Good Lord, read Frank Rich if you haven't already.

Drinking Liberally in Buenos Aires

It's here! If you're a political junkie, you've noticed a certain prominent logo on some of your favorite blogs touting this fine group of people that has begun to expand internationally. Well, La Argentina has joined that worldwide network as well.

Drinking Liberally is a really great concept. Unlike other "societies", DL makes it a point to gather someplace not only affordable ...but more distinctively, at the SAME place, at the SAME time, EVERY WEEK.

No need to wonder if Drinking Liberally is meeting this week... they always are.

No need to wonder what day Drinking Liberally is meeting... it's always Thursday.

No need to wonder what time Drinking Liberally is meeting... it's always at 7pm.

No need to wonder where Drinking Liberally is gonna be... it's always at Sir Will, 678 San Martín, in Retiro near Microcentro.

No need to wonder if you belong. No need to wonder if you're a member of the right political party either!

Like the fellow said, if you like it informal, inclusive, progressive, and left-leaning... you're gonna enjoy this "social group" better than most.

You know I'LL be there! And I'm bringin' a posse! You should too!

...or just show up if you don't know what to do with yourself some Thursday ...ANY Thursday. It could become a habit.

Psst...

Argentine Minister of Economy,
Martín Lousteau, suddenly resigns.

Argentina to decriminalize Pot?
...from El Financiero.mx

psst...

http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN2234283620080422

The AP says Clinton...

It's early ... but this is the prediction.

The Southern Cross Review

(... published in Córdoba, this "Review of fiction, education, science, current events, essays, book reviews, poetry and Anthroposophy" has much to recommend it ...not the least being a recent interview with yours-truly!)

SCR: How many United States citizens of voting age live in Argentina? You’re the only one I’ve met in twenty years.

YMS: I don't know and I'm not sure that anyone does. But the US Embassy here says that there are 20,000 US citizens residing in Argentina.

SCR: How many are Democrats…or at least anti-Republicans?

YMS: I have never met a self-described Republican in Argentina in my almost 5 years as a full-time resident. Argentinos describe to me a phenomenon regarding their former President Menem that I find amusingly similar to our former President Nixon. After landslide elections, it is virtually impossible to find anyone that will admit to voting for either man. I suspect we already see something similar with George the Second.

SCR: Of the two Democratic candidates still running for the nomination, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, which do you favor?

YMS: I'm often asked that and I thank God that I supported John Edwards until he nobly left the race before Super Tuesday! "Going on the record" can be useful sometimes!

But all along the campaign trail this time, Democrats have been blessed with tremendous candidates that evince passion in the electorate. For us, this electoral season has been like someone entering a restaurant in which everything on the menu makes us salivate... unlike our Republican counterparts who have found nothing to excite them and have, in the end, selected something from a meager bill of fare that, moments ago, they passed over as unappetizing.

.......

SCR: A propos dead soldiers, to what extent has the war in Iraq impelled your desire to organize expatriate Americans in Argentina?

YMS: I cannot point to the more than four thousand US dead in Iraq more than to the damage to the US Constitution that those men and women swore to die to defend as reason to organize expat-yanquis. Nor can I point to their deaths more than to the destruction of a hope for a middle-class way of life that those soldiers aspired to by volunteering for military service... as I did myself at a young age in a similarly depressed United States... as good reason for patriots to gather under the "big-tent" of today's Democratic Party. Their service, that of the living and those that made the ultimate sacrifice to a liberty both real and imagined, must be honored if we are to hold our heads high.

SCR: How do you explain the fact that George W. Bush was actually elected president twice. This is very hard for the rest of the world to understand or digest.

YMS: George W. Bush was appointed President of the United States by the Supreme Court of the United States in 2001. As for 2004... never underestimate the power of the incumbency and manufactured fear. Not too many years ago, our leaders counseled us that we had "nothing to fear but fear itself." Those leaders were Democrats.

2 years... 35,000 visits

Thanks!

I don't believe you could.

Lots and lots of traffic lately. I'm sure I don't know all of you and certainly not all of you know me.

Allow me to introduce myself to those of you of which I have not yet had the pleasure:

My name is Mike and I emigrated to Argentina in 2003. Technically, that makes me something other than an expat. However, it also makes me feel that I have as much or more to offer an expat in Argentina than the average foreigner you might meet on the streets of Buenos Aires.

Most recently, I became the head of the US Democratic Party in Argentina by virtue of my election as Chairman of all the Democrats Abroad down here. The term is good for another 18 months or so ...and I hope that gives you time to prepare to run against me for re-election ...and I hope you defeat me. Because that means that you're better than me for the job ...and there's always room for improvement ...and we need the very best people to steer Democrats Abroad Argentina.

My name might be Mike but I'm known as Yanqui Mike and that's probably appropriate even though I have no plans to ever leave this lovely place and people that have so generously adopted me. I'll always be known as a "Yankee" to everyone here and abroad (apologies to Southerners and Cubs fans for which that term is a pejorative!)

