff, and Winslow.

Watch for an update of this story with full video of the speeches.

This has been a banner year for sometimes-crazy and often-dangerous bills in the Arizona Legislature.

Several of these bills will be heard by the Arizona Senate Appropriations Committee on February 22, 2011 at 2 p.m. in Phoenix.

The Phoenix Urban Health Collective and migrant community groups are calling on doctors, nurses, other healthcare workers, and concerned citizens to protest SB 1405, which would require hospitals to determine citizenship before providing medical care. The group is organizing a press conference and demonstration to speak out against this bill and others.

They are asking everyone who opposes this and other discriminatory Arizona legislation to attend the press conference outside of the Arizona Senate Building and sign up to speak at the press conference and/or in the Senate Chambers. Below is a link showing the agenda for the committee; several bills will be reviewed.

Here is the information about the demonstration and press conference.

We will be holding a press conference at 12:30 to let the nation know about this inhumane and dangerous bill. The conference will be held in a hearing room in the Senate Building and we will announce exactly where when we have this information.

We urge you to try to show up around 12:00 and plan to stay for the afternoon and perhaps into the evening as there are many items on the agenda for the hearing and we do not know in what order they will be heard.

If you are a healthcare provider we ask that you show this by wearing your scrubs or whatever you normally wear to work. Please encourage your co-workers to come as well, we need a huge turnout!

We encourage EVERYONE to sign up to speak during the hearing. There will be volunteers available to assist you at the kiosks in the Senate building.

We are also hoping for a large crowd outside of the senate building actively demonstrating against this and other bills under consideration that day.

There will be numerous bills before the Senate Appropriations Committee that are of great concern. While we are somewhat focused on SB 1405, we also feel that the other equally discriminatory, anti-immigrant, and anti-health bills need to be protested and spoken out against as well. Here is a list of the bills that concern us the most (subject to change as the list is updated):

SB 1308 – Interstate compact; birth certificates—seeks to issue separate birth certificates to those born in this country to undocumented and visa-holder parents.

SB 1309—Arizona citizenship—seeks to redefine the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment to only allow those born in the US to one parent who is a citizen or permanent resident to become a US citizen.

SB 1405—Hospital Admissions; restrictions—seeks to require hospitals to verify immigration status of all emergency patients as well as patients who are admitted.

SB 1407—Schools; data; noncitizen students—seeks to require schools to identify and collect data on undocumented students.

SB 1519—AHCCCS; termination—seeks to terminate the state Medicare system AHCCCS. Monies will be redistributed and $900,000,000 will go to the state general fund

SB 1611—Immigration omnibus—this bill is still listed as “Pending Introduction, First Reading and Committee Assignment”. It requires watching.

For more information on these bills, search here:http://www.azleg.gov/bills.asp

Appropriations Committee Agenda:http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=%2Fagendas%2F02220154102.doc.htm

Please spread the word and invite your friends, neighbors, family, and co-workers!

Here is a facebook link for more information.

Feb. 22 UPDATE: According to Random Musings blogger Craig McDermott, more than 100 people showed up for this demonstration at the Arizona State Senate’s Appropriations Committee Meeting, but the Senate stalled with floor business instead of having the scheduled committee meeting. Here is an afternoon update from McDermott…

What is almost unheard-of is the fact that the committee hearing room, SHR109, is locked tight and Capitol police have just cleared the hundred+ people waiting for the hearing. Most of the folks present are opposed to one or more of the bills on the agenda.

Everybody has been funnelled into SHR1, which is serving as overflow seating. It’s at least 3X the size of SHR109, and it is full.

Feb. 22 SECOND UPDATE: The Senate Appropriations Committee did start meeting– about 1.5 hours late, according to McDermott.

Arizona has been in a state of devolution since Governor Jan Brewer, her right-hand man State Senate President Russell Pearce, and their lobbyist cronies took two years ago.

You know the details– over $1 billion in debit with no plans to fix it; sacrificing K-12 and higher education to fund private prisons; ducking out of Medicaid and defunding transplants to fund lower corporate taxes; pandering to gun nuts (yes, anyone who wants looser gun laws in AZ is nuts) to hold onto her right-wing base while ignoring the facts that our gun laws are out-of-control; and diddling with side issues– anchor babies, two-tiered birth certificates, Obama’s birth certificate, guns on college campuses, and shooting varmints– rather than working on legislation to put Arizonans back to work. Need I go on? (Seriously, we should have would-be lawmakers take an IQ test.)

