 Edward "Ed" Garren, MFT is a Family Therapist, justice activist, former West Hollywood City Council candidate, writer and self-described sojourner. |
Decades ago, I stumbled upon a collection of essays by Dorothy Sayers, author, Anglican Deacon, feminist, best remembered for her detective stories centered around Lord Peter Wimsey. The essays, about the Christian faith were called "Creed or Chaos." In one of them she recounts the fall of France to the Nazi's. One of the high government officials arriving by boat in England was asked how France surrendered without any opposition. His reply, "Because she had too many men like me." Ms. Sayers went on to say that everyone was waiting for a deal, a last minute bargain, something, anything that would work without the tough bloodshed of war. France was sure that a deal could be made, even as the tanks were rolling in.
We are watching the same thing happen in our country. When Bush stole the election, not one Democratic senator would sign off on the petition for an investigation of election fraud offered in congress. After 9/11 most of the Democratic leadership in congress went along with the program, trying to be "patriotic."
What they were really doing was protecting their position with regard to "deal making" in the future. None of them could really believe what was happening. They did not want to consider that in this administration, "Bi-Partisanship" would become the legislative equivalent of "date rape."
 West Hollywood’s Community Cannabis Dispensary |
As much as we want to blame the Republicans for this mess we're in now, we Democrats need to take a long, hard, honest look at our own inability to listen to the voices of dissent within our ranks who kept screaming "Ask Questions!!!" Instead, in the spirit of "Let's just all try to get along", most of our elected Democrats signed off on the biggest fiasco in the history of the country. Even if we'd have lost the vote, we would have gained credibility with the people. And who are these people elected to serve?
 Elizabeth Virrick |
Once upon a time, I remember a people of courage, substance and valor. Personal gain was important, but it was also important to consider the greater good. The essence of what makes a community is the willingness to set aside one's own ambitions and consider the needs of those less fortunate. Decades ago I had the privilege of meeting Elizabeth Virrick of Miami. Ms. Virrick was in her 80s, and had been the founder of Coconut Grove Cares. She recounted to me that as a child, her father had told her that her gifts, intelligence and being born into a privileged home, where educational opportunities were as available as enough food to eat, all carried an obligation to serve those less fortunate. The idea of living a life of ease and comfort was alien to her.
As the young wife of an up and coming architect, she got to know her maid and spent a day in the "black" grove. What she saw horrified her, privies, lack of running water, people jammed into tiny houses that were fire traps. She teamed up with the young Rev. Theodore Gibson of Christ Church (Episcopal) in the "Black Grove" (now called "West Grove") and the two of them became a powerhouse of ideas and work. Soon, they raised money for low interest loans to install toilets in homes in the neighborhood. The agency’s early accomplishments included bringing running water to the West Grove and eliminated 482 outdoor toilets. They formed a non profit to help the young people of the area increase literacy skills and educational opportunities.
 ADVERTISEMENT – please support our gracious community-based sponsors - ADVERTISEMENT |
A larger account of her work in Miami can be found at this link. It is itself a fascinating story: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r101:E09MY0-457:
And on it went, so what's the point? Leadership is earned, not bought. In the not so distant past, the Democratic Party was the party of Americans who had been counted less or counted out of the scheme of things. We were a party of labor, of the dis-empowered, and the poor. One came to power in the party by working for a living, and then working to get people elected. The Democratic Club system came into being to get "grass roots" activism into the party. Clubs advocated for issues and perspectives, their members working hard to pay for slate sheets, declaring those candidates that had passed the test, not just of words, but of deeds. Candidates worked very hard to get an endorsement to be on those slate sheets.
 Dorothy Sayers |
Stonewall Democratic Club is a prime example of this. Once a group of rag-tag GLBT rights activists, we held candidates feet to the fire. After a while, it became obvious that a candidate could not get elected without Stonewall's endorsement, and that meant power. That power translated into change on the legal and social landscape.
The authority of Stonewall was genuine. It's members were not "beholding" to "machines." Rather, elected officials were obligated to the club, and it's perspective.
This way of doing things kept Democrats active, vital, fluid and able to respond to issues as they surfaced on the landscape. It was a party built from the bottom up, of and for the people, not just a few, but everybody who got involved.
My mother has always said it best, "I'm not wealthy enough to vote Republican." She, and her generation understood that Democrats were middle class "working people", who did not benefit from birth into a life of ease, or other aspects of "privilege." Democrats were the not as attractive, sometimes "lumpy", the people who didn't always look or sound fashionable, but who put heart and back into changing things for the better. Often blessed with more intelligence than either money, looks or formal education, we organized, and got out the vote for candidates who themselves were just common folk. We of course had leadership that were more prosperous, but they did not forget from whence they came. If they were tough, if they were "crooks", they were at least our crooks.