I hope all of that excuses me as I now take up a portion of this blog that is devoted to expat matters in order to talk to you about the upcoming elections in the US.

I was inspired to write after reading the New York Times article about the upcoming Pennsylvania primary and a quote from a fella at the bar who was also inspired to say something to the NYT reporter.

I asked him if the presidential campaign interested him. “Absolutely,” he said. Rapid fire, he told me the issues he cared about: “No. 1, gas prices. It’s killing everybody. No. 2, immigrants. They should go back to Mexico. Three, guns. Everybody should have the right to bear arms. In fact, everyone should have a gun in this day and age.”

I wondered if he was a Republican. “Are you kidding?” he said. “I’m a Democrat all the way. I hate Republicans.”

To you eligible voters: HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH, YET?

Apparently, the gentleman quoted above certainly has.

Personally, I have no doubt that he voted for Ronald Reagan (if he was old enough) and was probably at least among the 89% of US citizens that supported George H.W. Bush and the 92% that supported his son and his junta. That's OK.

That's OK because he came around. He finally came around to thinking about his country. He finally came around to thinking for himself about his country.

God knows, we Democrats didn't help him in his decision. He did it on his own. He finally decided that he'd had ENOUGH! ...and my gratefulness goes out to him.

For more than 25 years, all of the radicalism in US politics has come from the Right. We have been fed such an unrelenting stream of (insert your favorite term here) that even I have found myself on occasion parroting their talking points such as "there not a dime's worth of difference between the two parties."

Our sitting president is the culmination of that 25 years of radicalism and has finally euthanized that old saw and a host of other beliefs heretofore accepted as gospel:

• Government can do NOTHING as well and as efficiently as the private sector...
• The adults are in charge now...
• Making the rich richer is good for us all and the only way to keep our economy strong...
• Republicans are the only party that will protect our economy and currency...
• Democrats are weak on defense and do not honor our troops...
• Republicans lead lives that are morally superior and protect family values and the institution of marriage...
• The Federal Government needs to be reduced to a size that can be easily "drowned in a bathtub."

All of the above has been so discredited as to filter into the heartland deep enough for even Republicans and "Reagan Democrats" to recognize that they have been bamboozled to the point that their very homes are at risk, their currency is referred to as "the new peso", their economy is no longer strong enough to withstand the shocks of today, their armed forces are in Vietnam-style disarray, and that the "taking" of a mid-sized Iraqi city was more important than the saving of New Orleans.

But now, as our presidential primary drags on and on, there are Democrats everywhere that are quoted as saying that they could not possible vote for ANYONE other than their chosen champion for Democratic candidate for president.

The Levittowner in the NYT today is ready to throw away everything that everyone from Rush Limbaugh to NPR has spoon-fed him for 25 years ...but some loyal and activist Democrats are at the same time telling reporters that THEY CANNOT.

This small-town dweller in Pennsylvania, gun-owner and former BUSH SUPPORTER, has had enough ...but some phonecalling, doorbell-ringing, campaign-donating, fiercely-blogging, liberal, politically sophisticated, true Democrats are now saying loudly that if their candidate does not come out of OUR convention as the nominee... they will be unable to bring themselves to vote Democratic.

In my current position, I have personally spoken with several (a dozen or so...and Bush supporters are now harder to find than Nixon-voters) Republicans outside the 29% that still see George W. Bush as god-sent ...staunch "rock-ribbed" Republicans ...that have all told me, to my absolute amazement, "I hope they ALL lose!", "I could never vote for John McCain", "I'm staying home this year."

To Obama supporters that are thinking that they will not vote Democratic unless their man is chosen at our convention...

To Clinton supporters that are thinking that they will not vote Democratic unless their woman is chosen at our convention...

...I have a question for you:

Could you be more short-sighted than a (former) Reagan/Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Ashcroft/Rove/Gonzales/Tenet/Mukasey supporter from a small town in Pennsylvania who has finally shrugged-off the entire Rightwing Noise Machine that he once embraced and that for 25 years has given him all the assurances he needed to vote against his own personal interests ...even up to and including the destruction of much of what he held dear?

I don't believe you could. Don't fail us now. Get out the vote ...and that includes yours.

Whistling

I don't want to make too much of the comparison, however...

Certain anniversaries this year have been filtering into my consciousness, catching me off guard, and reminding me that we are 40 years through that crucible that was so momentous for the US and the world. This year too, 2008, is so eventful and portends so much for the future that, well, I've been distracted from that crucial year when anything seemed possible, both the good and the bad.

Today, we mark 4 decades since the murder of Dr. King. Today the NYT releases a poll that shows more US citizens dissatisfied with the their country’s direction (81%!) than at any time since they began asking about the subject in the early 1990s.

The word momentous really doesn't begin to describe 1968. Since January, the trickle of 40 year-old events has shown-up in wire service reports; the Prague Spring, the Tet Offensive. Political events from the Democrats of old have been overshadowed by this year's race: Eugene McCarthy coming within striking range of a sitting president and inspiring Robert Kennedy to change his mind about not running for the presidency, Lyndon Johnson's decision to not seek re-election in face of public disapproval of "his" war.