How did we get here? Or, more importantly, how did Russell Pearce– Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio crony, former Chief Deputy under Sheriff Joe, and  former head of Arizona’s Department of Motor Vehicles (who was fired for tampering with records)– get to be the most powerful man in Arizona?

The old fashioned way– money.

For more background on Pearce and the rich “White Panthers” behind his rise to power, check out this story.
Arizona’s New White Panther Party: Money & (Anchor) Baby Hate

And after you’re thoroughly disgusted, check out the Pearce recall effort launched yesterday. If you want to volunteer to collect signatures or donate to the effort sponsored by Citizens for a Better Arizona, check out their RecallPearce website.

After the Tucson massacre and the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords early this month, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik called on the nation to do some soul-searching and blamed hateful, vitriolic speech for creating an atmosphere of hate in this country. Dupnik’s honesty in the face of tragedy won him hundreds– if not thousands– of supporters and enemies and catapulted him to the national stage with interviews on several television networks.

Now, a right-wing, anti-immigrant group– Americans Against Immigration Amnesty (AAIA)– from Utah has started a recall effort against Dupnik. Here is their vitriol against Dupnik from AAIA website. Compare AAIA’s totally inaccurate description of Dupnik’s comments below with the actual video footage above.

“Beginning the day of the horrific events in Tucson, Arizona that claimed the lives of 6 and injured so many others, we were deluged with emails and phone calls from members and non-members in Arizona, as well as across the United States concerning the actions of Pima County Sheriff, Clarence Dupnik.  Our members and Americans in general were bewildered by the Sheriff’s shameless political grandstanding and irresponsible comments within hours of this tragedy.  As one member of AAIA said, ‘the Sheriff has forever sullied his office, uniform and badge’.

In light of the requests from our members and Americans across the nation, we have completed our research, conferred with the appropriate legal experts and have concluded that the recall of Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupinik is the appropriate course on behalf of the citizens of Pima County.  We will therefore proceed with such a recall effort and are preparing the Petitions to be forwarded to Pima County registered voters to begin gathering the required signatures.  Our goal will be to gather 110,000 signatures in the coming weeks and this matter will promptly proceed to a recall election.”– Dan Baltes, Executive Director, Americans Against Immigration Amnesty

Americans Against Immigration Amnesty is a section 527 political organization with members in 47 states.

Dupnik’s speech is sad and soulful– not “shameless political grandstanding,” as AAIA describes it. Who is helping to promote AAIA’s efforts? FOX News (we already know what they think of Tucson), the Pima County Tea Party Patriots, and local right-wing shock jock Jon Justice.

Why are AAIA, FOX, the Tea Party Patriots, and Justice really after Dupnik? It has absolutely nothing to do with his comments after the Tucson massacre. These groups are targeting him because he was one of the few elected officials in Arizona who took a firm stand against SB1070– Arizona’s strict anti-immigrant legislation– last year. In a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, Dupnik didn’t mince words about SB1070

I have argued from the moment that this bill was signed that it is unnecessary, that it is a travesty, and most significantly, that it is unconstitutional.

Pima County, where I am sheriff, shares 123 miles of border with Mexico. Patrolling this area for illegal immigrants is like trying to keep water from passing through a sieve.

The pro-SB1070 Pima County Tea Party Patriots (not to be confused with the Tucson Tea Party) is planning a Dump Dupnik rally for this coming Friday. There are rumblings of a counter-protest by Dupnik supporters– which locally probably outnumber his detractors. The Pima County Democratic Party is suggesting donating blood to the Red Cross as a peaceful protest to the Tea Party.

The bottomline is: the right-wing is trying to suppress freedom of speech, silence Dupnik, and intimidate politicians from speaking from their hearts. We can’t let them get away with that. I’ll let you decide what to do about it.

UPDATE: Who said it was OK for the Utah group to recall our sheriff? Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall. Doesn’t Barbara like Clarence?