A Blog Called Hope

Looks like long-time Republican State Rep. Bruce Long has got some explaining to do.

Elaine Spilane of RI’s 12th blog, herself a former State Senate candidate and member of the Middletown Democratic Town Committee, has raised attention to the fact the Bruce’s last campaign finance report doesn’t include any donor information in a quarter where he reports raising more than $10K!

Elaine was first to report on Long’s campaign report irregularities here.

Basically, it’s like this: Instead of filing the appropriate list of who gave how much and when they gave it, Bruce decided to write a hand-written note (see above) saying he “misplaced all of the supporting data” for his campaign finance report.

From today’s ProJo:

MIDDLETOWN — Longtime Middletown Rep. Bruce J. Long raised $10,350 in campaign contributions in the three-month period ending June 30, more than any Newport County lawmaker netted in the same season.

But Long, a Republican, failed to detail who gave him the money.

Instead, he attached a hand-written note to his filing with the state Board of Elections, reading: “I have misplaced all of the supporting data to my campaign report. I am recreating it through my bank and will submit an amended report.”

Long’s note didn’t satisfy Middletown Democratic Town Committee members Eileen Spillane and Richard P. Adams, who have filed a complaint with the state Board of Elections to protest Long’s “neglecting to publicly list his contributors.”

From the New York Times:

WACO, Tex., Aug. 27 — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, whose tenure has been marred by controversy and accusations of perjury before Congress, has resigned. He is expected to announce the decision to reporters at 10:30 Eastern time this morning in Washington.

Mr. Gonzales, who had rebuffed calls for his resignation for months, submitted his to President Bush by telephone on Friday, a senior administration official said.

Mr. Bush has not yet chosen a replacement but will not leave the position open long, the official said early this morning, speaking on condition of anonymity because the resignation had not yet been made public.

Mr. Bush repeatedly stood by Mr. Gonzales, an old friend and colleague from Texas, even as Mr. Gonzales faced increasing scrutiny for his leadership of the Justice Department, over issues including his role in the dismissals of nine United States attorneys late last year and whether he testified truthfully about the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs.

From Congressman Langevin:

“When I traveled the District this summer, my constituents told me — loud and clear — that they are fed up with the President and his policies - in particular those policies implemented by the nation’s top law enforcement officer. This resignation is the right thing for Attorney General Gonzales to do, as the public’s confidence in him has been severely compromised. The position of Attorney General is too critical to suffer from lack of credibility. I look forward to the President nominating a professional who can get us past this dark chapter for the Justice Department.”

From Congressman Kennedy:

“For months, it has been clear that AG Gonzales is unwilling and incapable of solving the serious problems facing the Department of Justice. While his resignation is overdue, I hope that it will mark an end to this painful chapter in the proud history of the Department.

There are serious problems at the Department of Justice, and we cannot afford to let them fester any longer. I urge President Bush to nominate an individual who will be able to work with Congress in the honest and open fashion that eluded AG Gonzales.”

From Senator Whitehouse:

“It’s been clear for months that Alberto Gonzales’s resignation is in the best interest of the country.  This is also good news for the Department of Justice, but a great deal of work remains to be done to restore Americans’ confidence in this great Department, to restore its traditions and spirit, and to restore its ability to fairly and dispassionately enforce the law.  Fortunately, there are many people of both parties who know and love this Department who I’m sure would be glad to help.

“I hope that whoever the President nominates to be he new Attorney General at this critical time will put the interests of the Department, its employees, and the American people foremost – before partisanship, and before politics.”

Next week, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse will host another in a series of community dinners, speaking one-on-one with Rhode Islanders to answer questions and share ideas:

Event: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse Hosts Community Dinner

When: Wednesday, August 22, starting at 6 p.m.

Where: Rose Larisa Memorial Park, 800 Bullocks Point Avenue, Riverside

A Senate hearing at the State House yesterday revealed what the DCYF has envolved into under Gov. Carcieri’s watch. The hearings, chaired by Sen. Rhoda Perry, have highlighted the importance of government oversight, especially when the administration appears more concerned about blocking marriage equality than they are about protecting children in a broken system.

From today’s ProJo:

Peter Sleicher had not spoken publicly about his family’s ordeal before yesterday.

The 43-year-old man waited three hours, sometimes pacing the vast halls of the State House, before sharing his experience with a packed meeting of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services.

It was the second in a series of hearings focused on the inner workings of the DCYF, which is the target of a lawsuit by Child Advocate Jametta O. Alston. The class-action suit, backed by the New York group, Children’s Rights, claims systemic breakdowns at the child-welfare agency that has caused alleged widespread physical and mental abuse among the 3,000 children in state care.

Sleicher was the 14th person to testify at last night’s meeting. The people before him had told stories of children being stripped from mothers, allegedly for no reason; loving foster parents barred from contacting children raised in their home; social workers drunk on the job.

Sleicher read his statement quickly in a soft voice that betrayed his fear of public speaking. He stumbled over his words a few times. He nervously rubbed his fingers together.

“We feel that we have been used. We feel as though this type of conduct is destined to continue,” he said. “Is it appropriate to call these actions state-sponsored rape?”

Across the crowded room, DCYF Director Patricia Martinez’s face was in her hands

Here’s some video from last WPRI at 11.

