Alan Grayson endorsed Norman Solomon yesterday. Did he ever:
I have five children. Sometimes I try to explain to them what it was like to live in America in the '60s and '70s. When the federal government listened in on phone conversations of civil rights leaders, and bugged their homes. When the President of the United States and his henchmen plotted to kill a reporter, Jack Anderson. When one major party burglarized the headquarters of the other major party. When the National Guard shot and killed college students. When rioting prisoners were picked off and killed by marksmen with rifle scopes.
There is one candidate for Congress this year who knows all about that. Because the FBI had a file on him. When he was 14 years old.
Here is how Solomon describes how it came about that the FBI opened a file on him when he was 14:
“I’d heard that some people were protesting at an all-white apartment complex close by, near the D.C. border, named Summit Hills. I was just a kid, but I’d figured out that segregation was wrong. So I picked up a sign, and joined the picket line.”
And that, ladies and gentlemen, was enough in 1966 to label you a “subversive,” and put you under FBI surveillance.
But what’s important now is that Norman Solomon showed what he was made of, at the age of 14.
Support someone who doesn’t just talk the talk, but someone who walks the walk. Someone who has been walking in picket lines and protest marches for the past 46 years. Someone whom J. Edgar Hoover wouldn’t like at all. Someone named Norman Solomon.
Tuesday, June 5th is what Blue America is calling its "Super Tuesday", when several extremely important primary races will be decided. In fact, early voting has begun in California and Norman's running to replace progressive stalwart Lynn Woolsey in the second district just above San Francisco.
We don't need to tell you again what an amazing person Norman is. His progressive resume spans 30 years as an activist and media critic and an elected official. He's been endorsed by the most committed progressives in the nation. His good friend and longtime colleague Jeff Cohen, co-founder of FAIR, is one of them. In a recent impassioned endorsement, he explained why this particular race is so important:
Getting to a bloc of 25 genuine, principled progressives in Congress is attainable. What’s needed is a strategy and resources to develop candidates in dozens of solidly progressive congressional districts nationwide: black, Latino, college town, liberal urban, etc. When an incumbent Democrat sells-out or leaves office, activists in such a district should be able to call upon national organizational and netroots support to get a 100 percent progressive into Congress. Once elected by the grassroots in such districts, it’s hard for corporate or conservative forces to ever get them out. Think Bernie Sanders. Think Barbara Lee.
Think Blue America. Think Norman Solomon -- a progressive leader with a lifetime of liberal activism representing a deep blue district, unencumbered by obligation to business or the Democratic establishment. This is how we build our bloc.
We don't have to worry about a bunch of Republicans and ConservaDems demanding "centrism" in the second district of California. It's a place filled with voters who will support liberal policies and reward political courage. It's a seat that rightfully belongs to a leader of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
Ask yourself, if not Norman Solomon, then who? If not in a deep blue district that believes in progressive values, then where? If not now, when?
Watch Norman take Glenn Beck downtown:
