Hello Northeast Democratic Club Members!
Adam Murray, the Executive Director of the Inner City Law Center, will be our guest speaker at our June Membership Meeting on Wednesday, June 19 at 7 pm at the Glassell Park Senior Center. Adam will talk about what is happening with Immigrants Rights and Housing in Los Angeles. Homelessness is an increasingly important issue in Los Angeles. It will be an interesting evening for our members.
Congratulations to Rusty Hicks, our newly elected Chair of the Democratic Party of California. He was elected at an exciting state convention in San Francisco on June 1 (with the support of our state senator Maria Elena Durazo). Many NEDC members traveled to SF for the weekend. After listening to the incredible line up of Democratic candidates for President, it’s clear that any one of them would make a far better President than our current inmate-in-waiting, Donald Trump.
Special thanks to all who helped out with Lummis Day (the same weekend as the Convention!). Jose Gardea, Sarah Rascon, Aldo Ramirez, Dylan Mount, Eric Santacruz, Eddie Gallogly and Mary Garripoli all worked our booth at the Lummis Day Festival. Gail Burns did the art work. Carmela Gomes spent her weekend working it and of course, NEDC members Eliot and Jain Sekular organized and ran the entire event. Bravo! A number of our neighbors joined the NEDC as new members, too.
NEDC Board member Jamie Tijerina announced her candidacy for LA City Council District 14, the seat currently held by Jose Huizar.
After dismissing her violations of the Hatch Act with “Blah, blah, blah”, Kelly Anne Conway actually said, “Let me know when the jail sentence starts” in response to the Office of Ethics saying she repeatedly broke the law. This further demonstrates the Trump administration’s guiding principal: We only obey the law because we might be punished. Republicans are demonstrating the same flagrant disregard for law across the entire spectrum of government from stealing asylum seekers’ children and putting them in concentration camp cages, to abortion restrictions, accepting foreign governments’ assistance in elections, repeated corruption scandals, emoluments, environmental law, redistricting and on and on. And now even the Department of Justice is weighing in on the side of Steve Mnuchin’s flouting the express letter of the law re Donald Trump’s tax returns.
This Mafia mentality ignores the reason for law. We don’t just stop at red lights because a cop might ticket us. We stop so we won’t hurt anyone. We stop so traffic will flow evenly. Ultimately, we stop so our society will work smoothly for all, even when one is inconvenienced. Law exists to prevent excess, especially excess of power. Congressional Democrats’ subpoenas are bringing Republicans up short and will force the testimony of actual witnesses to Trump’s criminality. Impeachment will follow.
Best,
John Gallogly
President NEDC
