In my latest column for The Daily Pennsylvanian, I expand on my earlier post here on Drinking Liberally. Specifically, I believe that events like Drinking Liberally can help build social capital on the political left and with it the progressive movement. With churches and other strong, grassrootes organizations, social capital has long benefited the conservative movement. While the online community can foster development of social capital on the left, the social capital generated by face-to-face contact will still trump "virtual" social capital everytime.

Full column after the jump   Read More »

Jason Stahl has a mighty fine op-ed piece in the Minesota Daily. I'll just shut up and let him speak for himself.

Conservatives promoting Social Security privatization are still focusing on our generation. Even as the public turns ever more strongly against the Bush privatization scheme, our generation is still the most supportive.
This New York Times article seems to indicate that conservatives are turning to marketing execs to sell Social Security privatization like Powerade ore iPods (or that if this is not what the White House is doing, it is what they should do). I for one find this a crass comparison. Politics are not a commodity, and they should not be treated that way, because the impact of public policy is far more profound than the brand of clothing one buys.

That said, progressives need to fight fire with fire. Despite the overbroad generalizations the article uses in describing our generation, there are nuggets of useful advice. The article quotes the director of CIRCLE, a non-partisan political research organization: "Typically, young people themselves have more credibility, talking to each other." Moreover, the advice to turn abstract numbers into a concrete description is helpful. Progressives need to turn around and use this advice to show our generation how much privatizatoin will hurt our future.

Last night I went to my local (Philly) Drinking Liberally for the first time. I was pretty impressed. By the time I left about 25 people showed up, about half of whom it seemed had a blog. There was good discussion among active progressives, the Ten Stone had great beer on tap, and it was overall just a great time.

Just one problem. Where were all the college students?

From the look of things, there were more actual seniors than college seniors at this drinking event. My roommate and I may well have been the only college students in attendance. This type of event is great at building social capital and strengthening the progressive movement, and beer is a particularly effective vehicle for politics among college students. I'll be trying to get a few more of my college friends to come to the Philly event next time, but even that's not enough.

It is not as if organizing through socializing is unknown on campuses. The problem is that it is not happening enough. College students need to host these and similar types of events on their campuses to build solidarity among the various theads of campus liberalism.

What kind of social events does or can your campus progressive organization hold?

And more shameless self promotion - Link

Campus Progress, the Center for American Progress, and many of the new elements of the new progressive movement have adopted that term -- progressive -- rather than liberalism as the descriptor of their ideological orientation. Many seem to adopt progressive simply because it polls and focus groups better than "liberal" That fact itself is not particularly surprising, as the right-wing has for years now treated "liberal" as if it were spelled with four letters.

I like the term "progressive" for another reason; it more accurately describes the movement. Classical liberalism -- or for that matter the difference between libertarianism and communitarianism -- have little to do with the political divisions in America today. George Lakoff has offered an alternate, more explanatory division between "strict father" and "nurturant parent" models of political values. However, nurturant parents does not offer a particularly compelling label. Instead, I think progressive best defines the current movement. We see government as a way to positively improve people's lives, but at the same time not hinder their basic rights. The opposite of progressive actually is conservative as we know now the term (or perhaps regressive, but I suppose that's hoping for two much).

For me, to be progressive is to support a true American community in the fullest sense of the word. We are a commonwealth, we are neighbors, and we have responsibilities to one another that are in part exercised through a responsive, responsible government. As a community, we must that defend the public trust, protect the vulnerable, preserve the righs of our individual members, and expand prosperity for all. Such a view seems to me to be not purely liberal and certainly not conservative. Hence, I choose "progressive."

What about you?

In addition to the great Sudan Crib Sheet and activism guide that are posted on the CampusProgress.org main page, there is a growing divestment movement. Like South African divestment campaigns during the era of Apartheid, students are organizing movements on their local campuses to urge their university to sell off Sudan-related stocks from their corporate portfolios. The Harvard Crimson writes up the movement and recent divestment campaign efforts on that campus.

