District 6 News

      The Italian poet Dante Alighieri is credited with the statement that "the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who during a time of moral crisis, remain neutral."  In Dante’s great tri-part poem, Paradiso, Purgatorio, and Inferno, the neutrals, those who in this world had never taken any side on any issue, occupy the mouth and vestibule of Hell. There they are condemned to  swirl unceasingly in clouds of red sand, their faces bitten by wasps and hornets. They are doomed to pursue in a blind, fatal, and ultimately hopeless way, a flag which never stays for a moment in one place. Dante denies them the moral dignity of a place even in hell itself. “Heaven will not have them, and the deep Hell receives them not lest the wicked there should have some glory over them”—lest the wicked, that is, looking at these neutrals, should be able to feel a sort of superiority over others. What was the sin of these neutrals? Only this: they had never taken a side.Their ongoing moral neutrality condemns them to an eternity of this treatment. 

      Today we face strongly defined choices. We can pull back into our safe homes and send indignant tweets, instagrams, emails,assure ourselves that somehow,somewhere, some vaguely defined, but immutable, justice will prevail, and we can cry bitter tears over children being separated from their parents at our borders, ala Hitler and the Jews...OR, we can take a position of moral and ethical rectitude.We can work to change the inequities of the situation. How do we do this? We vote. We go out and walk the streets of our precinct, we knock on doors, we talk to citizens, we press out points and we push the need for the population to VOTE. GOTV--get out the vote is our strongest weapon. Trump won election based on the Electoral College, Clinton had considerably more of the popular vote. This time around, Trump can't hide behind the EC--this time, his party has to face the people and defend itself for disrupting families, for the wealthy oriented budget, for the ongoing corruption of this administration and a near endless litany of sins.

      We need every vote, every voter to show up and express their indignation. There is talk of a "blue tsunami," in the mid-terms. Personally, I don't believe it. I want to be proven wrong. The only way to do that is to bring out every voter, to offer the opportunity for transportation to the polls and reaffirm the right of our citizenry to vote and determine its own political destiny.  Another quote, this one in dispute as to its author. Most think it from Edmund Burke. Burke was an Irish political philosopher, Whig politician and statesman who is, ironically, often considered the father of modern conservatism. Burke said ,All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. Let us heed his wisdom. Get out and vote, bring out your neighbors si they vote, bring out your precinct so it votes; bring out the vote.----Dan

At the June 14th Committee of the Whole meeting the County Board tabled a Resolution o Authorize Precincts Boundary Adjustments.  The Resolution would have added 117 new voting precincts effective December 1, 2018.  The Resolution never went through a County Board Committee or had any input from the Democratic Party.  The new boundaries would have made precinct work, especially canvassing, more difficult.  It was apparent from discussion that Board Members were completely blindsided by this Resolution, and in the spirit of bipartisanship, Republican Board Members, Democratic Board Member Paula Yensen, and Democratic Party leadership who spoke during public comments, concluded that this Resolution was not properly vented to merit consideration.  County Clerk Mary McClellan, who made the recommendation for boundary changes, was not present to answer the many questions County Board Members had regarding her proposed boundary changes.

However, this issue is not over!  The County will still need to consider the size of precincts to comply with State guidelines.  Toward that end, County Board Chairman Jack Franks proposed a committee consisting of non-elected citizens to make recommendations on precinct boundaries.  The question now is whether this should be accomplished after the Nov. 6th election or whether it should be considered as part of a larger package including information from the 2020 Census, redistricting, and the future size of the County Board.  Stay tuned!

With the continued consolidation and movement of polling places for this incredibly important race, we democrats need reassurance that election day goes well.  We need "our" judges appointed by our precinct committee persons (PCs) or by our Party.  We can appoint two (2) for each precinct.

Democrats all over have been stepping up to take on this responsibility.  The window for appointments is short.  Our list must be in by the end of May!  Contact us now if you're interested.  (district6@mchenrydems.org) 

We can add more names later,but we have no assurance where these judges will be placed.  Call or email NOW.  We need 2 judges in each precinct.

It’s time to thank all of those determined Democrats who stepped up to do what
they could to make sure everyone in the County could locate and access their
polling place for this primary election. This is despite the cutting back of 60 of the
polling locations.

A committee was formed last fall of thoughtful members who discussed the
issues before coming up with a plan.

Thanks to: Meg Ruelius, Linda Wallon, Nancy Glissman, Missy Funk, John Labaj, Nancy Zettler, Kathryn Potter, Mark Stevenson, Ruth Scifo, Cathy Johnson, Larry Spaeth, Cindy Spaeth, Jim May, Cece Drazek, Frank Wedig. Renee Hill, Nancy Zettler, Sue Reed, Buffy Brasile. (Drew Georgi provided ever changing consolidation data.)

We had quite a few workers at Pablo’s Mexican Restaurant one Friday night. We hooked rubber bands on 5000 door hangars all in one night!! Of course we enjoyed some of the great dishes and the margaritas. We also had a lot of laughs and conversation.

During a week of cool and pleasant February weather, 5000 doorhangars were hung in precincts that were hit hardest by the elimination of polling places!!!!

Thanks to all:
Lisa Arvanites, John Bartman, Nancy Glissman, Tom Glissman, Deb Grude, Linda Harlan, Renee Hill, Catie Hill, Rick Jezek, Cathy Johnson, Dan Johnson, John Labaj, Jim May, Michelle Mendoza, Sue Reed, Patty Rogalin, Ruth Scifo, Larry Spaeth, Helen Wiederkahr, Debs Wallner, Nancy Zettler, Cate Becker, Carlos Acosta, Cece, Carrie Schirmacher, Cecelia Carman, Peter Atterberg, Sue Labaj, Helen Torscher, Nan Kueller, Arne Waltmire, Cate Becker, Patricia Watson, Joe Scifo, Suzanne Ness, Kristina Zahorik, Sonya Sindbery, Loretta Pearson, Helen Torscher, Mitch Wisumierski, Heidi   Jackson, Kelli Wegener, Patrick Watson, and TJ (Matt Brolley’s Aide worked with us for at least two hours! )

We know that we are missing a few names. It took a lot of time and walking and people. Let us know if we missed you and we will add your name to the list.

In the developed world, these levels of gun violence are a uniquely American problem. Here’s why.

America is an exceptional country when it comes to guns. It’s one of the few countries in which the right to bear arms is constitutionally protected. But America’s relationship with guns is unique in another crucial way: Among developed nations, the US is far and away the most violent — in large part due to the easy access many Americans have to firearms. These charts and maps show what that violence looks like compared with the rest of the world, why it happens, and why it’s such a tough problem to fix.

Occasionally some truth is told on Fox (especially when Tucker Carlson shuts up).