With the anniversary today of Dr. King's being cut-down by a sniper on a Memphis hotel balcony while fighting along side striking garbage men, more deadly commemorences begin their march back into the sidebars and back pages of daily media.

The economy is number one in the minds of yanquis today, instead of an illegal war and invasion begun with official lies. But it was number one in the mind of Dr. King then as well ...after coming to the conclusion that the newly won civil rights gains could not be fully realized without economic equality.

To say the US economy was different then beggars another word. Productivity per US worker was at its zenith and the phrase "American Dream" didn't draw puzzled looks anywhere in the world. The stage was set, however, for a downturn from which the US did not recover until the Clinton administration. A downturn aided by an oil crisis and a long, drawn-out war far away.

"History does not repeat itself," said Mark Twain, "but it does rhyme." I hope you'll forgive me for pausing to wonder if this tune we've been whistling has a eerily familiar melody. The world made a lot of mistakes during and after that time. I'd like us all to remember those mistakes in the hope that we won't repeat them.

Yanqui Mike Throws his His Hat in

Yep, after much consultation with friends, family, and supporters, I filled out the application to blog from the floor of the 2008 Democratic National Committee Convention in Denver this August as the "state blogger" from Democrats Abroad.

The position created by the Democrats for this year is another historic first along the lines of the first ever Worldwide US Presidential Primary that you may have participated in from Argentina back in February. The decision was made for every State Delegation to include a blogger with assigned seating on the convention floor. Since Democrats Abroad is considered "the 51st State" by the Democratic Party, we get a State Delegation ...and a blogger to go with it!

(If you haven't yet joined Democrats Abroad Argentina, you really should. I can't think of ANY organization that gives expats more respect. Seriously, there's nothing like it anywhere.)

As you can imagine, there's world-wide competition for the 51 slots even though the Democratic Party has also expanded the number of credentials for "the pool" all of your favorite political bloggers this year as well. But they won't be blogging from the floor of the convention like the "embed" bloggers with each State Delegation!

Why is blogging from the floor of the convention a big deal?

Well, first up, the credentials handed out to the "state" bloggers provide more access to the actual dealings on the floor of the convention. It's a "backstage pass" rather than a "front row seat." No other bloggers (maybe not even news networks) will have the same sort of access and freedom to move.

Secondly, ...as if this could possibly be second ...this year's convention is shaping up to be the most interesting since 1968 back in my hometown of Chicago.

The primary process that we all know and love today has not existed for very long. The idea that states would have real secret-ballot "elections" and caucuses to determine the eventual candidate did not dominate the Democratic Party's method of selecting who would be the best person to run against the Republicans until 1976 when Jimmy Carter won the nomination.

In '68, for example, there were only 13 states that held primaries.

Before then, "non-primary" states in which the delegates were determined by powerful party leaders were more important than the states that held primary elections. Presidential candidates usually did not even run in all of the state primaries that existed then. They picked and chose which ones they ran in ...if any ...lobbied the party bosses for delegates from the non-primary states ...and left the rest of the primaries to "favorite-son" candidates that were really running as a proxy for them. Those favorite-sons would later release their delegates in the direction of the candidate that they were "proxying" for.

Back then, you never knew who the candidate was going to be until after the convention!

This year, unless something big happens ...and there ain't much big on the calendar between now and August, we're gonna Party like it's pre-'76!

So, in short, the convention floor in Denver will be the place to be if you are a political junkie and a writer. I'll keep you posted as to how the results of this and ALL the races are shakin' out.

My last post... for my own safety

There will be nothing more from the Yanq on the subject of the strike in the campo. I am only a partner in all the cows we have. I cannot afford to bring a spotlight on myself and harm the rest of my family.

Today's print and web edition of La Nacion reports that 50 members of the Argentina's Federal Police forcibly seized five truckloads of cattle from the ranch of a strike supporter near the town of Brandsen, southeast of the provincial capital of Buenos Aires, La Plata.

The story has not appeared in any other media outlets.

"The government began to apply yesterday The Law of Supply. According to sources from La Nacion, Juan Eiras, President of the Argentine Chamber of Feedlot Operators (Caehv), was forced to give into pressure from the Secretary of Domestic Commerce, Guillermo Moreno, who made good on his threat to send the Policia Federal to assure the delivery to market of the cattle that he finishes (fattens) in his establishment."

The paper said that the confiscation occurred after threatening phone calls from the ministry.

A cattle truck can hold an average of 35 animals each. Furthermore, many ranchers send their cattle to feedlots for final fattening. Mr. Eiras said that he did not know all the owners of the cattle confiscated from him.

The law is not required to compensate the owner.

Please, do not leave any further comments regarding the rural strike on this website.

WJB replies to CFK

"There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, that their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous their prosperity will find its way up and through every class that rests upon it.

You come to us and tell us that the great cities are in favor... I tell you that the great cities rest upon these broad and fertile prairies.

Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic...

...but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country."

William Jennings Bryan

the "cross of gold" speech, Chicago, 1896