"9500 Liberty" Screening in Norfolk, 12/15/09

I just received word that Eric Byler's and Annabel Park's excellent documentary on the Prince William County immigration controversy, 9500 Liberty, is being screened in Norfolk on the evening of Tuesday, December 15, at the Naro Theater (1507 Colley Avenue). I've seen the movie a couple of times now, and I strongly recommend it. Here's a synopsis from the 9500 Liberty website:

Prince William County, Virginia becomes ground zero in America’s explosive battle over immigration policy when elected officials adopt a law requiring police officers to question anyone they have "probable cause" to suspect is an undocumented immigrant.

9500 Liberty reveals the startling vulnerability of a local government, targeted by national anti-immigration networks using the Internet to frighten and intimidate lawmakers and citizens. Alarmed by a climate of fear and racial division, residents form a resistance using YouTube videos and virtual townhalls, setting up a real-life showdown in the seat of county government.

The devastating social and economic impact of the “Immigration Resolution” is felt in the lives of real people in homes and in local businesses. But the ferocious fight to adopt and then reverse this policy unfolds inside government chambers, on the streets, and on the Internet. 9500 Liberty provides a front row seat to all three battlegrounds.

If that's not enough to whet your appetite for "9500 liberty," here are a few comments by people who have seen the film.

*Film critic Desson Thomson calls it "as powerful a booster of the democratic process as anything Frank Capra ever imprinted on our collective memory."

*Author John Grisham says the movie "makes it clear when we, as a nation of immigrants, debate the immigration issue, we are defining our very identity as Americans."

*New Democratic Network President Simon Rosenberg rates it as "one of the best documentary films I've ever seen."

*Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas says "the movie is freakin' amazing."

Getting psyched to see this yet? :)

UPDATE: The timing of this screening is excellent; according to Reform Immigration for America, Representatives Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL), Nydia Vasquez (D-NY), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Mike Honda (D-CA) are planning to introduce a national comprehensive immigration reform bill earlier that day.

How to "Punk" a Tea Party With Smart Satire

Awesome satire, and the tea partiers are utterly clueless, even applauding as the speaker rips "European immigrants" (e.g., from England and Ireland) and calls for America to "send these European immigrants back where they came from." It's like these people will applaud anything as long as you add words like "secure our borders," "restore order," "real Americans," "we're not going to take it anymore," etc. You know, the crap that Faux "News" spews out every day. Ha.

h/t: Daily Kos

Just Imagine...

I was talking to a friend last night, and we were both bemoaning the lack of progress in passing the agenda Democrats campaigned on - and won big on - in 2008. I was pondering what the political landscape might look like today if Democrats had:

*Passed the economic recovery package and had it on President Obama's desk the day he was sworn into office
*Passed health care reform by Memorial Day
*Passed clean energy legislation by Independence Day (we could have symbolically "declared independence" from foreign oil)
*Passed comprehensive immigration reform by Labor Day (appropriate, since most of this is an issue of undocumented workers)
*Turned this fall and winter towards dealing with the budget deficit, entitlements reform, financial regulation and the economy.

If we had accomplished all these things, my guess is that Democrats would be much higher in the polls, having demonstrated that they a) get things done for the American people and b) fulfill the promises they make. Instead, I feel like so far we're getting the worst of all worlds: lots of criticism, ranting and raving, insane cries of "communism" and "socialism," and demagoguery for raising big issues that absolutely need to be dealt with, but at the same time none of the credit for actually getting stuff done.

Now, given the fact that we've essentially wasted the last 9 months screwing around on health care reform, something we've been working on for decades and which I'm convinced we could have gotten done by Memorial Day, all the other items on our agenda have slipped into 2010, a mid-term election year. Brilliant! Once again, the saying about Democracy being the worst form of government ever invented, except for all the other ones, springs to mind. Argh.