Free Screening of Koch Brothers Exposed: 2014 Edition, Oct. 8

The Culver City Democratic Club is pleased to present a free community screening on Wednesday, Oct. 8, of Brave New Films’ Koch Brothers Exposed: 2014 Edition. The screening will be held at the Veterans Auditorium, Rotunda Room, 4117 Overland Ave., Culver City, at 7pm. The film puts the spotlight on David and Charles Koch, the billionaire brothers who have been using their money to try influence the outcomes of elections around the country in order to serve their right wing and business interests. The film is an updated reissue of Koch Brothers Exposed, with special focus on the 2014 midterm elections. Culver City-based Brave New Films is generously donating a copy of their film for the CCDC’s special screening. There will be a special video introduction from Brave New Films founder, Robert Greenwald, and an audience Q&A after the screening. In addition, copies of other Brave New Films titles will be available for sale at the event. Proceeds benefit the Culver City Democratic Club. Refreshments will also be served. To view a full synopsis and trailer of Koch Brothers Exposed: 2014 Edition, go to http://www.bravenewfilms.org/koch2014. For more information about the event, contact Sylvia Moore, CCDC Acting President at president@culvercitydemocraticclub.com. For information about the CCDC, go to our web site at http://culvercitydemocraticclub.com, or to our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Culver-City-Democratic-Club/323470744346731.

First Vice President’s Message by Sylvia Moore, October 2014

Twenty fourteen marks yet another year where we Democrats are wringing our hands over whether enough of our supporters will turn out to vote this November. According to FairVote.org, voter turnout is about 60% in presidential elections, but plummets to about 40% in midterm elections. Why is it that every off-year election sees a precipitous drop off in voter participation when compared with presidential years? It seems that in midterm elections, the Democratic Party’s most reliable voters - young people, single women, people of color, low-income people - largely stay at home. Midterm electorates tend to be older, whiter and more affluent. It’s a conundrum, one that adversely affects our success as a party and our ability govern effectively when a Democrat is in the White House (see 2010). Already, Beltway prognosticators are predicting that the Republicans will keep their hold on the House of Representatives and have a better than average shot at retaking the Senate. So what explains the midterm slump? Theories abound. Some say it’s apathy. Others blame misinformation. Still others blame anger at both Democrats and Republicans. Some point to the fact that many people feel their votes don’t count. The relative difficulty of voting in the United States when compared with other democracies is another reason cited. All of these explanations have some validity. However, here’s one reason I’d like to see get more attention. Since presidential races are given the highest profile in our electoral system, most voters are going to pay the most attention to them and make picking the President their highest priority. Congressional, state and local races are secondary, even though Congress is a co-equal branch to the Presidency, and local issues directly affect people the most. Ask Americans who the President is, and 99% of them will say Barack Obama. But ask them the names of their congressperson, U.S. Senators, state representatives, county supervisor and city council people - many may greet you with blank stares. When people complain about the problems in America and want a politician to blame, it’s usually the President. The people who tend to know the names of all of their representatives are those who are the most politically active in their communities. They are also more likely to be homeowners, less likely to have moved frequently, and they have established roots in their communities. And these people tend to be, yes - older, whiter and more affluent. I believe the lack of understanding about how our government functions, the less value many voters place on congressional, state and local elections, and the indifferent attitude our society has toward the act of voting, all play a role in depressing turnout in midterm elections. This is the result of a massive failure of civics education in America. This is why Democrats must work doubly hard to ensure other Democrats know what’s at stake and that they get out to the polls in November.

Former CCDC President Lee Sanders has passed away

The Culver City Democratic Club is saddened to announce the recent death of immediate past President Lee Sanders. Lee died peacefully on Friday, Aug. 29, after a year-long battle with cancer. Lee was a great Democrat and union member who advocated for labor issues, single payer health care and other progressive causes. He loved to keep club members informed by sharing and distributing articles from his favorite magazines at our meetings. And as a retired projectionist, he shared his love of film by donating movie posters to our club fundraisers. Even though he was ill, Lee still contributed as much as he could to his duties as club president and did a wonderful job. However, Lee had to step down from his position in July to focus on his health. At the August General Meeting, the club presented Lee with a plaque thanking him for his tireless service to the CCDC, the Democratic Party and the progressive movement. Below is a photo of Lee (third from right) flanked by past Presidents of the CCDC, (l-r) Darryl Cherness, Diane Rosenberg, Tom Camarella, Ronnie Jayne, Bill Wynn and First Vice President/Acting President Sylvia Moore.   At the Sept. 9 meeting of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party Central Committee, Chair Eric Bauman adjourned in Lee's memory. Tonight's CCDC General Meeting will also adjourn in Lee's honor. Lee was a lovely man and we will all miss him. - Sylvia Moore

First Vice President’s Message by Sylvia Moore, September 2014

"Hands up! Don’t shoot!"

These four words have made their way into the collective consciousness of America as thousands express their outrage at the epidemic of police abuse and killings of unarmed black people. The Aug. 9 killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, led to an eruption of anger in that town that had been boiling under the surface for decades. The subsequent spectacle of heavily militarized police officers rolling into town with tanks, brandishing assault rifles, lobbing tear gas at peaceful demonstrators, and arresting journalists, shocked the nation and the entire world. Many commentators compared what we were witnessing in Ferguson to the war zones of the Middle East. What was happening in Ferguson did not fit with the image of America as a bastion of “freedom and democracy.”

Moreover, the events in Ferguson have sparked a much needed reevaluation of whether the federal government should be equipping our police forces with surplus military hardware, a practice that began about 40 years ago. According to experts, although America’s crime rate has fallen in recent years, the militarization of urban police forces has intensified and the number of SWAT teams has exploded. This phenomenon occurred for two reasons: the war on drugs and the war on terror. The consequences of militarized policing first got widespread attention during the raids on the Occupy Wall Street encampments in 2011. But, for some reason, there wasn’t a massive outcry against it until now.

Still, militarized policing is a symptom of a much larger structural and cultural problem in America: racial inequality. Our nation still has not reckoned with the repercussions of 400 years of slavery and disenfranchisement of its black citizens. Those repercussions fester in the form of de-facto segregation, high unemployment, entrenched poverty, inferior education, mass incarceration and the over- policing of communities of color. Furthermore, negative stereotypes of blacks - particularly of black men - persist after centuries of marginalization. Until America addresses these structural problems - and changes how police officers are hired and trained - there will likely be more Fergusons.