Upcoming Meetings
Join us for our March meeting. Our speaker, Zev Yaroslavsky, will be joining us in-person to discuss Zev’s Los Angeles and Where We Are Today.
In a Los Angeles political career spanning four decades (L.A. City Council 1975-1994, L.A. County Board of Supervisors 1994-2014), Zev Yaroslavsky played a central role in shaping America’s largest metropolis. Health care, transportation, fiscal policy, civil liberties, arts and culture, and the environment were his domain. He received an MA in History and a BA in Economics and History, both from UCLA, where he currently teaches Public Policy and History.”
To register for this meeting, click here.
In our April meeting, in recognition of Earth Day 2024, Pulitzer Prize winning author Edward Humes will come to Palos Verdes and discuss Fix Our Waste and Heal the World. For more information, click here.
PV Democrats February 2024 Meeting Report
By Nancie Silver —
The Palos Verdes Democrats met in person at the Peninsula Center Library and on zoom on Sunday, February 18. The theme of the meeting was Can comprehensive immigration legislation
solve our border and citizenship problems, and the featured speaker was Congresswoman Nanette Barragan.
Congresswoman Barragan discussed the current political climate and its effect on attempts to address immigration reform. To be clear, the issue of comprehensive immigration reform has been an issue for decades, but one of the biggest roadblocks to making any progress is that Trump, the likely GOP nominee, is running an anti-immigration and anti-immigrant campaign and the current GOP-led Congress is taking its cues from him.
To see the complete report and to watch a video of our meeting, please click here.
Nominating Committee
In January, per our bylaws, the Palos Verdes Democrats’ board selected a committee to nominate our next slate of board members. The new board will be elected in May and sworn in at our July picnic.
The nominating committee consists of Mehran Moshfeghi (m_moshfeghi@yahoo.com), Fraser Perkins (flperkins@gmail.com), and Robert Wynne (rob@wynnepr.com). If you’re interested in volunteering for a board position, please contact one of these committee members.
From the Activism Chair
By Caryl Schwartz —
LACDP Report
By Jon Munoz —
Here is a summary of the February LACDP meeting, held in person on Tuesday, February 13.
A call to action was made for the race in Congressional District 22 where Rudy Salas is the LACDP
endorsed candidate.
It was announced that the JFK Awards will be held this year on Saturday, May 11.
Among the labor news was the LACDP effort against Lyft being awarded a contract for the LA Metro system. The LA Times firings and the disproportionate number of minorities laid off and the effect it will have on underserved communities was mentioned.
The Consent Calendar was approved; the only item on the consent calendar was a no endorsement vote in Assembly District 56 (Whittier).
A resolution was passed condemning the states that do not have abortion access for approximately 60,000 people.
Throughout the meeting there was a group of protesters holding a large “Cease fire now” in Gaza banner.
The surprisingly strong Democratic win in George Santos’ seat in New York was touted.
January-February 2024 Expenditures
By Connie Sullivan —
In January and February this year, the Palos Verdes Democrats donated $500 to Congressman Nanette Barragan and spent $150 for original poster artwork.
April 2024–Color Me A Democrat
By Fraser Perkins —
Color Me A Democrat: Of Courage, Cowardice and the Misdirected
Courage
Military leaders, to be effective, gain skills such as situational awareness that encompass competency beyond combat ability, technological know-how, and leadership. The higher an officer rises, the more important “soft” skills become, especially in the political arena. Officeholders come and go, and Democrats and Republicans swap political leadership, but continuity within the military remains strong at least in part due to armed service leaders maintaining cordial, close, and effective relationships with members of both parties. When asked, military leaders only reluctantly criticize one party over another, at least publicly. They recognize the primacy of civilian control over the armed services, and the dependence of the military on both bipartisan support and the widespread support of the American people.
Donald Trump appointed two generals to crucial positions within his administration. John Kelly, a marine four-star general, became President Trump’s Chief of Staff in 2017 and concomitantly James Mattis, another marine general, served as Trump’s first Secretary of Defense. What happened after each left the service of the Trump Administration was jaw dropping – despite carefully honed political skills, both senior military officers launched blistering assessments of President Donald Trump, the Commander-in-Chief they directly served.
Here is Former Secretary Mattis on Trump, “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people – does not even pretend to try.”
And John Kelly maintained Trump had “contempt for our Constitution and the rule of law.”
To see full opinion piece, please click here.
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