I have been warned by many friends on every island that those in traditional positions of power are concerned that the progressive movement is growing too strong.
They are concerned we will in fact win too many seats at the legislature in 2018, they are wary of our growing numbers, our increasingly effective organization, and what this means for the future.
They know that if we are successful, in 2019 Hawaiʻi will pass not just a $15 per hour minimum wage measure but possibly even one that mandates an actual living wage.
They know that if we succeed on August 11th that the public trust protection for our streams and rivers will be preserved and that big business will likely lose control of the water systems. And yes, they know that a bold social, environmental, and economic justice agenda will move forward more rapidly than ever before.
Attacks in the coming weeks and months should be expected.
Trust me, I have been there and have witnessed this scenario many times in the past.
Remember the attacks that were made against our friends on Maui in 2016. Remember what the SuperPac “Forward Progress” did in the past to former Governor Ben Cayetano and others. Those attacks were ruthless. A new SuperPac “All Hawaiʻi Stand Together” has recently been formed and appears to have a base within the same/similar group.
So expect the attacks, and when they come, you will know who is behind it. We can and must be prepared to respond quickly and to rally behind the candidates and organizations that are the targets.
Your help is needed now more than ever to continue the fight and to continue winning.
Please help if you can. Join us here:
And please, donate here if you can:
Yes, my job is to ask.
In solidarity,
GaryHooser's Blog 
I hope it is OK to remind folks of what happened 50 years ago. I was 16 then.
I remember, returning from a trip to New Orleans, the empty streets of Little Rock on the night King was assassinated.
I remember Bobby Kennedy being assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel destroying the hopes of both those who opposed the American Empire (the reason for being in Vietnam) and labor unions such as the Cesar Chavez supporters who were only looking for a fair wage. (The original “Fight for $15).
I remember watching the Chicago Police riot at the Democratic Convention when Sen. Abraham A. Ribicoff said:
“And with George McGovern as President of the United States, we wouldn’t have to have Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago. And with George McGovern as president, we wouldn’t have to have a National guard.”
The ’68 convention destroyed FDR’s “New Deal” and the “American Dream” by choosing Hubert Humphrey as the nominee to run against Nixon. Humphrey had not completed in a single primary. His nomination exposed the “back room deals” that really control American Politics. You might want to read Ron Kovic’s “Born on the Fourth of July” to understand the depth of the betrayal.
The chaos of the ’68 convention caused the Oligarchs to temporarily lose control of the Party which lead to George McGovern’s nomination in ’72. However the Oligarchs could not abide by the will of the Democratic base and so actively sabotaged McGovern’s campaign preferring Nixon. (Who they were then able to threaten with impeachment. Does this sound familiar? Who is former FBI director Mueller?) They then pushed through the Super Delegate rule which was used very effectively to deny Bernie Sanders the 2016 nomination (8 of 10 Hawaii Super Delegates voted for Clinton despite the Hawaii Primary going 70% for Sanders) — proving that moments in time matter, causing me to question the wisdom of electing a paid lobbyist to be the Chair of the Democratic Party of Hawaii in 2018. (The shenanigans involved in that coup would be worthy of a political thriller.)
The Oligarchs regained control of the Democratic Party after ‘72, and in collaboration with the Republicans (remember how Bill Clinton ended “welfare as we know it”? How about Carter’s “deregulation”?), have since lead our country down a path of evermore wealth being directed to those who already have everything they could possibly want while stealing the wealth from those who don’t even have what they need. Pensions are not honored and homes are taken through imminent domain to build Shopping Centers that are never completed while both Republican and Democratic voters are distracted by declarations of phony political support, for or against, a woman’s right to choose; gay rights and immigrant rights. All important but actually secondary issues that hide the fact that the Oligarchs continue to steal America’s wealth and expand the American Empire through torture and undeclared war.
I remember George McGovern, a B-24 (a difficult plane to control) bomber pilot in WWII, not a phony National Guard deserter like George W. Bush or a draft evader like Donald Trump, when he came to talk to the overflowing capacity crowd at the Santa Cruz Veterans Hall around 2004. A true warrior who took on the job solely because of his love for his country, not so that he could steal the few pennies a poor man might have. McGovern did not establish a foundation through which he could launder bribes from foreign governments.
At the 2018 DPH convention a speaker rose to decry the divisions between the convention delegates asserting that we all have to work together to defeat Trump. But Trump is a boogyman who would have no standing were it not for the fact that the Democratic Party continues to betray its base. What is the new Democratic Party campaign theme? “We are not Trump.” Goodness, the same theme Hillary Clinton used to give the Presidency to Trump. The Oligarchs do not care about the party winning, only that they win, and they win by staying in control of both political parties.
Fifty years later, we are headed down that same road we took in ’68. Will there be another “Four Dead in Ohio”?
John Zwiebel
The following link reviews the history of ’68 in more detail.
https://ourfuture.org/20180605/50-years-after-1968-can-the-young-change-politics-a-striking-new-polls-findings
For all the reasons you have stated in your article and probably more, I cannot support the Democratic Party at any level–it does not serve the P E O P L E !! But I will support this progressive organization. What a treat to read the names of the candidates I have previously supported for the highest national office!
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