What's worse is that the media is taking his word for it. Read the whole thing at Media Matters.

This isn't the first time that Horowtize has used dubious examples to try to prove that conservative studetns are discriminated against on campus. In January, Horowitz and Students for Academic Freedom -- not to mention the rest of the right-wing media establishment -- were trafficking the story of California college student Ahmad Al-Qloushi. They claimed that he was discriminated against for his pro-American views. Turns out that the paper was just bad and didn't answer the question asked. (See Matt Singer's post on CampusProgress.org for more info on this case).

These, along with the other non-stories spread by Horowitz and SAF, point out a serious reason why all of these "Academic Bills of Rights" are a horrible idea. Simply put, lots of people feel wronged by professors, when they may not necessarily be justified. All that these bills would create are a mass of lawsuits against professors by students who got lousy grades they earned with lousy work. If lawsuits did get out of hand, professors would be pressured to give unfairly high grades to students who held views different from their own.

The Alpha Iota Omega fraternity at the University of North Carolina has won an injuction forcing the university to provide access to funding and school resources while the fraternity continues to discrimnate. After the fraternity refused to sign the University's non-discrimination statement -- AIO wanted to ban gays and non-Christians from membership -- the university yanked its funding and the fraternity sued. Now the frat has won the first of many legal battles in getting an injuction to reinstate funding until the larger case has been settled.

Read the whole thing at Pandagaon here and here.

Via Atrios.

Sarah Wildman of TAPPED points out an effort what is essentially the anti-PFLAG. The group is called PFOX -- Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays. They're starting "Ex-Gay Clubs," the opposite of gay-straight alliances.

Opposition to gay rights fundementally rests on the notion that sexuality is a choice rather than an inherent fact of being. Once the latter is accepted, all legal discrimination against LGBT people must inevitably be accepted for what it is: ugly, hateful, unconstitutional discrimnation. As with those who supported laws discriminating against women and people of color, the anti-gay movement is trying to establish psuedoscience to try to justify their actions. Hence conservatives are pushing "conversion therapy" to further the idea that sexuality is a choice rather than innate and thus fair game for de jure discrimination.

However, our generation more than any before it -- gay and straight alike -- is rejecting this hateful ideology. "Ex-Gay Clubs" are just one desperate effort to push this psuedoscience onto impressionable high school students, a futile attempt to turn back the clock and the tide of popular support for LGBT civil rights.

What's next? Phrenology societies?

Ugh. There are even Democrats supporting this one in Rhode Island. Some one either needs to explain to them why this is a terrible, terrible idea, or explain to them the political science concept of a primary challenge.

Come to think of it, it's a little hard to understand why Democrats -- or fair-minded people in general -- would side against the American Association of University Professors. Do people really believe that David Horowitz, a conservative activist, is more interested in academic freedom than AAUP is? Doesn't AAUP have at least just a little more street cred on anything having to do with Academic Freedom, or for that matter, anything having to do with Academics?

Penn State's Student Government passed a "Students" for "Academic Freedom"-inspired resolution. It's not clear whether the bill just prevents professors from downgrading students for their ideology -- something that I at least do not completely oppose -- or has the more ominious provisions that regulate professors speech.

However, that SAF is seeking to instutionalize even this idea in state legislation is scary enough. Can you imagine all the conservative students suing liberal professors over every B? David Horowitz has already trotted out low-performing students as poster-children for academic discrimination. Such a bill would not only clog the courts; it would keep professors from grading freely on the basis of merit for fear of lawsuits.

And I thought conservatives wanted a less litigious society ...

Rediculousness. To be fair, as a fourth grader, he may be operating at the same math level as Bush's economic advisors.

And on another note, Lil' Noah is touring with Progress For America, the same people who brought us the "Ashley Ad" near the end of the campaign. Could these people be any more crass about using little kids for political purposes?

A Florida state legislator is threatening University of Florida's funding if they don't drop a LGBT affairs coordinator, reports The Independent Florida Alligator, the independent student newspaper at UF.