In the second officially sanctioned debate, Democratic presidential candidates will meet on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos to discuss the issues of importance to Americans. Continuing the history-making first debate, which featured live YouTube videos, this debate will also feature your video questions which were submitted in advance.

The debate airs live, this Sunday at 9:00 a.m. on ABC 6.

You can also watch and rate videos that have already been submitted to ABC. Here’s one we saw from Mark “The Worm Guy” from Washington State.

The Rhode Island World War II Memorial commission is still fighting to finish its Providence Monument and have it dedicated by November. But in order for that to happen, they need your help. If you can, please consider donating to this very worthy cause which, once completed, will be dedicated to the 2,562 Rhode Islanders who made the ultimate sacrifice in WWII. It’s estimated that more than 94,000 Rhode Islanders served in the war effort.

Of all the Rhode Island veterans who have pushed for this memorial, none have worked harder than commission chair Joe Corrente, who hasn’t been feeling well as of late. Joe, we’re thinking of you, and hope to see you back on the mend soon. Thanks so much for all that you’ve done to honor the sacrifices of the brave men and women who fought to keep this country free.

Cranston City Council President Aram Garabedian is helping to lead the final push to fund the memorial’s completion. Here’s some video of him speaking with NBC 10 about the project from earlier this week.

You can send a check to:
The World War II Memorial Commission
409 Broadway
Providence, RI 02909

Earlier tonight Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse appeared on NBC 10 to discuss his recent trip to Greenland to observe alarming signs of global warming as well as the Democrats’ effort to stabilize Iraq and get our troops home as fast as possible.

Here’s the video:

In a tersely written press release issued earlier today, the Rhode Island ACLU affiliate called on Gov. Carcieri to withdraw a brief submitted to the Supreme Court in which he express an ardent opposition to marriages of same sex spouses.

This is from the ProJo blog.

The local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union announced today it’s called on Governor Carcieri to withdraw a legal brief submitted for a state Supreme Court case that could decide if a lesbian couple married in Massachusetts could divorce in Rhode Island.

The ACLU said it and three other organizations sent a letter to the governor because the “strong opposition to same-sex marriage contained in the governor’s brief — written by an out-of-state private attorney — has been widely noted.”

In a news release, the ACLU specifically says it’s focusing on the governor’s “inexplicable attack” on Rhode Island’s “no-fault divorce laws.” The ACLU quotes the brief asserting that no-fault divorce has resulted in “more children ill equipped to cope in a world already fraught with problems” and even that it’s led women to take “steps to protect their human capital by entering the work force and pursuing education.”

In response to that, the ACLU news release said it knows there are “some people out there who long for a return to the ‘idyllic’ 1950s when women knew their place was in the kitchen, but we do not expect to hear echoes of it emanating from a gubernatorial court brief.”

If the brief is not withdrawn, the ACLU says, then “we request that [the governor] formally clarify your position on these issues.”

Here’s the rest of the story.

You might remember we ruffled a few feathers in the Gov’s office last week when Chairman Lynch called Carcieri out for essentially using taxpayer money to advance his own personal, political agenda.

Yeah, we get it, governor, you’re against marriage equality. But did you really have to use $15K in taxpayer money to make your point? The answer of course, is no. So if you get a second and feel like sounding off, you can always give the governor’s office a call at 222-2080. Tell him you don’t think it’s appropriate to use your money to fund his political fight. Hey, and if you’re really lucky, they’ll let you talk to Steve Kass.

This just in from the ProJo Blog…

Governor Carcieri will appeal to the state Supreme Court a judge’s ruling last week that he must take the stand at the criminal trials of seven Narragansett Indians arrested in a state police raid on a tribal smoke shop in July 2003, arguing that his testimony is not relevant to the cases.

Judge Susan E. McGuirl ruled in Providence County Superior Court Friday that the tribal members’ lawyers could call the governor to testify. She said the defendants’ rights to due process outweighed the governor’s claim of executive privilege, particularly since he made numerous public statements following the raid.

The judge limited any questioning to the instructions Carcieri gave Col. Steven M. Pare, then superintendent of the state police, in the days leading up to the raid.

“Governor Carcieri’s conversations with Col. Steven Pare have no relevance to the criminal charges against the seven defendants,” Michael Maynard, the spokesman for the governor, said in a statement. “The Governor believes that there is nothing that he could say that is in any way relevant to the charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, which is what this trial is about.”

The governor is stuck and he knows it. He knows what he said in the days after the smoke shop raid, and he knows that he’s been caught in a lie. Col. Pare testified in open court that he was given no order to withdraw if the State Police encountered resistance. But as we all know, that contradicts what the governor said during his initial press briefings. The governor’s staff is desperate to keep him off the stand, and, if you knew what they knew…who could blame them?

Chairman Lynch sits in studio with WPRO’s John Depetro this morning to discuss the governor’s use of taxpayer money to support his right-wing political agenda. If you agree, like we do, that this was a gross abuse of the governor’s authority and a misappropriation of your tax dollars call into the show by dialing (401) 438-9776 or 1-800-321-9776.

Here’s the story from today’s ProJo.

The details of the arrangement were released yesterday shortly after Lynch filed an open records request with the governor’s office regarding Bopp’s work. Lynch asserted that the brief was filed to promote Carcieri’s personal views and should have been paid for with personal money.

“We all know what the governor’s position is on these issues,” Lynch said. “I don’t think it’s appropriate [for him] to use state tax money to advance his own personal opinion on this issue.”