This is a PSA for those of you in the CA-13 district. I just got this from Pete Stark's mailing list and it's interesting, though at a time where I'm actively using lots of web-based seminars and various softwares for meetings, this seems a bit old fashioned. But hey! whatever works!

I urge you to read this diary which explains better than I can why John Laesch is a true courage candidate. It's that simple.

So, why another diary on this when I was up at 1 am shoveling snow and salting ice here in Iowa for the Biden campaign? I don't have the time to be doing this, but John's courage in the face of attacks against Planned Parenthood and his subsequent unfair rebuke by the DC machine inspired this addition. John deserves it, and he deserves your help. I've added John's Courage Candidate profile to the rest, below the fold ...

Yesterday I wrote a diary about the standards that the netroots should consider before getting behind a candidate. It was a rough sketch that included grassroots organization, money, whether or not supporting the candidate could hurt our credibility, and a few other factors. Comments were mostly positive; one commenter thought I left out je ne sais quoi, but I'm quite sure that a real grassroots organization doesn't develop without it.

Nevertheless, I made a mistake; a sin of omission. In this current climate, we have to make sure that our candidates have courage. Courage fights for us. Courage stands up for the Constitution and working Americans. Courage wins.

These days, courage is more than standing up to the Bush Administration (that was courage four years ago). Courage isn't pandering, or presenting a plan. Courage has its own je ne sais quoi, and today I'm happy to endorse a few candidates who have impressed me by having the courage we desperately need in these dark times. I am open to your suggestions as well.

Now I see what the right wingers were saying about the extreme left's blind Bush hatred. I find Stark's comments to be totally fine and on target except the words "for the President's amusement." I may loathe Bush's war and his policies, but I would never say Bush is "amused" by all the men and women dying in Iraq. I'm sure Bush cares rather deeply--thus why he is so determined to "succeed" in Iraq and stick with his bone-headed inept policy instead of changing course.

Calitics has a piece on Congressman Pete Stark's  AmeriCare Health Care Act which would provide universal healthcare coverage and would cost less than what we currently pay.

http://bluesunbelt.com/...

It is a long overdue move.

Details found at the Secular Coalition of America press release:

http://secular.org/...

"Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.), a member of Congress since 1973, acknowledged his nontheism in response to an inquiry by the Secular Coalition for America (www.secular.org ). Rep. Stark is a senior member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and is Chair of the Health Subcommittee."

This will hopefully be the first among many to be open about their secular beliefs.  It is commonly known to be political suicide to announce your atheism to the public, and it will be interesting to see if this impacts Stark's re-election efforts (assuming he intends to run).

Brian

Today, the Secular Coalition for America has announced the first U.S. Congressman to go publicly on record as holding no belief in god.

The Secular Coalition for America is the only organization in the nation whose primary purpose is lobbying Congress on behalf of atheists, humanists, freethinkers, and other nontheistic Americans.