A senior legislator said Thursday that UF’s appointment of a coordinator for gay and lesbian affairs hurts the university’s support in the state House.

“We’re in a culture war in this country of ideas,” Rep. Dennis Baxley (R-Ocala) said in an interview. As chairman of the House Education Council, Baxley is the senior House Republican on education issues.

“When I see things like UF rushing to have the first coordinator for gay and lesbian academia, it makes it difficult for me to come up here and support giving more taxpayer dollars to institutions with these kinds of values,” he said.

In addition, Baxley is pushing a David-Horowitz-inspired "Academic freedom bill" Why, you ask?   Read More »

A long-shot hopeful for the Democratic nomination to beat Rick Santorum in 2006 has linked posted a video on his website in which you can hear College Republicans shouting, "Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Social Security has got to go" as was mentioned here and elsewhere yesterday.

Building on some of the research done by Josh Marshall and his readers, the search is on for the definitive connection between Republicans and the USA Next, AKA United Seniors Association, AKA the anti-AARP group. The Virginia State Corporation Commission's Clerk's Information System (CIS), with some work, reveals the following additional information   Read More »

From Chris Bowers at MyDD

I'd like to talk a little about the Santorum Social security event that I attended today. It was quite eventful and well attended, although I am pretty sure it was well attended because around six or seven different activist organizations had turned out in force. Outside the hall before the event, Philly DFA began chanting "Hey-hey, ho-ho, Riock Santorum has got to go!" Local college Republicans, who are just about the only Republicans in West Philly, responded with a chant that beautifully was captured live by CNN: "hey-hey, ho-ho, Social Security has got to go!" I love it when the other side does your campaigning for you!

I'll assume that this was largely the Penn College Republicans, whom (as a Penn student) I have run into on many previous occassions. They lost their fairly talented leader, Dave Copley, to a White House job, a development that may be bad for America, but is clearly good for College Dems in West Philly.

Sorry for the light posting this week from my corner -- I've been busy getting ready for The Whats's Next? Conference, a conference for student progressives featuring speaker panels, workshops, and roundtables. The conference is this Saturday, February 26th, on Penn's campus in Philadelphia. See our website for more information..

Kerry Howley makes a few interesting points over at the libertarian magazine Reason.

No one seriously doubts that the average campus is a liberal enclave or believes diversity on elite campuses extends past skin color. But is it really so poisonous? The words "brainwashing" and "indoctrination" cannot possibly be less applicable to media savvy American students, and the idea that an 18-year-old is an empty receptacle waiting to be pumped full of Marxism is its own brand of absurdity.

Well, I for one believe that diversity goes beyond skin color - at least at my "elite campus" I have had multipe conservative professors. Are there more liberals than conservatives in my humanities and social science classes? Sure -- as long as you don't go into the Wharton business school. But there's a bigger point here. Howley describes how conservatives overstate the threat to their ideologies.

Let me see if you've heard this before. Step 1) Create a public perception of a threatening crisis. Step 2) Take governmental actions that does the opposite of what you claim. Step 3) Keep changing the rational for this policy until people forget why you did it in the first place. Am I talking about the war to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction? Or am I talking about Bush's plan to privatize Social Security - a response to a non-existent crisis that wouldn't solve the crisis if it did exist? Or am I talking about David Horowitz's "Students" for "Academic Freedom," which is pushing state legislatures to pass the Orwellian-named "Academic Bill of Rights," which restricts what professors can say in the classroom?

I forget which it is - you tell me.

David Horowitz and "Students" for "Academic Freedom" strike again, this time in Tennessee, so reports the Associated Press. Lawmakers there are pushing Horowitz-inspired legislation that would seem that this is legislation similar to that being pushed in Ohio. There, the bill - which would regulate what professors could say in their classrooms - is seeing bipartisan opposition. However, that's certainly not stopping Horowitz from continuing to push his gag rule elsewhere ...