Barbarians at the Gates

Next weekend, all over the Golden State, Democratic Party activists will be running for delegate positions to the state party. At a minimum, being a party delegate means attending a yearly convention and voting on resolutions, a platform and candidate endorsements. Symbolically, it also means being an official part of the party, which has an inherent appeal to netroots-type progressives heeding the battle cry to "crash the gate".

Accordingly, the Progressive Democrats of America this year is organizing like-minded Dems to join "progressive slates" in Assembly District races everywhere. The idea, according to a website dedicated to the project, is that "the power to change our party comes from a cohesive group of individuals dedicated to making change happen" (which is funny, since one might do worse than "a cohesive group of individuals dedicated to making change happen" as a definition of a political party in the first place, though I suppose it works just as well as the definition of a faction). To be a "progressive" -- again, according to the site -- is to believe in universal healthcare, to oppose pre-emptive war, and to oppose the death penalty, among other principles (nothing in there about a worker's right to join a union....oh, well). Their policy platform calls for immediate withdrawal from Iraq, clean elections, "elimination of poverty" (big enough?), and "investigations toward impeachment."

So far, their efforts seem to be gaining some traction, at least among bloggers. DDay's post on MyDD and cross-post on Calitics have sparked lively discussion threads, and who knows if Chris Bowers' entreaty back in early December was what drove the unwashed masses to the barricades in the first place? If you believe what you read on blog comments, it sounds like there's at least a handful of reasonably organized rank-and-filers running slates, and if you believe idle chatter from electeds and their aides, at least a couple of them are serious enough to pay attention to, if not necessarily to fear.

However these slates play out, next weekend's DSCC elections should be at least a little more interesting than usual.

Seymour Martin Lipset, deceased at 84

Seymour Martin Lipset was one of the giants of American academia and progressive political thought. As a student of American society and government steeped in the intellectual traditions of European social theory, Lipset brought to the social sciences a highly original and cosmopolitan perspective on "American exceptionalism." Lipset brought light to such conundrums as the extraordinary vibrancy of voluntary associational life in the U.S. and the conspicuous absence in U.S. history of a serious American socialist challenge. As a committed Socialist in youth, Lipset helped build an aspirational American social scientific tradition that dwarfed in creative fecundity the plodding methodicalness of Talcott Parson's reigning postwar paradigm of Structural Functionalism. Yet, as an intellectual offspring of Max Weber and Roberto Michels, he was finely attuned to the capacity of ideology to yield and give shape to new modes of domination within the structures of workers' organizations and political parties ostensibly committed to egalitarianism and class struggle. This combination of moral vision and disciplined skepticism engendered a social analysis that cut to the core of a culture so profoundly shaped by moralism in a society so fundamentally perverted by inequality. Lipset's contribution to the U.S.' understanding of itself looms as large as that of Toqueville. For as long as American civilization lasts, Lipset's intellectual legacy will persist.

Happy Holidays (and Count Yourself Lucky)

Not to be the holiday party buzzkill, but a quick glance at the leading local stories in the L.A. Times from the 21st through today is enough to inspire most of us to count our yuletide blessings. Here's a smattering:

Officer kills knife attack suspect
A rookie Los Angeles police officer shot and killed a 27-year-old man early Monday after the man attacked his former roommates with a 6-inch butcher knife, police said.

Man is shot to death in Los Angeles
A man was shot to death on Christmas night outside his apartment in Silver Lake, authorities said.

Hollywood woman, 56, dies in fire
A 56-year-old Hollywood woman was killed Saturday night when she was trapped by flames inside her home after an artificial Christmas tree apparently caught fire, officials said.

3 security guards are shot outside nightclub
Three security guards were shot and seriously wounded outside a nightclub early Saturday, police said.

Girl dies, 2 men injured as car slams into a wall
A girl died and two men were injured Saturday after their car slammed into a wall and tree and burst into flames, authorities said.

Killings of youths tied to L.A. County child protection system soar in 2006
The 79 homicides were more than twice the 37 at-risk children slain in 2005.

Area's homeless can't find shelter
Even the supplemental cold-weather services are filled to capacity on cold and windy nights.

11 taken to hospitals after Blue Line train hits firetruck
About 250 rush-hour commuters were aboard when accident occurred at Washington and Central, a 'notorious bad intersection.'

Suspect held in hate crime slaying of girl, 14
Los Angeles police detectives have arrested a Latino suspect in the killing of a 14-year-old African American girl in what police say was a hate crime.