 Advertisement - Visit “The Other Side” on Friday Nights to hear James Lent - Advertisement |
Not anymore. It's a new world and new people run the party. The working class war horses are gone and the American people know it. The clubs and the party have shrunk into a smaller and smaller group of people, who mostly talk to each other, and rarely look outside to notice where the rest of the country has gone. Few want to get their hands dirty anymore, at least with work that helps other people.
 Art Collective logo. |
People who have actually worked their way up the economic ladder "the old fashioned way" like John Edwards or Al Sharpton are dismissed as not having enough polish or sophistication. Senators like (now retired) Bob Graham of Florida, who actually voted against the war on Iraq for security reasons, are discounted and ignored. Even Howard Dean was (and in many circles still is) discounted as being too "progressive."
Upper leadership seems to have deteriorated into a group of people who would much rather argue about who is the "best" Democrat, defined by ideology and other pedigrees. The nadir of it was the opening debate of 2004, watching two candidates fight it out about who had the best record on GLBT rights, on national television. As if anyone other than the two of them actually cared about this issue. I watched most of the traditional "leaders" of the party, talk about everything except what most Americans struggle with. It was laughable. Only Al Sharpton, John Edwards and Bob Graham focused on the deteriorating situation of most "working class" people in this country.
Al Sharpton said it best in his speech at the Democratic Convention that year, "The issue of government is not to be concerned about who is sleeping with who in the bedroom. The issue of government is to make sure that there is enough food to feed everybody in the kitchen." Al gave a resounding speech, one of the best at the convention, but he had to break the rules to do it. Leadership had originally given him six minutes, and required they approve (censor) a pre-written speech.
 |
God Bless Al, he gave them what they wanted, then got up and said what he wanted to say, and dared them to take him off early. His speech, left few dry eyes in the room, and he nailed every issue that working Americans are concerned about, while supporting GLBT and Women's rights at the same time, attacking Bush head on for his lies and abuse of power. But Al is considered an "outsider" in the party leadership. Will he ever be forgiven for Tawana Brawley?
The politics in California are such that most GLBT issues are being slowly chipped away, largely thanks to the efforts of Stonewall Democratic Club and other GLBT political advocacy groups. But ignoring the obvious, that lots of GLBT persons are also of moderate means, Stonewall has ignored economic justice issues and instead developed a new scheme to assure it's own economic prosperity, selling endorsements.
I noticed when I ran for West Hollywood City Council, things at Stonewall were not what I'd have expected. I went to the banquet that year, and watched long time friend Norman Chramoff get the award for Democrat of the year from the club. Later in my campaign I found out that Norman was working for development interests in West Hollywood who were evicting elderly and disabled residents from their apartments to make room for expensive condos. He was specifically trying to get grass roots support for demolition of Carlton Manor. On other projects, he would appear, with a few other community members, mostly Russian speaking. When the hearings were held for "Tara", it was rumored that Norman organized the bus load of Russians who met at Plummer Park to be fed and brought to the meeting to testify in favor of the "Laurel Place" project. "Norman and his Russians" became a catch phrase for a while.
 |
Then I noticed that one of my opponents had a line item in his campaign finance disclosures to Stonewall for a noticeable amount of money. Upon further investigation, I noticed that other established candidates were doing the same thing. Supposedly this money was a "contribution" to help pay for the cost of "slate sheets." Yet one cannot help but question the ethics of taking a large donation from a candidate, and also endorsing the same candidate.
 Photo by Mikel Gerle. |
It will be interesting to see if the club again endorses in the West Hollywood races coming up next Spring. Since all candidates are about the same on GLBT rights (the original reason the club exists), why endorse at all? Moreover, why endorse two incumbents who have repeatedly ignored the city's mission with regard to protecting renters, and a third, who appears bought off by the other two. Will the club seriously ask those candidates what they have done to protect renters in the city? Or will it simply ask "safe" questions and then give an endorsement, knowing the candidate will write them a large check, ostensibly to pay for slate sheet distribution?
Recently when I was in LA, a friend told me that the Stonewall by-laws were being amended to streamline the relationship between candidate endorsements and candidate contributions to the club.
