Today is Attorney General Alberto Gonzales'
last day of work. However you feel about the way he acted (me: very angry), I think we can all agree that the next Attorney General needs to be a person of character who can rise above the scandal and restore integrity at the DOJ.
From the
New York Times' editorial board:
To replace Alberto Gonzales, President Bush must appoint an attorney general who is above politics, and the Senate should only confirm a nonpolitical lawyer of unquestioned integrity.
Click here for the rest of the editorial.
And speaking of persons with integrity and character, today is also the last day of work for
Jon Goldin-Dubois, Common Cause's Executive Vice President. He's an incredible leader and friend, and after his 10 years of service here, we'll miss him tremendously.
To Jon: all the best. To Mr. Gonzales: Well, I can't quite recall what the appropriate sentiment should be.
Common Cause has many volunteers helping us with our work. One longtime volunteer, Margery Ware, passed away November 22 and her remarkable life was the focus of an
article in the Washington Post. Here's an excerpt (and more in Read More...):
She learned to fly in 1941, while teaching physical education at the Western College for Women in Miami, Ohio. When World War II began, she wanted to be a fighter pilot, but women didn't fly in combat. That was one battle she couldn't wage at the time, although she did find out about the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (later renamed Women Airforce Service Pilots). The program trained a select group of young women to fly newly made planes to bases across the country. After flight training at Sweetwater, Tex., she was assigned to the ferrying division of the Air Transport Command at Love Field in Dallas. As a WASP, she flew more than a dozen different types of aircraft, including the Aeronca Chief, the Waco biplane, the P-39 and the C-47. She completed 52 transport missions, including a trip from Dallas to Tucson -- she got lost and ended up in Mexico. Another time, she was forced to land in a plowed field when the carburetor on her plane iced up. Despite her skill and experience, she and her fellow WASP pilots were unceremoniously mustered out when the war was over. "Of course, you couldn't have men pilots sitting behind a desk with women still flying, now, could you?", Mrs. Ware recalled in a presentation videotaped at her church in 1994. A smile leavened the sarcasm, sort of.
On this day, 36 years ago, John Gardner issued an announcement from his office at the Urban Coalition Action Council, located one block from where I write today. In it, Mr. Gardner proclaimed that he was launching a new membership for Common Cause, "a nationwide, independent, non-partisan organization for those Americans who want to help in the rebuilding of the nation." Indeed, on August 18th 1970, this was a nation in great need of rebuilding and because of Mr. Gardner's tremendous effort and dedication, Common Cause, the United States' first "Citizens' Lobby" continues to do just that today.
The press release that Mr. Gardner issued outlined some of the reasons for Common Cause's creation as well as some objectives he had for its purpose. By way of reasons, he wrote that although the citizens of 1970's America recognized that their nation's priorities needed changing, "they (didn't) know how to go about it." Common Cause, therefore was designed, "to assist you speak and act in [sic] behalf of the legislation designed to solve the nation's problem."
Mr. Gardner, in effect, sought to hold public officials accountable for their decisions, "we want weak public officials to know that they will be subject to criticism. We want strong and concerned representatives to know that their efforts are appreciated." He, like millions of Americans at the time, had grown very fearful that, "most parts of the system (had) grown so rigid that they cannot respond to impending disaster." It is in this last phrase that we see what a long fight Mr. Gardner was preparing his organization for, as the same complaint still echoes through the public today.
Similar coincidences should be noted of Mr. Gardner's announcement. Primarily the fact that at the heart of Common Cause's inception was a response to the outcry generated over the seemingly pointless continuance of hostilities in Vietnam. "We believe," he writes, "there is great urgency in ending the Vietnam War on a scheduled timetable. We believe there must be a major reordering of national priorities. We believe the problems of poverty and race must be among our first concerns."
It begs the question; if John Gardner were here to evaluate his proud organization 30 years after its creation, would he remark on how different the world had become or how eerily similar?
Alexandria's Mayor Thanks the Crowd.
Staff from Common Cause joined in with 760,000 people across the world this Sunday in walks raising money to help
end child hunger. We had a great time walking with families and friends from the area in the beautiful May sunshine. Thank you to all those who joined in around the country in response to our CauseNet. We look forward to chances to take action together again on this and other efforts.
Common Blog