4 accused of smuggling women for prostitution
Four women from Guatemala have been arrested as part of a scheme in which young women were lured into the U.S. with promises of good jobs and forced to become prostitutes in Los Angeles.

Memorial service puts name, face on year's dead in skid row
The event gives 'these people the honor of saying, your life meant something,' mayor says.

Fiery crash kills 3 teenagers
The youths die early Wednesday after the driver veers off Los Feliz Boulevard and strikes a tree near Griffith Park. Two passengers pulled from the vehicle survive.

Not Gonna Do It!

Much to my chagrin, I can say with certainty that Al Gore is NOT running for President of the U. S. of A. Never mind the hype -- he's not gonna do it.

Last week I had the chance to 'meet' Al Gore at an event that was hosted by the Directors Guild of America (DGA). As you can expect, VP Gore was there to talk about this film, "An Inconvenient Truth" -- not to campaign, as I would have hoped.

After a few seconds of small talk with the handsome yet portly Gore, I built up the courage to say to him, "Mr. Gore, I hope you will consider running. The country could use your leadership." Never have I seen an elected official react with such an immediate scoff. (I think scoff is the best way to explain his action.) After the aforementioned statement, he quickly moved on to the next in the crowd. He appeared annoyed, if not agitated, by the thought that someone would ask him to consider running for the position he once won.

I was mildly upset. Not only was I scoffed at by a man that I have grown to admire and respect, but, more importantly, I was convinced from his reaction that Gore's mingling in the Presidential name dropping game is a ploy to continue his effort to keep his name a household one. For a good cause, of course. He is on a quest to save the world and it only helps the cause to have such a big name in the world working so hard on the subject.

I am going to start looking for a new candidate. Take down the website -- http://www.reelectgore.org/ -- because it ain't gonna happen.

Globalize L.A.?

American Apparel is about to go public.

Emblazoned with the command "Legalize L.A.," American Apparel's factory is as much a fixture of the downtown Los Angeles cityscape as its hyper-sexual and socially progressive brand is a fixture of American youth culture. The company's politics are a bit more elusive, however, than the image it has crafted would lead one to believe. Despite its pro-immigrant, anti-sweatshop labor practices and public pronouncements, in 2003, American Apparel's founder and owner Dov Charney defeated a UNITE-HERE union organizing drive at his downtown factory by employing standard union-busting tactics familiar to workers in meatpacking plants and nursing homes.

Whether American Apparel is a renegade company swimming upstream in a globalized race to the bottom or a shrewd manipulator of the political sympathies of its target consumers is anyone's guess. Now the answer may become a bit more discernible.

When Google went public, founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin chose to structure the deal with "dual class voting," which allows management the authority to make decisions on behalf of the company that may not be popular with stockholders. This was because Google felt that stockholders' focus on short-term gain should play second fiddle to the founders' commitment to the company's long-term, core mission. The latter includes both its risk-taking entrepreneurialism and its charitable goals.

So far, no such precautions against the stock market impinging upon the "non-rational" priorities of a mission-based company like American Apparel appear to be forthcoming in the $244 million deal. Perhaps outsourcing is in American Apparel's future after all, or perhaps investors will leave the company's anti-sweatshop policies alone as long (and only as long) as the image helps move product. Either outcome would indicate an accomodation between the corporate rebel and the globalized free market forces it was ostensibly created to reject. American Apparel may be on its way to becoming Global Apparel, which is to say to becoming a facsimile of every other garment manufacturer in the world. Which, in a sense, would not be such a radical departure from its mission, which concludes with the statement:

"Not to suggest that we are more ethical than the next business. We're just out to try something different, to make a buck, to bring people the clothes they love, to be human, and have a good time in the process. So far, so good."

All of that can be accomplished as easily from China as from downtown L.A.

Happy Monday

No smog in Smog Land today. It's one of those crisp, cold days that make L.A. in the winter feel like the East Coast in the fall. A couple pictures from this morning.

Flipping Birds

If you live or drive in L.A., you're probably familiar with the accompanying image. You may even have pondered its meaning and origin, while waiting for the light to turn green.

The crack investigative reporters at Metroblogging Los Angeles have solved the mystery with this exclusive interview with The Creator Himself.

Apparently, however, he's not too hard to find if you know where to look. He has his own MySpace page, and even a blog (composed entirely of pictures).

Adding the blog to our blogroll now, because when you think about it, what better can be found on the internet than photos of hot young people getting trashed and having fun?