From the description I heard, and what I was able to read, it looks like the club leadership will be much more heavily involved in the process. One cannot help but speculate that deals will be cut, and candidates and incumbents will be much more cozy with club leadership, and will express their gratitude with contributions to the club and favors to its leadership.
 Advertise With WeHoNews - Reach 55,000 pairs of eyes each month while supporting WeHo’s ONLY COMMUNITY ONLINE NEWSPAPER |
If you wonder how Phil Angelides got to be the candidate for governor, you might consider that our party has been reduced to a contest of popularity within a small group of people, who are increasingly out of touch with America.
 Photo by Mikel Gerle. |
At the last Stonewall meeting I attended, a panel discussion was held about reaching out to white males in "working class" areas in southern California. During the Q&A, I stood up and attempted to offer some answers and was shouted down by Anne Marie Staus, who kept calling for a "point of order" because I was not actually asking a question. After the meeting, I attempted to schedule a lunch or dinner with Eric Bauman to discuss the issue. Eric told me he never eats lunches or dinners with people, even if they are offering to pay. I repeatedly tried to arrange a meeting via eMail for over a month, and it became clear it was not going to happen.
During the last year, I have repeatedly tried to get Garry Shay to publish or link some of my articles in his Democratic News Group. First he said he never puts up "blogs", then he just stopped answering my eMails to him. He (of course) does put up blog articles all the time. So while some of my readers are saying that I'm becoming as good as Molly Ivins (which is a supreme compliment) and others are figuring out how to get me to a wider audience, Eric, Garry and Anne Marie are doing their best to ignore me and make me go away. And since they more or less run the club, that's how it goes.
When the club had it's "Election Wrap Up" after the city council election, I asked if I could be part of the discussion, to talk about why I had gotten 712 votes in an election where I was predicted to get less than 200. I was politely told (the day before the meeting) that they would only be discussing the races of the candidates they had endorsed, no others.
 please support our gracious community-based sponsors |
And so it goes. Like me, the voices of dissent and change in the party get shoved aside, or out the door, and not much changes. It would be different if these people were winning elections, but they aren't. Unless it's a "slam dunk" Democratic district, we are losing over and over again to the Republicans because we have become horrifically predictable in all the wrong ways.
Our local leaders in LA appear to be reduced to "ward bosses" for the local political establishment, which is why an endorsement from a Democratic Club is fairly meaningless.
 Photo by Mikel Gerle. |
In the recent Assembly campaign, the two Democratic Clubs both endorsed Abbe Land for reasons mostly relating to political expediency for the club's leadership.
I suspect that leadership of too many Democratic organizations have been reduced to merely selling endorsements, not really caring about what the candidate has to offer the office they are elected to or the people they will serve, but rather what they can offer a a small few in party leadership. It's very cozy for a few, but in reality, not much different from what Republicans do.
Which is why we have lost our credibility with America. The average American says, "It doesn't matter who I vote for, none of them care about me."
The Democratic Party doesn't belong to the people anymore, and that's why it's failing.
 ADVERTISEMENT – please support our gracious community-based sponsors - ADVERTISEMENT |
My parents were young adults in the depression. My father voted for FDR and the New Deal, then went on to work for Claude Pepper for Congress, then Senate. The vision of that leadership, which understood the value of meaningful work, and how it contributes to a richer society, championed public works that electrified every corner of this country, gave it clean drinking water, paved highways, built bridges, hospitals, schools, facilities in national parks, hydroelectric dams, and so forth.
 Advertise With WeHoNews - Reach 55,000 pairs of eyes each month while supporting WeHo’s ONLY COMMUNITY ONLINE NEWSPAPER |
Most of the reforms which propelled this country into it's most prosperous period in the history of any nation that ever existed were designed by the administration of FDR.
These days, the vision of party leadership seems to center around "What's in it for me?", without much regard to the greater good or survival of the planet.
Until the Democratic party gets back to it's roots, and starts being more open to those who are fighting for economic justice, and who demand action, not just rhetoric, not much will change, and that is very very frightening.
This is how France fell to the Nazi's, and it's how this country is falling to Halliburton, United Defense and the "Patriot Act."
 |
There are times when regular politics will not do,
and this is one of those times. -- Molly Ivins
|
Edward "Ed" Garren, MFT is a Family Therapist, justice activist, former West Hollywood City Council candidate, writer and sojourner. He is originally from the Tampa Bay area of central Florida. Ed has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Frontiers news magazine, and other books, including "Out of My Mind", a pictorial memoir by Kris Nelson. He is currently working on a book about Addiction in America.
Ed Garren can be reached, even in hie North Western haunts, at